1. |
Kennel
02:55
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Kennel
When it seems like life is over
Life is overwhelming
When you’re left without an owner
Fleabag loner gelding
Chorus:
Yesterday I had an owner
She forgot to tell me though
Where an old dog has to go to
Get a bone inside this old
Kennel (x4)
On my honor as a canine
There’s a pain I’m quelling
In my dreams I’m home again and
It’s her hand I’m smelling
Chorus
And now that she’s gone away
My tail doesn’t wag the way it did
Only yesterday, a better day at that
So I’m left with memories
Inside of her box of treats
Surprise, nothing more to eat
I gave it to the cat
If I could have anything now
Anything I wanted
I would be her dog forever
She’s the one I trusted
Chorus
End
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2. |
Suzi Somebody
03:16
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Suzi Somebody
Well it’s raining on the television
And Suzi can’t make a decision
Staring off into a hole she
Fumbles for remote control and
Slams it down
Onto the ground
And listens to the static sound
And wonders if there is a heaven
For a girl just turned eleven
Maybe out in Hollywood she’d
Find a way, she knows she could be
Big as life
In skin so tight
And show the world who’s got it right
Chorus:
Look at little Suzi, living in a movie
Someone oughtta build a church around her
Center of a scene and California dreamin’
Never quite materialized
Coming home at six a.m. and
Shower off those last three men and
Wonder if the statement’s worth this
Swallowing salt of the earth or
Just a joke
Some piss-poor joke
Made up to string her out on hope
Chorus
End
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3. |
Crocodile Tears
05:13
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Crocodile Tears
Why did you call me and be cryin’
Did you call me like you’re tryin’ to heal
I ain’t got no use for cryin’
Ain’t go not use for your lyin’ for real
When did you begin to feel like the rest of us?
I thought that you were made of steel
And sugar and spice
And everything nice
Chorus:
But don’t let your crocodile tears
Soak through the phone into my ears
You never thought a minute ‘bout nobody else
But then you never get to see me cough
Breakin’ a sweat to shake it off
I’m just the one who gets to look out for myself again
Now that you’ve been beat up by lovin’
And you ain’t doin’ the shovin’ this time
Out comes all the stuff you been stuffin’
Aw, but it doesn’t mean nothin’ cuz I’m
Thinking that it’s only fair, after all
I can only sit and stare
At the wall
And try to care
Chorus
Instrumental
Chorus
End
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4. |
Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
03:39
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Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing
She says she’s an actress looking for a role
How did I know, mama? How did I know?
She has to turn her back, this wasn’t s’posed to go
Like it might go, mama, like it could go
Guess it’s hard to tell
Walking on eggshells
If the popcorn sells, it’s a show
She puts on the blackest face that she can hold
How did I know, mama? How did I know?
She fights the distraction, fucking up her lines
Could you be mine, mama? Won’t you be mine?
Someone’s screaming “action!” or is it in her mind?
But don’t it feel fine, mama? Don’t it feel fine?
She’s an open page
When she walks onstage
She looks so afraid of the times
That she’s weak with attraction and her teeth all grind
But could you be mine, mama? Won’t you be mine?
Instrumental
Guess it’s hard to tell
Walking on eggshells
If the popcorn sells, it’s a show
She puts on the blackest face that she can hold
How did I know, mama? How did I know?
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5. |
That's Not Real
04:00
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That’s Not Real
See all of me, it told you, in a fever dream
We all agree it sold you for a cheaper thing and
I know, I know
It’s so tempting and
I know, I know
You’re expecting to find a better spot, somewhere else than what you got,
But maybe what you’re looking for is not for sale today
Still you’ve got plastic in your eyes
And when the magic in you dies
You’re digging through the box looking for the prize that is the way
But
Chorus:
That’s not real (x4)
That’s a different thing
That’s not real (x4)
You’ve got a feeling for it, and it tastes so fine
You’ve gotta have some more it’s gonna ease your mind and
I know, I know
Why you’re desperate and
I know, I know
Standing next to it
It’s hard to see inside, beyond the package where it hides
But when you go to open it, surprise, it’s already stale
It makes you crazy when you see the magic things on your TV
You better go buy a way to be while it’s on sale
But
Chorus
Candy-coated life-cream soda all tastes pretty much the same
Hooks and bobbers, cops and robbers are all just pieces of the game
But
Chorus (x2)
End
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6. |
Into the Sea
04:29
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Into the Sea
Frosty reception at the door to my soul
If you ain’t got the password then you can feel free to stand out in the cold
Down in the basement, there sits a suitcase of glory and lies
Are you just a replacement for love or a song in disguise?
