Disc 1 | ||||||
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1. |
| 3:44 | ||||
Long ago, a woman prayed that her suitors be
Repelled so she might serve God, be His only God heard her prayers floating up and his heart was cheered He rewarded her amply with a full beard But then she wondered if she should start to take it easy "Overachiever" might be putting it mildly A student of behaviour psychology Conditioned himself to stick to his studies He grew tired of these routines and tried to drop them But he was caught in his own trap and couldn't stop them And then he wondered if he should start to take it easy "Overachiever" might be putting it mildly Once a man was determined to get into The program for astronauts and go to the moon Finally he was in space, saw the planet Fear struck and he threw up inside his helmet Then he wondered if he should start to take it easy "Overachiever" might be putting it mildly |
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2. |
| 3:55 | ||||
He Liked To Feel It
There was a boy Who liked to wiggle his tooth loose so he could show it And then we'd watch While he would tie it to a doorknob, wind up, and then slam it And that was how he liked to have his teeth pulled out He told us how he liked to feel it when it came out But he grew tired Of using doorknobs and so he thought up a brand-new trick He said he'd tie His tooth to his dog's tail, find a stick, wind up, and then throw it And that was how he liked to have his teeth pulled out He told us how he liked to feel it when it came out .. He called his dog But just as he was set to go, his dad arrived there He yelled at him Then got some pliers, held him, wound up, and yanked it out right there That wasn't how he liked to have his teeth pulled out He wouldn't tell us how it felt when it came out ... |
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3. |
| 2:57 | ||||
A Worms Life
Although you think me cold and slimy I've got a nice home I've tasted your best guacamole And siesta'd at noon in the cool of the soil A worm's life can be easy If you lay low, out of sight Sometimes it's too hot for cooking One wants just a salad And then comes a breeze in the evening The men light cigars and their scent fills the air A worm's life can be easy If you lay low, out of sight But then the rains come, and the ground fills with water And I must come up to the surface for air Then I was plucked from the wet slime And dropped in tequila I lay in a stupor for sometime And one fine night I was gulped down in a shot A worm's life can be easy If you lay low, out of sight |
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4. |
| 3:37 | ||||
Our Driver Gestures
When you start your journey, you go and meet your driver You shake his hand, and hope he's feeling well The things to come may be somewhat unfamiliar Like eating herring where the sun does not go down Our driver calculates what time we'll hit town And every time a border comes We go inside and meet with someone Perhaps a form will need to be filled in Then we can go and restart up the engines Plumbing often varies in the various different countries I like to crouch down and turn on those bidets I'll have a cocktail, pick at my fingernails And then I'll squat down for a wash to end the day Our driver recommends we try the souffle And every time a border comes We go inside and meet with someone Perhaps a form will need to be filled in Then we can go and restart up the engines Then we went down under, and we were told of farmers Who brought some pigs here from the old country But pigs eat turtle eggs and turtles eat jellyfish And now you get stung if you're swimming in the sea Our driver gestures out behind the palm trees And every time a border comes We go inside and meet with someone Perhaps a form will need to be filled in Then we can go and restart up the engines |
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5. |
| 3:14 | ||||
I sit and concentrate, and try hard not to hate my enemies
I try to picture them dressed up as furry little bunnies But when I look into their glass eyes I can see they're cold and hard and pink Hopping 'round, hopping on their two legs Cute little legs, hopping around and... I think of dictators who were known to have been especial brutes And I try to picture them gathered together in their bathing suits But when I look down at their bodies I can see they're warm and soft and pink Standing around, standing on their two legs Two little legs, standing around and... I try to meditate, control my hate just like I know I should But I can't help myself, and I keep it up because it feels so good But when I look down at my belly I can see it's pink and soft and weak Kneeling down, kneeling on my two legs Two skinny legs, I'm kneeling down and... |
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6. |
| 3:46 | ||||
There Are Many Dangers
If your toast gets stuck in the toaster Do not put a fork in the toaster while it is hooked up, or look out I did and I got caught in the current Pulled me in and shook me while it held me tight There are many dangers They could be in a toaster or a common thing You must keep a lookout Remember all the rules they have for everything When it's very, very cold out Do not put your tongue on cold metal things For example, stop signs I did and they had to pull some skin off And then they had to fill my mouth with cotton at night There are many dangers They could be in a toaster or a common thing You must keep a lookout Remember all the rules they have for everything When they'd taken out my tonsils I brought them home Kept them in a jar on the shelving in my room Between the toaster, stop sign, and my tonsils I've got lots of things to think about at night There are many dangers Could be in a toaster or a common thing You must keep a lookout Remember all the rules they have for everything |
