Hand on the Rock Selection

 Rock N Roll rooted references, reveries and revelations

Rock N Roll Rigor Mortis

My T.V. Eye

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

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 





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

Robert DeNiro  

Watching movies back in 76                                       
We all dug Taxi Driver                                                    
See the people how they’re passing him by
"Hey Sport How’s Iris?"
Pushups, pullups, alone in his room
No more pills for his body
He’s organized, his muscles are tight
Training to be somebody

Are you talkin’ to me?                                                     
Well, I'm the only one here
Are you talkin’ to me?

I wanna be like Robert DeNiro                                     
He was my Raging Bull, my anti-hero                        
Resonated with all of us weirdos
I wanna be like Robert DeNiro       

On those Mean Streets, shufflin’ his feet
He don’t trust anybody
Maybe not the best way to be
He wants to be somebody
You saw what happened to poor Johnny Boy
"We don’t pay Mooks" and that’s that
“Now's the Time”, then a shot through the void
Somebody’s paying him back

Are you talkin’ to me?
I think you're talking to me

I wanna be like Robert DeNiro
He was my Raging Bull, my anti-hero
Resonated with all of us zeros
I wanna be like Robert DeNiro   

You never got me down Ray   
Better to be king for a night     
Than a schmuck for a lifetime  
I always preferred Godfather 2 
I think it was because of you    
Hey Robert projecting to that little world of mine  

We both grew older over the years
Not so serious lately
Middle age and those Senior fears
We're getting grey and less shapely
You served me well then, back in my youth
Now it all seems so hazy
Let's travel back, take a New York trip
And hang out with Scorsese

Are you talkin’ to me?

I wanna be like Robert DeNiro
He was my Raging Bull, my anti-hero
Resonated, reverberated with all of us weirdos
I wanna be
Maybe you wanna be
Nobody can be like Robert DeNiro

Robert DeNiro

with apologies to Kevins, past, present and future
thank you, Kevins McHale, Costner and Bacon for participating 

Never Trust A Kevin 

When I was just a little boy                                                         
There was this nasty kid                                                             
Kevin was wild, Kevin was vile                                                   
All the twisted things he did                                                        
I tried to be friendly                                                                     
I tried to play nice                                                                       
They said, “Kevin behave”                                                             
“You will scar that boy for life”                                               

Never trust a Kevin                                                                     
I can never trust a Kevin in my life                                             
Never trust a Kevin                                                                     
I can never trust a Kevin in my life                                              
                                                                            
Run from the school, coming for me 
See him beat me down the block
I'll wait till I'm older, got to get stronger 
And in time, I'll clean his clock
But that day never came
We both slowly moved away
But his legend still haunts, the pranks and the taunts
I still cringe that name today

Never trust a Kevin
I can never trust a Kevin in my life 
Never trust those Kevins 
Never trust those Kevins in your life

Kevin Smith, Kevin Bacon                                                       
The Costner, O'Leary and the                                                 
Federline nations                                                                    
 Mr. Spacey,those things they said you did                                            
And Kevin McHale..........                                                                 
You ain't no paraplegic kid!....   

….   Artie walks! .....what a fraud ......
                                            
Never trust a Kevin
You can never trust a Kevin in your life
Never trust a Kevin 
You can never trust a Kevin in your life 
Your life, my life

Too many Kevins in my world
See the way they bring me down 
Remove the K, turn the N to L
And you can call them EVIL now
So what's in a name, what's in a face
It's a childhood memory 
That's seared in my brain, I can not erase…. that Kevin close to me...

               



Never Trust A Kevin



Feb 11 1963....Death of Sylvia Plath... 62 years ago... 
Florida Dawn reference found within the pages of  the Bell Jar her only novel
Sylvia Plath reading a portion of Lady Lazarus opens tune...

Florida Dawn

All that we touch                                       
Turns to dust                                            
The flesh gone frantic                              
The ink upon the page                         
The idea stays                                         
Reading pages of Plath                            
Such a sad aftermath                               
I picked up those letters                             
And sprinkled some bits on your grave       
See love where it lays                                 

That February spinning round                       
Breath is getting thin                                     
Sit and watch the ocean tide                         
Centuries crashing in                                     
In the Florida Dawn                                        
Another episode of cruel                                
The leader and the ones lead on                    
Who's playing tricks on who?                          

Rain begets rust                                           
Turns steel into dust                                     
The flesh gone static                                    
A chemical tease for the brain                    
Why did you read her again?                          
She did a Sylvia Plath                                 
Climbing into the bath                                    
I'll spare you the details,                               
the end result was the same                       
Minus the fame                                            

Now everything is spinning round                 
In this space I'm in                                       
I sit and watch the ocean tide                        
All those centuries crashing in                       
In the Florida Dawn                                       
Replay your episode of cruel                            
The leader and the one lead on                    
Who's playing tricks on who?                          

