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Your Words

RnJ

PilgrimAflame
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:A Thread For Posting Something You Wrote, in terms of lyrics. A little story about it would be cool too. I can't stand it when bands avoid explaining what their lyrics are about. Might as well not sing words unless you want people to hear them, and what you mean.


Story.
I worked in a pharmaceutical factory with white-washed walls for almost 4 years. I slacked off a lot in my final few months, and wrote this entirely on shift. While this song doesn't exactly describe my story, I think parts of me are in this. The wariness of production, especially millions of anti-depressant tablets per day, an official 101-things-to-do-before-I-die list (which I also "produced" on company time) and a 45-minute train ride that it precipitated, changed my life. This song came at a time when I realized first-hand that happiness was not as inherent to wives, houses and full-time jobs as I had thought.

Where No Road Goes
===

One time I had a lover, who meant the world to me
She softened up my hardened heart, nobody cared like she
But when I caught her making love to, that landlord Donny Walt,
I lost my home, no place to go

Cause love will keep you begging at the door
Until that lover don't love you no more

I spent some time in Philly with my one friend, alcohol
I got a job within the line, and had lose it all
That haggard man on Ritter St. heard this and broke my fall
Said "There's a home where no road goes"

Cause work will leave you tired of the day
Until you drink all your money away

We caught out just past midnight on a westbound hopper car
I knew that though my home drew near I'd have to travel far
The jolts of slack ticked by for hours and sleep crept into me
Lonesome train, carry me home

Lonesome train, carry me on
Through the dusk and through the dawn
Lonesome train, carry me on
Lonesome train, I am your ghost
Through the mountains, coast to coast
Lonesome train, I am your ghost

Well a month went by and we kept on, each city but a break
When at last my lone companion wished me luck and went his way
And then I knew that what I sought, had been the steel beneath
Lonesome train, you are my home

Lonesome train, carry me on
Through the dusk and through the dawn
Lonesome train, carry me on
Lonesome train, I am your ghost
Through the mountains, coast to coast
Lonesome train, I am your ghost

Cause love will leave you begging at a door
Until that lover don't love you no more
And work will leave you tired of the day
Until you drink all your money away
 

RenegadeGypsy

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Where do I go now?
Lost in my head
Wake up every morning
wonderin' if i should be dead.

Whats the use?
I dont have an excuse
For where the hell im going
anymore.

And underneath
all these clothes
Im startin to question
who i am anymore

So where do you go
when your on a bloody path
and all of your answers turn into questions
and life just unfolds

And where can I find
Where can I find
Where can I find
This soul of mine


Well, i wrote this fairly recently...i wish i had my guitar to put it to music...the backing to it is...well, shitty...i had my beliefs and i figured that would be all i needed...but i was wrong...now im trying to stand on my own to feet like everyone wants me to and for some reason i find myself to be drowning. The thought of packing my bag seems like heaven, but instead im trying to live in a way that has never been me. Problem is, if i dont try living this way, i will lose those most important people in the world to me (my man, my brother, and my sister)...so thats what the song is about...
 

iamwhatiam

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double post
 

iamwhatiam

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This is one of 2 of the most recent ones i've been workin on. It was inspired by the months I spent boozing it up on a friends sailboat in St. Augustine, FL.
-------------------

:cheers:

I woke up this morning to my shipmates' snoring,
and stumbled from bed as I rose to my feet,
From last nights' booze my gut was hurtin' and there's nothin but -
old dumpstered pastries and ramen to eat....
..just old dumpstered pastries and ramen to eat..

Mound of trash I step over - find a beer can left over,
hold my breath as I chug it and hope it's not piss... -Tho you'd
think me pathetic, maybe feel sympathetic,
There's nothin' else in the world I'd trade for this.....
..no there's nothin else in the world I'd trade for this......This

Commotion, coupled with the motion of the ocean's
Streaming be to me unseemingly appealing,
Even leading me to believing in seeing -
that I'd like another.....Drink..

