Mike & Eileen Chapter One

by Mike Roy

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    The physical CD package contains a bonus disc of demos and early version of 9 of the songs on the album. Price includes shipping to anywhere in the US and Canada. If you buy from me in person it's $10. The extra $5 I charge here is for the shipping, envelope, getting it packed up and in the mail. So if you're nearby just download it for now, and buy it when you see me!

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about

These songs were mostly written during my tumultuous first year of marriage back in 2004-05. It took a while for it to be the right time to put them out. There's actual blood, sweat and tears on these tracks. I hope they make you cry.

credits

released 02 September 2011
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Performed by:

Scott Andrews - piano (2, 4, 5)
Ray Codrington - trumpet
Jeff Conlin - wurlitzer, organ (1, 2, 11, 13)
Mark Connor - bass guitar
Jim Crew - piano (1, 7, 10, 11), organ (4, 5, 10, 12), accordion
David Karsten Daniels - lead guitar (7)
Will Goodyear - drum kit
Daniel Hart - strings and string arrangements
Cameron Lee - lead guitar (4, 5, 11)
Allyn Love - pedal steel
Durwood Martin - piano (8, 13)
Scotty Miller - lead guitar (1, 13), dobro (1, 8)
Eileen Chevalier - singing (10, 11)
Mike Roy - uke, guitar, singing, harmonica

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Recorded mostly by John Plymale at Overdub Lane, Durham, North Carolina Sept 2 - 6, 2010

Additional recording done by Mike Roy (thanks to Brian Million), Jeff Conlin, Jim Crew, David Karsten Daniels, and Daniel Hart

Mixed by Brian Paulson
Mastered by Ryan Simms

All rights reserved. Copyright 2011

Album cover photograph by Raymond Goodman www.r3photo.com

tags

tags: americana folk mike & eileen chapter 1 mike & eileen chapter one mike roy show pop rock-n-roll the mike roy show roots roots rock Raleigh

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about

Born outside of DC, raised in MD, college in Baltimore, made a record there, moved to TN, wrote a record there, moved back to MD recorded 2nd record, went on tour with J Roddy Walston & The Business, met future wife in NC, moved to RI for two weeks, went back to DC to meet up with future wife, moved to NC, married wife, had 3 kids, just finished 4th solo album called Mike & Eileen Chapter One. ... more

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Track Name: I Never Knew
July 12, 2004


I never knew you’d come in summer
I never knew you’d fall like rain
I never knew you’d had to suffer
I never knew you’d know such pain

but now I know you are indeed the
most precious lady ever I seen
just can’t believe it’s you I prayed for
so many nights before I’d sleep


I never knew your beauty’d shake me
I never knew it’d make me weep
to hold your hand and walk beside you
to hear you laugh to kiss your cheek

I never knew you’d be so graceful
bursting with love for all you see
Just one small thing that still eludes me
what is it that you see in me?


I can’t believe the Lord is this good
to bless a sinner like old me
With one of His own precious angels
to come on down and marry me.
Track Name: Wisteria
April 18, May 26, June 17 of 2005


Spring is here again, wisteria's choking them trees
I swear that gorgeous bloom is you and them old trees is me


I’m sitting here alone all dressed up in my disguise
Trying hard just to pretend I believe my own lies


Out here the water’s deep, nice way to spend an afternoon
Half awake, half asleep, a good ways away from you


You’re back home and you’re in pain
Setting fire to my old flames
In fear that they may rise again
You’re saving tears and praying rains


On every one of our parades
Our ghosts in ghastly pageantry
Some of them are ripping out at you
And some are digging in to me

But that old bloom it don’t last long
A blaze of glory and it fades
Leaving a mess of vines behind
Every time it goes away


We must find that bridge to cross to get us to that sweet refrain
This endless verse to endless verse is just pain to endless pain


And now, the cold is setting in as the dark is rolling down
And just like the fool I am won’t ask which way to town


But there’s a light up on a pole, glowing strong and true
It’s your love singing out to me and it’ll guide me back to you
Track Name: Midnight Moon
April 25, 2005


The midnight moon made milk of the old lake
late last night
I swore I’d never make the same mistake
I made it twice

clouds are rolling in part ghost, paper-thin
I meant to let you win
I swear I did, I don’t know what happened



A hound dog’s howl softens my scowl
it's such a sad sad sound
I look for my dignity and I see
that it cannot be found

I broke it for a laugh and swept up what was left
and sold it to some crowd who was standing there
screaming loud



you left a note and the house so cold
it said you went back home
and me so young but feeling so old
and so all alone

please leave me as I am
don’t let the screen door slam
it’s all been said before
this story I know is such a bore


