released August 31, 2010

Our Little Secret – Edward O’Connell

1. Acres of Diamonds (4:21)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars and piano
Karl Straub: Electric guitars, backing vocals
Buddy Speir: Electric guitar and solos
Eric Goldberg: Electric guitar
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jared Bartlett: Percussion

2. I Heard It Go (3:20)
(E. O’Connell/P. Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals and acoustic guitars
Karl Straub: Electric guitar, backing vocals
Buddy Speir: Electric and slide guitars and solos
Eric Goldberg: Electric guitar
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jared Bartlett: Percussion

3. Partially Awesome (3:00)
(E. O’Connell/K. Straub)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Clever Bits Publishing, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars and piano
Karl Straub: Electric and 12-string guitars and solo
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jared Bartlett: Percussion

4. Happy Black (4:46)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars, electric piano and organ
Buddy Speir: Electric guitars
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jared Bartlett: Percussion

5. With This Ring (3:28)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars and piano
Karl Straub: Electric guitar, backing vocals
Eric Goldberg: Electric guitar and first solo
Buddy Speir: Electric and slide guitars and second solo
Jared Bartlett: Electric guitar and percussion
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums

6. Pretty Wasted (3:55)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars and keyboards
Karl Straub: Electric and 12-string guitars and solo
Jared Bartlett: Electric guitar and percussion
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jill Read: Backing vocals

7. Cold Dark World (2:45)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals and acoustic guitars
Karl Straub: Electric guitars, backing vocals
Buddy Speir: Electric guitar and solo
Jared Bartlett: Electric guitar and percussion
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums

8. I Need All the Friends That I Can Get (3:41)
(E. O’Connell/P. Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, electric piano and organ
Karl Straub: Electric guitar
Buddy Speir: Electric guitar and solo
Jared Bartlett: Electric guitar and percussion
Eric Goldberg: Electric guitar
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums

9. Your Ride Is Here (3:51)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano and organ
Buddy Speir: Electric guitars
Karl Straub: Backing vocals
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jared Bartlett: Percussion

10. I Want To Kiss You (3:48)
(E. O’Connell/P. Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars and accordion
Bill Williams: Harmony vocal and mandolin
Karl Straub: Acoustic guitar
Jared Bartlett: Electric guitar and percussion
Noah Getz: Baritone, tenor and alto saxophones
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums

11. We Will Bury You (5:25)
(E. O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano and organ
Buddy Speir: B-bender guitar
Karl Straub: Baritone guitar
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jared Bartlett: Percussion

12. The Hardest Job In the World (3:26)
(E. O’Connell/P. Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano and keyboards
Karl Straub: Baritone and electric guitars
Buddy Speir: Electric guitar and solo
Scott McKnight: Bass
Jonathan Babu: Drums
Jill Read: Backing vocals

13. All My Dreams (2:48)
(E. O’Connell/P. Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, bass, piano and electric piano
Noah Getz: Baritone, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones

Produced by Jared Bartlett
Engineered, recorded and mixed by Jared Bartlett

Recorded at Brown Dog Studios, Springfield, Virginia
January – May, 2010

Mastered by Bill Wolf at Wolf Productions, Arlington, Virginia

CD design by Seemeen Hashem, Aqueous Studio (www.aqueoustudio.com)
Cover photography by Max Taylor (www.maxtaylorphoto.com)
Inner sleeve photography by Ben Herman

Ed thanks each of the musicians listed above (Buddy, Jon, Scott, Karl, Jared, Eric, Bill and Noah) for playing so brilliantly on this record.

Ed would also like to thank: Tony Alany; Bandhouse Gigs (Ronnie Newmyer, Chuck Sullivan, David Sless and Daniel Schwartz); Elise and Steve Boccia and Family; Emerson Bimby; Eric Brace; Luke Brindley; The Crimestoppers (Lenny Stamm, Eric Nelson, Danny Jones, Kennedy Wright, Steve Keller, Scott Ramminger and all other Crimestoppers past or present); Dow Lohnes PLLC; Ben Farrington; Colin Fulcher; Scott Gallo; George Gilbert; Seemeen Hashem; Ben Herman; Kevin Johnson; Aaron Lacey; Rob LeBourdais; John Moremen; James O’Connell; Hilary Ryon; and Steve Woehrle.

Jared would like to thank: Elizabeth, Jude and Anna Lee Bartlett. (Ed thanks them too.)

Special thanks from Ed to Karl Straub, Peter Gilstrap, Patrick (P.J.) O’Connell and Jared Bartlett.

