Butterfly
After a decade of stagnation, this song represented my return to composing and recording music. Consequently, "Butterfly" is the only song I have ever written where I cried the first time I heard the finished product. (Or rather, all the other times I cried it was because the song didn't come out the way I wanted it to). There are few things more obvious than the notion that life is short, you need to enjoy it as best you can while you're here, and you should never give up the things that make you happy for anyone, because 1) if you're not happy, you won't be any good to anybody else, and 2) if you need to give those things up then you should be looking for someone else anyway, because it's a big fat world and all you need to do is find someone whose catastrophic flaws don't conflict with your own. But as obvious as all those things are, sometimes it takes thirty-five years to see them, mostly because even a hundred-foot-high flashing neon sign looks exactly like everything else through a blindfold.
when i looked at you
i felt so warm
when i looked at me
i felt so cold
knowin' what i could do
makes me feel so young
knowin' what i've done till now
makes me feel so old
i have to shave twice a day
so i don't see the specks of gray
and think of how many i gave you
wrapped in my cocoon
can you tell me, is that the sun
i want to swim in the sky
spring is in the air
too many summers have passed me by
it's time for me to live
as though one day i might die
god won't waste wings on this butterfly
i have to cry twice a day
so i can laugh and feel okay
as i fly away from you
and out of my cocoon
can you tell me is that the sun
i want to swim in the sky
spring is in the air
too many summers have passed me by
it's time for me to live
as though one day i might die
god won't waste wings on this butterfly
The Speed of Lies
The music for this song was actually ten years old when I finished recording it, and to finally get it done felt like, well, let me think..... you know when you go to a social gathering and eat all kinds of volatile food and drink all kinds of volatile liquids, and you start to feel more and more uncomfortable as the evening progresses, but you can't really do anything about it because everybody else is there, and you know if you even try to give yourself the teeniest bit of relief, it'll happen right when there's a lull in the conversation, and some schmuck decided to put the bathroom right next to where everyone is gathered, so you can't really pursue that option either, so eventually you're just desperately wanting the festivities to come to and end, and when they finally do, you get home, slam the door, and FINALLY...... ahhhhh! Remember how good that feels? Well, then I guess we understand each other.
that congressman says that he has a degree
in biology
well then i guess he cannot lie
hey i have an aerospace degree
and if you bought a plane from me
i guarantee it would not fly
he read that she said that the sky's not blue
and then someone else told you
well then i guess it must be true
what a highly discerning lot we are
you needn't pull the wool too far
to spread bullsh-t like the flu
if it leaves your lips today
it'll be truth tonight, wrong or right
every word you say
travels at the speed of lies
hey guess what, i'm the easter bunny
no i'm not trying to be funny
just showing you how easy it is to lie
but it's even easier to listen to one
and not know that it's been done
and then use it as the basis for your life
i am the new and improved pinocchio
wmd
see my nose didn't grow
if it leaves your lips today
it'll be truth tonight, wrong or right
every word you say
travels at the speed of lies
Prophecy
I wrote this song for a dear friend who has too often relied upon other people to tell her where her life was headed and what she should do about it. In other words,... um,... she should do what I say instead. The lyrics went through a few iterations, but the music went from a few chords to a finished product in about an hour. SO! Do you have a song you need to write but you need it yesterday? Do you have a really irritating tune going through your head that you need purged by something else? Well, have no fear! Turbo Composer is here! We'll deliver your song in thirty minutes or less or it's FREE! That's right! F-R-E-E!!! Batteries not included.
suppose everything you are
was made by the rising of a star
how does that tell you more
that what you knew about yourself before
mirror, mirror
you've got the future on your lips
and at your fingertips
i've seen the fire in your eyes
like a million fireflies
it's all the fire you will need
to forge your destiny
ooo ooo prophecy
that woman chasing your fate on the phone
is really searching for her own
and if she finds her holy grail
will you find comfort in her tale
mirror, mirror
you've got the future on your lips
and at your fingertips
i've seen the fire in your eyes
like a million fireflies
it's all the fire you will need
to forge your destiny
ooo ooo prophecy
Pizza Ala Mode on Rye
I was sixteen years old when I wrote this song in late 1985. It eventually became the title track for a Velvet Cockroach album in 1986. It was actually loosely based on a poem I had written in seventh grade in 1982, so I guess that means you could call this my first and only adapted screenplay. The only reason I remixed it for "Release" was to assuage two decades of frustration over not having been able to incorporate an exploding urinal sound effect into the original version.
