Caffeine Days and Sleepless Nights:

All songs by Tony Day & Todd Elsliger


 

 

Caffeine Days and Sleepless Nights

 

Caffeine days and sleepless nights

It’s hard to come down when you get so high

I like my coffee dark as a moonless sky

Stronger than the sun on the 4th of July

Fresh from Costa Rica, flown in from Colombia

Caffeine days and sleepless nights.

 

The only thing that gets me going in the morning

A steaming hot cup of platinum grade petroleum

My body runs like a finely tuned machine

As long as I fill it up with gasoline

 

Chorus

 

 My favorite barista knows me by my first name

He’s a serious hipster who’s pallet has been well trained

His precision is deft his artistry is true

I’m in and out the door with a perfect cup of brew

 

I was just a kid when I took my first sip

The taste of Irish cream was sweet upon my lip

It didn’t take long I was hooked on double doubles

Now I gotta bad case of cappuccino troubles

 

Chorus

 

Grown in Guatemala, brewed in Indonesia

Imported from Jamaica, now you know I’m living on

Caffeine days and sleepless nights.


 

 

Bad Idea  

 

I’m the kind of guy who, sends a dozen roses

to a woman that I barely even know

 

I guess I’m just romantic, I didn’t know you had a boyfriend

When I showed up he was waiting at the door

 

Another bad idea, to throw on the pile

I wish I could say that it’s been a while

I dust myself off, get back on the horse

She’ll look me up after the pre-nup and the divorce

 

Sometimes I collect things, like hockey cards and pennies

Once and a while I’ll buy a classic car

 

Do you know a good mechanic, ‘cause I can barely change a tire

and the cars I have aren’t going very far

 

Another bad idea, up on a jack

in someone’s garage, I’ll have to pay back

I’ll get another job, move back with my mom

restoring cars and wishing on stars that turn into songs

 

Another bad idea, a foul into the stands

I’m diving for the catch, I don’t care where I land

The first baseman’s body collides into mine, I reach for the sky

and when we get up the ball’s in my hands

 

I tried my hand at acting, I’ve even been sky diving

I’ve got tattoos of things I don’t understand

 

 My golf career went nowhere,

I wrote a novel in there somewhere

I’ve got a license to grow marijuana plants

 

Another bad idea, goes up in smoke

I might have been high when I missed the joke

I dust myself off, and make a new friend

Her name is Christine I’m falling in love all over again


 

 

Little Manito

 

Little Manito, when I first saw you

I didn’t know I needed, a friend until I found you

 

You fit upon my shoulder

Your ears are just like velvet

You look angry when you’re smiling

But I know that’s just your style

 

You wake me in the morning

With little baby kisses, you’re standing on my chest

 

My darling Spanish linda

We go driving in my car

We spend the day together

We’re playing tug of war

 

Valley girl, I’m so glad I found your

Picture in the classifieds, you’re not much to behold

 

But you can sneeze on command

You play dead when I pull the trigger

All my friends think you’re the greatest

But you’re mine Little Manito


 

 

Two Wheels

 

Do you wanna feel the wind blowing through your hair

Put on that leather jacket that you like to wear

I’ll pick you at 7 from your mamma’s place

You’re gonna hear me coming from a mile away

 

Put your arms around me,

‘cause that’s what I’ve been waiting for

Times like this remind me,

two wheels are sometimes better than four   YEAH YEAH YEAH

 

I used to look up motorcycles in a magazine

Counting down the days ‘till I turn 16

Kawazaki or Ducati I couldn’t decide

I’ll be making payments for the rest of my life

 

chorus

 

Put your arms around my waist

all my troubles melt away

I feel your heartbeat next to mine

with every mile we leave behind

Hold on tighter every time                       YEAH YEAH YEAH

 

I could pop a wheelie if I wanted to

Peel out of every parking lot I’m passing through

But I didn’t get this ride because I like the speed

I just wanted you to notice me

 

chorus


 

 

Calabria 

 

Calabria Calabria my father’s homeland

Finally we meet to appease the old man

 

Your mountains are majestic looking over the sea

I don’t speak Italian but it’s speaking to me        to  me

 

I could trade my truck for a Vespa,

roofing is a distant memory

Cruising the cafes and piazzsas,

for women who are out of my league   HEY

 

Calabria Calabria my children in the street

Playing football all day while I work the winery

 

My wife is in the kitchen with another on the way

No one touches dinner till everyone has prayed, I pray

 

God send us rain for the grapevines,

strike down all my family’s enemies

Send me a mistress Mona Lisa,

the police they don’t have nothing on me     HEY

 

Calabria Calabria it’s where I’ll grown old

Hiding in the shadows like Don Corleone

 

Looking over my shoulder with a price on my head

maybe I should stay in Canada instead instead

 

I’m not cut out for Mafioso

I can’t tell one wine from the next

I don’t really want so many children

but don’t take away my Mona Lisa mistress         HEY

 

 

 

1959

 

There goes my phone again, it follows me everywhere I can’t get away

Satellites tracking every move I make

 

