# Strange Lyrics

#

Strange Angels

# Words and Music by Laurie Anderson @Difficult Music BMI

# (c)1989 Warner Bros. Records

I've always wanted to tell Laurie about this, but what the hell--maybe you guys will find it interesting. My father really dug Laurie's music. He had all her albums and went to Spoleto and all. A few years ago he got really into stereo equipment again and Strange Angels was his "measuring" album, that he'd play on different equipment to compare the sound quality. So the weird thing is, he got some brain tumors. I stayed with him while he was dying, and he listened to Strange Angels a lot. I started paying more attention the lyrics and it was really weird. In "Baby Doll," her brain rebells against her. In "Strange Angels" she talks about heaven. In "Coolsville," she talks about going off to coolsville. It was seriously relating to what was going on with my dad. So then, he died. And on her new album there's a line like, "When my father died, it was as if a whole library had burned down." That really spooked me because i felt the same way. So, I'll probably finally get to meet her and I'll blurt out something really adept like "So, did your father die of a brain tumor too?" * Phaedra Hise * Hise@world.std.com *

#

Strange Angels

Apparently this song was in the movie "The Doctor" starring William Hurt, and "Faraway, so close" is supposed to have two of her songs.. JimDavies and gaut@dsa.unt.edu (Robert Gaut)

Strange Angels-- heaven taken to its absurd extreme, a lifeless place because complete, having no need to change. the visit of the friends seems charged with meaning and potential, but nothing comes of it. I think coolsville the song is related to S.A.'s first verse; about "perfection" and how frozen + lifeless our idea of perfection is. ux954@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Laura Miller)

#

# They say that heaven is like TV

# A perfect little world

# that doesn't really need you

# And everything there

# is made of light

# And the days keep going by

# Here they come Here they come

# Here they come.

#

# Well it was one of those days larger than life

# When your friends came to dinner

# and they stayed the night

# And then they cleaned out the refrigerator -

# They ate everything in sight

# And then they stayed up in the living room

# And they cried all night

This sounds like its describing the everyday hardships of helping people in trouble--they eat your food, and take up your time and all you can do is stay there and offer comfort. "This is nothing like I thought it would be." to me implies that she didn't think helping people would be like this--it's very mundane, very ordinary and doesn't seem heroic or noble at all. Lucian Paul Smith

I actually asked her about this once when I met her at her concert. I asked if this crying thing was a reference to the discussion of insects crying on her HOTB movie. She said no, they had no connection at all, and that this passage is a description of an actual event in her life. JimDavies

#

# Strange angels - singing just for me

# Old stories - they're haunting me

# This is nothing

# like I thought it would be.

#

# Well I was out in my four door

# with the top down.

# And I looked up and there they were:

# Millions of tiny teardrops

# just sort of hanging there

This sounds like the angels are crying. Why? Possibly because they can't help the things going wrong in the world (see 'The Dream Before'). Laurie has to do it on her own.Lucian Paul Smith

# And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

# And I said to myself:

# What next big sky?

#

# Strange angels - singing just for me

Maybe this is her reward for helping people--the rain falling on her face, the songs of the angels. Lucian Paul Smith

# Their spare change falls on top of me

# Rain falling Falling all over me

# All over me

# Strange angels - singing just for me

# Old Stories - they're haunting me

# Big changes are coming

# Here they come

# Here they come.

#

Monkey's Paw

the "Monkey's Paw" is, I think, a mythical totem granting wishes... but always with a bad-luck twist. David Priest dapriest@cln.etc.bc.ca

I have a book of horror stories that includes "The Monkey's Paw." In the story the paw grants wishes. At the point where there are two wishes left, somone in the family dies. After some deliberation, and rotting, they can't stand the misery and wish the person back to life. The rotted creature comes back and they are so horrified that they use the last wish to wish him dead again. Lovely story. I wouldn't be surprised if it was King's inspiration for Pet Sematary. He admitted that all his ideas were stolen anyway. JimDavies

of course, king stole 'monkey's paw" in 'pet semetary'... to his credit, he mentions it about four times in the book. it's the movie that fails to mention it in any sort of fashion. the gist of the story is "be careful what you ask for because you just may get it." caliban23@aol.com

