"We Are the Seniors"

The penultimate song on my school tape of December 1985. This was written at a time in my life that I was smug about having left school. Now I’m back in class. Someone is laughing somewhere.

We Are the Seniors

© 1985 Brian Hutzell

We've been kicked before, been kissed before

Been blessed and messed and licked before

We've had victory, had misery

Made it big, make believe, made history

We are the seniors

We're graduating

We are the seniors

We're celebrating

We've been foiled before, been failed before

Been tailed and trailed and jailed before

We've had rough exams, met tough demands

Now the world is in our hands

We are the seniors

We're graduating

We are the seniors

We're celebrating

Hey freshmen, you've just begun

Hey sophomores, you're bothersome

Hey juniors, you're almost there

We're the seniors and we don't care!

We've made love before, drawn blood before

Been screwed and booed and fucked before

We've seen mysteries, tried LSD

We've stood before the guillotine

We are the seniors

We're graduating

We are the seniors

We're celebrating

We've been led to this, now it's up to us

We've been handed down the crown, the cross

Now we stand before the open door

The meat to feed another war

We are the seniors

We're concentrating

We are the seniors

We're demonstrating

We are the seniors

We're renovating

We are the seniors

We're agitating

We are the seniors

We're liberating

We are the seniors

We're penetrating

"Plato"

Brian Hutzell

"As Good As The Real Thing"

This is a remarkably bland song. I recorded it in the late 1980s, and it remains one of my least favorite recordings. I tried re-recording it in the late 1990s, but never got beyond the “rough demo” stage. Just not worth it. I do have a lot of unfinished business that I would like to finish though. A few years ago, I found a guy in Nevada, Iowa that I thought could help, but I was very disappointed with the results he handed me. So the drawer remains full of incomplete assignments.

As Good As The Real Thing

© 1988 Brian Hutzell

Your lover’s got business to attend to

And the freedom that gives us should be put to use

We can get together; we’ve got places to explore

A new adventure -- maybe it can lead to more, because...

I’m as good as the real thing; why don’t you give me a try

It’s much better than feeling like you’re gonna die from loneliness

But confess -- the problem’s not that he’s away

It’s that I’m as good as the real thing

And you know you want me to stay

Your lover’s grown careless. What’s he gonna say

If, alone in his absence, you decide to play?

He expects devotion from a stay-at-home bride

You’ve got other notions and his spot is occupied, and...

I’m as good as the real thing; why don’t you give me a try

It’s much better than feeling like you’re gonna die from loneliness

But confess -- the problem’s not that he’s away

It’s that I’m as good as the real thing

And you know you want me to stay

Once you claimed to be so pure, virtuous and proper

But the treasures once obscure, I would like to offer

To you, but I see you’re ahead of me

One down, feeling confident, and suddenly you’re not content

You’ve had a partial tasting; now you want it all

So you're off and racing, but I hope you’ll still recall that...

I’m as good as the real thing; why don’t you give me a try

It’s much better than feeling like you’re gonna die from loneliness

But confess -- the problem’s not that he’s away

It’s that I’m as good as the real thing

And you know you want me to stay