For nearly ten years I have played with the jamband, Colonel Mustard. I have always written songs, however, with acoustic guitar. As things were coming to an end with the band, I decided to put my musical time and energy toward arranging acoustic material.
“Bill's Million Dollar Bash,” as it came to be called, was my first solo acoustic show. My friend, Mr. Trout (aka Sean Kilgore), proprietor of this tiny meca for local musicians, The Viper Bar, was kind enough to hand it over for a night, with the stipulation that he also star in the show ("everyone has a price," a mysterious friend once told me-though I'm not sure I'm buying it just yet). Sean and others joined me for a number of tunes throughout the night. Some of those tunes made it onto this disc and, others, (for a variety of reasons, such as me not owning the rights to them) did not.
about a few of these tunes...
Pueblo Neruda Dream...
A Jersey Poet and dear friend wrote to me about dreaming in Puble Neruda Poems. The narrative was sensual and rich with imagery I could not let get away(you can find the inspiration for this song on the "Friends Writing" page). I stole those words, re-arranged some, added my own and begged and pleaded. With the stipulation that she bless the final version, this collaboration resulted. Since I flubbed the lyrics (repeating the second verse in place of the third), the lyrics listed will not match, but I did not want to leave them out. Playing on this version are long time friends, Joe Dirusso (lead guitar player for our band, Colonel Mustard), the Mystery Man on bass and Richie Mendez on congos, bongos, African drums or cardboard boxes (not sure what he was playing at the time).
BoogyMan shuffle- Joe and richie join me again for this number (they're such play-whores).
Dress Me Down-w/the two playwhores again.
We'll be putting out a "Live At Viper" cd shortly.
Lyrics:
Unraveling Delilah
Riddles they unravel, threaten to sanitize the brain,
You
better ration out reason; or beware!
Science mystifies the gods and Hallowed be thy
name
There's a season of passion in our
lair!
You
will drive me nuts from dusk to dawn until I'm dust
And
the worms feed off my skull; lost in my hair.
You
will mystify me though I know you're half insane
And
the other half is just a
Just a
dream. Riddles unravel.
Just a
dream. Riddles come tumbling down.
Riddles they unravel, like tongue twisters twisting
within
you
better ration out reason or beware!
Sometime you'll find, the hands of time
unwind,
In a
rhythm that’s kind to you
alone
Winds
are blowing greener, it's a feast or famine scene and
there's but one thing keeps me coming up for
air
Blind
dating pleasures, nervous breakdown calm,
Nerves
that breakdown barriers, baby, it's the Revolution Now!
Show
me what's that you've been, hiding neath your smooth
skin
And
all those precious jewels living in your crown
There's a fire neath the moon, and I can see you
reaching through
This
ain't just a dream it's all..
All
around riddles unravel.
All
around riddles come tumbling down!
Memories of ghosts, with champagne make fine
hosts
I
don't mind the way the whisky burns going down
Monkey
do and Monkey see you better damn well do as you please
Cause
the sun's gonna come around everyday.
Everyday, The Sun’s
gonna come around,
Patience in the rain, The Sun’s gonna come
around
Waters
of Mars
Running through her blood are the waters of
Mars,
The
fire and the strength of the gods.
In her
riptide I got swept away,
I
lived to love another day.
She's
a praying mantice in a crown of white
she
says alot of strange things
"Is
looking within the same as being vain?"
She
says a lot of strange things.
One
thing to another and we're wasting time
she
says time's not a thing she can waste
There's an orchid blossom that waits for
her
now
the only thing that waits for me is
The
Shadow of her love
The
shadow of your love
Lingering on my wall, Reminding
me
That
in the shadow of the moon and the stars above
I see
the shadow of your love
She
says "Life is but a walking shadow, and
like
the moon let her cast down on me."
I'll
love you like there's no tomorrow, at least
not
one like you've ever seen.
She
says, "Life is but a walking shadow, and
like
the moon let her cast down on me.
All of
those things you can't fathom
Fancy
them more you do me, and
smile
everytime you see
the
shadow of my love."
