1. |
Rest
02:54
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“Rest”
Nana
We care
That’s why we’re here
Please don’t fear
We all love you
And won’t go anywhere
(Oh don’t you fret, my dear,
Remember, it’s your family;
They’ve come from far away
But see how now they’re here)
Rest
Down right here
In your chair
And won’t you share
A memory
From all of your years
(Oh lean back, rest, my dear,
Your heart is beating rapidly;
You need not rise
All your family draws near)
When I was a child
I’d raise my arms
And my mother would dress me
In gowns
Of crimson and violet flowers
Now
We are near
Don’t despair
I’ll brush your hair
Til sleep’s dim eyes
Do bear you away
When I was a child
I saw reflected
Through a glass
A face like mine
But dimly radiant
Divine
Now I see it
Nearly defined
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2. |
Bipartisan Compromise
03:32
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“Bipartisan Compromise”
Love comes suddenly into your life
Flooding you heart and soul
Love comes suddenly into your life
Love’s out of your control
They met at a political conference
They were sitting in opposing aisles
Their eyes met briefly, there was confluence
He turned red, she turned blue, then they both turned and smiled
O such lovely smiles
Love comes suddenly into your life
Flooding you heart and soul
Love comes suddenly into your life
Love’s out of your control
They were paired in one of many breakout groups
Where they each first heard the other one speak
She carried on as if she were addressing troops
And he matched her fury, staring sternly, rebuking her with a nationalist screed
O how sweet
Love comes suddenly
Don’t matter left or right
Love comes suddenly
With a heart to harmonize
Love comes suddenly
Proposal to wet your eyes
Love comes suddenly
Bipartisan compromise
And love will bring the truth
When love shines its light
On all their principles
Testify!
Love comes suddenly into your life
Flooding you heart and soul
Love comes suddenly into your life
Love’s out of your control
He caught her sneaking out back of the conference
With nascent love in her shimmering eyes
And he held her gaze with such confidence
That they both knew, red and blue, that for this love they’d compromise
O is that so
O is that so very wise?
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3. |
Dreamland Sam
02:02
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“Dreamland Sam”
Supermarket’s full
Food rots in the fridge
Diseases on the cure
Addicts on the binge
Internet world tour
Virtual celebrity bore
Freedom’s harried cheer
Who’s watching the kids?
Dreamland Sam
Carry the weight like a gun in your hand
Give and give to poor
Take and ask for more
Richer than a king
To the rich we cling
O say can’t you see
An American dream like a pell-mell spree
Freedom—Duty—Threesome—Booty
Living in a dream, don’t know what it means
Virtue—Family—Voodoo—Envy
Tethered by a string to all the little things
Police on every beat
Criminals walking free
Voice extends its reach
Vigilantes screech
Dreamland Sam
Information glut
Knowledge undercut
Computers in our hands
Homeless roam the land
All that we use
Doesn’t equal to what we stand to lose
Freedom—Duty—Eagle—Booby
Living in a dream, don’t know what it means
Virtue—Family—Kung-fu—Fantasy
Tethered by a string to all the little things
Dreamland Sam
O what does it mean?
What do we do in the land of the free?
Dream dream dream
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4. |
Lucy's Song
01:53
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“Lucy’s Song”
My darling
Father’s love
My darling
Little dove
Wobble, wobble til you toddle
Toddle into father’s arms
Open arms
My darling
Father’s bliss
My darling
Little miss
Growing, quicker than you’re showing
Quicker than my eye can see
Everything
O, when you laugh
I see all life dance before you
My darling
Father’s cheer
My darling
Little dear
Smiles, adorn your face
Shining joy of heaven’s grace
My darling
Father’s love
My darling
Little dove
Whisper, into my ear
Tell me what you fear—
And it’ll be gone
Father’s love is very strong
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5. |
Cave Pop Ruckus
02:36
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“Cave Pop Ruckus”
A new age has risen
Myopic vision
Cavernous
Upon the cinder walls
Strange shadows crawl
Cadaverous
Light from a phantom hand
Who bears the phantom hand?
