1. |
Jacquerie
01:13
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2. |
Radio Shills
05:00
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Radio Shills
I’m sick of all this radio, these personalities
Who run down any citizen with whom they disagree
This crap can’t pass for dialogue, it’s past insanity
We’d be better off if they’d shut their mouths
And crawled back to the sea.
It breaks my heart to pieces when they tear into the pain
Of struggling people who follow rules and try to play by the game
While the rich get richer everyday and have the balls to blame
The weather on the little guy whenever it starts to rain.
I thought this was a melting pot, I thought it was a dream
We’d add up all our differences and somehow we’d redeem
The sins of any ancestor who made the weaker scream
But they still get flogged by radio, and the righteous—they blaspheme.
Turn them off,
Radio Shills
Turn them off,
Radio Kills
They say they have the right to speak, it’s no privilege to incite
A riot in a reptile’s mind is like a parasite
That feeds upon the good will of those who get it right
And free speech doesn’t mean you’re free to say that black is white.
They’re not about any freedom or any ideology.
Locked in battle in a whoredown, they’re pimps for the FCC
The bottom line is gutless power and the stuff they get for free
From a government that takes the highest bid and sells our liberty.
Turn them off,
Radio Shills
Turn them off,
Radio Kills
My head is hurtin’, my mind is numb as I turn the stupid dial
If Goebbels were alive today he’d break into smile
Remember what they do to those who walk a crooked mile
You better not be different
‘cause it’s you they will anile.
Frank Zappa said it best,
there is no Great Society
When justice looks the other way when it applies to you and me
It ain’t about the media,
it’s about mass stupidity
So shut off ugly radio
and shut off ugly TV.
Turn them off,
Radio Shills
Turn them off,
Radio Kills
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3. |
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Frogs Will Never Fall from the Sky
The ticket to the sun has been collected
The widow to the bones sweeps up the dust
The salad years have passed the last inspection
As iron looks to slip away from rust.
But it makes no sense to me that
All the wind wakes in the morning
And all the tracks of dark blue crease the sky
And the incremental storm of clocks
Ringing while the evening flocks
To the heels of light in blind serenity.
On a cold, cold day when the oxygen is thin
And gravity has its way with you
And the odds are just even
Frogs will never fall from the sky.
One step ahead delays cuts to the diamond
Events like legends fall between the cracks
A swarm of flies wrest traffic from December
With the panic gridlock chorus at their back.
It makes no sense to me that fire burns away the memory
Of passions chilled by parallel end signs
As fame and nuance join the league
Snow leopards drop from sheer fatigue
The sane is not the same for you and me.
On a cold, cold day when the oxygen is thin
And gravity has its way with you
And the odds are just even
Frogs will never fall from the sky.
In the end Skin Ribbon Men will tour the shadows
With Storm and Drain—sweet cousins of the Moon
That pulls the tide of bodies in collision
And stock the spine of eternity’s balloon.
It made no sense to me
When I woke up from this senseless dream
That words could mean so little for so few
And riddles favor those who’d rather bleed in ambiguity
And draw and quarter mouse meal for the clue.
On a cold, cold day when the oxygen is thin
And gravity has its way with you
And the odds are just even
Frogs will never fall from the sky.
On a cold, cold day when the oxygen is thin
And gravity has its way with you
And the odds are just even
Rain might fall,
Snow might fall
But frogs will never fall from the sky.
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4. |
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Soul Rendezvous (The Lobbyist’s Song)
What to do, what not to do?
Drop the line or drop the shoe?
Tell the truth or back the lie?
Press the flesh and wonder why
You’re on your way to the wrong interview.
Bang the nail or turn the screw?
Bid the reason you’re here a fond adieu
Take the whiskey, hold the ice
Nothing matters so be precise
Set it down before you know what you have to do.
You never thought it would be so hard
It’s like an aphrodisiac
The press, the roll call,
The undecided waiting for you to speak up
But you find the words don’t come out
Exactly as you practiced them
So you remember to never forget to surrender all
At your soul rendezvous.
