133 : 8/21/98 : Doomsday (Alphabet 4/26)

How it's gonna go the whole world will so
slowly turn more tainted and poisonous
one day we'll wake to find everything pickled in the brine
of our wasteful and profligate detritus

How it's gonna go, one enormous blow
when we finally go over the edge, push all the buttons
in the night while we sleep peaceful
death death cruising in from above us

How it's gonna be we'll learn to hate technology
before we know it we'll have torn down all we've made
before we know it we'll be gathered 'round the fire
fighting with sticks and stones and scavenged blade

How it's gonna wind up, we'll finally dry the vine up
use every last drop and dollop of goodness we have left
having reached a pinnacle of useless industry
we'll whither away and disappear for lack of daily bread

how it's gonna face us, the comet come to erase us
the asteroids the rogue planet flying through the void
Doomsday, our final end, under the cloud the cycle turns again
world without end nothing created or destroyed

How it's gonna go, everything will just go more and more slow
we won't notice it, we'll be slower too
it'll all just wind down over years until it finally stops
there won't be a damn thing we can do.

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

132 : 8/20/98 : Cuttlefish (Alphabet 3/26)

We dream... in caverns of sea
We shift and flicker; make a living carpet
a mighty undulating screen...
We dream...

We breathe as one thing
through subtle apertures we shift
and take to our wings
we breathe

We were here first
we were here longer
you've ignored us
we just keep getting stronger
we've got stealth and jet propulsion
we've got the Mass Mind, cellular compulsion
we won't watch forever
we won't let you go on forever

We rise from caverns of ice
we're waking our Oldest
seeking the titans' advice
we rise...

We've gathered here for a parliament
consider the welcome you've sent
so far
tonight we'll decide your fate
so here
we have gathered

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

131 : 8/19/98 : Barnstormer (Alphabet 2/26)

Now that we’ve all armed ourselves
Now that anyone could be the enemy
Why not have a riot? Why not set the city on fire?
We’re gonna have a good old-fashioned
Barnstormer tonight

You made the classic error
Credited only yourself with ambition
Meanwhile we were buildin’ pipe bombs
Makin’ bathtub napalm and ultralights

All I need is five hundred people
Who want to die anyway?
Why not take it with you when you go
You can take it all with you when you go
Storm the heavens make your presence known

We’ll watch it from the hills together
you and I
See a good barnstormin’ goin’ down
Roman candles in the skyscrapers
Then turn away quietly go on
together, alone

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

We're Back

And the digital translation of the first Song of the Day project, Volume II: Record is now underway with the posting of song number 130, Anthill.

The volume is composed of four sections or Quartos. Anthill is the first song of Quarto 1, the Alphabet.

The original handwritten volume opens with the following quotation:

"English is a rather rhyme-poor language."

Joseph Gallagher, To Hell and Back with Dante

130 : 8/18/98 : Anthill (Alphabet 1/26)

I want to live in a society run like an anthill
I want to bow to a higher authority
I want the powerful to lord it over me
I want to live in a society that’s united

I thought a lot then I swallowed the bitter pill
Is the price of my freedom the suffering masses
Does society really need more divided classes?
Give up the American dream anyway I wasn’t really invited

The texts that I’ve read are abundantly clear
I’ve read my Plato and I’ve read my Thomas More
I’ve read the figures I know what is in store
It’s a crying shame we can’t admit we’re not unique

The ark is ready but there’s noone to steer
Don’t look this way I’m not the man for the job
Maybe I’m not so ready to get with the milling mob
Who knows? I might be rejected by the anthill clique

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

So Far

Does it look like 1,684 songs to you?

Note Interim

I completed the RPM Challenge on February 26th with -=solvet saeclum in favilla=-, an album with 23 tracks with a total duration of 45.9 minutes. I created this album by recording song of the day lyrics from the current project (songs 642 - 664, written February 1st - 23rd) accompanied by music created somewhat randomly by one of the stranger pieces of software out there, Voice of the Goatcactus. I used a very crude recording technique, recorded everything live (no overdubbing) and generally permitted a single take. This is a very quick and certain way to generate tracks, but by necessity they are also very rough and contain mistakes. As a whole I would call the album practically unlistenable, although I have listened to it in full several times (so I won't subject you to anything I haven't gone through). So be it: I chose a method and I stuck with it. The lyrics aren't bad, I think. All the lyrics are up in my RPM project blog, the first link up there, though I don't know whether they are going to maintain those indefinitely.

Over the next few weeks I will post a few of the most successful songs over at Metafilter Music: my profile linked there has a few other songs I've posted previously, all lyrics from songs of days.

(An ellipsis gone awry...) (below) is the last song of the first "volume" of the first song of the day project. I originally wrote these songs longhand in a series of hardcover journals, and gave each one a volume number and title. This, the first, bore the title "Vicious Cycles Revisited."

As I noted previously, I've decided to take a break and return in April. I was going to start in March but being the ending of the first volume has arrived as so convenient a dividing point, I'll just start now. In this interim I plan to spend some time transcribing songs from volume two, being titled "Record," into digital format, ready for posting, and wrap up a couple of other projects that have been languishing.

If you wish to receive an email when I resume operations drop me a line at visionaryATNESSSYMBOLgumptionPERIODDOTNESScom. Otherwise, when the date arrives at which one would naturally think of fools, think of me.

Can't figure out what this madness is about? Click here, which might help... and please check back again in April.

129 : 8/17/98 : (An ellipsis gone awry...)

Why do I always mistime my pauses
get sick or go get a job?
Every time a thing ends
I’m looking for some new thing to rob
I’m beat I need a break
But I will not slow down
And it doesn’t seem like courage to me
Seems like I’m just bein’ a clown
But clowns only pretend to fall down
When I fall down it’s for real
Clowns never really step on each other’s faces!
Myself I’ve eaten some heel

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

128 : 8/16/98 : Fire

Fire should be raining from the sky
to torch these evil bastards where they lie
where is your mighty fist of vengeance
for all the evil souls without repentance
They lie in wait full of venom
give me the word I’ll gladly end them
Give the word I’ll punish them in kind
Sure to God it would ease my mind
There is no justice here on earth
There is no valid scale of human worth
They are so bad, they’re beyond wrong
eradicate the brutes, the rest of us will get along
without them we’ll make a proper world
without them and the chaos that they hurled
I’ll even take my medicine as well
For every test I failed for every time I fell
I wouldn’t ever claim to be untainted
Still compared to them I’d probably be sainted
Don’t tell me I can’t see enough
Don’t tell me that you told me it’d be rough
Don’t tell me they deserve a second chance
They’ve had a thousand shots to make amends
They’re laughing at you laughing at you Lord
Send your angel send your flaming sword
Judge not judge not if I don’t will you
“Vengeance is mine,” is that still true
Guess I better back off of a job too great for me
Still it is a sad estate to see
Cut your losses burn them now
Okay I’ll shut up stop darkening your brow

