2.191 : 11/10/05 : Moments

Moments grow like leaves on trees
A thousand million simultaneously
They have their sun time strong and green
That passes never to come again
Their colors fade to gold and red
green life gives way to past and dead
and in the mind of endless time
they drift and swirl a dance sublime
You cannot hold a single one
past when their sunny season’s done
Ours is just to watch their day
their bud and growth and fade away
and soft descent to join the rest
and to this truth I do attest
that we like moments, we like leaves
have got no last tricks up our sleeves
we each one have our appointed hour
though we defy or run or cower
still when it strikes we too each fall
and join the drift in silence, all

What is the song of the day?

2.190 : 11/9/05 : Taste

Well if you’re gonna break down
the brand new taste
be prepared to end up with
egg on your face
because you gotta break a few
a few what? don’t ask
if you remember the tower
remember the masks
a house all of doors
a broken spine
tell you true I broke it down
with a lot of friends of mine
the fundamental particle
well now it’s just me
trying to decode the new taste
trying to define what is free

What is the song of the day?

2.189 : 11/8/05 : Strategy Guide

I think it’s better to muddle through
the long approach by way of
one thousand good-byes
I don’t need your secret passage
your cheat code or your
strategy guide
There’s so much more satisfaction
when you’ve settled every option
then reveal the one that clicks
The gap between a Rembrandt
and a paint by the numbers
That's the lesson I learned
playing Zelda in the Sticks

What is the song of the day?

2.188 : 11/7/05 : Critical

2,378 : 10 ?


Critical juncture critical mass
critical density of the boil on my ass
critical malfunction of the
critical function that joins it all
or would have in the critical conjunction
I wouldn’t dare expose it all to critical review
Because right now there’s no evidence
That it isn’t all just spew
And some goats’ milk give spider silk
like some trees give you apples
God help me I ooze this stuff out
when with the Lord I grapple

What is the song of the day?

2.187 : 11/6/05 : Marginal

If this seems a marginal accomplishment
another speech about how hard
the job I have to do is
Please excuse us
We are indisposed
Dumbstruck by the question you posed:
If the goal is to be goalless
what does motivation mean
Are you sure I’m not just
Some kind of
machine

What is the song of the day?

2.186 : 11/5/05 : Roll Reversal

I don’t want to levitate
or fly through the air
I just want a five second delay
For when I gotta stop myself
before I go there
I don’t want a time machine
or the power of mesmerism
Just give me a quick replay
just give me a prism
to split the difference
‘tween the lesser of two lesser evils
when I got to navigate the breaks
when the breach is narrow
and th’ observance has gone missing
let me redo
just a few of my mistakes
The roll reversal power
when the roll has gone against you
Otherwise I’ll have to muddle
through it like I’m prone to

What is the song of the day?

2.185 : 11/4/05 : The Track (Bonfire Night)

Get on get on
get on the track
that’s what every one was
tellin’ you all the way back
Don’t let your wheels
roam their own way
don’t give into fate
Lock your mag lev
on the main rail
Succumb to the steady state
First there was anarchy
then there was patriarchy
matriarchy
The ancestor gods
Then there was theocracy
then monarchy and aristocracy
and it would be hypocrisy
to say Guy didn’t talk to me
Some nights
Tellin’ me to blow the rails off
the track tonight

What is the song of the day?

2.184 : 11/3/05 : If You Really Have to Know

If you really have to know
Today was the day I let everything slide
I drew a line I numbered it five
succumbed one last time to that old jive
And if you asked and I didn’t tell you so
Six years three days to the day just so
Now I’ll tell you
If you really have to know
Time is an illusion it doesn’t
really matter
You can think about it till your brain’s in tatters
You can think about it all live long day
this too this too shall pass away
I wrote it down just to preserve
a record of the too many masters I served
On the way to try to pare it down to one
I sensed that my trial had just begun
the littlest sentry just would not sleep
I got my big last number
but the price was steep
I gave it one more minute, plunged into the fray
reminded that every single day was today

What is the song of the day?

2.183 : 11/2/05 : World of Words

I am lost in the world of words
what I wrote
and said
and read
and heard
It’s unquestionably real
but is it what it seems
and could the same be said
of our experience and dreams
but I’m given to believe
it’s a deceptive path
So many throw the baby out
and keep the dirty bath
Yet still I seem entranced by it
still I can’t seem to stop
I can’t escape that feeling if
I don’t write my skull will pop

What is the song of the day?

2.182 : 11/1/05 : So It Ends

2,372 : 4 ?


So it ends for just one day
This is all that I can say
There is only sleep and death
All else is just revolving
Still yet a month to set things right
Still yet it seems an end in sight
Another hangs on bated breath
Try to see what I’m solving
Here’s a thought to wake up to
believing something doesn’t make it true
But belief goes on it seems
And each day comes regardless
And so it ends begins or pauses
the small print in your escape clauses
warns in sleep may come such dreams
warns of softness warns of hardness

What is the song of the day?

2.181 : 10/31/05 : So It Begins

So it begins
in the middle
the end nowhere in sight
Confessed my sins
Pronounced the riddle
Keep hammering the wrong until
the wrong becomes the right
I did my time
None can deny it
It seems it’s going to take something much more
I’ve said my rhymes
and I’ve kept quiet
and one last nod to what is left in store

What is the song of the day?

