SHOWSTOPPER
cue the lights!
cue the bikes!
the time is right!
paint me a breeze and I'll--
TAILWIND ON STONE
such cold idolatry
can I do and never be?
or if I must be, then softly
like a seed on a spring breeze
I walk tall as I please
I walk tall as I please
paid to, paid not to
accepting both fees
I was on, so on
ten pips and I was gone
I said "learn how to read statistics"
as my sails turned to stone
I was on, so on
ten pips and I was gone
I said "false equivalence is death"
as my sails turned to stone
I had just the right amount of self-regard, did I not?
and I was cool around venerated people, was I not?
and I carried you like ink carries paper, did I not?
and I left a breadcrumb trail when I stole, did I not?
I was on, so on
ten pips and I was gone
I said "wreck your own predictions"
as my sails turned to stone
I was always on
ten pips and I'm gone
I said "slow down"
as my sails turned to stone
pay it down
pay it down
pay it down
and lay down
that's how you pay it down
that's how you pay it down
that's how you pay it down
and stay down
LANG CRAWFORD
we are theory
we are concept
we are dark and deliberate shapes
on the walls of a heritage home
we are figures one and two
untested, unproved
unbeaten, unmoved
they can't do what we do
trim the sparks from the fire
burn the branches back onto the trees
burn the colour back into the leaves
we have dimensions
to be observed and to be touched and to be vice-gripped
and we have depth and gravity
to be suggested and indefinitely delayed
we are figures one and two
unbested, unmoved
they can't do what we do, baby
they can't do what we do
trim the sparks from the fire
burn the branches back onto the trees
burn the colour back into the leaves
I wanna be your type
I wanna be your type
I wanna be your seven-word ideal
I wanna be your type
I wanna be your type
I wanna be your seven-word ideal
I wanna be your physical ideal
I wanna be on your mind
I wanna be of your mind
I wanna be your type
I wanna be your type
I wanna be your seven-word ideal
ONE THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT
kudzu, calcium, limestone, rust, open up
kudzu, calcium, limestone, rust, it's us
all I have is one thousand points of light
my bread, my sword, my library
all I hear is one thousand points of light
in cacophony they sing to me
kudzu, calcium, limestone, rust, open up
kudzu, calcium, limestone, rust, with us
JOHN SHARP TORO
some dead walk, I'm only listening
and the voices that succeed me
they're just clergy, cattle, cabaret
I'm all toro
at every frequency, I'm all toro
tally up my cages, I am all toro
men's hands roll off me like water, I'm all toro
I remember a time when plain sight was the last place you'd ever wanna hide
I was there when Turning Scarlet in the Lavender Field got bowdlerised
I could hear you throwing oracles from your roof, that's how I kept track of time
I said every man's got five percent, now resistant reading is a thorn in my side
and now it's coming around to my kind
you say it's coming around to my kind
oh you think you know my kind
have you ever read a book past the crack in the spine?
oh it's a fine time for my kind
oh it's a fine time for my kind
oh I'm sure you've read my mind
well now you'd better listen
cos I'm all toro
at every frequency, I'm all toro
playback singer! contract killer!
all toro
like you've never had a superstition
I'm all toro
data compression, cattle call
they can't tone you anymore
pitch correction, loudness war
transference, conflation, one for all
my love, my matador
preservation fright, folderol
they can't pin you anymore
they can't pin you anymore
they can't pin you anymore
Johnny's number one, everybody's dream
I've loved, I've mourned, i'll never lose
NIXON NEVADA
I tried for perpetual motion
a kind of endless oscillation
shifting weight 'round ancient pillars
Nixon, Nevada
we can go just where we like
we can do just what we please
we can leave unsatisfied
cos we've got new ways to live
we ship em in from Atlan Amexem
step, turn, stare deep in the mirror, and tilt yourself outta the picture
turn, stare deep in the mirror, and tilt yourself outta the picture
I've got rhymes like beacons in the pitch
I've got the pitch of a bloody tourist
and I'm playing with power
I'm playing with power
I'm playing with power
I'm playing with power
I'm plain, with power
I'm plain as a sunflower
step, turn, stare deep in the mirror, and tilt yourself outta the picture
turn, stare deep in the mirror, and tilt yourself outta the picture
this used to feel like boxing to a poet
now it's boxing to a pacifist
I tried for perpetual motion
and I ended up with something that lasted
a very, very, very long time
RAIL SHOOTER
we're shooting night for day
we're shooting LA for Vancouver
we're shooting night for day
LA for Vancouver
all the treasures that you can't take with you
they get you written on a wall somewhere or other
I'll take the treasures that you can't take with you
over the pleasures that you can't even take, can't even take into tomorrow
cos I know what I want for the rest of my life
I know what I want for the rest of my life
for the rest of my life
for the rest of my life
for the rest of my life
but it's hard to call out for it
when I'm feeling so literal
I'm feeling so literal
I'm feeling so literal
the letter not the spirit of the law
two vaults, one hard-earned, one easy
two fortunes, one hard-earned, one easy
all the treasures that you can't take with you
they get you written on a plaque somewhere or other
I'll take the treasures that you can't take with you
over the pleasures that you can't even take, can't even take into tomorrow
cos I know what I want for the rest of my life
I know what I want for the rest of my life
for the rest of my life
for the rest of my life
for the rest of my life
but it's changing
SOFT CHAMBERS
anywhere I have walked armoured, I will walk again
and anywhere I have walked encumbered, I will walk again
and anywhere I have walked crowded, I will walk again
alone, in soft chambers
alone, in soft chambers
alone, in soft chambers
anywhere I have spoke cruelly, I will come to speak again
and anywhere I have spoke obliquely, I will come to speak again
and anywhere I have spoke incompletely, I will come to speak again
alone, in soft chambers
alone, in soft chambers
alone, in soft chambers
COWBOY BUILDER
your blood flows in a figure 8
it's a system, it's a process, it's a compromise
your blood flows in a figure 8 that you tied yourself
can it hold?
cowboy builder, I see you
cowboy builder, I see you
cowboy builder, I see you, let's talk
a red scarf, a sprig of lavender
a memory of a joy that you can't have twice
you're too sharp for denial, you're too sharp for shame
but you can't ask twice, it's a giveaway
cowboy builder, I see you
cowboy builder, I see you
cowboy builder, I see you
cowboy builder, I see you
who would you love if it was up to you?
if the hand on your heart was yours alone
what would you need if it was up to you?
how would you push it down if you had to
who would you love if it was up to you?
if the hand on your heart was yours alone
what would you need if it was up to you?
how would you push it down if you had to?
who would you love?
JOHN SHARP, AT HER WINDOW
paint me a breeze and I'll blow away
paint me a fire and I'll loosen my collar
I only feel how I wanna feel
I was sure
I was sure, so sure, cocksure
like you've never had a superstition
and something else still loves you
and something else is here
I'll blow away
I'll loosen my collar
I only feel how I wanna
and something else still loves you
and something else is here
everybody, don't tell her
everybody, don't tell her
everybody, don't tell her
everybody, don't tell her