Chords used
E
A
B
F#m
D
Bm
Am
G
Em
G5
C5
E5
A5
C
D2
F
E6
D7
A7
Dm
1.
Content Nausea
Key: EEasyE
A
( E - A - ) x4
EContent nausea, World War Four, seems like it allA came too soon
EAnother carnage apparatus, such a disapApointing doom
EI've used money, I've used drugs, Abuse body, Aabuse mind
EPeople use such strange excuses, always have done,A no clue why
EMost folks think and some folks know, life's lived least when youA don't let go
EOf a memory, of a dream, like an hometownA better seen
EOn a screen or at a distance, life lived best withoAut resistance
EPeople clicked and people read, 'Modern Life' is Awhat it said
EPretty pictures, pretty lives, I peered intoA once or twice
EI'll go back but not today, it's nice to visit but it'sA hard to stay
EIn the grips of bad dimension, too much data, toAo much tension
EToo much plastic, too much glass, life lived least when whenA fears are passed
EMy friend he won't leave his home, says "I am a bonfire ofA human bones."
EI am a bonfire of human bones, I am a bonfire ofA human bones
~ ~ (repeat A - E -) ~ ~
And am I under some spell?
And do my thoughts belong to me?
Or just some slogan I ingested to save time?
This night is missing people
The sea, it had no-one
Hardly no-one, it had shapes, it had light
Some were flashing, most moved
Me, I couldn't look away
But still no-one came or left they just stayed
But they weren't there in the first place
Overpopulated by nothing, crowded by a sparseness
Guided by darkness, too much, not enough
Content, that's what you'd call it
An infant screaming in every room in your gut
Bets strum on an intention but best left unattended
How gathered the pixels in the dust of the digital age to our being
With what do I wash?
Put on some music
My friend walks the same path every day
Steep the stairwell, cognizance to coma
Ignoring best he can
An inconvenient reality
The consequential chore that unfolds in the naked sprint from screen to screen
Scrolling binary ghettos for escape for reminders
And this would be a good idea to free poets
From the back padding dungeons of content and comments
To free artists from empty and vulgar broadcasting ritual
For this year it became harder to be tender
Harder and harder to remember
Meeting a friend, writing a letter
Being lost, antique ritual
All lost to the ceremony of progress
Like the sensual organs removed
They're only weighing you down, you didn't need them
Ignore this part, it's an advertisement
These people are famous, I'd trust them
Protesters stayed home this time around
Some enlisted, some never heard the first shots
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
EWell I've been north and I've been south, I've been west andA I've been east
EBeen around long enough to know, life's lived best when Ascrolling least
EJust a broken piece of plastic, just anotherA new device
EJust another nervous habit, one more thing you Ahave to buy
EJust one more thing to replace, one more way to Ablock your face
EToo much data, too much tension, life's lived least when Aless is mentioned
EWasting dollars, wasting hours, wasting talent withA wasted power
ENo one says it but it's known, the more connected,A the more alone
EMy friend stays at the home in the dark, never walks upA to the park
EAlways nauseous, always tired, I am a landmine,A wrong supplier
EI am a landmine
2.
Human Performance
Key: BMediumB
F#m
E
D
A
B I know exactly F#m where I was when I E first saw you the way I see yDou now,
through these eyes waiting to Aretry. B Those pristine days, I F#m recall so fondly.
E So few are trials when a Dlife isn't lonely, and now if Aonly.
B I'd never felt it,F#m I'd never heard it. E I know I loved you, did I Deven deserve it
when you retAurned it?B There's no suspicion,F#m no hesitation.
E Believing through the eyes of Bsore adoration
AWitness and F#mknow AFracture and F#mhurt
AEyes in the Efire ABlink unreDhearsed
AShield like a Bhouse AClosing it's F#mdoors
ACurved in the Edark ARinses of Dyours
F#m
B Ashtray is crowded,F#m bottle is empty.E No music plays and nothing Dmoves without drifting
into a Amemory. B Busy apartment,F#m no room for grieving.
