 Rock N Roll rooted references, reveries and revelations

Rock N Roll Rigor Mortis

Simple Songs With A Sprinkle Of Cinematic Spice

Living In The Movies

Life Lessons from the Rock

Over Easy

I’m singing in my favorite key                                       
You know the one, the major G                                    
To keep things easy                                                       
Over easy                                                                           
I’m strumming fast like Johnny Ramone
Although my singing’s kinda monotone
Let’s keep things easy
Over easy

How do you like it                                                           
This life we have become
Some scrambled, some hard-boiled
Some rich omeletted ones.
My shell is cracking
I got a piece stuck on my tongue
Half-baked is so much better
Than completely overdone
Over Easy                                                                          

I once was a complicated boy
Put on a suit and threw away my toys
So much for easy
Over easy
Rebel rouser solely in my mind
That’s why I’m dazed and dizzy all the time
Feeling queasy
Over easy

Chorus

Bridge-  You got some egg upon your face                       
              Wipe it off and stay in place                                 
              There ain’t no time to break on through                    
              Step out of line, this ain’t no joke                         
              Fuck it up and poke your yolk                              
              If it can run, so can you                                        

I’m singing  in my favourite key
I’m singing in my favourite key
I'm singing in my favourite key…you know the one,
you know the one,  you know the one
Over easy …over easy…etc…..



Over Easy

Russ Tamblyn


I'll get a Tokyo life                              
Say some words off the script            
Monsters in play                                 
Career gone adrift                               
I can make it in spite                           
Of the way they dub my lines               

I'll sail to the East
Maybe take me a bride
Dance out regret
Act up with pride
Let me do it 
Let me do it
Let me do it brother, what do you say?
My little boy brain 
Wants to be Russ Tamblyn for a day

I wanna be cool
I’d like to be strong
A fighter who dances
A singer of songs
Add some rhythm 
Put some muscle on these rhymes 

The streets of the West
I'll be taking a side
Living forever 
This world’s opened wide
Let me do it
Let me do it
Let me do it, what do you say?
My little boy brain 
Wants to be Russ Tamblyn for a day 

           In 1970                                          
          I saw him on the TV screen           
          With those creatures, one             
           brown, one green                         
           My Gargantuan celluloid dream   

They said I could bail
I’d much rather swim
Head above water
Life on a whim
I can make it in spite
Of their doubts and goodbyes

Words stuck in my throat
What's left to say?
There's only myself
I can't stay away
Let me do it 
Let me do it
Permit me if I may
My little boy brain wants to be Russ Tamblyn for a day
My little boy brain wants to be Russ Tamblyn for a day





Russ Tamblyn

spastic dance ode to MES and the Fall

opening sequence... The Fall :Live at the Witch Trials  track 1979...

Children, they have come for your children 
The witch trials will commence in the basement below.
Orphans, glide in solo persuasion
Mimic the prose, then freeze
All memory erodes.

Time to dance, to bleed tonight
Mark E. Smith
Spitting out words
He's a switchblade knife. 
Twist and shout, trick the weather
Take a stand
Wrestle some punk on the lawn,
I think somebody x3… just put a Fall Record on.

Mothers, you have lost your children 
Left them alone in the park for the neighborhood show.
Players, stuck in sonic frustration 
The sound that they love, another future that their parents loathe.

Chorus 

(Bridge)
He takes no prisoners here
Only makers and destroyers 
Weaponize or disappear 
Ye maker, you destroyer
Mirror Mirror Mirror Mirror Mirror Man
Look beyond your high school wall
Mirror Mirror Mirror Mirror Mirror Man
Look beyond your high school wall
Look beyond your high school wall

Break
Chorus  


Fall Record On

Wise Blood

I want some wise blood   
 I want to choose not to choose  
The world above us  
No excuse for what we lose 

Gotta make a decision   
For that I don't need this PhD  
Won't be an act of precision
For this freedom I fight then flee  

The walls of the Church                 
They're building them higher   
Into the clouds in search of God  
The walls of this church               
The great multiplier             
Run through the city, claim the streets and yards 

Chorus

I need to make a decision 
Reject the promise of sanctity
Forget that sin abolition
All those around here, they've taken the knee

The fog of the future                                 
The mist of the past                                  
Borders are bleeding in search of  God   
Ancients to slaughter                               
The chain and the lash                            
Tryouts tomorrow for the Junior Death Squad          





Wise Blood

Go All The Way

The future's uncertain, the end is unclear
There'll be songs unsung, new foes to fear
I don't know if we got another 40 years
Or 40 days to rock n roll.

