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SNAKE IN THE GRASS –Jordan Rand
No one sees the snake in the grass
Slithering
No one sees the serpent of
Gardens
No one seems to worry about
Such a thing
Till it strikes a vein and your blood
Hardens
On and on and on
He could go
ON AND ON AND ON
HE COULD GO
ON AND ON AND ON
SLIDING
DOESN'T EVEN TRY
TO BE SLY
DOESN'T THINK ABOUT
HIDING
NO ONE SEES THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS.
No one sees the wolf in the lamb’s
Clothing
No one sees the loner among
The herd
No one seems to worry about
Such a thing
No one seems to give it a thought
Or a word
ON AND ON AND ON
HE COULD GO
ON AND ON AND ON
SLIDING
DOESN'T EVEN TRY
TO BE SLY
DOESN'T THINK ABOUT
HIDING
NO ONE SEES THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS.
No one sees the shark in the
Dolphin
No one sees the killer among
The kind
No one seems to worry about
Such a thing
No one lets it enter their
Their mind
ON AND ON AND ON
HE COULD GO
ON AND ON AND ON
SLIDING
DOESN'T EVEN TRY
TO BE SLY
DOESN'T THINK ABOUT
HIDING
NO ONE SEES THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS.
On and on and on he could go
Sliding – Hiding – Sliding – Hiding.
No one sees the snake in the grass
No one sees the wolf in the lamb
No one sees the shark in the dolphin
No one sees the snake in the grass.
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RUBY IN THE STREAM by Jordan Rand
Rest area five miles
A flock of moths in twilight
Hits the windshield.
Pull over, I’ll drive
We’ll find a motel somewhere
Down the road.
In morning time will come
Rejuvenation.
We’ll pick up and we’ll carry on
Like children.
The landscape opens up just like
An oyster.
There’s sand in your eyes,
Time to close them.
At the Prairie-Dog Motel,
The air conditioner’s is louder than
A freight train.
The smell of desert rain
Is pungent as you open up
The door.
There’s local news and weather
On the TV.
An ice machine and soft drinks
Down the breezeway.
Hot Ramen on the camp stove
For our dinner.
There’s sand in your eyes,
Time to close them.
THERE’S A RUBY IN THE STREAM
BUT YOU HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE
THERE’S A NIGHTWALKER ON THE I-BEAM
BUT YOU CANNOT CARE.
THERE’S GOLD IN THE VOLCANO
BUT YOU DO NOT DARE
THERE’S A RUBY IN THE STREAM
BUT YOU HAVE TO LEAVE IT
Rest area two miles
No lights on the horizon
In the distance.
It’s too late to drive.
We’ll sleep like fork and spoon here
In the cab.
At least it’s automatic,
Not a stick-shift.
And if I snore, then you
Can turn me over.
Before you pass out,
Better crack the window.
There’s sand in your eyes,
Time to close them.
Black asphalt, blue sky
A bag of doughnuts on the seat
Between us.
Guitar-boys ahead
Are on the shoulder hitching
For a ride
We stash them and their gear
Back in the flat-bed.
They hop out later on
To switch directions.
You tell me I’m no good
At conversation.
There’s sand in your eyes,
Time to close them.
THERE’S A RUBY IN THE STREAM
BUT YOU HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE
THERE’S A NIGHTWALKER ON THE I-BEAM
BUT YOU CANNOT CARE.
THERE’S GOLD IN THE VOLCANO
BUT YOU DO NOT DARE
THERE’S A RUBY IN THE STREAM
BUT YOU HAVE TO LEAVE IT
Rest area next right.
Let’s call it a night.
There’s sand in your eyes,
Time to close them.
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THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
The wall between us is tissue thin.
Well below us is overgrown
A skein of blood under drum of skin
A knot of love that you'll never know.
The path is rocky and full of thorns.
The arch is wild with wisteria.
The street is strewn with the sound of horns,
But we float up to etheria,
WHERE WE SAY JUST WHAT WE MEANT TO SAY
AND WE DO JUST WHAT WE MEANT TO DO
WITH WORLDS OF ROOM THERE TO RUN AND PLAY
AND WORLD OF ROOM THERE FOR ME AND YOU
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
I turn the blinds as the sun comes up
I turn the blinds as the sun goes down.
I drink from out of a daily cup.
It fill and empties as ….
I want what I know I cannot have
I reach for something I cannot touch
I wonder lost up and down the ave
I need the comfort of you so much.
I will appreciate what I've got
I won't take for granted what's in hand
If only I can repair my lot
If not on Earth then some other land
WHERE WE SAY JUST WHAT WE MEANT TO SAY
AND WE DO JUST WHAT WE MEANT TO DO
WITH WORLDS OF ROOM THERE TO RUN AND PLAY
AND WORLD OF ROOM THERE FOR ME AND YOU
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.
