{words as listed in liner notes}
[words as actually recorded]
Again you announce,
While you whirl and bounce,
Intentions to pounce
On the beat menace
No woman or man
Could ever withstand
The devious plans
Of the beat menace
Come to lay you low
We've come to vex your soul
Feeling the heat
Hell at your feet
Don't even speak
Of the beat menace
Something to take away your innocence
Someone to blame it on
Helps you to defeat
Dancing in the street
Come to lay you low
We've come to vex you
Resolved in your mind-
The nature of crime
Is to swallow the line
Of the beat menace
Imagination's on the rise again
So hide your heart away
Dust off the fears and guilts and lies again
The beat is here to stay
Your satellite can reach that Eskimo
He buys a suit and tie
Re-styles his hair like girls in Tupelo
and sings "sweet bye and bye"
He's meeting all your strange requirements
He thinks you can't be fooled
He'll get the rules and laws and sacraments
By sending checks to you
We've come to bring you low
Strange animals
Strange
Strange animals
Strange
Too complex to be tamed
Too great to be grasped
Their wonder and beauty
cannot be expressed
So will they devour you?
Well nobody knows
Can't see what's behind
Those wild animal clothes
I try to describe it
Can never succeed
Moving around
In a big make believe [1]
I say you are this
I say this is you, but
You're one strange animal
I am one too
Strange animals
Strange
Strange animals
Strange
If I were to give you
An animal's name
Could I keep you locked
In a cage in my brain?
Yes, I want to hold you
But it is not clear
Just what your intention
If I get too near
I feel the danger
But I cannot leave
Will you tear open
The heart on my sleeve
Thought you were this
Thought this was you
You're one strange animal
I am one too
Strange animals
Strange
Strange animals
Strange
I try to describe it
Can never succeed
Moving around
In a big make believe
I say you are this
Say this is you
But you're one strange animal
I am one too
[1] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable
Earth, p. 32:
"I learned early that language does not adhere to
what we really are, that we move in a big make-believe which is
maintained by books and pages of newsprint. And every one of my efforts
to say something real ended the same way, by my being driven back to the
enclosure of form, as if I were a sheep straying from the flock."
You touch my hair and cheek sometimes [1]
Feel in yourself this flesh and blood
My poor flesh and blood [1]
My poor flesh and blood
I think I met an angel once
But I can't really know for sure
Do I know you now?
Do I know you now?
Illuminate
My muddled heart
Sweep the shadows
From my mind
So I might imagine
What you are like
And understand
The great design
Darn floor -- big bite
You are earth, water and light
Darn floor -- big bite
Can I ever hope to
Get it right, can't get it right
I believe I've had a vision or two
Could have been a dream
I guess it could have been a dream
Could have been a dream
I saw the wide world crack where you touched down
And bodies wash up on a mythical shore
Will you save me now?
Will you save me now?
In not-quite earth
In not-quite heaven [2]
I'll imitate love
Like lovers do
In not-quite art
In not-quite living [2]
I'll pray that writing it down
Is part of loving you
Darn floor -- big bite
You are twilight
Dark and bright
Darn floor -- big bite
You are beautiful
A terrible, terrible sight!
You touch my hair and cheek sometimes
Feel in yourself this flesh and blood
My poor flesh and blood
My poor flesh and blood
Darn floor -- big bite
You are love
Fire and light
Darn floor -- big bite
Can I ever hope to
Get it right
Can't get it right
Darn floor -- big bite
You are twilight
Dark and bright
Darn floor -- big bite
You are beautiful
A terrible, terrible sight!
No I can't get it
I can't get it right
No I can't get it
No I can't get it right
Illuminate
My muddled heart
Sweep the shadows
From my mind
The title is derived from an incident involving Koko
the "signing" gorilla. Koko was trained in American Sign Language, and
responded to an earthquake with the words: "Darn darn floor bad bite. Trouble
trouble." (Additional information can be obtained from this
site.)
The implication here is that we humans can no more
understand the true nature of God, than a gorilla can understand an earthquake.
Both we and the gorilla use whatever clumsy words we can to express that
which is beyond our comprehension.