Young boy meets young girl, young love shakes all the world
And you cannot begin to stop what has begun to unfurl

When two are two no more, you see begins a war
It’s no fairy tale, it’s real as Hell, and that’s for damn sure


The Midnight moon made milk of the old lake
late tonight
I though you’d be in our bed by now
holding your pillow tight

but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be there again
shipwrecked on that shore
I don’t know what happened
Track Name: Tell Me Darling How
Dec. 6, 2004

You say you didn’t lie
Lying here beside… me

Tears are in your eyes
telling me that I… can leave


Busting down the door
landing on the floor… in pain

cutting with a word
much sharper than a sword you

are pouring fire on fire


Everything will burn, everything in turn
and we’ll be lying still.


Slap you in the face
all of my disgrace… fades

Ungodly deeds done
measured up in tons… weight

that we could never lift


Everything will burn, exactly in its turn
but will you be beside…

What can stop us now
Tell me darling how does this train wreck end

Cause I can’t seem to find
breaks of any kind

a cliff is up ahead

And sailing through the air
do we even care?

Look what we’ve become,
no it was always there.


But that’s now why I hide
and that’s not why you cry… we

are weeping for ourselves


Everything can go down either of two roads
We seem to choose all wrong, each and every time

I can hear the sound of war-drums as they pound
and mount the battle charge and beat us to the ground

But when will it all end, when will we just die
and leave ourselves behind

Oh baby please believe there’s nothing good in me
We have to let it go, or we will not survive…
Track Name: The Road
Dec. 7, 2004


Why stay here, this screaming
it hurts my head
The bruises, the bleeding
good as dead

The pounding, the kicking,
the way I hold you down
Convulsing, not speaking
such an awful sound.


And you told me you love me
ah, but you don’t

And I told you – I’d hold you
but baby, here I go…
here I go.



So short that I’ve known you
but long enough
For that haze of young love to
burn off

I hate you – I love you
baby which is up
How could I do what I’ve done to you
if this is love


You told me – you love me
Ah but you don’t

And I told you – I’d hold you
but babe here I go…


The Road…


Tires are worn – hear them dragging
like they don’t want me to
Turn this way, gas station,
just pulling through


No music, just heartbeat
and hard road ahead
Blurred vision, unbearable heat
I wish I was dead


You told me – you love me
what did you think that meant

And I swore I’d never hurt you
but we see how all that went



LOOK OUT The Light
That Car The Sound

The Roll The Life
The Blood The Ground

The Road…
Track Name: Down & Out
Dec. 6, 2004


Broken, but not all the way
Holding on by a thread
Hanging on for dear life
to a branch that’s falling away

waiting for a sign.


Hoping, even begun to pray
Bowing your head down to the ground
Hearing things that seem real
until they drift away

leaving that empty hallowed sound…


Pound… Pound… Pound… Pound.



My dear we’ve been all through this
You just want things your way
No surprises here, I want ‘em mine
And we’ll go down tussling all the way
with the ship we’re sinking on


Down… Down… Down… Down.



I could kiss your lips
or break your face
Brush your hair back from your eyes
or pull it out
I can be your angel and your demon on the same day
Baby there’s only one way out…


Out… Out… Out… Out.
Track Name: Dec 7th (alone)
Dec. 7, 2004


Christmas lights are up outside
but I’m inside

I sit to eat my meal prepared,
of pity and pride

Alone…



This beer in my hand is my only friend
my only cure

Brake the news, I can barely stand
upon the floor


Snow won’t fall, I wish it would
it’d be just like

A movie made for on TV,
Sunday night


Alone… alone…



Hot dogs made of turkey meat
and old corn chips

Are the food I had to eat
the night you split


I understand just why you left
I understand, I do

This little test you left for me
is more than I can chew


You’ve hit the road you left your things
you left without your hat

These tiny lines are telling me
you left with more than that




I did you wrong, I know I did
I pray I’ll make things right

That child belongs to both of us
good Lord


My head is swimming, my body’s light
my skin is wet

I’m overjoyed, I’m scared out my mind
and desperately


Alone
Track Name: Please Stay
Dec. 7, 2004


Cleaned my face and hands but still feel dirty
Tried to write it down, it got too wordy

Cause you are not with me
I made you run away
Baby can’t you see
your presence makes my day
makes my day



Tried to shake it off
it clung on to me
I can’t think of words to say
I’m sorry

Ten thousand times ten thousand times
I’m sorry babe
and I would understand if you still walk away
away,

please stay.


