B i o g r a p h y
 (by Jason Ankeny)

An under-recognized pioneer of the lo-fi revolution, Smog was essentially the alias of one Bill Callahan, an enigmatic singer/songwriter whose odd, fractured music neatly epitomized the tenets and excesses of the home-recording boom. Melancholy, poignant, and self-obsessed, Callahan's four-track output offered a peepshow view into an insular world of alienation and inner turmoil, his painfully intimate songs ping-ponging wildly through a scrapbook of childhood recollections, failed relationships, bizarre fetishes, and dashed hopes. Smog debuted in 1988 with the spare, primitive Macrame Gunplay, a cassette-only release issued on Callahan's own Disaster label. Cow followed in 1989, while three more tapes — A Table Setting, Tired Tape Machine, and Sewn to the Sky — were issued a year later. With 1991's Floating EP, Smog signed to the Chicago-based indie label Drag City, and with the move began an advancement toward more traditional songcraft. The subsequent full-length, Forgotten Foundation, was his most well-rounded effort yet, employing a stronger sense of melody while remaining true to the trademark bare-bones atmosphere. Released in 1993, the superb Julius Caesar raised the stakes considerably. Recorded with collaborators Cynthia Dall and Jim O'Rourke, the album expanded the Smog palette to include touches of cello, violin, and even banjo. At the same time, Callahan's songs were his best yet; highlighted by the touching "Chosen One" and the menacing "Your Wedding," Julius Caesar also featured "I Am Star Wars!," a hilarious rant built around a tape loop of the intro to the Stones' "Honky Tonk Women." The six-track Burning Kingdom EP appeared the following year. Issued in 1995, Wild Love continued Smog's approach toward relative sonic grandeur. Led off by the remarkable "Bathysphere" (its title a fitting metaphor for Callahan's self-absorption) and climaxed by the epic "Prince Alone in the Studio" (a virtual theme song for a solitary creative existence), the LP reflected his bitter obsessions with stunning clarity, emerging as a triumph of abject failure. After 1996's Kicking a Couple Around EP, Smog resurfaced later in the year with The Doctor Came at Dawn; Red Apple Falls followed in 1997. The peripatetic Callahan relocated to Chicago prior to the release of 1999's Knock Knock, resurfacing in the spring of 2000 with Dongs of Sevotion and the Strayed EP. 'Neath the Puke Tree followed that fall, an EP that reinvented several tracks and included a few new ones. By the next year, Callahan changed his project's name to the more intimate (Smog), drawing attention away from the "idea" of Smog and putting more emphasis on the music. The next album, Rain on Lens, followed on this path by unveiling several more reflective and sensitive tracks. A year later, the Accumulation: None singles collection arrived with five new songs and the continued use of parentheses. Classically voluble, Callahan returned with Supper in 2003. The literary, laid-back A River Ain't Too Much to Love — which reflected Callahan's move to Austin, Texas and featured performances by Drag City labelmate Joanna Newsom — arrived in 2005.




Sewn to the Sky
- 1990-xx-xx -

Souped Up II (Instrumental)
Kings Tongue
Garb (Instrumental)
Hollow out Cakes (Instrumental)
Confederate Bills and Pinball Slugs
Coconut Cataract (Instrumental)
Fruite Bats
Peach Pit
Disgust (Instrumental)
Russian Winter (Instrumental)
Polio Shimmy (Instrumental)
Smog (Instrumental)
Lost My Key
Fried Piper (Instrumental)
Fables
Puritan Work Ethic
A Jar of Sand
I Want to Tell You About a Man
Olive Drab Spectre (Instrumental)
The Weightlifter

 
Julius Caesar
- 1993-07-05 -



Strawberry Rash
Your wedding

37 push-ups

Stalled on the tracks

One less star

Golden

When you walk
I am Star Wars!

Connections

When the power goes out
Chosen one
What kind of angel
Stick in the mud
 


Wild love
- 1995-03-27 -



Bathysphere
Wild love
Sweet smog children
Bathroom floor
The emperer (Instrumental)
Limited capacity
It's rough
Sleepy Joe
The candle
Be hit
Prince alone in the studio
Goldfish bowl



The Doctor came at dawn
- 1996-09-10 -



You moved in
Somewhere in the night
Lize
Spread your bloody wings
Everything you touch becomes a crutch
Carmelite light (Instrumental)
All your women things
Whistling teapot
(Rag)
Four hearts in a can
Hangman blues


Red apple falls
- 1997-05-20 -



The morning paper
Blood red bird
Red apple
I was a stranger
To be of use
Red apple falls
Ex-con
Inspirational
Finer days

Knock Knock
- 1999-01-12 -



Let's move to the country
Held
River guard
No dancing
Teenage spaceship
Cold blooded old times
Sweet treat
Hit the ground running
I could drive forever
Left only with love

Dongs of sevotion
- 2000-04-04 -



Justice aversion
Dress sexy at my funeral
Strayed
The hard road
Easily led
Bloodflow
Nineteen
Distance
Devotion
Cold discovery
Permanent smile

Rain on Lens
- 2001-09-18 -

Rain On Lens 1
Song
Natural Decline
Keep Some Steady Friends Around
Dirty Pants
Lazy Rain
Short Drive
Live As If Someone
is Always Watching You

Rain On Lens 2
Revanchism


Accumulation None
- 2002-11-05 -



Astronaut
A hit
Spanish moss
Chosen one
Floating
Real live dress
Came blue
Little girl shoes
Cold blooded old times
White ribbon
I break horses
Hole in the heart

Supper
- 2003-03-18 -

Feather By Feather
Butterflies Drowned In Wine
Morality
Ambition
Vessel In Vain
Truth Serum
Our Anniversary
Driving
A Guiding Light


A River Ain't Too Much To Love
- 2005-05-31 -



Palimpsest
Say Valley Maker
The Well
Rock Bottom Riser
I Feel Like The Mother Of The World
In The Pines
Drinking At The Dam
Running The Loping
I'm New Here
Let Me See The Colts

Non Albums Tracks
- Misc -

Back in school
Drunk on the Stars
I break horses
My family
My shell
(electric version)
Not lonely anymore
Renee died 1:45
The Desert

The orange glow of a stranger's living room
Wine stained lips
Your new friend


Add some NEW lyrics (B-sides, live tracks, Cover), want to CORRECT some of them or found a BUG ? Just send a little EMAIL or simply post a message on the FORUM. Thanx !

Sewn to the sky

Kings Tongue

Pawn broker got all my clothes on
And he's looking pretty mean
I bought a kings tongue with the money
Preserved in fire water
And I'm feeling pretty mean
Oh I want to dance
With you buckles between my teeth
Oh I wanna pull flying birds eggs
out of your nest
I'll steal your stars
Spit comes in turbulent wakes
on planet mars
(pretty mean)
Palm ?Brokers? looking
Palm ?Brokers? looking
Pretty mean
Your past out past by the fire (?black coal?)
Doused in fire water
Surprised you're not a mother
The shape that in you're in
Yeah I'm feeling, feeling pretty mean

*** Thanx a lot to Dan who corrected some mistakes ***

Confederate Bills and Pinball SLUGS

Saving all your money for fame
Giving everything, giving everything
You hate ones face
And hope that others will love the other
So many shadows under my eyes
Hiding me in the shadows
You hate ones face
And hope that others will love the other
Saving all your money for fame
Giving away everything
You buy fame with
Confederate bills and pinball slugs
You hate ones face
And that hope others will love the other

Fruite Bats

A symphony of fruite bats
Wrapping on my window pane
I ask them so gently
To go away
Please go away
A symphony of fruite bats
Wrapping on my window pane
You know your
What you're doing to the eye
Do you have a purpose?
Tapping on my window pane
A symphony of fruite bats
Go away
Please go away

Peach Pit

Went down to Georgia
When a wild dog got bit
Went looking for a girl
With a peach pit
With strands all hanging down
Between her teeth
And that was the juiciest peach
I ever saw
Went Down to Georgia
When the wild dog got bit
Went looking for a girl (for a girl)
With a peach pit
With strands all hanging down
Between her teeth
And that was the juiciest peach
I ever saw

Lost My Key

In the desert sand
Desert Sands hotel
Well, I never paid
Sneaking out every day

I never, I always remember
The sun in the ???
On my left ???
The door came off in my hand

I lost my key in the sand
Desert sand
I started my way to the Desert Sands
I lost my key in the sand

In the desert sand
Desert Sands motel
Well, I never paid
Just sneaking out every day

Star
Lost ???
Oedipus
We were wrapped and covered
In layers of ice
Sure in the sand
Help me get lost
Sure as sand
Help me get along

You say I shouldn't
So long
So long
You say I shouldn't
So long
So long
In the desert sand
Desert Sands motel
Well, I never paid

Fables

Learning the fables of the times
Teaching me the fables of the times
I never listened to the fables
I don't think I missed much
I don't think I missed much at all
Learning the fables of the times
Teaching me the fables of the times
People believe the fables
It blows my mind
Some people believe the fables
It blows my mind

