WHEELS FALL OFF

Lyrics

Wheels Fall Off (Intro)
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
We don't have money for the shop
Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
And then we'll get out and walk

That's What I Hear
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

I see a lot of fear and blind frustration
The seers say that the worst is on its way
The paid-off prophets plead appeasement policies
The scene is tragic and the politicians play

That's What I Hear

I hear it was stolen slowly in backroom whispers,
An inside job, the fat men ate their fill
Before we knew it, they'd stripped the cupboards bare
Dine and dash, let the children pay the bill.

That's What I Hear

I see, I fear, I feel, I hear that
It's time, and time is running out
And we all know the status quo won't change itself
Rome's burning, 'cause the fiddler calls the tune
And ancient warnings ring unheeded through the ruins.

That's What I Hear

Memo To Your Self
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Lighten up!
You carry existential weight
As if it were the will of fate
You're aging at alarming rate
And it's such a waste of youth.
I should know,
I was once too serious, just like you
Wrapped up in my own worldview
And the knots I tied myself into.
It's time to cut you loose.

Write a memo to yourself
That, for your mental health,
Try to give the good life a chance.
You might even find
That I'll still respect your mind,
But I still love to watch you dance.

Won't you come,
When the sun is setting in the west
The daylight has been put to rest?
The trixies in their cocktail dress
Go stumbling down the street.
I don't mind
The common joys I once disdained
The drivers that drove me insane
For reasons that I can't explain,
I like everyone I meet.

Write a memo to yourself
That, for your mental health,
Try to give the good life a chance.
You might even find
That I still respect your mind,
But I still want to watch you dance.

In the end,
All our worldly scales must fall
And the things that drove us up the wall
Well, they won't bother us at all
When the clock says, "Out of time."
We can dance!
It's really quite effectual
I know you're intellectual,
But it's really more than sexual -
As if that were such a crime.

Write a memo to yourself
That, for your mental health,
Try to give the good life a chance.
You might even find
That I'll still respect your mind,
But please, can I get in your pants?

Rocket Surgery (instrumental)
music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Fat Dumb and Happy
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

In my younger days, the urban life
Was the only way that I could see
The fridge was empty ‘cause we’d go out,
Raise hell, roll in at three.
At twenty-five, I hit the wall
And suddenly the game was lost
Where once the first round was always mine
I now recount the cost.
‘Cause I got early mornings
And a boss that’s hard to please
And the tension ‘bout my pension
Has got me on my knees.

Wanna move to the suburbs
And get fat, dumb, and happy?
Wanna move to the cul-de-sacs?
Wanna move out to the suburbs
And get fat, dumb, and happy?
Wanna move and never look back.

My long-time girl’s been hounding me
To save my money and buy a ring
She really needn’t push so hard –
I was thinking the same thing.
But my friendly little neighborhood
Has real estate that blows my mind
If I’m to raise a family
Gotta leave it all behind.
We’ll buy three bedrooms
Pound out the kids
And silence any doubts,
‘Cause it’s what our parents did.

They moved to the suburbs
And got fat, dumb, and happy.
They moved to a cul-de-sacs.
They moved to the suburbs
And got fat, dumb, and happy.
They moved and they never looked back.

I’ll have a two-hour commute to work
The kids will wonder why their Daddy’s such a jerk
We’ll shop in box stores and watch TV
And tithe to mega-churches,
‘Cause Jesus’ love ain’t free.

Jesus moved to the suburbs
And got fat, dumb, and happy
Jesus moved to the cul-de-sacs
Jesus moved to the suburbs
And got fat, dumb, and happy
Jesus moved and never looked back.

Let’s move to the suburbs
And get fat, dumb, and happy
Let’s move to the cul-de-sac
Let’s move to the suburbs
And get fat, dumb, and happy
Let’s move and never look back.

Covered in Grit
words by Ethan Taylor Sellers, music by Ethan Taylor Sellers and Emily Albright

We slide astride the city streets
At sloth-like southern paces
Skin absorbs the summer sun
In melted candle faces
Heated asphalt addles our brains
South Side sewers never quite drain
Six days ‘til the trash truck comes
And a brand-new stank replaces.

Sun beats down on your head
And sweat begins to pour
You'd take a shower to wash it off
But you'd only sweat some more
Break into sweat if you sit
Airborne gravy covers you in grit
The only way to get relief's
To swim at the Lake Shore

The humid heat bounced off the street
When you walk out the door
Your sweaty grip begins to slip
Your aggravated pores
Covered in Grit
Covered in Grit

The highways are a parking lot
They've shut off all the streets
Drivers stew and honk their horns
Their cars will overheat
An hour and a half forever lost
Just sitting there sucking on exhaust
You change your lane to move along
But it ends in fifty feet

Tempers flare in heated air
The traffic moves like snails
The gasket blows the coolant flows
Your air conditioner fails
Covered in Grit
Covered in Grit

Exit Strategy (instrumental)
music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Summer, 1995
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

The hottest weeks that Chicago has known
Remembered as days when I made it my own
The air outside was hot and dry
A jello cube of heat
Suspended time like ambered flies
In a snapshot of the street
In '95, I burnt, alive and free.

Bronchitis floor in a summer sublet
Independent but poor - solo futon I slept
I came of age on a tiny wage
Made just enough to eat
Newspaper page of shut-ins, aged
Expiring from the heat
The lake baptized, address revised
And I believed
In '95, reborn, alive and free.

High School Reunion
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

I got the invite the other day to my high school class reunion
Can't place a face to the sender's name and the timing seemed too soon
Ten years - has it been that long?
The pull of nostalgia ain't strong
Because I never felt that much at home amidst the kids at school
I found the cliques and politics both asinine and cruel
So I marched in my cap and my gown
Went to college and moved out of town

And I won't go to my high school reunion
There are few there that I'd want to see
The memories may fade but I like it that way
The future's where I want to be

My friends who went all filled me in on the schadenfreude news
The closet cases who came out, the rehab stints, and boozers
I don't really care who got fat
Or how many kids they begat

So I won't go to my high school reunion
There are few there that I'd want to see
The memories may fade but I like it that way
The future's where I want to be

Wheels Fall Off
words/music by Ethan Taylor Sellers

Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
We don't have money for the shop
Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
And then we'll get out and walk

My battery's dead, my tailpipe rusted
The fan belt needs replaced
My car ain't much, and it ain't pretty
It gets me place to place.

My roof has leaks, the concrete's crumbling
It starts to rain indoors
We're mortgaged clear up to our eyeballs
We are the landed poor.

Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
We don't have money for the shop
Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
And then we'll get out and walk

It's been years since I've seen the dentist
My teeth are feeling loose
My arteries clogged, my lungs are blackened
Blood pressure through the roof

Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
We don't have money for the shop
Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
And then we'll get out and walk

If it ain't the one thing, it's gonna be another
We don't dig deeper, 'cause we fear what we'd discover
Our only hope is for better luck tomorrow
'Til then we pay late on all the time we've borrowed

Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
We don't have money for the shop
Let's keep driving 'til the wheels fall off
And then we'll get out and walk