1. |
Composer/Nemesis
04:20
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Composer/Nemesis
not for the benefit of anyone
it was an accident
some slow-assembled gift
his fingers fumble but the notes all fit
but now it's five to three
and from down the street
comes that demonic tinkling...
the composer and his nemesis
the ice cream truck
he supposes that his song persists
but he's out of luck
cause that screaming metal music box
just won't shut up
and he knows the thought is wrong
but he'd kill him for that song
it'd be justice for that auditory crime
so fine and delicate
a little song direct and intimate
comes the development
and the fleeting feeling of accomplishment
cue that familiar doubt
old fear of selling out
ready the guitar artillery...
the composer and his nemesis
his punk rock past
cause he thinks he makes it better if he makes it fast
you know loud and heavy wasn't really meant to last
and the folkies got there first
electricity's a curse
separating what you meant from what you said
the composer and his nemesis
his instrumental skill
he's heard there's no art in arsenal
but he's loaded still
and if you can't communicate
you must communikill
and he carries it inside
some soft semblance of pride
he'll mow over any nuance that he finds
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2. |
Sunday Morning Afternoon
03:09
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Sunday Morning Afternoon
Sunday morning afternoon
heaps of nothing coming soon
and the gravity of what we'd do
won't burst our buoyant beautiful balloon
these Sunday mornings that we share
no problems or a single care
with more rides than the county fair
and the slow-descending dust motes in the air
here on your wide windy plain
pilgrims shrink from the sky
heaven only opens once a day
so be sure to leave the light on when you die
Sunday morning day and night
Sunday morning all our lives
the first time that I got it right
the first time that we shared our little light
here on your wide windy plain
pilgrims shrink from the sky
heaven only opens once a day
so be sure to leave the light on when you die
be sure to leave the light on when you die
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3. |
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Boys My Age (Vaseline Dreams)
Abigail, ginger ale,
there's nothing of a woman about her
quiet and pale, built like a rail
Tarzan could put his hands right around her
I'm young but I've seen what perfection means
silver sights that'd truly astound her
shimmering on the matinee screen
see the lights all flicker around her...
she'll never be the kind of girl for me
the star of all my glamour magazines
some boys my age are into birds or bugs or bikes or taxonomy
but gentlemen prefer their vaseline dreams
(vaseline dreams)
French postcards and leotards
the images of beauty surround you
the soft sateen, what does it mean
when all the glowing bosoms confound you?
there'll never be a girl that's just for me
laying in the dark under the sheets
all covered by the stars all pinned up,
staring down at me
but gentlemen prefer their vaseline dreams
(vaseline dreams)
just let me photograph my vaseline dreams
(vaseline dreams)
(vaseline dreams)
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4. |
Island Instrument
03:06
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Island Instrument
gave you an island instrument for what you'd make with it
just wanted to hear your whispering song
with every gift I'd always get the best of it
especially if I could sing along
gave you my heart to see just what you'd make of it
a relay to pass that love baton
and every race suffused with the sweat that flavored it
turning that sprint into a marathon
while my soul was freezing in empty space
the cratered dust, the barren waste
until that signal sent with haste
receive it now,
I'm staring into your face
we shared a bed to see just what we'd make of it
some soft scientific phenomenon
the overwhelming beauty, and I tried to savor it
some peering into the great beyond
where my soul was freezing in empty space
the cratered dust, the barren waste
until that signal sent with haste
receive it now,
I'm staring into your face
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5. |
Exit (Pursued By a Bear)
04:42
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Exit (Pursued by a Bear)
my teacher says that Shakespeare didn't write his plays at all
“well who did?” I asked of him
“it must have been some other man.
Some better-educated man.
A more sophisticated man.”
“Who bore the name? What can you tell me of this mystery?”
“some scribbled signatures
are all that there is left to see
an actor with some property
no playwright of divinity”.
your certainty will surely be your downfall, so prepare to make your
exit pursued by a bear
exit pursued by a bear
it's a big wide world of wonders and the skeptics best beware
lest they come to contemplate a bear
a bear
my teacher says the Lord God didn't make the world at all
well who did? I ask of her
“some hydrogen and random chance.
explosions and a backward glance.
a chiliad of happenstance”
reality is what you see
not sophistry and scrambling towards your
exit pursued by a bear
exit pursued by a bear
it's a big wide world of danger and the delicate despair
as they come to contemplate a bear
a bear
exit...
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6. |
Thrift Store Angel
03:06
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Thrift Store Angel
Some seraphim have platinum eyes
charge-card hair and golden thighs
friendly features Costco-sized
and tongues that only strategize
It would take all you have
not to break all that beauty you can't hold
so let me tell you bout my
thrift store angel who I adore
ever-ready for "what for"
her tastes are simple and sleek
like her mind and physique
the clinging cotton mystique
with nothing else underneath
when I'm in her bare boutique
every word that I speak
just turns to Byzantine Greek
Some lovers make their stage debut
and some submit to peer review
still others meet up in the queue
and part before they say adieu
and it takes all you have
to not break perfect silence with your noise
please let me tell you 'bout my
thrift store angel dirty clean
not a halo to be seen
my miracle from next door
my paramour washed ashore
my carnal candy store
that perfect film underscore
nothing is never a bore
when I am her stevedore
it leaves us both saddle-sore
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7. |
The Boy Who Cried Love
03:11
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Only a fool would leave a boy in charge of guarding all the hearts
but they labored and they rested
thinking that the flock was tended
until that deceiver split the silence
of the night, that boy he cried, he cried
love love love love love love love
the boy he cried
love love love love love love love
he was the boy who cried love
but soon they came to find his anxious cry was a lie and nothing more
he just needed satisfaction
he just wanted a reaction
but with time they came to trust again and the signs they could ignore
but the fault was theirs for leaving
precious items in his keeping
cause people tend to show you who they are
when they go pretending that they know
love love love love love love love
the boy he cried
love love love love love love love
he was the boy who cried love
what will he do when the feeling's real and it leaves him reeling,
no one believing his
cries of love
love love love love
the boy he cried
love love love love love love love
who needs that boy who cried love
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8. |
Patient Patient
03:10
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Patient Patient
you only want me when you think I'm dying
you only want me when you're in control
are you just a little wetter when I'm crying?
