416 : 5/31/99 : Fell Apart

Well it all fell apart on me
When I wasn’t looking sir
And it could happen to you
It could happen to you sure
No man is immune to bad luck
No man is so humble he avoids every fall
And if you don’t think it could happen to you
Sir you don’t know life at all

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

415 : 5/30/99 : Brilliant Cycle

I can see the way it all spins around
me and you or anyone
The moon the stars the surfs that pound
This brilliant cycle in the sun
And I cannot complain I’ve got my daily bread
And I cannot deny the truth of what she said
It all happens for a reason
East and west and north and south
And every searcher finds a season
The wisdom out of a a baby’s mouth
the truth is written for anyone to know
It’s written in the heavens and written down bel
This brilliant cycle spins
It cannot stop it’s perpetual motion
Nothing ever ceases nothing begins
Just you just me just one big ocean
There’s a road that runs around the whole way
we’re all on it always everyday

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

414 : 5/29/99 : Meal of Wurms

Take what I get you can bet it’s
just what I deserve
just what I’ve got coming to me
come as I am just a lamb for
the slaughterhouse
never had the answer never had the key
Pain it’s all right no not quite what
I thought was coming
Guess that I just didn’t think it through
Try, come to terms, meal of wurms on
my dinnerplate
It’s enough to get me through a another night
And just the same if my name is
unfamiliar to you
Ah it’s just because my future’s not so bright

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

413 : 5/28/99 : Birthday Song

You see things just the way you want to
Black or white, ugly or fair
What you seek it surely comes to you
Nobody knows from where
Ain’t that just the way... Ain’t that just the way
Looks like it’s your birthday, this must be your birthday song
I see everything as bad or good
Even though I know that it’s not true
I get so tangled up with what I should
When the hammer comes down I just don’t have a clue
Ain’t that just the way... Ain’t that just the way
Looks like it’s your birthday, just another birthday gone
One year leads into another
one year passes like the next
I heard about these games from my brother
I heard about the way a man gets vexed
Ain’t that just the way...
Ain’t that just the way
You celebrate a birthday
Sound just like a birthday song
Ain’t that just the way
Ain’t that just the way

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

412 : 5/27/99 : Tiny Song

He said I can’t really see myself doing it
I guess I’ll just look at this one again
Well we just keep tryin’
We just keep screwing it

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

411 : 5/26/99 : Dull Song

1,484 : 11 ?


I got up today and took a shower
brushed my teeth and headed for the street
I got no time to smell a flower
I got no time for anyone I might meet
I got on a bus to take me downtown
Didn’t spend much time looking left or right
Nothing much to see on my way down
And the same in reverse going back tonight
I sat behind a desk and made my contribution
to society with my time
It’s hard to say if I’m part of the solution
It’s hard to tell a good deed from a crime
I rolled back home just the way I came
A dull day a song already sung
Who’s to judge how we fare in the big game
We who are neither old nor young

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

410 : 5/25/99 : Day by Day

Day after day I write what I find to say
Trying not to get too far ahead
Day after day I reap what I sew
Even though I know I’ll have to sleep in that bed
Night after night I wait for a sight
A vision to lead me higher
Every day’s struggle ends in restless sleep
Every night I slip under the wire
Day by day you gotta take it that way
‘Cause that’s the only way it comes
I take what I can and move along
Obey the strong and accept my crumbs

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

409 : 5/24/99 : Vegas

Her and me got married in Vegas
we said third time gotta be a charm
why does it seem that the wages
of letting go’s always doing somebody harm
we rolled back to Ohio
And tried to make it down on the farm
With a pig pig here e-i-e-i o
Now nothing’s left of Vegas but a rusted lucky charm
There’s places it’s fast and places it’s slow
But no matter where it’s there you are
In my dreams there’s a place I can never go
You can’t get to that Las Vegas in a car
Where all the tables heat up when I’m around
And all the wedding vows last forever
In my dreams I hear that jackpot sound
As my baby pulls down every lever

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

408 : 5/23/99 : Verges

On the verges I always feel
like I’m hanging there alone
All thee usual abysses
All the chances overflown
Everything’s always
about to start
Everything’s always on hold
Somebody always gets there first
Somebody always gets left out
in the cold
I’ve got an urge for verges
I got a bad yen for confrontation
I’ve got a way for all of us
to get up out from under
All we gotta do is dream about it
all we gotta do is wonder

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

407 : 5/22/99 : Wind Down

Does it all wind up just to wind down
is that the big secret after all
does the universe expand to contract
does everything rise just to fall
What am I waiting for anyway
at this point it’s just another night
that passes like a slow storm front
there’s nothing at all in it to fight
Kingdom Come is calling my name
all the angels heard on high
the whisper of illumination
fading like the long goodbye
Fading into contemplation
of the oceans of my youth
all the memories that drowned
the ocean as the final truth
Someday at the gates of Glory
I’ll find out how much that I recall
I’ll find out if the wind down
Just starts another wind up
after all

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

Currency

With the dates of the posted songs so close to an even decade ago I decided to experiment with trying to keep the postings current for a while. Seeing as how I haven't posted anything in over a month maybe the title of this post should be overcompensation, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. In my experience also, generally, something ventured, nothing gained, but who's counting. Wow, I'm in a really vicious, cynical frame of mind today. Anyway. Since I'm not willing to have this thing rule my life I'll necessarily have to break with my former convention and post more than one song some days when I miss a day or, uh, thirty. I guess. If I get too far behind I suppose I'll likely to abandon the effort. Maybe it will spur me to keep it up a little better. Or not. The meaninglessness of failure is merely one of the thrilling rewards of utter unimportance.

