Advice and critics take the time to punch your ticket Through a long short life full of ticker tape agenda Tell Tale games followed by new Star Wars drivel Allows for rehashing bravo sierra gameplay it’s a mitt full It’s time for revolving eighty bones to take the sidelines Eight or ten to have a time unlike the likes of all those crimes Tunes local, independent and very hard to beat He said it best, lifestyles of the famous, tell your friends and then we’ll eat De-extinction is our new reality As they bomb the poor, Olympics on the tv It’s the only channel left on rabbit ears Dedicated to the athletes and their rich folk tears They say we’ll have a woolly mammoth in our lifetime The way of the dodo is back in NY Times Private companies play sun, someone must be paying It’s cute! It’s huge! It died and it’s alive again! There may be no cash left, but it’s the time we’ll all remember While they justify assault from their thrones behind the lawyers Ho boy how the system’s been shattered As if any of the talent or the true artistry mattered, boo-urns Never has the soap been less unscented Have to order from a friend and fly the product arrives dented Costs an arm and a leg but none of the beauty bar chem trails Hours of her time but the freshness beats the stale drug store sales Dereliction to the planned obsolescence Our devices now the 8’s out, but does an upgrade make sense? Time of day usage, don’t you dare go use the dryer The pennies that we save will stretch at Canadian Tire Tape up all your injuries, and get back out there! This helmet will keep you in the game until you can’t bear The pain and the dizziness, you got your bell wrung Rotational violence is the new tune of commercials sung Our controllers and our people have more triggers than ever At least we still hold close conditioning competitive behaviour Teleport another hundred years instinctive degradation Idiocracy’s the optimistic result of temptation Allegiance to a man you’ve seen a thousand times on tv Gives me the heebie jeebies full of sparkling graffiti There must be a way to fix it, this must be our rock bottom Committed we’ve become we’re joined in life’s asylum Did you see the new donuts with the pancake on top? I’ll do anything to get the new record she just dropped 4-letter word, stream, trim the blossom, it’s a stem Something old was out there but we’ll make it come alive again Off I go to Montreal, call me if you need something How would you get it if you’re in Montreal? Oh, I have my ways my friend Eat your winter Wheaties, appreciate graffitis Both tangible and physical, for now I have a long drive

Entangled in a quantum micro space and time On a marble ever shifting out of past defined By struggle after struggle, blood and pagination We carve a little point through tube amplification The heroes of the story depend on who you ask Collecting dust on a shelf in hieroglyphs and masks A lackluster bit of cinema of passion inspired By an event extrapolated through neurons he fired When all is said and done, we know it’s ice or fire In either case we hope to roam and find a new empire Between a star and a belt, under the perfect set of conditions Light millenia away, ultimate extradition Or maybe we just orbit, let the bots clean the mess Sent back a probe or two just to retrace and test Atmospheric conditions, genetic modification Plants fighting humans, bucolic reintegration That’s it, my time is up here. I’ve had quite enough, dear I could be ready as soon as Monday Way up past the stratosphere I’d never be happier If you could do just one last thing and Help me paint my spacesuit pink It may be within our life we set up shop on Mars But it’s a shithole there, they’ve got no art or cars Rack and pinion steering, new sleek aero designs Cars can drive themselves, where will the cops get their fines? Wait a minute, return to what we’ve found up there Spectographic confirmation specks have something like air Tally them up and find the one that’s closest of them all Put it out in the news, give our best pilots a call As we wait for the breakthrough to preserve the human form For a hundred thousand years, I dunno, maybe more A new golden record that can have a back and forth And populate new chthonic groups to pass the torch Consider just how meagre of a beginning As we swarm and we spread, other life keeps on thinning But we depend on those forms, do they really not see? Increased numbers, year to year, root of our society We’re approaching the point of no return Critical velocity, precise trajectory Call out to command, the fuel’s burned We are on our way, tell the people it’s ok Keep throwing things away, on the planet where you stay

