We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Automatic

from Cry Till You Laugh by Terri Hendrix

/

about

Automatic (Jon Michael Sumler)
It was almost 20 years ago that I ended up with a cassette of one of my all-time favorite songs, “Automatic” by Mike Sumler. I knew, without a doubt, that “Cry Till You Laugh” was the album “Automatic” would fit best on. Somehow, after all these years, I ended up with the original demo of it, and after contacting Mike, found out that no other copy could readily be found. So with shaky hands, I played my cassette version of his tune one last time with it warbling in and out so I could capture it on my iPhone. Sighing with relief that I “had it,” I then ventured into the studio (the very next day) and transferred his song from my iPhone to my project’s hard drive. Shortly after, we played through it a few times as a band and recorded it. I had lived that song for so many years, the rough vocal I recorded that day in the studio ended up being my final take.
 
In the book, I turned this song into a chapter on what comes “automatic” when you make music your livelihood. This includes things like travel, learning an instrument, writing, maintaining health, and summoning the courage to play in front of an audience.

lyrics

The band at the St. Elmore just showed up for work
The place is on fire
I got it straight from the clerk
A tenor sax is burnin’
People pass out from the heat
Unidentified flying notes are heard above the street

But meanwhile in a Buick on the other side of town
Sits a party of one with the windows rolled down
Lost in the fog and can’t find a light
The radio’s wailin’ out into the night
The automatic democratic chromatic acrobatics of the blues

The man with the harp is tellin’ the news
A harmonic hurricane in a gone pair of shoes
You can catch him down on Vine Street from four until late
He don’t mind tellin’ it till he thinks you’ve got it straight

But meanwhile across town in a cold water flat
A man sits in the kitchen in a pork-pie hat
Plays his horn to the walls, there’s no one else around
His eyes light up, it’s the only sound in town
The automatic democratic chromatic acrobatics of the blues

Some people sing it and some people shout it
Some sit on TV and talk about it
Sometimes it’s so sweet and sometimes it stings
But it’s always more than all of these things

These old chair and these tables met before I was born
The curtain on the stage is all beat and torn
It looks like hell in the daylight but it’s heaven at night
It’s the sound in the air that makes it all right

A bar full of strangers on 11th and Grand
Quietly drink to the death of their plans
Times are tough now but they won’t be always
Things start lookin’ better when the juke box plays
The automatic democratic chromatic acrobatics of the blues

credits

from Cry Till You Laugh, track released June 22, 2010

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Terri Hendrix San Marcos

Terri Hendrix is an award-winning Texas songwriter who spins sorrow into joy and wrings wisdom from the blues with a poetic grace, warmth and uplifting melodic flair that has long been her trademark. A classically trained vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Hendrix dodges musical pigeonholes by weaving folk, pop, country, blues and jazz into an eclectic style all her own. ... more

contact / help

Contact Terri Hendrix

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Terri Hendrix, you may also like: