At Dawn She Comes: At Dawn She Comes

At Dawn She Comes

At Dawn she comes
Like a promise forgotten
By a seeker who lays weary
On the shore where he begun

She will come wearing no diamonds
She will wear no mask of shades
She will come in simple clothing
Will elegance that never fades

Smoke rings hang in silence
‘Round the ever brooding face
Of the one who has forgotten
That with morning shall come grace


At dawn she comes
Heaven’s song inside a shell
And a glass tear to remember
That at night she’ll stay as well

At Dawn She Comes: Now and Again

Now and Again

Now and again
I make a friend
While at the places where the faces wait for someday to begin

And we talk of things
That have no weight
We laugh at told jokes ‘til they are old jokes, lying on our empty plates

Then I think aloud
A thought astray
And expressions change, finding it strange how first impressions can betray

Then they leave the table
And I’m as I was
Trying to find uses for old excuses, cause I have nothing but “because”
“Because, because, because…”

And that feeling comes again
Somewhat sad and somehow old
And the walls, they seem so wide
As a private thought unfolds
Yes, and you who give him praise
For never selling out
When you left him alone to die
Suffocating on his doubt
I have nothing left to say… to you
I have nothing left to say… to you


Now and again
I make a friend
While at the places where the faces wait for someday to begin…

At Dawn She Comes: A Shot in the Dark

A Shot in the Dark

When a poet lies
He slashes wild, holding the blade
Without a handle is the vandal in his heart
The harm to you
Is the harm twofold to me
Netted animal in sheets
Lost in the forest
Of thought…

I’ve been running from a shot in the dark
From a shot in the dark
And I’m holding the gun
I’ve been running from a shot in the dark
And I’m holding the gun
I am holding the gun

Sweaty palms praying
Lord, I’m too young to be a dad
So January hurry up and let me sleep
The game she plays
You make the rules up as you go
Try to raise me till I fold
Now who’s in the closet?
In too deep…

I’ve been running from a shot in the dark
From a shot in the dark
And I’m holding the gun
I’ve been running from a shot in the dark
And I’m holding the gun
I am holding the gun

Take the winnings and leave
Say I told you so and die
With your valentine landmines all up the stairway
The gang’s coming by
So I’ll love you one more night
Then I’ll think of something else
I’ll barricade the doorway
Please, just stay…

I’ve been running from a shot in the dark
From a shot in the dark
And I’m holding the gun
I’ve been running from a shot in the dark
And I’m holding the gun
I am holding the gun

At Dawn She Comes: The Morning After Red Light

The Morning After Red Light

It’s a slow day
Watching the winding down of fan blades
Ignoring the broken lamp shade and the scarlet sash betrayed
Lying where her clothes had fell the night before

In the next room
In her rocking chair she knits
Trying to tune out the bits of the reports from the radio
While he lies naked in a quilt upon the floor

And the radio
Pours out the latest body count
Filling high the glass of doubt from which he drinks to still his mind
Running from the exponential ebb of time

Daydreaming of her
Framed in the foreplay of the night
Standing in the tinted light, she was the goddess of his storm
Casting cherry silhouettes of naked form

And then her skin so smooth and warm
And the sheetrock thunder mourned
The broken promise to only be friends
With poison dreams of high hope
Unweaving the holy tightrope
He gambles heaven for an earthly dance

But then it comes back
The chalkboard nails along the back
The knives of tongue carelessly flung, pinning the truth upon the wall
Like a poster for a film he never saw

Now he looks at her
Naked knitting in her seat
The monocular shot glass of grief distorts the face he sees
Into a stranger who might take him at his knees

And then the promises of carousels
And revolutionary wedding bells
Is dealt out once again steady and sure
Confident as a conned black belt
That nothing he says will be smelt
He gambles heaven for an earthly cure

But she looks at him
And naked is his mystery
Wrapped tightly in her patchwork history of old defeats
And she cuts a smile at all the unraveling seams

And then the radio
Declares the ending of the war
Unsure who to reward while rivals lounge in the sun room
Watching the falling petals from the withered bloom
Watching the falling petals from the withered bloom
Watching the falling petals from the withered bloom

At Dawn She Comes: The Time Has Come

The Time Has Come

Ain’t feeling blue
Just need to ride alone
There comes a time…. The time has come
To take rest on hills unknown

Hear the festive laughter
From the town afar
There comes a time…. The time has come
To drink whole an unshared jar

Can’t seem to shake it off
It’s all dead on you
You count the blessings, you count the times
The good old seems strange and new

A hickey brands your heart
A friend turns alien
Glaciers of awkward silence hold
While the tensions cracking thin



The stars tap your thoughts
Like a maple tree
Thoughts are sweetest when thoughts are pure
These thoughts she’s come to feed

You’re all tangled up
Long overdue
There comes a time…. The time has come
It’s time to untie you

At Dawn She Comes: Katydid

Katydid

Katydid
Katydid
Swore I’d never say what that lady did
What Katy did
Some may say was wrong…
I swore I’d never say
But I guess I’ll sing it in this song

Jack the cicada said I’ll love you later
Girl if you can wait that long
Girl if you can wait that long
Wait for me while I am gone
She said, Jack don’t worry
Let me prove to you my love is strong

The years went by like the tears in her eyes
Each one bitter and slow to fall
Each one bitter and slow to fall
Slower than a snail can crawl
She waited for so long
But never did she hear his call

* * *

She woke up one morning with a lady bug beared
Said to herself, now that’s pretty weird!
Maybe I’ve waited here for too long
Maybe I’ve waited here for too long
Well I’m sorry Jack
But I guess my love it weren’t that strong

She found her a rambler standing outside her door
She said you like what you see? Well insides plenty more
Oh, I’ve waited here for so long!
Lord, I’ve waited here for so long!
Come tomorrow, Jack
Your little Katy gonna be long gone

* * *

Katydid
Katydid
Swore I’d never say what that lady did
What Katy did
Some may say was wrong...
But whatever they say
I just couldn’t let her wait that long

At Dawn She Comes: Warm Bath Water

Warm Bath Water

She seemed impervious
Now she’s gnawing on her knee
And I see she’s nervous
Sitting on the edge of the tub

She starts to stutter like the light
From an old fruit fly freckled forty-watt bulb
As our thoughts, they dissolve…

In warm bath water
Let’s soak together till we’re clear

Was I perhaps mistaken?
My master plan crafted with care
“It’s all there for the taking!
We’ve got the world in our cups.”

Young and invincible
We drank fiercely the nectar till we were drunk
Leaving forms frail to appall

Was I perhaps mistaken?
In the silence of a slow drip minute hand
That caresses my bare skull

In warm bath water
Let’s soak together till we’re clear
In warm bath water
My warmest memory is here

Thunder on the door
Her father brought his baseball bat
“We’ll laugh about it someday.”
I keep telling myself that

Knuckles crack like billiard balls
These Tylenols will kill me long before the pain
Alone and naked in the doorway

Why even bother?
I just get up to fall back down

The burnt rubber smell
And blood on a concrete wall
“I’m calling from Richmond.
I need a fast ride out of hell.”

“The years have been kind to you.”
But those years are only skin deep I can tell
From the battered horn of his voice

“Brother, I think I love her.”
But his eyes stab through the endless flesh of night
Bloody tongue holding reply

Why even bother?
I just get up to fall back down
Why even bother
To pick me up to fall back down?

Was I perhaps mistaken?
My master plan of flight by dare
It’s all there for the breaking
Was that the world in our cups?

Naïve romantics
But for a moment there was truth in desperate lies
To bring hurricanes to hush

I had the world in my arms
And she was warm and she was cool like summer rain
And there were blessings in the pain

In warm bath water
Let’s soak together till we’re clear
In warm bath water
My warmest memory is here

At Dawn She Comes: Your Big Bright Beautiful World

Your Big Bright Beautiful World

In your big bright beautiful world, pretty mamma
Won’t you tell me what you see?
In your big bright beautiful world, pretty mamma
Won’t you tell me what you see?
Are there streams of gold each morning?
A blazing rose in the sea each eve?
In your big bright beautiful world, pretty mamma
Is there room enough for me?
For me?
For me?
Your sweet loving boy to be?
For me?
For me?
For me?