[1] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' "Consciousness"
(Unattainable Earth, p. 76):
"I want to believe that the forces above us,
Engaged in doings we can not imitate,
Touch our cheeks and our hair sometimes
And feel in themselves this poor flesh and blood."
[2] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable
Earth, p. 67:
"With not-quite truth
and not-quite art
and not-quite law
and not-quite science
Under not-quite heaven
on the not-quite earth
the not-quite guiltless
and the not-quite degraded"
The Earth Household
Words by Terry Taylor
Music by Terry Taylor, Greg Flesch, Tim Chandler
Sleeping by the hearth of the earth
household
Content and relaxed before the fire of life [1]
It's becoming like a castle all woven of mist [2]
Disintegrating when I want to grab a hold
Struggle to go somewhere beyond [2]
The earth household, the earth household
Go to the other unknowable side [2]
Of the earth household, the earth household
We chase with the hounds for the meaning of the world
The unattainable meaning of the world [3]
Now I'm gonna run to the other side
Beyond the border land of death I ride [3]
Slip through a tear in the fabric of the world
The earth household, the earth household
Speak the foreign language of a place beyond
The earth household, the earth household
I drink you endlessly toward my hollow heart
And wake at night repeating "How strange, how strange!" [4]
All is touch and vision in a passionate kiss [5]
And life's a drab curtain ready to be raised
Struggle to go somewhere beyond
The earth household, the earth household
Go to the other unknowable side
Of the earth household, the earth household
The earth household
The earth household
We chase with the hounds for the meaning of the world...
[1] A reference to D. H. Lawrence's "Pax" (reprinted
in Unattainable Earth, p. 26):
"Sleeping on the hearth of the living world
yawning at home before the fire of life
feeling the presence of the living God
like a great assurance
a deep calm in the heart. . ."
[2] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable Earth,
p. 29:
"And the greatest wonder is this: if it becomes an
object of delectation, it disintegrates like palaces woven of mist.
For it is maintained only by striving to go beyond it, somewhere
to the other unknown side."
[3] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' "Winter" (Unattainable
Earth, p. 36):
"I add logs to the fire, I drink and I ponder
'In Ilawa,' the news item said, 'at age 70
Died Aleksander Rymkiewicz, poet' . . .
You, moon, You, Aleksander, fire of cedar logs.
Waters close over us, a name lasts but an instant.
Not important whether the generations hold us in memory.
Great was that chase with the hounds for the unattainable
meaning of the world.
And now I am ready to keep running
When the sun rises beyond the borderlands of death."
[4] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable Earth,
p. 136:
"How could I have expected that after a long life
I would understand no more than to wake up at night and to repeat: strange,
strange, strange, o how strange, how strange. O how funny and strange."
[5] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable Earth,
p. 136:
"O life. O entering an enchanted garden where everything
is touch and vision. It seemed to me that night that a gate closed
behind me and that I would stay in the garden forever, and in a more real
one than those I have known before."
Down to the black bridge of sighs [1]
She drains her head by the river
Bowed to the father of lies [2]
She hangs on the edge of forever
She falls
She gets
Caught in the safety net
She breaks
She mends
In the safety net
She starts doubting again
Beneath the watch towers and wire
Are armies that march across frozen ground [3]
You're gonna call me a liar
When I try to tell you
What's coming down
I fall
I get
Caught in the safety net
I break
I mend
In the safety net
I start over again
I start it over again
Strung out in the cradle of grace
Wiping the blood from the warm gun
You leave no power or trace
Shot like a bullet to the kingdom
come
You fall
You get
Caught in the safety net
You break
But you mend
In the safety net
You start living again
I start it over again
Down to the black bridge of sighs
She drains her head by the river
Bowed to the father of lies
She hangs on the edge of forever
She falls
She gets
Caught in the safety net
She breaks
She mends
In the safety net
She starts doubting again
[1] Compare the frequent use of "sigh" in Fearful Symmetry.
[2] The devil is called the "father of lies" in John
8:44
"...When he lies, he speaks his native language, for
he is a liar and the father of lies."
