99 : 7/18/98 : Inevitable

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Wish that I could shake the feeling
that my rise is inevitable
I've got a hard fighting hope that I cannot quell
I'm crazy, trust me, it's a ball

I've seen it so many times on teevee
one sweet punch and he'll be down
then she'll be the one for me
pack up and blow this foolish town

wish that I could lose my sense
of invulnerability
know its senseless know its false
it's something that was born in me

if it's not inevitable
then what is it how else could it work
guess I'll play the waiting game
guess I'll start whirling like a turk

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

98 : 7/17/98 : (journal)

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friday weird day busy and useless
real bands with real fans and
who cares if they're clueless
I've got a feeling it's all the fault of guys like me.

We ought to know better but we're not.

It looks like we just don't measure up
We throw our time away idiot games we play
We store our foolish treasure up
Can't see past our shells and baubles
future seems unlikely

We put ourselves right in this spot.
Visions of that bright and shining day
Friends call, plans stall
that's okay
they're why I'm okay
I've got a feeling there's still
hope for guys like me

I'll learn my lesson if I'm taught
I'm still standin' I'm still sucking air
Every night a chance to fight
and prove that I still care

I don't care if victory seems
unlikely

We deserve exactly what we've got.

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

97 : 7/16/98 : And Necessity

577 ?


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Fear and necessity is all I need
Don't need fortune fame respect or speed
Don't need riches love or notoriety
Just crazy desperate fear - and necessity

I'd almost rather see it all fall down
I'd go down with it wouldn't make a sound
What's left to say it's all the same disgrace
No amount of talking's gonna fix up this place

Lay down at last the last three note verse
That's pretty bad, believe there's something worse
Yeah I've done worse but I've done better too
This isn't much but tomorrow there'll be two

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

96 : 7/15/98 : Blinded By Falling At A Great Speed

You can buy a CD featuring a song of the day! Read more here

Was it a cliff was it a building
I can't seem to focus my mind
I seem to have fallen from a great height
it seems to have stricken me blind

A bridge or possibly an airplane
I can't hear anything but wind
strange that time should seem so unimportant
I guess what has been given, Someone can rescind

A silence passes over me
a whisper inside gravity
feeling strange like piety
about to join one motherhuge society

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

95 : 7/14/98 : Seven Fourteen Ninetyeight

Seven twice seven twice seven squared
This must truly be an auspicious night
Seems like all the others but it must be true
This is when it all starts turning right

Keep tell tell telling the story
Twist the plot a little more
All in all it's all in always
Always pushing to the furthest shore

There it goes it's almost over
Roll it up another hundred years
Hope I'm smarter by then
A man always becomes what he fears

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

94 : 7/13/98 : Ballast

I'm a lucky man
I'm sitting pretty good
I've got friends and family
a girl who says she would

But this old world is evil
Dancin' to a wicked tune
and these nights get crazy on me
leave me howlin' at the moon

I just need a little ballast
something dense to keep me pinned
but I always sink my ballast
throw my fortunes to the wind

I'll be missing a day or two for the holiday

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

Now available in physical format: yours truly on the Metafilter Compilation CD

To order the CD click here!

I recently participated in the creation of a collectively arranged and managed music CD featuring pieces by members of the community weblog metafilter.com.

This CD is complete and shipping now, and features a recording I made of one of the songs of the day, Obsession, among 24 other tracks by artists more talented than myself. I think it really is a fine and lovingly produced CD, and well worth the price even if I weren't on it, even if it wasn't for charity.

You can read about the album by clicking here
And read my artist profile by clicking here

To order the CD click here!

Thanks for listening -

Jon/aka nanojath/aka Scrivener

93 : 7/12/98 : When in Doubt, Work Faster

Who's the minion who's the master
at the end of every day
when in doubt I guess work faster
guessing's pretty much my way

who's the man and who's the flunky
never try that hard to hide
who's the man yeah who's the junky
bread is always buttered on their side

when in doubt write faster
put it down as fast as you can write
you're so seldom your own master
Rarely get to fly your little kite

Who lives upstairs who lives downstairs
everything that rises must converge
they get seated we pull out our own chairs
everything that falls apart must merge

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

92 : 7/11/98 : Sad Precedent

570 ?


We've set a sad ass precedent of
human behavior in our time
Yeah we've killed more harmed more
All in the name of a pretty rotten time
When they look back, a hundred
years from this age
They'll think of us as monsters
Crucify us on the page
And I guess I am
just about as bad as the rest
And I guess I am
just about as much of a
pestilence on this
Terrifying sphere
When did evil bloom
What was the moment
Are we wired up to
Always seek our own
destruction?

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

the fairly secret song of the day blog: now with weekly drama

I've been wanting to bring the current song of the day writing project into this blog in a small way. I don't want to introduce any new lyrics: I want to preserve the flow of the daily writing from the original project. But I'd like to have a small reminder that I am doing this now, it's not just something that happened 8 years ago.

