birth

in the beginning there was semen
in a deep mouth of flesh
and the crest i traveled
on a wave of virile mess

through a tunnel of mucus
and on toward a vault
with tourists and traffic
i just paced myself

not i as my whole self
just the half that i had
before greeting the rest
of my better half

a connection was made
through a shared love of science
and vows were taken
a seed was hired

a cavern of fluid
brought shape to my hide
in the months that remained
till the time of my life

i thrashed for the reason
of spilling from the crack
to the palms of a doctor
to a towel full of scraps

my brains wouldn't fit
through her organ of sex
an incision was made
with a scalpel and mask

i should have noticed the beauty
and not how it hurt
wet like a cherry
in the bloodbath of birth

as the doctor talks

all the doctor talk
of all the doctor trouble
all the time payed off
but there's a night to remember, when the quarters stopped
diving in the cup
dr. back to work stumbling through the hall
he made it to a room
a lady old and calloused
is staring back at him
he doesn't think that she notices
as the dr. talks
his slurring causes trouble
they breath a bit of breath
once the surgery's over
hey daniel eckerson
where's your sadness
your apathy has mothers crying
but it's nothing 'til it comes to a court who finds a hold in the defense
he stays when the cannot prove beyond a doubt
a word of what was said
and the dr. choked
his hearing started monday
all his time ran out
since the media ran it
hey daniel eckerson
where's your sadness
your apathy has left a knife in her gut

paranoiattack

the news has got me paranoid
papers and the news reports
casualties of every war
anchor people keeping score
the weapons now are chemicals
in water and in edibles
circulating envelopes
with powder through the postal route

the threat of a disease is here
we nipped it once without a cure
it took forever 'til it stopped
the mandatory needle shots
they gave us all a little dose
teach our bodies how to cope
finally when we had it licked
some terrorists are back with it

the propaganda's working now
i'm falling for it hook and reel
i'm stocking up on medicine
buying tape to seal ourself in

paranoia!

paranoia attack
paranoia at war
paranoia that seems like a bomb

paranoia threat
paranoia effect
paranoia drops bombs

paranoia

erection

it's a scene from the movie
it's an aisle at the store
it's the view of a canyon
the sound of a sword

it's an orchard of peaches
your wife in the shower
while you wait for appointments
or as you walk through the park

oh. uh oh. erection

you know it's not only love dear
that can flip the switch up
you know it probably should be
maybe god fucked it up

oh uh oh. erection

it boiled up like a tower
a monument in the park
it's the cock of a rifle
a memory in the dark

you tried to keep it a secret
but now the world's gonna know
you tried for perfection

but then oh uh oh. erection
oh uh oh. erection

southern belles in london sing

scarlet boots, the kiss of death
patience and the end of it
blended angels, whispered love
countdown til it's gone, for long
velvet voices, haunting slow
darkened nooks, with bright decor
georgian femmes are gone for weeks
southern belles in london sing

i'm staring down the eppley gate
two more days before the plane arrives-
and you'll be standing here with your smile
carving up the lobby seats
pushing down the caffeine drinks
checking the arrival screens for yours

a hundred feet above the landing
there's a girl gliding down
she's floating toward me now
her sleeves are all stretching out
and the jet is following behind

wake up

london skids a grinding halt
last night left to spend apart
your bags are packed but now for home
stories of the tour unfold
booking agents
broken nose
butting heads with creeping dolts
georgian femmes are gone for weeks
southern belles in london sing

southern belles in london sing

take me to the hospital

hold my hand its shakin' bad
i'm going to the doc
i pay him he'll fix me up
i think ive got enough
ambulance no costs to much
we'll take a van
if they can't fix me no one can
if they can't fix it no one can

want you to take me to the h
take me to the o
want you to take me to the s
take me to the p
want you to take me to the i- t- a- l
want you to take me to hospital
hospital

now im losing blood from my veins
they're slowly emptying
i'm bothered by this crimson red
to the color of blood
to the color of a b
the color of a l
to the color of a o
the color of o
to the color of a deep
crimson red
from a little bitty accident
accident

i scraped up my face
bounced my cheek on the floor
cause anything worth doing
is worth getting hurt for
i've made no mistakes
i'm never learning from that
i got no regrets
i wanna do it again
do it a -g- a- i- n

so you can take me to the h
take me to the o
want you to take me to the s
take me to the p
want you to take me to the i- t- a- l
want you to take me to hospital...
cause its the color of a b
the color of a l
to the color of o
the color of o
to the color of a deep
crimson red
from a little bitty accident
you better take me to the h
take me to the o
want you to take me to the s
take me to the p
want you to take me to the i- t- a- l
want you to take me to hospital...

