1. |
Damaged Goods
04:56
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He looked the gift horse
right in the mouth
You can never see the sun come up
if you look west toward the ocean
We were sold damaged goods
and you know it
you were sold damaged goods
and you know it
He waits at the bus stop for OC transit
that bus is coming one of these days
Plastic bags litter the roadside
of his mind
A cigarette butt
falls from his lips
the wind blows through the telephone wires
and through the grass on the side of the road
You can make your last stand right here
Oh this place is as good as any
This degenerate utopia
it leaks into your mind
This degenerate utopia
is what you wanted
All the houses look out on little side streets
and you are lost in a cul-de-sac now
you are lost on a golf course
at an amusement park
at a shopping center
in a shopping center parking lot
That is where you thought you saw the light
Oh this place is as good as any
to make your stand
and here comes the light again
on this degenerate utopia
you were sold damaged goods
and you know it
you were sold damaged goods
and you know it
When the sun sets
you will miss it if you look east
back toward the desert
where dreams are made
in this evening
where dreams are made
right here
in this degenerate utopia
You haven't been to the beach in like three years
felt the sand on your feet
felt the water
and the waves
Oh this is the place
for you to make your last stand
oh this is the place
this degenerate utopia
you were sold damaged goods
and you know it
you were sold damaged goods
and you know it
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2. |
A California Dream
05:29
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Oh this is the California Dream, man
This is the light on the mountain
this is the water on the shore
this is the air in your headspace
oh how could you want anything more
how could you want anything more
how could you want anything more
I went up to the mountain
and I saw that light
I saw the ocean so blue
from way off at this height
from way off at this height
Oh we went off to Irvine to get some food
the car broke down on the 405
that was the end of that
we walked all the way back to Costa Mesa
that was the end of that
Here starts another day
living the California Dream
Here starts another day
under the highway
I can see it coming
and so can you
you take your hands out of your pockets
show me something new
Feel the wind
feel the sun and the air
Don't stare
Don't stare
You are feeling turned around
everything looks the same
You are feeling all turned around
everything looks the same
You are feeling all turned around
You are feeling all turned around
and everything looks the same
Today is the same as yesterday
tomorrow will be the very same
you are feeling turned around
everything looks the same
everything looks the same
everything
You are feeling turned around
you are feeling turned around
you are feeling turned around
everything
everything looks the same
Oh where is the water now
Pour me out toward the ocean
you are feeling all turned around
everything is the same
everything is the same
everything is the same
everything is the same
Oh it is the California dream
out here on this hill
it is the California dream
all the way down by the coast
You see it coming
and I see it too
You see it coming
and I see it too
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3. |
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He was kicked out of the marines in 1974 for getting into a fistfight with General Westmoreland
He was drinking buddies with John Barrymore. Back when he was drinking heavily they met at a Sunset Boulevard bar. Barrymore took a liking to him because he would always help him up off the floor. After the bars closed he would drive Barrymore’s Porsche up to his house in the hills. He had a long glass bar and they would drink until morning. Barrymore died of alcohol poisoning. In fact he called the cops the night Barrymore died. He stayed in his house for almost a year almost a year after that.
He had stage three prostate cancer. His family wrote letters to the governor. He was in a bed in a VA hospital waiting to die, but he state paid for treatment. They opened him up took out his prostrate and lasered out the cancer.
Oh we are here
in the land of fake eyelashes
in the land of security gates and fences
in the land of highway overpasses
Oh we are here
in the land of blue swimming pools
in the land of kids eat free
in the land of perpetual hotel construction
in the land of endless parking garages
in the land of restaurant chains and strip malls
in the land of three hour drive to anywhere
in the land of blonde hair and too much makeup
in the land of airports named after movie stars
in the land of degenerate utopia
Oh and we got off the bus
and we are here
Did you know when he died Ronald Reagan had over 30 lbs of undigested red meat backed up in his prostate and lower intestine. Red meat will kill you
This bus is going to Long Beach, right?
To the VA hospital at the end of the line
And we got off the bus
We are here
we are here
yeah we are here...
