1. |
Barney Bubbles
04:05
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Incline your ears, hear the words of the wise
Portobello Road, hanging out with Hawkwind
Barney Bubbles, age 21
The lengths he would go to stay alive, the lengths he would go to shock them
You didn't act fast
While the other offers lasted
You were in a caste
And all the other roles were casted
You've become blind to the thing that scared you
You could end up just a pop cartoon
The daylight comes or is it a new beginning?
Or just the beginning of another bullshit day?
Call out for insight and cry for understanding
Barney Bubbles dead at 41
A plastic bag, a good man gone
Nocturnal sunrise, that’s the drink they’ll name after me
I like the night, the daytime and the mystery
I literally kick the stereo when things get dark
It’s Carlene’s C’est C Bon LP
And Bubbles did the artwork
Reasons to be cheerful, reasons to be sad
Unpaid taxes, like you weren’t already spent
In the 80’s your career went bad
Which can only be considered a compliment
You know the game is fixed
You know your lot in life is fucked
When fashion is your nourishment and the fashion sucks
The daylight comes or is it a new beginning?
Or just the beginning of another bullshit day?
Call out for insight and cry for understanding
Barney Bubbles dead at 41
A plastic bag, a good man gone
The daylight comes, or is it early evening?
The first shadow of another midnight run
Just another invoice left outstanding
Barney Bubbles dead at 41
What did you do? What have you done?
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2. |
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One last illegal smile, I’d bet my land and titles
Oh, I know you wanna kill your idols but yr idols are dead
This ain’t no church revival, this ain’t no public recital
No one wants a second viewing once you chart a course to ruin, no one ever calls from Vegas just to wonder how you’re doing
I can’t see for miles -- but -- I’d bet my land and titles
Someone went nearly berzerk, somebody's looking for work
When a reputation needs rebuilding, it's not the shirt and shoes your killed in, it's how they put you in the dirt
Once your assets have grown, you've learned to change your tone
Once you recognize the difference between "there’s nobody's there," and “there’s nobody home"
Now Jack she is a banker, and Jane he is a clerk, and from the moment you dropped anchor, you've been acting like a jerk
Just one question I have for you, before you turn in all your tiles, how'd you end up on the jury when I sang “All My Trials?”
You know it's all on file, I'd bet my land and titles
Five lanes, three days, burning down the highways, moving with a purpose, at excessive speed
When everything went unchecked, when everything went sideways, Jackie always takes a little more than she needs
Night at the switching yard, the men are tough and hard
If you take the literature at its word, Some things are so improbable, they’re practically assured
One last illegal smile, John Prine’s in exile
No one wants the proof of concept, once the verdict is contempt, no one knows the difference between an execution and a compliment
And I can’t see for miles -- I’d bet my land and titles
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3. |
Love & Demotion
03:16
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Well I told you once before it began
This affection will not stand
I'm not the kind to put up forever
With uncomplicated earthly pleasures
Well I won't tolerate in perpetuity
Vague notions of perfect unity
Return on investment, return to sender
Check in the bank book, check in the ledger
So many rubicons and so many rivers to cross
I want to be your lover, but I'm already your boss
You go-between phases, you’re separated by oceans
You know the meaning of that gaze, it's love and demotion
Love and demotion
Love and demotion
Well I told you once before I glanced askance
I don't believe in fate I don't believe in chance
Check out the statistics
Check out the history
Don't let the mystery be, embrace the mystery
I'm not about to apologize
Because I take my cue from old white guys
But if I was imperious, I must surely confess
I still love you but you failed the test
So many rubicons and so many rivers to cross
I want to be your lover, but I'm already your boss
You go-between phases, you’re separated by oceans
You know the meaning of that gaze, it's love and demotion
Love and demotion
So many rubicons and so many rivers to defile
The human equivalent of Satan on your speed dial
When the whole thing goes down
And no roads are open
You'll remember this sound:
It’s love and demotion…
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4. |
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It began awkwardly it began straining
Gotta talk about How To Be An Intern Without Previous Training
He shuffled and chuckled but he never refused.
"In those days events overtook you,"
"In those days events moved."
French residence at a non-judicious time
Hitler on the march, city occupied
He wanted badly to take Ethel and flee
Goebbels Wheels turning back in Germany.
Germany
Woo hoo
"I became a prisoner in a posh Berlin hotel
They'd taken me there and there bid me I stay
You don't argue with the Gestapo about where you dwell
That was my own personal policy anyway."
"The broadcasts," he said, “Were not my intention"
“A means of survival, not worth a mention”
"I was 59, past my prime even then."
