DEATH BY CANDY: SONG LISTING, CREDITS, & LYRICS

 

SONGS

1. Hang my Head

2. Motherbee

3. Death by Candy

4. Care Package

5. Saint at 99

6. Renter's Hell

7. Manatee

8. Residue

9. The Other Guy

10. Halo

 

CREDITS

RS: vocals, guitar, keys

guitar: Danny Horrid 

bass: Steve Flynn

drums: Jim Weston

Drums on Motherbee and Manatee: Joe Donnelly

Guitar on Renter's Hell: Chris Fitzpatrick

Engineered and mixed by Danny Horrid, John Turco Overdrive, Walpole, MA

All songs Ramona Silver, copyright 2018 Tootsie Music ASCAP

 

LYRICS    

HANG MY HEAD 

The stars are out tonight winking at me

Telling secrets that I already know

Like if I stay in line, keep it happy

 

It’s a knock on my door to let it go

I hang my head

 

The tick is starting, I feel it in me

Girls parade on platforms with lips so low

They’re out swimming while I’m stuck here fishing

 

It’s a notch I keep my head above

And when it lowers I breathe

And it’s a numb that says I’ve lost control

And when it breaks I feel alive

 

Cause it’s all just to woo you

 

Many are watching, many are listening

But as I write this line I am alone

If you take one thing -- the future is happening

 

It’s a notch I keep my head above

And when it lowers I breathe

And it’s a numb that says I’ve lost control

And when it breaks I feel alive

 

Cause it’s all just to woo you

 

MOTHERBEE

Hey it’s a lot to be

If there’s a girl that you wanna rely on she should be me

Yeah you gotta sow the seed

If you keep on putting the tie on you’ll never be free

 

I’m on my way and I’m getting paid

By hanging around all these lovers in town like a motherbee

 

Take all the red lights down

With a green and a little caution we could take town

Raise up the underground

 

I’m on my way and I won’t be swayed

By hanging around all those others gone down

 

Deep inside my starry eyes

I know it’s real I won’t be blind

It’s always extra special here with you

Even though they try to tell me

Time and time again to cure me

I can only say “it’s what I do”

 

I’m on my way yeah and I’m getting paid

By hanging around all these lovers in town who know

Life won’t love til you love what you do

 

DEATH BY CANDY

She was born her mother’s body

Call her slim but don’t call her skinny

Don’t turn sideways or we’ll miss you

Run round in showers to catch a drop or two

 

And can you stand tall when you weigh nothing at all?

And you will find in time you will be marched in line

 

And she’s got a bad mood

In the summer when she can’t get running

She can’t afford to lose

So open up, the world’s your oyster

 

Dad, please tell me, do you get the

Urge to eat ½ gallons in one sitting?

Celebrate the attack anniversary

Or pretend your heart was just kidding?

 

And can you stand tall or do you lean on walls?

And will you change ways or wait for a special day?

 

Yes she’s got a bad mood

In the summer when she can’t get running

So you’ve got some bad news

Tell her later, she’s down again

Yes she’s got a bad mood

In the winter when she misses running

Yes she’s got a screw loose

Wine or candy, it’s up in the cabinet

Load her up, it’ll break her a second

Say ahhhh

 

It’s so funny how you run me

Even better, be my life’s ending

Waking up in pools of chocolate

Make me a wrapper

Death by candy

 

Yes she’s got a bad mood

In the summer when she can’t get running

So you’ve got some bad news

Tell her later, she’s down again

Yes she’s got a bad mood

In the winter when she misses running

Yes she’s got a screw loose

Wine or candy, it’s up in the cabinet

Load her up, it’ll break her a second

Say ahhhh

 

CARE PACKAGE

I am loading the cookies

They will travel for miles

You will eat but a handful

I will eat them in piles

In a package of deep love letters

Under pictures of kids

Will you see your reflection

Or just some things that you miss?

 

I love it I hate it I’ve been in debate all my life

But now that I’m in it I wanna escape, I can’t lie

 

Cover all up all your wounds my baby

He’s coming home for a day (a day, a day)

Yeah you just stand and deliver

And then maybe he’ll stay

 

I love it I hate it I’ve been in debate all my life

But now that I paid it, I want to prorate

 

If you find in the middle of all you do to love me a little

Make me feel good all right, yeah that’s all right

But if I’m getting sick of a lack of

You think love in a package will pull me through

Not right, no that’s not right

 

Cause I’m getting drunk on a funk that smells like skunk

And you can tell me how to wash this blue stench out

 

If you find in the middle of all you do to love me a little

Make me feel good all right, yeah that’s all right

But if I’m getting sick of a lack of

You think love in a package will pull me through

Not right, no that’s not right

 

THE SAINT AT 99

When I think of you I feel so removed from the fool I am

You live in one room though your love it blooms

Through the walls and over lands

All the wars you’ve seen all the mouths you’d feed

Couldn’t tire your tender hands

Did you think you’d see the new century?

Did you hope to understand?

