self-righteous left

I never thought I’d live to see the day when the right wing would become the cool ones giving the middle finger to the establishment, and the left wing becoming the sniveling self-righteous twatty ones going around shaming everyone.  

-- John Lydon

girl on a motorbike

Too many folk in the middle lane don't want to swerve against the rails.
Apathy balanced with disdain;  dogs chasing their own tails.
-- Adam Franklin (Swervedriver) 1993

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)

beach culture

"The beach is something you walk across to get to the water. The social aspect of surfing never meant all that much to me."
-- Phil Edwards

just think

"Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think."
-- Thomas A. Edison

anthem

Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward -- no use in looking 'round
Hold your head above the ground, and they won't bring you down

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world they wrought

Live for yourself -- there's no one else more worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more

Well, I know they've always told you selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you, I came to write this song

-- Neal Peart (Rush) 1975

take it from the man

it's just like i said -- they're fucking with your head
you ain't safe in your bed or even when you're dead
they're out to school you, so they can rule you
they try to fool you or just get to you

and i seen it coming down, so i headed out of town
because i'm quick like that

i seen them on tv -- they even look like me
they said they'd set me free, but that can never be
but i know it's coming down, so i'm headed out of town
because i'm quick like that, always bounce right back

stupid magazines to sell you useless things
silly as it seems, they even steal your dreams
and i know it's coming down, so i'm headed out of town
cause i'm quick like that, never coming back

man i know it's coming down, so i'm heading far from town
cause i'm smart like that; i'm not coming back

-- anton newcombe (brian jonestown massacre) 1996

witch hunt

The night is black, without a moon.
The air is thick and still.
The vigilantes gather on the lonely torchlit hill.

Features distorted in the flickering light,
Faces are twisted and grotesque.
Silent and stern in the sweltering night,
The mob moves like demons possessed.
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right,
Confident their ways are best.

The righteous rise with burning eyes of hatred and ill-will.
Madmen fed on fear and lies to beat and burn and kill.

They say there are strangers who threaten us --
Our immigrants and infidels.
They say there is strangeness to danger us
In our theatres and bookstore shelves,
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves.

Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand --
Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand.

Neal Peart (Rush) 1981

vital signs

Unstable condition -- a symptom of life
in mental and environmental change.
Atmospheric disturbance -- the feverish flux
of human interface and interchange.
The impulse is pure -- sometimes our circuits get shorted
by external interference.
Signals get crossed and the balance distorted
by internal incoherence.

An ounce of perception, a pound of obscure --
process information at half speed.
Pause, rewind, replay -- warm memory chip --
random sample holds the one you need.
Leave out the fiction --
the fact is this friction will only be worn by persistence.
Leave out conditions --
courageous convictions will drag the dream into existence.

Everybody got mixed feelings about the function and the form.
Everybody got to elevate from the norm.

-- Neal Peart (Rush) 1981

deviate from the norm

"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
-- Mark Twain