Kissimmee
Get all 15 Huddled Masses Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Every Five Minutes (Elegy, Pt. 2), 48 Lines About 12 Men (for Craig Finn), Three Portraits EP, Caroline, Emily, riverrun, Florida, Less Lobos (Live), and 7 more.
1. |
Florida
05:38
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A man kidnapped my grandmother and took her down to Cocoa Beach She spent the rest of her life punishing anyone within her reach
She lived ninety-three years and wasn’t happy for more than a week Nothing grows on the scorched earth she left underneath her feet
I fetched beers for a series of stepfathers drunker than the last
Learned to stay just out of arm’s reach when I had to walk past
The sag in the one good chair got deeper when each one stepped aside Mom stopped crying out loud after the third one died
I used to drive on A1A doing 95
Wind so loud I couldn’t hear the music while I’d drive
No one out there but me and the bugs and the holy ghosts
That’s the part of that part of my life that I miss most
Spent nights on the beach counting stars like sheep and planning my escape
When the time came to go I had to swallow all of my family’s hate
I got a job at a Publix did my homework and I let the ax fall
I left a “Go Gators” pennant and a space shuttle poster on my bedroom wall
Well, Disney World, Crockett, Tubbs and Elian’s dad
Andrew, the Challenger, and hanging chads
Tebow, The U and Bowden picking up yards
Me and a Ford Falcon that somebody left in the garage
The same hospital that birthed my daddy also spit out me
I spent half life understanding him as a personal warning to me
And now he’s gone but it still doesn’t set me free
I put on his favorite record when I can’t sleep
Florida smells like a root beer can left out in the sun
Florida festers behind me while I try and run
Florida keeps on keeping on without its son
Florida won’t let me forget where I came from
No, Florida won’t let me forget where I came from
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2. |
A New Place
03:40
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Boy lost in his own thoughts
Barefoot in the parking lot
Rain heating off the pavement
Wondering where the time went
Comes home to number #38
TV dinner and Happy Days
Peach Cobbler, Salisbury steak
Parents both have to work late
Stopped trying to sleep long ago
Ear’s plastered to the radio
Sounds coming in from outer space
Promises of a new place
Girl dreams out a window
Thinks of ideas she doesn’t know
Sony Walkman on her right hip
Never lets that beat slip
Drives past the Tastee Freeze
To Apartment number #43
Passes boy on the outer stairs
Never really ever sees him there
Stopped trying to sleep long ago
Her ear plastered to her radio
Sounds coming in from outer space
Promises of a new place
Boy writes 100 songs for girl
Invents a life in a new world
Sets a course for outer space
Promises himself a new place
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3. |
Out Of Here
02:14
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I can’t wait to get out of here
I can’t wait to get out of here
Well I hate this little town
And all the people looking down on me
Can go to hell when I get out of here
I got no money to get out of here
No talent to take me far away from here
I’m so bored I could cry
Wanna see the mountains before I die
And I will when I get out of here
My father doesn’t know me
My mother doesn’t care
My sister doesn’t love me
But I’ll be laughing when I leave them there
Someday soon I’ll get the chance to start over
I just need to save a little for a start
So I watch the interstate
And wash your windows while I wait
To get myself out of here
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4. |
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San Pedro to St. Petersburg,
the coastline’s just up ahead
They’ve been talking like mockingbirds,
repeating what’s been said
They say they want me, but now I can see,
it’s time for hanging up the phone
Cause though I’m driving to St. Petersburg,
eventually I’m coming home
I want to become a faded memory
I’ve been driving, the sun is rising free
I’ve been waiting to roll into Kissimmee
Everybody wants a piece of me,
but there’s not enough to go around
And I don’t give it up that easily,
but for you I’ll lay it down
And I start to see the lights of Kissimmee
come rolling into view
If everybody gets a piece of me,
there’d be nothing left for you
All I want is to feel you
And all I want is to appeal to you
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5. |
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Well I never said that I’d ever let you tie me down
I never said you were good for more than right now
You seem to think I was falling for you
I fell in love with the love you have more me, it’s true
But there is nothing now
I’d explain it if I knew how, but
I never lie when it comes to that
Something won’t let me love you, that’s the sad fact
I Never Lie when it comes to that
Don’t look so bewildered, you’d said you give me time
And I warned you that I might not make up my mind
You let yourself get in too deep for your own good
I’d be there to help you if I only could
You’ve got to help yourself And go find someone else
I never lie when it comes to that
Something won’t let me love you, that’s the sad fact
I Never Lie when it comes to that
Sorry you broke your heart
Don’t look so blown apart
Just want to do what’s right
But you can stay and turn off my light
But I never lie when it comes to that
Something won’t let me love you, that’s the sad fact
I never lie when it comes to that
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6. |
Shades Of Grey
05:08
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He went out late last night
With some friends of his that might
Say that he’s reserved
You don’t believe in love, they said
You may as well be dead
He didn’t say a word
In fact he don’t say much at all
silently he will crawl
Underneath your bed
He’s deep in mystery
Got no history
Just a voice inside your head
You’re caught inside the wake
where hearts no longer break
Just a game for all to play
where all you feel is shades of grey
Barroom and smoky haze
Detached disinterested gaze
Did you come here alone?
