SNAPSHOTS - DAVE NACHMANOFF LIVE

  1. Introduction
  2. Square Peg Blues
  3. A Cautionary Tale (Fender)
  4. Memory
  5. I'm From Nowhere
  6. Civilization and Its Discontents
  7. Battle Scars
  8. O Carolan's Draught/Inside Connection
  9. El Niño
  10. Wash Us Clean
  11. Cactus Juice
  12. RL
  13. Thing of Beauty
  14. Waiting For the Light to Change
  15. This Little Light of Mine




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LYRIC SHEET

All songs copyright © 1998, Dave Nachmanoff

1. Spoken Introduction (0:18)

2. Square Peg Blues (3:28)

I've got a fridge full of nothin'
And a mailbox full of bills
The classifieds have lots of jobs
But no one wants my skills
I'm a square peg in a round hole
I just never seem to fit
Gonna have to shave these corners off a bit

Chorus:
Michelangelo, he'd know what to do
Take a little here, add a little there
And I'd look like David too
But unlike Michelangelo, I haven't got a clue
I've got those feelin' like a square peg
In a round hole blues

In this town full of flat-tops
I've still got a pony-tail
They got their degree from prep school
I got mine from county jail
I'm no follower of fashion
And I guess sometimes that shows
But you shouldn't judge a person by his clothes

Chorus

This town is full of pretty women
But I never get a date
The grocery store says "Three's a crowd"
But they always make me wait
I'm a diamond in the rough
I'm not ugly mean or dumb
I'm just marchin' to a slightly different drum

Chorus

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar

3. A Cautionary Tale (Fender) (2:26)

He walked into her life without a warning
You could say he threw himself into her car
Sometimes takes a desperate measure to be rescued
Sometimes even desperate measures go too far

She took him home, she thought that he looked hungry
She didn't stop to wonder if he'd stay
She cleaned him up, made sure he wasn't injured
And that dog's been with us ever since that day

Chorus:
And we called him Fender
Just like my guitar
Yeah we called him Fen-der
He threw himself into our lives, when he threw himself
Into our car

Like many folks we rented an apartment
With no space for a growing dog to roam
But puppies need a yard that they can play in
And the next thing that we knew we'd bought a home

Then Fender ate a pincushion and a one-pound box of chocolate
He doesn't like it when we leave him home alone too long
So now we take him with us almost everywhere we go
He's sitting in the van while I'm singing you this song

Chorus

So now we've got a minivan and mortgage
And I guess it hasn't done us too much harm
But you never know where life is gonna lead you
If she hits a horse, we'll have to buy a farm

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar

4. Memory (3:06)

She keeps forgetting, where she put her keys
Then she comes around asking me
Oh I really hope she finds 'em
She's got too much on her mind
She keeps forgetting, where she put her keys

Chorus:
And her memory is slippery
Like a winding mountain stream
And her memory gets cloudy sometimes
Like a fairy-tale or dream
And I'll never understand her memory

It's a story, she'd just as soon forget
It concerns a man she says she's never met
If he's still among the living, then he still might be forgiven
But it's a story, she'd just as soon forget

Chorus

Don't expect her, to remember all you say
You know it wasn't so important anyway
But she could tell you what you ate
When you went on your first date
Just don't expect her to remember all you say

Chorus

She keeps forgetting, where she put her keys

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar

5. I'm From Nowhere (3:40)

She was sittin' in a diner
Waiting for her coffee to come
He sits down beside her
And he asks her where she's from
She looks at him and wonders
Does he really want an answer?
She says my dad was in the Navy
And every few years we got transferred

Chorus:
I'm from nowhere, I'm from anywhere
I'm from nowhere, I don't really care
I've spent most of my life, movin' around
Can't say I have a hometown
I'm from nowhere, I'm from anywhere
I'm from nowhere, I'm from anywhere

Never had a best friend
'Cause I knew we'd only move away
Three years near Annapolis
Was the longest that we stayed
I go wherever I find, I can make a living
My father's gone, I visit Mom
On Christmas and Thanksgiving

(Repeat Chorus)

They talked all through the night time
'Til they saw the morning sun
He said, somehow when I saw you
I just knew you were the one

But he was leaving in the morning
With a load bound for Lafayette
She puts her head upon his shoulder
Says I hardly know you yet
He tells her of a life spent
Rolling down the highway
Says there's room enough for two in my cab
If you're going my way, cause

(Repeat Chorus)

Dave: Vocal, piano

6. Civilization and Its Discontents (3:22)

I step forward, I step back
But it's still hanging over my head
That little cloud of sadness
Seems to follow me everywhere

I tell myself, I'm such a lucky fella
I try to hide, under my umbrella
But like a stray, that won't go away
I find it's waiting there

I'm not sixteen anymore
All that existential angst
I've been through it all before
I've got a lovely house
And a wonderful wife
As Jimmy Stewart said,
"It's a wonderful life"

I think of all the nice things
People have said
But there's still that little ball of nameless dread
Like an emotional piece of gum
That keeps stickin' to the bottom of my shoes

