Produced by Charlie Braun

Recorded at Other Side of the Tracks, Northampton, MA

Engineered by Charlie Braun

Guitar and vocals – Dennis Caraher

Guitar, keyboards, bass, piano, charango, percussion, backup vocals – Charlie Braun

Cello -Eric Roth

Fiddle (Appointed Hour) – Eric Lee

Percussion (Deliver Me) – Alex Snydman

Backup Vocals – Julie Starr

Mastering – Dan Richardson

All songs written by Dennis Caraher

Lyrics

PRACTICING DYING

When I was a kid, me and my brother
Pretended we were cowboys, shooting one another
Clutching at our hearts, falling to the ground
Breathing out our last, getting death down
Practicing dying, practicing dying
Practicing dying
We were the best in the West
Practicing
Her name was Rebecca from another world
And when we kissed, she was the boy, I was the girl
Clutching to our hearts, falling out of shame
Breathing one another and when we came
Practicing dying, practicing dying
Practicing dying
We were the best in the West
Practicing
Through books, art, love, I have searched
Still this part seems so unrehearsed
Me and my brother haven’t talked in ages
We bled for one another but nothing could save us
and me and Rebecca, both of us foolish
Took a final breath so these days, all I do is
Practice dying at dying
Practicing dying
Practicing dying
I am the best in the West
Practicing

LUCY IN THE SKY

(Lucy O’Donnell Vodden 1963-2009)

Lucy in the sky died in London

She saw it coming from afar
A friend of John Lennon’s young son
He drew her shining with stars
Lucy in the sky died in London
How could it be that I miss her?
I think it’s because we lost someone
Who let us drift down the river.
She was never taken with the song
Couldn’t relate, besides we got it wrong
So she laughed when we said, “It’s LSD”
“No it’s not, it’s just me”.
Picture her with the sun in her eyes
Slowly, she waves goodbye
Turnstile, she passes through
Newspaper taxis come into view
Lucy in the sky died in London
She could no longer go on
She left bereft a loving husband
Look for the girl, she’s gone.

THIS HOUSE

On a dirt road in Nebraska
lies a frail and faded house
Broken boards, battered doors,
the windows long been broken out
For twenty years it’s been,
haunted by the wind.
On an endless, aimless journey,
something says to stop awhile
I walk through weeds above my head,
I climb the porch, step inside
Think of long ago,
this house was once a home
Where did this family go,
father died, mother’s old
Safe inside a nursing home,
the kids are grown
And where could these children be,

fled the farm for factories
Do they ever come to see
this house was once a home?
The smell of bread once filled the air,
mother said, “It’s time to eat”.
Father said the evening prayer,
they talked of crops, August heat.
Went into the yard.
Saw a falling star
Mother put the kids to bed,
she softly sang a lullaby
“That scary sound is just the wind,
hush a baby, don’t you cry.
You are not alone, safe inside your home.”
Where did this family go,
father died, mother’s old
Safe inside a nursing home,
the kids are grown
And where could these children be,
fled the farm for factories
Do they ever come to see,
this house was once a home?

DELIVER ME

(CLEVELAND (CAT) WILLIAMS 1933-1999)

Cleveland (Cat) Williams went out for a drive
On the outskirts of Houston on a Saturday night
The cops pulled him over and it was alleged
Cleveland (Cat) Williams resisted arrest
He was shot, he tasted the warm Texas dirt
He awoke in a white room and all that heard,
“He just might pull through it, but he’ll never walk again”
then Cleveland (Cat) Williams called on a friend
“Oh deliver me oh deliver me
Take me oh Lord wherever your river leads
You’re the only one who could know what’s in store
But I’d sure like to fight in the ring once more.”
He discovered his faith, recovered his strength

Returned to the ring, no longer afraid
He stepped to the canvas to thunderous applause
‘cause Cleveland (Cat) Williams spoke to us all
He boxed with brilliance, put his man down
Continued to win, got a shot at the crown
He looked to the corner to Muhammad Ali
Then Cleveland (Cat) Williams remembered his plea
Oh deliver me
Oh deliver me
Now if I wrote this story how could I choose?
These were two good men, neither should lose
But life’s not the movies and so what occurred:
Cleveland went down for the count in the third.
He fought for a few years but his moment was gone
But it was all he knew and so he kept on
Then he lost his quickness, his money, his fame
Till a suitcase of cardboard was all that remained
And he never stopped fighting but he lay down his gloves
Then he drifted from life on that river of love
And I think of him often when I’m in despair
‘Cause Cleveland (Cat) Williams taught me this prayer:
“Oh deliver me oh deliver me
Take me oh Lord wherever your river leads
You’re the only one who could know what’s in store
But I’d sure like to fight in the ring once more.”

