Fuel. Gruel. Drool.
Celebrate, salivate, liberate.
Time to eat.
The Lyrics. The Liner Notes & Today’s Specials
Welcome to the BETTY Buffet
THE MENU
01. Together (3:43)
02. Make A Difference (3:43)
03. Soundproof (3:43)
04. Flow (3:43)
05. Big Size Love (3:43)
06. Gangway (3:43)
07. I Do (3:43)
08. Milky Way (3:43)
09. Saylor (3:43)
10. What the World Needs Now is Love (3:43)
11. Pride (2:42)
The album “Eat” was completed with the generous support of the beloved BETTY Ruler Kickstarters; the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment; the NYC Women’s Fun and the tireless and greatly appreciated work of the New York Foundation of the Arts.
THE SERVERS
BETTY is Elizabeth Ziff (guitar, vocals, programming), Alyson Palmer (bass, guitar, vocals), & Amy Ziff (cello, vocals)
Jason Carmer (producer, composer, mixer)
Human Fader (programmer, composer)
Lu Garibay (engineer, programmer)
Felipe Ceballos (drums, percussion)
Tony Salvatore (guitar)
Alex Nolan (guitar)
Aly Palmer (art direction and back cover photo)
Alfredo Genovese (front cover artist)
Lake Salvatore Palmer (back cover chalk art)
Gene Reed (BETTY photo)
Miguel Mohamed (food truck sweetheart)
Kris Crawford (tech, web king)
Jess Rosenthal (social media strategist)
Seth Arnold (desperate help)
Ruby Salvatore Palmer (music videos)
THE LYRICS
01 TOGETHER
(A. Palmer & BETTY, J. Carmer, Human Fader)
Do your dreams fade in the night
Keep believing it’s alright it’s alright its alright
We are in this together we are in this together
Money’s tight everywhere overworked I don’t care
As long as we are in this together
Do your dreams fade in the night
Keep believing it’s alright it’s alright its alright
We are in this together we are in this together
Danger whirls in the air overwhelmed I don’t care
As long as we are in this together
If change is worth a fight
Keep believing it’s alright
Hold hold hold on Through the dusk til dawn
Side by side by side by side by side
Carry on
We are in this together we are in this together
We are in this we are in this
We are - we are in this together
We are in (in this together)
Do your dreams fade in the night
Oh keep believing it’s alright it’s alright it’s alright
02 MAKE A DIFFERENCE
if i say nothing
do nothing
close my eyes pretend to see
nothing
nothing’s gonna change
nothing’s gonna break
nothing’s gonna give
nothing’s gonna make
a difference
nothing’s gonna make a difference
nothing’s gonna make a difference
if i help no one
hear no one
close my eyes pretend to hurt
no one
no one’s gonna change (change)
no one’s gonna break (break)
no one’s gonna give (give)
no one’s gonna make (make)
a difference
no one’s gonna make a difference
no one’s gonna make a difference
no one’s gonna make a difference
no one’s gonna make a difference
caring ah ah ah ah
sharing ah ah ah ah
thinking ah ah ah ah
dreaming ah ah ah ah
making the money
giving the money
sharing the money
making the time
giving the time
sharing the time
giving a damn
giving a damn
giving a damn
if i wait too long
to sing my song
close my eyes pretend that it's not
all wrong
everything i had
everyone i know
all of it is gone
and i should have made a difference
(someone’s gotta make a difference)
i could have made a difference
(someone’s gotta make a difference)
should have made a difference
(someone’s gotta make a difference)
i could have made a difference
and I should have made a difference
I could have made a difference
did I make a difference
03 SOUNDPROOF
Just because I needed you
Didn’t give you reason to
Take apart the last of what I dreamed
Endless nights of microphones
And turning off my telephone
Now all I wanna do is just go home
The time I wasted
Thinkin this could be the right way
Thinkin you could get the best of me.
How did I let it get this bad, let it go so long
Why did we let it get this bad, let it go so wrong
I was under your thunder
Now I’m soundproof
Didn’t have to put me down
To get yourself the platinum crown
Just the same old dance and same old song
Sitting in an empty room
And in my head I’m hearin you
Sounded so much better when we were new
The time I wasted
Thinkin this could be the right way
Thinkin you could get the best of me.
How did I let it get this bad, let it go so long
Why did we let it get this bad, let it go so wrong
I was under your thunder
Now I’m soundproof
I’m older but not wiser, I still compromise to satisfy
I don’t know why I did it, did it and I don’t know why
The lesson I’ve been learnin, learned so many times before
Should’ve quit you sooner, still believe in wanting more
How did I let it get this bad
Let it go so wrong
04 FLOW
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
get into the flow
Let’s move together baby
We’ve been stuck here for too long
Can’t get a better feelin
This time we’re comin back strong
Get happy and warm, yeah yeah
Made it through and we’re dancing up a storm
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
get into the flow
I saw you in your window
Waving, wantin you by my side
Hello hello I love you
Will you share my ride
I don’t know your name
But let’s get insane
Come out come out wherever you are
Come out come out wherever you are
Come out come out wherever you are
If you’re near , if you’re far,
Come out come out wherever you are
Be the party
Get into the flow
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
Flow, flow, flow flow flow flow
get movin, get groovin, get movin in the flow
get into the flow
Todo el mundo a la fiesta
get into the flow
05 BIG SIZE LOVE
Don’t be judgy I’m still chubby
I never lost my baby fat
Soft and squishy so delishy
Close your eyes now picture that
How much more of me can you love
When there’s more of me?