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SONG FOR NO ONE –Jordan Rand
I look outside,
And I see nothing.
I look inside,
And I see no one.
I’ve grown,
You’ve flown,
And now there’s no one
But me.
I look around,
It feels like dreaming.
I go to bed,
My ears hear drumming.
In bed
Is dead.
The night is numbing.
I’m free
To be no one.
“AT LEAST
YOU’VE HAD A LOVE
THAT’S MORE THAN MOST,
IF LESS THAN SOME.
DON’T CRY
FOR WHAT YOU’VE LOST
WHEN WHAT YOU’VE FOUND
IS DEAD AND GONE.
OUR TIME
IN LIFE IS SHORT.
IT GOES SO VERY FAST.
YOU’VE GOT
TO MAKE IT THROUGH
YOU’VE GOT
TO MAKE IT LAST.”
I leave my friends.
I leave my family.
I’m gone for years.
I’m only a memory.
Nowhere.
Don’t care.
Don’t look for me
Or you will see
No one.
The world goes on.
It spins around the sun.
And what of me?
Am I like the currents in the sea?
Arranged,
Unchanged.
Have I
The power or the right
To say goodnight
To no one?
“AT LEAST
YOU’VE HAD A LOVE
THAT’S MORE THAN MOST,
IF LESS THAN SOME.
DON’T CRY
FOR WHAT YOU’VE LOST
WHEN WHAT YOU’VE FOUND
IS DEAD AND GONE.
OUR TIME
IN LIFE IS SHORT.
IT GOES SO VERY FAST.
YOU’VE GOT
TO MAKE IT THROUGH
YOU’VE GOT
TO MAKE IT LAST.”
I look outside,
And I see nothing.
I look inside,
And I see someone.
I’ve grown,
I’ve flown,
Now I’m with someone
I’m free.
And there’s no one.
No one
In me.
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6. |
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LETTING CAT DIE -Jordan Rand
I’m just letting the cat die.
I’m just letting my feet drag down.
Foot off the pedal and watch me slide.
I’m just letting the cat die.
I’m just letting the room spin.
I’m just letting the music stop.
Grab hold the bannister don’t fall in.
I’m just letting the room spin.
I’m just sitting the dance out,
In the corner beside the door.
Don’t much care for the In-Crowd,
So I’m just sitting the dance out.
I’m just letting the wind steer.
Drape my fingers across the wake.
So much howling that I can’t hear.
I’m just letting the wind steer.
When you left me my heart stopped
Like a clock that had not been wound.
Saved your message to hear you talk,
‘Cause when you left my heart stopped.
We had love of the best kind.
Sprang and scrapped like a pair of strays.
But only the making up comes to mind.
We had love of the best kind.
I don’t want to go on now.
I’m too old to be young again.
Sun beats down on a moonlit brow,
And I don’t want to go on now.
I’m just letting the cat die.
I’m just letting the room spin.
I’m just sitting the dance out.
I’m just letting the wind steer.
When you left me my heart stopped.
We had love of the best kind.
I don’t want to go on now.
I’m just letting the cat die.
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O.J.'S SONG - Jordan Rand
Mother I am coming
Home to you
Let this L.A. Freeway
Take me to
Where I was a young boy
Before this all began.
I was once a hero
Made you proud
On a box of cereal
Say it loud
Everybody loved me
The all American
MOTHER I AM COMING HOME TO YOU
CAN'T YOU HEAR ME CALLING OUT TO YOU
MUST BE INTERFERENCE, CAN'T GET THROUGH
MOTHER I AM COMING
HOME TO YOU
HOME TO YOU.
Life is just a circus
Look around.
Cheers of celebration
Fill the crowd.
Can't they see it's over
Nothing to cheer about?
There was only one love
In my life.
Now that she is gone I
Have no life.
Might as well move on now
Time for my exit route.
MOTHER I AM COMING HOME TO YOU
CAN'T YOU HEAR ME CALLING OUT TO YOU
WHAT ELSE IS THERE LEFT FOR ME TO DO?
MOTHER I AM COMING
HOME TO YOU
HOME TO YOU.
Rolling road-block follows
And ahead
Helicopters swarming
Overhead.
Overpasses teaming
As I go passing by.
All attend my moves with
Bated breath,
Waiting to hear news
About my death.
Tell me why I bother.
Tell me why do I try?
MOTHER I AM COMING HOME TO YOU
YOU KNOW I AM GUILTY, YES IT'S TRUE.
GIVE ME ABSOLUTION. BEAR ME THROUGH.
