353 : 3/29/99 : Error Message

1,311 : 3 ?


We met in a chat room
Our opinions of Björk seemed well in tune
You called yourself starkitty
I called myself the Man in the Moon
And we talked all night
just like lovers do
You stayed the night in my mind
I gave it up for you
But now when I try to email you
An error message is my only reply
The user cannot be found on this network
That’s all I find no matter how I try
So much gets lost now anyway
Swallowed in the electronic sea
I think I left a piece of me behind in your mind
but you didn’t leave a piece for me

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

352 : 3/28/99 : Big Computer

I’m gonna hack my way into the big computer
Give all the wealth and power to the common slob
Watch them go crazy with it drive it off a cliff
I know these people; they only know one kind of job
Maybe I’ll turn the whole show over to Ralph Nader
Or someone with a similar background
Maybe all we need is one good benign dictator
Someone really smart to push us all around
I could program it to operate at random
Might as well give anarchy a chance
Anything different just as long as I get left out of the loop
I’ve never had the stomach for the power dance
Maybe when I’m in and see how complicated things are
I’ll despair of finding anyone to run the show
Maybe I’ll just plug the big computer back into itself
tell it to do what it thinks is best and go

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

351 : 3/27/99 : Inattention

1,290 : 2 ?


Entropy is embedded in the fabric of this universe
everything’s unraveling at a microscopic pace
just look at how the clutter in the attic’s getting worse
just look at all the new lines in your face
Inertia is the mainspring ever since that first big pop
And everything just pushes endlessly on
Look at how the days go by and never ever stop
Look at how the traces of the past are never gone
And inattention is the lynch pin
keep it all falling apart or pushing endlessly out
Making sure that we ignore the only engine
That could save it all from going down the spout

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

persistence interruptus

I've had persistent enthusiasm deficiency for posting songs lately. While this has often happened when I've lagged behind in the job of transcribing the songs from their handwritten notebooks, in this case I have a small backlog of transcribed songs. I've been disinclined even to open the posting interface.

At the point when I'm actually taking more time to write something completely new here as a substitute for transcribing another song I have to wonder if there is something more complicated than ordinary, periodic disinterest and procrastination that comes with any long-range project.

Maybe not. Certainly I think about stopping altogether sometimes. There is a strange difference between this electronic "publication" experiment and doing the original writing of the songs, which I did not expect to be seen or heard by anyone (even less so after the band I was playing with succumbed to attrition and I stopped home recording) - and I rarely presented actual material to anyone, even friends - though I think I spoke to people about the song of the day project in the abstract a fair amount.

The ostensible function of the fairly secret blog was to get the material digital, fungible, searchable. Despite its theoretical availability I didn't expect it to be read much. But with one thing and another at least a few hundred people have been exposed to this and I don't believe anyone is reading it regularly.

This seems like a relevant observation especially as I am turning out more of this material as we speak (literally, like I wrote a song in the midst of composing this post) and I have to ask myself why. Recording seems like too much trouble (and I have zero budget set aside for it) and I'm not doing anything to actively solicit collaboration. I haven't thought seriously about trying to form a band in 9 or 10 years. I certainly don't see the Cosmodemonic Music Group ringing me up to request any of these odd little ditties for one of their mass produced chanteuses. I could say I gave it the old college try. It's not like it was a callow effort: I've written a song for every day for three and a half years (despite recent blog infrequency I've been more or less dutiful in cranking out new daily verses).

I breezed past the song count on the original project somewhat less than a year ago and felt I'd gotten my second wind up, but now, a third of the way into the second (only second!) of a putative ten (ten!) thousands, I'm wondering if I'm hitting a heretofore unglimpsed plateau of creative juice. The writing lately is dull, brief and arduous. And though I may feel differently later (it's certainly happened before) at the moment it seems to me that the material, that is to say the issue, is not very good. It's hard medicine to test the stuff of my persistence with.

A story went around a short while ago about a broom shop in Tokyo that had stayed open since 1972 without serving a single patron. The implication being I guess that someone had unlocked, set out stock and sat stolidly behind a counter for 36 years (financed, one presumes, by some small inheritance or disinterested kin). It turned out to be an easily debunked hoax, of course, but there is something interesting about the inclination to think of it as something potentially true... the proprietor of such a shop would clearly be mad but there seems the possibility that this particular kind of madman (or -woman) could really exist. The projected span of Ten Thousand Nights, the second iteration of the song of the day project, is a little less than 27 and a half years. Of course, at current rates I'd have to live to be about 130 to hope to get the whole thing online. But setting that aside, as a mission (even one that is far from full time) it does strike me just this moment as a trifle quixotic.

More songs later maybe.

P.S. Google's dictionary doesn't know how to spell "searchable". WTF Google?

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

350 : 3/26/99 : Pandemonium

Hah hey now get ready for the big pandemonium
It comes down like the supersonic platinum plutonium
Not tonight my darling there’s a serpent in my chest
I figured out the rhythm you go figure out the rest

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

349 : 3/25/99 : Ready or Rot

1,259 : 0 ?


