Hgeocities.com/SunsetStrip/Diner/4111/lyrics/Matthewpost.htmlgeocities.com/SunsetStrip/Diner/4111/lyrics/Matthewpost.htmldelayedxqJ}5OKtext/html0Tj5b.HSun, 03 Oct 1999 09:01:38 GMTkMozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)en, *qJ5 Matthew Post

The Matthew Post Era

1998-present

Sometime in spring on '98, I started playing with some friends of mine. One of the guys was going to use a stage name, and then we decided to try to change our names so the initials spelled PBR (we figured a town like Athens would appreciate the joke). Anyway, since 'Peterson' isn't the flashiest stage name, I decided to pull out the Golden Smog method of aliasing...I used my middle name (Matthew, obviously) and the street I grew up on (Post Rd. Terr.). Anyway, a lot of these songs were attempts at Americana-style writing, but I can't say they always reflect it. At any rate, I made a tape of all the tracks I could find that I had recorded on my 4-track after it had been stolen during a break-in of my place and subsequently recovered at a pawn shop. Titled "Saved from the Hangman," it got the Post moniker, hence why I dub this the Matthew Post era...


Diana
Peterson
I was impressed with my use of a mythological reference, especially that I got the right one. Don't know if anybody else agreed, but if I had a "sellable" song, this would be the first one I'd take to Nashville.

You've got your portrait hung up on your wall
Is it there to remind you how you look
Or is it how you'd like to be?
A box of letters you wrote but never sent
Are they kept to remind you of being in love
Or are they being saved for a better man?

Diana hides behind the moon
All her guile hidden beneath her virgin smile
Is there ever a time you wish you could be mine?
Dance with your sisters
Diana, no man can claim

Empty streetlights, shadows walking hand in hand
Will they be there to greet the sun
Or will they run back to their safe havens?
Smoking a cigarette, a tribute to dependance
Like the pendant you wear around your neck
A charm so loose still chokes out the air
(repeat chorus)
Patience is a virtue, true, but who can wait forever?
Waiting doesn't get us anything
Except a little older
Never change for anyone who won't change for you
Your life's been full of compromise
But your love's free of sacrifice
(repeat chorus)

Downtown
Peterson
A very mellow tune. It would make a great album ender, I thought. As are a lot of the songs written around this time, it's partly influenced by my lack of sleep.

Wake up now, wipe the sleep from your eyes
A new day's dawning but it's not mine
We'll drive on down, to the starving town
To get swallowed up, and broken down

Rise and shine, the time for sleep is through
All the things you'll do today, they will not last
We'll drive on down, to the empty town
To fill the streets, until they close them down

I'm so tired of being tired
I want to sleep my life away
But there's nothing left to say
When the sun hides the night away
Downtown

Hit the snooze, take a few more minutes
They can wait for us, tell them we're not finished
We'll drive on down, to the same old town
Just the same as yesterday, until we're broken down
(repeat chorus)

Atlanta
Peterson
As Dan, the guy who was playing rhythm in the 'PBR' band, said, "No one's ever written a bad song about Atlanta...you'll get lynched!" Probably right, so I guess it's good we didn't try to work this song out too much. For my own safety, this was oddly venemous...I wrote another song later a bit more friendly.

I'm just a runt from the suburbs, guess I don't know much about life
Though I'll swear it's not true, you know it's probably right
So I packed up my car, kept a hand on the horn
Headed out to the Midwest, all I found was corn
And I headed north to Minnesota, just heard funny accents
You know with my Southern tongue, everybody's got one

And I hate this city for all it's never done
But made me a boring wretch, made me a dullard
And I'd burn this city down to the ground if somebody didn't beat me to it
Oh Atlanta, I say screw it

I got back to Atlanta, the city too busy to hate
God, I want to get out, but all I do is wait
If it's got a soul at all, lord, it's so borrowed
Holding onto selected history, who buys this damn fake sorrow?
Better fill the tank again, I think it's time to roll
But what place is there for me, in a land without sweet tea?

