The song is particularly fitting for this website: It is a dark and driving number about deceit and betrayal in the context of a corporate scandal. To hear the complete version of Cigarettes and Cyanide, use the player below. To download the song, click the link to the 2010 Blues website.

Credits:

Greg DeMars: electric and acoustic guitar
Kurt Eichenwald, acoustic guitar and vocals
Robert Keeler: percussion
David Michel: bass
Terry Tippen: drums
Denton Watumull: keyboard

Lyrics and music: Kurt Eichenwald
Instrumentation: 2010 Blues
Recorded at Bass Propulsion Laboratories, Dallas
Mixed by: Nolan Thies

Lyrics:

Cigarettes and Cyanide

I took a path of lies
To a place I didn’t recognize
Drawn by that tempting siren’s song.
They promised pretty things
Like polished gold and diamond rings
A dream that didn’t last for very long.

But I don’t want to waste more time
And I don’t want to cry.
I once was on the side
Of cigarettes and cyanide
But I’ve come to my senses
And I promise you
I won’t be there again.

My thoughts were laced with fear
We’d never find out way from here.
They drained me, left me less than whole.
I turned to you for more
You knew what I was looking for.
Instead you started twisting up,
Twisting up my soul.

And I don’t want to waste more time
And I don’t want to cry.
I once was on the side
Of cigarettes and cyanide
But I’ve come to my senses,
And I promise you
I won’t be there again.
I won’t be there again.

Beneath the blackened sky
I never stop to wonder why
We moved from darkness into light.
I tried to take your hand
It’s only now I understand
Daybreak led to just another night.

I walked the long dark hallway
In search of where I’m supposed to be
Instead you showed me all those visions
That I never want to see.

I clung to your words hoping
That your dream would do me good
But now I’ve turned my back on you
Like I never thought I could.

And I don’t want to waste more time
No, no, no, I don’t want to cry.
I once was on the side
Of cigarettes and cyanide
But I’ve come to my senses,
And I promise you
I won’t be there again.
I won’t be there again.
I won’t be there again.

© 2004, Kurt Eichenwald