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"the subtle art of jaywalking"

by tommy oeffling

/
1.
title track 02:17
Staying up every night Wasting away like you warned me not to Lying awake on my side Wasting the day like you said I ought to Someone else’s 4x4 Traffic crossing, corridor Somewhere else I’m waiting for you Someone else is taking to you Looking both of the ways Before I cross, it’s a habit I do It’s the way that I was raised Look up and down when I’m startled by you Blue sedan, four door Traffic crossing, corridor Somewhere far, I’m walking to you The subtle art of jaywalking Partygoing, awkward talking The painless act of staying home And staying up, telephone Someone else is taking to you
2.
Take too long Breaking ‘til you’re too far gone And if I’ve got it all wrong Talk to me slowly like a child Break this off Leaving when I feign a cough And do I act too soft? The secrets I’m keeping only pile The lightstand flash Cars beeping and the cops stay brash But if we scrape our cash Maybe we can stay another day Smoke outside At the venue, gotta catch a ride It’s not my scene, I’ll fly Maybe we’ll find another way And in our straightjacket love We give it a push and shove I don’t think we’ve had enough Yet we stay We’re in our straightjacket love Well, it appears that we’re stuck I don’t think we’ve had enough So we stay, day You’ve gotta work with me, not against me If we split the scene, you might resent me If I take too long, then wade in the water for a while And if I’m in your bed You best believe that I’m in your head So don’t think you’ve read and picked out my brain with a file So I can take a chance I’ll stop shaking like a high school dance I’ll keep waving when you pass me by Out with your friends for the night And in another life, I’ve got you brided But I’ve thought a bit and I’ve decided That a life with you is something that I need out of sight And in our straightjacket love We give it a push and shove I don’t think we’ve had enough Yet we stay We’re in our straightjacket love Well, it appears that we’re stuck I don’t think we’ve had enough So we stay, day
3.
a promise 03:06
I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down Every night, Sarah’s at the windowsill waiting for me Every night, Sarah’s at the windowsill waiting for me I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down I’m gonna right my wrongs I’m gonna stick around I’m not gonna let you down Every night, Sarah’s at the windowsill waiting for me Every night, Sarah’s at the windowsill waiting for me
4.
dirty 02:34
Wait for the man to shake your hand Wait for the time to approach then surely pass Wait for the “I’ve been too clear” to disappear Make me wonder Wait for the sick to come and go Wait for the cold just to blow, the evening snow Wait for the face turn to back of head and slowly get smaller And I’ve run around for my whole life I’ve run around for my whole life I’ve run around for my whole life Wait for the bus to make a stop Wait for the fads just to fall and slowly drop Wait for the man in the hood to diss a cop Makes me wonder Wait for the nauseous feel to quit Wait for the high taller man to take a hit Wait for the kids stuck at war to have a spit Hear the thunder And I’ve run around for my whole life I’ve run around for my whole life I’ve run around for my whole life And I’ve run around for my whole life I’ve run around for my whole life I’ve done a lot to take a stride I’ve changed the dirt from deep inside I’ve run around for my whole life
5.
acid wash 01:01
What are you so afraid of? You got too much trouble finding time Can’t keep a conversation Our lives, they never intertwine And I’m lacking ‘cause it’s different now And you’re losing feeling You turn yourself around Just to delay my healing You deny until you’re angry And you bargain ‘til you’re sad And when you finally accept this I won’t be inside your head I would consider it unfair That you’re wrapped in the arms of someone else Gonna rest my flare When the chemistry’s right, I’ll need your help And I’m lacking ‘cause it took two weeks Just to figure out the prose To say the one that really loves you Is right under your nose You deny until you’re angry And you bargain ‘til you’re sad And when you finally accept this I won’t be inside your head
6.
doug 02:12
You get the car, I’ll get the night Off your back, I’m out of sight I’ll keep my thumb outside my wrist I knew I would remember this Backyard sitting nights are gone It’s been three weeks, it’s been too long Pick me up here after school County C to come see you See a show and talk a few The government’s gone mad again But I share views with my closest friend And everyday, I can’t explain I look at you and see the same Hair’s been thinning out like you
7.
salvador 02:13
I wrote this song in my boxers In the cool crisp morning light And I’d like to see if you’re waiting for me Down the block at the shops on West Wells Street Crosswalk jaywalking hoppers And all the coppers, no, they can’t touch me Sponge soaked, spilled-out gift shop lovers Sisters in arms with their brothers and their mothers Well, you are an anarchist, I am an analyst You are a catalyst coming for me Melodrama plaza, mamas and the papas No, they’ll never understand, but it’s plain to see “Secret Knowledge of Backroads” Will be the name of my book someday Autobiographical, in no way fanatical Reads like a flashbulb memory but casual I’m sick of skimming the sunset And playing Solitaire, I like War more I get tongue tied talking to you In retrospect, I redden, but really, who knew? Well, you are an anarchist, I am an analyst You are a catalyst coming for me Melodrama plaza, mamas and the papas No, they’ll never understand, but it’s plain to see
8.
Arizona A place where winds can go untouched for months And rotten crocheters can die with the monks ‘Cause baby, this is Arizona In my mind, your penny board would slide to me Almost in a dream The state of fiction on the road is bending Bending east and west Bending north and south Bending like the boxer who would choke in front of everyone Bending it oh so hard that it makes Jeremiah say “Geez, man, two states was enough for one mistake!” Taking words of wisdom from people that come and go But to and fro they will not go A route’s a home, a home alone Near sober, but completely and utterly stoned
9.
Well, it’s all done I’m sitting by the phone Waiting for a call From back home And it’s all I’ve Got to hold on Wake up tomorrow For another run Oh, routine How I long to get beneath you How I long to see the screen You take me back home Often, I forget where I am I’ve gotta take a deep breath and look down at my hands And fight laughing at myself as I say “I’m here” Often, I look out at the street And I shake out of bed and get on my two feet To watch the buses from the sidewalk as I head downtown Often, I forget that I’m here And I wake up expecting the sky to be clear And the field in my backyard where I’d sit and waste And sometimes, well, I miss my friends But they’re off doing something and I say to myself “I’ll see my home moon soon, I guess I’m going out tonight”

about

songs about being in a city
recorded in straz tower #1248

credits

released September 23, 2022

everything by t. oeffling except background vocals on track #2 by luke tinsley and spoken word on track #8 by caiden dohr

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tommy oeffling Johnsburg, Illinois

sometimes loud, sometimes quiet

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