The story's a bit deeper than that. This couple is visited by an old sailor friend, who regales them with stories. Then, as it gets late, he pulls out a monkey's paw, and tells them that it will grant three wishes to any holder, but that although it will answer them, it will also be a curse. He looks at it for a while, then throws it into the fire. The couple react and grab it out of the fire, not wanting to pass up such an opportunity. Their friend warns them, and tries to get them to burn it, but they don't, so he finally leaves. The couple decides to wish for $5000. The next day, the get a call from their son's company telling them their son has been killed in a machinery accident. The compensation: $5000. The woman grabs the paw and wishes their son back alive again. The man dismisses the whole thing as superstition, but when late that night there's a knock at the door, he realizes how the wish probably came true. As his wife runs to the door, he frantically searches for the paw, and just as she gets the door unlocked, he makes their final wish. The door opens, and nothing is there. To me, the comparison is between Nature and the Monkey's Paw. Modern science can grant wishes (Stereo FM, stars in your teeth, high-heeled feet) but there's an underlying principle at work that our answers can produce more trouble than they set out to fix. -Lucian "Lucian" Smith lpsmith@rice.edu

Well while it may be all those above it is also if my memory serves an O.Henry short story...the Monkey's Paw...and its was the son of the grieving couple who comes back all disfigured...but the "moral" is the same... Don't mess with Mother Nature...It was also filmed by Orson Welles... but hey..that's beside the point ;) But that song also contains one of the greatest "images" LA ever came up with..."and give some of those high heeled feet..." ! Cheers, Anton Koornhof, antonij@asiaonline.net

Along the same lines is "It's a GOOD Life!" by Jerome Bixby, written long before Pet Semetary, and collected into The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame (ummm -- Volume IIa I think.) Walter Roberson, roberson@ibd.nrc.ca

_All_ of the old Arabian Tales about genies have the same theme. Genies, being immortal, retreat to their lamps when bored. The 3 wishes "game" is like a chess game. The genie _tries_ to grant the wishes in some way that leaves you with nothing, or worse off. When the genie wins, its a moral tale. When someone outwits him, its a tale of heroism. They took the risk and won. geosynq@indy.net (Dennis Erwin Thurlow)