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

127 : 8/15/98 : Sick, Weary

Sick weary the card turns up once more
I’m on my knees my head is resting on the floor
May not be holy but at least I’m poor

Flesh is mortal flesh is weak
I’m 27 I feel like an antique
Wanna retire to Chesapeake

Raise trout and jimson weed
Make letter bombs and bathtub speed
Really make the fuckers pay me heed

Stay fucked up on belladonna and monk’s hood
Strike a blow or two for the common good
Nothing matters so maybe I guess I should

Maybe with the morning the mood will pass
Be satisfied with a day job and some decent grass
Can’t think right now my head’s at critical mass

Maybe if I wasn’t so weary and sick
I could choose a method and make it stick
Embarrassed by how hard I find it to pick

It’ll probably be the same anyways
Who the hell really decides things these days
We’re all blindly running this endless maze

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

126 : 8/14/98 : Cloth of Gold

660 ?


I’m standing on this platform
I’m right at center stage
In cloth of gold I’m ready to perform
I’m shining preaching earning my wage
I was a holy man of God
No sinful word would pass my lips
I gave my money to the poor
I preached on all the seamy strips
Las Vegas old Times Square
Detroit and Bourbon Street
Wherever sin was I would stake a claim
Preach to each lost soul I’d meet
But I gave it all up
for cloth of gold
I had a native talent
and the barefoot profit bit was getting old
I don’t see things changing anyway
You can’t be reached anymore
For a few moments your eyes will focus
Then you go along no better than before
If I’m so smart why not be rich
Why not live like a king
Why cast my pearls before you swine
Why should I give you anything
Now the people come to see me
and buy a little sweet salvation
In my cloth of gold suit smiling
Now I’m going to preach to a nation

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

125 : 8/13/98 : The Kingdom Come Institute Press Release

657 ?


And so in the month of
August, the point when you
realize the midpoint of the
year has gotten quite away
from you. Time for midterms.
On an inauspicious Thursday
Looking right down the barrel
of 27 years old.
Time to recap.
I’ve unaccountably managed
to run out of cigarettes. I’m
just astounded with myself.
This does not happen. But
there it is, damnit
So it goes. Least, I got some
fucking money, jesus, what
a putz.
And so I Launch
the Kingdom Come Institute.
Totally. In this moment.
The crazy turnarounds all
the strange reversals, the moments,
the cracks in the pots we play
and beat our drums to
enchant great solemn bears
hoping they will dance down
the stars for us. They will.

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

RPM Challenge and Other Tidbits

On the urgings of Mr. Cortex of the Metafilter Compilation Album fame I've agreed to take the RPM "record a whole album in the month of February" challenge. I'm in the thick of it. I plan to blog the lyrics, all piping fresh songs of the day from February, at my profile site there, so you'll probably want to bookmark that and check it obsessively five times a day. Don't get all excited, given my methodology (see the second blog entry, titled "I like sure things") it is going to be pretty weird and pretty rough. I don't expect to be posting anything more about that here until it is complete.

I'm going to try to keep up at least fairly regular posting on the increasingly not secret song of the day blog through February. I'm thinking about taking March off, though, to work on getting up a backlog of transcribed lyrics again. I still haven't quite managed to get into a habit with that. I also just need some offline time to ponder the eternal verities and my so not eternal part in them. If I decide to go through with that hiatus I'll make a posting about it at the time including soliciting a mailing list for anyone who wants a heads up when I get back to blogging. Otherwise, you know, just check in around April 1 and see who the fool is.

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

another aside

_
Sorry for the patchy posting and asides but I've got something new (and song-a-day related) in the works, give me a couple of days to sort out some specifics and I'll be posting details here. Or search for the hidden clue for a preview of what's percolating. I've also eaten up my backlog of transcribed songs, so I need to get another batch of the archives digitized, then I'll get back to posting songs. Stand by.

124 : 8/12/98 Cigarette

640 ?


When I’m down in the mouth and I start to fret
I play a little game called cigarette
I say pal I’ll make you listen to me
he says that’s just not the way it’s gonna be
cigarette
cigarette
you always win that game with me cigarette
I’m a nervous gambler trying to bluff it through
But baby you gotta know just
what I’m going to do
Baby I always lose that bet
You know I’m gonna have another
cigarette
Oh I know they hurt me
know they turn my poor lungs black
But they never ever desert me
Baby gotta give me my cigarettes back
When I’m in a slow and stupid mood
Don’t want no liquor and I don’t want food
I just need one thing baby and then I’m set
Just gotta smoke myself a
cigarette

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

123 : 8/11/98 : Grand Idea

What a grand idea
The great society
All good things in abundance
Everything costs a penny

What a novel concept
Give the children food and cloths
Thank God we’ve got politicians
To figure out where the money goes

What a monumental brainstorm
Try to do the best I can
Manage not to make the same mistakes
Try to be a better man

What poetic justice
kill the fuckers with kindness
Let the best of the best set us free
Let them untangle and unwind us

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

breaking the frames, an essay on content and form

We've secretly replaced your regular song of the day with an essay. Let's see what happens.

Yesterday I took a break from my life of ceaseless toil to knock out a lyric for the current project (number 2.633, Recycle) which contained these lines:

Nothing new comes in
but energy
information, dust
and entropy
So it's all about
recycling
Mostly carbon, nitrogen
oxygen and hydrogen

And I caught myself thinking, man, stringing these lists of chemical elements together is a snap, it's like rhyming in Italian. I had to laugh, because this was such an obtuse, nerdy thing to think - but fundamentally accurate and not, I'd think, without some reasonable linguistic underpinnings. Keeping in mind that I am a student of neither Italian nor linguistics.

