for the ghost of fannie dade

July


Lyrics:

July came one whole month early
to the south
to our city
I broke my mouth down
on her sweet-tasting shoulder
over & over
in the sick sweat of sidewalks
and buildings
amidst the smolder of tinder
I tried to be tender
but her cheeks were timid
they bruised to the bone
because I wanted her
I wanted her
& told her so

settled down with her there
on the stone stoops
of old Victorian homes
just the same as it was
when I was living alone
so I slept through her sadness
& she solemnly stayed
while I remained somnolent
'til the day she got wise
she got real wise & wasted
left me to nestle her empty bottles
like bodies
like brothers
like lovers
held tight to my bosom
beating me down
hunched over double
with knees up to nose
It's a noose
Oh god, don't I know
that it's never enough to say sorry
so sorry
after your own regrets have roughed you up

Thought I was a battle ship
I asked you
to batter me baby
my body
my body
my bartering chip
was laid out bare
still barely could go
for a price as cheap
as skin & bones
all flesh costs more than money
and still is worth a little less
soon as it's been spent
when it's gone
you're a gonner
it gets gone for good
leaves you gaunter than ghosts

Like an apparition
I was bending for my baby
with breath so softly bated
this was my condition
she could not hear me haunting
a space my presence left unoccupied
as vacant as her eyes
no final resting place
for this emptied weight of mine
I was oh so tired of waiting
but I tried
at least I tried
though these years have only passed me by
and it's not ever worth the wait
when all that you've got
is only time
only time
only time

& some newer stuff

often occasional trite terminological taxidermic metatextualizing cryptozoologist blues

Lyrics:

We painted us some planets
sent them spinning towards the sun
then we basked out in the burning
oh we did it just for fun

we cooked ourselves on soggy dreams
god knows they've got no meat
so we ate only bare bones
when we knew the times were lean

I've got those often occasional trite terminological taxidermic metatextualizing cryptozoologist blues

you may call us causeless cannibals
when we draw upon our kin
peeling off as paper pages
all things written on their skin

we ate them alphabetically
swallowed words washed
belly down from ship to sea
with such silence as an anchor
they mean nothin' much to me

I've got those often occasional trite terminological taxidermic metatextualizing cryptozoologist blues

And you may use this body, dear
as the pages of your book
you read my face much faster
didn't tend the time is takes to look
-You stared me down

just my dumb voice and the sound of rain on my parent's back porch

Wrote on my flesh for you, my dear
wasted like paper just to keep you near
tremble before every new intrusion
forget the past, I'm not the right one

Don't apologize
don't apologize
don't apologize

Tell me what happened to the springtime?
I was left to leather this brittle skin of mine
out in the summer, sweat and sunshine
I did my worst with words for a while

Don't apologize
don't apologize
don't apologize

I'll be the book you borrow memories to bind
my body has betrayed the mess I left behind
history and heartstrings had our hands tied
so we did our worst with words for a while

Don't apologize
don't apologize
don't apologize

some older recordings

sorry for the really crappy sound quality... especially on the first one... and the second one...ugh.

pink lemonade

gravity

lucky penny

Lyrics:

Pink Lemonade

well you say I'm just as pretty as pink lemonade
wanna take me to the front porch, sit in the shade
I may be sour and pucker up
better put somethin' stronger into my cup
'cause I may just be a sucker enough

Is it just a pun in your pocket when you're talkin to me
here I thought I was the one you were happy to see
well it could of been anyone, any- one! two! three!

I told you once in middle school
we were gonna be so much cooler than cool
with a brain freeze, cold tongue, icees
now I see you, do you see- something in me?

I may be certain, but I'm not even close to shore
by now I'm 20 miles out to sea, or more
sleeping next to you on the ocean floor
don't believe you when you say that I didn't snore
I think I like you... it's gettin' hard to ignore

oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no

Gravity

Gravity got me out of bed, feelin' rough
think I'm on the wrong side of sunny-side-up
I wish you were homely enough
to make me feel at home with you
wanna wear ya in, wear ya out, until it's true

After all it could hardly matter
in the world everything is just matter
should I get mad or just get sadder?
glow in the dark stars are out of place
when it's mostly empty space

Tonight I'm on the run from the moon
taking aim, I'll be shot down soon
it's just a rock, but a rock will do
dust was the only thing that hung around
sticking to the universe and holdin' it down

Lucky Penny (small changes)

I found a lucky penny
under my rainy day shoes
all I get is small change

I don't wanna find a change in you

You're so estranged
you're just as strange
as you ever were
feeling short changed
I guess it's my lucky day

are you any different now?
are you just indifferent now?
I have to change somehow

I'm not day-dreaming,
I'm just sleeping all day