E Sink full of dishes and no Dtrouble believing that you are lAeaving.
B Mid-sentence tremors, F#m mind at it's weakest.E One way of shaking off the Bthoughts that it sleeps with.
AWitness and F#mknow AFracture and F#mhurt
AEyes in the Efire ABlink unreDhearsed
AShield like a Bhouse AClosing it's F#mdoors
ACurved in the Edark ARinses of Dyours
F#m
BF#mED
AED
B - - -
B In walks the darknessF#m I pitch without you.
E Asks me; "Do I realize what I'd dDone and who I'd done to?"
Indeed, I Ado know. B It never leaves me, jusF#mt visits less often.
E It isn't gone and I won't Dfeel it's grip soften without a Acoffin.
B Breathing beside me,F#m feeling it's warmness,E phantom affection gives a Bhuman performance.
AWitness and F#mknow AFracture and F#mhurt
AEyes in the Efire ABlink unreDhearsed
AShield like a Bhouse AClosing it's F#mdoors
ACurved in the Edark ARinses of Dyours
( A - D - ) x8
AF#m
let F#m ring out and end
3.
Uncast Shadow Of A Southern Myth
Key: DMediumD
Bm
Am
G
Em
A
DId seen the bloodlands of AnBmtietam D
The shotgun shack in Tupelo Bm
But a Dbrick circumference left Amhollow by Sherman G
Crumbling before me Emhow it moans
DHis shape swallows my rBmecollection
DThat phantom silhouette iBmmplied
DStrange fruit rotting from an aAmir morning hotter than hell G
Is this the king?s lastEm man Ive spied
DI stood there beside my cBmompanion
DScratching a rumor he had heardBm
DDo you have a gun?
What? He said, yAmeah, you mean this one?
GStraight down the barrel was his worEmd
DAnd I smelt the fumes he inhaled swBmiftly
DEach word was hinged upon his cBmhoke
DLike kudzu creeping up a Amstate tree discretely G
Forever bending as it bEmroke
DAnd I heard the jangling keys of GBmraceland
DRing from his teeth stained round from Bmcoke
DDrunk and stumbling like a Amman of distinction G
They clamored shaking asEm he spoke
DOf droves of pilgrims at his dBmoorway
DOf Reagan, Carter, Clinton, GBmore
DFortunes offered them, Amrefused routinely
GThis aint no damn auction house he swEmore
DBlack male standing around 6 foot somBmething
DEbbs through the waves of small town Bmbias
DA minute coldly from Amsouthern affection G
Collides secretly into nEmight
DForgive those who trespass againstBm us
DBegan the dead intruders pBmlea
DInto the very muzzlAme I?d once bit into G
He gives the last words he will sEmpeak
DThat broken glass supports forced Bmentry
DReminds his lawyer through the phBmone
DWhat southern judge do you knoAmw, comforting gently
GWho jails white men who defend their Emhome
DNo souls are present for the momBment
DHis bombed out brick walls finally fBmell
DLying face down in the Amthroes of atonement
GChecked out of the Heartbreak HoEmtel
DBmDAmGEm
DIt?s the Auncast Gshadow Dof a soAuthern Gmyth x5
4.
Pathos Prairie
Key: GHardG5
C5
E5
A5
G5Faster than C5hope flies G5cold through my E5veins
G5Faster than C5cruelty could drE5ain it G5out
G5I commit cC5rimes and I G5call them misE5takes
G5Nothing denC5ies like a hE5eart in dG5oubt
G5This I know pC5eople flow like strG5eams where I E5bathe
G5Then drift alC5ong to a E5foreign plG5ace
G5The past like a C5servant that G5bends for our E5sake
G5Into the C5lines we tell E5it to tA5race
C5Like how we are E5wired
C5Like how we deE5cide
C5Like how we are taught
E5Like how we are C5not
Like how we G5hide ourselves in E5vain G5 E5
G5Laughter in C5sunshine, G5laughter in E5pain
G5Keeps pace of C5heart in an E5honest G5life
But G5after the C5fondness for G5life is eE5rased
G5What races C5on in my E5soul beG5sides
G5Rabid mutts that C5fight and fuck and G5howl till they E5faint
G5They too run C5on when the E5moon is G5lit
G5Faster than C5love turns itG5self into E5rage
G5Faster than C5I attempt E5to forA5get
C5Like how we deE5sire
C5Like how we embE5race
C5Like how we give up
E5Like how we make C5love
Like how we G5taste when we're spit aE5way G5 E5
C5Like how we are E5wild
C5Like how we are E5pure
C5Like how we despise
E5Like how we tell C5lies
Like how we're G5sure we're gonna cE5hange
G5 We're gonna cE5hange
G5 We're gonna cE5hange G5 C5 G5
5.
