Released by Complacency in 1988 on vinyl only. Contains a full-sized black and white insert with lyrics, cryptic quotes, enigmatic photocopied photos and drawings, and so on. This is probably actually one of their best albums. Shame it's so utterly unknown....
Notes:
THYMME JONES -- drums, piano, vocals, trumpet, percussion, tapes, samples, opus III, centrifuge and mellotron
JEFF LIBERSHER -- guitars and upbringing
CHRIS BLOCK -- basses, piano, vocals, guitar, flute, tapes, samples, aluminum and mellotron
produced by PHIL BONNET and CHEER-ACCIDENT
engineered by PHIL BONNET
front cover by THOMA
back cover by ENZYME
recorded APRIL through JULY 1988 SOLID SOUND STUDIOS Hoffman Estates, Illinois
These people need to be thanked:
Brad Schlueter (more things to hit)
Mark Sorenson (infant squared)
Scott Ashley (guitarlend)
Scott Prochaska (guitarlind)
Dan Burke (guitarlund)
Ted Dominick (who else would have a mellotron?)
Chris Lahey (greenish junk)
Sir Playand (round metal thing)
Bill Martin (hi Bill)
Georgia Gilbert (she was a baby at the right time)
Wendell Jones (fly balls)
Mike Greenlees (name it)
Jane Bouzek (she laughed)
Dan Barton (centrifuge)
Virginia Schwartz (voice tip)
Jane Jones (likes to read)
Chuck Radtke (religious consultation)
Elaine Rangel (if you look closely)
Thank them.
SIDE THIS: Fight For Innocence, Death and Taxes, Uncle Dale, Avoid the Invisible
SIDE THEN: Severed, Heaven, Black and White, Cutting Off My Arm So I Don't Have To Shake Hands, Tree Dies
Corporate Lies
Acquisitions of industry
Must retain
A facade of democracy
Rising above
The ethics of things
Does not mean
That that is the way it should be
We rule the world
The financial maze
We make it safe
For future gains
"We Light Your Way!"
So send the children to bed
Feed them tomorrow
Pale hope as their bread
Syndicate autocracy
Homogenous prosperity
Individuality
A place on the beach
Picture postcards
Of a life out of reach
So try to accept
Your life behind the desk
We give you no option
You give us your breath
Manifest destiny
Corporate Theocracy
Hadean eyes that burn on
Sweat-soaked sheets that bind me
Lady/pain release me (make me feel)
Why can't I be free? (make me feel)
Reality doesn't change
Only the names change
To protect the lies
Let's keep the lies alive
By feeding them every day
Look in the mirror
Smile at what you see
Ignore the three-foot metal pole
That juts out of your shell and smashes
Little seven year-old Christine in the face
Making her bleed all over
The freshly waxed floor that shines like
Well, it shines like it never really knew
The meaning of the word "Hell"
Until maybe, well maybe, oh well
It probably still doesn't know the meaning of
Or even the
Oh well -- small talk rides to work
To get paid to work
To get paid to work
And to get paid to ignore it
To get paid to avoid it
To forget where he put it
Tell me a lie
Or tell me the truth
It's not that it matters
As long as wel speak
Binds cannot hold
When severed in two
Telephone lives and empty envelopes
Root severed, tree dies
Say what you will
Believe what you like
But don't you recall
That I was there too?
Grasping the sheets
And calling your name
No message received, no knock at the door
Root severed, tree dies
Remember when you looked my way?
Believing that we felt the same
And now you're just another faceless
Memory
Saw you standing there
Why weren't you crying?
Thought I'd killed you
Got rid of you
Why'd I choose to stay?
I stay
In Heaven
Everything's so very perfect here
Except for you
Why don't you go?
Leave my soul....
Maybe I'll just go
Leave you here
Alone
But they tell me it's forever
Guess we'll have to stay this way
Together
Couldn't lose you
Though I tried and tried
I even died
But now I see
We're still me
My name is John
I'm here to play on the swings
The sun is very warm
And I'm happy to be here
I love the world
And God gave me this part
I'm free to raom at will
And I'm happy to be h....
Look what they've done to you
Punish you
Frightened boy
Hand's on the stove again
Wrong again
Guilt machine
Shrink to your room again
No one can
Hurt you now
Scream to yourself again
No one can
Hear your pain
Life died inside of you
Long ago
Kill the pain
Nothing can penetrate
Fear and hate
Inside
Stark white reality burns an impression
Indelibly set upon the frailty of youth
In life suspended, in life suspended
You have a culture
We want a culture
But can only come up with
Slick imitations without any substance
We're the oppressed
Comfort has robbed us
Of the most primitive skill
The ability to feel
You are the living
You are the feeling
We are nothing
Complacency's robbed us
From the beginning
Of any real meaning
Please take this heed
It's happening to you
In much the same way as
It happened to us