desperate guys

was it more than attraction and a physical lust?
her loins, my imagination, that first inconceivable touch
that i was planning, er, i mean wishing, uh..
how embarassed i’d been if you knew what i was thinking of

and whoa, when it started, my first thought was love
not just lust, because when i heard you speak, i felt warm
in the evening i saw you, you were warming the bass up
your hair covered your face up
i was acting indifferent at the merch booth, putting on makeup

we met up at a party in a swamp on a yacht
i spun the helm, but we were docked

i crossed my fingers, but i didn’t beg
cause i knew you knew
cause i knew you knew i liked you
i knew you knew i liked you
i knew you knew it
but i figured desperate guys
never had a chance with you
i figured desperate guys
never had a chance with you

close to you, wishing we’re conjoined at the tongue
can you hear me thinking? i should stop...

i crossed my fingers, but i didn’t beg
cause i knew you knew
cause i knew you knew i liked you
i knew you knew i liked you
i knew you knew it
but i figured desperate guys
never had a chance
i knew you knew i liked you
i knew you knew it
but i figured desperate guys
never had a chance with you

i figured desperate guys
never had a chance with you
i knew that desperate guys
would never have a chance with you
i knew you knew i liked you
i knew you knew it

dust

[todd baechle:]
the floor moves and it trembles
old west shakes as it opens up
people are dying and
i know the cause of it all
with so many buried
the dead twitch on crowded roads
dirt breaks; dust follows,
cracks in the plains are exposed

[conor oberst:]
they're restless enclosed
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[conor oberst:]
they twitch underground
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[conor oberst:]
dirt starts to shake
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[conor oberst:]
it waves through the town
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[todd baechle and conor oberst:]
that's why the quake sets in
and dust rises again

[todd baechle:]
wreckage is clearing
the remnants all fade away
no one understands it
the tremors go on unexplained

[conor oberst:]
they're restless enclosed
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[conor oberst:]
[they twitch underground]
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[conor oberst:]
[dirt starts to shake]
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[conor oberst:]
[it waves through the town]
[todd baechle:]
the quake sets in
[todd baechle and conor oberst:]
all still to the great shaking
and dust rises again
dust rises again

symptom finger

don't admit you're sick
let your fit body bury it
the faintness that you feel
is nothing permanent

don't buy the sickness on t.v.
you want your health they want the fee
you see the ads and start to think
"i feel it coming on"

no no target
market television
telepharmavangelism
sympton finger

i'm gonna shut it off
gonna down all the power
i'm a doctor today
i'm curing viewers by thousands

don't admit your sick
let your fit body bury it
the faintness that you feel
is nothing permanent

you open up and let them in
it's nothing conscious what is this
i feel a burning in my eye
it's from the television lights

slow slow it down
wait now decide...
okay i'm gonna shut it off
down all the power
i'm a doctor today
i'm curing viewers by thousands

don't admit your sick
let your fit body bury it
the faintness that you feel
is nothing permanent

you've got to get the shit they sell
the pills that fix the way to feel
now they've shown you what to get
you feel it coming on

low low lowdown
high paid primetime capsule maker
sickness lover
i'm gonna shut it off
down all the power
i'm a doctor today
i'm curing viewers by thousands

phone call

i've seen you a while now
long enough to be close
there's some things about you
that i should know
(i still don't)
with all the questions we didn't ask
our conversations could never last
our moments alone were scarce and few
it was just easier to hide the truth

if all of our secrets were exposed
would we be sharing the same bed
how 'bout if i broke the silence first
did i hear what you're thinking in your head
i need to be talked to, i need to be touched
i need you to hold me, i need to feel loved
and if i could open up to you
maybe i could open you up

but instead i got the phone call
just thought i'd call to let you know
i wanna be alone all night again

