Major General

by Franz Nicolay

Major General cover art
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1.
03:31
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2.
03:37
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3.
04:08
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4.
03:03
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5.
02:31
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6.
04:21
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7.
03:01
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8.
03:08
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9.
03:00
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10.
04:11
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11.
02:53
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12.
04:00
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13.
03:16
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about

Major General is:
Yula Be'eri - bass
Franz Nicolay - guitar, vocals, keys, banjo, accordion, percussion
Jared Scott - guitar
Brian Viglione - drums, percussion

Demander is:
Karen Kanan Correa - bass, vocals
Sivan Harlap - drums, vocals
Jared Scott - guitar, vocals

Also starring:
Peter Hess - sax, tambourine
Emilyn Brodsky & Anthony Da Costa - additional vocals
Hubert Chen - violin
Margaret White - violin
Pinky Weitzman - viola

Lyrics on "Dead Sailors" & "Note On A Subway Wall" by Jack Terricloth

credits

released 13 January 2009

tags

tags: acoustic experimental melodramatic popular song punk sentimental punk cabaret Brooklyn

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all rights reserved

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Track Name: Jeff Penalty [feat. Demander]
east bay ray seemed like a pretty nice fellow
but that one guy from philly, i wonder if he knew what he was getting into
it was the greatest karaoke show that i had ever seen
who could blame him? certainly not me.

they hit "holiday in cambodia" and 500 people screamed
and he gave us a nice compliment before "moon over marin"
there were wisecracks in the upper deck from people in the scene
but it sure looked like we all still wanted to believe

so i'm sorry jeff whats-his-name if we didn't take you serious
but the punks all still sang along when we got to the chorus
i'm sorry jeff whats-his-name if we didn't take you serious
but the punks all still sang along, still sang along, still sang and they went
whoa...

what happens to the road crew when the contractor goes down?
who takes the helm when the captain moves to higher ground?
those rangy old sled dogs still know which way the race should go
all those rudderless old sailors can still tell which way to row

did you pack up your kit bag and leave your troubles by the road?
well, i've tried to outrun problems, man, the problems they followed
johnny appleseed didn't need to tend the seeds that he had sowed
the other farmers grabbed the reins and they got by on their own

i'm sorry jeff whats-his-name if we didn't take you serious
but the punks all still sang along when we got to the chorus
we all still need a leader to support us
but the prow needs a ship when he gets into deeper waters
we all still need a leader to support us
but in a pinch a hundred punks can still do the job for us
They go whoa....
we sang along.
Track Name: Hey Dad!
i got a memory like a stream with a stick
the good ones flow by
the ugly ones stick
gather around and block up the flow
'til the kids come down
looking for something rotten and wet to throw

rainboots on and a plastic pitchfork
if it weren't such a pleasure, it'd only be work
raincoats on, and run for the door
if it weren't such a pleasure, it'd be just a chore

hey dad!
the river's running clear
it's a good old harvest, those rotten leaves'll be good for topsoil another year
hey dad!
that river's running clear
good for the topsoil, but bad for the deer

mirror mirror on the wall
what happened to those good things that happened last fall?
well they all washed away with a nod and a grin
sometimes a victory's just something you win
well they all washed away with a wink and a nod
the losses they gather like leaves on a log.

hey dad!
the riverbed's clogged
it's a long lonely winter, and a long hard slog
go get your sister, grab that stick
don't let 'em build up
get it done quick

can't you feel it?
what can i say?
the river brings, and the river takes away
i can see it!
i see where it goes!
it came down from the mountain, and it went with the snow
what can i give it?
what will it cast away?
what will it raise up? what will it bring come day?
i can speak to it!
i know what to say!
rinse your hands in the river, then raise them to pray

hey dad!
the riverbed's clogged
it's a long lonely winter, and a long hard slog
go get your sister, go grab that stick
don't let 'em build up
get it done quick.
Track Name: World/Inferno vs. the End of the Evening
at an anarchist fortress in roma
we laid in each other's arms on the stone
after all those nights and all of those fights
i never felt less alone

we stole all of the liquor and cocaine
at the mermaid in old new orleans
the clowns ran the bar, and jack drove the car
it all smashed, c'est la vie

you are always surrounded by lovers
you are never as broke as you seem
but i might have fought for the wrong side
it was never this cold in my dreams

we stopped and picked sage in montana
won big at the poker machine
bought a round for the bar, twenty bucks goes pretty far
at only a dollar a dream

you are always surrounded by lovers
you are never as broke as you seem
i still think i fought for the right side
but it was never this cold in my dreams

