DIFFERENT SEED
SAM THE BUTCHER
YOU'RE MINE
UNSIGNED
THE FROZEN RIVER
FORGIVE DON'T FORGET
SHE LOOKS LIKE JEAN
WIND IN THE TREES
SPEEDY DEPALMA
SHADRASH MESHACH & ABEDNEGO
ZIZKA'S DRUM
HOPE
FOR SALE BY OWNER
STILL WORTHWHILE

DIFFERENT SEED

I try to be nice, I try to be kind
I try to consider as many as I can at a time
I try to be true to all I will say I will do
God knows all the times I have cried, and the harm that has come from not turning aside
I try to look at the bright side of things, try to be patient and fair
But I guess I'm a fool for hoping you too would take the same kind of care

chorus

So I'll say it real slow so that you understand
The way that things go, you don't quite understand
That you reap what you sow and you sow what you reap
And around so it goes till you plant a different seed

I try not to judge until I'm crossed by a man
Then I need to assess just how much shit I will stand
Then I try to check all the thoughts in my mind
Before I open my mouth at such a time
And at such a time that I need to conduct
A lesson on how by you I've been fucked

chorus

Then I'll say it painfully slow so that you understand
The way that things go, you don't quite understand
That you reap what you sow and you sow what you reap
And around so it goes till you plant a different seed

TOP

SAM THE BUTCHER
Sam came from over there
He brought his head of hair
He sailed across the sea
He came to cut the meat

Sam came to carve a life
He brought his finest knife
He docked in old New York
He came to chop the pork

chorus

Sam, Sam the Butcher man
Such a dirty preacher man
Yet all the people love their Sam
Chicken, chops, and tripe
And humorous advice
And sexual innuendos for everybody's wife

T'was back in '45
The Axis won't survive
Sam just had had enough
Mussi had bit the dust

Sam turned his black shirts in
Admitted he had sinned
He never quite believed
No. he was just deceived

chorus

Sam, for his future hope
He genuflects the Pope
Before he climbs aboard
He bends to kiss the shore

Sam will come back some day
And with vacation pay
His thoughts of liberty
He'll plant across the sea

TOP


YOU'RE MINE
Under a Van Gogh sky was I
Cobalt tumult billowing high
Fissuring mountains crack and roll
Stark colored torrent immerses the shoal
I catch up a shard for a palette knife
Open a vein in the back of my mind
As it starts to rain I close my eyes
Decipher the colors, disentangle the lies

chorus

    Open the window, let in the night air
    Fill up the palette, let down your hair
    Saddle the fury, bridle the fear
    Mount for the ride, you ain't going nowhere...You're Mine

Down through the ages...are you telling me?
This place and time were meant to be?
Locked in an anguish to teach me to see
Hues and shadows I couldn't possibly?
Tell me oh Spirit, tell me the truth
Was it something deep in my youth?
Something so savage that ravaged my sight
That left me so pained, that left me so blind

chorus

A starlight led forest in the heart of the night
I flow where it pulses, knowing I'll find
What needs to be seen, what needs to be sung
What I need to believe, what I need to become

TOP


UNSIGNED

I have two big brown eyes, that see nothing at all
But the glory of God pouring over the walls
Rising over the mountains and tearing them down
There ain't no more time for being a clown

chorus

    Unsigned, that's fine, no, I can handle it
    My heart, my lines, no, you can't vandal it

You best leave me alone, while I finish this song
Don't need you to show me how this is done
My soul is wired, got my own satellite
The serpent is squirming, tonight I'm watching the fight

chorus

The fire is crackling, and smelling real fine
The lamb is roasting and they're pouring the wine
So you coming in? No, I ain't coming out
Had enough of this draft, have to close the door now

TOP

THE FROZEN RIVER
Chauncey Shaw became a man today
A cold black hand in a frozen gray
Way on down at the river bank
He had heard about it, but he had never drank

