1. |
behind the carousel
03:25
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|
behind the carousel
we used to meet
drinking wine, exchanging dreams
all those little things
and in the park
we’d be the scene
festive love, bright lights
and ecstasy
we spark the night
we dance the streets
skipping school, tripping balls,
we do it all
we’re dynamite,
hot blood and make-believe
fairy king, fairy queen
you and me
in the dark
i still pray
i still pray for you to take me away
in apartment blocks
with the front door locked
we’d travel universes
travel like we’re first class
someone would knock
come in and take a puff
we’re so fucked up
why don’t you join us?
it’s a dead moon circus
when you’re so reckless
get on your white horses
giddy-up baby, i’m so restless
|
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2. |
rider
03:51
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|
ridin’ our white horses into town
got your marlboros, got your gun
i got my crown
screamin’ at the top of our lungs
coz we do whatever we want
i like to see you up there
with the wind playin’ in my hair
they crowned your their rock ’n’ roll king
coulda been your rock ’n’ roll queen
it’s what you wanted more than anything
it's what you wanted from the beginning
i want to take you outside
i want to take you, rider
ridin’ our white horses into town
got my smokey eyes, got my diamonds
you got the crowd
screamin’ at the top of their lungs
coz we give them what they want
baby, i wasn’t meant to be livin’ this way
get those cameras out of my face
but i’ll still love you after the fame
rider, i want to take you higher
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3. |
viper room
04:11
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|
when i lived in hollywood
back in 3017
they moved it from the run-down city of la, earth
to the city of rahab
on good ole venus
where you could get there anytime by portal-jumping gate x8z
we hung out at the viper room
where we’d play rock n roll
and get high off the venom of the baby night adders
they liked to curl around our wrists and ankles
with playful dexterity,
their skin gleaming like a clear, starry sky
nipping us whenever we started to sober up
by the end of the night,
which would often turn into the next day
we’d be so pumped
we thought we could do anything
we’d climb on to the roofs of tall buildings
just to sing and stargaze, to tell stories
we’d wander down the back roads
making friends with the alleycats
whose souls belonged to those who came before
we’d paint pictures of witches & ghosts & castles
dance in empty parking lots
and sleep in ancient ruins
around a small silver fire
that burned to keep us warm
and we made a promise
that we’d be together
to watch the birth of the next moon
you and i,
rider and judy
to watch the birth of the next moon
we had no money
but we didn’t need it
coz we got high for free
and we could dance for free
and singing cost fuck-all
but then you went and got famous
playing rock ’n’ roll to the rock ’n’ roll stars
we liked to watch you up on that stage
sweaty and raw and graceful
you looked so good on camera
with the lights all in your face
and i knew you loved it,
the ways the girls and the boys got so heady when you’d walk in
but i wasn’t cut out for that life, baby
i didn’t need no glitz or glamour
coz wherever you went
the paparazzi would follow
and i liked it more
when we were alone
strangers to others
but soul mates together
and so
i had to let you go
|
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4. |
the cavalry
03:02
|
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|
i told you that we were fine but you did not believe me
i don’t blame you, baby
we were meant to see the birth of the moon
but you took that away from us, baby
we were
we were
we were
we were gonna be something
in this fucked up reality
we could’a been
heroes in our own
whimsical fantasy
we’d ride on, ride on
ride on so valiantly
my belief in you has never wavered
it orbits around like the earth, baby
i wanna stop prayin’ for you to come back but i can’t help but think
we are
we are
we are
we are gonna be something
in this fucked up reality
we could’a been
heroes in our own
whimsical fantasy
i’ll get dressed up and then you’ll come and dance with me
we'll be the cavalry
we'll be going well
so don’t fall on your sword tonight
baby, it don't have to be this way
we can make love in the moonlight
heroes in our own
whimsical fantasy
i always loved you so let’s quit the rivalry!
we'll be the cavalry
we'll do it well
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5. |
sapphire
03:59
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we’d dance on tabletops
blowin’ smoke-rings with our long hair out
and we'd talk well into the night
they were afraid of us
coz we had what we wanted and we wouldn’t give it up
baby, you get me psyched
psyched, psyched
you’re my partner in crime
we liked stairwells and drinking beer
we had no money and we had no fear
and there was no way that i’d shed a tear
for someone like you
you gave me more than what i asked for
when i met you
at that house-party in the pyramids
how was i to know you’d be my ride or die?
sippin’, strippin’, trippin’, it was all we ever did
i said, baby tell me your name
you said, sapphire
sapphire, sapphire
you’re my partner in crime
lying in the grass
outside those council flats
you told me two dirty words (soul mate)
like we were a match
that could never be met
& then you took off my shirt
i trusted you (you were so beautiful and it made me want to get clean)
yeah, you gave me more than what i asked for
now the acid’s kicking in & the music’s bumpin’
and girl, you get me so excited
the acid’s kicking in
& the music’s thumpin’
i can’t hide it anymore
sapphire, sapphire
you’re my partner in crime
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6. |
||||
|
we used to ride spaceships
along the highway of the heavens
seatbelts unbuckled, fake driver’s license tucked in our back pockets
whisky bottle between your knees
in case a sip was required
we transported all the good stuff
heroin, mary-jane, ambrosia
from the Big Blue to the deepest, darkest,
hole-in-the-walls
that you ever saw
aliens have their vices too, y’know
we’d make pit stops at gas stations
not for gas (everything’s solar in outer space)
but for gum and cigarettes
fancy cheeses & cool shades
sometimes we’d call into a scurvy little motel to pick up money from a jimmy
who’d got his last round on tick
you gotta be tough with the bastards
or they’ll try to scam ya
so it’s always good to have your gun poking out a little, just so they can see it
it got real messy one night
we’d pulled into an old bar
on the corner of mars & deimos
i’d ordered a drink
while my girl visited the outhouse
a table of drunk old men was next to me
& one of them said
‘hey love
do i know you?’
& i said,
no, you don’t
& he said,
‘well, could i get to know you?’
& i said,
no, you can’t
at which point he grabbed my breast and said, ‘not even a little?’
‘not even a little!’ snarled someone
and it was Sapphire, she was back
she leaned over the bar,
lifted a half-drank bottle of scotch from the shelf
& brought it down
on to the old man’s
balding head
there was whiskey and blood everywhere
and i swear i saw some of his skull
his friends jumped up
faces contorted
their fists balled up
and a glint of silver
streaked through the air
BITCHES!
one of ‘em roared
& the silver became a dagger lodged in my girl’s chest
blood seeping on to her galliano dress
the room went silent
as they tend to become
when death enters
a big, burly alien came forward
we carried Sapphire back to the ship
i pulled the dagger from her chest
splashed a drop of ambrosia on to the wound
it closed in seconds
‘honey,’ she said
‘let’s never come here again’
& we didn’t
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7. |
venus flytrap
03:26
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she’d sit with her feet on the dash
her seat reclined all the way back
incense burning beside the radio
we’d listen to wagner & arca & gucci mane
and she’d wanted a baby
so i got her a venus fly-trap from jupiter
they’re different to the ones you see on earth
bigger, & louder & hungrier
with fangs sharp enough to cut diamonds
and jaws strong enough to hold a world in place
the baby was teething
& sapphire gave them a sheet of metal to chew on,
and a little bounce in her lap
‘where do you wanna go now?’ i asked her
thinkin’ bout how it’d be cool to check out the forests on pluto
or go rock-climbing on kerberos
or ice-skating on hydra
‘i want to have a baby,’ she said
and i didn’t reply straight away
‘but what about spike?’ i asked
and she said
‘i want a real baby. a human baby’
we’d talked about this before
and both of us wanted different things
so when we landed back on earth,
i parked at her brother’s house
and helped her move her belongings
from the ship to his spare room
i gave her spike
and i kissed her goodbye
then headed off
to watch the sunset
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8. |
ride or die
03:35
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i watched the sun go down
i watched the sun come up
