ABOUT THE TRACKS ON WOODPECKER STREET (2001)
Street: Fanfare—a solo improv on the Ensoniq KT-76 using the 8 voices of the Gamelan Orchestra (courtesy of an "ethnic sounds" card).
Roly Poly—this is partly about the immediate delight of playing with my first synthesizer (Roland Juno) and drum machine (Roland TR-505) ca. 1992. It was a composition for the A-1 setting on the drum machine and the P-1 setting on the Juno. Both machines were dug out of retirement to recapture the magic.
Yield—father's son turns 16: what gives?
Montane Terrain—conceived on hilly highway 278 west of Cullman, Alabama.
The Oakwood Pond—a real pond, come take a look.
The Ugly Place I'm From—biographically, it's South Florida, hence "mosquitos and sand."
The Land Crab Rag—not more South Florida ugliness, although it could be, given my nightmare youth living near a canal in Hollywood. It is inspired by a report that the Atlantic island of South Trinidad is so infested with land crabs that no other terrestrial life, besides insects, can survive there. So they eat each other.
Epistemology—this should have been played by the Bluz Boys, but no luck.
The Alarming Man—entered in a Eudora Welty Writing contest in 1996; got an honorable mention, probably because everyone is special.
Knots 3—a triple improv, the three parts first done as freely as possible (adding bass to drums and then piano) and then refined by MIDI editing. An exercise in trying to get the best of both spontaneity and calculation.
The Blue Feather—I raised a baby blue jay. To a point.
Mississippi Dreams—Who is the dog that was never stung by bumblebees?
I Took in All the World Offers—The pedal steel voice was discovered for this track.
X, Y—I wanted a song title starting with 'X' to fill out the Assemblers songlist alphabetically. The Assemblers may never record this, but I like how the demo rocks.
Wanna Wanna—one of those schematic gender-theory songs. Also a punk homage to the Tijuana Brass.
Drum 3—one of the first things the Assemblers tried to pull off in live performance.
Woodpecker—a first composition for the sake of performing with Bruce Golden as The Woodpeckers.
LYRICS FOR BOLD NEW CITY (2006)
BOLD NEW CITY PIPES
Bold new city pipes—you bring me water
Thank you for the choice of colder, hotter
Coming up the pipes, always true to type
[More verses available on request]
DREAMTOWN
There's a shop in my dreamtown
For what I'm wanting it's the place to go
But I can never catch the bus there
Or it goes extremely slow
When it's time to find a restaurant
I remember one that served me well
But every time I check, the place is changed
With a different clientele
How to get around my dreamtown
You'd think I'd have learned by now
I recognize the backgrounds
But I can't reach things somehow
There's a motel in my dreamtown
Where I always plan to spend the night
But there's always someone in the room
And they claim that's all right
I have time for recreation
So I go looking for the swimming pool
But they tell me that it's somewhere else
And it's empty, as a rule
How to get around my dreamtown
You'd think I'd have learned by now
I recognize the backgrounds
But I can't reach things somehow
There's a tower in my dreamtown
With stairs that circle up inside
And if I climb it, I believe I'll
Get an open view, see far and wide
How to get around my dreamtown
You'd think I'd have learned by now
I recognize the backgrounds
But I can't see you anyhow
HEY LITTLE RACCOON
Come on, don't bite me, little raccoon
You know I was planning to feed you soon
Let me go up my backyard stair
See if what you want is there
I'm bound to you, little raccoon
I wonder if you know what I can do
It's my own house, it's my own show
It's my own wheelbarrow load of woe
You want a cracker, you want some beer?
Then slide it on over here
I'm onto you, little raccoon
I think you do what I don't tell you to
Come on out, my little raccoon
In the hot sunshine of the afternoon
Bring your family, meet mine too
Taste my barbecue
I'm onto you, little raccoon
I think you do what I don't tell you to
I'm onto you, little raccoon
I'm sure you do what I don't tell you to
HEAR YOU
What was it? Something quite particular
I was calling you for
An old phone number of a mutual friend,
Did you have that one anymore
You answered and yes, you recognized
Me, said two or three things
But we stopped talking—some reason, stopped talking
And silence started to ring
I don't have a name or a nationality
I just hope to hear from you, to hear you
I listen, you breathe, I tremble
You breathe, I listen again
You listen, I laugh, I take a big
Breath, you laugh at me then
It's like the door's swung open, the window's broken,
The roof is gone in the wind
There's some transmission, it's science fiction,
It's burrowing under my skin
I don't have a faith or a rationality
I just hope to hear from you, to hear you
Some silences make deep space
You'll never find the other spaceman
But some silences pack high gravity
Grabbing your hand—hold your hand, yeah—yeah, yeah
Next time doesn't go well, don't recognize,
Have to explain, explain
There's loud street traffic, I don't quite catch it,
I know it isn't the same
Can we save it, can we just stay with it,
Ignore the people in the room?