Saw you down by the water pump
All your curls had come undone
Sweating in your blue spring dress
Dancing in the midday sun
I picked you six tall daisies
I wrote you letters three
Begging you to take the heart
Of your sweet loving boy to be
To be
To be
Your sweet loving boy to be
To be
To be
To be

In your big bright beautiful eyes, pretty mamma
Want me to tell you what I see?
In your big bright beautiful eyes, pretty mamma
Yeah, I’ll tell you what I see!
I see warrior under night skies
I see a princess sad sighing
In your big bright beautiful eyes, pretty mamma
I see the end and beginning
Of me
Of me
Your sweet loving boy to be
Of me
Of me
Of me

At Dawn She Comes: The Greed We Call Survival

The Greed We Call Survival

It’s the calfskin glove
Of the gateway drug
It’s the truce of mortal rivals
For the friend in need
That we choose to leave
It’s the greed we call survival

It’s the melting glaze
Of the elder days
It’s the ragged tent revival
It’s the worn catch phrase
Fraying spirit and praise
It’s the change we call survival

It’s the Judas kiss
On the lovers’ wrists
Who enlisted, tongues unbridled
In the war of words
Between the shepherds
For the death we call survival



Everything must die in its place and time
And such paths cannot be stifled
When the wars wind down and the loss is found
What remains we call survival

When the wars wind down and the loss is found
What remains we call survival

At Dawn She Comes: Still Below

Still Below

High school friends all riding the rails
Futons, crotons - crumbs on the rug
But that ain’t me; I’ve got this old rat tail
I’m gonna hang on tight – climb right to the top

Leafing through black book connects
See who I’ve still got and who I’m up against
I’m gonna comb some wigs
Chew the fat with pigs
Book a bluegrass band for my grassroots gig
And where the apple falls… that don’t matter much to me
Nose in the air like a shark
Barking ‘round a money tree

And girl, I know
Yeah baby, I know…
Hard to think about coming down when you’re still below

Get me a pinstripe tailored toga
Pair of new shoes and a theater voice
Have someone knock off a charisma donor
Pant it in the backseat; make it look like a choice

Hey sister look, big brother is made
Roll out the carpet; pour out the parade
I’m full front page
Upstaging the stage
I’ve got the whole saying I’m all the rage
And if the D.A. calls, just tell him I’m out for tea
Smug grin on my face
Daydreaming in the factory

And girl, I know
Yeah baby, I know…
Hard to think about coming down when you’re still below

Tycoon Viking – I’m a liking that ring
Hail to chief if you know what’s good
History is safe as long as it’s all on film
To build a nice fire, you don’t need any wood

That’s right sister, big brother got plans
We ain’t always gonna have dirty hands
Just keep dreaming big
Between each swig
With gasoline cans and mansions to pick

And girl, I know
Yeah baby, I know…
Hard to think about coming down when you’re still below

Girl, I know
Yeah baby, I know…
Hard to think about coming down when you’re still below

At Dawn She Comes: River Mint Woman

River Mint Woman

River Mint Woman…
Sing like the water
Misty whispers… in your hair
Dark as chasms… deep in the caverns
Pale as the bones… that the sun bleached bare

Gold on gold
Naked in the wheat field
Grinding a sand stone in your hand
Almost dry but the water’s still calling
On our way to a honey copper tan

River Mint Woman…
Sing like the water
Misty whispers… in your hair
Dark as chasms… deep in the caverns
Pale as the bones… that the sun bleached bare

Cool mountain blood
Ever refreshing
You swim like an otter, playful and fair
Kissed you twice but still there’s a calling
See you tonight where the moon won’t glare

River Mint Woman…
Sing like the water
Misty whispers… in your hair
Dark as chasms… deep in the caverns
Pale as the bones… that the sun bleached bare

At Dawn She Comes: Cherry Blossom Petals

Cherry Blossom Petals

I went to my old school one day
When I felt like I knew nothing
And nothing would make sense
But all of the faces had changed
There were some from battle scars
And the rest had been replaced

There was glimmer... from the concrete stairs
Glass dust from where her slipper... had shattered
There was glimmer... in her eye, I swear
When she told me it didn’t matter
When she told me it didn’t matter much to her

Seems like it’s snowing in spring
With all these... cherry blossom petals
Dancing in the midday wind
Around the sidewalk where they kissed

I went up to a garden of stone
One the hill past the old church
Right across from the orchard
I laid a bouquet on their graves
Told them tales of life in college
How it was good to be back home

There was a raindrop... on the driver’s mirror
Though the sky was clear as I... took 95
There was a raindrop... as I passed the scene
Where drunken hands had carried
Where drunken hands carried their smiles away

Seems like it’s snowing in spring
With all these... cherry blossom petals
Dancing in the midday wind
Around the sidewalk where they kissed

At Dawn She Comes: Into the Night

Into the Night

Can’t perceive distance
Can’t conceive light
Received resistance
Deceived by fright
We lost the battle… in the war of life

Into the night, into the night, into the night
Into the night, into the night, our torches bright…

Restless persistence
Weapons chipped and worn
Sense of repentance
From this crest to which we’d sworn

We’ve got the numbers
In this dusk, let us unite
Our hearts afire
Torches through dire strife

Into the night, into the night, into the night
Into the night, into the night, our torches bright…



We’ve got the numbers
In this dusk, let us unite
Our hearts afire
Torches through dire strife

At Dawn She Comes

1. Into the Night

2. Cherry Blossom Petals

3. River Mint Woman

4. Still Below

5. The Greed We Call Survival

6. Your Big Bright Beautiful World

7. Warm Bath Water

8. Katydid

9. The Time has Come

10. The Morning After Red Light

11. A Shot in the Dark

12. Now and Again

13. At Dawn She Comes

More content coming soon.

Ruin Bound: Orange Peels

Orange Peels

Orange peels
Remember the orange peels
Remember how it feels
When you slash the sky…
The hills, they are older than the mountains
You’ll find
That glory’s more than fire in the sky

Another rose on marble
Another jade peak spilled into the valley
You knew you couldn’t barrow
The warmth you took from the tears of Kali
And all these raiders of the heart
Mourn their king of thieves…

Orange peels…
Orange peels…

Orange peels
Remember the orange peels
Remember how it feels
When you slash the sky
The hills, they are older than the mountains
You’ll find
That glory’s more than fire in the sky

Remember the little things
Magic’s in the little things
Remember the little things
Magic’s in the little things
In the absurd…
Or so I’ve heard

Orange peels…
Orange peels…

Orange peels…
The hills, they are older than the mountains
You’ll find
That glory’s more than fire in the sky

Ruin Bound: The Graduate

The Graduate

There’s a blue metallic balloon
Tied to the handle of a handmade reptilian teacup
There’s a word carved in
On the dresser where it sits
There’s a word carved in
By a pocket knife
Yeah, and old friend’s gift
A bittersweet goodbye
But nobody has left
And the word is “WHY?”

Why…?
Tell me why…
Do we slip through the cracks in the years?
Please, tell me why…?
Why…?
Sipping these primal fears

There’s a blue metallic balloon
In aluminum letters, ‘Congratulations’ written
Reflecting on the glass
It was seven AM
Looked like cigarette smoke
From a fag in the hand
Of a girl who sat broke
In the window glass
Reflecting in my mind
A question never asked

Why…?
Tell me why…
do we forget those we hold so dear?
Please, tell me why…?
Why…?
Sipping these primal fears

There’s a blue metallic balloon
From graduation day, floating in my room
Like the ice in the glass
Of my party drink
Sitting on the old couch
Trying hard not to think
Washing the future down
With all my dearest friends
Washing the future down
Trying to float over it

Why…?
Tell me why…
Do we drift so far away from our peers?
Please, tell me why…?
Why…?
Sipping these primal fears

Some say that light makes shadows till you can’t even see the light
Yeah, yeah
It feels like light makes shadows till you can’t even see the light
But shadows are the shards of the night
And the night was always there
The truth is light brakes shadows but my eyes are afraid to stare
Yeah, I’ve been covering up my eyes
With a handmade reptilian teacup
Sipping my primal fears
Sipping my primal fears
Sipping my primal fears
Sipping my primal fears…

There’s a blue metallic balloon
Like the aurora borealis, shinning in my room
Shinning like a mirror ball
Casting specters on the walls
As the sun set down
Oh, the lights I saw!
As the sun set down
Through the window it shined
Spinning like a mirror ball
Floating in peace of mind

Ruin Bound: December Beach

December Beach

You put on my hat
With a manta ray glide
You put on my hat
And said, “Come inside.”
It was all you wore…
I followed

Under the mistletoe
You sickly lingered
Under the mistletoe
Torpedo fingered
Under the mistletoe…
Unwrapping

I drank chocolate milk
From a sun-dried tit
I drank chocolate milk
From a sun-dried tit
Tasted the ocean salt…
From your sandy hip

I’m sucking on silk…
I’m flirting with filth…
Scraping the bottom of the barrel
For a Christmas carol
To make me feel… like a little boy…
Scraping the bottom of the barrel
Selling all of my marrow
For a little joy…



Electric grapes
Light the wrinkled sheets
Familiar tastes
In these wrinkled sheets
Feeling out of place…
At the December beach

You put on my hat
And walked outside
You put on my hat
And didn’t say goodbye
It was all you wore…
But you wore it fine

Ruin Bound: The Dream Machine

The Dream Machine

I had the strangest dream last night
You and you and you were in it
So distorted and deranged
Walking on the ceiling
And it was great…

Then I crawled into your ears
To see what I might find

It blew my mind…

* * *

Six little babies in the cylinder spinning
Hair trigger’s itching and the girl’s just grinning
Bed bugs are eating little holes in the linen
Boogey Man come, tell you that you’re sinnin’

You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk about obscene?
Well it’s all just diesel for the dream machine

Gun fighter got ya thinking he’s a prince now
Electric sheep are jumping over the fence now
Gun smoke blooming from a hole in your head
Boogey Man jumping up and down on the bed
Yeah!

