1. |
Judgment Day
03:29
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Every day is Judgment day
And every day is a beautiful day
And every day is the hardest day
When every day is a happy day
Across the valley up to the mountain
Across that river up through the hills
You stay connected to the outside world
It’s just you and me and them out there
When every day they laugh and point and stare
And every day they rank and file I hear
Cause every day is Judgment day
And every day is a beautiful day
While every day is the hardest day
And every day is a happy day
I’m afraid….
Cause every day is Judgment day (I’m afraid)
And every day is a Beautiful day (I’m afraid)
Though every day is The Hardest day (I’m afraid)
That every day is a Happy day (I’m afraid)
I’m afraid…
About:
Fear of criticism. Fear of rejection. All are justified. Because we actually do judge the f*ck out of each other 24/7 (the research is in). This makes everyday life exhausting. Based on studies by Yale psychologist Joshua Knobe.
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2. |
Today Is Mine
02:56
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Today is the future
Today is blind
Today is a fossil
For the rest of time
Today is a memory
On a photograph
Can’t you see me crying
Now that I'm smiling
Today is mine
This day is mine
Today is mine !
Today is so sexy
Like one of a kind
And today is tomorrow
Always on my mind
Today is mine
This day is mine
Today is mine
Today is so present
Today is the gift
Today in the moonshine
I get to blow my mind
Today is perfume
Today is love
Today in the moment
I’m still alive!
- “Talk about being in the moment!”
Today is mine
This day is mine
Yeah, today is mine
This day is mine
Today is mine
Yeah oh yeah this day is mine
About:
Based on the biting quote by environmentalist and author Derrick Jensen: “Hope is a longing for a future condition over which you have no agency; it means you are essentially powerless.”
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3. |
Stardust for Dessert
02:54
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Stardust for dessert
Stardust for rebirth
She reaches for that cigarette
She is no longer standing
She reaches for that lightning
Into the night unwinding
She came for so much fun
Before the tempest and the gun
From a crescent moon and a star
And a so-called prayer in the sand
Comes a single fucking moment
She will never understand
Stardust for dessert
I bring you supernova
Born again in a billion years
The music never ends
Stardust for dessert
In a universe of nightlife
Heavens come and heavens go
Heaven knows just when
Stardust for dessert (Where did she come from?)
Stardust for rebirth (Where did she go?)
Stardust for dessert (What was she made of?)
Stardust for rebirth (What has she become?)
About:
We are stardust & will be recycled within the cosmic dance of a fertile, self-creating universe. I'm just channeling Einstein here, who claimed that God ISN'T the gardener, but the garden itself.
But what do I know?
I'm just a terrified atheist...in a Supernova Karma Sutra.
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4. |
Hope In The Dark
02:30
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When you’re out on the road
When you’re out of sight
When you’re out of your mind
When you’re out ahead
but you’re out alone
When you’re out of control
Hope in the Dark… Is who we are
Hope in the Dark… Is all we are
When you’re out of ammo
When you’re out of faith
when you’re out of the race
When you’re out of your wits
When you’re out of a God
When you’re out of a fight
Tally on tally ho !
Hope in the Dark… is who we are
Lest we forget… all that we are
When you’re out of mojo
When you’re out of moves
When you’re out of breath
When you’re out of wind
When you’re out of time
When you’re out of a light
Tally on tally ho !
Hope in the Dark…is the life of me
Hope in the Dark…is a guiding me
Lest we forget
All that we know
Hope in the Dark
Lest we forget - tally on tally ho !
All that we’ve done - tally on tally ho !
All that we are - tally on tally ho !
Hope in the dark - tally on tally ho !
About:
Based on the book "HOPE IN THE DARK", by Rebecca Solnit. Thank you Rebecca for your life-changing words and philosophy of civil rights and environmental activism. Playing the long game. And acknowledging all that we HAVE achieved.