2.180 : 10/30/05 : Five by Five II

The sun also sets
everyone eventually forgets
And down there on the killing floor
I swung my maul and called for more
waiting for the clock to strike five
at least it’s a living without the
shuck and jive
why does inspiration sometimes strike
And other days just takes a hike
It’s pretty aggravating man
Never knowing when it’s showing
no way to plan
How could I have gone
a thousand and one
and felt like I had
just begun
when this shit is over do I get to
stop for good
do you think I’ll want to?
Do you think I should?
I’ll find a way through I guess
Try as I might to always say yes
the revolution is in person and live
and it’s all gonna shake out five by five

What is the song of the day?

2.179 : 10/29/05 : Five by Five I

Everything’s gonna be five by five
If I get outta this thing alive
If I manage to close the gap
If I manage not to snap
If I make an effort true
So I keep saying to you
Even though there’s no evidence
At least perched up there on the fence
You better believe that’s right
No more smoke no more endless night
I imagine that’s not quite certain
Cause this is in the past so pull the curtain
Forget about it too much to explain
Every line every beat I gain
Every time into the pool I dive
I come out hoping to be five by five

What is the song of the day?

2.178 : 10/28/05 : Tedium

Here’s a riddle a puzzle for sure
what’s the function of tedium
Shouldn’t work be a pleasure no?
Since work is existence’s medium
What kind of genetic blunder
Makes persistence such a chore
Makes forbearance such a nuisance
Makes surviving such a bore
Maybe something’s missing there
an obvious little clue
Maybe DNA works just fine
Maybe the problem’s with you
The tedium is calling you
to live your life even better
write the reminder to yourself
sealed in a secret letter

What is the song of the day?

2.177 : 10/27/05 : Why Bother

Why bother is the biggest question
in all of philosophy
And the fact that almost no one asks it
is just more proof
If you ask me
Is it just an itch we scratch at
Is it some compulsion of evolution
Or are we just so stupid
that we’re still expecting a solution?
People get worked up about
their little brainstorms true
I’m no better than the rest
Hey neither are you
And if I ask why bother
and come up with nothing at all
Well the fact that I just
keep rolling anyway
must hint at the genuine fall

What is the song of the day?

2.176 : 10/26/05 : Rocks Are Heavy

Rocks are heavy: hills are steep
That’s it: you pretty much got my deal
This is a sequel: you may have read the prequel
I fear it won’t have quite the same appeal
‘Cause I just roll roll roll roll roll
till gravity wins again
that’s it that’s the whole movie
what do you think of my concept friend?
I guess you could say we’re speaking in code
And breaking the rule so lately set
The author tells his own tale stealthily
And it shows in the product you can bet
Is there really any other way
Do all tales tell the same
Are they just a long and fruitless task
relating really just one name?
ten thousand nights ten thousand nights
ten thousand nights in a row
And I can barely bear the irony
if you really want to know

What is the song of the day?

continuity, once again

Continuity is what I call it when I don't miss a day writing a song.

This is the fuzziest aspect to what is the otherwise bone-headedly simplistic high concept for the projects: write a song a day. I knew at the outset of the first project that if missing a day meant ending the project then it wouldn't last very long. Maybe if making songs and music were the larger part of my life I would be able to keep it continuous except in the condition of extreme duress. But writing song lyrics is something I jam into the interstices of my life and it doesn't take that much for me to miss one. A sufficient disruption of routine can generally do it.

I also knew that if I didn't have to catch up with the missed songs I would very rapidly be working on the "song of the every once and a while" project. I could point you to a number of "I'm going to do X every day, well most days, well pretty regularly, well I haven't done X in 5 months but..." progressions of well-intentioned creators on ye olde internette.

Although some of my favorite songs have certainly been catch-up lyrics, from the project perspective a totally "proper" lyric has to be written on its assigned day. But the only way the project can function (for me) is to allow writing songs on other than the day they were assigned to.

All kinds of hijinks are possible in the context of this single loophole. I could skip a song for six years and write it in. I suppose that if I made some sort of critical tracking error and skipped over a date without properly recording it I would end up doing just that. I could put off writing all week, every week, and jam seven songs in on Sunday. I would be within the letter of the law on the project though clearly in violation of its spirit. That's a funny sort of line to judge. When I wrote the first project I wrote missed songs in red ink - an approach to tracking continuity that was typically literal-minded of me. At some point early in on the second project I decided to stop tracking missed songs completely. Not long after I fell radically behind for a period - weeks, maybe months of songs in arrears. The failure to track continuity may have been a culprit though of course the first-time parent thing probably played a role.

Since I wasn't keeping track I have no idea which songs are which except when some of them reference the situation. I remember clearing the backlog as this Sisyphean task running as an undercurrent in my life, trying to get back onto continuity with the current time line while painfully dragging one tardy lyric after another out of the aether, writing songs backwards from the present and forward from the past and all the time wondering if I could really even stand by the project's central premise any more.

Well, clearly I decided I could... The more this period recedes into the past, the less significant this solitary major deviation from the ideal of a song a day seems in the scope of the overall project. Meanwhile, I started tinkering around with tracking continuity again. My thought was to track just numbers of songs written consecutively and post it weekly - a way of keeping a touchstone with continuity without exactly tracking the provenance of every song as was the case with the red ink paradigm... So I was totting up little hash marks on sticky notes and suchlike but I'd lose track and wonder if I'd missed marking a song I'd written or skipped a day and forgotten to reset the count. I eventually started to grid out what amounted to calendars on the endpapers of the books and without quite seeing it coming I ended exactly tracking the output again and there in the calendar grids a big X for every missed song - back to literal-mindedness again I guess.



