AO55 - EP
Believe
Yes we can do it, if we believe it
Joe is a barber in Northwest DC
Always has a coffee and a smile for me
Gathers the kids and teaches for free
Rise from the blacktop and the street-deal debris
Maybe the world can be better than this
Let's try to change the world so it's better than this
Yes we can do it, if we believe it
Matthew trades bonds on the New York exchange
He’d feel more at home with his life rearranged
He’d rather be what he wants to be
Department store mannequin or captain at sea
Maybe the world can be better than this
Let's try to change the world so it's better than this
Yes we can do it, if we believe it
Alone at the bottom of a hill
Desperation comes over you like a chill
You think you’ll never make it up
But maybe you will
Harmony would be fine
All together all of the time
But you might be tempted to sing solo instead
No matter the state your mind is in
No matter the color of your skin
Yellow or brown or black or white
We still bleed red
Maybe the world can be better than this
Let’s change the world so it’s better than this
Yes we can do it, if we believe it
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2010 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead and backing vocals, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocals
JP Maheu: guitars and bass
Produced by JP Maheu
Recorded at Intrinsic Studios, Stafford, Virginia
https://www.reverbnation.com/label/intrinsicrecordingandmedia
Mastered by Dave Collins www.collinsaudio.com
Released by Blue Frog Records
Red Letter Day
I feel that it’s all over
And I don’t really care
It’s nice to look over my shoulder
And find that you’re not there
She set me up to tear me apart
She wanna end and I wanna start
It’s all right, that’s the way she planned it
I watched until I had to laugh
She traded me for a better half
It’s all right, don’t need to understand it
It started out a perfect morning
Disappeared without a warning
Wasn’t a red letter day for me
I thought isn’t it just fitting
That it should end this way
And the traffic is so loud dear
I can’t hear a word you say
She set me up to tear me apart
I wanna end and she wanna start
It’s all right, that’s the way she planned it
I watched until I had to laugh
She traded me for a better half
It’s all right, don’t need to understand it
It started out a perfect morning
Disappeared without a warning
Wasn’t a red letter day for me
As I watch the bus doors and she don’t turn around
It occurs to me that things are getting better by the hour
It started out a perfect morning
Disappeared without a warning
Wasn’t a red letter day for me
It’s not all bad
Another perfect day
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI), Jimmy Sparks (BMI), and JP Maheu
℗ © 2010 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead and backing vocals, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocals
JP Maheu: guitars and bass
Produced by JP Maheu
Recorded at Intrinsic Studios, Stafford, Virginia
https://www.reverbnation.com/label/intrinsicrecordingandmedia
Mastered by Dave Collins www.collinsaudio.com
Released by Blue Frog Records
Understand
You can cry on my shoulder, it’s nothing new
Don’t you tell me your lies I won’t pretend they’re true
I’ve got lines on my face that start to show
Whenever you come around I just never know
I don’t think you really understand what I’ve been through
But it seems like this happens every day
I’ll put my pen to the paper and write it down
I’ll have a box full of letters just laying around
And if I seem apprehensive well whatever so what
I’ll see the glass as half full you’ll drink it down
I don’t think you really understand what I’ve been through
But it’s just as simple maybe as the difference between me and you
And it’s all right, maybe even better if there’s nothing left to say
But it seems like this happens every day.
I think you don’t even really wanna know what I think
I think you don’t even really wanna know
I don’t think you really understand what I’ve been through
But it’s just as simple maybe as the difference between me and you
And it’s all right, maybe even better if there’s nothing left to say
But it seems like this happens every day
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2010 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocals, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocals
JP Maheu: guitars and bass
Produced by JP Maheu
Recorded at Intrinsic Studios, Stafford, Virginia
https://www.reverbnation.com/label/intrinsicrecordingandmedia
Mastered by Dave Collins www.collinsaudio.com
Released by Blue Frog Records
Prayer for the Lonely
Wisp paper thin like a reed on the shore
Complicated thoughts like love or something more
Prayer for the lonely and praise for those in need
Strength for those who follow and sympathy for those who lead
I tip the bottle and I drink until I’m dry
I’m gonna lay my guns down and watch the world go by
A prayer for those who comfort and praise for those in need
Strength for those who harvest and care for those who bleed
You wanna live a straight line but never get it right
But you try, you try anyway
Call it luck or call it anything you like
But I’ll find a way
We all ask forgiveness but we never offer the same
We all find religion while we’re standing in the rain
Prayer for the lonely and praise for those in need
Strength for those who follow and sympathy for those who lead
You wanna live a straight line but never get it right
But you try, you try anyway
Call it luck or call it anything you like
But I’ll find a way
She looked at me, said honey life ain’t fair
It put a nasty scar on me I swear
I’m only looking for some happiness
