What If It Works?
Released: July 11, 2006 (125 Records)
Credits:
Produced by Scott Miller with Anton Barbeau
Recorded at the Hangar (Sacramento, CA), Palais de Good Thing (San Mateo,
CA), the Rathaus (Sacramento) and Boogie Dungeon (Sacramento, CA).
Engineered by Eric Broyhill, Scott Miller, Anton Barbeau, A.J. Wilhelm, and Jason Sewell
Mastered by Eric Broyhill at Monster Lab Audio
Rocks Off (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
Scott: vocals, guitar, sample keyboards
Anton: vocals, Hammond organ
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
Song About "Rocks Off" (Scott Miller)
Scott: vocals, guitar
Anton: backing vocals, Hammond organ
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
"Please stay" passes easily for nothing to say
When there's some place to go
Okay, those are my friends waving wildly
Don't mind them, I told them so
I don't like mind games
But it was good when mine were working
My demo-licious line
When all the time saner thoughts were lurking
Don't watch my mouth move
That was my devil's mask pretending
That I was driving age
And women raged as the fling was ending
One dog is flawed, two dogs are perfect dogs
Faux pas is moi
So pirouette not o'er this fraud lake swan
I wonder if I'd look older in new clothes
Maybe it's "back off"
Maybe it's "come a little closer"
Of course the mademoiselle
Hides it well, ask someone who knows her
Twelve-year bender, I stayed respectable
Hey, big spender
They showed me pictures, all I remember
From before being too old is being too young
Maybe it's "goodbye"
Maybe it's "arrivederci, Roma"
Maybe a man in black
Has your back, hands you your diploma
Please go, your handshake is all the holding I know
And all I need today
Note from Scott:
Compare the lines from the Rolling Stones' "Rocks Off":
"Your mouth don't move, but I can hear you speak
What's the matter with the boy?/He don't come around no more"
...and, as I remember this being quoted in the original 1972
sheet music:
"I can't seem to stay in step
'Cause she comes every time that she pirouettes o'er me"
I can't prove the accuracy of that memory, but who could
make up the appearance of "o'er" in a particularly raunchy
Stones song?
Pop Song 99 (Anton Barbeau)
Anton: vocals, Wurlitzer, Farfisa, bridge drums and
percussion
Scott: backing vocals, guitar
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
pop song ringing in my ear
makes me wonder what i'm doing here
without my freaky angel on my shoulder
sunshine and a beer
not the sort to drink the stuff
i wanna treat her right enough
but here comes her mother
she's coming for me
she says there's coffee in the cup unless you'd rather
have tea
i say no thank you, i'm thirsty and tea will be fine
she opens up the bible reads the very first line
it says
pop song ringing in my ear
makes me wonder what i'm doing here
without my freaky angel on my shoulder
sunshine and a beer
not the sort to drink the stuff
i wanna treat her right enough
the ghost of her father
asleep in his chair
his snoring doesn't bother me as much as his hair
which sits on his head
as if it's not there
the problem with the kids today is that they don't
care
about magic
magic
pop song wakes me from my bed
it's come for the junk that's in my head
pop song, a rich and gooey glue
sticks me to me and me to you
pop song ringing in my
pop song ringing in my hair
visions of summer
a white dog and you
we saw it in chicago
at the waffle house too
it was a trip to masako's
a scene at the spoon
in the blue light of the stereo
under st. nick's pink moon
it was magic
pop song ringing in my ear
makes me wonder what i'm doing here
without my freaky angel on my shoulder
sunshine and a beer
not the sort to drink the stuff
i wanna treat her right enough
Total Mass Destruction (Scott Miller)
Scott: vocals, guitar, organ
Anton: acoustic piano, Microkorg, backing vocals
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
Kristine Chambers: backing vocals
There's a raincoat left on a lifeboat after the flood moved past
There's a Jaguar crashed by a film star storming right off the cast
There's a pawnshop cranking the bebop
Quoting the choicest deal in years
And the phono wails but we don't know if anyone hears
There's a girl's eyes up in a high-rise trying to tell her man
There's a mojo down in the dojo trying to tell Japan
There's a sweet-tooth mark in a phone booth
We'd love to find a better plan
(Rock gives in to the man)
And we're gonna try but we don't know if anyone can
'Cause no one wants to buy until we cut off all production
No one wants to try until they can't escape the suction
No one blinks an eye until the total mass destruction comes
There's a groundswell come out of Brownsville thinks it's the word on high
There's a strip mall southeast of St. Paul thinks it's Palais Versaille
(Louis Quatorze says hi)
There are rock bands all doing hand-stands
Think they're the thrill to end all thrills
And the fanzines rave but I can't see it paying no bills
(Chorus)
Flow Thee Water (Anton Barbeau)
Anton: vocals, drums, bass, acoustic guitar, Micromoog
Scott: backing vocals, electric guitar
Steve Randall: electric guitar
Dave Middleton: electric guitar
Julie Meyers: Farfisa
there are 12 ways to go and none of them are wrong
the only way to know is if you wind up in a song
summer sun, winter moon
in weakness and in strong
the only way to flow is like a river nice and long
flow the water
there are 12 things to know, but no one knows them all
the only way to go is with your back against the wall
spring is sprung, strum along
the leaves begin to fall
it’s autumn in november
it’s the song that knows us all
flow thee water
