Irene
Underground
Camptown Ladies
Lowlands
Corner Of My Room
First Light
Roll Them Blues
Think About You Anymore
Heart To Heal
Missed You Dear
See You Slumber
My Baby's Been Away
Coconut Tree
Going To California
Underground
Camptown Ladies
Lowlands
Corner Of My Room
First Light
Roll Them Blues
Think About You Anymore
Heart To Heal
Missed You Dear
See You Slumber
My Baby's Been Away
Coconut Tree
Going To California
TC – rhythm guitar, vocals / Sam Grossman – lead guitar, backing vocals / Kevin Thaxton – bass / Mike Fadem – drums, percussion / Nate Brown – wurlitzer, pIano / Jon Natchez – clarinet, bass clarinet,saxophone, trumpet, wurlItzer (tracks 3, 7), glockenspeIl / Gene Park – viola / The Babyskins – backing vocals / Mark Ephraim – keyboard, percussion / Steve Mertens – hand claps
Produced by TC and Mark Ephraim / Engineered by Mark Ephraim and Paul Mahajan / Recorded at Headgear studios, brooklyn, ny in march and august 2007 / Mixed by Mark Ephraim and Paul Mahajan / Mastered by Paul Mahajan / Art direction by TC and Jiri Seger / Design by Jiri Seger / Photography by Ashleigh Ide
Thank you – Jarvis Payson, Tim Lee, Quintus and Simone Kannegiesser, Grégoire Maus, Chantal Peten, Radical Production, David Ivar, Neman, Sam, Kevin, Fadem, Nate, Natchez, Gene, Angela, Crystal, Mark, Paul, Bob and Leta Kniffin
LYRICS
︎IRENE
I showed Irene where the trouble was,
And she don't write me still,
I don't know why I'm saying,
But for saying this I will,
I admire the simple man,
I am not as brave as him,
Who goes out on the waves and them,
Who roll upon the hill.
Adelaine was pregnant,
And Lillana Dune was dry,
And all the Freds did burn their heads,
When Jim began to cry,
And it felt so very real to me,
When Irene wandered by,
So I followed her beyond the stream,
Where lovers go to lie.
Oh mother bring me hamentaschen,
Rasberry sauce and rye,
And tell me that its not so bad,
To be this kind of guy,
My Irene is gone a year,
And still I cannot dry my tear,
And still I sing goodnight to her,
Beneath a weeiping sky.
Goodnight Irene....
︎Underground
Some men have all the luck,
Some have none at all,
I'm standing by the side of the road,
Feeling about two feet tall,
I've been 'round a dozen times,
Out the gates and through the pines,
I way, way past the starting line,
And I hear the bugle call.
Mama, take me down,
To where the trumpets do not blow so loud,
Mama, get me bound,
From this underground.
I see you're leaning on a crutch,
The one that says you love too much,
But if its true, and that exists,
Then why'd you make me go like this?
I did what I had to do,
Love has got to be for two,
I guess you loved me just for you,
If you did at all.
Mama, take me down,
To where the neon lights don't glow so proud,
Mama, get me bound,
From this underground.
And marble Tom stays so serene,
He washed his clothes and he keeps them clean,
He licked his chops in Aberdeen,
And he hangs his hat in Gaul,
He said lets go to Moscow,
I've had it all in Ghent,
And we're half a day and lost now,
And all my money's spent,
He'll be gone tommorrow,
Tommorrow I'll be bent,
Some men have all the luck,
Some aint got a cent.
Mama, take me down,
Round me up don't fail me now,
Mama get me bound,
From this underground.
︎Camptown Ladies
The Camptown ladies came again,
The World's Fair and the oil can,
Dan the Strongman, and Tyler too,
They sashayed in, in garland capes,
Brandished pork and organ pipes,
Ablaze in stars and stripes and boo hoo hoo.
Now I liked to keep my engine clean,
I'd fill it up with gasoline,
I'd get it shining bright like new,
But all of them just took a piece,
And drove it out, out on the streets,
And left me black with grease and high on glue.
I said "Let me keep my vague romances,
All the silver went to Francis,
And all the second chances went to Sue",
And I buried their sorrows then,
Deep in the sunbaked Sudan,
And took the mountain van to Katmandoo.
