L Y R I C S o f  F L A M I N G  F I R E 10 DAYS (from the 2007 album "When the High Bell Rings") 10 days before the flood I was an Iowan banker made out of mud! (The river is deep and the valley is wide, with a sword in my hand and a gun at my side) 9 days before the plague I killed a goat for its coat and I hopped a train 8 days until the storm set the blizzard on fire just to stay warm 7 days before the shaft I got sick on the stick of a red rubber raft 6 days till the rotten rice with sins of the world in my headlice 5 days until the dirt farm found a starving leprechaun inside my arm 4 days till the glass brontosaurus got a long leather penis and joined the Greek chorus! 3 days till the burning swan the going got going and it was all gone! 2 days till the flaming sand doing aerobics with a thorny headband 100 years without any sleep, couldn't see the sun but I could hear it creep! Sha la la la la... New York get on your knees and paws, for we are the sons of Santa Claus Brooklyn pray for your fallen gods, for we are the curse of Kum Bay Ya! And we won’t hide it under a bushel no And there’s nowhere for you to go And we’re gonna let it shine Sha la la it’s burning time! Sha la la… BREAKING YOUR OWN HEART (AGAIN) (from the late-2007 album "Kentucky Shroud") And when I saw your wine-flushed face, and saw that look of self-satisfied pain The signs are always clear, my dear You're breaking your own heart again Breaking your own heart again You bat it like a cat Smirky and contemptuous, but those rats have made you fat Yer pagan books, French poetry, what does decadence mean to me? Yer smelly drugs, those whiskey nights, does redbeard say that will makes right? Well, he may have, I don't care, it's true that passion is unfair But it's also true...cheap love ain't no good for you And I know you hate the government, is that how come you're high? And politics set you in a rage, so you come home at 5 And honey, I don't care, I don't hate the libertine But it takes such a long time to unbreak your own heart again Ye who are weary, ----ed up and beery, coked-up and orgy-fried, freaked-out and traumatized Stumbly with smeary pride, dilated with methy eyes, half-bored and half-alive, yawning on the inside Ye who are weary, come on home, ye who are weary, come on home CENTRALIA (from our summer 2003 album "Songs From the Shining Temple") All: Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh uh-oh (4 x) Women: Climb up in the sky, engines are running hot The blood in the river moves much too fast to clot Leopard Ninja people fall with plastic wings Everything’s dissolving and I’m in love with everything Do you need another reason for the plague? A zillion billion black holes get on their knees and beg Flowers killing flowers, so it has always been Or maybe there’s a sometime, I can’t remember when CHORUS: Woman: And the light begat the night And it was right Man: Uh—huh-huh-HAH And the day, was torn away to make way Man: Uh—huh-huh-HAH Blow the horns, the show is born, curtain is torn SAMARAI! Terrans will die! Sword in the sky! Women: Smoke from the P.A. ground, just what does it mean? Brothers into craters, such a climactic scene A county on fire, Centralia’s smoking still Burning is the answer, everything that ever will Outside is the canyon, coyotes howl, vultures scream Make love in a tornado, howling is the only dream A dream that shimmers quick now, sea to shining sea Glimmer for an instant, and shine right over me CHORUS SPOKEN INTERLUDE: Man: Who are we? What are we? What do we want? What do we need? What is the blood? What is the hate? What are the vipers on my plate? What are the stars up in the sky? That wait for us to die? No my friends, let’s not pretend Nature is not our friend For nature loves a traitor And she calls us to betray her Like a serpent in the grass There’s only order in the past It’s projected from our minds As we nostalgically unwind And remember things that never were Like the curtain was never tore So I say no! Let it bleed! Let us break it to our needs! That’s why it’s there, that’s what it’s for! Those that take will be given more! Do not love what you know! Before you know it, it will go! We must wreck! We must infect! We must destroy and now deploy! A sweet disease called us! Without hope, or fear or trust! But just barbaric love like hot napalm from above! All yell: AYO-AO (4 x) Women: Picnic in April, sun before and after rain, Hiding from lightning, rainbow brings us out again Cityfest in July, Tina in a goldfish bowl Car shows and skill cranes--Scrambler’s out of control! It killed seven kids, we went to their funerals But now it’s back once more, glittering lights and laughing skull Will you ride or won’t you? Now that mom & dad are gone Let’s French kiss inside the car, pay your tickets and climb on! CUT THE REAPER (from "Songs From the Shining Temple") Here he comes in the middle of the night Take my life before daylight Remember the knife hidden in the nightstand I'm gonna chop off his bony hand! CHORUS: You’ve got to cut the reaper, cut