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Memphis {album}

by the matthew show

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1.
(copyright 2007 the matthew show) If I were a ghost of all the things I tell you Would you run, seek the higher ground If I were lost, more lost than when I found you Should I go, try to find the path again Fly around inside Windows look like sky You know it’s alright You know it’s okay Live like you’ll die someday If I made time the way I make my music Would you smile more often than you do If I smiled for once without reservation I doubt there’d be a thing we couldn’t do I curse the dashboard light Home late another night You know it’s alright You know it’s okay Live like you’ll die someday They never wonder They never question They march crying past the grave And I want to feel loved without feeling old I want to feel the wind blow through my soul I want to love you for the rest of my life And I wish that life weren’t dying Dying, dying on the vine Well, they say it’s alright You don’t get a life without pain I can’t deny that But all I wonder When it’s poison picking time Which one is mine You know it’s alright You know it’s okay Live like you’ll die someday And maybe one day And maybe sometime soon We can be happy again
2.
(copyright 2009 the matthew show) Do you remember the thing we all did With the thing and the thing and the stuff all at the same time No, I don’t Do you remember the thing we all liked Because everybody liked it and you could not say no No, I don’t But I remember hearing you say What’s the matter with people who don’t do what I do Every single day CHORUS: But I’m a nerd I do not give a shit ‘Cause what you’re selling’s not a lifetime membership You buy cool for a couple of minutes at a time And when it’s over, you’re just old, confused and tired But I don’t care I was square before you got there Do you remember the thing we all wore You couldn’t not wear it, ‘cause somebody somewhere said so No, I don’t Did you know your parents did the same damn thing Years before you came around I didn’t think so But I remember hearing you say My generation’s cooler than theirs And it will always be that way (CHORUS) Is it coincidence that these shoes and this band go together I don’t think so Is it happenstance that you sound more like everyone else every day I don’t think so You’ve been led around by the nose for so long You have no idea who you are Now sing along with the lines of this guitar Now you’re a nerd And it’s a rotten shame That you didn’t prepare a single moment for this day You can keep on talking about these kids today Turn on that old record, let it play & play I’ve been hanging around here outside of time Thinking you might figure out you’ve been blind But I don’t care You may never, ever get there I’m still a nerd I do not give a shit What you were selling didn’t pay no dividends You bought cool for a couple of minutes at a time Now it’s over and you’re just old, confused and tired And I don’t care I was square before you got there
3.
I won't be offering grace for the fallen Grace for the living's much more hard to find And I won't be offering prayers for the virgins I'll save my protection for those with the need I won't be offering legs for the lapdog Or flowers for the "so long, good riddance, goodbye" And I won't be offering candy for the babies They'll need it much more when they open their eyes CHORUS: And I walk deeper in trenches And I keep a match out for bridges behind Every time I hear innocence die And I walk deeper in shadow And I keep an eye out for you in my mind Every time I hear innocence die
4.
(copyright 2006 the matthew show) I just drank a beer, I don’t know why I just drank three more, I don’t know why Then you came down, we fooled around, and now I’m clean & dry It’s the difference between me and me & you I ate a box of Krispy Kremes today Shouted at myself to go away Then you came back and I relaxed and now I’m all okay It’s the difference between me and me & you CHORUS: Why do you leave me alone with myself The last place I ever want to be ‘Cause the difference between the wrong thing and the right thing to do Is the difference between me and me & you I had sex with Tina Fey today Then the TV stopped and made it go away Then you came in, my favorite sin, and I knew what to do It’s the difference between me and me & you Maybe I should kill myself today It’s the only thing to make me go away But I find that it’s too much of a cruel a thing to do Not so much to me, but more to me & you
5.
JFK died not a half mile from here You can still see the plaza when the weather is clear I can give you directions or take you right there On the bus down to Union Station It's an old town, it's a young town, though it's long left the stork And it hopes and it prays it'll become New York O say, can you see the East 35 fork On the bus down to Union Station Union Station, the keys to the kingdom The jewel in the crown, we're open all season All the black ones and the brown ones and the ugly white women Take the bus down to Union Station On the bus down to Union Station
6.
I’m in the cube, not on the stage I’m 31, I’ve got the impotent rage I play the lotto, I gotta win So I don’t have to do this shit again I eat the nougat, it’s my reward For waking up and coming here and being bored I coach the Yankees, from New Accounts I make the money so my wife’ll let me whip my pee-pee out I have a dream, it’s mine alone That me and her and the mortgage company own I know why the bird sings in the cage I’m 31, I’ve got the impotent rage Bought Krispy Kreme, went down real good Just like the monkey on my monkey said it would Turned on the news, it was Iraq My wife’s been in here changing stations, where my Jesus at? Well, here I am, on the road again Just like that piggytailed old hippie said And here I am, not on the stage I’m 31, I’ve got the impotent rage
7.
(copyright 1994 Carl Finch and Little Jack Melody, No Class Music, BMI)
8.
(copyright 1999 the matthew show and Jeff Simms) When you were young, you mapped the sun And all its features swirled about And now you stand, PhD in hand With no one to acknowledge it But I for one, I see that sun And I will help you follow it 'Cause you're not done yet, and you're not having fun yet And you are much too young Old enough to grieve about your life A father and his son, playing in the sandbox Potential lying everywhere But away melt the grains, to sweep away the pain Of all the things that might have been And I for one, I am that son And I ask for it back again 'Cause I'm not done yet, and I'm not having fun yet And I am much too young Old enough to grieve about my life There's still a chance to come around
9.
(copyright 2000 the matthew show) I will be there when all your gypsy days are done I will be standing by the stage at night to help you sing your songs Sing out along Give me the will to carry on Give me the strength to sing my songs And I will never be alone And I will never be the one Who always finds you there alone and tired When all along you were the only one I admired Bring me safely down This flyover town is such a crappy place to be I need a rock and roll location for my rock and roll dream What does it mean This path that leads us to our beds Our greatness waiting till we're dead And I will never be alone Bring up that melody so strong That I can scarcely hear the words or music The voice it lent itself you long ago, now use it Bring me safely down You're smoking up your mind You've abandoned common sense And you're afraid to let it out All that natural-born pretense And you do wear those clothes so well That tell the whole world what you think Yeah, you're cranking up that velvet While you're smashing all the pink Into a memory A precious memory Are you the blade that will cleave our common foe Do you feel man enough to try what I feel man enough to know It's painted gold, but it won't roll your 20 when Your sagging eyes are growing dim And I don't want to be alone Or see you dragged down by the stone Into a middle age that you see coming It doesn't give a damn for you So keep on running Bring me safely down
10.
(copyright 1996 Jason Jackson) She's a lesbian, my sister and her car Wears patchouli extract, and dances in a bar They say her boyfriend killed someone when he was a Marine But I think it's just a lie, his gun looks really clean CHORUS: Southern Belles don't wear long black veils In the springtime when it rains And I have failed to make friends outside of jail 'Cause I've forgotten everybody knows my name I got tattoos on my elbows, where they say it hurts the most Got rings on all my fingers, and diamonds on my toes I got a mirrored headboard, martini sunrise breath I don't know why I wanna live alone, I bore myself to death

