Often (2003)

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Bodie Dennis: Vocals. Bass; Guitars, Piano, Rhodes 73, Hammond M-2, Percussion.

Larry Craig: Drums (3, 5, 10).

John Lundin: Drums (1, 2, 4, 7, 9), Percussion (8).

Mark Sloan: Electric and Acoustic Guitars (1, 3, 10, 11).

Stickman: Harmonica (2).

Produced, engineered, and mixed by Bodie Dennis.
Recorded and mixed from 8/01 to 5/02 at Lost Dog Productions. Flagstaff, AZ
Pre-production and initial tracking at Roundhouse Studios, Hopatcong, NJ
and at Beedee Sound Labs in Flagstaff.
Mastered by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering, Phoenix, AZ.
All music and lvrics by Bodie Dennis except 'Often' by Bodie Dennis and Mark Sloan.

Album concept, artwork, and design: Stuart Hatter.
Photography: Jonathan Day (back cover photo and Bd with Coke Bottle),
Tom Schaffer (Lundin photo and photos of Bodie at Lost Dog). Bodie Dennis (Sloan photo and all others)
Manutactured in Canada by MMS Direct, Toronto, ON.

Thank stuff:
Vinny and Suzi Constantine, Matt Hall (oogabooga!), Joe & Jessica Sorren, Jonathan Dav and his whole damn collection,
Brad Davidson, Anthony de la Garza, Judy Winters, Eve and Kaz (long live the Queen), Kate Hupp, Freddv Evangelesta,
Slark Moan and family, John "Volfgang" Lundin, Larry Craig (whadda I get? dick.), Sticky fuckin D, Rafe Sweet (word),
Stuart "it's a secret" Hatter Wend Castellucci Kim and "I rom Schraffer. Karen Cuneo Ramirez. Gus Pearson.
Gregg Monte, Jon Tinnirello, Kandis Johnstone, Tom & Jerrv Scoanamialio, John Grav (take two, thev're small),
"Sick in the" Ed Shivers, Steve Frederick, Christopher Hitzel, Wavne and Louise Miller, Mom and Ron, Eric Dennis,
me dear Auntie Lvnn and clan Hunter - (John. Gabv. Dave. Heidi. Dan. Kris, and "terrible" Ted), ESPN's baseball Tonight
Beniamin & Hedwin Co., Sam "Maydav" Malone, Drunken Jodv's Reality Adjustment services (for speedy financial ruin),
and, for continuity in the film, I'd like to reintroduce... the radio.

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© 2003 Bodie Dennis (BMI).
All rights reserved. Used by permission

All lyrics by Bodie Dennis. Used by Permission.

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Doublecross

Slippin’ across the causeway
In the husky glow of a calm bay
When your memory leaves me no view
Of the swollen sun and the red haze.

Racing against the nightfall
With that rattle beyond my firewall.
Seeing the world through crosshairs,
I tune my ear to the catcalls.

And your flickering appears tame
Like a lantern in the soft rain.
But in the blaze of your mishandling,
Everything is claimed.

You foster boys a cruel tease
When you confiscate their car keys
Depriving the relief that comes
From slamming into pine trees.

And my skin begins to turn gray
So you keep your chair turned sideways.
But It’s never until I lose hope
That your attention tumbles my way.

You charm me, disarm me,
And fit me with my rope.
Hanging laughter in the rafters
With all the smoke you blow.

Well you can laugh from behind your smokescreen,
Start looking to have your pipes cleaned.
But the policies of your heart fray
With the stitches in your blue jeans.

So they drag you from your stronghold
Wearing nothing but your blindfold.
And having slipped me like a snakeskin,
You shiver in your own cold.

No welfare. I’m elsewhere,
And they hang you by your veil.
Emoting, and free-floating
With the fumes that you exhale.

I’m slippin’ across the causeway
In the friction of the cloud play.
And on the battery of the wayside,
Your freedom cuts you both ways.

Beyond My Means

No forecast from the weather vain.
Telling time without the sun
When all it does is rain.

The water rises on the mill,
And my brain is filled with rags
To soak up all the spills.

Beyond my means
With a pocket full of iron dreams.
We all fall down.

