1. |
Cold War
03:20
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This cold war's goin hot tonight
An atomic bomb's been dropped in fright
A mushroom cloud is rising with sun and
Armageddon's never been this fun
Potential energy has gone kinetic
From a static state to one more frenetic
Atoms bashing atoms, pictures crashing off the walls
It's the end of the world and we're having a ball
Skyscrapers no longer scraping the sky
They're decomposing, they're lying in state
Civilization, well, it's had a good run
But now Newton's laws and molecules will reign
A tropical storm is gaining might
A hurricane is brewing in the night
Say goodbye to lovers, labors, lives, and luxuries
This storm will get them all, but it won't get me
A batter is putting pine to pitch
A waist-high curveball murdered like a snitch
The seams are bursting and the hide is flying loose
Like all our dreams that we'll never pursue
Skyscrapers no longer scraping the sky
They're decomposing, they're lying in state
Civilization, well, it's had a good run
But now Newton's laws and molecules will reign
And all the cars will turn to ash on the freeway
And the mighty redwoods will finally have their day
When Newton's laws and molecules will reign
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2. |
Goin to Reno
04:57
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Leavin my home on a hot Highway 50 night
Headin east through the Sierras to go bathe in some neon lights
I made some promises that I can't keep,
The folly of youth, yeah, words are cheap
Now I'm yelling "I don't!" every night when I'm lyin in bed asleeep
So I'm goin to Reno
To bury my ring
My man, what does he know?
He doesn't do anything
As my boiling resentment
Turns to simmering rage
Great Expectations reads more like Bleak House as time yellows the page
Got too many days left to be spending 'em this close to the grave
I dropped out of school so I could go and be a wife
He gave me his hand and he covered up my eyes
The roof over my kitchen blocks out the stars
Even a convict gets some time in the yard
White picket fences ensnare the same as black iron baaars
So I'm goin to Reno
To bury my ring
My man, what does he know?
He doesn't do anything
As my boiling resentment
Turns to simmering rage
Great Expectations reads more like Bleak House as time yellows the page
Got too many days left to be spending 'em this close to the grave
The biggest little city well it's lovely this time of year
Trees line the Truckee, the casinos fill you full of beer
Leanin over the bridge on Virginia Street
A tear hits the water, didn't think I'd weep
Drop that fucker in the Truckee watch the current drag it down to the deep
Yeah I done went to Reno
And I buried my ring
Beneath those cold Truckee waters
Can you hear my heart sing?
Now I got me a paper
Says my life belongs to me
Thought I'd lost my heart, but I got it back down on Virginia Street
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3. |
Food Stamp BBQ
02:56
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I went down to the office
To get a food stamp card
Just waited in line, filled out some forms,
I wouldn't say it was all that hard
I answered some questions
To prove how poor I am
And I walked out of there
With a swipable feast in the palm of my hand
So jump on your bikes, friends,
We're going to the grocery store
Uncle Sam's buying
So grab grab some more
Broccoli and mushrooms,
And field roast and tofu,
Brandon's got steaks in the basket
And kosher all beef hot dogs too
Come on down to the food stamp BBQ
The government is buying all the food
It's only fair, I mean I pay taxes too
Thanks for the grub Uncle Sam
Two hundred dollars
Can really go fast
When you're feeding your friends
And you aren't spending any cash
Okay, that's not strictly true
I had to front for the Pabst
But at least since I live in Portland, Oregon
I didn't have to pay a stupid fucking sales tax
Come on down to the food stamp BBQ
The US Senate is buying all the food
It's only fair, I mean I pay taxes too
Thanks for the grub Uncle Sam
It's time to start, yeah,
We're done getting ready
Ruth Bader-Ginsburg
Baked her famous apple brown betty
George Bush is shotgunning
Lone Star in the breakfast nook
Richard M. Nixon is wearing
An apron that says "Kiss the Crook"
Come on down to the food stamp BBQ
The Supreme Court is buying all the food
It's only fair, I mean I pay taxes too
Thanks for the grub Uncle Sam
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4. |
Shakin'!
