2.149 : 9/29/05 : You Didn’t Expect That

Seriously you didn’t expect that
that’s a little bit sad
and your reaction is distracting
Don’t try to make me wear the black hat
If you think this is bad
You should see me when I’m acting
All high and mighty paragon
Full of wisdom
Mad as a monk
kid it really won’t be all that long
Soon you’ll forget some
‘Cause History is bunk

What is the song of the day?

2.148 : 9/28/05 : More Sleep

More sleep more dreams
productivity must be enhanced
It’s a seller’s market
we’ve already sold all we advanced
Launch the blimps release the gas
All the kingdom must be dosed
Let every dream collector fly
A ring for those who harvest most
Ring of silver ring of gold
a ring around the sun
cast the grand prophetic net
about the chosen one

What is the song of the day?

2.147 : 9/27/05 : Crybaby

Crybaby doesn’t understand
why the world sometimes grows small
enough to hold in his tiny hand
so big you can’t really see anything at all
we like to think we’re educating
we like to think we’re candid
But who really knows what we’re relating
whatever we think the situation demanded
I hope at least the love shows through
and softens all my blunders
I know I do my best by you
yet something in me always wonders

What is the song of the day?

2.146 : 9/26/05 : Shorties

2,336 : 8 ?


Here’s to all the shorties
yeah yeah
all summer in a Day
the handsome sailors, hoo-ya
Possession over Judgment Day
Here’s to that Greek urn
your refrigerated plums
Here’s to the book of Jonah
So many brilliant crumbs

What is the song of the day?

2.145 : 9/25/05 : Marathon

This terrible marathon
got to run it on and on
no space for pace you gotta
pelt all out
Let me tell you what the whole thing’s
really about
It’s about falling behind
and the big catch up
A half convinced endorsement
of the overflowing cup
And not even remembering
why you’re running anymore
until suddenly that moment
there you’re knocking at that door

What is the song of the day?

2.144 : 9/24/05 : Paradise Towers

Defenestrate the johnny-come-lately’s
Mob law rules these rises
By order of her majesty the queen
Get ready for the welfare paradises
seven hundred stories high
the stairs are truly vicious
And every level you ascend
the natives get more suspicious
for travelers from past the line
of quarantine come exploring
You’d never know how strange life is
How trying and how boring
Hell is other people stacked up
seven hundred times
And sure enough you know you’re
going to pay for all your crimes

What is the song of the day?

2.143 : 9/23/05 : Streak

Is it the beginning of the end
or the start of a mean streak
a mile wide a mile deep
a mile above sea at its peak
if the streak is true to form
it will begin without a sound
and terminate far past regret
a thousand miles underground
I cranked up every faucet spout
I let the holy water flow
to swift evoke the baptism
of all of it flowing where I don’t know
I’ll surf the streak up on my plank
I’ll ride the rim and see the sights
and in my mind compose a poem
of failed resolve of endless nights
I prayed for just one last small taste
though I knew it was over and done
yet that was in the future still
this day I was still having fun
this day I kept my eyes tight shut
Ignored each obvious deceit
ignored the streak was yawning wide
prepared my little plans to eat

What is the song of the day?

2.142 : 9/22/05 : Autumn

First day of the saddest season
first hour of the hour past reason’s
sleep of monsters unremembered
it’s a damn fast slide right into December
No big symbol no metaphor
Who could ever say what Autumn is for
Time rocks the cradle of all there is
we stay afloat with a little gee wizz
until the maelstrom catches up
each one has one lurking at the bottom of the cup
The punchline is on the other side
the white hole overflows the override
And autumn I guess reminds me of that
it shouldn’t be sad but it’s a little old hat

What is the song of the day?

