Absolute zero: The song lyrics
AZ's songwriting process was pretty traditional. Brian wrote all the guitar lines. Ed wrote the bass lines. Josh rocked the drums (while tinkering with his trademark drag beat). And I wrote the lyrics (with one exception -- the song, "Today's Gift," which was written by Brian). There was no method or philosophy behind the writing process. All the songs were produced in single sittings with next to no editing. Even looking at the original pencil versions of the songs, I'm struck by how effortless the writing was.
Perhaps that's the silver lining to the emotional ups and downs of romantic relationships (which were the inspiration for the songs "Trapped in Nonsense," "Barking Dog at Night," "Happy Flotsam," "Dark at Three," and "Hook Line and Sinker"). Of course, some of the tunes had other sources of inspiration: "Upside Down to Red" was shaped by my visit to East Berlin in 1987; "Today's Gift" was Brian's response to the AIDS crisis; "Arrows in the Road" was about career anxiety; "Pass/Funk" was about the pleasures of Brown's Pass/Fail grading system; "Another Time Another Day" was about the joys of writing a song in 7/8 time; and "Another Oval Hypocrite" was about being stuck in an airport with a tasteless olive.
Gavriel Rosenfeld
Perhaps that's the silver lining to the emotional ups and downs of romantic relationships (which were the inspiration for the songs "Trapped in Nonsense," "Barking Dog at Night," "Happy Flotsam," "Dark at Three," and "Hook Line and Sinker"). Of course, some of the tunes had other sources of inspiration: "Upside Down to Red" was shaped by my visit to East Berlin in 1987; "Today's Gift" was Brian's response to the AIDS crisis; "Arrows in the Road" was about career anxiety; "Pass/Funk" was about the pleasures of Brown's Pass/Fail grading system; "Another Time Another Day" was about the joys of writing a song in 7/8 time; and "Another Oval Hypocrite" was about being stuck in an airport with a tasteless olive.
Gavriel Rosenfeld
____________
Trapped in Nonsense
A freed man who wants to stay
A captive man who yearns to flee
Both don’t want to yet they do
They live one life they make it two
Logical non-sequiturs
Open secrets dripless sieves
Choices unavailable
Kill me know let me live
He’s blind to what’s in front of him
Yet sees the empty void
He’s simply trapped in nonsense
His mind is unemployed
She does and doesn’t do what’s right
And helps him helpless stay
That 5th amendment lady’s
Got more and less to say
She’s changed her mind but acts the same
He’s depressed and ovrjoyed
They’re simply trapped in nonsense
Their minds are unemployed
A captive man who yearns to flee
Both don’t want to yet they do
They live one life they make it two
Logical non-sequiturs
Open secrets dripless sieves
Choices unavailable
Kill me know let me live
He’s blind to what’s in front of him
Yet sees the empty void
He’s simply trapped in nonsense
His mind is unemployed
She does and doesn’t do what’s right
And helps him helpless stay
That 5th amendment lady’s
Got more and less to say
She’s changed her mind but acts the same
He’s depressed and ovrjoyed
They’re simply trapped in nonsense
Their minds are unemployed
Another oval hypocrite
I’m alone again
And it’s for the first time
How I got here I don’t know
Erie, Cleveland Ohio
It’s not the place for me to stay
This icy misdirected day
The hint I saw left little doubt
A harbinger inside my mouth
Once on tree, but now off plate
A dead olive I just ate
I’m alone again
For the very first time
Round and round in shape and form
Black off branch it was torn
Yet on my tongue did tasteless sit
Another oval hypocrite
Leave the fields of steel I knew
But how long would I have to wait?
If you see me I’ll be wearing blue
But don’t wait up ‘cause I’ll be late
Oh woe and blue is me
Across the frozen island sea
Get me up into the air
The wind blows east and I’m not there
And it’s for the first time
How I got here I don’t know
Erie, Cleveland Ohio
It’s not the place for me to stay
This icy misdirected day
The hint I saw left little doubt
A harbinger inside my mouth
Once on tree, but now off plate
A dead olive I just ate
I’m alone again
For the very first time
Round and round in shape and form
Black off branch it was torn
Yet on my tongue did tasteless sit
Another oval hypocrite
Leave the fields of steel I knew
But how long would I have to wait?
