1. |
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Julia tried working in a tavern at night
To make ends meet, it was down the street
And most of the menu was fried
Her joy in life is acrylic and a palette knife
Working on a canvas with the radio on
The radio on
Big Al paid working at an office all day
He gained weight and was often irate
And anxious in a dozen ways
His joy in life is garlic and a sharp German knife
Feeding family and friends, with the radio on
The radio on
god blessed the USA
when she made people who live this way
who live this way
can’t afford to throw it away
Ann Marie runs, fast and away from the sun
Wearing out sneaks and flipping off freaks
who remark upon her excellent buns
Her joy in life is set design and the art of good light
Illuminating stories cuz life can be so boring
So so so so so so so so boring
god blessed the USA
when she made people who live this way
who live this way
Can’t afford to throw that away
Eloise drifted through many addictions
Salty converted, irritated both of his sisters
the myriad maze
and ten thousand difficult days
and anti depressants
and cleaning up messes
Son of a B, Bud really went up a tree
Turned 65 on student loan dime while hackin’ at his poetry
His joy in life was uneventful days with his wife
But she passed on, now he’s watching Spawn
And turning the blue light white
Turning the blue lights white
Turning the blue lights white
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2. |
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Darla’s Dreamin’
Darla‘s dreaming of being thin and pretty
No one sees her except her buddy Robert
Awkward Robert, pigeon chested genius
Of shipping and transport, a bill of lading guru
systems shut down when they mumble
humble greetings in the hall
at the Vision Session
all the talk was kind of small
robert could not focus on the Thought Disruption Wall
loneliness it learns
on an epidemic curve
the milestones that ya miss
forgotten with one kiss
Violence and lying are hard to overcome but
Darla talks to a fairly helpful counselor
Robert’s punching bag is hanging from a rafter
Sweating to Cro Mags, he dances in a shadow
systems shut down when they mumble
humble greetings in the hall
at the Visioning Session
all the talk was kind of small
darla couldn’t focus on the Thought Disruption Wall
consider the idea of damaged goods
as treasure like the ocean or the shady woods
consider the idea of feeling wrong
as silver in a bank you have not drawn upon
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3. |
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It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
that’s the problem with an action plan
Logic that is hard for folks to understand
Others are invested in stone cold wrong
And making lots of money off of human suffering
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
it just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
It just might work
They got a message from the Action Man
and a bunker with some beans in a can
repeat a lie one thousand times
short term money, long term suffering
in my corn dog utopia
we make a game attempt at coping with
existential threats and meteors
giant squid crossed with a dinosaur
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4. |
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oing to the movies alone
We’re all going to the movies alone
going to the movies alone
don’t feel like looking at a telephone
don’t wanna look at a phone
just need a minute in the cinema dome
it’s good to see a kid with a plan
a blade in the hand and not some ham in a band
a commando with a sonic banana
blasting thugs and fascists, leavin’ em in the sand
i got popcorn in my shirt
for a minute there’s no worry no hurt
someone else lays down the law
using twizzlers as a straw
cool cathedral in the dark
a holy temple at the mall
it is so nice to feel so small
going to the movies alone
I like going to the movies alone
Sometimes you emerge and it is snowing
The temperature has dropped its drifting and it’s blowing
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5. |
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6. |
Onions - February 2022
02:31
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Every onions gonna peel
That’s what I know and what I feel
And if you have a heart
It’s gonna wanna shine
Little onion all diced up
Grew in the ground without a sound
Now it’s dancing in the pan
This was never in the plan
Life can really mince you up
Burn your eyes and make ya cry
Sometimes it’s easy not to try
And lay there thinking in the dark
Sometimes it’s easy not to cry
And put off things that need to start
But if you got a heart
You’ll learn to shine alright
Maybe have a bite to eat
Feel the air and move your feet
Every onions gonna peel
It’s just part of the natural deal
Paper skin is gonna fall
Into the stock with carrot tops
holy trinity
pepper onion celery
you’re simmering in it now
