LYRICS
Ashland
city litter swirls making the skin of the invisible man
catching the glow off the ionosphere
still fighting the cold war
what else is a well-trained soldier to do
buried in the deep suburban towns?
come 30 he’s finally learning to read on the surface
instead of sweeping for mines
if i hit the lights just right ashland will be green all night
come circuit splendor
love comes hidden in friction
she found him dead in the brush in a puddle of wax
broken rib, swimmer’s ear, and a hell of a tan
she came on him with gifts in tow of
ice, isopropyl, and aloe
cradles him after the fall
with a grace she believes she’s got only in dream
stitches his wings by degrees
wipes the porridge away from her mouth with her sleeve
leans with purpose
gives him her lips divine
if you hit the lights just right ashland will be green all night
and all the past is somehow suddenly justified
if somehow it’s funneled up to this
ashland will be green all night
love comes hidden in friction
Roadstar
all this energy
opened up by you
satiate me deep
my robots go wild
metal arms once flailing
now have nothing to do
nothing to do but everything
Grow Crazy
love- so sick and sweet
go cry your eyes out
love- just like a cool chain on a hot day
go cry your eyes out
all your nightmares are totally real
but it’s still no fucking big deal
your gruesome death is just a formality
i met a green 19 typified what it means
to come on just a little too strong
she was great at sex but she never gave me subtext
light- turning tricks with heat
matter turns the blinds down on a japanese town
and life- faith and dissolve
yeah, get a map of the green and new land
from a manhattan newsstand
all your nightmares are totally real
but it’s still no fucking big deal
this fiery crash just preceeds reality
grow crazy little flower
the sweetest one of all
rolling under moonlight isle
i’ll catch you if you fall
all your nightmares are totally real
but it’s still no fucking big deal
i met a green 19 typified what it means
to come on just a little too strong
she was great at sex but she never gave me subtext
Healing No. Four
things happen little chameleon
hold you harmless and idemnify
it’s a big surprise:
odd wounds from even burns gradually heal over
is it death has to die before death can take over?
penned down by a history whose spine i can’t define
attempting to bend a circle from a line
under the forest talk- seduce the curve
twice maching the solstice line
we belong to a different place
throwing pictures out of moving windows
can’t take the place of murder
like a new hairstyle can’t beat
the all-american suicide
and i’ve tried them all
you know it’s a godddamn lie
but still i love to say i’ve tried them all
i don’t know why
but where was i in the crooks of those pivotal times?
when young women ran from rapists with one shoe
in the middle of the night down south kedzie avenue?
when people needed a ride- where was i?
i may remain one of the larger crooks of those pivotal times
still i may remain
penned down by a history whose spine i can’t define
attempting to bend a circle from a line
under the forest talk- seducing curves
thrice maching the solstice line
we belong to a different place
and i’m poring over
all the things you never said
and all the things you’re never saying still
we belong to a better place
under the forest talk- seduce the curve
once maching the solstice line
we all get to the same place
Traci Seems
can’t smoke any more cigarettes
so I’m playing the synergistic effect
of stolen pills like little jets
and the promise of the motorcycle roar
across a foreign shore
traci seems like nothing’s changed
you’ve kept your act together
like a kitten in a microwave
the dark sons shine on you in verse
is it your destiny to run country to country heart jumping sun to sun
loving the barrel of a gun?
you’ve let neon take over
where your light once was
cause the media machine-gunned
all your confidence
having sex with space cadets
just to get your reflection wet
begging validation through
those one-fifth the worth of you
traci seems like nothing’s changed
you’ve kept your act together
like a kitten in a microwave
the dark sons shine on you in verse
is it your destiny to run country to country
heart jumping sun to sun
guessing the meaning of a swan?
