Here's the story of two lovers
call them anything you dare.
they live in every small apartment,
every city, everywhere.

They met on a summer island
on some airplane, or at school.
she was his barefoot poet.
he was her holy, dancing fool.

So they mixed their things together
they explored the neighborhood;
read the paper in bed on Sunday
when the light was bright and good.

(chorus)
You could see them on summer rooftops
slow dancing in the dark
while below in love’s confusion
someone has a change of heart

All the things that were so easy
suddenly became too tough,
so they drift to other lovers
who will not be good enough.

They forget what really happened.
they disguise how bad the pain
and all the years sweep by like water
until just a dream remains.

(chorus)

Now they sit alone in darkness
and they drink alone in bars
while above the sky is powdered
with a dust of poisoned stars
while above the sky is powdered
with a dust of poisoned stars

(chorus)
vocal, acoustic guitars, keyboards: Tom Dean
drums: Shawn Pelton
bass guitar: Michael Visceglia
electric guitars: Kevin Barry
background vocals:
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SUNSET TOWN
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)
(I can almost feel the vibe of LA when I sing this one)

They used to call this the sunset town
back in the days when the sun went down
back in the days when the shadows crept
onto the hills while the city slept
                                         Sitting in the hills above LA in a copper colored midnight - here to stay.
there's a million cars on the road tonight
and they'll all be there in the morning light.

(chorus)
Now all night long the radio sings, all night long the telephone rings
the rooms are blue from the TV light
wide awake - up all night

Coldwater Canyon's burning bright,
painting the sky in a cool, gold light.
up at the top of Mulholland Drive
the smoke makes the city lights look alive.

You never really knew where you had to be
so you just rolled west 'til you found the sea.
like an echoed name from across a lake
I followed you out to the big mistake.

(chorus)

Better find out just who knows who - better check the doors and windows
your either livin in the bright spotlight or the shadows
better find out which list your on - are you rising up or falling
or maybe just drifting away

From the copter beam to the flashbulb spark
living in a city that never gets dark.
whatever you want - it's not too late,
and anyway we're all wide awake.
(chorus)

vocal, acoustic & electric guitar, tambourine: Tom Dean
drums: Shawn Pelton
bass guitar: Michael Visceglia
electric guitars: Kevin Barry
background vocals: Don Campbell
banjo: Don Campbell
mandolin: Tom Yoder
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PENNIES
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)
(This was the last song written for the project. My co-writer George Wardwell and I met up a week before I went to NYC to cut these songs and convinced me to have another look at this one. Glad I did.)

I saw the hand of fate
pitching pennies by Shepherd's Gate
I shouldn't stop - I was running late
still I stopped and I lost a dime

Because of that, I missed a train
a missed train made me miss my plane
transportation took all the blame
now I know that the fault was mine.

(chorus)
Everybody’s out lookin
lookin for just the right moment
the right steps that will help them
find some perfect way
our steps take us to highways
the highways turn to runways
the earth recedes below us
until it's yesterday.

We're all marching in the same parade
we're all living with our choices made
we all feel by love betrayed
but that isn't love at all

We all want to begin again
another story with a different spin
we all look for a dime to win
pitching pennies against a wall
(chorus)

vocal, acoustic guitar, tambourine, harmonica: Tom Dean
drums: Shawn Pelton
bass guitar: Michael Visceglia
electric guitar: Kevin Barry
banjo: Don Campbell
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THE STREETS OF MONTREAL
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)

The streets of Montreal are filled
with people headed home
I hear my lover lived here once
more lonely than alone
I close my eyes and picture her
 walking by my side
I wonder did she find true love
and did it live or die

I drift along St Catherine Street
its secrets all revealed
but behind every secret learned
another is concealed
we're made to think there's always
something else that we can try
the things we do don't change a thing
and this is the reason why

I am seeking absolution
for forgotten resolutions
I am seeking absolution
in this fast, profane confusion

