Lyrics

We Just Heard the Boom

My hometown exploded on my baby brother's birthday.
People Easter shopping. Stopping at a window and
reflecting on a sermon with a lemonade in hand.

Did you hear what I heard on the radio?

Don’t remember, but I bet my sister scared the babysitter
pointing to the smoke cloud rising up from downtown.
Bet my baby brother and my mother felt the boom,
watching it happen from a hospital room.

We just heard “Atlanta burns tonight”
We just heard  “There’s riots in Detroit”
We just heard the boom.

Black and white worked side by side digging through a
where not an hour ago, a man had stood and been
admiring a rifle that was put out on display.

Did you hear what I heard on the radio today?    

Part of the Company

Last seen pathologically lying to folkies in Caroline.
Whereabouts unknown according to a book I’m trying to find.
Part of the company.  A lot of embassies have
people like Alan around.
Face of a bureaucrat.  Hands of a diplomat.
His methods have become unsound.

Something so rarely personified comes to me like this.
“Ye shall know the truth..” has been battered and bruised
but for now it gets told like it is:
You're part of the company. "....and the truth shall set you free."
Have you seen Eugene Hasenfus?
Part of the company.  In every colony…slimy leg of the Octopus.


Who's General Sanchez?

I know. I KNOW! You support the war!
And I know you hate Saddam Hussein....

where were all of your fighting words
when he was actually gassing Kurds?
Because in real time (and on our dime)
there's an equally horrific crime at the hands of
General _______ Sanchez.

You would think that we'd have learned, but
most folks don't seem too concerned.
It must really distort your view with a pipeline
pointed right at you.

We've got ears, and we've got eyes.
We know what our dollar buys, and we
see no reason to get all upset about
General Sanchez
yet.



Look Around You

I can’t stop driving now. Can’t stop thinking about something.
Never mind explaining how an ordinary afternoon
can be here and gone so soon.
Try to make the time go fast. Listen as the miles click.
Watch the little towns drift past.
You’re eventually there at the very spot:
What a lovely pair! Trillium and forget-me-not!

It’s always the same old shock when you take a look around you.
We should leave by eight o’clock. 1) the roads are clear 2) the kids can sleep
3) Gas is relatively cheap.

Me and all my bright ideas. This was one, I must admit,
I didn’t have to talk you into it.
So I drove until four, and I drank until dawn,
and sat down on the edge of the bed you were on.



Three Angles of A Heartbeat

All tangled in your bed sheet.
What ever could be sweeter?
Three angles of a heartbeat are we.

A tender moving soul shake.
Who would ever want to break it?
Three angles of a heartache.

One place, and then another.
Two hours on a car ride.
Wildflowers on a hillside are we

I woke up from a sweet dream about
Three angles of a heartbeat.

Man Overboard

Tom is back, for god’s sake.  He felt the earthquake,
then he headed East. Guess he got way out there, chained to his easy chair
and now he’s been released.

Don’t you know you can never go back there
It’ll always be around.
Of all the places you could be
Please don’t pick the lost and found

Tom’s a waiter.  I wash dishes. Sometimes we hang around.
Now he tells me how it used to be
He could not feel the ground.
You cannot be serious.  That’s  a dangerous Game you can’t afford.
I’ve seen it happen.  People laughing as they yell
“Man overboard”
|
Don’t you know you can never go back there.
They’ll tear you limb from limb.
And for all the lessons lost on me I’m learning one from him.
Man, I’ve never been that reckless, but I have a hunch
they eat people like us for breakfast while they wonder what’s for lunch.