just call 'em nine musketeers, still more family than friends
i'll burn a candle to you in some great cathedral.
of course i'll burn it at both ends.
bonfires and bridges, beginnings and ends
sometimes i don't even care what it all meant

but i never forgot my lines
i still hear them all the time
i always tried for the right side of life
but it was never this cold in my mind

you are always surrounded by lovers
and you are never as broke as you seem
but i might have fought for the wrong side
it was never this cold in my dreams
i might have fought for the wrong side
it was never this cold in my dreams.
Track Name: Do We Not Live In Dreams?
You are not in danger, loud as you may scream
Life is not a fabric tearing at the seams
This is not a mountain, high as it may seem
Do we not live in dreams?

You may wake
And find your heart is beating by mistake
You can't take more of this
You've washed the blood off from your wrists

But you may sleep
And find yourself a lover who is more adept than this
At all the permutations of a kiss
As he appears to you
Just so he is made to be true

You are not in danger, loud as you may scream
Life is not a fabric tearing at the seams
This is not an ocean, wide as it may seem
Do we not live in dreams?

In our sleep
We wander weightless, I can't wake you
Even if your life can take you
Up inside it's arms and break you
We go our separate ways
But I'll look after you always

Walk due east, away from sunsets
I will walk due west, fast enough to follow them
We'll go our separate ways
But I'll look after you always

So you can sleep
And find yourself a lover who is more adept than this
At all the permutations of a kiss
If in your dreams he can exist
Just so he is made manifest

You are not in danger, loud as you may scream
Life is not a fabric tearing at the seams
You are not a mountain, high as you may seem
Do we not live in dreams?
Track Name: Confessions Of An Ineffective Casanova
she yelled "fuck you, franz" from the back of the ambulance
but she whispered "i'll still fuck you" the next time we danced
so i took the chance
i don't think that i was wrong

she broke my nose, and i bled on her nightgown
she took pictures, we did it with the bloody silk still on
you think anything was wrong?

sometimes i ain't quite right, but it ain't the same as being wrong
i could say that i still love her, but what do i know about love
except love songs
all i know is what i once saw in a girl or two
and what they once thought about me

she said "i'll cut you if you don't come see me
or if you prefer, i'll cut you if you do come see me"
do you see what i mean?
you see what i mean?

"will i see you in texas?"
"if you're lucky cowboy"
"how about new orleans?"
"i got chased out by the flood
could be i'll be in baltimore by fall"
maybe i don't know anything at all

there was a florist from outside san diego, a politician's daughter
a slovene punk with one gold tooth her gypsy grandma bought her
one ukranian squeezebox player, one half-mexican ballet dancer
a music journalist or two, two korean preacher's daughters
a cartoonist with a thing for knives, an activist, and someone's wife
out of these i'm trying to make a life
out of these i tried to make a life

i know this song may not paint me in the best light
but i'd rather come off honest than come off right
i do like people, i want them to know that and to be known
but i can only say that from behind a microphone
i want to try and explain why i did the things i did
so i won't pretend not to be the unreconstructed id
i want to try and explain why i do the things i do
'cause up here in these hot lights it's just between us two
Track Name: Quiet Where I Lie
I can feel your body turning. I can still taste your last night's wine.
I can hear your blood is singing. I can feel your hand in mine.
I still taste tears like stagnant oceans. Even though you never cry.
I hope I die and am forgotten.
I hope it's quiet where I lie.

Well it was one of those days
The kind where even flies can't be bothered to rise above the haze
The kind where I can walk the downtown streets
Listening to Brian Wilson and "Songs of Love", and saunter to the beat
And when the sheets are crumpled at our feet
We sleep with only fingers touching - breathless - helpless in the heat.

The cars ride by on roads alive
Heat rising like a serpent's tongue, licking windshields as they drive.
You drift in and out of focus now.
As my eyes adjust to darkness, I fleetingly wonder how

I can feel your body turning. I can still taste your last night's wine.
I can hear your blood is singing. I can feel your hand in mine.
I still taste tears like stagnant oceans, though I never see you cry.
I hope I die and am forgotten.
I hope it's quiet where I lie.
Track Name: Nightratsong
It's a clear day down on second avenue
I'm staring at the wall and dreaming 'cause I don't have a view
Neither I nor him nor you has any clue of what to do
We're fidgety and nervous. I can't help thinking of you.

