I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend but I am.

February 20, 2003 7:39 AM

"I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend but I am."or "Everything I needed to know I learned by listening to [insert band name here]."
posted by poopy (112 comments total)

You're older than you've ever been, and now you're even older, and now you're even older, and now you're even older.
posted by th3ph17 at 7:48 AM on February 20, 2003

Well, thanks to Marilyn Manson, I know that we're all stars in the dope show.
posted by starvingartist at 7:48 AM on February 20, 2003

People should get beat up for stating their beliefs.
posted by eyeballkid at 7:50 AM on February 20, 2003

I am a bumblebee I am.. I am a bumblebee I am..
posted by Space Coyote at 7:53 AM on February 20, 2003

All in all it was all just the bricks in the wall
posted by jazon at 7:57 AM on February 20, 2003

I'm Henry the eighth, I am, Henry the eighty, I am I am. Oh, and I'm freakystyley and I'm prouuud... Mu ha ha ha!!!
posted by freakystyley at 7:58 AM on February 20, 2003

Whoomp, there it is.
posted by Stan Chin at 7:58 AM on February 20, 2003

I am Universe man, size of the entire universe man. I am usually kind to smaller man. Universe man.

Which is utterly pointless, but that's the point, innit?

People should get beat up for stating their beliefs.

Change 'up' to 'off' and the world is my damn oyster, friend.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:59 AM on February 20, 2003

What happened to "I don't want the world, I just want your half" or "I'm not a real doctor but I am a real worm?"

Crappy TMBG lyrics site if I ever saw one.
posted by PrinceValium at 8:00 AM on February 20, 2003

"Life is a lot like a freak show,
Because nobody smiles when they leave."
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:04 AM on February 20, 2003

Change 'up' to 'off' and the world is my damn oyster, friend.

oh my. too damn funny.
posted by th3ph17 at 8:04 AM on February 20, 2003

What happened to "I don't want the world, I just want your half"

Not actually their quote (I've actually seen the bridge it's painted on), though I guess it's something we learned from them.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:05 AM on February 20, 2003

wait, my favourite band is neutral milk hotel. what does that make my beliefs?
posted by pxe2000 at 8:05 AM on February 20, 2003

Everything I needed to know I learned by listening to the Replacements:

Anywhere you hang yourself is home. Put the party on the mirror. Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom. Crack up in the sun, lose it in the shade. You nap 'em and you slap 'em in a highchair. Baby doll, check your cheek. and most importantly, Fuck School.
posted by jonmc at 8:06 AM on February 20, 2003

I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage called the blood of the exploited working class. Now they've overcome their shyness. Now they're calling me "Your Highness" and the world screams, "Kiss Me Son of God."

Sounds about right.
posted by eyeballkid at 8:08 AM on February 20, 2003

Said "I seen you today you was standin' on a corner,
leaning up against a post"
I said "But I'm tired, I've been walkin' all day"

oh, one of my favorite lines from TMBG:

"...when he's underwater does he GET wet, or does the water GET him instead..."
posted by poopy at 8:08 AM on February 20, 2003

"The nutter on the bus goes EEe-Ore! EEr-Ore!"

Where's my pills...?
posted by twine42 at 8:10 AM on February 20, 2003

Never trust a man in a blue trench coat
Never drive a car when you're dead.
posted by soplerfo at 8:20 AM on February 20, 2003

'Lighten up. Listen to your eyes', you said. But all i could see was doris day in a big screen satellite, disappearing down the tube hole on farringdon street with whiplash willy the motor psycho.

(Underworld)

And that's something I think we can all agree on.
posted by Swandive at 8:22 AM on February 20, 2003

... I learned by listening to Bad Religion:
It's never really what you own, but what you threw away
And how much did you pay?
---------------
In so many ways we live to follow the sun
In so many ways we tend to rise and fall as one
In so many ways we want so bad to be done
In so many ways we show our pain in unison
---------------
Hate is a simple manifestation
Of the deep-seated self-directed frustration
All it does is promote fear and consternation
It's the inability to justify the enemy
And it fills us all with trepidation
---------------
But TMBG is really neat, too.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:22 AM on February 20, 2003

(i know they're not TMBG lyrics - but theyr'e my favorite lyrics)
posted by soplerfo at 8:22 AM on February 20, 2003

what i learned from TMBG: yodeling "Minimum WAAAAAGE! Heeyahhhh!" at your crappy minimum wage job makes you feel all warm inside.

