1. |
Hither & Dither
01:04
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Hither & Dither
Every morning I wake (up)
In the morning
Mourning the morning
If only I hadn’t risen with the...
Morning lies
Of promises of new days
Leave all your old ways
Behind you, astray of your sad lays
Maybe you can be gay...
Again my thoughts haunt my doubted dreams, so I hide me in dreamless sleep –
Time keeps passing me and still I don’t know what to do.
Hither and dither, I lie
If I could wake me up, I could...
If I could wake me up, I would.
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2. |
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True Love (It Could’ve Been)
Time and again
Walking alone
Down by the river
Where we used to talk
Thinking of you
And what could’ve been
If you had just trusted
Or I had just lied
True love it could’ve been if we had been true
True love it could’ve been true for us, too
But true love it wasn’t
For me and for you
So we’re alone
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3. |
Look Back, Child
02:16
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Look Back, Child
I keep on aging,
Lines deepen in my face,
Staring through the mirror –
Who wears this mask I see?
Is this really me?
Sad and strange,
Slowly changing.
From honest, open smiles,
To guarded looks askance,
Presenting to the world –
A (young) man of suspicion,
A man riddled by inhibition,
Is this who I am,
Who I want to be?
What anger has tarnished,
Can love again make clean?
Resurrect what used to be
The child in me.
I turn back on the past,
My past frowns back at me,
Wondering to the future –
My child’s disapproval,
His reprimanding call.
Is this The future he dreamed?
Did he dream of me?
I can’t stop aging,
For youth, time does not wait...
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4. |
Liar
01:24
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Liar
Eating, smoking, sleeping, dreaming,
Oh my life is oh so pleasing
Smiling, laughing, squandered searching,
Oh I jest, you know I’m always joking
Liar, you liar
Liar, you liar
But, no kidding, happy, really,
I see my life filled with opportunity
Crave no woman’s company,
I me myself, content and free
Mull no regrets, mourn no sorrows,
Livin’ for today like there’s no tomorrow
Write my poetry at my table,
Gonna get it published when it’s good and able
Liar, you liar
Liar, you liar
Ambition growing like a fruit tree,
Everyone nods, but they don’t believe me
Tomorrow, maybe, next week, someday,
I’ll wake me up and seize the day.
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5. |
Busy Beaver
02:11
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Sleepy Beaver, wake you up,
A busy life awaits, with wood to chuck...
Morning coffee, computer power,
You just started, don’t look sour;
Resumes and applications,
Cover letters, communications;
Interviews with jolly smiles,
Kissing ass and rubbing elbows;
Hooray you’re hired, (now) get to work,
Don’t forget: network, network!
Shake your keister up the ladder,
Higher pay makes life more better;
You’re at the top now, salutations,
Your boss dropped dead, congratulations!
Hire people, fire people,
Morons, peons, bottom-feeders;
Put your feet up on your desk,
Blink your eyes, you’ve earned your breath...
Busy Beaver, chucking chief,
Toil long for the good life;
You will rest, when you are dead,
Until then, chuck-chuck your dread.
Power naps and whiskey sours,
Can’t stop now, it’s working hours;
Consider image: catch a woman,
Marry her and make some children;
Buy a big house, with a mortgage,
A hot new car, with good gas mileage;
Another job, another city,
A mid-life crisis, (but) living pretty;
Fancy dinners with the wifey,
Expensive shit makes kiddies happy;
Oops you’re divorced, so much for love,
Your kids hate you, ungrateful dolts;
Retire with pension, benefits,
Cash-in investments, fuck those kids;
Buy your own small, private island,
Kick up the sand while you wait to kick the bucket...
Sleepy Beaver, rest your head,
Your life’s ended, chucked wood well spent...
Busy Beaver! Busy Beaver!
Chuck, chuck-chuck, chuck, chuck-chuck, etc.
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6. |
Follow, Or
01:59
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Follow, Or
Follow me,
On desire’s pyre,
Trust in me, (children,) we’ll set the world on fire;
Through strife and peace,
You’re born and die,
All this life demands is sacrifice.
The holy spirit’s just the fool to the world,
With his wisdom that mocks
The common-sense flock
And the rationalist’s shock:
The disbelieving skeptics turn, while he laughs as he burns.
Follow me,
Invest in self,
No greater good in life than health and wealth;
Here and now,
You’re born to thrive,
All this life demands is a will to survive.
The worldly spirit is the priest to the world,
With his sweet words that jibe
With the common-sense minds
And material lives:
The people, in turn, rejoice, while he laughs to clear his voice.
Blood and tears,
Hate and ire,
Oh don’t you see the world already on fire?
Welter and waste
And empty is self,
Oh what joy is lasting in the face of certain death?
Restless hearts,
Wherefore do you yearn?
How does a man decide which way to turn?
Sinners and saints
Lie underground,
They know the truth but make no sound.
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7. |
Choose
01:38
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Choose
Some choose life
Some choose death
Most choose to hide
And bide their time
Some choose love
Some choose hate
Most vacillate,
Depending on fate
Wake up
You’re alive now
And though you’re not feeling gusto
You can’t play Prince Hamlet
And this ain’t your dumbshow
Life’s a burden, you’ll blunder
But you ain’t getting younger
You’ll sleep when your dead
Until then, better choose, son
Some choose God
Some choose self
Some you can’t tell
They didn’t choose well
Some choose truth
Some choose to lie
Only one’s right
But both feel justified
Most don’t choose,
Just drift on cruise,
And in the end... they’ve all got some excuse
Wake up
You’re nearly thirty
And though now life’s one big party
When you’re middle-age and regretful
No one will take pity
The world blows, so you wallow
But will you lead or will you follow?
