Feels Like Rain
by Karl Johnson

Dip your toes into this stream
Watch the waves wash over me
We keep talking to blur the line
Of bitter, sweet, yours, and mine
And it feels like rain
All the colors wash away
And it feels like rain

I'll hold you close and stay awake
Until the daylight melts you away
I still remember the warmth of your gaze
The first falling morning rays
And it felt like rain
All the colors melt away
And it feels like rain
All the words I couldn't say
Yeah, it felt like rain

Goodbye, Maria
by Karl Johnson

Rain keeps falling on the street outside
Something softer behind those hazel eyes
I just can't help feeling you're saying goodbye

Goodbye, Maria, I wish I knew you
Goodbye, Maria, I fell right through you
Goodbye, Maria, and still I'll miss you, too

We just met, but I want you in my life
You hold me close, this contact gets me high
I just can't help feeling you're saying goodbye

The past might find you; I know you've got to hide
Rain keeps falling; you lock yourself inside
I just can't help wishing you weren't saying goodbye

Home
by Karl Johnson

I feel you soft
Where rough hands felt before
I feel in your touch
So much more

Do you know
I'm not the same
I'll never play your game

Make your way down from the clouds
Lips defer to the eloquence of the eyes
You're no angel and you're
Not helped by disguise

Time after time
Those you let inside
Never reached where you hide

If this pass is your gift to me
I'm the last thing that you need

Haven't known you long
But I know the world was wrong
...about you, ...for me, ...without you

I want to hold you
I want to know you
I want to be close

After All
by Karl Johnson

They say that love will come and we will gain the things we're owed
But faith is hard to raise while gazing down a lonely road
And after all the things I've said and done that you don't hate me for
How do I tell you I still care without hurting you more?

Encased in armor, we both know I ride no pearly horse
Our problems started before tongue and mind made their divorce
I should have been there, should have held you, but I can't explain
Why I didn't, how I treated you and caused you pain
And after all the nights you cried when you walked out of my front door
How do I tell you I still care without hurting you more?

I know that telling you I'm sorry wouldn't change a thing
Just wanted you to know that dreams of you could make me sing
And after all the things I've said and done that you don't hate me for
How do I tell you I still care without hurting you more?

Searching
by Karl Johnson

You've been searching for that something
That'll change everything you know
When you find it, will you know it?
It's in the book next to the one you wanted

I don't wish upon the stars
Cause the fate of this world is not ours
To control, to fold, to bend
And a broken heart is best left to mend

You've been searching for the answers
For the wisdom to survive
The only question in the end is
Will you be wise enough to know how dumb you are?

You've been walking thoughtful footsteps
As though peace lies miles ahead
When your feet stop, and your eyes close
In the silence there, you'll find it

Even You
by Karl Johnson

I've been lied to and mistreated; you get used to it
Tell myself that I'll just have to rise above this shit
Memorizing times and faces, places to be hard
Looked at you in light so soft, and I let down my guard

I guess lies can come from anyone... even you

Tried to reach you, tried to know you, cause you fascinate
The moment's passed, and that's the last time that I take the bait
I was fallin', now I'm calling you my open book
No mystery, just had to see upon a closer look

Guess the rule applies to anyone... even you

Don't even want you in my life, beautiful parasite
All I need is not to bleed for you, to sleep tonight

I can cut the ties to anyone... even you

Without Light
by Karl Johnson

What would you want with me?
I don't play faster than the others you see
I'm not smarter, I don't drive a faster car
Don't have the looks to be a movie star
I don't drive to succeed
Maybe it doesn't mean enough to me

All I want is to be with you
I'll play with all of my soul
I'll play a song just for you
I can't give you everything
But I'll give you everything I'm worth
I can't dance
But I'd dance all night with you

I'll never be perfect, I'll never be a saint
And no one would buy the pictures I paint
But while others roll in and out with the tide
I'll only want to be by your side

I'll lie with you and hold you near
The sound of your breath is all that I hear
And if the sun should fall and all the stars
Should shatter into the night
The only words I'd say to you
Are "Now, I'll have to love you... without light."

Beautiful Girl
by Karl Johnson

Wanted to be your lover, wanted to be your friend
And not just another hopelessly deadened end
You think I'm different, and maybe you're right
But when you're in my arms and I'm holding you tight
It's hard to distinguish the role from the part
And these eyes wouldn't know the flesh from the heart

Beautiful girl
Lie to the world
Do what you must
It's love or bust
But who can you trust?

Maybe I'm frightened or maybe I'm cold
But your story is not mine; too much of it's told
Here in the darkness, you're still in my bed
Closing my eyes, imagination is fed
Blood in my veins longs for the sound of your voice
It's lead in my chest, but you've left me no choice

A little improv jam with myself, recorded late one night, including one of my first attempts to play the djembe. It's all improv, so it's very rough around the edges. Has a nice little vibe to it, though.

Laid-back and smooth. The first track ever recorded in the velvet lounge.

Named for the brave little critter that broke into my house and ran across the studio the day I recorded this.

I put an extra mic on the bottom of the djembe and should have run it through a compressor - it gets a little boomy if you have a decent sub-woofer.

Mark and I get the blues.

"Just imagine you're an old, blind, black man, sitting on a porch. Then start playing that guitar" - Mark
(Mark played the tamborine & shakers on this one and can be heard critiquing my guitar-playing at the end of the track)

I think Morrison would've gotten high to this. Of course, Morrison probably would've gotten high to polka if that's what was playing.

Thanks to Carmine for teaching me to lay down the "ill beats" on the doumbek.