Demographix Vol. 3: Charaders (2005)

(click on the song to play)
1. dopamine (it's love)
2. cloud 9
3. this guy
4. reunion
5. pretty girls
6. (there's) nothing to it
7. post call
8. charlene
9. frosted flakes and milk
10. the last one (for stephen bohler, by way of elliott smith)

Demographix Vol. 3: Charaders (2005)
Recorded in New York City, 2004/5
All songs written and produced by Michael Novick
MKN: vocals, acoustic guitars, programming, keyboards

Purchase Demographix Vol. 3: Charaders at Apple iTunes.

cloud 9

i'd like to say more than i do to you but i'm tongue tied/lightning strikes and gives me up in your yard with a handful of pebbles/i'm on cloud nine/you're an angel/i'm on cloud nine for the hundredth time/don't stop now, we're close to something real/can you feel it?/i can't believe that you don't sleep to dream/why else close your eyes?/i'm on cloud nine/smelling roses that aren't even mine/i'm lost in you, but i lose myself a lot so don't sweat it/i can't believe that you don't sleep to dream/my dreams are my saviors/i'm on cloud nine so don't wake me/i'm on cloud nine/don't come and take me home/i'm on cloud nine...

this guy

it's not the color of your sky/it's not the way you say goodbye/it's not the timing of your heart/it's you/it's not the softness of your stare/it's not the way you walk on air/it's not the quiet in your eyes/it's you/it's not that i've been waiting/it's not that i've been shy/it's not that i wasn't built to play this guy/it's not the secrets that you keep/it's not the language that you speak/it's not the things you say you want/it's you/it's not your little lies/it's not your big plans/and it's not me/it's not that i've been waiting/it's not that i've been shy/it's not that i wasn't built to play this guy...

reunion

kathy is sunning herself in the rain/she's closing her eyes to the scene/she's folding up/her friends are an elegant mess/they're breeding/they'll do anything just to be seen at the ball/her boyfriend is writing a book/it's the story of his life/she leaves him asleep at the wheel and locks the door/she dances with someone she knew in high school/she loses herself in the music/she's spinning like a top/like a coin on edge/she used to be so weak/she cried herself to sleep/all the boys turned their heads to stare but never spoke/and her heart broke into a million stars/"it's the pain," she says, "that reminds us who we are"/she loses herself in the night/in the dream she's the queen of the prom/but the dream is a dream and the dream is gone

pretty girls

took my chances with a wallflower/she handed me my head/and i couldn't help thinking that life is too short for wild geese and red herrings/is it wrong to say you're weak when i'm the one who can't speak?/close up your stained-glass eyes/put a sock in your alibis/i'll cut off those dirty blonde curls/i've had just enough of pretty girls/it must be something in the genes/you're probably so proud/but behind that face, you're a disaster/it's like you were born yesterday/i wouldn't kick you out of bed/not unless you're sleeping/i was only in it for the score and a set of keys to your little house on the shore/and all your little friends with their second-hand pearls/i've had my fill of those pretty girls/and you're not even that pretty.../close up your stained-glass eyes/put a sock in your alibis/i'll cut off those dirty blonde curls/i've had just enough of pretty girls

(there's) nothing to it

so you're going to hitch that ride / nothing i can do i haven't already tried / you live in places i don't recognize / finding comfort in the devil's eyes / well, a word to the wise / there's nothing to it / there's nothing to it / you once said i was a saint / would a saint make light of your pain? / there's nothing to it / all those times i had to lie / all those secrets that i never meant to hide / it's just a testament to gravity / but i will spin that into strength or jealousy / there's nothing to it / there's nothing to it / did you think that i was your friend when i said i'd stay 'til the end? / there's nothing to it / you set me up for life with your heart on a filthy sleeve / i mistook your greed for faith in me / did you think that i was your friend when i said i'd stay til the end? / there's nothing to it / there's nothing to it / you once said i was a saint / would a saint make light of your pain? / there's nothing to it

post call

i have six friends that i know of and two of them don't even like me/i could use a friend right now but you'll do/sometimes i can see you coming/sometimes you catch me by surprise/i was proud to play the sucker/i'll do anything for a laugh/but now i'm tired and i can't sleep/and i just need something warm to hold/sometimes i think that i still want you/sometimes it hurts to see you happy/but it's gonna be alright.../i'm a pretty decent singer but i'm not good at much else/i learn everything the hard way if i learn anything at all/sometimes i wish for things i already have/sometimes i take things i don't need/but it's gonna be alright...

charlene

you had a hand in the jar and one eye on my pocketbook/i could see it from afar/you were always worth a second look/call me old-fashioned but i like to take my women like my wine/dry, bold, and australian/you were always dumb, but you were kind then/you'll never be that dumb again/if i'm the best that you could find/i pity all those other men/call me a coward/call me anything that makes you free/i'm just trying to keep the part of me that breathes/charlene, take what's yours and disappear/charlene, look away and let it go/it's too late to be sad for something we never had/i'm thinking of a number/what's it going to take to make you leave/i'm cool, drunk, and carniverous/charlene, take what's yours and disappear/charlene, look away and let it go

frosted flakes and milk

frosted flakes and milk/is all i really like now/since you left me hanging/but when push comes to shove/i’m still full of love for you/i wish you could see that/you might just be surprised/you might just find you like it/you might be surprised/i hate to break it to you/but I’m the one that got away/even if you never learn/i’ll be waitin’ for you/with flowers in my pocket/withered but alive/and you just might be surprised/you might just find you like them/you might be surprised/frosted flakes and milk/sitting on the table/at least a week or more/i’m drowning in this room/i’m staring at the moon/i think i’m seeing faces/that aren’t really there/like songs i used to know/written by my shadow/and you might just be surprised/you might just find you like them/you might be surprised…

the last one (for stephen bohler, by way of elliott smith)

you took the long way down/it's a long way down/into the nothing/into history/and something tells me/you're not the last one/to burn too brightly/to touch the sun/i read about it in the news (it went a long way)/now you're just a ghost in the hall/a needle in the hay/and something tells me/you're not the last one/to burn too brightly/to touch the sun/and something tells me/you're not the last one/to burn too brightly/to touch the sun/i read about it in the news