In Life’s a Vacation, the narrator has decided he’s worked enough. He’s not going to wait anymore and decides to make a break for it. With money stolen from his partner’s parents, the two young people buy a rusty van and leave the same day with enough money to make it to the Yellowstone, where they have plans to “live like Edward Abbey.” Until they get there, however, they are Kit and Holly, Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise… With plans informed by obscure film noirs, the two wanna-be fugitives roll down the windows and keep it under 10 miles over the speed limit on a meandering path through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Key West.
As money runs out, they try to work up the courage to steal from anyone who might actually try to hold them accountable. Things do not go in their favor. These songs tell the portion of the story where they realize that maybe running away with a limited amount of stolen funds might close off a number of options, leaving them wondering if they are less free than they were before.
Death Wish
I’m not saying I’ve got a death wish
But you know you gotta take a few risks
I had to get out and I’m not going back to the junkyard jitters
'Cuz the hustling, the hiding, it made me feel tired
The no-doze, the driving it gave me sleepless nights
Like you ever believed me when I said it was gonna be alright
At first I used the cash
For Glen Livit and Russian imperial stout
That dress that I bought never looked as good as it did on the mannequin
So I gave it away to a blind woman
Now this guy in Key Largo is coming to do me in
Burning rubber out on the beach
There's a problem, we need to deal
With the mess we made trying to get in the clear
Just take a look at all that blue
We’re so broken that we hold on to
These old ways just to see them through
If I could have given more you know that I would
I’ve given all that I could
So I don’t wanna hear nothing about a conscience
We got what we came for so then why are we still here
You wanna get mixed up with all their fear
Burning rubber out on the beach
There's a problem, we need to deal
With the mess we made trying to get in the clear
Just take a look at all that blue
We’re so broken that we hold on to
These old ways just to see them through
Ready When You Are
Woke up with blood on my knuckles
I left my coat behind the booth at the bar
But I'm not going back
I went and bought us this van
It's a Chevy G20 from the year that you were born
I found it online and I liked the price
We've got pillows, blankets, those cassettes from when the record store closed
Crate full of wrenches, car fluid, the original manual
A copy of Good Old Neon for you to read while I drive
And a route for where to camp in the mountains
And we owe it to ourselves to give it one more second chance
If you wanna leave its gotta be today
If you wanna make it worth your while
Its gotta be the long way
Never mind the rust, you gotta trust this thing runs
Put your feet up on the dash and think
We've got it all
Go west I’m ready when you are
To get desert dirt on my desert boots
In Monument Valley acting like Edward Abbey
Doing 60 on siltstone
Until something snapped under our feet
And we nearly tipped over
When we came to a halt there
We got cards, matches, firewood from the national park
Cans of beans, hot sauce enough, tortillas
We got a water jug lantern if it gets too dark
And a cave to hide in if the ranger comes through
And there's no reason for us to be anywhere else but here
If you wanna leave its gotta be today
If you wanna make it worth your while
Its gotta be the long way
Never mind the rust, you better trust this thing runs
Put your feet up on the dash and think
We've got it all
Cayo Hueso
I walked from the lowest point of the continental United States
To a beach house built in 1938
With the all goods tucked away, I got into the hammock
And I want to swim with the marlins
But I can’t, I just can’t bring myself to go in the ocean
Still the sunsets only make me sad
Everyone here is just dying to turn us in
You can’t see the bones of the natives
But you know they’re still there, buried in the sand
You can see it in the grounds keeper’s smile that he really doesn’t care
If you think the keys will tell you where to go, you couldn’t be more wrong
And if you think that life’s a vacation
Well that shows how little you know
Scenicruiser
The ad said that Every mile is magnificent
Every highway was supposed to be a strip of velvet
On the Scenicruiser
Your head on the window, you fall asleep
You and me and tourists from Roanoke County
The outline of the blue ridge barely there in the dark
Shenandoah ain’t shit when your bus is stuck in park
We broke down two miles from Campbell Court
That’s ok I’d rather walk away from the Scenicruiser
I’m in another state of mind
One you can’t find if you don’t know how to hide
On the Scenicruiser
Took every ounce of patience to stay in these seats
An admirable wealth of control not to scream
I believed that this could me feel better
With a little effort you could do the same
I’m in another state of mind
One you can’t find if you don’t know how to hide
On the Scenicruiser
The ad said that every mile is magnificent
Every highway a strip of velvet
On the Scenicruiser
The outline of the blue ridge barely there in the dark
Shenandoah ain’t shit when your bus is stuck in park
Every mile will be magnificent
Every highway was gonna be a strip of velvet
On the Scenicruiser
The World Spins
The world spins
And you thought you knew just what to say
Til the wind came twirling through
The torch took their attention away
The luau's going strong outside
The guy you came with is captive in a conga line
The basement
You sit in the dark with your drink and his
And you wish you could eat something
Mai Tai's and mojitos never mix
Forgot to bring a notebook just in case
But the cement floor is almost cold enough to take its place
The stars are never as bright as your screensaver
The roommate's in a hula hoop
In a way, you are too
Still it spins
You tell yourself you should move with it
The truth is you're just not prepared to be social yet again
You're worried enough about making rent
You should have stayed home or worked an extra shift
Jesse Zucker - Vocals, Guitar, Acoustic, Bass, Drums, Keys
Former Birds 