my own poster would have to be "EINTKILF ani difranco": Butter melts out of habit, though the toast isn't even warm. Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right. I've got spots, I've got stripes, too. If you're born a lion don't bother tryin' to act tame. White people are so scared of black people they bulldoze out to the country and put up houses on little loopy-loop streets. When we're lying in bed you don't seem so tall. The little plastic castle is a surprise every time. Quick, someone call the Girl Police and file a report...
posted by serafinapekkala at 8:23 AM on February 20, 2003

Relax don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax don't do it
When you want to come
posted by vito90 at 8:27 AM on February 20, 2003

Everything I need to know I learned from Frank Zappa

Remember there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.

Nothing but the best for my dog.

I have a message to deliver to the cute people of the world...if you're cute, or maybe you're beautiful...there's MORE OF US UGLY MOTHERFUCKERS OUT THERE THAN YOU ARE!! So watch out.

A prune isn't really a vegetable...
CABBAGE is a vegetable...

I'll do the stupid thing first and then you shy people follow...

Stupidity is the basic building block of the universe.

Never try to get your peter sucked in France.

Kill Ugly Radio

I'm not black, but there's a whole lot of times I wish I could say I'm not white.

Information is not knowledge,
Knowledge is not wisdom,
Wisdom is not truth,
Truth is not beauty,
Beauty is not love,
Love is not music,
and Music is THE BEST

My best advice to anyone who wants to raise a happy, mentally healthy child is: Keep him or her as far away from a church as you can.

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.

Stupidity has a certain charm --
ignorance does not.

There is no such thing as a dirty word. Nor is there a word so powerful, that it's going to send the listener to the lake of fire upon hearing it.

Courtesy of St. Alphonzo's Pancake Homepage
posted by TedW at 8:27 AM on February 20, 2003

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
posted by ashbury at 8:59 AM on February 20, 2003

Not actually their quote (I've actually seen the bridge it's painted on), though I guess it's something we learned from them.

No, it's really theirs! To quote John Linnel (taken from the band's website):

We were driving from Boulder to the airport in Denver last year when we encountered the same thing on another bridge. John and I don't condone acts of vandalism but we took it as a friendly compliment. The phrase in the song came out of a conversation we once had about money.

Life really does imitate art.
posted by avdi at 9:00 AM on February 20, 2003

No, it's really theirs!

Wow, I did not know that. The bridge I saw it on is between Amherst and Northampton in Massachusetts, where TMBG played some of their first shows outside of NYC (according to what one of the John's said at a concert I saw up that way). I always assumed they'd seen it there.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:09 AM on February 20, 2003

I have loved They Might Be Giants since the very first time I ever saw them, at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1987.

However, the greatest wisdom I have ever encountered in a song comes from the Tubes:

...if you're an American citizen you are entitled to:
a heated kidney shaped pool,
a microwave oven--don't watch the food cook,
a Dyna-Gym--I'll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home,
a king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum,
a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi,
real simulated Indian jewelry,
a Gucci shoetree,
a year's supply of antibiotics,
a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
and Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number,
a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick,
Rosemary's baby,
a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams,
a new Matador, a new mastodon,
a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego,
a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor,
a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu,
a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mac truck,
a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped,
a Winnebago--Hell, a herd of Winnebago's we're giving 'em away,
or how about a McCulloch chainsaw,
a Las Vegas wedding,
a Mexican divorce,
a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot,
or a baby's arm holding an apple?
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:09 AM on February 20, 2003

TMBG is fine and all, but it's all about the Waitresses for me this month.

Maybe a part of your problem is simply, you were teased
I know what you'd like
but the good stuff promised
Is hard fought and not for free

Or, I could have just pasted every single lyric out of the song, They're All Out of Liquor, Let's Find Another Party.
posted by willnot at 9:11 AM on February 20, 2003

Lyrics from Townes Van Zandt (I know, I know, obscure) tha almost made me drive off the road:

My days they are the highway kind
They only come to leave.
But the leavin' I don't mind;
it's the coming that I crave.
Throw the sun upon the ground,
Stand, and throw a shadow.
Watch it gro into the night,
and fill the spinnin' sky.
posted by notsnot at 9:11 AM on February 20, 2003

though i respect this a lot, i'd be fired if this were my post.
posted by muppetboy at 9:17 AM on February 20, 2003