The
Shadow of her love
The
shadow of your love
Lingering on my wall, Reminding
me
That
in the shadow of the moon and the stars above
I see
the shadow of your love
Pablo
neruda dream
she
says her night is a dance neath an apple-hot moon
she
throws her head back, basking in a sultry sun
with
her legs slightly parted, says the salty sea is her
love
She
may seem self indulgent, she'll do anything to mend your
day.
She
dreams in pablo neruda poems, I dream of her today.
If I
could be her poetry, I don’t know what I
would say
Words
and rhymes are merely dressing, on the rhythm of our
chemistry
We
would move together, through silence and through rain
If a
vision of love was ever, that’s forever
what we’d be.
I
would be her pablo neruda Dream.
She's
barely wound in gossamer, barefoot neath the silver
moon
;
On her
thigh rests a firefly lighting up
a
symphony about her
Her
lips are berry red, her mouth, she says, sugar sweet
She
dances in puddles of mud like a mermaid in the rain
She
dreams in pablo neruda poems, I dream of her today.
If I
could be her poetry, I don’t know what I'd
say
Words
and rhymes are merely dressing, on the rhythm of our
chemistry
We
would move together, through silence and through rain
If a
vision of love was ever, that’s forever
what we’d be.
I
would be her pablo neruda Dream.
She
fills my wounds with dressings of silver-blue moons
She
bends apollo’s ear to bring the sun
near
When
the autumn leaves float gently to the ground
she
kindly reminds me that life comes back around
If I
could be her poetry, I don’t know what I'd
say
Words
and rhymes are merely dressing, on the rhythm of our
chemistry
We
would move together, through silence and through rain
If a
vision of love was ever, that’s forever
what we’d be.
I
would be her pablo neruda Dream.
Abdera
What
if I was wrong, and I asked you to please, please stay
But
then, what if you were gone, and I watched you as you fade
away
I
could give up or give in, I could take all you’re giving
Spellbound and mesmerized
Swimming round your glassy eyes
You’re an
earthquake and a hurricane
You’re a raging sea
I could drown within
The
lightning that never strikes twice
And my
God you sure do look good
These
things they don’t come so easy to
me
The
less I come to know the more I think and rethink
These
things are sometimes better left to be
Let
them go, maybe they grow but don’t ever
hope to know…
Abdera, my divine, the gods of Greece fall in
line.
what
if I was wrong, blind, right out of my mushroom cloud
mind
I
could give up or give in, I could take all you’re giving
Spellbound and mesmerized
Swimming round your glassy eyes
You’re an
earthquake and a hurricane
You’re a raging sea
I could drown within
The
lightning that never strikes twice
And my
God you sure do look good
These things they don’t come so easy to me
The
less I come to know the more I think and rethink
These
things are sometimes better left to be
Let
them go, maybe they grow but don’t ever
hope to know…
Without
Love
I once
had a friend, Convince me in the end
Love
from and of ain’t worth a
damn.
He set
me straight, Sent me right through the gate
of
fame and fortune, here I am.
You
may wonder why, I let her pass me by
But in
the blink of an eye we’re a grain of
sand.
So if
you ask me now
It
isn’t where or how
But I
feel the love I give come back around.
Without Love,
none
given, none gotten
Without Love,
it’s easy to be
forgotten
Without love,
Life
can be so
He was
barely 24, Already opened every door
To the
money and the woman and the wine.
There
was something in his face, Old and out of place
Staring off to someplace he could never
find.
I went
to shake his hand, wish him all the best I can,
“You’ve done so
well, my friend, I meant to say.
Maybe
my eyes made him know, maybe the words that I chose
But it
was his words that with me forever stayed.
Without Love,
none
given, none gotten
Without Love,
it’s easy to be
forgotten
Without love,
I once
had a friend, convince me in the end
Love
from and of is all that’s worth a
damn
Things
you love to do, things you love to be
The
love you give and get so get all you can
Without Love...
DowgWalk
Above
this ancient river, I could clearly see
Where
the waters come and go into the China Sea
The
past was up ahead now, The future not far behind
With
the water below, My mind slowed, Suspended in time
Time
she have no color, no defining lines
My
mind flowed with the waters below, I
“Walk
in the sun, with the rain all coming down
Feeling the wind, pull the Earth up from the
ground
Everything the way it seems, everything the way it
seems
I can
only dream this way...”