#

# Well I stopped in at the Body Shop

# Said to the guy:

# I want stereo FM installed in my teeth

# And take this mole off my back

# and put it on my cheek.

# And uh...while I'm here, why don't you give me

# some of those high-heeled feet?

# And he said: Listen there's no guarantee

# Nature's got rules and Nature's got laws

# but listen look out for the monkey's paw

# And I said: Whaaat? He said:

#

# The gift of life it's a twist of fate

# It's a roll of the die

# It's a free lunch A free ride

# But Nature's got rules and Nature's got laws

# And if you cross her look out!

# It's the monkey's paw

# It's sayin: Haw haw!

# It's saying Gimme five!

# It's sayin: Bye bye!

#

# I know a man he lost his head

# He said: The way I feel I'd be better off dead.

# He said: I got everything I ever wanted

# Now I can't give it up

# It's a trap, just my luck!

#

# The gift of life it's a leap of faith

# It's a roll of the die

# It's a free lunch A free ride

# The gift of life it's a shot in the dark

# It's the call of the wild

# It's the big wheel The big ride

# But Nature's got rules and Nature's got laws

# And if you cross her look out!

# It's the monkey's paw

# You better Stop!

# Look around!

# Listen!

#

# You- could- be- an- oca- rina- salesman-

# going- from- door- to- door.

# Or- would- you- like- to- swing- on- a- star-

# and- carry- moon- beams- home?

# Or- next- time- around- you- could- be-

# a- small- bug-

# Or- would- you- like- to- be- a- fish?

#

# The gift of life it's a twist of fate

# It's a roll of the die

# it's a free lunch A free ride

# The gift of life it's a shot in the dark

# It's the call of the wild

# It's the big wheel The big ride

# But Nature's got rules and Nature's got laws

# And if you cross her look out!

# It's the monkey's paw

# It's singin': Gimme Five!

# It's singin': Bye Bye!

#

Coolsville

#

# Coolsville Coolsville

# So perfect So nice

#

# Hey little darlin,

# I'm comin your way little darlin

# And I'll be there Just as soon as I'm

# all straightened out

# Yeah just as soon as I'm

# perfect.

#

# Some things are just pictures

# They're scenes before your eyes

# And don't look now I'm right behind you

# Coolsville Coolsville

# So perfect So nice

# So nice!

#

# And down by the ocean

# under the boardwalk

# You were so handsome we didn't talk

# You're my ideal I'm gonna find you

# I'm goin to Coolsville

# So perfect So ideal

#

# This train This city This train

#

# Some things are just pictures

# They're scenes before your eyes

# And don't look now I'm right behind you

# Coolsville

#

# She said:

# Oh Jesus, why are you always

# in the arms of somebody else?

# He said:

# Oh man! I don't need anybody's help

# I'm gonna get there on my own.

#

# This train This city This train This city

# This train

#

Ramon

Ramon: an absurd visitation. the angels show up, make impressive noises, and take off again, and don't manage to be very helpful; in fact, their leaving knocks a man over (or awes him into falling over)-- hence, "I saw a man who'd fallen" (also perhaps we as the "fallen", even fallen angels? I dunno")-- the song, it seems to me, tells us quite plainly; look, in spite of all our mythology and higher beings etc., we *still* don't know where we come from or what we are, so for all our sakes;, be *good* to each other. ux954@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Laura Miller)

#

# Last night I saw a host of angels

# And they were all singing different songs

# And it sounded like a lot of lawnmowers

# Mowing down my lawn

# And up above kerjillions of stars

# spangled all over the sky

# And they were spirals turning

# Turning in the deep blue night.

#

# And suddenly for no reason

# The way that angels leave the grund

# They left in a kind of vortex

# Travelling at the speed of sound.

#

# And just as I started to leave

# Just as I turned to go

# I saw a man who'd fallen

# He was lying on his back in the snow.

I can't help but think of children fanning out their arms and legs to make "snow angels" on the ground. Could the man have been inspired by the presence of the angels to relive a part of his childhood? umdesch4@cc.UManitoba.CA (Chris Deschenes)

#

# Some people walk on water

# Some people walk on broken glass

# Some just walk round and round

# in their dreams

# Some just keep falling down.

#

# So when you see a man who's broken

# Pick him up and carry him

# And when you see a woman who's broken

# Put her all into your arms

# Cause we don't know where we come from

# We don't know what we are.

#

# So when you see a man who's broken

# Pick him up and carry him

# And when you see a woman who's broken

# Put her all into your arms

# Cause we don't know where we come frm.

# We don't know what we are.

#

# And you? You're no one

# And you? You're falling

# And you? You're travelling

# Travelling at the speed of light.

#

# And you? You're no one

# And you? You're falling

# And you? You're travelling

# Travelling at the speed of light.

#

Baby Doll

It seems overall to be a piece about her brain rebelling. Have you ever sat at your desk trying your hardest to get some work done but you just can't seem to make any headway because you keep drifting off and daydreaming about this and that? Have you ever been reading a book and had to read the same page over and over again because your attention continues to drift? At it's most basic, I feel this is what the song is about. She tries again and again to get work done (the writing of the letter), but just can't seem to. Her brain just wants to play. Anthony Colla.

