These used to be alphabetized by album, but I’m still organizing these since I moved everything to the new site. Improvements coming soon!

 
 

NEW RISING SUN

 
Hello Mr. Sun, when you come out today
Let me forget the feelings
I had yesterday
Come on shine into my mind
I want to feel you all the time
Hello Mr. Sun
Are you looking high?

Lately I wanna’ know when you’re feeling
Bad and sad and sad
Lately I want to sing
Lately I’m tired of feelin’ mad
Come on shine into my mind
I want to feel you all the time
Hello Mr. Sun
Are you lookin’ high?

Well good night Mother Nature
It’s time for bed
Did you realize that
Those dreams were in your head
And every day
Come creeping in
And in the end the stars
Come rushing in
 

IN THE KEY OF GIRLS

 
Heard you went to Rome
With a boy in 2002
Well woo-hoo

All that year I stayed at home
Felt a little sorry for myself
And drank brew

Your memory is fun
Now you want to give me one more go
I’m not home

No more song staffs made of pearls
In a key of girls

Bitter apple cider
We sipped while the canyon rains
Came down
Remember

Silly movie spiders
We laughed at until the torch
Died out
And embers

Your memory is just a sieve,
I’m useless as a screamer in the wind
Let me run in

No more song staffs made of pearls
In a key of girls
 

WITCH

 
Have you heard the calling
Of the wind in the trees
It blows out the alcohol
And shakes all the leaves

Blows the pink curtains
And there’s smoke in the wind
We’re celebrating summer
When the winter begins

Why is there no weight on you
Why do you sleep all the time
I don’t see you hiding things
Or smelling like wine

The moon got real high
And I spoke to your dad
And woke up cold shivering
From a dream that I had
 

ENTER WIZARD!

 
People ask me when I’m going to go platinum
I say as soon as I get back to ’em
It’s like I’m talkin’ through a pendulum
You’d even think that I’d been sending them

Emails, but I only send snail mail to females
But now I’m even tired of chasing tail
It feels less like a holy grail
Than Ahab’s life wasted on a white whale

I remember one day we were talkin’ bout life and shit
We even bought a wizard candle at Wicks ‘n Sticks
You said you didn’t put stock in my dragon fist
Though I could be a fine tobacconist

I remember you said my head was all in fantasy
I said what about the rest of me
I know there are no scars in Star Wars
And light sabers just leave traces
But there’s no crime in being escapist
The way you talk you’d think Chewbacca was a racist

When you left I spent a long time playing solitaire
Sittin’ around in my underwear
Going through life with a blank stare
Just shy of tucking in a teddy bear

Last week found your panties in my room
Made me think how we went so fast, like Mazda’s zoom zoom
With my finger on a wizard bong carburetor
I could have thought to myself “it would be easier to hate her”
Maybe I’ll get to that later
Since now you’re with that guy in aviators

I saw a YouTube of birds mating
Pecking, flying together then separating
Just like that we’re just birds of a feather
And I guess this is what happens when free people get together

I never guessed things could go this wrong
So I slipped my unease in this song
And since I haven’t smoked weed in so long
I don’t even have a wizard bong
 

CAROLYN (DON’T WALK AWAY)

 
September
Everything’s okay
Though I wish I was 200 miles away
Carolyn I’m singing ’bout some thing we never had
While I try and make a profit in the headlands

Happy
Now with her
I wouldn’t change one for another
Though this is now and I’m happy to be here
I’m hoping this will be your leap year

I’ll get my things and go home again
Just when I thought I’d found a new friend
These are all moments that we’ll never see again
Since you’re not here for this new end
I’ll get my things and bid farewell to Carolyn

This song was started as a joke
And one day we’ll all be laughing
Until then
I’ll get my things and bid farewell to Carolyn
 

SUMMERLAND

 
Summerland
Time for us to begin again
Like two rabbits down a stream
Running down to another glen

Summerland
Walking with your little hand in mine
Or dreaming by the old branch line

