1. Oblivion (Waiting)

Get out, come in, get out, come back in

How did you get my number?
Why did you have to call?
There's nothing left – you took it all
You never need a reason
You never had a clue
Why one and one is never two

It's slipping and sinking, it's disintegrating
It's dripping and stinking
Oblivion waiting

Get out, come back in

Why did you break your promise?
What do you want from me?
Just one more chance, another crack
Take all your sick illusions
Save all your stupid lies
'Cause one step down means twelve steps back

It's slipping and shrinking, it's disintegrating
It's dripping and stinking
Oblivion waiting

It's too bad, it's so sad
You've been used, you've been had (x3)
It's too bad (x2)

Where do you find these people?
Why do you bring them home?
They're pushing god or ecstasy
You leave all the windows open, leave all the doors unlocked
It's hell for you but home to me

It's slipping and sinking, it's disintegrating
It's dripping and stinking
Oblivion waiting

Why can't I just pretend that this will somehow end
That we won't break just bend

It's too bad, it's so sad
You've been used, you've been had

Get out, come in, get out!

© 1994 Music: Jessie Jacobson-Jarrett Lesko
Lyrics, Melody: Jessie Jacobson

Jessie Jacobson: Vocals, Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Sam Graf: Guitars
Brian Bielski: Drums

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1994.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.

2. Swing Time (1992 Version)

Sleepless nights, sad patience waiting
Folded hands in still laps
Caring too much, loving, hating
Circle smoke ring hazy
After one, scene is getting duller
After two, blank stares
After three, a wash in muted colors
But after all, who cares?

What I mean is, can’t be sure if I’m
Tossing and turning in swing time

Where can he be, does it matter, did it ever really?
He’ll only lie, he’ll only flatter
She’s hot-breathed soft words crazy
After five, morning light is blinding
After six, you shake your weary head
And after seven, awake as your heaven
Rains down around your bed

What I mean is, can’t be sure if I’m
Tossing and turning in swing time

I can see you slip away to face the day in silence
Dreams of peace and dreams of comfort
Fade to dreams of violence

Tell us that we're right for the right reasons
Show us that we've come so very far
Help us see beyond the passing of the seasons
Let us know exactly who we are

What I mean is, can’t be sure if I’m
Tossing and turning in swing time

© Lyrics: Jessie Jacobson (1985+1988)
Melody: Jessie Jacobson-David Miller (1988)
Music: Jessie Jacobson-David Miller-Jarrett Lesko-Brian Bielski (1985+1988)

Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
+ Toni Zeto: Ethereal Vocals
+ Michael James: Additional Rhythm Guitar

Produced by Jessie Jacobson and Ken Jordan, February 1992.
Mixed by Michael James, Chris Fudurich and Jessie Jacobson.

3. Black Xmas


Jesus got your number
In the pages of his little black book
Take a look
Your prayers and Hail Marys drip with passion
They won't get you off the hook
By hook or by crook

I was your ornament
I was your dimmest bulb
I was your Santa Claus

Thanks for this black Xmas
For all you gave to me

I might not be Adam
But you polished up my apple nice and bright all right
You're the eve of my destruction,
Your seduction only suctions off the light
In the darkest, blackest night

And now my goose is cooked
The turkey's stuffed and burned
The pudding's in my lap

Thanks for this black Xmas
For all you gave to me
I would like to hang you
From your Xmas tree

You hang silk stockings from your mantelpiece
And warm your spirit with golden fleece

My stocking's full of coal
Your reign is over, dear
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Thanks for this black Xmas
For all you gave to me
I would like to hang you
From your Xmas tree, etc.
Thanks for this black Xmas
Each gift you gave to me
I would love to shove them
Up your chim-in-ey
Thank you, etc.

'Twas the night before Xmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a louse!

© 1995 Lyrics & Music: Jarrett Lesko-Jessie Jacobson

Jarrett Lesko: Lead & Backing Vocals, Acoustic, 12-String & Rhythm Guitars
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Bass, Keyboard
Sam Graf: Lead, Slide & Rhythm Guitars
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Chris Fudurich: Additional Keyboards

Produced by Jessie Jacobson and Chris Fudurich, 1995.
Mixed by Chris Fudurich and Jessie Jacobson.

