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Hot Chicken

by Skunkmello

supported by
Hank Chinaski
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Hank Chinaski Going downtown with a handfull of roses, a pack of Pall Malls, and my alligator coat. Favorite track: Alligator Coat.
Adam Schaper
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Wiscoff
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The Organic Apple
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Connie
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Criss_Crossx
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1.
Cardboard Box Disguise 04:34
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Cardboard Box Disguise Riding bare-back, chips stacked, Big Mac, Coke, and fries It’s that roadhouse love in a cardboard-box disguise Then the belly flop, dirty cop, couple ladies on the grass If I don’t get it in the river, gonna hafta pawn my ride for cash Chorus: Don’t ask me how it got this way Cuz I don’t know, got nothing to say Yeah I don’t know Got nothing to say But to beat them odds, you know you got to play It’s that dirty whore, troubadour, thirty-four on the dice Looking for a ten, and the hard way would be nice Gotta lady friend to pretend she’s blowing on the dice for me Tip her well or go to hell, you know she don’t blow for free Gotta pair of crowns, double down, hit me Miss Croupier And get that girl to come round with that tonic and that Tanqueray Switch Blade, Jack of Spades, getting laid on a Queen Flip it over hun and I’ll be running to the money machine With them pink pills, dollar bills, looking for a thrill tonight Cuz when that bass drops the high tops be dancing neath the disco light And them finger dips, red lips, fake tits on the stage Got my pupils blown and my mind so disengaged © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
2.
Ridin' the River 04:00
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Riding the River Lay me down by the river When the river’s done with me And Stay around to deliver A half-assed eulogy I take a round for my liver And one for each of my kidneys And pray we drown all our shivers Fore the daylight comes for thee Yea I know it’s gonna come for me Like the water flow unto the sea Washed out with all the other debris (but until that time, you’ll find me) Riding the river, Chicago down to New Orleans Riding the River, Chicago down to New Orleans Riding the River, Chicago down to New Orleans Riding the River, Chicago down to New Orleans A-riding blind is always better And the spirits help to keep the tune I float the line, designed with gold and leather And stained by the tobacco moon I done my time, grinding out the weather I reckon by ma brass spittoon But surviving’s gotta mind to take forever And the floods be on the rise too soon Yea I know it’s gonna come for me Like the water flow unto the sea Washed out with all the other debris (but until that time, you’ll find me) Riding the river, Chicago down to New Orleans Riding the River, Chicago down to New Orleans Riding the River, Chicago down to New Orleans Riding the River, Chicago down to New Orleans © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
3.
Primetime Hero 04:06
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Prime Time Hero With the sidewalk kids and a broken fridge Outside on the lawn And I’m sittin’ clean with a TV screen And I’m tryin’ to get it on The corner lamp projects the stamp That’s splattered on the street And I try to guess but I must confess I’m just starin’ down at my feet And I stand single file and I try to make a name for myself But knowing all the while that the guise must be bad for my health I’m tired of being seen as some sort of criminal The writing on the street signs seems to be subliminal Can’t seem to get myself excited for some minimal wealth There’s prominent men who like to pretend They’re playin’ politics But it does appear to me I fear They’re all just lookin’ out for a fix While toothless grins denounce the sins That keep us entertained You gots to laugh on the behalf Of the mentally insane And I stand single file and I try to make a name for myself But knowing all the while that the guise must be bad for my health I’m tired of being seen as some sort of criminal The writing on the street signs seems to be subliminal Can’t seem to get myself excited for some minimal wealth You gotta get down to the blood pumpin’ heart of it They try to suck you in from the very first start of it And I ain’t gonna be just a part of their show Ain’t gonna be no prime time hero Ain’t gonna be no prime time hero No I ain’t gonna be no prime time hero Ain’t gonna be just a part of their show © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
4.
Rhinestone Shady 03:30
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Rhinestone Shady Well I was in the corner booth With my friends gin and vermouth When she came up and asked me for a light I said I don’t know what’s going on But I ain’t nobody’s john She said honey don’t be a fool, I ain’t got time Sipping on a cigarette She cast her silky net And caught me in her black stiletto spell I said you know it’s such a shame But I never go your name She said honey, I’ll take you home but I’ll never tell She was a lounge room lady Rhine stone shady Silhouette against a velvet wall She said but first you gotta know My husband’s name is Joe And he’s a solid 7 feet tall (and then she warned me…) Don’t wander to the deep end less you know just how to swim Most fellas they don’t like to share their wives But won’t you be a friend and float me out a fifth of gin And I’ll show you how the other half survives Well it must have been a dream Because I can’t recall the scene Just shadows in the smoke behind my eyes Seems a lifetime out past dawn Looking for a denouement The sun rising in a whiskey ginger sky Until one early morning drink A voce whispered, “So what you think” The silky sounds, I knew the fragrance well I said I’m sure we’ve met before Maybe once or maybe more She said honey I'll take you home but I'll never tell © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
5.
Highway 17 04:19