Back then she wanted nothing less
than everybody free
I know it sounds naive to you
but it was real to me
and in the spirit of the time
I let her wander on
I didn't know she'd haunt me
until after she had gone

I keep the guidebooks close at hand
I let them lead me 'round
from Mount Royal Park
I look out onto hallowed ground
is she here in this city still
and living every day
did she ever know how much it hurt
to let her slip away

She is seeking absolution
for her broken resolutions
I am seeking absolution
for forgotten resolutions

Now somewhere half a world away
a woman's sitting down
to have a cup of coffee
in some sleepy seaside town
she thinks about a boy she loved
a hundred years ago
she wonders what became of him.
She knows she'll never know.

I am seeking absolution
for forgotten resolutions
I am seeking absolution
long life to the revolution

vocal & acoustic guitar: Tom Dean
saxophone: Charlie Jennison
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GHOST MUSIC
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)
(This song is a tribute to all those great artists who come to us through the radio all too infrequently on late night drives to who knows where.)

Southern Ohio, cruise control
dashboard lights, soft neon glow
turn the dial, I heard this song:
Eric Anderson  Violets of Dawn

January Sunday, nowhere to go
nothing to do, nearly 20 below
through the speakers with no warning
Jesse Colin Young, singing 4 in the Morning

(chorus)
Ghost music on the radio
movin up fast coming in low
ghost music on the radio
music on the radio

Midnight rain, turning into snow
will this life last boys, well I just don't know
I hear a voice, filled with fire
Jackie Wilson singing Higher and Higher

(chorus)

Back on the highway, driving slow
got the window open, let the cool wind blow
over the motor, softly humming
Laura Nyro singing Eli's Coming
(chorus)

vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitars, tambourine, keyboards: Tom Dean
drums: Shawn Pelton
bass guitar: Michael Visceglia
electric lead guitar: Kevin Barry
background vocals: Joyce Andersen
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DRIVE ON
(T. Dean)

Headlights up the road a bit
Your closing in on a scene
You haven't seen the worst of it
You can drive on
You can drive on

Your faster than the rest of them
Your engine runs cool and clean
You keep up with the best of them
You can drive on
You can drive on

You can drive on
You can drive on

You talk love, but you don't really mean it
Toss it out on the side of a road
You say you care, I've never really seen it
You can drive on
You can drive on

Headlights down the road a piece
Your closing in on a scene
You haven't seen the best of me
But you can drive on
You can drive on
You can drive on

Tom Dean - vocal, acoustic guitar & tamborine
Jeff Pevar - electric slide guitar & mandolin
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
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LOVE IS ALWAYS GONNA LOOK JUST LIKE YOU
(G. Wardwell - T. Dean)

Summer night in the neighborhood
Two lovers treating each other good
Over on the other side of town
Two lovers putting each other down

I believe it's a result of
The many ways that we think about love
It doesn't matter who I'm talkin to
Love is always gonna look just like you

Street by street and block by block
24-7 all around the clock
Everybody's lookin for the master key
That will let them solve this mystery

A wise woman told me when it comes to love
You can bet push is always gonna come to shove
It doesn't matter who I'm talkin to
Love is always gonna look just like you

Love is always gonna look just like you
It really doesn't matter what I say or do
I don't care who I'm talkin to
Love is always gonna look just like you

Standing in the shadows lookin at the sun
Wondering why I never could be the one
Wondering what I really meant to you
Was I your perfect lover or your perfect fool

After awhile you stopped coming around
Somebody told me that you'd left this town
It doesn't matter who I'm talkin to
Love is always gonna look just like you

(chorus)

I thought time could take care of this
But some people get lost in the things they miss
They never seem to really rise above
That storybook vision of perfect love

I don't know why the days turned cruel
I don't know why we all act like fools
The only thing that I know is true
Love is always gonna look just like you
(chorus)

