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In Memory of Captain Tank

by John Tabacco

/
1.
30 YEARS PASS It was Late Octobra when Captain Tank came stumblin’ in And he riled us of his conquests and his fears And 30 years went past Now I’m standin’ here alone As memories rush over me What for?... What for? Late Octobra when the man was sober and agile Late Octobra flying' in his Cobra in high style Those times were so wild The future had such promise But he went astray Nothing left today What for? Late Octobra when the man was sober and agile Late Octobra when the only phone was his sun dial And a big smile Fall to Winter smooth transition turn about 'Till he sold us out He sold us out!
2.
Break Away 02:40
BREAK AWAY I see some shadows besides me moving to and fro I hear some noises behind me This is all I know Wanna move wanna ‘splore other realms Wanna groove like nobody else But I can’t break away No I can’t break away No I can’t break away from all these illusions Tying me down Deep conversation surrounds me Coursing through my brain But there’s not soul who’s around me To understand my pain Wanna move wanna ‘splore other realms Wanna groove - like nobody else But I can’t break away - No I can’t break away No I can’t break away from all these illusions All these delusions tying me down I’m just human - a three dimensional square There’s so much to know it’s confusing It sucks to be so unaware Wanna move wanna ‘splore other realms Wanna groove - like nobody else But I can’t break away - No I can’t break away No I can’t break away from all these illusions All these delusions tying me down
3.
DO IT ALL AGAIN L.E.Ds surround us in this city Blinking for attention as we stroll Cyborg mannequins all dressed and pretty Begging us to strut right down their rabbit hole No escape - there never was Born a slave - ain’t that the buzz Remember? We don’t remember We do it all again… The eye of Horus lives to watch our borders It even knows the kinds of thoughts we keep Making sure we follow all the orders And don’t draw outside the lines even in our sleep Take another pill - a red one or a blue one or maybe don’t take any pill at all Don’t forget to laugh - the humor isn’t lost on you It’ll make’m crack and then they won’t be able to Force your soul to come back here Unless your fooled by guilt… There’s a special rung in hell for sinners! (Or so they say...) Alice is painting - Freedom! That diet coke and Tums™ you drank went through you No porcelain God to feed, so hold it in The peace train’s running late, you’re sweating bullets Should of been home by now Warm in bed by now Feeling trapped behind the gate But Facebook has you doing great Remember? You don’t remember So you’ll do it all again…
4.
So Inspired 04:31
SO INSPIRED (2019) I'm depressed It's not fair Ain't got no safe house for repair My heart is crushed heart No one cares They done stole my toys And I swear I’ve never felt so inspired Never felt such desire, world I can barely make it through each day The thrill of life has slipped away I’ve never felt so inspired Always rains on my parade I’m not blessed I’m not whole I’m not strong - in control Got no peace I’m just scared I’m a walking void And I swear I’ve never felt so inspired Never felt such desire, world I can barely make it through each day The thrill of life has slipped away I wish I had sign for you to make you rock But the only sign left for you is in a box No more fun No more cheers I’m just a bum Drowning in tears There’s no hope It’s all doom Lost the will to live in this pointless ugly room I’ve never felt so inspired Never felt such desire, world I can barely make it through each day The thrill of life has slipped away I wish I had sign for you to make you rock But the only sign left for you is in a box I wish there was a way for you to understand You only have to suffer fools because you can I’ve never felt so inspired Never felt such desire, world I can barely make it through each day The thrill of life has slipped away I wish I had sign for you to make you rock But the only sign left for you is in a box I wish there was a way for you to understand You only have to suffer fools because you can
5.
FIND YOUR INNER SELF / LUTRONION IMPROVISATION / AIRUSALL OR HAVEUSFALL If you wanna change your life 'Cause you're feeling strangled from every side Don't take a "B" train Don't take an "L" 'Cause if you wanna change your life Find your inner self Yeah, if you wanna change your life And you wanna leave it all behind Don't take a "B" train Don't take an "L" 'Cause if you wanna change your life Yeah, if you wanna change your life Lord, if you wanna change your life Find your inner self Find your inner self Airusall or Haveusfall Airusall or Haveusfall We have a right to tomorrow! Airusall or Haveusfall Airusall or Haveusfall Everyday's a gift gotta hold it in our hearts Take a cloudy day and break into sunshine Everyday's a gift gotta hold it in our hearts It's like a birthday wish that comes true in real time Airusall or Haveusfall Airusall or Haveusfall We have a right to tomorrow! Airusall or Haveusfall Airusall or Haveusfall Find your inner self!
6.
Mom and Dad 02:23
7.