Up the wine, It's Fine, we got some more moonshine....It
happens all the -If you ask me if - I got the....
time -I'll ask you - Time for what? - For what is time?
My brother........Time to...

Raise out glasses high,
Raise em to the sky,
Live for today cause tomorrow may never come,
altho the sun...

is shining,
if you stare it's blinding,
so remember that while...
you're having another one...

((That's all I got so far...not finished))
 

iamwhatiam

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And this one - only have a few verses composed so far - was inspired by my first train ride.
---------

Well he heard that train rollin' down the track...So he...
Took a shot a' whiskey and threw on his pack.....Didn't...
Know where it was goin' and didn't really care....Just as...
Long as it got him the hell outta there.....And he
Climbed on aboard and he crept down inside,
a 48 well, ridin' suicide....And he....
Leaned back and enjoyed his ride

Well that engine soon started gainin' speed....His...
ears were a'ringin' - his nose started to bleed....His...
Heart poundin' hard - the bright moon up ahead...He...
Screamed, "God it feels fuckin' great to be dead, to this....
world that we're livin' in just drives me nuts...Havin' to...
Live by there rules - There's no ifs, ands, or buts...But I'm...
goin' to live my life the way I want to 'till I die

---6 bars instrumental break

When he's covered in dirt and he smells of old sweat...Yea he...
finds it quite funny - the strange looks he gets
Eatin' out of dumpsters and diggin' thru the trash...But he...
Don't give a damn if he ain't got no cash...When the...
Best things in life, you just cannot buy...Like....
Music 'round-the-fire and good-friends-by-yer-side...
And that long....open....ride....

((unfinished))
 

wartomods

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i would love to do a 101-to-do-things-before-i-die-list but i am scared of failing, so i never have the guts to write it.
 

Beegod Santana

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These are just some words that have found their way into my notebook and a few have been used as lyrics at some of my old noise band's shows. I can't remember what they're all about but I'll try

In no particular order here goes..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Written in nola back in 1-07)

Screeching monkey of wisdom
taken hold by the sympathetic staircase,
manifest your own white mirical worker bitch.

Jack Nickleson, blood pressure done by a 55 yr old topless woman, sound track performed by richie havens, written by bob dylan.
The crack deal in the background steals all my attention.
The hottest japanese drum corp in the world battles a florida redneck in the new orleans night
Air as polluted as Martin Borrman,
Intoxicated as a jewish snuff fiend on the sabbath.
I guess we all degrade the ones we love.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(all these I have no recolection of writing...)

Long rumbles through the toxic night.
Reminding me of a drunk saint and a piss swollen floor I once spent the night with on far and forgotten coast.
The remaining air begins to reek of a scen so foul the human nose can't quite comprehend.
Dogs Laugh as long forgotten pheremones stick to my feet ever so slightly as I walk softly in the night.
Who needs a doctor?
I don't even confuse the deer.

. . . . . .
Badger faced woman
chatter, chatter, chatter
"The best selling in the world!"

It's an in group.
Now there are probably bozos who don't know what this is all about,
But we do

Just a picture or a broken leg,
maybe.
You want to be associated with that kind of idea when buying a microphone.

Everything is negotiable.
Its the stage show that attracts them.
The rest of us go to a new smoker.
. . . . . . . .
And finally two tributes to socal...

I fucking hate the desert....
just like the fucking south...
just like miami...

Ain't never been no place for me.
My blood boils in this heat, fogs my brain, eats my feet.
Can't even stick my damn thumb out...
Just been waving that finger in the air,
at the cops, at the pavement, at the sand...
at all these people who think they're in paradise, only because they've all seen hell.
So that they can all live in the heat we bleed the rest of the land,
no originality, no history.
Just the new wave of seekers, not all opportunities fit alger's model of america.
Yet the opportunities are still endless none the less.
Wild rides still abound at prices your grandfather could could agree with,
it ain't nothing.
Sure maybe your friends want to kill you, maybe you just think they do. The important thing is that no one can stop you oh endless god of the night.
Cause the great wheel is spinning and your number is seven,
but I have triple unity.
. . . . .
Streched out sugar on a warm LA night.
Bad vibes bouncing off the walls like a million mental patients locked in a single padded room,
constant, consistantly and without purpose

Union station, a woman behind me holds a 3 way conversation with herself and the air.
"They got much shit coming right now, they just want to make their stacks and get out, ain't nothing wrong with that."