You could die like Janis or live like Keith
Pay penance for the excess with survivor's grief
Embrace your madness and their disbelief
You can rock, you can roll

Chorus

You can go all the way
Go all the way
No turning back
Move ahead, attack
As you go all the way

But I'm still stranded in the jungle of my common sense
I keep the tiger at bay by living future tense
"Never get out of the boat", Fredrick Forrest says
As the cameras start to roll

Yeah you can die like Jimi or live like Keith
Keep sailing till you land on a safer beach
But our  fate and the future's always out of reach
Will you rock or will you roll?

Chorus

Like the Rolling Stones 
you could last a hundred years
But don't forget poor Brian Jones 
Swallowed deep those poolside fears
It could go either way
Life, death and bad swordplay
A single lunge and thrust could steal your time.

The future's uncertain, the end is unclear 
The trophies and the troubles bound to disappear
Turn around to find the same old worries here
Not much rock and too much roll

You  could die like Janis or die like Keith
alone or soft surrounded by survivor's grief
A tale to tell tomorrow, taste their disbelief
As you rock, as you roll, as you…

Go all the way
Go all the way
No turning back
Move ahead, attack
As you go all the way





Go All The Way

What If Phil Ochs Jammed With The VU

What if Phil Ochs jammed with the VU      
Singing Venus In Furs and the Draft Dodger Rag too   
Make it so political ….yeah 
Shiny boot political 

Now the King becomes Queen and masquerades before ya
Singing Que Sera like Doris, does she tittle or bore ya?
You say you'll go political 
Your body so political 

I am tired and I am weary   
I ain't marching no more     

What if the skin that you're in seeks to bind you
Like your mistress she taunts you with her whip to remind you
Has your body gone political? yeah
In this nation so political   

I am tired and I am weary
I ain't marching no more

Break 

I am tired and I am weary
I ain't marching no more

What if Phil Ochs jammed with the VU
Singing about Vietnam while Lou leather adorns you
The pain, the power, the plan that attracts you
What if Phil Ochs jammed with the VU
What if Phil Ochs jammed with the VU
What if Phil Ochs jammed with the VU

I am tired and I am weary
I ain't marching no more


Lyrics  Hand On The Rock/ Reed/Ochs
Music  Hand On The Rock










What if Phil Ochs Jamd with the VU?

Free Bird Flies Again

They gonna cancel my culture     
Wanna cage and engulf her        
Take the free bird and lock her away 
Don't like my borrow and bramble  
Or my Simple Man ramble  
I be judged and jeered today 
Campus under threat
They say I'm incorrect 
I'm called their trigger man
I be slammed and shunned
A most unwoken one
Won't even put me on the witness stand

 Oh  Oh  play some Free Bird    

If I have to leave here tomorrow   
Cause there's no safe space in the virtual world for me 
That's Ok I'd rather just play me some Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bless ole Ronnie VanZant he was born the same day as me
And if I wanna speak my truth Sir
So many fingers gonna be pointing at me
Don't need your slogans, movements or awakenings
Cause I'm a Rock N Roll relic, stuck in the seventies 

From Jacksonville
FLA
To sweet home Alabam
I can be serious sometimes like Mr. Young
But I can also dig the Southern Man
Now if I say these things, I'll be misconstrued
Everybody's mighty touchy these days
They wanna yell instead
Don't hear a thing I said 
How I long for the Skynyrd ways

  Oh      Oh    let's play some Free Bird 

If I have to leave here tomorrow 
I'll be playing the same old tune up there you see
I know they don't dig the flag of my forefathers
Or that freedom of speech baby
For Ronnie VanZant and me
Like the Free Bird flying high now
I want nothing on my back to weigh me down
No left or right wing rantings where I'm flying
Straight through the middle, for me is the sweetest sound
Gary .... Allen...I need you
Free Bird!!!!


