I

 

OUT OF JOINT

we are living
in time and space
out of joint
without a face
molecular
assimilation
reality
an imitation

take a picture
it lasts longer
what doesn't kill me
makes me stronger
rapid fire
incubation
all together
in isolation

social climate
penetration
not the truth
but speculation
complete control
the muscle flexes
no more stars
only extras

 

 HUNGOVER AGAIN

 

bring me the head of another day

hanging, naked, in the morning heat

as i spill my guts into the street

a big, black bug crawls down my wall

 

shakedown in the back seat

holed up in another town

stage fright in the bathroom

i smell the blood again 

 

THE WALL

 

oh what thing to behold

!t's nearly 30 years old

it was made before i was born

back in 1984

a special place on the wall

a spectacle seen by all

underplayed and overpriced

a $50 heist

 

i can't tell you why or when it started

it just seems like it's always been here

a fool and his money are soon parted

things are not always as they appear

 

i saw a band a long time ago

bought a single at the show

there were only 300 made

now it's time for me to get paid

e-bay or the record store

whoever will give me more

it doesn't matter because, after all

it's just another one for the wall  

 

i can't tell you why or when it started

it just seems like it's always been here

a fool and his money are soon parted

things are not always as they appear

 

 

DEFIANCE

 

bring it on

i can take it

sing along

i can fake it

show me a dance

i will shake it

show me a rule

i will break it

 

call me crazy

i don't mind it

hide the truth

and i will find it

take a statemen

i won't sign it

i know that i

can't get behind it  

 

THE BIG COMMERCIAL

 

all my senses

are disconnected

all my thoughts

are infected

all i see

is the big commercial

it infiltrates

our most private circles

 

something comes over me, i just can't explaini

t's like somebody put electrodes in my brain

now i take pills to make me feel sane

 

lifestyle obsession

our own self-debasement

you can't escape

so much product placement

like a Hollywood film

your whole life is scripted

the big commercial has eclipsed it

 

something comes over me, i just can't explain

it's like somebody put electrodes in my brain

now i take pills to make me feel sane

 

 NEW DARK AGE

can you feel the fear?

can you feel the rage?

we're moving intoa new dark age

the earth is shaking

the rivers burn

drowning in flame

we never learn

 

the room gets smaller

the walls close in

darkness surrounds

black as sin

something's growing

beneath it allt

he new dark age

it's endless sprawl

 

STEAL THIS SONG

 

steal this song it belongs to you

there's nothing wrongit's something you can do

tear up this pageso that you can see

destroy this cageand set yourself free

 

a song is just words and notes in a row

a series of tones, not something you can own

poetry exists everywhere

so steal this song really, i don't care

 

FIVE  EYES WIDE

 

are you there or are you theirs?

or do you simply disappear?

right down underneath your hair

your five eyes wide from ear to ear

 

you're five eyes wide (4Xs)

 

it's written all over your face

i dare you not to smile

sit there staring into space

if just for a little while

 

you're five eyes wide (4Xs)

 

maybe another time maybe another place

you could see with all five eyes spread across yourface

but something unexplained makes you so blind

that you only see with two

 

it happens time and time again

in the corner of my eye

the beginning of the end

always takes me by surprise

 

i'm five eyes wide (4Xs)

 

maybe another time maybe another place

you could see with all five eyes spread across your face

something unexplained makes you so blindthat you only see with two

 

GIRLS IN TIGHTS ON BIKES

they're moving in next door

another stupid store

here comes the Google bus

there's nothing left for us

but girls in tights on bikes

la la la la la la

girls in tights on bikes
 

they're always on the phone

in the valet parking zone

sending another text

causing another wreck

with girls in tights on bikes

la la la la la la

girls in tights on bikes
 

closed off for Sunday Streets

another shopping spree

buying up useless stuff

they just can't get enough

of girls in tights on bikes

la la la la la la

girls in tights on bikes
 

i remember how it was

there was no hipster buzz

there were no vintage shops

there weren't so many cops

just girls in tights on bikes

la la la la la la

girls in tights on bikes

la la la la la la

girls in tights on bikes

la la la la la la

 

SO SAD I FORGOT TO CRY

 

living like refugees

emotional effigies

we all have our uniforms to wear

is it coincidence?

or some kind of accident?

we all have our crosses to bear

 

so sad i forgot to cry

 

hey there little loneliness

come feel this emptiness

the lights are down, the music is slow

the road paved with good intent

is all twisted and bent

we don't know which way we should go

 

so sad i forgot to cry 

 

GENETIC MAKEOVER

 

change the way i talk

change the way i walk

the color of my skin

change me from fat to thin

change the way i eat

the name of my street

the water that i drink

change the way i think

 

change the way i buy

change the reasons why

change the way i dress

dress me for success

change the way i act

mix up all the facts

change the way i'm free

change they way i'm me

 

FOUR DAYS IN FEBRUARY

erosion

corrosion

emotion

explosion

 

affected

subjected

rejected

infected

 

aggression

suppression

confession

obsession

 

confusion

illusion

contusion
delusion

 

NANA TOOK ME TO CHURCH

 

my snake-handling grandmother lifted strychnine from a backwoods cracker shack, we, gasping for air amidst this humid inhuman feast. shake those shaky bones! speaking in tongues speaking in tongues

 

there leaped a fiery jack, licking flesh and stone

there was no pain, there was no fear, only wet leaves and this insidious serpent slithering severely through this southern ceremony

 

HOUSTON

 

i love decay

i've always been this way

abandoned factories

hold certain mysteries

vacant parking lots

our favorite drinking spots

half-built neighborhoodsi

t was understood

 

the roof of the garage at 3am

there was only us,  th my best friends

i remember whenn

 

THE LIE

 

i don't know the details of my arrest

but suddenly i'm in a fucking mess

maybe this is just some kind of test

now i'm waiting for whatever happens next

 

i'm told that mine is not to question why

my purpose is to work until i die

and all the things that i'm supposed to buy

are all part of the biggest fucking lie

 

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

 

he fell head first into this world

landed face down in the dirt

tried so hard to get up off the ground

but he just kept getting hurt

 

he gave his best, he gave his all

he gave it his everything

he gave the best years of his life

and now he just wants to give up

 

he played the field with a card up his sleeve

living like the underdog

but they stakes were high, his luck it gave out

and he suddenly decided to leave

 

he moved off to some other town

where last he was seen hanging 'round

taking notes from the underground

when he disappeared in shadows and fog

 

 SMART PHONES, STUPID PEOPLE

you wear so many disguises

but i see you everywhere
staring into your devices

oblivious without a care

there is so much information
you just cannot help yourselves
there's no need for contemplation
or faded books on dusty shelves

smart phones, stupid people (4Xs)

facts and stats at your disposal
there's no need to use your brains
you issue no grand proposals
there's no need to feel the strain

the whole world revolves around you
virtual technology
the new upgrade will astound you

and your ideas will cease to be

 

smart phones, stupid people (4Xs)
your ideas will cease to be

 

smart phones stupid people (4Xs)

 

 

PROTEST IS SEX

 

some linear, some cryptic

are the words so expressed by this triptych

these lines are loaded weapons

these lines make no exceptions

 

held up as political fodder

reduced to sexual martyrs

as if it couldn't get any harder

 

you can step through the overwhelming bullshit

too many choices and no fullfilment

voluntary self-exploitation

for just a little bit of attention

 

held up as political fodder

reduced to sexual martyrs

as if it couldn't get any harder