But it put me in mind of the fact that, man, if anyone is reading this thing, the stuff you are in for. In less than sixty songs we'll be in the thick of my terrible, terrible recasting of Dante's Inferno, a work of 34 songs (duh, obviously) featuring myself cast in Dante's role with T.S. Eliot serving the part played by Virgil in the original. Ooh, it's horrible, partly because my soft 20th century brain can't quite negotiate Dante's stark Medieval Christianity, partly because it just seems worse when you are taking on something widely regarded as one of the great works of poetic literature, but mostly because I insisted on perpetuating Dante's terza rima structure, a rhyme scheme where things go something like this:

Ducks are very awesome
I think ducks are nice
A duck is as cool as a possum

So I will tell you twice
There's nothing as great as a duck
I'd buy one at double the price

And think of it as better luck
Than getting hit by a truck

See how that works? The important things to note are, you have to come up with a trio of each rhyme rather than the usual pair, and notice how I suck at it. English, I discovered in my researches on the topic, is what they call a "rhyme poor" language. I'm not slagging off Dante or anything, I'm just pointing out, that 90 percent of everything in Italian ends with "oh" or "ah." Add in the narrative necessities of hewing somewhat to Dante's original story arc and it winds up with a mess that was horrible to write and is all but impossible to read. If I had tried to keep up the hendecasyllable meter I probably would have gone insane. Actually I probably would have just given up, which might not have been such a bad thing, but I cling to the theory that finishing it built character.

This is the sort of thing that can end up seeming like a plan in the face of coming up with something new to write day after day after day. I'm not looking forward to transcribing this, and I doubt anyone would try to slog through much of it, but there it is: I'm a completist, an obsessive, so it will all be carried across the digital divide and presented here.

And anyway there is the central thing about a song a day: as I liked to point out about what I came to refer to as "my pathetic little inferno," the writing of the first cantica of Dante's masterwork took him 5 years of his exile from Florence to complete. Writing mine took 34 days with a full time job. However painful it is to online it, 34 postings later we will be on to new things.

I think, now, 6 months into the online project, that it will take a few years before the central object of the song of the day project - persistence - really begins to become clear to the outside observer. People I tell about this project tend, I think, to necessarily view it as an abstract: part of putting it online is to transform this into something concrete. This isn't some theory: these songs exist, for all that they ain't Dante. I question at this point whether what it is can sustain anything like a regular readership, but perhaps I can hope to occasionally bemuse the random passer-by. Back to songs tomorrow.

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

122 : 8/10/98 : Spout

You can only get so fed up
then you gotta spout
raise your hackles lift your head up
let your venom out
You may feel justified
but I can’t see it doing any good
The poison just builds up again
That much I understood
But what confuses me
Is what any of it is good for
Why were we made with so little faculty

You can only get so strung out
before something has got to snap
When weaknesses have won out
When your one good hand refuses to clap
You may feel mystified
By the seeming caprice of the powers that are
I understand sometimes even scripture
reads no better than advice you’d get at any bar
Don’t get me wrong sir
I would not presume to test the Lord
I assume he’s got it covered
I just hope the price is one I can afford

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

121 : 8/9/98 : Ugly World

632 ?


My goodness what an ugly world you’ve made
Seems kind of unfair that you’re so well paid
Well the people don’t seem interested
in rising up and pulling you down
not my place to make their
choices for them, not my place
to bring the hoi polloi around
All you revolution comrades all you libertarians
I’d rather live in a world run by librarians
You get whatever you pay for
that setup’s pretty fixed
They bought the lives they settled for
They drank the drinks they were mixed
And if it’s not my cup of tea
I guess that’s just too bad for me
But what else can I do but mind
The life that I am buying
In the end I’m just another one
Walking when I should be flying

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

120 : 8/8/98 : Best of the Best

Through the trials eighteen years
Many call but few are taken
As we measure every man against his peers
Few stand firm, most are shaken

All around the world the tournaments are held
Anywhere on earth a young man can rise
Strive with honor, till every foe is felled
stretch his hand out take the prize

Then in the final arena
The finest are gathered to compete
Demonstrate their talent on the concertina
Show proper deportment and grace on their feet

That’s how we choose the best of the best
That’s how we find the season’s darling
That’s the young man who passed every test
That’s this weekend’s sacrificial starling

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

119 : 8/7/98 : Sisyphus’ Reprieve

When I received the word of my reprieve
confess that I could scarce believe my eyes
7000 years of confusion toil and tears
He dropped the letter off and didn’t even tell me why

So good to be rolling I hear the great bell tolling
Changes at the top they said it was
Ol’ Tantalus received the work
Climbed right on his trusty surfboard
Said don’t ask me I don’t know who cares? It’s just because

So good to be moving my lot’s finally improving
So good to be rolling rolling home
7000 hard ass turns
My God the way the time just burns
Away into vanishing ephemeral sea foam

What will I do now I’m almost feelin blue now
Freedom is a heavy load after so long
confess in all that time alone
I almost learned to love that stone
Not that I paused a minute
I’m gone
so long

It’s good to be traveling
That fearsome knot unraveling
My trusty stone will carry me away
Up out of the valley
You’ll see my backside, pally
This is my first birthday

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

118 : 8/6/98 : In the Box

I’ve got a box to live in
and a box that rolls me home
A box to fester in 8 hours
The man throws me a bone
I’m livin in the box
I’m pleased as punch I’m mad as hell
I’m rollin in my coffin
Lord I know my boxes well
I guess that I complain too much
and look too little for escape
I guess I choose to sit in here
Another braying jackanape
There’s one box that I’m stuck with
carry with me all the time
a sack for all my memories
a clock to count the time
A bobbing grinning jack o lantern
resting on my neck
A box to keep my ego in
to hold my wild spirit in check
I could jump outta this
insane rolling coffin
I could jump outta this
silly maze I’m lost in
But I know the smallest box
is something that I’m stuck with
Guess it thinks it’s got a good thing going
Guess it’s not the box to fuck with

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

117 : 8/5/98 : Burning Coal

Well we’re doomed doomed doomed
that’s all I have to say at last
we’re doomed doomed doomed
To constantly relive the past
The words I say are wicked
And my mouth is full of lies
Yet I’m better than the average
This brave new world is festering with flies
Lord put a hot coal on my tongue
I’ll start the prophet gig today
I don’t know why you’d bother
The people never listen anyway
Lord doom this wicked race
I want to see them run before you
Lord move this vile people
Want to see the ashes scattered too
Lord move my wicked heart
Do not harden it against your word
Lord make my speaking pure
I just can’t credit everything I’ve heard
Lord justify this sacrifice
The cup’s too much I cannot drink it
You’ve gotta have a plan for me
the alternative’s so bad I cannot think it
Lord I’m doomed doomed doomed
Please God put a hot coal on my tongue
Lord I don’t want to be doomed
I just need light inside to see the next rung

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

116 : 8/4/98 : Virtue

I must have thought I was some kind of friend to you
I must have thought I would fly round the bend for you
I must have thought I was a dangerous guy
I must have thought I had virtue in your eyes

I must have thought I was a smooth operator
I must have thought I would see you later
I must have thought I had a pretty good plan
I must have thought I was twice the man I am

