I'd Rather Smoke

[note:  if there was ever a tune for these lyrics, I don't remember them.]

I walked out on the street

I walked this way and that

I tried to think of a reason

why you treat me so bad

I went on down to the store

and bought a bottle of Jack

(spoken) Baby, why are you less gratifying than a cigarette?

I walk the dog in the daytime

in the night I call the cat

I've got nothing to do but eat

and now I'm getting fat

I hold a sweater in my lap

and slowly pick out all the fuzz

(spoken) Baby, why can't you give something more than that old nicotine buzz?

Cause I'm lost for the reason

that you make me so blue

(spoken) Baby, why would I rather have a Camel than be with you?

I'd rather smoke

ooooh I'd rather smoke

I'd rather smoke

yeah yeah I'd rather smoke

(early '86)

Not One Of Us, by Peter Gabriel (lyrics)

It's only water
In a stranger's tear
Looks are deceptive
But distinctions are clear
A foreign body
And a foreign mind
Never welcome
In the land of the blind
You may look like we do
Talk like we do
But you know how it is

You're not one of us
Not one of us
No you're not one of us
Not one of us
Not one of us
No you're not one of us

There's safety in numbers
When you learn to divide
How can we be in
If there is no outside
All shades of opinion
Feed an open mind
But your values are twisted
Let us help you unwind
You may look like we do
Talk like we do
-But you know how it is

You're not one of us
Not one of us
No you're not one of us

(1980)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Them Heavy People, by Kate Bush (lyrics)

Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me. 
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me. 

They arrived at an inconvenient time. 
I was hiding in a room in my mind. 
They made me look at myself. I saw it well. 
I'd shut the people out of my life. 

So now I take the opportunities: 
Wonderful teachers ready to teach me. 
I must work on my mind. For now I realise: 
Everyone of us has a heaven inside. 

Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot. 
Them heavy people help me. 
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot. 
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me. 

They open doorways that I thought were shut for good. 
They read me Gurdjieff and Jesu. 
They build up my body, break me emotionally. 
It's nearly killing me, but what a lovely feeling! 

I love the whirling of the dervishes. 
I love the beauty of rare innocence. 
You don't need no crystal ball, 
Don't fall for a magic wand. 
We humans got it all, we perform the miracles. 

Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot. 
Them heavy people help me. 
Them heavy people hit me in a soft spot. 
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me. 
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball, rolling the ball to me. 
Rolling the ball, rolling the ball... 

(1978)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Tracks, by Gary Numan (lyrics)

Where are the tracks?

Where are the lines?

Where are the tracks?

Where is the time?

You were so cold

You were so slow

And we were so old

And we were unsure.

And I want your lines

And I want your time

And I want your face

And you can have mine.

(1979)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Rock N' Roll Suicide, By David Bowie (lyrics)

Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth
You pull on your finger, then another finger, then your cigarette
The wall-to-wall is calling, it lingers, then you forget
Ohhh how how how, you're a rock 'n' roll suicide

You're too old to lose it, too young to choose it
And the clocks waits so patiently on your song
You walk past a cafe but you don't eat when you've lived too long
Oh, no, no, no, you're a rock 'n' roll suicide

Chev brakes are snarling as you stumble across the road
But the day breaks instead so you hurry home
Don't let the sun blast your shadow
Don't let the milk float ride your mind
You're so natural - religiously unkind

Oh no love! you're not alone
You're watching yourself but you're too unfair
You got your head all tangled up but if I could only
make you care
Oh no love! you're not alone
No matter what or who you've been
No matter when or where you've seen
All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
I've had my share, I'll help you with the pain
You're not alone 

Just turn on with me and you're not alone 
Let's turn on with me and you're not alone (wonderful)
Gimme your hands cause you're wonderful (wonderful)
Gimme your hands cause you're wonderful (wonderful)
Oh gimme your hands.