You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk about obscene?
Well it’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine
It’s all just diesel for the dream machine

I had the strangest dream last night
I had the strangest dream last night
I crawled into your ears
To see what I might find
I crawled into your ears
Like a groundhog fetus of the mind
Into your ears... from my shadow born of light
And it really blew my mind

You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk obscenity with me?
You want to talk about obscene?
Well it’s all just diesel for the dream machine

Ruin Bound: Hotel by the Sea

Hotel by the Sea

Biting my nails
Wish I could sleep
Rock and roll in my head
Zombies float down the street

Caught up in the lights and all the tourist traps
Pulled into man o’ war stores, catching the souvenir clap
The out-of-towners on the stairway need a designated climber
And the party’s only started, so here’s the number to the room
And nobody heard the fire until it was a false alarm
The burglar under the bed waits for his chance to cut the lawn

And hanging off the balcony, I don’t want to die
I just wish I could fly
I just wish I could fly
Hanging off the balcony, I don’t want to die
I just wish I could fly
I just wish I could fly
Yeah!

Sex toys in the candy shop like bear traps in the bush
And a sandman by the alley sell their dreams with an airbrush
How many dolphins have you entangled in your fishnet stockings lately?
Ah, the night tide blows a kiss out to a shore leave full of gravy
A rendezvous at the Jacuzzi between insomniacs at twelve
Leaves the children chasing lizards across the stucco by themselves

And hanging off the balcony, I don’t want to die
I just wish I could fly
I just wish I could fly
Hanging off the balcony, I don’t want to die
I just wish I could fly
I just wish I could fly
From this hotel by the sea
Yeah, from this hotel by the sea


In the morning, cancer addicts pussyfoot across the street
To the litter with wine coolers – bikinis stuffed with recites
Clown makeup on their faces and butt fat stuffed in their lips
You want to talk about a kissass? Looks like she blew a jellyfish!
Now I’ve got to get out of here, back to Charlottesville and quick
I’ve got those old balcony blues and the air is feeling thick

And hanging off the balcony, I don’t want to die
I just wish I could fly
I just wish I could fly
Hanging off the balcony, I don’t want to die
I just wish I could fly
I just wish I could fly
From this hotel by the sea
Yeah, from this hotel by the sea
Hotel by the sea
Yeah, from this hotel by the sea
From this hotel by the sea
Yeah, from this hotel by the sea
Hotel by the sea
Yeah, from this hotel by the sea

Biting my nails
Wish I could sleep
Rock and roll in my head
Zombies float down the street

Ruin Bound: Carnal Night

Carnal Night

The Ripper tripped over Jacob
Looking for the midnight meat
Best bring a basil bouquet
Cause she’s blue with decay
Sprawled across a subway seat

The Queen died in Brooklyn
Walking the bennie plank
But Jocasta, don’t cry
Have some more Titus pie
Tastes as good as a ballpark frank

On a long… carnal night
Another long… carnal night

Third trimester tapeworm
Took a sabbatical to suburbia
With only 27 days
‘Til the moon has its way
Smelling sweet as a stapelia

She got them alabaster jars all ready
Don’t let her catch you picking your nose
Up on the house on the hill
A little Italian thrill
Drinking lovebird merlot

On a long… carnal night
Another long… carnal night

Whatever suits your fancy
There ain’t no wrong or right
You got to feed the furnace
To keep the fire bright
Whatever suits your fancy
There ain’t no wrong or right
You got to feed the furnace
On a long carnal night
On a long carnal night…

On a long… carnal night
Another long… carnal night

Ruin Bound: Piss Puppy

Piss Puppy

Shadow box
Cheap jewelry…
Unsteady frame
Just a piss puppy…

Bum a dime
Loose company…
Tag along
Just a piss puppy…

No need
This way
You’re better than this…
No need
This way
You’re better than this…
You’re better than this…

I’ve seen you sitting out there
Against a brick wall, acting like you don’t care
With all the Jacks and all the Jills
The Ripper’s of time, taking more than their fill
Hot damn, the time does fly
The smell of burnt feathers in the inner city sky
And oh, it’s such a fast ride down…
Oh, it’s such a fast ride down…
(Falling down the hill…)
Oh, it’s such a fast ride down…
(I think I broke my crown…)
Oh, it’s such a fast ride down…
(Such a fast ride down…)
Oh, it’s such a fast ride down…
(How did I get here?)
Oh, it’s such a fast ride down…
(How did I get here?)

Poem drawer
Candle wax tears…
Nobody knows
The girl disappears…

Bum a dime
Loose company…
Tag along
Just a piss puppy…

No need
This way
You’re better than this…
No need
This way
You’re better than this…
You’re better than this…

Ruin Bound: Chainsaw Grin

Chainsaw Grin

Well, Juliet went to California
And you came along for the ride
And when she saw the pillars of heaven
Man, all you could see were dollar signs

And you pay your parking fines
With rubber rain checks
Passing all your hot potatoes to the usual suspects
Grinning your chainsaw grin…

Oh, Mother Nature… oh, Mother Nature…
What has your little orphan done?
Pissing dioxin into your rivers
What has your little orphan done?

The time you take’s not even for sale
Pulling your weight like a beached blue whale
Stinking up places I’ve never been
Here you creeping closer to my door
The rags I wear are the clothes you wore
Before you saw the dollar signs

Oh, Mother Nature… oh, Mother Nature…
What has your little orphan done?
Pissing dioxin into your rivers
What has your little orphan done?

And he pays his parking fines
With rubber rain checks
Passing all his hot potatoes to the usual suspects
Grinning his chainsaw grin…

And you pay your parking fines
With rubber rain checks
Passing all your hot potatoes to the usual suspects
Grinning your chainsaw grin…

Ruin Bound: The Rest of Our Lives

The Rest of Our Lives

Lost another job with my cool today
Let’s space-out on the sofa in the shade
I want to go fishing but the hooks aren’t kissing
Hope to go this ain’t the rest of our lives

We get around from time to time
We always find a way to unwind
We get around and round we go
Back to the places we already know

Some roman candles and a cricket bat
Either take your place or chew the fat
Let’s play in the fridge and go on a glue binge
While giving Charles Darwin the finger

We get around from time to time
We always find a way to unwind
We get around and round we go
Back to the places we already know

Ruin Bound: Hit Up at the Door (Slug Trial)

Hit Up at the Door (Slug Trail)

I know you thought that you paid at the door
But those are the rules to a whole different game
Now there’s no use in crying…
But tell that to the tears!

I know you thought it was a four-letter word
It could fill in the blanks when there’s nothing to say
No, there’s no use in trying…
But tell that to the fear!

The sweetness melts…
‘Til it’s popsicle stick splinters in your tongue
Then you forget the beginning
You forget it all

She can keep your song and your favorite films
Even the getaway spot where you first got caught in her
The inside jokes and the shattered toasts
But these memories are yours

Don’t let the ground
Tarnish the flight
Don’t forget the kiss… before the bite
She can keep your song and your favorite films
But these memories are yours… to keep

I know you thought that it was ever after
As you road off into the sunset holding on to her hand
Now no need to get angry…
But tell that to the blood!

I’m sure you’re thinking it was doomed from the start
Just a kiss in the dark and a bad cut of the cards
I’m sure you’re thinking…
You’re all through with love!

Still I envy you…
With your jellyfish mouth full of sea urchins
From all the things you’ve done
All the things you’ve done

She can keep your song and your favorite films
Even the getaway spot where you first got caught in her
The inside jokes and the shattered toasts
But these memories are yours
She can keep your shirt and your Prince CDs
And all the other material things she’s left her slug trail on
Go throw a yard sail and sell Parie
But all these memories are yours…
Yeah, these memories are yours…

Don’t let the ground
Tarnish the flight
Don’t forget the kiss… before the bite
She can keep your song and your favorite films
But these memories are yours… to keep

Ruin Bound: Ache

Ache

A foreign space
A winding face
Fleeing pursuit
Feelings dilute

Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…

The want of you
The haunt you do
Feather fall lace
Mantis embrace

Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…

I take this stand
On head and hand
Stretching the stiff
Winging the shift

Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…

The death of me
For sure, you’ll be
Choking inside
In you, I hide

Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…

Asleep in silk
I wait to wilt
Blood butterfly
Grotesque am I

Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…
Ache…

Ruin Bound: Swan Song

Swan Song

Barefoot, grass skirts, Hawaiian setup
Ukulele, coconut bra, full get up
Lap steel twanging – have a string of flowers
Decoy spike the punch for the after hours

So long
Sing a swan song at the Palm Tree Prom
Long gone
Seeking martyrdom at the Palm Tree Prom

Uptight, draft fright – happy birthday!
Best years of his life always in a hurry
Carnation penguin, have her back by ten-thirty
Cleans up pretty good but his mind’s still dirty

So long
Sing a swan song at the Palm Tree Prom
Long gone
Seeking martyrdom at the Palm Tree Prom

Rent-a-perv thong check for your safety
Girl must be a whore if she ain’t dressed saintly
Mohawk debutant, give a smile for the birdie
Leaving tent-pole pompadours chewed up like beef jerky

So long
Sing a swan song at the Palm Tree Prom
Long gone
Seeking martyrdom at the Palm Tree Prom

Ruin Bound: Cigarette Breath Mint

Cigarette Breath Mint


Heard that Billy got creamy with a drugstore genie
And wished for a six-foot shlong
She struck him out on that one
She struck him out on that one
She struck him out and was gone

