Is It Like Today?

Many years ago, he looked out through a glassless window.
All that he could see was Babylon -- 
Beautiful green fields and dreams
and learned to measure the stars.
But there was a worry in his heart.  He said:
How could it come to this?
I'm really worried about living.
How could it come to this?
I really want to know about this.

Then there came a day -- moved out across the Mediterranean
came to rest on isles and the Greek young men.
And with their silver beards, they laughed
at the unknown of the universe.
They could just sit and guess God's name. But they said:
How could it come to this?
We're really worried about living.
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this.

Then there followed days of kings, empires, and revolution.
Blood just looks the same when you open the veins.
And sometimes it was faith, power, or reason as the cornerstone.
But the furrowed brow has never left his face. He said:
How could it come to this?
We're really living in a landslide.
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this.

Then there came a day... man packed up, flew off from the planet.
He went to the moon.
Now he's out in space, fixing all the problems.
He comes face to face with God.  He says:
How could it come to this?
I'm really worried about my creation.
How did it come to this?
You're really killing me, you know.

-- Karl Wallinger (World Party) 1993

Predictable

Go to my office, sit at my desk

Predictably just like all of the rest

I sit and I dream about far away places

Away from the people with frowns on their faces

All of my life is monotony

I'd go out for a walk, but I know it would be... predictable

Sure as the nose on my face

Same for the whole human race

Once we had so many options

Once we had dignity and grace

Now we have got nothing but our own time to waste

-- Ray Davies (The Kinks) 1981

Time

Time speaks with golden words
When there's nothing to be heard
Hides behind the stars
Silver in the night
Lies in the coming light

Time living with today
In a lonely way
She whispers never a surprise
She won't tell you why

Time speaks her golden tongue
And when everything is done
She lies to no one

-- Screaming Trees (1990)

All Things Must Pass

Now the darkness only stays at nighttime
In the morning, it will fade away
Daylight is good at arriving at the right time
It's not always going to be this gray

All things must pass
All things must pass away

-- George Harrison (1970)

your life is a lie

Here's the deal -- open your eyes -- your life is a lie
Don't say a word.  I'll tell you why you're living a lie
Your life is a lie, but you deny you ever lied
Wondering why.  Barely alive
Count your friends on your hands.
Now look again -- they're not your friends
Hold your breath. Everyone left.  No surprise.  Living a lie....

Nobody wins.  Try not to cry.  You'll survive on your own

Lessons in life:  your life is a lie
Now there's no time wondering why
Where in the world is that girl who knows it's alright to live a life waiting to die?
Not knowing that your life is a lie
Wondering why nobody writes
Hollow inside.  Bitter delight.  Fire and ice.
Your life is a lie

-- MGMT (2013)

palo alto

In a city of the future, it is difficult to concentrate
Meet the boss, meet the wife
Everybody's happy, everyone is made for life.

In a city of the future, it is difficult to find a space
I'm too busy to see you; you're too busy to wait

But I'm okay, how are you?
Thanks for asking, thanks for asking
I'm okay, how are you? I hope you're okay too.

Every one of those days when the sky is California blue
With a beautiful bombshell, I throw myself into my work
I'm too lazy, I've been kidding myself for so long

But I’m okay, how are you?
Thanks for asking, thanks for asking
I’m okay, how are you? I hope you’re okay too.

-- Thom Yorke (Radiohead) 1998

childhood lost

"As you can see, everything has just vanished. It's just like the whole thing has been completely erased from the face of the earth. I feel great anger. I feel massive sadness. It's like a complete loss of childhood...."
-- Morrissey, Top of the Pops interview (1983)

twilight galaxy

did they tell you -- you should grow up
when you wanted to dream?
did they warn you -- better shape up
if you want to succeed?
i don't know about you -- who are they talking to?
they're not talking to me.

i'm higher than high, lower than deep
i'm doing it wrong, singing along

-- metric (2009)

sunken waltz

washed my face in the rivers of empire.
made my bed from a cardboard crate
down in the city of quartz.

no news, no new regrets.
tossed a susan b. over my shoulder,
and prayed it would rain and rain --
submerge the whole western states.
call it a last fair deal
with an american seal
and corporate handshake.

take the story of carpenter mike --
dropped his tools and his keys and left
and headed out as far as he could
past the city's gated neighborhoods.
he slept 'neath the stars,
wrote down what he dreamt,
and he built a machine
for no one to see,
then took flight
first light of new morning.

-- Joey Burns / John Convertino (Calexico) 2003

life is strange

Time is so strange, and life is twice as strange. The cogs miss, the wheels turn, and lives interlace too early or too late.
-- Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine (1957)

throwing the election

Don't even waste the man-hours on us
We are finding no solution
Call all the boys in from the fighting fronts
We have lost the revolution
None of the soaring flight we dreamed
Is any closer to perfection

Make me an offer, I don't waste them now
We have no more fixed intentions
Give all the faithful a deserved rest
We've abandoned our dissensions

I've got a feeling it's all rigged
I've got a feeling it ended a long time ago
But nobody tells me
I've got a feeling it's over now

-- Scott Miller (Game Theory) 1988

shrunken man

Just an imperfect man
Trapped in an imperfect body
Ain’t happy or sad, lonely or sorry

-- Matt Johnson (The The) 2000