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7. |
| 3:14 | ||||
I threw out a stupid common paperweight
And it went out into the country To a place where other solid objects lie around Well, it's quite hard, and so it's probably still there And when i die, it will still be somewhere Ha-ha, i'm outlived by that thing and stupid things like that A man once took a very famous photograph Went in books and even lectures Said it was a monster in the old loch ness Before he died, his wife gave him a backrub He confessed his lie, he took the picture in the bathtub Ha-ha, he's outlived by that thing and stupid things like that Scientists have recently just found out About a fish they didn't know of That lives along the bottom of the darkest seas It doesn't need eyes, it's been there a long while Since back in the times of giant flying reptiles Ha-ha, i'm outlived by that thing and stupid things like that Ha-ha, i'm outlived by that thing and stupid things like that |
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8. |
| 3:20 | ||||
All Of This Ugly
I was walking through the country And passing through lovely scenery When I came upon some rotting remains And though the carcass was wormy Well, after all, it's all part of nature's art of cleaning And if I try hard I think that I will see Some good behind all of this ugly When my job was garbageman I'd go out and empty the garbage cans And I'd come upon some rotting remains But we'd drive them outside town And fill the land, and make hills that you could walk around on And if I try hard I think that I will see Some good behind all of this ugly If I were born as a vulture I'd fly out and circle high in the air And I'd look out for rotting remains And if they weren't quite dead yet A little bite would help things so I could get started And if I try hard I think that I will see Some good behind all of this ugly |
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9. |
| 3:50 | ||||
An Old Scab
I sit each morning Look at my empty notebook The room is quiet The air conditioning sounds like rain falling Manic-depressive composer Robert Schumann When he could not write He'd get down on his knees and he would pray for help It's not as bad as eating your own liver But still, I'd like to think that there are better methods I try to tackle the page that lay before me But then I drift off and think about the concept of ben-wah balls I rouse myself and I finish washing dishes Make lists of errands Make all my phone calls And then I pray for help But each time I try to make a fresh stab I end up just picking at an old scab |
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10. |
| 3:35 | ||||
My Own Sunrise
When we met, it was in the hot green jungle Your perfect flesh impervious to anything fungal You would sweat coconut milk and I'd lie awake, restless with the heat during the night Dawn would come and I would start to feel my own sunrise But you'd just lie, sleeping And so we went away in search of gentler breezes When we arrived, I longed to lie and rustle in your grasses But you would not permit me to retire there None but a fly might settle on the meadow of your leg Dawn would come and I would start to feel my own sunrise But you'd just lie, sleeping Then we moved on until we reached the tundra in the winter Of course I longed to kiss her frosty teeth in the cold air But now I've grown bloated on seal fat Not even flies will settle on the meadow of her leg Dawn would come and I would start to feel my own sunrise But you'd just lie, sleeping |
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11. |
| 3:47 | ||||
I'm a dog, and I can smell your smell right through your clothes
And I espouse some views that you yourself just might not hold Sometimes I am given pause to think when I consider what we could call the good life When it comes to the city versus the country life Well, I must say that I far prefer a farmer's wife Breakfast with the master in the morning Feel the breeze and brush against a cow's leg - mmm! But it seems the thinkers you call greatest are The sort who often fall ill young, or pine away How can they help but drag the species down? There's some debate about whether instincts should be held in check Well, I suppose that I'm a liberal in this respect I can't say I liked Robinson Crusoe But at least he didn't tie his dogs up at night And it seems the thinkers you call greatest are The sort who often fall ill young, or pine away How can they help but drag the species down? How come all your poets fall into despondencies? And then write it down for us to read every indignity? Not such worthy specimens, these creatures Hardly fit for what you could call the good life And it seems the thinkers you call greatest are The sort who often fall ill young, or pine away How can they help but drag the species down? How can they help but drag the species down? |
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12. |
| 2:51 | ||||
Swatting Flies
Now that I've used up all my ideas Here in my little house by the sea I search for a usable memory but none comes to me In grade one, my teacher could do embalming She'd stuff the bodies of dead little birds She told us if ever we found one, just to bring it to her And in the science room was an iguana It lay very still in its cage And we'd feed him living flies Then she'd read the old testament to us But first she'd remind us the stories were true And we'd hear of locusts and plagues and the tortures they knew And in the science room was an iguana I remember it now in my house by the seaside Swatting flies ...... |