"Suitcase by the Door" CD DEDICATIONS, CREDITS, LYRICS

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SONG-BY-SONG DEDICATIONS

STAY WITH ME for Crystal

SOMEDAY for Mom Zee

THE DOOR for Earl

FOUR WALLS for Mookie

All lyrics and music by David Zee

Lyrics for "Children of Conflict" and "Classified" co-written by Ashley Pound

Vocals, piano, acoustic guitars, keyboards, melodica: David Zee

Slide Guitar for "Classified": Jim Seechuk

Percussion for "Johnna Knows," "The Tap Root Tree": Derrik Jordan

Percussion for "In a Dark Room": Jimmy Brink

Additional vocals:

"Stay With Me": Karyn Oliver

"Someday," "Children of Conflict": Cara Costantini

"Johnna Knows": Kathleen Pemble

"The Tap Root Tree": Michael Shacoshis, Kathleen Pemble

"The Old Folkies Home": Karyn Oliver, Matt Lehr, and "The Superbowl Party Choir": Crystal Bosserman, Roger Frissora, Larry Dennis, Nadine, and Kayla

Recorded in living rooms, kitchens, classrooms and other rooms from 1999 to 2007.

Vocals for "Stay With Me" and "The Funny Little Organ" recorded at Technique Inc., Baltimore MD

Mixed and mastered by Ty Ford, Technique Inc., Baltimore MD

Cover photo of David Zee: John Kessel

Graphic design: Ashley Pound

© 2007 David Zee - All rights reserved

David Zee Music, P.O. Box 1590, New York NY 10028

STAY WITH ME

Moving boxes every inch piled high and tight

Single bed by the wall

One-room palace paper plates by candlelight

Cold and dark in the fall

There's no wine glass coffee mug will do

As long as i can sip this grape with you

Stay with me

Hearts in tune

Starting new

Sparkling blue harmony

Hard luck love life was my story until now

Hurting heart history

Out of nowhere you appeared to me somehow

An unsolved mystery

Where'd you come from, how did you get here

It was cloudy, now it's crystal clear

Stay with me...

Rolling pennies nickels from the loose change jar

Just to go on the town

No work no plans nothing left but burned-out stars

But it won't keep us down

From the life i had to leave behind

Yo this place i never thought i'd find

Stay with me...

SOMEDAY

Raymond packed his suitcase and left it by the door

He was always ready for a trip seven days before

This time all his road maps couldn't show the way

Through the fields and farms a million miles away

As Janet tried to help him figure what to pack

She wanted to secure her soul on the luggage rack

She caught his eyes in silence reaching for the door

On the journey he had never made before

But I think they'll be together again someday

He'll be back on the tractor chewin on some hay

She'll be safe from harm on a Maryland farm every Saturday

I think he's coming back this time to stay

I think they'll be together again someday

She remembers how she watched him drive the mountain roads

To the refuge of the timbers near forgotten motherloads

Sometimes she just stayed at home to keep the city near

Now she swears she'd trade it all for one more year

But I think they'll be together...

Raymond's illness took him down and Janet's tears flowed free

The lawyers came, she signed her name and sold the property

She told me of her dream where he was leaving for the road

Without a suitcase or her hand to hold

But I think they'll be together...

OLD FOLKIES HOME

If you walk the streets tonight

We'll be there at every light

Strumming strings as they ring through the crowd

Just a dollar for a song

Buddy how can you go wrong

Won't you toss a little in the hat and sing with us out loud

You can run us out of town

But we'll always be around

Singing in the street as we roam

We don't need no cars

Just our songs and our guitars

We'll be wailing at the Old Folkies Home

Like the minstrel days of yore

And the travelling troubadors

Our tradition traces to the dawn of time

If you'd get us both a drink

Buddy that would help us think

Of the history that led us down this long and lonely line

You can run us out of town...

Now they're closing up the town

All the bars are shutting down

The police are patrolling the square

But as long as there's a moon

We will play just one more tune

Don't be shocked at five o'clock AM if we're still playing there

You can run us out of town...

