POISE ‘N GRACE
They say I’m full of poison
I’m full of poison and grace
I’m the invisible man here
I leave my footprints all over the place
Well off with their heads cried the May Queen
Babe Ruth says heads up to you
When you’re riding on an American dream
It only matters what the linemen do
Hello from Alaska
From Madagascar or Detroit
Well I’ve been watching midnight cowboy
I want a fringed coat like Jon Voight
Well I was working in a shoe shop
When Cinderella dropped by
She tried on some glass running shoes
I stole a glimpse of her thigh
She hadn’t spoken to her sisters
Since they got busted for dealing exctasy
She said well she might be living in a pumpkin
But you know her sisters were living in
Spiritual poverty
Hello from Moscow
From Oshkow and Saint Pete
Well I’ve been watching East of Eden
Whatever happened to Joann Fleet
Oh I’m living in a strange world
At least it looks that way to me
Am I the boy in the bubble or am I the old man and the sea
Here’s to Frankenstein and Dracula
But their needs seem ordinary and plain
When you compare them to those fanatical believers
I hear they’re always expecting rain
Hello from Milano
From Amarillo and cities on the plain
I’ve been watching The Sons of Katy Elder
I like that graceful strut of John Wayne
You know I was born in the suburbs
Though I never understood what sub was
Shopping malls, shiny cars
I felt like a soap opera star
I couldn’t stay there
Enough was enough
Sometimes what you think is mediocre
Might turn extraordinary some day
What makes you laugh tomorrow
May be the same things that make you cry today
Goodbye from Manhattan
From garden city and Jackson Heights
Oh I’ve been digging Jackson Pollack
He paints canvas like it’s a heavyweight fight
Have I mentioned love
What must I be thinking
To my wedding knees I knealt
Love yourself
Love your neighbor
I love your shoes
I love the way they match your snakeskin belt
Lowboy rides the subway
He’s trapped in a world all his own
You stop your medications
You’ll find reality in the marrow of your bones
Greetings from Honolulu
From Sioux city and Asbury park
I’ve been listening to Nebraska
Johnny 99 hits 100 as the New Jersey sky turns dark
MAYBE YOU WERE LAUGHING
MAYBE YOU WERE LAUGHING
MAYBE CRYING TOO
MAYBE I WAS JOKING
OR MAYBE I WAS TRUE
YOU SAY THIS IS THE LAST TIME
I WILL FOLLOW YOU
OR WILL THERE BE A NEXT TIME
I ONLY WISH I KNEW
DON’T YOU FEEL SO GUILTY
AND DON’T YOU FEEL SO ASHAMED
ITS JUST ME AND MY MONKEY
AND WE’RE ALL NEARLY THE SAME
YOU SAID I WENT TOO FAR
OR WAS IT EVEN FAR ENOUGH
I THINK YOUR IMAGINATION
HAS BEEN MY JURY AND MY JUDGE
(CHORUS)
WHEN THE WINTER’S OVER
WHEN THE SAD SUMMER IS THROUGH
I’M NOT SORRY, I’M NOT SORRY TO SAY
THAT I’VE FORGOTTEN YOU
(CHORUS)
COUNTERCLOCKWISE
IN THE WAKE OF THE QUAKE OVERWHELMED – FRANTIC MOVES
RING THEM BELLS – LATE BREAKING NEWS
FALLING STOCKS – I’M GETTING ZAPPED WITH DIGITAL SHOCKS
THIS WORLD IS TURNING COUNTERCLOCKWISE
GET BACK – COUNTDOWN
THE FUTURE DECIDES
THIS WORLD IS RUNNING COUNTERCLOCKWISE
GET BACK – COUNTDOWN
THE FUTURE DECIDES
I CAN CONFIRM THIS COURT IS ADJOURNED
I’M GUILTY AS SIN THOUGH I WASN’T HIM
A SURVIVOR TALKS OF DEVIOUS PLOTS
IDENTITIES STOLEN AND MISMATCHED SOCKS
(CHORUS)
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON TIED BACK IN HER HAIR
I ASKED HER WHAT THAT RIBBON WAS DOING THERE
SHE DIDN’T KNOW – AND I DIDN’T CARE
(CHORUS)
ROCK ‘N ROLL ‘N ROCK ‘N ROLL
He said he couldn’t sit still
Crazy legs shaking all the time
The doc said he’s hyperactive
He said the doctor was lying
‘Cause when you got that kind of rhythm