Don’t wake me when I start to dream
Just leave me in Summerland
With wheat rifles and contraband
We’re sleeping in this expanse, don’t make me leave
With a kiss for luck, and a reprimand

Summerland
Am I awake
Or just dreaming all the time
Or lying drinking country wine

Don’t wake me when I start to dream
Just leave me in Summerland
Like Lady Godiva or a horseless heroine
You’re sleeping in this expanse, I’ll just say goodbye
With a kiss for luck, and a reprimand

Summerland
Annie
Sleepy smiles and
Tiny golden chains
And blowing smoke at windowshades

Don’t wake me when I start to dream
Just leave me in Summerland
Filled with stained glass birds and melotonin
We’re sleeping in this expanse, see you again
Here’s a kiss for luck, and a reprimand
 

SELF-DESTROYER

 
Oh oh oh, there she goes
oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-OH

When she gets nude you’re just her voyeur
Like the miserable banker
Lonely Lexus driver
You’re a self destroyer

Oh oh oh, there she goes
oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-OH

She prosecutes, though you’re her lawyer
Like the coward who says “yes sir”
Or the food-hand bite of the cur
You’re the self destroyer

Oh oh oh, there she goes
oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-OH

A hunger artist when you’re no connoisseur
Like the teddy bear with no fur
Or the jihadist warrior
You’re the self destroyer

Oh oh oh, there she goes
oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-OH

She’s your conspirator and co-saboteur
Like a handless ex-chequer
Or the freeze frame caught in a blur
You’re the self destroyer

Can’t escape ‘cuz you’ve got so many
(Friends in common)
And feelin’ sad when you take off your clothes
See her at the party, and she leaves with a stranger
Who she comes with, no one knows

Oh oh oh, there she goes
oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-OH

Think it’s over, then it starts to recur
Like the miserable banker
Lonely Lexus driver
You’re the self destroyer
 

UNSUBSCRIBER

 
Belief in the one true power
(Take it, robot)
Come get me
 

GENTLE MARY

 
Gentle Mary has herself only
Gentle Mary, sing again
The time has come too late
Time has come too late

Mary, where have you gone
I’ve stayed too long
Sleep like a baby, until the sun
You’ll wake up with the knowledge that there’s
No one there

And when she’s gone
Stay all alone

Making winters with a smile
Mary comes home again
 

HENRY SAGE & MRS. WOLVERTON

 
Henry Sage and Mrs. Wolverton
Could go out strolling in the park
And though he knows she’s not the only cock in town
Still he’d like to make a start
It seems they’re always ending
They’re better off apart

Henry Sage chirps on the bird and bee
Hoping Wendy’s tunin’ in
And though he knows she’s not the only cock in town
Still he hopes she’s listenin’
And then he falls to pieces
They always fall to shards

And I’ll be there in your overcoat
When no one else is left around
And I will find some new peace of mind
From the newest cock in town

Wendy Wolverton is suffering
A thousand pains from end to end
And Susan Plum is always nearby and beloved
Henry’s just confused again
Enjoys the many endings
Though maybe it’s not smart

And I’ll be there in your overcoat
(And when there’s no one else around)
And I will find some new peace of mind
From the newest cock in town
 

LADYG

 
And then the day came
They were all on bended knee
The Warhol pimps, credit cards
And rafts of refugees
And you were on my list of things
I never wanted to be
They made you number 1
 

MOMBASA ISLAND

 
Shake rattle and roll
Tour the captain’s soul
Write to Arrowmow
Who hails from Detroit

In the gallery
An economy
Something good to see
Will they defer me

Mombasa Island
We came to realize
Ships aren’t lost at sea like that
But who will cry
For the best years of our lives
Or be a ship that’s turning back

Skipper in the glen
It’s the funniest thing
Coconut and crime
The world in due time

Powerful and mad
Sticky-toed and sad
Monkey and the man
The LA Times band

Mombasa Island
We came
To realize
Ships aren’t lost at sea like that
But who will cry
For the best years of our lives
Or be a ship that’s turning back

(Always having fun)