    A thawing crack, an infant breath
    A glacial wrap, a shawl of death
    Two human beings, all slumped and drenched
    One thousand bucks, or celestial wealth

He had heard about it but he had never drank
He just didn't want to ever have to thank
He just didn't want to have to be
Responsible to more than he

Chauncey Shaw became a fugitive
An angel's hands erased his step
Forever stalked by Satan's deputies
Through the trailless haunts of his soulless being

    A thawing crack, a locking gun
    A beastial law from Congressional Huns
    Had driven him that night to the river's edge
    To implement this sacrilege

he had heard about it but he had never drank
From the storied fountain of no race nor rank
He just didn't want to have to see
The accounted lack he had come to be

America, what have you learned
What frozen bank thwarts your concern
Kentucky's hills are no more far away today
Than anywhere in this frozen gray

    America, what have you learned
    What frozen bank thwarts your concern
    Ohio's shore is more close today
    From anywhere in this frozen gray

TOP

FORGIVE DON'T FORGET

FORGIVE, DON'T FORGET
YOU DON'T NEED TO BE THAT UPSET
YOU WERE RIGHT, HE WAS WRONG
YOU SHOULD BOTH JUST MOVE

    YOU DON'T NEED TO BELIEVE
    HIS APOLOGY - IT CAN DECEIVE
    YOU DON'T NEED TO FORGET IT
    IF YOU DO, YOU MIGHT REGRET IT

chorus

YOU SHOULD TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE
ONCE, AN ACCIDENT - BUT NEVER TWICE
YOU SHOULD TRUST YOUR OWN SUSPICION
IT'S A MATTER OF INTUITION

DON'T FORGIVE AND FORGET
WELL, THEN, YOU'RE JUST AN IDIOT
FORGIVE AND FORGET
IS NOT MUCH BETTER THAN THAT

    YOU DON'T NEED TO BE NAIVE
    QUESTION WHAT IS UP THE SLEEVE
    YOU DON'T NEED TO FORGET IT
    IF YOU DO YOU MIGHT REGRET IT

chorus

DON'T FORGET, BUT DO FORGIVE
THAT'S THE BETTER WAY TO LIVE
ANGRY HOT TURNS TO BITTER COLD
DONE ENOUGH, A LIFELESS SOUL

    YOU DON'T NEED TO KID YOURSELF
    YOU'RE NOT A KID, YOU'RE NOT AN ELF
    YOU DON'T NEED TO FORGET IT
    IF YOU DO YOU MIGHT REGRET IT

TOP

SHE LOOKS LIKE JEAN
She looks like jean
A little around the eyes
Maybe the way she did
15 years gone by

She looks like Jean
With the strawberry hair
And lips from a dream of her
Before you knew she was here

When you were alone
In a dank basement room
Alone and adrift
On a whiskey river moon

Perhaps you saw her there
She kissed your eyes and twirled your hair
Lit your smoke, told you a joke
Your laughter shook the river air

She looks like Jean
Oh really, she doesn't?
She looks like Jean
That's the way I see it cousin

She looks like Jean
A little around the eyes
Maybe the way she did
15 years gone by

TOP


WIND IN THE TREES

From where it comes, to where it goes
I never pretended to know
I hear its sound up in the trees
I see it bend the mighty seas

chorus

    I feel it move, I feel it breathe
    Within my heart, how could I not believe?
    Believe the course its taking me
    Will set me free

I hear the sound of shackles on a breeze
Blowing down a dusty road of memory
It leads me in, release the beast
I see its eyes and feel its teeth

chorus

Oh my son, what do you see
Do you see love up in the trees?
It comes and soothes my aching mind
Leaves you with a smile in kind

TOP

SPEEDY DEPALMA

SPEEDY DEPALMA SOLD HIS POOR MAMA
FOR A TURBO-CHARGED HOT AIR BALLOON
TOOK A YEAR OFF FROM WORK
AND HIS FAMILY HE DID SHIRK
TO BREAK THE RECORD TO THE MOON

SPEEDY DEPALMA COULD TELL YOU QUITE CALMLY
" YES, I KNOW I'M A LOON.
ADRENELINE RULES MY LIFE,
I'D EVEN SELL MY WIFE,
IT'S WORSE THAN A NEEDLE AND A SPOON."

