Sunday, February 28, 2010

690 : 2/29/00 : Outside the Lines

I got kicked out of kindergarten
for coloring outside the lines
the first time
I knew better the next time around
I didn’t make a sound
If you wind up in the wrong room
on your first day of school
they’ll just send you home
eventually
but sooner or later you got to go
you got your own row to hoe
and if you stay inside the lines
you’ll never know
what happens outside

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

689 : 2/28/00 : Monday Losers

Sundays it plays out
winners or losers
games and distractions
barflies and cruisers
but the Monday losers
gotta get up and go
Yeah the rest of us
just don’t know
Well the whistle don’t blow
these days we keep our own clocks
shackled to our wrists
So back in the box
And only money talks
in this world baby
and to Monday losers
it only says maybe

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

Saturday, February 27, 2010

688 : 2/27/00 : Days Like This

Days like this I used to think
Better off just to get high
but too much time passed me by
Days like this they’ll warn you of
So I face it crystal clear
taste its measure and feel fear
Did they tell me there’d be days like this
they must of but I didn’t see
they were really talking to me
got no special dispensation
get these days like everyone
when the weight feels like a bone
If I’ve learned one thing it’s this
whatever passes comes again
if it’s not now it will be then
so forget your omens and your signs
days like this can’t be predicted
anyone can be inflicted
One more verse to nail it down
a day like this can’t kill me so
I guess it’s time for me to go

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

Friday, February 26, 2010

687 : 2/26/00 : Soil

The worm devours death and makes a bed for life
The cycle of the soil never ending
When I hear the word revolve I test my knife
worm father and his soil wife
never mind the future, the rules we’re bending
the tragedy we make up as we go
never mind the message we’re sending
never mind it’s for ourselves we’re fending
after the dark hour after the snow
The soil abides forever
turns us over in a cycle so slow
back to the soil we all go

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

Thursday, February 25, 2010

686 : 2/25/00 : Wyrm Wyrd

A man cannot resist the wyrm of his wyrd
He gave up his choice and the option appeared
Warm words make me feel alright
but in the end the end is out of sight
It seems this mute earth is our ward
It seems we best stop rattling our swords
There’s a warm word
and the first word I heard
Came as if in a dream
and the word was word

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

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

685 : 2/24/00 : Last Laugh

Rooted in an enigmatic concept map
pull a magic rabbit from a hat by a bootstrap
In the end we’ll see who gets the last laugh
And takes the final draught from the empty carafe
The cosmic joke just might be on us
I dreamed I left the city on a magic bus
And crossed a lake somewhere up north
made it over the wall and went forth
But that was just a dream, untrue
All strung with myth and gardyloo
the truth is harder, more opaque
shot with fractures, more at stake
Restless with the rhythm of a wandering soul
I settle back inside and contemplate my goal
Will I have the last laugh or will I get caught
The vision is for sale but I won’t be bought

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

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

684 : 2/23/00 : Venerable Stone

Venerable stone
why won’t you talk to me
teach me your language
I want to see what you see
and will see long after me
In innocence my sister gave you
to me to watch over
Venerable stone give me
an answer to the
question I seek
something to make sense
of my weeks
fit in somewhere
and tell me...

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

Monday, February 22, 2010

683 : 2/22/00 : The Third Word

1,755 : 17 ?


The third word that came was the word hmm...
If I listen I could hear it
In the spring a cool rain falls softly
It sounds like that a bit
And the voice said write a song
I said what should I say?
said a well just hum along
said I could do that any day
hmm hummm hmm
Maybe a little too far gone now
after it all swallows up
Go about your bit of tao

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

Sunday, February 21, 2010

682 : 2/21/00 : The Next Word

The next word that came was the word wind
And the path was shown to me
And though I’d dreamed it a thousand times
I still could not believe what I could see
Longer than I could imagine
higher than I could have hoped
broad and narrow crooked and straight
a step for every second I fumbled and groped
While I slept I dreamed I rose above
all of my turnings and twists
I dream I rose on wings of light
to a realm where only light exists
And the voice said the path is long and true
before you were born it was made
and its end lies long past your dying day
and its light shall never fade

