Plans & Schemes

(2014)

Hold On To
Deep In The Heart Of Brooklyn
The Loneliness Is Awful
A Different Kind Of Sadness
So AloneThe Ruins Of St. Johnsbury
Girl From Coney Island
No DirectionMemories Of You
Making Plans
Something Strange

Hiding In Plain Sight is Turner Cody's eighth studio record. Working again with Dan Myers (producer of Adam Green's Gemstones), TC goes more country than on the previous Plans And Schemes. If real country songs still came out of Nashville, maybe they'd be "Bed Of Roses" "Going It Alone" or "Crying In My Whisky". TC makes more use of musical textures here than on recent records as well. "Death Is The Friend You Never Met", a haunting meditation on mortality, features Leslie organ and cello. The album's also got mariachi trumpet, swinging saxophone, ethereal female backing vocals, and bar room accordion.
One of New York City's great drummers, Parker Kindred (who's played with Jeff Buckley, Grand Mal, Adam Green, Luke Temple, and Antony and the Johnsons, among others) returns to lend his brilliant rhythmic stylings. The album also features the eloquent lead guitar of Samuel Grossman, one of TC's oldest collaborators and friends.

LYRICS

Hold Onto

I got hole in the sole of my shoe,
And a fever of 102,
I got a legal case and a drinker's face,
And a tale to tell on cue,
And the one thing I got to hold onto is you.

I got a millstone around my kneck,
I gotta keep my ass in check,
I am tempting fate in the Empire State,
I got a date with you-know-who,
And the one thing I got to hold onto is you.

You're the one that I got to hold onto,
You're the one that I'll never do wrong to,
You're the one that I miss and the one that I kiss,
And the one that I am singing this song to.

I have got one life to live,
And I got one gift to give,
But the scales are tipped and my soul is gripped,
By a grief and a darkening hue.

It is a tale told by a fool,
It is meaningless and cruel,
There's a pill on my vest and a pain in my chest,
And a hole in the sole of my shoe,
And the one thing I got to hold onto is you.

You're the one that I got to hold onto,
You're the one that I'll never do wrong to,
You're the one that I tell that I aint doing well,
And you're the one that I will always belong to.

There's a half moon in the sky,
And the taps have all run dry,
And the bars are closed and my skin's exposed,
I am cold and my dollars are few,
And the one thing I got to hold onto is you.

The one thing I got to hold onto is you.

Deep In The Heart Of Brooklyn

I am deep in the heart of Brooklyn,
And I'm walking down the road,
My head is hot and heavy,
And I think it might explode,
We paved this way together,
And we'll pay for it in gold,
But I am deep in the heart of Brooklyn,
Just getting by and growing old.

Now, I've been to the fountain,
Where Zelda scraped her knee,
Up to Long Island Sound and,
Down to the Battery,
I rose out of the ashes,
Of the old NYC,
And I am deep in the heart of Brooklyn,
The only place I'll ever be.

And now things they might get better, babe,
But it's gonna take a while,
But I would wait around forever, babe,
If I thought I'd see you smile,
If they need me they can find me,
They have got my name on file,
I am deep in the heart of Brooklyn,
And I'm going out in style.

The Loneliness Is Awful

I don't know what we're mourning it's as if everyone died,
These rooms are gray in ways I can't define,
But I know I can't afford to be a broken man tonight,
There will be other days to lay down on the line,
So I'll see you here tomorrow and I hope you will be fine,
I know you just need something new to try,
But the loneliness is awful that I'm seeing in your eyes,
The loneliness is awful every time.

Now, I know the stolen stories of them who gave their lives,
How they're broken up and woven into lies,
I know all the twisted motives, I know all the cruel devices,
Of those who would return you to the flies,
But I know I can't afford to be a broken man tonight,
So I'll see you when tomorrow's on the rise,
But the loneliness is awful that I'm seeing in your eyes,
The loneliness is awful every time.