Oh you got it all the way
And that’s the gospel according to Elvis Presley
Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll
It makes me feel good
Oh oh oh
It got me when i’m pretty young
I ain’t got sick of it yet
I’m screaming in a microphone
And I’m getting all i can get
I’m a stranger in a strange land
Gold plated Cadillac
Don’t look back
Yakety yak
Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll
Oh it makes me feel good
Like i knew it would
Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll
It makes me feel alive
Oh oh oh
Come on all right
Come on all right
Yeah yeah yeah
He said he couldn’t sit still
Crazy legs shaking all the time
They said that boy’s hyperactive
That boy knew they were lying
You see he had that kind of rhythm
He had it all the way
And that’s the gospel according to Elvis Presley
Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll
Oh it makes me feel good
Like i knew it would
Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’
Rock ‘n’ roll
It makes me feel alive
Oh oh oh
GONE, GONE, GONE
And we were gone, gone, gone
I think I’m gone, gone, gone
I feel so gone, gone, gone
In the eye of the sun
I let my horses run
I kept my feet on the ground
I didn’t make a sound
My time was running out
And I had my doubts
And we we’re gone, gone, gone
I feel so gone, gone, gone
Everybody’s gone, gone, gone
But if that’s what you want
My sweet Marianne
Yeah if that’s what you want
I won’t make a stand
If that’s what you need
Then baby I’m your man
And we’ll be gone, gone, gone
I think I’m gone, gone, gone
Everybody’s gone, gone, gone
You know I was right there
Waiting on a plane
I was heading out
My suitcase full of pain
My tipping point had passed
I couldn’t see you again
Well you’re looking for god’s grace for something to believe
But you’ve got the soul of a torturer
How great is your need
Some say the simple truth
Will someday set you free
From a hornet’s nest of lies going to infinity… yeah
And we we’re gone, gone, gone
I think I’m gone, gone, gone
I feel so gone, gone, gone
Everybody is gone, gone, gone
YOU DON’T NEED TO BE MORE THEN YOURSELF
YOU DON’T LOOK TO ME LIKE A CELEBRITY
YOUR SMILE IS SO NATURAL ANYONE CAN SEE
THE JOY IN YOUR FACE SO REAL AND TRUE
I WOULDN’T WANT TO COMPARE TO ANYONE I EVER KNEW
YOU DON’T NEED TO BE MORE THEN YOURSELF
YOU DON’T NEED TO BE MORE THEN YOURSELF – WHAT ELSE
I GOT A PRETTY BAD CASE OF THE MODERN NERVES
I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE I’M FALLING BEHIND THE CURVE
LIKE I’M LOSING OUT LIKE I MISSED MY CUE
I NEED TWO OF ME BUT ONLY ONE OF YOU … CAUSE
(CHORUS)
HEY THERE SANDMAN – SEND ME TO SLEEP
TO A LANDSCAPE OF DREAMS – SEVEN OCEANS DEEP
I’M MISTER LUCKY I DON’T PLAY THE FOOL
AND MY POLO PONIES THEY’RE GONNA BRING ME STRAIGHT TO YOU
I GOT A LOT OF PLANS I WANNA GO SOMEWHERE
SOMEPLACE QUIET WHERE I CAN LOSE MY HAIR
AND READ THAT GOOD BOOK I ALWAYS WANTED TO
FORGET THESE DISTRACTIONS
AND DID I EVER TELL YOU … THAT
(CHORUS)
WITH THIS RING
THERE MAY BE DARK CLOUDS IN THE DISTANCE
THERE MAY BE GOLD MINES UP AHEAD
I’M ASKING YOU TO BE MY WITNESS
NOT MY JUDGE – JUST MY FRIEND
AND EVERYTHING – THAT LOVE CAN BRING
WILL BE YOURS WITH THIS RING
I NEED YOUR SMILE IN THE MORNING
I NEED YOUR WARM KISS GOODNIGHT
SO WHEN I’M SPINNING IN THE DARKNESS
YOUR LOVE SHINES SO BRIGHT
(CHORUS)
NOBODY’S IMPRESSED BY NOTHING NOWADAYS
BUT I’M STILL IMPRESSED BY YOUR SECRET WAYS
I NEED A RAINBOW TO REMIND ME
THAT THE GOLD MINES LIE AHEAD
COME ON LOVER BE MY WITNESS
AS THE SKY TURNS YELLOW BLUE AND RED
(CHORUS)
TAKE THAT DEVIL OUT OF ME