Tom Dean - vocal and acoustic guitars
Jeff Pevar - electric guitar
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
Alana MacDonald - vocals
David Hamburger - pedal steel guitar
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MY LITTLE WILDCAT
(G. Wardwell - T. Dean)

My little wildcat
She's a lucky girl
She picked me to abuse
Out of this whole wide world

My little wildcat
She doesn't stay long
She just ruin my day
And then she's long gone

(chorus)
She makes me feel right
She makes me sky blue
She rocks me all night
Tear down my house and my body too

My little wildcat
She's jungle tough
Sometime she likes it smooth
Sometimes she likes it rough

My little wildcat
She's city smart
Spray paints her initials
On a hundred hearts

My little wildcat
She's got her good side
But I have to hang on
It's such a wild ride
(chorus)

Tom Dean - vocals and acoustic guitar
Jeff Pevar - electric guitars & mandolin
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
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THE DEVIL AND ROBERT JOHNSON
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)

The devil & Robert Johnson
Met in a roadhouse bar.
She was a red headed big boned woman.
She was driving a new blue car.

The devil and Robert Johnson
They were dancin' cheek to cheek.
She sat on his lap and laughed at his jokes
And she poured him his whiskey neat.

The devil told Robert Johnson
"I like the way you play,
But stick with me and I'll show you some chords
That'll make you a legend someday."

. . .and every little once in a while,
when he wasn't lookin' that red-headed woman would smile.

The devil and Robert Johnson
Stayed up all night long
Making love and playing guitar
And writing down words to these songs.

Run down back of the jailhouse
Holler up to poor Willie Brown;
Tell him that Robert Johnson and the devil
Are walking the streets of this town.

. . .and every little once in a while,
when he wasn't lookin' that red-headed woman would smile

Tom Dean - vocal and acoustic guitar
Jeff Pevar - slide guitar
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
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THE FIRST TIME I SAW MARY
(T. Dean)

Oh the first time I saw Mary
Her eyes were bright as Venus
The way she moved across that room
Closed all the distance between us

Oh her laughter was like music
And music was my game
Just one night with Mary
And I've never been the same

Oh there's something about the first time
Something about the last time
And all those times in between
You know that's where love remains
That's where love remains

She took me to her bedroom
And there we would remain
Words of love were spoken
There was shelter from the rain

The last time I saw Mary
Her eyes were troubled waters
Something in the way she moved
The moment that I caught her

She was thinking about the first time
Something about the last time
And all those times in between
You know that's where love remains
That's where love remains

Tom Dean - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars
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RUN DOWN SLOW
(T. Dean)
(Just letting off some steam in my solitude towards someone who just couldn't be honest with me.)

You can float down backwards to a waterfall
you can close your eyes and slip away
another world a new beginning
let it drift and wash away

Nowhere to go and no direction
hey what's the meaning of this song
you can toy with my affections
but don't keep me waiting for too long

Cause I run down slow
but I'm run down
yeah I come down slow
but I come down

Put yourself in my position
it's much easier than you think
this is no trial or inquisition
come to my river take a drink

Don't leave it hanging in the mail room
they won't deliver it to me
don't wait forever to explain it
just tell the truth or let it be

Cause I run down slow
but I'm run down
yeah I come down slow
but I come down eventually

It's not your anger I'm afraid of
let it go and watch it disappear
It's those things unsaid that last forever
It's your silence that I fear

vocal & acoustic guitars: Tom Dean
drums: Shawn Pelton
bass guitar: Michael Visceglia
electric guitars: Kevin Barry
violin: Tom Yoder
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THAT GIRL IS THE MOON
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)
(When I received these lyrics from George, I loved them but had to call and ask what they meant. He went on to explain something about Chinese Haiku. I never did get a straight answer. They mean something different every time I read them. I think that's why I love them so much.)

That girl is the moon; her arms white as frost
a path through the night, to a place you had lost -
that fled from your mind, though you can’t say just when,
and you’re never quite sure you can find it again.