HUCKSTERS When the whole truth went all viral We were happy as a clam All the stains and all the martyrdom We could finally understand it all We could finally understand All those hours bending over Frock and folly with their kites Tells the story of this feature film And we finally own the rights to it all Yeah we finally own the rights This planet of huckster babies This planet of huckster con men This planet of huckster babies Has finally come to an end Shadows exposed Finally got hosed This planet of huckster babies This planet of huckster con men This planet of huckster babies Has finally come to an end Shadows exposed Finally got hosed At the Cardinal’s last confession He was seen kissing his cross And his pine cone resolution staff Just in case his lies were duly bought Just in case his lies were bought This planet of huckster babies This planet of huckster con men Shadows exposed Finally got hosed This planet of huckster babies This planet of huckster con men Shadows exposed Finally got hosed Tell the deep state that it’s over Tell the fake news to take a hike Until the next poor huckster is christened We can finally live a truthful good life
8.
ALICE IS PAINTING Alice has learned from life – she's made some mistakes. Really, at times she felt like a wave when it breaks. Now she makes one more try Muttonheads ask her why But she's taken up painting... ALICE IS PAINTING oceans and lakes. Gallery people say she's got what it takes. Looks to her left, there’s a guy over there He wants to wed her but she doesn't care. ALICE IS PAINTING freedom She's coloring life! Look at the easel Look at the canvas she brings Out on a cliff, away from all digital things. Painting the open sea Alice looks wild and free In waves of euphoria ALICE IS PAINTING oceans and lakes. Either she likes it or a devil that fakes Mixing the oils though her life is a mess No, Alice ain’t humble, she couldn’t care less ALICE IS PAINTING freedom She's coloring life! Fully aware that beauty might well be a lie She's not ashamed of painting a beautiful sky. Wide open seas, nice little lakes Wash out the misery Whatever it takes! ALICE IS PAINTING oceans and lakes Knowing full well they hide dark evil snakes You may find her warm and kind, but hey, she's no saint No Alice has learned from life what pictures to paint Hearing 'bout such a life, her auntie Shirley would faint 'Cause Alice is painting freedom The girl is coloring life! Alice is painting freedom That’s right!
9.
COME BACK BABY I don't like waiting for a knock on the door I don't like wondering why I got no mercy for a man and his tears He's just living a lie I got a feeling like I'm losing my cool That's no way to be You got me crying got me playing the fool That's what you're doing to me You gotta come back baby I don't want to say how long it's been Five days and I gotta know now Come back baby I don't want to live alone again My old man never taught me how I don't like lying all alone in my bed Nobody calling my name I can't say thank you for a kick in the head But I need you just the same See me sitting by the side of the road People staring and smiling They got no mercy for a man and his tears Can't you hear me cry You gotta come back baby I don't want to say how long it's been Five days and I gotta know now Come back baby I don't want to live alone again My old man never taught me how
10.
WHERE'S MY YOKO? I feel like Nixon at a cocktail party I’ll only smile until it hurts How I wish that I could shrug my shoulders I think I left the hanger in my shirt And like a blind man at silent movie There’s truly nothing I can say You really dished me up some food for thought Popcorn at a drive in matinee Where’s my Yoko? Don’t we all deserve someone who gets what we are all about Where’s my Yoko? I can wait a little longer... Two chilly shadows in the early darkness You held my hand in Central Park Tracing patterns in the NY skyline The wind blew through your hair and through my heart Where’s my Yoko? Don’t we all deserve someone who gets what we are all about Where’s my Yoko? I can wait a little longer... I wait but you never come I’m home but you never call It feels like eternity's burning away But it’s just another cigarette Why? Where’s my Yoko? Don’t we all deserve someone who gets what we are all about Where’s my Yoko? Someone who can talk in bed and pull the music from my head Where’s my Yoko? I can wait a little longer...
11.
FOUNTAIN OF LOVE It was September, the leaves were gold That's when our hearts knew that story untold We were young lovers, strolling near The fountain of love, fountain of love Do you remember, I held you so near Our love's glowing ember so precious and dear We were young lovers, strolling near The fountain of love, the fountain of love Fountain of love, fountain of love We made a wish and threw in a coin And since that day our hearts have been joined So all you young lovers, wherever you are The fountain of love is not very far We'll go on dreaming of that golden day And remember the fountain is not far away We were young lovers strolling near The fountain of love, fountain of love Fountain of love, fountain of love We made a wish and threw in a coin And since that day, our hearts have been joined So all you young lovers wherever you are The fountain of love is not very far Fountain of love Fountain of love Fountain of love Fountain of love
12.
Is It Love? 03:40
IS IT LOVE? You only get up when you get down Call it the will of your spirit Nature will fight against all your might But you still resist to give in it Here’s the scenario, now what ya gonna do? Follow the script Yeah, follow it through A medal of honor is waiting for you Somehow you’ll get over Somehow you’ll “SUPER NOVA” Is it love that makes you try? When walls get in your way Is it love that makes you try? When it seems so hopeless it’s crazy While you are here soak up the scenes Life is a stage - we are in it There’s no mistakes - you’ll do what it takes To finish you have to begin it Here’s the scenario, now what ya gonna do? Follow the script Yeah, follow it through A medal of honor is waiting for you Somehow you’ll get over Somehow you’ll “SUPER NOVA” Is it love that makes you try? When walls get in your way Is it love that makes you try? When it seems so hopeless it’s crazy
