The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Soft Season" by Gem Club

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I have featured lyrics of rock n' roll or pop or contemporary songs that also double as exquisite poetry. And I am closing the month with a beautiful piece by Gem Club (the nom de musique of Chris Barnes).

The sound of Gem Club is chamber pop ... gentle, tender music arranged around Barnes' often agonizingly beautiful piano skills. "Soft Season" is an elegiac song inspired by the life and death of early-90s gay adult film actor Joey Stefano.

One of the things that makes a song or poem powerful is its universality. And I admit that this particular piece might not have universal appeal, but I am quite partial to it since it seems to be an uncanny, near word-for-word portrayal of a very specific time--a few actual incidents--in my own life. But I hope that there is a sort of universal idea here, one of fleeting youth full of the peculiar paradox of youth: confidence and fear, a mix of bold exploration and apprehension of the unknown. Maybe we have all been there, stepping out into the big world but not quite sure of ourselves ... and if you haven't, please let the narrative open a door for you to another perspective. The words in their musical form never fail to move me to tears.

Soft Season
by Gem Club (Chris Barnes)

Muscle shakes up against the wall
White waves in his mouth
He twists into a snake
He has all the time that he needs
And the eyes in the place
For as long as it lasts
I’m a boy on my back
And I’m more of a man

Might try to hurt me
Might try to love me too much

All the men dance like diamonds
In the back room beauties
Will compare their flowers
And he pulls on the mattress
I am soft for the season
I look up and you’re leaving
And I’m out in the hallway
Where I work on my bloodline

https://www.instagram.com/gemclub
https://www.iamgemclub.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Ghosts" by Yungblud

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

"Ghosts" by Yungblud is an ode to tenacity, about finding beauty in the face of ugliness, tenderness in the face of barbarism, hope in the face of despair, and good in the face of evil...something we could use now. It is an organically arising resistance based on a simple, undying desire to be present in this world...really present.

I always post songs in this series without any link to the video or music since the lyrics are the point. But this is one of those instances where being able to hear the music--and see the performance--only enhances the strong message, so click here for a soaring, energetic experience!

Ghosts
by Yungblud (Dominic Harrison)

I see the distant smoke
Across the water way
I’d swim a thousand miles
Just to hear you say
The words that never come
When you need them most
To dry your eyes out

Is it your mother's tongue
Or your fathers ghost
Remember sticks and stones
And how they broke your bones
Pain is how you learn
And boy you learned a lot
When they hit you in the face
And you begged them all to stop
Until you rose up again
And you tried your best to surrender
Bowed down your head
Then you looked up to the sky and said

My god, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
Wanna stay here forever
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
You’re my gateway to heaven

From underneath the dust
You see the curtain call
Can’t bear to watch another generation stall
To the hands of greed
That will take it all
And cut your heart out

See the face in the shadow
Just a thread in the seams
We’ll be ghosts by tomorrow
Just a day in a dream

But you’ll rise up again
And you’ll fight against the surrender
My friends don’t wait
Just look up to the sky and say

My god, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
Wanna stay here forever
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
You’re my gateway to heaven
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
Wanna stay here forever
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
You’re my gateway to heaven

https://www.yungbludofficial.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "One of the Greats" by Florence + The Machine

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry. And this ferocious piece started life as a literal poem that Florence Welch did not intend to turn into a song...but I am glad she did. "One of the Greats" was composed after Welch had a near-death experience and speaks not only about mortality but about sexism, and misogyny.

One of the Greats
by Florence + The Machine

I crawled up from under the earth
Broken nails and coughing dirt
Spitting out my songs so you could sing along, oh
And with each bedraggled breath, I knew I came back from the dead
To show you how it's done, to show you what it takes
To conquer and to crucify, to become one of the greats
One of the greats

I kept a scream inside my chest, killed everyone I'd ever kissed
Hung them on the wall like trophies, each name, a stain upon my lips
I told the truth but could never see it through
You see yourself hung on the wall but that song is not about you
I wrote down all my fumbling visions transmitted by a television
Got everything I thought I wanted and cried hungover in a hotel closet

Did I get it right? Do I win the prize?
Do you regret bringing me back to life?

Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead
Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead

I did my best, tried to impress, my childhood dream made flesh
And my dresses and my flowering sadness, so like a woman to profit from her madness
I was only beautiful under the lights, only powerful there
Burned down at thirty-six
Why did you dig me up for this?

Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead
Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead

You'll bury me again, you'll say it's all pretend
That I could never be great being held up against such male tastes
Because who really gets to be one of the greats, one of the greats?
But I've really done it this time (Ah-ah), this one is all mine
I'll be up there with the man and the ten other women (Ah-ah)
And the hundred greatest records of all time (Ah-ah)
It must be nice to be a man and make boring music just because you can (Ah-ah)
Now don't get me wrong, I'm a fan (Ah-ah)
You're my second favourite front-man (Ah-ah)
And you could have me if you weren't so afraid of me
It's funny how men don't find power very sexy
So this one's for the ladies
Do I drive you crazy?
Did I get it right?

Did I get it right? Do I win the prize?
Do you regret bringing me back to life?
Did I get it right? Do I win the prize?
Do you regret bringing me back to life?

Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead
Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting

Too feminine to function
A pile of bodies and a trail of destruction
I will let the light in, I will let some love in
I will be happy, it will be perfect
I will let the light in, I will let some love in
I will be happy, it will be perfect
I will let the light in (Arms outstretched, back from the dead)
Streetlights bursting overhead
Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead
Arms outstretched, back from the dead
Streetlights bursting overhead
Arms outstretched
Arms outstretched
Streetlights bursting
Overhead
Overhead
Streetlights bursting
Overhead

https://florenceandthemachine.net/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Why I Love The Stars" by Laurie Anderson

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs or contemporary music that also double as exquisite poetry.

And we start off the month with a set of short lyrics to a piece by Laurie Anderson called "Why I Love The Stars" which was performed live at the Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-D'arc in Paris for a private concert of the same name as part of the Arte series last year.

Anderson is a national (and international) treasure and living legend. She is responsible for some of the most innovative music and musical inventions in the last one hundred years. I have seen her live many times over the last many decades (I saw her perform her "United States I-IV" in the 80s!) and whenever she is performing live in an area near me, I make an effort to attend. And I am always blown away by her storytelling, her presentation, her uniqueness, her musicality, and her astonishing ability to pinpoint aspects of culture and life from a new perspective, cutting to the heart of things in a devastating way (at the top of the Arte concert, she introduces herself as being from the former United States of America). This piece cuts to the heart of human nature and acts as a warning...and I wish it didn't.

Why I Love The Stars
by Laurie Anderson

You know the reason I really love the stars?
It's because
we cannot

hurt them.

We can't burn them
or flood them
or make them overflow.
We can't blow them up
or turn them out.

But we are reaching for them.
We are
reaching
for them...

https://laurieanderson.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Star-Field On Red Lines" by Duncan Sheik

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

Duncan Sheik made a splash when he first appeared in 1996 with a debut album that featured a marvelous song called "Barely Breathing." Since then, he has released nine albums and created the music and lyrics for Broadway musicals including the multi-Tony-award winning "Spring Awakening." As a lyricist, he has always presented compelling stories and this song, "Star-Field On Red Lines" from his 2006 album "White Limousine" is quite evocative, and can work for multiple periods of American history like the Cold War in the 1950s, perhaps Vietnam in the 60's and 70's, and maybe even Bush the First's Gulf War in the 90s.

Star-Field On Red Lines
by Duncan Sheik

Playground
Home-land
A countryside to save

Blue skies
Air-space
Soldiers to raise
And sacrifice

Strong armed
Christians
Oiled up and fed

Safe as
Houses
In aprons of lead
And sanctified

Omens and Signs
A star-field
On red lines
Turn those blind eyes
To fantasies
And white lies

How much
Longer
This empire of night

The smallest
Subjects
All begin to fight
And multiply

Omens and Signs
A star-field
On red lines
Turn those blind eyes
To fantasies
And white lies

Omens and Signs
A star-field
On red lines
Turn those blind eyes
To fantasies
And white lies

Head down
Brace yourself
Here it comes

https://www.duncansheik.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Wanderer" by Angelo De Augustine

To observe National Poetry Month, I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry. And this track from Angelo De Augustine called "Wanderer" is just that: the narrative is very intimate, like a stream of consciousness voice in someone's head...a narrative of unease, of something just not quite right steeped in a tale of missed love.

