MEXICO (central)
SHAPES OF THINGS
Acatlan, Puebla, MX - 10 May 2005
They're drifting past my eyes
They're slipping through my hands
Like distant forest fires
Like love lost in the sand
-
[chorus:]
The shape of mountains, the shape of snakes
The shape of lies, the shape of hopes
The shape of fear and water and smoke
The shape of you and me
-
Like trucks and tanks and soldiers
Across a desert valley
A metallic tang in the air
The wind can't wash away [chorus]
-
Like jaguars in the forest
That never come in view
Just shadows in the underbrush
Just shadow of me and you [chorus]
-
They're fading in the burning distance
The patterns break apart
The shapes I can't put together
The shapes inside your heart [chorus]
(It's a) UFO
Acatlan, Puebla, MX - 10 May 2005
[rock-a-bookie honker]
It coulda been a meteor
It coulda been a jet
It flew across the sky
It coulda been, but yet
-
[chorus:]
I know, I know, I know
It's a UFO (UFO) (UFO)
I know, I know, I know
It's a UFO (UFO) (UFO)
-
It coulda been a heat mirage
It coulda been a dream
It could been a flashback
But I know what I seen [chorus]
-
[bridge:]
I could tell by the pulsations
I could tell by the gyrations
I could tell by the emanations
It wasn't just no manifestation
[instrumental]
-
It coulda been a spy plane
Or some big fat balloon
It coulda been a satellite
Coming down too soon, but [chorus]
SHE'S IN THE MOUNTAINS
Acatlan, Puebla, MX - 10 May 2005
[slow spacey jazzy etc]
She came up to the mountains in the spring
Put the winter away like okd clothes
And sang again
-
She walked across the mountains in the summer
Naked like a rumor
And painted bright pictures
-
She wove a spiderweb in the mountains in the fall
And sailed it through the clouds
Like bird-fishing
-
She came down from the mountains at the solstice
Covered up with winter
And laughing at the rituals
NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS
Acatlan, Puebla, MX - 10 May 2005
It's a long drive across America, any America
Forever across California or Texas or Tennessee
And it's a long long drive across Mexico
No matter how far you go
-
[chorus:]
One dream from sea to sea
One ocean from dream to dream
One hemisphere to stitch across
Nothing is what it seems
-
You can't drive too fast across Alaska
And Guatemala seems to take about all year
And don't even think of crossing Brazil
No matter which directional [chorus]
-
I almost make it 'cross Canadian America
Been several times the USAnian route
I'm working my way toward the Canal Zone
I haven't yet tried Argentinian [chorus]
MARIA SAYS
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 13 May 2005
Maria picks up the telephone, says
"Tell me something I didn't know
Don't tell me about Michaelangelo
Then you can come to town."
-
Maria opens the apartment door, says
"Show me something I haven't seen
Don't show me your turquoise canteen
Then you can crawl on the floor."
-
Maria turns on the blender, says
"Give me something I really need
Don't hand me that old papaya seed
Then you can love me tender."
-
Maria opens the bedroom, says
"Do me something I haven't done
Don't do me like Bat Masterson
Then you can dance in my womb
Then you can play like a man
Then you can just scram."
BLOWS IN LIKE BREATHING
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 13 May 2005
I took a photo of you
Walking down the road
I took it from far above
You didn't even know
-
[chorus:]
And the sun pours down like butterscotch
And the wind blows in like breathing
-
The camera's set to sepia
So you came out brown
You're a little fuzzy
So I softened you down [chorus]
-
You're wearing tight jeans
And a light baggy sweater
With something written on it
In big dark letters [chorus]
-
There's a bag on your shoulder
Something in your hair
You've got a strange expression
Like you didn't really care [chorus]
-
A van's moving past you
Looks like it just missed
The driver's looking at you
Like she wants to be kissed [chorus]
-
Off in the background
Something's falling over
Like a body or a dog
Or an alien or a lover [chorus]
-
I took a photo of you
I could have been a spy
And I probably won't see you again
Before we die [chorus]
MADE IT THRU THE DAY
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 13 May 2005
I woke up this morning with a splitting headache
Feeling only somewhat moderately evolved
Like some crustacean with its head in a vice
Jesus in a straightjacket, Buddha with the trots
-
[chorus]
But somehow I made it thru the day
Somehow I heard you anyway
Somehow I made it thru the day
-
The traffic roared, my capillaries soared
The rosy sunrise reflecting my glowing eyes
The usual complications complicated themselves
The usual stuff disappeared from the shelves
[chorus]
-
[bridge:]
It doesn't seem so tragic
It doesn't seem like black magic
It's just a little hemorrhagic
Like Ebola
-
I don't feel much worse than any other damn day
Feeling only somewhat moderately concussed
Stomped by elephants, rhinoceruses, giraffes
Et by a ky-ote and shit off a cliff
[chorus]
STORMY NIGHT IN MEXICO
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 20 May 2005
In a hilltop town in Mexico
Lightning crashing 'round my head
Another night in new Taxco
Another night that I'm not dead
-
[chorus:]
And the sky explodes, explodes, explodes
And the sky explodes, explodes, explodes
And the sky explodes, explodes, explodes
A stormy night in Mexico
-
Even in good company
It's miserable down below
It's so delicious up above
Looking down on new Taxco [chorus]
-
[bridge:]
The nature of wind and mountains
The feeling of wind and mountains
The science of wind and mountains
