Vic Chesnutt - About to Choke

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Ladle

you file me with the libertines
I fold in line
My monthly dole of magazines
Beaming bistro shine
In my ladle is your plum
And my daily staple of your cutesy crumbs
Of your cutesy falling crumbs

I saw you at the snazzy din-din
You made me sad that I watched
I must say you truly packed ’em in
Nearly dearly debauched
In my ladle is your plum
And my daily staple of your cutesy crumbs
Of your cutesy falling crumbs

In my ladle is your plum
And my daily staple of your cutesy crumbs
Of your cutesy falling crumbs

 

Tarragon

Suckin on a toothpick soaked with cinnamon
The boys in the backroom played on
Anonymous Adonis, he’s the one you want
the boys in the backroom played on

not beholden to know afterwards
Not beholden to the afterwards
not beholden to the afterwards
Not beholden to the afterwards

Saw him at the market buying tarragon
The boys in the backroom played on
Clinch for a moment, then you wander home
The boys in the backroom played on

 

Swelters

After the splice
When the temperature’s nice
After the patch
When everything’s a match
After the patch

after the edit
When it’s had time to set
When it’s smooth
Then it’s time to move
when it is smooth

Go consult your elders
Look into the thatch
any day that swelters
there’s still some shelter
Beneath the hatch

Go consult your elders
Look into the thatch
Any day that swelters
there’s still some shelter
Beneath the hatch

after the cool
When it’s wound on the spool
When it’s spent
You’re rarely glad it went
when it’s spent

 

Little Vacation

Like a little vacation
Like a little old song that I want to hear
Like a big libation
Like a flattering sentence whispered in my ear

that’s what I want
Every time I try what I’m trying for
why don’t we have a little symposium
Where everybody takes the floor yeah

like a scenic vista
Like a long awaited chemical buzz
like a far off twister
like an unexpected pleasant run-in with the fuzz

that’s how I feel
every time I feel like I want to feel so
why don’t we have a little council meeting
And hash out something real

Robert’s rules of order will be, be observed
I’ll be the parliamentarian
with an unswerving dedication

Like a little vacation
like a little old song that I want to hear
Like a big libation
like a flattering sentence whispered in my ear

That’s what I want
every time I try what I’m trying for
why don’t we have a little coucil meeting
where everybody takes the floor

Robert’s rules of order will be, be observed
I’ll be the parliamentarian
with an unswerving dedication

 

Degenerate

I am a rough ball of twine
I have a duty to do
I been tied to the table
but now I am frazzled and aloof

degenerate, disintegrate the tight knots
degenerate, rot away the nooses
degenerate, out come those tangles
oh degenerate, oh degenerate

acorn squash and a hearty rows of okra
stand of sweet corn by the, by the trickling creek
winter dead that was buried ’neath the pole beans
behold a sink-hole in the spring

degenerate washed by weather cycles
degenerate bleached the deadly night shades
degenerate prepare to take the profit
oh degenerate, oh degenerate

degenerate, disintegrate the tight knots
degenerate, bleached the deadly night shades
degenerate, out come those tangles
oh degenerate, oh degenerate

 

Hot Seat

Ventolin and Vivarin and primatine
secret tequila shots and a patch of morphine
in the morning and in the throes
what a great day to come out of a coma

I’ve been in the hot seat sweating it out
oh sweating it out
sweating it out
sweating it out

I touch the telephone it falls away
I think they call it empathy
but not this way
I put my lips on the sound hole
my tongue is finally warming
but my brain is charcoal

I’ve been in the hot seat sweating it out
oh sweating it out
sweating it out
sweating it out

not much later, fall out of favor
pretty soon
I know I’ll do
precisely what I wanted not to do

maybe I slipped up
and learned a lesson
to work my proclivity towards second guessing
I was too naive and enthusiastic
To keep my trap shut
and my monkey in a motherfuckin’ basket

I’ve been in the hot seat sweating it out
oh sweating it out
sweating it out
sweating it out

 

Giant Sands

do a little rope trick
move around the mildew
when you stopped to make a phonecall
in the glitter of a landmark
she said something about a blood clot
and a bad wild peach
that nappy little news flash
takes the cut right out of your crease

get it on demand
like Tupperware
shipped with sarcasm
all is fair
jog through giant sands
till you’re cleared
then to leave the land
unawares

"at least it’s not a leg-break"
you laugh out loud and lonesome
in your cabin cruiser
on your cross-county trek
your brain feels like a fiddle
a brittle fragile vessel
pull off onto the shoulder
by the waterworks

get it on demand
like Tupperware
shipped with sarcasm
all is fair
jog through giant sands
till you’re cleared
then to leave the land
unawares

 

Threads

your personal pariah is in a wool cap
the mirror flakes away take a long nap

watching the threads disintegrate
like the Krishna beads in a lockbox safe
watching the threads disintegrate
like the Krishna beads in a lockbox safe
watching the threads disintegrate
crumbling like the lawn art you made
oh lawn art you made
oh lawn art you made
oh lawn art you made
I was crumbling like the lawn art that you made

hard brown bread cut with a circular saw
shallow rattling breath with a wee cough

watching the threads disintegrate
foisted into the middle ages
watching the threads disintegrate
foisted into the middle ages
watching the threads disintegrate
remain in the ruckus and you will get scraped
oh you will get scraped
oh you will get scraped
oh you will get scraped
if you remain in the ruckus and you will get scraped

 

See You Around

I’m sorry for my lack of communication
but as I’m staring out this fifth floor window
it seems like the least amount of communication the better
oh, well what am I supposed to say
"there’s a bloody effigy on my wall
and the complimentary carnation is falling apart"
and I ain’t got time for the niceties
or rather I was never never fond of the niceties

I will see you around
I will see you around
see you around
see you around

well I must admit I’m flattered by your consecration
It’s a mind-numbing spine-chilling
but never-the-less heartwarming gesture
but as you make your advances so clumsily
I’ll save us both the both the hassle and leave
and hang out all night
in the familiar fluorescent light of Dunkin’ Donuts
’cause I ain’t got time for the niceties
or rather I was never never fond of the niceties

I will see you around
see you around
see you around
see you around

well how are you with issues
lately you’ve been a half-assed activist
you’ve been seen sashaying around the picket line
wearing scarcely any sign
oh but always vocal in love and strife
and the politics of your all important life
well I’m sorry but your routine is coming off a bit ragged
and I ain’t got time for the niceties
or rather I was never never fond of the niceties

I will see you around
I’ll see you around
see you around
see you around
see you around
see you around
I’ll see you around
I’ll see you around
I’ll see you around