The song appeared on De Augustine's album "Tomb" which he described as "a motion towards positivity, addressing lost love, the worthwhile cost of honesty, and the ramifications, of regret. In the end...it isn’t about burying or hiding something away, it’s about opening the seal and letting something new emerge. It’s about telling people how you feel when you feel it, instead of burying everything over the span of years."

Wanderer
by Angelo De Augustine

Wanderer
Just like a song
That's been rubbed out above your left arm
Full of light
Eager eyes
For the adventure of a lifetime

She's on the run
Who you running from?
It can't be me cause I'm no one
Turtle dove
Carried my love
And left it on the moon to shine

I'll try
My best to find some peace of mind
But the light fades to black
And you don't know where the exit is at

Wanderer
Labyrinthine fern
Planted in your dilated mind
Evil talk
Heaven above
Protect her in her darkest night

Angelo De Augustine | Photo by Jess Collins

https://angelodeaugustine.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Book of Brilliant Things" by Simple Minds

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

Simple Minds, a blockbuster group in the 80s, released a pair of albums that stand out as their best work: "New Gold Dream" and "Sparkle In The Rain." Both albums contained lyrics by lead singer-songwriter Jim Kerr that are romantic, surreal, literate, and dense. Some verged into metaphysical territory like this amazing track from "Sparkle" called "Book of Brilliant Things."

Book of Brilliant Things

by Jim Kerr

Thank you for the voice, the eyes and the memories shine
Thank you for the pictures of living in the beautiful black and the white
Some say we'll be together for a very long time
Some say that our first impressions never will lie

I open up to take a look into the bright and shiny book
Into the open scheme of things
Book of brilliant things
Book of brilliant things
I open up to take a look into the bright and shiny book;
Into the open scheme of things
Book of brilliant things
Oh, book of brilliant things

I thank you for the shadows
It takes two or three to make company
I thank you for the lightning that shoots up and sparkles in the rain
Some say this could be the great divide
Some day some of them say that our hearts will beat
Like the wheels of the fast train, all around the world

I open up to take a look into the bright and shiny book
Into the open scheme of things
Book of brilliant things
Book of brilliant things

Some say we can be together for a very long time
Some say our hearts will beat like the wheels of a fast train
All around the world
All around the world
All around the world
Some say our hearts beat like the wheels of a fast train
All around the world
All around, all around, around, around
All around the world

Our hearts beat like the wheels of a fast train
A very long time
All around and all around and all around and all around the world
Some say we'll be together
Some say
A very long time, some of them will say
A very long time all around the world

https://www.simpleminds.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Urn" by Chanel Beads

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

And we start off the month with a set of short lyrics from the song "Urn" by Chanel Beads, Shane Lavers' uncategorizable musical project (I posted a live set they played this past autumn that knocked my socks off here). A fleeting look at a certain aspect of death, one that we never think of until we are faced with it, occupies the first two lines of the song. Having one's grief free-floating or fixed is a powerful conundrum. We who are left when a loved one dies have to navigate the actual physical remains and what that means emotionally, since it is all that is left...buried in the earth or cremated and put...somewhere.

Urn
by Chanel Beads

Sometimes, I wish that we buried you now
Assigned a location to my grief somehow
But I know that you would think the cemetery is silly
It's dust to me
Your ashes move too quickly

It's funny, numbers have significance now
Yeah, your birthday that kinda hurts me now
Like the day you died, the day you drank all that honey
Like the day you died, the day you got sick from drinking honey

https://www.instagram.com/chanel_beads/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Day After Day" by The Pretenders

To observe National Poetry Month, I have been featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry and this is our last installation for 2024.

Singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde is the soul of her group The Pretenders. She worked at Vivienne Westwood's boutique in Chelsea and knew The Sex Pistols before starting her own band in 1978. She has written some truly stellar songs that rightly live in the rock n' roll canon. But this song from the group's sophomore album, "Pretenders II" has always touched me. The world weary sense is palpable as our narrator circumnavigates the globe in a state of perpetual night, while the wistful closing, looking forward to the end of a war, is even more wearying. Feels like a bit like 2024.