There’s a few simple things that drift up through your heart
they float past your soul and too quickly depart.
and if you had the will, and enough time to spend
you could summon the strength to go find them again

The lights dance and dim, across a black mirrored bay
they settle your fears and then show you the way
the water will calm, and the wind will die soon
this door opens to day - that girl is the moon

Looking out at the scene from the window above
you become somebody else’s scene
the moon decorates your own window now
while you decorate somebody else’s dream

I promised myself I would look for a sign
some reason to say - here’s a perfect design.
and find it I may on some cool afternoon
this door opens to day - that girl is the moon

vocal, acoustic guitar, bass,: Tom Dean
violin: Joyce Andersen
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EBBETTS FIELD
( T. Dean - G. Wardwell)
("I started thinking of old friends I hadn't seen in a long time.  They'd been pirates, dealers, and scam artists back in Boston and New York in the 70's and early 80's.  Most had been smart enough to retreat from those lives and to escape to places less frantic - Maine, New Hampshire, Nova Scotia - lucky to be alive and out of jail.  I wondered what their children knew about all that, and I thought about the ones who hadn't made those changes, and didn't make it this far")
-- G. Wardwell

My father owned a barroom outside Albany
where he taught me how to be my own best friend
they gunned him down in a parking lot when I was 17
so I left there and I won't go back again

um um ummmm

Now the outlaws and the crazies may be dangerous
but they're the only ones who ever caught my eye
I lived the life that was all the rage in 1966
it was a house of cards but it kept me warm and dry

um um ummmmm

Concrete trucks and rising steel
disappearing farms and fields
I grew up in the shadow of a lot of shady deals
I can still recall the day
they opened up the NY State Thruway
we came to see the Dodgers play
out in Ebbetts Field

Lately I've been going down to church a lot
I don't go in - I just walk around the block
and if I should ever get with God up face to face
I'm gonna ask him why he piled up so much sorrow in one place

Now I’m waiting in a station
for another mystery train
that will take me on ahead
to some place I’ve never been
I keep looking for some refuge
hoping I might someday find
a better world than the one I left behind
a better world than the one I left behind

vocal & acoustic guitar: Tom Dean
drums: Shawn Pelton
bass guitar: Michael Visceglia
electric Guitars: Kevin Barry
background vocals: Don Campbell
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CADILLAC SONG
(T. Dean)
(Originally written for the documentary film "200 Cadillacs" and sung by an over the hill, burnt out Elvis impersonator.)

Hey sweet thing
you’re so young and fine
see this diamond ring
on my hand
If you’d like the chance
to meet the King

Meet me in my Cadillac babe

I’m just a working man
but up there I’m the King
I’ve got the hairdo babe
I got the gemstone suit
and I kill em girl
when I start to sing

baby love me tender don’t be cruel

So come with me
to Graceland girl
and we’ll take a walk
in the Memphis spring
and if you’d like a chance
to meet the King
then meet me in my Cadillac babe

meet me in my Cadillac babe

vocal, acoustic and slide guitar, bass, snare drum and keyboards: Tom Dean
background vocals: Joyce Andersen
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ON THE ROAD
(T. Dean & G. Wardwell)

Greyhound bus riding thumb
Stolen car to kingdom come
Brother what you running from
Out here on the road

I too am a wandering soul
Raised on fear and rock & roll
Is there someplace open we can go
To end this broken night

On the road
Out here on the road
On the road
Out here on the road

Midnight up near San Rafael
Cold and hungry, tired as hell
Heard a railroad crossing bell
It seemed like miles away

Roll that window turn that dial
One more exit ten more miles
Trying hard to reconcile
The black with all these stars

(chorus)

Forever it goes on like this
Tobacco roads and northern mist
Burned out stars and clenched up fists
The blacktop shines like some oasis
Where we can go to find some truth
Or at least to carry on

Hey bus driver turn that wheel
You can fly this bird of steel
Drive all night and make us feel
Out here on the road

