1. |
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Warm up begins
The field is clear and clean of land mines
Hey! Wake up!
Go! Now!
No Stopping
No!
We’re off the blocks
Anticipation teased
Near miss
Our scrimmage minds
We take the bait
Chomp on that line
Hey! Wake up!
Go! Now!
No Stopping
Hey!
No!
Hey!
Giddyup!
Hey!
No break for you
Step on it
(repeat)
Monologue of our lives
Debates of brilliance
Problem solved
Listen with heart
Sincerity that breaks the mold
Hooked, lined and sunk
Roll through the muck
That bogs our bootstraps down
The vortex spews
A spiral view you can’t pull out
The final trap
The end approach
That never nears
Braces which force
A smile reality
Hides behind
Chorus 2x
Music and lyrics by Cheryl Hendrickson and Chuck Lindo
©2017 Charlie in the Box Music
All rights reserved
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2. |
The Story
03:11
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We met so long ago
Naivety a strengthening bond
With paths that mixed and intertwined
And every “Y” we hit
An answer seemed to always appear
Or was it just compromise
You do what you do, I see what I see
Ever the two shall met
I do what I do, you see what you see
Somehow it works in the end
We do what we do, we see what we see
The basis of commonality
At times we twist and shout
Keep toxic air from settling near
Divulging truth to come the fear
They say to each their own
We stumble down into a detente
Keep separation to a minimum
You do what you do, I see what I see
Ever the two shall met
I do what I do, you see what you see
Somehow it works in the end
We do what we do, we see what we see
The basis of commonality
Together we grow, learn to respect
Forgive and forget never who’s best
Building for strength taking some risks
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose
Mostly we just break even
As we grow old and gray
Reality a sobering bond
With hopes and dreams we soldier on
A simple touch reminds
Don’t take ourselves to seriously
True love outlasting the millennium
You do what you do, I see what I see
Ever the two shall met
I do what I do, you see what you see
Somehow it works in the end
We do what we do, we see what we see
The basis of commonality
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3. |
Just Do Something
02:38
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Do something
Just do something
Do something
All I wanted was to set things right
But things don’t seem so wrong anymore
All I needed was everything
But I can’t remember what I needed it for
Do something
Just do something
Do something
It wasn’t where I needed it to be
And just like last time
That was up to me
Do something
Just do something
Do something (do me a favor and)
Do something
Just do something
Do something (do yourself a favor)
Sedimentary layers of little things
Over little things
Over little things
Sentimental piles of wires and springs
Buttons and string
Do something
Just do something
All I wanted was to set things right
Do something
Just do something
Do something (do me a favor and)
Do something
Just do something
Do something (do yourself a favor)
Do something
Just do something
Do something (do us all a favor)
Sedimentary layers of little things
Over little things
Over little things
Sentimental piles of wires and springs
Over little things
Over little things
But things don’t seem so wrong anymore
But things don’t seem so wrong anymore
Music and lyrics by Chuck Lindo
©2017 Charlie in the Box Music
All rights reserved
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4. |
Guide to the Perplexed
04:44
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Some people mess with academics and lectures
Continue growing
Yet somehow I find myself waiting behind
Is it laziness or fear?
Will you take the time to hear
My dilemma year to year?
The promise and drive
Of an eager young child
With a need to please
Dove straight into challenges
No preconceived notions
Tried anything
Successes more failures
Pubescent barbed fences
Shot through her mind
Found bits or her confidence
Stuck in the wire
Was it laziness or fear?
Did they take the time to hear
Her dilemma closing near?
