Cette année, on a pris des avions

We ve got your whole life on a tape

Tour Van Music #19 "She's so precious, she's so luscious"

She's so precious
She's so luscious

And how often that you hoped
She'd open up the door
She's a foxy girl
And she knows just how to please
She brings out the man inside of me

And the stars shine bright
On a dark Texas night
She brings out the man inside of me

And my mind unwinds
She's so very kind
And I swear I'm melting on the floor

Her eyes look at you
You don't know what to do
But she seems to understand
Everything you're thinking of
Your words are lost in conversation
Passing from your lips
And all the time you're looking at her
Struggling with your wit

She's a foxy girl
And she's sure to rack your brain
She's a girl who might just drive you sane
And the stars shine bright on a dark Texas night
And she's as sweet as candy cane
And your mind unwinds
She's so very kind
And you'd swear you're melting on the floor

She's so precious
She's so luscious
She could make you happy
She could set your soul free
She's the only one you've ever talked to this way
And all of a sudden you may find
That you have something new to say

She's a foxy girl
Don't you know you love her so
It makes you feel like letting go
And the stars shine bright
On a dark Texas night
Don't you know she loves you so
And your mind unwinds

She's so very kind
And you'll swear you're melting on the floor

She's so precious
She's so luscious

Picacho Peak

Don't know it it's because i'm about to spend a week or so close to some dead volcano, but this song is haunting me.

I drive with no lights on whenever there's a full moon, full moon
I tend to sing along with the radio on, when i don't know the tune
I got one hand on the wheel, one 's holding my coffee and i'm still holding the phone talking to you
I hope to remain so severely talented for at least a mile or two.

Mine d'or

Get Well Map

   Get Well Map by William Schaff

Not plenty of time left for rocking

Tour Van Music #18 "Oh, and it's slow, living in this"

Oh, and it's slow,
living in this.
Oh think ahead,
to sometime later.
And all that i was,
is all around me.
All that I was.
I want to live in the time,
when you cherished me.
Oh, to go back to the place,
when your hands moved over me.
Tell me it's there
just beyond me
Tell me you're saving it for me.

Tour Van Music #17 "Come a little closer"

When we were strangers,

 i watched you from afar

When we were lovers, 

i loved you with all my heart

But now it's gettin' late
And the moon is climbin' high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin' in your eye.

Going solo again

Tonight @trabendo with Chokebore

Tour Van Music #16 Let's move to the country

Let's move to the country
Just you and me

My travels are over
My travels are through

Let's move to the country
Just me and you

A goat and a monkey
A mule and a flea

Let's move to the country
Just you and me

Let's start a
Let's have a

Tour Van Music #15 That's why we're escaping

That's why we're escaping
So we wont have to die
We wont have to deny
Our dirty god
Our dirty bodies

Hotel Lobby Blues

Singing that the road ain't for singing

October : 6000 kms in this rolling machine. It s rainy as hell. Thanks for coming to our shows.

I’m here to sing you songs, in your room I have a corner seat

When you ask me to sing it feels my heart would burst with pride
And I look at your face and tears come to my eyes
All that’s harsh and wrong in my life melts into one sweet song
And my love spreads wings like a glad bird flying over the road

I know you take pleasure in my singing
I know that only when I sing do you hear me
Cause then I touch things I can’t touch

I touch parts of you I can’t really touch

Drunk with the joy of singing 

I forget myself and call you my friend

I’m here to sing you songs 

In your room
I have a corner seat

 In your world
I have no work to do
My life can only break out in songs that have no purpose

Red is my favorite color.

Last night @ Trianon Paris

We keep rolling down the fast lane like we re young men feeling no pain

Tour Van Music #14 "No time like the present to get ripped apart"

Pull yourself together
Take a stab at forever
Relax and let yourself go
Put yourself together
Take a shot at forever
Sit back, let the tears flow

No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck you dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry

Come a little closer
Before I slide over
Come on, I want you to burn
Come a little closer
Before I take you over
Come now, watch me burn

No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck you dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until i

The Farewell Transmission

This follows an older post i wrote about Jason Molina ( here )

Here's a small video of an improvised and late duet we did on one of Jason's masterpiece, The Farewell Transmission.
More footage coming soon.
These are priceless memories. I don't really know why he wanted me to get up to play this, but those were fun & happy times.