Now whenever he gets hard
His brain gets blood-starved
Yeah, he blacks out like a chump
When he tries to get it up
She struck him out on that one
She struck him out on that one
She struck him out and was gone…

‘Nother one of them…
Cow tipping… white lightning sipping…
Country boy stupid ideas
Country boy stupid ideas

Napalm grapes for the fugitive apes
Leave smoking craters in the driveway
The remains of a dull day
The remains of a dull day
Remain with nothing to say

When the parents came home
And the zoo had all unwound
An explanation was expected
For the absence of the ground
But remains of a dull day
The remains of a dull day
Remain with nothing to say…

‘Nother one of them…
Cow tipping… white lightning sipping…
Country boy stupid ideas
Country boy stupid ideas

Chopper hog alarm clock
Waking up the whole block at three in the damndest morning…
And they heed to no warning
No, they heed to no warning
Every night hear their motors roaring

And their mothers, they do prey
That the lord will show the way
And protect them from above
From the dangers that they love
Still they heed to no warning
No, they heed to no warning
At three in the damndest morning…

Banana skin salesmen and ambulance chasers
That’s what they’ll become, these suburban debasers
While their neighbors grow up to be veteran jocks
Broken Ahabs pining for the major league
And their sisters, they’ll all say
That it’s the American way
As they bend over and say, “I do”
And then we’ll all one day be old, working in a big chain store
Saying “welcome” to the young whores passing through…

Grounded to your room with a carbon black spoon
And a choo-choo chewed up arm
But there’s no need for alarm
No, there’s no need for alarm
It’s not like you feel the harm

After the crank lab explosion
Survivors claimed to be chosen
Foe a fresh start to repent
Just a cigarette breath mint
But there’s no need for alarm
There’s no need for alarm
It’s not like you feel the harm…

It’s not like you feel the harm…

‘Nother one of them…
Cow tipping… white lightning sipping…
Country boy stupid ideas
Country boy stupid ideas

Ruin Bound: Out of Here (Ruin Bound)

Out of Here (Ruin Bound)

Summer’s stumbling in – hey man, give me a swig
Cause I’ve got three more lawns till I break the pig
Then I’m out of here
Dust trails lagging behind
I might be ruin bound, but it’s an East Coast state of mind

All these kamikaze lovers with their Shakespeare books
They don’t dig where I’m from, giving me dirty looks
But I don’t need them
Don’t want the trains on time
I might be ruin bound, but it’s an East Coast state of mind

I don’t want to see another city-bleached night
Or here another ceiling fan sharpening knives
Salmon or shark – as long as it’s got wheels
Cause even if I come back I’m still going for real

I might be ruin bound
Ruin bound
I might be ruin bound
Ruin bound
I might be ruin bound
Ruin bound
Dust trails lagging behind
I might be ruin bound, but it’s an East Coast state of mind



I don’t want to see another city-bleached night
Or here another ceiling fan sharpening knives
Salmon or shark – as long as it’s got wheels
Cause even if I come back I’m still going for real


I might be ruin bound
Ruin bound
I might be ruin bound
Ruin bound
I might be ruin bound
Ruin bound
Dust trails lagging behind
I might be ruin bound, but it’s an East Coast state of mind

Summer’s stumbling in – hey man, give me a swig
I’m only dragging my feet because my shoes are too big
Soon I’ll be out of here
I really mean it this time
I might be ruin bound, but it’s an East Coast state of mind

Ruin Bound

1. Out of Here (Ruin Bound)
2. Cigarette Breath Mint
3. Swan Song
4. Ache
5. Hit Up at the Door (Slug Trail)
6. The Rest of Our Lives
7. Chainsaw Grin
8. Piss Puppy
9. Carnal Night
10. Hotel by the Sea
11. The Dream Machine
12. December Beach
13. The Graduate
14. Orange Peels

More content coming soon!

Twilight Hour: Dear Friends (We Shall Meet Again)

Dear Friends (We Shall Meet Again)

Dear friends, we shall meet again
When we are old and beginning
Sing a tired horse
Around the ruby hole
And dear friends
We shall meet again

Dear friends, we shall laugh the last
When scars are all that bare the past
Mud caked in our boots
Waiting out the storm
And dear friends
We shall laugh the last

Dear friends, forgive but don’t forget
The things we took, the things we let
Knife’s in the wall
The bottle’s on the floor
And dear friends
Forgive but don’t forget

Dear friends, my thanks for all you gave
Moments I’ll carry to the grave
Under a moonbow
Down by the waterfall
And dear friends
My thanks for all you gave

Dear friends, last night I had a dream
We were all together, all laughing
On Ashley’s porch
All in rocking chairs
Yes dearest friends
We shall meet again
Oh, we shall meet again…



Sing a tired horse
Around the ruby hole
And dear friends
We shall meet again

Twilight Hour: Kepler's Song

Kepler’s Song

Baby born with eyes wide open
Orbiting with awe, you lay
And you try now to relive it
Fighting the curse of Quixote
Blazing trails along the dotted line
Drawn out by the forgotten
Another violin in the symphony
Lost in the beauty of Kepler’s Song

From TV cradles, we seek young love
And fall in love at a tailor’s glance
But when Gypsy sings the theme song
It’s with rooks we take our chance
Every thorn has it’s rose, I do suppose
If from the garden it was born
May every Orchid find its honeybee
And the beauty of Kepler’s song

There was an H.R. Giger painting
In the Sistine Chapel of his skull
He made mosaics in the swimming pools
For the ones that say, “life is dull”
And his name no one remembers
But his ambitions, they deem wrong
They found him dead with both ears bleeding
Listening out for Kepler’s Song

All the scholars who’ve dared to seek it
Find the books are all bound shut
As the zealots aim their harpoons
Martyring the juggernauts
And the decedents claw for culture
In a vast pheromone sea
They only ask not to be lied to
And they hear no one answering…

You may drain out all the fire
But the bottle’s always full
Ask the wino about emptiness
He knows well desire’s pull
The illusion is the vacuum
The blinded wont for what is gone
But in truth all notes do remain
In the beauty of Kepler’s song

I saw Joan out picking mangos
From the wishing tree in the park
She sat down by the fountain
And watched her unicorns depart
What she feels can only be felt
All these masochists of love
And some harmonies fall on the tone-deaf
In the beauty of Kepler’s Song

I’ve seen the Romeos and Juliets
And their fate is not for me
I’ll always be a hopeless romantic
But gravity won’t swallow me
I guess we all pursue our Edens
And out of time always is love
As we listen to the sunset
For the beauty of Kepler’s song

All do fear the one-eyed king
And his vision void of depth
In the ballroom of the grotesque
Where the angels hold their breath
And the silenced doubt their wisdom
Till the ebony clock chimes
Then they rue their flights from hardship
As silver turn their balls of twine…

Galileo, he stared for hours
At the mountains on the moon
While the ashes still powdered the town
From the ones who spoke too soon
Though the mortar may be cracking
Still the wall seems to hold strong
But the melodies are seeping through
With the beauty of Kepler’s Song

All the bells gasp in disbelief
As Rosa walks to the alter
Her gown trails like a quetzal’s tail
Emerald green and mother of pearl
Who would have thought we’d see her married
Or still alive past twenty-one
I guess that no one knows the sheet music
When they’re playing Kepler’s song

Will you “lead us into temptation”
So we can see if we’re still young?
Or stand out in the cancer sun
Believing you’re the holy one?
Let Lautrec capture the places
Where the untouchables are drawn
And let Van Gough paint with echoed shades
From the beauty of Kepler’s song

Twilight Hour: Old Man Joe's Anthem of the Passing Prime

Old Man Joe’s Anthem of the Passing Prime

Well you been around town
But you ain’t gonna get around me
You been around town
But you ain’t gonna get around me…
Cause you’re a two-timing, cheap rhyming
Scammer with the man a-crying
Foot loose, spruced goose
Yellow as a dandelion
Dying to live out some fantasy…
And you say that you’ve been around town
But you’re nothing but a weed to me

Well you’ve been over the river
But you ain’t gonna get over me
You’ve been over the river
But you ain’t gonna get over me…
Cause you’re a gutter mouth cave trout
Trying hard to figure out
The hush-hush and rush-rush
Slipping in the dirty slush
Too crushed to know what is happening…
And you might’ve been over the river
But the river don’t flow like me

I climbed the mountain
I soaked in the shine
But will you be the passing of my prime?

Well you think you’re the best
But you’re just like the rest to me
You think you’re the best
But you’re just like the rest to me…
Cause you’re a firm gripping, slurp-sipping
Finger-lickin’ boneless chicken
Clean shaved, early graved
Smoking like you’ve been saved
Raving in your youthful majesty…
And I’m sure you think you’re the best
But you’re just another test for me

Every day is numbered
The hourglass ain’t on my side
So will you be the passing of my prime?

(Bridge)
I’ve been well aged, well staged
Still can turn a wet page
Streetwise, idolized
Sold out and monopolized
Been heart broke, sweat soaked
A late night TV joke
An old fashion party crashing
Basher of the nice folk
I’ve been… misheard
Blistered
Yelling out a… blank word
I’ve had a lock-jawed mock applaud
Booed out without a doubt
Whistle blown, horse thrown
Sucking on dry spout…

I climbed the mountain
I soaked in the shine
Now will you be the passing of my prime?
Now will you be the passing of my prime?
Now will you be the passing
Will you be the passing
Now will you be the passing of my prime?

