Just wanna say

I am not a robot

Reunited

Today’s Verse: 17 February 2018

Today the script is finalised
Now it’s time to edit
Today the cast is hired
Soon they may regret it

Between the script
And final cut
Lifetime improvisation

That’s the way it’s always done
That’s the way we do it
If you know a better way
Get down and let’s get to it

It’s Not Easy Reading Poetry

Each syllable a little brick
Her breathing is the mortar
The crowd is waiting for a trick
The next act to abort her

A concept’s limping into view
Unfulfilled and tired
The crowd extends its sympathy
But circumstance belies her

The shambles done, a cupola
Of feeling placed atop it
We recognise she’s vulnerable
Applaud and glad she’s stopped it

Happy new year!

Burning the effigies of 2017 in the snow and sand

Happy Birthday to me!

By the way, do you like Joseph Roth? I have been reading his stuff for almost twenty years (started with "Radetzky March"). He wrote a lot, and I like his voice. Just read "Tarabas, a Guest on Earth". Wonderful. Think you might like it.

Jimmy, I'm a little late in wishing you many happy returns of the day. Let it show with you!

Happy birthday Johny!

You’ve earned it!

There was cuckoo in the spring
I said, Sing, O cuckoo, sing
And a tit-willow in a tree
Sing Dear Bird, O Sing for me

Hey nonny nonny
Hey tit tit
Hey cuckoo cuck
Hey la

Yes, they said, enjoy our song
For spring is here, but won’t last long
And after summer, fall is here
And we birds will disappear

Hey nonny tit
Hey cuckoo cuck
O cuckoo tit
Hey la

So fuck your mistress while you may
Do your fucking while it’s day
For you too shall lose your vigor
And your youth will sadly wither

O tit o cock
O titty cock
Tit titty cock
Hey la

And sings the bird: O tit! O cock!
And ticks the clock:  O tick! O tock!
Waste not too much time in wooing
For when you’re dead there’s no more screwing

O tit o cock
O titty cock
Tit titty cock
Hey la


Possibly more fun, definitely not political

Today’s verse: 20 October 2017

No more champagne buffet brunches please
There’s a limit to what a guy can swallow
There’s only so much a man can take
Till his mind is numb and desire hollow

I remember the day when you went to sea
You knew I lied when I told you I’d follow
I knew you lied, you told me your heart ached
We both believed in a better tomorrow
Someday

Chorus:
Thank goodness for alcohol
Thank god for drugs
Only my brain hurts
My body just shrugs
Thank goodness for alcohol
Thank god for drugs


Work in progress. Please extrapolate and extend.

Everything We Know

Epistemology in the age of Trump.


All that you say, every lie you tell me’s
Just put on for show
Nothing is true, now I have lost my faith in
Everything we know

Almanacs and dictionaries
Had to be let go
They’re just as false as
Everything we know

In the libraries
There are no more books
Upon the shelf
Just “The Song of Myself.”

Stories we hear on television
And the radio
We know they’re all just as untrue as
Everything we know

Someday perhaps
Our faith will regrow
And we can believe in
Everything we know

We’ll retrieve
what we believe in
Everything we know

The good old songs

Stephen asked me if I could send him MP3s of the old Fast Fun recordings, so I created a Dropbox folder and added the most current address I have for each Spartan/Ragazzo. I put in the versions of 7 Songs and the Chicken Tape that Tracy digitized many years ago and the Brothers Twain album. If you'd like me to send a Dropbox invitation to a different address let me know.

The school year's beginning
It's the end of of the summer
Which means that it's the birthday of
Our favorite lady-drummer

Happy birthday, Tracette!

Oh Papa dear Papa, come back to the Bar
The church in the steeple strikes one...

Happy birthday! I love ya, Big Dummy.

La Belle au Bois Dormante

What I remember is that I was awakened by a man I’d never met kissing me.  He was a very handsome man, but I didn’t know him and that’s not how it’s supposed to work for nice girls from my background, believe me.  My breath must have been awful, since I’d been asleep for a hundred years. Yes, literally one hundred years.  It’s such a weird story. What they told me was that at my christening, someone, an old friend of the family, put a curse on me and said, “When the child first sees her own blood, she will die.” But she didn’t think it was a curse, she insisted it was a gift, and everyone was shocked and said, “Oh no, no, no, no no,” so she changed it, she said, “Then when first she sees her own blood she’ll fall into a deep deep sleep.  She’ll grow up as graceful and beautiful as a flower and then she’ll fall into a deep deep sleep. She won’t die, she’ll fall into a deep sleep when first she sees her own blood.”  But no one in my family ever told me about this, until afterwards I mean.  It’s crazy. I was a baby obviously but as I got older they all knew I had this curse on me and they never told me about it. They didn’t want to or they didn’t think they should or something. I know. I know. That’s what my family’s like.

So I wasn’t ready for it, but sure enough it happened just she like said, one hundred years. I had nice dreams though, I remember that, and then I woke up and it was a hundred years later, and this man I didn’t know was kissing me, and I wasn’t ready, there was a layer of dust lying everywhere, over everything, and I remember I thought to myself, oh if only I could just sleep a little longer.

Well I ended up marrying this handsome man who kissed me even though I didn’t know him, and we’ve had a lovely life together, full of balls and banquets and horse-drawn processions, and everybody loves the story of how we met.  He’s a wonderful provider, a good husband, a good father, and his head looks fantastic on the coins and stamps.  The older I get, though, the more I realize I really was given a gift, maybe it was a curse but I see why she would have thought of it as a gift appropriate for a newborn.  Sometimes now my husband will wake me up by kissing me, very gently, and it’s so sweet and beautiful but still, all the same, I think, sometimes I think if only I could have slept a little longer.  Just a little bit more.

