I know we made plans to meet in Spokane.
But the way I make plans
You got to take it with a grain of salt.
Got jammed in Alabama
And I was trying to get it all of it resolved.
I'm sure it seems like it's a perfect fit.
But trust me man 'cause I've been up in it.
And at dawn I had to crawl back home
Thru the quicksilver sprawl.
To tell the truth if I were you
I'd rather sleep over than telecommute.
'Cause when you're in the same room
I think we make a much better connection.
Hemingway at Cafe Select.
Donna Summer in the discotheque.
Once you get good you can get it wherever you are.
Sloppy city in the upper deck.
Tripping hard on the self neglect.
Now let me hold the money.
'Cause he wants you to wait in the car.
Sorry I'm late I caught in a mosh
With this dude who said he used to play with Peter Tosh.
But he never brought it up again
Once I said man I don't believe you.
I looked over this great expanse and
I saw some kid pissing on his parachute pants.
In one split second I figured out that he was one of your crew.
The amphetamines did what the amphetamines do.
She was chewing thru her cheek at the National Zoo.
And the dress she was wearing
Made a nice case for natural selection.
So Hold Steady at the Comfort Inn.
Mick Jagger's at The Mandarin.
One you get good you can get it wherever you are.
Notify the next of kin.
Mariel Hemingway with perfect skin
And some creep with a camera who says he's gonna make her a star.
You got to wait in the car.
Once upon a time I had a meeting with a man in a mansion.
He pulled a few strings just to demonstrate how it's all connected.
Disseminating from a central source.
Hemingway on the Ketchum porch.
Once you get good you can get it wherever you are.
So hit me back when it's back in style.
Star 18 on the rotary dial.
Now let me hold the money
'Cause he wants you to wait in the car.
The best audiobook of musically-accompanied short-fiction that came out last year. But seriously, I love this. I love the story telling, Craig's vocal deliveries, and the accompanying music. Mostly in the character-driven narrative format, it reminds me of The Mountain Goats circa All Hail West Texas and other albums like that. I had that thought and then listening to this lead me to revisit the Hold Steady "Boys and Girls in America" and lo, there is a lyric reference to the Mountain Goats-cool Matt Schwerin