CLUTCH :: pro-rock.com :: Miscellaneous Lyrics

This is a collection of B-sides, demos, and other commercially unreleased songs. Many thanks to Pez, the Master of Obscure Lyrical Deciphering, for his talents. Check out his very informative site Evolution's Finest Hour. Also, thanks to Eric Beeson for the added lyrical insight.

MOLT

(Outtake from "Transnational Speedway League")

If I can't win,
Then I will multiply.
You cannot oppose
What you can't recognize.
Drop down, drop down,
All the angels sing.
Drop down to all fours
Like an ape, like a child, like dog, like a king.

Like a king.

I'm a walking definition
Of a defense mechanism.
I have no wants, I only know needs,
And what I need now is a new anatomy.
And they are like the insect;
So simple, yet so hard to appease.
And they are like the virus,
So simple, yet so hard to appease.

And I am your equal
And opposite reaction,
So feel this second skin.
And they are like the insect,
And they are like the insect,
So feel this second skin,
So feel this second skin.

Like an ape, like a child, like a king, like a dog,
Like an ape, like a child, like a king, like a dog,
Like a child, like an ape, like a king.

If I can't win,
If I can't win,
If I can't win,
If I can't win,
If I can't win,

And you, you should be smiling,
This is evolution's finest hour.
One step back would be on the forward,
And into the wayward out.

APACHE

(Outtake from "Clutch")

Wake up...

Incoming!

HALE BOPP BLUES

(unreleased track from the Elephant Riders sessions)

Dinosaurs, dinosaurs
Ain't around anymore
Big ol' stone, big ol' stone
Made the sky full of smoke These are the things I saw
When I stared into the crystal ball

Tyrannosaurs, tyrannosaurs
They came crashing down and moaned aloud

Hale-Bopp go back where you come from
I don't, I don't
I don't wanna die

Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, go back on home
Hale-Bopp, I don't
I don't wanna die

Oh my dear knocking
She took them away
On the wings of victory

King Herod, King Herod
His poor son did lay dead
Blessed star, blessed star
Put a fear in his heart

These are the things I saw
When I stared into the crystal ball

Evil man, evil man
He hatched a plan for Bethlehem

Hale-Bopp go back where you come from
I don't, I don't
I don't wanna die

Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, go back on home
Hale-Bopp, I don't
I don't wanna die

Oh my dear knocking
She took them away
On the wings of victory

Hale-Bopp go back where you come from
I don't, I don't
I don't wanna die

Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, go back on home
Hale-Bopp, won't you
Leave us alone

BIG NEWS III

(unreleased track from the Elephant Riders sessions)

Off the shore of Laborador
The crew labored to bilge the hold
The stern it floundered in the shoal
The bow bucked up like a bronco

The crew was strong 'til Captain called
"Throw the spermaceti o'er
Throw the spermaceti overboard, overboard"

The captain woke with sandy eyes
"Am I alone?" the old sir cried
"'tis I" he heard a bitter voice reply

"Jason Kip of ?town
I fear the men have all been drowned
And we two are the only to survive, to survive"

Nancy was a pretty girl
Golden hair and eyes of pearl
And she made a pretty bride
For the ancient Captain Bly
Her true love was Jason Kip
Porter on the Captain's ship

Nancy paced the widow's walk
Listening to the widow's talk
She heard "Nancy, do not weep,
The ship is late, but just a week"

"My late husband Captain Pierce
Was gone once for several years.
He returned with silk and spice
Minus one leg and his eyes"

In the end the ocean has its revenge
Whether tomorrow or 100 years

The Captain was a giant man
With miles of intestines
And a stomach larger than
The Persian Gulf

Was not 3 weeks when Bly took chase
And in his sleep untied him
And without a thought he ate him
Clean and whole, clean and whole

As the Captain licked his lips
He was spotted by a ship
Nancy truly was relieved
But for Jason how she grieved

In a carriage they rode home
Any guilt he did not show
As they sat to dine that night
He lacked any appetite

As the two lay in their bed
Captain's gut turned cherry red
With the sounds of gale-force wind
Sprung an angry Jason Kip

In the end the ocean has its revenge
Whether tomorrow or 100 years
It takes limbs and lives
And from the wives an equal ocean of their fallen tears

TIGHT LIKE THAT

(Demo Version)

I woke up this morning, put on my Sunday shoes.
Don't ask me why it's just the nature of my groove.
I larged down the boulevard, came under attack.
But I rocked them senseless, cause honey it's tight like that, good God.

I hung a left down to Leman's Avenue.
Stagger Lee's everywhere, trying to bring me doom, oh no.
And that Ol' Scratch he tried to purchase this soul.
But that don't confront me, cause I'm never in the need of a payroll, step back.

HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
SO STEP BACK, RAPTURE ROCK
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
STEP BACK, RAPTURE ROCK
ALL THE SAINTS GET FUNKY ONE TIME
OOO, YEAH, IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
RAPTURE
IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
ROCK
IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
RAPTURE
SO STEP BACK, YEAH

And all you know-it-alls with politic views,
Ideals don't situate themselves in His groove.
So if you wanna know then ya, just got to ask.
But if you don't lose that skin, you'll never be tight like that

OH YEAH
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
STEP BACK, RAPTURE ROCK
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
STEP BACK, WATCH ME WORK ONE TIME
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
RAPTURE
IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
ROCK
IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
RAPTURE
STEP BACK, WATCH ME WORK ONE TIME
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
STEP BACK, GET FUNKY ONE TIME

Oh don't try to sell me, your New Age guru trouble.
Cause I'm already reeling doing that good time gospel shuffle.
And all this thumping, about some Armageddon,
Ain't no big deal, cause I already hang with him.

OH, YEAH
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
RAPTURE
IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
ROCK
HONEY IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
ALL THE SAINTS GET FUNKY ONE TIME
ALL THE SAINTS GET FUNKY ONE TIME
ALL THE SAINTS GET FUNKY ONE TIME
IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT
SO STEP BACK

SPACEGRASS

(Demo Version)

Dodge Swinger 1973
Galaxie 5-0-0
All the way star's green, gotta go
Dodge Swinger 1973, top down, chassis low
Panel dim, planets align
A king is born
T-minus whenever I feel like
Galaxie 5-0-0
Panel dim, light drive
Jesus on the dashboard

Whenever it feels right
Whenever it feels right
Whenever it feels right

Once again
Dodge Swinger 1973
Galaxie 5-0-0
Planets align
A king is born

Whenever it feels right
Whenever it feels right
You know
Yeah, uh huh
I turn on the radio

Hey kid, are you going my way?
Hop in, we'll have ourselves a field day
We'll find us some spacegrass
Lay low, watch the universe expand
Skyway, permanent Saturday
By the way, Saturn is my rotary
Strap in, it'll be eternity
'til we make it to M83

Once around the Sun
Cruising, climbing
Jupiter cyclops winks at me
Yeah, he knows who's driving
Hit neutral in the tail of a comet
Let the vortex pull my weight
Push the seat back a little lower
Watch light bend in the blower

Planets align, a king is born
Dodge Swinger
Yeah

Whenever it feels right
Whenever it feels right
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I turn on the radio

Hey kid, are you going my way?
Hop in, we'll have ourselves a holiday
We'll find us some spacegrass
Lay low, watch the universe expand
Skyway, permanent Saturday
Oh yeah, Saturn is my rotary
Strap in, it'll be a long one
'til we make it to M81

Whenever it feels right
I turn on the radio

WISHBONE

(Demo Version)

For Thanksgiving we had tatas, succotash, and rutabagas.
Then came turkey from the oven, broke the wishbone, covenants were sealed and set.

In the morning fish fell from the sky. I would not tell a lie to you.
And the black snakes, they turned to rainbow hues. They sprouted wings and flew up to the Moon.

The weather cock, he tumbled down from the roof,
He announced that the black snakes were especially rude.
"Now I got no place to call my home!"
With a shrug he turned around and headed down the road.

On the losing end of a wishbone, and I won't pretend not to mind.

Christmas Eve we ate at Aunty's.
We had some ham glazed with honey.
Rolled the Yule log on the fire, threw the ham bone to the dogs and went to bed.

In the morning the weather cock returned to share what he had learned from the Earth.
"It is a round place with deserts and oceans, housing as many winds as one might wish!"
We was standing by the gate.
He said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
Then he took off flying to the south, with a black snake in his mouth.