Puritan Work Ethic

Puritan work ethic
Did you say Puritan work ethic
Whoa little buddy
Whoa little buddy
Little buddy
Whoa little buddy-buddy
Whoa little buddy
How do I make my living
How do I pay my bills
How do I make my living
How do I pay my bills
Curious son of a bitch, ain't you
Free your mind
There you're out of your mind
I just want to picture this
Oh come on
How do I make my living
(What's your living)
Oh just a living
Oh just a living
(Where do you work)
Oh just a living
Oh just a living
All of the ladies want to know
How I treat them so fine
And all the ladies want to know
How I treat them so fine

A jar of sand

I heard the treasure lay beneath the sounds of your (little lake?) (brittle bay?)
When I left the shore that day it looked like the moon
And the deck on the seas on the storming seas
I can see the southern cross, the southern cross

Tide pools big enough
Tide pools just deep enough to drown in

Lots of drowning girls little hands dived for pearls
To wear in your wedding ring
I know, I know what's buried under the sands
Of your (little lake)

Tide pools big enough to drown in
Tide pools just deep enough to drown in

I gave you a jar of sand from the coast
I gave you a jar of sand from the coast
I gave you a jar of sand from the coast

*** Thanx a lot to Gregory for this one ***

I Want to Tell You about a Man

I want to tell you about a man
You won't find him on your MTV
He doesn't drop acid
He doesn't even read Dick K. Phillips
He's not a seminal member of New York's new wave scene
He doesn't publish a phantazine
His name is Jesus Christ
His name is Jesus Christ
Don't make me say it twice
His name is Jesus Christ

The Weightlifter

The weightlifter wears t-shirts in wintertime
The weightlifter wears no shirt in summertime
The weightlifter prays and prays for summertime
The weightlifter has a playboy air freshener
Dangling from his rearview mirror
But something on his mind
His car is red he's saving for a water bed
Oh what a love nest that'll be

The weightlifter wears t-shirts in wintertime

Julius Caesar

Strawberry Rash

Meet strawberry rash
One on each cheek
Coins in the crack
Meet strawberry rash

It's the banquet of a starving girl  (x2)
She's gonna swallow glass

Meet strawberry rash
Red eggs and brown apples
She's gonna swallow glass
Meet strawberry rash
Coins in (poison?) the crack

It's the banquet of the starving girl  (x2)
She's gonna swallow glass
meet strawberry rash
Coins in the crack
And beggin' her to piss

Your Wedding

I remember
Entering you
Entering you

I'm gonna be drunk, so drunk at your wedding  (x4)

37 Push-ups

47 push ups
In a winter-rate
Sea side motel

I feel like Travis Bickle
I'm listening to Highway to Hell
It's a shitty little tape I taped off the radio

39 push ups
In a winter-rate
Sea side motel

32 push ups 
In a winter-rate
Sea side motel

Not looking too good
Not feeling so well

37 push ups
In a winter-rate seaside motel
I'm going up again  (x2)
Goin' up to go down again

Stalled on the Tracks

Stalled on the tracks  (x2)
No turnin' back
I'm stalled on the tracks

A turtle on its back
I think I hear that train a-comin'

One Less Star

So there's one less star in the sky
Well, who cares

Golden

Girl, what you give me is pure gold  (x2)
Girl, what you give me
Makes me feel like I'm four years old
It's out of control  (x2)
What you give me
Oh, it's pure gold
It's out of control

When You Walk

When you walk
It's a parade
With bears dancin' fish swimmin'
Monkeys laughin' hard
When you walk
It's a parade
With bears dancing, fish swimmin'
Monkeys all around
When you walk
It's a parade
And I'm walkin' too  (x2)
When you walk, it's a parade  (x2)
And I'm walkin' too

I am Star Wars!

I am Star Wars today
I am no longer English grey

Connections

I hate men with connections
I hate your connections
I said, I don't like your connections

I don't like your connections
I hate men with connections
I said, I don't like your connections
I hate men with connections
(I whoo-bop)
I don't like your connections
(I can't stop)

When the Power Goes Out

When the power goes out
In the grocery store
You just take, take, take
Just take, take, take

When the power goes out
In the grocery store
You just take, take, take
Just take, take, take

See a mother with a cart full of pampers
Out the door and back for more
See the minor with six cases of beer
only the finest, spare no expense here

When the power goes out in the grocery store
You just take, take, take
You just take, take, take

*** Thanx a lot to Ed for this one ***

Chosen One

Oh whoa (x4)

Well you're a wild horse
On a collision course
With the sun
(repeat)

I wanted to ride that wild horse
Into the sun
(repeat)

But I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one
On no, I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one
Oh whoa (x2)

Maybe it's best for you to ride
Ride into the sun
Because I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one
Oh no, I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one
Oh whoa (x4)

What kind of Angel

She's had everyone
She made me doubt women
She said I could do it without protection
That's not a woman at all
She says she's an angel
That's not a woman at all
Well, what kind of angel
What kind of angel is that?
What kind of angel
What kind of angel is that?
It's an angel of death
The angel of death

She's gonna kill someone (x5)
The angel of death
Ah! The angel of death
She says she's an angel (x2)
That's not a woman at all
What kind of angel, what kind of angel is that? (x2)

Stick in the Mud

There's nothin' I'd rather see
Than for you to fail
There's nothin' I'd rather see
Than for you to fail
And where is the beauty
That I once had?
Where is the beauty
That I had once?

I feel like I'm becoming a stick in the mud
I feel like I'm becoming a Lou Reed - Mistrial stick in the mud

There's nothin' I'd rather see 
Than for you to fail
And where is the beauty
That I once had?
Where is the beauty
I had just once?
I hate songs with questions in them
I feel like I'm becoming a stick in the mud
I feel like I'm becoming a Lou Reed - Mistrial in the mud

Wild love

Bathysphere

When I was seven
I asked my mother
To trip me to the bay
And put me on a ship
And lower me down
Lower me out of here

Because when I was seven
I wanted to live in a bathysphere

Between coral
Silent eel
Silver swordfish
I can't really feel or dream down here

And if the water should cut my line (*2)
Set me free
And if the water should cut my line
Set me free, I don't mind
I'll be the lost sailor, my home is the sea

When I was seven
My father said to me
'But you can't swim'
And I've never dreamed of the sea again

Wild Love

Wild love
Wild love
Somebody chopped down my wild love
Wild love
Wild love
Somebody shot down my wild love

Sweet Smog Children

Well come on
Sweet smog children, come on
Sweet smog children, come on
But I can't really talk to you
I can only sing
Sweet smog children, I can only sing for you
And I don't want to hear from you
Sweet smog children
It feels like I want to hear from you
But I don't really want to hear from you
Sweet smog children
I just want to touch you
Sweet smog children
Like the invisible man
Sweet smog children, come on
To be untouchable, come on
As only a child can, come on
Sweet smog children

Bathroom floor

Bloody rag and a broken string of pearls
On your bathroom floor
When I overheard your mother say
"Maybe she's just a late bloomer"
But what she didn't know was
Oh, what she didn't know was
You'd already bloomed and died
Bloomed and died
Bloomed and died
Bloomed and died

Limited Capacity

I painted myself into a corner again
Because I didn't like the colour of my floors
After you walked all over them
You're full of white lies
Oh, you're full of white lies
But I've got a limited capacity
Yeah I've got a limited capacity
And I'll paint my floors again
I'm sure I'll paint my floors again

It's Rough

 When you're down on your luck 
Aand you just can't cope
 When the times are bleak
And the friends are few
Don't turn to me
 'Cause I'm no hope
 Don't turn to me 
'Cause I don't know what to do

 Maybe you should have a drink
 I don't know why you ever stopped anyway

 Oh, it's rough
Baby, to live
 Oh, it's hard
Baby, to survive
 Everyday lately 
My mind feels like glass
 Ready to be smashed
 Ready to be smashed

 Oh well, my best friend
Took a bullet through his eye
 First he had a patch
Now he's got a glass eye
 One hard, glass eye
 He says sometimes he wishes
Both his eyes were glass
 
 Well, it's rough
Baby, to live
 And it's hard
Baby, to survive
 Everyday lately 
My mind feels like glass
 Ready to be smashed
 I'm ready to be smashed

 At times I lock myself up
In my room
 Don't come over
 While I listen to a record
 I stare at the cover
 Don't come over
 Don't come over
'Cause I'm no hope to you
 I'm no hope to you

Sleepy Joe

I slept through most of April
I got up in May and had some toast
Then I bedded down again
I bedded down again
Because I was sleepy

In June
I made enough chili in my crockpot
To last `till the winter
'Cause winter will be here sooner than you think
Winter will be here sooner than you think
That's when I hibernate

Oh, can you hear the bells
Can you hear the bells
Well neither can I
Neither can I
And I don't hear trumpets
When I enter a room
The fire you build for yourself
Could be so cold
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe

You say you feel like you're dead
Oh well, I think it's just those books you read
You say you can't feel a thing
I'd like to break a chair across your back
And throw you in the ocean
Then tell me you don't feel a thing
When you slept with Jenny
You said you couldn't feel a thing
Well I did
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe
Nature abhors a vacuum
Nature abhors a vacuum
And so do you
Especially when you're trying to sleep late
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe
Sleepy Joe

The Candle

I was on her body
He was on her mind
I progressed her
He possessed her
I was there every day
He was there one day
And then went away
Well, I'm gathering these splinters to make a raft someday
She gives me so little
I'm gathering these splinters to make a raft someday and sail away
But the candle, she still burns a candle
"A light", she says, "I need a light"
And it's the only light in our room tonight
And she fills her face
With bananas and plumbs
Yoghurt and crumbs
And sexual (drums her fingers, comes, numbs?)
And the vibrated ..?..
And my dumb smile

Be Hit

Every girl I've ever loved
Has wanted to be hit
Every girl I've ever loved
Wanted to be hit
Every girl I've ever loved
Has wanted to be hit
Every girl I've ever loved
Left me, 'cause I wouldn't do it.