the reaper Cut the reaper, cut the reaper I don’t wanna die, they’ll never take my life! I don’t wanna die No! Cut the reaper, make him bleed Make him suffer for the soul he needs Crush the hourglass and spill the sand You don't have to lay down for the master plan! CHORUS But I never remember the little things The sweet-lipped fairies and diamond rings The carnival smoke and the mommy plates The crust that busts my heart to break The dapper dogs with the gold white teeth The blades of grass that puncture neat Through soil yards to kiss the heath For pollen pie that tastes so sweet And Evangeline and Misty too And mostly I remember you Rolling down that purple hill Asunder with your wonder swill And all those things that smell of pie And smear the moldy years gone by And now I am going to die! No! I’ll never ever die! CHORUS DARK NIGHT (from "When the High Bell Rings," 2007) All the stars have committed suicide and now all the planets are rotting from the inside All the planes are colliding in the sky and all the birds they fall down beside It was a dark night... Not a single thing could be heard no one dared to speak a word The silence screamed from the sky to the ground the darkness shook too loud to make a sound It was a dark night... We stood and we waited till dawn but the day was still gone Eternal night had eaten the light Like a fungus of souls, we all lose control You raised your fist to fight on, but you were already gone And everyone was nothing and the nothing grew and grew It swallowed all the thing we loved, it swallowed me and you I was drowning while I was breathing as the world shook wild with shame And I laughed as I went under, with no words I thought your name It was a dark night... DISCO OF SOULS (from our 2001 CD release "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") I was drowning, drowning at the disco of souls My arms and legs were flailing out of my control I asked them for water but they just gave me blood I was a dead-eyed warlock made out of mud And the groove was so right but I was so wrong Tried to fight and fight but the current's too strong Can't stop going under and I can't feel my face Like I'm going down with the whole human race CHORUS: Man: I can't see! I can't hear! Disco ladies: You're doing fine, you're doing fine Man: I can't find my way around Disco ladies: just takes time, it just takes time Man: I'm too hot, wearing too many clothes Disco ladies: just relax, try to relax Man: want to leave, want to go home Disco ladies: you can never go back! you can never go back! The beat keeps beating me down to the floor Clubbed by the clubs I can't take anymore I haven't seen the sunlight in 38 days Choking in the poison of a white sugar haze CHORUS FARMER WOLF (from "When the High Bell Rings," 2007) All my pigs -- come to me, come to me! All my hogs – come to me, come to me! All my chicks – come to me, to come to me! All my dogs – come to me! Come to me! All my sheep -- come to me, come to me! All my sows – come to me, come to me! All my goats– come to me, come to me! All my cows – come to me, come to me! Keep us farmer safe from harm (Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up) Varmints have attacked our farm Snakes are eating baby pigs Rats are crawling the cribs Save us, help us, we're dying slowly Farmer Wolf, please stop them by all that's holy Farmer Wolf, open your eyes All your pigs are covered with flies There's crows in the air, can you hear their cries? They're stealing your corn, they're filling the skies! Farmer Wolf, set your scarecrows to war Farmer Wolf, set your scarecrows to war All my pigs -- come to me, come to me! All my hogs... Farmer Wolf, oh wake up please (wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up) Your barn and cows have all been seized Gophers are digging up your crops Farmer Wolf, please make them stop Save us, help us, we're dying slowly Farmer Wolf, please stop them by all that's holy Farmer Wolf, read your Almanac, There's gophers in the ground, and you're under attack They're digging holes to drag your children below Save your cubs before they go Farmer Wolf, set your scarecrows to war Farmer Wolf, set your scarecrows to war... THE FIRE OF LOVE (from "Songs From the Shining Temple"; live version on 2007's "Kentucky Shroud") Wait in caves, wait for night Screams of the fallen, and it’s all all right Dogs on leashes, snarling and growling Ripped from the gates, with a terrible howling CHORUS: BREAK! With the fire of love BREAK! With the love of fire BREAK! Sing my prayer BREAK! To the god of desire BREAK! BREAK! BREAK! Lightning oblivion, with a thunder crack Divine meat, and there’s no turning back Growl like an engine, smoking fumes Angry diesel, smashing through the room Reptile night, shriek of the law Makeout nightmare, with tooth and claw! CHORUS FOG MACHINE (from "When the High Bell Rings," 2007) Remember when the fog came down, and everyone fell to the ground And thanked God for the Fog Machine that made everything so grey and clean Shining so dull with electric