"I Love the Coffee Shop"

I first tried coffee when I was in junior high. The cup I tried came with cream and sugar, and I hated it. I didn’t drink coffee again until I got to Boston a few years later. There I tried cappuccino for the first time and loved it! Then my first summer in Boston, I was working in a pizza restaurant and the air conditioning went out. Our pizza ovens were at 750°F, and that kitchen got mighty warm! That’s when I learned to drink ice coffee with cream. For me the secret was NO SUGAR. Now I’ve been happily addicted to coffee for many years. This song pays homage to the Brigham’s restaurant in the Prudential Center in Boston’s Back Bay. I used to do a lot of songwriting there while eating club sandwiches and drinking coffee.

I Love the Coffee Shop

© 1985 Brian Hutzell

I think the best food in the world

Is never found in fancy places

It’s behind the greasy counter

Frequented by common faces

The coffee and the sandwich

Served with slaw in generous portions

To the sound of scratchy music

From the radio’s AM station

I like sitting on a swivel stool

I like soup with a greasy spoon

The coffee shop to the sandwich bar

There’s the greatest food by far

The atmosphere makes me feel good

Like a five-star diner never could

I like the coffee shop

I love the coffee shop

I think the best way in the world

To forget your daily worries

Just relax beside a counter

Where you’re never in a hurry

A think old-fashioned malted

And a doughnut in the morning

And it only makes it better

If outside the rain is pouring

I like sitting on a swivel stool

I like soup with a greasy spoon

The coffee shop to the sandwich bar

There’s the greatest food by far

The atmosphere makes me feel good

Like a five-star diner never could

I like the coffee shop

I love the coffee shop

I like the coffee shop

I love the coffee shop

The coffee shop

The coffee shop!

“Revere Beach”

Brian Hutzell

from Bouncing Suit Legal

"The Notebook"

I’ve recorded this one twice: first on my December 1985 cassette, then as part of TFM. Wally got me into the habit of carrying a notebook with me everywhere, and throughout my first stay in Boston, I stuck to that habit diligently. I’ve since drifted away from it, but I still like to have something to write on handy wherever I am, just in case inspiration strikes. As for the artwork here, it comes from Unperformable Music, which I created while living in Cambridge. The notebook was featured in the group art show “Urban Journals” at Local Project in New York.

Current listening: Duran Duran, Rio

The Notebook

© 1985 Brian Hutzell

The notebook he kept in his pocket

The secrets confessed in its pages

The notebook he kept on his person

The paper he filled with his pain

The lyrics composed with his pencil

The stories composed for no people

The memories of distant places

His life handed down through a pen

Writing for no one

What good does it do?

Waiting for someone

Who'll force him to move

Writing his notebook

With nothing in mind

Wanting a reason

Where does the time fly?

The notebook, the notes he has taken

The naked truth laid on the table

The neighborhood time bomb is ticking

The neighborhood lion unchained

The notebook exists as a token

Of life he endured through the trial

The notebook reveals all his troubles

The failed excursions he tried

Writing for no one

What good does it do?

Waiting for someone

Who'll force him to move

Writing his notebook

With nothing in mind

Wanting a reason

Where does the time fly?

pages 8-9

from Unperformable Music

Brian Hutzell

"No Change"

Meh. This is not much of a song. Reading over these lyrics now, I can vaguely recall the melody, but this one is basically a throwaway. I’ve sometimes opted for quantity over quality. Many a song that could have benefited from a rewrite merely got shunted aside and forgotten. Of course, some songs are beyond saving. I’m not sure which category this one falls into; I haven’t given it two thoughts since the day I wrote it.

I’ve spent most of the day so far doing schoolwork, and I’ve been going pretty well. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I wanted to get as much of this week’s assigned work done as possible before the holiday. That way, I can stuff myself without having unfinished business hanging over my head. Hitomi and I will be dining out with The Fossils at Baker’s Square, which is a nice feel-good spot. And they have great pie! I’ve always been more of a pie than a cake person. As a kid, mom I would frequently have a birthday pie instead of a birthday cake. Sometimes even with candles!

