Mazel-Tov RockTales was recorded at Griffin Audio Media in Grayslake, IL. Recording started in late 2002 and just kept on going! Once again, the band mixed it and once again, Kyle Johnson expertly mastered it, with some assistance from Mr. Griffin.
John Griffin wrote old-n-ugly, styrofoam cop, and two years. Rick wrote the rest, except for the covers, of course. The arrangements are always a band effort. Ginger Hobi-Ragaz and Bianca Guggenheim provided the chatter and giggles during 's not.
Peter Steadman was the artist who painted the awesome cover. Tara Griffin took at least most of the photos on the back. Rick toiled over the CD art design, and then handed it over to Tom Neal, who put the finishing touches on it.
The Mazel-Tov RockTales Band:
John Griffin - guitars
John Flamini - drums
Rick Bennett - vocals, bass
we are old and ugly
don't you notice time has fallen
from our graces and our faces
and our friends all go to bed by nine
they don't have time
but that's all right
we rock all night
and you just might
find out we're super heroes
we are old and ugly
but secretly we are super heroes
we have capes and masks and stuff
and we just roam the earth to help
we never think about ourselves
but sometimes we need extra rest
and though we rock among the best
we're old and ugly super heroes
we are old and ugly
don't you notice time has fallen
from our graces and it chases
all our friends all go to bed by nine
they don't have time
but that's all right
we rock all night
and you just might
find out we're super heroes
7 months 7 years 11 days
i've been here doing this
and the more things change
the more i stay insane
and though i hate to be pathetic
still i need more anesthetic
cuz i can't handle real pain
it's not my destiny
and this can't be the rest of me
i don't like what i see
this can't be my destiny
7 days 7 hours
i've been lying in my bed
trying to muster up some courage
to do anything at all
and though i hate to be pathetic
i'd rather skip life's calisthenics
nothing's pumping in my veins
there's a picture in my mind
and it's beautifully surreal
fuzzy picture in my mind
this is how i want to feel
and this picture in my mind
i don't know where i can find it
how can you get what you want
unless you know how to define it
for two minutes and some odd seconds
i've been hoping i can change
i might swear to god or hope to die
yeah yeah yeah
but i'd never stick a needle in my eye
oh god no
i have spread the truth so thin
i don't know where it ends
and or begins
you like truth but i'm not much for it
the truth is i myself choose to ignore it
i'm not evil i'm not mean
it's simply that i'm lacking self-esteem
I mean in this world that i've created in my head i live so well
and i'm much better than myself
let's go on pretending you don't know
yeah yeah yeah
it's kind of like the feelings
i don't show oh god no
honesty is not my thing
but maybe that makes me
more interesting
i stand by what i have stated
integrity is much too overrated
i'm not evil i'm not mean
it's simply that i'm lacking self-esteem
i am in a crazy spin
i don't know who i am again
maybe i'm just some libertine
it's all just part of my daily routine
i might swear to god or hope to die
it's all right when in flight
pass by you're not in sight
the red ones go on green
the green is in my head
if you could carry on
i would never look back
it's all right it's all right
time out i look back
he's so stiff i'm too fast
he doesn't make a move
he doesn't start it up
must be eating doughnuts
or just sleeping it off
time out time out
styrofoam cop
out to lunch once again
in more ways than one
melting in the sun
cracking in the cold
not a collar earned
he is several years old
it's all right it's all right
i called you several hours ago
they told me that you'd be right here
serving and protecting dunkin' donuts every day of the year
traffic ticket givin'
jenny craig needin' fool
holding a gun
shooting radar into the air
i don't feel good i don't feel well
i wish i was home safe and sound
my nose is running and my feet smell
i must have been built upside-down
you think it's funny but it's
you think it's funny but it's
you think it's funny but it's
there's always room for jello
ho-ho-ha
i wanna play the cello like
yo-yo ma
i'm feeling kinda mellow
well la-tee-da
i like elvis costello
now here's some ska
you think it's funny but it's not
with eyes glowing turning my way
searching for the proper way
but the phrase is froze
pulsing pounding i remember
memory doesn't fade
when time stands still
it's not stopping not subsiding
gotta blot it out
it's a waste of time looking at you
turns my head though keep me jumping
with enemies like you
who needs friends
you can't reflect your hand
you can't protect your bet
you can't reflect your hand
you can't understand a single thing
about the last two years
waiting waiting nothing coming
got to give it up you know
it won't amount to a single thing
time to walk away from this
situation failing heart
walk around in a daze
two years since i saw
what i thought was a battlefield
i've got important things to say
facts that you need to know
and to show
what you must under go
i've got important things to say
ideas that can change your life
shed some light
on what is wrong and right
i don't think you're listening to me
i don't think you've heard
a single word
i don't think you're listening to me
i'm not gonna say another word
don't stop
i've got nothing to say
that's bull flop
i've got nothing to say
you rock
thanks that's nice of you to say
but come on don't stop
i've got nothing to say
i've got nothing else to say
and even though i'm singing
that's ok
because the point i'm trying to make
is i've got nothing else to say.