4. Butterfly

The wind is blowing, a butterfly
I see reflected in your bright eye
The sky seems endless
As you touch the ground
I catch my breath as you turn around

I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll give you this
An angel's blessing, a gentle kiss

A soft soprano, a cherub's cheeks
And through your quick breaths
He somehow speaks
Your lips say one thing, your eyes the rest
It's not temptation, it's just a test

I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll give you this,
An angel's blessing, a gentle kiss

I will miss you, my little butterfly
When you fly far away...

The earth is silent
Save for the birds and bees
And so to god's creation
I’m down on my knees

I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll give you this
An angel's blessing, a gentle kiss

© 1994 Lyrics, Melody: Jesse Jacobson
Music: Jessie Jacobson-Jarrett Lesko-Brian Bielski

Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm & Lead Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1995.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.


5. Twisted Wreckage

Just not your day, it may not be your life
You float around in circles, watch the waves
That take you and break you, forsake you

Nobody here will raise a glass or shed a tear
Nobody wants a souvenir
A piece of twisted wreckage

It's not your fault
Things don't work out like you thought
You build new traps
Push the buttons 'til you're caught
They paid you, they made you, degrade you

Nobody here will raise a glass or shed a tear
Nobody wants a souvenir
A piece of twisted wreckage

Sorry, you're so sorry
You confess that it's all true
Sorry, you're so sorry
But you're sorry just for you

So fuck your friends before they can fuck you
And fuck their wives
Why not fuck their girlfriends too
They'll lay you
And play you
Betray you

Nobody here will raise a glass or shed a tear
Nobody needs a souvenir
A pile of twisted wreckage
Twisted wreckage, twisted wreckage that was you

©1993 Lyrics & Music: Jessie Jacobson

Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocal
Sam Graf: Slide Guitar
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Brian Bielski: Keyboard Pulse, Shaker

Produced and mixed by Jessie Jacobson, 1995.

6. A Million Ways To Tomorrow

Your idle chatter's my philosophy
Your laughing matters mean the world to me
It dulls the clatter that fucks with my big old head

Your inattention inspires me
Your condescension hot-wires me
Jack up the tension that fires me up, up and away

There's a million ways to tomorrow
(Come on down, come on down, come on down)
There's a million holes I can fall through

Doubts crease your forehead, each one's a dart
They'll hand you your head, tear out your heart
Let's arm the warhead and blow them away, blow them all apart

There's a million ways to tomorrow
(Come on down, come on down, come on down)
There's a million different ways this can go
(Come on down, come on down, come on down)
There's a million hoops I can jump through

Master your self-defenses
Electrify the fences
I’ll steal your present tenses
I’ll plug into your senses
You won't see me but you'll know when I’m there
So what do you say now
So there, what do you say now
So there, what do you say now

There's a million ways to tomorrow
(Come on down, come on down, come on down)
There's a million doorways I can slip through
(Come on down, come on down, come on down)
There's a million ways to tomorrow
(Come on down, come on down, come on down)
I can't face a single one without you

©1994 Music: Jessie Jacobson-Sam Graf
Lyrics, Melody: Jessie Jacobson

Sam Graf: Guitars, Guitar Solo (end)
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars, Guitar Solo (middle)
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Backing Vocal
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1995.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.

7. We’ve Come Undone (Live)

No sun, no cloud, no pasts allowed
One room's enough to crash, unwind
To stash my stuff
To lose my mind

I was the one
She was the one
We were as one
We've come undone

Your lips, your eyes
Can't compromise
I pity you for being weak
For pitying me
For playing hide and seek

I was the one
She was the one
We were as one
We've come undone

Can't hear your voice
Leaves me no choice
Don't wait too long
'Cause there's nobody anywhere loves you like I do
So why not admit it and crawl back here where you belong

I was the one
She was the one
We were as one
We've come undone
I was the one
She was the one
We were as one
We've come undone

©1994 Music: Jessie Jacobson-Jarrett Lesko
Lyrics, Melody: Jessie Jacobson

Brian Bielski: Drums
Sam Graf: Guitar
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal, Guitar
Jarrett Lesko: Bass

Produced by Jessie Jacobson.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.
Recorded live in concert by Chris Fudurich, March 4, 1995.

8. Civilized

We’re so civilized
Civilized

Haircuts and manners and smiles
Handshakes and babies and wives
Feet upon yards upon miles
That stretch into lives

Morals and ethics and rules
Mortgages, taxes, commutes
Rest homes and death camps
And fools in khakis and boots

Cash, credit, purrs the voice in your ear
Time’s money furthermore
We’re so civilized
Civilized

Just trust the lawyers, the preachers, the fat politicians
Just wave the flag
It’ll blow all our troubles away
Just put your faith in the mail
To the men with the missions
They’ll teach you to prey

Perks, profits, purrs the voice in your ear
The sky’s the limit, the liquid atmosphere
Time’s money so it goes
We’re so civilized. Civilized. Civilized.

I’m sure i’m speaking in tongues
Taste sound bites inside of my head
Brave words all sucked back through my lungs
I’ll dream them instead

Crack, crystal, purrs the voice in your ear
Mirrors and windows expand and then disappear
Front-line pioneers tame the wild frontier
Time’s money, pay up front
We’re so civilized
Civilized

©1992 Music: Jessie Jacobson-Michael James
Lyrics, Melody: Jessie Jacobson

Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Brian Bielski: Drums (bridge)
+ Michael James: Neo-Hendrix Lead Guitar (bridge)
+ Ken Jordan: Drum Sequence

Produced by Jessie Jacobson and Ken Jordan.
Engineered by Ken Jordan.
Mixed by Ken Jordan and Jessie Jacobson.

9. Buy Me Everything

Mommy buy me an ice cream cone
Daddy buy me a popsicle
Will you buy me anything I want?
Will you buy me anything I want?

Baby buy me diamond earrings
Fill the hole and pierce my heartstrings

Will you buy me anything I want?
I know you will
Will you buy me everything I need?

Can you buy me happiness?

© 1994 Music: Sam Graf
Lyrics: Jessie Jacobson

Sam Graf: Keyboard Orchestration
Jessie Jacobson: Lead Vocal

Produced by Sam Graf & Jessie Jacobson, 1994.

10. Sore

Staring sideways at the sun
Surfing short-waves for a sign of something, anything
Sifting sand through sweaty hands
You second guess your shifting stands again but then

She'll submerge your sunken splendor
Her stretched-out sunny smile makes you soar
She surrounds your shrunken shadow
Her sad surreal sighs make you sore

Stumbling, shaking, sick as sin
You shred your sloppy second hand smoke screen
Slowly sinking like a stone
That slurping sound as you're sucked down again
But then…

She'll submerge your sunken splendor
Her stretched out sunny smile makes you soar
She surrounds your shrunken shadow
Her sad surreal sighs make you sore

And so suspend some disbelief
And shrug your shoulders, save your soul some grief
Or slither softly like a snake
And shed your slimy, scaly skin again, what then?

She'll submerge your sunken splendor
Her stretched out sunny smile makes you soar
She surrounds your shrunken shadow
Her sad surreal sighs make you sore

©1994 Music: Jarrett Lesko-Jessie Jacobson
Melody: Jarrett Lesko
Lyrics: Jessie Jacobson

Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Guitar, Slide Guitar (End), Backing Vocals
Brian Bielski: Drums
Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Chris Fudurich: Bass

Produced by Jessie Jacobson and Chris Fudurich, 1995.
Mixed by Michael James, Chris Fudurich and Jessie Jacobson.

11. Andante’s Inferno (Von Strugenhausen III)

Instrumental.

©1994 Music: Sam Graf

Sam Graf: Keyboard Orchestration
Jessie Jacobson: 12-string Acoustic Guitars

Produced by Sam Graf and Jessie Jacobson, 1995.

12. Let’s Drink To That

Let's drink, another drink
Let's drink until the portraits wink
Let's drink, another glass
Let's drink until the tremors pass
So where will you run
Where will you hide in broad daylight
And not face the wrath of the sun

Let's smoke another pack, blow smoke
Choke all the shadows back
Let's joke, just one more joke
Let's joke until we're tired and broke
So where will you run
Where will you hide in broad daylight
And not face the wrath of the sun

Let's break the bone, let's trim the fat
Let's stop the rot, alone
And if not, let's drink to that

Let's sing another song
Let's sing until we right every wrong
Let's sing, I want to sing
Let's sing 'til the cops come along
So where will you run
Where will you hide in broad daylight
And not face the wrath of the sun

Let's break the bone, let's trim the fat
Let's stop the rot, alone
And if not, let's drink to that, let's drink to that

Let's pray, just one more prayer
Let's pray, prove how we really care
Let's pray, I need to pray
Let's pray, pray our whole lives away
So where will you run
Where will you hide in broad daylight
And not face the wrath of the sun

Lets drink to that

©1993
Music: Jessie Jacobson-Jarrett Lesko-Sam Graf-
Katriina Huotari-Brian Bielski
Lyrics, Melody: Jessie Jacobson

Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Backing Vocal

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1994.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.

