Desperate
we live in desperate times
desperate criminals
desperate crimes
corporate empires
out of control
selling our souls
for fools gold
how come I always feel
so desperate?
don’t know no more what’s false or real
so desperate
Have you ever seen a man
who lives in total fear?
his eyes hug the ground
won’t let no one near
tried to find a mirror
so I could sympathize
I shouldn’t have bothered
I just couldn’t catch my eye
I find myself
out in the street
picking through the garbage
for something to eat
fires of hell
in my brain
as I watch it all
go down in flames
How come I always feel
so desperate?
Don’t know no more what’s false or real
so desperate
Old Mother Nature
lying in the street
robbed raped and beaten
crying in defeat
the milk of human kindness
souring in the breast
the children are frightened
there’s very little left
the sheep won’t pull
the wool from their eyes
the butcher is waiting
honing his knife
the business men are laughing
all the way to the bank
the whole ship’s sinking
we’re walking the plank
How come I always feel
so desperate?
Don’t know no more what’s false or real
so desperate
from Doing the dishes – 1996
This song was recorded in 1995 on a 16-track tape machine and mixed with hands on faders, the old-fashioned way, with Ken Vatcher playing drums, John McVeity on bass and Neil Graham on harmonica. I’m playing guitars and organ – an old Lowrey from the 1960s with a decrepit Leslie speaker that gets spinning and makes a throbbing rattling sound. It’s an eclectic old funky instrument that weighs half a ton, full of huge electronic circuits and components you can now fit on the head of a pin, but you can sit at it and make music in real time… fun.