The Hold Steady Album

woke up in the 20s. there were flappers and fruits in white suits. it was right before the crash. we got thrashed throughout the 30s. queuing up for soup in scabby sores. and they sent us off to war. we came back in the 40s. there were wheelchairs, guns and tickertape. we poured it on the floor and made love to the interstates. we got shiftless in the 50s. holding hands and going steady. twisting into dark parts of big midwestern cities. tripped right through the 60s with some blissful little hippie. some kennedys got shot while you were screwing san francisco. the 70s got heavy we woke up on bloody carpets. got tangled up in gaslines. i guess that's where it started. the 80s almost killed me let's not recall them quite so fondly. some kennedy o.d. while we watched on mtv. in the 90s we were wired and well connected. put it all down on technology and lost everything we invested.

we got to start it off with a positive jam.

all the sniffling indie kids. hold steady. all the clustered up clever kids. hold steady. i got bored when i didn't have a band. so i started a band. we're gonna start it with a positive jam. hold steady.

pills and powders baby. powders and pills. we spent the night last night in beverly hills. there was this chick that looked like beverly sills. we got killed. tights and skirts baby. skirts and tights. we used to shake it up in shaker heights. there was this chick she looked like patty smythe. she seemed seemed shaky but nice.

she said my name is rick danko but people call me one-hour photo. i've got some hazardous chemicals. drive around to the window. she said my name is robbie robertson but people call me robo. i blew red white and blue right into a tissue. i came right over the counter just to kiss you.

ginger and jack and four or five feminax. psycho eyes and a stovepipe hat. a ray of light in white rayon slacks. we got cracked. shoes and socks baby. socks and shoes. we spent the night last night in newport news. this chick she looked just like elizabeth shue. we got bruised.

she said my name is steve perry but people call me circuit city. i'm so well connected. my upc is dialed into the system. she said my name's neil schon but some people call me nina simone. some people call me andre cymone. i've survived the 80s one time already. and i don't recall them all that fondly.

it was a blockbuster summer. moving pictures helped us get through to september. they made a movie about me and you. it was half nude and half true. it was a bloodsucking summer. i spent half the time trying to get paid from our savior. swishing though the city center. i did a couple favors for some guys who looked like tuscan raiders.

kids with broken hearts, kids with broken bones. kids with kidney stones giving birth to bloody stereos. systems are all dripping wet with gristle piss and swizzlesticks. mary's got a bloody nose from sniffing margarita mix. she licked her lower lip and then she kissed that halleluiah chick. she came off kind of spicy but she tasted like those pickle chips. we thought she was a dancer but her steps they made the records skip. she came off kind of crunchy but she went down like a chicken strip. dripping wet with the special sauce. she had a confidence smile and a nervous cough. we got off.

she said it's good to see you back in a bar band, baby. i said it's great to see you're still in the bars.

went down on the tallboy cans and he woke up in a cargo van. went down with the girls gone wild and he woke up with the middle man. went down with like fourteen bucks and woke up with like sixteen grand. went down with some crust punk junk and woke up with a straight edge band. that's not how he planned it.

holly can't speak. she don't feel all that sweet. about the places that she sometimes has to go to get some sleep. she said i'm sorry people think i'm pretty. these clever kids are killing me. for one they ain't that clever. number two, it really sucks when you get stuck here with these trevors. this was supposed to be a party. half the crowd is calling out for born to run and the other half is calling out for born to lose. baby we were born to choose. we got the last call bar band really big decision blues. we were born to bruise.

hold steady ybor city. you're up to your neck in sweat and wet confetti. if you want to get a little bit heady. it's gonna have to get a little bit heavy. we're jamming jetskis into the jetty now. with some guy who looks like rocco sefredi. and i've heard he's been dead once already.

it's going down right now in lowertown. they're skipping off the good ship usss sexuality. searching for the merchant with the five minute delivery. they're slipping soft rock into the setlist now. they got some new guy that looks just like phil lynott. we're stumbling but i think we're still in it. it's a big world girl and i can't understand it. we're tiny white specks on a bright blue planet.

