965 : 11/30/00 : Stray Haiku (Haiku 1)

Confusion of verse
stray haiku flutters brilliant
I’m one line closer

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

964 : 11/29/00 : If I Don’t Burn

2,036 : 19 ?



If I don’t burn then how will I know
the way I’ve been and the way to go
I need a spark I need some gasoline
I need a mechanic to put wheels on this machine
If I don’t burn then I’ll never feel
the fundamental difference between false and real
I’m lost in the illusion I feel that I’m asleep
I sense my soul’s duplicity while trying to sound deep
the monks crossed their legs and set themselves on fire
they left a fearsome image but their aims were so much higher
If I set myself on fire it wouldn’t mean a thing
though few within a stone’s throw would forget that scream
Chicago burned San Francisco too
all the best cities so why not you
fire is the cleanser, the means of sacrifice
concealing every evidence concealing every price
If I don’t burn then I’ll just stand still
I tell myself I won’t but I know I will
I need some gasoline I need a spark
I need a little courage and an X to spot the mark

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

963 : 11/28/00 : Fetch

Fetch me something to ease this feeling
that it all comes down to me
just when my head is reeling
Fetch me something and make it quick
Show me just what makes me tick
how long does it all go on
just when you give up asking
poof it’s gone
fetch me something to make me forget
how little I can stand it
I need a faithful friend of man
to put the stick right in my hand
I need a carrot to tempt the horse
I’ll fetch it myself of course
I’m tired of waiting for the information
I need a break an eternal vacation
I’m tired of waiting for the muse to fetch
I’m tired of listening to myself kvetch
I guess I better just go after the thing
or find something else to sing

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

962 : 11/27/00 : The Negative

The negative balance
racking up higher
I’m feeling the constriction of
the rose and the briar
I’m blaming it on you
I’m blaming it on me
I’m blaming it on everything
on what’s to come and what’s to be
It’s written in black
but my mind is red
I’m falling far behind
but I’m trying to get ahead
but the final analysis
it hits me where I live
frustrated by the specter
of the negative

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

961 : 11/26/00 : Hard 8 Horoscope

The usual platitudes
they fail to disguise
the set of your jaw
the cast of your eyes
Steps softly this noontime
seek gatherings late
beware of the size of
the chop on your plate
I’ll grab 8 the hard way
then make my way back
into the whole life thing
The whole social track
I’ll throw 8 in two fours
wake 2 and wake six
and rise like a lark swift
just watch me no tricks

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

960 : 11/25/00 : I Dare You

I dare you to rise above
the tepidness you’re part of
the lives lived in dull accord
the lies we could ill afford
I dare you to chose a move
I dare you a heresy to prove
that everything that rises must converge
or be hung endless on the urge
I dare you to dare a dream
of something just what it seems

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

959 : 11/24/00 : Fuck Me

Fuck me baby
it’s a simple request
buck your hips with your head
down on my chest
take me how I help myself
lie back and get your rocks off
fuck me baby and I’ll Fuck you back
Yeah I’ll fuck your socks off
You don’t have to make me sane
Your answer can be maybe
say the word and I’m your bitch
So hey just fuck me baby

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

958 : 11/23/00 : Hard

There are hard lessons in life
there are hard lessons in war
It’s hard to understand just
what it is we’re fighting for
Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful
Sometimes it’s hard to be clear
And to keep the constant stream of truth
from flowing out the other ear
Give me a hard bed to lie on
give me a hard loaf to gnaw
and I’ll tell you how I travelled far
and I’ll tell you all I saw
Seven years living the hard life
trying to see what it was about
I only just realized the other day
that I still had to find my way out
So take a hard look at my coming and going
and answer a question true
If the better way is the harder one
does that mean I’ll walk it without you?

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

957 : 11/22/00 : Core

2,028 : 11 ?