Monologue

When I woke up they said to me, it was you, you were the one who did it, it was you who did all those things and the things they said, they said it was me but it wasn’t, it wasn’t me or it wasn’t, how shall I say, it was not me that’s talking right now, it’s not me who says I am I right now, does that make sense? It was another one.  I don’t think it does.  I see that, I see that it doesn’t make sense but what I mean is that the one who is myself, the one that I am right now, the one who I say I am, that one was asleep.  That one is me, it is I and I was asleep and so then you see, right? That I couldn’t have, I couldn’t have been there and I couldn’t have done it because I was here, I was asleep.  It was a dream and I was asleep and now I’m still asleep, I am still in this dream or, I don’t know any more, maybe it’s another one, maybe it’s a different dream but I think I’m asleep and having a dream, that’s all, it’s not me, it’s—I don’t know who but not me, not I, I am still asleep. It’s a dream, that’s all, but I don’t like this dream and they keep telling me what I did, but I didn’t, it didn’t happen, or it didn’t happen like that, like they say it did, or it did but it was someone else, anyway, no, I do not like this dream.  I keep trying to wake up and see what happened, or see what it is that’s happening, or that keeps happening and they keep telling me it was you, you did those things and then they tell me all the things they say I did, and I’m talking to them, I’m explaining it and they keep saying it was you, it was you, and no, no I do not like this dream.  It can’t be like that, like everyone says, like everyone keeps telling me, that can’t be it.  That can’t be right.  That’s what I keep saying.  That I was asleep, that it was a dream.  A bad dream though.  A very bad dream.  I remember…I don’t remember, I don’t think I can remember, but it was a very bad dream.  I can’t tell if it’s over, it seems like it’s over now and I’ve woken up, and then I hear how bad it is, how bad everything is and I think no, that’s not it.  That’s something different.  I remember and it’s bad, it’s a very bad dream, but it’s different from what they say, but then that’s not the dream, it’s not that dream, it’s not what they say, it’s not me, it’s not me that did it.  Not me, but…I don’t know. I don’t know who.  Another.  Someone else. You know?  I think there’s someone, there’s a guy wearing my clothes, everything, my shoes, my watch, my voice, but he says, what he says, first of all, it’s much more, how shall I say.  More confident-sounding, I guess, he’s much more confident-sounding than I am, like, he’s pretending to be me but he’s actually better at it than I am.  You know?  He’s better at being me than I am at being me, but that’s not right. I’m asleep, it’s night time and I’m asleep, but he’s out there and everyone seems to think he’s right, when they hear what he says it seems right, but that’s not what I would, that’s now how I’d, I don’t know. He was talking, he was talking and he was saying all sorts of things like I do and the weird thing is that I could hear him, I could hear what he was saying even though I wasn’t there, I don’t know how, maybe that was the dream and I could hear him, it was like me, it was, it was like things I would say but it wasn’t.  It wasn’t, it was much more, I don’t know, more clever maybe, clever and interesting and people seemed to be listening and they liked it but it wasn’t me. And do you know what he said.  It’s not, I know it’s not true, all those stories he told, they’re not true but I wouldn’t call them lies.  And even what I’m saying right now.  I mean who’s saying it.  Who’s speaking right now.  It’s me, it’s me of course because—you can tell right?  You can tell that this is me and it shouldn’t be, no it should be, it’s right but now I don’t know any more.  I can’t tell.  And no one would listen.  They all said, they all kept saying I did it, you shot at that boy they said, you covered those people’s faces and made them stand on that stool, all those things, you did that, and you know what it was, it wasn’t me, it wasn’t me I was asleep and then he, you know the other one, he said, that one said, well then someone did it for you.  You wanted to, I didn’t want to but he said I wanted to, he said I wanted to and someone did it for me, he used my name and he did it for me and now you’re happy, you can admit it, you know this is what you wanted and I’m not…I don’t…I didn’t do it and I didn’t want it and now I can’t get rid of it. I can’t get away from it and everyone says it was me and I can’t wake up.  And he keeps saying, he keeps telling me that even if you didn’t hold that guy down, even if you weren’t the one who grabbed that woman and started choking her, which even if you did it was OK, you did what you thought was right, but even if that wasn’t you, still you know what you’ve done.  You know what you’ve done and it’s just as bad.  You’ll never straighten it out, you’ll never be OK but think it over, really it’s OK.  He says, you can never come back from this.  After what you’ve done, no you can never go back.  What you’ve lost is lost forever. But you know you would have lost it anyway so in that way, yes it’s OK. That’s not true, or I don’t know maybe that part is true. That I’ll lose, you know, lose everything I guess, I don’t want that to be true.  It doesn’t have to be.  Do you know what he told me? This really was a lie I think, I mean I know it’s not true, he said—I know, I know I shouldn’t fall for it, but he said don’t worry, things can be like they were before, everything will be like it used to be and that’s just what I wanted to hear, I knew it wasn’t true but that’s what I wanted to hear, he said things could be like they were before. But that it could be over and I could just forget, no I don’t believe that. I think if everyone would stop saying it, if someone would just say yes of course you were asleep and it was a dream but not if I say it. Not if it’s just something I’m saying to myself.  You know? But I think, I don’t know it seems like it can’t be just a dream. If it’s a dream, if it’s only a dream, then this is, I mean me saying it is a dream.  Then it’s not even a dream it’s a…no.  Then there’s no end.  Then it couldn’t stop because, do you see, because it would keep going on.  I mean if this is.  If me right now.  If me what I’m saying.  If this is a dream and I’m still dreaming then I don’t need to wake up, I need to go back to sleep.  If this is a dream I’ll go back to sleep.  No. 

Today's Verse: 22 April 2017

One week later
OK he's dead, what now?
I've been thinking about
My religion
I've got a lot of good tenets
Only the best
And a Church of one
First : No love songs
Second: Whatever works
Or maybe the reverse
Third: Let's take it from there
Did you ever touch bottom?
Feel it?
Gravity embraces you
Warm, indisputable
Nothing transcendental
Nothing impermanent
Special
Just there
Over the hill

Fragment before Easter 2017

Sitting on the curb side, staring at my thoughts
Waiting for a pickup, a ride back to the loft
The evening light is fading, the cars keep passing by
Mister's not around yet, I start to wonder why
What if he doesn't turn up, what if I'm on my own
I'd hate a cop to stop me, and give me a hard time

Don't quite know where this one leads, but thought you might want to play with it. I've been working hard and traveling a lot, so a little disappointed at not doing more on this blog. Have some ideas that are very slow in fruition.
I plan to "transit" through San Francisco on the way to Halifax (!) around 10 July. Would be nice to see you, if you're around. Let me know and I will plan accordingly.

