Friday, May 4, 2007

"Throwaway" by The Posies

I haven't been feeling well again with my throat, the weather does that to me here, my joints and just yet another huge financial setback on the wife's truck repair. However, I do remember how down and out I felt nine years ago in North Carolina. But I kept working my ass off with two jobs to pay off CEFCU's line of credit and building up the cash for when I would return to Austin. Sure this song came out two years earlier yet it ran through my head frequently. It doesn't sound very positive at first, unless you hear the music Jon Auer & Ken Stringfellow put to it. To me it's about wallowing in the pity, then pushing forward and taking charge, even though you may fall down again and again. I couldn't find a "true" picture of optimism. The goal then was returning to Austin which I have never regretted.

I remember giving up the gory details
And it left me tongue-tied (such an elementary sickness)
Now I don't want to think and I don't want to feel
I wasn't aware that this was part of the deal
When I put my finger on a greater expectation
But just my luck, I lack the patience of a statesman
And all of my language will fail to convey
That I'm terribly twisted around what I say
And the message I threw away

I don't have it now
I don't have it now
I don't have it now
I don't have it now

So I keep worrying and it only grows to hurt me
But time is wasting and I'm watching it desert me
I'm digging a hole and I'm making it deep
And I'm starting to question the hours that I keep
And the answer that I put to sleep

I don't have it now
I don't have it now
I don't have it now
I don't have it now

And so I'm writing with the hope that someone's reading
For all to likely runs the risk of me repeating
But I don't have the guts to prevent the decay
And I'm terribly twisted around what I say
And the courage that I threw away

I don't have it now
I don't have it now
I don't have it now
I don't have it now

Saturday, April 21, 2007

"Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop

Hard to believe he'd live to be 60 since he's taken enough drugs to kill a small town but he is the inspiration for many of my favorite bands. Even Tom Jones has performed this song with the Pretenders.

Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And a flesh machine
He's gonna do another strip tease

Hey man, where'd you get that lotion?
I've been hurting since I bought the gimmick
About something called love
Yeah, something called love
Well, that's like hypnotising chickens

Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
'Cause of a lust for life
'Cause of a lust for life

I'm worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a G.T.O.
Wear a uniform
All on government loan

I'm worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With the liquor and drugs
With the liquor and drugs

Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in my ear before
'Cause, of a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause of a lust for life (lust for life, oooo)
I've got a lust for life (oooh)
Got a lust for life (oooh)
Oh, a lust for life (oooh)
Oh, a lust for life (oooh)
A lust for life (oooh)
I got a lust for life (oooh)
Got a lust for life

Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in my ear before
'Cause I've a lust for life
'Cause I've a lust for life.

Well, here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And a flesh machine
I know he's gonna do another strip tease

Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick
About something called love
Oh Love, love, love
Well, that's like hypnotising chickens.

Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
And I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause I've a lust for life (lust for life)
Got a lust for life
Yeah, a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Oh, a lust for life
Got a lust for life
Yeah a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Lust for life [repeat and fade]

Monday, April 9, 2007

"Car Trouble" by Adam Ant

Since my VW Golf has decided to start its annual grief of "Check Engine" light early this year and it needs a new dash, I thought this was fitting.

have you ever had a ride in a light blue car?
have you ever stopped to think
who's the slave and who's the master?
have you ever had trouble with your
automobile?
have you ever had to
push push push push?

cartrouble
you might have seen them very busy at the
weekends licking and polishing the beep-
beeps into
shape and then its proudly up the M.1. M.2.
M.3.
and keep your feet off the upholstery Ronnie
cartrouble oh yeah
and remember this:-
you don't need anything after an icecream
I used to sit at home silently and wonder
why all the preference is polishing the
chrome
while all the mothers and the sisters and the
babies
sit and rot at home
cartrouble oh yeah
and remember this
you don't need anything after an icecream
car carcar trouble car carcar trouble ...

Sunday, April 1, 2007

"April Fools" by Rufus Wainwright

Because it's Miette's birthday and she's a little clown at times.


Oh what a shame that your pockets did bleed on st. valentine's
And you sat in a chair
Thinking "boy i'm such a prince!"
Well, life's a train that goes from february on
Day by day
But it's making a stop on april first

And you will believe in love
And all that it's supposed to be
But just until the fish start to smell
And you're struck down by a hammer

Sure, you were swift
When the handsome greek boys dropped by with gifts
You are suave
Thanks to ribbons that open sesame
But in the stars and closer to home, in every planet
It ain't hard for me and dear jo jo to see

That you will believe in love
And all that it's supposed to be
But just until the fish start to smell
And you're struck down by a hammer

So let it all go by
Looking at the sky
Wondering if there's clouds and stuff in hell

And you will believe in love
And all that it's supposed to be
But just until the fish start to smell
And you're struck down by a hammer

Monday, March 26, 2007

"Rainy Monday" by Shiny Toy Guns

I'll save my other "rain" songs for different days of the week. This is a bit of the view from where I'm housesitting lately. It looks great even when it's raining.



