GOING THROUGH SOMETHING (DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS)
He woke up before her he was sitting on the couch
She said “What’s the matter baby? Tears are running down your mouth.”
He looked up and saw her
Didn’t know what to say
“I’m just playing this old record and it makes me feel this way.”
Going through something but I don’t know what it is
I don’t feel like an adult I don’t look like a kid
Caught in the grip of a rock ‘n roll dream
Like twenty years of loving someone you’ve never seen
Walking down the avenue he ran into an old friend who said
“Man are you still onto that? Still wearing that old cowboy hat?
Listening to the radio I gave all that up years ago.”
Asked him when he’s gonna grow…I don’t know
CHORUS
Nights and TV history – thinking about all the cruelty
Walked in to see my baby’s face
She’s sleeping with an angel’s grace
Started humming some old song
Of days that are long gone
The feelings starting to unwind
The power going up my spine
CHORUS
CHANGE WILL COME
We’re so east coast so here’s a toast
Here’s to everything that I wanted the most
So baby now, its over now
I’m just sitting here though I’ll stand up somehow
Got a date with a diamond ring
The tramps in the alley watch her shake that thing
I say its all right mama
Its all right now
I never really wanted any of it anyhow
Change will come
We’re so New York – silver spoon and plastic fork
We wanted everything and we wanted a little bit more
Give me some more
And can you see
Its hard to see
You say you’re looking for a lover
I say don’t take a look at me
Look at me
CHORUS
CONTINENTAL KIND GIRL
Have you seen her – dressed in red fur
And she’s walking down a street like Fifth Avenue
She’s got fine shoes – she don’t pay dues
Except for days and days with her psychoanalyst crew
Pink tights at night for the disco
Fall calls her to balls in San Francisco
Airports and luggage such a nuisance
Mention politics and she throws in her two cents
Continental kind girl – Takes her scissors and she cuts off a curl
Continental kind girl – Puts it in her jewelry box like a pearl
Continental kind girl – She says when this you see you will remember me
I say my God I’ll follow you around the world
I got my faults I don’t need no Gestalt
Don’t need no Twentieth Century insecurity plan
And I confess I’d like to watch you undress
I’ll help you take off your jewelry – I’ll help you any way I can
Pulling up in a chauffeur driven Cadillac
To an after-hours club – some say its where its at
But whose that gentlemen with the…I’m asking you whose the old man with the
CHORUS
And I think now am I too hard – Its just the sight of those credit cards
Or is it just petty jealousy – But when I’m walking down 57th street
And our eyes just happen to meet I know I need a
CHORUS
She gets in motion on either side of the ocean
She can hang out with the dirty rock and rollers – Hang out with the sheiks
Important places, Important faces – She goes through customs carrying psychedelic antiques
Remember Madam Claude where the rich men would buy her
Anything she wanted as long as she was wanted
As long as she was wanted my dreams they are haunted by a
CHORUS
PARTY GIRLS AND BROKEN POETS
From the peninsula we stare across the bay
From the peninsula we talk of yesterday
of the parties that are over – And who the midnight boys took home
And now I sit and watch street walkers standing next to a pay phone
She took a moonlight swim – She glides across the bay
We took a motorcar – Said we’d meet you half way
And we waited for an hour – And they searched the whole next day
But they never found nobody – Some parties just end up that way
When you go out with a bad girl – You do things you thought you wouldn’t do
When you go out with a bad boy – You do things you thought you couldn’t do
You thought you wouldn’t do
Like a crystal ship, the poets words will stay
Like a teenage nymph, he gave too much away
They use to find him in the morning – With his head held in his hands
And he’d be crying about Lolita – He said is anybody gonna understand
He’d talk of Indians – He said they never lost their way
But with us white men – The magic can just fade away
Some say the opium drove him crazy – Some say the Beaujolais drove him insane
But there’s an Indian girl named Lolita – dancing in Mexico in steaming rain
CHORUS
There’s not a word of truth in anything I say
But I can’t tell a lie – I was brought up that way
All these stories have no meaning – Except for what you can see
Of party girls and broken poets – They’re not too different from you and me.
