1. |
Boychoir
03:28
|
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age ten, sang in the boy choir
too close to figure what boys are
learned words I still don’t understand
Adam was led out by the hand
he showed up
with something tied in his hair
Father was calling the Director
“here is the law
that fuses the church
you’re nearly a man
time to cut out that urge”
we start to look out
making bracelets at lunch
we’re watching our speech
we’re not speaking enough
Olly asks me to pierce his ears
he learned how from his sisters here
running through Father’s cabinets
holding his head over the sink
he sang a scream
that caved in the room
my hands and his neck
dripping wet on our shoes
eyes start to shake
heavy feet start to run
arms out of nowhere
pull me out of the blood
then we found out
here is the law
that fuses the church
had to suck on a rag
soaked in rice vinegar
Luke and Jerome
the identical twins
I got sent off to St. I’s
never saw those friends again
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2. |
Rist
04:07
|
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ignore their firm belief
in astronomical harassment
and validate these children
each time nothing happens
it’s a nod
it’s a hell yeah keep it up
now it’s haircuts, logos
parades on your street
your shrug is a hell yes
choked shut
they call it
it has been us the whole time
now the profoundly insecure
dictate policy
the best and only victims
child crook commits
gets led out by the wrist
les étoiles sont alignées
pour la guerre astronomique
les meilleures et les seules victimes
les Alliés ne peuvent plus prétendre
la supériorité historique
le nationalisme est un poison
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3. |
I Make Contact
03:32
|
|
||
materialized
out of nothing
I saw a picture of his brother
half shut in a desk drawer
odd what he’s become
I try joking
everyone wants me to talk about him
why do I need to talk about him
I make contact
after the talk show
he barely has the time
he’s nearly out of orbit
things turn
I try to call after his fans are getting
caught
armed inside of student unions
firing into lecture ceilings
he hangs up
says he’s done listening to lesser men
I walk laps in the tunnels of the hospital
listen to the pipes
refuse to believe
he’s really gone for good
I walk laps in the tunnels of the hospital
waiting for the credits, lights
credits, lights
credits, lights
credits, lights
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4. |
Finally
02:39
|
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||
finally
he says now that it’s just us guys
says he’s gotta tell me this joke
says I gotta hear this
I gotta hear this
before he gets to speak
I vomit in my hands
and spread it through my hair
the archetype
must pluralize
that’s a wild assumption, pal
that’s a wild assumption, pal
to think I’d be on board
that’s a wild assumption, pal
it’s never just us guys
it’s never just us guys
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5. |
Classic Men
04:09
|
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classic men can sniff me out
it is seconds, watch it happen
they can sniff me out like blood
it is seconds
watch it
they recommend this book to me
about our species’ downfall
now that we prop up weaklings
we’ve actually devolved
he answers the phone and throws a tantrum
evidently
she didn’t hear his voicemail
so we turn around this second
drive straight into traffic
of course we all die in this instant
world haunted by classic men
world haunted by classic men
man smoking at the gas pump
it’s friday, he can’t wait to
imitate the classic man
pull Top Gun elevator moves
his buddy tried it once
the judge actually winked
I ask him to put it out
he answers that he carries
gets close enough to hit me
drops the cigarette
of course we all die in this instant
world haunted by classic men
world haunted by classic men
classic men
world haunted by real strength
poise and confidence
superiority’s obvious
drives straight through a night club
and I fantasize this:
thank god they’re reformed once they’re in office
thank god they don’t get to raise children
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6. |
The Two Of Us
03:58
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he caught him through the archway
alone
hands shaking toward some postcards
“relax.
they think I’m asking questions
they think I’m drawing maps”
I ask you to start carrying a phone
and find somewhere else to be tonight
there is only one man
and you have all been assigned to him
you can fail to satisfy
the calculus
or you can fail to tell apart
the two of us
what started as a joke enters the room
their popped veins wrapped around their handguns
faces red from supplements
there is only one man
and you have all been assigned to him
there is only one man
and you must resign yourself to him
would you look at what gets
plastered to the walls
they will not tolerate you
they will pull the aerosol
it started as a joke
now it finds out your address
“find somewhere else to be tonight
wait for me to call”
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7. |
Nightflood
04:30
|
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||
oven light keeps flashing
wake up in absence
still coming down in sheets
strobes answer my heartbeat
I still hear orioles
I’m out of it
have they set out on patrol?
snap out of it
sine
screen door gets free
with each slam it asks me
“how far off did your friends go
and are they coming back?”
visions of black waves
the real almanac
step out that morning
in a different world
littered with tree trunks
neighbors aren’t familiar
they speak in advertisements
forget that they were humans
housemates return
just to sell me weapons
sine
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8. |
Boychoir (Excerpt)
00:40
|
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9. |
Openly Weep
03:55
|
|
||
dad says he's quit being sensitive
brought home handguns for our enemies
intent to raise
a family
on John Wayne
fantasies
I start hiding
serves only daytime tv
speaks by wrecking deck chairs
one day
his face
on the nightly
hearing sirens, he starts weeping
“cranes touch down
each March here
breathtaking
sunset flight
tell no one
I watch them
tell no one
I said this”
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10. |
Yellowcake
02:49
|
|
||
I don't reason with the
cuts in the yellowcake
it's not mine to reason in
I broke my lease and met up in Texas
answered their call-out then
said I sent my kids
to the I-beams
to prove my faith in threes
wake up I can never be clear
what the address is
I say the pledge when turning in
I say that I have no one
nowhere
at any time
so who am I gonna talk to
then I overheard
running east to the stairwell
they ask what I thought we were doing here
so they cut my pay
vow to hide me away
that I'm nothing when I'm asleep
just like I'm nothing when I'm awake
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||||
11. |
Keynote
03:30
|
|
||
still talking
after walking
out of the plane crash
still
only two of them
left on the rock face
one’s giving his speech
from the leadership conference
still
you watched me give this talk last night
you were sitting near the aisle, right?
well, a real man
coulda nosed out at the last second
it’s a shame that
there’s no classic men among us
hey, you don’t talk much do you?
I’m a dying breed, you know?
can you believe I’m stuck with you?
you don’t think I can manage?
watch me
watch me
watch me
one goes Rambo off the cliff and dies
one waits for copters to arrive
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||||
12. |
The Idiot Lights
03:51
|
|
||
near 2 AM
and I can never figure those distant hits
new excavations
new tectonic pits
they never come with lights
no lamps or helicopter spots
wake up to expect
cranes hanging over us
shocked it takes so little
for decent citizens
to go running toward
the idiot lights
socked it takes so little
for decent citizens
to go running toward
the uniforms
shocked it takes so little
for decent citizens
to jaundice
it’s an organ needs removing
remove it
lord, make me an obstacle
that lets no one fall through it
it cannot take so little
for my own family
to go running toward
the uniforms
to go running toward
the idiot lights
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