Friday, May 29, 2009

to do list

things i want to do when i am back in australia:

-make amazing quinoa pie
-make strawberry juice
-make homemade lemonade

i have had all of these things in bolivia and they are all so good it's not even funny.

Friday, May 22, 2009

30. outlaws

one more for the road. believe it or not there are more where these came from!

it is pretty facetious and silly; if you seek out any 'commentary' i think you will be disappointed.

30. outlaws

from the start i was running from goodness
from the start i was chasing the blame
but try as i did i was always the kid
with the manners the mercy and shame

the powers relentlessly praised me
for the hopeless bland state of my child
and though i've grown older the trail's run cold:
i'm no less obnoxiously mild

but at sixteen said mildness near killed me
and it took on the shape of a crime
i was shunned by my peers for my CNN tears
and my reeking of pacifist grime

for a child who seeks fairness is charming
but a teenager deeply naive
and an adult who seeks basic healthcare for all
is an adult in need of reprieve

so i first tasted life as an outlaw
and i finally tasted the blame
i didn't go in for the sex or the drugs
but the rock and roll got me, the same

i confess when i met you shocked me
i was rocked by your criminal mind
that shoplifting habit seemed roughly akin
to the armoured assault of the blind

i was short of the change for a train fare
you said, 'why not let's ride anyway'
so i broke my first law, and in one minute more
a policeman was striding my way

he let me off quick to berate you:
guess i've one of those girlish expressions
that permits me to suffer for crimes of free thought
but negates my more candid transgressions

now a gentleman can't pass a schoolyard
without summonses coming his way
but the masters of banking can't hold off their wanking
in thoroughfares every day

and the sergeants and sheriffs, they flocked to you
but in all of their frenzy they missed
your most glorious crimes through the layers of slime
and depravity mired in their fists

and you smirk when i say that we're outlaws
we're as small time as ever you saw
but we're biting the hands that forcefeed us this shit
from the ends of the arms of the law

if i knew how to live for the both of us
i'd do everything that i could do
but my socialist bent and aversion to rent
is as much of a problem as you

still, i don't much mind living as outlaws
and i've warmed to the flavour of blame
the drugs bore me still, but the sex has improved
and the rock and roll still feels the same.

29. songs that will keep you awake at night

my aim while i'm away is to finish as many songs as possible. i had a stack of 30 or so unfinished songs, but i'm slowly managing to finish them off. this is a upbeat wee blues song.

29. songs that will keep you awake at night

i'm so mad at myself for not having written
'please release me,' or 'love minus zero'
those songs were once mine, oh, i swear they were mine
not the ramblings of some folk-rock hero

i want to sing songs that will keep you awake at night
songs that are joyous, songs that are bright
but i'll never sing a line with this godforsaken throat
just sit here scowling at words i once wrote

i never think twice when it comes to being cruel
but i only show love after whiskey
of course, it's an excellent plan at the time
but i cannot pretend it's not risky

and most days i think that i'll give up the drink
but eventually comes 'round a time
that my chest fills with fire and the speech i desire
requires the blessing of wine

i want to sing songs that will keep you awake at night
songs that are glorious, songs that are bright
but with this godforsaken voice i'll never sing a song
just think of you sleeping the whole damn night long

i want to pull moves to make you shake in your boots
but i fear they won't be to your liking
if i had more courage i'd fall at your feet,
or i'd run at your chest like a viking

i don't want to tease you; i'm desperate to please you
but i feel that i don't have much choice
with this shyness of mine, my gelatinous spine
and this curse of a pitiful voice

i want to sing songs that will keep you awake at night
songs that are glorious, songs that are bright
but with this godforsaken voice i'll never sing a song
just think of you sleeping the whole damn night long

i want to sing songs that will keep you awake at night
songs that are stellar, songs that are bright
but with this godforsaken shyness i'll never sing a note
just sit here cursing my godforsaken throat.

