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Let's do a song by song analysis!
Picking and burning all matters concerning
A female the details the rumors one dispels
The progress thought process the malice imbalance
The leaking the shaking my patience is breaking
The distance between us the difference that keeps us
Returning to sender I’m rendered self-centered
And if I gotta tell you one more time, I will.
All of my knowledge my pleasures my pain
I remember faces but I keep forgetting the names
I never went to college some say I wasted my brain
But one thing that I learned was don’t mix Christmas with cocaine
An instance of incense of peace and resistance
A black cloud a death shroud circus clown hand-me-down
A streetcar a dive bar but have I gone too far
A death threat secret kept a safe bet a regret
I’ve been makin changes but everyone’s still the same
I never went to college, my futures down the drain
But one thing that I learned was don’t mix Christmas with cocaine
Around and round again around and round again
Once on a friend like a brother coming in and then
I’m back on my round again
All down people all down on the down you know what is
Down on the slide. And everyone told you and everyone told you
And everybody told a goddamn lie.
Bewildered befuddled a piece of the puzzle perplexed
and what’s next
Is the pity of simplicity equivalence ambivalence
lacking of common sense
Give in to give away poor man’s Olivier, maybe an instinct the future is extinct
I’ll remember all your faces forget all your fuckin names
Give me my medicine.
Maddox's notes: "I wrote this song about my Uncle a few months before he passed away. It's ultimately about learning from people's mistakes in life rather than from going to school.
I think I actually came up with the title to this song many years ago, and kind of shelved it. It's a take on the song 'White Christmas'. I wanted to make a song about the people that would light their homes up with Christmas lights and Jesus paraphenalia but were complete psychos and drug addicts behind those doors."
A cancer alley graduate with a military past
And a shotgun sister sally smoking sweet Virginia grass
Calamine lotion couldn’t cure this fatal itch
And police cars with their pistols couldn’t catch this son of a bitch
And the women and the children toting mace and pepper spray
And the church and all his patrons bowed their heads to pray
But me I’m on the run you know I’ll make my getaway
It’s just a few more miles to good ol’ Whiskey Bay
Well you can get attention with the blaring of the sirens
But nothing’s more intense than the empty sounds of silence
These sugarcane girls adore me and the ones that came before me
Try to put it off and ignore me but these headlines they just bore me
I’m seasick but I’m still docked it’s just another day on the floating clock
Find yourself a poison and an easy grain of sand
There’s so much you can do with a weapon in your hand
Be careful about the boyfriends, they’ll insist on fighting you
Whiskey bay is up these way but this time they’ll get two
Instead of one it’s two
If she’s not back in the morning, check by Whiskey Bay
The title refers to a site in Lafayette, Louisiana where a serial killer, at the time unidentified, had disposed of several bodies. This controversial song is sung from the perspective of the alleged killer, welcoming the attention and mocking the small town's residents.
Maddox's notes: "I think at the time, this was my most 'pop' song. A serial killer was on the loose in Louisiana, and it was huge news. It seemed everyone had a opinion on it. As concerned as I was, I found the story mobirdly fascinating, like many I'm sure. I wrote this song, not as an insult to the victims, but as a way to possibly better understand the mind of a madman.
So I created a background and a character for him. He ended up being nothing as I imagined, or anyone imagined for that matter. Cancer Alley is a legendary toxic waste dump site in Louisiana that people have complained about for years. In grade school, our teachers made us write letters to the governor. People Magazine did a piece on the area in the late 80's. I envisioned the killer to be a working-class man from this area."
Follow me down it’s slipping to my chest
Three long years without a good night’s rest
I called in sleepy I called in sick
Sophia’s dreamy if you get my drift
What has become of my Delores Haze
Is she on silver screens is she in outer space?