Chorus:
So I guess we can just go on sinning with confidence
Everything’s relative, to a degree
I guess we can count on the goddess of providence
Follow her footsteps straight into the sea
Pretty Illusion hovers just overhead
Full of heartbreaking promises, promised to us and then smothered in bed
But there’s no resurrection, and you look around wondering what to do
Pondering a reflection of something you thought that you knew
Chorus
Instrumental
Chorus
Into the sea
Into the sea
Into the sea
Into the
End
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7. |
Get Laid Song
04:28
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Get Laid Song
I know what’s going through your mind
You just give a little sign if you wanna come and play
At something less ordinary than you do today
Even if it’s a temporary stay…
Meet me there, underneath the hallway stairs
Somewhere at the mall, who cares? As long as you can come
And bring me a roll of quarters for that killing game
Because I know that the pinball here is lame
Chorus:
But if it’s something you don’t wanna do
I don’t wanna take away from you
I don’t wanna break your world in two
I’m king of the mistake, but
I don’t wanna take away from you
Sit back down, listen to my purring sound
Feeling like you were around, maybe in a way
But what’s in a situation? What does it really say?
Getting drunk on a celebration day…
Chorus
Instrumental
End
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8. |
Carolyn
05:34
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Carolyn
One thing I noticed about you
You always smiled and gave me a hug
Left everybody without you
One final dance with a dangerous drug
Looking for something you hadn’t seen
Too many friends lie around you
Slipped and fell off the end of their ropes
Too many questions that drowned you
Too much reality crushing your hopes
But deep inside yourself you’re stayin’ clean
Chorus:
You’re so clean, Carolyn
In a dream, Carolyn
I wonder if you remember
All of those things you could never let go
Caught like a fly in the amber
Thinking you didn’t know what you should know
Looking for something you hadn’t seen
Were you about to discover
How you could live in a meaningful way?
Were you afraid of another
Confusing experience after today?
But deep inside yourself you’re stayin’ clean
Chorus
Instrumental
End
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9. |
Canary
02:56
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Canary
Too afraid to live
Too afraid to die
Too afraid to fail
Too afraid to try
Too afraid to ask
Too afraid to tell
Too afraid to know
Too afraid to spell it out in English
You know, you know what keeps you there
A set of verbal handcuffs
Keeping you from getting anywhere and
You won’t admit it, you won’t admit it
You won’t admit it, you won’t admit it
Too afraid to stay
Too afraid to go
Too afraid to play
Too afraid to fold
Too afraid to flow
Too afraid to clot
Too afraid to look
Too afraid to not, and there you’re standing
You’re frozen like you’re paralyzed
Your fingers all would tremble
If they weren’t all so immobilized and
You won’t admit it, you won’t admit it
You won’t admit it, you won’t admit it
Chorus (x2):
But make that step, canary
Don’t you hold your breath, canary
Life is sweet, canary
Can’t you see it isn’t very long at all, canary?
Got to sing your song, canary
Taste the world, canary
I know it’s all weird and scary now.
End
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10. |
City Song
03:07
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City Song
Sirens scream like the animals
Here in the jungle all inside a cage
Whispers from streetside cicadas, all
Pushing their heroin into your face
Eyes look out under the street lamps
That rise up like cold, metal trees
Cries from the holes in the cliffs
Just another odd symptom of civil disease
Chorus:
And I contemplate
This city abuzz like a hive
And I think I relate
These places are always alive
Subways pound out their message in
Tribal percussion down under your feet
Restless, the natives are huddled ‘round
Bright neon campfires that pepper the street
Toes do the Thorazine shuffle that
Knows when the warmer cafes all
Close, leave them out in the jungle of
Newspaper bedsheets and cold Saturdays
Chorus
Instrumental
End
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11. |
Revolution Move
03:18
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Revolution Move
Everything you say
On my mind today
You’re pulling for the war
What a common knife
What a piece of life
You’re bringing in the door
It’s part of a master plan
Well I heard it, man, before
Snorting your high school thrills
But your rolled-up bills just bore me bad.
So it’s happenin’ soon
At the crack of noon
A revolution move
And your action tribe’s
Getting in the vibe
There’s nothing they can lose
Wait for a conference call
While your makeup all runs dry
March in your big parade
While your feelings fade right by again.
