196 : 10/23/98 : They May be Damned (Canto 18)

“All right T.S.” I said “I’ve had my fill of this
I’ve gone as far as I want to go
I can’t really see what the point is”

We stood at the top of a sort of coliseum below
us sloped steps and ditches
Filled with another mighty army of woe

“Look at them racing in circles lashed with switches
by the demon hordes
Look a them cursed with boils and itches

Swatting at their wounds scrambling towards
the finish line that will never appear
they’ll strain but never break the cords

That tie them and hold them here
But from what I can see
The difference between this and what’s upstairs is unclear

I’ve been in the pit often enough and I’ll be
in that pit again I am sure
I’ve run the rat race I’ve yearned to be free

I’ve searched for the answers begged for a cure
I’ve been in the shit up to my neck
I’ve fallen for hell’s shiny bobbing lure

So tell my poet when I cash my check
am I gonna end up pushing the stone
Am I supposed to get the fear on this trek

And slobber and wag when he throws me a bone
And pats me on the head like a good dog
Will I be so relieved to be outta the danger zone

That I’ll be happy and content in my slog
Up the mountain of resistance
The endless adversity I flog

My way through without assistance
Man standin’ here I feel right at home
They may be damned but damn if they don’t have persistence”

And Eliot said “kid your mouth is starting to foam
so why don’t you climb down off the horse
This is hell this is not some poem

You have a job and your job is to follow your course
And see what you see there
What you will not accept you cannot take by force

It’s not your place to care
For the final meaning
You won’t find any more of that here than anywhere

You’ll spend a long while figuring out what you’re gleaning
here, so watch where your sentiments are leaning”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

195 : 10/22/98 : Gyre (Canto 17)

876 ?


From the cord from the ball the line
I never bothered to tie
To find my way back to the sunshine

I dropped a line I cast a fly
into the bloody steam of the chasm
where the waters fell into the pit where I

And my guide that stoic phantasm
stood looking down where he told me
to drop the line and there came a spasm

that ripped the other end away from me
and by God up flew this thing
Above us and circled one two three

With a politician’s small and waxy batwings
Settle down beside us
Didn’t say a single thing

And my guide climbed on his back with no fuss
And motioned me to join him
As if motioning me to get on a bus

and sit beside him perched there on the rim
of the seething pit of hell
So I crossed myself and went out on the limb

And the beast launched out for a moment we fell
for a moment my heart popped
then slowly we circled the well

of souls below us where the steam stopped
And he began to circle and gyre
As we slowly slowly dropped

Into the deep fire
Then I saw a multitude
of spirits circling the ledge on the edge of that dire

drop they sat at the margin of the latitude
of hell, “those who took from those in need” the Poet hissed
“Those who stole away the children’s food

Forever pulled down toward deeper hell by what they pissed
away on things that didn’t satisfy them anyway
still their greed pulls them down they wouldn’t be missed

But leave them, onto the next act of the play
time to seek the center of it all
As we come to this black Friday

When the betrayer dropped the dime and made the call
You will see the end of it”
And as the beast banked at the wall

And dropped us at the edge of a stepped pit
turned and flew away and I said “hey man I smell shit”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

194 : 10/21/98 : Fishing (Canto 16)

We crossed the way across the path
In that land of fiery downpour
That outpouring of wrath

I said “all this I’ve seen and more
to come I don’t know what to make
of it what I’ve seen on this desolate shore

It’s just a little bit too much to take
I’ve seen friends here men I admire
Is it justice for these few to bake

while warlike scoundrels dodge the fire
was the world not better for their passing
when will there be the reckoning

That answers the questions I’m asking
Can you explain this poet
What is the message I’m meant to be grasping”

“We don’t know about reckoning, the hour we don’t know it
We don’t ask about the way things run
I got nothin’ I didn’t go get

for myself I reap what I sowed under the sun
And I ain’t just dishing
This up to put you off my son

We will yet learn what you are wishing
Ponder the question while we do a little fishing

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

193 : 10/20/98 : Follow Your Light (Canto 15)

871 ?



The banks of the cooling stream
rose up to a twisting road
That we followed protected by the stream

That rose from the fire that fell and flowed
through that deserted land
Running and collecting, the whole country glowed

“With the fiery issue of the fiery hand
Some are persecuted”
My guide said squinting out over the burning sand

“A truth that cannot be refuted”
A voice said to my left
I looked down and saw a face burned and sooted

Gazing cooly up at me, said in a voice bereft
“Didn’t expect to see you down here kid,
And as I paused at a place where the stream cleft

Into two paths he said “for the things I did
I am not allowed to pause or rest
Lest the throw me in the pot and drop the lid

So walk along I’ll do my best
to follow you and hear of your strange journey
it seems you are given a strange test

usually the turnkey
turns back the under dead
And never to return we

lost souls stay where the fire rains down on your head
so what brings you here man
what do you think of what you’ve seen and what you’ve heard said”

I said “old teacher this is not my plan
and I don’t really know why I’m down here
And looking back over the course I ran

I don’t see much object that’s clear
to me of what the hell
Exactly sort of moral is supposed to appear

What I’m seeing is ringing every bell
I know I still am far astray
Does it all lead back to where I fell”

He said “you got no choice but to take the way
you’re led to by the light
Follow your light and as a new day

Dawns you will be rewarded with a sight
That’s all I know and I know I’m right”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

192 : 10/19/98 : Rain of Fire (Canto 14)

Pausing only to gather a few leaves for souvenirs
We continued to where the wood thinned then stopped
And came upon a sterile plain, the fire sears

Endlessly it seems it dropped
away from the wood’s edge
And scattered about cursed souls rolled and flopped

From the rain of fire that covered all that ledge
falling eternally down
A very symbol of God’s pledge

of vengeance on a very evil town
And the townfulls of them writhed and ran
Except for one who wore an iron crown

And I said “that one’s no ordinary man”
And he said “you got that one right
I’m not one any measly fire storm can

cause to foam and twist and bite
I’m dead and I’ll not give the satisfaction
of suffering under His sight”

And T.S. Eliot, noting my reaction
said “here’s one to notice my son
Mr. Quintessential man of action

will not wriggle even one
toe, and all for purest spite of God
His answer gives the reason

For the question that seems to make a fraud
of all the so called heavenly grace
Yes the question of the unsparing rod

of Almighty retribution in this place
The fire is an illusion
The suffering the eternal trace

of evil that remains, of pestilent confusion
There it is so it is anyway
Don’t be so quick to draw conclusions

For we must go further in today
And so we pass the fire and continue
Along this narrow way”

A rivulet of blood from the river ran through
the circles, through forest and over plain
And along a burning slope cut a view

to another lower tier, the vein
of misery formed a fused bank
where the fire was cooled and the pain

of traveling was curbed upon that narrow plank
That led to a new place of regretting
And the poet said “you might do well to thank

The Power that is for the course we are setting
This stream that leads so far away to the waves of forgetting”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

191 : 10/18/98 : Walk in the Wood (Canto 13)

865 ?


