1. |
Bug On My Back
02:52
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BUG ON MY BACK
Well I'm staring at the ceiling
But I can't get up
I feel like a broken coffee cup
I'm a bug on my back
And my baby keeps screamin'
Like she's fixin' to die
I reached out a feeler
To wipe the tear from her eye
Well I was doin' alright
Until she turned on the light
I got this buzz in my head
And a horrible dread
And I'm so damn thirsty
And that's not the worst
She can't understand a single word
Of my clicks and whirrs
Eh I'm starin' at the ceiling
But I can't get up
I feel like a broken coffee cup
I'm a bug on my back
I was doin' alright
Until she turned on the light
I got this buzz in my head
And a horrible dread
And I'm so damn thirsty
And that's not the worst
She can't understand a single word
Of my clicks and whirrs
I'm just a bug on my back
I'm just a bug on my back
I'm just a bug on my
I'm just a bug on my
Back
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2. |
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A NICKEL'S BIGGER THAN A DIME
(Fisher/Pierson/Morrison)
Said your name was Larry
Said your name was Flo
Said your name was what again?
Man I must be slow
Said your name was hey, a cow
And took off with my phone
Said your name was Turbo & I took you at your word
Man that's got to be the dumbest name I've ever heard
I like a name for things
(I like names)
And things in their place
But names are things
That you like to erase
I find your nomenclature obviates my mind
(Nom-en-cla-ture)
A nickel's bigger than a dime
Said your name was Alex
Written in italics
Said your name was Classified
Said your name was Andy
And drank up all my brandy
Why do you even have a name I'd like to know
Is there some place without a name to which you go?
You take the words away
(Words away)
Before they're even mine
And splash them on a giant neon sign
I can't decipher it
(Shine - shine - shine - shine)
But my how it shines
A nickel's bigger than a dime
Let's make a deal
Here's where I sign
Here's where you sign
That makes it real
Doesn't it?
Doesn't it?
And when you vaporize
(Vaporizing)
It doesn't even rhyme
A nickel's bigger than a dime
That's what you tell me every time
A nickel's bigger than a dime
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3. |
Cigarette
03:48
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CIGARETTE
The mother surely wants to see me in my grave
He seems to feel that I was born to be his slave
Moves my hand to make me put him in my mouth
He grew up in a laboratory in the South
What did I ever do to you?
Tell me you're only joking
The money crackles and the flames devour the night
The pretty people fade away into the light
The cowboy stares into a distance wher3efore death
The sulfur sunset sucks away my lastest breath
What did I ever do to you?
Tell me you're only joking
What did I?
Smoke is rising to the sky
Now it's time to say goodbye
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4. |
Love Stop
02:46
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Fine fancy tablecloths
White gloves and marmalade
This is ridonkulous
She says and walks away
Blood on the avenue
Glass on the lobby floor
Sunlight on skeletons
She's a kid in a candy store
Drug me like a parcel to the hinterlands
Up where the cold winds blow
Never was much of a country boy
But I was a lousy Eskimo
She's quite a bit farther
Than the brochure said that one should go
I asked her if she wanted all the bother
She said oh sure as if you would know
I'm stuck in Panama
Telegram from Uruguay
Come STOP Don't wait STOP
Love STOP
Love ain't no holiday
Love ain't no holiday
Love ain't no holiday
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5. |
Life Of The Party
04:00
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LIFE OF THE PARTY
You are on the sidewalk thinking
And Marlon Brando walks by
Staring at the sky and blinking
It is not apparent why
But now you're in a restaurant
Where the waitress spills your coffee
And through the plate-glass window you see
Paul McCartney sleeping in a taxi
Yesterday Amanda Flowers
With whom we're not familiar yet
Grew an aura at the airport
While she read a novelette
She seemed to be so naturally artificial darling
I'll bet she learned it at the movie house
Because it doesn't look as though she did
You have to look so far these days
Life of the party
(Life of the party)
Talk of the town
(Say can you see, oh can you see?)
Everybody feels it
(Shadows ask a question)
Just can't pin it down
(Life of the party)
Please excuse me Mr. Warhol
I understand your hesitation
I know everybody bugs you
Because they want to be somebody
That's why I'm at your hotel door
At three o'clock in the morning
I know it's late but this won't wait
I just want you to know I understand
The type of thing that you're going through
Life of the party
(You feel that something's missing)
Scene of the crime
(Don't walk away, don't walk away)
You'd better get it right
(The camera keeps on moving)
I mean right every time
(Life of the party)
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6. |
Just The Medicine
04:54
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JUST THE MEDICINE
We caught the lightning bugs
And put them in a jar
And sent it circling a dying star
Life flutters and flaps
And here we are
You took the morning off
And spent it in the car
Moving pictures of things
Not as they are or were
But as you hoped to forget them
It's just the medicine
It's just the medicine
It's just the medicine
You need
The dying furniture
Gives up its last gasp
Your knitted scarf
Sinks like a stone
The life you save
May be your own
It's just the medicine
It's just the medicine
It's just the medicine
You need
Stand like a lighthouse
And gaze out to sea
You've lost your way
Or perhaps you're free
It's just the medicine
You need
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7. |
If I Was Fred
02:36
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IF I WAS FRED
If I was Fred
Would you make me some toast?
And kiss my head
When I left in the morning for the office?
If I was Fred
Would you love me a bunch?
Would you iron my socks
And put little notes in my lunch
Instead of wishing I was dead?
If I was Fred
I'd take you down to Cancun
We'd lie in bed
And watch the tropical moon
Make pools of light
On the hotel floor
With the do not disturb sign
Hung on the door until noon
And eat macaroons
Oh, it ended too soon
And when we fought
Our little spats would be mild
Because one ought
Never to frighten the child
Yes life is a struggle
And love is no song
And you have to make do
And you have to be strong
But you would see
The one for you would be me
If I was Fred
And you were Beverly
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8. |
Spinning Under A Tree
02:52
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SPINNING UNDER A TREE
Oh where is the child
Who showed so much promise?
We patted her head
And we waived all her fees
She shone like a lighthouse
Our hopes and ideals
But the lamp has been covered
Oh where can she be?
Spinning under a tree
Spinning under a tree
Spinning under a tree
Spinning under and under and under
"My sleep was not restful
My dreams were not idyllic
I was force-fed foul catechisms
In sickly Cyrillic
And everyone could see me
And I didn't want to be me
'Til I found that the circles
Were the only thing that could free me"
Spinning under a tree
Spinning under a tree
Spinning under a tree
Spinning under a tree
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9. |
Once So Splendid
02:23
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10. |
Get Help
01:37
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I'm only trying to tell you that your extraterrestrial civilization conspiracy is just an iteration of clever mental masturbation that you scanned one night on a radio station while you were driving from a city where you couldn't fit in on to another city where you wouldn't fit in, and it slipped right by you because your guard was down, because your chemically marinated common sense was malfunctioning and you were busy scoffing at strangers who were trying to help you; they were just aliens, attacking your thoughts, your precious thoughts, like the ones you keep having about the extraterrestrial civilization conspiracy, but I'm only trying to tell you...
That I am you and I've come back from the future where I've benefited from your experience but the important thing that you need to remember is not that time has holes but that the present matters and the sparks and tracers,well they may be pretty, but this table here and this uncomfortable feeling can anchor you against the waves, the radio waves, I know they're calling, but I'm only trying to tell you.
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11. |
Rescuing Poetry
03:26
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RESCUING POETRY
Nathan is all holed up in that burned-out farm
When was he ever one for rustic charm?
