Album Notes

Jay Young
the beautiful grandeur inside

All songs written and performed by Jay Young
Lyrics for Cosmic Boy by Kevin Craig and Jay Young
Additional percussion and drums on Go on and Crush Me and I Do by Tim Batt
Bass on Jimmy & Winnie by Jarrett Hinds
Drum loops by Splurgo.com
Additional sequencing effects on I Do and Deserts of Mergatroid by
www.jayyoungweb.com and www.myspace.com/jysamusic

Lyrics:

Leon
Another sunny ghetto Sunday
Leon walks down streets that stretch out
They shimmer in the heat, it feels like walking on the sea

Leon’s only nine years old
An ancient soul in shoes of gold
A Nike strut and spray paint dreams of all he’ll do and see

A fire burning no one knows
Is fueling Leon as he goes
If there’s a God above he’s sure he’ll find his destiny

His parents they wear him down
They tell him that he’s good for nothin’
But all that Leon cares about
Is grandma told him Jesus loves him

Another sunny Worship Sunday
Leon strums as the choir sings
The git-tar notes float through the ghetto, wordless poetry

Leon has the gift they say
The angels sing when his fingers play
Leon’s only thirteen, living electricity

A voice is singing no one knows
It flows through Leon as he goes
It’s the music of his soul when Jesus made him free

His parents they wear him down
They tell him he should play for something
He could be rich and famous
But Leon knows that don’t mean nothin’

Another sunny country Sunday
Leon walks down a dusty road
For sixty years he’s traveled playing music, living free

Leon walks his path alone
And rarely thinks of his humble home
The music led him by the soul where he was meant to be

His back is stooped, his guitar old
His calloused fingers black as coal
But when he plays the angels sing in perfect harmony

Candyland Quicksand
Seduced by Sandy was not what I had planned
She placed her waist in my hand and danced me back so quickly
Sticky fingers ripping buttons falling calling no returning
To the innocence that’s burning
But everybody knows that it’s true
I always thought I’d end up with you

Standing with Sandy in the quicksand of her Candyland
Licorice bridges and britches so delicious I licked the
Hard walls of sugar till my tongue was rough and bleeding
But the sugar rush is fading
And everybody knows that it’s true
I always thought I’d end up with you

You’ve gone away
Never wanna be without you
I just never wanna be without you

Diving with Donna down a tunnel to forget your face
I bite her lip for a bloody kiss and share a salty taste of
Raw red romance ruined memories strewn lust is new
Confusion fusion passion pain
And everybody knows that it’s true
I always thought I’d end up with you

Flesh is raw we did it all a penance to negate the fall
From could have been to never will forbidden sin the heart to kill
And days to fill with endless chill a bitter pill this distant view
The home that I will never reach
Cuz everybody knows that it’s true
I always thought I’d end up with you

You’ve gone away
Remember those days when we were kids
And all the wet kissing that we did
Remember those days when we were young
And love was just a reason to have fun
Remember those days when you were mine
You told me that you’d love me till the end of time

I’ll burn the world down for your sake a trail of bodies in my wake
And carve your face into my eye so every tryst is not a lie
And track you down what will I find the goddess perfect in my mind
Or just another siren song
Cuz everybody thinks that it’s true
I always thought I’d end up with you

Another night I sit alone entombed within my empty home
A darkened window is my view regret and think and stink and stew
Alone and dead a thousand times you could have saved these fragile lives
If only you’d have done the thing that everybody knew you should do
I always thought I’d end up with you

The Solitary Man
I’m so glad I don’t have to look at me through your eyes
And see just a man who is silent carved in stone
Who holds back his thoughts and his love and never cries
Who walks through this life surrounded but alone
Cuz inside I’m pondering fate and the cosmos
Silently wandering mysterious new roads
I’m manic and panicked and so full of doubt
At a loss for the words to get it all out
And there’s galaxies exploding inside my skin
I’d tell you my story but where to begin
I simply cannot escape what I am
The solitary man

So you see it’s not that I don’t sympathize
It’s not that I don’t love you it’s not that I’m ungrateful
I’m just living a lie
And I know you wonder why these walls never seem to come down
But they’re keeping the kingdom of the real me safe and sound
Maybe the flood is what I fear most
Maybe it’s easier being a ghost
Maybe the beautiful grandeur inside
Would crumble to dust if exposed to the light
And there’s galaxies exploding inside my skin
I’d tell you my story but where to begin
I simply cannot escape what I am
The solitary man