When I see you around the theater where I'm staying with the wife,
In the old hotel of smoke and candle light,
you might say we had to meet here and I know you will be right,
So I'll kiss her and we'll go into the night,
And hope will spring eternal as the bird will take to flight,
As all good things could come to realize,
But the loneliness is awful that I'm seeing in your eyes,
The loneliness is awful every time.

The loneliness is awful that I'm seeing in your eyes,
The loneliness is awful every time.

A Different Kind of Sadnesss

It's not that I am lonely for a lover or a friend,
And it's not that I'm a stranger to my kin,
And it's not that I am waiting for some great thing to begin,
It's a different kind of sadness setting in.

And to everyone I know, I know that I'll see you again,
Sitting at the tavern in the den,
But all that goes to show is that the world won't stop to spin,
It's a different kind of sadness setting in.

And over on the corner there's a loner and a boarder,
He's a store of dissapointments that have been,
But for the man up in the tower who's got nothing more to win,
It's a different kind of sadness setting in.

We could sail the widest ocean, we could scale some great mountain,
And be known among the finest gentlemen,
But we'd still be met with grief and have to take it on the chin,
It's a different kind of sadness setting in.

And baby I should say, you know I love you more each day,
I love you with a love that never ends,
And here if fifty years I will still be loving you then,
It's a different kind of sadness setting in.
Past moments of joy slipped through my hands into the void,
Or were destroyed like great statues made of tin,
And through it all the only thing that I got is my skin,
It's a different kind of sadness setting in.

So put on your finest suit and sweep the dust into the bin,
And meet me at the dance hall around ten,
And tomorrow we'll talk over what tonight might still happen,
With a different kind of sadness setting in.

So Alone

Every kind of stranger is staring right at you,
You look just like their lost son and sing just like him too,
I'll meet you in the country and in the city square,
But every kind of stranger is waiting for us there.

So alone, so alone,
Why are we so alone?
So alone, so alone,
Why are we so alone?

Best laid plans completed and best intentions spurned,
Doing drugs in secret to cast off wicked words,
When I got home that morning I put your record on,
My whole life passed before me listening to the song.

So alone, so alone,
Why are we so alone?
So alone, so alone,
Why are we so alone?

Every kind of stranger is asking you your sign,
Looking through your laundry and listening on your line,
And everyone who knows me is asking what you did,
To get to be so lonely and what your keeping hid.

So alone, so alone,
Why are we so alone?
So alone, so alone,
Why are we so alone?

The Ruins Of St. Johnsberry

I got there just in time for the execution,
You and he had walked into the rain,
I wasn't looking for a solution,
I was looking more to lose than to gain.

I was reading dispatches from the news room,
You were in the ticker tape parade,
For me it was like a blood transfusion,
For you, like the first time getting laid.

And I recalled the ruins of St. Johnsberry,
My mornings were a messianic haze,
They covered me in gilt,
With red roses to the hilt,
I was build for auction like a slave.

I got there just in time to get played,
I got there just in time to get waylaid.

You told me you thought things would turn out different,
Than me and you, the walls and Lady Jane,
But a bad mixture of pills and lack of instinct,
Wound us up and found us here again.

There are guys out there who will kill you for a quarter,
But you'll die more from boredom than from pain,
And you'll find out as your days are getting shorter,
That your mouth is dry and you drank up all the rain.

And you'll get there just in time to take the blame,
You'll get there just in time to lose your name.

Girl From Coney Island

You want to find a girl from Coney Island,
With a million-dollar smile on lips of wine,
You want to fall in love without even trying,
You always talk about it all the time,
You want for her to open like a daisy,
And always have your loving on her mind,
You want for her to always drive you crazy,
And gaze into you lonely eyes.

Now, I was once a phantom in a slide show,
Barely but a shadow of my pa,
A scaredy-cat in jeans right out of high school,
About to run afowl of the law,
I was once the sad end of a story,
I was mourning only sorrows that I saw,
Till she bent down to lift my crown of glory,
And restored me with her loving arms.

