Lyrics from Such Helpful Little Birds

by W.C. Mericle

Helpful Birds

The smiling blackbird, flies up to my sill

And with a sweet song, leads me to his little pills

And now I’m falling

I thought I could fly

The tiny bird’s singing

Spreading his big lies, about me

And when I landed, you won’t believe what I thought I heard

A dark brown bottle, gently poured by a yellow bird

Her glass of gold

Burns me inside

I drink her deeply

Afraid I might survive this night without you

Fly me home

Please fly me home

Fly fly fly, fly me home

I know I’ve fallen, fallen up into the trees

I’ve dug down into darkness and other places no one should see

But my eyes are opening

So don’t close on me now

I’m gonna fix what’s broken

I got a blue bird to show me how — he’s blue but he’s not sad

Fly me home

Please fly me home

Fly fly fly, fly me home

A Piece of Gum

A piece of gum

A bowl of fruit

In the corner of the screen a fly hopes to escape

Nail holes

Peeling paint

A bicycle to keep from gaining weight

A single sock

A chewed up shoe

And crumpled up lists of stuff I’m still supposed to do

These are the things I think about to avoid the things I can’t forget

Little things that hide my pains of loneliness and boredom and regret

English tea

A cracked old dish

And a box of expired frozen fish

A ticking clock

A cuckoo bird

And floating there my accidental words

In dusty nooks

Your icy looks

Lean against rows of never-read books

These are the things I think about to avoid the things I can’t forget

Little things that hide my pains of loneliness and boredom and regret

Cinnamon

And turpentine

And all the other little bottles you left behind

A strand of hair

It’s like she’s there

One more whisper of sweet perfume to spray

Then like a cloud

A paisley shroud

She lingers here then slowly goes away

These are the things I think about to avoid the things I can’t forget

Little things that hide my pains of loneliness and boredom and regret

In Her Sky

She said, “No, you can’t fly.”

He said, “Oh, then tell me why?

I’m so high in your sky?”

“I don’t knoW. But this can’t be.

Perhaps you’ve heard of gravity?”

She knelt down. Tears hit the ground.

While up above, his poor heart pounds

So high in her sky

She went in just as the wind

Filled his wings, lifting him

She found his bed where he lay dead

Shook his bones and shook her head

Goodbye, goodbye

Now every night up in her stars

She finds his eyes with binoculars

So high in her sky

I Want to Believe

We’re marching on a mission, past dogwoods through red clay

It can pull a shoe off leaving muddy, bloody stains

He’s got a crooked sun hat and pants too loose stay

Just walking skin and bones — suspendered into place

Finding sunshine, and wishing I could pray

This all away

And I want to believe I want to believe I want to believe

I want to believe I want to believe I want to believe

It’s getting dark, birds hammer into bark hard as bone

The still water’s broken by the splash of his skipping stone

“See the cabin over there, that’s where your grandpa grew”

In the sweetness of the air I wonder if he’s reaching down to you?

Tired green eyes, sad as they’ve ever been

Are asking...

And I want to believe I want to believe I want to believe

I want to believe I want to believe I want to believe

So quietly

He’s leaving me

After all these years I can feel your heartbeat now

Everywhere I go, don’t ask me how

Or maybe it’s just that lonely hammering bird?

Do you hear what I heard?

I want to believe I want to believe I want to believe

Rainbow in Fire

I saw a rainbow in a fire

I didn’t even think that was possible

Colored strands, flaming wires

And I still dream of you

I still dream

Saw sky in a basement room

Didn’t even think that was possible

In cold shadows flowers bloom

And I still dream of you

So late at night I dream

I sleep but my heart’s awake

Kept up with string and tape

Drumming while the king invades

And fades

Round and round in sound I drown

But I still dream of you

I still dream

When you wake, if I’m not there,

I’m still there — I’m everywhere

When you wake, if I’m not there,

I’m still there - I’m everywhere

Because I still dream of you

From the land of nod

I dream

It Was You

I found myself

On a damaged trail

Caught my skin

On a bent down nail

Saw crippled birds

Fall from the sky

Can’t catch them all

Can’t make them fly

So patched and pulled

I made it home

But shadows here

Say, I’m not alone

It was you

Yeah you

It was

It was you

Yeah you

It was

With dry bone eyes

And clawing dreams

My insides shaking

Like a wall of beads

She laid me down

With a borrowed brush

Can’t live without

Can’t get enough

Painted skin

Modigliani

Crawl on in

Re-complicate me

It was you

Yeah you

It was

It was you

Yeah you

It was

Now how’s it feel

To be lost again?