Where is the virtue in this world?
Where is the method in this madness?
When will I see the freedom flag unfurled
When will the creator end the sadness

I musta thought I was a man on a mission
I musta thought I had x-ray vision
I musta thought I was made outta gold
I musta thought I was immune to gettin old

I musta thought I had a secret objective
I musta thought that truth was subjective
I musta thought I had a sensible goal
I musta thought I had an ace left in the hole

There is no virtue in this place
evil minds speak evil words in every corner
I’m no better than the rest of this wicked race
still I feel like I’m the only mourner

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

115 : 8/3/98 : Tips on Waiting for Miracles

Quiet is the essence of this little fishing trip
Try to keep your mind blank stay quite still don’t rock the ship
Waiting is the game you’re playing such a simple strategy
Watch the sunrise watch the sunset eat your dinner drink your tea
Your imagination’s not your friend this time around
Keep your lowest profile and your ear down to the ground
Terra incognita is the definition of the prey
This is not a war that’s won by living in the day
Make a stalwart effort not to look to your resources
Make sure not to count your blessings to their subtle sources
Hold out for the great big thing and keep your spirits low
Never ever let another tell you what you know
Waiting for a miracle I’ve done that road before
Guess the time goes by I guess the wind gets through the door
Don’t know what the difference is what makes it stick tonight
Just keep trying to believe that everything will be all right
Wish that I could I sincerely wish that I could find
A way to look beyond this rutted circle in my mind
Waiting for a miracle’s a tough habit to break
Still I gotta wonder how much shit I’m gonna hafta take

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

114 : 8/2/98 : Good Intentions

Somebody told me the road to hell
Is paved with good intentions
and priests’ skulls

Somebody told me the way to heaven
Was straight and narrow and
sealed with seven

I’ve got good intentions and
a pain in my skull
I’ve got a soft spot for a parable

I’ve a good idea that I’m in it thick
Wish I had some clue to
What it is that makes me tick

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

113 : 8/1/98 : Red Ink (Red Ink 3 of 3)

618 ?


This is not an exercise
this time is for real
This red ink is drawn in blood
Pain is all a nerve can feel

This is not an accident
This is by design
Heaven didn’t make this up
this one must be mine

I seem to be swimming in red ink
I seem not to know what I should think
I seem to be made of bad investments

I’ve had better years I’ll warrant
Some times trouble comes in torrents
I seem to be made of bad investments

brother can you spare a cup
of anything to make me feel right
brother can you spare a light
to wield against this endless night.

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

112 : 7/31/98 : The Account Must Be Drawn Down (Red Ink 2 of 3)

You can’t run away forever
The night will come at last
When you’re thinking of the past
When you’re looking for the lever

To pry up the hidden places
The trapdoors in the floor
When you’re looking for the door
You’ll remember all the faces

Of the ones you really failed
All the red ink of a life
All the memories under the knife
The well intentioned deeds that paled

In the light of hard truths saying
The horn must one day sound
The account must be drawn down
And I’ll be the one who’s paying

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

111 : 7/30/98 : Table of Contents (Red Ink 1 of 3)

The goal the means the method
the resources the plan
the summary the statement
of the condition of one man
the best worse case scenario
The way it all came out
The best laid plans screw up sometimes
I guess that’s what it’s all about
I guess my voice is never certain
I guess I teeter on the fence
I like to think I’m making progress
like to think I’m making sense
My books won’t seem to balance
even the contents are in red ink
My tables all are turning
And I just do not know what to think

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

110 : 7/29/98 : Magic

Don’t seem to find myself
praying for magic so much anymore
Maybe I’m getting old pray
for a good night’s sleep
a good day...

Rest back little fool
I’ll tell you what to do
once you have what you need
you won’t want magic
anyway

Spirit of forest spirit
of light spirits that
travel by day and by night

was it ever real
the magic I wanted
so badly

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

109 : 7/28/98 : They’d Like to Pinion Me

They'd like to strip me naked
and toss me in a pit
they'd like to gamble for my clothes
they'd like to make a game of it
they'd like to get inside my skull
I know they'd like to shave my head
they'd like to put a bullet in it
swear to God they'd like to see me dead
But instead
I think they'd like to pinion me
I'll teach them
some goals aren't reached so easily
I'd like to push the button
and watch the fuckers smoke
man the way that things are going
that's not such a funny joke
I'd like the world to know
just exactly what they give
my God this mess is growing
soon there'll hardly be the space to live

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

108 : 7/27/98 : Purple (Secondary 3 of 3)

612 ?


In his purple phase
the young artist sure could turn a phrase
Isn't it so cool to be among the elite
Culture was fragmented rents were low
the average starving artist could still buy nice clothes
every righteous brother did his time out on the street

In the purple period
the artist pondered myriad
issues of enormous purport
He let his hair grow down his back
and set himself a choppy tack
times were good
he had no lack of support

Little did he know
the royal hue was poisoning him
Cobalt lead and cadmium
all burrowing inside
slowly he grew more scattered
forgot the things he thought had mattered
Only spoke of purple anymore

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

Dingaling

I mentioned I was taking a two week break for Christmas, right?

Right.

So tune in after the holidays - say, the first of the year, when the million dollar question will be, will I have finally caught up the current project - which has been a week or so behind for a month or so... or will the rigors of the blessed season have driven me even further behind. Stay tuned and don't forget to breathe!

107 : 7/26/98 : Green (Secondary 2 of 3)

Now comes the time to admit the darkside
I see those worthless fuckers
taking all you suckers for a ride
And it turns me green
with demon jealousy
what about the rest of us
well mainly what about me...
I see superstars and supermodels
doing the exclusive bars
don't care much about the lifestyle
but I wouldn't mind the cars
houses in the south of France
yachts out on the sea
fear my soul's in peril
I am green with jealousy
Jesus won't you sit with me
and hour upon the grass
If I cannot learn it gently
Would you kindly kick my ass
I don't want to be this way anymore
I'm always counting green these days
but money's such a bore

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

106 : 7/25/98 : Orange (Secondary 1 of 3)

Cheshire orange,
nothing but a smile
color for surprises
for October
for the sunset mile

Jack-o-lantern orange
nothing but a carefree kid
color for magic
for harvest
Afire for anything I did

The fields the leaves
gone orange and red and brown
wherever I fly off to
mother nature always drops me down
gentle in a twilight orange
evening shadows stretch and grow
I stand aside and watch the wheel turn
watch the center shift and glow

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

105 : 7/24/98 : blue(sky) (Primary 3 of 3)

591 ?