Twilight Hour: All These Words For You

All These Words For You

Well I’m so afraid if I kissed you
I’d lose the Dog Star of my night
And I’m so afraid if you kissed me
No heaven will ever feel as bright
And if this hell’s the afterthought
Than still I’m glad I got to dream of you…

And all these words for you
All these words for you…
You…
The least I can do

Well I have written only one song
As a matter of fact I’m still writing it
Pages fall like cards of boxing scores
For the demons I’m still fighting with
And I only have a snowball’s chance
Cause it’s so cold out here without you…

And all these words for you
All these words for you…
You…
The least I can do
The least I can do



Well I have nothing left to say
I wish ya-happiness and peace of mind
Four-leaf clovers all the way
And at every fork may you find a sign
And the one thing no one can take away
Is my love for the chase of loving you…

And all these words for you
All these words for you…
You…
The least I can do
The least I can do
The least I can do…

Twilight Hour: Elephant Bones

Elephant Bones

Tried to find a place among you
I tried to wedge in between
I dared to pick the ultraviolet apple
So I could see beyond the scheme…
The lines of truth and dream

(Chorus)
Take this for me
It was never mine to have
I have carried your elephant bones
In a brown paper bag

This one came from Cairo
This one from Katmandu
These mementos of exotic places
That I have never been to…
And I will never go to

Rummaging through the attic
Killing time before the funeral
Someday we’re all gonna disappear
I wish I were invisible…
Feels like I’m in a freefall

(Repeat chorus)

It all sounds like
Just another wino, with a broken heart
Waiting for the Gemini to come back home



I woke up in the twilights
Holding what nobody stole
I didn’t know if the sun would rise
Or set down in my soul…
Or set down in my soul

(Repeat chorus)

Twilight Hour: Scarlet of the Dusk

Scarlet of the Dusk

Run around the world
You sweet little daydreamer
Run from the shadows... growing long
Can’t help but feel
Like it slipped through your fingers
The only thing that’s worth holding on

(Chorus)
And though this afternoon’s demise
Is just tomorrow’s disguise
Still you chase the scarlet of the dusk

A perfect day
A picnic in the periwinkle
By the edge of the forest, where the pixies sleep
Put it in a tin box
We’ll burry it under this tree to keep
A lock of your hair and my mother’s ring

(Repeat chorus)

Graduation day
The good times grow into the old days
Friend’s voices fade... as the distance grows between
And I meant every word
I dropped in that tin box baby
Remember the summer, but live for the spring

(Repeat chorus)

Riding across the fossils, of ancient roads
Flipping through the yearbook pages
It was ages ago…



In the backyard
Dancing around the sprinkler
Both children and dog, head to toe with mud
Home late from work
Dinners cold, the children studying
You fall into bed... with your sighing love
Want to burn it all down
The tin box is six feet underground
Hard rain beats down... on the white balloons
And though they can’t rise
It’s just the metaphor falling
So burn the sweet grass, and set me free

(Repeat chorus)

Run around the world
You sweet little daydreamer…

Twilight Hour: Takers (part 2)

Takers (part 2)

In The Valley of Childish Things
There’s a piper’s tune that rings
And we hand out our brains
And return to the games
We swore never again to play
And the rules, though they are simple
As a sword against a thimble
We must bury our sons
And throw down our guns
And go back from where we came

All that I’ve done
I thought it true
All that I need
I thought I knew
Where is my home?
Long time ago
Cut to the bone
Where is my home?

There’s a house of simple pleasures
On a hill of desperate measures
Where we take what we need
And believe what we leave
Will be taken by a friend

Where is my home?
Long time ago
Cut to the bone
Where is my home?
All that I’ve done
I thought it true
All that I need
I thought I knew

Where is my home?
Long time ago
Cut to the bone
Where is my home?

Twilight Hour: When I Find a Way

When I Find a Way

I don’t feel ready
But I’ll do it anyway
Yes, I’ll do it anyway
If you say you want me to
I don’t feel ready
But I’ll do it anyway
Yes, I’ll do it anyway
Anyway you want me
Oh…

I get little higher when I find a way to make you smile in the evening
Before I go to sleep
Child, I’m already dreaming
The prettiest of dreams
The prettiest of dreams
Oh yeah, the prettiest
The prettiest of dreams

I don’t feel lonely
But I just don’t want to stay
No, I just don’t want to stay
In this quiet room no more
I don’t feel lonely
Girl, I just don’t want to stay
No, I just don’t want to stay
In this room far from you…

I get little higher when I find a way to make you smile in the mourning
Before I go to work
You leave me lock-limb adoring
The prettiest of dreams
The prettiest of dreams
Oh yeah, you’re the prettiest
The prettiest of dreams

And if the sun goes down
On a red, red town
Well that don’t matter much to me
But if the sun goes down
On a closed white curtain
Then girl that just might mean the world to me

I get little higher when I find a way to make you smile in the evening
Before I go to sleep
Child, I’m already dreaming
The prettiest of dreams
I get little higher when I find a way to make you smile in the mourning
Before I go to work
You leave me lock-limb adoring
The prettiest of dreams
I get little higher when I find a way to make you smile…

I take the butt just to make you laugh…
Yeah, I fall just to hear you laugh…

I don’t feel ready
But I’ll do it anyway
Yes, I’ll do it anyway
If you say you want me to
I don’t feel ready
But I’ll do it anyway
Yes, I’ll do it anyway
Anyway you want me
Oh…

Twilight Hour: Rainy Day Shade of Blue

Rainy Day Shade of Blue

You said, “I buried my guns
Hung up my spurs
And devoured my hat
If you still want me, I’m yours”

(Chorus)
And oh… it’s such a wicked fine line
Oh… between the wise and the fool
To wait too long
Or fold too soon
Oh… I’m on the line with you

You said, “I ain’t for sale”
Then I knew I was bought
You were everything I fought for
And everything I fought

(Repeat chorus)

(Bridge)
Quarters leaking from my pocket
Are shaking up a memory
Sun slicing though the hotel blinds
On what was but couldn’t be

How many years has it been?
I don’t want to recall
Since you left me hanging
And I watched you fall

(Repeat chorus)



You’re sitting in the window frame
A rainy day shade of blue
I’m sinking in my chair
Meditating over the scale
Oh… stuck on the line with you

Twilight Hour: Toy Train

Toy Train

It’s been a hard road, I don’t need to tell you
Said a Plato to a Socrates
All the limbs that met you on the way down
Falling from the fruitless model trees

And as the toy train goes by
There is no bad reason to cry
You make a family from inside you

Something was missing – the manikin eyes stared
The season never changed outside your house
Dust gathered on yesterday’s model
Flames trailed behind yesterday’s spouse

Let go of yesterday’s weight
For no longer must you wait
The love you seek now is inside you
And as the toy train goes by
There is no bad reason to cry
You make a family from inside you

From a hospital bed, you look out at the table
No longer lost in the hobby
Now that you’ve finally found trinity
You’ll never seek another family

And as the toy train goes by
There is no bad reason to cry
You made a family from inside you
In baby’s eyes, in baby’s eyes
Make your peace with all that dies
You’ve made your family from inside you

From inside you

Twilight Hour: Crayon Canyons

Crayon Canyons

Haven’t had a call in ages - my friends...
They don’t come around here
I haven’t heard a ripple in the wind
Since the beginning of the year
The days are slow, the hours cruel
Tomorrow wears infinity's mask
Sweet child of my transcendence
Have you come to fill my flask?
Fill my flask
Fill my flask…

Roadmap eyes, hunched and disfigured
The things we become alone
One hand scribbling words of hate
While the other rests by the phone
A king of hearts once now a jack of spades
With a closet to behold
Oh, can I burry all these skeletons
Before I catch my death of cold?
Death of cold
Death of cold…

(Chorus)
Lord, I’m... down within the crayon canyons
With my origami formed companions
Ripple in the wind, tell me where you’ve been
Ripple in the wind, tell me where you’ve been
Ripple in the wind, tell me where you’ve been
I’ve been locked...
In a sinking palace

Every evening I’m a passenger – oh yeah!
Yes, I ride the sapphire screen
Looking only to turn off my mind
With it’s information stream
Another one-eyed emperor of lies
Trembles with his aging might
The tribesmen guard the serpent god
With machetes through the night
Through the night
Through the night…
Yeah though the night
Through the night
Through the night…

(Repeat chorus)

Well I can feel my soul is stagnant
Don’t even bother to read my mail
Might as well go about it all the way
Somebody fetch a cross and nails
And though great paths I’ve seen before me
They’re on the other side of the glass
I hear an angle calling me from the street
But I let the moment pass
Let it pass
Let it pass…

(Repeat chorus)

Ripple in the wind, tell me where you’ve been
Ripple in the wind, tell me where you’ve been
Ripple in the wind, tell me where you’ve been
I’ve been locked... 

In a sinking palace…

The Twilight Trilogy part 3: Twilight Hour

This is the last songbook I completed in high-school.

1. The Crayon Canyons

2. Toy Train

3. Rainy Day Shade of Blue

4. When I Find a Way

5. Takers (part 2)

6. Scarlet of the Dusk

7. Elephant Bones

8. All These Words for You

9. Old Man Joe's Anthem of the Passing Prime

10. Kepler's Song

11. Dear Friends (We Shall Meet Again)

More content on the way!