13.
SPANISH ISLAND We're gonna get a sunny hideaway Down on Spanish Island Me and the missus gonna make our play Down on Spanish Island No one likes you No one cares what you say There's just something unattractive Old age as affliction So cliché On the highway No one stays in their lane Unsafe random fluctuations Insane, so I Dig on the guava and the sweet plantain Down on Spanish Island Groovy hacienda in the Port of Spain Down on Spanish Island On the fairway Everyone looks the same There's a quiet desperation a cost This seclusion for the lost Drinks at six Get a load of the time Better hit the bricks We stumble down the avenue Fading away within our gated Xanadu Our bodies creak and all our dreams have come unglued Without a clue Always me and you Skinny dipping Baby's still got an ass Sit tight till we're sure the moment is right I miss our steamy rendezvous I miss that dashing don that fresh-faced ingénue For now an island in the sun will have to do Some greens and blues Holding on to you We're gonna get a sunny hideaway Down on Spanish Island Me and the missus gonna make our play Down on Spanish Island
14.
YOU'RE MY CANDY LOVER Day turns to night The stars are host to dark The obvious is not all that it seems Sounds from above The pleasure pulse of love Is stuck it just won’t budge It beats right through my heart So I roll I roll I roll Echoes refrain So I roll I roll I roll Seeking the flame What does it matter? ‘Cause you’re my candy lover And you give me what I need Noise from below The rumble of my fears Of losing all that’s near and dear to my soul Deep crystal tears Beyond mere words appear A message loud and clear that breaks on through my heart So I roll I roll I roll Echoes refrain So I roll I roll I roll Seeking the flame What does it matter? ‘Cause you’re my candy lover And you give me what I need I can satisfy you if you give me one more chance I promise not to lead you through another faux romance So I roll I roll I roll Echoes refrain So I roll I roll I roll Seeking the flame What does it matter? ‘Cause you’re my candy lover And you give me what I need
15.
Go To Sleep 03:35
GO TO SLEEP Go to sleep Go to sleep my baby Go to sleep Reality is waiting The oceans where we used to float Among the stars we we’re tied to Sailing free without a boat A dream we both subscribed to Go to sleep Go to sleep my baby Go to sleep Reality is waiting Welcome home it’s been light years Of many lifetimes filled with many charms What’s that you say - The gang’s all here And they wait with open arms Feel the love Feel the love my baby Feel the love Feel the love that’s waiting A long long time ago me and you We were building galaxies Molecule by molecule Now I think it’s time to rest and see what we’ve been up to Go to sleep Go to sleep my baby Go to sleep Reality is waiting Reality is waiting Reality is waiting
16.
ALICE DOES IT ALL AGAIN Alice was a mystery. An email correspondence from the ether decades later, traveling in the back of the composer's dreams, tracking his every thought in dimensions hitherto unknown to the people in this area but destine to take the place of the mudshark... Wait a minute - I've heard that somewhere before. Yes - from the album "Apostrophe". It's all starting to jumble together. There it is again: "Ether". The subconscious puzzle pieces swirling around, force fitting multi colored peacocks through a series of frustrations and deliberate allusions. The father, the mother, created in ether, the composer who rambles on about nothing in nowhere thinking of Alice from a long time ago in the backyard as he as a young boy pulled down his pants to defecate on the grass. The sight of which drove the young girl hysterical, screaming for his parents. Scary sounds of Pilgrim State looming in the forefront always ready to take him to the curb and leave him there alone on that gray existential afternoon. It was then and will forever be an ongoing relfectamenta situation that twists and turns and wrenches the fragile arrogant snout of this unladen swallow. Whereupon sense and nonsense make their way through the evening traffic pointing only to the grave sight that was already in progress waiting for the ultimate cue to do it all again. Do it all again! Meanwhile, Alice from the future Nordic land is painting dark seas with stealth submarines below, spying on the boys humiliated situations that can no longer be hidden. And thus, a new horizon of freedom is beginning. Confirming what has been known for eons... Pointlessness is the center of creation. The dwelling of which controlled by a force of never knowing energy dines in the plea of formidable aspects and perspectives not withstanding. The other - the ether - the neither - the shades in between life forever tainted by an Aunt Shirley's desire for ignorance and the bliss that often follows. So it's come down to this in waves of euphoria. In waves of ether. In waves of hunger never quenched. He finally realized that all his music making and desire to be a truly independent artist amounted to a pretty much meaningless existence. In fact, that was the only meaning. He played his role here in this three dimensional hallucination, lived in his mind and waited out the rest of his external life as it followed to it's logical conclusion. Why he came back here to begin with was a burning question he hoped he'd get an answer to. Or not. He could never know anything for certain. Bummer. FREEDUMB...