So: each Monday, prior to the day's actual song, I'm going to post a little status report on the ongoing project. It will consist of the number of the current project's song, and an icon that represents how well (or poorly) I'm actually keeping up with the current writing. Here's a key to the meaning of the icons:

Songs are current. There is no backlog of work to do.


Songs are less than a week behind schedule


Songs are between one week and a month behind schedule


Songs are between a month and three months behind schedule. So far, the worst it's been. It was very difficult to get back to current.

Songs are more than three months behind schedule. If it ever gets to this point I think the project will be in severe jeopardy. Aren't you feeling anxious just thinking about it?

At first I was going to use a "threat level" graphic in the style of the whole Homeland Security Terrorometer thing but I decided I was sick of all that shit.

I have another motive for this small window into my day to day. As I mentioned in the original project explanation, unlike the first daily writing project, I am no longer indicating in the actual writing whether I wrote a song on schedule or as a catch-up on a later date.

While I've never felt it was realistic to expect I'd never miss a day, with the old project I followed the simple expedient of writing late songs in red ink. I don't know if it is the lack of this crude psychological goad or just a more complex life, but I've been significantly more lax in the current project with allowing myself to get behind schedule. I figure a little public accountability couldn't hurt.

As for "drama," I'm a behind right now, as Monday's post will show. As these things go, I have relatively good reasons for having gotten behind, but I'm not going to get into the reasons here or anywhere else. I'll just let the numbers speak for themselves. Hold on to the edge of your browser as my aspiration to write 10,000 lyrics in less than three decades surges forward with all the dramatic tension of an encroaching glacier!

91 : 7/10/98 : Attenuate/Decline

Well it’s all gonna be fine
I insist on it my friend
Well everything’s designed
To attenuate, decline

Gave to Caesar Caesar’s due
And this I know at every day’s end
At least one thing I can tell is true
I wouldn’t be myself without you

Trapped in time watch life attenuate
A soul will find its level in the sea
I’ve got no time I’ve got a loaded plate
I’ll eat it all in time you’ll sea if you wait

I’m looking forward to my declining years
The salty old dog that I’m bound to be
If I were old I’d have a lot between my ears
I’d be a village prince among my peers

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

90 : 7/9/98 : Super Ascendant Shooting Star

Super ascendant shooting star
pure excitement on the live wire
Turn it on wherever you are
Comin’ on strong flash like a freebase fire

Quasidialectric crystal plasma
Big screen smart machine telecaster
Whiff of the aether gives my astral body asthma
Turned on a wheel like spun alabaster

Super ascendant shooting star
I’d like so much just to be sure
Will I get a shiny motor car
Will my intentions be quite clear?

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

89 : 7/8/98 : Hammer

Pound me flat with a hammer, Lord
Roll me into a tube
Stuff me full of glory
and light the fuse

Cut me in half with your fiery sword
Dice me up into cubes
Toss the bits up the seventh story
Jesus knows I’ve paid my dues

I won’t look up when the hammer comes
To flatten out my sins
Idle hands are a shameful waste
Things are so much better since

I kept my head bent to the sums
I calculate the losses, wins
It’s a race too close for my taste
Too few words I’ve left to mince

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

88 : 7/7/98 : Penultimizer

Seems he’s the penultimizer
It’s his job to set things up
He waits down in a basement office
Jumps when old Gran Met rings up

Your job’s not to notice him
He leaves before the magic starts
Ol’ Boneyard Bill’s the main attraction
We all fill the tragic parts

Pity the penultimizer
Always feels that he’s to blame
Still he just can’t help himself
When Deus fires up the machine he’s game

Seems that he’s the fixer closer
Shuffles up the deck and deals
Someone else to rake the chips in
Some other machine to spin the reels

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

(brief) hiatus

Apologies for this ongoing brief, unannounced hiatus. The Song of the Day will be unavoidably suspended for another week at most due to non-critical but also non-trivial medical issues. Please rejoin us 'round about mid-November for the recommencement of the fun.

87 : 7/6/98 : Reelin’

I can’t hear a thing
for the wheels spinnin’ in my head
I can’t hear a thing for
the reels spinning in my head
How I wish this binding
skin could be shed

Got no choice got no choice
he said
It’s in me and it’s got to
come out
I cannot tell you what it is
all about...

I’m reelin’

I could not stand to watch that wheel
turn every day
I could not stand and watch them
slowly turning grey

And he reels around
casts his coat of many colors
to the ground

I built a room for noise to live in
I found the spot and drove the shiv in
I had no choice I could not
take note of my feelings

I had no choice I had to
Listen to the
reeling
reeling
reeling

Trying to pull some order
from the violent thoughts that plague us
Probably get better odds
playing the slots at Vegas

He stands up retrieves his coat
reverses it to black

Winks and says pay me no mind
It’s gonna be a sneak attack

Is he crazy, a genius or both?
Some idiot will ask after he’s gone
I don’t ask questions
I just get along
I’m not the forceful type like him
still I know what he’s feeling
Some nights standing still I feel
the earth is reeling

Reeling

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here