The Day the Brownshirts Came To Town

The day the brownshirts marched by on parade
The townspeople all hip-hip-hoorayed
We all felt a special kind of pride
Whatever they’re fighting, we know they’re on our side
We cheered more and more as they marched round and round
The day the brownshirts cane to town

All us boys tried to sneak out of school
We wanted rifles that would make us that cool
The girls were all saying those brownshirts looked cute
But we knew it was more than the buttons and the suit
That brought them running out of the playground
The day the brownshirts came to town

Grandma said, “It’s just about time
Someone did something about the dirt and crime.”
And then just like always, this set off my dad:
He said, “Those guys are trouble, they’re just as bad!”
And momma smiled to calm him down
The day the brownshirts came to town

We were a little confused, no one seemed to know
Whether this was part of some reality show
Then Uncle Louie sort of disappeared
But we always knew he was a little bit weird
We figured sooner or later he’d be found
The day the brownshirts came to town

Martial Law in Chicago

The clusterjam has begun
There was a black man with a gun
Now there’s martial law in Chicago
We heard that there’d been looting
So our boys started shooting
Martial law is in Chicago

We can’t have this in our own back yard
So we called in the National Guard
We hit back and hit back hard
With martial law in Chicago

It was those illegal aliens
Syrians or Iranians
Martial law in Chicago
It must’ve been agents from ISIS
Who instigated this crisis
Now there’s martial law in Chicago

There was some protest from the mayor
But the opposition didn’t dare
Block a national security affair
Martial law in Chicago

We don’t need a warrant for searches
Don’t try hiding out in churches
Martial law in Chcago
Rules about search and seizure
Are only for appeasers
Now there’s martial law in Chicago

Now much as we respect the press
We had to cut off all access
Until we can declare success
Martial law in Chicago
Martial law in Chicago

Why We Fight (again)

An updated version of a song from a few years ago


Does anyone remember the protests that were for the 98%?
They seemed so self-indulgent—what did they represent?
Things got a little better, so I guess we all forgot
What things are like when soneone else is caling all the shots

And this is why we fight, brothers
This is why we fight
Though sometimes we must stop and rest
This is why we fight

The man who killed an unarmed kid was let off by a jury
Another man was killed by cops in Ferguson, Missouri
Another still was choked and killed for selling cigarettes
And yet somehow the struggle stopped. We managed to forget.

And this is why we fight, brothers
This is why we fight
Though it’s hard to carry on
This is why we fight

Some will fall in glory, and others fall in shame
Still others give up because both sides seem the same
Some fear humiliation, some direct attack
But sometimes when we’re broken, new roots grow through the crack

And this is why we fight, brothers
This is why we fight
Though sometimes we must stop and rest
This is why we fight

Our rulers are no longer to be the brightest but the brashest
A TV personality playing the American fascist
And millions of us hit the streets, perhaps this time we’ve learned
Will this be the call to fight? Has something really turned?

And this is why we fight, sisters
This is why we fight
Now’s not the time to stop and rest
This is why we fight

Work in progress - verse 22 January 2017

...
I'm glad you were there
To take me home
When I fell on my face drunk
...

Overheard; New York Palace, 11 January 2017

2017 is a heavy year
Last time I saw you
But you got through
All xxx front ends
Feels I don't want to say autopilot
He gets up there and goes
There were people on people's shoulders
He's lost his mind
An opportunity to
I bought for 5 dollars
I try to stay away from semis
There was a Bna product
For whatever reasons
But it was locked up for 7 years
Then he got divorced
Really nasty divorce
It's all about the Tshirt
It was hot too
Oh my god
Oh yeah right
But that would be
And I destroyed that nighty
That was brutal
Have you been to a big festival lately
All my friends are like I can't go on a
Saturday night
Take a picture
Ballet?
A ton of it then
It was unbelievable
Neil Young can get away with it
How much bands are making
I get that part
But the way they do it
There's no more weird in the Mid-West
I got him to switch
Yeah that poor bastard
He's a super nice guy
Under lots of strength

Today's Verse, 8 January 2017

Seeing daylight disappear

Inspires me with funny fears

I fear that you'll be coming home

I won't be there

You'll be alone 

Watching daylight fade away

Makes me wonder should I stay

Makes me wonder what I'd do

If you were me

And I were you

This is the best thing ever

sitting outside with a glass of red wine on a lovely evening in Singapore at the Swiss Club. Just got back here from Mumbai, after a couple of intense weeks with Indi, Mira (and her boyfriend Rob), and Jai. I went back to my journals of 10 years ago when I was in Mumbai last week and found some draftlyrics that I wrote for a tune Johny wrote. In an idle moment, after the plat principal, I thouGht of looking it up on Spartan Bar. Not there, but what a fucking treasure is there from 2007 and 2008. Ten years, and we seem to have lost Firestone and Tracette. But I am inspired to continue, starting now. Here are two song lyric ideas, not sure where to go with them: "I sucked Jesus' big cock, but he hasn't come, yet", and "what's the secret in men's eyes, what's the secret in women's eyes".
Happy new year!

Someone to tell

I'm sitting in the lounge at Dublin airport, next to Bob Geldof. I was happy to meet someone who knew what I was talking about when I told him I was excited to be seeing Robert Wyatt in concert tonight in Brighton and Nick Lowe in London on Sunday night. Celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with Indi, Mira, and Jai. I'm a lucky guy!

Stay Young & Beautiful

Kind of a modest effort.  But it goes to a very nice tune!


