Lyrics - The Shrine of the Unsung Musicians



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Life in the Foodchain by Tonio K.

(lyrics were in lower case on liner notes)

well your mother was there to protect you
your papa was there to provide
so how in the world did the excellent baby
wind up in this hotel so broken inside
you lie on your bed in the midnight darkly
listening to every sound
watching the shadows for anything moving
and hoping they don't come around
'cause it's dog eat dog
and it's cat and mouse
it's watch your step and cross yourself
and get back in the house
and it's do or die
it's push and shove
because everybody's hungry
and there isn't quite enough
that's right we're talkin' about the good life
in the foodchain
love among the ruins
i guess that you've finally got to accept
that there's nothing you can do about it
it's kind of like carving a turkey
kind of like mowing the lawn:
everything gets to this certain dimension
winds up on a customer's plate and then gone

© 1978 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


H-A-T-R-E-D by Tonio K.

(additional bowdlerization supplied to keep our local U.S. Congress happy)
(lyrics were in lower case on liner notes)

(soft, soulful)
now i know it's not unusual
it's nothing so unique
there's probably hundreds of wonderful love affairs
that go bad in this town every week
but all of them others
them sad-hearted lovers
could cry in their beer, what the hey
it didn't concern me
was none of my business
i never had nothin' to say
but suddenly darlin'
the table has turned
you have left me for somebody new
and now it's hard to express
the resentment i feel
for the years that i've wasted on you

but let me put this another way....ok?

(all musical hell breaks loose, high energy punk!)

i'm full of h-a-t-r-e-d (spelled out)
i'm bitter and malign
you've got me
p-i-*-*-e-d off
i'm angry most of the time
why don't you
g-o t-o h-e-double"l"
you tramp
you philandering bi*ch
i'm going to
k-i-l-l one of us baby
give me time and i'll decide on which
and i know i'm acting immature
i'm acting like a child
i should display some self-control
instead of going wild like this
and i do wish i could accept all this
as simply "life" which includes pain
and act upon the actual fact
that nobody's to blame
yes i wish i was as mellow
as for instance jackson browne
but "fountain of sorrow" my *ss
@#$%^&*@#$%^ (if you want to know what this means, buy the cd)
i hope you wind up in the ground
i'm so full of h-a-t-r-e-d
i'm bitter and malign
you've got me
p-*-s-s-e-d off
i'm angry most of the time
why don't you
g-o t-o h-e-double"l"
you tramp
you philandering bit*h
i'm going to
k-i-l-l one of us baby
when i'm sober i'll decide on which
i'm so full of h-a-t-r-e-d
i'm bitter and malign
you've got me
*-i-s-s-e-d off
i'm angry most of the time
why don't you
g-o t-o h-e-double"l"
you tramp
you pig
i'm going to
k-i-l-l one of us baby
give me time and i'll decide on which

(chorus several times more, with amusingly violent variations)

(finally, as things wrap up, Tonio speaks the following lines, barely heard in the background)
but then again, maybe with the proper counseling, we can work this out

© 1978 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


One Big (Happy) Family by Tonio K.

(lyrics were in lower case in liner notes)

the english hate the irish
the arabs hate the jews
the whole world's got its black man
in a pinch
the cowboys hate the indians
the chinese hate 'em too
the french hate everyone
but that's just part of being french

now your spaniard loves a bullfight
and your russian loves a trial
italians love his holiness
because he dresses real snappy
and the germans like a good old
fashioned war
every once in a while
and we americans love everyone
we keep the whole world laughing

yes we're just one big happy family
'neath the sun
all full of you and me and he and she
and it and everyone
oh it's a wacky zany place
that we come from
we call it heaven
please take your shoes off
don't ask no questions
are you having fun?

now the thin ones laugh at fat ones
and the smart ones laugh at fools
you know that everyone thinks
somebody else is funny
the hot laugh at the cold
the old are laughing at the new
and six-gun yassir and bokassa and
the rockefellers
laugh at everybody

still it's just one big happy family
'neath the sun
it's all full of you and me and he and she
and it and everyone
gosh it's a goofy loony place that we
come from
me/i ain't laughin'
in fact i'm leavin'
you keep the car dear
i still don't need it
don't tell the children
don't tell the germans
don't tell the rockefellers
don't tell no one

