I was searching for something, I was crying out loud,
Something has the strangest hold on me.
I was strung out on nothing, I was flickering out,
Stars and eyes and angels in the sky.
I can't wish it all away,
I've been clutching at my side again.
Holy hands shake.
No one will believe in you now.
In the morning when you rise and I'll be the first thing on your mind.
Why do you think of me all the time?
I called your name in the middle of the night and you heard me. You heard me.
I called your name in the middle of the night and you heard me.
Why am I always on your mind?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tyrant
There's a big black bomb at the center of the Earth,
Yeah it's tickin' till it's turn.
All the people want to talk about something that they heard,
They're just tickin' till their turn.
I don't know, I don't know.
When you hold me, I forget about all the terrible things.
Earthquakes and hurricanes and tidal waves
The world, the stage. The world the stage.
Is this the final act? The final act.
And who's behind the curtain drawing back.
It's drawing back.
All the kids say "Fuck your kingdom, fuck your crown!"
Skinject micromanagement, holographic pricetag
Every leaf of grass.
All the kids say "You've gotta tear that fucker down."
Shaking in the dark in tears, in terror,
I don't know how to integrate my fragmented selves.
The drugs, the drugs they only disappoint me now.
The drugs, the drugs they only disappoint.
If I could be distracted by the writing on the wall
I would dedicate me life to the cause,
But all the worldly crisis is reflected in myself
And perhaps it is the other way around.
Do I have the courage to pull the tyrant down?
Do I have the courage to pull the tyrant down?
Fuck your kingdom, fuck your crown.
Yeah it's tickin' till it's turn.
All the people want to talk about something that they heard,
They're just tickin' till their turn.
I don't know, I don't know.
When you hold me, I forget about all the terrible things.
Earthquakes and hurricanes and tidal waves
The world, the stage. The world the stage.
Is this the final act? The final act.
And who's behind the curtain drawing back.
It's drawing back.
All the kids say "Fuck your kingdom, fuck your crown!"
Skinject micromanagement, holographic pricetag
Every leaf of grass.
All the kids say "You've gotta tear that fucker down."
Shaking in the dark in tears, in terror,
I don't know how to integrate my fragmented selves.
The drugs, the drugs they only disappoint me now.
The drugs, the drugs they only disappoint.
If I could be distracted by the writing on the wall
I would dedicate me life to the cause,
But all the worldly crisis is reflected in myself
And perhaps it is the other way around.
Do I have the courage to pull the tyrant down?
Do I have the courage to pull the tyrant down?
Fuck your kingdom, fuck your crown.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011
Because different people come to the T.A.Z. every time, The Body Electric is also different every time. It stands to reason then that the only way to survive or be happy or have a good time in such a temporary autonomous zone is to forgo any and all expectations about how you think the night will go and just let things happen around you and through you. That being said, any expectations that I did happen to let slip through my mind before the night got underway were all far surpassed by the awesomeness of the jams and the art and the people who all came and contributed. Once again, we had a magical night and it has been my pleasure to compile and highlight the evening with this little diary entry so we can all look back and see how all those different elements came together so beautifully.
Since I'm kind of off kilter and into symbols and signs and coincidences and all that jazz, I like to look for themes that might be running through my life in a given day as if I was some unwitting character in a book or on a T.V. show who always has some kind of lesson to learn every episode. I noticed a couple strange themes running through this T.A.Z. while compiling all the material and it got me thinking, I wonder if every night of The Body Electric might have subtle themes or vibes that just spontaneously arise out of the many different combinations of people who participate. It might be something fun to ponder and look for if nothing else. It's actually in the looking for the theme that we are being creative, so the more creativity the better right?
The theme that I noticed which arose most prominently out of all the recorded material was Death. Just as Josh and Marielle started getting strange on the spontaneous (later named) "Perpetual Nothing in a Black Coffin" someone fittingly hit the light switch and the mood of the room changed drastically. I'm not lying when I say it was uncomfortable to sit there in the dark and listen to this jam, and that uneasiness was not lost upon my stone age tape recorder that was unfortunately placed in a terrible spot. Nonetheless, if you can stomach this noisy track I recommend giving it at least one listen. It's creepiness has a way of growing on you. It's one of my favorites now. Mad props to Josh for bringing the strange. The song is posted below these pics...