Got some advice for you friend
Ba-ba-bruise 'em, you'll never lose 'em
Ba-ba-bruise 'em, you'll never lose 'em
Alright now

Seems my sensitive touch
Can be given by, any old shmuck
Alright now

(repeat chorus)

Prince Alone in the Studio

Prince alone in the studio
It's two a.m. and all the girls are gone
The girls thought they were going to be able
To have sex with him
They wore their special underwear
Once the tracks were laid down
Prince's back turned around
Raspberry headphones on his head
On his ears

Prince alone in the studio
It's three a.m.
Prince hasn't eaten in eighteen hours
Dinner's burned on the stove
But Prince, he doesn't even know

Prince alone in the studio
It's four a.m.
And he finally gets that guitar track right
And it's better than anything any girl could ever give him
Because Prince is alone
Prince is alone
Oh Prince, you are so alone

And when it's all complete
He feels like a hunter on the street
And when it's all complete
He feels like a hunter on the street

Goldfish Bowl

With all your health tips and your guilt trips
I can't even walk
You're watching me like a hawk
With all your guilt trips and your health tips
I can't eat at all
You're watching me like a hawk
You know this appartment is so small
Oh, how can I expect a wild love to grow
Oh, how can I expect a wild love to grow
It's like a fish in a goldfish bowl
It's like a fish in a goldfish bowl
It's like a fish in a goldfish bowl

The doctor came at dawn

You Moved In

You moved in
to my hotel
You could have done better
But Oh Well

I tapped your phones
I read your mail
We split the rent
But you couldn't
Make the bail...
(Make the bail)

Now you never listened
to the fables
You just danced to the symphony
Of the musical sound of
Your ever expanding sea
(Ever expanding sea)

And now with your hair
Turning so white
You live in your car
and drive
Drive all night.
And you think about J.D.
And why he had to leave
Kneeling in some bunker
Wiping his nose
On his sleeve

And I hope you don't mind
If I grab your private life
Slap it on the table
And split it
With a knife

Somewhere in the Night
 
Have you lost your faith
Have you lost your way
Have you lost everything
You thought you held
Yesterday

You should leave me behind
And devote all your time
To kissing the spoon
That you once fed him from

Do you lose your mind
Somewhere in the night
While searching the asides
And the b-sides

You should leave me behind
And devote all your time
To licking the spoon
You once fed him from

Have you lost your faith
Have you lost your way
Have you lost everything
You thought you held
Yesterday
 
Lize
 
They don't make lies
Like they used to
They don't make lies
Like they used to
You don't make lies
Like you used to
You don't make lies
Like you used to

In the old days
You took pride in your lies
You used to pay more attention
To details.
Not theses flimsy things
You hand me
Nowadays

They don't make lies
Like they used to
They don't make lies
Like they used to
You don't make lies
Like you used to
You don't make lies
Like you used to

They used to be stronger
They used to last longer
You used to pay more attention
To detail
Nowadays the lies that get made
Just fall apart

They don't make lies
Like they used to
They don't make lies
Like they used to
No you don't make lies
Like you used to
You don't make lies
Like you used to

I used to be able
To live off your lies
 
Spread Your Bloody Wings
 
And though you've known a thousand men
But still
A ship never sailed on your sea
And though you've known a thousand men
But still

Briney waters singe their skins
Icy waves drive them back again
Helmets oars and swords
Are washed upon the shore

And you gave them all a thousand chances
And you'll give them a thousand more
In your eyes a thousand challenges

The water demon's eyes
Are pink and green
Scales of silver mirror mesmerize
The most beautiful thing you've ever seen
Spits bile into your eye
 
Everything You Touch Becomes a Crutch
 
Have I said too much
Am I losing my touch.
I don't think we should touch.
You go with the other men
Me I beat myself to sleep
Maybe I should have just
Left all this in a lock-up box
In Boston

Never said too much
I always tried to save face
I never said too much
Tried to save my face.
Only a few spare incidents
Of disgrace.

Never said too much
I said we shouldn't touch
I beat myself to sleep
You go with the other men
Go with your other men
I beat myself to sleep
I beat myself to sleep

Maybe I should have left all this
In an airport lock-up box
In Boston
 
All Your Women Things
 
All your women things
All your frilly things
Scattered 'round my room
Right where you left them
When you left them
Scattered 'round my room

All your hardness
All your softness
And your mercy

All your bridges and bras
Your cotton
and gauze
All your buckles and straps
Releases and traps
All your screws
and false nails
Oriental winks
and Egyptian veils

Oh all of these things
I gathered them
And I made a dolly
I made a dolly
A spread-eagle dolly
Out of your frilly things

Why couldn't I have loved you
This tenderly
When you were here
In the flesh
So tenderly

How could I ignore
Your left breast
Your right breast

How could I ignore
Your hardness
Your softness
And your mercy

Well it's been seven years
And the thought of your name
Still makes me
Weak in the knees

How could I ignore
Your left breast
Your right breast
 
Whistling Teapot (Rag)
 
Aw who needs you
Lying in your crummy bed
While I'm out here in the cold
With a hope that is so thin

Aw who needs you
Lying in your crummy bed
While I'm out here in the cold cold cold
With a coat that is so thin

You're lying in your crummy bed
You're smoking your drugs

And between the two of you
Could not come up with
Enough compassion not to screw

And between the three of us
Could not come up with
A single reason

And did you have to take
My only friend?
 
Four Hearts in a Can
 
Four hearts in a can
Speeding through the countryside
And they're driving as fast as they can
Four hearts in a can
Speeding through the countryside
And they're driving as fast as they can

Trying to outrun
Four thousand problems
Trying to outrun
Four thousand girls

Four hearts in a can
Speeding through the countryside
And they're driving as fast as they can

Trying to outrun
Four thousand problems
Trying to outrun
Four thousand girls
And they're headed for
Four thousand and one

They're headed for
Four thousand and one

As fast as they can.
 
Hangman Blues
 
Ha ha ha
Ha ha ha

Life's a joke
A waiting game now.
A juggling of vices
Tiny tiny vices
And they don't anchor me
To the ground
I know who the hangman is
So life's a joke

Ha ha ha
Ha ha ha

The clocks on the wall
Creeps higher.
Save save
Restraint restraint.
It's a joke
And I know who the hangman is

A ship in a vial
A headstone on the wharf
And it will pin me
To the ground

Ha ha ha
Ha ha ha

All the lights look green
So unbend
Your toughest smile
I think we've got
I think we've got
I think we've got

One more mile

Red Apple Falls

The Morning Paper

The morning paper is on it's way
And it's all bad news on every page
So i roll right over
And go to sleep
The evening sun will be so sweet

I roll right over
And i have this thing

Red apple falls

Blood Red Bird

I was not woken by the rooster
Nor by the crow's tough song
But the midnight cry of a blood red bird
Brought this sleeplessness on

Threw open the window
Moonlight on a black garden of thorns
And the cool wind on my sweat

What cries home
Where cries from
A blood red bird lies in the woods
Weeping into dead leaves
With wing torn and jutting bone

What hand bent it to bust
To be ueseless
What hand I could have done it
With two fingers

A blood red bird
A blood red bird

We can continually sink into each other
Just deep enough to rip out a bit more flesh
When we move away
A scarf of skin trailing out behind

Like an arrow
I was only passing through
A blood red bird
A blood red bird

Red Apples

I went down to the river
To meet the widow
She gave me an apple
It was red

I slept in her black arms
For a century
She wanted nothing in return
I gave her nothing in return
I gave her nothing in return

The ghost of her husband
Beautiful as a horse
Pulled up an apple cart
Full of millions of red apples

For us

I Was a Stranger

I was a stranger
When i came to town
Just yesterday 
I was a stranger
They dont come much stranger

So why
Why did you believe
All every word I said
Why did you believe
Believe a stranger
A stranger

And why do you women in this town
Let me look at you so bold
When you have seen what i was
In the last town
In the last town
You should have seen what i was
If i was a stranger
I was worse than a stranger
I was well-known

To Be of Use

Most of my fantasies are of
Making someone else come
Most of my fantasies are of
To be of use
To be of some hard
Simple
Undeniable use

