Last Song for Now -

Posted on January 6, 2011

The Signal

boundless loneliness will nudge us

on a bus over frozen ground

where highlands rise with receding snow

the songs in our ears are all we know

we’ve never been so at home

in a room filled with strangers

we fancy ourselves invisible

but possibility breeds exhiliration

settles and suffocates

they’ll leave us alone

when we leave alone

without having spoken

routine fill us with purpose

we’re sinking so far into ourselves

we wear our badges

speak in tongues

we’re always searching for another one

but a signal

with no receiver’s just noise

a signal

with no receiver’s just noise

routine fill us with purpose

we’re sinking so far into ourselves

A Fabulous Disaster

Forever crawls

Can’t someone make it crawl faster?

You shattered my walls

A fabulous disaster

I never fought

So blind, it couldn’t defeat me

Without a thought

You ambushed me so sweetly

Abandoned control

Departs in eager fashion

You afflicted my soul

In apathetic passion

I was withdrawn

But never ever after

Can you really turn me on

Immersing me in laughter?

Channel One

We are born, we are taught

That greed is universal

We are sold, we are brought

Up on commercials

Childhood crush, oh young love

A craving for a logo

Just a touch is not enough

Need oh so much more

Go to class, study ads

More lessons in brand names

Fail or pass, the latest fads

Are sure to get their fame, cause

Channel One is the teacher today

Taking our every classroom

Channel One is the teacher today

Training children to consume

Every kid wants shiny things

Cash on Happy Meals is well spent

Just ignore their marketing

Below the age of consent

Their quality guarantee

Is tragically compelling

When other kids across the sea

Are making the toys they’re selling

Channel One is the teacher today

Taking our every classroom

Channel One is the teacher today

Training our kids to consume

Channel One is the teacher today

Selling to a captive audience

How long will we let them gain

From our children’s innocence?

Listen Like It’s Static

just 'cause you’re beautiful

i thought you were deserving

of bright and musical

imaginings

i tried but couldn’t fake it

and you prayed it made a mess of me

but in truth i found it tasteless

and blamed it on your recipe

your taste for the faker things

and a flair for the melodramatic

kept you talking 'bout awakenings

i listen like it’s static

and somehow you made me choose

impossible positions

and you know i’d still refuse

to trust your intuition

can’t take it

i never could

can’t fake it

but maybe i should (this time)

it’s breaking my heart

no matter how hard i tried

it just couldn’t be substantial

so let this be my guide

love is always circumstantial

When We’re Good

let me down again

and i’ll forgive and forget

i bet

think i’ve got enough love in my heart

for everyone around

just healthy runoff from you

cuz a pleasant disposition

and pleasing smile are all

that separate us from the animals

we’ll not be on trial

but who will recall the polite-to-a-fault

when it’s all about making our mark

well how am i doing so far?

and you say some people are better off this way

living their lives like they know what’s in store

when we’re good

we’re winning the war

think i’ve got enough love in my heart

repeat til you believe

Dagny

You’re perfect

He’s perfect too

And you know he worked to get there

You know it’s all for you

He loves you

You love him too

But he knows you want another

He knows that love is true

He says, «Dagny, won’t you listen to me?

I did what you wanted

I did what you asked

Don’t look at me the way you did in the past

I did what you wanted

I did what you asked

I’m not great like the others

But I swear my love will last»

You’re perfect

He’s less perfect than you

So he waits for better weather

He prays you’ll get a clue

He’s starving

You devour all the way through

So he tries to tame his hunger

He knows you’ll eat that too

He says, «Dagny, won’t you listen to me?

I did what you wanted

I did what you asked

Don’t look at me the way you did in the past

I did what you wanted

I did what you asked

I’m not great like the others

But I swear my love will last»

«Dagny, won’t you listen to me?»

You’re perfect

He’s perfect too

And you know you see it too

You know it’s all for you

But you don’t care, now do you?

So he will never have you

Silty Sea

The earth doesn’t shake with every change

But it’s what keeps me awake

In this time, I have found

It’s only with the moon above, I fear the sound

You are new water

Melted and moving on

I am the shore you lap upon

Deeper inland, further submerged

Overwhelming, but it’s time I learned

The way of the world

The oldest mountains become silt and sand

So maybe I was great once, I could have been grand

But the rush of your wave has left me terrified

Though I might have felt it before ten billion times

A biting cool, I am immersed

Held together, I was fragmented first

And as you ebb, day returns

There’s no telling how much I will burn

Or how much I’ll learn

This moonshine is turning me blind

It’s just the reflection of the sun

November

In darkening twilight

In stretch limousines

They came and, like a virus, infested

Everything clean

No end to bloodshed

We’re fixed by our TV screens

Sisters and brothers, are we oblivous?

Are we obscene?

Six and half dozen

Are no longer the same

We have to spread the seeds of revolution

But still work for this change

A little past twilight

But we still hold our own fate

Hey now

We’ve got to hold off the rain at hand

Before it’s too late

The Profiteers

don’t look — you know i’m scared to focus your eyes

it’s true- the truth will cut us down to size

they say «don't try, everything is going as planned

don’t think, you don’t need to understand»

think we need to understand

heard it all before

from the reigning pretenders

the profiteers of war

disheartened and accused

but we can’t afford to surrender

to their rule

Plaguing blameless lives

in the name of our defense

will we leap to the front lines

when it’s time to rise against?

heard it all before

from the allied offenders

the profiteers of war

discouraged and pursued

but we can’t afford to surrender

to their rule

Dignified

So raised

Unfazed and strong

And I can hear you cry

«Where did I go wrong»?

So raised

Stargazers wait for you to fall

But you’re so dignified

Teenage bride, took it in stride

In spite of it all

Last Song For Now

we agree to listen

we agree to share

strange to speak in terms

we know it’s there

just buried for the moment

still breathing beneath our cares

oh we visit when we can

i know it’s not been easy

peering through these cracks

at what seemed to come effortlessly

and it was almost everything

i’m sorry i forgot

to keep perspective

you know i do it a lot

i watch you go

again we are alone

we say it’s just for now

well days are getting darker

I’m lightening my heart

let me give forever

this is just a start

i want to glow

for you and you alone

is that enough for now?