1.
The Prophet Bum # 3
2. A Prophet's Epigram
3. Someone Out There For Me
4.
Rembrandt's Tomb
5. A Million Lovers
6. Motivation Situation # 2
7. Fired
8.
Good Days
9. Lovely Ladies
10. Drunken Behavior
11. The Thought On A
Carousel
12. A Girl From Riverside, A Boy From L.A.
PROPHET BUM # 3
One evening I sat alone on University and 55th
I was reading a Russian
novel about Fyodor Pavlovitch
I was smoking my pipe, reading my book, getting
ready for the campus walk
When I saw a man
Drunk and spouting off
Down by Jack in the Box
He said, "Gentlemen I know that you're reward
in heaven will be great
Don't forget your circumstance is twisting in the
swirling winds of fate"
We all need prophets, son
They don't hurt
anyone
But the words don't mean the same thing when you're old as when you're
young He said, "You admire tired wisdom of the former centuries
You've
had a lot of schoolin' and advanced degrees
But have you traveled the world…have
you seen the Pyrenees?"
I said, "I can't claim to know why Eureka left
She rose in the East but she fell for the West
I'm late for class, I've got
to keep up my G.P.A" He said, "Gentlemen, I know that your reward in heaven
will be great
Don't forget your circumstance is twisting in the swirling winds
of fate" We all need prophets, son
They don't hurt anyone
They might
die in an unmarked grave
But know that the battle ends before it's won
He said he saw the glimmer of the Northern Lights
In a pub in Denmark on an
icy night
Then his eyes got glassy and his eyes got very bright
He said,
"Whatever I've got, I know I've got tonight" "Well, I never want to see the
sun
Dripping though the shade
And I never want to admit the past is dead
And I never want to hear what you think I should do with my life" He
said, "Gentlemen I know that we prefer to think that our reward is gonna be great
When you move to the house on the hill
It could still slip down into the bay
How do you think you could survive
When all you have
Has gone and died?"
I know the truths you heard
They were uttered word by word
The old
man's world ain't the same
But you've got to struggle with the game
In
the face of the realism
To maintain your idealism
After you've lost your
innocence
You had when you were young We all need prophet's son
We
all have our favorite one
I don't want to discourage you
I'm sorry the
world don't encourage you
As long as you're alive
You have those prophet's
words
You can follow each word you heard
And try to complete
What
they've begun A PROPHET'S EPIGRAM An old prophet's words
Aren't
the same as those
From one who's young SOMEONE OUT THERE FOR ME
It's warm outside
It's January
The phone is on the table
I'm on the
couch
Waiting for your call
Pondering what you meant
And if I ever
wanted you at all
I just hope that you don't feel
Like I wasted much time
thinkin' about you
I feel sick, it's true
Maybe I wasn't the kind of lover
you wanted
But I can't change
And I know There is someone out there
for me
There is someone out there for me
To want the world to love you
Is so unrealistic
You doubt each word
Songs lose meaning
Photos seem
empty
And it's just me
Alone and bored There is someone out there
for me
There is someone out there for me REMBRANDT'S TOMB I
left my home in Seattle
I waged a new battle
I decided it was more about
artifice than art
They snapped photos in the café
Of me by the stained
fireplace
And the kids looked at my brain like it was smart
I looked beyond
the interviewer's head
His words coated my mind with dread
And I jumped
up from my seat and ran from the room
But I thought of a painting from the
17th century
And my doctorate in philosophy
And I howled for revelation
of Rembrandt's Tomb
There were woven baskets that were worn
The shrill
falsetto in the storm
And the stale beer from the prior evening's jaunt
I
look at the cranberry wall
And the painting of the belle at the ball
And
I started looking for a new city to haunt
The rock star sat on the red chair
His long, flowing hair
And his out of tune guitar mesmerized the room
I watched from the wings with glee
Felt the throng's palpable energy
And
ensured a spot right there in Rembrandt's Tomb A MILLION LOVERS
Two torn tickets and a whiskey disguise
The bright pavement blinds your eyes
Had a million lovers, I was king
Played a million lovers on one string
The music I make is a quick fix
For the girl with the facial ticks
Better
love, better love 'em up fast
'cause you know the good ones don't last
MOTIVATION SITUATION # 2 Punch drunk on the tragedies that he prays
he can forestall
Everyone has situations in this season of elation
Love
the one you're with and call them the one He was an Olympian lover with an
inexact debt to pay
He goes out every night, he pisses away each day
But
if the pain and the pride make you feel OK
This is the first day in the days
of all the ardor coup,
Time marches on and on and on and on away I had
a dream that I found it a long time ago
Ream after ream, the book gets written,
as you're smitten
By the appearance of each thing that you can never know
I had a dream, woke up a long time ago
Ream after ream, I every day I
write the book
With the story that's written in your soul FIRED
You loved every minute
Till they went and fired you
They thanked you for
your time
But they wouldn't rehire you
So you look at all the pictures
You try to make some sense
Of these happy-hours and picnics
That you have
experienced You say, goodbye
I've been fired
Goodbye,
I've been
fired Oh, well, today's another day
Just like any other day
You were
trying to sleep
But work got in the way You say, goodbye
I've been
fired
Goodbye,
I've been fired GOOD DAYS STILL COME Today
I felt smart and moved at a rapid clip
I felt like I was rockin' and this
was part of it
The lunches, the dinners, the studio
The dances with la
dames dans la barrio I felt a renewed sense of faith in humankind
And
there are no drugs that have done this to my mind
