Sugar ‘n spikes ‘n neon lights ‘n walks ‘n lights ‘n chains coughin’ smoke whoopin’ hope Cardinal sky rush by falls bark in dark Fall back in dark Pies steam stale shoes move broom ‘n pale Moon in uh dime store sale Sugar ‘n spikes ‘n everything nice ‘n everything nice ‘n crazy That’s what little worlds are made of lady I’m paid up in home in ‘m new Friday’s house There’s no H on my faucet there’s no bed for m’ mouse My punch ‘n grow mind in diamond back time Now it’s king for uh day with my lady look fine Got m’Read More →

Justin Sherill writes: Interestingly, I received an email from a Peter Wray, who might just be the fellow mentioned in the song. Here’s a chunk of his email. “My only claim to fame was being mentioned in one of his songs (Sugar n Spikes). How I got in the lyrics I don’t know except that I met Beefheart on tour in Columbus Ohio in 1968 or 69.” “I remember that one of my friends in college got one of the first issues of TMR – when Warners included the lyric sheet – and came running into my room yelling and insisting that I somehow hadRead More →

Chills quick you Voices pick you Crows hex you Deluxe-um(?) Postum avion Wizard kiss and all be gone Scenes Dreams Boats to forever Bolted ether Creep the ether feather Sue Egypt Sue Egypt Boing pong hocus pocus avion I think of all those people that ride on my bones I think of all of those people that ride on my bones That nobody hears That nobody sees that nobody knows Sue Egypt Sue Egypt I think of all I think of all I think of all those people who ride on my bones That nobody sees, that nobody dares That nobody hears, that nobody caresRead More →

The black paper between a mirror breaks my heart The moon frayed thru dark velvet lightly apart Steal softly thru sunshine Steal softly thru snow The wild goose flies from winter Breaks my heart that I can’t go Energy flys thru a field ‘n the sun softly melts a nothing wheel Steal softly thru sunshine Steal softly thru snow The black paper between a mirror breaks my heart that I can’t go The swan their feathers don’t grow They’re spun They live two hundred years of love They’re one Breaks my heart to see them cross the sun Grain grows rainbows up straw hill BreaksRead More →

Said the momma t’ the baby in the corn You are my first born You shall here on in be known as The Spotlight Kid ‘N the mornin’ cry of the rooster The baby lay alone ‘N the old cow in the green grass Shed white tears in the red hot sun ‘N The Spotlight Kid stood under the moon that evenin’ Givin’ her alibis ‘n eatin’ her a la modes ‘N the ice cream man searchin’ high ‘n low For his a la modes foe his a la modes ‘N the green frogs croakin’ around his abode ‘N the mud cat pond by theRead More →

Space-age couple Why don’t you flex your magic muscle? Space-age couple Why do you hex your magic muscle? Space-age couple Why do you hustle ‘n bustle? Why don’t you drop your cool tom-foolery ‘n shed your nasty jewelry? Cultivate the grounds They’re the only ones around. Space-age couple Why don’t you flex your magic muscle? Hold a drinking glass up t’ your eye after you’ve Scooped up a little of the sky ‘n it ain’t blue no more. What’s on the leaves ain’t dew no more. Space-age couple Why don’t you jus’ do that? Why don’t you jus’ do that? (1970) Originally made available atRead More →

Mirror mirror mirror (repeat) mirror man mirror me(repeat) mirror man mirror than mirror man follow the band farther than you oh farther than me mirror mirror day mirror way mirror man mirror me mirror man farther than mirror man mirror me mirror man farther than you’re a me and you’re a me and you’re a me…….. oh mirror man oh mirror man mirror me mirror me mirror me (bop bee boo bop do-be-do) (1968) Transcribed by John Ellis and CBM. Originally made available at Justin Sherill’s Home Page Replica.Read More →

There’s so many things to feel and see while you’re awake they’re just out of reach out of grasp yeah out of reach and just as many; maybe more the minute that you sleep so I got to throw my preach skeleton breath scorpion blush I have a crush on your skeleton watch out unsuspecting stranger you’ll fall off the log headfirst into dreams end up screaming this will comb the wolf and that will comb the fog what will peen the rain what will preen the hog oh you mean earth and hell over you and laugh at your tire tracks if you getRead More →

She’s too much for my mirror She almost make me lose it The way she abuse it make me never wanna use it Well mend yer heart ‘n mind yer soul Ole Chicago she’s uh woman thata Make uh young man uh bum She howl like the wind Make m’ heart grow cold Make me long for that little red fum! She makes things fly ‘n she makes things roll She got me way over here ‘n I’m hungry ‘n cold I remember m’ mother told me I oughta be choosey That was way back when I thought she was m’ friend Now I findRead More →

She always shows up when I’m up But she never shows up when I’m down But she’s under arrest ’cause I might guess The Sheriff of Hong Kong Then she goes up in a flash I bite the end of her sash Then I’m long gone To Hong Kong Kong She never makes a taste mistake She’s the Sheriff of Hong Kong Now I’m the Sheriff of Hong Kong Now she’s the Sheriff of Hong Kong Long gone gone To Hong Kong Kong Whoa I’m long gone To Hong Kong Kong Long gone gone To Hong Kong Kong Ad hu And uh zing hu IRead More →

