released July 15, 2014

Vanishing Act – Edward O’Connell

(1), (2), (3), (6), (8), (9) and (12): © 2014 Edward O’Connell (Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
(4), (5), (7), (10) and (11): © 2014 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap (Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)

Produced, engineered and mixed by Jared Bartlett
Assistant engineering on (11) by Mark Williams

Recorded at Sucker Punch Studio, Bethesda, Maryland November 2013 – April 2014

Edward O’Connell: Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, organ, melodica, percussion
Buddy Speir: Electric guitars and solos
Jonathan Babu: Drums, percussion, pistachio shells
Jacob Chmara: Electric and acoustic basses
Jared Bartlett: Percussion; acoustic guitar on (8), electric guitar on (12)
Kevin Cordt: Trumpet on (4), (5), (7)
David Henry: Strings on (4), (11)
Fats Kaplin: Banjo, pedal steel guitar and violin on (6)
Chris Watling: Baritone and tenor saxophones on (5)
Parthenon Huxley: Backing vocals on (11)
David Kitchen: Backing vocals on (2), (8), (10), (12)
Karl Straub: Backing vocals on (2), (6), (8)
Kennedy Wright: Backing vocals on (1), (3)
Todd Wright: Backing vocals on (1), (5), (7), (12)

Strings (4), (11) arranged by David Henry
Horn arrangements by Karl Straub (5) and Peter Gilstrap (7), with assistance from Kevin Cordt and Chris Watling

Mastered by Fred Kevorkian, Kevorkian Mastering, Inc., New York, New York

CD design by Seemeen Hashem, Aqueous Studio

Front cover and back cover and inner-sleeve black & white photography by Max Taylor
(www.maxtaylorphoto.com)
Inner sleeve band photography by Ben Herman (www. benhermanphotography.com)

Thanks to everyone who played (Buddy, Jon, Jacob, Jared, Fats, David, Kevin and Chris) and sang (Hux, David, Karl, Kennedy and Todd) on this record. Magnifique!
Thanks also to: Mark Williams, Jody Myers, Tom DeMarchi, Marq Reynolds, John Moremen, Scott McKnight, Steve Woehrle, Kevin Johnson, Bill Kalish, Bill Williams, Kevin Dudley, Tony Alany, Bandhouse Gigs (Ronnie Newmyer, Chuck Sullivan, David Sless and Daniel Schwartz), Eric Brace, Luke Brindley, The Crimestoppers (Lenny Stamm, Eric Nelson, Danny Jones, Kennedy Wright, Barnaby Bristol), Scott Gallo, Eric
Goldberg, Steve Keller, Scott Ramminger, James Bazen, Daniel Cohn, Daniel Francis Hayden, Matthew Wise, Micah Solomon, David Bean, J.P. Mosoff, Noah Getz, Aaron Lacey, Rick Kessler, Cooley LLP, Ben Farrington, Jay Losee, Gregory Sibley, John Swist, Jonathan Doughty, Brad Kesden, George Gilbert, Seemeen Hashem, Max Taylor, Ben Herman, Elise and Steve Boccia and Family, Patrick (P.J.) and Kathy
O’Connell, James O’Connell, and Jetties of Bethesda

Hello!: Bill Berry, Dennis Diken, Pete Donnelly, Ben Fong-Torres, Richard X. Heyman and Nancy Leigh, Tommy Keene, Paul Q. Kolderie, Bill Lloyd, Ryan McAnany, Mac McCaughan, Nick Nave, Joe Queenan, Gary Ritchie, Mike Sacks, Ron Sexsmith, Kim Shattuck, Kenneth Sean Slade, David Wild and Lloyd Van Talmadge

Keepers of the Flame: Fred Dellar, Bill Holmes, Curt Vance, Steve Ferra, David Furst, Belinda Rawlins, Ray Gianchetti, Bruce Brodeen, Holly Hughes, Fred Mills, Gary Gone Vollano, Richard Rossi, Aaron Kupferberg, Keith Altomare, Pat Monaghan, Bill Lavery, Paco Pepe Gil and Jerker Emanuelson

Jared thanks Elizabeth, Jude, Anna Lee and Ramona Bartlett. (Ed thanks them too.)

