Still Rusty: MAD 4EVER

Recorded in a barn in upstate New York in the last week of January, with Fessenden Sr. on sax and vocals and Fessenden Jr. on drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and tamborine, Mad 4Ever is a hand-hewn hodgepodge of ragged pop tunes with a raging and melancholic hue as befits the times.

Larry Fessenden has recorded and performed with songwriter Tom Laverack under the band name Just Desserts since the late 70s and penned a number of songs over the years. Still, he’s pretty rusty. He has also played sax for various projects including The Wharton Tiers Ensemble, Unwanted Houseguest and Holiday.

Jack Fessenden has recorded with the band The Strangers since he was 13 years old and they have released 4 albums as well as a record under the name Holiday. Jack has also recorded with Dino-Boy and Unwanted Houseguest.

MAD 4EVER was mastered and mixed by Matt Rocker at Underground Audio in NYC. Matt Rocker previously worked with Jack Fessenden recording and mixing the score to Fessenden’s feature films STRAY BULLETS and FOXHOLE and Rocker mixed the album HOLIDAY for the band Holiday.

all song by Larry Fessenden

Some Things Last

I can’t take it anymore
Somebody’s beating down the door
But I say they haven’t a clue

Somewhere shots ring out
Sowing the seeds of doubt
About whether we’re
gonna make it through

The whole world is rocked
Everyone’s in shock
I can’t even tell what is true

Down the street they’re yelling “Fire”
In the courts they’re yelling “Liar”
Duping the many for the few

Progress is blocked
Justice is mocked
It sure feels like we’re through

Some Things Last
Some Things Change
Something’s wrong
With Me and You
Just because you believe it
Doesn’t make it true

Did you think the things you thought
Would matter like
the things they taught you

Did you think the things you wrought
Would matter as much
as what you bought

Did you think the things you sought
Would keep you from getting caught
in a carnival of mirrors
Where everything is upside down?

Well the wine spills across the tablecloth
A fist connects it’s come to fisticuffs
A troll can’t type anything new

Pain inside the chest
puts the whole thing to rest
You’re either a martyr or a fool

The whole world groans
While we check our phones
And no one really knows what to do

Some Things Last
Some Things Change
Something’s wrong
With Me and You
Just because you believe it
Doesn’t make it true

MAD FOREVER

Used to like the feeling of getting high,
Now I just want the drug
Can’t even remember why.

Used to really care about policy
Now I just want to win
Don’t even care what’s good for me

I used to feel sad and lost
Now all that confusion’s gone
My team is best whatever it costs me

Just want more
Stand by my brand
Enough is never —
Gonna stay mad forever

I used to care about responsibility
And truth and family values
And honesty and humility

I really want to bust some heads
Feel so put down
Coz nobody’s listening to me

Just want more
Stand by my brand
Enough is never —
Gonna stay mad forever

I know what’s right
I feel it in my gut
So sick of explaining
And all the complaining
And all of that whining
And all that opining
When they are just trying
to cancel us
to silence us
to take us down
Take my rights away
Take my freedoms
Take my beliefs
And my memes and my tweets

Used to like the feeling of getting high,
Now I just want the drug
can’t even remember why.

Just want more
Stand by my brand
Enough is never —
Gonna stay mad forever

Gonna stay mad forever
Gonna stay mad forever
Gonna stay mad forever

WAIT TILL SUMMER

They got headlines and promises
And over-night deliveries
Of things you never knew you wanted
With discounts and guarantees

They make you believe
They’ll help to relieve
All your pain and anxiety
They know where you live
And what you’d give
for a little bit of sanctuary

You’ll have to wait
You’ll have to wait till Summer
I don’t think they’ve got
what you want anyhow

You’ll have to wait
You’ll have to wait till Summer
I don’t think they’ve got
what you want anyhow

Can you even believe that we
Have gotten in this deep
with no way out.

Stand down, Stand by
Draw down or draw fire,
Stand up for the liar in chief
Justice delayed is just denied
When the leader that you love is a thief

You got your hands on the bible
Everything is tribal
And the truth is a show on TV
Morality’s relative
And everything’s competitive
Hope there’s a sequel to see

You’ll have to wait
You’ll have to wait till Summer
I don’t think they’ve got
what you want anyhow

You’ll have to wait
You’ll have to wait till Summer
I don’t think they’ve got
what you want anyhow

Can you even believe that we
Have gotten in this deep
with no way out.