Tour Van Music #13 "Come See Me Tonight"

Come to me tonight
if you can hear me thinking
come see me tonight
i dont need to invite
if you can catch the vibe
come see me tonight

yesterday has gone again
im thinking how it might have been

its getting really late
and im not feeling too great
come see me tonight
girl, come share my dream
cause reality sucks
come see me tonight

i know you've thought of it before
im waiting for your knock upon my door

please dont make me beg
if you can hear my thinking
come see me tonight
im not pulling your leg
can you hear me falling
come see me tonight

im looking for a girl like you
none other would really do
come to me tonight

Tour Van Music #12 "Gotta get that feeling"

Yeah girl, now won't you come on out tonight
Yeah girl, where the stars are shining bright
Gotta get that feeling (gotta get that feeling)
Yeah we gotta get that feeling (gotta get that feeling)
Whoa-oh back again
Yeah back again
Tonight, you know there's something in the air
Tonight, we ain't got money but we don't care
Just gotta get that feeling (gotta get that feeling)
Yeah I wanna get that feeling (gotta get that feeling)
Before the night is through
I want you to get that feeling too

While the limousines wait in the street

Famous r'n'r Hotel , Lausanne, Switzerland, with cows ands crosses everywhere. Makes me think about L Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel n2" as i do very often.

   

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.
Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."

Tour Van Music #11 " City Girl What Have We Done To Ourselves?"

when i think of you
i stop and turn the hourglass again
the past is a strange place
but i want it back
and i just won't wait
city girl, what have we done to ourselves?
black spine northern line
feeds on money and time
you cut your soul to fit
battle scars from all night bars
never thought that i would be so drawn to it
city girl, what have we done to ourselves?

Spring Mixtape #1 " I believe i'll see you there"

Tour Van Music #10 "I'm glad you're not like us and by us I mean everyone in the world who isn't you"

Best birthday song ever?

You waited for Saturday
And waited for my birthday
And most of us probably
Expect even less than that
And I'm glad you're not like us
And by us I mean everyone in the world who isn't you

All this time
I thought was mine
Your proximity made
When boredom comes
It won't be long
Before I sing to you
There's nothing you can do
There's nothing you can say
To make my problems go away
Or to make me do the same

From the outside
My ideas
Pour me outside
Bottled feeling
For a mountain
Marbled ceiling
Commence the healing

Tour Van Music #9 "Into that secret place where no one dares to go"

When you were young
You were the king of carrot flowers
And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees
In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet

And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder
And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

And this is the room
One afternoon I knew I could love you
And from above you how I sank into your soul
Into that secret place where no one dares to go

Tour Van Music #8 "Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the past"

If you see her, say hello, she might be in Tangier
She left here last early Spring, is livin' there, I hear
Say for me that I’m all right though things get kind of slow
She might think that I’ve forgotten her, don’t tell her it isn’t so

We had a falling-out, like lovers often will
And to think of how she left that night, it still brings me a chill
And though our separation, it pierced me to the heart
She still lives inside of me, we've never been apart

If you get close to her, kiss her once for me
I always have respected her for busting out and gettin' free
Oh, whatever makes her happy, I won't stand in the way
Though the bitter taste still lingers on from the night I tried to make her stay

I see a lot of people as I make the rounds
And I hear her name here and there as I go from town to town
And I’ve never gotten used to it, I’ve just learned to turn it off
Either I'm too sensitive or else I'm gettin' soft

Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the past
I know every scene by heart, they all went by so fast
If she’s passin’ back this way, I'm not that hard to find
Tell her she can look me up if she's got the time

Tour Van Music #7 "Why don't you just say my name"

Oh my lover
Don't you know it's alright ?
Much to discover
I know you don't have the time but
Oh my lover
Don't you know it's alright ?
Oh my sweet thing
Oh my honey thighs
Give me your troubles
I'll keep them with mine
Take at your leisure
Take whatever you can find but
Oh my sweet thing
Don't you know it's alright ?
It's alright
It's alright
There's no time
So it's alrigh-igh-ight
What's that color
Forming around your eyes
Once my lover
Tell me that it's alright
Just another
Before you go...go away
Oh my lover
Why don't you just say my name ?
And it's alright
Say it's alright
There's no time

Life on The road reality #4

Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?

