1. Lover's Lane
Written by James Mathus
James Mathus, Lead Vocals
Broadway really ain't quite the same
Since you and I found Lover's Lane.
Standing on the corner: 4th and Main;
Dreaming of you, way downtown, in Lover's Lane.
Sun is down, moon is bright,
Lovers want to stroll all night,
Way downtown in Lover's Lane.
Well getting high on bourbon and champagne
Just can't compare with what we share on Lover's Lane.
Standing on the corner: 4th and Main;
Still it cannot match the thrill of Lover's Lane.
Broadway really ain't quite the same
Since you and I found Lover's Lane.
Standing on the corner: 4th and Main;
Dreaming of you, way downtown, in Lover's Lane.
Sun is down, moon is bright,
Lovers want to stroll all night,
Way downtown in Lover's Lane.
When all the world is fast asleep,
She'll be jumping off Lover's Leap
With some other fella down in Lover's Lane.
|
|
2. Danny Diamond
Written by Ken Mosher
Katharine Whalen, Lead Vocals
Danny Diamond, she was a star.
She took the stage every quarter hour!
She was the hottest gig in town, in fact
He was the hottest girl around.
She had the strut, she had the lines
To make a man's heart go 'round about,
She put it all into her net until
One night after the show,
Danny gyrated, wouldn't you know,
Something had to go:
Down she smack - It was her back,
Completely crack - So fade to black...
So ends the act of Danny Diamond:
She was a star!
|
An old friend from Ken Mosher's school days later won the Miss Illinois Drag Queen pageant; Mosher wrote this tune for him.
|
3. I've Found a New Baby
Written by Palmer & Williams
Tom Maxwell, Lead Vocals
I've found a new baby,
I've found a new girl.
My fashion plate baby
Has got me a-whirl!
New kind of lovin'
Done made me her slave,
Sweet little dovin'
Is all that I crave.
Sweetest miss, with a kiss,
Full of bliss, can't resist,
Tells me lies, but she's wise,
Naughty eyes mesmerize.
You know I don't mean maybe, baby:
I just had to fall!
And that's why, that is why I say:
"Whoa, you doll!"
Whoa, my new baby,
I have found a new baby,
New baby, that's all!
|
One of the two tunes on this recording not authored by a band member, although Tom Maxwell brings his own special vocal style to the song.
|
4. Anything But Love
Written by Don Raleigh
Katherine Whalen, Lead Vocals
I sing a song about clouds and rainbows,
I hum a tune that sings like a dove,
Rhyme some words about anything:
Anything but love.
I paint a picture of my prison
With blue and gray from the sky above,
Framed and signed with the title:
"Anything But Love."
He had to go, but I won't miss him;
I have got better things to do,
Like writing stories and painting pictures
of anything but love.
I write a story about a couple,
Steal a plot from an old movie,
You can tell what inspired it:
Anything but love.
|
This is the only song authored by the bass-player of the group without a collaborator. A pretty tune, well sung by Katherine Whelan.
|
5. Good Enough For Granddad
Written by James Mathus & Don Raleigh
James Mathus, Lead Vocals
If it's good enough for Granddad
It's good enough for me!
The way it was,
That's the way it's got to be.
He told me all about
The good times that he had,
Even when the times were sad,
It was good enough for Granddad.
He's been to all kinds of places,
Been to every old foreign land.
Ain't a man alive shuck and jive
Better than Granddad can!
All the good times that he had:
They were good enough for Granddad,
They're good enough for me!
He's been to all kinds of places,
Been to every old foreign land.
Ain't a man alive shuck and jive
Better than Granddad can!
All the good times that he had,
Even when the times were sad,
Were good enough for Granddad.
All the good times that he had:
They were good enough for Granddad,
They're good enough for me!
|
Jim Mathus wrote the lyrics of this tune for his grandfather, now deceased. It pretty much sums up his musical attitude.
|
6. Wished For You
Written by James Mathus
Katherine Whalen, Lead Vocals
I wished on a star: "Send me down a lover,
"Don't want any other kind of love."
Wished on a star: "Save my heart from sadness,
"Save my mind from madness from afar."
Used to sit and cry all day,
Wonder why my loves would fade.
Used to while away the hour,
Can not go on, can not go on
Without you.
Now I don't do the things I used to do
Ever since the day I wished for you.
|
|
7. La Grippe
Written by James Mathus
James Mathus, Lead Vocals
There's a flu bug getting passed around,
And it's spreading like fire through the town.
There's a virus holing up inside us;
Everyone that I know is coming down.
There's an Asian influenza
Infecting us all by the score,
And it's turning into pneumonia,
So we must go out once more.