Like a spindle
Like a candle
Like a horseshow
Like a corkscrew

To be of use
To be of use

Most of my fantasies are of
Making someone else come
On a horse
Over palms laid
On the threshold
On the coming day

Coming day
Coming day come

Red Apple Falls

The widow says
It's hard to live
With a man
A man like me
The widow says
It's hard to live
On the lonely version of love i give

And i've seen the way her eyes light up
When she looks at the man in a family way
He's made of iron and he knows the way

And when i think about my brother dying
And my parents trying 
To slowly do themselves in
Inch by inch, day by day
And the telephone's ring
Is like a banshee wail

The widow says i broke her first
Of course i say, just the reverse
And we cant get past this

Something she did
On the 14th of June
Because of something i said
On the 13th of June
And we can't get past this

And if we could lock our lips
And block our noses
And swim beneath the barriers
And come up clean
On the other side
But we can't get past this

Ex-Con

Whenever i get dressed up
I feel like an ex-con
Trying to make good

Jean jacket and tie
Feel like such a lie
When i go to your house
I feel like i'm
Casing the joint
In the grocery store
In line behind a mother and a child
I'm going to take take that child
I'm going to take take that child
I'm going to take take that child

See because alone in my room
I feel like such a part of the community
But out on the streets
I feel like a robot by the river

Alone in my room
I feel such a warmth for the community
But out on the streets
I feel like a robot by the river
Looking for a drink

Inspirational

If you're living the unliveable
By loving the unloveable
It's time to start changing the unchangeable
Be leaving the unleaveable

Come on

If you're living the unliveable
By loving the unloveable
It's time to start breaking 
The unbreakable
And replacing the irreplaceable

Finer Days

Granted passage
Into the finer days
How i got here
I do not know
And if it were all to disappear
I would not know how to return

And all of my old friends
Wat me to stay down down down
With them
I could extend them a hand
But they would only pull it off
In their grasp, in their power

So i find myself
Isolated
Isolated in these fine, fine days

Knock Knock

Let's move to the country

Let's move to the country
Just you and me

My travels are over
My travels are through

Let's move to the country
Just me and you

A goat and a monkey
A mule and a flea

Let's move to the country
Just you and me

Let's start a...
Let's have a...

My travels are over

Held

For the first time in my life
I let myself be held
Like a big old baby
I surrender
To your charity

I lay back in the tall grass
And let the ants cover me
I let the jets fly
I'm wishing for their destruction
Born to black in a perfect blue sky

For the first time in my life
I am moving away, moving away, moving away
From within the reach of me
And all the wild being held
Like a big old baby

Waouh!

River guard

When I take the prisoners swimming
They have the time of their lives
I love to watch them floating

On their backs
Unburdened and relaxed

I sit in the tall grass and look the other way
And when I haul them in they always say
Our sencences will not served

We are constantly on trial
It's a way to be free

Most nights I go for a drive
To the highest place I can find
Stand there on a cliff with gooseflesh
Watching the wind rip the leaves from the trees

Death defying
Every breath
Death defying

Soon we will all be back in the yard
Behind the wall
Living hard
Dreaming of cool rivers and tall grass

We are constantly on trial
It's a way to be free

We are constantly on trial
It's a way to be free

*** Thanx a lot to Kellie for this one ***

No dancing

There's always some bird-dog
Snuffling, choking
Looking like you came to collect
Something you said you owed
There's always some turtle snapping in my head
Saying you can't just waltz in here
Acting like nothing is wrong

No dancing, no dancing, no dancing
Not while the road is racing
No dancing, no dancing, no dancing
Not while the time is chasing

There's a poacher on the land
I recognize his hand
In the mail
He's fogging up the glass
The bird is on the last
And here he comes

Here he comes, oh

No dancing, no dancing, no dancing
Not while the wires are showing
No dancing, no dancing, no dancing
Not while the time is flowing

There's a poacher on the land
I recognize his hand
In the mail
He's fogging up the glass
The bird is on the last
And here he comes

Here he comes, oh

No dancing, no dancing, no dancing
Not while the time is flowing
No dancing, no dancing, no dancing
Not while your wires are showing

*** Thanx a lot to Joe for this one ***

Teenage spaceship

Flying around
The houses at night
Flying alone

A teenage spaceship
I was a teenage spaceship
Landing at night

I was beautiful with all my lights
Loomed so large on the horizon
So large, people thought my windows
Were stars
So large on the horizon
People thought my windows
Were stars

A teenage spaceship
A teenage spaceship

And I swore I'd never lay like a log
Bark like a dog

I was a teenage smog
Sewn to the sky

Cold blooded old times

Cold-blooded old times
The type of memories
that turns your bones to glass
Turns your bones to glass

Mother came rushing in
she said we didn't see a thing
We said we didn't see a thing
And father left at eight
Nearly splintering the gate

Cold-blooded old times
The type of memory
That turns your bones to glass
Turns your bones to glass

And though you where
Just a little squirrel
You understood every word
And in this way they gave you clarity
A cold-blooded clarity

Cold-blooded old times

Now how can I stand
and laugh with the man
Who redefined your body

Those cold-blooded old times...

*** Thanx a lot to Daniele who corrected a mistake ***

Sweet treat

If there where something so
Hard and clear
It would have been
Bought and sold long ago

So take your sweet treat
In the evening
Take your sweet treat
In the evening

Please to know this
Please to know this

If someone offers you
Some sugar
You should eat it

*** Thanx a lot to Elisabet for this one ***

Hit the ground running

I had to leave the country
Though there was some nice folks there
Now I don't know where I'm going
All I know is I'll hit the ground running

Only cowboys
The Southern gentlemen
Betting women
That will Never mend
They ride the roads as they bend
As they bend to there dead ends

I had to leave the country
Though there was some nice folks there
And now I don't know where I'm going
All i know is that I'll hit the ground running

I was raised in a pit of snakes
Blink your eyes I was raised on cakes
I couldn't memorize a century of slang
Or learn to tell the same story again again and again

I had to leave the country
Though there was some nice folks there
Now I don't know where I'm going
All I know is I'll hit the ground running

Bitterness is a lowest sin
A bitter man rots from within
I've seen his smile
Yellow and brown
The bitterness is rotting down

I had to leave the country
Though there was some nice folks there
Now I don't know where I'm going
All I know to do is hit the ground running

Hit the ground running

I could drive forever

To many lines has been broken
To many people have crumbled apart
In my hand

I should have left a long time ago
The best idea I've ever had

With every mile
Another piece of me peels off
and whips down the road
all down the road

I should have left a long time ago
The best idea I've ever had

With every mile
A piece of me peels of
and whips down the road
All down the road

I should have left a long time ago
The best idea I've ever had

I feel light and strong
I could drive forever

To many lines has been broken
To many people have crumbled apart
in my hand

I should've left a long time ago
The best idea I've ever had

With every mile
Another piece of me peels of
And whips down the road
All down the road

I should've left a long time ago
The best idea I've ever had

I feel light and strong
I could drive forever

Left only with love

I'm left only with love for you
You did what was right to do
And i hope you find your husband
And a father to your children

'Cause I'm left only with love for you
You did what was right to do
And I hope you find your husband
And a father to you children

When I lost you
I lost my family
You did what was right to do
And I hope you find your husband
And a father to your children

'Cause I'm left only with love for you
You did what was right to do
An I hope you find your husband
And a father to your children

Dongs of sevotion

Justice Aversion

It happens on a side street maybe
It happens on a main street maybe
Lion bites zebra neck
Zebra stomps lion head

It's just this justice
Aversion
For the improper way
Things are done today

I route for the underdog
No matter who they are
Like the bankrobber
In the getaway car

It's just this justice
Aversion
For the improper way
Things are done today

We could stay up all night talking
About my animal nature
And the unverse's hesitance
To grant us grace

It could happen on a side street maybe
It could happen on a main street maybe

It's just this justice
Aversion

I route for the underdog
No matter who they are
Like the bankrobber
In the getaway car

*** Thanx a lot to Joe & Chris for this one ***

Dress sexy at my funeral

Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
For the first time in your life
Wear your blouse undone to hear
And your skirt split up to here

Oh Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
For the first time in your life
Oh Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
Wink at the minister
Blow kisses to my grieving brothers

Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
And when it comes your turn to speak before the crowd
Tell them about the time we did it
On the beach with fireworks above us

On the railroad tracks with the gravel in your back
In the back room of a crowded bar
And in the graveyard where my body now rests

Oh Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
Dress sexy at my funeral my good wife
For the first time in your life

Also tell them about how I gave to charity
And tried to love my fellow man as best i could
But most of all don't forget about the time on the beach
With fireworks above us

Strayed

Well, it's strange the way
You walk behind
But seem to lead the way
Oh, I know I,
Oh, I know I have strayed

I have taken you for a ride
Left you waiting in the car
While I played death games inside
Oh, I know I,
Oh, I know I have strayed

I have loved in haste
I've been an alleycat and a bumblebee
To your panther and your wasp
Oh I have loved
While thinking only of the cost
Oh, I know I
Oh, I know I have strayed

I've raised a sick child to your lips
And in asking you to kiss
What I would not kiss
Oh, I know I
Oh, I know I have strayed

