Mixed by
Al Sgro
Mastered by
Reuben Cohen
at Lurssen Mastering
Recording Engineer
Kenneth Pattengale
Live Sound Engineer
Brett DeBone
Recording equipment provided by
Four Six Productions
Additional recording equipment provided by
Brian Lee/Milkmade
Produced by
The Milk Carton Kids
Recorded live at Zoeys
in Ventura across two
sold-out shows on
January 22 & 23, 2011
All Rights Reserved.
2011 Milk Carton Records
milkcartonrecords.com
Joey Ryan plays a 1951 Gibson J45
Front & back cover photography by Megan Baker Kenneth Pattengale plays a 1954 Martin 0-15
Additional Photography by Brendan Pattengale Both guitars are lovingly cared for by
Norik Renson of Renson Guitar Shop
Kenneth & Joey would like to extend additional thanks to: Lindsay, Paul & Elizabeth, Matt & Debbie, Brendan,
Nicholas, April & Mayah, Dave & Jaclyn, Sara Bareilles, Vienna Teng & Alex Wong, Glen Phillips, Cary Brothers,
Amber Rubarth, Meiko, The Spring Standards, Meg & Dia, Eric Morris, Gavin Lurssen, Conrad Vernon, Sam
Genovese, Lincoln Myerson, Matt Taylor, Chris Douridas, Bruno Ybarra, Max & Marko, The Norton-McIntoshes,
Polly, Steve & everyone at Zoey's & the wonderfully supportive fans of Ventura.
Tracks 2, 4, 7, 11, 12 words
& music by Kenneth Patten-
gale (Dr Caulwell and Co -
ASCAP) - Track 6 words by
Kenneth Pattengale &
Samantha Genovese, music
by Kenneth Pattengale (Dr
Caulwell and Co - ASCAP) -
Track 9 words by Kenneth
Pattengale & Conrad
Vernon, music by Kenneth
Pattengale (Dr Caulwell and
Co - ASCAP)
Tracks 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14:
words & music by Joey Ryan
(Joey Ryan Music Publishing
- ASCAP) - Track 3: words &
music by Joey Ryan and
Maia Sharp (Joey Ryan
Music Publishing - ASCAP,
Crooked Crown Music/Razor
and Tie Music Publishing
(BMI)
 Permanent
Laredo
Broken Headlights
Charlie
Maybe It's Time
Trouble In These Parts
Girls, Gather 'Round
As It Must Be
Memoirs of an Owned Dog
Queen Jane
Rock & Roll 'Er
Lake Skaneateles
California
Like A Cloak
PERMANENT
I think I'm going to work construction
just to make something of myself
I can't live off these childhood trophies on my shelf
I want to get my hands dirty
I want to feel a burning in my legs
i want more than a receipt for what I paid
everybody loves something new
'cause you can open it and plug it in
and it feels like a good night's sleep
like the girl you like paid you a compliment
they can keep the change and they can keep 'em
coming they can talk to who's listening
I'm still looking for something a little more permanent
I am not a poet
show me the easy way and I'll do it
no one could ever say that I've been trying way too hard
everything that I have ever owned
got dusty and old
so I threw it out just to make myself some room
I'm like everybody I love something new
'cause you can open it and plug it in
and it feels like a good night's sleep
like the girl you like paid you a compliment
they can keep the change and they can keep 'em
coming they can talk to who's listening
I'm still looking for something that I can die with
If my luck is running out
Please don't let it be so with love
It's been a long year, but I'm not ready to give up
Even If I lay ten million bricks
And they break through the summer haze
Someone will come around and bulldoze them down
some day
Because everybody loves something new
You get rid of what came before
And it feels like a long hot shower
like getting in your bed when the sheets are warm
So they can keep construction and they can keep em
coming and I wont be listening
I found something a little more permanent
I found someone that I can die with
LAREDO
we lost the train through old Laredo yesterday
you turned your back on the tracks while I held on to
those words you said
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