There's a fool-moon howling at the night,
And its bark is much worse than its bite!
So we must go out and dance around,
Yes we must go out tonight.
So the doctors came on the evening train
With their flasks and their caskets and vials.
"Mass psychosis" was their diagnosis,
So we all cashed out checks and went wild!
There's a fool-moon howling at the night,
And its bark is much worse than its bite!
So we must go out and dance around,
Yes we must go out tonight.
La Grippe!
|
Strange lyrics and a very odd musical arrangement that work very well together.
|
8. Lugubrious Whing Whang
Written by James Mathus
Instrumental
|
This is the sole instrumental piece on the recording. Lugubrious means ludicrously sad or dolorous, like the looks of a basset hound, or the sentiment of sappy song. You'll have to work out the meaning of "whing whang" on your own.
|
9. Club Limbo
Written by Tom Maxwell & John Ensslin
Katherine Whalen, Lead Vocals
Before this evening draws to a close,
And you go home to homework,
Before the moon goes down on Lonely Street,
I know a place where we can go, baby,
Where you can find out just how
Low-life can be.
Has no one told you you have a future, girl,
So bright and filled with promise?
Has no one let you down to Club Limbo?
That's just the place for us to meet, baby,
Where you can find out just how your
Life can be.
The clock is ticking and you are picking
Clothes, maybe to wear tomorrow.
You haven't met me yet...soon you will.
Down at Club Limbo they still play Stardust,
Down at Club Limbo, that's the place for love.
|
A sultry cabaret number.
|
10. Wash Jones
Written by James Mathus
James Mathus, Lead Vocals
I was talking to an oak tree
When the cypress butted in.
Out of car parts a raven
Made a nest inside my skin.
To understand me better
You all ought to follow me home.
I make a wish, I clean the fish - Lord!
That's why they call me Wash Jones.
I can scream like the cicada,
Gin the seed right out of the boll,
Ride the train to Memphis
Where there's cotton to be sold.
To understand me better
You all ought to follow me home.
I make a wish, I clean the fish - Lord!
I feel like driving but my car won't run.
I feel like plowing but my mules won't come.
I was lost down in the bottom,
I was cutting through the cane,
tied my team up to a rusty
trace chain.
To understand me better
You all ought to follow me home.
I make a wish, I clean the fish - Lord!
That's why they call me Wash Jones.
That's why they call me Wash Jones.
|
This is one of my favorites. I met gentlemen like this back during my "homeless" days on the road! The banjo scoring is impressive, and the vocal harmonies are perfect for this song.
Note: In the interactive program on the CD, the second line in the second verse reads "gin the seed right out of the bowl". I assumed from context that this is an error and corrected it, but I could be mistaken.
|
11. You're Drivin' Me Crazy
Written by W. Donaldson
Katherine Whalen, Lead Vocals
You left me sad and lonely,
Why did you leave me lonely?
I have a heart that's only
for nobody but you.
I'm burning like a flame, dear,
Won't ever be the same, dear,
I always put the blame, dear,
On nobody but you!
Yes, you! You're drivin' me crazy!
What'd I do? What'd I do?
My tears for you make everything hazy,
Cloudin' the skies of blue.
I do! I have friends who would hear me
And cheer me, believe me, if they knew
That you were the kind who would hurt me,
Desert me, when I needed you!
Yeah you! You're drivin' me crazy!
What'd I do to you?
You-you-you-you-you!
You're drivin' me crazy!
What'd I do? What'd I do?
My tears for you-you-you
Make everything hazy
Cloudin' the skies of blue.
I do! I have friends who would hear me
And cheer me, believe me, if they knew
That you were the kind who would hurt me,
Desert me, when I needed you!
Yeah you! You're drivin' me crazy!
What'd I do to you?
|
This is the second of the songs on this recording not authored by a band member. Katherine Whalen is directly imitating the version of this song she heard performed on a Betty Boop cartoon.
|
12. Plenty More
Written by Tom Maxwell & John Ensslin
Tom Maxwell, Lead Vocals
They may be walking hand in hand
Like lovers through the market square,
Selecting leather goods,
Pretending that they just don't care.
They say all the boys are monsters,
All the girls are whores,
So when you lose the one you love
There's always plenty more.
They may be in a club
All dressed up waiting to meet you,
Or in some garrett bleak
Despairing over what to do.
All the girls are monsters,
All the boys are whores,
So when you lose the one you love
There's always plenty more.
|
The lyric for this tune ran around in my head for days after I heard it. Thanks a lot, Mr Maxwell!
|
This is the debut recording of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, which made them their name in the music world. Below I present the title and lyrics of each track, name the composer and vocalist, and include some comments, where appropriate.
