Liner
Notes
Tracks
1 Just Another Gringo
Dedicated to Randall Pires
This song was written in Nicaragua but is actually not about Nicaragua in spite of the fact that I live not far from a neighborhood of Managua called “Santo Domingo.” The song is meant to represent the Caribbean culture which Nicaragua shares, and of course the title sums up my perspective on my experience south of the pervious southern border of Estados Unidos. The actual inspiration for the song, however, is my son Randy, and the context of the song is the year he spent in the Dominican Republic, “trying to build a home.” For some reason this song has resonated with many people including my late brother-in-law Harold McDonald, who left this world far too early, but gave so much to it while he was here. So, there is some kind of family connection running through this song as does the Gulf Stream, and hopefully, a universal theme or two. Hope you find something for you in this song, or at least enjoy the Caribbean rhythms.
Lyrics
Just Another Gringo
© 2018 Mark Towery
A F#m D E A F#m D E D E A F#m D A E A
Shaman of the jungle is just another uncle from another mother from another world
Take a specimen of his good medicine a little gris gris for the girl
You need a little voodoo if you’re gonna pull through it’s a scientific fact
The riches peasants build mansions in heaven and make love in a fishing shack
E A E A A7 DE A F#m A D A E A
And he’s just another gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
You don’t need a reason to be in the Caribbean when love is all you own
A long way from Angola to Hispaniola ain’t no right or wrong
When you’re a gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
If you wanna be countin’ you gotta climb the mountain to see the entire view
It can be a struggle when the trail is muddy and you’re grabbing hold of slippery roots
But getting there is half the fun and when the work is done and you can finally touch the sky
You can see the panorama swinging from your hammock and you know that you have arrived
And you’re just another gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
You don’t need a reason to be in the Caribbean when love is all you own
A long way from Atlanta to the land of bananas across the Gulf of Mexico
When you’re a gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
F#m A F#m D E D E F#m D A E A
Rivers all flow into the sea
Tides are timeliness and heaven holds the key
Miracles happen every day
You don’t really own nothing till you give it all away
And you’re just another gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
You don’t need a reason to be in the Caribbean when love is all you own
A long way from Angola to Hispaniola across the Gulf of Mexico
When you’re a gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
He’s a gringo in Santo Domingo trying to build a home
2 Peace
For “Sally”
You may be surprised to learn that this song was not written from personal experience but rather for a song contest. An open mic venue in Atlanta sometimes has a contest whereby they pick a word for the following week’s session, and participating songwriters may volunteer to write a song to perform the following week for a prize. The word was “Peace,” and when I played it live, it produced both tears and laughter in the audience. I consider that quite an achievement for a single song. Here now in digitally published format is the winning song from that contest.
Lyrics
Peace
© 2019 Mark Towery
Verse
D Bm A G Gsus
Bm A G Gsus
Em Bm
Em A Asus
Em G
A A Sus
There were some trying circumstances
When you told me you’d have to leave
I believe in second chances
But I believed in nothing then
We’d come so far
We’d gone so long
Still who we are
But it’s like our memories were wrong
Chorus
Bm A G
Bm A G
Bm A G
Em F#m G A D
Now that the ties that bind have been released
And the pain has been relieved
I hope you finally find some peace
But I never really thought you’d ever leave
I should have seen it coming
We’d been headed here for years
But when the clock is always running
You can’t tell what time it is
Now the time has come
Reality sinks in
What we were must be undone
And no we can’t be friends
First bridge
Em G A Asus
Em G A Asus
I know I pushed you away
This is something that I started
I always get my way
This time I got outsmarted
Outro
Em G A A sus
Em F#m G A D
G A D
G A D
Em G
Em A
Em F#m G A D
G A D
G A D
Em F#m G A D
Now there’s peace in the valley
And me and my girlfriend sally
We never really thought you’d ever leave
Finally found some peace
Finally found some peace
We never thought
We never got caught
We never thought you’d ever leave
Thought you’d never leave
Finally found some peace
3 Warm Margaritas
Dedicated to my warm senorita Berta Carlina Towery Silva
“A cool song with a Willy Nelson Vibe” is how the reviewer at the Nashville Songwriter Association International characterized the feel of Warm Margaritas. The inspiration for the tune came from my friend Patrice, the runaway Frenchman who owns a hotel, bar, and restaurant in the little fishing village of Casares, Nicaragua. Back when we were still getting to know one another I asked him the mandatory question asked of all expats, “how long have you been in Nicaragua?” “28 years,” he replied, “but the first 27 were the hardest.” A song was inspired. By the way, the reviewer at the NSAI did suggest I remove the proper name “Patrice” and replace with a description of some barfly. Well, I don’t suppose he cares that there was a real person named Patrice and I consider that my favorite line in the song, and likewise I suppose that’s why they don’t play my songs in arenas. But all-in-all, “this gringo’s doing just fine.”
