Photos by Nick Spanos, Art by John Stapleton
Lucky Gift by Margaret Cho
Release Date: 2/14/25 • Mastered by: David Simon Baker
Track List:
This is my power pop love song which is about the pure feeling of falling for someone! It’s written on the double neck mandolin guitar, and it was almost written by the instrument itself!
Written by Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho – vocals, acoustic guitar
Garrison Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Walters – electric guitar
Darla Hawn – drums
Erik Kertes – bass
Phil Krohnengold – keys, guitar
Bitch – Violin
Mixed by Erik Kertes
Produced by Garrison Starr
Recorded at 64 Sound by Pierre de Reeder and Birdsound LA by Erik Kertes
I don’t take your breath away
But I think that it’s ok
Entropy’s a loaded gun
Shots are fired but you miss someone
You will read your Russian prose
Put it down to curl my toes
I could look at you and live
You are such a lucky gift
Time’s decision that’s between us
Cats are here just to redeem us
I am happy I exist
I became what I resist
Thought I’d lose you but I haven’t
The worst thing I been through never happened
I could look at you and live
You are such a lucky gift
And I fall
I wrote this for Robin Williams after he passed away. It’s really an anthem to the funny guys who didn’t feel so funny on the inside all the time.
Written by: Margaret Cho & Roger Rocha
Margaret Cho – vocals
Kate Willett – Backup vocals
Marc Capelle – b-3 organ
Ari Gorman – bass
Danny Luehring – drums
Roger Rocha – guitars, piano, producer
Erma Kyriakos – violin, viola
Lewis Patzner – cello
Morty Okin – trumpet
Cory Wright – saxophone
Your eyes looked so tired
That’s what I thought first
You were greatly admired
But you were dying of thirst
There were comebacks
Felt like thumbtacks
On your fingertips so fine
You belonged to the many
Never yours never mine
Weren’t we lonely
Weren’t we sad
Weren’t we beautiful
Weren’t we bad
Funny man
Turn and ran
In the sun
Golden one
Funny man
I’m your fan
When you died
Oh how we cried
I was just a kid
You were just a king
Everything you did
A prayer and a wing
You always got my name wrong
Apologies the same song
That you sang to me
Words that set me free
Weren’t we lonely
Weren’t we sad
Weren’t we beautiful
Weren’t we bad
Weren’t we lonely
Weren’t we sad
Weren’t we beautiful
Weren’t we bad
I can’t forgive you
I can’t relive you
I can’t revive you
But I survive you
Funny man
Turn and ran
In the sun
Golden one
Funny man
I’m your fan
When you died
Oh how we cried
Funny man
Morbid plan
Hearts you wrung
Gone and done
Funny man
How you ran
Always mine
Never die
Funny man
We all do the best that we can
Funny man
We all do the best that we can
This song is about being dopesick – the awful lie of opiate addiction. It’s about the abusive love affair we have with drugs.
Written by: Margaret Cho & Roger Rocha
Margaret Cho – vocals
Marc Capelle – b-3 organ
Ari Gorman – bass
Danny Luehring – drums
Roger Rocha – guitars, piano, producer
This I know I’m gonna lie
And for sure I’m gonna die
I ain’t trying to make you cry
But you need some reasons why
I write in fours you write in twos
I am the whore with none to lose
Wheels of gold and wealth untold
I give you today but I threw it away
Treasures gleaned from magazines
I’d give it to you if it were true
This I know I’m gonna lie
And for sure I’m gonna die
I ain’t trying to make you cry
But you need some reasons why
I write in fours you write in twos
I am the whore with none to lose
Gilded wings and everything
Castles of pearls
I’d give you the world
Velvet thighs and candy highs
All that could be
Between you and me
Wheels of gold and wealth untold
I give you today but I threw it away
Treasures gleaned from magazines
I’d give it to you if it were true
If it were true
My favorite song ever. I covered this because I love it so much. Long live Freur.
COVER SONG: Original by Freur
written and composed by Karl Hyde, Rick Smith and Alfie Thomas
CREDITS:
Margaret Cho – vocals
Marc Capelle – mellotron, synthesizers
Danny Luehring – drums
Roger Rocha – guitar, producer
Come to the window
Come to the window
Walk down the stairs
I want to see you in the light walk down the stairs
Come down the stairs
Take a step
Come down keep going
Doot Doot Doot Doot doodoodoo
That’s it
Doot Doot Doot doo doo doo
Now I’m going to push you. Go
What’s in a name?
Face on a stage
Where are you now?