I’m asking for too much I guess
You wanna live a straight line but never get it right
But you try, you try anyway
Call it luck or call it anything you like
But I’ll find the way
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2010 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Tom Grome: piano, backing vocals
Boo Lee, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steve “Geppetto” Worrall, bass
Hector Gutierrez, drums
Produced by AO55 and JP Maheu
Recorded at Intrinsic Studios, Stafford, Virginia
https://www.reverbnation.com/label/intrinsicrecordingandmedia
Released by Blue Frog Records
Goldie
When I opened my eyes to red mornin’ skies I knew somethin’ was wrong
Found the note on the mirror that certified my fear she was gone gone gone
I looked my goldfish in the eye and said Goldie if only pigs could fly
And you could talk and tell me why she left me
Well she seemed a little wired ever since I was fired from the wastewater treatment plant
Runnin’ out of money I said I’ll fix it honey, she cried you can’t you can’t
I looked my goldfish in the eye and said Goldie if only pigs could fly
And you could talk and tell me why she left me
I went to the bar but they said she hadn’t been there
Drove to her sister’s, they wouldn’t let me in there
If I was a fish or a satellite dish I guess I wouldn’t feel so bad
The trouble with livin’ is the takin’ and the givin’ and she took away everything we had
I stared my goldfish in the eye and yelled Goldie if only pigs could fly
And you could talk and tell me why she left me
I went to the bar but they said she hadn’t been there
Drove to her sister’s, they wouldn’t let me in there
Sittin’ on the porch with my heart kinda thin yeah,
Oh Goldie why?
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2010 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocals, guitar, drums
Tom Grome: piano, backing vocals
JP Maheu: guitar and bass
Produced by JP Maheu
Recorded at Intrinsic Studios, Stafford, Virginia
https://www.reverbnation.com/label/intrinsicrecordingandmedia
Mastered by Dave Collins www.collinsaudio.com
Released by Blue Frog Records
Spaghetti Western Complex
Mile Outside of Texas
A mile outside of Texas
I saw a ship coming in
A mile outside of Corpus Christi
Well, I think I know where it’d been
It seethed with smoke and light
And melted circles in the sand
A mile outside of Texas
I saw a little green man
Don’t leave me here again
I can’t stand the traffic
Take me back home this time
I’d rather be with you up there
As he popped his head from the hatchway
He was wearing a baseball cap
He said he got lost along the way
So I gave him an interstate map
I’d seen his face before
On the cover of a magazine
But it’s a funny thing there darling,
You know he looks a lot like me
Don’t leave me here again
I can’t stand the music
Take me back home this time
I’d rather be with you up there
Well I’m back on the job today
I’m trying to pay all the debts I owe
But I’m thinking about the next communion
And I’m just waiting on my time to go
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, drums
Tom Grome: piano, organ, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar
Chris Wellborn: bass
Dee Urban: backing vocal
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Love on the Outside
I saw her through a plate glass window
As she unwrapped a perfect smile
The perfect face, perfect place, I want that taste left in my mouth
I found love on the outside
42 stories from the ground
I found love on the outside
Honestly, what you do for me, baby please don’t look down
I think she knows that I’ve been watching
Still better off to be discreet
A telescope holds my hope and hides my voyeuristic streak
I found love on the outside…
I do not mean to disrespect
There are no flaws that I’d correct
She draws the blind and her shadow fades
She saw me through the plate glass window
And I unwrapped my perfect smile
So now I’m found, but I feel better
She’ll be here in just a while
I found love on the outside…
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, electric guitar, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitars, bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Funny
I watch the hammer fall every day
I watch the things I know I shouldn’t see
I watch the money as it rolls the other way
But I guess it don’t matter now
Life is funny like that sometimes
The harder you try, the more it unwinds
Life is funny like that sometimes
The harder you look the less you’re likely to find
A shot of angst and a drink, maybe two
A bleeding head might be good for you
A slice of temperament but that wouldn’t do
Because your heart’s so thin that I can see right through
Life is funny…
I watched the light turn from green to red
I watched the tail lights as she pulled up ahead
I watched the lips as she spoke the words
I paid attention but I guess I never heard
Life is funny…
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, drums
Tom Grome: piano, organ, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitars, bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Empty
They say that our house is empty
Why not go and put it up for sale
You said that my heart is empty
I guess I put you all through hell
Honey, why don’t we give it one more try
Honey, why can’t we look each other in the eyes
You said that our dreams are gone now
Yeah, and there’s nothing left for show
Well ain’t it something when your dreams fall so short
It leaves you with nowhere to go
Honey, why don’t we give it one more try
Honey, why can’t we look each other in the eyes
So by now I guess you’re gone
Maybe there’s nothing left to say
The world spins slower, the upside always seems down
