NEW MISERABLE EXPERIENCE
(Released August 4, 1992 on A&M Records.)

Robin Wilson (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jesse Valenzuela (guitars, vocals, mandolin), Phillip Rhodes (drums, percussion), Bill Leen (bass), Doug Hopkins (guitars).

Additional Musician:
C.J. Chenier (accordion on "Cajun Song"), Robbie Turner (pedal steel on "Cheatin'"), Robert Becker (piano on "Pieces of the Night" and "Until I Fall Away").

Produced by John Hampton and Gin Blossoms.
Engineered and mixed by John Hampton.
Assistant engineer, James Senter.
Recorded and mixed at Ardent Studios, Memphis, TN. (Except "Allison" and "Rita," recorded by Andy Barrett at AB Recorders, Phoenix, AZ.)
 

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LOST HORIZONS (3:20)
(Doug Hopkins)

The last horizons I can see are filled with bars and factories
and in them all we fight to stay awake...
Drink enough of anything to make this world look new again
Drunk drunk drunk in the gardens and the graves
She had nothing left to say so she said she loved me
I stood there grateful for the lie...
Drink enough of anything to make this girl look new again
Drunk drunk drunk in the gardens and the graves
Turn summer trees to bones and ice
Turn insect songs against the night
With words we build and words we break
I'm drunk drunk drunk in the gardens and the graves...
Maybe I could use you to reassure myself
I wouldn't wish this indecision on anybody else
Drink enough of anything to make this world look new again
And when the sin smiles how could it be wrong
The last horizons I could see are now resigned to memories
I never thought I'd still be here today...
Drink enough of anything to make myself look new again
Drunk drunk drunk in the gardens and the graves

HEY JEALOUSY (3:56)
(Doug Hopkins)

Tell me do you think it'd be all right
If I could just crash here tonight
You can see I'm in no shape for driving
And anyway I've got no place to go
And you know it might not be that bad
You were the best I'd ever had
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago
I might not be alone
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
And you can trust me not to think
And not to sleep around
If you don't expect too much from me
You might not be let down
Cause all I really want is to be with you
Feeling like I matter too
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago
I might be here with you
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
She took my heart
There's only one thing I couldn't start

MRS. RITA (4:25)
(Jesse Valenzuela, Jim Swafford)

You can see it in her letters on the paper with her pen
Her response is getting stronger I think she's coming round again
Tell me Mrs. Rita what's it say in my tarot
Read my palm and tell me why do lovers come and go
Is she coming round for me once again, around or was that just the end
I just hope she's coming round again
I've been keeping myself busy with my books and with my tapes
Every day's much better since I've slowed my drinking pace
There's no swimming in the bottle it's just someplace we all drown
I lost myself in sorrow lost my confidence in doubt
Is she coming 'round for me once again, around or was that just the end
I just hope she's coming round again
Get in the car and drive through town
Down the block and back around
Pretending that she's there with me we drive
Gone forever...
My patience keeps me plaintive my high hopes keep me alone
My lover's will is shaken I wish she would just come home
So tell me Mrs. Rita what's it say in my tarot
Read my palm and tell me why do lovers come and go
Is she coming round for me once again, around or was that just the end
I just hope she's coming round again

UNTIL I FALL AWAY (3:51)
(Robin Wilson, Jesse Valenzuela)

I want to tell if I am or am not myself
It's hard to know how far or if at all could go
Waiting far too long for something I forgot was wrong
I don't know all the answers I think that I'll find
Or have it within the time but it's all that I'll have in mind
Until I fall away
That won't keep us waiting long
Until I fall away
I don't know what to do anymore
Until I fall away...
My fear pretend that I'll never be in love again
It's real to me but not like these fools and not like this scene
I won't find or have it within the time
If it's all rusted and fade in the spot where we fell
Where I thought I'd left behind
It's loose now but we could try
Until I fall away
I won't keep us waiting long
Until I fall away
I don't know what to do anymore
Until I fall away...
When there's no good answers
To those new questions
Another personal disaster
There's nowhere to go but down...

HOLD ME DOWN (4:50)
(Doug Hopkins, Robin Wilson)

So I guess I must have just been dreaming
When I thought I heard myself say no
Anyway it looks like no one heard me so here I go
Cause when you're in the company of strangers
Or just the strangers you call friends
You know before you start just how it's going to end
When the doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around
Anytime the pickins look too easy...hold me down
I can't remember why I like this feeling
When it only seems to let me down
Soon I find I'm searching for the exit from the ground
If I think the room is turning faster
Then I think the music is too loud
By then I've lived another broken story to let me down
When those doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around
When half the party moves into the bathroom...hold me down
Or if you're at the tail end of the evening
And Dr. Feelgood comes around
Anytime the pickins look too easy...hold me down
Down if I want that part
Down if I've gone too far
Well I guess I must have just been reeling
When I felt myself begin to fall
I realize I'm bounding down the hallways and off the walls
If my bed was standing in the corner
I could just fall into it right now
And know that I'd just be staring at the ceiling going round
When those doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around
Anytime the pickins look too easy...hold me down

CAJUN SONG (2:56)
(Jesse Valenzuela)

Well, she's leaving today I do know so far away
I'm feeling so blue and it shows in every single way
Once that girl she was mine for such a short time
We used to spend every night now all I do is cry
They say you can't miss something you've never had
So tell me why
Why I could feel so bad...
We used to walk down the path just like lovers do
She'd hold my hand and we'd laugh
I'd stare in her eyes they were blue
Once that girl she was mine for such a short time
We used to spend every night now all I do is cry
They say you can't miss something that you've never had
So tell me why
Why I could feel so bad...