If you see me I’ll be wearing blue
But don’t wait up ‘cause I’ll be late
Oh woe and blue is me
Across the frozen island sea
Get me up into the air
The wind blows east and I’m not there
UPside down to red
And Checker Charlie said goodbye
I stepped inside the hollow shell
And saw the evergraying sky
Over city now a prison cell
But I get to leave today
Stone and wood stood overhead
In piles upon the ground
Where life and time had been sealed away
Echoes had no sound
But I get to leave today
I heard the crack of boots afar
And saw the sound which caused the split
But no geese stepped today
I saw the ground the sickles hit
But I get to leave today
The wall without a ceiling
Was firm inside its bed
Of earth once green but taken
And turned upside down to red
But I get to leave today
Now we see the proud facade
All integrity has ceased
Deep red rule distorts the past
In the showcase of the east
I stepped inside the hollow shell
And saw the evergraying sky
Over city now a prison cell
But I get to leave today
Stone and wood stood overhead
In piles upon the ground
Where life and time had been sealed away
Echoes had no sound
But I get to leave today
I heard the crack of boots afar
And saw the sound which caused the split
But no geese stepped today
I saw the ground the sickles hit
But I get to leave today
The wall without a ceiling
Was firm inside its bed
Of earth once green but taken
And turned upside down to red
But I get to leave today
Now we see the proud facade
All integrity has ceased
Deep red rule distorts the past
In the showcase of the east
Oak tree
The sails in my head
Blow my body on down
Oak Tree Don’t Die
The greengray shadows
go into my ear
But what do I hear?
Oak Tree Don’t Die
Root my in your soul
I am tied up in your branches
You are a flower
You branches are in me
Oak Tree Don’t Die
Blow my body on down
Oak Tree Don’t Die
The greengray shadows
go into my ear
But what do I hear?
Oak Tree Don’t Die
Root my in your soul
I am tied up in your branches
You are a flower
You branches are in me
Oak Tree Don’t Die
Another time another day
When I say
Another time Another Day
Oh two come on two
Tell me what you want to do
Oh Two
Why not two?
Oh three, come on three
Take your body back to me
Oh three
Come on three
Why not three?
Oh four want some more
Call me on the telephone
Oh no four
One, two, three, four
Come on four
Bass
Stop
Another time Another Day
Oh two come on two
Tell me what you want to do
Oh Two
Why not two?
Oh three, come on three
Take your body back to me
Oh three
Come on three
Why not three?
Oh four want some more
Call me on the telephone
Oh no four
One, two, three, four
Come on four
Bass
Stop
Barking dog at night
You see he just gave up the chase
His lonely eyes and tired face
Revealed for everyone to see
His rejuvenated apathy
A repetitious melody
Droning on unceasingly
Says “Images by Tyrone Green”
Are not exactly what they seem
Was self-surrender premature?
He really did not no for sure?
The marathon had grown too long
The pace too slow to keep
Exhausted eyes tired legs
Enervation was complete
Oh the burden long to bear
Eyes that never blinked
Water water everywhere
But none of it to drink
Oh did he try too hard?
Oh did it matter anyway?
Oh
It was out of his hands.
Barking dog at night?
Do he bite?
Stay away
His lonely eyes and tired face
Revealed for everyone to see
His rejuvenated apathy
A repetitious melody
Droning on unceasingly
Says “Images by Tyrone Green”
Are not exactly what they seem
Was self-surrender premature?
He really did not no for sure?
The marathon had grown too long
The pace too slow to keep
Exhausted eyes tired legs
Enervation was complete
Oh the burden long to bear
Eyes that never blinked
Water water everywhere
But none of it to drink
Oh did he try too hard?
Oh did it matter anyway?
Oh
It was out of his hands.
Barking dog at night?
Do he bite?
Stay away
Happy flotsam (end)
I’ve just been freed from wanted bonds
That never held me fast
Bound in chains of broken links
Captivity soon passed
Released into the world alone
My frustration to forget
Imposed emancipation
Isn’t easy to accept
Canus Major lost his bone
Imagine old Ma Bell without a phone
A unicycle sans a wheel
Aimlessness is what I feel
Nexus severed in the end
I hoped it not but feared it so
Ebbing slowly out to see
Go all bonds that binded me
Flotsam jetsam in my mind
Torn from orbit left to drift
Disconnection...try again?
No. Broken bonds will never mend
That never held me fast
Bound in chains of broken links
Captivity soon passed
Released into the world alone
My frustration to forget
Imposed emancipation
Isn’t easy to accept
Canus Major lost his bone
Imagine old Ma Bell without a phone
A unicycle sans a wheel
Aimlessness is what I feel
Nexus severed in the end
I hoped it not but feared it so
Ebbing slowly out to see
Go all bonds that binded me
Flotsam jetsam in my mind
Torn from orbit left to drift
Disconnection...try again?
No. Broken bonds will never mend
Pass/Funk (Instrumental)
Arrows in the road
I think aloud from time to time
On the highest ladder lowest rung
Close to failure far from view
How close shall I come?
I walk around them painted white
Curving, bending left and right
Still more than traffic they direct
But lives as well (in retrospect)
Where do I go?
