Wharfless

June 2005

Following the finely-polished The Albatross Project, Alex decided to haul the singer-songwriter songs out of the closet once again and record the best album of your entire life. The sentiment is filled to the pie crust with style and rawness, and even real, actual drums recorded with one microphone! The yield is a collection of Alex’s strongest songs to date, including “New Times And Fire Road,” “Bail” and “The Daylight.” It is similar to a cleansing summer rain when you do not have any plans for a barbecue. However, you must be warned – Wharfless may make you want to have a barbecue.

Track Listing

(click titles for lyrics)

  1. New Times and Fire Road

    Now I know it’s not that weird
    Got hit by you, my blood got smeared
    I killed myself and now you know
    If you play it cool, you’re a dead man

    I’ve got a set of real faces
    Yours is one I always forget
    And when I see you, it’s like the first time
    Oh you’re beautiful!

    I never listen to his advice
    I want you to know, you’re not my vice
    Cat on the wall
    And then explode
    A dusty sign for fire road

    There’s nothing here but doubt and fear
    And you don’t know what good can break the silence
    I tried it out, and here you stand to tell the tale
    For my sake

    And they can say to fill our spaces
    But holes can be our saving graces
    I went without, and I’m within
    I can see the air around you now

    I never listen to his advice
    I want you to know, you’re not my vice
    Cat on the wall
    You never showed
    A dusty sign for fire road

    New times from later on
    Through the eye to fire road

    New times from later on
    A dusty sign for fire road

    A mound of dirt
    You never showed
    A dusty sign for fire road

  2. Wharfless

    I’m wharfless
    Nowhere to go
    I’m wharfless
    No one to run to
    No shining lighthouse
    No family waiting
    No dock to dock on
    No blown kisses

    I’m wharfless
    I’m lost at sea
    I’m wharfless
    No good company
    No sturdy anchor
    No long pier
    No hand to hold on
    No homecoming

    So to the whirlpool, swallow me up
    So to the shark tribe, swallow me alive
    So to the torpedo, fire away
    So to the albatross, take my bribe

    I’m wharfless
    I’m lost in me
    I’m wharfless
    My wits have left me
    No last clearing
    No reward
    No plank to walk on
    No resting

    So to the whirlpool, swallow me up
    So to the shark tribe, swallow me alive
    So to the torpedo, fire away
    So to the admiral, take my life

  3. Bail

    We hear the talk of all of it ending now
    I hear it’s coming ’bout ten months from tomorrow
    Where will she go to?
    Where will she find a place to fight the end?
    If she wanted to

    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you make me have to fall for you
    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you bail on me
    I’m not going to get away from you

    So many people, so many chances
    What’s one more gone if there’s always another?
    “People come and go,
    Love does ride a wave,” she says
    But we know she has her own reasons

    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you make me have to fall for you

    “That’s not a reason!
    That’s an excuse to take the long way!” I say
    And she only looks at me for another day
    I can’t keep prying like this

    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you make me have to fall for you
    Don’t you bail on me
    Don’t you bail on me
    I’m not going to get away from you

    I know she’s in her head too much
    If you come to me, I can rebuild you
    Feel the silver breeze
    And know you can’t leave so soon

    So the end comes like a thunderclap
    The summer storm is in the air around her
    By now she’s certain that she’s leaving me to live
    The way she couldn’t when she always saw the ending

    Don’t you bail on me

  4. The Daylight

    Curse the rain and curse the shadows
    As through the holes we see the daylight
    Coming down and pounding the pavement
    I saw a stork flying over New York
    The world’s shaking on its path tonight
    And through the holes we see the daylight
    Let winter come for it’s time to sleep
    Before the big bang we took the long leap

    What man made this Mt. St. Helens?
    What man made this cosmic impact?
    What god made this sunken shipwreck?
    What devil made this something to remember?

    Kiss her face and make her gasp
    There’s something stirring out of her grasp
    Be moral bender of legal tender
    And through the holes we see the daylight
    Curse the blade and curse the darkness
    With blood we lost the last of the daylight
    Making sense is making amends
    For the longest time I’ve lost the daylight

    What man made this wildfire?
    What man made this rain come down?
    What God made this ticking time bomb?
    What devil made this something to remember?

    Shining on through clouds of gold
    Somehow we still sleep through the daylight
    Through the daylight

    That’s just the world and what it needs
    That’s just the man making sure it bleeds
    That’s just how life ends, always from above
    That’s just how it goes without the daylight

  5. Not For Good

    She doesn’t get many thoughts from me
    But she doesn’t have a face
    I hear she fought in a secret war
    With an even more secret force
    In my mind I’m not so good
    But I just put up my hood
    Do you like me wearing glasses?
    Do you like me making passes?
    But I know it’s not for good

    The horror I felt never went away
    I tell myself it’s business
    She’s the girl who shines, the girl to shun
    Doesn’t that make you want to run?
    Doesn’t that make them crazy?