For Susie, Daniel and Rachel, with love.

© 2010 Edward O’Connell
℗ 2010 Edward O’Connell

If you've gotten this far, . . . well, you should have the lyrics too:

1. ACRES OF DIAMONDS (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

Listen my particular friend
I'll guide you to where these rivers end
On the way your ear I'll bend
So that you may apprehend

You think you must rise above this
Close your eyes to find where love is
Everything you prize is here and now

Days of numbered wonderment
Won't last a summer of discontent
Your past turns magnificent
As you count and collect your ornaments

Your future has been foretold
You were three feet away from gold
You struck a vein that's closer than you know

Acres of diamonds
Your world is dark and quite incomplete
Acres of diamonds
Are sparkling in the sand at your feet

There's a girl in this town
Eyes are hazel blue with an endless frown
A traitor's kiss from a callous clown
Now there's no jewels left in her empress crown

She thinks she must rise above this
Shuts her eyes and prays for love, but
Her great compromise is here and now

Acres of diamonds
Are slipping through her hands into the sea
Acres of diamonds
Are sparkling in the sands at her feet

You think you must rise above this
Close your eyes to find where love is
Everything you prize is here and now

Acres of diamonds
Are slipping through your hands into the sea
Acres of diamonds
Are sparkling in the sands at your feet

2. I HEARD IT GO (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

Where the mist drifts in from the ocean
There's a place where the homeless play
Toy guitars with a drunk devotion
That's where I will lay my head someday

Where lovers stumble on the sand in the night
And hope for something that'll turn out right
A broken song on the radio
I heard it come and I heard it go

Down at the Star Lounge doors are open
No one's a star, but they lounge all day
Unhappy hour is a full-time notion
It's not a crime, but it doesn't pay

Where lovers stumble on the sand in the night
And hope for something that'll turn out right
A broken song on the radio
I heard it come, and I heard it go

Time . . . never standing still
Impossible to kill, though I've tried for years
Time . . . always on my mind
Never hard to find ‘til it disappears

And when the circus find another shore
Where all the juggling is a lonely chore
And wanderlust has wandered away
That's where I will lay my head someday

When the natives once were restless
They would do unnatural things
A bed of nails and lunch for breakfast
And forge a promise for the golden ring

Where lovers stumble on the sand in the night
And hope for something that'll turn out right
A broken song on the radio
I heard it come and I heard it go

Where lovers stumble on the sand in the night
And hope for something that'll turn out right
A broken song on the radio
I heard it come and I heard it go

Mmmm . . . mmmm . . .

3. PARTIALLY AWESOME (Edward O'Connell/Karl Straub)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Clever Bits Publishing, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell/Karl Straub

Once your halo glittered bright
Blinding everyone in sight
With a light that eclipsed all your flaws . . some
Where there are shadows gathering round
On the edges of your crown
Now we see you're not totally awesome

Partially awesome
A harsh thought has blossomed in my mind
That now it's too late

Partially awesome
And now I'm gonna’ draw some
Lines between the things that I love and hate

Crawling to a pale mirage
Quicksand 'round your entourage
For a cardiac massage and last hurrah
Someday when you are all alone
You'll wonder how it all went wrong
And we'll see you're not totally awesome

Partially awesome
A harsh thought has blossomed in my mind
That now it's too late

Partially awesome
And now I'm gonna’ draw some
Lines between the things that I love and hate

Your footprints left a trail of clay across the floor
Sounding brass and clanging gold
And nothing more

True love ways have led you down
To an ugly part of town
Where the rumors bound and talons claw . . . come
Strip away the last pretense
Of your fading elegance
And that day will be totally awesome

Partially awesome
A harsh thought has blossomed in my mind
That now it's too late

Partially awesome
And now I'm gonna’ draw some
Lines between the ones that I love and hate


4. HAPPY BLACK (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

With her pony tail and tights
You might think she'll be skipping off to school
And with her shop frock dark as night
You might well think you're slipping for another foolish ghoul

But this is someone you'll have to reckon with
A girl with charms she knows how to beckon with
Everything means nothing but it
All adds up to something
That can bend and break your mind

Happy black
When my words had just one of two meanings
Now my life is in color
But I was happy black

With a wave and a second glimpse
You might think you see something like a smile
And soon you're tracing her footprints
As you stumble wildly down another moonlit mile

But this is someone you'll have to reckon with
And when she is near, she knows how to beckon with
Everything means nothing but it all adds up to something
That will make you dumb and blind

Happy black
When her words had just one of two meanings
Now my life is in color
But I was happy black

Anything can happen
Nothing works by chance
Before a rhythm locks in
You can end this dance
Or go ahead and wreck your life
Do you want a waif now?
Or say good bye?

