We’re living in blue times Nothing now seems right Living in blue times Nothing feels quite right The times may be a changing But I can still tell day from night Don’t want to hear why Everything’s gone wrong Don’t want to know why Everything’s gone wrong Gonna hold on to all that’s good Gotta sing my song I’ve had the blues Since the day I was born I’ve had these blues Since the day I was born You know I love the sunshine But I was born into a storm Living in blue times It’s so hard to know what’s true Living in these blue times It’s so hard to know what’s true Just know that I’m for real Here’s hoping you are too

Commercial Art It's 3am and I'm starting to unwind again It's too late to leave It's too early now to call a friend Pulling down the cans from the cupboard for a quiet meal Numbers on the television - call us if you want a deal Brother you alone?  There's a girl by the telephone Call her anytime - for a dollar and a dime you can have her Have her, have her for a little while. Forget about the price Doesn't she look nice? She's in color. Channel ten She really wants to be your friend Books are on the table. Beer is in the fridge Somewhere in the middle I find a will to live There's a lot of people working 'round the clock these days Trading cash for food and gas and just about anything You want. You can get it. Any time forget it. What's wrong with that? That's where it's at. You got to Stay ahead of the guy next door. There's no telling who he Is. He's got purple dots on his socks. He's wearing shorts of Course. Hairy legs a dog that begs and kids selling lemonade At 3am? There's something wrong with them. Rotary pinball - before it went extinct, filled my life with Pleasure and gave me time to think. Two plays for a quarter. Five balls to a game. You put the Bumper to the ball and watch it go insane. You could catch It on the flipper - take your time and aim. You could feel the Gears roll your points - today it ain't the same. It's a little Too smooth for this geezer in his 20's. That's all I got to Say about it - all too smooth - from the hairdo to the Groove. Commercial art it breaks me heart I see it everyday. But I want to keep on singing so that's all I'm going to say. You got to buy this, try this, see this, get this, - I want to Keep on singing so that's all I'm going to say 


Your back in the city On your own but that's alright this time around Nobody knows where you come from So you tell them that you're from some other town So far away gray was the field where you left her Waving down a dusty road Her hand was waving like a flag on a pole When you said goodbye goodbye goodbye And hello to the highway sign And hello to the dotted line And hello to an empty seat She used to sit right there I'll take the blame you make the move Quick change of lanes under the over pass Lights on the ground getting closer The stars look farther away There's a bobtail pulling up the right side There's a Greyhound pullin up the left look out There's a pickup pulling up floodlights on And a railroad crossing up ahead And you remember what she said when you left You think about it over and over She never believed you'd leave Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles 'till you're back in the city Where the days don't end when the sun goes down You got one room on the first floor It's two doors down to the liquor store A cup of coffee in the morning The television on all night Smoking cigarettes round 'till the filter burns down See the smoke pulling into the light Did you catch the name of the girl in the leather gown Or were you too fucked up to write it down Another blues band played your one night stand All you took home was a good God dam There's a pay phone ringing in the alley A fight breaking out in the hall A couple going at it in the room next store The sound whips through the crack in the wall And you remember what she said as you left you think about it Over and over She never believed you'd leave Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles 'till you're back in the city on your own but that's alright

Living Within ã 1998 David Shepherd Grossman It takes all of the patience and faith you can stand To look in the mirror each day There is beer in the bath-tub You’ve emptied your plans But maybe it’s better that way If it hadn’t been love it may have been money To keep you awake form your dreams Yellow haired cowboys in Rhinestone hats, displaying designer blue jeans You say you hate it all now You hate it all now all the glitter and gloss that paints commercials and news They lie and they lie and it captures the eye, ‘cause there is nothing else better to view But it all comes down It all comes down To looking at living with you Long lonesome road give me a call Tell me it is time to return I haven't the structure to withstand a fall. I’ll shatter as ashes burn Back on the highway Back on the road Its an ageless escape for the man Some leave their lovers their jobs their goals. They empty their pockets and plans To walk down a road Blow with the wind Rise like a tide Fall like a sin ‘cause it all comes down To looking at living withi

