With the exception of the earliest songs, I wrote all the words. Dismal was by Tari; Wolf and John wrote Human, 3/4, and Lyrics (I added a second verse); Laundromat was a song Charles wrote for The Dickbrains, which, like my Young & Ugly, was revived by Your Food.

Concrete block

Never stop

Look ahead

Think instead

Don't turn back

Afrika

There he stands

Oh he's my man

And the streetlight glare

Lower East Side stair

You know it's time

Afrika time

Switch and change

Feeling drained

Head back home

To be alone

I'm just that way

In Afrika

It's ritual

Magnetic pull

And I feel good

Believe I should

Don't be sad

My Afrika

Cannon fun

Hit the run

Lose my mind

Feels just fine

Afrika

Afrika

Honey honey

Don't be sad

Got a stick

Yea got a stick

Got a stick

Grow to a tree

Baby Jesus

Oh plays the guitar

Baby Jesus

Ooh, flaming guitar

Funk the bump

Oh, funk the bump

Ohh, funk the bump

Ohhh, funk the bump

Oh put it on a stick

Got a stick

Oh, grow to a tree

Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus

Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus

One time

One, one, one for the first time

We did walk by the shore

One, one, one for the show

One is alone

One is when I met you

One is what I was

Wash it, wash it, wash it all down

Wash it all away

Watch it, watch it, watch it go down

Watch it go away

And I can always just walk around

You see my feet, they're on the ground

And they walk around and around and around . . .

I can see the ramifications of your baby love

See how they fit your best intentions like a well-oiled glove

You want your peace of mind and a whole big piece of the action

But your idea of a good time it just ruined my imagination

Two time

Two is a pair

A hint of mistakes

Two is your apartment

Two my lack of money

My lack of anything

Lack of nerves of steel

***

Three time

Three is odd numbers

Third times superstition

Three is turkey and gravy

And bus rides, and waiting

Cold rain, cold wind, cool

Blow daddy, blow

Blow daddy, blow

Blow it cool

***

I write the book I read

I'm writing the book I want to read

Full of intrigue and stupidity

Right--small, big--left

There's always some imbalance

No cause to worry, no not for me

Sometimes things look so ugly

But then again sometimes

I have to shout and run around

I'd rather fluctuate anyway

Then stagnate everyday

Karl and I stay up all night

Roaming trying to find someone else awake

Now I sleep, now I don't

Right--small, big--left

There's always some imbalance

Nothing's really wrong, it's just attitude

***

You surprised me with cigarettes

We drove out into the fields

The sun it did shine, woo now all the time

Right--small, big--left

There's always some imbalance

Forsythia is a look more than any useless word

***

It's not that much to see

Not really any background

But it's natural and it is true

True to line and truth in beauty

It's just a short thing

A few lines now

Now see here now

It's sort of quick

I think it's you

Say walking in to a room

C'mon, let's see some motion

It's kinetic and it's sublime

Oh oh, I think it's coming now

***

I'm always standing on the same corner

I'm always standing on the same corner

It's cold and I don't know where to go

Standing next to this telephone pole

Staring, staring

At the posters on it

Look where the side of that doorframe

Juts into the top and casts a nice shadow

Cut corner, oh, cut corners

Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut

Ah--

Here I am this chill sort of

Grew on me like a coat

Standing on a corner it feels good

To wait for nothing

All that is stupid and vain

I'm always standing on the same corner

Oh cut corners

Ah--

I'm lying in bed in the dark

Throughout the day

I might not, might not

Ever even get up

I'm looking up at those corners

Thinking about all my corners

Oh, cut corners

I'm always standing on the same corner

Oh, cut corners, oh, cut corners

Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut

Living it this cowtown

Cowtown cowtown

Just another chicken

From the midwest

One-horse town

One leggèd cow

One horse cow

One leggèd town

Remember that guy

Who sang like this

Cops in cars, topless bars,

Never seen a woman so

alone lone lone lone

He's a jerk

I'm not

Don't know shit

I do

See the skags

Break out my windows

Beat my shit

Cops call me faggot

See I live in Cowtown

What you say

What you say

What you say

That's no answer

What's your tongue

Who understands

I don't know

I just don't know

She just comes and then she goes

She just comes and then she goes

Egon Schiele

Get the picture

It's so pretty

To be that way

You're so crazy

I'm so cute

Get the phone

I think it's ringing

I walk walk walk, now don't you talk

I walk walk walk, now don't you talk

Bang that head

Hide your head

Feels real easy

I like my hands

Look my fingers

Lick my fingers

These are my hands

I love my hands

Whoop whoop whoop whoop

Whoop whoop whoop whoop

All talk, no talk, runs through my head

Walk stop, walk run, no vacancy

Street light, night life, screaming babies

Another cigarette, don't look back

I can't believe it . . .