I heard a story bout a man who couldn’t see well He lived his life a way that makes me feel like I’m in a shell Perspective gave him a way to see the real picture When I see the mirror I spend time I see a pattern, oh hell Makes me wonder if there’s a mirror in his toilet room Pictures on his walls, or decorated like a tomb Guess I’ll never know and it really doesn’t matter He pulls from a well I hope to know much less to gather, take it in Chorus Take a little bit for yourself Don’t be afraid to come to me for help Any time my phone buzzes I’ll jump We’ll get through, it’s just another bump So don’t worry if you need a shawarma platter today Set the boundaries you need to make to yourself feel ok Television’s not creative but it’s a place to begin When you get out of bed before to noon you win! Tack on another little walk and an overpriced coffee Don’t overthink or overdo, just do and think as best suits you Fentonyl and noloxone, spattered with the tide pods It’s American roulette in the greatest country under god Uh oh, I forgot to care for me again It’s pain that they measure, not nerves from a one to ten Oh well, I guess they do their best, they take me in From dark hole to scary place to comfort in olanzapine I sleep and I sleep and I wake to eat and stretch and wonder what the people on the outside see in me Attend all of the clinics just to satisfy the cynics Keep one eye on the days, while the company still pays, I lick my wounds So much heroism in every little act of kindness, like barbecues and ice cream sandwiches and games with dices We’re just visitors here, some people call it home, with a different set of cards and DNA, us too, who knows? Plays the cello with his eyes closed but can’t remember his own name And there’s no one at fault, and there’s no one to blame Strangest chapter in our story, curse that darn brain chemistry We’ll take the long way hand in hand and heart in heart to the emergency

I always figured that I would grow old with a child in tow, maybe two or three Did i simply outgrow that dream Or did that lie outrun me? (Faster and faster) So there’s no rattle, there’s no white dress Certainly no gender reveal festivities Am I sticking out like a sore thumb As I throw up my finger up to what I’m supposed to be? I swear if another single person tells me that a baby looks good on me I’ll shave off my hair and I’ll burn all my clothes and I’ll set fire to my goddamn ovaries Appreciate the sentiment, but this beeswax isn’t yours Generation over each, there’s just more and different doors If we turn a different latch, find a different match, sew another patch Strike a little match, contract a little rash, never even tracking the scores Back in the day you limited the ways that you distinguish Acceptable from exceptional from dreary to downright sad It was a formula, simply charted, we live in a mish mash Seed stash, open-ended teeth gnash of paisley and plaid I swear if another single person tells me that a baby looks good on me I’ll shave off my hair and I’ll burn all my clothes and I’ll set fire to my goddamn ovaries Ideas aren’t cast out, just viewed in a different light Our sieves let through rainbows, yours blocks out old plights Tap another keg, eat another leg, birth another Peg Skin another tag, dog another wag, always we’re tracking new flights It’s true it’s not all marshmallow fluff in a flute glass Drinks served ignited while hurricanes rage past Serve up another set, cats to the vet, live at the Met Beam with ka-tet, no Boba Fett, still you may call me an outcast I always figured that I would grow old with a man in tow, wed in my late ‘20s Now I’ve outgrown that pre-written narrative Or did that lie just outrun me? (Faster and faster) So there’s no rattle, There’s no white picket fence, Certainly no gender reveal festivities Am i sticking out like a sore thumb As i throw up my finger up to what I’m supposed to be? I swear if another single person tells me that a baby looks so good on me I’ll shave off my hair and I’ll burn all my clothes and I will set fire to my goddamn ovaries. I will set fire to my goddamn ovaries.

Acquaintances I can’t quite remember, faces blend into one another The names just won’t come but I know we’ve let loose together (at some point) Off to my meeting, Step 3’s just not happening I’m guarded but starting to learn to express things I was never shown how to say, but taught to hide things away Pressure builds with no vent when the dust deflagrates a chain event The families mourn the lost, they could have been saved by a broom and a mop I guess it’s a lesson for next time, what else can it be? But a catalyst, post analysis, Codified in three years, well maybe four, it’s hidden between the ifs and the ors Chorus: Those acquaintances are rooting for you Close your eyes, deep breaths will pull you through A temporary, momentary loss is all this ever was You’re in good company with all the geniuses You’ve got to stay on top of these things, relapse is an option to which I give nothing Bring it down a notch when I’m up, learn that down is not too much It’s tough to be mindful and recall the advice, cause my memory’s shit and I’m always enticed To do more and more and create and deliver, but you’re always there to help me to carve out this river I thought I knew it all, but that was only for a week or so. The brain’s a funny thing, it can sometimes be too powerful I could say that I was embarrassed, but that isn’t true at all. I met a few in that wing who would never leave those halls No more on-site smoking section, that was everything for some, it they took it away, how can healing begin? Still it was peaceful there, and when I reminisce, I could never do better than this Fight Scene: That face, I think I’ve seen it before Blue eyes, like the sky, something I can’t ignore That face, it’s just so familiar I think we had met over a game of billiards Should I say hello or stay on my own? Us humans, we’re not meant to be alone But not everyone we meet is meant to stick around A sea of people around me, I feel like I’ve drowned Sinking deeper and deeper, will I ever be found? Stuck in a loop like a merry-go-round I want to ask who they are, and if I say “do I know you”, am I bizarre? I don’t want to come off as awkward And if I ask you, will you be bothered? Acquaintances, that’s what we have to deal with Being comfortable with everyone, to me that’s a myth Acquaintances, they come and go But what’s constant is there’s always a tomorrow