You look in each direction for a mile and,
All you see are fish nets and cods,
They're carving out a future for a sly man,
Who's reclining in a temple of the gods,
And you're walking through the dark just like a blind man,
With your right hand in a silent applause,
Just looking for a girl form Coney Island,
And trying to defy the odds.

No Direction

I'm waiting at the intersection of the mill and the Johnstown road,
There are women lighting candles, there are memories burning holes,
There are children in the rafters and spirits yearning ceaslessly below,
And I just missed my connection and I don't know what direction to go.

I had ten years to figure how to put my head on straight,
I got ten years behind me but I'm ten years too late,
I got ten years of bad recollections to know,
And I just missed my connection and I don't know what direction to go.

One road leads to the Jordan and one road leads to the Lethe,
One road leads to heaven but both roads lead to death,
And I'm seriously wondering if the one that gets there sooner's mine to tow,
And I just missed my connection and I don't know what direction to go.

I just missed my connection and I don't know what directon to go.

Memories Of You

I've got so many memories of you,
Some are black as coal and some are blue,
Some come a knockin' like a stranger in the dark and walk on through,
I've got so many memories of you.

I've got so many needles on a string,
I got two for every one you bring,
And we are cold and wet but they haven't licked us yet like they said they'd do,
I've got so many memories of you.

Your innocence is gone and your hair is gray,
You don't mean exactly what you say,
But after all this time I'm reminded of the things that we went through,
I've got so many memories of you.

And I don't care what the rain brings, no,
All I care is if you're out in it you'll tell me so.

Once when you were down you asked me, "please,
There's a part of me nobody sees,
But what else can I do to be someone who they'll all say they knew?",
I've got so many memories of you.

I've got so many memories of you.

Making Plans

Making plans to see you,
Thinking you will call,
Staring out the window at the fall.

Looking in the rear view,
Listening through the wall,
Thinking that I'm no damn good at all.

Like a tambourine,
I know where you've been,
I know what you've seen,
And the scene you're in.

And I do not know the reasons,
For what could make you bleed,
And I don not know the sentences you read.

But I hope for concellation,
That you should take the lead,
And get the compensation that you need.

But these dreams erode,
Like these streams that flowed,
And these schemes implode,
'Neath the heavy load.

I am sifting through the memories,
Of what will be regret,
And what will be the things that I forget.

And I'm making plans to see you,
In places where we met,
But if you're coming you're not coming yet.

Something Strange

Something strange is in the air, the shadow's in my room,
The clouds are in a pattern that reveals impending doom,
The roses are in tatters, the beach is dust-bone dry,
And when I told you nothing matters you had no reply,
A man in black is in my seat, his crow is on my stair,
And something wrong is going on and something strange is in the air.

A lady in white's on the bed in ribbons and lace,
A look of joy and something coy is plastered on her face,
And somewhere you remember the names she had for you,
When you weren't as clever and your friends were but a few,
And everything that ever was, the sun has seen from there,
But something wrong is going on and something stranger is in the air.

The morning that you found me I was sifting through a dream,
I was not alive or dead but somewhere in between,
I'd had a million whiskeys and the fire was in my brain,
The dream was I was waiting for forever for a train,
And now my body's broken in pain and disrepair,
And something wrong is going on and something strange is in the air.

I thought I saw you talking in a crowd with everyone,
Speaking in the lingo that is common to the tongue,
They were sending messages and they were chewing ice,
Some said, "this is heaven!", and some said, "it's paradise!",
And everything was normal down to the hair,
But something wrong was going on and something strange was in the air.

The summer that it rained well on into July,
There was many a rainbow that stretched across the sky,
You said it was the promies that could never be destroyed,
Even if you've forgotten it, it doesn't make it void,
But still it rained and rained all day, and now it's raining everywhere,
And something wrong is going on and something strange is in the air.