28. a drop of golden sun (cont.)

i've written some more of this song, after almost a month. it's a friggin' epic, especially considering that i try not to write long songs. but it is entertaining to write.

a drop of golden sun
it was clear from the beginning that king cobra ruled the land
they saw him first on horseback in the breeze
and as he swaggered over with his portrait in his hand
he commanded the attention of the trees

jed kelly was a black sheep, or a dark horse, if you will
and he played guitar so gentle and so deep
that you had to strain your ears to extract a single note
but that note could haunt the spectres of your sleep

king cobra was a gamblin' man with aces up his sleeve
he said to jed, 'let's start a game right here'
but the troops had no desire to leave the lamb upon the fire
for the sober realm of poker chips and beer

and then in walked susanna as pale as they were dark
ash coated from the sacrificial sheep
she said, 'i got no money and i cannot cut a deck
but i'd kind of like to play myself to sleep'

susie dreamt of home and of her darling waiting there
with lines that played about his mouth and grey stripes in his hair
and for her lonesome badger she'd eschewed a dozen lovers
all people dream alone, they'd think, but some moreso than others

they set up on the patio. king cobra poured the beer
and divided up the chips between the three
jed kelly sat to susie's left, king cobra to her right
his outstretched ankle resting by her knee

he curled a fist of smoking herb and pressed it to her mouth
she glanced at him and pulled it through her chest
jed flicked a look at cobra but the king was loathe to tell
if susie had just passed or failed his test

the game at last got started, though it wasn't long to be
jed kelly dealt the flop, the turn, the river
a breeze came in at three a.m. the players kept their cool
though each repressed a secret silent shiver

the cobra's hand was fierce; he was confident of glory
jed knew it and he dropped his pairing down
susanna, she just smiled and said, 'i´ll hang in for a while'
then she raised the stakes and swiped the cobra´s crown

the king spat out in anger, but he took lucinda's hand
then took a cigarette against the wall
king cobra, it was certain, was the ruler of the land
but the sun king was the ruler of them all

now having struck the cobra once, susanna seemed to pale
jed kelly sniffed the bluffer's casual fear
it hardly took a minute to destroy her tidy pile
¨good game,¨ said she, and poured herself beer

'i can't believe you leave me in the morning,' said the king
'both of you. but susie, mainly you.'
jed rolled his eyes 'well, thanks a lot,' he told his friend and rival
'and i'm sure that i'll be thinking of you too'

'why don't you leave as well?' asked susie, puzzled by his speech
'my grandad died last friday night,' said he.
'now i hold a sitting shiva, and i cannot leave this place.'
he dealt another game out for the three.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

27. three prong cactus island

i've been going crazy writing lyrics lately as a way of procrastinating from spanish school. it's great.

27. three prong cactus island


there's a jesus on every damn hill in this town
and an elvis in each kitchenette
one gave his life to bring joy to mankind
and the other's a deity's pet.
i could spend my life writing these letters to you
to be honest, i probably will
but there's only so much i can say in this town
with a jesus on every hill.

there's a beggar on every street corner round here
and i'm never quite sure if it's right
to withhold my endoresement by keeping my change,
thereby letting him starve for the night
see, what i don't give to beggars, i pass on to buskers
which seems quite a rational choice
but it may well just be that i'm tricking myself:
i'm a fool for a man with a voice

i got a three prong cactus shadowing my stride
and blocking my path to the moon
but i don't plan to worry, i'm not in a hurry
i'm not heading there anytime soon
i got a three prong cactus shadowing my stride
and keeping me safe from the light
so i'm hidden all day from the UVB rays
and i dance round the desert at night

if i wrote you a song, could you help me to sing?
see, i'm not often heard on my own
i can bellow quite loud when there's no one around
but i speak in a growl on the phone
i'm not often pleased by the people i meet
but i'm wholly enamoured with you
and that rough-hewn cast that assembles your past
won my envy and won my heart too

i got a three prong cactus shadowing my stride
and blocking my path to the moon
but i don't plan to worry, i'm not in a hurry
i'm not heading there anytime soon
i got a three prong cactus shadowing my stride
and keeping me safe from the light
so i'm hidden all day from the UVB rays
and i dance round the desert at night

you're the delicate type, but i like you for that
though i fear i will snap you in two
me, i'm strong as an ox breaking out of the box
that would act as his ride to the zoo
i know it may seem that i'm no young man's dream
but darling, you never can tell
i got shade on my stride but there's luck on my side
and an island of cacti as well