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The Elmsley Count

by Adam Fromm

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1.
So here's that story that you wrote The names have all been changed Protecting no one at all And I can pretend that I can't tell Who the inspiration was Behind the man in the mask Perhaps you'd prefer to spell it all out But here on page four, the part you dog-eared and underlined This part on page seven that you circled in red Well, I know that you know perfectly well Those are words that I never could have said Chorus: 'Cause I could never be Never be your Modigliani Why should you want to be Want to be my Camille Claudel? You have always seen Always seen the magic in the clay But I can only see Only see the thousand walls that fell So you drew that picture on the wall The one in colored pencils Hanging over the bed I can always spot your signature style And there you go with that mask again You never met a metaphor That you didn't like The scribbled-in man with the painted-on smile But even through that, my face is unmistakable The color of the eye and the shape of the brow And I know that you know perfectly well It's the way you like to look at me now (Chorus) Five a.m. poetry Razor's edge opera Shadowbox crime dramas All in a row Spare me all the greasepaint Hide me from the footlights Let me draw a picture Of the reasons why I needed to go I think you knew I needed to go So consider this my last reveal Take a look before I turn my face to the door And believe when I say it's truly a shame But this mask of yours never fit so well Never was the kind To watch the world from under my hands This isn't my tale, this isn't my game And tomorrow there'll be stories about the cold-hearted ne'er-do-well Tomorrow there'll be paintings of the bastard in blue But I know that you know perfectly well The mask always better suited you (Chorus)
2.
When I woke up, I was standing at the office The second hand on the clock refused to spin Three hours down, and that left far too many left to go I tried not to think, tried not to cave right in At three o'clock in the morning, I watched my breathing Back to the mattress, one foot on the floor And somewhere in all of this, I thought of the curve along your shoulders And found I couldn't breathe as I had before In my notebook there's a stack of unmailed letters On my desk there's a pile of unpaid bills When we first met, I hoped the world would move in my direction Now I'd give all that I have to keep it still I can't blame you, I can't blame your decisions As much as I would like to some of the time I'm just weighing the pros and cons of getting down on bended knee To beg for something that was never mine I don't have it in me to wage a holy war But I'm losing the strength to keep it all inside So I'll just say that some of us bridesmaids Are getting tired of never being the bride
3.
He hides behind his Ray Bans like he's trying to keep his cool But all the while he's feeling like he never got past school "Cause she's away of all the stares while lounging by the pool She lifts a hand to wave, he lifts a hand to wipe the drool He fishes through his pockets, finds the nerve to say hello She flashes alabaster teeth, and it's on with the show She moves to slip the strap back on her shoulder, lets it go He's thinking there are things that man was never meant to know Chorus: And that's the way things go around here In case your visit didn't make that perfectly clear God knows we need a change, but God's too scared to interfere 'Cause that's the way things go That's the way things always go around here He finds a chair to lounge in like he's bound to strike it rich She like a piano, orchestrating every twitch He's scratching at his ankles; he can't seem to find the itch She knows he's gonna cave like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge She leans a little closer while he readjusts his jaw He says something about her eyes; she knows her eyes aren't what he saw He says, "I think you might be way too young." She laughs, "Pshaw Too young for good decorum, but I'm well within the law" (Chorus) Now they're heading for his Jaguar like two vultures on the breeze Her hands tugging at his elbow, his hands fumbling for the keys He never sees the flying kick that drops him to his knees His distant shrinking license plate's the only thing he sees (Chorus)
4.
Legerdemain 02:14
5.
In the village of Kildori There's a maiden young and fair Her eyes they shone like diamonds She had lovely golden hair When the country man came riding Up to her father's gate Mounted on a milk-white stallion He came at the stroke of eight Chorus: Oh, step it out, Mary, my fine daughter Marry if you can Oh, step it out, Mary, my fine daughter Show your legs to the wealthy, to the wealthy man "I've come to court your daughter Mary of the golden hair I have land and I have money I have goods beyond compare I'll buy her silk and satin And a gold ring for her hand I'll build for her a mansion She'll have servants to command" (Chorus) "But sir, I love a soldier And I've pledged to him my hand I don't want your goods nor money I won't have your house and land" But her father spoke up quick and sharp "You'll do as you are told You'll be married on this Sunday And you'll wear his ring of gold" (Chorus) In the village of Kildori There's a deep stream running by They found Mary there at midnight Where she drowned with her soldier boy But in the cottage, there was music And you could hear her father say "Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter Don't you know it's the wedding day" (Chorus)
6.
Eclipse 04:27
The moon is being swallowed by the shadows Just another couple of minutes 'til it's gone The New York chill is slipping along the baseboards And there's nothing here except the ringing of the phone "Have you been watching the moon?" you say as soon as I answer "It's a beautiful night, and I'm glad I brought my cell I'm walking along the sand, the tourists have all gone running And I've got the whole Atlantic to myself "And I just called to try to wish you down to Florida This is too good not to share, too good not to name" I say, "Geography's the bane of our existence, always has been At least your eclipse and my eclipse are the same" Sometimes I wonder how our paths ever intersected I mean, I've never been one to go dancing through the fire Twice married, twice divorced, never quite in motion Sure as hell not overhead, walking on the wire And yet here you are, all steel and ink and lightning Wielding words like claymores like I wish I could do And here I am the boy who wanted to run off with the circus Staring in awe as the circus comes to run off with you But no matter how, we've got some kind of something And though this distance sometimes feels like a losing game Still it's a beautiful night in Florida, a cold night in New York And your eclipse and my eclipse are the same To watch an eclipse is all a matter of waiting But we've got plenty of time, you and me Time enough to stay on the phone, both of us staring upwards At the spot of copper where the moon used to be And I dream of just showing up upon your doorstep With a ticket in hand and a refreshing lack of shame But for now, this thousand miles feels that much closer, just from knowing That your eclipse and my eclipse are the same