...phone call
just thought i'd call to let you know
i wanna be alone all night again

with all the questions we didn't ask
our conversations could never last
i need to be talked to, i need to be touched
i need you to hold me, i need to feel loved
and if i could open up to you
maybe you could open up to me
we'd do all the things that lovers do
i've been meaning to tell you how i feel...

but instead i got the phone call
just thought i'd call to let you know
i wanna be alone all night again

...phone call
just thought i'd call to let you know
i wanna be alone all night again

how could i forget?

introverted boy
you are not interesting, boy
you think you're intellectual
but no one's talking to you now

i might be an introvert
to you, a shallow fashionista
deep as any paper plate
dressed just like the girl beside you

how could i forget
a waste of cloth
of course, i do remember
on the back deck drunk and awkward
i think we accidently met

i know you've got some place to get to
and i really got to get somewhere
remember when i said
that vincent had some tickets for me there

how could i forget
a waste of breath
of course, i do remember
all the things you said were pointless
now you go on dropping names

drop kick the punks

eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht
visciouscounterpoperosionrevolution101

drop kick the punks
we want a change
blaspheme the pop
call out the freaks
pay off the jockeys
then call the cops
queue up the news reporting cccccompany trucks

hoist the antenna – pirate the waves
dust off the tables and broadcast the plates
amp the fly trap plant called venus and jab a cold fork in the spppppspeaker

ah were force fed pop cultures shit
we’re staying up late thinking “what the fuck is this?”

eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht
visciouscounterpoperosionrevolution101

amorous in bauhaus fashion

her brow: pensive
her knees: away
i stand beside her
but i look straight ahead
and dissolve
before the night began herring st.
a book from school kept me wandering
this may take a while
i might never see this through
they said that chapter four repeats itself
along with three so far
...where are you tonight?
it's crowded at the sokol club
and tonight will be the same
i want her walk to scream her confidence above me
i try to hide my thoughts
i stare blankly through her face
this seems so senseless
she sees me breathing
my hands are crippled cla
this could have been different
i hear myself saying again again agian

some incriminating photographs

passenger leaves
i know, the pictures turned out too clearly
some felt blank
but still others emit true feeling
once he liked it
twice he needed
it was three until he stands believing
the reason he can't pursue it
the list goes on and on
so what went wrong
is your destination dwelling deep inside my all secluded loop
my lungs, will not push for ways to say
my arms are crossing just in case of you
but the difference i couldn't tell
his seams fall out of place when he agrees to pardon
he wakes beneath her glaring stare
he's not locked in anymore
with all these plans and separations
the two weren't burying stones
and what happens near the others,
there is still a shadow following him around
he's scarred by stalking through the wearied entrance to his sunburnt heart
her locking fists remind him who she wants

syntax lies

understand, i don't care if i meet you
and you don't care if we meet
it's just conversation
we're not so compatible
but at least we know
and we don't care
syntax lies
no difference in art and life
just what we say
and the order thewords go
it's time, we've deeded an aggravist
one that wouldn't make us laugh
and has severed how we used to speak
concepts of language around his waist
but more dimensionally versed
he has severed how we used to speak
call it backwards
overlapping
ultramodern
"more slowly" (please)
they mistook it
for religion
but the truth unfolds
we de-vo
without knowing
same language = same story
the new version
is confusing
sharp tongue
glass blood
grammar its comedic
we're corrected
we need a
stoplight division to the next calendar...year
i understand it's just conversation
but it eliminates how i really feel

repertoire of uncommon depth

our eyes are moving
forward faster than
these tangled chords
i noticed that you want to leave
we've burned out fast
deciding who could complicate us and
what comes next
so here's my proposition: while our work gets started
we'll keep expected formula strong
but i guess i won't be with who i belong
and here's my job
but i miss something
my line of focus is centered on narrow thinking
and not from what i think is good on its own
it's fading out
well who can't do it
pop is based on the most intimate charge
but where it's at
the scene permits it
they're not concerned with technique
feeling is all
and when words spit out and i disintigrate
maybe i'm not in such control
maybe i needed enough to get me through this
and then into breaking up form