[3] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' "Preparation" (Unattainable
Earth, p. 61):
"And that will be the subject, with addenda. Thus:
armies
Running across frozen plains, shouting a curse
In a many-voiced chorus; the cannon of a tank
Growing immense at the corner of a street; the ride
at dusk
Into a camp with watchtowers and barbed wire"
Pictures Of The
Gone World
Words by Terry Taylor
Music by Terry Taylor, Greg Flesch, Tim Chandler
Pictures of the gone world
Memories handed down
Pictures of the gone world
when you and I were not around
Could you ever do it justice
Could you ever get it right?
These are pictures of the gone world
And they're fading out of sight
They saw rouge and vermillion
In walks by the water [1]
They dreamt a beautiful dream
They lost a beautiful thing
You tremble, I kiss you
And you whisper softly
"We lose this world too,
we could lose this world too."
Pictures of the gone world
Hopes we can't forget
Pictures of the gone world
Before we do something we'll all regret
Will anyone cry for justice?
Will anyone get it right?
These pictures of the gone world
Could be our world tonight
I see fire on the mountain
And blood on the water
We dream a beautiful dream
We lose a beautiful thing
I'm making love to you
I'm holding on to you
Lose this world too,
We could lose this world too
Could you ever do it justice
Could you ever get it right?
These are pictures of the gone world
And they're fading out of sight
You tremble, I hold you
Now you whisper softly "show me,
Show me"
Pictures of the gone world
Memories handed down
Pictures of the gone world
Will you and I still be around?
Pictures of the gone world
Memories handed down
Pictures of the gone world
Will you and I still be around?
[1] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' "The Garden of Earthly
Delights," Part 5, "Earth Again" (Unattainable Earth, p. 61):
"In rouge, in vermillion, in that color of
ponds
Found only in the Green Lakes near Wilno."
Divine Instant
Words by Terry Taylor
Music by Terry Taylor, Greg Flesch, Tim Chandler
Where there are no things
there is no time [1]
I see space existing
Only where there are things [1]
But we find ourselves here
It's the right time for love
In this divine instant [2]
We are time standing still
Had nothing past
There would be no past time [3]
Had nothing existed
There would be no future [3]
Yes, we found ourselves there
Felt enduring desire
In that divine instant
We heard eternity whisper [4]
I hear the clock on the wall,
I see the skull beneath the skin [4]
We find ourselves here
It's the right time for love
In this divine instant
With time standing still
Can't fight this will
To live and love [5]
To always need you,
die in your arms
Yes we found ourselves there
Felt enduring desire
In that divine instant
We heard eternity whisper
Yes, we find ourselves here
It's the right time for love
In this divine instant
We are time standing still
We are time standing still...
We are time standing still...
[1] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable
Earth, p. 84:
"Where there are no things, time does not exist.
And space exists only where there are things. Much later in the
age of Newton, people began to believe that time and space were containers
inside of which matter moves. In this way they avoided thinking about Nothing,
where there is no matter, no time, no space.
[2] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable
Earth, p. 85. An inscript by O. Milosz:
"It is not up to man to place the inevitable in time
and space. The inevitable is somehow outside time and space. Materially
unfulfilled, it exists in the shape of the present as well as of the past
and the future in one divine instant."
[3] from St. Augustine's Confessions:
"So what is time? If no one asks me, I know; If I
want to explain it to a person who asks, I do not know anymore and yet
I affirm with certainty that, had nothing passed, there would not be
past time; had nothing existed, there would not be future time."
[4] A reference to T. S. Eliot's "Whispers of immortality":
WEBSTER was much possessed by death
And saw the skull beneath the skin;
And breastless creatures under ground
Leaned backward with a lipless grin.
[5] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' Unattainable
Earth, p. 85. An inscript by O. Milosz:
"The two problems of love and death, inexhaustible
sources of suffering, are indissolubly linked to the question of space.
Man has only one desire: to live and love eternally."