The air agrees, any air would feel the same it seems.
Especially this dry southern california air.
Dirty, heavy, unapologetic.
A natural hustler if there ever was one.
. . . . . . . .
I have more but I'll spare ya'll for now.
 

RnJ

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Little excerpts:

(I used to practice capoeira in my apartment)

"If I did 3000 handstands in a row in a 2nd level apartment, why should anyone think I'm being immature? You can fire me, you can kick me out of the apartment. You can even tell people I'm irresponsible. But you can't stop me from doing handstands."

(When feeling so small in comparison to the absolutely massive narrative of the world's population, composed of the fully-detailed stories of billions of people...and desiring to experience more feelings, do more things, and see how my small actions affect people in the longrun, or in series)

My mind blurs by the stores, the story of the war, and everything so solid.
Isn't it poetry?
All that happens without our consent
All stories unfolding endlessly
How many people have I not been
Feelings have I not felt
Photographs have I not been in
Languages have I not understood
Intersections have I not stood at
How it all fits together we'll never know
Who we've all hurt and loved
It all goes miles and miles beyond us
How it ends we'll never know
I carry the weight and say
I'm not afraid to say I don't know anymore

(The joy resulting in finally learning how to say "no." Inspired by essayist Wendell Berry's 'The Joy of Sales Resistance' )

Holographic mass mail and flashing marquee ads
Telling us that without something, we are nothing
The truth went down too many points to jumpstart
And nobody cared

Money is the bond
Humanity the victim

Peek at private photos, courtesy of True
Everything you need for Christmas, in a single aisle
Have bad credit? Worry not, we'll help you get some more
Spend your time building muscles you never use

There is no escape from a million voices telling me to get with it
But one who tells me less is more, and that it'll be okay

Because I've got legs to walk
And hands to make
No end to tales untamed

Like the winter or the wind against my face
There is a joy in sales resistance

(A reflection on the idea of "opportunities")

Sorry, can't ride together
I'm in a rush and have to get there
Cause I'm free, baby! I'm making it happen.
I'm being all I want to be.
And I've got to, cause I've got opportunities

Sorry, can't go home tonight
We're down and broken without a quarter
And it's a job, baby, building that car
To meet that demand
And I've got to, because they want opportunities

(About me wanting to be able to spend eternity gazing at a snapshot of my life, in which all features are super-imposed into one which makes sense and I can accept.)

That one final moment is the summation of our entire life
These fade in time, but the end will be forever
Not just the end
The tears, the smiles, the anger, the joy, the hate, the love
The peace.

(About my faith, and wanting to be more like the source of my faith than how other people think I should be).

Oh to see It all,
Each step in, dichotomizing
Burning brighter against a darkening sky
The world behind me, a world behind me
Oh to see it all.
 

cailyBear

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A poem I recently wrote about Americas obsession with other peoples tragedies,

"you watch with hungry eyes
the catastrophe of human loss
that is the mix of steel and bone upon the paved road;
your breath stains the window as you struggle for the view.
light reflected through a television set enthralls you;
the latest tragedies tug empathy from your heart
how can you so eagerly watch someone else's fall
their demise your entertainment, their flaws illuminated
in not-so-subtle ways for sponges like you?
true you are not unique in your obsession.
but the truth is not always revealed in numbers.
they will wait for the day you fall,
and watch with eyes so very similar to yours
the day you saw the collision of metal and soul."




and another I wrote a bit ago when I started putting things together..