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Highway 17 Verse: Well it’s high time you provide a token Of your world renown generosity I’m beginning to suspect that you been jokin’ Bout all them things you been saying to me Chorus: Whoa-O-O-O-O-O Riding it out on Highway 17 Whoa-O-O-O-O-O Riding it out on Highway 17 Whoa-O-O-O-O-O Riding it out on Highway 17 Watch for the curves They can be real mean around the bend When you’re trying to pretend that you’re clean Verse: Well I been up to drinking, I been up to smokin’ And I know my way around a pharmacy But if it ain’t fixed, man, it ain’t broken And I’m fixing to get just as broke as can be Bridge: Last thing I remember As I was careening off the path Was: Oh man, ain’t it always such a long way back I mind my way at this time of day, As ginger as a dream But I can’t never seem to catch up with them damned high beams © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
6.
Slaughterhouse Blues 05:03
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Slaughterhouse Blues Beg, borrow steal It all goes to the dealer That much we all come to know And the deck is always stacked Cuz the dealer’s showing Jack And he’s surely he got the Ace in tow Well there’s bound to be a reckoning Out there a-heckling In the dark of some distant row But I aim to make a stand Just as long as I can Like Davy Crocket t the Alamo Pre Chorus: Don’t you try to wake me Or even try to shake me I know how to toe that line But resistance is futile And the alternative is brutal I just need a little bit more time Don’t you try to wake me Or even try to shake me I know how to walk that line… Chorus: We all trying to find a way to Stay out the slaughterhouse, stay out the slaughterhouse We all trying to find a way to Stay out the slaughterhouse, stay out the slaughterhouse Say hey there mama You’s a real snake charmer Can I be your second choice I ain’t got no plan But I’m a mighty big fan Of the righteously unemployed Sure I might be chicken But I can take a licking When m back is up against the wall But I don’t do rings Or other social kinda things And I prefer to keep the talk real small Stay out the slaughterhouse / Stay out the slaughterhouse… © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
7.
Alligator Coat 03:46
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Alligator Coat I got to get some pleasing Yea, I gotta get mine Go to the room that she’s in Pay it up front for an hour’s time Come on now don’t be teasing My silver dollars shine Don’t hafta have a reason Pay it up front for an hour’s time Sweet Ann Marie, Oh darlin’ I’m in love with you You got the pedigree, to love me like I like you too Chorus: I’m going downtown With a handful of roses A pack of Pall Malls And my alligator coat And I’ll wear the crown In the dessert with Moses And spray-paint the walls With a good old fashioned love letter note You know I love my Jesus And all them holy kind But they don’t have what please us Pay it up front for an hour’s time Don’t have a bent persuasion No, just a broken mind Drink heavy on occasion Pay it up front for an hour’s time Sweet Ann Marie, Oh darlin’ I’m in love with you You got the pedigree, to love me like I like you too Well I got a friend A friend in God But when he opens fire she’s my lightening rod Sweet Ann Marie, Oh darlin’ I’m in love with you You got the pedigree, to love me like I like you too © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
8.
Cashflow Blues 03:47
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Cash Flow Blues I got money baby I got money fast I got money baby Get it now cuz money never last (You better get on it, though) When I was a young boy Down in Atlantic City A man put a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket Said son don’t you gamble like me And now I’m an old boy With nobody caring for me So I’ll let it ride on the dice tonight For the thrill and a free whiskey I ain’t got no money I ain’t got no cash I ain’t got no money Had some but it vanished in a flash (But I swear to God I had some, though) From the burning sun in Barstow To the cold in Somerville I played the galley hand with the working man While sleeping in a coupe Deville But I don’t mind living easy And I got time to kill Gotta bottle of brine and a working mind To fill a hat full a dollar bills Throw down all your money Lay down all that green Bet it on me honey I’m burning up like kerosene (Yea I’m burning up) Ain’t nothing too fancy On this lonely side of town But when them Aces fall and you try to call I’ll raise you pound for pound Ain’t no sense getting even Though it’s such a pretty sound Cuz all that’s true in this life, babe Is if you ain’t up, your down © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC
9.
Sweet Delight 07:20
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Sweet Delight The sun is setting right on top of me I feel its fire burning bright It isn’t greed, if it’s rooted in a real need Oh how I long for sweet delight There ain’t no fix to fix what’s twistin’ me Better men have failed outright I got the shakes, violent as the earth quakes Jonesing for my sweet delight Sometimes the liquor just ain’t hard enough When you wander naked in the night It’s a lonely street, that leads to where the people meet All lookin’ for their sweet delight Thought I heard a voice callin’ out to me Comin’ from a place just outa sight Sometimes it seems, like I’m drowning in the jet stream Reaching out for sweet delight Now I keep a bottle always next to me And dump it till I’m good and tight Well I’m all alone, drinkin’ by the telephone Dreamin’ of my sweet delight Well drink a drink for all that’s happened And drink a drink for all that might And drink you fill, for everything that never will And raise your glass to sweet delight © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC

about

Skunkmello:
Matt Bartlett
Ed Cuervo
Jono Ori

A little help from our friends:
Jason Holt (Bass), Mark Masefield (Hammond B3), Shoheen Owhady (Keys), Roman Urbanski (Backup Vocals), Glenn Spivack (Pedal Steel)

Art by Jason Felton.
Photo & Album Design by AJ Ferrer.
Recorded/Mixed by Ed Cuervo.

Produced by Ed and Skunkmello.
Special thanks to Mary Wood and the entire Frisbie family.

All Songs © 2016 Matthew Bartlett (ASCAP) ℗ 2016 Skunkmello LLC

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released June 10, 2016

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Skunkmello New York, New York

Sewer blues and gutter grooves for the barefooted and absent minded.

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