"The Earth Still Wants You" (2009)
All Lyrics by Hoagman(c.2009 Full Service Entertainment, LLC)
ROCKETSHIPS
Who wants a great escape
Who wants to run away
Who wants to leave today and start a new society
Who wants to stick around
Come up from underground
Who wants to shut ‘em down and move the movement forward now
Who wants the big things
Who wants to really think
Who wants some big wings
What is it you’re gonna bring
Who wants to give it up, just grab a cup and fill it up
Who wants to stick around and get the people fired up
Earth soon becomes out of sight
Rocketships fly through
Looking out
Look for you in outer space
The earth still wants you
Pulls you back
I thought you’d never leave
Thought you were hungry
I thought the fire’s ribbon-flames would burn eternally
Is there a better life
Out with the satellites
Isn’t there any way that you could stick around and fight
It’s such a cruel choice
Listen to whose voice
Listen to whose noise
Play us like so many toys
I try to understand it, ever since the ship it landed
The shuttle door that slowly opened split apart the world
TRUMPETS
I’m a sucker for a beat, I’m a human and I have my feet
Leave, leave pain, leave me
When I shake, I shake off everything
Boogie woogie woogie woogie woogie woogie woogie
Marchin’ down the town road
Watchin’ through my window
Snare drum and banjo
Hear the trumpets go
I’m a sucker for the bounce, when I hear it comin’ up and down
These knees love a hoe-down
When I stomp, I stomp right through the ground
Boogie woogie woogie woogie woogie woogie woogie
GYMNASIUM
Around your lips
Touch fingertips
On top of your cliff
And down to the center
Under your eyes
In back of your mind
Over my line
And down to the center
Face me
Around your wrist
Straight through your hips
Up over your fist
And down to the center
Right through your taste
Held up by grace
Covered by your waist
And down to the center
Face me
It’s a lonely life
RIDE YOUR BIKE
Get up in the morning and I start the routine
I’m on my way to get in line
Traffic’s an animal that fell asleep
But still it delivers on time
Ride your bike
Tie your shoes up
Fly towards the sky
And try, try
I did today the things I did last week
And I don’t even think I mind
The surgeon general says it’s hazardous to breath
I’d have another cigarette but I can’t see
You’re not my enemy
At least I try to believe
But then again maybe
Maybe you are
Maybe you are
TOMATOES
I celebrate my tomatoes
I grow the best in town
I sell ‘em to all my neighbors
They’re big and red and round
I plant ‘em next to my onions
That sit beside my herbs
When rain and dirt and sun mix
Good things come from the earth
Remove seed
Prepare soil
An inch deep
Plenty of sun
I’ll trade you for some basil
Some spices and some seed
Some garlic and some ginger
And eucalyptus leaves
I’ve heard about the berries
Seen pictures of the farm
The interstellar soil
That’s buried with the charms
Why grow grass
Why grow lawn
When it yields for you all year long
Squash for a snack
Beans for lunch
Spinach, broccoli give some crunch
Basil
Garlic
Basil, ginger
Some garlic and some ginger
And eucalyptus leaves
BRASIL
Stitch up that old coat
And the tear’s repaired
But how do you mend a hole in a glow
I don’t know
Heal a broken bone
And the structure returns
But how do you mend an aura
Who knows
Fifty-five trombones
Six thousand trumpets
Ninety-seven saxophones
Never blown
Fish jumps up and twists
Winks one quick time then
Twists again and starts to fall
I wouldn’t mind
Borrowing the sunshine
I’d bottle up
The rays and I’d make ‘em mine
And over time
Maybe I’d be bright again
And maybe then
I could help a blurry friend
My imagination is a long drive
My imagination is a pain sometimes
My imagination is a strange rhyme
It’s the only thing that’s mine
SIT AT THE TABLE
I believe in the theory
Believe in it dearly
But I ain’t got the time
I believe in the new day
Believe in the new way
But I don’t wanna sign
I believe in the news page
Believe in the crusade
But it’s all in my mind
I believe in the campaign
Believe in the refrain
Is just believing a crime
I believe in the call
Believe in it all
But what can I do
I believe in the theory
Believe in it dearly
But I ain’t got the time
You know it costs more than you think
Ain’t gonna let it sink
You think you sit at the table
But that ain’t true
You think you’re making things stable
But that ain’t true
Who’s “red, white, and blue”
They’re ready, willing, and able
But they need you
I believe in a sing-song
Believe that a war’s wrong
But sometimes I fight
I believe in opinions
I read about millions
But I’m always right
I believe in the call
Believe in it all
But what can I do?
I believe in the new truth
But sometimes a screw’s loose
And I’d much rather drive
You know it costs more than you think
Ain’t gonna let it sink
You know it costs more than you like
Ain’t gonna let it die
MULTITUDES
Snow-dogs and fisherman out in the surf
Foaming white ocean and stars frozen shut
The multitudes are singing again
The bells are ringin’
I hear ‘em again
I hear ‘em again
The bells are ringin’
The multitudes are singin again
“Don’t worry, fisherman
Go home and sleep.
