holiday in dirt

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Beloved Movie Star
Operator Help Me
Time Inside
End Of The Line
Garage Band '69
Bing Can't Walk ('Cause Bob Broke Both His Legs)
Brand New Special And Unique
After The Storm
Floundering
Amnesia
Whatever Happened To You?
An Act Of Faith
Beloved Movie Star Redux
Footnotes

My beloved movie star
There's more than cold cream in your jar
When eyebrows arch and lips are dry
When you're alone at night, you cry

Stuntmen make you feel secure
Wrap you up in soft allure
Your key light's bright, your close-up's now
This picture could tank, but you'll make out somehow

Can you hear the surf in Malibu
The red tide there is calling you
You are the part, why don't they know
Remember Tallulah, Janet, and Garbo

Behind you now
See someone there
She looks like you
With blonder hair
A newer one
With a younger glow
So you just cry all night
In your bungalow

My beloved movie star
Now I know just where you are
Up on a hill, in the backseat of a car
You're my beloved movie star

notes

This song was first released in August 2000 as a free MP3 download on MusicBlitz.
The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings.

stan says

I had an office on Hollywood Blvd. back in the old days, where I had a studio for a while. The street was pretty run down then and not a day went by when you wouldn't see another young hopeful with stars in their eyes getting off the bus. Hollywood is a state of mind and not a city really. It's a dream. And like any dream, eventually you wake up. It's hard sometimes to hold on to reality in a place like that. This is actually a shorter version than what I initially wrote, but we'll get to that later. I love the harp on this, and Pietra's keyboard textures are great as well. I must admit that the movie "Sunset Blvd." was an inspiration here, as well as my own encounters with things of the Hollywood kind. Another mix of this is still available for download at MusicBlitz, and on my pal Wayne Kramer's "Beyond Cyberpunk" CD, a compilation of great music from the site.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 2000 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)
Produced by: Stanard Ridgway

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, guitar
Pietra Wexstun: autoharp, keyboards

Operator help me
There's a sound out in the street
And it just keeps getting louder
As we speak

No one here to help me
And for years I've lived alone
But this street right here
Has always been my home

When the sun goes down
And all the people go inside
Yeah they lock their doors
Just hoping to wake up alive

Seems no one comes
'Til a body hits the ground
Can you send somebody now
To stop this sound?

Operator help me
Well now the sounds are getting near
And I've called you up three times now
But your voice I never hear

We'd like to stay and we could use
Some help to protect our home
But there's always a busy signal
On your phone

But now that's through
Hey, is there something you can do?

Just yesterday
When the mailman came around
I heard those runnin' feet
Yeah this used to be a good street

Operator help me
I can hear them by the door
And they're laughin' at me stuck in here
I can't hold out anymore

I'll try and call you later
From the phone in the other room
But before I hang up
Please send somebody soon

Please send somebody soon
Somebody soon

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by John Trivisonno.

stan says

A very paranoid song, but then it was right after the LA riots and I started to think about what it was like for someone living alone in a crime zone. Like a prisoner in your own house. Much in Los Angeles has changed since I grew up. A very sparse track with just me on piano. And a bit of Pietra's mellotron. Left off the Black Diamond CD. I guess I had enough paranoid songs already. I sang this just one into an old dispatcher's mic I used to use when I worked for a trucking company in the 70s. Nice huh? Call the police and play this over the phone some night.

credits

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, piano
Pietra Wexstun: mellotron

Time is lifeless
Time is here
Time is frozen
And it seems like years

Time is rolling
Time is wrong
No one knowing
Why it takes so long

Chorus:
But then you gotta roll aside
Nobody will help you
To decide
What time will be made of
You will ride
Whatever you make of
Time inside

Time will kill you
Time will heal
Time will make you
Give away or steal

Time won't ask and
Time won't talk
Time will wash away
The sidewalk chalk

Chorus repeat

Whispered:
Time...
Time...

Time won't lay down
Won't behave
Time will wear out
Like a road you pave

We are motion
We are mind
We are oceans
Winding round through time

Chorus repeat

Whispered:
Time...
Time...