Or begging for you please just let me go
you're my naughty nurse and I'm your patient patient
strapped to your gurney begging for release
are we feeling fond or something just adjacent?
can I trade your satisfaction for some peace?
You gotta hang up your fantasies
it's time to let them go
your love's not a pleasantry
a handshake or hello
it's time to let them go
it's time to let me go
there's been many rockers careless with their conquest
and many poets pissed away their seed
the ledger looks like it could use a little redress
one less creative man in constant need
still see you sometimes, wouldn't call it often
you blush a bit, goodbyes, and then you run
and your round retreat reminds me of our roman times
when we put the F in front of all our fun...
we had to hang up our fantasies
it's time to let them go
your love's not a pleasantry
a handshake or hello
it's time to let it go
it's time to let it go...
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9. |
A Poor Tool
03:47
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A Poor Tool
well some people form opinions from the doctors on teevee
some trust in education, some trust the bbc
still others trust the big guy who made the blind men see
well that don't seem like a fair fight to me
cause it's a poor tool who blames his carpenter
course there's no time to complain
when you're circling the drain
and it's a poor blade who blames his sharpener
so you best cut just for rightness, not for wrong
ooh let me be the hammer lord, oh let me be the tongs
work my bellows, stoke my forge, I'll punish all the wrongs
make me sharp and shiny Lord, please make me true and strong
in your mighty hands I do belong
and it's a poor tool who blames his carpenter
Lord guide me to the light and I'll be hammering tonight
and it's a poor fool of a noose who blames the pardoner
so you best hang just for rightness, not for wrong
well freedom means just being free to put shit on your face
or not put shit if you prefer. I won't judge-- it's not my place
but if you don't protect yourself and get sick like some disgrace
don't dare you blame the Lord for goodness' sakes
cause it's a poor tool who blames his carpenter
for every cut that must be made some others can be saved
and it's a poor crop of wheat who blames the harvester
so best sow just the rightness not the wrong
be sure you're sowing rightness not the wrong
make sure you sow the rightness not the wrong
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10. |
Honestly Anna
03:28
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Honestly Anna, how could you go?
that stranger from the store is clearly keen to let you know
his expertise with the claw machine
his tender touch, his grip
release...
Honestly Anna, where could you be?
so much for meeting down the street
now it's just your mom and me
I watch the clock, we sip the tea
I'm feeling dumb or a bit naive...
Honestly Anna, what did you see?
Your father says you barely speak
and haven't left your room in weeks
By the window staring. “Please repeat.”
Don't want. Ignore. Don't Want.
Retreat.
This Family nestled with the news
it's not a circle, it's a noose
it's not a circle, it's a noose
well Ida knows, but what's the use?
it's not a circle it's a noose
it's not a circle it's a noose...
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11. |
Expiration Date
05:35
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Expiration Date
this morning over breakfast, it was much too late
the milk had finally reach its expiration date
four figures in black ink pressed from a printing plate
to tell me to beware, be cautious, hesitate
that day I was alone
nowhere to go just calling for some temporary home
memorized the dial tone
hung by the phone cause everyone was busy
with their boy/girlfriends, their live dead-ends
the long weekends, forgive me if this list offends,
I probably should get over it
okay. I'm over it
the calendar repeats May 1st
that stupid square I hate
the dreary day we reached our expiration date
instead of crying I should really celebrate
the miracle of our beloved emancipation state
that day I was alone
nowhere to go, just calling from some temporary home
your voice the dial tone
a distant drone 'cause
you were just so busy
if you call me now we'll make amends
and do it just like two bookends
what's a little love between old friends?
I'm over it
didn't I say...
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12. |
I Am Curious (Monkey)
03:39
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I Am Curious (Monkey)
well that curious monkey's escaped again
from that yellow bastard we call his friend
couldn't be too long before he meets his end
well that curious monkey who we both know
they made him a jungle, they wrote him a show
while inside his resentment grows...
performing for you gentlemen
he tumbles and you laugh again
he can learn to spell, he can learn to swim
but he can't help being simian
well he grabbed the kite and he flew so high
to obliterate the pain inside
just a speck of monkey and an ocean of sky...
the world's greatest doctors, surgeons supreme
will give speech to this monkey, his life-long dream
with his first words he calls for his press team
“please let me thank these humans of status
these men of great virtue for all working gratis
to replace my vocal apparatus”
he said to the assembled, “I've tasted your fame
I've heard your applause and I've seen your acclaim
but all I desired was to be treated the same
but I'm starting to realize it's not me who's been tamed”
well they laughed till they cried and they called him a sage
and the publicists accompanied him off of the stage
as grew their applause, so grew his rage
well it's time that you learned we're all monkeys at heart
one man has his Nascar, another his art
and at peace not a one, till death do us part
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Sean Michael Robinson San Diego, California
Singer/songwriter Sean Michael Robinson of The Summer Januaries.
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