anatomy

Generated 2007/06/08 20:03:13

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Mission Bell
Deep Blue Polka Dot
Train Of Thought
Murray's Steakhouse Story
Susie Before Sunrise
Sweet Pig Alley
Valerie Is Sleeping
Mickey The Priest
Mama Had A Stove
Whistle For Louise
Picasso's Tear
Sixteen Tons
Footnotes

Mission bell is ringin' for you
No one 'round and nothin' to do
Memory will fly and will fall
It's something you used to write on the wall

Chorus:
Wrong, so wrong, we're wrong
People pass and walk a road that's
Long, so long, it's long
See you when the sun is high

Wind is wild and blowin' too fast
The first in line will soon be the last
And when you go, somebody will cite
Ground control, better cancel this flight

Chorus repeat

Maybe someday you'll finally reveal
Something you stole, or something you'll steal
Now everyone is pulling their load
And do they grow, or do they explode

Chorus repeat x2

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

Commissioned for the short film Death Smokes A Big Cigar

Swimmin' in the slime
Peelin' off th' dock
Baby got a purple skirt that is polka-dot
Beauty in decay can be the only way when you are not

Wind is blowin' strong
Rainin' in the world
Nothin' but a sag where there used to be a curl
Cloud is comin' on
The weatherman was wrong––it's hot

Kill the referee
I'm callin' off the match
Gimme somethin' real––Babyface will need a peel tonight

Chorus:
Where they go
We don't know
But deep inside we're blue
Catch that fish
Your only wish
Deep inside we're blue
Blow that horn
From you I'm torn
No one has a clue
So pass that glass
Did you have to ask
Deep inside we're blue

Collision traffic mess
Failure or success
Who you lookin' at and tryin' to impress
Join you in your pain
Are you lookin' for the same tonight

Place me in your web
I will obey your plan
Gimme somethin' real––Babyface will need a peel tonight

Chorus repeat

notes

I don't know when this song was actually recorded; 1997 is, well, a shot in the dark.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1997 Mondo Spartacus / Illegal Songs (administered by BMI)

performers

Joe Berardi: drums, percussion
Stanard Ridgway: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Mark Shulz: lead guitar, vocals
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass, vocals
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals

I've wandered far and wide
This road keeps winding on
Can't stop these hands of time
Or right a world gone wrong

Chorus:
And I guess somewhere way out along the way
There was a vision I got
But then I lost my train of thought

Now I don't mean to stall
Or keep you here too long
Like echoes off the wall
It's here and then it's gone

Chorus:
And once all and everything came back to me
All the battles we'd fought
But then I lost my train of thought
I lost my train of thought

All the world and history
Burns like a bad sign
And here within my reach revealed
The clouds part in my mind
I see the love that I sought
But then I lost my train of thought
I lost my train of thought

The road is winding down
I'll need another clue
This seems familiar now
Or is this deja vu

Chorus:
And I guess somewhere way out along the way
There were feelings I fought
But then I lost my train of thought
I lost my train of thought
My train of thought
My train of thought

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

(instrumental)

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

Commissioned for the short film Death Smokes A Big Cigar

Here where the carousel spins
On an ocean of blame
We pick pockets in the crowds
Near the gold mines of shame

And I will wear a red ruby ring
That reflects the full moon
Meet me on the corner tonight
And we'll sleep deep down in the sand dunes

Chorus:
Susie climbed a mountain of tacks
She lost control of the facts
She put all of the clothes in a brown paper sack
And drove outta state the next day before sunrise
Before sunrise

Susie climbed a mountain of tacks

Walkin' by the old funzone¹
South of the gutter of doubt
Past a broken mirror glass
The reflection faded in and out
And I saw her there

Chorus repeat x3

notes

I don't know when this song was actually recorded; 1997 is, well, a shot in the dark.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1997 Mondo Spartacus / Illegal Songs (administered by BMI)

performers

Joe Berardi: drums, percussion
Mark Shulz: lead guitar, vocals
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass, vocals
Stanard Ridgway: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals

(instrumental)

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

Watch the planes take off and touch the clouds
Thinkin' I'm in a mess, in trouble now
Buried her in a hole last night
Underneath a tree

Chorus:
My life went wrong
When I met Valerie
My life went wrong
When I met Valerie

One night we walked into a field
Behind the trailer park she kneeled
The moon was hangin' like a mask
I lost my temper for the last time then—

Chorus repeat

Repeat this stanza 4x:
Valerie is gone now
Valerie is sleeping
Valerie is sleeping now...

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

(instrumental)

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

They say that I'm a loner
They say that I'm a stooge
But all I've ever wanted
Was back in Baton Rouge
We'd paddle up the river
Go fishin' in a stream
We'd see the people drinkin'
On the Mississippi Queen

Chorus:
And Mama had a stove
And Daddy had a still
Then Daddy ran away
With his second cousin Jill

I left home at ten
I joined a carnival
Washin' down the elephants
Life was never dull
One night when the clowns
Had all got drunk
I sneaked into your wagon
And rifled through your trunk

Chorus repeat

And Mama raised us up
To never tell a lie
Except when there's a secret
Where the neighbors tend to pry
Mama had a stove repeat x2

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

Bring your offering––side door, she's your ride
Born to carry you to the other side
I will know you when things don't quite add up
Bring your parasol and your coffee cup

Chorus:
Dry––the wind blows dry, so dry
Crack the vent––here comes a cool breeze
And chances are we'll always be on the other side of town
But the wind will always whistle for Louise

Working at the pump, she knew gasoline
Maps and geography, beer and methedrine
No one showed when they put her six feet down
The day her garage blew the dog was all they found

Chorus repeat last line x2

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

Like a monster back from hell
I sit and watch the river flow
And if I lose you on a turn
Or stopping at the yellow glow

I'll meet you back right here
Same time tomorrow night
Inside Picasso's tear
In this apocalyptic night

Now if the purple sky
Will turn another shade of green
And if the world will burn
In this apocalyptic sheen

I still remember you and me
We were partners pulling time
Mixing blue and green
And hangin' up our sign

And through a highball glass
Yeah, I could see inside your fear
Oh, you never knew it then
But the feeling was so clear

And if the target never moves
Yeah, but then it always does
Oh, the kids can fuck themselves
Yeah they'll find out soon enough

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1999 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)

performers

Tommy Arizona: pedal steel guitar
Jerome "The Lip" Bangote: trumpet, flugelhorn
Adrid Frid: harp, dulcimer
Bart Funsten: studio and newspaper
Larry Grennan: electronics and audio opinions
Rick King: twang guitars and merlot
Ivan Knight: drums and percussion, surfing tips
Jackie "Teak" Lazar: old show-biz stories & woodburner
Mr. Mickey: prayers and incense
Stanard Ridgway: guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals
Jeff Stooger: recorder, stoopid flute
David Sutton: electric and acoustic bass
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, vocals, whip-snag oscillators

Some people say a man is made outta mud
A-made outta mud an' muscle an' blood
Muscle an' blood an' skin an' bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong

Chorus:
You load sixteen tons, and whaddya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter, doncha call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store

Well, I was born one night when the sun didn't shine
I picked up a shovel––I went towards the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
The strawboss said, "Well, bless my soul!"

Chorus repeat

Well, if ya see me comin' better step aside
A lotta men didn't––a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
And if the right one don' getcha, well, the left one will

Chorus repeat x2

credits

Written by: Merle Travis
Published by: © Copyright 1947 Elvis Presley Music / Unichappell Music Incorporated (administered by BMI)

1. Stan's standard nickname for an amusement park.

2. Methedrine is a brand name of methamphetamine, a type of nervous system stimulant. And here I am looking this up and typing it in. Geeky enough for you?