I don’t know about you, but I don’t WANT to read lyrics for a song when I first hear it. Rather, I want to hear the lyrics in the context of the music, discover them as part of the unfolding story of the song. But once I know a song, I want to see the lyrics as there is usually much that I’ve missed in the words or meanings. Reading lyrics can reveal a lot about a song.
I don’t know if much is revealed here, but naturally I didn’t want to just put the lyrics for each song in with that song’s posting or else you couldn’t help but read it (if you read like me at least).
Which is all just a long way of saying: here are the lyrics. I’ll add the new ones as the songs come out.
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Love and the Occupation: Introduction to the Complicated World
We are occupied.
Strangers, soldiers, spies
have come into our town.
They’ve taken over the
local shops and demand
room in our homes.
I now come to the breakfast table
fully clothed.
Someone I’ve never seen
is in the wood chair,
one foot tucked
by the rungs underneath.
The arm on the table,
brown sleeve rolled up,
lies so still it could be broken.
Gazes fixed on the door and window
flicker toward me
for a moment.
The other hand
lifts my cup.
Mouth sips my coffee.
Body beats with my caffeine.
Before coffee or toast,
I smell this body in my kitchen
and know.
I know that the future
I signed up for is under seige.
Time has taken a sharp turn
and history will be written by the victors.
I know my possessions
are no longer mine.
My desk, my couch, my bed
may all belong to a cause
proclaimed in another language,
which I cannot understand.
I know this person will never leave my home.
Rubble blocks the road out of town
and I can hear and feel
the ground tremble
now and again.
All I want to do is sing.
This is the traditional garb
of my people.
Our voices weave it,
our fingers pull out designs and filigree.
I open my mouth wide
and cover you.
You who came here unbidden.
You who fills my nose.
You whose ass is at rest
in my chair.
And when my song is done,
you will be dressed in it.
You will move your limbs
in my dance.
You will hunger for the spices
grown, gathered, and ground here.
And you will stay.
==============================
Love and the Lineworker
You’ve got a cog, I’ve got a shoulder
You’ve got gears, I’ve got lungs
You’ve got conveyors, I’ve got a tongue
What’s the difference between a scab and a gun?
You’ve got a keyboard, I’ve got a face
You’ve got lubricants, I’ve got grace
I’ve got eyes, you have a screen
What’s the difference between a question and a scream?
I got blood on my hands
Just trying to get by
Just get by, get by
United we stand
Divided we fall
But I forget
the point of it all.
What will happen
if I join this guild?
Will all my expectations
be fulfilled?
We make the things
the world will buy.
Where would I be
without your lie?
You run the world.
I work the line.
You got yours.
I got mine.
(what was mine?
where is mine?)
You’ve got a motive, I’ve got a heart.
What’s the diffence between an end and a start?
I got blood on my hands
Just trying to get by
Just get by, get by
==============================
Love and the Actuary
It’s a careful calculation,
not for the weak of heart:
the spreadsheets interlocking,
the variables at the start.
The moment’s been compiled
Each touch is in the store.
The words that pile higher
amount to little more.
The numbers don’t add up.
The choices far from clear.
The risk can find no calculus.
We’re getting nowhere here.
Oh no, you’ve got to…
count what counts,
count what counts.
=====================
Love and the Anarchist
I can see that you must be taken down
It’s not up to me, but I’m not gonna wait around
I can see that you must be taken down
I won’t be the flea of history
to become free
what does it mean?
There’s no need to wait for solid ground
We could be defeated and no one would raise an arm
Shake the disease and make a noise that must resound
We can’t retreat or know defeat
If we should freeze revolve and repeat
Hey there Darlin, hear that sound, let me see your face
Hear that music, comin round, this must be the place.
We can dance
Hey there Darlin’ look around, there’s people in the street
Only reason I could imagine why is to pick up on that beat
We can dance
Losing is free, just sit and make no sound.
But weeds have teeth and rise to the sky with heads unbound
Who, if not we, will stand up and sing outload
Ethical amphetamine
gives the urge to surge
on with speed.
========================
Love and the Executive
When the airplane goes down
you will feel the thirst
Who should get
the oxygen mask first?
Bust you and your high handed
headbanded
feet stranded
morality.
You’re still in the big heart
false start
victim’s part
mentality.
It’s the thrill of the chase.
It’s the chase of the thrill.
Gonna get there fast.
Gonna get my fill.
Oh I’ll meet you
in the great room
Stand together
But stand on your own two feet,
your shine a fait accompli
I will stand back and really see
you.
Who said there’s a self-based
vs. human raced
vs. righteous case
proclivity?
There’s a whole nation
self-elation
fascination
divinity.
What will make people move
when push comes to shove
If there’s no self-interest
what becomes of your dove?
I’m going for a everyone
grab the fun
to the top
do not stop
middle class
get off your ass
economic frown to
universal crown
rising tide
means no divide
prosperity
I can’t control you
cajole you
patrol you
so it comes down to
me.
========================
Love and the Duelist
Stand back to back.
We begin to walk
Don’t stop
at ten paces
keep going
keep going
if the world is caught
in the impossible
gathering
of the sphere
keep going
keep going
We can hope
we just might
come back round
face to face
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Love and the Skateboarder
ollie ollie
pop shove it
no comply
540 shuvit
up up gazelle
sigma flip
kiwi spin
varial
ghetto bird
laser flip
dark casper
sex change
unward flip
plasma spin
bull double
levitch twist
double impossible
=======================
Love and the Student
I think I know what I want to be when I grow up.
They tell me I can’t get paid for this. I’ll be poor and poorer.
But I don’t need a bank to feed, just for me to be fed.
So I see what I want to be when I grow up.
Hopeful
I can tell you the precise color of my parachute.
I will jump and I will fall and this is nothing new.
I’ve no wish to be a child, if this is what it’s like
I want to be big, strong, free when I grow up…
Hopeful.
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