What we don't know could fill a truck.
posted by jennyb at 9:18 AM on February 20, 2003

i'm with jonmc!

everything i needed to know i learned from the replacements too:
lonely, i guess that's where i'm from/ if i was from canada i best become lonesome.
i forgot my one line so i just said what i felt.
somewhere there's a smile with my name on it.
if you will dare, i will dare.
posted by jodic at 9:19 AM on February 20, 2003

They'll need a crane to move it too.
posted by muppetboy at 9:20 AM on February 20, 2003

As the vulture flutters down, the snake sheds his dove
Wilhelm’s cutting off his fingers so they’ll fit into the glove.
posted by picea at 9:28 AM on February 20, 2003

"These things take time,
and I know that I'm,
the most inept that ever stepped."

"Its so easy to love
its so easy to hate
it takes strength to be
gentle and kind.
Its over, over, over, over..."

My man Moz. The SMITHS.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 9:32 AM on February 20, 2003

Soul Coughing
"You get the ankles and I'll get the wrists. It comes down to this"

Zappa
"Don't eat yellow snow"

Bush
"Breathe in, Breathe out."

George Clinton
"Ya gotta keep that funk alive"
posted by KnitWit at 9:41 AM on February 20, 2003

"You are invited
For anyone to do anything
You are invited
for all time"

The Dismemberment Plan
posted by daver at 9:49 AM on February 20, 2003

"It's a cold world and niggas need summer."

- common
posted by lotsofno at 9:52 AM on February 20, 2003

CrunchyFrog - more Bad Religion. Love 'em.

I don't have a thing against fantasy,
But to chase it down just don't make sense to me.
If you're only hope is simply peace and love,
You end up discarding most of what you're made of.

-----------------------------------

I believe in unity,
And I am willing to compromise,
But I'm not gonna' lie or sell my soul.
posted by starvingartist at 9:56 AM on February 20, 2003

guys, all in all is all we all are.
posted by kjh at 9:57 AM on February 20, 2003

I'm too sexy for this post.
posted by jonson at 9:58 AM on February 20, 2003

s-e-x-x-y!
posted by muppetboy at 9:59 AM on February 20, 2003

"and god is whoever you're performing for"
posted by snez at 10:02 AM on February 20, 2003

Crazy air freshener -
Who needs cologne?
posted by furiousthought at 10:05 AM on February 20, 2003

Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence
That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence.
posted by feelinglistless at 10:10 AM on February 20, 2003

TMBG has provided many stars in my personal cosmology (There's only 2 songs in me, and I just wrote the 3rd), here are some others:

I'll second Soul Coughing:
We are all, in one way or another, going to Reseda,
someday, to die...

Cake: Sheep go to heaven, Goats go to hell

Bad Religion was more informative a decade ago:
There's no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.When we all disintegrate it will all happen again, yeah.


Goober and the Peas:
I like hot women and I love cold beer
posted by putzface_dickman at 10:16 AM on February 20, 2003

i'm a lil' bit girlish,
i don't like to do boy things,
i'm a lil' bit girlish,
i don't like to do boy things,

i don't like organized football,
i don't like organized anything,
i'm a lil' bit girlish,
i don't belch in public
posted by poopy at 10:17 AM on February 20, 2003

don't live my life by this, but...

More than many a time, I've committed minor crimes
Eluded straight and narrow lines for easy livin'
If I don't look like much, call me stubborn I won't budge
Accept me Jesus or give back what I have given

I've walked out on deals I cannot tell you how that feels
Eluded moonlit clearings for way longer ways home
Now I'm a sinner pure and plain for I ride on the Holy Train
I won't change till you see fit that I'm forgiven

--Marah
posted by hootch at 10:17 AM on February 20, 2003

Damn, forgot Tom Waits.
the large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
posted by putzface_dickman at 10:22 AM on February 20, 2003

X: "The whole world loves a sad song they don't have to sing."

Billy Bragg: "War! What is it good for? It's good for business."
posted by kirkaracha at 10:26 AM on February 20, 2003

And I forget just why I taste.
Oh yeah. I guess it makes me smile.
I found it hard, it's hard to find.
Oh well. Whatever. Never mind.
posted by starvingartist at 10:30 AM on February 20, 2003

with feeling:
Turn on your heartlight
Let it shine wherever you go
Let it make a happy glow
For all the world to see

Words to live by, man. Words to live by.
posted by mooseindian at 10:32 AM on February 20, 2003

Video killed the radio star
posted by brettski at 10:33 AM on February 20, 2003

There are problems in these times,
But, woo!, none of them are mine!
Oh, baby, I'm beginning to see the light.
- Velvet Underground
posted by Bootcut at 10:34 AM on February 20, 2003

Everything I needed to know, I learned from Dance Dance Revolution.