"No one thought they'd ever hear from me again" - But they did.
And then they stopped.
I spent the rest of my life trying to make it right
I lived in infamy and I lived in fame
I lived in the hearts of millions - Enlisted and civilians
I lived in happiness and I lived in shame
"The broadcasts," he said, “Were not my intention"
“A means of survival, not worth a mention”
"I was 59, past my prime even then."
"No one thought they'd ever hear from me again" - But they did.
Oh they did
Woo hoo
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5. |
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When the unkillable men have all been slain
When the incalculable costs have all been paid
When the incredible pageant turned out to be lame
Until Birnam Woods Came To Dunsinane
You can round up the shepherds
And have them all shot
You can line up the clergy
And have them all bought
You can point to the scientist
And call her insane
Until Birnam Woods Comes To Dunsinane
Checking on Ms.Charlesworth
and checking on Ms. Bell
I don't believe that you could say
I know a single person very well
Building up the reservoir
and building up the dam
You don't know what I look like
Cause you don't know who I am
Jack Kerouac in Northport
Pissing away his afternoons
On Judy Ann Court
A court of last resort
A mile away from my childhood room
Some say Paranoid Style
Is vicious and vile
Some say it’ll come to pass
You can auction off the objects
You can round up all the suspects
But you won’t know who to ask
Checking in on Charles Bissell
Checking on the Wrens
Even when you know it’ll end well
You still want it to end
Best practices, child actresses
All that the law will allow
Why did I give half my life to people I hate now?
You can rent out the movies and see what they look like
Two fifty a throw with a membership card
I rented Shampoo for seven straight weeks
The checkout man stared at me hard
In the time back before, in the time of companions
Hal Ashby before he’s insane
It's all in the wind, it's all in the game
Until Birnam Woods comes to Dunsinane
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6. |
Alive and Vexing
02:20
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Waiting all night for a call you never wanted
Third mortgage taken out, houses pre-haunted
I love the sound of breaking glass
Alive and Vexing
Shoved behind the gates all of your life
Shopped American in a credentialed burgundy mall
Signs of life, someone scales a wall
Alive and vexing
Alive and vexing
Tornadoes and mosh pits, Kant and Hegel
All of the things they do to the young and able
And yet they persist
Alive and vexing
Waking up to the sounds of talk radio
Waking up to a starter pistol
Draw the shade, engage the ritual
Alive and vexing
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7. |
The Worst Of My Love
03:41
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The wedding guest perched on a slippery stone
Accommodations he would later bemoan
When the market's inflated, when push comes to shove
When your passport’s outdated and the orders come from above
Name rank and serial number
The worst of my love
Sideways glances, chances at the table
The ice on the mast and the ice in your veins
Cutting the cord, cutting off the cable
The story's implausible but the story remains
I always wanted you to know
Before the sea levels rise
You've got the worst of my love
You've got the worst of my love
With no sweet bird to follow
You've got the worst of my love
And the best of my love is hollow
Street fighting ladies waiting to cut loose
To take what's theirs and fuck the truce
Made up Betty Crocker, shoved it all in the stove
Nothing has changed, you get the worst of their love
I do the best that I can
Dedicated armaments, radio dedications
Casey Kasem and the forty best of the week
all feels like happiness to my ten year old self
From Culture Club to XTC
You've got the worst of my love
And resistance is futile
You've got the worst of my love
And the best of my love is brutal
You've got the worst of my love
With no sweet bird to follow
You've got the worst of my love
And the best of my love is hollow
This is a shout out to you:
Unnecessary Wars
This is a shout out to you:
Parquet Courts
This is a shout out to you:
To Purple Mountains
This is a shout out to you:
To Waynes of Fountain
This is a shout out to you:
When no one’s listening
This is shout out to you:
When the silence is deafening
This is a shout out to you:
To the ones who could hack it
This is a shout out to you:
To old Fred Tackett
This is a shout out to you:
Grooms at the altar
This is a shout out to you
Nothing could falter
This is a shout to you
Every Spotify pleading
This is a shout out to you
For executive meeting
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8. |
Ten Floors of Basement
01:42
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Ten floors of basement
Each one a little lower
I said, "I didn't think we'd get this far down!"
He said, "You may live with her, but you don't know her."
