1. |
Prelude in D minor
00:34
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2. |
The Oracle
03:52
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Lyrics:
I had the distinct feeling we were somewhere in Marrakesh but I wasn't sure. This dude leaned up on me and instantly he fell asleep on my shoulder. Drooling and mumbling I couldn't wake him up so we left him there. He was mulatto. Minutes later I heard a phrase that blew my mind when I heard you say to “Nevermind. It's just a cobra bite. Let's soldier on to the outskirts.” The skies were ominous the air was dry. The earth was a scorched boondock. “Dude,” you said, “get up. We gotta find the beach and buy some sharpies.” You were agitated about some sort of rip in the space/time continuum. When we arrived at the beach you went to work straightaway writing notes and equations on the bloated bellies of sleeping sunbathers in all the colors of the sharpie rainbow. And mere minutes from being swallowed by a singularity you saved us all with a naked double pirouette by the water's edge.
Chorus: It was a day much like any other, starting with a dream state attack on myself and I wake up and keep the Oracle fed and safe from himself for another day.
You stood summoning the sun with the scar on your side in that falsetto voice of yours. You could make it look like a mouth by pressing either side with your fingertips. Your scar was placed off center inside the circular green tattoo with the fish scales. I mentioned it was an interesting artistic choice to make, as you laughed like a maniac. When all of a sudden the sun returned and you caught the light in your scar. It made you hungry. Then you begged me, “Please beat me about the head and neck so I can sleep.” I wouldn't do it.
Chorus
Hey man. What's next?
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3. |
Sporadic Paralysis
03:02
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Lyrics:
Sporadic paralysis despite all of this pricey analysis. It's hard to thrive. There once was a time I wasn't stuck in a bind. I had a clear mind. I'm half alive.
Chorus: I'm so tired and dubious, my reality has been resized. Rewired and shiftless, I fear I've been hypnotized.
I've failed, I know. I'm derailed and slow. I've bailed and I gotta go to the store for milk and bread. That's code for not coming back. On display is my knack for a fall when I lack. Feeling half dead. Force fed and stuffed again, used to cope but now I can't. Sent upstairs against my will, processed at the people plant. The only guarantee I can clearly see, I am certainly not to be admired. Dead leaves on the ground. Like some old milk I've found, I'm still around, but I've expired.
Chorus.
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4. |
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The Canadian Maritimes, along with New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, have formed a new republic after Quebec decided to secede. The People's North American Collective is a regulated capitalist democracy, with care for all, and no salaries are more than twenty times that of the lowest employee.
Chorus: I can tell you're talking but your words don't pierce my brain so I just smile and nod I'm lost in reverie. My inner world is where I've docked my mental kayak. It's a truly wonderful place to be.
We're all completely bought in. The greedy have all up and gone. So I'm doubly honored to represent the PNAC in the final game of the World Cup where me and Mo Liddy combine to score the finest, most astonishing, and beautiful goal that the world has ever seen.
Chorus
My fire breathing dragon whisks me away from the stadium after lifting the world cup trophy as all the people sing in one voice. With a sword of starlight held aloft our hero returns to his really hot wife just in time for chores on their unicorn farm. And in the land there was rejoicing.
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5. |
Here They Come
01:47
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Here they come. Mum mum mum mum........
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6. |
Headshrinker
04:21
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Lyrics:
It's morning again and I'm moist with dew. I open my eyes. I recognize this place. It's the pasture about a mile from my home. The freshly mown hay has left scrapes upon my face.
Chorus: They made a mistake this time. They couldn't sew up my mind. My thinker has slipped from their headshrinker's grip.
I spit out a bug and I got to my feet. With two tired eyes I look toward the pain. I've felt this before and it's happened again. On the leg of my pants is a four inch wet blood stain. I lift up the leg of my jeans to view the damage. There's a crescent shape slice on my calf but not a thread has been disturbed. It's the work of a surgeon and I laugh because....
Chorus.
And now I have awoken.
Chorus.
There will be a reckoning of all these misdeeds, and it's looming. There's a saying, and it's old, “Mistakes happen, they're only inhuman.”
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7. |
Ew Wee Ew
04:12
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I was walking, walking the dog through the park. It was snowing. When I suddenly became aware, so totally cognizant of exactly how oblivious we are to the world around us. While wondering if I should turn left or right at the next corner there was an unseen human drama, we're talking life and death situations here people, going on in our nearby vicinity. Forget about the rest of the world it's all too overwhelming and I felt so minuscule as I took no turn at all and continued walking, walking the doggie, through the park, in the snow.
Chorus: Ew wee ew. Yeah.
There was this one time, back in college, sophomore year, I had a deep thought. But then I got distracted by the hippies playing frisbee in the quad and it was gone. I reflected upon the time I sat in rapt attention for the entirety of a morning as a spider spun its web. I became enthralled by each cast of the purple disc as I imagined them to be connected to the one that came before and attached somehow to events in the larger world. So when a spider spins a web I'll watch for hours, when there was a shift in the breeze that snapped me from the trance. And then I smelled that hippie scent, of patchouli and grassy feet. And we all sang.
Chorus.
Years later, at an ungodly hour, I am snapped awake by my subconscious. For my psyche has remembered that deep thought from back in college, and it goes like this. Since each of the first three dimensions are perpendicular to one another, is time a.k.a. dimension four, then perpendicular to our imaginary 3D cube? I've been pondering that as I fall asleep (yo) allowing my subconscious to solve the mysteries of our multidimensional paradigm (word to your mother). So last night, at precisely four a.m. (drrrrrrt), my dreams have figured out that each of us is an impossible paradox existing in the all that there is (cash money), untethered, yet glued to everything that ever has been or ever will be, which completely changes my plans for tomorrow. But first I'm about to walk this dog through the park. It's still snowing.
Chorus.
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8. |
Moneymaker
03:48
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Anxiety's been kicking me when I'm down. I bought me a ticket on a plane bound for Savannah, GA. 20 hours of delays and problems, we lost our minds. All these troubles just to play. My greatest fear is right here in the air. Self medicating on the airplane in the turbulent sky. I wanna go home but my bags are gone so I follow them down. All these troubles just to play.
Chorus – Our moneymaker will make it rain. Our moneymaker will ease the pain. Our moneymaker will make our day. All these troubles just to play.
Drove through the night not a wink of sleep it's 5 a.m. We pulled into the Thunderbird and our room is gone. To the back seat of the rental car to dream away. So beyond caring if we get to play. I got a nap and a bite to eat my gear's arrived. It's at the airport and we gotta go if we're gonna make the show. Late to the gig, hats in hand, and four songs in, all these troubles and we couldn't play.
Chorus – Our moneymaker didn't make it rain. Our moneymaker didn't ease the pain. Our moneymaker could have made our day. All these troubles just to play.
Blessings came from surprising places. The things I discovered about my little band did my heart much good. The best times now were the worst times then. It doesn't even matter that we didn't play,
Chorus – Our moneymaker didn't make it rain but we laughed about it all. It was insane and we're grateful for the rough days. All this fun even though we didn't play our moneymaker.
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9. |
Foreign Moon
03:03
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Her overcoat stirs in the breeze. She's lost in longing as she stands in silhouette backlit by a foreign moon. Should I join her on the rock? On the precipice. She wipes her eyes with her sleeve. I think she's been marooned.
Chorus – All alone, alienated, her call abated. Exiled. Separated. It's complicated. She never imagined that she would have changed her mind but in the face of new facts I believe she's declined.
I never thought I'd see her shaken to her iron bones. A deep breath in and she hummed the most lonely tune. Her overcoat stirs in the breeze. She's lost in longing as she stands in silhouette backlit by a foreign moon.
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10. |
Chained 2.0
04:30
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My list is long but my voodoo is strong. I've got an appetite for dynamite. I tried stuffing it in. I still couldn't win. All I've got to say is it wasn't good. 'Cause when I get right down to it I'm chained to the muse. Yeah.
Chorus - She'll feed me. Then she'll bleed me and I'm helpless. She'll thrill me, then try to kill me. And I'm chained.
I get frazzled and worn, caught in my cyclone, pulled left and right almost every night. It's time to be bold, look onto my soul and throw it down all over town. 'Cause when I get right down to it I'm chained to the muse. Yeah.
Chorus.
There's you and there's me. It leaves me intrigued. Let me see your energy. Play with the unknown. Look how we grow excited by the possibilities. 'Cause when I get right down to it I'm chained to the muse. Yeah.
Chorus.
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11. |
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12. |
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I'm sick and I'm tired and I'm lost in a quagmire. Can't keep a thing in I'm definitely unwell. Haven't seen you in a while. I just ralphed in the laundry pile. My teeth are unbrushed. I've discovered a new smell. Fever of 102 and three days without solid food, I cannot wait until you walk through the door. Lying in sweat, eyes glazed, I haven't showered in all of these days. I know that you know what the “H” is for.
Chorus - “H”oney please hold me. “O”h I'm thrilled to see see you but “R,” run while you can. I'll turn that “N” for “No” into a “Y” for “Yes. Ok. But please, there will be no kissing.”
It's running, my nose. So let me nibble your toes. I've a boil that needs to be lanced. It's a medical mystery. There's something off with my chemistry. Earlier I tried on your underpants. I tried to make amends for letting slip to our friends what happens when I'm sick and sore. It left us in a lurch when we had to go and find a new church. Word has spread what the “H” is for.
Chorus - “H”oney please hold me. “O”h I'm thrilled to see see you but “R,” run while you can. I'll turn that “N” for “No” into a “Y” for “Yes. Ok. But you really need to seek some counseling.”
(The Fever Swoon Bridge).
But the more my head aches and hurts the more jealous I can get of your skirt. It's right next to your body. Let's taste the forbidden fruit. We could go rent gorilla suits and make sweet monkey lovey dovey. Last night it got late but it's illegal in all fifty states. I couldn't move but still I needed more. I gotta beat this damn flu. I know that it's hard to be you when I make you so aware what the “H” is for.
Chorus - “H”oney please hold me. “O”h I'm thrilled to see see you but “R,” run while you can. I'll turn that “N” for “No” into a “Y” for “Yes. Ok. But please there will be no kissing, and you really need to seek some counseling, because you know, it's not ok, what we do.” When I'm ill.
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Ism f.c. Lyme, New Hampshire
Imagine if you will, the bastard child of The White Stripes and Parliament Funkadelic, with lyrics as quirky as a spelling
bee champion. That's us, ISM f.c. The fourth album is in the works.
Under the ISM f.c. umbrella are a few side projects. "The Clearing" is a project based on lost cassette tapes from a bygone era. "Committee on Incandescent Anomalies" is a post rock project.
... more
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