I met so many on Decatur Street
Spent countless hours wearing down my feet
I rode a Greyhound from Hollywood
I’m lying down where I once stood
But don’t let them fool you or drive you away
Don’t let them tell you to save it for a rainy day
I wrote you this song instead of writing a letter
Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I should have known better
I’m not born again you know that I’m not saved
I wore a smile when I was a slave
There are many things better left unsaid but you know
There are some things you need to scream instead
I can sleep all day and dream my life or I can live my dreams
And stay up all night and we can drive the car all around the town
And be sweet Sweet Sixteen and play the radio loud
Sometimes I’m love sometimes I wish I never met her
I thank the heavens above that now I know better
I got a sinner’s brain that’s a work of art
A blind man’s eyes and a dead man’s heart
Somewhere in Michigan I was cut down to size
By a painted monkey wearing mismatched eyes
So don’t ask me what freedom’s like
Because I have lived in a prison cell for all of my life
And yeah it could have been you and yeah it could have been me
But it was certainly him and it didn’t have to be
I guess I’m cursed so I should go out and get her
It can’t get much worse it can only get better
We’re riding the E train at 4:25 and I’ve never been so
Excited to be alive
I remember your face as the train went away
But I am afraid I’ve nothing left to say
You play all your tricks and you get your fix but if I got my wish
You’d fucking quit that shit and I’m still looking for Delores Haze
But she’s on silver screens man she’s in outer space
There’s no need to frown and never say never don’t let it get you down
Things can only get better
Maddox's notes: "I remember being unsure of this one. I was racking my brain for darker songs to fit with the mood of 'Whiskey Bay', but I didn't want to write another character piece. In a notebook of long-forgotten poems, I came across these lyrics, minus the chorus. When I originally wrote them, I was hearing a slower beat, reminiscent of The Velvet Underground's 'Heroin'.
This song was a real challenge to record, and I made use of backup vocals for the first time with it. And as much as I worried about people thinking it was too commercial-sounding, I always did love this song. My sister does too."
Baby says he loves you but he don’t know what he’s talking out
Don’t waste your time with him I got this all figured out
I’m gonna paint my face I’m gonna dress up for the man
I’m gonna stand myself up straight and do all that I can
I’ll be less than you can handle more than you can stand
Sing a little song for me court jester
it’s shame how all of your dreams
Are made of polyester
Don’t wave a white flag in the light it’ll be alright
I gotta get inside your head I gotta make you mine
I’m telling you once again for the very first time
I don’t wait around
I don’t wait in line
And every time I call your home you know that nobody’s there
And even when you pick up you don’t seem to care
But keep on telling me lies the truth I can’t bear
Dance a little dance for me court jester
Yes ma’am no ma’am no sir, yes sir
I know that you’ve been having your doubts but it’ll all work out
People tell me it’s a sin to kick them when they’re down
But I’ll do it all over again I’m standing my ground
There’s so much more to life than being Shakespeare’s clown
“And if we shadows have a offended think but this
and all is mended that you have but slumbered here
while these visions did appear”
it’s all coming oh so clear to me court jester
sing a little song
dance a little dance, make a funny face don’t let it go to waste
baby I’ll just pick you up and then I’ll bring you down
there’s so much more to life than being Shakespeare’s clown
Maddox's notes: "This song really started out as a joke. I had this blues drumbeat and I started improvising typical lyrics over it. I liked what it was progressing into, but I knew something was missing. I introduced it to Dysan, and he really took it to another level. His guitar is really the lead vocal in this song, I believe. The production of this track was not as easy as I had planned, and it did take a while to finish.
As for what the song is about-it's a bit of a take on John Lennon's "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World". Like the other songs on this album, it's very sarcastic and mocking. There's a few inside rererences in there that I can't really explain. You kinda had to be there".
It’s 5 A.M I woke up dead I had an epiphany
A purple rose a circus show is lying in front of me
I wipe the tear away from the eye
I ask myself another reason why
A little piece of you a little piece of me a little piece
Of everything has died
What’s a pretty girl like you doing to yourself
“Frighteningly enlightening” I say under my breath
Don’t you ever think that you’re not the only one
Well I hope you had a blast I hope you had some fun
I think that you’re becoming a hazard to my health
So tell her that I’m dead and free to kill herself
I am still the same but you are someone else
So tell her that I’m dead and free to kill herself
You’ve always had the things that you could live without
And cried about the things that you shouldn’t cry about
I can’t take the needle through the telephone
And I can’t go on living if you’re dying all alone
Am I supposed to be here at the end of the day?
