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Acid Casual

by Brooks Strause

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1.
Pair of Dice 02:43
Meet me in the woods with a thick black rope to bind us, the wild animals will find us. That is just. You'll wear a Sunday dress and I'll wear a suit of armor, we will go where the air's warmer, there or bust. Pair of dice thrown by a desperate hand. Yeah, we do what we can. Meet me by the lake, come with several hits of blotter, life will return to the water. That is right. You'll speak with the dead, I'll play a game against the Spirit. I will face it and not fear it, but it might. Pair of dice thrown by a desperate hand. Yeah, we do what we can. Meet me at my home and I will tell you of the future and if it's time to remove the sutures that is fine. Follow me upstairs. It'll only take a couple hours. There will be no more falling towers after mine. Pair of dice thrown by a desperate hand. Yeah, we do what we can.
2.
Bad Word 03:31
I do not cast a shadow when I preen and I strut through the dark. My steps are close and narrow when I feel my way around the park. I have not made a mistake in judging the depth of your worth. My heart falls prey to my headache. That's just how I emerged from the earth. Deep down in that little mind is a bad word you've been longing to say. If you let yours out, I'll let mine out in kind and we'll be okay. I do not have a reason for making the messes I do. My girl was taught a lesson, but I did that for you. I have not broken her fall, nor do I plan to break yours. My fortunes were not made with cat calls, but with bones hidden under my floors. Deep down in that little mind is a bad word you've been longing to say. If you let yours out, I'll let mine out in kind and we'll be okay.
3.
Playing and losing, getting cut to find the blood you know you'll bleed. Scoring and using, digging up the old good luck you knew you'd need. Doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Begging and kneeling, breaking down all you have found in longer lines. Grasping and feeling, holding out and feeding doubt to hungry minds. Doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Like any art, the hardest part is being there. Do what you can, keep feet on land and head in air. The needle in my eye is pointing to the sky and so am I. Folding and calling, taking stands for empty hands goes either way. Rising and falling, tripping on the lines you've drawn in neutral clay. Doing the right things for the wrong reasons.
4.
Golden Dawn 04:18
Once you've come around, I'll close up your coffin. You'll lie underground fake laughing at nothing. And those better days, they could be here to stay, but if we must go away we never will know. Well you should know the score. With peace comes acceptance. All that has come before was not worth the distance. The summer wind was slaughtered and skinned and tonight the fat men will feast. A trophy claimed and the weakest are blamed. A bloodbath to say the least. It doesn't matter at all which side you are on. Now, if we've fallen out, I'm sorry for breathing. I still don't know what it's about, but thank you for leaving. And darkness opens to the light.
5.
Tell Secrets 02:00
Here I am, fists red, eyes black, and cursing like a sailor, left, lying on a broken back, the relic of a failure. We all need someone to tell secrets to. There you are, heart black, mind red, and waiting for your reward, right, standing on the recent dead, your compass pointing backward. We all need someone to tell secrets to. Don't know. No, don't care. Not there, they're not scared, though it is dark and they have lost their way. We all need someone to tell secrets to.
6.
Lover be still. You may do what you will. In all the pain and sorrow, you hang on to tomorrow. Oh, now, love or be still. This ain't no charity. No, charity's a drag, but you can be the hunter, baby, I will be the stag. Lover be still. You may do what you will. In all the pain and sorrow, you hang on to tomorrow. Oh, now, love or be still. This ain't no memory. No memories were made, but I will be your flower, baby, if you'll be my shade. Be still as the night, but be lit by the glowing spark of passion. Sipping on the light, sweeter than you could possibly imagine. Be loose and pay attention. The end is almost here. It'll come as I whisper sour nothings in your ear. Lover be still. You may do what you will. In all the pain and sorrow, you hang on to tomorrow. Oh, now, love or be still.
7.