Man and woman chained
Wide-eyed trained
Imaginous
Words come to mouth
Ideas to sprout
Garrulous
Words to a phantom pair
Who put the words there?
Words are the tiny seeds that grow what your eyes see
Sight is the periscope that reveals what your mind probes
Mind is the machine that catalogues all meaning
The world is the extent of what you find as content
Marionettes and hand puppets
Dance to the latest pop ruckus
Narrative, so formatively normative
Is sung into our heads
I pull, you pull, pull away
From the chains that hold us prey
Crawling towards a light
That might lead us up, out, outside
(higher higher higher higher)
Outside the cave
Sunlight blaze
Wondrous
Things stand obscure
No longer sure
Ambiguous
Where is the truth here?
Who tells the truth here?
He says this and she says that
It’s a competition of personality as well as of the facts
B-b-but
But first it’s a question of your epistemology
What’s certain to you may not be so to me
B-b-but
But then again we’re in the political domain
So matters philosophical have all gone down the drain
B-b-but
But first we must agree upon our terms
Without a common meaning
We’re just talking taking turns ... taking turns
Kion vi celas per tio
What do you mean by that?
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6. |
Who Is My Neighbor?
03:23
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“Who Is My Neighbor?”
I have a neighbor
Who lives across the hall
I don’t know his name
Don’t know much about him at all
We pass with a nod in the hall
We ride the lift together
I wonder if he likes football
I think I’ll ask him later
But I know later is never
But I don’t know if it matters
Who are all these people around me
Who am I to them, who are they to me
Who are all these people who confound me
Are they so strange or is it me
I ride the subway
Lots of people there
Sometimes I see the same ones
Like that girl with auburn hair
I’d like to strike up a conversation
But I don’t wanna risk some complication
See all the many people
Sitting knee to knee
The one don’t know the next one
What he thinks, feels, or needs
You’re welcome to make a common guess
But, way things are, you’re liable to get in a mess
Who are all these people around me
Who am I to them, who are they to me
Who are all these people who confound me
Are they so strange or is it me
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7. |
Rant in D Minor
02:32
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“Rant in D Minor”
Another song
Another lyric
Another generic hit
For others to mimic
Another film
Another director
With the hero’s vision
Of a tenured lector
Another painter
Another painting
Some colored canvas
For the cognoscenti
Another book
Another author
Who writes on life
With uninspired tender
But what’s it for?
What’s the purpose?
When modern art
Is modern circus
With truth so piddling,
Who’s even listening?
But the critics write
And the masses follow
And if you want more
Just wait for tomorrow
If art is dead
In pop’s holocaust
Then we’re only playing
So let’s give up the ghost
Another day
Another dollar
Another year
And you’ll feel even smaller
Another election
Another issue
Another politician
And this one lies, too
Another war
Another enemy
This one’s small
But, hey, there are many
Another purchase
Another thing
To add to the collection
Of your other things
But what’s it toward?
And does it serve our purpose
When modern life
Just makes us nervous
Show me the living
The more-than-existing
But the papers print
And the money follows
And if you want change
Don’t dream of tomorrow
If truth is dead
Where’s your Pentecost?
Still we’re only playing
So let’s give up the ghost
They wake you in the morning
When you’ll live it all again
But what they never tell you
Is that history’s at its end
We’re no longer building up
We’re only filling out
The hearth has cracked
And we can’t heal it with clout
Lars pilfer from the temples
Celebrities preach from the stands
And everyone lives life like it’s normal
But I just can’t understand
What’s it for?
What’s the purpose?
When the modern dream’s
Expanded social services?
Are our dreams so middling
That now they’re crippling?