2.141 : 9/21/05 : Thistledown

A rising tower of spikes
razor spurs and clustered pikes
If you say there’s nothing new under the sun
I propose you haven’t looked at this one
built of C and N and O
And hydrogen of course you know
A little sulfur phosphor manganese
little girls and boys are also made of these
and following a trace unknown
under the spikes a bud has grown
explodes into a purple fist
that opens to reveal a sweet kiss
for a flatly higher being
who carries for this green spiked thing
the stuff of life the vital spore
revealing in royal depths much more
while flowers whither on the vine
It could be your backyard or mine
the fist uncurls once more to show
a special kind of summer snow
a legion parachuting minions
launches thistledown on gossamer pinions

What is the song of the day?

2.140 : 9/20/05 : Goat O’ God

The goat o’ God passing all understanding
good sir I’ll thank you to be unhanding
my goat
lest I take you by the throat
though nothing’s quite perverted as the atom bomb
I’ll get right up into your face like Squeaky Fromme
You leave my goat alone
I’m saving you from that for which you’ll never atone
Goats got curly curly horns
goats come black and pale
Every goat’s got cloven feet
Some goats got curly tail
Great God counts each of his goats
He knows each billy kid and nanny
Good sir I will thank you now
to back away from my goat’s fanny

What is the song of the day?

2.139 : 9/19/05 : Metal Box

2,329 : 1 ?


Despite the absence of
keyholes or locks
the fundamental question remains
what’s inside the metal box
hinged and clasped with
a lozenge of jade
I know by whose hands it was made
I’m afraid of the box
because it might contain evil
I’m afraid the fabric of the
almighty weave will
unravel if I let the cat out
another dare beyond compare
another new year that I sat out
but it seems it belongs to me
reminds me of the me that longs to be
opening every mystery container
and the message of that dream
could not be plainer

What is the song of the day?

2.138 : 9/18/05 : Pocket

What’s in its pocket
not a fair riddle
the cat and the spoon and
the high diddle diddle
I ain’t got me no
magic ring
I only have
just three things:
a stone that’s petrified
alien egg
a silver bound oval
of polished jade
and a semisphere of silver
hammered and slight
from which Ike’s visage flashes
when you hold it to the light

What is the song of the day?

2.137 : 9/17/05 : Jasper

I can taste the iron
precipitated
lichens that grew
for a thousand years and faded
suspended in raw veins
slaked with lime
oceanic pressure
for uncounted time
speckled and clotted
mixed and swirled
in every brick of earth
another fantastic world
a history of life and death
a wholly other eon
jasper rising once again
in rust and chalk and neon

What is the song of the day?

2.136 : 9/16/05 : Rhinoceros Tusk

An asymmetric cone
parabolic section ground not-bone
Sawed off a throwback from dark ages
killed for no reason rarefied by stages
from the belly of a whale or glands of musk
the darkest totem of them all
rhinoceros tusk
black or tan wide or narrow lip
the buckle on your belt
the stings on your whip
the pick of your guitar
the handle of your knife
there’s no way to pretend
life does not depend of life
but ground into a powder
devoured in a pill
hard to believe people believe it still
but who can deny
it’s not a gorgeous stone
erupting from the head
an asymmetric cone

What is the song of the day?

2.135 : 9/15/05 : Parsnip

Rough chopped parsley
rough chopped fresh chives
a little of that black truffle oil
on parsnips you better
run for your lives
a sprinkle of dry provence herbs
Sprinkled from a tin
a chunk of butter cold and sweet
then toss the parsnips in
This shit they sell on teevee
it isn’t really food
though I admit I’ve stuffed it
down my hole in certain moods
but all that toxic poison
does not compare the slightest
with a plate of steaming parsnips
at their oiliest and whitest

What is the song of the day?

2.134 : 9/14/05 : Rutabaga

In fact the rutabaga
in my humbly opening eye
should be called the apple of the earth
trust the French to
screw that one up
It’s a lowly radix true
yet grows to a prodigious size
and in my opinion for what it’s worth
is a jewel of the dirt
and a fine thing on which to sup

What is the song of the day?

