1. |
It Could've Been Worse
03:27
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It Could’ve Been Worse
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
T for Tennessee, T for Texas, T for Queen Latifah
And it’s T for therapy, ‘cause darling you send me, honest you do and
As for the question what’s it all worth
When every little blessing’s bound to turn into a
Great big ol’ curse
I guess it could’ve been worse
I guess it could’ve been worse
I guess it could’ve been
Whipping boy meets whipping girl and they live unhappily ever after
To the beat of indifferent drums, come on and hit me now
As for the question what’s it all worth
When every little pleasure’s bound to turn into a
Great big ol’ hurt
Hey, you say it could’ve been worse
You say it could’ve been worse
Don’t say it could’ve been
Words to remember it’s better to love and lose
Than never – ah, you know the verse
That says it could’ve been worse
It says it could’ve been worse
It says it could’ve been
As for the question what’s it all worth
When every little step up turns into a setback on planet earth
They say it could’ve been worse
They say it could’ve been worse
They say it could’ve been worse
They say it could’ve been worse
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2. |
How Embarrassing
02:49
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How Embarrassing
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
How embarrassing
I broke another string
Just a little thing
But still embarrassing
It’s a funny thing
I always loved to hear you sing
But when I’d hum along
You’d always stop the song
Force the moment to its crisis?
Leave us to our own devices
Lazarus
You’re just embarrassing us
Dead reckoning
All this talk of sprouting wings
And soaring over things
It has a hollow ring
How embarrassing
All this talk of you and me
And life and love and stuff
It don’t apply to us
Force the moment to its crisis?
Leave us to our own devices
Lazarus
You’re just embarrassing us
We are mature adults
It’s time you caught your bus
Don’t forget
To stay in touch
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3. |
The Russian in Me
03:47
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The Russian in Me
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
Grandad kept it hid behind the door
He took it out to rattle in the war
It’s been passed down from son to son though we don’t have a permit
It’s not the kind of thing you readily admit
Sometimes it keeps me up until the dawn
The gnashing teeth, the bloody clumsy paws
It knows no regulation, only force keeps it at bay
It steals the secrets of my way of life
Informs on my wife
The Russian in me
This town ain’t big enough for both of us
I’ll take everyone with me if I must
I’ve raced it to the moon to make a world safe for my kids
But it’s a full time job just trying to stay ahead
Better dead than fed
To the Russian in me
I had a dream last night I saw a dove
Sacrificed by apes in iron gloves
Who fought to defend plots of ground in cities of the dead
I woke up gasping drunk, fell out of bed
Landed on my head:
The Russian was me
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4. |
Special Effects
04:29
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Special Effects
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
We wanna see somebody’s head explode
Let’s do the helicopter crash
I like to get my money’s worth out of life
Some flowers only grow in trash
Special effects are neat
Especially when they are on display the moment you meet
You have a special effect on me
Special effect, special effect like in the movies
We spare no expense in the
Name of quality
You are Mad Ave and I am Enterprise
We exploit a mutual need
Special effects are nice
In a cold sweat, they close down the set, they pack us in ice
You have a special effect on me
Special effect, special effect like in the movies
I’m a slave to your art
I will dance to your flash
Fish for my dime
See your big splash
And it feels like a crime
Heartbeat racing so fast
Hey then it’s Miller time
Fade to black
You have a special effect on me
Hey what the heck, special effects do it to me
You have a special effect on me
The world is my deck and special effects are all that I need
Are all that you need
Like in the movies
Life is a movie
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5. |
Spelling Bee
04:21
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Spelling Bee
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
Propinquity is a noun
Felicity, please don’t frown
So what if we don’t make it to the next round
I’ve heard you spell sitting down
Contestant 3, “Aquitaine”
A Q U I ee ah er oh uh please refrain
The goalie’s anxiety, money shot, game
Spelling bee say my name
Down at the spelling bee, sprechen sie uber-nerd
That’s when you turned to me and whispered the password
Function: active verb
Objective case preferred
I heartily concurred
Like you ain’t never heard
Now way out there it’s a world
Of gargantuan pantagruels
And special rewards for the good boys and girls
Don’t it make a body hurl
Down at the spelling bee, gratification deferred
That’s when you turned to me and said the magic word
Function: active verb
Objective case preferred
I heartily concurred
Like you ain’t never heard
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6. |
Who Do You Have To. . .?
04:31
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Who Do You Have To. . .?
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
Tell me who is the big enchilada
Who’s the boss and where’s the bottom line
I am here to pay lip service
Let’s cut the bull and get plain serpentine
Tell me who do I need to suck up to
Exactly who is the one I need to grease
Who do you have to know, who do you have to blow
And who you have to #%*! to get a drink?
I’m not what you would call romantic
It’s a power-lunchin’ jungle, babe out there
I go more for mezzo sycophantic
Integrity’s a waste of good flatware
Tell me who do I need to suck up to
Exactly who is the one I need to please
Who do you have to schmooze, what do you need to ooze
And who you have to #%*! to get a drink?
