Identified as a trouble maker by the authorities since childhood, and resolved to live up to the description, Charles Carreon soon discovered that mischief is most effectively fomented through speech. Having mastered the art of flinging verbal pipe-bombs and molotov cocktails at an early age, he refined his skills by writing legal briefs and journalistic exposes, while developing a poetic style that meandered from the lyrical to the political. Journey with him into the dark caves of the human experience, illuminated by the torch of an outraged sense of injustice.
She beckons to you Come, come -- Come to where she lies, Her body like a curving island Lapped by foam
Springs of fresh water flow, Warm ocean breezes blow, Ripe fruit droops, waiting To be picked, Bright plumed birds watch from hanging branches; More brilliant even than the fragrant orchids
Come, she beckons to you, Come, to where she lies, Her body to a slope of glowing amber Turned by sunset dyes.
A voice, as mystical as that of circling seabirds Sounds in silence As ponderous as the sound of crashing waves,
Come, she cries To the end of the earth -- Across the sea of curling waves to me, To where all treasure lies, And beckons with her silent eyes.
Well I look up in the sky What do I see? A 747 beamin' down on me I'm driving down the freeway What's that ridin' up my ass? A fuckin' Winnebago wanna take my gas!
It's a predatory civilization Sometimes we call it "the land of the free" We got a predatory civilization Every President's a Reagan if you ask me
They're dropping fire from the heavens In the Holy Land And preachin' resurrection on the other hand You better kill or get laid If you wanna get paid Here's your towel and your Gatorade.
It's a predatory civilization With convenient banking from sea to sea It's a predatory civilization A world-class heroin democracy
Well the books have been cooked The bribes are paid Time for a ride in the motorcade Ever since the towers fell The whole damn country's Gone to hell
It's a predatory civilization There ain't no freedom in the land of the free We got a predatory civilization Every President's a Reagan if you ask me.
It's Gonna Get Worse (Before It Gets Better), by Charles Carreon
Well the flood came down Took the house away Wouldn’t you know That the porch would stay On that beat up couch With the cigarette burns I can just sit here While the world turns
And it’s gonna get worse Before it gets better I heard the guv’mnt lady say Before she drove away In her guv’mnt car She was a real go-getter But she never came back this way I hope the neighbors didn’t catch her
Well eventually they brought some trailers in Of formaldehyde, plastic and tin I moved indoors one summer day Now they wanna take it all away I signed all the forms And said what can I do? They said maybe you can stay A month or two
But it’s gonna get worse Before it gets better Money doesn’t grow on trees And people aren’t honeybees Yeah it always gets worse Before it gets better That’s what they always say Forever and a day
Like Napoleon said at Waterloo When the story’s wrote Then you’re through You can bitch and moan You can cry and weep Sign a gov’mnt loan Get a repayment sheet
But it always gets worse And it rarely gets better There’s a bigger force in play I heard that preacher say Before they burned his church And the weather got wetter There’s always hell to pay At least ‘till judgment day ‘Cause it’s gonna get worse Before it gets better So I take five shots a day And now you’ll hear me say It was worse But now it's gotten better
If your life is plagued with discord, and you can't get out of bed, If you're hungover with sadness and wish that you were dead, If you've got a forty-five pointed up against your head, Then you might as well become a Buddhist And save a little lead.
Well if you dig the Mahayana You don't have to cut your hair And if you chant a little now You'll have nothing to fear When death comes strolling down the aisle And extends his hand to you, You'll say "my ticket's paid today, So what more can I do?"
The Dharma's just for losers At least that's what the Siddha said When he rolled the final snake eyes With the eyeballs from his head And dakinis started cackling Like buzzards in the sky Then he clicked his heels And grabbed his chick And flew away on high.
It's Tantra, baby, on the hoof Too hot to try to sell, And if you don't believe me We'll discuss it all in hell. The family is twisted, That's known around these parts, The men will steal your car While the women break your heart.
The crossing signs are switched up All around this place, When you play it, it's a Joker, Though you swore you drew an Ace, And the hit men play with apple pies The girls are made of stone And every word that flies about Is sure to break a bone.
The guides have all gone crazy In this place where travel's free, There's nothing more amazing Than to see one in a tree, Laughing like a psycho With his head inside a box You'd swear he'd never heard That little kids get chicken pox.
It's Tantra, baby, grab a bite And hang on to your hat, We'll feed you magic potions And lay you on a mat, We'll dance around you wildly With flowers in our hair And when you wake in our place You are a billionaire.