Stay young and beautiful if
You’d be adored
Once you are old and ugly
You’ll be ignored

You’ll be a laughingstock
And piteous
If you try to be loved when
You’re hideous

Old people are called cute
But let us face the truth
You’re lost once you’ve lost
Your youth

Lovers of beauty are so
Easily bored
Stay young and beautiful if
You’d be adored

Happy Ending

Waking up in someone else's outfit
Waking from somebody else's dream
Feeling small, fruit and hope and useless
I realise, things are what they seem

I realise the limits of my powers
In someone else's undershirt and briefs
I realise I'm running on momentum
Far beyond the point of no relief

CHORUS
How long, how long
How long, how long
I wonder
Days and nights go by,
Extensions pending
Then a mighty clap
Of awesome thunder
Here it comes
Here comes my happy ending
Here comes my happy ending

Waking up in someone else's bedroom
Waking naked, standing by the door
Feeling small, fruit and hope and useless
It seems I'm not a child anymore

It seems that I've departed from the blueprint
In someone else's therapy and sheets
It seems I may be gaining some momentum
Far beyond the point of no belief

CHORUS

BRIDGE
Someone like me
Someone like me
What a pleasure to be
Someone like me

Waking up in someone else's problem
In the dark and running out of air
Feeling small, fruit and hope and useless
I realise, I'm not really there

I realise I'm prob'ly incidental
In someone else's dressing gown and socks
I realise I'm running on momentum
I fear I may be running out the clock

CHORUS

There comes a day I think I shan't be waking
Making love in your grandfather's coat
Feeling small, fruit and hope and useless
Feeling like a poem someone wrote

I realise conclusions can be painful
Conclusions may be difficult and slow
It seems that it can help to have momentum
It helps to have somewhere to go

CHORUS

Happy birthday, Jymn

Your love is like a rainbow, falling all around my shoulders.

BRB

I got your call, I saw the text
And we all know what’s coming next
I know there’s work to do right now
And rage at you-know-who right now
But I’m not ready for this parade
The button broke, the ribbon’s frayed
I’ll sit now with the empty glass
But thank you though, I’m glad you asked

I do not have the strength to sort
Through all the shades of black
I just need a couple moments
Sorry.  Be right back.


The silence when you turn from others
Sometimes heals and sometimes smothers
I guess the grief and the frustration
Will not be calmed by isolation
We all must stand and all stand tough
It’s just, my best’s not good enough
Ah no, it’s fine. I’ll be OK.
Just not right now.  Just not today.

I shouldn’t fear the darkness
Nor the bright light in the crack
I just need a couple moments
Sorry.  Be right back

Happy birthday baby

you did it again!

Democracy has failed

I suppose this is the result of reading Plato during election season.  Many of my fellow Americans, however, have said recently that their fellow Americans should not be allowed to vote.

Democracy, my friends, is a joke
It’s a bag of greasy donuts and a 36-ounce Coke
It’s Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian
Frankenstein shoes worn as fash-i-on

We had a mighty ship of state
But now that ship has sailed
Take a look around you, friends
Democracy has failed

The people, friends, are a beast
For facts they care not in the least
Life’s a matter of team sports
The color of your cap and shorts

We can no longer fool ourselves
The truth has been unveiled
Take a look around you, friends
Democracy has failed

Letting the people decide is always a mistake
They’ll gorge themselves on grocery-store cake
The kind with cheap Crisco icing
Available for you at cut-rate pricing

We’re holding our breath, awaiting the worst
It’s time we just exhaled
Take a look around you, friends
Democracy has failed

Kind of Like the Flimflam Blues

A couple months ago, I guess on the release of the Cutting Edge collection, I was messing around with some Dylany stuff, but now that I know it's literature I'll share it with you my dearest friends.  Feel free to play along.

I got a woman back in Jackson

She’s the only one who knows my name

I got a woman back in Jackson

She’s the only one who knows my name

I gave her my picture but
She only hung the frame

The medicine show man

Told me all about his roots

Yeah he talked about tradition

Told me all about his roots

I said, well that all sounds fine, dad
But tell me, where’d you get them boots?

Well the flimflam man he told me

I was nothing but a thief

Yes, that flimflam man he told me

I was nothing but a thief

I said, Mister, I stole your hat
But I left you your belief

The Battle for New Jersey

(Chorus)
They're coming for your way of life
They're coming for your wife
They're coming to be free
With your sons and daughters
Close your eyes, make for the back door
And keep going, keep on going

It started in a fishing town
It started in a factory
I just got tired of looking down
On all I saw around me
I just got tired of losing out
My life became a mystery
A plot I could not penetrate
Sullen, mindless misery
The TV shows I watch at night
Replay the same old story
Everybody loses out
There is no kind of glory

CHORUS

First it was the presence here
It was logical, necessary
Everybody knew his place
N degrees below me
When did truth dawn on me
When did I see the danger
When did I finally recognise
The enemy is the stranger

CHORUS

It started out in high school
But I try not to remember
Everything I said, I did
Neither sweet nor tender
Everything made me sweat
I simmered in my panic
Except for pickup basketball
And getting stoned up in the attic

CHORUS

So here we are, swords drawn
On the Internet, blogging
It's life or death, or anything
To keep me online, logging
They'll never take my freedom
They'll never take my tool
I gave up a long time ago
I'm no one else's fool

CHORUS

Let's have three cheers for Tracy
Her birthday is today
We'll have a hip and another hip
And end with a hooray

Happy birthday, Tracette

Work in Progress

Once upon a time, when I was a youngster

The city was my shopping mall and the streets were my dumpster

We’d do shots of laughing gas and boot up itching powder

I’d feel a little nauseous while the music just got louder

By day we’d get our hair cut, by night crash discotheques

Take a couple angry pills, have unclimactic sex

Red in tooth and nail

And I’m an angry white male

What happened to the girls I knew, they’re ugly and they’re fatter

And they try to fill me up with chitter chitter chatter

I make sure all the pretty gals know they need to smile

Especially when they can see that I am drunk on rage and bile

You’ve seen it all on television, it’s an American disease

But I tell the ladies: You’d look so good on your knees

Or you could take the veil
For an angry white male

Cowboys in White Linnen

There was a cowboy known as Frank

Recited Rilke when he drank

Which, in fact, was rather often

He drank himself into a cowboy coffin

There was a cowboy we called Ace

Lived in a dopey state of grace

Never clever, not a player

Now light a candle, say a prayer

CHORUS:

Wrap the cowboys in white linen

The parade is now beginning

Beat the drum and blow the fife

And mourn one more lost cowboy’s life

There was a cowboy we called Curly

He hit his peak a little early

He liked his cowboy lovin’ rough

Until one day he’d had enough

There was a cowboy, Little Timmy

All he said was, “Gimme, gimme.”

