1. Free City Rhymes
[Thurston]
in a free lane
ghosts passing time
heat rises
lights thru the town
blown soundscapes
blue city eyes
black lightning
new angel flies

make a free line
to the northern sky
holy rain falls
ghosts burn to shine
elevator
reach for the lights
intuition
free city rhymes

2. Renegade Princess
[Thurston]
jet black hair
tangled stare
blood inside
silent stare
naked heart
red light night
tangled heart
midnight hair
poor mans bride
moonlight fight
renegade
crystal heart

(Thurston+Kim) make way for the midnight princess
midnight princess fight tonight
renegades fight for life
naked stairs in the midnight rain
gonna fight for yr blood tonight
crystal hearts gonna break you down
tangled hearts in a midnight fight
renegade princess fight
fight

3. Nevermind (What Was It Anyway)
[Kim]
best + sexy what was it anyway
jean-michel what was it anyway
saw you there what was it anyway
kneel right down what was it anyway
guitar on the ground what was it anyway
lost yr hand what was it anyway
hipsters stand what was it anyway
glitter tongue what was it anyway
gave you a flower what was it anyway
gave you the power what was it anyway
saintly ghosts what was it anyway
tingling down what was it anyway
nevermind what was it anyway

soot me over / feel me naked
soot me over / feel me escape

boys go to jupiter to get more stupider
girls go to mars, become rock stars

come on down down to the river
come on down and jump right in
come on down i dare you to win now
come on down and down my friend
come on down and jump in the river
come on down and jump right in

4. Small Flowers Crack Concrete
[Thurston]
small flowers crack concrete
narcotic squads sweep thru poet dens
spilling coffe grabbing 15 yr old runaway girls
by frazzled ponytailed hair + tossing them
into backseats of cop cars
the narcs beat the bearded oracles
replacing tantric love with
complete violence

lights + mirrors dot the city
inkstained hippies w/ boxed lunch + marijuana
mystery plays of shit and nothingness
blessed by colors from a black hat

blue lights search thru weeds
searching for the heart of d.a.levy
and the mind he left behind

what didjoo expect? another mystic wreck?
thats whatchoo got crawling in yr panic net
whatdidjoo bring me? not a goddamn thing yet
+ whatdidjoo leave me? another tombstone dream yeh
o salacious mansion, the boys held for ransom
didja see where he's gone? the blasted summers dawn
fucked up in cleveland fucked up in cleveland
short flight to nothing heavens up to something heavens up to something
levys up to something levys up to something

death poems for the living gods of america
plastic saxophones bleat, bleed for nothing, nada
cops crashing thru doors infuriated by silver charms
of suburban smoke
at war with patches of red dirt glitter
and bluejean fucking
+ protest

5. Side2side
[Kim]
meet me on the corner
thursday
wear your
special
underwear
sway side 2 side
automatic
special
underwear

6. StreamXsonik Subway
[Thurston]
flipped on my perceptive cogs
checked in with the future gods
for melodies of bees and hogs
start my day the perfect way

burned a batch of mazzy funk
poor girl noise and choke style punk
clapped it on and off i slunk
to the streamXsonik subway

first i need my iris scanned
as i smell the breeze of electric tin
w/ purple lights i'm motioned in
wink the gain to minus 10

fell asleep and missed my stop
got rousted by a low-beam cop
got a ticket-patch for ilicit flop
then froze me with his jesus gun

that don't mean i'm shot down yet
the glow below of the whisper jet
it all means so much to us
we dream below the rainbows rust

clippen on my streetmatik clogs
pushed thru the hyped-out fervent fogs
found my way with sensoid jogs
new radio structure

state my name and locus frame
paid the price for crashing fame
the apprentice sparks his initial flame
the printout says “further”

antique minds with rivered hair
streamXsonik subway fare
stay in touch with electric dear
our lightmap eyes together

7. NYC Ghosts & Flowers
[Lee]
when the phone rang, 3 in the morn, dead middle of night
there was nuthin on the line
i set back the silent receiver / tiny flames lit in my head
hey did any of you freaks here ever remember lenny?
i can't remember his last name
he's turned to dust now, one of the chosen few
left out in the rain, out of town again
left out in the rain, ocean bound i guess

between the matress and a column of hazy faces
i remember every word you said
quite a clear picture ev'ry word you said
the door was open but the way was not lit
and there was no way out of my head

on a crimson hiway by a chrome bumper i last saw you:
alive / inclined to thrive / evening fireflies lit sparks around yr head

but wait a minute let's back up a bit:
some famous stars were busted by the thought police down on fashion avenue
impersonating real men / not knowing who they really were
now here at dark corners all is calm and quiet and good
the kids are up late dreaming quiet questions in a graceful mood:

can you please pass me a jug of winter light?
fold me in an ocean's whim?
in sweet corrosive fire light?
in the city made of tin?