Lyrics
Warm Margaritas
© 2019 Mark Towery
GCD GCDCG G7
Well, I don’t drink the water down in Nicaragua
I prefer Flor de Cana and lime
I left all my mistakes back in the states
Now I’m living on tropical time
CGDG
With cold margaritas and warm senoritas and a sun that shines all the time
CGEmGDG
Cause warm margaritas and cold senoritas they mess with this ole gringo’s mind
I was talking to Patrice at his bar on the beach
He’s been here for 28 years
He said the first 27 were the hardest I reckon
Now I’m starting to get comfortable here
Cold margaritas and warm senoritas and a sun that shines all the time
That cold mamasita I left in Los Corolitas she messed with this ole gringo’s mind
Instrumental C….G…D…G….C…G…Em…G…D…G
Em Bm C C/B A C G Em G D G G7
I don’t want to be a trite stereotype
Some banana republic burnout
But the breeze is blowing my way and I’m fishing today
I think I finally figured it out
Repeat chorus
…this gringo’s doing just fine
4 Lucinda’s Marimba
Dedicated to Jo Moo Young and all the years of friendship – now get the hell out of New York
Written on a balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean in about twelve minutes. Completely inspired. Got the idea to write a Nicaraguan folk song as I was playing around with a little simple A E D A Folky Latin rhythm. When I got in the groove of the melody and just started singing lyrics as they came to me on the salty air. From where they blew in, I have no idea. The New York city line was a reference to my friend Jo mentioned above. The little house by the sea made its way into the song, of course. Not sure where the Tokyo line came from, maybe I was craving sushi. I kept 80% of what came out of my mouth in the first one or two run-throughs then I got the idea to make it about a Marimba – a very traditional Nicaraguan instrument. So, I then needed to rhyme “marimba” and suddenly “Lucinda” came into the song. Ultimately, we brough a marimba into the studio and a classic was born. You can hear the marimba loud and clear in the breaks.
Lyrics
Lucinda’s Marimba
© 2021 Mark Towery
A E7 A A A7 D D A E A
Down in Nicaragua, that’s where I want to be
Lovin’ my Lucinda, in a little house by the sea
Living in the sunshine, and fishing every day
Playin my guitar under the stars and singing my cares away
I’ve gotta friend in New York City, and it seems he’s always blue
‘Cause the weather’s always shitty, and it snows until June
I send him picture post cards of the sun sinking in the sea
I think for the most part, he wishes he were me
Living down in Nicaragua, that’s where he wants to be
And find him a Nica woman, and a little house by the sea
Living in the sunshine and fishing every day
Drinking rom under the palms, and laughing his fears away
E7
Come on Lucinda, grab that Marimba and play me a little tune
D A E A
We’ll cantar and bajilar and love under the moon
And so I went to Tokyo, over in Japan
And just in case you didn’t know, that’s one foreign land
They like their rice and sake, and they eat their fishies raw
We say Beunas Tardes, They say Konichiwa
But down in Nicaragua, that’s where I’d rather be
Living with my Lucinda in a little house by the sea
Soaking up the sunshine, and fishing every day
“Playin’ my guitar under the stars, and singin’ my cares away
Drinkin’ my rom under the palms and laughing my fears away
Come on Lucinda, grab that Marimba and play me a little tune
We’ll cantar and bajilar and love under the moon
5 When the Sun Don’t Shine in Paradise
Dedicated to Mr. Jimmy Buffett for writing the kind of songs I like to write and showing the way
I guess the thing about this song is that Jimmy Buffett makes a guest appearance, at least in the lyrics. In all, it was a song that was more crafted than inspired. I think I got the imagery and sentiment right, however, and it may be the most commercially viable song on the album. I am truly living in my own “little piece of heaven” and I try to remember that when I complain about the minor irritations of the day or the “sun don’t shine.”
