1) RUN CRAB RUN (J Neo Marvin)
When you give up on giving in
Some people turn against you
And there’s not much you can do
When you speak your truth
You find out who your friends are
And who’s waiting to slap you down
When a small-minded soul wants to be right
Some one else has to be wrong
How much effort will you make to win respect from
People you just can’t respect
One morning you’re going to get it at last
One morning you’re going to see through everything
One morning the sun will break the clouds apart
So get ready for a bumpy ride ahead.
One morning you might wake up
And you’ll realize how unsatisfied you are
One day you’re going to look around
And tell yourself things don’t look as cut and dried
One day you’ll see with new eyes
And you’ll notice all the shades of gray you never saw before
And that’s when it will hit you
Just how gray everything around you has become
One morning you’re going to get it at last
One morning you’re going to see through everything
One morning the sun will break the clouds apart
So get ready for a bumpy ride ahead.
Stupid chatter in the square
Empty calories on the air
Hey what’s that crawling down there
Underneath the pedestal
When the breakthroughs break your heart
Reboot and then restart
And you can’t go home again
So you make home where you stand
And the world is empty now
And your eyes are open now
You can take the first step now
Jump out of the pot.
Run crab run!
2) LITTLE EMPEROR (J Neo Marvin)
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Dressed like a cowboy
Born in a bubble
He's a man of the people
Got that look in his eyes
Don't let him improvise
Give him a lollypop
And tell him to shut up
This is the last joke
You will ever hear
Nothing to be scared of
Everything to fear
Steely eyed rocket man
Head in the quicksand
Time for a photo-op
Hoist up the backdrop
Rally round the radio
Smackdown sheep show
Proud, stupid and confused
Here come the transfer tubes
The thugs bow down
To the favorite son
Bringing out the worst
In everyone
Chosen by a drunk god
To drown us in the bathtub
Fight against evil
By killing lots of people
Dopey little demigod
Pseudo-patriotic pods
Screw all this happy talk
Time for the perp walk
What will happen next
When you all find out
That's not chocolate
You've got in your mouth?
3) THE HYPNOTIST (J Neo Marvin)
Can you explain yourself?
Can you justify your hate?
Itemize your prejudices
Clean them up and make them shine
Assemble the shards…glue them together
Call it a world view
Someone might follow you
And maybe if you’re lucky
They’ll bring their friends around too
Call it a party...call it a calling
Tapping into that vacant goldmine.
And if you were born on the other side
You’d be lifting your sword for the other side
12th century fools holding 21st century tools
This is the mosque, this is the temple
The enemy’s inside, it’s all so simple
Tortured, raped and killed for living on the wrong side of the hill
But I digress...tell us all about
your cause.
Can you create a myth?
Some heroes and some villains
Treacheries, ancestral sins
Buried in the distant past
A secret pledge…a secret handshake
Somebody’s got to pay
They made you live this way
Subhuman obstacles to a new and brighter day
The time is now, and you know just how
You’re a leader of men with a sacred vow
And if you were born on the other side
You’d be lifting your sword for the other side
The more you lie the higher you can fly
This is the church, this is the steeple
Open up that door, slaughter all the people
A nation moves as one and time moves backwards when you’re having fun.
Are you proud of the history you are making
When look in the eyes of your victims
Oh, it must make you feel something.
4) PILLS (J Neo Marvin)
Are you angry? Are you frightened?
Filled with existential dread?
Modern medicine can help you
A lite-rock nurse goin’ to your head
There’s a pill to stop your shyness
There’s a pill to kill your fear
I can’t say this one makes you happy
But if you take it you won’t care
Just swallow what they’re giving you
You’ll no longer feel the pressure
It’s socially acceptable
Welcome to the New Drug Culture
Dr. Feelgood has the answer
If your life is going wrong
There’s no need to solve your problems
Pop your meds and they’re all gone
So much more convenient this way
Than delving into your messy life
Sweep away those ugly issues
Everything’s gonna be all right
Just swallow what they’re giving you
You’ll no longer feel the pressure
It’s socially acceptable
Not like that old Drug Culture
Vacuum-sealed for your protection
In a gated neighborhood
A fully circumscribed existence
Mummified for your own good
Somewhere out there you hear voices
A nation overcome with rage
But just before it hits your radar
You slip away into the haze.
Just swallow what they’re giving you
You won’t care about the future
It’s socially acceptable
All hail the New Drug Culture.
5) SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE FLETCHER CHRISTIAN
(The Mekons)
Sometimes I feel like Fletcher Christian
staring out across the sea
torn apart by duty's shackles
The twisted tongues of loyalty
Well I sucked hard on every pleasure
til my head begun to spin
he'll choose between the whip and feather
and that is where the crime begins
Sometimes I feel like Fletcher Christian
in paradise with the tables turned
Yes and I can feel the tatooist's needle
I can feel my neck and ankles burn
These south sea isles are cold and barren
but this civil war's been good for me
We took drugs and tore our uniforms
and gave our captain up to the sea
Sometimes I feel like Fletcher Christian
twisting off the serpent's head
for the mutiny I'll shoot the big one
hot and hungry, far from home
Through the sun and sea my skin is peeling
but it don't make the pictures fade
those shapes and symbols, I know their meaning
the shameless riches of another world
If I return they're sure to hang me
so I guess I'll have to stay
and if I should croak out in the darkness
No-one will know I got away
(c) 1987 Low Noise Music
6) A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF STYLE (J Neo Marvin)
It occurs to you, you might have said or done
Something wrong out there, but you’re not sure
You have this tendency to clam up
Until you blurt out the worst possible thing
In front of someone you’d hoped to impress
When every conversation feels like an interview
For some job you’re not even sure you want
Wanting to be a part of something you find wanting
It’s a paradox you haven’t yet resolved
Walk out the door with big plans
Crawl home alone in the wee hours
But I don’t mind
I could complain
But it’s OK
I’ll make my way
I’m self-contained.
Catch your reflection in the corner of your eye
And you wonder how you ever got so old
The times you took your charm for granted
Gone with the rest of your peak
Relive your awkward adolescence in your middle age
This is the time that you’re supposed to be
Entrenched within your final destination
Building fences and tending to your brood
By now you should have made your fortune
So they say...whoever "they" are
But when were they ever right?
Walk out the door with big plans
Crawl home alone in the wee hours
But I don’t mind
I could complain
But it’s OK
I’ll make my way
I’m self-contained.
7) TWIN HUMAN HIGHWAY FLARES (John Darnielle)
you turned to me and asked me if i'd always be
your boy
as we drove across the river into western illinois
and on the railroad bridge, half a mile of solid steel
wheels were spitting out sparks, scraping at the rails
wind in your hair all right
sunset spilling through the rear window
your white t-shirt hugging your shoulders, beaded with sweat
on the day that i become so forgetful
that all of this melts away
i will burn all the calendars that counted the years down
to such a worthless day
as we walked across the parking lot toward the
motel office
we were walking with a benediction on us
light was everywhere, the building stood against the sky
like a monument to desperation 2 floors high
a mile and a half from the river
we went back to the car to get our overnight bags
sunset spilling through your earrings, all over your body
when we shut the motel door behind us, we knew we'd hit the motherlode
on the day that i forget you, i hope my heart explodes
(c) 1997 Cadmean Dawn (ASCAP)
8) WINDBAGS (J Neo Marvin)
The man with the loudest voice
Surely must have the most to say
And all of it means more, you know,
If you hear it on the radio
He puts his finger on the pulse
Crushes it till it turns blue
And if they amputate the hand
It must not have belonged on you
Drown me out, speak your mind
Stroke yourself till you go blind
Call the shots, fire away
Do you win if I don’t play?
Grand Inquisitor takes a stand
For the "“real people" of this land, yeah,
You can tell which ones are real because
They’re the ones he never interrupts.
In the free market of ideas
Who’s that down there tearing up the field?
It’s the man with the loudest voice
As if we ever had a choice
Drown me out, speak your mind
Stroke yourself till you go blind
Call the shots, fire away
Do you win if I don’t play?
See those teeth that brightly shine
Just another mouth in a long long line
We’ve endured a lot from the likes of you
No doubt we’ll endure this too.
9) HAPPY FUN BALL (J Neo Marvin-Davis Jones)
We can keep this cloud floating if you don’t stop
believing
Lying naked in a tub filled with Krispy Kreme donuts
We’ll pay off your pension in Confederate dollars
And send your family a Bible when we harvest your body
Prepare ye the way of the Lord of the Manor
He’s distributing vouchers for obedience school
Cable TV tells you who to be scared of
Things would be perfect if we could just kill all the Bad People.
We’re supporting our troops in the war against
whatever
We order 10 pizzas and praise our own courage
God came to me through my computer last Wednesday
He really likes what we’re doing and says “keep up the good work.”
There’s a gathering mob holding torches and pitchforks
We call a press conference and make fun of their clothing
The whistles are blowing and the drums keep getting louder
But we own everything so we’re really not worried.
Keep on crowing boys, your overconfidence is going
to bring you down
A popular explosion, time to slay the dragon with our organ
Imagine 300 million people all waking up at once
(And all the sleepy people
They tell me to play happy fun ball
I don't want to play happy fun ball
THIS BALL IS SQUARE!...
Continue in this vein as necessary until the ball deflates or the regime
changes)
10) YOU OF ALL PEOPLE (J Neo Marvin)
When the straw men won’t stand still for you
As you’re lunging to attack
And the fools you’re so much better than
Insist on talking back
Everybody shines too brightly
Everybody looks too strange
They won’t admit that they’re all wrong
And that everything has changed
Don’t get uptight
You can still be right
In Citrus Heights.