"Day After Day"
by The Pretenders

Way up in the sky
Over the city, over Tokyo
Silver light, summer moon
You'll be over somebody's winter this afternoon
While the dolphins swim in the sea
You're going grey, my baby
Still the war is waging endlessly
Day after day, day after day

Way up in the sky
Over the city and Lake Erie
You remember the flats, you were there
Out every night Mr. Moonlight

Round and round and round we go
Just like yesterday

Way up in the sky
Over the city where you sleep tonight
The light outside your window blinks
Hotel, hotel, hotel
Open the blind and dream in a moonbeam

When the war's finally over
We'll meet again
And pick up where we left off

https://thepretenders.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Zoo Station"

To observe National Poetry Month, I have been featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

I am a fan of U2 for many reasons and one of them is their deft ability with lyrics. In his book SURRENDER, Bono says, "The greatest songwriting is never conclusive, but the search for conclusion," (Italics mine). In other words, it is the process that is important and not the result, it is the journey not the destination, it is life in its uncertainty and messiness and emotion that conveys meaning and not a neatly wrapped up ending. Bono has excelled at this approach for decades now, and this incredible song, "Zoo Station" which opens the phenomenal "Achtung Baby" album demonstrates a willingness to meet the world head on, whatever it is, even when it hurts: high and low, control and surrender, pain and ecstasy...often at the same time.

Zoo Station
by U2, lyrics by Bono

I'm ready
I'm ready for the laughing gas
I'm ready
I'm ready for what's next

I'm ready to duck
I'm ready to dive
I'm ready to say
I'm glad to be alive
I'm ready
I'm ready for the push, uh huh

In the cool of the night
In the warmth of the breeze
I'll be crawling 'round
On my hands and knees
Just down the line
Zoo Station
Got to make it on time, oh Zoo Station

I'm ready
I'm ready for the gridlock
I'm ready
To take it to the street, uh huh

I'm ready for the shuffle
Ready for the deal
Ready to let go of the steering wheel
I'm ready
Ready for the crush, uh huh
Zoo Station

Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
Hey baby, hey baby, hey baby, hey baby
It's alright, it's alright

Time is a train
Makes the future the past
Leaves you standing in the station
Your face pressed up against the glass

I'm just down the line from your love (Zoo Station)
Under the sign of your love (Zoo Station)
I'm gonna make it on time, make it on time (Zoo Station)
Just a stop down the line (Zoo Station)
Just a stop down the line

U2, Achtung Baby era by Anton Corbijn

https://www.u2.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Europa and the Pirate Twins"

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

If you were alive in the early 80s, I am sure you could not have missed hearing synthesizer whiz Thomas Dolby's near-novelty song "She Blinded Me With Science," taken from his debut release "The Golden Age of Wireless," an album steeped in a retro WWII feeling in both narrative (look at the title alone!) and imagery. However, the opening track on the US release far outshines "She Blinded Me With Science." This song, "Europa and the Pirate Twins" is an entire lifetime of a story condensed down to three verses and a chorus. It is the moving story of two young people in love and how they are tragically torn apart. Dolby has described the song to the now-defunct webzine Drowned In Sound, along with the tone of the album, as reflecting "a sense of relationship that's going on as being overwhelmed by something on a grander level", adding "there's a very strong wartime atmosphere to it."

Europa and the Pirate Twins
by Thomas Dolby

I was fourteen, she was twelve
Father travelled, hers as well, Europa...
Down the beaches, hand in hand
Twelfth of never on the sand
Then war took her away
We swore a vow that day

We'll be the Pirate Twins again, Europa
Oh my country
Europa
I'll walk beside you in the rain
Europa
Ta république
Europa

Nine years after, who'd I see
On the cover of a magazine? Europa...
Buy her singles and see all her films
Paste her pictures on my windowsill
But that's not quite the same - it isn't, is it?
Europa, my old friend

We'll be the Pirate Twins again, Europa
Oh my country
My country, Europa!
I'll walk beside you in the rain
Europa
Ta république
Europa