Current listening: The Wild Swans, Bringing Home the Ashes

No Change

© 1987 Brian Hutzell

Thought, no action

Game, no play

Words, no voices

Phone, no change

Work, no business

Clock, no time

Bank, no interest

Call, no dime

Still I see no change

No, it looks the same

Pays to rearrange

Still you never change

We've been together since the early days of puberty

Act like I won you and I'll treat you like my property

I'm running in and out, you treat me like I never left

Alarms are buzzing but you think it's just another theft

Still I see no change

No, it looks the same

Pays to rearrange

Still you never change

“December Blues 4”

Brian Hutzell

from December Blues

"Major Problems"

This was copyrighted in December 1984 as part of my song collection Single Forthcoming. The reference was to the planned single release of “Bulletproof”/”Murder Is Easy” the band JEREMIAH. Everything was all recorded, and I even accompanied Bob and Jeremiah to Sterling Sound in New York to get the record mastered by George Marino. What didn’t happen was the single. What did happen was…major problems!

“Major Problems”on YouTube

Major Problems

© 1984 Brian Hutzell

It was a good day, a very good day

A very fine day

I was happy

A sunny morning, a cheery morning

A perfect morning for my coffee

But then (what?)

But then (oh no!)

But then (really?)

But then (go on!)

Then it happened

Then it happened

Then it happened to me

Major problems

Horrible things

Ugly happenings

Calamities

Major problems

Real life authentic disasters

Major problems

Most annoying circumstances

Why should my life be so messed up?

It shouldn't be

It shouldn't be

Why should my life be so messed up?

It shouldn't be

What?

Oh no!

Really?

Go on!

It shouldn't be

Major problems!

“W4”

Brian Hutzell

from Wheat

"Little Fly"

This song is autobiographical. Not so much so when I wrote it, but now it definitely describes me way too well. Reading these lyrics is like a slap in the face. That’s probably exactly what I need most. It’s been nearly thirty years since I wrote this song.

“It's no good running a pig farm badly for 30 years while saying, ‘Really, I was meant to be a ballet dancer.’ By then, pigs will be your style.”
              -  Quentin Crisp

Little Fly

© 1987 Brian Hutzell

Little Fly is still a freshman but he's got a grade
From every college in his home state
Now he says he's gonna move away and get a job
But that is one thing he can't take
When he's unhappy he'll just stay up late, flipping channels
Watching pieces of the programs
Looking for the parts that make him laugh
But when they're over he still feels bad

Little Fly, don't take it personally
Little Fly, get away from the window screen
Little Fly, still looking for a way to escape
I hate to tell you
You're stuck, Little Fly

He swings when he's got a chance
He isn't picky, just as long as it's easy
He says it isn't worth his time to make an effort
So he often appears sleazy
The talk about his former success is hard to listen to
And probably false anyway
The product of a mind,
Eaten alive by no creation, only intake

Little Fly, don't take it personally
Little Fly, get away from the window screen
Little Fly, still looking for a way to escape
I hate to tell you
You're stuck, Little Fly

Listen to the way he describes where he wants to be
And how hard he tries to work constantly
On a career that every other year is something new
Notice how sincere his philosophies
Though not too clear, support his pleas
For cruel fate to give him a break and let him move

Little Fly, don't take it personally
Little Fly, get away from the window screen
Little Fly, still looking for a way to escape
I hate to tell you
You're stuck, Little Fly

Sullenly he waits for things to break
Then blames the names of the places where they were made
Probably some incredibly dumb and backwards town
Nothing holds him down except his mood when he frowns in the gloom
When he's like that, nobody can reverse his scowl

“Babbit”

Brian Hutzell

from Brand New Bouncing Suit

"Look"

When Hitomi and I moved to Round Lake and bought a townhouse, it was the beginning of a long downward spiral that just seems to keep spinning lower and lower. Every time I think we’ve hit rock bottom, it turns out I’m wrong, and we sink even further into the hole. We moved from Round Lake to Cambridge, and I dabbled with being an artist. I am a dilettante for sure! But my love for art is real, even if my talent isn’t. When we stupidly left Cambridge, I got rid of all my art supplies, along with some musical equipment, all of which I wish I had back in my possession. What was I thinking?!?

