Music

About Sophomore Slump...

Liner Notes, Lyrics, Credits & Thank Yous

Fish gotta swim, bats gotta fly, creatives gotta create...all true stories.

So what are you going to do when you are faced with the arguably greatest risk to your existence in your entire life, and your raison d'etre has been put on hold for an unknown period of time?  Accelerate the timeline for your second album, of course. Largely planned and arranged on Zoom, recorded in shifts in a socially-distanced way, and released into the void with no concrete plans to support it with live shows, now comes "Sophomore Slump", the second album from Katye Kellye and The Interruption.

Winner of the 2021 Winter World Songwriting Award and nominated for multiple international music awards, people are listening, and seem to like it:

"Here's another...must-hear from a New Jersey crew who cover the musical waterfront, pin-balling between new wave, Celtic Punk, girl-group pop, gypsy rock, and plenty more..." - Darryl Sheridan, The Tinnitist blog 

"I must confess I am a huge fan of this rock style...and I was convinced nobody was doing this anymore. This is just extremely awesome. You guys deserve praise...What a BADASS band!" - CoMusic 

"Stop The Clock! Best song I've listened to in 2021, hands down!" Eric Alper, 360: The Best Indie Music, Sirius XM Radio

 

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About Late Bloomer...

Liner Notes, Lyrics, Credits & Thank Yous

 

PARDON THE INTERRUPTION …

 

Pop and rock music is a young person’s game.  That’s, for better or worse, a fact.

 

But ask yourself: why, exactly, should this be? Is it written somewhere as some sort of universal law?

 

 (Answer: it isn’t.)

 

So: here to interrupt this fact, knock it over, spray-paint it, set it on fire, kick it to the curb and challenge assumptions is Katye Kellye.

 

Think carefully about the following: how many first albums of entirely new music (no covers!)  with both lyrics and music written solely by the artist have ever been released by a woman in her mid – 50s?

 

 (Answer: until now, none.)

 

Katye Kellye has created twelve songs that collectively serve as a love letter to the music of her lifetime (using song ideas that in some cases go back decades) while at the same time putting her own unique stamp on the proceedings.  Here you will find rock and roll past, rock and roll present and — really and truly, and with all due respect to the birthday boy referenced in the title of Track 12 —a path to rock and roll future.

 

Now is her time to rise. Hear her now.  And enjoy.

 

Paul Friend

Asbury Park, NJ

February, 2020

 

 

Credits

Executive Producer: Paul Friend

Producer:  Evan Rudenjak

Lead Vocals:  Katye Kellye

Guitars:  Zac Silva, Chris Seaman,Ray Suhy

Bass Guitar:  Rob Tanico, Tom Warren

Percussion:  Eric Novod, Ben Marino, Mike Linardi, Paul Friend

Keyboards:  Mark Masefield, Roshane Karunaratne

Saxaphone:  Bryan Ernest Haring

Harmonica:  Richard Stern

Backing Vocals:  Gen Evieve, Mary Pranzatelli Gray, Jose Loo, Paul Friend, Richard Stern, Katye Kellye

Tracking Engineers: Evan Rudenjak, Connor Hansen, Nick Semanchik, Eric Bennett

Mixing Engineers:  Tim Panella, Evan Rudenjak

Music & Lyrics:  Kelli Rosenthal

Arrangements:  Evan Rudenjak, Bryan Ernest Haring, Alicia Testa

Recording:  Lakehouse Recording Studios, Asbury Park, NJ

(C)1985, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2020, Kelli Rosenthal and Quinterruption Music

All Rights Reserved

Thanks so much to the best musicians and crew anywhere!  I think they can hear us now. - KK

 

 

 

Museum of Feelings

Our love was supersonic - 

Flying around the world in 40 hours or so; 

Our love was like a tonic- 

Like something heady full of snake oil from a medicine show… 

Our love was so dramatic - 

should have Tony awards and a Sondheim score; 

Our love was operatic- 

We had all the highs and lows of La Scala for sure…

…But that’s before I found out 

All the things you did that would send me reeling, 

You put your love into doubt, 

So I locked it all up in the Museum of Feelings...