OUR TOWN

Our town, finest around,
A town time did not forget
Like it or not, he’s kept us in his thoughts
He has not left us yet
I used to like to see him, changing of the season
My birthday would come around
I got a little smarter, threw a football farther
Eighth grade, touchdown
He helped me get through school, I grew up to be cool
Went out with Sheila, she was fast

She still says hello to me, workin’ at the grocery
Since her husband passed.
You remember Arthur, no-talk
buzz cut, two bucks, that’s all
He ain’t there but, if you want a haircut
Get in line at the mall
Time, I can never repay what I owe
But it’s time, what you say, for adios
Why you stay, there’s no tellin’
Be on your way, you’ve worn out your welcome
We had a lot of churches, different ways to worship
Somehow, we got along
Now the altar’s a stage, Born-Again’s or New Age
Jesus, long gone
Look what time gave me – a cute little baby
I’d lullaby little guy to sleep
I wish I was lyin’ but my boy is dyin’
Chrystal meth has got him beat.
Time, it’s a day for adios
In time, this town of mine will be a ghost
Why you stay, there’s no tellin’
But I got to say, you’ve worn out your welcome
I don’t want your company but yet you come with me
When I visit where Daddy rests
I wish I could be civil, shake your hand, talk a little
But I just ain’t there yet.
Our town, finest around,
A town time did not forget
Like it or not, he’s kept us in his thoughts
I wished that we’d never met.

QUEEN OF THE HOUSE

He was the King of the bar
Pretty much a star of Main Street
He taught us how to drink
Taught us not to think too much
Yeah, he wore the mantle

at our neon castle on Main Street
But when he left town,
He left that crown in the dust
He’d go home to the Queen of the House
Givin’ him hell
He’d go home to a scene at the house
He knew so well
Then he’d pick her up, she liked that
Oh he loved, he loved his cat.
I’ve heard the stories
About his glories on Main Street
The original rebel,
They say he had the devil in him
Then came a girl
Changed the world of Main Street
And went she went away
He took that stray in
Chorus
But Kingdoms fall down and he’s all alone
And he never comes to town, couldn’t bear comin’ home
‘Cause there’s no home with he Queen of the House
Givin’ him hell
No more home with a scene at the house
He knew so well
He used to pick her up, she liked that
Oh he loved, he loved his cat.

DOWN TO RIO

Ginger Rogers starin’ at the ceiling,
Grieving, unbelieving he was gone.
Three a.m., she finally gives up sleeping
Goes downstairs and puts the movie on
And she remembers how he used to hold her
He wasn’t tall not a handsome face
But they would swirl and twirl the Cariocca
And she stepped into a state of grace
Flying down to Rio

America was in the depths of winter
1933, St. Paul
A young girl is lost to Fred and Ginger
And in the dark she forgets it all
The father out of work, the broken mother
The guilt of a stolen dime
She slips into a world where no one suffers
And takes the trip one more time
Flying down to Rio
I first saw them when I was ten,
Looking for John Wayne
But I fell to their spell
And I got on that plane
Down to Rio
Ginger Rogers starin’ at the movie
The only time her life felt real
Photographers would soon begin shooting
Asking, “How do you feel?”
“Share with us some sentimental secret,
tell us why your life is such a mess.”
She steps into the place where she keeps it
And crying, she holds the dress.
Flying down to Rio.

TIME TO GO

She wakes she was sure she was already dead
She wakes to a nurse standing over her bed
He holds her hand, her last friend
Says “You were havin’ that dream again.
You were smiling in your sleep, face lit up.
You were someplace deep, didn’t want to get up.”
She remembers now in a tree on a farm
She was four she was falling to her father’s arms
Hey, it’s time to go.
Hey, it’s time to go.

Her husband’s gone seven years now
Friends followed him along or moved down south
Her cat couldn’t come here, she’s alone
She’s had enough, time to go home.
Hey, it’s time to go.
Hey, it’s time to go.
Light embraces dark
Falling, fading stars
Trace a graceful arc
Light embraces dark.
She hears him whisper “Sweet goodnight”.
She feels him kiss her hand held tight.
She dreams and drifts, her father’s there.
Up he lifts her, tussles her hair.
Her mother comes, folds her in
They lie in the sun, become the wind.
Hey, it’s time to go.
Hey, it’s time to go.