CHILDREN OF CONFLICT

Year after year the conflict went on

Neighbor fought neighbor with beatings and bombs

Tempers were short and memory was long

Hatred like tree roots grew strong

Fighting continued as peacemakers tried

To find a solution and close the divide

They asked each camp to send ten of their young

To meet far away from the guns

Children of conflict came from both sides

Gathered together without knowing why

Seeing the faces of those they despised

And the tears in the enemy's eyes

They listened in silence and stared at the floor

While one girl whose brother had died in the war

Talked of the life that he'd never live

She would never forgive

No one responded, what could be said

To a child of an enemy mourning her dead

Everyone there had a loved one who'd died

They all broke down and cried

Children of conflict came from both sides

Gathered together without knowing why

Seeing the sorow that time can't erase

And the tears on the enemy's face
 

No one expects to see conflict resolved

Where years of destruction and hate are involved

But if twenty children achieved nothing more

They put faces on war

Children of conflict came from both sides

Gathered together without knowing why

Knowing the sorow that time can't erase

And the tears on the enemy's face

JOHNNA KNOWS

Johnna's room puts my mind in a trance

Silks from india and coffee from france

The scent of cloves and incense is filling the air

Ink drawings and green palms everywhere

Johnna's eyes make me dizzy and weak

Living dangerously in valleys and peaks

Wondering where i stand as the evening slides past

Sweet closeness in small doses goes fast

Johnna knows but she's not gonna tell

It's still a secret she keeps very well

Johnna knows her heart is closed in a shell

 

Johnna changes her mind every day

Should she take some classes or move to L.A.

What should she do with the two men who've captured her mind

Both please her, she won't leave one behind

Johnna's future is a white empty wall

She wants to paint it and cover it all

But she likes too many colors and she can't decide

Which love does she dream of deep inside

Johnna knows but she's not gonna tell

Why should she choose when it's going so well

Johnna knows her heart is closed in a shell

Getting through one night at a time

Pain and pleasure that fill up my mind

Hidden meaning in every word that she says

How long can it go on on the edge

Johnna knows but she's not gonna tell

Why should she choose when it's going so well

Johnna knows and if it shows what the hell

THE DOOR

I build the doors in the city

I help them lock in their lives

Turning the knobs on their jobs and their husbands and wives

One day i saw a new door

One that my hands had not made

I heard a voice say come through and i was not afraid

Then i opened the door never opened before

And i saw there was more than i knew

And i followed the guide as he flew me inside of the view

I saw a million children

Each waving wings with a smile

Walking on air to a fair where they dance in the aisles

The road and the sky were shining

They were the same in this time

Stained glass and stone sang refrains in a tone clear and fine

Then I opened the door...

I can see there

I can be there

I can walk through the windows and walls

As the barriers crumble and fall

And give way to a new nature's law

I will be there

Now I can see the true world

Simple things glow to the touch

We all build hallways to hide when the truth is too much

None of the walls will hold us

None of the doors will be real

Nothing to prove we can make the earth move as we feel

Then i opened the door...

I can see there

I can be there

I can walk through the windows and walls

(Learning to see as at birth)

As the barriers crumble and fall

(A warrior walks on the earth)

And give way to a new nature's law

I will be there (Not as before)

I will be there (Come through the door)