WHY DON’T WE SIT DOWN – LET ME SLOW DOWN
TRY TO TELL YOU HOW I FEEL – TO SOLVE THIS MYSTERY – THIS MAN … WELL I CALL ME
OH AND THIS WORLD – WHAT IT CAN DO – DOES IT TRY TO BREAK US UP – WHEN I HEAR THE DARKNESS CALL AND I’M TRYING NOT TO FALL
CAUSE I’M LOOKING FOR YOUR LIGHT – ONE MORE TIME
TO KEEP ME GOING – TO WALK THAT LINE
YOU CAN BET OUR LOVE IS REAL – I DON’T WANT TO CHEAT OR STEAL
BUT THERE’S A VOICE I HEAR – I’M FULL OF FEAR
THAT TELLS ME LOVE – IS NOT ENOUGH
OH BABY TAKE THIS DEVIL OUT OF ME
AND WHEN I TELL YOU – THAT I LOVE YOU
AND I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES – THESE WORDS THAT FEEL SO TRUE
OH BABY AM I GETTING THROUGH
YOU GIVE ME REASONS – TO BELIEVE IN
AND I’LL FIGHT ANOTHER DAY
YOU GIVE ME STRENGTH TO CARRY ON – WHEN ALL OF MY FAITH IS GONE
(CHORUS)
TAKE THAT DEVIL OUT OF ME AND SET MY SOUL FREE AND GIVE ME STRENGTH TO BE ALL I CAN BE – OH TAKE THAT DEVIL OUT OF ME – AND SET MY SOUL FREE – AND I’LL MAKE IT UP TO YOU – YOU’LL SEE
WELL NOW THAT’S IT – AND I CAN TAKE IT
ALL THE LOWS AND THE HIGHS – AND IF YOU’RE UP FOR THE RIDE
I’LL TRY TO LET YOU INSIDE
BUT IF I SHUT DOWN – IF I MELT DOWN
IF I FALL RIGHT ON MY FACE – TELL ME YOU’LL STICK AROUND
AND PUT ME IN MY PLACE
(CHORUS)
OH BABY TAKE THIS DEVIL
OH BABY TAKE THIS DEVIL
OH BABY TAKE THAT DEVIL OUT OF ME
THE DAY AFTER YOU
IT’S THE DAY AFTER YOU AFTER YOU
IT’S THE DAY AFTER YOU AFTER YOU
A LINE OF WHITE SNOW ON THE EMERALD GREEN FIELDS
WINTER’S LAST STAND IN THE SHADOWS BUT ITS FATE
IS SEALED – AND MINE TOO I DO SUPPOSE – SEALED IN YOUR HEART
OH IF THAT’S WHERE LOVE GOES
(CHORUS)
CLOUDS FLOATING PAST LIKE GIANTS IN THE SKY
I SEE THE IMAGE OF A CYCLOPS WITH ONE GOOD EYE
HE’S LOOKING AT YOU AND HE’S LOOKING AT ME
AND HIS HEART TURNS BLACK OH WITH JEALOUSY
(CHORUS)
NOW THE SKY IS COMPLETELY COVERED LIKE AN ARMY IN WHITE – COULD BE SOME RAIN COMING JUST BEFORE THE NIGHT – AND MY FALSE DIRECTIONS TAKING ME SO FAR I GUESS SO FAR I GUESS – SO FAR FROM THE REALITY OF YOUR SWEET CARESS
(CHORUS)
WHEN WE’RE TOGETHER THE HOURS PASS – THERE IS NO TIME THE MOMENTS LAST AND LAST AND LAST – FOREVER AND EVER I CAN LOOK IN YOUR EYES – I’M COMPLETELY LOST IN A NEW FOUND PARADISE
(CHORUS)
RAIN, RAIN, RAIN
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
Say if freedoms just a word for nothing to lose
Then future is a word for so much to choose
I open up my window to a world of pain
Jackhammer pounding right in my brain
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
When compliments are flying like crazy drunk birds
Everybody’s talking and no one is heard
Its time to leave – its time to split
You whisper to your lover you’ve had enough of it
And its 1 2 3 pass the hat
Try to get your dealer give your money back
Give me a rebate or give me a sign
Save me a place on the hot soup line
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
Well I’m the kinda guy I got simple tastes
I’m always satisfied with the best
And I guess that’s you and that ain’t
Strange come with me darling dance in the rain
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
I hop into my car I got no money for gas
Newspaper saying even this will pass
Now that ain’t funny – that’s insane
They’re pissing on my back and they’re
Telling me its rain
And its 1 2 3 pass the hat
Try to get your dealer give your money back
Give me a rebate – give me a sign
Save me a place on the hot soup line
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
She had diamond eyelashes and a painted
Moustache birds nest hair and a very nice ass
