"The Fall Leaves" is a side project of Joe Pleiman, of the band Hip Tanaka. The music was originally written for the film "Serving America", directed by Leigh Landau. Upon finishing the instrumental tracks, which feature Rich Adkins on the drums, Joe Pleiman (known as "Soap" to his friends) decided the music was worth putting vocals onto. The lyrics are meant to be nostalgic and wistful remembrances of both good and bad days past. Click on the song title to hear an mp3.

"STREET-CHALKING"

It's a midnight prayer to Mary, In the Lights of the Rectory, And ''ve always been too sentimental, But this time it's gonna work for me, Does she sleep, does she dream, is she nice like she seems, Or is her heart cold and cracked, is she doing the math? One to love, one to use, one to light like a fuse, Or is it true and she's good, undeserving of this abuse, I got chalk and I'll write a letter, Street-chalking at 2am, And no one sees me or so I believe and I leave, This is the gutsiest move of a 13 year-old that that I have ever seen Does she sleep, does she dream, is she nice like she seems, Or is her heart cold and cracked, is she doing the math? One to love, one to use, one to light like a fuse, Or is it true and sh''s good, undeserving of this abuse

"SINCE 1989"

Since 1989, life's been on decline, The world spins underneath, we got such little time, The snow is coming back, the sky ain't permanent, You'll have two seconds just to see that it's the end, And we've got to fall from this bridge we call life, So you might as well just smile, A baseball game for you, a cigarette or two, It's going like a vain of lava through the sand, You're falling out of love with everything you got, And people die and they never had a shot, And we've got to fall from this bridge we call life, So you might as well just smile, Rise up, Sunshine on a stone, Rise up, Sunshine on a stone

"2 DOLLAR ROSE"

There's nothing bout you baby that I love, But I love you all the same, Maybe it's just this fall weather, Or maybe it's the drugs, There's something you got that fills a void, I know your older brother hates me, Just a agree and don't debate me, Take this 2 dollar rose inside with you, There's everything and none of it makes sense, Pouring soda onto a Buddha, I stole your journals and I read 'em, I hope you didn't take offense, I'm picking locks and breaking doors, I'm in the hallway running naked, Give me something, I will take it, For Im in love with you, I'm an empty-handed fool, Oh Katherine! Oh Katherine!

"BORDERLINE STALKER"

I couldn't go to sleep that night, the empty streets were beckoning, And through her window I could see, her gently sleeping in a dream, Her hair was still upon her head, the grass had soaked right through my shoes, Confusion at that age is truth, I hid from her up on the roof, Like a river flowing through, The rocks punch up and slice the skin, and one could cry or one could grin, The past becomes the future too, So let it all stay in you, Baby darling go to sleep, Let me watch I'll be discreet, You wonÕt know I've come around, with no impressions on the ground, No impressions on the ground, no impressions on the ground,

"CUTLER"

21 you must have been, I don't remember and that's a sin, I was crashing on 12th st. when I got the call, Now you're gone and I don't know, What went wrong, with you, Your mind was on a crumbling cliff, It got to you, We took the train to New York City, I thought that I might find a job, You got work at that cafe run by the mob, Now you're gone and I don't know, What went wrong, with you, Your mind was on a crumbling cliff, It got to you, I told you MCA was in the lobby, That 16 year-old girl was loving you, 40 degrees plus the breeze, we stripped right down to our shoes, Now you're gone and I donÕt know, What went wrong, with you, Your mind was on a crumbling cliff, It got to you,

"C.G. NEWSCASTER"

Gone are days of innocence and joy, Help me tie one more on as life goes on, And some say, it's all better now, with C.G. Newscasters on the prowl, 'Till thereÕs only one gear going round, So long New York, 1997 Goodbye, Los Angeles: my hell, 1999 And some say, it's all going down, with these C.G. Newscasters on the prowl, 'Till there's only one gear going round, The sun is setting, down down down The sun is setting, down down down

"MOVING ON, PART 1"

Going south on the Skyline Drive and, Resting up at a Knoxville hotel, Getting punched just to save my guitar, It really sucks but I don't wanna call my mom to say, I'm okay Smokey Mountains and then Atlanta, New Orleans for a 5 buck strip joint, Gonzales I lost my hubcaps, Gulf of Mexico I took a bath, hey hey, I'm okay, Carlsbad and the bats are flying, White Pavo in the sun and frying, Grand Canyon and then Las Vegas, We pulled into Los Angeles to stay, I'm okay

"GOVERNMENT LAND"

Ooooh, You can stay the night, I'll take you to your flight, There was the first one, the second one, the third one, the fourth one, the fifth one, six seven eight nine, and I am ten! She swallowed me! She married me! 3000 miles later, she buried me, Ooooh, This special place of yours is government land, There was the basement, the hotel, the taxi, your parents house, Los Angeles I'm on the floor and you ain't coming round here no more! She swallowed me! She married me! 3000 miles later, she buried me

"MOVING ON, PART 2"

"ELYSSIA 20"

Don't tell me by not saying, I'm not part of your plans now, Oh, South Carolina Girl has gone, Gone, We parked the car in Franklin Park, I welcome release from the dark, Oh, South Carolina Girl has gone, Gone

"PAPERBOY"

Exhaust fumes flowing out from beneath, The car is running and building heat, The bags are stuffed and the streetlights shall fade, As I walk house to house, It's a new day, Wake up, my son, Wake up, my son, Thanksgiving morning and I'm out the door, Christmas eve comes and I'm out once more, GoodbyeÉ I'm ready for bed, As the lack of sleeping goes to my head, Wake up, my son, Wake up, my son

"CALIFORNIA SUNSET"

Driving up the PCH on a Sunday Trancas Mart, Stocking up on Kentucky Nip, I'm bored, I'm tired, The easy life expired when the days all stayed the same, And the rain never came, And I'm to blame, So if you pray for life and with your final breath, You can see it all, you can see it fall, California sunset is all I got, Driving out, Southern Utah on a Summer eve, A Parliament, Nestea, and a Twizzler, I'm fried, I'm lightning, The East Coast couldn't get here fast enough, And in St. Louis those crazy truckers will drive you into your graves, So if you pray for life and with your final breath, You can see it all, you can see it fall, California sunset is all I got, Driving on, New York Skyline before it fell to pieces, Fucking hot in 99, I guess I lost my soul then, On up to Boston, Sideswipe Collision, And with precision put my hopes into the ground, And I unwound, Made the decision to let my dreams run out, So if you pray for life and with your final breath, You can see it all, you can see it fall, California sunset is all I got

"LIKE SKYWRITING"

And there she stood, I drove by one more time, She didn't see me, Heaven is like memory, Not as real as it should be, And she's fading like Skywriting, As the clouds roll in, She's such a falling star, And she's fading like Skywriting, As the clouds roll in, She's such a falling star, I wish could have fallen with her, And she's falling, she's like a falling star