hey john q. public
why don't you come on in
to our little restaurant
at the outhouse inn
all of the waitresses are naked
except for those funny little hats
our silverware is fairly clean
and don't worry about the rats
we guarantee to serve you
before the day is through
if we don't you only pay half price
and look at what we'll give you
pizza ala mode on rye
with a side of twenty-seven fries
and for dessert our famous lima bean pie
you just can't pass it by
try our special catch of the day
today it's pickled shark fins
or maybe you'd like to try our artichoke juice
it comes free with the fried pea skins
how about a slice of prune toast
it goes so good with the turnip cake
then top it all off with a broccoli sundae
that'll keep you awake
they look at us so funny
like we don't know how to cook
they say we don't serve nothin' good
well that ain't true; just look we got
pizza ala mode on rye
soaked in broiled lye
well i bet it caught your eye
you just can't pass it by
okay so we've only got one bathroom
well that makes things kind of fun
don't flush the purple urinal
well if you do you'd better run
we couldn't afford toilet paper
you'll have to bring your own
if you go both ways when you're in there
you get a free double ice cream cone
thank you so much for coming
you owe us two hundred bucks
have a nice day; come again
tomorrow we're givin' out free hockey pucks
with the pizza ala mode on rye
laced so you'll get high
and come back for more pizza ala mode on rye
that's why you can't pass it by
yeah pizza ala mode on rye
come and fly our friendly skies
until someone gets poked in the eye
but who cares 'cause we're all high
When Worlds Collide
The music to this song is actually about seventeen years old; it was originally recorded as aVelvet Cockroach tune called "The Child". The lyrics were written one afternoon in the fall of 2004 while I was sitting on a park bench along the South Platte River. In fact I may even have been the one who wrote them.
fifty years from now i might be holding a hand
sharing a ten-thousandth sunset with toes in the sand
if you ask me her name i won't have an answer for you
she's an entire world that i've never been to
maybe the closest she's come is a world away
or maybe our eyes met yesterday
there's a certain sick pleasure in not knowing which one is true
and one day we'll laugh at the notion that i never knew
i won't bide my time waiting
and i have set the searching aside
but i still like anticipating
that moment when worlds collide
life has its own way of sneaking up on you
giving up on the guessing is the best you can do
i won't bide my time waiting
and i have set the searching aside
but i still like anticipating
that moment when worlds collide
Should Have
This song is dedicated to my late father, who passed away three days before my eighteenth birthday in 1987, way ahead of his time. This is another song from "Release" that was actually written a decade earlier. In this case, I didn't change the lyrics at all; I guess that means it hurts just as much today as it did in 1995 or 1987. When someone dies too young, the pain doesn't go away with time, because even twenty years later you can still be thinking about what it might be like if the person was alive today. It does get easier, however, to appreciate all the things you didn't appreciate before.
today it rains
like it's never gonna stop
so i turn my eyes
to every single drop
looking for a little piece of you
falling down from where you've gone to
well i don't even know
if i believe that stuff is true
still it rains
but now the water's in my eyes
down it comes
guess all the tears haven't been cried
just how long do you think it will take
before the thought of you doesn't break
my heart
you should have been there
you would have been so proud of me
you could have smiled
and i would have waved my hand
another good rain
everything looks and feels so green
time to return
to that thing i call my life
and all those dreams you placed in my reach
and all the pride you felt for me
and every single smallest moment
that you'll never ever see
you should have been there
you would have been so proud of me
you could have smiled
and i would have waved my hand
you might have been there
looking down from where i couldn't see
you might have smiled
but you never told me where you'd stand
you should have been there
you would have been there
if you could have been there
oh what should have been
Ode to the Unheralded
This is the newest song on the album "Release". Every other Tastiera album had ten songs on it, so I would have been bucking tradition (yes, I meant to say bucking, get your mind out of the cellar) if I had only included nine on this one. That left me no choice but to throw together one last track, and it just so happened I was feeling very contemplative about quarks, jello, and Venus that day, and the rest is musical history.