I don't mind
You're someone who ain't mine
But someone that I'll get
And you don't know how
Hard I've tried
To convince myself that I
Can easily forget

[B-section]
But you left this feeling
Here inside me
One that never fails to find me...

[Chorus]
On a rainy Monday
...a feeling inside me
Like the days of summer

On a rainy Monday
..I feel it inside me
In the hopes of one day

I won't lie
I still can't say that I
Admit we went too far
And you won't see me change my mind
But I really wish that I
Could forget the way you are

[B-section 2]
But you left this feeling here inside me
The battle in my mind still fights me

I can see that you're not beside me
But I still feel you shine inside of me

Saturday, March 24, 2007

"She's Having a Baby" by Dave Wakeling

Congrats to Kelly & Ethan!


Mixed drinks and mixed emotions
Here at the start of a brand new life
All change,
She's having a baby
As lovers turn into husband and wife

Mixed drinks and mixed emotions
Head in the clouds, put your feet on the ground
All change,
She's having a baby
You're growing up now,
You're settling down, down, down

Will it be a boy or a girl?
And what will it think of the world?

All change,
She's having a baby
All change,
She's having a baby

Mixed drinks and mixed emotions
You feel the beat of a brand new heart
All change,
She's having a baby
It draws you close as it tears you apart

Will it be a boy or a girl?
And what will it think of the world?

All change,
She's having a baby
All change,
She's having a baby

Been dreaming about it so long
And now that the moment has come
The fears of the past are all gone
You know it couldn't be better
I swear by the moon up above
I'm feeling a new kind of love
And I hope that it lasts us forever

Mixed drinks and mixed emotions
In at the start of a brand new life
The older men say you can't be jealous when
You love kids like you miss your wife

What will he start to discern?
There's always something to learn

All change,
She's having a baby
All change,
She's having a baby
All change,
She's having a baby

All change,
She's having a baby
(Having a baby)
All change,
She's having a baby
(Having a baby)

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

"Springtime" by Spinal Tap

Springtime is on my mind
Flowers blooming, all the time
Smell the roses
Smell the grass
Old man winter can kiss my ass

(Chorus)
Don't you think that it's a pity?
Don't you think that it's a shame?
Don't you wish that
Every season was the same

Time for loving in the park
Wear a jumper when it gets dark
Mind the prickles
Mind the dew
Wash your willie when you're through

(Chorus)

Springtime, enough's enough
Tired of flowers and all that stuff
Want some drizzle.
Want some sleet
Want some wellies on my feet

(Chorus)

Saturday, March 17, 2007

"Thousands are Sailing" by the Pogues

What St. Patrick's Day is really about to me. It's for more than the Irish.


The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save

Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime

Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry

Ah, no, says he, twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name

Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the western ocean
Their bellies full
Their spirits free
Theyll break the chains of poverty
And theyll dance

In manhattans desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on broadway
Like the first man on the moon

And the blackbird broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in brendan behans footsteps
I danced up and down the street

Then we said goodnight to broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to mister cohen
Dear old times squares favorite bard

Then we raised a glass to jfk
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried

Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards were mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights dont glow on christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance

Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where eer we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
And we dance
(Fades out with flute and drum music)

Friday, March 16, 2007

"The Dawn's Request" by Duncan Sheik

If I crack up and lose my head
try to hide beneath the bed
and leave the television on
so I don't think of what's gone wrong ...

I beg of the dawn

Break through, save me,
rescue me, wake me from the dead
my weary head in your embrace

If I spin out and off the rails
build myself a bed of nails
then take the whole world down with me
to my dimestore tragedy ...

Where will you be?

Break through, heal me
sing to me, kneel beside my bed
my weary head in your embrace

Wake up, sunrise
I may be alone but I'm alive
(and) I will find a way to you

Sunrise, save me this time
you never even had to try
you opened up my eyes

Sunrise, treat me so kind
I was lost ... I was blind
(and) you opened up my eyes

Debut

For a while, my friend Lazz used to post the lyrics of songs he liked with a picture he'd find to match it. I thought it was pretty cool, even if most of it were Metal tunes I didn't dig. When he deleted them, I asked him if I could take his idea, steal it and run with it. He said no sweat, he took the idea from someone else anyway.

I'll see what else I can get from friends on their faves.