. Red Age - Joerg Vogeltanz .

i like to step outside

but the door is closed

i like to kiss my girl

although she lost her skin 

when i turn around

faces are approaching

remember me of the black times

still feel the pain i felt 

i see siamese twins eating each other

bleeding with love they are cursing their mother 

red age - why can´t there be silence?

red age - why must i feel your violence?

red age

red age left me consciousnessless 

once we looked out for white things

and we got some snow

big angels wrapped in red wings

were sleeping right below 

so if some young girl´s dreaming

she´s dreaming of strange guys

but only two hours later

she wakes up and dies 

she will feel falling snow ruining each season

becoming fresh blood but she won´t know the reason 

red age - why can´t there be silence?

red age - why must i feel your violence?

red age

red age left me consciousnessless 

. Fighting In A Sack .

Just last night I woke from some unconscionable dream

And had it nailed to my forehead again 

To keep this boat afloat 

There are things you can't afford to know 

So I save all my breath for the sails. 

But you'll find those lingering voices 

Are just your ego's attempt to make it all clean and nice 

And make a moron out of you 

Walking a bridge with weakening cables 

Huddled up in fear and hate because we know our fate 

And it's a lot to put us through. 

Most ideas turn to dust 

As there are few in which we all can trust 

Haven't you noticed I've been shedding all of mine? 

So let's abandon that track 

And leave our fathers fighting in a sack 

Cause we are way too wise-assed for that. 

You might find some fools at your doorstep 

Hustling the latest changes to the book 

That's the strangest in an attempt to multiply 

Marionettes on weakening cables 

Huddled up with fear and hate 

Because they know their fate and it's a lot to put them through. 

We've taken on a climb 

And it's long enough to put the best of us on our backs 

Walking up a slide 

And there are those we know who'd have us five miles off the track.

But you'll find those lingering voices 

Are just your ego's attempt to make it all clean and nice 

And make a moron out of you 

Crossing the brindge on weakening cables 

Huddled up with fear and hate because we know our fate 

And it's a lot to put us through

. Pink Bullets .

I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole

You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold

Oh what a contrast you were

To the brutes in the halls

My timid young fingers held a decent animal.

Over the ramparts you tossed

The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers

Tied to a brick

Sweet as a song

The years have seemed short but the days were long.

Cool of a temperate breeze from dark skies to wet grass

We fell in a field it seems now a thousand summers passed

When our kite lines first crossed

We tied them into knots

And to finally fly apart

We had to cut them off.

Since then it's been a book you read in reverse

So you understand less as the pages turn

Or a movie so crass

And awkwardly cast

That even I could be the star.

I don't look back much as a rule

And all this way before murder was cool

But your memory is here and I'd like it to stay

Warm light on a winter's day.

Over the ramparts you tossed

The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers

Tied to a brick

Sweet as a song

The years have seemed short but the days go slowly by

Two loose kites falling from the sky

Drawn to the ground and an end to flight.

. A Comet Appears .

One hand on this wily comet,

Take a drink just to give me some weight,

Some uber-man I'd make,

I'm barely a vapor

They shone a chlorine light on,

A host of individual sins,

Let's carve my aging face off,

Fetch us a knife,

Start with my eyes,

Down so the lines,

Form a grimacing smile,

Close your eyes to corral a virtue,

Is this fooling anyone else?

Never worked so long and hard,

To cement a failure,

We can blow on our thumbs and posture,

But the lonely is such delicate things,

The wind from a wasp could blow them,

Into the sea,

With stones on their feet,

Lost to the light and the loving we need,

Still to come,

The worst part and you know it,

There is a numbness,

In your heart and it's growing,

With burnt sage and a forest of bygones,

I click my heels,

Get the devils in line,

A list of things I could lay the blame on,

Might give me a way out,

But with each turn,

It's this front and center,

Like a dart stuck square in your eye,

Every post you can hitch your faith on,

Is a pie in the sky,

Chock full of lies,

A tool we devise,

To make sinking stones fly,

And still to come,

The worst part and you know it,

There is a numbness,

In your heart and it's growing.

. Gone For Good / A Call To Apathy .