But they keep after you, they've got hold of you,
Nothing can be assumed
I don't have a name or a nationality
I just hope to hear from you, hear you—hear you—hear you
WAKE UP
She said:
Being lovers was not getting anywhere
Being friends is more real
We can talk coffee shop talk, anyway
And you keep explaining your deal
He said:
I'm just saying, my deal is unbearable
The job and the pay and the chief
It matters no more than a show on the cable
It has no more right than a thief
She said:
Well I've never heard such a load
You don't want to go down that road
She said:
I've got the answer for your leading question
It tastes like the pie on this plate
He said:
You don't know what's behind my confession
And thank you, I already ate
Nobody cares if they wake up, they lie down
Nobody cares if they rise
Nobody cares if they wake up, they lie down
Nobody props up their eyes
She said:
Won't you try, won't you try, don't you let it lie
Won't you try, won't you try (I can't believe you say)
Won't you try, won't you try, don't you let it lie
Wake up, darling, wake up now
Wake up, darling, it's time
Wake up, darling, wake up now
Wake up, darling, it's time
ONE OPEN EYE
We brought your bed and dresser and I nailed them down
Now you can see this house as your lost and found
They all know you're the treasure and I say you're mine
They say I'd better sleep with one open eye—one open eye
In my dreams I see you leave through every door
But in this room I see you come across the floor
You haven't straight out told me what you want from me
But when I face it, I know: it's something free—free something
Does it matter what people did before?
If it matters, don't do it any more
Sha la la la la la
I think we'll stay together—I think we might
We could lose it all tomorrow but we're friends tonight—we're friends tonight
Does it matter what people did before?
If it matters don't do it any more
Sha la la la la la
SHUT
Lover, I call you my lover
Though I know I cause you pain
Partner, together like partners
We won't break the chain
I can't fulfill your expectation
But we're complete now—this case is shut
Gawkers, friendly talkers
Everyone knows what's up with us
And they ask you why we happened
You say it's just because
I thought I'd be the most creative
I'd take a new name—that door is shut
When I was a kid I read about this all
What it was supposed to mean, I can't recall
Still under my bed, I guess—that book is shut
Make plans, but don't make mention
Of what the higher price is
Reflect me, don't inspect me
That's my advice
You'd like to move into the distance
But as of now, that horizon is shut
That horizon is shut
Because of what we have done
That horizon is shut
Because of where we have come to
That horizon is shut
LOSE THE THREAD
Don't quite know them, they're so intense
What they laugh at, it only half makes sense
Don't go with them and lose the thread
You could be kidnapped and left for dead
You'd be gone, you'd be forgotten and
I could have the same thing happen and
Neither of us will get to heaven and
Oh but we can't keep our heads—we have to move and lose the thread
I don't trust mother's influence
She's not in my experience
So if they ask where I'm coming from
I fear that question will strike me dumb
I'll be stopped, I'll be stranded and
You could have the same thing happen and
Neither of us gonna get to heaven and
Oh but we can't stay in bed—we have to move and lose the thread
I'm out of luck, I'm full of dread
I'm bound to lose my thread
We perform in this stadium
Out in front of whoever comes
Once the action is underway
We're impaled on the play by play
We'll be down and they'll be laughing and
In their turn the same thing happens and
No one gets to go to heaven, there's
Nothing we can do instead—we have to move and lose the thread
I TOLD YOU
I was deep in Jackson
Sitting on Rankin, sweating tubs, then I
I drove north on West Street
East on South Street, circling
And I still was carrying words
The words that wouldn't leave my mouth
I had ‘em sealed, couldn't see ‘em now
It's time to drop them off
I told you (4x)
June sun burns through my windows
Turns every little breath to steam, and I'm
I'm heading south on West Street
Crossing South Street, homing in
And I approach the post office
I take a sudden swerve
Puts me right at the mail box
I don't lose my nerve
I told you (4x)
HOUSE ASSEMBLES (with the Merode Altarpiece)
In the window
Hanging angel
On the feeder
Bossy wren
Out the window
Summer's mountains
Down the street the
Spikes of town
House assembles
Rooms together
Planted ramparts
Gates around
Staying up nights
Shouting tree frog
Under bed sheets
Morning skin
On the dresser
Single earring
Tennis shoes under