I walk these words and find myself              
Where you said you'd be 
I walk these words to where you ought to be                            
But there's only me                                       







Florida Dawn

      ...it's a mystery
how a devil got in me.......                                   

opening sound bite 1- This Wheel's on Fire- Bob Dylan and the Band
other sound bites..too obvious to state

The Wheel of Fortune                                  
 
The Wheel of Fortune                                                   
This game of life                                                            
The search for the answers                                         
They won’t ask you twice                                               
I won a trip to Jamaica
I’ll take my submarine
I'm going down to do battle
With those riddle machines

See me jumping up and down                                      
Laughing, crying, TV clown                                          
Lights and bells around us spin                                  
Whisk us from the space we’re in                                
Sajak, two-jack, city boy                                              
Peals of Vanna, verbal ploys                                        
Competition under my skin                                           
Tax it back and start again                                                                                
The Wheel of Fortune is calling to me... gonna set us free
The Wheel of Fortune will be burying me,  in sweet luxury

The Wheel of Fortune
I got a free spin
Then I landed on cancer
Look at the shape I’m in
Another trip of a lifetime
I’ll paint it hospital green
I like those tropical colours
I like to  keep it clinical and clean

A lonesome gurney destiny
IV lines that run to me
Buy a vowel or bust a rhyme
I’m slowly running out my time
Sajak, turn back,mirror ball
Vanna speaks in hallowed halls
Channel’s changing, turn it off
Chemo treatment, wheeze and cough

The Wheel of Fortune is rescuing me... seriously
The Wheel of Fortune, it’s a mystery... how a devil got in me 

Bankrupted space, I’m forced to kneel
I’m strapped onto this Catherine wheel
My melting bones, the pain is real
"Let’s start the fire," Dylan squeals
Notify my next of kin
Round and round my head, it spins
Another game I can not win
Better take a breath, better start again

The wheel of fortune is turning for me…. gonna set me free
The wheel of fortune it’s a mystery, I got a devil in me





The Wheel of Fortune


This song is for Marcin Kulik who loves all things Trailer Park  and asked me to write a song about the show...so there... wrote it for you, man

I tried to keep the spirit of the show but wanted some vulnerability there amongst the vulgar..know what I'm sayin'?

Trailer Park 

There's a place in Nova Scotia
Sunnyvale, I'm hanging there
Lounging in a folding chair 
With those prodigal sons

See ole Ricky paroled and broke
Julian sipping his rum and coke
Such crass and simple folk
Well, I'm another one 

You better step off, Randy
You no shirt, lawn-mowing, cheese burger-eating twit
J-Roc, he got my back hard, know what I’m sayin’?
Like him, I'm rapping and talking shit

There's a trailer park 
In my mind
At that trailer park
I like to waste some time
Forget about the future 
Laugh about the past
Slow down a bit, cause life it moves too fast 
You know what I’m sayin’
Old-school, pimped up tight
In that trailer park, we be fine
We be fine tonight 

Bubbles with his bottle glasses 
Magnifies the Scotian underclasses
Cory and Trevor such dumbasses
I’m another one

Ricky’s weed, it ain't growing
Julian's got a thing that's going
J-Roc and the Roc-pile showing
How the east was won

Mr. Lahey’s week-long bender
It’s a whiskey wash to drown his sins
Lonesome lover to that fat Randy
The law don't work for him

In that trailer park
Of my mind
At that trailer park
I like to waste some time
Forget about the future 
Laugh about the past
Slow down a bit, cause life it moves so fast 
You know what I’m sayin’
Old-school, pimped up tight
In that trailer park we be fine
We be fine tonight 

Break

You know what I'm saying
Reverse the black and white
Punk ass bitches
Old-school pimped up tight
Sometimes shit don't matter
Throw yer hands up dawg alright
In that trailer park
We be fine
In that trailer park 
We be fine
In that trailer park inside my mind
I’ll be fine tonight

Trailer Park

some pessimistic rantings about the sorry state of the planet with help from some of the original Star Trek gang...all the clips taken from the episode City on the Edge of Forever...great episode about time travel..very well written, profound,funny and sad.....  DeForest Kelly as a delirious Dr McCoy delivers a masterclass in overacting...

You!! What Planet Is This?