I guess I’m stuck with the mess I made
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Tom Grome: piano
JP Maheu: electric guitar, bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Least Likely
She was voted least likely to succeed
And in her mind anyhow anyway at least for now she’ll concede
But she’ll show up ‘cause it seems like the right thing to do
In a town, in a bar, no applause just the same
Empty glass, bloodshot eyes, wondering why they came
But he’ll show up ‘cause it seems like the right thing to do
My time is your time too, I hope you’ll understand
But be careful what you go looking for sometimes
The things you try to catch aren’t as good as what’s in hand
She puts on her best dress, he might be there
For the last 20 years at every turn she’s seen him everywhere
This time might be the last you never know
And he’ll tell her this time before she goes
My time is your time too…
You took me with you when you went away
Left me standing here wondering which cards to play
You’d think that I’d forgotten but those feelings stuck around
Amazing how you walked away without what you had found
She was voted least likely to succeed
And in his mind anyhow anyway at least for now he’ll believe
My time is your time too…
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, drums
Tom Grome: piano, organ, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar
Chris Wellborn: bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Trace
Stopped my car, I just had to get some air
There’s a mill across a field but I don’t know where I’m at
Been driving all night just rewinding what we said
It feels like this movie’s playing over in my head
Scenes from a picture show tell me all I need to know
Watch me fall from grace
Caught in the undertow watching the smokestacks blow
Disappear without a trace
It’s been a while since I heard you laugh like that
You raised your dress just to see how I’d react
I promised nothing and that’s what you got from me all right
I won’t see it through, be just like you, just say goodbye
Scenes from a picture show…
Look down, jump in the air
You’ll not find me anywhere
It’s good to know that you find this pleasing
I left the puzzle and took the pieces
Lay around in your own misery
After all isn’t that what you wanted for me
What you feel ain’t what you say
What you really want just gets in the way
What we need we’ll never get
What we had, yeah baby, we’ll get over it
Scenes from a picture show…
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, electric guitar, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocal
JP Maheu: bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Nothing in the Rain
On the hook for a dollar’s worth of sunshine
She comes around and she brings it to me sometimes
I know her well but she’s not exactly my kind
But in her difference she’s really just the same
Another town, she’s moving like a dust storm
Wears me like a shirt wrinkled and worn
Left to trying to fix what we’ve torn
Another head full of nothing in the rain
On a porch, passing a look around
Wanna shout but I’m too tired to make a sound
Watching stars chasing the sun down
A setting heart sinking in my veins
What makes you think that I care?
It’s kinda strange the tears are from laughter
It’s all I hear coming from her picture
She’ll be back, it’s the only thing I’m sure of
Except the color of her eyes
No time to sit and wonder
What else I could’ve said to her
The thousand miles we use as a buffer
Are a thousand lessons in disguise
Another town, she’s moving like a dust storm
Wears me like a shirt wrinkled and worn
Left to trying to fix what we’ve torn
Another head full of nothing in the rain
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, electric guitar, drums
Tom Grome: organ, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar
Chris Wellborn: bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Sweet Virginia
Walk along beside her
Try, but I can’t leave her
Green fields where mountains touch the sky
Salt air while chances pass me by
Come home, Sweet Virginia, dry your eyes
I’ll forget the promises, I’ll forget the lies
Ran away for a while
Had trouble counting the miles
Green fields where mountains touch the sky
Salt air while chances pass me by
Came back to this place
Blue mist like a veil across her face
Green fields where mountains touch the sky
Salt air while chances pass me by
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, drums
Tom Grome: piano, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar, bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Nothing Happens Here
Everybody’s got a cross to bear, she said
Mine’s a problem getting out of bed
So draw the blinds and I’ll drift away
‘Cause nothing ever happens here anyway
Just in time for the afternoon papers
Read about all the local capers
Get a load of the politicians
Talking ‘bout the Third World condition
Put your trust in the everyman
Piece work killer for the local militia
Out of work painter painting pretty pictures
Just a guy working at a uniform laundry
Part-time Santa for the Salvation Army
Another penny for your thoughts, she said
Sorry’s not the word floating ‘round in my head
Sometimes I think I’m better off this way
‘Cause nothing ever happens here anyway
Put your trust in the everyman
Everybody’s got a cross to bear, she said
I got a problem with the things you said
So, draw the blinds and I’ll drift away
‘Cause nothing ever happens here anyway
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, drums, harmonica
Tom Grome: piano, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar
Chris Wellborn: bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