© 1975 Worthless Music (ASCAP)
Propane Publishing (ASCAP)


Say Goodbye by Tonio K. and Nick van Maarth

(lyrics were in lower case in liner notes)

everybody say a prayer for the age of innocence
everybody say a prayer for the days gone by
it's a sin and it's a shame
but those days will not come again
blow a kiss and dry your eyes
say goodbye

backed up against the ocean
backed up against the wall
out here on the edge of america
desperate
and heading for some kind of fall
can't go no farther west
can't do no better than the best
must have got the wrong directions
say goodbye

save youself baby
run for help -- the whole world's gone crazy
and there's nothing you can do
but say goodbye

they confuse and they tangle the truth up
with fast talk and promises
they abuse and abandon each other
outside on the street
yeh the signs are everywhere
only no one even cares
this paradise is dying
say goodbye

© 1980 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


Sons of the Revolution by Tonio K.

(lyrics were in lower case in liner notes)

you're such a brilliant young crusader
you just got out of school
you've got twenty years of knowledge
that you finally get to use
yes you've got your valiant motives
and you think you've got the tools
but you'd better watch the shadows
'cause they're all watching you
you'd better duck behind a wall of stone
and figure your next move
you've come here to heal the sick
well good for you
but you'd better first go home
and learn the rules

It's a game alright they're playin'
but it ain't like on tv
nobody shakes hands when it's over
and there ain't no referee
and the stands are full of broken men
and the field's grown up in weeds
and the winners get your children
yeh they do just what they please
and they'll cut you for no reason
'cept they want to watch you bleed
so forget everything you've heard or read or seen
it's a game alright they're playin'
but they're playin' it for keeps

sons of the revolution
you're here to save the day
but it ain't none of you business
and you're only in the way
sons of the revolution
better get out while you can
'cause there's no one here that wants a helping hand

once upon a time they told you
love makes the world go 'round
now that's getting hard to buy
as you stare across the wasteland
and you watch the planet die
you once heard that everybody's equal
but you're learning that too is a lie
there's a couple thousand people
that own it all, got all the rights
and it's greed that makes the world go 'round
and it's bound to start a fire
and yes there's three billion sleeping people gonna burn
and you think by now they would have got the word

sons of the revolution
you're here to save the day
but it ain't none of you business
and you're only in the way
sons of the revolution
better get out while you can
'cause there's no one here that wants a helping hand

© 1976 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


Go Away by Tonio K.

(lyrics were in lower case in liner notes)

well you walk into my room
lookin' all innocent and lost
with your sleazy dress barely coverin' up
all the parts that you know that i want
you talk about the past
and ask me how i'm gettin' on
yes you're rememberin' all the good times
that we had before you turned up gone
and by the way i smile and stare
you think i'm maybe goin' for it
but do you take me for a fool?
i wouldn't touch you with a stick
i know what you came here for
but i ain't no kid anymore
you think i don't know what your game is
you think that i'm blind
you think i'm fool enough
to ever want to play with...?
you think i've lost my mind?
well i do
and i'm not
and i don't so it won't matter if you stand here
'til the cows come home
so don't you waste your precious time

and when that don't work
you start in pullin' rabbits out your hat
and you're pretty good
but we're not amused
now would you kindly put them back
you drop some names that i once mentioned
thinking maybe i'll respond
but i've passed beyond all of that nonsense
what with the arabs droppin' bombs
did you really think that you could trick me
just by memorizing names?
oh you're a spicey little number
but your mind's between your legs

you think i don't know what your game is
you think that i'm blind
you think i'm fool enough
to ever want to play with...?
you think i've lost my mind?
well i do
and i'm not
and i don't so it won't matter if you stand here
'til these cattle go home
no don't you waste my precious time

i'm not buyin'
i ain't interested
go away

© 1980 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


Cinderella's Baby by Tonio K.