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

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Lacking the template

While Jennifer nods off on the couch to a DVD playing to no particularly attentive audience (I will admit, perhaps not a context particularly conducive to the creative process) I dust of the DS-10. It's the twentieth and I vaguely decided to do the RPM Challenge project. If you're reading this near the time it was written that profile should be notable in its complete emptiness. I see to my chagrin also that they either lost or I never properly transmitted my second attempt at the project, last year's Bootstrap Gospel, which is a shame, because it is a lot easier to listen to than the one they have, solvet saeclum in favilla. Which is not saying a lot as that album is almost unlistenable. I am probably the only person in the world who has listened to it in full, I am without question the only one who has done so more than twice.

The Korg goes a good ways deeper than I have previously intuited, mocking some of the absurd on-the-fly production techniques I came up with, having failed to grasp the appropriate techniques of multitrack sequencing. After more than a year I finally succumb to reading the manual.

But the forays into composition are painful, simply painful, so unrewarding. If the final production were really tight it would be one thing. But I know it won't be, it will be another slack, looping mess. And I just don't have time for that. Nor do I feel up to dusting off my 17 horribly clichéd chord progressions to produce another shaky singer-songwriter set accompanied by monotonous strains from a second-rate acoustic guitar. Finally, I don't think I can cull another decent set out of GarageBand's prerecorded loops and that's another time consuming process I'm pretty sick of. So either I'll have to renege this year or do what I've long threatened to and record a whole album a capella.

A Capella is hard too though, although not as hard for me as trying to compose and make music. It strikes me at last that the only way the music could ever go anywhere is collaboration. I can see myself getting my signing to the next level, I remain despite everything wholly committed to writing the lyrics. My songs. But I can't make the music well enough. I've made a lot of product but at the end of the day it's just not good enough.

Searching for others is a large and daunting step though. It's been a very long time since I tried to play with anyone and life is so much more complicated now. I really don't know what I'll do. If anything. Not for tonight, anyway. I put aside the DSi and spent some time listening to my strange personal catalog and transcribing songs from the current handwritten book. A pedestrian task but it has to be done if the things are going to get uploaded. It is an interesting way to get to know the songs again. Will they ever have a life outside of their books? Do they need one?

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

681 : 2/20/00 : The First Word

The first word that came was the word dream
It came to me while I was sleeping
Hard to believe, hard to conceive
Under cover of dawn a strange truth creeping
While I dreamed that I was awake
a waking dream captured my heart
And I spun for a timeless moment
And watched one word tear my world apart
And a voice said you are sleeping yet
You will wake with the morning light
I put my hands over my eyes
and said take me when it’s right

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

Friday, February 19, 2010

680 : 2/19/00 : Essene Scrolls

bill tee at mugwort dot com
insisted on a cd rom
of Essene Scrolls he’d scanned in
from the backs of soap labels
It’s Scripture he said
it speaks of a land of the dead
I’ve triangulated on them
using trigonometric tables
and the terms of the Peace Agreement
I’m nothing if not vehement
still so far to go
still we must go on
Still there’s little reason or rhyme
It could be me next time
Nothing to worry about
just to say so long

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

Thursday, February 18, 2010

679 : 2/18/00 : High Art

true or false
Light imitates dark
check my pulse
Let’s get high and make art my darling
Let’s make art an get high as starlings
If it’s really true
that what we
dream of we by and by
get ‘round to
it could be the next super villain
will sing like Poe and dance like Dylan
Let’s make high art
day and night
in sweat and sweetness
in blood we write
I’m so high, Art comes natural
Cold steady and factual

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

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

678 : 2/17/00 : Relentless

Look at me: relentless
after such defeats
still my endless
struggle to break through
pushes on and on and on
Speak to me: I’m lonely
Could it just be
you and only
you could get through
to a heart that was almost gone
relentless not giving in
not today anyway
when they think I’m done I’ll begin
push to the limit
one last one last time
Something’s broken that I can’t fix
it’s all beyond me
something tainted got into the mix
but still I’ll try to
tie it all together with rhyme

