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Like a Firefly

by James Beer

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1.
Stay Away 03:19
Looking in your past life Ain't a way to wake and pass the time And when it ends, I'll begin. And telling truth, "no, not today" Keeps all your future far away, Where you go, there you've been. So every time they say, we don't want you, Know it's not your fault, They don't get you. It's not enough to say, we don't want anyone Who wants to love at all, So stay away. So you got the time right, Chance alone tells truth and never lies, Out the blue? Then it’s true. Be what you may be you ain’t just made To be made happy all the time, Light to dark, dark to light. (Chorus) Making out of memories something Prettier than perfect that I’ve left behind And stripped aside. Making all my moments out of All the perfect moments that I'm Dying to find, all the time today. (Chorus)
2.
I need a doctor, get me a doctor, I need a refill, just this one time, And then I'll be off it, best in the office, Shit if I lost it, calling back now... Nurse or a nightmare She's my barstool queen of hell, Who keeps me feeling well And well fed-up under all her spells, 'till she's gone away. Gone out the front door, straight out the front door, gotta get out now, all was fine when, When in through the window, how did the wind know, I let the sin go? Cuddled up now... (Chorus) I don't even know if I can reap what she's sowing But I want something beautiful To knock me down and turn me all around. All her lunacy that wakes making love to me And fakes something pretty Call her off cause she's the reddest cross around. On the way home now, I'm building my Rome now(!) I'm killing the coma, no more doctors. I don’t need the needles, additional refills, Medicinal females ain't so good now... (Chorus) That tell me... Nurse or a nightmare You're my barstool queen on high. You keep me warm at night And I'm fed up 'till the morning light Drives the dream away.
3.
Never Nobody 03:37
If you need a friend, come on I’ll let you in Though you lost that love, maybe this one wins. You’re never nobody to me, Every unknown girl’s an untold story Please, make yourself warm and comfortable Even the best, have their troubles Anytime you need it, I'll give you an ear Slip those shoes off, fireside dry your tears. If you need love, then I got you, cause you get me You’re never nobody Sometimes the truth just need be used or it gets dusty, Take it from me, out on our own we all get lonely. If you need my touch to come and help you up And out of empty bars, and half-filled cups I’m there when the sunshines or under the moon, You got one but everyone needs two my friend. Tell about the man in your life, How he hit you and how you cried no more Came to my open door I said, you’re stronger than you know my friend... (Chorus) Even if you wander wide, I’ll meet you there eye to eye. If you knew what you do to pull me through, through and through... (Chorus) Out on our own we all get lonely.
4.
Woodsmoke 04:12
Fall down sweet leaves, bring me my memories Of days when these days weren’t the same. Smell woodsmoke and grease, big boots on smaller feet When Please Please Me was the rage. All that time we grew, couldn’t think it through it was all brand new. Climbing in the sunlight, growing up with eyes bright, Being all and all you were was you. Smiling, young, and cavalier indeed, Now we use those shining eyes to see. Cast down the stream, those fish are your dreams, Knowing what we’ve been is how we learn to be. Then we moved on, new songs and deeper wrongs, Look Mama that’s just woodsmoke on me. And then faster still, small boots on bigger hills, And climbing high we’d see it all so easy. All those times we grew... (Chorus) Memories come back to me, Teach me and let me see, you’re needed Then once you’ve sown your seed, Leave me and I’ll move onwards freely. All those times we grew... (Chorus) Knowing what we’ve been is how we learn to be
5.
Get It Out 03:27
I just got to get it out, Weave a little word and sing that sound. Come, a quarter jukebox just needs a token It’s not broken down and all played out. So when you get a song, sing it loud, Let the music play and play right now. Looking for the right line might take a lifetime Just move on and get that feeling out. You always told me, keep your head up Press with the pen and you’ll feel better. But singing ain’t the way it used to be, I got to press a little harder now and get over me. Now, blank pages fill your room, You're ready to explode, but got no fuse. Talking to a torn-up page in a blind-drunk rage Those evenings when you stumble home. You said it took a lost love to get you found, (How’s that working out?) Silence to make you loud. And then you start to feel high, thinking of old lines All those times your ink was solid gold. If you never hear my voice no more Or if you hear me singing songs that you’ve heard before, Someday, sick of the silent way I’ll try and try again to say. (Chorus) I gotta get it out loud
6.
Mother mother told you, that the world is wide And sorrow can be happy, happiness can cry. See life, now I remember, is simple and complex, And living implies you’re up for the ride To learn and to never forget, There’s someone for every everyone And it could be any anyone. There are so many ways to be beautiful And differences make our world wonderful You are you, I’m me. You can have sometimes lovers always, But always lovers once. And life is always happening, Rain or shine, dew or frost. There’ll be love made under starlight, And that heartbreak in your bed. But better you’ll be for getting to see That mother was right when she said, (Chorus) We are more than eyes meet We are all in one and one in all, And that’s all we’ll be. Remember mother told you that the world is round, And sorrow picks you up and sometimes smiling brings you down See life, now I remember, is simple and complex, And living implies you’re up for the ride To take to pass every test. (Chorus)