This is great. She personifies the subconscious brain's role in the personality as a manipulative, sleazy boyfriend/singer telling the "baby doll" what to do. Points out the aggression of that kind of talk when directed to another person, and nicely shows the brain's level of control. "Baby doll, you don't have to talk, I know it all / Baby doll, I love it when you come when I call". Also, when she asks her brain for a word and it gives her a useless one: that's totally how word storage in the brain works according to the current model-- and we've all experienced drawing a useless but related word when searching our vocabulary. ux954@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Laura Miller)

#

# I don't know about your brain-

# but mine is really bossy

# I come home from a day on the golf course

# and I find all these messages

# scribbled on wrinkled up scraps of paper

# And they say thing like:

# Why don't you get a real job?

# Or: You and what army?

# Or: Get a horse.

She seems to have some self doubt about her career choice, as does everyone occasionally. Anthony Colla

# And then I hear this voice

# comin from the back of my head Uh huh

# (Whoa-ho) Yep! It's my brain again

# And when my brain talks to me, he says:

Here is where I begin to question the seemingly lighthearted nature of this piece. Why personify her brain as masculine? The frivolous nature of the following activities seem to fit into the earlier interpretation, however. Anthony Colla

#

# Take me out to the ballgame

# Take me out to the park

# Take me to the movies

# Cause I love to sit in the dark

# Take me to Tahiti

# Cause I love to be hot

# And take me out on the town tonight

# Cause I know the new hot spot. He says:

#

# Babydoll! Ooo oo oo Babydoll Ooo He says:

# Babydoll! I love it when you come when I call

# Babydoll! You don't have to talk I know it all

# Babydoll! Ooo oo oo Babydoll Ooo

Again, her brain is personified as masculine. Further, it uses a depricatory tone and language (the name "Babydoll") in addressing her. It says things like "I love it when you come when I call," and "You don't have to talk I know it all." These lines are highly deprecatory in nature and very sexist. The problem lies in the dearth of further evidence supporting this feminist interpretation. Anthony Colla

#

# Well I'm sitting around trying to write a letter

# I'm wracking my brains trying to think

# of another word for horse

# I ask my brain for some assistance.

# And he says: Huh...Let's see...How about cow?

# That's close. He says:

#

# Take me out to the ballgame

# Take me out to the park

# Take me to the movies

# Cause I love to sit in the dark

# Take me to your leader

# And I say: Do you mean George?

# And he says: I just want to meet him

# And I say:

# Come on I mean I don't even know George!

# And he says:

#

# Babydoll! Ooo oo oo Babydoll Ooo He says:

# Babydoll! I love it when you come when I call

# Babydoll! You don't have to talk I know it all

# Babydoll! Ooo oo oo Babydoll Ooo

#

# Babydoll! Babydoll! Ooo oo oo

#

Beautiful Red Dress

This is one of my favorites. It's very, very subtle, but it is filled with oblique references to menstruation, which fits in with the feminist themes running through it. As further evidence that I'm not imagining this, when she performed this one on tour, the screens behind her displayed a picture of green public bathroom tile, with a red-lit mist roiling up from below... -snickell@students.wisc.edu (Scott Nickell)
No offense meant, but I don't think this song is at all subtle. In fact, it's one of her most straightforward songs. Some of my friends don't like this one as much because it lacks her indirectness, but I enjoy it a lot. (It kinds of prophesies the years after this album, when she toured around and talked very directly about politics and the Gulf War.)Brian Raiter brianr@connectsoft.com

I wonder if this title has anything to do with the pianist wearing a red dress on HoTB. --Gavin, cfwa@wenet.net

#

# Well I was down at the Zig Zag

# That's the Zig Zag Bar & Grill This was a real place in NYC. It was on 23rd St. But now it's closed. l4lqc@qcvaxa.acc.qc.edu

# And everybody was talking at once

# and it was getting real shrill.

# And I've been around the block

# But I don't care I'm on a roll - I'm on a wild ride

# Cause the moon is full and look out baby -

Both the cycle of the moon and women's menstrual cycle are 28 days long, leading to an ancient mystical association (Read, eg, Tom Robbins' "Still Life With Woodpecker" for a fictional exploration of this topic). -snickell@students.wisc.edu (Scott Nickell)

