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More Fun

by X-tal

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1.
Wasabi Skank 01:24
2.
In a small town in the Midwest They’ve mounted speakers on the streetlights All day they broadcast Muzak Up and down the lane The air is filled with Percy Faith It penetrates your brain Outside the town there is a river The water is a peculiar color The company it dumps its waste And the river carries it away Floating past the little town That survives on company pay Farmer looks down, scratches his head Oh it sure has been one hell of a summer All the cows are growing lumps And the chickens roll over and die He feels more dizzy every day And he just can’t figure why Sunday afternoon church social Baptize children in the glowing river All the people clap and sing And the sunset burns so red Junior doesn’t feel too good So they tuck him into bed.
3.
Come on down, come on down The orphans gathering all around Come on down, come on down The Daddy Auction’s back in town. He’s six foot tall with thick gray hair He wants us all to know he cares He’ll buy us candy and make us glad Spank us just right when we’re bad He’ll wave at cameras and work all day He’ll make the monsters go away Watch his grace as he straddles the fence I’m so filled with confidence Come on down, come on down Children gathering all around Come on down, come on down The Daddy Auction’s back in town. Smiling dads lined up and down the hall Running gauntlets, watch them fall Who’s got the hardest, handsomest shell The shiny surface that reflects our distorted selves? So punch the hole for one of two Who do you want to take care of you? Pray the king your soul to keep Make your free choice and go back to sleep.
4.
Encore 03:00
Well, you killed off your dad and you burned down the school And you blew up the jail and tore up all the rules Well, that’s cool. Yeah, that’s cool. You were a teenage rebel with a lot to say You took the propaganda and you threw it away Well hooray…yeah, that’s OK. What you gonna do for an encore Now that you’re not so young anymore? Well you spent your life looking for an alternative What you really need now is some way to live. Yeah, you broke away and you set yourself free You’re only starting to learn now just how hard life can be And you have all my sympathy. What you gonna do for an encore Now that you’re not so young anymore?
5.
Patriots glare Bombs bursting in hot air Important men in uniforms and suits To tell us why we’re there Dots on a screen The world is their private arcade The men look so happy They haven’t had this much fun since God knows when! Words thrown around Are weapons of manipulation United, standing strong Freedom and democracy Do what you’re told To fight against dictatorship You’re really patriotic When you torch the corner deli! These are the times That make you proud to be American We march on in Like raging bulls in the china shop We won the war Try not to think about the implications Tie a yellow ribbon Round the throats of future generations We’ve been through the desert In a force with no shame It felt good to be part of the game.
6.
A Lemon Song 06:14
I’m in the corner, sucking on a lemon Trying to put a curse on the marching band The trumpet players’ lips get stuck The drums implode and the flags curl up I’m in the corner, sucking on a lemon. A salamander slithers into the spotlight A creature slimy enough to thrive in hellfire He’s come to save us from ourselves I can’t wait to see my cell All aboard for the tent city in the desert Suddenly all we see is you Philosopher king of the evening news The channel changes when you wave your wand This land is your land, we just work here! Human social nature abhors a vaccuum Vote for Satan, at least he stands for something I can see the future: a 500 foot high marquee It flashes one single word over and over: COLLAPSE COLLAPSE COLLAPSE COLLAPSE The wind is insane tonight, just hear it roar Hurling fat tree limbs into my front door But the rain falls so gently in the midst of it all And neither one cares a bit what you or I think. Rage is all the rage, in the ’90s rage is money The righteous fury of a baby who won’t share his toys It’s so easy to climb those charts It’s so easy to win those votes Selling pointless phony blind cheap stupid powerless anger (And while we’re on the subject…) Everybody digs it when you’re angry After all, anger is a vital component of rock and roll But dare to tie that anger To something that actually matters And Americans will hate you and tell you you’re too preachy We’re so cute, we’re so cute when we’re angry We’re so cute, we’re so cute when we’re angry And by itself that’s nothing, absoluely nothing We’re so cute, we’re so cute when we’re angry.
7.