Too drunk to really care
Sober enough to climb your stairs
Turn off the phone
Her roommate’s still awake
Looks and hints that indicate
He’s not here for you
Pass pictures on her wall
When she was just a kid and all
She’d be scared of what they’re gonna do
Turn out the lights so you can’t see
just becoming shapes to be
You call out a name
But all you feel is shades of grey
Sunlight on your bed,
Jackhammer in his head
Gently free your arm
Clothes bunched up in a fist
out the door before you’re missed
Hope you’ve done no harm
BART station smells like piss
Gotta put a stop to this
Another perfect awful day
where all you feel is shades of grey
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7. |
Music I've Forgotten
06:26
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I remember we were in a restaurant in Indiana
And the waitress asked if we were newlyweds
And we just laughed and turned our heads
And I remember a hotel in South Dakota
And we got the last room in the place
And we laughed and had a vending machine dinner
And I remember trying to make love to you
And you didn’t want to kiss my face
And you said, that’s a good way for both of us to get sick
And I guess over time I thought you’d soften
But your love’s like music I’ve forgotten
I remember being in a Denny’s on Highway 101
And you laughed when I told a joke
And you hand felt good on my shoulder
And I remember watching you with some friends of ours Your mouth laughing but not your eyes
And everything felt a little colder
And I remember waking up while you were still asleep
And listening to you breathe
And knowing I didn’t know where we were
And somewhere on the road spring turned to autumn And we became music I’ve forgotten
I remember we were in a subway in France
Listening to a Parisian gypsy band
And you said, “Now there’s a man who sings with passion...”
We saw ‘em again two days later singing the same song
And the melody burned into my brain
And while there’s still nights I wake up singing it often
Your love’s is just some music I’ve forgotten
And they sang...
I remember knowing I loved you
I remember knowing you were gone
And I’m not sure the moment it went rotten But we turned into music I’ve forgotten, oh
I remember
I remember
Someday I’ll learn to forget
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8. |
Can't Believe
02:25
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Can’t believe what I just said
That was supposed to stay inside my head
Filled the air with mercury and lead
Can’t believe what I said
Can’t believe what I just did
Should have learned to keep my feelings hid
Opened the jar with a poison lid
Can’t believe what I did
Just because you know,
Doesn’t mean you ever have to show
What it is you felt, Some snows were never meant to melt
Can’t believe the view from up high
A precipice I didn’t have to climb
A tower of babel of my own design
Who the hell am I?
Can’t believe that I am here
New apartment looking so austere
Poster of Elvis and a case of beer Can’t believe I’m here
For what I said, For what I did
The mess I made, The things I hid
I took the blame and you took the kids
Can’t believe what I did
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9. |
Hold On
02:49
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No time to run, No time for fun
Under the gun, It weighs a ton
Problems to face, A deadly race
The final chase, A red-faced sun
World turning until it’s burning
Hold on,
Put your head down, your helmet on
Hold on, The margin’s thin, we’ve got to win
Tempers on fire, Empty desire T
ry to acquire, The highest buyer
No principles, It’s principal
Predictable, Inimical
Your empty smiling is too beguiling
Hold on, Knocking us back, in full attack
Hold on, Your heels dug in, nobody wins
Hold on, The rising cost, so much is lost
Hold on, There is no doubt, time’s running out
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10. |
Breathe It Out Again
05:38
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There’s a girl in this photo with her
Dad over her shoulder who
dies two weeks later
A stupid mistake learned a
second too late that turns her
God into a traitor
They teach her Job in school but it
doesn’t help figure out a
mom who’s lost in grieving
Growing up overnight you make your
own wrong and right and hope not
all of you is leaving
For the water and the wind
You end up where you begin
And you take a breath and breathe it out again
One day you looked at me and
saw something that I could
not see in myself
And I wrote a song about you
instead of realizing
how much you needed help
And I should have done more but
I was too busy looking
for my own savior
You deserved much better but you
had to settle for
me and my behavior
For the water and the wind
You end up where you begin
And you take a breath and breathe it out again
And all you tried to do was repair
The space filled with smog trapped in the air
Ghosts may fade, but they’re
always replaced with
monsters of your own
Circumstance and
random chance
clipped your wings before you’d flown
Time moves on and
seasons change and
they don’t make amends
You go down to the docks and say
hello and goodbye to his memory again
For the water and the wind
You end up where you begin
And you take a breath and breathe it out again
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11. |
Elegy
05:01
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I sat on my daughter’s bed tonight
Took a while ‘fore I could start
It was time to have the talk with her
It was time to break her heart
I said, “There’s people out there
who do good and who do bad
And when those bad people break you down
I hope you’ll have the strength to get away from them
I hope you’ll be safe when I’m not around
When I’m not around
When I’m not around
Not around.”