about

Eventually Captain Tank of Ralph Voyager 47 decided to retire from service. As a retirement plan he managed to make a lucrative deal with a well known book publisher to release all the “deep state” dirt he had on his so called friends. All of who now reside in world class prisons biding their time, plotting their revenge, until parole comes around. If it comes around...

Sandra Pilot of course was severely heart broken when the Captain freely revealed her “Wax Paper Thesis on the Origins and Slightly Altered Myths of the Epileptic Troubadour”, online back in 2011. She became continually inconsolable and this eventually lead to her dramatic suicide. She stabbed herself in the jugular with a ballpoint pen while waiting at the DMV to renew her driver’s license. How soon the public forgets.

Yup, Captain Tank sold out big time! With little fanfare he discretely booted out of town and made himself a home somewhere in Conrete, North Dakota (his birthplace). Rumor has it he spent most of his time frequenting a little hole in the wall bar called "Hucksters". Most late nights he could be seen there swiggin’ down whiskey sours and inflating his amazing tales of heroism, corruption, adventure and romance to the dusty bar stool near the ladies room. Sadly, it was a bowling ball precariously resting on top of a shelf just above his coat closet that would do him in. Apparently, the result of a small earthquake. A curious neighbor found the Captain in a puddle of blood - his skull smashed in - his cobra feasting away. Who would have guessed?

In any event, his calculated charm and big friendly smile will forever be imprinted in our memories. Not sure if that’s a good thing, but there it is.

Note: This is not a concept album by any means. Capt. Tank's history was long over due (since 1984) so I figured what the hell? I came up with a related CD cover and I had already re-written the opening track, which is specific to the Captain, so hence the title. As with most of my CDs they are linearly made, subconscious, reflective and revolve specifically about where I am currently in my obscure musical life. A diary of sorts. The idea that there is a guy named John Tabacco who actually is able to live most of his life creating art and recording music with total disregard for trends or commerce or even have a 9-5 job might be an anomaly that only a few listeners will encounter in this life time. My apologies. That's destiny. If there is a concept, it's my entire catalog. - JT

credits

released January 1, 2020

Produced by John Tabacco
Recorded and Mixed at Suburban Hermit Studios II, Stony Brook, NY

JT: Vocals, Narration, Acoustic guitar, Programming, Mix
Joe Gioglio : Electric Guitar on "Come Back Baby"

Where's My Yoko? / Hucksters
Hans Annellsson: Producer, Arranger, Programmer
Backing Vocals – Johan Pihleke
Guitar – Eddie Nyström
Mixed and Mastered By – Janne Brovall
Lead vocal was recorded at Suburban Hermit Studios II, Stony Brook, NY

Spanish Island
Eric Block: Electric Guitar, Fender Rhodes, Horns
John Tabacco: Lead Vocal, Guitars, Strings, Vibraphone
Richard Dance: Lead and Fill Guitars
Fernando Diez: Percussion
Mark Griffith: Drums
Nick Manson: Acoustic Piano
Mario Mendivil: Bass
Mark Rabuck: Background vocals
Mixed by Otto D’Agnolo, Phoenix, AZ
Mastered by John Tabacco, at Suburban Hermit Studios II, Stony Brook, NY

Come Back Baby
JT : Vocals, Rhythm guitar, Programming, Mix
Joe Gioglio : Electric guitar
Recorded at Suburban Hermit Studios, Stony Brook, NY

Cover art : Catherine Tabacco's "Cimino Cafe"
CD cover modifications by Farben Fosfeen Artwerks

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John Tabacco Stony Brook, New York

John Tabacco is a composer, singer-songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and visual artist.

Like an unfolding musical diary / puzzle, Tabacco’s music and art are constantly being re-worked, juxtaposed and intertwined.

For more info : www.johntabacco.net
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