The chickens cluck and the cows, they moo
While the milkman, oilman, bagman queue
It’s a holiday of sin
But, still, you let ‘em in
Making friends with no one that you hardly knew.
You never thought it would be so easy—
Like driving by an accident
The fox, the badger—
Everybody’s waiting for you to show up
You find the words come so quickly
‘Specially when they’re not your own
You don’t remember when you surrendered all
At your soul rendezvous.
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5. |
Selection
04:14
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Selection
We sit on the fence of a broken dream temperance house
We sit on a jury of peers
and then we look down
In a nation of laws
it’s the choice of thieves
To steal away promise
and leave us to grieve
For the past that was split by an arrow to keep you from me.
What’s in a name, in a place, or in a street?
Nothing’s forever in the station where we will meet
You can cut us in half,
you can make us all numb
When you give us the choice we choose to be dumb
When it’s time for selection,
will we choose by our feet?
Mothers and children don’t turn from the light
A darker commandment comes in from the night
Don’t shake the hand that points to the right
There’s a fire that seeks much more.
Mothers and children don’t move from the light
A darker commandment comes in from the right
I am the lamb who gives up the fight
To the lion who seeks much more.
I knew a girl—she was different, so she disappeared
I looked for her—maybe I didn’t— I’m not sure if I cared
She was my sister,
she was my mom
She made me a jacket
when I came undone
I don’t remember for her if I shed any tears.
Mothers and children don’t turn from the light
A darker commandment comes in from the night
Don’t shake the hand that points to the right
There’s a fire that seeks much more.
Mothers and children don’t move from the light
A darker commandment comes in from the right
I am the lamb who gives up the fight
To the lion who seeks much more.
You can’t see it coming,
it’s like boiling a toad
In prayer we pray for the things we think we are owed
We turn from our neighbor
when things don’t go right
We hide under blankets to wait out the night
It’s too late—the kettle is boiling, it’s going to explode.
Mothers and children don’t turn from the light
A darker commandment comes in from the night
Don’t shake the hand that points to the right
There’s a fire that seeks much more.
Mothers and children don’t move from the light
A darker commandment comes in from the right
I am the lamb who gives up the fight
To the lion who seeks much more.
Oh the clouds—they roll heavy, and the river is ashen white;
The fields bring sunflowers that reach into the night
And the cart the hunchback pushes is loaded to the rail
Its cargo smells of such bitter fruit, time and reason fail.
When the clouds fall hard from heaven and the water swallows light,
When the flowers kill the honeybee, it’ll whet my appetite
For the rapture and the calling, for a shot inside the ring,
“For sleep makes the poor shepherd equal to the king.”
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6. |
Tiddlywinks
02:20
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Tiddlywinks
Poor boy, don’t have no work
Poor boy, just sit and jaw
Poor boy is fast asleep
Poor boy ain’t gonna drive this car.
Poor girl, she plays jump rope
Poor girl, she plays with jacks
Tiddlywinks and singing songs
Poor girl, she ain’t coming back.
Where they come from?
Where they go?
What they want from me?
Where’s the mayor and police?
We all floatin’ out to sea.
Saw Jonah out there, saw old Job
Saw Ahab and the whale
Hitched a ride on a crowded boat
Hope that wind gonna blow that sail.
Fever come and fever go
Wind held us in her hands
Water rose and the tears dried up
Couldn’t wait ‘til we touched that land.
Then I saw the light through a smoky mist
Hope held high in her hand
“What you doin’ way up here?”
Guess I’m lookin’ for the promised land.
“Ain’t no jobs here for you, boy
Ain’t no tiddlywinks, girl
Ain’t no time to sing and jaw
You’re a wink and a prayer in a big-eyed world.”
Someday a big old wind will blow this lie away
Someday Jesus come and ask,
“Why didn’t you listen to a word I say?”
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7. |
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Back Where the Soldier Fell
Back where the soldier fell
There will be a tale to tell
While the priests and the infidels mock time
In a flash the deed was done
One lost, the other won
And those who loved the both of them just cry.
