art tony mahony
Released on Cockaigne , October 2003.
all songs written by David Graney. Copyright Control
.
I'm seein demons
an' I ain't the only one
I'm seein demons an' they're lookin back at me
they know
they know
they're movin' all together
wonderin' why I'm hangin' back so
you look out one night
see a bunch o' ham hocks'n'hog jowls
and their trotters are up on the table
upsettin' their glasses
I'm seein demons
an' I ain't the only one
I'm seein’ demons
an' they're lookin' back at me
they know
they know
they're movin' all together
wonderin' why I'm hangin' back so
my chinese doctor says "take this, it'll come out through you bowels"
"not sitting on top" he says for the seventeenth time and howls
he's seein' demons
an' he ain't the only one
he's seein demons an' they're lookin back at him
we know
we know
we're movin' all together
wonderin' why he's hangin' back so
the brother who loved
the two of 'em were like brothers
they lucked onto a code
they had their time
they had their moment
they played an old ,established part so well
they were doomed, tubercular and thin
it was all they could do to hang onto their guitars
to stand up was a triumph
to throw their voices like they did
with such abandon at the mic
people came from miles around
I often wonder about the brother who lived
one of the two was tougher
or luckier, or smarter
he was found in the garden shed
the tapes were mixed by his road manager
his image triggers off a world of possibilities
a diver poised
the door always open wide
somebody standin on the other side of the river
I often wonder about the brother who lived
y’know all the stuff we lifted
all the parts we stole from those beautiful American records
y’know the stuff
all the lonesome hobo,devil got my woman, routines
how were we to know that they were for real
they were prophecies that would come true
ah the scenes that we would play
now I go about
no one knows where I am
I play where I can
midnight to dawn
what are those endless hours called
midnight to dawn
on a workin' day
people are actually listenin'
to their radios
hangin' on as hard as they can
to the song
to the voice
midnight to dawn
I don't wanna be but I am
midnight to dawn
seems to be my time
I love the morning
the fresh morning
I wish I could hold onto that morning feeling
midnight to dawn
stackin' the shelves
drivin' the kid to sleep
nowhere no time
midnight to dawn
people see things so clearly
they try to say it
they try to do it
I love the morning
the fresh morning
I wish I could hold onto that morning feeling
there's the the
royal troll
you can't fool me pal
I've seen you on a roll
eyes flamin, nostrils wider
ah there's the royal troll
yer like an iceberg now
9/10 submerged
eyes barely lookin over the surface
sittin in the sun
stayin up on deck for the moment
foolin everyone
foolin the world
whats happenin back there?
I dunno whether you're damaged now and were better before
or whether you were damaged then and alright now
its hard to get that bristlin', flamin' image outta my mind
ah, there's the royal troll
I see you in your business clothes
runnin' for high office
you can't fool me pal
I've seen you on a roll
eyes flamin, nostrils wider
ah there's the royal troll
all our friends were stars
a scarf thrown just so
something in the past though we were so young
you'd skip out the front door and someone would be walking by
you'd get caught up in the slipstream so easily
I fell in with the wrong crowd of course , we were alright
there was nothing wrong, we knew we could feel each others moves
eyes
all our friends were stars all our friends were stars
smoking guns
the action had just happened
we were keeping our cool
we had the speed and the one eye
straight men on every corner for our punch lines
and we never missed we had the timing too
we'd ride into the sunset again and again
ride the whirlwind into oblivion
all our friends were stars all our friends were stars
we were on our way out on our way up
heading west of course, the way of the sun
she had her hair just so
he held a bottle like he was about to let go and let it crash to the floor
to be young and wasted was our goal and we kicked it without fail
we had all the questions, no one else had a mouth
we were all ears
we raced to the end before the song had finished
we knew where it would go next better than them
all our friends were stars
all our friends were stars
glamourous and doomed
so sad, so pale, so fast
so on her way back to her own planet
all our friends were stars all our friends were stars
blazing trails, putting out
we saw ourselves in the shop windows and changed course
things happened so fast
she looked at me from out of her eyes...
back when I had all the time in the world
and infinite space to move in
I thought I had all the time in the world
and so many places to go
by the time I was able to realize
how little time there had been all along
it was all I could do to spare a moment to this idea
she looked at me from out of her eyes
I was lookin at you from the narrowest view I could find
I desperately wanted to be right
deep in my minds eye I knew I was wrong
but I closed my eyes and kept looking
she looked at me from out of her eyes
like a millionaire
Lookin down on my song
from way up in the sky
hangin over head for a while
Just passin through
checkin out the scene one last time
movin around the pieces
movin between the moments so fast
carving up the country
cuttin through the corn
makin some new land where there were none before
Lookin down on my song
I know how this story ends
I'm makin the shape of my life
I think I'll stick around for a while
I was rich in time
everybody was
only I could see
there was no rush
we weren't goin anywhere
I was playin like a millionaire
lookin down on the field
seein the whole game played out just before anybody knows I'm gone
a boy named epic
took his own name
from a big book
its funny how your life
becomes a story
that you thought you were writin'
he lived by himself
but he kept his custard creams
under the sideboard
like a cat
he spent all his money
on records and magazines
he so wanted to be inside
to be inside that other world
and to be in the big room by himself
a boy named epic
he took his own name
from a big book
its funny how your life
becomes a story
that you thought you were writin'
I am your humble servant
its plain to see
what this situation needs
is someone whos been around the block
someone who knows his way around
someone whos been there
someone whos comin from the outskirts of town
I am your humble servant
what this situation needs
is a veteran from a strange land
a crank
someone with nothin to lose
nothin to prove
someone whos just stickin round for the hell of it
for dessert
someone whos sold up and bought into the end of the road
I am your humble servant
someone who can take the wheel
while hes lookin through his coat pocket all the time
someone whos worried about a certain tooth
what this situation needs is someone whos thinkin about dinner
or what they had for lunch
I am your humble servant
from the desert a prophet will come
ridin a golf buggy an' drinlkin white rum
someone whos been to the other side
someone whos got an idea where another side might be
twilight
of a villain
you know I've seen you before
there was other people with other names
but they were all the same
I've seen you come and go
you're tryin things out
doin things for the first time
findin some space in the world
you're so far away from even your own face
its tough for me you know
I've been spinnin my wheels
hangin around in the same streets for too long
I should've moved on
theres always some young gun
whos makin his way through the crowd
I'm one of the people he can see
I'm waitin
what does an old villain do?
an old dog amongst the chickens
its no place to stay
but theres nowhere to go
who wants to know what I see now?
they want the old story again and again
you know I can lay that out
so what does an old villain do?
I don't want no trouble anymore
trouble is all I've got
trouble behind and all around
my eyes are goin
people think I don't see them
and they'e right
I just follow their lead
all I've got is the fear
you know I'm in a real tight spot
I live on a dead end street
theres only one thing that can happen now
I wonder if I'm gonna have a say in it?
I can't believe the crap I said, the things I've gotta live beyond
I tried some other routines but there was always
my young self queerin every scene
Lyrics to Heroic Blues (2002)
lyrics to SUPERMODIFIED (2010
Lyrics to YOU"VE BEEN IN MY MIND (2012)
lyrics to FEARFUL WIGGINGS (2014)