Go-on Ahead

If I were to die tomorrow,
I know right now what my Lord would say,
he'd say, "Go-on ahead, go-on ahead,
You lived your life well, now go-on ahead,"

If I were to die today,
I wouldn't carry with me no bags of sorrow,
say, "Go-on ahead, go-on ahead,
you lived your life well, now go-on ahead,"

I ain't claiming no sanctity,
my life ain't been no straight pine tree,
say, "Go-on ahead, go-on ahead,
you lived your life well, now go-on ahead,"

I ain't saying I been narrow,
been winding all over like an old magnolia,
say, "Go-on ahead, go-on ahead,
you lived your life well, now go-on ahead,"

I went down to the old boneyard other night,
saw my pappy playin cards in a young man's skin,
betting 10 times his size,
but I know'd that devil'd win

bury the dead right where you find 'em,
to take 'em home will leave you blinded,
say, "Go-on ahead, go-on ahead,
you lived your life well, now go-on ahead,"

bury the dead right where you find 'em,
to take 'em home will leave you blinded,
say, "Go-on ahead, go-on ahead,
you lived your life well, now go-on ahead,"

you lived your life well, now go-on ahead...

Snake in the Grass (tentatively titled)

Snake in the grass
do you think it's enough
to hedge on another war?
coins spilling over your paper cup
are you drinking for one or two?
tiger in the streets
did you really believe
I would play your fool again?

cause it was over, before it began
we're lapping up, the puddles with our hands

went to your house on the top of the hill
buried in the the clouds
almost got lost on the way back down
slipped on your crystal stairs
you gave me a show of your favorite tricks
juggling fire and knives
nice for you but I'd hate to be your neighbor downwind

cause it was over, before it began
we're lapping up, the puddles from our hands

(solo)

reach into the air with your ashy tongue
tastin for the rain
snakes pouring out of your golden cup
are you drinking for one or two?
next flood will be your last
written in the red moon

cause it was over, before it began
we're lapping up, the puddles with our hands
cause it was over, before it began
we're lapping up, the puddles from our hands

The Piss Song Sequel

Took a chair down by the lake to kiss you one last time,
but you weren't there so I had to pretend,
though it didn't feel quite the same
probably better cause if you were there
I would've said something selfish and hurtful

for example: "piss off you heartless witch"

Got pissed, took a piss in the lake,
and it made me think of you
and all the times you got pissed at me for saying stupid things,
well I can live with myself and my mistakes,
but if you can't well then that's your problem, I guess,

so you can piss off you heartless witch,
maybe we'll meet again on a lake somewhat like this,
and bitch about suburnban sprawl,
cause we deplore it more than each other

if you come around to be my friend again,
I'll try not to hold a grudge, but it may take a week or two
cause when you left, you took my old copy of Moby Dick,
so when I forgot the ending, I had to steal another copy from the library,
but it didn't have my old angry notes written in it

I'm trying to get over it,
so just give me some time and we can be friends,
doubtful ever again lovers

and in the meanwhile...
you can piss off you heartless witch,
maybe we'll meet again on a lake somewhat like this,
and bitch about suburnban sprawl,
cause we deplore it slightly more than each other
yes we deplore it more than each other

Merry-go-round (February 2008)

My father was a merry-go-round driver
he took the same track everyday
now I’m out to derail 1000 lives
to make up for his lack of mistakes

If you’re looking for an anchor,
don’t cast your nets here,
if you’re asking for gravity,
search the sun,
cause I’m the kind of guy who won’t be around
when breakfast comes

I’m gonna get you high,
I’m gonna get you low,
take your body and leave your soul

now I’m out alone on the desert,
but pretty soon I’m gonna be in your town,
for a demolition derby
we’re wrecking hearts on the floor

I hope you ain’t wearing a seat belt,
papa sure better taught you to drive,
we gonna chicken baby on dead man’s curve,
and I’m bettin’ on a crash

here I come baby,
you got what it takes to take me on?
green eyes of fire and ice starin’ back,
I hope you brought your boxing gloves,

