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[angelica]

So, I got a copy of the Jeffrey Lewis album to review. This is awesome, obviously. But! There is a problem. If any artist's work can't be reviewed without knowing the lyrics, it's surely Jeffrey. It'd be pretty much like reviewing a poetry book without the actual words in it.

Obviously, the answer is to transcribe the lyrics to the entire album. Enjoy, peeps!

Sorry if I've messed any of it up. If anyone has corrections, let me know and I'll vow to edit the post, forget about it and then maybe be poked into it by recurring "oh, I should do that" thoughts over the following month. Obviously for the few songs that were already up here I took what was there as a starting point and listened through for any changes.


Slogans

Well I remember the public pool
And all the trash on the ground in the park was cool
All the cigarette butts fought the needles
And all the of stones fought all the beetles
Mirror mirror on the wall
Oh come on that's not me at all
Now who's that handsome animal?
I feel so good I feel six feet fall.

And I kept repeating it to myself
'Til I convinced myself it's true
And everyone you meet is not better than you

Shoguns and Hulk Hogans
And cavemen shouting slogans
Back and forth around the fire
Now connected by a wire

So everyone you meet is you
Divided by what they've been through
The fates fly past beyond control
And make pebbles of our mountain soul

And I kept repeating it to myself
'Til I convinced myself it's true
And everyone you meet is not better than you

And that phone call made my stomach fold
I heard in yr voice a heart so cold
I stumbled back shaking with loss
They said stop calling Santa Claus
I thought my heart's not the kind you break
It's just that certain things are hard to take
But now that I've got it all on tape
I can really figure out its shape

And I kept repeating it to myself
'Til I convinced myself it's true
And everyone you meet is not better than you

And now I take it take it take it day by day
And now I take it take it take it day by day
But it's a lucky coincidence
Because I think it even comes that way



Roll bus roll

Roll bus roll, take me off
A rolled sweatshirt makes the window soft
If I fall asleep, don't wake me up
Roll bus roll, take me up

Midnight coming on a Monday night
I'm gonna go again because I don't feel right
Quick pack, knapsack, quick snack, quick train
42nd street, Greyhound again.

Roll bus roll, take me off
A rolled sweatshirt makes the window soft
If I fall asleep, don't wake me up
Roll bus roll, take me up

Old bodegas and old streetlights
Harlem looks so warm tonight
All those cheap desserts
Memory hurts, I could die
I gotta take 2 Tylenols and close my eyes

Roll bus roll, take me off
A rolled sweatshirt makes the window soft
If I fall asleep, don't wake me up
Roll bus roll, take me up

I wasn't designed to move so fast
I wasn't designed to have so much past
And in my mind's eye they all have so much fun
Know where to hide, I know where to run
And then the sun setting on my youth makes that old shadow get taller
Oh, but it's all fine as long as the bus makes the city behind me get smaller and smaller

Roll bus roll, take me off
A rolled sweatshirt makes the window soft
If I fall asleep, don't wake me up
Roll bus roll, take me up

Two weeks in England, two weeks in town
Another hundred bucks of medication down
Another sorry message that I need to send
And another situation that I have to end

A midnight coming on a Monday night
I'm gonna go again I might not be alright
It's a bitter pill, and it's still the same
42nd Street, Greyhound again

And if I get one seat, I hope it's the window
And if I get two seats I'll just lie down
But if I get one seat and it's just the aisle
I'll still be asleep before the hundredth mile

And then inside some tiny dream
And inside that some kind of me (?)
And outside us rolls the bus and the time will go by 'til inside me I am asleep

Then roll bus roll, take me off
A rolled sweatshirt makes the window soft
If I fall asleep, don't wake me up
Roll bus roll, take me up



If life exists


I think if life exists
It's probably like this
I had a common goal
I caught a common cold
I said when I get healthy
I won't take it for granted
And I really thought I meant it but I knew when I got better that I'd probably forget it
Feeling fine wasn’t worth a mention
So I didn’t pay attention