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

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

677 : 2/16/00 : Philistine

A curse upon the vulgar classes
The Philistines and slack-jawed masses
Addicted to football and giant cars
A plague upon the house of Jones
And Smith a plague upon their bones
They only want news on weather and the Stars
Philistine Philistine victorious
And your world banal and glorious
Too much butter and easy living
No challenge makes the ego rot
You think this is the good life but it’s not
You think you’re taking but you’re giving
I don’t know why I try to save
a terminal culture from an early grave

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

Monday, February 15, 2010

676 : 2/15/00 : Affliction

1,748 : 10 ?


Cure me of this curse’s affliction
bring sleep to my eyes
the daily grind is grinding me down
grinding me down to size
cure me of the curse of nonsense
spouting out around my head
teach me how to practice silence
and listen to the Big Sound instead
All the words words I trusted
only little sounds
End up chasing me through nights
like relentless hounds
Lord will my affliction leave me
leave me to rest in peace
tell me it will be soon
tell me that the noise will soon cease

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

675 : 2/14/00 : Loss of Way

Cat tail swished at the top of the stair
And loss of way was the subject in the air
We had sought oracles sages and stones
we could feel we had lost our way deep in our bones
the rooster cries morning, crickets call the eve
and all who couldn’t stand to stay still hated to leave
with so much left unspoken and so much left to chance
in the end only those who had lost their way were left to dance
our roads were marked with the signs of all the saints
Who’d gone the path before free of all earthly restraints
and everyone who found the way was marked
but no one could recall just where virtue was parked
so we gathered up together our raggedy band
and everyone took someone’s brother, sister by the hand
and I said despite the road and the weather
despite our lost ways we’ll go it together
the best I see out there today’s a parody at best
300 million souls all pray to be blest
From all who have a little must be taken away
a little oil to light a lamp of the lost way

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

Saturday, February 13, 2010

674 : 2/13/00 : Fascinating Facts

Cheap religious tracts and
fascinating facts from
the Bible cover my walls
I’ve got them hung with tacks
and stored in plastic sacks
in boxes stacked in disused halls
Portraits of the Christ
fitting symbol of my zeitgeist
whatever that may mean
You get them for a price
like soldiers throwing dice
for a robe of one piece no seam

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

673 : 2/12/00 : Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle
slept a hundred years
imagine what he thought
when he woke up here
Year two thousand
forests all cut down
every kid has got a cell phone
country city town
Rip Van Winkle
I wouldn’t mind his fate
I could use the rest
Wake up to assess the state
Twenty one hundred
Brave new world no doubt
sure it will be amazing
lots of that about

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

Thursday, February 11, 2010

672 : 2/11/00 : Voyage of Sick Drudgery

It’s a pity we’re not all
Spartacus
Stamped by fate
Handsome like Tony Curtis
The rest of us nobodies
Are just chained to our oars
Is ours just a voyage
of sick drudgery
A hard thought to take
But the great mystery
is someone has to row the boat
While another
Wily goat
calls the rhythm
beats the drum
pays the piper
makes the big show run
we’re all sailors
all at sea
chained to our sad oars
no one’s really free

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

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

671 : 2/10/00 : The Forest

I’m dreaming the forest again
of my youth my misspent dalliance
No forest I know no place I’ve ever been
Who understands the root of experience
in my dream I run like the wind
In my dreams I’m flying through the trees
In my dream I’ve got my motivation pinned
and I make my own rules do as I please
the forest the ancient silent giant
dappled sunlight shadows of leaves
silent green peace yet inside I am still defiant
knowing fate still has trouble up her sleeves
asleep or waking dream will never last
it’s just an echo from so far from now
in the dream a great wind rises up
and like leaves of grass the trees bow

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

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

670 : 2/9/00 : Blank Book

I shout a song unheard before
I demand a mirror a window and a door
and I rise above every challenge
I stand steady a mystery like Stonehenge
the wind blows and the cats meow
I never meant to take that journey anyhow
I wonder how the day got so late
filling a blank book cleaning off the slate
East of the sun west of the Father
I never knew a muse would be so much bother
So hard to feed so hard to care about
So hard to illuminate the shadow of a doubt
I wrote a song unheard of before
about a blank book, a circle on the floor
is it a mystery like the Mary Celeste
Will it stand unsolved or topple like the rest

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

Monday, February 08, 2010

669 : 2/8/00 : End All War

1,742 : 4 ?


