Words between Wake and sleep

The Song Lyrics

Of

Patrick Storedahl

1

For Connie, Kiefer, and Riley

It isn’t much; however, it is all I’ve done.

Love you all.

2 Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Trike 5

Spoke 12

Some Horrendous Joke 22

The Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed 32

Ink Block Fingerprint 46

Some More 78

Years Later (Songs written or recorded after 2004)

Kalama Tea 107

Eating Louisiana 116

The Whole Year Inn 131

Honey, Won’t You Spare Some Bills 158

Songs Not Recorded…Yet 182

Songs by Page 232

3 I am lazy and I like to play with small meaningless tasks. Songwriting has afforded me the opportunity to dabble at both of these. Though I consider the writing of music and words as two different tasks, they are both similar in the sense that they require (at least for me) obsessive play. Perhaps that is why some writing teams (such as George and Ira Gershwin) divided the tasks. Also if one looks at Lennon and McCartney, it has been long thought that Lennon was the more complex lyricist and McCartney the more complex composer. That is not to say that I would consider myself in the same league as John, Paul, George and Ira, it is a simple example to demonstrate the difference in words and music.

My life has two parts: my dad and music. Though I was aware of some music while my dad was alive, and even played some guitar and clarinet, it was not a focus. After he died, I made a big right turn and became obsessed with music, mostly rock and roll. Since then I have taken some small detours such as college, marriage, and kids, but music has always been there.

Musically, I consider myself an adequate musician and I seem to have the capability to play or sing something that benefits a piece of music. I find it easy to play both other people’s songs and write my own songs, not from a technical playing standpoint, but rather from an ability to see the whole of the song. That is, what seems to come easy to me is the ability to quickly analyze and develop both song forms and harmonic structures. This ability also allows me to see ways of playing with these forms and structures, and then when writing to mold them into something unique, unorthodox, or in the very least, fun.

A lyric is more of an exercise in fun than accuracy because the point of a lyric is to be sung and perhaps to make someone think or at least ask the question, “What in the hell did he just sing?” With this in mind, accuracy can sometimes make a song stagnant and more of a report than a song. Not that I have always succeeded in this, but a few things that I have done in the past are to change genders of real people, change how a word is used, or use incorrect grammar and yes, I have even made up a few words along the way. Another misconception that some people have about songwriting is that inspiration has to come from the heart and be personal. As for me, though I use my life as inspiration, when it is time to write a song I do not feel a need to tell the story as fact. I often use a lot situations (not all related) to make a lyric complete.

The lyrics contained in this book may or may not be good, but as the writer I feel that I am sometimes too close to the work to decide if something is good or not; however, the songs that have never been recorded I am sure that I left behind simply because of a lyric being lame. I guess that time kind of weeds out the runts, though that is not to say that everything I have recorded has been great either…they just stuck. In short, I just try to have fun with words and play with the language; therefore, good or bad, here are some words from my life that I recorded and some I had forgotten about or left behind. I tried not to repeat parts such as choruses unless there was a change.

-2003

4

5

6

Trike

Just Plain Bill 1991 First Release

This was released as a cassette tape only and was recorded on 4-track cassette in the days when Just Plain Bill was a three piece band including Ted Clark, Douglas Blum and myself. Some of the songs were then rerecorded over the years and will be included with the lyrics on the CD in which they appeared. These few never went any further than this project. In some, if not most cases, that was probably for the best.

7 Anything

Kiss of Judas, breath of cancer Daddy’s girl is on the prowl Starboard hanging now The tide is rising like a gull Mountain of fear, vision of awe Feel the earthquake on my ear

Thought you were Georgia O’Keefe in the desert If God could swim tell me what he’d be Thought you were Jack Kerouac Beat the sea beat the surf Thought you were Samuel Longhorne Clemens writing a tale I saw God dying out at sea I can’t tell you anything I can’t tell you anything I can’t tell you anything, because you already know

Just a whisper now could make me smile Maybe you should go now Kiss of friendship, kiss of God Kiss-off, daddy’s girl is on the prowl

I can’t tell you anything I can’t tell you anything

I don’t want to listen to you

8 Get out of the Rain

Rain is falling down…If you only try to open up your eyes

“Sunshine’s always lying on my face,” is what you said to me Sometimes I think you’ve lost your mind Wrap yourself in latex or armor and coat your tongue with innocence But who said Heaven’s really white?

I can still remember that house when I was young When all those buoys made of glass were falling down

Rain is falling down like a blanket on your face, you can’t see anything You’re running blindly through your life, thinking everything’s alright If you would only try, only try to open up your eyes Maybe you would get out of the rain

“Sunshine’s always lying on my face,” is what you said to him Sometimes I think that you’re as crazy as the dress you’re wearing Wrap yourself in white tonight and climb up on your Silver I hope your savior is a small young girl of color

What a crazy thing to do with your mouth Hey, hey, hey, what a crazy thing to do with your mouth

9 Length of Money

The pen tattoos on their arms seemed to speak to me Some nicotine-lip said you’d gone away All those faces looked like puppets As they pushed the buttons of the arcade

Pretty girls come running out of the rain Voices of the President, Efferdent, Scope, the Pope To beat the cold and wipe the stains from their doubt TV evangelists, can you imagine this?-What are they talking about? Let’s get out Some could be a movie star, have a career and a domestic car Housewife blues or a Playboy bunny It’s always the length of money that counts

No one on the streets for the holiday I saw a poster with a smile and your face I never noticed how much the cloth glitters Until I had the guts to take a taste

Pretty girls come running out of the rain They’ll gag you, bag you, snag you by the balls, tie you up and take all your money To beat the cold and wipe the stains from their doubt Buy this, sell that, get fat, cardiac victim get slim they’ll chew you up and then they’ll spit you out

Capital is corporate gender slang It’s God’s phallic sign And when you run out of things to say You save face with plastic lies

I saw you on the boulevard with a brand new Rolls Kind of expensive for a toy There was a pretty girl beside you to prove you’re all boy Remember when we used to listen to Pink Floyd…I still do

Pretty girls come running out of the rain Stepping out of my front door, I wonder what that is on my lawn To beat the cold and wipe the stains from their doubt Burning, turning the grass to a different hue, could it maybe be the fallout…Or is it Starsky and Hutch? Some could be a movie star, have a career and a domestic car Housewife blues or a Playboy bunny It’s always the length of money that counts

10 Radio K.U.G.S.

Future’s blast, songs of the past Classical and funk on a list Turn your dial and listen for awhile To psychology with a twist It’s the beat of a new collegiate With news of dorm-grown contraband So take a vacation from the synthetic stations and turn to 88.3 Bellingham

Coming across the airways in the voices of peers And adding variety to the selection of beers Radio, Radio K.U.G.S.

Wave of the future, hint of culture Click the bricks of Red Square Portable waves pass the fountain Up the mountain and Fairhaven’s summer fair It’s the beat of a new collegiate With songs of new and old bands So take a vacation from the synthetic stations and turn to 88.3 Bellingham

Coming across the airways, beating off the go-goes And those ugly gold chains of the spank slut gigolos Radio, Radio K.U.G.S.

It’s the beat of a new collegiate With news of dorm-grown contraband So take a vacation from the penetration and turn to 88.3 Bellingham

Coming across the airways, anyway you please Turn to 8, 8, 8, 8, 88.3 Radio, Radio K.U.G.S.

11 Third Time

Beat the shoreline, beat the surf A hundred voices can’t be heard Swallow the sea, swallow the surf One less brother can’t be heard

Ocean child feel the water on your face Water of life, water of love Wash away the life, and wash away the love Ocean child’s drowning Talk the talk of the sailors’ dock And the sea’s not always fair An albatross around her neck And she’s gasping there for air Going down for the third time…

Beat the shoreline, beat the surf A hundred years of tears aren’t worth Water of life, water of love Walk on water like your walking on love

12 Walk in the Moonlight

Night falls on the sea of light Can’t seem to find the time Follow the moon - Follow the night Let’s take a walk in the moonlight

Slow down to view the scene Talk slow, I don’t know what you mean Another street – Another night Let’s take a walk in the moonlight

Anxiously coughing up the nerve Cautiously step across stone Breaking up the noise with a word Step off…an interesting conclusion

Shadows across the ‘scape Shrink into your face Sorting out the clutter – Sorting out the night Let’s take a walk in the moonlight

Standing to sit in a fit of arrangement Standing to sit the seat that is more, more, more, and more Slipping out of a comfortable habit Snap into a series of stutters

13

14

Spoke

Just Plain Bill 1994 Second Release

Recorded in Seattle on CM Records, Spoke, was a disaster. We had an engineer with very little experience and combined with our lack of experience the whole thing didn’t bode well. With that said, there are still a few songs I like from it and all the songs I wrote are included here.

15 Dumb (Inspired by Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins and Kurt Cobain)

If I’m so dumb If I’m so dumb Then why are you standing right in front of me? In the wolf-mother wallpaper

If I’m so dumb If I’m so dumb Then why are you listening to me right now? In the toadstool motel

I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself

If I’m so dumb If I’m so dumb Then why are you touching me, feeling me? Like an inanimate object in a cave

I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself

16 Eating Louisiana (Inspired by Paul Prudhomme, hell, it’s pretty much his recipe with some artistic license)

Eating Louisiana, eating Louisiana Blackened Creole’ rodent Eating Louisiana, eating Louisiana Fat man’s Cajun delight Hey!

Take a tablespoon of sweet paprika Teaspoon of onion powder Teaspoon of garlic powder One teaspoon of ground red pepper Take a teaspoon and a half each of black and white pepper One teaspoon of oregano and thyme Don’t forget the salt

Take an extremely large cast iron skillet Place it on the oven over heat Past the stage of smoking, white ash in the well Meanwhile, thoroughly combine the spices in a bowl And sprinkle lightly over buttered fillets

I know a man, he is a chef Without the fat there’d be nothing left I’m on a soapbox behind a podium Eat less fat and sodium

17 Everything

She sits by the side of the street Watching the busses come and leave A piss-bottle between her knees to catch all the things That she doesn’t believe will last She’s a casualty of an anorexic fast

She wonders what’s inside your head I’m not beating you off this time So she can change your mind and make it into hers And everything is hers

There’s a foggy hue of awareness in her head And there’s a shade of funny turning red All day she dreams she’s dead With the local leper lying in her bed She screams, “Why can’t dreams be as real as the truth? And why can’t the pain, be pulled out with the tooth?”

She pins her cellophane smile to her face and whispers Some things are private as you know She shuts her eyes and ears as a defense against her fears That there’s something here to disclose

She sits and smokes her cigarette in quiet Delicately she uses etiquette like a thumb

Minutes that seem like hours, tick and tock across her clock Until all the cigarettes are gone She comes and goes as though she thinks she knows we’re watching her Fumble through her discipline and song

Up behind this town beyond the pharmacy and school behind the church There is a water tower; you can get there from here There is no asylum in the world There’s not a place that won’t hang your carcass Like beef in the market and make you act like a vegetable

18 Hollywood Cab Ride

There you are in the back of my car, telling me who you are like a movie star You ask about me, but as you can see I’m not who I want to be, you see, you see Then you say you love me – You can take a ride Then you say you care – You can take a ride Then you say you want to go down there and take a ride

You got my attention and I don’t have to mention that my intention is void of greed Imagine a scene from a movie screen where the actors seem to be behind the stream Then you say you hate me – You can take a ride Then you say goodbye – You can take a ride Then you leave me alone in a theatre restroom ready to cry… At the slightest change of plot And you know that if I myself from my last cigarette I will explode Like the man in the TV show I will explode

He sold fish in the square as if you even care He was a bystander, handout, not too different From you and I on the 4th of July Then he took a ride…

Then you want my name – You can take a ride Then you mention the money – You can take a ride To be a friend of mine just like Ms. Devine When she portrayed Janis Joplin I will explode Like the man I used to know I will explode Then you say you love me – You can take a ride Then you say you care – You can take a ride Then you say you want to go down there where the lights spell Hollywood To talk is the moon and ends way too soon To have ever been real or true

19 Sanctuary Restaurant

We’re going to the Sanctuary Restaurant Delivered to the river to find something we want Stowaways and broken dreams fall down and dance Stowaways and brokens ride a snake in the grass It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

Packed up my skeletons, my secrets and masks Answer to the question was a simple, “Please, don’t ask.” Took my son and lover on a bus ride across the bridge With alphabet soup in a melting pot to find where sanctuary is It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

Frankly it’s humiliating when she feels she must explain her exit Like she thinks I’m an idiot and incapable of pain I’m loathing

We’re going to the Sanctuary like children on a carnival ride We’ve walked in the water, we’ve walked in the water and we’ve crawled in the tide It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

I met a girl from the Big Sky I swear I’ve met her before She said, “When you get to the place where your eyes don’t see, You won’t miss them anymore.” Stowaways and broken dreams on a bus ride across the bridge We’re going to find where sanctuary is It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

Give me, give me, give me Sanctuary Give me, give me, give me Sanctuary More Kool-Aid Reverend Jones

20 Something

Tell me something I don’t know Tell me something I don’t know Tell me

You know something I want You know something I want You know something I want

Feel the fingers of a blind girl Rubbing out the wrinkles of the pillows on the blue sofa Watch the eyes of a man who’s got something else crazy on his mind She can’t help it, no, she can’t help it If the neighborhood mutt is taking up all her time

You know something I want you to do, to turn me on

21 Thumb (Inspired by Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins)

Sissy and the Hip Angel Down on the road Sissy and the Hip Angel Glide along the highway They’re going to be there soon They’re going to be there soon They’re going to be there soon with thumbs in the sky Peyote on their tongues, but their mouths are dry

Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee

Sissy and the Hip Angel Thumbs in a jar Sissy and the Hip Angel Lick the vinegar Goat god and a cowgirl Goat god and a cowgirl You can give me Buddha, Confucius too Jesus and Dale got nothing on you

There’s a flock whoopers in my soul

There’s a body on the ground There’s a body on the ground There’s a body on the ground with dirt in her hand One less cowgirl playing in the sand

Sissy and the Hip Angel thumb off in the sunset Sissy and the Hip Angel glide off in the sunset Sissy and the Hip Angel Sissy and the Hip Angel Sissy and the Hip Angel…ride

22 Transportation

There’s a ship of fools providing entertainment To a raft of intellects and 23 gay men The train of fish isn’t in a hurry To pass a pickup truck of idiots gerbiling

There’s a frigate and a frogget and Frugget Filling with the Filipino farmers There’s a limo like a lady’s libido Behind a caravan of snake charmers

Felching on a Sunday morning Waiting for the autumn corn Once in awhile you try to figure it out and find you hate the traffic

Transportation, transportation to the mind Transportation, transportation to the mind Throw caution to the wind

I’m going to rip out my heart And throw it on the freeway Take this brain, take these hands and give them away I’m going to jump the next train out of town Because I can’t take it anymore This dirty little town contains an element of chastity that I’d like to sodomize

I can’t think, I can’t see, it’s all a blur Slow down, put up a stop sign, put up a detour

Transportation, transportation to the mind Transportation, transportation to the mind

Pumpkin and nougat leaves a bad taste in my mouth – (This line by Ted Clark)

23

24

Some Horrendous Joke

Just Plain Bill 1997 Third Release

This time we did it in Olympia. It was more comfortable and cheaper, but it took a long time. We recorded at Arcade Digital and the first thing we did was Frank Zappa’s “Camarillo Brillo.” We recorded far more songs than ever made the CD, which are included towards the end of this chapter. We learned a lot and started to become more experimental and did some larger productions. I don’t know if the words improved any, but our recordings did.

25 Go Ahead and Cry

Go ahead and cry But I’m never going to change my mind I’ve already told you before Don’t let the door hit you from behind

Go ahead and cry I’ve already said my good-byes So, you can cry your eyes Until the day you die I don’t mind

Stick a needle in the eye of every voodoo doll you spy Go ahead if it makes you feel like you’ve evened the score But I don’t think I could even smile long enough To make you think that I am happy anymore

Go ahead and cry But this bird is going to fly, fly, fly So, you might as well swallow the pain Don’t let it stain up your windowpane

Go ahead and cry Go ahead and cry, cry, cry Go ahead and cry your eyes Until the day you die I don’t mind

26 Indian Heaven

Let’s glide up to Indian Heaven I know what I want but it’s difficult to mention Maybe I can, if I only try Let’s get domestic, a little family You and me, you and me and love Sugar on the counter, sugar on the counter, sugar on the counter Honey and kisses of sound

Hear the rain, I want to sing like that Just an acorn could be an oak tree Maybe I can, if I only try Can we bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom, Blum into seasons It is not true that we only come to live here We only come to sleep, we only come to sleep, we only come to sleep And only to dream

Let us smile down at our love Looking up and all around us, we’re watching us A flame in a windless spot doesn’t ever flicker Let’s glide up to Indian Heaven Motion in motion on motion is motion of motion There’s a tendency to have tendencies Try not to think, try not to think, try not to think And only be it

27 Leave It Alone

Leave it alone

Let me tell you, yeah I want to tell you, you had better leave it alone Boy, you’re going to loose it, yeah you can’t abuse it, you had better leave it alone

When I was small there was this kid I won’t tell you what he did But he did what he did, he did In my town they bore a frown But it only wore him down So he did what he did, he did, he did, he did

My mama used to scold me, once she even told me I must be the Devil’s right hand man Boy, you best believe it, yeah you best be leaving it alone You had better leave it, leave it all alone

When I was a boy I was fed the line Told it really wasn’t fine But I did it all the time I didn’t mind it was viewed a crime After all, it was all mine So I did what I did, I did, I did, I did

28 Numb (Inspired by Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins and Spalding Gray)

Where will you be when the mothers of the heroes and the martyrs Stumble out of their mourning dresses Where will you be when the earth beneath your feet Begins to shake just like hysterical misery

The Second Coming didn’t quite come off as planned Jesus’ body found down in the Vatican A roadside zoo, a clairvoyant, and a jungle man Like some horrendous joke pulled off by God or Pan

I’m numb

Where will you be when you find out that your mother has committed suicide while you were on vacation How will you feel riding that elevator up inside that skyscraper and spit out like some common unhappiness Into the arms of some psychoanalytic couch

I do believe it’s over now

The Second Coming didn’t quite come off as planned Jesus’ body found down in the Vatican A roadside zoo, a clairvoyant, and a jungle man Like some horrendous joke pulled off by God or Pan

29 Oliver Carson

Walking, Walking through the clicks and schemes he’s on his way to his routine Walking, Walking through a painted scene of a business day with a magazine

Attends a matinee The clouds all look gray Around the sky-bound towers Holy pocket for his hand Past the Free Jesus Band And listen, listen for hours

Oliver Carson, what do you see in our smiles? We’d all like to know, how have you been?

Walking Walking like a willow tree do you know the kind, an awful lot like me?

Ah just a normal day No one here is sad No one is in pain Oliver Carson, what do you see?

Watching all the dancers and the one-night romancers Glide between a barroom’s conversation A picture of a man from the Free Jesus Band Stands above the patrons as they soak the suds

30 Satellite Boy

All they ever wanted was entertainment And cable was something they couldn’t afford Every dime of their paychecks Went for food and clothes and not much more

But it wasn’t their fault they worked hard as dogs Eighteen hours on the job they’d come home after dark and pray to God

Satellite boy, satellite boy they’re tapping into all those stations they can’t get Satellite boy, satellite boy they’ve turned their whole household into a giant TV set

So he and the wife started thinking And they did some reading on how babies are made They decided on some experimentation And I don’t have to tell you what they made

It’s a miracle man, little feet and hands I saw them at the store, and he’s a boy and so much more

Some people say, size doesn’t really matter After all, it’s only a TV is what they’ve said But they haven’t got 360 channels Beaming into their house off their child’s head

They came to the conclusion it wasn’t fair To make their child, work for free And now they’re charging their neighbors Even more than The Cable Company

But there’s a family down the street Who can’t afford the fee They’ve got some ideas of their own How to make their household into a happy home

31 Silver’s Universe

Silver threaded fireflies Two apples in her eye Like starry, starry skies in mid July

Silver’s universe

Silver painted hummingbirds On every child’s smile Like tinsel and twinkling lights on a Christmas night

Silver gathered honeybees By singing them to sleep Like rain in the springtime, rocking them awhile

32 Stoning Romeo

Juliet stands on her balcony Like she thinks she’s Hitchcock’s Madonna She tosses her flowers and candy Down on the street ‘cause she wants to prove

She don’t need anybody She don’t need me She don’t trust her libido She’s stoning Romeo

Juliet stands by a window She’s dancing but she don’t move She fingers the photographs Of every Romeo she knew

But she don’t need anybody She don’t need me She don’t feel any sorrow She’s stoning Romeo

Touching the poison to your lips, could almost be just like a kiss In spite of the fact that it’s a tragedy

She don’t need anybody She don’t need me There’s nothing she needs to borrow She’s stoning Romeo

Juliet stands on her balcony Like she thinks she’s Madonna’s Hitchcock She pretends she doesn’t see me Just down the street a block

She don’t need anybody She don’t need me She don’t need fellatio She’s stoning Romeo

33

34 The Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed

Just Plain Bill Fourth Release

It all started with a meeting at Douglas Blum’s house about the new CD and trying to decide what to do. We decided that we would like to do a project with a lot of production; however, by the end I think we probably regretted it. I wanted to do kind of a concept album with everyone contributing. I had already written the title track, so it was later decided that we would each produce a couple of tunes with a Hedonistic song and an instrumental to bookend each of our sections. This made the project into a kind of play with four acts. I then had to write the other Hedonistic songs. Ethan Moreno and Ted Clark both chose some songs that had been around awhile, and Douglas and I both wrote new songs for our sections. The whole thing took a lot of time, a lot of money, and turned into our little Sgt. Pepper. Also included at the end are two songs, “Buddha in the Bedroom” and “Domino”, from an extra release entitled Bill and his Fabulous Organ that we did for some fans.

35 Camping Incognito

I’m watching her roll her eyes back in her head Smoke can bring a flame when one decides to play with fire You can bet the farm or even sell the cow Camping incognito isn’t easy ‘less you know how She is camping incognito

I’m watching him hold his breath ‘til he turns blue now Guilt can freeze a tear if you’re not careful as a stream, creek, or brook You can farm the bet or even play the face well Camping incognito is as obvious as hell He is camping incognito

I’m watching me wash the soil from my face in the mirror now Cracks as big as ditches form like a road map on my face I’ve farmed my years on the road it’s been a long drive Camping incognito is how I’ve survived I’m camping incognito

36

Chew up My Heart

Everything is falling out of place Any hint of love has disappeared without a trace, it’s out the door You tell me you’re going to call it quits “Love of My Life” I’m not surprised a single bit by this You say we’re done; you say you’ve met someone I want to drown myself in alcohol or scratch my head with a splitting maul I could even cut your throat with a butter knife or the note that you wrote me I didn’t think if I turned around you’d poke me

Go ahead and tell me what you need Go ahead and tell me what you’re thinking of Go ahead chew up my heart Spit it back out in your sink of love

Most of what you say I don’t believe It never stops the lies keep rolling off your teeth As though you think they’re true God, how could I have ever loved you? I want a plant a plastic detonator inside of your radiator Or conceal a little bomb inside an airplane or another place you’ve gone I didn’t think it was going to last that long

I don’t want to love you; I don’t want to touch you; I don’t want to hold you; I don’t want to feel you anymore I don’t want to see you; I don’t want to hug you; I don’t want to curse you; I don’t believe you anymore I want to bite you, I want to bite you, I want to bite you I want make you bleed, but not that bad…it’s not that satisfying

37 Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed

We're looking at The Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed And The Manuals of the Chronically Addicted to Nicotine We're perusing through The Masticating Challenged Brochures With acute intensity over Innate Obesity

We're studying The Bible from a Colony of Nudists With particular attention to The Scruples of Volleyball Privacy and Sunburn Passages are explored With magnified scrutiny of The Newfangled Water Skis

We're documenting rituals of The Hedonistic Unemployed And evaluating Those Accused of Sloth and Gluttony We've synthesized Arrangements for Constructive Anorexics By observing Work Release for Those Convicted of Parking Fees We've uncovered evidence in The Writings of a Priest About Combustibility between the Mating Green-Backed Flees

We've carefully hypothesized An Accepted Metamorphosis for Change- Fearing Atheists who appreciate consistency We're counting diagrams from Manifestoes One and All We emphasize secrecy and inspect accounts received

We're alternating Concocted Revelations of the Insecure With Cornucopiatic Explanations of the Text We've mildly ignored The Self-Elected Silenteers Who’ve gathered in defense of Rights to Pee on Electric Fence With shocking accusations from a TV evangelist Whose trial had been missed by CNN and CBS

We're looking at The Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed And The Chronicles of the Manually Addicted to the Obscene We're producing Thorough Flabbergasted Challenged Brochures Without intentionality to promote monogamy Read The Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed

38 Hero

I’ve seen pictures in tabloid papers about you I’ve heard rumors in seedy motels about you

Go ahead and take my picture Go ahead and take my picture Go ahead and take my picture now

Isn’t that Bob Crane?

