March Ep
1.The History Of Excuses
I got a book of photographs from old sing-sing
They used to say 'upstate,' and that's what they mean
It's such a pretty name for such an awful place
At every page I'm looking at another blank face
And you know they had to find a way to pass time
And that's what I've been doing for a while now, baby
I been marking each day with a light on the wall
And waiting by the telephone to take that call

And they try to change my mind but find it's useless
Cause they know too well the history of excuses

Look at them cling to their political machine
That can jingle their coffers like old boss tweed
And they jiggle their handles and juggle the books
As there's hatchets to batten and buttons the hook
And you know, I wish I could change it with a vote
But I never found myself on the right side of the polls
I've got a dream where I'm out in the open
Where there's mountains and trees and the smell of the ocean

And they try to change my mind but find it's useless
Cause they know too well the history of excuses

And now I'm riding on a Hudson river train
I'm at the window as we're passing pass the Rockefeller estate
He used to buy up all the houses just to clear 'em away
'cause they cluttered the view of the far palisaides
Now, I can't even buy one house, let alone a valley full
and my only view is that of some blank wall
I got so tired of being confined and waiting around like i'm doing time.

And they try to change my mind but find it's useless
Cause they know too well the history of excuses

2.The Monitor
Once a great ironworks
Stood at the end of my street
And they hauled in The Monitor
Fit her with armor
For to save the union fleet

The River James was on fire
As The Merrimack thundered and raged
And she seemed so colossal and so unstoppable
Until the two engaged
And inside the sound
A deafening din, round after round, again and again
Shattering down, shattering down, shattering down

The neighborhood's quiet at night
But sometimes my ears still ring
And you think I'd understand
That a rock-n-roll band
Doesn't mean a blessed thing
But I picture the poor crew stunned
When the cannons did finally subside
How they stand on the deck
With the sun at their neck
And they wonder if they're still alive
And I try to shout
But none of them hear
They're moving their mouths
But the blood in their ears
Is running down, running down, running down

And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
But what then?

It's stunning to know I've survived
But I'm not sure what I'm fighting for anymore
And when I break another string
And continue to sing
Is that courage? I'm not sure.
When the ironclads drifted apart
Still blue and still gray
The men shoveled in the coal
And worked the pumps in the hull
Just like every other day
And none of them knew
Oh, none of them cared
How much it just changed right then and right there
They just carried on, carried on, carried on

And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
But what then?

And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
But what then?

3.Suddenly
when the pin drops suddenly
all the shapes and shadows flee
and the world in front of me
comes tumbling down
like a king on a matchstick thrown
who gave away everything he owned
and he's finally forced upon his beaten crown

and I wander and drift
and the scenery shifts
minutes quickly turn into days
and I wish I could know
how the ending will go
but it's always moving further away

suddenly the walk ends
in a tangle of wilderness
and I'm not sure just what turn I took was wrong
the comfort of company
it's a ghost of a memory
and I traded it long ago, yeah, for a song

and I wander and drift
and the scenery shifts
minutes quickly turn into days
and I wish I could know
how the ending will go
but it's always moving further away

and these tiny black marks

suddenly the stars exlode
and the sky's all full of holes
I can fill 'um one by one
yeah, one by one
with a flicker from my head
ripped out of a book I read
and they'd shine to show me
that i'm never done

and I wander and drift
and the scenery shifts
minutes quickly turn into days
and I wish I could know
how the ending will go
but it's always moving further away

4.Winter Coat
Well I, I guess I got a lot to learn
for every year that karen returns
I think that I will be okay
without you
so i stuff you in crowded box
and I set out on a morning walk
I think that I will be okay
but oh the trip back home becomes so long
yeah, I guess I need you after all

and oh, I know you tire of me too????
and after all I argue we're through???
you never even once complained
you kept to me so close through wretched days
yeah, what can I say

a winter coat, winter coat

and I, I twisted you with what you fought????
and all the good you did I forgot
i'm sorry to treat you that way
and you, how grudgingly you must return
your loyalty I did not earn
I'm sorry to treat you that way

you always took the worst of it for me
yeah, I owe you an apology