Painted stool
House assembles
All our corners
Walls of hiding
As we see them
Cherry table
Black piano
Feather duster
Wooden bird
Books are sleeping
On the walls
Some awaken
When we call
House assembles
In a daydream
Like a spaceship
Leaves the ground
Blooms of quiet
Safe collections
Space comes forward
Meets the eye
House assembles
Cupboards open
Places ready
We sit down now
We sit down
LICK MY LIPS
Lick my lips
Land on my landslide
Push aside the curtain
Of the lash over my eyes
Don't be strange, don't be mean
Don't believe anything you just see of me
Leave your law
Lose your leverage
You may continue after I show
What I have to show to you on this edge
It won't be allowed, it won't be agreed
You won't be taking a picture of me
Lead my life
Lock on this long shot
Get a hold of all the controls
At the moment when we decide whether or not
Don't be strange, don't be mean
Don't believe anything you just see of me
MY DARK MASTER (inspired by Iris Murdoch's novel The Black Prince)
I told a lie
No, it wasn't my first time
But this one was to an old friend of mine
Who would approve
Of my actions these days?
Only the one who leads me in darker ways
My new master
Come to me now and say again
Our love has begun
Once we get to the journey's end
The light will come
I told a lie
And it was to the one who
I so much want to utterly open to
But love must be caught
For any time it could escape
Or leave me out when it achieves its shape
Says my master
My dark master
Come away now and don't pretend
Our love's not begun
Once we get to the journey's end
The light will come
Too many lies
All the rules I can't obey
They drag me down, the crisis could come today
So I'll be exposed
As the dark fool I've been
My defense is just that my master wins
My dark master/says my master
LYRICS FOR NEED, DESIRE & DELIGHT (2008)
THE INCUBATOR SONG [for Read Garrett]
Everybody's saying yes
Like the lady at the desk last night
The traffic on the floor
All those sneakers through the door say yes
The people I don't know say yes
The bank teller told me, it was in my name
Announcers on TV who look right at me
The message is clearly yes
Yes, yes, yes
My baby is trying to say yes
Yes, yes, yes
My little baby wants to say yes
Yes, yes, yes
My baby is trying
Yes, yes, yes
Everybody's saying yes
The murmurings in the halls all sound like yes
The green on the walls would say it
And the little oven she's lying in
Everybody's saying yes
The wolves and the lemmings of the North say yes
In this magazine, the Eskimos come clean
You know they all say yes
TRYING
Pointed to a hatchet
Told me I could match it
With my muscle tone
Then they gave a good shove
Pressure like I heard of
Broke both ankle bones
I'm trying - in my way
I'm trying - make some hay
I'm trying - I, I, I try
Slow as a gopher
Sticky sand all over
Can't get off the ground
They don't want a downer
Call me out-of-towner
Still I stay around
I'm trying - I follow signs
I'm trying - borderline
I'm trying - I, I, I try
Li li li li li li li li li . . .
Kids get their licks in
When the summer kicks in
It's just curiosity
Stop under the boardwalk
Listen to the crows talk
No animosity
I'm trying - homelessly
I'm trying - more to see
I'm trying - I, I, I try
COOL ARIZONA
Cool Arizona
In the canyon with the trees
There is water and shade
And I can sit right down with the bees
(My cousin bees)
Warm California
Witness at the Stop 'n Go
Well I did no one harm
But I had to address my cash flow
Peaceful now
The sun's behind a cloud
And I'm in a place
Where there's no complaining allowed
Hot Oklahoma
My wife is pretty mad
Cause it's been three years
Since her daughter has seen her dad
(That's pretty bad)
Torrid Colorado
Where my sweetheart is so near
But I'm not ready for that
If I can't cool myself down some more here
Gentle sky
A perfect time
The running water is
Easy on my mind
Cool Arizona
In the canyon with the trees
All the trouble I've seen
Is gonna be brushed away by the breeze
(And that's all there is to it)
NO MAN'S LAND [for Wyatt Waters]
I was living in my own dreams when
I was introduced to you
Now I figure we can make a team and
We can summon up something new
But I see a very present danger
Of getting stuck in shifting sand
And I don't want to be some lone ranger in
No man's, no man's land, no man's, no man's land
I was hoping we could find a groove
That be doing my motor good
I didn't want to be too smooth, though
I didn't want to just knock on wood
I see ways to make a fit
A lot of ways to understand
Whatever we can come up with in
No man's, no man's land, no man's, no man's
I crave a shifted scene
I'd scrape my canvas clean
For you, you'd scrape yours too -
Wouldn't you?