What is the song of the day?

2.175 : 10/25/05 : Persist

Why does the theme persist
the mirror against the mirror
Everything receding shrinking
growing darker and obscurer
Will it always seem so hard
to strike out on fresh trail
to mine a vein of purer strain
to tell a new untrammeled tale?

What is the song of the day?

2.174 : 10/24/05 : Rebel Bear

2,364 : 10 ?


Oh... My people let me tell you a story
The story of Rebel the bear
You know he roamed this town and all around
And people knew him everywhere
And when he came upon anyone
The were never made or scared
For he was a kind and gentle soul
That fine old rebel bear
One day rebel came to town
and found everybody in a state
And when they asked him what was wrong
This tale did they relate
It seems a certain jackrabbit
the name of Flopsy Bindle
Had taken all the townfolks’ money
In a junk bond swindle
So Rebel went to see this hare
at his burrow that night
Flopsy said I’m well within the law
So Rebel ate him in one bite
And the townsfolk said oh Rebel we thought
Your were of a gentle peaceful habit
And Rebel just said hey relax:
It was just some stupid rabbit

What is the song of the day?

2.173 : 10/23/05 : Consume

Consume consume consume!
If it be but the least part
still open wide and let it in
We shall not stop until we split apart
It is a sacred bond indeed
to close our eyes to those in need
and keep on shoveling it in
Get up each day begin again
The hole inside has grown so great
the void stares hard into our eyes
so fill refill load up the plate
Don’t hesitate devour the prize
And at the final end of time
only the loser and the winner left
One devours the other completes the paradigm
The quick becomes the dead the swift the deft

What is the song of the day?

2.172 : 10/22/05 : Stars

Light of an ancient ancient days
light of just a few years past
In one mind’s moment distilled
Each night from heaven’s sphere is cast
How uniform and dull they seem
And yet one fascination holds
The only real history there is
And watch as now it it yet unfolds
Some say it is the start of everything
while others mark it just as chance
And some insist on naming each
And others just observe the dance

What is the song of the day?

2.171 : 10/21/05 : Caliper

Brass caliper blues brigade
trying to assert which end of the egg
is proper and moral to start with the breaking
we’ve gotta break a few
on this high road we’re taking
I’ll measure every bump on your skull
record the tolerances of a parable
After each thing is marked and measured
you’ll find out just where you stored your treasure
don’t be surprised by the unexpected
not a thing was done that was not directed
bow to the caliper it reigns supreme
bow as the metric revolution gains steam
present yourself for examination
we’re gonna measure every inch of creation

What is the song of the day?

2.170 : 10/20/05 : Big Picture, Tiny Blinks

Obsessed with the abstraction of the
big big picture
But reality comes to us in
tiny tiny blinks
we constrained the revolution
with the very sort of stricture
And still we couldn’t bring ourselves
to say just what we really think
every illusion that passes
for a reason
every good idea harnessed
to a stupid plan
Maybe we must all attend
to each small blink within its season
leave the big picture be
and just do what we can

What is the song of the day?

2.169 : 10/19/05 : Element of Light

Element of light: element of light
isn’t it nice when you can
buy the perspiration
to effect your inspiration
try and try again until they get
the element
right
there are always names unremembered
the sideshow barker gamely ventured
It doesn’t mean that fame is false
You’ll seek it if you have a pulse
Beneath the arc flood spot
flash running indicators
take me to your syndicators

What is the song of the day?

2.168 : 10/18/05 : Fish Line

2,359 : 4 ?


What did the fish
say to the fish
your place or mine
what did the spoon
say to the dish
I need more time
what can I say to
one whose response is to
wave a guitar in my face
here’s the old punch line
caught on the fish line
Mine or your place

What is the song of the day?

2.167 : 10/17/05 : The Sense of Flight

Rushing on a plane of light
the screens that flared from blue to white
so do it if it feels all right
the illusion the sense of flight
the signal does not need a plug
it’s wireless heads so pass the jug
and give the frontal lobe a tug
You feel it now you’ve got the bug
stretch out your arms you’re king of cliché
I never wanted to be big anyway
As long as Simon can come out and play
he says I do guess who will have to pay
The feeling may come down with power and might
I might receive the gift of second sight
I made my bed baby I picked my fight
If only I could tell to you that sense of flight

What is the song of the day?

2.166 : 10/16/05 : Dogs

Every dog every scrap of doggerel
all the pathetic issue of
this stumble through the foggerel
I could think straight if they’d
just stop barking
I could sleep if my
brain would stop remarking
on how none of it seems to hang together
on how unlikely that it seems I’ll weather
whatever the hell you call this stage
with any shred of belief intact
that it’ll ever be the rage
Anywhere for any reason
Despite the parable that for
every dog there is a season
And it’s a pity that I got to
sleep in this bed
But I can’t make nothing
but what seeps out of my head

What is the song of the day?