Tap into the heart of it, bleed out the scaly skin Drill yourself a little hole through three of four life rings Hammer in the spigot, out drips the filtered gold Harvest of the early spring, we break from frosty cold Oh, silky sweetness For you, a constant yearn Pass it down, it’s my turn, it’s my turn Chop up its fallen brethren, with a blade that’s finely honed Stack up the little pieces, left to dry the body’s toned Set fire to the smallest first, build up to limbs and trunk On heat of them, we boil the blood, in syrup we will dunk Oh, sweet and heavy, You’re now a part of me Charge the cells and feed my bones, feed my bones A long run to the sugar shack, hey, what’s he doing in there? Stoke and boil a little more, sediment is high this year Pour a little on some snow, jack wax, a child’s delight Nutrients from soily earth, fluids and sunlight Gravity fed IV drip, designed in reverse A few short weeks to get our fill, it’s nature’s little curse Trudging through the slushy mess, it’s worth it I confess Tally up the earnings now, this year we live on less Oh, silky sweetness For you, a constant yearn Pass it down, it’s my turn, it’s my turn

A little moulded piece of petroleum for every cup of joe It adds up, disposable, it’s full but still we grow the land fill Not in my backyard you don’t, behind my screen you’ll all be pwned Trapper keeper, keep the trapper, taco shells fall down the crapper Tempted by a thousand products, produce grown by foreign farmers Paid pennies, we have our fill, we throw out the wilted leafy bills Two wheels on the sidewalk, six more tagging along Convoy into the evening beneath the shadowy throng A gradual return, on your timesheet please cut out the meeting Get another insta-crap-o-matic bev yo-self be treatin’ Tantamount to very little charge-out rate up for the sinkhole Intonation counts for nothing when five through seven all are buzzing Details lost in all the fluffy smoke and mirrors Arbitrary goals ever chased through these portholes One-eyed cats may jump don’t stick the landing Mind wander Dark Tower grind demanding

Take this record with you Take it wheron you roam I’ll be on a different needle But I’m still playing on at home Ten years since we’ve wintered The harsh reality I’d like to think you still sit by the fire And fondly think of me Tap it out a strange signature count the sevens and the nines It’s not music of tradition, no it’s reflecting the times We may not know the theory but we’re still pretty sure it works I think it’s time that we see where we can fill in space with words It’s unlimited novels in the palm of your hand A screen in front of microscopic poisons no one understands A petri dish of centenarians off the coast of Japan A simple formula of life crowned by respect for your clan It’s simplicity itself we’ve proven scientifically At least we can show the data now, religions disagree Our gods say to work harder, faster, longer, drugged up, smarter Never slow until your heart gives out make room for someone younger Will we even be acknowledged if we slow down and think Population topples higher towers steeples to the brink Grenfell fire, new mass shooting, it’s yesterday’s news Don’t dare to sing a reference from someone else’s shoes I’ll take this record with me I’ll not sit and cry for you We’ll roll inside of time’s harsh wheel Until all the rolling’s through Ten years of new memories Ten more at least for me Trains and planes and cars and mellow words Keep me grounded like a tree Learning to recognize the signs and to counter all the symptoms The prolific undertake new feats; I’d never think to tinker He can’t possibly truly think she takes it as a compliment Do others really think that way? I must be an optimist Maybe this is therapy to put it to the page Then link it with some chords just to get out all the rage After all the work recording has it lost all of its merit? The hope being that you’ll pick it out and messages inherit Amphitheatres full of screaming fans replaced by clicks and likes I can’t remember the words anyways, that’s where we should place our sights Eat together at the table then go our separate ways To where we sweat it out and dial it in and generate a craze The best part is that I’d come home and I’d know that you’d be there Sitting in your pjs with a cat and crazy hair And when you’d come in I’d jump right up and scuttle to the door And I would gush about the kids at school, I’d never ask for more