She
washed me over with water and clover
And
showed me things I didn’t
know
Took
me to places where time and where spaces
Were
just like the waters that flowed
Up in
her comets where I had lost my thought
My
sense wasn’t common at
all
Once
I'd seen her stream in my dream
I knew
I'd fight the nightfall
She’s gonna follow
me sunny
Follow
me with sunshine talk
She’s going to be
At the end of my leash
When
I...
“Walk
in the sun, with the rain all coming down
Feeling the wind, pull the Earth up from the
ground
Everything the way it seems, everything the way it
seems
I can
only dream this way...”
Cleopatra’s
Blues
Sweet
Little woman, loving in your eyes,
You
got a silky smooth rhythm and a style in your stride
You
can strut your philosophy, March it right on up to me
I’ve got a
comfortable high and a Wide-eyed opened
mind
Hard
working mama, you got your head on just fine
I
ain’t your Dalli lama, but let me tell you
what I got in mind
How
bout you take this idea, out for a little spin
Round
that heavy head of yours till it sinks right in
Put
away your sane plans for just one season, now
And
lose all sense of time with me, I’m sure
we’ll figure it
out
Sweet
little woman...
She’s no kind of
Cleopatra
But
what she got is bound to get you
If you
don’t have the mind to fetch
her
I
don’t know a thing about you, cause
she’s a
sweet
little woman...
She
got Bo Diddly Jipsy Soul
She
keep you dizzy tipsy, though
Her
smile bring down the buffalo, yeah
but
she's no kind of Cleopatra
Sweet
sweet little woman, loving in your eyes,
you
got a silky smooth rhythm and
Wide
Eyed opened mind
BoogyMan
shuffle
When
you walk away pretty mama, with the twinkle of a little
lie
Yeah,
I still dig your boogyman shuffle, so walk on up to I
Sometime you got magic wings and a black marble crystal
ball
I love
it when you do those things that don't make no sense at all,
Time
is in your corner, so take your time and corner me
I'll
take this moment to show you, what your crystal ball aint
seen.
The
smile of the dessert wind
wisdom
of the harvest moon
I'll
bring it around and say it again
I
still dig your boogy man shuffle
I was
preoccupied, now, studying the Gods
Wasn't
expecting you from whence you came, but you
came
against the odds.
The
odds were in my favor for those things that flavor me
But as
I witness your behavior, I believe what I receive.
A
Shakespeare lie, sunshine at midnight, So bright I just might go
blind
A
Shakespeare lie, Goddess in the garden, seduce me like
Eden
When
you walk away pretty mama, with the twinkle of a little
lie
Yeah,
I still dig your boogyman shuffle, so walk on up to I
Sometime you got magic wings and a black marble crystal
ball
I love
it when you do those things that don't make no sense at all,
like
When
you say "Shall I Lalla Buhlah, Shall I Lalla Bi,"
Shall
I Lallallalla Buhlah, Shall I Lalllallalla Bi?”
When
the wind carries all your sense away and you don't know
And
secrets they don't shine on you like Sun through your
window.
Come
to me for the promises of your Shakespear Daydreams.
Come
to me for the promise of
Sunshine at midnight,
sunshine at midnight
Sunshine at midnight, so bright I just might go
blind
Dress Me Down To Size
If
your voice is damaged goods
And
you can't did what you know you should
If
the desert’s wet and the sea is
dry
You
see from your ear and hear with your eye
dodging daggers dastardly, well, you know what I
mean
Don't you dress me down to
size
Don’t dress me
down,
Don’t you dress me
down to size,
Don’t mess around,
don’t you mess around with the ash in my
tray
My
smile may never stretch again, so far across my face
If I
could only remember when I was privy to your loving
taste
You
knew me so completely when we came together, then
The
colors of my soul, got crossed then lost below, with
my
senses in the sand
Don’t dress me
down...
If
your voice is damaged goods
And
you can't did what you know you should
If
the desert’s wet and the sea is
dry
You
see from your ear and hear with your eye
If
you want to flex about
The
hair of the dog that bit you on
I'd
explain but we're better off
if
the anser you know nothing of
Is
the question's really where it's
the
lesson’s really where it’s
the
suggestion’s really where it’s
Don’t dress me down
to size...
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