Untie me, I've said no vows

The train is getting way too loud

I gotta leave here my girl

Get on with my lonely life

Just leave the ring on the rail

For the wheels to nullify

Until this turn in my head

I let you stay and you paid no rent

I spent twelve long months on the lam

That's enough sitting on the fence

For the fear of breaking dams

I find a fatal flaw 

In the logic of love

And go out of my head

You love a sinking stone

That'll never elope

So get used to the lonesome

Girl, you must atone some

Don't leave me no phone number there

It took me all of a year

To put the poison pill to your ear

But now I stand on honest ground, on honest ground

You want to fight for this love

But honey you cannot wrestle a dove

So baby it's clear

You want to jump and dance

But you sat on your hands

And lost your only chance

Go back to your hometown

Get your feet on the ground

And stop floating around

I find a fatal flaw 

In the logic of love

And go out of my head

You love a sinking stone

That'll never elope

So get used to used to the lonesome

Girl, you must atone some

Don't leave me no phone number there

. Saint Simon .

After all these implements and text designed by intellects
So vexed to find evidently there's just so much that hides
And though the saints dub us divine in ancient fading lines
Their sentiment is just as hard to pluck from the vine

I'll try hard not to pretend
Allow myself no mock defense
As I step into the night

Since I don't have the time nor mind to figure out
The nursery rhymes that helped us out in making sense of our lives
The cruel uneventful state of apathy releases me
I value them but I won't cry every time one's wiped out

I'll try hard not to give in
Batten down to fare the wind
Rid my head of this pretense
Allow myself no mock defense
As I step into the night...

Mercy's eyes are blue
When she places them in front of you
Nothing holds a roman candle to
The solemn warmth you feel inside

There's no measuring of it
As nothing else is love

I'll try hard not to give in
Batten down to fare the wind
Rid my head of this pretense
Allow myself no mock defense
As I step into the night...

Mercy's eyes are blue
When she places them in front of you
Nothing really holds a candle to
The solemn warmth you feel inside of you

. Young Pilgrims .

A cold and wet November dawn
And there are no barking sparrows
Just emptiness to dwell upon.

I fell into a winter slide
And ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow
Just eking out my measly pies.

But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know I got this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea.

Another slow train to the coast
Some brand new gory art from way on high
I sink and then I swim all night.

I watch the ice melt on the glass
While the eloquent young pilgrims pass
And leave behind their trail
Imploring us all not to fail.

Of course I was raised to gather courage from those
Lofty tales so tried and true and
If you're able I'd suggest it 'cause this
Modern thought can get the best of you.

This rather simple epitaph can save your hide your falling mind
Fate isn't what we're up against there's no design no flaws to find
There's no design no flaws to find.

But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know I got this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea.

. So Says I .

An address to the golden door 

I was strumming on a stone again 

Pulling teeth from the pimps of gore when hatched 

A tragic opera in my mind... 

And it told of a new design 

In which every soul is duty bound 

To uphold all the statues of boredom therein lies

The fatal flaw of the red age

Because it was nothing like we'd ever dreamt 

Our lust for life had gone away with the rent we hated 

And because it made no money nobody saved no one's life.

So we burned all our uniforms 

And let nature take its course again 

And the big ones just eat all the little ones 

That sent us back to the drawing board.

In our darkest hours 

We have all asked for some 

Angel to come 

Sprinkle his dust all around 

But all our crying voices they can't turn it around 

And you've had some crazy conversations of your own.

We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs 

But we still can't just behave ourselves 

Even if to save our own lives so, says I, WE ARE A BRUTAL KIND.

Cuz this is nothing like we'd ever dreamt 

Tell Sir Thomas More we've got another failed attempt 

Cuz if it makes them money they might just give you life this time.

. Mine's Not A High Horse .

After that confrontation

You left me wringing my cold hands

We shared some information 

We might not recover from 

And I watch your convictions 

Melt like ice cubes in an ocean 

You were so poorly cast as a malcontent

You've got them all on your side 

That just makes more for doubt to slaughter 

"I never knew he thought that!" 

I heard you say falling out of the van 

"Don't ask for his opinion

They ought to drown him in holy water" 

Will you remember my reply 

When your high horse dies?

We'd like to go the distance 

But not a one of us is going to you 

See no one is wise enough to turn the ancient boat around 

These are the muddy waters I am swimming in 

To make a living were I to drown in them 

It should come as no surprise

You've got them all on your side 

That just makes more for doubt to slaughter 

"I never knew he thought that!" 

I heard you say falling out of the van 

"Don't ask for his opinion

They ought to drown him in holy water" 

Will you remember my reply 

one finger parallel to the sky?

. Kissing The Lipless .