Perpetual Nothing in a Black Casket (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Adrienne Noyes came by and not only brought her Cello along but also a freakin' xylophone.
Not only did she provide the Body with new sounds including her song voice, but she also picked up a paint brush and contributed to the artistic side of the Body. If only we
Later in the night we had another spontaneous jam guest starring Jason Miller on his maiden voyage with the xylophone. Adrienne was singing and then passed the microphone to me. The first words that popped into my head was, "Listen to the voices in the graveyard."
Voices in the Graveyard (Live) The Body Electric Collective Intiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Not only did Josh Hartz make it out for the first time but Daniel Wall finally made the trek from Orlando. As it happens, The-Best-Spontaneous-Made-Up-On-The-Spot-Song Award ( which I won last time for "Sugar in Your Mouth" and I don't mind saying so) goes to him for the evening with the song I took the liberty of titling "I Was Afraid to Fall" because those are the first words he yelps out. I think it's an amazing song and I wouldn't mind hearing Danny pick it up and turn into a proper track and record it studio style.
It occurred to my mystical mind after looking over the name again, that the title of this song could also easily be seen as an allusion to death, whether death in the traditional sense or death by transformation because of something like "falling" in love or any other such thing that brings about metamorphosis. Of course, I'm having fun analyzing this, but it got me thinking that maybe we shouldn't be afraid to fall, which is implied by the song Danny's singing because anyone who says "I was afraid to" is making a statement that is somewhat tinged with regret. It's usually always followed by "I should have just..."
I Was Afraid to Fall (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Alex Hull was a life saver and took on the roll of official photographer for the evening. She did and excellent job and even got pictures of some the indigenous population who are known for their aversion to cameras.
Stevie Raine introduced the brilliant idea of hijacking all those annoying attorney fridge magnets and painting over them to make beautiful art all over the flabby face of the man.Take that Rue and Zifra! I think this may be start of a beautiful tradition for The Body Electric. I propose that every T.A.Z. should have a Magnet Force who paints little magnets until we all have magnets made by our friends all over our home fridges.
Stevie's Magnets:
Other members of Magnet Force include:
Jessica Record
David Clontz
Daniel Wall
And whoever made this do tell me:
Taylor Rae also made it to her first Body Electric and found the time to make some lovely art for us too.
This one is entitled "I Left My Mark"
And she is a world class hugger.
The jams that transpired were just totally awesome once again and I got lots of great tunes on recording.
Connor and Mark, who are rapidly becoming the main guitarists of the Initiatif, were killing it as always and Adam Hull took on bass guitar duties which he always does quite well.
We also had some young blood on the six string who wailed. Ladies and Gentleman: Alex Page.
Something really great happened. I would tell you that The Body Electric Collective Initiatif attempted to play "House of the Rising Sun" but even that wouldn't be accurate. What happened instead was a 16 minute long jam that was trying to be that song and very rarely did it succeed in doing so. The result was an epic sound orgy that basically involved everyone. There are some epic moments herein, and if you brave the listen you will hear Marielle singing out. Goosebumps. Thanks for bringing this, Adam.
There Is A House (Live) The Body Collective Electric Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
The Glorious Appearing (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif by Body Electric Collective
No Other Way (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Jam Sauce (Live) The Body Electric Collective Intiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Machinery Entranced (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
It just so happens that "Mirror Party" ends up being one of my favorite songs from the whole session. Now, I know it's a Holy Human song, and I know it is written and sung by my girlfriend, but even with those points against my credibility, I think that it turned out marvelously.
Actually this recording of "Mirror Party" does happen to be very special because this is the first time since the song was written and recorded that it has ever been played live before people. Marielle and I had never actually sung and played the song together before, except for the night before when we fiddled around to see if it could even be done. Out of all the Holy Human songs that were written by me (which is every other one), I think I might just like the one she wrote the best.
Mirror Party (Live) The Body Electric Collective Intiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
And of course there's the dreaded...