Instrumental
End
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12. |
Discontinued
03:51
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Discontinued
Twenty-two days since I’ve heard a word from you
Twenty-two ways I have wondered what to do
Guess you never thought beyond where you wanted to
But you never saw it from my point of view
Out on the pavement of my soul
Where cracks are forming around you
Well, I never wanted you to be
So apparently afraid of me
I’ve been sentenced here without a trial
Just another number on the dial
Out on the pavement of my soul
Where cracks are forming around you
Chorus:
Am I keeping you up
Like you’re keeping me up in the air?
Never ending, but discontinued
Like a magazine subscription
From nowhere
Instrumental
What you’ve taken, I can’t bring it back
I’ve awakened to this saddest fact
In my grief and anger, I placate
Maybe I’m just destined for a fate
Out on the pavement of my soul
Where cracks are forming around you
Chorus
End
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13. |
Coffee Girl
03:02
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Coffee Girl
Coffee girl is everywhere
Except the place I wanted her to be tonight
But it’s all right
I’ll make my way back home and watch TV
‘Cause I guess it’s only me
Yeah, I guess it’s only me
Well, I guess it’s only me.
Standing in the cemetery
I could see that she was very keen and
Let me walk around her self
Or maybe it was just a dream
‘Cause I guess it’s only me
Yeah, I guess it’s only me
Well, I guess it’s only me.
So my picture is a desert
And there’s sand all in my eyes
Guess I’ll find a bar and go anesthetize
Someone’s pulling on her sweater
She’s got way too many sides
Maybe she’s the kind that never quite decides
Guess it doesn’t matter anyway
I guess it’s just another day to me
And I can get along
And sing a song
About her sorcery
‘Cause I guess it’s only me
Yeah, I guess it’s only me
Well, I guess it’s only me.
End
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14. |
Hairdo of Steel
04:24
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Hairdo of Steel
Princess Diana had it coming
What was she thinking dating that boy?
I suspect her mama she was bummin’
Her baby broke just like an old toy
Her spirit joined Ophelia’s and Mary Jo Kopechne’s
In a royal fucking tantrum, screaming “no, you don’t impress me”
From the bottom of a river in the middle of the woods
Cuz they did it with some royalty and came out with the goods
And were quietly erased from the equation that they thought that they had solved
By looking wickedly coy
And the only reason Jackie O weren’t done in
Was because that girl was really a boy.
Well you could swear you saw a spread she’d done in Playboy
You could claim she had a lady’s appeal
But all the while she really was a gay boy
Done up in them sunglasses and heels
And she had us all entranced, just like a ship inside a bottle
But she tipped her hand there when she married a guy named Aristotle
Cuz we all know Greeks are homos, wearing padded bras and lifts
And we’ve been lectured never to accept their little wooden gifts
And though Jackie played it feminine, she also played it cool
Kept her nose out of the family deals
And if there was one thing with which she could get away, boy
It was a motherfuckin’ hairdo of steel.
Chorus:
It was a hairdo of steel, you could not even push or pull it
Yes, a hairdo of steel that put the magic in that bullet, yes
A hairdo of steel, deflecting everything that touched it
It could not be crimped or curled you know it never even rusted
Well Anne Boleyn was inconvenient
So Henry offed her as a divorce
On Monica Lewinsky they were lenient
There was no excessive use of force
But Marilyn Monroe, you know she really had to go
Cuz she had slept with half the Kennedys and was too in-the-know
So they had her disappeared and leaked a story to the TV
And then later Gary Condit did the same to Chandra Levy
Aw but Jackie O, she really knew just how to play the cards
Had the certain smooth and prescient feel
And all the while she remained quite obedient
To her motherfuckin’ hairdo of steel.
Chorus
End
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15. |
Single Mom
02:07
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Single Mom
Hey, Hey, Single Mom
Time to get that dinner on
Pick the toys up off the lawn and
Never lose your smile
Hey, Hey, what’d you say?
Never got your wedding day
Doesn’t matter anyway
‘least you ain’t livin’ in denial
Hey, Hey, Single Mom
Put your kid to bed and get your pretty on
Pour the drinks and pack the bong
And be young again a while
Hey, Hey, look my way
You’re beautiful in the morning rays
With your sleepy eyes and your Saturn phase
And your Panasonic style
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Vagus Nerve Reset Easthampton, Massachusetts
Vagus Nerve Reset is a two-album project by Tom Sturm. Vol. 2 will be released in 2024.
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