Just A Story From New York

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

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A TOUCH OF MERCY

I was walking down Main Street just the other day
Thinking about Brian Jones and the final getaway
When this man with a collar comes to greet me
Saying son why do you meet me this way? What did I say?
Well everybody needs mercy and a little touch of God
We’ re all looking for mercy
And the strength to live on

You know these nurses are blue
And the sky’s turning black
And I can’t seem to get up off of my back
And I hear this voice that keeps calling
And I’m trying hard to stop falling his way – but that’s OK

Well everybody needs mercy and a lift touch of God
We’re all looking for mercy
And the strength to live on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on

But whose going to tell those kids
About all the things we did
Tell me whose gonna turn them on
To those secrets born with the bomb

And just when I thought I’d take
A Hemingway shot
The F Scott in me says man you better not
And sometimes it’s so hard to remember
How very very Tender is the Night”
Don’t let it give you a fright

Well everybody needs mercy and a little touch of God
We’re all looking for mercy
And the strength to live on and on and on an on and on and on and on and on and on

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PNEUMONIA ALLEY

Forgot my sweater
On the way to the loo
Looked in the mirror
And I thought about you
The way you blink
With those long dark lashes
The way you left my heart
In a pile of burnt ashes

Now I’m down on pneumonia alley
Dancing with long tall sally
Shivering and coughing in the rain
Delerious and feverish but i feel no pain
‘Cept when I wonder will I ever
Ever see you again

You’re the one
With a touch so warming
Like a drop of sun
On a new days morning
Vitamind delight
For my body and soul
Now I’m locked on the outside
In the cold

Chorus

Two junkies in the corner
She must have been beautiful once
Her partner never even looks at her
As she trembles and her shoulders hunch
Every meal is a banquet
Every day a holiday
We don’t know it
But we got it made

Chorus

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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

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YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’RE IN FOR

Getting late they were spaced just a trace
Of the old coming down
Ancient fun one and one he said someday
We’ll leave this town
But magazines glamour scenes in betweens
Had him nailed to the ground
And the sounds still waiting to be found

And we are all junkies, pushers, pimps and hookers
You never know what you’re in to’
And you can shake it, try to forsake it
But you know you’re gonna take it
You never know what you’re in for

By the time he was nine there were signs of an old melody
He tried to list w at he missed just a kiss
Was it real or TV
Find a way make it pay you can say a rehearsed passion play
Everyday, everyday

And we’re all junkies pushers, pimps and hookers
You never know what you’re in for
And you can shake it, try to forsake it
But you know you’re gonna take it
You never know what you’re in for

But anyway he said hey I’m gonna stay Baby Please don’t cry
It’s just rough to stay tough full of lust and Be a walking hi fi
I see you and I’m through with that god
Who demands such a lie
But you gotta get by
And we’ll get by

And we are all junkies, pushers, pimps and pushers
You never know what you’re in for
And you can shake it, try to forsake it
But you know you’re gonna take it
You never know what you’re in for

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LAST OF THE ROCK STARS

Naked telephone poles can’t describe
The way I’m feeling about you tonight
And a feeling on my back like an old brown jacket
Like to stay in school but I just can’t hack it
And I’m out on the street feeling like dirt
I’m afraid to get married because I know its gonna hurt
And I say

Oh oh oh – there’s the last of the rock stars
And me and you
Oh oh oh – rock ‘n roll is here to stay
But who will be left to play

Well I dreamed I saw the king in a fifty three chevy
Had a band on his mind and his hands looked heavy
And he rolled down his window I guess to say hi
I couldn’t see his face ’cause of the purple haze inside
And he was born to be the king – he was born to be the man
And he died though he was holy – although I doubt he’d understand
When I say

(chorus)

Adolescent predrug habit – if it means guitar you gotta have it
And you got your axe and you got your group
And your old man thinks its a waste of loot
And you wait all week for a Sullivan show
And you know that’s just where you wanna go
And you homework now is never complete
You don’t care – cause you have got that beat

So a highdy hi and a heydy hey
And a girls that home on Friday night and a boy that’s out to play
And some of us are masters and some or us are slaves
And than there’s that boy who knows he’s gotta play
And a messy desk drawer full of broken strings
You know these kids and you know of those things

(chorus)

Come on mama please don’t cry
Don’t you know how I feel inside

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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

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ON ELVIS PRESLEY’S BIRTHDAY

I can’t say that I love this place where I live
This particular geographic location
But I’ve grown use to it and now I miss it when I’m away
Of course, when I was a child my father would take me with him
Down to the bowery where the bums were
And in the restaurant supply stores
He would buy shiny steel refrigerators and deadly looking stoves
While I begged him to take me to the army navy surplus stores on canal street
To buy some big dead bullets

