1. |
Coffee Black
02:50
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Coffee Black
A couple of years ago
I didn't feel like myself
I figured, "Hey, I must be something else."
Adults were huge dolls
And tenements were battleships
From alien worlds
But then the sun came down
And I learned to sing about life
And I sang, "Woe, woe is me."
A couple of summers ago
I lost track of things
But I thought, "Hell, so did everybody."
I thought I was the home team
And the town would root for me
Like I was in a comic book
But then the storm broke
And I walked in on the wrong conversation
And I found myself singing in the train station
And I sang, "Woe, oh woe is me.".
A couple of days ago
While remembering my name
I thought," Where the Hell is everybody?"
All the kids in my class
All the regular day people
I'd slap the blue air with
All the kids I'd huddle beneath the desk with
Just waiting for the planes
To take us all to Kingdom Come
Before yesterday
When I learned to drink my coffee black
Yeah, when I learned to drink my coffee black
Oh baby, take your sugar back
©1998 Lach
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2. |
Teenage Alcoholic
02:33
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Teenage Alcoholic
Full blown at thirteen
Finishing daddy's drinks
Everyone thought you were cute
Until you started to shoot
Mommy's an ostrich
She keeps her head in the sand
Cocktails at bridge
You know she's always got the winning hand
Where are you tonight?
Boston, Queens, L.A.?
Or are you stuck in someburbia
where no one gives a shit anyway?
About...
Teenage alcoholic, teenage alcoholic
Hey, where are you?
No-one understands
They just make fun of you
And all the local bands
They're telling you it's so cool
But your grist for the mill
Yeah, kids are for tricks
Keep on going until
You get sick and tired of being sick
I ain't here to preach
I just hope you're o.k.
And though it seems out of reach,
You know, there's got to be a better way
than...
Teenage alcoholic, teenage alcoholic
Hey, where are you?
Come in from the cold
You're getting to old to be a
Teenage alcoholic, teenage alcoholic
Teenage alcoholic, teenage alcoholic
Hey, where are you?
©2014 Lach
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3. |
Ungrateful
03:51
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Ungrateful
You found a slug, it was a bug, you took it up to your bedroom
Pretty soon, a cocoon, and then a couple of months go by
A butterfly like a psychedelic balloon around your room
But at the window they take a photo and then the next thing you know
They put you on the cover of Insect Weekly
And say,"Come on, we'll make some money."
The big boys say, "Now, Sonny, don't be ungrateful."
You found some clay, the other day,
You took it home, you started to play
No thought of the future, you made a sculpture,
You just like to play that way
The local press was so impressed they called you the next Henry Moore
And what's more they wanted more and more and
They put you on the cover of Sculpture Weekly
And said,"Come on, we'll make some money."
The big boys say, "Now, Sonny, don't be ungrateful."
You met this girl, you like this girl, man, you really like this girl
You write her a poem, becomes a song, you take it up to her bedroom
Her brother Joe has a college radio show, the next thing you know,
It's in the air, it's everywhere and no one asked you if you care
They put you on the cover of Musician Weekly
And say,"Come on, we'll make some money."
The big boys say, "Now, Sonny, don't be ungrateful."
Well . . .Be ungrateful!
©1998 Lach
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4. |
I Love Them
03:19
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I Love Them
Elizabeth is like a myth
She's like a baby
She's smooth and newly born
Susan's like a symphony
She's a mystery
So curious and warm
I love. . .
Lisa's treasure is well hid
She's a little kid
Her fingers are dipped in paint
Mary's soul is up for bid
She's flipped her lid
She thinks she's bad when she ain't
I love. . .
Karen's got a cat I gave her
In December
I wonder how they are
Annie she keeps writing me letters
Saying she remembers
Playing on my guitar
I love. . .
Heather she's like a feather
She's soft and tender
And floating on a breeze
Michelle calls me once a week
She doesn't speak
She just likes to hear me breathe
I love them
I love them
I love
I love
I Love Them
I Love Them
©1998 Lach
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5. |
Jester
03:32
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The Jester
she played the trumpet
and the walls turned into fish
flopping on the carpet
man, she didn't even flinch
i guess she didn't notice
as the sky poured through the room
and filled my soul with a tenderness
like a louis armstrong tune
and i always love the girl
who lives in a private world
i become a jester
just to get her
to smile at me
caught in the current of her alchemistry
my blood turns into gold and mercury
like young elvis' blue falsetto moon
i understood alone
when she walked through the room
our eyes performed a ballet
like the hands of dorothy hamill
little birds reflected
in a pond of olympic ice
©1998 Lach
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6. |
Blue Monk
03:52
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The Blue Monk
I got a need to go out fighting
Got a need to go out in song
Got a need to go on righting
Everything that has gone wrong
But a blue monk he sits beaming
In a garden of pearl and wine
He lives a life without needing
And everything just turns out fine
I want to be with the blue monk
The blue monk he is dancing
Amongst lilacs, lilies and birds
He don't need nothing
He just lives off the fragrance of words
I want to be with the blue monk
So, give me a powerful trumpet
I want to blow my pain away
Because all this restless anger
It’ll be the death of me
Hey, you can ask him for anything
There's a line outside his gate
Of people with desires
For things that just won't wait
But once they finally meet him
All the world just disappears
And the only thing you be wanting
Is for him to keep you near
I want to be with the blue monk
Give me Heaven's hot water
I want to wash the sins from me
I just want to start over
In the blue monk's company
I want to be the blue monk
Blue monk
Blue monk
You must learn the ways
Of the blue monk
©1998
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7. |
Gasoline Blue
03:00
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Gasoline Blue
She says, “Colors are numbers.”