I tried to catch her – cafe charbon
She was so complicated – I had to leave her alone
If freedom is just a word for nothing to lose
Well thank you Kris and Janis – and all that booze
The future is bright the past is lame
Open your umbrella cause I’m expecting rain
Then its 1 2 3 pass the hat
Try to tell your dealer give your money back
Give me a rebate – give me a sign
Save me a place on the hot soup line
Oh oh oh rain rain rain
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLING
AS I LAY DOWN UNDER A CIRCUS TENT -PACK MY DAY PAY MY RENT
I THINK OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE – WHAT’S ALREADY BEEN DONE
ON THIS SAME BED OF STRAW -A YOUNG COWBOY LOOKING FOR THRILLS – QUITS TEXAS JOINS THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE
FLYING PLANES LIKE PAPER BOX CARTS – MACHINE GUNS BLAZING
EVEN THE KAISER’S PILOTS SAID HE WAS PRETTY AMAZING
HE CRASH LANDED ONCE HE TORE HIS LIGAMENTS – SAID ANGELS CARRIED HIM TO SAFETY – OR WAS IT JUST A FIGMENT OF HIS IMAGINATION – OR SOME CONCUSSION
HE SAID HIS ANGELS WERE BLACK AND THEY SPOKE
SOME KIND OF RUSSIAN
NOW DID HE REALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH HER
THIS FLYBOY AND HIS FRENCH NURSE I CANNOT CONCUR
FROM EXAMINING FADED LOVE LETTERS FOUND LONG AFTER SHE WAS DEAD – THEY SAY IT WAS HER FATHER WHO REFUSED TO LET
THEM WED
OH WHISKEY GALORE AND SHOT GLASSES RAISED
TO THE MEMORY OF JONAS AND THE NEW YORK BRIGADE
CHATEAU THIERRY AND THE ARGONNE FOREST WHEN THE HOUR WAS DIRE AND MENS SOULS WERE THE HARVEST
SO OFF HE WENT LOOKING FOR THRILLS THIS COWBOY FLYER WHOSE HEART COULDN’T BE FILLED BY WHISKEY WOMEN OR THRILLS
THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED WAS SENDING HIS
LETTER BACK TO … BAR LE DUC
MY SEARCH FOR GOD GET STRANGER AND STRANGER
HE SAID TELL ME ZEUS AM I IN SOME SORT OF MORTAL DANGER
WHEN I’M NOT LYING OR TALKING JIVE
SOMEONE ONCE SAID HE WAS THE MOST HONORABLE
MAN ALIVE – OH BUT HONOR AND PRINCIPLES, IDEALS AND GOALS
THEY DISAPPEARED RECENTLY INTO A BIG BLACK HOLE
HE WAS SILENT AS A BULLY FINALLY OUTNUMBERED
AND FULL OF FEAR HAVING A HEATED CONVERSATION NOBODY ELSE
COULD HEAR
SO WHAT AM I OWED AND TO WHOM DO I PAY OR IS ALL JUST COMMERCE ON THIS ARMISTICE DAY – ARE YOU SAYING MY GREED WAS ALL JUST A WASTE HOW IRONIC IT WOULD BE IF THAT WAS THE CASE
A PHANTOMS GRIN FROM HAMLET’S SKULL THIS PARTICULAR PLAY HAS GROWN TEDIOUS AND DULL I’M GONNA POST SOME KIND OF NOTICE
IN THE TOWN’S LOCAL RAG ADDRESSED TO ANYONE WHO EVER HAD
A PREDILECTION FOR WOMAN AND RIGGED GAMES OF CHANCE
OR AN ADDICTION TO LOVE AND SWEET SAD ROMANCE
DO YOU BELIEVE IN DESTINY’S CHOICE – I’M NOT SURE THE WORDS I’M SPEAKING ARE EVEN IN MY OWN VOICE
THEY SAY A MAN WITH TWO WOMEN RISKS LOSING HIS SOUL
BUT A MAN WITH TWO HOUSES HIS MIND GOES SLOW AND COLD
A TRAIN KEEPS ROLLIN AND THIS MAN IS STRUGGLING TO KEEP HIS
OWN SONG
SO WHAT AM I OWED AND TO WHOM DO I PAY OR IS ALL JUST COMMERCE ON THIS ARMISTICE DAY – ARE YOU SAYING MY LOVE WAS ALL JUST A WASTE HOW IRONIC IT WOULD BE IF THAT WAS THE CASE
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLING ALL NIGHT LONG
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLING ALL NIGHT LONG
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLING ALL NIGHT LONG
THIS MAN KEEPS STRUGGLING
TO SING HIS OWN SONG
All songs by Elliott Murphy
©Elliott Murphy
Lyrics reprinted by permission
Elliott Murphy
GB Music GM 1019
2010
Produced and Mixed by Gaspard Murphy
Recorded by Florent Barier
Recorded at Franklin Studios, Le Havre, France and Ivan Julian Studio, New York, NY