2.165 : 10/15/05 : Time Against Us

Count the clock of time against us
running fast it seems to some of them
If they’re wrong we might sneak past
If they’re right we better solve the theorem
The meteor strike will raise a cloud
Doom the whole world to winter’s shroud
Or if it misses by a hair’s-breadth
the nuclear options still existeth
The collapse of the submerged cliff
will send a tidal wave and if
The volcano below old faithful blows
All the west will rock and then who knows
The super plague the melting caps
The great extinction when the web finally snaps
The hyper nova might be a truly great
event to finally clean the slate

What is the song of the day?

2.164 : 10/14/05 : The Locked Room

Trapped in a locked room woken by the boom
when the trap snapped shut came to then but
There was no clue what I was meant to do
Or why I ended up there locked up in some nowhere
collect the seven sticks collect the magic tricks
collect the strange machine its sensors need a clean
fit the key into the box reveals another set of locks
the combination’s in the book under the table take a look
the slip of paper has the code to realign the electrode
then fit the sphere into the slot and point the lens at the sweet spot
follow the pattern that’s revealed pull back the wallpaper that peeled
Put back the picture in its place see how the light plays on her face
Array the sticks into their pattern set up the mysterious urn
tune the machine to the frequency observe the subtle sequencing
then dial the safe according to the projected study in blue
opens to reveal the key simple as that you’re free

What is the song of the day?

2.163 : 10/13/05 : Oscillator

The oscillator is registering
a fluctuation in the status quo
The great moment is rising swiftly
telling me I got to go
there’s no leaving I am fixed here
I cannot abandon my post
So I guess it has to happen at home
I guess I got to play the host
What could one do anyway
Against the billions against the cosmos
no resources no special knowledge
invoke a little prayer at most
Observe the mighty oscillator
Call its changes watch the glass
Lament the impotence of one alone
take comfort that this too shall pass

What is the song of the day?

2.162 : 10/12/05 : Urban Refugee

Escapee from the old backwater
Lined up with the lambs ready for slaughter
Just keep dancing as fast as you can
Urban refugee number one fan
A smallish city a smallish world
Immediately the beads of sweat pooled and pearled
rolled down his face as he circled the ring
Li li li and a big kaboom
Eyes shut headphones in his room
Feel the shifting tectonic plates
trying to negotiate the steady states
Got to put in his time in solitary
gotta put in time with the dictionary
It seems the lad will find a place
and wipe the smiles off every face
And write the urban manifesto
Grab the gleam and let the rest go

What is the song of the day?

2.161 : 10/11/05 : The Sticks

Voyage of discovery
the path that led to the full recovery
One thousand memories of one thousand nights
that ain’t the half or third of it
One time I saw the Northern lights
One time I saw a badger hole
A crayfish in a crick
That’s what passes for a busy
day down in the sticks
I walked gravel roads and dirt tracts
I saw the days break
I traced the waters back
I trespassed a lot of property lines
and nobody once ever gave me a hard time
Those days are gone
those friends are mostly gone
The bands the breakups
the drugs the songs
I remember a brunette
remember a blonde
Remember how insane I was
to get out of that town

What is the song of the day?

Catching Up

And that wraps it up for A Song A Day Volume 2.1 also known as Log Book. Tomorrow we'll kick off Volume 2.2: The Catch Up. As a note of interest it was during this period that I became, for the first time, profoundly behind in the writing - close to the breaking point behind, mired in a backlog of unwritten songs that put the whole concept that I was actually engaged in writing "a song a day" into significant crisis. I recall that I had seriously (and fairly typically, I gather from anecdotal reports) underestimated the demands of stay-at-home parenting, as well that I was engaged in some ultimately not-very-successful experiments in DIY digital self-publishing for money and my whole relationship with writing and creativity in general was very rocky and ambivalent. I wasn't tracking continuity at the time so I don't know how far I really got behind, I think it was somewhere from one to two months, and that it took me the better part of half a year to get back on track. I never get more than a couple days behind these days.

What is the song of the day?

2.160 : 10/10/05 : Destroy the Paradigm

2,350 : 6 ?


Destroy the Paradigm
of fixed reality
raise up the deity
of life fluid as time

unleash the rein of night
monsters of reason’s sleep
all archetypes buried deep
geist specter fury wight

What’s seen becomes what is
Our minds’ eyes shape the truth
dark engines, wet uncouth
So here’s the last pop quiz:

How could you ever know
if all your reason’s trash
with every market crash
the reservations grow

What is the song of the day?

2.159 : 10/9/05 : Working Backwards

We’re all working backwards
foolish mortals see time
just one way
remember it from back to front
ambition goes the other way
Maybe birth’s the destination
death the origin
Maybe confusion is the root of all evil
the staff of life the spring of sin
I’m working back from somewhere
in the middle of where it went off track
Can’t bear to think of the future
How could I end up still off track
I can’t see into the future
I cannot confirm the past
see but dimly in the present
All I see is the sand running fast
Slipping through my fingers swiftly
none can stop it none forestall
and if I could where would I be then
without time there’d be nothing at all
time is an illusion some say
lunchtime doubly so
but there is one who needs me timely
So I really have to go

What is the song of the day?

2.158 : 10/8/05 : Scrub

I scour my hands and scour my hands
a minute
two and three
the same old scheme the same refrain
here’s one for you and
one for me
the skin sheds off
it flakes and peels
it’s all in a good cause
As long as I don’t catch the bug
I’ll wash and wash and wash my paws
As long as winter’s icy grip holds
drawing me back to a year’s memory
It’s been so sweet to have you here
to have you here to stay

What is the song of the day?

