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

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

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

My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you
Let it drain from you your all.
Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness.
Let it kill you, and let it devour your remains.
For all things will kill you
both slowly and fastly.
but it’s much better to be killed by a lover
falsely yours, 

Henry Charles Bukowski

Years back,I saw the above stanza on the internet...  According to Bukowski "experts" he actually  did not write this...so idk ....the author origin is a mystery....
so for this piece,
I lifted the first line but made a more positive song as I wanted the "kill" to really to be  more of a metamorphosis...a change..a salvation..a call to pursue your passion  without delay as our time left on this mortal coil  is unknown.... So keep on creating  keep on playing ...find what you love...

                            
       Find What You Love, Let It Kill You

Find what you love, let it kill you                                                            
Let it devour your senses                                                                      
Engulf and embrace your resolve    
                                                     
Find what you love, let it save you
Your sweet resurrection 
Reframe and regroup then dissolve 

Fade away but don’t fade to black                                                         
Fly to the orange, the red                                                                     
Like Icarus into the sun
Take a breath, there's no turning back 
Each moment a memory, minute
Lean on the learned ones.

Find what you love, let it kill you
Be born from the ashes
In purpose and pain comes the light 

Find what you love and let it change you
Don't be afraid of the mockers or mourners 
Who pass in the night 

Run away, but don’t run too far
Your hand on the rock
Like Sisyphus, now the moment's begun
Take a breath, it's all that you are 
You feel it growing, yearning
Live like the ancient ones.

Find what you love...Find what you love…

This could be our last stand                                                                     
American Bandstand 
The Alamo of your life
A Soundcloud crucifix                                                                             
No need to surrender                                                                        
Are you a player
Or just a pretender 
Another suspect device                                                                           
Feel the clock inside you tick 
                                                               
Find what you love, let it kill you 
Death the divider
The boatman is seeking his toll
Find what you love, let it take you
Gone solo, gone swimming
Swift currents, lose control

Walk along the edge of the knife 
Always counting, comparing your silver
There is so much more to be won
You're only floating on the surface of life
Try to dive deeper, dream away
Let the day go undone.

Find what you love...Find what you love..

Find What You Love, Let It Kill You

more melancholic piano ballads ... can't do a Cry tune like Roy O..but I give it a go with this tune of mine from a ways back


It’s Ok If You Cry

I heard a sad song                                                          
Floating in the sky from over there                             
The notes they echo in my mind                                 
Up on the rooftop  
In that cold December air   
I saw you play that tune, the hurtin’ kind                                         
And you thought no one was listening                      There’s no one around to hear                                    Feeling so alone, yet you still try                                 Standing tall, in the autumn of your life                     Singing how it’s ok if you cry                                                  

You sing the story
How you let it slip away
The years and all the ghosts you left behind
Fingers numb not bending well
Breath fogging when you sing
The words how they sear into my mind

So I stumble to the music
And fall down into the snow
Feeling so alone, lost in my lie
Trying to stand up, in the autumn of my life
Singing how it’s ok if you cry

It’s ok if you cry
Do it anytime
Don’t matter the season of your years
I need a little space tonight
I’m gonna climb up there with you
Where it’s safe to breathe and shed our tears

I grabbed a ladder 
And I climbed up for the view
Looked around to find you and your song
I was met by other voices,
Souls, whispers in the night
On their own rooftops, trying to sing along

They think there’s no one there to listen
There’s no one around to hear
Feeling so alone, but still, they try
Standing tall, in the autumn of this life
It’s ok if you cry

It’s ok if you cry
Do it anytime
Don’t matter the season of your years
I need a little space tonight
I’m gonna climb up there with you
Where it’s safe to breathe and shed some tears 




OK If You Cry

my 70s nostalgia train continues.
As kids we loved Bruce Lee and his movies and his death was very upsetting..I remember it well
When I got older I appreciated his teachings on how to live a life as an  athlete,  an artist and as a person.
Bruce cowrote the first 2 verses  as i used some sayings of his
you can hear 3 soundclips of him..first is from the movie Enter the Dragon, the others from an interview.
song is simple..the feeling behind it complex

A Little Bruce Lee Goes A Long Way

Empty the mind
Be formless, shapeless
Like water flowing
Don't waste time cause time is life
If you think it so
It will be what you become 
That one kick practiced 10,000 times

Hand on the rock
Open it up
Don't be a fist of fury
Be happy but never satisfied 
Obey the principles 
But don’t be bound by them
Be water my friend 
Don't pray for an easy life