CHORUS
YOU’RE GONNA CHASE LOVE AWAY
Max’s Kansas City – so many years ago
You always lost the umbrella – It didn’t rain but it sure did snow
Catch a glimpse of Andy Warhol – walking his dogs downtown
When he talked everybody listened – Though he rarely made a sound
As for me I never stopped talking – That’s all I knew how to do
And when it hit – I never saw it coming – And for the first time I looked straight at you
You’re gonna chase love away – You’re gonna be by yourself
You’ll be looking for your lover – And he’ll be with somebody else
The Seventies – so such a strange time – No one knew what to do
With the children of the sixties – It didn’t’ matter what we’ve been through
So come on we’ll build our own world – Shut the door so tight
Now everything is in color baby – But we always preferred black and white
Well of course there were other reasons – Its so complicated now
I watched you put on your makeup for hours and hours – We hardly every left the house
(CHORUS)
And you’ll be wondering why – you’ll be asking all your friends
But their advice and good suggestions – Your obsession just won’t end
I thank God I’m not the man I use to be
‘Cause looking in the mirror can make you blind you see
We were trapped in our own fantasy
It hurts to let go – Until you’re finally free
CHORUS
And you’ll be wondering why – you’ll be asking all your friends
But their advice and good suggestions – Your obsession just won’t end
And you’ll be cursing the sky – Can’t take your eyes off the ground
You’ll be looking for excuses – When there’s no blame to be found
You’re gonna chase love away
You’re gonna chase love away
VERONIQUE THE ACTRESS
Veronique the actress plays no part
Breaks my heart to see her
Cause I know I gotta go
Though she says I won’t let you
Six White horses on the wall
And a place in the country
And the future says nothing at all
She will never tell
Veronica says she’s only twenty
Let’s go out and buy some ice cream
Think of a reason for you to stay
Veronica says that should be easy
CHORUS
Veronica says she found three dogs in the garbage
And she says can you believe it
They must be crazy they must believe in nothing at all
Fur coats don’t impress her
CHORUS
THE FALL OF SAIGON
Captain they’re calling they don’t want us falling behind
There’s no use in stalling there’s no use in drawing a line
Let’s gt out of this rice paddy before I step onto some god damn mine
And we’ll take a jeep and watch the fall of Saigon
And hey girl its over
Goodbye white cliffs of Dover
Sail onto Free lands
The boys all come home
Call girls are crying as helicopters fly their loves away
There’s a panic at the embassy a blood bath is coming they all say
And what’s come between us I try but I just can’t get it on
Love has turned to politics – like the fall of Saigon
Chorus
And darling I’m lying you’re right I’m just sick of trying
This romance is ending
That feeling is gone
You got your mystery and I got what’s left of this song
And just like southeast Asia I don’t know if I’m right or if I’m wrong
Some things are worth fighting for and some things well they’re just gone
But I remember the night we watched the fall of Saigon
CHORUS
IT FEELS LIKE
As I lay me down – As this world turns red
I’m no communist baby – I believe in a king size bed
She said let’s sleep when we’re dead
I was rhyming with the timing of Frankie Lyman
And the teenagers crying – And the disc jockeys sighing
At the news the king was dying
You know what that feels like
I was down I’d been around
And I was growing sick and tired of this town
The sounds of these clowns – Who keep telling me (late at night)
They know what it feels like
It feels like
You were leaving I was grieving
All these facts said I was not achieving
I was mistakenly believing – That the smiles on their faces meant they knew
What it feels like
She said how could you ever allow
This domesticating plow – This powdered milk cow
Onto the farm – We grow the things
That we feel like
So I lay me down – As this world turns red
I’m no communist baby – I believe in a king size bed
Some say we’ll sleep when we’re dead
It feels like – all right – one two
Even Sigmund Freud would be annoyed
At your fanatical joy
When your brand new toy
Started walking started talking – Started telling you what it feels like
Ah hell I can tell this won’t sell
Except to Alexander Graham Bell – The reason is, well, he likes telephone songs
He knows what they feel like
(It feels like Naked Telephone Poles