Lyrics
When the Sun Don’t Shine in Paradise
© 2020 Mark Towery
D Em
I’ve got a hammock for siestas
G D
A sunset view that has no price
D Em
Friends to call for a fiesta
G D
And I don’t’ have to call them twice
D Em
Got everything I ever wanted
G D
Things sure have turned out nice
D Em
But by your memory I’m still haunted
G A D
When the sun don’t shine in paradise
Chorus
DDDDD7D7
G Gsus G G Gsus G
When the sun don’t shine
D Dsus D
and the palm trees don’t sway
DDD
G Gsus G G Gsus G
You can hear a grown man crying
D A Asus A
Clear across the milky way
D
From a little piece of heaven
G
I finally cut a slice
D Asus D D Dsus D D Dsus D
Until the sun don’t shine in paradise
I got rum and margaritas
I’ve got my beer on ice
And pretty senoritas
To give life a little spice
But when your memory starts calling
I start tumbling like the dice
And that barometer starts falling
Then the sun don’t shine in paradise
When the sun don’t shine
And those black clouds fill with rain
You can hear a grown man crying
Inside a hurricane
From a little piece of heaven
I finally cut a slice
Until the sun don’t shine in paradise
Instrumental
Em G D D sus D
Em G d D sus D
DDDD7D7 D7
Bm
Sometimes its coup de tats
F#m
And not coup de villes
Bm
It ain’t all la te da
E A Aus A
In Margaritavlle
D G
Yeah even Jimmy Buffett has been known to surmise
D AAsus D D Dsus D
Sometimes the sun don’t shine in paradise
D AAsus D D Dsus D
Yeah the sun don’t shine in paradise
D AAsus G… D D Dsus D D Dsus D
the sun don’t shine……. in paradise.. in paradise
6 Nicaragua
Dedicated to Leah Towery
Well, this one kinda speaks for itself. The idea was beach anthem where Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Santana under a palapa by the sea. I had this guitar bass lick and a couple of verses. Then my daughter Leah came to Nicaragua and lost her leather flip flops while surfing in San Juan del Sur but found something more valuable, so I rewrote the second verse for her. Later Mario and band pumped in some soul into the arrangement and here it is: Nicaragua.
Lyrics
Nicaragua
© 2020 El Capital Gringo
Rif
Rif
GG CC D CC
GG CC D DD DDDDD
G C D Dsus
When you are tired of that Yankee stress
G C D Dsus
Or maybe that ball and chain
G C D Dsus
Or your get a letter from the IRS
G C D
Well hop on that airplane
……… G C D ……
And go to Nicaragua
…. C G C D DD DDDDD
Yeah Nicaragua
CHORUS
G C D Dsus
I’m going back today
G C D Dsus
And this time I’m gonna stay
G C D ….
I’m tired of running away
C G C D ….
from Nicaragua
C G C D DD DDDDD
Yeah Nicaragua
She came down with the LA blues
Her dreams locked away and stored
But she found her soul when she lost her shoes
Now she’s hanging offa a long board
In Nicaragua
Yeah Nicaragua
G C D Dsus
I’m going back today
G C D Dsus
And this time I’m gonna stay
G C D ….
Come on lets go and play
C G C D ….