But the alarms they ring
And asleep we follow
And it you want the good life
Don’t wake up tomorrow
If life is vain
Then it has no cost
And we’re only playing
So let’s give up the ghost
But we’ll keep playing
At our hollowed customs
Like children playing
A game of twiddly-thumbs
Without even winning
Keep on spinning
And we’ll keep playing
So to feed the markets
Like desperate farmers
In barren gardens
But if truth is dead
And life’s a toss
Why’re we still playing
Let’s give up the ghost
give up the ghost
give up the ghost
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8. |
Miss Lonelyhearts
02:44
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“Miss Lonelyhearts”
Give us a word, O Miss Lonelyhearts
A fanciful word with hope to impart
Delivered with pity and sealed with your charm
Your winsome wise words, they soothe like a balm
So, give us a word, O Miss Lonelyhearts
Patron of ours, the spiritually starved
Our hearts are like puss, our souls open sores
Water our woe with holy tears of yours
These are tough times of suffering and sadness
But I’ve seen in the cards a new day ahead
Soon there will be laughter and gladness
I read the cards and that’s what they said
Miss Lonelyhearts, reader of cards
Grateful are we that you read what they said
The moon trines the sun and clashes with Saturn
You’re making progress, but hurdles await
Soon the moon will rearrange the pattern
All this to say, the stars hold our fates
Miss Lonelyhearts, watcher of stars
Blessed are you who know where they are
Wretched am I with all my inventions
To the spiritually starved I give stones for bread
Tarots and stars stir senseless confessions
The universe expands while our spirits are bled
Don’t you despair, O Miss Lonelyhearts
Just give us a word, or two a la carte
The broader your words, the better our lives
Your senseless confessions make our spirits feel light
So, give us a word, O Miss Lonelyhearts
Patron of ours, the spiritually starved
Our hearts are like puss, our souls open sores
Water our woe with holy tears of yours
Numbers are psychic because they go to infinity
If you’re number two, the future looks good for you
If you’re number one, rethink your vow of chastity
One, after all, ‘s the loneliest number of all
Miss Lonelyhearts, you numb our fears
You who with numbers work wonders
Miss Lonelyhearts, count out our cheer!
The tea has been drunk, but my cup’s cracked and shattered
The leaves augur nothing but that I must clean the floor
My once-crystal ball is now cloudy and spattered
Must mean the future’s unclear after all
Divinations abound in the age of the godless
We fumble with dust for solace to hold
But at the end of the day I’m still helplessly conscious
That I’ve no more peace than a man in blindfold
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9. |
The Endman
01:58
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“The Endman”
Look out, the Endman is coming
His ho-hum slow you down to the beat of his drum
Over and over again
Pounding out the thesis of historical stasis
Watch out, the Endman is coming
Know him by his slink and his sleepy blink
Tired as the life that he lives
Barren of desire he wakes his choir
Extolling the virtue of mediocrity
O the tasteless harmony
Safe and clean in a warm broth of tranquiline
Staring like cows out into the cold ... cold, flat road
Down to a dead end
Look out, the Endman is coming
Gonna wear you down to a wee flat nub
Grindin’ you, grindin’ away
Watch out, the Endman is coming
Take you by the hand to the last wasteland
Empty as the words that he says
Hopeless and retired he lulls his choir
Droning the praises of personality
O the cut-paste fallalery
Dumb and vain, another punched-out link in a costume chain
Staring like cows out into the cold ... cold, flat road
Down to a dead end
O pied cow, lie down to sleep and desire no more
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10. |
Sing, My Soul
01:14
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“Sing, My Soul”
I did lift my soul
To a loftier mold
Then did my soul sing
Joyful in its ring
But then did modern vanity
Steal within my soul
In place of idols great and old
It left naught but a hole
Why sigh low, my soul
When joy you ought sing?
Or have you no higher goal
That might reign your king?
When once the firmament stood firm
Now it shattered lies
And in the rubble stands mankind
With no solace for its cries
Sing once more, my soul
Sleep not in deep sighs
Sing with joy to extol
The sublimity of life
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11. |
The Kids Are Alright?
02:28
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“The Kids Are Alright?”
Get woke and check out our children
Seventy-five million wandering pilgrims
That we’ve set loose among us
With their snooty smugness
They’re right not to trust us
Oh no no
Your dead-named daughter’s a vegan trans king
He’s gone viral cancelling virtually everything
Poppin Lupron to change his body
Barely a teen but he’s got a mastectomy
Radical, dude
But the kids are alright
The kids are alright, right?
