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1. |
Clueless
04:55
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Bill Bennett graduated from Princeton and worked for the Smithsonian creating their Collection of Classic Jazz. He’s erudite, with a streak of low-life that is captured perfectly in the character he created for this song. Living in costa Rica these days, he’s since written a thrilling novel about identity theft. Words and music by Bill Bennett.
Baby let my grits get cold (she don't love me no more)
She left em on the table and walked out the door (she don't love you no more)
I knew there'd be some trouble when she caught up with my lies
But now I got a reason to go drinkin' with the guys
I say she don't love me no more.
Gotta find a new girl get a piece of delight
She left the kitchen with a piece of my heart
Soon's I figure out what's missin' gonna make a new start
(She don't love you no more)
Baby took my brand new Ford
She drove it to Atlanta with the boy next door
Now I take the bus to work, and I live on peanut butter
If she's really gone for good I may be headed for the gutter
I say she don't love me no more
The dishes in the sink have turned a funny shade of gray
She hurt me bad when she busted up my home
My double-wide's too big for a man all on his own
One of these days I gotta get a clue
Cause everyone knows I'm still in love with sweet sue
And Holly and Nancy and Elizabeth too
But all my lovers leave me what's a funky boy to do?
Baby made a fool outta me
She burned all my Playboys and stole my TV
Now that was just cruel, she knows I can't read
Guess I better go downtown and score a little weed
I say she don't love me no more
Next time I see her gonna tell her we're through
I told her I loved her but I guess that's not enough
Who know the woman could be so damn tough?
(She don't love you no more) No way!
She's gone, she's absent, split the scene
Now here I sit cryin' in my beer...
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2. |
Johnny B.
05:13
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Tony Bove came of age in a hotbed of blue-eyed soul, pop and jazz music, full of "great ones" who don’t get celebrated as they should - unless you happen to be in town on New Years Day. Johnny B is a mythical "great one" whose candle burned too early. Words by Tony Bove, music by Tony Bove, Bert Keely and Ann McNamee.
It's time to remember the great ones, the leaders and the seekers of truth
You were always a fast gun, your energy a fountain of youth
And they never could understand you, no they never could pin you down
You were always pushing the limits, always changing the sound
Johnny B, Johnny B, where did you go? Johnny B, Johnny B, where are you now?
And the girls would all stand beside you, while the rest of us would stand behind
And we jumped on the tourbus to fly with you, and who knew what we would find?
Then we partied on past midnight, and you were rockin' rollin' ringin' a bell
And you knew we'd follow you anywhere, almost through the gates of hell
Johnny B, Johnny B, where did you go? Johnny B, Johnny B, where are you now?
What are we, what are we s'posed to do? When without you, without you, we haven't a clue, haven't a clue
It was new year's day with the Mummers, the party on Toulouse Street was on
We were all looking forward to the new year, but you went out on your own
Had us runnin' round town, wearin' a frown but you wouldn't answer the phone
You got caught in the life on the edge of a knife, and you went out of your own
Johnny B, Johnny B, where did you go? Johnny B, Johnny B, where are you now?
Johnny B, Johnny B, where did you go? Johnny B, Johnny B, where are you now?
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3. |
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This is the closest the FOBs came to singing musical theater, with Ann and Bert going into character and trading lines with an ensemble cast. And get this - Ann has since created a full musical theater production of her play Other World, in which the theme is getting lost in a Virtual Reality game! We're confident you will all be able to see it once Covid is well behind us. Words and music by Ann McNamee.
What game are we playing? Are we both having fun?
What game are we playing? Who's keeping score, who won?
Are you sure the sides are even? I think the deck is stacked
Aren't you used to breaking hearts and never giving them back?
What game are we playing? Are we both having fun?
What game are we playing? Who's keeping score, who won?
You can talk about the passion, I can't throw it all away
There are diamonds on your hands, I think I've lost my way
You thought the rules were simple and the game would finish soon
But you still don't know much about me I know nothin' 'bout you
You thought the rules were simple and the game would finish soon
But you still don't know much about me I know nothin' 'bout you
No the sides were never even, the deck was always stacked
You never really kissed me I never kissed you back
What game are we playing? Are we both having fun?
What game are we playing? Who's keeping score, who won?
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4. |
Arastradero Road
05:37
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Lisa Brennan Jobs, who knew Bert through her dad and step-mom, brought him a set of lyrics about leaving the west coast to attend Harvard. She sang it with the FOBs at the Fillmore in 1997. Later with Bert singing it became a regular feature of FOBs shows. This studio version ends with a guitar conversation between Bert and the amazing Barry Sless (pedal steel). Words by Lisa Brennan Jobs, music by Bert Keely.
I've been dancin' alone with my eyes closed
Tell you true i'm in the raw again
And I no longer need you, but I miss you, I still do
And I wish you'd stop smokin
Life was lazy in the green and the sun
And the flowers have to dig their way out of the snow
And I have to keep my windows shut for when the gusts come
Do you feel what I feel, or are you just too far away now?
The changing of the seasons seems accelerated here
Can you feel what I feel, or are you just too far away now?
Don't you sometimes smell the wheat out on Arastradero Road?
Maybe we only met 'cause of a small town
And our minds have gotten larger since we moved beyond those bounds
Everything I told you, and everything I felt, I hope it's safe with you now
Don't lose it on the way there, don't lose yourself on the move
Do you feel what I feel, or are you just too far away now?
The changing of the seasons seems accelerated here
Can you feel what I feel, or are you just too far away now?
Don't you sometimes smell the wheat out on Arastradero Road?
Do you feel what I feel, or are you just too far away now?
The changing of the seasons seems accelerated here
Can you feel what I feel, or are you just too far away now?
Well I'm finally flying home soon, that is if I can make it there
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5. |
Constellation Rag
03:03
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One mark of a great songwriter is the ability to write a song that could’ve been written 100 years ago - but wasn’t. Constellation Rag is one of those. Words and music by Roger McNamee.
Wash your hands in my finger bowl baby, then let your pinkies dry
I'll let you hold my fuzzy peaches if you let me taste your pie
You can hold my fuzzy peaches, you can drive my car
'Cause in my constellation baby you are the brightest star
You can take all my money honey but you gotta take me as well
I wouldn't know how to live without you but then you never can tell
You still stir my sugar baby you still lick my jar
'Cause in my constellation baby you are the brightest star
I will clean your chimney baby when you need your ashes hauled
I'll unclog your carburetor baby when your car is stalled
You may try to leave me baby but you won't get too far
'Cause in my constellation baby you know you are the brightest star
I know we'll grow old together, two sweet peas in a pod
Lovey dovey senior citizens may strike some as odd
I will do whatever you ask, I'll follow you to Mars
'Cause in my constellation baby, i need you now and I don't mean maybe
In my constellation baby
In my constellation baby, you know are the brightest,
You've always been the brightest, you are the brightest star!
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6. |
Serenity the Angel
03:57
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Corinne Monnard was the second person snuck into the band by a friend pitching her as someone to sing backup and play hand percussion. But Corinne not only stayed in that role, she married her pitchman. Corinne brought mysticism and Reiki to the FOBs, and while the rest of us got our music imprints in the 60s and 70s, she brought an 80s energy. Serenity the Angel has an extremely simple structure, sort of a mantra with verses and pre-choruses alternating like deep breaths. By the end Bert's guitar is hyperventilating. Words and music by Corinne Monnard Marcus.
Could it be a warning? Could it be a sign?
Could it be my angel, lightening up my mind
The night is heavy now, the fog is sliding in
My eyes don't seem to rest, my heart pounds in my chest
He is here with me now, after months of dreaming
Everything appears, so promising
I'm getting a message, his soul is too shallow
I go through this passage I must let him go
Could it be a warning? Could it be a sign?
Could it be my angel, lightening up my mind
The night is heavy now, the fog is sliding in
My eyes don't seem to rest, my heart pounds in my chest
Wishing well to the man who was almost there
Wishing he'll discover someone who will care
The night feels dark inside thoughts misunderstood
He speaks words of the past, now may be too soon
Could it be a warning? Could it be a sign?
Could it be my angel, lightening up my mind
Could it be a warning? Could it be a sign?
Could it be an angel, lightening up my mind
Could it be my angel, angel, lightening up my mind
Lightening up my mind, lightening up my mind
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7. |
Livin' in Cyn
05:17
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Written by Bert Keely.
I cried on my way to work today
I heard a voice, and it wasn't the radio or the CD
It was the love of my life whisperin' close in my ear
"I love what you love, what we are, and what you want us to be"
Sublime, the luck of her love is mine,
Soft as sunshine, solid as stone, she tickles me to tears.
You don't hear songs about relationships that last.
Cause time spent pleasantly just slips into the past.
If there's no dirt, then no one wants to hear the story.
Well here's a shocker for your ears: I've been livin' in Cyn!
I always have been, through thick and thin
In our senior year of high school she stopped my heart
and blew my cool, and our dirty little secret is I'm still
Livin' in Cyn!
Now after twenty years of Cyn-fulness you'd think I'd change my tune
And the seasons sure do vary as the rhythm falls and blooms
But the lights will likely dim one day without a hint of drama
That is unless this dirt's enough for you to put in your gossip column:
I'm livin' in Cyn! I always have been, for 20 years, through thick and thin,
Come on give me some skin, open up and let me in
In our senior year of high school she stopped my heart
and blew my cool, and our dirty little secret is I'm still
Livin' in Cyn!
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8. |
Happy Endings
05:45
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When the FOBs formed, the dotcom boom hadn’t yet become a bubble but the internet had arrived, and we were part of a community that was changing the world in ways that we could only imagine as good. In this song, Roger perfectly captures the spirit of the era. Words and music by Roger McNamee.
When we met so long ago, we each had plans for the future
Our plans fit together so neatly, so naturally
When it's a happy dream you share you make it work without a care
Stuff you must achieve, you work cause you believe that it will
all come together in the land of happy endings
When I look into your eyes,, I wonder how I fly away
When I look into your eyes, I wonder why i'd fly again
When I look into your eyes, i see my reflection
When you smile I can feel unlimited affection
I know now for certain I'm the happiest man alive
It's time to harvest what we've sown
To live the life we've always postponed
It's so hard to let go, now we both know,
the time has come to live for ourselves
When I look into your eyes, I remember why I fell in love
When I see your smile I remember why I'm still in love
When i spend the night with you there's magic through and through
Why don't we seize the day give up our jobs go out and play
There's still time to move to the land of happy endings
As i travel near and far, I know that time marches on
As I look up at the stars, I see how brief our time will be
But when I hold you in my arms and we focus on each other
As long as we're together time slows down and lasts forever
Here we are, you and I, in the land of happy endings
It's time to harvest what we've sown
To live the life we've always postponed
It's so hard to let go, now we both know,
the time has come to live for ourselves
It's so hard to let go, now we both know,
the time has come to live for ourselves
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Circle Back! a new box set featuring the Flying Other Brothers San Francisco, California
Three new albums for 2021. Skywriting revisits the best of six songwriters from the studio albums, Bert's Brew gathers 8 live and studio FOB tracks previously unreleased, and Alive and Grateful collects Dead-related gems from Bert's projects before and during the pandemic. ... more
Contact Circle Back! a new box set featuring the Flying Other Brothers
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