 

I never told you but I think you’re one of the chosen few

When my eyes behold you I swear I’m looking at living proof

Of what love can do

 

There’s a tale or two, your life in review

About a man who kept you well

Bout the kids you raised in depression days

Bout a charm you’d never sell

Still it’s your presence like I’m sitting with a saint in the room

So I’m asking you, please impart a clue

At 99 what’s life to you?

 

Somebody told me that you were the one behind the Golden Years

If I hadn’t known you I’d think to live was to live in fear

But now I see so clear what love brings near

 

I’m not the only one to tell you how I feel

Just so you know that what I’m feeling is real

 

RENTER’S HELL 

Sundown on Somerville

Tags on every windowsill

 

You bought my town, now leave it alone

You Davis highbrows will take it all down

In Union corners where we love to hide

Will be smoothed out by the SUV tribe

 

Hang all your renters out

Shaken generations upside down

 

You may measure all your wealth

Up against the Board of Health

Or you may move as soon as you can

You’ve been replaced by the suited man

 

It’s over, it’s over, it’s everywhere

Yeah it’s over, it’s all over, it’s everywhere

Yeah it’s over, it’s over, it’s every…

 

Bail out to suburbia

Hail the air and sky above

Pledge allegiance to the culdesac

Dead end roads that never grow back

They say it’s safer but who can tell

The American Dream is in a renter’s hell

 

You’ve been replaced / It’s over, it’s everywhere

 

MANATEE

I met a manatee

We swim the great wide sea

Pale roads of Hawaii coming up to me

They tell me I’m lying but I’m flying free

Pass the mountain volcanoes

Where you can depend on the pay per view

 

He travels pleasure or business

And lays the groundwork for the misses

So there’s two at home and one on Broadway

I can’t forget about my faded guitar

 

Can’t carry the road, can’t carry the load on a Maui lanai

The babes in arms are free

 

I met a manatee

We swim the great wide sea

Pale moon surrounding me

It’s a one-way ticket over

 

Can’t carry the road, can’t carry the load on a Maui lanai

The babes in arms are free

 

I met a manatee

 

RESIDUE 

Turn the pillow over, cold to a colder face

Yeah you’re feeling older laying in the same dark space

Listen to the clock tick out the time that you have left

You’re waiting for the sunrise like you’re waiting for your last breath

 

There’s a window in your room waiting for you

There’s a window in your heart that you can climb through

 

Used to love the moment, the chill of a sudden smile

Now you’re just too tired to wait for a little while

 

For the window in your room to come into view

Yeah there’s a window in your heart that’s easy to lose

But you best be aware it shows true the residue

 

Hang on, hang on, it’s all in all  (I need a better line than this!)     

Hang on, hang on, it’s all in all

Hang on, hang on, it’s all in all

 

You wake the river mourning, your soul’s in a drifting shell

Wade into the kitchen of a woman crying at the well.

Lay your dreams down gently, take her hand and softly say

I know there is a window, yeah I know there’s gotta be a way.

 

To the window in your room that’s waiting for you

Yeah the window in your heart that you can climb through

But you best be aware of the truth, the residue

 

OTHER GUY 

Do you remember the wise King James and the golden verse?

Look inside and you’ll find a life can’t be much worse than you already have

I haven’t had much luck with the other guy

 

Do you remember the time you first found God in your stocking?

Said to pray and the very next day you were blessed with a gift

But you kept on walking

I haven’t had much luck with the other guy

 

In ‘67 I was going to heaven or maybe I was born there

In ‘85 I’d found my drive

In every church, car and corner said my prayers with Little Jack Horner

 

Do you remember the time you left the swing in motion?

You said the wave that it made was as big as the God-made ocean

but I couldn’t tell, I wasn’t having much luck

 

Do you remember the child we made up on Mt. Marilla

In just one day he parted the waves

We could never go back to the way things were

And we better start growing up

 

I haven’t had much luck

And I wonder why it’s so tough, when will I measure up

To the standards of, of this other guy?

 

Everybody’s happy now

 

HALO 

Halo’s a no show

Trash can woman

It’s my ride, into the night

 

Hanging around the city at dawn

In my mind

 

Call me, tip me

Gonna step on out in the big city

Gonna be a cup, gonna get filled up

 

And it’s all human, it’s my ride

Into the night

Hanging around the city at dawn in my mind

Wide-eyes, sticking it out where I come from

And still I find

 

Gonna make my bed where I lay my head

Gonna make my head where I lay my bed

 

Set the scene…

Step to the city street below

Door slams, buildings glow and grow

Cars lined up like horses in wait

And I pray the Lord my soul will take

Curve through the square where countries meet

China, India, Brazil, Haiti

Outside a bar two lovers lose face

As I mount the hill, Prospect

And race into the Mass Ave, Central Square night

Where all life is music and music and music it pushes me

 

Into the night

Hanging around the city at dawn in my mind

With wild-eyes, I’m sticking it out ‘til I come home

Until I find I’ve got a lot to like