Dihydrogen Monopoly
by Mandibles

Prompt: You are an alien visiting the Earth. Write about what you found. 

--------------
This is scout ship 72489 checking in. 
You won’t believe this world we found; where do I begin? 
Aside from several land masses that aren’t worth noting down 
A miracle discovery I’m happy to recount- 

Chorus 
We found water! 
Beautiful blue salty water! 
We found water! 
Not frozen, but free flowing water! 
Right on the surface, it’s ready for harvest; 
I know, this is hard to believe, but it’s here in insane quantities, 
We found water! 

We’ve tested it for pollutants, and while some floats about, 
Our high tech filtration system will be fine to clear it out. 
It’s all so full of electrolytes it won’t need to be treated; 
Our long arduous journey shall fin’ly be completed, 

Cause we found... 
Chorus 

Now some native Fauna seems to be reacting to our yield; 
They’ve sent some simple missiles that can’t penetrate our shield. 
It’s really rather sad, you know, how hard they’re lashing out, 
But with all at home who’re suffering they’re just not something I can care about, when... 

from SpinTunes #15 Round 1, released November 4, 2018

Dihydrogen Monopoly

Behind a Mask
by Mandibles

Recorded live in one take 8/27/21

Catching words like butterflies
Hope to filter out the lies
Dull the spiked antennae and vermillion wing
Don't take at face value what the cricket sings

I'd never say it to your face, 
But thought that you should know 
The words your sister whispered 
When they thought they were alone

Behind a mask lies certain death
Carried on a lover's breath
The words you whisper in my ear have cooties
Behind a mask they lie in wait 
Intent to end my earthly fate
The words you whisper in my ear have cooties

The words you say, they catch my breath
A pure, romantic shibboleth
It would be heaven if I only knew
What the hell is really going on with you

All the faults that others see 
You know that i adore,
And if you ever left me
I'd kill myself for sure

Behind a mask lies certain death
Carried on a lover's breath
The words you whisper in my ear have cooties
Behind a mask they lie in wait 
Intent to end my earthly fate
The words you whisper in my ear have cooties

I'd lose the scent of zest for life
Against my throat they'd hold the knife
If I were to stay until the end;
A sharpened wit, a pointed jab
What I must will leave a scab
I hope in time my heart can mend

Behind a mask lies certain death
Carried on a lover's breath
The words you whisper in my ear have cooties
Behind a mask they lie in wait 
Intent to end my earthly fate
The words you whisper in my ear have cooties

Behind A Mask - Mandibles

Yesterday‘s Mascara 
By Cybronica

As I wash away Yesterday’s mascara 
I remember the look on your face 
The pain in your eyes was yet unsurprised
As I said I was leaving this place 

As I wash away Yesterday’s mascara 
my eyes begin to see clear 
this place was my home for not very long 
and my journey does not finish here

As I feel the streaks streaming down my cheeks
Pigments devoid of tears
I see the mask melt at last
And I face myself once more without fear

I’m leaving 
I’m leaving 
I’m leaving 
goodbye

Say now your fond farewell
Not so fond and not so fair
But your words will not hurt me
Your eyes cannot curse me

Cause I’m leaving 
I’m leaving 
Goodbye

Yesterday's Mascara

Banshee 
By Cybronica
feat. Temnere on Guitars


I’ve memorized these hallways
Every hole and every crack
Every broken picture frame
Every book in every stack

These walls became my prison
I’m willingly confined
I’ve painted them with everything
I couldn’t leave behind

Been here so long, 
could I ever leave?
You have to let go 
to really be free.

So I scream
Like a Banshee
Scream
And set me free

No one ever visits me; 
I’ve scared them all away
I couldn’t hold my temper
Though I wanted them to stay

The friendships of my present 
Are the ghosts I made in life
Remembered wisps of people
That I lost to my own vice

Been here so long, 
Could I ever leave?
You have to let go 
To really be free.

So I scream
Like a Banshee
Scream
And set me free

This home is now a house
For no heartbeat here resides
No pitter-pattering feet
Grace the corridors inside
The walls of happy memories 
Around this place preside
But those memories shall fade
Like castles in the tide

So I scream
Like a Banshee
Scream
And set me free

Banshee

Floating in the water
By Manidbles

A bottle came a-bobblin’ 
by Brighton Beach a-wobblin’;
I fished it out with careful hands
As I sailed past England. 
The glass was cloudy emerald
And sparked something ephemeral 
Within my heart so curious
I abandoned all injurious 
Thoughts of caution to the wind
And shook the contents held within. 

Oooooh 

A sloshing sound beneath the glass,
Explained by cracks in cork and wax,
Warned me of a sodden treasure,
But did not dampen my own pleasure
At this small discovery
That I found floating in the sea.
Cork and wax gave easily
As if they’d long awaited me,
A silty slurry trickled out
Before the parchment hit the spout

Oooooh

--
Hale hearty sailor! Pray for me,
For my poor heart shall surely break. 
My love has taken to the sea,
And left me in his waning wake. 

No guiling trinket left behind, go
No lock of satin, flaxen hair,
No laughing bairn will me remind
Of our passionate affair. 

Could it be thee who reads this note,
Who sees the ink my pen has bled?
My lover’s eyes, once more afloat
And buoyed by what they have read?