Mombasa Island
We came
To realize
Ships aren’t lost at sea like that
But who will cry
For the best years of our lives
Or be a ship that’s turning back
 

OLE, OLE, OLE

 
Sit down by a stone
You gonna’ run
And one knows you’re alone
Staring at the wheel
Don’t take a turn
Until you’ve checked your heels

Ole ole ole
Ole ole
Ole ole ole

Take it to a stream
No cause for blood
The ends are what they seem
Sleep until the chime
No proof of life
You’ll work out in time

Take me by the hand
From here on sky
We walk until there’s land
Sink beneath the waves
Our feet touch grain
Now give me what I crave

When I was you
We stretched into the sun
We never wanted to be alone
2 seemed too much
(So I thought), then I was stung
Now I’m looking everywhere for 1

Ole ole ole
Ole ole
Ole ole ole

We had such fun
When I was you
We stretched into the sun
We rode into the sky
Six golden thrones
With eagles riding by
 

R U WITH ME? (I’LL BE YOUR DEVOTEE)

 
(Galactic warriors come and save me, please)

Are you with me friend
When I’m easin’ through the storm
Are you with me man
When my heat comes back lukewarm
Are you with me when
I’m runnin out of luck
Are you with me when
I just can’t come unstuck
From things I used to be

When I travel along
From an evening to a dawn
A weeping automaton
From a hello to dear john
Let me ride this road
No more memories to keep tabs on
Banish all electrodes
No more turning off and on
I’ll be your devotee

Moon Lady don’t be so sad
Let’s stop and think it over, over
We weren’t made to be sad
So when everything’s mad
We’ll stay sober
No more looking for a better way
This just might be our new brighter day

I look up
And it’s the way of the world
And if every time we decayed
A new plan was unfurled
Instead of puttin’ records down
We ought to take a look for a new sound

At the end of the show
Dissect me for things I know
In the dark where I glowed
I will possess the final code
And when I look up
I’ll see your shining sun
And then we’ll explode
And I’ll never have to run

I look up
And it’s the will of the world
And if every time they decayed
A new plan was unfurled
Instead of puttin’ records down
We ought to take a look for a new sound

And I know I’ll let go

(Are you running inside?)

When I’m your devotee …
 

SLOW AND STEADY ROAD TO MY HEART

 
Please, Silver, please
Make me your lover or your enemy
(I want to hear your laughter)

Just let me go
If you don’t want me I don’t want to know
(Our time is growing shorter)

I don’t believe
But something makes me just believe in you
(I haven’t wanted someone)

What will we do?
If time takes you from me, and me away from you?
(This won’t have been a wasted time)

‘Cuz I don’t believe
And love’s something that I don’t want to do
(Remember I believed in you)
 

MENAGE A TROIS

 
“Que du monde; what a world,”
She said (ba ba, ba ba)
“Some coq au vin?
Voulez-vous white or red?”

(Je m’appelle menage a trois)

“Quel dommage
Sometimes I’m so sad
You were the best petit mouton
That I ever had”

We met in Spain,
I wanted sweet romance
You fell for him, and
Took us back to France

(Je m’appelle menage a trois)

You need love, “Comment vous?”
“Ca va”
Always keeps me holding on
To this menage a-a trois

Menage a trois

Well every dog needs a cat to wig
Like every dude needs a chick to dig
Every wolf needs a little pig
A Marlboro man, qui fument,
Needs a little cig

Menage a trois

You need love, “Comment vous?”
“Ca va”
Always keep me holding on
To this menage a-a-trois
 

STAND UP, BE A MAN

 
Hope you understand
You’re not getting any younger
Stand up, be a man
Take a while and think it over
Dream is still a chance
While the world is spinning
Hope you under- understand
You’re not getting any younger

Hope you understand
We’re not living for tomorrow
Take me by the, by the hand
We weren’t made for sorrow
See you on TV
But you are getting colder
Stand up, won’t you be with me
We’re not getting any younger

