Vic Chesnutt - Merriment
Merriment
an old woman in a wig
and a mule eating a fig
caterpillar on a twig shouldn't flitter
fella hanging from a clock
someone falling from a dock
little ripple showing stock and then we titter
chubby kid upon a trike
opened up the dyke
she nearly lost her water
heals a haggard soul
reflex to cajole
bust your ass to soothe his cancer
then the tragedy within
gets the audience to grin
so you stop to start again but it's ending
shooting one's self in the foot
catch one's self with a fishing hook
elementary textbook comic devices
for the common good
take a little nug
who's to say we should or should not giggle
bless the idiot
that makes us split a gut
roses for the butt of our merriment
Fissle (Vapour and soot)
Theorize and postulate
screw it up to get it straight
fissle, every one
Spooning with a sweetie pie
as solid as a twist-tie
fissle, every one
Equal but opposite
Reduced to vapor and soot
Carbon ends up carmelized
In the perforated sky
fissle, every one
Isaac & Abraham
The larder and the little lamb
fissle, every one
A Feather at a Wall
Chaos
Or is it preordained
Glorious glockenspiel
Vain hideous game
Party
Such a lonely host
Playing with paperdolls
Nothing approaching a peer group
Fill us full of wonder
A feather at a wall
Mixing the miasma
Almighty alchemist
Wholly self-serving
Arty
But hardly a victimless stunt
Forming
So spontaneous
All alone and eager to
Show the converted who's boss really
Oh so rather sad
All that trouble gone to
For just a puppet put on the back
Sunny Pasture
i am heading toward sunny pasture and shade
got it made
what is waiting on me i been waiting my whole life for
working towards
i guess i lost my way
guess i got sidetracked
all those forks and roads
never ever find my way back
i was floundering but now i'm pondering
down the homestretch
i'm so set
i'm a lucky man i been handed new lease on life
grip it tight
i guess i let it slip away
lost touch
i don't even know anymore
if i was ever in control all that much
Preponderance
Preponderance
Preponderance
She shot me a bird
and everything blurred
She opened her mouth
and I was trounced
She likes to drink juice
smells like a mousse
Cut the crap
You're spoiling my frappe
She's humming
so cunning
And stunning
in her mother's blue dress
She fluttered her lids
and I hit the skids
She wiggled her nose
and everything froze
She shook her head
and my innards bled
Cut the crap
You're spoiling my frappe
She's humming
so cunning
and stunning
in her mother's blue dress
She learned from the best
and I was the test
She aced the exam
and now i'll damned
She just had to kneel
to get a book deal
Cut the crap
You're spoiling my frappe
She's cunning
and stunning
in her mother's blue dress
Haiku
Mighty Monkey
Smell the mighty monkey
Trainer is a junkie
And the tightrope walker
has one foot in the grave
Invited to inspect what is a trainwreck
You don't even have to check
It's evident, so evident
Dancing bear is full of worms
See the puny pachyderms
Lion tamer wrestles with
ghosts from his past
Invited to inspect what is a trainwreck
You don't even have to check
It's evident, so evident
Clowns have herpes and hepatitis c
The chick who runs the pony ride
We call her Catherine the gross
Invited to inspect what is a trainwreck
You don't even have to check
It's evident, so evident
Alcoholic acrobats
MC smokes crack
Last week the human cannonball
Blew his brains out
DNA
dna you're in a battle with your dna
you'll wrestle mother nature til the end
you don't accept the judges decision
it's gonna take and take total annihilation
they preach to you
they speak the truth
but truth is only in the understanding
only when all parties can agree to the terms does it
count on every star you see in the sky
it ain't all the options
what is called for often is called improvisation
commandments that they passed along to you
encoded what and not to do
but the law is full of loop holes
its contradictions causes short circuits
in human hands
the struggle expands
till every mother is mutating daughter
repeated simply sequential if'n you care to
count on every star you see in the sky
it ain't all the options
what is called far often is called
a term you gotta define
a term you gotta define
a term you gotta define
through improvisation
Deeper Currents
You may not be interested
Of course I am prepared for anything
Why should it to everyone else and not me
You may not be interested
But let me assure you it sure is
You may not be interested
But let me assure you it sure is
Of course l am prepared for anything
Accept the stranglehold
Accept the stranglehold
Go ahead and be sarcastic now
While you've got such an adept lookout
You may not be interested
But let me assure you it sure is
You may not be interested
But let me assure you it sure is
Go ahead and be sarcastic now
Long may you wave
Long may you wave
Tender beauty is precarious
Sweetness and joy illuminate the darkness
Individauls influence in complex ways the deeper currents
Individuals influence in complex ways the deeper currents
Tender beauty is precarious
Hard to insulate and fully embrace
Hard to insulate and fully embrace