Our love was Instamatic, 

Captured for posterity in silver gicleé; 

Our love was so chromatic, 

Warhol would’ve  painted us in quadruple display… 

Our love was so romantic, and 

The best ones to describe it would be Byron or Keats; 

Our love was so gigantic, 

Vaster than the biggest brontosaurus’s feet...

But you had to go and ruin it by 

playing Tarzan with some other Jane. 

 Now I’m  keeping up appearances, don’t even bother to explain…

Our love’s now so poetic, 

Sylvia Plath would’ve said it’s a gas; 

Our love’s now so atomic, 

Einstein would’ve said we’re nearing critical mass… 

Our love is now so tragic, 

Shakespeare could’ve captured it in 5 acts for sure; 

Our love’s now gone by magic, 

‘cause you sawed me in half and left me down on the floor…

…and that’s because I found out 

All the things you did that would send me reeling, 

You put your love into doubt, 

So I locked it all up in the Museum of Feelings..

 

Our love was… 

(Our love was…) 

Our love was… 

(Our love was…) 

Our love was… 

(Our love was…) 

Our love was… 

(Our love was…) 

Faint background vocal of “feelings..nothing more than feelings” behind “our love was” 

(C)2018 Kellianne Rosenthal and Quinterruption Music, all rights reserved, Arranged by E. Rudenjak

 

Unoriginal Sins 

I can’t walk on water 

I can’t bring back the dead 

I can’t undo the wrongs I’ve done, 

I can’t take back what I’ve said. 

In your eyes, I’ll never go to sleep 

And somehow wake up blessed. 

Watch me walk away now 

-I think it’s for the best. 

 

I can’t un-go where I’ve already been

I won’t beg for forgiveness for unoriginal sins. 

Don’t drown in the water that’s gone under the bridge.  

That’s where the riptides’ gonna pull you in. 

 

I can’t un-fuck old lovers 

I can’t rewrite history 

I can’t sing a different song, 

I can’t change what you think of me 

Before you go invent yourself 

a past suspiciously pristine, 

Why not take a moment 

to make sure your hands are clean? 

 

I can’t un-go where I’ve already been 

I won’t beg for forgiveness for unoriginal sins. 

Don’t drown in the water that’s gone under the bridge.

That’s where the riptides’ gonna pull you in. 

  

If my past is all that you can see 

We can never make new history.  

 

I can’t unburn the ashes 

I can’t send snow back to the clouds 

I can’t restore the silence 

once I’ve screamed something out loud, 

Don’t say you don’t remember 

as you revise your narrative. 

Truth is absolute 

and not what you want to believe. 

 

I can’t un-go where I’ve already been 

I won’t beg for forgiveness for unoriginal sins.

Don’t drown in the water that’s gone under the bridge. 

That’s where the riptides’ gonna pull you in.

That’s where the riptides’ gonna pull you in X2 

(C)2018 Kellianne Rosenthal/Quinnterruption Music 

Music and Lyrics:  K. Rosenthal 

Arr:  E. RudenJak 

All Rights Reserved

 

(W)hole 

Fame is rarely an immaculate conception, 

I’ve done a lot of  things I didn’t want to do. 

Chose compromised positions over rejection; 

now I wear my shame like a broken–heeled shoe. 

They said I have talent from heaven above, 

The sky was the limit in the backs of their cars. 

Looking back, honey, quid pro quo isn’t  love, 

But they said, in their hands, they would make me a star. 

 

It gets hot in the lights on the stage every night 

but it can get really dark in your soul. 

I try to be greater than the sum of my parts, 

but I know that I’ll never be whole. 

 

At first they flatter and then they dissect, 

Keep you so wasted you don’t know where you’ve been. 

They’re your Svengali, give you a lot to correct, 

Never a moment secure in your own skin. 

 

It don’t even sound like my song anymore, 

I don’t know who’s staring me back in the mirror. 

It’s all image that you buy in the store, 

If they ain’t  buying I’ll be gone in a year. 

 

It wasn’t overnight, or even a year; 

Choice was an illusion, my options few. 

Built walls ‘tween my lover and those I hold dear, 

You will never convince me that nobody knew. 

Leather couch sticking to the back of my thighs 

keeping my mouth shut ’til the deal was through 

Now there’s something dead in back of my eyes 

I hitched myself to a star that I didn’t choose. 

