Banged out some new lyrics.
Okay....slight exaggeration. They've been floating around in my head
from anywhere between 2 or 3 months and over a decade. But you know,
when you can't get rid of the noise in your head, there's really only
one answer, and that's to put it out in the world. Aren't you lucky?
So, officially, then, welcome to the
first new blog of 2019....
EVERYBODY KNOWS
Everybody Knows
that the deck is stacked and the pigs
are laughing
Everybody Knows
Even the white hats are bought and sold
Everybody Knows
The arc of history is long and
pointless
Everybody Knows
all this shit is getting old
Everybody Knows
that it's game over and you get nothing
Everybody Knows
you eat shit at the end of the day
Everybody Knows
that when they smile they're not your
friends
Everybody Knows
Past the facade they've got zero to say
Everybody Knows
the temptation's great to pack it in
and go home
Everybody Knows
it's too fucked up to work anymore
Everybody Knows
the night won't end but the sun also
rises
Everybody Knows
you've gotta find a reason to get out
the door
“Everybody Knows” came
to me in a dream. Quit laughin', it happens. My zine came to me in a
dream, and that was actually a thing for a while. In the dream, I was
trying to join my “band” on an outdoor stage. I was having to
crawl across this metal grating that was suspended ten feet over the
ground and I was having to crawl out on my hands and knees. The band
blew through the first couple of numbers in the set while I struggled
out, and the bassist, a small woman with a moss green dye-job, took
over yelling duties. When I finally made it to the stage they handed
me the mic and I yelled this song (note that I always refer to it as
“yelling” rather than “singing”), never getting up from my
hands and knees. The song has haunted me for a couple of months,
now, so there it is. The only line I really solidly had was the last
one---Yeah, life is shit but you gotta man up and keep goin'.
Existential-Core.
UNDEAD WAGE SLAVE
The speed of the cycle is starting to
slacken
the spokes of the wheel are cold and
cracking
You don't wanna be the just-home
headline
when these defects start to unwind
CHORUS:
And in the night
While you're going to sleep
We come back, we come back
We come back, we come back
The pace of the cycle's too fast to
manage
the center of the wheel is hot and
damaged
a few more junkers thrown on the scrap
heap
one more mongoose screaming for upkeep
CHORUS
If this one doesn't work they can suck
me
The center of the wheel is white and
fluffy
it ain't like all of the brickbats 'll
hurt me
It's coming up on beer thirty
The exit might be a little too bumpy
we go to the ground, it's called
winning ugly
If you don't think the dead come alive
You should see the place at quitting
time
CHORUS
REPEAT CHORUS
This one's been kicking around my
head for well over a decade at this point and it was too strong to
resist. The genesis of it was inspired back in the day when the Rude
were making the rounds and I'd occasionally try to pen lyrics for
them. This one was always floating around just below the surface.
The two songs that actually provided
me with rhythmic templates, weirdly enough, were “Bloodsucker” by
Deep Purple and “Distant Illusion” by Flipper. Contradictory
pairing? Maybe, whatever. It worked for me.
The imagery might seem obtuse
and surreal. Most people who knew me back then will read this and
know the references and get where I'm coming from because I spent 11
years working graveyard shift in a wheel factory. I think it goes
over better if you DON'T know that. “What the hell is this 'wheel'?
Some kind of metaphor?!" No----it's just a wheel, ponyboy, but
whatever your read is, it's probably more interesting than mine.
WHITE KNIGHT
You're a white knight and you're on the
make
but you'll play it cool and you ain't
gonna fake
You've got plans
You've got plans
You're gonna treat her right and show
you're a man
You're a white knight, regular paragon
of chivalry
you've got cred, you even voted for
Hillary
You've got plans
You've got plans
You even pimped out your shitty old van
CHORUS:
You're such a nice guy, uh-huh
you're such a nice guy, uh-huh
such a nice guy
'til she tells you “No”
You're a white knight and you've worked
on your lines
Cry on my shoulder, baby I got the time
You've got plans
You've got plans
She's gonna be eating out of your hands
CHORUS
You're a white knight with egg on your
face
Big night down the drain, what a
disgrace
You had plans
You had plans
Now you've gotta a hot date with your
right hand
CHORUS
A big trope with the S.E. Apocalypse
Krew was a whole slew of Guy-who-can't-get-laid songs. As far as what
made it out onto the album, “Keep Walking” is probably the big
example. “Melissa” and “First Stare” also edge into that
territory but not really. One back in the 80s and 90s we did that
also wound up having a couple of different demo versions (of
varying quality) was one called “Dog Boy”, which I always
jokingly referred to as our “Bon Jovi Song”----it was certainly
one of our more accessible numbers---but it kind of tread the waters
of “miserable sad sack develops a crush on this chick and gets
nowhere”----all done kind of humorously with some great, funny
lines (I thought so, anyway). For every “Keep Walking” and “Dog
Boy”, though, there were half a dozen similar ideas half-written,
with titles like “Looking for Rejection”, “Jeal-Lousy” and
“The Night is for Lovers”, which eventually evolved into a short
story...we went to that well a lot, and I guess my attitude is, if
you're going to go to that well you need to make it a little
different and new....
“White Knight” might be
kind of a related item and it popped into my head, likewise, late
last year and became a thing...so I came up with the idea of a song
about “nice guys”, who-----when you scratch the surface just a
little, are really just dicks. The title was gonna be there, no
matter what, because it was too apropos to leave alone. The obvious
tie in with Incel/Red Piller culture is there, and as I've said a few
times before, I've got no love for that kind of toxic mindset. But
obviously----what can you do? The whole “White Knight” trip is an
actual thing----you trot it out and everyone knows exactly what it is
and nobody likes it-----even the guys who ARE “white knights”
don't like it.
The rhythmic template going
through my head for this one was early Plasmatics tunes, primarily
ones like “Master Plan”, “Butcher Baby” and “Headbanger”.
Ran it by the Missus, who looked at it an immediately identified it
as kind of “a kickass punk rock tune....I could see an all-girl
outfit doing this, like Easy Hate Coven....”
Yeah, there you go----Happy
2019.
Song lyrics copyright 2019 C.F.
Roberts/ Molotov Editions. Extraneous ramblings courtesy of your
Mama.
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST:
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE-METHODRONE
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE-STRUNG OUT IN
HEAVEN
BLUE OYSTER CULT-SECRET TREATIES
BLUE OYSTER CULT-SPECTRES