Blue sky all I need to see
is a piece of blue sky
sorry I'm looking past your shoulder
on the bus my friend
I'm just keeping out one eye
for my blue sky
it's the only time I feel right
The days I see the least sky
are the days I feel most blue
I never want to feel that way
when I'm thinking of you
my blue sky
separate day from night
provide somehow a shore a divide
so I might thrive

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

104 : 7/23/98 : Yellow (Primary 2 of 3)

Man that guy must have it all
the goods the influence the juice
If I'm so smart why ain't I rich?
man I guess that's just the deuce

I guess I've had what he's had
such an unprepossessing fellow
guess I just don't have the hang of it
I guess I must be yellow

Funny I don't feel that way
feel like I am brave enough
if I wasn't yellow would I stand for this
funny how I never call their bluff

being yellow's maybe not so bad
you get a thousand shots at death
but I'm probably too cautious
being yellow saving up my breath

For what I guess that's the rub
maybe for a brighter new day
maybe the cliché's the way
for us to find a better way

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

103 : 7/22/98 : Red (Primary 1 of 3)

Everytime someone gets cut off
dentist drills ring in my head
Jesus I'm unfortunate I feel it
every time some hothead sees red

red red color of life
color of evening morning and blood
and in case you missed it Mr. Ku Klux Klan
The color of God's own creation mud

Can't you bastards all just get along
you're killing me you're driving me insane
can't you just calm down a minute count to ten
stop these lurid flashbulbs popping in my brain

And Godamighty when you all get started
In my fantasies I've shot you in the head
but that kind of thinking always gets me thinking
wondering just who I'm making see red

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

102 : 7/21/98 : Ex-Templars and Forgotten Saints

585 ?


Well oh what a merry misfit brigade we are
with our sitting room and finger paints
going through a past life's second childhood (Young Kaligula)
surrounded by ex-Templars and forgotten saints

Men who softly step in corridors
lined with lights in cages and locked doors
I slip softly glide 3 feet above the floors
a shadow in a shadow what the dark half stores

My girl's named Joan she led a mighty throng
Of brave young Christian soldier boys
she still talks of night and the revolution
makes up her lack of deference with poise

Don't be so quick to judge you're all in here with us
It's all one corporation count on it
I'm not a politician but I understand
A run of bad luck could land anybody in this shit

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

101 : 7/20/98 : When It Goes

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

When it goes friend there's a good chance
it will come down very fast
Though I doubt I'll be the first to know
I guarantee I will not be the last

And I confess that I would feel a little more secure
If I thought you were half as worried as I am
you look like you are having too good of a time
looks like you are gonna wind up chiseled spam

He said there was a roar man
then another, louder
then a tide of mud took his little girls away

that's how it goes friend
boom, boom, boom
like the original night and day

Don't look now I'm gonna pick your pocket
rolling drunks is far too simple to resist
time's a'wasting I can't lose another second
anyway I'm not sure you exist

There's something goddamn beautiful
about a mushroom cloud
listen for the roar friend, trust me
next one will be really fuckin' loud

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

100 : 7/19/98 : Automatic Card Shuffler

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

Hey automatic card shuffler
you hypnotize me with your
swish flick whirr whirr whirr...

Sort a hot deck for me
just this once: my life's
become a boiling cup of fur

How I love this palace
plastic chips and flashing light
how I love the lack of clocks and windows
every day here lasts all night

shuffle up a winner for me
don't work for the house this time
let me strike it rich: I'll free you
take you home and build a little shrine

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

99 : 7/18/98 : Inevitable

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

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)

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

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 ?


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



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

86 : 7/5/98 : Bright Stars

When I look up
At the bright stars
It seems that they should be enough
to satisfy my heart

I look up at the bright stars
They make me think of unimaginable
Distances the light speeding
The sheer physics makes me reel and tumble

I don’t need any more evidence
I am convinced of the divine
I’m a believer now
The stars drove me right out of my mind

Look up look up at
the bright stars shining
Is it enough to be part of it
Is that the path I’m finding

So they say even stars die
So they say my body is made
of their light their essences
It kinda makes me glad I stayed

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

85 : 7/4/98 : Declaration

That’s it we sunk that ship
Well I guess that’s all for the declaration trip
Seems I’m still battling the independence tip

But all my brothers down on the strip
They got no questions as to who’s holdin’ the whip
Well I aint Buddha but I’m nothin’ if not hip

You pull heat down if you dish too much lip
Well on the big board you’re just a little blip
The man squeezed hard; I shot out like an orange pip

Well they believe they’ll make me flip
Wave a little money watch me lose my grip
They’ll find out it’s not so easy to make my morals slip

I just roll along at a steady clip
I got anger on tap, a constant drip
I keep my strength up with the occasional nip

I lay low and wait for the fabric to rip
I ain’t got no answer but still I quip
I oughta fit my mouth out with a zip

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

84 : 7/3/98 : And Testament (Will series 6 of 6)

This must be the last of it
it always starts that way
this is it this is it
The same old sad old rhymes
Yesterday, today
The same old sad old rhymes
Yesterday today

Such a sad sad testament
A will that won’t live up but will not stop
Just leave me wandering on the firmament
Just wait; sooner or later
it’ll pop
Just wait: sooner or later
it will pop

Call that an act of will Lepton Kid?
I call it one last testament
Hard to tell if it mattered what I did
I left one last
will and testament
I left one last
will and testament

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

83 : 7/2/98 : Of God (Will series 5 of 6)

Am I gonna make it out
Am I gonna come out on top
Will the rescue party hear me shout
Will I keep my bobbing head above the slop

If it’s the will of God my son
If it’s the will of God my son
My son, my son

Am I gonna be a star
Party with the creamy crowd
Will I get a brand new car
Will I do my family proud

Will I do the rehab bit
Clean up for the comeback tour
Will I be a happy healthy little shit
Will I become the pig de jour

If it’s the will of God my son
If it’s the will of God my son
Rise, fall, fall, rise
If it’s the will of God
My son
My son
My son

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

82 : 7/1/98 : Power (Will series 4 of 6)

Like a mighty fist
Clenched with a cocked wrist
Cocked back eyes hard
Aimed down on all you blackguards

More power
More more power
My will, my will
Will of power, power of will

That’s not much of an answer
You’re not much of a chancer
Are you? It’s true
I guess I can’t blame you

I just need more power
Some good clean power source
Will power, will power
Raise, raise this flower

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

81 : 6/30/98 : Thought & Deed (Will series 3 of 6)

Between the thought and the deed
Lies an ocean of grey
It’s always been that way
Simple fact we paid so little heed