kitchen infinity
sweet but kinda vinegary
be careful with the sour
don’t give away the power
you have discerning taste
life’s not a bitch it is a baste
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7. |
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The cruel side of the nails
The cruel side of the spear
How’d ya end up cheering on
The U.S. crucifixion blues
again
And again
With your friends
And your kids
And their kids
In a church
Causing hurt
It is so ordinary
Why should I ask
Repent repent repent
It is so tedious
unremarkable
Quite believable
This rerun really sucks
Keep bringing in the bucks
The wrong side of the nails
The wrong side of the spear
How’d ya end up cheering on
The U.S. crucifixion blues
Maybe it’s the way it is
Hurt the one you love
It’s only human
Dyin for your sins
again
And again
And again
(get square with God and shut your face)
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8. |
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Dinosaur man dinosaur man
I’m turning into a dinosaur man
I’ve done what I could, I do what I can
watch out--I’m a dinosaur man
Hairs in my nose, triceratops toes
It’s 3 in the morning and There’s nuclear snow
Maybe I’ll finally learn to play the guitar
Underneath dimming atavistic stars
ohhhhh
dinosaur man
under a fern avoiding a burn
Alarming data gives me sexual stir
theres something funny crawling out of the slime
time without time is a friend of mine
Dinosaur man, dinosaur man
just now learning the lay of the land
don’t got a pillow got a bed of shale
Funny how people used to pay for kale
On a cushion a meditating
in the belly of a crater
I hear music on the bog
there’s a future in the fog
baby rhino for a dog
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9. |
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10. |
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When will the awkward years be done
Dopey turning into debonair
Letting go of ancient history
Learned at the foot of the stairs
Captivated by poetry
Drifting along in a daydream
When will the awkward years be done
Can’t we all just roll down a hill
the garden it breathes
the dogs gotta sneeze
are you bucktoothed
are you knock kneed
I think I’m gonna call up Jeff
And giggle at our stupid riffs
there are things we never get over
but you can’t live at that depth
when will the awkward years be done
take out the trash let’s have some fun
when will the awkward years be done
my fake moustache it weighs a ton
when will the awkward years be done
who really cares just let tape run
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11. |
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12. |
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Maybe you oughtta notta
Let that zombie out of its cage
Maybe you oughtta notta
profit from the fear and rage
Grievance baby has a beef
Shot some people in the street
Maybe you oughta notta
Start the Civil War again
Maybe I oughtta notta
Have a computer for a phone
I missed the sunset yesterday
My mind was nowhere close to home
I read a thing that made me mad
I saw a thing that made me sad
I smashed some terra cotta
Maybe I ought notta
Be careless what you wish for
It’s an easy row to hoe
Life’s a reach and then you fly
Character is fate
On a soggy paper plate
I think I smell a rat
Probably me, imagine that
Maybe you oughtta notta
Dive on Atlantis again
There’s nothing down there for ya
But heartache and emptiness
Statues swaying in the kelp
Lots of people you can’t help
Maybe you oughtta notta
let’s make a list of the big things
lets agree on some big things
let’s make a list of the big things
lets agree on some big things
all in favor of pigs with wings
say aye and stand to sing
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13. |
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Found A Copper Penny
help me scrub the fuzz off my brain
So I can live again
In the moment and making plans
Help me scrub the fuzz off my brain
Help me scrub the fuzz off my brain
So I can sing again
Worry sucks and courts bad luck
I found a copper penny, it’s only the beginning
Bad memories will fly away
And land upon a willow tree
X marks the spot on this map
Find it again and again
No one here has correct change
Flying through the same ol flame
Bad memories will fly away
And land upon a willow tree
callin all the lost ones on the phone
816 and 541 I’m buying you an ice cream cone
callin all the lost ones on the phone
pick up sticks and jump rope tricks for hearts turned into stone
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14. |
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around the block
About 9 o’clock
With my sweatshirt on
And a head full of burning planet thoughts
The stars are bright
Above our block tonight
It’s been awful hot
But now it’s cooled off
rumination guttering
all the way to the sea
walk it off
step over chalk mark
Flowers in the street
Around the block
the holy ghost has been knockin’
