Weathervane Studio Concert

[Brian McTear]

Frankie is here, this is Miss Frances Quinlan of Hop Along fame.
We did a shaking through episode with her band Hop Along, I guess it came out in March or February- no, in June- and it was awesome, and people have- there's been so much traffic to that episode and that's why it's really exciting for us to have her here tonight.
And I understand you're gonna be playing a lot of stuff that is brand new, right?
I'm not a liar, am I?
Yeah, so this is a super awesome treat.
So thank you again, and without further ado- Frances.

[Frances Quinlan]

Thank you. Hope you all don't mind, yeah, I'm going to be playing, uh, pretty much 80% of it as never before performed material, so I hope you enjoy it.
We don't even have titles, so...
You know it's serious.
You don't wanna know what I call them.

["Intro" (early concept of "Waitress") begins]

Recognized you from
His photo when you walked into the restaurant
My heart, my heart, my heart just sunk
Your friend looked over from the bar
She must've known who I was
The worst possible version of what I'd done
As, seating couples, I tried to listen

Any face, when it's old, will have been seen
I don't know, a million times
Without a thought
I don't know why I worry
I mean, maybe she didn't recognize me

I call you enemy
'Cause I'm afraid of what you could call me
The world's gotten so small, gotten so small
And embarrassing

By the time I'm old
My poverty will be a very private thing
I will live inside more thoughtfully
It's not that I am worried
I just wish, I just wish
You and your friends would leave

We've long since, we've long since closed now
Still, you and some others stick around
You and some others stick around
You and some others stick around
You and some others stick around

[Quinlan]

Thank you.

Um, when I agreed to do this, I told myself I was gonna write new material for this.
I gave myself, I think I had about a month and a half, and I watched a lot of Cheers in the process.
It's a terrible show, it's an awful show.
I've seen so many episodes of it, they're terrible people.
I blame weathervane for all the cheers that I've been forced to watch.
Writing songs is difficult.
Oh!

["Waffle House" (early concept of "Happy to See Me") begins]

Historian on the radio said
"The most dangerous thing is
A defeated army headed home
Stay inside, civilian"

All I can tell from this old rock is someone is buried here
The joggers are the only ones coming in and they just
Keep on going

At night, I have trouble telling
Bats from birds, now I see
Like cut-up bits of paper
Like little pairs of scissors

They tumble from the bridge
Up and into the dark
Thought up by a mind that must've been some
Sinister question mark

Father gets up at 4 A.M.
To post a motivational video on YouTube again
"People of the world, nobody loves you
Half as much as I
Half as much as I am trying to"

On the train home, I am hoping
That I get to be very old
And when I'm old, I'll only see people from my past
And they all will be happy to see me

We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will, we all will remember things the same

We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same
We all will remember things the same

[Quinlan]

Thank you.

This next song's about Waffle House.
Been to a lot of Waffle Houses.
Just recently was at the very worst Waffle House I've ever been to in my life.
It's like I'd been shrunk and was like, in a shoebox full of bleach.
But I've been to really nice Waffle Houses, too.
In Florida, there was a really nice one.
And that's what this song is about.

People on the internet are having a blast right now, getting a little experience.
If you're listening to this from another country and you don't know what a Waffle House is...
You'll have to google it!
It's too much to describe.

Ahem
You guys are good sports, thanks for laughing at what I have to say.
Played in Omaha once and it was a nightmare.
People didn't react, no souls.
Just kidding!
In case they're on the internet listening, I don't want to cut out the demographic.
Don't watch Cheers.

["Black Hole" (early concept of "I Saw My Twin") begins]

I saw my twin
Working in a Waffle House
The first birds of morning
Cackled from the graveyard

In walked the entourage
Big silver bus in the mountains
Her full hands leapt like fleas on a dog
Belonging without alternative
The waitress jumped over the table

And begged, "Can I take your picture?"
West Virginia, this is how it's done
You take the money and you just run
You just run

The look of the nun
In the corner booth invites nobody in
She's a great black hole of providence

Please take pity upon the heart that lives in me
I have to turn away now
I can't stand watching old ladies eat
The waitress gazes over our table

Big silver bus is long gone
West Virginia, this is how it's done
Be more gentle, unprofitable servant, uh-huh
Pennsylvania, the 6 A.M. cold sun
Leaves me waiting on the threat of someone
Of someone

[Quinlan]

Thank you.
I do have a confession to make, some of these songs have been around for quite awhile, they've just been in the works for a very long time.
I think there's maybe a couple people that were at Tuesday too, hosted by Jon Batiste who's in here somewhere- right there, he's right there.
I really, I do want to thank Jon because I don't know that I would have had this many songs even written by now if he hadn't forced me to do that Tuesday Tune Out.
He asked me, forcefully texted me a question asking me if I'd be willing to play.
Hoo.
But this next song is really new.
Sparkling, possible failure.

I just have to remember how to play it.
Ah.

