Lyrics - That's Right

Lost Dog Blues - Ned Chase
Captain Molasses - Ned Chase
Developer's Blues - Ned Chase
Maybe Tomorrow - Ned Chase
When I'm Without You - Dave Gerard
Summer - Dave Gerard		 Now I know - David Bailey
Harbormaster - Dave Gerard
Dirty Little Secret - David Bailey
December Moon - Ned Chase
That's Right - Ned Chase

Lost Dog Blues
Ned Chase

He said “I know this road. I’ve been this way before.”
“Take the next turn, and you never come back no more.”
She respects his opinion, slaps him in the face
The wind from the west carried jasmine, just a trace

Asphalt veins connecting there and now
An old song rides in on a thundercloud
It’s the lost dog blues

The gift comes to you in the middle of the night
It’ll be gone tomorrow so get up, turn on the light
Fresh from the garden, or stale as last call wind
Open the screen door let your old friend in

A long cool drink of sand, the gift of wine
One more day on earth to watch it shine
With the lost dog blues

All those years of knowing what to do
Then one day you wake up, it’s just you
And the lost dog blues
 

Captain Molasses [top]
Ned Chase


Mornings with Captain Molasses
Orbits the furthest of the planets
Jet girl streaking by in a flash
Dives into her day with a splash

Hour hands move
Rut or groove
The molasses man
Catch him if you can

Five toed, but he’s got other features
The same as that tree lovin’ creature
Staring at a crack in the ceiling
Chances are, he’ll be there come evening

Feet put up
Scratch the pup
The molasses man
Catch him if you can

Such a slow flow
God only knows…

Evenings with Captain Molasses
Lucky if he knows where his ass is
Jet girl has prepared kickin’ dinner
A fairy tale, the tortoise is the winner

Our hands move
Rut or groove
The molasses man
Catch him if you can

Developers Blues [top]
Ned Chase


My brother and me played in these woods
When summer had no end
This old oak bears the scarred initials
Of me and Jenny Lynn
Today I sit in my new truck
Watch my crew cut her down
Where putting in some starter castles
And the woods ring with the sound
Yeah, the woods ring with the sound

Jenny’s old man raised five kids
With a sharp mind and a strong back
Just last may he lost the home place
He couldn’t pay the tax
Well, I hear Jenny visits now
In a tiny room on 12th and June
And the houses we’ll plant on this land
Well, he couldn’t afford the bathroom
No, he couldn’t afford the bathroom

Everybody needs a place to live
And we all gotta eat
Got a daughter goin’ off to college
In just about a week
But every acre under asphalt
Ain’t never comin’ back
Round here we don’t meet Satan at the crossroads
We meet him at the cul de sac
Yeah, we meet him at the cul de sac
Developer’s blues
 

Maybe Tomorrow [top]
Ned Chase


And the lonely wind
Still blows across your shoulder
An empty sky still drags you down
The horizon close
Each day a little closer
Calendar pages fall
And make no sound

Maybe tomorrow peace will come
Maybe tomorrow with the sun
Maybe another day is all you need

In the days you shined
So long before the rains came
I watched as luck slipped through your hands
So I picked it up
And put it in my pocked
I helped you to fall, and then I ran

Maybe tomorrow I’ll be here
Maybe a shoulder and a tear
Maybe the truth can help us both be free

Maybe tomorrow peace will come
Maybe tomorrow with the sun
Maybe another day is all you need

Maybe tomorrow never comes
Maybe the flapping of our tongues
Maybe that breeze will keep the truth at bay

When I’m Without You [top]
Dave Gerard

V.
Ride on a riverboat, cocktail in my hand
The taste of gin is not so sweet when a man is just a man

CH.
It used to be me, and the things I’d like to do,
It just ain’t the same, when I’m without you

Hopin’ round the islands, with a taste from every town
But nothing seems to satisfy when my baby’s not around

CH.
I’m burnin’ down the highway, just to make my record time
Giggling from exhaustion, your seats empty next to mine

CH.