i watched in between
when the moon reigned
i watched the sun go down
i watched the sun come up
i watched in between
when the stars surrendered
once i was a vessel
filled with passion and furore
we’d drive down this highway,
the open cosmos ahead
and now
i steer past asteroids and comets
lonesome as a man
when your lover
is your lover no longer
and your ride or die won’t ride no more
all those times we spent ridin’ wild
all those times we laughed until we cried
all those times we almost died
then in a flash you’d save my ass and we’d drive into the night
i can’t stop thinking about you,
thinkin’ about you
how i’m never gonna see you again
i can’t stop thinking about you
how i’m never gonna kiss you again
& life is music
and you showed me much
i wonder where you are
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9. |
||||
|
and i knew that stanley and i'd be friends
even though his eyes were buggy
50% of his face
i could see us in abandoned houses
him, bulbous and yellow
me, stained and imponderous
both of us wearing black
our frames growing slighter
as the nights slid by
& we drew into each other
i would stroke his fur
feel the bones beneath
a warm ball against my stomach
until we fell asleep
june would come
on neptune that's winter
& we'd both still be there
maybe in a different house
but still together
him, still missing
me, still recusant
and when the sun would touch our pile of tired bedclothes
he'd spring up in a vernal fashion
stretch his front claws into the dusty carpet
his back towards the crumbling ceiling
and lazily walk out the door
i'd roll onto my back
stretching my own limbs outwards
and sucking in my stomach
to pull myself up from the floor
what i did during the day
depended on the little things
like how long it'd been since i had a shower
& if anyone would buy a sketch
or a poem
my happiest days
would be when i spent a few hours writing
about some souls i dubbed
silk and mira
they were adventurous lil shits
lil mischief makers
& i wanted to give them a whole universe of magic
for them to explore
july came
& the days became even shorter
we slept in parks for a bit
i spent my days trawling neighbourhoods,
hunting the bloodless scent
that forgotten houses exude
stanley and i would always meet back at the same spot
always at nightfall
& i'd give him whatever food I'd managed to pinch that day
then i'd pick him up
find a new place
we couldn't sleep in the same street too often
sometimes the police would tell us to move along
i hated carrying the blankets
storing them in a dry place
would always make my cheeks burn
they were my shame
and my only source of warmth
besides that cat
stanley
i knew that we'd be friends
him, sleek & goofy
me, rough & grave
both of us
stray
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10. |
judy (a fortune telling)
03:35
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old woman in the corner of the bar
winged eyeliner and rivery wrinkles
she always said 'i love you' too quickly
and the men let her,
and they let her love them too,
then when they had their fill
they left
but there was always another man
or another woman
and sometimes,
when they said 'i love you' too quickly,
she dumped them
& there she sits,
still with more love to give
hair grey in a knot on the top of her head
wearing thick rings in cat piss gold
sipping merlot coz her liver's too shot for scotch
remembering when she had a life ahead of her
when the tarot cards cried good fortunes to come
when her breasts were still perky
and her bones didn't wheeze
when a stool at the bar didn't cut so sharp against her backside
hell, she used to ride bareback
she used to fly a broomstick
take a spin on a motorbike
whatever, man
as long as it was fast
live fast, die young
that's what they said
that's what they did
except her
she kept going
she left them in the dirt
and now she takes out a nail file and scoops the dirt away
|
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11. |
ink
03:17
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i’ve missed you
my dear space to think
my silence, my scratchings
my beautiful blackened ink
i am but a child
who is brave at times
she cries at others
& when nightfall hits, i roam the streets
my loves, i’ve missed you
i miss your night air and cool skies
your street lamps and your alleycats
i miss your wide, moonlit footpaths
for a writer to take her stride
i’m coming back
this page is mine
for me to own
to make, to change
to return to you again and again and again
to tell the story
the gods told to me
in a secret dream
that fell from the sky
inside the rain
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12. |
the unapproved
03:44