I will be there

FOUR WALLS

Every day you couldn't wait to run outside and see

What was dancing in the dirt and up in the trees

To a sweet spot in the sun resting casually

Till you ran back to me

When you lived within four walls it was hard for you

Staring sadly through the glass at the river view

But I'd rather you lived free than safe inside a room

Till you ran back to me

We watched your eyes of wisdom as you wandered

Wondering what you saw that we could not

Trying to perceive the thoughts you pondered

Some say what you learn is just the things that you forgot

Now I want to live each minute like it was the last

Not to think about the future or what's in the past

When your month was like a year the time went by too fast

Till you ran back to me

Not a single day goes by that i don't think of you

And remember all the things that we used to do

And have hope I took the right road to be true to you

And wish that you'd run back

Run back to me

THE FUNNY LITTLE ORGAN

As I was a-walkin' along the morning shore

I met a fair young maiden, a beauty that's for sure

Her skin was white as oyster shells, her eyes a lovely pair

A muslin shawl around her neck, silk ribbons in her hair

She asked me would I play a tune to soothe the roaring tide

On the funny little organ that I carry by my side

I put the organ to my lips and played a melody

It came from deep within the raging rhythms of the sea

I felt her eyes upon me as I played with all my heart

Inside my soul was dancing like a rooster in the yard

I felt the passion from within us could not be denied

As it filled the little organ that I carry by my side

I said dear maiden can I woo you by the fire bright

You set my heart aflame and my fancy into flight

And then one special day I'll ask your father for your hand

She said you silly fellow, I don't think you understand

You play a pretty tune but you could never be the one

For I have drawn the favor of the royal Governor's son

Do you think I can afford silk ribbons on my own?

I want a man of means to buy me clothes and precious stones

'Twas then I learned the truth that minstrels knew in days of old

That If you can pay the piper it's because you've got the gold

And as for me I am content with tunes I can provide

On the funny little organ that I carry by my side

IN A DARK ROOM

He walked into a dark room

Off the alley near the subway

He was drawn to enter by an inner voice

Everybody told him

That he could not change what happened

He was certain there must be another choice

Storefront gypsy whispered

"I can see that you are troubled"

He said "I'll do whatever it will take"

Tell me what you see beyond the edge

Tell me what you see beyond

This world I'm trapped upon, I'm on the edge

They sat inside a dark room

With their hands placed on the table

And a candle flickered shadows on the wall

She closed her eyes and mumbled

Incantations, pleas and questions

He thought that he could hear the spirits call

Tell me what you see...

He sat inside a dark room

In the house that they had lived in

And he looked up at her picture on the wall

TV psychic beckoned

From a small set on the table

He never thought he’d be the kind that called

Help me Sister Sarah

I swear I feel her presence

She's following me everywhere I go

Tell me what you see...

CLASSIFIED

What in hell did I do wrong and how'd I end up here

There must be a reason but it's not exactly clear

"You should know," they told me, "you're the one who did the crime"

But the only one who's clueless is the one who's facing time

Who is my accuser, 'cause he's not identified

They tell me that his name is classified

Classified, classified, what informants spread these lies

How do I deny their claims when I don't even know their names

They sent me to a lawyer who agreed to plead my case

He said, "They'll think you're guilty 'cause you've got that kind of face

You're a threat to state security so lay low for a while

I'll file the writs as time permits, someday you'll get your trial

I asked him what the charge is, what's the law that I've defied

He said, "Ingrate! Don't be foolish! You know that's classified"

Classified, classified, reputation tossed aside

How can I make my defense if I can't see the evidence

Peeking through the shadows was another man accused

He whispered from the darkness, sounding frightened and confused,

"It's been years with no indictment, I'm just waiting for the word."

I told him that his situation bordered on absurd

The judges and the wardens can't deny your basic rights

"Give it time," he said, "and you will lose your will to fight

You can't understand the law, believe me, I have tried.

The lawyer is my only chance

To change this dreadful circumstance

And save me from my ignorance

In case I'm not in compliance

With every rule they say is classified"

Classified, classified, what to do when hope has died?

How can they enforce these laws that hold a person without cause

The law lies in a hidden room beyond an open door

The guard who blocks the entrance won't say what the door is for

You can try to bribe him like the others must have done

But you find out, after years go by, that you're the only one

Yes, this door was meant for only you, and access is denied

They tell you that the password is classified

Classified, classified, secrets hidden deep inside

Locked away from pubic view, next time they might come for you

THE TAP ROOT TREE

The tap root tree grows far and deep

Where the possums play and the mudworms sleep

Seeking life everywhere it lives

And taking a lot less than it gives

 

And the roots go round the world

And the roots go round the world

They wind and curl and wind and curl

And the roots go round the world

People on every continent

Could embrace the tree to their hearts' content

Eating the fruit, sleeping in the shade

Carving the wood into things they made

And the roots go round...

But no body was keeping track

They took from the tree and did not give back

For years they were looking the other way

And the roots dried up and the leaves blew away

And the roots go round...

When their eyes were opened they began to see

How much they would miss the tap root tree

Their tears fell into the hungry ground

And the big tree grew back safe and sound

And the roots go round...