Nine and Two Thirds :
Note: Neal's favorite of his musical works, Nine and Two Thirds has been remastered and rereleased for 2016
Nine and Two Thirds was Neal's first foray back into recording after a serious hand injury in 2010 (the title actually refers to the fact that the injury left him with 9 2/3 fingers). The hauntingly somber EP features more keyboards than his previous release, Sparse, actually harkening back to the early works of his former L.A.-based group, Casual Rebels.
Sacred
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Two days ago I was twenty seven
Then I died and I've been dead ever since
My body's gone on to live a different life
It's living someone else's life
I'm sure
I don't know why the sun keeps shining
I don't know why I keep breathing
Can you tell me is there a damn thing sacred?
Moving along alone is what you do when you're gone
When you're gone
I'm too damned old to feel like this, to not feel anything at all
Nine and two thirds woke me up for a moment or two
We'll see
To feel something missing is to feel something at all
Things are in the wrong place again
Never Again
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Never again
Never again
For the moment we've got this thing called life
But never again
...Of Living
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Life on the other side is the other side
...of living
Time is another side, spills the other side
...from living
Take it away
Hold me down
Take me away and lift me up and leave me alone
One more time and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over
Your Stone/My Immolation
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
I know you're gone
Very gone
Completely gone
Yet I feel you, hear you walking
I can feel you though you're gone
Completely gone away
I can walk across you
Spread myself across you
Run my fingers through the grass that covers you
I wish those fingers through your hair
I'm pulled into the ether
I'm losing me
I'm losing me because you're gone
I feel your stone, feel your name, feel your dates
I'm pressing my cheeks against your stone
It's cold, it burns, it's cold, it burns
Oh God, it burns
My immolation's canceled on account of rain...
Sparse:
Sparse was Neal's first solo effort. This album featured the birth of his now signature sound: deeply emotional with spartan arrangements and no percussion. Though not released until 2011, Sparse was actually recorded and mixed in 1999 at several small studios in Los Angeles. The album's minimalist approach foreshadowed what was to come from many singer/songwriters in the early 2000s.
Interestingly, the song Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone from the album Sparse started receiving internet radio airplay and downloads 14 years after it was recorded.
Walk Away
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
With an endless parade of ideals rushing by
How to know what to choose? Tell me which to choose
I'm not thrilled with the thoughts that tip-toe through my head in the dark of the night
But with the sun in my hair and the light on my face I can scream at those thoughts:
"Just let me go!"
Walk away
Can't conceive it, cannot fathom it
And I'm frightened by those who find peace
And I hate to think, to imagine it, that the world could go on without me
But with the sun in my hair and the light on my face I can scream at those thoughts:
"Just let me go!"
Walk away
One more time, here I whine again, gripped by fear of an endless sleep
Feel
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Hurt in silence, covered up in glass and logic
Hurt in silence, here's the only place you'll hear this
Feel
Hurt in silence, crumpled under debt and ashes
Hurt in silence, now I'm here have I miscarried?
Hurt in silence, is it real if you don't show it?
Hurt in silence, here's the only place you'll hear this
Hurt in silence, now it's gone and I can't stop it
Hurt in silence, paper weights and weights of paper
Hurt in silence, covered up in glass and logic
Hurt in silence, here's the only, only place you'll hear
Colors
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
She said:
"There are things surrounding us
I see colors mixing, day and night will blend together
and it's all I can take."
She said:
"This is all that's left of us
When we die we fade, we turn, turn to colors
and it's all I can take..."
"We turn to colors"
She said:
"Touch this skin that covers me
Your skin paints me over, I'm blueing anyway
and it's all I can take..."
She said:
"If you look inside of me you'll see nothing there but silver indigos
and it's all I can take..."
She said:
"Let your canvas cover me
Very soon I'll go, I'll fade, I'll turn to colors
and it's all I can take..."
She said:
"Let the dirt fall on my brow
Let the grave come swallow this thing that's gone to colors
and it's all I can take..."
She said:
"We are colors..."
Murmuring
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager[insert mumbles of personal discontent]
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager (Inspired by the works of Carl Sagan and James Randi)
They say that aliens built the pyramids
They say there's a continent buried deep down under the sea
Invisible beings will slip through your walls and grab you in your sleep and spirit you away
And have you seen the Virgin in the smoke of a volcano?
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone will crumble to dust while the tabloids sell millions
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone, we long to have something else calling
They say a man can bend a spoon with his will
They say she could read your thoughts at 50 paces
There is a luminous glow surrounding our bodies changing colors with our moods it pulses and it shifts
And have you seen the Virgin in the streaks of a dirty window?