When the last tree falls in California Will anyone hear it crash Or will it be drowned out by the registers Ringing up that cold hard cash? Clear cut an entire redwood forest To pay off your old junk bond debts A fantasy-based economy Makes you foul your mama’s nest Another family for the timber industry The signs on the houses read You just don’t know how utterly moved I am By your well-planned lives and your needs Man, your boss is in a frenzy He acts like a man on a terminal cocaine run So what exactly do you plan to do for a living When your renewable resources are gone? Oh pity the poor buffalo hunter Who just can’t hunt no more Oh pity the poor whaler Deprived of his rightful public support And pity the poor logger of the future With nothing left top cut down Sawing telephone poles with a chainsaw While the timber company clears out of town Bye bye, next stop Siberia. Oh the Humboldt Desert will be a wonder The tourists will come to stare You’d think they might have spared just a couple of the big ones But no, they didn’t really care. But it’s all right, we’ve planned for the future The redwoods will grow back eventually We’re all gearing up for a big logging boom In the thirtieth century. Chop it. Chop it good.
8.
Protest Star 02:33
How does it feel to be the one They’re always talking about? To be the name on everybody’s lips? And all your slogans are suddenly hip? How does it feel to be so green And so closely observed? They know your routine before your voice is heard How does it feel to be a household word? This is the arena where we work out all our traumas Where we cut ourselves open and make fools of ourselves Over and over again. How does it feel to be the next flavor of the month? A confrontational caricature? Someone that anyone can sum up? How would it feel to hear people say they knew you when Before your image went to your head? They’ll call you on everything you’ve said. How will it feel when your ideals have become an act? A parody of the scars on your heart? You’re set in stone before you even start. This is the arena where we foist our primal agony on the public But you shouldn’t act so arrogant Because the papers love to make you look stupid How does it feel?
9.
Dub Rat 05:48
10.
Picture the spring of ’72 Fourteen and a half and friendless I was a target from day one I liked the idea of a universe with justice Eating lunch alone as usual Two fairly cute girls come up to me Would I like to go to a meeting on the hill I was so bored, I said OK In a circle sitting on logs A crowd of friendly hip young people Seemingly unbound by the social rules Open hearts and big bright smiles I was greeted with warm affection They understood my disillusionment With the church and the human race They had a better way Hark the herald angels sing, hello misfits of the world Just how far will you go to end your loneliness? What odious club will you join? What ideals will you espouse Just so you could have someone to talk to? I was no stranger to spirits I did not belive that death was the end Once I heard the cool, calm voice of God When I was hyperventilating I was not a sucker for dogma But Jesus Christ, my soul was starving And these people all seemed to nice And their ecstatic joy was contagious So I got picked up at home in the evening And whisked away to a plain downtown building They served spaghetti and we sang and prayed Insisting all the while that they were not a church A man got up and said that he’d seen great things Great changes brought about by Jesus He’d seen hippies who’d cut off all their hair He’d seen surfers throw away their boards Hark the herald angels sing, hello misfits of the world Just how far will you go to end your loneliness? What odious club will you join? What ideals will you espouse Just so you could have something to belong to? (Secret evil backmasking:) “Yad yb yad ylraen erom eeht wollof dna Ylraed erom eeth evol, ylraelc erom eeth ees ot Yarp I sghiht eerht, Drol raed ho Yad yb yad, yad yb yad.” I prayed every night for God to impress me I couldn’t let down my great new friends I prayed for Jesus to come and convince me That he played by these people’s rules This went on for about a month As a war raged on inside me Striving to improve and purify myself While a screaming inner voice grew louder. How could I be saved if I had not sinned yet? How could I judge a life I had not lived yet? I read the fine print and the void burst open The ball and chain at the end of the rainbow I turned my back on the gates of Eden I expelled myself from paradise I took my chances with the lake of fire It’s my party and I’ll burn in Hell if I want to! Hark the herald angels sing, hello misfits of the world Just how far will you go to end your loneliness? What odious club will you join? What ideals will you espouse Just so you could have something to live for?
11.
What Now? 03:58
All of the medicine that used to nurture and sustain you When did it turn into the poison that burns out and drains you? Confront yourself at night, you lie in bed awake alone What do you really want to be? Man, you’re not even close. What now? You played your party trick Pulled out the rug and left me standing So I’ll shake your hand one last time As I slip into the quicksand What now?
