Solo Mono

All songs written by Dirk Hamilton.

©2012 Rabbit Songs Publishing, BMI
- except 'Where Are All The Rebels":
music by Roberto Formignani, words by Dirk Hamilton.

LYRICS

DELETE DELETIONS

Tommy gun placed on a polka dot gown
Gangster thinks that goin’ down,
with the hooker on the left might help him sleep
Holes in souls go dark and deep
In heaven is love, in hell ya’ suffer
On either side of easy street you’ll find a gutter
There can be no saints where there is no sin
Delete deletions, take it all in
The vinegar taste in the bell jar wine
Reminds ya’ that the devil ain’t far behind
Everybody’s got a job to do,
everyone’s a monkey tryin’ to avoid a zoo
There is no justice to be seen
Dancing beggar, suffering queen
The game is fixed, everybody wins
Delete deletions, take it all in
History’s written with the blood of wars
The truth is scratched on jailhouse doors,
that are blown to splinters when the bombs rain down
A pretty little planet, our hometown
She’s sittin’ on a rock soakin’ her feet
He’s goin’ through her hair for bugs to eat
Infinite dimensions paper-thin
Delete deletions, take it all in

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS

I’m trippin’ over strings attached to the gifts you gave me
Rollin’ off a log I was thinkin’ was a lifeboat to save me
Please, don’t drown me in your kiss
You’re so complicated; I just wanna follow my bliss
Late one night in Napoli somebody pulled a gun on me
Took my M&M’s, used me like an ATM
My empty wallet, in empty air I shook my fist
Livin’ can be dangerous, even when you follow your bliss
Hard fought victories bring hard won wisdom
And I’m lookin’ through a prism, and I’m cursed with double vision
You only get this one shot, you can’t afford to miss
The dice are on the table; follow your bliss
Factor in pre-history and life expectancy is 18
So it’s a teenage dream, you can do anything
Go out and meet the king of Peking,
teach him to speak English with a lisp
And say, “Life is very thimple”; follow your bliss
I saw Joseph Campbell riding on a camel with slaves to sell in Kabul
He said, “I feel a fool!”
He sheathed his scimitar and sighed, “reincarnation is a bitch!”
Whatever you think it is it’s not, follow your bliss
Well, I followed my bliss but did I follow my bliss to this?

EVERYBODY’S BLUES

When a baby cries it’s not because it’s sad
And all the suffering you do is here to teach you,
it’s not because you’re bad
Through dreams that never last
On dandelion parachutes we pass
And everyone from everywhere has everybody’s blues

Everyone gets everybody’s blues
Everywhere you look everyone you see has a story they can tell
Where comedy and tragedy hold hands and jump a wishing well
And the good guy lights the candles on the cakes
And at the bad guy’s birthday party celebrates
And everyone from everywhere has everybody’s blues

Everyone gets everybody’s blues
And as the echoes from the big bang fade
We’ll be keeping every promise that was made
Cuz everyone from everywhere has everybody’s blues
Everyone gets everybody’s blues

SHE CALLS ME BELLO

Straight out of an orphanage I set out on a pilgrimage
Singin’ happy birthday like there’d be no bummer death day
My passion flashin’ I swung into action my bludgeon my version of truth
Ruthlessly honest and not at all modest,
with all the empty arrogance of youth

But she calls me Bello; she thinks I’m beautiful
She calls me Bello, beautiful
I pulled on my swim fins and confidently slipped in,
descending through darkness and cold
But too deep for the diver, I left the treasure lie there
and I surfaced empty handed and old

But she calls me Bello, she says I’m beautiful
She calls me Bello, beautiful
Well, I have done my duty, I’ll leave behind some beauty
My enemies now make themselves
and I make peace with everyone else
Wrestling my selfishness, writhing in bitterness,
hard times at times made me mean
But nothin’s ever bought me and her love has taught me
My heart was always innocent and clean

And she calls me Bello; she thinks I’m beautiful
She calls me Bello, beautiful
You call me Bello

FLY FREE

In a land that god forgot he lies upon an army cot
and out of thin air he tries to conjure her
He used to think that it’s god’s will to march away crusade and kill
But now the only truth for him resides in her

Away, away, fly free
Away, away, fly free

Over the storm, tracked by the ghost of a baby that was never born
Last night with a flashlight she never bothered to ignite
She ran outside to chase a ringing cell phone
She tripped over an open grave and hit the ground like an ocean wave
That seeped into the grass like it was goin’ home

Away, away, fly free
Away, away, fly free

There were tears on the ground there
She looked up at the moon and the stars
like there was something to be found there
A stone is cast into a bog and water splashes into fog
Like little kids returning to their mother
A baby coos, a woman wails, a father builds a ship that sails three souls
Into a single sweet forever

Away, away, fly free
Away, away, fly free

It’s only life and death
Perhaps a whole lot more, but nothing less

Fly free, fly free, away
Fly free, fly free

NOBODY I KNOW

Nobody I know inspires me to sing
No one I know makes my ding-dong ring
I want a woman with a musical voice and magnetism that
leaves me no choice

There’s someone like that but nobody I know
Nobody I know can touch my soul
And pick me up when I’m down low

I want a woman can think heartfelt
Without an intellectual utility belt

There’s someone like that but nobody I know
No one I know, no no no no
Nobody I know, no no no no

Bring on the mystery, heap on the mystery
Nobody I know has money in the bank,
health insurance and gas in the tank
Is a snappy dresser, in good condition,
can fix my lunch and my transmission
Has a bedroom body and a valentine heart,
is multi-orgasmic and good at darts
I want a woman can make me laugh,
who moves like a cat and looks good in a hat

