Lyrics: LORD I KNOW I’VE BEEN CHANGED Somebody call up the doctor, somebody call on the maid Woke up in eight feet of water, woke up in eight shades of grey Somebody call on my rider -- she knows all my ways Something like I been re-lined -- something like I been changed And satellites will glisten, and satellites will gleam And here and now my witness is any star I see Carry on the west wind, carry off my shame And restore the evening, and restore my name Lord I know I been changed, yeah; I know that I been changed On the seventh day I been saved With the angels in Heaven, done made my way Somebody call up the dealer, somebody wake up the bank Woke up with you and tequila, woke on the end of the plank Somebody call up my friend-girl -- she been witness every day Something like I been re-treated -- something like I been re-chained (July 4, 2009) HENNY YOUNGMAN She said “Everything’s been said, including ‘everything’s been said.’ The only thing left is which way to say ‘I’ve got nothing.’ And that way will destroy the body; and that way will destroy the mind. And one way around it all, baby, maybe, is to share the gun; or is for every wish that you ever had to come true.” Every wish that you ever had to come true Every wish that you ever had to come true Or’s to sing it: Well, my friend Sal wrote for the New Yorker They took away his lust for life, yeah, it’s true They paid him back in three bored wives, yeah, baby Now he spends all his evenings writing to them Every wish that he'd ever had had come true Every wish that he'd ever had had come true Every wish that he'd ever had had come true except for the proof Henny Youngman's routine was no different than yours or mine, except he was funny and ready, and on time We're not funny, we're not ready, we don't practice When we say "real," we just mean unprepared, yeah Every wish that I’ve ever had has come true Every wish that I’ve ever had has come true Every wish that I’ve ever had has come true and I’ve got…I’ve got proof (March 6, 2010) KILL DEVIL HILL Need me a jumpin’ off point, need me a Kill Devil Hill Need me a jumpin’ off point, need me a Kill Devil Hill Make no move on my baby, some dirt mover will Ah, Kill Devil Hill I got no religion; found no comfort there I got no religion; found no comfort there Found my jumpin’ off point, and I found nothin’ but air Ah, no kill-devil there One thing ‘bout my baby -- she’s full grown One thing ‘bout my baby -- she’s full grown: “You don’t need to kill the Devil; you don’t need to kill that devil You don’t need to kill the Devil; you don’t need to kill your devil You don’t need to kill the Devil; you don’t need to kill no devil You don’t need to kill the Devil; you don’t need no kill-devil will… but kill the Devil, still Yeah, kill your devils, still…” Kill Devil Hill (2004) HERE IN MEMPHIS Here in Memphis, halfway down on my luck, on my sound Not like you were the only soul around Just seems like there’s nobody left here in town The colors of all the nights we played have shaken the paint, bled out, gone grey I haven’t looked south since the day that you went away Here the rain isn’t poetic Here the pain is prose Here in Memphis, I lost all I had thought was forever On time for the train that we made our movin’ nest, our shade I haven’t missed it one day since you went away Saturday wants you back, Sunday needs you Saturday wants you back, Sunday needs you I release you I relieve you Some day, I’ll write from four ‘til late in ribbons But today, I’ll write you just to say: Good night Good luck And I guess good stuff for a sad country song But I haven’t sung And I haven’t played And I’m no one And there’s no way Since you went away (2011) COME SUNDAY The window’s open but the curtain’s spoken for And all I’m askin’ is the last thing you got I never wanted the storms you hunted But this one tracked me back and I need your open door Come next Sunday, I’ll be gone But I’ll be markin’ the road that you’re on Yeah, I’ve been broken yeah, I’ve been down Yeah, dark was the night yeah, cold was the ground But April’s wakin’ from December’s dream And spring thaw’s the poor man’s gallery opening Come next Sunday, I’ll be strong And I’ll be walkin’ the road that you’re on Do you want me to? Do you want me too? Do you want me to? Do you want me too? Do you want me to? I’m not tryin’ to corner you All I’m askin’ is if you want me to (2011) SELDOM SEEN ROAD Honey, what you got on your mind? Honey, what you got on your mind? “I’ll tell you down by the river round ‘bout nine” Sugar, what’s in your nation sack? Sugar, what’s in your nation sack? “I’ll show you in the fallin’ down