Special thanks from Ed to Peter Gilstrap, Karl Straub and Jared Bartlett.

No magicians were harmed in the making of this record.

Don’t forget to write: edward.oconnell@gmail.com

For Susie, Daniel and Rachel, with love.

© 2014 Edward O’Connell
℗ 2014 Edward O’Connell
www.edwardoconnell.com

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

1. MY DUMB LUCK (Edward O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

You were warned at the start
The world would break your heart
So you'd have to piece it back again
And clever or smart
Life will still tear you apart
It's not a question of if but when

(My dumb luck)
No one ever plans to hurt as much as this
(My dumb luck)
And I understand
No one deserves a second chance
At dumb luck

A wish on a star
Maybe the spell of your charms
Or a prayer to bless your mortal skin
But if anything good
Comes from touching
Would it only break your heart again

(My dumb luck)
No one ever plans to hurt as much as this
(My dumb luck)
And I understand
No one deserves a second chance
At dumb luck

For all we know
Some bells can’t be unrung
And I'm not deaf but
I guess I'm dumb
To say "I love you"

(My dumb luck)
No one ever plans to hurt as much as this
(My dumb luck)
And I understand
No one deserves a second chance
No I don't deserve a second chance – at dumb luck

2. LONELY CROWD (Edward O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

With all the people in this world
And places you could be
You're measuring time in bars with rhymes
Counting down eternity

Strumming mystic chords of memory
Dreaming of a place called home
Waiting for someone to set you free
And roll away that stone

Lonely crowd
Your life's drifting in the clouds
With the lost you're found
You've been hanging round
With this lonely crowd

Shimmering words and pictures
On a liquid crystal display
The screen deep beauty fissures
You're Narcissus held in sway

Hung on a wall somewhere
Struts, twits and shouts
Where the loved in vain can't beg too proud
Senseless realms you’ll roam for hours
Where true pain is not allowed

Lonely crowd
A face hidden in a shroud
Where the lost are found
And the vows unwound
In this lonely crowd

A match is struck
In the depths of blindness
As pale moonlight descends
You're left depending on the kindness
Of these strangers you call friends

So let's bow our heads
Pray what we’ve become
When we speak in thumbs
Sharp, taut and tart
We once gathered here together
Now we're all in this thing apart

Lonely crowd
Our hearts drifting in the clouds
Where the lost are found
You've been hanging round
Where the lost are found
They will drag you down
Where the lost are found
You've been hanging around
With this lonely crowd


3. EVERY PRECIOUS DAY (Edward O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

Everywhere I look I see your face
I’d close my eyes but darkness won't erase
Jumbled nights and daily debris
Lights fading as time races past me
True love you save for just a chosen few
And every precious day I waste for you

Carried treasure placed out by the curb
With buried pleasure, please do not disturb
Mumbled verses, hands in tandem
I’m backing up some memories random
I count my blessings and my curses too
'Cause every precious day I waste for you

When every thought turns incomplete
Truth is just around the bend
And for a master of deceit
Self-deception never ends
So tell a lie I'll wish weren't true
I'll hold my breath ‘til you turn blue
Wondering if your empty days are wasted too

Pull up a pew, congratulations
And welcome to the conflagration
Burning though you're with somebody new

And every precious day I wait for
Every precious day I wait for
Every precious day I waste for you


4. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

Perfect days’ dulled burnished haze
What have you done?
Love's golden age turned yellowed page
What have you done?
Faithful to a fixed game plan
The castle’s worth its weight in sand
Grand delusions, our last stands
They're all for none

Stitched and gathered broken nights
What have you done?
Someone's switched rather than fight
What have you done?
It's become drearily clear
You're a thousand miles from here
But your ghost won't disappear
Or be outrun
What have you done?

In the aftermath it aches to see
The raptured path from used-to-be land
Where belief in everything that
Comes with all that love could bring
Would die so peacefully

There's no blame to leave behind
Just the disturbed peace of mind
Of a lost heart pressed to find
What it has won
What have you done?