12.
29 Lakewood 02:28
One green shoe, one black boot, on respective feet Enough to confuse, amuse everyone I meet, everyone I meet I know they're debating, on the corner they're all praying Me, I'm content just to breathe, just to breathe No friendly face for a walk down the street Got to be smiley for those neighbors you may meet, neighbors you may meet I know the expectations, deep down they're all praying That I'll go back to the sewer from which I came, one fine day Dozen plus six cars on the block, Norton idling at three o'clock Breaking pallets everywhere, any hour day or night, we don't care About your expectations, can't you see we're all changing Spying on us behind thin shades...one fine day Three cats that only shit next door Skirted mechanics screaming Patti Smith folklore Folks, I think you're going insane I mean to say I think you've had your day And we're rearranging, the neighborhood you're reclaiming We're going on back from whence we came...one fine day.
13.
Ashen hands Flashing crystal doll Popping pills Silver metallic cabaret singer Soiled princess Little girl Flashing crystal doll Silver metallic cabaret singer Pumped full of pills each time she opens her legs Skinny little girl, pumped full of pills Speeding away, up and down And gradually forgets that pretty soon no one will want her anymore Soiled princess forgot to bathe Skinny little girl, crumpled doll When all the use is taken from her, she's thrown away On to fresh flesh, on to fresh blood Just try to go to sleep, I can't, it hurts too much.
14.
There's a fast quick command Ripping through my skull The origin of it You don't care to think to know Bush pushing us back Firmly and not slow Bodies sinking, riches melting Riches melting in the snow And I forgot it once, but I heard it twice Another Christ-kissed day of delight Voiced at day, voices at night Women's bodies, males decide Damp in the trenches Ain't got the enemy right Let's go now, you and me Rich power structure elite Born upon Babylon Puffy face, blood dries Nothing accomplished It ain't black and white It's just the blackened hands on newsprint TV eyes glare blind Sell the tension Click the deadbolt tight And go out and buy everything Everything you don't need You're buying, buying everything An open-ended greed Meanwhile in Union Square Shoppers knocking their ass off Frantically grabbing the scents Of the animals we kill and oppress Romantically shopping for the finest tree It comes without roots Steal it please! You're buying, buying everything Everything you don't need You're buying, buying everything An open-ended greed Down at the clinic Fools yell and scream Morals and Christian sin Oppression to no end Women as containers To gobble up sperm and breed breed breed More soldiers please! Poor soldiers bleed...
15.
Fall Again 04:10
Here I fall again, I don't want to think. Don't want to think about where I'm going to We're on the pier. It's late and I'm lost, and the boats are drifting on the shore so far away. You're telling me your problems and I listen, I listen too damn much. Watch the boats, they're leaving but I'm not. Here I fall again, fall again. Out on the sand it's shifting, never staying where I want to be. Whatever, I always fall again. I always fall again. Lines moving, shapes shifting, I can't find my map. A voice calls me, "come this way", just like that. A voice calls me and I obey. Even knowing the end of the story won't save me now. Here I fall again. Taking my tiny steps in your footsteps, watching your every mood for a cue. In proper form as always, fall again. I always fall. Speaking that other language, it's not so obscure. It's the one that I was taught so long ago. I try to explain, I try but it won't leave me alone. Leave me alone! Here I fall again, fall again, here I fall again, over and over, down the stairs. It's dark down here but it's a place that I know well. I hope you're entertained watching me fall.

about

The second archival X-tal compilation put out by Ear Candle Productions in 2010. Bringing together more rarities from singles and German-only releases, MORE FUN is now augmented with a few additional tracks to complete the X-tal catalog.

credits

released May 16, 2010

Compiled by J Neo Marvin for Ear Candle Productions
Cover art by Davis Jones.

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X-tal San Francisco, California

Here, for the first time, the entire recorded output of X-tal in one place.

X-tal (1983-1996) were a San Francisco post-punk band fronted by J Neo Marvin. Greil Marcus of the Village Voice described them as a “small-time San Francisco combo that wears their defeated leftist politics on their sleeves and can open for the Mekons without letting you forget them when the headliners come on.” ... more

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