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Absentminded Eulogy

by The Common Man

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1.
Fractions 04:43
I think I need a new Narcissus 'cause I deserve a deeper pool than this One half infinite immersion one half soon to join his twin Tonight we smash the mirrors! But my, don't you look ravishing today? Why not give it a fighting chance? Trade in your wisdom for sincerity You bare your teeth to phantoms that spiked collar sure goes well with your leash I've got my liberty there's only one thing left for you to give to me This is an abbreviation stuttered, muttered, diffracted thought Consciousness that once flowed in streams now rots in pools of distracted drought so I find myself hunched over puddles seeking absolution beneath the grime I'd like a new Narcissus it's getting hard to idolize these idle eyes This is the fault in my gestalt this is the error of my pride: Break me down and every piece is more diluted, weaker than the whole There's something lost in each transaction troubled mind for idolatry It's time to accept my obsolescence so I can continue to grow It's time to create in a vacuum if it will fill even the tiniest space Well - who's in the mirror and who's fallen behind? There's the deepest you in you - but who is that inside? I'll trade mosaic of the mind without a second thought for a life outside the self that can be swiftly swept aside but I'll need a new Narcissus - one that isn't the ugliest part of me
2.
There is a girl who seems to me to be so out of focus Like clouds on the sea she stifles me along the rift that broke us She stands by the door and secretly knows every place I try to go Then out of the corner of my eye she seems to grow She may know the way. There is a bird that sings for me - unseen, unmoved, unanswered Like cracks in the ceiling it powders me: the whim become the master For mine is a song so out of key, you may not take the melody Can you imagine life without your very own Me?
3.
The Twist 03:06
He was a doozy, he'd knock you dead with charm She was a floozy so she naturally dove into his arms (I bet their kids will look divine) It was about that time I shut the TV set and started wondering if life was just a joke I didn't get (Waiting for the punchline) | Where is the punchline, where is the twist? | Is there a deeper truth or is there just a gist? | There are a thousand stories I would tell if they were true | and a million thoughts I've never had if life is deja vu | Why don't we give it a twist? | 'Cause I am through with this I got to drinking; what else was there to do? I got to thinking we're just metaphors from someone's point of view (Just lines in conversation) Through one-way mirrors through which we may not see Our mastermind peers in and probes our cosmic surreality (It's time to go to sleep) I drew the blinds and stumbled into bed With troubled mind I tried to fall asleep but I woke up instead (Into the superdimension) The beings there had never heard of planet earth They vaporized my essence but they told me they would hasten my rebirth (Into a world of huge headaches)
4.
Set in scenery exotic Q feels queasily quixotic Sifting through the sequined curtains Knowing she won't see him lurking Lamps switch on behind the blood-red shades Enter the cat and the King of Spades Strings slice the silence like razorblades Oh, the masquerade He lays down his crown and scepter She purrs like a preying panther Q won't bear the sound tonight Staccato stilettos on pulverized pride They begin their courtly promenade He flicks her whiskers, Q dons his face Q rips the curtains and cocks his hate Oh, the masquerade Love goes through its own contortions (Contortions, distortions) and vengeance is the sweetest poison (A denouement of Greek proportions) Q lay dead beside the King The cat completed their gory ring So if you're Q, the cat, or the King of Spades I'd find yourself a safer game to play Else you might find yourself filleted On the facade of the masquerade
5.
Irons in the fire and life is in the black Brought to the point of no return and back Living on the edge of the world in my ancestors' berth Watering the flowerchildren bursting from the earth I'll have a garden by the sundown and a forest by the dawn A feast to gather and an art to subside on I want for everything, but I did not ask for this Where he who studies all his life finds bliss in ignorance Where I could be a monster and I'd still command your pride Where waters flood my mind, I hang my memories to dry and watch the colors run Down on galaxies of sand I'm feeling stronger every day Ready to leap and hoping to land To emerge from my home in the waves and breathe Deepen the breathing, deepen the voice Deepen these dimensions down to a point And release your focus to roam in the mist of whatever you've allowed to exist Irons in the fire and things are heating up You never know, this could be enough
6.
Would you be my favorite doll? You don't have to think or talk at all But when I pull your string you'd better sing There's a good girl, now here's the thing Listen to me good and don't you fight Don't do as I do, just do as I might Be my typewriter be my mental health and if you won't, I'll put you right back on the shelf Would you be the trick up my sleeve when I'm looking to commit a little Adam & Eve? We can beat around the bush if you catch my drift and if you tear at the seams, maybe I'll get you fixed Oh, baby be bad, baby break my back Yank off my arms, have my legs for a snack Stare me down with your button eyes, turn me to stone Put my head in a box and I'll moan, moan, moan Would you be my favorite doll? I'll bet you don't have the gall It's a full-time occupation both night and day and if nobody does it I might go insane So patch up your faults and stitch up your pride Ready the ring, here comes the bride Pin your willing effigy upon my wall and then you can be my favorite doll