Also in Cambridge, I wrote a few songs, and picked up the trombone again after a long spell away from it. Even since then, I’ve been inexcusably inconsistent with my practicing. Lately, I’ve been doing pretty well with the euphonium, but my goal of practicing 3 hours every day is so hopelessly off schedule, that I will never catch up. And now I have school to worry about. This term is really wearing on me. I’m having second, third, and fourth thoughts about continuing with it at all anywhere.

Current listening: Ultra-Lounge, Volume 10 – A Bachelor in Paris

Look

© 2001 Brian Hutzell

Look

Look around

See the town

See the ground

These words mean nothing

Have no rhythm

Make no sound

Break no hearts

Look!

The sky is falling

But no one cares

No one fears

The end is near

No one looks

They never did

They never will

The sight is beautiful

At last

So beautiful

Slipping into the past

At last

I look

And see the sun going down

To the ground

To the Earth

I have found

“Look”

Brian Hutzell

from Brand New Bouncing Suit

"Movies"

I went to a lot of movies in the 1980s, mostly in and around the Boston area. On my very first night there, I went to see Woody Allen’s Zelig at the Sack Paris Theater on Boylston. It was during the early 1980s that I discovered that popcorn and apple cider were made for each other. I would go to the matinees because they were cheaper, and I nearly always had popcorn and cider to accompany the film. Most of the theaters I attended regularly no longer exist. My favorite was Off the Wall Cinema in Central Square, Cambridge. It was at Off the Wall that I discovered the genius of Buster Keaton. The little cartoon accompanying this post is my homage to Buster.

Current listening: Ultra-Lounge, Volume 9 – Cha Cha de Amor

Movies

© 1985 Brian Hutzell

Going to movies is ecstasy to me

Cause I like to torture myself by pretending

I'm living the scenes on the screen

It's more fun than reality

Sit in the theater

Popcorn and cider

Absorbed in the action, my eyes open wider

I'm wishing these dreams were happening to me

Nothing wild ever happens to me

Fake life is better than no life at all

If movies can thrill me

I'll go to them all

Fantasy's wonderful, fiction is fun

But I'm lost when the movie's done

Going to movies is therapy to me

I don't find it hard to pretend I'm a star

I'm living the glamorous life

Imagining I'm satisfied

Sit there for hours

Stripped of my powers to enter the workforce

These moments are worth more than experience

Does that make sense?

I'm living vicariously

Fake life is better than no life at all

If movies can thrill me

I'll go to them all

Fantasy's wonderful, fiction is fun

But I'm lost when the movie's done

"Buster"

Brian Hutzell

"Lucky For Me"

The version posted here is actually a 1985 rewrite of a song originally written in 1984. The only difference is the addition of a second verse.

Lucky For Me

© 1984 Brian Hutzell

I met a friend of yours

She didn't know me

I never mentioned your name

She didn't know I knew you

She said you knew each other

And she told me something else

She told me 'bout your reputation

The one I'd overlooked so long

She said you try to sleep with everyone you meet

She said you lie, you cheat

You're no woman, you're a pretty thief

She said you'll cry and scream

Do anything to get your way

Lucky for me she told me this, lucky for me

Lucky for me I found a source of information

Lucky for me I was informed before humiliation

Lucky for me I found a source of information

Lucky for me, lucky for me, lucky for me

I met a friend of yours - a former lover

We'd never met before

He said I should avoid you

He said you met in Winter

Lived together through the Spring

By Summer he could not believe you

You tripped him up and watched him Fall

He said you try to sleep with everyone you meet

He said you lie, you cheat

You're no woman, you're a pretty thief

He said you'll cry and scream

Do anything to get your way

Lucky for me he told me this, lucky for me

While he was talkin' I was shakin'