And it seems that’s just the way
Its all easier said that done
And it's not even easy to say

And when I get back home
I'll see what's left before I'd gone
A thousand sheets of paper
I'll see what they are later
And then I've gotta roam
And back and forth I've flown
And when I get back home I'll see what's left before I'm done (?)
Two thousand sheets of paper
I'll see what they are later

Well it’s hard to get too bored
When you pick the right two chords
And you keep on strumming
As if you don’t know what’s coming

Now I don’t have a girlfriend and I wish I was more happy
Now I have a girlfriend and I wish I was more happy
Now I have two girlfriends and I wish I was more happy
Now I have four girlfriends and I wish I was more happy
And when I'm in an airplane
I close my eyes and pretend
That it’s a rocket pointed straight down
Shooting at the earth again
Now I am more happy and I wish I was more happy
If I was a little smarter
If I worked a little harder
But emotions in the brain
They'll always be the same
It's just chemicals and blob
And what you've got is what you've got
And you just apply it to whatever's passing by it

Just like the guitar pick that I could not keep in my grip
It's like all the love I lose 'cos I could never fill the shoes
But it's just because I have no feet
And then I think every minute of every day I have a choice
To wish things could be better or be glad things aren't be worse
And maybe every minute of every day we have the choice
To say, "Things could be better," or to say, "Things could be worse."

And I think if life exists
It's probably like this
But it’s hard to get too bored
When you pick the right two chords
And you keep on strumming
As if you don’t know what's coming
And it seems that’s just the way
It's all easier said that done
And it's not even easy to say



Broken broken broken heart

Broken broken broken heart
When will you just go away
You just hurt hurt hurt inside of me
Every minute of the nite and day

And all I do is try try not to think
Not to think of anything at all
If I can keep myself from thinking for the rest of my life
Maybe I'll survive this fall

Oh this fall fall fall
See how low I fell
From where I was when I had you
Now I'm falling in a hole and it's dark and cold
And the only thing that I can do

Is try try try try not to think
Not think of anything all nite and day
Broken broken broken heart
When will you just go away

But it breaks breaks breaks and it never stops
Though I know that somehow it has to
And every time I feel that I just can't feel worse
I find out that it isn't true

Broken broken broken glass
Rattling inside my chest
What am I to do with every empty day?
I can't eat and I can't rest

And why why why does yr phone keep ringing?
And how how how does this hurt keep coming?
Every nite and every day
Oh, I was so careless
Oh, I was so stupid
To think I'd never feel this way
This way

But now all that I can say is
Broken broken broken heart
When will you just be gone?
You just hurt hurt hurt inside of me
And everything just feels so wrong

But thank you, thank you, thank you pain
For teaching me
Thanks but it's been more than enough
You can stop now pain
I'll never throw away
That project that two people built called love

Because we built it and we built it but I was so cruel
I wanted to know how it ran
I kicked it just to see what it would do
I was such an awful man
I wondered what would happen if I tested it
Then what if I tested again
How strong is it really?
Can I step on it?
Can I leave it standing in the rain?
Can I tell it that I don't care if it lives or dies?
Can I hate it and just wait and see?
Can I send it to the arms of another man less cruel and curious than me?

Well, just as you're thinking I tried and tried
To make it go away and break the chain
I said I'd trade it for freedom
I'd trade it for adventure
But the only thing I got was pain

Broken broken broken heart
When will you just go away
You just hurt hurt hurt inside of me
Every minute of the nite and day

And all I do is try try not to think
Not to think of anything at all
If I can keep myself from thinking for the rest of my life
Maybe I'll survive this fall



Whistle past the graveyard

Well I always kind of like to be surprised
I don't wanna be told what happens after I die
Death like a mystery gift wrapped up in a box
Sent from infinity and stamped with question marks
Everyone's got theirs and I've got mine
People shake it, weigh it, discuss it all the time
I tend to think there's nothing at all in it
But it's cool that I could find out any minute

