Speakin' The Queens... Pt. 6

As the release date for my new album, "Queens English", approaches (5/18), I thought it might be a fun idea (if only for me) to try and maybe dissect the record here at the old Blog space. A bit of a behind the scenes look under the hood so to speak. Since I've always dug reading about some of my favorite albums track-by-track, I thought that might be an interesting way to approach. Eleven tracks in eleven installments? Can I pull it off without boring even myself? Got me. Stay tuned and find out. Tonight a Bleecker Street queen meets her Bensonhurst dream.

Track 6: "Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy" -

As the album's moniker and a number of the song titles infer, this record turned out to be a pretty New York-centric affair. In writing about the city, I chose to shift the spotlight away from the sky-scraping, well-heeled of Manhattan isle toward the more earthly-based, hard working folks of the outer-boroughs. The people I grew up with, the people I live alongside today. Their stories maybe not as glamorous but certainly no less important and in many ways more genuine.

Faithfully based on the lives of my parents, "Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy" weaves one such tale - My Dad, a street-wise kid from Brooklyn (see above). My Mom, a Kelly Girl from Ridgewood, Queens. Together they worked hard and made a life for themselves as they started a family, struggled for their little piece of the American pie and rode the wave of life's ups and downs - love, serving as anchor, holding all against the drift.

A simple story... But their story... And really everyone's, no?

Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy

Angeline, Bleecker St. queen
Bensonhurst, every girl’s dream

Theirs is a simple story,
No tale of epic glory from above
Just of love…

Angeline played hard to get,
Bensonhurst never gave up yet

Love bloomed and soon they’d marry,
Danced to a big band as the rain it fell,
St. George Hotel…

Settled in a dreary basement scene
Saving for a home they’d call their own
Three long years, of counting all their dreams
They laid their money down and bought a
Tiny place in Queens…

Time passed with something missing ‘till
Summer of Love kissed everyone
Angeline had a son…

Years brought tears and joy into the home
They always seem to travel hand in hand
Marveled at how much their boy had grown
Hoping that he’d find a love, a love to call his own…

Bensonhurst, now he is gone
Angeline, tries to carry on…

Next time on "Speakin' The Queens...", we take a ride to the other side with Track 7, "Bridge & Tunnel".