Hanging out and rock ‘n roll)
INSANITY (THAT’S CALLED)
The fun was over a long time ago
We tried to recapture it but it wasn’t so easy to find
What was lost between the lines
And that’s called insanity
Doing the same thing
Over and over again
Thinking its gonna be different this one time
The party was over but I wouldn’t go
They called me a taxi but I said
Hell no I’m not going out there
Those people are crazy
They always stare
CHORUS
You know you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten
If you keep on doing what you’ve always done
All my bad habits soon forgotten
When I gauge my actions choose appropriate ones
The war was over but we kept the guns
In the hands of generals
Just in case they ran out of fun
Got bored with the peace
Had to blot out the sun
CHORUS
OUT FOR THE KILLING
Cold New York Eyes so terrific
Weld permanent connections to my soul
She asked what I do I said get specific
In the long run I grow old
Take a look what you’ve been through
Baby take a look at yourself
You’re turning yourself into somebody else
Your spirit weak but the flesh is willing
Out for the killing
She asked what I know about Nicaragua
I said I red the papers I watch TV
She laughed at my political knowledge
She said you know even less about you and me
Take a look what you’ve been through
CHORUS
I dropped her off in the combat zone in Boston
When I found she worked for undercover police
I sit around I drink straight from the bottle
I take tiny bites of some very rare meat
Take a look at what we’ve been through
CHORUS
WINNERS, LOSERS, BEGGARS, CHOOSERS
He was reading Playboy he was thinking that today boy he would try to change his pattern, step up on the ladder of success maybe buy some new clothes.
She was in a hotel lobby, making money was no hobby, waiting for her sugar daddy, she would try to make him happy (heaven knows, she could use new clothes…)
Subways full of loners, with their guitars and their hohners singing songs of pacification till the police kick em out of the metro station for disturbing the peace.
I was sleeping in a hotel had a dream about a motel I was somewhere in the heartland gonna make a brand new start man all I need is a Mustang coupe.
And there were winners, losers, beggars dying to be choosers
I can’t stop it but give me strength I’ll try to rock it
Looking in the mirror everything was so much clearer, his hairline was receding but tonight he’d be eating fine food and drinking fine wine
He had a slight hangover when she arrived it was over he opened the window a crack and he told her of his father’s heart attack (still brought a tear to his eye).
But as he talked she said you lost me could you order me some coffee I’m confused about your
marriage about your wife and the baby carriage, he said that’s the way things go.
And the taxis were lined up the guest lists were signed up with the promise of the evening her perfume so teasing and strong and she felt nothing at all.
CHORUS
Later in the deli she said don’t you dare sell me shorter than you I’m only making ends meet all the time, he said I know what you mean.
She said why don’t you play your guitar. He said my place ain’t far we can discuss politics but all they heard was the was the way the clock would tick, (the way time stood still).
Have you ever been to Venice you know I could take us, I need to get away I need…and than she started to cry he said you don’t need to say nothing.
And the gondolas they were lined up the grand canal was shined up. They were sipping cappuccino and the pigeons flew in harmony and he smiled he said, “Now this, this is something”.
CHORUS
CAUSE I SAW YOU
Giving up is not that easy
I was moving I was free and breezy
Then it all started to turn slow motion
Once again I’m drowning in an ocean of you
I lost my nerve…somewhere and i’m through
Cause I saw you
I saw you
I saw you
walking away
Stay tough – that’s the answer
I’ll get around and be a real good dance
Moving fast – I show no emotion
Then again, Im drowing in this ocean of you
somewhere
And I’m through
CHORUS
Lying down – I close my eyes
All I could see were those eyes of yours looking down
CHORUS
RUNNING AROUND
He said “Someday baby we’ll get out of here
Living on dreams – choking on fear
Looking for ambition- not finding it here.”
Running around
She said “I hear what you’re saying – I don’t know what you mean
Your foods on the table – your shirts are clean
You know what you’re looking for might remain unseen.”
