AMERICAN GARDEN

Album: “AMERICAN GARDEN”
All songs written by Tom Guerra, (c) 2018, except “Goodbye to Yesterday,” “Family of One” and “The Lyin’ King,” written by Tom Guerra and Kenny Aaronson, “Walls” written by Tom Petty, and”The Story” written by Phil Hanseroth.

NEVERMORE (Guerra)

I went up to the mountain just to try to find my way.
Bad botheration in my mind and eyes that only see yesterday
Those memories of golden seas bright sunlight shining on the shore
Have thieved, deceived till I believed the, good old days are nevermore

I shout out to the mountain, I’m tired of these wars
The human race well on its way to become dead as dinosaurs
The fighters fall like plastic soldiers, isn’t life worth a little more?
But only love can heal this planet, war forever nevermore

I come down from that mountain, a wiser, weaker man
The wow of now just setting in, the only thing thats worth a damn,
Cause life can be a game of inches, you needed five but you got four.
I took a deep breath on that mountain left my past for evermore, nevermore

GOODBYE TO YESTERDAY (Guerra / Aaronson)

Well I lie in bed at the glow of light, the TV stays in throughout the night cause I toss and turn tryin’ to find the words for the day you tell me I’ll be heard cause the
Colored memories they turn to gray
And living in the past is here to stay
Well I’m waiting for your next hello, so I can say goodbye to yesterday.

Well the house is haunted with ghosts of past, spirits risin’ and curses cast, I try to run but I just can’t hide, can’t get away either in or outside with
Colored memories they turn to gray
And living in the past is here to stay
Well I’m waiting for your next hello, so I can say goodbye to yesterday.

Now I lie in bed with your photograph, I think of you and I start to laugh, cause you thought that I’d given up on you, but that’s the one thing I’d never do while the
Colored memories they turn to gray
And living in the past is here to stay
Well I’m waiting for your next hello, so I can say goodbye to yesterday.

WALLS (Petty)

Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks
Some doors are open, some roads are blocked

Sundowns are golden, then fade away
But if I never do nothing, I’ll get you back some day, ’cause

You got a heart so big, it could crush this town
And I can’t hold out forever even walls fall down

All around your island, there’s a barricade
That keeps out the danger, that holds in the pain

Sometimes you’re happy, sometimes you cry
Half of me is ocean half of me is sky

Some things are over, some things go on
Part of me you carry, part of me is gone

JACK FOR JOE (Guerra)

Whiskey bottles crashin’ at your feet (All the way from Tennessee)
In your blue Camaro’s bucket seat (Let’s have another Hennessy)
Sweet Maria’s callin’ me, she’s cryin’ on the phone
Called to say you’ve left us here alone.

And its Jack for Joe, pass the bottle round for our fallen bro and now its
Where do we go, now that we can’t go home again?

To live life at full throttle racing speed (You need a mighty set of brakes)
All the while I heard your mother plead (Now everybody’s heart aches)
I think of you at night my friend as I scan the blackened sky,
I wonder when your star is comin’ by?

Now its Jack for Joe, drinks all around be it friend or foe but now its
Where do we go, now that we can’t go home again? We can’t go home again.

BLOOD ON THE NEW RISING SUN (Guerra)

Well its a crazy time we’re livin’ in and it just keeps getting worse,
with a greedy leader leadin’ us not in forward but reverse
When the poor and huddled masses in a land so called diverse
Cast aside like broken promises by the blind man in this verse now you see we’re cursed.

Well I’ve seen the face of evil in the politics of hate,
Cause if you’re a man who supports the Klan then you’ll never make us great
So get on your boots tell your new recruits to the streets to meet your fate,
Cause they need to hear our opinions clear since they left us at the gate.

Well you jump into the fire from the frying pan, and the corporation grinds you like a grain of sand and you think your life is no longer fun.
Blood on the new rising sun, blood on the new rising sun
Gonna make you pay for the things you done, blood on the new rising sun.

Do you watch the news and wonder how it all has got so bad?
When they sold the town an old circus clown, everybody has been had.
To the tempest tossed, what does freedom cost justice is a hanging chad,
Now its time to rise, to to maximize and come together iron clad.

Well you jump into the fire from the frying pan, as the demonstration started to get out of hand and before you know it, you’re on the run.
Blood on the new rising sun, blood on the new rising sun
Gonna burn in hell for the things you done, blood on the new rising sun.

Well you jump into the fire from the frying pan, and the revolution now becomes your master plan with the evil forces soon overrun. Blood on the new rising sun.

FAMILY OF ONE (Guerra / Aaronson)

Mankind has got working eyes, to see right through the worst disguise
But tied to an unconscious mind, they’re just as good as if you’re blind

Mankind’s got a set of ears, to warn him of uncertain fears but
Remember now to listen clear cause there’s none so deaf as those who won’t hear.

People of the world are you ready to see that everybody comes from the same old tree
We’re heated and reflected from a single red Sun and we’re all connected in the Family of One

Mankind’s got a clever brain, with wisdom as ambition’s aim
But when exchanged accord for spite, we’re all cast off in starless night.