Blew in from the hoverport
She was back in London
Pushed past the papermen
Calling her name
She smiled for the cameras
As the bodyguard grabbed me
Her eyes were gone forever
As they drove her away

We'll be the Pirate Twins again, Europa
Oh my country
Europa
I'll walk beside you in the rain
Europa
Ta république
Europa

https://www.thomasdolby.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Socrates The Python"

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

For our second installment of The Poetry of Rock n' Roll, let's examine the lyrics to a song by Peter Murphy, Godfather of Goth, singer-songwriter, and former frontman for legendary group Bauhaus. "Socrates The Python" is not about a snake, but about the issues of our age stemming from a disconnect with the spirit. But not an abstract spirit...a spirit that asks us to be involved, a spirit that offers knowledge and not blind belief as a way to enlightenment. It's a profound idea...one where he name checks the mystic and philosopher Gurdjieff along with one of Gurdjieff's disciples J.G. Bennett in a sort of incantation, pitting the idea of self-discovery and self exploration against the head-in-the-sand perspective of much of organized religions.

Socrates The Python

by Peter Murphy

Today
Your problems are not
Of blind belief
That is or means
Belief ain't enough, belief ain't enough
The oracle of your age
Point towards the word
Psychological

You may freeze
You may fear
You may wince
And not hear
You can sick at the heart
When I say
"God is one"
Does God the word
Make you reel
And I mean, real

But it isn't God the father son or holy one,
But the key to your age
Get it together, and listen
With all the books
On the shelf
All the wisdom
With all the books
On the shelf
All the wisdom

Socrates, Pythagoras
Yin and bloody Yang
Hatha Yoga, Omm
Bennett, Gurdjieff, Jesus
Old Testament and New
Libraries full of keys
Libraries full of keys
Where's your lock?

Socrates Pythagoras
Yin and bloody Yang
Hatha Yoga, Omm
Bennett, Gurdjieff, Jesus
Old Testament and New
Libraries full of keys
Libraries full of keys

Bennett, Gurdjieff, Jesus
Bennett, Gurdjieff, Jesus

https://www.petermurphy.info/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "The Letter" by Kristin Hersh

To observe National Poetry Month, every Monday I will be featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

For our first installment of The Poetry of Rock n' Roll, I want to share a very underrated artist. Singer-songwriter Kristin Hersh has always been very upfront about her bouts with mental illness and this incredibly visceral poem-song is clearly a record of struggling through a traumatic episode. "The Letter" is from her 1994 debut solo release "Hips and Makers." I don't embed videos of songs for this series because I want the focus to be on the words. But do yourself a favor with this one: go find the music for this and listen to how Hersh musically manifests this event...the remarkable tension and anxiety living within the rhythm and the cyclical guitar leave you breathless. It's extraordinary.

The Letter
by Kristin Hersh

September 29, 1984
Dear so and so
Gather me up because I'm lost
Or I'm back where I started from
I'm crawling on the floor rolling on the ground
I might cry
I won't go home
So here's the story
I am turning up in circles
And I'm spinning on my knuckles
Don't forget that there are circles left undone very close to me
Forgive me comfort me
I'm crawling on the floor rolling on the ground
There's a blanket wrapped around my head
I'm moving in a line that's shaped like this
I'm holding in my breath
I have a room
Can you tell if I am lying
Don't forget that I'm living inside the space where walls and floor meet
A box inside my chest
An animal stuffed with my frustration
Can you hear me?
Don't forget that I'm alone when you're away
You make me act like other people do forgive me
Comfort me

You comfort me

You make me die
I'm gonna cry

I won't go home
Don't kill the god of sadness
Just don't let her get you down
See the man inside a book I read can't handle his own head
So what the hell am I supposed to do?
I'd like to know how he died
My hands are shaking don't you love me anymore
I only need a person keep my shoulders
Stand around lie down move your hand above the floor
Gather me up because I'm lost
Or I'm back where I started from
Crawling on the floor rolling on the ground
I'm gonna cry you look for me
Love Kristin
P.S. keep them coming

https://www.kristinhersh.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Johnny and Mary" by Robert Palmer

To observe National Poetry Month, I have been featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry and this is our last installation for 2023.

