Oblivion
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin and Adrian Holz
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
Everyone is disappearing; at least it seems that way to me...
Or else I've just lost my reason/ I can't trust the things I see
It's a matter of discussion/ Living by what we perceive
That crazy guy out on the corner, on the soapbox/ Thinks he's sane as you or me
And it sometimes makes me wonder/ What this world is all about
And it sometimes feels like too much, too much, too much
Do I need a good way out?
I think I need to fall into OBLIVION
We're obsessed with entertainment/ Guess the real world is too tough to face...
And pop culture is our playground/ Introspection has no place
We can't trust our politicians/ Well I guess that's how it's always been
But it’s hard to differentiate/ Information from the spin
And it sometimes makes me wonder/ Why I bother keeping score…
Maybe daily life’s just too much, too much, too much
And it’s time to find a door?
I think it’s time to fall into OBLIVION
It’d be so nice to simply fall into OBLIVION
Yet to let our minds just drift away,
Aren’t we just putting off our problems to another day?
Suddenly it doesn’t seem like such a great plan
I should keep my wits about me, while I still can…
So perhaps I shouldn’t fall into OBLIVION...
I’ll have to fight the urge to fall into OBLIVION
Everyone is disappearing; or perhaps it’s just a dream gone by.
So I’ll keep trusting my perceptions/ But I won’t stop asking why....
No I won’t stop asking why…. I’ll have to fight the urge to fall….
Laura Benjamin/ Lead Vocals
Doug Kees/Guitars
Cameron Hizer/ Hammond Organ, Fender-Rhodes
AJ Holz/ Bass
Steve Mounce/ Drum Kit
Let It Go
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
A burning inside of you is trying to break out
It might not be good or pure; you don’t know what it’s about
Is it just restlessness, has your life become no fun?
Or is there a darker cause, are you coming undone?
You have dreams of adventure, but they’re more than you can take…
They all seem faintly sordid, make you blush when you wake
You’re obsessed with appearances, and you fear your wilder side
You suppress all your impulses; keep them bottled up inside
CHORUS
Why care what other people say?
Live the life you want, in your own way
You’ll never please ‘em all, all the time...oh no no
So just LET IT GO,
You can’t handle the part of you that is not status quo
You’ve got hidden desires that you want no one to know
Just why are you so desperate to fit into some mold?
You don’t question convention. No, you just do what you’re told.
CHORUS
You’re far more complex than you reveal...
It’s not a crime to allow yourself to feel
You’re all wrapped up in pride and control…
Why don’t you let your hair down? Show your soul....
CHORUS
Why care what they say, just LET IT GO.
Ya gotta LET IT GO.
Laura Benjamin/ Lead Vocals, Backup Vocals
Doug Kees/Guitars
AJ Holz/ Bass
Steve Mounce/ Drum Kit, Djembe
Diana Mounce/ Backup Vocals
Don McCollister/ Hammond Organ, Aux. Percussion
Goodbye, Pluto
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
We hold certain truths to be self-evident
Even if everything around us may change
Day follows night, and spring follows winter
An eleven day week would seem rather strange.
But there comes a moment in our growing older
When childhood certainties no longer apply
We may feel betrayed, or even abandoned
As we turn our sights to the sky….
We thought we had the solar system straight
Where once were nine, there now are only eight….
CHORUS
So GOODBYE, PLUTO/ The scientists all concur
GOODBYE, PLUTO/ You’re not what we thought you were….
Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been led to consider
Facts that I formerly thought to be true…
Like…”we all will find love”, “we’ll all raise a family”
“Our leaders know best what to do…”
Through time’s march, illusions fall away
So it’s with a heavy heart that I now say…
CHORUS
No you’re not what we thought you were….
Yet it doesn’t seem fair/ To give you a new designation
when you didn’t go anywhere
It all feels so surreal/ I’m left without explanation
for why you got such a raw deal…
So they tell me that now I can’t call you a planet
You’re too small, with not enough gravity
I choose to refuse to accept your new status
You’ll always be a planet to me…
Yes you’ll always be a planet to me…
So it won’t be GOODBYE, PLUTO
You’ll live on in our hearts
No it won’t be GOODBYE
So it won’t be GOODBYE, PLUTO
You’ll live on in our hearts
No it won’t be GOODBYE…
Laura Benjamin/ Lead Vocals. Piano
Doug Kees/Guitars
AJ Holz/ Bass
Steve Mounce/ Drum Kit, Djembe
Diana Mounce/ Backup Vocals
Fear Of Dyin' Alone
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
Erica was single at 35; She feared she was way past her prime
Worked as a writer for a magazine; loved it though it took all her time
In a few years, she found herself a lover; a banker, with Hollywood looks
He told her she was pretty and made her feel safe; it seemed out of a storybook
Then he made her quit workin’ and took control of her life
Sayin’ he didn’t want a famous journalist, he wanted a wife…
CHORUS So she left behind what she loved the most…
For a life in shadow, like a ghost
Dreams left unfulfilled, adventures left unknown
All for the FEAR OF DYIN’ ALONE
Michael was a real estate salesman; it paid the bills, but it didn’t inspire
And to play the guitar in a rock-n-roll band was his innermost secret desire
When the group started hittin’ the bar scene, they were the rock stars of Dalton, G-A
And Michael caught the eye of a pretty fine girl, and that nearly blew him away
Well he knew he’d have to quit the life of the travelin’ man
But he never thought he’d have to choose between her and the band….