5. SAME OLD FACES (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

Yeah, I prefer to dream by myself
Maybe you’d prefer that as well
Let the bored in spirits bless themselves

Here's to the home and the hearth that you set aflame
With the torch the scorched earth could blame
For the ashes my life became

Here's to the same old faces there in the mirror
The same old faces but you’re disappearing
The same old faces I've loved time's erasing away

Free a glass, let the years swirl merrily round
Drain the past, life spills on the ground
As the pain outlasts your renown

I was told I would make a very fine clown
With a tent the size of this town
My falls brought the big top down

Now it’s the same old faces there in the mirror
The same old faces but you’re disappearing
The same old faces I've loved time's erasing away
Time’s erasing away . . . .

You were a girl with a knack for trouble
And it always came in threes
Now with a think tank full of doubles
I’ve ended on my knees
Praying for release
Please, please, please, please

Now it’s the same old faces there in the mirror
The same old faces but yours disappeared
The same old faces I've loved time's erasing away
Time’s erasing away, time’s a-racing away, time’s erasing away . . . .


6. I’M THE MAN (THAT SHE WANTS TO KILL) (Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

In hindsight, I should have seen it coming
Since we weren't too good to be true
When she said at the start
"Til' death do us part,"
Well, that should have been a clue

Once we shared a life of splendor
And our hearts with tenderness filled (but)
Time'll mill love until
You both feel a chill
Now, ITMTSWTK
Yes, ITMTSWTK

Lately things have been edgy
And the words between us are few
When we turn off the light
Not even "Good night"
What the hell is bothering you?

What's this floating in my shot glass
Is there poison in the pen or the pill
'Cause if there's a way
I think there's a will
And ITMTSWTK
Yeah, ITMTSWTK

Did we murder love before the third degree
Was it self-defense or mercy-killing crime?
A case of temporary sanity?
We're both doing time

Once I rode upon a white steed
Now there’s a tremble in my knees
This doll has thin skin
We've pulled all the pins
But a heart of flint won't bleed

I dreamed we were wandering down a wide aisle
Was it my funeral or her trial?
Petty mortal bestilled
Long gone is the thrill
'Cause ITMTSWTK
Yes ITMTSWTK
Now ITMTSWTK . . . .


7. SEVERANCE KISS (Peter Gilstrap/Edward O'Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2014 Peter Gilstrap/Edward O’Connell

You were uncovered drunk in bed
Beside your lover's shrunken head
You saw no evil
Heard no curse
But in the fug of war, the cure seems worse
It leaves the naked and the dead

Your grasp has lost its grip
Your pink slip's read and ripped
With handshakes and a severance kiss

Curious whispers in the hall
Can't mask the writhing through the wall
Unholy smoke slips through the crack
Took some steps
Broke someone's back
With pins and needles and a doll

And now it's come to this
No service from your lips
Just handshakes and a severance kiss

Our topsy-turvy world will end
No tendered mercies to suspend
This arrow's aimed straight at your heart
To end the damage
Where its starts
You lie alone and stand accused
Just one more offer you've refused

There's no one left to
Get your gist
One trick remains, all in the wrist
You cashed out in a ring of fire
Drove a probe you named desire
Now fate is turning while you twist

You can’t cease or desist
All doubts no benefits
With handshakes and a severance kiss


8. ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (Edward O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

Draggin’ feet down a haggard street
Where no bad deed is unrewarded
Every restraint has been thwarted
Every urge has gone astray

With the days stuck on strange and
With your worst impulses racing
Before unfinished lines you're pacing
Waiting for your luck to change

What are the odds against tomorrow
What will the line be for today
What if this time
Your dreams are crushed by
Games of random chance you play

When your heart broke in two
Choking on the smoke of sadness
Remembering everything brings madness
A love bespoke would best suit you
So cast your anchors away
Because your aft has gang aglay
As your ship of dreams slips over
The horizon's edge today

What are the odds against tomorrow
What will the line be for today
What if this time
Your dreams are crushed by
Games of random chance you play

(Here comes your) chance of a lifetime
To love somebody
(Because you) can’t wait too long
To love somebody
Love somebody

