The Interim

Which wraps it up for project one of the Songs of Days. I wrote My Masterpiece, put the book on the shelf, and wrote next to nothing, lyrically speaking, for over 4 years.

Between closing the first daily project and initiating the second we got married, bought a house, had a child. I became a homemaking parent, leaving the 40 hour week office work world for the first time since I left college. And somewhere in the first year of that new life, following a train of thought I no longer have a clear grasp on, I decided I would begin again, this time with the intent of writing 10,000 consecutive songs in as many days. The scope of this project is just shy of 27 and a half years. If I persist (and survive) the project will be completed on Saturday, September 18, 2032, half a month past my 61st birthday.

I'll begin posting those songs, whose writing is ongoing, on the 6th anniversary of their inception, May 4, 2011. In the meantime, I present:

The Interim.

Between January 7, 2011 and May 3, 2011 I'll post most of the lyrics I have written outside of the Songs of Days projects - before, during, after, in between and during again. There are not quite enough of these for daily posting until May, but it will be nice to take weekends off from blogging for a while. For those of you following along at home, look forward to the opportunity of imagining my squirming embarrassment as I present to the public for the first time the angst-ridden products of my adolescence and much, much more. Sadly some of the true gems of my youth are apparently gone for good... I remember one with a sort of D&D, horseback knight in armor theme that was really about a girl who shot me down in high school, which, damn. I can only remember a couple slight scraps of those lyrics and that is a shame. I got rid of a very great deal of personal ephemera after I graduated from college, a decision I mostly don't regret, but this product along with a lot of other youth writing was probably a victim of that purge. Anyway I'll give you what I've got.

Post Script, May 2011: Now that this project is complete, a quick guide to the various sections of the interim and links to what I wrote about them:

Phase 1. The Journal Songs, posted January 7 through January 17, 2011
Phase 2. Battles and Bands, posted January 18 through February 28, 2011
Phase 3. The Two Track Mind Era, posted March 2 through April 22, 2011
Phase 4. The Lepton Lyrics, posted April 25 through May 3, 2011

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

1,001 : 1/5/01 : My Masterpiece

I won’t stop I can’t desist or cease
Do you wanna come up for a cup?
I’ll let you see my masterpiece
I’ve got it under lock and key, I keep it under my bed
I’ve got it under a bushel basket
it’s all locked up tight inside my head
Someday I’m gonna be rich and famous
a real Picasso of verse
Maybe I’ll get something better than fame
I can’t see much that’s worse
What do you think of it so far
This row I chose to hoe on
What do you think of my Masterpiece
it’s all I have to go on
We’re rolling; nothing’s ever final
things take a life of their own
in bits and bytes and tape and vinyl
It’s time to wrap up the masterpiece
put it back up on the shelf
I don’t know call it what you will
It’s just a thing I tell myself

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

1,000 : 1/4/00 : The Inevitable

The inevitable final failure
final triumph, penultimate thrash
We’re all standing on the same line
We’ll all get knocked off by the crash
When it comes my time for leaving
I don’t want nobody to moan
I know the Kingdom’s coming baby
and this veil of flesh is just a loan
How well I know it’s just one loop
and each word we say is irrevocable
I’ll keep my counsel till the moment comes
then step up to the great inevitable
it could be tomorrow it comes
who can say it couldn’t be today
it may be that it comes never
I’ve heard it sometimes happens that way
when the inevitable final reckoning
draws my equation’s sum
I’ll pull my hand outta that pie in the sky
I’ll be holding a perfect plum

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

999 : 1/3/01 : Wage Slave Redux

2,070 : 1 ?


Roll out the red, strike up the band
come on tough guy stand an hour
in my shoes
singing the wage slave blues
It’s heart and soul baby liver and lights
Ooh lord we gonna have a time tonight
Dancing the wage slave rag
This time next year we’ll have a whole new bag
No message here no nothing surprising
‘bout the workers revolution and the radical uprising
Aw baby get that wage slave swing
wage slave redux, a man is how he fucks
aw shucks I ain’t got no excuses for
the way I am
Kicking out the wage slave jam
But forget it tonight baby
and let your attitude get right baby
Do it till you drop
hip to the wage slave hop

