SUCK OUT THE AIR
Cleanup on aisle number 1973.
Mile after mile of industrial waste and debris;
Mexican envelope gravy is everywhere.
Hook up the hose and suck out all the air.
They get in their gasoline wheelchairs and go to the mall;
Meat eating meat eats its way through the suburban sprawl.
Rubbery-blubbery people need help up the stairs;
Hook up the hose and suck out all the air
Colourful plastic it’s never hermetically sealed;
Breathe in breathe out breathe in, microbes are making you ill.
Here is a polythene bag you can wear on your head,
Hook up the hose and suck out all the air.
HERE WE GO
PLAY FOR KEEPS
There’s a difference between what I know
Between what I know and I feel
‘Cause I know that we are true but I want her, too
But I know
And sometimes when the world is coming down
There’s a feeling all around of gloom
But the moon will rise and the sun will shine again
And I always play and I always play for keeps
Love unifies what we won’t reap
I know
But I love you when I’m wrong
And you give me everything for a song.
SAFE IN YOUR HOME
Crack in the wall used to be so small;
Now you don’t know if you’re safe in your home.
That crack in the wall is gonna swallow you whole,
Spit you out when you’re down to the bone.
Crack in the wall may be nothing at all;
Turn out the lights and cut off the telephone.
Stick animals click, buzz, and crawl;
You can hear them now you’re all alone.
Crack in the wall, now a hole in the floor;
Nobody knows what you tore up the floorboards for.
The stick animals watch you come and go
Searching for a certain ratio.
MARIANNE
I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU DON’T KNOW
You better, you better, you better, you better…
I don’t know why you don’t know why you know I don’t know!
We come out the pub two hours later, there he is again. Now he’s wearing nothing but a mangy green jumper and a shit eating grin, another two dozen double whiskeys in - he’s leering at passers-by swaying side to side -- one of them catches his eye, looks away too late, big mistake — Janko lays in to him.
I don’t know why you don’t know why you know I don’t know!
Our man wants to run, but Janko’s having none of it. Will something come of it? He’s puffing himself up like a pornographic Mick Jagger, all swagger, no fight. Off comes the jumper. Two cops arrive, get off their bikes they’re not moving too fast, they can’t be arsed, but Janko takes fright. He’s seen ‘em coming, he’s off and running, clappers swinging. Oi, Janko, wild in the streets, mate.
THE NORMAL
the teacup, the saucepan
the toaster, the newspaper
the ashtray, the cigarettes
the fried egg congealing
on a cold plate
don’t you know
everybody’s worried about you?
the lino, the doormat
the formica dinette set,
the bread box, the dish rack
the wall clock ticking
and nothing ever happens
everybody’s worried about you
the teacup, the saucepan
the toaster, the newspaper
even your awareness of the cliché
of you boredom is a boring cliché
don’t you know
everybody’s worried about you?
the sofa, the hoover
the mirror, the picture,
the unopened letter
and the pile of magazines
no one’s going to read
everybody’s worried about you
ON AND ON
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO STEVE
Tell the detectives
We don’t know what happened to Steve.
He’s vanished now there’s nothing
But a smell that you wouldn’t believe.
The walls are oozing honey
The windows are covered in bees.
The garden’s infected
with a curious kind of disease;
It’s clawing at the house and there’s
Something alive in the trees.
The sound of it breathing
Is keeping us week in the knees.
Tell the detectives
We don’t know what happened to Steve;
That crack in the wall just
Swallowed him whole one-two-three…