And when on the other bank we stood
I said “this seems out of place
This peaceful quiet walk in the wood”

He said “there is a quiet place in hell a space
Where a silent and lonely deed is done
by those who once in silence and loneliness finished the race

That all we misbegotten creatures run
Each day fighting the way we are
We lose that race one day all every one

You need not walk very far
to understand what goes on here
Listen to the wind in the branches of this fine exemplar”

It said “son you’re gonna shed many a tear
Over so much that is not all it may seem
All pass through fire all face the end in fear

This is a dream a child’s dream
Floating, free high above
The expectations far beyond evil’s evil gleam

Beyond disappointment and loss of love
Beyond all fear of failing
Speak to rain and the mourning dove

And the soft wind sailing
It speaks on us we speak on it
Hear our greeting hear the distant hailing

Of the quiet wood beyond the river before the pit
the quiet shades who grow so slow
we are protected like all one day a new flesh to inherit”

And I said aside poet “is this where all must go
Who by their own hand lose the bitter fight”
He said “you must ask what you would know”

I said to the trees “are you happy in this endless twilight
Between forever and the end
Do you regret leaving the light

Where the rest of us seem compelled to spend
What little time we’re gifted with
What is the message you would send

How should I relate this myth?
of your final resting
What is the state of your sap and pith”

And a voice came back on the wind and said “cease your testing
Ethics and reality don’t always mix
A path lies open before all who go on questing

A wood waits for all the lunatics
the lonely and determined few
Who finally broke what er couldn’t fix

consider what you yourself might do
Walk on you need not remember us above: we will not remember you”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

190 : 10/17/98 : The River of Blood (Canto 12)

We came down the shattered stone to the requisite river of blood
“Here we cross the border into true torment
Here at the reservoir where flows all of the violent flood

The spring that is open,” the poet said “by those sent
Here to boil eternally in every drop that’s shed
By their victims, by the innocent”

Some to their ankles some in over their heads
Some floating down the stream
The river of blood in its bloody riverbed

And seeing I winced at the stench of the carnal stream
My guide said “mark well and remember
That horrifying as the spectacle may seem

It is only the last eternal blood red ember
of the violent fantasies of violent hearts
A sinister club of sinister men and none is here who’s not a member

In death in life we play our chosen parts
Some choose the sharp end of the sliver
And those who carry on the violent arts,”

He said as we crossed a shallow in the river,
“Ah well what a man ties up fate shall deliver.”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

189 : 10/16/98 : Malice (Canto 11)

We had passed the plain of tombs
Though not another shade had risen to speak
In that roaring quiet place where darkness looms

And came to the edge of a jagged peak
That collapsed into the deep valley of the next hell
I started forward but was pressed back by a sulfurous reek

That rose up an unholy smell
for certain and T.S. drew his cloak across his face
And said “if we linger a short time it would be well

Until we grow accustomed to the stench of this place
And as we linger listen to a sketch of what’s ahead
3 circles we have yet to pace

Malice is the theme that’s read
in the pages of the journey we take
through this folio of the dead

First those who chose to break
the covenant that human blood should not spill
Another's or their own, all who choose the bloody thirst to slake

And then those who chose not only to kill
But to take arms against the common good
And strive against the higher will

More mockers will you find there than even you would
think could be possible at all
More two time losers who blundered to death through the dark wood

And down from there in the final hall
before the darkest inmost lair
There pinned to the fiery wall

The treacherous are pinioned there
All those who violated countrymen or kin
They breathe the inmost foulest air

And from there we’ll proceed to the infamous sanctum within
and complete this odyssey we have begun
But many moments we’ll linger yet in the outer din

I said “man I think I have some serious issue with the pay this place is run”
He said “did I forget to mention you’re in hell son?”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

188 : 10/15/98 : What Would You Have Done (Canto 10)

853 ?


When we passed through the iron door
we came into a desolate plain
Which was silent save for a far off roar

of the rivers of fire in the valley of pain
below our feet in deeper hell
scattered around the cracked ground that knew no rain

Iron coffins open scattered as if where they fell
From a giant’s hand cast
And all was silent cast in some unnatural spell

These shades of days not so long past
and those of ages eons dead and gone
to these crypts they are held fast

Until Gabriel’s trumpet shouts the Judgment song
And the spirit takes on its second skin
And all are separated right from wrong

“Can I speak to those shades within?”
I asked with trembling and fear
“Speak and observe their reply and meditate upon their sin

of insistence that our final end is here
in this mortal coil
the mystery of sheer

disbelief in a higher order than the soil
that ever claims our flesh
a higher work than mortal toil

And do not seek their spirits to refresh
In the solace of belief
Here are the places they enmesh

their spirits waiting for some thief
to finally erase their souls
But they receive not that relief

And one then rose from his hole
And said “American, down from the heartland
No doubt a countryman welcome to the country of the death toll

What goes on down in the nation of prosperity and
opportunity,” I said “you and your like
still running the show still on the grandstand

But still the people still eroding the dike”
Another spirit spoke then
“Stranger you’re down a long strange way off the mortal pike

Can this journey now be taken by mortal men?
And if you then why not my son?
Why does he not seek his father in this bitter den?”

“Perhaps he did not seek as one
like me who followed my path however bitter
I only finish what I have begun”

“Is his seeking done then,” he cried out, “is my son consumed on his litter?”
And he fell back into his box
“Even so,” said the first shade “clearly no quitter”

But I see a darker and more devious fox
creeping up on your society
I see famine pestilence and pox

And even your quaint piety
will not buy you out of hell on earth
And chaos of a thousand sorts, fine variety

But you will rise up in the cosmic rebirth
You will rise in your tiny boat
When you learn the word of worth

What you value where you truly hang your coat”
“Old man,” I said “what’s the deal here
Can you not speak of the present does it stick in your throat?”

“Young one to us only prophecies appear
We cannot see the past or present
And when the timeless comes we shall be mere

Incidents of dreams that came and went
now quickly for a time I fade
Listen to me remember she who sent

You out of this dark hole from your sunny glade
Look deeper past this ring of fire
Look past this twisted path you’ve made

At the center you will see the script entire
A truth you must take with you past the Wire.

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

187 : 10/14/98 : Waiting on Grace (Canto 9)

Time passed and vapors gathered in the filthy air
And a crowd of lost souls gathered round to mock our plight
And my guide drew his cloaks about him with his face drawn with care

He eyed the murmuring mob around and muttered “this can’t be right
To come so far to be turned back by this hellhound crew
Ah waiting is the game of perdition’s endless night

“Hey Eliot” I said “tell me, is it true...”
His words were eroding my confidence
“You know your way around this place don’t you?”

He gave me a deep look that brought me to sense
“You’ve read what I wrote long ago
I’ve stared hard down every dark path; I know my way hence”

Our spectators drew back and a sickly glow
drew our heads around to a darker view
Three figures had mounted the wall screaming “You little worms below”

Are you waiting on grace to come and save you
Grace doesn’t live here anymore
We’re her sisters though and if you want passage through

We’ll only need some small favor in return for
Our help, how about that little scrap
you’re so proud of: your immortal soul will buy you through this door

The poet took hold of my head in a snap
and covered my eyes with his hands
“Look not on these evil spirits do not heed their rap”

“I know them from before” I said “I wrote of them in other lands”
I heard those bent creatures howling, the crowd harassing
And creeping closer in motley bands

“Look now” said my guide, “one now is passing
the tower on the border of this marsh
Look down to where the foul smoke has been massing

Through the filthy cloud of vapor acrid and harsh
strode an angel of power and light
Fog and spirits scattered in the wake of its unveering march

The furies melted back into the night
As he opened the door with one solid kick
And called out “Mockers even here do you fight

Powers that are so clearly beyond your sick
spirits’ domain, are you so blind still?
Even we can’t figure out what makes you tick”

It stood a moment at the iron sill
Then turned and went the way it came
It never paused to look at us for whom it did its master’s will

“Come now son” the poet said pointing to the flame
“Let us go among these monuments of human shame”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

186 : 10/13/98 : Lords of Hell (Canto 8)

Arcs of flame started from the rusted stack
that towered at the edge of the swamp we came to
And in a moment through the fog flames answered back

My poet guide said hell does not yet name you
But this signal means they mark our reproach
And he pointed past the fog, all shot with flame, through

which a speeding shadow had begun its approach
The silence was broken and the water disturbed
by the passage of the 30 foot fiberglass coach

We stood there on the shore of hell’s suburbs
At the sight of my guide the boatman said “Poet, at last
I’ll convey you to a proper shore”; my guide replied “Let your hunger be curbed”

