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Beak

by Griddle

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1.
YR BITCH-ASS JOB Another day becomes a week And there ain't no time to speak Take a paperclip, and stretch it out Do it again 'til it breaks the skin While you're punching in, punching out The boss at your bitch-ass job tells you You are slow, slow as shit But you don't know the half of it You've got some fly hanging files Take care of all her dangling Things undone, got her back Well keep it up, that's a damn good welcome mat Your bitch-ass job is just a homemade habitrail The door's unlocked, it's not the same as being in jail You can walk out with your shovel and your pail And the documents you wrote in braille Every night she will cite Remote decisions from small municipalities She will try to catch your eye In an effort to minimize fatalities She can be just what she wants The boss can do what she chooses Take you in, price you out But it's a recipe for bruises She's obsessed, nicely dressed You can't hear a word she says Because you're aiming true Trying to flick the little planets from around her head Your bitch-ass job is just a vampire in disguise It takes your soul and steals the fire from your eyes And once you're free, it's just a child and his cries And the mirror that shows your actual size Grab a bite, ham on white Think of tonight when you'll buy a sack And you're leaning back in your seat Lost and heavy on your feet As you make a call, take a break Cook your lungs like a sirloin steak Which you wish you had, fat and red But you're dead 'cause you bled instead Your bitch-ass job is just a homemade safety net To keep you happy with your couch and TV set Which shows you all the things you don't have time to get You better run for your life, it's not over yet
2.
Give It Up (free) 03:11
GIVE IT UP There may come a time when I wake up There may come a time when I wake up and be a man Wake up from infatuation and all these expectations And give it up for free I don't know if I can restrain myself I don't know if I can train myself to be more patient When it's time to watch you go And I'm left here on my own I will give it up for free It's not the giving that hurts, it's the waiting to receive There's a melody I want to play with you But we're not playing the same song What I desire more than anything What I desire more than anything is to lose my pride I won't make demands, let it slip right through my hands When I give it up for free
3.
Like A Walk 03:13
LIKE A WALK Like a walk up to the ticket counter Give me five bucks or you're gonna get blasted My first balloon ride at the county festival The one who wore the pickle hat And bubblegum-snapping cotton candy girls Who talk as if we weren't even there Said it's business as usual, we've seen it all an hour before Nowhere to go, don't try to run We take these things as true: That trees are good, TV is bad, Grover never had no lips, Only straight white boys play air guitar, And the pending revolution can owe me Like your mother said when you were young Swing both ways before you cross the street Sit up straight with shoulders back Say please and thank you always Get whatever the fuck you want My twenty bucks, and the fluid ounce of peace I hope you choke or slip on something Walking down the stairs From the landing to a turnstile exit Men with ropes and hats like fishing boats running And I walked, I walked away And girls they stopped and they'd say It's business as usual, we've seen it all an hour before Nowhere to go, don't try to run We take these things as true: You ripped me off, it pissed me off And life is short but it's wide And I'd like to just forgive you, but it tears me up inside
4.
METRO TO NORWOOD Took the metro to Norwood with a pencil in my hand Heading down to the music store on Montgomery That was the last time I heard that song Bobbing her head to the radio station The same one I was listening to Her lips were perfect in time with everything And I nearly missed my stop My first evening with Courtney We heard Frank Vincent play Down at the Harley Hotel on Montgomery That was the first time I heard that song She was so so scandalous Courtney knew every line, every word Her lips were perfect in time with everything I couldn't make a sound It's a joy to read your lips
5.
Liner Notes 05:08
LINER NOTES I know everything that's happened in rock and roll Elvis and before and after, right on down the line If they had Jeopardy for folks like me I could win a million trillion dollars every single time History of Rock and Roll by Rolling Stone Said Zappa never s#*t on stage But Ozzy ate the pigeons And Gene Simmons kicked the shit out of Shaun Cassidy The jury's still out on whether Rod or Elton ever had their stomachs pumped They found a pint of Bowie's semen I know I'm not dreaming 'cause I read it in the liner notes I read it in the liner notes, and hence it has to be I got at least a dozen "drunken with Todd Rundgren" stories Met him at a show and talked about the Grateful Dead And I know the photographer who got punched out by Nilsson While John Lennon marched around Sporting a tampon on his head It's nice to meet you Have you heard of this great pop minutia Happened back in '78 The Allmans and the Skynyrds got together And they shared and Cher'd alike Duane dressed up like Sonny Bono I know it sounds outlandish and bizarre And a little bit like blasphemy But an interview with Chastity Was written in the liner notes I read it in the liner notes, and not on MTV Whatever happened to Tim Buckley Well, I'm the man to tell you He ate broccoli, beans and bleach And killed himself with rancid farts And lawyers for Thin Lizzy are uniting To prevent the sale to Michael Jackson Of Phil Lynott's private parts And I know the facts on who played what instrument On every single tune And while we're on the subject Chynna Burton sang the cool parts on Dark Side Of The Moon That three-part Beatles special didn't tell me Even half what I already know My friend Joe knew Sid and Nancy Me, I'm not that fancy, I just read it in the liner notes I read it in the liner notes, they wrote 'em just for me
6.
Available 03:08
