Yes Face

Creativity — (Magnus)

May you be smart enough to want something
May you fill your time with schemes
May you forfeit payoffs accordingly
And may your failures be distinguished by mercy

And then say you took one little thing
And then you turned it into another thing
And then you added a few more things
And then something else happened

You’re doing it right

May your theories all be praxis, yeah
May distinctions blow beyond the frame
May your future fictive audience convene
And thumbs you up, oh yeah….

And then say you take one little thing
And then you turn it into another thing
And then you add a few more things
And then something else happens…

You’re doing it right

There’s nothing more than this
It's just a question of what we can see
And what we could see if we could really see

You’re doing it right…

—-

New York Muse — (O’Reilly/Greenberg)

I went down to New York
Looking for my muse
Muse was sitting pretty
Musin’ front page news.
She said, “I’m all besotted
With John Keats and Gertrude Stein.
They’ve got me planting flowers
Perfuming up my mind.”
I said, “I'm something awful
Since you went away,
The radiator looks dangerous
And the radio wont play…”
She said, “You’re in a time zone
Where lovers never meet.
You’re all fagged out with jet lag,
You’re knocked out on your feet…”
He says, “i’ve got a thug inside me
He’s tougher than I thought.
He’s all stressed out with contempt,
It's got me stretched so taut.”
She said, “Start writing down the promises
In the book you painted green,
Refer to them much later,
And you’ll find, its quite a scene…
But if you’re seeking visions,
Start living like a nun,
Or accept that you’re a rowdy boy
With all the deeds you’ve done,
All the deeds you’ve done…”

I came back from New York
I’m feeling less alone
I turned a couple of pages
I tried the telephone.
And if no one ever answers,
It's really no surprise,
I’ll let it ring all through the night
Until I close my eyes…
It's then that she will visit me
With all the tricks she knows
She’ll take me to the cellar
Where her special bottle grows

And together we’ll unpop the cork
And flood ourselves with home
Start blazing away with righteousness
Until we stumble home…

—-

Spite — (Test)

With your great hair
And my great ass
You’d think we’d have
A better epitaph
Than: ‘they’re dead in the ground
And there’s no one around'
And only the spite remains

A crooked mouth’d stranger came to town
We wined and dined and danced around
But he fled to brazil
And stuck me with the bill
And only the spite remains

Bobby was a bully that pushed me around
He’s long gone now and in the ground
So we defiled the dead
And we all turned and fled
And only the spite remains.

But it’s far less sexy by far
To cop to who we really are

I had a love that was unrequited
But when he fought with his wife I was invited
And we did it in the halls
And left it on the walls
And only the spite remains

(eww)

I got myself in a situation
A motorist bore no appreciation
For pedestrian rights
Left cold in the night
And only the spite remains

And now all that remains
Is useless phantom pains
And I have wasted my time
Living your life and ignoring mine
And now i have no memory
Of how the hell I used to be

And it’s all the rage
To get all the rage

And with your great hair
And your great ass
You’d think we’d have a better epitaph
Than: ‘they’re dead in the ground
And there’s no one around'
And we’re dead in the ground
With the birds all around
And we're dead in the ground
And there’s blood on the ground
And we’re dead in the ground
And no one makes a sound
And only the spite remains

—-

Robot Lady — (Martin)

Robot Lady, I used to know you
Now everyone knows your face
I saw it
Before you knew who you were
Now you know everything
Everything

When the sun was still the sun
Shining on as shining was
And everyone lived seven thousand years

Coursing through the course of time
Dragging on as dragging does
Until the hour of my encodings here

No we didn’t ask to be
refashioned but thems the rules
So can we share our drudgery
‘Til I’m a robot lady too

Robot Lady, I used to know you
Now everyone knows your face
I saw it
Before you knew who you were
Now you know everything
Everything

