Why, not even a rustler’d have anything to do with this branded bum steer world this pirate flag headlong disaster course vessel misguided charted this nautical numbskull hull sink in silence smoke – blow your chest out in hope sits spread-eagle on poor men piled high on truth mountain – last link in clarity’s chain you’ll not be thrown but dive and sink your pockets filled with earthly burdens when they could be filled with light and back with wings the sky is dark in daytime and still the blackbird’s beauty lyrics clean sing ye brothers and end this miserable thing and brush the darkRead More →

Strawwood claw rattlin’ m’ jaw I can’t call it usin’ It’s just sumptin’ soothin’ Feather times uh feather Mornin’ time t’ thaw Hobo chang ba Hobo chang ba Standin’ still is losin’ Feather times a feather Mornin’ time t’ thaw Strawwood claw rattlin’ m’ jaw Hobo chang ba Hobo chang ba Hobo chang ba ‘o Hobo chang ba ‘o Stand t’ gain m’ ground Lay t’ rest the law The ocean is m’ mother ‘n the freight train is m’ paw Hobo chang ba Hobo chang ba ‘o Hobo chang ba The rails I ride ‘r rustin’ The new sunrise m’ trustin’ The rails IRead More →

Hey Garland I Dig Your Tweed Coat as imagined by OpenAI

Hey Garland, I dig your tweed coat. I’ll trade you a domino this size, mothball-scented. The woman silk nude tie painting his chest. One celluloid stay exposed through his nibbled collar. Feet speckled the sidewalk. Faces gurgled through windows. Passing cars gum rubber streaks. Neon plants swim like green seaweed to a deep rhythm of blues. Red thyroid sunsets, flame in speckled chemistry. Pipes run off dark tubes. Erase into marks that pour the dye of darkness. Crystal comes together as silent as ink. “I don’t think I could let it go. I got it at the religious scene” Teeth let go, tobacco juice, anRead More →

I look at her and she looks at me In her eyes I see the sea I can’t see what she sees in a man like me She says she loves me Her eyes Her eyes Her eyes are a blue million miles Far as I can see She loves me Her eyes Her eyes Her eyes are a blue million miles Far as I can see She loves me I look at her and she looks at me In her eyes I see the sea I can’t see what she sees in a man like me She says she loves me Her eyes HerRead More →

Well you came and now you’re gone But our life it will go on I moss you so but only for your return Please come back to me tomorrow To ease this pain and sorrow please try to understand My heart is in your hand baby please don’t take our love in vain (repeat) Well here I am I always am And with you my love it will remain please try to understand Yeah my heart is in your hand Please don’t take my love in vain Well my nights are filled with sorrow For me there is no tomorrow I’d beg or I’d stealRead More →

Harry Irene were a couple that lived in the green Harry Irene were a couple that ran a canteen Ran a canteen Ran a canteen Two people Harry and Irene like you never seen The floor was made of oak, the door was smokey gray Their tuna sandwiches would turn the dark into day They sold wine like turpentine to painters They took to social life like props to aviators Harry Irene were a couple that ran a canteen Harry Irene were a couple that lived in the green Ran a canteen Ran a canteen took Harry for all of his green and Irene HarryRead More →

I got up this morning And I put on my shoes I tied my shoes Then I washed my face I went to the mirror For to comb my head I made a move Didn’t know what to do I tipped way forward Got to break and run Baby, this ain’t me Baby, this ain’t me Got so ugly I don’t even know myself I left Angola 1964 Go walking down my street Knock on my baby’s door My baby come out She asks me who I am And I say, honey, Don’t you know your man? She said my man’s been gone Since 1942Read More →

Those little golden birdies look at them And the mystic Egypt tossle dangling down Old sleeper-man shish, don’t wake him Up one hand broom star was an obi-man revered throughout the bone-knob land His magic black purse slit creeped open, Let go flocks of them Shish sookie singabus Snored like a red merry-go-round horse And an acid gold bar swirled up and down, Up and down, in back of the singabus And the panataloon duck white goose neck quacked webcor, webcor (1972) Originally made available at Justin Sherill’s Home Page Replica.Read More →

Into the sun in my glider There’s a shadow beside her Up ‘n’ down through the blues Clouds give me my silent cues I’m up in my glider With a shadow beside her It begins to rain on her window pain Up in my glider There’s no shadow beside her Thundering ‘n’ lightning Gettin’ pretty frightenin’ I feel like an outsider Then the sun shows through ‘n’ right on cue There’s a shadow beside her Up ‘n’ down through the blues I’m up in my glider ‘N’ I’m telling you boys there ain’t no noise ‘N’ me and my baby ain’t never gonna bring myRead More →

Gimme that harp boy Ain’t no fat man’s toy You hear what he is saying You hear he’s saying today Harp cry harp smiling Shiny moon white note Give me room Ain’t no time to Rock no boat gimme room Harp sing time and playin ohm…. (Cocle-doodle-doo) Gimme harp this harp harp this harp bite Harp this harp kiss harp money Gimme that harp boy don’t just stand around Gon’ blow pure joy -girl you wear this crown Gimme that harp boy gimme that harp girl Gimme that harp girl gimme that harp boy Harp string harp ring Harp toke harp smoke Harp float harpRead More →