I’m gonna get you high,
I’m gonna get you low,
take your body and leave your soul

Rosa Parks (OutKast remake) (February 2008)

I’ll be walking again tomorrow just like now,
raising myself foot by foot always proud,
to carry past the line in the sand,
been doin’ it since I was a child anyhow,
well, that’s where they get you thinking you different but,
in the back of my mind I’m always asking like “what,
you see in me that ain’t also in your blood?”
now I’ve had about enough of that lyin’ so here’s what

while you fellas up high is wonderin’,
which jet to take some of us others is runnin’
just to catch the number #5 on time,
cross town just to get in line,
cause while a minute means a dime to you,
that cents got us sweatin’ cause what we do
ain’t got time for mistakes, you suits can’t wait,
so we bustin’ or our ass is grass and you’er hungry,
and still some other can’t get they’s belly half-full,
and how you gonna trade your brothers in the south,
given them lies like its medicine, Tuskegee nothing but experimentin’
oh wait you poisoned that too, weren’t they sayin’
that Alabama is the place where the heart’s worn,
torn by dialects of hate and callousness, this,
color ain’t worthy of nothing better, your skin
and coat will make a nice rug underfoot,
I’ve had a well to cry about it, but today I’m sittin’ on it and ain’t movin’ for ya’ll

over 40 years now it’s been, and still my people are runnin’
indoors for cover with nothing but a paper,
Civil Rights you callin’ it but we wise enough to see the lines still dotted, ain’t signed,
and when you gonna get off your behind and make it more,
we got the feet to walk so why we waiting at the bus stop?

Frontiers (January 2008)

(Intro drum solo)

when all of your frontiers have stopped at the sea,
California melts to salty breeze,
who’s won the gold wrenched in your hand,
was it you, your posse, your clan?

but you couldn’t stop there and the end of the land,
the moon lay await in your plan,
did you ever stop to consider the bones,
at home before you made war in other sands,

take a minute to reflect on the past—
do we want that life for ourselves?
to build a hero on killing fields,
is to pour blood on the tops of our hills¬

if you could only see where this day ends
and the light and the end of the tunnel,
it’s not so far, not so near as it seems,
you could take the proper steps to see us through,
color the sky lavender if you please,
it’s yours, but you’ve got to make it with your dreams,

(breakdown)
you’ve got a responsibility,
to see your people through to the end,
if you offer life, love, and liberty
you better be willing to give what it takes

this is a message to ourselves,
because at this point we have no one else to count on,
like it or not our fates have been set up to now
by the choices of our fathers,
if we wish for nothing but mediocrity
there’s no more to ask for,
but can we save ourselves,
not just as individuals, but as humans,
because we all share this sphere,
and we all turn with it,
and if you’ve only heard these words it’s enough,
to change the color of your sky,
to set you on a brighter path

you’ve got a responsibility,
to see your people through to the end,
if you offer life, love, and liberty
you better be willing to give what it takes
for freedom

The Kusatsu Bridges are Conspiring to Divide Us

I’ve got 25 bridges outside my door
and not one can get me closer to you
curled-up in the corner
with my hands on my head
squeezin’ ‘til the bloods run out,

phone me up to say there’s something in the water
but you drank a gallon anyway,
curled-up in the corner
with both hands on your stomach
heavin’ all your bile out,

(and we’re) off to the hospital again,
checking in for a monthly stay,
but even here is poison,
(change up timing, slow words down)
stonewalling you in my silence
while you’re calling me to the rescue,
but it's June and the summer hail’s chasing me away,

the sirens in the distance weren’t such a surprise
I could hear ‘em 10 miles away,
but with your thumbs in your ears
and your tongue in the air
you built a new dam everyday

cause even if you here now you wasn’t then
love a tightrope without a net
and no smile at the other end

the life you take will be your own
to leave by the road or carry home
what to make of her frustrating mystery
that’s my responsibility

love her with a pure heart
love her with a clean heart
the love you give will be your own
the life you take
well that’s my responsibility

Song that makes birds fall (Autumn 2006)