And I whistle past the graveyard when I walk
'Cos I don't want to hear the corpses talk
I don't wanna hear them grumble and complain
Or discuss how much they want to eat my brain

And I always kind of like to be surprised
I don't wanna be told what happens after I die
Yeah, I don't want to hear the corpses talk
And I'll whistle past the graveyard when I walk

(Whistling)

Well if we lived forever we'd really wanna find out
But what a relief, we all die, so there's nothing to worry about
Some people say life is empty
Some say it's meaningless
Some say that isn't such a bad thing (yes it is)
Some say I'm wrong and I'll die and go to hell
But I'd be happy just knowing there was a point so it's just as well
People assume you'll suffer there
They just think you're selfish
But if I was in hell I'd be happy knowing other people were in heaven
It would make hell not so hellish

And I whistle past the graveyard when I walk
'Cos I don't want to hear the corpses talk
But I want black ants (?) across my path if I pick up bad pennies (?)
I say if there's monsters in my closet then come and get me

Yeah, but I always kind of like to be surprised
I don't wanna be told what happens after I die
No, I don't want to hear the corpses talk
And I whistle past the graveyard when I walk



To be objectified

I've left a trail of myself every place that I've been through
And going bald is the most manly thing I'm ever gonna do
I'll tell the earth,
"Thanks for the hair, thanks for the skin, thanks for the bone,
Though I now slowly give it back I still appreciate the loan."

Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as a mountainside
It would be such a relief to be objectified

Plus, who says it's so important to sort through these thoughts of ours?
Maybe that's why we love to try to see ourselves from the outside

In photographs and videos and diaries and mirrors
'Cos it would be such a relief to be objectified

And the closest that I ever got still seems to leave a lot to give
But the horizon seems to be a place that nobody can know
Looking forth and looking back
Our vision can't extend
Beyond the quaint vanishing points our bodies recommend
And I'll help you move some furniture somewhere it's never been before
But the room's so small the dresser drawer won't let us get back out the door

Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as a building
It would be such a relief to see
I'm just a natural thing

We're only boats
And the boats are only empty
And you can't blame an empty boat that's on the river to the sea
You can't blame a billion boats without a sail, without a sailor
And that's how we look in photographs and diaries and mirrors

And the plants turn into ants
And the ants turn into plants
And children are clumsy people
And old people are rotting children
And I still don't have a cell phone
But this sea shell gets reception
And the ocean won't stop calling
And I want a restraining order

Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as a building
It would be such a relief to see
I'm just a natural thing
We're just a natural thing
Just like anything


The upside-down cross

(This song was written by Jack
It's called the upside-down cross)

My wife Ilene and I
My wife Ilene and I
We embarked on a trip to Florida
We were trying to save our marriage and a manatee

Well sometimes we wouldn't speak for a week
Their bloody bodies would wash up on the beach
We paddled out on anything that would float
We threw the rocks at the people in their white power boats

My girl, the sweet Lenore
My girl, the sweet Lenore
We embarked on a trip to Algeria
We thought it was for the cause

We planted bombs they wouldn't even see
We were trying to oust the dirty French army
We ran and ran and hid by a cross
We fell in love as the blasts went off

Then one day she said it was over
But I didn't buy 'cos we weren't sober
I said, "Please don't leave me, I need you girl
I need yr help to save this world."

Oh, I went to Kansas City with a lady friend
Yeah, I went to Kansas City with a lady friend
We were up in Des Moins from Round the Bend (?)
I went to Kansas City with a lady friend

We (???) keep turning round
And our (???) didn't make a sound
Now it's hard (???)
I can't (???) it down
It was dark and gritty in Kansas City
[Sorry, just can't make that out!]

Then one day she said it was over
But I didn't buy 'cos we weren't sober
I said, "Please don't leave me, I need you girl
I need yr help to save this world."



Bugs & flowers

Out in the forest
Out past the stone wall
Built by old farmers
Or older guys
I saw a railway
With tracks all rusted
Wild flowers blooming
Up through the tides

I set out walking
Just cross-tie walking
Out on the cross-ties
Where I'd get stuck (?)

