DIME BY DIME
There’s no food on the table, there’s no light in the room
There’s piles of letter’s dated from June
They’re asking for money and things I don’t have
Cause they got order’s from bosses in offices lit drab
And there’s women and men drinking whiskey and wine
In Hollywood night clubs, spending their Time
Throwing money at each other and arguing about who get’s to pay the
Bill for the evening, the tips and the tab
I’m standing in puddles of water and filth
Cleaning the dishes and mopping the spills
And spending my Time hour to hour dime by dime
And getting closer to nowhere note to note ryhme to rhyme
And my heart gather’s dust as I do as I must to survive
So many people start dreaming and get ideas in their head
And after hours of labor they just want to go to bed
Let alone follow some dream that their bosses push aside
As he’s giving you four and taking back five
So when you finally punch out for the night and go home
After hours of just wanting a beer or a smoke
You compensate for the bad day with a night full of drinking
Each night the same, more and more, as death he comes up creeping
Into your day you can’t push him away
You don’t even think about him can’t recognize his face
So you punch out the clock as he takes you away
And they’ve already got a replacement who starts the next day
A dream covered in dust as you did what you must to survive
So many children with parents, pockets so full,
Can spend hours just getting and doing as they will
Having illicit relations, travelling to foreign nations,
Reading tour guides and textbooks, pushing paper driving lexus’
Becoming the rock star they see on the T.V.
Following footsteps of parents always screaming out "Save me"
Impersonating people the opposite for fashion
Transparently changing their rich college boy accent
To fit in with the characters actors play on T.V.,
The only interesting people with stories to read
Of how standing in filth and catching social disease
Only makes a person stronger and stronger the dream
When their body falls to the floor for no one to see.
BLACKOUT SMILING
He starts on Monday, he goes till Sunday in his ragged blues
Yelling at the passers- by who don’t have his clues
Sixty years, 80 thousand beers, he’s got the news
Where the line fades white to black where you start to lose
Blackout smiling, won’t you miss that casting call
Up all night stepping into fights, then losing them all
He could be your father by now and maybe he is
You’ve got his charm, you’ve got his heart and your taking a piss
On the wall writing "fuck them all" in the midnight hour
The police car sides along upside but don’t have the power
cause you’ll
Lock up smiling, but won’t you miss your casting call
Up all night drinking whiskey and wine and dreaming of girls
And if you had a dollar you would wrap your smoke
Tell me if george washington would get the joke
You say that women only come in two different types-
One’s the mother who’ll take little boys and make everything right
The others the housewife who just wants her daddy to put her in her place
Throw her around the bedroom and to cut to the chase
but they’ll
Slap you smiling, won’t you miss your casting call
Where do you fit into that, does she care at all?
And if you had a bible you would wrap your smoke
Tell me if Mother Mary would ever get the joke
OL’ CHARLY
Between the walls of the home the vibrations felt
As the silent men in white dragged ol' charlie out
Kicking and screaming and singing a song
Saying he was always right and everything else is wrong
And he turned his blue eyes and looked my direction
And I felt the cold horror fading but determined
To carry out a life that will soon get cut short
Due to chemical imbalances not up to par with the norm
Status and place justified by small
Conversations and a heathly love for the sport of football
And fast cars and sunny days and the leaves in the fall,
And where charlie went wrong was the lack of it all
So I wandered around in circles of sadness
And took one last glance as the wagon drove past us
And I wispered to the wind that storm will not end
Until all that is expected comes crashing to the ground
Cause ol' charly,
He couldnt stand the sun
And now ol' charly will never see the sun
So I spent the next days at a drawing board gathering
The acts of a so called madman in action,
Smearing his thoughts across local town bus-stops
And offering candy to children who would run from the bus-stops
Screaming and crying that a stranger wanted their precious
Bodies so young and so pure and that dirty old
Man was a freak and could barely ever speak
The same language they were taught by teachers in sync
With the curriculum in books, with words carefully arranged
To extingish all impulse and to put out all the flames
That are as human as human, but called 'the derranged'
To use an umbrella when standing, standing in the rain
But they forgot that everything can forever change
When the belts and fans and the gears are rearranged
To form patterns of madness and burst into flame
That starts on the inside and slowly makes its way
to
To ol' charly
Who couldnt stand the sun
And now ol' charly will never see the sun
So drawing my conclusions I gathered all my thoughts
And I ran for the door but the doors were all locked
As the calm men in white grabbed my hands and my legs
And said "charly, you're gonna have to get strapped back to bed!"
And I felt a hundred ghosts rip and tear at my flesh
And strip me of my dreams as I lay down to rest
Under a canopy of surgeons who drilled at my head
With cold metal tools, dancing around my death
Like I once danced around life and tried to love
All the things that I saw and the people that I touched,
All the things I made laugh and sing along with me,
All the things that I loosened and tried to set free
Cause ol' charly
Learned to love the sun
And now ol' charly must lay in the sun
MY SWEET COLLEGE GIRL
She told me she was going for about five minutes
And I never saw her ever again
I thought about the last things that I ever said to her
And the way that her hair rest upon her shoulder that night
Oh won’t you please take me
Take me to where
Take me back to where you left me
Yes I know that a song with two chords seems a
Little bit of an understatement but hey,
What more can be said for a girl who stepped in and stepped out
Without shutting the door
Oh won’t you please take me on back
To where you tied me up and left me on the track
For a train that was coming a few miles away
But never took me out my misery just there to decay
Sweet baby, your kisses burn away
She told me she was going for about five minutes
Just after she was coming under the cotton sheets
Maybe to her college or some other man
It doesn’t make no difference these things aren’t really planned
I close my eyes and watch her smile
In moving picture like frames my hand down her thigh
Moved like falling water down the edge of a waterfall
Her eyes as they cut through my heart like a scalpel
Oh won’t you please take me
Take me on again
I changed the dirty sheets
And after fluffing the pillows and making the bed
My vision is flooded I only see red
And I explode like an atom bomb and slam all my doors
No one will enter except for the whores on 3rd street
The whores down on 3rd street
THE PEOPLE VS. FRANK MCREADY VS. THE MADMAN
Frankie darlin baby, just hold your head up high
Sixty prayers a day kept quotin all night long
And how could any man do somethin this damn wrong
Oh preacher, teacher let me know
Father frank McReady was feelin mighty bad
And those choir boys had somethin he just need to have
Lookin on he was lookin
This red haired blue eyed baby caught his eye one day
As he was throwin the pan around collectin all that pay
Oh preacher, that teacher let him know
Now father frank mcready had a way with words
With that red haired blue eyed baby just struck all the right chords
Lookin, oh we’re lookin
Read it in the newspaper the parishoners are sad
‘This recent case is makin us, just really gosh darn mad’
So says mary, mary catherine faith
‘Lies, lies, lies’, shout half the gathered crowd
‘Lies, lies, lies’, shout half the rest of the town
Lookin oh we’re lookin
‘For the answer to this problem lies in facts and DNA’
‘No the answer to this problem lies in john 3:18’
They’re a’ sayin
But one man in the distance shouted somethin mighty strange
And after that was stoned, kicked, beat and quickly mamed
To silence, oh sweet silence
And shouting went the crowd after that strange man set aside
And shouting went the rest and continued still to fight
But written as a side note in the news the next day
Were the madman’s quiet words, the last words he did say,
Falling silent, oh sweet silence:
‘Oh, my fellow brothers, sisters, there are two ways to rape a child;
one can be written on paper with x-rays, pictures, and the like,
The other is to bear him and cast him by the bible,
Bury his hopes of different with your own belief of what is ‘right’
And tell him what is wrong is for Jesus to decide.’