Them old soul ways and teachings
I didn't learn them when I was a kid
I was more mesmerized by his fighting thighs
Those crazy Kung Fu moves he did

Now I wanna put some Bruce Lee in my life
My quarrelsome mind
Leave it behind
Defeat my worry and calm that strife
Be open to the message
Find peace, Find the light
A little Bruce  goes a long way in this life

Mirror, Mirror on every wall
What is real 
What is reflection 
They must shatter, let them fall
Destroy the false, the fake
Find your truth behind them all
Be water my friend

July ‘73
I remember that day
When I heard he was taken
His end a mystery 
For my friends and I
Those summer nights 
We posed, we practiced, we entered the dragon
Not ready to face the world outside

Let us put some Bruce Lee in our lives 
Speak to change 
And rearrange 
See beyond the black and white 
Just a speck of him
Is all we need 
To season up our spice
A little Bruce goes a long way in this life



Lyrics  Bruce Lee/ Hand on the Rock
Music  HotR




A Little Bruce Lee Goes A Long Way


Disciple of Pain

I wake up to the silence
To that memory of you
Entombed by bad decisions 
Crucified by your truths
I can not hear your footsteps
This change is like a chain
You were my religion
And me, I'm the disciple of pain

Now I pray for resurrection
As I choke upon my sin
The gospel of another
Has renewed your faith again
The blood, the body of our love
For you a fading stain
You were my religion
And me, I've become your disciple of pain

This sermon that I'm sharing
I'll be preaching it again and again
The hurt, the hope, the healing
The raw, the rage revealing 
Let's stand up and face it again

So if you feel a sadness
Engulf and empty you
Get off your knees and get to work
Let the hurt empower you
When you can not feel your future
It's still there but it's just changed
The end can mean beginnings
We all are disciples of pain
One time or another
We all are the disciple of pain




Disciple of Pain

a little summer song  for y'all
it's a naive plea for world peace  using the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High as the vehicle. 
I'm not sure how effective the exercise is, but I sure do like the movie

(ps full disclosure...my Mama never said," It's nice to be nice to the nice"...the line was spoken by  Major Frank Burns on a  MASH episode..so kudos to the screenwriter there)

No Shirt No Shoes No Dice

No Shirt No Shoes No Dice 
Learn it Know it Live it
The mantra is precise
Dress code ignorance brings
Fast food sacrifice
No Shirt No Shoes No Dice

No Weapons No Wantings No War
Learn it Know it Live it
It's all I'm hoping for
Why can't we love one another
It's a simple thing for sure
No Weapons No Wantings No War

Cause your time is my time
It's our time let us be
These burdens and these battles 
Become high school history 
All we need are some tasty waves and a cool buzz and we'll be fine
Just like holy Jeff Spicoli and Mr. Hand
Find some peace in these Fast Times

Break

No Shirt No Shoes No Dice
Learn it Know it Live it
My mama said, "It's nice to be nice to the nice"
"Totally awesome!" ..."Alright Hamilton!"
Disarm that dolt with a beverage device
No Shirt No Shoes No Dice
No Shirt No Shoes No Dice


lyrics  HotR/ Cameron Crowe
music HotR

No Shirt  No Shoes No Dice

This year is the 50th anniversary of the ABC Movie of the week Trilogy of Terror- It was 3 chilling adaptions of 3 short stories written by the great sci fi author Richard Matheson. The late Karen Black ( not only a wonderful actress,she was also a great singer and songwriter) starred in all 3 of the features playing 4 characters.  As 12 year old kids of course we were the most horrified and terrified by the final story Amelia - a  story about  a demonic warrior doll that comes to life and starts attacking poor Ms. Black
here is a youtube link to Amelia the third story in the Trilogy of Terror ( 24 minutes)-https://youtu.be/hjr0ziHwraw

 Starts out pretty chill but the last 10 mins of that film were very intense for us in 1975 ..we kids couldn't sleep well for a few nights .. I wrote the song as an homage to the story/movie/Ms. Black ( she didnt really like the movie) as well as using the story as  metaphor for the demons that live in us all
my electric guitar playing scared the dog as usual
hope my silly song does not scare you too much
3 short clips from Amelia are spliced in there


Karen Black And That Creepy Doll Attack

The hunter and the hunted
The virtue and the sin
Inside of every creature
Light and dark reside in them

Zuni Hunter Fetish Doll
The puppet seeks its prey
That TV movie freaking out
Us kids back in the day