My sentry you might say he tries
Maybe he could try a little more
It’s easy to close my eyes and see him at that door
So where do I run?
Who can I be?
This time I can try, I know I can
Less like a child this time
Not afraid to fall if I should stand

Hope you understand
While this old world is spinning
Won’t you tell me who I am
We were both made for winning
See you on TV
But now you’re going under
Stand up, won’t you be with me
We’re not getting any younger

My sentry you might say he tries
Maybe he could try a little more
It’s easy to close my eyes and see him at that door
So where do I run?
Who can I be?
This time I can try, I know I can
Less like a child this time
Not afraid to fall if I should stand
 

STOP JOSEPH KONY 1

 
(CAN’T TURN OUT THE LIGHT)

All these digital headlines
Newspaper plans
Could it be the whole world is right out of my hands
Catch myself in a mirror
Don’t like what I see
When I’m angry at life
Don’t want to mean me

One thing’s for sure
Can’t turn out the light
Don’t tell me that these tears are given
‘Cuz they’re cuttin’ off eyelids
On a hot North Uganda night
Tell those missionaries we’re on a mission

Take a walk through Kibera
On a dusty Monday
Pull myself up to start, and it’s anchors away
Want to bring something concrete
But I’m just made of sand
Can it be the whole world is right out of my hands

Take our guns to Kotido
Look for the LRA
There’s a truckload of legs
While we’re hittin’ the hay
And he’s chopping off fingers
While our world’s in a trance
We don’t need bigger things,
We just need bigger stands

One thing’s for sure
You can’t turn out the light
Don’t tell me that my life’s a given
‘Cause they’re cutting off eyelids
On a hot North Uganda night
Tell those missionaries we’re on a mission
 

ANGOLA U-N-I-T-A

 
Round again my love
I will see you one more time
“Flow my tears, said the policeman”
Cause I’m stuck here in some country
And nobody has no mercy
And I’m tired of eating gravel

Like Angola, with U-N-I-T-A
Can’t go out
And they’re shelling anyway
If anybody sees
Takes my review
Can I still run back to you

Let’s make believe, my love
That we’ve never been afraid
Throw my tears at the policemen
Cause I’m tired of this country

Like Angola, and U-N-I-T-A
Get on board
Or get out of my way, if
I’m betrayed
I’m reviewed
All that’s left is to come to you

To Africa run away
To Africa run away
Always a new escape
From the pain

Like Angola, U-N-I-T-A
Can’t go out
And they’re shelling anyway
If anybody sees
What will I do
All that’s left is to come to you

Oh Angola, U-N-I-T-A
Get on board
Or get out of my way, if
I’m betrayed
I’m reviewed
All that’s left is to come to you
 

ART SCHOOL DROPOUT

 
(Running in Circles)

Wal-Mart roller pig
Go to Disneyland
Deer head on the wall
Don’t make me stand

Alone with a TV
You lay your hands
Please take me in your fold
Your native land

But why won’t you touch me?
I’m not the one with a rifle
And you don’t even know me
Kiss your fist, if I think it will break it
On the stage, pumping notes through a Vox amp
Rainy day women all sleeping
Go your way, when I’m looking in circles
I’ll go mine

Turn from brown to blonde
Playin’ the keytar
Doin’ the robot
On the VTR
Dinner at your mom’s
Walkin’ round the club
Late night little snack
A brand new sub
Light a cigarette
Start to smile
If you look this way again
We can talk awhile

But why won’t you touch me?
I’m not the one with no mercy
And you don’t even know me
Kiss your fist, if I think it will break it
On the stage, pumping notes through a Vox amp
Rainy day women all sleeping
Go your way, when I’m looking in circles
I’ll go mine

Look away
Runnin in circles
I don’t mind the pain
‘Cuz you don’t even know me
Runnin in circles
Such a shame
Going in circles
Such a pain
Keeping it perfect
Go your way
When we’re runnin’ circles
I’ll go mine
 

FIBROMYALGIA

 
Oh Anne, be a natural man
I been runnin’ out, and runnin’ down,
and runnin’ out again
But Annie you’re the natural one
I want to be you