The Great Migration: You Shot Me Down Again

You Shot Me Down Again

Seems every time I get my feet on high ground
Girl, you show up at my door
And every time I put on a new face
You dress up all in red
Well honey you know that I can’t change the past
And all I’ve got left is to keep on living
Seems every time I get my feet on high ground
You shoot me down again

You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down again!
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down again!
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down again!

I built a house by the lullaby sea
Made friends with the fisherman’s son
And I’m so happy
We sing all night by a driftwood fire
I make love to a deep-eyed girl
Things couldn’t be finer
But I can taste the air sweating on the black fly dunes
I can see the ponies swimming for shore
Seems every time I get my feet on high ground
You show up wanting more
And you:

You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down again!
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down, girl
You shoot me down again...
You shoot me down again!

You took off my shirt
Ran down my skin
You kissed me where the bullet went in
You blew the gaff
You stepped on my friends
You shot me down again
You shot me down again
You shot me down again
Girl, you shot me down

You shot me down, girl
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down again...
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down again...
You shot me down again!
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down again...
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down, girl
You shot me down again...
You shot me down again!

Girl, you shot me down again...

The Great Migration: Climb a Jagged Edge

Climb A Jagged Edge

It takes a jagged edge to scratch the surface
It takes a jagged edge to snag the truth
When everything feels jagged, you’ll wish the world were smooth
It takes a jagged edge to make you move

When Patchwork Bobby was just eleven
He stared at a heart-shaped Armageddon
And he nearly went blind, with his poems and his bombs
Now he blames his life all on his palms

(Chorus)
And it’s just a broken rung... on the ladder
But I’m saying… I’m not saying that don’t matter…
Just keep climbing
Oh, just keep climbing

Seems everybody hates The Catskin Kid
For nothing in particular that he did
He just always had an answer... but never knew quite how to live
Too much smooth sailing in his crib

The Kid never really knew his father
On his 21st year he ceased to bother
Now he looks up to Bobby, though his past is full of lies
There’s little that’s true under these smooth skies

(Repeat chorus)

Patchwork Bobby and The Catskin Kid
They sit on a fence and strum their ribs
Nothing seems too fill them, they just want to go back home
But there’s a jagged edge before the road
Yeah, there’s a jagged edge before the road…

***

It takes a jagged edge to scratch the surface
It takes a jagged edge to bleed… to bleed the truth, yeah
When everything feels jagged, you’ll wish the world were smooth
It takes a jagged edge to make you move

(Repeat chorus)

The Great Migration: Porcelain Bulls in a China Shop

Porcelain Bulls in a China Shop

Jill woke up to Rodger Miller
And the gold smear of passing corn
Used an empty milk carton for a pillow
And the sun beamed a blanket so warm
Gas station hopping for three days
With no destination in mind
Her mom got tired of standing still
But she swears that she’s feeling fine

She sings:
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
I have finished bleeding…
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
I’m sick and tired of howling at the moon

The Smiths, they just had to leave town
They told me hard times had come to stay
And everyone good here’s either lost their job
Or wound up at Guantanamo Bay
Their blowing bubbles by the highway
Frying breakfast under the hood
Gonna be awhile before the tow truck comes
Aunt Faye forgot to knock on wood

And they sing:
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
I have finished bleeding…
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
We’re sick and tired of howling at the moon

Hey watch your mouth about blue collars
I got some family south of here
They know that blood ain’t the way you dress
And sometimes it’s best to sweat your tears
Some people slave to go to college
And just slave their whole life through
Some people live life riding piggyback
Lost on the candy side of Cancun

But we sing:
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
I have finished bleeding…
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
We’re sick and tired of howling at the moon

Hear there’s good money for cobblers
Cause everyone runs, till the soul wears off
Sometimes we just can’t see what we’re doing
We’re like, porcelain bulls in a china shop…

Swiped a dime novel from the fat racks
Of a crossroads gas station
It was written by a bathroom cactus
About paranoia and hesitation
Caught in a movement of statues
And other things that don’t make sense
The front page looks like an obituary
And they’re really sparing no expense
Someone’s out patrolling the dust roads
They’re just waiting to be shot
Nobody knows what they’re doing there
We herd the story but lost the plot…

And this tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
I have finished bleeding…
This tarnished lining, it needs polishing
Cause I have finished bleeding
I’m sick and tired of howling at the moon

The Great Migration: Black Ice

Black Ice

Black ice and a cappuccino fog
Hung over like a raincoat
Freeloaders shaved the dog
Snaking through the back roads
On a cold October night
Jack-o-lantern in the back seat
And one taillight

Black ice wrote a fishtailed love
With shipwrecked tractor trailers
And the high beams in my eyes
Got to find a midnight station
Keep me floating out of nod
They’ll be sawdust in the bed sheets
If I don’t fall down in the sod

I got to get back home
Oh, yeah
I got to get back home
Back home to my girl
She ain’t gonna sleep tonight till I fall in her arms
I got to get back home
Back home…
To my girl

Black ice and Athena’s in my skull
Split me open with a fire axe
Don’t give damn if it’s dull
Keep a sand dollar in your wallet
Pawn the Sahara for a dream
Take the shovel from the trunk
And we’ll tunnel through the cream

Black ice and a carrion vest
Scarecrows hitching nightmares
Caught at a spoon in the road
Leave a penny on the train tracks
Keep the windows rolled up tight
Say a prayer for little boy blue
And slide the pistol out of sight

I got to get back home
Oh, yeah
I got to get back home
Back home to my girl
She ain’t gonna sleep tonight...
Oh, yeah
She ain’t gonna sleep tonight...
Oh, yeah
She ain’t gonna sleep tonight till I fall in her arms
I got to get back home
Back home…
To my girl

Black ice and a cappuccino fog
Hung over like a raincoat
Freeloaders shaved the dog
Snaking through the back roads
On a cold October night
Jack-o-lantern in the back seat
And no… taillights
No taillights…
No taillights…

Oh…

I got to get back home
Oh, yeah
I got to get back home
Back home to my girl
She ain’t gonna sleep tonight till I fall in her arms
I got to get back home
Back home…
To my girl

The Great Migration: Nobody's Hero

Nobody’s Hero

You want to be her knight all shining
See her suffering in your mind’s eye
Suffering so you can save her
See her this way… tell me why?

In the days of birth and wonder
Why do you only kill the time?
And through an alcoholic’s desert
Why must you turn… the water into wine?

(Chorus)
You’re nobody’s hero
It’s just a wardrobe of the mind
You’re nobody’s hero
It seems only hardship
Is all you leave behind

Your soldiers, they begin to question
The path to which they have been led
Your claims to make the world much safer
Utopian dreams… on a holocaust bed

(Repeat chorus)

(Repeat chorus)

The Great Migration: Glass City

Glass City (A Painting of a Vision)

I get this feeling late at night
Deep inside that there’s something wrong
There is smell of death in the air
Like something left out for too long
We’re never lonely; we’re never free
Nothing is sacred in shrines of fear
Naked and living in a glass city
Waiting for something... already here
And is this going over your head
Or is it not coming through at all?
The picture that I am painting
Of the vision that I saw?

***

Sidewinder slack tongue yakking
Hacking up our dreaming trees
Hypodermic spindle swindled
Where’s your prince down on his knees?
Carpets pulled out fly away
The monkey’s paw genie obeys
Wishful thinking – thoughtless wishes
Christmas lists harvesting slaves

Motion detector specters watching
The liquor lecture of the day
Righteous racket ricocheting
Stray-slaying peasants in the way
And in the trunks of hearse black limos
Hiding in caskets from the sun
Junky kings look from clock towers
While other’s see their work is done

Physic mystics, green-eyed enlisted
Twisted mislead follow crumbs
To candy houses in lichen spouses
To procreate atomic bombs
Through shrapnel fields, the serpent peels
Revealing all its mirror scales
As trees of knowledge bare placebos
And Oedipus chases white whales

Bloody war rag stabbed deep claiming
Shaming tame to drain and spawn
Gone ghetto Jesus to the psych-ward
The one-winged warthog rages on
Now decapitate the daisy blindfolds
Return the glass city to sand
On the shores of ancient mothers
In the pools of bleeding hands
Yeah!

***

I get this feeling late at night
Deep inside that there’s something wrong
There is smell of death in the air
Like something left out for too long
We’re never lonely; we’re never free
Nothing is sacred in shrines of fear
Naked and living in a glass city
Waiting for something... already here
And is this going over your head
Or is it not coming through at all?
The picture that I am painting
Of the vision that I saw?

(X4)
Cause nothing’s changed
Cause nothing’s changed
Nothing’s changed at all

No, nothing’s changed at all…

The Great Migration: Peter Pan

Peter Pan

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

Peter Pan
What are you doing here? Whatever happened to Wendy?
Where have all the lost boys gone?
Got a bloody nose
Snorted too much fairy dust – forgotten how to fly
Can you hear the audience yawn?