2.133 : 9/13/05 : Psychedelic Turnip

banded with rings
a cross sected tree
cast in three-d
it’s obvious to see
that the potential was there
purple or beige
mealy fleshly of a certain age
you couldn’t say it was the rage
but a certain psychedelic musk was in the air
lowly turnip made superhero
doors of perception blasted back to zero
Even that fiddling bastard Nero
couldn’t have guessed the fire
it sparked
at the County Fair

What is the song of the day?

2.132 : 9/12/05 : Black Truffle

2,322 : 13 ?


Very much a corrupt globe
oblong and irregular black pitch glob
an unctuous oil held in the cells
a gelid skin holding in the death life throb
You might imagine
such a little chunk might blow your mind
You wouldn’t be wrong
love and hunger are blind
the black oil oozes out to coat
your tongue
listen to the melody that
black oiled corrupt globule sung

What is the song of the day?

2.131 : 9/11/05 : Snout

My truffle pig with his
piggish snout
he’s gonna set the root to rout
He’s gonna smell that soil bound pearl
He’s gonna lead me straight to you girl
under the surface
how no one knows
worth a fortune
white gold grows
I got no radar
got no x-ray specs
I got super snout detector
so high-techs
sadly like so much that
is linked to mind
The pig behind the snout
does not appreciate my find
Even as I’m kneeling
to release my knot of valuable rot
pig may lose its patience
gobble my white truffle on the spot

What is the song of the day?

continuity (or the lack thereof)

You know how I know nobody is paying attention to the continuity tracking (including myself)? Because I just discovered (via one of my periodic checks against an elapsed day calculator on the internet) that something like five months ago I started mis-numbering the songs again - I just dropped a round hundred off the total and went along my merry way. Not quite on par with the original numbering mistake set, but still. This is the peril of relentless production - I don't even notice a hundred songs gone missing. In any event every continuity report from April through this week has been a hundred short of the correct number of songs currently written in the second project. Like you care.

2.130 : 9/10/05 : River Trout

Hey river trout
what’s the whole thing about
are you swimming with the current
or just rolling with the torrent
if the river is on second step
not the same as the first
are you always changing with it
or do even you feel some thirst
that will guide you in the water
to the place where you belong
there to make all little fishies
with a troutish spawning song?

What is the song of the day?

2.129 : 9/9/05 : Opportunity

Opportunity knocks constantly
that just once line is only advertising, see
false scarcity to drive the price up
the common theme that runs in every story
just how inevitable all the glory
is that fills my ever half full cup
There is one thing that happens only once
it’s called eventuality and any dunce
can tell you that history never repeats
this moment will never ever return
this fire once lit cannot unburn
doesn’t matter if you jump up or stay in your seats
So what’s the use then of regret
everything you choose to have you’re gonna get
everything’s available it’s for the asking
and if you don’t believe that then I guess you’re right
but you might go ahead and try again tonight
you’ll find me up there in my soul light basking

What is the song of the day?

New Album Release: Go By Train

Back in 2006 my brother David invited me to participate in a collaborative art project for an exhibition he was going to participate in, the Minnesota Biennial 3D II at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul (2007-2008).

The artwork was Archival Structure Two (Version 2). Dozens of "conservators/collaborators" received a component of this structure and created an original artwork based on the contents of the component they received. I made Go By Train. The songs are songs of the day based on the contents of the box I received and the artwork was made with scanned images from these contents.

Go By Train was written between the 19th and 25th of September 2006 so its lyrics will be published here in a little over a year.

I released this album through my Bandcamp page today. It is free to listen to and $3.00 to download. As a reminder, any former patrons of Jonathan Hamlow presents 33 Magazine receive free downloads of my released digital works for life, contact me for a download code if you do not yet own a copy of Go By Train and wish to.

