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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