And the kids will guide
The kids will guide us
Like pubescent prophets
Lying sinister in supermarkets
And they’ll be alright
They’ll be alright
When the future comes to claim
The childhood we ourselves let maim
Look out her comes your self-righteous stepson
Demands a gun ban or he might get one
The budding-fascist hates parochial school
Girls are cool but bully boys will drool blood
Look out!
But the kids are alright
The kids are alright, right?
And the kids will guide
The kids will guide us
Like pubescent prophets
Lying sinister in supermarkets
And they’ll be alright
They’ll be alright
When the future comes to claim
The childhood we ourselves let maim
Childhood in the age of retribution
Family as a mental institution
How bad does it have to get
Before we wake ourselves up
And realize the kids are real upset
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12. |
The Endurance of Love
02:42
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“The Endurance of Love”
From low, down in a hole
Crawled up through a crevice, all the way to heaven
From bent, down on the knees
Stood up to the throne, went from mill to touchstone
From caught in an oppressive regime
Resisted violent power, a tale to empower
From down and out on the street
Overcame addiction to transcend submission
A dream—I’ve got a dream
A dream of you and me
And that there’ll be—another time
For us to meet—another world
For us to see—another life
For us to be—another way
For us to—
Celebrate and love each other
Each one himself and each one another
Come together and rediscover the endurance of love
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13. |
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“Vengeance of the Rat King”
Tragedy when party’s over
All your friends are short long-goners
Memories of camaraderie have flip-flopped, turned and now are soured
Like the hope that once did dope you
Some half-baked, du jour worldview
That was your highbrow breakthrough
—With inside jokes and ego strokes and grandiose retorts
The party’s over
Nothing to see here
Just a stopover . . . to the future!
What’s that scurrying in the wainscoting?
Must be the Rat King!
Who’s that wheeling on a head of cheese?
That must be him!
The one to incite all the mice
The one to knight the pawns
The one whose bite has a devastating price
The one whose nails are always drawn
—And he has come for you, dear!
Who’s that handing out the rotted cheese?
Of course it’s the Rat King!
Who’s that riling up the young mice-ees?
(That’s him, too!)
He’s got no scruples ‘bout beguiling young dupils
He’s got a flexible spine
He’s got no thought but to choke you with his garrote
He’s got a steely twine
—And he has come for you, dear!
The carpet of mice ripples as they wriggle
Erecting with their bodies a pelt dais
Shocked, you scramble up upon your table
To hear the raised Rat King launch his dispraise
His topic is the failings of your being
His words hurt, but there shall be no appealing
For now the mice are on the dash for vengeance
As one the mischief rises like a god’s hand
And strikes with bites of wrath which is your sentence
As with your tongue are you gagged
And then they scurry sated back to their holes
Back to their holes
Tragedy when party’s over
All your friends are short long-goners
Memories of wrathful feasts that never ceased have now turned bitter
Like the joke that now has laughed you
From the clique-clack of the who’s who
To the oblivion of your fall-through
Shamed and shunned and smeared and jeered and devoured full alive
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14. |
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“Father Burns (In His Cell)”
Sights to fill their eyes
Noise to fill their ears
All the show man can devise
Rod of gold for my mind
Four walls for my flesh
All to serve a higher life
Yet still I hold out
A hope for the past
And a hope for a new Passover
Free of the beast of Babylon
But I know it’s going to be a long time
Til I cast my eyes over
Over the land of paradise
Until then—I kneel
Down in silence
Until then—kneel
Down in darkness
Down in crooked crosses
Down in blasted wombs
Down in forked gossip
Down in cortex tombs
Nothing’s new under the sun
Variety beggars surprise
More and more makes man less than
Nothing’s old to the wise
Lost truths discovered anew
With empty hands man claims his prize
Yet still I hold out
A hope for the future
And a hope for a new higher culture
The renaissance of a pantheon
But I fear it’s going to be a long time
Til we lift our spirits higher
Higher to a new-world paragon
Until then—I kneel
Down in silence
Until then—kneel
Down in darkness
Down in heroes’ ashes
Down in wearied words
Down in exhausted passion
Down among the herds
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15. |
Sol III
03:37
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“Sol-III”
Straight from the mind of Zeus
Here comes the latest news
They’re planning an intergalactic cruise
Celebrities and talk-show hosts all gathered in a room
Philosophers and scientists were invited, too
The best that our world leaders could choose
Together they conceived a plan that would amuse
Billions of people here that live their lives confused
They’d colonize a new planet or two
The ship was built, the crew was got, and no one could refuse
The new hope awoken in souls so long unused
And what will they find there in that world beyond our world?
What will they make there in that world that’s yet to be?
What wondrous things await in the future yet deferred?
Surely not the things that now fill our dusty books
Surely not those things from the past
Surely not the things we keep hiding in our nooks
Surely all past things will have passed
Waiting on spaceship Groon
We’ve yet to get the news
So lick your lips and whet your hope anew
Meanwhile the people here that live their lives confused
Continue searching for new things that will amuse
Anything to keep them on the move
And the best world leaders that we could ever choose
Continue fighting wars they neither win nor lose
What will they find there in that world beyond our world?
What will they make there in that world that’s yet to be?
What wondrous things await in the future yet deferred?
Surely not the things we find living on the earth
Surely all earth-things will not last
Surely not the things that now rob our lives of worth
Surely life will then be recast
Surely not the things that now fill our dusty books
Surely not those things from the past
Surely not the things we keep hiding in our nooks
Surely all past things will have passed
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16. |
The Patriarch's Apology
02:28
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“The Patriarch’s Apology”
Birthed in the Age of Reason
I raised freedom from the page
And upon a hill I raised its house
For those of the future age
Yet now the house that hope did build
Resents its lofty place
And for the crime of rising up
They’d have me fall upon my face
To indulge in the privilege of a bitter taste
We diet on sweets and suck in our waists
But confronted with man’s endless hypocrisy
And it’s a bitter too much for our vanity
In my youth I drenched the soil
With the cultures I effaced
And through my adolescence
I dragged in chains an entire race
And if these sins should now abort
The truths I first professed
Then the tyranny of history
Shall forever us molest
To indulge in the privilege of a bitter taste
We diet on sweets and suck in our waists
But confronted with man’s endless hypocrisy
And it’s a bitter too much for our vanity
A house made up of people
May find people for its blame
But to vilify a nation
Is to undermine its very frame
Blessed be your right
To bring to light foulest villainies
But spare the house of freedom
And from history find liberty
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17. |
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“Pretty Darling (I’m of Two Minds)”
Falling down stairs
Are romantic affairs
Our two lips touch
Like two conjoined hands
The feel of the push
Is the flush of the glands
And what begins in a rush
Often ends in a crash
If it’s more than a crush
It outlasts a hot flash
And so it is patience
We ought follow as our guide
It reigns slow cadence
Yet renders safe our stride
So patience be prude
Lest we fall too soon, I say
Pretty darling
Hush is the word
And by hush we ought abide
Only fools gush their love
Let’s not lose our minds
Pretty darling
Patience is wise
Where the heart doth preside
The way of love is narrowly set
But heartbreak opens wide
Crawling down stairs
Are retarded affairs
Our two feet tied
By an inept plan
Patience as a guide
Is a foiling con man
It proceeds at a dawdle
And deceives in the fast
Darling, immortal
Love shall always last
But we time beggars
We’ll never get the chance
So let us embrace lovers
And join in the dance
And if a fall ensues
At least I’ll fall with you
All for your love
Can’t wait no longer
All for your love
Love is pushing harder
All for your love
I see no danger
All for your love
Both got the hunger
Pretty darling
I’m of two minds
But my will is set on one
In the contest of feeling and reason
I feel my heart’s as good as won
Pretty darling
Patience is wise
But it’s love that doth preside
The way of love is narrowly set
We shall walk it side by side
All for your love
Can’t wait no longer
All for your love
Love is pushing harder
All for your love
I see no danger
All for your love
Both got the hunger
What confounding labor
All for your love
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18. |
Game of Denial
02:46
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“Game of Denial”
I’m doing fantastic
(I’m feeling space)
Thanks for asking
(Why do you say?)