Running around
He wrote “I’m sorry baby to leave you this way
What’s left in the bank account is yours…OK?
You can call me a coward but a coward would stay.”
She called up her mom
She hung up the phone
She turned on her TV and watched it alone
Kept switching the channels fell asleep around dawn
Running around
Rivers flow – the banks grow wider
You can’t see it day by day
Well on the shore her voice grows louder
She cries “If you come back baby
You baby you better come back to stay…”
H walked in the cafe with a new suit of clothes
Cash in his pocket his eyes aglow
He said “Give me a regular and make it to go.”
She looked at his smile – his hundred dollar bill
Her hands were shaking but the coffee didn’t spill
She gave him 99 singles and a look that would kill
He said “How a doing? You’re looking fine.”
She said “Well..two years is not a lifetime.
Its tough on my feet but I don’t mind.”
He put his money on the counter said “I owe you this.”
She said “All you ever owed me sweetheart was a goodbye kiss…
And for that cup of coffee you can keep the tip.”
Running around
CHORUS
EYES OF THE CHILDREN OF MARIA
You and I we got our problems but you and I we got hope
And we assume we will be solving them – we got love – we can cope
But the lights in the distance
And the fire burning on the shore…See the
Eyes of the children of Maria
Look at the eyes of the children of Maria
See the eyes of the children of Maria
Waiting for the coming of the lord
Now everybody wants some saving grace – lash your back – shave your hair
But when the angels come to St Marks place they’re just looking for something hip to wear
And the ships they’re sailing backwards
Full of rags dreams and shades…For the
CHORUS
I can’t believe what I heard yesterday
They say the dollar’s bound to fall
But those books they’re written everyday
I say the writings on the wall
Up above there goes a satellite
Bouncing TV shows
For good reception man – its what you got
For what you need heaven knows
And the pictures of the babies
They are frozen forever in my mind…Like the…
CHORUS
Eyes of the hungry and the poor
Waiting for the coming of the Lord
IF POETS WERE KING
In the midst of a midsummers dreaming
A dog is barking cause he thinks he smells a thief
Inside the gates of the garden of Hamlets ghost
But underneath the gown of the queen lies the host
Who is drunk out of his mind
On princely pleasure passions
When its time to duel he merely throws his hat
Into a ring of fire of a ritual ceremony
Designed to curse the living for blessing what they knew what phony all the time
But all these words are merely cleverly orchestrated
To hide my pain and so I don’t overstate it
To avoid you embarrassment or squirming in your seat
Help you to say thank you to all the people that you meet
While swimming, while dating or looking in the mirror
We’ll go on forever we’re be dead before the fear gets in
Whoops there goes that dog again and the relief of children’s voices
Playing in their fantasies but hide and seek are choices
We seem to make while picking a soul mate
Someone to participate in the experiment of love and hate
But lying with you is something I would rather do
Cause rhyming words won’t save the Cardias even if it ought to
If poets were king this world would change its marching tune
and nothing would get done until very late in the afternoon
THE LOSER
I was looking for the answer like some fairy tale
Somebody said there’s a man here
And all his life he has just failed
You only learn from the losers
Of this I am sure
And as I walked down his old street
I heard him talking as I knocked on his door
How do I know that I’m no dreaming
How do I know this is for real
And that my destiny
Has not already been written
Or that my fate has been sealed
Been sealed
I said my life is like a straight line
No that’s not true at all
Its more like a series of accidents
And into each situation I fall
Man I get so tired of thinking
I’m like a dog whose watching TV
Because I know something is happening her
But I don’t know what’s happening to me
Take one thing that you are sure of
You can be sure that one thing will be taken away
Everything is on loan her
There are no owners
It all came to pass not to stay
Not to stay
Try to accept that you’ll keep searching