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

998 : 1/2/01 : Tha Afterlife

What will it be after the light goes out
will another light come one
what do you think of tha afterlife theory
or that maybe it’s been come and gone
I dreamed I died on a bus
came back as a werewolf
Forgot my fate my spectral state
I dreamed I saw the Rapture
But I didn’t get taken
But I refused to rise to that bait
Ain’t thought too much about tha afterlife theory
Tha afterlife itself or even dying
who knows what comes
I only know I’ll not waste
My time goodbying

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

997 : 1/1/01 : Rock and Roll

Rock and roll
rock and roll
rock and roll
In the beginning
God created
rock and roll
To the mountain
to the sea
to the valley, you and me
in my heart dear
in my soul
God created
rock and roll
I
Cross the Mississippi
on a bus
I don’t think I’m crazy
but you must
while they count their
Silver and gold
I escaped with Rock and roll

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

The end of the beginning

The first songs of day project is nearing the end, just five songs to go. I'm trying to remember how I felt about the whole thing at the time. Ten years ago is a long time, though, and I was no longer keeping a journal at the time so I have no record appeal to. I recall being pretty caught up in my work situation, a condition that persisted for another couple of years. My never particularly robust aspirations to make some kind of a serious go at making music had definitely been pretty well cracked up on the rocks at that point. I think I was satisfied with my final songs. I don't think I felt much if any conflict about the project ending.

It is a weird, other world viewed through a lens of historical distortion, both personal and societal history. Before marriage, before child, before a gang of suicidal monotheistic zealots attained some fundamental change in this country, or maybe just better exposed a rot, a flaw that had been there from the beginning. Or maybe just opened my eyes more thoroughly to this thoroughly rotten world, I don't know. Before the world changed, again, and definitively not for the better. Before the turn of the century, and the beginning of this unpromising and fragile new one, in which I have been so thoroughly disappointed, now poised to commence the start of its tenth year. And me hoping as always for a better path, a better plan, some new philosophy, but for now left only with the one borrowed from another, to push on.

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

996 : 12/31/00 : 5 to 1

Five to one and one to five
maybe the less blessed survive
Easy enough to slip off the coil
free of the misery heartache and toil
12 of one, half dozen another
maybe it’s like what I heard from my brother
the dice are loaded and the fix is in
The world is doomed and drowned in sin
five four three two one and none
Father holy ghost and son
counting down an uncertain fate
Certain to finish what’s on my plate

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

995 : 12/30/00 : Coming Down

One Billion billion unique crystals
suspended a mile high
coming down as soft as breath
all caught and frozen in my mind’s eye
Turn it all around an axis
skyscrapers, streets and cars
people shopping kids in strollers
Girls in shops and guys in bars
Coming down on all of it
in a soft and yielding pile
pushed around and off the streets
to linger for a little while
transformation comes so easy
with the seasons with the days
with the hours the world’s turning
it comes down and never stays
more than half a planet’s journey
since the question the reply
now it’s coming down suspended
caught and frozen in my mind’s eye

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

994 : 12/29/00 : Go To the Mountain

I went to Buddha and then
back to Jesus Christ
I went to Mohammed asked him
how he pulled the Mountain heist
The Buddha made a secret sign
And Jesus smiled and shrugged
Mohammed didn’t say anything
when at his hem I tugged
And I said guess I better go to the mountain
Guess I better go there myself
No point waitin’ for the Lord to
pull another miracle off the shelf
Guess I better go to the mountain
and argue my own case
Guess that I’ve exhausted the potential
of staying in one place

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

993 : 12/28/00 : Violence

A crucible constructed for the temperance of silence
the mode of execution was a whispered dream
the solitary method that came through was violence
the product of the process was the silent meme

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

992 : 12/27/00 : Resin

The residue burns easily and
leaves a resin in the bowl
That wise men mix with paper fortunes
light it with a burning coal
The resin the rosin the sap the blood
That flows all through the fire
settles on the back of my throat
seems to stimulate the wire
And when the pile’s been consumed
it leaves a residue behind
that powdered up and drank with wine
Blows wise men’s wise dogs’ minds

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

991 : 12/26/00 : Drill

When you drill into my head with pain
is that something
does that mean anything?
Sick to death and lying in the dark
is it supposed to do
anything but bark?
The drill is evil, the drill lets me down
you use the drill too much
it locks me in a frown
the drill detracts from my quality of life
but if it isn’t the drill
it’s the knife
I fell asleep and saw
the drill was in it’s hand
I came awake and saw
the writing in the sand
let he who has no sin
forsake the drill and what it means
the rest of them must stand in line
the drill waits too
behind the scenes

