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Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando Scream Love and Peace into the Darkness

by Chris Michael

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1.
Elvis/Brando 03:20
I was walking down the street, I saw Elvis Presley He was playing his guitar, he was shaking his hips He said this is the thing I love most in the world but I Love it all the same when I do it for tips I love it all the same when I do it for tips We talked about the the pros and cons of fortune and fame Of faking your death and changing your name He said his one desire after living this way is to be a better man than he was yesterday To be a better man than he was yesterday I was walking down the street, I saw Marlon Brando He was staring into the distance, looking cool and mean He said I was brought here to inhabit other people To tell their stories with my body on the screen To tell their stories with my body on the screen We talked about the pros and cons of living forever In a place where the temporal and timeless come together He said his one desire after living this way Is to be a better man than he was yesterday To be a better a better man than he was yesterday But as we scream into the darkness As we project our burning image into the night As we dance upon this imperfect stage As we struggle for meaning and try to do what's right There's just one thing we need to know As our days go burning by And that's despite the cover of darkness And the walls we build around us We're all bound together by this Burning desire I was walking down the street, I didn't see a soul So I stared into the distance and tried to shake my hips And I thought deeply about the world all around me And these were the first words to find my lips These were the first words to find my lips I'll never get what I need from fortune or fame Or living forever, or changing my name My only desire after living this way Is to be a better man than I was yesterday To be a better man than I was yesterday
2.
I know you had a better way Just settle down, it's gonna be okay There's more than one path to a better day It's coming soon, it's on its way I know you had a lot to do You had things to say, business to get down to Sometimes it's work just getting through Sometimes it's hard to try to talk to you There's a fire in the attic It's been burning all night long We could run away or we could put it out But we have to choose before very long You're just talking static And I'm almost always gone And we could run away or we could put it out But we have to choose before very long In the afternoon I saw a tree He was hanging out, he was living free It might sound strange but it spoke to me It said the quiet life, man that's the way to be I turned my head and I looked at you You were bouncing round like a kangaroo I had to hold my tongue 'till I turned blue It's a bad scene, but what you gonna do? There's a fire in the attic It's been burning all night long We could run away or we could put it out But we have to choose before very long You're just talking static And I'm almost always gone And we could run away or we could put it out But we have to choose before very long There's gonna come a moment Through the smoke and through the flames When you're holding on with your fingernails To the edge of a window pane And with your arms fully extended There's still twenty-five feet below And you have to choose if you're holding on Or if it's time for letting go There's a fire in the attic It's been burning all night long We could run away or we could put it out But we have to choose before very long You're just talking static And I'm almost always gone And we could run away or we could put it out But we have to choose before very long
3.
We were hungry, skinny too If I had three I'd give you two Doing anything I could for you Sleeping on the ground Every bridge down's a lesson learned Let's light it up and watch it burn But when you've got no place left to turn It's time to settle down Well, It's time to settle down I'm thinking on the time We used to hold on to each other Like God's Own Lover Like there was nothing left to discover Like we were the only thing that could keep us afloat Now I'm sinking, I'm going down I can't swim, I'm bound to drown Wearing clothes from the lost and found Rambling loose from town to town Head on the floor listening to the ground Sitting in this leaky raft they sold me for a boat Waiting on the lifeline Just outside the knick of time Waiting on the dying breath of hope Waiting on the dying breath of hope Lights come up it's time to go Let's load it up and hit the road If there's one thing lord that I know It's when to head for the door But this life's longer than I thought it'd be It's a whole new game now, don't you see? Just keep on rising up beautiful, wild, and free And stronger than before We're stronger than before I'm thinking on the time We used to hold on to each other Like God's Own Lover Like there was nothing left to discover Like we were the only thing that could keep us afloat Now I'm sinking, I'm going down I can't swim, I'm bound to drown Wearing clothes from the lost and found Rambling loose from town to town Head on the floor listening to the ground Listening to that lonesome sound Of a train running Coney Island bound Sitting in this leaky raft they sold me for a boat Waiting on the lifeline Just outside the knick of time Waiting on the dying breath of hope Waiting on the dying breath of hope Waiting on the dying breath of hope.
4.
Master Vein 02:53
Out all night what you gonna get? I was out all night, I amassed debt I amassed a debt, that I can't pay Ooh, to the Master Vein Lost a woman on a losing bet I looked in the mirror and I looked upset I looked upset, in the early day Ooh, to the Master Vein The way we waste it must be a sin It soaks us through and then it's lost again I'm running through my life like I'm chasing a train Running out of blood from the Master Vein Fold it over and start again I'm just a loser who wants to win I want to win, so I can't stay Ooh, with the Master Vein Short time left before I go But I ain't told no one, so no one knows No one knows, that I'm on my way Ooh but the Master Vein The way we waste it must be a sin It soaks us through and then it's lost again I'm running through my life like I'm chasing a train Running out of blood from the Master Vein Out all night what you gonna get? I was out all night, I amassed debt I amassed a debt, that I can't pay Ooh, to the Master Vein
5.
E.I.N. 03:10