He wore a short corduroy jacket, an informal hat with a puff of feather
And he talked with his hands in his pants pockets jangling change

Driving in his Cadillac it was Elvis Presley’s birthday
They said it on the radio and my father liked Elvis
And it was wonderful – it was wonderful
We drove through the black neighborhoods on Long Island’s north shore when Elvis was alive

My father was from Brooklyn and the depression left its mark
From picking up coal on the railroad tracks
He didn’t have a good word to say about Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Later, I liked elegant hotel bars
Where I could drink under F. Scott Fitzgerald skies
The coolest of the cool
Never a child on Elvis Presley’s birthday
My dead father jangling change

This is an unreal city
You can be anybody you want to be
When you’re alone

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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

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DIAMONDS BY THE YARD

As I lay down with my lady
The sounds of the night keep me warm
I’m living a city life – I’m living maybe
But tonight there’s no reason to be strong

Romantic poets guard the darkness
My my all at such an early age
An old man sheds a tear
He opens a little gold locket
He thought his little girl was lost in an Indian raid

Somewhere in these night lights lies the answer
And you can get diamonds by the yard
A tiffany dream – A porcelain dancer
An old man playing blues guitar

(Chorus:)
Midnight I surrender
I live beneath your ancient spell
You’ve been my lover since I can’t remember
You save my life with the stories you tell

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DRIVE ALL NIGHT

Oh won’t you be my night connection
I’ll give you true highway affection
Please don’t ask where we’re goin’
I’m tryin’ to race the light
And we can drive all night drive all night
We got what’s left and we got what’s right
Drive all night

I never liked where we came from
And I tried to fight
We need development rearrangement
We need some dynamite
But if you’ll be my reflection
We’ll let our memories die
And we can drive all night
Drive all night
We got what’s left and we got what’s right
Drive all night

We’ll hit the coast in a T bird called Teenage
We’re heading out for a psychologically clean age
And if they stop us and ask where you goin’
We’ll tell them we’re going through

Oh won’t you be my night connection drive all night
Oh give me soul map correction drive all night
And if the sun starts to catch us
We’ll paint the windows black
And we can drive all night drive all night
We got what’s left and we got what’s right drive all night

Now you know what it feels like on a hot Sunday night
When you just can’t go home cause things aren’t quite right
So we sneak into your house; but it’s the wrong one
Cause they all look the same; this town’s just no fun

But we finally get it right and if your daddy knew he’d kill
Cause we just stole the key to his brand new Coupe de Ville
And we hit that highway about a hundred and one
And I hear this funny noise, man they’re tryin’ to spoil our fun

Drive all night

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JUST A STORY FROM AMERICA

Just a story from America
He left his job and he looked at her
I’ve had enough he put down his cup
And every time she would fill it up

When she’d say
Get up when they put you down
But like a boxer
You just spin around
Your kind of guy is so very few
Don’t ever let them get the best of you

And so he’s working like a dog each day
And every week there’d be more overtime pay
And pretty soon he’s got a Cadillac car
And on the weekends he would drive so far

And they don’t slow down
America’s such a speedy town
Hot clothes high society
He said it never get the best of me

And then he met a girl with hair like the sun
With social status she was number one
He left it all and he left downtown
A little voice follows him around

And it say
Get up they put you down
And like a boxer
You just spin around
Your kind of guy was so very few
I thought they’d never get the best of you

Just a story of America
Just a story fro in America
Just a story of America
Just a story from America

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All songs by Elliott Murphy – ©Elliott Murphy – Lyrics Reprinted by Permission

Just A Story From New York
GB Records GB 1020
2011

Produced by Elliott Murphy
Execustive Producer: Gary Boress
Recorded live at Rockwood, New York, NY
Mastered by Hersh Gardner
Cover Photo by Cristina Arrigoni
Photos by Ronan Centi & Somone Centi

Musicians:
Elliott Murphy: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Olivier Durand: guitar, backing vocals
Alan Fatras: drums, backing vocals
Kenny Margolis: Keyboards, accordion
Laurent Pardo: bass, backing vocals

Record By Record, Murphy By Murphy: Just A Story From New York

It was Gary Boress’s idea to put out a live from New York City album and I’m so glad we did because Kenny Margolis was with us on keyboards the night it was recorded. Mostly full of classic songs for the fans who filled the Rockwood on Allen Street.

CDs

US:
GB Records GB 1020
GB Records GB 2010
*Note: A deluxe 2CD limited edition version of 100 copies.

Please note: If you have additions or corrections to this discography, please send them to the webmaster.