(lyrics were in lower case on liner notes)

cinderella's baby
what you gonna do when the six o'clock
news gets real
what you gonna do
honey how you gonna feel
how you gonna handle it
your mommy and your daddy
didn't teach you what you really need
to know
but your mommy and your daddy had
problems of their own

cinderella's baby
they will dress you
suggest every purchase and every step
there's a rulebook been written for you
by the video set
and unless you just turn it off
and figure out what you want
they're gonna program what you find
because they work so hard at making
up your mind

but don't you believe it
when they tell you that your face won't do
and you've got to make one up
when they try to sell you the latest
miracle drug
don't you believe it
all your sisters before you fell victim
to fictional love upon love upon lover
but you just take your time
and try to figure out some kind of truth
and try to find someone who's tryin' to
figure it out
just like you

cinderella's baby
we've been bought and sold
and we don't even know their names
we've been caught and thrown to the lions
don't look for the cage
you can't see it -- it's everywhere
got a feelin' that really there's only one
road left to choose
so if you'll cover for me
i'll cover for you

and don't you believe it
when they tell you that your life won't do
and you've got to make one up
don't you believe it ...

Tonio K. © 1979 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


Trouble by Tonio K. and Earl Slick

(lyrics were in lower case on liner notes)

i wake up every morning
i go to sleep each night
the communists, moslems
and warmonger texans
are still tryin' to ruin' my life
'cause all the king's horses and all the
king's men
and all the king's idiot sons
ain't never in all of their glorious battles
solved anything with a gun
(you just can't do it)
you're just askin' for

trouble     it's in every single headline
trouble     i can't believe it
trouble     evvery day another hard time
trouble     i don't need it

i don't like your tiny thinking
i won't fight your stinking war
you start something this time
we all get a half-life
go figure it out on your own
and it's all in the name of democracy
or it's all in the name of the state
but you can name it your mammy
name it when i'm thru
you know it all works out the same
you must be insane
you just keep looking for

trouble     now you're gettin' out the big guns
trouble     i just can't believe it
trouble     you're gonna wind up killin' everyone with this
trouble     but you just can't see it can ya

(pastoral interlude in c# major)

trouble     in every single nation
trouble     it's so hard to believe
trouble     right out of the book of revelation
trouble     why don't you read it

Tonio K./Earl Slick © 1980 Worthless Music (ASCAP)
Pointless Music (BMI)


The Night Fast Rodney Went Crazy by Tonio K.

(lyrics were in lower case on liner notes)

how come this country runs on retrospect
how come nobody ever knows what to expect
it should be easy to prevent and to protect
yes they should have known about rodney

too much rejection make a man turn mean
lack of attention it can ruin everything
and that's not to mention random acts of cruelty
see: they could have known about rodney
(i'm talkin' 'bout loretta)

loretta underwear she could be impressed
she liked the biggest and the brightest and the best
and she'd let a driver lay his head upon her breast
but she should not have fooled around with rodney

rodney had the chevrolet
had the engine
had the paint
had the lead foot/that foot would speak and say
look at me/i'm alright/my name is rodney

rodney he fall in love/he could not see
that it was just the chevrolet
and he give that girl his ring
so when she rode off in a thunderbird next thing
something break in the head of fast rodney

he hit the highway at the speed of sound
lookin' for loretta and this brand-new love she'd found
(and when he found 'em)
he rammed that t-bird 'till the blood was on the ground
and now the town would soon know about rodney

one last time he drove to school
only this time it's too cool
right up the steps and through the doors he flew
the police were now coming after rodney

he put that chevy through the trophy wall
then back it up and speed shift down the marble hall
got to the men's room when the engine stalled
that's when the law pumped the lead into rodney

rodney he slumped down on the steering wheel
hold tight the gearshift as they ask him
what's the deal here
and with his dying words the secret is revealed:
ihre eltern waren marsleute

this all happened on the night fast rodney went crazy
the night that rodney ran amok
that's right that rodney went crazy
and the dead and injured they just ran out of luck

Tonio K. © 1979 Worthless Music (ASCAP)


The New Dark Ages by Tonio K. and George Conner

Darlin', it's a hard life if you're lucky
Ah, but it's a short life if you're not
The sheriff and the terrorist are both hungry
You spend all your time tryin' not to get caught
It ain't no joke
And it ain't no lie
Gangsters tell you what to think
What are you, the missing link?
Wise up, welcome to the new dark ages