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by John Trivisonno.

stan says

As it is with what I do sometimes, I wrote the music for this first, playing all the instruments myself. The lyrics grew from there. To me, music can suggest a feeling or a place, and after some writing, I'll get a clue as to what my subconscious is going on about. This song got left off somewhere, because I'd always felt I hadn't nailed the lyric yet and it just wouldn't stop. Hearing it now, I'm happy with it. There was always something else to say about "time". I honestly forgot all about this one. Lost in time I guess...

credits

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, all instruments

Commissioned for the French film Terminus.

You are my only confidant
And my only friend
Together we will share everything
Until the very end

Chorus:
There's no one here who shares my views
Or sees the way I can see
But there's just one thing that you'll understand
You'll have to even up with me
At the end of the line (x2)

I've bet it all before
But not everything I own
There are some things that you can't buy or steal
Or learn to leave alone

Chorus repeat last line x4

I toss the dice and skin the cat
And I always pay the fine
So we'll settle up even-steven
When we reach the end of the line

Hey, I hear you calling me back home
To fly or fall to the news of it all
There's no dark destiny
Fate will receive what our love will believe
'Til we reach the end of the line

Chorus repeat last line x10

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings.

stan says

I was playing two nights with my band in Paris on my first solo tour at a great jazz club called The New Morning, when I was approached by a group of cool French film makers to write a song for their new movie, which turned out to be a truly weird sci-fi picture called "End Of The Line". Starring Johnny Holiday, the "French Elvis..." I liked the title right away and said yes. They sent me some footage after I got back to LA and I got pretty into it. After I was done, the film's title got changed somewhere along the way to "Terminus". Some of you might have heard this before, but it's nice to have it here remastered for all its glory.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Produced by: Stanard Ridgway
Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1993 Mondo Spartacus / Illegal Songs (administered by BMI)

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, keyboards, guitar, harmonica
Cliff Martinez: drums
Mark Terlizzi: bass

In an old garage
Rain is comin' down
Half a block away
You can hear that sound
Powered up by love
And electricity
Makin' lots of noise
And feelin' free

Got a brand new amp
A speaker with a tear
Shock ourselves on wires
Make believe that we don't care
I call this a song
Because I say it is
This one's about Cleopatra
Or maybe Dick or Liz

Chorus:
You play the drums today
I'll play guitar
We're gonna be in a famous band
We're gonna go real far
So pass over that bottle o' wine
We'll smoke all the cigarettes
Is that a car in the driveway?
We have not finished yet

I heard an old man next door
I think we killed 'im with our sound
I saw the body in the ambulance
Maybe we should turn it down
So everybody back off one notch
And close that door on down

Chorus repeat jam on last line until, well, until you stop

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings.

stan says

This one started out as a Drywall tune, but it didn't seem to fit. I considered it for Black Diamond, but it didn't really fit there either. I guess it was just waiting for this record. I grew up as a musician playing my guitar in garages with my fellow juvenile delinquents when the parents weren't home. You could close down the door, bring out the party favors and it'd be a jammin' wino's clubhouse for the whole summer. One summer, an old man who lived next door died in the middle of our two hour plus rendition of Canned Heat's boogie lick. I'd always felt bad about that, even if we hadn't caused it. But then, we never could find out. Then, it did make us feel evil and kinda powerful at the same time. Boogie down indeed.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1996 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)
Produced by: Stanard Ridgway

performers

Ted "Sticks" Andersen: drums, percussion
Harlan Boddicker: bass guitar
Bob Elmo: bass guitar, cello, violin
Larry Grennan: percussion, background vocals
Stanard Ridgway: vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, harmonica, theater organ, recorder
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, background vocals

Commissioned for the film Slamdance

If you've got a friend that you want messed up
Just meet me on the corner by the Tail Of The Pup¹
I'll be there soon if you'll wait a while
It'll be just one punch for my « patients (patience?) »
And a drawer full of dirty shirts
We'll find out just who hurts––'cause

Chorus:
Bing can't walk
Bob broke both his legs
Bing can't walk
Bob broke both his legs

You're the one that I'll remember most of all tonight
Someone let go of my string, I'm fallin' down like a broken kite
Who's to say, and who's to know––they don't know what I know
There's something out there floatin' free
Anything I had is tangled up in the branches of a hangman's tree

Chorus repeat

Like a punch in the face or a kick in the groin
There's nothin' goin' down––goin' down but the dollar and the coin

Greasy little fingers point to ugly little lies
Hide them in a hope chest in an attic in Van Nuys
Trusted friendships can go sour––betrayal at the midnight hour
Just remember––I hate to lose

There's something out there floatin' free
Anything I had is tangled up in the branches of a hangman's tree––'cause

Bing can't walk
Bing can't walk

Chorus repeat

A touch of sin could break your back
Or scramble up your eggs

But then I've got a personal code
I just hit 'em on the head, throw 'em in a trunk,
And then I drive on down the road
Ha.