So, I gave her mine
I told her, " My number's blue.
Call me anytime. "
She says, “Colors are letters
and your name is red.
I'm an eidetic artist.
Let me paint some poems in your head.”
And so we took out our eyes
And we licked them clean
And then we gave them to each other
To see what we had seen
Saxophones blew smoke rings
Of blue gasoline
And martinis were served up
By science-fiction magazines
©1998 Lach
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8. |
Kiss Loves You
04:06
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Kiss Loves You
Paul Stanley on my bubblegum card
And on my lunchbox in the school yard
Is it strange to rock so soon
When I heard T.Rex in the womb?
Ah, Kiss loves you
Getting high in the green bug
Me and my best friend Doug
Making bongs out of snorkel coats
Pretty soon everything just floats
Ah, Kiss loves you
In his wallet Doug kept a page
From Creem showing Kiss onstage
And if you stared long enough I swear
It was you not Gene up there
Ah, Kiss loves you
We started a band of our own
Playing in our bedrooms
While Doug played a Flying Vee
I would scream, "Goodnight Cincinnati!"
Ah, Kiss loves you
"Room service I could use a meal
C'mon, baby, do what you feel
Shock me! Make me feel better
C'mon, shock me, wear your black leather!"
Ah, Kiss loves you
"Now, I know some of you out there
You like to drink vodka and orange juice
But on those nights you just can't win
You know, it's Cold Gin time again!"
Ah, Kiss loves you
I know that it was long ago
And everyone's gone home
But somewhere in time and space
I'm on a rocket ride with Ace
Ah, Kiss loves you
Christine Sixteen
Kiss loves you
Calling Dr. Love
Kiss loves you
Don’t cry Strutter
Kiss loves you
Don’t cry Beth
Kiss loves you
©1998 Lach
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9. |
Ambition Burns
03:55
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Ambition Burns
I don't want to win, be kingpin, live in the din of clamoring kin
Don't need acclaim, fame maims, makes great names lame
So, while you plot and plan, scheme and dream
And end up with the blue ribbon
I'll stamp and cheer and say a prayer
For all my sins to be forgiven
Cause I'm jealous of you
Jealous of you
Jealous of you even though I know it's all unreal
I don't believe in time, no finish line, no graduation
No transformation at midnight's chime,
Life is not Prince Charming's Ball
So, while you race for gold, fight growing old,
And glorify ambition
I'll simplify and simply cry out
For all my sins to be forgiven
Because I'm angry at you
Angry at you
Angry at you even though I know it's all unreal
And I perform because I'd go crazy if I didn't
Not for the things that shine or the ones who coo
If this is a game I sure hope that I don't win it
Cause I have seen the things that winners have to do
I don't want to be hard, on guard,
Soul marred seeing stars
Checking charts with baited heart
Will it sell in Wal-Mart?
So while you calculate, manipulate
Congratulate yourself on being driven
I'll contemplate and meditate
On how I may be forgiven
Cause I identify with you
Identify with you
Identify with you even though it's all unreal
I understand how you feel
It looks like such a good, good deal
I understand how you feel
©1998 Lach
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10. |
Sometimes The Songs
04:29
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Sometimes The Songs
No songs flowing from the sky tonight just glass trinkets and colored paper
Old saws singing girlish phrases, headaches filled with faded faces
And I'd like to look up and see you standing there
I'd love to cup your face in my hands
I wrote this song to help me to understand
You won't be coming round here no more
I tried to make old love's clothing fit upon your willing frame
Funny how each time it happens love's never quite the same
Given time maybe our flower would have found soft space and shown
But it got cut down in its finest hour by scissors distrust had hone
And I'd like to see how it looked
Pressed and patterned in your memory book
I wrote this in the second it took to see
You won't be coming round here no more
A bath of African magnolias, lilacs and imported seeds
Your sly face gleamed through the scented jungle of desire and steam
Already, then, it seemed like a distant, foggy, Parisian dream
As you laughed at my saying, "We have everything we need."
But a planned life was not on my list of things
While yours contained wedding and teething rings
I wonder if singing this will ever bring
You coming round here once more
Now the light in my room’s dimming
As the night wends upon its way
I thought this song would take some trimming
But it seems to have worked out o.k.
