Touch and Go 1998 TG191
| It's nice to be putting out a record on Touch and Go. There are lots of nice folks in Chicago, and many
of them work at Touch and Go. Andy is, of course, moving
to Chicago, but you all know that by now. Blueblood was recorded in my basement with James Hale and mixed in Chicago with Steve Albini. It's such a pleasure recording in my own home, I can't tell you. Play some drums, take a bath, go outside & yell at the jet planes. Take a nap. We ended up having a tight schedule for recording and releasing this record, which was unexpected, as we'd just left Matador and had no prospects we knew of. Still, recording the way we did was fairly relaxed and, of course, cheap. And, uh, it sounds good. Really. I'm not going to put any Real Audio stuff up here because, heck, it sounds better on record, and if you're reading this you probably are at least thinking of buying it, so I'd rather you hear it from the source, rather than through some scratchy ol' modem. |
Track listing:
Click on a song title for lyrics.
Soul, soul, who stole the soul? A blushing kid,
But you're never too old
I once loved a girl, met her at a dance
Presented her proudly with the Flowers of romance
All signs were good, I took her at her word
Like thousands before me, I came with a glance
Left there that night, no numbers did I get
Over the next two days I schemed and I wept
An army of monkeys dialing random artifacts
The monkeys they failed, the number's secret was kept
Told myself "you're a fool," but at my task I remained
Spared no pain on those monkeys
By my wit they were maimed
Ran into her down south of this charming town
Noted the response "haven't I seen you around?"
I Must Prepare (Tablecloth Tint)
Crabs fight for a peek
Windows clouded with algae
There is a passionate tint to the tablecloth
The total effect is one of liberation
Open wide
No one else will taste this wriggling tongue
I know I'm pinned
Your blue blood keeps me in
One more body is heavy
and I must prepare
I want to wish you well
Everything is better now
Can't you tell
It's unavoidable
I let the door hit my ass on the way out
and I can see a sign flashing on the shoulder
Men at work
The sun warms skin that it sometimes burns away
It takes the light of day to see
You can't be tamed
Some day soon you will be free again
to roam the streets
Looking for love from everyone you meet
and I must prepare
Said it too late, said it too soft
To touch them is all I want
Don't mean the skin, don't mean the face
I do mean in that unseen place
With a girl that I don't know
She said "I like you 'cause you got some soul"
That's just the blues I learned from the English dudes
It's nice to hear that I'm not cold as ice
The only reason that I won't die
Is that I won't see you on the other side
As we talked I felt a test
As Ulysses pit his strength at last
Against a viper and a siren
And like him, I'll never break and run
Trying hard to bring me down
But I'm the one who decides to be found
On the island at last I'm free
I feel the love, and I'm happy
Redeye
What you gonna do
Said you had a real good friend that understands you
Red eye
They got you on your knees
You're livin' a crazy life with some troublesome leanings
No one understands it
No one knows you planned it
You weren't made to go out
Walking on a fine line
Trip from here to there
You're dragging me down
Redeye
Well you're gonna need
A different kind of look outside balled up in solid energy
Red eye
I thought I was green
How can you be a load or two shy
What went on with Tammy
On Tammy
Wasted all the scratch I had
Fish swam from the net
The watery percentages
Should've known better than that
Deals meant For a better plan
Synthesized from fear
Bank accounts full of empty checks
Affairs of the heart draw near
Check your luggage with the janitor
Trovel light when you go
Down an empty elevator shaft
No light between floors
Tail end of a trauma
Took a fortnight to lapse
Strange and inconceivable
Almost impossible perhaps
Though I wanted it to happen
and I could wait For the rest
I couldn't handle the pressure
Or justify the expense
No heat in the baggage hold
It's a paralyzing cold
Backpack stashed in the overhead
Duct tape on the doors
Just a sticky bloody mess
Bunch of wet flesh and bones
Stuck to the walls in the alley
Dogs come around to explore
Never thought that it would come to this
It was an honest mistake
People take failure differently
Some of us never get a break
I've been around the world
I've seen a million girls
And I've been touched by every one of them
I love Amsterdam, the girls are so sweet
They give themselves away for free
But in America, you got to pay for your treats
It's not a bad system at all
Who wants to fall in love with a whore?
Not me, less you, least of all Winnie the Pooh
In Havana, the ladies will help ya
Improve your Spanish at the Tropicana
For just as long as the pesoes hold out
On the road, such a long time
The more I look, the more I find
And you know, one fine day
I'm gonna make one of them mine
I'm gonna make you mine
Isabella has got such a crowd
She gets so lonely without the men around
Just remember she's got feelings like you
An invitation from a Friend in Milan
Said Italian girls love to fuck their men
I begged off -- I just don't got that much jam
Love, sister, is just a kiss away
When it exists it just comes one day
Until then, sit on your hands and wait
Painted it white
Painted it white
Red, sore and black at the core
I painted it white
There's a street in your name
A street in your name
Short avenue
The houses are blue
Street in your name
Everything was rented
Every dime was spent and the Fire was stoked
From inseam to hem I am a dying specimen
The local joke
I'm a tramp
Everybody rides my ramp
Tonight I'm meat
Straight to your head
Straight to your head
Nobody noticed the cause of the change
Straight to your head
It was a limited run
A limited run
Turn off the lights
Lock up the place when you're done
Now, the greatest times ore gone
Down below with all the faded stars
Cyanide is nothing next to this one
And I know it, I con feel it, I con see
Come, collect the things I stole
I'll be home any night this week
Sonny S. is gone, I can't Forget him
I won't forget any of those I really love
I'm watching as she's spinning From my view
Like a mist, a film of tame abuse
We'll meet tonight at Roxbury as usual
And act like nothing happened there ofter all
I was just looking for a parking space
Stole my last one at the pearly gates
Wept tears of joy os I squeezed in
Slipped between those bumpers like rolling flint
But the entrance to the it's got a human lock
I don't think he likes my looks
Charged the halo's light
I thought I had it made
But they'd like to hang me up on a hook
The time to run is now
Grab the curtain's cord
Pull it down
Dignified end to an awful rout
Stranded in a place that can't be redeemed
Forced to ride the pine with the second team
And the entrance to the lot has a human lock
I don't think he likes my looks
Judging by my day you'd think I have it made
But they want to hang me up on a hook
I can't believe it
The time to run is now
Now is the time to run
The best parade is a house on fire
Nothing left but black and grey
Guitars and books and wood and wire
Plunged into a sooty grave
I didn't care
It cleaned me out
Three a.m. a cresting freeway
See the city from above
The arms of a familiar lover
Diamonds cover night's pure glove
Sleep beside my better half
Stand to greet another day
Shower's hot
I've been working a hell of a lot
But I don't mind
In fact I find
It cleans me out