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Hay Fever

by Ben Crane

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1.
Summer 99 03:22
The summer of 99 was spent in a van With a lakeside girl and her wristwatch tan Four tangled ankles and one back seat Got mixed up in some mix tapes Keeping time to the beat Well they’d drive that bus down the interstate and wonder if it could all be fate or if life had just served up some serendipity Well either way they didn’t care And it really didn’t matter where They ended up so long as it was somewhere And now he’s driving in the front Yeah she’s lying in the back He’s turning up the radio She’s reading Kerouac He looks in the rear view mirror Trying to catch her eye And her smile bounces out Into the Arizona sky And he said babe if we drive fast enough The universe might lose track of us And forget to stick us somewhere else for a day So in the harsh light of a Texaco sign They drank some cheap imported wine And pooled their cash to fill the tank half-way She jumped in the front to take the driver’s wheel And wrapped her hands in the rounded steel And hell the cold felt good She forgot the mirrors and hit the gas Peeling out right there by the overpass Cause it’s more fun not doing what you should And now she’s driving in the front Yeah he’s lying in the back She’s turning up the radio He’s reading Kerouac Oh he looks in the rear-view mirror Trying to catch her eye And her smile bounces out into the Arizona sky
2.
The waitress seats me at the table I take every time and asks me if I want my usual ham on rye and as an afterthought I ask for the New York Times cause I want something to hide behind cause every time I find myself watching passersby While I’m sitting by the window and it’s sunny outside It always makes me wonder makes me wonder what it would be like to see The world from their eyes And sometimes they look back And we both stare like cats And it’s only for a second that Neither one of us knows how to act And nowadays the constellations all spell your name and they remind me of the freckles strewn across your face You had Cassiopeia falling up your cheek and I thought it’d be nice to be an astronaut So I’ll keep coming here and sitting in the corner booth Secretly making my coffee 80 proof Cause if you were here I know you would be too So I’ll keep people watching for you
3.
There’s a thread that I’ve been slowly spinning in my head On a loom I only work while I lie awake in bed The single strand of cotton twists tighter every time Thoughts of strangers drift through the hallways of my mind And I’m filling up with promises that I intend to keep Dedicated to the folks that I have yet to meet and my heart’s made of terracotta Fired in a kiln last night Buried in the ventricles that didn’t go quite right They didn’t go quite right There’s a ship I’ve been building With the white cage of my ribs and by the stars I’m navigating and cause this vessel is Ventilated, perforated, just a body full of holes And half-finished goals I’m filling up with water now And it’s getting much too deep And I’m losing sight of all those promises I meant to keep But my terracotta heart still floats above the sea Soaked in salt and water and little bits of me Little bits of me
4.
Alma Mater 02:42
Snowfall came late this year it came late this year and all of us we're waiting to cover up our ears cover up our ears You write to me just about everyday in a simple way And I wait for your letters by the door like you're a solider in the Civil War Seems to me you just don't care but what if there's still a little piece inside you that does somewhere so I'll keep reading these little haikus even though they don't tell me anything about you they don't tell me anything about you anything about you I think about you
5.
Rishikesh 03:37
Down the stairs I follow you I follow you just where you want me to The vines they swim so slow and seem to know what I am going to try They watch like spies And I read you hated this place with your bones you really tried, but he lied while you sat alone and as you packed and left he asked you "Why do you go?" you replied "You're the cosmic one; you should know." You should know
6.
Cavalry Drum 03:22
My revolution has barely begun I’m still loading the chambers of my silver starting gun And all your towers will crumble and fall when I order my trebuchets to fire on your wall I’m gonna make all your generals know my name I will be the one to drive you insane And don’t you bother to hide Yeah my spies will find you anywhere They watch you from the sky And when I come usurp your throne All your power will be meaningless You’ll be without a home My horse can smell your fear now that we got you on the run And that thunder you hear, that’s just my cavalry drum Cause your days used to be easy sitting pretty in the shade I bet you thought you had it made But now I’ve got the sun in a mason jar And I’m laughing while you’re stumbling around in the dark
7.
Rodeo Rookie 03:01