Singer-songwriter Robert Palmer may be remembered more as a pop crooner fronting a group of red-lipped supermodels and not so much as a crafty wordsmith but his song "Jonny and Mary" shows his storytelling skills, spinning a sad, compact tale of a couple seemingly paralyzed by the circumstances they have created for themselves. The lyrics are simple but penetrating in their import.

Johnny and Mary
by Robert Palmer

Johnny's always running around
Trying to find certainty
He needs all the world to confirm
That he ain't lonely
Mary counts the walls
Knows he tires easily

Johnny thinks the world would be right
If it could buy the truth from him
Mary says he changes his mind
More than a woman
But she made her bed
Even when the chance was slim

Johnny says he's willing to learn
When he decides he's a fool
Johnny says he'll live anywhere
When he earns time to
Mary combs her hair

Says she should be used to it

Mary always hedges her bets
She never knows what to think
She says that he still acts like he's being discovered
Scared that he'll be caught without a second thought
Running around

Johnny feels he's wasting his breath
Trying to talk sense to her
Mary says he's lacking a real sense of proportion
So she combs her hair
Knows he tires easily

Johnny's always running around
Trying to find certainty
He needs all the world to confirm
That he ain't lonely
Mary counts the walls
Says she should be used to it

Johnny's always running around
Running around

Robert Palmer shockingly passed away in 2003 at the too-young age of 54 but thankfully his website is still active.
http://www.robertpalmer.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Teenage Wildlife" by David Bowie

For this National Poetry Month 2023, I am posting song lyrics that double as exquisite poetry and for this exercise, we can look at this amazing set of lyrics for a song called "Teenage Wildlife" that David Bowie released on his "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" album in 1980. A sad portrait of a petulant, privileged, celebrity teenager, the lyrics actually say a lot about life in a larger sense, and how it can be devouring.

Teenage Wildlife
by David Bowie

Well, how come you only want tomorrow
With its promise of something hard to do
A real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
Blue skies above and sun on your arms strength your stride
And hope in those squeaky clean eyes
You'll get chilly receptions everywhere you go
Blinded with desire I guess the season is on

So you train by shadow boxing, search for the truth
But it's all, but it's all used up
Break open your million dollar weapon
And push your luck, still you push, still you push your luck
A broken nosed mogul are you, one of the new wave boys?
Same old thing in brand new drag comes sweeping into view
As ugly as a teenage millionaire pretending it's a whizz kid world
You'll take me aside and say
"Well, David, what shall I do? They wait for me in the hallway"
I'll say "don't ask me, I don't know any hallways"
But they move in numbers and they've got me in a corner
I feel like a group of one, no no they can't do this to me
I'm not some piece of teenage wildlife

Those midwives to history put on their bloody robes
The word is that hunted one is out there on his own
And you're alone for maybe the last time
And you breathe for a long time
Then you howl like a wolf in a trap
And you daren't look behind
You fall to the ground like a leaf from the tree
And look up one time at that vast blue sky
Scream out aloud as they shoot you down
No no, I'm not a piece of teenage wildlife
I'm not a piece of teenage wildlife

And no one will have seen and no one will confess
The fingerprints will prove that you couldn't pass the test
There'll be others on the line filing past, who'll whisper low
I miss you, he really had to go, well each to his own, he was
Another piece of teenage wildlife
Another piece of teenage wildlife, another piece of teenage wild

RIP David. We miss you still.
https://www.davidbowie.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "The Great Curve" by Talking Heads

To observe National Poetry Month, I am posting song lyrics that also double as poetry.

In 1980, Talking Heads released their fourth album, a real game changer in lyrics and music, called "Remain In Light" that includes this amazing track, "The Great Curve." It evokes spiritual beliefs that are based in feminine principles of creation and existence. Lead singer and lyricist David Byrne took a loose, stream-of-consciousness approach to writing material for this album and his ability shines in this piece.

I don't include links to songs I post here in the Poetry of Rock and Roll series in order to focus solely on the lyrics, but do yourself a favor and find this track somehow: you will hear the frenetic, poly-rhythmic sound rooting the narrative firmly in Africa. It is mind boggling.