And I'm sick of this city and all its white-washed ways
Gonna' make it out somehow, gonna' get away
And I'd burn this city down to the ground if someone didn't beat me to it
Oh, Atlanta, I say screw it

Waiting for the Sun
Peterson
Not a Jayhawks ripoff, I swear! Just something about waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep...unfortunately, I can't seem to come up with any music that matches the stuff in my head.

Woke up without warning, 3 in the AM does not make a morning
Rise and shine without the shine of the sun
Toss and turn in my bed, gotta get you out of my head
And sleep at night so I can know the day, someday

The nightengale can keep its black sheets, I just want to crawl under mine
And rest my eyes, rest my weary mind
The vampires all come out at night, they won't find me sleeping
But I'll be sitting here, waiting for the sun

Another night gets closer, tea and honey's such a useless ambrosia
It doesn't put me out, I just keep on going
The sun comes up once more, it's just the same as before
But a little later, believe me I checked
(repeat chorus)
Another por of coffee brewing, the scent gets me to ruing
I ever let you turn and walk away from me
I'm so plagued with insomnia, try to sleep out on the patio
Hear the nighttime birds laugh at me
(repeat chorus)

A Day in the Life of a Regular Cynic
Peterson
Nothing special behind this song...I think I just had a wierd thought while reading 'Peanuts' one day...that being Chuck going postal. This was my first attempt at tracking a lead guitar part (no solo, by god, I still had to play it!)

Another day another dollar, another drag why do I bother?
Grab a bottle and drown my sorrows, misery comes and goes and comes again
Another flag another banner, I'm getting sick of all this clamour
Another parade on the same ol' street, marching for some more fashion causes

At least I have you, no matter what I do
There's always you, with an umbrella to spoil my view

Another page read another lie, another waste of time why do I try?
Getting me nothing for all my trouble, gotta' get out of here right on the double
(repeat chorus)
Things can't always go as they've done, one day Charlie Brown will get a gun
And get revenge for all the round-head kids, and wait for the
laughter to leave his head
(repeat chorus)

Running in Circles
Peterson
One of my favorite songs all-around (of course, I mean among my songs, not all songs!). Tried to hit some Jayhawks lyrical style, and kinda ripped off a Wilco song for the music.

It's 3 AM by my watch's time, the streets aren't quite empty just yet
Another police siren runs through the night, what's been running through your mind?
All this running in circles, never gets us very far

You've got a mind like a sieve when you want it to
Sometimes you've got a heart of stone
I don't know why you put up these defenses
Perhaps it's time you made your attack
Have all the bully boys, with their wine-glass promises
Got you in their sway?
It's just the way we look at things, makes it so unclear
It's just the way we keep moving, always brings us right back here
All this running in circles never gets us very far

You look so innocent when I ask for your lies, I wonder if you've ever realized
And the morning breaks the night in two, a couple more smiles and you will make it through
All this running in circles never gets us very far

Who do you think you are? And who do you think I am?
Or maybe I should say, what do you expect me to be?
I don't know what you're thinking, think it's time you came through
Tell me now but tell me true, am I wasting my time with you?
All this running in circles never gets us very far

Little Country Girl
Peterson
I came up with a pretty good set of chords for this song, but the tape was in the 4-track when it was stolen, so I forgot it. =( Didn't get that tape back.

Little country girl, how's the big city?
Is it everything you'd hoped it would be?
A little young, and pretty pretty
Did you take the town by storm?
With big eyes, a little teary
Guess it wasn't all it was cracked up to be

Did you step off the bus hoping for the promised land
Only to find they never keep their word?
Do you think country people were warmer
As you sit in your corner, of the closet apartment you can't afford?
(repeat chorus)

Big lights, and bigger eyes
Did it blind you before you got to see?
With that smile, and that accent
I bet they couldn't keep their hands off of you

Did a kind man take you in, did he do you right?
Promised to give you everything if you'd just give him tonight
Did he love you for your mind, did he steal your heart
But he can't love you whole 'til he's tried every part
(repeat chorus)

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