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

990 : 12/25/00 : Hello Kitty Kat

Hello Kitty Kat
howdja get to be a kitty like that?
Hello Kitty Kat
Howdja get to be a kitty like that?
Hello Mousiekins
Could I bother you to die for my sins?
Hey there Mousiekins
Is this where it all begins
Good day Malcolm Kay
Only 19 letters to judgement day
Good day Malcolm Jay
Good grief, going backwards, this could take all day
Hello Kitty Kat
What exactly do you make of that?
Good by Kitty Kat
dunno what it means but it ends like that

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

989 : 12/24/00 : Anticipation

Heaven’s gonna be like
sitting at the station
A permanent vacation
Waiting to traverse a nation
coast to coast
from last to most
there’s nothing quite so good
as the anticipation

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

988 : 12/23/00 : Rome

As the trains rattle the wall
I follow another ordinary call
I’m going home but it’s not my home
So to wrap it on the sixth line
I prepare to greet what’s half mine
What would be true wherever I may roam

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

987 : 12/22/00 : Couplet

Racing through oblivious not hearing
listening or seeing what you’re fearing
the rush of senses makes it seem okay
To write another couplet song today
Circularity betrays awareness
less’n you are dealing with His Freakness
even then you always used the loop
and there was even lower you would stoop
The technique calls for linkages via phone
the final proof we’ve never been alone
for every socket there’s a plug to fit
for every drive a spare to slave to it
despite a fear of landing on my feet
I’ll race ahead to couple with the beat

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

986 : 12/21/00 : Moon Water (Reprise)

Is this the enlightenment?
No more water in the pail
No more moon in the water
The moment I think I understand
it’s already out of hand
tied with a bamboo strip
fall through the crack in our lives
where one man falls another strives
And on the moon the water is
nowhere there is no water on the moon
there’s no pail in the mind
the moon and all are left behind
Another theory proves suspect
another paradigm reject
It’s all it’s nothing anyway
that’s all there is nothing else to say

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

985 : 12/20/00 : The Grim

The grim slow dragging
of days one like another
The endless cavalcade of
this and that and the other
The endless disappointment of
the phone that never rings
the endless meaningless parade
a thousand useless things

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

984 : 12/19/00 : Led Astray

Led astray
led astray
we’ve all been led astray
by
the biggest lie
the world had
ever known
Apparently they told us
that the world was
twenty inches wide
And if you want the
truth my mind
was blown

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

983 : 12/18/00 : Money Factory

Shake that
gingerbread box
baby
Act like you
don’t know what talks
maybe
You need a
lesson taught
Don’t you
you think you’re
clever but you’re not
Won’t you
Open up your eyes to see
that you’re
nothing but a money factory
a whore

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

982 : 12/17/00 : Simply

Simply brilliant in a
minute simply
plain as light
plain as
light
in a dark room
I will solve it
in a moment
with the first
glimmer
the spark
that lights
everything
the illuminated
void
simply becomes
a
bright
white
light

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

981 : 12/16/00 : One One Three Three

Eyes open upside down
read one one three three
half an hour to
another hour to
the witching hour
Another day done
didn’t finish
half of what begun
There’s nothing left
to this night
it got used up
But watchin’ Doctor Who
Late night channel 2
far past primetime
Saturday Night Live
No longer worth my time
Spinning out
no regeneration for this one
another life might wait
there’s only this one now so
I say only in my sorrow
there’s always tomorrow

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

980 : 12/15/00 : Prevention

An ounce of prevention
for a pound of cure
Sometimes our decisions
just can’t be pure
or can they?
another fine mess
up in smoke
Guess I should learn
to take a joke
what can I say?
I scarcely like to
Say the word aloud
admit that I had
Broken what I bowed
today a jar but what about the next Day?

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

979 : 12/14/00 : The Interlude

Dizzying heights
to either side
this is a smooth spot
in a Wild Ride
The rapids left behind you
the climb that looms ahead
It’s very little wonder
that you spent the week in bed
The interlude?
say what’s your question, dude?
This is just a
placid creek
But that mountain’s
got a mean streak
So close your eyes
be here now
lean close to me
I’ll tell you how
The interlude just comes and goes
and of its function no one knows

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

978 : 12/13/00 : Tempus Fugit

2,049 : 1 ?