there haven't been many songs about quarks
and i don't understand why
they're the cutest subatomic particles you'll ever meet
and without 'em we'd die
in fact, without them we would not have been born
and that would probably be all right
'cause there also wouldn't be anything else
except a bunch of wasted light
where are all the songs
about quarks
there haven't been many songs about jello
and i don't see the reason
you can eat it even with a broken jaw
and at any time of day or season
and you can hand a trayful to a hot babe
and have her walk around selling shots
and you'll get two years closer to your death
before your jello rots
where are all the songs
about jello
there haven't been many songs about venus
and it simply isn't fair
if there's a song about a detachable penis
then a planet ought to get it's share
maybe it's because it's hard to think
of something rhyming with sulfuric acid
but if you ask me, that's a cop out
have you ever been to lake placid
where are all the songs
about venus
where are all the songs
about remote controls
where are all the songs
about donut holes
where are all the songs
about the number twenty-three
where are all the songs
about me
A Good Day
Yet another song from "Release" that was actually written ten years earlier, and as with "Should Have", the lyrics remained essentially unchanged over those ten years. While it may sound like a leftist rant, it is actually more of a cynical look at the notion of perspective. Actually, it's not about that at all. It's about a group of purple bunny rabbits who stumble upon a wormhole leading to another dimension, and when they go through it, they emerge in a world where all the cars are powered by toothpaste. I know, I know, it's been done before. But not in Pig Latin.
james closed a big deal today
took the wife and kids out to celebrate
la da da da da da da da da
waiter when you get the chance
give us a bottle of your very best wine
jimmy closed an even bigger deal
stayed alive through one more night
even though no one knows
no no no no no no no no no
nobody raises their glass for jimmy tonight
it's such a good day to be alive
it's such a good day to die
james is on the move today
stayin' ahead of wall street warriors
it's so dog eat dog
ra na na na na na na na na
the sky's the limit
when you're already off the ground
jimmy's on the move himself
chasin' the man who stole his coat
'cause there ain't enough to go around
no no no no no no no no no
even though james has ten of his own
it's such a good day to be alive
it's such a good day to die
james is a hero today
christmas day, o holy day
someone broke into his home
fa la la la la la la la la
and tried to get away
with his favorite present
seems jimmy left the world today
they found him lying on the grass
and no one laughed, no one cried
no no no no no no no no no
they just took him away
but not till james got his new coat back
it's such a good day to be alive
it's such a good day to die
What
This is what happens when you write a dozen batches of lyrics and none of them work. Funny thing is, the song was already called "What" in the first place, so that worked out nicely. The music to this song was composed in the late 90's. The lyrics were... oh, yeah, there are no lyrics. My attention span has been pretty short of late. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Wait, who are you?
Playground
This song is mostly about going after what you want, rather than coming up with reasons why you won't get it. I really did chase a beautiful girl around the playground in second grade, although now I don't remember if it was the first day. It was definitely within the first week. Either way, I haven't talked to her since high school, but we did end up being friends after about six years of her thinking I was a freak. Boy, I guess I fooled her, huh?
first day of second grade i met a beautiful girl
and i chased her 'round the playground for a kiss
every now and then i think about that little girl
but mostly it's that little boy i've missed
he left as i learned all those things that are not so
and i'm left to wonder where did he go
what makes us long to jump
and then freeze when we look down
somehow i've gotta get back to the playground
funny how the years blow by
without ever makin' a sound
somehow i've gotta get back to the playground
turns out my life was just a game of checkers
despite my deep conviction it was chess
i didn't really want all those things i thought i did
and i needed even less
a smiling face and a glass of wine
and that colorado sunshine
what makes us long to fly
and then not let go of the ground
somehow i've gotta get back to the playground
if i'd just enjoyed the search
it wouldn't matter what i haven't found
somehow i've gotta get back to the playground
somehow i've gotta get back to the playground
somehow i've gotta get back to the playground
i'm not there today
but i'm on my way
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