Reams of paper crumpled on the floor
Nobody gets to see him anymore
Bob's your uncle, piece of cake
Either way you'll see the lake
You've got to rescue poetry
Do it for posterity
There's a train that leaves at three
Living away too long gets your senses skewed
Surely he's feeling the lack of Chinese food
Take him your novel, roll him a big fat joint
He's probably out of ammo at this point
I would go, you bet your ass
But as it happens I've got class
I've got to rescue poetry
Undergrads need the torch
Handed down, honestly
Nothing to worry
Your innocent head about
Your little secret
I'd never let that out
Nathan has gotten large the townies say
Keep by the door if you need to get away
Readers are crying out for his complex voice
It could get rough but it's not like you have a choice
You're the only one he'll trust
He loves you or at least your bust
You've got to rescue poetry
From itself apparently
Honey it's your destiny
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12. |
The Happiness Engine
02:40
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THE HAPPINESS ENGINE is a full spectrum mental technology of disruptive creative inevitability.
THE HAPPINESS ENGINE is delivering a broad scope of intensifiers to Life Users across numerous newly identified Thought Markets.
THE HAPPINESS ENGINE smells like Ozone Ghosts and is only the size of some bowling shoes.
We might as well go back
And sing one more
Let's sing one more
It never ends
It never ends
It never ends
It never
THE HAPPINESS ENGINE will store itself while it replenishes its patented God Consciousness Crystal Diodes.
THE HAPPINESS ENGINE should not be disturbed during this process no matter how long it takes or how distorted Transmisson may become.
THE HAPPINESS ENGINE has arrived and right on time so there's no point in trying to undo it.
We might as well go back
And sing one more
Let's sing one more
It never ends
It never ends
It never ends
It never
Now we're all friends
And when it ends
You get the bends
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13. |
King Rat
03:40
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KING RAT
All tangled up in glorious of fur
Down in the darkness where the frightful things confer
A writhing tangle, a hundred glowing eyes
Lurching sideways, almost paralyzed
Chew the obvious and spit out the obscure
Without sickness there can be no cure
Let there be squirming and let there be desire
The lowest gutter to the highest burnt out spire
Let the darkness come and purify the day
Let the earth arise and push the sky away
Gather everything and tear it down to shreds
Let the housekeepers tremble in their beds
Surface dwellers the day is nearly here
When you shall fly like dogs into the arms of fear
Put your knitting down and dream a different dream
Have the courage and the faith to finally scream
To the heavens that forsake you
And partake in the unwinding
With your brothers
From the under
From the under
The underneath
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14. |
Catalog Of Dreams
03:48
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CATALOG OF DREAMS
Welcome back to high school, pal
Why are you in your underwear?
Maybe no-one's noticed yet
'Cause your principal is a psychopath
So you run and you run
But your legs go soft
And your teeth fall out
But you find some money
But it's not real money
It's not real money
It's not real money
Because it never is
In the catalog of dreams
In a secret place inside your heart
Is a TV show you used to watch
And you're the star
But you don't know your lines
And everyone just stares at you
So you punch and you punch
But the punches won't land
Like marshmallow punches
So you try to fly
Like you used to could
But it just don't work anymore
That one's on page four
In the catalog of dreams
You need to use the phone
But the butttons never work
So you have a conversation
With this fascinating person
Who really understands you
But they never did exist
And the dead come back
And you know they're dead
But you try to tell them anyway
All the things you wish you'd said
But they don't seem to hear you
That page was torn out
Of the catalog of dreams
The catalog of dreams
The catalog, the catalog
The catalog of everybody's dreams
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15. |
The Master Cleanser
04:40
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16. |
Soon
01:32
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17. |
Wrong
03:48
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18. |
Orbs
01:59
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ORBS
Gather 'round me to hear my song
It's the least you could do
That I've labored so long
To make such keening tones
As may echo in your bones
When the fish attains the land
When the serpent upward stands
Comes the limit, made of glass
None shall pass
None shall pass
Two orbs pulling in the sky
One orb attended by the nine
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19. |
The Cheese Stands Alone
03:19
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You know you've gone too far
And this time you're on your own
Try again, dial all you want
There's nothing wrong with the phone
Knick knack paddy whack
No one's going to throw you a bone
Go look in your story book
You will see the cheese stands alone
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Throw me a bone
No-oh-oh-oh
The cheese stands alone
You climbed a beanstalk up
To a castle in the cloud
Look down, down on the ground
See the pitchforks in the crowd
End of the game, we guessed your name
Say why do you suppose
Everyone is laughing now?