Captain Kirk can't preserve our federation
You better beam him up Scotty
Politicos, polluters and corporate power players
All flash and fake and shoddy
Paranoia, planet-panic
My fear, it multiplies
Like McCoy trippin’ out on Cordrazine
A raging question plagues my mind

You! What Planet Is This?
Phasers set to stun
World come undone
One step from the abyss 
You! What Planet Is This?
From greed to gun
Real-life science fiction fun

Mr. Spock can't wave off, our project in illogic
Better beam him up Scotty
Frustrated with the intellect of all us human players 
As we destroy Earth’s mind and body
Patriotic ploys gone frantic
Terra firma fools collide
The air impure, thoughts incorrect 
Edith Keeler must die

You!  What planet is this?
Take a leap through time
Try to save mankind
From the march to the precipice
You! What Planet Is this?
Silly Star Trek song
Hope I got the ending wrong

Run Run DeForest
Run Run Doctor Run
Run through the cities 
With the maniacs and moneyed ones
Run Run Children
Run Run Children Run
You better Run
Run

You! What Planet is this?
Third from the sun
You know, the violent one
Exploding in our midst
You! What Planet is this?
Watch the lights go out
As we twist and shout








You!!!  What Planet is this?

you dirty sod...you dirty bastard...you dirty f#$kr...what a f#$ng rotter...Dec 1976...The Sex Pistols brief live TV interview with  presenter Bill Grundy resulted in 30 seconds of Profanity as a very drunk Steve Jones, goaded on by a drunk and lecherous Grundy, let him have it... the encounter was headline news the next day and controversy followed .... 
here is a  link to the 90 second interview that cost Mr. Grundy his job.
https://youtu.be/boQGEyAcZwo?si=AkWVhxeDK7PJeRJ0

Now, as my angst turns to anger with the politics of today,  I borrow Mr. Jones' knack for the profane to punctuate my verse..thx Steve.
...like him I'm just an ole punk rocker in decay...

What Steve Jones Once Said

To all you two-faced
Doublespeak
Money grabbing politicians 
Noise polluting nonsense
I'll say what Steve Jones once said
#&*!@$!!!!
His voice inside my head

To all this short-stick
Tariff shit
Fascist reboot coalition
Nimby ploys and Brownshirt boys
I'll say what Steve Jones once said
&%$#@!!!
His words I have retread

This sonic stone I throw
To Pistol poke the bear
I like to speak some drunk Steve Jones
To the greed
And gob out there

To all you warmonger 
Border breakers
Bomb us to submission 
Wading through your wickedness 
I’ll say what Steve Jones once said
#$%^&!!!
All the lies I have been fed

To all you MAGA rights
And you ultra lefts
Stoking this division
Shut yer traps I'm sick of you
I'll give you some Steve Jones instead
@#%$&!!!
Now our words are wed

His curses from the past
A crude footnote in history 
I have recycled and rehashed
Bill Grundy’s moment
Of infamy

Lyrics HotR/Jones
Music HotR

What Steve Jones Once Said


as a child of the 60s and 70s Friday nights meant watching the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family
Had lots in common with Jan as the song eludes to. ( though no black wig for me..so far...)
Of course Jan and her Marcia Marcia Marcia rant became a pop culture phrase in the 90s and a meme in the 2k years.. .. funny for sure...but she deserves more our Jan
I wanted to write her a tender song from my adolescent perspective.
Marcia had Davey Jones.. now Jan gets a little  homemade Hand on the Rock... 

Middle Sister Jan

I watched her on the screen
In the 1970s
My favorite Brady, middle sister Jan
For me, Marcia was too perfect
Cindy just a baby
So Jan, I gave my heart to her, in our fantasy TV land

Like her I was bespectacled
Fair haired and full of freckles
The insecure and awkward school yard show
I did not make the football team
Or hang with Greg and Peter
Like Jan, a little slow to say hello

Hey Jan
I think I understand
What it's like to feel unappreciated 
But girl it's time to change our attitude
We've got so much more to offer
Forget those Marcia, Marcia, Marcias 
Hey Jan
I got faith in you
You are just like me you see
I hope you feel it too

Friday nights on ABC
With that clean cut family 
Jan was the voice that I could comprehend 
Anxious about the future
Jealous in the present
Lying about George Glass, her made up new boyfriend 

We were both introspective 
Confused with the objective 
Reflecting on our reflection in that mirror on the wall
Plagued with indecision 
Disadvantaged pole positions
How we looked, how we talked
How far we’d fall

Hey Jan
I understand 
You being stuck in middle land
But there's lots of ways to find some gratitude 
You don't need that black wig wonder
Let's forget our social blunders
Hey Jan
I got faith in you
Sweet Jan I see on my TV
I am just like you

Jan Brady, see, she’s a lot like me
Maybe she's a bit like you








Middle Sister Jan

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

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