13. She Was High

Suede-lined smile, real life-like lips
A voice that melts and a tongue that trips
Across her words like fingertips
She was high

She speaks some words
That she heard somewhere from someone
She’s sure she knows but when she’s done
Her make-up streaks and her nylons run
She was high

We wrestled on the love seat
We rolled across the floor
We stumbled past the threshold
And we tumbled out the door

I caught a glimpse but I wasn't sure
I saw the world in miniature
No sign of life but there we were
She was high

We rounded all the corners
While we looked the other way
We barely scratched the surface
'Cause we had too much to say
We finger-painted portraits
Of the way things should have gone
We whitewashed through the evening
And we blotted out the dawn
She was high

©1992 Lyrics & Melody: Jessie Jacobson

Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm & Lead Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Backing Vocal
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1994.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.

14. Too Far

Let's go
A drive in the car
Don't take it too slow
Don't take it too far

Who do you trust
To let you be just who you are
To take you away from all this
But never too far?

Now that you think that you're better than me
That you've set yourself free, that you are somebody
If just for one moment you'd let yourself be
What you set out to be
Then you might yet agree
Nobody else gets to sees what you see
'Cause you've hid up the tree
And swallowed the key

You put it all down as you pick it all up
You parade it around
Through the streets and the underground
Now that there's no one to tell you
You take it too far

One last ride in the car
Won't take it too fast
Not going too far

Where were you taught you were better than me
That you'd set us all free, that you were somebody
Why were we less then you'd have us all be
And why couldn't we see that we ought to agree
Well, nobody else gave a damn what you thought
Or the battles you fought
'Cause the distance you bought was too far
You took it too far, took it too far

©1993
Music: Jessie Jacobson-Jarrett Lesko-Sam Graf-
Brian Bielski-Katriina Huotari
Lyrics, Melody: Jacobson

Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm, Acoustic 12-String & Lead Guitars
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jarrett Lesko: Bass
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1994.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.

15. Fly In The Ointment

When I hold the mirror up to your lips
Just to see you're breathing
I can feel a million tiny demons
Sharpening knifes, teething
But I will be there, drowning in disappointment
Now is nowhere and I'm the fly in the ointment

When I place the stethoscope against your chest
Hear your heart beating
I can sense a million psycho-killers
Lurk beneath the sheeting
But I will be there, drowning in disappointment
Now is nowhere and I'm the fly in the ointment

Picture book, fairy tale, pie in the sky
I promise the world, cross my heart hope to die
They'll tear you down to tear you down
To build you right back up
To tear you down, they'll tear you down
To build you right back up
To tear you down, I’ll tear you down
And build you right back up
To tear you down

When I press my skin against your skin
I feel the war wounds healing
I can hear a billion angels scream
In envy of this feeling

But I will be there, drowning in disappointment
Now is nowhere and I'm the fly in the ointment
But I will be there, I will keep the appointment
Doubters beware 'cause I'm the fly in the ointment

©1993 Lyrics & Music: Jessie Jacobson

Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitars
Jarrett Lesko: Bass, Backing Vocals

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1994.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.

16. Half Life

Held the glass half empty in half light
Held his breath half awake in the night
Half believed all the half-assed denials
Half believed in his own failing sight

Bits and pieces of a half life

Baby steps in a black hole of blue ink
They halve the distance but never arrive
Half a mind to reduce it to nothing
Too far gone always beats half-alive

Bits and pieces of a half life

Full of life, up to here
Choking down the doubt and fear
Force-fed back his every word
Stretched to burst by the absurd

Bits and pieces of a half life

Sickly grin in a thousand places
Cat junkie eyes always follow
Burned a hole in a million faces
Bury him where no flowers grow

Sticky, stuck in some slippery substance
Some Petri Puck with a bum chromosome
One more god with a fear of high places
Another fool who got lost halfway home

Bits and pieces of a half life

©1994 Lyrics, Melody: Jessie Jacobson
Music: Brian Bielski-Sam Graf-
Jessie Jacobson-Jarrett Lesko

Jessie Jacobson: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm & Lead Guitars, Keyboard
Sam Graf: Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Guitar Solo
Brian Bielski: Drums & Percussion
Katriina Huotari: Keyboards
Jarrett Lesko: Bass

Produced by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson, 1994.
Mixed by Michael James and Jessie Jacobson.