I’ve an authentic autographed photo of Klink I’ve been trying for years to acquire yours (Whatcha think)

When I was five or six years old I used to watch you on the television screen 5:00 to 5:30 I never liked the Brady Bunch or even Starsky and Hutch But the girl on the Mod Squad was pretty And if I asked you today, would you say you were my hero?

39 Missing In Venice

I think I'd rather be missing Missing in Venice Missing in Venice would be better than this Hang your thoughts out to dry on the line all night Dream for a while all right Missing in Venice would be bliss, yeah

There is a word between wake and sleep When you're very small and thoughts are large It almost speaks and then it twists It smells like rain but it's all but mist When you're alone in your room at night

Punches can roll by like medicine While the enormous and the well seem small And as for dreams and what they're worth Living in fear is quite a curse When you're alone in your room at night

Darkness and light can be as one thing While topsy-turvy is seen secure But words and thoughts and what they've meant Can't be the same as when they're sent When you're alone in your room at night

Missing in Venice would be all right

40 Rituals Revisited

We're on our way Yeah, here we go We're going to lose our way Yeah, we're done with the show

Take us down Take us down Take us down Let us drown in you Let us drown, yeah

In The Hedonistic Rituals In The Hedonistic Rituals In The Hedonistic Rituals In The Hedonistic Rituals Doing anything at all Doing anything that comes to mind

Light the way Light the way Light the way Let us drown in you Let us drown, yeah

Hedonistic Rituals Hedonistic Rituals Hedonistic Rituals Hedonistic Rituals

41 Sleep Away the Day

Just a little bit longer, please I want to sleep Yeah, let me be Just a little bit longer now Turn off the day Please go away

The sun is up the day’s begun - I don’t want to know Maybe this could be the one - I don’t want to know Maybe you could be like me - Sleep away the day

Just a little bit longer, yeah I’m in a dream It’s not what it seems Just a little bit longer, please Turn off the clock Don’t wake me up!

42 Unemployed and Out of Luck

Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed, Unemployed and Out of Luck Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed

We’re fumbling… Through artifacts and religious lore From when we were young to when we were old

We’re stumbling… Through pagan games for science sake And it ain’t no fun being the only ones

We’re searching for a sign of our own worth Laughing right out loud from death to birth Everything’s all right Everything’s OK Don’t you know we love you anyway?

Hedonistic Rituals Hedonistic Rituals Hedonistic Rituals of the Unemployed

We’re thinking… About self-proclaimed clairvoyance Down in New Orleans and where we got our shoes But it’s not knowing, all the tricks of being on the grift That is unnerving as the future is

43 Yum (Inspired by Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins)

Bernard Mickey Wrangle is a bomber Bernard Wrangle is a blast Bernard Wrangle is an outlaw Bernard Wrangle’s not a criminal

Bernard Mickey Wrangle loves Leigh Cheri Romantic individualistic Bernard Wrangle talks with dynamite TNT just says, “Surprise!”

I want to paint you a picture I want to weave you a tale Be my muse for a sculpture in the sand The Woodpecker says, “Yum.”

Bernard Mickey Wrangle has a black belt in haiku Bernard Wrangle knows the secret of the moon Victrola Firecracker and the Red beards Bernard Mickey’s on the lam

I’m going to build you a pyramid I found religion on a box A pack of Camels and a choice The Woodpecker says, “Yum.”

Ut Oh Spaghettio

44

Bill and His Fabulous Organ Songs

Just Plain Bill Limited Release

This was done as a weird companion piece for Hedonistic Rituals. It included instrumentals of cellos and horns from songs on Hedonistic, as well as, some other things. I wrote Buddha when Stance was pregnant with our first son, Kiefer. Domino was for a TV show in Seattle we did called The Instant Karma Coffee House.

45

Buddha in the Bedroom

Well, we’ve come a long ways today, we’re still running And the question on everyone’s tongue is have we arrived? Or are we still coming And as I look around, I still wonder If the sun’s really hidden behind the thunder Or in some secret tomb, behind the moon Like Buddha in the bedroom

Everyone, we used to know, isn’t thinking the same Is a roadside attraction and a midnight distraction the same? It’s no longer a game Like a colorful joke or the turn of a phrase I’m thinking back to those dangerous days That we once knew We were a couple of crazy fools Making love without costumes In the light of the full moon Like Buddha in the bedroom

You see me standing out on the road With a sign in my hand and my thumb in the air and I’m looking to go home But it can’t be too soon When she’s playing her favorite tune And the local goon Stumbles into the room But he’s going to meet his doom With the Buddha in the bedroom

Well we’ve come a long ways today…we’re still running

46 DOMINO

Shadows tiptoe on my cheek Through the microscope you see Subtle imperfections Calculated without direction The worried stage crew's a fiction, airy column That topples Domino

Gingerly constructed syllables Precarious and miserable Statuesque intentions Angelic guardians or apparitions Sincerity as sass in eight straight lines That topples Domino

There's an old dirt road Where the two would often meet And stand beneath the trees Hand in hand, hand in hand Boy, girl He fumbles for a button on her shirt And brushes out the wrinkle on her skirt And they lay down Domino

Masks you lend to friends you see Walk on eggs, seems a family tree Phobias die A ghost sees Neurotic worries hidden beneath Walls of your home owes actual tendencies Topple Domino

47

48

Ink Block Fingerprint

Just Plain Patrick

I began this series of songs as a demo for a new recording project with Just Plain Bill and it just kind of turned into a solo project. I had some help with some instruments, mostly drums, but the rest was just me. I really enjoyed the experience and like the songs, but I’ve always been kind of disappointed that I have only played the songs acoustically at open-mics and not with a band. The songs were kind of meant to be played louder.

49 Come (Kurdt)

I’m feeling sick to my stomach I’ve got a hole in my heart I’m just pretending How do you like it so far?

I’ve got a hole in my stomach I’m feeling sick to my heart I’m all through pretending You can come as you are

Here’s a surprise Here’s a surprise Here’s a surprise Here’s a surprise Here’s a surprise Here’s a surprise

I’ve got a hole in my stomach I’m feeling sick to my heart I’m all through pretending You can come as you are

50 Fiend

At the foot of her bed, there’s a cemetery Of lovers she’s had, including me She’s a tattooed fiend in stilettos She’ll occasionally wear you like a worn out fad Taking everything thing you’ve ever had She’s tattooed in stilettos With the arrow of Cupid hidden in her sleeve as a crutch She’ll bait you and coax you until she has you in her clutch If gold were heartbreak then she’d have the Midas touch Yeah, she’s the Devil at heart

I know and you know she’s just an imposter With eyes of a killer-diller, heart of a mobster She’s a broken down flat tire a road hazard vampire I know and you know it’s time she retired She’s a fiend

She makes you feel you’re the only one Then burns you like the noonday sun She’s a tattooed fiend in stilettos She’ll casually wager you as a bet Then smoke you like a home rolled cigarette She’s tattooed in stilettos She makes you think, you should feel that in fact you’re blessed While she wields her green thumb in her garden of unhappiness And with each passing day she grows a brand new mess Yeah, she’s the Devil at heart The Devil at heart, The Devil at heart, The Devil at heart

She purrs while she’s perched like a kitten upon your lap She’s playful and loving until she turns into a wildcat And while you pour her milk she’s busy stabbing you in the back Yeah, she’s the Devil at heart

51 Hey, Al

Hey, Al won’t you be my pal? Won’t you be my ink block fingerprint? Hey, Al time capsule Help me see through the glare and tint That’s fogging up my high

Hey, Al won’t you be my pal? Won’t you be my light bulb fingertip? Hey, Al you’re my pal Bang on the ear with a two can lip I want to watch you fly

And if you fall, and if you fall then I’ll be there And if you fall, and if you fall then I’ll be there And if you fall, and if you fall, and if you fall Then I’ll be there

Hey, Al won’t you be my gal? Won’t you be my flashbulb photograph? Hey, Al time capsule You can bury me but don’t bury my laugh I want to share a smile

And if you fall, and if you fall, and if you fall Then I’ll be there

52 How You’ll Know I’m Gone

How you’ll know I’m gone… There’ll be a silence in the air And every time you think to venture near the sink Nothing will be there So, you step outside, but you won’t catch me in that lie again ‘Cause all those cigarette butts I used to hide Have been swept away long ago But I guess that you would know that I’m gone Now the bed won’t seem so small and every time you reach Across the sheets you won’t feel any heat from me

And at 2:00 a.m. you won’t hear me breathing Shake yourself awake fumble lamped But you won’t see my tumbled hair lying there sleeping next to you That’s how you’ll know I’m gone…

How you’ll know I’m gone… You won’t hear me sing along when you sing that song The one we used to play now I’m 100,000 miles away You’ll think you left something home But every time you check all you find’s that empty pocket In the jacket that I left behind…but I don’t mind So you play that song again And you think you may have found Something in the sound that made me smile and maybe stick around

Kind of crazy now, yeah something’s missing Flashbulb red surprise, snapshot eyes Your won’t see my smiling face in that place standing next to you That’s how you’ll know I’m gone…

53 It’s Not Easy

Sometimes I’m thinking that you think I understand you That’s just my look to make you smile, yes it is I’d love to lie here rolling in the grass But I’ll be out all night, so don’t wait up Yeah, I know I’m not easy, that’s what you’ve said

I know you don’t appreciate my friends Digging in your dirt at 3 AM Wake up honey and fix something to eat for them But you just say, speak don’t grin Yeah, I know they’re not easy, that’s what you’ve said

It’s not easy It’s not easy

Starlit slumber underneath all of the covers You sleepy-talk over and over I hear your heartbeat breathing against your dreams You know that I can’t sleep ‘til I’ve woke you up Yeah, I know it’s not easy with me in your bed Yeah, I know it ain’t easy It can’t be easy with me in your bed

Sunrise tickling, as you stumble from the sheets Outside your robe slips off your knee I feel your skin, stretching out beneath the paper And we just sit and take it in Yeah, I know I’m not easy, that’s what you’ve said Yeah, I know they’re not easy, they’re just my friends Yeah, I know it’s not easy with me in your bed

I just want to lie my head down in your lap

54 Mardi Gras

You say, let’s all go to Mardi Gras this year You say, we can wear our hats of straw and drink beer Then you put on your face Then I see your eyes are raised Then you make me feel like we’re worlds apart Yes, I know you know what I want Yes, I know you know what I need Yes, I know, that you know me

You say, why don’t we decorate our love this year You say, not like a Christmas tree, but a New Year Yes, I know you know what I want Yes, I know you know what I need Yes, I know that you know me

Nothing is as static as the day by day No one comes around here much to stop and talk Or to stay in touch They just get in their cars and they drive

You say let’s all go to Mardi Gras this year You say give us a smile and wipe away the tear Then you put on the face Then I see your eyes are raised Then you make me feel like I’m on this drive alone

55 Punk Rock Band

I know a girl who’s going to start a punk rock band So she can make up songs about her old man She’s not going to sing any happy words None of that Paul McCartney stuff She’s going bitch, and moan and gripe And tell you how her life’s been tough In a punk rock band

I know a girl playing in a punk rock band She says it’s the artist thing to do She doesn’t sing any happy words She says to love you’ve got to hate She’s only 19 and she don’t care That she’s 25 years late… She’s in a punk rock band

Tell me how it makes you feel when I make you bleed Go ahead and take the kids and leave ‘Cause I know you think I’m just full of shit But I don’t care a bit, because I’m sick of this Just like 1976

I know I’ve said it all before That I wouldn’t hit you anymore But I can’t tell you where I’ve been Jesus, don’t start crying again

I’ve got half a mind to shout out loud I’ve got half a mind to bust you in the mouth

56 RUN AROUND

Another Saturday night She asks me, “Hey, what you want to do?” She says, “Tell me it’ll be all right to step outside these walls tonight. We could even see some lights or maybe see a show.”

She says, “Maybe a change of scenery Is all that we both really need To evaporate these blues that we Are feeling deep inside Tell me it’s all right”

Come on let’s get ourselves a car Let’s paint our eyes up until they’re very, very dark And run around all over town And run around And run around all over this town And run around until we’re run out of town Run out of town

I tell her, “I don’t think I have the strength, To be that crazy again I don’t think that I have the fight to step outside these walls tonight I don’t have the fight To even see a show”

57 Sacramento

I’m coming home from California Though I hardly know the way 13 days in Sacramento And I’m never going back again I’m never going back to… Sacramento, Sacramento, yeah Sacramento, yeah, yeah, yeah You’ll never drag me back to Sacramento

Sunshine’s dancing through the curtains Sleepy dream-lash on her cheek I could stare for hours at her suntanned breast And she’d just sleep

Sun-beach girls at the ocean Hung above Naugahyde, Cassatt 13 days in Sacramento And I still don’t know what I want

I’m finally through believing Because it’s breaking my heart and it’s truly genuine I’m going to give up grieving Because it’s bringing me down like I’m tangled up in twine I’m feeling so much older And I keep on thinking that I’ve finally found what is surely mine It’s truly genuine I want you to know And it’s truly genuine

58 Shakin’

I’m shakin’ for you Just like a leaf High in a tree

I’m shakin’ for you Just like bug Crawling on me

I know what you want from me right now I know what you want I know what you want from me right Now…Now…Now… I know what you want from me right now

I’m shakin’ for you

Just like voodoo

That’s what you do to me

You make me dream You make me dream You make me dream You make me dream You make me dream

59 Someday Lonely

Black box, Betsy Ross, eyes crossed, jingoistic That’s right snakebite, jack-knife, egotistically Hey honey, I still don’t want you to leave

Someday lonely Someday lonely you will be Someday lonely you will be, yeah, but not me

House-mud, horse-blood, pick an allergy So close, adios, court-ordered policy Hey honey, limited proximity

When you’re feeling all alone and down Think of me, because I won’t be But there’s nothing I could say to you To help you feel like I do

Landslide, sledge ride, blood dried on the side of the road now Hitchcock, let’s rock, can’t knock what’s head to toe now Hey honey, I’m sorry to see you go

60 Summer’s Here

Summer’s here Summer’s here again and they’re happy Happy and enthusiastic Wrap their faces up in plastic And kick off their shoes Like some hipster druids That’s what they do

Summer’s here Summer’s here at last, fantastic And nothing ever seems to spin her Who’s got time to gather for winter? When there’s so much fun Lying in the sun What else needs to be done?

And when the summer’s down and closed It always brings a frown to those And if they see a flower buried in the snow They have to pick it, Ah

Summer’s here Summer’s here again and I’m happy Happy as a clam in chowder Could I say it any louder? Isn’t it just swell? I’m on the road to Wellsville Can’t you even tell?

Summer’s here Summer’s here again and they’re happy Happy they don’t need their Prozac Making up for what their life lacks Kicking off their shoes Like some hipster druids That’s what they do And you can do it too

61 Yesterday’s Shirt

Yeah, you want me to say That everything’s OK And everything is fine But I want you to know That everything is going sour in this wine

When the good’s all but gone and the bad lingers on Well it’s hard to believe it’s getting worse... it’s getting worse

You make me feel like I’m yesterday’s shirt Thrown in the corner with the rest of your dirt You make me see its more work than it’s worth And you treat me like shit or worse

I don’t want you anymore Come knocking on my door But no one will be home You have wasted all your time When you find your peace of mind I hope you like it all alone

62 Genuine

Go ahead take off all your clothes You can show me your birthmarks and painted toes Because this is truly genuine I want you to know It’s truly genuine

Go ahead and show me that tattoo No one knows you have except for me and you And maybe I’ll make love to you

63 Sister Bitter (Only part of this was used)

Hey, I can you sitting there Twisting your pepper speckled hair around your bleeding nail-bit fingertips And, all your cigarettes have spilt Off the table to your lap from an ashtray filled to the hilt While, all your roses droop and wilt around your feet

Maybe you could use a taste of alcohol like me Why don’t we give it up and get some caffeine and nicotine Maybe you could let your sparsely teeth ring free Oh Sister Bitter please Oh Sister Bitter please let me be Let me be

Hey, so your family’s got you down And yet you’re the only one left in this town who feels your blistered cowgirl boots don’t stink So, while you’re sitting there Trying to block out all the glare of Sunday morning’s kiss to you Try to remember why we have to braid your peppered hair

Rain, rain, rain is always falling on your block Rain, rain, rain is always falling on your block Rain, rain, rain is always falling on your block It’s coming down, down, down

64

Some More

Here are a bunch of others that I had around or found in the bottom of boxes in a bunch of notebooks. No, Ted, I didn’t include such classics as Teenage Victim, Let Me Show You My Love, Holes in the City, Fool’s Parade, or Gimme, Gimme. I had a good time laughing at the hundreds of lyrics, but these are the only ones I could half stomach to include.

65 A Little Bit of God

She and her sister live on the road Leave some bills on the table and they’ll do what they’re told They’ve met a lot of people and served a lot of tastes With two hearts to love you joined at the waist

They’re genuinely amused at you stories And they’ll intently listen to your truths You can come for the loving You can pay what it is worth With four arms to hold you And two legs around you And a waist that’s been fused since their birth

There’s a little bit of God in everyone of us A little bit of God in the air There’s a little bit of God in everyone you know A little bit of God everywhere

Their parents were eccentric which wasn’t hard to tell They’d baptized her Gabri and her sister as Elle They met him on the lam, he’d murdered a man Gabri loved the outlaw and Elle loved his Tan

They decided to be faithful and unplug their light Because monogamy is special and they’d heard it was right But, two equals company And three is a crowd And jealousy can be suicide When your sister’s at you side But neither would speak it out loud

They tried to explain it but he never understood That if they couldn’t have him then nobody would So Elle kept a lookout And Gabri did the chore They bid their good-byes Like a cow swatting flies And he’s playing This is Your Life with the Lord

66 Abuela

Abuela flies high above me I watch as her skirt glides like a sail I’m on the grass looking up at her Wishing I could fly

Abuela take me away from here Abuela let me fly with you

Watching the earth descend beneath me As I’m floating up over the city Abuela points at faces below us Looking up they smile and wave

Abuela take us away from here Abuela let us fly with you

Over the harbor Out past Liberty And back over the city Back over the city We fly

Abuela smiles and looking around me then I see I’m in the park again feet on the ground

67 American PLN

He looks out of his tinted glasses on his world down below Everything seems to happen just the way he wants it to go Work at seven, lunch at noon, he’s eating dinner tonight at six Scheduled conference, a big balloon, it ain’t nothing he can’t fix

All my life, all this time Where have you been? American PLN

Taps his finger, pulls at a ring, I’ll meet you at the dock 8, 1, 5 Calls his wife, dials up his mistress, I don’t know when I’ll arrive See the headlights, walk in the shadows, talking in secrets, talking in code See the headlines and dirty laundry, things no one’s supposed to know

Feel my handshake, see my smile, kiss a baby, and ride on a float Pocket money under the table, I’ll do anything to get your vote Sex and cash flow makes your rep. grow, aren’t you jumping the gun She’s only fifteen, maybe sixteen, and she’s having your son What will the wife say, what will the press say, you’d better slap your hand Jump in the water and dunk your head down, we’ve got to save this man Back at the office, it’s in shambles; it seems there is a leak to fear Hold your horses, zip up you heater or you’ll be out on your ear

Up at the White House they’re feeling tension, get on the horn, call the press It’s not my fault and I’m sad to mention, we’ve got one hell of a mess Once or twice now, I’ve seen it happen, but I’m sure that we’ll pull through Ask what you can do for your country, not what your country can do for you

68 An Image of the Badlands

A sacrifice like that could never be rewarded And it surprised me that she did it Since she’d always seemed kind of selfish and guarded She left him sitting there with those twinkling lights around him He just shut his eyes for fear that his demons had finally found him But she smiled as she went knowing what he’d spent wasn’t wasted On illusions of happiness and dreams Or 15 years and a lampshade painted green Just a rerun of Hee-Haw on the TV Playing softly in the background the way he thought it ought to be And an image of the Badlands no one else could see

There’s a television show where someone just sits and thinks I was watching as the light from across the room Danced with the ice cubes in my drink Some girls in the room next to mine played Hide-and-Seek I could hear them with some cards and a voodoo chicken beak She knocked upon my door and asked if she could enter On the pretense that she wouldn’t have to speak So we smoked and drank ‘til the night became a week Then she surprised me with a smirk and her mystique, which was completely ordinary and yet, utterly unique But an image of the Badlands haunted her in her sleep

They drove through the desert in a ’66 Studebaker Her hair was blowing around her dress And he sat there looking just like an undertaker A vision up ahead looked like Heaven’s gates were open They both new they were dead but not a word was spoken So they drove on through the night with the frightful look of fugitives She sang along to the static on the radio He thought she sounded like an angel when she hit that sweet falsetto When he tired they pulled over near a depot Then they slept until the sunlight began to stir and glow So they got back on the highway towards San Francisco With his nasty habit whispering and her patience running low And an image of the Badlands they were trying to let go

69

I was working at Desdemona’s when they coasted in on fumes They thought that they could hustle up a game So they might afford to keep on the move He introduced himself and told me that her name was Meagan They’d been driving ten days long and two days since they had eaten So, I bought them each some pie before I hired her to waitress For sixty bucks a night and a room above the bar And a window looking out on the boulevard She worked the tables and sometimes he would play guitar, which Afforded him some candy to smother out the tart And an image of the Badlands he couldn’t disregard

A monkey short of green isn’t welcome on the street And it wasn’t long it seemed before the dogs Came sniffing around to blow what he thought was discreet Those girls in the room next to me overheard the plan A single week of pay would buy a ticket to the Badlands Like a red-haired, cavalry colonel trying to make a final stand She gave him what he needed for the trip And sealed it all with a smile and a kiss Then she sat awhile in the twinkling and the bliss With the sunset of the boulevard creeping through the curtain slit And an image of the Badlands she took as she went

70 Christmas Falling In

Everywhere I look it seems like Christmas falling in, falling in Everywhere I go it seems like Christmas falling in, falling in

Maybe you’ve heard it’s going to snow Because Christmas time is here Christmas time is here again Yes, Christmas time is falling in again

Everything I hear sounds like Christmas falling in, falling in Everyone I know asks me if Christmas is falling in, falling in

I know what you want for Christmas this year And maybe if you’re nice to me, we’ll see

71 Chum

Hey friend it seems like a long time since I’ve seen you smile Say friend, how have you been? Now I’ve seen a look in your eye I’ve not seen before And it’s got me worried, more worried than I’ve been before So don’t start leaving ‘cause there’s something I want to say

If hell is our doom or heaven’s our end Where ever we’re at we’ll always be friends Because I’m part of you and you are part of me Whether it’s hell or heaven we’re supposed to be

Two of us like letters in a box, being mailed on the same day Two different places we’re destined to be Now that doesn’t mean I don’t know where you’re bound to be And that don’t mean honey that you won’t stumble into me Cause we’re two letters from the same pen and the same hand

I’d follow you to heaven I’d follow you to hell Which will it be? You say it’s too hard to tell I might meet the Devil you say I might meet God Looks like Lenny Bruce smoking stogies on a rock I could break every rule that has ever been stone But what does it matter if I’m left here alone I could curse everybody I’ve known in my life From my family and friends to my sons and my wife Cause life is a cancer it’s vicious and vile And the only hope you’ve got is to die wearing a smile

72 Could This Really Be Christmas?

Someone said it was Christmas They sang Joy to the World I was walking through smiles and faces of gold But I stared at my shoes As I walked through the crowd in a line Being sure not to look anyone in the eye And a woman beside me with three kids on her arm Just smiled and whispered and said, “I know that it’s hard.”

