Missing Briefcase
January 2008
Missing Briefcase is Alex's tenth album of off-kilter Beatles-style pop in six years. His humor-tinged songwriting on Missing Briefcase is subtle and sardonic, with lyrics such as, "If you want to claim Palestine/You're gonna need some expert web design." But Alex often eschews the self-conscious wittiness for the earnest ("Skybridge," "There May Be A Place"), sometimes veering into pure absurdism ("Going Insane For The McCain Campaign"). These themes are all tied together with lush production and the consistent sensibility of melody and adventurousness. Mayhaw Hoons, long-haired bassist from up-and-coming Portland indie rock band The Shaky Hands, also contributes vocals on the faux-hip-hop song "Still Pushin."
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Track Listing
(click titles for lyrics)
1. Pass By Palestine
2. Nuke Song
3. Eternal Return
4. Going Insane For The McCain Campaign
5. The Zaps
6. High Speed Chase
7. There May Be A Place
8. Last Generation
9. Skybridge
10. Still Pushin (Feat. Mayhaw Hoons)
11. When The Bees Are Gone
12. Secret Catastrophe
Pass By Palestine
Exit, pursued by a bear and buried
Who wanted a life so ordinary?
I've lost all the blood flow to my heart
And on top of this, the lawnmower won't start
And if I ever leave home
I have to remember her like this
I've been the same since the day you married
Who wanted a life so quite unvaried?
It's no surprise to me that I'm dead
And on top of this, the cats are overfed
And if I ever leave Earth, I have to remember life like this
I don't want to forget
And pass by Palestine
Don't let me grow old
And forget and let it go
I don't want to forget
And pass by Palestine
Don't let me grow old
And give up and let it go
I don't want to forget
That once I wanted to live
Before the world got too dark
My body on the ground
And my mind wide awake
In Palestine
I've got an electromagnetic duster
No spots seen, but the surface lacks luster
I've lost all the blood flow to my heart
And on top of this, the lawnmower won't start
And if I ever leave home
I have to remember her like this
Nuke Song
I feel good every time you test the weapon
Every time it goes I test a twist of lemon
I twist the subtext and everything this nuke implies
I'm so blind, I grew a third eye
If you wanna claim Palestine
You're gonna need some expert web design
Before you know it
I feel good every time I threaten China
Way down here, down from Northern Carolina
Does it puzzle you, all this rise in mercury?
This toxic body's much in need of poison, can't you see?
If you wanna claim Palestine
You're gonna need a fiery serpentine
Before you know it
These nukes are all gone
And I'll sing this nuke song
Eternal Return
I've been strung up by my neck once or twice before
Such a land that's thrown me once or twice before
Someone's feeling down over half a pot of coffee grounds
Messing with time and space is as easy as it sounds
Because I've been in love with you before
And seen my song taking all the time and time again
And seen my call taking all the time again
Because I've been love with you before
All this talk of walls is making you cynical
Who said all this human life can't be cyclical?
Because I've been in love with you before
And seen my song taking all the time and time again
And seen my call taking all the time again
Because I've been love with you before
Elvis Presley coming back for more
And I've been in love with you before
The tapes that I had when I was four
Yes and I've been in love with you before
And seen my song taking all the time and time again
And seen my call taking all the time and time again
And seen my song taking all the time and time again
And seen my call taking all the time again
Because I've been love with you before
Yes I've been love with you before
Going Insane For The McCain Campaign
I'm goin' insane for the McCain campaign
I'm goin' insane for the McCain campaign
My stomach's in pain from the McCain campaign
It's gonna rain on the McCain campaign
I can't refrain from the McCain campaign
There's a stain on the McCain campaign
I'm taking a plane to the McCain campaign
I'm busting a vein for the McCain campaign
I can't abstain from the McCain campaign
I'm goin' insane for the McCain campaign
I'm going insane for the McCain Campaign
I'm going insane!
I'm going to Maine for the McCain campaign
Bloody remains on the McCain campaign
Doing cocaine for the McCain campaign
I'm chewing chow mein for the McCain campaign
There's a strain on the McCain campaign
I'm taking a train to the McCain campaign
I'm busting a vein for the McCain campaign
I can't abstain from the McCain campaign
I'm going insane for the McCain Campaign
I'm going insane!