At least you have something,
Have something to eat.”
“You’re right,” I said.
“They’ll come again.
Tomorrow then.
I’ll cast my line,
They’ll take a bite,
Resume the fight.”
Next day he stood again
This time it hurt
He’s knees and his joints hurt
But his mind hurt the worst
The multitudes are singing again
The bells are ringin’
I hear ‘em again
I hear ‘em again
The bells are ringin’
The multitudes are singin again
LAUNDRY ON THE LINE
My clothes are wet
The sun is high
I hang my laundry on the line so it can dry
I pin the shoulders
I pin the waists
I pin an extra just in case the wind blows
All my shirts go floating down, they’re
Scattered on the dusty ground, all around
Hang my laundry on the line
My head is heavy
My body sighs
I twist my hand around me as I clutch my side
Stare off at troubles
Lean on my cane
I think of all my children that have left me
All my shirts go floating down, they’re
Scattered on the dusty ground, all around
Hang my laundry on the line
Hang my laundry on the line
Whispers in the clouds
Shimmering
Swimming all around
Whispers in the clouds
Shimmering
Swimming all around
I open up my arms and let
My ears believe in it
I’m weeping now my cheeks are wet
I sing along with it
I open up my arms and let
My ears believe in it
I’m weeping now my cheeks are wet
I sing along with it
Then I see my laundry on the line
EYES LIKE SNOW
You float in a heavenly glow
Eyes like snow and your ice dress flows
Is this the north pole, are we close
Frost bite’s bitten my nose, it’s frozen so
My love you know I’ll follow you close
Follow you over the globe, we’ll find it
This time you’ve lost me I think
This time you’re causing me pain
This time I’ve lost you, my friend
This time’s the end
This darkness hides an ocean of hope
Layers unknown in the cold far below
Your spirit lies asleep but it glows
Keep looking inward you know how this can go
My love you know I’ll follow you close
Follow you over the globe, we’ll find it
Once upon a moonlit farm
Blue elves with strings
On their arms
Sheets of frozen wind
Carry pine, mint
Penguins spin and spun
There’s fire-wood
There’s merry song
Off in the distance
Light shines from within
HOPS
All of my memories involve felled trees
I’m a green shrike vireo in the canopy
Another species like me that’s yellow and green
My claws small but they grip hard on the bark of the
Branch underneath
Just listen to me
I got chirps count ‘em
There’s always three
But you probably don’t care
I’m something you can spare
The world ain’t mine when the humans are here
Land is owned
Life overthrown
A pile of bones
Now marks my home
Hear the drone
All of my memories involve the deep blue sea
I’ve been that benthick creature that’s simply
Trying to be home sweet home on the reef
That once was a paradise but now is apparently
An underwater landfill for the poison that has me
Flounderin’
Just tryin’ to breath
But you probably don’t care
I’m something you can spare
The world ain’t mine when the humans are here
All my memories involve the savannah breeze
Over the grassland I stand and should still be
Able to claim the name “King of the Beasts”
But nowadays I feel like the King of the Least
‘Cause The Kingdom is done when the apex predator must deal with the fact that he’ll never be better than one armed with technology
Playin’ God with me and my pride
I guess I’m somethin’ they can hide
CRICKETS SPIDERS
When everybody’s gone
And nobody’s breathing
What’s the color “nothing”
What’s the sound of “no”
On my lawn
Critters crawl and make they’re way through dirt they scare me
Something’s wrong
Not too long
Not too long ago I hated crickets, spiders
Ants on logs
Hated bees
Hated worms I hated things that slid and hopped and slithered
Lizards, frogs
Troubled times
Troubled mind you were my anchor in this big sea
Every time
Heard a song
Heard it drivin’ on my way to Minnesota
Sang along
Made me cry
Made me think about my life when you were in it
Lullaby
Once I had a thought
Made me so upset
Asked my mother things about existence and death
That’s one concern too big
Told me not to worry, “you’ve got so much time to live”
Held me very long
Told me “child, be strong.”
EVERYBODY
You live
You roamed free
You started
A family
I’ll never let it go
You planted things
You dug deep
You ran around
You loved me
I’ll never let it go
Everybody knew him
Everybody wanted him
Everybody woo’ed him
And everybody lost him
And everybody knows that’s the way life goes
Your face
A memory
Your house
Is empty
I’ll never let it go
Your son
He’s happy
Your mother’s strong
But getting weak
I’ll never let it go
TENNESSEE TRAVELER
Tennessee Traveler
Are you all alone
I see you got a dog, but
Do you have a home
Tennessee Traveler
Tennessee Traveler
Tennessee Traveler
Tennessee Traveler
Are you all alone
I see you got a dog, but
Do you have a telephone
NESSIE SONG
I’m a dog
And life is great
I sleep when I want
Or else I play
My bowl is always
Filled to the brim
And if it ain’t then I just
I just check the garbage can
‘cause it’s easy
Easy
Being
Nessie
It’s easy
Easy
Being
Nessie
Nessie, you’re the best.