Could this really be Christmas? When I don’t feel a thing in my heart Please tell me it’s Christmas Because I think I forgot

Two lovers on a bench They didn’t see me staring I was a ghost except for what I was wearing And an old man in the crowd Looking to care Was brushed by a woman who didn’t know he was there I looked down at a girl with tears in her eyes She just studied my face and slipped her hand in mine

I could wrap up the petals Of a flower I found in the snow Or maybe a stanza of poem That I found and I stole Here is a bottle of sand that I gathered from a beach Where I carved out your name in the surf and it washed away

Through a pattern of faces I saw her features clear She was staring through me like I was a mirror And then like the lights Of a hundred Christmas trees Her face brightened when she recognized me She walked up to me with her arms spread apart And she hugged me so tight that my heart nearly stopped

73 The Council for the Riverview Collectibles Boutique

She sets on a bench by the flowerpots In front of the pharmacy in town She holds her head in her hands like a ball She’s crying out loud Her lover calls her stupid little… And her mother sits across the street in a tavern called the Key People walk by and they feel for her But they don’t understand her needs

And The Council for the Riverview Collectibles Boutique They just shake their heads

She shows up at her lover’s house In a 3-piece suit with a sock rolled up in her crotch Screams his name at the top of her lungs And asks, “Is this what you want?”

No one really remembers if it was August or September When she walked out of town Now there’s another stupid little… Sitting on that pharmacy bench

74 Deviant Angel

Are you laughing at me now? I put the poison to my mouth And I opened up wide And I took it deep inside of me You’re a blood-red clay In the pores of my skin There’s no washing you away After you’ve played you’re stained with the sin

You’re a deviant angel Black birds lifting from the reeds at red sunlight You’re both my heaven and my hell I’m walking high on a wire without a net Yeah, OO- dance like the devil’s melody Yeah, OO-wrap, wrap yourself up in harmony You’re my deviant angel

Is that you in my dreams? Making me afraid to sleep I wake; I wake in the middle of the night And I scream Like a small, small child Afraid of the dark I look down at my hands, at the palms of my hands In the pale light of my room and there you are

75 Don’t Lam Do

Got face up past his eyebrows Fat man slide the bubble foam Talking like a gissy and looking like a troubadour Blowing stack and cherry pop Reading digits like a stigid Man, he’s got it jumping in a pump

He’s got a system like the flying blue He’s got a system and his eye is on you He’s got a system, through and through

Grow high, cut off the hop Cart full overheating the bills Green fuzzy wuzzy got to wait ‘till tomorrow Drop pit, leaking like a sieve Ascasat, it’s dripping sandstone And the sun is bringing on the drip

By-pass raking on the chalkboard Breakdown dripping on the way Eight to five like the end of Scrussy Write a letter and earn more sessions by sleaving Float, “write-up” and sign on the dotted line Peach fold, fingertip depression Deadbeat, flies on the log Five alive leaving the sinking ship

76 Flavor of the Month

Hey, have you heard the flash about the flavor of the month Everyone wishes they had that, the flavor of the month Wouldn’t it be swell, to be the flavor of the month? Would you sell your soul to hell to be the flavor of the month?

Everything would be sweet as apple pie It’s like an anecdote for sinking boats with stormy skies Difficult heartthrob with angst ridden, sun burnt eyes Flashbulbs and big smiles swarming just like barnyard flies Flavor of the month

Hey, have you heard our hit, we’re the flavor of the month Our stink don’t shit because we’re the flavor of the month Would you like to lick the flavor of the month? Can you find this balloon’s prick? We’re the flavor of the month

Everybody thinks they can do it too But thirty-one flavors won’t do, because we’ve got thirty-two Shangri-La queen with the kerosene and guillotine Heart pumping, blood stream, just like an amphetamine Just like an amphetamine Just like an amphetamine

Hey, I just heard the news; you’re the flavor of the month Can you suffer the abuse of the flavor of the month? So is it really swell, to be the flavor of the month? Looks like you’re going straight to hell as the flavor of the month

Junkyard dogs are always biting at your tires Telling jokes with Pilate in the bowels of the Roman Empire Backstabbing, polished smiles, like cold-war spies Cardiac victim of the undead at sunrise Flavor of the month

77 Ghost of a Smile

It looks like a long road I’m gonna drive tonight With no one for company except for my own mind But I’ve got my eye out for you tonight But I don’t know why

I guess I just miss your ghost of a smile I’d love to see your ghost of a smile Where is that ghost of a smile?

Stars look like silver on the window I hear Marvin Gaye on the radio Mother, mother, mother, what’s going on tonight I don’t know why

I guess I just miss your ghost of a smile I’d love to see your ghost of a smile Where is that ghost of a smile?

78 Give It Up

Why don’t you just give it up? Stop Because you’re never gonna to win Back up, bet away and stay out of my face Don’t you know that you’re never gonna change my mind Never gonna change my mind No, no, no, no, never, never

Why don’t you just give it up? Stop You’re just wasting my time I’ve got my skin in the suds and my feet on the wall I’ve read smarter things in the bathroom stall

But your lips keep moving like a girl in a show And my ears are hearing static on the radio Have you ever heard things are seldom what they seem? So, just give it up, I’m not joining your team Never going to join your team No, no, no, no, never, never

I don’t want to talk about the government I don’t want to talk about who’s right or wrong I don’t want to talk about the church

Why must it be that we’re right or wrong? We can’t get along It isn’t any use It isn’t any use

79 Happy

I wonder what’s been eating at your heart And bringing you down Because there’s music all around you now But you don’t hear the sound. No, you don’t hear the sound Do I really need to help you be? Do I really need to help you be? Happy

There’s a fantastic sunrise but all I hear you say is Sleeping in would have been so great And there’s a half a million dreams falling on your face And all you say is how you wish you were awake You wish you were awake Do I really need to help you see? Do I really need to help you be? Do I really need to help you be? Happy, Happy, Happy Happy, Happy, Happy

Dismantle the sun and pack up the moon And shutter all the windows in your room Now open up your eyes and see Do I really need to help you be? Do I really need to help you?

Believe in God again. Believe in God again. Believe. Believe in God again. Believe in God again. Believe. Do I really need to help you be happy?

80 Have You Seen the Light?

He painted the fence Painted it red Took off his clothes And danced with the dead

Have you seen the light? (I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it)

That’s beautiful man (That’s what she said) Like bread and honey (That’s what she said) Can you make it sound? (That’s what she said) Just like money (That’s what she said)

He tore down the fence Lit it on fire Sometimes at night You can still see the fire

I can’t forgive (That’s what she said) I must confess (That’s what she said) A hundred years (That’s what she said) Of psychoanalysis (That’s what she said)

81 House of Amusement #2

If your eyes are heavy and your mind is weak If your eyes are heavy, maybe it’s time to sleep

If your eyes are heavy and your mind is weak If your eyes are heavy, maybe it’s time to sleep Maybe it’s time to sleep Maybe it’s time to sleep

Within your house of amusement There are a hundred bluesmen Come on and pitch them a coin for their trouble Chinese girls inside of a cage Smoking cigars between their legs Sometimes it’s enough to pop your bubble

Close your eyes Put on your disguise And forget about the warden for awhile For awhile For awhile

82 Inventing How to Smile

I’ve not always love you But at times it seems like that I know you’d probably laugh and say Hey, hey that’s not where it’s at Yeah, have you ever heard the vibrating irony of laughter?

Hello Mr. Wilson

Inventing how to smile

Well, I’ve been in this town so very long When I shut my eyes I can almost see the seaside Rock, rock, Plymouth Rock roll over

Hello Mr. Wilson

Inventing how to smile

Waking up this morning It was though I weren’t in my room I could be floating on the ocean Staring straight into the eyes of god

Hello Mr. Wilson

Inventing how to smile

83 Jerusalem

I see what it is you want to hear It’s far from being what I want to tell I feel… that you think I know what I’m talking makes sense But I’ve compro-curvemised inside out And Descartes’ grave smells like a rutting goat god Jerusalem I washed the scent of Pan from my belly to my toes And I fear though I’ve tried it won’t let loose of my clothes I hear… the ocean’s dying, the trees can’t breathe It’s a pointy future glaring at us and them And you are the stitches in the loin cloth of a jungle man Ah, yes, Jerusalem

At the riverside you’ll feel the water rushing from you The riverside is as close to a religion that I believe I love… the crests that cash against my side I can feel the love growing in me And that Grillparzer of a nuke plant is just a sliver beneath my nail

The king of men and the mice of kings are singing to the rain And the street dwarfs perform taxidermy on a television screen I hear… they’ve got LBJ stored in zip-lock bags In a Dallas freezer behind a bank They’ve got Reagan’s jizz in Styrofoam at the Actor’s Guild of Moslems And if they rape the pro-lifers with a test tube You can bet your ass they won’t abort the kid They’ll say it’s a miracle sent from God above, like Mary in Jerusalem

84 Jesus

They say Jesus sleeps behind the drugstore in a box And when the night is cold he spends it in detox He works the early morning shift sweeping up the docks Because no one here understands the way he talks

They say Jesus makes fifty bucks a week He might as well be working there for free And when he walks in the store he can’t buy any food to eat It’s just the town’s way of asking him to leave

Jesus, can’t you see, we don’t even want to know you We’re a town of big horizons and we’re proud Jesus, don’t you see, this ain’t Kalamazoo And everybody knows Yeah, everybody know Strangers aren’t aloud Because you ain’t south of the border now

They Jesus was arrested some days ago For a law or a rule, it was something he didn’t know And when they read him his rights it was like reading to a shadow So they put him on a bus and sent him back to Mexico

85 Just Us Two

We’re on our way up the road here we go Just us two, just me and you It sure is strange looking back on all those days To times we knew just me and you

And if we could fly just like the angels by the sea I’d still love you Would you still love me?

We’re on our way down the road it sure seems fast Man, we flew, just us two And if we knew then what we think we know right now Would there still be glue? Between me and you

And if we were highway signs on a road me west, you east I’d still love you Would you still love me?

Were on our way on a road that’s flat as plain But we won’t get blue, just us two And if we could see up the road around the bend How would we do, just me and you

And we are two single separate branches of the same tree I still love you Do you still love me?

86 Last Man on Earth

Hey, hey, hey won’t you stay with me now We can watch the sunrise. It’ll be OK, even if the sun should turn to clouds And rain down in our eyes

I can tell by that wrinkled brow That you think I, think I’ve lost my head and I’m out of my tree You can hold your breath until you turn red But stranger than the change I’ve seen is why it is you won’t talk to me

What do you want from me? I’m the last man on Earth What do you want from me? I’m the last man on Earth who could set you free

Hey, hey, hey so you say I’ve completely Lost my mind But you’ve turned gray; don’t let your life slip away And turn old before your time

If I were Edison or Bell or even Sherlock Holmes Would you pass it off being out of my tree? If I were Hemingway, or Mills, or Poe, or Woolf, or Pig, or Ridinghood Being out of my tree You can hold a thorn until you bleed But stranger than the change I’ve seen is why it is you won’t talk to me

Free, free, I want to set you free

Hey, hey, hey what are you saying to me now? Are you going away or is that old rainstorm coming down, coming down on you?

87

Lost in the Occident

It was as though we needed to hide They were singing songs unknown to us They were birds in flight Fingerprint file, plastic language Eyes that poke and prod into our hearts We see the birds

A western wind can leave you bent When you’re an easterner lost in the occident

A desert of waves has no oasis Only horses that leave you stranded Watch the birds fly

Take a breath young on and hold it in your chest Close your eyes to the rest Keep a kiss near your breast And fly Fly like flight itself

88 M.T. Mind

You were standing in the shadows in a scene from July You were playing in the moonlight and I was trying to die Peeking through the doors, I’m on the inside of your mind And you better beware if you see me there I’m crucified

Let me dance off the walls of your M.T. mind Play all night by the clock that spills time Sweating in the garden of the holy crime I’ll be dancing off the walls if you don’t mind

Candles dim the evening, pictures fall to the floor I’m talking to the walls as I’m melting through the door One thing we done, one place we haven’t gone Maybe I’m right or maybe I’m wrong

I know a place where we can go and get high I know a place where we can go and get high Give me another cigarette and I’ll be able to fly You were standing in the shadows in a scene from July

89 Man without a Question (1986’s Importance of Being Earnest)

It was a foggy morning in a southwest town Of a northern state that rested by the river The man without a question standing blindly on the corner Of a walk that glided through declining commerce It was an upset, down bet, get your feet wet In the new occupation of unemployment And the patrons, citizens, and supermarket matrons Began to gather for Maundy Thursday From over the top came a kiss from within And the banging of drums had begun The breath of a question in the shape of a phallus Was a sign to run, was a sign to run, was a sign to run for your dungeon

This is a day to hold your lover and tell her that you love her Then kiss her like the days of your youth This is day to hold your lover all day long under the covers And try with all your might to kiss away the truth

A posse from the west was dressed in their best Attire for a conference with the powers that be The man without a question sitting blindly in the corner Of a bunker beneath the bakery There was no one to blame, for the damn shame Table game, fun for players five to sixty-four It was a solitaire, double-dare, that created a tri-stare On the faces of the community Watch out for the knockout, prize-fight, fallout Déjà vu, what do you do in a downfall? Hear the cannons of the “1812” in the background Offbeat from the water, offbeat from the water, Offbeat from the water running down the wall

This is a day to hold your lover and tell her that you love her Then kiss her like the days of your youth This is a day to write a letter, instead of follow the leader Or maybe seek residence somewhere like the moon

90 A question was raised which asked, “Who is afraid Of an itsy, bitsy dash of plutonium to guard The man without a question staring blindly to the corner Where his portable guru sang a rap song It’s too sad to mention that our real intention With the invention is strictly top secret But everything is ok, today, and if it weren’t anyway It would be too late to sound the gong Give that man a remote to change everything he knows And forget about reactions to a cause Give a man a button of responsibility To take away, to take away, to take away the mid-life blahs

From over the top came a quest from within And the testing of blood had begun The man without a question tuned into a prophet Is a slice of pie, a piece of cake, a bit of pastry from the blue, white, and red

91 Maybe it is Christmas

Maybe it is Christmas in New York City Maybe it is Christmas in my hometown Maybe it is Christmas, honey, all around the world But it sure don’t feel much like Christmas… to me…when you’re not around

Maybe I could be your Santa Claus I want to be big, and fat, and round I could wear that big, red suit so you could give me crap And maybe you’ll sit on my lap But it sure don’t feel much like Christmas… to me…when you’re not around

Do you think they have Christmas in Japan? Do you think there is snow falling on the ground? Maybe it is Christmas, honey, all around the world But it sure don’t feel much like Christmas But it sure don’t feel much like Christmas But it sure don’t feel much like Christmas… to me…because you’re not around

92 Missed the Sign

You might remember who I used to be But that was a long time ago You might remember something I used to say But I don’t really think so And when I look into your eyes I can see you are surprised by this It seems so queer that we’re all stuck behind some crazy mirror That broke when we were kids

If you’re looking back and things don’t seem the same Just remember that that was yesterday If you’re looking back and things are looking strange You probably missed the sign and now you’ve boarded the wrong train

I haven’t seen you lately down here on the street Guess you’re still looking for your part Perhaps you’re thinking that you’ve got it beat Hope you don’t forget who your friends are And when I look into your eyes I can see the disguise you wear It’s Déjà vu and all the things you do Wouldn’t let you think your childhood was anything but shit And you don’t care a bit

How’s it feel to wake up ten years down the road? And everything you thought you had has now been sold To a scrapheap pile or the garden of lost souls If I was the schizophrenic suicidal type…who knows?

You’re about to ask me, “What the hell I mean by this?” And you’re not amused, I can see But if you’d been able to read between the lines It wouldn’t have had to have been explained by me No, it wouldn’t have had to have been explained at all When I look into your eyes All I can see are the lies you tell I want to litigate an appeal to demonstrate how I feel

93 No Thank You

Hey friend can I borrow some time And I’ll tell you what’s been on my mind And if I can’t make you see Perhaps you could donate some money To me, me and the lord

You see I think I’ve found a way To make everything I do OK With one minor exception There’s only one candidate for reelection

I said How much is room in heaven going for these days? As much as you’re willing to give is all he had to say

No thank you! You should meet your maker Be just like Tammy Baker And Jim doesn’t have it all that bad

Hey friend I don’t think I’ll buy today He said, “Let me read to you if I may. You see when you die you’re not really dead But a wise guy like you is going to hell instead.”

I said, “Wait a minute.” How much is room in heaven going for these days? And how much does Jesus make at an hourly wage?

No thank you! You should meet your maker Be just like Tammy Baker And Jim doesn’t have it all that bad

94 One Voice

One voice calls out in the distance One voice a cry of resistance One voice trumpet to participate One voice is two, is three, is five, is eight

One voice as gentle as the autumn breeze One voice blowing leaves from the trees One voice a million ears will congregate One voice is two, is three, is five, is eight

One voice, a hundred helpless souls in pain One voice will wash away the dirty stain One voice a wave upon the shore One voice is thirteen, twenty-one, thirty-four

Hear it ring out like a shot in the dark Hear it ring out the arrow hits the mark Hear it ring out

One voice, a harmony not quite complete One voice, a melody that must compete One voice could be yours, it could be mine One voice, fifty-five and eighty-nine

Let it ring out there is no time to wait Let it ring out is two, is three, is five, is eight Hear it ring out, try to make them see One hundred forty-three Million people crying for a change

95 Pictures at Christmas

Here comes the season falling in like snow But I don’t go out now, in the cold, I just stay home And I appliqué photographs to the pages of my picture book I turn through pictures at Christmas all day long Fa, la, la, la, la, how I remember Oh God, how I remember them all Pictures at Christmas smile Pictures at Christmas

Snapshots of Raymond and Sophie holding hands All of their youth had faded away before I was born And by the pictures of 1978 Raymond had disappeared Pictures at Christmas can make us miss someone Fa, la, la, la, la, how I remember Oh God, how I remember them all Pictures at Christmas smile Pictures at Christmas

There’s snow in the treetops as the light begins to fade Raymond and Sophie holding hands on a Christmas Day And I appliqué the photograph to the page in my picture book I turn through pictures at Christmas all day long Fa, la, la, la, la, how I remember Oh God, how I remember them all Pictures at Christmas smile Pictures at Christmas

96 Set You Free

When the rain comes down and puts a chill inside your skin And your soul feels like it’s been run over Pull on your boots, button your coat and slip on down the road Because there’s not a single face in these concrete walls That will set you free, set you free, set you free

I heard that you left town and you’re never coming back I heard you met your fate down by the railroad track We could mourn you, we could martyr you, we could say a prayer But there’s not a single word on these concrete walls That will set you free, set you free, set you free

I just called to say hello And ask you how you’ve been And I was wondering have you heard the news And are you going to say goodbye to a friend

97 Shadows

Here comes the morning around the corner And you haven’t even opened up your eyes Six o’clock in the morning sure can catch you by surprise When you haven’t even kissed the evening good night ‘till just around five But you can’t blame it on me this time Once in awhile along strolls an answer And you might think it’s the only one in sight Now it may never cause you a single hint of hurt But then again it just might steal your shirt And leave you face down in the dirt The sun is shining on a puddle outside your door Funny you’ve never seen it there before You better open your eyes; you better open your eyes before you leap And keep one up while you sleep And these words you better heed because you never know When some creep’s been hanging around the shadows of your mind

I went to see you at home the other day And I found you sitting in the dark all alone Now I’m not trying to spook you but it seems so awful queer That you went swimming with nothing but a stone as a souvenir You jumped off the pier like a real musketeer Threw on your cowgirl threads and then you disappeared Off in the wild on a one-eyed Texas steer The day ain’t as cloudy as you heard on the morning news But the drink in your veins is fogging up the things you choose to do You better watch your tongue You better watch your tongue before you speak And when you do, be discreet or end up on Deadbeat Street Because you never know When some creep’s been hanging around the shadows of your mind

If you can’t look me in the face and tell me how you feel Then I don’t think that we can say goodbye And as long as we keep breaking all the spokes within the wheel Then I doubt that there’s a chance that we’ll survive The rain is gonna join you in your parade Go ahead and lie right down in the bed you made

98 Your better watch your back, you better watch your back before you turn Are you ever gonna learn that you just might get burned Because you never know When some creep’s been hanging around the shadows of your mind

99 She Feels It

She hears the highway rolling underneath the bus He’s there beside her, but his hands she doesn’t trust The slaps across the face are only love is what he’s said And all that love is jus a bruise inside her bed

She feels it in her skin She feels it in her hair She just doesn’t care anymore She feels it in her skin

Got a pack of cigarettes hidden in her purse Must smoke a dozen while he’s praying at church Sometimes she wonders why she doesn’t leave while he’s gone Guess that desire’s just been beat out of her head

100 Start Again

I propose we start again Turn it over and start again Here we go starting over just the same

I propose we start again Turn it over and start again No more sleeping in each other’s lung

I don’t want to be a hero I don’t want to be the one I don’t want to be a winner I don’t want to be the one to tell you That your son died on the evening news

101 Tuesday (OK with You)

Maybe I should leave Sometimes I’d like to be gone away from here Just disappear Maybe you’d be relieved Or maybe you think it’s all right just like it is Suffering, through all of this

Cigarette burns on the windowsill Tells me your heart’s been pulled down But how much longer can we kick this around and around? I just want to be OK… with you

Honestly, I’m ill I just keep hoping that you’ll say it before I have I just want to sleep away the bad Honesty is a crime The statutes of limitations have all past by And all this time we’ve only learned how to lie

The ashtray’s filled and the wine is gone And silence sits between us as our only friend And how much longer do you think that we can kick this around and around? I just want to be OK… I just want to be OK…

I’ve been spending God’s money But the summer’s twinkle is dimming and I need some sleep I’ve got me a secret to keep

102 Tuesday Night

Help me, Rhonda is what she sings to get her lovers out of bed And man that voice is like a bell being dropped She can love you all night long and kick your ass out before dawn But then Rhonda is easy to forgive She claims she can tell your fortune looking in your eyes Doubt anyone believes her, but she is always right Rhonda is my girl every Tuesday night

Hey, hey has anyone here seen Rhonda? Hey, hey, yeah Hey, hey has anyone here seen Rhonda It’s Tuesday night and I’m looking for my girl

Rhonda is the girl in town and I can tell you she gets around Her reputation can precede her by miles And though my love for her is strong, Tuesday night lasts all week long As for the other boys it is a town of smiles I know she’s mine on every Tuesday through the month The other days don’t matter because Tuesday I’ve got all of her love Rhonda is my girl every Tuesday night

Hold the phone, something’s wrong, my heart is breaking Rhonda’s gone She left a note tacked to my door on Tuesday night She wrote, “I know this will hurt you some, please understand I’ve met someone And I’m leaving town on the train tonight I couldn’t take it I was feeling so much pain I had to see her yes I had to catch that train Rhonda is my girl every Tuesday night

It has been a month or so, since Rhonda had to go I still have trouble with what I witnessed on the night I might be nursing a broken heart, but I can tell you what really smarts Is the fact that Rhonda ran off with my wife I made it to the station with the rain coming down What was I to do I just watched them pull out of this town Rhonda is my girl, but she ran off with my wife

103 Wake Up!

Wake up, wake up, lightning struck the oak tree last night Our daddy chased us through the woods ‘till light Throwing beer bottles at our heads He said he’d like to kill us dead A peg-legged whore don’t make no bread Wake up, wake up, lightning struck the oak tree last night Wake up!

Wake up, wake up, lightning struck the oak tree last night Hurry quick or he’ll break your neck in the moonlight If you’re the devil then it’s not me Standing underneath this tree Drinking water like whiskey Wake up, wake up, lightning struck the oak tree last night Wake up!

I painted up myself with all the stars and moon Like I was on my honeymoon I could see you in my room I could see you on my bed Like I was still out in the shed Still giving you head Yeah, you heard what I said

Wake up, wake up, lightning struck the oak tree last night Painted black, thunder cracks, it’s second sight Maybe you could find a buffalo Stand your ground rifle or bow Maybe you could take a photograph of me Wake up, wake up, lightning struck the oak tree last night Wake up!