["Tumble in the Wind" (early concept of "The Knock") begins]

Had a dream last night, but I forgot it by breakfast
Could hear you in the garage, building insects
At the door came the knock of loneliness, loneliness
A witness made me wish I had a job now

What does he want?
Can't he see I've seen your beautiful garden
We don't get anything for ourselves
He brought his Aunt's son with him, fourteen, smiling
Two qualities that never come together
They wanted to speak with me

At the door came a knock of
The witness, the witness, the witness
At the door came a knock of a sweet
Witness

I called you when frightened of the younger one, especially
I didn't expect you to be so moved then, moved to crying, you
Said the smile was warm and radiant, radiant
It made me think of my old church days
Closets and nuns, and that's about it

All this talk, talk, talk, puts me right back in the dark
All this talk, talk, talk, puts me right back into the dark
Made me wish I had a job now

I stepped down and came back
Everyone was gone, even all the love within the talk
I found you in the kitchen, your eyes were red
There seemed to be less of you then
You said, "But everyone in this world is suffering"
You said, "Everyone is suffering

And then, we were back together in a lovely little garden
A lovely little garden
And then, we were back together in a lovely little garden
A lovely little garden, lovely little garden, oh

[Quinlan]

Thank you.

There's a story behind this song and it's not a happy one.
Uh, there's a musician called Jackson C. Frank- you can Wikipedia him, I might not get this all correct.
But when he was very young, I believe, he was in a fire in his school, there was a fire in his school and he was scarred physically from that.
And at one point he took off for Europe, I think he ended up in England, and he met up with Paul Simon, who recorded his record Blues Run the Game, which was covered quite a bit I think by Paul Simon and Nick Drake and a few others.
But he just never really- Jackson C. Frank never quite made it I guess.
And developed schizophrenia, came back home, I think he had some kids.
And at one point, he was just wandering the streets, apparently looking for Paul Simon, who wasn't there, and was sought after by a college student at one point, and a song is actually recorded, I think, by that student.
And Jackson C. Frank, when he was much younger, had a, like a higher pitched voice, and by the time he was old, you know, he was, I think, very overweight from all the drugs he was taking, like, you know, for his mental affliction, and his voice just wasn't the same.
But it's a beautiful song.
If you ever go looking for it, A Tumble in the Wind is the name of the song.
But this song is about Jackson C. Frank.

Also there's a part, one of my friends, it was very early in the morning and he picked a horsehoe crab up and he just hurled it as high into the air as he could and I don't think it made it.
That's in here.
Probably took a thousand years to get to land and then it was just hurled right back into the sea, the ocean.
And that's what life is like!
The song is about...

["Against Your Wishes" (early concept of "Horseshoe Crabs") begins]

Mom, I'm coming home
Against your wishes, I went into
The woods, alone

Just look at my face
A vegetable, beet red
I know you gave me
Money for the motel
But I came here instead, oh

What I wanted when I left you
Brushed by, so close
With the money, I got pretty gone
And bloodied some poor actor's nose

One night, sitting in the park, the pellet gun
Some kid blinded me in one eye, I came undone

A college kid came to see me
I tried explaining myself
He left me feeling lonelier
Than I've ever felt

Woke from the dream and I was old
Staring at the ass crack of dawn
Walked these streets up and down
Looking for Paul Simon

All I found was myself, lost in time
I tried singing my song, but I lost my mind

Calling, "Where is my jealous one?
Who will talk trash long after I'm gone?"
When I was young
I hurled horseshoe crabs back into the raging sun

Where is my jealous one, one?
Who will trash long after, long after I'm gone?
Oh, when I, when I was young
I used to hurl horseshoe crabs back into the raging sun

[Quinlan]

Thank you, and just for the sake of continuity, here's another really depressing song about somebody.
Uh, there's just two people I got really interested in, um...
I don't know if you guys are familiar with the jazz musician Buddy Bolden.
Uh, he was from New Orleans, uh, he was some, referred to by some as the kind of jazz- it's argued, too, you know, for forever, probably.
But there's no known recording of his music and, uh, he was buried, you know, he was very poor when he died, so he was buried in one of the very few, uh, you know, below ground cemeteries, because most of the cemeteries I guess in New Orleans are above ground, like mausoleums and stuff.
But I guess his sister couldn't keep up with the upkeep of his grave so he was dug up a number of times and the hole was dug deeper and he was put back in the hole and then they put somebody else on top, and then they would cover it back up again. And they did this so many times that they actually lost track of where he was buried.
So there's a plaque, uh, I believe it's Holt Cemetery, that says, you know, somewhere around here is Buddy Bolden.
And he had a few famous songs, one was "Funky Butt."
And another one was called "Get Out Of Here, Go Home" that he played at the end of the night.