Go By Train at Bandcamp

2.128 : 9/8/05 : Extra Push

Gotta give it an extra push
Not quite sure why yet
Not quite sure how yet
Just following my intuition
God’s my copilot
Not time to take my bow yet
If I had myself a guarantee
would I work harder
would I just slack
I couldn’t tell you ‘cause it’s never been
Fight the next non-starter
Jesus’s got my back
Watch me push it one more inch
it seems a small progress
it seems a dim route
Halfway better than no way
At least more not less
it still might bear fruit

What is the song of the day?

2.127 : 9/7/05 : Magic Wand

I don’t have to do anything
I’m waiting for my magic wand
I don’t have to listen to reason
and I don’t have to respond
I don’t need to have ambition
I don’t need to have plans
I’ll just wait until my magic
wand is in my hands
I can just see it
shining long and thin
I’ll wave it over all my problems
After that I’ll wave it again
I’ll erase the imperfect
raise the perfect in its place
And if you raise objections
I will wave it right up in your face
I don’t even need to think
What I’ll really do when I get it
If I ever bother to have an inkling
I do my best to forget it
why listen to the promptings
of my sad imperfect brain
I trust that when I get my wand
the whole thing will be plain

What is the song of the day?

2.126 : 9/6/05 : Bean Bug

2,216 : 7 ?


Bean bug he likes a bean, he likes a bean
he likes a kidney bean
he likes a lima bean
he’s a bean his mom’s a bean
and I’m a bean
He likes a runner bean
He likes a navy bean
he likes to throw his arms up
he’s a wavy bean
I like a bean I like a bean bug
I am a kind and not a mean bug
I’m gonna scoop him up in a sweetie hug
because he is my very very neaty bug

What is the song of the day?

2.125 : 9/5/05 : Inconsolable

Owing to the fact
the little man is inconsolable
and will not choose a topic for me
gripped by tears well uncontrollable
the issue must be dropped
and put aside forthwith
we shall return another day
to lay another leaf of this myth

What is the song of the day?

2.124 : 9/4/05 : Feather

Arrayed along the lightest spine
hollow rigid blunt-tip spline
the finest rills the softest scars
arrayed to form the bands and bars
one edge softer one edge sharp
the double edged sword the difference harp
arrayed in perfect racks and rows
evolved from a strategy no one knows
plain before you no metaphor
simple key to dimension’s third door
contemplate a feather realize a quill
written in a snowy morning tranquil

What is the song of the day?

2.123 : 9/3/05 : Panting

Panting like a dog for money
like a dog for sex
like a dog for social status
hump my leg I’ll cash your checks
hump your way on up the ladder
Maslow’s little diagram
panting after abstract bullshit
every dollop drop and gram
Deep within we know it’s useless
panting with infernal heat
know we’ll run until we’re bloody
till we’re dying on our feet

What is the song of the day?

2.122 : 9/2/05 : Ranting

The liar got me worked up to a ranting froth
he is such a flame a flame
and I am such a moth
Some are in this world
they press our buttons like an organ
it’s a shame they’re in the pockets
of the likes of J.P. Morgan
It’s a shame despite the system
power will get concentrated
they consolidate their victories
while we quite useless hated
they construct a web of fiction
they concoct a myth of sides
and written in the fine print
they’ll extract it from our hides
And there’s no such thing as Robin Hood
just evil men who kill
there’s no such thing as Santa Claus
And what’s more bitter still
There’s no such thing as the people
We sold that dream out long ago
And despite my ranting fury seems
we’re merely reaping what we sow

What is the song of the day?

2.121 : 9/1/05 : More Sweet Delight

More sweet delight! This saccharine blight
that steeps the heart in admen’s art
that rots the mind that strikes eyes blind
the poet’s quill is bent to thrill
the basest urge and fine thoughts purge
breed avarice disguised as bliss
breed ignorance disguised as chance
foment desire the will impair
and all to sell a lot in hell
and all to barter Satan’s charter
drawn in blood pressed in the mud
a hell borne sight more sweet delight!

What is the song of the day?