02:55
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I am not every man
I am the only man
In this post-Apocalypto wasteland we call modern life
You're all just robots
I'm not a robot
I got my heart pumpin' oil and my sensors working overtime
I keep my doors locked
Got my pantry stocked
Boarded up the windows, candles burning all night long
I'm eating canned food,
Dried, powdered bran food
And I'm shakin and i'm shakin and i'mshakinandimshakin
My TV hates me
Fucks with my circuitry
All the yellin and the cryin makes me think I'll lose my mind
I can't watch Fox News
They're always starting feuds
Ignoramus necktie clones exploding in my ears
I found all these talking heads
So I threw them in the shed
Now my backyard smells like cotton candy rotting on your gums
I gotta quit watchin TV
It's giving me epilepsy
And I'm shakin and i'm shakin and imshakinandimshakin
My wallet's empty
Ain't got no currency
Automatic teller telling me to go get lost
I barely have a job,
I'm a rusty worn down cog
Grind my teeth until the blood gums up the machine
I could use some company
Someone to hunt with me
Instead I'm standing behind storm doors hoping they don't storm on me
I got my shotgun cocked,
Empathy is switched to off
And I'm shakin and i'm shakin and imshakinandimshakin
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5. |
Russia
04:42
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Meet Michael Denisovich
One rough and tumble son of a bitch
The hardcorest Communist the Komsomol had ever seen
He grew up praising Lenin's name
His mecca was Karl Marx's grave
And November 7th was his favorite holiday
Then Hitler came knocking on his door
They called it the Great Patriotic War
And in a furor of fealty he fought for his fatherland
With a gun in his hand and a knife in his boot
He always knew just when to shoot
He killed fifteen fascists in his first four months on the front
It snowed in Moscow on December 29th
Of the year 1939
Those flakes they just kept falling down,
Millions piled up on the ground
And they hardly ever even made a sound
Back home at a party and he got a laugh
When he made a joke about Comrade Stalin's mustache
But he didn't know his friend was informing for the NKVD
In the middle of the night they came knockin' on his door
Barely gave him time to get his pants off the floor
As his wife kept screaming "This must be a mistake!"
They threw him in a dank, windowless room
Beat his face til it turned all black and blue
Crushed his nuts with the heel of a shiny leather boot
They said "Sign this, we don't care if it's true
We can do whatever we want with you
If you confess, we'll go easy," well he did, they gave him 25 years
No trial, no jury, no chance to set it straight
Just sentenced under Article 58
Anti-Soviet agitation and capitalist sympathy
At the train loading up for the prison camp
He was prodded and whipped up the loading ramp
Packed in so tight like a horse into a bottle of glue
You think smashing rocks every day for 12 hours sound rough?
Try doing it when they don't feed you enough
To keep the meat from melting off your bones when it's 20 below
The beatings hadn't stopped at the interrogation,
No, lucky if he got off with just an abrasion
From the butt of the gun of the guard for working too slow
When his wife tried to send a letter to him
Those clever foxes, you know what they did?
They said "Prisoner denied the right of correspondence"
I think that what they meant to say
Was "Prisoner denied the light of day
Because we put a bullet in the base of his skull three years ago"
This story may have been fabricated
But don't go thinking it's been exaggerated
Like it could never happen here to an American like you
Oh, fathers and sons, and mothers too
All thrown into our own gulag stew
'Cause the NSA found all the bad shit we do
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6. |
Poverty
04:49
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I've felt as poor as a patient's prognosis
When he comes face to face with a terminal diagnosis
And he's praying to Jesus or Allah or Moses
Ain't no one there to hear him in his room filled up with roses
I'm just as broke as a rusty ten speed
With spokes made of wishes, asleep in the weeds
Where I planted a garden, but the crows ate the seeds
And if you take one step closer, they're gonna make you bleed
My pockets are empty as a merry go round
That's covered in poison in the bad part of town
Surrounded by snipers that shoot those kids down
And except for the spinning it don't make no sound
Poverty, poverty,
Shoulda got an accounting degree
Poverty, poverty,
Who the hell studies Russian history?
Poverty, poverty,
Shoulda got an accounting degree
Poverty, poverty,
Who the hell studies Russian history?
