Mary Meets Sally   (Buy from iTunes)

Mary looks fresh in her new flowered dress
As she pours out her tea for two
She sits by the silent telephone line
As her turntable spins through the grooves
Mom and Dad are framed in the hall
Above a picture of departed Aunt Jane
The girl's got style, but a half-crooked smile
She's analog funk in a digital age

So she sings
Oh, no, I don't
Oh, no, I don't
Oh, no, I don't see them any more


Sally stops by on her way to down the stair, she'd be an angel if she cut down the drinks
She wipes her shoes on the indian rug, grabs the garbage bin and heads for the street
She gets by, on the charity food drive, God bless the US Marines
The kids are grown, and they never come home
Because Sally doesn't have much to eat


Sally says to Mary as she heads out the door, "You know, these kids these days they don't know what's real,
They've got their astronauts caught in an arcade game and a shiny car phone shoved up there ear"
She's says, "Everybody's talking, but they don't know why, and no one really has much to say."
She gives a sigh as she closes the door, and she prays, and she prays, she prays. . .


California (Buy from iTunes)   

I, sit and watch you drink
Your $3.15 coffee
And hope that I don't giggle
With you, out there on your own
Trying not to show your hand
But you can hide so little

I, Hope that you can
Find a way to get back
Home to where your heart is
Home to California
And in sunsets I will
See your silhouette and
Get my phone and give a
Call back home to California

I, am hopelessly unglued
By thoughts of watching you
Destroy the plans that I had scribbled
Of when, we were both alone
Unattached and lonely
‘Til we finally found each other

I, will not dare to say
The words that make the pain of leaving
Just that much more bitter
But I, will let you go your way
Content that I have stayed within the bounds of
Your decision

Lucy   (Buy from iTunes)

Lucy's on the street
I hear it grows you up real fast
So they tell me
Making two ends meet
I heard she sold her fake fur coat
Last Thursday

Lucy, Lucy
Are things really that bad?
Lucy, Lucy
I bet your parents were sad
Say goodbye, though they never really new why

Lights out, Alone
Heartbeats, in the silence
One life, one soul
Hangs limp in the blankets
If I could I would
Fly on angel's wings to
Your side, tonight
Find some peace to the back of your mind

Lucy looks for work
She hits the day at 3AM
With a coffee
She says her boss' a jerk
She'll get another good job someday
You'll see

I hope you get your freedom
I hope it's lots of fun
But when you're tired of the nightlife
Make your way home

Gwen Comes Home   (Buy from iTunes)

It's past nine o'clock
As she steps on the subway
To head south to mother's home
18 years on broadway
She has not been home since
Spring of 1985 or 2 or 3

She can't breath, she can't breath at all
Can she take the silence, will she take a stand
Will she find a way to come and crawl

Gwen comes home to memories in her
Gwen comes home to memories in her
Gwen comes home to memories in her my mind
The time has come, the time has past
The lights all fade to black upon the stage you left
To chase your heart's desire
So Gwen comes home

Red lights flicker on the
Pages of a work of
Shakespeare
Sprawled across her
Fish net knee
Mom looked pale as Juliet
The night that she had left
Town in father's
Plain red Jeep

Broadway
Pulled its crimson curtains
‘Cross the empty stage lights
Blazing in her crow’s feet eyes


Jade Tree Eyes   (Buy from iTunes)

Where'd you go
Kelsey Rose
I'm a thousand miles from home
And the telephone wires
And the pale denim sky
Frames the snow
On the road

I guess I really can't convict you
I guess I really can't complain
Of the lines that I lost
And the fantasies I left in the fields
Long the way

Jade Tree Eyes
I found a friend, for awhile
Jade Tree Eyes
I find a friend in you
Jade Tree Eyes
Simple patch, across the heart
Jade Tree Eyes
I find a friend in you

It's been an awfully chill December
Clutching hard to bitter fall
And I find that my time
Is mostly ticked away at singing songs
To empty halls

All my remnants of devotion
And my fantasies of youth
Are tried by the age
Of the ashen cover girl
As I reach out in the darkness for the truth

Kelsey Rose, they're calling for me
And I'm forced to face the crowd
Will I run, will I fight, will the melodies I write
Change the hearts, move the heads

I'm going to try again to love them
Though I feel to weak to stand
But I'll lean on the man
That I can not feel or see
And I'll tremble as he takes me by the hand


Jane Fights Back   (Buy from iTunes)

Rain hits the ground
As she sits upon the porch
Trying hard to not to cry
Trying harder than she's ever tried before
Scarlet yarn, in her hands, tremble wildly
As her mom knits by her side, on a Sunday afternoon

The neighbor mows the lawn or so it seems
Is Mother trying to kill me while I sleep beneath my sheets?

But Jane fights back again
Jane fights back again
Jane fights back again this time

Taking walks round the pool
In late summer
As the sparrows skimmed the sky
And the sprinklers sprayed our shoes

Now you lock your windows tight up
On every summer's evening
And pretend your not afraid
And pretend you have to choose

ABC News is on the TV
Are they all trying to kill us as we hide beneath our sheets?