I painted up myself in all the moon and stars Like I was singing in a bar Painted up in tar I was shaking out the bread Like I was still out in the shed Still out of my head Yeah, you heard what I said

104 Why Did My Childhood Go Away?

Remember the time up at the lake, making love in the sun June of nineteen sixty-eight and pictures of Richard Nixon And all I could do was try not to cry

Skin, I remember your skin and how it used to cover me And when we couldn’t win there was nothing left to do But go away

And I watched as they tore down the tents And I tried to understand what it all meant…to you and me

Why did my childhood go away? It seems to have disappeared in my sleep Why did my childhood go away? With all of my memories that I wanted to keep

The parade balloons broke their strings and blew away I haven’t seen you since January of seventy-eight We just muddle about thinking that’s how it is We acquire a Mr., or Mrs., or Ms. And catch our ride on the train

And I hope next time around I’ll read the manual first Because growing old is and awful lot like dying in the desert of thirst

And you know I think I hear my number

105 Wrong With Me and My Head

I want to tell you what’s going on in my mind Everything rolling round, rolling round Like a bullet riddled body on the side of the road and I can’t get up now Pissing on the wall like MacGowan in “Rain Street” Gauguin in the alley painting impressions Kicking through an alley, spitting at graffiti and dodging the policeman

I don’t know what’s wrong, baby I don’t know what’s wrong I don’t know what’s wrong here, baby Wrong with me and my head

Five O’clock wake up, sack lunch, save up Stumble out the doorway trying not to throw up Cocktail, dovetail, running from the coffin nails and I can’t take it I had that dream again where we’re not speaking Holding up dolls just to say what we’re thinking A man in the corner through some curtains with eyes on a broken record he’s throwing dice

Maybe you can tell me what I’m really trying to say now Maybe you have figured out this secret that I’m keeping in my brain now Get out, Get out, Get out, Get out now, Get out, Get out, Get out, Get out now

I want to tell you what’s written into my skin If I stop, then I can’t begin Madman writing in a jungle shack for reasons I cannot express, For reasons you could never guess Meanwhile, jewelry’s hanging from a cross But I’ve got soda crackers in my socks And the skeleton key that I used to wield to open all the locks is… Finally lost and I can’t find it What’s my password to the mind set Of everything I’ve ever thought and everything I’ve ever wanted

106

Years Later Addition 2017

It has been many years since I compiled these lyrics and now I’m adding the last 13 years or so to the mix. Things have changed a bit. Some of the songs included previously will be added again, because they’ve appeared on the subsequent projects I’ve completed. It is 2017. Kiefer is 26 and an electrical journeyman. Riley is 21, attending Edmonds CC, and will go to West Virginia next year to attend Marshall University. The love of my life, Connie, is still a nurse and still keeps this crotchety old man around. In the years since 2004, I’ve recorded a few new CDs both with Just Plain Bill and solo. As I take on compiling songs again I’m not sure how many there will be, but I’m betting on close to sixty or seventy. This is page 107, so we’ll see where I end.

107

108

Kalama Tea

Just Plain Bill Fifth Release 2005

After Ink Block, Just Plain Bill decided to record with Peter. The title came from Douglas’ brother as a title for the CD with a tip to Kalama. I wrote the song from tragedies from Kalama life. It was a good time and the band seemed happy. I was. It was before Ted left and Peter joined the band. We also still seemed somewhat young.

109 Down

Look at all the happy people smiling at me now I can’t begin to tell you why I believe that I have heard you correctly when you ask Am I medicated now? You can tell all those happy people Fill them in on the news I haven’t seen any silver linings And I don’t need to feel that good I just want to be down And you can’t get me out of this I just want to be down It’s really quite a mess

I often wonder if you ever are thinking of me Flying over those apple trees Rows and rows of tiny orchards, jig-sawed fields And buffalo in wooden rails Elevation can be a friend If you’re not hung on the downward end White water rushing over me Is all I see, it’s all I see I just want to be down And you can’t get me out of this I just want to be down It’s really quite a mess

I don’t think my clattered teeth could tell you any lies, Which, comes as a surprise to even me I watch your picture as my altitude is lost ‘til the moment it is tossed…

110 Faster Dalidog

Propped against some wine glass-promenade A dangled tablecloth of Americana between my tattooed legs And a shadowed moor of nakedness stands faceless near the bricks Surrounded by these bastards of some nameless cowgirl chicks I’ve seen your face before I really have… But it just don’t click Faster, faster, faster Dalidog

Your canyon bordered desert back-boned, whiskered lips Flicker by a fire beneath the canine muzzled monument That shades your fractured fish impression figure On the dancing flesh mold pottery Then rushes off your sagging car-wreck smile I’ve seen your face before I really have… But it just don’t click Faster, faster, faster Dalidog

Latex idol, shotgun wedding hints Wear those pink pajamas with the frog prints Plastic purple Jesus dashboard talisman Drive-in celluloid cleavage dolls

Spaghetti western, still life Dickenesque She hides her face and yet the moon illuminates her breast And the painted bathhouse whores all congregate with much distress To analyze the tattooed words among her crevasses I’ve seen your face before I really have… But it just don’t click Faster, faster, faster Dalidog

111 Five More Minutes

I’d like to feel guilty again So go ahead and look at me like that No need for you to pretend ‘Cause I know, you know exactly what I mean It’s alright, ‘cause it’s all my fault I’ve been through it a hundred times I can still see that trestle when I shut my eye

If I were a boat on the sea No doubt about I’d get a hole in me But would it really break your heart To watch me sink right from the start It’s alright, ‘cause it’s all my fault I’ve been through it a hundred times I can still hear that whistle in the dead of night Waking me up, tracking me down like I could forget What I saw in your eyes, when you realized… 5 more minutes

1976, could break my back and make me sick I’d like to go back to bed, if I could quiet all these things Going through my head, going through my head

I’m staring at the ceiling again And the sunshine’s waiting to come on in I haven’t gotten too much sleep The tile feels cold underneath my feet It’s alright, ‘cause it’s all my fault I’ve been through it a hundred times in my mind, I can still see that trestle when I shut my eye I can still hear that whistle in the dead of night What I saw in your eyes, when you realized…

112

I Don't Know (What's Got You Up Tight)

I watch you gangster cross the parking lot Ice cream pretty on a slug bug top Jean-chained blister up a hip-pocket south Asphalt poems lipstick your long shore mouth Hey, how’d you like to hear some rock-n-roll tonight? I’m MIA on a mountain top I’m a daddy’s gun at a school bus stop I’m an American flag hanging upside down But I don’t know…what’s got you up tight

Shrapnel jiggle on a hot summer’s day Ricochet carriage as you’re walking away Maybe you should rifle what you’re trying to be Humpbacked camels in your t-shirt sleeve Hey, how’d you like to hear some rock-n-roll tonight? I’m a cross-haired kid on a kickball field I’m semi-automatic I’m an Einstein dream with a cross-top scheme But I don’t know… But I don’t know… But I don’t know…what’s got you up tight

Maybe you would like to take me out tonight that would be alright with me

Stop light ice cube bulldog collar Picket fence smacker couldn’t get much taller Pothole drive along three bad miles In a bubble gum wrapper and cellophane smile Hey, how’d you like to hear some rock-n-roll tonight? I’m the white-collar crime of a celebrity Sharing my life on prime time TV So cancel my subscription, please ‘Cause I don’t know…what’s got you up tight

113

Kalama Tea

To fight or run, was never very fun it wasn’t clear And that front tooth chip hidden by a missionary lip Looking at a stranger in the mirror, inventing how to smile again Its Kalama Tea-It’s a heart attack on Sunday afternoon It’s unbelievable Its Kalama Tea-It’s an earthquake on your birthday And everything is falling off the wall; yeah, everything is falling off the wall

I was stunned when those knuckles like a gun they crossed my cheek I couldn’t speak, what was I to even do So I bounced right back up for number two; isn’t love a splendid deed? Its Kalama Tea-It’s a car crash on vacation Or your mother’s suicide Its Kalama Tea-It’s lightning in the oak tree Without a cloud in the sky; not a single cloud that’s floating by Its Kalama Tea-It’s a rock beneath the surface As you’re diving in swim Its Kalama Tea-It’s a fire at the homestead And every memory turns to black; can you really ever memorize the past? Doesn’t time make it all OK?

I want to feel it all again…I want to rub it on my skin I want to see it now…can you show me now? How to take it all apart…I want to feed it to my heart I want to shake it to the bone…to the bone now Swallow up the sea…can you cling to me? I want to wash you through my hair…if you dare to Fight what tempts a soul…you can fill in all the holes You can drop down on your knees…its Kalama tea Feel it all again…I want to wash away the sin I want to bite the bullet…take it on the chin I want to stand out in the rain with my hands held high Raise my eyes up to the sky and when the lightning strikes I can drop down on my knees…then blame it all on me Its Kalama tea

114 Lithium Martini

I’d like a lithium martini shaken, not stirred I’d like 54 years and 3 more days if that’s not too absurd Maybe you could help me, but you don’t know this song So, tell me Mr. Bartender, what have you done? With all those little pink umbrellas that I love

I’d like everything west of me to fall off in the sea I’d like to sit on the beach with my toes in the sand sipping a martini with my favorite band Maybe you could help me, if you know some voodoo curse Tell me, my gypsy girl, what have you heard? And where are all those little pink umbrellas I deserve

There’s an oh, so very tiny razor blade cut on my wrist But don’t you ever worry your pretty, little head over this Maybe you could help me, carve out this shopping list ‘Cause it’s a rainy day and I can’t find where my umbrellas are hid

I’d like a lithium martini shaken, not stirred And will you turn off all those flashing lights behind me ‘cause they’re making my vision blur Maybe you could help me, find my way back home So, tell me Mr. Policeman, what did I do wrong? ‘Cause all those little pink umbrellas that we love All those little umbrellas All those little pink umbrellas… are gone

115 Shoulder to Shoulder

Desperately I’m seeking a way That I can give you all of my summers Secretly I’ve devised a scheme Where everything I do, I do for you I don’t know, I don’t know I don’t think anyone at all can see us now… Put your hand in mine Shoulder to shoulder a hundred-beach-race dash Older and older is all I seem to get Shoulder to shoulder a hundred-beach-race dash

Suddenly it seems that my autumn’s in swing And your friendship’s all I really need to save Half the time it seems as if it’s all just been a dream And I’m frantically running after you I don’t know, I don’t know I don’t think anyone at all can see us now… Put your hand in mine Shoulder to shoulder a hundred-beach-race dash Older and older is all I seem to get Shoulder to shoulder a hundred-beach-race dash

116

117

Eating Louisiana

Just Plain Bill Sixth Release 2007

Eating Louisiana was supposed to be fun, but it turned out to be a very dark time in the history of the band. It began with the idea of recording old songs we had never put on real CDs, some things from Trike and others that we’d never gotten around to recording. We set up and recorded live tracks at a friend’s house. Then the next week, Ted sent us an email that he was leaving. Man, were we mad. We decided to persevere and continued recording using drum loops. We then decided to have Peter Jansen remix some other tracks from Spoke which we were never happy with. We added two newly written songs dealing with Ted’s departure The River and Get Happy using drum loops. We had the equivalent of a double CD. Now, I don’t even consider this a real release, but I think the two new songs were good and heartfelt. During the year and a half Ted was gone Peter joined the band and we played a gig or two with Maria Joyner. It was fine, but we missed Ted. We worked some things out, he returned, Peter stayed; however, we’ve never really recorded since…we’re just old I guess.

118 Buddha in the Bedroom Previously from Bill and His Fabulous Organ

Well, we’ve come a long ways today, we’re still running And the question on everyone’s tongue is have we arrived? Or are we still coming And as I look around, I still wonder If the sun’s really hidden behind the thunder Or in some secret tomb, behind the moon Like Buddha in the bedroom

Everyone, we used to know, isn’t thinking the same Is a roadside attraction and a midnight distraction the same? It’s no longer a game Like a colorful joke or the turn of a phrase I’m thinking back to those dangerous days That we once knew We were a couple of crazy fools Making love without costumes In the light of the full moon Like Buddha in the bedroom

You see me standing out on the road With a sign in my hand and my thumb in the air and I’m looking to go home But it can’t be too soon When she’s playing her favorite tune And the local goon Stumbles into the room But he’s going to meet his doom With the Buddha in the bedroom

Well we’ve come a long ways today…we’re still running

119 Come Love a Stranger Previously recorded for Some Horrendous Joke but not used.

Come love a stranger If you’d like a little danger Come love a stranger tonight

Because I am watching you and all the things that you do And when you’re alone you can call me on the phone To tell me your name which isn’t the same as before The house dance is silence

Come love a stranger If you’d like a little danger Come love a stranger tonight

I’m sure that you want me too and here’s all you have to do Just run through the rain you can feel me in your veins And feel my kiss upon your lips like a stain A horse of reliance

Come love a stranger If you’d like a little danger Come love a stranger tonight

I’m in love with you and I think that you love me too And when you hold me tight you can call my name all night And it can’t be wrong if at the dawn you’re still alright Candle of defiance

Come love a stranger If you’d like a little danger Come love a stranger tonight

120 Dumb Previously from Spoke (Inspired by Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins and Kurt Cobain)

If I’m so dumb If I’m so dumb Then why are you standing right in front of me? In the wolf-mother wallpaper

If I’m so dumb If I’m so dumb Then why are you listening to me right now? In the toadstool motel

I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself

If I’m so dumb If I’m so dumb Then why are you touching me, feeling me? Like an inanimate object in a cave

I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself I’m not suicidal I just want to hurt myself

121 Eating Louisiana Previously from Spoke (Inspired by Paul Prudhomme, hell, it’s pretty much his recipe with some artistic license)

Eating Louisiana, eating Louisiana Blackened Creole’ rodent Eating Louisiana, eating Louisiana Fat man’s Cajun delight Hey!

Take a tablespoon of sweet paprika Teaspoon of onion powder Teaspoon of garlic powder One teaspoon of ground red pepper Take a teaspoon and a half each of black and white pepper One teaspoon of oregano and thyme Don’t forget the salt

Take an extremely large cast iron skillet Place it on the oven over heat Past the stage of smoking, white ash in the well Meanwhile, thoroughly combine the spices in a bowl And sprinkle lightly over buttered fillets

I know a man, he is a chef Without the fat there’d be nothing left I’m on a soapbox behind a podium Eat less fat and sodium

122 Get Happy

Shotgun bitcher with an envelope Skips the appointment but ingests the dope And your circumspect vision has me at the end of my rope You’re three cogs off and you’re jumping from the loft But I’m not laughing when I turn my head and cough You’re crazy as a March hare, I never would have guessed But I wish you’d get happy cause you’re making me depressed now

Shotgun sinner with a cappuccino Wants to be a Rembrandt instead of Ringo Got your hand on a willy and the other on a crucifix Cutting up wishes in a Petri dish But it’s less like science and more like quiche You can’t be saved, if you never have confessed But I wish you’d get happy cause you’re making me depressed now

I can’t tell you what the future’s going to be, yeah, yeah

Shotgun blister in the envelope Passing out Spam like you think its soap Suck, suck, sucking out all of the hope It’s not a genius who’s wearing these clothes But it seems as though you’re cutting off your face to spite your nose You know you can’t get naked, if you haven’t even dressed But I wish you’d get happy But I wish you’d get happy But I wish you’d get happy cause you’re making me so depressed Yeah, yeah, yeah

123 Get out of the Rain Previously from Trike

“Sunshine’s always lying on my face,” is what you said to me Sometimes I think you’ve lost your mind Wrap yourself in latex or armor and coat your tongue with innocence But who said Heaven’s really white?

I can still remember that house when I was young When all those buoys made of glass were falling down

Rain is falling down like a blanket on your face, You can’t see anything You’re running blindly through your life, Thinking everything’s alright If you would only try, Only try to open up your eyes Maybe you would get out of the rain

“Sunshine’s always lying on my face,” is what you said to him Sometimes I think that you’re as crazy as the dress you’re wearing Wrap yourself in white tonight and climb up on your Silver I hope your savior is a small young girl of color

Chorus

What a crazy thing to do with your mouth Hey, hey, hey, what a crazy thing to do with your mouth

I can still remember that house when I was young When all those buoys made of glass were falling down

Chorus

“Sunshine’s always lying on my face,” is what you said to her Perhaps you should look again

124 Hollywood Cab Ride Previously from Spoke

There you are in the back of my car Telling me who you are like a movie star You ask about me, but as you can see I’m not who I want to be, you see, you see Then you say you love me – You can take a ride Then you say you care – You can take a ride Then you say you want to go down there and take a ride

You got my attention and I don’t have to mention That my intention is void of greed Imagine a scene from a movie screen Where the actors seem to be behind the stream Then you say you hate me – You can take a ride Then you say goodbye – You can take a ride Then you leave me alone in a theatre restroom ready to cry… At the slightest change of plot And you know that if I stop myself from my last cigarette I will explode…Like the man in the TV show I will explode…Like a man I used to know

He sold fish in the square as if you even care He was a bystander, handout, not too different From you and I on the 4th of July…Then he took a ride

Then you say want my name – You can take a ride Then you mention the money – You can take a ride Then you get me to sign on that dotted line As if it’s fine to be a friend of mine just like Ms. Devine When she portrayed Janis Joplin

Then you say you want to go down there Where the lights spell Hollywood To talk is the moon and ends way too soon To have ever been real or true

125 Length of Money Previously from Trike

The pen tattoos on their arms seemed to speak to me Some nicotine-lip said you’d gone away All those faces looked like puppets As they pushed the buttons of the arcade

Pretty girls come running out of the rain Voices of the President, Efferdent, Scope, the Pope To beat the cold and wipe the stains from their doubt TV evangelists, can you imagine this?-What are they talking about? Let’s get out Some could be a movie star, have a career and a domestic car Housewife blues or a Playboy bunny It’s always the length of money that counts

No one on the streets for the holiday I saw a poster with a smile and your face I never noticed how much the cloth glitters Until I had the guts to take a taste

Pretty girls come running out of the rain They’ll gag you, bag you, snag you by the balls, tie you up and take all your money To beat the cold and wipe the stains from their doubt Buy this, sell that, get fat, cardiac victim get slim they’ll chew you up and then they’ll spit you out

Capital is corporate gender slang It’s God’s phallic sign And when you run out of things to say You save face with plastic lies

I saw you on the boulevard with your brand new Rolls Kind of expensive for a toy There was a pretty girl beside you to prove you’re all boy Remember when we used to listen to Pink Floyd…I still do

Pretty girls come running out of the rain Stepping out of my front door, I wonder what that is on my lawn To beat the cold and wipe the stains from their doubt Burning, turning the grass to a different hue, could it maybe be the fallout…Or is it Starsky and Hutch?

Etc…

126 Power Previously recorded for Some Horrendous Joke but not used.

Power of the word Sounds a bit absurd But it is what you’ve got to get Power wears the pants You’ve got to be able to dance And it helps to have a babe-magnet Everybody wants some, needs some, get some more like me

Power is the way But watch what you say Because you can lose it in a flash Power can buy things Like big, shiny diamond rings Power is you, its lots of cash Everybody wants it, profit, you can be president

Power like a knife Turn the key, open the door to life Count all of the bills in your tin Power it’s insane Corporation needs a gain And if you’re on the ball, you can win Everybody wants some, swansong, you can die young of a heart attack…

127 The River

We’re on different sides of a river It’s flowing swift and stretching wide You’re not even in my dreams now And so we’re stranded on different sides

I don’t think you love me anymore When you call out my name I hope it’s gonna make you feel better Now that you’ve gone away

Voices call as airplanes fall from the sky But you can’t say Jesus loves me anymore Hearts break and houses shake it’s incredible Choose your path and walk on down the road Walk down the road

I’m looking through the lines of the words you’ve written What I’m seeing reads like a lie Maybe you think it’s gonna make you feel better All I’ve got to say is I hope you’re right

We’re on different sides of a river Are you shouting out my name? I hope it’s gonna make you feel better But you’re probably gonna feel just the same

Voices call as airplanes fall from the sky But you can’t say Jesus loves me anymore Hearts break and houses shake it’s incredible Choose your path and walk on down the road Walk down the road

128 Sanctuary Restaurant Previously from Spoke

Going to the Sanctuary Restaurant Delivered to the river to find something we want Stowaways and broken dreams fall down and dance Stowaways and brokens ride a snake in the grass It’s alright, it’s alright…it’s alright

Packed up my skeletons, my secrets and masks Answer to the question was a simple, “Please, don’t ask.” Took my son and lover on a bus ride across the bridge With alphabet soup in a melting pot to find where sanctuary is It’s alright, it’s alright…it’s alright

Frankly, it’s humiliating when she feels she must explain her exit Like she thinks I’m an idiot and incapable of pain I’m loathing

We’re going to the Sanctuary like children on a carnival ride We’ve walked in the water; we’ve walked in the water We’ve crawled in the tide It’s alright, it’s alright…it’s alright

Met a girl from the Big Sky I swear I’ve met her before She said, “When you get to the place where your eyes don’t see, You won’t miss them anymore.” Stowaways and broken dreams on a bus ride across the bridge We’re going to find where sanctuary is It’s alright, it’s alright…it’s alright

Frankly, it’s humiliating when she feels she must explain her exit Like she thinks I’m an idiot and incapable of pain

Give me, give me…give me Sanctuary Give me, give me…give me Sanctuary More Kool-Aid Reverend Jones

129 Thumb Previously from Spoke (Inspired by Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins)

Sissy and the Hip Angel Down on the road Sissy and the Hip Angel Glide along the highway They’re going to be there soon They’re going to be there soon They’re going to be here soon with thumbs in the sky Peyote on their tongues, but their mouths are dry Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee

Sissy and the Hip Angel Thumbs in a jar Sissy and the Hip Angel Lick the vinegar Goat god and a cowgirl Goat god and a cowgirl You can give me Buddha, Confucius too Jesus and Dale got nothing on you Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee

There’s a flock whoopers in my soul There’s a body on the ground There’s a body on the ground There’s a body on the ground with dirt in her hand One less cowgirl playing in the sand Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee Ha, ha, ho, ho, and hee-hee There’s a flock whoopers in my soul

Sissy and the Hip Angel thumb off in the sunset Sissy and the Hip Angel thumb off in the sunset Sissy and the Hip Angel Sissy and the Hip Angel Sissy and the Hip Angel…ride

130 Transportation Previously from Spoke

There’s a ship of fools providing entertainment To a raft of intellects and 23 gay men The train of fish isn’t in a hurry To pass a pickup truck of idiots gerbiling

There’s a frigate and a frogget and a frugget Filling with the Filipino farmers There’s a limo like a lady’s libido Behind a caravan of snake charmers Felching on a Sunday morning Waiting for the autumn corn Once in awhile you try to figure it out and find you hate the traffic

Transportation, transportation to the mind Transportation, transportation to the mind Transportation Transportation throw caution to the wind

I’m going to rip out my heart And throw it on the freeway Take this brain, take these hands Give them away I’m going to jump the next train out of town Because I can’t take it anymore This dirty little town contains an element of chastity That I’d like to sodomize

Chorus

I can’t think, I can’t see, it’s all a blur Slow down, put up a stop sign, put up a detour

Chorus Pumpkin and nougat leaves a bad taste in my mouth – (This line by Ted Clark)

131

132

The Whole Year Inn

Just Plain Patrick 2011

This project started as kind of a Tuesday Night Music Club idea with Peter Jansen, Maria Joyner, and Dave Broyles. The idea was that we’d show up, I’d bring songs and beer, we’d arrange a song, record a live take, and then do it again. Later we’d add overdubs. This worked for a lot of the project; but as usual, I had more songs than we all had time to record. So, there are some that only had me or a few others. I also fulfilled the lifetime dream of The White Album, London Calling, Blonde on Blonde, and Exile on Main Street…a true double album of 25 songs. Wow, it was ambitious. Some should have probably been left by the wayside; however, that’s probably always the case.

