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What a Day, What a Time We Had

by Trains Across the Sea

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1.
Gods 04:25
2.
Letters 02:41
3.
The Captain 02:21
4.
Lansing 02:38
5.
Call On Me 05:48
6.
The Rain 03:04
7.
8.
9.
Girlfriends 02:06
10.
Love 05:15

credits

released April 5, 2013

TRAINS ACROSS THE SEA - WHAT A DAY, WHAT A TIME WE HAD

-----

Performed By:
Andy Gallagher - guitar, harmonica, vocals
Joe Gilliland - organ, guitar, accordion, vocals
Michael Kohn - upright and electric bass, vocals
Counterfeit Madison - piano, rhodes, vocals
Adam Nedrow - drums, percussion, vocals
Joe Brenneman - tenor saxophone
Andrew Graham - lead guitar
Neil Stackhouse - trombone
John Umland - lead guitar
Adrian Jusdanis - violin
Jay Gasper - pedal steel
Sven Kahns - lap steel
Maria Levitov - vocals
Adam Bidwell - trumpet
Alyssa Capps - cello
Andy Cook - vocals
Phil Kim - bass

All songs by Andy Gallagher.

Recorded and mixed by Eric Cronstein at The Tone Shoppe except THE CAPTAIN and additional recording at home.

Mastered by Chris Keffer

Mural by Clint Davidson.

Photos by Megan Leigh Barnard.

-----

SIDE A:

01. GODS

early in the morning
when he wakes and faces the day
he pours all of his heart down the drain of his guitar
but if he sang a song would you sing along
to the gods of rock and roll

when he was a baby he was told he could be
anybody that he wanted in the land of the free
but he could never be the best center fielder in the league
and he knows he's on his own road (though he don't know where that goes)
and if he sang a song would you sing along
to the gods of rock and roll

but we've heard that jive a thousand times, boy
it's all been done before
it don't seem they're distracted by the baring of your soul
but i hear he's playing shows still belting out those same old notes
that if he sang a song would you sing along
to the gods of rock and roll

-

02. LETTERS

when you woke me i was having that nightmare again
you know the one where you tell me you're leaving
and i waste another five years in this city all alone
driving home and watching the tv

but when i opened my eyes and you were right by my side
(you know when you smile wide i feel alright)
but in your hands was a letter said you start in september
in a west coast city

a letter came today
and sent you on your way

you said "it's my dream school! this is the one i want to go to
"this is the only way that i can be me
"maybe in a half year you'll like what you see here
"you'll move out and move in with me"

but both you and i know that i'll never leave home
and you'll find a nice boy and you won't feel alone
and when i'm asked whether you and i are together
we'll i'll say

a letter came one day
that sent her on her way

but now that we're older and i've drank myself sober
and i've come to realize there's nobody half as swell as you girl
and so i've made up my mind to stop wasting my time
because if you want her, you've got to go get her

i wrote a letter today
that sent me on my way

-

03. THE CAPTAIN

we could go get wasted in the alley
we could race each other to the top of the tree
let's have a picnic in a park by the statue
you could bring the bocce and i'll bring the weed

we could climb a mountain, if we had one
lose another friend to nyc
we used to buy bagels from a captain
everybody grab a mate, we're gonna sail all the streets
we're gonna sail all the streets of our city

don't you play me that tired tune
about the santa maria gone astray
we're too busy dancing anyway
but if you get lucky
if you find somebody similarly ugly
who will hold you closely
you should never let him go

we could go back to my place after the party
drink ourselves brave enough to make a move
all the cool kids are out at the show tonight
i guess they didn't have anything better to do

we could climb a mountain, if we had a mountain
lose another one to the second city
let's take a ride behind the captain
everybody grab a mate we're gonna sail all the streets of our city

-

04. LANSING

i heard about your baby and the pictures look great
and it looks like he's making you smile
and i hope it didn't hurt like you were afraid it might
when we were foolishly planning a family

but we could never agree on baby names
no we could never agree on our favorite places
we kept holding out hope it'd get better
until we finally admitted defeat

so honey i hope you got what you wanted
honey i hope you found exactly what you wanted
hope your new man takes you dancing
and when he drives you home to lansing
he's gotta laugh all your uncles' same three stories

but if you ever need a babysitter
or if he ever needs a father figure
or when he 15 and hates you, honey
and your husband ain't home, he just sends you the money
and you need to be held, you had your chance

so don't think of me

-

05. CALL ON ME

i can't help you in the morning when you're on your way out the door
you stop to kiss me but you decide to watch me sleep

no i can't help you if you're lonely
and you can't find the right time to tell the one you're leaving
because girl i might refuse to let you go so you gotta let me know

because i can help you get through the night alright
and believe me, darling, i won't mind if you get that look in your eye

i can help you and ease your pain
but when i call you, you better answer and call me by my name

but i can't help you if you don't call on me
say what you want to me

so say just what you want to say to me
don't leave me hanging around until world war three
cause i know, pretty darling, got a lot on your mind
and if you worry when you're leaving you ain't doing it right

but if you're gonna do it do it tonight
cause this other girl is giving me eyes
if you gonna leave me girl, please do it by the end of the night

maybe you don't need me
maybe you're alright without me by your side
but how is a lonely boy to know if you don't call on me