how dare you run away from all that promise
it's apropos of all the things that we have left behind
us, all we'll ever know
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
your kisses haven't felt like this is honest, your breath
is held at bay
wild as the dream I'll never catch and you would
sooner chase
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
I don't know if it's over
right now, this is all that I can say
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
i'll write the same old song of sorrow the same way
you know the one where this old town can't show
them shelter and I can't get away
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
i see that shallow sheltered promise i proposed falling
gently passed a trembling crescent right off your nose
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
I don't know if it's over
right now, this is all that I can say
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
we lost the train through old Laredo yesterday
you turned your back on the tracks while I held on to
the words you said
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go
just let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go whichever way
BROKEN HEADLIGHTS
It hasn't rained hard for the better part of seven
months
Everyone's listening
All I see ahead of me are glistening lights
This city stays up at night
Droning along like a dissonant song by an amateur
symphony
How come I can only tell you I love you when you're
sleeping in the passenger seat?
And all the fast cars with the broken headlights
Run the red lights in the canyon
But I can taste it, the rain is coming
To clear the air over Los Angeles
Maybe it'll bring the hillside down
Maybe it'll flood the streets
Maybe when I tell you that I love you forever
I'm gonna make a fool of me
But I've got the windows down, the heater on my feet
And the skies are opening
It's gonna come pouring down it's gonna come
pouring out I'm gonna say everything
And all the fast cars with the broken headlights
Run the red lights in the canyon
But I can taste it, the rain is coming
To clear the air over Los Angeles
The road is winding and it's barely lit
You never know how far you're really gonna get
But when you live here you just learn to get used to it
And all the fast cars and the broken headlights
And running red lights in the canyon
Now it's raining, the haze is drowning
The air is clear over Los Angeles
CHARLIE
Charlie, I'll make a deal with you
after which you can do anything you want to
I know I've got the leg up, as you're still only made up
but baby you know I wrote this song for you
I know just how you'll be cause you'll be just like me
charming, so alarming & a little crazy
the queen of some sand castle, an abrasive, rowdy
hassle but kind and loving, fresh and bright, I know
come to me with problems, I swear, I won't go try to
solve 'em
I'll only tell you everything I know
like standing tall was all I had
like boys are bad and love's a fad
that no one ever learns to just let go
Charlie, there's just one little thing before we meet
some lovely spring
I have to go and you find you a nice momma
she'll be just like me and you, perfect in just what we do
a love as strong as father and his daughter
Oh, darling, Charlie
We ain't got a long time and there's a lot to do
But first you gotta decide to leave some things behind
Maybe it's time to leave your chains behind
Did you ever love someone so much that you can't
explain?
When you're with them it's like thunder keeps rolling
through your brain,
Maybe you've had someone before, but this one is
not the same,
You can feel it in the depths of your soul but you still
can't bring yourself to say it,
Maybe it's time for me to tell you I can be without you
anymore.
TROUBLE IN THESE PARTS