And down the road tonight at your friend’s house
Her mom is on her bed to say
Bout all the good and bad that’s out there
But she has to keep going and explain
“There are people out there who do good and who do bad
And when those bad people break you down
Don’t ever call the cops to try and save you
You’ll be safer by far if they’re not around
If they’re not around
Not around
Not around.’
Sons and daughters nestled in their beds
Some grow old and some, ‘fore they’ve begun
Get cut down by what infects us
Voiceless with an elegy unsung
We all move through the world,
some safe, some breathless
It’s time to start and raise our voices loud
‘Cause I’m shamed of the world I’m leaving for you, girl
But I’ve still got some time to make you proud
To make you proud
Make you proud
Make you proud
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12. |
Three Portraits
10:38
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Caroline I just seem to fade away
Caroline I just don’t know what to say
You made me feel so good and
I really wish you would just
Pick up the phone sometime and give me a call
Anytime at all
Caroline I just don’t know what to do
Maybe it’s just a phase I’m going through
Sometimes life is unkind and
I just want peace of mind but
I gotta say to you that
With you so concealed, I don’t know what to feel
Caroline, I thought I would do so much
And now I waste my life
Being a photograph, a frozen smile
Practiced in black and white
Well I know I’m lonely
And it may be only me
But could you help me understand
Caroline, there is so much left to fear
God, Caroline I wish that you were here
I don’t know what to think and
I drag a chain with my own links and
With each passing day my
Memory starts to fade
Wonder where you’re today
Caroline, even Earhart wished that
Someone could have been good enough for the ride
And that was never me
I traded that for empty, foolish pride
Well I know I’m lonely
And it may be only me
But could you help me understand
Understand
Laurie sits on her front porch but she won’t say nothin’
Mama brings her lemonade and thinks that Laurie’s bluffin’
She says get up off of that seat and do something for yourself
But Laurie’s life is shattered,
he’s in love with someone else
She took the things he gave her and threw them all away
Still she can’t believe
that he is gone to stay
Hears their six-month old baby crying upstairs
But since he left
it’s been harder to care
Laurie
And I don’t know where she is now
I hope she made it out of there somehow
Mama rubs her temples and leans against the table
She never thought she’d raise someone disabled
She’d pay a ransom for a future not so bleak
While Laurie just sits there listening to that porch swing creak
Laurie
Emily says that she is over him and ready for a change
Emily says that she is nervous and she’s starting to feel strange
Emily texts and calls it love and then never writes at all
Emily says she needs to talk to me and then forgets to call
But I don’t mind I don’t mind
I don’t mind
Emily’s boyfriend always shows up when I try and take her home
Emily’s boyfriend tells me nicely they just need some time alone
Emily smiles and she says don’t worry, this’ll only take a few
I waited for her to come home until a quarter after two
But I don’t mind I don’t mind
I don’t mind, oh Emily
Emily
Emily knows she’s reached the end of my fraying nerves and rope
Emily begs me to be patient cause it’s very hard to cope
With saying goodbye to someone who’s needed her for all these years
Emily says she is so bad at decisions,
she has fears
But I don’t mind
I don’t mind
Oh, Emily, you gotta make up your mind Emily
Emily
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13. |
Luckiest Person Alive
04:29
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I have to whisper this melody to myself
Or I’ll wake the family up
They’re all asleep ‘round me in this hotel room
It takes Will about two minutes to fall asleep
It always takes Bee half the night
So I ghost-hum this little tune
And Suz is only half-asleep
The good parents always are
She’s half-aware that I’m up again
She’s used to my pacing
My incessant waking
The night’s always been my worst friend
But the sound of this room is peaceful
These people are mine and I’m theirs
And tomorrow we’ll get up and pack the car
And settle our hotel affairs
And we’ll drive across desert
and up and down mountains
To the little home that’s become mine
And I’ll be
the luckiest person alive
I was raised to take care of broken things
That’s just what my people do
Even when they end up breaking you
I brought home a few birds with broken wings
And nursed them back to health
But those birds just injured themselves
And I’d given up on happiness
Whatever I thought that meant
So these people around me are heaven-sent
And we finally pull up to the front door
And everyone stretches and stirs
And we stumble out with our bags and things
And pile them all up on the curb
Will puts an arm ‘round his sister
Suz brushes the hair from her face
And the air is cool and there’s nothing to do
But be there together in space
These are the moments when life is happening
I’ve learned not just to survive
And I am
the luckiest person alive
I am
the luckiest person alive
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