i was a teenage ice machine. i kept it cool in coolers. i drank until i dreamed. when i dreamed i always dreamed about the scene. all these kids look like little lambs looking up at me. i was a twin cities trash bin. i did everything they'd give me. i'd jam it in my system. she had me cornered in the kitchen. i said i'll do anything but listen to some weird talking chick who just can't understand that we're hot soft spots on a hard rock planet. baby take off your beret. everyone's a critic and most people are djs.

working backwards from the doctor to the drugs. from the packie to the taxi to the cabbie to the club. a thousand kids will fall in love in all the clubs tonight. a thousand other kids will end up gushing blood tonight. two thousand kids wont get too much sleep tonight. two thousand kids they still feel pretty sweet tonight. i still feel pretty sweet.

i guess you're old enough to know. kids out on the east coast. roughly twenty years old. got coaxed out by a certain perfect ratio. of warm beer to the summer smoke. and the meat loaf to the billy joel. certain songs they get so scratched into our souls.

she goes low on the seats when she gets high in her car. she looks shallow but shes neck deep in the steamy dreams of the guys along the harbor bars. she's pulling out her shirttails and jacking up her socks. stern and stoned and confident, coming up towards the jukebox. born into the only songs that everybody finally sings along. b-1 is for the good girls. it's only the good die young. c-9 is for the making eyes. it's paradise by the dashboard light. d4 is for the lovers. b12 is for the speeders. and the hard drugs are for the bartenders and the kitchen workers and the bartender's friends. and they're playing it again. ellen foley gives us hope. certain songs they get scratched into our souls.

i guess you're old enough to know. kids out on the west coast are taking off their clothes. screwing in the surf and going out to shows. they get high and ride around in gtos. i guess you're old enough to know. CERTAIN SONGS THEY GET SCRATCHED INTO OUR SOULS.

i've been trying to get people to call me freddy knuckles. people keep calling me right said fred. it's hard to keep trying when half your friends are dying. it's hard to hold steady when half your friends are dead already. taxmen coming around the back with the kevlar vests. militia men cooking up a batch of crystal meth. there's a war going down in the middle west. there's a war going down in the middle western states. the kevlar vests against the crystal flakes.

i've been trying to get people to call me freddy mercury. people keep calling me drop dead fred. it's hard to take it easy when half your friends are way too easy. it's hard to get ahead when half your friends are dead. taxmen coming around the back with the kevlar vests. militia men cooking up a batch of crystal meth. there's a war going down in the middle west. there's a war going down in the middle western states. the kevlar vests against the crystal flakes.

his elbow was a spiderweb. with five spiders trapped inside. he said: the last guy didn't have to die. but the first four looked so nice. i wanted five. i've been trying to get people to call me sunny d. i've got the good stuff kids go for. people keep calling me five alive. because the last guy didn't really die. i just lied. and the first four didn't really die. i just lied. too many kids are getting stabbed. getting tangled up in crabs.

i've been trying to get people to call me johnny rotten. people keep calling me freddy fresh. it's hard to take it easy when half your friends are looking way too easy. it's hard to stay in bed when half your friends are dead. taxmen coming around the back with the kevlar vests. militia men cooking up a batch of crystal meth. there's a war going down in the middle west. there's a war going down in the middle western states. white crosses and wooden stakes.

a knockoff necktie. the way he wore it made it look more like a tourniquet. i looked deep in his eyes i saw lynn, massachussetts. she hung a sleeveless dress up on a sleeved up lifestyle. girl you gotta cover that. he was gushing blood from wide open wounds and she decided that she loved him. they put the screws into charlemagne. he had a detox dream he saw christ in all his glory. charlemagne didn't feel any pain. but he's bleeding from the holes in his story. he said: hey my name is corey. i'm really into hardcore. people call me hard corey. don't you hate these clever people and all these clever people parties.

in the park drinking dark bacardi. thinking things are funny when they really ain't that funny. the kids on the corner they keep getting stung. the color of our teeth matches the color of our tongues. in the back bay fens getting gentle. up against the fence with some guy who looks like mickey mantle. dirty minds keep coming thru the mud. the color of their eyes matches the color of our blood.