133 Andy Rattlesnaked a Laggard (Written for a friend, rocker, and true original Andy DiMartino)

Andy Rattlesnaked a laggard Conjured up some Cash with Mrs. D He fretted all the way back to Tahahuya Just to turn around and end back up in C

I see a girl at the seaside yeah, yeah, yeah She’s standing all alone boo hoo-hoo I’m not sure how I got here baby But I should be getting home

Andy sampled all the flowers He had an Amsterdam good time Though I’ve never known the power I’ve known my own Space and Time

I hear those notes from Jimmy Do Gator Walk, and Burrough’s Blues Andy thinks that he Ain’t Got No Friends But I know he’s got more than me and you

I see a girl at the seaside yeah, yeah, yeah She’s standing all alone boo hoo-hoo I’m not sure how I got here baby But I should be getting home

134 Anxiously Mistaken (working title: Ambulance)

I see the sun is falling from the sky It’s all turning purple…purple and peach I’m seven miles up above the earth And I’m lying naked out on a beach

I see the light has almost disappeared I’m feeling that tingle and the weird Daisies and sunflowers, soil and sun She’s dirtied her hands and she calls it fun

I think I’ve made a mistake this time and I can’t take it back A slight miscalculation on my part It’s a beautiful blue-green house with a yellow picket fence But I don’t know the address I’m holding up her head because she’s sick again Won’t you please just send an ambulance? Won’t you please just send an ambulance?

I see the sun has fallen from the sky I can see lights on down below I’m seven miles up above the earth But I haven’t a clue why I’m feeling this low Daisies and sunflowers, sunlight and soil She is water and I am oil

I think I’ve made a mistake this time and I can’t take it back A slight miscalculation on my part… I can’t take it back It’s a beautiful blue-green house with a yellow picket fence But I don’t know the address I’m holding up her head because she’s sick again Won’t you please just send an ambulance? Won’t you please just send an ambulance? Somebody send an ambulance

Everything’s going to be OK…Everything’s going to be alright Everything’s going to be OK…Everything’s going to be alright

135 Astronaut

I want to be your plastic, fantastic astronaut Your jiggly, piggly-wiggly juggernaut Your ice cream slobber chop I, I, I, I want to be your astronaut Your astronaut, oh yeah

I want to be honey drip, fat-lipped bee-buzz hive Your late night, headlight tunnel-drive Your chocolate flavored alkaline Bee-buzz hive of love Your bee-buzz hive of love Your bee-buzz hive of love Your bee-buzz hive of love

Come on and take me out on a Saturday night I’ll make you feel like you’re moving at the speed of light

I want to be your spastic, galactic spaceman now Your burning bush and your golden cow Your upside down cake Spaceman now I want to be your spaceman now

I want to be your plastic, fantastic astronaut Your jiggly, piggly-wiggly juggernaut Your ice cream slobber chop I, I, I, I want to be your astronaut Your astronaut of love Your astronaut of love Your astronaut of love

136 Be There Soon

Long, long time, I’ve been paying down this debt For a long, long time, I just needed a tourniquet I’m lonely and I’m tired and I think I need a bath You ask me, what’s the deal? Honey, I wish you wouldn’t ask…

Bucky’s got a booth by the juke down at Stella Rae’s Selling Cali weed, and speed, and a bit of cocaine Georgia’s in a turban with a bone right through her nose Keeps a finger on a pistol and another hidden in her hose I don’t want to talk to her I’m feeling blue I just want to get back home to you I got one more thing I’ve got to do…I promise that it’s true

Now, I’m stuck in the back of a chicken-shack down by the Stella Slough There’s nobody around that can help me get back to you There’s a church up the road and it’s getting cold So I’ll be sleeping in the thirteenth pew Don’t you worry about me now and I’ll show you somehow I’m gonna be there soon

Cold, cold, cold, I can’t feel my toes Cold, cold, cold, I’m freezing to the bone I’ve been bought and sold and I’ve been hung out to dry Feeling kind of old and I hope I see the morning light

I’m an hour out of Portland and I’m feeling like I’m half past dead Sparking like a fray and I still can’t get it out of my head Something went bang and something went crash The cops hit door and we all made a dash I’m sorry honey but I think I’m gonna be a bit late…Promise that you’ll wait

Now, I’m stuck in the back of a chicken-shack down by the Stella Slough There’s nobody around that can help me get back to you There’s a church up the road and it’s getting cold So I’ll be sleeping in the thirteenth pew Don’t you worry about me now and I’ll show you somehow I’m gonna be there soon

137 Bucky Diddle’s Plaid Slip-On Shoes

Bucky Diddle’s plaid slip-on shoes Pitter-patter down the avenue Instead of 25 years to life For hiding aces and a switchblade knife

They said that Molly had just dove and drown They propped her up in the center of town Like a glass-boxed freezer clown Her hair is flowered and her hands are bound

Bucky Diddle’s plaid slip-on shoes Are brown and white or are they green and blue His trick knee makes him stagger some His hair is greasy and he smells like rum He caps a tug from Wahkiakum Just because it’s fun

Hey Bucky, where’d you get those shoes? I got to get me some, they just can’t lose “Fat chance Sugar,” is all he said And that cop, he nearly lost his doughnut

He squeaked a Henry and a lactard clam Geoducks or scrambled eggs and Spam A pale horse standing fifteen hands Has died beside the road

Bucky Diddle’s plaid slip-on shoes Have served him well, but they have paid their dues Mrs. Chapman said, “He’s just a joke” Well he’s not black and white, he’s white and yolk So, you better not finger-poke If you know what I mean

Bucky Diddle yeah, yeah

138 Carpet

I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet this year I don’t want you to feel like you need to take care of me By counting my drinks and these pills Or holding my head when I’m ill Or even brushing my teeth ‘Cause I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet this year

I’m feeling ok and it all feels right to me I don’t want you to feel like I’m turning my back on you ‘Cause all I can do now is leave And if you were me you could see It’s the way it must be ‘Cause I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet this year

I hope you’re not sad when you think of my face in this place I don’t want you to feel like you could’ve done more for me The fault is all mine, it’s not you I hope you find love and it’s true That I’ll always you But I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet this year

I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet I don’t want you to feel like you need to be clever or quick By taking my shit anymore I’ve gone out the door Can’t you see that I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet this year? No, I don’t want to be another stain on your carpet

139 Deniably Christ, Kid (Working title: Bed)

Do you think? Do you think this is finally over? I’ve been on the wrong side of the street I’ve been on the wrong side of the street for a long, long time Dining on soul and drinking wine Reading books with words and visions that don’t rhyme with yours Yet I keep hearing my father’s voice inside my head Saying Christ kid, get to bed

Do you think? Do you think we’ve even got a chance in hell? We’ve just been going through the motions And I can’t see your heart anymore It’s a black and smoky shore A country that’s at war with itself Yet I keep hearing my father’s voice inside my head Saying Christ kid, get to bed

Grab on to something that’s all your own Everything is going to be alright when you’re all alone It’s a sunny day Just like being born again A sunny day Christ kid, it’s ok…

Do you think? Do you think this is finally over? Any hint of tolerance is gone It must have been the Devil all along inside of me Hidden way down deep beneath But only they could see It’s hard to believe only they could see It’s hard to believe only they could see It’s hard to believe this unbelievable feat is a miracle Yet, I keep hearing my father’s voice inside my head Saying Christ kid, get to bed…

140 Downtown Doctor Darcy

Downtown Doctor Darcy Doesn’t diddle dainty dudes He digs his meat and potatoes on a king-sized table ‘Cause nothing else seems to do

Downtown Doctor Darcy’s wife Didn’t know it on her wedding day That he gets around with all those men by the pound Because it gives him such a doodah day

Downtown Doctor Darcy Doesn’t really have a PHD But his mom and his dad wanted a doctor so bad And that’s how Darcy got his name

141 The Dumbest Thing I Never Did #73 or #56

I’m a dollar eighty-seven Schlitz Malt Liquor, Seven-Eleven I’m jewel heist, grease fire currency I’m loaded lipstick slingshot Detonated springtime blood clot Sedated, jet-set entropy

I’ve said some things…I shouldn’t have said I’ve done some things…That made you think I was just a kid It’s a barrel of worms without a lid, the things I did But the dumbest thing I did would have to be The thing I never did

Fashion manipulated Lotus lip-lock populated Gene stained denim family tree

I’ve read some things…I shouldn’t have read I’ve seen some things…That made me want to crawl back in the crib It’s a barrel of worms without a lid, the things I did But the dumbest thing I did would have to be The thing I never did

I’m a man without a country On a wall like Humpty-Dumpty Maybe I’m cracked but honey, I’m not broken Newly baptized outhouse sect The hobbyhorse’s jewels are wrecked Best to agree than sniper aimlessly across the street

I’ve said some things…I shouldn’t have said I’ve done some things…Like some derelict hypocrite It’s a barrel of worms without a lid, the things I did But the dumbest thing I did would have to be The thing I never did

142 Fireplace

They sit alone in their humble abode It’s not much, but they call it home Hot coals in the fireplace She warms her toes and he shuts his face tonight

Subsonic, nosebleed walls Bionic caterwauls Grange hall ballyhoo Mariachi coo, coo, ca choo Joe DiMaggio and Mrs. Robinson too

She’s lying naked on the couch Cigarette hanging from her mouth He’s dancing ‘round in her bra and blouse Mexican subwoofers shake the house And even Speedy Gonzales could not escape this tonight

Kick your shoes into the fireplace Tonight, it’s like the Fourth of July Firecrackers in the fireplace tonight, tonight, all right

Flickers of light dance above the bed Yellow, green, blue and red The clock reads 3:33 But it don’t matter ‘cause they won’t sleep tonight

Supersonic senoritas Gin and tonic or margaritas Grange hall ballyhoo Mariachi coo, coo, ca choo Even Dustin Hoffman and Mrs. Robinson can’t help tonight

143 Flatfoot Boogie

Roughed up and pickled Spun around and tickled One-eyed Betty’s got her hands where they don’t belong Held down and twisted Punch drunk and double fisted Betty, I tell ya I love you, but I’ve got to run I can handle those bacon shakes But some things, honey, I just can’t take Flatfoot boogie…Flatfoot boogie…I gotta run Flatfoot boogie…Flatfoot boogie…I gotta run

Held up at gunpoint Beat up tenderloin Big Gulp punk with a special dug in my ribs Cashbox is open A girl’s down, and a window’s broken My bag is full, but I think I’m gonna checkout now I hit the door like a thoroughbred I hear bullets whizzing past my head Flatfoot boogie…Flatfoot boogie…I gotta run Flatfoot boogie…Flatfoot boogie…I gotta run

Black jack and craps Pretty girls on my lap They keep shoving those bones right into my hand Snake eyes and busted Everyone’s disgusted I keep rolling those dice on an IOU It’s no time for giving up If I don’t win my number is up Flatfoot boogie…Flatfoot boogie…I gotta run Flatfoot boogie…Flatfoot boogie…I gotta run

144 Georgia’s Gone to Spain

Georgia’s gone to Spain again, let me off the train The brakeman’s lost his mind They say she rocked the boat and they all ran out of time I’ve kept some secrets ‘cause everybody falls in love with her Toasting drags and chasing Steve McQueen, no she can’t see me I’ve kept my distance so she won’t know my true intentions Her eyes are lonely now I hope she falls, I hope she falls in love, I hope she falls in love with me

The city hall bricks were painted green, her daddy wore a barrel And the fair had all but closed A flag hung low without a breeze you know So, they all just went back home Yeah, we all just went back home I’ve kept some secrets ‘cause everybody falls in love with her Toasting drags and chasing Steve McQueen, no she can’t see me I’ve kept my distance so she won’t know my true intentions Her eyes are lonely now I hope she falls, I hope she falls in love, I hope she falls in love with me

Tell me mister have you seen a bullet blistered ballerina Walking through the streets here all alone I don’t think she realizes there aren’t any new surprises And an unsuspecting maid will find her note

I’ve kept some secrets ‘cause everybody falls in love with you Toasting drags and chasing Steve McQueen I’ve kept my distance so you won’t know my true intentions Your eyes are lonely now I hope you fall, I hope you fall in love, I hope you fall in love with me I hope she falls, I hope she falls in love, I hope she falls in love with me

145 Girlfriend

Always want what you can’t have Veruca Salt in Loompaland You haven’t a clue what I even mean Off with your head in the guillotine You could spend the whole year in But it won’t matter with the hole you’re in…at all

Come on, yeah, she’s just a girlfriend Come on, Come on, Come on she’s just a girlfriend Run out naked in the yard with your coon-skin cap and a two-bit cigar Hidden in a scar just above your heart Are you just retarded?

One-eyed Jack and a valium Pick you self off the ground some Johnny Rotten wearing sandals Molly Ringwold in Sixteen Candles from the state urine Can’t dull the state you’re in

Come on, Come on, Come on she’s just a girlfriend Come on, Come on, Come on she’s just a girlfriend

Flabby ass-kissing politics You’re upside down talking nonsense Earn more sessions by sleeving Wipe off your nose now it’s bleeding You could spend the whole year in But it won’t matter with the hole you’re in…at all

Come on, yeah, she’s just a girlfriend Come on, Come on, Come on she’s just a girlfriend Run out naked in the yard with your coon-skin cap and a two-bit cigar Like a superstar of the avant-garde Are you just retarded?

Hide it in a scar just above your heart, just above your heart

146 Gotta Find a Way Back Home

I hear the bells at the mission ringing in the lost Ice is gone from the riverbank but it’s still too deep to cross She wears a long white dress, walks through the reeds Easter came early this year and it’s time for me to leave They all say she’s a faith healer But I know the truth she’s a soul-stealer And nothing’s gonna save me now Gotta find a way back home Gotta cut myself free Gotta find a way back home Six bits for the wooden man and I could get myself some sleep

I stumbled into Stella’s with a thirst I could not quench Three odd hours on a barstool honey with some bourbon and some branch The local law was dispatched; they cuffed me on the spot Threw up on the county judge and then he locked me up Fifteen days in a 6 x 10 If they let me out I’ll just do it again Nothing’s gonna save me now Gotta find a way back home Gotta cut myself free Gotta find a way back home ‘Cause that kid don’t look like me

You can grin like a jester and mumble with your steel wool teeth

Hey, Chester how you been and how is Jack your dog? I heard him howling down by the slough last night in the fog I’ve been living up at the mission, washing down the floors I ain’t seen that dog of mine in thirty years or more Hound dog howling blue and red She’s a plastic bag around my head And nothing’s gonna save me now Gotta find a way back home Gotta cut myself free Gotta find a way back home Six bits for the wooden man and I could get myself some sleep

147 Hold Me Now

I’ve seen the faces of strangers on the street They nod to me and I nod at them but it all seems incomplete Well, I have lied and cheated and I have stolen hearts before Yes, I was a scoundrel, lost and heartless a long, long time ago But, not anymore

So, won’t you hold me now? Won’t you hold me tightly now? Hold me now and smile, just for a while You can shut your eyes and I’ll leave my drum

Well, I’ve been places, so many places And all these faces I can’t keep track of But nothing’s as sweet as when she says to me That she needs all of my love

So, won’t you sing with me? Won’t you sing along with me? Play a tambourine and sing a song for me, let it be Won’t you sing with me? Come on sing along with me? You could sing with me tonight, make it all right You can shut your eyes and I’ll cross my heart Cross my heart

148 (I Can’t) Laugh Like That

It’s coming from the cellar, it creeps about like death It slithers up your staircase, crawls into your head He’s standing on the corner with the wind against his chest His hands are in his pockets, but a gun’s beneath his vest He laughs at you and smiles while you get into your car You say, “I’m not who I used to be” And he says, “Oh yes you are; yes, you are” I’m sorry honey, but I can’t laugh like that anymore I’m sorry babe, but I can’t laugh like that anymore

Staring out the window with your elbows on your knees You got your chin in your hands and your tongue between your teeth You’ve been living up the river in a place all by yourself A man comes around and knocks on your door, helps you dust your shelves Once in awhile…once in awhile Once in awhile…once in awhile He stands up to leave and you start laughing across the bar You say, “I’m not who I used to be” And he says, “Oh yes you are; yes, you are” Well, I’m sorry; yeah, I’m so sorry

Why…why…tell me why…why…why…tell me why Black bone, fish-eyed tenderloin lying in the alley by the Chinese joint Why…why…tell me why

Blood on your hands, snakes in your bunk The balloons you carried have blown away, all your ships have sunk Wake up your lover, pack up a trunk You can snort those crackers good and high, pretend it’s caviar You say, “I’m not who I used to be” And he says, “Oh yes you are; yes, you are” I’m sorry honey, but I can’t laugh like that anymore I’m sorry babe, but I can’t laugh like that anymore I’m sorry; yeah, I’m so sorry

149 Maybe Tonight

All of the bears escaped from the zoo But we didn’t hear; so, there was nothing, nothing we could do

So we just sat on a bench looking up at the stars While they ran through the streets Wild as thieves All You Could Eat Closing down the bars

Maybe tonight the satellites will fall from the sky Maybe tonight the satellites will fall out of the sky

The band played on though the crowd had left They played their favorite songs like a true quintet But they had no idea, none at all, that this would be the final set

Maybe tonight the satellites will fall from the sky Maybe tonight the satellites will fall from the sky Maybe tonight the satellites will fall out of the sky

A long time ago a girl went to Spain She left her home in the states; so, she could dance out in the rain She wore a dress and a scarf and threw her coins in a well She scribbled mathematics down her leg And said, “Sometimes you can’t tell”

Maybe tonight the satellites will fall from the sky Maybe tonight the satellites will fall from the sky Maybe tonight Maybe tonight The satellites will fall

150 Molly, Me, and the Man from Tallahassee

With his comic strip grin and fishhook brows he’s difficult to read Like the belly of a reptile lying in the sun He stands by himself, but he’s never alone He’s quite aware of all his faults and charms Like the newsprint slogans cluttering his sleeve

A blood soaked bed sheet, florescent light And you think something must have crawled up and died A back-alley doctor with dirt ‘neath his nails And he’s counting the teeth in your smile Oh, ooo, yeah A girl with a scar from her smile to her ear Is talking with her hands to some weird puppeteer Who then, stares at her toenails and her kneecap mirrors Because something’s going on in that room over there You shake like a lizard on the end of a stick And you think that you just might be ill Oh, ooo, yeah

I think I got a fever, I’m burning up inside I think I got a fever; I might be going down I don’t want to stay, I don’t want to stay Girl gonna get messed up, girl gonna fall Girl gonna get messed up and Molly’s gonna cry I don’t want to know, I don’t want to know

Molly sits on a porch swing of a big, pink house Humming To Kingdom Come Me, I got a feeling, it’s certainly a feeling; I want to leave I want to go back home They’ve got some wolves down in the valley Down where the young sheep roam She’s got a feeling, it’s certainly a feeling; she wants to leave Take her back home We’ve got that feeling, it’s certainly a feeling; we want to leave Yeah, take us back home

151 Mrs. Chapman’s Daughter

Mrs. Chapman’s daughter always says hello to me Though we are not lovers, I’ve always loved her and she loves me Tell us what you really mean We really want to know I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know

Mrs. Chapman’s daughter has a garden in her yard We sit playing Rummy and she always gets her cards Now, I don’t think she’s cheating, but I couldn’t say for sure ‘Cause when the liquor is flowing freely, the whole damn thing’s a blur Tell us what you really mean We really want to know I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know

Na, na, na, na Mrs. Chapman’s daughter’s genuine Na, na, na, na, na, na, na Mrs. Chapman’s daughter Has always been a friend of mine

Mrs. Chapman’s daughter could chew an ear right off of me She speaks her mind, says her peace, and then she counts to three Mrs. Chapman’s daughter can drink my liquor and my wine ‘Cause Mrs. Chapman’s daughter has always been a friend of mine Tell us what you really mean We really want to know I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know

Na, na, na, na Mrs. Chapman’s daughter’s genuine Na, na, na, na, na, na, na Mrs. Chapman’s daughter Has always been a friend of mine

152 Nothing to Me

Maybe you could tell me what you’re trying to do? But I wish you’d just hold me ‘til the nighttime is finally through I don’t even care if you feel brand new ‘Cause nothing, I mean nothing to me is better than you No, there’s absolutely nothing, nothing to me That’s better than you

How ‘bout you tell me what you’re thinking about And maybe together we can figure the whole damn thing out I don’t really care if you feel like I do ‘Cause nothing, I mean nothing to me is better than you There’s absolutely nothing, nothing to me That’s better than you

If I had but one single wish I know what it would be I wish I could feel your heart next to mine Your skin on my skin Tonight Tonight Tonight

Tell me what you think that the future might be When the trees are all bare and there’s no sign of leaves to be seen I think the skies will be cloudless and blue ‘Cause nothing, I mean nothing to me is better than you There’s absolutely nothing, nothing to me That’s better than you Absolutely nothing is better than you

153 Rocking Chair (Crippled and Broken)

I’ve got a rocking chair on my back porch where I can’t do no harm I can sip my drink, pet my dog, and stare out at the lawn I could nap all day until it’s dark I got me a plan where I nap away my heart I’m going to nap away this crippled and broken heart

Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m awake or still asleep I see that face that broke my heart and stole my soul to keep I could weep all day until it’s dark I got me a plan where I weep away my heart I’m going to weep away this crippled and broken heart I’m going to weep away this crippled and broken heart

I’ve got a certain stick I like to use when I am feeling down Its point is dull, but I stick it in and I twist it all around I could bleed all day until it’s dark I got me a plan where I bleed away my heart I’m going to bleed away this crippled and broken heart

154 Roll Over

There go Cali Parker Hip Shake She bring Mississippi doe-eye She does rush of milfillusion She packs a sissy-bar smile She studies the mirror and her reflection She might miss the bus, but she makes her connection

She wear bubblegum reptile She’s got three-toe end bomb She’s buck-naked to her mukluks She dig Uzi Watusi She hasn’t prayer for absolution She’s gonna kick-start a revolution Come on, come on, come on everybody roll over Smile for me one more time

She drop frappuccino faux pas She’s sport Almond Joy Gangsta She bag black sheep politico She take cauliflower necktie Truth and lies are all imagination Watch her scratch without humiliation Come on, come on, come on everybody roll over Smile for me one more time

Downtown brick-steer blood bank She take cracker box alibi She sing pink one and a green one She got no diamond back hybrid She might dance on the television But she don’t come unless it’s her decision Come on, come on, come on everybody roll over Smile for me one more time

155 Spoons

The coldness of your pillow tells me you didn’t sleep last night I dreamed I set your body a flame on a beach and it felt alright And walking away I felt absolutely zero remorse Your scent was on my skin like never before You think that I’m strange like spoons in the wall But maybe, baby, I’m not strange at all

The moment stretches out like a lazy ol’ cat in the summer sun I’m busy carving words into my skin and it seems like fun And when I’m through I’ll take some pictures of you hanging on the door Later maybe, I’ll take you down and roll you on the floor You think that I’m strange like spoons in the wall But maybe, baby, I’m not strange at all

The air around me’s hot and wrinkled like an un-ironed shirt The sweat is running off my brow and my hands are in the dirt And walking away I’m dusting off my hands and singing in my heart Looking at the bright side, baby, has never been this hard You think that I’m strange like spoons in the wall But maybe, baby, I’m not strange at all

Is it all that you had in mind? Is it all that you had in mind? Is it all that you had in mind?