# I'm at high tide.

#

# I've got a beautiful red dress

# And you'd look really good

# standing beside it..

# I've got some beautiful new red shoes

# and they look so fine

# I've got a hundred and five fever

A woman's temperature rises slightly (though not that much! If you want actual numbers, I can provide them...) after ovulation, although it actually falls back down after the onset of menstruation. A reference to the menstrual cycle, at least, if not to menstruation itself. -snickell@students.wisc.edu (Scott Nickell)

# and it's high tide.

Obvious pun, plus more connection with the moon (see below).-snickell@students.wisc.edu (Scott Nickell)

#

# Well just the other day I won the lottery

# I mean lots of money

# I got so excited I ran into my place and i said:

# HEY! Is anybody home?

# Nobody answered but I guess that's not too weird

# Since I live alone.

#

# I've got a beautiful red dress

# And you'd look really good

# standing beside it..

# Girls?

# We can take it And if we can't

# we're gonna fake it

# We're gonna save ourselves

# We're gonna make it And if we don't

# we're gonna take it

# We're gonna save ourselves

# Save ourselves

#

# Well they say women shouldn't be

# the president

# Cause we go crazy from time to time

# Well push my button baby here I come

Referring, of course, to the rather idiotic fear that a female president would push The Button, starting global thermonuclear war, just because she's having cramps. -snickell@students.wisc.edu (Scott Nickell)

# Yeah look out baby

# I'm at high tide

#

# I've got a beatiful red dress

# and you'd look really good

# standing beside it..

# I've got a little jug of red sangria wine

# and we could take little sips

# from time to time

# I've got some bright red drop dead lips

# I've got a little red card

# and mechanical hips

# I've got a hundred and five fever!!!

#

# OK! OK! Hold it!

# I just want to say something.

# You know, for every dollar a man makes

# a woman makes 63 cents.

Well...that sort of depends on the data. According to a friend whose career centers around such thigs, estimates generally place that figure higher, around 82 cents. Yes, I know, still an egregious imbalance, but another inaccuracy on LA's part. axeofmen@aol.com

When I heard it I always wondered if she was averaging in only those men and women who are actually in the workforce, or if she was counting those who stayed home while their spouse earned the family income. Here where I work I know of only 1 woman who earns the income while the husband takes care of the kids (childcare prices too high to justify both working). Though I know a number of men who work while the wife takes care of household matters. That sort of thing could certainly throw off the average.dsegard@nyx.cs.du.edu (Daniel Segard)

# Now, fifty years ago that was 62 cents.

# So, with that kind of luck, it'll be the year 3,888

# before we make a buck. But hey, girls?

Unfortunately, as a friend and I discovered, she made a tiny mistake: the year is 3,838. (You think it's embarrassing when you make a stupid math error in front of your friends - imagine having it recorded and distributed internationally before it's pointed out to you!)Brian Raiter brianr@connectsoft.com

#

# We can take it And if we can't

# we're gonna fake it

# We're gonna save ourselves

# save ourselves

# (Yeah tell it to the judge)

# We're gonna make it And if we don't

# we're gonna take it

# We're gonna save ourselves

# save ourselves

# We've got a fever of a hundred and five

# and look baby

# It's high tide.

#

# Well I could just go on and on and on...

# But tonight

# I've got a headache

#

The Day the Devil

Laurie performed both "Babydoll" and "The Day The Devil" on SNL years before they appeared on _Strange Angels_. However, shortly after (within a year) Elektra/Asylum released an album by saxaphonist Peter Gordon called _Innocent_. That album included a song called "The Day The Devil Comes To Getcha" and is credited to Peter Gordon and Laurie Anderson as songwriters. Peter Gordon sings and David van Tiegam plays percussion, Laurie does not appear on the album anywhere. This version of this song is very different than Laurie's and quite interesting. I'm not sure if this record is still avalaible (I have the vinyl), but the cat. number is CBS 42098. In the fine print of _Strange Angels_ "The Day The Devil" says it was written with Peter Gordon. david iversen