Time flies like an arrow friend
fruit flies like a banana
Ain’t it just like they said
it would be back in Louisiana
Tempus fugit all the time
it never pauses or rests
and nobody seeks nothing more
than all the tempus one invests
Don’t look now the wheel is whirling
sure seems faster than before
Don’t look now it’s catching fire
Don’t look now it’s at the door
Don’t look back lest ye become
a pillar on the wastes
any man not worth his salt
will blanch at how his portion tastes
but if his wishes were like larks
in harness to a slender chain
and somehow all hooked up to time
We’d check time’s flight in vain

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

977 : 12/12/00 : Gauss

The measurement of action at a distance
extension, mass and time, the rhyme of resistance
The unbearable burden of being
of singing, writing, breathing, and seeing
Give me an inch, an ounce, and a second
A centimeter or a gram’ll do I reckon
Give me a magnet, give me a gauss
There’s a chemist rocking the acid house.

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

976 : 12/11/00 : The Package

The package is prepared for takeoff
the freon’s been topped off
not gonna worry ‘bout the ozone layer
It’s headed far beyond the atmosphere
Carl said there must be a billion
like us except they made it past the first million
years or so and so survived
to inherit the stars their birthright
Let’s hope they find the package and
have mercy on our warlike land
I fear that based on current trends
it’s that or soon the human genome ends
We prepared the package with
the best that we could come up with
I personally deposited seven times
once for luck and six for my crimes
It’s drifting now past Jupiter
this song couldn’t get much stupider
and as it surfs past Saturn’s rings
I’ll wisely move on to wiser things

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

975 : 12/10/00 : Attempted

Fifth
suspected
attempted
communication
from the future
was
interpreted as a
self actualizing
lexical
feedback
response loop
manifesting
as a
pseudo-idiopathic
semi-autonomous
syntax
generation
engine

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

974 : 12/9/00 : Clutter

What at first appeared to be
a random heap that rose
from several thousand pointless tasks
not one came to a close;
the clutter rose a story high
and scattered over a block
seen from a distance with a squint
composed an ironic clock
which told time backwards starting from
when chaos ruled this all
a whirling maelstrom from which
appeared the primordial wall
the clutter gave birth to a gate
that passed between the planes
of corporeal clutter and spiritual decay
as little as that explains;
suffice to say as usual
there’s consequences and sides
sometimes you just take what you’re dealt
be grateful that the earth abides

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

973 : 12/8/00 : The Mushroom Grace

The mushroom grace’s tale is told
How yesteryear in days of old
the people found a mushroom that could talk
Men ate its fruit and spoke to god
a few remained forevermore odd
murmuring and casting wildly as they walked
its presence was ubiquitous
some claimed its spell iniquitous
a priesthood was arranged to guard its heart
The mushroom grace remained aloof
regarding one, defying proof
and proving in a sense the whole
appeared in every part.

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

972 : 12/7/00 : Beginnings and Their Ends

No this is not the end
oh ends and their beginnings
Typical me still standing in line
and already I’m counting my winnings
at the beginning of the end of the beginning
I can only see dimly what it means
just that I rose an inch above the swill
and saw the great soul-harvest machines
Yes this still is the beginning
it comes with all the love he sends
Oh nature of the long journey
oh beginnings and their ends
Wake me with the early risers
pour my cup with theirs
it is not my nature but
no beginning quite compares

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

971 : 12/6/00 : Thirteen Minute Waltz

2,043 : 25 ?


One
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen minute waltz

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

970 : 12/5/00 : Fetish

The fetish for a
fresh shake baby
left a generation
shakin’ they head’n sayin’ “maybe”
nobody felt cool anymore
and mostly it was a bore
like fetishes always get
so it seemed
and whether or not the
video streamed
when she
screamed
we were dreamin’ of
the heart beating beneath the ribs

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

969 : 12/4/00 : The Early Riser Haiku (Haiku 5)

The early riser:
Haiku bent, brilliant and strong
declaring: no loss

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

968 : 12/3/00 : Suffice (Haiku 4)

Suffice it to say
I am so sorry I’m late
better than never

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

967 : 12/2/00 : Wurm Haiku (Haiku 3)

Wurm haiku goes like:
one two three, so to seven
frontwards same as back

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

966 : 12/1/00 : Haiku Too (Haiku 2)

real millennium
gestation, the child is born
this is haiku, too

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

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

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

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

964 : 11/29/00 : If I Don’t Burn

2,036 : 19 ?