The core is only
white light and the rush
hot hard or soft
Shouts whispers hush
anticipation
is a game we play as long
as we can get away with it
the core of the dance is the song
we’re getting near the center cap’n
Should we go to stealth
if you want to penetrate the core
you can’t fear too much for your health

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

956 : 11/21/00 : Brief

Then out like a
brief candle

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

Consummate my relationship with your brain

Or if that just sounds too freaky for you, merely consume. After a long hiatus I have reopened the Media Empire Shop for business. To celebrate I'm offering a just ever so slightly scandalous actual physical product for sale. There's a whole big story about it you can read if you're, you know, into that kind of thing.

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

955 : 11/20/00 : Bad Novel

An overly descriptive and
derivative
mass of pottage
self obsessed,
confessional
unstructured
unprofessional
My life’s like a bad novel
my life’s like a bad novel
my life’s like a bad novel
by a bad novelist

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

954 : 11/19/00 : Response

Respondez vous, s’il vous plait
you know I get one every day
Request response if you so please
How do you judge it on your knees
Under duress duty or need
Compelled to grovel beg and plead
compelled to be a proper bitch
and cower at the lash’s twitch
Demand response a show of heart
demand an answer to your art
Do not consider don’t delay
Simply respond, s’il vous plait

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

953 : 11/18/00 : Instantaneous

Right now
only what I feel
a waiting a wondering
only what’s real
turned around a center
an unseen balancing
just a need to rhyme
hung and spun there dancing

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

952 : 11/17/00 : Verbal

let’s make a verbal agreement
you and I
not a contract
not an eye for an eye
no handshake required
my word’s my bond
In a world of bad faith
we’re a firm step beyond
Let’s make a deal
to reveal the new sound
let’s run the running dogs
right into the ground
Let’s lead an army
of five or ten
make everything new again
the only way to go is verbal
no marks on paper no bad blood allowed
let’s make a pact to push on baby
make the new sound
and make it loud

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

951 : 11/16/00 : Parting Shot

Bend over and take your
parting shot, loser
It’s a winner’s world and
I win a lot
don’t let it confuse ya
I’ll take the final word
I’ll end the dialog
I’ll administer the final shot
and disappear into the fog
so
stand up and
take my parting shot
loser
You think you’re winning
but you’re not
the proof’s here:
While you try
to turn my crank
I’ll laugh all the way
to the bank

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

950 : 11/15/00 : Genesis

2,021 : 4 ?


In the beginning
it all seemed the same
The credits rolled
and then it came
genesis in flashing lights
neon pulse and sway
pointing to a neon cross
world of tomorrow today
In the beginning
one day came like the last
and ended on a hesitant
note, not quite really past
and smiling past what seemed to be
into the vortex forming
I looked out of the window
and saw the snow was storming

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

949 : 11/14/00 : One Last

One last song before I
tip into the bottle
oh my baby done me wrong
and left me chokin’ my own throttle
one last short
before I stumble down the road
lookin’ for a way back baby
to a home that never showed
well it may be that things are changin’
it may be a change is due
for that wind to change direction
blow these troubles back to you
one more nip out of the bottle
one last store bought cigarette
I just took about a thousand
but it just ain’t hit me yet

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

948 : 11/13/00 : Short Climb

Do you want the short climb
in the long run
Do you want what’s settled
Or just begun
Do you want a long climb
to a new horizon
be careful what you ask for
and what you keep your eyes on

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

947 : 11/12/00 : Election

Run a ring a ring around
the rosy spectacled go-round
another vote another count
another four years won’t amount
to much except the rhetoric
and by that time I’ll bet you’re sick
of looking for a suitable mode or direction
away to deal with the election

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

946 : 11/11/00 The Other Half

Hey Guvnor:
we gonna follow you to
Washington
Follow you to Washington
Follow you to Washington
Unify the other half
and rewrite the constitution
Four years down the road
Hey Guvnor:
We gunna carry you to Washington
On our shoulders every one
Marching each to his own drum
We only need one issue
and it’s all about
election
Comin’ four years down the road

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

945 : 11/10/00 : Last Reckoning (27/27 Two Word Songs)

Last reckoning

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

944 : 11/9/00 : Gumption’s Ghost (26/27 Two Word Songs)

944 : 11/9/00 : Gumption’s Ghost (26/27 Two Word Songs)Gumption’s ghost

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

943 : 11/8/00 : Shifting Sand (25/27 Two Word Songs)

2,014 : 66 ?