Sometimes I missed one
Sometimes there was none
Sometimes the flowers
Had eaten it
The sun was burning
The flags were churning (?)
The trees were turning
Inside the sky
The tracks were rotten
Some trash forgotten
Sometimes a bottle with ash inside

I've been a walker
A sidewalk talker
Out on the sidewalks
Where I could stay
Someday my body
Will look real shoddy
Wherever flowers have eaten it
Voracious flowers
Voracious hours
Voracious people
Voracious slime
Words like voracious
Just sound like nonsense
After you say them about five times

These flowers blooming
They are not human
These flies and insects
Are really weird
Their backs are shiny
Their souls are tiny
And by the zillions
They've disappeared
So if there's life after
It's packed with insects
It's filled with flowers
No room for us
When they kick the bucket
They just say chuck it
They come and go like
Infinite dust

The human race's
Beautiful faces
Changing places
Reform and bust
When we kick the bucket
Let's just say chuck it
We'll come and go like
Infinite dust



Good old pig, gone to Avalon

I had a pig, it really was a sight
When it was dark he glowed at nite
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

He had a tail that curled around three times
Helen: He clapped whenever a curl was thrown at a swine (?)
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

If you've ever wondered what the colour pink's about
All you have to do is see his snout
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

He got so big he thought he was a jeep
He used to give old ladies rides down to the beach
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

I never saw a pig as half as cute
Not just that, but pretty darn astute
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

Some said his name was Jasper, some said Jason
It all depended on which way he's facing
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

Well when music played you ought to see him wiggling
Despite his age he always acted like a piglet
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon

Towards Avalon one day he disappeared
I got a postcard, "Feeling fine, wish you were here"
Good old pig, a long time gone
On his way to Avalon
To Avalon



It's not impossible

I wrote pages about how I could never
So many phases back and forth and wherever
Sometimes so quiet hearing the little mice creep
While in my head the riot wouldn’t let me sleep

Up hills in Portugal
Across the Berlin Wall
Now it’s hard to remember when
I had no hope of you my friend

But it’s not impossible
It’s not impossible, now I know
It’s not impossible

I looked for hands until I was surrounded
Everyone else seemed they already had found it
Never collected what I thought was owed me
Now I know it’s not you, but at least you showed me

It’s not impossible, now I know
It’s not impossible, I thought so
But it’s not impossible

I’m still not certain, but it’s not so deadly
I’m not that person that despaired so steadily
Like sink tap water through my hands it went
But as long as failure's only ninety nine percent

It’s not impossible, now I know
It’s not impossible, I thought so
But it’s not impossible



Mini-theme: moocher from the future

Minnie the moocher from the future
She was raised by neither nature nor nurture
She had a metal front and a plastic back
But in the middle was a lot of soul and that’s a fact
She started messing round with the king of Saturn
He looked like a purple psychedelic pattern
His heart went zing when she did her thing
And before long she was walking off with Saturn’s ring
She travelled from the future to the distant past
Killed a fly which made her first guy become her last
Turned yesterday to notaday with some cute goon
And said the past is just some future that arrived too soon

And New York city how I love it so
I’m always bumping into buddies whose names I don’t know
I don’t get off to sleep until a quarter to four
And then I wake up in the morning and I do it some more
And when you look me in the face I just disintegrate
Now I’m on another date that I kind of hate
And I just keep falling further ended
Seems by now I should have landed

But Minnie the moocher from the future
Could turn space into whatever kind of face would suit ya
The rainbow's bend was what her contact lens was
So she knew what the colour glowing in each of her friends was
She started messing with the gamma beam
He said baby stick with me, I’ll turn your money green
Gave her his number, she dialled it with a satellite pilot
Took his infrared head and turned it ultra violet
She rode a black hole to a magnetic pole
Rode a dinosaur so long that it turned into coal
Made the coal a diamond said this ain't my best friend
Turned the jewel back into a dinosaur again
And my window view is a brick wall or two
With some barbed wire snagged on a plastic bag
And every plane I hear I think the end is near
They get louder and louder and then they disappear
And the shampoo stings and the landline rings
The Jesus freak on the corner with the guitar sings
And the vacant lot daydreams of what it's not
And the night seems to remember what the day forgot