When I was a little boy On my daddy's knee He told me we were livin' In a democracy
Then I went off to high school And took a civics class They said the three-party system Kicked socialism's ass
Now I'm paying taxes And voting like I should Won't somebody tell me Why it don't do no good
We got a nut in the White House Who thinks he's Jesus Christ He thinks he died already And this is paradise
Well you can call up the Congress But it don't do no good They're totally useless Like a gun made of wood
So I went to the courthouse And the Chief Justice said That the Bill of Rights Was officially dead.
Well I went to the preacher I said this cannot be He said son do not say that It's perilous, you see
He said you see that statue It's got a hidden bug It's not the good Lord watchin' The hawk has killed the dove
I said is nothing sacred? He said not that I know So I took my donation And said I had to go
Next I went to the doctor I said what's going on? Has everyone gone crazy? Don't tell me nothing's wrong
He said I ran all the tests The results are sure Everyone's stone deaf And there is just no cure
So I went to the banker Said what's the price of gold? He said we don't stock that It's under central control
But if you want some credit I'll give it to you cheap And then he smiled like the devil Gave me the terminal creeps
So I went to the girl Who walks the neighborhood streets She said don't bother asking I'm all out of treats
I said you must be kidding At least you could be real She said I'm giving up now There's nothing left to steal
So I went to the airport To get a ticket to fly They said hey no way man He's on the list, all right
They called security quickly They put me in this can And now I'm so glad to see you We need to make a plan
Yeah but don't let 'em hear you Here, just give me your hand When night-time comes we'll make some plans When the guard's asleep we'll make some plans.
In a movie last week A man spilled soda on me And I think his eyes were laughing Like the forests of the moon As the dictionary rambled At the dawning of last week
Walking down the street, last week I saw children on the sidewalk Drawing pictures of their mothers Purple chalk on quiet concrete I ate sherbert mixed with sloe gin During midday of last week
Turning on my room light last week The wood floors burned with crimson And it seems that they were laughing Like the joker's mask of mourning Chanting hymns of quiet sadness In the evening of last week
I went to a law firm the other day; They said to come down right away So I ditched all my classes; I put on my suit, And applied some Aqua Velva to my face to boot. I borrowed the car from my dear roommate, Cause I knew that he wouldn't want me to be late. I took the elevator to the thirty third floor And walked through the huge oak double-doors. It was a law firm, A real big place, With chrome decor from outer space. It was a great big place, With lots of magazines And a woman with a face from the fashion scene brought me a cup of stale caffeine. While I was chokin it down, This guy came around; Well he was tryin' to smile But it looked like a frown. He was lookin' around and sniffin' about Like maybe somebody Didn't put the cat out. It was a law firm A really big place With the big time bucks That the big boys make. The first guy I talked to Was an a-sso-ci-ate; Didn't say too much, And his favorite line Was "Excuse me, what?" Then he took me down the hall To this real stiff chick With some real cold hands And clothes that really fit -- She looked at my shoes And she looked at my face, And that second look said "Boy are you outta place." She talked about "the firm," And she talked about clients; She looked me in the eye And said "They're all corporate giants." Yeah it was a law firm, A scary place Like a bad disease Of the human race So I said goodbye, ma'am, I really gotta run, Cause I'm a bit too young To give up havin' fun As I was walkin' out They met me at the door, And looked like they might pitch me Out the thirty-third floor But they were so polite And said "We really understand," While what they meant was "Boy are you outta hand." It was a law firm Ya know the kinda place -- They'll give you a job and Think they own your face -- It was a law firm A dangerous place A bad disease Of the human race.
Let's Go Back to the Days of Dialup, by Charles Carreon
I grew up without the Internet And I ain’t never found a use for it yet Yep, a horse and buggy is good enough For a person who needs to move their stuff
Yeah, let’s go back to the days of dialup We’ll get all the citizens riled up Remembering about the good old days, Good enough for me is the way it should stay.
When I get a look at that Internet porn It makes me wanna blow my horn It’s mighty hard to look the other way When every pretty face just wants to play
So let’s go back to the days of dialup The folks around here are all riled up It wasn’t this way in the good old days So let’s turn back the clock and quit the rat race
Yeah they’re all wrapped up in this fiber net Never seen no good from it yet Too many bills already to pay What’s a poor local fellow to say?
But let’s go back to the days of dialup Me and my friends are all riled up You don’t need nothing we don’t understand And we all agree it was a terrible plan
They say there ain’t no solution, we can’t fix nothin’ Can’t fire nobody or get an answer to a question They must think we’re stupid or just don’t care How much we pay for light and air
So let’s go back to the days of dialup All say “aye” and stand up Don’t have to understand when you know what you’re doin’ And I’m pretty darned sure it’s not myself I’m screwin’
We’re headed back to the days of dialup Better get used to sayin’ “giddy-up,” ’Cause the past was fast, but the future will be slower. You can honk your horn, but we won’t pull over.