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1. |
Jesus Sandwich
02:11
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Back East they want to make money
Out West they just want to get high
In between everybody wants Jesus
Like a big slab of cheese upon rye
We’re living in a Jesus sandwich
Open your mouth real wide
They say open your heart as they show their teeth
Take a bite, take a bite, take a bite
We’re living in a Jesus sandwich
Most don’t even know what’s inside
They just swallow whatever they’re handed
And pray the maker makes things right
Back East they ask you for your money
Out West they ask you for a light
In between they tell you that he’s coming
Like a big slab of cheese from the sky
The mill of god grinds slowly but it grinds so so fine
Kill your hunger with this nice white bread and wash it back with wine
We’re living in a Jesus sandwich
The more we eat the more we multiply
The preacher says to keep on feeding
And one day maybe we’ll be satisfied
© Laura Meyer, August 2011.
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2. |
The Bees
02:57
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The more you can do
The less you can be
Do what you will
You can’t make me
Work so hard
And tell me, why?
Are you afraid
You’re gonna die
Like the bees
The more you can do
The less you can feel
Hard as rock
But not as real
Honeycomb
You’re not as sweet
As the gold
Of honeybees
The more you can do
The less you can see
Cast your die
Into the street
Watch your luck
Fall to your feet
You’re gonna die
Just like the bees
© Laura Meyer, September 2011
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3. |
There Is A War
03:07
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There is a war between the rich and poor
A war between the man and the woman
There is a War between the ones who say there is a war
And the ones who say that there isn’t
Why don’t you come on back to the war
That’s right get in it
Why don’t you come on back to the war
It’s just beginning
Well I live here with a woman and a child
The situation makes me kind of nervous
As I rise up from her arms she says
I guess you call this love, I call it service
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Don’t be a tourist
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Before it hurts us
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Let’s all get nervous
You cannot stand what I’ve become
You must prefer the gentleman I was before
I was so easy to defeat I was so easy control
I didn’t even know there was a war
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Don’t be embarrassed
Why don’t you come on back to the war
You can still get married
There is a war between the rich and poor
A war between the man and the woman
There is a war between the left and right
A war between the black and white
A war between the odd and the even
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Pick up your tiny burden
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Let’s all get even
Why don’t you come on back to the war
Can you hear me speaking?
© Leonard Cohen, 1974.
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4. |
Bullshit
02:11
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If it smells like bullshit then it probably is
Don’t tell me that you will, tell me that you did
If it smells like bullshit, must be coming from your lips
I ain’t never met a bull so full of shit
You say, baby, baby, baby, I got the key
Baby, baby, baby, better stick around me
With your two sharp horns and your faces three
And a twisted tale I do not need
Bull bull bull, I’m starting to see red
When you pull pull pull me back in the pen again
Full full full, you’re so full of it
It’s a wonder you don’t choke on your own bullshit
You can’t walk the walk but still somehow overstep
Every time you talk, another blow upside the head
Well there’s nothing left to do but to just play dead
And leave you alone with your own bullshit
© Laura Meyer, August 2011.
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5. |
Change
02:24
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When the president takes your money
And you pay with dollar bills
Don’t forget to say, “Hey man, where’s my change?”
Before he closes the till
Or you can kiss your cash goodbye, sucker
"In god we trust" – better watch that eye
Fixed on you and staring you down
From that pyramid high in the sky
"In god we trust," but who are we?
And who is he, behind the gates?
"In god we trust," but who are these
Men who keep my change?
Change, change, the clank of the chains
Is the same as it’s always been
I’m not looking for a new master
I’m just looking for a few good men
Yeah the kind who do as they say
And say the things that they do
So when you get home with your groceries
You aren’t afraid that they’ll poison you
"In god we trust," but who are we?
And who are they who speak for me?
In god we trust but who is he?
And what about my change?
Change, change, we’re all begging for change
With arms outstretched, we sit at wait
For Santa Clause, for Robin Hood
For someone to do like he said he would
© Laura Meyer, October 2011.