Now, the white boy had a family band,
And I traded an accordian,
For beans and three sardines and vegan stew,
But they left me on the fourteenth flour,
Strangled like an albacore,
Screaming like a eunich Cockatoo.
And now I'm alone and I don't feel right,
I'm hanging on a hallway light,
With an open container and a fever of a-hundred and two,
And tommorrow it is set to rain,
The city is a frying pan,
And I'm a hot dog in a bark canoe.
Drifting through the open crowd,
In Black Peter's cloak and shroud,
Singing loud to the chosen few.
︎Lowlands
I'm driving through the lowlands,
My baby's got a whole man,
I'm driving through the lowlands,
of Georgia, Georgia.
I'm eating boiled peanuts,
I'll be leaving for three months,
I'm headed for the Keys but,
My home is in the north.
I'm driving through the lowlands,
My baby's got a whole man,
I'm driving through the lowlands,
Of Georgia, Georgia.
Out there in the distance,
A rain cloud grows,
It stays for a minute,
And then it goes,
And the voices of the a.m.,
They're getting bold,
The mayhem is a taking hold.
But those wild ties that I broke,
Are gone behind the live oak,
And I know I've got no mind to go,
Get all tangled up again.
'Cause I'm driving throught the lowlands,
My baby's got a whole new man,
I'm driving through the lowlands,
Of Georgia, Georgia.
I'm driving through the lowlands of Georgia.
︎Corner of My Room
The finger's on the trigger and the mind is on the plan,
And I've got my prescription and every citizen's got his,
Now join me in the Rubicon and paddle me to France,
The nectarines are sweeter there and we aint got a chance 'round here,
I am counting Lincolns and living in the corner of my room,
I'm looking at the godess of the hunt and staring at the moon.
My friends aint got no loving and the babies aint got teets,
The women are all busy getting smart out on the streets (and there aint none),
And the gentleman from Kansas is fixing to retire,
He's drinking with his right-hand-man and speaking 'bout the fire and the doom,
A car horn sounds blows loud and hits my naked ear like a harpoon,
And I am counting Lincolns and living in the corner of my room.
I got enough to get to Memphis but not enought to get me home,
Where some men see a ladder some men see a throne to repaint,
And I said to senator, is this deed genuine?
He said, I aint seen that kind of thing since 1999, and it aint,
I saw John Brown going down a mighty road to Heaven on mule,
I stood aside and waved goodbye blind, out of sight, and out of fuel.
︎First Light
Can you hold me though I make you so very blue?
I've been out in the highest tide in the eye of the storm,
Can you tell me why they beguile as they do?
All through the wee hours of the night into the first light of the morn.
I've seen apparitions too, I've heard them weep forlorn,
Their fate is not what waits for you, your rose is not so thorned,
I've been out in the highest tide in the eye of the storm,
All through the wee hours of the night into the first light of the morn.
The winter wind's attacking me my myrtle reed is torn,
The farmer's wife is after me for sleeping in the corn,
I already know just where it will go,
They are over the moat their rope's around the corner stone.
Can you tell me true who will die and be born?
Can you tell me true who will weep forlorn?
I've layed out with all my might a million words to warn,
All through the wee hours of the night into the first light of the morn.
︎Roll Them Blues
Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall,
Ninety-nine bottles of beer,
Fifty cans in the trunk, in the van,
With the brand new drums and the gear,
Tommorrow's just another dram,
Today is just a tear,
Until I blow this popcorn stand,
I'll spend my days right here.
Roll them blues away boys,
Roll them blues away,
Roll them blues away, boys,
Roll them blues away.
I don't got no telephone,
And I got no words to hear,
But I got Jack for Peter,
And Four Roses for Pierre,
Mischa had a kiss for me,
She made it oh so clear,
But when she saw me turn away,
It vanished in the air.
(Chorus)
Mischa what a geisha,
And me oh what a drunk,
There's just a dozen 1664's,
Left in the trunk,
If I had a shotgun,
I would point it at the moon,
And if I had a dollar,
I would go to the saloon.
(Chorus)
︎Think About You Anymore
Winter's in the sails again,
I'll take another sip and then,
The bells will ring and I will dream alone,
I am getting all I can of that imported, hoarded dram,
So I do not think about you anymore.
I am getting all I can,
In borrowed eyes and hollowed grin,
So I can see the galleys on the shore,
So that I can sleep and still attend,
The waking dream around me and,
So I do not think about you anymore.
Mona hems and haws,
She has got icing in her claws,
And the paws of some old timer at her door,
She falls asleep on me,
And so I search her shawl to see,
If she conceals the thing that she did do before.
Does her stock and trade,
Recall a mistress or a maid?
Or all above, (for all have layed up on my floor),
But the tried and true conclusion is,
That I will not be moving as,
This swoon is truly soothing to the core,
And I do not think about you anymore.
I do not think about you anymore,
Because you stole,
The very soul of where my love did once endure,
Now gone beyond the wakes,
When gentle winds you did forsake,
And now the iron waves do break up on the oar,
And the end game is a pending silen roar....
But I do not think about you anymore.
︎Heart to Heal
I have got a heart to heal,
I carried it beyond the hill,
And over every farm and field I strode,
It did know another once,
And flew like birds of outer banks,
When bound unto that sounder heart's abode.
I have got a heart to heal I moan,
I have got a heart to heal I know.
I was in the ever greens,
Beyond the birch and ginsom weed,
When the breeze blew a seedling and a kite,
And now I'm in a strange hotel,
I'm hearing voices through the wall,
Rising from the poisoned well tonight.
I have got a heart to heal I moan,
I have got a heart to hearl I know.
On a west-end crested bute,
Fell a cannary and a boot,
A lute, a fruited prairy and a stone,
You you have and iron will,
Rings of gold and nerves of steel,
What key'll deal the card or crack the code.
To mend my heart to heal,
And send it home?
︎Sorry that I Missed You Dear
I am sorry that I missed you dear,
I was hung out on pills I swear,
I was humbled by the ill-gotten gains,
That sprang through mirror,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
Now I know you know the bible blonds,
Those high-fallutin' primadons,
With the bonds of a burial,
In the jaws of a terrible fear,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
Now Jack has got a ways to go,
He worries 'bout how he pleases you,
He's doing it for Jesus,
But he weezes and you hear him,
'Cause the virum in his serum's not there,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
I got a broken axle in Mannilla,
I was stranded with a vassle at the villa,
And now I've lasted in a casket,
In a castle in Seville,
'Cause the military million is here,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
︎See You Slumber
I want to be there in the midnight blue,
I want to be there in the morning too,
I want to be there to see you through,
I want to be there to see you through.
I want to be there in the noon day sun,
I want to be there when the day is done,
I want to be there to see you slumber,
I want to see you slumber.
Lady, lady you delight,
In steeling kisses through the night,
Wish I may wish I might,
To do you right,
To do you right.
I want to be there in the midnight blue,
I want to be there in the morning dew,
I want to be there to see you through,
I want to be there to see you through.
I want to be there in the noon day sun,
I want to be there when the shadow's come,
I want to be there to see you slumber,
I want to see you slumber.
︎My Baby's Been Away
My baby's been away so long,
Now the shades of evening are gone,
My baby's been away so long.
The abyss lists the letters I sent,
Fortunes gained and portions spent,
I hear an echo in a light blue dawn,
And I go see but I know she is gone.
My baby's been away so long,
You can take whatever food that you want,
I'm not hungry now that my honey is gone.
Some inconcievable, medeival wrong,
Has cast itself upon my home,
I am the hair of an Ishmaelite,
You are the feather of a bird in flight.
My baby's been away so long,
Now the shades of morning have come,
My baby's been away so long.
︎Coconut Tree
Meet by the sands of the coconut tree,
That is the place where our treasure will be,
With the sun in our eyes and the moon on the sea,
We will meet and dream will we.
Meet by the sands of the coconut tree,
That is the place where our treasure will be,
With the sun in our eyes and the moon on the sea,
We will meet and dream will we.
Meet by the sands of the coconut tree,
I as a king and you as a queen,
We'll kiss and remenisce on the days we have seen,
Then sleep and dream will we.
Then sleep and dream will we.
︎Going to California
I left my home in Georgia,
I got a million miles to go,
I came upon the water,
On the gulf of Mexico,
And now I'm going to California,
That is what I'm a gonna do.
I love you like a lady,
And I will love you till the end,
I held you like a daisy,
Until you flew like a wren,
When I see you I get crazy,
I won't be seeing you again.
Because I'm going to California,
I have been to New Orleans,
I've been with Apollonia,
And the cortesian queens,
And in case you say I never told ya,
That is what lonileness means.
He came out of Canaan,
With a pocket full of seeds,
And only a million miles to go,
And came into the strange lands,
In the rain and in the breeze,
On the seas in the heat and in the snow.
And it only goes to show ya,
Just what some loving light can do,
it will get into your soul, yeah,
And it will see you through,
︎IRENE
I showed Irene where the trouble was,
And she don't write me still,
I don't know why I'm saying,
But for saying this I will,
I admire the simple man,
I am not as brave as him,
Who goes out on the waves and them,
Who roll upon the hill.
Adelaine was pregnant,
And Lillana Dune was dry,
And all the Freds did burn their heads,
When Jim began to cry,
And it felt so very real to me,
When Irene wandered by,
So I followed her beyond the stream,
Where lovers go to lie.
Oh mother bring me hamentaschen,
Rasberry sauce and rye,
And tell me that its not so bad,
To be this kind of guy,
My Irene is gone a year,
And still I cannot dry my tear,
And still I sing goodnight to her,
Beneath a weeiping sky.
Goodnight Irene....
︎Underground
Some men have all the luck,
Some have none at all,
I'm standing by the side of the road,
Feeling about two feet tall,
I've been 'round a dozen times,
Out the gates and through the pines,
I way, way past the starting line,
And I hear the bugle call.
Mama, take me down,
To where the trumpets do not blow so loud,
Mama, get me bound,
From this underground.
I see you're leaning on a crutch,
The one that says you love too much,
But if its true, and that exists,
Then why'd you make me go like this?
I did what I had to do,
Love has got to be for two,
I guess you loved me just for you,
If you did at all.
Mama, take me down,
To where the neon lights don't glow so proud,
Mama, get me bound,
From this underground.
And marble Tom stays so serene,
He washed his clothes and he keeps them clean,
He licked his chops in Aberdeen,
And he hangs his hat in Gaul,
He said lets go to Moscow,
I've had it all in Ghent,
And we're half a day and lost now,
And all my money's spent,
He'll be gone tommorrow,
Tommorrow I'll be bent,
Some men have all the luck,
Some aint got a cent.
Mama, take me down,
Round me up don't fail me now,
Mama get me bound,
From this underground.
︎Camptown Ladies
The Camptown ladies came again,
The World's Fair and the oil can,
Dan the Strongman, and Tyler too,
They sashayed in, in garland capes,
Brandished pork and organ pipes,
Ablaze in stars and stripes and boo hoo hoo.
Now I liked to keep my engine clean,
I'd fill it up with gasoline,
I'd get it shining bright like new,
But all of them just took a piece,
And drove it out, out on the streets,
And left me black with grease and high on glue.
I said "Let me keep my vague romances,
All the silver went to Francis,
And all the second chances went to Sue",
And I buried their sorrows then,
Deep in the sunbaked Sudan,
And took the mountain van to Katmandoo.
Now, the white boy had a family band,
And I traded an accordian,
For beans and three sardines and vegan stew,
But they left me on the fourteenth flour,
Strangled like an albacore,
Screaming like a eunich Cockatoo.
And now I'm alone and I don't feel right,
I'm hanging on a hallway light,
With an open container and a fever of a-hundred and two,
And tommorrow it is set to rain,
The city is a frying pan,
And I'm a hot dog in a bark canoe.
Drifting through the open crowd,
In Black Peter's cloak and shroud,
Singing loud to the chosen few.
︎Lowlands
I'm driving through the lowlands,
My baby's got a whole man,
I'm driving through the lowlands,
of Georgia, Georgia.
I'm eating boiled peanuts,
I'll be leaving for three months,
I'm headed for the Keys but,
My home is in the north.
