Jay Ducharme -- Time Machine

Time Machine contains some of Jay's most popular songs: the powerful protest of Ain't No Grave, the tenderness of The Last Dance, the quirkiness of Madonnawannabe and Vegetable Girl, the dreamy lyricism of Sleepy Town and the desperation of Going Going Gone. Recorded in 1991, Jay wanted a more "live" sound to the drum section. So purchased a used snare drum and a cymbal and played them himself. After that bitter lesson, he recruited his friend Scott Haworth whenever he needed percussion. The title track, with its evocative off-center lyrics and synth-pop arrangement, bode of things to come on his next album, Waves.

THE SONGS

Ain't No Grave

Going Going Gone

JAY'S RECORDINGS or HOME

AIN'T NO GRAVE copyright Jay Ducharme 1991

Ain't no grave / Can hold my body down / My bones will rise again / And I'll come walking back to town // Oh father dear / You said my country's always right / I trusted what you said / And so I went away to fight / You watched as soldiers buried me / You're haunted by the sight / You've lost a son but gained a flag / Now tell me which is right // Ain't no grave / Can hold my body down / My bones will rise again / And I'll come walking back to town // Oh Mary Lou / I know I never said good-bye / I promised I'd return one day / You know I'd never lie / Oh Mary Lou I'll keep my word / As years go by you'll find / Though you're no longer true to me / I'll still be by your side // Ain't no grave / Can hold my body down / My bones will rise again / And I'll come walking back to town // Oh Mr. President / You never have your fill / Of sending young men off to war / How much blood will spill / Before your conscience hunts you down / As I'm sure it will / For the agony of those who die / Lives on in those who kill // Ain't no grave / Can hold my body down / My bones will rise again / And I'll come walking back to town

GOING GOING GONE copyright Jay Ducharme 1991

Packing up the U-Haul / Heading for the shore / Another month, another move / Who knows how many more / This friend of mine can't settle down / He's always got to move around / Now he wants to hear the ocean's roar // He's had a dozen different jobs / Never liked a one / And wonders when his countless years / Of searching will be done / He says that when his ship comes in / He'll never have to move again / He just hopes he'll be there when it comes // And I can see it in his eyes / The weariness he can't disguise / That pulls him back the more he tries to run / While he keeps his past at bay / The future swiftly drifts away / Before too long it's going going gone // Always running late / Never has the time / Always saving money / But he never has a dime / Always blaming circumstance / Leaving everything to chance / Searching without knowing what to find // And I can hear it in his voice / The sadness when he makes a choice / To pack up once again and move along / He seems to drift so aimlessly / Like ships he watches on the sea / Silouetted, going going gone // He's never finished what he's planned / He's let his life drift through his hands / Pretending that tomorrow never comes / Waste a day, you waste a year / You watch tomorrow disappear / Before you know, it's going going gone

SLEEPY TOWN copyright Jay Ducharme 1991

Sleepy town / Nothing to do in this sleepy town / I'm just hanging around / Swinging slow as the sun goes down / And there's barely a sound / To awaken this sleepy town // Sleepy town / Nothing but night in this sleepy town / Even if there were light / I can't think of a sight I would see / I won't stop being blue / Till I'm through with this sleepy town // Don't like the former traffic cop / Who dines inside the donut shop / As cars speed by / Don't like the former beauty queen / Who slowly wipes his table clean / Kiss them goodbye // Sleepy town / Finally leaving this sleepy town / I'm not sorry to go / And I know that I'll never return / Time to bury the past / Free at last of this sleepy town

MADONNAWANNABE copyright Jay Ducharme 1991

She pretends she's a virgin / Though I'm not sure / How anybody thinks / She can be so pure / She plays her part / Immaculately / But something about it / Looks phoney to me // She says there's nothing wrong / With her sexy routine / She's the perfect role model / For a budding teen / She claims it's all an act / She's just a fantasy / But every girl I see / Is a Madonnawannabe // She bleaches her hair / To be a star of the past / But unlike a star / Her color faded fast / She struts across the stage / Wearing nothing but lace / And several tons of makeup / Plastered on her face // She says there's nothing wrong / With her sexy routine / She's the perfect role model / For a budding teen / She claims it's all an act / She's just a fantasy / But every girl I see / Is a Madonnawannabe // She's always in shape / She always looks sweet / To make it to the top / I wonder what she had to eat // She dangles a crucifix / Over her breast / Maybe she's religious / But I'm not impressed / Who cares if she's clever / As long as she's cute / And dances up a storm / In her birthday suit // She says there's nothing wrong / With her sexy routine / She's the perfect role model / For a budding teen / She claims it's all an act / She's just a fantasy / But every girl I see / Is a Madonnawannabe // It could have been her soul / That she chose to bare / Instead she prances 'round / In her underwear / I wonder if she really is a fantasy / I wonder would Madonna wanna be with me?