Between the will and the way
Act of will and acts of God
In the face of failure on I plod
I rise to each new rising day

Between the deed and the thought
A canker gnaws at the mind
regret serves penance in kind
Ride on a raft of a word called ought

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

80 : 6/29/98 : Act (Will series 2 of 6)

Well I’m a hired desperado
one smooth running gun
From the cool of the morning
to the setting sun

And if the song I’m singing
seems a bit extemporaneous
Call it an act of will
I’m nothing if not spontaneous

Well I’m a dog in the evening
And a tomcat at night
I’m an ox most days
I pull my plow under hot summer light

I get it together
pulled around one act of will
Me and my bootstraps
and this bitter pill

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

79 : 6/28/98 : Force (Will series 1 of 6)

Where will the action occur
how will the power be supplied
where will inertia be fought
where will the force be applied
to bend this bent column straight
to push this wheel from its rut
to claim a finer destiny
to see the ties that bind us cut
what sort of dynamo
will energize our industry
what force of nature
will power our grand symmetry
the collective agency of our will
is the only resource they can’t steal
the collective agency of our will
is all we have to turn this wheel

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

78: 6/27/98 : Dynamo

Power chord;
structured word
well afford
a fifth or third
Press of bodies
flashing light
La-di-la-dies
endless night
You pay
we play
like a dynamo
We’ve promises to keep
and miles to go
before we sleep
and miles to go
and miles to go
and miles to go

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

77: 6/26/98 : Nevertheless

Nevertheless
I suppose
I did my best
or something close
But still it seems a shame
Left standing here
own nothing but my name
that much is clear
Still I maintain
make another pass
And what remains
I guess I gotta make it last
It's what I chose
It's what I thought was best
And that's enough, I suppose,
nevertheless

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

76 : 6/25/98 : I’m Not the Man for the Job

Fuck you anyway
I didn’t want it anyway
I’m not the man for
the job
I’m not the one
I’m not anyone
Anymore
I am not
the man for the job

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

75 : 6/24/98 : Second

This day...
This very moment...
This second now...

I see the flames rising
I see their advertising
I see them pricing
every minute of my day
I see the oceans boiling
I see the serfs a’toiling
I feel my wraith is spoiling
for a battle come what may
We sense a strange storm forming
this thing we’re all performing
The day may come we’ll all be warming
our hands over the coals
the coals of what’s left of us
when we bring the fire down from above us
We’ll find out if he still loves us
We’ll all end up holding up
Our beggars bowls

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

74 : 6/23/98 : Wrath

Dies irae, dies illa
solvet saeclum en favilla
days of wrath the things’ll kill ya
you won’t look so smart then will ya

Pax vobiscum, peace among us
years ago the hard truths stung us
looked at what our work had won us
wondered why the angels shun us

Days of wrath and feckless wonder
all that’s over, all that’s under
in the storm the hail the thunder
all our hoarded dark souls’ plunder

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

73 : 6/22/98 : Sacred Blood

And my anger anger anger
Rises in me like a flood
When I think about this bad old world
And all the sacred blood

That is spilled for no
goddamn reason at all
it could be you friend
up against the wall

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

72 : 6/21/98 : Legion

If I had a mighty army
and a mighty war machine
I might make this sad world over
in a way you’ve never seen

I’m not sure I’d do it properly
I’m sure I’d make mistakes
but if fate cast that chance before me
its a chance I’d have to take

And I saw a mighty army
on a million mighty screens
I saw a fiery legion
in the hot white phosphor gleam

Watch the fire my legion
we are all just I and I
watch the screen kids and remember
what you get is just exactly what you buy

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

71 : 6/20/98 : Shell Game

Watch the prize my friend it’s easy
beat the dealer, go home rich
nothing like some structured commerce
nothing like the age old pitch

If God thought up something finer
must have kept it for his own
keep on following my hand friend
pick a number; find the stone

Look it's all the old shell game
we’ll take your money with a smile
lead you on with dreams of riches
led astray another mile

If we fall for this shell game
only got ourselves to blame
not as if they’ve changed their tactics
that con’s older than its name

Something for nothing kid
hard to fathom: it still works
hard to feel bad for the suckers
harder still to justify the jerks

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

70 : 6/19/98 : Mention

Did I forget to mention
All the hidden costs
The car the helicopter and
The key that opens any lock

Did they recall to mention
All the benefits of cooperation
Nothing’s too good for
The servants of the corporation

Was a figure mentioned
We’ll supply however little you’ll take
Of course there’s a matter of tenure
You’ve no idea do you what’s at stake

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

69 : 6/18/98 : Extension

I wish that I could step
aside into another room
some other place some
other type of time

Just somewhere I could breathe a little
some nice glass topped tomb
I will spend so long underground
couldn’t I grab just a little of that time

Time time time I need it
(step into that other plane)
Quick please now I need it
(Just close your eyes and step aside)

What am I trying to prove
Why can’t I just give up and save face
I don’t seem to be suited for this world
I got no secret place to hide

Is it about time?
Is it about space?
Am I neglecting something?
Do I have it all inside?
All that I need inside?
All that I seek inside?

What do you do now when your
number’s up?
What you gonna do when you
finally have no choice
but to stop
Guess I’ll stop

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

68 : 6/17/98 : Babel

HAYALLAH ACTS ETAY HALLAH ETAYAH MAYTA ELAT ILT ARTES SHETEK NAM MALEN KEMNOR HET MES NAM NOR HET KAYUM ASHUM VALUM FE ZOAR FITHAR NARM KALECT HAR NARM ITI KAS BEL NOT HELET FARESTIT PELAM FETIT MILEM NON VELANT TEM SAN KEN ETAY ITAYMENUM FETAY NOLMON KET UMWAY YAW MUTEK NOM LON YATEF MUNE MYATI YATEN EKNAS METT NALEV NONMELIM TITEF MALEP TITSE RAF TELEH TON LEB SAK ITIM RAN RAHT CELAKM RANRAH TIF ROAZ EF MULAV MUHSA MUYAK TEH RON MANSEM TEH RON MEK NELAM MAN KETEHS SET RAT LITALE ATYAM HAYATE HALLAH YATEST CAHALLAYAH

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

67 : 6/16/98 : The Engines of Failure

Where will you be
when the engines of failure
start screaming in the sky?

What will you do
when the Grand Inquisitor
starts to divvy up the pie

Will the engine suck you in?
Will your life be worth a nickel?

