The Day Today – The Final James Lee Stanley CD

Three years in the studio have produced what people are referring to as James Lee’s “White Album”, in that there are seventeen songs in a variety of genres and styles that demonstrate the breadth and depth of James Lee’s genius. Working at the peak of his powers James Lee did write or co write all the songs, play most of the instruments and all of the lead vocals as well as many background vocals.

He was also fortunate to have the incredible contributions of John Batdorf, Chris Conway, Melissa Greener, Laurence Juber, Gary Katz, Ken Lyon, Rick Ruskin, Corky Siegel, Pamala Stanley, Washington “Smow Down” Tahr, Chad Watson, and Sandra Young.

In James Lee’s own words: “It is the longest opus I have ever created. The few that have given me input tell me it’s the best recording I have ever done. I tend to agree. I spent the entire lockdown writing and recording it here on top of a mountain in Bear Valley Springs with the original idea of culling the 17 songs down to an even dozen, but three years of writing, rewriting and recording and re-recording have left me with the decision to include them all.”

The Songs:

1. Wake the Flock Up
2. The Best We Can
3. The Carnival
4. Hard Lesson To Learn
5. America’s A Gun
6. Cold Ukrainian Night
7. Do It In His Name
8. Hearts In Amber
9. Time and the River
10. Mobius Trip
11. Too Much To Dream
12. Hey Look At You Too
13. Summer’s On the Way
14. How Many Days, How Many Hours
15. For the Last Time
16. Tumblin Down These Stairs
17. Brick At A Time (The Bonus cut, if you will)

I am only manufacturing one thousand CDs which will be signed and numbered. When these are gone there will be no more. The price is $30 (no shipping and handling fee)
payable to James Lee Stanley to paypal.me/jamesleestanley or @jamesleestanley at venmo or by check to:

James Lee Stanley
785 Tucker Road, G203
Tehachapi, CA 93561

Thank you for hanging in with me all these years through all these challenges. I have been blessed to make music my entire life. And truthfully that has been my only aspiration. I am a lucky fellow.
All the best to you in this year 2024. I suspect it will be our most challenging yet. This music should help.

James Lee Stanley
Bear Valley Springs, California

The Lyrics:

Wake the Flock Up

Chained to the TV, chained to the phone

Everyone’s connected everyone’s alone

Misinformation, spinning the news

Helplessly watching, must be something we can do

Wolves in the hen house the brood is in need Please

 

Wake the flock up, wake the flock up

Wake the flock up, wake the flock up, wake up

 

Done in broad daylight No sense of shame

Say it’s their nature Accepting no blame

Time isn’t waiting and neither should we

In a fight for your life, there aren’t any rules Fools

Wake the flock up…

 

Kill with no conscience Rebels without a clue

Now they’ve tasted blood, they’re coming for you…me and you

Wake the flock up…

Words and music by james lee stanley @2022, 2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

The Best We Can

The Honey Bee does mystery dances

To show the hive the way

The sparrow sings a song of joy

To greet the brand new day

A spider jade of solid gold

Spins circles ‘round the sun

The weaver weaves, the singer sings

The doers get things done

 

Not a soul can tell you why And no one understands

We live our lives as if they matter We do the best we can

 

It makes no matter what we gather

We pay the price, we must

Fame and fortune fade away

Like granite into dust

And still we all assume the role

And learn our lines by heart

To make our brief lives count for something

We all just play a part

 

Not a soul can tell you why We believe some guiding hand

Will steer our lives as if they matter We do the best we can

Words and music by james lee stanley @2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

The Carnival

The carnival has left this town, there’s only barren fields

No carousel no cotton candy, no more ferris wheel

The carnival has left this town, don’t think it will return

They say you can’t go home again, will we ever learn

 

The midway’s lost in shadow That darkens as we wait

The wind of silence whispers Thru the rusted busted gate

A paper cup blows thru the grass, The sun’s nowhere in sight

The wind picks up, trees lose their leaves and the string snaps on my kite

And slowly drifts into the night

 

The carnival has left this town, there’s only empty space

The lions and the tigers, all gone without a trace

The carnival has left this town, I know it may sound strange

But we thought life would stay same, now everything has changed

 

Our whole lives were a carnival, we rode free on a pass

We never thought that it could end, but nothing’s built to last

The winters now are way too hot, The summers long and cold

Do you think spring will come again, at least that’s what we’re told

Do you believe what we’ve been told?