APPOINTED HOUR

She failed to appear at our appointed hour
The sky didn’t hide its blue
No branches shivered, no grass grew withered
But somehow, of course, I knew.
The swallows didn’t falter, no, they didn’t alter
Songs sweet and clear.
The world pretended it had not ended
At the hour she failed to appear.
No need to stay, I walked home
Made my way through dust and bones
Morning passed, shadows fell
Then at last the tolling bell.
I failed to achieve success in the city
Some forty-two summers ago
I lived with abandon, wandered at random
And came here to live alone.

I happened upon her, a hillside our altar
One summer Sunday noon.
We shared bread, we shared laughter, every Sunday thereafter
Till she failed to appear too soon.
This heart I’d known, now turned to stone,
I woke only at night and wandered alone.
I trampled on flowers, I wished they were gone
And I cursed the hour that promised the dawn.
She failed to appear at our appointed hour
And now it’s been two years.
I sit on our hill and think of her still
And I know somehow she’s here.
She lives in the rhythms the world was given
She fills the fields with flowers
And she waits with the sun till my day is done
And will meet at our appointed hour.

ONE DAY CLOSER

Every day we’re one day closer to death
Every day we’re left with one day less
At seventeen it seems it’ll never end
Then suddenly seventy’s around the bend
And every day is one day closer to death.
Every step we’re edgin’ up near the ledge
Any second not getting’ up from our beds
You go to sleep feelin’ sorta out of sorts
Then in your dreams you become a corpse
And every day is one day closer to death
You could choke on a burger, have a heart attack
Have a stroke, get murdered by a maniac
Existence starts to slip the minute we begin it
We drift into an abyss; I don’t want to go in it.
To accept my fate, I meditate
Then I bake a cake and medicate
And every day is one day closer to death
Every day we’re one day closer to death
Every day we’re left with one day less
So think about the final words you might say
I bet mine are gonna be “No way!”

And every day we’re a little bit older
It once was May; it’s a little bit colder
Every day we’re a little bit closer to death

EISENHOWER ON THE BEACH

Eisenhower on the beach
Nineteen-sixty-four
He’d come back to give a speech
On twenty years before
He looked upon the dignitaries
Waiting on his words
He’d written, “This was necessary.
Freedom was preserved”
Then the ocean, the wind took him away
Something woke within and all he could say
ohhh
Returning to his senses,
“Had he sung out loud?”
Silence had descended
Upon the gathered crowd
What this was, he’d never known
He picked up his notes
Leaned into the microphone
He cleared his throat
But once again words, simply would not come
But this time he heard the crowd sing as one
ohhh
What more was there to offer
To waves of men in water?
Eisenhower never spoke
Of Normandy again
He had a wife, a family
A garden to tend
The battlefield of Gettysburg
was just beyond his home
On hallowed ground, he was found
He lay down with his own

They placed him in a tomb in Arlington
His soldiers saluted without their guns

HER LIFE

Their daughter
His wife
Their mother
Her life
Their sister
Our friend
On this river
Thee we do send
Thee we commend
She is still with us
Love does not end
She lives within us
Mother, daughter,
Sister, wife,
Friend.
This family
These friends
We never had thee
Your life you did lend
Sacred sister
Be on your way
This same river
We’ll sail someday.
We’ll sail away.
She is still with us
Love does not end
She lives within us
Mother, daughter,
Sister, wife
Friend.

DEATH CAME BY

Death came by for a visit.
I sighed, I said, “Oh C’mon!
It couldn’t be that time now is it?

I’m sure you’ve got it all wrong.
So he check his pocket-sized ‘Day-at-glance’
“Hmmm, I’m early an hour or two.
So why don’t you tell me while you have the chance
Why life is so precious to you?
I showed him my children, my wife and the moon
We laughed, we turned somersaults
Played “Sgt. Pepper” and sang out a tune
And I showed him how to waltz,
Oh how we did waltz.
“Now, Death I’ve shown you a little of life,
tell me a bit about you.
Will I see angels, colors and lights
Or will it be bitter and cruel?”
I told him I was frightened of what lay ahead
And sad for those who would cry
He held me gently to his chest
And sang this lullaby
“I’m your mother, your father, your grandparents, too.
I’m leaves that have fallen, flowered that bloomed.
I’ve always been with you though you never knew.
I’m your mother, your father, and now, I’m you.