THE FINAL STAND
the days are running away from me
and soon so will she
the Time is passing out on the floor,
it drank it's final drink
I went walking one afternoon
across the desert sand
and in shadows cast upon my hand
lie this man's final stand
I went out walking going home back to you
all to find the children had all grown up things to do
the days are swimming away from me
and soon my vision too
I'm drowning myself in memories
of the days I spent with you
who bore my children, made love to me
just before I went to war
to fight among a thousand men
and kill a thousand more
I went out searching for the home I had to leave
all to find the doors were locked they cut down the lemon tree
the nights are running straight to me
and soon my heart will cease
I’ll meet my married daughter,
for the first Time she'll meet me
And on some lonesome afternoon
I'll lie under the ground
as the petals fall in shades of red
from the roses they lay down;
I went out fighting for the day I'd be with you
all to find another man, the father to the kids
I bore with you
LITTLE JOE
Little Joe Jefferson, he climbs the tree
To see all the pretty things there are to see
Slender Mary Jane she is undressing
The window is open and the shows for free
Oh I want you
Oh I need you
To get inside--
Oh I need to
Don't be lonely
I can make it right
Tonight
All of Little Joe’s friends curse and laugh at him
He's just an ugly little fuck of a fuck of a man
No woman would touch him so he touched himself
If up there's heaven surely this is hell
So he breaks the window to the second floor
Slender Mary Jane runs towards the door
He grabs her and he takes down to the floor
And now her blue jeans they are all torn
‘Cause I want you
Oh I need you
To get inside---
Oh I need to
Isn’t it right
Tonight?
Her adible screams become a silent cry
After he is done he goes and runs and hides
And ten minutes later you can hear the sirens
In the cold jail cell he is placed inside
And someday in prison after he is taunted and beat
He gets the magnificent grand idea
To smash his ol’ skull on the cement wall
And go to heaven where to him the women will call:
‘I want you
Oh I need you
Deep inside
Oh I need to
Don't be lonely
I can make it right
every night.’
EVERYTHING’S ALRIGHT UNTIL THE RENT IS DUE
As the night goes roarin’ by
with friends and girls and little white lies
and music playin loud on the stereo
wine and dine on Saturday night,
Sunday mornin it’s breakfast Time
and we smile and joke away and feel alright
but you can bet your smile that day you’re bound to lose
cause everything’s alright until the rent is due
due, due
It can be so hard on a workin man
to see his whole life in a system’s hands
that can only see him as a number on a screen
just washin the dishes and keepin mouths shut
makin somebody richer and a ten minute lunch
flippin pages by the book he didn’t write
and what kind of man would ever live a life
without losin track of numbers losin track of Time
doin the things he has the right to do
on Tuesday night he’s singin happy birthday
to his best of friends or his little baby
and he’s givin out all sorts of lovely things
but you can bet your smile that day he sings a different tune
cause everythings alright until the rent is due
due, due
And come one lonely day he sees
his friends have gone, turnin 63
and he’s still signin his name every month
and every word he said and anyone he’s loved
won’t amount to nothin when they go to add it up
on the balance due next to his name and number and space
you can bet your smile that day he’s gonna shoot
a bullet through the center of his brain
And what a sight to see him sit in his grave
not spendin a dime, not signin his name
next to the balance due every month knowin he’s gotta pay
and the bullet just cost one payment of 89 cents
to get placed in row B in the 89’th space
within the forgiving beds between the iron graveyard gates
and you can bet your life one day they’ll get to you
cause everything’s alright until the rent is due
due, due
THEY'RE ALL LIVIN' IN CALIFORNIA
don't you remember that little kid when you were in the sandbox?
the little bastard who threw sand and knocked down your castles
do you remember that little crap who had all the best toys?
the kid who whined about his butler when his lunch wasnt just right?
well his livin in, livin in sunny L.A.
