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Pushkin Street

by Raffi Joe Wartanian

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1.
Stumped 03:37
Said I can’t stand the way That you smile at me And I can’t stand the way That you smile at me ‘Cause I know there’s something underneath ‘Cause I know there’s something I can’t see On a stump in the middle of the city I saw my sins On a stump in the middle of the city I saw my sins And I got down on my knees to begin To pray the ways of the wind Said the leaves and the trees they tried it And they know just how to be Said the leaves and the trees they tried it And they know just how to be In centuries of longing for a home In valleys of moonshine we are home Said it’s never too late to start again From the end of the beginning or the middle of the end Said it’s never too late to start again From the end of the beginning or the middle of the end You just keep on rolling with the wind, my friend You just keep on blowing with the wind, my friend Said the fastest way into a lonely woman’s heart Is to take it slow without a lot of talk And the fastest way into a broken man’s soul Is to say I’m sorry and I want you to know That the forest is much larger than the trees And the rivers run red for you and me Said I love the way that the rivers never end And I love the way that the ocean never bends It means there’s something in the end For all that’s without and within
2.
Buckwheat and potatoes Like a shrimp in the street Put it in my mouth And it tastes of soggy feet Hello, empty stomach, Pleasure to meet you Days are gonna be long And I might have to eat ya! Oh yeah little baby Got the glutten-free blues I used to eat me twinkies Guess I'll just chomp on my shoes. Love my lady Like a nap in the road Spoonful of soybean Might just make me implode Dusty potato And a heap of Bumble Bars Makes a two-course dinner Feel like some achy-breaky SARS Oh yeah little baby Got the glutten-free blues Dontcha wanna Shipshewanna? Guess I'll just have to chomp on my shoes Made some mistakes On the way through Millard County Put my cheeks in the air And the rash was kinda lousy Every baby's got a Bronson Like a joey in the street Who says I'll pass the glutten For a slice of roast beef Oh yeah little baby I got the glutten free blues From here on out Guess I'll just have to nibble on my shoes.
3.
Back en Mexico My name's José, no sé Joe From Millard to Baker Sugar cheeks are waiting to behold Ninety-nine miles are a sugarplum For dainty feet know how to gun Twenty-one led to Fifty I waved my hips then something hit me. Down wind from Green River Rest my fate with Robert Dekker Diablo del Camino Siempre en mi corazón ¿Dónde está Los pantalones? ¿Dónde está el dolor? Dimples are salvation For the men who lack inspiration. Back en Mexico My name’s Jose, no sé Joe Like rivers of glory Sacred sacrums are forever more ¿Donde esta mi Gepetto A la greto con capeto? Glory Hallelujah We’re back for dear Roberto
4.
Ojas 02:28
Her eyes Blacker than her eyes should be Her voice Quieter than her voice should be I’ve seen my head On a riverbed With worms and germs that squirm and burn Until they are fed And I can’t wait Seven lifetimes for you I’ve give you six Now what will you do Her eyes Blacker than her eyes should be Her voice Quieter than her voice should be Why would you cry If I laid down and died From the force of your breath Lunged into my chest? Once you kissed me Who would’ve guessed That a kiss is amiss When you do it like this One moment it’s a smile And the next it’s a hiss
5.
Lend me a basket of your Fine insulation Tear down this prison and Return us to elation Way before The moon has fallen, Or The dreams stop calling Hold me in your arms tonight We can call it pure or erudite. Cry me a foggy ocean Kissing oil sores The greasy little pelican is Waiting at the door Then he froze Behind the sunset Before We saw the carnage Feathers keep me up at night Tickling my ample apetite! She asked for something sweet But all I had was rabbit meat That’s just how loves goes So sit back, relax, and strike a pose Last night I felt like cheese That melted for three centuries No salt, only spice The time for love Is too concise. Your mother was an angel and You played so patiently I went into the garden for a Taste of fantasy Where I found The bees were swarming Or Was it global warming? In our bones the answer pipes The things we left they came out right, alright!
6.
I got me a dog Who’s name was Abraham Lincoln Log He lives in a tree He lives in a tree I look into his eyes and I feel my mama’s bones Running away To the Mediterray One day we’re going To the Eastern Mountain On the shore One day we’re going To the Eastern Mountain On high Screamin’, dreamin’, Everybody’s reelin’ Layers of life down Into the shed Say Chile, Say chi chi chi le Longest tongue in the History of kisses He’s my dog and He don’t need no Misses Alright? Alright. One day we’re going To the fallen country On the shore One day we’re going To the fallen country On high One day we’re going To the crumblin’ rainbow On the shore One day we’re going To the crumblin’ rainbow On high Fear’s one sick disease that Will leave you all alone On your knees On your bones Step into a fire To cool down with those logs It happens in time When you’re laughing in fog One day we’re going To the Eastern Mountain On the shore One day we’re going To the Eastern Mountain On high
7.
When the wind comes through the valley And shakes up all the trees I think of goodbye’s I think of goodbye’s Wish that it was easy To wave my hand and fade off Into the night Into the night We are made for each other Like the sun and moon and all the other stars If the clouds moved out and I saw you no better Then why is it fair to blame the weather, huh? My mama told my grandmother She thinks my daddy’s depressed ‘Cause he’s asleep More than he’s awake A third a day’s enough for some But other’s can’t go Without fifty percent Dizzy in dreams Who’s to say that one is better? Eyes open or closed it might all be a dream And one day when that dream is over We’ll say goodbye and the rain will climb to the sun For the time let us savor each other ‘Cause you never know when it will be too late­­ The sun came out and my pop woke up Sometimes dreams and clouds Are one in the same They make us insane Life outside my bedroom window Is a lesson in patience, faith Remorse, and love Everyday Who’s to say that one is better? Eyes open or closed it might all be a dream And one day when that dream is over We’ll say goodbye and the rain will climb to the sun For the time let us savor each other ‘Cause you never know when it will be too late­­
8.
Ohio 03:42
Said I never earned The right to deserve The ability inside of me To write down these words Born without a choice Could’ve been deaf, dumb, or blind Though we are all insane To say that time Is something real Like a line or a wheel On an Oldsmobile That your grandfather sold For a fishin’ reel Grandpa said, “The meaning of life Is what gives your life meaning And you just might Have to close your eyes To see what it is For the deepest bliss Is deep within.” Madmoiselle You’re looking mighty swell And if you won’t go to Greenland Then I’ll go straight to hell- Oh operator, won’t you call me three weeks later? That’s the way, the way, the way The way, the way, the way Madmoiselle This is song is just for you Goodbye me again And I’ll just leave you a clue Come the winter time Babe I know that you’ll be mine And that’s the way, the way, the way The way, the way, the way To some this nation Is a gilded cage And to some this country’s A fire every day And I can’t say If it’s fair or it’s true ‘Cause when you’re in the middle It’s a little of the two We’re the grandchildren Of a genocide That happened everyday Since nineteen forty-five And even before There was such a word The Indians, Armenians, and Native Americans, The upper class and lower half of vets who bore their broken backs Wars never end Neither do the sins If you choose to engage You never will win.
9.
Electronic flirtation Is now a love philosophy One day you will feel me breathe And sneeze through your computer screen How could love Stand a chance Against the zero’s and one’s? What’s become Of pure romance Must we click and moan? I am not the man you see I am really a woman My name is Joe or Jill or Fried Cucumber Don’t you wanna know? I was born when Gorbachov Washed the splotch on his head And the world began to reignite all the Ties Bits and bytes will reunite my Love’s lost electricity Fiber-optic pheromones shall Bring us back to Truancy How could I Stand a chance Against the zero’s and one’s? What’s become Of pure romance? Electronic flirtation imprisons Us until we’re free Staring at a monitor We will not feel all that we see.
10.
Bedouin 03:24
Cracked leaves are fallin’ in a pool of blood, shattered man’s skull bubblin’ in the mud I’m reachin’ for your hand but I’m gettin’ a visual So you called me snide though I never tried you’re the last forgotten man and you cant deny you’re an urban Bedouin in a concrete desert You got a glass of water in a hand with no thumb and its getting hotter and im gettin’ numb wont you just help me Brother I feel you under my feet brother I feel your heart beating brother I feel you under my feet brother I feel your heart bleeding hoyaté linya linya mahaté hoyaté linya linya mahaté hoyaté linya linya mahaté hoyaté linya linya mahaté "I’m an American I have no future" that’s what you told me and you couldn’t be surer you’d die for the flag and yet you have no faith You’re the moon man, understand? band of no plans used to be my hero now your anything but grand an eternal victim of your own invention.
11.
Crowds In The Streets There are crowds in the streets I worked all day And baby you prayed For the crowds in the streets There’s more to life than money For every day is sweeter than honey But ya gotta bleed to survive And get sick to thrive Do we want to call this our country? Hundreds of thousands Of millions of houses That got sold on lies to prioritize The predatory sale of iffy mortgages The teachers in our schools Yes they are paid like they’re fools And the CEO’s They can steal our toes To pay for air conditioned pools It’s time for imagination And for the people to re-envision The structure of the muck That got us out of luck And devise our deficit solution Power to the people Not the politicians or steeples We know that we are one And the fun’s just begun Yes, we can be more than feeble. Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets from Russia to spain and Portland, maine there are the crowds in the street Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets from Waikiki to Thessaloniki there are the crowds in the street Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets from Tuscon, Arizona to Barcelona there are the crowds in the street Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets I worked all day and baby you prayed there are the crowds in the street Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets from Waikiki to thessaloniki there are the crowds in the street Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets from Tuscon, Arizona to Barcelona there are the crowds in the street Crowds in the streets There are crowds in the streets I worked all day and baby you prayed there are the crowds in the street