What are the odds against tomorrow
What will the line be for today
What if this time
Your dreams are crushed by
Games of random chance you play

(Here comes your) chance of a lifetime
To love somebody
(Because you) can’t wait too long
To love somebody
Love somebody


9. YESTERDAY'S WORLD (Edward O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

From the corner of a memory
What I mistook for a glare
Over the years, it becomes quite clear
Was something like a dare

Now I'm staring at the stars
And thinking about a girl
The long tomorrows are all gone
In yesterday's world

When sparkling glance met stumbling chance
With words best left unsaid
As dimming daylight fades to gray
Like the ghosts inside my head

As the moonrise ends the day
Surrender's flag unfurled
I'll dream of someone far away
In yesterday's world

Stand by your shore, sylvan girl,
One love true
Tis’ more than time
I’ve lost with you

As the moonrise ends the day
Surrender's flag unfurled
I'll dream of someone far away
In yesterday's world

Now I'm staring at the stars
And thinking about a girl
Our long tomorrows are all gone
In yesterday's world

10. LAST TO LEAVE (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell/Peter Gilstrap

When your world falls down
Your shadowbox of memories shattered on the ground
When scattered lovers can’t be found
Who’ll be the last to leave you

And at the party’s end
When hopes are blurred and names are slurred
With no defense
Before dreamless sleep descends
Who’ll be the last to leave you

Behind your eyes, a flame burns blue
Love sparks a glow inside of you
I want to feel your wanderer's soul
Dreaming next to me

No matter where you roam
The twilight journey home
Will lead you past the street
Where love and mercy beat retreat
Who’ll be the last to leave you

Behind your eyes, a flame burns blue
Love sparks a glow inside of you
I want to feel your wanderer's soul
Dreaming next to me

And I’ll be in the queue
After all the drifters
Leave a trail of blues
And no one’s too good to be true
Who’ll be the last to leave you


11. VANISHING ACT (Edward O'Connell/Peter Gilstrap)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI/Peter Gilstrap Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

The sound of your voice
Bounced star to star to the ground
Where blindfolded beauty spun me round

'Til I found no choice
But to fall through the trap door
The spell still unbroken
No illusions destroyed

The years disappear
But is love hiding near
In a heart where it waits to be found
A trick to amaze and astound

Puffs of blue smoke in the mirror
A pale apparition
But there's no use in wishing
For a timepiece to turn back
Is our love a vanishing act?

Someone once said
God bless the weeping for they
Will have the last laugh one day . . .
Everything's gone
Blink and you missed it
It's passed in an instant
Your faith make believe

The years disappear
But is love hiding near
In a heart where it needs to be found
Let nobody see that we're bound

To burn the ropes
Break the chains and
Then kill the magician
There's no point in wishing
For a curtain to pull back
If our love's a vanishing act

The years disappear
But is love hiding near
In a place where it waits to be found
Let nobody see that we're bound

To burn the ropes
Break the chains and
Then kill the magician
There's no point in wishing
For a curtain to pull back
Our love's not a vanishing act


12. THE END OF THE LINE (Edward O’Connell)
(Near Occasion of Song Music, BMI)
© 2014 Edward O’Connell

Here's one from the heart
Guess I loved you from the start
But across gravity yards
We're worlds apart

We race down our tracks
Til' there is no turning back
Years and faces blurring past
But your light won't fade to black

Until the end of the line
The end of the line
Now the truth’s run to ground
And I've found
We were destiny bound
Until the end of the line
For our love

Blue moans in the night
Lanterns trimmed and burning bright
Second chances and hindsight
Are overprized

Topping the hill
Tears and memories built to spill
Rusting steel rails in their beds
Whistles bending in my head

Until the end of the line
The end of the line
Now the truth’s run to ground
And I've found
We were destiny bound
Until the end of the line
For our love

So all aboard the Heartland Flyer
While the tide of time cascades
I can’t believe a love like ours
Will surely fade . . . away

Now the truth’s run to ground
And I've found
We were destiny bound
Until the end of the line
Until the end of the line
Until the end of the line
For our love