Well I never thought I'd be
One of those men
With pin-ups on their wall
For all to see
I thought that was just mechanics
Oh, I know I
Oh, I know I have strayed

I have taken you for a ride
Left you waiting in the car
While I played death games inside

The Hard Road

I'll take the hard road
I believe I'll see you there
In a cyclone of stones
Wooden spikes in your hair
Or maybe you'll resting
Leaning up against a busted fence
Pluck a bird from the coop
Then we're back up on the hard road

We could sleep in a barn
Bathe in a lake
Steal the pipe
Let hunger dictate
The steps that you take
Along the hard road

And when winter comes
We'll bottle some
The nearest washing line
And when summer comes
It's almost impossible
Not to have a good time
Out on the hard road

*** Thanx a lot to Joe for this one ***

Easily led

I am not easily led
Despite the head
I was just trying to cross the street with you
I was just a step devoted

But I am not easily led
I'm suggestible at times, it's true
But only by you
I lay open jelly-limbed
To your smallest whim

But I am not easily fed
I'll turn my head
When you come at me with a spoon

No, I am not easily led
Despite the head
I was just trying to get along with you
I was just trying to be a human

*** Thanx a lot to Joe who updated this one ***

Bloodflow

Hold on
Hold on
Hold on
Hold on

Hold on, hold on with a grip so tight
It dams my blood, makes my head feel light
Well, hearts will start and hearts will stop
And the blood will flow until we drop

Bloodflow!
Bloodflow
Bloodflow!
Bloodflow

No time for a tete-a-tete
Can I borrow your machete?
In this wonderful world
In this beautiful world
Hold on
 
Blood will spill and blood will spurt
Enemies keep the mind alert

Bloodflow!
Bloodflow
Bloodflow!
Bloodflow

No time for a tete-a-tete
Can I borrow your machete?
In this wonderful world
Hold on
In this beautiful world

Hold on
Hold on
Hold on
Hold on

Hold on, hold on with a grip so tight
It dams my blood makes my head feel light 

Bloodflow!
Bloodflow

Cheerleader chant:
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!
Hold on, hold on with a grip so tight,
it dams my blood makes my head feel light, hey, hey!
Hold on, hold on with a grip so tight,
it dams my blood makes my head feel light, hey, hey!
Hold on, hold on with a grip so tight,
it dams my blood makes my head feel light, hey, hey!
Hold on, hold on with a grip so tight,
it dams my blood makes my head feel light, hey, hey!
No time for a tete-a-tete, can I borrow your machete? hey, hey!
No time for a tete-a-tete, can I borrow your machete? hey, hey!
No time for a tete-a-tete, can I borrow your machete? hey, hey!
No time for a tete-a-tete, can I borrow your machete? hey, hey!
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!
B-L-double O-D-F-L-O-W bloodflow bloodflow!

Slow it down now...
Hold on...

*** Thanx a lot to Joe who updated this one ***

Nineteen

So she washed her cut in the sink
And picked up and once more along the way
Down to the bay, where I did stay

I was nineteen
And so relieved to be beating twenty

Without her clothes
She looked like a leper in the snow
I left her in the snow without her clothes

My movements were slow
Long, she didn't even know
What she was taking away

We didn't talk much
Oh, it must have shown
She must have known

The next day, she never called me again
The day after that, she gave me a call
She was all drunk

Her words came slow
Oh, I didn't even know what I had
I'm taking away

*** Thanx a lot to Joe & Adam & Ian for this one ***

Distance

The curtain slaps in the wind
A human sound of fleshy flesh
Little fists pummel absently
To birth the spirit in the room

The wind it seems to lick
The wind it seems to suck
The wind is a great big woman
That makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up

My body seems to be lacking something
I remember the taste
That on a night like this
Wa sonly ever shed in haste
All these moments have passed through me
I have turned them all to waste

There are women on the street
They shine before me like teeth in a mine
And their are voices on the street
One of them is mine

If I watched from a high hidden window
I'd hear myself say
Oh I can't make it out
I'm too far away

But the conversation is like the beating
Taken in a dream
Where no real blows are landed
The only harm is in memory

All these women have passed through me
I have turned them all to waste

*** Thanx a lot to Joe for this one ***

Devotion

There are some terrible gossips in this town
There are some terrible gossips in this town
With jaws like vices
And eyes like drains

There are some little weasels in this town
Scampering around loose
With yellow teeth
And the beady eyes

We should set a standard amount of words
That I am to say to these
We should set a standard type of look
That you are to give to me
When you wanna leave

There are some terrible gossips in this town
With jaws like vices
And eyes like drains

I won't tell what they say about you
I won't flourish the shit
You are my dearest friend
And I will protect you
Until the end

With a will like vices
Complete as a drain

Cold Discovery

I know your teeth have gnashed through death
Still you come to me
So gently
Find a soft place on your body
And rub me with it
Oh, this I won't soon forget
You're the one that will remain
You're the one that will remain

Bust a lock with a rock
Don't need a key to have me
This was your cold discovery

We needed a fever, we needed a cure
The bait no longer lured
Say goodbye, if you can
The car waits for me
Just across the border
Wish me luck, no good luck
No bad luck, just wish me luck
With my cold discovery

You are gone
My cold discovery
You're the one that will remain

Well, I can hold a woman down on a hardwood floor
Well, I can hold a woman down on a hardwood floor
And your teeth can gnash right through me
Looking for a soft place
And of this you won't soon forget
I had no soft place for you to rest
And this was your, your cold discovery
Your cold discovery

Well, I can hold a woman down on a hardwood floor
Well, I can hold a woman down on a hardwood floor
This was my, my cold discovery
My cold discovery

If you saw it for what it really was
My cold discovery
My cold discovery
My cold discovery

*** Thanx a lot to Joe for this one ***

Permanent Smile

Oh God, can you feel the sun in your back?
Oh God, can you see your shadow, inky black on the sand?
Oh God, can you hear the saltwater drying on your skin?
Oh God, can you feel my heart beating in my tongue?

Oh God, by being quiet, I hope to alleviate my death
Oh God, by sitting still, I hope to lighten your load
When your shadow covers me from head to toe
Curtain every flies, tell me it's mine, my time to go

Seven waves of insects make babies in, in my skin
Seven waves of insects make families in my skin
(It's just like animals) It's just like animals that play
And the flesh...flesh...flesh...rotted off my skull
And then I will have earned my permanent, my permanent smile

Oh God, I never, never asked why
Oh God, I never, never asked why

*** Thanx a lot to Joe for this one ***

Rain on lens

*** Thanx a lot to 'Lowlife' for the Rain on lens lyrics ***

Rain on lens 1

Rain on lens
Rain on lens
Boom in frame
All is ruin
Let's call it a day

Song

I'm a bit like a soldier
In the way I wear no uniform
And choose not to fight
And fight all night
For some other cause

I'm a bit like the grave digger
Who wields no shovel
And digs no hole
But leaves the bodies to rot
In the places that they stand
For some other cause

I'm a bit like the pack mule
Carrying no load
Into the canyons of your jive
For some other cause

I'm a bit like the freelance fence painter
Then eyes your backside as you leave
For some other cause

I'm a bit like the peephole
That falls in love with all the eyes
That look through
Watching major things unfold
From minor flaws
For some other cause

(Have Mercy)

Natural Decline

The mind is always working
The mind is always turning
The mind is always working
The mind is always turning
Things over and over and over
And over and over

The upside the downside
The inside the outside
The sightside the blindside
The wifeside the fightside
here is no rest for your brother

Pulleys are clinking
Ropes are fraying
Down to thread
Maybe was made wrong
Rubbing on the wrong thing
Or is it just the natural decline
Of a body sister

The mind is always working
Out ways to see
The things I shouldn't see
And have the things I shouldn't have
I see the night sky as a jewelry store window
And my mind is half a brick

Keep some steady friends around

Keep some steady friends around
Best thing you can do
Keep some steady friends around
Best thing for you
Find a little place to go
When you want to get away
Find a little place to go
When you have to get away

But don't stay away too long
Because we love you too much
But don't stay away so long
Because we love you so much

To build your own house
Might be the best
Following your own design
Like some kind of God
With a fence all around
A fence all around

But don't forget to put in a gate
Don't forget to put in a gate
So you can have some steady friends come around
You can have some steady friends come around

Someone asked me just the other day
About souls and such
And if I believed in Judgement day

Dirty Pants

And so I dance in dirty pants
A drink in my hand
No shirt and broken tooth
Barefoot and beaming

The crowd is stomping
Stomping a song
For me to dance to
Break glass and give in

My head is ringing
My blood is singing
So I walk down to the creek
And I slither in
I catch my breath
Icy cold

Then I walk out to your house
And let myself in
Back you into the corner
And I multiply

I could toll endlessly
Into the bottomless night

God does not answer this type of prayer

*** Thanx a lot to Alice who corrected this one ***

Lazy Rain

It's snaining outside
Or is it just lazy rain
It's six AM and I'm walking home
While the city twitches
In a sleep of dog dreams

Me and a friend of mine
We just cheated death
Now I'm walking home
For death's rain check