2.157 : 10/7/05 : Spheres of Influence

Karma dogma health and reason
energy entropy signs and seasons
drugs and doldrums books and pieces
bits and dottles in the interstices
show me the spheres of influence
show me a man of consequence
one that I may emulate
And aspire to a higher fate
Words and writing songs and singing
what then in my hand I’m bringing
laws and science sacred knowledge
sure as hell didn’t pick up much in college
Take me to a practical nirvana
Feed me full on holy mana
That I might keep up my wandering
Forty years of moping maundering
clocks and time and ducks and rows
maybe I figured it out once who knows
Always seeking revelation
Maybe I’m tuned into the wrong station
Maybe I just need to relax
lighten up accept the facts
And roll with just the here and now
wrap things up and sell the cow

What is the song of the day?

2.156 : 10/6/05 : Wereworld

The moon is always full somewhere
from the perspective of the planet
This world is more than it seems
Though nobody knows what geas began it
The transformation slides across
Along with full moon’s light
It turns into a dreambound world
Far out in the depth of night
wereworld transformer enigma
Unknown property of silent deeps
A mysterious ichor flows
while most around the wellspring sleep
And any that are drawn into it
become the wereworld minions
full of power distilled night
full of strong opinions
Helping all the world transform
Though whether for worse or better
Each play must have its vital cast
To follow each line to the letter

What is the song of the day?

2.155 : 10/5/05 : The Gatefold (Right)

Welcome gentlemen gentle ladies as well
Welcome to the right hand path
Thank heavens that you came across
Didn’t throw the baby out with the bath
Here the narrow path is cutting
Far as human eye can see
And even further far beyond it
bound by holy symmetry
Honor here the gatefold bridge
That spans more than mere ages
But even past all earthly power
claims to bridge across the pages
The album holds two disks of gold
Inscribed by Moroni
That hold the wisdom of all time
If you buy that baloney

What is the song of the day?

2.154 : 10/4/05 : The Gatefold (left)

The dark track my surprise you as
the lesser traveled of the two
the gatefold spans continuums
from good to evil from them to you
But far far from the border yet
The left hand stretches forth
unveiling every dark design
from east to west from south to north
The great divorce joins at the spine
of some great bridge of years gone by
And I perceive the ghost of chance
still glimmers faintly in your eye
No keep that glitter to yourself
I know it is not gold
No mirrors on the gatefold bend
But I know that I’m growing old

What is the song of the day?

2.153 : 10/3/05 : This Then

2,343 : 15 ?


This then the conclusion of the moment
All the ferment one might foment
That nearly perfect score I got
didn’t mean a single thing
I went along just for the ride
to show for it this plain brass ring

What is the song of the day?

2.152 : 10/2/05 : Shame

It seems a shame
So many brief thoughts
out like a candle
the infant on my knee I dandle
perfect life incarnate
but it needs instruction
I just need to keep in mind the line
between form and function

What is the song of the day?

2.151 : 10/1/05 : Finality

There ain’t no real finality
It’s just a veneer we call destiny
It keeps rolling forever far as anyone can tell
And considering our conduct
That is probably just as well
There ain’t a bit of slack
in this bad old world
All the words that hid so well
all the bombs we hurled
And we’re nowhere near to stopping
Or so it seems
Though one day I guess
we’ll blow ourselves to smithereens

What is the song of the day?

2.150 : 9/30/05 : Home Stretch

Call it the home stretch
that’s such a joke
nothing to drink there
nothing to smoke
no bed to lie in
made or not
nothing but black mud
nothing but muck
They say we wandered
in from the stars
our hearts are bellows
our brains are jars
vessels we’re trapped in
adrift in the foam
hang my hat on my head
I’ll call that home

What is the song of the day?

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

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

What is the song of the day?

2.148 : 9/28/05 : More Sleep

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

What is the song of the day?

2.147 : 9/27/05 : Crybaby

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

What is the song of the day?

2.146 : 9/26/05 : Shorties

2,336 : 8 ?


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

What is the song of the day?

2.145 : 9/25/05 : Marathon

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

What is the song of the day?

2.144 : 9/24/05 : Paradise Towers

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

What is the song of the day?

2.143 : 9/23/05 : Streak

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

What is the song of the day?

2.142 : 9/22/05 : Autumn

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

What is the song of the day?

2.141 : 9/21/05 : Thistledown

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

What is the song of the day?

2.140 : 9/20/05 : Goat O’ God

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

What is the song of the day?

2.139 : 9/19/05 : Metal Box

2,329 : 1 ?


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

What is the song of the day?

2.138 : 9/18/05 : Pocket

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

What is the song of the day?

2.137 : 9/17/05 : Jasper

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

What is the song of the day?

2.136 : 9/16/05 : Rhinoceros Tusk

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

What is the song of the day?

2.135 : 9/15/05 : Parsnip

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

What is the song of the day?

2.134 : 9/14/05 : Rutabaga

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

What is the song of the day?

2.133 : 9/13/05 : Psychedelic Turnip

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

What is the song of the day?

2.132 : 9/12/05 : Black Truffle

2,322 : 13 ?


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

What is the song of the day?

2.131 : 9/11/05 : Snout

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

What is the song of the day?

continuity (or the lack thereof)

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

2.130 : 9/10/05 : River Trout

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

What is the song of the day?

2.129 : 9/9/05 : Opportunity

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

What is the song of the day?