Called to see if your back 

Was still aligned and your sheets

Were growing grass all on the corners of your bed

But you've got too much to wear on your sleeves

It has too much to do with me

And secretly I want to bury in the yard

The grey remains of a friendship scarred

You told us of your new life there 

You got someone comin' around

Gluing tinsel to your crown 

He's got you talking pretty loud 

You berate remember your ailing heart and your criminal eyes 

You say you're still in love

If it's true what can be done

It's hard to leave all those moments behind

You tested your metal of doe's skin and petals

While kissing the lipless

Who bleed all the sweetness away

. The Past And Pending .

As someone sets light to the first fire of autumn 

We settle down to cut ourselves apart. 

Cough and twitch from the news on your face 

And some foreign candle burning in your eyes 

Held to the past too aware of the pending 

Chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale. 

Enter the fog another low road descending 

Away from the cold lust, you house and summertime. 

Blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes 

A trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running 

Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch 

Loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love. 

Your name on my cast and my notes on your stay 

Offer me little but doting on a crime. 

We've turned every stone and for all our inventions 

In matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all. 

Blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes 

A trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running 

Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch 

Loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.

. Pressed In A Book .

Doted on like seeds planted in rows 

The untied shoelaces of you life 

Nutured all year then presssed in a book 

Or displayed in bad taste at the table 

Problems arise and you fan the fire 

While there's a wild pack of dogs loose in your house tonight. 

Cut from bad cloth or soiled like socks 

Add it up and basically people never change. 

They just talk and make plans in the dark 

Or make haste with ideas that can't help 

But creep good people out 

As you talk to me too much you're assuming 

We don't always want what's right. 

Did i strike the right set of chords? you're annoyed. 

The goal is to ignite you then move on. 

You feel ill at ease. you got no squeeze. 

And the wise cracks won't make you more stable. 

You've learned you lines to scale and to time. 

Why must i remind you now i'm only less able. 

Cut from bad cloth or soiled like socks 

We're ordinary people we can't help but to change 

As we walk and make plans in the dark 

Or make haste with the boy who can't help 

But creep good people out. 

As you talk to me too much you're assuming 

We don't always want what's right. 

Two fallen saplings in an open field. 

Snow padding gently on an empty bench. 

An old woman's jewelry lying unadorned. 

Colo nesting robins allied for the first time. 

I know when you hear these sappy lines 

You'll roll your eyes and say "nice try".

. Your Algebra .

You may notice certain things before you die. 

Mail them to me should they cause 

Your algebra to fail. 

Cole and macey lost their eyes 

On the finer points 

Roll them up in coffee cake and dine.

. Girl Inform Me .

Girl inform me all my senses warn me 

Your clever eyes could easily disguise 

Some backwards purpose 

It's enough to make me nervous. 

Do you harbor sighs, or spit in my eye 

But your lips when we speak 

Are the valleys and peaks of a mountain range on fire. 

So let me walk these coals till you believe 

I can cut the mustard well enough 

Cause you know as soon as breathe we scrutinize 

Unknown quotients, you must be using potions 

How else could you tie my head to the sky 

This new convection has left me wondering why 

I can't concern myself with ordinary tripe. 

Like what's this morning's paper got to say 

And which brand of coffee to make 

This is no umbrella to take into the wind 

And before we begin is there nothing to kill this anxiety. 

But your lips when we speak 

Are the valleys and peaks of a mountain range on fire. 

So let me walk these coals till you believe 

I can cut the mustard well enough 

Cause you know as soon as breathe we scrutinize 

The paint away.

. Girl On The Wing .

One wound up punch of intuition 

Lays flat my whole take on us. 

You're the girl on the wing of a barnstormer 

The tidal rabbit who came of age before her time. 

We could have been so good-natured 

If i'd relented when you insisted, 

But we've been backed against 

All nature's walls far too long. 

You felt abandoned by me, 

I recall the sunshine as you were melting 

And though the comedy softens the fall 

They still hear us with their ears to the wall. 

I sold all my evil motives, 

No icicles stuck in my hide. 

I'm through with riddles, i know we're little 

Just help me feel warm inside. 

Before we take this ride and let it slide 

Into the cracks where fall and winter collide. 

I surrender all my gall in a song of modern love. 

Remember you're the one who summoned me above any other kind. 

We could have been so good-natured 

If you'd relented when i insisted, 

We take a week off, let the garden grow by itself 

And let the gluttons fill themselves with all the worst of the gory ninties. 

And though the comedy softens the fall, we stall fall short. 

Before we take this ride and let it slide 

Into the cracks where fall and winter collide. 