There’s a family of mice living in my car and I’m slowly trying to kill them off and so far I don’t have the stomach for it, and once again, I’ll call you when the popcorn hits The best of intentions, well we can’t live on those We’ve only got so many more ‘‘I’ll do it tomorrows’’ No, I’d never eat them but I sure do want to beat them At this point, it’s gone too far And I’ll have to get a brand new car Navigating mounds of yesterday’s threads, fills you up to the brim with dread I’ll throw you a preserver, thank god you’re no deserter But god knows how you're sticking it out, god knows. God knows how you’re sticking this out Chorus: And something’s gotta break it seems, I swore I’d have figured this shit out by 30 It’s all piling up in reams of paper and plastic and boxes and bins And something’s gotta break it seems, I thought I’d have figured this all out by 30 My bag is ripping at the seams and don’t you help me help me pick up the pieces Don’t help me help me pick up the pieces The kids are all commenting on my unmatched socks And a kempt appearance is a total afterthought I’m still bracing for the aftershock And I’ve lost every single bra I’ve ever owned We can always come right back to what matters to us most Notice the breath and the sensations in this temporary host Well nourished and well travelled with support everywhere We could but we don’t bother with the state of our hair And I can rationalize til there’s cake on my face But the pang is growing as the pan’s misplaced Pull the curtain back, it’s starting to show The leaks and the spills and the crack I know The leaks and the spills and the dirt Chorus The wardrobe’s puking out your compression shorts Cats hiding socks, building stocks, sneaky cohorts The goat cheese always ends up a skunky green mess Although I don’t eat the lettuce in the fridge, I confess Sweep the kitchen every week whether it needs it or not Cat food squished between my toes, still my breakfast I sought Life does not exist before the coffee fouls my breath I’ll stalk around with no pants, though I may catch my death I swear I’m trying to be the very best version of me But it’s crumbling faster than leaning the tower of my old CDs You’re a far far better person than I can ever give you credit for Maybe I could start with a thank you song or by closing that darn fridge door And there’s a family of squirrels living in my hair and I’m slowly trying to get them out of there But I don’t have the heart to evict, and anyways they’ve never done a thing to deserve it I guess I kinda hope they stick I kinda hope they stick

Chorus: Hey hey, take a minute for me Hey hey, I heard you singing “Night Cheese” Hey hey, we embraced all of the dorks and the nerds Hey hey, I found your secret cheese curds Hemp hearts on oatmeal, I left my red coat here In tune with myself but I can’t tell without you I’m not part of this plan and if those drinks get you canned You’re out on your ass, catch a plane, take your passport It’s all just an illusion of our consciousness Take a line from the influence before they show you where the devil lives Down the hall there’s an ice box, just one of our amenities Cleaning out the pool but your continental breakfast’s free Apple of my eye, I followed you into this dirty city Live your dream in the interstitial space of our society Maybe we should watch, catch a glimpse of Skinny Minny Miller That’s the name they all associate with derby’s show boat glamour This window’s our ice box but I’m frozen, I just can’t talk All alone or team time, just can’t calm my damn mind The CBC’s callin’, my heart’s full, I’m stallin' These pages kept empty, a life full of memories Crack a beer we snuck in, the security here’s lax Let’s watch these beasts face off on these four oval tracks It’s funny how it’s still Wal Mart and Costco and It’s the little things, but not enough to give us hope we’re not alone Take a hatchet to what they thought you could do Have no doubt that the chances are slim but we’ll all get through Eat a vegetable today, no, maybe tomorrow Baby spinach gives us power that we don’t need to borrow Back at it first thing, instant coffee, keep fighting There’s no time for lounging, catch meals on the down swing We’ll come through this on top, the algorithm will co-operate With our intentions, our glorious ascension!