We're looking out upon a range of places
Territory without stories
We're not seeing many friendly faces
But we're not sorry, no, we're not sorry
We may be taking those early steps, or
It might be the end at hand
And we're dropping into the depths of
No man's, no man's land, no man's, no man's land
No man's, no man's land, no man's, no man's band
UNAVOIDABLE
When we made a date for dinner
You said you'd meet me there
And when I came to the table
Your friends had taken every chair
You said you like autumn weather
I said I like it too
But we're not walking together
I'm so avoidable by you
My friends are crying
That I have you
And I am trying
To make it come true
Once we see the newest movie
You go off with your crew
Now I seem so unemployable-
unemployable by you
I will be your pride and joy
Yes, I will see this through
I will become unavoidable-
Unavoidable to you
MY BLUE LIFE
This town feels all wrong
Haven't lived here very long
I don't know if she knows I'm gone
Main Street is quiet
Red and green of traffic lights
It's good to know they work all night
Through my blue life
Gentle and kind
Calm and benign
Doesn't that girl remind you
This place is better than
Lying down inside her van
When she said she had a man
Wanted me to understand
This town is still and dark
No lovers in the park
Light is coming from the stars
To my blue life
EVERYONE KNEW [for Shane Ballard]
I'm not even sure that I knew her
My memories all were made later
There's a night light on, a face fills my eyes
But I don't connect
It's out on the edge of the federal road
Out where the trucks throw off pieces of tread
It's a grassy green place where she was left
Blooming red
Everyone knew--what was done then and
Everyone knew--you did too
Everyone's in--what was done then and
Everyone's in--are you?
You hear about towns where a man is the law
And nothing goes down that he doesn't allow
So there's no such thing as a crime
Well maybe we live in a town with no blame
And how she was killed never will be a shame
It's a grassy green place where I go to live
In my head
THE UNIVERSE WORKS
You go right on by me with a whistle like a mystery train
But my house is easy to find, my stairs are not steep
I know you pose deep questions every step of the way
But you only have to ring my bell, you don't need an extraordinary sense of
smell
That's the universe, that's the way that it works
It's our universe, that's the way that it works
You check for messages on your phone, you check it again
And again, while the headline news rolls by
And the ultimate frisbee flies in the park, you're there until dark each day
You think you're getting ahead, yeah you think you're getting ahead
That's the way your version of the universe works
That side of the universe
You say you're gonna quit that smoking, gonna start that job
Quitting and starting, why are both so hard?
Seems like you ought to be wired one way or the other
One day or the other-but it's worse in our universe
For us jokers in the universe
So there you are with a great design for the future in mind
You could very well win the prize that you're ready to give
All in your own good time, while you're keeping away from the mean mainstream
Let me tell you:
Time isn't money, it's motion, man, and it's moving with me (2x)
That's the way the universe works (2x)
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD (with Géricault's Raft of the Medusa)
Down at city hall there's a soldier of stone
He stands for a hundred who did not come home
The nations were uneasy and that's where that led
They left us the living and the dead
Living and dead-look, the sky is half red
The night will be dark and deep
The old folks asleep in an underground bed
We sleep with the living and the dead
Down in the harbor a ship just came in
It ran down a raft full of refugee men
The newspaper said so and that's what I read
It counted up the living and the dead
Living and dead-look, the sky is half red
A building is burned and bent
Wait for an end to the fire in our head
Wait with the living and the dead
Past the town, past the clouds, way beyond
Raise your head, do you see, rescue on the horizon
The living and the dead is what the TV voice said
Can you believe those kids won't be fed?