Or maybe that’s he sound of burr oak
Acorns when they drop
The stars are bright
Above our yard tonight
It’s been awful hot
But now it’s cooled off
Hope, for a time you were the one
I wonder where you hang your hat now
Faith, you took a trip round the world
and still don’t wanna settle down
Indifference, I don’t believe that it’s true
I know you have a heart of love
Vicious, church and party raised you well
you’re always gonna be around
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15. |
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Instrumental
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16. |
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Keep it stupid
Keep it incomplete
Roll on the floor
Stamp your feet
Keep it simple
Keep it dumb
Don’t ask for nothin
Don’t ask for love
Keep it stupid
Just enough
Knock it over
Not so tough
Wear your cracked up heart
On the outside
And your shoes untied
And your hands kinda wavin around
Yeah let’s keep this number short and sweet
And kick an apple down the street
I’m kinda amped and I’m kinda beat
don’t look at me that way I just turned 53
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17. |
No Prob - January 2023
02:41
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I think I got a problem
Most of us do
I wanna make progress
My feet won’t move
I shift to the right
I shift to the left
I lean to the East
And end up west
I think I got a problem
Most of us do
lead boots, twisted roots and turning loose
marking time, watching clocks and passing through
Do you have a problem
With sudden weird rage
Maybe it’s our makeup
Or the nature of the age
I shift to the right
I shift to the left
I shift to the East
I shift to to the west
lead boots, twisted roots and turning loose
marking time, watching clocks and passing through
we have learned the value of routine
we are focused calm and disciplined
we are no longer unruly teens
we are bored as spit and sick of all the shit
I think I got a problem
If you can call it that
Everything is easy
When you give it all back
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18. |
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Slow to warm up...
Long time to sparkle on
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19. |
Activator - March 2023
02:53
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20. |
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21. |
Shop Clean Up - May 2023
02:15
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On the street where music once was made
In the shed where iron met iron
sort screws and vacuum cobwebs
Long lunch and rotate tires
What does this button do
What will this lever cause to fire
What does this button do
The foundry heat is getting higher
Sharpen up the shear’s bright edge
Cold scrap, production map
Sweep out the corner crap
A dozen yellow garbage bags
In the air I still hear music
In the shed where iron meets iron
Showing up makes you a hero
So does going back to zero
What does this button do
What will this lever cause to fire
What does this button do
The foundry heat is getting dry
Sharpen up the shear’s bright edge
Cold scrap, production map
Sweep out the corner crap
A dozen yellow garbage bags
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22. |
Time Loopin' - June 2023
01:57
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it has been a while since we jumped the crick
or poked at a snake with a stick we found
it has been a while since we had DQ
in that river town where it’s humid and quiet
it has been some time since the bottle rocket wars
or the tremor in the hand at a smart girl’s door
it has been a while since a dragon kite flew
or a knucklecurve whiffleball snuck past you
snuck past you, snuck past you
shifting dreams
shifting blues
used to tell my mom that my brakes didn’t work
on the way out the door to the Foolkiller show
used to get turned on at the library
trapped in the stacks with no good snacks
why do we think of random things
like picking a tick off a long gone retriever
time slips, dances and dips
I’m not really sure it is there at all
there at all there at all
so come sit by the porchlight
a firefly is on your leg
the bats are out and swooping
Time looping
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23. |
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On The Front Foot
Who’s that foxy lady walking that dog
I think I wanna know her name-oh
boats out on the sea shouldn’t stay there too long
is it true, that it’s you, and you’re not just passing through
Always on my back foot, high beams in fog
feelin’ like a human hangnail
working at the mill you should see what I saw
and it’s true what you do involves the future you
lemonade
in a pitcher
on the porch
made in the shade
on the front foot
for a minute
the life I wanna live is a beautiful thing
keep it near the front of my mind so
I can see it clearly in fine detail
and it’s true what you do becomes the future you