CHORUS 2 So he left behind what he loved the most…
For a life in shadow, like a ghost
Dreams left unfulfilled, adventures left unknown
All for the FEAR OF DYIN’ ALONE
Left it all behind, for a life not their own
All for the FEAR OF DYIN’ ALONE
Left it all behind, too scared to be on their own
All for the FEAR OF DYIN’ ALONE
Dreams left unfulfilled, adventures left unknown
All for the FEAR OF DYIN' ALONE
Laura Benjamin/ Lead Vocals , Backup Vocals, Piano
Doug Kees/Guitars
AJ Holz/ Bass
Steve Mounce/ Drum Kit
Cameron Hizer/ Hammond Organ
With Us, For Awhile
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
Startin’ over/ isn’t easy/ Especially when somebody is gone…
So much hurting/ so much sorrow
Something’s out of step, and everything feels wrong
But no one’s tears can stop the world from spinning
And no one’s pain prevents the rising sun
So we stumble onward, and face our daily struggles…
But you’re not forgotten, not by anyone
CHORUS Now when we play music, we remember you
In each note, we hear your laughter, see your smile
It isn’t always easy, but we have to keep on playin’
Then it’s almost like you’re WITH US, FOR AWHILE
You loved sailboats…. You loved seashores
But mostly, you loved playin’ in the band.
Simple pleasures….no, you didn’t ask for much.
So why could it not turn out like you planned?
The drum beats pound, I feel you in the rhythm
The piano rolls, you echo in the sound…
Your loss is like a chasm that can never quite be filled
Still there’s one place where some solace can be found
CHORUS
Can’t help it; sometimes anger rushes in
At fate, and at a world that let you go…
Why you? Why now? It all seems so unfair
There’s so much we don’t know…
So we take comfort where we can…
CHORUS
For just a brief and fleeting time…
It’s almost like you’re WITH US, FOR AWHILE
For just a little while…
Laura Benjamin/ Vocals, Piano
Diana Mounce/ Vocals
Doug Kees/Guitars
AJ Holz/ Bass
Steve Mounce/ Drum Kitt
Don McCollister/ Hammond Organ
Yankee Girl
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
Grew up in the north, in the city
A thrilling place, but I never quite fit in
My family gave me all that I could wish for
Yet I was always peeking ‘round the bend....
Then I journeyed southward, in a search for something new
And before too long, I found the place that fate had led me to...
CHORUS It’s been a long long time but I think I’ve found my voice
And it’s rooted in the Southland, and it’s free and proud and strong
I’m a YANKEE GIRL who’s spread her wings and flown away
And I finally found a place where I belong
So I packed my bags to head on down the highway
Reached the Mason-Dixon by the night
Drove straight through dawn, high on anticipation
Saw the sunrise on the Blue Ridge, clear and bright
And when I reached this brand new land, of peaches and red clay
I pulled myself together, started on to make my way..
CHORUS
It’s hard to be so far away
From the friends and family I knew before
Now with every passing day,
This place suits me more and more...
CHORUS
Yeah I finally found a place where I belong…
I’m just a YANKEE GIRL/ a long, long way from home
And I’ve finally found/ a place where I belong.
Laura Benjamin/ Lead Vocal, Backup Vocals
Doug Kees/Guitars
AJ Holz/ Bass
Steve Mounce/ Drum Kit
Diana Mounce/ Backup Vocals
Cameron Hizer/ Hammond Organ
What Would He Think
(Words and Music by Laura Benjamin
Copyright 2007 Laura Benjamin Publishing/ASCAP)
She knew a man; when she was small
He guided her as she grew tall
He taught her how to laugh and sing
Through all the trouble life should bring
But since he left this world when she was seventeen
He doesn’t know who she’s become or all she’s done and seen
So sometimes late at night while lying in her bed
There is a burning question that echoes in her head
CHORUS WHAT WOULD HE THINK of me now?
How would he feel about the choices I’ve made?
Have I become the woman he wanted me to be?
If he could still be here now, would he be proud of me?
I yearn for his approval, something fate did not allow...
WHAT WOULD HE THINK OF ME NOW?
And so she spent a happy youth
She was quite lucky, to tell the truth
When she was scared, he’d calm her fears
And if she failed, he’d dry her tears
They’d talk and laugh together on a Sunday afternoon.
She never thought he’d ever leave, especially not so soon
So now she’s left with memories imprinted on her heart
But the questions never answered are tearing her apart
CHORUS
WHAT WOULD HE THINK of me now?
Please say he thinks of me now.
Have I become the person he wanted me to be?
If he could still be here now, would he be proud of me?
Just one more chance to see him, don’t care where or when or how....
WHAT WOULD HE THINK of me now?
WHAT WOULD HE THINK of me now?
Laura Benjamin/ Lead Vocal, Piano
Don McCollister/ String Arrangement and Sequencing
Stephen Sewell
Our friend and bandmate, in whose memory "With Us, For Awhile" was written
...playin' in the band...
Nic Benjamin
In Memory: 1943-1994