NARCISSA….the seventh track on Greatest Hats, Vol. 1

A certain amount of vanity is good; it keeps you centered and looking sharp. However, it’s easy to get carried away…

from the album Better Liar, 2009

Narcissa
(c.robertson 09)

G D
When I finally worked up the nerve
C G
I guess I got what I deserved
G D
I said you were heaven to me
C D G G7
And you just agreed

C
Why don’t you go fuck yourself?
G
Cause you really don’t love no one else
D
Under the makeup and hair
C D G
There ain’t nobody there.

You dragged me from right into wrong
That summer was hot and long
Then you went back to that other man
now I understand.

Chorus

I could use fancier chords
An’ I could use fancier words
But it’s pretty straightforward to me
I’m sure you agree,
(and even if you don’t)

Chorus(3x)

(You can take my heart, just leave the bottle…)

(way cool backing vocals by Shiny and the Spoon: Amber Nash and Jordan Neff)

LOCUST…the 6th track on Greatest Hats, Vol. 1

This is a song from 2008’s Under the Mystic. Migrate before your wings fall off!

Locust

from Greatest Hats, Volume 1 by Craig Robertson
(Robertson 2008)

Cm6 D7
Toss your clothes in a suitcase
DbM7 Cm6
walk right out and close the door
D7
don’t go standin’ on the threshold
DbM7 D7
that’s not what threshold’s are for.

Cm6 G7
CHORUS: Don’t be a locust. Fly now.
Fm G7
Don’t wait until your wings fall off
Cm6 G7
Don’t be a locust. Fly now.
Fm G7 Cm6
Don’t wait until your wings fall off

Got a little bit of money
Got a car that runs all right
You can laugh but it ain’t funny
You can’t hang around all night.

Chorus
Fm Cm6
BRIDGE: If you look straight up you can see
Fm Cm6
Thunderclouds up in the skies
Fm Cm6
All these people round here about
Fm G7
Got sticky fingers and flypaper eyes

Close the windows and the door
There ain’t nothing in this whole place
That you need any more
Chorus

GOODBYE PAUL TIBBETS….the fifth track on my GREATEST HATS album

In 1945, Paul Tibbets was the commander of the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. As mass murderers go, he’s in the top ten.

From the Album DeChirico Street 2007

GOODBYE PAUL TIBBETS
(C. Robertson 2007) (CC)
F Aaug (0110)
Paul Tibbetts died today at the age of ninety two
Bb Gm C7
He was there when they dropped the bomb, in fact, he led the crew
F Aaug
And all the people from Hiroshima are still dead as the sky is blue
Bb Gm C7 F
Today Paul Tibbets died at the age of ninety two

He said he had no regrets about that August day
When they dropped the atom bomb from the Enola Gay
The plane was named after his mom in Colombus so far away
He said he had no regrets about that August day

Am Bb C
The bomb was an infant then, they nicknamed it their “Little Boy”
Am Bb C
They flew over Hiroshima and delivered their “bundle of joy”

It’s been sixty two long years from that day in 45
I think the reason he lived so long, the reason he stayed alive
Wasn’t because he was lucky or happy or strong or brave
But because he knew
there were 90 thousand
ghosts waitin’ ‘round his grave

Dm Aaug
Some writers will accuse you of not knowing the difference
Bb
Between a casualty and a fatality.
C5 (0033)
I’ve never been a friend to reality.
Dm
Writers juggle words
Aaug Bb
One day in a circus, I watched a man juggle knives.
C5
The way politicians juggle lives.

(repeat third verse)

Houdini Never Hung Around In Bars…..the fourth song on my Greatest Hats Vol. 1 album

I’ve always had a fascination with escape artists. It takes an amazing amount of focus to even attempt some of the simpler escapes. I had been playing this song for a while before I actually recorded it on my 2006 album “Houdini’s Perspective”.

HOUDINI NEVER HUNG AROUND IN BARS

(C. Robertson 2005)

Houdini always thought outside the box
That’s how he opened all those locks
He wasn’t worried
When they dropped him off the dock
Houdini always thought outside the box.