But this is someone you'll have to reckon with
And when she stands near, she knows how to beckon with
Everything means nothing but it all adds up to something
That'll bend and break your mind

Happy black
When our words had just one of two meanings
Now our life is in color
But I was happy black

Happy black . . . happy black
Happy black . . happy black


5. WITH THIS RING (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

With this ring you and me wed
With this ring over my head

Shake my fist, knock on wood
Slap my wrist and I'll be good

Round and round in a circle
Round and round in gold
Round and round my head
Until I grow old

With this ring you and me wed
With this ring over my head

Hand over heart, eyes to the floor
Stop and start and bolt the door

Round and round in circles
Round and round in gold
Round and round my head
Until I grow old

Round and round in circles
Round and round in gold
Round and round my head
Until I grow old

With this ring you and me wed
With this ring over my head

Cold winds north, birds fly south
Now and forever, hush my mouth

Round and round in circles
Round and round in gold
Round and round my head
Until I grow old

Round and round in circles
Round and round in gold
Round and round my head
Until I grow old

Round and round in circles
Round and round in gold
Round and round my head
Until I grow old


6. PRETTY WASTED (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

You think this love is just a gift
Wrapped around your finger tips
Maybe you are a hypnotist
Cause someone's mesmerized

No disappointment you have missed
She'll curse the day you stole her kiss
And taste betrayal on your lips
Rehearse your last goodbyes

She's pretty wasted
Can't you face it, it's true
She's pretty wasted
Pretty wasted on you

Hours were yours, none to return
A heart aflame and time to burn
You squandered what you never earned
Now she'll pay as you go

She numbs the pain, it could be worse
No more tears, her eyes will blur
She'll lose a step but you lost her
A long time ago

She's pretty wasted
Can't you face it, it's true
She's pretty wasted
Pretty wasted on you

Your lucky star that seemed so near
Fades away and disappears
She won't be here
When you leave here

You thought that time was just a gift
But once it's lost, off course you'll drift
And one day it will be a myth
She ever cared at all

She's pretty wasted
Can't you face it, it's true
She's pretty wasted
Pretty wasted on you

7. COLD DARK WORLD (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

Just trying to start a fire in a cold, dark world
Just trying to start a fire in a cold, dark world
If I can't see you any more
I don't know what I'm trying for

I'm hanging by a thread in this cold, dark world
Just hanging by a thread in this cold, dark world
My dreams are broken in the dawn
I'm just so fractured, now you're gone

Trying to start a fire in a cold, dark world
Just trying to start a fire in a cold, dark world
If I can't see you any more
I don't know what I'm living for

I'm trying to start a fire
In this cold, dark world

I'm trying to start a fire
In this cold, dark world

I'm trying to start a fire
In this cold, dark world

I'm trying to start a fire
In this cold, dark world

I'm trying to start a fire
In this cold, dark world

I'm trying to start a fire
In this cold, dark world

8. I NEED ALL THE FRIENDS THAT I CAN GET (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap) (Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

4 am . . wide awake in my bed
Dog bark is all I hear
And that ain't much for me to hold to dear
And now that you've left me by myself

All I've got is what used to be here
If you're finished yet
I need all the friends that I can get

Humble pie is all I can swallow
What I threw at the fan
Hit me when you ducked and out you ran
And left me with a shadow ‘cross my door

All I've got is who is now not here
'Though you may have met
I need all the friends that I can get

A Scot can march, with his bagpipes ringing high
A spaceman walks, with his head up in the sky
A bird can fly, a strong man cry
A shotgun sigh
That don't mean much to you and I . . .

Call me and we'll talk into our beer
I'm not too upset
I need all the friends that I can get

Now she wants and then she don't want me
So hard to understand
A heart with a built-in rubber band
It's my turn to scratch my weary head

All I've got is
What I guess she said
'Though it's not done yet
I need all the friends that I can get
I need all the friends that I can get . . .