People of the world are you ready to see that everybody comes from the same old tree
We’re heated and reflected from a single red Sun and we’re all connected in the Family of One

Now that tomorrow’s here at last, we’ve got to learn from the lessons of the past.

People of the world are you ready to see that everybody comes from the same old tree
We’re heated and reflected from a single red Sun, and we’re all connected in the Family of One

THE STORY (Hanseroth)

All of these lines across my face, they tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been, and how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything, when you’ve got no one to tell them to,
It’s true, I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops, swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines, and I broke all the rules, but, baby, I broke them all for you, Because even when I was flat broke, you made me feel like a million bucks and you do,
And I was made for you

You see the smile that’s on my mouth, it’s hiding the words that don’t come out, and all of my friends who think that I’m blessed, they don’t know my head is a mess, no they don’t know who I really am, and they don’t know what I’ve been through like you do,
And I was made for you

Yeah, all of these lines across my face, they tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been, and how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything when you’ve got no one to tell them to, it’s true,
I was made for you, oh yes it’s true that I was made for you

THE LYIN’ KING (Guerra / Aaronson)

Your queen don’t live in your palace, lives 500 miles from town
Your kingdom only wishes malice, since the day you stole your crown
Well we’re the only ones who are payin’ taxe, workin’ till we die while the king relaxes
He’s countin’ up his gold and his pounds to Pences, talkin’ bout buildin’ up some giant fences
With promises as solid as a broken wing, never listen to The Lyin’ King

Henchmen guard your sick existence, as you deceive and speak your lies
As the growing mad resistance, are praying for your quick demise
One day we’ll come upon you with our swords and axes, the only thing we’re livin’ for are death and taxes, as all your politicians try to stay in power, and from the accusations that they duck and cower,
Your talk is fake and cheap just like your phony bling, never listen to The Lyin’ King

Crooked men put you in power, sold the world a circus clown
Crowds are growing by the hour, to smash your house of cards right down.
When you worship at the church of the almighty dollar, your throne it may be gilded but your souls in squalor, Discrimination set up on the hostage nation, the common people calling for your abdication,
He’s bought and paid for, just a puppet on a string, never listen to The Lyin’ King.

MEET ME AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GLASS (Guerra)

Strangered by your family, your childhood memories
Were lullabies-turned-drinking rhymes set in a minor key.
The men you knew who thought of you as just a piece of ass
Said meet me at the bottom of your glass.

City papers tumbleweeding on a windy day.
Alike the dreams you once held dear would slowly slip away
Hiding out with ragged people dirty and outcast
Just meet me at the bottom of your glass.

I can’t pretend to understand all you’ve been through
Is it the pain you seek to kill, or is it you?

When your ears no longer hear the summons of “last call,”
Your rainy eyes confounded by your oath to alcohol
The quiet singer spoke the truth when he said “All things must pass”
So meet me at the bottom of your glass.

AMERICAN GARDEN (Guerra)

They call this the home of the brave and the land of the free.
You know I’ve been to the top, saw all but three. Lemme tell ya…

In northeast PA, there are two kinds of work for your means
You go down in the Sheppton mines or you put on your Army greens
So I tossed a coin, heads was black lung / tails meant Uncle Sam
And even before it hit the ground, I was off to Vietnam.

When I got to basic, my C.O. was a ballbuster, called me Ozzy – kept saying I looked like Lee Harvey Oswald. I was thinkin’ about fraggin’ him after that, there is no way anyone is gonna survive going into battle with a guy that’s flashing on you as the killer of the president of these United States Of America. But then Charlie got him first down on Highway 13 in Lia Khe.

So let me tell you – I’ve been to the top, saw all but three

CHORUS
Time for us to tend to our American Garden
Sow the seeds of fear til they grow into guns
Fertilize the soil with more political jargon
Water with the blood from our poorest sons

I got there just in time for Tet, hey happy new year everyone, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet, though I got pretty good with my gun.

When Johnny came marching home, I was greeted by a hippie who spat in my face, called me “baby killer,” so I broke his nose. Search and Destroy? You bet!

I didn’t expect to find her again – she’d stopped returning my letters when I told her about that hilltop thunder run and what we did with napalm and flamethrowers. Sometimes I feel I left my soul on that trail…I’m not who I used to be.
So yeah, I do get it – I’ve been to the top, saw all but three

CHORUS

I’m workin’ in a filling station now till I figure out what comes next.
Jack’s alright as a boss but Harold’s such an ass.
A backfiring car made me spill a quart of oil, and that bastard took it out my pay.
What he doesn’t know is that sound took me right back to the land of the bloody red clay.

I might do something with music you know, I saw the Stones a year ago in November at the Garden. They played “Hey Children” three times. And I know guitar, I used to play with a couple of guys back home in PA who went on to form The Buoys,,,you know that song Timothy? It’s about cannibalism. We made big plans but Uncle Sam had his own kind of music in mind, cause I got to tell you friends that his song we call“Taps” took the place of “Oh Say Can You See,” and I’ve been to the top, saw all but three.

CHORUS