Feeling so imbued with a
kind of resolve
To act with poise and push myself to evolve LOVELY
LADIES Oh, it's all about them lovely ladies
Fall in love each night,
go love crazy
Ramona, today, was ever so gay
In the wide world, the white
bone
Ramona, today you went away
And no longer can we play
So I must
say, I feel a bit of dismay
But that's not all that much
That's not all
that much
I won't miss you much
Even though for a second things were OK
DRUNKEN BEHAVIOR So I got trashed on Saturday night
Tried to
make myself feel all right
Live fast, die young; make sure you look good
Eat the right foods like a fit person would So I had a long island ice tea
around 3pm
I was teetering and tottering and stammering then
I had some
wine, then some beer, then some more wine
At the engagement party I was still
feeling fine But then we went to the bar to hob-nob
And I felt drunk and
like a wastrel and a bit of a slob
I crashed some party in the VIP room
I smoked cigarettes and talked about impending gloom I think I hit on somebody's
wife
I felt kind of sad, because it's a tough time in life
I talked to
some guy who said his house was worth 600 grand
I felt small in my pinstriped
suit with my martinis in hand Through drunken talks about death and fertility
About murder and date rape and human fragility
I whirled around and looked
at the bums
No pretty girl would entertain the idea of such scum But I
looked good, I think
Then I think I started some beef
At the after hours
party
On some dimly lit Seattle street I awoke in the morning with a Good
Samaritan's fate
Oh, hell, I can't seem to get any of it straight
Some
angel threw me in a cab while I was flailing my hands
Oh, aspiration is great,
it's great and it's grand Oh, I can't seem to think, I can't seem to stand
And all I ever wanted was to have a cool band
Man, I'm sorry for everyone
who I've offended
And I hope whatever animosity I created has now ended
Getting drunk like this makes me feel 16
I never thought I'd be able to be
so mean
All the drinking, all the smoking
All the sinking, all the choking
It's all bad, all bad and I regret it so much
I've lost my grip, I've
lost all touch
I'm tired and it's Monday and I feel alone
There's no appetite
to indulge, I just need to sleep at home So, I'll smoke a cigarette and have
a coffee
And feel good that I don't dwell in the sink of inequity
Because
we're alive even though we kill ourselves
We feel bad and worse and have fading
health I can't do this no more, can't do this no more
Can't do this no
more, my spirit is so poor
I no longer believe that it's good for my soul
To be a meaningless blip on the cosmic screen in Soho All the art galleries,
all the low salaries
Oh, it means nothing to me anymore
I'm ready to leave,
to run out that fuckin' doo
r And get the hell away from what I always was
looking for THE THOUGHT ON A CAROUSEL Ramona was insecure, I could
tell right away
But I did not think much of her at all
Now, she seems
to reappear, she seems quite sprightly
I was not aware that she was so tall
A painting revolved, I did not care
I thought little of her choice to
be standing there
With a bracelet and an IPOD and long blonde hair
The
vacant portals of a far-off stare But artists are always flakey, you can count
on that
You can count not on a gamble, but a guarantee that they'll chat
And chat and chat, then go away
And perhaps use their art on another day
Ferris wheels turn, ideas get burned
I make my way into the hall, all alone
I collect old pictures and pictures of artists
Artists who want to just go
home We all think we are unique
We all want to shine on in time
To
make a moment ours
To call a piece of artwork, "Mine!" And we don't know
what to make of acquaintance
No, we don't know what to make
Nothing has
value till it's taken away
Nothing has value till it's taken away So,
goodbye, I've meditated on our three weeks
For quite a while, it's kept me
from sleep
It's kept me from being able to work and keep
My ideals above
my bed, now they are all in my head Beyond the vacant office cave
Standing
on a hill with a lusterless knave
We paint our pictures; we fall asleep at
the wheel
We open our books, we slip on banana peels I would have liked
to talk more about your art
Surely, you must know that I'm smart
Surely,
you must know that I'm a genius
Surely, it must radiate with some kind of
madness Oh, these dreams are full and these times are rough
And I just
can't fathom that I wasn't enough
But until you admit that I am insanely great
You will rattle in my brain and make my job tough A GIRL FROM RIVERSIDE,
A BOY FROM L.A. 3pm
Just finished work
Had school all day and
I'm tired
She picks me up
In her Toyota
We hit the rush hour
I
feel Wired We drive to the Hills
From down in Venice
My parents won't
be home till 6
I always wondered
What it would be like
She doesn't
know I'm inexperienced She wears black
She rubs my back
And I can
see
That I don't really know
What the hell I'm doing here She's from
Riverside
And I'm from L.A.
Don't know why
But I don't feel innocent
She's from Riverside
And I'm from L.A. We both get dressed
Around
5pm
She looks at the Kiss poster on the wall
I can't describe
What
I'm about
I hoped The Bruce Lee poster would explain it all
It's just
June
You're going to Nebraska
And I'll be headed to Seattle soon
I
don't think we'll know each other for long She's from Riverside
And I'm
from L.A.
Don't know why
But I don't feel innocent
She's from Riverside
And I'm from L.A. A few weeks past
I guessed that she was older
She
dropped me off
She cried a bunch
And I told her
We're not right
You're not my type
But I'm glad I knew you Ten years gone
I get the
feeling
That it was just a dalliance
Two people love
Then fall apart
There's nothing romantic about coincidence She's from Riverside
And I'm
from L.A.
Don't know why
But I don't feel innocent
She's from Riverside
And I'm from L.A. | 
