Written in 1982. Inspired by my friend Bill who lived under my apartment building in college. He regularly stopped by to shower and to share Fort Sanders survival stories. His best tactic was to go to a bar and get in a fight when it was really cold. Then he would ask the police to take him to Lakeshore Mental Hospital until he was "alright." I got the souvenir pillow cases when the weather got warm. Sadly, Bill died in 2005.

All Rich and Famous

What happens when you put a narcissist in a studio with a keyboard that has a setting that says "Stadium?" Unfortunately, he writes a six minute ballad. Recorded live at Casper Mansker Stadium in beautiful Peay Park near downtown Goodlettsville, Tennessee, this is a song about a guy writing a song making fun of a guy singing a song about a guy who spends too much time wanting to be rich and famous. Surprise ending...or maybe just a little nausea.

Ashes and Switches

My son Jack was 5 years old when I overheard him repeating, "ashes and switches and a lump of coal for Christmas." I asked him where he heard it and he said he made it up. I asked him what it was about and he said a boy who misbehaves at school and gets ashes and switches for Christmas. We wrote the words together and he recorded the vocal in 2005.

I'm So Lucky

This one started in song ten, All Rich and Famous, with the line about how lucky he is to have his wife. It began as a cynical response to her telling me to shut up... I'm so lucky to be married to someone who knows EVERYTHING... but it is the lesson I learn over and over. The person who says the least always wins. Special thanks to my Godson, Cameron Dixon, for, "...I'd be richer than Bill Gates." Fantastic drumwork by Wade Whitmire. And another thing...

SHUT UP!

Oh yeah.

Your Reflection

Many thanks to my lovely sister-in-law Carolyn Linge for being the first person I ever heard use the words, "dyed, fried, and laid to the side" when describing someone's hair. This caused me to pull a song off the shelf that was written back when "stuck-up" was still used in conversation. I dusted it off, modernized it a bit, and recorded it in 2005. This one is dedicated to songwriting genius Leslie Satcher ( it's not about Leslie Satcher), but it is as close to a Willie Nelson tune as I can write. Radical trumpet solo by Joseph Montgomery.

I Just Wanna Life

What do you do when you have the phone numbers of five lawyers memorized, you're involved in a bad buisiness deal, getting sued, hate your job, going insane and burnt out? You give one day notice, quit your job, take a year off, drink some beer and write a song about it. This one speaks for itself. Thankfully there are no pictures of me swimming naked on Baie Rouge. This one is dedicated with deep appreciation and an illegal smile to Michael E. Keeney, my cool lawyer who probably needed two years off after helping me through the dark times...

Code Brown Magnet Blues

Now could we relax and have a little fun? This is the musical version of the joke: You know you are in trouble when you have a wife and a girlfriend and two mortgages and they are all late. Code brown is the hospital term for poop. Ever feel like a turd magnet? When I wrote this song I couldn't take it seriously and I almost didn't record it. Then one day I did the Gomer Pyle voice and the rest is history. This song is for Beth and Tom Stewart and James Robert "Robbie" Williams. See y'all at the Tap Room. Also dedicated to my grandfather, Raymond Porter Bell who was the first person I ever heard say, "you could f#@% up a steel ball."

I came home and wrote this song in anticipation of what happened on May 1, 2011, when the United States Military put a bullet in Osama bin Laden's eye and dumped his body in the ocean. Hey, YOU: Wait right there. Kiss your kids and your ass goodbye. This song is for all the victims of that evil coward, and for the brave men and women of the US armed forces.

September Lullabye

Lullabye is spelled wrong on purpose, as in Bye, Bye, Osama...On Friday, September 14th, 2001, I went to church to attend a memorial service for the victims of the September 11th attacks. I had never heard the National Anthem or seen American flags on the altar in church.

There really was a guy on HBO reading a poem about his private life and about how he wanted his boyfriend to photograph it, etc., and then call him a pig. It hit me all at once that my children were going out into the world whether I liked it or not. This song started the recurring theme of this record, which is how your interpretation of the world changes when you become the parent of young kids. Calling Peter Pan...Great recording and mix by Joseph Montgomery at Rodeo Drive Studio in Jackson, Tennessee. Great musicianship by Danny Wade on bass, Seth McCarty on drums, and Shawn Trimble on rhythm and lead guitar. Kick-ass guitar solo!

Fleeting Innocence

Lord, I appologize for writing this song, and be with the starving pygmies down there in New Guinea. Amen. It was the end of the Clinton era and my oldest son was 5 and standing at the bus stop for his first day of kindergarten. Every time I turned on the TV, read the paper, talked to my friends, got on the internet, watched the news, watched prime time, or just channel-surfed there were more reasons to never let my innocent kids out of the house. People were telling me child molester jokes at work!

Heartbreaker

I bought a sexy rectifier tube guitar amplifier from another company (no names please) that I thought was supposed to be the studio "killer" amplifier, but every time I plugged it in it blew a fuse. For about a year. I finally returned it and went back to using the Line 6. I got the sound I was looking for and a fun song out of the deal. Chris Gavin played a smokin' lead guitar solo.