Hacking out f-bombs through nicotine garments Out by the old carport car hold vestiges and imprints Of an ageless product reinforced by market place madness We’ve got numbers based on your needs so we can tax you through these habits Needs is a strong word, don’t you mean your after tax take home? At last there’s an outlet to buy lotto tickets online Open up new markets that simply cannot have a new addiction Their last one left them in this state the next will grind them into fiction Fad diet or a new way to utter I’m bored? Chase your dreams, they say, find love, do your chores Of course you look good, you’ve never been tried It’s the scars and the aches in my joints coincide With the real life 4-D experience we attempt Some of them all gussied up, I left it unkempt And no joke I feel good and I look like I feel and as far as I’m concerned I’ve got a good deal Chorus: Disposable income You lose and you win some Your market attacks every sensory input feasible Drown out the reason, brain screaming, new seasoning They agree on a plan that meets all of their needs And oh, the cash that remains will go to cater and feed Into the next pointless purchase fueled by greed Barely masking the search for some meaning and purpose Barely hiding the true us alongside the circus Integrate new data to free drug store naloxone A street level crisis brings new life to the Help Phone Petition signed anonymous, the shelters deemed cancers They’re asked simple questions but they won’t give clear answers So look to your symbols, find peace where you want I’ll believe what I see and I’ll visit my mom And I’ll sit quietly and assemble the pieces And you won’t do the same, but I won’t judge your choices Chorus

Another long night for you, I’ve fallen asleep You know I’d stay up all night in a show of solidarity But you’ve never once asked that of me, you’d never want to pull me down Long months and longer weeks Took the scenic road back up from NYC Not too sure who’d be waiting there for me But it’s always been you Stop, this might just be a blessing in disguise As you’re slowly transforming in front of my eyes Not too sure how I kept them so dry As they swell with pride Learning to walk again, metaphorically Turn the tables, your biggest fan is me Keeping it together for once in my life, ironically Small steps, and trying to just breathe No more tiptoeing,start stomping those feet Unfazed, unashamed, never pitifully Your safety net I’ll help to weave Don’t stop. If we charted these ups and downs Since you started this, broken new ground As we we chip away, the permafrost will start to give Been through hell, now strengthening the seams Battlescars proving I’m tougher than I’ve seemed Long nights, and longer weeks but I’ll here indefinitely Richard and Renj: When I wake up, I can’t believe you’re still here You’ve stuck it out through my irrational fears Until the next time, it’s never goodbye Safe travels to you, don’t die We live a good one, likely stranger than most Without a stumble or two, we wouldn’t play host To an alliance so fine, I say genuinely I’ll be here, indefinitely

There’s a daemon In my head again And I can’t fight it Every day There’s a daemon In my head again And I can’t fight Tell me about all the times that have troubled you Have a small snack and just breathe I will follow through Baffling how all the cultures can’t get along Funny how some feel they cut through with just a song Go ahead, whine about gas prices gets you no- Think before speaking or speak through your self-indulgence With a strange motivation that capsulates Getting in line for the new user interface Nary a day can go by we don’t hear about Some new atrocity some madman carried out Wheels keep turning on organic biomass Tales of organ donations that we can assume Went to the highest bidder who fit the criteria How can we trust when the media primates Are owned by Nestle or some other Monster that no single one has control over (Help me, help me, I don't know where to go anymore. Help me, help me, I don't know where to turn, turn anymore.) Let me go Won’t you let me go? I have been here from the start There’s a daemon Let it out and you’ll be free You’ll be free Targets are for weapons but used for your audience Counting on inertia of our mass reticence Watch all the birds but don’t feed the crocodiles Wearing your skin in your way can’t go out of style Rent a tuxedo to sit by the hotel pool No one can question the act of a senile fool Might as well enjoy the time that we have for no- where is where we will be resting before too long Dividing by zero results in the heavens above We’re a meteorite or a speck and the Time will slow on more massive a scale Life for a fly’s just as long as a whale Home again after a day on the screen Got to adjust my eyes back to human being Literal wishing away of our lives Finally on weekends we’re Lords of the Flies (Help me, help me, I've been waiting for so long, so long. I am ready. Help me, help me, I've been waiting so patiently, patiently.)