Beyond my means,
The Little Conemaugh will shake us clean
In old Johnstown.

The groaning beams express their pain
When shot with rusted cogs
And whipped by snapping chains.

Between the mortar and the stone,
The cracks let in the light
To show me I’m alone.

Beyond my means
With a pocket full of iron dreams.
We all fall down.

[Bridge]
The riprapping bleeds,
But no one cares to heed
Another false alarm from up the stream.

At home you’re not even dressed,
And darlin’, you really couldn’t care less.
You just sit half naked filing your nails
As the South Fork Dam fails.

As the reservoir assumes control,
The Stone Bridge timbers burn,
And the trains and houses roll.

And I keep what little I deserve
For a man with so much faith
In the industry I serve.

Beyond my means
With a pocket full of iron dreams.
We all fall down.

Hey Concubine

The heroines make sure to be seen
Where heroes dare to make sure they can fail,
And hustlers keep their game alive
With another variation of the tale.

We homed in on the scent of wine
With burning lungs but still no worse for wear.
The angel slipped up to my side
And slid her slender fingers through my hair.

I said,
“Hey concubine,
With a corset that binds
By the price of my shoes,
I’m as worthless as...”

You always catch yourself in time,
Embarrassed by the rhythm of your pain.
But she threw it out as if it were her own,
And managed to get by with what remained.

And I says,
“Hey concubine,
Let me know what you find
When you get down to me.”
So she made her first incision and...

We said our good-byes
Just before we sat and talked for days.
Some of her was there at the time,
And some still busy having me appraised.

I said,
“Hey concubine,
With a corset that binds
By the price of my shoes,
I’m as worthless as you”

Often

Often we are tired.
Far too sleepy, breathing deeply.
Often we are tired.
Yeah.

Often we are dull.
Muscles aching, attention breaking.
Often we are dull.
Yeah.

Often we are high
When the lights go down.
Intrepid flyers crashing through the heart of town.

Often we are raw
In our purest form,
And for a time, don’t seem to mind that we were born.

Neither Here Nor There

Love is only another place
Out in the middle of nowhere.
The barred windows are draped in lace,
Charity, and welfare.

The locomotives run night and day
To supply the world with nightmares.
Love is only another place
Out in the middle of nowhere.

I can see my breath.
I bundle up, although I’d rather catch my death.
Go ahead and smile for all I care.
I’m neither here nor there.

The girl is only another stop
Between the strands of railway.
She walks the platform and window shops
For ways to spend her Sundays.

Dancing on the table tops,
Advertising foreplay.
The girl is only another stop
Between the strands of railway.

I can see my breath.
I bundle up, although I’d rather catch my death.
Go ahead and smile for all I care.
I’m neither here nor there.

[Bridge]
Back before I died, I’d ride the classifieds
and bide my time with all the things I couldn’t find.
Then she caught my eye. But I could ill-afford
a standard more than poor endure.
I’m sure I could have made more of myself,
just not without her help.

Pain is only another town
Divided by the railroads.
The locals hide with their shades pulled down
And warm themselves by the cathodes.

Jilted phantoms in dressing gowns,
Skeletons in bathrobes.
Pain is only another town
Divided by the railroads.

I can see my breath.
I bundle up, although I’d rather catch my death.
Go ahead and smile for all I care.
I’m neither here nor there.

Do So

You can cash in your years
And bait my cage with your winnings.
Well as useless as I may appear,
If you want to do so, I’m here.

You can stand in the clear
And feed the birds with your pining,
Or slam the door and kindle your fears.
If you want to do so, I’m here.

This affair you’ve handled with care
As if you have some control.
But you’re as bad off as me.
With no handle on love,
You cite me for my lack thereof.

Well you can nurse your career
And tag your game with your findings,
Or market pain and bottle your tears.
If you want to do so, I’m here.

The Perfect Kind

Somehow I was not afraid
Of the voltage underneath my feet,
But all the things I thought I’d say
I wouldn’t let myself repeat.

I’ll be all I am
But not the perfect kind.
And she’ll destroy my pride,
But I can’t say I mind.

I try to center my regards
From my maladjusted place.
I may be less than I had hoped,
But I’m not convinced that that’s the case.