["Buddy Bolden" (early concept of "Buddy in the Parade") begins]

Buddy Bolden, why did I look into
The dim eye of the mole?
It drove me crazy when it spoke
It's mighty quiet in the soul
I thought I'd die, then I tried to listen
Saw one hundred saddles without horses, galloping
Oh, God, don't make me go in

I heard you were a king
Didn't leave behind a goddamn thing

And nothing's funny
Your sister stares at a dirty window
She just didn't have the scratch to keep you in that sorry hole
And money talks, that money don't let you sleep
A very wealthy family had an alcove to the top of the cemetery

And on the way
His head came right off

"Get outta here, go home"
That's what you used to play at the ends of shows
In the midst of the parade, you frothed at the mouth
Didn't he ramble till the butcher cut him down?

Your jewelry, it goes around from town to town
All of your pretty ones, I ain't gonna say where they are now
All your jewelry, it goes around from town to town
All of your pretty girls, I ain't gonna say where they are now, now

"Get outta here, go home"
Oh, that's what you used to play at the ends of shows
In the midst of the parade, you frothed at the mouth
Children, turn on your radio and don't go out
Don't go out

Children, turn on your radio and don't go out
Children, don't

[Quinlan]

Thank you!

Oh man, this goes by so fast for me, um...
I have no idea how fast it's going for you guys, maybe slower.
I have two more for you, uh...
These are taped together because I printed them out from an email and I didn't separate them enough and so I had to cut them up and tape them together, the lyrics.
So it's not 'cause I'm eccentric, it's just 'cause I don't- I don't know why I have a printer, but I haven't put the ink in for a year and a half.
So I borrowed a printer, and that's all I have, so it's taped together and cut up and...
I don't know.
I really want to thank, uh, Weathervane for having me here tonight, it's an amazing opportunity.
Um, when we came here, uh, I guess that was in March when we came here... April, it was the beginning of April.
When we came here, I, I really was pretty skeptical about doing this song in a day, I didn't think we were going to do it, I thought we would be the band that didn't do it.
But we did it.
Just 'cause it's how long I take, it's not 'cause of any make up, It's just 'cause... yeah, they...
People on the internet can't hear you, Mark, so...

I also really want to thank my friend Nikki, uh... just for just being an awesome person, this song is for her.

And Peter and Brian and John and everybody that works on something.

Ah... cool.
This song has a name and it's called "Top Bunk".

["Top Bunk" begins]

Signal will go through the snow many years from now
Through the painted shut window
And through the painted shut window

Your phone will ring, and it still won't be quite
The apology I know you wanted
Sorry

I think about you often, but
Every family has to start right from rock bottom up
And there's been too much time
And I've forgotten the beginning

But one time, I woke up hot in the sunlight
And you were gone, you were gone
I mean, you were back on the bottom bunk

In the bathroom of the trailer
We tried to flush Elvis down, Elvis down the toilet
Your mother broke the door in

Screaming house, stand up against
A big burned-up skeleton
I try to picture you as a child, picturing
And think, how alike
Our clownish teeth and open-mouthed days

I think about you often, but
Every family has to start right from, right from rock bottom up
And there has been too much time
And I've forgotten the beginning

But one time, I woke up hot in the sunlight
And you were gone, you were gone
I mean, you were back on the bottom bunk
I think about you all the time
All the time, but, all the time, but

[Quinlan]

Thank you.
Thank you so much for coming, like, this means a lot.
And, um, I've been very nervous, so you guys, um, made it a lot easier on me and I appreciate that.
This next song, it's dated, it's hardly relevant now, it's from earlier this year.
So no, again, I just wanted to thank weathervane and thank you guys for being here.
There's a lot of really cool shows going on tonight that you might be able to still catch if you leave quickly after this.
But we're hanging around, there's lots of snacks and wine, and I bet there's not any of that stuff at those other shows.
This song is called Sister Cities, thank you.

["Hotel" ("Sister Cities") begins]

See the old man on the bridge
He's hauling up a sagging net
It's full of eels twisting through
The eye sockets of a horse's head
And this fiend has no family, oh
So he will outlive you and me, oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh

In the hospital, you talked about
Thumbing down that truck ride for the first time
And the false friend kept his back turned
That's when you learned the fierceness of man
Again, again, again!
How long it took to reach the sister cities

And then, somehow, make it back
Just to tell me, "Yeah, I guess I'm still pretty mad"
Every other day, the same
Long road to the old man down the street
Neither one of you knows
What the flowers in your hand are supposed to mean

Help! My uncle's gone insane
In his room he sits, shaking a geranium
Outside, the old dog, resigned
Leaves heavy tracks for the father dragging the rifle to find

Every other day, the same
Long road to the old man down the street
Do you think someday, through all the flowers
Your eyes finally will meet?

Where he'll tell you
"Honey, you know I had to shoot that dog you loved so much
You know I had to do it"
"Aw, honey, you know I had to shoot that dog you loved so much
You know I had to do it"
"Oh, yeah, I know you had to shoot that dog I loved so much
I know you had to do it"

[Quinlan]

Thank you.