If he’d not been such a fiend

He might not have been quarantined

CHORUS:

Wrap the cowboys in white linen

The parade is now beginning

Carry roses for the pall

To muffle the dirt clods as they fall

Cowboy Jack was quite a banger

All he had was his own anger

Then someone shot off his face

Sorry, Jack. Wrong time, wrong place

When I think of Cowboy Kevin

I wish that I believed in heaven

That, along with other friends,

I’d believe I’d see his face again

CHORUS:

Wrap the cowboys in white linen

The parade is now beginning

Beat the drum and blow the fife

And mourn one more lost cowboy’s life

If you haven't read this yet, do so.

Flag Half Mast

I heard the news
Read the story
Lower Old Glory:
Flag half mast

From my house
I didn’t hear the shot
But doubt it not:
Flag half mast

So much fear
So much rage
Uncared for bodies
Left on-stage

And mine the shame
Mine the debt
I won’t forget:
Flag half mast

Thank you, Mister Matador!

Well the gents down at the bullring
Knew they had a sure thing
With their swords and capes and fancy sequin pants
And in almost no time
It’ll be their showtime
Where they get to do their famous dance

And the bulls are so excited
They really are delighted
Everyone’s come out for bullfight time
Though the show’s a little heinous
The just want to entertain us
And let us see the fun they have while dying

[Chorus:] All the bulls are singing in the ring tonight
So happy to be in the fight
Yes they’ll all go down singing, “Gracias Señor.
We thank you, Mister Matador.”


Well the ladies are quite flirty
But they don’t want to get dirty
They’d find this whole show a dreadful bore
They’d twirl their umbrellas
And quite ignore the fellows
If they couldn’t see a little blood and gore

But when those fellows lunge
And make the final plunge
The bulls will all go down without complaint
If they’ve helped us make good
In proving our own manhood
They die with the sweet smile of a saint

[Chorus:] All the bulls are singing in the ring tonight
Glad they’re included in this sacred rite
Yes they’ll all go down singing, “Gracias Señor.
We thank you, Mister Matador.”

Zero Zip Zilch

Following upon my X song, this is my Z song, a Zydeco of course.  I hope you can hear the washboard as you read it.


In the olden days, no one would ever say
That zero was a number
It’s not an amount that you can count
It’s an absence and a hunger

I said hey----  zibba zabba
I got zero zip zilch nothing nada
I said hey---- pretty mama
The zero zip zilch I have is all for you.

And there can be no doubt, when you multiply it out
You’ll always get the same figure
Zero times one, or times one hundred and one
It just doesn’t get any bigger

I said hey----  zibba zabba
I got zero zip zilch nothing nada
I said hey---- pretty mama
The zero zip zilch I have is all for you.

Happy birthday, Critter.  You make me blank.

X Is For You

This song is the result of 1) hearing a Beatles A-Z show on an oldies station and realizing I don't having any songs whose titles begin with K, Q, U, V, X or Z and 2) playing online Scrabble.

We know X is for xylophone
And X is for X-ray
But since you left me I have learned
Some new words of the day:

X is for xerosis, which is abnormal dryness
X is for King Xerxes, who was a Persian highness
X can be for xu, a coin one-hundredth of the dong
X is for xylem, that moves nutrients along

X is for xanthochroid, with light skin and light hair
X can be for xenon, used for a flash lamp or a flare
X is for the xyster, with which you can scrape bones
X is xenophobia, to which small minds are prone

And X is for you my dear
For there can be no doubt
That you remain the ex
That I cannot x out.

X is for xenogenesis, when baby’s unlike his kin
X is xeroderma, a dryness of the skin
X is for xerography, from which we get Xerox
X is for the xenocryst, a crystal found in rocks

A little word that starts with X is the Greek letter Xi
Used sometimes in physics or in a fraternity
Mrs. Socrates, Xanthippe, had a name that starts with X
And X is for xylophagous, wood-eating insects

X is for you, I know you know
What I am talking about
For you remain the ex
That I cannot x out.

And X can be exalt, exhort
Exemplary, exahalation
Exchange, excise, excite, exclude
Or excommunication

X can be for Xanthus, a city in old Lycia
X can be for lots of things, well you get the idea
A kiss or hidden treasure are often marked with an X
And X-rated means, Oh boy!  There is hot sex!

X is for you, upon
My honor as a scout
For you remain the ex
That I cannot x out.

Today's Verse: Maundy Thursday (24 March), 2016

This little song came to me as I emerged from a long nap on the flight this morning from Shanghai to Singapore. I hadn't seen your preceding two lyrics, but when I read them I felt that this one could almost be a reply to them, or in some way a continuation or extension of them.

I wasn't born good looking
Kids call me a clown
Stray dogs take my measure
Then they follow me around

I don't think that I am lonely
I haven't been for long
I keep my good self company
And drink my whiskey strong

I see the world's on fire
It's going mad with pain
Confusion makes me shudder
And this is what I say

Fuck it
There'll come another day
Fuck it
You see, the children play
Fuck it
I'm happy anyway
Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it

Some people think we're hopeless
Disaster looms ahead
Some people think we're trapped in sin
Unborn, the living dead

I once thought I was special
A spirit told me so
Destined like a savior
Then it let me go

To wonder what I'm good for
An odd and awkward thing
Part boy, part man, part animal
Down the road I sing

Fuck it, etc

(Bridge)
If I knew
Wrong from right
Maybe I could do it

If I knew
Right from wrong
There'd be nothing to it

Looking back I see a nightmare
From which I can't awake
But that's all in the past now
The future's a clean slate

The clean slate's an illusion
To keep my pressure low
To keep me on a simmer
To keep me in the show

I've vowed to keep together
What Mom and Dad passed on
I have a deep affection for
The people in this song

(Sing along everybody)

Fuck it, etc.

Repeat 1st 3 verses

Fuck it, etc.

Even Dogs Have Dreams

I finished two songs today.  Just remember, they'll be much better with music.


Have you ever seen a sleeping dog
Running, or so it seems?
He’ll give a little bark or growl
Yes even dogs have dreams.