I open the door quietly
So as not to wake
The blue-eyed wedding cake
But she's watching me with one eye
The sleepy little spy

She helps me off with my shirt
Because my arm was hurt
In a recent fall
I slide into the bed
Then my leg I thread
Between hers
I put my good arm on her belly
Her hips
Her knees
She is made of several babies

I keep my scratchy cast to myself
As I feel our bodies melt
Into two drops of lazy rain
Snaking down the window pane

And when the two drops merge
Then there is the surge
Of one larger drop
We move faster towards the sill

Short drive

I took your party invitation list
And wrote 'enemies' across the top of it
Then I asked you
To go on a short drive with me
So I could point out
Some more of our enemies

Drive with me
Scowl with me
I put my hand on your knee
And say to your left you will see
Some more of our enemies

I dragged you half across the United States
I drove for 24 hours straight
I would not stop to let you pee
On a single bumblebee

Drive with me
Scowl with me
I put my hand on your knee
And say to your left you will see
Some more of our enemies

And 'though this that seems ongoing
Ever flowing
Will one day when we look back
Just be a short drive
Made back in our endless lives

Live as if someone is always watching you

Live as if someone is always watching you
In all you do
Live as if someone
Is always watching you

Eventually you will find
That both of you will need to come to some compromise
Maybe one or the other could agree
To sleep at different times
Or go off alone
Or at least shut their eye

Shut your eye off once in a while
Shut your eye off once in a while

So at least one of us
Can with some conviction say :

I am not of this glutty room
Or of this flubby body

Rain on lens 2

Rain on lens
Rain on lens
Boom in frame
Boom in frame
All is ruin
Let's take it again

Revanchism

Sister sister
I know you hate to hear me sing
Sister sister
I know it makes your skin crawl
To see my father mouth
Do anything at all

Sister sister
You used to dance as a child
Sister sister
I never sang back then
Until the night you stopped dancing

Sister sister
I picked up what you dropped
Picked it up and ran

Sister sister
Now we have children of our own
Sister sister
The boy is so silent
There'll be no singing
Around the home

Sister sister
Is the the daughter a dancer
I will not ask her

Accumulation None

Astronaut

I feel like an astronaut
Suffocating on the moon
So far from home
Encased in this plastic dome
I can barely see the earth from here
I cut my tether willingly
'Til i realise it's killing me
But something always saves my life
Wish i knew it's name
I should never be an explorer
Makes me sick

A hit

It's not going to be a hit
So why even bother with it?
It's not going to be a hit
So why even bother with it?
Just lay it down, and forget about it
Lay it down fast, forget about it

I'll never be a rock and roll saint
I'll never be a rock and roll saint
'Cause i can't sing
Oh no i can't sing
That's not the only reason
That's not the only reason

I'll never be a bowie
I'll never be an eno
I'll never be a bowie
I'll never be an eno
I'll only ever be a gary numan

I'll never be a rock and roll saint

Spanish moss

Anybody else would tell you
My face is dead
But I say it's a lie

There's only one road in
And it's easy
To miss

It's surrounded by swamps
With green
Snakey vines.

Anybody else would tell you
My face is dead
But I say it's alive

There's only one road in
And it's easy
To miss

It's surrounded by swamps
With green
Snakey vines.

Anybody else would tell you
My face is dead
But I say it's a lie

Chosen one

Well you're a wild horse
On a collision course
With the sun

Well you're a wild horse
On a collision course
With the sun
And I wanted to ride that wild horse
Into the sun
I wanted to ride that wild horse
Into the sun
But I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one
Oh no I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one

Well maybe it's best for you to ride
Ride into the sun
Maybe it's best for you to ride
Ride into the sun
Because I no longer think that
I'm your chosen one
Oh no I no longer think that
I'll ever find a chosen one

Floating

Floating
Hear a name
From which planet
Do you beckon
I don't reckon
It could be too far from here
I'll bet you look like marc bolans girlfriend
I've only heard a voice
I've only seen your song
It keeps me awake
It keeps me floating
Hear a name
From which planet
Do you beckon

Real live dress

She was wearing
A real live dress
Waiting for a friend of mine
She was wearing
A real live dress
Waiting for a friend to undermime
This dress was better than flesh
She wore it when she wanted us to look our best
She hadn't worn it for a long time
But now we are three
One scattered
Two fallow
Three that's me
I mean who really gives a fuck
About that dress
Not me
Or my then friend
Or the mess
That enlivened the dress
Don't you know there's no subsitute for human flesh

There's no subsitute for human flesh
There's no subsitute for human flesh
There's no subsitute for human flesh
There's no subsitute for human flesh
There's no subsitute for human flesh
There's no subsitute for human flesh

My anaconda
Don't want none
Unless it's got buttons on
Baby's got back
I like big butts

Came blue

There's a hunger
In my hands
I try to rub in
Into your body
But I don't believe
In this
I don't believe
In you
I don't believe in me

I came blue, came blue
Came blue, came blue

Your eyes are drunk
Why don't you close them
I came blue, came blue, came blue, came blue
Your eyes are drunk
Why don't you close them
I came blue
Like i pictured you to do?
I came blue
To do?
Twenty seven years
I came blue
And there is still a hunger
I came blue, I came blue
I came blue, I came blue
Came blue, came...

Little girl shoes

Your little girl shoes
I was attracted to your
Little girl shoes
I was distracted by your
Little girl ways

And that little boy hat
Did you have to wear that
In combination with those
Little girl shoes

Dismantled in the lab
Your shoe is cold leather
Your foot is beastly calloused
Closer to cloven (yeah)

But... Paw plus shoe
Equals i don't know what to do
And does the girl imitate the woman
Or the woman imitate the girl

Your little girl shoes
Kick the dust right out of me
Your little girl shoes
Kicked the dust right out of me
Your little girl shoes
Kicked the dust right out of me

Cold blooded old times

Cold-blooded old times
The type of memories
That turns your bones to glass
Turns your bones to glass
Mother came rushing in
She said we didn't see a thing
We said we didn't see a thing
And father left at eight
Nearly splintering the gate
Cold-blooded old times
The type of memory
That turns your bones to glass
Turns your bones to glass
And though you where
Just a little swirl
You understood every word
And in this way they gave you clarity
A cold-blooded clarity
Cold-blooded old times
Now how can i stand
And laugh with the man
Who redefined your body
Those cold-blooded old times...

White ribbon

I went down to the harbour
To meet my new bride
She said "i'll wear a white ribbon tied high"
She wore a white ribbon tied high on her thigh
Dark clouds on the horizon
A few spatters on her dress
And with my coat buttoned up to her throat
From the hotel balcony
She stared out towards the sea
From the hotel balcony she stared out away from me
And if there's one thing i know
It's when not to speak
She came lay beside me
Touched my hair soft as a breeze
I was just like a child
On christmas day
But with the strength of a man
And just like snow
Falling into hot milk
That little woman disappeared
Against my skin
When i woke in the morning i walked up towards the balcony

I break horses

Well i rode out to the ocean
And the water looked like tarnished gold
I rode out on a broken horse
Who told me she'd never felt so old
She asked me if i'd feed her
And ride her now and then

No no no, no no no, no no no
I break horses
I don't tend to them
I break horses
They seem to come to me
Asking to be broken
They seem to run to me
I break horses
Doesn't take me long
Just a few well-placed words
And their wandering hearts are gone

At first her warmth felt good between my legs
Living breathing heart-beating flesh
But soon that warmth turned to an itch
Turned to a scratch
Turned to a gash
I break horses
I don't tend to them

Tonight i'm swimming to my favorite island
And i don't want to see you swimming behind
Tonight i'm swimming to my favorite island
And i don't want to see you swimming behind
No i break horses
I don't tend to them

Hole in the heart

Anyone who's ever had a hole in the heart
Knows how hard it is to start a new day

Anyone who's ever had a hole in the heart
Knows how hard it is to start a new day

Anyone who's ever had a hole in the heart

Supper

Feather by feather

You spent half of the morning
Just trying to wake up
Half the evening
Just trying to calm down
And you live for
The same things
A cloudburst seems rarer every time

And it's crow vs. crow
A brawl in mid-air
Beak click on beak clack
No reason is there
But for the brawl in mid-air

If you're losing your wings
Feather by feather
Love the way they whip away
On the wind

When they make the movie of your life
They're going to have to ask you
To do your own stunts
Because nobody nobody nobody
Could pull off the same shit as you
And still come out alright

If you're losing your wings
Feather by feather
Love the way they whip away
On the wind

It's Ali vs. Clay
Both pummeling away
A champ always fights themself

And you are a fighter
You are a fighter
You are a fighter

And Kids got heart
Kids got heart
Kids got heart

If you're losing your wings
Feather by feather

*** Thanx a lot to Roberta for this one ***

Butterflies drowned in wine

Butterflies drowned in wine
I'm headed into town
Where up is up and down is down
None of this fumbling around

Phantom fingers straighten a phantom tie
I'm going to talk to some people there
Forget everything I'm told
In one ear and out the other