Another psychic

With a spoon to bend

Got a rabbit’s foot

On a silver chain

But it’s dyed green

And dead from shame

so I just pressed

On my own chest

And felt the one

Who knows me best

It was you

Yeah you

It was

It was you

Yeah you

It was

Crazy Glue

I put a drop of crazy glue

On the Haviland cup you threw

And before I knew

It fused my skin

I tried to light a cracking fire

To add some warmth to your lack of desire

But all this gasoline

Just burns me down again

I swept the dust from the living room

Used electric lights to make your flowers bloom

On my knees I washed the floors

And put a mat by our front door

I’m crazy for you

I built a frame for that photograph

The one that always makes you laugh

I even cut a piece of glass

It almost fits

Every day I start your car

Though I don’t know where you are

I even cleared a little space

Under the bed for your suitcase

I’m crazy for you

She’s a white cane in the darkness

She’s my tried and true

She’s dry matches in the jungle

She’s my crazy glue

And who’s gonna save me if not you?

Who’s gonna save me, if not you?

With trembling hands I hold my heart

pushed together where it ripped apart

I tried to find every missing piece

And when it stops I give a little squeeze

I used up all your crazy glue

Two skinny laces from your old shoes

But it just keeps falling apart

How’m I gonna fix up my beating heart?

I’m crazy for you

And who’s gonna save me if not you?

Who’s gonna save me, if not you?

Candles burn now on every sill

I’m on the steps all statue still

I’m gonna find the perfect words

And give you what I know you deserve

Yarn

She spread out some yarn and sat on a path

Took out her old needles to have a good laugh

She knitted some bones, skin and teeth

With muscles and tendons stitched underneath

She knitted some hair, a chin with some fuzz

Then changing colors — she knitted blood

She counted out fingers, tightened up eyes

And with a slip-stitch adds a look of surprise

Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha

It started to rain, and the moon went away

She finished the body as wind brought day

So she ties the thing off

And tries to stand

But her knees have locked

There’s pain in her hands

She stumbled and creaked, all bent in the cold

Dropped her old needles, and fell to the road

She rolled to her back, and clutching her chest

Watches her yarn rise and stretch

Now this is the moment, her thoughts start to fade

Into the body she made

You can still find her there, a stump in the grass

Where she sat down and had a good laugh

Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha

Animals for You

Like a paper cut

I’ve been opened up

And like a clown balloon

I’ve been twisted into

Animals for you

Into honey crawls the ant

He wants to move — but now he can’t

So you take him by the arms

And string him into good luck charms

Animals for you

You taught me how to speak and beg

And stand on one leg

Now you want me to

Take the collar for you

After missing all your tricks

I let you hook my lips

Now we drag along

Drag along

Drag into

Animals for you

Like a paper cut

I’ve been opened up

And like a clown balloon

I’ve been twisted into

Animals for you

Red Snow

After finally stopping my nosebleed

I felt my way back to the car

Leaving a red stain on a snow bank

That in my rearview looked just like your heart

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

Winding toward home I was wondering

If creatures would eat that red snow?

While dead country singers with thousand watt fingers

Fought mountains for my radio

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

And what started

As a good thing

Slowly spills away

And what seemed like

The right call

Was just my same mistake

At a rest stop I dialed our old number

And listened to it ring for a while

Then leaving it hang I drove as it rang

Six hundred forty-nine miles

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

I came home to a house freshly emptied

You’d packed up and gone like you said

So I sat by the phone ringing alone

And picked up the road in my bed

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

I still dream of my death scene on a snow bank

The first time I was left behind for dead

Lying in the road face down in the cold

Spilling your heart from my head

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

The Bath School Township Tragedy

Ink went flying across the room

Chalk went flying in a great big boom

Teacher went flying

Legs went flying

Blood went flying

Some of it’s mine!

