Tick Tock
Lyrics & Credits
Artwork by Vicki Idema
1. Disgrace of God………...........(Sam E. Holmes)
I am ashamed to admit that I am guiltier than anybody at not being able to look in the eye of those less fortunate than me, for fear of looking at myself in some distant or not so distant future?
Something ‘bout hunger that takes away your pride,
Takes the edge off being hard
Something about their scorn makes you wanna hide,
Seek the shadows of the dark
“Mommy has that man been sleeping outside?
What do you mean about him paying the price?”
Something about the cold makes you go deep inside,
Close the lids over your eyes
Something ‘bout winter winds whipping you w/ sleet
So summer’s swelter you never seem to mind
Something about missing a whole mess of your teeth,
Makes a smile hard to find
“What do you mean he’s just down on his luck?
Do you mean he’s lost a bet?”
Something about that nightstick that you didn’t duck,
Makes muscatel as good as it gets
Went to the mission to get something to eat,
The servers couldn’t look me in the eye
Their measured servings seem to serve themselves,
To the disgrace of God go I
Something ‘bout the slamming of a county jail door,
Makes freedom seem like more than just a word
Something ‘bout no one that you call no more,
Makes independence seem so absurd
“Mommy, can’t we just give that man a buck?
So he can buy something to eat.”
Something about 2 days on an empty stomach,
Makes a trashcan worth a peek
Went to St. Mary’s to get out of the rain,
But Jesus couldn’t look me in the eye
Seems like he has his own cross to bear
To the disgrace of God goes I
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Jasmin Woodside
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitar, Vocals: Sammy Holmes,
Dobro: Jeff Hino, Harp: Dave Plaehn Banjo: Steve Speth
Vocals: Kathy Cvitanich, Barb Barry-Doyle
3. Jack in My Dreams………….(Sam E. Holmes)
I had a girlfriend who worked at a Senior Citizen Center. She would daily bring back great stories of the women she spent time with.
She tells me her husband died 5 years ago
Since then she’s been mostly on her own
“Of course the kids, they’ll call sometimes
And every month or three they’ll drop on by”
“Sometimes I see Jack in my dreams
He looks so young it seems
Not like those last few years”
Though she sits in the front row, all the way to the back
Her voice can be heard though it breaks and cracks
“I may not look quite as old as I am
I get along better than most my age can
I know I should be grateful for these good years of my life
Sure wish the kids would come on by”
“Sometimes I sit on the back porch swing
Listen to the breeze sing
It sounds just like those years
Sometimes I see Jack in my dreams
He asks me how I’ve been
He’s waiting there for me”
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Kevin Van Walk
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitar, Vocals: Sammy Holmes
Piano: Dave Feinberg, Banjo: Steve Speth
Harmony Vocals: Barbara Barry Doyle
5. What Have You Done for Me, Lately?………....…..................(Steve Goodman, Shel Silverstein)
Steve Goodman wrote the melody and the chorus. Shel Silverstein listened to it and mailed Steve back the “She was young….” verse. I arranged the song into a duet and added the verse about “He played guitar…….” So technically speaking, you could say I wrote this song with Steve Goodman and Shel Silverstein. Well, if you can overlook the fact that they both were deceased when I penned the last verse…………...
What have you done for me lately?
Is such a common attitude
What have you done for me lately?
Is how friends show their gratitude.
Just when you’re in need of a little support,
Their faces get long & their memory gets short
What have you done for me lately?
Lately I’ve been doing w/out you
She was young & beautiful and drowning
& I was the only hero in the crowd
I gave her artificial respiration,
Mouth to mouth resuscitation
Took her home and I dried her out
Fed her on chicken soup and chocolate,
Tucked her right in a feather bed
Nursed her through the night and with the morning light,
She turned over, looked at me & she said:
What have you done for me lately?
Lately I’ve been doing w/out you
What have you done for me lately?
Don’t let me be misconstrued
Cast your bread on the water and what do you get?
A hard luck story and your bread gets wet
What have you done for me lately?
Lately I’ve been doing w/out you
He played guitar, sang w/ the band in the bar,
And he’d lost his girlfriend
So I patched up some of his britches,
I scratched all of his itches
Gave him a soft place to land,
I bought him a new shirt, hat & shoes
Gave him some beer money to wash away his blues
One nite I had to work late but he couldn't wait,
My iphone gave me the news:
What have you done for me lately?
Lately I’ve been waiting on you
What have you done for me lately?
What I am supposed to do
You know that song I wrote for my old girlfriend
It's climbing the charts now she wants me back again.
What have you done for me lately?