You’re like a lost lawn gnome standing on a pool table
Out in everybody’s way
Trying to figure out the green
Always the rotten egg
The public stepstool
At the corner pocket of your life
You just keep scratching…

Peter Pan
You’re thirty-one tomorrow – still out chasing teenage girls
Eyeing Alice and Dorothy
Had a heart of gold
When did it turn to pyrite – when did James get the upper hand
With his cutthroat authority

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…

The Great Migration: Gilding the Lily

Gilding the Lily

Station to station
Vessel to vessel
Tied up in intestines
Prescribed to mud-wrestle
Your aim just please
No skin on your knees
And you take it too fast
Cause you like the brain freeze

No one can reach you
On your glass hill
Deeper grows the hole
That you try to fill

With all these sweet, sweet nightshade dreams
All these unraveling seams…

(Chorus)
Just gilding the lily
You’re just gilding the lily
And you’ll never be satisfied
No, no, no
No, you’ll never be satisfied

Lover oh lover
She cries from the gutter
You want to go to her
But you must please mother
Your aim just please
No skin on your knees
And you take it too fast
You know only unease

No one can reach you
On your glass hill
Cooking nail soup with your fortunes
A prisoner by your free will

Yeah…

***

Well if I had a hammer
Lord, I’ll tell what I’d do
I’d take it hard to this glass hill
And split the glass hill right in two
Yeah, if I had a hammer
Babe, I’ll tell what I’d do
I’d take it hard to this glass hill
And split the glass hill right in two

Well everybody’s got a hammer…
Yeah, everybody’s got a hammer…
Cause everybody is a hammer…
Yeah, everybody is a hammer…

Under all these sweet, sweet nightshade dreams
And all these unraveling seams…

(Repeat chorus X2)

The Great Migration: Psycho Smoothie

Psycho Smoothie

Out from the wreckage and the fire, decked in tourist attire
We come to see the wonder but they card us at the door
Bound in tropical huts, being bled by short cuts
I was clipped turning the corner
I can’t remember anymore

With yesterday’s clothes and a dead black rose
Too weary to keep pacing, without a clue what is in store…
Gas station sushi sickness and a pile of dirty dishes
Long hours in the bathroom
Staring at the tile floor

I got a room full of bad ideas
I got a mouth full of broken mirrors
Reflecting all the suckers at my door
Come put your memories in a blender
Watch them settle with chaotic splendor
And you won’t worry about the future anymore

The mayor’s sporting green shades for the leper’s day parade
Tin soldiers vomit coupons while the perverts bribe for more
With wads of monopoly cash and a free wrestler’s rash
The craze is getting crazy
Isabella wants her war…

Propaganda, propaganda – picky as a dying panda
Pessimistic or just lazy, ranting in the clothing store
All these visions in your head – up on the walls, under the bed
Fill your little padded room
With its heavy padded door…

I got a room full of bad ideas
I got a mouth full of broken mirrors
Reflecting all the suckers at my door
Come put your memories in a blender
Watch them settle with chaotic splendor
And you won’t worry about the future, anymore
No you won’t worry about the future anymore
No you won’t worry about the future anymore

(X2)
Come inside
Take a ride
Yeah, you know that you can’t resist
Come inside
Take a ride
And you’ll never want to get off of this

Come blend yourself
A psycho smoothie
And mix it up to your own design
Yeah, make yourself
A psycho smoothie
And let me have a little taste of your mind
Feel the freeze, feel the freeze
Hey, hold up – what were we just talking about?
Feel the freeze, feel the freeze
Hey, hold up – what were we just talking about?
Hey, hold up – what were we just talking about?

(X3)
Come inside
Take a ride
Yeah, you know that you can’t resist
Come inside
Take a ride
And you’ll never want to get off of this

***

I got a room full of bad ideas
I got a mouth full of broken mirrors
Reflecting all the suckers at my door
Come put your memories in a blender
Watch them settle with chaotic splendor
And you won’t worry about the future, anymore

The Great Migration: Jessie was a Drive-By

Jessie was a Drive-By

Well Jessie was a drive-by gynecologist
Till they caught him without a license - had to put him away
And Frankie runs the face shop
Gives the girls the chop, chop
He’s always willing to explore
Alternative methods of pay

And those downtown girls rock the county boys’ minds
Purple zoot suit daddy gonna treat you just fine
In a full mink coat – imitation genuine
Footsy under the table
Grinning regal refined

Bloodstains on his jacket from an independent film
Jessie’s hitting up the green horns for the doe ray me
Always looking for a fat fish
A Hollywood hot dish
Swears he’ll pull a Kennedy
On the next Norma Jean

And come one come all to the peek before the fall
Be you flesh or be you wooden, wishing on the third star
You’ll be a shrink-wrap donkey ready for the call
Get a carrot for a close up
Dangling to enthrall

Jessie got wire-burnt when he shot out for the moon
He was Delilah’ed at his crowning by a red dressed dear
So he tried to louse a Spam scam
Frankie was his right man
They took off for Nevada
Got a miming gig I hear

Still those downtown girls rock the county boys’ minds
Purple zoot suit daddy gonna treat you just fine
In a full mink coat – imitation genuine
Footsy under the table
Grinning regal refined

***

Well Jessie was a drive-by, gynecologist
Till they caught him without a license - had to put him away…

The Great Migration: Atlantic Avenue

Atlantic Avenue

Thirty miles till tomorrow
And she ain't got nothing but a mermaid's purse
Trouble's dragging the coattails again
Across the dead lands we traverse
A thumb pointing to the desert
Looks like another visitor center castaway
Hitchhiking to the east coast
In a... prom dress and a black beret

She's wearing her lead skin
And her broken window eyes
Grinning like a jackal bleeding
With vultures circling the sky

(Chorus)
And she got nothing but a mermaid's purse
There's nothing but trouble on her way
Walking down Atlantic Avenue
I got no plans to stay, I'm just a-passing through

The dogs sleep in the street
Pawnshops and tattoo parlors are all I see
A dozen bars down by the naval base
And some sticky finger novelties
Pink flamingos on the manor lawn
The bachelor with the net cam stare
Undresses her from across the bar
Recording all of the waves in her hair

And says he's headed that way
If she's looking for a ride
So where's the luck in this rabbit's foot?
Always the bridesmaid - never the bride

(Repeat chorus)

Drop a letter in the mailbox
Probably should call back home but what is there to say?
Coffee ring on the Monday paper
Café's buzzing with a talk like suede
Been running like a boomerang
After awhile don't it all start to feel the same?
You meet these ghosts as you cross each bridge
Till this scar tissue's all you've got to claim

So just... jazz a little around
Soul searching in the lost and found
The traffic lights all know that I'm leaving
But there's one just like her... in every damn town!

(Repeat chorus)

The Great Migration: Lovesick Playwright's Blues

Lovesick Playwright’s Blues

Well the lamp is getting thirsty
The light is getting dim
These cold November evenings when you’re alone can be so grim
But I’ll be all right…
I’m gonna fill this empty page
Yeah, I’ll be writing down my sorrows
Sending... love letters to the stage

Well my baby was an actor
She was an artist of the lie
She had a body like a sonnet – she could eclipse the inner eye
And she left me crying…
Way up there, in the mezzanine
Burning down the basement
I was... watching the death of a scene

Dinosaurs wishing on a shooting star
I’ve got the shop teacher’s fingers on a chain
I ain’t afraid of heights so long as one foot’s on the ground
I use umbrellas only when it doesn’t rain
I never asked for love – it came on like a writer’s block
And I just can’t seem to roll it over the hill
Feeling like a gift shop penny as my baby takes her bow
Sweeping up the roses…



Yeah, I’ll put me on a play
I’d like to play it at The Globe
If it ain’t good enough for you than I’ll ramble down the road
And I’ll be all right…
Won’t let them put me in a rage
Reciting on the corner
Love letters to the stage

The Twilight Trilogy part 2: The Great Migration

1. Lovesick Playwright's Blues
2. Atlantic Avenue
3. Jessie was a Drive-By
4. Psycho Smoothie
5. Gilding the Lily
6. Peter Pan
7. Glass City (A Painting of a Vision)
8. Nobody's Hero
9. Black Ice
10. Porcelain Bulls in a China Shop
11. Climb a Jagged Edge
12. You Shot Me Down Again

More content coming soon.

Butterfly Nostalgia: Sometimes I Just Want to be Alone

Sometimes I Just Want to be Alone

The mornings come and go like slides in the projector
Sticky notes say call her but I just want to neglect her
Afraid of rejection crushing every little good thing
Too much protection smothers every human longing

I’m antisocial
I always feel so awkward
When I’m up against all of these machinegun blank squawkers
Always... asking me questions that I always hate to answer
How are you doing at school - are still dating that belly dancer?

Sometimes I just I wanna be alone
In my room
With a record playing loud
Sometimes I just I wanna be alone
At home
Without this tweaked-out deadbeat crowd

Transition’s hinting – I can feel it in my bones now
And I always wanted to be more then just your phone pal
Share with my parents all these feelings that I’m getting
Next thing I know my mother’s laying out the wedding

My head is spinning
Am I from another planet?
Has my life already been put down in slabs of granite?
Raising stonewalls to keep me in their institution
She don’t even know I love her and they’re framing her for prostitution

Sometimes I just I wanna be alone
In my room
With a record playing loud
Sometimes I just I wanna be alone
At home
Without this paranoid covert crowd

(Bridge)
And my dearest friends are really loosening my latches
They’ve never been more then just lead sleeves and wet matches
Always sitting on my hood trying to cover up the scratches
Never chipping in on gas – gnawing the hell out of their nicotine patches
Oh, I can’t... hack this…

And in the morning they said that I would feel better
But I can’t feel nothing but their words cracking like leather
When I tired to call they said that she’d gone and left town
Oh, heaven help me, I just want to burn this house down!