I just can’t solve this mystery

Of the Bath School Township Tragedy

Did planets lose their gravity?

Did monsters rise up from the sea?

I wrote my homework neat and smooth

Sister fixed up all my spelling, too

So where do I

Hand it in?

Just what kind of

Place am I in?

The Bath School Township Tragedy

Just don’t make no sense to me

Did an earthquake jump up from the floor?

Or are there real dinosaurs?

The man in the vest with a two-row smile

Wanders by me every once in a while

He carries a clock

Sounds his horn

Says “Criminals are made

Not born!”

I just can’t solve this mystery

Of the Bath School Township Tragedy

Was something wrong with electricity?

Or is something just wrong with me?

When I turn eight I’m gonna ride in a plane

Or maybe dad’ll let me drive the train

These are things

That I want most

So how do I stop

Being a ghost?

This Bath School Township Tragedy

Just don’t make no sense to me

School bell’s ringing in a funny way

But somehow I’m so far away

Somehow I seem so far away

Yes somehow I seem so far away

Short Little Moments

Waking that morning we came to your cough

Taking your hand — I shook my sleep off

Dreaming ’bout love, thinking ’bout loss

Our fingers together — each of them crossed

Each one of them crossed

Mother sang a song for your ear

Father floated — high in the air

Faces forgotten came to you clear

A dove at the door — brings you His prayer

He brings you His prayer

I stood at your bedside counting each breath

A rising and falling — a short little rest

Short little moments

(Where were you?)

Happy New Year

While little Jennie picks at the dirt

Under what’s left of her nails,

Momma stubs her Lucky Strike

Then quietly starts to wail,

As Daddy flashes that sheepish smile

And is handcuffed again for jail

Happy New Year baby

Happy New Year to you

Happy New Year baby

Happy New Year, to you

Patti plays that special song

Then wipes her eyes into a blur

’Cause no one nowhere on this new night

Has those kinda thoughts for her

The ones take a blistered heart

And beat it to a purr

Happy New Year baby

Happy New Year to you

Happy New Year baby

Happy New Year, to you

One more night to count our good fortune

Let midnight right all our wrongs

One more night to circle the wagons

And wait for the big ball to crash down on me

Happy New Year

Santa pauses for a little pop

At the busted Old Style sign

He’ll fall asleep on a snowy lawn

And hope the neighbors don’t mind

This Santa’s just another fallen Frosty

To melt away come sunshine

Happy New Year baby

Happy New Year to you

Happy New Year baby

Happy New Year, to you

Lyrics from A Bin Full of Snouts

by W.C. Mericle

Frozen Bird

There’s a little yellow bird

Frozen to my tree

He slowly moves his tiny beak

I think he’s trying to speak to me

Telling how he got here

Chewed through some cheap cage bars

Flew out an open window

Crossed the street to a waiting car

Drove until the gas ran out

Built a nest in a motel

But eventually, he got homesick

At least that’s what I think he’s trying to tell me

Watching the rain fall against the wall

Watching the rain fall against windows and walls

This bird lost track of seasons

Misjudged what he could do

Stranded in a foreign state

A little bird in a great big stew

Now he’s frozen solid

Exceptin’ for his head

And I predict in a half an hour

Even that final bit’ll be dead

So I went to break him off

Trying not to make a mess

Pulled carefully - took his head and beak

The tree branch kept the rest

I brought him in

Held him to my skin

Trying to bring some

Life back in

Watching the rain fall against the wall

Watching the rain fall against windows and walls

Finally held him up to my window

So he could see a plane passing by

A cabin filled with oxygen

And a couple hundred tiny lives

Then we watched his body melt away

And float off like spinning leaves

I tried to make him feel better

Said, “That’s the same way she left me”