6:30 sun lays on your pillow
and tumbles down your golden streaks
breath is a rush that sends birds falling
I kiss you on the ear and cheek

the coffee burns, we’re late again,
dishes are loaded in the sink,
I pack your lunch with just enough rice,
please kiss me before we leave

if I forgot to say I miss you, I’m sorry
if I don’t say it enough, I love you
it’s hard to find our way in a snowstorm
so please don’t lose my hand

Worries???DON”T WORRY! (Ifraim's piss song) (March/April 2007)

Your eyebrow is looking a little timid,
what happened?
were you peaking behind that secret wall again?
you can’t see into your future,
but you can scare yourself
into a fast grave with that morbid curiosity,
so which door do you choose?
not to know will save you a spring of tears
and the end result will hurt either way,

you’ve got so many worries,
now I’ve got so many worries,
so let’s take all our worries
to the county fair and rig them to the ring toss,
and give away fractions of our unsettled minds
to people like us with stupid hope in carnival games,

I wish I had better advice,
but when things look this bad
my best ideas are about ending one problem at a time,
before I can peek around the next bend,
yeah, it’s all the same river,
so I’m gonna hit the same rocks eyes open or not,

oh no it’s a waterfall!
(interlude)

shit I wish I could say I saw that coming,
not that I’d do things differently,
it’s just comforting to say in times of pain,
and since I’m sad
I’m gonna go right back to ripping you off,
and end things right here… If I were gone tomorrow would you be sad?
I’ve got so many worries,
and you’re now got too many worries,
so let’s take all our worries,
fill them with water and throw them off overpasses
at the stupid cars underneath,

or urinate in the lemonade
and sell it to all the kids on the street
cause they like the way it tastes,
they say “man this is sweet”,
but they don’t know it’s full of restlessness,
full of my piss, but most of all, full of my anxiety

We are all cannibals (August 2007)

You want what you can't have and you'll kill to get it,
but you won't get it,
you'll take what you can get, but it won't make a dent,
no not in your mammoth belly,

and you'll give, and you'll give,
and you'll give yourself a heart attack,
but no one's clapping,
and you'll blow, and you'll blow,
and you'll blow yourself lung cancer,
but no one saw,
cause they're all stuck on staged reality,

don't worry,
you're still young,
and you'll learn to swallow that rage with beer,
trust me I've been there before
and I've brought back unbearded wisdom for you:
just quit

so where’s there left for a guy like me
to sleep without radiation seeping into his brain
so where’s there left for a guy like me
to look at a mountain without a radio tower atop
so where’s there left for a guy like me
to breathe without inhaling poison
we're building on the moon when we've got a perfect home right here,
we're building on the moon when we've got a perfect home right here,
we're building on the moon when we've got a perfect home right here

you're killing yourself, you're killing yourself, you're killing yourself,
for nothing, for nothing, for nothing

Let's Burn All the Buildings in Town (Summer 2007)

let’s burn all the buildings around,
they came uninvited to our town,
all tall and heighty, looking grand and mighty
at our little huts on the ground
let’s pretend like we are French,
rip ‘em up brick by brick,
and bring the Sears monster down

let’s burn all the buildings in town
after that throw all cars on the mound,
we can’t have them running, humming, and buzzing,
though we’re slow on foot we’ll go,
even cycles and trucks have got too much buck for us
let’s burn all the cars and towers in town,

let’s burn all the TVs, computers, cell phones
and machines that make funny sounds,
they ain’t doing me no service
just make me kinda nervous,
and want to hide in a hole underground
I could use my time better,
maybe knit me a sweater,
besides I’ve found more uses in my flyswatter,
let’s take all of gadgets, and autos, and flats
and make them a sacrifice to our city,
let’s burn all the progress in town

Let's Be Monkeys (August 2007)

If I had a dollar would you kiss me?
Cause it's been too damn long
And I'm running short of options
If I had an anchor would you sink me?
Tie the rope to your ankle
And we'd both go down together
I'm dying for your look,
And I might start kicking things
Just to get your attention

The penis and testicles aren't so subtle
They hang right out like rabbit ears
And shout what they're thinking
My ways of communicating aren't so gentle
But if you teach me how to whistle,
I'll get into you like a tune

I'll be your peacock (whistling)
and cool you with emeralds in the summer
I'll be you cheetah (growling)
And chase you across the Savannah
I'll be your Alpha (monkey hooting)
And fight for you
I'm dying for your look,
And I might start kicking things
Just to get your attention

Screaming from a Mountain (September 2007)

What will we do when it gets cold
and if its gets tough
will you give me something to hold
like your shoulder?