His assistants always locked him up real tight
Then they turned out all the lights
There was never any doubt
That he’d somehow get out
When his assistants locked him up real tight

You think everyone’s a saint
I’m here to tell you that they aint
You think your front door is locked
I’m here to tell you that it’s not….

Houdini never hung around in bars
He was outside starin’ at the stars
Every Hank and Louie
Though he was plain screwy
But Houdini never hung around in bars.

Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood…new information, old song

Mysterious Hollywood Deaths — Natalie Wood

Thirty years following her death, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reopened the Natalie Wood case on Nov. 17, 2011, claiming officials received credible new information. The original investigation concluded that Wood, 43, accidentally drowned while yachting off the coast of California with husband Robert Wagner and their guest Christopher Walken.

This song is from my first album, PRACTICAL HYPNOTISM…(for sale on Bandcamp)

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN AND NATALIE WOOD

(Craig Robertson 2003)

Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood

were out on a boat on the sea

“Christopher Walken”, said Natalie Wood,

“This ocean’s a mystery.”

If I had a lifeboat I’d drift away far from this scenery

If I had a lifeboat I’d drift away
out where nobody could see me.

Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood

were out on a boat on the sea

“Christopher Walken”, said Natalie Wood,

“This ocean’s a mystery.”

Bottles of whiskey afloat on the waves they bob up and

down on the tide

bottles of whiskey afloat on the waves I just went

along for the ride.

Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood

were out on a boat on the sea

“Christopher Walken”, said Natalie Wood,

“This ocean’s a mystery.”

Ol’ Cape Cod….the third song on Greatest Hats, Vol. 1.

 

The third song from my Greatest Hats, Vol. 1 album From the album Uncovers 2005. Written by Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus, and Allan Jeffrey, and published in 1957.  I learned this from the Patti Page version. It sat so well on a ukulele I just had to record it. This is also the only track I’ve ever played a taropatch on.

Once again, a staple of my live show…..

OL’ CAPE COD

if you’re fond of sand dunes in the salty air
quaint little vilages here and there
you’re gonna fall in love with ol’ Cape Cod.

and if you like the taste of a lobster stew
served by a window with an ocean view
you’re gonna fall in love with ol’ Cape Cod

winding roads that seem to beacon to you
miles of green beneath a sky of blue
church bells ringing on a Sunday morn
remind you of a place where you were born

so if you spend an evening you will want to stay
watching the moonlight over Cape Cod bay
you’re gonna fall in love with ol’ Cape Cod.

She Likes To Pull The Wings Off Flies….2nd song on Greatest Hats, Vol. 1

This song is from my 2004 album, “That Dress”. It was written for the album that year and is pretty much another staple of my live shows. (the slide guitar on this track was done by Manitoba Hal Brolundf)

SHE LIKES TO PULL THE WINGS OFF FLIES
(C. Robertson 04)

Gm Adim Gm
Because she likes
Gm Adim Gm
To pull the wings
Gm Adim Gm Gm Adim Gm
Off flies, off flies.
D7 Gm Adim Gm
You can see it in her eyes.

Gm (add C#)
I came around the corner and met her face to face
Cm6 D7
She seemed a little breathless, like she’d been running in a race
Gm (add C#)
She said a man was chasing her, I looked, no one was there.
Cm6 D7
She had the longest lashes and a spider’s deadly stare

Chorus

She asked if she could come up and sit with me awhile
To catch her breath until he left…she gave the sweetest smile
Like broken glass and honey, she touched me on the arm
And an electric shock went through me like a fire alarm

Chorus

Now she’s looking out the window, she’s drinking all my wine
She’s pacing back and forth and looking at the time
I don’t think she trusts me, she keeps looking a the door
As her black stiletto heels clickety click across the floor.

chorus

The song has been covered many times by various musicians. Here’s a cool version by Nipper Lewis:

SHE LIKES TO PULL THE WINGS OFF FLIES by Nipper