The mule kicked off a new one and the stockings ran up Seam Crooked Sam bandana frock stuffed with smoke and ears out flopped like bowlin’ pins hog troughs hocked and wallered in cool mud bins and patent leather hooves split in twos rooms for rent down t’ Ben’s Frendsa danced in a frenzy choked a juke bird with froth glass ferns and turpentine urns her sawdust daily keep and whiskey creeps down her neck naked front and red leatherette peen button set where her fanny sweat raised her wrist-a-fan and a mouse coughed cotton through a screen door cracked sand rooms rent only toRead More →

Well my cigarette died when I washed my face Dropped some drops in an ashtray hit a wrong place Open up my blinds to see spiders spinning nines Its uh safe as milk it’s uh safe as milk I never heard it put quite that way The shape I’m in is uh worn a way They called a day they called a day Yesterday’s paper headlines approach rain gutter teasing rusty cat sneezing Soppin wet hammer dusty and wheezing Lusty alley whining trashcan blues Children running after rainbows stocking poor Gracious ladies nylon hanging onto line Jumping onto leg looking mighty fine Sorrows lollipop lands stick-broken onRead More →

Run paint run run Run paint run run Run paint run run Paint hears this and he begin to run Electric black shadow runs ‘cross the sun Run paint run run Run paint run run Hold holes in the world The sun goes down, we’ll be done You hoped And you hopped And you hopped And you swung There’s my baby standing at the gate Waving, “Come, come.” Paint hears this and he begin to run Run paint run run You got hot paint, and you’re havin’ fun There’s my baby standing at the gate Waving, “Come, come.” Run paint run run Paint hears thisRead More →

Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll Here she comes down the hall Her eyes are flashing She’s looking big, I’m feeling small Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll The writing’s on the wall She’s coming up on me Getting bigger as she gets near to me Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll Feel like running But I don’t want to fall She’s so big I’m so small I heard the door slam And I ran down rock ‘n roll’s rainbow hall (Repeat first verse) Rock ‘n Roll’s evil doll Rock ‘n Roll’s evilRead More →

Well this is pretty special. A television advertisement was made, shown, audiences were angered and then it was banned. As Ry Cooder comments in The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart, nowadays it could be an ad for toothpaste. Read the full story: Metromedia Refuses To Air Captain Beefheart TV Commercial – Charges Album Title ‘Obcsene’Read More →

There’s an avenue where the silhouettes dance There’s an avenue where the silhouettes dance And the sun there shines down Day and night Nobody looks there Everybody knows there Good times grow there Come on, baby, let’s go there Where? Pompadour Swamp Fun never waits there It starts at the gate there Pompadour Swamp Don’t you be late there Just get there Pompadour Swamp Pompadour Swamp Wafer-thin shadows dance in nostalgic meadows Ya, dance there (repeat 3rd verse) There’s an avenue where the silhouettes dance There’s a lane there where they dance And the sun shines day and night there All you got to doRead More →

Phos’phrous chimney burnin’ Mortal man’s a’ learnin’ Time n’ space a’ turnin’ Motor’s n’ men a’ churnin’ fac’trys no place f’ me boss man, let me be Wind n’ waves a’ blowin’ Mountain ‘n sky a’ showin’ Bee n’ flower growin’ Boy n’ girl a’ glowin’ fac’trys no place f’ me boss man let me be Mind n’ sight a’ goin’ Muscle n’ bone a’ showin” One thing sure I’m knowin’ Get a fire goin’ fact’ry’s no place for me boss man let me be boss man let me be boss man leave me be (1967)   Checked with Herb Bermann’s original lyric sheet.Read More →

Human Bark ‘n Beautyless hide from beauty Bow your eyes ‘n heads to the duty of the dead’s Suck the ground Breathe life into the dead dinosaurs Let the past demons rear up their heads ‘n belch fire into the air of now The rug’s wearing out that we walk on Soon it will fray ‘n we’ll drop Dead into yesterday Must the breathing pay for those who breathe in ‘n don’t Breathe out There’d be no game, brother, if no one would play As for your games count me in all that can see, Breathe in ‘n out hungry today ‘n eat hearty tomorrow OrRead More →

Pena Her litle head clinking Like a barrel of red velvet balls Full past noise Treats filled her eyes Turning them yellow like enamel coated tacks Soft like butter hard not to pour Out enjoying the sun while sitting on a turned on waffle iron Smoke billowing up from between her legs Made me vomit beautifully And crush a chandelier Fall on my stomach ‘n view her From a thousand happened facets Liquid red salt ran over crystals I later band-aided the area Sighed Oh well it was worth it Pena pleased but sore from sitting Choose to stub her toe ‘n view the whiteRead More →

The past sure is tense they’re heading up for the main event all those people seem to be hell-bent see those people up on top of the fence and the man down there selling knotholes through the fence the little shoe generation man I found your print on a dollar bill I founf your print on an Indian mound I found your print on the statue at the sound I found your print on the elephant ground I found your print in the beautiful mountains the grass no longer grew around I found your print in my mind – the past sure is tense theRead More →