Are you a legend?
posted by Pretty_Generic at 10:38 AM on February 20, 2003

Well, you see, son,
the funny thing about regret,
is that it's better to regret the things you have done
than to regret the things you haven't done
By the way, when you see your mom this wekend,
be sure to tell her...

SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!

-Orbital
posted by signal at 10:45 AM on February 20, 2003

So baby let's sell your diamond ring
Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away
This coat and tie is choking me
In your high socitey you cry all day
We've been so busy keepin' up with the Jones
Four car garage and we're still building on
Maby it's time we got back to the basics of love

Waylon, Willie & the boys
posted by dash_slot- at 10:47 AM on February 20, 2003

When in doubt, scream your band's name. for instance:

ATARI!!!TEENAGE!!!RIOT!!!!!
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:49 AM on February 20, 2003

in cold precision
in terror and art
a bullet and a ballet
are a vowel apart

- happy head

But my favorite (somewhat cheesy) lyrics are from the indigo girls

" the hardest to learn was the least complicated"
posted by synapse at 11:00 AM on February 20, 2003

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"

And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize"
posted by squealy at 11:08 AM on February 20, 2003

Rubbing sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite
And the thought of rubbing you is gettin' so exciting.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:09 AM on February 20, 2003

How many roads must a man walk down

Forty-two.
posted by kindall at 11:11 AM on February 20, 2003

You got to tell me
brave captain
why are the wicked so strong
how do the
angels get to sleep
when the devil leaves the porchlight on

mr. siegel / tom waits
posted by badzen at 11:31 AM on February 20, 2003

The Old 97's don't really teach me anything, but they comfort me by sharing my anxieties:

Is this more than some old summer fling?
And this thing we have, will it mean anything?
When October rolls around will you sober up and let me down?

and of course:

I got a timebomb, in my mind Mom,
It's gonna go off, but I don't know when.
I need a doctor to extract her.
I got a feeling she'd get right back in again
Having her on my brain's like getting hit by a train,
She's gonna kill me.
posted by Mayor Curley at 11:32 AM on February 20, 2003

Everything I needed to know I learned by listening to Wilco:

I myself have found a real rival in myself

-----

You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun

-----

You have to learn how to die
If you wanna wanna be alive

-----

There's no love as random as God's love
I can't stand it

-----

I just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read

-----

There's a fortune inside your head
But all you touch turns to lead
You think you might just crawl back in bed
The fortune inside your head

-----

Every song is a comeback
Every moment's a little bit later

-----

I miss the innocence I've known
Playing Kiss covers
Beautiful and stoned

-----

etc. etc. etc.
posted by gompa at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2003

I like big butts and I can not lie.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 11:41 AM on February 20, 2003

You other brothers can't deny
posted by poopy at 11:46 AM on February 20, 2003

Everything I need to know I learned listening to Jane Siberry.

First he turns to you
Then he turns to her
So you try to hurt him back
But it breaks your body down
So you try to love bigger
Bigger still
But it's too late

So take a lesson from the strangeness you feel
And know you'll never be the same
And find it in your heart
To kneel down and say
"I gave my love, didn't I?
And I gave it big sometimes,
And I gave it in my own sweet time,
I'm just leaving."
posted by dnash at 11:49 AM on February 20, 2003

More Bad Religion:
Tell me is there anything so sure?
Rapacity, tenacity, capacity for more!
Like a dog that feeds until he suffers,
The infirmity of man is brought his selfish cure.
-------------------
There's a common consensus and an uncomfortable cheer,
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
It sings "leave your cares behind you, just grab tenaciously",
This lulling sense or purpose will destroy us rapidly!
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay,
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain.
-------------------
I'm a 21st century digital boy,
I don't know how to read but I've got a lot of toys,
My daddy is lazy middle class intellectual,
My mommy's on valium, she's so ineffectual,
Ain't life a mystery?
posted by CrunchyFrog at 11:54 AM on February 20, 2003

Viv stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Band taught me to share common interests:

"Hey, you have the same trouble with your trousers as I do."
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:58 AM on February 20, 2003

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones to start
To mould a new reality
Closer to the Heart

The Blacksmith and the Artist
Reflect it in their art
Forge their creativity
Closer to the Heart

Philosophers and Ploughmen
Each must know his part
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the Heart

You can be the Captain
I will draw the Chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the Heart
-Rush
posted by jazon at 12:11 PM on February 20, 2003

Signal: I'm pretty sure that was the Butthole Surfers.