That’s the thing you will do for mot of your life
And all these answers – they just don’t exist here
Here lives the questions
And they rule you life
All Songs by Elliott Murphy
(Except “You’re Gonna Chase Love Away: Max’s Kansas City” by Elliott Murphy & Ernie Brooks – © Warner Chappell/Eljamur Music – Lyrics Reprinted by Permission
Going Through Something: The Best Of Elliott Murphy
Dejadisc
1996
From Aprés Le Deluge (1978)
“It Feels Like”
EM – Strat, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Ralph Schuckett – Piano
Howie Wyath – Drums
Jennifer Jacobsen, Ellen Shipley – BG Vocals
From Affairs (1980)
“Cause I Saw You”
EM – Strat, Vocal
Larry Russel – Bass
Rob Alter – Electric gtr
Tom Mandel -Hammond
Tony Machine – Drums
“Veronique the Actress”
EM – Strat, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Richard Sohl – Piano
Tony Machine – Drums
Peter Gordon – Sax
From Murph The Surf (1980)
“Continental Kinda Girl”
EM- Strat, Voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass, BG Vocals
Tony Machine – Drums
“The Fall of Saigon”
EM – Strat, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Richard Sohl – Piano
Tony Machine – Drums
Peter Gordon – Sax
From Party Girls / Broken Poets (1983)
“Winners, Losers, Beggers, Choosers”
EM – J200 & Strat guitars,Hammond Organ, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Precision bass
Tomy Machine – drums
Richard Sohl – Piano
“Party Girls/Broken Poets”
EM – Strat, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Precision bass
Tomy Machine – drums
Richard Sohl – Piano
From Milwaukee (1986)
“Running Around”
EM – strat, harp, voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Art Labriola – Keyboards
Jesse Chamberlain – Drums
“Out for The Killing”
EM – strat, harp, voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Art Labriola – Keyboards
Rick Jaegger – Drums
“Going Through Something Don’t Know What It Is”
EM – strat, harp, voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
David Vartanian- Keyboards
Rick Jaegger – Drums
From Change Will Come (1988)
“Change Will Come”
EM – Strat, LP, harp Voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Art Labriola – Hammond Organ
Lewis King – Drums
Jm Babjak – Rickenbacker 12 string
“The Eyes Of The Children Of Maria”
EM – J-200 guitars, Voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Art Labriola – Hammond Organ
Lewis King – Drums
Blondie Chaplain – BG Vocals
“Insanity (That’s Called)”
EM – Strat, J-200 guitars, harp Voice
Ernie Brooks – Precision Bass
Art Labriola – Hammond Organ
Lewis King – Drums
From 12 (1990)
“You’re Gonna Chase Love Away”
EM – Guild Songbird, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Guild Acoustic Bass, BG Vocal
Roger Robindore – drums
“The Loser”
EM – Guild Songbird guitar, Vocal
Ernie Brooks – Guild Acoustic Bass, BG Vocal
Roger Robindore – drums
From If Poets Were King (1992)
“If Poets Were King”
EM – Guild Songbird Guitar, Voice
Enrie Brooks – Guild Acoustic Bass
Art Labriola – Piano
Roger Robindore – drums
Record By Record, Murphy By Murphy: Going Through Something
This was my 80’s “Best Of” by the indie Texas label Dejadisc who selected the songs. I always thought the 80’s were low times for me and I was surprised that they came up with so many good tracks for this collection. *
Taken from Crossroads magazine.
(* Note from the guy who ran Dejadisc and picked the songs: Ha! It wasn’t hard. What was hard was narrowing down the track list.)
Liner Notes
Inadvertantly he had been thrown over the side of the major’s drunken boat by a mutinous crew and so with much effort he swam to a distant shore. Dripping wet and exhausted and lying in the sand, he watched the huge yacht dissapear over the horizon without him, its smokestacks belching into the clear blue sky while the last remnants of monotonous dance music wafted in over the palm trees. Then the ship was out of sight and he was on his own: terrified yet strangely secure in his independence. He turned his pockets inside out looking for change and found it. Clearly he would be Going Through Something. And as the sun went down and the neon rose the green luminous dials of his father’s wristwatch cut through the heavy historical European air: the year was 1978.