I'm gonna shoot myself Out of a cannon I made myself Out of all of the things I found Just lying around the bottom of the deep blue sea And then I'll go up in style Baby hang out a while Just float through the ether in the greatest of ease Don't you worry 'bout me I've got everything I need Everything I need This old world's hell bent On tearing itself apart It don't take no genius, no, to see That sticking around ain't all that smart So darling come with me And I think you're gonna see That I've got a better plan So, just take my hand and I'll have Everything I need Everything I need I want to tell y'all 'bout it I want to tell y'all about everthing I need I got those, I got those I got those remarkably compact rocket powered shoes I got that solar rechargeable technology too I got my woman, I got my guitar I got all the whisk(e)y I can drink out of this Magic bottomless fruit jar I got everything I need Everything I need So I'm gonna shoot myself Out of a cannon I made myself Out of all of the things I found Just lying around the bottom of the deep blue sea And then I'll go up in style Baby hang out a while Just float through the ether in the greatest of ease Don't you worry 'bout me I've got everything I need Everything I need With you on my arm baby I've got Everything I need
6.
Can it Wait? 04:04
I dreamed I was on the road and I was driving Listening to Matt Singer and Paul Simon The weather was great, the list of possibilities extensive The sky was clear, the sun was out, I just got paid I was free But everything else is just so expensive My eyes are closed tight Shut to the light And baby can it wait? Baby can it wait? For just a little bit later in the day I dreamed music played from the sky No one was around, it was just you and I There was Rascals in the morning Gershwin and Mahler afternoons Dinner time was Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding, And Bobby Bland It was commercial-free, no filler, just the tunes My eyes are closed tight Shut to the light And baby can it wait? Baby can it wait? For just a little bit later in the day I dreamed I was a lion and you were a hunter Everywhere was heavy rain and thunder We shared a shelter, for what seemed like forever Then I looked at you, you looked at me, the storm let up And the sun shone through And we walked off, hand in paw, together My eyes are closed tight Shut to the light And baby can it wait? Baby can it wait? For just a little bit later in the day
7.
Love 04:29
We've got so much of it We've got it in spades We've got an indoor pool of it We've got a machine that makes waves On Mondays we swim in it On Tuesdays we bathe On odd weeks we hold diving contests three times a day We've got So much Love Can't even fit your arms 'round it Love When it snows, we can sled down it Love In a moment of impact In the compression of space Whether you're living on cold facts Or surviving on faith There's one thing that overcomes Every difference in taste You can spread it around But when you need it There's enough in one place We've got So much Love Just like water in the ocean y'all Love Hold your breath, it's gonna swallow us all Just one last thing For you my friends It might sound familiar But let it sink in We're all just sisters and brothers Ooh in the end So even though I said before I'm gonna say it over again We've got So much Love Ain't no need to fight about it Love To the windows, we'll go shout it Love Tell me something that I need to know I'm in the middle of it, I need you too Tell me something, that I need to know
8.
Spark 04:34
I said, "Everybody's got to have a dream" She said, "Dream?" She spat it out, stomped it down Said, "I don't think that I should hang around Any man who believes in dreams." I said, "What you got against dreams?" And she said nothing. I said "What you got against dreams?" And she said, "I don't like lies or false things, and what else is a dream?" She said, "Like there sure are a lot of insurance salesman in my neighborhood. Is that what they dreamed they were going to be? Insurance salesmen in my neighborhood? When they were little boys, were they lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, late in the evening, dreaming about being insurance salesmen in my neighborhood? What a dream!" I said, "I'll tell you about a dream. A dream is a real, a true, an honest thing. We're all out here cast about, like waves in the sea, we're trying to figure it out. But we're lost. Like children in the darkness. We are lost and we're afraid, trying to find our way, like children in the darkness. But then, in the dark, in the distance, you behold a Spark. And you watch it as it glows. And you hold it in your arms and it explodes. It explodes and lights the night up like the day. And takes my fear away. And I am not afraid. I am not afraid when I see my Spark. I am not afraid! And you see what I mean is that: They call this Spark a dream."
9.
Peace 04:18
I was lying in bed when I got the notion I got to get my body to the Atlantic Ocean I don't need no towel or suntan lotion Just the sand and the water and the constant motion I put on my shoes and took to the street I had to put some sidewalk under these feet And I set off in the morning heat Until I got to the place where land and water meet I took it all in as I lugged around All the things that I'd been, people I'd found And the knowledge that after a lifetime of making sound I'm bound to end up quiet, deep underground But in this life of mine I can't seem to find no Peace We struggle every day just to watch it slip away From the water in my hair, to the salt on my tongue From the dirt in my eye, to the smoke in my lungs We're all built from scraps that we're found among Just little bits and pieces of what we'll become When the sun sets down I'm light like a balloon Full of air, and whisk(e)y, and evening cartoons And I rise up to meet the summer moon Until I float just like the chorus of another pop tune But in this life of mine I can't seem to find no Peace We struggle every day just to watch it slip away I was lying in bed when I got the notion I got to get my body to the Atlantic Ocean I don't need no towel or suntan lotion Just the sand and the water and the constant motion
10.
It's February The very heaviest middle of the night We've been waiting on the spring We've been waiting on the morning light To reveal itself like a mystery Lately my friend He says his throat's been feeling tight It's a struggle for him to sing Hell, just breathing, that's a fight Under the weight of this pathology We've been sitting for days Just hoping the snow will melt But this ain't no labyrinth maze It's more a conveyor belt Built in ignorance of need Just random lengths And abusive speeds And maybe it's all decided Like this ticking time-bomb gene Making that cancer in your throat And if it's all been decided I still think that you should sing From the top of the opening To the very last lines that you wrote

