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Full-blown Ascension 4:060:00/4:06
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Jacob and the Women 3:190:00/3:19
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Scottsdale Divorce 3:560:00/3:56
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About a Photo 5:030:00/5:03
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Nova 2:220:00/2:22
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House Arrest Blues 2:080:00/2:08
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0:00/4:54
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Silence Is Ashlee 5:290:00/5:29
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House Arrest Samba 2:480:00/2:48
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Unrequited 19:46 3:450:00/3:45
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Ready To Go 3:420:00/3:42
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Martha's Complaints 5:240:00/5:24
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Goodbye, AMLI 0:520:00/0:52
Released 1 August 2005
Amelia Ray - vocals, acoustic and electric six- and twelve-string guitars, keyboards, bass, claps
Dana Kelly - drums (1-5,7,9-12), bongos (9), shakers (4), clave (11)
Jon Herington - electric guitar and solos (3,9,11)
Allen "qo" Robel - electric guitar solo (1), backing vocals (1,8)
Hermann Lara - tenor and soprano saxophones (7,10)
Elizabeth Odarley Morton - backing vocals (1)
Christian Palomès - backing vocals (1)
Jake Wood - drums (8)
Recorded and mixed at Quantum Onion Studios, San Jose, CA.
LYRICS
FULL-BLOWN ASCENSION
Cocky and loaded
Never seemed a good combination
Stubborn and nefarious
Don't lead to happy times
It doesn't take a genius
To rule this wasted nation
Just a pocketbook of platinum
And a vast supply of simple minds
With all the lies you've ever read
Disguised as insight from the dead
is there nothing you can't do?
Who's gonna hold you down
When finally you leave this ground?
It's a full-blown ascension,
It's another dimension
You've been preaching to the masses
That there's gonna be some revolution
What the right hand doesn't show
The left can never understand
So how strongly we fight against our
New-found destitution
And you sit an wonder why
Nothing seems to go as planned
Standing here in limbo
With my arms stretched out akimbo
"This should seem like something new?"
Who's gonna be around
When judgment comes to your town?
It's a full-blown ascension,
It's the right of cognition
You paved the faithful's wretched path
They traded in the golden calf
Now they all bow down to you
Who's gonna wear your crown
When finally you leave this town?
This is full-blown dissension
It's another dimension
Who's gonna be around
When judgment comes to your town?
It's a full-blown ascension,
It's the right of cognition
Who's gonna hold your hand
When shit starts to hit the fan?
It's a full-blown ascension,
There's no misapprehension
It's your final perdition
JACOB AND THE WOMEN
He came from a long line
Of farmers' sons, living on livestock, bread, and wine
As much as he tried to be an honest man
You know the city takes what we give
And even what we can't
They all thought he was a harmless country child
Taken by his charm and his sweet, seductive smile
But they don't know they all share a place in his plans
For the country boy has become
A city man
And they all fall down at his feet
But even the world's best jugglers sometimes drop the ball
And in the blink of an eye
Down, down they fall
When you place all your hope in the labyrinth of your lies
You better hope you can remember the where, the what,
The who, the when, and why
'Cause they'll all fall down at your feet
SCOTTSDALE DIVORCE
Don't leave the light on for me
I'm sleeping in the other room tonight
It might be too dark to see
But I really don't feel it's worth a fight
You were right
When I called you back
Said I needed reassurance
It had little to do with you
So go on, and leave me
Go on, and leave me
'Cause, baby, I've been untrue
We tried the give and take
But the past kept getting caught up in the change
We skirt, we bend, we break
And, yet, happiness seems ever out of range
It's so strange
When I said that I couldn't stand it any longer
It had everything to do with you
So go on, and leave me
Go on, and leave me
'Cause, baby, we are through
I don't believe you've heard a single word
I've tried to put across
So I'll say it loud and clear
Go on, and leave me
Go on, and leave me
get yourself free
Far away from me
Why can't you see that we weren't meant to be?
If I told you I lied, baby, would you run away and hide?
See, you don't need me
Get yourself free
Take the TV
Why can't you see
That I'm not the one for you?
ABOUT A PHOTO
How old could he have been
When last you saw him, when last he grinned
The way he did the day before...
...You smiled, and lost a tear
Being very careful not to let it smear
And I was standing just about here
Witnessing sincere
But you rose to leave in such a rush
It fell beneath the browning bush
There's no way you could have seen
What you left behind
Is mine for the taking
Don't mind, it's not worth time wasting
It's my memory now
When I saw you leave the grounds
And do that skittish look around
I thought I'd lost you, along with the truth
But I noticed something fall aside
The joy that you had tried to hide would nail you
With me as sleuth
So I shuffled past the monkey bars
And there, beside your wet cigar,
I found the naked proof
What you left behind
Is mine for the taking
Don't mind, it's not worth time wasting
It's my memory now
You stood and smiled goodbye
To the boy you used to be, the boy who cried
Alone in his room at night, far away from Mommy's eyes
Now, strong, and all of 15
You spend your days wasting gasoline
Favoring girls from dirty magazines
To those you've seen
You threw your picture towards the trash
Your aim was good, but the wind was fast
And you sailed right to me
What you left behind
Is mine for the taking
Don't mind, it's not worth time wasting
You're my memory now
NOVA
Driving in my Nova, got the window rolled down
Puke-green on the outside, the interior is brown
Driving in my Nova, I can only go so slow
Driving in my Nova all the way 'cross Mexico
Pulled into a cantina just to get myself a beer
El camarero asks me how'd I get that green thing here
Talking 'bout my Nova, he wanted to know
Why the hell'd I drive a Nova all the way to Mexico
Well, he told me 'bout the trouble turning English into cash
And how my pretty car was just a token from the past
Most things will go unnoticed in the auto trade, pero
No se venden las Nova en Jalisco
Well, he told me 'bout the trouble turning pesos into gas
And how the Burgos Basin would be taking care of that
Most things will go unnoticed in the countryside, you know
But they don't sell Novas in Jalisco
Driving in my Nova when I hear a funny sound
Pull over to el lado, and my Nova broke down
Cursing out my Nova 'cause it just won't go
I'm cursing out my Nova 'cause I'm stuck in Mexico
LEAVING FOR TENNESSEE
It's late and the liquor flows like blood
I'm not the only one who's shaking from the cold
Inside the trees talk softly with the wind
But we are separate beings, not at all like them
I can't stay awake and watch you fall again
"I'm tired of cleaning up your mess," she says
I cannot believe you are not amused
By me there's a telephone, a bible, a syringe
Which one will I choose, which one will win?