If it's true all men are mortal
And it's true that I'm a man
Then with syllogistic reasoning
It's true that we can
Deduce that sometime in the future
I no longer will exist
So maybe I'm just worried that I really won't be missed

Wake up in the morning
It's a beautiful day
But can I go outside and just play
No, I've got those civilization and its, little discontent blues
How 'bout you?
I've got those, civilization and its, little discontent blues

Dave: Vocal, piano
Dave Bell: Acoustic guitar

7. Battle Scars (3:23)

Everybody's got a song about their old guitar
So instead I wrote a song about how this one got it's scars
It's not that I don't care for it,
It's like a friend to me
But every nick and scratch, is a piece of history

When I was seventeen, I put that crack there in the bout
In a smoky pub in London, was my first time drinkin' stout
I was singing like a hot-shot, my guitar slung on my back
But the strap-peg wasn't tight, so it fell and got that crack

Chorus:
Hey old friend, you served me well
Cheered me up when I was blue
But just like me, I see you've got
A battle scar or two, a battle scar or two

One New York City afternoon, when I was twenty-three
I went out for a picnic, in a park with just one tree
A friend was playin' my old guitar, and we played a game of chase
Then he turned around to look at me,
And a branch went through the face

Repeat Chorus

All the things that we go through, help to make us who we are
The hurts the disappointments and the pain
But just like I would never sell, or trade this old guitar
Without the scars my heart just wouldn't be the same

In Oregon, a friend of mine, was reaching for a mic
The guitar laid down on it's case, we were finished for the night
But a cable caught on something, and a heavy mic-stand fell
So this Martin sounds like heaven,
But that's why it looks like hell

Repeat Chorus

Now you and me play every night, we travel all around
And I hate to say, but chances are, we'll both get knocked around
So I'll take you to the shop and get you patched up when I must
'Cause it's better to get some battle scars,
Than to sit and gather dust

Repeat Chorus

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar

8. O'Carolan's Draught/Inside Connection (4:02)

Instrumental Prelude: O'Carolan's Draught (by Turlock O'Carolan)

Chorus:
I've got an inside connection
Got this feeling, down deep inside
Got an inside connection to you
I've got an inside connection
Got this feeling, that I just can't hide
Got an inside connection to you

Darling, I had walked this wicked world
Without connecting, until I found you girl
So many miles, I felt so alone
But darling, from the first time that we met
That conversation, I will not forget There in your arms, I felt so at home

Repeat Chorus

You touched me, deep down in my soul
You've taken what was broken and made it whole

Repeat Chorus

Dave: Acoustic guitar, vocal

9. El Niño (4:31)

They're catching stingray in Washington State
Down south, there's nothing but drought
There's brushfires all over Australia
And in the north it's flooding them out
The tradewinds are stuck in the doldrums
The Pacific's receded and warm
The forecast is gloomy for winter
What's causing these tropical storms?

Chorus:
El Niño, blame it all on El Niño
It's because of El Niño
Says the man on the news
El Niño, blame it all on El Niño
That anomalous weather phenomenon, from Peru

My last fifteen gigs have been empty
It feels like I'm under a curse
My computer's invaded by gremlins
And the stock market couldn't be worse
I broke a nail last Thursday
And the dog slipped and injured his paws
I gained twenty pounds and lost my wife
I tell you, there must be a cause

Repeat Chorus

It was born in the Andean mountains
Where the temperature gets below freezin'
The fishermen called it "the little one"
'Cause it came in the Christmas season

The rain kept the people from coming
Out to see all of my shows
The computer got wet when it flooded
As for the stock market, nobody knows
I broke my nail dialing the weather
And the dog slipped and fell in the rain
I couldn't go jogging, and gained that weight
So El Niño is really to blame

Repeat Chorus

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar
Dave Rosenfeld: Mandolin
Al Vasquez: Percussion

10. Wash Us Clean (2:25)

Wash us clean, wash us clean
Wash away our sin and sorrow
Wash us clean, wash us clean
Lord don't wait until tomorrow

Chorus:
All this guilt upon our shoulders
It's a new year rollin' over
And a chance to be redeemed
So wash us clean, wash us clean

Wash us clean, wash us clean
In the Book of Life inscribe us
Wash us clean, wash us clean
For another year revive us

Repeat Chorus

On this day all debts are cancelled
All trespasses forgiven
We don't have to live like angels
Just like righteous men and women

Wash us clean, wash us clean
Teach us mercy and teach justice
Wash us clean, wash us clean
'Til all living beings can trust us

Repeat Chorus

From the banks of the Jordan
To the mighty Mississippi
From the fields of East Timor
Right to Belfast's shattered city

Wash us clean, wash us clean
Of all jealousy and anger
Wash us clean, wash us clean
Of all fractiousness and rancor

Repeat Chorus

Dave: Vocal

11. Cactus Juice (4:07)

Chorus:
Cactus juice, cactus juice
When I wanna get fast and loose
Gotta get me some of that cactus juice
Cactus juice

