The Weaver
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
You can look, look, hard as you can
You can't see me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Poor old family of man
Never mind me, I'm just a Gingerbread Man
Only hours away could be a man with a million dollars
Only minutes away could be a guy with a gun
Only seconds away could be a love that will last forever
But if it gets away there might not ever be one
In and out, in and out, in and out
How many times do I think &quotin and out, in and out"?
This color's not right
It needs some more red
Maybe it's the light
Now I'm not sure
I wonder where Ken is
What's she doing?
Ah, she's asleep
He tries to help
I know he loves me
But sometimes he seems so out of touch
And all he cares about are his words
So old and tired
I need someone to help me
And what if that guy follows him?
Last week he told me about that man who kept staring at him
I can see him with his throat cut now
Oh, why do I do this?
I can see it all - school picture in the newspaper
"Child savagely slain"
God, I wish he was home now

The Dying Oilman
I couldn't be good
Maybe I'm crazy
I couldn't be good
Maybe I'm mad
I couldn't be good
Don't get in my way because
I couldn't be good
But I'm bad
I never thought it be like this
I just figured it'd be a brand new El Dorado every year from now on
Aw, who is this guy in the mirror
He looks so weak and pasty
I always wanted to take little Sam
To see that Sphinx statue over there in Egypt
I still don't like the idea of that guy over in Denver
Firefloodin' on my field
Asshole's so dumb he wouldn't know a pisspot from a kumquat
God, he could cost me a thousand barrels a day out of that field
Always wanted to see all that stuff they got over there in Europe
And take little Sam and Earline both
God, I need a smoke
Don't seem like one little smoke would matter that much now
I gotta go back for more of them treatments tomorrow
Green
The whole goddamn place is green
But it ain't grass green or money green
It's puke green or pus green
And it's the kind of green I feel like when I'm there
Like a bug about to be squished
I just know Earline would love to see that Eiffel Tower
Over there in France
I think maybe she even has a poster about it in her room

The Confused Transsexual
I'm the Gingerbread Man
Some say the song of a crow is a cry
Some say the cry of a crow is a lie
I wonder what it's like to be one of them
Do they get jealous?
Are some blacker
And therefore creators of envy and mistrust in the dark hearts
Of their brethren?
Or do they just exist
Scavenging crumbs of carrion here and there
Laughing, cackling really
At the two legged pestilence
Painfully fouling the ground beneath their airborne pirouettes
Do they really want their screaching and hideous demanding offspring
Or do they simply have no choice
But to follow compulsions blindly
Driving them into situations they cannot control
Situations that look so easy and desirable
But lead only to the same pain
And the same suffering
And the same lifeless branches that always indicate
A barrier of barren emptiness
Dead trees are everywhere

The Sold-Out Artist
Out in the street and under the sun
I kissed his feet and loaded his gun
Sooner or later everyone does
Everybody feeds the fat boy
Everybody feeds the fat boy
They just don't get it
Vampires - vampires
It's all about vampires but they're all vampires too
It's all about sucking on something
Some suck scum, some suck tits and some just suck up
They all suck something
Except Ted Williams
He never sucked
I'll be buried with Ted Williams cards
He hit .406 in 1941
Coulda sat out the last game with a .3995
And gone in the book as .400 but he played
And he went four for five
Ted Williams he never sucked
Yeah they all think I suck
But they really wish their stuff sold like mine
Next I'll do "Nude Descending a Staircase"
I'll get a hundred grand for it
Let 'em suck that!

The Ascetic
Every day I go up on the mountain
Climb to the top but I don't know what for
It's quiet until I hear a voice up on the mountain
Beware of what you want
It might want you more
ashes my burned hut
but beautiful like cherry
blooming on the hill
-one of my patients just before he died
And just before I left the hospital and began to travel
If he could face death so calmly
How could I face life with so much doubt
Now I can sit on the side of a mountain
And watch the shadows slowly filling the valley floor
But not without the doubts that stil linger
And constantly caress the edges of my shadowy interior
At least a catheter expels impurities in a manner of model efficiency
And my previous profession always at least offered that
Flawless vasectomies in clean and well lit places
A sterile field sealed from infection but not from disease
I often wonder if I left anyone behind
But somehow I just can't be remember
Only an oddly defined drive to find a better way
But somehow I don't believe this is it
As I watch the shadows slowly creeping closer
I think about India and the Hindu concept of Maya
It took me so long to understand
The space between reality and perception
And now it seems that I live there

