words and paint by michael marisi ornstein
drums by eric stiff

I been ripped off by con men promising high paying jobs overseas
I been kidnapped by farmers,
I once gave birth to a jackrabbit
I been saved from a burning building by a cow wearing a red wig
I been stared at by a woman hiding behind a bush
I been through every taste test known to man
I been thinking about buying a lawnmower
I been sleep walking through burning forests
I been hiding my motorcycle in the garage
I been avoiding anything that resembles comfort
I been blistered by the heat straight out of thighs
I been launched up into hallucinogenic skies
I been chased by a million pound grizzly bear
I been beaten raw in the summer moonlight
I been eaten whole by a waitress from Howard Johnson’s
I been to the park out burning gasoline trees
I been riding horses through the streets of hell
I been to salad bars that made my skin crawl
I been through ancient ghosts walking marble floors
I been to the top of Mount Hope wearing nothing but moose eyes
I been to the rock of Gibraltar, I cracked it in two like a peanut
I been shaved clean by an angel in a Volkswagen
I been to Seaside Heights wrapped in a red bandanna
I been making love in expansive graveyards
I been strolling crowded boardwalks, eating sausage
I been wrapped up in a banana peel Zoot Suit
I been stripped of all my stripes
I been left only with a buck knife
I have been tranquil for a moment or two, once or twice
I been tortured by attendants in the Sistine Chapel
I been to Navaho county with a hawk on my arm
I been down Hoboken streets with stones in my shoe
I been callin dial’a’mattress all day long, lining the street with beds
I been trouble to some, deep trouble to others
I been pulling purple/blue old men out of the ocean
I been wondering about getting myself a paddle boat
I been so sunburned that I shed my skin like a snake
I been to White Castle eating square burgers
I been terrible, horrible, obscene, and undependable
I been reading the Book of the Sea since I landed
I been testing out my new flying machine
I been tracing the outline of your face
I been racing the ideas ‘a your head
I been sleeping in a tinderbox bed
I been barely hanging on by thread
I been exiled and forced out to the woodshed
I been broken by professional, high quality head
I been shaking and striking and breaking and lighting
I been fixing and mixing and waxing and faxing
I been dragging and whip-lashing
I been relaxing on hot coals
I been scarified and skinned alive
I been brought to rest and laid till I died
I been in dreary locations
I been places, stifled bright red carnations
I been rosary'd and blessed by a crowned little princess
I been shuddered and sickened until I confessed
I been to millions of places, I've never been before
I been sticking my boot in the way of death's door
I been remembering things I don't want to see anymore
I been taken to temples,
I been locked outside their doors
I been forward and backward and forward some more
I been sunk in the river and spit out on her shore
I been triangle’d soft tailed, chromed and restored
I been taken aboard the ship and given a tour
I been dancing and spinning I don't know what for
I been transported to India with exiting these doors
I been swimming in water not far from her shores
I been shuffled, tear dropped, molded and floored
I been kissing pirate's wives in secret halls in Singapore
I been dreamed up sun showered rain on your floor
I been asked not to call at this time of night anymore
I been willing to believe any stretch of folklore
I been this and that, but I ain’t so vague anymore
I been trying to remember where I’ve seen you before
I been trying to remember where I’ve seen you before
I been trying to remember where I’ve seen you before
I been trying to remember where I’ve seen you before



We got no
Sun showers here
Rain dances here
Flash fires he re
Sand blasts here
Battlegrounds here
False gods here
Trumpet prophets here
Brain cancers here
Waterfalls here
Indian graves here
Roman temples here
Roamin cats here
Mermaid tails here
Angel's dust here
Lost variety here
Sampled souls here
Fish in tanks here
Coney Island here
Clams on the half shell here
Sawdust bars here
We got no
Work camp blues
Ill fitting shoes
Money to pay
Hell and a day
Stripes on clothes
Chained in rows
Guitar strings
Voices to sing
Hate in eyes
Under disguise
Mule to whip
Stiff upper lip
Smile through teeth
Funeral wreath
We got no
Land to till
Pay to blow
Over grasses
Blue with color
Underpasses
Reach each other
Forest nightfall
One more fallen
Everyone heard
Nobody's talkin
Flesh for birthright
Dice for rolling
Sleeping awake
New boots stolen
Table crawlers
Eating my dinner
Stack-o-Lee
Stack-o-Lee
We got no
Wings
Here

wings (for blind willie johnson)
words and paint by michael marisi ornstein
drums by eric stiff