And when I die and God asks how was your ride
I’ll say it was fine but the strap was too tight
I simply could not escape what I am
The solitary man

Ka’imi
Sophomore year and tomboy Rusty was blooming into June
The island boys were making noise by a beach fire to turn her head
Light blonde hair and palomino skin dappled by the Maui sun
Damn but she was a fine sight to see
She always wore her swimsuit underneath her Sunday dress
A hidden Camel soft pack stuck to the sweat beside her breast
Church let out and the kids hit the sand the parents tended the tourist stands
Island living aint cheap but youth is free
Kimo Ka’imi’s old man ran the tat stand down by the beach
Kimo got his tribal ink when he turned sixteen
June spied his tattoo in the setting sun brash waves crashing on an island son
And thick black hair as wild as the sea and that night she said

Hide me in the dunes
Brush the sand from off my skin
Open up the island bloom
Shine the sun on me again
Life is only time and wind
It tumbles down and you build it again

Rain clouds breathing rainbows and stirring up the sea
June sits on a window sill watching the palm trees sway
Her Sunday dress is getting tight and Kimo hasn’t called tonight
Folks whisper when Mama walks down the street
Airplane wing slicing through the bellies of the clouds
June cradles her own swell and leans forward in the seat to see
It’s her first time in the sky she never knew that it stretched so high
From here even the ocean seems at peace
Aunt Ruby’s ranch was a block of Minnesota ice
An old mare nickered from the barn across the yard
June cries out from a quilted bed and a midwife gently wipes her head
One more push and you’ll finally meet and in pain she cried

Hide me in the sky
Breeze the clouds across my skin
Float away this island bloom
Straight up to the sun again
Life is only time and wind
It tumbles down and you do it again

Big Tommy patrolled the coast on the Gulf of Mexico
Twenty-one but everyone listened when the quiet giant spoke
A freighter sank and Tom arrived just in time to save a life
Now Tom’s at the V.A. with a broken spine
Tommy limped around the Elks Club as the music played
Spied a blonde haired beauty in the corner playing with her babe
Neither could dance so he took a chance and asked the girl her name
Ka’imi means seek so you can call me that today
June said Tom I’m no good for you right now
Tommy said June our broken pieces might fit together somehow
Stay with me until winter breaks here in the land of frozen lakes
There’s beauty sleeping underneath the snow and June replied

Hide me in the gloom
Freeze the stain from off my skin
Bury deep this broken bloom
Shine the darkness on my sin
Life is only time and wind
It tumbles down and you build it again

Spring crept up to Minnesota and lifted winter’s veil
Tommy’s back was killing him but he knelt down anyway
He said all I got’s this plastic ring but babe I give you everything
I wanna be three with you today
June started shaking and she avoided Tommy’s eye
You’re the second most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my whole life
But what I need now aint a man I need to find out who I am
And then she packed her ghosts and went away and in the distance Tommy cried

Sail away across the sea
Wash the past from off your skin
And when you’re whole return to me
And shine the sun on me again
Life is only time and wind
It tumbles down and you build it again


Jimmy & Winnie
Baby you’re so pretty but you’re not too deep
And if you don’t mind sleeping in the passenger seat
I’ll drive us to the place where the moonlight creeps
And we can steal away the night
Alright

Jimmy picked up Winnie with the stink of romance
In his devil red shirt and his angel flight pants
He had a ravenous heart and wandering hands
And a chain with his zodiac sign

Well Winnie didn’t care about Jimmy’s plans
Or his bad reputation as a ladies’ man
She wanted outta that town in a travelin’ van
And Jimmy would do just fine

It was 1980 when they turned 18
And they eloped in the night in the Las Vegas scene
Then they drove to California just to chase their dreams
Of money, fame, and wine

He said “You’re so pretty but you’re not too deep
And if you don’t mind sleepin’ on the passenger seat
I’ll drive us to the place where the moonlight creeps
And we can steal away the night. Alright.

Jimmy knew the skinny when he flew on in he
Called his wife from the room then he went out cruisin’
With no name no past drink hard drive fast
Burnin up the night

He had a ring in his pocket and a ring on his wallet
Had his ringer turned off so nobody would call it
And he never even saw it as cheating he was stallin
As a way to feel alive

Karen was a cougar with a bad motorscooter
She was throwin down the shooters with the boys at the Hooters
Like a purrin’ Camero she’d take you anywhere oh
Like 1985

She had high heeled shoes and a shoulder tattoo on
Skin like leather with her hair all feathered
“Well I almost never leave a bar together
But Jimmy you seem alright.”

