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Casual Ghosts

by Eric Peter Schwartz

supported by
Kevin Blight
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Kevin Blight Eric Schwartz has the highly uncommon ability to touch the heart with the most exquisitely crafted phrase. His prodigious output (the man seems to be a songwriting machine-gun) is rarely off target. Most of these tracks are more polished than previous albums and the whole work is a big step up in terms of writing, musicianship and production but is missing none of the charm, emotion and humour that makes this guy one of my favorite listens. Highly recommended. Favorite track: Starlight.
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1.
When will the sun jump up and hug me? When will the sun cover my eyes? When will the sun tell me he loves me? When will the sun tell me no lies? When will the sun kiss back the winter? When will the sun dream like I dream? When will the sun bow down to autumn? When will the sun take notice of me?
2.
Bill Bixby 03:22
When I was a boy maybe nine or ten I felt the pull to walk away from the cities of men like Bill Bixby I'd walk the land like Bill Bixby I'd change my name and wash dishes I'd kiss the girls and see beautiful vistas I'd see it all fill and quiet my mind like Bill Bixby What I've seen of this world I feel I've seen through glass like my feet left the Earth and never really touch land and then cancer, cancer took the man Cancer took Bill Bixby Eleven Michigan miles from the cabin to the dam I found two feathers and got a lay of the land I felt like Bill Bixby As my body aged I grew accustom to wheels I kept out of the sun and grass never touched my heels I lost the thread but in the back of my mind I kept Bill Bixby It's far too late for these kinds of dreams I work at eight and life stretches its seams Silly boy leave this man alone Bill Bixby was just an actor who called California home Late last night I felt the pull again to take some time away from the cities of men to step off the wheels and feel the land find my Bill Bixby Why did I wait until my body had to fight the truth of life gravity is stronger than the mind I will do everything I can to find you Bill Bixby I will find you Bill Bixby
3.
Hot Liquor 03:14
I feel sorry for you, Sport if you catch her alone she'd probably love you in half she floats on through like a casual ghost like The Devil in a jaunty hat It's 4 AM on a Tuesday night work is just hours away your car is on the other side of town because you just had to play She only drinks hot liquor even when it's hot outside it gets into the blood much quicker that's what she believes it's what she prescribes hot liquor brings the red to her lips hot liquor brings the swing to her hips A bottle of Jameson on the stove next to a percolating coffee pot spot of rum in her cocoa cup hot saki shot when it's not Apple cider over an open fire spiced whisky swirling in Hot sugar water and lemon juice making Tanqueray Toddies with gin She only drinks hot liquor even when it's hot outside it gets into the blood much quicker that's what she believes it's what she prescribes hot liquor brings the red to her lips hot liquor brings the swing to her hips If you see her walk on by Buddy, you'll need her every night hasten your pace, sir don't take your time you'll lose your marbles like I lost mine feel sorry for me, Sport I caugh her alone now she's loved me in half she floated on through like a casual ghost like The Devil in a jaunty hat It's 4 AM on a Tuesday night work is just hours away my car is on the other side of town because I just had to play She only drinks hot liquor even when it's hot outside it gets into the blood much quicker that's what she believes it's what she prescribes hot liquor brings the red to her lips hot liquor brings the swing to her hips
4.
The kid wants to call out the ghost that he gave up He's got one in the chamber and he wants another crack at love the air smells like lavender and blood he wants another roll in the mud but he doesn't know, Love doesn't want him around Regret has a gun at sundown and he's ready to draw The Kid meets him in the street with hope and that's all don't bring a knife to a regret fight you might not make it through the night when Love doesn't want you around (Chorus) Night eats the day and the moon eats away at the soul of a man in love He can't fight it with bullets and he curses the poets whose words turn to thorns in his blood Love turns away on her balcony and goes inside The Kid lies loving out in the dust wanting to die Hope and Desire go to ground trying hard not to make a sound because Love doesn't want them around. (CHORUS) In the foothills of Youth the Kid found a way to survive he found a little cave and dragged his beaten body in side his wounds will need attention day and night and he'll comeback ready to fight for a time when Love will want him around (Chorus)
5.
Icebergs 06:15
One by one we break off in our own time the blue fizzes fresh into salt come on in the water's fine we drift out orphaned brothers hoping to hold on to who we are long enough to reach warmer waters Drifting, riding lazy on the tide hoping to find a current where we can abide dreaming of summer dreaming of summer Some of us melt away beneath the waves before anyone knew we were here some of us drift past South Pacific islands before we disappear some of us are home to life for a century and don't feel the years slip And some of us sink ships Drifting, riding lazy on the tide hoping to find a current where we can abide dreaming of summer dreaming of summer We may seem like we're towering white gliding on the glass reflecting light but there's so much more of us below the waterline so much of us out of sight No matter how far away how far we want how far we might No matter where in the blue we drift we all miss the Northern Lights we miss our home and the Northern Lights Drifting, riding lazy on the tide hoping to find a current where we can abide dreaming of summer dreaming of summer
6.
Soft Maracas 02:32
SOFT MARACAS words and music by Eric Peter Schwartz Redwing blackbird telephone line sound of wings as it flies like soft maracas filling up the sky give this morning a sound of its own roll in joy but keep it slow soft maracas keeping time as I go Redwing blackbird against the snow travel with me where I go soft maracas dancing me home Fly above and look down cause all I want is now all I want is now Forcing love was all I knew it broke her heart it broke mine too now soft maracas keep me steady as I move through Never thought I would rise from the heartache in her eyes but soft maracas arrived just in time Fly above and look down cause all I want is now all I want is now Redwing blackbird telephone line sound of wings as it flies like soft maracas filling up the sky