7.
The scenery is constantly unfolding Though every slab of asphalt looks the same And I feel like I could step out on the shoulder And greet every last mile marker by its name Still sometimes I wonder just what all of this is worth Body pressed against the bedroll, bedroll pressed against the earth And if you took the time to ask me, I don't think I could explain Unless you let me raise my voice in song again Chorus: There are stories in the vapor trail Stories in the tracks There are stories in my footprints The ones that won't turn back And I've got songs trapped in my lungs With every breath I let them fly As I sing for my supper Then I sing for the ride There are nights when I lose track of where I've stumbled So I search my clothing, tabulate the clues Is this the rain from Puget Sound that soaked my jacket? Is this Murfreesboro red clay on my shoes? But I don't forget the faces, I can still retain that much Every hand that brought me whiskey, brought me bread or brought me touch And for the things that are not given, for the things you have for sale Let me turn my pockets out and spend a tale (Chorus) And it's not that I'm not subject to the cold It's not that hunger doesn't sweep me like the tide And I thank you for your offer But I really must be going Couldn't quit this if I wanted Couldn't stop it if I tried I won't be envied, won't be held as an example Unless I find myself a fellow fool But still I'm welcomed into your home and by your fire Though I'm a walking condemnation of the rules But don't believe I'm lonely, don't believe I bear that shame Every story has a face, and every song has got a name And don't waste your goodbyes, the very word goodbye is wrong This road is far too short to stay away for long
8.
Untitled 03:30
He was still in college, still trying to find his way And you were self-sufficient with too much to throw away And I was treading water, doing everything I could And none of this was bad, but we were up to no good 'Cause you wrote him a note, he told you not to ask And I stood back and watched; didn't dare to make a pass Then he was out of town and you were on the phone I kept showing up—I couldn't stand to be alone Looking back it's hard to say exactly what went wrong Like someone wrote the story and we all just played along And I'd like to point my finger now that all of this is through But I know it wasn't me, it wasn't him, it wasn't you 'Cause I messed up the house and he gave you a call And you just sat there shaking and you told me about it all Then he rearranged his plans while I tore out my hair You took off for the weekend; I pretended not to care Time seems to fly when you're in up to your neck And you're trying to be friendly and politically correct But there's no easy way when you're all tied up in knots And no one can make up their minds and everyone gets caught "Cause he went on the road and you got on the ball And I moved to an apartment with nothing on the walls Then he wrote you a note, you told him not to ask And I stood back and watched, 'cause this, too, must pass
9.
Well, I thought I saw Saint Christopher on Saturday night Some cover band was playing, he was waiting in line His hair was all done up with architectural grace His attitude was polished down to a factory shine I watched him for a while as he studied his shoes He looked like he was someplace he didn't want to be And I'll bet you what's left in my pockets He never would have noticed Saint You or Saint Me Never would have noticed Saint You or Saint You or Saint Me Well, I thought I saw Saint Catherine in a café on Wednesday Wearing a blouse with a coffee stain right there on the sleeve She had a glass of burgundy and a book of Anne Sexton Both were just half-finished; she had no plans to leave I watched her wince as the binding cracked beneath her fingers She looked like she was someplace she didn't want to be And I'll bet you what's left in my pockets She never would have noticed Saint You or Saint Me Never would have noticed Saint You or Saint You or Saint Me So tonight I'll bow to the man before me, the one who accepts the dollar Tonight I'll raise a glass to a stranger's health Tonight my skin needs yours; let's go out and find each other Light a candle to save ourselves Save ourselves Well, I thought I saw Saint Michael behind the register And I thought I saw Saint Margaret across the aisle on the train So I cast my circle there on the street, just two arms wide Blinked my eyes, and nothing looked the same Because we all go to sleep with the world's weight on our eyes And we all wake up someplace we didn't want to be And we know there's nothing left in our pockets Nothing left to notice but Saint You and Saint Me Nothing left to notice but Saint You and Saint You and Saint Me
10.
Frost 02:38
You can spin us both around 'Til we're dizzy and we're lost And I can write our names here across the window pane Tracing letters with my finger in the frost 'Cause I can't help the thought That even if you're all I've got I would need nothing more There's a thousand things that we could do What with all this time to kill But believe when I say We've nothing to do today But stay where we are and just lie still So you can lie here in my arms Until the hours all turn to snow And I can keep you pressed with your back against my chest 'Til we both forget where we're supposed to go So if you wouldn't mind Sharing some unproductive time I couldn't wish more

about

All songs written & performed by Adam Fromm, copyright 2011 except "Step It Out, Mary," traditional.

Jenna Medaris: backing vocals, "Step It Out, Mary"

Thanks to Jenna Medaris, Jax Goss, Catt Kingsgrave, Liz Burke, Shira and Adam Lipkin, Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps, S.J. Tucker, Cordelia Abrams, and the dozens of you who have leaned hard and helped this album happen. I couldn't have done it without you.

Cover design by Jenna Medaris and Adam Fromm

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released November 22, 2011

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Adam Fromm Worcester, Massachusetts

New England transplant from Illinois via upstate New York, and a singer/songwriter who finally decided that the walls of his living room weren't a big enough audience. He is one-half of the folk band Murder Ballads, specifically the half with more facial hair. ... more

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