------

SIDE B:

06. THE RAIN

break out the fancy clothes and drive slow to the funeral home
let the mother know she's not alone
tell her you always saw him smiling and he always kept you laughing
she did a good job, she did the best that she could do

there's a hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around

when the world loses one of the good ones long before he shoulda gone
all his friends who believe in heaven know that he went there
but when you don't believe in heaven you're just wishing you coulda said goodbye

and the sun's gonna hide behind the rain today

sometimes the sun hides behind the rain

-

07. JANUARY FRIEND

he's a little bit nicer than the last one he don't bruise you half as bad
sometimes when he gets sober he can almost make you laugh
anyway, you just watch movies and the sex it ain't so bad
so he'll be your january friend
he'll be your best friend in the world
until the next best friend

some of the boys will play games with you some will sweep you off your feet
some will feed you whisky tryin' find out what you think
but every time you break a lover's heart you got another next in line
to waste your january nights

and i know that the stakes are high my dear
you were just a girl he was never home
but if you keep on leaving 'em they're gonna stop believing when you
say you'll be their january friend

but i know that the water's rising darling, i know there's runs in your hose
you don't know how many more times you can lose another year of your life
to the wrong boy or to the wrong girl
with the wrong boy or with the wrong girl

when you don't know who to blame for the pain at the end of your day
you get confused by his actions distracted by your passions
and you let another good one slip away

you say "i am independent
"stay the hell outta my way"
but when i ask you where you're going and you smile and look away
well i guess i'm just another january friend to you
but i could use a january friend too
so let's be january friends

-

08. A MILE NORTHEAST

hey remember before we turned 25
bellies full of wine
we were living the single life
and we still believed in song

we thought a song would help us understand the world
we thought a song would help us understand the girl
we were just looking for our chance to understand
the worth of half hours on earth

well me i moved a mile about northeast
where there's no lease and more trees
i built me some fires and i watched the full moon
and i listened to the trains roll by

"but do you ever feel alone" she says
"don't you ever feel alone"

and i hope you're having a nice time
out there on the coastline
yeah and don't you worry i'm living the good life
with my wine
yeah i'm fine

but before you go asking questions
ask them of yourself
is where you are where you want to be?
do you want to be where you are?

"but do you ever feel alone" she says
"don't you ever feel alone" she says
"you know, it's okay to feel alone"

-

09. GIRLFRIENDS

let's go stealing girlfriends from the boyfriends we don't know
let's tell ourselves we're the best guys in this city
yeah we'll laugh and drink and still believe
that the good ones aren't all gone
or at least that's what we hope

let's go raise the bar of what it means to be a man
let's all paint the portaits of our fears
and maybe the best of the girlfriends 
will leave their asshole boyfriends
or at least that's what we hope

and i hope that you have found a friend in that city i have never been
because it's a hard time trying to find one as cool as you
and when you're done dancing with argentinians you'll come back home to me again
or at least that's what we hope
at least that's what i hope

-

10. LOVE IS SOMETHING THAT YOU DO

i woke up hungover and alone 180 days in a row
it says here the midwest ain't so bad as the mideast
so i guess i'll walk the streets again no particular place to go
but i walked the river instead and i felt the river again
i held the river again like we did last year

i think sad songs are happy songs for when you're sad
but it'll feel alright if the room tonight sings along
to my idea of what the west would sing if the west could sing a song
tell me when it's my turn to sing
tell me when it's my turn to solo

i write songs instead of letters to friends (maybe i should put that in a song)
that's okay if there's no missed calls there's still some whisky left at home
because ever since the first of the year - the last time i woke up in your home
it's not that i don't want a drink with you
it's that i'd rather do it alone

well i thought it was a feeling with a complicated meaning
i thought that i would know for sure when it came along
i thought that it was up to the other
i thought that it was impressing your mother
yes i thought that that was our goal
but she thought it was the bible
and he thought that it was for sale
because he mostly cared for the making of it
and she mostly cared for the saying of it
and i knew that was not my goal
but if you're asking my opinion
what i really think about it
take a deep breath and sing along

love is something that you do

-

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Trains Across the Sea San Diego, California

Trains Across the Sea is the musical output of Andy Gallagher.

He also co-wrote the trucker musical "SEMI FAME: The Truck Route to Broadway."

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