Welcome to the   Tea With Warriors   home page.

The Tea With Warriors  debut CD, Quiet Revolution, is now
available at CDBaby.com, as well as digital distributors 
including . You can listen to a preview
below (or at the CDBaby web site, or on iTunes),
and read what other people are saying.

Cheers,
John

For questions and comments, please email
john@teawithwarriors.com

Here's what people are saying about Tea With Warriors' "Quiet Revolution":

"A blend of Progressive Rock with electronic ballads reminiscent of an early incarnation of Genesis yet with more pop nuances like Thomas Dolby, Peter Gabriel, and Alan Parsons."
-Chris T., Buffalo, NY

"Genres:
Modern synth pop-rock
Rock: Adult alternative
Avant garde/experimental/electronic
Moods: intellectual, dreamy
Sufjan Stevens
Low"
-Carol S., Greenwood, MN

"It's a cool sound, and definitely unique. I do hear some similarities to the more atmospheric works of Peter Gabriel, Cibo Matto, and Morrissey or The Smiths. Maybe a little Rick Wakeman, too."
-Carsen K., Pittsburgh, PA

"I think of your sound as prog or post-prog.  Reminds me of Genesis or Peter Gabriel.  You tend to use synths in a similar way and build songs around synth parts.  Maybe a bit King Crimson too.  Less so Yes or ELP mainly because I associate those bands with giant 10-20 minute sprawling works, where your recored has more actual songs, although your bass player reminds me of Chris Squire."
-John S., Mount Vernon, NY

"One artist parallel I saw was with Sufjan Stevens.  Sort of lofty,
slightly melancholy, and with a tinge of electronics, yet acoustic
feeling too."
-Todd K., Pittsburgh, PA

"Adjectives that come to mind are:
moody
sweeping
lilting
expressive
brooding
 
and artists that immediately came to mind that operate in a similar vein:
Peter Gabriel
Elbow (especially their songs like Station Approach)
Roxy Music (later era anyway - the whole Avalon album, etc.)
Pulp (This is Hardcore era)"
-Ian J., Los Angeles, CA

"Reminds me of electronic techno with an Asian flavor in some of the tracks."
-Janet K., Buffalo, NY

"Erasure 's self-titled album came to mind (the production, very synth - based, swirly, chirpy, colorful). Peter Gabriel also came to mind.  Also, what I think is called "ambient" music - particularly during extended episodes without vocals - which is something Erasure does on that self-titled album, which I used to listen to a lot once upon a time."
-Matthew S., New York, NY

"It kinda sounds like David Bowie.  Also perhaps Brian Eno.
Also maybe some Depeche Mode."
-George S., Boston MA



Track list:
Universe of You
Letter From Cambridge
Sorrow on Mass. Ave.
Happy Monkey
Drifting
Southern Tier Suite
Quiet Revolution
Winterburn

Here is a medley of bits of songs from the CD (about 5 minutes):


medley (in case above link doesn't work in your browser)

Here are the credits and lyrics from the CD booklet:

Thanks and love to my wife, Barb, my Universe.
Thanks to Chris Terpin for lyrical ideas for “Happy Monkey”,
and Laura Owens for paint-based inspiration.
Thanks also to John Szinger (www.zingman.com) for hot Monkey sax.

All music, lyrics, and performance by John Neumann
except for John Szinger’s saxophone on “Happy Monkey”.
Lyrics © 2007 John Neumann

Universe of You

I have my friends
I have my true love
you are where you are
the world in which we're staying

once I felt lost
but now the space feels right
now I do what i do
and I feel alright
in my universe of you

sundays born again, smooth mondays followed by
dull tuesdays, wednesdays filled with sorrow
thursdays they turn around, fridays have saturdays for tomorrows

can I stay inside
the orbit in your eye?
sleeping in your ear,
i can hear the wind blow

laying low,
never want to go
so many places I left behind
now I am where I am
I do what i do,
in my universe of you

when you are near
happy to see you
I can be myself
wrapped up in your cosmos

the world could collapse
but I'd do all right while you are here
the birds would all agree
I am what I am
I do what I do
in my universe of you

Letter From Cambridge

I don't remember if the sky that day was blue or gray or even the season
I would have seen it as gray anyway- I disconnect from the time and the reason
old man squawking on his erhu
a couple kids banging on pots and pans
have I ended up in a foreign land?
I've been walking a really long time.

split in the road, shops underground
bookstores, tuning out the sound
and getting struck with the question
what matters?

in my paper cocoon I travel far
pen in hand I pillage your village
wood smoke and bars on the windows
I slip inside and I piss on the privilege

what do they know of survival?
these iron gates that keep me at bay
well they can all just fade to gray
what does it matter
what matters?

split in the road, shops underground
bookstores, tuning out the sound
and getting struck with the question

split in the road, shops underground
ink spills on musty ground
and getting struck with the question
what matters?

Happy Monkey

I'm a happy monkey in solid pastel color
swaths of paint from Japan
I'm a happy monkey in solid pastel color
swaths of paint from Japan

the river runs by like a people mover
trees wave bye to the rusty bridge
horizon opens and out in those hills
smokestacks, auto plants
and water towers

the old man says
the sun will rise high
the sun will rise high
light the sky
make a big sky

the old man says
the sun will rise high
lights the sky,
the sun will rise high
light the sky
make a big sky

turn around the corner, step into the picture
mangoes hang from a branch
looking down through I-beams at the murky water
sun reflects off the glass
receeding lines in a flattened landscape
blissful views of a peacock tree
fragments of vision through holes in the canvas
work space challenges boundary

the young man says
the tree will rise high
the tree will rise high
touch the sky
fill the big sky

Quiet Revolution

tall grasses
hide behind the tree
make it to the boat
hope to stay afloat

when you wake up feeling
in your empty space
are you in a rush to fill it
and let the outside take its place?
sit back and feel the rush of the machines
as they fill the spaces in between

lead a quiet revolution
beating wings
are part of your solution

it's OK not to speak
you can choose instead
eye contact in a crowd
a smile says it all
just not aloud

hide behind the sun
cannot see
stay behind the lines
lose the forest for the trees
leave no stone unturned
stop and count the leaves

hush my booie
lead a quiet revolution
beating wings
are part of your solution

voices on the surface of the water
speaking very slowly
you just have to wait
there's no need for intrigue
they have happy things to say

beat them with a slow stare down
blink and make them go under
foresight not to plunder
do you have the will to wait?