Just a delusion, they've said it for years

What is real, what's a product of fear

Eat well, rest well, choose a career

Enjoy, have fun, don't you get too loud

I can't believe it . . .

Good house, good job, wife and eight kids

All of this is nothing, if it's not what you want

Live a life controlled, no suprises

I look, I scream, then I run for the door

I can't believe it . . .

Yea so you stand in the doorway like that

Sometimes I see you walking down the street

When you're there, when you're there

Don't be so precious

When you're a jewel to me

Yea so big so small, now don't it seem bizarre

Well we've all had to crush cans and live off pork & beans

So who cares? so who cares?

Don't be so foolish

When you're talking to me

Yea and there's always another party

Hear those words, well they're your words

I just stare, I just stare

Don't be so serious

When you're not sure

What you mean, say what you mean

What you mean, ooh what you mean

What you mean when you're talking to me

Say you're a jewel to me when you're talking to me

Say don't be, don't be, ba ba ba ba, ba ba

Don't be, don't be, ba ba ba ba, ba ba

Don't be, don't be, ba ba ba ba, ba ba

Nonononono, no, nono

Nonononono, no, nono

Don't be

Keep the fire burning, go downtown

Keep the fire burning, go downtown

Keep the fire . . .

Keep the fire . . .

Burning, burning . . . burning, burning . . .

Take these sweet things

Things, away from me

I don't need candy

When it's all done, when it's all done

When it's all done, when it's all done

Saying you don't like it

Say that you don't like it

Saying you don't like it

Say that you don't like it

We can be honest

Honest with each other

Just for today

When it's all done, when it's all done

When it's all done, when it's all done

You say that you feel like

You're from another country

Or maybe another planet

Or maybe you're just a little bit confused

Everybody really wants to be your friend

Shit I wouldn't even want to talk like you

Talk like you, say a-talk like you

Shit I wouldn't even want to talk like you

She's not into rock and roll--doo wah

I hope you're having some kind of fun

I hate everything that she likes

Send a postcard next time, next time you're in town

***

You speak a foreign tongue, yak yak

You live o-oh so far away

You, you never existed

I think I saw you at a stupid movie

***

It's a long-distance telephone number

It's a post box that maybe ain't there

Hundred and hundreds of miles away

Empty kick Greyhound farewell

Call it what you want

Big Ben on time

Sucka sucka sucka sucka

Sucka sucka sucka sucka

Bo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oony

I'm so wasted, I'm wasting away

Go to work time, it's a drug

Like hands without any gloves

Don't, don't touch me, it's too cold

Call it what you want

Big Ben on time

***

You say you're gonna make it big

Someday you're gonna be a big star, baby

It's not that I doubt your integrity

It's just I know it's never gonna happen

Look around . . . on your knees

I'm waiting on trains that don't run anymore

Their wheels go take me back, take me back

Leaning on a garbage can waiting

You're killing me without even telling me

Look around . . . on your knees

You're an overworked picture muddy

Bloody bitter melting in the sun

Creased torn map pinned to the wall

You're driving me away

You're driving me away . . .

Yea yea yea yea

You're more silver than Paul Revere

Flags like you, hon, they fly in the wind

Don't bother looking behind you

There's nobody following

No one's gonna follow you, follow you . . .

Well, look what we can do: look proud

Look what we can do: look proud

Look proud, down on your knees

Suck your way to the bottom of the river

Falls City, false city . . .

And play it all night long

Though I'm not sure why

Sitting on a public bench

Smoking and feeling bad

Don't bother calling

I don't answer my telephone

Oh yea, tell me all about it

That's just real cheap

You know I'm waiting

And I didn't know how

All my promise

Could turn into ground

And away it wash

Don't bother calling

I don't answer my telephone

Oh yea, tell me all about it

That's just real cheap

You know I like it

When things turn cold

And scratch all out

Against the grey

Leaves turn dead sick yellow

Here, here, here

Here, here, here

Here, here, here

Here here here here here here here!