156

That’s How It Is

Sometimes late at night, I see that death cab through the fog I know she’s in the drivers’ seat…With her dashboard lights aglow, her arm out of the window; she likes to think she’s so discreet But I see her from a mile down the street, she says take it from me, get out of the kitchen if you can’t stand the heat…I say your heart is on your sleeve, stop your bitching at me, and then she slips her hands into the pockets of my jeans and tries to communicate, emphasize She talks in riddles and she swats at flies, I hear those words that she’s saying escaping from her teeth, nothing that she says ever makes sense to me And somewhere in my head OOO I would like to see her dead Yeah, that’s how it is

She can be as crazy as a mule when she asks if I’m happy and is everything is good…I tell her that I’ve gotten everything I’ve wanted though sometimes I think I’ve only blown up the neighborhood She laughs you can bang that drum until angels come or until you’ve got yourself a hole, and then I see her grin, I know what she is thinking, she’s thinking man, how the hell’d I ever fall in love with him? And then she starts to cry, feel her head on my shoulder, she whispers, I don’t want to grow any older; I say I know babe, but whatcha gonna do, I just want to grow old with you And somewhere in her head OOO she would like to see me dead Yeah, that’s how it is

Times in the morning, when there are still ghosts in our bedroom I can watch her sleeping…I struggle not to wake her, but I always seem to fail her, but she’s never upset She just whispers how’d you sleep, I feel her hand on my cheek, I just smile and go back to sleep with her in my arms, I’m in a dream, it’s so much better than I thought it would be And somewhere in my head OOO I would like to see her dead Yeah, that’s how it is

157

When You Die

So, this is what it’s like when you die I can hardly believe I’ve been waiting for this for my whole life ‘Cause there isn’t any choir singing a song There isn’t any fire and there isn’t any God There isn’t any fanfare or bright white light So, this is what it’s like when you die

So, how is it now that you’re all grown up? Is everything as easy for you as you once thought it would be? And when you wake up and look in the mirror Do you know all the answers and is everything clear? And when you shut your eyes, are you pure in thought? So, how is it now that you’re all grown up?

I’m sorry if you misunderstood me, but you haven’t seen me clearly I’m sorry if you are alone, I’d like to know what you’re thinking I’m sorry if all of your best-laid plans have all gone up in smoke I’m sorry

So, whatcha gonna do after today? With your head so full of words, that you’ve never heard And your mouth can’t say I’m sorry if you feel that I’ve been trite A big bang theory of why you’re alive But Jesus Christ couldn’t even show you the way So, whatcha gonna do after today?

158

159

Honey, Won’t You Spare Some Bills

Just Plain Patrick 2016

When I started this one I thought it would go a lot quicker, but from the first session until mastering took about four years. Why? Well, Peter finally got a grownup job and a girlfriend, which cut down on his free time considerably. I broke my shoulder, which stopped me for at least six months. And the rest is just life. The basic tracks were cut with Maria Joyner on drums and me on guitar or wurly. Then I proceeded to overdub the rest. Riley helped a bunch with sax. He and his friend Marcus (trumpet) played on 3 of the songs together. Jenny DiMartino added some congas and backing vocals on some. Deb and Craig Brown did some backing vocals. Douglas went all out on backing vocals to the point I had to give him a writing credit…as usual, the man knocks me out! I tried to make this one a little less eclectic and a bit more of a sound. I recorded slide on almost everything, there is sax on at least half of the songs, and between Jenny and me there are congas on everything. I think it worked.

160 Acapulco

I skip down those crooked steps from your house again I take them two at a time With the wind in my hair and sunshine on my face I don’t even turn around this time I don’t even think about it twice

I’m going down to Acapulco now I’m already gone, I’m already gone I’m going down to Acapulco now And I’m ready for whatever may come

They all seem to know my name at the dancehall now He’s the one that can’t button his lip Even so, I don’t need your helping hand anymore I’m going to leave here before I slip I’m gonna take me a trip

I’m going down to Acapulco now I’m already gone, I’m already gone I’m going down to Acapulco now And I’m ready for whatever may come

I can see the blue of the ocean in front of me I’ve got sand between my toes and a salty drink The breeze is warm and my eyes are closed And the sun’s just starting to sink And the whole thing makes me think

I’m going down to Acapulco now I’m already gone, I’m already gone I’m going down to Acapulco now And I’m ready for whatever may come And I’m ready for whatever may come I’m gonna get me some sun

161

Breakdown Saturday Night

Lopsided in Lafayette Fever blisters and night sweats She can’t sleep and she can’t think Lost her dinner in the bathroom sink Seven hours on a bus stop bench Her back feels like a monkey wrench Counts my quarters and counts my dimes Takes her sixes and hides her nines

She likes the sugar and she likes the spice She says it’s really nice She likes her liquor straight on ice She says it goes down nice Shake those hips and make it feel right A little rock-n-roll on a Saturday night How about a little rock-n-roll on a Saturday night

Dropped out in Baltimore Flats on the whistle but she can’t score Wrap it up quick and wrap it up tight, Sprinkle some breadcrumbs out tonight

She’s gonna squeal and she’s gonna bite She’s gonna dance all night Not coming home ‘til broad daylight You know those vampires they are out tonight

She likes the sugar and she likes the spice She says it’s really nice She’s gonna squeal and she’s gonna bite She’s gonna dance all night Shake those hips and make it just right A little rock-n-roll on a Saturday night How about a little rock-n-roll on a Saturday night

162 Don’t Mean a Thing (Under a Tree)

Holy Rollers on the corner with signs in their hands I’ve sounded out the words, but I still don’t understand Scripture scribbled Jesus sticks have started to bleed While they crucify a cellist just for destiny Go ahead and bury me under a tree Take a deep breath in Let a deep breath out Can you muster up the mustard just to scream and shout? Paint yourself some t-shirts Put up a marquee, But those rollers on the corner they don’t mean a thing to me

There’s a fat kid on the corner with a Slurpee and a blade Newton dropped an apple and Skinner ran astray Weapons violations cross the line in Tennessee While the ghost of Charlie Chaplin’s paying alimony Go ahead and bury me under a tree Let a deep breath out Take a deep breath and suck it right in It’s time to let the wild rumpus begin Maybe you can help me Maybe you can see, But this fat kid on the corner don’t mean a thing to me

Hey, hey Juanita…be my tortilla…just for awhile Hey, hey Juanita…be my tortilla…just for awhile Hey, hey Juanita…be my tortilla…just for awhile

Take a deep breath in Let a deep breath out Can you muster up the mustard just to scream and shout? Paint yourself some t-shirts Put up a marquee, But those rollers on the corner they don’t mean a thing to me That fat kid on the corner he don’t mean a thing to me You buggers on the corner you don’t mean a thing to me

163

Dream

I want to dream… Dream, dream, dream away this pain I don’t want it now Dream… I keep trying to remember to forget how to remember All the mistakes that I have ever made Maybe you could help me darling Can you show me the way?

I keep messing with the potions and emotions of my life Like I’m some crazy alchemist I see those faces from my past And I wonder if they even exist I’m afraid I need a fix darling Can you help me with this?

I feel eyes upon my staring like I’ve lost all sense of reason And I’m just a fatalist I take everything that’s good and I destroy it Like some kind of terrorist

I want to dream… Dream, dream, dream away this pain I don’t want it now Dream… I keep trying to remember to forget how to remember All the mistakes that I have ever made Maybe you could help me darling Can you show me the way? Maybe you could help me darling Can you show me the way?

164 (Hey Mamma) Seven Stones of Happiness, but I Can’t Shake These Blues

I was standing ‘gainst the railing when the rain began to fall Flashlight bubblicious upside down out of my skull Dewdrop blindfold, five, one, two plastic bag taped ‘cross my window I hustled up a taxi, cross the river, to beat the cold

I dialed up the Wang man, but he don’t take my calls no more I’m hanging down at the Clock Tower Hotel like a nail without a board Rasta Sadie and the Handshake Dumpster sell tie-dyes down below While the girls pray for a rainstorm that won’t damage all their soles Hey mama, can you tell me any news? I’ve got seven stones of happiness, but I can’t shake these blues

The elevator opened with rubber bottles and broken strings They asked me if I’d share a bite before the fat girl starts to sing Hey mama, can I tell me any news? Hey mama, what am I supposed to do? Hey mama, mama I’m three shades of blue Hey mama…Hey mama

I was standing on the railing of the bridge just chewing gum While the mayor counted his money and the police chief wiped his gun The rock star at the hotel he went crazy on the TV sets Now he’s a fat man in the bathtub with a bullet in his chest Hey mama, can you tell me any news? I’ve got seven stones of happiness, but I can’t shake these blues

The Wang man left a message with the Clock Tower concierge So I shook off all those sandstorm dollars and went to get my wares In the meantime, Sadie and the girls did a séance ‘cause they were bored And they conjured up Mark Bolan like it was 1974 Get it on, mama won’t you bang that gong? Get it on, get it on, can you tell me what is wrong? Hey mama, mama can you tell me any news? I’ve got seven stones of happiness, but I can’t shake these blues

165

Honey, Won’t You Spare Some Bills

I didn’t think she had a chance That dragon’s just in her head You can tell her anything you want And she’ll forget everything you said That monkey might be funky But man, that girl ain’t got no bread

Oooo, why don’t we… Lie down in the moonlight Stare up at the sky Or we could go down to the highway And catch ourselves a ride Catch ourselves a ride Catch ourselves a ride

There’s the rooster and the duck Sunday morning’s such a thrill I could get down on my knees and pray But I’d still be an imbecile Well, that Rooster he’s no chicken And Duck says, “Put it on my bill” I’m afraid I need a band aid Honey, please just spare some bills Honey, won’t you spare some bills Honey, won’t you spare some bills

Oooo, why don’t we… Lie down in the moonlight Stare up at the sky Or we could go down to the highway And catch ourselves a ride Catch ourselves a ride Catch ourselves a ride

Commmmmme baby, gonna catch ourselves a ride

166 Meadowlark Lemon

Chemicals and neon Down at Cozy’s Bar & Grill We could all hear that jukebox humping And we couldn’t get our fill Molotov cocktail in stained glass Gliding up to me My mouth felt just like a cotton ball And this is what came to me

I’ll be Meadowlark Lemon if you can swing like a sweet cowgirl I could shoot and dribble while you wear those boots and spurs I’ll be Meadowlark Lemon and shoot a hook shot true and sure Let’s all sing Sweet Georgia Brown and dance right out the door

She was no church Christ woman And I was swimming on a fiery lake But she loved those words rolling off my tongue And so, I sang ‘em every night and day

I’ll be Meadowlark Lemon and shoot a hook shot true and sure Let’s all sing Sweet Georgia Brown and dance right out the door

It’s been more than a year now Since she vanished and dropped that bomb She left me here high and dry With nothing but a song I’ve been sitting in a booth in Cozy’s Every day since she’s been gone And everybody here well, they know my tale So they all sing along

I’ll be Meadowlark Lemon if you can swing like a sweet cowgirl I could shoot and dribble while you wear those boots and spurs I’ll be Meadowlark Lemon and shoot a hook shot true and sure Let’s all sing Sweet Georgia Brown and dance right out the door

167

Rub One Out

You said, “Hey, hey,” when you woke up late You got nothing to give, you got nothing to say Looks like trouble’s on the way Well, if it’s trouble Momma you can’t stop it anyway

Rub one out and see, Rub one out for me You better rub it out soon and enjoy your afternoon

You better just sit back Maybe take a nap You gotta relax and let it pass away Because your eyes are wild And you’ve been hanging off the lampshade So get your feet on the ground or you might just blow away You better polish up your stone before it rolls away

Rub one out and see, Rub one out for me Set those cobwebs free, you can’t let it be Rub one out and see, Rub one out for me You better rub it out soon and enjoy your afternoon

You said, “Hey, hey,” when you woke up late Got nothing to fear, it’s a beautiful day Looks like sunshine’s on its way You know, sometimes mama you just gotta say, “What the hey”

Rub one out and see, Rub one out for me You better rub it out soon and enjoy your afternoon

Rub one out and see, Rub one out for me Set those cobwebs free, you can’t let it be Rub one out and see, Rub one out for me You better rub it out soon and enjoy your afternoon You better rub it out soon and enjoy your afternoon

168 San Jose

Going to San Jose Have we traveled 40 miles? Summer rain ruts and ditch dug misguided trials Square toed and hollering Fire hydrant bust Running for shelter like rain dogs sprinting And those children in the street well they just keep singing

La, la, la, la, one morning; we just woke up on this road And it just keeps on going and going and all those children are singing La, la, la, la, la, la, la; you can come to me in the morning But I never want to ride this road again

Painted toes and piercings Tore our pockets in a dust storm Hammered out and hammered in our legs are burnt and worn Pistol whipped on caffeine Are we lost again? Shoplifting buttermilk, keep on running; Hell, maybe we should have turned way back when

La, la, la, la, one morning; we just woke up on this road And it just keeps on going and going and all those children are singing La, la, la, la, la, la, la; you can come to me in the morning But I never want to ride this road again

Ooo, yeah, yeah honey, gonna roll right through the night Ooo, yeah, yeah we’re gonna roll Going to San Jose, seems like seven days

La, la, la, la, one morning; we just woke up on this road And it just keeps on going and going and all those children are singing La, la, la, la, one morning; we just woke up on this road And it just keeps on going and going and all those children are singing La, la, la, la, la, la, la; you can come to me in the morning But I never want to ride this road again

169

Skimpy Tops

Sunshine and summertime on my mind Lying in the grass just wasting time All of the time Everything is fine Haven’t got a dime But now that’s ok

Sunshine and Good Vibrations now Raising up my glasses past my brow Well I could show you how, She says, “Hey now…Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout?” I’ll tell you ‘bout the birds and the butterflies But I can’t tell you why I like those skimpy tops…

Summertime and nothing’s going on Park birds with their radios but nothing’s going on, Hey, what’s that song? Can you tell me? What the hell’s going on? I swear honey I’m not looking now, But I know you know that is a lie I can’t tell you why I like those skimpy tops…

Sunshine and summertime on my skin I’m just floating down a stream on my daydream again Can’t be a sin Chocolate covered aspirin I might be tripping once in a while But you know what makes me smile I like those skimpy tops

170

Sunday Veil

Daylight comes sneaking I open up my eyes I feel her fingers start creeping It always makes me smile

Put on your Sunday veil Put that Sunday veil Everybody smiles it never fails When she puts on that Sunday veil

She sits down by the maple She puts her feet on me She shuts her eyes and she smiles But she don’t say a thing Sunshine dancing on the water She got daisies in her hair Fish can jump, jump, jump and mingle But I just whisper in her ear

Put on your Sunday veil Put that Sunday veil Everybody smiles it never fails When she puts on that Sunday veil Put on your Sunday veil Put on your Sunday veil Everybody sing Yeah everybody sings When she puts on that Sunday veil

171 Under the Sun (You Can’t Blame Me)

You can’t blame me this time at all It’s not my fault No, not at all

Dream Go ahead and dream Bathe yourself in milk and honey Dream Dream Fill your eyes up with everything under the sun Everything under the sun

You can’t blame me this time at all It’s not my fault No, not at all You can’t blame me this time at all

Smile You’ve got to smile There’s nothing free in this old world You got to smile Smile Watch those clouds part right open for you Maybe you could tell me something honey But I’ll tell you something and it ain’t that funny at all

You can’t blame me this time at all It’s not my fault No, not at all

Dream Go ahead and dream Wipe those footprints off of the ceiling Dream Dream Fill your eyes up with everything under the sun Everything under the sun

172

173

Outtakes and Pancakes

Just Plain Patrick 2016

A companion piece of songs recorded for Honey, Won’t You Spare Some Bills plus some home recorded demos. Cousin, Television, and Let It Go are the outtakes and the rest were recorded at home. The demos are in different arrangements. Some have drums and other instruments and a couple are only vocal and acoustic guitar.

174 Assumption Parish

You say that I don’t even know you anymore You say that I don’t even care I know that I can’t save you this time but my love is true I swear

I know that there are decisions to be made I know, yes, I know that there are decisions to make There’s one thing that I’d like to say to you before you turn and walk away

Please don’t go back to Assumption Parish Please don’t go please don’t leave Please don’t go back to Assumption Parish Before you say good-bye to me

Please don’t go back to Assumption Parish Please don’t go please don’t leave Please don’t go back to Assumption Parish Before you say good-bye to me

You say that I don’t even know you anymore You say that I don’t even care I know that I can’t save you this time I know that I can’t save you this time but my love is true I swear

Please don’t go back to Assumption Parish Please don’t go please don’t leave Please don’t go back to Assumption Parish Before you say good-bye to me

175 Cousin

A friendly smile can’t hide that thin skin for long The family name is gone and you are all alone You are all alone Growing up for you meant fading away to me A roadside zoo can’t keep any of your dreams Any of your dreams

Nothing’s ever easy as it seems to be The more you try the bigger you fail But there ain’t no use in fretting ‘bout it now ‘Cause you know damn well you ain’t got no one left to blame Except yourself

Your fair skin burns in the sun so you hide it away from view But there’s nothing you can do That’s gonna take you away from here That’s gonna take you away from here

You signed your name and you shook their hands You walked away and you didn’t look back A red-haired girl with eyes of green You knew damn well you were never coming back Never coming back

Won’t you please hold my head underneath the water now? Won’t you please hold my head underneath the water now? Won’t you please, please, please hold my head…hold my head?

Better, wrap that jacket around your shoulders good and tight ‘Cause a cold wind’s blowing and it won’t let up When you hit that tree line, go ahead and look But you know damn well this has never been your home… Never been your home

Growing up for you meant fading away to me

176 Even When I Was

You can prop me up Like a statue in the corner of the room You can pick up around me if you like And dust me off with your broom You can dance to the radio And maybe you’ll hear a song that I wrote When you’re lonely at night You can talk to me softly if that’s what you want And pretend that I’m there Pretend that I care Like I know you think everyone does But I haven’t been there for a long, long time Even when I was

It wasn’t a lie When I said, you meant the world to me God, knows that I tried to provide everything you could possibly need ‘Cept for me Except for me,

I know that it seems That at times I was nothing but a ghost And you probably believe I deceived you But honey I gave you more than I gave most So go and dance to the radio And maybe you’ll hear a song that I wrote When you’re lonely at night You can talk to me softly if that’s what you want And pretend that I’m there Pretend that I care Like I know you think everyone does But, I haven’t been there for a long, long time Even when I was

177 Girl from Montgomery

With frail fingers and stubby little toes She’s comfort and pleasure wrapped up in a Christmas bow With her headstrong smile underneath a determined nose Some of you might think you know her but surely nobody knows She’s my girl from Montgomery and she saved my soul So, if you are lucky to see that girl from Montgomery Just give her my love and say hello

She can be a cynic or subtly proud With a thoughtful silence she can leave you completely spellbound She whispers in her sleep and tries to blend into the crowd Some of you might think you’ve lost her but your talk’s not that profound She’s my girl from Montgomery and she’s already figured you out So, if you are lucky to see that girl from Montgomery Just give her my love and shout it out loud

With a feline nature and night owl ways She covers her fair skin whether it is night or day She can wear black and white and still show you her blues and grays Some of you might think you’ve seen her but you’re all in a haze She’s my girl from Montgomery and she’s got me in her maze So, if you are lucky to see that girl from Montgomery Just give her my love and all my praise

She can be an open book or she can be a recluse With her little white lies and all of her wisdom and truth Her mystery’s greater than anything you could deduce Some of you might think you’ve met her, but you’ve never been introduced She’s my girl from Montgomery and she’s 100 proof So, if you are lucky to see that girl from Montgomery Just give her my love without excuse

With speech that’s cautious she rarely offends She can be down and out and still you know that you’ve got a friend Her sincerity’s heartfelt and she never tries to pretend Some of you might think you’ve heard her but I guess that all depends She’s my girl from Montgomery and she is my oxygen So, if you are lucky to see that girl from Montgomery Just give her my love and say amen

178 Gone to the Movies

If you see my girl tonight say I’ve gone to the movies I’ll be sitting in the dark back row staring up at the screen Maybe I’ll share some popcorn with a stranger next to me And then we’ll sip on this bottle that I snuck in under my sleeve If you see my girl tonight If you see my baby tonight Tell her I’m alright And I’ve only gone to the movies

If you see my girl tonight say I’ve gone to the movies I’ll be watching Charlie Heston play a Mexican again And even though I’ve memorized it all by heart And I talk to Dietrich in my favorite parts Tell all those Grandview boys in the front row to sit back down If you see my girl tonight If you see my baby tonight Tell her I’m alright And I’ve only gone to the movies

If you see my girl tonight say I’ve gone to the movies Because I can’t seem to muster the words to tell her goodbye I’m gonna fill my pockets with stones, jump in the river all alone And when they find my bones on the rocks in the morning Please don’t let her cry But if you see my girl tonight If you see my baby tonight Tell her I’m alright And I’ve only gone to the movies If you see my girl tonight If you see my baby tonight Tell her I’m alright And I’ve only gone to the movies

179 Let It Go

I could tell you some things That no one else even knows ‘Cept for me You could even be my confidant If you wanted to be I don’t know Sometimes I just don’t think so But I’ve been wrong so many times before And summer doesn’t seem that long ago It’s just not that special to me anymore I don’t know Sometimes it’s best just to let it go

I could hold your hand And make you feel safe For a while, just a while Her cold blue breath Escapes from her chest Just like the moonlight in my dreams So it seems to me that… You’ve fallen asleep And all the voices that you keep inside your head Have fallen silent for you now

I don’t know Sometimes I just don’t think so But I’ve been wrong so many times before And summer doesn’t seem that long ago It’s just not that special to me anymore I don’t know Sometimes it’s best just to let it go Sometimes it’s best just to let it go Sometimes it’s best just to let it go

180 Television

I’ve grown tired of all of these pills And your hipster friends have lost their appeal Your mouth speaks like too much mustard And it only makes me want to kiss your lips

I’ve got a television Tells me what to do I’ve got the Star Spangled Banner in my head Naked knees, service station Eyelash, reservations I’m not giving up on you

My blood’s on fire, hotel matches Makeup compact, long sleeve scratches Sarah Vowell’s on Letterman tonight If you tell me a secret, I’ll hide it in my mouth

I’ve got a television Tells me what to do There’s blue, blue light glowing off my windows Hoodoo, boogaloo Rock N Roll Hootchie Koo I’m not giving up on you

You make me ill every time you throw up It’s not that amusing anymore You’ve lost your nerve and I’ve lost my guts But who am I to tell this to you

I’ve got a television Tells me what to do I’ve got plenty of fluids and I love the bomb Anesthetic, comatose Pepto-Bismol and a weenie roast I’m not giving up on you I’m not giving up on you I, I, I, I, I’m not giving up…on you

181 Two Yellow Leaves

There’s only two yellow leaves left on the maple And Jack Frost is whistling in my ear Most people focus on this pain behind my eyes But I believe it’s the best time of the year

This Earth beneath my feet feels like sand on a beach With the ocean calm and a lighthouse near Most people focus on this pain behind my eyes But promise me you’ll never shed a tear

Just sing me a song that I’ll always remember Remember when I’m high Sing me a song…one that I can whistle When I die

There’s frost on the pane and I can even see my breath And this fire never seems to warm my bones Most people focus on this pain behind my eyes But I know that we all die alone

Just sing me a song that I’ll always remember Remember when I’m high Sing me a song…one that I can whistle When I die

There’s only two yellow leaves left on the maple But I don’t think I’ll ever see them fall Most people focus on this pain behind my eyes But I hope you know that I have loved you all Believe me when I say I’ve loved you all

182

Songs Not Recorded…Yet

Here are all the others I’ve written since 2004, but haven’t been recorded. Some have been played live solo or with JPB, while others have never been done for an audience.

183 5 Reasons for Leaving

I see her hanging in the checkout line Bags in her arms and under her eyes She’s skinny as a razor clam at a low, low tide I guess she thinks she’s pretty like that She’s just another cigarette in the pack Slingshot showing and a bull’s-eye on her lower back

Midnight moon-dance in a garden of sin He paid his money so they’d let him in He checked his ticket and he asked his friends But none of them are sure when it is supposed to begin I guess he’s looking for the fountain of youth Maybe he’ll find in a kissing booth Down at the fairgrounds there’s a girl who thinks he’s cute

OOO I want to see the ocean swallow up the sun While I’m driving down on the 101 I want to feel a breeze blowing in my face I’m turning my back and I never want to see this place…ever again

He’s a hipster cyclone with a beanie on his head But he looks more like a hip-hop Zimmerman instead Except for his goatee he looks like Sideshow Bob He sees her standing in the checkout line I know exactly what is on his mind He spills his cappuccino asking her for the time

They call him Sir on the hill when he gets into town But he doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground He’s gonna to sit in that seat until the ship goes down He sees a good thing and gives it a nay I think this horse has had too much hay

I see you leaving that store driving your SUV You honk your horn at an employee You scream hey, get out of my way But, he’s only doing his job I guess you think that you’re a real hot stuff You run a red light and you flip them off Then you drive over to church and you pray to God

184 13 Soles

I’ve been playing with gods and monsters I’ve been dancing with ghosts and wolves I’ve been swimming with gimps and geeks now Turning water to blood

But you’re not an angel anymore No, you’re just like me You’re not an angel anymore

Hey, hey, hey, yeah we’re on our way we’ve got 13 soles on a holiday Hey…hey…hey, hey, hey, we’re on a holiday with 13 soles today

I’ve been living on the straight and narrow Eating apples from where ever I please

But you’re not an angel anymore No, you’re just like me You’re not an angel anymore

Hey, hey, hey, yeah we’re on our way we’ve got 13 soles on a holiday Hey…hey…hey, hey, hey, we’re on a holiday with 13 soles today

I’ve been swinging with the dull and dizzy I’ve been stealing from the rest of you I’ve been riding past the church and graveyard Can’t you see me there waving at you?