Black And White
Key: GMediumG
E
A
C
D
GNothing makEes my heart so wild as being
GIn posseEssion of a potent nighGt,
ERacing down the stairs in a nude descGension
EShedding and discarding my hide
GBut the bAold strokes crack so quickly aCnd it's
AOften that I wonder wGhy
EDripping at the slow motion rate of surrGender
EHanging to my bones as they dry
GHow could DI want something more
than a new heAll in which to fry
GWhen I Esee in only black and whiteG
GThere?s a sEinful sort of side of being
Gso containEed, A bit like being lostG.
EStumbling through the background like a small town loneGr
Equietly a whispering my thoughts inGto
Amy cupped hands, folded and monk-Clike,
Aat least thats what i've always saGid.
EHow does writing letters from the lonely marginGs
Efeel when there is no hair on my head?
GIs the sDolitude I seek a trap whAere i've been blindly led?
TelGl me, whEere then do I go instead? G
GWhen aEtonement comes in distant waves
GI might wEait until the next to breaGk
Echoking through forgiveness at a sun fly prompteGr
Estaring through the back of my face.
GIt's a Avulgar, hidden part of beinCg
Atethered to the world right noGw;
Espending all my dollars to remain a membeGr,
Enothing in my eyes but a scowl.
GDo i boDther to define myself beyoAnd what they allow?
GHave IE already forgotten how?G
Then hang on G for a while, then end on E.
6.
One Man No City
Key: DMediumD
D2
G
A
B
C
D Where I'm fromD2, well no one lived there.
D I look back nowD2, nothing's changed.
D Where I'm from nowD2, still no one lives there.
D Look back again D2 and lock the door.
D Yeah, I maintainD2, I still remain
D one man solitary D2 and no city.
D One man solitary D2 and no city.
D One man solitary D2 and no city.
D "Cogito ergo D2 sum" people say,
D but think again 'cause D2 I have no faith.
D I find building blocks D2 filled with nothing.
D Seen an ink blot page D2 and I said nothing.
D "Outside? I'll check it out D2 it's just a mirror."
D "Look back now!" D2 An empty page.
D Yet I maintainD2, I still remain,
D one man solitary D2 and no city.
D One man solitary D2 and no city.
D One man solitary D2 and no city.
**short pause**
G
ABC
**short pause**
D No town D2 and no city
D No identity D2 and no city
D No thoughts, no feelings D2 and no city
D No, you just me I think D2 and no city
D No words I speak D2 and no city
D No outside D2 and no city
D Nothing at all D2 and no city
D No way home D2 and no city
D No relief D2 and no city
D No sympathy D2 and no city
D No understanding D2 and no city
D There's no one else D2 and no city
D Yet I maintainD2, I still remain,
D one man solitary D2 and no city.
G
AB
C
7.
No Ideas
Key: GMediumG
F
A
D
C
GGGFG
AWhat could I even say to you GRene?
AIf I could stop reacting then I'd be actiGng like your fool because
AWhat could I even say to you RGene?
AI could follow you but then you'd never Gsee me right behind you
AI weDntC toD a sAhrink and he fouDnd Cmy bDraiCn A
And I DhaveC no DideaCs is whatG he found
AI weDntC toD a sAhrink and he fouDnd Cmy bDraiCn A
And I DhaveC no DideaCs is whatG he found
No idGeas is what he found
GNo ideas
GGGFGG
AWhat could I even say to youG Rene?