about

Likened to Salvador Dali meets Frank Zappa meets The Beatles meets Dick Dale meets Tim Burton meets “I’ve never heard anything like that before”, Raffi Joe's fusion of music familiar and foreign reflects the baffling, beautiful, and bountiful textures that ignite life with magnificent mystery and draw from his travels to the world's most uplifting and demoralizing destinations. The melodies and lyrics of PUSHKIN STREET - named after Yerevan, Armenia's hub of progressive music - tell intimately absurd and absurdly intimate stories, demand justice for a fractured world, and sound like tunes one could dance or sing or drive or cook or swim or shower to.

credits

released January 25, 2013

Songwriter, Vocals, Guitars: Raffi Joe Wartanian
Drums: Mike Gambone
Bass: Julian Rosenberg
Keyboard: Jonathan Tippens
Engineering Consultation: Chris Bentley, Jake K. Leckie
Produced by Raffi Joe Wartanian with Chris Bentley
Recording, Mixing: Chris Bentley at The Bunker Recording Studio (The Bridge, Yellow Dubmarine); Cockeysville, Maryland (www.recordinbaltimore.com)
Mastering: Bill Wolf at Wolf Productions (Willie Nelson); Arlington, Virginia (www.wolfproductions.com)
Logo Illustration: Robert Petrossian
Graphic Design: Terry Breschi, Aramazt Kalayjian

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Raffi Joe Wartanian New York, New York

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