 

The carnival has left this town, there’s only barren field

No carousel calliope, no more ferris wheel

The carnival has left this town, don’t think it will return

What’s gone for good is gone forever, will we ever learn

Words and music by James Lee Stanley @2022 james lee stanley music, bmi

Bear Valley Springs September 8, 2022

 

Hard Lesson To Learn

Have i we ever been satisfied, I’ll tell you honestly

Whenever fortune’s come our way We’ve always looked to see

Is that all?  There’s got to be more, Round the Corner turn?

 

And that’s a hard lesson, A hard lesson to learn

It’s a hard, hard lesson to learn

 

Seems like only yesterday The world was at my feet

Loved embraced and nurtured By everyone I’d meet

It’s too late now to show them how I’d give back in return…and

 

that’s a hard lesson, A hard lesson to learn

It’s a hard, hard lesson to learn

 

Take your time some people say

To live in love’s the only way

Will we find the way

 

My sunrise came right after the war,  my sunset no-one knows.

Empires rise and empires fall.  They only go to show

It’s written in the day to day that every season turns

but It’s a hard lesson, a hard lesson to learn

It’s a hard, hard  hard lesson to learn

Yes it’s a hard hard, hard lesson to learn

 

Words and Music by James Lee Stanley and Gary Mazzola

@2023 James Lee Stanley Music BMI

 

America’s A Gun

England is a cup of tea

France a wheel or ripened bree

Greece a little olive tree

America’s a gun

 

Brasil is football in the sand

Argentina Maradonna’s hand

Germany’s an oom pah band

America’s a gun

 

Holland is a wooden shoe

Hungary’s a goulash stew

Australia is a kangaroo

America’s a gun

 

Japan, well it’s a thermal spring

Scotland is a highland fling

We could be most anything but

America’s a gun

 

Words by Brian Bilston with apologies for any errors

Music by James Lee Stanley @2023 by james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Cold Ukrainian Night

Do you remember

When you heard the news

Stunned and broken hearted

With so much left to lose

 

I remember

I couldn’t believe my eyes

A world in embers

Ashes of the Truth

Lies and alibis

 

But I will keep a candle burning

To turn the darkness into light

I will not surrender

I’ll remember what was wrong

and what was right on that cold Ukrainian night

 

Quick as lightning

A cunning slight of hand

Manic misdirection

Cast a shadow on the land

 

I remember

Feeling helpless feeling lost

But in that twilight

A spark of hope remains

Beneath the winter frost

 

But we will keep a candle burning

To turn the darkness into light

We will not surrender

We’ll remember what was wrong

and what was right on that cold Ukrainian night

 

Moving shadows, thunder in the night

children fear the dark

The craven fear the light

 

But we will keep a candle burning

To turn the darkness into light

We will not surrender

We’ll remember what was wrong

and what was right

on that cold Ukrainian night

 

We will light ten thousand candles

For the dreams so worth the fight

We will not surrender

We’ll remember what was wrong

And what was right on that Ukrainian Night

Words by james lee stanley and jim wilson, music by jim wilson

@2020 james lee stanley music, bmi & willow bay music publishing

 

Do It in His Name

Some say nothing’s bad or good til thinking makes it so

Some believe in heaven, some say they just don’t know

I keep my own counsel  I wish you’d do the same

Cursing me or blessing me, you do it in his name

 

You do it in his name  you know what he would do

You do it in his name, as if you really knew

You do it in his name you know not what you do

 

People have opinions, people have beliefs

Some come for the comfort, some for the relief

Some borrow what they cannot steal

Some do it for their gain

Some fake it when they cannot feel

Some do it in his name

 

They do it in his name they know what he would do

They do it in his name as if they really knew

They do it in his name  and to hell with me and you

 

Blackened beads of rosaries, golden wheels of prayer

Crosses with the Star of David, crescents in the air

Symbols of the faithful, the truth is theirs alone

Superstition, sacred cows, roll away the stone

 

They do it in his name they know not what they do

They do it in his name

Embrace whatever comforts you  I will do the same

What good is pointing fingers, what good is painting blame

Why judge anybody, just let each other be

Hey, i’ll let you in my heaven

You can do the same for me

Hey, i’ll let you in my heaven

You can do the same for me

We’ll do it in his name who knows what he might do

We’ll do it in his name, it’s up to me and you

We’ll do it in his name

words and music by james lee stanley, @2024james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Hearts In Amber

(and they say)

She keeps her heart in amber

You can look but you can’t touch

A well known secret, clear as crystal

A diamond in the in the dust

She keeps her heart in amber

 

Amber knows when anyone is watching

Amber knows that not a soul can see

Where she’s been or where she’s going

Is she chained or is she free?