AI could meditate and sleep all day but I'd neveGr know what the first step
to take was
AWhat could I even say to you GRene?
AAre we candles or are we wax, and with facts lGike that I'll never know
how to relax
AI weDntC toD a sAhrink and he fouDnd Cmy bDraiCn A
And I DhaveC no DideaCs is whatG he found
AI weDntC toD a sAhrink and he fouDnd Cmy bDraiCn A
And I DhaveC no DideaCs is whatG he found
No idGeas is what he found
GNo ideas
8.
Mardi Gras Beads
Key: F#mHardF#m
E
E6
D7
A
A7
G
D
F#mEE6D7
Your Amind sings some lyrics like we're Amemory
Your A7sad our goodbyes sound nostalF#mgy
Your Echords swung me from idolatrE6y
I'm lD7iving like a vagabond, I jD7ust can't decide
AWhen to leave A
But it's Aroots are in the river to my mood it Aswings
A vA7ow even is impossible to F#mkeep
Every Eday is starting on the balance E6beam
D7Still you're standing with me, D7always carrying
AThe melody
GSmiling all the while, Gthe paint chips off
Of my GMardi DGras Abeads
DDAA
DDAA
DDAA
DDAA
It's the Aimages contained not the Alens or frames
ReA7called to my mind before I fall aF#msleep
A Elist of regrets is no place to E6be
I'm D7coming in late but I'll D7never modulate us
ATo a minor key A
GSmiling all the while, Gthe paint chips off
Of my GMardi DGras Abeads
DDAA
DDAA
DDAA
DDAA
F#mEE6D7
************************************
| h Hammer-on
| / Slide up
| r Release
| b Bend
************************************
9.
Keep It Even
Key: DHardD
Dm
C
G
F
Am
A
There's a Ddrawer in my house that I Dmtry to keep closed but it's Copen
There's a Gcommitment that I made to Fbe somewhere but it's Cbroken
An Foblique mantra in my head, it Clies there on the floor Glike a bed that would
FCollapse like a Dmtrap, if it was Cspoken
AmYou gotta keep it Geven, even when you're uptight
AmEven when you're Ahappy, even when you're reaching for some
DLine I've had in mind, it's been reDmpressed over time, so I'm Cbreathing
SeGduced by an excuse that could Fnot be made but I'm Cspeaking
Instrumental
AmAmCC
GFCC
AmAmGG
AmAmAA
There's a Dphone with a number that I Dmtry not to call but it's Cringing
For Gsomeone I've tried to keep Fto myself but I'm Csinging
It's Flogic that's twisted and paraphrased and Cjustified by a Gdistance
That Fseparates a Dmbond, bound of perCsistence
AmYou gotta keep it Geven, even when you're uptight
AmEven when you're Ahappy, even when you're reaching for
That Ddrawer in my house that I Dmtry to keep closed but its Copen
10.
Disney Pt
Key: AEasyA
C
D
G
AMy girl is a bowl of hashC
AA familiar looking rash C
AMy girl's my secret stashC
AMy shampooed pile of trasCh
AMy girl's a borealis-lit Cfjord
AMy girl's a summons ignorCed
AMy girl's a beer, freshlyC poured
AA lost tribe's library stCored
DYou've been getting Clots of Asimiles but
GI Dwant Cyour GdisAease
GI Dwant Cyour GdisAease
GI Dwant Cyour GdisAease
AMy girl is off-track bettinCg
AMy girl is a traffic lighCt
AMy girl is an unmade bed C
AMy girl is a moonless nighCt
AMy girl is choppy airC
AMy girl is a Golden CoralCl
AMy girl is a curse word screameCd
AMy girl is not their scenCe
DYou've been getting Clots of Asimiles but
GI Dwant Cyour GdisAease
GI Dwant Cyour GdisAease
GI Dwant Dyour