are you famous under the skin?
familiar with the things you wanted?
able now to take it all in?
making peace w/ every hole in the story?

did lightning keep you up all night?
illuminate the soot and grit?
can you tell how high the sky tonight?
dig out from under in spite of it?

can you cover up the one that floats?
can you push back the hours?
i hear yr voice, i speak yr name
among nyc ghosts and flowers
will we meet? to run again?
thru nyc ghosts and flowers

8. Lightnin'
(instrumental)

***************


Murray Street (2002)
1. The Empty Page
[Thurston]
these are the words
but not the truth
god bless them all
when they speak to you

but thats all right
on an empty stage
sing out when
theres no other way

come drift the town
where secrets lie
where friends & neighbors
keep drifting by

but thats all right
you're here to stay
sing out tonight
the empty page

i always thought i'd see
your name in flashing light
you did it all for free girl
& freely ripped the night
(yr free to fight)

these are the words
but not the truth
god bless them all
when they speak to you

but thats all right
you're here to stay
sing out tonight
the empty page

do you remember the time
when you were new in town
you smashed yr head in the mirror baby
and kissed the frozen ground
(yr ripped up sound)

2. Disconnection Notice
[Thurston]
did you get yr disconnection notice
mine came in the mail today
they seem to think im disconnected
don't think i know what to read or write or say
glossaries injected daily
words + numbers spell out the price to pay
it simply states, “yr disconnected baby”
see how easily it all slips away

this is noh direction
prepare for the city
angels turn on heavens light

hurry up the stage awaits you
don't forget memorize yr lines
missed yr mark now we medicate you
out of step just cant find the time
will we pass thru undetected
everything right here inside our file
not so free to be unprotected
a secret mona lisa hides behind her smile

3. Rain On Tin
[Thurston]
we all hope
to signal kin
days of gold
now rain on tin
gather round
gather friends
never fear
never again

4. Karen Revisited
[Lee]
heard yr name the other day
it's been a long long time
ancient history some would say
another state of mind
you smell of memory
felt tip'd electric childe

she takes a plastic pill/she plays the weatherman
she screams ‘religion kills more than it save ya, man'
she painted filigrees/she was the acid queen
she claims society is just a fever dream

now you live in the trees and salty seas
tripping out in the blue skies
you shut the door on everything
too busy getting high
and me, just another dream theory
lost inside yr eyes

she's not in yr history books/lost her mind, kept her looks
down beneath the radar screen/ she's lit up like gasoline
been thru a million kix/looking for the one that sticks
never would've known it then/i might not see her again

top hat and tails for thrills
red lips and famous hands
sidelong and glancing still
in tiny dancer land
we kissed/time slipped
hard edged/tight lipped
come home/sometime
ask me/if i care
for karen
miss communication
karen
stuck in isolation
karen
karen

5. Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style
[Thurston]
send the moon thru the skylight
bells together outrageously
noiseball, flirtatious example
bless her soul to further degree

theatre goddess, film destroyer
new york girls are sure to enjoy her
fuzzy peach, teenage computer
a shocking figure in the eye of the universe

i am dead by the beauty of strangers
in horror my eye-head transforms them
into smiling, beatific room mates
from dust to dust they create rock n roll

here comes something: you are lou reed
transformer cracked by the backyard stream
killer tunes, bubblegum disaster
radical adults lick godhead style

6. Plastic Sun
[Kim]
plastic girl with plastic gun
plastic smile under plastic sun
you burn my heart w/yr frigid stare
rip me off w/yr greasey hair
i hate you and yr fishy friends
i hate you and it never ends

tired of the times i wound up dead
tired of thedogs inside yr head
tired of the needles beside yr bed
tired of the crap you keep me fed
tired of the people you keep misled
yr blood is turning my blue eyes red
get yr hands off my tomato
cherry juice on a rotten potato
subway slasher is on my ass
steals my money and smokes my grass
watch yr back or yr dead meat baby
throw the dog a bone + you still get rabies.

7. Sympathy For The Strawberry
[Kim]
let me introduce you
since you saw my shadow self
living underneath you
she can't resist a tickle out
i'm a girl scout
searching for the new stuff

did i mention that it melts away(allgone)
she puts a sign out
out of order (a want a building that says)
makes you strongly disobey
guiding you away
chiding you away

so quick to hide when i turn around
she will rise just to embarrass me
she likes to dance when it's dark inside
just a flashlight there
for a guide
try and catch me if you can
free and wild
watch where you stand
below the net
desire it grows and grows
like a strawberry not a rose
prickly patch don't you stand on me
squishing down
in the mud ahh!