“We need you for passage only, then your usefulness is past”
He gnashed at that but he let us board
And his sullen features seemed of lead cast

Off the side a figure rose up; from his foul robes water poured
His burning eyes filled with a hungry plea
And hissed why does a mortal come here where wrath is stored

And with a flash of anger I slapped his hand from me
recognizing him as one who had done me harm
“Filth to filth” I muttered angrily

“So shall all be judged who judge” said my guide, his words served to charm
My anger as quickly as it had come
And as we neared the shore I saw our passage had raised some alarm

I heard shouting voices and the beat of a drum
“You’ll pay more than fine words to pass us” a voice shouted out
“We are lords of hell and not mere minions like some

Your poet friend here’s found it easy enough to route
So you skinwalker go find your own way home
And you poet, come let us pull you inside out

I looked back at the vast reach of treacherous foam
and scum laden water behind
Wondered if I was now cursed this cursed landscape to roam

T.S. said “cast the trouble from your mind
these dukes of hell cannot resist their orders
of powers they must bow to, though to them they are blind”

“Pray Eliot,” shouted one of the dark wardens
of the iron doors that stood in our way
And barred our passage to hell’s city’s borders

And my poet guide aside to me said “indeed pray
And on this request a great spirit comes even as I my vespers say.”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

185 : 10/12/98 : A Sea of Sullen Faces (Canto 7)

Me and T.S. Eliot forded the festering stream
that ran from the eternal trash heap
Some ugly cop tried to stop us but T.S. said “this ain’t your dream”

I heard the crashing as we clambered over the steep
bank and on the other side
I saw the diabolical dance of the spendthrifts and the cheap

miserly souls; they heave at great stones, some rode astride
they shoved and grunted and their backs did bend
They got momentum and when two stones would collide

They’d scream “why do you tax?” and “why do you spend?”
“why do you borrow? why do you save?”
“Why won’t you give me some give me some” and they’d start it all again

I said master that’s a mighty funny way to slave
Away eternity he said son that ain’t nothing
But I grant you money’s a damn silly way to pave

The path into this wracked and ruined thing
But pass it by on to deeper hells
These mad and anonymous accountants we must be passing

And we passed through into a mire that must be fed from tainted and abysmal wells
And straight into a frenzied and bloody melee
They were filthy and bloody and beat to shit and they only stopped fighting to die for brief spells

And my guide said mark them, wrath was their way
And so always must wrath come to
Always they’ll rage as they raged in my mortal day

But wrath son cannot carry one without some who
Grim and self-centered refuse to rise from their places
And raise a finger or even a voice at those who would take your very life from you

Look down into the murky places
of the swamp; see those bubbles boil
Look deeper, and see a sea of sullen faces

They would neither be carefree or toil
all their lives they kept their arms crossed
And sullenly watch those who sought light battle those who sought to spoil

And now most like what they were in life they are among the lost
They will not even move to raise their heads
Above the slime where they’ve been tossed

Sullenly they crouch in their murky beds
Only shift to croak their little tune
Singing “look down anyone who treads

across for we’ll not look at all for soon
You’ll walk along and be gone
We prefer the dark side of the moon

And only sing our sullen song
To tell you we still think you’re wrong.”

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

184 : 10/11/98 : Greed (Canto 6)

As I was pondering alas that love could ever be a sin
we had tracked into a festering pile
It seemed in this ditch hell’s garbage barge had shed its skin

A sea of cigarette butts fast food trash and other things more vile
used prophylactics and hazardous medical waste
And thrashing weekly up out of it a bloated soul said hey kid hold up a while

You don’t remember me but slow your haste
We lived in the same town
I was one with a big fancy car a cell phone and a taste

For having more than any one man could choke down
It choked me in the end
Last thing I remember is being strapped to a table in a hospital gown

Far too late for me to mend
my ways but in this never ceasing
day I see around time’s bending

I see what you think you own you’re only leasing
Greed will tear down the city we once shared
Greed will tear down the high men and all the flocks they’re fleecing

Remember me remember how I’ve fared
Spread the message you are what you eat
And even the wise will be ensnared

And then he sunk down in the refuse at my feet
And I pondered the prophecy he’d bid me to repeat

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

183 : 10/10/98 : The Way Young Lovers Do (Canto 5)

A bullish clerk in a poorly tailored suit
behind a polished slab of wood
Gave us a bored look when we queued up to the chute

Said poet go ahead that’s well and good
go slum with the sinner set
But you with the skin still on, he pointed where I stood

Back to the topside, go on, get
We’ve got plenty of agents up top
To put you on the path to me till your time’s met

My companion said this is not our stop
pal so stand aside to the higher will
Your only task is to sort those damned who make the sullen drop

We go our chosen path so bite down on the pill
and let us pass
We went along and out of the chill

Caverns came a blast of sulfurous gas
The furnaces below my partner mused
But first we meet a better class

Of those by perdition abused
This is where all the lost love goes
All all of those who false love used

To achieve some undeserved repose
Yeah the way young lovers do
Turned their backs when the sun rose

Thinking their love sufficient and true
Fell together into the well of souls
Just take a look at these two

She said our hearts were like burning coals
when it first began
We shared all the same dreams and goals

He said we kinda lost track of the plan
and drifted along together
And by and by it all fell outta the pan

And into the fire when it hit stormy weather
sometimes the rock you clutch
is just a tether

And pretty soon we fought too much
And I was staying out till dawn
sometimes any support is a crutch

Lookin’ back on all the good times gone
And long past skies of blue
A man’s mighty quick to make himself a path

So listen to our story ‘cause it could happen to you
Oh the way young lovers do

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

182 : 10/9/98 : Between (Canto 4)

843 ?


I vaguely remember stumbling off the boat
rubbed the sleep out of my eyes
And saw a field where a strange calm seemed to float

My teacher sensing my surmise
Said indeed this is the highest point of hell
such as it is, on just this little rise

we are left alone until the final bell
To contemplate the ways of things
All other damned pass by us just as well

And when the judgment clarion rings
We’ll see what we see then
We’ll see what the new order brings

We’ll see if it all begins again
So come and meet a few of the gang
Meet the honest women and men

Who live without hope and without pang
of remorse those who watch and wait
In the region between where we hang

And so we stayed very briefly just outside the gate
Of inner darkness and the long climb down
And I spoke to the poets, of destiny and fate

But we had to go and my guide’s face fell into a frown
Lunch break’s over he said, let’s hit the bad part of town

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

181 : 10/8/98 : Near Side (Canto 3)

Above an iron door it reads
All you who enter give up hope
For here you reap the harvest of the seeds

You sowed along the slippery slope
You’ve done exactly what we predicted
You’d do given enough rope

Work will set you free it said
And better you than me
And hey don’t you wish you weren’t dead

Open it my guide said it’s time to see
How the other half gets by on the other side of death
Come and find out what goes on among humanity

When they draw their last breath
So I swung it open on heavy hinges
And was assaulted by a cacophony like 50 thousand meth

heads having heart attacks the sound still impinges
on my dreams at night
When I wake up and think of it my soul cringes

Back from the hideous sight
Millennia legions of vague shades
muttering and racing, endless collapse and flight

I said teacher what is this mob that fades
and flickers in this stagnant room
what is this babel murmur that pervades

this stinking living tomb?
He said you ain’t seen nothing yet
These are those of the apathetic doom

Who never knew enough anything to forget
Spent their lives searching for the remote control
They’re searching for it still with no TV set

They chase flickering lights they crash at the bell’s toll
They wallow in soggy sheets and think about tomorrow
Get up and start running interchangeable lost souls

But hold back your pity and save your sorrow
You’ve still got a long way ahead of you
This is just the shores of those who borrow

existence for a test drive or two
At the riverside our bus is waiting
To take us and a couple thousand damned through