Memory fades you take a bow
Here in the dark
Watching the screen
The curtain falls
The final scene
You’re doing so good
And we’re going Doot
Doot Doot
Look at them fall
flicker and fade
Gone are the screams
Put them to bed
Now they are dreams
And we’re going Doot
Come back to me
All the way back
Come back up the stairs
Step step
Doot Doot
Back away from the light
Close the window
Doot Doot
You’re doing so good
Step
And we’re going Doot
Doot Doot
I can see you
This is about breaking up with the guy from song 1 lucky gift. Trying to make sense of the sadness by acting like you’re Liam Gallagher playing Knebworth
Written by Margaret Cho and Garrison Starr
Margaret Cho – vocals, acoustic guitar
Garrison Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Walters – electric guitar
Darla Hawn – drums
Erik Kertes – bass
Phil Krohnengold – keys, guitar
Mixed by Erik Kertes
Produced by Garrison Starr
Recorded at 64 Sound by Pierre de Reeder and Birdsound LA by Erik Kertes
You don’t have to tell me
I paid for the entry
It’s gonna end in tears
It’s gonna end in beers
Call yourself a specialist
Like a 90s Sisyphus
Dust off all the artifacts
Velvet flares are coming back
And now for my last trick
I give you a dogfish
Take the stage like it’s Knebworth
Tell myself this doesn’t hurt
It doesn’t hurt
It doesn’t hurt
I fell out of love oh yeah
I fell out of love oh yeah
I don’t need you to soothe me
The gestures don’t move me
Toss the garlands and the crown
The sun is going down
You got me so unbound
And I hate you now
Love’s most bitter refrain
Spit it up and taste it again
Love’s most bitter refrain
Spit it up and taste it again
I fell out of love oh yeah
I fell out of love oh yeah
I fell on my ass out of love like a crash from above flying back through the trees and right onto my knees
This song is about my meditation teacher moving and not being able to take a feral cat with him. It’s really also about staying in the moment.
Written by Margaret Cho and Garrison Starr
Margaret Cho – vocals, acoustic guitar
Garrison Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Walters – electric guitar
Darla Hawn – drums
Erik Kertes – bass
Phil Krohnengold – keys, guitar
Jordan Katz – Trumpet
Mixed by Erik Kertes
Produced by Garrison Starr
Recorded at 64 Sound by Pierre de Reeder and Birdsound LA by Erik Kertes
Stevie carry me to the moment
Is it here or have a blown it?
Is it missing ?
can you loan it?
Is the blankness an atonement?
Stevie is leaving Bubba behind
Stevie is free from the shackles of mind
I’ve the whole of your attention
Felt the rush of your ascension
On a wire wracked with tension
Led to all we’ll never mention
Say it ain’t so say you won’t go
Say it ain’t so say you won’t go
Stevie is leaving bubba behind
Stevie is free from the shackles of mind
Say it ain’t say you won’t go
This was written for Nex Benedict after their tragic and heartbreaking death – and it’s for all gender non conforming/trans/queer youth who are struggling.
Written by Margaret Cho and Garrison Starr
Margaret Cho – vocals, acoustic guitar
Garrison Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Walters – electric guitar
Darla Hawn – drums
Erik Kertes – bass
Phil Krohnengold – keys, guitar
Jordan Katz – Trumpet
Mixed by Erik Kertes
Produced by Garrison Starr
Recorded at 64 Sound by Pierre de Reeder and Birdsound LA by Erik Kertes
You know I never understand
What makes a woman what makes a man
I can see just what others can’t
To be a stranger in dangerous land
Are you watching from high above
While we fight over who gets love
All I know is I’ve had enough
So I’m sending this message up
Chorus
And you can be you
You can be you
You can be you
And that’s what’s true
That’s what’s true
That’s what’s true
I sit here wondering what it’s worth
All that may be assigned at birth
Stuck in something that must be cursed
Is destiny in reverse
We all wish for a better life
Try to make it to morning light
I sing again to survive
Chorus
All those lonely nights
Waiting on your own
Not a friend in sight
But I’m here tonight
I’m on your side
Chorus
My love song to my dear friend Gerri who passed away in 2018 and who this album is dedicated to. She was my sister and I miss her every moment.