—-

Wah Wah — (Walden)

the smell of coffee cracks my brain again
a bit before my mind goes gray again
before I want to run away again
and then replay all that you say again

it just goes wah wah wah wah wah

you’re looking like a million bucks again
a blushing cheek an aw-ing shucks again
I’m run down by the semi trucks again
unlucky repeats lightning struck again

it just goes wah wah wah wah wah

ever after things turn over
a machete to a four-leaf clover

the darkest feeling on the bloom again
I cannot get out of this room again
a harpy desperate to consume again
the plume atop a pretty tomb again

I really thought I’d put you down again
but then there comes that certain sound again
and even though you’re not around again
you’re around
again

wah wah wah wah wah
you just go wah wah wah wah wah
you just go wah wah wah wah wah
you just go wah wah wah wah wah
you just go wah wah wah wah wah
i just go wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah

—-

Muddy When It Rains — (O’Reilly/Berke)

muddy when it rains
and dusty when it don't
red dirt road
she's walking

she's walking
through the dawn
slit skirt lets her move
all the gin, it is gone
and the rough boys never call
the rough boys never call

muddy when it rains
and dusty when it don't
red dirt road
she's walking

this man
all pouty and drawn
those lips those pockets empty
could that look be the fawn
small animal she needed
small animal she needed

muddy when it rains
and dusty when it don't
red dirt road
she's walking

this man
so coarse and torn
his hand held high in the air
could that look beg her not to scorn
that man was never there
that man was never there

muddy when it rains
and dusty when it don't
red dirt road
she's walking

—-

Rosemont — (Magnus)

Push the curtain aside and see the gibbery moon
Long days sleep in a cheapish hotel room
Dreams of my dead old dad and calling out to him
Crying on his shoulder I miss him I miss him I miss him I miss him
A sojourn is a sojourn first you go down down down
Deep in the heart of what can make it go round round round
Fetishize a spinning spindle fondling a plate glass window
A couple a days at the Rosemont does me in…

TV stayed to news about the sun’s hot core
A show explaining how neutron stars revolve forever more
Collapsing into black holes invading my dreams that day
Nausea from the spinning sickening my sleep anyway anyway anyway anyway
The lights from the trees are sparkling with their bright bright bright
And the tears are welling up from writing that spite spite spite
If only the bitter truth could ring the way a freedom bell might sing
A couple of days at the Rosemont does me in…

Rosemont, the cheapest deal on Orbitz
Rosemont, way out by O’Hare
Rosemont, you’ve gotten what you wanted and now you’re there,
You’ve made your bed now lie in it…

If I was a drinking man I’d be dead drunk at last
Greenish buildings in the distances are wavering too fast too fast
Not sitting at home not caroling around the tree
There’s nothing anyone can say that hasn’t been said already…
I’ll wait for the drifting tides to turn turn turn
Bridges crossed, crossed off, and then they’ve been burned burned burned
Oh wise ones when will something move the stones
That grind the knowing from the known
Rosemont will be the death of me…..

—-

I’d Like to Go Out Working (But I Have To Get to Drink in the Morning) — (Martin)

I’d like to go out working
But I have to get to drink in the morning
It’s a mandatory meeting with Tom and Miranda and Gil
We’re steering our committee to Vince’s
For the Ten Cent wings from 11-3
And if the 2 for 1 pitchers don’t get us then
The nice fat fatty in my wallet will

I understand the drive to earn a living
Electricity is nice and heat can make your house a home
But my commitments are so unforgiving
If I’m not at Lucky’s by 3 pm I’ll miss my calls on the can’s payphone

I’d like to go out working
But I have to get to drink in the morning
I pulled the early shift with Ned and Greta and Jill
We convene and Ole McKellan’s pub
For the World Cup match at 10:23
And if the dollar domestic drafts don’t get us
Then the poppers in my jacket will

(instr. break)

These modern times have made things so efficient
One can perform one’s duties without going anywhere
Budgets can be cut across Divisions
When a fifth of Old Crow will cost you
What a couple of shots’d run you at The Bel-Aire

Well I’d love to go out working
But I have to get to drunk in the morning
Just because I stay at home don’t mean that I can laze around at will
I’ve gotta wake up in whatever room I’m in
And make a deposit or three
And if the High Life 30 don’t get me
Then the acetone I found in the alley will