he had a painters cap. it said panama jack. it had the flaps on the back that kept the sun off his neck. he woke up deep in hostile massachussetts. reaching out to try to touch the special effects. he had no shoes and no pants. they dressed him in a shirt with a collar and called him porky pig. the two of you went up to his room. later on you wouldn't admit you did.

seeing lousy movies but only for the a/c. skimpy little outfits and bad guys acting crazy. that's how i know when you're lying. it looks just like overacting. kids on the corner are cracking and caving in. turning over and turning other kids in. i never want to make you feel uncomfortable. i hope i never did. they met as kids he was angry and angsty. she was a damned good dancer. i'll be damned if they didn't disappear. wandered out of mass one day and faded into the fog and love and faithless fear.

charlemagne in sweatpants and you and me in hostile, massachussetts.

she only pays attention to the prices of cigarettes. she says she hopes they get cheaper. she only takes the pick me uppers to counteract all the put me to sleepers. she used to be a receiver. she went out deep for guys that looked like johnny fever. last winter i swear i thought she might be our savior.

went through a skater phase. went through a raver phase. went through a razor blade phase. i guess i went through a hundred dollars a day. it was dark along the edges of the city but the light shined through behind the reinforced doorways. they're tipping over in the taprooms. theyre shooting through the ceiling and bleeding on the floor for sure.

we got dosed. we hung out pretty close with some questionable folks. we got ideas from some dangerous thinkers. we put our mouths up to some dangerous drinks. some nights we almost froze but we rubbed up pretty close to some rock and roll promoters. stayed up pretty late with some rock and roll performers. it's always entertaining when you're hanging out with entertainers.

went through the publicist. to try to get through to the rhythm guitarist. we got so high the audience looked just like ants. woke up with the backstage pass in my pants. she said i used to be a speed shooter. went out deep for guys that looked like alice cooper. last winter they had my heart all hooked up to computers.

we didn't see the holy ghost. but the father and the son they seemed like regular folks. jesus rolled his eyes when his dad made jesus jokes. he forgave me for my sins. he said let this famine end and let the 2 for 1s begin. bless the beasts and the children and the water and the waiters. it's always so creative when you hang around with our creator and his son our savior. you get your picture in the paper if he lets you in his trailer. it's always so amazing when you're finally coming down with entertainers.

payne avenue lives up to its name some nights it's painful and strange. the whole city seemed sane in the day. but some nights it seems distressed and deranged. the east side is where we met with those guys that said they'd get us high but that changed. now they're down in the basement. they're bashing out his brains. kids are getting cut up with the motorcycle chains.

st. paul had it all when we called. they were maxing out on medicine. a shaved head. the blood on the bed. those guys you'd recognize. they had the same tattoos as gideon. strong stuff and she had more than enough. she was slumping over smiling and sailing off with cherubim. the cityscape skins are kinda kicking it again. they're gonna show these kids some discipline.

gideon's been living up in bay city, michigan. he's been workng at the michelin. he got messed up with some messed up magicians. we got so high some nights michigan looked just like a mitten some nights we got fried. strung out on residuals and visuals and laser shows. reach into the speaker and try to hold on to the quarter notes.

i always dream about a unified scene. there's james king and king james and james dean. at a table in the corner of my unified scene. they want a double order of love and respect. they said they just got back from up in hostile, massachussetts. girl i've seen your friend. she looks nothing like jada pinkett. i think you got something in those cigarettes.

gideon was living up in south minneapolis. he was the cowboy on the crosstown bus. all the little phillies at the yukon club are gunning for the goldrush. we got tangled in electrical fences. we got wrapped up in the indian fringes. all the little phillies at the yukon club are gunning for the goldrush. they just can't get enough.

if they ask about charlemagne. be polite and say something vague. like another lover lost to the restaurant raids. if they ask why we left in the first place. say we were young and we were so in love. i guess we just needed space. we heard about this place they called the united states. we found out virginia really is for the lovers. philly is full of friendly friends that will love you like a brother. pensacola parties hard with poppers pills and pepsi. ybor city is tres speedy but they throw such killer parties. killer parties almost killed me.

if she says we partied then i'm pretty sure we partied. i really don't remember. i remember we departed from our bodies. we woke up in ybor city.