Down To A Line He said, she said, her cousin's brother's, sister, plumber's, wife's, lover's Mistress... Was having a party and to tell a friend Seems it always comes down through a line If you're going to the theater better double dose the meter A movie, small cafe, you better made it the whole day For a minute on the Matterhorn Better make it early in the morning Seems it always comes down to a line Bobby Smith is in this scene he's sitting in a bar Thinks he know a lady, can't remember back that far She looks at him he looks at her They don't know what to say He open's up his mouth and asks, "So how was your day?" They married in Hawaii Honeymooned in Caroline It all came down to a line Now the words don't really matter When you look at it through time When you mix the batter It all comes out as a line as a line He said, she said, her cousin's brother's, sister, plumber's, wife's, lover's Mistress... Was having a party and to tell a friend Seems it always comes down through a line

We got lions, tigers, goats, and things We got a camel and a wild boar We got a popcorn , soda, and ice cream stand Take the kids to the animal poster store You can laugh at the chimps and orangutans Take a picture with the ape of the day If all these folks are having such fun Why am I feeling this way Chorus I got the zoo blues On the other side of the cage I got those zoo blues Working for the minimum wage I think some of those monkeys are starting to see That it might be fun to throw some bars around me I got the zoo bee doo bee doo bee doo blues Somebody get me the key We got the penguins in the penguin pool Got the pigs rolling in the slop The alligator saying , "It's cold around here" While the polar bear is saying, "It's hot" And the platypus, in self analysis Trying to figure out what the hell he is I'm here grabbing garbage from the ground Putting it under the lid (Chorus) The zoo keeper is a nice old man, nice but getting slow Pretty soon he's gonna die and if I get the key I'm gonna let them all go Elephants and hippos dancing free in the streets There's no way we could fail 'cause the worst thing could happen Be the cops coming 'round And throwing them back in jail (Chorus)

Junk Man's Journey Stop sign, go sign, people see you feeling fine Left turn, right turn, break it out and let it burn Nonsense makes sense, everywhere you go You go with the flow, for the flow, up ahead down below It don't matter Stying thin getting fatter It doesn't really matter on a junk man's junk man's journey See the sky, close your eyes, see another space Everything is real, some hurt, some heal Wake up, go to bed, read about what someone said Laugh about it Cry about it Live with it or live without it It don't matter It can not matter It doesn't really matter it's a junk man's junk man's journey Bless the ground, bless the sky, bless the trees, ask why Get a job, hold it down, leave a job, get out of town Stay rich, stay poor, wonder what you're living for Answer questions, ask some more Open up or close the door It don't matter It can not matter It doesn't really matter on a junk man's junk man's journey Buy this, buy that, throw it all away Make a friend, start again, if it doesn't work then trade it in Too small, too tall, too good, no good at all Catch a thought Break a fall Interrupt a phone call It don't matter It can not matter It doesn't really matter it's a junk man's junk man's Journey

Don't know why Guess I stopped looking close enough to Recognize Just where to draw the line Rings around my eyes Are all that I can see Can you show me a way away From all I've come to be Life's a breeze 'till you learn how to screw it up Every day takes you farther away From the time you arrived Rings around my eyes Are all that I can see Can you show me a way away From all I've come to be Step outside and lead the way Let no one follow They'll take blue And they'll give gray Then call it a deal Rings around my eyes Are all that I can see Won't you show me a way away From all I've come to be Show me a way

Heroes Never Fail David Shepherd Grossman ã89/2002 Overboard the man he went dove off into sea The captain gave no choice or chance To the likes of he He was trapped into battle He was strapped to the side Down the plank they forced his walk he was swallowed by the tide Chorus Close your eyes To those cartoons and fairy tails Happy in the ever after The heroes never fail Take this looking glass hold it to your face Mark the minute x the hour When we'll leave this place Where we're trapped into battle Where we're strapped to the side Once awake there's no escape there's nowhere left to hide Chorus Once upon a time the stagecoach ran this way Once upon a time steam trains rolled on tracks each day Once upon a time magic carpets filled the air Once upon a time do you recall when we were there Take this lamp it's offered to polish it in need And when you're prayers come answer you Follow out their lead When you're trapped into battle When you're strapped to the side If your wings don't levitate Then find another ride