To where the offspring of the foul mating
Of intellect with twisted virtue in charge
Still festers in the thirst that is without sating

Out of the fog I saw the monstrous garbage barge
of the damned loom up to shore
I said man that boat is pretty damn large

T.S. said there are far more
People who have slowly turned gray
Than you ever imagined before

Look at what happens when the light fades away
Mount the steps of this foul conveyance
And let us be about our diabolical holiday

I found myself in the middle of a writhing seance
of tormented spirits in constant retreat
from the light. I swore I’d only go this way once

A voice roared out I smell fresh meat
What’s a body doing on my boat
Get back to the near side friend until you’re in your winding sheet

But a look from my guide froze the words in his throat
the old boat master scowled and turned
And my teacher said better pick up your coat

As the lunatic mumble rose and the water churned
Across the river I saw a smoking rise
Where I knew the devil’s city burned

I squatted down in a corner and shut my eyes
And I listened to the endless drone of endless flies

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

180 : 10/7/98 : Second Thoughts (Canto 2)

I said I’m having second thoughts
to my new companion
Lately I’ve been rolling pretty shaky shots

Every time I come up on this canyon
I think of who has gone before
How they aimed their faces straight ahead and ran strong

As the west wind blows from the shore
How can I measure up
To those heroes who first passed the great door

He said son it’s time to open your treasure up
all the courage and virtue you locked up inside
It’s time to give these little pleasures up

This is about more than your sorry hide
A messenger above your station sent the word
And called me from my sleep to show you on this side

So listen and mark what you’ve heard
‘cause after this nothing will ever be the same
Deal with it now when you’re not so self-assured

Three graces are thinking of your name
And your journey is written above
I’ll get you back to where you came

from my nervous son, back in the light of love
Back in the fields of the Lord
I’m just here to give you a little shove

And I said unreel the knotted cord
Time to cross into the psychiatric ward

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

179 : 10/6/98 : Your Welcome to Hell (Canto 1)

837 ?


In the middle of a nothing life
gone stupid with the day to day to day
I found myself stranded in confusion and strife

I had wandered so far off my way
Distracted by the little here, the little there
Woke with a start and had not a word to say

Of all the dead ends I’d been in this was beyond compare
At last I feel I’ve blundered past return
I turn around, walk up and down and stare

But little as I am the stuff I’m made of’s pretty stern
I got back to my feet and looked about me
As long as I’m alive it seems I’ll make that wheel turn

I wondered how the world was getting by without me
As I pushed on through a gloomy fog
I daydreamed I was a child again and wished the seeker would shout “free!”

Lost in thoughts of escape I carried on my slog
through a world bereft of sense
I pushed on like always; a rolling bouncing little cog

To my surprise I came upon a barb wire fence
Beyond I saw sun and a rise and a tree I knew from long ago
Said I’ll go up there where the fog is not so dense

And maybe if I sit under that tree I’ll know
where I am and where to go from here
It seems farther than at first glance but even so

But as I Iooked for a break in the fence I reeled back with fear
And ugly cottonmouth was lying in my path
Behind a rabid weasel blocked my retreat with a crazy sneer

And high above a crow circled with eyes red as wrath
And called out a hoarse scream full of night
And I said to myself that’s torn it: to the math

So I turned to return to my gloomy plight
When a voice whispered do I date disturb a fellow poet in retreat
Softly, off to my right

And sullen I said who’s interrupting my defeat
And a ghostly man said I’m the one
Who’ll show you fear in the dust at your feet

And I said I know that song you sung
Is it really you my old friend
And he said well well well old son

T.S. can you show me how to get around this bend
That hill over there has got me under a spell
You know stuff, right, you’ve been past this bitter mortal end

And he said son I’m not allowed to tell
About the other side and yet I’ll be your guide in hell.

This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

circling satan's icy drain

I've been procrastinating getting started putting my seriously deficient version of Dante's Inferno online. Basically because the transcription of it is so tedious, and the product is so terrible. You may think I'm being coyly modest but I'm not. The whole thing was an exercise in grinding futility. Well, not entirely. It was a good exercise for writing but an awful one for reading. I'll get over it and get down to brass tacks soon.

178 : 10/5/98 : Queen of Heaven (5th Glorious Mystery)

Who’s on the right hand who’s on the left hand
Looks like you missed the point again,
Queen of Heaven

Who shall be first, who shall be last
the time for all those games have passed,
Queen of Heaven

Who will be crowned with glory?
Who’s the key of this story?
There is no reason to be sorry
anymore
Queen of Heaven

Intercede on my behalf
Put a record on the phonograph
Stay with me for one last dance
Queen of Destiny and chance

Queen of Heaven

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

177 : 10/4/98 : Take Me Up (4th Glorious Mystery)

821 ?


Oh Lord are you coming
Are you coming to get me tonight
I guess I’m the only woman or man
You ever taken twice, ain’t that right

Well are you finally gonna take me up
in your arms tonight
carry me across your threshold
Take me into your house and make everything all right,

Dear Lord are you coming
to take me up body and soul
My flesh was good enough for you last time
Your son wasn’t too good to come outta my hole

I carried him in these arms
He sucked here at this breast
I raised your son for you
I knew myself above all women blessed

I’m changing aren’t I
I’m growing so very light
I feel your arms around me
take me up in them this moment this night

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

Deathly Hello's

810 ?


I'm not ashamed to admit it... Well, okay, I'm a little ashamed to admit it but I'm staying away from the internet for a few days to avoid the Harry Potter spoilers. Yeah, yeah, I know. Back in a few days, to wrap up the rosary and begin the long-promised descent into Hell. And (I hope) clear up that little backlog while I'm at it. I'll get this thing more daily eventually, I swear.

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

176 : 10/3/98 : My Head’s On Fire (3rd Glorious Mystery)

I can’t see nothin’ but glory
‘cause my head’s on fire
Can’t hear nothin’ but your story
‘cause my head’s on fire
Anything I say’s hunky dory
‘cause my head’s on fire

My head’s on fire
and I feel all right
My head’s on fire
I’m gonna make it through, tonight
My head’s on fire
And I’m winning the fight

Why can’t it be like this all the time
Why can’t every single word have a rhyme
Why do I do what I would not do
And fail to do that which I know to be true

Won’t you please set my head on fire again
I’m ready to blow just pull the pin
I’m hot for it I’m a live wire
Please Lord set my head on fire

My head’s on fire
and I feel all right
My head’s on fire
I’m gonna make it through, tonight
My head’s on fire
And I’m winning this fight

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

175 : 10/2/98 : Ascension (2nd Glorious Mystery)

795 ?


Time has come
for rising
to the heaven
that I dreamed of
The kingdom that
I spoke about the
mansions of
my Father’s love
Now you must
be satisfied
a while
to linger on
this spinning place
Through your troubles
look to heaven
look up watch
for my face
I’ll be back
real soon now
I leave you with the
overflowing cup
My ascension is
at hand
I’ll see you soon friend
Going Up

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

174 : 10/1/98 : Guess Who (1st Glorious Mystery)

793 ?


In the most dismal hour
of the most dismal day
when you’re finding just how hard
it can be made for you
I will appear to you
Guess Who

On this road as you talk
of the way it all seems
To be falling apart
And collapsing
You may find me walking beside you
Guess Who

I’m always with you
Every minute every day
I said the world would give you trouble
But I’ve arranged to
be your double
when they’re trying to
pin you down
I’ll come out swinging for you
Guess Who

The ground
does not hold us down
the ground
does not hold us
forever
I’m here I’m waiting
for you:
Guess Who

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

173 : 9/30/98 : Crux (5th Sorrowful Mystery)

Here I am here it ends at the crux if it;
that’s very funny
I’m very thirsty it’s very hot here
somewhere they’re counting Judas’ money

That’s very sad it makes me unhappy
To think of him hanging there
Betrayed by Jesus denied by Peter
I see my followers out there

Well they don’t know my sheep don’t know
They never get a single thing
So I am beat and broken
And they’ve lost their king

They don’t know what they’ve gained
I don’t know what I’ve given up
I’ve never been a man before
I’ve never drunk the bitter cup

It’s all over now I’m done
I’ve gone where it’s taken me
This is your great plan Lord
why have you forsaken me?