Rain hits the ground
As we lay upon the roof
Gazing up at the clouds
With the world beneath our shoes
Jane says, "He can't hear me,
Or at least He doesn't answer
But sometimes I can feel Him
When I sit and talk with you”
But Jane, I'm young and I'm weak.
But I can feel his power when you're lying next to me


Long Way from Eden     (Buy from iTunes)

If I could sing you a lullaby
I would not try to cry
I would try to so hard to seek what you were after
I would find you in a telescope
Find you like an open book to read

If I kiss you like a movie star
Show you all the dreams you are
And that you matter
I'd sing on all the football fields
Forgotten songs that no one's heard but me

We’ve come a long, long way from Eden
Come a long long way down this slipping slope
We've come a long long way from Eden
It's such a long way home

My whole life has been an open book
On every stoney page I turned
I'd hoped to find a confidence to offer

But now it all seems circus wheels,
Summer rains that I can't feel at all
I guess it's harder not to ask
Of deeds that cannot be undone
Of dreams left dying in the past
But I will try again

If I sing to you a lullaby
Would you promise not to cry
I could not take one more tear without me breaking
I guess my whole life's been a endless fall
Drifting silent through my orbits as I sit upon this spinning ball
But I will try again


Wig Wam Hotel   (Buy from iTunes)

I was pushing it up around 75
On the classic route 66
Ran out of light between the wig-wam hotel
And a giant bowl of tropical fish
A gold-toothed man with a horse-hair smile
Said you better call it quits for the night
He slurred something about peace on earth
and took a drag from Geronimo's pipe

All I really want to do,
Is have a really good time
All I really want to do
Is make it through the whole night
All I really want to do
Is get me feeling alright
All I really want to do
Is what I really want to do

I said I'm heading south to San Anton'
I heard the salsa there is not to be missed
I was so tired of all that northern cold
I pulled up stakes and call the whole thing quits
I heard the hippies used to camp on the hills
Preaching love until the first morning light
He said "Son, if we talk 'bout that,
I'll set you straight and we'll be up all night."

I got a cheap room at the wig-wam hotel
Took a shower just to cut down the dust
Elvis' face was on the bathroom towels
I took a walk cause it was creeping me out
Man at the desk had the late-night show on
Their was a starving model on the TV
She wiped a tear from her plastic face
And said she'd really just prefer to be free


My Black Box   (Buy from iTunes)

Flip on the tele
There's another war in TV Land
Followed by twinkies
If I could cry
I wish I could

A man just died in Paris
Over 25 cents and
I could get to heaven if I tried
Real hard

A man named God
Picking out things from a can
Of lottery balls
A girl named Fran
Tied by invisible chains to a wheel
A Wheel of Fortune

Slim comes on at 3AM
In a tiny room
In a downtown studio
And he sings of a Love
Like no other
His wife sings harmony


Peculiar Girl   (Buy from iTunes)

Rachel sees things the way that I do
Sitting on the swing outside
I turn through pages of the book she lent me
I try to keep an open mind

What a peculiar girl
Most peculiar girl I've ever seen
What a peculiar girl
Most peculiar girl i've ever seen

I pass her in the hall
I turn my head, we're not talking any more
The silence closes in on me
She tunes her violin
I tune my thoughts to the side of the room
I go to my friends and look for some quiet sympathy

Time goes by
Now she's off to college
Shake hands, now she's gone, say goodbye
I know I'll see her when we're both much older
Preserve your friendship
I'll preserve mine


Worlds all your Own   (Buy from iTunes)

I can't disguise myself
In shades of satin blue like you
You look so cocky there
Beneath the open sky
Put on your leather gloves
Went to the coffee shop
I saw you sitting there
You frowned as I passed by

You live in a world of your own
Bastion against the sea
And you stare past your coffee cup
As you tear yourself free

I meet my old friend there
We sit. She talks. I listen.
She says, "Nothing changes, I don't know why."
Then she cries and tells me no one really listens
I take her hand in mine
We say goodbye

You live in a world all your own
And you cry from it bitterly
And you scream from your coffee cup
As you tear yourself free

I walk into the cold
It's getting late: I head for home
I turn my headphones on
The silence hurts my head


Credits:

Vocals by Christian & Eric Barfield
Keyboards & synths by Eric & Christian Barfield
Bass by Paul Nahrgang
Drums by Aaron Wahoff
Cello by Mary Barfield
Violin by Sarah Wahoff
String arrangments by Eric Barfield
Produced by Eric & Michael Barfield
Mixed by Michael Barfield at Listening House Studios, St. Charles, MO.
Drums recorded by Rob Rosener at Jupiter Studios, St. Louis, MO.
Mastered by Kevin and Larry Nix at Ardent Studios, Memphis, TN.

Copyright 2009 Listening House Records.