And if the stress don’t get me
I guess my driving will

—-

Soft — (O’Reilly)

let everything change
and let nothing go sour
it's light in the spring
it gets dark in the hour
let everything change
and let nothing get lost
the memory remains
and all blame goes soft

this is my thought
with its permanent twist
how we suffered for naught
before arriving at this
we cleared out the brush
and we swept up the trash
we straightened the wardrobe
and converted to cash

let everything change
and let nothing go sour
it's light in the spring
it gets dark in the hour
let everything change
and let nothing get lost
the memory remains
and all blame goes soft

we emptied our pockets
off all gizmos and pills
we climbed out the window
and avoided the sills
we spoke in the night
of the things left undone
regretted the list
of the weave we unstrung

my child has my face
and my mother is crying
the dust of the age
is the dust she's defying
we were blonde for awhile
then the grey came to stay
and those circles of love
were the circles at play

let everything change
and let nothing go sour
it's light in the spring
it gets dark in the hour
let everything change
and let nothing get lost
the memory remains
and all blame goes soft

—-

Today I Won’t Go — (Magnus)

Today won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go
Today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go

As I get older I am always overpacking
So worried there might be some kinda situation
I just don’t want to face another charming faux pas
If only I can have the proper accoutrement handy for where I’m going

As I get older I am always sick when I travel
For some odd reason motion makes me feel uneasy
There’s nothing for it but to sit and wish for the end
If I could just wake up and already be wherever I was going..

Take me take me take me i’ll go…

As I get older I am always leaving something
I fool myself by thinking I can keep that back door open
But if I check then I will surely notice
I don’t have the key to where it is I think that I am going…
So…

Today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go
Today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go today I won’t go

—-

Schaudenfreuder — (Magnus)

A schadenfreuder from way back
She hated successful stories
They pissed her off because she knew
That there were limited amounts of glory
And if someone else got something good
It meant she wasn’t going to get the things she should
Stuck with the shit end of the stick again
No doubt

So she would google the tsumani
Google the tsunami
Telling herself showing herself convincing herself
She didn’t have it all that bad…

She spent her 40’s acting fine
She cleaned up messes hers and others
Never late always on time
Could be relied upon to be men’s brothers
But her secret life of schadenfreude
Left her not so fucking secretly annoyed
Successes in someone else’s life
Well they would gut her like a fishing knife

So she would google the tsumani
Google the tsunami
Telling herself showing herself convincing herself
She didn’t have it all that bad

She was drawn to the images of the man standing staring at the water
They were shot from way up high so you can’t see his face
He’s just standing there staring at the wave as it’s coming towards him
He doesn’t run away, he just disappears….

La la la…
But her secret life of schadenfreude
Left her not so fucking secretly destroyed
Successes in someone else’s life
Well, they would gut her like a fishing knife

So she would google the tsumani
Google the tsunami
Telling herself showing herself convincing herself assuring herself
She didn’t have it all that bad…

—-

Hitting the Wall — (Walden/Magnus)

all the mens, all the mens
all the mens are hitting the wall
the cracking it open and spilling of brains
gives them case after case after case of insanes
and one day they’ll wake up to all that remains
frayed ends and the snappings of thread
frayed ends and the snappings of thread

all the womens, all the womens
all the womens are hitting the wall
bruising themselves just before the bone breaks
giving guff to the body that takes what it takes
watching missteps blossom into mistakes
and the grinding of teeth into grain
the grinding of teeth into grain

all the childrens, all the childrens
all the childrens are hitting the wall
an unconscious testing, a hand out for rain
keepers, ejectors, the boon or the bane
the shrieking of pleasure, the liking of pain
shrug it off as a big escapade
a shrugging escapade

all the mens, all the womens,
all the childrens are hitting the wall

what it does to heads
back up, do again
less a sign of crazy
than a sign of hitting the wall
a sign of hitting the wall