I may be a man but there’s plenty I don’t understand
like how to get you to kiss me,
oh won’t you kiss me?
oh won’t you kiss me?
oh won’t you kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,
I don’t know how but I got the lips,
and you got the shoulders
and you’re a bit bolder at these things anyway
so please give me a way

If I get the balls and come on too strong
will you get scared and run away to the mall
leave your me alonely?
cause they may have all of what you need
but in all that glass there’s no air to breathe
nor a bell to ring you
oh can I ring you?
oh can I ring you?
oh can I ring you, ring you, ring you, ring you,
I don’t know how but I’ve got the lips
and you’ve got muscles so please give
me the boldness to ring you
oh let me ring you

jam
even if you say no to this dance
I’ll sit outside on the bench next to your heart
until the wax parts
and you can hear my grooven tune for sure

so where will you go where will you go
this life’s got little to offer to those without love
or at least a shoulder, and I’ve got a shoulder
if you’ll be a bit bolder, at least I think you are
I’m coming to ring you,
so won’t you kiss me,
kiss me, kiss me,
I’m coming to ring you,
so won’t you kiss me…

I want to run on the hillsides (part 2: escaping in small shoes) (Fall 2007)

you were standing in puddles
praying on eons to melt you
and I was yelling at clouds to disperse
holding my breath until I burst,

“who’s the sorrier fool” I ask,
“your feet or my winds?”
and you chesirely tap-danced,
up the avenue and into my head

don’t go make yourself a shadow
and take your hand away
cause I’m holding soft and supple
breathing in my fingertips

so let’s escape you declare,
run, run, run, run, run!
but I can’t, I’ve got too much to hope for,
isn’t that how they always get you,
tripping you on your gullibility,
and make you believe your car is necessary

who’s gonna hold down the fort?
we can’t all just be dreamers,
splash in puddles at another’s cost,
are you going to skip on the bill
and leave us on a rainy day?

I guess the lesson we all have learned here,
is not to go to extremes,
cause the world is made of different people,
and we all have different dreams

I Gotta Lover (Summer 2007)

I gotta lover who says she doesn’t know me,
but she does, she does, she had me over last night,
I got a lover who says let’s take it slowly
but she takes, she takes, she takes me over every night,

even when the birds are singing at dawn
I’m still sleeping like a child in her arms

When she late I’m waiting
when she’s early I’m still waiting,
now I’m over every night
Take me for what can
cause after her I’ll be nothing, but a man

when she gets the nerve to kick me out
I’ll fall, I’ll die, there ain’t no doubt

interlude

I gotta lover with whose kisses make me shudder
oh ah, oh oh, that’s the spot,
I gotta lover who says let’s take it easy,
right before she breaks me to my knees

no work, no play, no thing can stand between,
my caramel-eyed, dandilion dream

I gotta lover (who says she doesn't know me...)
I gotta lover...

Forgotten (12/2007)

Though we may not wear your clothes,
we are not untidy,
growing up on our own we took what we could find,
sneaking on pantyhose in an empty house,
come on in you can see our underage secrets,

after school no one there
we relied on imagination,
time breeding intrigue,
so where we you to tell us the images were just fancy,
lies and pretend,
we made them up in twos and threes,

though often abandoned we are not forgotten,
you can hear us now,
though we fail and you scold us we are not forsaken,
we are building the earth

come on down get in line it’s time to make an honest buck,
who’s teaching this anymore?
your sons hear your actions loud,
loudest, louder than your words,
their hands will carry your scars

cause our lives are made on the theft of childhood,
they sew your feet, dig your gold, serve your needs
wasting away in foreign room upstairs,

so when are you going to feed them some truth?