"Gimme my money back, you bitch."

-Ben Folds Five
posted by Gilbert at 12:12 PM on February 20, 2003

Desjardins
Boom Boom:
"S'cuse-moi je m'en vais,
je reviens dans une heure,
faut qu'j'aille changer le monde."

Rainmakers
Wages of Sin:
Mary, Mary Magdalene, how 'bout a date?
You've been wasting your time staying up so late
Your boyfriend's dead, the word is you're a whore
Just about then I heard a knock on the door
And I realized then that the wages of sin
Was a bad reputation and too many friends

Small Circles:
Now we make money and we're alright
And we drive cars and wield our might
We make love to people that we don't even like
As we move in small circles.

And I don't even think about her now
I just said all this to be workin' my mouth
I wish I cared, but I don't know how
As we move in small circles

Zevon:
Ain't That Pretty at All:
I've been to Paris
And it ain't that pretty at all
I've been to Rome
Guess what?
I'd like to go back to Paris someday and visit the Louvre Museum
Get a good running start and hurl myself at the wall
Going to hurl myself against the wall
Cause I'd rather feel bad than feel nothing at all.
posted by ?! at 12:22 PM on February 20, 2003

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star, in somebody else's sky, why why why can't it be can't it be mine?
posted by vito90 at 12:22 PM on February 20, 2003

nomeansno

all we had in common was good sex, and now i couldn't even remember her address. a group of us, just strangers, got together and we formed a committee to discuss the problem. we talked about things like assured mutual destruction and emotional responsibility. i couldn't remember my name, so i called myself bob. it's weird being a bob, but i'll get used to it. i have to.

Robert Hunter

She was not just the girl of his dreams/ He was not only fond of her charms/ She could knock down a man at 90 paces/ While he roller her around in his arms
posted by small_ruminant at 12:31 PM on February 20, 2003

umm: rolled her around in his arms
posted by small_ruminant at 12:32 PM on February 20, 2003

Recent Bad Religion is nice, but I definitely learned more from older BR:

I heard them say that the meek shall reign on earth
Phantasmal myriads of sane, bucolic birth
I've seen the rapture in a starving baby's eyes
Inchoate beatitude, the Lord of the Flies
So what does it mean when your mind starts to stray?
Kaleidoscopic images of love on the way
Brother, you better get down on your knees and pray
A thousand more fools are being born... every fucking day

or maybe...

Now we grow as we show that the morals we must know
Will be shapen and mistaken by the falls along the way
But forget, don't regret, to find love and happiness
Unless you're willing to be strong when they are gone along the way
Like Tommy, you are free, and you will not follow me
Until we see each other once more on the path along the way
posted by jammer at 12:33 PM on February 20, 2003

PinkStainlessTail, START THE RIOT!!!! (BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM) START THE RIOT!!!! (BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM) START THE RIOT!!!! (BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM) START THE RIOT NOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

Ahhh, I feel better.
posted by jammer at 12:37 PM on February 20, 2003

The body is a stairway of skin
You open the door
I let you in
Carry your story
Through the thick and thin

-- Over the Rhine

On the edge of the universe a comet
in waiting
anticipating
a star flying by
and with enough gravitational pull
(this ain't no bull)
a random encounter with time

and that's me
I'm one of those comets
and that's you
you're one of those stars
and that's love, sometimes it's lost in heaven
so close but so far away

-- Sons of the Never Wrong
posted by wells at 12:40 PM on February 20, 2003

Send lawyers, guns and money.
posted by Cyrano at 12:45 PM on February 20, 2003

Everything I needed to know I learned from The Cars (self link).
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:56 PM on February 20, 2003

How's about some Exodus:

Your body lies without a twitch-can't move
Feeling gone, nothing to say or do
Still alive but you can't think or see
You're looking like a vegetable to me

The darkness lives forever
Within your mind
Time rolls by and you never paid the cost
Without your mind your body-it's lost
Should we help to keep you alive?
Now's the time to help you
DIE!!!