BR.
From where did you come?
The Queen of my time and my mind
Somewhere from above
Are you my only one of a kind?

V.
 I’m singing out the road signs, just like I’d always do
A silly little pop tune, to get a rise out of you
It used to be me, and the things I’d always do
It just ain’t the same, when I’m without you

I’m laughing out the window, at a kid pickin’ his nose
He waves to me with his other hand, I’m alone and it shows
It used to be me, and the things I’d always do
It just ain’t the same, when I’m without you

BR. (repeat)
Farm fresh tomatoes and some sweet sugar corn
But the barbeque on the grill goes cold without the one that I adore
It used to be me and the things I’d always do
It just ain’t the same when I’m without you

Don’t even talk about sweet lovin’, when I’m away from home
It’s hardly ever half as fun, when you’re doing it all alone
It used to be me, and the things I’d have to do
It just ain’t the same, when I’m with you

CH. (repeat)

NOTES:  This one came to me on a ferry ride to Long Island. It’s not always the more exotic islands further west that inspire, although they certainly tie into this tune as well. “Hoppin round the islands” as one of the lines in the song says, is one of my favorite things to do. This time I was on a solo trip and realized how different it was without my wife. I started to think about all the things I did solo, and how they are so much richer when I do them with my wife. It inspired the start of the song. Then the drive that followed the trip provided some great lines as well. I just kept writing…….trying to scribble down with one hand while keeping AN EYE on the road; probably not that safe, but you have to get it down when it hits, or you might lose it. From there I added in a bit of a road song feel, and of course the little bit of mystery that leaves the listener wondering what happened to the character. Was there a death? A departure? But now with these liner notes you all know! I also forced myself to keep some of the more humorous verses, which I hardly ever do.
For production on this we wanted to mix it big and wide. Ned’s lap steel is spread out far around the edges and my voice is dry and right up front (ala Greg Brown). I hear this tune as a cross between Greg Brown, Mark Knopfler, and JJ Cale….of course it’s all Truffle though!! The band is just cooking along throughout the tune with a real nice build in the jam sections. It’s one of the long ones on the disc.
 

Summer [top]
Dave Gerard

V.
Now you’re leaving town, packing up you’ve let me down
Slipping away with no goodbyes, heading for a southern town
But I’m back and felling fine, from around the Mason Dixon line
Hoping to feel your day-long smile, and have ourselves a real good time

V.
In your wake things will die, others have to run and hide
How can you be so careless, while you sit and take it all in stride?
You’re so smooth year after year, as if you play it by ear
Why am I always so surprised to find myself fighting tears?

BR.
They say it’s a beautiful beginning, but me I just can not let it go
A child’s time for learning and for winning, but the ghosts of lost freedom haunt me so

V.
The words I’ve penned all year, have they fallen upon deaf ears?
Another attempted love song while the Harvest Moon draws you near
By the chill of your tongue, I’m guessing it’s time to run
But what if we never meet again, underneath this setting sun

CH.
Summer, don’t leave me now
Summer, won’t you stay a while somehow
Just like a love, I’m scared to let you go

NOTES: For years at the end of the Summer I would get unexplainably sad, and couldn’t figure out why. I’d pull out the garden and feel depressed, and I’m usually a pretty happy dude. I just love the warm weather and all the possibilities it offers. Yes autumn is beautiful and all, and yes it’s the start of something new academically, but that can’t compete with Summer time. I tried to write the tune from the point of view of the season as a lover who has left abruptly. There is no chorus in the song until after the third verse purposely, so that the listener has to guess whether Summer is a woman or a season. I just had to get it out of me….I feel relieved! Maybe I just love wearing shorts and sandals? The band jokes about this one being “Swingy”, not a swing tune.
This tune called out for a more down home, back porch kind of a feel. Some tunes just tell you how to mix them. I think the combo of our instruments work really well together. The resonator and mando which can sometimes fight each other for frequency space, just weave together so well. DB played the 5 string bass on this one, and it really makes the bottom end fat and full. Mikey’s gentle touch with the chopstick approach and then more swing feel give the song a bit of everything. Sonically, it’s one of my favorite mixes.
 