 

 It gets hot in the lights on the way stage every night 

but it can get really dark in your soul. 

I try to be greater than the sum of my parts, 

but I know that I’ll never be whole. 

 

 I know that I’ll never be whole. 

Yeah, I know that I’ll never be whole. 

I know that I’ll never, never never be whole. 

(C) 2018 Kellianne Rosenthal Quinterruption Music 

Arr. A. Testa/E. Rudenjak, B. Ernest Haring 

All Rights Reserved

 

Rose-colored Glasses 

I found  a crack in my rose colored glasses 

And It gave me  a glimpse of reality. 

Now is the time to stop kissing asses 

And lay claim to the things that belong to me. 

I got real tired of looking over my shoulder, 

Waiting for that second shoe to fall. 

Now is the time to be a little bit bolder, 

Won’t apologize a bit for not being small. 

 

I’ve had it up to here asking for permission - 

time you give up expecting my submission. 

Not losing any sleep if you’re not my biggest fan - 

I am who 

I am. 

 

It’s not your right to grant me space in the world, 

Nix  the well-intentioned comments - don’t be a squirrel. 

I simply want an uncomplicated life, 

I don’t need your approbation or your trite advice. 

 

Puttin’ on my big girl pants 

Not gonna be a victim of your circumstance. 

Sometimes it’s better to take the trump 

With the card  you leave unplayed... 

Just walk away. 

 

Sometimes I wonder how you got so emboldened, 

Passing judgment when you haven’t walked in my shoes. 

I guess nobody told you sometimes silence is golden. 

If you bet on assumptions you’ll probably lose. 

Please tell me how my body threatens  your existence. 

Did your mother never tell you it’s not nice to stare? 

Spare me fake concern on how I live my life, 

You’re not my doctor, and I’m not your wife. 

 

I’ve had it up to here asking for permission - 

time you give up expecting my submission. 

Not losing any sleep if you’re not my biggest fan - 

 I am who I am. 

 

I found  a crack in my rose colored glasses 

And It gave me  a glimpse of reality. 

Now is the time to stop kissing asses 

And lay claim to the things that belong to me. 

 

Now I’m claiming the things that belong to me...belong to me. 

A capella I am who I am. 

(C) 2019 Kelli Rosenthal and Quinnterruption Music 

Arr. Evan Rudenjak 

All rights reserved

 

Pink Guitar 

You’re man enough to hold my hand 

You’re  man enough to be my friend 

You’re man enough to be afraid, 

and man enough to do it anyway. 

 And you’re man enough to 

play—  a pink guitar. 

You’re man enough to hold me tight 

You’re man enough for a fair fight. 

You’re man enough to know you’re right 

and man enough to never make me wrong. 

And you’re man enough to play —a pink guitar. 

 

It’s pink, and it sparkles like a star 

I think it made me love you fr-om afar

Or maybe it’s the sparkle in your eye 

that lets me know I’m lucky you’re my guy. 

And I love how you  pla-a-y 

your pink guitar. 

 

You’re man enough to say you’re mine 

You’re man enough for funny valentines 

You’re man enough to have my back 

and man enough to scra-a-tch it, too 

 And you’re man enough to play a pink guitar. 

 

I have spent a lot of years 

Always only grinding gears.

Wasted time massaging fragile egos 

But you’re very clear just who you are  

I’ve hitched my wagon to your star 

Now sit back and watch where we’ll go… 

 

It’s pink, and it sparkles like a star 

I think it made me love you fr-om afar

Or maybe it’s the sparkle in your eye 

that lets me know I’m lucky you’re my guy. 

And I love how you  pla-a-y 

your pink guitar. 

 

You’re man enough to take my hand 

You’re man enough to understand. 

You’re man enough to serenade me 

and man enough to be my favorite muse 

 And you’re man enough to play a pink guitar. 

You’re man enough for silly names 

You’re man enough to fan my flames 

You’re man enough to lift me up 

and man enough to always be my home. 

And you’re man enough to play a pink guitar.

 …man enough to play-a-y - a pink guitar 

(playing my heartstrings on your guitar) 

Baby, you’ll go far 

(your pink guitar, yeah) 

 I really love how you play your pink guit-a-a-ar.