his driving sixteen SUVs to work each and every day
he's changing lanes without using any signals to warn ya
yeah all those fucks they all live in california
those tofu pricks with their treadmill brains
they're runnin out of electricity but theyre all staying in shape
all that yoga, fake tan, artificial sun
all the people don't know how to walk, don't know how to run
mercedes, BMW, lexus, ford explorers they navigiate
across los mexicanos who wash the dishes and clear their tables
those fucks that the europeans see on they’re vactation
whining about every little thing every little change
well theyre all livin, livin in sunny LA
theyre getting front row seats at the staples center basketball games
theyre going new age-ice age-stone age, hey, I'm just tryin to warn ya
yea all those rich, white, private school fucks live in california
you can watch em in the movies, you can watch em on TV
sellin they’re faces for stacks and stacks of the green
makin commercials for things only they could ever want
storm watch newscasters never say rain, they only say "sun"
adult film stars attending adult film bars
where sorority girls come to bend over and wait for their frat boy named todd
see america's favorite son drive his daddy's caddy
to the beach, to the bank, to dance club, aint to shabby
well he's livin, he's livin in sunny LA
he's gonna be a lawyer or editor for the movies
he's castin all the hand picked, nose pickin boys and girls, ya
yeah all those fucks theyre all movin to california
so if you wanna get in touch with your most fast food of sides
you got 5,400 fast food chains forming in lines
if you wanna be the hippest guy in the scene
you even got those wide brimmed mod indie guys in los feliz
If you wanna be the next big thing
here's you chance to get fucked so get your money and get on your knees
cause in a town where the roads are paved with gold
your gonna have to form a line and wait to get sold
when you'll be livin, livin in sunny L.A.
you'll be gettin stamped on the forehead with bright red ink
hey, just think abuot the little bastards not even born yet
all the generations of fucks who'll be livin in california!
VALLERIE
have you been to Vallerie?
all the people there
are walking with a friend, hand and hand,
theres something in the air
girls kissing girls around
sacrificial fires
taking off their clothes, on the shore,
the sunlight in their hair.
I wanna go
I wanna go
meet the women there
no worries of the procreation
no men are living there
just sun and sand and legs and cloudless skies
theres something in the air
sixty virgins line the shore
with bodies tanned and bare
not thinking of the world, of the land,
and what lies over there
I wanna go
I wanna go
meet the women there
see the white horse that they ride
the fires where they dance
the coconuts that they ferment for a month
and drink straight from their hands
seven sisters belly up
where waves all come to crash
theyre coming by the moon
and, someday soon, I'll crash up on their shore
cause only me
is lost at sea
and has no eyes
AWAKEN BY A DREAM
Monday, june twenty two
and we know that Times are strange
rearrange the picture of you
looking blue but looking cool
play the fool, play by rules
dream of things like swimming pools
Time is up, got to go
dream the dream, Brigitte Bardot
she stayed by you in your bed
and you loved her like the moon
light the way because today
everything is looking blank
what a day, feeling fine
could be 1969
don’t get me wrong I just want
to keep the present out of this song
they’ll be girls with pretty face
but they will never take the place
of the night you did go
hand and hand Brigitte Bardot
she stayed by you in your bed
and you loved her like the moon
WHO GET’S TO KILL WHO
Now don’t gather ‘round me people, here’s a story you don’t wanna hear
A story I don’t even wanna tell
but someTimes when the rain comes tappin while your peacefully nappin
you gotta open the window to take in the smell
it was early one fall morning, burning leaves in the air
and he was just waking to the sun
he put on his clothing and walked to the porch,
looked at the streets saw no one
the cars were all parked in designated areas
the shop windows in pieces on the ground
in a city of two million, where you can be fooled it’s 2 billion,
there was no one there for to make a sound
he went for a walk in his tattered morning robes
down the empty cracked sidewalks he saw
on the ground yesterday’s newspaper with a headline big and black
‘president approves the bomb’
it was then that it struck like two plus two is four
that human kind existed no more
and that the land that he lived; the land where he gived
had been lost in some kind of war
He became very tired and he found a bench to rest
and he fell asleep and had a strange dream