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

172 : 9/29/98 : Carrying the Cross (4th Sorrowful Mystery)

788 ?


This road goes on forever
This road goes to nowhere
heading to oblivion
Carrying the cross
My path is winding down now
Take one last look at my old town, how
strangely everything has gone
First is last and gain is loss
One foot and then the next one
Pretty soon they’ll nail them both down
It isn’t anything surprising
I knew about it from the start
I knew I’d carry this cross up this hill
I knew it would come to an act of will
the falling and the rising
the beating of my heart
I couldn’t be more weary
confused and beaten, bleary-
eyed and feverish
I see a multitude carrying their crosses
In times to come well shouldn’t it end here
Why does everything seem far that should be near?
Shouldn’t they all just get their wish
Can death end this never ending process?

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

171 : 9/28/98 : Crown of Thorns (3rd Sorrowful Mystery)

One like me in every crowd
I can’t stand the games they play
Still I look on and not a word I say
I’m a coward and I keep my peace

Another troublemaker blew his lease
And that’s where we come in I guess
Basic hooligans to intimidate the rest
and beat the few misfortunate who come into our grasp

I had to look away but still I heard him gasp
They hate the crazy ones the most
It’s pathetic really how they love to boast
it’s pathetic how I don’t resist

And he just took it never cursed or made a fist
They put a crown of thorns on his head
Poor crazy Jew will be lucky when he’s dead
A crown of thorns, that’s something new

I’ve grown accustomed to the evil that men do
but this one got to me somehow
I see that crown of thorns the blood upon his brow
I wake up in a sweat thinking my sheet’s become my shroud

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

170 : 9/27/98 : Scourging (2nd Sorrowful Mystery)

A scourging a message
a lesson to be taught
maybe this will clear the situation up
I’m just doing what I ought

Why am I constantly confronted
with these peoples’ internecine strife
beat the shit out of another revolutionary
see if they keep howling for his life

I thought that it would be an easy post
They told me they were cattle been defeated so long
but every time I kill another one of their messiahs
another and another comes along

I wish that I were somewhere else
I wish that I were back in Rome
Away from all this provincial politics
relaxing, easy in my home

Let’s see how the subject’s holding up
Christ, J. amazing he still stands
These people seem to have it out for you
seems a shame but still I wash my hands

When I asked him what truth was
he didn’t say a single thing
but he caught be with a look that shook me
I almost believed this madman was a king

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

169 : 9/26/98 : It’s Not Right (1st Sorrowful Mystery)

778 ?


It’s not right that they’re all sleeping
It’s not right it is not kind
It’s not right I can’t refuse this cup
This cup that is not mine

It’s not right I can’t be comforted
I shouldn’t be sweating blood
It’s not right I’m kneeling here alone
and praying to you in the mud

Lord if I’m ever running things
the way your scriptures seem to say
I can’t believe I’d run things like this
there must be a better way

Well not my will but your will
Nothing changes in that deal
It’s You that calls the shots down here
It’s You who turns the great wheel

I want this cup taken away
I wonder if that’s wrong
That what you’ve set seems wrong to me
That this what I waited for so long

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

168 : 9/25/98 : In Jerusalem (5th Joyful Mystery)

In Jerusalem they found me
talking to the old men
I was asking them
about some things that had occurred to me lately

They acted vexed and surprised
it just seemed natural to me
important and necessary
that I valued what they claimed they prized

And the old men shook their heads
they didn’t seem to know
the answers to these things that seem to grow
inside me every day every night while I lie in my bed

I looked back while we rode away
I thought something’s going to happen
Something will happen in Jerusalem
I’m going back there someday

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

167 : 9/24/98 : Depart In Peace (4th Joyful Mystery)

Now let your servant depart, in peace
I’ve seen all I need to
I know how the rest goes
He showed me

Now let your servant depart, in peace
I know how this story ends
You’re facing a hard road little friend
But you’ll make it

Why are some chosen to know
things no man should know
I’ll never know
but never mind
I know where I’m about to go

Now let your servant depart, in peace
I just had to see it come to pass
I know your face will be the last
the first thing I see

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

166 : 9/25/98 : Falling to Earth (3rd Joyful Mystery)

Well that angel never mentioned this
The dark the cold the screaming and the blood
Nobody talks about that part
How the pain shakes you rolls over like a flood
And the screaming my God the screaming
Till I wondered can that really be my voice
Crying out my God crying out my God
Clutching Joseph’s hand and grasping at the straw
Well I guess the Scripture told me it would be this way
It’s my destiny it’s the Law
And I feel like I am falling
falling falling into a deep well
couldn’t remember what that angel looked or sounded like
couldn’t remember anything about it while I fell
And something rising up in me
And the pain the pain too much to bear
Crazy thoughts, where’s his father
Did we bring anything for him to wear
Joseph was saying something I couldn’t hear
Something crossed in me something overtook me
Something old as time something old as womankind
Held me pushed me rocked me shook me
And as I fell to fell to earth
A serenity it seemed nothing could ever destroy
Joseph murmured something kindly softly
And showed me my perfect baby boy

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

165 : 9/22/98 : Brother John (2nd Joyful Mystery)

772 ?


In the womb brother John Baptist knew
While he was knit together one and one and two
I’m gonna leave it all because of you
Go out to the desert because of you
Gonna preach to the people because of you
I’m gonna lose my head for you
He knew...
Leap up!
I know that my Redeemer lives
Leap up!
What solace does that sentence give?
Leap up!
I know that my Redeemer lives
He knew
Gonna lose my head for you
So I leap up leap up
When she visit us
She don’t know
They’re gonna serve it up on a platter
I know, I know it doesn’t really matter
I know I’m gonna baptize you
Leap up!
I saw the spirit come down

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

Summer Vacation

Off on a family trip next week, and as I've got lots to do to get ready I'm going to take a couple weeks off from posting songs. We'll continue praying the Rosary around June 10.

164 : 9/21/98 : Annunciation (1st Joyful Mystery)

748 ?


You might be you might be
You might be nobody, like me
When the angel comes
to tell you you’re the one
Annunciation
You might find You might find
The strange visitation preys on your mind
How will He come
Like a dove like a wind like a golden rain
like a man like a swan
Annunciation
Well you might ponder
but cannot disobey
that was not part of the deal
a nobody girl like me has no say
You might feel fear you might feel fear
at the impossibility you hear
And if they tell you not to be afraid
Well that’s easy for them to say
They’re used to him
A nobody girl like me has no say
And could not say no
And would not anyway
resist
such a visitation
Annunciation

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

behold, the jewel in the lotus!

So, did you figure out what makes it the "Fibonacci" series? When I wrote it I thought the "trick" was fairly obvious, but I repeatedly observed people looking at it and not perceiving the pattern.

I'll give you a hint: there is a pattern in the lyrics, the specifics of which change from song to song, which is repeated a certain number of times. The number of times it is repeated is the number of the song in the series: so the first song the pattern repeats one time, the second song the pattern repeats twice, and so on. I'll note that while the specifics change, they represent a consistent type of information, and it is in the specifics that the "Fibonacci" part comes in.