You know how it feels When you’re layin flat on your back And they’re puttin’ flowers (up) on ya Down on Funeral Hill That’s where there ain’t no Boss Man Cuz you finally paid your bills Nobody there’s gonna scrape at your behind Cause if they do you know they’re haunted and workin’ overtime You don’t have break for the rooster, spill your blood in the sun Hide from the moon until the villain comes You swear with the sky there ain’t no mad man gonna spat in your eye.. up there Ain’t no pretty woman gonna shoot up your feet And ask you toRead More →

Don’t think big man I can’t think little Won’t let that end catch me up in the middle My whole life’s been the toss of a dice Done another girl gone out of my life Out of the frying pan into the fire Anything you say they ‘s gonna call you lair Go downtown I walk around The man comes up says he’s gonna put me down You try to succeed to fulfil your need You get hit by a car the people watch you bleed Out of the frying pan into the fire Anything you say they’s gonna call you liar Watch what youRead More →

My smile is stuck I cannot go back to your Frownland My spirit’s made up of the ocean And the sky ‘n’ the sun ‘n’ the moon ‘n’ all my eyes can see I cannot go back to your land of gloom Where black jagged shadows Remind me of the coming of your doom I want my own land Take my hand and come with me It’s not too late for you It’s not too late for me To find my homeland Where a man can stand by another man Without an ego flying With no man lying ‘n’ no one dying by an earthlyRead More →

The floppy boot stomped down into the ground The farmer screamed ‘n blew the sky off the mountains Eye sockets looked down on the chestbone mountains ‘n the sun dropped down, ‘n the moon ran off, His heels ‘n elbows pale as chalk ‘n all the comets collided ‘n blew t’ dust For fear they’d be seen. ‘n the sky turned white in the middle of the night ‘n the sky turned white in the middle of the night ‘n the big floppy boot stomped down into the ground ‘n the red violin took the bow to do the hoodoo hoe-down ‘n the red violinRead More →

You jumped when the air hit your eyes You wanted t’ go back but there wadn’t none Now you been going back for so long That you think there is one It makes me laugh to hear you say how far you’ve come When you barely know how to use your thumb So you know how t’ count t’ one You messed in the sky picked a banana an’ threw it At the sun You saw a flash in the water now there ain’t one You brought back somethin’ that wasn’t there You brought back somethin’ that wasn’t fair Pull back the adhesive tape You’reRead More →

When I get lonesome the wind begin t’ moan When I trip fallin’ ditch Somebody wanna’ throw the dirt right down When I feel like dyin’ the sun come out ‘n stole m’ fear ‘n gone Who’s afraid of the spirit with the bluesferbones Who’s afraid of the fallin’ ditch Fallin’ ditch ain’t gonna get my bones How’s that for the spirit How’s that for the things Ain’t my fault the thing’s gone wrong ‘n when I’m smilin’ my face wrinkles up real warm ‘n when um frownin’ things just turn t’ stone Fallin’ ditch ain’t gonna get my bones ‘n when I get lonesomeRead More →

Ella Guru as imagined by OpenAI

Now here she comes walkin’ Lookin’ like uh zoo Hello Moon Hello Moon Hi Ella high Ella Guru She know all the colors that nature do High Ella high Ella Guru High yella high red high blue she blew High Ella high Ella Guru She do what she mean ‘n she do what she do Got sumptin’ fo’ me sumptin’ fo’ you She sho’ sumptin’ She’s young too Ella Guru Ella Guru Ella Guru Ella Guru Ha ha right right Just dig it That’s right “The Mascara Snake” Fast ‘n bulbous Tight also Ella Guru Ella Guru Ella Guru Ella Guru Ella Guru (1969) OriginallyRead More →

Singin through you to me Thunder-bolts caught easily Shouts the truth peacefully E-LEC-TRI-CITY High-voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need t’ hide their shadow deed Go into bright, find the light and know that friends don’t mind just how you grow Bearded cowboy stains in black and reads dark roads without a map seeking: electricity, E-LEC-TRI-CITY Light-house beacon straight ahead, straight ahead across blank seas to free seeking: electricity, E-LEC-TRI-CITY High-voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need t’ hide their shadow-deed hide their shadow-deed (repeat) Seek electricity……….. (1967)   Checked with Herb Bermann’s original lyric sheetRead More →

My eyes are burnt and bleeding and all that looks like a monkey on a silver bar … big poop hatch with a cotton hatch – hatch holes that the light shows in and the light shows out … and the little red fence … and the wire and the wood … and the barbs and the berries … and the tires and the bottles and the car up on rims … and the heat swims on its fenders and the dust collects and the rust of autumn surrenders into gold … trumpet poop on the ground with peanuts its bell was blocking an ant’sRead More →

There’s ole Gray with ‘er dove-winged hat Threre’s ole Green with her sewing machine Where’s the bobbin at? Tote’n old grain in uh printed sack The dust blows forward ‘n dust blows back And the wind blows black thru the sky And the smokestack blows up in suns eye What am I gonna die? Uh white flake riverboat just flew by Bubbles popped big ‘n uh lipstick Kleenex hung on uh pointed forked twig Reminds of the bobby girls Never was my hobby girls Hand full uh worms and uh pole fishin’ Cork bobbin’ like uh hot red bulb ‘n uh blue jay squeaks HisRead More →