save your strength so to oppose me
tracking down the clues
so to expose me as a super villain
down a path that sharply narrows
while you're shooting me
with verbal arrows slowly killing me
but it's not the way i hoped it would be
i cared for you so deeply
until you got so creepy
i am not a super villain
i'm just a man who couldn't stand
spending another minute with you
just a man i do what i can
to not have think at all about you
i'm just a man you don't understand
moving moving mouth keeps moving
with a nature all too disapproving
of everything i do
you tell your friends i'm such a phony
and my favorite band is frankenpony
that part may be true
she whispers to me life's a mystery
and things are not always
the way they seem
she says she'd like to see the rest of me
she winks and asks
if i know what she means
i know i know i know i know i know that i don't know what you mean
you speak i hear
but the meaning isn't clear
i know that i don't know
she mentions that
it's getting pretty late
and i'm a verb she'd like to conjugate
she's gonna change
into something comfy
she smiles and asks
if i know what she means
when i think of love i often think of you
sometimes i wonder are you to good to be true
when i think of you i often think of love
you're like an angel sent down from above
but it isn't like these worn out words
could ever serve a purpose
because they're like sugar powdered turds
they taste bad beneath the surface
i think that's true
it's a very happy song and i'm asking you why
do i feel do i feel do i feel like crying
a very happy song when i think of it
so tell me why tell me why do i feel like shit
words cannot express
they've all been used before
the way i feel about you
that i still love you more and more
words cannot express
they can't convey the mood
maybe i should just skip love songs
maybe i should write about buildings and food
and when i think of food
i lose my train of thought
can't keep my mind on
doing what i ought
and when i think of love songs
i know my wheels will spin
it's all been said thrice over and again
words cannot express
and maybe i'm too late
maybe i should just start over
maybe i should write
a song that you don't hate
boring local crap they called it
and i'm not made of stone
but then you told me
they were stupid little snots
and so i didn't feel so cold
they said call us back in 6 months
we're not interested in you
i wanted to tell them where to shove it
and then i started to feel blue
you told me work hard you'll succeed
i told you i've got everything i need
i know you love me
cause you don't make me
eat broccoli and cauliflower
and you don't flush the toilet
when i take shower
and you hardly complain
as i waste away the hours
playing stupid songs
all these years i never get ahead
i guess that i don't concentrate
on what will bring me money
i'm getting old and maybe it's too late
i know that you deserve
the finer things that i just can't afford
i've got high ideals
but still i wish that i could give you more
i tell you i'll try harder to succeed
you tell me you've got everything you need
sorry i am behind my time
i had hoped you'd understand
i was feeling merry
and she didn't seem to mind at all
even though my mind is small
i can make her laugh out loud
and when she does then time cannot dictate
if i am or am not late
it's all just relative
time is a thief time is a healer
but i never hardly ever
get the time to feel her
time is a river time is the sea
and time goes on forever
when she's not near me
is time constant is time a continuum
does anybody really know
what time it is man
time is an ever spinning top
but when i'm with her
i wish that time would stop
in the name of love
ok you beg to disagree
time is seconds on the clock
it's regimented
and maybe i'm foolish and naive
and my thoughts are too abstract
and i just can't perceive
maybe i'm demented
how can i explain
if i am or am not sane
it's all just relative