AVAILABLE I've been looking at you, now you caught my gaze Are we the only ones alone in this place What you want is just beyond your grasp Anyone that available you'd be looking past I sleep on a futon If that causes you a problem I'll change that if you want me to Did you hear I'm available, available I'll be there if you want me to Did you notice, were you waiting for someone to talk to you? To those who hide behind their masks of cool You are just the same as me, too available Everything I own is disposable My forks are made of plastic Got a TV cart with a microwave Did you learn I'm available, available I'll be there if you want me to 'Cause everyone notices They talk about our loneliness I'll change that if you want me to Everyone notices They talk about our loneliness I'll change that if you want me too
7.
Hit Parade 03:33
HIT PARADE This record could almost be played on the radio Its tones are sharp and clear With a disposable melody that might just catch their ears One fears Maybe we should go on and hold our tongues Maybe we should go on and hold our tongues We're headed straight for the fools' parade Straight for the hit parade, we've got it made In no time we'll all be getting played and overplayed Maybe we should go on and direct a video To further our careers With a director and lighting and a crew of volunteers Or we could go and direct ourselves We could maybe go on and direct ourselves We're headed straight for the fools' parade Straight for the hit parade, we've got it made In no time we're selling Gatorade and Minute Maid In no time we're on the hit parade, we got it made In no time we'll all be getting laid and overplayed This record could almost be played on the radio
8.
POSITIVELY JACKSON Sometimes it's crazy, insanity, a poem A molotov haiku cocktail It's a rhythm, it's patient, but it's sweet and it's strong A velvet locomotive I get three minutes, three months out of every three Weak in the knees is the way that I feel for her I don't know nothing until I get out of my head Sometimes I do that Spend some time being and looking positively Jackson In the mirror it's cool, and I'm looking at you And your hair falling over my shoulder (nice) It's just the ocean It's a sweet bowl of motion Churn up freedom and pleasure often And it's animal and vegetable and mineral too And it dances and crashes and quivers Right then Sometimes I do that
9.
FAIREST OF THE MALL I saw you slip it in your purse And I can't think of nothing worse Than a summer spent alone My number scribbled in blue pen Two one two, five two five You can call upon it when your friends Are out with someone else Don't go out without your raincoat on Summer holiday Maybe it's the way you wear your dress I swear I will not keep you on the line But you've been wasting all your time On boys who don't say much You chewing gum against the wall One leg out, one leg up You're the fairest of the mall So baby don't be so uptight I don't have a curfew any more And your friends are out with someone else (I saw you slip it in your purse) You are the fairest of the mall
10.
Preoccupied 02:31
PREOCCUPIED I wish I could give you all my time I always seem preoccupied Swear that I'll try to clear up my mind 'Cause I don't want to treat you that way And if I'm not quick with a compliment I hold it contempt what most hold dear I love you, my dear At least I'm sincerely in love with what I love If you question my intentions Affectionate men are sometimes cold They do what they're told And are told to severely question what they love I wish I could give you all my time I always seem preoccupied trying to impress you I'll try to clear up my mind I'll try to clear up my mind
11.
A MOVIE ABOUT ME AND YOU Well, I'm sorry about the dog who died when you were ten And I'm sorry that I forgot where we supposed to meet last night I was the bath, I was in a dream Looking out for aliens in little purple suits I will swallow the water I will swallow the fire If it's the perception of the observer that makes the thing really exist Then why can't I find my car keys Or even the way to your heart Well I dreamed last night that I was on the Johnny Carson show I was really funny I told some really great jokes I will swallow the water I will swallow the fire Well last night I saw a movie that was really about me and you And for people in this movie, things turned out kind of bad Well I'm trying to make sense I'm trying to have some peace But I know that even Gandhi hit his funny bone sometimes I will swallow the water I will swallow the fire
12.
SO SLOW (TO A CIGARETTE) I press you gently to my lips And you don't mind, I make you smaller I make you smolder and decay You make me cough just like I'm laughing And when we're driving in my car You are exhaust, and I'm exhausting you so slow So slow - you take my breath away I'm Humphrey Bogart in the rain You made the stain on my fedora In our romantic escapade You are the dangerous stranger With a past you won't recall And I'm your maker's mark He marked me long ago That's why you're killing me so slow You burn me like a pistol black as silt I'm only here to line your daddy's pockets Before he dies I swear I'll make him rich You know I've only got myself to blame You burn me like a pistol black as tar I'm only here to line your daddy's pockets Before he dies I swear I'll make him rich You know I've only got myself to blame

credits

released August 30, 2002

Produced by Xifer Fortier and Kimo Ball
Mixed by Xifer Fortier
Mastered by Tardon Feathered

Recorded between 2000 and 2002 on the Mobile Griddle Meat Packaging System
and at Chez Rhombus
Except for "So Slow (To A Cigarette)," engineered at Mr. Toad's
by Jeff Byrd and Marvin Humphrey, all located in pastoral, scenic 415 (SF)

Written by Griddle
Except for "A Move About Me And You," written by Robert Sprankle and Griddle
And "Available," written by Michael Rivo and Griddle
Published by Tunesmith Worldwide (ASCAP).

Griddle is Kimo Ball, Xifer Fortier, Chris McGrew, and Guy Seal
Aided and abetted by Jon Birdsong (coronet on "So Slow"),
Kelley Stage (additional vocals on "Fairest Of The Mall" and "So Slow"),
and Rosie Panzarello Ball (additional vocals on "Fairest Of The Mall").

Artwork and design 2002 by Joel Elrod : joelelrod.com

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