1. |
My Best September
03:57
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My Best September
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I recall it was in Autumn, near the end of September
The leaves were turning, bet you didn’t think that I would remember
A Black & White wedding in Queens, I met your whole family
Afraid somehow I might make a scene
On my best behavior drinking Pepsi in the hall
But coke in the stall
CHORUS
My best September – Like our own movie scene
My best September – Rockin’ ‘round in NYC
And thanks to you, Gina T., it forever will be
In my thoughts, and my dreams
In my heart, thanks to your schemes
My best September – My best September
My little social guide, you taught me all the sites of Manhattan
A city girl who knew the world, and just how everything happens
You took me to your favorite haunt, that West Broadway restaurant
Underneath the table cloth, you slipped your foot between my legs, as if to say
You could always laugh me off
CHORUS BACKING VOCALS
Memories aren’t always quite what occurred
But they fill in the blanks, crystalize what was blurred
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2. |
It's Not Fair
04:25
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It’s Not Fair
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I went down to the river; they say that’s where you’re supposed to go
I didn’t know what I’d find there, my crooked river doesn’t even flow
I don’t know, where to go, I’m emotionally sore
So I think, then I drink, that just upsets me even more
I don’t….Just don’t….Oh, no
Tried to…Tried to…Oh, no
Stumbled down to the railroad tracks, I used to walk them as a kid
The way I felt then did not come back, but the words…they finally did
Now I know, what to say, but I don’t want to be “that guy”
I guess you, knew it too, so I’ll just have to try to say
CHORUS
I don’t love you anymore
Tried to tell you so many times before
It’s just that I have no other choice, and it hurts me just to think it, but
I don’t love you anymore
It’s not fair
Wandered into a local church, head in my hands down on my knees
Back to basics and first thing’s first, I prayed my best “God help me please”
You don’t know, how this feels, I never pictured it this way
It’s not fair, just not fair, but I’m the one who has to say it
CHORUS
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3. |
Instigators
02:48
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Instigators
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
Well, the Instigators are just Fabricators
They’re invested in a narrative they never show
They’re always up-tight, outa sight, talking trash afraid to fight
They claim to be the experts, but they never know
But I know…
MINI CHORUS (2, 4, 6, 8….who do we appreciate?)
Well, the indoctrinators show up some time later
They’re the ones who cannot do, they teach your kids and you
They’re ivory tower pencil necks who navigate to moral wreck
They really hate their lives, and hope that you do too
And it’s true…
CHORUS
It aint nothing but beautiful lies
(1, 2, 3, 4….we’ve got more than you can score)
And they’re programmed to prey on your minds
(5, 6, 7, 8….we’ve got more than you can take)
If you wanna be lemmings, I don’t mind
(9, 10, 11, 12….we’ve got more than you can spell)
But I can’t take it
Now those instigators become promulgators
They feed it to the talking heads, they’re really dumb
They got their scripted talking points, they hang out at the same old joints
They inundate your senses ‘til you’re really numb
But I know…
CHORUS
(1, 2, 3, 4….let me hear you stomp the floor)
(push ‘em back, push ‘em back, way back)
(hold that line, hold that line, kick ‘em in the ass and do it one more time)
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4. |
Point of No Return
04:31
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Point Of No Return
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I never said that this would be easy
We always knew this could be so hard
Our temporary has finally gone too far
CHORUS
And it took years to get here
Through all those smoke-filled juke box joints
But now we finally got here
We’re at the point…of no return
Broken promises, broken people
There isn’t really much more to say
A sentimental fake kiss
And we’re on our way
Don’t pretend this is not the end
Don’t pretend that we can be just friends
No more rules to break
No more rules to bend
CHORUS
Yes it took years to get here
I really hate to disappoint
Because we finally got here
We’re at the point…
It took so long to get here
But it was quick to disappoint
Looks like we finally got here
We’re at the point…of no return
BRIDGE
We finally reached that place
Turning back’s just not an option
And both of us realize that now
But if ever we hit a patch
And fall in to despair
I know you would still care (you would still care)
And I’d go anywhere (I would go anywhere)
We know we both would always be there
CHORUS
And it took years to get here
I really hate to disappoint you
But we finally got here
We’ve reached the point…
It took so long to get here
I really hate those Juke Box Joints
Looks like we finally got here
We’re at the point…of no return
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5. |
Rings of Saturn
03:58
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Rings of Saturn
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I can still see the rings of Saturn
Dancing in her eyes
But all at once it just didn’t matter
And much to my surprise
CHORUS
It was over in moments
Not hours, not days, not weeks (“not months” on last chorus)
Don’t know what they told her, but I know her
And I’ll never get her back
Sometimes I think that this isn’t real
I like to fool myself
Hard to express how I really feel
At least to someone else
Don’t make the same mistake
Don’t look into my eyes
There are no planets there
Just the tears I’ve cried
CHORUS
BRIDGE
Something tells me that deep inside, something’s just not right
But this time it is just black or white
She either lying, or just a fool, only one who knows is her
I’m not sure which one I prefer
CHORUS
I can still see the rings of Saturn dancing in her eyes
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6. |
Merry-Go-Round
03:36
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Merry-Go-Round
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
Well I got my spot, my lucky spot
I hope tonight that spot is hot
And I can still kick back a couple of drinks
Cuz on the Merry-Go-Round you don’t have to think, and
CHORUS
I don’t care what people say
I’m gonna play it anyway
And you can bail me out from the lost & found
I got my little white ball, and my Merry-Go-Round
Well I met a little girl down Reno way
She taught me how to play the game a different way
We ended up in Tahoe, and we changed our names
Then she took me upstairs to play a different game, but
CHORUS
I don’t care what people say
I’m gonna play it anyway
And you can bail me out from the lost & found
I got my little white ball, and my Merry-Go-Round
BRIDGE
I hope it’s black
Or maybe just red, if that’s what I said
Black or red, no in-between
Unless of course, it turns up green
And if it’s green, that’s not my scene
I’m better off banging on a slot machine
Odd or even is not my style
I pick a couple of numbers, play my lucky pile (alright)
INTRO
When we got downstairs, she proposed a dare
The black and red, she said, just didn’t seem fair
And when it hit green, it paid off seventeen
So I bought that girl a diamond ring because
CHORUS
I don’t care what people say
I’m gonna play it anyway
And you can bail me out from the lost & found
I got my little white ball, and my Merry-Go-Round
BRIDGE
I hope it’s black
Or maybe just red, if that’s what I said
Black or red, no in-between
Unless of course, it turns up green
And if it’s green, that’s not my scene
I’m better off banging on a slot machine
Odd or even is not my style
I pick a couple of numbers, play my lucky pile
When I bet black, I don’t look back
Sometimes it’s red, if that’s what I said
Black or red, no in-between
Unless of course, it turns up green
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7. |
Inside Your Dream
03:28
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Inside Your Dream
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I think for just one night
I slept inside your dream
It was a pleasant sight
With flowing gentle streams
There was a beautiful garden there
Truly quite the picturesque scene
Humming birds and flowers there of yellow and green
Last night I slept inside your dream
It was a beautiful thing
Along the path, I ran into
Someone who looked like me
He asked me where I could find you
And then, what did I see
That beautiful garden
Was slowly turning brown
No longer flowers and trees there of yellow and green
Last night I slept inside your dream
Didn’t mean to change anything
BRIDGE
Dreams aren’t intended to be heard or seen
Certainly not to be shared
But, if by chance, you sleep in someone’s dream
You might learn too much, more than you care
SOLO
I tried to find a way to leave
A door to get me out
The flowers now had poison leaves
The humming birds, now owls
I finally found a portal crack
And when I turned around
The garden colors were changing back to yellow and green
Last night I slept inside your dream
Didn’t mean to change anything
Last night I slept inside your dream
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8. |
Epic Fail
03:59
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Epic Fail
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I had a real good plan
At least it felt that way
It was a victimless pseudo-crime
But now I rue that day
It started with a telephone photograph
But it spiraled out of all my control
I thought maybe it would be good for a laugh
But now I know (It’s just another fail)
Now everybody in New York
And all those dregs in L.A.
Even my friends up in Cleveland
Aren’t sure what they should say
I always thought I could be somebody
But reality has finally set in
I guess I realized I’m nobody
Is that my sin?
Within a week, I’m infatuated
Within a month, I’m stuck here in jail
And all those dreams that I inflated
Well, they’re just another epic fail
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9. |
There Goes The Bride
04:37
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There Goes The Bride
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
He met her at a kissing booth
At the County Fair
He should have known right then
He should have known right there
There was something with this girl that’s not quite right
Perhaps she even posed a future risk of flight
CHORUS 1
There goes the bride
Streaming tears down her face
She can’t decide
If this is her time or place
And her friends have seen this all before
It never gets too old, I’m sure
Bye-bye, Bye-bye
There goes the bride
A wedding set for June
So it could be outdoors
It seemed to me too soon
Had she done this before?
Something about her struck me as obsolete
Like land lines, cursive, 8-track tapes, head-over-feet
CHORUS 2
There goes the bride
Crocodile tears down her face
She couldn’t decide
Just what she wanted to face
And she creates another pretty mess
As she collects another wedding dress
Bye-bye, Bye-bye
There goes the bride
BRIDGE
She got something old and something new
She got something borrowed and something blue
All those things her mother told her to do
Now the only thing she doesn’t have…Is the groom
SOLO
CHORUS 3
There goes the bride
Streaming tears down her face
She can’t decide
If this is her time or place
Now her friends and family are not sold
They’ve seen it all before, or so I’m told
Bye-bye, Bye-bye
There goes the bride There goes the bride There goes the bride…
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10. |
I Think
02:42
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I Think
(Words & Music by Jim Butterfield)
I Think, therefore I am
Don’t think, you can change me, you can’t
If you really want to be confused, walk a mile in my shoes
It’s the least that you can do…..I think
I walk, like a man with a plan
I talk, like I know who I am
If I really had this figured out, I’d be a billionaire, no doubt
But until then let’s twist and shout…..I walk
BRIDGE
They say that all good things will come to those who wait
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
They seem to say so many things, but who the hell are they?
I’ve said it before, I won’t wait too much longer
I sing, cuz I never liked poetry
I shrink, at the thought of notoriety
If I really had a master plan, I’d be the nazz I’d be the man
Instead I do the best I can…..and I sing
And I walk
And I think
Oh yes, I think
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Butterfield 8 Cleveland, Ohio
Jim Butterfield is a Cleveland, Ohio songwriter who releases his music under the name "Butterfield 8"
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