The Zaps
My mind is out of phase
My mind is out of phase
These days in the daze
The Minotaur's in the maze
My mind is out of phase
My mind is blinking out
My mind is blinking out
So long I've gone without
The morn sucked up the doubt
My mind is blinking out
I think I saw the Duke eat the Earl
The rainbow trout ate the red-haired girl
Though I'm more reliable
My brain is extra pliable
Girl I got the zaps
My mind is incomplete
My mind is incomplete
The lights on dark history
It's so right to wrong and cheat
My mind is incomplete
You said that I'm a line
I said that I'm a line
Going into the fold tonight
A rainbow trout
A mobius strip
That's crazy, crazy talk
You said that I'm a maze
I said that you're a phase
Going into the fold tonight
Undulate the snake
Everything's a point
My mind is out of phase
My mind is out of phase
A rain like clouds
The clouds like flames
Telling everyone in the campsite
This dog is a bear
This bear is a chair
That's crazy, crazy talk
High Speed Chase
I'll keep a check on my raging speedometer
I gotta keep pace with the news helicopter
I'll keep an eye out for houses I can drive through
I put it on the line in a high stake pursuit
I can't think about putting on the brakes
Everybody's home watching my high-speed chase
I'm daydreaming of my product endorsements
The meth addict racket isn't working too good
Is it me or did I just hit a seal pup
And won twenty points in a ten-car pileup
I can't think about putting on the brakes
Everybody's home watching my high-speed chase
Maybe Jackie Chan and I can do a movie
Maybe after all is said and done I'll be your cellie
Maybe all I wanna do is meet Jeff Gianola
The jig is up, I hit a truck, and now it's steel bars
But first I hit a ramp over ten cop cars
I gotta give all the people what they came for
A flaming ball of flames as I leap out the front door
I can't think about putting on the brakes
Everybody's home watching my high-speed chase
There May Be A Place
What if you find you just can't break on through?
What if you find there is no other side?
The girl grinds a pill into her mind
The woman tells her guru what to find
There may be a place
There might be a time
A never-passing other between the lines
What if there is nowhere over the rainbow?
What if you're deaf to the sound of the lullaby?
The man pushes flesh into the skin
The boy shoots an arrow through his twin
And if there is no undiscovered country
And if the dreams that may come just don't come
Last Generation
I'm keeping an eye on the sun
It's keeping an eye on me
You're the last generation who
You're the last generation to
I'd like to show you the land
My friend Ivy Mike
You're the last generation who
You're the last generation to
I just saw a shape that I should never, never see
I just saw a shape that should never, never be
It's the last generation dying on me
There's a new improved sun
A second shining sun
You're the last generation who
You're the last generation to
I'd like to show you the land
You know, Ivy Mike
You're the last generation who
You're the last generation to
I just saw a shape that I should never never see
I just saw a shape that should never never be
It's the last generation smiling on me
One by one
Two by two
The land takes on a different hue
It's the last generation smiling on you
Skybridge
I know you wanted me to be a mascot
But then I fell into a musty wicker basket
We could never fall away into the highlands
The real estate in the Appalachian islands
The real rain on the million dollar view
You can see the bridge from the skybridge
You can feel the street from the streetlight
It's all the same from six o' clock until eleven
The same news story and the syndicated drama
If only I could stay between awake and sleep
Well maybe I was born and brought here to die
The better way for the million dollar view
You don't have to disappear so slow
You can skip the triple lutz
Although you don't know
To sleep, perchance to dream
Still Pushin (Feat. Mayhaw Hoons)
Now I'm down on the corner by the Circle K
With a bag of crack and a bag of cocaine
I been gone a while but I'm back with a "'sup!"
In a polo shirt with the collar turned up
I strut the streets and I got the treats
I'm mixin' DMB with the Kool Herc beats
But I turn my back and you're hatin' my sack
They say, "bitch, you cleaned up!"
Naw, I'm still pushin' bro
Now I been down and out down at the Lilith Fair
I was cruisin' the crowd with a load to spare
I said to Paula Cole, "Girl, don't you despair"
Don't mind the pin that says, "Hoes beware"
Now ten years later, I be locked in the tank
Caught makin' dills with a grade school skank
But Paula Cole, damn, she posted my bail
She said, "you going straight, G?"
Naw, I'm still pushin' bro
Now just when I think that I'm back in the game
The po' come in with an itch to blame
They in my grill and my face, I say "WHAT?!"
Damn, they found the junk up my butt
They cuff me up until they learn my name
I'm the governor's son, yo that changed the game
They spared me the ride and they left my freight
They said, "Son, you scared straight?"
Naw, I'm still pushin' bro
Mayhaw:
Shot call!
Take a ho to the bank
I been making money selling six-pack of crank
Shit, girl!
Take a look at that butt!
I really like your butt
I appreciate your butt
Gimme a hug if you want some food
I got some ribs if you want to chew on it
[scat]
When The Bees Are Gone
The bees are going down to the sound
Of the wheezing coming up from underground
The willow tree weeps a weep, one giant single sappy tear
To the bees going down to the sound
The roses shriveled up to the sound
Of an empty house upon its mound
With no arriving guests to a party of pollen past
The roses shriveled up to the sound
When all the bees are gone
There's something else there wrong
We understand the plan to breathe until it hurts
When all the bees are gone
The humans shriveled up to the sound
Of a final corn husk brushing the ground
The taters and the nanners grew bored and went to sleep
To the humans going down to the sound
Secret Catastrophe
I've got a bulletproof vest
These riots calm down to please my guest
I guess my gas mask is gone
But all the scuba champions don't need it on
You're passive aggressive
You're anxious and obsessive
You have a tendency to test my queries
I'd like to make you come closer
You put me in this dusty old room
Would you do the same to the bride and groom?
I've got a spot that's soft to the light
Soon it may learn the art of sight
The hungry and the full play the tune
The same one that made the ladies swoon
But the worst I could do is not listen
To those who somehow escaped from prison
It took a long fall down to a secret catastrophe
To make you feel better