New Album Release: Go By Train

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

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

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

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

Go By Train at Bandcamp

2.128 : 9/8/05 : Extra Push

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

What is the song of the day?

2.127 : 9/7/05 : Magic Wand

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

What is the song of the day?

2.126 : 9/6/05 : Bean Bug

2,216 : 7 ?


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

What is the song of the day?

2.125 : 9/5/05 : Inconsolable

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

What is the song of the day?

2.124 : 9/4/05 : Feather

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

What is the song of the day?

2.123 : 9/3/05 : Panting

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

What is the song of the day?

2.122 : 9/2/05 : Ranting

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

What is the song of the day?

2.121 : 9/1/05 : More Sweet Delight

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

What is the song of the day?

2.120 : 8/31/05 : Disposable

The old world was disposable
the new world is disposable
the fundamental difference seems
to be thumbs that are opposable
permanence was an illusion
self-deception and collusion
dreaming that we’re running things
we never dreamed fate’s next intrusion

What is the song of the day?

2.119 : 8/30/05 : The Advent

When the fifth candle got lit
every point of the pentagram
it’s dead ironic isn’t it
the rough beast born that was long predicted
the Advent of the next age and
the damage it inflicted
I’ve got a theory very hard to test
that it’s all been downhill
for most of the rest
of the suckers who believe what they get told
of the suckers that buy what they are sold
its arms are made of peasants’ toil
its heart an element fit the sea to boil
Its feet as always made of clay
It’s got no head at all it was designed that way
there’s a little treat behind every door
the strategy will make you beg for more
When you open the portal on the advent
dismay that day see what your God sent

What is the song of the day?

2.118 : 8/29/05 : Homeland Spy

2,208 : 66 ?


I’m not peeking round the curtains
I’m not snooping in the trash
this homeland spy is boldly watching
In plain sight there’s nothing rash
about my technique watching you
you’re all guilty in my book
you’re all surely up to something
that is why I always look
Haven’t seen a concrete plan yet
haven’t caught no terrorists
want to turn my neighbors in so hard
and see the bracelets on their wrists
want to inform on my buddies
want to drop dimes on my peeps
it would be so damn exciting
if everyone I knew were creeps
but for now I’ll look out the window
hoping to see something dark
other than these dullards who drive
cycle walk and sometimes park

What is the song of the day?

2.117 : 8/28/05 : One More Number?

One more number question mark
Looks like the truck is stalled in park
and the song is only four lines long
Advanced like crazy playin’ pong

What is the song of the day?

2.116 : 8/27/05 : Correction

Correction: last but one
then time for a counting
subtotal: anecdotal
recollections not to much amounting
tick a mark a last brief spark
out candle come now darkness
black as pitch, nine-saved stitch
dazzled by such austere starkness
recalculate first must clean the slate
begin with the tabula rasa
obey the will of the stupid pill
yessuh yessuh thanka massuh
No corrections call it the last one
call it set the time of departure
counted and sealed and none appealed
And one more yet to attain the art cure

What is the song of the day?

2.115 : 8/26/05 : Skid Marks

Skid marks the spot so many
mischance moments just an instant makes
a difference of a lifetime it can happen to any
of us the cuts fate takes
He slid the skid took him by surprise
no time for reaction
no time for anything his life flashed before his eyes
his kingdom for a little traction
skidding along the time track
down the cellular event horizon
from the outside I traced it all the way back
and there’s a little critical node I’ve got my eyes on

What is the song of the day?

2.114 : 8/25/05 : Quarks

Almost finished working on the quark gun
I got charm and strangeness up the yin yang
use it to construct the Dyson sphere
I got top and bottom up to here
the aliens are hiding behind Venus
it’s uncertain if they’ve really seen us
they haven’t poked their heads out for a century or more
the invasion plans are starting out on the ground floor
Almost ready now to get my quark on
Quarks and sparks and fundamental torque on
Sticking a lever into reality sideways
Wrench out a little vigorish to to do it my ways
the aliens are planning a fly by
to check our progress and our chances to defy
the planned and plotted occupation
the imposition of the alien nation

What is the song of the day?

2.113 : 8/24/05 : Many Weeks Ago

It was many weeks ago today
I was tuning up my trebuchet
Preparing to assail the wall
One more campaign now to win it all
And if I can’t remember that day anymore
Still I swear I opened up a door
It sucks to be laboring in the past
It’s sad to be persistently half mast
I need a pill man some kind of shot
I must have messed it up a lot
Wrapped up many weeks ago
Many weeks later down came the snow

What is the song of the day?

2.112 : 8/23/05 : Launch Date

2,203 : 60 ?


Counting the calendar marking with x’s
I tread on you and I will mess with Texas
I’ll bring you down hell yeah you know I’ll stop
thinking ‘bout tomorrow as I rocket for the top
I set the launch date there’s no turning back
I’m gonna shock you with a sneak attack
I’m coming fast and silent from behind
before you know what hit you I’ll flat blow your mind
You may of heard I traveled to the past
And rocked the cavemen with a sonic blast
you may have heard I’m writing from tomorrow
I’ll save you the prognostication, its attendant sorrow
sweet Pandora let me flip your lid
I’ll sort that chancy box out for you kid
I’ll dish the future up upon your plate
Hand you an invitation for my big launch date

What is the song of the day?