"i am always afraid of falling in
to the black hole civilization has
conveniently formed out of lies, the mass
production of so called "reality"
TV, of selling every product with
a cross reference to sex, drugs, and money.
Confusing you and manipulating
your thoughts since birth. Society needs more
people like you, driving in your new car
listening to beats loud enough to drown
your thoughts in a murky puddle, you are
brainwashed just like they want. it's true i fear
falling head first into the putrid hole;
i may never form my own thoughts again."
 

barnaclebones

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written in new zealand about a love i had who left me to study under the chief of his tribe.
----
Well this beat up old truck
is gonna roll
to the end of a long, winding road
and when we get there we'll take off our clothes
and breathe with the fishes and the eels.

and i been gettin so thirsty
but i dont wanna drink the water
cuz every time i quench my thirst
i start to feel the pain
again

and i've been sweatin in the kitchen
cookin food i just can't bring myself to eat
and my poor heart its been longing
to hear you call my name
the way you did when we first met

and jumpin off bridges and beestings are free
so i spent all my money on beer and chocolate

and time is a slippery devil
marches right out of the prison
we thought we'd locked it in
and i got a good mind to break down that dam
and let the river rush over us
so that we could start again...

and the water,
the water started boiling and got so hot
that you tore out of my bed
with your hands above your head as if to say
"maybe another time and place...
maybe if you had a different mind and face...
maybe if I wasn't so wild..
maybe if you could stay a while.."

this beat up old truck
is gonna roll to the end of a long winding road
and when we get there we'll take off our clothes
and swim away with the fishes and the eels.

----------

the forgotten road
it winds ahead and it's lined with trees whose leaves
have burst into flames much too soon

and i got an itch
it starts in my knees and moves with haste
to my chest
and my lungs feel as though they might shatter

and if i drop dead its just the notions
i've been gamblin with
comin back to claim what's theirs..

i had a dream
i was in the arctic
and i fell through the ice
wearin nothin but my underwear

and the sky was a skein
of endless birds
tied together with string
and back to the knot in my throat

and they fished me out
as they bee-lined for the equator
cacklin and tuggin my wet weight in tow

what's an ocean
but a bowl of soup to dream in?
what's a head full of notions
with a mouth full of rocks?

i been drinkin
a lot of whiskey
and thinkin about you
and wonderin if youre drinkin too

but its no use wonderin
when the world just keeps on spinnin
'cuz in the blink of an eye
we'll be gone...

the forgotten road...
it winds ahead
and it's lined with trees whose leaves
have burst into flames much too soon...
 

simpletoremember

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i wrote this on my way to new orleans. working on recording it right now. i know hella emo... whatever

Didn’t think I’d see you again
It’s ok, no time to explain
Missing your smell of stale cigarettes and whiskey
Dreams of when you still use to miss me
These strings won’t break the way I’m broken
“She still loves me”, is what I told em’
But I know how easy it is to fogot
I forgot you slowly; no use for regret
Please don’t listen and think that I actually care
But It’s been awhile since I felt your stare
And I wouldn’t dare to prove you wrong
It’s not your fault you left; It’s not your fault I wrote this song
Asphalt night and the train breaks screechin’
Freedom tastes like your drunken kisses
I’ll find you when you aren’t there
Between blank pages and the cold winter air
But to be fair I guess we didn’t know each other all that well
This lonesome road leads somewhere out of here
All this soil deserves a tear; A far away embrace
Ain’t nothing like that smile on your face
Fuck it, when you said forever
I’ve realized it had never mattered
It wasn’t a lie
Just a strange goodbye
We loved the only way that we knew how
Lost in thought; intoxicated somehow
Counting change for our nightly blanket
The one caught in your breath: Hope all goes well
We won’t fit in at heaven so we’ll see each other in hell.
 

psychoviolinist

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This is the lyrics to a song im working on at the moment, well, its more spoken word to music really.
Its about a very special someone, who is waaayyy to far away...

Therefore I set sail on this raft,
That I’ve formed out of,
Dreams and desires.
Onto a sea of feelings,
I’ve yet,
To comprehend.