If resentment doesn’t sound fun,
Then you better make a choice, son
If you’re friends are all losers,
Then you better find yourself new ones
And before time steals your future,
You better plan for the long run...
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8. |
What They Say
02:59
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What They Say
I bitch to my therapist,
She ‘scribes me medication for my blues.
Six years of verbal masturbation,
You’d think I’d be healthy soon.
I consult with my teachers,
‘Cause I was taught that they know the truth.
But their blank verse tumbles on out
In Shakespearean lines: it is silly sooth.
Ahhah, well, there’s the rub:
My mind’s a mess I can’t clean up,
I want a good life but I can’t lead it, fuck,
Twenty-five years and still stuck.
A legion of voices whisperin’ in my head,
Words to the wise with their helpful advice,
But, I don’t know, sounds all the same:
Mine’s still the decision and the blame.
I visit my parents,
But they just can’t understand.
They say I ought’n’t worry so much:
Good luck (and) determination’ll make my plans.
I call up my friends
And they all got their careers.
Nine-to-five and slingin’ back smiles,
The only words they know are cheers, cheers, cheers.
Ahhah, well, where’s the pub?
I can’t quit life nor can I take it up,
Life’s a stiff drink that I just can’t sup,
But I’m too young to just give it up.
A legion of voices tricklin’ down my ear,
Bitters of the rind are their helpful advice,
But who the hell knows, you know what they say:
The rest’a your life starts today.
Once in a blue moon
Accidents will happen
Better late than never
A blessing in disguise
Keep your chin up
Tomorrow is another day
Come what may, such is life
A fate worse than death
For the sake of my ease
Will I ever accede,
Accept the world
And what it wants of me?
Or will I resist
The chorus refrain
That repeats and repeats
Always the same?
A legion of voices
Call and beckon heed
A pasteurized life
With a tranquilized mind.
Yet, I do know:
The choice is mine.
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9. |
Nostalgia
02:01
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Nostalgia
Remembering the evenings,
When I’d anxiously wait,
Peeking through the curtains,
For you to come home safe,
To babcia’s cream-butter house,
With her garden out back,
Where my imagination’d play,
While on gooseberries I’d snack,
With a stick sword in my hand,
To fend off the hours,
‘Til you would return,
In all your fatherly power –
I hide behind the willow,
As your car pulls in the drive,
And I catch you at the porch,
With a hug of surprise...surprise!
What happens to the time?
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10. |
Along The Way
01:52
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Along the Way
Along the way,
On the road to Damascus,
All the people, they were pushing right past us.
They wore that look,
They had those eyes,
Like, we can see, though we are blind.
They sang their hymns,
And lifted their hands,
Rushing on to the promised land.
The road did narrow,
Yet the people devised,
A holy life demanded compromise.
Eloi
Eloi
Eloi lama sabachthanei
My walk did waver
At the sight of the vision:
From out the catacombs, a new world religion.
Cinder-steel temples,
Anodyne lives,
Free and worldly paradise.
Downcast, I turned,
And slipped the stole,
O God forgive me O my soul.
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11. |
True Love (It Will Be)
01:20
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True Love (It Will Be)
I’m goin’a church of faith Sunday,
I’m goin’a wait so patiently,
I’m goin’a bend my knees and pray,
Goin’a pray for...Love.
I’ve been writin’ dear letters,
I’ve been writin’ only her,
I’ve been preparin’ forever,
To meet my future...Love.
I haven’t met her yet,
But she’s close – her form is in my head –
Resonatin’ in my heart,
She’s not far –
Waiting, too, for me,
True and pure and free –
She and I are we –
I can’t wait to be
With my...Love
We’re gonna be together someday,
We’re gonna meet some sudden way,
We’re gonna be we finally,
And it’ll be that ol-fashion...
that real passionate...
that deep, certain, true...Love.
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12. |
Feel Like Dancin'
03:31
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Feel Like Dancin’
Hey!
I feel like dancin’ today
I feel like dancin’ with you
I’ve got the heart to treat you right,
I’ve got the will to be true –
Hey!
Put your hands up if you feel
Put your arms down, ‘round my neck
If you feel just like I feel
If you feel like dancin’ –
Hey!
Don’t you drift away
I just wanna dance with you
I’m not your typical guy
I’m not just another beaux –
Hey!
Keep your eyes set in my eyes
Keep that smile brightenin’ your face
Please give your dance to me
I’m just dancin’ to dance with you!
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13. |
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Hither & Thither
This is the time of your life
This time you’re letting idle by
Right –
Now! Here! Get up and stand!
Will you heed the call
Or will you fold your hands and sigh?
Only you decide
Your future will judge you
True or False
Were you really questioning in your mind,
Or were you just drifting with the tide?
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English Minor Chicago, Illinois
A songwriting duo who, after many (many) attempts, have been unable to formulate a bio of just the right amount of sincerity and irony so as to succinctly capture the essence of their musical sensibilities.
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