The Typewriters Club
(M.Mäkkelä)

From coast town to ghost town, from pillar to post
There's a curse on the land but I'm ready to roll
To sing you the truth, the one you need most
As the guards are all gone, they discarded the posts
And you cry like a baby on a cold marble floor
You're screaming for water but they won't give you more
And they see you're starving and they don't give a toss
For you're not one of those they consider a loss

For faith and for hope and for nothing to win
For the promises made to never give in
For believing the words, for to never give up
For typing a line at the typewriter's club
Then you got to start writing 'til your hair catches fire
'til your thoughts are a-burning, 'til your head is a-melting
Into a sea of black ink, an ocean of ink
Time to prepare for the funeral pyre

Every little thing
will fall

Every little thing will fall
in place

Moving On
(M. Mäkkelä)

Sal said I'd rather keep moving on now
Before that itchin' is startin' again
You know every river will end in an ocean
That's pretty much me and it's hard to explain
There's something inside me, I can not control
and it's draggin' me down to the sea
There's something inside me, if you know what I mean

And it makes me feel happy
And it makes me feel free
And it makes me keep

Moving on
Keep moving on

Sal's mate Annie said I'd better be singin'
For I know if I don't the blues will kick in
There's a mess in my head I need to get out
If I don't I know it'll sure do me in
There's something inside me that drives me insane
and it's draggin' me west to the coast
There's something inside me if you know what I mean

And it makes me keep going
And it makes me feel free
And it makes me keep

Moving on

Annie's pal Dan said I'll open a bar
Just down the road and I guess very soon
My town and my folk that's my kind of thing
Not every one is born to travel and sing
There's something inside me that tells me to stay
and it seems just the right thing to do
There's something inside me if you know what I mean

And it makes me feel glad
And content and serene
And it makes me keep

Moving on

A Night To Remember
(M. Mäkkelä)

Hey Peggy-Sue, have you heard the news
I'm gone for good now to never return
I knew all the way this trip is insane
The upside, dear Peg, is there's some songs to remain
And a bunch of good stories to tell

Bonsoir Marie-Jeanne, d'you remember the one
When I played at your bar down the road from the book store
A night to remember, in early December
A cello and an old dog and a mad man from Rennes
I wish we could do this again and again

Hello Big Jim, if there was a trophy to win
I'd give it to you for some San Diego surf punk
For the best food I had before this whole world turned mad
For the drinks with the waiter and the upstairs bed later
And the angels who were watching over me

Hey Ewa and Blus if I had to choose
The best sound that I ever had
It'd be La Boheme, where the bohemians came
To make sure for a moment in time we'd be fine
And forget about the trouble outside

There's no use in saving them nickles and dimes
Place your last order for now is the time
To raise our glasses to the end of a fight
Let's meet on the other side

This battle is fought, this battle is won
Let's meet on the other side

Forty Or Eight
(M. Mäkkelä)

The skipper was a woman
in the heart of Burgundy
I can take you to some place she said
you've never ever seen
In the valley of the wolves, there's a ghost collecting trains
Collecting trains

The ghost spoke to the captain
Are you up for something new?
Need to spend a night in Auschwitz
like they did in forty-two
So they sneaked into the barracks when the wardens were all gone
Just to know how it feels

You rushed out of the dining car
to throw up on the track
Offhand words did ricochet
and hit you in the back
Too many ghosts to haunt you in the valley of the wolves
How does that feel?

The week is seven days
every day is twenty-four
Hours and each hour
one goes up against the wall
For grandpa climbed the fences, made it back to Burgundy
How does that feel?

There's an endless line of boxcars, they're all colored army-green
Stencilled on each boxcar's what's supposed to be squeezed in
It's giving me the creeps to see the devil's back on track again
Who's going to take the ride this time is it horses, is it men?

Forty or eight?

They remember again the boxcars that they kept since forty-three
Now they start to line them up again, for the likes of you and me

Forty or eight?

Before The Reckoning
(M. Mäkkelä)

I can see the column on the square of the first May
The narrowboats asleep on this misty autumn day
Philippe and me were sipping drinks outside of the Chez Nous
Suppose there were not many better things we had to do

Before the reckoning

The rain was pouring down
The third day in a row
Endlessly, relentlessly
Twenty-two down in Dijon and fifty-five to go

Before the reckoning

I met my long-lost love and I met my demons too
In the hills of Saint-Imier when I was passing through
Count me out lord, let me go, I'm ready for to pay
For all the drinks and pills and sins and lies I fell for on my way

The rain was pouring down
The fourth day in a row
Merciless with all it's might
Too many miles to my account and still some way to go

To the reckoning

The rain's still pouring down, I'm losing track of time
They're calling out my name and number
I can hear the church bells chime

It's for the reckoning

Genova
(M. Mäkkelä)

The coked up waiters work the Wednesday crowd
In that tavern near the church by the port
There's some red and a smoke for the boys on the road
When they stop by to sing some news from the north
Bodega del Conte where the poets hang out
Typing poems on their typewriting night
Enough jazz down this lane to drive a good man insane
And it feels just about right

And if you're looking for the suit and that old stetson hat
It's not unlikely you'll find 'em there
Down at the square
Next to the port