The domain of the Lord of the Rains
[instrumental]
-
In a hilltop town in Mexico
The silver mines are empty now
The people go and come and go
The thunderstorm is closer now [chorus]
ALL THE WAY TO TAXCO
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 24 May 2005
[A1:]
Goodbye to Taxco City
When I'll be back, I don't know
And where I'm going, I can't say
At least not today
-
[B1:]
The lights are bright and the music's loud
Reverberates off the mountainsides
From the sky above to hell below
Oh yeah, all the way to Taxco
-
[B2:]
The silver's flash and the silver glows
The girls are flash in their spray-on clothes
Everybody talks and everybody knows
Oh yeah, all the way to Taxco
-
[A2:]
Don't dance with the traffic cops
Don't dance in the zocalo
Don't dance on the city's knife-edge
Don't dance too slow
-
[instrumental]
[repeat B1]
FADING AWAY
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 24 May 2005
It's the usual foggy dark tonight
The night-cabs crawl like ants below
Streetlight moths cast flickering shadows
Your shadow is fading away
-
The tree-flowers are about half-open
Exhaust clouds have settled out for now
The city's perfume will be back today
Your perfume is fading away
-
Cicadas hum like a smoke alarm
An insectile throbbing beat
The city's rhythm is jagged and grey
Your heartbeat is fading away
NOT FADE AWAY
Taxco, Guerrero, MX - 24 May 2005
The war isn't here, the war isn't there
The war isn't just between your ears
The war isn't constant, from day to day
The war isn't fading away
-
Kill some Iraqis, kill some more Kurds
Kill off those sons of camel turds
Kill a few more from day to day
The war isn't fading away
-
Don't kill to many, don't kill too few
Torture the people who never hurt you
Focus on black-and-white, ignore the grey
The war isn't fading away
-
Building democracy, building a state
Growing a tree of justified hate
The blood isn't red, the blood fades away
The war isn't fading away
MEXICO (north)
BEYOND THIS HORIZON
Creel, Chihuahua, MX - 28 May 2005
It's not so hot, it's a dry heat, we're not sweating
It's not so hot, it's a dry heat, we're not sweating
'Cross the desert sands we scuttle, dragging our antennas
We lift our chins and squint, just like in the legends
-
The winds blew down from space, blew away my carapace
We staggered here naked, full of wonder, full of grace
We staggered here naked, full of wonder, full of grace
And now you say that we can't stay, that's what you say
-
The sky drips down beyond the horizon like boiling lead
We scuttle across the desert sands like the living dead
Go a mile beyond this horizon, that's what you said
Go a mile beyond this horizon, that's what you said
THE GRINGA QUEEN
Creel, Chihuahua, MX - 28 May 2005
She deals the cards and sips the tequila
A lonesome smile plays across her lips
She knows this part of Mexico
Like a goddam lunar eclipse
She folds her hand and starts to stand
And somewhere somebody sings
-
[chorus:]
Look at the Virgin of Tucson
Look at the Gringa Queen
When you stare at her golden hair
You've forgotten all you've seen
When you stare at her golden hair
You've forgotten all you've seen
-
She tops the crests of Copper Canyon
She tops the flashing Baja surf
She squeezes the volcanic twilight
For everything that it's worth
She shakes her feet and waves her hands
And somewhere somebody sings [chorus]
-
Her hands flash before your eyes
Her breath sparkles in your hair
Her smile strips your soul away
And all you can do is stare
She folds her hand and starts to stand
And somewhere somebody sings [chorus]
A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT (In Mexico)
Bisbee, Arizona USA - 30 May 2005
It's a beautiful night in Mexico
The scorpions are singing low
The vampires and the vampire bats
The mummies and the mummified cats
They follow me wherever I go
On a beautiful night in Mexico
-
It's a beautiful night in Mexico
The chupacabras dance below
Every bruja and every brujo
The chingadas and the chingados
They're nibbling at my toes and nose
On a beautiful night in Mexico
-
It's a beautiful night in Mexico
In my little haunted bungalow
The coyotes and the werewolves sing
The full moon's in a silver ring
I'm dancing with a mescalero
On a beautiful night in Mexico
-
It's a beautiful night in Mexico
I'm too far gone for a curandero
The skeletons dance, the skeletons sing
The rattlesnakes weave a subtle thing
The stars look down on the fool below
On a beautiful night in Mexico
TOO MANY
Bisbee, Arizona USA - 30 May 2005
We crossed too many borders
If it's Tuesday, this must be Honduras
What happened to the passports?
-
We ate too many meats
Is this chicken, dog, or marmot?
Tell me why my tongue bleeds
-
We drank too much potent stuff
And what was this brewed of?
Was it ever alive? What?
-
We walked too many streets
In circles and in tangents
Is that a trap or a gate?
-
We saw too many beggers
Two- and one- and no-leggers
And some who were very preggers
-
We crossed too many borders
We crossed too many borders
We crossed too many borders
STREET VENDOR BLUES
Bisbee, Arizona USA - 31 May 2005
Another seed bead necklace, another stick rag-doll
Another bad bright wriststrap, I think I've got'em all
-
[chorus:]
Another street vendor, got something to sell me
I really don't want no more, no more
Why don't you just let me be
-
No cigs or fruits or candies, no pretty handmade weave
Nothing brass or wood or silver, I think I gotta leave
[chorus]
[insturmental]
-
No Zapaista dolls and no Zapatista toys
I don't wanna give my money
to no Zapatista girls and boys
[chorus]
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