In the game of denial
(This game I play)
I’ve got a winning smile
(I lie with my face)
They’re always asking, Aren’t you worried?
(They see through space)
I’m always asking, Do I seem worried?
(Looks hide the face)
They always answer, No, not really
(Why don’t you say?)
Then why’d you bother asking, silly?
(Along, we play)
Tell me the truth
Or push back on my lies
Whatever you say
I will deny
My life is a mess—that I deny
But I’m doing my best
And feelin’ alright
I’m doing califragic
(I feel afraid)
Talkin’ pax monastic
(I hide away)
In the game of healing
(My life I play)
I’ve got that encompassing feeling
(Embracing space)
They’re always asking, Are you hurting?
(They see my play)
And I ask, Why would I be hurting?
(Lost and afraid)
The universe has healed me fully
(Hide me away)
I am now a vessel of healing
(Empty as space)
Tell me the truth
Or push back on my lies
Whatever you say
I will deny
Is it delusion or peace that I’ve found
It’s my solution
I’m on the rebound
. . .
A man convinced against his will
Is of his own opinion still
For none can sway and none can quell
Some fire he’s lit beyond his skill
And wisdom spoke with kindly tongue
Unto the gasp of patience’s lungs
Cannot prevail against dried dung
When in his ears it’s fastly bunged
And family, friends, and erstwhile guides
Cannot contend with tailored pride
When he esteems so smart his mind
He twirls it smugly at his side
And nature neither can withstand
The fancies of an arcane hand
When on her image he embrands
His secret knowledge and demands
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19. |
The Trial of Mary Wick
03:29
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“The Trial of Mary Wick”
Gathered here our coven,
I raise the matter grave:
Among us there are cowans
Who don’t believe the same
They praise the Demon Goddess
Or so their words proclaim
But behind their utterance
They don’t believe the same
They stare at computers
They use feigned names
They text other users
Who don’t believe the same
They must be exposed
And to the public shamed
We must punish those
Who don’t believe the same
Mary Wick, Mary Wick
The computers lie
Mary Wick, Mary Wick
Believe the same or die
(Agh! She’s not a witch!)
Before us: Mary Wick
The Wick of recent fame
Her texting makes me sick
As one who does believe the same
My very daughter saw her
Perusing cowan teachings
She then informed my daughter
Which really hurt her feelings
My son who is no liar
He watched her post a meme
He read it was a cipher
That mocked us as extreme
All her tears and please
Let them fall in vain
But keep her on her knees
With those who don’t believe the same
Mary Wick, Mary Wick
The computers lie
Mary Wick, Mary Wick
Believe the same or die
(Agh! She’s not a witch!)
Oh she’s a deplorable cowan—tut-tut-tut
Oh she’s an ideological slut
Oh she’s a technological nut-nut-nut
Oh she’s an epistemological mutt
Oh she’s in league with radicals—tut-tut-tut
Oh she’s a demagogical flirt
Oh she’s a computer-texting nut-nut-nut
Oh wish someone’d make her hurt
Humbly I ask, listen please
Humbly I ask, not for me
I see them now, hateful eyes
Though innocent, I’m to die
Resigned am I, to my fate
Yet after me, others wait
I speak for them, their welfare
I beg you please, please beware
An evil spirit, I know not what
Threatens our bonds to cut
With wiles and subtleties
To spread this suspicious disease
The conscience shrinks in fright
Though conscious, black as night
The future I pray brings peace
But here, I die as one fully free
Oh her words are dangerous, shut her up
Oh what cloying trite muck
Oh the things she says, burn us up
Oh someone quick and gag her talk
Hang her up, hang her up, hang her high to die
Oh curse her prideful kneeling, pull her up
Oh drag her onto the gallows deck
Oh we’ve spoken last, hang her up
Oh pull the noose tight around her neck
Hang her up, hang her up, hang her high to die
Mary Wick, Mary Wick
Hanged dead for no crime
Mary Wick, Mary Wick
Hanged dead as a sign (/for all time)
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20. |
Castle Mind
02:23
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“Castle Mind”
Run
Through the gardens
Of your mind
A castle guarded
Yet undefined
Your dearest fancies
Your secret friend
Here
Take your sword
It’s just a stick
But vastly more
With a little magic
All your own
You’re on your own
But not alone, never
Life will always be like this
Timeless, charming, childish bliss
Open-hearted mind-soul kiss
Search
The many worlds
That you contain
Imagination whirls
Over it you reign
A fearless knight
A noble, dashing swain
Dash
Shadowed figments
In your mind
The castle’s breached
But unresigned
You’re nearly grown
All up on your own
But not alone, never
Boredom befalls the idle mind
Fruitful soil out of time
Where I myself my self do find
Hold
To your vision
Beyond your walls
Nothing’s what it seems
No not at all
World growing real
Here comes the fall
Grasp
Fading images
From your sleep
Life’s laid you low
Now sleep’s your keep
All on your own
You’re on your own
And so alone, you never...