Way out west in no man's land Highways web through diamond spans Taking in a traffic jam cars like water in a dam I'm getting no where - they're going nowhere It's progress in progress Way out west in no man's land Got burger kings for uncle sam Buffalo dust for the Indian While the ocean waves bye bye I'm getting nowhere - they're going nowhere It's progress in progress Progress in progress you can't slow it down Progress in progress no slowing it down They'll back it up and jack it up Until they give it up Back it up and jack it up Until they give it up Silhouetted clouds between me and the moon Cast shadows on the water And I sit here between the steel of the railroad track And the great smoke stacks tower over me It's progress in progress Way out west in no man's land Machines replace the working man Buildings rise and homes come down While people sleep on streets in town And when the rains begin to pour The merchandise stays dry indoors But there's one thing I fail to get Why so many people must get wet

The Elephant Hotel She went down to the bowery In a brand new pair of boots Past burlesque shows, bath houses Postcards and prostitutes She walked across the boardwalk For what she’d never tell And checked into a room at The Elephant Hotel He took her to a side show Magicians on the pier Later to a ballroom To dance and have a beer They went down to the water And into it they fell Like many more before them at The Elephant Hotel Complete with tusk and trunk An elephant was made With rooms inside it’s body Cigar store in it’s leg The lure was like and undertow It grabbed him by his sleeve Some would come and go But he would never leave He’d gone out to the island To ride The Switch Back Rail And took himself a job at the Elephant Hotel Now he’s checking in the rubes At the Elephant Hotel

A good hat Keeps the bad thoughts away A road map Shows the way each day Heard that Did you have something to say The rain’s on fire The sky’s orange and grey I’m wiping down Wiping down this paper plate Gonna wipe it off The rest of what I ate Someday I’ll have one made of glass How long must I wait? When the sun The full moon A circle in the sky A t-spoon Of medicine to try See it soon The tide is getting high Getting high When the sun comes up I’ll be gone Just walk away Into the dawn I know the blues Won’t do me wrong Won’t do me wrong

Halo You’ve left me forsaken You’re looking mighty low Her heart is breakin You used to float over my head (least she said you did) Now you’re down round my neck What a wreak of a man I am Leaving her all alone Halo I can’t say I blame you I used to look in her eyes Now I’m ashamed to I thought she done me wrong (so wrong) And so I went and did something worse It hurts now that I know She had been true all along I’m a fool but love don’t seem to care It don’t care about me it don’t care about her Halo Why don’t you leave me Why are you sticking around She don’t believe me You used to float over my head (least she said you did) Now you’re down round my neck What a wreak of a man I am She’s left me all alone Haaaaloooo

Bartholomew Roberts Words and Music by David Shepherd Grossman 1982 I found him lying on a broken dock In a drunken sleep about four o' clock in the morning One leg good, the other one wood His eye patched over just like it should I woke him. I said, "Excuse me sir but might you be Of Bartholomew Robert's piracy?" He asked what it was to me. I told him. "I sir am an average Joe A songsmith traveling to and fro I'd like to talk to you before I go" He said, "Me belly could use a bit of rum you know." I gave him the bottle and he turned to speak His face was old his voice was weak He claimed to be the last of the crew's defeat By a British Man Of War off Cape Lopez (Chorus) Roberts was a gentleman Drank his tea from an old tin can Never touched a bottle kept a clean ship and You'd never guess he was a pirate He said, "Our ship was mighty as a sloop could be Over four hundred vessels plundered we With our sacks full of biscuits we'd return to the sea Our jolly roger blowing proud and free After Roberts robbed a vessel of it's prize He'd return the ship to it's captain's sorry eyes Never questioned any man's disguise He followed the Sabbath as he followed the sky (Chorus) I remember the day clear in me mind We were scrubbing the hull for the very last time When a British Man Of War attacked from behind We were too drunk to fight we were to drunk to mind I by chance swam under a pier and escaped my fate Through luck and fear. Though Robert's wasn't drunk he was just too near The thought of his death fill me eye with tear." (Chorus) I left the docks and headed on. Put the pirates words into A song. Roberts may be dead but his story’s not gone It's hard to believe he was a pirate

The Marionette Tonight for a moment I stepped out of character Broke the strings and walked off the floor I stopped to play with the marionette Pulled one string and he turned one way Made him react and made him obey I was the life in the marionette I looked up at the stars and wondered why Why we must live and why we must die The life it left the marionette So there it lies What is the use You don't know what's in between the questions And the truth I picked up the strings and tied them back on Sat down to write the words to this song And turned back into the marionette So what I have learned I also have lost You can't obtain happiness 'till you've been through the cost That will kill the marionette Tonight for a moment I stepped out of character Broke the strings and walked off the floor