7.
Seasoning for the season: lemon pepper grain Pumpkin bagels brighten gloomy days The night is warm Bracing for the storm Keep me warm tonight Take your shoes off, step soft on the rug Have some hot chocolate in your favorite mug You give me your smile Won't you stay a while? Stay a while with me tonight
8.
Gina's Place 03:46
Gina holds the schoolboys in the palm of her hand Her smile's always sultry and her laughter's always canned Nothing can deter us, lord knows how we try and if you've ever been to Gina's place, I'm sure you know why She said - If you're feeling, if you're feeling, if you're feeling all right Come on over come on over, we'll turn out the light | She sets the boys on fire in that pleasurable pyre | and I'll submit my guilty plea | Tonight, Gina's for hire | It's my one desire, but I'm not the only fish in the sea I finally found the courage, I gathered all my wits My mind was in the gutter and my eyes clung to her naughtier bits I didn't get to say a word, I saw the smile on her face and that night I slicked my hair back and I snuck out to Gina's place She said - If you're feeling, if you're feeling, if you're feeling all right Come on over come on over, tonight's your night Well I kicked and fussed Well it was all a bust - I waited round her door until three She'll leave you in the dust in that mecca of lust I thought I had the skeleton key Was it something I said or did I do something wrong? I went over to Gina's place, all I got was this lousy song
9.
Big Mama Marble lounged across her velvet throne sniffing bags of cocoa, throwing the dogs their bones There in the black light, stage fright snagged my wrist The gramophone cackled; I heard Big Mama hiss | "Down, down. | Gonna poke, gonna prod, gonna make you move | to the voodoo groove." The skeeters are a-humming and I haven't slept since Mardi Gras I found a black magic bible crawling 'cross my hotel floor They put a voodoo spell on you you cannot cure I'm haunted by the image of Big Mama's mask forevermore
10.
Little Souls 05:46
Little bells toll ad infinitum Little souls in their streams drift away I tuned in to a swell to bid bitter farewell to those sentenced on this judgment day Life gave me lemons so I planted a tree and now I sing a sour refrain 'Cause the seeds filled the ground and the juice filled the clouds and my skin burns in the acid rain | And I loathe that my love never lingers so long | as my tasteless regard for routine | But day after day, the debris dies away | and sugar, it still tastes as sweet Now the man in the moon moans a miserable tune and I know the sun has seen better days So I say to you from a worms-eye view: Never put your umbrella away
11.
12.
Red wax glaze on hazy glass - I remember well The vacant shells of the all-star cast lying where they fell Photos, prose, and evening clothes in piles on the floor An apple core on dustless bones spilled out the closet door There between the coffee cups and damp deserted sheets I started saving you up, so doting, so discreet The wine, the weed, your voice so sweet, the pretty chords you played The lawn that loomed above the street that I'd cross every day And I believed in love. | My heart grows fonder in absentminded eulogy | among the choir across the pyre, singing in your memory | It's my original sin, I'm scattering cinnamon | on flames I should have left to die to sweeten soot with scent of spice Skin and bones with a pixie cut, she'd be the death of me She kills me with her pretty face, she kills with apathy I'm tired of her bitter smirk and the blandness in her gaze I'm tired of her sour sighs and I've only had a taste There I was lost in a song, lost in a girl who didn't love me long Maybe love, maybe lust, maybe just a desperate act of trust There I was vowing to chance to have her in my arms by the break of day We both cried out in the lawn and held each other closer as the rain kept on ...my heart grows fonder, the nights stretch longer fading in and out of blue It's my original sin, I'm scattering cinnamon on flames I should have left to die Now what of me remains alight? Here I am burnt in the sun, dreaming of my tightest ties now long undone Never having laid to rest the sentiment that I regret I left unsung Here I am, here's the song, here I'll learn the heartless art of moving on It was love and it was lust, what the hell, it was a bust and everything worth saving up is gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.
13.
The Twist 04:10
I live in the passing shade of the lone cloud on a new spring day and in the breeze my thoughts drift off to you All our time spent in the sun, mowing the grass one by one tasting love on every breath we drew Winter nights that chilled my blood, you poured hot chocolate in my mug my eyes followed the steam up to your grin When love's not just another song, dusk becomes another dawn twisted with a hint of peppermint | Yawning in the yard, you add the color to my sky | Hand in hand, we're out of sight, we're out of mind | My daydream boat, alive, afloat, soft breath on my sail | Sewing seams of conscious streams to bear us out of each inhale I awoke atop a wake, waiting for my wave to break riding out the remnants of the storm Sensing just ahead of me the instant of eternity before I shrug my slumber on the shore Lifetimes pass before my eyes open to catch the gold sunrise set scene for your sleepy serenade There's a sweetness in your sighs that steals the show from starry nights and lets love loose into our lovely daze

