Won’t necessarily make any sense
I wouldn’t lie to you
And I didn’t make it last week
For whatever reason
No one really noticed and I couldn’t explain
There wasn’t anyone else there to blame
Since then we travelled south and back
And had our little adventures
I found myself playing the second set at the
Wunderbar on the Beast Girl
Woke up to the voice inside my songs
It was a personal breakthrough that’d be impossible to explain
Suffice to say that I’ve learned to become closer into what I’m supposed to be
It’s supposed to make you cry this stuff or at least think in different ways
No good pissing around in the world of technicalities
The question of who wants to when
Playing the older songs can bring it on
Taken right back there
Years of honing the vocal inflection
I was breathless at the end of it and between songs
Of the new songs we only did Stole My Dreams whereas I’d wanted to do We Are Strangers
It’s easy to forget and not simple when you do
Getting back to where I was when I wrote these stories
A thing about songs is that they hang around
Even if they are not on the radio every five minutes or once in a blue moon
We take it very seriously as a band and that’s why we joke around
It’s unsaid and always there
The searching and the finding
But not like expected
You see I didn’t even know if I could make it this far – to this gig
There have been health and mortality worries
Logistics too
At one stage there on stage I got a sort of double vision and couldn’t see the frets on my guitar
Couldn’t see the dots before my eyes
I had to bluff my way through Go To New York
To be surrounded by people looking out for me and all wanting the same thing
A great result
I could explain the trip better and why I failed to write last week’s Ghost story
Instead here are they lyrics of my song Go to New York
Go to New York
Stayed out last night with a needle in my heart
I was really frozen and I couldn’t reach the light
What would you do in my place?
Would you take the whole party on?
It’s a nice thought but I wouldn’t lose my fingers for it
Work it out for yourself
Don’t you wanna get out of yourself?
When it all broke out you had a different voice than that
You didn’t have to shout to get across your point
I didn’t have to listen I could think about something else
Now you’re trying to engage me and now I just shut off
Still I like to lean on soggy memories I cant escape myself so what’s the use
All I really want to know is everything
Go to New York might find another clue
Thawed out last night I just got on the plane and went
I was really swollen and I couldn’t be polite
What would you do in my place?
Would you sit the whole thing out?
It’s a nice thought but I wouldn’t lose my freedom for it
Work it out for yourself
Don’t you wanna get out of yourself?
Go to New York you might find somebody there
Go to New York while it’s still there
Go to New York you might find somebody there
Go to New York while it’s still there
The Ghost of Electricity – War Stories by Jon McLeary is a new initiative at Off The Tracks, a series of stories and reflections from painter, writer and musician Jon McLeary
I understand it all perfectly. I’ve been on the same trip, had the same blurry vision looking at my keyboard, felt disconnected, out of whack and as if people were looking at me. I’m on my way back from New York myself, but dripping vast amounts of blood from the needle in my heart. You can’t see it, but I’m gonna tell you.