More Than a Little Scared      (Buy song from itunes)

Sunlight on the city street
Makes milkshakes wash on the black sidewalk like tide
Follow your lead like a green crosswalk
as the music drones on the sweaty block like flies

And I hear you say "I wanna go"
Here you say "I don't wanna go"

But the words don't fit and the smile that's you've
plastered on never really smiles  

Chorus

And the girl next door wears a wedding ring
Jim broke up with Angeline 
And I am more than a little scared

Back out on the city streets
the gasoline burns in the neon light like fire
You say, "I never cared much for your Robert Frost,"
"but I sure could go for some tatoo-parlor style."

And I hear me say "I wanna go"
Here you say "I don't wanna go"
But the words don't fit and the smile that I've
plastered on never really smiles  

Yet somewhere sleeping I find
shadows tearing us apart
We veil the loneliness
like wounds under the evening stars 


And the streetlights burn in the yellow heat 
The star-wheel spins above the empty street
And I am more than a little scared


Easier not to Love       (Buy song from itunes)

There's a young girl
Sitting by a bedstand
Waiting for the morning sun

Day has left her stranded 
On the barren sheets
With her blue nightgown on

In the morning sun
He's gone to Charlotte
Gone to college
And it's easier not to love sometimes

There's a young man
Working at the dream of
Being the next movie star

He's packing up 
To leave this one horse town
In his brand new used car

But she lays awake
Wondering how she's going to take it,
How she's going to fake it when he goes
And it's easier not to love sometimes

There's a middle-aged man
On the telephone 
Talking music with me

I only understand a small fraction
Of what he's trying to help me to be

Can't you see
I leave him disapointed
I'm always just so selfish and it's
So much easier not to love sometimes

There's a shining star
Above the highest hill
Next to a quiet town

In a tiny stable 
There's a newborn
Laying on a bed of straw

The Child opens his eyes
To the quiet room
To the life before him
And it's easier not to love sometimes


I Fall     (Buy song from itunes)

Stumble into the void
of the night
knowing everything will be alright
In the morning

Can I really believe in a loving God 
When all I see is 
Tradegy and mourning
   
Chorus

But I have tried, to save myself from these
Sins I hide, and scars I felt
But I collapse under my weight
As I fall, I fall, I fall

Neitsche died of sanity
A victim of the void
Left by rosaries, the crucifix, and Jesus
And in that crazy silence, he crashed into the sky
Ever searching in the chaos for a reason

Here I stand an outcast
Prisoner of the war
Trying to sell my dirty rages for tastes of freedom

But in that morning sunrise
With diamonds in the sky
He is standing, trying to lead us back to Eden


Wake Up, 7 0'Clock     (Buy song from itunes)

Cold rain
Falls quickly to the ground
Cold rain
on my rooftop, never makes a sound

Wake up 
My brain splashed in a puddled
I'm tired 
Fuzzy thoughts all muddled


Chorus

Wake up! 7 o'clock 
Another day comes 
are your ready to rock
Grab a cup of coffee as you hit the floor
Grab a toaster tart and head out the door
 
Wake up
It's morning on the subway
Tired bums 
Hit me up for money

The subway comes
Jump on if you dare
l'll give you 50 bucks to find an empty chair


I didn't come for money
I didn't come for fame
And since I don't have any, really, any
I keep up this crazy game



All You Ever Wanted       (Buy song from itunes)

Polyurathane gas masks cover the sky
Shoot you down to the underground deathbed
Dried tears from the womb as she opens her eyes
As the DJ shatters the room

Chorus

All that you ever really wanted
Is it all that you ever really wanted
And it's all that you're going to get now

Blood pumps through the veins of the headless machine
As the father writhes blindly in the back seat
Meth hardwired to the skull as he tries to believe
I can kick it just one more time


I Don't Know (Anything)   (Buy song from itunes)

For all the world
with all it's grand delusions
Turning slowly round the shapeless burning sun

If I could grasp
The wisdom left from all the ages past

I wouldn't know anything
I don't know anything I
Don't know anything at all

If I could shape
A thousand broken shards of glass
And form it as a darkened mirror

And I could see us all 
For who we are, and always been

I wouldn't know anything
I don't know anything I
Don't know anything at all

I'm so tired of all this loneliness
I have never felt this empty before

Watching all the cars
Trail for miles and miles into the rain
The headlights wash like paint on canvas

And somewhere far above
That endless burning sun
Is shining through a polished pane of glass


Watching Judas      (Buy song from itunes)

18 again for another day
One  more chance that we lose our we win 
I was I
And that's where all the trouble starts
Watching Judas storm out of my room
  
If we were old
Would we follow the broken dreams?
If we were young 
Would we save the whole world?
The only answer I get is the fleeting smile
On the face of the blonde cover girl

Chorus

Will we live
Will we die in this poverty?
Will our souls burn true colors of blue?
I was I 
And that's where all the trouble starts
Watching Judas storm out of my room

You say I leave you with questions unanswered 
I say you leave me with questions unsaid
This life is too short to offer
Thrill rides in your hand