credits

released December 6, 2015

Performers:

- Archie: vocals; acoustic, electric, and classical guitars; fretted and fretless bass guitars; drums; percussion and oddities; piano; programming; clarinet

- Roshni: vocals ("The Twist", "Irons in the Fire", "The Twist")

- Chad: drums ("Voodoo Groove", fractions of "Fractions" and "Irons in the Fire"), snare rolls ("There Is a Girl")

- Trevor: lead guitar ("Voodoo Groove")

- Ryan: alto sax ("Gina's Place", "Little Souls", "Scattering Cinnamon", "Fractions", "Would You Be My Favorite Doll"); tenor sax ("The Twist"); clarinet ("The Masquerade")

- Nathan: alto sax ("Little Souls", "Scattering Cinnamon", "Fractions"); tenor sax ("The Twist", "Gina's Place")

- Mitcham: alto sax ("The Twist", "Gina's Place"); bari sax ("Little Souls", "Scattering Cinnamon", "Fractions")

- Alexander: cello ("There Is a Girl", "Little Souls")

- Mike: violin ("There Is a Girl", "Little Souls")

- William: violin ("There Is a Girl")

All lyrics written and music arranged by Archie.

All music written by Archie except:
"Fractions", "Irons in the Fire" (Archie, Chad)
"Voodoo Groove" (Archie, Chad, Trevor, Greg)
"The Twist" (Archie, Glenn Tilbrook)

"The Twist" originally performed by Merry Go Rounds.
"Irons in the Fire", "Voodoo Groove", and fractions of "Fractions" originally performed by Ground Rules.
"Would You Be My Favorite Doll?" originally performed by Chicken Dinner Faceplant.
"Gina's Place" originally performed by The Tides.

This album owes its life, in a mix of particular orders, to Alexander McIntyre, Tony Scimeca, Kevin Daffon, Chad Miller, Trevor Loranger, Greg Hendler, Roshni Malde, Ryan Konopka, Nathan Weiskirch, Mitcham Tuell, William Sandberg, Mike Stearns, Bennett Kane, Jesse Ross, Elvis Costello, Alex Weiss, and Mom & Dad. So blame them, not me.

Recorded at the Pillow Fort, January-December 2015.

Album art & booklet by Mike Stearns.

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The Common Man Atlanta, Georgia

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