But you’re not an angel anymore No, you’re just like me You’re not an angel anymore

Hey, hey, hey, yeah we’re on our way we’ve got 13 soles on a holiday Hey…hey…hey, hey, hey, we’re on a holiday with 13 soles today

185 Affairs in Order

I think it’s high time that we all tell the truth Point the finger at ourselves and suffer the abuse I think it’s high time we tell it like it is you betcha’ Divide all the assets into piles hers and his I’ve been getting my affairs in order Honey, I’m gonna leave here when I can

I’ve seen those blue beards coked out of the their minds Hangin’ ‘round my doorstep after midnight like some hipster 5 and dime I’ve seen those blue tattoos snaking down their backs They’ve got their $13.47 in their pockets for beer and snacks I’ve been getting my affairs in order Honey, I’m gonna leave here when I can

I’ve got some time! Hell yes. Are you gonna stay? Hell no. You’re all buzzed out! Hell Yes. You better get yourself together Here comes the light! Hell yes. Are you afraid? Hell no. It’s feeling weird! Hell Yes. You better get yourself together

I think it’s high time we lay it on the line Dip our finger in the pudding and sample apple pie I think it’s high time to put those ducks in a row Jump into the water and let the good times roll I’ve been getting my affairs in order I’ve been getting my affairs in order I’ve been getting my affairs in order Honey, I’m gonna leave here when I can

186 Airplanes

Airplanes falling from the sky Look at faces all around We’re looking up into the sky We’re watching airplanes falling We’re watching airplanes falling down I want to breathe (Don’t hold my hand) Just let me breathe (Don’t touch my skin) Can’t seem to breathe anymore (anymore) I want to breathe (Don’t say a word) Just let me breathe (Don’t speak my name) Can’t seem to breathe anymore (anymore)

I see the ground is floating up It’s rushing up and up and up It’s so loud I can’t hear a sound We’re watching airplanes falling We’re watching airplanes falling down I want to breathe (Don’t hold my hand) Just let me breathe (Don’t touch my skin) Can’t seem to breathe anymore (anymore) I want to breathe (Don’t say a word) Just let me breathe (Don’t speak my name) Can’t seem to breathe anymore (anymore)

Wingtips and laptops on the move Secrets of science have gotten loose Little bags of peanuts floating ‘round We’re watching airplanes falling We’re watching airplanes falling down I want to breathe (Don’t hold my hand) Just let me breathe (Don’t touch my skin) Can’t seem to breathe anymore (anymore) I want to breathe (Don’t say a word) Just let me breathe (Don’t speak my name) Can’t seem to breathe anymore (anymore)

187 Another Christmas Bash

Well, the mall is open ‘til midnight they say And the mood is festive, joyful, and gay The parking lot’s full and just waiting for a crash They're all headed out to another Christmas bash

Ooh, baby, ooh-ee Ooh, baby, ooh-ee It's another Christmas bash

Well, I took my therapist to the jamboree Santa was there and she sat on his knee He whispered in her ear with his white mustache Then invited her out to another Christmas bash

Back at the office they’re talking ‘bout the scene ‘Cause Suzie’s sitting on the copy machine They’re all making copies and taking out the trash They'll talk until June about another Christmas bash

Well, I’ve sampled the candy but avoided pies And the roast beast nearly brought tears to my eyes I’ve gobbled the cookies and developed a rash But I’m still gonna go to another Christmas bash

Well, I'm toasting the snow and I’m toasting the tree It’s way past the time when I should be asleep But I’ve spent all my time, my energy and cash So I can drink myself silly at another Christmas bash

188 Autumn Swallows

The sky is low and heavy Distant fence line birds There’s something going on here that you can’t put in words So you turn to face the corner and you wonder if she knows So you ask her what her name is, and why she hasn’t any clothes Is something going on here, but she just smiles and purrs You turn to me, and whisper in cryptic purple verbs

Spicy spoken glass Static rusted leaves A smudged and dusty floorboard and skinny, scuffed up knees There’s something going on here, but you’re not sure it’s clear So you stop asking questions to see what you can hear

She stumbles down a hallway And disappears from sight The ice cubes in your tumbler jingle in the light You ask me where she’s gone to and I say that I’ll inquire There’s smoky floating paper and someone screams out fire There’s something going on here but you don’t know what it is Perhaps its words you’ve spoken or all the things you did

189 Bay Song

A boat at the bay Takes me to her I have been there Many times before When the water shimmers And the moon is bright I can hear her Calling

Lift my soul up and let me fly away lift my soul up

Over and over I’ve made the row A lantern’s glimmer On the opposite shore The lap of the waves Against the hull It’s her heartbeat

Lift my soul up and let me fly away lift my soul up

Time and time I’ve shook my head My heart is full Full of regret But then again, Here I am Down at the bay Again

Lift my soul up and let me fly away lift my soul up

Lift my soul up and let me fly away lift my soul up

190 Camille

Camille, Camille came home last night Her red hair in tangles but she looked alright Hungry and tired but she wouldn’t sleep a bit Good God, tell me girl, where have you been Put on your red skirt Put on your boots Let’s hit the town tonight and do it real good Camille, Camille… Let’s do it good I say… OH

Let’s see some bright lights and celebrations Sample all the medications Stockpile your firearms and explosives All aboard pack up you caboose Let’s fumble ‘bout and stumble ‘bout and run around like fools Camille put on your red skirt and boots

Camille, Camille where did you go It’s been four long years since you walked out the door Camille, Camille Am I out of my brain? Your twin sister’s older but you look just the same Drugged up on electric lights Are we in cahoots? Let’s hit the town tonight and do it real good Camille, Camille… Let’s do it good…

Camille, Camille my zombie girl indeed I’ll get you what you want and I’ll get you what you need

191 Carnivale

Big top down by the water Washing off the road Scorpion girl is dancing with the cootch Like she’s riding on a toad

Better shake some dust Better shake some dust Better shake some dust Better shake, shake, shake, shake some dust

Preacher’s got the black eyes Blind man’s in the yard The bearded lady’s got the Snake-Charmer thumping But the psychic’s got the cards

Better shake some dust Better shake some dust Better shake some dust Better shake, shake, shake, shake some dust

The prophesy’s been tattooed Cornfields will fall Life from death, moonlight’s the Devil And the sunlight is God

Better shake some dust Better shake some dust Better shake some dust Better shake, shake, shake, shake some dust

192 Crucifix

A mother traffic stain in a tunnel Peace folded hands Maybe it’s a miracle Maybe it’s a scam Crucifix in your nightmares Shadows in the hall Praying to a savior Now, you’re praying to a wall Get down on your knees

Opossum in the headlights Operation in the road Death-wish monkey, suicide junky But I can’t get off the phone Crucifix on the headboard Saves you from what you’ve done Crucifix in the bathroom Bless this hallowed throne

Television girl smiling at the camera Girl in the apple wins a million dollars Tongue-tied, brain-fried, cross-eyed girl Television smile wins a million dollars Win a million

The fifth one ended up in Paris The sixth one went to Rome White smoke from the Chapel Now nothing else is on Maybe it’s a miracle

193 Death Door Boogie (Accepted It Now)

Behind the wheel of a big black car, my lights are shining out in the dark I’ve been driving, driving a while down this road in high gear There’s a heavenly glow from the dashboard lights There’s a man beside me I don’t know by sight I keep checking, checking back in my rearview mirror I’ve been wearing suits and smelling perfume, making love in the afternoon I’m attending a party but I can’t pronounce the address

I twist and turn ‘til I’m upside-down, I look up and see a big black cloud Nighttime’s upon me, yeah, the sun’s going down It used to scare me some honey, but I’ve accepted it now

I drive into town like I used to do; it’s patched together with sticks and glue I’m running, running from dogs with meat in their teeth The circus is here crowding the street While a brass band plays and a blind girl screams There’s a dead white pony lying at a child’s feet I’ve got pills in my pockets, spiders on my skin When nobody’s looking I swallow them in Then I swagger back to the party and nobody’s wiser

I’m gimped up, feeling my age, I’m a bare tree standing in a winter’s rage I’ve been falling, falling down and I can’t get up again People surround me like its Halloween I don’t recognized a single face I’ve seen I’m leaving; leaving soon I think I hear my train I hear a song inside my head with a sweet voice moaning out to the dead You can’t call it a party until something gets broken

I’m wrapped up in a swaddling sheet I’ve used and abused and now I’m obsolete I’m smiling, smiling at you but it’s all a façade On a night like this not long ago I crossed the line and I lost my soul Now I’m waiting, waiting to dance in the arms of God It’s coming ‘round the corner, coming down the pike Like a tattooed madman on a motorbike I’m going to tiptoe out of this party and get back on the road

194 Denial

Too many mistakes, all the choices are gone Wants and needs, rights and wrongs She didn’t have a chance this time, she didn’t say goodbye Chewing up her soul you zombies, she’s still alive It’s starting to boil in here, it’s starting to sweat Bubbles rising up to the top, you gotta pay that debt

Denial, run away, run away, run away, denial

Got their hands in chains, walking in a line Gonna tell you a story, if we got the time A monster in her past and the doors are locked Holding all the dogs at bay, that’s all you got That’s me making her nervous, that’s me with the sick inside That’s me with the brake lights showing, come on girl, let’s take a ride

Denial, run away, run away, run away, denial

Lights flickering on and off, waking up the dead Love’s stronger than the big deep sleep, that’s what they’ve said There’s a child beside her bed, she’s holding her nightmares in She’s looking in his eyes, she’s touching scars It’s not decoration, she says its definition She’s making a declaration, that kid’s an abomination

Denial, run away, run away, run away, denial

195 Devil of the Tangled Blue Branches

Blood and mud Water’s rising up Souls underneath Trying to breathe There’s a monster In the shadows With her sweat and her steam Rising up like a storm Starting to scream

Devil of the tangled blue branches yellow eyes on me

Devil of the tangled blue branches eyes on me Devil of the tangled blue branches yellow eyes on me

Behind the quiet of my eyes I see invisible pieces They float like a boat Down this dirty little stream If I play to near Then they all just disappear From my mind without a sign Like they were never even here

Devil of the tangled blue branches yellow eyes on me

Ghosts of women are hiding in the trees They dance and sing their melodies to me

Devil of the tangled blue branches eyes on me Devil of the tangled blue branches yellow eyes on me…me…me

196 Dig Me Fever

All of my dreams Snake black Cadillac, you know All that I feel Is cold, cold, cold, cold Wrapped up in a scratchy, wool cocoon My hands are swollen, squeaky balloons Fever I got the fever Dig me fever

The room is a haze Butterfly wings and light Toothache shakes I feel just like I’m dyin’ Wrapped up in a scratchy, wool cocoon My hands are swollen, squeaky balloons Fever I got the fever Dig me fever

Wrapped up in a scratchy, wool cocoon My hands are swollen, squeaky balloons Fever I got the fever Dig me fever

197 Do You Believe?

Do you believe she’s falling down again? Do you believe you can see all that’s painted on her lips? You say Oh, Oh I see the clouds of a storm rising now You say Oh, Oh I can feel the rain coming down Washing away, washing away all those I told you so’s Washing away, washing away all of the hope

Do you believe she is leaving you now? Do you believe all that joy you have tasted has just turned to ashes in your mouth? You say Oh, Oh I see the clouds of a storm rising now You say Oh, Oh I can feel the rain coming down Washing away, washing away all those I told you so’s Washing away, washing away all of the hope

198 Down This Road

I’ve been walking down this road I’ve been walking down this road (for a long, long time) I’ve been walking down this road just searching for a friendly smile I haven’t got a dime No, I haven’t even got a dime (to call my own) No, I haven’t got a dime to make a call to even save my life Oh…Oh…Oh…I’ve been Walking down this road tell me why’d she go I’ve felt rain and I’ve heard thunder No time now to stop and wonder why (Grab my hand and run for cover) I’ve made mistakes and I’ve made blunders She stole my love and my heart is plundered now And the rain is coming down… Down on me

She left me all alone Yes, she left me all alone (all by myself) She left me all alone and I don’t even like myself Maybe it is true I said maybe it is true (I’m going down) Maybe it is true that I don’t even deserve to be saved Oh…Oh…Oh…I’ve been Walking down this road tell me why’d she go I’ve felt rain and I’ve heard thunder No time now to stop and wonder why (Grab my hand and run for cover) I’ve made mistakes and I’ve made blunders She stole my love and my heart is plundered now And the rain is coming down… Down on me Oh…Oh…Oh…I’ve been Walking down this road tell me why’d she go I’ve been walking down this road I’ve been walking down this road (for a long, long time) I’ve been walking down this road just searching for a friendly smile I’ve been walking down this road I’ve been walking down this road (for a long, long time) I’ll keep walking down this road just searching for her love again

199 Driving to Van Nuys

It wasn’t all my fault this time but you sure blamed me some The sidewalk cracks were all filled with rain And there was hate on your tongue There’s some things that you can’t take back But we all live with what’s done I might not be Jesus Christ, but then again He’s never made you cum You looked at me with those big brown eyes And said we should run And all those freaks outside with their signs saying We should regret what we’d done They threw their fists at the sky like a big black cloud

Someday I know it’s gonna break our hearts ‘Cause we went down a road and we went too far You can bandage a cut but there’s still a scar And we’re driving to Van Nuys Driving to Van Nuys

Big blackbird in a cloudless sky Not our day in the sun Faceless eyes and breathless words And we were under the gun I see those girls downtown With their pierced up lips and their green tattoos You know they’ve got problems just like me and you So wrap yourself up tight and put your face on the glass

200 Feelin’ Fine

Broke down keep and a big black cat, Grease-ball Sherlock in a cowboy hat Seven shots winking and she’s flat on her back

Coco Chanel and Schnapps so thick A full house showing but the girl’s sick I could drive her car to the county line, ‘cause I’m alright I’m feelin’ fine

Trailer park red lights shaking in the breeze Girl’s from Cincinnati or Memphis, Tennessee Hillbilly H Shack’s burning up in the trees

The law was called but nobody came Mission in the holler won’t save my soul Bring on the choir, bring on the wine, ‘cause I’m alright I’m feelin’ fine

Lazy Dog scribbles on the bathroom wall He leaves his number but nobody calls Bar Keep’s daughter is a friend of mine, cause I’m alright She blows my mind

A man from Miami got his guts blown clear It took the Memphis Mob to make it disappear Town was in a pickle but nobody shed a tear

Fire in the hole, the church got bombed Child of the judge is in the town whore’s womb Shout and scream and hold up a sign, ‘cause I’m alright I’m feelin’ fine

201 Freak Avalanche Squeeze-Play

Freddie Cluster and Thelonious got bit by the bug They rode that Red Wing down in flames until they both got skunked They put some crosses on the internet for the cautious…as a crutch And everything was peachy until that fiasco with the Dutch

Freak avalanche squeeze-play Freak avalanche squeeze-play Last chance circumstance, better wave an olive branch Freak avalanche squeeze-play

Big Easy at the Howlin’ Wolf yeah yippee-ki-yay Crawfish etouffee, a bit risqué but we all had to pay Our smart mouths and our tennis shoes almost buried us 6 feet deep Just our luck a cop pulled up and we high-tailed across the street

Freak avalanche squeeze-play Freak avalanche squeeze-play Last chance circumstance, better wave an olive branch Freak avalanche squeeze-play

Ducky and the skull can groove it all night long like a god damn crime Like a drive-by homicide they’ll turn it around on a nickel and dime My heart starts beating like a hummingbird it goes… Makes me want to rock and roll all night because it makes me feel so good

Freak avalanche squeeze-play Freak avalanche squeeze-play Last chance circumstance, better wave an olive branch Freak avalanche squeeze-play

202 Get Up (Gonna Roll)

Bright light of the city We’re seeing all the sites She’s holding my hand now It’s like sunshine in the dark of night

We’re laughing, we’re singing Up and down the avenue We’re laughing, we’re singing Just me and you

Get Up Get up we’re gonna roll with it, roll with it Get Up Get up we’re gonna roll, roll, roll, roll Get Up Get up we’re gonna roll with it, roll with it

There’s a sway to the street like an ocean People going to and fro We’re bouncing up and down We’re dizzy like tremolo

We’re laughing, we’re singing We’re shaking our souls We’re laughing, we’re singing We’re gonna go, go go

Get Up Get up we’re gonna roll with it, roll with it Get Up Get up we’re gonna roll, roll, roll, roll Get Up Get up we’re gonna roll with it, roll with it

203 Gimme Back My Buzz

Szechwan dolly hostess Black beans and a roll Hippie dippy mustard flavor Greenster on a stroll Titsicle, trout pout Hacking up a wishbone High-speed chicken freak Termite’s on the telephone Redneck car alarm But nobody is home

Say it isn’t so Pour another Slurpee sunrise Say it isn’t so Gimme back my buzz Gimme back my buzz Gimme back my buzz and a transistor radio

Scenester at a trap hop Nicki B’s on the line Jimmy got the Whitehouse Table in the back Serving up the slinkies Without a water back

Freak flags flying and a spastic sense of fashion They’ve got those diamond-eyed cobras and a black rose up their sleeves Termite hit the red light And he popped a skirt behind the ear When she was heading for the exit Clearly, Jimmy had the right idea when he went to Tacoma

204 Girl Can’t Help It

How did it feel, when the roof caved in? Baby in the bath, books on the floor Dipping in your toes, river’s on fire Its flowing backwards, her spine is stone Flip-flopping around, better get it right Scrubbing out the sink, scrape off your hands Pull down your knees, this water’s deep The girl can’t help it, the girl can’t help it She just don’t fit

(We gotta get out) she ran away (Is she ok?) The church fell down (Can we find out?) I’ll tell you Time and time again I feel it (Crawling on my skin) she ran away (Blue or benign) the church fell down (We gotta give in) you know she’s Crawling on my skin she’s sinking

Searching the past, digging up the dirt Grasping at straws, you know it all went down Oh, Lord I’m dying, dying to know Recognize your faults you better just say your peace Stop talking to me, packing up to leave Water’s rising up, I’m slipping away Thirty-five to one, alcohol and ice The girl can’t help it, the girl can’t help it She just don’t fit

205 Gracie’s Coming Home

Daddy don’t dig no Fez and Charlemagne Daddy don’t dig no Fez and Charlemagne Daddy don’t dig no Fez and Charlemagne

She’s gonna kick off her shoes bad sneakers and all Better take me back to my old school Any major dude will tell you it’s alright Got a monkey in my soul but he won’t take me alive Get that big black cow and pour some cream in a cone Yeah, cause Gracie’s coming home

We’re gonna kick off our shoes bad sneakers and all Better take me back to Dr. Wu Hey, Nineteen it’s all a royal scam So, give your gold teeth a roll and then just do it again You know Black Friday’s coming, better get off the phone Yeah, cause Gracie’s coming home

Daddy don’t dig no Fez and Charlemagne Daddy don’t dig no Fez and Charlemagne Daddy don’t dig no Fez and Charlemagne

206 Has Anybody Here Seen Nate?

We’ve all been searching for our friend Half-way round the world, the Burger Bar, and the Columbia Inn We heard from a mate, he was in here rather late Tell us, has anybody here seen Nate?

He’s tall and furry as a bear He’s steady as a tortoise and quick as a hare Please don’t hesitate, and please don’t fabricate Tell us, has anybody here seen Nate?

Some people say he’s nothing but a myth But they don’t know a thing; yeah they’re all full of shit So don’t you speculate about Nathan the Great Tell us, has anybody here seen Nate?

We’re all so happy he’s coming home His momma she can’t wait, she’s even starting to foam So please just indicate how to locate Nate Tell us, has anybody here? Tell us, has anybody here? Tell us, has anybody here seen Nate?

207 Her Trust in Me is Dead

She said I am a coward and I hide behind these eyes But these eyes they are now failing me and so I paint on a disguise This winter’s awfully cold and I fear the trials ahead Yes, her gaze has lost affection now for her trust in me is dead

She’s twitching by the riverbank with a handful of straw While I just sit by humming songs and strumming a guitar Her eyes are focused upward towards the gray above her head Yes, her heart is filled with infection now for her trust in me is dead

I see her downtown dancing and singing the old-time tunes While bearded drunks from the junkyard howl like crazy-haired buffoons She’s throwing in the towel because there’s nothing left to be said Yes, her love’s just lost direction now for her trust in me is dead

208 High-Flying Clouds

I’m not sure how I got here It’s a bit of a haze I’ve been walkin’ on a ledge Spittin’ off the edge And living on borrowed days Some things they don’t fit And some things they ain’t right You laugh at me and shake your head And say I’ve thrown away my life But it’s all coming clear to me now

There’s some high-flying clouds flying over me But I’m looking down I’m falling down fast, but I’m starting to see, yeah Here comes the ground Here comes the ground

I’ve driven off the rails once or twice But it’s nothing I couldn’t handle With some bourbon and some ice I’ve burnt the bridges Told some lies And I’ve gone crazy for a while I’ll look at you straight in the eye but there’s a devil in my smile And it’s all coming clear to me now

There’s some high-flying clouds flying over me But I’m looking down There’s nothing between the earth and me I’m just looking around There’s some high-flying clouds flying over me But I’m looking down I’m falling down fast, but I’m starting to see, yeah Here comes the ground

Here comes the ground and it don’t look soft Here comes the ground and I feel a bit off…

209 Lampshade

All at once…I see her face Out of the blue…And into the bright, white light Perhaps I’m smitten…What’s her name? She makes me want to be…Something I’ve never been

Just like that…I’ve fallen overboard At first I’m drowning…And then I’m bored But she’s just a Band-Aid…She’s flavored rice She is a lampshade…She’s cocktail ice

Some people talk…She needs a new routine Something more than…face cream and magazines Parking lot of a Dairy Queen But I never kiss her…In the light of day When she’s nervous, she stammers…And asks me to stay

But she’s a Band-Aid…A cold compress She is a lampshade…In a pretty dress

Maybe I could finally tell you everything Wash myself until I am clean I want to wake up feeling so much more than I am feeling Now

And just like that…I’ve tumbled overhead At first it’s euphoric…and then I’m dead But she’s just a Band-Aid… she’s just a Band-Aid She is a lampshade… she’s just a lampshade

I’m speechless and stupid…when I see her face Out of the blue…And into the bright, white light Perhaps I’m smitten…

210 Lana

She wears the drop dead tint of cool And every move she makes is made with purpose As if she stole it from a movie She’s all familiar yet out of focus And when she looks into your eyes She can you are surprised that she remains unbroken She’s got the backseat, dub-beat, sundress, bare feet Big stick, bar bet, lighting up a cigarette Feet up, hair back, ducking in a Cadillac Lights out, handout, slogans on her hand OOO, she sings like ultraviolence OOO wrapped up in a flower printed dress Every question is a test like nothing she’d confess She pours your bourbon over rocks while she smokes her hydroponic pot OOO, she sings like ultraviolence

Butterfly bursting in the big blue world She floats about ‘til she captures your gaze And when she looks into your eyes She’ll detect any disguise you wear to save you from her spell She likes the midnight, backlight, subtext, sound bite Greased back, sleazebag, tattooed model type OOO, she sings like ultraviolence

With her black, blue pout she stifles any urge to speak And she prefers to move without a rhythm And when she looks into your eyes She knows that you’ll never deny her anything she’s asking Dashboard, drugstore, fifty-cent encore Chauffeured traveler, old money, daddy’s girl Tooth bling, ding-a-ling, listen to the angels sing Watching California as it slides into the ocean OOO, she sings like ultraviolence OOO dancing barefoot in a parking lot She smiles to get under your skin Brushes back her hair when she begins To speak like she’s devout or high OOO, she sings like ultraviolence

211 Methadone and Eggs

She walks barefoot beneath the trees In a dress that hangs just above her knees Sunshine trickles off the leaves And dances just like goldfish ‘round her feet

How about some methadone and eggs? But please don’t put sugar in my joe I’ve woken up with some strange perfume before But surely none as sweet as yours

She says how about some breakfast on the lawn today? My jam is sweet but I won’t boast I say that’s fine, I’d like to feel the sunshine on my toes And I’d love to taste your jam on my toast NA, NA, NA

Hey Satan, I know I’ve been a sinner But please don’t steal my soul today I’d like to take my sailing boat And float it down her stream I’d love to see her smile again NA, NA, NA

How about some methadone and eggs? But I don’t want sugar in my joe I’ve woken up with some strange perfume before But surely none as sweet as yours

She says how ‘bout some breakfast on the lawn today? My jam is sweet but I won’t boast I say that’s fine, I’d like to feel the sunshine on my toes And I’d love to taste your jam on my toast And I’d love to taste your jam on my toast And I’d love to taste your jam on my toast NA, NA, NA

212 Pocket Full of Promises

I’ve got a pocket full of promises that I can’t carry anymore ‘Cause every single blood-shot smile I paint‘s just adding salt to the sore So my pocket full of promises is walking out the door

I’ve got a suitcase full of memories that I used to keep up on a wall Itty-bitty knickknack Beatle statues and a circus crystal ball Now I’m packing up this suitcase full of memories into a vault

Hey, yeah, I’ve made some blunders on the way But it don’t matter, cause I’m never gonna change And this pocket full of promises is just walking away

I’ve got a radio of happiness I used to hold above my head Like I was acting in a movie on a million TV sets But that radio of happiness was just playing in my head

Hey, yeah, you want to know what’s going on But I’m not gonna say it ‘cause I’m gone, gone, gone And this pocket full of promises is just another stupid song

I’ve got a pocket full of promises that I can’t carry anymore ‘Cause every single blood-shot smile I paint‘s just adding salt to the sore So my pocket full of promises is walking out the door

213 Polly McDonald

We all sit around missing Polly McDonald And toasting the old, weird America 7 months pregnant when Polly went missing Last Tuesday at sunset or so it’s been told Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? We’ve search high and low, near and far Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? ‘Cause her husband just sits at the bar

After 3 years of marriage her husband went sailing For a year he was gone out to sea His ship finally sailed into port Sunday morning So Polly packed her belly up and went down to see Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? We’ve search high and low, near and far Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? ‘Cause her husband just sits at the bar

Polly, my Polly won’t you come out and see I’ve got something I must show you dear Gingerly Polly followed her husband As they walked from their house to the woods that were near

There were tears in her eyes when they finally stopped walking And she knew that her fate was at hand She tried to explain all that had happened But she knew as she spoke that he’d never understand Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? We’ve search high and low, near and far Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? ‘Cause her husband just sits at the bar

Polly, my Polly you’ve broken my heart And I’ve dug up my pain in this earth So Polly crawled down in hold he had dug And he covered her face and her belly with dirt Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? We’ve search high and low, near and far Has anyone here seen Polly McDonald? ‘Cause her husband just sits at the bar

214 Roadside Cafe

Itty, bitty stars up in the sky Each one twinkles through the night You put your bare feet on the dash And we just drive through the night

Skinny jeans, Hush Puppies Naked knees and vows Black road, headlights What should we do now?

