singing the apocalypse

[as promised, the poem i read at Poetic Intentions, based on 53 songs]
[spacing, line breaks & indentation ain't the way i want it, so be it]
[the youtube links seem to go to the wrong songs at times, damn blogger...sources are after the poem]

kick at the darkness till it
bleeds daylight

we learn
new dances
like the nuclear bomb

i've got a feeling from
the floor boards up

was on the in side
when they pulled
the four walls
down

war, children
just a shot away
tonight's fallen angles
wait for us in the street

the ice age is coming

the shrieking of nothing is killing

the sun is zooming in

the blue bus is calling

you say to me
it's only
superstition

no says the planet
as it starts to weep

hearts are break
ing from the
disease of conceit

the man
in the mo on
went ho me
the river went dry

and on the high
way of regret the wind
is blowing wild
and free

still this pulsing night
a plague i call a heartbeat

i stand up next to
a mountain chop it down
with the edge
of my hand

i lost my way
do you symphathise

sirens are caught
through side streets
and the alleyway like a star

exploding milk
blood to keep from running out

this much madness
is too much sorrow

i know how Joan
of Arc felt as the flames rose

i light my purest candle
close to my window

i could sleep
for a thousand years

there's a city in my mind

a circus or a
sewer

in blood and death beneath
a screaming sky
i lie
on the ground

search through
one inch thoughts

now i've freezing hands
and bloodless veins
the taste is not so
sweet

how
i
wish
i
was
unliving
here

if i could make
the world as pure
and strange
as what
i see

it's the terror of knowing
what this world is about

those children try to change
aware of what they're going through

the wind
blows an invocation
goes right through you

whether there's any type of god

into the blue again

after the money's gone

i'm not supposed to say

your eyes are edged with tears

i'm thinking about empty motion

some background noise

take my song from a withered limb

i lost my shape trying to act casual

i've been breaking glass again

would rather be anywhere else
today

is there concrete all around
or is it in my head

i've been waiting so long
to be where i'm going

under the rocks and stones
there is water

i like my town
with a little drop
of poison

here's your ticket
pack your bag
time for jumping
overboard

i'll sleep in this place
with the lonely crowd
where the shadows
run from themselves

you are receding

i'm guided
by a signal a ship's
smoke on the horizon

you're only coming
through in waves
i can't hear
what you're saying

here's a little ghost
for the offering

there's nothing left
but sorrow and a sense
of overtime

i need that vagueness now

i've had some
time to
think
and watch
the sun
sink like
a stone

Sources
1. Lovers in a dangerous time, Bruce Cockburn, Stealing Fire, 1984
2. Night Clubbing, Iggy Pop, The Idiot, 1977
3. I Will Follow U2, Boy, 1980
4. From the Floorboards Up, Paul Weller, As Is Now, 2005
5. Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed, 1969
6. Drive All Night, Bruce Springsteen, The River, 1980
7. London Calling, The Clash, London Calling, 1979
8. Ashes to Ashes, David Bowie, Scary Monsters, 1980
9. The End, The Doors, The Doors, 1967
10. Only Superstition, Coldplay, Brothers and Sisters, 1999
11. The Rider Song, Nick Cave, the Proposition, 2005
12, Disease of Conceit, Bob Dylan, Oh Mercy, 1989
13. Under the Red Sky, Bob Dylan, Under the Red Sky, 1990
14. Make You Feel My Love, Bob Dylan, Time out of Mind, 1997
15. Putting out the Fire, David Bowie, Cat People, 1982 ; Let’s Dance, 1983
16. Voodoo Child, Jimi Hendrix, Electric Laydland, 1968
17. Rescue, Echo and the Bunnymen, Crocodiles, 1980
18. Anger as Beauty, Hawksley Workman, Lover/Fighter, 2003
19. Angel of Harlem, U2, Rattle and Hum, 1988
20. the Needle and the Damage Done, Neil Young, Harves, 1972
21. Down by the River, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, 1969
22. Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Smiths, the Queen is Dead, 1986
23. Morning Glory, Tim Buckley, Goodbye and Hello, 1967
24. Venus in Furs, Velvet Underground and Nico, 1967
25. Coney Island Baby, Lou Reed, Coney Island Baby, 1976
26. A Pair of Brown Eyes, the Pogues, Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, 1985
27. Sons of the Silent Age, David Bowie, Heroes, 1977
28. Sex Crime, Eurythmics, 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother), 1984
29. I Wish I Was the Moon, Neko Case, Blacklisted, 2002
30. Changes, David Bowie, Hunky Dory, 1971
31. Pale Blue Eyes, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, the Velvet Underground, 1969
32. Under Pressure, David Bowie and Queen, Hot Space, 1981
33. So Real, Jeff Buckley, Grace, 1994
34. Fairy Tale of New York, the Pogues, If I Should Fall from Grace with God, 1987
35. I Feel Like the Mother of the World, Smog, A River Ain’t Too Much Love, 1985
36. Once in a Lifetime/ 37. Houses in Motion, Talking Heads, Remain in Light, 1980
38. 19th Nervous Breakdown, Rolling Stones, The Aftermath, 1966
39. Radio Ga Ga, Queen, the Works, 1984
40. By the rivers dark, Leonard Cohen, Ten New Songs, 2001
41. Breaking Glass, David Bowie, Low, 1977
42. Oliver’s Army, Elvis Costello, Armed Forces, 1979
43. All the young dudeds, Mott the Hoople, All the Young Dudes, 1972
44. Sunshine of Your Love, Cream, Disraeli Gears, 1967
45. Little Drop of Poison, Tom Waits, Orphans, Brawlers, Bruisers and Bastards, 2006
46. Burning down the house, Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues, 1983
47. White Room, Cream, Wheels of Fire, 1968
48. Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd, the Wall, 1979
49. First We Take Manhattan, Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man, 1998 (sang by Jennifer Warnes, Famous Blue Raincoat 1987)
50. Man on the Moon, REM, Automatic for the People, 1992
51. Closing Time, Leonard Cohen, the Future, 1992
52. Diamonds and Rust, Joan Baez, Diamonds and Rust, 1975
53. the Long Ride Home, Patti Griffin, A Kiss in Time, 2003