Get all 8 Paul Tabachneck releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Our New Life, New America b/w The Monster, Two People Made This Mess, Merry Fucking Christmas, Here Goes Nothing, Boy Meets Girl, Glutton's Dozen, and Sally FortH!.
1. |
Come Home
05:29
|
|||
tell me what you want
i get so tired of guessing
still haven't learned my lesson
after all this time
tell me what you need
and i'll try to provide it
you shouldn't have to hide when
i call you on the line
i know it's gonna take some time
until you call my name
and mean exactly what you're saying
i'll wait until that day
and you know you can always come home to me
you're circling around
like sharks out in the water
i wish you'd pull me under
and get it over with
'cause i would rather drown
than deal with all this tension
did i forget to mention
i love you more than him
i know the walls are closing in
but until you call my name
and mean exactly what you're saying
i'll wait until that day
and you know you can always come home to me
each time you break
and say you never meant to leave
i'll love you for old times' sake
and you know you can always come home to me
|
||||
2. |
Emily Stares
03:47
|
|||
she plays a guitar
and sings a melody
into a microphone
she's got her whole band
they're with her on the stage
yet she stands alone
i am looking
right at her fingers
i wanna see what chords she plays
learn what moves her
i am listening
to every whisper
i hope to find some secret sign
emily stares wide-eyed
into the light sometimes
she tries to keep her head down
but she can't help it
emily stares right out
into the audience
she doesn't do that much
i think they scare her stiff
she keeps her hair down
it covers up her face
i can't imagine why
she's got the kind of
inborn angelic grace
that makes the devil cry
i am smitten
by all this splendour
how at one moment she's so fierce
the next so tender
i am wondering
beneath that candor
is there a soul as pure as gold?
emily stares wide-eyed...
she's probably got a boyfriend
you wanna know what else?
i'd probably like that bastard
twice as much as i like myself
she's probably got a reason
for feeling so much pain
that every lyric's made of equal parts despair and disdain
she probably hates this song 'cause
there's too much pop appeal
she'd probably say, "how dare you
how dare you say how i'd feel?"
she probably hates this bridge 'cause
i'm getting carried away
she probably hates this chorus
i'll sing it anyway
emily stares wide-eyed....
|
||||
3. |
Patience
06:03
|
|||
why don't you call back?
i've been waiting all night
i finished off a six-pack
reading by the moonlight
deasy's on my eight-track
drowning all his canines
waxing like he's kerouac
funny how it all rhymes
i wait for you although it tries my patience
i wait for you to turn around and face this heart
that you stole from me a year ago
i call you for the third time
each one's more demeaning
is you or your machine mine?
tell me if you're screening
i can't take these hard times
bouncing off the ceiling
it's hard to find the right lines
when each word loses meaning
i wait for you...
why don't you call back?
i've been waiting all night
i finished off a six pack
i'm crazy from the moonlight
you can play me like that
you can make my light shine
you can take it all back
you can say you're not mine
i wait for you....
|
||||
4. |
Heart
05:02
|
|||
i've been wrong before
judging situations
i've been way off base
rushing confrontations
i know better now
than to hang above her
but i hope one day
we may both discover
the words that i've been writing now
will fall into play
and maybe if it's at the right time
she'll feel the same way
she's taking my heart
with every smile she wears it's so hard
to keep myself from staring and
i've gotta take it slower
gotta get to know her
she's taking my pain
with every word she says it's so plain
and simple truths can be so
beautiful when they come from a woman like her
i've gotta stay back and be sure
i've been one to go
on first impressions
i've made big mistakes
but i've learned life lessons
now every time i'm turning around
i'm seeing her face
i feel my aching heart start to pound
a beat out of place
she's taking my heart....
she may be right
she may be wrong
can't say tonight but i can't wait too long
she may be the one
maybe not
she just might be the last chance at love i've got
she's a ray of light
when the sun is setting
she's a sleek black dress
at her own white wedding
she walks into the room and she knows
it's all about her
and after all i've seen and heard
i'd have to concur
she's taking my heart....
|
||||
5. |
Alone
05:02
|
|||
two different nights
two different hearts
each one wants more than the other
i can't stand up
i can't duck down
i wonder why i even bother
i lost perspective
somewhere along the line
and i think i'm going out of my mind
i'm alone now
like it has to be
though isolation really gets me down
i'm alone now
like i want to be
it's the only way i'll sort things out
i got lost in love somehow
now the only way to get back out
is to take it from the top
"one of these days,"
my father told me,
"they'll give you more than you can stand."