She said gotta get it, get it, get it out to Frisco

Running faster, faster 'til I'm going blind

Sent you a postcard from the Lower East Side

Said I was having a real ooooh time

Got my car, got my feet and I'm picking up speed

Got nothing, little something, everything I need

I'm driven, I'm driving, screaming down the street tonight

I'm living, high diving, can't go to sleep tonight

I said hey man are you serious or what

He said what me worry, get serious

I've got something big in front of me

And something big pushing from behind

***

Don't stop, don't stop, 'til you get enough

Sew you reap a beautiful crop

Push it, push it up, push it up from down

Push it, push it up, push it up from down

I'm driven, I'm driving, I'm blowing away

A rare cool breeze on a hot summer day

You can't catch me, oh don't you know

Wave good-bye and watch me go

I'm walking a line

Between a great pull

And an all time give in

I'm walking a line

Between twelve hours

And a world I live in

It's just a world I live in

Hey, hey, hey

I'm hungry

I'm so-o hungry

I lie down on bones

I sit on bones

I need a cheeseburger

How about a slice?

Hey, hey, hey

I'm hungry

I'm so-o hungry

You live down P.A.S

Look rotund

Yeh, pretty big

Can I have some?

I'm -- going to fade

I'm -- going to fade

Oh here is my house

I live in this house

No that's not really trash

That's the decoration

You wear black

You wear white

You're confused

That's alright

Alright

It's okay

This is my notebook

It's just my notebook

That's a letter I wrote

Never sent, never even finished

***

Whose face are you?

Whose face I paint

I think I see you

I yi yi yi . . . so what!

***

Standing in the laundromat

Everything's going round

Wonder where mom went

She's been gone a while

Just watching all the clothes go 'round

Just watching all the clothes go 'round

Waiting in the airport

I like the airport air

Like to look at people

Everybody going somewhere

Put a quarter in the t.v. chair

Put a quarter in the t.v. chair

Waiting in the stairwell

Under the skylight

You don't answer the bell

So I guess I'll go home tonight

I'll get a good night's sleep

I'll get a good night's sleep

There's always something to look forward to

There's always something to look forward to

There's always something to look forward to

When you're a guy like me

When you're a guy like me

When you're a guy like me

I remember standing on the Belvedere

An Ollie in my hand

The wind was blowing

And I was saying

That I didn't find no job today

I'll get a car sometime

And I'll go for a drive

Leave me, leave you

Leave here, go there

I remember sitting down Pier 42

We watched a passing ship

The concrete collapse

As though in contrast

It seemed to have gone beyond

***

Dust around me

This dust around me

I gone out

There'll be no burning

Freedom rise to challenge

First person singular

Going to sleep now

Caught again by the waters

Flesh rips from my hands

Blood on the seawall

Blood on the seawall . . .

And go this way and that way

And come your way and my way

And do no way but the wrong way

Catch a wave and fall all over yourself

I can't think, talk about it

Give it some sort of name, try and explain

No time is the right time

Is you time and frame of mind

I've got this sack where I put my things

I walk up the street, walk back down the street

Mostly I just stay at home

I won't give it a name, you can't give it a name

Peer in a storefront, it's kind of nice

And see your reflection becoming self-conscious

See here's this corner where people are standing

And look an intersection with traffic lights and . . .

A bus, a bus it just drives by you

And you walk 'cause that's what you do

And think about things, run into people you know

It could be you, it could be you, it could be you

Walking backwards and sideways and looking up

And it never is--it never really is!

But walking is fine enough

And so are the trees and buildings and I like that billboard

The man at the bus stop, that beer & pizza place

My shoes have holes and I have a cold

Mostly I just stay at home

Mostly I just stay at home

I'd give it a name, if I could give it a name

Mostly I just stay at home

Mostly I just stay alone

Mostly I just stay . . .

At home

I love you

I hate you

I'm oppressed

Fuck off!

Lyrics are stupid . . .

I think I knew you

Watching me forever

Watching me forever

I think I knew you

Lyrics are stupid . . .

Everybody wants to ride

My moped

All the cars drive

On the same side

And the traffic lights go

Green yellow red

Green yellow red

Green yellow red

I sit and watch them

All night long

I just sit around

Staring at the ground

And I think that I feel good

Like a piece of rotting wood

Jet planes jet planes

Screaming overhead

See the clouds blow by

They look like your friends

I think they're laughing

No stars at night

The sky turns into

Black orange mud

***

It's early morning

The sky is grey

The air is hazy

And all the buildings

They are red and white

You're walking home

Feel like a movie

Just go to sleep!

