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VIIb

by Sean McMahon

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1.
You've gotta be crazy just to be 03:49
lyrics
There's a black dog sittin' in the yard He's been sittin' there thinking about the bards Them music men that're rottin' in the ground Thinking their immortal 'cause of some sound Why should I care? The history of the world is just a dare God's little board/bored game No one makes a difference today And all their daughters are buying curling irons Their lives are run by liars Lost, we're lost again Like a bunch of babies cryin' in our pens -- -- All about nothing Try to find a man you can call a King You'll be the first to see You've gotta be crazy just to be Do you believe in signs? Does it even matter if you have a mind to make? Time's been ticking inside all the clocks But I've a sneaking suspicion that its position's been lost Going nowhere Plenty of us have got some friends from there I'll take you there It ain't that long a drive but it's hard to bear Yea, you've gotta be crazy just to be This crazy world has been affecting me And if I were you I'd be watching out for myself 'Cause if you turn your back too long, you come back to hell Crazy, crazy Just wait 'til you've seen the things I've seen Crazy, crazy And when you die you still don't know what it means What it means. What does it mean?
2.
The story goes 05:58
lyrics
Drove the country Saw the country Watch the years pass me by With the rolling hills Saw my fathers Missed my mother Cried into the sky "Is there anyone here at all?" Saw some visions Made decisions America, you are the brave But you're not always right. AND SO IT IS, MY FRIEND THE STORY GOES SHE TELLS TWO FRIENDS BUT SHE NEVER KNOWS Ran a stop sign Left the fine behind Crossed international borders And kissed the pigs in the sky Starved for freedom Made some money Watched the world at our feet Weeping for war Drove the country Saw the country And all in a blaze of light The shadows fells AND SO IT IS, MY FRIEND THE STORY GOES SHE TELLS TWO FRIENDS BUT SHE NEVER KNOWS We built the new levees But you burned down the townships With your hands hot on your hips You scolded the world You made us believe you And you took who we gave you But you'll never have our voice Because our voice is strong Watched the sunrise Fifty colors Bleeding all around Into the land AND SO IT IS, MY FRIEND THE STORY GOES SHE TELLS TWO FRIENDS BUT SHE NEVER KNOWS Met faeries in taverns Saw blood in the playgrounds Asked for all the answers, them all But never was replied Saw dust in the moonlight Saw hair in the rubble Said, "Man I haven't seen anything like this Since the death of Uncle Sam!" Coughed in the alleys Asked for some money Pissed on the newspaper's name And shat on the palace floor AND SO IT IS, MY FRIEND THE STORY GOES SHE TELLS TWO FRIENDS BUT THEY NEVER KNOW AND SO IT IS, MY FRIEND THE STORY GOES SHE TELLS TWO FRIENDS BUT THEY'LL NEVER KNOW
3.
The Masquerade Blues 03:28
lyrics
Peddlin beta-kerotine huffin pink gasoline This is my generation, generation in-between Kings, queens, Captain J, Nazarene Bought and sold cold by some soggy-bottomed assholes Yea we can and we will cause we didn't when we could 'cause the world has a way of out-maneuvering our plays But we'll push, we'll shove, place ourselves above Our species, our feces, we will proclaim the power of "LOVE" Yes, we'll never wear our underwear, never chop off our hair Raise our fingers in the air, we got at least two to spare Embrace distaste for racism, nepotism, This-ism, that-ism, apocalyptic cataclysm (uh) Well we know what we mean when sing it in the street And we brought it a back-beat so you can wiggle and scream So go home, procreate, we hope that you will partake of the wisdom that the kingdom is a-livin' in your eardrum There is simply no more to say on the subject We've got our tired, our poor, our masses to protect And if you don't express your care, your concern to unlearn yearz and yearz of fake fearz that izn't real Then you are lost, my friend, the cost of which depends on the impact of your indifference on the world in the present tense Think twice next time how you spend your next dime Your actions got reactions that grow faster than you ask them (Your heart is a star in a sea that stretches far so every time you fuck up, you tear it a new scar) Well the masquerade is every day, little kids live afraid Politicians preach "Teach safe sex kills aids!" But underneath the table they are still hung and able so their kid aides, as such, touch their nuts without a fuss And on tv they make a scene next to short stories: drag queens, drug fiends, death clubs, sex clubs, pornuh, blowjobs, yoga QVC, "want me? buy me, have me fuck me? fuck you! watch him fuck her after these a-messages a moment please." a-mesmerize a-hypnotize a-square-shaped blind closed eyes. This world is wild and on the tiles The time has come to cut re-runs Our hands shall not be tied no more Our demands must make it to the fore Our demands, yours and mine: "FREEDOM AND GOOD WILL TO ALL MANKIND" The masquerade blues.