I was hopin' he was makin'

Up the stories he was tellin'

He was draggin' me through hell

And I was thinkin' I'd be leavin' you

Because I had a reason to

He said you try to sleep with everyone you meet

He said you lie, you cheat

You're no woman, you're a pretty thief

And that is why I'm going to leave

I'm gonna go away

Lucky for me he told me this, lucky for me

Lucky for me I found a source of information

Lucky for me I was informed before humiliation

Lucky for me I found a source of information

Lucky for me, lucky for me, lucky for me

Lucky for me

“Untitled 1”

Brian Hutzell

"Move"

This was one of the first songs leading into the Ashley Standing period. It was during that time that I wrote several overtly sexy songs. That would be fine, except I could never really pull off sexy. Even though for a spell there, I looked pretty darn good, playing the part of a sexy and seductive singer just wasn’t in my makeup. The Ashley Standing recording proved that beyond all doubt.

Move

© 1992 Brian Hutzell

I want you now--want to feel our bodies meet

To taste your lips and every other part that's sweet

I wanna make love, want to be seduced

And be caressed in any way you choose

It doesn't have to be night; the music doesn't have to be right

Don't have to pull the shade; we can do it in the light

Move your body over me

Touch me not too tenderly

Make me feel the ecstasy of you and me in harmony

Move on every side of me

Test your sensuality

Take me where you want to be

I'll move with you if you'll move with me

Feel my hands move along your sides

Across your hips, now between your thighs

How does it feel to be in control?

To call the shots

Tell me when to rock and roll

Oh, it doesn't have to be night; the music doesn't have to be right

Don't have to pull the shade; we can do it in the light

Move your body over me

Touch me not too tenderly

Make me feel the ecstasy of you and me in harmony

Move on every side of me

Trust your sexuality

Take me where you want to be

I'll move with you if you'll move with me

Move me, move me, move me

Move me with your body and your soul

"The Music In Your Anus"

I doubt if anyone else has ever used this song title.

Current listening: Ultra-Lounge, Volume 7 – The Crime Scene

The Music In Your Anus

© 2011 Brian Hutzell

Living out of sequence

I found music in your anus

Mary had a little lunch

She was an unusual looking girl

With an eye on the end of each nose

Failing to fiddle my follicle

Barnacle beans!

Disembodied hand potato

Just a spoonful of vomit helps the medicine come up!

Frosty noseworms!

See what I did?

I finished a squid

Still no one can explain us

Or the music in your anus

So I learned to do everything right

Now I hafta relearn it all wrong

Hope it doesn’t take long

I’m not as young as I used to be

I used to be very young

It was absolutely incredible

Once I wrote about edible hamsters

Then I moved to a town full of gangsters

Frosty noseworms!

Did you hear what I said?

I wish I was dead

No place can contain us

Or the music in your anus

“Untitled 2”

Brian Hutzell

"From My Point of View"

This is one of the songs that grew out of a tape Wally sent me when I was still living in Medford. He would send me a cassette filled with bits and pieces of unfinished songs, and I would mine the material for scraps that I liked, and work them into complete songs. Sometimes, Wally would have most of it done, and my job would just be to add some finishing touches. Other times, I would build a whole song around a single line or lick.

I’m craving a tuba.

