Villians
1996-03-26
barely if at all
(vander ark)

When my love complained, every word   a breath on my last dandelion  and so lovers will leave and their tears  souvenirs for the very first time  I searched the world reluctant  to find a lover enthusiastic  speak to me barely if at all  When I was a boy, funny things  water wings kept you confident  a belly of wine, similar  to keep yourself indifferent  And I scraped the bargain basement  bought a lover less than fantastic  spoke to me barely if at all  Taste perfume that burns my throat
and i am free of envelope  squeeze an instant out of me  And she placed a hand between our lips  how could anything be so precious  she kissed me barely if at all  And she, with her hand between our lips  gave me what we now have in common
she left me barely if at all

cattle
(vander ark)

Boy there was a day an assortment of rhymes  and waving, we rode that parade for awhile   and everybody knew everybody Boy there was a day being lonely was hard  and then your attention was never enough  I don't really know anybody in love
I don't want to know anybody in love  And when the mouth is open grows a cancer everybody wins  round and round and settle down, settle down  Brand the herd of those who duplicate  and crush the wind of those who deviate  and ride the wave along the mitigated mile  ride the wave along the mitigated mile

cup of tea
(vander ark)

I'm visiting  the ground's a little weathered where I stood  right field in my neighborhood  I was mostly last, always least  dig it  At graduation everyone  will throw their hats into the sun  then they'll drop like flies to the sea  this is not my cup of tea  And valerie  the winter won't be keeping her around  I'm nailing leaves to the ground  but it feels like sand underneath
dig it  She's never letting me forget  I've always been an idiot  and at times like this I agree  this is not my cup of tea  Crash
In a wrinkle of steel we are gone  will my last breath be a yawn  watching them sorting debris  this is not my cup of tea
drive you mild
(vander ark)

And if I ever drive you mild, and suffering this open kiss and i'm barely juvenile  When everyone is outrageous and I alone will be sleeping through the afternoon  And if I ever drive your style, and suffering your day predicted  with no ability to rile And every yawn is contagious and I alone will be sleeping through the afternoon  I should drive you wild Ever drive you mild Ever drive you mild  Ever drive you mild
myself
(vander ark)

You never seen nobody as divine as  she can see reflections in her own eyes  an admission of desire, on a handsome afternoon  is an ovation to her ego  in her everyone is everything and everything is mine  Ms. Marceau  you don't need another, you'll always be your own hero  myself Ms. Marceau  you don't need another, you'll always be your own hero  As if we're speaking in another language  every word means I, me, mine every hello every good  no escape to the life of the average  it's an ovation to my ego  in her everyone is everything and everything is mine   We're very fortunate to have her here  accounts are empty and my friends deserted long ago but  she say that i'm okay, so i'm okay
ominous man
(vander ark)


I should be half a mile from here  I will go anywhere she goes  shoulder the bags of a previous lover  I will go anywhere she goes  sleep on the pillow that reeks of another  A will of mine to be impressive  i'm an amorous man  I will go anywhere she goes  travel whenever, whatever the distance  The court deemed me to be offensive  i'm an ominous man   Once love is unanimous  no order demands  I should be half a mile from here  The court deemed me to be obsessive  i'm the ominous man  jury reject the alibi's seemingly watertight  for the ominous man  I am the ominous man
penny is poison
(dunning/vander ark)

Blushing a cue for her falsities advantage is my only masterpiece  Penny is poison but I don't mind Penny is poison but I don't mind  Gardening malice for murderers flushes to me are the weeds to her  We know who we are Starving the love of the marvelous I was the penny to previous
photograph
(vander ark)

If you want beautiful, pitiful, have me in a picture  and if you want make me dance, throw me round spin upon your finger  lind labors the blind and I am unwilling to uncover my eyes  And if you want take your time rifle through, find a very nice one  if there's a crease in my face over time, there's plenty more where that came from  Words, frozen, will thaw when I am wasted, I am better shut up  and a frame is quite confining, hang me up...hang me up   I'm in the photograph  When i'm alone and the world is a fist, I am weightless  a universe, gravitate, orchestrate, I am fearless  and spin, the sky surrounding free from all the picture perfect  and spin the sky surrounding, larger than life, meanwhile
real
(vander ark)

My sister had a nursery rhyme set of figurines  she'd often let me play with them, i'd set 'em up in different scenes  fifty plastic army men, led by superman  destroyed the ranks of mother goose  mary and her little  Lamb slips away and catches sister getting real  and I can too, as long as I don't make a sound  When we were real we were in love  with everyone and everything, I guess it was the beauty of  bluebird clears his throat of phlegm and static singing operatic  evening comes, and the butterflies are  Bats eat the spider that had saddled up beside her  and the dish, his lovin' spoon were never found  and i'm taking flight seeking relief, the lure of handkerchief so white  I chase it straight into the ground
reverend girl
(vander ark)

We are for today  we are for the moment  We are a crusade  but we are invalid  1 am rummaging  stained my hands on her antique  2 am  Reverend girl  I am so indifferent  I am whatever  3 am cellophane  suffocates my favorite things  4 am 
The reverend girl  seems that the more we're achieving, the less chance of leaving this world  with a reverend girl  Another lover wakes me  head upon a window pane  before the thunder shook us  she could always smell the rain   A year is dissipating  another hail cannot disdain  never mind the thunder  now my lover smells like  now my lover smells like  now my lover smells like rain
the freshmen
(vander ark)

When I was young I knew everything  and she a punk who rarely ever took advice  now i'm guilt stricken, sobbing with my head on the floor  stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice  I can't be held responsible  cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible  she fell in love in the first place   For the life of me I cannot remember  what made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise  for the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins 
we were merely freshmen  My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her  his girl took a week's worth of valium and slept  now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his head on the floor  thinks about her now and how he never really wept he says
We've tried to wash our hands of all of this  we never talk of our lacking relationships  and how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our heads on the floor  we fell through the ice when we tried not to slip, we'd say
veneer
(vander ark)

Thirteen miles on 31 are drying  all along adopt-a-highway lay the empty cans of masquerade  Thirteen miles on 31 are drying  the sky is lavender with ivory clouds that threaten drops of finger-paints  puddle jumping children clad in yellow raincoats splash the deeper purple of veneer  Rows and rows of animals, their shiver skin is painted different shades
and from grazing painted grass their teeth are stained the incandescent green  indifferent they watch the rainfall steady blend their spots and run their stripes of veneer  lovely ladies strip themselves of furs the winds require  lovely ladies bathe themselves in technicolor mire  lovely gentlemen  At 85 on 31 i'm flying  flying
villains
(vander ark)

I turned the volume up this morning  till there was ringing in my ears  i haven't felt this good in years  Another villain on the cover  of every major magazine  the victim somewhere in between  See how they twist and shout  And as i'm searching for the story  subscription card falls to the floor  i'm losing interest more and more  To pick it up i'm bending over  out of the corner of my eye   I see a pair of blazing thighs  See how they twist and shout  See how they twist and shout  I straighten up to look her over  and up my back a shooting pain  it's bound to settle in my brain  Another villain on the cover  of every major magazine the victim somewhere in between  See how they twist and shout  See how they twist and shout
For Frames
For Non Frames
barely if at all         cattle   cup of tea      drive you mild    myself
ominous man      penny is poison         photograph      real     reverend girl         the freshmen         veneer             villains