In Nicaragua
C G C D DD DDDDD
Yeah Nicaragua
Instrumental with bass run riff …. Then as far as you want to take it
Ending in suspended D DD DDDDD
Bridge
F C G C G
Don’t try to change my mind
F C G C G
I’m leaving it all behind
F C A….AAA C…. D
I hope some day you’ll find
….. G C D
Your own Nicaragua
C G C D DD DDDDD
Yeah Nicaragua
Chorus
Ii’m going back today
And this time I’m gonna stay
I’m tired of running away
from Nicaragua
Nicaragua
7 The Big Goodbye
Dedicated to Charity Johns along with Leah Towery, and Randall Pires for showing me there is love after the big goodbye
I wrote this one as a Mississippi Delta Blues sucking chest wound love lament. I played it at rehearsal and the first run through with the band sounded pretty good. Then I threw them a curve ball.” Let’s go Bossa nova,” I said. “Think Girl from Ipanema.” I almost pulled the plug after then next run through, “you guys sound like a bad jazz trio at a Holiday Inn,” I critiqued. “Try again.” At some point, Orlando and Mario tuned to an open G and we all went to Rio for a few minutes. For a moment, I had to remind myself that I wrote the song. I think this is Berta’s favorite. ‘Hope you like it as much as she does.
Lyrics
The Big Goodbye
© Bubbasan
G G7 C Eb
None of the battles we ever fought
G Em7 A7 D7
Were over anything that mattered just who was at fault
G G7 C Eb
Now that it’s over and there are no more tears to cry
G Em7 Am7 D7 G
Just remember I loved you even through the big goodbye
We made some memories, can’t take that away
Savor the magic, try to forget the pain
Like last night’s stormin,’ washes clean the morning sky
We’re no longer opponents through the big good-bye
C
Wherever you go
G
Whatever you do
C
Honey you gotta know
G
I really did love you
C
We’ve got the whole future
G Em
To rewite the past
A7
Something are too beautiful
D7
To ever last
G G7 C Eb
Now that its over and there are no more tears to cry
G Em7 Am7 D7 G
Remember I loved you even through the big good by
Instrumental interlude
What we made together can’t be torn apart
Now and forever you’ll still be in my heart
And here ever after as you spread your wings and fly
Just remember I loved you even through the big good-bye
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
Honey you gotta know
I really did love you
And whatever happens
And where it all ends
There is love after sadness
Life after the end
And now that its over and there are no more tears to cry
Just remember I loved you even through the big good-bye
Remember I loved you even through….the big….good bye
8 Güegüense
Dedicated to my Brother-in-Law Oscar Silva who explained the choreography to the dance of Güegüense
From the Internet so it must be true:
A forceful expression of protest against colonial rule, El Güegüense is a satirical drama well known throughout Nicaragua. A powerful elder figure in pre-Hispanic Nicaragua, El Güegüense, countered charges levelled against him by the colonial officials through a series of clever verbal manoeuvres. Rather than directly confronting or challenging an authority, he attempts to appear consistently cooperative and compliant, while utilizing subterfuge to undermine Spanish authority.
My first song written entirely in Spanish, Güegüense, describes the helpless feeling of an expat manager being subtly manipulated by the local staff. I have a great staff, but sometimes I feel a little Güegüensed. In a tongue-in-cheek way, I wanted to chronicle the trials and pitfalls of working in Nicaragua and occasionally dealing with El Güegüense himself. The opening line “Todos los dias empujando la carreta,” was one of the first expressions taught me by my friend Oscar meaning “every day I’m pushing my cart,” but alas, I have no fish in my boat or pesos in my pocket. He also told me that the best way to understand the economy in Nicaragua is the expression lead floats and cork sinks. Put it all together and you have a fishing story that can only be resolved with ample consumption of Flor de Cana rum. Now it is your turn to use Google Translate:
Lyrics
Güegüense
© 2017 Marcos Torres
GCD – Latin beat
Todos los días empujando la carreta
Cada día trabajando muy duro
Nunca pienso en tomar una siesta
Sin embargo, todavía no tengo un peso
Güegüense
Flotadores de plomo
Güegüense
y no sé por que
Güegüense
Mi corcho se hunde
pero no tengo un pez en mi bote
(second and last verse, “panga” final line “bote)
En La rotonda doy vueltas y vueltas
Después de un largo viaje
Creo que estoy haciendo progreso
Parece que estoy de vuelta donde empecé
Como me quito este dolor de cabeza
Creo que me estoy volviendo loco
Este problema es muy grande para la cerveza
Flor de cana me extraña Ayúdame a olvidar todo
9 Wanted Man
Dedicated to about half the expats I’ve met in Nicaragua
Spend a little time in Nicaragua and you find a lot of expats are on the run; from the IRS, the FBI, an ex-wife or most often, themselves. That idea was the genesis of this song. The Rio San Juan tarpon reference relates to my first trip to Nicaragua in August of 2016. Having only been in country three days, I rented a car and drove 400 kilometers in the dark to San Carlos to go tarpon fishing. In spite of traveling twice the speed limit and dodging donkeys and motorcycles I made it one piece only having had to donate only $6 to the policemen’s’ charity. I was supposed to park my car at the port authority and call my guide to pick me up in a boat to take me across the Rio San Juan to the fish camp. When I arrived in the middle of the night, I made a loop through town and wondered how in the hell I would locate the Port Authority. Saw a man on a sidewalk so I pulled over and asked him. He pointed straight ahead – I peered forward and realized I was parked right in front of the gate. A guard whom I hadn’t noticed before, nodded and opened the gate for me. Three days in country, after driving four hours in the middle of the night, I had arrived precisely at the destination without an address. My internal GPS has gotten me out of many a geographical tight spot, and it’s good to calibrate it once in a while.
Lyrics
Wanted Man
© 2020 Marcos Torres and the Twanging Tejanos
A D E A A D E
Down in Nicaragua. Land of volcanos and lakes
It’s the place to run to when you screw up in the states
It seems that every hombre and every mother’s son
Is running from some “body” some thing or some one
A D E A D E A D E D A D E D A D E
And I’m a wanted man
Yeah I’m a wanted man
I’m a wanted man she don’t want no more
She don’t want no more
In a little fishing village across the Rio San Juan
Hiding in away like a castaway just me the tarpon
No phone no internet no mailboat at my dock
Just another burned out expat living off the clock
And I’m a wanted man
Yeah I’m a wanted man
I’m a wanted man she don’t want no more
She don’t want no more
Instrumental
F#m C#7 F#m C#7 Abm Bb# B7 E
And I did everything I could to try and understand
She ran off to Hollywood and I joined the contra band
And I’m a wanted man
Yeah I’m a wanted man
I’m a wanted man she don’t want no more
She don’t want no more
And I’m a wanted man
Yeah I’m a wanted man
I’m a wanted man she don’t want no more
Don’t want no more
Don’t want no more
Don’t want no more
Don’t want no more
10 Vestido Verde
For AD who always calls me “Johnny” and of course Patrice who remains under an NDA
The statute of limitations has not run out on this one yet, so the suspect circumstances will be dealt with in a circumspect manner. Suffice it to say, that a particularly festive night at Patrice’s hotel on the beach in Casares yielded this ballad about a green-eyed gringa in a pretty green dress. Mario channeled Carl Perkins through his guitar with authentic rockabilly licks, while I tried to think “what would Johnny Cash do.” But it was Leah’s inspiration that the song needed a harmonica, and that made it all come together. Based on her tuned-in recommendation, I sent an SOS to Tom Wolf in Atlanta and he blew one in on the wind. Here is the story of the pretty green dress.