Give me a light, look this way again
I would say that we’ve come so far,
but-when I turn-around, I see
we’re in the same goddamn, old place again

But Annie, your face
hits me a like a raygun
Like the news we read from Korea
Or our fibromyalgia

What is the future well I don’t care
All the same mistakes
The notes to take
When we stand outside the church I’m scared

But Annie if you look away
Well I guess I’ll see ya
Like all rastas are looking for Jah
Or our fibromyalgia

Well I don’t know you
So I’ll add a comma
Distant glimmers that I never saw
Or our fibromyalgia

Is this the end
Well I don’t care
On the rampway there
With the people’s stares
It all seems so delicate

Well goodbye
With my best regards
This sucks so I’ll go
An election where I can’t withdraw
Like our fibromyalgia

Well goodbye
With my best regards
This sucks so I’ll go
Distant glimmers that we never saw
Like our fibromyalgia
 

GET THE LOOK

 
Baby, you’re gonna’ get the look
I know I’ll catch you in the center
Before you bait the hook
Baby, you’re gonna’ make it real
I know you’re gonna’ come out angling
No matter what I feel

One day, prét a porter
You’re gonna’ have it, your little way
You’re gonna’ splash it, in West L.A.

Baby
You’re gonna’ model right
I know you’re gonna’ come out squawking
You’re gonna’ last all night
Baby, You’re gonna’ rule the scene
I know you’re gonna’ put on purple
To make the queens all green

One day, prét a porter
You’re gonna’ have it, your little way
You’re gonna’ splash it, in West L.A.

You’ve got the look
Just like Antonioni’s Blow Up
But you keep me hangin’ on
Like a B-film makeup artist, on the run
Baby, one day I’m gonna’ prove
All the things you had to gain by staying
All the things you’ll lose

One day, prét a porter
You’re gonna’ have it, your little way
You’re gonna’ splash it, in West L.A.
 

CESSIE, LOCKPORT OR BLUE RIBBON HIGHWAY

 
Cessie was a girl
Lived down by the water
And the sister
Of a girl I knew

Putting bugs in jars
Hanging with the cats
And of course
Looking for that Rougarou

So take the middle ground
The lonely middle ground
If I can’t
Maybe no one can

And like an ultrasound
You see the things I’m hiding down
And I can’t
Go back where we began

Let’s go to the farm
Stare down at the water
And pretend
We’ll be here all day

Cessie died so young
Seems so long ago
Like a dream
Or something blown away

So take the middle ground
The lonely middle ground
If I can’t
Maybe no one can

‘Cause like an ultrasound
You see the things I’m hiding down
And I can’t
Go back where we began
 

DEFILER

 
(IDF, IDF, IDF, IDF )

Defiler
Inverted to a tune
Watchin’ the asphalt dry
And speakers go to blue
And I know, what’s in your eyes
You see me watchin’ you
You’re wonderin’, that after all
You were a defiler, too

For a working model
Can’t we rebuild it again
And hard to follow
And just no way I can win
And hard to swallow
A working model

Come in, bring out your girls
It’s the easiest thing, the easiest thing to do
The easiest thing

Can I love her?
Like a mountain loves a stream?
Can I love her?
Can I go on dreaming?

When I recognize the signs
Should I go on sex vacation?
If I’m way out of line, are we on fire
Or is it my imagination?

A working model
This is the tour where we care
And hard to follow
So fast it’s time to disappear
And hard to swallow

Come in, bring out your girls
It’s the easiest thing, the easiest thing to do
The easiest thing
 

NEW YEAR’S EVE 3005

 
Up in Bristol
They spin it down
With some Kraftwerk and Air at the Lizard Lounge
But in Berlin after Mitte’s Goldmine
You head to Schwarzes at 5
’cause it’s breakfast time

And in Toulouse
Yeah, you shake it with the bands
We head to Cockpit for dancing and a wristband
Apartment hunting can wait ’til the dawn
‘Til the smoke and lights and the music’s gone
The DJ’s tracks seem to give them away
‘Cause they play it in a heartfelt way
Cue it up, digital display
Music skyway