I lie, neither awake nor asleep
Between the two extremes
And though I neither bark nor growl
I too have my dreams

Oh I’m low
But you know
What they say:
Every dog will have his day

Maybe I have nothing left
But clutching at moonbeams
Well if I must, I’ll live on that
Yes even dogs have dreams

As Long As I Have You

It may rain and snow

Freezing winds may blow

I won’t feel it, I won’t know

As long as I have you

Let the rain clouds close

Let there be tornadoes

Ice caps may melt though once they froze

As long as I have you

Let buildings tumble

Cities crumble, be laid humble

Let the whole world crash

Turn to trash, smoke and ash

Let refugees

Wander through the seas

Stricken down by foul disease

As long as I have you

Let the lame, the blind

Get left far behind

It’s not fair, but I don’t mind

As long as I have you

Bye Jimmy, the talking dummy

RIP Dan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPPsU-P5V-k

Waving Goodbye

Have listened to Waving Goodbye a few times now. The lyrics work well, much stronger sung than read, which I guess was the idea. My favourites are Jack of Diamonds (nice to hear your playing) and Papa Stay and Fight. I'm still not warm to Dennis' vocal personality. Oh well. I know some benighted souls struggled similarly with the majestic Firestone vocal delivery! How did the show go? I liked the promo film.

News and verse

Hi Johny,
Got the CD, but have yet to listen. Thanks. I'll listen when I return from a week of scuba diving in the Philippines. I need a break.
Here's a challenging one, just for you!

Bad Easter

There are a lot of things
That scare me more than death ...
Like Mexico ...

Like Monaco
Crap is on the table
Then crap falls on the floor ...
Like destiny ...

Like history
A shit is gonna crush
A man that's like his dad ...
Like Sophocles ...

Like Everest
Why not bet it all, all
On a real long term view ...
Like Calvary ...

Like infinity
Drop into a whirlpool
Call home when you emerge ...
A melody ...
A melody ...
A melody ..
Like a melody
A long, sweet, twisted melody

If you want, there will still be plenty to see

My friend Chris made this video to go along with Along Came Jones: Waving Goodbye show.  She asked me to write something about traveling by bus, and then made this fantastic evocation of the crepuscular consciousness of the open road:

http://www.alongcamejonesmusic.com/videos-3/

Waving Goodbye 12: RC Mountain Line

We have to go soon, I think we just have one more song, but I wanted to tell you how the story ends.  You know, the first story, where I was in bed, and I heard bells and saw a face in the moon. Well the next day I was awoken by a knock on the door, and someone must have spoken against me, because some men came to take me away, though I had no idea of what I had done.  I asked the men. “You have to tell me what I’m accused of,” I said.  “This is America.”  One of them laughed.  “Wave goodbye, Johny Blood,” he said. “You can play one more song and then the show is over.  Wave goodbye.” Goodnight everyone.


RC Mountain Line lyrics

Waving Goodbye 11: Waving Goodbye

I remember a bright sunny day in December, the year of the drought. You sat in the dark and said, “There’s too much sun and too much light.  I wish I could go away to where the snow covers everything and it’s quiet.”  I offered to build you an igloo right on the spot.   “I’ll make a snow fort out of sofa cushions. You can put on your Eskimo suit and we’ll pretend the dog’s a walrus.” You hardly bothered to look at me, hardly bothered to shake your head no and said, “I just want to go somewhere dark and cold and sleep through the winter. I just wish it would snow, that’s all.”  Then you hopped on your sled and went away, and I waved goodbye and watched you disappear, already going somewhere I can’t go, already looking happier, not looking back to see that I’m waving, which I am, and I said, “OK, I’ll wait here, blue turns to white then green and when the ice melts, come back and I’ll be here,” all the time waving, waving.  Goodbye.


Waving Goodbye lyrics

Waving Goodbye 10: Ash Wednesday

Five Times You Might Not Wave Goodbye

1) Your winning streak finally comes to an end. You bet everything you have all on one roll of the dice and lose it all.  You’re broke now. You beg the croupier to let you stake the watch your father gave you; it’s solid gold, worth a couple hundred easy. You fall to your knees and hug his legs, begging. “Stand up,” he says. “I can’t help you.” Finally the bouncers come and escort you out.  As the door slams behind them, you do not wave goodbye.

2) You see a man in the street, mercilessly flogging his horse.  You beg him to stop, but he ignores you until the horse collapses, a bloody carcass.  You’re sobbing, just stop it, please stop, but he spits and says, “What’s it to you?” and turns away. You do not wave goodbye.

3) You are the last soldier at Waterloo.  All your fellow soldiers have left.  The muddy fields are soaked with blood.  Your uniform is in tatters and you have no boots. Beginning the long journey back to your little farm in Avignon, you see a Russian soldier hiding in the white birch trees.  He looks even worse than you do, and more scared. You do not wave goodbye.

4) The lawgiver, who left more than a month ago and nobody knew when he’d be back, finally returns.  He saw the idol you’d built, which was just supposed to tide everyone over until he came back, but it completely freaks him out.  He totally loses it and breaks the tablets of the law, then he grinds the idol into a powder and makes you drink it, and then runs to the gates of the city, vowing that the guilty will all be slain.  You do not wave goodbye.

5) On Ash Wednesday, the priest smears ashes on your forehead and murmurs, “Now go in peace.”  You leave, but do not wave goodbye.


Ash Wednesday lyrics

Waving Goodbye 09: Martyrs Die For Love

Dogface offered to take me out for a drink.  He was one of my few old friends that was still around. He knew a place that stayed open all night, which is pretty rare in this town, as you probably know.  He used to go there during the curfew. So we’re having a couple drinks and after a while this guy comes in carrying a guitar and a paper bag.  Dogface gave me a nudge. “You know who that is?  It’s Saint Genesius. You know?  ‘I came to make you laugh, but now I bring you joy.’  That’s him.”  That’s why I love going out with Dogface—he knows all those guys.  So then sometime a little later a girl came in holding an empty bird cage.  Her eyes were blank and scary, and she said, “It’s over, it’s over, he’s gone, my little bird is gone, he’s gone away”, all like that.  And we’re just trying to have a drink, you know?  Genesius walked over and put his arms around her.  “Why are people so awful to one another?” she said.  “I know,” he said.  “So much trouble,” she said.  “So much trouble and for what?” “I know,” he said.  And Dogface turned to me and said, “You know, Johny, some suffering can be redemptive.  It can.”  He took a last sip and finished his drink.  “But sometimes suffering is just suffering.” And he lifted a finger to try to catch the bartender’s eye to order another one.