Alas, a stranger, like as not, or 
Creature in the briny deeps
Has found this, floating in the water,
While my soul etern’ly sleeps
--

The tangled mess of rags, I think,
Held stains that were, at one time, ink;
Their contents, I would never know. 
I chuckled at the curio,
And treasure plundered, shook my head,
Gently laid the glass, and revv’ed
The engine, left there rumbling. 
The ocean’s gifts, so humbling,
Are mysteries, and rarely more, 
That bob between the waves and shore

Oooooh

Floating In The Water - Mandibles

Head First 
By Mandibles 

I woke into a vivid dream 
that fell through a fold in reality 
and showed me the earth without land or sea 
just the people’s souls in an endless stream 
the souls were humming a vibrant song 
that fell and rose as the tides would come 
rushing onward always forward
Chaos ordered falling over 
Into a place where their faces and spaces are nought
And they’re falling headfirst into the end

When I fell back to reality
The song had left me its melody
The headlines singing a parody
The voices raised in cacophony
Imagined lines on the map were strained
As the borders break in a jagged chain
The people humming, bright flash thrumming, 
Frozen moment, atoms foment 
Into horizons that pull out the light from our eyes
And we’re falling headfirst into the end



Written Mar 2022, inspired by the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Head First - Mandibles

The Jester King by Mandibles

Feast of Fools, it lasts a day
At least that’s what they always say
But when you’re ruler of the land 
You can change the rules at hand
Long live the jester king
Long live the jester king

What a joke to be a king
Don’t require much of anything 
Talk real nice and give real work
To the city guard and the county clerk
But winds will change, and on them come
The arrows of the fearsome Hun
With just a prayer, without a plan
Cometh the hour, cometh the man

You don’t understand
The dangers close at hand
But you’re the one wearing the crown
The scepter laid aside,
The sword will be your guide
Gotta step up if you’re gonna throw down
The farmers fields are filled with horses
Taken from Atilla’s forces
The Huns at last have shown their backs
We’ve repelled their best attacks

Long live the Jester King
Long live the Jester King



This song was written in March 2022 is inspired by the events currently unfolding in Ukraine. The story of Comdian-turned-Head-of-State leading his country in war is as stirring as it is heartbreaking. Our hearts go out to the Ukrainian people as they suffer through the invasion of their country. At the same time, we admire their steadfastness in the face of the Russian invasion. Images of Ukrainian farmers capturing and claiming Russian tanks have left an indelible mark on us, just as have photos of Volodymyr Zelensky in fatigues with his army. 

We have taken this real life tale of civic heroism and reimagined it in another time, one hundreds of years ago. Instead of a comedic actor running for office, a court Jester is elected King for the Feast of Fools (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_Fools), and manages to change the rules to keep his position. His small Eastern European kingdom is then besieged by another Eurasian scourge of history: Attila the Hun. While we don’t know how the story will end, we have given this story the ending we want to see: Slava Ukraini!

The Jester King - Mandibles

All Time Best
by Mandibles 

It’s the car not the driver
A late arriver 
A striver for speed
Turn the edge of the wing 
It’s the smallest thing
That will bring down their lead
When the sparks are flying
And the sweat is blinding
And the slicks are grinding
I bring it in

I guess
My all time best
Is just a second behind the rest
I guess
My all time best
Is just a second behind the rest

Now my team’s lollygagging
Lug nuts dragging
This lagging’s the pits
Sit around, tires gone
Throwing new ones on
Took too long, dipsticks
When the sparks are flying
And the sweat is blinding
And the slicks are grinding
I still can’t win

I guess
My all time best
Is still a second behind the rest
I guess
My all time best
Is still a second behind the rest

Queen Anne had a thousand days
I have a thousand horses
We will meet where our lives align
Which, of course, is remorses

I guess my all time best
Is just a second behind the rest
I guess my all time best
Is still a second behind the rest
I guess with three abreast
The other two will not be impressed
I guess my all time best
Will stay a second behind the rest

All Time Best - Mandibles

Can't Let It Go
By Mandibles


I can’t let it go
Because you’re too beautiful 
I can’t let it go
Because you’re in my soul
I can’t let it go
Because you’re so wonderful
I can’t let it go
Oh no no no…..

V1
Ever since you broke my heart, girl,
It’s felt like end of every parallel world
One bad day, and the rest went rotten
You ran off, the great ones forgotten

My buddies say I gotta get over you
My therapist thinks its the wise thing to do
And if I’m honest, I think so too,
How could I, when my love is so true?

CH

V2
A climbing class was your idea
And where you beckon I appear
The teacher said exactly what to do
So I never doubted I could hold on to you

Something slipped and you were dangling
And for dear life I held on, wrangling
The heavy weight of my actions and 
The strength that such a scene demands

CH

BRIDGE
You were at the end of your rope and so was I 
Swinging like a piñata in the sky
You fell down like a piano to the street
Mad as hell and red as a beet

V3
Ever since you broke my heart, girl,
It’s felt like end of every parallel world
One bad day, and the rest went rotten
You ran off, the great ones forgotten…

CH

Can't Let It Go - Mandibles

Cut to the Feeling by Carly Rae Jepsen
Arranged by Cybronica to be used as a Wedding Processional

Cybronica

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