7.
Give it a chance and take that hand for a dance You don’t need money in your pocket, You’re riddled rich with some romance And not alone. Pick up the phone and find you ain’t on your own You don’t need money in your pocket, You’re riddled rich with some hormones And not alone... But it ain’t oh so easy to do what you can say, Walk that walk - sometimes walk away. So simple to shake and feel afraid, But one word and you’re in those arms and thinking... I can see why, we have a hard time feeling fine It gets too complicated, I don’t know why. So now and again, I take my heart for a spin, And then I feel alright. The richer the risk, you know the sweeter the kiss You don’t need money in your pocket, When you don’t care what the cost is And no, you’re not alone. But it ain’t oh so easy to do what you can say, Walk that walk and the words just walk away So simple to shake and feel afraid, But one word and you’re making love and thinking (Chorus) But it ain’t oh so easy to do what you can say, Walk that walk ‘till the love made makes you ache So simple to shake and feel afraid, But one word now you’re in those arms and thinking... (Chorus) I can see why, We have hard time feeling fine We overcomplicate it, I don’t know why. So now and again, I take my heart for a spin And then it feel alright.
8.
I know it’s hard to say what need be said, And in the moment it’s oh so easy to forget. As if the words we need were made of smoke, And every chance with the one who you love most Is a chance to choke. All we want and all we need Is another chance to say things clearly. All we want and all we need Is another moment to hold dearly. Then I’d keep my hands off you, I’d keep both my hands off you my love. It’s hard to say enough’s enough When it’s too much. If you are who you say you are Then it’s been said, That love like mischief made is Far better left unsaid. So love is made of the space (the space we need...) we leave between. Still you’re near when I sing I Fall In Love Too Easily. I know it’s never tried and true, All this me and you We did what people do. Falling down how we all fall down And break before we bloom And so it’s said that All we want and all we need... (Chorus)
9.
Dirty Face 03:55
You got a dirty face and you don’t even care Dirt on your face ain't bad just don’t leave it there. You play today safe and know tomorrow waits You got a sunshine smile on your dirty face. Check your choices and choose Your happiness is waiting for you Mind the time and in time you’ll be just fine If you can keep an open mind but... You got a dirty face and you don’t even care Dirt on your face ain't bad unless you leave it there. You play today safe and know tomorrow waits For every sunshine smile there’s a dirty face. Did you ever wonder why, if you want a life on high Why you’d wanna live so low? In words it’s vertigo. When you wanna fall way down And you want the world to see And the ground it calls out “Come now be with me.” Check your choices and choose... (Chorus) You stain a sunshine smile with your dirty face.
10.
Lit 04:34
Come close brief and bright starlit love in my life I wanna hold you till my hands hurt (all of the night) When I wake if I can taste your sweat on my sleeve I need a fix and you’re the fix I need. If I ever want a little bit more of, Then I really need a little bit less than. I don’t wanna go and act like I did way back then. If I ever want a little bit more of, Then I really need a little bit less than. I could never call you my friend. You shot me up until my fever was high and I said, I’ll keep from falling ‘till the day I die and I want, I want to wake up with you lit like a firefly. It ain’t about what I can own this time... And only you can call you mine. So close, strong and scared, held up holding your hair One pretty polaroid, sleeping in the shirt that I wear. When I wake oh I can taste your skin on my sleeve, I found a fix and you’re my fix indeed. (Chorus) Only you can call and call you mine If I ever want a little bit more of... (Chorus) And only you can call you mine Only you can call and call you mine It’s just not the time For you to call and call you mine.
11.
This time I’ll get it right and write it all down, The world on the page, the world figured out. Unrest undressed into sweet peace of mind, All in good time, all in good time. I’ve got my future and I’ve got my past, One hits the break and one hits the gas Well-read and red-blooded boy don’t despair, You’re on your way.You’ll get there. There’s a time up high, here’s a day down low. There’s a time for all things, anything that grows. All in good time comes, so the folks they sing, There’s a time for anything that time can bring. Love can make fools, but wise men make love One’s going down on who one passes up. Though we are made men we all fall apart, Lovers and children, artists and works of art. Yet apart, we’re one upon a stage, In moonlight we’re captured, sunlight we’re saved. Health into hardship then sorrow into strength All this is worth our thanks. (Chorus)

about

Like a Firefly is a salute to all that fills our lives with light, dark, and every beautiful and strange gradation between. From new love with old frustrations, to old friends and new places, may we be grateful to all that keeps us growing and glowing.

Cheers,
James

credits

released May 3, 2017

Written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by James Beer at Storefront Music
All instruments performed by James Beer excluding:

Drums: the inimitable Forrest Raup
Bass (Never Nobody, Mischief Made): Jack Simons
Violin: Jake Falby
Cello: Mitch Lyon
Trumpet: John "Scrapper" Sneider

Drums engineered and recorded by Silas Mera Thomason at The Decibel Garden

Album cover photo: Carlos Calderon
Typography & design: Jonathan Katav

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James Beer New York

LA-based indie pop rock from Boulder, CO.

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