He lives now in an Easter basket

Prognosis: very bleak

He tells me things I don’t understand

It’s awful damn hard to lip read a beak

Watching the rain fall against the wall

Watching the rain fall against windows and walls

Just Because

Just because you’re alone

Don’t mean you’re the only body home

Just because your sky is gray

Don’t mean you’re gonna have a bad day

There’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask

And now it seems enough time has passed

Just because you hear the phone

Don’t mean you’re gonna talk to anyone

Just because you hear some keys

Don’t mean there’s someone coming home to me

There’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask

And now it seems enough time has passed

It’s a question you might find it kind of hard

Just because you hear a car

Don’t mean there’s someone waiting where you are

Just because you hear a voice

Don’t mean there’s someone talking

There’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask

And now it seems enough time has passed

It’s a question you might find it kind of hard

The kind of question that questions who you are

Just because you feel a touch

Don’t mean there’s someone touching you that much

Just because you felt a kiss

Don’t think it means too much more than this

Just because

Just because you’re asleep

Don’t mean you’re going to wake up ever

Amputate

She took my leg off

At the knee

And left me standing here so

Awkwardly

But you should see me dance

You should see me dance

If I had it

To do all again

I’d jump a little higher

Than her fence

Cause she hides behind the walls I lay my

Glass against

I’d see the doctor

Right away

And most certainly

I’d medicate

With you

Cause you’re the only thing that makes my hurt go away

And you should see me dance

You should see me dance

They can fix things now

You won’t believe

So with a show of hands

Who’s cut open their sewn up sleeve?

Choose your winner

From their applause

Then come see

What’s underneath

This bloody gauze

You will see me dance

See me dance

Monkey on a String

There’s a monkey on a string

Hanging around, doing his thing

The wind blows through his fur

In his sawdust mind, he’s thinking ’bout her

See the monkey on a string?

Back and forth — he’s starting to swing

In evenings’ golden light

He’s gonna wrap her up in his wires so tight

Monkey on a string

Has no idea who’s pulling his chain

Monkey on a string

Has no idea

See the monkey on a string?

Dancing wild now in circles and rings

Toes point to the sky

He’s going to catch her with his painted eye

See the monkey on a string?

Bouncing his head, trying to sing

Clap his bright pink hands

Will she be lured into his monkey romance?

Monkey on a string

Has no idea who’s pulling his chain

Monkey on a string

Has no idea

And we think he’s twisting

The big hands are shifting

He’s not convincing us now

With a hole in his head

And stuffing pouring out

See the monkey on a string?

Up so high, but he ain’t got wings

I think he’s terrified

And I think that little red smile’s a lie

See the monkey on a string?

Ears bent back and legs shaking

About to whack the wall

Falling like a little fur ball

See the monkey hit the floor

So tangled up he won’t dance no more

String’s all tied in knots

Someone put this monkey back in his box

Monkey on a string

Has no idea who’s pulling his chain

Monkey on a string

Has no idea

Big Joe (Freelance Freak)

Big Joe, was a freelance freak

A fat man in one town, in another a geek

One town’s laughing trying to guess how much Joe weighs

Another town looks down – this chicken-biting boy’s insane, insane

Both towns pay

Some people go to the circus

Some people are the circus

Big Joe, just pretends to eat chickens

He takes his crazy bite and then starts spitting

But every night Joe really is a fat man

Though he’s tried and tried and tried it just happened that way

Both jobs pay

Some people go to the circus

Some people are the circus

Some people go to the circus

Some people are the circus

Big Joe was a freelance freak

A fat man in one town, in another a geek

One town’s laughing, guessing how much Joe weighs

Another town looks down — this chicken-biting boy’s insane, insane

Something Bad

Carefully she takes

That little knife you lent her

And with the smallest blade

She slices to your center

You squirm for just a moment,

Till the alcohol soaked cotton ball

Tears down your wall

Something bad’s gonna happen

She takes out all your secrets

And cracks along the spine

Soaks them individually

In beakers filled with brine

She flattens them on sheets of wax

Mounting them with silver tacks

And stroking your head whispers,

“Just relax, relax, relax”

Something bad’s gonna happen

And you won’t be there

You remember where your shoes are

But that’s the extent

The rest is blurred and bloody

Like so many accidents

In the breeze, memories hang down from a line

Distant Christmas lights to think about from time to time

You concentrate... concentrate... concentrate...