    I don’t give a damn about Jesus and the lamb
    And every contract is a scam
    Hanging by a thread is the walking dead
    Damn, this girl is a ghost and she’s yellow
    But I know it’s in my head
    And I just tore down my shed
    Do you like me sporting a shield?
    I’m the same when I’m unexposed
    But I know it’s not for good

    I think I’ve said all I need to say
    Yet I keep the window down
    I think I’ve said all I need to say
    Yet I keep the window down
    But I know it’s not for good
    And I just put up my hood
    Do you like me wearing glasses?
    Do you like me making passes?
    But you know it’s not for good

  6. What You’ve Done to Me

    Beautiful colors
    Keeping me up late at knight
    Mystical colors
    Keeping me away from your flight
    Brutal colors
    Splattered blood on a canary
    Primary colors
    The tones I see in your eyes
    And you know what you have done to me
    You know what you’ve done to me

    Shades of grey
    Keeping me on my toes
    Shades of blasphemy
    Keeping me knocking on the cross
    Shades of sanity
    So I can live out of order
    Shades of your mind
    So you can keep me on a line
    And you know what you have done to me

    You know what you’ve done to me
    You know what you’ve done to me
    You know what you’ve done to me
    And I know what I’ve done to you

    You know what you’ve done
    You’ve made a mess of a decent girl
    And I know what they’ve done
    Fallen in love with the prodigal son
    Yes, you know what you’ve done

    Hoo-hoo!

    You know what you’ve done to me
    And I know what I’ve done to her

  7. Hold On To The Wolves

    I held on to you
    I held on to the wolves
    We ride the wave to the end
    And do it again
    There’s a wolf at my back door
    There’s a wolf at my trap door
    And I held on to you so long
    So trapped in my face

    Don’t you follow me
    Don’t you follow me
    Don’t you follow me outside
    This morning I woke up outside the sky
    For the first time
    For the first time
    I heard no howl

    I found a place that we can go
    Lay us down where grasses grow
    But we know things ain’t this real
    It ain’t this believable
    Are you the wolf that rings my doorbell?
    Are you the wolf that spills my blood?
    Run at dawn and make me scream
    Crawl though my window while you make me dream

    Don’t you follow me
    Don’t you follow me
    Don’t you follow me inside
    This morning I woke up beside your light
    For the last time
    For the last time
    I heard your howl

    I had you in my grasp
    But got worn raw from the rasp
    And beat down thin from her wrath
    And healed again
    There are wolf tracks on the path
    I found wolf tracks and I laughed
    Grew teeth and brandished a knife
    Which brought about death and strife

    I’ll kill the wolf at last
    And I’ll say this now to you
    I’m coming home

  8. Millions Murdered

    Millions murdered for a kiss
    And nothing gained at all from this
    I won’t make you do anything
    Not even if you wanted to
    Millions saved for a song

    Run the good run
    Shine the good sun

    I don’t make up anything
    This song came to me in my sleep
    Keep your eyes peeled
    For how everyone feels
    Millions murdered for a reason

    Run the good run
    Shine the good sun

    Kill the animals and then
    Kill the lions in the den
    Kill the weather man and then
    Kill the clown and kill the fool
    Kill elitists there and then
    Kill the teacher’s teaching pen
    Kill the hungry and then
    Kill the proud, kill the proud

    Millions murdered for a kiss
    Another name scratched off the list
    I won’t make you do everything
    I’ll make it easy on you
    Millions saved for a laugh

    Millions murdered

    Millions murdered for a kiss
    And nothing gained at all from this
    Kill the proud, kill the proud

  9. When I Died

    There were monks singing when I died
    Everyone was there when I arrived
    In the afterlife
    And that’s a relief
    Because I died to dream

    It’s my time if it’s my time
    May the car wreck
    May I become sick
    And I’m not done
    But it’s no fun to breathe

    I don’t need to do what I want to do
    Because if I die, I got no ties
    And I’m not afraid

  10. Need Someone

    She’s being killed by something I cannot explain
    I think it might be better if I close the garage door

    But why oh why should you bother?
    You don’t need me to be calm anymore
    And make yourself second guess it
    The horror falls away when you need someone
    On the ground now
    On the ground now
    On the ground

    She’s being hounded by a dog that does not bite
    I think it might be better if I put it down anyway

  11. Tried and True

    You’re the one
    And I’m thinking of breaking through
    Think about progress
    The things I know I’ll never do
    It’s tried and true

    I keep forgetting
    The magic fades with the passing days
    The shit comes down in a heavy way
    And you’re there at least in a thought
    Yes! It’s tried and true

    You don’t deny
    The worst thing about our lives
    There’s always pain
    There’s always a bear trap on the floor
    It’s tried and true

    You say it’s true
    That’s there’s a better view
    And I agree as you put your hand in the fire
    You’re the one, I’ve said it before
    I’ll find a way
    Yes you are tried and true

    Find a way
    The worst things always turn out fine
    And maybe someday you’ll see it was the reason why
    Tried and true
    Don’t be like that
    There’s always someone thinking of you
    You may not know it
    But you don’t need to after all
    It’s why you live when there’s no reason to
    It’s for the two
    It’s tried and true

  12. Haggle

    I’m standing here until you do so
    I’m crouching here while you lay low
    I’m not moving, I’m waiting up for you
    I won’t bargain, no I won’t haggle

    No distractions
    Lost my tunnel vision
    No constant action
    Just my meditation on you
    On you

    No pretense
    Lost my raw intentions
    No discouragement
    Just my loving look on you
    On you

    No landslide
    Lost my reservation
    No act of passion
    Just my idle waiting on you
    On you

  13. What Daze

    Get busy living or get busy dying
    Take a long walk at the airport
    Or die in your bathroom, sick and placid
    Rewrite all the years gone black
    Because you were wrong about all the things
    You’re told you have to live for
    I don’t wanna be young
    That’s goddamn right!

    There’s another, always another
    But you don’t have another life
    So look in the mirror before the poison
    Hits the heart and you fall dead
    And don’t you worry about being wrong
    Look at where your path has lead you
    It’s painful to be young
    That’s goddamn right!