The Luxury Problem is the first album by The Long Afternoon. Delayed by nearly two decades, the Long Afternoon’s first album comprised songs composed during the band’s earliest years, circa 1984 to 1987. The album was recorded between March 2005 and October 2007, and released in December 2007 by Problematic Audio Recordings.
For this document, The Long Afternoon comprised:
Eston Martz: guitars and vocals
Jeff Edmunds: bass
Greg Elliott: drums
All songs by Eston Martz except “I Gotta Get Out” by Gary Anderson and Eston Martz, and “Awful Thing” by Eston Martz and Dejan Kovacevic.
I can’t believe the patronizing things you say
You are so eloquent but words soon fade away
I feel it every time you get this close to me
You’re like an elegant but poisoned symphony
And just what do you mean when you say things are good?
We’ve fallen to the depths we said we never would
And I’m so tired of being let down all the time
My friends are telling me to leave this all behind
You’ve got a lot of nerve to say you’re still my friend
You say such pretty things but words were made to bend
Words are helpless in the stupid things you say
And the things you talk about never happen that way
Do they?
The world is falling apart
But that’s not what you said
The message broke my heart
But that’s not what you said
I am a grey machine
But that’s not what you said
This meant a lot to me but
That’s not what you
That’s not what you said
That’s not what you said
That’s not what you said
That’s not what you said
Don’t be too shallow
If I fall asleep
Well who will you love tomorrow
The truth it travels slowly
Impressions crumble fast
And trust is left decaying
Like your glorious troubled past
Don’t say it’s over
This is just the start
Of the guilt that dogs your footsteps
And the pain that won’t depart
Your face is pale and fragile
You look about to cry
Should I cry with you forever
While world keeps passing by?
You’ve bought a world
That seems to be so sad
You start out feeling good but then you
Plunge into the bad
So don’t tell me it’s all over
This dream never ends
It’s my endless introduction
To the misery of friends
That’s your purpose in this world
Make the grade and buy a name
Before the earth is your domain
It’s all so vain
The idea threw me into shock
Ignore the pain
The struggle threw me into shock
I played the devil’s advocate
Just to see how far I’d get
Played the gadfly for a lark
In like flint and making sparks, but
I don’t believe
The faithful threw me into shock
No time to grieve
The passion threw me into shock
They always say it’ll come to mе
They always say it’s one-two-three
They always say that lovе is free
I always know it’s got a fee
Fell in love with a perfect girl
The only one in my whole world
I swore I’d give her all I get
She lit another cigarette
I can’t forget
The letdown threw me into shock
I can’t forget
The memories threw me into shock
Into shock
Into
I gotta be leaving soon
Gotta get out of this place even if it means leaving you
If I were you I’d leave here too
I’ve been wasting my time
Since I’ve been coming here with you
As a matter of fact this isn’t really what I want to do
This place is making me so sick
They’ll come around
When I hit the ground
You’ll stand in the circle
And make no sound
I gotta get out
I gotta get out
I gotta get out
I gotta get out
I’m standing outside
And I notice that you’re not around
You feel so high that you’re never coming down
You’ll stand in the circle and make no sound
I gotta get out
I gotta get out
I gotta get out
I gotta get out
Not long to our destination
Every second brings us nearer
To the heart of the greatest nation
On the ground the people waiting
Have no inkling what we’ll do
Soon they will be celebrating
Our divorce from the world we knew
In my head the world is over
Shattered glass is all I see
I broke life in little pieces
Using the tools of your factories
I lock the door and from now on I’ll stay inside
Safe from their operations, waiting on the couch
I’ve got a full revolver, they’ll never get me out
I know there’s something going on that I can’t see
The secret influence of hidden agencies
Fear in all faces and a crash in every car
There must be exits but I can’t see where they are
About herself
She thinks so hard
About herself
Susan says
She wants to be
Susan says
To be with me
And Susan murmured to kill is not a sin
Not when you kill something that never should have been
And Susan murmured that the world was at her feet
And if she fell again, she would land on her feet
Susan says
She has control
She feels no pain
And has no soul
Susan says
That it all dies
Susan changed
Before my eyes
And Susan murmured that to kill is not a sin
Not when she killed something that never should have been
And Susan murmured the love she felt was wrong
Like being in a dream that isn’t quite her own
And Susan murmured that the love she felt was dead
Just empty patterns playing over in her head
Then we had to stop
Crawled back to our empty lives
To survey what we’d got
Take stock in your possessions
We’re only what we have
She’s some roses and my letters
I’m a fading photograph
When it shines on you
There isn’t shit
That I can do
I can not make
A single sound
When I look for you
You’re not around
This is the end
This is the stop
The bitter aftermath
Of all the wars we fought
Now I don’t know what you expect me to say
The sun exploded yesterday
Radio off
Bedroom at home
Your lights are out
And you sleep alone
I rubbed the dreams
Out of my eyes
Now I’m awake
And I’m alive
This gorgeous girl came down the road
She was tired, breathing hard but
We must not create new life
Set the roadblocks on the bridges
Then we can all do what we like
Isn’t this young world delicious
She had something in her head that
Would not let her trust another
Tried to keep her feelings dead but
I know she was hurt inside
I just don’t know if I caused it
I could ask and she would lie
Give her love and watch her toss it
She has never said thе secret things inside hеr head
For so long we got so blasted
We sure were stupid while it lasted
Now I don’t know where she’s staying
Hope she’ll change her life someday
She won’t like the things I’m saying
We should not have made mistakes
And we should not know how guilt tasted
But regret is a useless thing
And I could show her time we wasted
Wasted
A little scar that never heals
A twenty that was lost
A day spent doing nothing real
A compliment that went unsaid
A day you never left your bed
An expectation never met
A letter you will never get
A shirt that doesn’t fit
A dance that’s always out of step
A drug that never cures
A joke that people never get
Another day lost to the past
A sigh that comes out as a gasp
A seed that doesn’t start to grow
Some children you will nevеr know
A watch with broken hands
A window that’s been painted closed
A room without a bеd
A decrepit house that no one knows
A bottle just now empty glass
Your brilliant thoughts turned into ash
A life that’s mourned by no one else
Now I just take care of myself
Please don’t do this
Please don’t do this awful thing now
Didn’t you say
Didn’t you say
I thought you said you would always come through
I went to sleep for a million years and when I woke up you were gone
Wish I had an empty head on days that end like this one
Please don’t do this
Please don’t do this
Please don’t do this awful thing now
All you said
All you said
All you said is just words to me now
I went to sleep for a million years and when I woke up you were gone
Wish I had an empty head on days that end like this one
Then we had to stop
Crawled back to our empty lives
To survey what we’d got
Take stock in your possessions
We’re only what we have
She’s some roses and my letters
I’m a fading photograph