From My Point of View

© 1989 Brian Hutzell and Wally Koekebakker

Don’t try to make a big fool out of me

We both know it’s true

Every crime is already mine

Nothing left to do

I’ve been running away and I’ve been making mistakes

That don’t mean you can run my life

Don’t mean anything at all, no

What number of things have you done

To make it hard for me

To undo damage already begun

A tainted history

I’ve been running away and I’ve been making mistakes

That don’t mean you can run my life

Doesn’t mean anything at all, no

You are so neurotic

Trying to be a martyr at my expense

You find me exotic

And claim you abuse me in self-defense

So you pray that I slip again

Step on a crack and break my own back

You cackle like a mother hen

Watching another battle plan hatch

I’ve been running away and I’ve been making mistakes

But even when I win I seem to lose

Try looking at it from my point of view

Cause it don’t mean you can run my life

No, it doesn’t mean that at all, no

"Free"

This song borrows a line from one of my favorite Christmas specials, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Every year as a kid, I looked forward to that show, and for many years I never missed it. For the past several years, I haven’t seen any holiday specials, because we don’t have a television. I could probably find most of the shows online, but somehow it’s not the same. When things are too easy and too accessible, somehow they’re not as special.

Current listening: Ultra-Lounge, Volume 6 – Rhapsodesia

Free

© 1994 Brian Hutzell

What have I been doing with myself all of these years?

Finding out new ways of wasting time and making tears

It’s something I’m not proud of

How could I possibly be?

But when you start to round up suspects, don’t be grabbing me!

I’m gonna stay free, free

Free to love

Ain’t that enough for me to be?

Free to live

I’m positively free

What are my plans in case the plans I have are faulty?

I never was that good with facts and problem-solving

I have trouble with directions--using someone else’s steps

But when it’s time to improvise,

There’s no one more adept

I’m gonna stay free, free

Free to love

Ain’t that enough for me to be?

Free to live

I’m positively free

Freedom doesn’t have to be lonely

I don’t want to be free by myself

Let’s be independent together

Cause freedom’s best when shared with someone else

You’re an individual

I’m not asking you to change

Just because I wanna spend my life with you,

Doesn’t mean I want you in a cage

We’re gonna stay free, free

Free to love

Ain’t that enough for me to be?

Free to live

I’m positively free

Shmoo

"Praying Mantis"

From my Spring 88 tape, this is one of my signature tunes. It was inspired by a real praying mantis. Two, in fact. I was working at my parking lot job in downtown Boston, when a praying mantis landed near me. I hadn’t seen one in ages, so I called up Jeremiah at BCD to tell him about it (I guess things were slow at work.) I began the phone converstion with, “When’s the last time you saw a praying mantis?”

He freaked out a little, “Why are you asking me that?!”

“Because I just saw one.”

“Well I just stepped outside for a moment, and one landed on me!”

It had to be a sign. I had to write a song about a praying mantis.

“Praying Mantis” on YouTube

Praying Mantis

© 1987 Brian Hutzell

She belongs on stage, anywhere but on the street

She’s from another age, her mannerisms obsolete

She’s an individual; no one tells her where to go

I often think she’s fictional--from a place I do not know

Still I imagine she is not alone too often

She’s too beautiful to be

She makes things happen as if life was all a pageant

It’s a rare ability

When she changes costume, suddenly she’s so polite

That’s when she knows she’s got you

Better say your prayers tonight

Praying Mantis, dangerous enchantress

Stay away when she’s got that look in her eye

She’s a huntress acting like a duchess

Go away; when she calls it’s time to fly

She’s making her selection; anything she wants she gets

Cause she has got protection; no one’s escaped her yet

She’ll be ready when you make an attempt to resist

She’s looking at the menu--adding your name to the list

When you receive her invitation for the evening,

Her decorum pacifies

But when you feel her,

That’s when you start believing you might not get out alive

This is her stage--her performing sphere

She doesn’t show her age, only wisdom of the years

Praying Mantis, dangerous enchantress

Stay away when she’s got that look in her eye

She’s a huntress acting like a duchess

Go away; when she calls it’s time to fly

She’ll take your head off, suck the juices from inside

Throw away your empty shell

Then comes the send-off and you’re strangely satisfied

Leaving, she wishes you well

Oh, Praying Mantis, dangerous enchantress

Stay away when she’s got that look in her eye

She’s a huntress acting like a duchess

Go away; when she calls it’s time to fly

“Bug”

Brian Hutzell

from Brand New Bouncing Suit