tandem: city to city

we hear the talk
we settle down
release the thought
we get along
i don't know which is better now, this
backwardness or my own imbalance, we can
stand each other when there's nothing else
there is no
way to compromise when
no one cars
when the action dies, the crowd awakes to the truth
this city was cut from your saga
so hold yourself for the first in line
or wait until the action dies

the passives

left eye spins in circles, passives line the rail. they get no satisfaction from the electro-static breaks. a beat can't cut the passives loose they're afraid what we will say. no harm is done when you try it then hide. parts moving - keep moving. a cool collected life is a safe move... you heard that. you're unsure but its clear to us. come to terms, you're alone here observing. every time you go out you observe. walk past collared passives. don't look toward their eyes. it adds to their discomfort, shows there's some confidence they miss.

in concert

you sit outside in the dark and get nicked by the strobe light while we're playing indoors. we play in a bar, we play in a basement. we play in a room where the mix isn't right. the help at the door, the age to get in, the artist is smug, they don't sound like they did. we're ready to move, the crowd is a stare. if you've got things on your mind, shake them off. that's why we have come to collect you bodies from your lovers, and pause all the suffering... at least start pacing. you're not on the list, you paid to get in. your boyfriend is mad, it was something you did. in concert tonight, the bass drum is quick. if you've got things on your mind, shake them off.

sealed human

the body dances to the beat of the noises from the street. as patterns grids and schedules go, we took a subway to the show. so give us this day our daily commute. on the bus in three piece suits. say goodbye, kiss and ride. on the way to the club, look outside. the movement kills in several ways, although we see it as delay. the steering wheel; a guillotine. the body dances to the beat. wife: "take the subway, fuck the street". the flesh twists between the gap and passengers are also trapped. inertia pushed them all along, but they wont make it to their next stop. patrons complain about the wait, while the man outside cant feel his legs. men: "just pull me out, save my life" but all the cops can do is phone his wife. she drives as fast as she can, and gets caught up in a traffic jam.

casual sex

casual sex ..is it irrational? {yes} i think it's time to find out why and soon i fall asleep, it's nighttime. in a dream there's a dolphin and a soldier, they're walking through the sand and toward a morgue. in an office there's a hostess who has carried our friend and wheeled him into a drawer. she pulls his file, the air is cold. down the aisle we follow her, i'm thinking casual sex - the feeling. casual sex - the soldier's life's the same as mine and he's attracted to a nun. but the feeling of sex is nothing possible yet, a new wave soldier's standing next to a young nun. the nun just has to pace, her gothic skirt over her legs, they're getting warmer toward the insides and their tops. "the inexistence of time" is not a painting, it's life. they're into robes and gloves, goblet glass and crosses. the feeling of sex is nothing possible yet. a new wave soldier is standing next to a young nun. the sound of her voice, and the handle of the robe are getting thinner as the whip begins to speak. the nun just strikes a pose. the soldier's helmet hits the floor. he's walking backward until he's pinned against stained glass.

worked up so sexual

i see you work at night,and are you sexually amused?
what's it like to have a room of guys encircling you?
how she moves and how she walks
they all patiently await while the heat from in their pockets could burn marks into their legs
without your needs and your support she'd have a job the same as ours - nothing daring
would she miss a job that's sex- thats sexual?

in every city there are dozens of these clubs where men can go
some people need a little challenge to their fantasies at home
there's a little tiny number on a fold of matches
the ink drips from a little dancer's pen
everybody wants that fold of matches to reinflate their confidence
hey, it is a job, it pays a lot
is it disservicing someone?
and is it good to get these men worked up so sex- so sexual?
older dancers gag at what new talent seems to mean
smaller tits and younger limbs can cause a fit of rivalry

but it is a job, it pays a lot
is it disservicing someone?
and is it good to get these men worked up so sexual?