My friend, you have no clothes
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Roll up the scroll
Go-oh-oh-oh
Back to your hole
You know you've gone too far
And this time you're on your own
Go look in your story book
You will see the cheese stands alone
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20. |
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I knew you were vain
And completely insane
I knew you were born
In a festering drain
I knew you liked Kenny G
And were shorter than me
And were scared of chihuahuas
And your mother-in-law
But I never knew
You could sing like that
I knew you back when
You were terrible then
I don't know why I pretend
That I am your friend
When I think you belong
In some kind of zoo
And you believe in astrology
And homeopathy too
But I never knew
You could sing like that
No I never ever would have guessed
That you could make me misty eyed
And crumple up & not decide
If I loved you more
Or just hated you less
I used to hope you would choke
I tried to teach you to smoke
I would have liked nothing better
Than your farewell letter
Full of spelling mistakes
I really thought I would crack
How much more could I take?
Oh, I take it all back
Because I never knew
You could sing like that
No I never knew
You could sing like that
I never knew
How could I know?
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21. |
What Are You Doing Here?
03:19
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WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
What are you doing here?
I thought that you had gone
What are you doing here?
And what have you got on?
What are you doing here?
It's messing with my mind
You make it difficult
Not to be unkind
You're talking in circles
I don't understand
And what is this object
You've placed in my hand?
So you can levitate
Since when could you do that?
I wish you'd stop it now
You're frightening the cat
You're shooting laser beams
And teleporting too
You can do anything
How very nice for you
You're talking in circles
I don't understand
And what is this object
You've placed in my hand?
When you were my lover I knew what to expect
You ate up all my BabyBels and never washed your neck
Now your helicopter is hovering in my drive
I wasn't even sure that you were still alive
What are you doing here?
It's messing with my head
I liked you better when
You were a memory instead
You're talking in circles
I don't understand
And what is this trust that
You've placed in my hand?
You're laughing in rhomboids
Your outline's unclear
I thought thhat we had
An arrangement my dear
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22. |
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So you come with a gift of flowers
And you kneel
But your flowers are bleeding
And they shriek in tiny flower voices
So the head, the giant head
Opens its eyes
And it turns its gaze on you
And it open its giant mouth
Perhaps to curse you
Ands its breath is very bad
And it speaks for the first time in a thousand years
And the words that it says are in a language
No-one has ever heard
Gotta crack the code
Separate the signal from the noise
Get in that kitchen and rattle them pots and pans
Write it down, draw a diagram
Find the patttern, there has to be
Something in there that you can understand
Wait, I think I got it
And the giant head says:
Goodbye sun
Goodbye rain
Goodbye friends
Goodbye pain
Goodbye dark
Goodbye earth
Goodbye dragonflies
Goodbye shadows
Goodbye radio
Goodbye sea
Goodbye dreams
Goodbye smoke
Goodbye dogs
Goodbye wind
Goodbye...
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23. |
The End of the Story
03:24
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At the end of the story
Gonna take a little ride
Where the whole damn lot
Winds up chicken fried
You get to see the scenery
From the other side
Where you must accept
What you cannot abide
At the end of the story
We trample down the fence
Rushing to our conclusion
Now everything makes sense
It may end badly but at least it ends
I get to say goodbye to all my friends
At the end of the story
At the end of the story
Got no gas in my car
Never did become a star
I just sat around and played my guitar
At the end of the story
The page is white
And bright as a supernova
Scorching the endless night
One last flash of light
One last sight
It's gonna be alright
At least I think it might
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David Morrison Wimberley, Texas
Singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer. Occasional guest vocalist w/The Rudy Schwartz Project, Farrago Ensemble,
The Able Sea & others. Has played hundreds of solo & band shows & been
featured on Church of the Subgenius show. Coproduced the Glimmer Blinkken's Golden Days & mixed the Mustn'ts EP. Currently w/the Lemon Settlement & the Swangles. Runs Rat Palace Recording.
... more
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