VEGETABLE GIRL copyright Jay Ducharme 1991

Lips like stringbeans / Cauliflower chin / Cheeks like two tomatoes / And potatoes for her shins / Scallions for her fingernails / Baby peas for toes / Pickles for her knuckles / And a pepper for her nose / She's my vegetable girl // Corncob smile / Oh those radish eyes / Rutabaga bosom / Cucumber thighs / She's my vegetable girl // She never whines / Or makes a fuss / She's really kind of sweet / It should be pretty obvious / She's good enough to eat // Carrot leaves for lashes / Alfalfa for her hair / Most of her is lettuce / Bet it's spinach you-know-where // She's my vegetable girl

LONG WAY FROM HOME copyright Jay Ducharme 1991

I've been here before / Maybe -- I'm not sure / It looks a lot like someplace I should know / Someplace I passed through / A memory so new / Or maybe it was many years ago / Rusted railway / Where I once used to play / Although my parents didn't want me there / A barren stretch of track / Turns the decades back / I hear their voices echo through the air // But I'm a long way from home // It seems I've often seen / The distant country scene / I saw beyond the street I just passed / I could be wrong / But doesn't it belong / With places I remember from the past / Sagging power lines / Hanging over pines / That hide beside a highway overpass / A barren stretch of land / Where dad would often stand / As mom and I walked barefoot on the grass // But it's a long way from home // I never seem to learn / My childhood won't return / Lost forever, never to be found / I roam from place to place / Failing to erase / The memories that follow me around // Sights reminding me / Of where I long to be / No matter where I look, that's all I find / Though I keep moving on / Sometimes I wish I hadn't gone / And left my simple life so far behind // And I long to be home / But I'm a long way from home

It's great to know the enemy has died / It's great to know that God was on our side / It's great to know the killing's justified / It's great to have restored our country's pride / We won! // So glad we had a chance to prove our might / So glad that we were left to do it right / So glad it seemed to be so clean and quick / So glad the slaughter didn't make me sick / We won! // Too bad our weapons systems went awry / Too bad civilian casualties were high / Too bad the cost of victory was steep / Too bad, but entertainment isn't cheap / We won! // Everybody loves a war / Politician's take the floor / CNN is keeping score / Military budgets soar // We haven't used diplomacy too well / We haven't had insightful news to tell / We haven't yet run short of arms to sell / We haven't solved at thing but what the hell / We won!

Shift to the left / Shift to the right / Everybody shift all over tonight // Grab a partner / Do the President's Hop / All you gotta do / If you wanna reach the top / Is learn to swing / Do the President's Hop // Well come on now / Put your smile in place / Shake some hands now / Let 'em see you swing and sway / Keep in the groove / Don't let your body stop / Show 'em you can move / Do the President's Hop // Don't worry none if you can't dance / All you gotta do is change your stance // So come on now / Let's see you hit the floor / Start to swagger / Then sway a little more / Be a politician / Always shifting your position / Stagger till you drop / Do the President's hop // All you gotta do / If you wanna reach the top / Is keep in the groove / Don't let your body stop / Be a politician / Always shifting your position / Stagger till you drop / Do the President's Hop

The band strikes up a tune / And music fills the room. / A couple takes the floor / To dance a minute more. / A pretty girl, an older man / Hiding tears as best he can. / No words are spoken; / What can he say? / He knows that his girl / Will be leaving today. // It's the last dance / For father and daughter, / The last dance / And then she must go. / It's the last dance / For father and daughter. / Daughter must dance / With another man now. // So many years have passed. / His girl grew up so fast. / The years that slipped away / Seem just like yesterday. / Although those times he knew are gone, / For now their final dance goes on. / Soon she'll be waltzing with somebody new, / Someone he hopes will forever be true. // It's the last dance / For father and daughter, / The last dance / And then she must go. / It's the last dance / For father and daughter. / Daughter must dance / With another man now. // He gently hugs the bride / And finally steps aside, / And as the couple parts / Different music starts. / Just as it was for his own wife, / His daughter is off to begin her new life. / He knows that although they'll be miles apart, / Their last dance together will stay in his heart. // It's the last dance / For father and daughter, / The last dance / And then she must go. / It's the last dance / For father and daughter. / Daughter must dance / With another man now.

You hide when I come home / Run up to your room / Won't even say hello / Hope I'm leaving soon / I want to stop your crying / I wish I knew how / You want to see your father / But I'm your daddy now // I try to feel at home / What else can I do / I wouldn't have married your mother / If I didn't love you too / You tell me you don't love me / Can't we be friends for now / I know you need a father / And I'm your daddy now // I don't pretend I'm perfect / There's so much I don't know / But maybe if we stick together / We can help each other grow // Don't let the future scare you / We'll make it through somehow / I want to be your father / I'm your daddy now

There's nothing wrong with what you're doing / Nothing wrong with where you're going / Everybody has their point of view / Always think they know what's best for you / They push you and pull you day after day / But you and you alone have the final say // When you think a different thought / Even though you think it's not / It's your own / Stand alone // When you sing a different song / And no one else will sing along / Hold your tone / Stand alone // When a child is young / It knows no shame or fear / Freely speaking sounds / Everyone can hear / Give your spirit voice / Let your hidden thoughts come through / If little children can / So can you // If you keep going where you're going / Though you feel blind / Doing what you want / Not letting others change your mind / Then you've grown / Stand alone / On your own / Stand alone

I had a very strange dream / a county fair / before I was born / my sister stood next to me / Elvis was there / in the summer air / Mississippi, '53 // and I said, "I got a time machine / I can turn back time / we'll meet the King / get his autograph / we'll be millionaires" // it was a very strange dream / a crowded room / it looked like a barn / the walls were all painted white / Elvis was there / no one seemed to care / no reporters anywhere // and I said, "I'm gonna wait a while / and when the time is right / I'll meet the King / get his autograph / maybe shake his hand" // I had a very strange dream // but then I turned around / and without a sound / the King was gone / I took too long / and I missed my chance / so I got a time machine / I can turn back time / but every time / Elvis disappears / like he did before // it was a very strange dream...