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5. |
Sugar & Cream
04:11
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I found my baby in a garbage can
I get my sunshine wherever I can
I saw my dream girl in a magazine
I take my sunshine with sugar and cream
I am so tired of broken hearts - shoop dooby do
And I’ve had my fill baby, of broken parts
I hear them shopping
I see them laugh
I’m gonna do so much better
than a bigger, better half
I’m gonna find me a lady - shoop dooby do
In the middle of the night
Oh what a lady !
Oh what a night…
I’ll find her naked- shoop dooby do
Sweep her off her feet
Cause I take my sunshine with gasoline
I saw me a woman
by the side of the road
I think I saw her smile at me - mon amour
on my way home - Adieu!
I found her later In that same old garbage can
I can see the sunset wherever I am
I’m gonna build me a fire -shoop dooby do
Full of magazines
Say good-bye to my ladies
Say good-bye to my dreams
I’m gonna light me a fire - shoop dooby do
With gasoline !
There goes my baby, my sugar and cream
About:
Dating after 50. Song written while consuming 3rd season of Twin Peaks by David Lynch. Eww factor five.
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6. |
Enemy
02:37
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It’s easy if you try... (backwards)
Who is my enemy?
I wish I had me an enemy
In a world without no enemies what would be ?
Who is my enemy?
I‘m super happy you’re my enemy
In a world without no enemies who am I ?
What am I?
In a world without no stranger danger
In a world without no borders and frontiers
In a world without no enemies what would be ?
Where is my enemy?
I wish I saw me an enemy
In a world without no enemies what would be ?
What would be ?
Bada Papa Papa Papaa…
Do I really need this flag,
And do I really need this Song
To tell the world just who I am,
To tell the world where I belong ?
Who is my enemy ?
I wish I had me an enemy
In a world without no enemies what would be?
What would be?
About:
According to contemporary science, without wars to wage (literal or figurative) our hyper-tribal primate brains don't function right. Without enemies to oppose we are lost...we need the fight. We find existential meaning & identity in our opposition to the other. It follows that deep down we are motivated by in-group preference and reflexive biases. So much for free will.
Our apologies to John Lennon.
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7. |
My Life In The West
03:34
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Have you heard this wonderful story
This magical mythical tale of glory
About my life out west? My life in the West…
You see I worked real hard and I rode a horse
And I killed a few without remorse
I got my life out west - My life in the West
And I chopped down trees and I built a wall
And I took some land and then I took it all
For my life out west - My life in the West
And even they say if I was born the last
I’m sure I would have caught up fast
With my life out west - My life in the West
And even if I was born the worst
They say I surely would have finished first
With my life out west - My life in the West
I will make them pay I will make them bleed
I will make them starve and I will make them feed
My life out west - My life in the West
Hey hey hey…
But then one I day I’ll have enough
I’ll throw it out I’ll hang it up
I had my life out west - My life in the West
I will paint some heroes, I’ll paint the war
In the name of redemption and the God I swore
Gave me my life out west - Oh my life in the West
Hey hey hey…
And had I really been born out east
And even if I was born in the South
I would have headed out
For a life in the west - My life in the West
About:
A brief history of Manifest Destiny. American exceptionalism. Nativism.
Dedicated to the late Barbara Bush. Mother of George W. Bush, war criminal turned portrait artist who today raises money with his "art" to help the mutilated veterans (that he paints) of the war he started. Go figure.
An artist friend observed the portraits were actually quite striking: because Dubya put all his guilt into the damn things.
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8. |
Book of ZOO
02:45
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How good it feels to be so kind
How good it feels to be so tight
How good it feels to roll a rock up a hill
I will see you all in Hell
How good it feels to be so clean
How good it feels to be so brave
How good it feels to push a mountain up a stream
I will see you all in Hell
Yes I’ll see you, I will see you all again
No need for me to bid farewell!
How good it feels to be the crank
How good it feels to be the crook
How good it feels to roll a cloud into that sky
I will see you all in Hell
Yes I’ll see you, I will see you all again
No need for me to bid farewell!