Now I Know [top]
David Bailey


The sky was the color of a polyethylene tarp.
The man with a Dobro was like a seraph and its harp.
The physics of refracted light revealed the miracle of a double rainbow.
You sat eating popped corn from my upturned hat and I said, “Now I know.”
Now I know

The sea shone like lapis around Los Islotes’ rocks.
The smell of saguaro danced across our evening talks.
A devil ray flipped into the air while sea lions played below.
And with you at the stern while I stood at the mast I said, “Now I know.”
Now I know.

Now I know what it’s like to know something for sure;
I don’t have to carry that valise anymore.
Now I know what it’s like to be certain at last;
the need to dissemble is a thing of the past.

The crepuscle’s softness filters blue into the room.
The rain on the window whispers late October’s tune.
I lie here humming wordless songs, and wondering where we’ll go.
I remember a beach filled with beauty and grace, and I think, “Now I know.”
Now I know.


NOTES: Hopefully, you know this feeling. This song evokes a few times and places when I’ve felt it most acutely. Tri-Phi friends may recognize the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, 1999, during Barenburg, Douglas, and Meyer’s set when the sun finally came out. In the Sea of Cortez is a sea lion colony where the pups will actually play with you like puppies. Hey, look, it’s Wallis Sands State Park, September 16th, 2001. Sometimes, you can even feel it in Newmarket, New Hampshire on a rainy day.

As a fledgling songwriter, it is awesome and intimidating to have my ditties anthologized with those of Ned Chase and Dave Gerard, and an honor to have Truffle perform and record them. What a further honor and joy, then, to have Dave’s dad and mine perform on this one. We had fun recording the horns at my house. Thanks to Chris Magruder for letting me use his fat P-Bass/Ampeg combo for this one. db
 

The Harbormaster [top]
Dave Gerard

V.
Child number one came as soon as he was wed,
 Raised in a house that he lived in by the sea
A town made of memories when he was just a boy
Couldn’t know as an old man, that he’d be forced to leave, forced to leave

The scent of the bay for a time kept folks away
But secrets of beauty can’t keep for very long
(And) with child number three came a whole new neighborhood
Proud in his role, he swore to lead them all, lead them all

CH.
The Harbormaster is gone
A town’s disaster, he’s the pawn
I can still hear his marina song
But the Harbormaster is gone

V.
His first child had grown with a family all his own
To pay for the others, they’d take a border in
But the real trouble came when their town became quaint
Tax always risin, he felt he couldn’t win, couldn’t win

So he took a second job, to try and make ends meet
Held his retirement, and their travelin plans
Lobsters in the morning, submarines at night
To hold on to a dream house, on the family land, family land

BR.
What’s a man to do?
Is this what he gets to look forward to?
He’s done all he can do
His future my friends waits for me and you

V.
From the outside looking in, the town still seems the same
The neighborhood has prospered with nothing left to prove
The homestead by the sea, it never looked so grand
Sport trucks in the driveway, his pickup packed to move, packed to move

Yachts now fill the harbor, and the lobster boats are gone
Faces unfamiliar to a fading man
He drives off with his memories of forty years ago
Living in that dream house on the family land, family land

NOTES: Well you know me, I have to write at least one heavy one! This tune was inspired by a neighbor of mine, the patriarch of the neighborhood who has been here 40 + years, long before I was. He put four kids through the system, and sort of ran the casual, local marina on the street. Sadly he had to sell his home that he hoped to die in. The taxes were just way out of reach for him. Granted he had a beautiful house “on the water” that he sold for a nice amount I’m sure, but that wasn’t his first choice. I took that idea and embellished it with other thoughts, stories, and scenarios I’ve stored in the back of my head on this subject. Simply put it’s just wrong! There has to be a better answer than pushing people out of their homes. The man payed dues and put in time to be in a community that he created. I don’t have the answers, but the real estate thing has just gotten gross, and it bugs me. It really does help to write about these things, perhaps in the same way blues tunes and traditionals were written to relieve some of the trials and tribulations of the day?