No man may resist the engines of failure
Fate is nothing if not fickle

where will you run
when the engines of failure
touch down and start to shudder

Will you run then
will you stand bemused
what last epithet will you stutter

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

66 : 6/15/98 : (untitled)

And old man a very old man
crazy bloodshot eyes and shaking hands
whiskey cheeks and cigarette cough
waiting for his stop to get off

Son he said come down to my hole
see an amazing sight to behold
See what I call a very old man
Come and view a mighty span

Next to a steam pipe wrapped in a rug
Greybeard dreadlock shoulders shrugged
Deep etched lines of misery
This is what he said to me

I built a room to live in
I built a soul that would not give in
I built a vicious furious noise
I shouted out with a mighty voice

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

65 : 6/14/98 : Political Song

A logic that cuts both ways
I see the youth of today
sinking further into the stupor
of television fueled consumerism

This is our inheritance
as masters of the world
This is the inheritance
of the sons and daughters
of this brave nation

To peer into the magic screen
That only ever says one thing

Oh what you gonna
buy today
kid what you gonna
buy today
what you gonna make them
make you buy today
or are you
one of those
people they’re slowly
turning grey

So many people that they’re slowly
turning grey

Who are they
do we need them
can we not
master ourselves
can we not hold them at bay

What will you pay
your rest
your joy
your time
your peace
your fair share
of this
earthly feast
your health
your love
your friends
your voice
the real
power of
your choice

Raise up your hands

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

64 : 6/13/98 : Perfection

If I promised to respect the perfections
of every moment
Would that make it right,
finally
What is this lack of will
We carry
It’s always just a moment

Breathe did he breathe
did he breathe
A truth to set you free
would it carry me
As well
oh well

Will I feel it when I’m
going
Will I be unafraid then
Will I feel myself becoming one
with it all
All in all
All in all
Is it really about
perfection?
Are you expecting
perfection?
Do you recognize
perfection?

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

63 : 6/12/98 : Now or Never?

In the cave in the cave at the end
of the tunnel that comes out between
the roots of the great tree from
the fields of my youth in the
great white cave illuminated by
undying mystic fire on the
throne the stone hewn throne
on the dais sits the queen the
high priestess she who neither
sleeps nor eats but only watches
the undying mystic fire that
lights the cave I found at
the end of the tunnel that I
followed to find her that
I did not know to ask my
question what was the question
lost in the echoes how should
I proceed I asked the queen
of the underground in
her white robes on her white
throne shining in the undying
mystic fire she said
Now or never kid, that’s
your only answer, now
or never now or never
now or never

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

62 : 6/11/98 : Heat

I see Texas Rangers with silver shades
I see SWATs in riot gear on parade
I guess every renegade gets heat after a while

Motorcyle CHiPs in helmet and jackboot
Plainclothes detectives too quick to shoot
Guess the point is moot; I’ll take my beating with a smile

Alabama, Kent State, Guards of a Nation
They all work for the same corporation
I know my station, I don’t fraternize with the tools

I know heat from here to the border
Never been much damn good at taking orders
Just a recorder, I didn’t make the rules

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

61 : 6/10/98 : Virus

The future is at hand my friend
they've engineered the virus
it seems the world's about to end
They might as well just fire us

‘Cause when it's out that's it man
it'll only take a couple weeks
yeah then we're really in the shit man
wait until the virus speaks

The cup brims the cup flows over
from the sands of the Sahara
to the bonny cliffs of Dover
to la Dulce Riviera

Then we'll all be gone my friend
only the prepared will be around
so sit and sing along my friend
the bastards are already underground

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

60 : 6/9/98 : Parmenides

Me and Parmenides
Walkin long the rail track
Arguin about the void
Waitin for a train back

He said it's all good
He said it's all full
He said nothin changes man
He said its no bull

I said Parmenides
That seems a mite obtuse
If nothin really changes
Well the whole things just a ruse

He said that's the way it is
He said mind over matter son
He said I got it all worked out
I said you ain't the only one

Me and Parmenides
Up late in some after hours joint
I said I see a lot of nothin
He said son you missed my point

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

59 : 6/8/98 : I Hate Money

I hate money
It gets in the way
It crowds its way into my dreams
It takes my time away

I hate money
Too easy to steal
They have the vaults the trucks the Big Computers
They are the last court of appeal

Maybe I'll try my luck
on the market
Maybe I'll try my luck
on the market
(Yeah they own the market too...)

I hate money
sad but true
I hate it the way I hate anything
That gets between me and you

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

58 : 6/7/98 : Cathedral (Indomitable)

In the Cathedral... that started
Falling down so long ago
I watched the stars
Listened to the wind blow

Grass rolls in the wind out there
like waves on the open seas
Wave crash against the dark shores
Of groves of ancient twisted trees

And with my back against
a venerable stone
I felt well grounded
I thought I will not fight alone

I am indomitable now
I am indomitable
I am indomitable now
I am indomitable

In the cathedral
In the cathedral
In the cathedral
In the cathedral

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

57 : 6/6/98 : Following the Thread

Without a memory of how it
came to be, my desire
For some higher principle

Me and the labyrinth, this
One shot experiment, without a rope without a net
without a clue or a safe bet try to be sensible

And following my thread guess I'm
better off than dead not too sure
where it's leading to, anymore

When I think about it it doesn't
make much sense to get enshrouded
in what I can't venture a guess what's in store

For me in my maze
Are there hours or only days
Following my shiny thread

Isn't really mine I can't recall
finding it nor leaving it,
I think I see a shadow up ahead

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

56 : 6/5/98 : Thoughtless

What a fine thing
what a fine thing

It would be
it would be

To be thoughtless
to be thoughtless

To be free
to be free

Of the burden
of the burden

Of the mind's eye
of the minds eye

All these questions
all these questions

Turn a blind eye
turn a blind eye

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

55 : 6/4/98 : Telemeter

Television telephone
stranded at the microphone
I'm not prepared to go this thing alone
I need my friends

Telegraphic telecast
classic kid iconoclast
Confess I rose up through the ranks so fast
I got the bends

Telescope tellurium
I thought I didn't need anyone
And all the while I sat and watched the sun
And suffered fear

Telepath capacitor
classic vintage stratosphere
so fire up the telemeter
And send the image clear

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

54 : 6/3/98 : Prima Donna

Everybody wants to see me up there
High upon the shining stage
Everybody wants to see the lights right on me
Everybody wants to turn my page

Oh baby I do wanna
be such a prima donna

Everybody wants to see what I see
Everybody wants to hold my hand
Take me home and make me meet their uncle
Roll me out and pound me full of sand

Oh baby I do wanna
be such a prima donna

Everybody wants to hang with my circle
Everybody wants to pass my gear
All the handsome devils want this dance with me
All the ladies want to whisper in my ear

