901

MY GENERATION
The Who

People try to put us d-down
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

Why don't you all f-fade away
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
And don't try to dig what we all s-s-say
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

Why don't you all f-fade away
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
And don't try to d-dig what we all s-s-say
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

People try to put us d-down
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Yeah, I hope I die before I get old
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

MY ... WHAT? WHY?
by ... Who?
(alias Jerry Atric)

My family want to poison me
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Just 'cos I am eighty-three
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Things they do are awful cruel
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Like puttin' strychnine in my gruel
(Talking 'bout degeneration)

Yo! It's denigration
Of my limitations, baby.

Why don't you just s-s-s-stop that, please
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
M-m-moanin' about my rest-home fees,
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
I'm not tryin' to be a b-burden to yah,
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
It's not my fault I'm g-goin' peculiar
(Talking 'bout degeneration)

Yo! It's denigration
Of my limitations baby.

Why won't you all s-s-s-stay away
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Don't want you s-spongers anyway
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
You took my glasses, took m-my teeth
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Now I can't s-see and I can't eat
(Talking 'bout degeneration)

Yo! It's denigrating
My limitations, baby.

My family want to poison me
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Just 'cos I am eighty-three
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Things they do are awful cruel
(Talking 'bout degeneration)
Like puttin' strychnine in my gruel
(Talking 'bout degeneration)

This is my baby onions, baby,
Yo, yo my ...um ... baby? ...onions?
Who?

902

Hours mean no more or less than years.
A moment is a point with no dimension.
People count to undermine their fears,
Persuaded numbers lead to comprehension.
Yet time is an illusion of our motion,
No realer than the rising of the sun.
Each line we draw rests on a restless ocean,
Way, way beyond the scope of more than One.
Years do not begin and never end
Except for purposes of calibration.
A need to share our yearnings, friend to friend,
Requires just one point of celebration.

by Nicholas Gordon

Isn't our poor planet degenerating fast?
The opinions are phony; fearsome tortures climb;
So many tyrannies in our poisoned past;
And nonsense conspiracies, none so sublime.
Life, if possible, discloses no ebony end,
Encased in a once forgotten gunnery.
And orphanhood stories for no hero friend,
Pained, none merrier, on one final journey.
You treasure recruits for all their worth;
Each time one dies, we smell a bouquet.
And how much time do we have on earth?
Remember not to waste that extra day.

903

The Robin

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

Oh lord how do we know; had poor robin lain low?
Had he held on then bred in the spring, robin?
With an egg laid in a nest, and with firm red breast
He'd have it, has shown plump shall win, not thin!

904

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
cryin' all the time.
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
cryin' all the time.
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine.

Ya, they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
Ya, they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
You ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine

A War

Bush ain't nothing but a war beast
Lyin' all the time
Bush ain't nothing but a war beast
Lyin' all the times
He's waging a war today
And he ain't any friend of mine

Aye, you thought you could convince us
With all those nasty lies
Aye, you thought you could convince us
With all your dirty lies
You attained a jaded jihad
and ain't a friend of mine

905

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

Parents, they always wreck you
Intentional or not
Ay, they stuuuff each bad trait into
Yours, and that's yer ruddy lot

OK, the grandfolk did it once to them,
Huh, huh! Stuffy, fey old-fashioned ways
From buttoned-up days. See, then
"I love you" almost no one says

Sadness? Huh, that's the human relay race!
We all just pass the hate-plate on
Take your exit from the family place
And be mummy and daddy to none.

906

Material Girl - Madonna

Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me
I think they're O.K.
If they don't give me proper credit
I just walk away

They can beg and they can plead
But they can't see the light, that's right
'Cause the boy with the cold hard cash
Is always Mister Right, 'cause we are

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Some boys romance, some boys slow dance
That's all right with me
If they can't raise my interest then I
Have to let them be

Some boys try and some boys lie but
I don't let them play
Only boys who save their pennies
Make my rainy day, 'cause they are

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world
Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world

Boys may come and boys may go
And that's all right you see
Experience has made me rich
And now they're after me, 'cause everybody's

Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

A material, a material, a material, a material world
Living in a material world (material)
Living in a material world

I Imagine...

I get weary, I get teary
I get hairier by the day.
Each ovary's a feared weight
Again, I wish they'd go away.

They initiate aches - each year: twelve dates
They're a weekday anxiety.
A gang on the beat's saying I am a cheat
And maintain I am a liability.

I live in a mortal man's world
I am a pre-menstrual girl
You know that I live in a mortal man's world
I am a pre-menstrual girl

Beaus are thickheads, barbaric dickheads.
They abide me with great dismay.
They eye a trainee bitch with gigantic tits
Agreeing to let them sway.

They try to have their cheeky way
But they'd have no game biblically
Germaine Greer is my mate
So, no aid erotically,

I live in a mortal man's world
I am a pre-menstrual girl
You know that I live in a mortal man's world
I am a pre-menstrual girl

I live in a mortal man's world
I live in a mortal man's world
I live in a mortal man's world
I live in a mortal man's world

I'll dagger their doodle, behead their noodle
I yield a life of rotten celibacy
They wouldn't jab a chick's saddlebag
Anywhere legitimately

I live in a mortal man's world
I am a pre-menstrual girl
You know that I live in a mortal man's world
I am a pre-menstrual girl

A mortal man's, a mortal man's, a mortal man's, a mortal man's world
I live in a mortal man's world
I live in a mortal man's world

907

The Gashlycrumb Tinies, by Edward Gorey

A is for Amy who fell down the stairs.
B is for Basil assaulted by bears.
C is for Clara who wasted away.
D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh.
E is for Ernest who choked on a peach.
F is for Fanny sucked dry by a leech.
G is for George smothered under a rug.
H is for Hector done in by a thug.
I is for Ida who drowned in a lake.
J is for James who took lye by mistake.
K is for Kate who was struck with an axe.
L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks.
M is for Maud who was swept out to sea.
N is for Neville who died of ennui.
O is for Olive run through with an awl.
P is for Prue trampled flat in a brawl.
Q is for Quentin who sank on a mire.
R is for Rhoda consumed by a fire.
S is for Susan who perished of fits.
T is for Titus who flew into bits.
U is for Una who slipped down a drain.
V is for Victor squashed under a train.
W is for Winnie embedded in ice.
X is for Xerxes devoured by mice.
Y is for Yorick whose head was knocked in.
Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin.

Children's Obituary Rhyme by Wasted Egg

A is for Agatha, held her breath too long.
B is for Brutus, whose prescription was wrong.
C is for Chloe, who died of the flu.
D is for Davy, who sank in dog doo!
E is for Ermengarde, fell off a wild horse.
F is for Frieda who was fried, of course.
G is for Gretchen, no food, ate a spider.
H is for Hunter, who drank yucky cider.
I is for Ida, hit by a car.
J is for Jockamo, who passed out in a bar.
K is for Klaus, who wouldn't drink water.
L is for Lulu, didn't chew when she oughta.
M is for Mathilde, struck by a nail.
N is for Ninian, walked on the third rail.
O is for Owen, who vomited blood.
P is for Penelope, who was stuck in the mud.
Q is for Quintin, a mass in his brain.
R is for Rita, became insane.
S is for Sasha, wound up in a stew.
T is for Thelma, sick yet nobody knew.
U is for Ursula, took excess sweets.
V is for Vince, squashed by beets.
W is for Wilma, unwholesomely wed.
X is for Xavier, axed, now he's dead.
Y is for Yasmine, who smoked way more.
Z is for Zelda, went away to war....