lights, shining through hazy fields of white As one big beat goes on forever, and everyone's so drunk and clever And the shining smoke fills up the night, in the dark lost in the white And the shining smoke fills up the night, in the dark lost in the white Start it up – turn it on Start it up - turn it on... Didn’t love you before, but I love you now Everything’s the same but it's different somehow You seem so strange and that’s all right Lets disappear in the fog tonight! Way down south deep in the bog, with the snapping gators and singing frog Drinking moonshine in the mist, imagine it’s a lot like this Romance in the rotting musk, mysterious and full of lust The Bayou wild all carry on, then run and hide before the dawn And the shining smoke fills up the night, in the dark lost in the white... FOREIGN CAR (from "Songs From the Shining Temple) Foreign car, he’s workin’ for the law Foreign car, he’s workin’ for the law Subaru over an open sea He’s comin’, he’s comin’, he’s comin’ for me CHORUS: That bastard’s working for God He’s spinning, spinning his holy axel rods That bastard’s working for Christ And God’s grease monkeys don’t play nice Greasy desk in a cigarette room Girlie car calendars face up the gloom It’s all right, it’s all right Foreign car, he’s workin’ for the law CHORUS Watch out! Watch out! The fuel! No fuel! It’s pouring! Watch out! Watch out! The engine! Small engine! It’s burning burning burning THE GIRL WHO LIVES ON THE MOON (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") I am the girl who lives on the moon I hope those astronauts come back soon I wait and wait through and through every day NASA took my silver boy away I knit him scarves and talk on the phone Deep in my crater, I'm so alone I sell the moonrocks to the roaches of Mars While they nazz-nazz and play their guitars CHORUS: One day, he'll come to stay One day, he'll come to play One night, will make it right One man - Where Is John Carter! Remember when Apollo fell from the sun He was so shiny and we kissed a ton He had to leave for love is so blind Broke my heart, one step for mankind CHORUS MEN: Where is John Carter? Where is John Carter? Where is John Carter? Where is John Carter… GODDESS OF WAR (from "Songs From the Shining Temple") Another river of blood Another dreary field with the bodies of the slain Another endless battle going on Another last battle, but it always stays the same Another spring maiden of the corn Maybe they'll burn another in the fall Every dead hero is the same Seen one martyr and you've really seen them all CHORUS: Here I am, your goddess of war How many times have I seen you cry? Here I am, your goddess of war Why in such a hurry to lay down and die? But that's all right That's what I'm here for To carry away your broken bleeding Your goddess of war HIGH BELL (from "When the High Bell Rings," 2007; live version on "Kentucky Shroud") VERSE: Oh yeah, Oh yeah, all right, all right Day to day now, night to night The dark is day now, the night is light Oh yeah, Oh yeah, all right, all right Shiny lamb, shiny snake Thorn that burns, shake that ache CHORUS: You know I know that we'll make love to night when the high bell rings You know I feel we'll die and that's all right when the black bird sings Let the oceans turn to blood, let them flood, let them flood when the high bell rings Let the stars fall down, let them drown, let them drown when the high bell rings VERSE: Oh yeah, Oh yeah, awright, a-right Let's zown some trances, make the round Scream it bounces, suck that down Cut it clever, rip it tight Bleed discreetly, eat the night! They'll burn you, but you won't notice They'll kill you, still you won't focus There's something else you think about that seems to make you free of doubt There's something bright shining in your eyes that seems to mold and shape the lies to something real, to something nice till it all glows and fades to white so sleep to sleep to sleep again tonight (sleep to sleep to sleep again) tonight I LOVE THE WAY YOU KILL ME (from "Songs From the Shining Temple"; live version on 2007's "Kentucky Shroud") I love the way you kill me, it's so hot hot hot I love it when I'm dying, it's so hot hot hot The universe is falling, it's so hot hot hot Feel the rainbow break, it's too hot hot hot! River is roaring, hot hot hot Haunted howling, hot hot hot Boiling and bleeding, river rapid rushing! It's so hot hot hot CHORUS: Now is the time to destroy Now is the time to tear them down No more old things, only new life Traditions must die, new will be found! Set the world on fire! Set the world on fire! Set the world on fire! Set the world on fire! REPEAT FIRST VERSE, CHORUS See the way your teardrops sparkle See the way your blood does shine Feel the fear falling over Make the way, make the way for waking from life IN THE SUMMERTIME WHEN EVERYTHING IS HOLY (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") MEN: In the summertime when everything is holy WOMEN: I go out and roll-y, roll-y, roll-y MEN: In the green grass of my lawn WOMEN: Then fall comes