about

Hi Everyone,

I have spent a lot of my life singing, writing, and recording songs, but this is my first full length work. I started working on this record about three years before it was finally finished. There were long periods where progress was not made, when other things took priority. There were a number of short bursts in which enormous progress was made very quickly. There was a lot of help from my friends.

In those three years I pieced together a lot of what one needs to independently record and produce an album like this. One microphone, an interface, a midi controller. A lot of software. Knowledge. Hopefully this means the next one comes a little easier and a little faster.

In the meantime, though, I really hope you enjoy this record. I'm proud of it, and I'm glad you've found it. Maybe tell other people about it too? Perhaps they would enjoy it as well. Thanks for your time and your ears and your brains. I really and truly appreciate it.

Best,

Chris

credits

released September 18, 2016

Matt Cranstoun: Drums/Percussion/Guitar/Radiator/Water Glasses/Vocals
E.W. Harris: Vocals
Ryan Morgan: Vocals
Chris Michael: Vocals/Bass/Guitars/Keys/Percussion/Sequencing

Recorded by Chris Michael, Matt Cranstoun, and E.W. Harris
Produced by Chris Michael and Matt Cranstoun
Written by Chris Michael
Photo/Design/Layout by Reese Muntean

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Chris Michael Athens, Ohio

Chris Michael is a songwriter, bass player and guitar eater living in Athens, Ohio.

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