shed out back” Show you the steel in my back Some day you’ll meet your maker, and Some day you’ll meet Me – Hi:) Woman, who you meetin’ out my sight? Woman, who you meetin’ out my sight? “Meet me down on Seldom Seen tonight…” (2013) IN THE CUT Faith in love is Love, and faith in Fear is fear And my Faith in you is hard to come by it’s hard to come by You’re hard to come by – like a syncopated strut ‘cause my states of grace are in the Cut These rites of recourse – their weeds and rewards -- takes time (and all-nights and wine) The right to regard the stains and the shards as who we are – as weapons of the heart… the Will to incite, you’d tease and invite You’d Tease and Invite You tease and pick the page up off the floor, change “fleurs du mal” to “fleurs d’amour,” then tell the wind, the waves to bring them devils on, and them to bring more Resolve to reform, deny your private delight Conform to public rules and rites (let your reflection concede) Let yourself bleed pull the lake out from the frame cut the canvas through reach into the scenery pull us into view: We don’t wanna cede this to you we just wanna get through, through We don’t care about proof, proof, proof we just wanna get loose, loose We don’t care about proof, proof we just wanna get loose We don’t need to get through to you we just wanna get through (2011) CALENDAR YEAR (St. Louis Blues) February comes like trouble, leaves like shame And I wait like a rival in a graveyard dawn You checked in and you checked under every passing train But always turned away when the end was up Don’t you wait too long ‘cause I’m carryin’, and must be movin’ on Don’t wait too long Like the prairie wind, I must be rollin’ on Summer shows up like a lover wraps you up in sun, like You wrapped me in oceans and eastern tract And as you sang, and as I counted stars above in ways I loved you Summer skinned out like it never loved me back Don’t you wait too long Like, I’m carryin’ I’m carryin’ damage so long gone Like a ghost, you bring it on That man’s got a heart like a rock cast in the sea (my cool moon is your cold, grey sun) Winter wants to be herself, clear the way for April’s wealth lay her deathly gentle solo down in peace But I have seen her in her hollow, tears that shatter through the trees Dreaming of an April she will never see Like I’m the kind of lover you will never be So don’t you take me on, here ‘cause you’re the Monday; I’m the calendar year Don’t take me on, here ‘cause I’m reflection; you’re the broken mirror (2012) GOODNIGHT JUNE Sort my skies, right my seasons Take my eyes ‘cause I’m leavin’ So the coroner, he caught you on Conti So the dollar in the barrack wall’s your own folded-up soul You went Harvard Yard on my language I went Scotland Yard on your f**ked breed of Harlequin anguish Sort my ground, right my listin’ fare Right my sound ‘cause I’m all out of air Hurry down while I’m breathing Hurry down, bury there Bury there, or the riverside like in the rocks right there With the whistle of the engine comes the cold And the hummin’ of the motor is the Devil’s own Chianti is the pill that makes me Baudelaire, and you Mathilde And death are the holes we dig and then fill And then fill (keep goin’, right? meet me down on Seldom Seen Road) Sort my sky, right my seasons Take my eyes ‘cause I’m seein’ in greys and browns Diver down, color-blind as you wound down the pines -- Goodnight, June (June 30, 2009) BLUES WITH THE BLUES (WWI protest song) Take this lead and hone the sword March off into the fronds Cut your way into another dawn (a real one) Take this notion off to war Don’t come back for years Fall down bloody at my door here, dear Take this gauze and hold it to open injury; “My love,” well, this was all she wrote, “why?” Tell us of your travels, please of courage and Versailles Tell us we’re the best you’ve seen Lie Sail on, assail Sail on, and sell Sail on And sell Stripped of all its grand appointments Taken by the vine A kingdom ripped of ornament Dies Take this blade and hold it to light that I recused Cut the dust; do what you must “My love, I’ll see you soon” Why run off and why inter -- this March -- the maker with the muse? No one ever writes the blues with the blues (2013) ***** All songs written, recorded, and mixed by Nick Barnes. Mastered by Chris Graham Mastering additional credits: Chelsea Frey -- vocals on "Kill Devil Hill," "Here In Memphis," and "Come Sunday" Kim Barnes -- vocals on "Seldom Seen Road" Gregg Friedberg -- audio samples and additional lyrics on "In The Cut" (from Mr. Friedberg's "Slip on a grin and your tap shoes...") Jenny Barnes -- cover art/design (c)2013