Oh wait. Isn't this the speed metal forum?
posted by jaded at 1:07 PM on February 20, 2003

ah, bad religion. damn, that show at Iguana's in 91 friggin rocked

Say what you must, do all you can,
Break all the fucking rules and
Go to Hell with Superman and
Die like a champion, yeah hey!
posted by badzen at 1:08 PM on February 20, 2003

Excuse me please
Don't know what's wrong
I never meant
To live this long

I have no plan
So sorry, dear
Haven't been myself
These twenty years

Brian Straw (self link)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:19 PM on February 20, 2003

pxe2000, neutral milk hotel is very quoteworthy, dont'cha think? "holland 1945" is one of my favorite poem-not-just-song examples. um. yes.

and it's so sad to see the world agree
that they'd rather see their faces fill with flies
when i'd want to keep white roses in their eyes

and of course the record's title phrase. sigh.
posted by ifjuly at 1:29 PM on February 20, 2003

Singing is easy if you can remember the tune
It can be something to do on a bright afternoon
Sit in the sunshine and whistle a sweet melody
I'm singing for you and I hope that you're singing for me

You can be happy when everyone's singing your song
And think of the cash you can make when they all sing along
It doesn't matter if all of your songs sound the same
'Cause people are happy to hear them over and over and over again

(spiderbait, Glokenpop)
posted by wilberforce at 1:37 PM on February 20, 2003

On explaining things:

"Stop trying to explain.
Give up explaining."

(Paul Haines/Carla Bley-"Holiday in Risk" from Escalator Over the Hill)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:51 PM on February 20, 2003

Neutral Milk Hotel is great:

"And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly
From the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see"
(In The Aeroplane Over the Sea)

"...then press yourself against whatever you find
to be beautiful and trembling with life..."
(Three Peaches)
posted by bubukaba at 2:09 PM on February 20, 2003

All I learned I learned from King Missile (dog fly religion) lyrics...

I would go
And I would go every day almost
to the sandbox and 'cuz I loved the sandbox so much
'cuz I had my pail and my shovel and and my shovel
and I would play in the sandbox and it would be so fun and I would make mountains in the sand
and I would have so much fun
and and one day I went to the sandbox and it was so sad
and I cried and I cried because
SOMEONE TOOK A DOODY IN MY SANDBOX!!!
SOMEONE TOOK A DOODY IN MY SANDBOX!!!
and and that was so bad and that was so bad
and and that so disgusting and and how could they do that?
and that was so bad and and I didn't see it
and I sat right down in it and it felt squishy
and I got up and I cried and I cried and I cried and
WHY DIDN'T THEY CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES?
WHY DIDN'T THEY CLEAN UP THE MESS???
And and and now my pants are dirty and I'm crying and I'm crying and I'm crying and
I'M NEVER GOING TO THE SANDBOX AGAIN!!
I'M NEVER GOING TO THE SANDBOX AGAIN!!
AND I HATE EVERYBODY!!!
posted by Sonny Jim at 2:19 PM on February 20, 2003

Cars and girls are easy come by in this day and age,
Laughing, joking, drinking, smoking,
Till I've spent my wage.
When I was young people spoke of immorality,
All the things they said were wrong,
Are what I want to be.
posted by emf at 2:22 PM on February 20, 2003

The Cramps taught me:

People ain't no good, they never do what I think they should so, people ain't no good.

And likewise, Nick Cave said the same thing.
posted by modularette at 2:45 PM on February 20, 2003

Everything I needed to know I learned by listening to Mary Prankster .

Mercyfuck
I’m not amused anymore and nothing’s a muse anymore I sing of love and of hate, but I’m just masturbating my soul ...

The Bottle’s Talking Now
Darlin’ take the duct tape from the shelf ... save me from my foolish, drunken self ...

Rational Bohemian
I wanna walk around and kick the tires of your mind...

Punk Rock Heaven
Baby, you’re a poseur. Honey, I should know. You ask me where the shows are, but then you never go ... poseur purgatory awaits you in the end.

New Tricks
I was gonna be a rock star, baby
I was gonna have some fun
I sure miss twenty-one...
posted by oh posey at 2:48 PM on February 20, 2003

I gotta tell you,
it gets better
every day you stay alive
& I'm amazed
every day
that the sun decides to rise
every minute, every hour,
is another chance to change
life is beautiful & terrible & strange.