I'll make it totally obvious now by connecting the actual numbers of the Fibonacci series to their complement songs:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13

My final note on the pattern is that it presented some interesting challenges, primarily in creating verse structures with odd (in both the mathematical and figurative sense) numbers of lines. In the final song, Her Majesty's Fools, I finally broke with the convention of having the structure of the verse defined by the pattern. Ironically, having allowed this simplification (really, I can't remember if any of this was patterns I imposed at the time or simply how I organically dealt with the patterns), I chose a complicated rhyme and verse structure anyway, one that first provided a foretaste of the whole "torment of triple rhymes" experience I was about to go through with the Inferno Series, and second that the verse structure I chose ended up not dividing evenly into the number of verses, requiring the interjection of an additional rhyming line (adding a third rhyme where formerly there would have been only a second), specifically:

Thus these simple addenda
Hear me friend if you might lend a

in the penultimate verse. If I do say so myself it is a nice bit of business. There is a lot more I could say about that song, but I'll spare you. The only other thing I'll note about the series is that it ended up being short because I felt overwhelmed by the requirements imposed by the patterns, particularly of overall length. At the time I hadn't really sussed out the Inferno project. Considering the hell I ended up going through with Dante (hah hah) my lack of perseverence with respect to the good Leonardo of Pisa's work (which predates Dante's, which seems strange to me somehow) seems kind of funny to me now.

The next series is called "The Rosary." It is a relatively straightforward presentation based on the mysteries of the Catholic Rosary.

163 : 9/20/98 : Her Majesty’s Fools (Fibonacci 8/8)

Testify that they that die

Hear a voice or voices cry

In the bright vibrating void 

Rid your mind of thoughts unkind 

The evil treasures lie behind 

Evils only the wise avoid 

Elementary: thoughts uncomplimentary

Not for the manor meant are we

Thieves lurking at the gate

Hearts on sleeves climbing the eaves

Inherit only autumn leaves

Receive orders or simply wait

This I know that they that go

Even they must hear the wind blow

Exceptions cannot make a rule

Nevertheless we only guess

Those very things that could impress

Her Majesty’s fool

Inasmuch as I feel the touch

Resist as such

To satisfy or be a tool

Except to say all things pass away

Expressing the need for each new day

No matter the reason

Taking tea and soft protesting we

Heap up irony

Investing in treason

Restless visions endless revisions

Talk to our televisions

Encounter a dark sides

Excommunicate those who dare to date

Nonsense we once chose to hate

Tell us we’ve been taken for a ride

Hard upon its truth we stifle outbursts too uncouth

Intone instead verily, forsooth

Regal in our finery

Tall full of grace we’ve set ourselves in place

Examples for the lower race

Excuse ourselves to the winery

Near enough to dark we hear a voice hark

Telling us we missed our mark

Heeding only our desires

Interactive porn or fashions better burnt than worn

Regardless comes the morn

To see too clear the ashes of our fires

Erring in our passions passing over truth for fashions

Even our friends storm the bastions

Nerves shot watching the telephone

That refuses to ring our analyst won’t say a thing

He can no longer bring

Illusions that we are alone

Rushed packing you cannot buy what’s lacking

Tired of our peasants flacking

Enemies’ agendas

Easy enough, no doubt we were over rough

No way left to bluff

Thus these simple addenda

Hear me friend if you might lend a

Innocence we lost our sense

Revealed in the present tense

Taken out of time

Ended with a whimper by those we once forced to simper

Even with a limp, her

Noble subjects saw to her unrelenting climb

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

162 : 9/19/98 : Complex Verse (Fibonacci 7/8)

Eight by six by six by twelve
isn’t it something the ideas we shelve
got a better life in another dimension
heaven on earth and a nice fat pension
tick tock tick and around comes another twelve

Eleven disciples and one to take the fall
isn’t it a shame I can’t walk through a wall
given the way things are I should feel lucky
hellzapoppin’ and it’s all just ducky
take my time another lost summer fades to fall

Ermine wraps and diamond rings
isn’t it crazy how we’re crazy for shiny things
got my treasure where rust can’t bite
heaven can wait I got time to get tight
till the counter rolls over and the Bells all start to ring

Extension is a useful thing
I read it in the Tao, it’s a Lepton thing
give it up for a complex verse
half assed but I’ve sure seen worse
take a little here a little there ain’t that the real thing

Even I grow tired anyway
I got no answers but still I pray
give my spirit over to the light
he who hesitates has no right
to tell me how to make it anyway

Even if you can’t make sense of it
it’s multidimensional there’s no end to it
gear up for the last trip round the coil
hear me out we all end up as soil
to dust to dust and there’s the end of it

End it all on a gentle note
I can only make up what I don’t know by rote
God’s in God’s heaven and it’s all right
here’s a riddle to keep you up nights
the end of the melody comes but the goal is not the last note...

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

161 : 9/18/98 : Stock In Trade (Fibonacci 6/8)

Fearlessly I face the crowd smiling
It’s an old song but hey, if the shoe fits
Validation comes from the number I’m dialing
Earth’s own hotline; fifty thousand daily hits
Fundamentalism that’s my stock in trade
I’ve got a habit but it’s under control
Victims of all the usual black trades
Expect results! It’s a free call, no toll
Fixing what’s wrong’s my mojo
I can do it I only need more time
Victory is mine and this I know
Every dog gets its one call its my dime
Fraternize with the new revolution
It’s a free call satisfaction guaranteed
Vote for the final solution
Everyone follow the piper’s lead
Fools on foot and fools on horseback
I’ve got a tune for you all to obey
Vested interests are a minor setback
Each to his own that’s my way
Finality is my stock in trade
In time you’re all gonna march in a row
Villain and victim you’ll both taste the blade
Each up his own hill up through the snow


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

160 : 9/17/98 : Heaven Won’t Help You (Fibonacci 5/8)

Tell it to the judge kid
heaven help you, no one down here will
reflect upon the errors of what you did
eat the bitter poison pill of what you ought
eventually we all get caught

Take to a higher court fool
here’s what they’ll say; ain’t no justice here
repentance doesn’t buy the Man a swimming pool
exit’s that way so shed a tear for what you lost
even the lucky one’s get caught up by the cost

Trust nobody at all, rube
heaven won’t help you if you do
resist the lure of what you seen on the sparkling tube
esoteric eventualities are your cue to make your move
easy does it you got nothing to prove

Tricky proposition, that
help yourself but don’t get caught
revelation’s easy open the bag out pops the cat
exotic scenery it’s not but just the same
elevate yourself above your shame

Take it to Jesus neighbor
he’ll lighten up your heavy load
release you from your fearsome labor
even maybe meet you on the road to Damascus
everything’s available just ask us.

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

159 : 9/16/98 : Wake Me (Fibonacci 4/8)

744 ?


tempt me, taunt me make me beg for it
when I’m at my rope’s end
overcome with indecision and regret
take me to the edge and don’t let me forget
wake me, shake me throw the blinds up
open my eyes to the new day friend
takes a moment to make my mind up
waiting to see how the hell I’m going to wind up
often enough, I’ve seen so many mornings come
too many letters that I’ll never send
when evening comes, keep me up late give me some
offerings of hope some little tune to hum

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

158 : 9/15/98 : Ecce Homo (Fibonacci 3/8)

Oblique references to secret sects
narcissistic knights and famous chalices
evil eyed; the ancients cast their hex

Oh the balustrades the gargoyles perch
never ceasing vigilance in forgotten palaces
ecce homo; two million years, pop! I’m on the couch

Olden days they’re all long gone
nevertheless, we boil in the same old malices
egomaniacs one and all, first to last

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

157 : 9/14/98 : Only the Lonely Know (Fibonacci 2/8)

Only the lonely know this score
nobody knows what we’re put here for
every ending starts another round

Oh but I’ve seen through that wall
next time around I’ll dodge the fall
existence revolves revolves around

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

156 : 9/13/98 : Zealots (Fibonacci 1/8)

Zealots in the street are crying armageddon
everybody’s crazy babe you’re not the only one
revelry is what you see: but in the end it’s blood
only a few survive the flood

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

post alphabetic interlude

Thus endeth the alphabet, first of four serial lyrics exercises found in volume 2 of project one of the Songs of the Days.

