Live at Sidewalk Café, Vol. 2: June 3, 2007

click on the song to play)
1. oliver wendell holmes, jr.
2. musical chairs
3. pretty girls
4. upper east side, 10am
5. (there's) nothing to it
6. adrian
7. action

Live at Sidewalk Café, Vol. 2: June 3, 2007
Recorded in New York City, 2007
All songs written and performed by Michael Novick
MKN: vocals and acoustic guitar

(click here to view the gig diary for this show)

oliver wendell holmes, jr. (2006)

the parking lot is full of freaks / i lost the will to fit in there / the political dissenter speaks / in the language of despair / i have to play a different tune / it's not the one you adore / i'd still follow you to certain doom / but i can't glorify it anymore / it's a long story / about a guy named william james / yes, the famous writer's brother / he wrote the taming of the shrew / or was it the turning of the screw / i know for sure he wrote persuation / or maybe that was emily bronte / the point is he was a writer / who knew oliver wendell holmes / yes, he knew oliver wendell holmes / i'd make the rules up as i go / if i thought that there were rules / but i know a lot more than i know / it's the blissfulness of fools / i have to play another tune / not the one i wrote for you / about howling at a vacant moon / nothing i knew then is still true / and it's a longish story / about one charles sanders peirce / whose father taught at harvard / and they all believed in god / and they listened to the beatles / smoked opium and hash / they read way too much for comfort / and they all had nervous breakdowns / except for oliver wendell holmes / no, not oliver wendell holmes / a thrice-wounded union soldier / who became a supreme court justice / named oliver wendell holmes

musical chairs (2006)

i don’t sleep, i don’t even try / you got a big head but you used to be shy / i feel so bad, but i try to be good / you’ve always been a little misunderstood / it feels like love / or a lack thereof / it’s a sad state of affairs / we’re still playing musical chairs / i play a few tunes, take out the trash / you watch tv and count my cash / i don’t mind the quiet but I miss the noise / you make up with brains what you lack in poise / and it feels like loveor a lack thereof / it’s a sad state of affairs / we’re still playing musical chairs / and it feels like love… / watch tv, take out the trash... / but it feels like love / or a lack thereof / it’s a sad state of affairs / we’re still playing musical chairs / and it feels like love…

pretty girls (2004)

took my chances with a wallflower / she handed me my head / and i couldn't help thinking that life is too short for wild geese and red herrings / is it wrong to say you're weak when i'm the one who can't speak? / close up your stained-glass eyes / put a sock in your alibis / i'll cut off those dirty blonde curls / i've had just enough of pretty girls / it must be something in the genes / you're probably so proud / but behind that face, you're a disaster / it's like you were born yesterday / i wouldn't kick you out of bed / not unless you're sleeping / i was only in it for the score and a set of keys to your little house on the shore / and all your little friends with their second-hand pearls / i've had my fill of those pretty girls / and you're not even that pretty... / close up your stained-glass eyes / put a sock in your alibis / i'll cut off those dirty blonde curls / i've had just enough of pretty girls

upper east side, 10am (2003)

so this is what it's like to feel you in the air first thing in the morning / i promise not to wake you 'til your time has come / and if it never does / dream away, senorita / slow down, shooting star / lest you forget who you are / tell me why you want to sleep on a day like this / and it all falls down / and i'm left with the pieces of you / on a day like this...

(there's) nothing to it (2004)

so you're going to hitch that ride / nothing i can do i haven't already tried / you live in places i don't recognize / finding comfort in the devil's eyes / well, a word to the wise / there's nothing to it / there's nothing to it / you once said i was a saint / would a saint make light of your pain? / there's nothing to it / all those times i had to lie / all those secrets that i never meant to hide / it's just a testament to gravity / but i will spin that into strength or jealousy / there's nothing to it / there's nothing to it / did you think that i was your friend when i said i'd stay 'til the end? / there's nothing to it / you set me up for life with your heart on a filthy sleeve / i mistook your greed for faith in me / did you think that i was your friend when i said i'd stay til the end? / there's nothing to it / there's nothing to it / you once said i was a saint / would a saint make light of your pain? / there's nothing to it

adrian (2006)

never play chess with a debutante / they’re always so well trained / men of leisure, all we are is men restrained / oh, adrian, you were right to not let me begin / you used to be such a good actress / but now you’re too jaded to lie / and I’m too lazy to tell you that it means goodbye / oh, adrian, you were right to not let me get in / i felt much safer in your arms than i could ever say / but you never sleep with a debutante / you just roll in the hay / oh, adrian, you couldn’t live with me in sin

action (2006)

action figures in plastic pose / paperbacks full of heinous prose / heather locklear in a cutoff shirt / a jar of dirt / you try so hard to make things work / but nothing seems to heal the hurt / a month of sundays and a year of junes / it’s gone too soon / action! / so don’t just sit there / make it so / lay the groundwork for the show / put the world to work for you / stop waiting for the other shoe / action!