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6. |
Mug Shot
02:06
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You’re looking pretty good in your mug shot
Yeah you’re looking pretty good
You’re looking like a crook more than I ever thought
That even you could
And I ain’t got the money to bail you out
Or else you know I would
Last time I bailed you out
I said it was the last time that I could
But you’re looking pretty good in your mug shot
Yeah, I always knew you would
You were always pretty good at ripping someone off
Yeah, you took all that you could
I ain’t got the money to bail you out, honey
And if I did I don’t know that I would
I ain’t got the money to bail you out
All I had you already took
Well, you’re looking pretty good
You’re looking pretty lost I guess not much has changed
You always looked good No matter the cost I wish you didn’t get away…
You’re looking pretty good in your mug shot…
You’re looking pretty good in your mug shot…
I ain’t got the money to bail you out, honey
All I had you already took
I ain’t got the money to bail you out
Looks like you’re in for good
© Laura Meyer, June 2011
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7. |
Don't Talk About It
02:11
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Don’t talk about it
Don’t talk about it
Don’t talk about it, no
Babe, you better hold your tongue
Don’t talk about it
Don’t talk about it
I thought I heard you talk about it
Yeah, you better start to run
Walk around it
Talk around it
These thoughts are potholes in the ground, yeah
You better watch where you become
Walk around it
Talk around it
I think that you forgot about it
Yeah, that’s how it’s done
Don’t talk about it
Don’t talk about it
Babe, you gotta wash it out of
Your head, your ears, your lungs
Don’t talk about it
Don’t talk about it
I told you you forgot about it
Don’t forget who holds the gun
© Laura Meyer, January 2011.
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8. |
Culling the Herd
02:02
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I crawl on my belly, drinking dust for my thirst
In a body that’s borrowed until my next birth
I don’t feel ready to return to the earth
But it isn’t for me to determine what I don’t deserve
Yeah, who’s to say what a human life is worth
When I reach the water I drink what I’m served
A chemical cocktail to quench my thirst
Maybe God is just culling the herd
Cursed is the earth to which we return
Cursed is the serpent from whom we must learn
Cursed is the person - he gave his word
Maybe God is just culling the herd
In the sea of the fish and in the sky of the birds
Death drifts like a wish that has yet to be heard
In the land of the Lord I’m just another bloody serf
And now it looks like God is finally culling the herd
© Laura Meyer, January 2009.
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9. |
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5, 6, 7, 8, 9 dollars an hour
My life’s worth more than this damn collar
Choking my throat til my face turns blue
To match the uniform you stuck me into
10, 20, 30, 40 thousand bucks a year
It sounds good now, but how it quickly disappears
Just like me as my skin fades white
Sitting at this desk and getting paid to die
Any color collar is just a decorated noose
I want to run naked like the rich men do
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 million or more
Bring all you have and set your bags down on my floor
I’ll give you my shirt and I’ll trade you my shoes
So I can run naked like the rich men do
Cause any color collar is just a decorated noose
I want to run naked like the rich men do
Don’t be shy, come on let’s all get loose
So we can run naked like the rich men do
© Laura Meyer, December 2010.
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10. |
Vampire
02:49
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You were always the victim
You were always the victim
I was the vampire
You kept your veins well hidden
Yeah and then you would hit them
In the nighttime
When you’d come to my bed
Say, get me out of this mess
And you pour out your pain, like blood
Then you say to confess
Now tell me who is the villain
Tell me how did your symptoms
Turn into mine?
It’s so easy to trick them
When everyone is addicted
You always seem to survive
And I’ll let you bleed to death
Before I let you back into my life
You were always the victim
You were always the victim
I was the vampire
Sometimes love is a fiction
You think it’s something it isn’t
Sometimes you just gotta lie
When you come to my bed
There’s no place for your head
Cause I don’t want your blood, your body, or love
I just need rest
© Laura Meyer, January 2011.
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11. |
Love Is A Broken Record
03:29
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Love love love love love love love is a broken record
Love love love love love love love is a broken record
Love love love love love love love I heard you’re a collector
Love love love love love love love does ours pass inspection?
