umbrella wars

so you're not much for conversation
well I'm not a conversationalist
exchanging gifts
still wrapped up in paperwork
like true working stiffs who'll never admit
that the sidewalks are not fit for walking
under skirts, bumping oversized heads
watch the messengers all dressed like Devo
they're getting sloppy again

I've got a craving for a magazine subscription
I've got a thirst for the solace of print
if we were indoors, you'd have the bad luck
I'd be rubbing it in instead of soaking in it

but I will not fight in your umbrella wars
I won't complain about dry skin
and when the bottom falls on every floor
I'll hold the towel that you've thrown in

I will not fight in your umbrella wars
I won't tone up in crowded gyms
found strength in lousy weather metaphors
martinis and sarcasm

Joe John Ed Annie
hate this picture

a seat beneath the chairs

hovercrafts and thoughtlines under
golden bowls of hair
wrestle with attention for a
seat beneath the chairs
confusing every handshake with a fist
an iron lung and a sensational lisp

second guessing spelling tests
a crowded chest of drawers
going fish with get-well cardsharks
until the worms got bored
meditate for instant winner peace
plagiarized a deadline amnesty

back in the day when life was
black and white and red
the surgeon general stamped a
warning on my head
don't stare directly at this
wide smokescreen tv
you know you shouldn't take yourself
so seriously

sleep comes to this concrete bunker
a dream of soundproof walls
forests filled with paper products
a bathroom down the hall
the ceiling rains a laxative iced tea
on sugarless chewing gum cavities

scratched off the menthol rash
of adolescent love
the confidential wastebaskets
been filling up
vulgar and crass, no class
a stand-up tragedy
you know you're not supposed to
take me seriously

Available on Merge

words: spent           photos: zverina

Songs of Drinking and Rebellion

  A Seat Beneath the Chairs
The way Annnie holds that note in Good Luck Line is reason enough to buy this album. I listen to it wearing headphones.