Don’t be a meanie I’m not skinny
Showing off my thicker bits
Hold on tightly enjoy the ride or
Find yourself somewhere else to sit
How much more of me can you love
When there’s more of me?
How much more of me can you love
Are you tired yet?
Working hard I’ll bet
Come and get your big size fun
Big size love has just begun
Are you tired yet?
Working hard I’ll bet
Come and get your big size fun
Big size love has just begun
Come and get your big size love
I’ll tell you when you’re done
Skip the scale diets fail
If you wanna hold me
Arms out wide for the juicy side
Lose the stress let out the dress
If you wanna hold me
Arms out wide for the juicy side
How much more of me can you love
When there’s more of me?
How much more of me can you love
Are you tired yet?
Working hard I’ll bet
Come and get your big size fun
Big size love has just begun
Are you tired yet?
Working hard I’ll bet
Come and get your big size fun
Big size love has just begun
Are you tired yet?
Working hard I’ll bet
Come and get your big size fun
Big size love has just begun
Come and get your big size love
I’ll tell you when you’re done
1X 2X 3XL good and plenty
1X 2X 3XL plenty good
1X 2X 3XL bit o’ honey
Under my plus size spell
Come and get (come and get big size fun
Big size love big size love has just begun)
Come and get (come and get big size fun
Big size love big size love has just begun)
All of me
Come and get (come and get big size fun
Big size love big size love has just begun)
Come and get (come and get big size fun
Big size big size love has just begun)
Love
06 GANGWAY
(A. Palmer & BETTY, J. Carmer, Human Fader)
Dja stride through the square in tri-colored rags
Fist in the air hair your flag
Didja now didja - didja now did you now
Dja rise in the street facing the crowd
March to the beat did your faith make you proud
Is it time now to take cover
Is it time now to draw the blinds
Or is it time now for bread and water
too late no sweet cakes no wine
Gangway gangway gangway gangway
Grab your gang for the revolution
Take a stand for the revolution
When the people demand
Gangway
Pauline and Claire drove a king from his lair
Dja think that your dreams could rip holes in the air
Didja now didja - didja now did you now
Dja wait for a sign hate to delay
Pray for a sign like Charlotte Corday
Glory glory hallelujia praise the fact
Outrageous rebellions start with every day acts
On a bridge on a bus or under attack
Stronger together we will never never never
go back
When women demand
Gangway
07 I DO
I don’t know why I want you back (want you back)
You gave me such a heart attack (want you back)
And that what was when you did what you did to me
I couldn’t see you for a while (want you back)
I scraped myself back to a smile (want you back)
Then I saw you in the door
Felt the things I felt before
You walked to me and I’m back in it
I forgive you in a hot minute
I wasn’t ready yet to quit it
I Don’t know, don’t know, don’t know, don’t’know
I don’t why, I don’t know, I don’t know why, I don’t know
But I do.
I’m such a sucker for your sexy (want you back)
I can’t believe how much you messed me (want you back)
And here we do the same new same old thing we do, Yes we do.
My friends are telling me no no (no no no)
My body’s telling me go go (go go go)
If I did the same to you, you’d think we’re through
It’s true
You walked to me and I’m back in it
I forgive you in a hot minute
I wasn’t ready yet to quit it
I Don’t know, don’t know, don’t know, don’t’know
You walked to me and I’m back in it
I forgive you in a hot minute
I wasn’t ready yet to quit it
I Don’t know, don’t know, don’t know, don’t’know
I don’t why, I don’t know, I don’t know why, I don’t know
But I do.
Crazy, crazy
I can’t stop I can’t stop this
Crazy, crazy
I can’t stop I can’t stop I can’t stop I can’t stop
You walked to me and I’m back in it
I forgive you in a hot minute
I wasn’t ready yet to quit it
I Don’t know, don’t know, don’t know, don’t’know
You walked to me and I’m back in it
I forgive you in a hot minute
I wasn’t ready yet to quit it
I don’t why, I don’t know, I don’t know why, I don’t know
But I
I
I do.