(1972)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Crossroads, by Don McLean (lyrics)

I've got nothing on my mind: Nothing to remember, 

Nothing to forget. And I've got nothing to regret, 

But I'm all tied up on the inside, 

No one knows quite what I've got; 

And I know that on the outside 

What I used to be, I'm not anymore. 

You know I've heard about people like me, 

But I never made the connection. 

They walk one road to set them free 

And find they've gone the wrong direction. 

But there's no need for turning back 

`Cause all roads lead to where I stand. 

And I believe I'll walk them all 

No matter what I may have planned. 

Can you remember who I was? Can you still feel it? 

Can you find my pain? Can you heal it? 

Then lay your hands upon me now 

And cast this darkness from my soul. 

You alone can light my way. 

You alone can make me whole once again. 

We've walked both sides of every street 

Through all kinds of windy weather. 

But that was never our defeat 

As long as we could walk together. 

So there's no need for turning back 

`Cause all roads lead to where we stand. 

And I believe we'll walk them all 

No matter what we may have planned.

(1971)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Mad World, by Tears for Fears (lyrics)

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tommorow, no tommorow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World 
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

(1983)

Higher Hell, by Echo and the Bunnymen (lyrics)

Smack in the middle of today
Got to learn new words
Merely got to simply say
I think we all misheard


Cracked in the middle of me
Have to find my heart
Smiling equates with happy 
But I know they're miles apart


Just like my lower heaven
You know so well my higher hell


When confronted by 
Continuing the course
Will you open up
Or do I have to force
The words right out
Of your stubborn mouth?
Stunted of course,
Guilty in their growth


Just like my lower heaven
You know so well my higher hell


Crashed through the floor today
I couldn't find my legs
Suppose you live and learn
Learn it again and again


Smack in the middle of today
Got to find new words
Merely got to simply say 
I think we all misheard


Just like my lower heaven
You know so well my higher hell
(When confronted by continuing the course)
(Will you open up or do I have to force)
(The words right out)
(Of your stubborn mouth)
(Stunted of course)
(Guilty in their growth)

(1983)

Ants Invasion, by Adam Ant (lyrics)

10:35 and I hope I've made
the right decision
heart is beating I'm alive
but I don't call this living
rationalise till I'm blue in the face
you cannot lose if you throw the race
I'm still searching for the
ants invasion

10:36 and I hope I've made
the right decision
ninety eight point four's the bore
with twenty twenty vision
you want a thrill so you come and see me
a cheap line in fantasy
but I'm still searching for the
ants invasion

if I'd the courage
I would make my way home
too many antics in the forbidden zone

10:38 and I think I've made
the wrong decision
another lifeless man with a strange incision
I hope that insect doesn't see me
he's not renowned for his courtesy
I'm not searching for the
ants invasion

(1980)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

New Religion, by Duran Duran (lyrics)

I've been now sauntering 
Out and down the path sometime
Come on, it takes me nowhere, which I knew
Faces everywhere pulling grins and signs in things
Telling me not there, man, it's no go
Don't go there boy

I need a reason
(I can't think without one now)
Too much learning got to show
Call it treason
(Maybe catch her, don't know how)
Too many things, too much to know

Bring my timing in, seagulls gather on the wind
Lady screaming, lady leave me out
'Cause sometimes people stare
(Coming down, electric chair)
And steaming crowds they gather and they shout

(Don't know why this evil bothers me)
Take another chance boy, carry the fight, 
You can take him if you're fast
(So why is he trying to follow me?)
Didn't I say if you're holding on 
You'd be laughing at the last
(How many reasons do they need?)
I get along fine with them friends of mine 
But you have to make a choice
(I might just believe this time)
You're singing out of tune but the beat's in time 
And it's us who makes the noise

I'm talking for free, I can't stop myself, 
It's a new religion
I've something to see, I can't help myself, 
It's a new religion

Okay, my reasoning might be clouded by the sun
But someone sees the departmental lie
You know this peacetime (jabbing fist in stabbing knife)
Only get one look before you die

(Don't know why this evil bothers me)
Take another chance boy, carry the fight, 
You can take him if you're fast
(So why is he trying to follow me?)
Didn't I say if you're holding on 
You'd be laughing at the last
(How many reasons do they need?)
I get along fine with them friends of mine 
But you have to make a choice
(I might just believe this time)
You're singing out of tune but the beat's in time
And it's us who makes the noise

I'm talking for free, I can't stop myself, 
It's a new religion
I've something to see, I can't help myself, 
It's a new religion

Gotta take pay the saints 'n sinners 
In regulation hats 'n scarves 'n things
Walking in formation down the lane, 
They carry their cross, make a church bell ring 
Army majors pull a mean cool truth, 
There lying in a swimming pool
Searching for the undeniable truth that 
A man is just a fool

(Don't know why this evil bothers me)
Take another chance boy, carry the fight, 
You can take him if you're fast
(So why is he trying to follow me?)
Didn't I say if you're holding on 
You'd be laughing at the last
(How many reasons do they need?)
I get along fine with them friends of mine 
But you have to make a choice
(I might just believe this time)
You're singing out of tune but the beat's in time 
And it's us who makes the noise

I'm talking for free, I can't stop myself, 
It's a new religion
I've something to see, I can't help myself, 
It's a new religion
[repeat to fade]

(1982)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Nearly Missed, a Sesame Street Song (lyrics)

While lookin' at my feet, at a crack in the sidewalk
An old tin can by the side of the road
I nearly missed a rainbow
I nearly missed a sunset
I nearly missed a shooting star going by

While studying a brand new hole in my sneaker
And finding a quarter and an old bus token
I nearly missed a rainbow
I nearly missed a sunset
I nearly missed a shooting star going by


Looking down at the ground means you know where you're going
No head up in the clouds to lead you astray
But you can't ever have any kind of dream that way

Looking down at the ground means you know where you're going
No head up in the clouds to lead you astray
But you can't ever have any kind of dream that way

While looking at my feet at a crack in the sidewalk
An old tin can by the side of the road
I nearly missed a rainbow
Elmo nearly missed a sunset
I would've missed a shooting star going by

I nearly missed a rainbow
Don't want to miss that sunset
I wouldn't miss a shooting start going by
Passing me by
Passing me by

(1970?)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Factory, by Wall of Voodoo (lyrics)

Now I know I had something to say
But the problem is to say something, uh, you gotta say it
And I still don't remember a thing
Since that funny gas came out of that pipe next to me
I guess they didn't OK it
Now I remember, did I tell ya? Cut my thumb off at the knuckle on a broken band saw
Didn't see the belt buckle of the blade slip
And I remember when the doctor did it up with a stitch
Funny thing, still got a scratch that I can't itch where my thumb was

And I've brought the same piece of chicken in a bag to work everyday 
For the last twenty years or so
And I really don't mind work assembly line, 
Got an intercom blasting the news and the latest on the baseball scores
And come around every Friday when I get a paycheck 
I take the same road home that I come to work on, heck it's a living

And I've got another factory back home
I got a barbeque, pink mustang, fender's chrome
And at nine o' clock I sit there in my chair
And I don't know why I lose my hair

And then I go to
And then I go to
And then I go to sleep

Well I like to know what I'm doing when I do it 
And I do what I'm doing cause I don't know what to do 
When I'm not doing it
Sometimes I remember as a boy my father told me 
I could grow up to be anything
I really wanted to be anything

And everyday at lunch I still look for my lost digit
Still got that funny scratch
So maybe when I find it I can itch it
And I got a little rubber pool in the backyard
For the kids to wade in
And I...I...I....I, I, I

I've got another factory back home
Got a barbeque, pink mustang, fender's chrome
And at nine o' clock I'm in my chair sat down
Just lately when my wife talks back to me, I slap her around

Then I go to
Then I go to
Then I go to sleep

Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh

(1982)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Dance Godammit, by The Sparks (lyrics)

It's the sound
Of today
Played so loud
You're in pain
I feel good
Really great
As I talk
To my feet
Dance Godammit

Dance Godammit

I get scared
When I'm alone
So I don't
Stay alone
I like clubs
I like girls
I like music
And that's it
Dance Godammit
Dance Godammit

I do leaps
I do splits
I do spins
I do dips
Wanna dance?
Do you wanna dance ?

I get scared
When I'm alone
Ah, don't leave me
All alone
Wanna dance
Wanna dance
Wanna dance?
Do you wanna dance?
Dance Godammit
Dance Godammit

(1983)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Born, Never Asked, by Laurie Anderson (lyrics)

It was a large room. 
Full of people. 
All kinds. 
And they had all arrived at the same buidling at more or less the same time. 
And they were all free. 
And they were all asking themselves the same question: 
What is behind that curtain? 
You were born. 
And so you're free. 
So happy birthday.

(1982)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Walking and Falling, by Laurie Anderson (lyrics)

I wanted you. 
And I was looking for you. 
But I couldn't find you. 
I wanted you. 
And I was looking for you all day. 
But I couldn't find you. 
I couldn't find you. 
You're walking. 
And you don't always realize it, but you're always falling. 
With each step you fall forward slightly. 
And then catch yourself from falling. 
Over and over, you're falling. 
And then catching yourself from falling. 
And this is how you can be walking and falling at the same time.

(1982)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Trouble, by Cat Stevens (lyrics)

Trouble 
Oh trouble set me free 
I have seen your face 
And it's too much too much for me 

Trouble 
Oh trouble can't you see 
You're eating my heart away 
And there's nothing much left of me 

I've drunk your wine 
You have made your world mine 
So won't you be fair 
So won't you be fair 

I don't want no more of you 
So won't you be kind to me 
Just let me go where 
I'll have to go there 

Trouble 
Oh trouble move away 
I have seen your face 
and it's too much for me today 

Trouble 
Oh trouble can't you see 
You have made me a wreck 
Now won't you leave me in my misery 

I've seen your eyes 
and I can see death's disguise 
Hangin' on me 
Hangin' on me 

I'm beat, I'm torn 
Shattered and tossed and worn 
Too shocking to see 
Too shocking to see 

Trouble 
Oh trouble move from me 
I have paid my debt 
Now won't you leave me in my misery 

Trouble 
Oh trouble please be kind 
I don't want no fight 
And I haven't got a lot of time 

(1970)

(copied into 1985 notebook)

Asylum, by Crass

Lyrics from Crass, from the album "The Feeding of the 5000" (1978)

I am no feeble Christ, not me. 
He hangs in glib delight upon his cross. Upon his cross.
Above my body. Lowly me. 
Christ forgive, forgive. Holy he, he holy, he holy.
Shit he forgives. Forgive, forgive. I, I, Me, I. 
I vomit for you, Jesu. Christi-Christus. 
Puke upon your papal throne.
Wrapped you are in the bloody shroud of churlish suicide.
Wrapped I am in the bloody cloud of hellish genocide. 
Petulant child.
I have suffered for you, where you have never known me.
I too must die. Will you be shadowed in the arrogance of my death?
Your valley truth? What lights pass those pious heights?
What passing bells for these in their trucks?
For you Lord, you are the flag-bearer of these nations, 
one against the other, that die in the mud.
No piety, no deity. Is that your forgiveness?
Saint, martyr, goat, billy. Forgive?
Shit he forgives.
He hangs upon his cross in self-righteous judgment, 
hangs in crucified delight, nailed to the extent of his vision.
His cross, his manhood, his violence, guilt, sin.
He would nail my body upon his cross, 
as if I might have waited for him in the garden, 
as if I might have perfumed his body, washed those bloody feet? 
This woman that he seeks, suicide visionary, death reveller, 
rape, rapist, grave-digger, earth-mover, life-fucker. Jesu.
You scooped the pits of Auschwitz.
The soil of Treblinka is rich in your guilt, 
the sorrow of your tradition, 
your stupid humility is the crown of thorn we all must wear.
For you? Ha. Master? Master of gore. 
Enigma. 
Stigma.
Stigmata.
Errata.
Eraser. 
The cross is the mast of our oppression.
You fly their vain flag. You carry it.
Wear it on your back Lord. Your back. 
Enola is your gaiety.
Suffer little children, suffer in that horror.
Hiro-horror, horror-hiro, hiro-shima, shima-hiro, 
hiro-shima, hiro-shima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima.
The bodies are your delight. 
The incandescent flame is the spirit of it.
They come to you Jesu, to you.
The nails are the only trinity. 
Hold them in your corpsey gracelessness.
The image that I have had to suffer.
These nails at my temple.
The cross is the virgin body of womanhood that you defile.
In your guilt, you turn your back, nailed to that body.
Lamearse Jesus calls me sister! There are no words for my contempt!
Every woman is a cross in his filthy theology!
He turns his back on me in his fear. 
His vain delight is the pain I bear. 
Alone he hangs, his choice, his choice.
Alone, alone, his voice, his voice. 
He shares nothing, this Christ; sterile, impotent, fuck-love prophet of death.
He is the ultimate pornography. He! He! 
Hear us, Jesus!
You sigh alone in your cock fear!
You lie alone in your cunt fear!
You cry alone in your woman fear!
You die alone in your man fear!
Alone Jesu, alone, in your cock fear, cunt fear, woman fear, man fear. 
Alone in you fear, alone in your fear, alone in your fear. 
Your fear, your fear, your fear, your fear, your fear, your fear, your fear, 
Warfare, warfare, warfare, warfare, warfare!

JESUS DIED FOR HIS OWN SINS. NOT MINE.

California Uber Alles (Ronald Reagan version)

Lyrics by The Dead Kennedys, from "In God We Trust, Inc."

Intro (lounge style):

Last call for alcohol

Last call for your freedom of speech

Drink up!  Happy hour is now enforced by law

Don't forget our house special, it's called the Tricky Dicky screwdriver

It's got one part Jack Daniels, two parts purple koolaid, and a jigger of

formaldehyde from from a jar with Hitler's brain in it we got in the 

back storeroom

Happy trails to you, happy trails to you

I am Emporer Ronald Reagan

born again with fascist cravings

but still you made me President

Human Rights will soon go away

I am now your Shah today

Now I command all of you

Now you're gonna pray in school

And I'll make sure they're Christian, too

California, Uber Alles

California, Uber Alles

Uber Alles, California

Uber Alles, California

Klu Klux Klan will control you

But still you think it's natural

N****r knockin' for the master race

But still you wear a happy face

You closed your eyes, can't happen here

Alexander Haig is near

Viet Nam won't come back you say

Join the army or you will pay

Join the army or you will pay

California, Uber Alles

California, Uber Alles

Uber Alles, California

Uber Alles, California

(spoken, lounge-style)

Yeah, that's it, just relax

Have another drink, a few more pretzels, a little more MSG

Turn on those Dallas cowboys on your TV

Lock your doors

Close your minds

It's time for the two-minute warning

Welcome to 1984

Are you ready for the 3rd World War?

You too will meet the secret police

They'll draft you and they'll jail your niece

You'll go quietly to boot camp

They'll shoot you dead, make you a man

But don't you worry it's for a cause

Feeding global corporations claws

Die on a brand new poison gas

El Salvador and Afghanistan

Making money for President Reagan

Making money for President Reagan

And all the friends of President Reagan

California, Uber Alles

California, Uber Alles

Uber Alles, California

Uber Alles, California

(1981)