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings. The song credits are a bit light, but they're correct––they are from the Slamdance soundtrack.

stan says

A song for the movie thriller "Slamdance" that producer Mitchell Froom called me in to do. That's him on the organ. A friend who worked in television had just shown me some secret, horrific outtakes of a Bing Crosby TV special where he had tripped into the orchestra pit and broke his legs. A big piece of scenery even fell and struck Pearl Bailey on the head sitting in the front row. It made quite an impression! I certainly was not going to write anything called "Slamdance" so this subject matter seemed appropriately cryptic somehow for the film, a gangster kinda murder movie, with a lot of bones being broken and once close partners betraying one another. Being in the music business, I could relate.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1987 Mondo Spartacus / Illegal Songs (administered by BMI)
Produced by: Mitchell Froom

performers

Mitchell Froom: organ
Stanard Ridgway: vocals, all other instruments

Youth is truth they say
And old is rolled away
Grey is shown the door
While youth just paints the floor
With many colors
Bright and rainbow colors
Bright and rainbow colors

Youth is truth they say
And old is rolled away
Grey is shown the door
While youth just paints the floor

Place your seats in view
And call your guards back home
Youth will watch our gates
And yell and scream our fates
And grey will write our say
But soon will move away
To the land of ancient things
Old and ancient things

Brand new, special and unique
Bring the new, replace the antique
repeat 2x

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by John Trivisonno.

stan says

Another grand Drywall opus that somehow never got nailed up for the public. To all of those that are still waiting for more sonic-mayhem from our little hardware band and "experimental noise-combo", the construction site is still open, so don't take off your hardhats yet. This one features Pietra's "time machine - Kmart chorus" of voices and samples, arc-welded to a sentiment that we imagined piped into every consumer's zombie shopping mall in the US, at a volume that would break glass. We tried to pitch something like this to a commercial for a dot com once but they said it would scare off new investors. Kinda like what happened with Drywall, but that's another story, best left for a new "document". The high voice at the end is me after inhaling too many paint fumes at the job site. Dot gone.

credits

After the storm
We'll all need to dry out
And the forecast will be
Sunny and fair
After the storm

We'll have a big parade
And the smell of victory will be in the air
We'll march in the sun
And listen to speeches
Life will be a bowl of cream and peaches

After the storm
We'll be sucking on « swallows »
And driving our trucks in the sand
We'll redraw the maps
Wear snappy new caps
A gentle breeze will blow o'er the land

We'll pack up our things
Maybe get married
Throw off that weak, wussy
Feeling we carried
Bring it all home
In a bag to be buried
After the storm

After the storm
The flowers will grow
And pastures of plenty we'll see
We'll dig a few holes
Heat up a few coals
and have a big barbecue feed

We'll shine up our cars
Drive in the sun
Pitch a tent in the woods
And make a beer run
If somebody wants something
We might just give 'em some
After the storm

We'll march in the sun
And listen to speeches
And life will be a bowl of cream and peaches

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by John Relph and John Trivisonno.

stan says

Out for about a sec. or so as a b-side in Australia. I sometimes get mail from listeners that tell me their use for the music for things I'd never imagine. There's one crazy group that all wear engineer caps, drink beer and jump old freight trains while playing "Mosquitos" on a boombox. Others race dune buggies in the desert and light gasoline soaked tiers on fire and roll them down hills towards their friends while listening to "Ring Of Fire". I've seen the pictures. Hey, whatever gets you through I say. This one I imagine might be good for hitting yourself in the head with a ball peen hammer or maybe lying down on a sun soaked highway at noon and dodging a huge Peterbilt slamming down the I-15. It's good to know that songs can be useful for any activity of choice. After all, it's America here and I guess that's what this song makes me think of. Come to think of it, I think this started as an excuse to plug in my fuzz tone. Oh well, I hope they're insured out there.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1997 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)
Produced by: Stanard Ridgway

performers

Ted "Sticks" Andersen: drums, percussion
Harlan Boddicker: bass guitar
Bob Elmo: bass guitar, cello, violin
Larry Grennan: percussion, background vocals
Stanard Ridgway: vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, harmonica, theater organ, recorder
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, background vocals