08 MILKY WAY
If I could be clairvoyant maybe I’d see
How much more buoyant I’m bound to be
While I wasn’t watching I shot past mars
I found I’m lost in the stars
Moving through the Milky Way
10,000 degrees centigrade
Every dawn a new year’s day
Floating in the star parade
To music that these spheres have made
Face to face through space we sway
Ruby round and round a mystery
Astounding how new boundaries become wonderlands
Amazing my baby and me moongazing then suddenly starblazing
No map no course no plan
And when she’s gone I’m aching far beyond what I have known before
Oh baby soar soar soar
Before I knew her I found her in a dream
Alone in a garden mid-galaxy
Still as a statue until she smiled
Patiently waiting shimmering child
You waited a long long while
Moving through the milky way
10,000 light years from today
Gaining all I give away
Shining flying saucer eyes abducting me drinking me dry
Breathless and in thrall am i
09 SAYLOR
Saylor and I went down to the creek
And I made a promise I just couldn’t keep
That I would live forever
That I could live forever
So I picked her up with her hand in mine
Made a wish one last time
That I could hold her forever
that I would hold her forever
what will you do with all my love little girl
save it spend it
what will you do with all my love little girl
save it and remember me
maybe
maybe
a drop of blood fell from the sky
I saw a hummingbird almost fly
I wondered if I could fly
Enough for time to pass me by
forever
forever
what will you do with all my love little girl
save it spend it
what will you do with all my love little girl
save it and remember me
maybe
maybe
Saylor and I went down to the creek
And I made a promise
10 WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE
(Bacharach/David)
What the world needs now
What the world needs now
What the world needs now
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone
Lord we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last
‘Til the end of time
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone
Lord we don’t need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Enough to last you know
Know
Love sweet love
What the world needs now is love sweet love
What the world needs now is love sweet love
What the world needs now
Is love
11 PRIDE
(A. Palmer, A. Ziff, E. Ziff, J. Carmer, Human Fader)
Happy Pride from BETTY
Happy Pride
If they try to stop us time to rise
time to rise time to rise
Who’s proud today
I’m proud today
You’re proud today
Let’s love all the way
Clap your hands
way up high
Shout it out:
Happy Pride
Clap your hands
way up high
Shout it out
Love all the way love all the way
Ah hoo hoo
Happy Pride!
BETTY art @LegoJqhn [John Quattrociocchi]
LINER NOTES
ALYSON
38 years together as a band.
11th album.
Besties most of the time but vicious hostiles when egos enter the rehearsal studio.
So. What to call the new album?
Just like when Amy Elizabeth and I got together at my audition callback 1000 years ago and stayed laughing giddily late into the night already cemented as musical soulmates gushing torrents, rivers and waterfalls of possible names. At one point this year, my Notes app held 58 possible names. Each of us trying to persuade the other two was like Caesar’s Senate with alliances forming and dissolving, calm rhetoric, dramatic pronouncements and hidden knives. Yet, no single name emerged that said everything each of us wanted to say, needed to say, about our personal journey, this moment in time, our rapidly shifting world, high hopes, deep disillusion, the joy, the panic.
On an artist’s date with myself, I roamed the Whitney Museum timeless temple for rejuvenation. In the gift shop, someone had knocked a pile of round postcards onto stacked scarves below.
I do enjoy tidying, so I reached out to stack the postcards back and froze. There on a red scarf was a black and white reproduction of Robert Indiana’s 1964 art piece for the World’s Fair, “EAT.”
Simple.
Quotidian.
Often a mindless part of our daily lives but the act of life itself.
I called Elizabeth and Amy immediately, screaming. Of course!
When all else fails, eat.
Highest praise for what you’re doing, ooh eat.
The most personal request, mmm eat.
And now for you Darlin, on this long odyssey, an invitation.
xoxAly
ELIZABETH
Back in the day when BETTY started out in DC, there was an amazing underground of music. All of us supported each other. There was the HarDCore scene, the GoGo scene, The Art rock scene, and the burgeoning New Wave scene. It was a great time to be in music in DC. Reagan was the president and we all agreed that he was the worst thing in the world. Protests, Fundraisers, Slam poetry….all of it circling around the OG 9:30 club with owner Dody Bowers. BETTY fit in everywhere and nowhere. Jason Carmer was in a band called 9353 and was a cool dude and very hot. We were friends and he really “got” us. We were a little of everything, Punk, New Wave, Electronica, Spoken work, Acapella, Humor and Activist.
Fast forward to 2023…Jason is a very accomplished record producer. We’re ready to make a new record. He’s relocated to Mexico City and has a studio down there. We have a studio in NYC. One conversation with him and we decided to make the album together. Friends for over 30 years, he knew exactly how to mold our music into a true BETTY album. It was a fast beautiful recording and the team was amazing. Especially Human Fader, who brought a lot to the table. We all fell back in love with each other and Amy, Alyson and I fell in love with Mexico City. I feel that all the stars aligned to make this our best album yet. Everything we were in the 80’s meeting everything that we have become. The journey continues.
AMY
Somehow, the world seems even crazier now than when we first started out.
Thankfully, during our 38 years as a band, we’ve learned something to say
to help us
change, celebrate, lament, agonize, laugh, question, understand, challenge, create, undo, and sing together.
Ok, let’s take a break and grab something to
EAT.
We serve up these new songs, on a beautiful platter, surrounded by love and gratitude.
Thanks for supporting us through the ups and downs, and all the in betweens.
Now,
take a break and grab something to
EAT.
Happy Listening.
Love,
Amy
THANK YOU
Nancy Rose Esq.
Elizabeth Paw Esq.
Mike Thorne & Leila Shakkour
Niclas Nagler
Michael Greif
Kristi Ambrosetti
Gloria Steinem
Bonnie Schaefer & Jamie Schaefer
Lucy Hughes
Marnie Joyce