I take my relief now, I eat my day's bread
I eat with the living and the dead
Living and dead-and the sky's gone all red
Everyone wants to look
It's like in a book that the old folks once read
The book of the living and the dead
I CAN'T STAND BEING WITH YOU
I met you in the Guggenheim
Conversation unconfined
I tried to talk but lost my mind
I can't stand to be with you
Your face is like a lamp too bright
Voice is heavy velvet night
There's no way this can turn out right
I can't stand to be with you-can't stand being with you
So we don't like Jenny Holzer's boring signs
So we think that Serra's steel is fine
So we share a favorite in Lichtenstein
Who knows if your reasons are like mine?
There's serious risk of ridicule
Likelihood I'll break some rule
The atmosphere is much too cool
I can't stand to be with you
I wish I had some room to slide
Take some time and not decide
But while we're on the Upper East Side
I can't stand to be with you-can't stand being with you
Seems we have some friends in common, Paul and Dean
Both of them superior to me
In the movie version you'd be Catherine Z
I would not be even on the screen
Chance encounter in the street
Eye contact at forty feet
Do I bail or do I greet?
I can't stand to be with you
I second-guess excessively
Give myself the third degree
Am I to be or not to be?
I can't stand to be with you-can't stand being with you (2x)
SIDE SHOW (with Seurat's Side Show)
The city lights on ribbons of chrome
The car is locked on target to the dome
The ticket's bought, the ramp's in sight
What's the glimmer on the right?
I want to see, I want to see the side show
My family, they want to see the side show
Except we have already our place to go
We have a place
There are streets with route numbers
There are streets with no names
There are streets we have never seen (we might have heard about them)
Under balconies shuttered
By the barred-in stores
Funny hats on a corner
They're doing something
Somebody's playing, what I don't know
Maybe a drum, maybe trombone
Some kind of crowd fills some kind of square
Stirring that star-burned air
I guess those people found the side show
And they might speak a language I don't know
So we will not be opening the car door
And we're not leaving our-
FOUR STOREYS
Emily and her father built a two-storey tree house that May
It was hidden from the street
I waited for my chance to see it
Which finally came in a game when I chased a ball that way
Emily let me climb
All the rungs of pine
She said,
One is for biology (that's the wood)
Two is for society (we must be good)
The next summer they added more, they used a rope elevator
The new floor had a deck
I saw what would be next
So I offered my services then, but I wasn't allowed till later
When I had shaken hands
Like a fine young man
She said,
One was for biology (I kissed her)
Two was for society (I had to ask her dad)
Three is for eternity (That's where you make the vow)
And four is just for me
THE NEWS IS GOOD
The news is good
I didn't know it but I know it now
The news is good
And in a minute I can tell you how
Let me pass it to you as I should
Yeah, the news is good
It doesn't matter
All our actions go astray
And what we're after
Only blocks our way
We could touch so much that's already in play
So don't stop listening
To the daily repartee
Just hear what's missing
In sad soliloquies
And I'm just saying, but it isn't only me
The news is good
Once you notice what we have to lose
The news is good
We know somebody who did not refuse
Living in this crazy neighborhood
Yeah the news is good
Oh we've been trying
To build our castles in the mud
And we've been crying
When they melt in flood
But always after there is laughter and new blood
Call me a liar
If you don't find the help you need
I know you're tired
Running at this speed
Yeah you will fall but that's not all you get to be-because
The news is good
Even in a crazy neighborhood
The news is good
Even though we're still in the woods
No one who gets lost is lost for good
Yeah, the news is good
The news is good
We found each other like neighbors should
The news is good
Ask your neighbors, have they understood?
Everything around is made for good
Yeah the news is good
WHEN THE RIVER TURNED CLEAR
When the weather turned bad, the rain fell louder than a building falls
But strange this time, the rain didn't find the ground at all
The weather turned bad and the people watched
Never saw the puddles at the motor lodge
But hey, did you hear? The river turned clear
When the river turned clear, it was like a giant aquarium
You could see all round the cedars down and the cypress stumps
But the turtles had fled, the fish were gone
Scientists called it a phenomenon
With all their gear when the river turned clear
When the river turned clear, I don't know what I thought I'd see
Maybe old deeds, maybe proceeds of all the robberies
The cars that sank, the swimmers that died
They didn't have sense to stay inside
Well they didn't appear when the river turned clear
When the river turned clear, I asked my teacher to take his own look
I told him it's time to pull his eyes away from his books
He said he saw no boots, saw no blade
Old De Soto or Indian maid
There's no history here when the river turns clear