Like clicking on a flashlight in a blackout on a hot night

Something bad’s gonna happen

And you won’t be there

She Walks Away

The taxi dancer

Put her tongue in my ear

And for 37 of my dollars

She let me fill her with my good cheer

I spoke of suffocation

And turbulent skies

Then I whispered about this lonely feeling

Feel it coming? Feel it coming?

Spinning in a star field

From a big shiny ball

And just like in those disco movies

The world around us begins to fall

After visiting my shadows

Holding hands with a fish

She simply said, “No more time”

In shattered English

She walks away, slowly

She walks away

She walks away, slowly

She walks away

There’s a salesman from Korea

With a gold wedding ring

Making eyes from his folding chair

Like some pathetic little tambourine

So I go out for coffee

Alone at a two top

And wait for something else to happen

Feel it coming? Feel it coming?

Then another sorry vision

Plays across my mind

I’m walking with my father

The day he told me he was dying

Never thought I’d be alone

At this time in life

Gotta learn to open up

I feel it coming, feel it coming

She walks away, slowly

She walks away

She walks away, slowly

She walks away

There’s a hole in my jacket

Where the flower punched through

My little lapel hole

Into where it wasn’t supposed to

Now the stem’s on the inside

There’s thorns when I breathe

If things keeps growing and growing

I’ll just open my eyes and leave

The taxi dancer

Put her tongue in my ear

I pay her to take my hand

Cause prayers don’t get me out of here

She walks away, slowly

She walks away

She walks away, slowly

She walks away

Candle

After fourteen cups of coffee black

I finally got my old self back

His hand is shaking but his mind is clear

Circling not too far from here

Standing on the corner

Looking for your light

A candle

That burned all night

Dangerous assumptions

Have guided our whole lives

While entire conversations

Have been held between your eyes

Words only you and you can share

Like Robinson Carouso

When Friday went insane

I’m alone and asking

“Hey boss, where’s the plane?”

Standing on the corner

Looking for your light

A candle

That burned all night

Now the tv’s on , the radio too

But it feels like I’m alone

The dog barks like a prisoner

The cat waits on the phone

I can’t believe the story

Though I live on the page

From the crease the quick release

Seems sudden and strange

When I cough I think of you

Also when I spit too

I’m having dreams but they don’t feel right

Must be someone else’s night

Up and down they take me where

I dilate and look straight

To light

The candle

That burned all night

Green Hat

There’s a man

With a green hat

On the bottom

Of a blue ocean

There’s a rock

He can lean upon

And never feel the dawn

From this blue ocean

There’s a car

So far away

From the man

With the green hat

She’s stepping on the gas

Driving through her days

Feeling so much pain

From the bottom

Of his blue ocean

But it feels so free

Are we sailing away like we used to be?