don't go kissing boys, don't make a lot of noise
let daddy sing his songs, and be real good
just treat your teachers nice and find a healthy
appetite
for what you really, really want to do
and if in fact your married before the day I'm buried
follow just my one and only rule
for everything you do just remember through and
through
be my best friend 'cause i'll be one for you
Charlie, you'll be strong
Charlie, you'll be smart
Charlie, you'll be anything you want to from the start
Charlie, oh my baby, you'll be every bit the lady
that'll go on breaking this old lonely heart
beauty, i know, lurks here
MAYBE IT'S TIME right 'round the corner, i fear
dear, you can't be serious
Did someone hurt you many years ago? judgement is near
Did someone desert you when you needed them the my mind's always gone there
most? there's trouble here
And the pain stayed with you everywhere you'd go,
And it's been so long now but you just can't seem to in these parts that I've found on my own
let it go, a solemn and safe little home
slow dance to a lone romance out on the road
Maybe it's time to tell it you don't need it anymore. my mind's always gone there
there's trouble in these parts here
Did you lose someone that you loved?
Did they move far off or do you picture them above? you'll learn how to fit & right in you'll slip
There's an emptiness inside you and it's worse when i'll wait up for you
you're alone, black turns to blue
And it feels so heavy now like you're carrying the
weight of a stone, beauty, i know, lurks here
right 'round the corner, i fear
Maybe it's time to tell it you won't carry it anymore. dear, you must be serious
mercy, i hear
my mind's always gone there
there's trouble in these parts here
you'll learn how to fit & right in you'll slip
i'll wait up for you
black turns to blue
between all the lines
all four of my sides
to cover me in time
GIRLS, GATHER ROUND
"don't you let the lessons stop, time ain't just hands
on a clock"
that's what I'm gonna tell Pop when i leave
a vision on the lonely road, it's something that i gotta
know: if i can drive this car all on my own
i guess i'll leave my girl behind
i should have done that long ago
sometime I'm sure the pain will go away
it wasn't working anyhow
the burners on the stove burnt out
a shame I didn't figure it out before
girls, gather round and let that long hair down
sing along with me before I go
let us have a drink
and, by god, don't let us think about the things that
we ain't never gonna know
i met a man in San Francisco
he told me he did the same thing fifty years ago, he
left his gal behind
he sits there in the park one hand is strumming his
guitar, songs he found inside a bottle of wine
i saw the same things on his face, the ones that
made me race away from everything i'd ever really
known
the scare to take responsibility from here -and put her
there- where everyone can see the seeds you've
sown
girls, gather round and let that long hair down
sing along with me before I go
let us have a drink
and, by god, don't let us think about the things that
we ain't never gonna know
if you think about the Creature that you might have
thought would teach you that our hearts are just the
thing right from the start
it would keep us from the worries, safe from sound
and safe from fury, safe at home besides the ones we
know we loved
if you told me from the start that I could never be
apart from her, I'd tell you, "go to hell, get out of my
way" but i've come back with my tail between my legs
I didn't know the way a man can't be a man all on his
own
girls, gather round and let that long hair down
i'll sing a song i learned out on the road
let us have a drink but still, by god, don't let us think
about the things that we ain't never gonna know
the sun is going down on this lonesome town but i got
you here to keep my company
you ever had the feeling that we're living for a
reason?
for that reason I won't ever let you go
you ever had the feeling that we're living for a
reason?
and for that reason I won't ever let you go
AS IT MUST BE
Maybe we'll come out of this
Maybe we'll come out of this unscathed
Just like the story said
Ever after we shall be okay
I know that you don't know where we go when we go
I know that it's hard so we can't go alone
Let it run right over you
Let it run like water to the sea
Nothing lasts forever darling
Everything is as it must be
I know that you'd never let me go on my own
I know that I'll never make it alone
Look at your reflection
Casting your own image in the stream
Though it moves right through you
Something of you soul remains within
MEMOIRS OF AN OWNED DOG
the food was as I like it... cold, wet & in that wonderful
tin can shape
I had it marked in a paw print on the dog door the day
that I finally planned my escape
the milkman, he tried
you can bet I wanted to survive but the truck it just
came far too fast
So I write on these scraps, my remembrances past,
so you don't blame yourself that I've died
they put horses out to pasture
and the birds come home to roost
ain't nothin' for a puppy but the backyard on the loose
now I know my job was to lie idly beside
the way the sun retreats for the moon
i had dreams of walking the world on my own
four on the floor, every night all alone
i was ready to work for the scruff on my neck
yearning to find something of my own to protect
my bark, then, was surely bigger than my bite
chewing the cud could've been my biggest dog fight
and you know how they say we only hear certain
things that you say
well, it never mattered much to me but for the will of
the way
they put horses out to pasture
and the birds come home to roost
ain't nothin' for a puppy but the backyard on the loose
now I know my job was to lie idly beside
the way the sun retreats for the moon