(C)2019 Kelli Rosenthal and Quinnterruption Music 

All rights reserved 

Arr:  E. Rudenjak

 

Heart Trouble 

When I first saw you, baby, 

I knew you would be trouble. 

And then when you kissed me, darlin’ 

I knew it would be double! 

Baby, I saw you at a party 

when I was talking to some sailor. 

Then you flashed your big, brown eyes 

Sent me right into heart failure! 

 

I’ve got heart trouble - 

You give me such trouble with my heart. 

Now I’m having palpitations - 

I knew you’d cause heart trouble from the start. 

The best thing for my heart 

would be to start a lovin’ home. 

You said “take an aspirin’, baby 

because I’ve gotta roam.” 

I went to the doctor 

‘cause I couldn’t catch my breath. 

She told me what my problem is - 

I’m  lovin’ you to death… 

 

I’ve got heart trouble - 

You give me such trouble with my heart. 

 Now I’m having palpitations - 

I knew you’d cause heart trouble from the start.

 

My telephone is ringin’ 

just about a quarter of three. 

You tell me that you’re coming home 

Because you’re missin’ me! (uh huh) 

I heard the back door slammin’ 

Just about half past four. 

This is the “big one", baby. 

you left me gaspin’ on the floor.

CLEAR!

 

My friends say if I take you back, such a big mistake I’m makin’

When you went and left me, I knew my heart was breaking. 

Don’t know what I’ll do, now that you are back, 

My heart is beatin’ double, you’ll give me a heart attack! 

 

Radiatin’ chest pain 

There’s not much they can do… 

My coronary arteries 

are clogged with  memories of you! 

 

I’ve got heart trouble - 

You give me such trouble with my heart. 

 Now I’m having palpitations - 

I knew you’d cause heart trouble from the start. 

 

…Now someone get the paddles, 

‘cause I knew you’d cause heart trouble from the start. 

From the start 

From the start baby 

From the start 

(C)2018 Kellianne Rosenthal/Quinterruption Music 

All Rights Reserved 

Art. E. Rudenjak

 

Disclaimer 

I told you right from the start 

that I would only break your heart and now you’re sifting through the ashes 

looking for another start. 

I know I told you the truth 

at least I didn’t waste your youth 

You better find yourself a surgeon 

To fix your broken heart. 

I said we could have some fun 

But I’d be gone when we were done 

Now you’re crying on my doorstep 

Saying I’m the only one. 

You’re dignity’s leaking on the floor 

Because I’ve shown you the door 

Get up and take some tissues 

This isn’t helping anyone. 

 

I never planted any seeds 

To make you think I’d meet your needs 

You’re being so irrational 

There are no apologies from me. 

And now it’s time for you to go 

Don’t need no dog and pony show 

Why must you make this so much harder 

Than it really needs to be? 

 

I am not the place for you to park your hopes and dreams 

I am not your one true love 

Don’t try to trap me in your schemes... 

 

I told you right from the start 

that I would only break your heart and now you’re sifting through the ashes 

looking for another start. 

I know I told you the truth 

at least I didn’t waste your youth 

You better find yourself a surgeon 

To fix your broken heart. 

To fix your broken heart. 

 

(C)1985, 2019  Kelli Rosenthal and Quinterruption Music 

All Rights Reserved 

Arr. By Evan Rudenjak

 

Suddenly Everything Changes  

You always have to have the last word  

Never stop to think about who you’ve hurt  

Kept me walking on eggshells so Iong   

can’t really tell if I’m right or I’m wrong   

I remember that it wasn’t always this way...  

  

But then...Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything changes.   

You’re not the man I thought I knew at all.  

Something twisted up in your mind,  

Tho I’ve never been nothing but kind,  

But suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything’s gone.  

  

Walking around just like you’re shell shocked  

But it’s just a war that’s in your head  

Tell me what I can say that will prove  

None of those voices are speaking the truth.  

Seems like yesterday you were loving, happy and free...  

  

But then Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything changes.   

You’re not the man I thought I knew at all.   

Something twisted up in your mind,   

Tho I’ve never been nothing but kind  

But suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything’s gone.   