Commissioned for the movie Floundering

Tonight I'm looking for someone to tell my troubles to
Some fish will swim but some fish just get caught
I'm walkin' by a market and I remember me and you
Feelin' like an old filet that no one bought

Chorus:
Nobody knows, nobody sees
I'm caught downstream, and I'm floundering

Walkin' by the old canal, I sit down along the shore
I throw one lonely duck my last french fry
I had a dream of drowning––I heard the underwater roar
So pack me up in ice, and take me home to fry

Chorus repeat x2

And late at night, I hear the wind just yawn
Some fish will swim, some fish will spawn

Chorus repeat x2

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings.

stan says

Written for the indie film dir. by Peter McCarthy, "Floundering" is a cool movie about a well-meaning, mixed-up guy who lives in Venice, CA. and finds himself kinda confused about politics, relationships, and well, he's just like the title says. I could relate that summer, as it seemed all my plans had come to a dead stop. Zander Schloss, fantastic musician and Circle Jerk, called about this and then together we recorded two songs for the flick. That's him on banjo, slide and guitaron. Fond memories and many beers... I think the old folk song "Long Black Veil" was in my head too on this one, "Nobody knows, nobody sees".

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1994 Mondo Spartacus / Illegal Songs (administered by BMI)

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Zander Schloss: banduria, lap steel, banjo

Commissioned for the movie Floundering

Remember me when it's over
Remember me when it's done
Remember me when it's rainin'
Remember me––I'm the one

And if somewhere I let you down
Or ever made you blue
Remember me for the way it was
And I'll remember you

Remember me when you're happy
Flyin' free in the sky
At 3 a.m. and the car door slams
Remember me when you're high

Remember me when the picture fades
Or your doctor makes a call
Remember me just for old time's sake
Or you just might forget it all

And everybody's got lessons they must learn
These days I feel a lot less time to burn
What one love will lose another love will « learn (earn?) »

Remember me when it's midnight
Or when it's hot and high noon
Or when the wind won't stop blowin' cold
Or when you heat up your spoon

Remember me when you feel alone
Helpless, without a clue
Remember me for the way it was
And I'll remember you

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings.

stan says

Another one from "Floundering", with Zander Schloss again adding his inimitable touch. In the film this was called "My Drug Buddy" but I changed it later when I was told someone else had already used that title for a song. I think "Amnesia" describes the song better anyway. I don't know, I can't remember really. This was recorded in my little home studio, sung through a three inch, batter powered speaker from Radio Shack. I really liked the sound.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 1994 Mondo Spartacus / Illegal Songs (administered by BMI)

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Zander Schloss: banduria, lap steel, banjo

Now you're a long way from graduation and the age of teen
Sometimes you feel like you woke up on the wrong side of the scene
You pull yourself out of bed, you're lookin' pretty good for your age (mm-hmm!)
You open up the paper, scan the headline and you turn the page

Now there's a picture of Melissa, yeah she married some French tycoon
It says here they bought a house from Cher they're gonna sell real soon
And on the Metro pages, Jackie downtown with the cuffs on his hands
And looks like Mary left Jerry got with Barry now they're both in some kind of rock-'n-roll band

Chorus:
I wonder whatever happened to you
Did you survive and did you get through?
I wonder whatever happened to you
Did you survive and did you get through?

Well now Jimmy's working magic on a Shanghai movie this year
While Larry's on the TV set sellin' low-cal cheese and beer
And Christie's goin' crazy paintin' tin can dolls in her garage
While Laverne walks the boulevard, and keeps chasin' Hollywood mirage

Chorus repeat

And are you happy?
And did it all work out?
Whatever happened to you?
I never found out
Where you went to

Well now sometimes I wonder whatever happened to you
Did you ever survive and did you ever get through?
And do you drive a brand new car?
And do your kids always know just who you are?
Are you happy? Did it all work out?
Whatever happened to you?
Whatever happened to you.

notes

The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by John Trivisonno and Larry Hastings.

stan says

Another "dirty audio orphan" left off Anatomy. See if you can guess what other song I wrote over these same series of chords that's on Black Diamond. I was going to call this "Missing In Action", but that sounded like a bad army movie with Gene Hackman. The lyrics started for me like this: First, I was getting out of my car somewhere deep in the hot San Fernando Valley one day when a total stranger shouted my way saying, "Hey Stan, good to see ya man! Whatever happened to you?" I, of course, asked him the same question and if he was from some lame show on VH-1. You go through life, and one day you wake up and you're 40. Fuck, are we old now?! Where did everybody go? For some reason I thought of Waylon Jennings singing this. Clue to other song: DTCH...

credits

With an act of faith, all the mountains would move
And the rain would stop all around
With an act of faith, all the dogs would stop barking
And we could move out of this town

Oh, the road up ahead would open up wide
We'd be the only ones at the line
With an act of faith
With an act of faith
With an act of faith
It'd be fine

With an act of faith, we could throw off the dust around
Leave the past way behind
We'd turn over those rocks and buy brand-new clean socks
And who knows what our shoes may soon find

All the birds in the trees would sing sweet harmony
And bring earthworms to eat on our way
With an act of faith
With an act of faith
With an act of faith
It's our day

Now I've heard what begins with an act of faith
Can bring about changes in life
Yeah, any bum on the street would stand up on his feet
And walk in direction of light
Yeah, up ahead I think I see some light!

We can bandage all the fences broken
Come together and shake hands like friends
With an act of faith
With an act of faith
With an act of faith
It begins
Right where this road used to end

stan says

I was in an old cowboy's frame of mind one day when this fell out of my head. A song that broke some writer's block for me and a song about mending old friendships that would have regrettably ended otherwise. I recorded it one afternoon in a backyard shed at a friend's house, alone, with the window open. There were a number of sharp tools lying around and I remember almost scalping myself on a pair of rusty hedge clippers hanging from the rafters. Sometimes it's best to take that leap and just trust what's there even though it could bring some pain. It's a simple, sparse song that I thought I'd re-record one day, but the more I heard this one, flaws and all, the more I felt it was just fine as it was. Don't put me back in that shed though.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 2001 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)
Produced by: Stanard Ridgway

performers

Stanard Ridgway: vocals, all instruments

My beloved movie star
There's more than cold cream in your jar
When eyebrows arch and lips are dry
When you're alone at night, you cry

Stuntmen make you feel secure
Wrap you up in soft allure
Your key light's bright, your close-up's now
This picture could tank, but you'll make out somehow

Manhattan calls
Ignore Hong Kong
Directors ring
But you stand strong
Drink champagne
And celebrate
The critics call
And they think you're great

My beloved movie star
I have watched you from afar
So confident and glamorous
Yeah you make it look so easy to us

Your agent calls, it's not your week
It's a younger one that now they seek
You are the part, why don't they know
Remember Tallulah, Janet, and Garbo

Behind you now
See someone there
She looks like you
With blonder hair
A newer one
With a younger glow
So you just cry all night
In your bungalow

My beloved movie star
Now I know just where you are
Up on a hill, in the backseat of a car
You're my beloved movie star

notes

This song was first released in August 2000 as a free MP3 download on MusicBlitz.
The lyrics to this song have not been published; they were transcribed by Larry Hastings and John Trivisonno.

stan says

Recorded at around 5 in the morning after a night of working the song through with everyone. Sun was just coming up. The first and more acoustic version of this song before I chopped it down and changed the approach. It's got more story and I like it longer like this. This happens to me a lot when I get writing a song. Most of the time I just let it be as long as it feels right for the story at first. Then I might record it another way. Listen for our dog Bart around the third verse, barking his approval. Or maybe he was just mad at his agent.

credits

Written by: Stanard Ridgway
Published by: © Copyright 2000 Dis-Information Music (administered by BMI)
Produced by: Stanard Ridgway

1. The Tail Of The Pup is a famous kitschy restaurant in Los Angeles; it's a fiberglass fast food stand shaped like a hot dog in a bun.