Lately I’ve been doing without you
Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals: Sammy Holmes
Clarinet: Bill Pfender, Piano: Dave Feinberg
Drums: Brian Bucolo, Duet Vocals: Evelyn Idzerda
Banjo: Steve Speth, Electric Guitar: Paul Regan
7. Much Ado about Nothing...............(Holmes)
I have bequeathed untold grief on many a girlfriend and significant other by my frantic preoccupation with getting everything in the world done, and done TODAY. They get the last laugh here, the joke is on me (always was).
Today, I’ve got nothing to do, all day, with nothing to do.
How could anything go wrong?
All day, I’ve got nothing to do, today, with nothing to do,
And it’s gonna take all day long
So, one day my baby, looks at me kinda funny and says
“there`s something terribly wrong with you, honey
W/all the 1000’s of things it appears you can do,
There’s one thing pert near impossible for you.”
“Well, so what’s that?” “Nothing.”
“So now, just what kind of nothing?”
“The nothing kind of nothing
See you can’t do nothin cuz you`re always doing something”
Now it seems like since that very first night,
I’m always wrong, she’s always right
But when she bets I can’t do nothin the whole day thru,
I get to thinking, “hey nothing, that ain’t nothing I can’t do”
Today`s my first day on the job, and I didn´t want to be late.
So, last night I set the alarm for 3 hours before 8
Cause if you don`t start at the break of dawn,
You can´t say you’ve been doing nothin’ all day long
So, I saunter on down by the old fishing hole.
My sister calls me over, says "I've got an extra pole"
“Any bites?” I ask. “Nothing nothing, all day."
“That’s the only kind of fishing I can do anyway!”
So I sits for a spell and lets out a bit of line
& feel a little tug in nearly no time
So, I hand the pole back, “Hey gotta go sis,
Can’t let my baby catch me reeling in no fish”
So my baby calls me over & asks me for a lil’ ol’ kiss,
I`m busy doing nothing, ain`t got time for this”
“Now, can’t you just take a lil’ ole break,
There’s rest o’ the day for’ doing nothin’ for goodness sake
Anyways, it’s OK when you do something for me,
“Just listen very carefully:
See if I ask you to do something, all nice & politely,
After you do it & I thank you kindly
All you got to say is “it´s nothing.........................then it is!
Percussion: Dave Chiller, Kevin Van Walk,
Bass: Kristin Latham, Sis: Maggie McGill
Duet Vocals: Rebecca Sweet Fiddle: Craig Wallace,
Mandolins: Clint Epps, Harmony Vocals: Eric Smith,
Guitars, Vocals: Sammy Holmes, Banjo: Steve Speth
9. Hello in There........................... (John Prine)
As I was putting this recording together, it dawned on me that I could get nearly all the musicians in town that I have played with or would like to have played with on it. This way when I am in my 90s and in the retirement home, I can reminisce with my buddies by listening to then on this recording. Then, I remembered I had a couple of half finished cover songs from a defunct project a few years back-with people like Kirsten, Jacques and Brian. So I pulled it from the recording rubbish heap and you know, it turned out pretty good! Well anything is gonna be good when you get Jenny Getty singing on it........
We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Billy liked living there.
Well, it's been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own, left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joey is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean War,
Still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.
You know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder every day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."
Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more,
We sit and stare out the back porch screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream, that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what’ll I say if he asks "What's new?"
"Not much, how about you?” “Ain’t got much to do.”
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass them by or stare
Like you didn't care, say: "Hello in there, hello."
Piano: Kirsten Winters, Violin: Jacque Gabriel,
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Brian Bucolo,
Duet Vocals: Jenny Rose, Mandolin: Theron Yochelson
Bass, Guitars, Vocals: Sammy Holmes, Banjo: Steve Speth
11. Molly O………………………...................…(Holmes)
Simply the best song I have & will ever have written. Steve’s wife, Mary, really liked this song & thought there should be more songs like this on the recording. But, there’s only one Molly O.
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Kevin Van Walk,
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitars: Sammy Holmes
2. Money and Her Fool ..........(Sam E. Holmes)
Obviously, I had been listening to too much Lyle Lovett when I started writing this song. Meant to be just for fun, any resemblances to a former relationship are entirely coincidental.....save the fool who is definitely autobiographical.......