The Old Soldier
She used to call me Daddy
But she was so glad she
Left me for someone he was
Rich but not too funny
Why do I come to these things?
It always makes me think of Marion
Come to these places and talk about commies
It's all about money
I could never give her the things she wanted
But I never thought she'd leave me for money
God, it's hot
I can still feel her body underneath my hands
Still feel the breath on my neck
Still feel the slight dampness of her perspiration
On her silky wrist
I can't do it again
I can't come to another one of these ridiculous reunions
And watch old men getting drunk on nostalgia
Reliving their imaginary glory
And making me realize that I must look exactly like them
It's too painful
I need the illusions of an aging safety equipment salesman
Whose young but not so bright wife
Is willing more than to tolerate his unpleasant but harmless
Flights of fancy
At least she's mine

The Aging Musician
Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run
Run, run, fast as you can
Run, run, fast as you can
Run, run, fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Once upon a time I played electric guitar
And they said I was a rock and roll star
Now nobody calls me on the telephone
So I sit and watch my TV all alone
Maybe if I put a bullet in my brain
They'd remember me like Kurt Cobain
And the parasites on MTV
Would wipe their eyes and act like they knew me
But I wouldn't be a hero I'd be dead
Just a note beside a corpse that read
If you like to pretend that you'll never get old
You got what it takes to rock and roll
Jagger - he was a poet
None of this three chords and a hairdresser crap
I just need a couple of players
With a couple of really good players
I could have a band again go back on the road
C'mere boy
Play real music none of this computer crap
Real music
We could go big
Whatever happened to music
Now it's all about marketing and media coverage
Goddamn MTV
Everything was okay before MTV
And gun control - like gun control's gonna stop anything
A Trooper Mark III'll stop just about anything
C'mere boy
Schnauzer, where's Uzi?
Is he outside?
Nothing's right anymore not even TV
Davy Crockett said it all
If you're sure you're right then go ahead on
Now nothing's right
Goddamn MTV

The Butcher
Run, run, fast as you can you can
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Run, run, fast as you can you can
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Buddy didn't say I'm sorry
Buddy didn't ask to be excused
Buddy didn't beg your pardon
When he steps on you
He leaves too much fat on these t-bones
Jerk
I know he's gonna leave without cleaning up again
He knows I'll do it
Damn this knife is dull
I know I just sharpened it yesterday
I know he used it
He knows it's my favorite knife
It's not supposed to be this way
Everyone says that if you come back
It's better than it was before
But, but it's no different
And what about the light? - what about the blue light?
There's supposed to be a beautiful blue light
But all I saw was eels
Eels squirming everywhere
And life doesn't have any more meaning
only Buddy
It should have been him
And he should, should have stayed there with the eels
And, and, and all I can think about are his hands
His hands and how they look graceful and strong and, and, and sensitive
As they slice a section of rump roast
Or, or split the hindquarters of a lamb
And all I can think about are those same hands
How they must caress the face of his wife
And tie the shoe laces of his children
And, and
I can't stop
I can't stop
I can't stop

The Old Woman
Angel, answer my prayer
Answer my prayer tonight
Tell me if anyone cares
If I do what I might
Angel, answer my prayer
And tell me if anyone else
Knows how much I am scared
That I might murder myself
Who will take care of my plants?
Maybe Martha will take care of them
She called on Mother's Day and has a philodendron and a few ferns
They look terrible though, just like her house
She never dusts her leaves
What about Berta?
She's been married three times, how can she possibly take care of four kids?
They'll die - I just know these bugs will get them
Aphids - you have to watch for them all the time, they don't care
Sent Teddy seven fifty for his birthday last week, no thank-you note
It's all Martha's fault
She's not raising those children right
How long would it be until they noticed?
A week, two weeks, maybe months
I know why, I know why they ignore me
Martha pretends that she doesn't care anymore but I know better
And she's poisoned Berta against me too!
He was old and could barely hop around
And Mark would sure never have done it
Poor thing
Somebody had to do it
Somebody had to

Ginger's Lament
There once was a woman who once was a man
Who thought that he did but did not understand.
There once was a hermit who held in his hand
The heart of a lonely and unattached man.
There once was a soldier who stood in the sand
Saluting the sun when he wanted to dance.
There once was a butcher come back from the dead
He opened his mind and took poison instead.
There once was a weaver who wished for a fool
To live down below her and hand up her tools.
There once was a species who filled up the world
With lust, love, confusion, talk, tacos, and turds.