Coming up... the dreaded Fibonacci series!

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

155 : 9/12/98 : Zen (Alphabet 26/26)

737 ?


Well that just ain’t
the way I’m wired,
Friend
Don’t know nothin’
‘bout that
Don’t know nothin’
about
Zen
Dunno,
I get by
and
I get by

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

154 : 9/11/98 : Yen (Alphabet 25/26)

I got a yen for something I can’t get nothing
I can’t put my hand on it
I got a fearsome craving, these days of slaving
and buying the man’s evil shit
I’ve got a strong desire
my brain’s afire
with restless and ceaseless thought
All the books I’m reading dead horses
I’m beating
By day’s end I’m just shot
What you gonna do?
Nothing you can do
What you gonna do?
Nothing you can do
What you gonna do?
Well there’s nothing you can do
I’ve got a yen for endings and
pathways’ bending
Always jumping my track
I’ve got a hunger boiling a thirst from toiling
and tracing my troubles back
God hides in the details ducking down false trails
And singing a little song
But my yen keeps growing
And I just keep rowing
my little rowboat along

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

153 : 9/10/98 : Xanthippe (Alphabet 24/26)

“Don’t look at me,” said Xanthippe
“God knows you haven’t made life
Easy for me”
While he talks and talks she mends his socks
Takes care of the kids
while he’s out on his walks
“Oh Socrates,” says Xanthippe
“Just toe the party line
and they’ll set you free
It’s all just talk, shouldn’t be such a shock
Instead you’re gonna go
and drink hemlock
And leave me alone to cope on my own
I know you think the truth
is all set in stone
And I’m sure it’s true they’ll all remember you
And I get forgotten; just
What a man would do”

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

152 : 9/9/98 Whistlestop (Alphabet 23/26)

The trains don’t stop here anymore
just another whistlestop town
Not enough of us to need a trainfull
of anything they might ship down
From the great iron ranges of
Northern Minnesota
From the forests of the West
through the flatlands of Dakota
Pulls the whistlestop:
They don’t stop here anymore
They just roll on through
Rollin’ through is all a little town’s good for

When I was younger I thought
Some day I’ll jump a car
When the train is passin’ through
Eastbound to where the people are

See all the glitter and the flash
Of a big town on the coast
I thought I’d sail around the world
Thought I’d have no trouble
abandoning my post
But in a little whistlestop town
hitchin’ a ride’s not easy to do
Nothin’ slows down here
Nobody will stop for you.

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

151 : 9/8/98 : Visionary (Alphabet 22/26)

728 ?


This world needs less visionaries
It’s complicated enough as it is
without a thousand nattering nabobs
fighting to see who can take the longest wizz

This world needs less geniuses
We feel dumb enough anyway
without some egghead on the teevee
with something incomprehensible to say

This world needs more standup comics
television preachers and mimes
we aren’t interested in being exceptional
Jesus people just get with the times

This world needs less visionaries
I can’t even figure out what all of us can see
Keep your opinion to yourself friend
The last thing I need is a damn visionary

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

150 : 9/7/98 : Unction (Alphabet 21/26)

I think this one’s had it
had enough it’s crossing over
spread a little oil on his temples
Let him go

Give him over to the fields of
blooming clover
Try to learn from his examples
Make the story so...

Just put a little cool oil on his forehead
Don’t send him over unannointed
Give him unction
Finish his last rite

For his days unlived
Who wouldn’t be disappointed
Such a quick end to
such a long fight

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

149 : 9/6/98 : Tantalize (Alphabet 20/26)

“My perspective on the situation”
as he coasted in on a long curl
Down an aching perfect Laguna coastline
“Find me whiskey, tobacco, a girl”

“I saw him rolling by, I guess he was the first”
Stopped to ask me why, I didn’t know
then I felt the fetters slip
There wasn’t anything on my mind but go

“Stopped to stuff a handful of grapes into my mouth
Got my board from where they made me leave it on the beach
I felt a mighty wave arising
I felt like everything was in my reach

“I just rolled in I’ve been coasting waves for fifteen days
That’s nothin’ man I was doing heavy time
I thought I’d hit a coast and check the scene
I thought I’d listen to the old bells chime

“So give me strong drink brother
Give me a sight to fill my eyes
Stories to amaze, fine food and strong cigars
Astonish me, brother, tantalize.”

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

148 : 9/5/98 : Spiders (Alphabet 19/26)

Sure hope the spiders are on my side
Dear lord I surely hope they are
I hope they’re fighting for my side
I wish that on my lucky star
The powers of chaos and disintegration
of inefficiency and senseless vice
I like to think they hold it together
a little, a little English on my dice
Can I be saved can she be saved
Can anyone be saved in time
I only want some order in my life
Some reason and some rhyme
The center will not hold
it sways like someone drunk
The spiders hang in balance
illusions can’t distract the monk
They whisper nothing’s moving man
They whisper nothing’s changed
They know a lot just think of it
The time the lands the oceans they have ranged
And if they’re on my side
I’m sure that order can be kept
A gossamer balloon has been prepared
for me, while my enemies slept

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

147 : 9/4/98 : Rhizome (Alphabet 18/26)

under it grows
and shows
no signs above
underneath the flowerbeds
it spreads
the parks and parking lots
egalitarian
under projects
condos
city hall
wherever spores might fall
the rhizome grows
cosmopolitan
one day we'll be pushed aside

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

146 : 9/3/98 : Quill (Alphabet 17/26)

Feeling insecure these days
say it’s the plague of each generation
And after all it’s always falling down
after all, it’s the millennium

Try to count my blessings
Try to count my security
Doesn’t seem to add up to much
I’m inclined to blame the fact on me

And if it all fell down
What would be left for me to do
If it all came a’ tumblin’
Would I have enough to see me through

I suppose there’ll still be birds around
And where there’s birds I’ll find a quill
If I can find a sharp knife, something dark
enough to write about it, I guess I will

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

145 : 9/2/98 : Plinth (Alphabet 16/26)

Listen to a super version of Plinth by the incomparable Andrew at
Songs to Wear Pants To

723 ?



What is the structure what is the basis
What is the underlying form
We claim a basis we claim a knowledge
we claim a vaccine against the wurm
there is no basis there is no structure
this whole town is built on sand
All that we’ve built and all we’ve collected
Not one stone will stand
There is no plinth
There is no bedrock
We’re on swiftly shifting ground
This should come as no big shock
Don’t look for answers,
Don’t rock the structure
We all hold on with our eyes shut tight
Hands over our ears, mouths stuffed with refuse
fearing the fast approaching night
huddled in doorways lamps that are half full
Not one stone will be left to stand
All that can be shaken will be shaken
Makin’ the way for the promised land

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

144 : 9/1/98 : Octopus (Alphabet 15/26)

Next time I swing around this mortal coil
Think I’ll try on something with a shorter span
I could be an octopus next time
Seventy years is an awful long time to be a man

Be a hunter, ride the undertides
surf the silent depths of the unfathomed sea
Collect whatever comes my way
Have color-changing skin and radial symmetry

Give up clothes and cars
telephones and timepieces
Sounds like a pretty simple life
begins then is then ceases

8’s my lucky number anyway
Always loved the ocean
spend my next life eatin’ fish
ever adrift in constant motion

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

143 : 8/31/98 : Nautilus (Alphabet 14/26)

Society’s long spiral
build another wall around us
furthering our obsessions
Nestled in like a nautilus
A little curd of biomass
Just oozing ‘long the bottom rocks
Taking what comes
A nasty little infestation: a touch of the pox
Someday the earth will be cleansed
And only the shells will remain
of our follies...
the empty nautilus, our former domain
If I were the aliens
I’d be playing the waiting game too
Just watch, they’re saying
Just keep it up they’re whispering to you
It’ll just be condominiums
For a higher society
Some strange starfaring race of hermit crabs
Will settle into our strange variety
of architecture and industry
take it up where we left off
Our strange art we abandoned
with it seems a hesitating cough
Leaving behind these shambling hulls
hollow eyes on the television screen
Speeding senseless to and fro...
Ripe for moving in, if you see what I mean?