***

I don't need you

You won't feed me

You say you want to stay

But let's just go away

I'm a snowdrift

Melting in to spring

Don't want to talk

Just do everything

Don't sit down

Don't sit next to me

My body rots

My mind just goes away

***

The grass, it grows

The wind, it blows

The sky is blue, then turns grey

I'm waiting for a brand new day

When you're awake

Feels like a mistake

Your eyes are blue, your lips turn grey

We are each other's disappointments today

My mouth is rancid, your touch is like steel

My kitchen's my mind, you're clothes they aren't real

The days they roll by, the clouds they tell lies

The shoes on my feet smell anything but sweet

Your face is a closet, banging the door

I turn off the t.v., I'll go to the store

I'm waiting for a brand new day

I'm waiting for a sanguine way

I'm waiting for a brand new day

I'm waiting for a sanguine way

A clock, see you spy, as it passes us by

Streets seem so wide, walking on different sides

My thoughts are blue as they turn into grey

I'm waiting for a brand new day

Bury me deep, bury me so strange

Carry me long, carry through the rain

My actions are locks, your response's the keys

Wonder what comes, but nothing ever comes free

I'm waiting for a brand new day

I'm waiting for a sanguine way

I'm waiting for a brand new day

I'm waiting for a sanguine way

First bus rumbles the break of day

And I've been put in the all-night way

Afraid of that bed too big for me

Breaking bottles on the sidewalk saying 1, 2, 3

It's almost consoling

When I trace out your smile

I see a bold beginning

In the glimmer of your thighs

Frustration breaking five days too long

Making me crazy, making me moan

Russia meets God, Godzilla or worse

Sweltering to death, I'm about to burst

I close my eyes

And break out your smile

Close my eyes closer

And enter your thighs

The big valley of food

That where I live

That go to my door

Don't go out of town for love

Don't carry-out and bring it home

Just eat

I see the river rising

Doing it all for me

Multiply the loaves

Counting on my toes

Let's have dinner together sometime

And eat

This week, last week

Say this time tomorrow

Tearing down to build

Building to tear down again

Just set a place at your table

And eat

Sometimes you get so hungry

Sometimes you're about to pass out

You're European in '46

You can't stand it, no you can't stand up

You can't even seem to get out of your car

So just pull up, pull up, pull up

Oh pull up, pull up, pull up

Yea pull up, pull up, pull up

Anda eata eata eata . . .

Inside myself

Not in my soul

I don't have one of those

Just feel these things you know

Hah hah hah hah

I feel the ocean breeze

I feel the autumn leaves

--falling

All over all over me

I'm begging you please

Outside me I see nothing

I mean I don't feel a thing

I feel I see me nothing

Nothing, nothing . . .

Look out the window

Look out the window

And between the doors

Hunched on the front stoop

Under the back light

I see a room

I see a room

Oh, it's so sweet

I love your smile

Everything is grey

Everything is grey

It's already a.m.

Hide in a shadow

Sometimes it rains

***

I kiss her abstractly

Just muscles moving contractually

It's just out of habit

That I even think of you

Paint peels up in layers

From the floorboards beneath me

Ah well, I guess everything's okay

Just fine

I smoke while I drink my coffee

Probably stay up until dawn

I think about a lot of things

Get them off of my mind

***

Looking painted

Hair is ocher

I guess that's artistic

Naked . . .

Buckle up for safety, buckle up for love

Bundle up for safety, bundle up for love

Get serious

Get natural

Who is this really?

***

Drinking coffee

Drink it at home

It's better that way

***

Saying . . .

Come to my Jamaica

It's just like a movie

Please no interruptions

Plenty of refreshments

For you, and me, naked . . .

Do you see the palm trees?

We'll build a cottage

I don't eat too much

Hunger gets appeased

With you, and me, naked . . .

What's a girl like you . . . ?

What's a street like that?

I once read a book

Won't bore you with the facts

About you, and me, naked . . .

Turned an empty head or two

Spilled like bowls of soup

I just ate potato chips

And wrote someone a letter

About you, naked . . .

Voices from a hole

Saying I am oppressed

Fingers reach the top

Let go

Cannot survive

Behind this walnut desk

More questions

Fewer answers

I'm smart and I know what I'm doing

I'm smart, can't cope with what you're doing

You don't need what you want

You won't get what you want

I'm here to corrupt

I'm here to disgust

I'm here to disrupt

I'm you and ugly

And I'm mad

What you believe in will not last

The dead decompose, they don't last

You are boring with all you do

And you don't know why you do it

***

And it's too bad

You've gotten it all from your dad

But I won't let you be my dead

You're so stagnant you never move

And I'll trample you if you don't move

***

And I'm glad, so glad

That I'm young and ugly