An eagle flies right through my mind
The shadow skims across the land

Some people add and some subtract
I love an expert I hate a hack
You've got to bust up a sidewalk
sometimes
To get people to gather round
And I'm prepared to do whatever it takes
I'm prepared to do whatever it takes
For temporary brother sisterhood

Move the tables and the chairs aside
And give me some room
I'm going to show you something
You won't soon forget

Butterflies drowned in wine
Butterflies drowned in wine

I'm headed into town
Where up is up and down is down
None of this fumbling around

*** Thanx a lot to Elisabet for this one ***

Morality

I could kiss you
The sunlight coming through your blouse
Words wont tell me what your bodys all about

I could take you
You could take me
With hands and hair and eyes and bones and knees

But hey
What would my wife say
What would my wife say
If I was married

I could keep you
With money every month
Some city apartment where I
Where you will stay

But hey
What would my wife say
What would my wife say
If I was married

*** Thanx a lot to Roberta for this one ***

Ambition

I just dropped by to see you as I'm on my way
In your bedroom just off the highway
Came in through your window
Think I tore your ribbons on the way

I never use doors no mores
I never use stairs just trees
And I hear their voices breaking up from down below the toes

I just dropped by to see you as I'm on my way

Say
Are you still tight with that pharmacist

Well I've got to get there now don't I
And when I get there I've got to sleep well now don't I
And when I wake up in the morning I've got to
Wake up in the morning now don't I
And when I meet with them I've got to be on the ball

Now don't I
And when I do their dirt I've got to feel none
Now don't I
And when it's all said and done I've got to celebrate
Now don't I
And when I'm done celebrating I've got to unwind
Now don't I

I just dropped by to see you as I'm on my way
In your bedroom just off the highway

*** Thanx a lot to Elisabet for this one ***

Vessel in vain

I cant be held responsible for the things I say
For I am just a vessel in vain
And I cant be held responsible for the thing I see
For I am just a vessel in vain

No boat out on no ocean
No name there on no hull
And its not a strain at all to remember
Those that Ive left behind
Theyre all standing right here beside me now
And most of them with a smile

My ideals have got me on the run
Towards my connection with everyone
My ideals have got me on the run
Its my connection with everyone

Such free reign
For a vessel in vain

*** Thanx a lot to Roberta for this one ***

Truth serum

Me and some friends of mine
We stayed up all night taking truth serum
We soon realized the mistake we made
And went our separate separate ways.

I went up on the roof
Where I thought Id find some truth
There beneath the stars
But questions followed me

Do you miss me, when I go
Honey I love you and thats all you need to know
Well then, what is love
Love is an object kept in an empty box
How can something be in an empty box
Well well give me another shot
Of that truth serum

I went back downstairs to check on my friends
Because truth has a way of beginning an end
Big Bruiser Ken walks in says
I like men
I excuse myself and go back up on the roof again
More questions follow me

Is death really the end
Honey I love you and that's all you need to know
Well then, what is life
Well thats a good song
(sings) Without you by my side.

Taking that serum

People people theres a lesson here plain to see
Theres no truth in you
Theres no truth in me
The truth is between
The truth is between

*** Thanx a lot to Gerard & Dan & Roberta for this one ***

Our anniversary

It's our anniversary
I leave it ajar
And go outside
To look at the driveway stars

The crickets are chirping
They stop at my step
I stop my step
And they start up again

It's our anniversary and the bullfrogs
And everything that can sing is singing
Its mating song

The soil is steaming
Grass is swooning
Guns or fireworks are popping
Down in the town
A woman is running
A man jumps up and down

It's our anniversary and you've hidden my keys
This is one anniversary you're spending with me

I slide in the front seat
The drivers side
To hotwire and hightail crosses my mind
But still in the driveway
Fixed like the stars

I flip on the headlights
And go back inside
The climates controlled
While the battery dies

Clipping the wings of your morning flight

The night will end
In some form of excess
Pants around ankles
Too weak to fully undress

It's our anniversary
A celebration of
And heres to next year
Maybe youll join me in my car
We'll drive together
But not too far

We are far from flowers
Cut and dried
So let us thrive let us thrive
Let us thrive
Just like the weeds
We curse sometimes

*** Thanx a lot to Roberta & Jeremy for this one ***

Driving

And the rain washed the price
Off of our windshield

*** Thanx a lot to Graham for this one ***

A guiding light

The sun peaked at noon
I watched it hoping it would rise
Just a little higher
And give me a guiding light
A guiding light

I must admit I felt some relief
When the sun began to sink
I mean who really wants to see
Things in blinding white
Blinding white

It grows dark
I feel my way home
Sleep
Sleep if you can sleep

Me I'll be staying up
Long into the night
Trying to prove wrong
All the statements I made

All the statements I just made

A guiding light

You were born in the middle of the night
What better time for a guiding light

*** Thanx a lot to Roberta for this one ***

A River Ain't Too Much To Love

*** Thanx a lot to Jon for these lyrics ***

Palimpsest

Winter weather is not my soul
But the biding for spring...

Why's everybody looking at me
Like there's something fundamentally wrong
Like I'm a southern bird
That stayed north too long

Winter exposes the nest
Then I'm gone

Say Valley Maker

With the grace of a corpse
In a riptide
I let go
And I slide slide slide
Downriver
With an empty case by my side
An empty case
That's my crime

And I sing (Say Valley Maker)
To keep from cursing
Yes I sing (Say Valley Maker)
To keep from cursing

River Oh
River End
River Oh
River End
River Go
River Bend

Take me through the sweet valley
Where your heart blooms
Take me through the sweet valley
Where your heart is covered in dew

And when the river dries
Will you bury me in wood
Where the river dries
Will you bury me in stone

Oh I never really realized
Death is what it meant
To make it on my own

Because there is no love
Where there is no obstacle
And there is no love
Where there is no bramble
There is no love
On the hacked away plateau
And there is no love
In the unerring
And there is no love
On the one true path

Oh I cantered out here
Now I'm galloping back

So bury me in wood
And I will splinter
Bury me in stone
And I will quake
Bury me in water
And I will geyser
Bury me in fire
And I'm gonna phoenix

I'm gonna phoenix

The Well

I could not work
So I threw a bottle into the woods
And then I felt bad
For the doe paw
And the rabbit paw
So I went looking for the pieces
Of the bottle that I threw
Because I couldn't work

I went deep
Further than i could throw
And i came upon an old abandoned well
All boarded over
With a drip hanging from the bucket still

Well I watched that drip but it would not drop
I watched that drip but it would not drop
I knew what I had to do
Had to pull those boards off the well

When I got the boards off
I stared into the black black black
And you know I had to yell
Just to get my voice back

I guess everybody has their own thing
That they yell into a well

I gave it a coupla hoots
A hello
And a fuck all y'all

I guess everybody has their own thing
That they yell into a well

And as I stood like that
Staring into the black black black
I felt a cool wet kiss
On the back of my neck

Dang

I knew if I stood up
The drip would roll down my back
Into no man's land

So I stayed like that
Staring into the black black black

Well they say black is all colours at once
So I gave it my red rage my yellow streak
The greenest parts of me
And my blues I knew just what I had to do

I had to turn around and go back
And let that drip roll down my back
And I felt so bad about that

But wouldn't you know
When I turned to go
Another drip was forming
On the bottom of the bucket
And I felt so good about that

Rock Bottom Riser

I love my mother
I love my father
I love my sisters too

I bought this guitar
To pledge my love
To pledge my love to you

I am a rock
Bottom riser
And I owe it all to you

I saw a gold ring
At the bottom of the river
Glinting
At my foolish heart
Oh my foolish heart
Had to go diving
Diving diving
Into the murk

And from the bottom of the river
I looked up for the sun
Which had shattered in the water
And the pieces were raining down
Like gold rings
That passed through my hands
As I thrashed and grabbed
I started rising rising

I left my mother
I left my father
I left my sisters too

Left them standing on the banks
And they pulled me out
Of this mighty mighty river
I am a rock
Bottom riser
And I owe it all to you

I Feel Like the Mother of the World

Whether or not there is any type of god
I'm not supposed to say
And today
I don't really care

God is a word
And the argument ends there

Oh do I feel like the mother of the world
With two children
Oh do I feel like the mother of the world
With two children fighting

When I was a boy I used to get into it bad
With my sister
And when the time came to face the truth
There'd only be tears and sides
Tears and sides
And my mother my poor mother
Would say it does not matter
It does not matter
Just stop fighting

Oh do I feel like the mother of the world
With two children

In the Pines

The longest train I ever saw
Went down that Georgia line
The engine went by at six o'clock
And the cab went by at nine

In the pines
In the pines
The sun never shines
And we shiver
When the north wind blows

Well I asked the captain
For the time of day
He said he
Threw his watch away

A long steel rail
And a short cross tie
And I'm on my
Way back home

In the pines
In the pines
The sun never shines
And we shiver
When the north wind blows

Little girl
Little girl
What have I done
That makes you treat me this way
Well you have caused
Me to weep
You caused me to moan
You caused me to leave my home

In the pines
In the pines
The sun never shines
And we shiver
When the north wind blows