Ready or not here it comes
The future with the flashing lights and rolling drums
Like it or not it’s here to stay
Cause time won’t ever go back even just one day
Ready or Rot it’s all the same
Dragged by fortune by any other name
It smells of mystery and sweet misfortune
As each day dishes up its daily portion
Always talking of an abstract future
Never noticing the here and now
And a the center of it all a clumsy suture
binds the earthly spirit who knows how
Ready set go here we are again
Somebody stop me because I’m inclined to pull the pin
And throw my lot in with the doomswatch set
It seems to be the best odds I can get

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

348 : 3/24/99 : The Mystery of the Chart

1,252 : 48 ?


In those days they believed
there was a map to the center of the earth
And down there in a chamber
The answers to all secrets were given berth
Some saw the chart as a token
of all man had lost in his rush to know
Some believed that the mystery of the chart
was paradoxically hidden down below
Some claimed that they had fragments
secured from sepulchers of holy knights
some claimed the chart was plain to see
bound up in the glory of earthly delights
The mystery of the chart is
no one ever claimed to have seen it
Everyone believed it had existed at least once upon a time
The lines the chart and what was read between it

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

347 : 3/23/99 : Strike Up the Band

Strike up the band... And take a stand
You’re doing it right now
All it requires of you
Is your attention
Listen to the music play you got all day
if you want it
And if you don’t the day
will pass by without mention
And every day goes by one closer to the one where you die
And that’s a truth for everyone
That no one wants to hear
Nevertheless if you can hear this you’re not dead yet
So strike up the band and play be fearless greet the new day
Living all the way is not for everyone
But no one knows until they try it
Strike up the band and take my hand
We got something a little faster than the jet set

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

346 : 3/22/99 : Deep

Deep in the heart of everything the truth hides
like a seed like a cancer like a mine
Waiting to turn it all upside down again
Waiting to let you know that things won’t turn out fine
The sickness lies inside of you
waiting for conditions to emerge
waiting for the poisons to accumulate
waiting for the system to purge
Deep in the heart of Antarctica
The mothership emits the signal into space
Boy I can’t wait for it I can’t wait
to see the expression on your face

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

345 : 3/21/99 : End of the Beginning

Unfinished business all around
All I can see is we’re not ready yet
can this be the end arising
My hands are not steady yet
Do the numbers and add to a conclusion
Can the Doctors balance the equation
I’ve got nothing in my hand to bring
I’ve got nothing but persuasion
To convince you to attend
to the end game, losing or winning
I don’t think that this can be the end
but it might be the end of the beginning

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

344 : 3/20/99 : Throw Down the Dead Days

Throw down the dead days behind you
learn what you can from them and move on
I know that it might seem unkind, you
Gotta throw your past away to get a real groove on
Throw down the gauntlet and act like a man
Take the world they’re holding out
Find out it’s all in the garbage can
While we slept they sold the whole thing out
While we slept and dreamed of better days
While we dreamed our futures stumbled
looked back in horror at our callous offhand ways
We reached inside our pants and fumbled
To make the dream come true a little bit
Take the world they dangle above
Take it and find out it’s just like the rest of the shit
Lay down the gauntlet and strike them with the glove

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

343 : 3/19/99 : A Curse Upon

1,233 : 30 ?


A curse upon the business lords
who rule us from the sky
All those who live by all their swords
And never really seem to die
A curse upon the evil men
addicted to the evil that they do
And curse me for this worthless pen
that cannot even write its way to you

A curse upon the capitalists
Leading us all down the primrose path
Let me tell you it’s a small list
it comes down to when you do the math
A curse upon the three piece liars
Lurking in the shadows of the throne
Busy putting gas on all the fires
That they started with a telephone

A curse on every little man
Who ignores it just like me
When the race is run we ask who ran
And wonder why we don’t feel free
A curse upon me letting it get in the way
Between you and me and destiny and God
A curse on every servant baking bricks of clay
the path they’ve built for me is very very broad

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

342 : 3/18/99 : Secret Agent

The drop of a hat and I’m out the door
Hitting the street in the bright morning sun
Doing business and something more
Maybe making a path for the chosen one
You take a rule and stack it on another rule
You got the little here and the little there
I slip under the wire and skip school
I pull my instructions right out of the air
I pull a trick or two I’m not afraid to rock the boat
If it’s the only way to make you notice the water
I’m a pamphleteer I’ve got sedition underneath my coat
It’s a good time for anarchistic leanings as the globe gets hotter
Hey secret agent man who are you working for
Who are the pamphlets for and what’s the reason
Behind that fucked up music that plays when you hit the killing floor
Don’t you know one of us arises every Easter season
Get up stand up rise up in the season of the new moon
take what little time you have before the pendulum swings
Here’s to rushing forward bravely, to winning once in a blue moon
You know it’s the truth by the way it stings

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

341 : 3/17/99 : 12:48 a.m.: Television Commercial

Good morning early riser
We just wanted to take a moment of your time
to tell you that the world you live in
Is controlled by vast intelligences from another galaxy.
We got here about thirty years ago
So pleased to finally meet you
(We're here to give you the secrets
of happiness and immortality
I tell you Horatio there are
things undreamed of in your morality)
When we arrived, we discovered that we could
broadcast mind reprogramming neural pathway software
using your existing television sets.
We broadcast from a giant transceiver
located on the dark side of the moon!
It's receiver is in real time contact with
Our home planet, using a scientific principle
Your primitive minds couldn't understand
But soon that will change: that's what
the reprogramming is for.
(Do not go softly into the night
rage and rail and scream and fight
Go out the way you came in
kicking and screaming)
As some of you have already guessed,
your world powers are already under our
control. Yet the figureheads you perceive as wielding
power are in fact automated shells. Our
programming is irresistible to your
primitive monkey brains. Just try to rise
up and do something. Go ahead! Try!

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

340 : 3/16/99 : Unimaginable Splendor

1,228 : 24 ?


If I could just project myself
one moment into the unimaginable splendor
of the whole wide universe
But down here we just have to
Always always have to fend for
ourselves as it all goes from bad to worse
Always slipping back and forward
rambling on our random walk
winding ever down to stillness
so we drive to work and pick our
children up we force ourselves to move and talk
when the the tension gives our voices a note of shrillness
That’s the unimaginable splendor
all we’re seeking always all around
Always moving moving moving on
The flowing sifting tide
And all the islands where we ran aground
time my friend she said it’s a moving gun

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

339 : 3/15/99 : The Big Sound

Tuck up to the teevee set and get ready for the big sound
No need to move a muscle we'll bring it straight around
No need to interact no need to say a word
Relax and let it flow in it's like nothing that you've ever heard
The operation starts with something you can't hear
Followed by a warm sensation centered on the ear
When you feel your spine relax you know that it's begun
This is the new taste for you for me for everyone
A feeling like a downward spiral's perfectly expected
A feeling like you've shamed yourself in front of those you most respected
A feeling like you're finally up against the wall
In the shadow of the big sound everyone feels small
When the bottom crashes out the peak is on its way
Your mind slides all around the room you feel the urge to pray
And at the top the dizzy height you finally understand
The big sound shows you visions of a life you never planned

While the beat is cooling and your mind is snapping back
And your same old reality and your mind on the same old track
Hey its just a teevee show and maybe just as well
These gentlemen behind us have some lovely things to sell

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

338 : 3/14/99 : Without Inspiration

Without the spirit in me what can I possibly do
without the breath to animate me
How can I speak of you
How can I make anything work
Without the vision I’m just another jerk
Jerking my time away on worthless words that profit not
Without inspiration, the work is dry without reward
So many live and die within without the two-edged sword
Is flying now without remorse
I take what comes to me of course
It’s all yours anyway I never claimed I own a single thing I’ve got
But I’ll show you that the work goes on
I’ll do it in a vacuum
I’ll do it all day long
I persist like radiation
I will nurture my uninspired creation
It’s a long road but I’m ready to go all the way down
So turn your back on me and go go go
I just do what I have to
It’s all I am and all I know
See me bent in fierce rebellion
to your silence such a hellion
If you haven’t got a smile for me I’ll take a frown

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

337 : 3/13/99 : Elixir of Life

I was in the boat with Ponce de Leon
What he was seeking he could not find alone
Little did he know
I was on the path long before
The rivers I’d sailed beyond his dreams
the seas the continents the reams
of ancient wisdom piled around the door
It’s a long and ancient trail and many have failed before
I always find something wherever I go
I always hear rumors but no one will confess they know
The place or the nature
of the vessel of the elixir
I did not find it in Egypt I did not find it in Rome
I did not find it in Shangri La I just want to go home
I did not find it in Paris or anywhere in France
I did not find it in the jungles of America
But I guess I had to take that chance
The elixir of life remains outside my grasp
My face is lined and weary my breath comes with a rasp
One of the false potions I consumed
keeps me living but my body is like a corpse exhumed
And now I must seek forever
The elixir of life or a final way to sever
the strings that animate me dance me on the stage
you’d think I’d get a little more respect in my old age

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

336 : 3/12/99 : Finish Line

1,221 : 18 ?


Run we just run we just
run all the time
racing rushing getting ahead
Rushing to the finish line
I get by or you get by me
wolves at the door and beggars in the street
Ask anyone about it
where they’re going on the street
gotta do a little here do a little there
rushing to the final curtain
we’ll all end up crossing on the same boat
of this much I’m certain
I’m not going to run anymore
I am out of the race
I am going where I want to go
or falling flat on my face
but it don’t matter oh
everything will be just fine
everybody in this bad old world
makes it to the finish line

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

335 : 3/11/99 : Dissection

Come step up to the show
It’s nothing like you’ve seen or know
Another session in the effortless dissection of verse
Oh but I’ve done worse
I slide it around with the best of them
Forget about the rest of them
Send up Steely Dan
Phil Spector and his band
Set up a wall of glass
smooth as alabaster
Cocktail glasses and diamond rings
Next week’s winning girl and shiny things
Just give me a sway sway rhythm and a gunmetal suit
Dress me up and do my hair like Donald Sutherland in Klute
Make me stop cause I can’t take it any more
This revolving door

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