Album #3: When Leftovers of Albums Themselves Have Leftovers, You Get this…

Having become the “spillover to the spillover” record in the series, my third album, “Opening Act” is rather appropriately (if ironically) entitled, consisting of continuous re-writes, newly-written works and rearrangements.

With some of my all-time favorite writes, many of which are still under construction, re-production and arrangement, this album reflects more evolution, of an almost progressive rock nature, while keeping within my own “Punkly” style, and featuring some of my past and current titles, a duality arranged into one contiguous sound, reflecting an opening act vibe with a headliner feel.

An album title that, conceptually, would have been supposed to be the first in the series, “Opening Act” outpours something new appending itself to a concept more familiar, a strategy “opening acts” in music rely on, leveraging audience demographics to hear a new sound and provide a future sound to be excited about.

This is taken from my thrill in having discovered live music, from the earliest concerts I have attended, and the fact that some of the best bands I discovered and whose material I’ve purchased were, indeed, opening acts to headliners I went to see. And, sometimes, these “opening acts” were in bargain bins in stores like “Record World”, “Record Town” and, Times Square’s former “Virgin Megastore”.

From these experiences, I have discovered some of my foremost influences in writing including names like Tom Kimmel (opening for Heart), Rhythm Corps (opening for Pat Benatar), Utopia (opening for the Tubes), Honeymoon Suite (opening for .38 Special), David Broza (opening for Steve Perry), Marillion (opening for Rush), and, my all-time favorite songwriting influencers, Del Amitri, whose album “Waking Hours” I so serendipitously found in a bargain bin at Record World on clearance for $1.99, an album which changed my life and songwriting direction for years to come!

From such songs taken from my archival musings as “Hollywood“, “My Christmas Eve” and “Only You” to newly-crafted innovations such as “A Punked Up Fairy Tale, “I Can Hear the Sunshine Through the Rain” and “Footprints On the Moon“, Opening Act is anything but an act to “just pass the time until the headliner takes the spotlight”. It is itself a spotlight in its own right, one of the future and continuous direction of my writing. All culminating in the powerful and driving thrust of “Last Night” demarking another turning point in the direction of my style and, appropriately a song that came to me in a dream. As a late entry, there was even room for an encore, one of my favorite all-encompassing truths I’ve written about, in “Found Your Words In Me”

The Album Demo Recording and Lyrics

Here is a master player with lyrics below it. Press “Play” and then scroll to read the lyrics in order.

Song Lyrics by Track

Press play on the player above and scroll through the lyric compilation, in order, below.

Only You

So it seems I’ve lost you
for you never to return
It seems you’ve had to cut your losses
as far as I’m concerned
You thought you left me aching
and drowning in the pain
thinking that I don’t deserve
to have you in my life that way

But you will be back for me,
wanting me back ‘cause,
you will be back to see
if I’ll make you the priority,
abandon all else
so you can have your way with me,
and, I’m left with only you

Didn’t you think I’d wonder
the reasons it could be,
figure out where I had gone wrong
and what’s so wrong with me?
You forget that I remember
who I really am,
and I know why that you are gone
and why that here I stand

‘cause you will be back for me,
wanting me back ‘cause,
you will be back to see
if I’ll make you the priority,
abandon all else
so you can have your way with me…

Your poise and your discretion
conceal your whole intention
to get in and break down
and get out before it falls on you

Were you threatened by the purpose
that was driving me along?
‘Cause I would say I had direction
and let you steer me wrong
But now you get your close-up,
as I turn up the lights,
revealing all the plans you had for
me to forget mine!

But you will be back for me,
wanting me back ‘cause,
you will be back to see
if I’ll make you the priority,
abandon all else
so you can have your way with me,
and, I’m left with only you

So it seems I’ve lost you…

Footprints On the Moon

I get up in the morning
and I clear my eyes,
and I yawn and contemplate
the problems on my mind,
Down a cup of coffee
and I brush my teeth
and I put on a smile
for the world to see

I can’t put a finger on it
but I can
see there is some merit
on the other hand
why I’m tearing up
from movie plots
that plug a sense of
someone else I haven’t got

I get so emotional
and sad and cry
and regret that I always
seem to have to find
someone that I haven’t
quite yet defined
and I guess
it’s the burden of my life
I’ll never forget and
I’ll just be preoccupied
so I’m set on finding
someone who’s just right
to impress on me
until the end of time
and won’t get
worn away anytime soon
I get so emotional
and sad and cry
and regret that I always
seem to have to find
someone that I haven’t
quite yet defined
and I guess
it’s the burden of my life
I’ll never forget and
I’ll just be preoccupied
so I’m set on finding
someone who’s just right
to impress on me
until the end of time
and won’t get
worn away anytime soon
like footprints on the moon

Hollywood

She slips in the rain and yells at me
Brags about her pain and her misery
A drama she’s saved up for an audience
Critics stand and rave her performance!

