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Understand the Words

by Julio Rey

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1.
Sunset Drive 01:51
2.
Great 03:00
Ooh you keep me great Keep the vegetables on my plate You could be early I could be late But you’re there And oh I feel so straight In the sun and in the pain My smile runs back to my face Which you chased And I do think I love you more than ever after all these years And if you weren’t around there’d be no one to end my tears You keep me great If you weren’t around there’d be no one to end my tears I need you to keep me dry ’til we run out of years You keep me great
3.
Young fart of today Old boy of tomorrow Join the hair club Cover up your sorrow Ain’t we funny The way we move Shaking man boobs In a jiggly groove Old man blues you know it’s true Old man blues and I can’t sniff glue Can’t sniff glue Cause the kids might see It’s bad for the prostate Causes alimony Old man ain’t got Nothing in the world today Gold teeth are resin Hair is Grecian Formula Old man blues you know it’s true Old man blues long in the wooden tooth Regrets – I’ve had a few When I could not turn back it broke my ignorant bliss in two Sitting on top of the world until it crumbled Walking tall until I stumbled It’s the future your future It’s the future your future Most days I guess it’s OK Go on up you baldhead Are talkin’ to me? Go on up you baldhead Did I hear you say John the Conqueror Took my black cat bone away
4.
Thank you dear God for my money Thank you dear God for my wealth Thank you dear God for my family Thank you dear God for my health Never gotten high, no, never gotten stoned Never took no taste of no brother alco-hole Winding down that sweet path that ends in Heaven My kids go to Westminster they all get good grades Junior’s got a scholarship for the baseball that he plays Winding down that sweet path that ends in Heaven I live in a free country, the United States And I think our president is ever so great* Winding down that sweet path that ends in Heaven* *When a Democrat is in office, it goes: “I live in a free country, the United States/Even if the president is someone that I hate/I’m still winding down that sweet path that ends in Heaven” (this recording was made with Dubya in office)
5.
Spiritual 02:27
The struggle so often denied With praises that amount to lies If you asked me how it feels No answer I could give you could be real What is spiritual? Because I do not believe in “om” Or a cloister on a hill all alone Or a mystic carpet flying in the sky The right side of the brain isn’t always right What is spiritual? The presence of the Lord is clearest to me When right and wrong are hardest to see And the price to pay is heavy on either side And in the end it’s only faith that’s got you in drive What is spiritual?
6.
Jacuzzi Days 03:27
Jacuzzi days Man, I saw it yesterday Dim memories post purple haze In those jacuzzi days Jacuzzi days Nobody worried about AIDS Nik Nik shirts green and mauve In those jacuzzi days Oh those blow-dried days Dave Loggins on the FM waves The music sounded like country In those jacuzzi days Jacuzzi days Picture of hippie on Living Bible page R-rated cameras not far away In those Jacuzzi days
7.
Mr. Castro went to Harlem Don’t believe what I’ve seen Mr. Castro went to Harlem Don’t believe what I’ve seen He was welcomed with open arms Like a member of the family He said all the right words Dropped all the right names He said all the right words Dropped all the right names Well he played us all like pawns Only pawns in his game Mr. Castro went to Harlem Don’t believe what I saw Mr. Castro went to Harlem Don’t believe what I saw He went back to his plantation Folk down there call it Cuba
8.
Who’s there at the gates of Heaven? Who’s there trying to get in? Who’s there at the gates of Heaven? I don’t know but he’s sure knocking Maybe it’s the clergyman Dressed in gold and robes Maybe it’s the theologian Armed with all he knows Maybe it’s the president Trying not to get vetoed Maybe it’s the garbageman With corns on all his toes Maybe it’s the hooded stranger Who sometimes wears our face Quietly knocking with fear and trembling Thinking about the prepared place
9.
So many things I fought so hard for Taken away from me in the end All this talk about spiritual warfare Most of the time losing They say blessed are they that mourn And my heart of hearts knows it’s a fact Oh to give thanks for the air I breathe And the Blood that seals the pact Facing up to it And I still have to tune my guitar I still have to fill up my car I still have to count my pay I still have to know the time of day Of day And so the time comes to face up to it To deal with it for all time Like a little boy running in his dreams As the monster catches up from behind I long for a peace I know I can’t have yet I know it’s all part of the deal I look ahead to the horror of deliverance When my hand will be revealed