I may not have much but there's this hot air balloon
Where we can ditch all our coin purses and shoot for the moon
Up above the cornfields we'll hold hands and spoon
Wave down to the ants, we'll see 'em again soon
Poverty, poverty,
Shoulda got an accounting degree
Poverty, poverty,
Who the hell studies Russian history?
Poverty, poverty,
Shoulda got an accounting degree
Poverty, poverty,
Who the hell studies Russian history?
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7. |
Charlie
02:50
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Growing up you must have been so full of joy
Playing in the grass with your puppies and your toys
So much ahead of you as a toddling young boy
What went wrong?
You went off to school with big dreams and high hopes
Just like all of use you didn't know the ropes
The kids would laugh at you, they thought you were a dope
Kids can be so cruel
Charlie, Charlie Manson
What happened to you?
Charlie, Charlie Manson
Ooo ooo eee ooo
They turned their back on you so you turned yours on us
Threw up a shell, a defense to adjust
Plotted your revenge on a society that was fucked
You formed a cult
You led those girls, directionless, and held them by the hand
As no one looked out for you, you looked out for them
Together, you all shared in something, a plan
You killed some folks
Now you are in jail you're never getting out
You just got hitched, I heard, but the honeymoon's in doubt
You're a clever guy though, you'll figure something out
Ooo ooo eee ooo
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8. |
||||
When I woke up this morning
My alarm clock was snoring
But I couldn't climb out of my bed
Limbs tired and heavy
They were pinned under a Chevy
And my bedsheets were made out of lead
The source of my ennui
Is this meteorology
Got me cooped up like cattle in a shed
And I'm starting to wish I were dead
All this drippin and a-droppin on my head
Has got me flippin and a-floppin
Like a bottle-nosed dolphin
Who's trapped in a tuna fish net
I'm starvin for my friends
But this rain it never ends
And I'm slowly growin more and more insane
I've been talkin to the walls
Holdin tea parties with dolls
But the conversations are dull and inane
I resolve to break free
Pray those drops don't swallow me
Or they'll drop me in a shallow muddy grave
Sometimes you just gotta be brave
But this drippin and a-droppin on my brain
Is the clippin and a-cloppin
Of a cavalry stalkin
Their prey runnin scared out on the plains
The rain stung my eyes
I was flung from my bike
And I tried to break my fall with my face
As my life passed before me
Seemed like God might abhor me
So I started humming the tune to Amazing Grace
He sniffed the bullshit in my story
Shipped me off to purgatory
And denied me his loving embrace
But hey, at least I finally left my place
Now I got a drippin and a-droppin out in space
It's the tickin and a-tockin of a jailhouse clock
Whose hands are always losing a race
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9. |
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Taco Bell and Lone Star Beer
We're not big on fancy dinners round here
Ain't got no money, ain't got no fear
Just Taco Bell and Lone Star Beer
Came down to Austin to see my man Tenfold
Defrost some memories that have grown a little cold
Xbox and poker chips, a bag of weed
We'll hit the town tonight until our knuckles bleed
I'm a fool with my money
I'm a fool without
I think I like acting funny
But I keep on keep on havin doubts
I tried to live like other folks for one night
I'm on vacation, ain't that my right?
I exercised it, now I'm down to twenty bucks
So it's Taco Bell for breakfast and Lone Star Beer for lunch
I'm a fool with my money
I'm a fool without
I think I like acting funny
But I keep on keep on havin doubts
Think I'm a thinker but I couldn't figure out
How to see the Austin people talk about
We'll do it right next time I'm here
Just please god, no more Taco Bell and Lone Star Beer
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10. |
Fool Some Prism Broods
02:06
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I hear that train a-comin
Yeah it's rollin round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since
I don't know when
I'm stuck in Portland, Oregon
And time keeps draggin on
And that train keeps a-rollin
On down to Beaverton
When I was just a youngin'
Back when mama called me boy
I thought guitars and microphones
Were just some fuckin toys
Then I saw a band in Reno
Just to see them live
And those guitars and microphones
They took over my mind
I bet there's rich folks drivin
In their fancy hybrid cars
To their houses in the West Hills
Where their shoes don't fall apart
Well, I'm sure it's lovely livin
But I'm not sure that it's for me
But the older that I get
The more I know uncertainty
If I ever get a real job
A white collar, 9 to 5
Hope I don't lose my shit
Strangle my peers with their neckties
The judge'll stare me down,
"Boy, I'm sending you away"
On down to Folsom prison
A long vacation out of state
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11. |
Motion Plus Direction
05:10
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I am lost, who's got the map, which way is north?