Cover Photograph by Jessica Siegel
Band Photo by Cristina Arrigoni
Cover Design by Chloé
Mastered by Raphael
Musicians:
Elliott Murphy: Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Harmonica
Olivier Durand: Dobro, Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Alan Fatras: Drums
Laurent Pardo: Bass
Kenny Margolis: Keyboards
Gaspard Murphy: Guitars, Hammond B3, Mellotron, String Arrangements
Lisa Lowell, Laura Mayne, Alan Chenevier: Backing Vocals
Record By Record, Murphy By Murphy: Elliott Murphy
Gaspard Murphy produced this great album under very difficult circumstances in 4 or 5 different studios in the US and France. We started at Ivan Julian’s Greenwich Village studio which had great tube recording equipment which generates quite a lot of heat and the day we were there the air conditioning broke. Lisa Lowell contributed some great harmonies. In Le Havre we made a video for “Counterclockwise,” my take on the present direction of civilization – and “Take That Devil Out Of Me” has become a regular on my set list with an incredible solo by Olivier Durand every time.
Elliott Murphy is a man who’s been dragging some heavy history around with him for much of his life. The New York native’s 1973 debut album, Aquashow, was one of the great records of its era, a lost classic of the ‘70s that handily bridged the gap between Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, combining singer/songwriter smarts with tough, streetwise rock & roll. But Murphy’s name never rose into the rock pantheon, and he eventually expatriated to France, where he has prolifically pursued his craft ever since. Over the years, that amazing debut album has been a lot to live up to, but entering his sixties, Murphy seems to be having a bit of a late-career renaissance. His 2008 album, Notes from the Underground, offered hints of the sweet spot Murphy would hit two years later with his self-titled album. It’s telling that he would wait so long to release an eponymous record, and sure enough, this one seems to establish the veteran troubadour’s identity anew while reaching back to the spirit of his early material. The very first track harks back to Aquashow, both in its title — “Poise ‘n’ Grace,” as compared to Aquashow’s “Poise ‘n’ Pen” — and its theme of disaffected suburban upbringing, which ran all through the earlier album. And while the reedy tenor of those days has become a husky baritone (one of many ways in which Murphy’s trajectory has paralleled that of Bob Dylan), the literary forward motion and sheer lyrical frisson that are apparent right from the start here serve notice that the 2010 Elliott Murphy still has plenty to say and a fresh way of saying it. His musical mode has more to do with ballads and acoustic-based arrangements than post-Velvet Underground rockers these days, and to be honest, the few real uptempo tunes aren’t quite as effective as the more intimate-sounding tracks, but when a 37-year veteran closes the latest of his two dozen or so studio albums with a tune (“Train Kept A-Rolling”) that maintains its wildly swirling imagistic momentum for its entire six-minute length, you know there’s a sustained — and sustaining — aesthetic sensibility unfurling itself.
James Allen – AllMusic
Vinyl LPs
Germany:
Blue Rose Records BLU LP0523
CDs
US:
GB Music GM 1019
France:
Last Call Records 3231382
Germany:
Blue Rose Records BLU DP0523
Belgium:
TV Records BC 0638
Norway:
Lunde Records LUCD 1101
Please note: If you have additions or corrections to this discography, please send them to the webmaster.