These are the images I arrange
To fill in my report on you [1]
Holiness, mystery, disturbing and strange
Obscuring the point of my view
Everyone seems to know just what you are
But I never seem to break through
Forgive me please if I can't see that far
Life's dulling the point of my view
(Chorus)
Half light, coming through the dark glass darkly [2]
Half light, where faith and doubt remain
Half light, Tattoo scars where shadows mark me
Half light, I don't expect you to explain
This is the passage I undertake
Over the epoch and phase
The terror and sweetness of history and fate
The last word on the very last page
Everyone seems to think they've got it made
That you're on a rack by the door
It's true, I don't know much except I am saved
From falling through cracks in the floor
(Chorus)
Tomorrow I'm planning to write the great book [3]
In which I will capture our time
Set forth the fury, the sound, and the look [4]
If I could just make up my mind
Everyone seems to think you're on their side
But I don't think you're that small
How could they see it when reason has died
We haven't a clue to it all
(Chorus)
The terms "phase" and "epoch" appear repeatedly in Milosz' "Unattainable Earth":
From "Initiation", p. 97:
"Vanity and gluttony were always her sins
And I fell in love with her in the phase of
life
When our scornful reason is the judge of others."
From "Anka", p. 100:
"In what hat, from what epoch,
Is Anka posing in the photograph,
Above her brow the wing of a killed bird?"
[2] "For now we see through a glass, darkly;
but then face to face. . ." (1 Cor 13:12)
This verse is also referenced in Shadow
Catcher.
[3] A reference to Czeslaw Milosz' "Preparation" (Unattainable
Earth, p. 61):
"Tomorrow at the latest I'll start working on a
great book
In which my century will appear as it really was."
[4] Perhaps a loose reference to Shakespeare's "Macbeth"
Act V, Scene 5:
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
The Unattainable
Earth
Words by Terry Taylor
Music by Terry Taylor, Greg Flesch, Tim Chandler
Earth too huge to grasp [1]
"Will" to [sic] wild to tame now
I'll be so bold to ask
Can I wear your name now?
Sign language is the best I can do
Learning to walk without gravity
And just when I think that I know you
(Chorus)
In the unattainable earth
Amazed in these half-light days
In the unattainable earth
Language is weak, [2] but I keep on speaking
Of the unattainable earth
Gestures freeze in the air
Filled by those born later
Dead men spoke words here
Heard before and after
My writing is just immense amazement [3]
Should you really reveal anything
When I just misunderstand it?
(Chorus)
Down the twists and turns
Of a long, long story
I am here to learn
About the weight of glory
My questions right now don't need all the answers
Just, please, don't ever let go of me
No, don't ever stop loving me
(Chorus)
The title of this song is derived from Czeslaw Milosz' book of poetry by the same name.
[1] From the Preface to Milosz' Unattainable Earth,
p. xiii:
"The composition of this book follows that of the
original volume published under the title Nieobjeta ziemia, which
means roughly 'earth too huge to be grasped.'"
[2] A reference to Milosz' poem "Consciousness" (Unattainable
Earth, p. 73):
"Then one should extract from it what one can, slowly,
Not trusting anybody. And it won't be much, for language
is weak."
[3] A reference to Milosz' poem "Consciousness" (Unattainable
Earth, p. 77):
"What use are you? In your writings there is
nothing except immense amazement."
An alternate version of this song can be found on
the "Miracle Faith Telethon" Album.
The Shape Of Air
Words and music by Terry Taylor
Pour cement 'round things
Let it dry
Break away things
See the design
Describe the voice from heaven
And paint the grace you're given
(Chorus)
It's the shape of air
It's the shape of air
I can sit and stare
'Till it's almost clear
In the place where you stood
The air's filling in
You look for a world
Where nets catch the wind
Now drive your car to glory
Foretell the same old story
(Chorus)
everybody sing!!!!!
Pour cement 'round things
Let it dry
Break away things
See the design
Describe the voice from heaven
And paint the grace you're given
It's the shape of air
It's the shape of air
I can sit and stare
'Till it's almost clear
This song seems to draw from Annie Dillard's poem, "The Shape of Air."
It can be found in her book "Tickets for a Prayer Wheel."
"Cut a hole through the roof in your house
leading to your bedroom closet.
Close and caulk.
Stand on the roof,
pour plaster down
into your shoes,
around, through your shirts,
pants, bathrobe, hats,. . .[author's elipsis]
allow to dry.
Remove with hooks.
Split. Remove the clothes;
discard.
This is the shape of part of the air."