I used to pinch a penny so hard it could turn into a dime
I’d only pay cash; I never bought nothin’ on time
She says “honey, I love you just the way that you are
But unless you change a lil bit, you’ll never go far”
She says: “Now, I like diamond rings upon my hand
And I fancy being found with a fine dressed man
I just love the smell of a brand new shiny car
And honey I love you just the way that you are”
Honey, I love you just the way that you are
Honey, I love you just the way that you are
The way you spoil me you’ll steal my lil’ ol’ heart
Honey, I love you just the way that you are
I’m getting letters from some guy, I ain’t ever met
Asking me if I’d like to open a personal line of credit
But before it hits the bottom of the garbage can
She catches it & says: I gotta be finely dressed like my man
So forget that savings account man you gotta live for today
And stop stashing all that cash in your 401k
By the way we just got a couple of matching Master Cards
Oh and honey, I love you just the way that you are
Honey, something about you seems to have changed
The man at the bank says you just ain’t the same
I really hate to pitch a hissy and give your world a stir
I think that I much preferred you the way that you were
Money and her fool are soon parted
Money and her fool are soon parted
I’d like to go back to before this whole thing started
Money and her fool are soon parted
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Kevin Van Walk
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitar, Vocals: Sammy Holmes,
Trumpet: Rob Birdwell, Piano: Dave Feinberg,
Duet Vocals: Rebecca Sweet
4. Siempre puedo pensar en ti……....(Holmes)
I had been working on this song for years, but could never come up with words that weren’t already used millions of times. So, I finally tried writing it in Spanish. I suspect the words still have been used “millones de veces,” but since I am such a novice in Spanish, I can plead ignorance….easy for me in any language.
Cuando necesito una sonrisa dulce
Siempre puedo pensar en ti
Puedo verlo en tu cara y en tu alma
Cuando quiero algunas risas
Siempre puedo pensar en ti
Las oigo en nuestras voces y en nuestras almas
Todas las millas entre nosotros
Son más que las puedo contar
Todas las millas entre nosotros
Pero en mi mente, tu estás muy cerca de mì
Cuando necesito ver un poco de bondad
Siempre puedo pensar en ti
Lo veo en tus ojos y en tus acciones
Cuando quiero alguien para enamorarme
Siempre podrìa enamorarme en ti
Puedo sentirlo en mi sonrisa y en mi Corazon
Trumpet: Rob Birdwell, Piano: Dave Feinberg
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Percussion: Kevin Van Walk
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitar, Vocals: Sammy Holmes
6. This Guy Walks into a Bar.............(Holmes)
The title could have been “The History of My Life as Seen through the Eyes of Squirrel’s Tavern”………………
So, I walk into this bar with my brand new fake id,
Says right here that 3 weeks ago, I just turned 23
Sat down next to this guy, watching some game on TV
The bartender asks, “hey now boys, what will it be?”
So I order up a beer, and he, the whiskey special
“Says boy, beer's just kid stuff,
Now this'll put lead in a fella’s pencil”
So he gets to talking, about all the things he’s done
Some pretty crazy stories, but I fell for everyone
So he has some fingers missing,
One where a wedding ring could be
So you got a woman at home, old guy?
Or are you all single and free
“Single, that sounds kind of solitary,
Like I'm some sorry son of a bitch
I'd rather like to think I’m just between failed relationships.”
Then his eyes got a little misty, steel eyes of emerald green
Aw man she was something, sweetest gal that’s ever been.
He’s just this guy at the bar, keeping time with the clock
Such an elegant refrain: tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
“Hey boy, when I was your age,
Older women, they were my cup of tea
Then as I got older, them young gals, were fun and sweet
Let me tell you boy them young gals,
Man they’ll drive you plain crazy
And even the older women,
Now-a-days they’re younger than me”
So he says, “Hey bartender, have you heard my new joke?”
“Probably so, but give it a go”,
“See, this guy walks into bar........”
They can hum a few bars, to every single tune
They study the morning paper,
Like there´s some test this very afternoon
They arrive at happy hour, & depart last call,
They know every line, of every single limerick,
On every bathroom wall
They know more about nothing, more than anybody else,
Sometimes they’ll tell you all about it,
Sometimes they'll just keep it to themselves
They know the best whiskey, & they know the cheapest beer
They know the name & story of every damn fool sitting here
Just the guys at the bar, keeping time with the clock
Such a simple refrain: tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
So, I’m down at some bar, watching some game on TV
And this kid walks in, & sits down right next to me.
He orders up a beer, “I’ll have a whiskey; I’ll have your best.
Hey boy, that beer´s just kid stuff,
Now this’ll put some hair on your chest”
I say “hey there bartender, have you heard my new joke?”
“God dam, Sam, not again, but I spose I can´t tell you no.”
“See, this guy walks into a bar and……”
I’m just this guy at the bar, keeping time with the clock
That redundant refrain: tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Kevin Van Walk
Bass: Kristin Latham, Vocals, Guitar: Sammy Holmes,
Dobro: Jeff Hino, Harmonica: Dave Plaehn
Harmony Vocals: Eric Smith, Banjo: Steve Speth
Spoken Word: Sac City Squirrels, Violin: Craig Wallace
8. Our Blue……..………………...............…….(Holmes)
A song I wrote about my children’s mother, Sherry, & I breaking up. A very sad time in my life, I am sure it wasn’t her favorite time either. And there were kids involved. I think it is a very good song, but I hope I never get to write one like it again.