Arrows in the road
Though low I stand on skyward pine
I gaze above a huddled line
Which struggles so to catch a glimpse
Of what the day will try and rinse
From tainted lives so desperate
That in the road men think and sit
Of arrows few that they can see
Predict a cyclic destiny
On the highest ladder lowest rung
Close to failure far from view
How close shall I come?
I walk around them painted white
Curving, bending left and right
Still more than traffic they direct
But lives as well (in retrospect)
Where do I go?
Arrows in the road
Though low I stand on skyward pine
I gaze above a huddled line
Which struggles so to catch a glimpse
Of what the day will try and rinse
From tainted lives so desperate
That in the road men think and sit
Of arrows few that they can see
Predict a cyclic destiny
today's gift
Read it in the paper
Hear it all the times
Isn’t it only theirs
Or could it now be mine?
An increased paranoia
justified too many times
Wait, watch, and wonder
The fear will take your mind
Can’t trust the ones you love
Can love the ones you trust
Did you get too close?
Did you try to prevent?
Did you get too close?
Is this your punishment?
Did you get too close?
Will you start to resent?
Can you hold, can you hold on?
Will you side with the ones who seem wrong?
Will you try, try to look away?
Just to hide for another day?
Hear it all the times
Isn’t it only theirs
Or could it now be mine?
An increased paranoia
justified too many times
Wait, watch, and wonder
The fear will take your mind
Can’t trust the ones you love
Can love the ones you trust
Did you get too close?
Did you try to prevent?
Did you get too close?
Is this your punishment?
Did you get too close?
Will you start to resent?
Can you hold, can you hold on?
Will you side with the ones who seem wrong?
Will you try, try to look away?
Just to hide for another day?
Dark At three
It's dark so outside now
The sky has been sewn shut
No shadows will be seen today
It's almost three o'clock
Although impatiently expected
There comes no rain at all
Less light to see objectively
Still darker with the fall
Minds grow dim with approach of night
Vision blurs concurrently
We are blinded by the darkness
Until we close our eyes to see
The past has seen my blindness
But now the night avoids my gaze
Then why so prematurely
Is it dark this nervous day?
The clouds are there
They have to be
But where is the rain?
And the moon?
Does it have to be
Dark at three?
The sky has been sewn shut
No shadows will be seen today
It's almost three o'clock
Although impatiently expected
There comes no rain at all
Less light to see objectively
Still darker with the fall
Minds grow dim with approach of night
Vision blurs concurrently
We are blinded by the darkness
Until we close our eyes to see
The past has seen my blindness
But now the night avoids my gaze
Then why so prematurely
Is it dark this nervous day?
The clouds are there
They have to be
But where is the rain?
And the moon?
Does it have to be
Dark at three?
Hook Line and Sinker
You've swum away
Escaped your fate
Eluded capture
Left the bait
Former struggles
You've survived
Through common sense
You've stayed alive
But temptation's so strong
Would a little bite be so wrong?
(chorus)
Snagged again
By that baited hook
You're soon reeled in
You better take a look
Cast away
you are thrown way out to see
Your hopes are drowning
Like your memory
What to do now
Writhe and twist?
Words are useless
The meaning's missed
Then you realize
Why you can't break free
Your fate's arrived
It's your destiny
chorus
You're hooked again
Line and sinker
How long this time?
Escaped your fate
Eluded capture
Left the bait
Former struggles
You've survived
Through common sense
You've stayed alive
But temptation's so strong
Would a little bite be so wrong?
(chorus)
Snagged again
By that baited hook
You're soon reeled in
You better take a look
Cast away
you are thrown way out to see
Your hopes are drowning
Like your memory
What to do now
Writhe and twist?
Words are useless
The meaning's missed
Then you realize
Why you can't break free
Your fate's arrived
It's your destiny
chorus
You're hooked again
Line and sinker
How long this time?
Fire Escape
The slightest spark a hint of flame
A flash fire burns inside my brain
From rampant arson I can't retreat
Emotions succumb to searing heat
It's unexpected isn't it?
This blaze of disillusionment
My sanity's engulfed in flame
When mental conflagration hits
But it was too hot I did not know
That went I went to sleep
hate in my mind did grow
And into my heart did seep
What can you think? What can it be?
When feelings change haphazardly
Are passion and reason intertwined?
What sets this fire to my mind?
But it was too hot I did not know
That went I went to sleep
hate in my mind did grow
And into my heart did seep
A flash fire burns inside my brain
From rampant arson I can't retreat
Emotions succumb to searing heat
It's unexpected isn't it?
This blaze of disillusionment
My sanity's engulfed in flame
When mental conflagration hits
But it was too hot I did not know
That went I went to sleep
hate in my mind did grow
And into my heart did seep
What can you think? What can it be?
When feelings change haphazardly
Are passion and reason intertwined?
What sets this fire to my mind?
But it was too hot I did not know
That went I went to sleep
hate in my mind did grow
And into my heart did seep