I can't go to sleep, 'fraid I just might fall
Everybody has so much to say when their mouths
Are full of alcohol, most of it's true
If I could find one reason why
I wouldn't want to stay with you
I can't go to sleep, 'fraid I just might fall
SILENCE IS ASHLEE
Silence is golden unless there's a lie in the air
Then someone should speak up to cover the sound of the truth
If nobody listens we all can pretend it's not there
But six billion pairs of ears can be a hard thing to refute
If you take my hand, I'll try hard to understand
Oh, Ashlee, what are you saying?
Those who believe you aren't the only ones paying
What if you need me, will you know how to call?
What if you opened your mouth to speak, and no one could hear you at all?
Tina is talking, but no one is pulling her string
Zoltar won't speak though we've dropped fifty cents in the hole
No one gets too upset confronted by these little things
We've learned how not to expect too much from objects that don't have a soul
If you'd share your pain, I'd try hard to help explain
Oh, Ashlee, what are you saying?
The kiddies can't follow the notes you're playing
What if you need me, will you know how to call?
What if you opened your mouth to speak, and no one could hear you -
Wind her up, put her down, watch her go, she'll do the rest
Why don't you wind her up, put her down, where she'll go is anybody's guess
But men have died for less
Oh, Ashlee, what are you saying?
The gig should be over, but mother's still praying
What if you need me, will you know how to call?
What if you opened your mouth to speak, and no one could hear you at all?
HOUSE ARREST SAMBA
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house full of lies
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house full of flies
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house full of lies
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house of goodbyes
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house full of lies
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house full of flies
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
I sit alone in a house full of lies
I sit alone in a house full of shadows
Ever since you said goodbye
UNREQUITED 19:46
Now I lay me down to sleep
Wishing I were there at your feet
I would tell you how I feel today
And wash your cares away
This I could do for you
Can I bathe you in my dreams?
Can I dress you like a queen?
If you'd say, "Yes," I'd be more than pleased
To be there kneeling at your knees
This I would do for you
Kate Bush might have a better rhyme
Could it be I am wasting your time
Just like all the others standing in line?
Will it take eternity for you to see
What you mean to me?
Should I cry? Should I die?
I'll leave you with a melody
To show you all the things you mean to me
In case you are still unaware
As I lie here playing with your hair
This I will do
READY TO GO
Your lack of vision runs counter to my philosophy
Your indecision is messing around with my high
Why are you taking my heart for granted?
Why are my feet still so firmly planted?
When I know that this is soon to be the end?
So I think I'm just about ready to go
This sordid picture is losing all of its clarity
The clock is ticking, but nothing's changing with time
Why am I feeling like such a has-been?
Why are you talking like Michael Madsen?
I know that this is gonna be the end
So I think I'm just about ready to go
You could be miserable all by yourself
Like you want to be
I could be happier sitting alone
Stressing just plain old me, me, me, me!
Both so independent we still complain
About truancy
We speak of treatise, but we ain't talking at all
Why do life's trouble's get so demanding?
Why are you shaking like Custer standing?
I know that this is finally the end
So I think I'm just about ready to go
This sordid picture is losing all of its clarity
Your lack of vision is messing around with my high
Tired of fighting 'bout brute semantics
Think we work better as first dynamic
Oh, I think I'm ready to go
I might be ready to go
I think Im ready to go
I might be ready to go
I think Im ready to go
I might be ready to go
I think Im ready to go
I think I'm ready to
MARTHA'S COMPLAINTS
All day long they're pleading
"Could this be more fun?
Someone is misleading
We think you're the one
We don't have the patience for
Phrasings quite this long
All these explanations
Tangentially drawn"
All day long she listens
The words are all the same
But who'll take the time, then
To listen to Martha's complaints?
He comes in a-crying
"Glad this day is done
Someone must console me
I think you're the one
Everybody's trying to
Bring your old man down
Come on, baby, hold me
And turn up my frown"
All evening long she listens
He's a sinner, he's a saint
But who'll take the time, then
To listen to Martha's complaints?
She stares at the ceiling
"God, my head is reeling
Someone should succumb
I guess I'm the one"
Stands before the mirror
Things don't get much clearer
Sits down in a chair
And studies what she finds there
All night long she listens
To the voices soft and faint
"There's a hole in the chair, and I can't stand my hair
And the roof's caving in, and the dog's getting thin
And I'd like to retire, or maybe get fired
But then, if he falls ill, how will we pay the bills?
And the children are grown, but they keep coming home
And we try to save more, but it's money out the door
I should think about sleeping as morning is creeping
But if I don't give now
Who will listen to Martha's complaints?"
Songs written, composed and arranged by Amelia Ray (Annabel Is Her Mother Today/ASCAP), except "About a Photo", written by Amelia Ray and Cristina Villon (Annabel Is Her Mother Today/ASCAP)
©2005 Amelia C. Ray/Annabel Is Her Mother Today (ASCAP)