  

I wear the scars of your dark reason   

I wear long sleeves despite the season.  

But you say you’ll die if I leave  

If you did it might be a relief  

How did we go from loving to having your blood on my hands?  

  

Seems like Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything changes. -  

You’re not the man I thought I knew at all  

Something twisted up in your mind  

Tho I’ve never been nothing but kind  

But suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything’s gone.   

  

The flashing lights the paperwork   

Signing my name ‘cause you’re berserk   

Cleaning your blood up off the floor  

Mama, I can’t take it anymore.  

  

My freedom offers no redemption - was I the victim of deception?  

kept me tied to you far too long  

Never saw things going so wrong,  

Can I ever think of the good times again?  

  

Because Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything changes  

You’re not the man I thought I knew at all.   

Something twisted up in your mind,   

Tho I’ve never been nothing but kind,   

But suddenly, suddenly, suddenly everything’s gone.   

(C)2018 Kellianne Rosenthal Quinnterruption Music  

Music and Lyrics:  K. Rosenthal  

Arrangement A. Testa/E.Rudenjak  

All Rights Reserved

 

Rain 

Let my tears rain down in my soul 

Your passing’s left a gaping hole 

Where my heart used to be 

Til you went away from me 

Let my tears rain down in my soul 

We always thought we’d have the time 

We’d be together ’til the end of the line 

But life’s a speeding train 

And it don’t stop for anything 

We always thought we’d have the time 

 

Everything we’d ever hoped 

Lost in a tidal wave 

Everyone I ever loved 

Lies six feet in a grave 

Let your music mend my heart 

It’s all I have now we’re apart 

Death is a vicious thief 

Stole you and left me only grief 

Let your music mend my heart 

 

Everything we’d ever hoped 

Lost in a tidal wave 

Everyone I ever loved 

Lies six feet in a grave 

 

Let my tears rain down in my soul 

Your passing’s left a gaping hole 

Where my heart used to be 

Til you went away from me 

Let my tears rain down in my soul 

Let my tears rain down in my soul 

Let my tears rain down in my soul 

(C)2001, 2018 Kelli Rosenthal and Quinterruption Music 

All rights reserved

 

Late Bloomer 

Everyone thought Sleeping Beauty was dead 

But she was just enchanted... 

When everybody tried to bury me 

Turns out I just got planted! 

 

I’m a late, I’m a Late, I’m a late, Late Bloomer, baby. (Oooh) 

You ain’t begun to see what will become of me. 

Like a phoenix rising from her funeral pyre, (oh-oh-oh) 

 don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me. 

 

Once upon a  time I had some rock ‘n’ roll dreams 

Was gonna take it for a spin once I got the keys... 

But a clichéed quid pro quo  went and intervened 

And kept me down in the dark. 

But the song in my heart kept coming back 

Beauty kept peeking out through the cracks 

And I’m not gonna take any more of your flack 

‘Cause it’s my time to bloom. 

 

I’m a late, I’m a late, I’m a late, late bloomer, baby. 

You ain’t begun to see what will become of me

Like a phoenix rising from her funeral pyre 

 don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me. 

 

Once upon a time I walked away from my dream 

To become the woman I am today it seems 

Got a winning ticket waiting just to be redeemed, 

It’s time to claim my prize. 

 

There’s a cosmic reason 

Every blossom has its season 

stems twist to face the limelight 

It’s  a scientific fact 

It just stands to reason 

 

the ones in front bloom first in season 

But they soon die at night (ahhhh) 

 But not us hidden in the back.y 

 

I’m a late, I’m a late, I’m a late, late bloomer, baby. 

You ain’t begun to see what will become of me. 

Like a phoenix rising from her funeral pyre,

 don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me. 

So get out of my way and make  some room 

I’m no shrinking violet, I need space  to bloom 

I’ve put down my roots, watch me shoot for the moon 

Don’t let beauty pass you by 

Don’t despair of winter,  because I’m hearty in frost 

Don’t let memories of my glory ever be lost, 

Keep planting the seeds that my music has tossed 

I’m perennial by design. 

 

I’m a late, I’m a late, I’m a late, late bloomer, baby. (Ooh) 

You ain’t begun to see what will become of me. 