#

# The day the devil comes to getcha

# you know him by the way he smiles

# The day the devil comes to getcha

# He's a rusty truck with only twenty miles

# He's got bad brakes he's got loose teeth

# He's a long way from home

#

# The day the devil comes to getcha

# he's got a smile like a scar

# He knows the way to your house

# He's got the keys to your car

# And when he sells you his sportcoat

# You say: Funny! That's my size

# Attention shoppers!

# Everybody please rise

#

# Give me back my innocence

# Get me a brand new suit

# Give me back my innocence

# Oh Lord! Cut me down to size

#

# Well you can hide under the porch

# And you can hide behind the couch

# But the day the devil comes to getcha

# He's right on time

# Here he comes

#

# Well I'm sick of hearin bout your problems

# Yeah girlie your breakin my heart

# I'm the original party animal

# Hey! Hey! Babaloo

# So don't come bangin your Bibles

# Cause you've been laughin

# all the way to the bank

# And don't give me those crocodile tears

# Cause you've been doing it for years

# I'm everywhere! Sign right here

# Mr. Jones

#

# The day the devil comes to getcha

# He's a long way from home

# And you know he's gonna getcha

# Cause you're stuck in the middle

# Everybody please rise

#

# Give me back my innocence

# Get me a brand new suit

# Give me back my innocence

# Oh Lord! Cut me down to size

#

# Give me back my innocence

# Get me a new Cadillac

# Cause when I get on up to heave Lord

# You can have it all back

# Cause in heaven, you get it all back

# In heaven it all comes back

# Cause in heaven, you get it all back

# In heaven

# Cause in heaven......

# In heaven......

#

The Dream Before

# (for Walter Benjamin)

the angel quote is almost directly from Walter BEnjamin, the man she dedicates the song to. I think she made the his/story break first, or was one of the first. And it's very striking here, as he tells her "his story", because I think that Anderson wants to tell us the story of a history dominated by men, driven into the future, relentlessly seeking progress, unable to rectify the mistakes of the past because it refuses to go back. Notice that the mythical figures, the pre-industrial archetypes are lost in this history, relegated to minor jobs and tedious lives. I don't know if Fassbinder is a particularly archetype-driven filmmaker; I've only seen "Veronica Voss". ux954@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Laura Miller)

#

# Hansel and Gretel are alive and well

# And they're living in Berlin

# She is a cocktail waitress

# He had a part in a Fassbinder film

# And they sit around at night now

# drinking schnapps and gin

# And she says: Hansel, you're really bringing me down

# And he says: Gretel, yu can really be a bitch

# He says: I've wated my life on our stupid legend

# When my one and only love

# was the wicked witch.

#

# She said: What is history?

# And he said: History is an angel

# being blown backwards into the future

# He said: History is a pile of debris

# And the angel wants to go back and fix things

# To repair the things that have been broken

To me, this is the most explicit use of the theme of 'angels' that runs throughout this album. Biblical angels are described as healing spirits, but the angels on her album seem to be unable to do this, even though they want to. In 'Ramon' a similar thing happens--she sees angels at the beginning, who then leave, without helping the man lying in the snow. And, as such, Laurie tells us the job is up to us, since the angels can't help. Lucian Paul Smith

# But there is a storm blowing from Paradise

# And the storm keeps blowing the angel

# backwards into the future

# And this storm, this storm

# is called

# Progress

This gives us a reason for the angels' impotence: Progress (aka 'Big Science') This also ties in with the beginning of the song (at least for me): Berlin is almost the archetype 'industrial city'. Lucian Paul Smith

There are several good books on Klee; I remember reading one a few years ago by Will Grohmann(?) called, I believe, _Klee_ which mentions his angels. Also: a 1987 catalogue which accompanied a Klee exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But if you're truly interested in his work, his diaries, appropriately titled, _The Diaries of Paul Klee_ are wonderful. His angels owe much to Rilke, with whom he was friends. (Check out Rilke's _Duino Elegies_ for insight into Klee's angels.) Um, I think the reference in Strange Angels (The Dream Before) is to an essay by Walter Benjamin in _Illuminations_ called "Theses on the Philosophy of History" ... p. 257: "A Klee painting named "Angelus Novus" shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. WHere we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. This storm irrestibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress." (I love this image.) Hope this helps. I apologize for the length. -Heather wagner@panix.com

anansi (jrodgers@windowware.com) wrote: The track in _Strange_Angels_, where she and Bobby sing about history being in a storm: I had always assumed that she's made that one up herself. (silly me!) But I heard almost the same words in a postmodern kludge of _Prometheous_Bound_. They had all kinds of stuff in there. Who wrote that bit first?