he remembered his buddy Roger, who’d been framed for a murder
that reasonable doubt led the jury to believe
that since he was a killer humanity needs 12 more
so there on the sacred courtroom floor
the judged pounded his gavel, the jury sentenced him to death
so that he could never kill no more
and he watched his good friend Roger’s body get reduced to a crisp,
jolt back and forth on an electric chair
his bright blue eyes wide open reminded him of Chloe
6 foot, 120 pounds, blue eyes, blond hair
the girl who became pregnant, one mad new years eve
as many other Times before
who could have had ten children by ten different men
but said children were just such a chore
who told him that she loved him that magic new years day
who said she would never go away
and never ever told him about his own son
he just happened to hear it through her friend one winter day
he woke up to the sound of silence and the abscence of any violence
and saw that the street lights still turn green and red
and that the waves still pound the shore and the wind still blows the leaves
and he sat and he scratched his head
he got in a car and drove for miles up and down the streets
finally ending up back at his house
he climbed the creaky stairs to an old wooden case
and pryed the lock and in it there
a colt 41 that had never seen the sun,
had never seen the light of day
and as he loaded that pistol he thought to himself
it’s kinda funny that it all turned out this way
that freedom was just having a gun and not having to use it
that as long as it is dead it don’t have to die;
but he couldnt stand the silence so he raised that 41
and fired a bullet right between his eyes
Cause as soon as you get to thinking who get’s to kill who
and who’s target is who’s target in this life
you just might be reminded of where to really put the gun
and fire a bullet right between your eyes
PABLO’S GONE
Yes, well pablo came from some town down in mexico
he crossed that southern border in tattered, ripped clothes
he could barely speak the language he saw on T.V.
but he learned from the friends he made in four different gangs
now Pablo grew up fast and he started smoking crack
and he learned how to cook and with that he looked
for a job in the city of los angeles as many others like him did
he could have changed his name many different Times
and no one would be the wiser and a job he did find
in a resteraunt where I was workin he got the job a’ cookin
by the head chef’s side baking and a’ fryin
he told me of his story, about his two kids
he didnt mean to have and doesn’t want to ditch
about how he smoked that rock, how he was tryin to quit
and at 6.50$ an hour he did what he could
for the job in los angeles as many other’s like him did
now this boy was wound, wound up real tight
and if he had the reason his reaction was to fight
so one day the boss said somethin to him he didn’t want to hear
and he threw that hot griddle as everyone stood in fear
he kicked and he yelled and he broke a lot of things
and the waitress called the cops and everyone agreed
that pablo was insane and could easily pick up a knife
and stab someone and end someone’s life
in the job in los angeles as many others like him did
and now pablo’s gone
yea pablo’s gone
LOVE IN BLACK AND WHITE
And you, my love were gone away
As quickly as you came
And all and all, it's all the same
With only Time to blame
The ceiling's the sky and the sky's the screen
And on this picture scene
I can't see the sun or the colors of your eyes
My love in black and white
My body lies in cold, cold ground
By the river where we went sailing
And flowers spring from the paper in only shades of gray
From white to clear and black to ever-fading
And on and on the world around will stay the same
Like pictures of the summer in the bed, in the girl where I stayed
And no one needs to ask who had the last word
Cause a picture will never stop speaking
I'm the one who turned my back and met you there again
In every shadow dancing on my bedroom ceiling
So I sleep to dream, forever stay in sleep
Somewhere in between the lines
The lines of the letters I never ever wrote
To my love in black and white
Cause the heart lies in the sand and if it's dug and put under the sun
It just burns and burns and burns until all it is, is dust
And all and all and all. It's just the same
As looking at the girl in the pictures, black, white and gray
And so you say I was gone away
As quickly as I came
But I thought that I would meet you in the middle of the frame
In any hour in any day
And so I close my eyes, turn the photographs away
And sleep the long cold night
Cause there I see your smile and the colors of your eyes
My love once black and white
Cause only there will I see your smile and the colors of your eyes
My love in black and white