MOTHER I AM COMING
HOME TO YOU
HOME TO YOU.
MOTHER I AM COMING HOME TO YOU
MOTHER I AM COMING HOME TO YOU
MOTHER I AM COMING HOME TO YOU
© Homefire Productions, 1995
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SOUTH END STORY – Jordan Rand
Ruthie doesn’t have a lot to say
She’s a smile missing teeth,
But, hey, that’s OK.
If you’re down on the ground
And there’s trouble moving in,
You can’t find a better friend
Than Big Ruthie.
SHE’S A SOUTH END STORY
WON’T YOU STOP AND HEAR
HOW SHE GOT TO WHERE SHE IS
AND WHERE SHE WAS LAST YEAR
BUT DON’T GO SPEAKING
IN THE FUTURE-TENSE
‘CAUSE THAT DON’T MAKE NO SENSE
DOWN HERE.
Larry greets you with a brand new beer
And a big bear hug
And some words of cheer.
He’s a bit of a lech
And you see him all the time,
But somehow you don’t mind
Bear-Hug Larry.
HE’S A SOUTH END STORY
WON’T YOU STOP AND HEAR
HOW HE GOT TO WHERE HE IS
AND WHERE HE WAS LAST YEAR
BUT DON’T GO SPEAKING
IN THE FUTURE-TENSE
‘CAUSE THAT DON’T MAKE NO SENSE
DOWN HERE.
Pulp and passion.
Grime and glory.
It’s a South End Story.
Such a range
Of life to see
In a South End Story.
There’s Monroe the Clown, who no one knows.
He sits all by himself and the rumors grow.
Wears his world on his back,
And his wisdom in his shoes.
And he’ll laugh out of the blue,
Clown Monroe.
Rick and Judy are like Jack and Jill.
They went up to the bar and hey went downhill.
She can’t see why he comes.
She won’t let him come alone,
Though she’d rather be at home.
Rick and Judy.
THEY’RE A SOUTH END STORY
WON’T YOU STOP AND HEAR
HOW THEY GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE
AND WHERE THEY WERE LAST YEAR
BUT DON’T GO SPEAKING
IN THE FUTURE-TENSE
‘CAUSE THAT DON’T MAKE NO SENSE
DOWN HERE.
Look, it’s Adrian, two sheets to the wind.
He’s Comedy, he’s Tragedy,
He’s Comedy again.
He’s a ship full of holes,
And the party’s going strong,
But he won’t be here for long.
Sweet Adrian.
HE’S A SOUTH END STORY
WON’T YOU STOP AND HEAR
HOW HE GOT TO WHERE HE IS
AND WHERE HE WAS LAST YEAR
BUT DON’T GO SPEAKING
IN THE FUTURE-TENSE
‘CAUSE THAT DON’T MAKE NO SENSE
DOWN HERE.
Pulp and passion.
Grime and glory.
It’s a South End Story.
Such a range
Of life to see
In a South End Story.
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THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE, by Jordan Rand
There are sleepers
In skinner Alley
There are theatre patrons
In the rain.
The matinee crowd
Can’t be cleared out
‘Till the sleepers
Have all been swept away.
AND I’LL MEET YOU
UNDER THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE.
WE WILL KEEP DRY
AND THE WORLD WILL LET US BE.
I CAN SEE YOU
AND I KNOW THAT YOU SEE ME
AND I’LL LOVE YOU
UNDER THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE.
There’s a screamer down on the corner
There’s a lunatic howling at the moon,
While a car alarm sings disharmony
And a distant siren helps fill out the tune.
There are psychics on my TV set
Taking phone calls every hour of the day.
There are salesmen on my doorstep
And my “Not Welcome” mat won’t make them go away.
AND I’LL MEET YOU
UNDER THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE.
WE WILL KEEP DRY
AND THE WORLD WILL LET US BE.
I CAN SEE YOU
AND I KNOW THAT YOU SEE ME
AND I’LL LOVE YOU
UNDER THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE.
There are wailers down in the graveyard
All dressed in black, all lined up in a row.
There are watchers in the dayroom
Taking note of what we say and where we go.
AND I’LL MEET YOU
UNDER THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE.
WE WILL KEEP DRY
AND THE WORLD WILL LET US BE.
I CAN SEE YOU
AND I KNOW THAT YOU SEE ME
AND I’LL LOVE YOU
UNDER THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE.
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Gotta let it all go, Marty
Though we know you've put up a good fight.
Gotta let it all go, Jordy
Though we know you've put up a good fight.
Though we know you've put up a good fight, let it all go.
Though we know you've put up a good fight, let it all go.
Gotta let it all go, the good and the bad and the only.
Though we know you've put up a good fight, let it all go.
Let it all go.