He said “You’re so pretty but you’re not too deep
And if you don’t mind sleeping in the passenger seat
I’ll drive us to the place where the moonlight creeps
And we can steal away the night.” Alright

Well Jimmy turned thirty he was feeling pretty dirty
From the traveling show and the beds on the road
He never felt home or a peace in his soul
He just anesthetized

At the bottom of a bottle, Winnie’s favorite place
As the long lonely nights carved lines on her face
And the teenage dreams of the great escape
Ended up in pain and lies

So Winnie said “Jimmy when you get off the road
I’m packing my bags and I’m headin’ back home
I’ve wasted my life and I can’t go on
Drifting with no ties”

He said “you’re still pretty but your pain’s too deep
And if think you wouldn’t mind a little company
It’s time for me to put the old Jimmy to sleep
And try to make things right

Baby you’re so pretty but I’m not too deep
And if you don’t mind sleeping on the passenger seat
I’ll drive us to the place where our roots run deep
And we can start again tonight.” Alright


Together Well
We go together well you and I
I’m so helpless you’re so perfect
We go together well you and I
We speak together well you and I
You in sunrise me with closed eyes
We speak together well you and I

And at night when my defenses are down you visit me
And all the guilt I’ve been carrying around is plain to see
And in your presence it all melts to the ground and leaves me clean
Then in your arms I am finally free

We live together well you and I
Me in stone walls you in deep skies
We live together well you and I
We see together well you and I
You by the light of the stars me one day at a time
We see together well you and I

And at dawn when no one else is around you visit me
The rising sun is like the light of your eyes that I can see
And in your presence I just melt to the ground cuz I’m washed clean
Then in your arms I am finally free

We sing together well you and I
Me in the smooth tones you in the pure highs
We sing together well you and I


Go on and Crush Me
Go on and crush me it’s so easy
Go on deceive me I’m so believing
Go on expose me I’m such a weakling
Go on and crush me don’t take it easy

Don’t bother saying when you’ll be leaving
I’ll wait here alone on the porch swing
I’ll leave on the light and try to sleep soundly
I won’t make you lie just to appease me

Go on and crush me it’s so easy
Go on deceive me I’m so believing
Go on expose me I’m such a weakling
Go on and crush me don’t take it easy
And if we’re being honest you know you shouldn’t have settled for me in the first place
God knows I aint got much to offer besides this pretty face
And if he’s so damn good for you then you go on and you run to me
Don’t you worry about me I’ll just lay here with the lights on for a while and hurt

Go on and crush me
Go on deceive me
Go on and expose me
Go on and crush me don’t take it easy

Cosmic Boy
And you boy with those cosmic eyes you go and go
I’ll walk beside you as you grow and laugh with you as you fly
And you boy like a storm in the sky I can’t control
You’re the joy that overflows and saturates my life

And I can see myself in you
The younger me I used to be
To share your way of making new
The world you see around you

And you boy you make me laugh at will how you take it in
The way you drink this life on in and never get your fill
And you boy the perfect way you move you always rise
Find each day a sweet surprise on feet that can’t keep still

And I can see myself in you
The better me I’d like to be
To share your way of making new
The world you see around you

I’m blinded by your glow the magic in your soul
In everything you say and everything you do
I’m lost inside your glow the wonder of your soul
The way you say and do the things you do

And you boy with your cosmic joy your neon glow
I’ll watch you burst and lose control and laugh with you as you fly
And you boy you tear the clouds apart and bring the blue
Now the world’s distilled through you and gorgeous in your eyes

And I can see myself in you
The better me I’d like to be
To share your way of making new
The world you see around you

All Alone With You
Driving through the blue streets today
Shrouded by curtains of gray
To find my way home to you

This city’s like a caffeine fever dream
And no one seems to know what I mean
Till I’m finally alone with you

The pressure seems to build till I break
And whispers accuse me a fake
Till I finally believe that it’s true

No one seems to come to my aid
I’m strong on the outside but inside afraid
Till I’m finally alone with you

I’m all alone with you

The noises the pain and the shakes
The endless reminders of mistakes
They’ll find where I hide and make me blue

The running the waiting and the plans
The days slipping right through my hands
Except for the time spent with you

I’m all alone with you