Written by: Margaret Cho & Roger Rocha
Margaret Cho – vocals
Ari Gorman – bass
Danny Luehring – drums
Roger Rocha – guitars, piano, producer
sometimes she smells like baked bread
then she acts like she got hit in the head
and forgot what i said
she got her motives down pat
she’ll walk a mile in seconds flat
and says she can’t do that
and i don’t now why she got me so high
with her upper thighs it’s like a bridge of sighs
she likes to exercise
a paradise
if i could tell you that’s exactly what i’d do
i wish you well and then i hand it all to you
better sick than dead is how i wear the shoe
underneath your skin i fancy all the view
though i’ve conceded defeat count myself down and beat
make a hasty retreat
i go my way from her
i leave the moment undisturbed
with the wheels on the curb
and im unsurprised that i compromised
if you realize
she cut me down to size
in the big skies of her gainful life
if i could tell you that’s exactly what i’d do
i wish you well and then i hand it all to you
better sick than dead is how i wear the shoe
underneath your skin i fancy all the view
when i can i be released
she looks at me like i’m diseased
then acts perfectly pleased
she’s like a victory parade
when her heart is unswayed
and her legs are splayed
when i start to try and i never like
to be so justified with a gentle tide
go breathe me and ride so satisfied
if i could tell you that’s exactly what i’d do
i wish you well and then i hand it all to you
better sick than dead is how i wear the shoe
underneath your skin i fancy all the view
This song is about trying to get sober with other people and just being a witness to the journey.
Written by Margaret Cho and Garrison Starr
Margaret Cho – vocals, acoustic guitar
Garrison Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Walters – electric guitar
Darla Hawn – drums
Erik Kertes – bass
Phil Krohnengold – keys, guitar
Bitch – Violin
Mixed by Erik Kertes
Produced by Garrison Starr
Recorded at 64 Sound by Pierre de Reeder and Birdsound LA by Erik Kertes
melinda’s a mother
trying to recover
just for tonight
she’s doing alright
melinda’s a lover
trying to discover
what just might
make her take flight
here comes the actor
natural disaster
just for tonight
he’s doing alright
skybound he’s higher
on wings of desire
the sun is so bright
it’s burning his eyes
melinda
melinda
yeah just for tonight she’s doing alright
melinda
melinda
yeah just for tonight she’s doing alright
then there’s the soldier
who wished to be bolder
and for this fight
he’ll use all his might
maybe together
there’s stormy weather
from what might
make us lose sight
melinda
melinda
yeah just for tonight she’s doing alright
melinda
melinda
yeah just for tonight she’s doing alright
i’m just another
tryin to recover
just for tonight
i’m doing alright
It’s about being a young closeted gay male star in the 1950s in Hollywood trying to make his realtor his new ‘wife’/beard.
Written by: Margaret Cho & Roger Rocha
Margaret Cho – vocals
Marc Capelle – mellotron
Ari Gorman – bass
Danny Luehring – drums
Roger Rocha – guitar, producer
she made it nice for you at land’s end
it was sold to you still standing
she walks along the waterline
and exists in the way off back of her mind
lost in finger lace and trouble
and a ringer face and bubble
were you hollywood elite
so grand and so effete
put your hands on the concrete
will your mark be so discreet?
she threw the rice for you
at a party spent
all the nights that you
gave up for lent
where there spaces hallowed and heavenly
like the speedy lanes of Beverly
lost in finger lace and trouble
and a ringer face and bubble
were you hollywood elite
so grand and so effete
put your hands on the concrete
will your mark be so discreet?
is there anything left to say
on the wide and on the way
keeping all the ghouls at bay
alpha signs and gamma rays
enter glamour enter rain
enter chaos exit pain
enter glamour enter rain
enter chaos exit pain
lost in finger lace and trouble
and a ringer face and bubble
were you hollywood elite
so grand and so effete
put your hands on the concrete
will your mark be so discreet?
is there anything left to say
on the wide and on the way
keeping all the ghouls at bay
alpha signs and gamma rays
would you star in this today?
This is for all the gorgeous Chinese men who feel so untouchable and perfect to me. I love you so much.
Written by Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho – vocals, acoustic guitar
Garrison Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brandon Walters – electric guitar
Darla Hawn – drums
Erik Kertes – bass
Phil Krohnengold – keys, guitar
Mixed by Erik Kertes
Produced by Garrison Starr
Recorded at 64 Sound by Pierre de Reeder and Birdsound LA by Erik Kertes
Your boyfriend from China
Said he liked vagina
But I don’t think that was true
You met the designer
With the blue eyeliner
But I don’t think your boyfriend knew
Chorus
You said you want a lover
You maybe got one over
You’ll never need another
You’ll live in this forever
Your boyfriend from China
May have just been finer
Than you know that you could do
You met the designer
On a jet airliner
But I don’t think your boyfriend flew
Chorus
