It's the week after the 2004 election. I spent 20 hours in the rain and cold at a polling place in Pittsburgh and witnessed first hand the underhanded tactics employed by the Cheater In Chief. I still can't believe that Son Of A Bitch stole another election but I was clear it would not have been possible without the zombie like unquestioning support of the Fundies. I was so pissed at their hypocrisy so I wrote this song for them. Ah shit...I'm still pissed.

This is a pretty little romantic sketch. I love the idea that the biggest things in our lives are symbolized by very little mundane things. Hence the images of ordinary run of the mill stuff that means so much more.

Another Hodge Cook Co-write. We were both going through seperation/divorce issues at this time, hence the "Go Away Liitle Girl" attitude. I also really wanted to see how far I could go with a non rhyming rhyme so I put it in the payoff line of the Chorus. I take odd pleasure in that.
You don't think "learn" rhymes with "stone"? It does in Nashville.

Life goes by. It seems to speed up as you get older. I have found that it is best to live in the now. Most people don't do that and end up like the man in this song having nothing but pictures in the end. I co wrote this with a young lady named Lee. Unfortunately I don't remember her last name, so Lee, if you hear this please contact me and tell me your last name. I guess the old guy in this song isn't the only senile one.

Just Fun. I love those old balladeers and the songs of that era. This was an homage written with Hodge Cook. This was a chance to play with lyrics.

This song, co-written with Hodge Cook, is one of my all time favorites. It's a word picture I wrote at a time when things were stinking pretty badly but there was a spark of hope and I wanted to write a song about that. The point is, winter is always followed by spring. I used to love singing this one A Cappella with my dear freinds the Radlauers in Nashville. Nancy and I are doing the harmonies on this recording.

I  belonged to a wonderful race relations group in Nashville. I wrote this one for them. This is one of Nancy's favorites. I am very proud of the imagery of the burning tree.

I was reading "A Return To Love" by Marianne Williamson and there was this great line in there; "If It didn't stop at the station, it wasn't your train." Well, I thought, not only is that a great philosophy but it has a train in it, hence, it could be a Country song. Unlike my 15 minute songs, this one took years to write. The version here evolved over 13 years. I love what this song has to say. If you can take it to heart, you can enjoy your life.

I sat in my home studio for three hours trying to write something and came up with nothing. Suddenly I looked up and said to G-d, "I haven't written one for you in a while. Would you like me to?" Ten Minutes later "Aren't We Children" was finished. I love this song and what it says. I also like the drop D tuning. Nancy, (my sweetie), is doing harmonies on this along with me.

Wherever you go, there you are. It doesn't matter what route you take, your own true nature is always the destination. What is your own true nature? Ask the Buddha. If he answers you, kill him.

This is a beautiful song that expresses wonderfully my belief that love, once given, is eternal. Relationships change but the love has a life of its own that goes on no matter what we do. I realize that in my life I love all the people I have ever loved, even those who I hated for a time. The love wins out. Always.

I wrote this one with Corey Hite, who is also singing in the recording. I absolutely love her voice. I hope she's still out there somewhere singing the blues. That's a lot of soul for a blonde blue eyed Christian girl from Minnesota. That's also me on Bass and drum machine with Dean Hall (Tom T. Hall's son) kicking major ass on guitar.

I wrote this one on a Greyhound Bus going back to Long Island after my first trip to Nashville. Can you tell I was reluctant to go home? This was recorded with Four In The Morning and was my first recording playing bass.

Co-written with Richard Bach with whom I had to fight for inclusion of the line, "Everything was double, so I was twice as alone." I just remember laughing a lot with Rich while writing this one. Performed by Four In The Morning.

So how did a jewish boy from NYC end up in Nashville writing country music? Honest to G-d I don't know but I did play country music in the tri-state area for a spell. My two bands were Marshall Dillon and the Deputies (yes I worked under the name Marshall Dillon) and Four In The Morning (which is featured in this recording). Hi Rob, Marc and Neil.

Maybe it's because I was a bass player but I have always loved the drop D tuning. This is one of my mellow drop D songs about romance and the certainty that no matter what happens to a relationship, the love is real.

I have always secretly had the desire to be a lounge singer. Hodge and I co-wrote this one as an homage to crooners and balladeers of a bygone era. I love the feel of this one.

My first Co-write with Hodge Cook. Chuck Neese owns the publishing and paid for this demo. I just liked the idea of a tiny thing like a tear containing so much. Note the bridging of the word tear leading into the actual bridge. I fell in love with that device and it shows up in a few of my songs. This was recorded in Nashville with session players, Hodge on piano and me on vocals.

Written just after I left about my wife of thirteen years. As it turned out it was best for all involved (we are great friends now), but at the time I was concerned about whether I was going to regret it. Luckily, it turned out much better than the song. Sometimes leaving is the right thing but it is hard to cross that bridge and set it to flame. Another Hodge Cook co-write. That's him on the Piano.

Technically I was not guilty when I wrote this but in point of fact I was only technically innocent. Even so it turned out to be a good song and for those of you out there who really are being unjustly suspected I hope it helps. As of now I am one of you but at the time...oy! I was guilty in my heart.

Written with my favorite co-writer, Hodge Cook. This song ia about the kind of love that is perhaps the most important kind and yet the one least written about. Dedicated to all my friends. Especially Michael and Steve, my brothers.

This song took 15 minutes to write but it also took a lot of pain and too much Ambien. Needless to say it was the day after a massively bad break up. In the words of too many crazy fucking songwriters, "Hey at least I got a good song out of it." Honestly though this is one of the best I have ever written. Only one line was rewritten from the original version at the behest of my rep at BMI.

This song was written in five minutes while sitting on my porch in Nashville watching the sun go down signaling the start of Yom Kippor. Yom Kippor used to be the worst day of my life as I was raised to think of it as a day of suffering. When I grew old enough to see it as a day of giving up the things of this world so that I removed all barriers between G-d and me, it became a very sacred day for me. This song expresses the profound peace I was feeling at the time.