2.111 : 8/22/05 : Surprise

Still waiting still hoping
ready to not believe my eyes
still an optimistic glass
half overflowing
ready for the big surprise
still assuming that I’ll like it
if it ever comes
still willing still working
even dogs get their crumbs

What is the song of the day?

2.110 : 8/21/05 : Dissolve

Slow dissolve
picture fades to white
flipside of the coin
the other side is endless night
and if I’m born not to delight
My morning comes it comes despite

Slow goodbye
credits roll up to heaven
beware the authorities
beware their leaven
one to two to three to five to seven
next step has to be eleven

Segues shift
fade out shift between scenes
soon to reveal what
what was foreshadowed means
My life projected to the silver screens
it don’t amount to a hill of beans

denouement
hear the music rise
all that light
that light projected into my eyes
And blinking back the tears she cries
she wanders out into the real surprise

What is the song of the day?

2.109 : 8/20/05 : Persist

A raised hand clenched in a fist
Asserts that some ideal will persist
A face peeking from a crowd
So frightened to see
what is not allowed
See them with their masks and clubs
grinding the resistance down to nubs
condemning all of us who slacked
and let what little was left intact
get stacked in the museum behind glass
an image of a dog attacking the mass
of those who had enough still left to lose
All of us who history’s pages peruse
I got no ambition to be a leader
try my best not to be a cheater
I must speak as it comes to mind
even if the questions leave me in a bind
Judge not but please go ahead
judge me with the blankets pulled up in bed
judge me hiding my head in the sand
judge me please don’t judge the band
only a session no significance at all
only an observation of a thousand things that stall
Merely a riddle left unsolved
Of the way the whole damn thing dissolved

What is the song of the day?

2.108 : 8/19/05 : Waste (Perfectly)

What a waste of a Perfectly
innocent blank page
What a waste what a mess we’ve made
Of the beginning of another age
Hell yes I remember
Seeing the collapse and fall
Didn’t know what it was
but I guessed what it meant
time to build another great wall
How dare I compare my problems
to disaster to that hideous
act of will
I will not defend myself
And I hope tomorrow
I’ll be more daring still
I remember my only reaction
was to note evil exists
who understands this sad refrain
the stain the stain persists

What is the song of the day?

2.107 : 8/18/05 : Unrealistic

It seems unrealistic to believe I will change
It seems naive to argue
that this world will rearrange
to suit any grand scheme
Peace on earth is just a meme
And if I think about the last two
thousand years it makes me want to scream

I am pessimistic but the facts are on my side
I don’t need to apologize for
not taking the ride
Politics is all a sham
And frankly I don’t give a damn
‘Cause in another thousand
years you know that not one stone will stand

You’d think that given all this I’d feel off the hook
of any sense of duty even if I had what it took
to save this world or fix it either
I’ve an excuse for everything I couldn’t be blither
What will be will and
what won’t can’t and me it’s either both or neither

What is the song of the day?

2.106 : 8/17/05 : Prepare Thyself

Prepare thyself: gird for battle
have one for courage
back in the saddle
time is fleeting
there’s not much left
I’ll
hang one last petition
on a treble clef
Push up the mountain another time
compose an ultimatum
constructed of rhyme
just a placeholder
foreshadowing true
it’s a crazy thing I’m building
dedicated
all
to you

What is the song of the day?

2.105 : 8/16/05 : Your Spirit is Free

Ah your spirit is free (what else what else)
And there ain’t anything else that matters
Flesh is bondage death is mandatory
And the great hand that gathers also scatters
So drift with it, flow my tears
Lying on the bed they trickle into my ears
Mind is an illusion don’t you know
Personality doubly so
Your soul will reach escape velocity
It happens every day
and though we find it painful
Left behind still find something to say

What is the song of the day?

2.104 : 8/15/05 : Freedom Bell

Who will strike the freedom bell
who will sound the stark alarm
who will call it like it is
Oh lady liberty you’ve come to harm
Has it always been like this
was it really worse before
some say we’ve passed the golden age
The like of which will come no more
I don’t believe that we can win
We let the snake grow far too large
I don’t believe we’ve got the will left
I can’t believe we put the snakes in charge
Who will strike the freedom bell
twenty times to signify
And once to call us all to see
the vestiges of freedom die
soon even the bell will founder
Everything will fall to rust
Freedom will be just a word then
In some old book collecting dust

What is the song of the day?

2.103 : 8/14/05 : Freedom is a Trap

Freedom is a trap
Freedom is a trap
Freedom is a trap
Freedom is a trap
And once you gotta taste the spring goes snap
None are born free all depend on charity
And it’s no accident
My little jackanape
home is the first prison that we’re desperate to escape
For some the great grownup playground is sufficient
Others come to chafe at being just another pissant
Society’s got me under the thumb
Morality’s got me under the thumb
Destiny’s got me under the thumb
Gravity’s got me under the thumb
Always pushing me down on every floor
they say it’s essential but still I want more
freedom is a trap my son
And not even a tender one
It’s a rough mistress, it hides a whip
in its right hand so do not slip
The paradox cradled in my hand
Freedom’s an imperative with harsh demands
A banner that once taken up cannot be dropped
An anthem once raised cannot be stopped
and so be wary for what you ask
May look a gem it feels a task
And you may end my little sap
another wee mousie in freedom’s trap

What is the song of the day?