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

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

963 : 11/28/00 : Fetch

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

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

962 : 11/27/00 : The Negative

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

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

961 : 11/26/00 : Hard 8 Horoscope

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

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

960 : 11/25/00 : I Dare You

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

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

959 : 11/24/00 : Fuck Me

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

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

958 : 11/23/00 : Hard

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

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

957 : 11/22/00 : Core

2,028 : 11 ?


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

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

956 : 11/21/00 : Brief

Then out like a
brief candle

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

Consummate my relationship with your brain

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

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

955 : 11/20/00 : Bad Novel

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

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

954 : 11/19/00 : Response

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

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

953 : 11/18/00 : Instantaneous

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

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

952 : 11/17/00 : Verbal

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

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

951 : 11/16/00 : Parting Shot

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

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

950 : 11/15/00 : Genesis

2,021 : 4 ?


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

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

949 : 11/14/00 : One Last

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

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

948 : 11/13/00 : Short Climb

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

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

947 : 11/12/00 : Election

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

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

946 : 11/11/00 The Other Half

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

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

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

Last reckoning

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

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

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

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

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

2,014 : 66 ?


Shifting sand

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

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

Lesser evils

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

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

Wrong answer

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

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

Temperate man

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

Caveat Collaborator

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wealth trip

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

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

Baker’s dozen

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

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

Present tense

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

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

2,007 : 59 ?


Storm coming

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

935 : 10/31/00 : Structural Constant (17/27 Two Word Songs)

Structural constant

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

934 : 10/30/00 : Sweet Sixteen (16/27 Two Word Songs)

Sweet sixteen

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

933 : 10/29/00 : Fall Back (15/27 Two Word Songs)

Fall Back

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

932 : 10/28/00 : Indecisive Man (14/27 Two Word Songs)

Indecisive man

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

931 : 10/27/00 : Unexpected Outcome (13/27 Two Word Songs)

Unexpected outcome

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

930 : 10/26/00 : One Past (12/27 Two Word Songs)

2,002 : 54 ?


One past

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

929 : 10/25/00 : Lost Contemplation (11/27 Two Word Songs)

Lost contemplation

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

Mr. 3,000

Some odd theme of riffing on the odd elements of the now-purely-archival It's Rome, Baby! these days. Ah, when 300 seemed like a lot. Aaaaanyhoo.

Maybe I'm just overcompensating for my lingering sense of inadequacy that I blew off nearly a month of the original songs of the day project ten years ago writing a bunch of two word "songs". Though truth be told in posting them day by day the two word songs are actually sort of growing on me. They do represent a sort of distilled microcosm of my oeuvre. Which is a great thing to have handy, considering how doing this thing has gotten me absolutely nowhere and is of no interest to anyone. It has occurred to me that on some fundamental level I should refrain from these occasional outbursts about the general failure of my creative endeavor. I try to accept it for what it is, I really do. And on the other hand, since seriously nobody reads it, what difference does it make? If a whiny bitch whinges in the forest alone, does he make a pathetic, annoying little sound? Zen responds: who gives a fuck?

Anyway.

As I say, the It's Rome, Baby! content pops up, randomly, which got me actually reading some of it, which I definitely haven't done much of in a couple years... As the previous paragraph probably illustrates I lack the M.C. prerequisite skill of self-praise. But damn it, I still really like a lot of what I wrote back then. Obviously I have no ability at all for self promotion and presentation, but still. I am irate at the total silence it has all solicited sometimes. Which I hate, I absolutely hate, whenever I read some amateur passive-aggressively bemoaning their lack of recognition (begging to be contradicted, as it usually reads), I just feel embarrassed on their behalf. Maybe I need to really take the bull by the fucking horns and vow from this day forward to, if I am to speak of my writing at all, do so ONLY in that great Hip Hop Spirit of outrageous self-adulation.

So, in celebration of the season of Halloween and the announced release of the FINAL and 3D edition of cinema's cherished Saw series, allow me to return to my inordinately clever and hilarious take on the series produced five prescient years back. My textual recreation of a classic Rube Goldberg illustration is so damn awesome. I am an ever-loving force of nature, 'possums. Peace out.



...Oh yeah and I wrote the 3,000th song of the day last night I guess, number 1,999 of the second project, entitled "Party Like It's". Which among other things presents me with another cherished opportunity to point out the fact that the phrase "party like it's 1999" is now the melancholy refrain of the nostalgic middle-aged.