McNelly's
Swifty kept on laughin’ smoke was rollin’ from his teeth
I slapped another quarter down, a fifty underneath
Said send your finest whiskey to my friends down at the bar
Well I was settin’ out the shots, when he whipped out his guitar
The clappin’ finally started, the stompin’ of some feet
The whiskey bottle emptied, I was sweatin’ from the heat
In walked seven muscle heads with swastika tattoos
Lookin’ pretty desperate like they had nothin’ to lose
I could see a fight was fixin’ so I bent down for the gun
When old man McNelly grabbed my arm, said listen, son
Don’t act the fool and maybe git us killed
Dead heroes don’t tend bar real good, just keep them glasses filled
Lookin’ for trouble when somethin’ civil would be nice
Maybe just as simple as bread, milk, beer, ice
Well the cops busted in with their riot sticks in hand
But the crowd was too drunk to hear their commands
They glided to the center of the room and took a stance
You could tell that they meant business by the way they wore their pants
Chairs and bodies flew across the room as I had feared
But when the dust had settled, the scene was pretty weird
Lookin’ for trouble when somethin’ civil would be nice
Maybe just as simple as bread, milk, beer, ice
There were muscle heads arm in arm, singin’ Mack the Knife
McNelly smellin’ profits went to kiss his heavy wife
The ladies made sure that their hair was up to par
While the cops were in line autographing Swifty’s guitar
Two big blondes who just rolled in from the West
Wearin’ leopard-skin tights and nothin’ else but vests
Were dancin’ on the tables with their spiked high heels
We hadn’t raved like this since we quit servin’ meals
Lookin’ for trouble when somethin’ civil would be nice
Maybe just as simple as bread, milk, beer, ice
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar, bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Spaghetti Western Complex
Shot a man down in Tucson
I had a drink then I saddled up, so long
Guess it’s time for me to cross the border now
Pulled my hand from beneath my poncho
Ride alone down the coast of Mexico
Just a minute while I choke this last drop down
Rode into town on my llama
Boom box blasting Dramarama
Wilbur well I couldn’t even steal a horse of course, of course, of course
I’d do it all again and not think twice
But can I offer up a little advice?
Head north and pray for snow
‘Cause the water’s no good down in Mexico
Saw my picture on the Post Office wall
With a note from my Mother- honey, why don’t ya call?
Sorry, Ma, can I write when I get the chance?
I guess you’d say that he had it coming
But now he’s in the ground and I’m off running
With a makeshift horse that won’t even let me off
I’d do it all again and not think twice
But can I offer up a little advice
Head north and just so you know
The water’s no good down in Mexico
The water’s no good down in Mexico
Well I met a little honey, spent a little money
I know it sounds strange but it’s really kinda funny
She left me standin’ there wearin’ nothin’ but my underwear
Love springs eternal, her father was a colonel
Can’t stand a little bit, well, write it in a journal
All the way to Texas, all the way to San Antonio
Don’t you wanna take me down?
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums, harmonica
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar
Chris Wellborn: bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
I Found Out
It’s been raining for fifteen days
I’m complaining that I can’t find my way
But I saw you coming
And you saw me running
And I ran till I found out
You drowned my dog last night in my dreams
You were laughing at me, I don’t know what that means
But I feel nothing
And you still look stunning
There I stood till I found out
There I stood till I found out
So I ran till I found out
Yeah, I ran till I found out
The water picks me up, floats me away
The tide has turned my boat’s been burned I can’t keep you at bay
But I saw you coming
And you saw me running
And I ran till I found out
So I ran till I found out
Words & Music by Tom Grome (BMI) and Jimmy Sparks (BMI)
℗ © 2001 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead vocal, acoustic guitar, drums
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocal
JP Maheu: electric guitar, bass
Produced by: Tom Grome, Jimmy Sparks and JP Maheu
Recorded at Neptune Studios, Occoquan, Virginia
Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering
Released by Blue Frog Records
Best Time of the Year
It’s Christmas time again, baby and I will be home soon
Mistletoe’s hanging your love is waiting so Santa better make some room
Just in case you’re wondering let me make this clear
Hey baby don’t you know it’s the best time of the year
There’s a highway of Christmas trees between us and a million twinkling lights
But before you hang your stocking, baby, we’ll see who’s been naughty or nice
Tis the season so let’s get merry, I’ll bring the whipped cream, you can bring the cherries
Lights on the tree and a model train, but I’d rather have you wrapped in cellophane
Well throw another log on the fire baby and we can let it burn all night
If all I get’s a lump of coal and you that would be all right.
Words & Music by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
© 2000 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
℗ 2016 by Tom Grome and Jimmy Sparks
The band:
Jimmy Sparks: lead and backing vocals, drums, rhythm guitar
Tom Grome: keyboards, backing vocals
JP Maheu: lead guitar and bass
Produced by JP Maheu
Recorded and mastered at Intrinsic Studios, Stafford, Virginia
https://www.reverbnation.com/label/intrinsicrecordingandmedia