HANDS ARE TIED (3:17)
(Jesse Valenzuela)

I've been waiting around all night
Your warm kiss is on my mind
A piece of you is all I've got
But the whole damn thing is what I want
I've been waiting around here all night long
Holding on to these memories until they come undone
My hands are tied...
Telephone's ringing by my bed
I pick it on up and the line goes dead
I splash summer water on my face
Clears my mind I'm out of this place
I've been waiting around here all night long
Holding on to these memories until they come undone
My hands are tied...
My nerves are frayed and I've had enough
I'm a lot afraid that it'll hurt too much
I'm can't seem to stop at all
I'm plain wore through waiting for your call
I've been waiting around here all night long
Holding on to these memories until they come undone
My hands are tied...
Want you round here all the time
Just can't seem to shake you off my mind
My hands are tied...

FOUND OUT ABOUT YOU (3:53)
(Doug Hopkins)

All last summer in case you don't recall
I was yours and you were mine forget it all
Is there a line that I could write
Sad enough to make you cry
All the lines you wrote to me were lies
The months roll past the love that you struck dead
Did you love me only in my head?
Things you said and did to me
Seemed to come so easily
The love I thought I'd won you give for free
Whispers at the bus stop
I heard about nights out in the school yard
I found out about you
Rumors follow everywhere you go
Like when you left and I was last to know
You're famous now and there's no doubt
In all the places you hang out
They know your name and know what you're about
Whispers at the bus stop
I heard about nights out in the school yard
I found out about you
Street lights blink on through the car window
I get the time too often on AM radio
You know it's all I think about
I write your name drive past your house
Your boyfriend's over I watch your light go out
Whispers at the bus stop
I heard about nights out in the school yard
I found out about you

ALLISON ROAD (3:18)
(Robin Wilson)

I've lost my mind on what I'd find
And all of the pressure that I left behind
On Allison Road
Fools in the rain if the sun gets through
Fire's in the heaven of the eyes I knew
On Allison Road
Dark clouds file in when the moon is near
Birds fly by A.M. in her bedroom stare
There was no tellin' what I might find
I couldn't see I was lost at the time...
Yeah I didn't know I was lost at the time
On Allison Road
So she fills up her sails with my wasted breath
And each one's more wasted than the other you can bet
On Allison Road
Now I can't hide so why not drive
I know I want to love her but I can't decide
On Allison Road
I didn't know I was lost at the time
So I went looking for an exit sign
All I wanted to find tonight...

29 (4:18)
(Jesse Valenzuela)

Time won't stand by forever if I know it's true
And I've learned not to say never
Or else I'll seem the fool
Twenty-nine you'd think I'd know better
Living like a kid
When my lies may seem less than clever
Is when I fall for it
Only time will tell if wishing wells
Can bring us anything
Or fade like scenes from childhood dreams
Forgotten memories
Some rides don't have much of a finish
That's the ride I took
Through good and bad and straight through indifference
Without a second look
There's no intentions worthy of mention
If we never try
So hang your hopes on rusted-out hinges
Take 'em for a ride
Only time will tell if wishing wells
Can bring us anything
Or fade like scenes from childhood dreams
Forgotten memories
Only time will tell...

PIECES OF THE NIGHT (4:33)
(Doug Hopkins)

Is it any wonder that the stars just don't rush by
When you're only doin' 60 through this oh-so-vacant night
But it's lacking something big this time
What the hell did you expect to find
Aphrodite on a barstool by your side
Twelfth night we go
After something everyone should know
Somewhere in the distance out of sight...
Then I saw: gin mill rainfall
What do you remember if at all
Only pieces of the night...
And is it any wonder in the middle of the crowd
If you let your feet get trampled on
When the music is that loud
But you wanted to be where you are
But it looked much better from afar
A hillside in shadow
Between the people and the stars
Twelfth night we go
After something everyone should know
Somewhere in the distance out of sight...
Then I saw: gin mill rainfall
What do you remember if at all
Only pieces of the night...
It seems so distant
But still only half the night away
Where notions between your questions come too
Is it any wonder where
The pieces of the night have been...

CHEATIN' (3:25)
(Jesse Valenzuela, Doug Hopkins)

New York City where it's cold as hell
And the streetlights shone in my blue room
I was thinking about the nights we spent
Back in Galveston beneath the Georgia moon
It was early and I'd had my share
I was countin' change for a cab ride back to bed
She looked to me through the cold night air
And thoughts of you kicked off inside my head
Well she was tall hair dark as midnight
She had a way just like you do
To make me feel just like a woman should
You can't call it cheatin'
Cause she reminds me of you...
Though I loved you and the trust we shared
Lord don't tell me that I've thrown it all away
A moment's weakness shouldn't change the fact
That I need you and there's nothing more to say
Lord she was tall hair dark as midnight
She had a way just like you do
To make me feel just like a woman should
You can't call it cheatin'
Cause she reminds me of you

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