i was thinking about numbers
as i was pushing thru the sea pool
about how i been in this group
this band
for over half my life now
we left the main road so long ago
we are making our own way
but still perpetually lost
i am starting to appreciate the paradoox
we are making our own way
but we dont know where we’re going
everything is paradox
vishnu says I am and I am not
(the westerner in ya says
oh yeah, thats bullshit
it does not compute
captain, thats quite illogical)
now
you gotta get yer head around it
and you gotta get yer head around
being in something
for this long
having remained true to original manifesto
and yet
having transformed
sometimes so painfully
sometimes so easily
and here we are
still going
that doesnt deserve any applause
just cause we stayed together
maybe it was the path of least resistance
the devils ya know etc
i never in my wildest dreams
OR
nightmares
did i think this would go
on
and
on
and
on
what would 26 year olde sk say
about it all?
who cares, he wouldnt have understood
we have adhered to our manifesto
to create the best music we could
with nice lyrics
and all the accoutrements
according to our heroes
and as anathema to those whose music
we loathed
determination not to fall in all those
money glamour power traps
determination to steer our own little fucking ship
determination to seek the stuff we wanted
and not listening to small minded short sighted musick bizz
types
who disappeared a year or two later
while we have endured, baybee
you wouldnt believe how they try to deflect me
from my course
from my destiny
those clowns and leeches in the bizz
you see its not just writing
cool jangly oblique electric symphonies
thats the easy part
its battling the inevitable idiots
populating that strange stupid thing called
the bizz
so any way
26 years of strummin’
pluckin’
travellin’
waitin’
soundcheckin’
findin” veg restaurants
packin’ and repackin’
sayin’ goodbyes
scorin’
laughin’
yellin’
singin’
one year
in 1988
we would get up at six in helsinki
after having gone to bed at 3 or 4
we’d fly to rome
do a tv show
(with lotsa italian style argy bargy)
do a loada interviews
do a show
gee its 4 in the morning
dont we get up in an hour
and fly to minneapolis
jesus i might as well stay up
mmm i dont feel too badde
after havin flown here via 3 other airports
customs
queues
taxis
luggage
etc
sk check into nice roomy sorta art deco
oohh sk not feeling so goode
whole world warping in a very NONpsychedelic way
everything falling down on me
world was imploding on me people
can you dig this?
everything that was out there came in on me
i had nothing keeping the outside out
i start weeping uncontrollably
a music bizz type called my manager
comes in my art deco warping bleeding room
why are you crying guy?
your album just moved up the charts a few spots….!
sk has 2 big shots o brandy fast as room service
can bring em up
now its a good thing that i dont really drink much
and have NEVER really been drunk in my life
cos the brandy slugs me
hammers me back into
this theatrette
we call “reality”
manager whisks tired and emotional singa
off to hospytal
this man is exhausted says cluey doc
he needs 3 weeks off right now
sure sure says manny
i’ll see to it
next morning post my nervous breakthroughdown
im up at 7 touring sam fucking goodys warehouse
in st paulie
meeting and greeting bewildered staff
at this stoned reclusive aussie space rocker
who don’ wanna be there a’meetin’ em
and is just keeping that BIGGE nasty feelin’ at bay
you see folks
once that levee in yer head breaks…
its gonna happen easier the second time round
i thank all my gods
that i never had that feeling again
even getting off ye olde gear
but i seen others gettin’ it
and its somethin’ to be avoided
thats for sure
anyway i did get my day off eventually
3 weeks later
on a train between washington and somewhere else
much farther north
maybe up there
where mike baroney from new haven
used to come and see us
i tell you touring can be a lotta fun
it can also be the most infuriating
slow stupid fucking runaround
waiting for people
sitting and travelling with the same bunch
turns you into something
you didnt wanna be
so you gotta resist yerself
as well as the imbeciles out there
hell bent on turning the band
into whatever was “bigge” at that point in time
imagine if yer humble hero had listened
i’d be a kiltwearin’ breakdancin’newromantic
grungin’screamin’ wreck
i always thought
why dontcha get yer own band, pal
then you can try these pathetic OBVIOUS ideas
out yerself
and leave me be
i only tell you all this
deer reeders
so you may imagine a little
of the determination
that was needed
to be here with you today
still proud of my band
we’re oldies
but we’re goodies
i reckon anyway
see ya round
sk