listen to this record

 

listen to this record

her ghost is in the crackle

listen to her crackle

all up and down Chicago

listen to Chicago

the crackle of a record you've heard before

she ain't asking no one in particular

she is questioning the air

the crunch of thunder

the clarity of lightning

so we never forget

the old days 

when real men was

would listen to jazz

what it is 

what it is 

what it was 

stay up till dawn

then walk out of this place 

believing in ghosts

American ghosts outlasting 

their ramshackle castles

American ghosts out standing 

where their cities used to be

a stack of 45s

[[ part one ]]
a stack of 45s - my sister abandoned
a stack of 45s - before she went away
a stack of 45s - my sister left behind her
a stack of 45s - I used to play

[[ part two ]]
a stack of 45s - a stack of 45s
when the smoke cleared, the only thing left
a stack of 45s - a stack of 45s
she did the dances they danced in the day
a stack of 45s - a stack of 45s
record player dropping song after song
a stack of 45s - a stack of 45s

[[ dance break ]]
and she would
snap the bubblegum
and she would
scrape the sticky gum from offa her shoes
(offa her shoes and walk away)

[[ part three ]]
put it on - put on the one about a new combination
put it on - put on the one about a boy and girl
put it on - put on the one about keeping together
put it on - put on the one about falling apart
put it on - put on the one about the wind in the city
put it on - put on the one about the men in the trees
put it on - put on the one about love me forever
put it on - put on the one about a telephone call
put it on - put on the one about the ocean and time
put it on - put on the one about us

coming in from Canada

[[  The old story of listening to radio at night when signals were clear and noise was lower and the ether was full of nostalgia. ]]

we would lie in bed at night

secretly awake

listening to radio 

from out across the lake

listening for New York and Berlin via Brampton

listening for London from the Bank of Montreal

listening for Canada for Canada for Canada

coming in from Canada

in from out of bounds

pulled from out of northern air

world made of sound

we would run a single wire 

up above the bed

feeling for a distant tower

topped with a blinking red

listening for New York and Berlin via Brampton

listening for London from the Bank of Montreal

listening for Canada for Canada for Canada

coming in from Canada

in from out of bounds

pulled from out of northern air

world made of sound

intentional love song 15: they get along (two girls in love)

[[ Just a lesbian love song, or a lesbian appreciation song (written from a third-person point of view. Also, silly jokes on 'they are coming for your children' and 'at the YMCA'. ]]

they get along, 

two girls in love 

with their local library

they get along, 

two girls in love 

with a cat named Harry

they get along, 

two girls in love 

with living 

in this town 

don't let them down

they get along, 

two girls in love 

with music playing in their ears

they get along, 

two girls in love 

at the corner pub with beers

they get along, 

two girls in love 

with living 

in this town 

don't let them down

somebody said 

they're probably sisters,

they have to be sisters,

no one could rightly say

somebody wondered 

where were their misters

a girl needs a mister

I said, it's not like it was in your day

it's not like it was in your day

they are coming for your children

as you arranged the other day

they are taking them for homework help

at the YMCA

they get along, 

like two girls in a song

I want a music in me

[[ Well. Music and night. ]]

because I close my eyes

I want a music in me

I want an art in here 

when I go into sleep

when I die I will close

my eyes and hear a bell

when I am dying I will hear 

the voices falling, rising 

across the last threshold

in wave, in wave, in waterswell

because I close my eyes

I want a music in me

Thou art in me,

Mistress Night,

in comely dress

of soft Moon-light

X-ray Tex

someone run and get me 

an x-ray technician

think I see a shadow on my heart

someone run and get me 

some self-medication

think I see a shadow on my heart

turn up! (turn up!)

the radiation! (radiation!)

think I see a shadow on my heart

doctor see a shadow 

right there on my chart

doctor find something 

hiding behind my heart

perched in a cage

built of my bone

set on a swing

and singing alone

this little bird

is singing a song

of something gone wrong

tick, tick, tick

something no longer

follows the script

not this fucking time of year again

[[ musically, a Christmas carol ]]

[[ this part in imitation of bells ]] 

not this 

fucking 

time of 

year a-

gain

[[ the sound of a church choir ]] 

all the skies are gray and lifeless (gray and lifeless)

all the winds are sharp and cold (sharp and cold)

all the roads are wet and icy (wet and icy)

all my bones 

two hundred six! 

the pops and clicks! 

the cracks and cricks! 

are so old

someone else's strange religion (strange religion)

someone else's hopes and fears (hopes and fears)

someone else's gongs and jangles (gongs and jangles)

someone's god 

three-headed -- weird!

one mainly beard!

all of them feared!

in my ears... [[ quiet, crescendo, and then the bang ]]

Bang! all the metal in your towers!

See if I fucking care 

Bang! all the metal in your towers!

Give all the birds a scare 

[[ a chorus imitating bells and singing in bell terms rather than Latin ]]

peal [[ repeated with combinations of the others ]]

nominal

quint

tierce

prime

hum [[ let this one be the last and lowest tone still ringing ]]

Bob

[[ I was reading the obituaries and listening to songs. Suddenly, Bob and Elvis. ]] 

I saw your face 

while I was listening 

to mystery train.

Why sixteen coaches?

Sixteen's always 

the lecher's number.

Why long black train?

Long and black are always

porn specifications.

This is the nonsense

I'd have told you

but you were dead.

Are dead. Be dead. 

Or not be dead. Ride 

the mystery train.

trans

[[ I think of listening to music a long time ago, when we had radio stations and we had music machines built into our furniture ]]

I can smell 

the amplifier

warming up,

up from

the inside

an orange 

pouring 

out from

the inside 

the tuner 

warm and

the table

turning

I can feel

the radio

through me

lights out

lie on the carpet

the soft glow

of the radio

rest your head

in your hands

press your belly

to the floor

feel the bass of

the radio

a little ether

into the signal

the breath of Venus

a storm on the sun

the origin 

of our universe

the great machine

spins up to speed