The National - Pink Rabbits par dm_518cf499416b7

I couldn't find quiet
And I went out in the rain
I was just soakin' my head to unrattle my brain
Somebody said you disappeared in a crowd
I didn't understand then
I don't understand now

Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?
Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?

And everybody was gone
You were standin' in the street 'cause you were tryin' not to crack up
It wasn't like a rain it was more like a sea
I didn't ask for this pain, it just came over me
I love a storm, but I don't love lightning
All the waters coming up so fast, that's right

Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?
Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your faintin' chair drinking pink rabbits?

And everybody was gone
I was standing in the street 'cause I was trying not to crack

I was solid gold
I was in the fight
I was coming back from what seemed like a ruin
I couldn't see you coming so far
I just turn around and there you are

I'm so surprised you want to dance with me now
You always said I held you way too high off the ground

You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a television version of a person with a broken heart
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in a park
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a television version of a person with a broken heart

And everybody was gone
You were standin' in the street cause you were trying not to crack up
Now I only think about Los Angeles when the sun kicks out
Now I only think about Los Angeles when the sun kicks out

You said it would be painless
The needle in the dark
You said it would be painless
It wasn't that at all
You said it would be painless
The needle in the dark
You said it would be painless
It wasn't that at all (when the sun kicks out)

You said it would be painless
The needle in the dark (when the sun kicks out)
You said it would be painless
It wasn't that at all

I Bet We're Still On The Same Wavelength

65 days at the wheel, no one in the rearview mirror
dived within your soul for a while, scared to dive within my own
with the couple of bucks that i have left, tried to reach you on the payphone
Six Years, not a word between us, i bet we're still on the same wavelength

infinite skyline
time to draw your own

It's been 65 days hanging out, can't get rid of the voices
Let's try deeper in the northeast rain, further in the random drives
Vanishing at dawn is ok, break away if it gets heavy
dived within your soul for a while, scared to dive within my own


infinite skyline
time to draw your own

Unwrite my name on every page, unbounded provinces ahead
 I have been chasing  for the feeling  that multiplies the innocence
should i go deeper in this state, for i have nothing left to lose
i need to dive within your soul so i can disappear from sight

We kissed goodbye and drank up, some mouths before our tongues

 Drive on
Drive on
The highway's bright and long
The river's overflowing
The houses burning down

Drive on
Drive on
The engine hums along
We kissed goodbye and drank up
Some mouths before our tongues
We kissed goodbye and drank up
I'll miss you when you're gone

So throw me a line
So throw me a line
…
The windows are shaking and so are my bones
The world's going round
Throw me a rope

The trumpet and trombone
Still echoing in the hall
And bells ringing along the dam

So hang onto me
Hang onto me
The world's going round
And time's cutting out
The headlights are stinging all over the road
Throw me a rope
Throw me a rope

I knew you when I was young
…
I wish you were still along
I waited a long time
All for you
I waited a long time
I lost you

I was sleeping in the backseat
When I got home
…
I lost you

It's in my honey, it's in my milk

Sorrow found me when I was young,
Sorrow waited, sorrow won.
Sorrow they put me on the pills,
It's in my honey, it's in my milk.
Don't leave my hyper heart alone
On the water,
Cover me in rag and bones, sympathy.
Cause I don't wanna get over you.
I don't wanna get over you.

Put your hands on the right man. Are you liking every road that you're on?

This song was recorded 100% live with absolutely no overdub in Studio A, at the mighty Electrical Audio,with a piano,two guitars,a bass guitar and a timpani.

It is not a very funky song.

what difference does it make afterall,if you're not in the middle to reach it anymore

 

with a birds-eye view,from above,i'm losing all sense of boundary line
these make believes,and empty signs,i never pay them any mind

it's funny how sometimes you end up,on the opposite way,of the plans that you've drawn
i know it is nonsense to be there,it's a fucked up path,that i've ended up on

Just because it seems obvious,doesn't mean it's yours,no it doesnt mean it's done
what difference does it make afterall,if you're not in the middle to reach it anymore
Just because you've been good before,doesnt mean you're cleaned up,doesnt mean you're clean

Names on all the paintings are gone,faded by bleaching clay
These make believes and empty signs,never liked them anyway

it's funny how sometimes you end up,on the opposite way,of the plans that you've drawn
i know it is nonsense to be there,it's a fucked up path,that i've ended up on

Just because it seems obvious,doesn't mean it's yours,no it doesnt mean it's done
what difference does it make afterall,if you're not in the middle to reach it anymore
Just because you've been good before,doesnt mean you're cleaned up,doesnt mean you're clean

Spring Mixtape #1 "L'amour t'a faussé compagnie"

Tour Van Music #6 "I dont think you'll ever find a way out of it now"

“Give me back my upper hand/
 Give me back my second chance/
 Give me back my evil streak”

Ever been tired,Ever been a little sick?

Cover of Jason Molina's "Everything should try again", solo show @ Chapelle de la visitation,Grenoble




You don't forgive the silence for not speaking up No matter how hard we're trying it's not hard enough Your eyes before the lightning to meet it by yourself You've been tired and a little sick You've been trying to work with it You drew your grave on every single map You don't plan on staying long You plan on burning it No matter how wrong it went You don't have much more room to forget You don't have much more room to forget

You don't forgive even the lightning For leaving you But everything should try again Even you You followed the train through every prarie dawn Said I'd like to see Ohio one more time before it's gone You had your hands up high in a prayer to crush your heart And every single heart Was that eight point star Ever been tired Ever been a little sick Ever tried working through it Photo (c) levetchristophe.fr/

Tour Van Music #5 "There's something about you,got me down on my knees"

Thoughts On Jason Molina's passing

A few years ago,while i was just getting started, i had only written 4 or 5 folky songs in my hometown, i booked a show for Magnolia Electric Co at a friend's bar, the Oasis Rock Café,Valence ,France.
It was a great sunday show, and Jason and his band happened to have a day off on the next day, and asked me to arrange the day off for them in Valence; also, Jason wanted to buy an acoustic guitar for touring but realised all the music shops were closed on a Monday in France.
So i sold him my Dad's guitar and they were all pretty happy about that.
They invited me to dinner, asked me if i could play them a few songs after,and said Jason would like to play a few songs too. Some improvised hootenanny stuff. My friend would turn the bar into a private club,kicking out the last monday nights customers.
Jason's words on that night,about the songs i played for him,the lyrics etc,were to me the cornerstone of what i wanted to do with my musical life.
These were the words from someone whom i truly admired the work,and these were humble,humble words from a great guy.
We sat and played till the early hours of the morning. After that we stayed in touch, and got to play a few shows together a few years later.
Last time i saw him was at Mains d'oeuvres Paris,for a show we've played together. I would have loved to invite him on stage to sing a song with me, but for some reasons,i didn't feel like asking.
At the end of the set he came and said "man i've waited the whole set that you ask me to sing one with you".
I deeply regret this now
Last words i received from him were an email saying
"Keep writing music as much as you can. Your friend & Etranger. JM"

 

Video samples from the 2006 acoustic closed bar sessions will be posted here as soon as possible
In the meantime,this song was written about Jason,him being one of the two characters i fantasized and talk about in the song,in the very studio where half of his records were made

Not Only Fading Out (From Off The Map) lyrics here

Our Cover of "The Lioness" Here

Steve Albini's Blues Here

Tour Van Music #4 The Winter Slammed Us Like A Fist, The Windows Rattling In The Gales

And a beautiful cover by Sharon Van Etten

Tour Van Music #3 "Feel You From The Inside"

Oldies But Goodies by N.I.N from the blessed musical year of 1994

Tour Van Music #2 "you have shattered all my dreams"

From theme Time radio hour hosted by Bob Dylan. One of the most heartbreaking break up Song by Jimmy Davis

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives// Tour van music

Here we ll post a playlist of songs we listen to in the tour van. Number One changing Colors by the Great lake swimmers, Very important Song for me!

Wherever i lay my head i m gonna call it my home

It s Been A Year

I'll Keep It Very Still i'll Keep My Distance Well i just want to watch you move

Last week i saw Phosphorescent doing an In-Store performance at Fargo Records.

I saw him live a couple of times,and one of his record "Pride" is a record that really is important to me.