The TV is always on, recording me shit even when I’m not at home

Next to the guitar that I used to play

 

If I could go back to another time, I’d save the day the music died

Back in 1959

A giant collection of 45s, up all night checking out the b-sides

Back in 1959

 

Traffic’s backed up again, it costs a small fortune just to live near the city

This tank of gas just cost me a fifty

 

I don’t go out at night, the clubs are playing music that I don’t recognize

Computers write these songs for free

 

If I could go back to another time, I’d save the day the music died

Back in 1959

A drive in movie cost a buck o five, when rock n roll was still in its prime

Back in 1959

 

In 1959, I’ll find a girl who might even get me

In 1959, we’ll make out in the back of my Chevy

 

There goes my phone again, teenager in love doesn’t come in a ring tone

I sing that song whenever I’m alone

 

Traffic’s backed up again, are there any stations further left on the dial

Anything but noise on the radio?

 

If I could go back to another time, I’d save the day the music died

Back in 1959

Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and I, would have made it to that concert just fine

back in 1959


 

 

C.A.R.S.

 

C.A.R.S.     Canadian Automotive Restoration Services

If you’ve got a fever for the open road

And you wanna turn heads where ever you go

Well you might as well get to where you’re going in style

Guaranteed to feel the rush in every quarter mile

Put your dreams to the test

Come on by and talk to the best

C.A.R.S.     Canadian Automotive Restoration Services

 

Customize the paint job on a Mercury coupe

’57 Chevrolet convertible roof

Bring your Caddy Eldorado back to life

The upholstery on your Pinto could be out of sight

The smell of unspent fuels

Over spray and dust covered tools

C.A.R.S.     Canadian Automotive Restoration Services

 

You got a car from the 70s,

You drove it down to the ground, back in your teens

This is your mid life crises opportunity

C.A.R.S.  Canadian Automotive Restoration Services

 

The rusted out beater in a farmer’s field

The hot rod you been keeping up on blocks for years  

Bring them back to glory with you at the wheel

They don’t make em like they used to so let’s make a deal

 

Carservices.com

Everybody sing along

 

C.A.R.S    C.A.R.S     416-555-8319


 

 

My Own Place

 

Goodbye to the wallpaper I’ve stared at,

since I was just a child

This room has been slowly closing in on me,

for quite a while

 

My sister left home long ago and she

never looked back

It’s high time I made it on my own before

my folks give me some flack

 

Goodbye to the basement where I wasted all my

time on video games

Will I still have a place to run and hide when I

have my own place

 

My own place, my own place, my own place, my own place

 

Goodbye to the pictures staring back when I

pass through the hall

All the haircuts I wish I could forget,

all my fashion pitfalls

 

All the leftover books I’ve had since high school,

hiding under my bed

A tape collection of music from the eighties,

I can’t throw out yet

 

Goodbye to the house that I grew up in,

I’m leaving without a trace

Sneaking out the back door one more time,

to find my own place

 

My own place, my own place, my own place, my own place


 

 

Attitude

 

I wanna rock to the rhythm, the rhythm and the blues

I wanna rock to a beat with a bad attitude

Stick my nose where is doesn’t belong

I got a bad attitude and this is my song

 

Don’t waste my time with your religion,

My soul is pledged to rock and roll

A turntable makes all my decisions

 the music’s in control

 

chorus

 

No corner office with a window

I make my living in the sun

No corporation man that I know

is having this much fun

 

chorus

 

My high school teachers said I didn’t fit in

That I was disruptive and didn’t have any friends

At the high school dance, I pulled the fire alarm

When the cops showed up I

was already gone

 

chorus

 

The ladies can’t domestic me

Don’t even try to slow me down

After tonight I will be leaving

this god forsaken town

 

I wanna rock to the rhythm, the rhythm and the blues

I wanna rock to a beat with a bad attitude

Stick my nose where is doesn’t belong

I got a bad attitude and that is my song


 

 

Surprise  

 

You shouldn’t find, it hard to believe

That girls aren’t lining up, for a second look, at me

But I cast a shadow half the size of my heart

And I am stronger than, most larger men, usually are

 

So when I asked you on a second date

And you didn’t turn around and walk away

Well you caught me by surprise

 

I look in your eyes, and then say goodnight

Don’t wanna push my luck, I get in my truck, and drive

 

Who doesn’t like, to talk about cars?

I’m making conversation, no use in hiding, who we are

I don’t really know much about most things I say

When I am nervous I could, just talk and talk away

 

So when you’re laughing at my silly jokes,

Inviting to meet your folks

Well you caught me by surprise

 

I look in your eyes, the sun’s coming out

I don’t wanna jinx it now, like there was ever any doubt

 

I prefer dogs and you have two cats,

what are the chances we get over that?

 

I’m playing a song, you sing out of tune

So that makes both of us, we don’t harmonize, like we should

But my aim is true we’re all finding our own way

Some people find it hard, to feel the beat when I play

 

So when you dance around and clap your hands,

and tell me you’re my biggest fan

Well you caught me by surprise

 

 I look in your eyes, and come to the end

Of just another dream, thank you for listening again.