    SPEEDY SURVEYS THE SITUATION
    NO ONE QUESTIONS HIS DETERMINATION
    HE FIRES THE CHARGER
    AS THE BALLOON GROWS LARGER
    HE DROOLS IN ADRENAL ANTICIPATION

SPEEDY DEPALMA BREAKS FREE OF EARTH'S GRAVITY
HE HAS FINALLY OVERCOME HIS MEDIOCRITY
IN THE BLACKNESS OF SPACE
HE WIPES THE FROST FROM HIS FACE
SO HE CAN FEEL THE GREAT VELOCITY

SPEEDY DEPALMA'S FACE IMPRINTS THE LUNAR DUST
ALL OF HIS TEETH HE DOES QUITE BUST
IN AN ADRENALINE HAZE
HE COUNTS UP THE DAYS
TO LEARN THAT THE RECORD HE HAS CRUSHED

    SPEEDY SURVEYS HIS REACTION
    HIS SOUL SMACKED WITH DISSATISFACTION
    THE ADRENALINE ABATED
    AND HIS BALLOON QUITE DEFLATED
    MARS WILL BE THE NEXT COURSE OF ACTION
TOP

SHADRASH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO

SHADRASH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
WERE UNDERSTANDABLY FEELING A LITTLE BIT LOW
GETTING RATHER HOT, WASN'T A WHOLE LOT OF TIME TO GO
TIED AND BOUND AND LYING ON THE GROUND, WATCHING THE SUNSET GOING DOWN
LISTENING TO THE CRACKLING WORDS OF THE FIERY FURNACE’S MOUTH

    " LISTEN TO ME BOYS, IT'S REALLY A SIMPLE THING. "
    SAID NEBUCHADNEZZAR, THE BABYLONIAN KING

CHORUS

BOW DOWN, TURN AROUND
SHIMMY, SHAKE, BOOGIE DOWN
TUTTI FRUTTI, SCOOBY DOOBIE
LOUIE, LOUIE, SHAKE YOUR BOOTIE

SHADRASH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
THOUGH IN DIRE STRAITS, THOUGHT IT A JOKE
NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS GOING BESERK. NEVERTHELESS, THOUGHT HE A JERK
LAUGHING SO HARD THEY COULD HARDLY THINK, LAUGHING SO HARD THEY COULD HARDLY SPEAK
THEY SAID, " YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME? YOU'RE SUCH A BUNCH OF FREAKS! "

    " I DON'T UNDERSTAND BOYS, IT'S SUCH A SIMPLE THING. "
    SCREAMED NEBUCHADNEZZAR, THE BABYLONIAN KING

CHORUS

SHADRASH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
SAID, " SAVE YOUR BREATH KING, COME ON, LET'S GO.
POP US IN THE FIERY FURNACE, WE INVITE THE TRUTH TO BURN US.
NOW WE DON'T MIND ALL THIS DANCIN' AND A SINGIN', WE DON’T MIND ALL THIS SWINGIN’ AND A’FLINGIN’ KING
BUT WE WON’T BOW BEFORE AN IMAGE OF YOUR THING-A-LING A-LING"

    " I DON'T UNDERSTAND BOYS, IT'S SUCH A SIMPLE THING."
    SCREAMED NEBUCHADNEZZAR, THE BABYLONIAN KING

TOP

ZIZKA'S DRUM

Flay my skin and bake my bones
When all I can is said and done
Lay me down in earth and stone
Yet I will serve and be your drum

    I will be your martial drum
    I will be your martial drum

When right is twisted into wrong
When sweet reason to delirium
When simple truth the fool denies
Pulls the switch with flimsy lies