Floating down

With one hand holding my hat so she won’t blow away

Drift away

See the seat

It’s upside down

Almost makes you laugh

To see first class

In a blue ocean

Gonna catch a fish

It’s not hard to do

They swim right through you

In this blue ocean

See the man

Hat just right

Squeezing something tight

In his cold hand

A pretty photograph

She’ll never leave him there

In his blue ocean

And it feels so free

I’m sailing away like I used to be

Floating down

With one hand reaching out like I’m caught in a dream

Lost in a dream

You can lead a man

But you can’t make him drink

But you can make him sink

Straight down

Into blue, blue ocean

Dead Dog Enchiladas

My dog dying

Isn’t the worst thing

That could ever happen

But it’s up there

My mom crying

Isn’t the worst thing

I’ve ever seen before

But it’s near the top

Maybe that’s cause I never knew how to make her stop

Growing up a stutterer

Isn’t the worst thing

I’ve ever lived with

But it’s up there

Not saying I loved her

Till it was too late

Isn’t my worst mistake

But it’s near the top

And though it should, knocking on wood don’t change my luck

I was digging into a cheese enchilada

When I felt something poke me in the eye

It was a little shard of metal — that’s what the doctor said

He pulled it out with tweezers

But it already started to rust in my head

Being half blind

Isn’t the worst thing

That could ever happen

But it’s up there

Feeling only one eye crying

Isn’t the worst thing

I’ve ever felt before

But it’s near the top

And no matter how I try, can’t seem to make it stop

My dog’s back legs

Must be getting sore

He’s circling the floor

More and more and more

My dog dying

Isn’t the worst thing

That could ever happen

But it’s up there

Into the Air

When I was a little kid

Six houses from the house I lived

A woman did something strange

We were outside playing a game

The ambulance came

She made tomato soup from a can

Took the rings off both her hands

She stood upon a bedroom chair

Then she jumped

Into the air

She jumped

Into the air

Me and Parker stared at that front door

We’d never seen a person dead before

But the drivers wouldn’t let us stay

So we made like we was walking away

And then watched anyway

My parents talked about it all that week

She had a husband and new baby

They called the whole thing a real tragedy

And I never said that we had seen

That lady underneath the sheets

Her soft hair trailing along as they wheeled her on

We just stared

She jumped,

Into the air

She jumped

Into the air

Her house was painted a brand new brown

Me and Parker stopped hanging around

We never even knew her name

But cause of her we’re forever changed

At night I’d dream I was there

I’d see her standing at the top of the stairs

She’d get up on that big white chair

She’d look at me and I’d wake up scared

She jumped

Into the air

She jumped

Into the air

Splinter the Moon

I’ve stood with the kid

Who carved faces on a pin

Wrote names on a rice grain

In exchange for a sin

I’ve witnessed the boy

Build grottos of mud

With six bottles of sand

And six buckets of blood

But I’ve never laid eyes

On a lady so grand

You splintered the moon

And stuck it plumb in my hand

You splintered the moon

And stuck it plumb in my hand

I’ve circled the cat

And caged the fat dog

I’ve whistled for Dixie

And slain the sick hog

I’ve cornered the market

I’ve lain in her bed

With needle-nose pliers

I have pulled things from my head

But I’ve never laid eyes

On a lady so grand

You splintered the moon

And stuck it plumb in my hand

You splintered the moon

And stuck it plumb in my hand

Down in Mulberry City,

The experts all agree

If starlight can cut a diamond

Then the night can make you bleed

Like a nail made of bone

Tempered with your heat

Hammered under my thick skin

I got the moon in me

It glows like fireflies

We put into glass jars

To make love as they die

On a night with no stars

You took the moon

And gave me a piece

It’s warm to the touch

Glowing deep inside of me

Cause I never laid eyes

On a lady so grand

You splintered the moon

And stuck it plumb in my hand

You splintered the moon

And stuck it plumb in my hand

Buffalo Remains

The TV clicks on

From the timer I keep set

It scares me cvery morning

Cause every morning I forget

And as my eyes adjust

The picture bends and blurs

Kinda like the way my life

Leans in and out of yours

The dog he coughs and stirs

Rattling his old cage door

I say a prayer for coffee

And I say a prayer for her

While a picture of our life

Hangs crooked ’cross the room

Someday I’ll push it back in place

I promise someday soon

Then distant dregs of dreams appear

With scars around the edge

I’m cutting tongues from buffaloes

A gun against their heads

I’m not even on a horseback

Or in some cowboy rain

I’m puking whiskey guts out

From the back of some bloody train

The memory’s so real to me

I have to find a chair

And wonder how we still can feel

So many ghosts in the air

All those sad old buffalo

I think they still remain

Their bones were buried long ago

They live as phantom pain

Kinda like when you cut yourself