Whiskey Dick Blues (Live) The Body Electric Collective Intiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
I walked into my bedroom and stumbled upon a Separatist jam going on acoustically. I ran and grabbed my tape recorder just before I jumped into a song with David, Cory, and Alex where we caught on recording David Clontz singing in front of people for THE VERY FIRST TIME. Let it be noted also that he was actually making up these words as he went along. Quite impressive.
Never Be (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
One of my favorite things to do with these jams is to throw a Radon Moon song or a Holy Human song into the mouth of the Body Electric to be torn by the teeth of the spontaneity. I love the mangled new thing that comes out.
Rabbit Cage (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
The poetry of The Body Electric Collective Initiatif is easily the most profound aspect thus far of these little events. Up to this point we had really only one poet ever share his work, Evan Altes, but his poetry has been so powerful and extraordinary.
I was pleased to find that we had not just one poet but three in Evan's absence. (Although Evan, you and your poetry were missed).
The three poets who spoke were Cory Hoffman, Mark Murray and David Clontz. Their works will be featured in that order. I have included transcriptions for all that was read, but trust me, you'll want to hear the deliveries too. They all did very well with that part of it.
Cory began reading a selection from a book by Eckhart Tolle and then he preceded to read selections from his own writings. Both Mark and David shared only their original poetry.
I think there may have been something wrong with my recorder while Cory was reading so there may be some missing words. It's best to read along with that one so you can fill in the blanks.
Cory Reads Tolle (Live) The Body Electric Collective Intiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Cory Hoffman:
Eckhart Tolle/ A New Earth- Awakening To Your Lifes Purpose
WAR IS A MIND-SET-
In certain cases, you may need to protect yourself or someone else from being harmed by another, but beware of making it your mission to "eradicate evil", as you are likely to turn into the very thing you are fighting against. Fighting unconsciousness will draw you into unconsciousness yourself. Unconsciousness, dysfunctional egoic behavior, can never be defeated by attacking it. Even if you defeat your opponent, the unconsciousness will simply have moved into you, or the opponent reappears in a new disguise. Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.
These days you frequently hear the expression " the war against" this or that, and whenever I hear it, I know that it is condemned to failure. There is the war agianst drugs, the war against crime, the war against terrorism, the war against cancer, the war against poverty, and so on. For example, despite the war against crime and drugs, there has been a dramatic increase in crime and drug-related offenses in the past twenty-five years. The prison population in the United States has gone up from just under 300,000 in 1980 to a staggering 2.1 million in 2004. The war against disease has given us, amongst other things, antibiotics. At first, they were spectacularly successful, seemingly enabling us to win the war against diseases. Now, many experts that the widespread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics has created a time bomb and that antibiotics-resistant strains of bacteria, so-called super bugs, will in all likelihood bring about a reemergence of those diseases and possibly epidemics. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, medical treatment is the third-leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in the United States. Homeopathy and Chinese medicine are two examples of possible alternative approaches to disease that do not treat the illness as an enemy and therefore do not create new diseases.
War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set willeither strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if the war is won, will create a new enemy, a new evil equal to and often worse than the one that was defeated. There is a deep interrelatedness between your state of consciousness and external reality. When you are in the grip of a mind-set such as "war", your perceptions become extremely selective as well as distorted. In other words, you will see only what you want to see and then misinterpret it. You can imagine what kind of action comes out of such a delusional system. Or instead of imagining it, watch the news on TV tonight.
Recognize the ego forwhat it is: a collective dysfunction, the insanity of the human mind. When you recogize it for what it is, you no longer misperceive it as somebody's identity. Once you see the ego for what it is, it becomes much easier to remain non reactive toward it. You don't take it personally anymore. There is complaining, blaming, accusing, or making wrong. Nobody is wrong. It is the ego in someone, that's all. Compassion arises when you recognize that all are suffering from the same sickness of the mind, some more accutely than others. You do not fuel the drama anymore that is part of all egoic relationships. What is its fuel? Reactivity. The ego thrives on it.