i used to laugh
when he used to scold me
he said, "go on now
but one day you'll understand."
if it was now i'd take it all back
if they'd let me i'd erase my tracks
i'm alone now...
|
||||
6. |
Karina
03:49
|
|||
i see you're late in your reply
and it's left me wondering
if i'd have been better off if i
had simply never said anything
a couple of words in an angry fray
were all that it took to make you leave
and now i'm standing here tonight
in this lonely laundromat
washing these teardrops from my sleeve
oh, karina
i can close my eyes and drink of your vision
oh, karina
you can flash that smile and i'll still be smitten
oh, karina
you'll be leaving town come graduation day
you never owed me anything
i didn't come seeking payment
i just wanna ask you one or two things
before your feet hit the pavement
a couple of words in an empty hall
where none of your sisters can hear me talk
and i can say each thing i meant to
tell you on the day i
found you on the gallery walk
oh, karina
i would take this pain over this confusion
oh, karina
guess i'm drowning here in my own delusion
oh, karina
and you're leaving town come graduation day
i wish i'd had more to say than,
"hey, how you doin'?
this gift is for you and
i'm glad i got to see you, have a nice day,"
but sometimes we can plan for weeks
or even months
when confrontation comes
our expectations just get in the way
oh, karina
no matter how i try i can't shake this vision
oh, karina
you're clouding up my brain like nuclear fission
oh, karina
and i'm glad you're leaving graduation day
|
||||
7. |
Just One
05:11
|
|||
you don't have to carry me home
i'll pick myself up
my flesh'll be my own bag of bones
toss me away
one night of bliss turned into
three weeks of anguish
it's like patty said,
"morning can always turn love into shame"
so i'll do my best to forget to remember your name
it was just one kiss
just one touch of velvet
on a night like this
that you won't acknowledge
so i'll put it in a box on a shelf
in the back of my mind
forget that we had this one night
you don't have to talk to me now
or share your excuses
i don't know that i'd hear you out
even if you did
we'll go back to playing our roles
of diner and waitress
it's like daryl said,
"all i can see are opportunities missed"
except for the one that we took that inspired this
it was just one kiss
one kiss
one touch
one word too much
i spend every night
of our misshapen life
praying that someone would let this play quietly end
with a nice denoument
and a sweet curtain call
but every damned morning
it's more of the same
i'm not in hell yet
but i know all the names
and i'd say god forgot me
but i think that he oversaw
'cause god knows i can't miss
what i don't get close to at all
|
||||
8. |
Tonight
05:24
|
|||
i could take
every sling and arrow
through my heart
if it meant you'd let go
when you left
and left me alone
i could wait
through the stormy weather
if i thought
we would be together
when it stopped
but i know we won't
'cause you've got your two kids
and a husband who clearly astounds you
with your nice ivy house and a sweet picket fence
that surrounds you
and all i have
is one thing
one stale rememberance
about you here
in my arms
when you were completely content
being my light
all through the night
but if you loved me why are you with him tonight?
i could sleep
in the coldest nightfall
in the wild
while the wolves and cats call out your name
if you'd be there too
i would take
the whole world on my shoulders
if i thought
i could lift that boulder
and take the weight
right off of you
but as much as my friends try to tell me
i truly deserve you
i can dial your number all night
but i know i won't get through
'cause all i have....
|
||||
9. |
Carpenter
02:54
|
|||
if i were a carpenter
i'd make you a nice oak dresser tomorrow
if i were a breadbaker
i'd make you loaves from oats and wheat and flour
i'd do anything
i'd make you so many things
i'd give you everything
if i were anything
but what i am
if i were a lawmaker
i'd pass a bill to say you'd never leave me
if i were a shoemaker
i'd make you a size 9 next to my 13
i'd do anything....
you can bank on that
i'll do all i can
to keep you satisfied
you ain't been here long
but now it just feels wrong
without you by my side
|
||||
10. |
Anymore
03:10
|
|||
you think you've got it figured out
you think you know what life's about
i think you're in for a surprise
you think i'm only playing games
you think i've probably gone insane
why can't i see this through your eyes?
you don't want me
i don't know you anymore
you've been changing
it's getting harder keeping score
who was winning?
well we'll never know for sure
you don't want me anymore
you need to say what's on your mind
it's truly crueler to be kind
was that macmanus or nick lowe?
you need to get down to the point
i've seen you with your other boys
i know you like to break us slow
you don't want me....