Lyrics
Vestido Verde
© 2021 El Capitan Gringo aka “Johnny”
E
At the hotel in Casares there was no one around
E
When she tapped me on the shoulder and I slowly turned around
A
Not exactly a damsel in distress
E
Just a lovely gringa in a pretty green dress
B7
That is really all I got to say
E C#m A E
But I’ll always remember that Vestido Verde
A E
I ain’t going fishing in the morning
A E
And I didn’t go fishing today
C#m A
I don’t know where I left my panga
E C#m A E
But I always will remember that vestido verde
She looked right through me with those big green eyes
I had to look behind me I was so surprised
Turns out she only had eyes for me
At the casino hotel I won the lottery
When the sun goes down it ain’t the end of the day
There’s still time for a vestido verde
I ain’t going fishing in the morning
And I didn’t go fishing today
I don’t know where I left my panga
But I always will remember that vestido verde
INSTRUMENTAL
I go back to Casares every now and then
Hoping I might run into her again
Every night after the sun goes down
I sit at the bar and order round after round
It’s all about the fishin that’s what they all say
I’m always wishing for a vesitdo verde
I ain’t going fishing in the morning
And I didn’t go fishing today
I don’t know where I left my panga
But I always will remember that vestido verde
11 Persona Non Grata
Dedicated to: Rick “Bird dog” Watkins who has traveled with me on this journey both in-person and vicariously
A whole lot of things being expressed in this salsa salad of a song of emotional exile, albeit in a non-narrative form. It shares a bit of the banana republic escapism expressed in “Wanted Man,” but with an added sense of the isolationism of living between cultures, while running from political encroachment from both systems with the hot halitosis of Big Tech and Big Brother breathing down your neck. When it all starts to close in, “living off the grid” is the only answer. In spite of this philosophical interpretation, like most songs it started with a simple title/hook, “Persona Non Grata down in Nicaragua,” and was crafted from there. I am a big admirer of the Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario, and I was struck when I first came here how even the most left-brained math-majors expressed a penchant for penning poetry. Truly, “everybody here is a poet.” My favorite line, however, is the reference to Sandino and the economic and political dance between the future and the past.
Lyrics
© 2017 Marcos Torres
Note: I wrote this is C but I think we recorded it in B or Bb C F G C
F G
F G
F G
F G C
Am G
Am G
Bm A
D E F G F G
Simply stated I’m expatriated
banished to my self-imposed exile
In witness protection from all love and affection
living in the moment and hoping for a smile
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
Sometimes I don’t even know my own name
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
I got nobody but myself to blame
Saw the ghost of Sandino in an Aladin casino
He was bettin’ on the future and cashing in the past
I didn’t know it everybody here’s a poet
I’m living in the sun and hoping it will last
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
Sometimes I don’t even know my own name
It witness protection from all love and affection
I got nobody but myself to blame
Throw it all away and start anew
I know just what they’ll say but they don’t know you
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
Sometimes I don’t even know my own name (Marcos)
Burning those bridges when I cross the water
I got nobody but myself to blame
Living off the grid and hiding away
It’s not something I did but anyway I think I’ll stay
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
Sometimes I don’t even know my own name
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
Google can’t find me and I’m fine with that
Persona non grata down in Nicaragua
Google can’t find me but the NSA can
12 All The Things I’ve Got to Do (‘cause you don’t love me anymore)
This song is dedicated to me and all the things I still have left to do
This song was a great opportunity to have some fun with lyrics and incorporate a Flamenco guitar sound. Other than that, I was able to include the little-known village of Karawala on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. “Finding Karawala” is one of the best fishing stories ever told outside of “The Old Man and the Sea,” written by a man with a suitable name, “Pirate Langford.” It also straddles some interesting times and events in Nicaragua and is a journey through rivers and jungles of the mind, body, and spirt as well as Nicaragua. So, “All The Things I’ve Got to Do” now include visiting Karawala; I already test drove the Lamborghini.
Lyrics
All The Things I’ve Got to Do (‘cause you don’t love me anymore)
© 2018 Bubbasan aka El Capitan Gringo
Am G F E Am G F E Am
When you finally told me you didn’t love me anymore
I thought about it and I realized that it was true
I didn’t try to stop you when you walked out the door
I just thought about all those things I had to do
G Am F E Am G F E Am
Should I go huntin’ or should I go fishing’
Should I buy a Lamborgini and let it roar
No there’s nothing I’ll be missing
‘cause you don’t love me anymore
Maybe I’ll buy a boat and drag it down to Islamarado
I always felt at home in the keys
Just like Hemingway all the girls will call me papa
The all man the ladies and the sea
I’ll do some writing and lots of fishing
I’ll cross the gulfstream like a sunburned commodore
No there’s nothing I’ll be missiong
‘Cause you don’t love me anymore
Instrumental
Maybe I’ll steal away on a freighter bound for Asia
I might buy a bar in Singapore
Or move to Jamaica and become a secret agent
‘cause you don’t love me any more
I might go rogue I might go fishin’
Somewhere on the Karawala shore
Naw there’s nothing I’ll be missing
‘cause you don’t love anymore
No you don’t love me any more
13 Milky Way
Dedicated to Berta Carlina Towery Silva whose hand I want to be holding when I fade away
This one kinda wrote itself. The tides are tied to the cosmos and sitting on the beach you can always feel them both ebbing and flowing through your bloodstream and your bloodline. When I go, I just want to “fade away” and “disappear.” I had a vision for the background harmonies and Leah did not disappoint. My instructions to Mario were for guitar sounds like whales and he came through and then Victor masterfully mixed and mastered some enhancing effects. Once again, I went to the harpoon man, Tom Wolf, and he slayed the whales with his harmonica like old Captain Ahab himself.