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4. |
City is Gone
03:12
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Oh reach out your hands
away from the city
Reach out your hands
toward the sky
Time slows down
and you don't know what you are missing
and now time goes by
and twenty years is gone
You see the fog roll in from the beach
toward the mountains
just like it did twenty years ago
Oh reach out your hands
away from the city
reach out your hands
reach out your hands
toward the sky
Time it slows down again
just for a moment
and then it speeds up
and ten more years pass by
Reach out your hands
up north toward San Francisco
Reach up your hands
to the stars
Time slows down
for another moment
but it speeds up again
and the moment is gone
Reach out your hands
toward the city
and the city is gone
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5. |
Newport Center Saturday
01:56
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The distance here is extreme
between parking lots
and shopping malls
and sidewalks
I am back at Will's
everyone hugs everyone
once again it was too cold
to wear your smashing orange dress
For example
for example
So many things
so many things
We were out under the awning
watching the cars drive by
I recently learned how to recognize
those flowers
I went out to Newport Center
I went out to Corona Del Mar
to see the waves
but I saw the birds
come in with the wind
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6. |
On the Margins
03:29
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I have stumbled into the wasteland
it's right here
I am standing above an empty swimming pool
with the lights flickering in the distance
the one behind your old house
in your old neighborhood
and everything looks the same
like you said it would
The house across the street
had an old green couch in the front yard
Oh and I see you here
tweaking out on the margins
Oh I, I see you here
tweaking out on the margins
It goes on
I put some ice in a bottle of cheap red wine
and walk across the railroad tracks
to where I am staying now
Oh you, you see me
just getting by on the margins
Oh you, you see me
just getting by on the margins
Oh yeah you see me
just getting by on the margins
on the margins at least for now
at least for now
And then it starts to rain
it never rains
he hands me a t-shirt
says it is from Japan
I put it over our heads
and we stay that way for an hour
we stay that way for two hours
Here it goes again
you and me
we get by on the margins
you and me
we get by on the margins
on the margins for now
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7. |
Made for the Movies
02:37
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You are not interested in old diseases
you are interested in the new ones
In my time of choosing
I choose you
There is always a trick
and this one is it
yeah this one is it
You are trying to find yourself
you are trying to spacial-ize with your geography
He was absent that day
and that didn't bother you
you caught a chill
eventhough it was 95 outside
unless someone hip gets to this soon
we will never be new
we will never be new
We just deconstruct
what we wanted
just for it to look like it does for the second time
We were made for the movies
we were made for the big screen
we were made for the movies
we were made for the movies
we were made to be real
we were made to disappear
and come back new
I don't know
I don't know
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8. |
Opposition
01:27
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9. |
Parking Lot Terror
03:02
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To me it looks like your jeans are on backwards kid
you are trying to stay on top of the skateboard
as you skate through the mall parking lot
We are trying to figure which way to go
Oh this is a new kind of place
this is a new kind of habitat
oh thank you to myself
this is not something I have ever been good at
Later in the parking lot
I asked your mother
what this was all about
And if you are not terrified
you should be now
I thought I had a fake disease
I thought I had a name
I thought I had a behavior
Something you couldn't find
something you couldn't tell
They asked me to come alone
and you seem to understand
oh if you are not terrified now
it is time
it is time
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10. |
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You take these kind of things on the chin
there is a darkness at the bottom of the sea
there is a darkness so deep
right here
I swam
I swam toward nowhere
after so much isolation
there was indifference
but i kept going
even if it meant staying in place
Oh I kept going
and i waited
i found myself without meaning
in time I had company
in time they were all around me
I see the light
and you do too
I'm depending on the light
and you are too
I did what I had to do
and you did too
I wanted to feel this way
and you wanted to feel this way too
You could say it is beautiful
but you would be lying and you know that
it is hideous
just like this place
you had to be on your own
to illuminate that
I kept going
and then I waited
you kept going
and then you waited too
I saw the light
and you, you see it too
I am dependent on this light
and you are dependent on it too
you are dependent on it too
And now I feel this way
and I know you feel this way too
I know you feel this way too
We are approaching the bottom of the sea
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11. |
Sahara Motel
03:52
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Oh you are taking your time
you are taking your time
with an overnight stay
at the Sahara Motel
All these lights line the roadway
in different colors
all these lights they seep through
the hotel blinds
and into your eyes
You let it wash all over you
like it was ten years ago
just like it was ten years ago
And there you are
walking a shopping cart
up South Beach Blvd.
past the Taco Bell
and the Del Taco
you just lost your job at that doughnut shop
down in Newport Beach
life it gets this way sometimes
life it gets this way sometimes
The morning fog
it burns off
and you can stay in this room
only until 11
and then you will have to pay
for another whole night
and you don't want to do that
you don't want to do that
You are just trying your luck
with the broken air conditioner
and the ice machine down the hall
A car pulls into the parking lot
someone you haven't seen
for like ten years
yeah someone who hasn't seen you
for ten years either
Oh and now the sun
is working it's way up
up in the midday sky
It is almost time to go
yeah it is almost time to go
Oh everything
Everything has changed for the better
there is not much left
there is not much left
to remember
there is not much left
to remember
to remember
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12. |
Never Seen Again
05:38
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13. |
Danny Saw the Light
02:33
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Danny sees the light
at 3 a.m. in the morning
out by the railroad tracks
on Katella Avenue
This apartment building is new
so are these palm trees
he finds a way
to sleep under the highway overpass one more night
Oh come back
dreams are what you make them
even if they don't exist
here in this place anymore
30 years ago Danny had a farm
out by Knotts Berry Farm
he was raising goats
oh but that didn't last long
dreams are what you make them
even if they don't exist
here in this place
here in this place anymore
Danny saw the light again
at 4 a.m. in the morning
flashlight in his eye
and a police officer
telling him to go home
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Lewis the Light San Francisco, California
"Satisfied with his care and the width of his belly, Lewis escaped and returned to San Francisco, where he was arrested after ripping open his clothing and asking passersbys to witness the divine light that burned in his breast."
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