DO YOU WANT PEACE OR DRAMA?-
You want peace. There is no one who does not want peace. Yet there is something else in you that wants the drama, wants the conflict. You may not be able to feel it at this moment. You may to wait for a situation or even justa thought that triggers a reaction in you: someone accusing you of this or that, not acknowledging you, encroaching on your territory, questioning the way you do things, an argument about money........ Can you then feel the enormous surge of force moving through you, the fear, perhaps being masked with anger or hostility? Can you hear your own voice becoming harsh or shrill, or louder and a few octaves lower? Can you be aware of your mind racing to defen its position, justify, attack, blame? In other words, can you awaken at that moment of unconsciousness? Can you feel that there is something in you that is at war, something that feels threatened and wants to survive at all cost, that needs the drama in order to assert its identity as the victorious character within the theatrical production? Can you feel there is something in you that would rather be right than at peace?
Also, I wish I could type up his entire book because almost every single sentence in it is so deep and moving, but here's one more that I truly loved and I've always said.
"Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp, which isn’t very much. Language consists of five basic sounds produced by the vocal cords. They are the vowels a, e, i, o, u. The other sounds are consonants produced by air pressure: s, f, g, and so forth. Do you believe some combination of such basic sounds could ever explain who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even what a tree or stone is in its depth? "
you might want to copy and paste it onto Word and do a spell check, but you dont have to. and please dont forget to send me any pics you find of me. hasta luego, amigo.
Cory Reads Selections from His Original Work (Live) The Body Electric Collective Intiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
Burnout Corner-
It was called the burnout corner, we'd only get high. Far from other people, reality, and time. The absence of a life can possibly change something. A person, a place, or it can change nothing. For some loss has no effect, for some its hard to cope. Some are left with questions, and some are left with hope. Blistered beauty has brought my attention to this dying convention. Justice is just another word for getting fucked and an open heart is all that has surfaced after nearly drowning.
True Light-
My idea of love hasnt always been true, but a new light has shined and that new light isn't you. Free me from my entangled mind and bless these thoughts that have come. Thoughts of inspiration. Thoughts of a new perspective. If I am a symbol I represent faith. Faith from a new source. A source from a realization of one's self. Finally. Fresh air, green skies, blue grass. I'm finally free; dont fuck it up. If one must take advantage, one must be alone.
Brass Borough-
Down in the depths like the hell down below, is where I sit in my brass borough. Where I go is where I want, and what I do is what I please. I keep the entrance tightly closed as to not let invaders in. My borough is maleable only with MY hammer of unbelievingness. I can mend, bend, shred and tear what is unsatisfactory. ...............I'm buried, again. Buried by myself, again. .....help?!
Queries of my Mind-
What's it like to conquer great trials? How can we beat ourselves? If I say I know myslef then why can't I see myself. What have I become to my sweetesr friend? The worst part about the end is...............you could have done something different. Or is that the worst part about life?
Mark Murray:
Mark Reads Original Work (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
undecagonic beasts
slit you between the lines
with your petty space-time
a human conscious feast
you just KNOW you're dreaming, which you perceive as sleeping
your grey doesn't matter, for you've gone too deep
*instrumental*
but can your stomach take it, will you allow your mind to fake it?
you do not know how to wake up... boy, this isn't for the meek
prehistoric precision long ago set to motion
terrestrial cortexes drown in cosmic oceans
neck deep in delusion
drag out the safety nets for your mindscape intrusion
twelve harmonic protrusions translate to all eleven
missing eight times the syncopation it's the language of the "heavens"
so don't you go and worry your pretty little head
how can you proudly bear those scars ,and glorify what's dead?
David Clontz:
"Somewhere Under the Rainbow"
Somewhere Under the Rainbow by David Clontz (Live) The Body Electric Collective Initiatif 2-6-2011 by Body Electric Collective
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
by David Clontz
Out there, the world, the people...hypocryte, fag, stereotype, liar...I am part of and am all of these and so is every person i've encountered. I watch those of you who have a self entitled sense of pride and exuberance and think that I'm not so bad after all. I think of all the things I've done "wrong" and in comparison those events aren't much worse or quite better than any actions of others that have projected some sort of negativitity onto the world. I know it's the most obvious statement, but sadly no matter how much good we do or how many people we screw over, deep down we're all the same.
Bravo, and see you all in the Body. Amen, Amen.
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