Drinking at the Dam

I remember drinking at the dam
With the jarheads on the other side
Warm beer and tearing up the cans
And all of us yelling abuse
Cutting school to go drinking at the dam

Skinmags in the brambles
For the first part of my life
I thought women had orange skin
It was the first part of my life
Second is the rest

And now teenage warchests fill
And do the dirty dirty work
It was the first part of their lives

Drinking at the dam
Holding back what I can
But the power is so much

Drinking at the dam
Holding back what I can
I'm just drinking at the dam
I'm just drinking at the dam
I'm just drinking at the dam

Running the Loping

I lay on the bed in the dark
Laughing at things i think of
Getting off on the pornography of my past
Lighting matches and dropping them
Into a wet glass

It's summer now and it's hot
And the sweat pours out
And the air is the same as my body
And i breathe my body inside out

With sunlight around my skin turns brown
And you wouldn't know me from your pa
Or Adam or Allah
But I haven't changed
No I haven't changed
Day is all that resolves

All we need is here on earth
About every other day

Scratchmarks on my knees since I've been running
The bramble lee
When I'd much rather be wanting to be
Running the loping
Peace on your hand
Don't be silly
But peace on my body
When tired and beaten

All we need is here on earth
About every other day

Oh to live in the country
With a chicken and those other things
Where the hills loping
Where the dress and the hair in the river
Undulating

To take a wife and no paper
Never again to wonder
Did that rapper rape her

All we need is here on earth
About every other day

I'm New Here

No No No No
I did not become someone different
I did not want to be
But I'm new here
Will you show me around

No matter how far wrong you've gone
You can always tournaround
Met a woman in a bar
Told her I was hard to get to know
And near impossible to forget
She said i had an ego on me
The size of Texas

Well I'm new here and I forget
Does that mean big or small

Turnaround turnaround turnaround

And I'm shedding plates like a snake
And it may be crazy but I'm the closest thing I have
To a voice of reason

Turnaround turnaround turnaround
And you may come full circle and be new here again

Let Me See the Colts

Knocked on your door at dawn
With a spark in my heart
Dragged you from your bed
And said let me see the colts

Let me see the colts
That will run next year
Show them to a gambling man
Thinking of the future

Have you been drinking no
Nor sleeping
The all-seeing all-knowing eye is dog tired
And just wants to see the colts

We walked out through
The dew dappled brambles
And sat upon the fence
Is there anything as still as sleeping horses
Is there anything as still as sleeping horses

Non Albums Tracks

Back in School

(Kicking a Couple Around EP)

I saw you standing there
With your hand in his hair
And his hand in
Your back pocket
I couldnt help but stare

I wanted to tell you
That i was back in school
But in the dark of the club
I knew it wouldnt carry much weight
Well, i'm trying to learn your language
I'm trying to learn your language

I came to your party empty-handed
I came to your party, uninvited
I came to your party, a headstart on the drinking

I wanted to tell you
That i was back in school
But in the chit-chat, chit-chat should that...
Well, i'm trying to learn your language
It's like a fly learning how to bark
I'm trying to learn your language
It's like a fly learning how to bark

That smile on your face
That smile on your face
That smile on your face
I try to erase
That smile on your face

But a kiss was not the answer
A kiss was not the answer
A drunken kiss was not the answer

Drunk on the Stars

(Burning Kingdom EP)

I wasn't made for this
You tell yourself
As you button up your coat
Head down to the harbor
And standing on the dock
You're drunk on the stars and the sea air
Tell yourself maybe I should throw it all away
And be a sailor
Cause after all
Your true home is the sea
So you walk down to the water
And a big wave crashes on your feet
I don't like this you say
So you turn around and head back home
To some apartment
On some main street of a pointless town
That you're trying to put on the map
And you sit right down and write a big fat check
To the gas company
You drape your wet socks over the radiator
And you laugh at all the sailors
And you laugh at all the sailors
Freezing on the sea

I Break Horses

(Kicking a Couple Around EP)

Well I rode out to the ocean
And the water looked like tarnished gold
I rode out on a broken horse
Who told me she'd never felt so old
She asked me if I'd feed her
And ride her now and then

No no no, no no no, no no no,
I break horses 
I don't tend to them
I break horses
They seem to come to me
Asking to be broken
They seem to run to me
I break horses
Doesn't take me long
Just a few well-placed words
And their wandering hearts are gone

At first her warmth felt good between my legs
Living breathing heart-beating flesh
But soon that warmth turned to an itch
Turned to a scratch
Turned to a gash
I break horses 
I don't tend to them

Tonight I'm swimming to my favorite island
And I don't want to see you swimming behind
Tonight I'm swimming to my favorite island
And I don't want to see you swimming behind
No I break horses
I don't tend to them

My family

(Burning Kingdom EP)

Mother's smoking pot
In the bathroom
I can hear her butt
Squeaking on the tub
As the water grows cold
Around her legs
And father
Is in the study
Watching a vague
Lesbian scene
Don't go in
He gets to me
Planting foot prints
Where I hope
I'll never be
da da da da da
And sister phones to say
She isn't coming home
She says she'll write to me
But I know
She won't write to me
Da da da da da

My shell (electric version)

(Burning Kingdom EP)

When you crawl into my shell
You're after my jokes
They serves you well
When you crawl out of my shell
You stole my jokes
They serves you well
When you crawl into my shell
Your after my jokes
They serves you well
When you crawl out of my shell
You stole my jokes
They serves you well


 I should have taken them back into my shell
When I think of what you did my shell ache
Stinking mussel-hands
Oh, I left her for dead

Stole my jokes
They serves you well

You can't comeback into my shell
I don't want you back to my shell

Not lonely anymore

(Burning Kingdom EP)

I am not lonely anymore
Now that I realized
I got two hands not four


So, I'm not lonely anymore
When the ship goes down


There will be 1000 rats
Swimming 1000 shores
So I'm not lonely anymore


You will try open hands
You will be kissing sweet sand


And that pretty wedding ring doesn't mean a damn thing
You're going down

I'm not lonely anymore
Now that I realized
I got two hands not four

Renee died 1:45

(Burning Kingdom EP)

I really want to like girls
But it's seems every time
I get burnt
Is it because they can hurt me
Like no other man can
Or is it because I am a jealous bitch

All I know is I want to see her
Golden hair shine in the sun again

All I know is I want to see her
Golden hair shine in the sun again

The Desert

(Burning Kingdom EP)

I'm crawling through the desert
Without water or love
I'm crawling through the desert
Without water or love
Then it starts to rain
Big buckets of rain
So I open my mouth
For a kiss
And to drink the rain
But it's just an illusion
Oh it's just an illusion
Yeah, love's just an illusion
That keeps you crawling through the desert


The Orange Glow of a Stranger's Living Room

(Kicking a Couple Around EP)

Under stars of violet
Under stars of green
Under stars of silver
Under stars.. of you

When i walk the city streets at night
I'm scared shitless
When i walk the country roads at night
I'm scared shitless
But still i go out
'Cause i get so restless

Under stars of violet
Under stars of green
Under stars of silver
Under stars.. of you

The orange glow of a stranger's living room
Looks so much warmer than mine

Wine Stained Lips

(A Hit EP)

Well I woke up this mornin'
Thinking about the conversation we had last night
All the stupid things I said
Through wine stained lips

Well I woke up this mornin'
Thinking about the conversation we had last night
All the stupid things I said
Through wine stained lips

I don't know why I wanted to tell you everything
Why is it so tempting for me to boast?
I don't know why I wanted to tell a stranger everything
Why is it so easy for me to boast?
I turned it into a joke
But I still boast

Some people shouldn't go to parties
Some people shouldn't drink wine at parties
Some people shouldnt've woken up this morning

 Your New Friend

(Kicking a Couple Around EP)

When the conversation is over
And there's nothing left to say
I know what you're going to do
So i'm going my seperate way
You're going to call your new friend
On the telephone
I wonder what you call him
When i'm not home
Now this has been
Going on every night
Since that week i left town
It really makes me think
I shoulda stuck around
So i'm.. going to my living room / bedroom
You know this is apartment is so small
We used to share a bedroom
Until you got that call

You close your door
So firmly
That i put up
My chinese screen
But you know
I cant hide a thing at all

Now you've got your doors
And i wonder
What goes on
I've got my chinese screen
But you know
I cant hide a thing at all

You've got your radio on low
To cover the sounds
But your voice so soft, so soft
It could only be heard by your new friend

I've got my radio blasting
To show that i dont care about anything
You could possibly say to your new friend

Now you've got your door
And i wonder
What goes on
I've got my chinese screen
But you know
I cant hide a thing at all
And all that i can think of
Is that how you used to be me
On the phone to you
While your lover died.. outside..
And in this chair tonight
I wouldnt mind if i die
And left you to your new friend
Your new friend

Now dont get me wrong
I know.. i'm still your boyfriend
But that doesnt mean a damn thing at all
As long as you've got
Your new friend

The Lyrics HomepageThe New Lyrics additions or correctionsCome and chat on the forumMy lyrics requestThe Statistics of the lyrics page