Lyrics
Milky Way
© El Capitan Gringo and the Contraband with the Los Rotunderos Singers
D A G D A G D A G A G
I sat there by the sea
Talking to the waves and the breeze
I heard voices calling me
From faraway and long ago
I’ve been around this big round ball
Sometimes I think I’ve seen it all
I’ve read the writing on the wall
From faraway and long ago
D A G D A G D A G Bm A Bm A G D A G D
I’m going back to where I come from
You might say I’m headed home
So I sing this farewell song
And disappear like the sun set
Like the stars at dawn I’ll fade away
But the story’s not over yet
Here in the Milky Way
G sus D G sus D
As a species we’re remarkable
As gods we’ve got a way to go
From some random carbon particle
From faraway and long ago
I’m going back to the place where I come from
You might say I’m headed home
So I sing this farewell song
And disappear like the sun set
Like the stars at dawn I’ll fade away
But the story’s not over yet
Here in the Milky Way
G sus D G susD
Far Far Far Away
A long long time ago
Far Far Far away
A long long time ago
G us D G sus D fade out
14 You Won't Be Here Manana
This song is dedicated with love and sadness to my lifelong friend Britt Harris. I wish we had one more manana together.
Only a fellow songwriter can appreciate that I had this line and wrote two other songs around it that just didn’t quite do it for me until this one came together. The rhythm and bass line are my creation, but the overall reggae feel belongs to Harold on drums and Orlando on bass. And when they found the groove with Mario’s guitar on the outro, I knew how I wanted to end the song and this album.
Lyrics
You Won’t Be Here Manana
© 2021 El Capitan Gringo
D Em
I was down in Jamaica
G D
On a bright and sunny day
D E
Just a tropical vacation
G D
Somewhere near Montego Bay
Em Bm
But it wasn’t fun in the sun when I almost lost my life
G A
Out for a jog when I got robbed by a man with a switch blade knife
Bm A G A Bm A G A A Bm Bm
Bm
So I went to see the rasta man
A
To explain this cruel life
G
He said the sun will come up tomorrow
F#m
But that don’t mean you’ll see the light
G
Yeah Mon you’ve go to make a plan
D
But you just never know
Em
When it’s all gonna hit the fan
F#m
And it’s time for you to go
Bm A G A
And you won’t be here manana
Bm A G A
You might not be here manana
Bm A G G A A
You might not be here manana
A D A G
So live for today
A D A G
Open up your mind
Learn to love and pray
Leave something behind
Dreams of tomorrow
Belong to yesterday
All time is borrowed
And its slippin’ away
Let go of your fears
Listen to what I say
A D Em F#m G A
You won’t be here
NC D
So give all your love away
So I moved to Nicaragua
Bought a house by the sea
Thought I’d solved all my problems
The illusion of tranquility
Now there’s a storm on the horizon
And the ground is moving below
I see a tidal wave a risen
And the volcano’s gonna blow
They say the planet is overheated
And that may be a pack of lies
But father time is undefeated
And the mother of calamity’s on the rise
Yes, sir, you’ve got to make a plan
But you might never know
When it’s all gonna hit the fan
And its time for you to go
Nah, you won’t be here manana….