call call

i'd sleep on the white tile lobby floor
and pace until the time to visit starts
the bright lights are on but i'm away...
how nervous a voice sounds on the phone
you agree when you check in at the desk
permission and trust in every move
i'd be beside you when they're done
but i'll have to wait until i can call
the blood kept you home while i was gone
they left you a note when you woke up
"don't be alarmed by wooden splints."
there won't be a need for you to call
excuses for careless doctor errors
acceptance by all past patients have
allowed for a cold disclaiming note
the warning is there, no need to call

sex is personal

i'm caught in excitement
an unusual spell
it's pure in a sense
and abstract from our lives
and we talked a lot,
abstraction came into focus

her tales of the tour
and a hardcore life
were unmatched by the
pop sub-culture in mine
and we talked a lot
and soon it would come into focus
(i tried to focus, i tried to focus! woah!)

there's no time for fighting,
any sex is personal
information not appealing
to me in any sense at all

is it wrong to think
i'm a traditional man?
i'd hope i'd be up
for an annexation of that.
yea, a part of me
can deal with this open relations

but "concept" to "do"
is like "yes" to a "goal"...
it's unclear how it happens,
maybe we'll act how we planned it
we sure talked a lot
and soon it came into focus
(i tried to focus, i tried to focus! woah!)

there's no time for fighting
any sex is personal
keep your head above the meaning
and devotion doesn't swell
any sexual encounter
adds an awful twisting touch
it's like scamming in the 90's
but getting used to this is hard

there's no time for fighting
any sex is personal
keep your head above the meaning
and devotion doesn't swell
any sexual encounter
adds an awful twisting touch, touch, touch, touch, touch
it's like scamming in the 90's
but getting used to this is hard

ballad of a paralysed citizen

i'm paralysed and things could change for you as well
you're not so bad off now, you can move anything you need.
i'm not this way because of an emergency i caused
at seventeen a guard perched above the chlorine floor
when i saw a hand raise up from just beneath the air,
a frantic move for help, i made an instant judgment call.
dive- i arced my feet to dive, i broke the elemental line
to save a child. dive- into the shallow floor
the bottom scraped my palms and compressed my spine.
now i'm paralysed while they just hope to make amends
the family and the kid who faked the drowning incident,
i've felt the hand of god and that's the last thing that i felt
at all below my back, i've lost the faith i thought i had
dive- i arced my feet to dive, i broke the elemental line
to save a child. dive- into the shallow floor
the bottom scraped my palms and compressed my spine

violent

i checked in a room today
up above the downtown market bricks
right now a boy gets old
a boy gets bitter
a boy learns not to trust
someone inside his room
the door locks tight
you keep the door locked

months went by and doors got kicked in
two outlaws collecting what they loaned
in a room beside my walls
a girl gets choked
she can't pay back the loan
48 more hours to go
"48 more hours" that's all they say
in two more nights
i hear a sound
a shrill from one thin wall away

every place is the same
every day is the same
every place is the same
violent
there's a conflicting sound
hear the arguments loud
everyday, the sounds of the
violent violent violent

i moved uptown a bit
not much changed
conflict is never gone
but just as a calm sets in
a police line barricades
a place next door i asked
around the lot a store
clerk told me two young
kids were shot mother
was near the tracks dragged
to where a train would go past

the conductor

confident with your back to the audience...
tremolo strings begin with your gesturing wrist
start the orchestra slow with an elegant air
then a circular sweep crescendoing swell...
leo slatkin, dohnányi, previn, depaur

your arms are calling out
they wave like a swarm of sound
you pull the sound from scores of notes-
you step the stage and take control

you're conducting verese in a moment of silence
your body directs a pulse of wind
von karajan, hampton, menuhin, levine

your arms are calling out
they wave like a swarm of sound
you pull the sound from scores of notes-
you step the stage and take control

those arms are calling out
they wave like a swarm of sound
you pull the sound from scores of notes-
you step the stage and take control

control

posed to death

i feel a warm resistance
beneath the outer layer
what once moved living organs
leaks through a thin veneer
blue blooded royal body
elegantly posed to death
not speaking prince now are you?
not breathing one more breath

just now the curtain's folding
it falls and lies to rest
so selfish royal brother
you've loved your wife to death
your ways could not continue
you'd rule with hateful hands
i called you toward the staircase
and i caused your violent end

your retro career melted

recovering slowly, a torso fell
from a beat up truck by a rural motel
the manager seen how the truck bed bounced
while dust flew up with a rolling sound

voices appear from the staff outside
in bulbous text in a western style
his mannequin neck spun to turn his face
the bars spills drunks out frame by frame

girls pushed girls side to side
to hear a suction sound as limbs relign
the crowd just seemed to multiply
they hear his plastic jaw as the news drops hard:

"your retro career melted"

they couldn't have agreed with the manniquin less
they didn't understand what the manniquin meant
the sound of a barrelled gun held to the back
some plastic clicks as the shell parts pass

fleshtone shards fly by wild
they fill a plastic bag with the parts inside
the bag got dumped, a town nearby
they reassembled fast as his voice dropped hard:

"your retro career melted"

let the posion spill from your throat

some people get bit from the inside
when they talk it's cold and sour
and no, there's nothing they can do now
they've had their way too many times
if you glare to get what you want
it'll become your look
if there's dirt you've got on someone
you let it loose without a thought

just let the poison spill
spurt from your throat
hiss like steam
'cause the pressure's unreal

i'm not saying that it's not
you're causing a scene. (hey, hey)
you're wearing out that note
you scream until it's gone
you scream until it's gone, gone, gone

no government check can reverse it
you'd need a royal eclipse of the tongue
or is the pain that you endure now
something you need? well, you know how to get it now
there's no climbing up that list
you just move down it one by one
you hate this and love that. it shows
you're insecure, but that's no excuse

just tell them they lie
you tell them the truth
the things you won't take
are coming in groups
the people abused the trust you had
and now you don't want it back

just let the poison spill
spurt from your throat
hiss like steam
'cause the pressure's unreal

i'm not saying that it's not
you're causing a scene. (hey, hey)
you're wearing out that note
you scream until it's gone
you scream until it's gone, gone, gone

total job

sharp dressed servers where the upscale dine
a safe dial turned by a glove in the crimes of night
a nurse in an ambulance rides
he "don't deserve it", the patient is right

career
serious
there are times when i miss the appeal

long black cars driven close to the lawn
straight legged slacks and the shine of the chauffer's garb
the lawyer with an eloquent tongue
he sways the verdict, the jury is numb

career
serious
there are times when i miss the appeal
energy that pulls us toward it
to feel the total job
no economic success
to get the total job

glass danse

feel the vapour pressure drop as the dark
steam pours out the entrance. real cold world is
swirling into a club that keeps the real
life world out. where every sense seems deathly
weak from the frozen time you spent in transit
the glass dance world flickers on and the
low end thaws your anxious body

maybe i feel detatched, i may just look too shy
it's a disinterest not that i'm a timid guy
i call them bodies but, they are attentive too
i feel the social glare i feel the attitude

watch as mirrors clear themselves with the
breath of frigid air that eased in
made up babies all rotate as a siren
spins a beam of amber. time sliced beat
by beat in a row, in a club
in a line, in the city. the glass dance world
flickers on because the cycle happens enough:

a baby falls out warm, it's screaming for it's life
an infant tries to dance as it grows up then dies
that's simplified but uh. . .when your complexion dries
you wake up cold and think, you wish it'd been this way

agenda suicide

you could follow logic
or contest it all
the work solution makes the common house a home

the element of progress
that you mention is gone
it de-evolved to something you were headed toward

as i lay to die the things i think
did i waste my time, i think i did- i worked for life

all we want are just pretty little homes
our work makes pretty little homes

like a cat shadow
like a fathers dream
have a cut out son
what's a worse disease
to get that pretty little home

as i lay to die the things i think
i don't want to regret what i did- and work for life

all we want are just pretty little homes
our work makes pretty little homes
agenda suicide, the drones work hard before they die
and give up on pretty little homes

(like a cast shadow)
our work makes pretty little homes
our work makes pretty little homes
agenda suicide, the drones work hard before they die
and give up on pretty little homes