American in Love was released on February 13, 2009. Valentine's Day. This album was recorded at home and out and about in the United States of America. Tools = MacBook (2007), MBox (2003), several microphones and instruments, voices and Pro Tools. 

John Elliott: Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards & Percussion

David Moss: Cello on 2, 6, 8, 9 & 12

Jesse Dalton: Upright Bass on 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 & 11

Trevor Smith: Banjo on 9 & 11

Mike Schadel: Drums on 4 & 10

Lindsey Verrill: Upright Bass on 3 & 7

Bryan Dobbs: Electric Bass on 10

Andy Featherston: Drums on 2

"Stinky" John McGee: Lead Acoustic Guitar on 7

Michael Mcleod: Atmosphere Electric Guitar on 12

Adam "Pickles" Moss: Fiddle on 9

TJ the Dog: Dog Collar on 3 

All songs by John Elliott (BMI) 2009.

Concerning the Lincoln and Douglas Debates or Love Found Lost
Let’s go out tonight like it is last year, like everything’s all right and it is late last year, we’ll walk around this planet ‘till we’re home, we’ll both get old. Let’s go out to the ball and see ‘em all dressed up, I’ll tell you that you’re pretty, we’ll get all messed up, we’ll talk about the future, we’ll call ourselves the future and we’ll mean it. It’s been a restless several years, full of ignorance and fears, I think it’s time for you to go, I think it’s over and you know, you had a nice impressive run, you had your way, you had your fun, I wasted hours with your tongue. It’s like I never learned to love, no one ever walked me through it, no one taught me how to do it, no one told me that it’s real, and it’s not enough to feel and it’s not enough to promise and it’s not enough to try. I know I’m not the only one, I just can’t be the only one, I know I’m not the only one who knows. I been lookin’ up my future on the world wide web, lookin’ up my history on the world wide web, I read the transcripts of the Lincoln and Douglas debates. It’s like all of a sudden there were Germans, acres and acres of Germans, hilarious Germans, their English was pretty good. They came into this country, they fed it with disease, they killed too many trees, baby everyone agrees: you can’t win when you’re old, you can’t win when you’re angry, you can’t do everything you’re told. It’s not a sign from above, it’s not from anyone you love, it’s not a bird, it’s not a car, it’s not afraid of what you are, it’s not a place, it’s not a plane, it’s not a God, it’s not a name, don’t waste your money or your time. I know I’m not the only one, I just can’t be the only one, I know I’m not the only one who knows. But you see there’s no one left that you can turn to now and you know there’s someone new you better learn from now, your mother’s too afraid, your father’s not alive anymore. I want it to be perfect, I want it to be right, I wanna fall in love and it’s gotta be tonight, I don’t care if it’s you, I don’t care if it’s her, I don’t care if it’s both of you. It must be hard to be a Mormon, I know they get a lot of shit, I’ve thought a lot about it and I think we should admit that it’d be nice to have five wives, it’d be nice to have five husbands, it’d be nice to live in Utah. But you don’t wanna fight ‘cause you don’t wanna lose, well I don’t have a choice so I don’t wanna choose and I came to let you know, I came to let you go, I came to tell you so. So let’s go out tonight like it is last year, like it’s winter and you’re nervous and it’s late last year. I’ll kiss you on the Ferris wheel, I’ll hold you out over the ocean. In the middle of April I was willing and able, I was under the table, in over my head, I can never remember, it was early December, or later November, when it started again. I know I’m not the only one, I just can’t be the only one, I know I’m not the only one who knows.

The Score
Somewhere out there in the world tonight there’s a man hungry and sick and frozen with fright who is trying to cross the United States border. I’m up here on the fourth floor tonight, I’m hungry, I’m sick and I’m frozen with fright. I’m trying to get my hilarious life in order. And I know what the score is and I know what a war is. People die in a war, it’s all happened before. When last we spoke I made a terrible joke, you laughed but you knew it was a terrible joke, there was a time not that long ago when all of my jokes were good ones. So maybe I lost it in the back of that truck or that night we swam naked in the lake and we stuck to each other and we clutched and we kissed and we knew we could make it. But I know what the score is and I know what a war is. People lose in a war, it’s all happened before. Well I said, “Wait a minute, you got an eyelash, let me get it before I go.” And I said, “Wait a minute, let me get it... now make a wish and blow.” I’d give anything to know what that wish was. Somewhere on another planet tonight I’m fairly certain there’s intelligent life and they’re using their time and their tests to figure out what love is.

End of Summer Cigarettes
end of summer cigarettes, undercover backyard bets, next to me the music plays, next to her it’s better, candy bars and shooting stars, endless fog and endless cars, i let her fall asleep so she wouldn’t catch me lookin’, i was fine until i saw her in a dress the week of end of summer cigarettes… an old friend came to visit me i didn’t see her comin’, when i breathed her it was something like a high school football game, we took turns, we looked for signs, i knew that she would have to leave, i knew that we just couldn’t be together anymore, i showed her out, i shut the door and i was fine… wild in the evergreens, i met her there, i saw her knees, i saw her shoes outside my tent, we both went straight to sleep, end of summer cigarettes, long forgotten dreamed regrets, i know that we will meet another time, i’ll be clean and she’ll be free, she’ll spend another night with me and i won’t let her fall asleep, i was fine until i saw her in a dress the week of end of summer cigarettes… i was fine until i saw her in a dress.