Way down south of the Mojave, get it from the blue agave
They distill the cactus vapor, add the worm for extra flavor
Take a shot with salt and lime, pretty soon you'll be feelin' fine
Have a few if you are able, soon you'll be dancing on the table

Repeat Chorus

Beer can only make you sleepy, whisky only makes you weepy
Got the stuff that's sure to cure ya, Jose's Gold or Herradura
Hold me tight so I can feel ya, pour another cool tequila
If you're wanting something sweeter, mix you up a Marguerita

Repeat Chorus

I don't want, I don't want to think
About the way I'll feel tomorrow, so let's have another drink
I don't care, about the price I'll have to pay
So crack another bottle, let the bon temps roulet

Repeat Chorus

Dave: Vocal, piano
Richard Day: Harmonica
Jennifer Nachmanoff: Electric bass
Al Vasquez: Percussion
Donna Lemongello: Vocal
Jeff Krieger-Devine: Vocal

12. RL (3:56)

They made a slip conection, in a cyberbar somewhere
He said "I didn't mean to irk you,
I was hoping for a chat"
And she said "my home page or yours?"
And they were ROTFL
They had all night conversations, may more times after that

He said, "I virtually love you,
But sometimes, I wish that you could spell
Maybe someday we could meet offline
Maybe someday, you could meet me in RL"

"RL," she said, I think I might have heard of that before
But my online Rand McNally's incomplete
She said "I live in Chicago"
He typed "Funny so do I"
At the same time, they both types the words, "what street?"

She typed "M - A - P - E - L"
He typed "M - A - P - L - E"
"I'm right near 34th Street"
She typed in caps, "That's right near me!"

He said, "I virtually love you,
But sometimes, I wish that you could spell
Maybe someday we could meet offline
Maybe someday, you could meet me in RL"

He's noticing the waitress, in the coffeeshop downstairs
As she writes the breakfast specials, on a chalkboard by the door
It's French Toast with 'Mapel Syrup'
And he can't believe his eyes
So he jumps up from the table
Spills his coffee on the floor

He says, "I know you've never seen me,
But I feel as if, we know each other well
I'm so glad that I found you offline
Maybe it's a good thing you can't spell
Or I never would have found you in RL"

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar

13. Thing of Beauty (4:01)

I'd like to make a sculpture out of glass
So beautiful, that it could make you cry
But when I look out at the snowflakes
That fall against my window
I cannot seem to bring myself to try
I just can't seem to bring myself to try

Chorus:
To make a thing of beauty
Just one thing of beauty
Only for an instant
With truth and with love
To make a thing of beauty
Just one thing of beauty
A single thing of beauty
And that would be enough

I'd like to weave a tapestry of yarn
So intricate, that it could break your heart
But when I look out at that web
As it's shining in the sunlight
I cannot seem to bring myself to start
I just can't seem to bring myself to start

Repeat chorus

I'd like to sing a song of breath and air
So wonderful, that it could touch your soul
But when I listen to the robin
As he's heralding the springtime
I cannot take the first step towards my goal
I just can't take the first step towards my goal

Chorus:
But I can try to live a life
That makes an honest story
With challenges adventures
With truth and with love
And that would be a thing of beauty
A single thing of beauty
A human thing of beauty
And that would be enough

Dave: Vocal, acoustic guitar

14. Waiting for the Light to Change (3:49)

I've been sitting at this stoplight
But I must be moving on
I've got to get to where I'm going
But it's taking me so long
And I can feel the pressure rising
You know I wanna honk my horn
And I haven't even noticed
But it's a beautiful Sunday morn

Chorus:
And now I'm, waiting for the light to change
Waiting for the light to change
Waiting for the light to change
In my heart, in my heart

Have you ever felt depression
When it seemed like endless night
You're stumbling in the darkness
And you're searching for a light
You can't live like this forever
But you don't know what to do
You've got to look inside your heart
And find that light that's inside of you

repeat Chorus with "you're" instead of "I'm"

It's been raining several weeks now
It feels like Noah at the flood
It's gonna take awhile, before we dig out from this mud
You know the sky's been dark and cloudy
And so we haven't seen the sun

We're all getting cabin fever, while we're waiting for it to come

Repeat Chorus with "we're"

Well it seems like we're surrounded
With both ignorance and greed
There's people getting what they pay for
Instead of getting what they need
And there's a hunger in their belly
And there's a hunger in their soul
You know they won't be satisfied
Until they feel like they're in control

Repeat Chorus with "they're"

Dave: Vocal, piano
Dave Bell: Acoustic guitar
Al Vasquez: percussion
Gospel chorus: Judith Kate Friedman (choirmistress), Megan McLaughlin, Paula Joy Welter, Norm Milstein, Dave Bell, Andre Jensen, Jen Nachmanoff, Al Vasquez, Chris Sanborn, Peter Lamson, Ben Goldman, Donna Lemongello, Jeff Krueger-Devine.

15. This Little Light of Mine (trad.) (3:12)

Musicians: as previous song.


All songs copyright © 1998, Dave Nachmanoff

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