Another candidate for a big, wide mix. It’s a dreamy song lyrically, and the music hopefully takes you there too. I had in my mind a kind of world-beatish groove to go along with my unusual, choppy rhythm pattern that Mike initially thought was crazy, but I think grew to love. The motion and counter melodies in the bass (& DB’s nylon) really drive it home. Then Ned came up with that surf guitar riff out of left field that we all fell in love with. We had fun mixing this one……multiple reverb environments, fades within fades, and some nice stereo imaging; a good one for the headphones! My favorite thing about this tune…….what the hell kind of style is it? It’s Truffle. Enjoy!
 

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET [top]
David Bailey


Ever since you were young that bitter pill sat on your tongue.
So pretty in your party dress; that birthday cake has made your life a mess.

The things you do when no one’s home: your mind goes slack, intentions roam
And there beneath the Christmas tree-- Rice Krispies snow, you’re down on your knees.

It’s just this one time; and then you’ll be, you’ll be doing just fine.
It’s your dirty little secret.

And there’s nothing that anyone can do with it.
I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’re through with it.
Just don’t believe it’s only you who takes the hit when you fall.

When you’re away the rules all change; the clothes you wear they might look strange.
The folks back home don’t understand; you need someone to lend you a hand.

The social norms they bind and chafe, expecting you to play it safe.
But what if once you loose control and find yourself right down in a hole?

It isn’t voodoo, and it’s not black magic.
The things that you do don’t have to be so tragic.
You can make a choice: you can make that choice.

Perhaps it starts when you are small: that silent man lives down the hall.
And then one day he’s up and gone, leaving you alone to carry on.

It’s your dirty little secret.



NOTES: Each of us contains the creator and the destroyer, and my “Imp of the Perverse” keeps me as fascinated by darkness as by light. I often wonder, as I struggle with my own dirty little secrets, what others, especially those who apparently have none, may be. Although it may not feel like it, creation or destruction, darkness or light, is often a choice that we make.

This tune really took shape in the studio, and we had a blast mixing it “old school.” Dozens of fader moves, playing Twister at Chris’ sweet old Neve console, with some headphone candy, including a piece of “Walkin’ Time” from Memory Hill. There is some very creative use of microphones from DG and CM during vocal tracking, and stupendous performances from my band mates.

Thanks, fellers. db

December Moon [top]
Ned Chase


Go on ahead
And I’ll catch up
That just might be the story of our love
Our footprints crunch
Along the trail
Try to keep my socks up but to no avail

Ramble in the woods tonight
December moon is in my eyes
She’s making footprints in the snow
I’m thinking of a song
By Bill Monroe

I see a light
Back in the woods
No one told us it could be this good
Now look at you
In your wool hat
Snowflakes dancing on your cheeks like that

Ramble in the woods tonight
December moon is in my eyes
She’s making footprints in the snow
I’m thinking of a song
By Bill Monroe

That’s Right [top]
Ned Chase


The old plank road is quiet tonight
We’ll leave tomorrow with the light
The wind will blow, the sun shine bright
We’ll taste a bit of each, that’s right
We’ll taste a bit of each, that’s right

Forever yours, oh never mind
For those of us who are inclined
It’s loosy goose, or ratchet tight
The swing goes back and forth, that’s right
The swing goes back and forth, that’s right

Turn around, the day just passes
Reflected there in your dark glasses
I think I may, I think I might
Give thanks for each sweet one, that’s right
Thanks for each sweet one, that’s right