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

142 : 8/30/98 : Malefactor (Alphabet 13/26)

Who is the mysterious malefactor?
Where is the villain, where is the scene of the crime?
Where is the catalyst? The deadly chain reactor
Who is responsible? Who will do the time...

Some blame the poor cause the poor are always there
some blame the rich for the power they hold
Some blame a selfish gene that won’t let us share
Some blame the devil well that one’s pretty old

Will the real malefactor please stand up?
And tell me please why you want a world so pointless and dumb
call a porter we’ll both raise a cup
I’m just curious I don’t even want your crumbs

I am not a part of your machine
what you cast away I eat
malefactor what does it all mean
Where is the creator? What is the creator? I must be complete

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

141 : 8/29/98 : Live (Alphabet 12/26)

Why’d you have to go and do it Nick?
Why’d you have to turn that final trick?
I wish you wish you had decided
That what you wanted was to live
Not my choice, not my party
I wasn’t invited
I can’t judge what you chose not to give

I wish I didn’t know the truth
I wish I didn’t have the proof
But I see you read that Camus essay
A bottle of pills a night no one will ever know
I know you cast the cup away
Know you heard the question:
Know you answered “No.”

And I know I’ll never reproduce your special taste
And I know it wouldn’t be the same in any case
I have to plod along in my own stupid way
Words that slip away as if my mind were just a sieve
Wake up to find I’ve lived to face another day
Isn’t it ironic, how your songs help me to live

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

140 : 8/28/98 : Kindergarten (Alphabet 11/26)

In kindergarten I learned a couple things
I had to know
How to read and tie my shoes and
give authority a straight-faced snow
But they never taught me why I
Couldn’t get to the highest shelf
I had to learn that by myself

In grade school I learned most of
the math that I still use
I learned a little about fighting
A little about paying dues
But they never taught me how
to feel when I was alone
I had to learn that on my own

In middle school I barely learned
to play the clarinet
Learned to curb my appetite
to back a losing bet
But they never taught me how
to set my music free
they left that one up to me

I high school I learned quite a bit
of lousy love advice
learned a little public speaking
learned a little vice
But they never taught me
what informs the endless rhyme
I had to learn that on my own time

In college I learned filling out
the forms and bending rules
Learned to operate a dozen
highly exoteric tools
They neglected to inform me
In this world the truth is a devalued coin
They let that happy fact jump out
and kick me in the groin

In kindergarten I did not
learn all I had to know
16 years more down the road
I’d learned so little more
Never learned as much as
it felt like I needed to know
You can’t take it with you when you go

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

139 : 8/27/98 : Jones (Alphabet 10/26)

715 ?


I’ve got a jones for jimson weed
Mixed with belladonna and celery seed
I’ve got a bad hemlock jones:
I’m a philosopher
I got so many monkeys clinging to my spine
They’re turning out Hamlet revisions in their spare time
I’ve got the Taste in my bones:
The Romans tainted the aquifer
And now I’m hooked on nightshade and lead
In a pinch I’ll settle for monk’s hood instead
I’m strung out on poison tenterhooks:
I’m a lunatic
I gobble fly agaric and howl at the moon
Chew up castor beans and sing out of tune
I read about it all in books
I’m spirit filled I’m charismatic
I’ve got a jones for heavy metals and alkaloids
I’ve got a thing for being strung out shaky and paranoid
I’ve got a bad arsenic jones:
I’m one crazy little king
I take poison by the jigger and dram
I’m storming the doors of perception with a battering ram
I sing in shaped monotones:
I got my own thing

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

138 : 8/26/98 : Icon (Alphabet 9/26)

I’d rather be an icon than a snail
Yes I would, sir
yes I would sir
I’d rather be an icon than a snail
But I don’t even know if it’d do any good sir
What service have our icons done us?
What kind of lifestyle have they won us?
I wanna be an icon just the same
I wanna shine onna dark stage
I wanna earn a sumptuous wage
Be the kind of slave that gets a name
I’ll be an icon to the masses
Unify the lower classes
Make a mighty army of the milling crowd
Raise ‘em up into a mighty thunderstorm cloud
Why not? Let’s go to war
With them or you or each other
Let’s kill the rich let’s eat the poor
And every man betray his brother
We just need an icon
Someone with the thumbs up! to say - carry on
A good face for the televised revolution
I said yes I would sir
I said yes I would, sir

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

137 : 8/25/98 : Halcyon (Alphabet 8/26)

If I were a rich guy I would build a boat called the Halcyon
Deck it with all the modern amenities
Run it all on the sun
Sail away and let all you evil bastards run the show
I'll be out on the Halcyon riding the flow

When the next crazy hothead
Unships his AK47
I'll be off the coast of Australia
Watching this majestic heaven
I won't taste your filthy leaven where I go
I'll be out on the Halcyon riding the flow

I'll sail to Marlon Brando's island
When the heavy shit rains down
I'll be so hip and charming he'll love having me around
Or maybe I'll just buy my own
A rich man's bay to go aground and watch you make it blow
Until you bomb me too and I'm just another cinder in the flow

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

136 : 8/24/98 : Gin (Alphabet 7/26)

Maybe I’ll start drinking gin
Maybe I’ll get really thin
Maybe I will grow a beard and cut off all my hair

Maybe I’ll start running guns
Maybe I’ll start heckling nuns
Be a gin soaked hobo ride the boxcars everywhere

Maybe I’ll start speaking Dutch
Maybe I’ll walk with a crutch
Be a one-legged boxer make it to the hall of fame

Maybe I’ll set fire to cars
start provoking fights in bars
Doesn’t sound too bright at least it wouldn’t be all the same

I could drink myself to death
Always have gin on my breath
stumble through a haze of juniper and fuzzy rage

If I turned it all around
made heaven hell, the sky the ground
Would it push me force my spirit to ascend a higher stage?

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

135 : 8/23/98 : Furies (Alphabet 6/26)

Got three furies on my shoulders, whisper in my sleep
‘Bout everything I’ve wanted, couldn’t have or couldn’t keep
Things that lie in shallow waters, things that echo deep

Furies look like crows out of the corner of my eyes
Furies swoop like swallows, shrill like bats, and swarm like flies
Their eyes are full of promises, their mouths are full of lies

Furies fly a hundred feet up, stop and silent hang
Wait for me to make a move, hover in their gang
Wait for me to try evasion wait with claw and evil eye and fang

Doctor says the furies only harrow in my mind
Doctor says a pill will cure the cloud they leave behind
Furies smirk and cluster with mouths sewn, ears stopped, eyes blind

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

134 : 8/22/98 : Elemental (Alphabet 5/26)

709 ?


I can’t shake the feeling
That the solution must be elemental
Unsentimental
Something that the gentle wind could carry...

I breath elements of light
I spin through deep heaven’s endless night
a friendless plight;
Thinking to see something to end this fight I tarry

It doesn’t seem like this could be
that elemental solution
cognitive pollution
I cannot deny collusion with a dark design
This doesn’t seem to me
a worthy day’s production
For eternal induction
Each element fulfills its function, marks its line

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