The big sky cannot weep
The big secret is there to keep
The rest of us who are fast asleep in his arms.
No call to sacrifice
No call to help his wife
Pack away his child in ice for later on.
Thaw him out when he becomes a man
Let the whole thing begin again
The flag will keep him warm while he waits.
The time will come to earn his right
To find the darkness and seize the night
And know that a true killer never hesitates.
Back where the soldier fell
Before he died he heard a bell
He remembered school recess and his friends.
The dodge ball game he had won
The day he said goodbye to mom
And dad, in tears and delirium—
Where are they sending him?
He’s a man in no man’s land
Where things will never make sense to him
‘Cause nothing ever begins or ever ends.
Though words from home are poetry
A parade awaits in grave symmetry
A sacrifice to hegemony and the dead.
Back where the soldier fell
I kneel and curse to hell
That war is such an easy thing to sell in our time.
If I could I would lift him up
Bring him home and say that’s enough
But I’m afraid that I’m not that tough...
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8. |
Highway 10
03:49
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Highway 10
Down the road on Highway 10
My glasses wrapped around my head
The green I leave behind me
Ain’t the bankroll in my bed.
Pajero’s full of gas and friends
The heat is in the kitchen
On the road to Hell, can’t make amends
Down on Highway 10.
Mercenary popped his cherry
Slaughtered all the kids in school
On your knees, you’re not my teacher
School is out for you.
Oh, Mujadaheen, “Allah Akbar” filling the air
Why am I here—it’s only a job?
Oh, where have you been, Angel of Death?
Please cut me down, I am now Dust, I am now War.
Mogadishu ain’t the issue
Oil & gas, puzzles and knives
No Law and Order, just Blackwater
Down on Highway 10.
This ain’t the Scouts or American Pie
This is just the market place
Torture sold to the lowest bidder
Down on Highway 10.
Monkey starving, Great Monolith
Drop the bones and make amends
There’s no other way from here to there
Down on Highway 10.
Oh, Mujadaheen, “Allah Akbar” filling the air
Why am I here—it’s only a job?
Oh, where have you been, Angel of Death?
Please cut me down, I am now Dust, I am now War.
Naming streets after the dead
Is payoff for the soldier killed
This mess is just a Nameless Road Down on Highway 10.
What’s the pretext? What‘s the context?
Money to be made, I guess
You can bet your life
Y
ou won’t find the rich man
Down on Highway 10.
Oh, Mujadaheen, “Allah Akbar” filling the air
Why am I here—it’s only a job?
Oh, where have you been, Angel of Death?
Please cut me down, I am now Dust, I am now War.
But down at the crossroads
There is a nation
Unpenitent and untrue
On High 10 there is a sign
“Semper Fi... Fuck you!”
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9. |
Ash Wednesday
02:44
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Ash Wednesday
The Bull on the altar, the oil in the water
The Penitent fasting at the mall
Blood and Guilt kneel and pray for Repentance
While Sin and Death work the Carnival.
Pancake Day—the Feast of Transgression
The Prophet speaks the Litany of Farce
The wind blows mighty through the sands of the empire
Forgiveness staggers to the Mardi Gras.
You say I’m backsliding
I haven’t been hiding
My vigil looks to an empty sky
There’s nothing but danger
When truth turns to mumbles
And the ashes fall as dust over my eyes.
The Knight and the Knave lay the Palms for the New King
Of loving kindness, good news for the Mass
But Venial, Corporal, Cardinal & Mortal—
All that has been promised soon will pass.
Even Holy Water can’t clean the stain of sorrow
As the Caissons go rolling all alone
Through the Family of Man I seek redemption
There’s nothing more to me than flesh and bones.
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10. |
Well, I Don't Know
03:42
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Well, I Don’t Know
Was there a time when the world was flat?
Let me think...I don’t know.
Was there a time when this was that?
Maybe...Well, I don’t know.
See the man in the big black robe,
See the man on the stand who knows,
But can’t remember if the world was flat,
As for ‘this and that’, he says, “I don’t know.”