maybe i should have done things different
instead i let them run amok
but the more i try to gauge my situation
the more it feels like my dumb luck
and i don't want your pity fuck
|
||||
11. |
Lani, Lani
05:25
|
|||
it was seven years ago
when i saw you for the first time
you were sitting in the youth lounge
and going over your lines
you were in a play downstairs
that needed one more boy
i had done some plays before
so i went downstairs and joined
it seemed to be every adolescent's dream
so we stayed up in that lounge
and talked 'til late at night
you gave me conversation
and i gave you some advice
when we got into a room
where it was more than just us two
i found no matter how i tried i couldn't talk to you
it seemed to me
you had already chosen teams
lani, lani, meet me by the riverside
you can take it all back
lani, lani, three knocks on my back door tonight
and i'll let you in again
what you said when we were kids
could be erased with just one kiss
is that what you wanna hear --
that i love you just like then?
well all i loved about you
was your face your smile and your breasts
remember i was young
pubescently possessed
and every time i saw you walking by in your green dress
it seemed to be
everything i'd ever need
lani, lani, meet me by the riverside
and i will toss you right back
lani, lani, three knocks on my back door tonight
and i'll have my dogs attack
what you said when we were young
can't be erased with just one touch
so don't go searching for absolution when
you and i both know you can't take it back
i remember everything you did when
we were only high-school drama hacks
i remember every night i laid awake
wishing you were something more than fake
i remember everything you've said and done
with your devil's hand and pitchfork tongue
it seems to me
you're just another broken dream
all you have to do is ask
say i wasn't all that bad
i'm the same young man today
laughed at then and pushed away
lani, lani, meet me by the riverside
and you won't come back
|
||||
12. |
Telegram
03:09
|
|||
i took a taxi from brooklyn
it dropped me off in times square
i met this really fine woman
she showed me what she had down there
she said she had it for sale
and that she'd send it by mail
she'd said she'd send me one more telegram
sexy telegram
i took a train up from austin
got off in memphis tennessee
met some songwriter from boston
she showed me what she had to see
she said....
she said she'd write it down in a letter
and send it out over the wire
but i'll be damned if i'm ever gonna let her
set my soul on fire
i took a tram from andover
it dropped me off in amsterdam
a nice dutch woman bent over
she said, "come hither uncle sam."
she said....
|
||||
13. |
Tossing & Turning
05:37
|
|||
hey
how've you been?
how's your dog?
how's your new boyfriend?
is he nice?
does he love you?
do you love him?
do you want to?
is he better than the life i gave you?
is he nicer to your mom and dad?
does he fill your life with wine and roses?
is he the best lover you've ever had?
was he worth breaking my heart in half?
oh and hey
how's your life?
and all your plans, did they turn out right?
do you miss me ('cause i miss you)?
you don't need this but i need you
i may never be the one who holds you
who sleeps beside you 'til the morning light
now i'll never know just what you wanted
and i'll never know if i was ever right
you'll stay in mind, not in sight
as i'm tossing and turning all night
without you by my side
alone and awake in my bed
remembering how you said
that nothing could ever be right
you won't be here by my side
i'm tossing and turning all night
oh and hey
how've you been?
i was wrong -- can we still be friends?
did i change?
does that scare you?
would you stay if i dared you?
could you tell me that you really loved me,
even if we both know it's a lie?
i could take those words
they'd surround me
and keep me from needing your light
you'll stay in mind not in sight....
|
||||
14. |
I Think You Should Leave
04:44
|
|||
you always told me that these better things
were just around the bend
if i waited for one more day
the suffering would end
the more i look back on our lives
the more i understand
how you would tell lies
and make them come true
with a wave of your hand
your touch could melt
the coldest hardest man
and i don't understand your hold on me
your words could heal
my tired aching soul
or burn another hole in me
on and on and on
you talk about what you want
it never was about our hopes and dreams
why did you say it was?
did you think that i was so in love
i could never see?
these tables have turned
your bridges have burned
and i think you should leave
|
Paul Tabachneck New York
I started doing music in Pittsburgh, fronting the folk-rock band Stone Soup, the dark-pop band Dead Pressed Flowers, and the Power Pop band Manpig aka Everybody Wins. After that, I moved to New York, mostly playing solo and busking a lot. Now I live in CT and play in my home office because everything is bad and no one can go out. See me Wednesdays at 7:30 at facebook.com/paultab! ... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Paul Tabachneck, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp