Out of My System
Flips the switch when she leaves the room
Does the dishes in the afternoon
Writes to loved ones when she misses ‘em
Get this thing out of my system
I hear symphonies in your eyes
Ultraviolet harmonies arise
Kaleidoscopic innervisions
Get this thing out of my system
Losing Orbit
If I could make it right this time
I’d learn to compensate
Gotta keep on rounding out
Need to lean towards the center and skate
I would find a different path
Through your outer space
Would you dare to take my hand
And wobble along with me
Gotta keep our centers locked
As we tumble through the big empty
I don’t want to find ourselves
Looking back to see…
From my head down to my toes
I feel like I’m losing orbit
To everything · I’ve ever known
I can feel you breathing now
Underneath the trees
I can feel you move about
Through the falling leaves
And if I let you in, my love
Then you'll start to see…
That from my head down to my toes
I feel like I’m losing orbit
To everything · I’ve ever known
Don’t take it out on me
I never wanted this to happen to you
I keep trying to make things right
But they go wrong every time I do
Don’t try, try won’t do
It only makes men behave like fools
Don’t try, try won’t do
It only makes men behave like fools
Don’t try, try won’t do
You pull me as I'll pull you
Aon (Miss You)
Without the other
The sky looks shy
We should design another
And fill it with people
Without the other
A little lie
It’s a single steeple
Draining the sky
The city turns over
To refresh the bed
We should craft another
And fill it with people
Without each other
A little time
It’s the kind of evil
That helps us arrive
Mammoth
Help me, help me
Maybe I’m a mammoth walking
In the first moments
Of an endless life
Well I wake up, yeah
Hey, yeah I’m still sleeping
I’m a mammoth waking
Out of time
And now you see me
Now I’m hiding in the rear view
Let me come up there and sit with you
Holy mammoth, I am you
Big brown baby
I’m alone and weightless
In this waking moment
The phone line dies
Dial tone ringing
Yeah, like a watch tower signal
Casts a single beam
Into the empty night
What comes after you and me
Is swimming in that big black sea
Yeah, well now you see me
Now I’m hiding in the rear view
Let me come up there and sit with you
Now I’m moving right beside you, help me!
Holy mammoth, I am you
Last Day in LA
Last day in LA and I’ve been wondering
Why would anybody come back here?
Bloody Mary mother in the mirror ball
I need a morning-after pill, I fear
If I could see you
Like you see you
I’d see through ya
I’d see all the way through to you
I’ve never been the superstitious type
But I do believe in resonance
Be careful not to line your hopes or desires up
Too eagerly or circumspect
One day, everyone here will resonate
When the earth gives way and sucks ‘em in
Through the tiny glass mouth of the life
In which we reside
We can see the world above *
*…
Gu Cheng, from "Eulogy to the World" Reprinted with permission from New Directions Publishing Corporation
Making Visible
Let me see you say
Something about you
I wanna find a way to read between the fault lines
Making visible all the things that aren’t detectable
Everything that I see I know to be
I see you look at me
The way I look at you
Lightning strikes the shape of the Mississippi
Quickly exiting, making visible all your thoughts of me
Everything that I see I know to be
Let it out today
I’ve gotta let it out of my mind
Because I’m never gonna find a way to make it happen tomorrow
Making visible on the promises and the principles
Everything that I see I know to be
Everything that I see I know to be
’Cause everything that I see I know it’s me
Good Help
These trees up above us are keeping time
They sway back and forth like you and I
Good help comes so quickly when there’s room
But I can’t help from wondering, where were you?
Now that you’ve come by
Things are gonna change this time
Since you came by
Things are gonna change this time
Since you came by
Things are gonna turn around now, this time
I’m gonna keep on repeating that same line, until you’re mine
If these trees up above us only knew
That you can’t even stick around to watch them bloom
(I’ve got a feeling I keep on feeling…)
I feel summer skies
Fade away when I’m in your eyes
Get the chills, pay the bills, what you will, crawl inside
Now I’m gonna tell you what’s on my mind…
Number one: I think you’re losing touch
Number two: I put the word out on you
Number three: yeah, well three is for…
…all the bullshit that I ignored
Now I’m gone
(Yeah, yeah)
I’ve got some good help now
Now I’m gone, now I’m gone
(Come by
Things are gonna change this time
Since you came by
Things are gonna change this time)
Black El Camino
Can’t find the way to you today
A million people feel this way
As the colors of the transit lines begin to fade
Well don’t worry, things will be okay
I’ve never heard you use my name
Or look inside my eyes for me
These hills around us are just waiting for us to go
And someday, we will, you know
Yeah, someday, we will, you know
I heard you listening last night
To the sonic sequins outside
These leaves are foreigners, yeah, so are you and I
Don’t worry, things will be alright
So let’s take a ride up past those hills
Where chaparral grows thick and still
No one will notice if we keep our voices low
In our black el camino