Am I supposed to watch you as you throw it all away?
I can’t let you kill me because I don’t want to die
Why aren't you fucking grateful and glad to be alive?
Maddox's notes: "I wrote the first part of these lyrics even earlier than the verses. It's one of my most bitter and emotinal songs, for sure, and I still have a hard time listening to it. I tried it so many different ways in the last six years, which is why I'm so terribly surprised that it's not only finished, but on TWO albums.
'Tell Her I'm Dead' is definitely about a specific person, and I've always made that known. To summarize it, it's a song about dealing with a person's drug addiction and ultimately having them bringing you down with them."
There’s a place on 49th St where I laid my head to sleep
And you made so many promises that you could never keep
I rested on your shoulders and took a vicious fall
Doesn’t that mean anything at all?
There’s confusion in my brain that is begging for a reason
A wound inside my heart that is charging you with treason
I did let my guard down and you did have the gall
I guess I don’t mean anything at all
You can be so many things you can be my everything
You make me get on my knees and bawl
If silence is a precious thing you’re the most precious thing
I’ve ever seen you don’t ever write me you don’t call
I guess I don’t mean anything at all
Now there are times when I felt anger and times I felt confused
But I cannot shake the feeling of being spit out and refused
Am I just a bitter beaten ragged doll
I guess I don’t mean anything at all
I put aside my pride and traveled past the ocean
But you just fucking smiled and played with my emotions
And it will take some time before I can stand tall
I guess I don’t mean anything at all
I’m sorry if I caused you any bitterness or pain
Don’t question my sincerity sometimes people change
If nothing else you can say you saw the writing on the wall
Doesn’t that mean anything at all?
Maddox's notes: "Now THIS is a bitter song, for sure. It's from the female's point of view. Alot of people ask me who this song is about. I think it's pretty obvious. It's clearly about myself! Or at least a biased opinion about a situation. The last verse is where the person being attacked is able to offer a rebuttal.
The title of the song, and the over-the-top drama in it was a bit inspired by Morrissey I must admit."
Little girls with sixteen candles
Fireplace under the mantle
Take some time to see it first
Show me what you’re really worth
And don’t you think that I’m trying to rush you
And don’t you think that I don’t trust you
It’s just a funny way I show I care
And if you’re still out there
Middle fingers in the air
1,2,3 are you people with me
4, 5 let me know you’re alive
6, 7, 8 fill your body with hate and if you wanna jump on it
better show me that you want it
1,2 tell me what you’re gonna do
3,4 what are you waiting for
5,6 go on and play your tricks
and if you wanna jump on it better
show me that you want it
yeah I just sit here head in hand
I don’t need a boy I need a man
Watch it as I’m sinking in the sand
Maybe you can catch me if you can
And don’t you think that I would desert you
And don’t you think I’m trying to hurt you
It’s just a funny way I show I care
But if you’re still out there
Middle fingers in the air
Little girls with sixteen candles
Fireplace under the mantle
Drowned in blood dying of thirst
Show me what you’re really worth
I’m so sorry if I did alarm you
But don’t you worry I would never harm you
It’s just a funny way I show I care
But if you’re still out there
Middle fingers in the air
Maddox's notes: "This song is a complete 'fuck you' to all of those talentless bands I spent my entire life looking up to. Sometimes when you take a hard look at what you're being fed on TV and the radio, you realize you're eating a steady diet of bullshit and phoniness. This song's lyrics are about being uninspiring. I wrote them in less than five minutes and I happen to think this song is better than most of the bands on the second stage of Ozzfest or the Warped Tour. This was my way of saying 'shit on them'".