Yes I’ll see you, I will be with you again
I will see you all in Hell
About:
The rise and fall of Homo hubris. Anthropocentrism. Unearned entitlement. Conceit. Pride. Arrogance. Etc.
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9. |
Real World
03:43
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What do people do inside the real world?
How do people live inside the real world?
What are they thinking in that real world?
How could you slave if it’s a free world?
Do they shine like you and me?
And do they laugh so carelessly?
Who wants to walk into the real world?
Who wants to jump in for a swim?
Do they ever rock out in that free world?
If you want to see you surely can!
Do they shine like you and me?
And do they laugh so carelessly?
And do they fight repeatedly?
And Do they break so easily?
Or do they smile about tomorrow?
and do they cry for yesterday?
Do they shine like you and me?
And do they laugh so carelessly?
And do they fight repeatedly?
And do they break so easily?
Do they shine….? And Do they laugh…?
Do they smile about tomorrow?
and do they cry for yesterday?
Like you and me…
About:
Song written in head whilst chartering my 10 yr old son and his entire class on day trip to the movies via Parisian subway (where I live during the school year) and staring into the Zombie, rush-hour crowd all suited up and manicured and packed into this human box of sardines on their way to work and wondering wtf genetic combination and dosage of childhood trauma turned us into artists. And them into middle management. I want to understand these things, cross oceans and such.
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10. |
WTF (Went Wrong)?
02:44
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I found me a pebble
In the middle of the road
Oh how she spoke to me
On my walk home
Cause sometimes I wonder
WTF went wrong?
And sometimes I ask myself
Did we get along ?
Who are the meek?
And who are the strong?
And who is so fortunate,
To tell a right from wrong?
Cause sometimes I wonder
WTF went wrong?
And sometimes I ask myself
Did we ever get along ?
I found me a rock
Full of precious stones
And I found some heavy metal
And a human bone
Cause sometimes I wonder
WTF went wrong
I lay asunder
Did we ever get along?
About:
There's a reason for bad family dynamics, sibling rivalry, preferring a certain child to others, why married couples fight like cats and dogs. Check out the work of Robert Trivers showing the fascinating evolutionary logic & deeply rooted biological motivations behind our familial feuds. The latter stem mostly from conflicts of interest and competition for resources, love, attention, etc. And the selfish gene. Yeah, that guy. The picture ain't bright folks.
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11. |
Ba Doom!
02:58
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Because of you I am single
Because of you I am able
Because of you I’m a misogynist
Because of you I”m a feminist
You gotta fight, fight… fight for the right to be equal
You gotta fight, fight… fight for the right to be the same
Ba doom Ba doom Ba doom bah !
Because of you I’m a socialist
Because of you I’m a capitalist
Because of you I’m an infidel
Because of you I’m an intellectual
You‘d better fight, fight….fight for the right to be different
You’d better fight , fight…fight for the right to be the same
Ba doom Ba doom Ba doom bah !
Because of You I’m a freedom fighter
Because of you I love modern Jazz
Because of you I’m a dissident
Because of you I’m an alien
Because of you I do it dirty
Because of you I am a Wolverine
About:
Once asked about some existential enigma Desmond Tutu famously retorted that the secret of existence is not being - but BELONGING...Little did he know how much modern science agrees with him, but for totally different reasons. Humans, we now know, are social primates that find existential value in subscribing to the views of the group. The Party Line. We wear our opinions like identity badges. Our loyalty to the tribe, in what we think and say publicly - for fear of ostracism, no doubt, have defined group behavior and infra group dynamics (tribalism, religious wars, politics...) for most of our existence. Call it our inner sheep. Bah!