though often abandoned you are not forgotten,
we are hearing you now,
though you fail and we scold us you are not forsaken,
you are building the earth

parents’ egos are fragile too
we live with their mistakes
but we can help each other grow with a loving hand

Eating Your Mind (Summer 2007)

You got a beat that just won’t quit,
and two feet that won't relent,
you think a dollar can buy an epiphany,
but all your toys ain’t worth a cent,

if you want to improve your world,
stop shopping for a thirty-second snack,
they can sell you money, but they won’t feed you when you’re hungry,

cause the only bread is the one you make with your time,
so open up, let it in, and find…you

here’s a metaphor for thought,
that your passion is a bird,
so watcha gonna do with locked up in a cage on a rainy day,
you’ve got more sense than that, so why don’t you try using it,

if you want to improve your world,
stop shopping for a thirty-second snack,
if you fill yourself on imagery you’ll find your heart alone and empty,

cause the only bread is the one you make with your time,
so open up, let it in, and find…you

Cheers to Love (summer 2007)

you got into me like a staff
tripled in size
and took over my heart
at least almost all of it
my shirts bulged out six inches,
even further than my pants,
whenever we were close,

it was you trying to touch yourself
through my rubber skin,
I complied because

stretching feels good inside

leaving was inevitable
as your yawns started to grow
meteor showers burned my eyes
so many crashes, so much fire,
you took your tumor from my chest
and put it in your sterile pocket
knowing it would die
because you didn’t care anymore

but you left a little bit of my heart,
enough for it to come back again
and take me over once more
(oh and the second time was so much harder)

I took as much from you as you did from me,
and now my heart’s bigger than my head,
you know it's a little weird but I kind of like it,
cause when I kiss your memory,
I can feel pain in my knees

I can think of better ways to end stories,
but this way I’ll keep writing them,
you didn’t stop me from loving you,
or anyone again,
I will outlive you, at least in my temporary sadness,
it’s cold, but only temporarily

yippee for me, nuts to you, cheers to love,
cheers to love, cheers to love, cheers to love

Believer (April/May 2007)

I beat you in the head
like you were myself
when I am really mad
except unlike my mind
your bruises are visible
and everyone could see
and now they won’t let me see you no more
but I know you still love me
because I was only hitting me through you, you know,
and I’m gonna pay for that my own way.

I’m not the type to believe
but if I did, I believe I wouldn’t do
to me what I did to you,
it just isn’t right
but if I were a prayer
I’d be the scared, angry kind
that curses a lot
at the wind and the rain
and all the heathens it doesn’t like
I’d jump on a plane
slap the pilot in the face,
and drive us at a water tower

now I know you still love me,
not really sure why
maybe it’s cause I was only hitting me through you,
you know,
and I’m gonna pay for it my own way.

50 in fines to the local magistrate

Alexander's Homecoming (September 2007)

Well Alexander never thought he’d find himself here again,
the place of too much sun and endless sand,
he took his army and won his women but not all went as planned,
although the flowers were nice, the flowers were nice.
Now a little voice, from a little man, in an unknown faraway land,
tells Alexander to go back there and fight,
the man puts a helmet on his head and a weapon in his hand,
but not like the glorious, heavy ones from millennia ago.
Alexander grabs the reigns of his modern steed,
a bulletproof humvee,
he tosses bombs on Babylon without seeing his enemy,
in olden days his nose would tingle at the smell of blood,
but burning oil and sulphur are nauseating.

Alexander knows the battlefield and has studied strategy,
but his new nation kills indifferently.
these hands were once a sculptor’s
and could halve a shielded man,
but now they only atrophy under mundane button pressing.

Where are you Zeus?
Why have you let mortals forget your brother Hades?
Their respect for the dead?
I need you Aristotle to guide me in truth,
where are you Hannibal, I crave a even match?

I hope that Harry Truman is weeping on his Promethian stone,
I hope our burning bush drowns in the rain,

I was lauded as a warrior,
I was crowned a Persian King,
and now I abjure the throne.