At Customs, he declared a bunch of songs, three good chords and enough sadness in his eyes to qualify as a wannabe poet. The immigration officer peered at him and demanded if he, like all pure products of America was crazy as well. He held his breath, finally blurting out; “Yes, I believe William Carlos Williams was right.” “Right answer,” said the bureaucrat. But that only worked in his favor. On the other hand it has been said that musicians are the only normal people left. Said by whom? When?
For fifteen years he practised his Grammy acceptance speech and it grew longer and longer. So many stories to tell, people to thank: Charlie Hunter for the lifeboat, Ernie Brooks for the compass, Tony Machine, Art Labriola, Jesse Chanberlain and so many others for sharing the passion of the road and dear Richard Sohl for his sweet, sweet notes. Jerry Harrison and David Vartanian for the cure by the big lake, Jim Ball for the last dance at The Record Plant, Roger Robindore for the endurance run, Patrick Mathe and Jean Davoust for the open arms in a closed world. And Steve Wilkison for bringing it all back home.
He sat in his rocker on the veranda of his sprawling ranch, overlooking Omaha Beach, Piazza Navonna and the Garden City Public Library; his grandchildren splayed at his feet like labrador pups. The clouds had formed a solid sea of gray cotton just over the tops of the skyscrapers and when the sun came down to just that level he believed strongly that there must be a God.
When Françoise appeared to call everyone to dinner her eyes shone like stage lights on the scene before her and she bowed to the audience and dissapeared offstage. The old man was sleeping and Gaspard was holding a feather to tickle his nose. He was awoken by the sound of his own laughter.
Between 1973 and 1977, Elliott Murphy released four albums on three major labels without ever selling enough records to make the charts. The majors probably kept signing him because he was an artist who looked like Brian Jones, wrote like Bob Dylan, and sang like Neil Young. That period of his career is summarized on the 1992 Razor & Tie compilation Diamonds by the Yard: A Career Retrospective, 1973-1977. After three strikes, the majors stopped calling, but Murphy kept writing and singing and performing; when he could manage it, he also kept recording for small labels including one called EMIS, which stands for Elliott Murphy Information Society, his fan club. Going Through Something: The Best of Elliott Murphy, 1978 Through 1991 chronicles the next decade-and-a-half, drawing from seven more albums and an EP. In his typically literary, fictionalized, and third-person liner notes, he describes himself as having been inadvertently thrown off “the Major’s drunken boat” and having to swim to a distant shore (he eventually settled in France). Clearly, he has never given up the hope of commercial success: “For fifteen years he practiced his Grammy acceptance speech,” he writes of himself, and there are also references in the songs, starting with “Going Through Something (Don’t Know What It Is),” from 1986’s Milwaukee, which speaks in its chorus of being “Caught in the grips of a rock & roll dream.” In “It Feels Like” from Après le Déluge (“Recorded 1978 — Released 1985”), he breaks off a poetic, triple-rhyming stream of thought with the declaration, “Ah, hell I can tell this won’t sell.” But however aware he is of his commercial predicament, Murphy stubbornly continues on, playing his catchy rock & roll tunes and singing his lyrics that reflect on downtown life in New York City in the ’70s (with references to St. Marks Place and Max’s Kansas City), on matters artistic and literary, and on relationships with women who, clearly, sometimes indulge him and at other times grow impatient. In “Out for the Killing” from Milwaukee, one laughs at his political knowledge and says, “You know even less about you and me.” He may be inclined to agree, but it isn’t from lack of attention. Murphy is something of a musical reporter, and his songs are dispatches from an emotional and political war zone in which things get mixed up, as they do in “The Fall of Saigon” from 1982’s Murph the Surf. Finally, however, he makes the confusion work for him in the final song, “The Loser” from 1990’s 12, in which he concludes philosophically, speaking to himself, “Try to accept that you’ll keep searching.” That’s what Murphy did between 1978 and 1991, and the evidence is here, set to music.
William Ruhlmann – AllMusic
CDs
US:
Dejadisc DJD 3229
Germany:
Blue Rose Records BLU CD0048 (1997)
Please note: If you have additions or corrections to this discography, please send them to the webmaster.