Imagined life would be like this
A bleak and unforgiving blitz
That cannot be dreamed over
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21. |
don't believe in story
02:35
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“don’t believe in story”
wanna cry
can’t empathize
don’t believe in story
so many lies
can’t recognize
weary of the wary
words that try
can’t characterize
don’t relieve the empty
pathetic sigh
sardonic wry
what it is without story
still and all anyway okay
how trust anyone else
when don’t believe in life itself
haven’t cried
haven’t empathized
lost faith in story
was a man
lived and died
then rose in glory
opened eyes
changed life
sacred ceremony
going where to and from can’t say
no yesterday tomorrow only today
spinning whirling twirling twisting monkey
still and all anyway okay
how trust anyone else
when don’t believe in life itself
bone dry
post-modernized
don’t believe in story
artificial dye
tongue-tied awry
masquerading folly
live and die
no through-line
so it goes without glory
no you no i
hello goodbye
what it is without story
still and all anyway
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22. |
Jonah!
04:17
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“Jonah!”
Th’Lord called down from heaven
Said the wicked need a preach
But I saw through his lazy plan
And I fled out of reach
Now the wicked whip up the ocean
And the demons’re after me
Oh, when the Lord calls down for a favor, yeah, his voice ain’t so sweet
Take my will ‘cause you say gimme all
Take my mind ‘cause I always get it wrong
And take my life in the bargain ‘cause you give me no peace
I jumped into the sea
And the Lord sicced his fish on me
It swallowed me soul and body
And now I’m finally free
Don’t you even dare save me
I don’t care for your saving
All you wanna do is use me
Go find an angel for your plaything
Go tend to your forsaken
The wicked you got your heart on
O I know you’re gonna forgive them
You’re only hard on the first born
I believe you’re a gracious God
But I think you’re an angry fraud / getting soft
From the forgotten
To the known
I bless all who are my own
And I am
Who I am
Whether I forgive or if I damn
I am God
From out the fish’s belly
Spit onto the beach
I went down to Ninevah
And I gave a preach
And sure as hell, they repented, and the Lord gave reprieve
Take my ears ‘cause I can’t hear no more
Take my eyes ‘cause I’ve sure seen it all
And take my life in the bargain ‘cause you give me no peace
The Lord, he sprouted some shade
So underneath it I laid
But then he smote it for fun
And I burned up in the sun
Don’t you dare say you love me
You’re just a burden with your loving
Oh go ahead and you get angry
Even the wicked know you’re bluffing
Don’t you dare say you love me
You’re just a burden with your loving
You only burden those you love
Yeah, you only burden those you love
(Jonah’s Prayer)
In my distress I called on the Lord
Took three days but he answered me
From deep in the realm of the dead
He heard my plaintive plea
He hurled me into the depths
Into the very heart of the sea
The raging currents all swirled around
And his waves swept over me
I cried ‘O I been banished
O, from the Lord’s fond sight
Yet I pry I’ll see him again
When the Lord says the time is right
The engulfing waters threatened
The deep surrounded me
Seaweed wrapped around my head
I was as low as low can be
When my life was ebbing away
O Lord, I remembered you
I shouted out my prayer
Even the dead they heard it, too
O learn, you wicked hearts
What comes when you spite the Lord
He’ll give you three long days
Best set your heart in accord
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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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