To end all war a war is not required
And should in fact be well avoided
The war to end all wars and all the bastards that he sired
Good sirs the misery that you exploited
To end all suffering that is a goal unreachable
But do not think it frees you of your shame
For all your fine display of virtue unimpeachable
Good sirs I think you realize your blame
And one man standing silent by the road
and one man hanging lifeless on a cross
and I am just another who was showed
The sad depths of our uninterrupted loss
To end all wars will take another thousand years
It wouldn’t surprise me a thousand after that
It seems our lot is death and bitter tears
and so good sirs to you I raise my hat
And so to you good sirs I bid goodnight
And walk my weary pilgrim road alone
I pray you peace and hope that you sleep tight
and leave the rest of us to find it on our own

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

Sunday, February 07, 2010

668 : 2/7/00 : Weary Song

The weary mind begs respite
The weary man agrees
Writing one more song is
going to bring him to his knees

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

Saturday, February 06, 2010

667 : 2/6/00 : Macrocosm

The realization of the wider
universe
And me so small makes no sense at all
to feel cursed
Nothing at all out there to even
care
The macrocosm doesn’t know you’re
there
The perception of inevitable
mortality
Leads relentless to collective
morality
Say what you may it’s all just
all just words
Accept absolute exile or run
with the herds
Macrocosm it’s a shame that
you can’t see
There’s nothing to you that’s not
inside of me

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

Friday, February 05, 2010

The inevitable

Inevitably my long stretch of writing songs without missing days was broken last night - not intentionally, just a distracted and inattentive night. Final string 114 days, which I suspect will be the the one to beat for a while.

666 : 2/5/00 : Pardon

Pardon my sins
and my appetites
pardon my slips
and my long empty nights
pardon my confusion
and my aimless ways
pardon me my anger
and my trivial days
I’m searching for redemption
searching far and wide
I’m searching for a mission
from the other side
I’m searching for a way
to make it all feel real
pardon me for slipping on
cosmic banana peels
pardon me for living
I won’t always be
pardon me for breathing
and for being me
pardon me for giving up
and starting over
pardon me for pushing till I’m pushing up clover

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

665 : 2/4/00 : Flower

Sweet sweet pretty
soft and fragile
pretty flower
subtle and facile
same old clichés
same old line
bright and brightly
colored on the vine
pretty flower
full of schemes
full of essences
full of dreams

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

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

664 : 2/3/00 : Wage Slave

Wage Slave Maledictus
while we were sleeping
the higher power picked us
You will suffer the curse of knowing
The wages of sin of sin are death
the price of life
infused by God’s breath
All I know for sure is I didn’t start this thing
wage slave slave to earning
slave to consumption
the question burning
why do I go on is on my mind
put your shoulder to that wheel
the hill is very steep
and eternity is real
I must admit from here it seems unkind

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

663 : 2/2/00 : Whole Wide World

Who deserves the whole wide world
Not me, not me...
To much to do too much to see
We are blinded by necessity
The ocean chasm the sea of sand
the Well in the center of the Promised Land
Command the earth the angel cried
and all who saw its face just died
crying for the beauty lost
the maelstrom the early frost
the hanging rock the cavalcade
of sigils that the wind and time made
Who is wise enough to see it all
not me
And the whole wide world is waiting
but I’m blinded by necessity
and led astray by circumstances
and the fear of taking chances
with the whole wide world at stake
it seems a heavy choice to make
To me

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

Monday, February 01, 2010

662 : 2/1/00 : Last Brief Song

1,735 : 112 ?


One last brief song
before I must go off to war
to fight for all that war destroys
to die for what all war is for
Take my hand love kiss me once
For you may see me never
It is for this all war is fought
the fruitless fight to seize forever

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