The oldest song that I wrote on this album is about driving toward Los Angeles; the newest song is about driving away. In between, all the threads that connect those two road trips, so many years apart – a tangled nest of wishes, dreams, kisses and questions. If I were to pull at those threads, they might lead back through the last nine lives, from Hollywood to Burnside and beyond. Which are the memories, which are the lies? I’ll never tell. There’s nothing in writing here. Just listen.
Production Credits:
Produced and Arranged by Nelson Bragg (except as noted below)
Engineered by Steve Refling at Lincoln Lounge
Mixed by Nelson Bragg and Steve Refling
Mastered by Brad Vance
Tangle-Free World, The Night She Learned to Drive, Paper Umbrella
Produced by Phil Parlapiano and Nelson Bragg
Now You Can Hurt Me
Produced by Anny Celsi and Nelson Bragg
Recorded at Catasonic Studios, engineer: Mark Wheaton
and at Lincoln Lounge, engineer: Steve Refling
Cover Art by David Chelsea
Graphic Design by Gwen Koger
© and Ρ Ragazza Music 2009
Players:
1. Tangle-Free World
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion, Piano
Dave Sutton Bass
Jonny DuFresne Electric Guitar
Ivan Pyzow Trumpet, Trumpet Arrangement
Phil Parlapiano Acoustic Guitar, Octomandolin
Carl Byron Organ
Robbie Rist 6 & 12-string Electric Guitars
Rick Gallego Coral Sitar
Backing Vocals Evie Sands, Adam Marsland, Teresa Cowles
Backing vocals arranged by Adam Marsland
2. Thanksgiving in Hollywood
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals
Robbie Rist 12-string Bass, Electric Guitar, 12-string Rickenbacker, Baritone Guitar
Steve Refling Electric Guitars
Carl Byron Organ
3. Own Sweet Time
Nelson Bragg 12-String Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Drums, Percussion
Probyn Gregory Bass, Trumpet, Slide Guitar
Carl Byron Piano, Wurlitzer
Amy Farris Violin, Viola, Cello
Backing Vocals Teresa Cowles, Anny Celsi
String arrangement by Paul Von Mertens
4. First Love Freezes
Nelson Bragg Drums, 12-string Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocal
Shawn Bryant Bass
Jonny DuFresne Electric & Slide Guitars
Steve Refling Electric Guitars
Carl Byron Piano
Amy Farris Violin, Viola, Cello
Rick Gallego Pedal Steel Guitar
String Arrangement by Nelson Bragg
5. The Night She Learned to Drive
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion, Sleighbells
Anny Celsi Acoustic Guitar
Jonny DuFresne Electric Guitar
Dave Sutton Bass
Carl Byron Piano, Organ
Ivan Pyzow Backing Vocal, Desk Bells
6. Now You Can Hurt Me
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion
Steve Refling Acoustic Guitar
Scott Bennett Piano, Organ
Paul Von Mertens Saxophones
Nick Walusko Electric Guitar
Dave Meshell P-Bass
Backing Vocals Evie Sands, Teresa Cowles, Anny Celsi
Horn arrangement by Paul Von Mertens
7. Some Velvet Morning
(L. Hazlewood)
Nelson Bragg Vocal, Drums, Percussion, 12-string Acoustic Guitar
Nick Walusko Electric & Baritone Guitars, Guitar Arrangements
Brett Simons Double & Arco Bass
Ivan Pyzow Trumpet, Desk Bells
Probyn Gregory French Horn, Baritone Horn
Amy Farris Cello
8. Dream Boy
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Piano
Shawn Bryant Bass
Jonny DuFresne Electric & Baritone Guitar
Carl Byron Organ
Backing Vocals Nelson Bragg, Anny Celsi
9. Piece of Heaven
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion, 12-String Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Bells, Stylophone, Backing Vocals
Shawn Bryant Bass
Jonny DuFresne Electric Guitars
10. Sally Go Round the Roses(featuring Evie Sands)
(Z. Sanders, L. Stevens)
Nelson Bragg Drums, Percussion
Evie Sands Electric Guitar
Teresa Cowles Bass, Electric Guitar
Carl Byron Piano, Organ
Backing Vocals Evie Sands, Teresa Cowles, Anny Celsi
11. Paper Umbrella
Nelson Bragg Drums
Dave Sutton Double & Arco Bass
Phil Parlapiano Acoustic Guitar, Vibes, Glockenspiel
Carl Byron Piano
Amy Farris Violin, Viola, Cello
String arrangement by Amy Farris & Phil Parlapiano
Writing Credits:
All songs written by Anny Celsi (Ragazza Music, BMI)
Except Own Sweet Time and First Love Freezes – lyrics by Anny Celsi, music by Nelson Bragg (Oh My God That Song is Great, ASCAP)
Some Velvet Morning written by Lee Hazlewood (Criterion Music Corporation)
Sally Go ‘Round the Roses written by Loni Stevens and Zell Sanders (Bonny View Music Corporation)
Song Lyrics
All songs © Anny Celsi/Ragazza Music (BMI) except 'First Love Freezes' and 'Own Sweet Time' - lyrics by Anny Celsi, music by Nelson Bragg. All rights reserved.