4.
Last bite from the apple 05:46
lyrics
This is about a boy who took his last bite from the apple As he lost his last key to the castle A very long time ago Yea, he gave up his brain to the crazies of the kingdom Lost his organs to the interplanetary machine gun Got sucked into a black hole. The UFO materialized and identified itself As number 0234869-6635 And that is why the boy knew he was still alive The lifeforms froze his soul in a machine and kept his body clean While they watched the earth and took notes and took tokes from the same well of sensation That we all have been drunk from before. (And the sun in a pupil of the eye of the storm and the storm is the nephew of the son of the Word) This is about a boy who took his last bite from the apple Came upon a parable in outer space And brought it back to teach a few souls who got lost in place Ah, space is the wood in the yard, music the grain The tune is the song of the sacred and the profane Its rhythm is the syllables in your name Ah, thanks to UFO's and spaceships, and cosmological facelifts We're spewing out the message of the stars as it is so far: So far as eyes see and ears hear we are here merely to be here. (And the sun in a pupil of the eye of the storm and the storm is the nephew of the son of the Word -- And the world is the witness to the song of the spheres and the spheres are the dreams that we dream while we're here)
5.
There is no elect 02:43
lyrics
There is no elect Crying streets Everyone kneeling Bent over looking up Falling down Patience grows thin Hairlines recede Ghosts evaporate into a child's mouths There is no elect Superstition Prophecies neon-glowing This one's going, going, going, gone Growing up, overflowing The sea will crash into the math Our wisdom will be turned upside down There is no elect There is no elect There is no disconnect This bloodline tracing Is bastardizing Our natural union We are an ocean A single nation There is no elect
6.
The earth is a man 03:35
lyrics
The earth is a man Though he can't quite feel it And the world is a girl Though she does not know it For the fog in the mirror made of glass made the seer see Sights not quite bright enough for the seeing Being is strange. And so is the way We say "yes" or "no" to and fro back and forth, out of control Rinse, repeat: the cycle seems a little bit comparable. Sages have said That the ages have bred A monster of the mind a-walking, talking too much for want of Effortless paradise, paradise without a price Be yourself, and I'll be mine. We are running out of time. The wind has a tongue And it speaks its mind. And the storms are a word And we should hear it The songs that we know ain't quite so impossible All the well-wishers wishing that the paradigm were shifting Fishing for philosophers and/or a new world order Waiting for the day that we may march a new parade -- Come what may, Whatever they say, Be yourself, and I'll be mine. We are running out of time. The earth is a man And the world is a girl One day, they will know.
7.
Girl, pay me no attention 05:52
lyrics
Girl, pay me no attention 'Cause my soul's suffering misdirection And all my failings need no mention Girl, my heart needs redemption. O I've been writing love stories all day And if you want romance, if you want glory, don't stay I'm always writing about the men who live with scars And all the ladies who left 'em to go be stars. O I swear I'm gonna make a movie one day About the kind of love story that just burns out, then fades The kind where a woman can't live with the man she loves 'Cause the man himself, he's too drunk to even know what he does to her. You can call me jaded, even bitter -- it's all right. A man just gets a little tired of waiting at night You coming home, apologizing, crawling back into bed Well the clockface been watching, and he's not so easily Misled. I suppose my stories are just fictions that I write and in my head, my jealous head, false depictions of my life