In Barcelona
With the Boozy Crew
We comb the streets with Paloma and her guru
She took-a-hit of “flamingo-lingerie”
Then left him at the corner for a cabaret
You’d never know it from the sound of the bass
The shaggy carpet and incense
at the Capsule Space
But when they want a little fun and anticrime
You can watch all the wigs make a bee-line

The DJ’s tracks seem to give them away
‘Cause they play it in a heartfelt way
Cue it up, digital display
Music skyway
Oh, oh, oh, happy days spent on the rue
Let’s never say, we remember things
That we used to do

New Year’s Eve 3005
The talking holograms run from the city drive
Electric beads and a neo-Mersey Beat
And when you look down
you’re dancing with 1,000 feet

Jean Genie with Laurent Garnier
Daft Punk, where the neon lights get played
You need to take a little break after it’s done
Before you know it, it’s time for a rerun
 

STAND-IN

 
Every time I pick up your signal,
You’re there with him
Through many countries, though
In my dreams,
You call me on the telephone

Oh-oh
Like some stand-in stand-in
Stand-in stand-in

All these years, everything changing
Though I’ve changed too
Seems life has passed me by
Can’t believe, how I used to cry

My counselor says, “Play nice,
Life is never worth the price of flight”
But he’s a con artist
From harder to hardest
We learn to fight

Outside, snow ploughs are steaming
It’s warm inside
But colder inside my soul
I think of all the things that time has
Stolen

On the road,
The peaks and valleys flow into night
Whisker wheat, dimming light
Let me not be cynicism’s fool

My counselor says, “Play nice,
Anger is never worth the price of life”
But he’s a con artist
From harder to hardest,
We learn to fight

Wintertime, all of the birds
Are fast asleep
They’re making straw pillows
And in their dreams
They dream of being
Birds
 

THE INVINCIBLES

 
That night on the dark stairway I thought of the heather
And our old TV screen
Though the Ashton-on-Mersey couldn’t keep it together
Like the clubs that we loved
Like these places we’ve been

Walking through old Chinatown or down by the docks
Chilly walks by the pier
Happy times at the quay
Your mother in Bristol and me with my clock
While we looked to the future and what’s never to be

It doesn’t really matter what you say
We’re gonna’ feel it anyway
And not invincible again
See it through to the end
And you know I can, and you know I can
Let this be my portent

When I got back home I had to read it in a letter
You’d gone to Mable’s K.O.
So I combed my hair
And then I got my bags together
For a long trip to Spain
By the way of Merlot
Alone in the train with my brain turned up high
Trying-to-drown-out-the-sound of the things that we’d said
Suicide has never been my personal style
With this goat mountainside I’m really better off dead

I say it doesn’t matter what you say
We’re gonna’ feel it anyway
And not invincible again
See it through to the end
And you know I can, and you know I can
Let this be my portent

Walking through the streets of Cordoba and I’m thinking
That this is really okay
You with Casanova but I’ve still got my drinking
But all this life’s in my way
In the end it’s simple, shed a tear and I’m tender
Or flex this muscle, I’m strong
Fill me up, I’ll even take return it to sender
When all my hope is gone
 

POP MUSIC UNITED

 
Is it worth it?
A new leather coat and boots
For yourself
Walking by Big Ben, or Pop-In
PMU, London or Paris, Berlin
All this music so united
Will life let me in?

But now that I’m on my own
You might say I’m better off now that
I’m living alone
And not thinking of you
Or of anyone else

In front of some keyboard
Or watching people go by
As they toil at the grind
Another daydream, another seaboard
How many rolls do I have to unwind
Just to feel without attachments?
Where can I feel kind?

But would you live forever?
(Would you write it all down?
United, united, united)

After the party
A little time to be all by myself
Now that the lasers are over
Time to forget the things that I felt
Flying from you and life and London
To some asteroid belt

(Will you fight forever
‘Cause no one lives forever)