We're rebels all without a plan
Back and forth across this land
How we gonna make a stand
If we don't slow down
(chorus)

Tom Dean - vocals, acoustic guitar & shakers
Jeff Pevar - electric guitar
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
Don Campbell - vocals
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WALKING ON ICE
(Dean, MacDonald, Ludwig)

I took a walk out on the ice
Don't you remember how we used to
Followed the moon down through the trees
Cause there's a place I used to see you
Out on the middle of the lake
Until the sun turned the sky blue
You were walking on ice

Sun lights the day moon lights the night
And of this you can be sure
The things you love you hold so tight
Keep them safe behind your door
Watch out for cracks beneath your feet
And step softly through the night

Cause your walking on ice
Yes your walking on ice
Walking on ice
Walking on ice

I walk the world on thin ice
And I walk out further and further on less and less
Don't hesitate don't think twice
It's only ice

But watch out for cracks beneath your feet
And step softly through the night

Cause your walking on ice
Yes your walking on ice
Walking on ice
Walking on ice
Walking on ice

Tom Dean - vocals, acoustic guitars and percussion
Michael McInnis - keyboards & drum programming
Marc Shulman - electric guitar
Michael Visceglia - bass guitar
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YOUR OWN BACKYARD
( T. Dean - G. Wardwell)

Broken dreams, broken bottles
Break your promises and hit the throttle You know, that it's wrong

Scary Mary she's a rocket rider
Takes the needle lets it
Go inside her
She knows, that it's wrong

(chorus)
Some will make it
Some will never matter
Some will fake it
Watch their loved ones scatter
The only true way home
Is through your own backyard
Go through your own backyard

She is floating down a river
You'd love to go there
Float down with her
You know that it's wrong

Scary Mary she got disconnected
From every dream that she ever expected
She knows, they're gone
(chorus)

Tom Dean - vocals, acoustic guitar & tamborine
Jeff Pevar - electric guitar & wah wah guitar
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
Don Campbell - vocals
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SHE'S JUST A GIRL
(T. Dean)

Somehow I got lost
Exit signs blinking red, chalk marks rain washed
Skin touching mine, glorious feeling
Soul of another, where's mine, where's mine

Food for thought, junk food
Madness, longing, shortness of breath
Waiting for love to save me
Love doesn't save you
Love casts you out
Stormy sea, waves
Find your way back fool

No sleep, just dreams
Flying to you through the window
Through the looking glass
Broken pieces everywhere

Days lasting so long the clock breaks
The sun gets tired and the seas dry up
This is the price we pay for love
Very expensive
Those who dare to fall in love
Have very expensive taste
Phones ringing - gotta go

(chorus)
She's just a girl
Your the one your looking through
She's just a girl
Ah ha
She's just a girl
What do you see inside of you
She's just a girl
Ah ha

Tom Dean - vocals, acoustic guitar and shakers
Jeff Pevar - electric guitar
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
Chris Botti - trumpet
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AFTER MIDNIGHT
(T. Dean)

I go walking
After midnight
Stars are sinking
And my feet take me home

I was talking
With a good friend just the other night
He said "the only thing love leaves you is all alone"

(chorus)
But the only thing I want
Is your arms around me
The only thing I need
Is to see your face
Your so far away
And I'm here in this city
And after midnight it's a lonely place

Nights are restless
After midnight
Streets are empty
Don't wanna feel nothing at all

If I could let this
Dream take flight
I would close my eyes
And into sleep I would fall

(chorus)

After midnight
Walking down these streets again
Waiting for that pain to begin
After midnight
The city is such a lonely place
Wondering whose arms your falling in

I go walking
After midnight
Stars are sinking
And my feet take me home

I was talking
With a good friend just the other night
He said "the only thing love leaves you is all alone"
(chorus)

Tom Dean - vocals, acoustic guitar and shaker
Jeff Pevar - electric guitar
Shawn Pelton - drums
Michael Visceglia - bass
Kevin Bents - Hammond organ
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