Talk to me when I'm not so far out of my mind My heart will start beating again it's just a matter of time. Girl, pay me no attention 'Cause my soul's suffering misdirection And all my failings need no mention Girl, my heart needs redemption. I'll just take it easy, my lover hold on tight I know it's not what we thought but baby, maybe it's right I am a first-rate, half-baked, genuine waste of time But ask again tomorrow and I'll probably just say that I'm fine. Do you mind? I will take you through the undo-we-will-just-have-to Make-do-with-our-time Stick with me woman, I'm a slow learner, but maybe I could turn out alright Maybe I'll be up, be down in a minute, in the blink of an eye But a feeling is a feeling and a decision is a decision and Love makes you cry. Girl, pay me no attention 'Cause my soul's suffering misdirection And all my failings need no mention Girl, my heart needs redemption.
8.
The ballad of Mighty Jim and his Mother 06:46
lyrics
Mighty Jim was stubborn and needless of a lover So he put into his head an idea that was made of lead And the neighbors heard a BANG as he sang his song of love But they knew not what kind of love he was singing of. And his mother cried completely when she came into the kitchen She crawled to his hand, and she kissed her one son's hand And she hollered out to God, "Is he with you in your land? Are you satisfied with taking all that I had?" The children of the neighborhood were dazed and bereaved They watched as they led the mother of their friend Away, but then she turned to them to say, "Dear children, play, I swear, by God, one day I'll be okay." And they sang to their mother And they gave her flowers And they kissed their father And all their sisters and their brothers And they came into a circle To perform a miracle They danced in the memory of their friend. Mighty Jim, he saw from heaven all that they had done And he tapped upon God's shoulder, whispered "Let me see my mother." And he picked up a pair of wings so he could fly on down And he descended saintly back towards his town. His mother knew him quickly and she threw her arms around Jim said, "Don't be worried. We are all just short stories." And he looked her in the eye, and he said, "Mother, can't you see? You're breathing and you love, that's all you need." And he sang to his mother And he gave her flowers And he kissed his father And all his sisters and their brothers And they came into a circle To proclaim the miracle They danced in the memory of their kin. Mm. The mother found the children and she took them in her arms And she blessed them all from harm and that their lives be well and long But they took her by the hand, and they said, "Mother, you can stand We are only meant to live as long and as well as we can, I hope you understand, I hope that you can." And they sang to their mother And they gave her flowers And they kissed their father And all their sisters and their brothers And they came into a circle To celebrate the miracle They danced to the music in their skin. The mother, she wept quietly, and she lifted up her eyes And her heart felt lighter, the skies a bite brighter And she turned to the children to say, "Children, play. It's a beautiful day. Everything's okay, Everything's okay, Everything in every single way." And she sang to her children And she gave them flowers And she kissed her lover And all her sisters and her brothers And they came into a circle To proclaim the miracle They danced to the music That always had been.
9.
O, my Lord 04:36
lyrics
i know i have shadows in my head i know, i know, i'll wake the dead how has is been in the boo-hoo scene? is everyone there still seventeen? i know they got shadows in their heads, cause all of them dreaming about being dead. o, my lord. i have shadows i'm darkness's newly-wed i have a feeling all is well deep inside, but i can't tell i know there are shadows in my head i know, i know, i'll wake the dead o, my lord yes, the lord will keep me warm from here from deep inside the fire that tore the tear 'cause if tears aren't bad then prayer's good it's always nicer to feel understood. what's with the shadows in my head what are they, and why are they there? what's it feel like to see the light, and will it ever fill my life? o, my lord.

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released June 1, 2006

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Sean McMahon Massachusetts

singer-songwriter and minister from martha's vineyard

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