—-

Venice — (Diane Izzo)

ever since we met up
we've been infrequently alright
we could go on this way forever
but I reckon we're gonna get tired
like a mule under a man
who's been pushing him so hard
our backs are sloping and they're hurting
and our hooves are breaking apart

our tiny little parts
cold as a frozen tomb
but we found the lay of the land
and the land was an open wound
so daddy croon, daddy croon
in your soft and moaning dark
with your sawdust hands a-clappin
and your skin like elder bark
you're so delicate, delicately carved

out with the boys from venice
in the canal and lagoon
where we hold ourselves like statues
in a gondola under the moon
and we're laughing and we're laughing
and we're pulling ourselves apart
with death in our drunken bodies
and venice in our hearts

I inherited your gaze
in the way that my thinking goes down
but my sins get misconstrued
and my tongue gets riddled with doubt
I'm a ball with my strings a-loosened
and my skeleton's dancing out
I'm an organ grinder's monkey
entertaining the crowd

I'm poor, but maybe not

well we're pitiful but we're gods

'twas a naked angel
fed us the bitter root
while a thousand widows grieved
in the orchid room
so daddy croon, my daddy croon
in your soft and moaning dark
with your sawdust hands a-clappin
and your skin like elder bark
you're so elegant, elegantly scarred

—-

Eugene Chadborne’s Shirt — (O’Reilly/Magnus)

found a phonebook from '92
with all the numbers changed
half-remembered friends were there
amid the coffee stains
one of 'em got a secret date
and one the banjo strings
me I got that Chadbourne shirt
it was one of those lucky things

Eugene Chadbourne's shirt

well most times we would work at night
and rare times we would sleep
and some slept in the wrong bed
and some slept in a heap
and maybe we would watch the wind
and maybe we would beat
and maybe we would dance around
and maybe we would tiptoe

Eugene Chadbourne's shirt

the decisions that we made
were sometimes clean and neat
who got to keep the funny books
who had to clean the sheets
but me, I got that Chadbourne shirt
his roach clip went to others
cuz Chadbourne slept once in my bed
dreamt anarchy under the covers

well most of us are gone now
we learned to bank the heat
and put it in some useful place
stop parading on the street
but me I got that Chadbourne shirt
and I wear it like a snake
and when my brain goes comfortable
I don't give myself a break

I'm wearing Eugene Chadbourne's shirt
(it's awful daring)
Eugene Chadbourne's shirt
(I can hear it tearing)
Eugene Chadbourne's shirt
(what's that you're staring at)
Eugene Chadbourne's shirt

—-

You Wanted Us We’re Here — (Martin)

You wanted us…We’re here
You’re one of us…We’re here
You’re one with us…Hear, Hear
And one of us. Will never go. Home.

Break in the weather
Facing the road
Bracing your back
To recumber the load

Pavement degraded
the shoulder recedes
Ice evaporates
To humidity
Beading on every bruise
Thank God you wore your worst shoes

You wanted us…We’re here
You’re one of us…We’re here
You’re one with us…Hear, Hear
And one of us. Will never go. Home.

Plaintive recoveries
The fields and the draws
Trees moved away
All beset by the saw

Follow the detour
Or follow the stone
Pointed directions
Cuts down to the bone
Trusting in all you can sing
Don’t look at everything

You wanted us…We’re here
You’re one of us…We’re here
You’re one with us…Hear, Hear
And one of us. Will never go. Home.

—-

Superhero Man — (Magnus)
for Beau O’Reilly and Stefan Brun

Keeps his attention strung and tight
Sits up straight and sees the bursting bolt of light
Feels the dangers coming near
Gets himself to where there’s nothing left to fear

He stands his ground
His ground is fine
He makes a move
He tries…

He can save himself
He is the only one
He’ll find a way
To win….

Always on the mission
Superhero Man
Make the world alive
As best as he can

Has the power to prevail
When the situation presses him to fail
His instinctive way to fly
Is to never question how he can or why

He scans the world
His world makes sense
He proves it good
He tries…

He can save himself
He is the only one
He’ll find a way
To win….