The problem with this is that it constitutes a major hurdle to reason, knowledge & progress. You cannot think straight (and speak your mind) if your conclusions get you kicked out of the academy. Or burned at the stake. Take science denial, the idea that climate change is a hoax (on the Right), or that GMO's and Vaccines will get us all killed (on the Left). Irrational, conspiratorial views survive on all sides of the political spectrum, because of this antiquated, evolutionary proclivity towards group-think. People cling to their clan's orthodoxy. Solidarity oblige. God forbid we might think, speak and act independently! Even scientists have a hard time doing so. No, instead we cherry pick our facts to best suit the ideology or economic aspirations of the group (or institution, or team) to which we belong (or the company we work for), often without being an expert on anything. But its more reflexive than it is conscious. Especially among people on the far authoritarian ends of the political spectrum - where the prefrontal cortex of the human brain ceases to function altogether.
Tribalism also pops up in Music, of course. I listen to this, I'm cool. You listen to that, you're a (insert expletive of choice here) traitor.
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12. |
This City
04:40
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What about that air pollution?
And what about that light pollution?
What about that noise pollution?
Out of the red, into the blue
I’ll stand where you stand
and I’ll take your point of view
Out of my mind, into your head
I listen carefully
to your friends and their IQ’s
In this city, this city - this city the likes of you
Where sin sets in, may I fit in with you?
May I fit in with you…
Out of my right, into your left
Out of my backwoods, into your city of brights
Out of my mind, into that race
I dodge the traffic rats
As they work the avenues
In this city, this city - this city the likes of you
High-five surprise, I fell in love with you!
I fell in love with you…
This city….This city
This city of lights and you
In This city…. This city
This city the likes of you
- “Anything else?”
In this city, this city - this city the likes of you
Where sin sets in, I fell in love with you!
I fell in love with you.…
About:
The global trend towards hyper-urbanization makes us more tolerant, less violent a species, and raises our average IQ (according to data). But it's destroying our landbase, i.e.: the biosphere as we know it. Hee haw.
Solutions, anyone?
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13. |
By Suicide
03:15
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I want to chuckle
I want to smile
I want to amuse you
Make you laugh out loud
Cause I want you to be happy
I want you to thrive
A little more than usual
Cause I’ve got a surprise
Yes I’ve got this feeling
Not so much a feeling
As a rational equation
To reach the other side
By suicide…
Girl I crunched the numbers
I’ve tallied up the costs
And nothing is so sacred
And hard logic is tough
But I can see clearly
And I can see the light
I’m going to end this misery
I’m going to end it tonight
By suicide…
-”Can you hear me now?”
A most heavenly feeling
Such a really good feeling
A most heavenly feeling
Such a really good feeling
By suicide…
About:
A lullaby for Robin Williams. And a million others. And the rest of us. The science behind "positive suicide". And the ethical can of worms that this shit entails. End-of-life Assisted suicide, too. Which I happen to agree with. Like a good friend once told me: "If you haven't thought of committing suicide at least once in your life, then you're an idiot..."
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14. |
The Sunnyside Of Things
03:24
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On the sunnyside of things
You wake up with that crazy
You wake up to that touch
You wake up with that feeling
That you never get enough
On the sunnyside of things…
On the sunnyside of things
You wake up to her breathing
You wake up to her heart
To all them purty pictures
And all that buried art
On the sunnyside of things…
On the sunnyside of things
You wake up from your dreaming
You wake up kinda naked
Oh the rush you get from learning
Learning all those things
On the sunnyside of things…
On the sunnyside of things
You wake up with that absence
You wake up kinda dumb
You wake up without knowing
If tomorrow ever comes
On the sunnyside of things…
About:
Every silver lining has a dark cloud (of ZOO)... Yeah, that one, the age-old boring-ass redundant Optimism vs pessimism debate. Moot! How about diagnosis, prognosis. Identify the problem. Then solve it. Bitches.
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David Rosane & The Zookeepers Vermont
A multinational collective of musical heavy hitters in full flagrant creative collaboration with Post-Punk Power and Protest rocker David Rosane, who also has a gentle side. Dave used to work as a full-time native american activist and field biologist in South America. Core members of the Zookeepers are Don Sinclair & Jennifer Grossi of Bradford, VT., community activists and music teachers by day. ... more
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