This is another fine tune from the 1999 eddie from ohio album "Looking Out the Fishbowl." The title of the song is a reference to "the morning after" and the American 4th of July holiday, and implies a disillusionment with one's freedoms and obligations. The cyclic theme in the lyrics is interesting, and lends a lot to the song's flavor, especially in the last verse, which mentions the fish, the dog, and the kid together. There's also a great Paul Revere reference, completing the patriotic theme and making it a perfect song for the stupid American in your life.
Julie Murphy-Wells seems to be backing her own lead vocals, but the effect is pleasant enough, and the Hammond Organ in the background gives the song a warmer tone than many of their emptier and folkier tunes.
Lyrics:
Looking out the fishbowl at this
Beethoven bust:
ever since the
canine, no one's looking at us,
but I bet with a
running start,
we could leap out of the water...
a two foot drop to the
Oriental rug and no one would be bothered!
We could
flip and
flop
across the hardwood floor,
hold our breath through the lawn.
The bust now sits where a globe used to be,
and Canada should be at the end of this street,
and Lake Louise is where I want to be!
-=%{chorus}%=-
It's the fifth of July -- feeling independent!
Please step aside -- the celebration's over.
We're now on our own
for the first of our lives
on the fifth of July
...now what?
Looking out the kennel at the dying oak tree:
Ever since the newborn, no one's looking at me...
but I bet with these incisors, I could gnaw through this lead!
A two mile run to the county line,
a two state run to the sea.
I could run through the briars
and the brambles, where a rabbit wouldn't go,
so fast that the hounds couldn't catch me--
like a Johnny Horton show
and anywhere is where I want to be...
-=%chorus%=-
One if by land, two if by sea,
three if by phone or facsimile,
four if by plane, five if by boat,
six if bilingual, seven by goat,
eight by ten glossies of me...
Looking out the bedroom at the snowy TV:
ever since commencement, no one's asking about me...
But I bet before the night falls, I could catch the late bus!
I'd take small provisions... and this Beethoven bust.
I could find work on the outskirts of the city,
eat some fish on the way,
befriend an old dog for a roadside pal,
and find a nice couch to stay--
a pull-out sofa, if you please...
-=%chorus%=-