My throat is getting tight. I'm waiting for someone to call.
If i could afford the bill I'd put my fist through this wall.
I got 800 CDs. I'm still heading for a mini-mall.
'Cause right now not a word of them is any use to me at all.

Cash in your chips. The pot is getting full.
Even if I had something to add, I'd never make it through the door.
I'm too tired to turn out the light. No strength to start a fight.
But it's alright. Nothing but a friend of mine.
It's alright. Nothing but a waste of my time.
I spend my days in the dark, and I spend my nights in the light.
I wander in this world of phantoms trying just to stay out of sight.

I got a desperate streak inside me that I gave up trying to hide.
As it is I'm getting better at saying, "Hey, I'm alright."
And less and less I mind, well, I don't care that it's a lie
'Cause what the hell, I'm still alive; who'd notice if I died?
Track Name: X-Games
it doesn't take much these days to trap me
a look, a smile, a touch and you've got me
i fall in love the way folks race cars
jump from cliffs, build rockets, shoot for the stars
i get the same thrill, get the same rush to the heart
follow the east side highway in the dark

it's the danger that gets me
chance that you'll let me
get close to your heart
as we walk down the hudson river to battery park
as we walk down the hudson river afloat in the dark
as i jump from the cliffside, lit brief by a spark

such a fool am i, such fools are we
we bring salt to the ocean, fish to the sea
we'll sing songs to our maker
songs that make me feel young
we'll blaze trails in the woods of our hearts before we're done

it's so strange how it gets me
the chance that you'll let me
try out for the part
as we walk down the hudson river to battery park
as we walk down the hudson river afloat in the dark
as i jump from the cliffside, lit brief by a spark

cast fire into fire, render hot air unto air
each to his own bed, whether barren or shared

it's the fear that directs me
the chance that corrects me
to get close to the part
where i walk down the river and up to your heart
as i jump from the cliffside, lit brief by a spark
Track Name: This World Is An Open Door
This world is an open door.
I'm waiting for you to come in.
It's a brand new apartment with hard-wood floors.
It's a brand new face. Brand-new skin.
This world could be an open door.
This light could strip you of your sins.
This love could be a beacon.
This song could live inside your skin.

You've got scales that won't fall off.
I've got gloves but won't weigh in.
It's a million-dollar pinprick leaves a crescent on your skin
Star witness for the prosecution.
And you wonder what the trial is for.

This world could be an open door.

Every Saturday night. Every Holiday Inn.
Every chance to forget, open the shades and let the sunlight in.
Every horse is a winner. Every glass house made of tin.
Why don't you open the shades and let the sunlight in.
Why don't you open the shades and let the sunshine in.

I'm waiting for you to come in.
Track Name: Cease-Fire, Or, Mrs. Norman Maine
thought we were nick & nora of some local underground punk rock scene
i was twenty six, she was seventeen
too angry for lovers
too close for friends
if i can't love you, baby
well, let's try to pretend

when we met, i was broke, now i got a pile of tens
baby, let's go out tonight, let's see how fast i can spend
i got a couple hundred bucks, let's go out all night
let's see how much longer that money can last
if you can't love me, baby,
maybe we can just pretend

we were well-matched opponents in our own private boxing ring
with just local celebrities in the front row, and our friends for don king
but in these unlicensed fights, nobody wins
the spectators yell, and the judges rescind our credentials
and the press says "well, they're no peoples' champions."

it's possible, even probable, we won't be lovers again
and it's possible, even probable, that that's for the best.
'cause we still believe in forgiveness
but we believe in vengeance too
i'll drop my weapons
if so will you.

these days, you're broke, and now i got a pile of tens
let's go out tonight, let's see just how fast i can spend
i got this hundred dollar bill, let's go out all night
let's see if that money can last until daylight
if we can't love each other
just for tonight, let's pretend
if we can't love each other
c'mon, let's pretend.
Track Name: I'm Done Singing
if they ask, say i've gone singing
those bell-ringing days have lost their shine
if they ask, say i've gone singing
i'm at the door but i can't tell which keys are mine

doorbell ringing
waking up everyone inside
i'll be singing
until you get up and turn on the light

but for now, i'm done singing
these wildwood words have lost their charm
i'm done singing
strike up the drums & sound the alarms

if they ask, say i was bringing
a plum, a note, not much
a book of letters
from everyone your life ever touched.

but i'm done singing
maybe now these tears will dry
i'm done singing
now these blues are all that's mine
i'm done singing
those rock and roll boys have lost their pride
'cause you can't make guitars dignified
those rock and roll boys have lost their fire
there's handbell hand grenades in their eyes.