New York was so electric Healed my soul just like antiseptic And all the subway soldiers line the wall And every single one seemed to trip and fall Just like I do I do I do I do I do I do The city can be a nasty place But kind of like seeing a suddenly familiar face I was getting signals backstage at my show Yeah I was falling faster than a rookie at a rodeo Well it’s true yeah I’ve been wanting you For longer than I care to admit And if this song is any evidence I haven’t gotten this mixed up over someone since Well since whenever I know I don’t have anything that you’d want Well I ‘spose that makes it that much easier to flaunt Well I’ll still stick my neck out. Take a risk, I guess. Cause I can’t help but get caught up in a beautiful mess With you like I want to You got me falling so fast I don’t have no control Ah shoot, I must look like a rookie at a rodeo
8.
The Rosary 06:24
Well that girl was born a Catholic, see Always made to wear her grandma’s rosary But it just hung too heavy on her neck and she wanted more than just a lost town out West Well she stayed in church cause her momma told her so But it felt like the preacher was just putting on a show And all those hymns she used to sing before They echoed and died and she walked out the basement door Yeah she left by the basement door And left a letter in her kitchen back home Saying I think I’ll make it better on my own But she kept the rosary tucked secretly in the bottom of her purse Cause we can all use the luck when life’s so unrehearsed It was just a good luck charm hidden with her cigarettes A memory of what might have been bundled in empty threats And how she wished there just could have been a little more time it wouldn’t have to end this way, but life’s so unkind Yeah I know it’s been unkind Well she bought a ticket for the Greyhound bus Only got as far as Tishamingo because she didn’t have too much But at the time it felt like world’s away Cause she was on her own, finally getting away Well she walked into the local general store Said sir I’m traveling alone and ain’t been here before I don’t got no money but I need a place to stay Oh please can’t you find some pity? I’ll pay you back someway. The store clerk just looked at her and said Well child it’s not much but you can have the storage shed All I ask is that you clean it up and sweep the floor That’s how I’ve always done it when kids slept there before Well she made herself a little makeshift bed And bundled up her bag under her head And then felt the rosary sticking through the leather of her purse and she had to smile cause things could be worse It was just a good luck charm hidden with her cigarettes A memory of what might have been bundled in empty threats And how she wished there just could’ve been a little more time It wouldn’t have to be this way but life’s just so unkind Yeah I know it’s been unkind
9.
I used to have a lot of faith in rain I thought it could wash away bad history just as soon as it came And mud would cover up the things I’d buried in the dirt But couldn’t quite get out of sight because I was addicted to the hurt And no matter how many steps I take you follow me just like a cape Shouting out all of my big red mistakes That I’ve made over the years and it’s the reason why I’m swimming in a sea of compromise But at least I’ve got this little rowboat to help keep me afloat While I navigate the waters of your frothing castle moat And soon a salty darkness will come fill my shoes And I’ll be forced to admit that I was just born to lose And I left that half opened envelope on my desk And walked away thinking it was probably for the best To never know just the words you wanted to say to me Cause I’ve always been in love with a good mystery

about

"Hay Fever" is my first full-length release. The recording took place in my bedroom and classrooms in the Tufts music building. At its core, it's a folk album. But, I tried out lots of different styles and ended up with a pretty eclectic mix of tunes. So whatever your flavor is, I hope I got to it.

Try to listen on something other than laptop speakers or earbuds. I promise it's better.

If you like it (and your ears are all like "om nom nom") the best way to show it is by sharing my music to your friends. Click that 'like' button right there. Do it!

Also, you can be a fan of my facebook page here: www.facebook.com/BenCraneMusic

look at photos, watch videos, and read newsy updates/daydreams I have.


Thanks for listening.
-Ben

credits

released April 22, 2011

All songs written, performed, and recorded by Ben Crane.

Painting by Ilana Zwiebel
Additional cover art by Alex Berdoff

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Ben Crane New York, New York

Ben Crane is a singer/songwriter based in Brooklyn by way of Southern California. The Deli Magazine called him "a more light- hearted Lou Reed" and his latest album Spun Honey explores everything from anti-folk to country and Americana roots. A fervent performer, Crane can be seen in venues across NYC and beyond both solo and with his other band, funk/disco army Every Flavor Weather Machine. ... more

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