Martyrs Die For Love lyrics

Waving Goodbye 08: Time EnoughTo Cry

I’d heard the band might be able to get a gig at the Elysian Towers downtown.  Do you know it?  It’s kind of a beat-looking traveller’s hotel, there was a big fire but then they rebuilt it.  It was mid-September when I went down there, you know how it never gets too cool here in the autumn, and the sidewalk was covered with crumpled leaves.  No pretty autumn colors, just brown.  Out front there was a cop, or security, I’m not sure what he was supposed to be, but he was holding a flaming sword and smoking a doobie and it scared the crap out of me.  In the lobby, everyone is dressed in white, looking like they were ready to be put in the ground. I say to the guy at the desk, trying to be pleasant, “I hear you book bands?”  “Well,” he said, “the winter’s kind of a dead time.  The boss doesn’t really book bands, her daughter does most of the booking, and she goes away in the winter.  In fact she just left, today I guess, I didn’t even see her leave.  The boss is upstairs, but there’s really no point in going up. I don’t think she’ll see you.  She always says, what’s the point of music in the winter, most people just come here to crash then.  She always says she doesn’t miss her daughter, but you can see she does.  If you ask her, she just says, there’s always time enough to cry. Plenty of time for that.”   We never did get the gig.



Time Enough To Cry lyrics

Waving Goodbye 07: Advent Calendar

I jumped and I fell and I found myself  facing twenty-five doors all lined up in a row.  I opened the first one, and inside it said, “Each door is day.”  I opened the second, which said, “Each day has a number.”  The next said, “Each number has a secret symbol”.  Then, “Each symbol is an opening”. “Each opening holds a treat.”  “Each treat is the whole world.”  “Each world is a face.”  “Each face is a saint.” “Each saint has a bird.”  “Each bird is a stained glass window.”  “Each window has a message.” “Each message is a piece of candy.” “Each candy is a sunrise.”  “Each sunrise is a candle on a cake.” “Each candle is a nail in your coffin”.  “Each coffin holds a gift”. “Each gift can be counted.” “Each counting is a snowflake.”  “Each snowflake makes a storm.”  “Each snowstorm is a globe”.  “Each globe is a stage”.  “Each stage hosts a tragedy”. “Each tragedy is a window.” “Each window is a mirror.”

The last door just had another door behind it.  When I opened that door, there was a song inside.  The song was called “Advent Calendar”.

Advent Calendar lyrics

Waving Goodbye 06: Jack of Diamonds

I went down to the Sibyl’s cave to have my fortune read.  She was very good, all business. I crossed her palm with silver, as they say, and she started the reading.  The first card was the Five of Spades.  “Ah yes, disorder.  That’s you.  That’s your situation.  It’s all of us.”  Then she turned up the Wheel of Fortune. The blue sphinx and the red jackal. The Sibyl was quiet for a long time and I wanted to make a Vanna White joke.  Finally she said, “Well the Wheel is turning, that’s the thing to remember.  When it’s right side up, good fortune, when it’s reversed, disaster.  What it means for you…very hard to say.  If you can tell which way it’s moving, you can see it turning and win any play.  But sometimes you think you can see which way it’s moving and you’re wrong.  That’s the worst.  Very bad.  Now this one…aha.  The Queen of Clubs.  That’s, well, I don’t know if that’s in your future or not.  It never hurts to hope.  And then the Hanged Man?  Sweet boy.  Very good to see indeed.  Some say he’s the martyr, some say he’s the little bird in the tree who was killed with a shot. It’s very surprising to see him here anyway.  Now this one…Jack of Diamonds.  He brings the news, do you understand?  The door is open, but then it will close.  You’re the one who will have to decide.”

I understood. I walked to the door. I jumped.


Jack of Diamonds lyrics
Tracy can check my Tarot references for accuracy

Waving Goodbye 05: It's A Sin To Despair

When the drought finally ended and the rains came it didn’t feel like relief, it was just muddy and cold and dark all the time.  It didn’t rain hard, everything was just always wet. Then we realized it wasn’t going to stop, we’d waited so long and then finally when the rain came it wouldn’t stop, and some of the guys decided to head out but I thought I’d just stay behind. “Johny you should come,” but I, I don’t know, it seemed kind of crazy, two cubits of this and three cubits of that, gopher wood or whatever, it didn’t make sense to me. An ark, you know, it’s not a boat, it doesn’t have oars or sails, it’s just a box.  It doesn’t go anywhere, it just holds things, so anyway maybe I should have gone along but I’m glad I didn’t, and they were getting in that thing and with all those animals and I like the animals, but I know not everyone does.  It was still raining, it was so bad, so dark and ugly, and they all were hunched over with their coats over their heads getting onto that ark.   I don’t think they saw me but I was waving, bye you guys, see you later, I’ll be here, if only it weren’t so muddy and awful, anyway see you later.  I’m hoping for the best. It’s a sin to despair.


It's A Sin To Despair lyrics

Waving Goodbye 04: Why Should I Weep

I know it’s foolish, but I keep walking by that café we used to go to, which of course is closed now and completely unlikely to open anytime soon, and even if it did, I don’t think I’ll be seeing you in there.  But I still shade my eyes and peer through the window, imagining that you’re sitting inside, laughing at some stupid thing on your phone, reaching without looking up for your latte and not quite finding it, and what it would be like if you looked up and saw me and waved. Oh, Johny.  Hi. And I started singing that song you always used to sing about the rose in the hedge and the bird in the tree, shot by some careless boy, and the mermaid. The mermaid makes me think of you: I might hear your voice in a dream but I’ll probably never see you again. You’re not in the song any more.  And then—I know this will make you laugh—I started tearing up, not for me, not for you, not for the friends I’d never see again, but for that poor little bird,  killed for no reason.  And I know what you’d say if you were here: Why should you weep, Johny, why should you cry?  He’s gone but his song still hangs by.  I’m sure that’s what you’d say if you were here.