Like a phoenix rising from her funeral pyre, (oh-oh-oh) 

 don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me. 

 

 Gather ye rosebuds while ye may 

I  think  it’s time to bloom today 

Listen close,  now, I’ve got something to say 

Can you hear me now? 

 Can you hear me - now? 

(C)2019 Kelli Rosenthal and Quinterruption Music, All Rights Reserved 

Arrangement by E. Rudenjak /B. Ernest Haring

 

Streetlight

I saw you lit by winter street light 

Waiting for the show. 

The marquee promised rock and roll 

From our long ago. 

You said that you were skeptical 

Of seeming miracles. 

I thought I sensed some magic, 

But then you  had to go. 

We talked all through the springtime, 

The whole summer and the fall. 

We must have heard a thousand songs, 

We saw them play them all. 

I could only dream of loving you, 

And having you to hold. 

Always wondering if you felt the music in my soul. 

 

Well, I’ve been some crazy places, 

And I’ve suffered lots of fools. 

I’ve been the cause of street fights, 

And I’ve broken lots of rules. 

Still one thing was missing 

Wherever I did roam. 

But all of that came clear to me, 

When you said, “welcome home”. 

 

I knew there was no other place for me 

but in your arms. 

Deep inside I felt you were 

the shelter from my storms. 

You hit me like an avalanche, 

love wouldn’t be denied. 

There’s no place I’d rather be 

Than right here by your side.

 

I never thought I’d find  a home 

Always destined just to roam 

Suddenly this funny thing 

Made me want to fold my wings 

And nestle in  your arms 

 

You never gave a hint that you 

Felt the same way as me 

I thought it best to take my leave, 

We weren’t meant to be. 

Later in the station 

I was running for my train, 

Someone yelled “I love you” 

There you were - calling my name. 

 

Well, I’ve been some crazy places, 

And I’ve suffered lots of fools. 

I’ve been the cause of street fights, 

And I’ve broken lots of rules. 

Still one thing was missing 

Wherever I did roam. 

But all of that came clear to me, 

When you said, “welcome home”. 

 

Everything came clear to me, 

When you said, “welcome home!” 

“welcome home”, “welcome home”, “welcome home” 

 

(C) 2018 Kellianne Rosenthal Quinnteruption Music 

Arranger E. Rudenjak 

All Rights Reserved

 

Déjà Vu (Happy Birthday, Boss, Asbury Park 2019) 

 Maybe Madame Marie knows what it means 

When all of a sudden you change your routine 

Tell me, baby, should I get Vaseline? 

Cos from where I’m sitttin’ 

that’s how it seems... 

Maybe history won’t repeat itself this time 

Though I’ve noticed it always seems to rhyme 

Hope I see it coming, it don’t catch me blind 

unlike the Coast line this train always runs on time! 

 

Feels like déjà vu will get the best of me 

When I see what could pass it’s not your face I see 

It’s so hard not to hold you in my history 

Cos I feel déjà vu is comin’ for me 

You know my story-know where I’ve been 

My internal alarms always causing a din 

Shouldn’t be too surprised if your patience is thin 

The places I’m broken may be  too hard to mend 

 

Round and around my mind can’t stop 

Waiting for Damocles’ sword to drop 

Expecting our shiny balloon to pop 

What can I even do to make this  carousel —— 

ever stop? 

 

The road ahead looks like the road behind 

I beg your indulgence for my troubled mind 

guess I lost my innocence on Highway nine 

Don’t know who to trust - it’s my flawed design. 

This ain’t the place I want to be 

You aren’t the one that’s broken me 

But it’s so hard not to hold you in his history 

When I feel déjà vu is coming for me 

 

Feels like déjà vu will get the best of me 

When I see what could pass it’s not your face I see 

It’s so hard not to hold you in my history 

Cos I feel déjà vu is comin’ for me 

 

Like a crumpled up picture in my old blue jeans, 

That shows me the things that I’ve previously seen 

I already know what your behavior means 

Cos  déjà vu  always comes back —for me 

Yeah déjà vu always comes back — 

For me 

 yeah I know déjà vu is comin’ back — for —meeee. 

(C)2017, 2019 Kelli Rosenthal/Quinterruption Music 

Arr. E. Rudenjak 

All rights reserved