Walking, reimagining a life that’s not mine
Running from reality until my lungs bleed dry
Say it’s a sickness from which I won’t hide
No doctors no medicines
No cure for this disease
Discovered a sameness
The teen years seemed blameless
Yet disquiet hovered
Inflicted self-pressure
Convinced nothing better
Got BS in four
Took off on her sojourn
Of culture and musings
Direction sought
A world full of options
Came back more confused
Called it laziness not fear
Someone took the time to hear
Her dilemma now was clear
Walking, reimagining a life that’s not mine
Running from reality until my lungs bleed dry
Say it’s a sickness from which I won’t hide
No doctors no medicines
No cure for this disease
Break up all the patterns constricting
Cool wash of symbiosis returns
Put up your dukes and fight
Don’t let it run your life
The struggle between you and you
The science confounding
Tried hawking some clothing
Then imagery
Melodies haunting
But the business seemed daunting
Stayed an underling
A search never ending
Just sitting pretending
A focus found
Chasing nebulous goals
That keep drifting away
Might be laziness or fear
Thanks for taking the time to hear
My dilemma year to year
Walking, reimagining a life that’s not mine
Running from reality until my lungs bleed dry
Say it’s a sickness from which I won’t hide
No doctors no medicines
No doctors no medicines
Words and music by Cheryl Hendrickson
©℗ 2017 Charlie in the Box Music, ASCAP All rights reserved
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5. |
Regret
04:34
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And how I began with heart so full
And how I ignored portent restored
And how I regret the time not loving you
So easily I gave of me imagining the view
A picturesque admiring a want to be my hero
Who found herself submerged in dark
And blinded by the light of dread
The first time I fell through the hungry abyss
Believing it was meant to be seen only through my eyes
Foolishly transforming me
A race that I could never win
Hope you let drag on too long
Deny even knowing you’re wrong
Love that can poison a piece of your heart
A numbness that you rely on
Keep up all pretense of closure
Repaint the mask every time
Mistakes from lessons you chose not to learn
Notes from your epitaph rewind
He introduced me to many waves that kept us closely tied
Frustration rose our divergent trails
Grew disappointment I crumbled
Callously turned away a stubbornness retained from him
She was always there supporting me each juncture that I took
So selfishly misunderstood her breathless desire
Cowardly experienced a loss that broke me
To the core
Hope you let drag on too long
Deny even knowing you’re wrong
Love that can pierce a piece of your heart
A numbness that you rely on
And how I began with heart so full
And how I ignored portent restored
And how I regret the time not loving
Music and lyrics by Cheryl Hendrickson
©2017 Charlie in the Box Music
All rights reserved
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6. |
Higher Degree
02:43
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Baby you deserve the best
The top of the class
My education won’t do when it comes to loving you
I wanna learn to love you to a higher degree
I’ll study night and day just to keep you here with me
With help from up above
My thesis will be on your love
I’m going for my Masters in loving you
I’d have to be summa cum laude
To make love to you proudly
My dissertation you will hear
I’ll whisper in your ear
I wanna learn to love you to a higher degree
I’ll study night and day just to keep you here with me
With help from up above
My thesis will be on your love
I’m going for my Masters in loving you
My notebooks are full
I read them every night
Before I go to bed and dream that I’m with you
I trust my heart will do the rest
And then I’ll pass this test
And move on to my PhD soon
But right now, I’m going for my Masters in loving you
I’ll administrate your business
With my academic fitness
I’ll linger for a while
Become a real you-ophile
I wanna learn to love you to a higher degree
I’ve studied night and day
I hope that you can see
With evaluation thereof
My thesis will be on your love
I’m going for my masters in loving you
Music and lyrics by Chuck Lindo
©2017 and 2006 Charlie in the Box Music
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7. |
Civic Living
03:18
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How did I wind up here?
No time for that now
Get in to this cocoon
To think things through
And now I have to move
How long can I be here?
No time for that now
This rolling room
Will have to do
And now I have to move
Letters and shoes
Things I can’t lose
I cling to my clothes to cushion my hope
Makeup and booze
To improve the view
I’ll hang on to you
But now we have to move
How long have I been here?
Is there time for that now?
Maybe I spoke too soon
Does she feel it too?
And now I have to move
Letters and shoes
Things I can’t lose
I cling to my clothes to cushion my hope
Makeup and booze
To improve the view
I’ll hang on to you
But now we have to
Roll until nobody says when
Wherever we go, there we are
Memories fade (we’ve gone too far)
Do we want them to?
And now we have to move
Where is here?
What time is it now?
Will you help me remember
To not remember, please?