I'm driving through the lowlands,
My baby's got a whole man,
I'm driving through the lowlands,
Of Georgia, Georgia.
Out there in the distance,
A rain cloud grows,
It stays for a minute,
And then it goes,
And the voices of the a.m.,
They're getting bold,
The mayhem is a taking hold.
But those wild ties that I broke,
Are gone behind the live oak,
And I know I've got no mind to go,
Get all tangled up again.
'Cause I'm driving throught the lowlands,
My baby's got a whole new man,
I'm driving through the lowlands,
Of Georgia, Georgia.
I'm driving through the lowlands of Georgia.
︎Corner of My Room
The finger's on the trigger and the mind is on the plan,
And I've got my prescription and every citizen's got his,
Now join me in the Rubicon and paddle me to France,
The nectarines are sweeter there and we aint got a chance 'round here,
I am counting Lincolns and living in the corner of my room,
I'm looking at the godess of the hunt and staring at the moon.
My friends aint got no loving and the babies aint got teets,
The women are all busy getting smart out on the streets (and there aint none),
And the gentleman from Kansas is fixing to retire,
He's drinking with his right-hand-man and speaking 'bout the fire and the doom,
A car horn sounds blows loud and hits my naked ear like a harpoon,
And I am counting Lincolns and living in the corner of my room.
I got enough to get to Memphis but not enought to get me home,
Where some men see a ladder some men see a throne to repaint,
And I said to senator, is this deed genuine?
He said, I aint seen that kind of thing since 1999, and it aint,
I saw John Brown going down a mighty road to Heaven on mule,
I stood aside and waved goodbye blind, out of sight, and out of fuel.
︎First Light
Can you hold me though I make you so very blue?
I've been out in the highest tide in the eye of the storm,
Can you tell me why they beguile as they do?
All through the wee hours of the night into the first light of the morn.
I've seen apparitions too, I've heard them weep forlorn,
Their fate is not what waits for you, your rose is not so thorned,
I've been out in the highest tide in the eye of the storm,
All through the wee hours of the night into the first light of the morn.
The winter wind's attacking me my myrtle reed is torn,
The farmer's wife is after me for sleeping in the corn,
I already know just where it will go,
They are over the moat their rope's around the corner stone.
Can you tell me true who will die and be born?
Can you tell me true who will weep forlorn?
I've layed out with all my might a million words to warn,
All through the wee hours of the night into the first light of the morn.
︎Roll Them Blues
Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall,
Ninety-nine bottles of beer,
Fifty cans in the trunk, in the van,
With the brand new drums and the gear,
Tommorrow's just another dram,
Today is just a tear,
Until I blow this popcorn stand,
I'll spend my days right here.
Roll them blues away boys,
Roll them blues away,
Roll them blues away, boys,
Roll them blues away.
I don't got no telephone,
And I got no words to hear,
But I got Jack for Peter,
And Four Roses for Pierre,
Mischa had a kiss for me,
She made it oh so clear,
But when she saw me turn away,
It vanished in the air.
(Chorus)
Mischa what a geisha,
And me oh what a drunk,
There's just a dozen 1664's,
Left in the trunk,
If I had a shotgun,
I would point it at the moon,
And if I had a dollar,
I would go to the saloon.
(Chorus)
︎Think About You Anymore
Winter's in the sails again,
I'll take another sip and then,
The bells will ring and I will dream alone,
I am getting all I can of that imported, hoarded dram,
So I do not think about you anymore.
I am getting all I can,
In borrowed eyes and hollowed grin,
So I can see the galleys on the shore,
So that I can sleep and still attend,
The waking dream around me and,
So I do not think about you anymore.
Mona hems and haws,
She has got icing in her claws,
And the paws of some old timer at her door,
She falls asleep on me,
And so I search her shawl to see,
If she conceals the thing that she did do before.
Does her stock and trade,
Recall a mistress or a maid?
Or all above, (for all have layed up on my floor),
But the tried and true conclusion is,
That I will not be moving as,
This swoon is truly soothing to the core,
And I do not think about you anymore.
I do not think about you anymore,
Because you stole,
The very soul of where my love did once endure,
Now gone beyond the wakes,
When gentle winds you did forsake,
And now the iron waves do break up on the oar,
And the end game is a pending silen roar....