Sudden traffic jam, an emergency,
Raging, changing lanes with an urgency
A brutal scene he’s saved from long ago
played in present day like a movie

He makes it sound like Hollywood,
acting out the pain of his life
He fakes it, just like Hollywood,
and it serves him well to survive

A couple so engaged in an argument,
Such a burning rage from their apartment
Gives him back his ring and pounds the floor
Doles his backhand swing, then slams the door!

He makes it sound like Hollywood,
acting out the pain of his life
He fakes it, just like Hollywood,
and it serves him well…

I can’t go on with a loved one dead,
You give me worries I take to bed,
And no one seems to live a life so free
Just acting out their scenes…

and make it sound like Hollywood,
acting out the pain of their lives
They fake it, just like Hollywood,
and it serves them well…
to make it sound like Hollywood
reading from their scripts every time
and fake it, just like Hollywood,
acting how they think keeps them alive!

My Christmas Eve

(also not a Christmas song!)

La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La

There’s a certain night of year, when
I’m reminded, from all the warmth and cheer,
of all the precious gifts I get from you
Yet, all year round I still celebrate
With all you’ve given, I wanna concentrate
on every way that I can give back too

You shine like a tree-top star
that guides me to where you are tonight,
draws me close when you are far from me
You twinkle, you’re shiny bright
and, I’m this kid lookin’ at all the pretty lights
Of all my favorite days, you’re my Christmas Eve!

Just like my favorite time of year,
counting down with that big night drawing near,
with all this suspense building I just can’t take,
anticipation that you’ll be here
exciting joy that fills my atmosphere
feeling deep inside, I just can’t wait…

Christmas lights flash off and on,
but you keep shining all year long,
and every day I’m celebrating you!

La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La
La-La-La-La

Oh, shine like a gleaming star,
and guide me to where you are tonight
Draw me close if you’re too far from me
Sparkle so shiny bright,
I’ll spy the glitter of your twinkling light
You’re my favorite day, my Christmas Eve!

Happy Birthday 4U

Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday, you!

I wish you happy birthdays,
a hundred trips around the sun
I wish you all the fun and games
and that it’s only just begun

Happy birthday for you
and hereafter too
Blow your candles
but I’ll wish for
a happy birthday
for you,
for you,
for you,
for you!

So celebrate your birthday
with family, friends and fun,
and live it up so many more
for many years to come

Happy birthday for you
and hereafter too
Blow your candles
but I’ll wish for
a happy birthday
for you,
for you,
for you,
for you!

(You say it’s your birthday!)

I’m Toast Without You

Starting out on a perfect daybreak
Sip my coffee and sniff that morning air,
covered in these droplets of your dew
A little hungry for what my day brings
Fresh-squeezed sunshine and I don’t even care
to break this lengthy fast, unless on you

‘cause I’m toast without you, I swear
crisp and brown too, don’t despair
‘cause, something about you
makes me warm and toasty
and I melt like butter too
But I’m toast without you…
toast without you
toast without you
without you
toast without you

Burning daylight I’m racing towards you
Cooling breeze with the top down all the way
Engine runnin’ on pistons sparked by you
I’ve been a bit of a crash test dummy,
rollin’ up to you, wonderin’ how to make
a flameless, photo finish fueled by you

‘cause I’m toast without you, I swear
crisp and brown too, don’t despair
‘cause, something about you
makes me warm and toasty
and I melt like butter too…

Astronauts are always safe from
burning up on reentry but,
as for me, it’s not the case with you

‘cause I’m toast without you, I swear
crisp and brown too, don’t despair
‘cause, something about you
makes me warm and toasty
and I melt like butter too,
‘cause I’m toast without you, I swear
crisp and brown too, don’t despair
‘cause, something about you
makes me warm and toasty
and I melt like butter too
Toast without you,
without you
I’m toast without you!

I Can Hear the Sunshine Through the Rain

From dusk til dawn, my guard goes down
with no one else around and blinds drawn
I toss, I yawn, it’s hard to drown out
the troubled sounds of what my mind’s on
a storm of troubled thoughts floods tired brains,
and it just sounds like rain to me,
precipitating pain I feel

My luck is drawn from cards I’m dealt,
but been dealing them myself for so long
that I can’t call my sharpest bluff,
my poker stare is rough, read it wrong,
like some locked-up, frozen weather vane
that rusted in this rain,
can’t see direction of the pain,
and I’m beat

But, then, after I finally fell asleep,
something happened different in my dream
and it changed everything

The voices clash, they kick my ass,
What am I gonna do?
There’s no more rope, dwindling hope,
none to look forward to
Climb into bed, get in my head
and all my wits are drained
Under this noise, I heard your voice
I could hear you sayin’
I can hear the sunshine through the rain

The hurt that tends to pour on me
seems like a brutal storm with no end
that descends, like war, on people
who are uniformed and depend
on their leaders to help see them through
but seldom ever do break free,
and don’t know what to do, like me

All day in my head I heard this song
and, though my last night’s dream was so long gone,
you sang and I heard you!