Get there in one piece at breakneck speed. I need some words that are easy to heed. Coalmine canary, what do you need? A wider reach is the cure for greed. Honest to God, I really hope that you will get yours, too. Look into her eyes. You read the future in your crooked scars. I'd read it, too, if I could see that far. Mistress Osmosis, tell me what you are: a panacea in a candy jar. Honest to God, I really hope that you will get yours, too. Work on yourself. Work yourself to death. Honest to God, I really hope that you will get yours, too. Honest to God, I've gotten better at believing you. Honest to God, I know it isn't too good to be true.
8.
Teeth nip the air where shadow meets stare. Turin, turn in, tree. Grass sips the sun. Dew drink is done. Now warm the Earth for me. Feel on your face what you see. Emote, but embrace the empty. Needles and blood cut off and blue. Yearling, you sing, you do. Lakes of like dead; the shores shift, it said. You're in, yearning, you be. Tasks asked of trash as palm paws for cash. Now, hold the Earth for me. Feel on your face what you see. Emote, but embrace the empty. Needles and blood cut off and blue. Yearling, you sing, you do. Ankles and rope, broken and free. Soft thing, now, sing for me.
9.
To see the light, you must first see black. Once you have gone, you cannot come back. There's no such thing as a selfless act. Expand and contract. Expand and contract. Well, I know where you are and I know why you want to do it. I was there where you are and I swear I believed that I knew it. Now, I wouldn't mind if you could find the line from the fire back to the pan, but I won't talk you down. Go ahead if you can. To get beyond, you must first go through. You never know what you'll turn into. There's an idea and within it is you. Undo and redo. Undo and redo. Testify to the velocity of your mind. Satisfy your curiosity one last time.
10.
Oh, God, please help me to hold what I have, to know what you taught me, to laugh while you laugh. Oh, God, please help me, to feel what I feel, to get where I need to, to recognize the real. Let me continue to be what I am, pretty mama. You've made me certain that's all I can be. Make me a promise you can keep, now, lady, please. I need to know you're good for me.
11.
Want to Hurt 03:54
If you keep on digging here, you won't like what you find, but disappointment has got you, through and through. I know the type of pain you think will save you from your mind, but I don't want you to want to hurt like I do. Well, if you don't turn back, there will be no peace left to preserve. Keep moving, it will change your point-of-view. I know the kind of punishment you think that you deserve, but I don't want you to want to hurt like I do. Do you remember the moment you found out, when knowledge pierced that arrogance, when you discovered doubt. Well, I remember. I recall in great detail when shame defeated avarice, when wrist encountered nail. It's all over. That is true, but there is hope. There is hope for you.
12.
You Could 02:54
You could make a fool of me. I know I ain't that smart, but please, baby, please, don't break my heart. You could even lie to me. I know you don't, but you could start, but please, baby, please don't break my heart. You could show your fangs to me and tip over my little cart, but please, baby, please don't break my heart. You could drop the world on me, and tear this fragile ego apart, but please, baby, please don't break my heart.
13.
If you want it that badly, he'll give it graciously. It's just a memory, but he wants to hold on. A held hit under his tongue. Books wept when he was young. Bees buzzed, but never stung. Remember till it's gone. You didn't want him to know, to get wise, or to grow. You couldn't let him be more than what you are good for. He's made a desperate run. He hides what he has done. Now that you've had your fun, release him to the dawn. You didn't want him to know, to get wise, or to grow. You couldn't let him be more than what you are good for. Your broken back will come to heal. You'll find justice upon appeal. Since the attack, he understands. You deal with this with open hands. On and on, through and through, over and over, what do you do? When you have gotten caught and you are burning hot, it's more likely than not a picture you have drawn. Oh, holy night when we were stars, aligned. Keep me out of sight and I will keep you out of mind. Teacher and friend, time has all but killed to me, hold me to the end, and I'll try not to set you free. Now, prophesy. Contract as I expand. Look me in the eye and I'll shake your six-fingered hand.

credits

released March 3, 2013

written, arranged, produced, recorded, and sung by Brooks Strause
additional recording on Want to Hurt and A Picture You Have Drawn by Reese Reimers
drums on Please Help Me recorded by Landon Strause

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Brooks Strause Iowa City, Iowa

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