City of Heroes
so you’ve mastered the metaphor game
and now nothing on earth is the same
it’s only time but it’s critical– it’s only time
like the movies you swim in your dreams
grin devoid of your critical fiends
when you wake up your role’s been cast out
the old flick’s back: the one that’s built to lose
but it’s only time
when intelligence and lust turn to wisdom and love
you’re on the escalator through the ether up above
when the white limos come out to play
and the license plates spell out the way
you’ll know it’s time– it’s inevitable
you scare me girl like my worn-out seaside melody memory
you can’t dodge the past like you can’t dodge gravity
but you can learn to trick its spin– it’s only time
and if you believe it’s all too good to be true…
schizophrenia heights is a commuter town
this life we used to chalk around til I felt your flower unfold
and I remember the silence, your arm clutching mine
the cress of soft belong up the escalator ride
through the ether to the dome
my synchronia…
but until that time
all static aside
when you hate the world do you still love me?
Diabetic
white papers strewn down hazel avenue
across manicured lawns
yellow school bus waves its red arm
here we have everything– everything but the spark
the fire dissolves into mediocre pot
under sodium light in the brunswick parking lot
everyone loves chelsea
she always hits the vein
mommy’s real active on the deerfield PTA
her parents let the silent supper decide
that everything is just fine
a silver spoon with maple residue
destiny lies sometimes
grandparents fought for freedom just for fun
cause the liberty she’s dying for
is to get fucked up at 21, yeah
a silver spoon– maple residue
destiny lies in tracks no lexus car could ever hide
the choir resolves and then jumps in the lake
because candyland’s caught the bug that it couldn’t shake
everyone loves chelsea
she always hits the vein
mommy’s real active on the northbrook PTA
her parents let the silent supper decide
that everything is just fine
Tread
it was just like yesterday I remember when we
tooled down to the wharf to take that helicopter ride
as I fingered hearts into the spirals of your hand we watched
the last of the sealife forms crawl their way onto the sand
the bucketholders arrive!
from certain solitude comes balance fair
deep crankin’ seal cut jive– on me
that’s what you came here for
big easy surprise: postponed
it was the springtime of my purity
when every night was the end of the world
underneath that infant moon
the crush of the upper-worlds altitude christmas
coin by coin I cashed in the kingdom for my consciousness
the bucketholders arrive!
and killed the chess guru from planet 9
conquering at the same time all three plastic atmospheres
right before our eyes– with love
I’ll take you all the way I’ll take you all the way
I’ll take you all the way I’ll take you all the way
the bucketholders arrive!
with seashells in the speakers and skatefish on the grill
by the time august arrives
we’ll be safe at home
Snowangels
don’t mind the roadkill
with the spiral t.v. eyes
don’t worry baby
they’ve been dead for a long time
still i’d lock the doors
see back in the day
when holidays revolved round
cartoon characters
with a capitalist flair
that’s what kids became
tonight the clicking handles
sound just like the rain
scraps of standard oil
make a kind of new design
just slip in cassettes
when the AP reads all wrong
light a smoke and drive
listening to jazz
with the windshield wipers on
and it dawns on me
we’re just snowangels, baby
angels in the glow
it’s nuclear wintertime
and we’re snowangels
city limit signs
become a part of the sky
blur define serene
the gumball swirl behind us
celebrates our speed
but getting rolled, kid
really ain’t my kind of scene
red and blue lights in rearview
look like cool ice cream
doc that hancock signed
is a testament of time
don’t let light get lost
when the elements are gone
blinded by the right
this mosaic of chaos
this magnificent parade
they say that’s all the low bands
are good for nowadays
something in the carrier
sent them tumbling through the snow
searching through the white for gold
every mother knows
that the key to life thus goes:
elasticity
and we’re snowangels, baby
angels in the glow
it’s nuclear wintertime
and we’re snowangels
Roadstar [endsong]
all this energy
opened up by you
satiate me deep
my robots go wild
metal arms once flailing
now have nothing to do
nothing to do but everything
all this energy
opened up by you
i love you completely