about

I never thought I would release another album. The world of the single is upon us, and putting together a collection of songs to be heard as a unit seemed a bit like sending a buggywhip salesman to a car show. But in February of 2012, I brought the best band I've ever had to Memphis at the behest of a friend. We knew we would record a song by my late friend Jason Jackson at Sun Studio, but had no concrete plans for the two hours of free studio time we had inadvertently scored at Ardent. So we just started playing, and before I knew it, we had created...an album. Which, as I say, was not supposed to happen anymore. But it did, and I'm very glad to have captured this snapshot, not only of these songs, but of this group of musicians. I hope you enjoy it even half as much as we have.

credits

released October 22, 2012

Executive Producer - Fetzer Mills, Jr.
Engineered and mixed by Adam Hill at Ardent Studios and Matt Ross-Spang at Sun Studio
Mastered by Kevin Nix at L. Nix Mastering
Photography by Akisha Rundquist

matthew - vocal, guitar
Jeff Simms - drums, backing vocals
Beth Brown - violin, backing vocals
Clay Anderson - bass
Ed Rogers - lead guitar, backing vocals
Adam Hill - tambourine, mellotron

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the matthew show Fort Worth, Texas

the matthew show's songs, books, and podcasts are acclaimed widely, and have been featured on NPR & PBS. He has worked with Grammy-winning producers Matt Ross-Spang and John Hampton. He is also half of Ah Pook the Destroyer.

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