10.
Double Life 02:20
Look in front of you Look behind you Chances are I’ll be there You may not see me Nothing much to see Look real hard if you care Though I am free I am in a cage Everybody lives while I spectate I am so carefree Nobody loves me My game will end in a scoreless tie Nobody knows me I know nobody I don’t care to and I don’t know why Of I could die old and in my bed My bones would dry there no one to care Look in front of you Look behind you Chances are I’ll be there
11.
The liberal party line is as faulty as the right To be true to your own politic And to be untrue to the people, it Is a tragic mistake All those people did make And the rock and roll stars Want pride with their money and guitars They still down’t know about Christmas Nobody there’s got any iPod But they know about what electricity is From their 9,000 volt kisses No dancing in the streets Just dying in the streets Leaving bodies of children for the hyenas to eat I guess we did get fooled again But nobody’s facing up to it I think back to the summer of ’85 And it’s worse than the day that the music died Because it was the day that the music lied Not the first but the very worst time Rock was supposed to tear down the walls But this fortified the government armor in militant halls The musical notes are just blowing in the wind And the food is diverted and there’s no stairway to heaven And this country’s gotten all aided-out With all the problems still around The CDs sell the bank accounts grow And everywhere downward spiral the souls Anarchy never exists where it’s really needed And the devil’s power goes uncontested But I’m not surprised that it was a lie Because in this world there’s but one Truth left to find
12.
El Juego 04:55
Cuanto quisiera yo parar el juego Las cosas nunca salen como las quiero Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego Ya Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego Cuanto quisiera yo pagar lo que debo Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego Ya Eres parte de mi cruz y la voy a cargar Si yo te entrego a Satanas el te devolvera Para atras Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego De pretender de lo que no creemos Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego Ya Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego Sabes bien que amistad no tenemos Cuanto quisiera yo parar le juego Ya Eres parte de mi cruz y la voy a cargar Si yo te entrego a Satanas el te devolvera Para atras
13.
Wake up in the morning And it’s raining outside I can hear her breathing As she’s dreaming inside Drinking last night’s coffee And then I take my keys Pause before I go To kiss her on the cheek I’m paying the price Of the things I have bought I’m living my lie Took away everything that I’ve got Two aspirin Chasing two Tums Waiting for the email That will not come Numbers on the screen Stare me back in the face And the sun is running Running in place I want to dance with you I want to hold you through the night I want to feel your kiss As you sleep in the starlight
14.
You did what you had to do You had to stop the lie Well I wasn’t too sure about what I was doing But I wanted to be by your side Now I don’t know what to think But what is done is done There’s too many misunderstandings Now I am gone You did the amputation You didn’t put me to sleep Now I am nursing the scar But it goes pretty deep These feelings almost alive Ripped away from me Now it’s just raw nerve endings And I don’t know what it means So I hope you never change your mind Hope you don’t come back to me You know, I wouldn’t know what to say If you tried to talk to me Now I’ve got to be away praying now I’ve got to find my place I hope I can face you again After I’ve sought God’s face
15.
Love is Pain 04:31
Every time I think of you A tear comes to my eye Thinking about What made you be so far away My heart aches inside me This love just overrides me Oh Lord, bring on the rain Because love, love is pain I lie down before I sleep Learn my lessons well I’ll be happy with this pain Because it’s something I know well I know what could have been I know near-perfection Even if it didn’t call my name Even if love, even if love is pain and Maybe I can escape into a dream Where I can see you smiling and holding me And autumn walks and secret places and things I can love you ’til my alarm rings Yes the Lord, he’s got his plans for me I’m on his mind I hope that this reality Means there is more to find And if it’s another me and you I’ll be more than glad, it will do But for now I’ll stay this way And stay with the love, with the love is pain, and Maybe I can escape into a dream Where I can see you smiling and holding me And autumn walks and secret places and things I can love you ’til my alarm rings