But Minnie the moocher from the future
Is gonna meet me halfway ‘tween when I find her and lose her
And in that dock between the hands of the clock
She’s gonna park her flying spark here on my own block
She’ll honk her horn for me and take my arm
She’ll invite me on a ride to where the tide is born
Where the director and cast of the future and past
Follow the union rules and take a break at last
And when we’re all refreshed after a little rest
She’ll say goodbye to her guests and go back on her quest
I’ll say so long Minnie, I’m glad you’re my friend
I’m gonna keep dreaming about you till we meet again

[Dav]

welcomeAngelica, and let me be the first to say thank you!
_________________
http://uberaffe.bandcamp.com

[AFB]

Hi Angelica! When you questioned this line in Slogans here:

Shoguns and calcodeines (?)

Everytime I listen to this track I hear "Shoguns and Hulk Hogans"

I don't know if this is true and it seems like a strange line, but it amuses me and I shall keep singing it like that!

[angelica]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right about that. Edited!

[Will Oldham]

Hi Angelica, this has to be the greatest introduction to the board ever!

thank you so much for all your hard work and welcome!

Who were you reviewing the album for? ( if you can say )
_________________


www.myspace.com/will_oldham_horror

[angelica]

Thank you!

I don't think there's any privacy being broken or anything in saying it's for The Line Of Best Fit. I think the reviews go up just a little before an album's out, so it'll be a little while however long it takes me to actually write it.

[Hattie]

And I'm taking it that it's a thumbs up review?
*or else!*

Hahaha.
_________________
"The last time i met Jeffrey Lewis i went insane"

[silverwood]

whats 'Good old pig, gone to Avalon' about?
am i right in thinking its just a story about a pig who went to avalon, the mysitcal island?
or is there some deeper metaphroical thing im missing here?
_________________
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2501926108_65f54395f7.jpg?v=0


I had a common goal. i caught a common cold.

[Hattie]

Haha like some kind of high brow message that you haven't gotten?
_________________
"The last time i met Jeffrey Lewis i went insane"

[silverwood]

haha
It sounds like a fun little song!
Im not going to look any more past it than that.
BUT! if i was to get al pretensious and go analytical on your asses then id say....
its about the couruption of society. the pig (being the police and justice sytsms) have all left for a better place 'avolon', leaving no true justice and law behind
you see true justice shines in times of dark "When it was dark he glowed at nite "

And true justice applaudes doing the Right thing! "He clapped whenever a curl was thrown at a swine"

Some people within the police depeartment or governent or other justice enforcing groups are called jasper....or john
"Some said his name was Jasper, some said Jason
It all depended on which way he's facing "

haha, but maybe not
_________________
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2501926108_65f54395f7.jpg?v=0


I had a common goal. i caught a common cold.

[AFB]

But then why would he be calling the police cute?

[silverwood]

maybe jeff has a strange affection to police officers!
_________________
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2501926108_65f54395f7.jpg?v=0


I had a common goal. i caught a common cold.

[kayleigh]

Cute was originally a shortened form of acute in the sense "keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd." Often in an under-hand manner.
Such as 'Don't get cute with me' .

[granfalloon]

in objectified: I'm pretty sure the lyric is "you can't blame a billion boats" where the question mark is. and I think the other question-marked line about rotting children is right

[angelica]

Yep, that's right - corrected. And on re-listen, I was just missing an "are" in the rotting children line, so that's changed too.

Anyone wanna have a go at that bit in The Upside-Down Cross?

Anyway, too-long review is written and sent off. No idea when it'll be published, though.