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

928 : 10/24/00 : Running Breathless (10/27 Two Word Songs)

Running breathless

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

927 : 10/23/00 : Mushroom Grace (9/27 Two Word Songs)

Mushroom grace

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

926 : 10/22/00 : Blind Spider (8/27 Two Word Songs)

Blind spider

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

925 : 10/21/00 : Lucky Number (7/27 Two Word Songs)

Lucky number

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

924 : 10/20/00 : Upper Room (6/27 Two Word Songs)

Upper room

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

923 : 10/19/00 : Ambient, Rising (5/27 Two Word Songs)

Ambient, rising

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

922 : 10/18/00 : Affect Miser (4/27 Two Word Songs)

1,993 : 45 ?


Affect Miser

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

921 : 10/17/00 : Ellipsis, Ellipsis (3/27 Two Word Songs)

Ellipsis, ellipsis

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

920 : 10/16/00 : Hasta La (2/27 Two Word Songs)

Hasta La

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

919 : 10/15/00 : Push Harder (1/27 Two Word Songs)

Push Harder

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

the dreaded enigma of the two word songs

In a move sure to fail to impress we now arrive at a period of 27 days in which each "song" I wrote contained 2 words.

I vaguely recall having at the time some half-baked ideas of fitting these substandard efforts into larger projects of music and recording that never materialized (any idea that you can only vaguely remember and came to no fruition is by definition half-baked) but as I view it from a decade's perspective the real underlying narrative is pretty clear. I'd decided by this point that I was going to stop at 1,001 songs (unlike the second project an endpoint was not built into the original conception of the first, its scope was completely open-ended for quite a while), and the end was in sight but still well off, and I wanted a vacation. This was the closest I could come up with while keeping to the letter of my self-imposed guidelines.

At some point in the past I developed the false memory that I'd initiated this series under the influence of that "Cellar Door" thing I first encountered in the movie Donnie Darko (I have since been modestly surprised to learn that there is apparently some provenance, although an ambiguous one, for this idea), but since I'm certain that I was introduced to the lore of that particular phrase by said movie, and since the movie came out in 2001, this clearly wasn't the case. However weak the effort of this near-month may have been in terms of the overall project, I do recall attempting to draw up two word phrases with a certain resonance.

I have now no doubt written more words about these songs than are comprised by the lyrics themselves. Bonus for feed readers is that up through the tenth of November, once you've read the title you've read the song. Onward and upward.

918 : 10/14/00 : Circle Round the Sun

Draw a circle round the sun
with your finger trace the bend
draw a circle in your mind
no beginning and no end
look at my face through a circle
made with your finger and thumb
here’s a circle made of light
assured to make your heart succumb
3-6-5 world makes another
circle round the sun
trace once again the circle
where it ends is just where it’s begun

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

917 : 10/13/00 : Witchglass

I couldn’t resist a little look
into the witchglass
I couldn’t stand missing a glimpse
of what would come to pass
So when the witching hour
had rocked halfway across again
I rolled it over one more time
and contemplated mortal sin
the witchglass so the tales go
can’t be created without death
the preference being an infant son
killed by a cat stealing his breath
but long gone and done is done
the glass remains to taunt
cursing all you did not know
or fearing fates, that known, must haunt
I couldn’t resist a little peek
into the shadow realm
looks like we’re in for four more years
of straw men at the healm

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

916 : 10/12/00 : Friday

On an inauspicious Friday
close to getting carried away
by the moon
by the full moon
realized a simple pattern
saw a glimpse of the wheels that turn
on the moon
on the everfull moon
I was making vows and wishes
Dreaming up exotic fishes
on the moon
on the bright full moon
on that bad luck day of plenty
nude al fresco and al denté
in the moon
slumbering in the moon

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

recent history and other strange phenomena

So I've transcribed all the extra-curricular songs from distant past to just the other day (as per this rumination and these two).