angels from the future past
show us what is meant to last
I think I’d like to make some plans
that I don’t need to understand
Gettin’ on the front foot, laces are loose
some friends I really gotta track down
one is named beauty, the other is truth
and they eat down the street from my old buddy Pete
lemonade
in a pitcher
on the porch
made in the shade
on the front foot
for a minute
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24. |
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(I THINK I’M GETTING THE HANG OF) BUSINESS TRAVEL
I wrecked my fit bit in a hotel pool
water resistant isn’t water proof
I watched some baseball in a corner bar
Ate a carton of Korean noodles
I found a park and I walked a long loop
after work was done and outlook answered
Wright Morris in a used book store
I’m fifty minutes from a national forest
I think I’m getting the hang of business travel
I’ve heard it sucks for so many years
I assumed it would but I find that it doesn’t
people talk, gripe and squawk
best to study on things for yourself
take Dallas, boots on the ground,
found a record store walking around
A stack of wax under my arm
a cup of coffee, mission accomplished
the morning buffet
cantaloupe orange, oatmeal today
salt and pepper on eggs
install teams
in day glo tees
hung over on
extended stay
Cincinnati, a real nice town
hipster neighborhood, walked around
strolled a park with a forbidding tower
it was dusk, there were young people courting
St Paul I could call you home
asked locals about the cold
the cold’s a thing, that much is true
it’ll cut but won’t likely kill ya
I think I’m getting the hang of business travel
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25. |
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26. |
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Music is just love looking for words.
Lawrence Durrell
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27. |
Conjure - November 2023
03:37
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All you have to say.
Is once upon a time
It spins up in the air
It’s hardly even there.
All you have to do.
Is take a little stroll
through the telescope
wander through the smoke
It isn’t anything at all.
It isn’t anything at all.
I would like to be
Shot through with certainty
So confident and clear
At least occasionally
At home with fear and hope
Glowing like a pope
On the edge of my bed
In Heart as well as head
It isn’t anything at all.
It isn’t anything at all.
the winding vine
takes its own sweet time
volcano sun
hammer on
clothes in the drier
singing in the choir
basement light
was on all night
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28. |
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InstruMENTAL
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29. |
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Please Don’t, Please Do
Please don’t make a big mess outta Jesus
And the devil won’t make an example out of you
Put away your truncheon and mace
We’re riding on a rock in space
Please don’t make a big deal out of Jesus
Please don’t have a cow, a cow called reason
And reason won’t make a monkey outta you
Intelligence will get you so far
Welcome to the taco bar
Please don’t make a big deal outta reason
Do be kind
Do be real
Slipping on
Banana peels
Please don’t put off the things that make you happy
And happiness won’t hide out in plain sight
Riding on a Japanese train
Walking in New Orleans again
Please don’t put off the things that make you happy
Do be kind
Do be real
Slipping on
Banana peels
Wipin’ out
messin’ up
Getting back
Up again
Please don’t sell your guitar and your drum set
make some time to make a little noise
I can hear it walking by
so can other girls and guys
please don’t sell your guitar and your drum set
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30. |
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HERE WE GO
Here we go, walking through an open doorway
here we go, setting up a brand new pad
here we go forwarding the mail from the old address
so it goes, someone else has moved in there
don’t we know all you really need is essentials
pare it down, what you need is close at hand
Photographs--some of them end up in the landfill
Diaries--somewhat boring now to read
twinkle lights, tangled in a plastic storage bin
here we go, setting up a brand new pad
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31. |
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This was a spontaneous spiel or prose poem, after I hit the record button.
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Dan Jones Kansas City, Missouri
Dan Jones is a punk-influenced rock and roll singer-songwriter living in Kansas City,
Missouri.
Rock and Roll Daydreams is his 9th full length release, and third with Dan Jones and The Squids (of KC), featuring hometown pals Steve Tulipana (bass) and Matt Ronan (drums).
... more
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