You can shake it, break it, or glue it whole, no two ways about it with a broke wishbone
ON THE LOSING END
Shake it, break it, or glue it whole, no two ways about it with a broke wishbone
ON THE LOSING END

For St. Patrick's we had cabbage, corn beef stew, egg salad sandwich.
Then came whiskey from the basement.
Danced all night into the dawn and held our heads.

In the morning the worms attacked the town, St. Patrick came on down and prayed.
He expelled them into the Netherworld, and they were never heard from again.

The weather cock returned to roost on top of the roof.
"The April winds are near," he said, "I fear they are cruel.
But I'll let ya know which way they blow."
He looked above and said, "Oh no, the comet has come."

On the losing end of a wishbone, and I won't pretend not to mind
On the losing end of a wishbone, and I won't pretend not to mind

(Outtake from "The Elephant Riders" Demos. Original version by Bad Brains)

Not as much but with such intensity
I'd like to be what they would not want me to be
I like to cram their chivalry inside their guts
I'd like to leave it all behind with the rest of the nuts

I, I

Not as much but with more feeling now
I'd like to forget about you and try to break it somehow
I'd like to push it aside until I can see some more
I'd like to leave you where I found you lying on the floor

I, I

I guess its too bad, I guess its too bad
I guess its too bad, too bad for you
I guess its too bad, I guess its too bad
I guess its too bad, too bad for you
I guess its too bad, I guess its too bad
I guess its too bad, too bad for you
I guess its too bad, I guess its too bad
I guess its too bad, too bad for you

It seems the truth always prevails on your face
And in the end I see what's in its place
So in the future you just may see
That's what you'll receive is
What you gave to me

THE PACKAGE

(Outtake from "The Elephant Riders" Demos)

Peddler of gewgaw gardens in the fog.
Nikolai reclines to dream of tarantulas.
A cobblestone way shakes a fleeting carriage.
It speeds along and drops a package.

Blue light escapes the laboratory
And illuminates a row of chimneys
Conjouring forth the power of stars
The scientist runs to catch it in jars

Gracefully a hand knocks upon a giant iron door.
Candlelight descends heading to the anteroom.
"My apologies, I was hindered at the chancellor's.
Please you must hear me, we have just now only learned.
The mechanism is missing, and Nikolai is sleeping with no sign of waking."

Messenger of murmur trowels in the lodge.
Nikolai whispers, "Give me Pax Harmonica."
A meeting of stovepipes assesses damage
In a back room over coffee cake and absynthe.

Blue light escapes the laboratory
And illuminates a row of chimneys
Conjouring forth the power of stars
The scientist runs to catch it in jars

Suddenly they stand swearing on their lives
a solemn oath, "Elementary ephemeral antithesis."
One of them departs with a cipher in his coat
meaningless to anyone, save the recipient.
Unbeknown to the brothers,
the device uncovered silently hovers.

"What is it, Papa? How does it glow?"
"Run to Father Connor, hurry you must go."
Nikolai sits up, knuckle to eyeball.
To the cat he hollers, "It glows by the people!"

24 EARTH YEARS

(Outtake from "The Elephant Riders" Demos)

Back in 1980, we played the AD&D.
That game was harder than the Elfstones of Shanara.
My character was baffling, a druid, wizard, halfling.
On top of that he was master of psionic powers.

Bring on the hordes, we have the sword
that smote the Goblin of Gygaxnor.
Pray that the sisters name us as victors
of the twenty sided die.

Long ago in Middle Earth
a man could measure all his worth
by his blade and by his staff,
and by the runes on his epitaph.

Go mount your horse and ride up north
to seek the Baron of the Frozen Berg.
Ask for assistance in the resistance
of the twenty sided die.

I don't know, but I've been told I'm about twenty-four Earth years old.
and come my next birthday it'll be a quarter century.
I don't know, but I have heard a gnome from the old world say these words,
"Take a look what the cat dragged in; a dead woodpecker and two of my kin."
Saw Mazes and Monsters, Tom Hanks completely bonkers.
He spoke what he doth speaketh in Elizabethan.
Sad lad, he really couldn't handle starting from scratch on the very first level
But he died the death of a warrior.