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone will crumble to dust while the tabloids sell millions
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone, we long to have something else calling
They say crystals focus energies
They say a gifted person can even raise the dead
You can lift out of your body from a deep enough transe and travel through the universe gaining knowledge as you fly
And have you seen the Virgin in the charred marks of a tortilla?
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone will crumble to dust while the tabloids sell millions
Tesseracts and the Rosetta Stone, I can't believe there's something else calling...
...calling me home. Calling me home.
But where is home?
I know of no home.
Say Hello
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
If you see my friends...
Said, if you see my friends...
If you see them in that place where I'll never go
Say hello for me
Well I've heard that the judgement for sinners is harsh
And I've heard that not believing is the least forgiveable of sins
I'm sure there's a comfort that comes from believing
And the thought of death without it brings no comfort at all
But I've pondered this subject enough for ten lifetimes
And you have to believe me when I say I'd believe it if I could
Well I've known good people who should now be in heaven
If there really is such a place
Well maybe there is, maybe there isn't, but either way I do not think I'll ever see them again
It's lonely here
This world full of people seems empty, pretty much
Because I've got a short lease, a limited tennancy and no where to go when they kick me out the door
You know it really doesn't matter what I believe, you believe, he believes, they believe
Because there's only one truth...
Just can't be sure what it is
Wisdom
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
I looked at the sky and I closed my eyes after escaping the party
As I sat alone he stumbled outside and sat down without asking
What is wisdom?
I wish I knew
He seemed surprised when I told him my age
That I was a decade his senior
And he said to me: "I'll bet in that time you've come across some kind of wisdom"
I felt flustered and I just mumbled: "God, I wish that I had."
There was that letter that I wrote that I'd hoped that by now I'd have some kind of answers
I was surprised she wrote that she was still searching after seventy years.
Slipping
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Stood and looked at his face in the glass today
It's getting older and older and older and stranger
There was a time when things just seemed to go so easily
But now the days they pass like mud in the soul
There's something slipping, something slipping, something vital
He sees his face as pieces that will not fall
Something is slipping
He can feel it inside
There's something slipping, slipping away
He feels as though his skull is raining down in pieces
His lips they move sometimes with a life of their own
He stands naked by his window with a candle, drawing circles on his elbows and his thighs
He sits staring at his freckled arms for hours, finding patterns that may not be there at all
He wants to pierce his skin with razor blades and matches
He wants to know how it feels to bleed, to bleed
The Flow
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
The Flow keeps on going
It's coursing through my veins
It's keeping me alive
This day keeps after me with no hope of comprehending just what is going on
I lie upon the grass
Is this where I'm going? Is this where I belong?
Think of snow: it frightens me with the image of a marker and the carving on the stone
I am the only thing I know
Even then I will admit that still I can't be sure
And the world comes into me with a rush of expectation and a letdown all along
Psuedo-Himalayas
Music: Neal A. YeagerDawn is Coming
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Splintered matches
Hardwired darkness
Blasted atoms
Tinseled arrangements
Dawn is coming
Dawn is coming for me
Dawn is coming
Dawn is coming and will not wait for me
Cascading golden
Choking embers
Blueing cathodes
Igniting forever
Take it: the darkness
Unfold it past violet
Feel it in shambles
Make it forever
...and Leaving
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
If I didn't feel sorry for myself I probably wouldn't feel anything at all
Collecting myself, collecting my thoughts, collecting my things...
...and leaving
The Last Gasp of Juan Diego del Fuego is the 3rd solo musical offering from Neal A. Yeager. Stylistically, the album continues with the unique sound Neal developed in his solo work (after the band Casual Rebels). The album has emotional depth, sparse arrangements and Neal's trademark lack of percussion. One new twist: the abundance of lead guitar on this album, which was in a way a form of physical therapy in response to a 2010 accident which crushed Neal's hand and resulted in loss of part of a finger.
The Flowing Red Hair of Felicia Day
Music: Neal A. Yeager[Note from Neal: Instrumental tracks need to be called something. I just happened to watch "The Guild" soon after recording this one. Thus the title. I have never met Felicia Day. And though I am a fan, I swear that I am not a stalker...]
The Days That Matter
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
We're in all the reach of the world
We're in every problem we can't solve
We're in fields of radiant flowers
We're in the utter filth of the world
These are the days that matter
We build with the skill of a child
We tear down as if we were gods
We live off the fat of the past
We miss the future for now
Sick Little Monkey
Words: Neal A. Yeager Music: Jamie Stivers
We all long for a place in the sun
We all long for some kind of company
But you let no one touch you
But I know that you still want it anyway
And you swear you don't know what time it is
You swear you couldn't really care at all
Can I help you my sick little monkey, now?