She keeps her heart in amber

 

If there are stars in her skies,

She’ll never see them

from where her heart lies

Even if all of those stars were in her eyes

She couldn’t free them

 

Once you know she keeps her heart in amber

Even tho it’s hidden in plain sight

If you find it you can’t keep it

Could you steal the darkness from the night?

She keeps her heart in amber

 

Over time our cries become a whisper

Over time our skin becomes so thin

Over time our hearts become bone china

We break so easily then

We keeps our hearts in amber

Words and music by James Lee Stanley, @2021 james lee stanley music bmi

 

Time and the River

Put your ear to a shell, you’ll hear the ocean

Put your ear to my heart, you’ll hear your name…

 

Every day with you always rushes to an end too soon for me

As the hours go, I want you to know how much you mean to me

I want to make each minute last, but they all slip away so fast…

 

Time and the river, keep on flowing

Time and the river, there’s just no slowing them down

No slowing them down.

 

Every night it seems you are in my dreams like the ocean’s in a shell

On my darkest night, you’re the ray of light that breaks the shadows spell

And then another day begins, though I don’t want the night to end

 

Time and the river, keep on flowing

Time and the river, there’s just no slowing them down

No slowing them down.

 

Words and music by james lee stanley, 2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Mobius Trip

There you stand on the edge of the city

Got a paycheck in your hand

This is it, it’s your new beginning

It’s your ticket to the promise land

It doesn’t matter what the extras chatter

They can point at your dreams and laugh

Cause this is YOUR business, it’s none of their business

It’s your brand new second chance

 

And you’re gonna take it

And make it work this time

Yes you’re gonna take it

And stake it all out on the line

Where it’s do or die

It’s laugh or cry

It’s try or die trying this time

 

There you were at the trailways station

You’d checked all your dreams and passed

This is it, the dream has ended

And nothing’s gonna make it last

A candy bar and a cup of bad coffee

Then you get on the bus and go

Twenty three dollars away from las vegas

Get a job where the pay’s too low

 

But you’re gonna take it…

 

Out on the highway you spy a help wanted

On your ride to the end of the line

Not much of a job for so  much of a man

But you tell ‘em it’ll do just fine

Work all week for two hundred dollars

That you’re too damned tired to spend

So you quit that job and you hop on the bus

And you’re back in las vegas again

 

And you ‘re gonna make it

Gonna make it work this time

You’re take it and stake it all on the no pass line

Where it ‘s do or die

It’s laugh or cry

It’s try or die trying this time

Words and music by James Lee Stanley, @2024 James Lee Stanley Music, BMI

 

Too Much To Dream

It’s the middle of the night

Someplace far from here

I’ve had too much to dream

But it was just this once I swear

Too much to dream

But it won’t happen again,

No it won’t happen again

 

I know I told you before

But I mean it this time

I know I hurt you baby

I’ve done my share of lying

Too much to dream

But it won’t happen again, No

It won’t happen again

 

I don’t know why I do it

I don’t know what goes wrong

But if you’ll just forgive me

And let me come on home

I won’t hurt you no more baby,

I won’t touch another drop

I won’t spend one more night without you

I swear this time, this time, I’ll stop

 

It’s the middle of the night…

Words and music by James Lee Stanley, @2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Hey Look At You, Too

You stare at the sun and you’ll prob’ly go blind

You race with the moon and you’ll soon fall behind

Playing with fire, you’ll surely get burned

But I take my chances, guess I’ll never learn

 

You walked in the room and no one can deny

All eyes are upon you, no need to ask why

There’s something about you, I can’t look away

With no hesitation I only can say…

 

Hey look at you, hey look at you

Hey look at you, you’re so fine

 

You’re out on that dance floor I love how you move

You’re into the moment, you’re into the groove,

You’re beckoning to me, your arms open wide

With no hesitation I’m here by your side.