I surrender all my gall in a song of modern love. 

Remember you're the one who summoned me above any other kind.

. The Celibate Life .

The dust from a four-day affair is now landing 

All over the floor and your brown legs 

The glod plated legs of my rival 

Whose eyes had no reason to fall. 

You led no celibate life no skirt while chemicals danced on your head. 

You stole the keys to this ride and your fables are falling tonight. 

Because of your struggle to make them. 

Their taste for your past time is fading 

Remember the girls in the middle are always the first to fall off. 

You'll learn to live like a mouse, 

Searching the cracks in the floor to remember 

All the dregs in the crowd you barely recall 

You led no celibate life no skirt while chemicals danced on your head. 

You stole the keys to this ride and your fables are falling tonight.

. New Slang .

Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth. 

Only, i don't know how they got out, dear. 

Turn me back into the pet that i was when we met. 

I was happier then with no mind-set. 

And if you'd 'a took to me like 

A gull takes to the wind. 

Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree 

And I'd a danced like the king of the eyesores 

And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well. 

New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries. 

Hope it's right when you die, old and bony. 

Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall, 

Never should have called 

But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely. 

And if you'd 'a took to me like 

A gull takes to the wind. 

Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree 

And I'd a danced like the kind of the eyesores 

And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well. 

God speed all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs, 

And bleed into their buns 'till they melt away. 

I'm looking in on the good life i might be doomed never to find. 

Without a trust or flaming fields am i too dumb to refine? 

And if you'd 'a took to me like 

Well I'd a danced like the queen of the eyesores 

And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well.

. Weird Divide .

Several days a month you made 
The mile to my house, 
And had me do a stroll with you. 

Far below a furry moon 
Our purposes crossed 
The weird divide 
Between our kinds 

The silver leaves of ailing trees 
Took flights as we passed so long ago 
But a short time i know. 

It pleases me this memory 
Has swollen up with age. 
Even time can do 
Good things to you.

. One By One All Day .

"Howdy, lem," my grandfather said with his eyes closed 

Wiping the eastbound dust from his sunburned brow 

A life before doubt. 

I smell the engine grease and mint the wind is blending 

Under the moan of rotting elm in the silo floor. 

Down a hill of pine tree quills we made our way 

To the bottom and the ferns where thick moss grows 

Beside a stream. 

Under the rocks are snails and we can fills our pockets 

And let them go one by one all day in a brand new place. 

You were no ordinary drain on her defenses 

And she was no ordinary girl 

Oh, Inverted World 

If every moment of our lives 

Were cradled softly in the hands of some strange and gentle child 

I'd not roll my eyes so.

. Know Your Onion! .

Shut out, pimpled and angry.

I quietly tied all my guts into knots.

Gave up on trying to make them,

I figured it'd take them too long to look up and besides...

It was undeniably clear to me i don't know why

When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters

I knew what worthless dregs we've always been.

Lucked out and found my favorite records

Lying in wait at the birmingham mall.

The songs that i heard,

The occasional book

Were the only fun i ever took.

And i got on with making myself.

The trick is just making yourself.

But when they're parking their cars on your chest

You've still got a view of the summer sky

To make it hurt twice when your restless body

Caves to its whims

And suddenly struggles to take flight...

Three thousand miles north east

I left all my friends at the morning bus stop shaking their heads.

"what kind of life you dream of? you're allergic to love."

Yes i know but i must say in my own defense

It's been undeniably dear to me, i don't know why

When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters

I knew the worthless dregs we are,

The selfless, loving saints we are,

The melting, sliding dice we've always been.

. Caring Is Creepy .

I think i'll go home and mull this over 

Before i cram it down my throat 

At long last it's crashed, it's colossal mass 

Has broken up into bits in my moat. 

Lift the mattress off the floor 

Walk the cramps off 

Go meander in the cold 

Hail to your dark skin 

Hiding the fact you're dead again 

Undeneath the power lines seeking shade 

Far above our heads are the icy heights that contain all reason 

It's a luscious mix of words and tricks 

That let us bet when you know we should fold 

On rocks i dreamt of where we'd stepped 

And the whole mess of roads we're now on. 

Hold your glass up, hold it in 

Never betray the way you've always known it is. 

One day i'll be wondering how 

I got so old just wondering how 

I never got cold wearing nothing in the snow. 

This is way beyond my remote concern 

Of being condescending 

All these squawking birds won't quit. 

Building nothing, laying bricks.