9. YOUR RIDE IS HERE (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

Under fields of open blue
To walk a country mile with you
In the mists of time
That view will fade

Dreamed you'd find a lover true
Til’ wanderlust betrayed you too
So ask the dust
Why twilight slips away

I don't want to wait for love to break
Your heart again
It's too late, your fate has got no brakes
It's driving down, your ride is here

Memory will serve you well
Preserved enchantment casts a spell
A musing miss becomes a stubborn belle

Brass is ringing in the rain
Hands are clinging to your pain
How to explain this
Endless carousel

I don't want to wait for love to break
Your heart again
It's too late, your fate has got no brakes
It's driving down, your ride is here

Wouldn't dare to tell you
How it feels to see you cry
Cause I didn't think you'd care
There goes a faithless groom
Back into your lonely room

Clouds across a swollen moon
Filled with tears, the rain will soon
Wash away the years
Since we first met

Who was the one who last undid
The latch that kept your sorrow hid
My sad coquette
This is your shining hour

I don't want to wait for love to break
Your heart again
It's too late, your fate has got no brakes
It's driving down, your ride is here

10. I WANT TO KISS YOU (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

I’m not a fortunate guy
When it comes to wishes
But if dreams were food for thought
I'd be all loaves and fishes

But I'll make you this promise, however it breaks
I’ll give you excuses for all my mistakes
'Cause I yi yi yi yi . . . I want to kiss you

You may be longing to hear
Something everlasting
But the men who will tell you that
All come from central casting

I’ll whisper a secret, which may not be wise
A simple agenda that I can’t disguise
'Cause I yi yi yi yi . . . I want to kiss you

I can’t part the oceans
Or charm you like the Prince of Zales
I’ll leave it to feckless ones
With empty arms and their fairy tales

Rich men with desperate yachts
Can trawl vermillion far seas
Reselling love, store bought
Real as Fitzwilliam Darcy

Let strangers sail by and keep up this mad race
But I see the future right now in your face
And I yi yi yi yi . . . I want to kiss you

A moment from now could reveal love complete
Or you could continue to stroll down your street
But I yi yi yi yi . . . I want to kiss you

And I yi yi yi yi . . . I want to kiss you


11. WE WILL BURY YOU (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell

The chapel bells rings out
For one last trip down the aisle
The knight in armor pouts
There's one less maid to defile

And here am I the mystery guest
Who brought no gift, just a bequest
And if you meant to kill me
You are overdressed

We will bury you
We will bury me
A cortege for our love
A hearse for history
It will carry you
It will carry me
To our own just reward
A fading memory

Rice and rose petals
Are gathering round my feet
Behind the tinted glass
You're stretched cross that black limo seat
So say goodbye to karnival krewes
As we cut the bodies loose
There's no time for one last
Closer walk with you

We will bury you
We will bury me
A cortege for our love
A hearse for history
It will carry you
It will carry me
To our own just reward
A fading memory

A cake with tiers/a keg with tears
For the king of biers/for the King of Beers
Sleepwalking through a land of dreams
Where the second line's
A stream of broken promises

Unseen and unread
A story that's still incomplete
We count the words unsaid
The galleys are out in the street
And as the final lines are penned
We'll be obligatory friends
But you know how these obituaries end

We will bury you
We will bury me
A cortege for our love
A hers for his story
It will carry you
It will carry me
To our own just reward
A fading memory

To our own just reward
A fading memory


12. THE HARDEST JOB IN THE WORLD (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap) (Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

Somebody somewhere
Can feel his own bones breaking in two
And man's best friend is a cigarette
And a bottle labeled "It's Not True"

Outside the night is doing
What it does best
And he says
I don't want to bother
With the hardest job in the world

True facts and brick walls
Go with things that fall down flat
Don't bother saying
"Bite your tongue" anymore
Someone else has taken care of that

Outside the night is doing
What it does best
And he says
I don't want to bother
With the hardest job in the world

He took it so patiently
Hands trembling and knocking knees
Nothing there but pure belief
I'm sure I've got to wait

The lines all around you
Are leaving to the right
Bought that ticket
To turn this world around
But it’s lost in the fading light

Outside the night is doing
What it does best
And he says
I don't want to bother
With the hardest job in the world

13. ALL MY DREAMS (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2010 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

Weary eyes offer no disguise
For an emptiness severe
All alone
Window, silent phone
And this hurt won't disappear

And when you go to sleep tonight
I will somewhere be dreaming too
And when I go to sleep tonight
All my dreams
Will be dreams of you

Pillow talk
Is a language block
But a tongue
I used to hear
Words of love, drifting up above
Now their echoes disappear

And when you go to sleep tonight
I will somewhere be dreaming too
And when I go to sleep tonight
All my dreams
Will be dreams of you

A bed beneath a tired man
Can lead him to a door
To hold you
I'd do all I can
How could you ask for more?

And when you go to sleep tonight
I will somewhere be dreaming too
And when I go to sleep tonight
All my dreams
Will be dreams of you

All my dreams
Will be dreams of you