Remember You (Chris White)
Scott: vocals, guitar, piano
Anton: vocals, organ
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
(Kind Of) In Love (Scott Miller/Anton Barbeau)
Scott: vocals, guitar
Anton: backing vocals, Wurlitzer, tambourine
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
I don't know where it's going
I don't know who should know
I'm a little short of being sorry
Come too far to take it slow
I don't know if you've noticed
I don't know what you've seen
But the way I think I might be feeling
It's something more than in between
And it's somewhat insane
That it's sort of this way
Almost a laugh
That it's slightly okay
It's probably strange
But it's basically true
That I'm kind of in love with you
And it might sound inane, insipid, stupid too
But I've got somehow to get to you
I don't know what this looks like
I don't know how it plays
It's the only thing that matters maybe
It's the only price that pays
(Chorus)
Mavis of Maybelline Towers (Scott Miller)
Scott: vocals, guitar, piano
Anton: backing vocals, shaker
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
Here in the shade
All this hot sun says is we've got it made
Here in the lead
The hard truth turns out to be just what we need
There's trouble that I kept from being yours
With two of us on board
At least one should enjoy the ride
Mavis of Maybelline towers, over the skies
Mavis of Maybelline towers, slow lullabies
Showed us that almost unnoticed
Known through new eyes
Maybe I came
To guess what you feel and preach more of the same
Next on a roll
Down from the pulpit and out of control
Then chuck, flying into Hanalei
They're searching us for fruit
That would displace the native life
(Chorus)
You ask me when it disappeared
But I don't understand, it's holding steady
It's holding steady
You say you think it might get weird
But I don't understand, it's weird already
It's weird already
(Chorus)
I Think I See the Light (Cat Stevens)
Scott: vocals, guitar
Anton: vocals, Korg MS-10/Roland Space Echo
Alison Faith Levy: piano, backing vocals
Gil Ray: percussion
Kenny Kessel: bass
What If It Works? (Anton Barbeau)
Anton: vocals, Hammond organ, Micromoog, Arp Odyssey, Korg MS-10,
acoustic guitar
Scott: backing vocals, acoustic and electric guitar
Kenny Kessel: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
what if it works?
then what do we do?
what if that goodbye kiss means hello
for me and you?
what if the words
we said before
still matter as much as they did
and maybe matter more?
what if it works?
and we get stuck with each other
for as close to forever
as two freaks should be allowed
at 85 on a houseboat
overboard, hope we both float
down the river counting clouds
what if it fits
as tight as it did?
the strawberry jam in the jar
giving purpose to the lid
and what if it don't? (oh no!)
where would we go?
each to our dressing rooms, of course
and on with the show
but what if it works?
and we find out that it's ok
if we want we can both stay
even longer than we planned
if it turns out that it suits us
or if it pauses and mutes us
either way i'll understand
what if it works
for just a few days?
and we drive each other mad
with nothing to say
and what if it flies?
what if it's good?
could we pull dollar from the sky?
i think that we could
what if the words (oh yeah)
we said before
still matter as much as they did
and maybe matter more?
what if it works?
Bonus tracks:
Don't Bother Me While I'm Living Forever (Scott Miller)
Scott: vocals, guitar, bass
Anton: backing vocals, Arp Odyssey, Novation X-Station, Wurlitzer
Larry Tagg: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
I don't know who the people are who tell me
(oh boy what a perfect mess)
Don't know if they looked sharp what they'd see
(what a classy show)
A man in water three feet from a lifeboat
(and you might have known)
Grab on or float free
I don't know what it takes for me to reach you
(I'd say tomorrow's late)
How much normal protocol must fail
(Normal, I'll give your normal)
I get it now how people see injustice
and want it to prevail
Oh boy, what a perfect mess
Someone finally gets you I guess
Oh boy, what a classy show
Someone finally noticed I know
I don't know who the people are who tell me
Don't know if they talk much what I'd hear
Don't bother me while I'm living forever
I'll check back next year
(Chorus)
I've Been Craving Lately (Anton Barbeau)
Anton: vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, acoustic and anti-acoustic
pianos, Novation X-Station, some drums
Scott: backing vocals, electric guitar, Waldorf MicroWave
Larry Tagg: bass
Jozef Becker: drums
i've been craving lately something stranger
than the stuff comes out my little station changer
beam me up, beam me down
hi-ho lone ranger
you can fall not hit the ground
sermon on the mount, couldn't hear it for the clanging
of the late-night dinner bell
settled the account then we moved it to the table
moved it to the table
i've been craving lately...
barritone or bass, either way i couldn't bear it
with a voice as light as mine
she said it to my face
but she didn't seem to mean it
didn't seem to mean it
she said...
this is my goodby party, i'm gonna cry
this is my goodby party, i'm gonna cry
this is my goodby party, i'm gonna cry
this is my goodby party, i'm gonna cry
i've been craving lately...
All recordings (P) and © 2006 Too Many Notes/BMI and Untitled Music/ASCAP
1 published by Promopub B.V./ASCAP
2, 4, 8, 11 published by Too Many Notes/BMI
3, 5, 10, 12 published by Untitled Music/ASCAP
6 published by Verulam Music Co. Ltd.
7 published by Too Many Notes/BMI, Untitled Music/ASCAP
9 published by Irving Music Inc./BMI