– Concrete Blonde
posted by goddam at 2:49 PM on February 20, 2003

Beep. Beep beep. Boop. *Random Static*. Beep.

-- Autechre
posted by qDot at 3:23 PM on February 20, 2003

He thought he was a man
but he was a muffin.
posted by reidfleming at 3:58 PM on February 20, 2003

"For many people, drugs work"
posted by inpHilltr8r at 5:01 PM on February 20, 2003

"There's a price to pay for a wish to come true
Trade a small piece of your life"
-Bob Mould

"Jesus rides beside me
He never buys any smokes"
-Replacements

"I believe in perpetual motion
And I believe in perfect devotion
I believe in
I believe in
I believe in the things I've never had
I believe in my Mum and my Dad
And I believe in
I believe in"

(and)

"I believe in original sin
And I believe what I believe in
Yes I believe in
I believe in
I believe in the web of fate
And I believe in I'm going to be late
So I'll be leavin'
What I believe in"
-Buzzcocks
posted by aine42 at 5:01 PM on February 20, 2003

Take stuff from work. I wrote this at work. They're paying me to write stuff I steal from them.

Life is good.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 5:54 PM on February 20, 2003

I was listening to that about half an hour ago, Ogre Lawless. Love it.
posted by Sonny Jim at 6:06 PM on February 20, 2003

Control for smilers can't be bought.
posted by muckster at 7:10 PM on February 20, 2003

Strange days have found us.
posted by alumshubby at 7:14 PM on February 20, 2003

Amen to the Wilco, gompa.

Distance has no way
Of making love
Understandable.

Phil Ochs:
We're fighting in a war we lost before the war began
When we're white boots marching in a yellow land.

Pete Seeger:
Don't you know it's darkest before the dawn
And this thought keeps me movin' on
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now--quiet early morning.

REM:
It’s the little things that can pull you under
Live your life filled with joy and thunder.
posted by hippugeek at 10:54 PM on February 20, 2003

Send lawyers, guns, and money--
The shit has hit the fan.

-WZ
posted by umberto at 11:16 PM on February 20, 2003

Live your life filled with joy and thunder.

wasn't it "wonder" instead of "thunder"?
posted by matteo at 3:02 AM on February 21, 2003

Early man walked away
As modern man took control
Their minds were all the same
To conquer was their goal
So he built his great empires
And he slaughtered his own kind
He died a confused man
Killed himself with his own mind

We're only gonna die from our own arrogance
So we might as well take our time
- Bad Religion, as covered by Sublime

I just came down from Chippewa
I had a station wagon and a hundred dollars
I was thinkin' 'bout the girl I'd left the year before
I hadn't seen her for some time, I thought that I might go on by
When your memory came floodin' in and closed that door

I wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I was a diesel locomotive
I'd come whistlin' down your track
Crashin' in your door
Wish I was a freight train baby
Wish I didn't have a heart
You'd need a shovel full of coal
Just to get me started
- Fred Eaglesmith
posted by arto at 3:11 AM on February 21, 2003

And, in the end,
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make.
posted by alumshubby at 4:15 AM on February 21, 2003

Space people read our mail.
The space people think that TV news programs are comedies, and that soap operas are news.
The space people will contact us when they can make money by doing so.
The space people think factories are musical instruments.
They sing along with them.
Each song lasts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
No music on weekends.
posted by monkey closet at 4:53 AM on February 21, 2003

Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
I wanna know about the mystery dance
Why don't you show me
'Cause I've tried and I've tried, and I'm still mystified
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
posted by whatsupdoc at 6:25 AM on February 21, 2003

hey ifjuly, even nmh's liner notes are good words for life:
"a song for an old friend and a song for a new friend and now a song for JESUS CHRIST and since this confuses people i'd like to simply state that i mean what i sing although the theme of endless endless on this album is not based on one religion in particular but upon the certain white light in things that i see as eternal."

(quoted from memory)
posted by pxe2000 at 7:57 AM on February 21, 2003

"Darling/ i deserve...to wake up dead"
Lewis Taylor
posted by Sijeka at 6:29 PM on February 21, 2003

Live your life filled with joy and thunder.

wasn't it "wonder" instead of "thunder"?

It alternates, matteo. At least, I'm pretty sure it does. Shoot...now I'm questioning my hearing of one of my favorite lines.
posted by hippugeek at 9:52 PM on February 21, 2003