This is a mid-tempo rocker about my take on a bum I saw under Union Station in downtown Seattle.

» highest in charts:   # 1434   (192,086 songs currently listed in Rock)
» highest in sub-genre:   # 72   (19,850 songs currently listed in Rock > Guitar Rock)

I was drivin' around in downtown Seattle, a bit lit up, and took a wrong turn out of a parking lot and looky there- my headlights light up the train tracks way down in the underbelly under 4th Ave- oops- can't go THAT way ;) But what's that? Someone's hangin' out down there. I took a minute to check him out. Older guy, bad clothes, real dirty. He looked pretty lit up himself. I could see him fine, but I'm bettin' all he could see was my headlights- and he prob'ly thought I was a cop. I only checked this guy out for less than a minute before turnin' my rig around, but he made an impression on me...I kept wonderin' what it must be like to be a 50ish alcoholic sleepin' on the abandoned train tracks under 4th Avenue with the rats. A lot of those homeless guys are just waste-cases, but some of them have serious mental problems, especially schitzophrenia. I projected a little of both on this guy, and this is my story for him.

This is another example of a time change being crucial to the riff. I heard the chorus riff in my head just like it is on the recording, and I can't imagine playing this tune in straight 4/4 time- the main hook would be gone, it would throw off the whole feel.

The vocal on this recording is the first time I ever sang this tune- period. I wrote all the lyrics out and finished them just before we went in and recorded it. This tune is also one of the few recordings Chris Hao appears on, part of a 4 song demo Infidel recorded at Frank Corbino's 16x studio in Mountlake Terrace, WA. Chris just walked up, plugged in, laid down his rhythm track, and threw down a solo (the 2nd half of the solo section) in one take each. He's the kinda guitarist that'll make ya wanna go home and practice!

from Infidel's "Frank Corbino Demo"
music & lyrics by Lowell Pelkey


down in the bottom of a bottle
he lay himself down
he keep his back to the wall
and lay his head down on the ground

howlin' wind tryin' to do him in
feelin' the bite
he pull his coat tight
he got one foot in the grave tonight

chokin' down the taste of all man's sins
knowin' well what the
empty eyes of men hold for him
in the end all promises broken
a little truth, a little lie
behind a word unspoken

stickin' it out down in the city
he wander for days
he know the other rats
yeah, he know his way 'round the maze

seen the sinners
set in their ways
seen the sun set on a
thousand false-told judgment days

chokin' down the taste of all man's sins
knowin' well what the
empty eyes of men hold for him
in the end all promises broken
a little truth, a little lie
behind a word unspoken