I sometimes tend to grow tired of the whole singer/songwriter stuff

But when someone is as good as that,that's one of my favorite thing in the world

                                        

let's stay right where we fell
here near that magic swell
there's nothing else i want to do
i'll keep very still
i'll keep my distance well
i just want to watch you move

ause they're shining now
and they're crashing down
just like they've done forever
even when you're not there
it never stops i swear
not for one second ever
a long time is what forever is 

and all i'd ask of you
is just one kiss or two
and a whisper to remain
and when this part is through
for my body to
be left out in the rain
a long time is what forever is
ain't you tired? ain't you tired?
if winter comes on time
in her coat she'll find
that note i wrote back then
'sleep after every day
but never get to say
goodnight to you again'

a long time is what forever is

Everybody gather 'round
Pick up what I'm puttin' down
Got to dig this crazy sound
It won't hurt you
If you got music in your heart
You have made a real good start
And your love of music never will desert you
Baby it's a long hard road
Sometimes it seems it's just too much to bear
When your foolish friends have deserted you
You know that I'll be there

 

I'm Just A Jealous Guy

I was dreamin of the past.
And my heart was beating fast.
I began to lose control...I began to lose control.
I didn't mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
I didn't wanna hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy.

I was feeling insecure.
You might not love me anymore.
I was shivering inside...I was shivering inside.
I didn't mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
I didn't wanna hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy.

I was trying to catch your eye.
I thought that you were trying to hide
I was swallowed in my pain..I was swallowing my pain.
I didnt mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
I didnt wanna hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy.

Steady as she goes on with life does she think of me at all?

Steady as she goes on with life
Does she think of me at all?
I feel like I'm breaking
As she goes on with life
As she was walking down a hall
Jesus Christ, I'm shaking
As something shakes before it falls

Why Is Everybody Looking At Me

Winter weather is not my soul But the biding for spring... 

Why's everybody looking at me Like there's something fundamentally wrong 

Like I'm a southern bird That stayed north too long 

Winter exposes the nest Then I'm gone

I like to dream about what could have been.

A few weeks ago we did a few shows in Jail near the Cities of Aix les Bains and Chambéry. I got to play this lovely Mark Kozelek Song called Glenn Tipton and somehow this song, its lyrics, the cathedral style room we played in, the attention of the inmates, well it all made perfect sense.Hopefully,we'll get a small film out of that made by the inmates,pretty soon

It Feels Like I'm Touching It

We're almost there.Test Pressing sounds great,thanks to Mr Weston & Albini who have been nothing but great, and thanks to everyone who helped making or inspiring the record; hope you'll recognize yourself in these lines,as i'm aware of the fact that i'm really bad at thanking. But i mean it.

We Were Lightnings Across The Whole World

we were lightning across the whole world
we were lightnings,lightgnings,lightnings

and the guise to black cats we made a cross when our shadows met
and the guise to black cats we made a pact when our shadows passed
through sparrow black wind
a dead crow calls out to its wings
I'm getting weaker I'm getting thin
I hate how obvious I have been
I'm getting weaker,weaker,weaker

and I look down and see the whole world
and it's fading

help does not just walk up to you i could have told you that
i'm not an idiot
i could have told you that
in every serpent's eye watch you go where you go
every serpents double tongue takes a turn with your soul
if you let them ring your bell 

why wouldn't i be trying to figure it out
everyone tells you that
everyone tells you not to quit
i can't even see it to fight it
if it looks like i'm not trying i don't care what it looks like
cause i stood at the altar and everything turned white
all I heard was the sound of the world coming down around me
why wouldn't i be trying
why wouldn't i try
cause those double tongues are singing hear the wail of the choir through the fog
they're always close they're always so close always close always so close
if there's a way out it will be step by step through the black
why wouldn't i be trying to figure it out it don't mean i'm not trying if i don't make it back
i know serpents will cross universes to circle around our necks
i know hounds will cross universes to circle around our feet
i know they're close
step by step one's beside me to kill me or to guide me
why wouldn't i be trying to figure which one out

this year I think I'd rather be a relic than part of the present

It's always this year's gift
Is it ever what I wanted
Was I unhappy living in the past
Has my growth been that stunted
When to be ashamed is to be defined
And all this self awareness
The blind led by the blind
An empty conscience is sensitivity
I have to pretend I'm overcome with humility
It always comes on time
Not a second before the instant
But this year I think I'd rather be a relic
Than part of the present

In A Strange Game I Saw Myself As You Knew Me

                                                  

She got pictures on the wall,
they make me look up
From her big brass bed.
Now I'm running down the road
trying to stay up
Somewhere in her head.

When the dream came
I held my breath
with my eyes closed
I went insane,
Like a smoke ring day
When the wind blows
But you know me
And i miss you now