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

406 : 5/21/99 : Minimal Architecture

Given only the minimal architecture
of conformity
Of ignorance prejudice selfishness
and always anonymity
Look what you’ve made
me do now
Look what you’ve gone and
made me do now
It doesn’t take much to
rock this boat
And your complacent platitudes
stick in my throat
Look, see what we’ve
done now
See what we had to go
and do now

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

405 : 5/20/99 : Country Living

1,450 : 1 ?


I can’t wait until my ship comes in
I can’t wait for the day that I am free
to move out of this city
And get me to a place where I can just be
Country Living, oh boy! That’s the life for me
Oh Country Living it’s the only place I wanna be
Oh you can take the boy from the country
You can put him down in any bad old town
You can show him all the glitter and the flashing lights
but you just can’t keep the country down
Country Living, oh boy! That’s the life for me
Oh Country Living it’s the only place I wanna be
I seen enough of this city life
And all the fine people in their diamonds and pearls
I seen plenty of money for one lifetime
I don’t want nothing with these city girls
Country living that’s the only life for you and me
You’ll be my country girl the day I get free

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

404 : 5/19/99 : Pentagon Files (Day of Inception)

After all the stones we laid down
are torn asunder
long after every one of us
is buried deep down under
they will mine what's left of our files
and wonder
at the foolish lives we used to lead
They won't care about our spreadsheets
or the way the market fared
They will only wonder how so few
stories and songs were spared
Won't it be a sad
commentary on the lives we shared
huddled in the shadow of the
Pentagon Files

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

403 : 5/18/99 : Salvia Divinorum

Salvia divinorum
Why must I strain the bounds of decorum
Always seeking higher wisdom
following my dim light
The tricks of the ancient sages sure
That’s very funny but the page is a blur
as tears of recognition
once again blind my insight
Will you show me
the bastards that control me
or guardians to lead me
to the surer path
Will I see the paradox
wrapped in an enigma box
will I lose it all again
like always in the aftermath

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

402 : 5/17/99 : Nothin’ Quite So Funny as a Fork in the Road (The Inertia Machine 36/36)

Ain’t nothin’ quite so funny as a
fork in the road baby
Look at the decisions we made so far
Sometimes it’s hard to see
I know that, maybe
You’d see a little better if you got out of the car
It’s not a suggestion
It’s exactly what it sounds like
This is not a dagger in my hand
Get out of the car
Get on the fuckin’ bike
Pedal your poor ass across this sorry land
Download from the truth machine
reveals that what the magazine
You read in Doctor Deathwatch’s office said
is true
We’re driving ourselves to death
Every mile is one less breath
I guess it’s up to you asshole
to figure out what to do

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

401 : 5/16/99 : The Nothing Box (The Inertia Machine 35/36)

Being implies nonbeing implied
all the usual philosophy tricks were applied
as usual
A vessel was created out of
wasted time to contain the order
that disperses without reason
or rhyme transcausal
The ancients of days long gone
spoke of it in image and song It
had been gone a long long time
so they say
But all who are illuminated
agree that the nothing box
was created agree and have stated
It will be found and opened
some unlucky day

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

400 : 5/15/99 : Seventh Highway (The Inertia Machine 34/36)

1,443 : 3 ?


When will I ride on the seventh highway
the one that stretches on and on, eternal
When will the high road appear before me
What will the I write on the last page of the journal
Are you listening way up on high
are you watching as I write through the pain
We need some maps down here the road we seek is missing
when will I find my way home again
Highway 61, Stanyan Street and Mullholland
Babylon and Ting and the Moonlight Mile
I’ve known so many roads and heard of more
The highway is our destiny our testament and trial
Lord won’t you take the wheel from me
And steer me to the proper exit ramp
steer me onto the seventh highway
Or maybe just leave me a lighted lamp
And I won’t hide it underneath my bed
I won’t let the Devil snuff it out
Otherwise I’ll search the highways in the dark
otherwise I guess I’ll have to tough it out

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

399 : 5/14/99 : Angel (The Inertia Machine 33/36)

1,436 : 1 ?


When my skull is splitting trying to wrap my head
around the math
I like to talk to my friend Dan about the Buddha path
A different sort of wisdom from the kind I got at home
New perplexing riddles from a different dusty tome
Daniel help me figure out the thoughts that paralyze
Is my kitty going to go to heaven when he dies?
I know it seems a small thing in a world of world-class doubt
But angel kitties are the only thing I think about
Is my kitty sentient does my kitty have a plan
Is he how I think of him a furry little man
Does he have a conscience are there thoughts behind his golden eyes
Daniel is my kitty going to heaven when he dies?

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

398 : 5/13/99 : Inauspicious (The Inertia Machine 32/36)

Does it seem to you my friend
we have chosen an inauspicious
moment to arrive? We have a hard
time communicating with such
a badly organized beehive.
Even so we’re here to stay
this unlucky day marks our
disembarking. We have to say we
like it here okay, your technology
is harmless and your solar system
has easy parking. Well it’s never
much of a day the losers say
for colonization. You’ve got
little cause to complain you’ve used
the same argument, we think you
need more civilization

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