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when news of the war broke out
i was standing on a cliff
overlooking the sea
'earth is under attack. evacuate. evacuate’
'earth is under attack'
military spaceships buzzed overhead
but they weren’t foreign
they were our own
built with our own hands
conceived in our own minds
vessels designed for voyaging
now fitted with weaponry
to be used against us
in an attempt to ‘purify’ the planet
my family had left the earth long ago
their consciousness returned
to the consciousness of the universe
untouchable
but there were many still very much alive
and those that i loved the most
were nowhere to be found
the fighter ships were shooting at us now
the pilots brainwashed into believing that diversity was the enemy
and that eliminating us, the unapproved
would restore the planet to her natural glory
for the earth was dying, it was true
but not from all the beautiful, unapproved souls that were now running for it
she was dying
because we’d stopped looking after her
too busy blaming each other
to notice that the gifts she bestowed upon us,
her beautiful creations
were no longer being delivered
at their usual rate
and so the solution of those
who had the money
and the power
and the cowardice
was not to save the planet
but to destroy all those who lived on it
those who got in the way
of their endless hankering
they shot fathers and mothers
guardians and the guarded
but they kept the children
tattooed their wrists
with numbers and barcodes
and some ran
and some couldn’t
and some wouldn’t
so they stayed
and we picked up our ray guns
and shot back
|
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13. |
fire
00:46
|
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|
fire!
fire!
fire in the hole!
burn ‘em up, burn ‘em up!
let’s see what we can make of them, what they can make of us!
|
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14. |
the ravens
02:58
|
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|
the ravens are cawing for their dead brother
the ravens in mourning on black mountain tower
all the beaches’ sand has turned dark red
all the beaches’ sand has turned dark red
in the days after the massacre
we waited for the rain to wash away the blood
the men walk through the town centre
got their guns on their backs so their hands are free
they’re taking names and giving numbers to the children
the lucky ones won’t be who they keep
c’mon baby
i know your hurtin’
all over the earth
your bones are broken
your forests smokin’
iceless ice-bergs
but we weren’t born to die
this mortal body contains immortal soul
we were born to live,
we were born to fight,
c’mon let’s go
|
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15. |
we keep riding
03:14
|
|||
|
i found you on that swing set
in the park
where the bats
used to rest
for a second i thought
i’d made a mistake
but the mistake was that i’d left
my sorry ass is back in town
i hope it’s not too late
to give you back
the love i stole away
i see your face on their t-shirts
i know you could get any girl
and i don’t have much to offer you
‘cept for this aching soul
rider! i was a fool
believe me, now i know
who i am & i can say to you
i'm not scared
i’m not scared of a fortune
i’m not scared of love
the only thing i fear
is giving up
before the start
so i’ve made myself stronger
for you, for us, for i
and i won’t run away again
but step forward into the night
he stood up from that swing
circled me with arms and chest
drew me inside
’til we combined
spirit, music, flesh
|
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16. |
the end
01:15
|
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|
that night we rode out to the far end of the milky way
where you got the best view of all things cosmic
i showed rider my manuscript
and he said
‘i always knew you’d be a writer’
in that warm drawl of his
and i could tell he was impressed
we swapped stories of where we’d been
and what we’d been up to
and he showed me his songs
including one he wrote about us
we danced to it
from where we were
we could see all the planets and all their moons
and we remembered earth the way it was
before the destruction
there was no going back
there was no getting off
& to wish it hadn’t happened
would be to suffer twice
for us
romantic
vagabond
swashbucklers
we keep riding
we keep ridin’
|
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skybelly Melbourne, Australia
born under a full moon,
perfumed by jasmine & roses,
this long-legged
damsel
is a one helluva hell raiser.
she's a librettist,
a space dust sorceress,
with love on her hands and blood in her heart.
✨🖤⚡️🦇🌙🎵🌞
... more
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