Hand On The Rock/Collins/Van Zant

Free Bird  (Flies Again)

Death By Toto


For Julius C, stabbed lustily, it was death by the traitors’ cuts                                                             
For David R, strumming his guitar, a single song punch to the gut 
A sonic mind destroyer, burning his circuits up
They call it Death by Toto

Karen loved that snappy tune called Africa 
By those Grammy-grabbin', multi-plat, music sophisticas
It made Davey double over, whine and wince, 
Now he can't stand up
Sufferin’ a slow demise  this Death by Toto

As they sang  "It's gonna take a lot to drag us away from you   
There's nothing that a hundred men or more couldn't do"  

The Porcaro bros,  Paich and Lukather played better than he did
They had the the fame, the coke, the groupies, the Columbia records shtick 
But 6 months to write those lyrics man,
'Bout some Olympus Serengeti shit ??
He never saw it coming… that Death by Toto

They sang,It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
I'll get you my Pretties...and your little dog too

I bless the rains down in Africa                                                                
Like a hoodoo guru
I bless the rains down in Africa 
Them boys are coming for you
I bless the rains down in Africa
Scooby Dooby Doo

Like the Wizard of Oz and Dr Livingstone, I am a trope for you to find
Escape the soft rock savannah, run from Roseanna to the jungle of my mind
Reputation cheesed, hear my Kimball wheeze, still shower singing Hold The Line
Don't you feel it coming ... Death by  Death By Toto

I bless the rains down in Africa….. Hey I'm talking to you
I bless the rains down in Africa….. I've never been there it's true 
I bless the rains down in Africa…. It's Death by Toto for you
For me, for him, for her
It's Death by Toto for you
For me, for him, for them
It's Death by Toto for you.


lyrics Hand on the Rock/ D . Paich 
music Hand on the Rock





Death By Toto

A tribute to the great Ian Hunter and a nod and a wink to any geriatric rockers still going strong. Rock on Elders
8 Mott The Hoople Song titles in the lyrics
Dig it if y'all dare...

Rock N Roll Rigor Mortis

Roll Away The Stone                                        
God is calling, he's on the phone
He's got a glambam plan, one last stand       
Before they take you home                              

Spotlight shines in your face
Hey you better put on a pair of Ian Hunter's shades
I Wish I Was Your Mother, wish I was your father
Never could put you in your place

Hey old man
What don't you understand?
Know your rights
Plead that Habeas Corpus
Hey old man 
The music makes demands
Shake off your rock n roll rigor mortis

Move your hips to the beat
Take a deep breath, unstick yourself from that seat
Shine a light through your pupil, of pure Mott the Hoople
To energise those ancient feet

Time to rise again
Like Lazarus, a comeback, this ain’t the end
You're one wild stiff, rockin all my riffs
Be careful how your body bends 

Hey old man
What don't you understand?
Know your rights
Plead that Habeas Corpus
Hey old man 
The music makes demands
Shake off your rock n roll rigor  mortis

All The Way From Memphis               
The Golden Age Of Rock N Roll     
Elvis and the Whizz Kids                
Ain’t no peace in the valley for the last patrol 
Drivin’ Sister, Jerkin’ Crocus
Help me When My Mind Is Gone
Do the shimmy shake, bring it into focus
Sing it loud this victory song

Hey old man
What don't you understand?
Know your rights
Plead that Habeas Corpus
Hey old man 
The music makes demands
Shake off your rock n roll rigor mortis

It's alive 
It's alive
It's alive 





life lesson by Sleepaway Camp 1983...Ricky rulez...Bill not so much....
Brought to you by the letter Ch as in cheesy

Why do we fight? All this eye for an eye                     
 Insults and put downs, saying things like “Eat shit and die”   
 We could have better manners                        
 Maybe just forget and forgive
 To paraphrase the Buddah, 
we's all got to eat shit and live….          

