1. |
Prologue: 45
02:03
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Prologue: 45
Who is this chief wrongly chosen for our nation
Whose cruel intent will divide us, one and all
Watch as his mobs grow & face the confrontation
Heed his commandments or prepare for a fall
His is the aim to destroy all we believe in
This he will do, as he drags us through the mud
Bruised broken bodies on city streets conceived in
Hell without precedent, hell steeped in blood
Note: Basic track assembled from public domain recordings of "Hail to the Chief" (music: James Sanderson; lyrics: Albert Gamse: song also in public domain).
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2. |
National Disgrace
06:16
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National Disgrace
It started like a comedy
The escalator speech
America’s most hated boss
Descending out of reach
The cameramen who rolled their eyes
The journalists who knew
Today’s delusion couldn’t last
Beyond the interview
But somehow all his talk of crimes
& cover-ups & walls
Spoke to his target audience
& packed arena halls
Their red hats flashing in the stands
Like rags before a bull
Made rage and loss their higher cause
& every heart was full
But could we then have known
We were confronting face to face
Not just another jaded millionaire
But our national disgrace
The migrant sons & daughters
Thrown in cages & afraid
Called for the missing parents
Separated in a raid
The cries of blood & soil echoed
Through a darkened street
Where torches lit the statues
That mourned slavery’s defeat
The lies, once so outrageous
Soon became a point of view
Believed as much as proven fact
The most believed, least true
His former foes paid homage
To the powers he abused
Or ended up in exile: blamed,
Insulted & accused
Did they suspect by then
That swept away without a trace
They were just the latest casualties
Of our National Disgrace?
The Book he swore his oath on
Soon became another prop
To raise before a battered church
Used for a photo op
His unmarked troops & agents,
Shields ready, formed a line
For him, just one life mattered
& it wasn’t yours or mine
He hired & fired flatterers
Who sanctified the gun
Watched as a new contagion
Spread & covered up the sun
The rest of us stood by, the toll
More frightening every day
He shrugged behind the podium,
“Soon, it will go away”
How often did we overlook
Deception in the space
Between his words of nonsense
& our national disgrace?
An empire built on hoaxes, empty slogans like “You’re fired”
The women that he silenced & the strongmen he admired
The NDAs & legal briefs that whistleblowers feared
The Russian bots who struck & disappeared
Will the postal service crash
Like the economy he wrecked?
He’ll sow doubts about Election Day
But what can we expect
From someone who’s lived all his life
Inside a golden tower
Bloated with dreams of grandeur
Drunk on property & power?
There’s a time for action
& a time to bear the weight
A time to ask for guidance
& a time to keep the faith
A time to gather in the streets
& make our voices heard
A time to cast our ballots
& to have the final word
But what world will we discover
In the moment we erase
The cruelty & the high crimes of
Our National Disgrace?
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3. |
Faithless Elector
04:53
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Faithless Elector
Faithless Elector,
Why did you break your vow to me?
You say above all principles you value liberty
You’ve made your declaration
Of all burdens you are free
But now here comes the hard part, as you’ll learn eventually
When all the day’s parades trail off in silence and in spite
And the promises you made fade like confetti in the night
Your conscience might be clear, but whose false hope did you ignite?
When will you gather
In that city on the hill
To cast your final ballot and bend others to your will?
The lights below you gleam
Like scattered fires on a field
Too far away to separate the injured from the killed
But if one voice makes a difference, will you flee or join the fight?
And if you’re not really faithless, will you stay with me tonight?
And if you are, don’t tell me, I’ve got secrets of my own
Faithless Elector, when I wake, will you be gone
To pledge allegiance to somebody else
Or to yourself alone?
Rich benefactors
Offer counsel on your vote
Tho’ they preach a Constitution that they’ve memorized by rote
I see you at town meetings
Ready with another quote
Perfect for a bumper sticker or a quick clandestine note
Faithless Elector,
You told the truth for our own good
But waited till the time was right to show your gratitude
You say the laws we live by
Are imperfect like the men
And women who conceived them, so you’re leaving me again
Holding back the truth’s not hard after the first time that you do
Let the party banners shimmer when the spotlight passes through
I guess everyone looks different when you change your point of view
Faithless elector, am I finally reaching you?
If nothing makes a difference, what’s the reason that we fight
And if faith itself is obsolete, what’s left for us tonight
Just the painful consolations of a future that’s unknown
Faithless Elector, when I wake, will you be gone
To pledge allegiance to some higher cause
Or to yourself alone?
And if words don’t make a difference, will you stay or book a flight
To some undisclosed location in the middle of the night?
Did you learn the secret handshake in the pyramid of light?
Faithless Elector, are your articles of faith
Worth all the pen-strokes and the parchment
They were written on?
Faithless elector
Note:
An "elector" is a member of the U.S. electoral college--usually a political appointee or party activist. Electors meet in December after each Presidential election to officially cast their ballots. A "faithless elector" is a member of the electoral college who casts a vote for someone other than the candidate he or she is pledged to vote for--in other words, they broke their vow & proved themselves "faithless."
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4. |
Deep Fake Faces
05:55
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Deep Fake Faces
I want to reach out to you
But I’ve got to find a new face
That will please, intrigue & lure you
To the black screen & the blue space
Of that endless online ocean
At the edge of Make Believe and Let’s Pretend
I’ll smile, vaguely familiar
With the look of one who knows you
Every message sent, a mirror
Of the shadow-self it shows you
Every word a calculation
Of how much to praise, reflect back, or offend
While only acting as a friend
& you don’t even know my real name
You don’t know what I look or even talk like, it’s a shame
Some imaginary person
You can’t even put a curse on
Has you caught without a clue
Who lays the blame or cries the blues
Behind the deep fake faces you believe are true?
& no one even knows my real name
& the profile that entrapped you was the first move in a game
You don’t realize you’re playing
The alternatives you’re weighing
So surreal, they can’t be true
Do you possess a point of view?
If not, the deep fake faces will make sure that you do
Now I’ve got you
Trusting everything I share
& I’ve brought you
To the brink of everywhere
& I’ve left you
At the crossroads of your bias
No one questions or denies us
’Cause they don’t know where the lie is
Or don’t care
We’ll be waiting for you always
With the faces you confide in
Through the infinite dark doorways
Of the cloud that we reside in
A.I. blended, generated
Algorithmically created, in the end
It’s just too easy pressing Send
You’re hooked on all the shock & sad surprise
It’s a car wreck, you can’t look away but don’t believe your eyes
Though you place your trust in faces
& false claims without a basis
You’d cry if you only knew
It doesn’t matter what you do
The latest deep fake faces look a little bit like you
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5. |
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There’s a Reason Olives Grow in California
There’s a reason olives grow in California
It isn’t just the climate or the Bay
The family orchards shining with white flowers
Groves breaking into blossom every May
Whose hands will pick the ripe fruit come September
Whose steady labor fills the endless days
Who’s watching from the north side of the border
Or hears the mission fathers as they pray
By day the sun reflects from dirty windshields
Or the shades patrolmen wear to hide their gaze
By night the desert shadows over dark hills
Disguise the land a thousand different ways
There’s a wedding ring wrapped in a ragged kerchief
A prayer book & a confiscated cross
Filed in a box from which they’ll never surface
As one more broken family mourns their loss
There’s a reason people come to California
To vanish in the landscape every day
The endless acres shining with bright flowers
The heavy branches bright in clouds of rain
But who will pick the ripe fruit or remember
As grinding hours blend & slip away
& who will watch for shadows on the border
Or hear the mission sisters as they pray
In the fields of the north the day is over
When baskets overspill & stars appear
You could almost bring yourself to climb the ladders
If they led to anywhere but here
A mile away a clutch of rusted trailers
Flickers in a campfire’s afterglow
The mission bells that toll do not remember
The speechless neighbors no one wants to know
There’s a reason people ride to California
It isn’t just a place to get away
The would-be workers locked behind a van’s doors
The families forced to make their separate ways
Their hands will reap the harvest come September
Or find some other labor for the pay
They ride beyond the checkpoints at the border
With every bump they’ll close their eyes & pray
I was thinking of the olive leaf a dove brought
Back from dry land risen from the sea
The monks who brought small cuttings in a clay pot
From a homeland left to memory
A thousand-year-old tree across the ocean
Witnesses another century
Its roots & branches tangle on the same ground
Where generations toiled or had to flee
There’s a reason olives grow in California
It isn’t just the climate or the Bay
The endless orchards shining with white flowers
Groves breaking into blossom every May
We know who’ll pick the ripe fruit come September
Or end up caught before they get away
Who’s watching from the north side of the border
Or hears the orphaned children as they play
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6. |
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November Light
November light has fallen
Rays metallic, Mars in retrograde again
Crows are flying through a whirlwind of leaves
Let the night begin
~descant~
All our masks are worn in secret
All our secrets we refuse to give away
What we see we will not speak of
What we know we cannot say
Is it true the dead are speaking
Whispering to saints who bend & listen in
As the world grows dim & skeletal & mean
What’s waiting at the end
Between the dreys & dread
Scratchboard branches overhead
The pavement’s cobalt shadows
& the casement’s burnished glow
Late afternoon’s gray sunlight
Blending with black metal night
What do we know
~
No Ruffles, No Flourishes
When will it end—this election that afflicts us
How will it end—in elation or regret
Who will prevail—with what lies will he depict us
Whose law will govern us, whose lives are the debt
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7. |
Long Night
06:48
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Long Night
Are you ready for another day
In Nightmare City USA
Where armed militias raise their guns & cheer
Flag-bearing pickups roar through town
Surround the bus they’re running down
By night thru smoke & torchlight they appear
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long day
Followed by the long long time it takes to find our way
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long fight
Not to make the one wrong move that gives it all away
Poll volunteers endure the jeers
Of mobs who listen to their fears
& look for fraud they’re told they should expect
Who’ll stoke the fire while ballots burn
Like history we never learn
What law does chaos uphold & protect?
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long day
Followed by the long long time it takes to find our way
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long fight
Not to let ourselves give up & give it all away
The neighbor quoting Q-Anon
Misled by memes & dark web dreams
Means no one any harm
(& surely he is wrong?)
He heads outdoors when times are hard
For target practice in the yard
In search of inner peace
Some moment of release
Birds scatter from the trees
& the news from Nightmare City
(So they say)
Is everything’s okay
A slender figure floats through halls
Superbly dressed, his dark suit pressed
Past portraits of the great
(Results are running late)
He meets his wife, First Daughter dear
Who shares his secrets, well-coiffed, sheer
Blonde hair & skin like cream
They’re living out their dream
Why do I want to scream
But the word from Nightmare City
(They insist)
Nobody should resist
Do you gaze up at the podium
The world divided – Us & Them –
To see your cause & candidate prevail
Is it because you’re glad the tide
Is washing over those outside
Not you who raise the sword & hold the scale
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long day
Followed by the long long time it takes to find our way
It’s gonna be a long day
Followed by a long night
Followed by the long long fight they’ll wage to get their way
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long day
Followed by the long long time it takes to make our way
It’s gonna be a long night
Followed by a long fight
Not to let ourselves give up & give it all away
But everything’s okay
Is everything okay?
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8. |
The Cuckoo (1/6/21)
03:16
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The Cuckoo (1/6/21)
Gonna build me a log cabin
On a mountain so high
Where the stars shine brightly
& the missiles fly by
Oh the cuckoo she’s a pretty bird
She warbles as she flies
She never hollers cuckoo
Till the 4th day of July
Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds
We’ve known you of old
Break the seal & lay the cards out
Let’s hear our fortunes told
On the 6th day of the new year
We will gather at the call
Will Congress keep on counting
When we raid the Capitol
Scale the walls & break the doors down
We are many, they are few
Raise the flags up, point your weapons
Crying havok as we do
Oh the cuckoo she’s a pretty bird
Of strange fortune we should fear
To our shame she hollers cuckoo
On the 6th day of year
Note: Inspired by Clarence Ashley's 1929 version. (Traditional; public domain. Additional lyrics: ned.)
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9. |
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Someday We’ll Be Happy Again
Someday we’ll be happy again
Someday we’ll be happy again
Can’t say how soon, don’t know just when
But someday we’ll be happy again
The school kids in the alley wake us as they make their way
Some flowers keep unfolding even when the sky is gray
The birds out on the railing surely have a lot to say
Anyway we’ll be happy someday
Someday we’ll be happy again
Someday we’ll be happy again
Can’t say how soon, don’t know just when
But someday we’ll be happy again
A photo that we treasure fades, the kids we raised are grown
Sometimes we seek out company, sometimes we stay alone
We’ll wear our parents’ faces, all in good time, as our own
It’s something true we’ve always known
But, someday, we’ll be happy again
It’s true we’ll be happy again
Can’t say how soon, don’t know just when
But some day, some day
& if we can’t be happy with what’s happening, let’s watch it blow away
The airwaves carry music & we recognize the song
It’s time to say I love you or admit that we were wrong
Sometimes we count our blessings & sometimes we go along
Can’t say how fast, can’t say how long
Each day brings some new cruelty or the death of dear old friends
We’re moving toward a new light that blinds before it mends
The work that breaks your heart and kills your spirit never ends
But someday we’ll be happy again
Someday we’ll be happy again
Someday we’ll be happy again
Can’t say how soon, I don’t know when
But someday we’ll be happy again
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10. |
Inauguration Eve
06:52
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Inauguration Eve
Today the sky looks dreary
But tomorrow’s sun will melt away the snow
If it doesn’t, we won’t let it show
19th of January
All the bright balloons are ready to fly high
Will they catch in trees or touch the sky?
The mail arrives to meet us
& the carrier, still smiling, gives a wave
What’s the good news in that look she gave?
& the mayor of our block transplanted 2 small trees
Before the ground began to freeze
Looks like they’ll make it in...one...piece
Inauguration Eve
One President arrives & one must leave
Is it a reason to believe
A chance to start again
Or just the same old knock-down-drag-out
fight among good friends
The battle never ends
There’ll be motorcades, parades
Excited crowds, a few concrete blockades
(Stay back from the fence, it's intense)
Watchful agents alert in suits & shades
There might even be a poem
We can head down to D.C. or watch from home
(It's safer by far from afar)
Check out the Capitol’s neoclassic dome
(under guard by the National Guard)
We don’t need bombs & tanks
Just a fire pit & a few beers to give thanks
(& a mask, not too much to ask)
That we made it despite the kooks & cranks
& the ten-year-old who talks to no one we can see
Is curtsying quite carefully
Imagining she’s roy-al-ty
Inauguration Eve
Processions, parties, oaths, is it naive
To think tomorrow’s a reprieve
How will we know which men
in blue protect & serve, whose lives
they’ll hasten to an end
--God help us, not again...
Let’s let go of conspiracies, apologies
& welcome back the pals we used to be
Before the trolls & twitter moles
Transformed us into enemies
It’s okay to disagree
There’ll be plenty of time to fight if we stay free
& most of us like democracy
The world’s still here to greet us
It kept spinning through the solstice & the cold
Long before & after, so I’m told
Inauguration Eve
Marine Band horns & “Hail to the Chief”
It’s finally time to start the show
A chance to just let go
Despite the same old knock-down-drag-out
fights we’ve come to know
The winter winds of change must blow
Inauguration Eve,
A mix of sorrow, hope & sweet relief
& a reason to believe
A chance to start again
the old familiar knock-down-drag-out
fight among good friends
The battle never ends
We’re such good friends, the battle never ends
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11. |
Coda: 46
02:34
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Coda: 46
Yours is the way wisely chosen for our nation
Your good intent may unite us, after all
Let us rejoice in relief & expectation
Though injuries linger, hope is possible still
Yours is the aim to preserve what we believe in
What have we learned from our past mistakes & grief
Failed compromises, trite sayings we’re deceived in
All are tomorrow’s cares, all joys are brief
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12. |
VCR Days (bonus track)
06:02
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VCR Days - bonus track
The VCR plays
Remember those dark days
Of pay phones & tangled-up cords
Those Walkman cassettes
That everyone had to get
The strip malls where we hooked up, looking jaded & bored
Marathon MTV
Soothed us into a sound sleep
With visions of veejays & V-shaped guitars
We’d wake up in the sky
Wondering when, where or why
The bombs started falling like nuclear stars
CHORUS
Take me back (not too far), get away (it’s too far)*
If memory’s meant to betray me
Is it real (yes, it was), do I feel (no one does)
The exit is closing in fast on the freeway
Through purple rain I’m the king of pain
& I cosmically roam
I’m a talking head with no regrets
Is anyone home?
Remember our fling
With Cusack’s Say Anything,
Boom boxes held over our heads
Could the right song convince
Anyone then or ever since
To not rip their ex-boy- or girlfriends’ T-shirts to shreds
Well, the future is here
Did we know it was so near
Our wasted days fading out into black light
Photos airbrushed & blurred
Like the music we thought we heard
Blasting from Trans Ams or lost in the night
repeat CHORUS
Watch for the light on the hills overhead
Descent of the mothership shielded with lead
Blinded by science & searching the night
Emmanuel Lewis in radiant light
Calling his flock to awake
last CHORUS
Hounds of love
Hand in glove
Lips are sealed
What’s revealed
Chaka Khan
Lennon’s gone
Tears for fears
No one hears
Like a prayer
I will dare
XTC
OMD
Hand in hand
Neverland
Tylenol
That is all
~
*backing vox in 2nd & 3rd chorus:
press & play/let me stay
hit rewind/please be kind
future's here/much too near
torn to shreds/no regrets
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ned's demos Baltimore, Maryland
ned's demos feature guitar, ukulele, keyboards, digital effects, vocal harmonies & more. Bowie, Eno, Smiths Elliott & Patti, & an ocean of indie, folk, & psychedelic artists lend their influence. ned's also a poet with several award-winning books, so have a peek at the lyrics while you visit. ... more
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