TANGLE-FREE WORLD
Music playing- Something’s burning in the air
smells like candy, his fingers in her hair
And tomorrow he’s still tangled there
But boys and girls can’t live in a tangle-free world
Girl tastes sweeter every time they kiss
Boy can’t help it, he cannot resist
It’s not like him to get tangled up like this
But boys and girls can’t live in a tangle-free world
You want to live in a tangle-free world
You want to be with a tangle-free girl
But you got tangled in her dreams
Tangled in her curls
Boys just can’t be free in this world
Now she’s falling - falling every day
He’s so sorry, it’s all that he can say
It’s not so easy to lock your heart away
But boys and girls can’t live in a tangle-free world
THANKSGIVING IN HOLLYWOOD
Thanksgiving in Hollywood
The sun beats down as we go riding
Over the river and through the woods
Across the freeways cars colliding on
And if it all burned down
I don’t even think that I would turn around
Thank god for the boulevard
A place to seal our dreams in plastic
I’d be laughing if it weren’t so hard
To look back on the light fantastic now
And say the words out loud
Do you ever wonder why we stuck around?
Just to pick away at the bones and pieces
That feast has failed me somehow
There’s plenty left for those who want it
The wild wild west and the ghosts that haunt it now
Thanksgiving in Hollywood
The knives are out on every corner
Hot wind through the neighborhood
I should have felt it years before and now
I roll the window down
And I throw every last illusion tp the ground
Thanksgiving in Hollywood
There’s plenty left for those who want it
Thanksgiving in Hollywood
The wild wild west and the ghosts that haunt it now
And if it all burned down
I don’t even think that I would turn around
FIRST LOVE FREEZES
One long midnight passing blindly
Kept us drifting, shifting slightly
Hid the cracks that grew so slowly
Til the daylight came to show me
All my sins of inattention
Far too numerous to be mentioned
Could’ve used some intervention
Here’s the news, I’ve learned my lesson
Morning breaks
The pieces scatter
First love freezes, then it shatters
First love freezes, then it shatters
Saw your shadow pass the doorway
Heard your footsteps down the driveway
Loving’s hard, and leaving’s easy
When you’re one part home and two parts highway
Morning breaks
The pieces scatter
First love freezes, then it shatters
First love freezes, then it shatters
THE NIGHT SHE LEARNED TO DRIVE
Wake up Jonah, it’s Arizona
Miles of blackness, lightning frozen
I’ve been driving, you’ve been dreaming
Drums are playing on the radio
Take this night with you -- Keep this picture in your mind
Cause this lightning can’t compare to the storm we left behind
Wake up Jonah, cause we’re leaving
Don’t wake Daddy, he’s still sleeping
Bring the dog in, it might start raining
No, you can’t take him -- I can’t feed him too
Take this night with you, cause right now it’s all I know
I can only see as far as where the headlights hit the road
Someday you’ll know why you saw your mama cry
Under Arizona skies
On the night she learned to drive
Wake up Jonah, it’s California
Sun is rising, the storm is over
Turn the radio on, check the weather
We’ll learn to read this map together now
Take this night with you, take the lightning and the drums
Cause this road ain’t near as rough as the one that’s yet to come
Someday you’ll know why you saw your mama cry
Under Arizona skies
Take this night with you -- Keep this picture in your mind
Cause this lightning can’t compare to the storm we left behind
Someday you’ll know why you saw your mama cry
Under Arizona skies
On the night she learned to drive
NOW YOU CAN HURT ME
What kind of statue would I be if this didn’t feel so good?
You in my life every day
Pulling my heart out to play
What kind of stone would say it doesn’t feel like love?