The voices clash, they kick my ass,
What am I gonna do?
There’s no more rope, dwindling hope,
none to look forward to
Climb into bed, get in my head
and all my wits are drained
Under this noise, I heard your voice
I could hear you say…
The voices clash, they kick my ass,
What am I gonna do?
There’s no more rope, dwindling hope,
none to look forward to
Climb into bed, get in my head
and all my wits are drained
Under this noise, I heard your voice
I could hear you sayin’…
I can hear the sunshine through the rain

So Close to the Truth

Though they walk through the alley
in the shadow of meth,
they will fear no needle
But if they would allow me,
it may scare them to death,
but it’s far less lethal,
to see on one hand
something way too close to see,
looking from where they stand
of how any of this can be…

If you never asked once,
what your country can do,
because it was your duty,
and now you’re under the gun
that’s pointed wrongly at you,
an enemy that’s shooting
Giving you a pill,
when life’s too hard for swallowing,
when inches to the right you heal
but left of there you’re wallowing…

If your name’s on the wall
and blazon in spray paint
graffitied up so tall,
it’s seen from miles away
Move your nose
from the brick face

So close to the truth
but so far away
Things that we thought we knew,
but we just couldn’t say
Just this one step ahead
but right here we stay,
and we’re just waking up,
but it’s another day
that’s closer to making sense
so close to the truth
but so far away
So close to the truth
but so far away
Things that we thought we knew,
but we just couldn’t say
Just this one step ahead
but right here we stay,
and we’re just waking up,
but it’s another day
that’s closer to making sense
so close to the truth
but so far away

A Punked Up Fairytale

Once upon a time…

Oh, look, we’re out of the woods now, baby,
standing at the castle door
and while the story’s getting good now, maybe,
you’ll let me tell a little more

You turned me into a knight when you told me
that I could set things right if I’d only
ride in and be your hero

Beyond magic wands and frogs in ponds,
under princess rom-com wedding veils,
where tattooed brides crush on jousting knights,
you’re the star of this punked-up fairytale!

Come on!

I think I like the way this story’s going
I can’t wait to find out the end
and if I blink, I’m afraid I’ll miss it,
so eyes wide open until then

I think you rescued me when you asked me
if I could get you free and at last be
your punkly, valiant hero

Beyond magic wands and frogs in ponds,
under princess rom-com wedding veils,
where tattooed brides crush on jousting knights,
you’re the star of this punked-up fairytale!

If you hate it, don’t you worry,
we can tell a different story
with a different ending too
As long as I am spending time
that’s long and never-ending with you…

Brings out the best in me, now and always,
and all my chivalry, to be your hero!

Beyond magic wands and frogs in ponds,
under princess rom-com wedding veils,
where tattooed brides crush on jousting knights,
you’re the star of this punked-up fairytale!

Wave your magic wand, kiss a frog in a pond
and look at me from beyond your wedding veil
You’re my princess bride, and I’m your shining knight
in our favorite freaking fairytale!!!

Well, come on!

Your fairytale
Your fairytale

The end…

Last Night

It came to me,
in a dream so clear,
after all these years
I’ve spent denying hard,
thought it couldn’t be,
but It was plain to see,
rediscovered quietly
your tender heart,
from just before
I left us torn apart

Another chance,
a surprise circumstance,
in a sleeping trance, that
I sensed was so real
I felt your advance,
it can’t be happenstance
I insist it can’t possibly
be just a dream
that brought me to you
and you to me

Why did we just let it go?
Why’d we both go along with
going about our separate ways
and saying our so longs?
And why didn’t we just recognize
that, when we met for one last time,
even though we’d said our last goodbyes,
the darkness stopped this time
for our last night?

If you thought of me,
that I did this easily,
you’d find out, tragically,
I went, but can’t deny
that I had second-guessed
and looked in retrospect
at our deep connection broken,
Lord knows why,
but thought it was
too late to be revived

It was so good to see
you there in my sleep,
picking up with me where
we left off last time
in the dead of dark,
last night, it came alive…

Found Your Words In Me

I know how you feel
when you can’t find the words
and how you project
but have yet to be heard,
and you wish more meaning
when your consciousness streams,
and it hurts not
to be heard, only seen
But then I spoke for you, and

You kept to yourself,
but eventually,
you had to find the words
that would express what you mean,
You had in mind the eloquence
you wish would outpour,
and there you stood
not heard, only seen
But then I spoke for you, and

There aren’t any better words
to say or describe
what’s in my heart,
on my sleeve,
or spinning ‘round in my mind,
but what I love about
saying it so perfectly is how
you found your words in me, (words in me)
There aren’t any better words
to say or describe
what’s in my heart,
on my sleeve,
or spinning ‘round in my mind,
but what I love about
saying it so perfectly is how
you found your words in me,
words in me
words in me