Why Should I Weep lyrics

Waving Goodbye 03: Papa Stay and Fight

I finally went over to see the old man, much as I didn’t want to.  He was lying in bed with a little thin sheet over him, the window open.  He started talking to me, mumbling, his lips weren’t even moving.  It was like how he’d tell me stories when I was a kid, except now he was the one lying down, and I the one kneeling beside him.  “You know how it is, Johny…frogs, lice, pestilence, wild animals.  There’s nothing left here.  I thought I’d even lost you.  Can’t you just put me in a boat and row me over to the other shore?  Look at me.  I’m covered with sores and boils, you can see how it is.  I can’t stay here.  Can’t you see that? There’s a place on the other side of the river where I can be healed.  I don’t want to stay here.  Can’t you take me there?”  “I know Pop,” I said.  “Except I’m staying.  Can’t you stay a while too?  I know it’s probably only going to get worse. I guess…listen, get out if you can.  I’m staying here.”


Papa Stay and Fight lyrics

Waving Goodbye 02: At the End of the World

I knew it was a mistake to get off the bus here, but it was dark and I was lost. I thought, well this would be as good as place as any but basically it isn’t. It’s not as good any, not by a long shot. I know now I got off at the wrong place and now I can’t get home.  I don’t know what I was thinking. There’s a bus that comes by like once a week at some crazy time, Wednesday at 3:17 or something, nobody seems to know.  I keep thinking I’ll be there when it comes by but then I keep missing it, I don’t even know how I manage to waste so much time, but I look up and realize I’ve missed it, it won’t be by again for who knows when, another week or something, I don’t even know.

One day I thought I heard someone say when the bus would be coming, and where it would stop, so I went there in the morning and I waited. Did nothing but wait all day.  Finally, incredibly, after I don’t even know how long, forever, here it comes, and I grab my stuff and get on, and the bus driver says, “That’ll be $6.75 back in to town, sir” and I try to give him a ten, I don’t care, and he says, “Sorry my friend, exact change only.  You don’t have anything smaller?  Don’t worry, get some change and I’ll be back,” and he waved, and pulled away and I just felt like crying.  And I’m still here, I guess I’ll spend the rest of my life right here, here at the end of the world.

Waving Goodbye 01: The Longest Night

For the Along Came Jones CD release show Dennis asked me to write little introductory texts for each of the songs, so I'll present them here 12-nights-of Xmas fashion.  Jimmy, now that the line at the post office should be shorter I'll resend the CD.  Still the Singapore address?


We didn’t think it could happen but it did, every time we thought, well at least things can’t get any worse they did and then they’d get worse than that.  It seemed as if everyone was leaving and I certainly couldn’t blame them.  Some of the guys said, hey Johny you should come with us, but I couldn’t, I should have but I didn’t.  I knew things would get bad, but I, first of all, I wanted to see the old man one more time.  And then, even though I knew you’d be gone, I knew it was ridiculous, but I went to the old places just to see if you’d be there.  Of course not. Everyone was getting out, no one was looking back, and even though I knew it was going to get worse I just went to bed and lay down.  I lay down and I waited.  For what?  For Santa Claus? I don’t know.  For the end of the world? I don’t know.  I lay down in bed and thought about you.  I could hear the bells up in the sky—but what were they?  Were they, like, sleighbells, jing jing jing, or was it that other thing, you know, the toll of the bell, the end of the world.  And then I see the moon’s full, and it’s all red, and a shadow crosses it, it’s Santa, right?  That’s Santa, isn’t it?  And I see your face in the moon, just like Jackie Gleason’s, smiling seraphically above us all, and I don’t know what to do.  It’s the end or it’s the beginning.  It’s the longest night of the year.



Longest Night lyrics

Granpa

i want a grandpa Christmas every year

Along Came Jones: Waving Goodbye Theme Song

Along Came Jones will do a presentation of the "Waving Goodbye" album in full in January, so I wrote a theme song for the show:

Hello! Hello! We’re Along Came Jones
There’s Myles and Kathy Sparling
My name’s Dennis, this is Pete
There’s Tim, he’s such a darling

Please do not text on your phones
Or play some Words With Friends
Just listen most attentively
And clap hard at the end

Some words may be offensive
And not fit for the kiddies
Please cover up their little ears
If we sing of ass & titties

We’re Along Came Jones, and now we’ll wave
Goodbye and not hello
We’re not leaving yet, that’s just
The name of tonight’s show!

Chorus girl: And now… on with the show!

Happy birthday Jymn. You hoped and you hopped and you hopped and you won!

Girl Let's Go For A Ride

Wrap your hair up in a scarf
Come on girl, we’re taking off
We’ll crank Blondie till the speakers are fried
Can’t take the top off my Toyota
We don’t care, not one iota
Girl, let’s go for a ride

Come on darling please say yes
We won’t need phones or GPS
My lack of direction will be our guide
We’ll go to Stinson, up Route 1
We’ve got fog, who needs the sun?
Girl, let’s go for a ride

Let’s turn east and drive this sucker
All the way past Winnemucca
Till we reach the Continental Divide
Or maybe it would be smarter
To head south to Porta Vallarta
Girl, let’s go for a ride



This is dedicated to my dog Odetta, who does dearly love going for a ride.  Note that the scarf/off rhyme in the first verse requires a Jagger-garage white bluesman pronunciation: scowrff

This Prison is a Paradise

Once this world was a prison

Enclosed and yet a blank

Now this prison is a paradise

And for that I’ve you to thank

Once I found I was trapped by

Walls I could not break through

Now this prison is a paradise

And for that I thank you

Dreams, ah I have dreams

I see the world breaking at the seams

And yet now I’ve found peace

I’ve found release, yes I’m released

I couldn’t bear this tiny world

That time and trouble shrank

But this prison is a paradise

And for that I’ve you to thank

Happy happy birthday baby

Hey Johny, thinking of you.

The Prince's Rejoinder

Used to be charms rhymed with arms

Both were currency

To trade and barter for romance

For bliss, for ecstasy

What rhymes with cunt?

A cake of bundt?

What rhymes with cock?

A strap of jock?

How our currency's debased

It's lost intrinsic value

You can't get nothin' for somethin' now

The market won't allow you

You get nothing

You get something

Everything's a bargain

Everyone's an easy lay

We're all broken-hearted

Don't I wish that I could lie

In love in your embrace

Beauty sketched - serene, eternal -

Here upon your face

The spirit that moves me,

The spirit of grace,

Charms, beguiles, intoxicates

Let's lie forever in this state

Between rest and bold desire

Let's lie, the pith of truth to taste,

So sweet, it burns like fire.