And sometimes you just have
To look at life and laugh
Because within the last four paragraphs
I see you won't be coming round here no more
And sometimes the songs
Just seem to write themselves
No more
©1998
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11. |
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The Boy Who Never Went Outside
The boy who never went outside
Was born inside a hospital
And there he was surrounded
By doctors and other sick people
The boy who never went outside, well,
He stayed inside a crib till he was three
One night he smothered his teddy bear
And he whispered to no one there
"He's not dead, he's free."
At school, the boy who never went outside
Was taught to stay inside of all of the lines
No fool, he got straight A's, and to avoid pain
He never strayed outside
Graduation and a degree in the economy
He left for the big city
He got a nine-to-five
From his apartment down to the subway
There was a passageway, just like a miracle
And at work, the boy who never went outside
Well, he could easily hide inside a cubicle
And if life ever got to be too much
A doctor would prescribe a little, yellow pill
One day, the boy who never went outside
He got inside the elevator
And he rode it; he rode it up to the top floor
Hey, he got out there and he went to the roof
And there he finally saw the sky, way up high
So clear and so blue
And then, the boy who never went outside
He opened his arms wide and off he flew
©1998 Lach
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12. |
If You Break It
02:49
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If You Break It
It must have been her eyes
All sparkly blue like a magic cat
Caught and cornered
Maybe it was her hair
All shiny like a secret ink
Smuggled from Lebanon
Might have been her body
All quiet like before a storm
Off the coast of Haiti
It was something like fire burning in my bones
A feeling of never again being alone
But I guess a dream like that can never be owned
I read, once, if you break it, it's sold
Might have been the sky
All blue as Beethoven
Deaf to earthly cares
Could've been the air
All sparkly with lightning
As she danced about
I don't know I can't put my finger on it
All elusive like a mystery
With the solution torn out
But it was something like a fire burning in my bones
A feeling of never again being alone
But I guess a dream like that can never be owned
I read, once, if you break it, it's sold
©1998 Lach
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13. |
Dreamboat
03:11
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Dreamboat
There are men walking the earth There are men walking the Earth
who can point to the moon and say,
"I've been there."
And there are priests preaching the bible
Who can describe hell and say,
"You'll go there."
Hey, hey, hey, wake me up I'm screaming
Oh yeah, kick me right out of bed
Jesus locked me out of heaven Jesus, lock me out of Heaven
The good always punish the bad
There are women with my number
written in their book of the dead
And there are ladies with my letters
hidden beneath the thoughts in their head
Me, I try so hard to win and
I keep getting lost instead
Me, I'm the kid with the graveyard grin
To me everybody stands naked
©2014 Lach
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14. |
Drinking Beers With Mom
03:46
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Drinking Beers with Mom
Well, I got her some Camel Lights
And I got myself some Lucky Strikes
Tonight I'm hanging home, sweet home
Tonight I'm drinking beers with mom
I'm drinking beers with mom and everything's all right
We're gonna roll a doob on the coffee table
We're gonna eat mom's food and watch her cable
Maybe later she'll rent some flicks
When she goes out to get another six
I'm drinking beers with mom everything's all right
Spark a bone! Put on The Stones!
There's a knock at the door and it's mom's friend Joan
Joanie's divorced she's a walking time-bomb
She's eyeing me while we're drinking with mom
We're drinking beers with mom, everything's all right
The Stone's get old, we send ma for brew
Turn out the lights and put on 2-Live Crew
What happened next was straight out of Forum
Joanie lost all sense of decorum
We're drinking beers with mom, everything’s all right
©1998 Lach
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Lach Edinburgh, UK
Lach, founder of the Antifolk movement and star of BBC Radio 4's The Lach
Chronicles.
‘Beat-punk-unplugged joy!’-The Guardian UK
‘Splendid! Best of it's kind!’- Mojo
‘Incredibly bright, influential, funny, poetic.’-Suzanne Vega
‘Best punk guitarist since Johnny Ramone.’-Billy Ficca of Televis
... more
Lach recommends:
One of my all time fave singers/writers (and she sings on my album The Calm Before!)
go to album
Poisoned Nights & Bar Room Lights
by Dave Woodcock and the Dead Comedians
Strummer meets Alabama Three. Spin it loud getting dressed for Saturday night, play loud passing a joint to the backseat on yr way to the gig, listen again w/ Sunday coffee to relive Saturday's glory.
go to album
Songs From The Summer Of Sangria
by Chris Barron and the Time Bandits
Lead singer of multi-platinum NYC groove band morphs into wonderful journeyman songwriter.
go to albumIf you like Lach, you may also like:
2020 Tapes (Shelter-at-Homerecordings & Pandemos)
by Jeffrey Lewis
supported by 7 fans who also own “Blang!”
I have a kid who was a baby when the pandemic started and a toddler now. When he’s older and asks what the pandemic is like I’m gonna put this album on and pour myself a drink- this covers it all. Feels surreal to imagine ever having the privilege of going to see a Jeffrey Lewis show again but it’s top of my list when this crap is over.
go to album
Dream Catching Songs
by Thomas Truax with Budgie and Mother Superior
supported by 7 fans who also own “Blang!”
go to album
Nothing not to love about the jangly sounds of the Vovos, who blend catchy melodies with whip smart lyrics.
go to album