Don't know but I do have some more leads from earlier that I too saved:
I was reading the story "Constancia" by Carlos Fuentes, and I found the following quote from Walter Benjamin's essay (?) "A Treatise on the Philosophy of History". It is a comment on Paul Klee's "Angelus Novus":

"His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees a single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. This storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress."

This was from around November 1994 based on the file date when I captured it.

FYI, this model of history was also the basis for Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" plays.thomassm@ucsub.Colorado.EDU (Elusis)

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My Eyes

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# Sometimes I wish I hadn't gotten that tattoo

# Sometimes I wish I'd married you

# One hundred fires One hundred days

# Sometimes I feel like a stranger

# Sometimes I tell lies (Whoa ho)

# Sometimes I act like a monkey

# Here come the night

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# And then kerjillions of stars start to shine

# And icy comets go whizzing by

# And everything's shaking with a strange delight

# And here it is: the enormous night

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# And oo my eyes They're lookin all around

# And oo my feet I'm upside down

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# If I were the president If I were Queen for a day

# I'd give the ugly people all the money

# I'd re-write the Book of Love I'd make it funny

# Wheel of fortune Wheel of fame

The 'Wheel of fortune' in mideval (sp?) times referred to the belief that there was a certain amount of wealth/good fortune in the world, and if someone rose to the top, it was only by turning the wheel, thereby moving someone else down. 'Wheel of fame', to my knowledge, is Laurie's twist on this. Lucian Paul Smith

# Two hundred forty million voices

# Two hundred forty million names

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# And down in the ocean where nobody goes

# Some fish are fast Some are slow

# Some swim round the world Some hide below

# This is the ocean So deep So old.

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# And then kerjillions of stars start to shine

# And icy comets go whizzing by

# And everything's shaking with a strange delight

# And here it is: the enormous night

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# And oo my eyes They're lookin all around

# And oo my feet They've left the ground

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# So cry me a river that leads to a road

# That turns into a highway that goes and goes

# And tangles in your memories

# So long So old.

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Hiawatha

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# By the shores of Gitche Gumee

# By the shining Big- Sea- Water

# Downward through the evening twilight

# In the days that are forgotten

# >From the land of sky blue waters

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# And I said: Hello Operator

# Get me Memphis Tennessee

# And she said: I know who you're tryin

# to call darlin And he's not home

# he's been away

# But you can hear him on the airwaves

# He's howlin at the moon

# Yeah this is your country station

# And honey this next one's for you.

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# And all along the highways

# and under the big western sky

# They're singing Ooo oooooo

# They're singing Wild Blue.

# And way out on the prairie

# and up in the high chaparral

# They hear a voice it says: Good evening

# This is Captain Midnight speaking

# And I've got a song for you

# Goes somethin like this:

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# Starlight Starbright

# We're gonna hang some new stars

# in the heavens tonight.

# They're gonna circle by day

# They're gonna fly by night

# We're goin sky high. Yoo Hooooo hooo.

# Yeah yoo hooo Ooo Hooooooooo

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# So good night ladies

# And good night gentlemen

# Keep those cards and letters coming

# And please don't call again.

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# Geronimo and little Nancy

# Marilyn and John F. dancing

# Uncle took the message

# and it's written on the wall. This is a quote from Chuck Berry. Eirik Lie

# These are pictures of the houses

# Shining in the midnight moonlight

# While the King sings Love Me Tender.

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# And all along the watchtowers This is a quote from Hendrix, in the album "Electric Ladyland." Eirik Lie
This us also a Dylan Quote. It's from the song "All along the Watchtower" (1968) JimDavies