We’ve had our blue all through the day
We’ll have our blue all through the night
No need to drag it out anymore, anyway
Like a cigarette without a light
Kids ride their bikes up and down the street
Neighbors chance upon a fence to greet
We stick out like a couple of old sore thumbs
You think we’d notice if we weren’t so numb
Loneliness seems like a long lost friend to me
Hell, I ain’t seen him in years
Even though you’re slipping away from you
Wish I could hold back your tears
I tried to say, you thought I said, what did I say?
What did you hear? What does it all mean?
You have your lawyer,
I’ll get a lawyer bigger than your lawyer
We have the blue, they’ll get the green
Loneliness rains down its reluctant rhapsody
Like a song in search of words
I stumbled onto this melody
I’m fumbling with this melody
We’ve had our blue all through the day
We’ll have our blue all through the night
No need to talk about it anymore, anyway
Let’s just turn down the light
Flugelhorn: Rob Birdwell,
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Kevin Van Walk
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitar, Vocals: Sammy Holmes,
Banjo: Steve Speth, Harmony Vocals: Barb Barry Doyle
10. Dani and the Genie….....………….(Holmes)
Just because some are beautiful, intelligent and talented, doesn’t mean that they are free of the struggles of mental health. Then there is the illusion of comfort in alcohol. Then, the escape in a running car parked in a garage. It’s not easy on us left behind.
Dani opened up the bottle, Genie dared not startle
“You have 3 wishes for setting me free.”
Let me first have a little drink, just so I can think
Damn it, I used the first one already.”
As far as I’m concerned, there were no lessons learned
Every page just turned to sadness
& your memory keeps on shadowing me,
A ghost that just won’t let me be
I hear those chains of anguish
& you kept pushing me away, to test if I would stay
What could I ever say?
I saw you standing so tall, I thought you had it all
So full of strength and beauty
Your eyes spoke so readily, with a hint of vulnerability
Though you tried so hard not to let me see
And, you never let me in, time and time again
What was this game you were playing? And I pleaded
As I held you so closely, “please give your pain to me.”
You said I didn’t know what I was saying.
I’m so upset with you, all the crap you put us through
What were you trying to do?
W/her 1st wish was nearly empty, the Genie asked politely
“What’s the next of your wishes?”
After she finished her last sip, slowly wiped her lip
“Could I try another? That was delicious.”
Tho’ your hand held aces & kings, 10s & jacks & queens
You always played your hand so low
Oh Danielle, as far as I can tell, for all the cards you held
There was no need to fold, and so…..
Round and round it went, till our courage was all spent
And the leaving left for went
Genie says I bet I can guess what you’re gonna ask for last
Dani said “I want you back in that bottle.”
Bass: Kristin Latham, Guitars, Vocals: Sammy Holmes,
Cellos: Keith Scofield, Drums: Jasmin Woodside,
Banjo: Steve Speth, Harmony Vocals: Barb Barry Doyle Trumpet, Flugelhorn: Rob Birdwell, Piano: Dave Feinberg,
12. Even More Ado about Nothing.....................
....................(Proctor, Speth, Rowland, Van Walk, Sweet, Holmes)
This is the only live recording from the record. This song only took 30 mins. to record in comparison to the 10-15 hours for each of the other songs. Next album will all be live!!!!!
"So, how did you do today?"
"Great! Doing nothing was so easy, I should have tried sooner."
"You did nothing? All day?"
"What, you don't believe me?"
"I believe that whole pile of firewood got all split and stacked today. So, how did that happen, Mr. Do Nothing?"
"Must have been my brother."
"Isn't your brother still in jail? And by the way, your sister tells me you hooked the biggest fish ever down at the swimming hole today."
"I have a sister?"
"Yes, you have a sister, Sam. A twin sister in fact, I'm sure you can remember her?"
"She's out of jail?"
"And did you just happen to write a little ol' song today?"
"It was a song about nothing, surely that can't count."
"And remember when I asked you for that little ol' kiss. Well that wasn't just a little ol' kiss, and it certainly wasn't nothing."
"Alright, you win again."
"Well you know how much I like being right?"
"Yeah, I know how much you like being right."
"Don't forget, you get to wear my teddy tonight. Oh, wait, let me get my camera."
Fiddle: Roy Rowland, Drums: Kevin Van Walk,
Banjo: Steve Speth, Bass: Michael Proctor,
Ms. Right: Rebecca Sweet, Mr. Do Nothing: Sammy Holmes