There’s no break from this pressure
It’s so hard to measure
When you got a hook in your mouth
So hard to resist
when you are so pissed
that everything is going South.

There’s always someone to blame
It’s all such a damn shame
when your dreams don’t come true
someone is gonna pay
coz I am so sad today
I say it’s gonna be you

You’ll have to wait
You’ll have to wait till Summer
I don’t think they’ve got
what you want anyhow

You’ll have to wait
You’ll have to wait till Summer
I don’t think they’ve got
what you want anyhow

Can you even believe that we
Have gotten in this deep
with no way out. 

BRIGHTER DAY

What’s it gonna take
to change your mind?

You seem to think
that we’ve got time

When everything I see
says it’s all over now

Seems to me our chance
has come and gone

Just like that horse
and the door to the barn

I used to dream of a brighter day
but that rosy glow has gone away

A Goodman Is Hard to Find

A Goodman is hard to find
Who’ll draw a mob
Down the corridors of power
One man with grit
In a capitol of cowards

A Goodman is hard to find
Hard as you look
Much as you like

There aren’t that many

Who’ll toe the line
For the simple truths
And better times
That never were

Would you Fall on your sword?
Take the oath?
Are you mad or bored or both?
That guy we called the president
Set a pretty rotten precedent

A Goodman is hard to find

Two tours
One over seas
One in DC
Gonna give that man a medal
Coz he’s got mettle

A Goodman is hard to find

There aren’t that many.

TENDER

I believe there’s only one time around
And it’s so tender

Like the last leaf
That falls from an old oak tree
In an Indian Summer
That goes on forever

All the sounds shift
As the day gives way to night
All the color drains
And turns the world to black and white

And in the shadows of a pale and Indifferent moon
Everything feels tender

Bitter Winds
Spiteful rain
Righteous mobs
Acting Insane
Fearful talk
On the radio
Feels like there’s
nowhere left to go

And everyone can tell
The grip is tightening
Even the weather seems to have a temper

Comes a time when
There is no turning back
We’ve just squandered
Life’s true treasures

All the times we’ve said
We stand on principal
All the times we’ve said
All for one
And one for all

But it’s so clear what we’ve been
Up to all along
We’ve just surrendered
Everything for tender.

And everyone remembers

There’s a time when you were young
You saw the world as a place for fun
But as the years
Go on and on
There’s nowhere to hide
From the endless storm

’Cause in the long run
I fear the truth will out
Like a match to tinder
Leaves only cinders

It cuts so deep to see
We’ve brought it on ourselves
All this thunder
A colossal blunder

And as the day breaks
I ask where did we go astray
I still remember
When things seemed tender

DANCEFLOOR

All across the dance floor
Hands clasped in hands
Swaying to the music
Of the high school band

Heads resting on shoulders
Lips apart and eyes shut tight
Bodies close in anticipation
anything could go down tonight

Flash from the camera
lights faces in the crowd
Fleeting moments
Before the dark cloud

All around the dance floor
Kids just starting out
No one knowing where they’re headed
Or what life’s about

Tenterhooks and longing looks
plans forming in their mind
Everyone wonders
If their love will last this time

Last thing they all expected
Stopped them where they stood
No one ever speaks of it now
Maybe no one should.

Was it something in the music
Or outside in the rain
Now one knows for certain
But felt it just the same

All across the dance floor
on that fateful night
Call it a premonition
Call it what you like

All across the dance floor
No movement in the crowd
All across the dance floor
No one made a sound

All across the dance floor
Everyone was stunned
All across the dance floor
No one was the same

MAD ABOUT THE WORLD

I’ve been mad about the world
As long as I can remember

I’ve been sad about the world
As long as I can say

Don’t pity me
Don’t pity me

I’ll be gone
Before you know what hit you

You will see
You will see

I’ll be gone
and you will hardly miss me

I’ve been mad about the world
As long as I can remember

I’ve been sad about the world
As long as I can say

Don’t pity me
Don’t pity me

I’ll be gone
But this world keeps moving on.

LAST TIME

Come and sit here next to me
Like it’s the last time

Light is fading fast
For the last time

Let me hear you breathing
One more time
‘cause it’s the last time

No long goodbyes
We done that already
Just breath in and out
Slow and steady

Oh oh oh oh oh
It’s the last time

Let me call you darling
One more time
‘cause it’s the last time

Oh oh oh oh oh
It’s the last time

Oh oh oh oh oh
The last time