More lyrics?

Okay, I realize I've been a little overboard with lyrics lately.  It's almost like this is turning into some sort of music blog or something. 

Oh, yeah.  Right.

But I really don't wanna be one of those guys who just posts depressing lyrics every few days and expects his few readers to absorb those lyrics with rapt attention.  I mean, geez - I'm pretty sure you guys can do that for yourself.  The internet is a vast place, and those lyrics do exist elsewhere, and I think it's safe to assume that you can, in fact, read.  And even if you cannot, you can still absorb lyrics the good ol' fashioned way (god forbid).

But sometimes, I get into lyric-posting moods.  Some may say it's writer's block.  I say it's because I've been playing a lot of guitar lately, and have taken a stab at writing songs lately.  And mostly, they're atrocious.

So I've been listening to a lot of lyrics, hearing what people say, and then saying to myself "Shit, I feel exactly that.  Why can't I write that?"   And then I write a song called "breakfast for dinner" about making myself an omelette at 5 pm, and stare in despair upon the paper and contemplate dancing in traffic.

But there's a good side about absorbing lyrics - you come across some great ones, and it helps you realize what to look for in your own lyrical writings.  Today, I found a perfect example of this.  I was listening to The Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues.  Really, the lyrics blew me away - particularly the first half.  The first half of this song, especially the bit about snowflakes and cogs in the machine, sum up my world view pretty nicely.

Okay, so the last bit, about the orchard, is a bit too hippy for me.  But whatever.  The first bit is perfect. 

And now, so you have an idea what the hell I'm talking about: 

i was raised believing
i was somehow unique
like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes
unique in each way you can see
and now after some thinking
i'd say i'd rather be
a functioning cog in some great machinery
serving something beyond me
but i don't i don't know what that will be.
i'll get back to you someday
soon you will see
what's my name
what's my station
oh just tell me what i should do
i don't need to be kind to the armies of night
that would do such injustice to you.
or bow down and be grateful
and say "sure take all that you see"
to the men who move only in dimly lit halls
and determine my future for me.
and i don't i don't know who to believe
i'll get back to you someday
soon you will see.
if i know only one thing
it's that everything that i see
of the world outside is so inconceivable
often i barely can speak
yeah i'm tongue tied and dizzy
and i can't keep it to myself
what good is it to sing helplessness blues
why should i wait for anyone else?
and i know i know you will keep me on the shelf
i'll come back to you someday
soon myself.
if i had an orchard
i'd work 'till i'm raw.
if i had an orchard
i'd work 'till i'm sore.
and you would wait tables
and soon run the store
gold hair in the sunlight
my light in the dawn
if i had an orchard
i'd work till i'm sore
if i had an orchard
i'd work till i'm sore
someday i'll be
like the man on the screen

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