 

Hey look at you…

 Words and music by james lee stanley, @2021 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Summer’s On the Way

Carrot skirts swaying in the streets

There’s a window in the clouds

Finally, it’s a sunny day

The classroom minutes shout

I hear the wind in the sugar trees

Just outside these walls

When can we get out of here

You can feel the new day call

 

What this summer’s gonna bring

After all this time inside

What this summer’s gonna bring

Is a siren song that cannot be denied

Summer’s on the way

 

Newspaper weather, cabin fever

Lost in the language of clocks

Too much time in too little space

With the doors and windows locked

Te long red night is finally over

The clouds have rolled away

That ray of hope we could not see

Will finally have its day

 

Who gave life to all those lies, I won’t forget

A winter-fall of foolish lies I won’t forget

Even after all this time, I won’t forget

See who’s laughing now

 

Summer’s on the way…

Words by james lee stanley @2021 james lee stanley music, bmi

Music by rick ruskin & james lee stanley, @2021 james lee stanley music, bmi/lion dog music, ascap

 

For the Last Time

If I leave it up to you, I know what you’re gonna do

You’re gonna break my heart in two, like the last time

You see, this happened once before but it won’t happen anymore

Cause I’m walking out that door for the last time.

 

It’s the last time you’ll ever see me cry

And it’s the last time I’ll ever say goodbye, to you

Yes it’s the last time you’ll ever break my heart.

 

Everybody’s on to you, I’ve told everyone you knew

And now I’ll tell the whole world too, for the first time

I know what it is, I’m free, I know where I want to be

Anywhere that I won’t see you like the last time

It’s the last time you’ll ever see me cry…

 

If I knew what I know now, I’d have changed my life somehow

Amazing what the heart allows for the first time

But everything has changed for me, it took a while but now I see

What leaving you has done for me, for the first time.

Yes, It’s the last time you’ll ever see me cry…

Words and music james lee stanley @2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

How Many Days, How Many Hours

How much time will it take

How many days, how many hours

Til I forget your face

How many days, how many hours

 

Why did you walk away

Without a word, without a warning

What can I do or say

Would you even listen

 

What was it changed your mind

After so many days and so many hours

That made you leave me behind

So many days and so many hours

 

I never let you down, or crossed the line

I cross my hear

Was I just another clown stranded in the love light

 

People connect to fast

So many days, and so many hours

Wasn’t it made to last

All of our lives and all of our hours

 

Don’t I deserve to know

Why did you leave, I can’t believe it

How could you turn and go

Without even goodbye

Words and music by james lee stanley, @2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Tumblin Down These Stairs

I should be rolling down the highway

‘Stead of tumbling down these stairs

I should be rolling down the highway

‘Stead of tumbling down these stairs

Rolling, rolling, rolling…

 

Time slips away, no stopping it

Shoulda, woulda, coulda

Time slips away, no stopping it

Shoulda, woulda, coulda

 

When I had the time, no stoppin’ it

When I had the time

 

I should be rolling down the highway

‘Stead of tumbling down these stairs

Words and music by james lee stanley @2024 james lee stanley music, bmi

 

Bonus track…

a brick at a time

walking across the Brooklyn bridge,

it’s a geometric horizon

a brick at a time’s what came to mind,

a brick at a time til a whole city’s rising

 

look at the buildings, look at the lights,

look at the people around you

a brick at a time a brick at a time,

til New York city surrounds you

 

walking across the Brooklyn bridge

you can’t help laughing out loud

it’s a wonderous sight, the halogen lights

and you take your place in the crowd

 

look at the buildings, look at the lights,

look at the people beside you

a brick at a time til a city was born,

feel the jingle jangle inside you

 

brick by brick they built this city

a brick at a time, a brick at a time

Brick by brick They built this city

a brick at a time, a brick at a time

 

walking across the Brooklyn bridge

nothing can keep you from grinning

it’s a wonderous sight, under halogen lights,

struttin’ laughin’ and spinnin’

 

look at the buildings, look at the lights,

flickering, flashing around you

a brick at a time and city was born,

and the NYC buzz surrounds you

 

Written by james lee stanley

after patti heller and I walked across the brooklyn bridge

2024 james lee stanley music, bmi