I’ll do all I can
To be the perfect kind.
And she’ll destroy my pride,
But I can’t say I mind.

[Bridge]
I spent my time
Left to my own device.
Lonely, but happy nonetheless.

And what I couldn’t show
Was just beyond control,
But she forces me to second guess.

Falling victim to fatigue,
But scared to death to close my eyes
Fearing all that I would see,
A face so gorgeous I could cry.

I’ll be all I am
But not the perfect kind.
And she’ll destroy my pride,
But I can’t say I mind.

Honestly Girl

Honestly girl, did you think you were invincible
Behind the scarves that insulate your nerve?
Did those beyond your walls of storybooks and dolls
Not see the purpose they all served?

Honestly girl, did you think you were invulnerable
To the carnage of silky legs in poodle skirts?
Did you climax in your pain and forage for remains
You’ve kept in a form you now prefer?

Honestly girl, did you think it was inevitable
That your fantasies would be smashed by your own acts?
Did you look on with swollen eyes as your watercolor dyes
Ran down the wall in multi-timbral tracks?

Baby doll, did you find it inconceivable
That my motives had never been your sympathy?
Raising Hell and kicking cans in the streets with Peter Pan,
You swore it wasn’t just for me.

January Days

As I break the frost on this January day,
You heave a hapless sigh.

It’s a testament to the ordinary ways
That keep me satisfied.

And as your precious resolution disappears,
How everything that you embrace you learn to fear
As long as skies refuse to clear.

When you lie.
When I yell, when you begin to cry.
When you heave a hapless sigh

When the comfort breaks.
When words fail, when hands begin to shake.
When we make our worst mistakes.

As I tend the fire and begin to thaw my bones,
The embers singe my hands.

It’s a disregard for the security and care
That others may demand.

Snowfall shades the sight of countless jaded ways.
Content to suffer with a passion for malaise.
So go our January days.

When you lie.
When I yell, when you begin to cry.
When you heave a hapless sigh

When the comfort breaks.
When words fail, when hands begin to shake.
When we make our worst mistakes.

[Bridge]
5 AM you awaken disappointed with the sky,
9 o’clock you’re still quaking with the quilt between your thighs.

Your pulse at midday hastens, and you break down ‘round 3 or 4.
From 8 you moan ‘til midnight apologizing to the floor.

As I destroy the cold, your crystals are reduced
To droplets on the floor.

It’s a spectacle that you openly despise,
But you still return for more.

Baby Whispering

How the hell have I been airborne all these years?
Joyriding on her precious time.
Tracing the lines of dusty Texas interstates
With her smile branded on my mind.

Until the secrets are all told,
I’m trying not to lose the one I hold
With my baby whispering between the thunder rolls.

In my daily dissertation from the looking glass
On the bland horizon of my face,
The roadmaps of razor nicks that candystripe my sink
Are always finding deeper lines to trace.

Until the secrets are all told,
I’m trying not to lose the one I hold
With my baby whispering between the thunder rolls.

[Bridge]
You can fight the good fight,
But it won’t be good for long.
You can join those ‘ranks of love’
And sing the same damn songs.

You can fight the good fight
Without ever knowing why.
There’s no blanket of shelter
That doesn’t answer to the sky.

Until the secrets are all told,
I’m trying not to lose the one I hold
With my baby whispering between the thunder rolls.

Let Her Go

One night stands all by itself
With no moon at its side.
Naked winds are whispering at the door,
“Let her go. Let her go
Tonight.”

Young girl stands beside herself,
Bites her fist and replies.
Nevermind her usual cries for help.
Let her go. Let her go
This time.

Just make an even exchange
For all the pain she provides.
A lousy dollar and change
And everything it won’t buy.
Now take a ride.

One man stands all by himself
In subterranean light.
From the trains that rattle through Union Square,
Let her go. Let her go
Tonight.

Just make an even exchange
For all the pain she provides.
A lousy dollar and change
And everything it won’t buy.
Now take a ride.

One night stands all by itself
Between the days it divides.
Different ways of hurting for someone else.
Let her go. Let her go
Tonight.

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© 2003 Bodie Dennis (BMI).
All Rights Reserved.