7.
8.
THROUGH THE FLOOR by Eric Peter Schwartz I spent the night on a barroom floor thinking about how he topped me I talked about life with a whiskey neat all the while I was too drunk to see Bartender, don't hold it against me if I fall asleep at the bar You see, I normally wouldn't come in here I try not to fall this far And in my drunken stupor my fear fades away every woman I see begins to entice me though none could her place so I say "Excuse me, miss, I'm looking for something. Like the quenching of desire drowned. So tonight would you wrestle me to sleep? Would you take me home and lay me down?" "And, miss, if that doesn't cure me I guess I left my heart at the door. Thank you kindly for all your trouble but I think I'll slide down through the floor and go back to the bar." I spent the night on a barroom floor.
9.
SCREAMING AT LOVE (words and music by E.P. Schwartz) Why am I not drinking tonight? The moon is out and the stars are bright good time to get a little bit foggy good time to get a little bit foggy why am I not drinking tonight? Why am I not thinking of you? It's after 10, it's what I do you float in and make me nostalgic float in and make me nostalgic why am I not thinking of you? Five feet from a bottle of whiskey wouldn't take me long to find my hum but my mind doesn't know the story my mouth wants it but my hands aren't pouring no Why am I not screaming at love? At the floor below and the roof above Now is when I'd see your face and take it out on this place why am I not screaming at love? Do I not love you anymore? When I wasn't looking did I close the door? Pretend this thing was never inside me pretend this thing was never inside me Do I not love you anymore? Five feet from a phone to call you but I'd rather hear the mice inside the wall I don't feel you gone in the darkness I just want to sleep and move along I'm not drinking tonight the moon is out and the stars are bright should probably fix the holes in the drywall should probably fix the holes in the drywall I'm not drinking tonight
10.
A GIRL WITH A UKULELE (words and music E.P. Schwartz) Christmas lights on her bedroom wall her cherry red lips against skin like a China doll her shoulder tattoo and her vintage clothes her pin-up girl hair and ring in her nose She's a girl with a ukulele a young thing with a flower behind her ear strumming away on YouTube like she's on some South Pacific isle because she knows we'd rather be there than here Her cat's eye glasses are all the rage and she cuts her bangs like Bettie Page she prowls the night for Tiki bars and tacky kitsch and just the right vinyl to scratch that itch She's a girl with a ukulele she tries to find beauty every day and sitting here in my cynical forty-two I wish I could see life her way She'd be at home singing to sailors on a beach Pearl Harbor before the war blowing kisses to swabbies beneath a Hawaiian moon a sultry strum to remind them what they're fighting for She's a girl with a ukulele we should walk a thrift store mile in her shoes we should all be more like the effervescent, pixie girl We'd all see the world sparkle like when it was new Mahalo, girl with a ukulele I probably love you, you passing strange a simple tune to bedazzle a weathered soul and a life that's her's to change
11.
WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO words and music by E.P. Schwartz Please don't go I know there's no way you can stay just know I'd love you here forever When you go always know I'm beside you all the way but in my heart of hearts I wish you could stay The best thing I've ever done The best thing we ever made you made sunlight through my mistakes When you fly away what will I be Don't look back don't turn around once you're free I'm ripped open I'm spilling out I can feel my fear of losing you filling up my mouth So when it's time to go make it fast if you can just know that loving you made me a man
12.
Starlight 04:12
STARLIGHT (words and music by E.P. Schwartz) Shipwrecked heartbroken living underneath your roof again it took so long to find these words I know I'll stop crying but I don't know when I said everything I had to say so I held your hand 'cause you'd have held mine I felt you slip away and I knew I'd never see you again And I don't believe in ghosts so how can I have hope? It's been years now we've been apart trying to make this place my own but I feel like I'm pushing you out and I could feel these words cracking through my chest So here I lie trying to sleep tonight and there you lie waiting to be starlight Someday this Earth will burn and scatter the things that were you and me to the edges of the universe we'll fly and dance and tumble in and out of each other at the speed of light for billions of years past magellanic clouds past super novas past planets filled with life filled with fathers and sons everything we've ever known everyone we've ever loved traveling on nothing is destroyed who needs Heaven?

credits

released May 4, 2015

All songs by E. P. Schwartz (except the Native American flute improvisation on "Starlight" by Jim Green)

EPS: Vocals, guitar, one-string canjo, piano, drums, percussion
Danny Schwartz: Vocals on "When Will The Sun?"
Millie Collins: Backing vocals on "When Will The Sun"
Stephen Richards: Keyboard and Bass on Icebergs
"Doc" Kinser: Harmonica on "Screaming At Love"
Heidi Schultz: Ukulele on "A Girl With A Ukulele"
Jim Green: Native American flute on "Starlight"
Chris Bell: Cello on "Starlight"

Produced by Eric Peter Schwartz and Danny Schwartz
(except "Icebergs produced by Eric Peter Schwartz and Stephen Richards)

Recorded at Back Third Audio in Aurora, IL and Southview Man-Cave in Aurora, IL

Back cover design by Dale Roe www.daleroe.com

One-string canjo built by Eric Goetzinger
Special thanks to Dan Hogan, Sherry Winchester-Schultz, Benjie Hughes.

This is for Dad.

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Eric Peter Schwartz Aurora, Illinois

Acoustic rock and some instrumental rock. Where heart and quirk collide.

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