But I do not think about you anymore.
︎Heart to Heal
I have got a heart to heal,
I carried it beyond the hill,
And over every farm and field I strode,
It did know another once,
And flew like birds of outer banks,
When bound unto that sounder heart's abode.
I have got a heart to heal I moan,
I have got a heart to heal I know.
I was in the ever greens,
Beyond the birch and ginsom weed,
When the breeze blew a seedling and a kite,
And now I'm in a strange hotel,
I'm hearing voices through the wall,
Rising from the poisoned well tonight.
I have got a heart to heal I moan,
I have got a heart to hearl I know.
On a west-end crested bute,
Fell a cannary and a boot,
A lute, a fruited prairy and a stone,
You you have and iron will,
Rings of gold and nerves of steel,
What key'll deal the card or crack the code.
To mend my heart to heal,
And send it home?
︎Sorry that I Missed You Dear
I am sorry that I missed you dear,
I was hung out on pills I swear,
I was humbled by the ill-gotten gains,
That sprang through mirror,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
Now I know you know the bible blonds,
Those high-fallutin' primadons,
With the bonds of a burial,
In the jaws of a terrible fear,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
Now Jack has got a ways to go,
He worries 'bout how he pleases you,
He's doing it for Jesus,
But he weezes and you hear him,
'Cause the virum in his serum's not there,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
I got a broken axle in Mannilla,
I was stranded with a vassle at the villa,
And now I've lasted in a casket,
In a castle in Seville,
'Cause the military million is here,
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
I am sorry that I missed you dear.
︎See You Slumber
I want to be there in the midnight blue,
I want to be there in the morning too,
I want to be there to see you through,
I want to be there to see you through.
I want to be there in the noon day sun,
I want to be there when the day is done,
I want to be there to see you slumber,
I want to see you slumber.
Lady, lady you delight,
In steeling kisses through the night,
Wish I may wish I might,
To do you right,
To do you right.
I want to be there in the midnight blue,
I want to be there in the morning dew,
I want to be there to see you through,
I want to be there to see you through.
I want to be there in the noon day sun,
I want to be there when the shadow's come,
I want to be there to see you slumber,
I want to see you slumber.
︎My Baby's Been Away
My baby's been away so long,
Now the shades of evening are gone,
My baby's been away so long.
The abyss lists the letters I sent,
Fortunes gained and portions spent,
I hear an echo in a light blue dawn,
And I go see but I know she is gone.
My baby's been away so long,
You can take whatever food that you want,
I'm not hungry now that my honey is gone.
Some inconcievable, medeival wrong,
Has cast itself upon my home,
I am the hair of an Ishmaelite,
You are the feather of a bird in flight.
My baby's been away so long,
Now the shades of morning have come,
My baby's been away so long.
︎Coconut Tree
Meet by the sands of the coconut tree,
That is the place where our treasure will be,
With the sun in our eyes and the moon on the sea,
We will meet and dream will we.
Meet by the sands of the coconut tree,
That is the place where our treasure will be,
With the sun in our eyes and the moon on the sea,
We will meet and dream will we.
Meet by the sands of the coconut tree,
I as a king and you as a queen,
We'll kiss and remenisce on the days we have seen,
Then sleep and dream will we.
Then sleep and dream will we.
︎Going to California
I left my home in Georgia,
I got a million miles to go,
I came upon the water,
On the gulf of Mexico,
And now I'm going to California,
That is what I'm a gonna do.
I love you like a lady,
And I will love you till the end,
I held you like a daisy,
Until you flew like a wren,
When I see you I get crazy,
I won't be seeing you again.
Because I'm going to California,
I have been to New Orleans,
I've been with Apollonia,
And the cortesian queens,
And in case you say I never told ya,
That is what lonileness means.
He came out of Canaan,
With a pocket full of seeds,
And only a million miles to go,
And came into the strange lands,
In the rain and in the breeze,
On the seas in the heat and in the snow.
And it only goes to show ya,
Just what some loving light can do,
it will get into your soul, yeah,
And it will see you through,
VIDEOS
Going To California
Going To California