You had a nasty childhood
Slapped or grabbed everywhere you turned
It made you grow up mean and bitter
While your righteousness just burned
You’ve built a mighty tower
To look down on everyone
Those freaks just don’t appreciate
How brilliant you’ve become
Yeah, this town bites
But you’re always right
In Citrus Heights.
Clench your jaw in disapproval
Sullen rage flashing in your eyes
They have the gall to be themselves
And not apologize
Don’t they know their talk is treason
Don’t they know their world is through
No, their friends are all closed-minded
i.e. they don’t think like you
Better leave tonight
Home fires burn bright
In Citrus Heights.
God bless your little America
Where everyone agrees
Where flags protect you from all harm
And dissent is the disease
You’ll get all the support you crave
Settled in your brand new home
In a community of ignorant rubes
Where you’ll never be alone
But I thought you
Had more of a clue
I never knew.
11) WE ARE ALIVE (J Neo Marvin)
How much more do you need in your bowl?
How much more do you have to control?
You hold the bullhorn, you pick the song
Not all of us are singing along
You grab the moon and you lose your grip
The barnacles are sinking your ship
You howl and bray that the future is you
But there’s no future in all the things you do
We’ve seen your big gold mine
And we think it’s just a waste of time
A dismal world of bite-sized fear
We’re not impressed...our day beats your year!
We are alive
Revenge is sweet
We’re living well
And we say, we are the future
This is our declaration
We’re everything you hate
You can’t stop what we create
You can’t stuff us back in the tube
An ecstatic raging mirror pointing right back at you
Me and my baby on a dark clear night
Lying in deck chairs, scanning the stars
Distant eyes in a sea of black
What do they think of us when they’re looking back?
We think they know we’re saying:
We are alive
The best revenge is living well
And we say, we are the future
This is our declaration, baby.
12) AT LAST I AM FREE (Nile Rodgers-Bernard
Edwards; addititonal lyrics by J Neo Marvin; includes text from the essay
"ON NATIONALISM" by J. Krishnamurti)
"What
is it that comes when nationalism goes? Obviously, intelligence. But
I am afraid that is not the implication in this
question. The implication is, what can be substituted for nationalism?
Any substitution is an act which does not bring intelligence. If I leave
one
religion
and join another, or leave one political party and later on join something
else, this constant substitution indicates a state in which there is
no intelligence.
"How
does nationalism go? Only by our understanding its full implications, by
examining it, by being aware of its significance
in outward and inward action. Outwardly it brings about divisions
between people, classifications, wars and destruction, which is obvious to
anyone
who is observant. Inwardly, psychologically, this identification with the
greater, with the country, with an idea, is obviously a form of self-expansion."
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
And nobody listens to what I say
I can't go on living life this way
I've tried and I've tried to make you see
You call this "love"
All this lying, my friend, it just can't be
"Living in a little village or a big town or
whatever it may be, I am nobody; but if I identify myself with the larger,
with the country, if I call myself an American, it flatters my vanity, it
gives me gratification, prestige, a sense of well-being; and that identification
with the larger, which is a psychological necessity for those who feel that
self-expansion is essential, also creates conflict, strife, between people."
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
Spin on your axis, the threat is unclear
We're all so secure when you play with our fear
But who are you fooling when you know it's not real
I can't hide all this anger and pain inside I feel
"Thus nationalism not only creates outward
conflict but inward frustrations; when one understands nationalism, the whole
process of nationalism, it falls away. The understanding of nationalism comes
through intelligence, by carefully observing, by probing into the whole process
of nationalism, patriotism. Out of that examination comes intelligence and
then there is no substitution of something else for nationalism. The moment
you substitute religion for nationalism, religion becomes another means of
self-expansion, another source of psychological anxiety, a means of feeding
oneself through a belief. Therefore any form of substitution, however noble,
is a form of ignorance. It is like a man substituting chewing gum or betel
nut or whatever it is for smoking, whereas if one really understands the whole
problem of smoking, of habits, sensations, psychological demands and all the
rest of it, then smoking drops away."
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
"You can understand only when there is a development
of intelligence, when intelligence is functioning, and intelligence is not
functioning when there is substitution. Substitution is merely a form of self-bribery,
to tempt you not to do this but to do that. Nationalism, with its poison,
with its misery and world strife, can disappear only when there is intelligence,
and intelligence does not come merely by passing examinations and studying
books. Intelligence comes into being when we understand problems as they arise.
When there is understanding of the problem at its different levels, not only
of the outward part but of its inward, psychological implications, then, in
that process, intelligence comes into being. So when there is intelligence
there is no substitution; and when there is intelligence, then nationalism,
patriotism, which is a form of stupidity, disappears."
(c)1978 Sony/ATV Songs/WB Music Corp(ASCAP/BMI)
Text: J. Krishnamurti, The First and Last Freedom (New York: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1975 Ed.), p. 148.
Mr. Krishnamurti's words appear by kind permission of the Krishnamurti Foundation
of America (KFA)
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