Shimmering Shining
I’m back where I started, I’m broken-hearted, I’m disenchanted, I’m not the only one. I’m back where I started here and all that I felt, my dear, and all that I held dear evaporated. I was under the willow tree changin’ my chemistry, re-readin’ my history. I was disenchanted. A chain reaction occurred, I fell in love with her. I fell in love with her ‘cause she fell in love with me. I would kill for you. I would kill for you too. Or maybe it’s the other way around, I should just call it square and settle down, I should just go to the house of the woman I used to fantasize about, wake her up and take her out, tell her how it is with me, re-invent our history, we could be prime contenders, we could be shimmering shining yeah.

The Last of the Mohicans
They’re fightin’ in the Middle East, they’re fightin’ in the bar down the street, and I’m sure she’s got a piece of me inside, I had her locked up in rhymes. Like everyone else I made it through the storm. I was born out of love. The calendar was right, I listened all night. The teachers were so wrong, so wrong all along. Like everyone else I made it through the storm. I was born out of love. I am trying to read “The Last of the Mohicans,” it is boring me to tears. I am trying to read “The Last of the Mohicans,” I haven’t talked to you in years.

An American in Love
I am an American in love. I’ll show you what I’m made of. And I know I’m not the only one with a problem and I know, ma, yes, I know, ma, I know they’re starving in China, I know they’re dying in Africa. But I am an American in love. I’ll show you what I’m made of. I am an American in love. Maybe we should go, dear. Maybe we should leave here. Maybe I should go, dear. Maybe I should leave here. I’ll show you what I’m made of. I am an American in love.

Anybody Everybody
In the country they really know how to rock. Andrew Jackson sittin’ in the captain’s tower, Andrew Jackson shootin’ in the captain’s tower. And if it was up to me we could be all that we can be. We could be anybody, everybody. All through the desert I was lookin’ for a place to stop. Saw some Asians on vacations, saw some Mexicans talkin’ to a cop. Saw some Asians on vacations, saw some Mexicans stopped by a cop. But if it was up to me we could be all that we can be. We could be anybody, everybody. Kill me now, my darlin’. Prove to me I’m wrong.

screaming in love
it’s in the atmosphere they’re coming over here mom’s got a lot to be afraid of they’re selling poetry they’re looking out for me they are so out of place in heaven it was so hot that day we swore a lot that day you caught me peeking at her shoulder i stood in line all day i watched you walk away i saw you on the roller coaster screaming in love here comes another one just like the other one just like the one who came before her she looks and tastes the same she smells and acts the same it stands to reason she’s the same thing i’m not a champion, i never try to win i’m not a lion or a soldier i took my time with you, i talked about peru i’m not the only one i know screaming in love.

Yesterday Some Roses
Hello again, my old friend! I been deep in trouble, but I think I’m comin’ ‘round the bend. Yesterday some roses came around, I took ’em for what they were, I fell back in love with her. So why, oh why, do I always imagine that I am far from where I am? Memory: sittin’ on the rocks at dawn, buildin’ a sand castle later on. We created a residential section, a commerical section and an industrial section. So why, oh why, do I always imagine that I am far from where I am? Give me credit for what I’ve done. Give me credit for what I’ve won. It’s a tournament of riches, revolution under the sun. Santa Claus, camouflage, Santa Claus. I’m taking a break, time to get away, I cannot stay.

Nowhere Fast
There’s an open invitation on the table by the stairs, the magazines are obvious, the radio is theirs, all the little babies have been moved off the line. She was in her make-up on a Sunday afternoon, I was taking care of business with some matches and a spoon, all the little babies have been moved off the line. And I am going nowhere fast, nothing that I say will last, I am going nowhere fast. I thought without thinking, I knew that I was wrong, I ended up lost with the radio on, something about how it’s good only when it’s gone. We almost made it late that night, we made it up instead, I don’t care what she doesn’t know, I don’t care what she said, all the little babies have been moved off the line. And I am going nowhere fast, nothing that I say will last, I am going nowhere fast.

(Like Bon Jovi) I’m Running Away
I was so far away the other night, I came alive the other night, I made it out, I made it to her window, she was waiting for me ready to go. This love is so mysterious… I know the way it’s done, I’ve heard it from everyone, I went to school, I know my options, but even the starts know how to cheat. This love is so mysterious… The wedding was a nice affair, everyone’s friends were there, the Priest was serious and friendly, but nothing Father Arnold said ever stayed in my head, if he spoke for God I’m disappointed. I’m thinking of my old address, I’m thinking that I’m not done yet, I’m running from everything I love. I don’t care what the papers say, it’s not supposed to be this way, I’m running from everything I love. Like Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Fred Flintstone, George Jetson, the terrorists, the Jews… I’m running away (and i know i’m not the only one with a problem i know ma yes i know ma i know they’re starving in china i know they’re dying in africa but i am an american in love i’ll show you what i’m made of)… This love is so mysterious.

The Meanest Man Alive
It must be a new day, I might be the only man alive, you must be a new friend, I might be the meanest man alive. And it must have been like the old days when everyone was outside just walking around or maybe it was one of those crazy days when a couple planes fly in and knock a couple buildings down. I’ve been dreaming of the apocalypse, I’ve been imagining that I am the only one who survives. I’d go get some cigarettes, something to eat, a book to read and I think, after a long while, I could forget this.

(I’ll be up n’ runnin’ when the steam whistle blows, you’ll never see me again. Make me up some bacon in the sunbeam shade, I’ll eat it up before the animals come. Give me lots of money and I’ll go away, you’ll never see me again).

All words written by John Elliott 2009.