There’s gotta be one like that but nobody I know
No one I know, no no no no
Nobody I know, no no no no

Bring on the mystery, heap on the mystery
Help me find that mystery child

THE PYGMY FOREST

We’re going to the pygmy forest; we’re going there today
We think that it might bore us but we’re going anyway
Pygmy people may be there with their kinky purple hair
If there are no pygmies there we don’t even really care
We’re going to the pygmy forest, we’re going there today

SLOW SUICIDE

Everywhere you look there’s something to be seen
If every day’s not Christmas then at least it’s Halloween
Easter time is coming so arise and decide
What clothes your corpse will wear after your slow suicide
You become an expert at everything you do
There’s not a psychoanalyst you can’t fool
The alcohol, the voodoo doll, the secrets you hide
All keep the road wide open for your slow suicide

Outside on the lawn your sprinklers sprinkle in the rain
On the other side of nowhere I can feel your pain
Your projects and prospects and cigarettes aside
It’s everything except the truth for slow suicide

The tourist takes a camera just to prove that he’d been there
And shoots the golden gate behind some rapper’s underwear
The salesman sells the fish a fin then drains the bay bone dry
He’s doing all he can to help the slow suicide

Well I was moaning this morning, I felt like I’d been beaten with a stick
So I went to the clinic but all the doctors had called in sick
When I called information a recorded message sighed
“We’re all alone together in a slow…you know”

OUR SWEET LOVE

Because you love me you should write me
Because you love me maybe you’re scared
If I didn’t love you I’d still like you
And I’d still write you because I’d care
But you don’t have to do anything
Write me, ignite me or wear a special ring
Livin’ is magic, funny and tragic
And our sweet love is all of these things

Maybe I’m just a bull in a coffee shop
The bull in the coffee shop of your heart
Or maybe there’s somethin’ inside there needs shakin’
If action needs takin’ then I’m your guy
And you don’t have to do anything
Cook somethin’ special or be my fairy queen
Livin’ is magic, funny and tragic
And our sweet love is all of these things

You, you
You, you
I got a feelin’ that in misty history
In slow motion mystery we two were once one
Like you were an empress and I a centurion
Or just two chameleons makin’ love in the sun

And we don’t have to do anything
It’s simple and natural and easy as spring
Livin’ is magic, funny and tragic
And our sweet love is all of these things

WHERE ARE ALL THE REBELS?

We played all night, slept all day, burned down sex like cigarettes
The glory days are gone now and I’m out on the road
But where are all the rebels, where’s the rock and roll?
Where’s the music, where’s the beat?
We’re the exiles down on main street

We’d broken every rule, exploded every sound
The smoke from what we did blew down to Nashville town
The glory days are gone now and I’m still out on the road
But where are all the rebels, where’d everybody go?
Where’s the feelin’, where’s the beat?
We’re the exiles down on main street.

The dimming of the light, the pride before the fall
The million-dollar telecaster hangin’ on the rich guy’s wall
The glory days are gone now and I’m out on the road
A rebel shouts into the wind, “Man, that’s the way it goes”
We’re the music, we’re the beat, I’m an exile out on main street

UNREACHABLE

Magic woman, in the night you glow
I’m wild about you both in and out of clothes
You’re rubbin’ up against me all sex and soul
But is your heart a harvest moon, unreachable?

We’re circlin’ each other, you bat me with a paw
Cut me with a claw, so quick I never saw
I breathe your smell into me and exhale slow
Is your heart a harvest moon, unreachable?

Magic woman, I call your bluff
You don’t have to love me, my love for you’s enough
I’m standin’ at attention and set to fill ya’ full
But is your heart a harvest moon?
Have I come too late or too soon?
Is your heart a harvest moon, unreachable?

JAN JAN JANET

Jan Jan Janet, it’d be a cold, dark planet
If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
Jan Jan Janet, they wouldn’t give a good goddammit

If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
And the heat in her hands and the heat in her hands
Marshmallow fluff and peanut butter, she’s not just some fluffernutter
There’s only one and not another Jan Jan Jan
See her walkin’ naked down the shoreline in Jamaica
She’s a natural born pagan in the sand, sand, sand
Beautifully tan

Jan Jan Janet, it’d be a cold, dark planet
If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
Jan Jan Janet, they wouldn’t give a good goddammit

If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
Her palace is a sauna and if you can make her wanna
She just might tell ya’ that ya’ can, can, can
You’ll give it and you’ll get it and you never will forget it
Then she’ll skip back to the ocean on the sand, sand, sand
Goin’ back to her man

Jan Jan Janet, it’d be a cold, dark planet
If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
Marshmallow fluff and peanut butter, she’s not just some fluffernutter
There’s only one and not another Jan, Jan, Jan
Jan Jan Janet, it’d be a cold, dark planet
If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
Jan Jan Janet, they wouldn’t give a good goddammit

If it wasn’t for Jan Jan Janet and the heat in her hands
And the heat in her hands and the heat in her hands
And the fire in her thighs, and the love in her eyes

KALEA

Kalea of the open hearted
Though you’ve only started your suffering’s been long
Kalea, it’s only the beginning
There can be no winning or losing, it’s all in the choosing
And I know you’ll be using your heart
You’re so young, my song is all but sung
Kalea, back when we were kissing
We felt the world eclipsing behind our bed, the words we said
A love left for dead, lives on instead
Kalea, I’ll leave you a guitar and I’ll hug you hard, remember me
Kalea, Kalea, Kalea