    I will be your martial drum
    I will be your martial drum

Flesh and blood is what He said
Bread and wine to feed the dead

Lay me down in earth and stone
Yet I will serve and be your drum

    I will be your martial drum
    I will be your martial drum

TOP

HOPE

I can offer you nothing but what's already been said
What's the point of repeating what you fully reject?
So let's go about this the other way
One more final and grand display
    Down to the plains of Esdraelon
    Down to the plains of Esdraelon

Hope is a word quite relative my friend
Loses its meaning without darkness and death
Did you expect something other, was there something you missed?
Did you want something other than what was promised

    Down to the plains of Esdraelon
    Down to the plains of Esdraelon

And all of creation waits with baited breathe and gun in hand
And all of creation hates with great intent of taking command
And God damn the Father and Father damn the Son
We got the power and the Whore of Reason
We got the tower in full repair
All you opiated masses...its time to beware
Bow down to the bureaucrat, bow down to the trees
Bow down to the atheists, get down on your knees
Line up for you microchips and your welfare checks
Love us! Or take a bullet in the head

I can offer you nothing but what's already been said
What's the point of repeating what you fully reject?
So let's go about this the other way
One more final and grand display

    Down to the plains of Esdraelon
    Down to the plains of Esdraelon

TOP

FOR SALE BY OWNER

SKI’S FOR SALE, AN EXTRA PHONE
A TAP AND DIE, SOME CHEAP COLOGNE

    JUST NAME YOUR PRICE
    WE’RE ALL EARS
    CAN’T TAKE THIS STUFF WITH US
    AWAY FROM HERE
WE GOT TO GO TO ANOTHER PLACE
LEAVE TODAY BEHIND WITH LITTLE TRACE

AN UNSMOKED PIPE, A COLEMAN STOVE
A BOWIE KNIFE, AN UNSUNG MICROPHONE

    CAN’T ARGUE PRICE
    THERE’S TOO MUCH PAIN
    CAN’T LINGER ON
    THIS NUMBING STRAIN
WE GOT TO GO TO ANOTHER PLACE
LEAVE TODAY BEHIND WITH LITTLE TRACE

RIDING ON TO ANOTHER PLACE
RIDING ON TO ANOTHER PLACE
BITTER HERB, GRIT AND GRACE
RIDING ON WITH LITTLE TRACE

I LOVE YOU DAD, I LOVE YOU STILL
CAN’T SEE HOW NOW THIS IS GOD’S WILL

    MAYBE WHEN I HAVE BECOME A MAN
    MAYBE THEN I WILL UNDERSTAND
I’M GOING NOW, WITH JUST A TRACE
TO PLANT IT IN ANOTHER PLACE

TOP

STILL WORTHWHILE

SO YOU PICK UP THE PIECES
SWEPT INTO A PILE
ARRANGED ON THE TABLE
TO SEE WHAT IS STILL WORTHWHILE

AND YOU PICTURE AN IMAGE
OF WHAT IT USED TO BE
NOW A MUDDLED ABSTRACTION
OR IS IT NOW STRUCTURALLY FREE

CHORUS

YOUR FIRST LOVE IS STANDING TRIAL
YOUR FIRST LOVE IS STILL WORTHWHILE

THERE ARE THINGS MUCH BIGGER
THAN OUR FRAIL UNFORTIFIED DENS
SO JUST HOW DO YOU FIGURE
WHEN THE BLOW WILL BE COMING AGAIN

AND WHAT DOES IT MATTER
IF IT HAS NO CHANCE TO STAND
WE JUST GET TO WATCH IT SHATTER
AND TAKE ACCOUNT OF WHERE IT ALL LANDS

CHORUS

GOD ALONE KNOWS
THE BEGINNING AND END
GOD ALONE KNOWS
THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH WE’VE COME OUT OF HIM

GOD ALONE KNOWS
WHAT WE’VE COME TO BE
GOD ALONE KNOWS
HOW TO SET OUR FIRST LOVE FREE

TOP

mike@sthuckleberry.com

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