I’m here and I’m ready to do business
No wide-eyed scout, I’m comfortable with lies
I heart slimy superficial glibness
In my headlong pursuit of total compromise
Well could it be our genial hostess
Yes or maybe it’s that big producer man
The investor who screws ‘em firstest for the mostest
Or maybe it’s good old Nancy Reagan
Tell me who do I need to suck up to
Exactly who is the one I need to please
Who do you have to know, who do you have to blow
And who you have to #%*! to get a drink?
Well start spreading the news now
This cat is grabbing this old shag carpet floor
Come on embrace me you sweet embraceable users now
You know an ounce of scruple’s worth a pound of manure
Tell me who do I need to suck up to
Exactly who is the one I need to grease
Who do you have to know, who do you have to blow
And who you have to #%*!
Who do you have to &%*!
And who do you have to #%*! to get a drink?
Tell me who, is it you, huh?
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7. |
Girl On, Off Swing
03:37
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Girl On, Off Swing
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
There’s a girl on a swing on a wall in a room
And she flies through the air with the greatest aplomb
Though her shoe has come off so her foot is exposed
Much to the delight of the assembled pierrots
But the girl on a swing never falls, never climbs
She has been hung up like this since time out of mind
A tribute that’s offered to beauty and truth
By limbs that are frozen and lips that are mute
Then one day in the canvas, a crack like a vine
And she slides down it under the horizon line
Where she’s greeted by this nice young minotaur who asks
If she’d like to try on his new African mask
And she says thanks but really I’m quits with this art
And anyway I’ve got to find Monsieur Fragonard
And gently but firmly break him the news
That he’s getting the boot from his fleet-footed muse
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8. |
Cross Purposes
03:20
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Cross Purposes
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
This little one he went off to market
This little one she stayed home and drew cartoons
Some went to war, others to Waubonsee while
This one taped a lawn chair to a hundred one balloons
Everybody wants to ride that lawn chair
But most of us run out of nerve or helium
Then there’s the law, nothing with which to trifle
What goes up must come down, have a happy medium
Cross purposes
What else but to grin and bear’em
Dodge the nails and keep on hanging on
Cross purposes
Everybody’s got their damage
This is where it hurts say all the songs
X marks the spot where you will enter
But try and plot the point where you will quit the scene
Connecting dots, no problem in Par Cheesi
But love and certain pronouns kinda complicate the scheme
Cross purposes
Swing your partner by the heartstrings
All aboard, Titanic sails at dawn
Turning and burning as tail devours snake
Toiling and spinning and separated
Separated
Separated for the sake of
Cross purposes
Everybody’s got their damage
You can hurt yourself just hanging on
Cross purposes
Take this hammer, give it to the captain
If he asks you tell 'im that I’m gone
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9. |
Forbidden Zone (live)
03:56
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Forbidden Zone (live)
words & music by John Kimsey (John Kimsey Tunes / ASCAP)
In the forbidden zone of your heart
There’s an emperor who plays the part
Of the man in the iron mask, dethroned by an ass
Revenge is all he asks
Behind the great wall of your mind
There’s a lady fair who got left behind
And she walks in a long black veil, her long fingernails
Hold the grail no man can find
They go diving down along her coast
Trying to find which one she loves the most
Within the sepulcher of your face
There’s a tiny kid who’s encased
With perfume, incense and gold, he was quite young when he was told
That his birthright had been sold
They go diving down along your coast
Trying to find which one you love the most
They go diving down along your coast
Trying to find which one you love the most
In the whirlpool temple ziggurat
Ripped-out guts burn lest the gods forget
In the forbidden zone of our hearts
I wonder who’ll be the one to start
To dive into the wreck, to stick out their neck
Hold your breath ‘cause here we go
We go diving down along your coast
Trying to find which one you love the most
We go diving down along your coast
Trying to find which one you love the most
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10. |
Hurdy Gurdy Man (live)
04:53
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Hurdy Gurdy Man (live)
words & music by Donovan Leitch (Peer International)
Thrown like a star in my vast sleep
I opened my eyes to take a peek
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquility
‘Tis then when the hurdy gurdy man came singing songs of love
Then when the hurdy gurdy man came singing songs
Of love
Histories of ages past
Unenlightened shadows cast
Down through all eternity
The crying of humanity
‘Tis then when the hurdy gurdy man comes singing songs of love
Then when the hurdy gurdy man comes singing songs
Of love
Hurdy gurdy hurdy gurdy hurdy gurdy gurdy he sang
Up comes a roly poly man and he’s singing songs of love
Roly poly roly poly roly poly poly roly pole
Ahh
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John Kimsey Oak Park, Illinois
Singer, songwriter, guitarist and bandleader John Kimsey is a musical man about town (and country). He helms and writes for The Twisted Roots Quartet; does old-timey duet sets with brother Jim as The Kimsey Brothers; conjures psychedelic pandephonium with power trio Medicated Goo; and whips up cheeky pop euphoria with The Art Thieves. Then he has a nice sandwich. ... more
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