I mined out everything I could find of songs I'd written outside the structures of the daily projects. I've noted along the way that I have indeed definitively lost at least a few lyrics - songs I can remember the existence of but can no longer remember enough of the words to recreate. I wrote this crazy embarrassing song in high school that addressed the topic of some girl who shot me down in a D&D kinda knight in armor on a horse metaphor that I'm fairly disappointed is apparently lost to the ages. I can only remember a few fragments of it but it still makes me laugh. No record of the songs I wrote for my first college band - with whom I won the annual college Battle of the Bands one year. Somewhere out there is a videotape of that award-wining performance and I recall not that long ago ripping the audio from said cassette so I suppose I could reconstruct the missing lyrics if I could track down the audio file, which did not yield to cursory investigation. It's been a couple years which contained a couple different computer issues and transitions in which some amounts of data were irretrievably lost so who knows. Nothing I couldn't live without though again there is at least one song in the bunch I pine for, a little. One or two songs of more recent provenance (of my mid-twenties, say) that I recreated from memory but can't shake the feeling are missing at least a verse each. And of course the unknowable lost AND forgotten songs which may or may not have existed, remaining only as a vague memory for someone for whom I played them once upon a time, or perhaps as a scrap of recording on a tape that is slowly expiring in a box somewhere. So it goes. Even my finest efforts now will probably not survive the increasingly seemingly inevitable collapse of modern civilization.

The total on those came out to a surprising 80-ish songs, I was expecting to find rather less. Posting during the interim will not be so sparse after all, though I may indulge myself in taking weekends off for a few months. I was expecting at best a few dozen. Of course 80 seemed like a lot more before I started measuring these things in the thousands...

Anyway. Having done all this it comes now finally to start transcribing the second project. I have this dream of one day getting to the point where I am actually transcribing the songs I'm writing within a day or two of their creation, and I suppose now that I have saved material to carry me through next May I am closer than I have been before to this ideal, but it remains to be seen whether I'll manage the long-term persistence.

It is interesting though - I have read the songs of the first daily project a lot - I re-read them a fair bit when I was writing them, and during the 4+ year interim when I did no daily writing (and virtually no songwriting at all). I started blogging these songs in earnest not much more than a year after I took up daily writing again and the upshot of all this is that while I was pretty well acquainted with the material of the first project I have barely read the material of the second project at all. It is only 5 years old but it is pretty much all coming up as a complete surprise. I have no idea what the next page will bring.

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

915 : 10/11/00 : Early Riser (II)

1,886 : 38 ?



Could another silence pass
still leaving him no wiser
as to fate or how to act
nonetheless the early riser

Walks on eggshells three past noon
noon in this case being midnight
roaming the streets with an honest man
look for a dim dim light

If you get passed by the early riser
so early it’s almost tomorrow
say a little prayer for the ones like us
who’re haunted by another’s sorrow

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

914 : 10/10/00 : Hold Out

I am a hold out
I’m waiting for the big score
Not gonna cash my option
not gonna sell the store
I’ve got a hold out
I’ve got something tucked away
Something better for times of no money
Something for a rainy day
don’t search for the hold out
don’t find it tucked into my jeans
when you force my hand at last
I’ll show you what it means

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

913 : 10/9/00 : False Spring

False spring
Don’t be deceived
by a fragment unremembered
Mayed Juned or Decembered
Don’t let the hot flash
Make you think you’re on fire
don’t let the perfection make you
think your fates are not dire
don’t be fooled by the false Spring
don’t be fooled by anything

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

912 : 10/8/00 : All Good

What can I say
I’ve no complaints
every day’s a good day
Simple as can be
what a picture it paints
All good is all I see

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

911 : 10/7/00 : Welcome Paradise

Welcome paradise into your life
wherever you find it
don’t try to spindle or bind it
Leave everywhere you go
a little more paradise than you found it
Spread a little paradise around it
Welcome to paradise my friend
it’s just a dream that need not end
throw your windows open and
say welcome paradise
Each day has got its twists and turns
And with each bend the wise man learns
tracing a path out straight
to paradise
And if it never hits the top
Well everything that rises must drop
See you on the flip side
I’ll be waiting to say
welcome to paradise
with your ride

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

910 : 10/6/00 : Painful Exercise

Getting sick of painful exercises
no prizes
he who early rises
writes on the first page
Any hero of the modern age
would tell you
for whom the bell tolls too
Forced verses are on my last nerve
maybe they serve
to temper my reserve
no freestyler no
7 minute miler
just a writer with a block
a rock to
contemplate
a proof of fate

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

909 : 10/5/00 : Event Horizon

The possibilities are a spherical wave
and something’s always coming around next
and no one knows for sure just what we lost and what we save
and this mystery unsolved leaves us perplexed
on the edge of happening now
before the moment’s moment came
the ship got placed before the bow
and stem to stern was crossed the same
The vessel of the present time
is rearranged, the course reversed
Edgewise there the moment’s prime
event horizon there dispersed

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