 
The Great Curve
by Talking Heads, lyrics by David Byrne

Sometimes the world has a load of questions
Seems like the world knows nothing at all
The world is near but it's out of reach
Some people touch it but they can't hold on

She is moving to describe the world
Night must fall, darker, darker
She has messages for everyone
Night must fall, darker, darker

She is moving by remote control
Night must fall, darker, darker
Hands that guide her are invisible
Night must fall, darker, darker

The world has a way of looking at people
Sometimes we feel that the world is wrong
She loves the world, and all the people in it
She shakes 'em up when she start to walk

She is only partly human being
Divine, define, so say so, so say so
She defines the possibilities
Divine, define, so say so, so say so
Holding on for an eternity
Divine, define, so say so, so say so
Gone, ending without finishing
Divine, define, so say so, so say so

The world moves on a woman's hips
The world moves and it swivels and bops
The world moves on a woman's hips
The world moves and it bounces and hops

A world of light, she's gonna open our eyes up
A world of light, she's gonna open our eyes up
She gonna open, move and open, move
A world of light she's gonna open our eyes up

She is moving to describe the world
Night must fall, darker, darker
She has messages for everyone
Night must fall, darker, darker
She is moving by remote control
Night must fall, darker, darker
Hands that move her are invisible
Night must fall, darker, darker
Divine, to define, so say so
Night must fall, darker, darker

A world of light, she's gonna open our eyes up
A world of light, she's gonna open our eyes up

A world of light she's gonna open our eyes up
Wanna define so say so, so say so
Divine, define, so say so, so say so
Night must fall, darker, darker
She has got to move the world to move the world to move
The world

https://talking-heads.nl/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "This Is" by Grace Jones

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I will be featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as poetry.

And let's start off with a bang...a Grace Jones track may seem a bit unlikely but as a songwriter, she has always walked down some interesting avenues. This song's lyrics take the form of a "list poem" but reads as a sort of manifesto with Jones showing us simple flashes of life, humanity, history, and psychology, each preceded by the words "This Is."

This Is
by Grace Jones

This is my voice
My weapon of choice

This is life

This is a plate
This is a cup
This is a story I didn't make up
This is a girl lost in the wood
Some covered wagon from some other 'hood

This is a voice
These are the hands
This is technology
Mixed with the band

Are you going into the light?
Are you free of fear today?
When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?

This is life

Most of my crimes are of optimism
40 thousand volts of recognition
They tried to strip me of dignity
But I still have tenacity

These are the words I didn't invent
Only an attempt to say what I meant

This is the paper
This is the pen
This is my weapon
A means to an end

Are you going into the desert?
You're out of control of your fate
There are no warriors without a war
To get ahead before it's too late

Lay down your spear
Let go your fear
Far becomes near
Oh Lord
This is life

This is the tree
The Buddha sat under
These are the clouds
This is our thunder
This is what makes me look up and wonder
Into the eye of the wind
Through the rain
On to the plain

This is what I'm focused on
This is my head on straight
This is the harness
This is the bit
This is me
I'm flying again

This is a lawyer
A professional liar
Day after day
Igniting the fire
This is the key
This is the door
Imagine the view from the basement floor

Now you're going into the desert
You're out of control of your fate
Are you a slave in a chain of command
Serving up another man's hate?

This is life

Lay down your spear
Let go your fear
Far becomes near
Look out

Are you going into the light?
Are you freeing your fear today?
When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?

This is depression
It comes when you're blocking
This is expression
It comes when you're rocking

This is life
When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?
(This is a plate, this is a cup, this is a story, this is a story I didn't make up)

When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?
(This is a plate, this is a cup, this is a story I didn't make up)

This is the world still healing
This is man that's feeling
This is the world still turning
This is the rage still burning
This is the man not learning
This is life

Photo by Andrea Klarin

https://www.gracejones.com/

The Poetry of Rock and Roll: "Higher Hell" by Echo and the Bunnymen

To observe National Poetry Month, I have posted song lyrics that also double as poetry.

Alternative band Echo and the Bunnymen released their sophomore album "Porcupine" in 1983 and this track closed the icy, intense collection of songs. Songwriter and lead singer Ian McCulloch said of the album's songs, "I think Porcupine was a classic autobiographical album, the most honest thing that I'd ever written or sung...I found the material from it really heavy to play--like, really oppressive. That's the only reason why I didn't like the album. The songs were great but it didn't make me happy...A lot of songs are about coming to terms with the opposites in me."