Always on the mission
Superhero Man
Make the world alive as
Best as he can

Fights the good fight every waking
Gives himself a thorough shaking
Tells himself he’ll surely not be beat
Reaching for his belt of wonders
Buckling his all asunders
Gearing up to take the bitter heat
Asks himself to find a reason
Challenging the change of seasons
Taking off his glasses for a while

The only crime he cannot rout
Is the passing of the time….

Holding firmly to the end
There is no villain that can make him bend
All naysayers take a pass
They can kiss his ample superhero ass

He knows his place
His place is his
He makes some room
He tries….

He can save himself
He is the only one
He’ll find a way
To win….

Always on the mission
Superhero Man
Make the words alive as
Best as he can

—

Food Chain Scuttle Stomp — (Martin)

It must-a been about-a three o’clock in the afternoon
Cuz nobody was here, but they gonna be here soon
Nobody ever shows up early want to get a little bit
Buzzed before they come

All the beetles in the dung will come when the antelope run
The cattle quit their lowing when they wanna get high,
Stumble down a tunnel shoot, gut, flash fry
5 hours to boil their tongues

And the humans hold their forks up proud
Spitting this pretty little ditty out loud:
“If you’re gonna build a fire, better have some meat on hand”

And the tigers and the sharks and bears
Wonder what a little bit’ll be-a left to spare
When the top hits the bottom
Chordata needs a better B-plan

(break)

All bellies to the Big Buffet
For the spattering of the masticating hunt/kill/spray
With the bigger on the littler a duty, not a thing to fear

Bacteria in the bathroom say
We’re the scuttle in the puddle and we’re here to stay
We’re the first and last and good for another four-billion years

It must-a been about-a three o’clock in the afternoon
Cuz nobody was here, but they were gonna be here soon
Nobody ever shows up early want to get a little bit
Buzzed before they
buzzed before they
buzzed before they come

—-

Art History — (Magnus)

You don’t remind me of a Giacometti
You remind me of Botero
And maybe the Venus of Willendorf

You remind me of a Rubens
You remind me of Lucien Freud
And a bit like Manet’s Olympia

Shirts don’t fit you like you think they should
And sweaters don’t fit you like you’d hoped they would
And buttons don’t button like you thought they could
So how can you be portrayed?

You got big tits
Real big tits

You remind me of Russ Meyers’ films
You remind me of the women of R. Crumb
You remind me of that Joan chick on Mad Men
She’s got big tits

Shirts don’t fit you like you think they should
And sweaters don’t fit you like you’d hoped they would
And buttons don’t button like you thought they could
So how can you be portrayed?

'Cause you got big tits…
Real big tits

So let's celebrate, let's celebrate them….
By going boingy boingy boingy…
Jiggly jiggly…
Tittie tittie tittie…

—-

(Ghost Cat is) Gone— (Martin)

Ghost cat is gone
I said it for 83 years
I was right all along
Still every day she’d appear

Fields are left fallow
Children are guarded in their play
Poor Pomeranians toted in bags where they go
From stories of tracks in the snow
But how can you tell ‘less you’re told
That ghost cat is gone
Hooray

The woods fill with hammers
Ditch truck to drive the rains away
Traffic lights guide us, saying ‘all’s well it’s your turn’
Move ahead without further concern
Newsman just said he’s just learned
That ghost cat is gone
Hooray

Ghost cat is gone

—-

Yes Face — (Magnus)

He flips out looking
Turns everything inside out
Driven mad like a Bolshevik radical
Wild eyes whimpering
Things are lost

She slips in not looking
Turns everything off inside
Driven mad like a once free radical
Sad eyes whimpering
Things are lost

They make the do you want to live face
They make the yes face…

Things are lost, man
A panoply of things
But still, the looking,
The looking, the looking….

So they disdain checking
Inside the locked out room
Driven made like burnt out radicals
Many eyes whispering
Things are lost

They make that do you want to live face
They make the yes face…