How the hell did I get so off course?
I had it all plotted out but now things have gone south
Like a drug cartel dismemberment
A serious pain in the neck
I was a child and I had a home
God damn if that ain't a long time ago
Oh to hold onto a place, plant your heels in time and space
But life is such a series of vector
Motion plus direction
And the stars, well, they aren't any help
Can't blame 'em, they got so many atoms to weld
They just float there and glimmer and slowly grow dimmer
As the sky turns from torchlight to tar
'Cause we're all just drifting apart
SOS, clasp my hands, paging god
But he's busy with the priest, TV preachers, and frauds
Whose silver tongues wag while they pass round a bag
For you to throw in what you own
What are you supposed to do if your broke?
It's a good thing I can laugh at my own jokes
'Cause I better get used to being alone
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12. |
The Human Song
05:53
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I am a man, a family man
Of decent means
I got a wife, two kids, a suburban home
And hope and dreams
Thought I'd build a little nest egg
Send my kids off to school,
Hit that silver anniversary, take a Mediterranean cruise
But we had one too many fights,
Some things can't be unsaid
She took the kids to her mom's, found another man
And she left me for dead
So I'll ride, ride, ride,
I'll ride the rails
And when that train gets to where
I don't know I'm goin
I'll start livin for myself
I am a man, a career man
I'm wedded to my job
I'm on a sturdy rung of the corporate ladder
And I'm headed to the top
I always check my e-mail
And I make eighty calls a day
I kiss my boss's ass for the chance to pass him
I really earn my pay
But they found this guy in India
Who will work for half as much
Threw me out on the street with just the shoes on my feet
And said "We'll be in touch"
So I'll ride, ride, ride,
I'll ride the rails
And when that train gets to where
I don't know I'm goin
I'll start livin for myself
I'm a woman, I'm smart as hell
A recent graduate
I got A's in my classes studying journalism
Yeah I really know my shit
I'm doing this for the people
Tell their stories to the world
Where there's trouble and strife that'll be my life
I'm an action kind of girl
But every time I interview
It's with a sleazy, slick-haired slob
He says "You look qualified with your hips and your tits
But how are you at sucking cock?"
So I'll ride, ride, ride,
I'll ride the rails
And when that train gets to where
I don't know I'm goin
I'll start livin for myself
I am a man, a homeless man
Clothed in tattered rags
Get my sleep on a bench, my dental work from a wrench
And my food from garbage bags
It hasn't always been like this
I paid rent with my paychecks
But you're a step away when you haven't saved
And get hurt in an accident
I hobble around the city parks
Til they picked me up for vagrancy
Threw my ass in a cell and they beat me to hell
And they slapped me with a fee
So I'll ride, ride, ride,
I'll ride the rails
And when that train gets to where
I don't know I'm goin
I'll start livin for myself
I am a man, an American man
I'm just your average Joe
I'm Willy Loman, I'm Billy Pilgrim,
I'm everyone you know
Exxon-Mobil's got record profits
But I can't afford a gallon of gas
I'm getting laid off while the boss is paid off
Say goodbye to the middle class
So I'll ride, ride, ride,
I'll ride the rails
And when that train gets to where
I don't know I'm goin
I'll start livin for myself
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The Messy Jacksons Portland, Oregon
Do like like funny sad sound words? Then Messy Jacksons have good sound words for you. You like finger string picky fretty? Messy Jackson have other good sound words for you. Messy Jacksons is sometimes one, sometimes many, sometimes acoustic, sometimes electronic, always funny sad sound words from the Portland that stole its name from the other Portland. ... more
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