You heal, but there’s a stain

Babies and Vaseline

Sally Ann, she’s coughing up blood

A little dog craps on a brand new rug

The video’s late, a bird is extinct

Forget to smell milk then gag when you drink

Kennedy, cold sores, Vietnam

Choking to death on a tiny piece of ham

They found another tumor, you lost your keys

Your girlfriend’s got a sexual disease

The fire truck you passed is heading for your house

Bite into a burger find the head of a mouse

Nicotine stains, heavy roach motels

People unable to live with themselves

There ain’t nothing about this song

That’s gonna make you feel good

You can search throughout this song

Won’t find any heart

’Cept maybe in this part

Cut off a finger while gutting a fish

Your wallet is missing, it hurts when you piss

Two people silently sharing a meal

Nobody saying what they truly feel

Freezing to death, forgetting lines in a play

A tiny shadow on some lady’s x-ray

An airplane crashing, a broken tooth

Finding out something’s not bullet-proof

Old men buying cat food, minimum wage

A lonely tiger pacing in a cage

Orphans and homeless, a haze in the sky

Trying so hard but still unable to cry

There ain’t nothing about this song

That’s gonna make you feel good

You can search throughout this song

Won’t find any heart

’Cept maybe in this part

Kitties and ice cream

Babies and Vaseline

Soft blue water all around

Two lovers floating, face down

Losing childhood, having no beliefs

Videotape of some angry police

A friend is murdered, a vacation goes bad

Unopened letters, always feeling sad

Markets crash, a gun to a head

Microscopic pictures of the things in your bed

A man being whipped, a church falling down

A stone with no name, a hole in the ground

Flintstone

I met Fred Flinstone tonight

Sitting in a bar having a beer

He was born and raised in Bedrock

Now he’s exiled and living here

I asked him about the factory

Digging holes and cutting stones

But he just turned and asked me

To buy him a drink or else leave him alone

So I ordered us a couple more

Then sat back while Fred revealed

How a secret love for Betty

Left scars inside that he could never heal

He admired her for seasons

And all through re-runs, too

While things at home got different

As if somehow, Wilma knew

When finally he asked her to sneak off

He got slapped with a great big no

And when Betty told the network

They kicked him off of the show

So he left the kid and Dino

Said goodbye to Mr. Slate

Kissed his ex-friend Barney’s cheek

Moved here and lost some weight

He’s a bouncer now at a strip bar

Bought himself a trailer home

He gave me his home number

And his address up at Jellystone

Now whenever I feel lonely

And there’s nothing on TV

I can call Fred Flinstone

And he will yabba-dabba-doo with me

Salty and Divine

I stood at the bay

Watched water wave

And trees misbehave

But I ain’t going away

Cause this hurricane

Shares your name

So I’m not leaving here

Till I see you my dear

In Peggy’s Cove

I left my note

In a bottle of green glass

Now you’ve answered me at last

These flowers are for you

Got candy somewhere too

Cause this hurricane

Shares your name

And I’m not leaving here

Without you my dear

I’ve heard folks testify

About a hole up in the sky

And a horse all bathed in light

Prancing proud and white

Eyes of flame and fire

It’s where the righteous ride tonight

But when the birds all disappear

I’ll be standing here

Cause this hurricane

Shares your name

And I’m faithful and true

Waiting just for you

I reach for your hand

Through stinging sands

I feel your mouth on mine

So salty and divine

Branches bow and pray

The wind knows what to say

Trees will bend their knees

When she carries me away

Fame & Fortune

He was in it

For fame and fortune

She was in it

Just another free ride

He took his pen

Wrote in fits of devotion

She took his name

And signed on a blood thin line

After a while

He fell deeper and deeper

After a while

She still stood at the edge

In his mind

He thought might keep her

But in his heart

He knew this was the end

He always said

He forgot to remember to forget

It must be some kind of joke

That kind of pain

Tends to linger

That kind of pain

Is like a spider in your throat

In the end

Her shadow did the talking

In the end

He couldn’t talk himself down

The road ahead

Only showed half the picture

And the road behind

You just can’t see in the dark

He found a glass

The shot it nearly killed him

Her great collapse

Nobody does it better than her

He always said

He forgot to remember to forget

It must be some kind of joke

That kind of pain

Tends to linger

That kind of pain

Is like a spider in your throat

This is a story

You probably heard half a million

Don’t even need

A new beginning or end

Just keep an eye

On things bleeding in the middle

And when it dies

Please kick it down the stairs

He always said

He forgot to remember to forget

It must be some kind of joke

That kind of pain

Tends to burn, it tends to linger

That kind of pain

Is like a spider crawling up your throat

He was in it

For fame and fortune

WC Mericle

Such Helpful Little Birds

New Release!

A Bin Full of Snouts