When you've sicked the IRS on people in distress
When in a general way you've been awful
Ten floors of basement
And that’s six more than the gospels
I’ve got my shades all pulled down
Don’t want no trouble inside
Wearing my evening gown
Wait for my evening ride
Commemorative Plates are prominently displayed
And they do impress the neighbors
Who are particularly taken with the Bob Newhart set
And Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors
Climb the ladder in America
Graduate and look for placement
But when you're waking up your somehow walking down
Ten floors of basement
Can’t believe what’s going on
In the world of entertainment
I never was so entertained
Throughout my entire detainment
The Box Tops covering "Whiter Shade Of Pale"
didn't even seem like they even knew the chords
The most beautiful song I heard in jail
The most beautiful sound I have ever heard
Staring at the wall, waiting in the dark
Don't have the swagger to be a winner, don't have the shame to be a mark
Elevator in the hall, hoping for replacement
Hit a homer and touch ‘em all
Ten floors of basement
This is a shout out to you…
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9. |
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Camel Hair suits
leather dope and honey
Alex played for profit, But he never played for money
Lou on 10th avenue
Just released Berlin
Bob Ezrin said “Put it in the bin”
Steven Lee Cropper 1974
Cooling heels in Memphis
Playing session guitar
And everybody knows the things she does to please
A brood of vipers, constellation of horrors
Do you not know the name of anything good?
Steve Cropper co-wrote In The Midnight Hour
Steve Cropper co-wrote Knock On Wood
July 17th, the Bowery with Wussy
I threw up in a bag on the West Side Highway
I rented a room at the Aloft hotel
I made it to the soundcheck and it went pretty well
And everybody knows the things she does to please
Sister Lovers, Big Star Third
What you could handle, what you could afford
He will command his angels in front of you
There was this one time Steve Cropper played Lou
In the final estimation, in the final accounting
God have mercy on the man who believes what he's been doubting
God have mercy on the man who sees her walking down the street
Before you start you know you are already beat
And everybody knows the things she does to please
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10. |
Doug Yule
03:51
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Andy said he can’t turn all the screws anymore
That’s when he left the whole thing up to Lou
And a man can be a man, but can he pay his dues anymore?
Like the Velvets in time before Doug Yule
Doug Yule, Doug Yule, life just can’t be this cruel
Why can’t I feel the vestige of a new beginning?
Doug Yule, Doug Yule, God tell me it’s not true
I swear I’ve got another record in me
Now when I was an educator, I was at my best
I demonstrated promise on the inkblot test
Now there’s oil over my chain link vest
And the worst I dreamt of is happening
I’ve rehearsed and rehearsed
That my life is a curse
I’ve been driven away in a rudderless hearse
I’ve made things that we’re merely awful much much much much much worse (much worse, much worse)
Doug Yule, Doug Yule, hey, do you feel these things too?
Do you long to carry on what should be ending?
Doug Yule, Doug Yule, God spare me one more year through
I swear I’ve got another record in me
Everybody told me when I had a child
That my heart would be full
That my pride would run wild
But my god, I looked down on that day, and I felt nothing.
And Lou was a beast
And Seznick’s a liar
And sure, no one liked “Squeeze”
But at least we walked through the fire
Hey, you and me Doug, we should have joined the Mingus dynasty
Doug Yule, Doug Yule, life just can’t be this cruel
Why can’t I feel the vestige of a new beginning?
Doug Yule, Doug Yule, please spare me one more year through
I swear I’ve got another record in me
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11. |
Moveable Feast Blues
02:25
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Take her down to be drowned
Take her down to the river
Ah, it feels so profound
Hey it gives me a shiver
Because she don't go down
So easy as you'd expect
And that is the trouble
With the old man and the ex
Oh the sun also rises
The sun also sets
I ain't planning no surprises
I ain't got any regrets
It's a curious case
Of the new weird America, yes
I couldn't believe it when I'd seen it on the blackboard
The old man and the ex
Hey, I don't know your business
I don't know your grading policy
I don't believe I seen this
In the Harry Smith Anthology
The two way street of charity
Just got so complicated, yes
All the greatest hits and rarities
And the old man and the ex
Hey, you gotta be joking
You gotta be kidding me
Hey, now it's a long line
but it moves arthritically
The magician's assistant
Keeps doing all the tricks, yes
Which just goes to show what I don't know
About the old man and the ex
Oh it's gonna take astringent
It's gonna take a hoover
It's gonna take a gallon
Of human stain remover
Hey you pick it up used
Honey buy it in bulk
I confess I'm confused!
Call me Coleman Silk
I don't know anything about the old man and the ex
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12. |
Seven Year Ache
03:27
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The Paranoid Style Washington, D.C.
The Paranoid Style was a special committee convened in 2012 in order to address our country's many pressing problems.
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