and the grass is gone MEN: There's a place where we can dance WOMEN: Take drugs and fall into a trance MEN: Let the moon take such a long time WOMEN: Wait until the crickets start to chirp in rhyme MEN: Ba-ba-ba-ba WOMEN: Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba WOMEN & MEN: The moon crawls Across a hot black sky Hold me tight and never ask me why Why can't we stay like this forever Why does passion fade just like the weather MEN: In the fall, the brown leaves tumble WOMEN: Under your feet, I can hear the crumble MEN: We could be warm by a big bonfire WOMEN: Send away summer on a funeral pyre MEN: In the winter, the world is grey WOMEN: The freezing wind screams night and day MEN: Stay inside and drink and slumber WOMEN: Dream of light and the heat of summer KILL THE RIGHT PEOPLE (from "Songs From the Shining Temple"; live version on 2007's "Kentucky Shroud") I was in the Civil War Rode an ostrich at Gettysburg Got my face peeled off by Scalphunter Now I’m just a skull with a sixshooter I love a naked woman! Ridin’ through the streets of Camaro She’s got sexy vampire powers And goblets of rainbows, sweet goblets of rainbows CHORUS: Yeah, and I know what’s right You’ve got kill the right people No, you can’t mess that up You’ve gotta kill the the right people Everyone body sitting down, stand up! And kill the right people Lend a hand, lend a killing hand And kill the right people I like to party with Jesuits Missionaries to a gaseous dimension Casting demons out of helium Saving the souls of the mercurial mob Just want to get back with that naked woman I love It’s hard fucking work killing the damned And damning the dead, that’s what I said CHORUS LA LA LA: WHEN I STARE INTO THE SUN (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") La La La La La-la-la-la-la La La La La La-la-la-la-la Men: When I stare into the sun Women: I think about all the things Men: That happened when I was young Women: And wonder what my life will bring Men: Hope and sadness, war and love Women: Comets come and comets go Men: Harvesting the warm fall ground Women: Things will die and things will grow Men: Sometimes it makes me scared Women: But the fear never lasts too long Men: My heart beats and the wind blows Women: And in the silence sing this song La La La La La-la-la-la-la La La La La LIKE A GUN (from "Songs From the Shining Temple") Like a gun through a razor Like a gun through a gun! Pink raw throbbing lazer Pimping out in the sun! Like a light in the darkness Like the darkness in the light! Pink raw throbbing lazer In the grease of the dawn! Glisten so hungry Dead for a mile Ripped for the answer And drunk on the cancer Dogs in white nightgowns Gristle on Broadway The time for a nation Is discount penetration! LISTEN TO FLUORESCENT LIGHTS (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") I remember when you were talking in your sleep And you said that the trees were starting to creep Through the ground, through the water to a brand new place And you laughed with a horrible expression on your face It was windy that night and the faraway cars Were honking as the drunks drove home from the bars There was nothing to do, you and I were alone Together in the night in the shadows of the home CHORUS: Lie down on porcelain Feel the cool cement Breathe deep and close your eyes Listen to fluorescent lights Lie down on porcelain Feel the cool cement Breathe deep and close your eyes Listen to fluorescent lights In the subway this morning another beggar came And he smelt with a stench of refuse and pain His eyes rolled up and his quivering hand Held a cup held in place by a brown rubber band He was screaming out loud but he couldn't be heard Amid the screeching of the tracks I couldn't tell a word And the sparks of the welders fell on my window in the train A crackling sound, then the screeching and the screaming again CHORUS NATURAL LIGHT CATASTROPHE (from our fall 2007 CD, "Kentucky Shroud") No money, no job Sad sad, sob sob Natural Light in a bag Hanging out, what a drag Can't go out, stay at home When you're broke, you're alone But in Williamsburg they're doing cocaine, money up the nose, money down the drain C'mon daddy, mail that check Buy them drugs and pay the rent Work all day and there's nothing left How come you're 20 grand in debt? Try to party cheap, drink PBR Stick to the dives, but you don't get far It's not polite to say, but you're not leisure class And when your credit card's up you'll be out on your ass It's not polite to say, but you're not leisure class And when your credit card's up you'll be out on your ass I can't afford San Francisco, I can't afford New York I can't afford Chicago, I can't afford New York I can't afford Boston, I can't afford New York I can't afford Austin, I can't afford New York ONWARD FOREVER (from "Songs From the Shining Temple") You should be proud of the work that you do And find glory in the work that you do Keep trying harder, harder! Building something takes something takes a long, long, long time Think of your ancestors far far