(repeat chorus)
Music and lyrics by Chuck Lindo
©2017 Charlie in the Box Music
All rights reserved
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8. |
Familiar Ghosts
04:45
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I made a list
And so did you
Written years apart
In our psyches both true
One up one down
Switch-hit no foul
Look past frightening signs
Dimming brightness profound
Lies, truth, lies, truth lies
The fog grew thick
Deceiving you
Embers of happiness
Suffocated by two
Exploding rage
Tried to explain
Sharing mindless words
Just to cover the pain
I told a lie for the truth
I told a lie
You sought the truth
I told a lie
And you did too
Found no one else to blame
Reflections of disdain
No one withdrew
Deepened the wound
Frantic matched paralyzed
Slashed us down to size
I told a lie
Hold tight to the past
When there’s nothing to grasp
Take solace in the mundane
The fear in our souls
Would cower the bold
Destroying a mind that’s sane
The grip of the vise
Will tear through the frame
Unless flesh and blood regain
I told a lie
We duck the punch
And don’t hit back
Filter through ugliness
Drain sepsis from our lips
Shake up our lives
The earth divides
Find soft and fertile ground
Where voices don’t abound
I told a lie
Then came the truth
I told a lie for the truth
We made a list
The air is clean
When buried ghosts revive
Hope we’ll fight to survive
By Cheryl Hendrickson
©℗ 2017 Charlie in the Box Music, ASCAP All rights reserved
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9. |
Falling Down
02:56
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Nine to five to maintain existence
A wink for more and the corporate scores
For a few
But I’m cool
Give up your seat for an elder person
A pushy suit on the phone sits down
No thank you
But I’m cool
Suffer through these indignities with bit lip
Check your every moment hope there’s no hitch
Avoid the nagging cynical mode that burns from inside out
Walk on green yet the car heads straight for you
Yell and scream they look up from their cell
And just beam
But I’m cool
Stand in line with your under twelve items
A single orange turns and smiles as their full cart
Slips through
But I’m cool
Suffer through these indignities with bit lip
Check your every moment hope there’s no hitch
Avoid the nagging cynical mode that burns from inside out
Fake karma, Good Samaritan just insincerity
But I’m cool
Karma what
Good Samaritan
They say entitlement you know the rules
Just insincerity
I’m not fooled
Expose the suit in a corporate fraud case
The seniors win all his money while he rots
In jail
Well that’s cool
Car runs the red hits the jaywalking full cart
Cops cites them both at fault
No excuse
And that’s cool
Suffer through these indignities with bit lip
Check your every moment hope there’s no hitch
Avoid the nagging cynical mode that burns from inside out
Fake karma, Good Samaritan just insincerity
But I’m cool
Words and music by Cheryl Hendrickson
©℗ 2017 Charlie in the Box Music, ASCAP All rights reserved
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10. |
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We pop up from our trenches and let them fly
Then slide back down and pray to die
I wake up bright eyed from a bed of nails every day
And sharpen yours while you’re away
I loosen the noose I’m in
To go tighten yours and give you a spin
I raise up my arms, a white flag in each hand
After all this time
I think we understand
I pull a muscle while pulling my teeth
Then place the pliers just out of your reach
We place our bombs, light the fuses and flee
Then kick them away before each other can seem them
I cough up the pills I took
Then open your cap and shoot you a look
I raise up my arms and show you my hands
After all this time
I think we understand
You go first or I will
But if you wait you might think that I will, too
So I’ll go first with my eye on you
Just until you know that you will, too
Does my giving up make you want to, too?
How can I stop without wanting you to, too?
We evacuate the wounded and bury the dead
Then state for the record it was all in our heads
I open the window wide
To let out the gas and let you inside
I open my arms and you take my hands
After all this time
I think we understand
Music and lyrics by Chuck Lindo
©2017 Charlie in the Box Music
All rights reserved
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The American Professionals St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis hook-heavy guitar pop band The American Professionals’ core members Chuck Lindo and Cheryl Hendrickson’s music and personal lives are both intertwined and parallel. This husband/wife team makes that paradox possible on their 2017 release, Sympathetic Overdrive. The record is a genre-hopping display of both unity and individuality, fear and hope, love and scorn. ... more
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