Can I be helpful at all
Walking along there on your own
I know that you want some kind of company
You're not fooling anyone
It shows on your face
When you don't say a word
I've never sang out a love song
I'm not about to start now
But if you require some kind of company
I'm standing here right now
I'm standing here right now
Swim Team Monsters.
Killer Prom Dogs.
Music: Neal A. Yeager
You're Alone Now
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
This is how
This is where
This is why
You're alone now
All About Nothing
Words: Neal A. Yeager Music: Neal A. Yeager and Jamie Stivers
Therapeutic legions will roll through town in red Mercedes
While we of the night, bleached white, push ourselves through
Fom indigo to violet
Those vitamin fiends can't understand
The skin is subject to rebirth again and again
While tattoos shine through we push ourselves through
From indigo to violet
All about nothing
The world's in the smoke of your cigarette
All about nothing
It seems almost pointless to be, and yet...
All about nothing
I see the world in your silhouette
All about nothing
Remind me again that it doesn't really matter
Cinder block at 3 am
Suntans fade but the night stays in your blood
Sunshiny people will never know the way the night air feeds the soul
Neon bar signs, shadowy dance floors, gallons of alcohol and piles of cigarettes
Here's where we live
The night's where we live
The night is where we live
Bend
Words & Music: Neal A. YeagerSweet and melancholy are things that sometimes go together sitting in a room watching the clouds slip by there is a certain feeling there something is somewhere someone belongs somewhere bend me completely complete me bend me completely complete me ~ Maybe here is where they belong time stands still yet doesn't it stretches out and speeds by they say that time is golden they say that time is precious they say that it never comes again bend me completely complete me bend me completely complete me ~ Someone's in the room and the clouds slippng by sometimes days last for seconds and someimes seconds for days there is a feeling in the air a feling in the air a feeling both painful and mournful bend me completely complete me bend me completely complete me bend me completely complete me bend me completely complete me ~ The air is thick and thin like silk like leather the clouds slip by they just don't care bend me completely complete me bend me completely complete me ~ The trees sway in the wind just like you
Sit and Listen
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
Full of sound and fury
But it doesn't mean a thing
If you don't want it to
And you don't want it to
Pushed to the one side
Pulled to the other side
Your back to the wall
And your front
To the inside
(If you know what I mean)
Sit and listen to life
Part of the Journey Here
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
There was the news and the news wasn't great
But through it all there was still enough sun to shine
Standing bare on the rocks that can cut you down
Leave you broken and afraid
Take a breath
Take it one step at a time
Every moment is a part of the journey here
Mark off your calender for this is your only time
You will be
You will be
Standing bare on the rocks that can cut you down
Leave you broken and afraid
On the day that the world seemed to cry out loud
Through it all there was still enough sun to shine
Don't forget: this is your only time
You will be
You will be
Achilles Wheel
Music: Neal A. YeagerLimpid 8
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
One time
One place
One more
Limpid heart of mine
Borrowed
Taken
Stolen
Limpid heart of mine
Figures
Does it?
Add this
Limpid heart of mine
Gracious
Luminous
Guarded
Limpid heart of mine
One time (there's only one time)
One place (there's only one place)
One last
Limpid heart of mine
Hover
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
It was raining as she took a step through the grass
It was a gray, gray day
Her heals sank as her heart sank as she walked away from the grave
It was a gray, gray day
And her heart sank as her heals sank through the water that covered the grass that covered the earth
She whispered to him:
"It's too late
It's much too late
It's too late to hover over me."
It was raining as she sat all alone in her room
It was a gray, gray day
The rain streaked down her windows as she tried to see through the fog
It was a gray, gray day
And she said to him:
"It's too late
It's much too late
It's too late to hover over me."
It was raining as she walked out the old screen door
It was a gray, gray day
In the yard the swing rocked as the wind rocked
The swing that he'd made for her and painted green
And her heart sank as her heals sank, she swore she could see him in the rain
She whispered to him, she said:
"It's too late
It's much too late
It's too late to hover over me."
The Last Gasp of
Juan Diego del Fuego
Words & Music: Neal A. Yeager
I'm gonna drive to Texas
Wanna go where there's nothing
But the air and the sky
And I won't wear sunglasses
And I'll burn myself blind
And I'll park somewhere by the side of the road
And I'll walk a hundred yards
And then I'll lie down and just stare
I'lll just stare
At Texas