A legend grows yearly by way of a local song.
The bishop and castle move in defense of pawns.
I'm rolling, I'm tumbling a twenty sided die.
A legend grows yearly by way of local song.

GIFTED & TALENTED

(Hidden Bonus track from "The Elephant Riders")

I graduated in 1993.
I never demonstrated much of my ability.
I was a good boy but I was much too smart for my own good.
Teachers said I was gifted and quite talented.

Do you have an extra quarter?
Got to get to class tomorrow.
All is fair in Asbury.
Make my way into Berkeley.

When I was seven, I stared in to the monitor.
And found my best friend
Mr. Commodore 64.
Daddy bought me an international business machine
And with it I compromised national security.

Do you have an extra quarter?
Got to get to class tomorrow.
All is fair in Asbury.
Make my way into Berkeley.

What the hell ya savin' for?
I'm gonna start the third world war.

Hanging with the punks in the gutters I have found
Most of them are gifted and talented as well.

Oh brotha could you spare a dime?
(If a quarter you do not have)
Been running from the Marshall Man
Since I broke into NORAD.

But it's working out so well.
The beggar's life is swell.

DAVID ROSE

(Hidden Bonus track from "The Elephant Riders")

Old John Brown left Kansas before the blood had dried
And as he rode his head did shine like the sun in mid-July.
In a tiny farm house by Brunswick piano
He warmed his boots by the fireplace and read aloud from Samuel.

David rose to beat the Philistines with five smooth stones and a sling.

One October morning his army did approach
The armory that sat between the Potomac and Shenandoah.
The engine house flung open with report of several guns
When it was done he looked upon the bodies of his dying sons.

David rose to beat the Philistines, with five smooth stones and a sling.

Throughout our history there are those ghosts
Compelled to illustrate our dreams and hopes
Victors hang in pictures, losers from ropes.
Regardless they all swing in the same boat.

Yeah....yeah, yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

In Southampton County 'round 1831
Nat Turner prayed and the cornstalks swayed
A voice rose up and a text was raised.
In the planter's steak house they went from room to room
When it was done they rode along to liberate Jerusalem.

David rose to beat the Philistines, with five smooth stones and a sling.

Throughout our history there are those ghosts
Compelled to illustrate our dreams and hopes
Victors hang in pictures, losers from ropes.
Regardless they all swing in the same boat.

(Hidden Bonus track from "The Elephant Riders")

I was told a story while I warned them of the sky.
And I could see no good reason why the old man woulda lied.
Oh, he looked to be about as strong as a fish.
And I tell it as I wonder what's the poor man's only dying wish.

The winter of ought five,
Left with two score and five lives,
For the red eyed coal dogs howl,
Could be heard for miles around,

In the book of Genesis,
God grants man dominion,
Over animals, and the black dogs,
of P. Pont caught a glimpse.

Come springtime there was food,
But the widows all refused.
And the poor man's black dogs came
To escort those who remained.

Brothers, Sisters,
Go across the river,
Don't look back once there,
Trust in God and take care,

The winter of our fall,
Left with two score and five lives,
For the red eyed coal dogs howl,
Could be heard for miles around

GONE UNSUNG

("Drink to the Dead" demo)

If knee-deep in catnip
At the old icebox

I recommend you whistle
And give the box three knocks

Should you be so lucky
To hear whisperin'
It is an invitation
For you to join in

Let us go leaping
In 3-measure time
Dressed up as asses
And drunk to the nines

Swing from the branches, shouting those songs
Gone unsung for far too long

If surrounded by toadstools
In the old green glen
I'm afraid there is little
That I can recommend

Save all of your courage
And the sincere prayer
And where you go a-treadin'
Take the utmost care

Let us go leaping
In 3-measure time
Dressed up as asses
And drunk to the nines

Swing from the rafters, shouting those songs
Gone unsung for far too long

Let us go leaping
In 3-measure time
Dressed up as asses
And drunk to the nines

Swing from the branches, shouting those songs
Gone unsung for far too long

Sound of rushing water yon...

Nine Men's Morris in the sand
But the player's gone

Drink to the dead
All you still alive
We shall join them in good time

Should you go crossing that silvery brook
It's best to leap before you look