Nothing I could do girl
to deserve you
Even though I promised
I still hurt you

A hundred flaming arrows couldn’t
cause this pain

Soon as you pull through, I knock you down again

your eyes are clearing up I start throwing sand

soon as you’re cleaned up I push you down again

and poke you in the eye and claim an accident

I push you down in mud until you cannot stand

baby I can see just why you wouldn’t

Oh Lordy be my witness, I’m a broken man…

but please stay.
Track Name: Less & Less to Say
Jan. 17, 2005


maybe just these chords, all in line
are all I got to play

feels like every time we try and speak
we can only think of what we don’t wanna say



some of these lines come in my sleep
where the wolves come after me

some of the time they come cheap
but that don’t mean they come for free



seems to me as willows weep
and all the swans fly away

it’d break your heart straight and clean
to see me take off this ring to play



these four old chords learned in my sleep
just keep pounding through the day

marking time so much to keep
but less and less to say
Track Name: Morning Came Down
Sept. 3, 2005


morning came down
all around
making a sound
like you never heard
no word could mean what it meant

escaped with my life
me and my wife
clothes on our backs
and weight on our minds
the kind that you can’t carry long

--
but we must carry on
somehow
everything is gone
I don’t know how
to sing this old song
I’ve forgotten how
it goes…
--

sight of the town
on the ground
mud and the blood
flowing down
all of the bones exposed

stone in my hand
piece of the land
how can a man
start over again
with all of the pain that he knows

--

we must carry on
somehow
everything is gone
I don’t know how
to sing this old song
forgotten how
it goes…
Track Name: Stained Glass Heart
June 1st, 2005

Well I
am sorry for
what I done
and thank you for


holding on when it certainly was all crashing down
and I told you not to breathe or make a sound
and no one thought we’d last another round


but you
held on through
all the rain
though it grew


it could not - break what you had tethered to this spot
driven deep a stake into your heart
saying nothing would be ripping us apart


not if you
had anything
to do
with this thing


that clung on to your body like a wet sail to a mast
torn in tiny pieces but at last
sewn back to be better than brand new…


this tattered love
this stained glass heart
pulling through
like at the start
I can’t believe
He pulled us through…
you and me…
me and you.
Track Name: Eileen
Feb 27, 2010


Eileen, Eileen
Prettiest girl you ever seen
Eileen, Eileen alright

She was born a scrapper, looking mighty dapper back in ’77
Makes me kinda wonder what kinda thunder went missing up in Heaven

Eileen, Eileen
Prettiest gal I ever seen
Eileen, Eileen alright

She could rob the boys of the playground joys they so dearly sought
They’d forever miss her as they try to kiss her cause she won’t be caught

Eileen, Eileen
The fastest girl in the entire world
Eileen, Eileen alright

Eileen, Eileen
It’s hard for an angel without her wings
Eileen, Eileen alright

When you and me crossed paths by the railroad tracks you had me on my heels
And as the moon rolled by I had a hard time trying beliveing you were real

Eileen, Eileen
The ghost of some long fallen queen
Eileen, Eileen alright

Eileen, Eileen
To hold your hand made me understand what it means to be alright


We coulda thrown in the towel ten rounds ago but we’re still here swinging
Our song coulda ended so long ago but we just keep on singing

I want to grow old with you til my bones are glue and my hair is gone
And tell our babies’ kids all about you and sing them this song

Eileen, Eileen
The prettiest gal I ever seen
Eileen, Eileen alright
Eileen, Eileen
Prettiest gal, I can’t believe I get you all for me
Alright
Track Name: Chapter 2
May 4, 2007

Well I cut my teeth in Baltimore
fell out the womb and I hit the floor
they spanked me and they heard me cry
I'm not staying round here no more


I rolled on down to Chattanooga
Tennessee the in the throws of youth
But I could not stay all that long
cause I quickly burned a bridge or two


Had to roll on back ‘fore my horse gave out
Stuck in the middle of nowhere, no other way out
So I hit the gas and I screamed a prayer
Lord said ‘I hear you son, there's no need to shout’


Well I fell in deep with my old crew
and I had a drink I had a few
the devil danced around my head
singing “we only do what we must do”

(solo)

Well I headed back south with a backing band
a couple of bucks and a faulty plan
but my star fell into my hand
I held on tight and became a man


We hurried off into the pines
where she became a friend of mine
where she became my blushing bride
Good God Almighty she sure is fine


Had to learn to lay my life on down
And to plant a seed in fertile ground
and sure enough as the day is long
Things came popping up all around


Now I got to keep my babies fed
Gotta go to work and make some bread
So they grow up and they grow up strong
Gotta hug ‘em awake and love ‘em to bed


And so now here I stand in front of you
Blowing this harp ‘til my lips turn blue
Singing like I was born to do
While I’m busy working on Chapter Two