1. Bad For Her
She'd had a hell of a year
With all the shit he'd put her through
All she needed was an ear
But then along came you
You think she's just for you to use
You're preying on her battered nerves
It won't occur to her to choose
A life she actually deserves
Because you're bad for her
You're just bringing her down
All she needed was a friend
All you did was mess around
You could have been the guy
To pick her up and help her heal
To get her back up on her feet
And find herself a better deal
But you're bad for her
You're just bringing her down
All she needed was a friend
All you did was mess around
2. Hat Trick
Hat’s never sure what’s going on
He thinks through fog of smoke and lies
He trusts the ’86 Marquis
And no-one else since Buddy died
Blowin town is easy now
He flips the motel guy the bird
And briefly thinks about Marie
And wonders what her kid has heard
Hat calls his mother from the road
I’m heading out again, he says
You take good care dear Patrick, you’re
The only boy this mother has
The road to Yarmouth stretches on
He hopes the ferry’s running late
The Marquis eats the dotted line
As Hat Trick drives away his hate
3. Dark Brown Bottle
Barely hear your words through the din
They sound all right and it all sinks in
Hardly know you but right now we're brothers
When's that girl coming back with another
Just another night on the town
Pretty sure we're gonna close this place down
Dark Peculiar flowing like water
Time disappears as the music gets hotter
And...
Feel the weight of the dark brown bottle
Feel the night as it hits the throttle
Give it up as it all goes numb
Give in to delirium
Feel the weight of the dark brown bottle
Feel the night as it hits the throttle
Give it up as it all goes numb
Give in to delirium
Seems to me like I've been here before
Never know if she'll walk though the door
'Til she does, let's order a round
Let it go and get lost in the sound
As we...
4. Dead Of Night
Mister House, why'd you show up in my head
Don't you know Mister House that you're thirty years dead
Mister House, if you asked me for the time of day
Would I just laugh and throw my watch away?
Well they come around in the dead of night
I know it's strange but it feels alright
Fathers, heroes and the restless wake
In the darkest hour before morning breaks
Mister Bracey, why'd you give up on the blues
Just to toe the line in those preacher shoes
Did your brown mamma bring you to your knees
Or did you die from the slow-killin' heart disease?
Sideburns, work shirt, laboured breath
Twenty five years since the old man's death
He's on the front step just like way back when
And it's good to see the old man again
5. Pieces
Broken down and running empty
Cluttered room a prison cell
Throwing chords at cracked and peeling walls
Finding hope down at the well
Hallelujah, I'm in pieces now
Hallelujah, I'm in pieces now
Hallelujah, I'm in pieces now
Hallelujah, amen.
First mind says to leave the bottle
Second mind says hit it hard
Try to keep the voices silent
Catch the darker thoughts off guard
Like a broke down engine, lord
Heere houd ook deze nacht,
Got no drivin' wheel to push me
Over mij getrouw de wacht
6. Another Cup
You emptied the jar to pay for your car
Well that's alright, it's okay
Your cheap guitar can still carry you far
Well that's alright, that's alright
Your sun doesn't shine the same way as mine
Well that's alright, it's okay
Clouds roll away in their own sweet time
Well that's alright, that's alright
So hang on
Take a load off of your mind
So hang on
Pour another cup and unwind
The man upstairs doesn't answer your prayers
Well that's alright, it's okay
None of us know but a few of us care
Well that's alright, that's alright
You lose your song ‘cause the world's gone wrong
Well that's alright, it's okay
Many have gone but we'll still get along
Well that's alright, that's alright
7. Sweet Marilee
Eddie and Joe were the fortunate ones
They partied on weekends and shot off their guns
But Rollie had taken a kick in the womb
He didn't say much and just stayed in his room
The Hants County girls went for Eddie and Joe
The things they would do weren't for Rollie to know
When Rollie turned sixteen in seventy one
The boys brought Marilee home for some fun
Nobody talks about sweet Marilee
People still talk about the nature of boys
Parenting failures and all of that noise
But nobody talks about sweet Marilee
Nobody talks about sweet Marilee
Rollie sleeps by a stand of white birch
Between Uncle John and the old Baptist church
Marilee's dad in a Dorchester cell
Thinks of Eddie and Joe and the flames of hell
But nobody talks about sweet Marilee
Nobody talks about sweet Marilee…
8. Throw It Away
He did it again, or she ragged on you hard
Or worse, you just outed yourself as a fraud
Whatever became of that guy who let it all slide
He used to live easy, carefree and stupid
His lack of ambition was rarely disputed
Then the whole world went insane and his temperament died
It rages inside uncontained by your mettle
Boiling away like a forgotten kettle
Take a deep breath, my friend
And throw it away
Go for a walk, have a beer on the stoop
Gather your thoughts and try to regroup
No-one but little ol' you gives a damn anyway
Why are you listening, what do I know
Rambling thoughts of an forgotten joe
Go and put on a Fred McDowell record instead
9. Everclear
Dented quarter-panel on my Chevy sixty-three
Damned thing needs an oil change maybe even more than me
Cigarette for breakfast kills the taste of the donair
Gotta make it through 'til Friday on a tenner and a prayer
Ronnie here's a good girl, she's from St. Margaret's Bay
She'll cut you in a heartbeat if she doesn't get her way
.38 tucked in her boot, patchouli in her hair
Gotta make it through 'til Friday on a tenner and a prayer
Pull the curtains closed, grab the last bottle off the shelf
This Everclear 151 ain't gonna drink itself
Ronnie's passed out cold so I don't even have to share
Gotta make it through 'til Friday on a tenner and a prayer
10. Civilised Man
Well hello baby I'm a civilised man
I'll show you a good time if anyone can
I'll take you out dancing and buy you a beer
It's more than you'll get from the other guys here
Yeah hello baby, I'm a civilised man
Hell yeah baby, I'm a civilised man
Well hello, baby, lemme tell you what I see
You're lookin' real good and you're lookin' at me
I see the look on your face that says you need a new plan
So come over here and try a civilised man
Got my highschool diploma and a '99 Ford
Got a mighty fine house where I pay room and board
Gimme a chance girl, I'll show you a time
We'll do it up right on a gentleman's dime
11. I Shouldn't Be Drinking
I should've took note when I'd stopped measuring the pour
Should've capped the bottle then and there
I should've took comfort in the better things I had
I've never been all that self-aware
I know to quit working when the afternoon is done
I know to quit thinking when I'm down
I know to quit talking when the tempers start to rise
I know to pour another round
I know this stuff will kill me
What don't I understand
Raise a glass to a better man
I know this stuff will kill me
Why can't I give a damn
I shouldn't be drinking, but I am
12. Old News
I ain't feeling this job anymore
Matter of time 'fore I walk out the door
Don't think I can take the abuse anymore
Or maybe it's all self abuse
I'm getting by but I sure ain't great
More plywood Stella than D-28
Maybe I'm getting resigned to my fate
Or maybe I've run out of juice
Some days when I'm not too far from god
I'll take a minute and give him a nod
Just another part of myself that's flawed
But all of that's just old news
14. Chasing A Story Down
She likes to spill into a midnight room
Watch it bloom, leave too soon
High on the tension of her exit plan
No less than: the fall of man
She's jaded, sedated
She's seen it all before
Not her first go-around
All eyes are on her as she's heading out the door
She's chasing a story down
She’s got a way to get the truth from them
Every sin, every whim
She'll piece together how the deal went down
Ask around, it's her town