now I loosen this collar for a dog bone bow tie
to go up and meet the big dog in the sky
i'll tell him when I get there I was spoiled in your place
with the hopes that my spirit is honored by your grace
so after you read this memoir one day
or after you hear my lonesome song play
don't you trouble your mind, this old hound's doin' fine
you know, goodbyes are just words like a clock is to
time
so sorry I'm not with you
so sorry I can't be
please know I was the best friend this old mutt could be
if you remember that spot where my favorite tree
grows i hung up my leash on a branch, now it's yours
QUEEN JANE ROCK & ROLL ER
It took me 17 days in the pouring rain and 2000 miles dance her slower
alone rock, then roll her right
making my way through your kingdom on the wrong you can whisper what you say but there ain't no
side of the road better way to start a fight
Eating at the service stations, sleeping in motel
rooms stand up taller
When I leave I'll miss some friends I made, but this square your shoulders right
time I won't miss you there's no better way to listen than kissin' in the
middle of the night
No and I wont miss these gray skies
That hang over me like fate it can be hard I know but a fresh start will show it's right
Sometimes you think you need something new can't you feel it in the beating of your heart?
then you get it and it's just not the same
an empty chest that beats relentlessly
Goodbye rain, Goodbye Queen Jane when you taste it in the air when foul turns to fair
I'm going home to the Golden State to fix all of my you'll know you're free
mistakes
Goodbye rain, Goodbye Queen Jane don't you worry
bet you've heard these cries
I ventured in to this foreign land relying on the satellite ear to ear you'll sing
Just when you're lost at the roundabout It tells you to like the color that you bring into my eyes
go left or go right
But now l long for familiar roads when I know how to it can be hard I know but a fresh start will show it's right
take the turns can't you feel it in the beating of your heart?
I can't wait to get out of this place with all of my
lessons learned dance her slower
rock, then her roll her right
Goodbye rain, Goodbye Queen Jane can you hear the song that's playin'?
I'm going home, whatever the stakes, never's worse it's perfect way to end a perfect night
than late
Goodbye rain, Goodbye Queen Jane time is wasting
get up off your feet
I used to think I could love you the only one to save you has the very face you've
But you have proven me wrong used to capture me
The only thing you've been right about
Is that we don't belong
Goodbye rain, Goodbye Queen Jane
LAKE SKANEATELES CALIFORNIA All the people who are gone
All the ones who once were strong
hush'd now august California, California Oh won't you keep their fate from claiming me
heat in the air Know I love you, California
were free and now clear When I leave I know you wait for me In the ocean, in the sea
In the sun and in the weather no one else has loved We have seen eternity
the Russian's upon us me better How can I tell when you really end
to greet without care California you're the place for me I'll imagine that you lead to other worlds entirely
our innocence Where we can save ourselves and start again
Los Angeles, Los Angeles Yes we need to save ourselves and start again
on the side of the road My heart goes out to you and if
a dandelion mine I make it back I'd love to drive around Nurse me like a mother
explodes in a cheer Your streets are wide and dirty Raise me strong just like my father
You have raised me in a hurry Let me wander off, discover who I am
Lake Skaneateles You're the city of the angels yes indeed I'll have learned your deepest lessons gathered up
deep in the heart your finest blessings
of the echoes I hear San Francisco, San Francisco Return to California once again
Always busy, you're always pretty I'll come home to California once again
and it's you I can see you just across the bay
only you Your red bridge over the sea keeps me safe and California, California
who takes my breath away warm and free Know I love you, California
On a clear day, theres no place I'd rather be When I leave I know you wait for me
be still Puget Sound Cause in the sun and in the weather
the mountains are out In the mountains, in the mountains No one else has loved me better
the wave is in your hair No one knows you like I do California you're the place for me
In summer streams or knee deep in the snow California you're the place for me
i've abandoned my pride Just like the giving tree you have made a man of me California won't you save a place for me
cast off with a sigh Everyone needs someplace beautiful
and hardly a care I think everyone needs someplace beautiful

i can dance all alone In the valley, in the valley

to the hush of this song Give me life and cradle me
and swoon unaware The sun is setting as I drive ahead
Keep us and sustain us
for my silence is yours Give us food and love and I trust
my breath is a fort That without you we'd all soon be dead
and i'm holding it there
In the forest, all the trees
but it's you, only you, who takes my breath away You make a little child of me
only you who takes my breath away How I long to know what you have seen
LIKE A CLOAK

Since you've been around honey

It feels just like a cloak has been wrapped around me
and nothing could ever go wrong

Since you've been around honey

it feels like a thousand stones have been lifted off me
and I've never felt so strong

Nobody knows what they should believe

It could be lies
But when I come back home to you I realize I know
the only truth
And I have got to let you know
That since you've come along the troubles in my
mind have gone
And I insist on being everything
You've wanted for so long