back in time Keep striving for tomorrow! Evolution is a gift from Jesus Burn with the fire of holy consciousness Your soul is a flaming fire! Tomorrow is a gift for your descendents Don’t break the chain of human advancement The cosmos is a shining temple! Onward! Onward, Forevermore! Onward! Onward, Forevermore! Onward! Onward, Forevermore! Onward! Onward! Onward! Onward, Onward Forevermore! PEDOPHILIAC (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") The convicted Pedophiliac And the baby Christ Had brunch and tea Went to the zoo The baby Had eyes of fire And the convicted Pedophiliac Started spinning Higher and higher In the air RABBIT RUN TO THE RIVER (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") Rabbit run to the River River run to the sea Sea run to the ocean Rabbit run back to me The sky is full of clouds The clouds are full of tears Tears are full of memories That fill the sky with fears I can smell the burning Smoke comes under the door Stop and drop and roll but The fire is on the floor LADIES: Sha la la is the song of love But still my eyes do cry and the fire is the fire is the fire of love With the river deep and wide THE STARS THAT BURN (from "When the High Bell Rings," 2007) I'm standing in the doorway of the doorway of the moon And it's glowing ever brighter like a rocket or a spoon And the fire that is burning burns from faraway You can smell the fiery ashes of the stars that burn today The stars that burn today, some were friends and some were not Some were beautiful and proud and deserved all they got Some are burning now, and some are burning still But the flames and fire never end and never will I'm drowning in the basement of an old abandoned church And the flood, it's arising and it's only getting worse And the wind, the wind is howling but you can hear what they say In the thunder, the evil chatter of the stars that burn today The stars that burn today, they vamp in the night Preposterous and freaked out and full of bad fright Glow worms on the catwalk ooze glamourously In the bilely heavens you can feel their disease THE SUN IS A SNAKE (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") The Sun is a snake In the eye of the sky And it burns in a tree Deep inside my mind (REPEAT) THERE IS A SKY (from "Songs From the Shining Temple") Lady One: There is a Lady Two: Sky Lady One: That’s Lady Two: Bigger Lady One: Than the Lady Two: Other sky Repeat x4 x2 There is a sky that’s bigger than the other sky I have seen it reflected in the sun It waits above aboveness Its mouth will swallow me someday! CHORUS: Crash of roaring thunder Perfume of the ages Jawbone of the lion Morning dewy garden REPEAT VERSE, CHORUS Always remember that the comet whispered a promise Always remember that the rain will never take back your name Always remember love will never destroy this field Oh can’t you see the sky bends closer now! WATER PRIVATIZATION MAN (from our fall 2007 CD, "Kentucky Shroud") Trembling, shivering, shaking, quaking Wash me in the river but the river is gone Pulsing, convulsing, fluttering, stuttering You can't turn it off, but you can turn it on In the house, in the bedroom In the box, in the closet His plans for the agua, from the river to the faucet He's municipal secretly, planning his utilities Making sure no one sees, funded by the agency Always at the council meetings, shaking hands, smiling, greeting Spying on, he plans for water, how to make it colder, hotter Sneaking out, running home, making sure he's all alone He scribbles out his secret plans Water Privatization Man Rolling down that hill, Rolling down that hill Rolling down that hill, from the delta to the desert Rolling down that hill, Rolling down that hill, Rolling down that hill, from the highway to the desert Roll, roll, roll World Bank, East Bay, Aqua Terra, Three Stone...Water Privatization Man WHY DO BIRDS SOUND LIKE MOTORBIKES (from "Get Old and Die With Flaming Fire") well I haven't been dead long and you know I'm trying to figure it out why do birds sound like motorbikes? why do birds sound like motorbikes? well I haven't been living long and you know I'm trying to figure it out why do birds sound like motorbikes? why do birds sound like motorbikes? we're sorry, we're closed there's no answers here you can always come back tomorrow you can always come back tomorrow you can always come back tomorrow… why do birds sound like motorbikes? why do birds sound like motorbikes? why do birds sound like motorbikes? why do birds sound like motorbikes? YOUR LOVE (from "Songs From the Shining Temple") If you were a house then I would stay there If you were a church then I would pray there Don’t lock your doors down Or I’ll burn you to the ground CHORUS: ‘Cause your love belongs to me Your love belongs to me Soul to God, mind to TV Your love belongs to me If you were a fan then I would rock If you were a star then I would stalk you That’s what lovers do They want every inch of you CHORUS ALL LYRICS -- Copyright Fire Flame Music ASCAP/Patrick Hambrecht -- All Rights Reserved