Higher Hell
by Echo and The Bunnymen

Smack in the middle of today
Got to learn new words
Merely got to simply say
I think we all misheard

Cracked in the middle of me
Have to find my heart
Smiling equates with happy
But I know they're miles apart

Just like my lower heaven
You know so well my higher hell

When confronted by
Continuing the course
Will you open up
Or do I have to force
The words right out
Of your stubborn mouth?
Stunted of course,
Guilty in their growth

Just like my lower heaven
You know so well my higher hell

Crashed through the floor today
I couldn't find my legs
Suppose you live and learn
Learn it again and again

Smack in the middle of today
Got to find new words
Merely got to simply say
I think we all misheard

Just like my lower heaven
You know so well my higher hell

(when confronted by continuing the course)
(will you open up or do I have to force)
(the words right out)
(of your stubborn mouth)
(stunted of course)
(guilty in their growth)

http://www.bunnymen.com/

The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Slow Down" by Art Feynman

To observe National Poetry Month, I am sharing song lyrics that also double as poetry.

And California-based artist and musician Art Feynman (the nom de musique of one Luke Temple) has written a pretty profound sentiment into his song "Slow Down."

Slow Down
by Art Feynman

Slow down, don't crush yourself to make a diamond, yeah

Every day it's just the same sound hum'n
The old galactic common freeze
I bet you bet when your eyes were in the darkness
Before you had someone to be

Slow down, don't crush yourself to make a diamond, yeah

Everybody going (with it baby)
(Faster faster faster faster)
The universe (the universe)
(Faster faster faster faster)
Slow down, don't crush yourself to make a diamond, yeah

https://www.instagram.com/artfeynman
https://www.instagram.com/mr.luke_temple

Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Dawn Chorus" by Thom Yorke

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll (or post-rock n' roll) or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry. For the first song lyric post last week (here), we looked at beautiful, profound lyrics from a Radiohead song called "Daydreaming" where I said no one can kill me (emotionally speaking of course) like Thom Yorke and Radiohead can. Their music and lyrics often speak to a deep part of myself and how I see the universe.

So this song from Thom Yorke's 2019 solo release called "Anima" really hits home for me. Like "Daydreaming," this song "Dawn Chorus" is also infused with a sense of sadness, wistfulness, regret, and a cosmic weariness. But it goes further, to "that" place for me...

The title refers to the start of the day when birds wake and begin to sing. But it also brings to mind that classic tune--the third section of the William Tell Overture by Rossini called "Ranz de Vaches" which is a type of Swiss melody, traditionally played on the Alpenhorn in order to summon cattle--used during cartoon and film sunrises...played so often as the soundtrack to a sunrise that it has become a cliché. The ridiculous, Polyanna sense now associated with this tune speaks to a vapid perspective, akin to toxic positivity. It is this idealized and unreal sense of looking at the world that Yorke pushes against in the lyrics. Basically, when you tire of pretending the world is a beautiful bouquet of sunshine, then you can perceive reality. You will be able to see what is important in this world. You will be able to live authentically, without regrets.

Dawn Chorus
by Thom Yorke

Back up the cul-de-sac
Come on, do your worst
You quit your job again
And your train of thought

If you could do it all again
A little fairy dust
A thousand tiny birds singing
If you must, you must

Please let me know
When you've had enough
Of the white light
Of the dawn chorus

If you could do it all again
You don't know how much
Pronto pronto, moshi mosh
Come on, chop chop

If you could do it all again
Yeah, without a second thought
I don't like leaving
The door shut

I think I missed something
But I'm not sure what
In the middle of the vortex
The wind picked up

Shook up the soot
From the chimney pot
Into spiral patterns
Of you, my love

You take a little piece
Then you break it off
It's a bloody racket
It's the dawn chorus

If you could do it all again
Big deal, so what?
Please let me know
When you've had enough

It's the last chance
O.K. Corral
If you could do it all again
This time with style

Thom Yorke, October 2020 by Luca Carlino/NurPhoto via Getty Images

https://www.radiohead.com/