Now Bill and Ricky they could not get along              
Sleepaway campers 
Best part of this song
Teenage tigers going tit for tat                                    
Their words like weapons, how they spit and spat 

Juvenile expressions of excrement
Odorous impressions of discontent
Swallowing their anger using bathroom wit
We’re all gonna taste it one day

Bill said,“Eat shit and die Ricky!”                                 
Ricky said, “Eat shit and live Bill!”                               
Bill said, “Eat shit and die Ricky”
Ricky said, “Eat shit and live Bill”
We’re all gonna eat shit and live

Your hands are getting dirty, they will not come clean
After taking a dump in life’s Mensch-Maschine
No soap for your sins, for your body or face
Swallowing now, you won’t enjoy the taste

Billy and Ricky well they know the score
Baseball battles like love and war
Winners and losers, forget all the rules
And mangé la merde
Well that’s French, you tool

Bill said,“Eat shit and die Ricky!”
Ricky said, “Eat shit and live Bill!”
Bill said, “Eat shit and die Ricky”
Ricky said, “Eat shit and live Bill”
We’re all gonna eat shit and live

Perchance to dream                                                       
Perchance to wake                                                         
Lick the icing off your cake                                           
Happy Birthday boy                                                       
We’re glad that you dropped by                  
Now here’s some shit, it waits for you                         
Like Bill and Ricky you’ll be tasting it too                    
But will you live or will you die?                                   

Bill said,“Eat shit and die Ricky!”
Ricky said, “Eat shit and live Bill!”
Bill said, “Eat shit and die Ricky”
Ricky said, “Eat shit and live Bill”
We’re all gonna eat shit and live


words: Hand On The Rock/Jonathan Tiersten/Robert Hiltzik
music:  Hand On The Rock





          



Eat Shit and Live

Dysfunction In My Function                        

There’s dysfunction in my function
There’s a mess inside my mind
Got a crack in the foundation
Too much water in the wine
Gonna stake out, break out,  give up the ghost
Take no prisoners, leave my post
There’s dysfunction in my function
Please be kind


There’s dysfunction in my function
There’s a bug inside my brain
Wired for sight and sound, I hear
The beauty and the pain
As they shake it, break it, keep turning those screws
I'll hammer out this message
Excavate it for you
There’s dysfunction in their function
They're all the same


            So if you want to build it with me
            You’ll have to settle for my carpentry
            Trying to fix it using string and glue
            Embrace the madness, let it fall on you
            Forget those money back guarantees
            Construction stalling with apologies 
            Climb out of the rubble
            Try another point of view

There’s dysfunction in our function
There’s a war within our world
Forget conjunction junction
Too many lonely boys and girls
If you wait for perfection, you'll be stalling too long
Rolling your eyes at this bedroom song
There’s dysfunction in your function
There’s dysfunction in my function
There’s dysfunction in the function
 Of this world



            

             

             




Dysfunction In My Function

my futile attempt at transcendence despite the wise teachings of Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert), whose insightful words bookend this song


Get Lost  

Gonna take a trip inside myself                                                
To find serenity
It’s not a place I know so well
But it’s where I’m taking me
I start this meditation
Close my eyes and count to ten
Lose myself and take a breath 
Repeat it once again

I get lost, get lost
Then I think too much and grok it up
My mantra just got tossed
Get lost, get lost
Conscious seething, breathing
Got my toes and fingers crossed

Drive the coast to Big Sur
A former hippie way
Timmy Leary, Dicky Alpert
What do those mushrooms say?
Well, Timmy went to prison
And Dicky changed his name
And me I go in circles
I can’t understand my brain

Get lost, get lost
Albert Hofmann’s in the kitchen
He can cook that secret sauce
Get lost, get lost
I wanna reach the 5th dimension
Go beyond my permafrost
                                                                                         
OOHH  the infinite beauty
OOHH the infinite me
OOHH the intoxication
Oh don't do don't do
 just be…. Let It Be

Ram Dass, the Dali Lama
Baba is my name
Yogacise don’t moralize
I play the Buddah game
Psilocybin take me higher
Mother Earth I feel her near
Holds me in her sunshine
I dissolve and disappear

Get lost, get lost
Then I think too much and grok it up
My mantra just got tossed
Get lost, get lost
I wanna reach the 5th dimension
Go beyond this permafrost



Get Lost

There’s a treasure down deep in this garbage can
To find it, plug your nose, feel the dirt on your hands
Just remember that they never really understand 
Your personal Rosetta Stone