Tickle, tickle, fuzzy motion This whole trip’s a mistake Where’s the pool and suntan lotion We can’t catch a break

Strung out in a roadside café Radio’s playing Lana Del Rey You’re eating pancakes and I’m eating steak 2 more hours ‘til the break of day

Salt shaker, ketchup bottle Hot coffee’s a treat Here’s a napkin, wipe your face, girl Where’d you learn to eat?

Tickle, tickle, fuzzy motion This whole trip’s a mistake Where’s the pool and suntan lotion We can’t catch a break

215 Santa Song

Come on baby let me be your Santa Claus this year I’ll get you anything that your heart finds dear I wanna, wanna, wanna be Santa Claus for you I’ll let you tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you Please don’t pause I want to be your Santa Claus

I hear people talking ‘bout the snow that’s right outside If I get me some reindeer, well I’ll take you for a ride I wanna, wanna, wanna be your Santa Claus tonight I’ll slide right down your chimney and make your season bright Honey, it’s no trick I want to be your St. Nick

I’ve been lying in this manger scene for longer than you know I’m allergic to the frankincense and I wish this mall would close But then I saw you walking up and my heart started to jump And I think I have changed my point of view So take these swaddling clothes from me yeah, yeah And put me in that big red suit

Come on baby let me be your Santa Claus tonight I’ll wear the suit, and belt, and boots and grow my beard so white I wanna, wanna, wanna be your Cringle, Nick, and Claus But I know you think there’s not a chance that I could pull it off Don’t be cross I want to be your Santa Claus

I might be the baby Jesus in this manger scene and song But I know you know Santa Claus has got it going on And when I saw you walking up, my heart did a skip and jump You gave me reason and a cause So take these donkeys and hay; and get these wise guys away I want to be your Santa Claus

216 Save Your Soul

We all stood beside you, our backs to the fire With tears in our eyes, we sang with the choir But now you’ve forgotten the struggle and hurt You just stare at your shoestrings while you kick at the dirt Lost and found Found, but lost Save your soul, dig the hole Feel the earth in your hands Cross your heart and take the vow Save your soul, fill the whole Brush the dirt from your hands Save your soul, you know what it is you must do But you don’t know how

It seems awful funny that you’ve gone down that way Because we all remember what you used to say You think things have changed now, but we know what we heard You’ve got your head in a rain cloud and you’re not saying a word Save your soul, fill the whole Brush the dirt from your hands Save your soul, you know what it is you must do But you don’t know how

You carry the bible to shadows your heart While deep down inside you it’s scary and dark But your eyes don’t deceive us now, as they did in your youth We all wish you well now, but we long for the truth Lost and found Found, but lost Save your soul, dig the hole Feel the earth in your hands Cross your heart and take the vow Save your soul, fill the whole Brush the dirt from your hands Save your soul, you know what it is you must do But you don’t know how

217 See You Smile

I want to look into your eyes now, Grace I want to hold you for a while Because I have known you all of your life And I just want to see you smile

Take my hand and dance with me, Grace I want to twirl you for a while Because I have known you all of your life And I just want to see you smile

There was a time when I promised you the whole wide world Ocean, sky, and sand Now, there’s nothing more I want from this whole wide world Than to hold your hand

I’ve got a song in my heart just for you Won’t you listen for a while? Because I have known you all of your life And I just want to see you smile Because I have known you Because I have known you Because I have known you all of your life And I just want to see you smile

218 Seren A.

She’s a girl whose eyes are older than she really is She’s seen her life and that’s the way that she lives She walks down the street with her bare feet showing No idea where the hell she’s going A white dress on and gardenias in her hair She raises her arms and shakes her fists She yells you can’t do anything like this And she don’t give a damn who even stares Then she drives around town without her top on In a ’75 burnt orange Datsun Waving at anyone who stops and glares And all she wants to do…is Dance in the graveyard, get drunk by the minimart Talk crap at the local hangout bar And we all know it…we all know We all know she’s running out of time But we keep wishing she’d just drive like a Christian And maybe she’ll make it home tonight

Her momma used to tell her she was one of a kind But she up and left home before she was even nine Years on the street hardened her heart Until she figured it out and found her part But we still have no idea what’s she’s thinking of With her long dark hair and big brown eyes She’ll make you turn and look at her twice And if you’re not careful you just might fall in love You can kiss her lips and caress her skin But her steel bar heart won’t let you in ‘Cause all those tricks you got she’s above And all she wants to do…is Howl in the moonlight, tell stories by the firelight Moan in the morning light and gripe And we all know it…we all know We all know she’s running out of time But we keep wishing she’d just drive like a Christian And maybe she’ll make it home tonight

219 Road signs never know where it is you started from They can smile like the sun but they don’t know how far it is you’ve come You can walk a road until your old dancing along playing your banjo Singing “If you want to get high, get high” You can drive your car off a cliff Stand at the top a stare at it Watch it burn and then just say goodbye And all she wants to do…is Sleep in the church pews, waste money on new tattoos Talk crap at the local TV news And we all know it…we all know We all know she’s running out of time But we keep wishing she’d just drive like a Christian And maybe she’ll make it home alive

220 She’s Gonna Leave You

I see you both on a carousel going round and round and round With porcelain horses on their poles going up and down…up and down Half the twinkling lights are out and the calliope seems off It huffs, and puffs and wheezes like an old man with a cough She smiles when she looks at you and sometimes holds your hand While everyone around you thinks that, they all understand But I know there are things in this smoke and mirrors that are not clear to see You pepper her with your poetry until she has to sneeze And that’s how I know that you don’t know it’s near But I’m afraid that when she smiles it ain’t sincere It’s just veneer

She’s gonna leave you She’s gonna take her pretty face and walk out your door ‘Cause she don’t need you anymore She’s gonna leave you You’re just a temporary score And I know she’s leaving Cause I’ve seen it all before

I see you sharing lunch with her with a bottle between your legs You think no one notices when she’s scrambling your eggs There’s a juggler, a marching band, and clowns all doing tricks And politicians with balloons all lined up for a kiss She giggles at your jokes and wears your pin upon her clothes But when she’s riding bareback well, her eyes are always closed You think that you’re her prince but that’s not really how it is She’ll sting you half way across the stream cause she can’t help how she is She’s a scorpion deep down in her heart And I’m afraid she’s been that way from the start You better watch your heart

She’s gonna leave you She’s gonna take her pretty face and walk out your door ‘Cause she don’t need you anymore She’s gonna leave you You’re just a temporary score And I know she’s leaving

221 Cause I’ve seen it all before

I know that you think she is such a lovely mystery But she’s gonna disappear You just wait and see If you’d only listened, only hear I could have saved you from the hurt ‘Cause you see, she did exactly that to me And I believe she’s gonna leave

I see you at a carnival and she’s still by your side You walk up to the carousel and both get on to ride Lights and mirrors and drunken beasts…tigers and giraffes Spin around and bounce their heads, so you won’t see them laugh I watch as she leans to you and melts into your form You wrap your jacket ‘round her to keep her shoulder warm Then you share your cigarette with her before the whole thing starts to spin And she kisses you upon the mouth ‘til that ride comes to an end But there’s something here that you don’t understand She’s gonna try and rip your heart out if she can Don’t you understand?

She’s gonna leave you She’s gonna take her pretty face and walk out your door ‘Cause she don’t need you anymore She’s gonna leave you You’re just a temporary score And I know she’s leaving ‘Cause I’ve seen it once before

222 Still Swimming in the River

I hear her talking in her sleep With no one but myself and the darkness there to keep All her secrets safely hid And when we’re tangled up as one With nothing but the morning sun there knowing what we’ve done And all those crazy things we ever did

We’re still swimming in the river We’re just going with the flow And where this river’s leading We’re going to go, go, go We’re still swimming in the river

She says I want to hold you tight And if you wouldn’t mind I just might hold you through the night And make it worth your while you’ll see If you know what I mean Sometimes we stumble through this life Falling down like autumn leaves just floating right out of the sky And landing at our feet to lie

We’re still swimming in the river We’re just going with the flow And where this river’s leading We’re going to go, go, go We’re still swimming in the river

I hear her talking in her sleep With no one but myself and the darkness there to keep All her secrets safely hid

We’re still swimming in the river We’re just hoping we don’t drown And where the current takes us we’ll be down We’re still swimming in the river We’re just going with the flow And where this river’s leading We’re going to go, go, go

223 Stomp in the Dirt

Up on the hill Down on the farm Under the hay Out in the barn, what is the harm? Ooo honey, kick off your boots Let’s get out and howl at the moon Hey honey, hike up your skirt Let’s get down and stomp in the dirt…we’re gonna stomp Ooo, yeah…Ooo, yeah…Ooo, yeah Let’s stomp in the dirt

Between the lines On the road Off the rocks Like a Rolling Stone Over the hill Beneath the bridge Across the road Into the ditch Ooo honey, I smell some barbeque Let’s get out and howl at the moon Hey honey, hike up your skirt Let’s get down and stomp in the dirt…we’re gonna stomp Ooo, yeah…Ooo, yeah…Ooo, yeah Let’s stomp in the dirt

Past the church Beyond berserk In the mud Stomp in the dirt Ooo honey, I like your attitude Let’s get out and howl at the moon Hey honey, hike up your skirt Let’s get down and stomp in the dirt…we’re gonna stomp Ooo, yeah…Ooo, yeah…Ooo, yeah Let’s stomp in the dirt

224 Strange Sensation

I see your shadow’s growing long and the sky is turning red I was gonna tell you something But the whole damn thing’s gone out of my head Maybe you could help me Maybe you could help me to remember all those things I should have said ‘Cause I’ve got such a funny feeling and it’s growing in me now

I’ve got a strange, strange sensation But I don’t know what I can do I’ve got a strange, strange sensation It’s bringing me down, bringing me down to blue Strange, Strange Sensation Tell me can you feel it too

I’m gonna take my clothes off and go swimming in the lake I’m going to keep on sinking down until my ears begin to ache Maybe you could help me Maybe you could help me to remember why it might be a mistake ‘Cause I’ve got such a funny feeling and it’s growing in me now

I’ve got a strange, strange sensation But I don’t know what I can do I’ve got a strange, strange sensation It’s bringing me down, bringing me down to blue Strange, Strange Sensation Tell me can you feel it too

225 Swing

Copper colored buckles on her shoes American flag…red, white, and blue High school marching band Cheerleaders…batons in hand Mexican kids lighting fireworks at the zoo Ooo she’s so pretty Getting high down by the jetty You watch her twirl, you hear her sing Ooo rushing down the slide 4th of July in the blink of an eye You say, “Please, please you’ve got to push me one more time on the swing.”

Saturday night watching TV Black Russian propped up on your knee Bikini clad, round card hoist Strut and smile, lip gloss moist The bell rings and hell’s fury busts out free Ooo it all seems fab Blood and sweat, dance and jab You watch and flinch as if you’re in the ring Ooo guilty pleasure Put another Benny on red’s your wager You say, “Please, please you’ve got to let me watch just one more swing.”

Ooo you hear a clarinet Dancing like a fumed up marionette The jungle beat is thumping with a zing Ooo it can’t be wrong The band is gonna play one more song You say, “Please, please play anything you like just make it swing.”

226 West to the Ocean

West to the ocean, fill your eyes Embrace your destiny, paradise You’ll be a bright light, the gypsy said Pack your bags and lace your boots, its right out ahead of you

West to the ocean, fill your eyes, Embrace your destiny, paradise You’ll be a bright light, the gypsy said Peace will come and lift you up and clear your head

You’ll feel the surf around your knees You’ll feel the sunshine on your sleeve You’ll see the blue and green And when you breathe…you must believe Your future bride, young and fine Strawberry hair and eyes That sparkle like polished dimes

A ring of fire screamed and hollered to the sky Left us shaking in our boots just like a monster in the night The sandy beaches slipped into the sea Left us scrambling for our lives with nothing left for you and me

Take the path from where you came Your family’s gone now and so is your name Can you survive, weather this storm The winters are long now, you’re all alone Can you survive, weather this storm Crushed with heartbreak, and that whiskey won’t keep you warm

227 When You Gonna Tell Me

I see you there with your dark brown eyes Ignoring everything that I that I try to do…to impress you I could pout my lips…I could tip my hat I could pout my lips, tip my hat Call your name, but you won’t look back at me You keep walking away, no matter what I say I could tell you a joke to make you smile Whisper in your ear just for a while If you want me to…if you want me to…if you want me to

Maybe you know or maybe you don’t When you gonna tell me what I want to know When you gonna tell me yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah…Yeah, yeah, yeah

You probably think that it’s all just a game You probably don’t even know my name, now do you Do you? Promise me honey you won’t pull my chain Don’t want no thunder, don’t want no rain Promise me…promise me…I said, promise me…promise me

You probably think that it’s all just a game You probably don’t even know my name now do you Do you? You’re just a goldfish flopping on the floorboards I’m this tom-cat lying in the corner I’m gonna bat at you once, I’m gonna bat at you twice I’m gonna bat you once, bat you twice Lick my lips, it’s oh so nice You’re just a goldfish flopping on the floorboards My heart goes… I could tell you a joke to make you smile Whisper in your ear just for a while If you want me to…if you want me to… if you want me to

228 Whiskey and Glass

Didn’t know where I was going, I was sitting in that seat With the wheel in my hand like it wasn’t even me And the bottle in the bag, in the seat next to mine Was talking like it knew my name With my girl in the back and her doll in her arms Singing, “Tra, la, la, la, dee, da.” Now there’s whiskey and glass on the ground all around us

With the rain coming down and a tingle in my leg I was thinking about her mom and something she had said Maybe she’s right and the Devil’s in me Because all I keep thinking is how this could happen to me tonight? All I remember is her singing that song, Then the lights, and her scream and it was gone Now there’s whiskey and glass on the ground all around us

Maybe it’s true that God has a plan But I can tell you sure as Hell, I’ll never understand The red and the blue and the bright white light Shining on a highway in the middle of the night All I remember is her singing that song Tra la, la, la, dee, da Now there’s whiskey and glass on the ground all around us Now there’s whiskey and glass on the ground all around us

229 Why Don’t You Take Them Too

I want to rip my tongue right out of my mouth Sew my lips up north and south, yeah I don’t want to talk to you…anymore You think the whole thing seems a bit mad But you’ve taken everything I had… Go on and take that too Why don’t you take that too?

I want to cut off my ears and throw them away I don’t want to hear another word you say, yeah I don’t want to listen to you…anymore You probably think I’m a bit insane But every word you speak is like a bullet in my brain Go on and take them too Why don’t you take them too?

I want to dig my eyes right out of my skull ‘Cause nothing you shown is that wonderful I don’t want to see you now…anymore You might think that it is all a line But I’m just praying for sight out of mind Go on and take them too Why don’t you take them too?

I don’t want to hear you, I don’t want to talk I’m just hoping you’ll be moving off my block I don’t want to see you walking up ahead Honey, I don’t give a shit if you fall down dead

I want to peel my skin off to the bone Walk off in the sunset all alone I don’t want to feel you now…anymore You think the whole thing seems a bit mad But you’ve taken everything I had… Go on and take that too Why don’t you take that too?

230 You Can Say

There’s something in the water that makes me what I am You can blame the Devil but I’m the one doing the sin Facsimile nothing’s like it’s supposed to be Suspicious as it seems I ain’t got no fish There’s something in the water that makes me what I am

Sisters of the water they will pray for you, you know Sisters of the water will keep you warm when you are cold

You can say, yeah you can say a prayer for me it’s told You can say a prayer for me but it won’t save my soul

It’s been a long, long time since I felt any love from you at all Facsimile nothing’s like it’s supposed to be Time, time, time it keeps melting off the wall

Sisters of the water they will pray for you, you know Sisters of the water will keep you warm when you are cold

You can say, yeah you can say a prayer for me it’s told You can say a prayer for me but it won’t save my soul

231 Songs by Page Number 5 Reasons For Leaving 184 Dumbest Thing I Never Did, The 142 13 Soles 185 Eating Louisiana 17/122 A Little Bit of God 66 Even When I Was 177 Abuela 67 Everything 18 Acapulco 161 Faster Dalidog 111 Affairs in Order 186 Feelin’ Fine 201 Airplanes 187 Fiend 51 American PLN 68 Fireplace 143 An Image of the Badlands 69 Five More Minutes 112 Andy Rattlesnaked a Laggard 134 Flatfoot Boogie 144 Another Christmas Bash 188 Flavor of the Month 77 Anxiously Mistaken 135 Freak Avalanche Squeeze-Play 202 Anything 8 Georgia’s Gone to Spain 145 Assumption Parish 175 Get Happy 123 Astronaut 136 Get Out of the Rain 9/124 Autumn Swallows 189 Get Up (Gonna Roll) 203 Bay Song 190 Genuine 63 Be There Soon 137 Ghost of a Smile 78 Breakdown Saturday Night 162 Gimme Back My Buzz 203 Bucky Diddle’s Plaid Slip-On… 138 Girl Can’t Help It 204 Buddha in the Bedroom 46/119 Girl From Montgomery 178 Camille 191 Girlfriend 146 Camping Incognito 36 Give it Up 79 Carnivale 192 Go Ahead and Cry 26 Carpet 139 Gone To the Movies 179 Chew Up My Heart 37 Gotta Find a Way Back Home 147 Christmas Falling In 71 Gracie’s Coming Home 206 Chum 72 Happy 80 Come (Kurdt) 50 Has Anybody Here Seen Nate? 207 Come Love a Stranger 120 Have You Seen the Light? 81 Could This Really be Christmas? 73 Hedonistic Rit. of the Unemployed 38 Council for the R.C.B. 74 Her Trust In Me Is Dead 208 Cousin 176 Hero 39 Crucifix 193 Hey Al 52 Death Door Boogie 194 High-Flying Clouds 209 Deniably, Christ Kid 140 Hold Me Now 148 Denial 195 Hollywood Cab Ride 19/125 Deviant Angel 75 Honey, Wont’ You Spare Some Bills 166 Devil of the Tangled Blue Branches 196 House of Amusement #2 82 Dig Me Fever 197 How You’ll Know I’m Gone 53 Do You Believe? 198 I Don’t Know 113 Domino 47 Indian Heaven 27 Don’t Lam Do 76 Inventing How to Smile 83 Don’t Mean a Thing (BMUAT) 163 It’s Not Easy 54 Down 110 Jerusalem 84 Down This Road 199 Jesus 85 Downtown Doctor Darcy 141 Just Us Two 86 Dream 164 Kalama Tea 114 Driving to Van Nuys 200 Lampshade 210 Dumb 16/121 Lana 211

232 Last Man on Earth 87 Set You Free 97 Laugh Like That (I Can’t) 149 Seven Stones of Happiness… 165 Leave it Alone 28 Shadows 98 Length of Money 10/126 Shakin’ 59 Let It Go 180 She Feels It 100 Lithium Martini 115 She’s Gonna Leave You 221 Lost in the Occident 88 Shoulder to Shoulder 116 M.T. Mind 89 Silver’s Universe 32 Man without a Question 90 Sister Bitter 64 Mardi Gras 55 Skimpy Tops 170 Maybe it is Christmas 92 Sleep Away the Day 42 Maybe Tonight 150 Someday Lonely 60 Meadowlark Lemon 167 Something 21 Methadone and Eggs 212 Spoons 156 Missed the Sign 93 Start Again 101 Missing in Venice 40 Still Swimming In the River 223 Molly, Me… Man From Tallahassee 151 Stomp In the Dirt 224 Mrs. Chapman’s Daughter 152 Stoning Romeo 33 No Thank You 94 Strange Sensation 225 Not Strange at All 74 Summer’s Here 61 Nothing to Me 153 Sunday Veil 171 Numb 29 Swing 226 Oliver Carson 30 Television 181 One Voice 95 That’s How It Is 157 Pictures at Christmas 96 Third Time 12 Pocket Full of Promises 213 Thumb 22/130 Polly McDonald 214 Transportation 23/131 Power 127 Tuesday (OK with You) 102 Punk Rock Band 56 Tuesday Night 103 Radio K.U.G.S. 11 Two Yellow Leaves 182 Rituals Revisited 41 Under the Sun (…Blame Me) 172 River, The 128 Unemployed and Out of Luck 43 Roadside Café 215 Walk in the Moonlight 13 Rocking Chair (C & B) 154 Wake Up! 104 Roll Over 155 West To the Ocean 227 Rub One Out 168 When You Die 158 Run Around 57 When You Gonna Tell Me 228 Sacramento 58 Whiskey and Glass 229 San Jose 169 Why Did My Childhood Go Away? 105 Sanctuary Restaurant 20/129 Why Don’t You Take Them Too? 230 Santa Song 216 Wrong With Me and My Head 106 Satellite Boy 31 Yesterday’s Shirt 62 Save Your Soul 217 You Can Say 231 See You Smile 218 Yum 44 Seren A. 219

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