Little by little it all means a lot more than it should
Stolen kisses in the bath
Arms and legs across my path
Late nights and morning laughs – it sure feels like love
But now that the walls have come down
Guess what I’ve found
Now that the toybox is turned upside down
Now you can hurt me
Now you can hurt me
Now you can guess what I’ve found
Now you can hurt me
Once we were playing by the rules that I’ve learned so well
Act like you just don’t care
Don’t ever say it’s not fair
Baby I swear, I never meant to fall
But now we can’t go back again
Now that you’re in
Watch where you step, cause the ice on my heart is thin
Now you can hurt me
Now you can hurt me
Now you can guess what I’ve found
Now you can hurt me
OWN SWEET TIME
Long before you left me darling, I knew you were gone
Other arms were reaching for you - I could not hold on
Clinging to your kisses
Waiting for the blow
I could feel the fire burning low
Something in your suitcase, something in your eyes
Circles on your calendar I didn’t recognize
All along the river
Weeds are gonna grow
I could feel them creeping from below
But in their own sweet time
The things that we don’t want to know
In their own sweet time are gonna show
I’ve read all the books on love, but none of it applies
Once you hear the music and you see the curtain rise
Just don’t get too cozy
Standing in the glow
There’s a colder wind that’s yet to blow…
But in their own sweet time
The things that we don’t want to know
In their own sweet time are gonna show
DREAM BOY
Desperate to leave him, she told him a lie
She didn’t know what else to do
It just wasn’t working, she couldn’t say why
And nothing she said could get through
He went out drinking and he came home drunk
Looking for someone to blame
There was Jack in his system, a gun in the trunk
And she mentioned somebody’s name
Dream Boy, slipped from her heart to her tongue
A boy she knew when she was young
Dream boy, she hasn’t seen him in years
But some dreams just don’t disappear
Quarter past midnight, a man takes a walk
Leaving his shift to go home
Somebody stops him who just wants to talk
About a girl he used to know...
Are you the one that she dreams of at night?
Who does she see when she closes her eyes?
Which are the memories, and which are the lies?
Dream Boy, slipped from her heart to her tongue
A boy she knew when she was young
Dream boy, she hasn’t seen him in years
But some dreams just don’t disappear
Four in the morning a body is found
There’s always a woman to blame
Just at that moment clear across town
She wakes up calling his name
Dream Boy, slipped from her heart to her tongue
A boy she knew when she was young
Dream boy, she hasn’t seen him in years
But some dreams just don’t disappear
PIECE OF HEAVEN
Have you ever seen a little treasure that you couldn’t resist?
Riding home from work, your hand beneath your shirt, clenched tight in your fist?
Something so unique, such a little piece, it’ll never be missed
To see the light in her eyes when she looks at the skies
And she’s holding this
I only brought it home to please her
A piece of heaven in her hand
I told her keep our little secret
And if you had a daughter you would understand
If you had a daughter you would understand
I know 'bout all the things you lift, pens and paper clips too
Bank tellers know, and every CEO, nobody’s immune
But who wouldn’t want to see the look upon the face of a little girl
When daddy hands her a piece of the moon
And says, Honey it’s for you
I only brought it home to please her
A piece of heaven in her hand
I told her keep our little secret
And if you had a daughter you would understand
If you had a daughter you would understand
There’s bigger stories to be told
This one you’ll find below the fold
Did you hear what the janitor stole
Did you hear what the janitor stole
But there are shops and restaurants filled
With jewelry and hundred dollar bills
You only take what means the most
You only take what means the most
You only take what means the most to you
I only brought it home to please her
A piece of heaven in her hand
I told her keep our little secret
And if you had a daughter you would understand
If you had a daughter you would understand
PAPER UMBRELLA
There is no evidence, dear, to convict us
Nothing that’s touching your heart to mine
No solid line that could ever connect us
Nothing in writing
Nothing in writing
Nothing uniting us now
Words by design disappear as we speak them
Love, undefined, disappears just the same
Promises written, it’s harder to break them
But we’ve nothing in writing
Nothing in writing
Nothing uniting us now
Love opened wide like a paper umbrella
One heavy rain, and my shelter was gone
Nothing to hide but the kissin’ and tellin’
Nothing uniting us now
I told my tale to a train that was leaving
A tide that was ebbing, a moon on the wane
And when they return, it’s your name they’ll be breathing
But there’s nothing in writing
Nothing in writing
Nothing uniting us now