16.
Nail Me In 05:01
Did it your way Did it my way But no way Was the best way Things go well for me and you just hate it Things go well for you and I just hate it It’s too late for anything but this choice So excuse me while I part with my voice I never wanted to sin My cross is carved, so Nail me in Sometime I don’t know just what’s wrong or right We do our best I know that we really try
17.
Roll the rock, Lord Roll the rock onto my sin Roll the rock, Lord Onto disease and pestilence Roll the rock, Lord Roll the rock onto my death Roll the rock, roll the rock, roll the rock Oh to see Who’s at that right hand Oh to see Who’s in glory above Oh to see them put them plastic wings on Oh to see the True Face of Love Oh to see this whole world dipped in Clorox Oh to feel my pride cut to the bone Oh to see it all taken apart and shown me Oh to see the payoff to the loan Throw down your chains, boys, because it’s time to go
18.
Fata Morgana 05:04
I have held my newborn the first minute of her life And kissed the warm faces of loved ones that just died Known closeness and trust that I thought would never break And betrayals in which I guess I sometimes did partake They gave me honor rolls and medals with my head in the clouds But the playground humiliations were what life was truly about I used to pull my covers over my eyes in case there were ghosts I waited for signs that never came and that never needed to show What’s there to do in the end? Emerald cities fade away No promises were truly made Should have kept them to myself anyway Call my life what you will except for one of faith No tradition or revelation augmenting the words on a page Everything must pass everything will wave goodbye Making way for the new lessons deployed into my life The things that I have faced I’ve deserved them all and more As I walk through the hours and approach each unknown door And try to stay on good terms with the Deity that pulls me through I could tire of learning but then what would I do? Nothing to do in the end Emerald cities fade away No promises were truly made Should have kept them to myself anyway
19.
I’m ready to say goodbye To the Man on the mountain Where’s a good sculptor when you need one? He’s wracked my brain With all His inside ways He makes such sense and He’s so had to accept Where will He go from here How will He take the years The deck’s stacked against me more than ever now As I see I’m ready to say goodbye To the Man on the Mountain And I’m ready to say goodbye to me Because it’s no longer what I do But how and why My merit badges mean no more to me Where will I go from here As I’m assaulted by the years I imagined there was no Heaven And I found out what Hell was I haven’t got it all figured out But I think I know what it’s all about To kill the emperor of ice cream And allowance Of a dream Where will I go from here As I’m assaulted by the years The deck’s stacked against me more than ever now As I see I’m ready to say goodbye To the Man on the Mountain And I’m ready to say goodbye to me
20.
Oh heart which enshackles all dreams To make a party all that much worse Changing each and every year of life Into eternal passages of horror If you share my deepest darkest secret I’ll tell you that I plot against him And millions of us to God we pray That He’ll finally take his heart away For his life is pain doled and dished out The sooner he dies the better we say These years of shadows and hunger Have all taken your name, Fidel ‘Cos the names that f*** with history Have a birthday with each morning bell And if I could only express in verse My profoundest reason to be I’d tell you I just want to get the hell out For there cannot be a model any worse Than the one you pulled out, comandante Of your ass and shoved right down our throats
21.

about

Acoustic rock and roll through punk rock glasses

credits

released December 20, 2007

GUEST PLAYERS
Alex A: drums
Dale Rogers: violin, piano
Deborah Levi: keyboards
Reverend Max Alt and the International Church of Miami: backing vocals

Cover illustration: David Uribe (www.sketchism.com)

Thanks to: Gorki Aguila Carrasco/Porno Para Ricardo, cubaunderground.com, Dale Rogers, Danielle Rogers, Alex A, Marisol A, David Uribe,Julian Sarraff, Alberto Valdes, Marc Golob/Music Depot, Nina Llopis, Rob Christie, Andy Coyle, Astrid Rey, Cedric Rey, Corinne Rey, Kristina Flor-Rey

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Unrehearsed Walk Miami, Florida

The one-man garage band formerly known as Julio Rey. Rocks of all ages from punk to blues to classic to alt. Lyrics personal to silly to spiritual. Tunes written from 1974-now.

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