Gangsters hangin' round of every description
Gangsters write your books and sing your songs
Gangsters grin out of the television
Gangsters on the couch and on the lawn
Gangsters of love
Gangsters in the government
They have told us what to think
What am I, the missing link?
Wise up, welcome to the new dark ages

You can face it now, or face it later
You will have to face it either way
You should hate them with a perfect hatred
Take that long nights' journey into day
It isn't up to me
It isn't up to you (we don't make the rules)
False is false and true is true
Only one thing we can do
Shine the light into the new dark ages

© 1981 Worthless Music/Dozen Songs (ASCAP/BMI)


We Walk On by Tonio K. and John Keller

Like my father before me
I consider a past I can't understand
As I grasp for a moment
That slips through my hands
And I stumble toward a future
Concealed in a haze
Half faith and half fear
And my innocent vision's
No longer so clear

I walk on

I don't know where the days go
They turn into weeks
They turn into years
Summers turn into Christmas
And they all disappear
And the children turn from their childlike trust
As their laughter is turned into tears
Still they listen for the voices
That we all used to hear

They walk on

From the flash of conception
To the flowers on a grave
From the joy of a birth
To the coming of age
From the freedom of the schoolyard
To the man at his work
From the safety of a mother's arms
To the ends of the earth

We walk on

We walk on through the darkness
We walk on toward the light
Through the confusion and illusion
Through the floods and the fire
We walk back to the future
We walk away from the flame
We walk back to the beginning
Where we're given a new name

We walk on

We walk on

© 1997? N.Y.M/UNICITY Music (ASCAP)


Total Eclipse by Kristian Hoffman, sung by Klaus Nomi

(italicized lyrics are uncertain)

Big shots,
argue about what they've got,
making the planet so hot,
hot as a holocaust.

Blow up,
everything's going to go up,
even if you don't show up,
in your chemise Lacoste.

Total eclipse, it's a total eclipse,
it's a total eclipse of the sun,
world? wel...? come to this,
with the total eclipse,
just a slip of your lips,
and you're done.

Fallout,
nobody left to crawl out,
if someone calls we're all out,
turning into French fries.

Last dance,
let the entire cast dance,
due to dismembered,
last dance,
as we get atomized.

Total eclipse, it's a total eclipse,
it's a total eclipse of the sun,
world? wel...? come to this,
with the total eclipse,
just a slip of your lips,
and you're done.

© 1981(?) Adra Music


After the Fall by Kristian Hoffman, sung by Klaus Nomi

(italicized lyrics are uncertain)

So I told you 'bout the total eclipse now,
but still it caught you unaware,
but I'm telling you, hold on, hold on,
tomorrow will be there.

And even those who went to church upon Sunday,
you thought you didn't even have a prayer,
but I'm telling you, hold on, hold on,
tomorrow will be there.

After the fall, we'll be born, born, born again,
after it all blows away.
After the fall, after the fall
after it all blows away.

We'll take a million years of civilization,
we're going to give it the electric chair,
but I'm telling you,
hold on,
hold on,
tomorrow will be there.

We'll see one hundred million lonely mutants,
they will be glowing in their dark despair,
but I'm telling you,
hold on,
hold on,
tomorrow will be there.

After the fall, we'll be born, born, born again,
after it all blows away.
After the fall, after the fall,
after it all blows away.

Well, the freak shall inherit the earth now,
no matter how well done or rare,
but I'm telling you,
hold on,
hold on,
tomorrow will be there.

We'll vent/breathe our radioactive gases,
into the radioactive air,
but I'm telling you,
hold on,
hold on,
tomorrow will be there.

After the fall, we'll be born, born, born again,
after it all blows away.
After the fall, after the fall,
after it all blows away.
After the fall, after the fall,
after the fall, after the fall,
after the fall, after the fall...

© 1982(?) Adra Music/Scorpio Music


Cold Song by Henry Purcell, sung by Klaus Nomi

What Power art thou,
Who from below,
Hast made me Rise,
Unwillingly and slow,
From beds of Everlasting Snow!
See'st thou not how stiff,
And wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter Cold,
I can scarcely move,
Or draw my Breath,
Let me, let me,
Freeze again to Death.

Status of copyright unknown


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Lyrics - The Shrine of the Unsung Musicians / Brian & Catherine Rock / Jan 14 1996