Was there a time when there was no sun?
Let me think...I don’t know.
Is there a better way to get things done?
Maybe...Well, I don’t know.
Says the man in the big black robe, “
To get things done watch the river flow
And pray to the moon and the stars and the sun,
Beyond that, I don’t know.”
But I sensed his fear, that he knew less than me—
And I don’t know anything, and when I can I say,
“Well, I don’t know.”
If I behave is there some big prize?
Let me think...I don’t know.
Is it better to win or to compromise?
Maybe...Well, I don’t know.
Says the man in the big black robe,
“Winning is good, as everyone knows.
Winners behave, so I am told,
But then again, I don’t know.”
But I sensed his doubt
I was turning him inside out “
Don’t ask me another thing.”
I said, “I won’t, ‘cause you don’t know.”
I think the moral of this story is—
Wait a minute—I don’t know.
But it’s probably okay just to sing along,
Maybe not, I don’t know.
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11. |
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The Day the Birds Stopped Singing
I knew him well—he was a friend of mine,
Our lives were all laughter and song
And dreams of a better world,
And our hearts would leap
When we danced with the local girls.
Had I known on the day the birds stopped singing,
We should have skipped work and gone for a ride
But how was I to know he’d be gone before his time?
I knew him well—he was a brother of mine
Though there were times when
I wished he’d get lost or just disappear,
There were times when
I cried so hard when he was not there.
But I knew on the day
the birds stopped singing,
I’d remember every crack in his stupid smile
How was I to know he’d be gone before his time?
I knew him well—he was a son of mine,
In the hot days of summer
He’d strike out the order as if they were blind,
It was I he’d tell of the fears that were on his mind.
Had I known on the day the birds stopped singing
I’d have warned him something else was in the sky
But how was I to know he’d be gone before his time?
I knew him well—he was my oldest child,
I used to worry so hard
When he didn’t come home on time
And I’d dread the sad day
When we had to say goodbye
I believed on the day the birds stopped singing
Such a kind man would surely find his way
But I knew such a world could take him...
I knew such a world would take him before his day.
I knew him well...
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12. |
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Cathedrals of Sticks and Pins
Someday crayons will color
the space with the line gone
Some day neon will light up the path to the pylon
That holds up the sun to a new dawn
And cathedrals of sticks and pins will fall.
Someday lions will lie down with lambs in the cyclone
Someday Freon will ice the blue light frozen beyond
And water will torch hell and no one
Will shake before cathedrals of sticks and pins.
‘Cause everything’s here
So just hold your breath
Life’s flip art animates your soul
Wonder’s jest lets loose control of tools
Angels are gas and so nothing will last
Except for the fact of here and now
Wrinkle flat the iron balls of fools.
Freedom was lying, happiness faints from deciding
Reason is crying, careening like echoes in time
In contest we wait for the crime
While blood drains from Cathedrals of sticks and pins.
‘Cause Nothing is There
So explode not your Here
For skipping stones don’t drown in sin
But plunder priests will do you in and in
We’re freer than free when
Reason is Fruit Page after page of colliding stars
There’s no Aftersight but what we are... we are.
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13. |
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My Heart Waits for a Cure
My heart waits for a cure
My heart waits for a cure
Seed this kiss, roll the dice
Feed my lungs with fire and ice
My heart waits for a cure
My heart waits for a cure
Take my hand, this fingered wing
Shake this sorrow, numb its sting
My heart waits for a cure
My heart waits for a cure
Fold me in your blazing skin
Find me out and let me in
My heart waits for a cure
My heart waits for a cure
Cage me in your cave so dark
Breathe me in and leave your mark.
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Edward Morneau Salem, Massachusetts
Edward Morneau has been a musician and songwriter most of his life. His focus on multiple genres and interest on sound collage experimentation makes his music hard to classify. His muses range from Beatles, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, XTC, Kinks, Iris DeMent to Mahler, Shostakovich, Penderecki & Zappa. His background as an English & Film teacher gives humor and striking imagery to his songs. ... more
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