Come on over here
And sit next to me
And put your belly against my cheek
Your belly is all I need
To be a part of this world

Your belly is my foundation
Because I need
And I’m not afraid to need
And I need your belly against my cheek

Bring it on over here
And I’ll start a fire
And we'll talk about things
That we know nothing about
Cause it don’t matter
What we're talking about

Cause it's snowing down all over Chinatown
And everything is blue it seems
Silent, beautiful, and cozy

It seems so
Natural
That you're here and I’m here
And that no one else is here
It seems so natural

And it's quiet outside
It's so quiet you could hear
A grand piano drop
From a hundred feet up
From that Maxwell House building,
Way across town

And

If I closed my eyes
I almost feel as if we are on Grand Street
In a snowstorm

grand street
words and paint by michael marisi ornstein



Mindless, loveless, corroded
Blankless, faultless, on fire
Burning back up the narrow
Left footfalls on pavement

Rich sleepless on cotton
Blood torches over desert
Random wishes for hire
Dream soundless toward hollow
Drink empty the bottle
Sleep never the sailor
Rambling over the darkness
Lay on down, curly black

Sleep never the sailor
Dream only of one love
She watches from above
Damn straight if the silence
Blue silence exploded
Blood torches on desert
Can't count on the weather
Tears fill all the creases

No lips can remember
No pillow can surrender
No words can summon
No vision can recapture
No taste can charge full
Lips grind you forever

Man, she exploded
Inside the gray meadow
SIlver horses under moonlight
Through Arabian years lost
Your footsteps surround them

I’m sailing back to Thompson Street
Over mountains heavy cliffs
My bones are on the pass
Medals by my side clutched
Photograph of my sweetheart
Locket around my neck still
No vandals no thieves touched
Rain fills up the quarries
My boots are still walking
Over stones children throwing
The time is still passing
All following you

My heart is just passing
Dragging
Following you

Clattering and dragging
Forever,
Following you

mindless
words and paint by michael marisi ornstein
drums by eric stiff



The steam whistles dead
The smoke is exploding
The trains in the ditch
Be careful what you do

The nights on the stove
The moons in the spoon
The sun's breaking hard
Be careful what you do

The seas banging hard
The rains shooting bullets
Dog dead in the yard
Be careful what you do

And in the valley, the seamstress is weeping
She says her lover abandoned her, sleeping
Her black eyes echo into distance
Be careful what to do

Man, I used to love sleeping outside
Blind silence in the trees
Coffee pot hanging over the fire
Be careful what you do

They'll give you advice
Take you for a ride
Leave you babbling and bleeding on the roadside
Be careful what you do

careful
words and paint by michael marisi ornstein
drums by eric stiff



She never imagined
She'd be the kind
Of woman that men
Would look at like that

She never imagined
She'd be the kind
Of woman that strangers
Would talk to like that

She never imagined
She'd be the kind
Of woman that children
Would laugh at like that

She always imagined
That she would be blessed with a family
Of two or three babies by now

She never imagined
And she can not imagine
How something like you could have crawled under her skin

she always imagined
words and paint by michael marisi ornstein



he was a sailor
and his wife was a tailor
and she left one day
in a brand new suit

i could see the ships from here
and i don't know where you are
i guess you're out there on one of them ships
you always said you wanted to see the world

my ring is still on my finger
my clothes are still hanging on the line
my pipe is still smoking there on the table
i’m a man in trouble

i can see the bed empty
i can see your satchel is gone
i can see you cut off you hair
it's on the floor right under my feet

tonight the stars are talking physics
i can see the water line in the moonlight
i can hear the sea from here
i can see if i close my eyes

i'm walking street to street
my clothes are falling off my bones
my beard is tangled and frozen
and you stole my only boots

i can't walk up the stairs
because our bedroom's up there
your form is indented on the bed
your breath i still on your pillow

in my heart is an iron ball and chain
in my gut is an emptiness like the rain
when you're out in it and your five years old
and you forgot your galoshes and you rain coat