Portrait of the Artist--A Tribute to Tom Gallison

-Steuben-

by joe Wilford

Lyrics / MP3's

A Portrait of the Artist Lyric Book PDF

A Portrait of the Artist by Joe Wilford

You Were Like That

Freda’s House

Steuben Plays Piano

Faintly Falling

Curtain Falls Reprise (A.M. Dub Mix)

Credits

All words and music © 2001 joe Wilford

Cello played by Annette Clark-Triplett

Steuben Theme Song © 1990 Tom Gallison

'Quality Time With Your Pal, Steuben' excerpts © 1990 Tom Gallison

Recorded @ ICE-Nine Studios, Johnson County Iowa 2001 - 2004

Art Never Dies Home

Intro-Exeunt

(Instrumental)

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Curtain Falls

Well there’s a picture I can see it clearly in my mind’s eye

It’s of you standing on a cliff with your arms spread wide

And it makes me smile ‘cause I can remember the look on your face

You went away so suddenly, we feel cheated inside

Listened to the rumors, the conjecture, the falsehoods and lies

And there’s just no explanation that is going to make it all okay

So the mystery intrigues us since we’ll never know

Whether it was something deep inside that you tried not to show

It’s not like the answer’s on a scrap of paper in a cardboard shoebox

Labeled with a piece of tape marked, “Why”

Still your notes and journals they don’t offer a clue

Sure there’s frustration and depression and the dark side of you

But we all have our own demons frothing at the mouth

Trying to rake and claw their way into our lives

And why, why I don’t really understand

Sound and fury signify nothing

You hear the curtain call

And then the curtain falls

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You Were Like That

Well there were shots in the Jersey night

It was J.D. bathed in the dim lamplight

Of a barren apartment over the dentists office and shoe store

A scrabble board lies on the trunk

And we were 3 notches past drunk

We laughed so hard and loud when I scored 23 points with “plowed”

You were my strength you kept me sane

From a life that threatened to be so plain

You were the best protection, using a magician-like misdirection

A diner on Route 22

The perfect place to write a song or two

On the back of a place-mat or even a napkin will do

There was Elvis, BBAC, The Big Book, Platinum Blonde

And I Died In Line At Bradley’s

Not to mention Deli Trek and the Dan Tanna Show

And driving round till the sun in our rear-view mirror started to glow

Tom—You were like that

Nobody else was quite like that

Stubborn, passionate, uncompromising

Always saw your love for life within

Can’t believe I’ll never see you again

No memory can fill the void of a lost friend…

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(Instrumental)

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Tragedy

There were movie posters all over your room

They’re still on the wall

But the Theatre programs, Hawaiian shirts and TV Guides

They’re in boxes down the hall

Shouldn’t be left here

Should’ve been gone

Shouldn’t be kept here

With an unfinished song

Think of all of the people

Saying God why me?

Staring into the face of

Tragedy

Creating brilliance from the bits and pieces

Of the broken rules and tattered style

Using channeled aggravation

And some misplaced indignation

You made it all worthwhile

Should’ve been left here

Should’ve been gone

Should’ve been kept here

To harmonize this song

I try to find a good reason

What good would that do

Should’ve been left here

Somebody like you

Flyers litter the streets; the photographs and descriptions

Wind has set them free

The hope is gone if it ever even existed

Crumbled like brittle leaves

Should’ve been left here

Should’ve been gone

You should’ve been kept here

To finish this song

I think of all of the wonder

You never lived to see

On my shoulder I feel it

Tragedy

Head down in the pouring rain

Head down on the blackest day

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Steuben Plays Piano

It’s 4 am in Garwood

And a basement light’s still on

Citation is leaking oil in the driveway

And there are puppets on the lawn

The videotape is rollin’

Cigar smoke fills the air

Steuben plays piano

All sanity beware

His name is written there in chalk

Sprayed by the hose off the sidewalk

And there he goes again

Well what will it be this week?

Will the Zeppelin go down in flames?

Or will the show shoot on location

At some remote town in Maine?

There’s a song written in tribute

To the covers of TV Guide

Steuben plays piano

The melody of jailhouse pride

What lies in the Fun Corner?

A clapper hat as the headlines blur-by

From the New York Post

Steuben how we miss you

And your ever-zany ways

There’s no way we could forget you

Or those Qua-Qua-Quality days

It’s time for pillow talk now

As the lit cigar explodes

Steuben plays piano

In the unfinished episode

The basement lies in darkness now

A brilliant life cut short somehow

Why did you have to go?

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(Instrumental)

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Faintly Falling

Thirty-one and it all came undone

Steuben, my friend

So young and so spry

Living on the razor of life

Of a sudden came the end

An artist’s eye with a spark

You cut deep made your mark

On the stage of men

Spent your time in jail

Never once thought to fail

You forged ahead

With your camera you’d find

So much quality time

Only to end up dead

The coroner said ‘suicide’

But we all know she lied

That bitch wasn’t in your head

Now some Entenmanns cakes

And all the videotapes

Are all that remain

You’ve been taken away

The final scene in this play

Nothing is the same

Though your spirit soars free

Off to create in eternity

You’re still not here

You’re life wasn’t a joke

There’s no doubt about that

Yet amongst all the grief we feel for your loss

I know somewhere out there

You’d smile and still want us to laugh

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Curtain Falls Reprise (A.M. Dub Mix)

(Instrumental)

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