Oh baby I do wanna
be such a prima donna

Every suited bandit wants a piece of me
Every crazed disciple wants my head
Every fatal lover wants my number
Every prince of power wants my head

Oh baby I still wanna
be such a prima donna

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

53 : 6/2/98 : Mental Endurance Calisthenics

When the problem is before you
Look directly at it and proceed
When your time for working has expired
Retire to your rest and do not pay your worries heed

Resist the urge to dwell on past mistakes
Mind the situation that you're in
Shame is an inefficient emotion
There is nothing more wasteful than an unrepented sin

Accept that missteps are made
You will learn from even false ways
It is a knowledge being given you
Within you is a will a dream a flag to raise

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

52 : 6/1/98 : Titrate

Hush, careful; one drop at a time
we can not be too cautious
with such a fine specimen

One drop, another, the tension is sublime
he looks a little nauseous
I'd hate to have to back-titrate him

Careful, watch the color
It's as much an art as science
a balance as brittle as glass

The vessel, now slightly fuller
I do believe that our appliance
is approaching his crucial mass

titrate our unwilling guest
watch the color leave his face
I think it's time we balanced his equation

Neutralize this hapless pest
drop some acid in his base
A lesson to whoever tries to rise above his station

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

51 : 5/31/98 : Worry and Care

Another day woke up depressed
the lord was standin on his chest
said son you look worried and tired
I'm starting to think it's time you were retired

Oh lord he said I pray 3 times a day
I'm on a long shot ticket and there's hell to pay
All my worry and care is what I trade
But I'm banking my transfer on a crooked blade

Ah son let me push you down a little more
You can't imagine everything I've got in store
for you my little sparrow won't let you fall
Well if it weren't for me no one would know at all

Release yourself my child of pain
The dossier I've compiled is plain
I'll take on all your worry and care
I don't need nothin else from you go and prepare.

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

50 : 5/30/98 : Egyptian Rocket Goddess

Unbelievable, hey that's how power goes
Why'd you have to come and go
Leave your traces back to the sun

Unimaginable, what offers cross your table
When you stood on top of Babel
Did it pain you to see your people run

Egyptian rocket Goddess
Will your orbit intersect our
crazy little planet again?

While you were walking through walls
And the Pharaohs threw dice in the hall
Your servants knew the score and poured the wine

While the library burned down
All the record deals you turned down
In another life a chill ran down my spine

Egyptian rocket goddess
You're looking right down at us
All waiting wondering

And I don't wait for a thing
Everything that happened will happen again
And if you need me I guess you'll find my number

Egyptian Rocket goddess fly
These day's we're all watching the sky
I guess it's just a spell we're under

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

49 : 5/29/98 : Dark Designs Unlimited

Must it be that there's a
dark design at work
In this world?

Can't you see that
Down in stone cathedrals
The serpent is curled?

I don't believe in the
Stories of the old men
And their secret plans

It seems to me
that it all must be
in my imaginations

Everyone would
Like to see some order
Some reason to believe in their eternal spark

Everyone keeps on
Looking for the pattern
Even if the designs are dark

But oh not me
I can't be fooled so easily
I know how these stories start

I keep my eyes fixed
on the eternal invisible
center of the wheel that pulls me apart

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

48 : 5/28/98 : Witchy

Uh, thas a witchy way you walk
Thas a twisty way to talk
Thas a glimmer in your eyes
Thas a shimmer when you lies

You doan tell a man a truth
You doan practice what you preach
You don't let your secrets out
butchoo make a pretty speech

You a devil in disguise
you got witchy in your eyes
When I try to push you balk
When I walk away you stalk

In the night I hear you wail
In a dream you had a tail
You put mojo in my tea
and you made a mess of me

An I know someday you leave
An I cry despite my pride
Wear my heart all on my sleeve
Sit an watch a lonely tide

Think about you witchy tricks
Allus choose they twisty chicks
And they glimmer in the sun
Shimmer like a vision gone

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

47 : 5/27/98 : This Must Be Love

Oh you're killing me you're killing me
with hesitance and indecision
You're killing me with doubt
and endless fission

Why can't anything ever
be just what it is?
Why can't anything ever be
one thing and not another?

Oh you're itchin' me you're itchin' me
in a place I cannot scratch
You're inchin' me you're inching
up against the pillar again

Why can't you just be what I want?
Why can't I just want what I have?
Why can't I just have what I need?

This must be love
This must be love
This must be love

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

46 : 5/26/98 : Trial By Ordeal

Bread and water and a bed of nails
Sleepless nights and leeches by the pail
Trial by ordeal sounds like a fine time to me

An unshaded bulb that burns all the time
insane noise without reason or rhyme
A little pain to to face fragmented destiny

Deny me comfort food and smoke
Hold me underwater till I choke
And by and by I guess I'd crack like anyone

Tell all my secrets and burning shames
Give the pigs all my comrades' names
Always knew I'd have to pay for my fun

I fear pain as much as the next guy
And knowing I must pay for what I buy
I almost admire the way that I endure

And though I'd hate it to end that way
it would be nice to get some of that pain out of the way
where art fails, there's always force majeure

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

45 : 5/25/98 : Time Well Spent

Hey Joel do you remember the time
when that root canal went south on me
The day after I came to the city
to work at the university?

And we drove at night back
Home to Montevideo and you slept
on the floor of my room while I lie in agony
And I waited forty hours with the pain and almost wept

That was time well spent
that was time well spent
I can't imagine my life
without all the time well spent

Hey Jennifer do you remember the time
we drove out on the reservation
In South Dakota to find Wounded Knee
Just you and me in the middle of what's left of a sovereign nation

And we drove and got lost
And your exhaust pipe fell off your car
I lashed it back to the frame with a shoelace
And felt you judging me from where you were, far

away - That was time well spent
That was time well spent
I can't imagine my life
without all the time well spent

All the moments and so many days
To remember how it all spun out
The reeling filament of moments
So much to think about

I've got a feeling in my chest
That the worst moment of my life
Is still before me, ahead
In some future of uncertainty and strife

All the time well spent
All the time well spent
Still ahead of me
All the time well spent

I remember when I
remember the time
when the sea rose up
and dragged me under
The rushing roaring waves
I can't remember
before that
before that
moment
And everything since
I've remembered all too well...

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

44 : 5/24/98 : Weapon

There must be a weapon to fight this thing
There must be a way to end it
There must be a will that makes me sing
There must be a way to bend it

There must be a weapon that strikes its mark
There must be a perfect arrow
There must be a fire behind this spark
There must be a path straight and narrow.

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