Are you sick of listening to my heart beat skip skip love love isn’t this bliss?
Love love love love love love love something’s defective
Love love love love love love love love was that our best effort?
Don’t eject yet baby I can do better gimme one more take and I can perfect it
Love love love love love love love baby, let’s break those records
Love love love love love love love let’s stay together
Skip skip skip don’t you miss skip skip this skip listening
Don’t you miss skip skip don’t you miss listening
Love love love love love love is not what I expected
Love love love love love I tried to protect it
It never finishes
It just skips skips skips….
Over me skips skips….
Over you skips skips….
Over me skips skips….
And inside, too
© Laura Meyer, August 2011
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12. |
Mean
02:22
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If I mean nothing to you
If I mean nothing to you
If I mean nothing to you
Baby, why are you so mean?
It’s like I never knew you
Something happened to you
Yeah, I never knew you
Could be so mean
I heard you talking on the phone
When you thought I wasn’t home
I heard you promise someone
You were gonna leave
If I mean nothing to you
If I mean nothing to you
If I mean nothing to you
Baby, why are you so mean?
Every dog has gotta roam
And every bitch has got a bone
What’s she got that I don’t?
Tell me what you mean!
I know you’re scared to be alone
You say you’ll go and then you don’t
You think I’ll stay, but I won’t
Cause you’re so mean
If I mean nothing to you
If I mean nothing to you
If I mean nothing to you
Baby, why don’t you leave?
© Laura Meyer, November 2010.
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13. |
Money Hungry Green
03:29
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Money-hungry green
Money-hungry blue
That fat rich man
Don’t see like I do
Can’t see past his belly
Can’t see past his pipe
Can’t smoke it fast enough
So he raises the price
Yeah he raises his glass
To toast his own jam
Drinks the whole bottle
Then he asks how I am
Not cause he cares
Not cause he knows
Not cause he’ll change
His cash for my woes
He just likes to feel big
He likes to feel strong
He likes to feel that paper
Pressed inside his palm
As he shakes his hands
As he waves his fists
As he jiggles that ticker tape
Like piss from his dick
Yeah he likes to feel big
He likes to feel strong
He likes to feel something
Cause he’s got nothing at all
Nothing that don’t
Burn in a flash
Just paper and bones
Some flesh and some fat
While 24 karats
Hang above me like food
But all that seed in his hand
Can’t lure me to screw
What’s money-hungry green
What’s money-hungry blue
That fat rich man
Is my least favorite hue
Money-hungry green
Money-hungry blue
I thank god (if there is one)
I don’t see like you
© Laura Meyer, December 2010.
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14. |
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I respect the money like the alcohol
With a mixture of wanting and of fear
I respect the money cause I know it’s in control
When I can’t wipe my eyes clear
I respect the money like the alcohol
They say to keep your enemies near
I respect the money, try to do what it wants
Until it disappears
What’s that lurking in the shadows now
I think I see a friend
Why don’t you go ahead and check it out
While I sit here on the mend
I respect the money like the alcohol
There’s a lot of things that people do for beer
I respect the money cause I’ve seen what it does
And I try my best to stay clear
© Laura Meyer, October 2011.
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15. |
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I lie awake counting all the people
I’ll kill tonight while I’m sleeping
1 sheep 2 sheep 3 sheep 4
I am a citizen in a country at war
I lie awake looking at the ceiling
If I close my eyes I see them bleating
1 sheep 2 sheep 3 sheep 4
Follow the leaders straight into war
I lie awake looking at the steeple
They built to protect us from all evil
1 sheep 2 sheep 3 sheep 4
Follow your leaders straight through those doors
Follow the leaders, that’s what they’re for
Follow the leaders straight to their war
Be a good sheep and obey
Be a good sheep and you’ll be saved
© Laura Meyer June 2006-October 2011
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Laura Meyer Chicago, Illinois
I’m a writer and musician working in experimental memoir and sound at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I tutor and assistant teach. Previously I toured internationally for over ten years, collecting and curating experiences, melodies, language, characters, and sounds from the natural world. ... more
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