Lotta Communista we believe in the cause
We keep on working the old town beat
Revolutionary news for one Euro apiece
From the last of a dying breed
Drifting on to have a look at the catch of the day
The gold of the sea on display
Booked a passage on a cruise, can't remember the day
Never mind I will be late anyway

If you're looking for a suit and an old stetson hat
it's quite likely you'll find 'em there
Down at the square
Next to the port of Genova

Todo & Nada & Charly & Me
(M. Mäkkelä)

Find yourself half naked in front of a mirror
On Boxing Day, baby, no clue about last night
Brushing your teeth with a mouth full of blood
How for chrissake did I get here?
Secretly, honestly, I knew all along
Secretly I knew all along that i would

Here's for todo and nada
And Charly an me
And the craziest man on earth

Stranded in tank town where the bells toll for me
And the devil's a four-star hotel and he lures me in
And his little crippled servant is watching over me
And how for fuck's sake did I get here

Here's for todo and nada
And Charly and me
And the craziest man on earth

The lady from Alaska at the Au Pan Coupé
Said tonight's the first night of the new Beaujolais
If there's nothing out there, you can still play chess for shots
You know, tequilas for white and bourbons for black
The party was over when I arrived on the scene
And they were just cleaning up the mess to start the whole thing again

For todo and nada
And Charly and me
And the craziest man on earth

Rivers
(M. Mäkkelä)

I walked with the devil, followed him like a dog
To the valleys and the highest of peaks
And I took what he fed me for I was too weak
And I was glad to curl at his feet
So glad to curl at his feet

I drank from that well that would never run dry
From the poisonous well did I drink
I boarded that schooner, that mighty old brig
Though we all knew it was bound to sink
We all knew it was bound to sink

When I came to that river, the ancient old stream
And I looked to the other side
Redemption was waiting for the ones that would swim
And an end to their endless night
Put an end to their endless night

When I saw that river, that mighty old stream
I looked at the other shore
Many a river I crossed on my way
But this I won't cross anymore

This river I won't cross no more

Victoria #4
(M. Mäkkelä)

Victoria you promised me a house with wooden floors
Where the breakfast is incredible, you can always ask for more
Victoria the southern sky is melting in the last light of a
Day that broke decades ago, for us who tried and still don't know
For us who tried and still don't know

In front of the Marquee we stood in nineteen ninety-two
My cross-eyed queen amphetamine, a king of black, a queen of blue
Victoria you promised me a dream too big to dream back then
Nothing seemed impossible, we'd never play a better hand
But then it was a flush without a queen

The gospel changed the winds did not
it's still the same old breeze
from Hamburg up to Hertfordshire
from Italy to Greece
from Italy to Greece

A vessel lost but not the fleet, oh Vic you taught me how defeat
Won't leave me with a broken will, stand up again and not give in
The sea will calm Victoria, we'll fix our sails and there'll be still
New shores we shall be heading for to soothe our burning souls before
Our ashes will sail free

The gospel changed the winds did not
it's still the same old breeze
from Hertfordshire to Italy to Greece

Julia's Badge
(M. Mäkkelä)

Let your silver pony rest, she has given all her best
Never asked for more than you could give
Frogs and bats on eastern doors, down on the corner freezin' whores
Grown up fools like little boys, laugh about their silly jokes
Leaning on a downtown window sill

Pete's drawn a map of Liverpool though I didn't find the Cavern Club
I must admit this town is really cool
Huddersfield to Scarborough, ghost town where the east winds blow
A smashing open mic down at the Arms
So much for my detox off day, brother play that gramophone
Shame they don't make those shellacs anymore
Yorkshire lads out of their heads, a Tyneside dog to drive me mad (I must be crazy)
Keep me coming back to the northeastern shore

And some Sally on the radio says up your stretch of the motorway
it's all systems go go go
Some day soon I'll get to know what's waiting for me in the abyss
when I jump across the edge for that last dive
It's just a tiny little picture on a badge that Julia gave me
but it seems to be a metaphor of life

There's that waterhole in Letná, not the nicest one to hole-up
I'm sure this one would suit me for a while
Think about the things i missed, think about the lips I kissed
Think about all the damage done
And if I had a choice to quit, honestly I do admit
I'm afraid I'd do it all again

Because there are these days
When I wake up in the backseat
Of a van or in a bed some unknown person made for me
I can look out of the window
I can see my planet spin
Have a coffee or just write a song, that's when I know this world is mine

Feed Us To The Dogs
(M. Mäkkelä)

Frankie left to cash his chips, that's what he left to do
Frankie left to cash his chips, that's what he said he'll do
The dealer was a crook, we knew, but still we upped the stake
To night's our night, that's what we thought, tonight we're gonna break

Let's up the stake for heaven's sake for gods with us tonight
If they cheat us, help us Jesus, they'll feed us to the dogs
They'll feed us to the dogs

You may quit your race in Thunder Bay, man, I was pretty close
'round here she said we ain't got much but we can still overdose
If I ever leave this place, I bet it's in a box
The game is fixed and we all know but still we wouldn't stop

Let's up the stake for heaven's sake, let's give it a last go
If they cheat us, help us Jesus, they'll feed us to the dogs
They'll feed us to the dogs

Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down
(Traditional/Arr. M. Mäkkelä)