Trilogy of Terror
The duality of man
Unrestrained we let our monsters roam
On which side will you stand

The camera films a gruesome tale
Shag carpet bloody scenes
Kitchen knives and voodoo jive
A f$%ked up figurine

Karen Black
And that creepy doll attack
Wish I coulda been there
To pull it off her back
Karen Black
She ain't coming back
He who kills, all screech and shrill
Has got her mind hijacked

Break

The moral meets the message
Let fight defeat the fear
Repressed regret you can't forget
Like finger pricked by spear

She can't smother, drown or stab it
Or burn it up you see
When she locked it in a suitcase
It escaped eventually 

Take the hate from your heart
And turn it on its head
Or like the Zuni wooden doll
It hunts you down instead

Stand up against the doubters
Don't doubt the space you find
Ignore those dirty demon dolls
Who scream inside your mind

Ms. Karen Black
Why does she smile like that
Her Zuni fate, she sits in wait
Her Mama will get whacked
Karen Black
Such a creepy doll attack 
Quadruple billed her acting thrilled
My half century flashback

Karen Black
Karen Black and that creepy doll attack 
Karen Black 
Karen Black and that creepy doll attack

Karen Black & that Creepy Doll Attack

A little song(a bit rough around the edges) about the late great comedian Bill Hicks
It's a musical tribute to his It's Just a Ride monologue, which is on YouTube, and I have spliced it into the song
Bill died of pancreatic cancer only 32 years old in 1994 when he was at the height of his  career.
Memento Mori............................. a reminder for us all to enjoy the ride while we can.............................................                Run Free Bill...We still listen and remember 


Riding With Bill Hicks

It's just a ride, this life, this moment  C A7
It's a Tilt-A-Whirl of the mind             Dm Fm6
So if you please, please take a seat  C A7
Buckle up it's party time                        Dm G
Feel the thrills and chills and colors    F C
Round and round a dizzy trick            Dm Fm
My mind on rewind                               C
Back to ‘89                                            Am
Now I'm riding with Bill Hicks             F G C

Some people get so worried
They can't believe it's just a ride
Big bank accounts and fancy cars
Live to work the sweat and grind
And those war machines must be time machines
They always turn up in the mix
Leave the fear behind
Keep an open mind
Now you're riding with Bill Hicks
                                                      
The profound meets profane            F C
Swift barbs of the dark brigade        Fm C
Fantastic at sarcastic                         F
Homemade hand grenade                C b Am
Unfiltered and unafraid                      Am G

Break

As I sit here tonight and ponder
Growing softer in my Easy chair 
Bill's dream's still a dream for this mean old world
Bombs are dropping everyday out there
Another good one gone before his time
Just like his jogging foe Jim Fixx
Hope they are lighting up a fat one on the other side
Rest in laughter William Hicks

Riding With Bill Hicks

Yes, it's all about the ride, so forget about the finish line
Spoken words mainly from Bob Dishy and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman(in his scene stealing performance as former bagpiping childstar Sandy Lyle) from the 2004 movie Along Came Polly...Let It Rain!

If  you feel the need to bust out and solo,   Mr. Hoffman will gladly demonstrate how to find that freedom to rock out
take a look

https://youtu.be/Z5sH9Gpa4PM?si=d99f_6wXgcx9h1aI

Lyrics

Yesterday's gone                                              
But this race keeps dragging on                       
The rules they believe
Not the same for you and me 
Hard to play fair                                             
Hard not to cheat                                          
Hard just to stand on your own two feet         
No need to deceive                                        
Just walk on by                                                             
Forget about the finish line                           
Forget about that finish line                               

A prodigal son
I'm tasting moonbeams on my tongue 
Your greatest mistake 
Let's celebrate and cut the cake
Face to the wall
I turn and say cheese
Time to confess this misery 
No need to grieve
Let's dance on by
And forget about the finish line
Let's forget about that finish line

One foot in front of the other                               
Lunge, leap, somersault, and roll              
Always falling down in your bread and your butter             
Take a chance and lose yourself                        
It's not the end you need to encounter              
This life in cruise control                                     

Hard to play fair
Hard not to cheat
Hard just to stand on your own two feet 
No need to grieve
Just dance on by
Forget about that finish line 
Forget about that finish line
Forget about the finish line



Forget About The Finish Line

There’s a treasure down deep in this wonderland
To find it, plug your nose, feel the dirt on your hands
The word and rhyme, a message, in a song it stands
my rock n roll Rosetta Stone 