Shifting sand

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

942 : 11/7/00 : Lesser Evils (24/27 Two Word Songs)

Lesser evils

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

941 : 11/6/00 : Wrong Answer (23/27 Two Word Songs)

Wrong answer

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

940 : 11/5/00 : Temperate Man (22/27 Two Word Songs)

Temperate man

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

Caveat Collaborator

A friend wrote me the other day and among other things praised the two word songs (just a week left now, my how a month flies), which was unexpected. He also pointed out one of those things that is so utterly obvious as soon as it is pointed out but I swear it never occurred to me before, which is that they represented a ready-made batch of enigmatic titles for instrumental compositions. Never occurred to me.

I'll tell you though, I can see why it wouldn't, because I don't much, particularly lately, think of myself as a musician. Creatively I think of myself, if anything, as a lyricist. I do sing, a lot, and I suppose I shouldn't short-change that, because I'm not a bad singer. But in terms of composition and performance, I've generally given up. Becoming a competent instrumentalist is an every single day kind of undertaking and I don't have it in me. I am one of the world's very, very large supply of mediocre guitarists, and when I used to compose music for the guitar I was a terrible serial abuser of many overused progressions involving D, A, G, E, and C (with the occasional cheater F not done as a proper barre chord or minors of D, A or E thrown in). I played the clarinet in high school, and there is some ghost of a recollection of proper embouchure and the rudiments of keying lurking in the back of my brain I'm sure. I picked up a bit of sight reading singing with a church choir. That is about it. I still know basically nothing about music theory, don't get scales, how chords work, minors or major this or that, don't know what a "fifth" is.

I sometimes daydream, not very hopefully (and certainly not to the extent of taking any positive action) that I might find my musical counterpart, sort of, a copiously prolific composer and performer of music that I could neatly pair lyrics to, do my singing and be otherwise relieved of musical responsibility. I've had only one really substantial relationship of musical collaboration in my life, a long time ago now, that really did not work out for a variety of reasons (a fair share of which were my own fault). Right now it is hard to imagine taking music seriously even as an avocation. I feel constant pressure to try to do all the housekeeping and working and time volunteering and managing of home economics that are on my plate. It is hard to reconcile any of the necessities of serious musicianship, playing out, regular practice, going on tour, with my lifestyle as a homebody father and homemaking part time science research guy. A while ago in a blog that since got eaten by internet bad luck I wrote

There isn’t much chance of getting around the fact that one of the central questions (if not the central question) of the ongoing [song]writing is why I continue to lash myself to write lyrics day in day out when the pleasure I take in it is minimal, when (more relevant than anything) I have all but given up any dream of ever doing anything significant with music.  In fact something other than that even, I have given up any belief in a future for my music, which exists however I might belittle and disdain it, and yet dreams persist.  Dreams I don’t believe in, dreams I pity and despise.  Must I really toil in my inadequacy, just to dish thin gruel for disowned dreams?

I'm not quite so down on my current creative production these days. Still. This kind of attitude should generally serve as a warning to any putative potential collaborator, I suppose. Warning, subject is "complicated," and honestly I'm not all that damn sure that I'm anywhere near good enough to be quite that complicated. Not that I've asked anyone to get in line to try out for the position, not that anyone would if I did. But I sometimes wish I was willing to. I think, however, in the interest of keeping it all ambiguous, that when people ask me what I do these days I will tell them that I am a lyricist.

939 : 11/4/00 : Wealth Trip (21/27 Two Word Songs)

Wealth trip

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

938 : 11/3/00 : Baker’s Dozen (20/27 Two Word Songs)

Baker’s dozen

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

937 : 11/2/00 : Present Tense (19/27 Two Word Songs)

Present tense

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

936 : 11/1/00 : Storm Coming (18/27 Two Word Songs)

2,007 : 59 ?


Storm coming

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