Man, I’m so burnt out
They’ve got me all extinguished
Molding my ashes into something called distinguished
Prune women pinch my cheeks, saying I look so hansom
But if they don’t give me space I swear to god I’ll pull a Charlie Manson

Sometimes I just I wanna be alone
In my room
With a record playing loud
Sometimes I just I wanna be alone
At home
Without this fake grin Gestapo crowd
Without this soda jerk harassing crowd
Without this watch tapping off beat crowd
Without this tweaked-out deadbeat crowd

Butterfly Nostalgia: Clean

Clean

Refrigerator’s leaking
Something god-awful stinking
Let the place go to the dogs

Old boxes of take-out
And a rusty waterspout
Let the place go to the dogs

Shag carpet’s growing dreads
Under all the talking heads
Let the place go to the dogs
We let the place go to the dogs

Mining through the dining room
Itching in the kitchen
All the piggys chew the fat
Living for... gossip and bitching
Mining through the dining room
Itching in the kitchen
All the piggys chew the fat
Living for... gossip and bitching

We got to clean this house
A-whoa, hey now
I ain’t gonna clean this house!
We got to clean this house
A-whoa, hey now
I ain’t gonna clean this house!

Cutting board cultures
And housecat vultures
Let the place go to the dogs

Ramshackle hallways
Hole in the wall holidays
Let the place go to the dogs

Well baby’s got new sores
Room full of dust dinosaurs
Let the place go to the dogs
We let the place go to the dogs

Tendrils in the laundry
Shopping network try to con me
Neighbors think that I’m a commie
Got the cameras on me
Tendrils in the laundry
Shopping network try to con me
Neighbors think that I’m a commie
Got the cameras on me

We got to clean this house
A-whoa, hey now
I ain’t gonna clean this house!
We got to clean this house
A-whoa, hey now
I ain’t gonna clean this house!

Let the place go to the dogs
We let the place go to the dogs

Butterfly Nostalgia: Manikin Hands

Manikin Hands

Hands of wood carved for beauty
They were once a graceful tree
With roots so deep – so strong and bold
But now they shiver in the cold
Like autumn leaves
Adrift, too frail to hold
To hold…
Like autumn leaves, adrift, too frail to hold

Manikin hands
Your... manikin hands
Are losing hold…

Hands of wax formed to live on
Silhouettes of legends gone
They’re lifeless stars without a sky
Two dimensional as a Christmas lie
These silhouettes
We will not let them die
Them die…
These silhouettes, we will not let them die

Manikin hands
Your... manikin hands
Are losing hold…

Hands of stone carved from earth’s bone
Polluted by the chisel shown
Never do justice let alone beauty
To what wind and water had made thee
I can’t recognize
My sweet little honeybee
Honeybee...
I can’t recognize my sweet little honeybee

Maché trees and cardboard wings
I don’t need any of these things
There ain’t no script – no role to be
And you’ll never need one to satisfy me

Hands of wood carved for beauty
They were once a graceful tree
With roots so deep – so strong and bold
But now they shiver in the cold
Like autumn leaves
Adrift, too frail to hold
To hold
Like autumn leaves, adrift, too frail to hold

Manikin hands
Your, manikin hands
Are losing hold…

Butterfly Nostalgia: Tell Me That It's Just a Phase

Tell Me That It’s Just a Phase

Oh, tell me that it’s just a phase?
Tell me that it’s just a phase?
She’s wearing tie-dye trench coats and optometrist shades
She dances over cracks and speaks with a tea haze
Don’t matter what I say that girl is gonna have her way
But tell me please it’s just a phase

What’s her daddy gonna say?
Oh, what’s her daddy gonna say?
She’s giving eyes to the batboys and trying to act tough
But there just ain’t nothing scary ‘bout a karaoke Goth
No matter what you say, she got to learn it the hard way
But tell me please
It’s just a phase

Now what’s her momma gonna do?
Oh, what’s her momma going to do?
She’s going bowling in high heels – won’t be back before two
Taking thirty story high dives into a three-foot swimming pool
And it don’t matter what you say, cause tonight won’t be the day
But tell me please
It’s just a phase

She’s talking jive to daisy pushers right off a boat back from Haiti
And Greek with dumpster divers down where talk ain’t cheap – it’s free
Drinking three-dollar whiskey to wash down all the caviar
She dives into a limo, leaving a glass slipper on the bar
Like some schizophrenic chameleon, I’m never quite sure who she is…
With blue ribbons in her hair and antifreeze in her kiss

Don’t matter what I say…
She’s gonna have her way…
But tell me please
It’s just a phase

But tell me please
It’s just a phase

Butterfly Nostalgia: Takers (part 1)

Takers (part 1)

There’s a house of simple pleasures
On a hill of desperate measures
Where you take what you need
And believe what you leave
Will be taken by a friend

There’s a garden by the castle
Where they urge you not to hassle
But just take what you need
And believe what you leave
Will be always there to spend

Where is my home?
Long time ago
Cut to the bone
Where is my home?
All that I’ve done
I thought it true
All that I need
I thought I knew

There’s a village in the jungle
Where the iron wheels will crumble
And we’ll take what we need
And believe what we leave
Will always be enough to mend

There’s a boy without a faucet
And only bullets in his wallet
And he takes what he needs
And he prays what he leaves
Will never wither off the stem

All that I’ve done
I thought it true
All that I need
I thought I knew
Where is my home?
Long time ago
Cut to the bone
Where is my home?

Where is my home?
Long time ago
Cut to the bone
Where is my home?

Butterfly Nostalgia: What's the Fun in Reasoning?

What’s the Fun in Reasoning?

Sweet girl
Sweet girl
You’re my star in the lonely night
You comfort me and give me company
When there is no other light…
And I tired out your logic
But I couldn’t make it stick
Your reasoning, it never did feel right…
Cause if I can’t be your man
Than I’ll never understand
What’s the fun in reasoning?

Be slow
My heart
Or for sure, you’ll soon be broke
If I miss my mark with one frail spark
This love will be up in smoke…
I get so carried away
When you say you can’t stay
I cried for hours when the sun awoke…
Cause if I can’t be your man
Than I’ll never understand
What’s the fun in reasoning?

(Repeat first stanza)

Cause if I can’t be your man…
What’s the fun in reasoning?

Butterfly Nostalgia: Fingerprints and Vinyl Dreams

Fingerprints and Vinyl Dreams

One little red mitten on the windowsill
Catches a flake of snow
And it’s so quite on this morning
All the schools are closed
Open a pouch of stray buttons
And a mouth organ sighs
For the littlest pieces that survive

Walk through the woods over to your house
On the edge of the city
Where we drink coco and watch the ice icicles
Drip like stalactites from the trees
While listening to old records
Drifting in vinyl dreams
In the littlest pieces and their themes

You make me want to grow old
You make me wish it was 1990
You make me want to grow old
You make me wish that we’d lived through the 60’s
Out of tune and offbeat
Babe, I feel so out of time

You pull out a hatbox from the closet
And lay it on the bed
You make little dolls to put in it
With rags and golden thread
Their eyes you make out of buttons
They only see the fingerprints
Of the littlest pieces of the testament

You make me want to grow old
You make me wish it was 1990
You make me want to grow old
You make me wish that we’d lived through the 60d’s
Fingerprints and vinyl dreams
Babe, I feel so out of time
Out of time…

One little oil lamp in a cold dark room
With a book by Hermann Hesse
Peppermint melting on your tongue
Got me hanging by a guess
And while the power was out
All the city could see the stars
All the littlest pieces of who we are

Butterfly Nostalgia: Black X

Black X


Black X on the back of my hand
Got me too sober to understand
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Why everybody’s banging their heads

Well it’s an in or out
It’s a one-night stand
Happens every night
With an ape deadpan
And Billy’s just a sheep
In a wolf’s clothing
Yeah, just a little peek
You get the poor boy floating

Black X on the back of my hand
Got me too sober to understand
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Why everybody’s banging their heads
To the same damn song
All night long
To the same damn song

“Cause it’s the way it is”
That’s all that they say
That’s all that they know
As the bob and sway
You know they’d scatter like ants
If they lost the scent
They need a wall to lean on
I need a flower that’s bent

Black X on the back of my hand
Got me too sober to understand
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Black X on the back of my hand
Got me too sober to understand
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Why everybody’s banging their heads
To the same damn song
All night long
To the same damn song

Well little Billy Boy
He like a Suzy Girl
Down the rabbit hole
Chasing a poppy pearl
Try a hot new dance
With an ice cold soul
And it’s long way home
Your shovel to the coal

Black X on the back of my hand
Got me too sober to understand
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Black X on the back of my hand
Got me too sober to understand
Why everybody’s banging their heads
Why everybody’s banging their heads
To the same damn song
All night long
To the same damn song
To the same damn song
All night long
To the same damn song