My heart as the compass,
Guided by the stars,
In your eyes.
Clutching the mast,
I drift off,
A slave to the currents.

And as the storms,
Grow stronger,
They shan’t hold sway.
For I feel you draw,
Me closer.

Therefore I set sail on this raft,
That I’ve formed out of,
Dreams and desires.
Onto a sea of feelings,
I’ve yet,
To comprehend.
 

simpletoremember

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here is a new one i wrote the other night

verse 1:
drugs; written perspirations from the doctor
like an offer from the devil
"take these pills, i'll take your soul!"
i find this offer hard to swallow
the doctors of economics are pushing dollars for the drug show
the politicians are dealers
assassinating the hope of our true leaders
evil lies, anything for the reprise
they mix it up like we're the ones telling lies
this is our minds outlawed by systems
satan is take back my the rule of disposition
suspicion rise: ride by night
it gets hard to fight with addiction inside

chorus:
we're all slaves, the decedent and depraved hopeless race
only the true colors show through the eyes of the crazed
crazy to be man, crazy to even want to what to meet your demands

verse 2:
i've got a problem, you've got a problem, we all got a problem
a surface medication, we're the rx generation
my blurry vision, my worried symptoms
panic til' the day I meet you counting all my victims
somethings missing from this obscure disruption
opiates in the form of an acoustic dis-contradiction
poison all the waters to divide; the american ploy
we're the censored souls, the billions
we are the forces, the prisoners from all the castles
the masters of the dollar are still killing for fame

bridge:
saw the beginning I'll be there until the end
and I'll burn the same fire that burns inside my brain

chorus (2x)
 

RnJ

PilgrimAflame
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Great stuff guys. I have to say though, where's the hope in our words. I don't hear it in my words, but I've got it in my life. I think I've been conditioned to bitch more than I have to encourage. I listen to mostly hopeful, encouraging stuff, y'know, stuff that's like "yeah, we're effed up, but there's enough of us to start makin' a difference."

I don't know, what do you guys think? Do you feel more comfortable hearing negativity/sadness you can relate to, or positivity you can relate too? A little discussion in this thread couldn't hurt. Thanks for baring your souls in this thread. :)
 

christianarchy

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story: i grew up southern baptist, and saw how messed up the church was

lyrics:
god is for those who bow down to idols
comfort will be your sure destruction
you don't believe in a real jubilee
we know who you are you dirty liar
god is government
god is enforcement
love is class specific
ignore the poor, ignore the sick




story: i realized i had taken part in murder by supporting companies that employed sweatshops

lyrics:
you sell, i kill
please tell me..what have you done to me? why?
buying everything...america is the death of me.



story: tv made my family zombies

lyrics:
those who bathe in their own wealth
have robbed our humble peasants blind
if you want honor, die to self
and purge this taint from your mind

the man on the street said he was in need of an eraser for his memories. i gave him a pill: a handheld tv, and i told him "the truth cannot set you free"

because sights and sounds have become drugs
their potency you cannot fight
bloodstains on family room rugs
victims of assassins from the blue light

hope is with the poor and withdrawn
the "sovereign" will soon be gone




story: i went through a really depressed era of hating myself because of my materialism, gluttony, selfishness. my spiritual beliefs, which i would normally have turned to, were shaken at the time because of a certain televangelist (as in they are the worst person ever and i couldn't believe we had the same god)

lyrics:
wounds are open
i will show you what it means to grow
envy//pity//hate the lessers
gluttony will be my god, deny me god and face the consequences

preaching through the tv screen
the words of god from a human being
will you know what you've done to us all?
we're all dead, thanks to you.
truth is decided by the so called "elite"
and it's fucking wrong, and we know it
but we're so fucking fond of hatred



i know what you mean about lyrics not capturing hope
i do have a lot of hope in my life, but i've never written lyrics that reflect this
modern life is war has written lyrics that more accurately portray my life than my own, actually.
 

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