When I close my eyes
I feel like a moving train
Rolling down the track
All alone
And it feels good
It feels good.
It feels good.
Feeling all alone.
When I close my eyes
The world just
Pillows up around me.
I just let it happen.
You can't keep it in
can't keep it in
It's just there.
It's just there.
Ain't it just like love.
I MADE AN OFFER TO YOU LONG AGO, IN A DREAM.
DID YOU ACCEPT, OR DID YOU REFUSE IT?
THERE IS A BOWL OF WATER HANGS BETWEEN
YOUR HANDS AND MINE, NOW
USE IT!
Gotta let it all go, the good and the bad and the only.
Though we know you've put up a good fight, let it all go.
Let it all go.
There is a door
That hangs between the human and the being.
Which ever way
It opens is just a way of seeing.
Little by little
Slowly but slowly
You have to let go
Of the good and the bad and the only.
Little by little
Slowly but slowly
You have to let go
Of the good and the bad and the only.
The good and the bad and the only.
The good and the bad and the only.
I MADE AN OFFER TO YOU LONG AGO, IN A DREAM.
DID YOU ACCEPT, OR DID YOU REFUSE IT?
THERE IS A BOWL OF WATER HANGS BETWEEN
YOUR HANDS AND MINE, NOW
USE IT!
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HURRICANE PARTY –Jordan Rand
We’re having a hurricane party.
We’re gathering all of our friends.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood,
Please join in.
They told us we had to evacuate.
We didn’t take it seriously.
We waited until it was much too late
To flee.
Now there’s plenty of beer in the ice-box,
And a feast full of food to go round.
There’s hours of music for watching
Waves crash down
We’ll open up all of the windows,
Move the furniture out of the way.
There’s only enough time left
For us to play
TWIRLING
ON THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION.
TOYING
WITH A TIME-BOMB IN OUR HANDS.
BALANCING
WAY UP THERE ON THE WIRE.
GET US HIGHER
AND LET US
DANCE.
We’re having a hurricane party.
No, it isn’t exclusive at all.
The phone lines are down,
So don’t even try to call.
Just come to the address we’ve posted,
If the storm hasn’t blown it away.
There’s no such things a s a wallflower
Today.
I can’t think of anything better,
Or anything that I’d rather do
Than drink salt air with my marguerite
And be with you.
They say that the name of the one we love
Is the very last word we will cry.
I know you’re a little bit curious,
So am I.
TWIRLING
ON THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION.
TOYING
WITH A TIME-BOMB IN OUR HANDS.
BALANCING
WAY UP THERE ON THE WIRE.
GET US HIGHER
AND LET US
DANCE.
We’re having a hurricane party.
We’re gathering all of our friends.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood,
Please join in.
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E.V.C. –Jordan Rand
E.V.C.
Every Victim Counts
O.S.M.
On the Strength of Man
T.E.D.
To Embrace the Deer
B.N.B.
But Not Break its bones.
R.H.C.
Roar like Heaven’s Child
F.T.E.
Fallen To the Earth
S.S.T.
Said the Soap-box Tramp
T.C.B.
To the College Boy
I.C.B.
In his Cardboard Box
I.S.B.
In his Sleeping Bag
A.T.S.
As he Tried to Sleep
T.S.C.
To the Sound of Cars.
H.F.S.
He could Feel the Shape
O.P.F.
Of the Prize he’d Found
A.T.O.
And he Took it Out
A.B.S.
And the Billfold Said
E.V.C.
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This CD is ABSOLUTELY FREE & is being published posthumously in honor of the 20th anniversary of Jordan Rand's passing. He wrote 112 songs during his last two years. Songs here are performed live by his sister, Joanne Rand and the LIttle Big Band (circa 1993-1997). These are archival live performance mixes and have NEVER BEEN RELEASED before. We offer them as a gift to you, so that these treasures of Jordan's mind may resonate on into the future! There are more of his songs on Joanne's other CDs.
released November 4, 2015
© 2015 Joanne Rand, Homefire Productions, BMI
Music and Lyrics by Jordan Rand
Recorded live in the Pacific NW (1993-1997) at six shows with the Little Big Band.
Mixes by Stephen Hart, Michael Bendinelli, Michael Wilson, and unknown.
Digital remix by Piet Dalmolen (Universal Balance Studios, Arcata, CA)
Guitar, Vocal: Joanne Rand
Electric guitar: Steve Kimock (tracks 2,3,5,6), Gregg Biller (1, 4)
Electric violin: Jim Hurley (tracks 8, 9)
Bass: Jeff Martin
Drums: Jack Springett
Congas & Percussion: Scott Deal
Backup vocals: Kirana Mayii (8, 9)