2.102 : 8/13/05 : Halfway There (The End of All Illusions pt. 5)

She said when you feel the wall
Brush up against your back
When you feel the creeping edges
Of the panic attack
When you cannot bear another
instant of it going on
When you think you’re going to scream
You’re halfway there so hold on

I can feel it grinding me down
failure forced out on the pages
thank god for obscurity
thank god for the tractless ages
thank god for the end of time
to wipe away all traces
the memory of all our wrongs
the slightest hint of all our faces

She’s not going to make it baby
that much I can say for sure
I’d love to be proven wrong
I’d love my motives to be pure
But as it is I guess for now
I’m going to have to fake it
another million dollar year
give it to me straight I can take it

What is the song of the day?

2.101 : 8/12/05 : The Real World (The End of All Illusions pt. 4)

Wow that guy is eating a bug
hey they’re staging an intervention
guess who’s hooking up tonight
this real world’s a lunatic convention
shall I pattern my life after this
Rome’s on the brink of a dark precipice

What is the song of the day?

2.100 : 8/11/05 : The False Resolve (The End of All Illusions pt. 3)

Snow falls material static
Another chapter in the dance dramatic
A song that drills into my head
All I can say for sure is I’m not dead
But only as I write this verse
Someday it will be false the curse
Of every living thing
So nothing in my hand I bring
The false resolve of pushing on
another day another song
It doesn’t mean a single thing
So nothing in my hand I bring
But if the will to push on fails
for sure that ends these false travails
The question then in sharp relief
Is anyone more than a thief
with borrowed words on borrowed time
standing on the shoulders of giants of rhyme
Laid out like a patient on the the slab
I can’t expect to top it but I’ll take a stab
Can it be that I’m still not sick of this
Have I still not really grasped the trick of this
It just goes on not meaning anything
and nothing in my hand I bring

What is the song of the day?

2.99 : 8/10/05 : Insubstantial (The End of All Illusions pt. 2)

The case you make is circumstantial
Your evidence is insubstantial
If you think you’re going to fight it
find the fuse you need and light it
Gunpowder is a metaphor
And some still think it opens every door

Aren’t you still choosing the illusions
Ignoring tacit conclusions
Heed not your alliances
And whence come your appliances
And if you think it doesn’t matter
Just wait you will see the fanned shit splatter

Feel like ugly words are rampant
Feel like I’m just another pissant
I don’t hear you saying no
Guess that when it’s my time to go
I’ll queue up quiet with the rest
And watch my fools gold take
the fire’s test

What is the song of the day?

2.98 : 8/9/05 : Substance (The End of All Illusions pt. 1)

A substantial reward awaits
All who choose to clear their plates
And queue up in the line once more
The myth of substance yet persists
the standard of the separatists
Who cite our failure to fall through the floor
The illusion was revealed in the night
every solid thing is composed of light
Bound and fixed by an event horizon
And change is really just reflection
the direction of the sky creates the lie of direction
God palms the coin but it’s the cup you’ve got your eyes on
If the thing you ever wanted doesn’t really exist
If the clarity you thought you saw dissolves into mist
What then will you call a firm foundation
a rock’s revealed by the sand’s erosion
So I’ll dare to build my house right next to the ocean
solid ground beneath me is the closest I’ll get to an explanation

What is the song of the day?

2.97 : 8/8/05 : Parliament of Owls Brigade

2,188 : 46 ?



The Parliament of Owls Brigade is
Kicking ass and storming Hades
Kicking through the membrane proxy
invading the real and getting quite foxy
Armed with plows and pen-sized swords
The nastiest work in this world’s done with words
Hell that don’t make us bulletproof though
Still we’re gonna raise the roof, yo
Word to yo mamma word to sis
the new sensation baby sounds like this
Every color of bird that flies
A few that walk and a few that dive
Are represented by our faction
At my call spring into action
Armed with nothing but keen keen sight
O baby can you feel my might?
The king of the Lizard People’s ‘round the bend
He always acted crazy but this time it’s not pretend
Our army must grow larger we’re recruiting from the fold
well behind the cannon fodder’s a good place to get old
Of course I’m joking, we’re on the front lines
screaming for your right to mainline
anything they can fit into a tube
Pretty glad we showed up, eh rube?
No need to raffle or take up a collection
we got private funding for the insurrection
we got some venture capitol hey who knows
If it flies we might just drop it on an IPO
so check the label website for the master plan
These days message is irrelevant and medium is brand

What is the song of the day?

2.96 : 8/7/05 : Trip City

Let’s take a trip to the city fantastic
Let’s roll through the badland passage
let’s build this machine out of steel not plastic
And load it up with flash not baggage

Trip City portal to the starry heavens
Spaceport haven outlaw zone
The party people are all sixes and sevens
The business people are all on the phone

Dog star better start where you are
better start with a backbeat and a drone
tune up the upright bass and guitar
Don’t forget to give your spare keys to your clone

Because we’re all headed down to old trip city
There is a gathering of wireless heads
Beyond the music the colors so pretty
There is a word that is being spread

Such a thin line from here to there
Such a twisting route oh down
And you may truly stop and stare
When you feel the wave that’s swept this town

And when the convolution’s ended
Everything’s different and nothing’s changed
Though the colors shift and beauty got blended
And the thoughts we had got rearranged

All will disperse and spread unseen
Trip City now all but deserted
There is a whisper of what it might mean
A rumor of disaster and how we all flirted

What is the song of the day?