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Camped Out in the Big Bang

by Richard Haxton

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1.
The Circumference of the Light 03:13
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The Circumference of the Light Three gathered around a campfire, there's me and us and you Out in the night we hear a voice. What are we supposed to do? Every hair is standing on end. In this light there's nowhere to hide There's no why or what. It's open or shut. And now it's time to decide We're back and forth, heart to the mind Voice in the dark, is it one of our kind? Stranger? Danger? Enemy? Friend? Is this the beginning or have we reached the end? We're ready to throw the minus We're amped up by the plus The circumference of the light Over double the distance from the campfire to the night equals us We're a constant number. Carry us out, we reach way past the sky But we don't know what or why we are. We constantly need to clarify When we don't understand, we get bumps like a goose, a little wild in the eye Call us irrational, call us divine, or you can just call us pi Can we reach in the works and pull out the wrench? Empathize in the flash of the flinch? Out where the light and the darkness meet Let the voice in the night render us complete We're trying to fill the minus Crucifying with the plus The circumference of the light Over double the distance from the campfire to the night equals us So where is the sage to teach us all how we're supposed to be? Where is the surgeon to separate the action from the re? Where is the one that can fight their way into the broken heart? And throw the switch that reboots our mind before the violence can start? While we're riding out the minus Climbing higher up the plus The circumference of the light Over double the distance from the campfire to the night equals you equals me equals us As we look into the flames and feel all the things we've done Look out into the yester night and await the rising sun Can we find the eyes that can reflect how just far we've come Before we let the bomb decide how we divine the sum? The circumference of the light Over double the distance from the campfire to the night equals us
2.
Standing in the Line at the DMV 03:11
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River of Oblivion Chorus: I’m standing in the line at the DMV Staring at the back of the head in front of me If one of us could move maybe we could see Just what is gonna be our destiny We’re crammed into a space so tight that I can feel the thoughts of the person in front of me trying to force their way into my head. No way. I need to turn down these thoughts. Now I can’t hear my own thoughts. I see myself relax. Ooo, smells good. Feels like a vacation. I taste true happiness. I want this. I’ve earned this. I deserve this. All this time waiting in the line – not expecting any reward, not asking for any special treatment. Now I realize that all I want is to be part of the great river of oblivion. No. What I realize is that I’m not able to realize. Good God, y’all! Chorus Suddenly a word wakes me up - 'integrity.' It’s way down deep inside, trying to get out. I don’t need this. I try I move closer the person in front of me. I hear screaming. Help me! Let go! Put me down! I just want to be free! Hold me! Don’t let go! Closer! Back off.! Ouch! I need you! You’re the only one! You’re crowding me! Shut up! I try to step back. Enough of this oblivion. But now thoughts from behind are trying to whisper their way into my head. They say. Who do you think you are? Hey! I’m somebody! Who do you think you are? Um, that’s a tough one. Who do you think you are? Chorus Finally I make it to the front of the line. I tell the person behind the counter I want to be a part of the great pulsating body of humanity, but I also want to stand out as and individual. Is that asking too much? She says - No, sir, but according to subliminal tests administered to you in the last line, you failed to qualify for our Fully Authorized Particular Individual Program. You may, however, after one year of probation, apply for our 'Piggy Back' program, in which you will be permitted to ride the identities of fully authorized particular individuals, possibly leading to your own full authorization as a particular individual. Please surrender your obsolete identity and proceed to the next line Chorus My God, this is the Department of Minimal Validity
3.
The Spark 04:14
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The Spark So I lost my job, lost my car, and I could not pay the rent Hung on just as long as I could but all my money got spent I was sleeping on somebody's couch. They said I had to go I was on the street when I heard this sound down in the arroyo Chorus: In between all that can and can’t be seen Where the dirty meets the clean, somewhere in the dark Beyond sex and race, beyond time and space In a state of grace is the spark I saw a tunnel with a painted face. I crawled in out of the sun It looked like the place in that old B movie where the giant ants came from I thought I heard the some whispering as I made my way along But there was one thing getting louder and louder it sounded just like a song Chorus Then I saw a light. It was a beautiful sight Saw some women and men. They said - Come on in Then I made a sound. They said - Keep it down If you wanna join in, you better start whispering So they taught me the secret password. They taught me the secret shake They showed me which of my thoughts was real, which of them suckers was fake Ain't a whole lot of conversation, that don't bother me at all But the thing that gives me inspiration’s the thing that drives me up the wall The sound of this drip drip drip So here I am down in the ground like some kind of water rat Believe I’m gonna stay right here til I figure out where I'm at I always have a place to go when the world seems so unkind Though I know it's always there, sometimes it's hard to find Chorus Hey, everybody! So good to see you!
4.
Someday I'm Gonna Be Here 03:31
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So I'm flying like a tourist through the land of the dead Got my automatic pilot working in my head Propeller is spinning on the top of my cap From my steady wind of empty words all over the map They tell me I can park my wisdom on the head of a pin Got to find myself a saint to analyze my sin I finally got down to my very last friend Been selling em out. Been trading em in Been begging to borrow. Been losing to win I don't know where I been. I'm going there again I sum up the situation with just one look I gotta open my mind before closing the book I say - Whoa I got to do this thing Find out what I need to know Get back up, get back in the ring Let the conflict show me where I need to go I got to learn how to dance. Rope-a-dope with my fear Quit talking about love til I learn how to hear Start bringing the far away a little more near Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna be here So I'm climbing to the top of the Gibraltar rock Where there's nothing to change, where you can stop the clock It's starting to rain. I'm starting to slip I cannot find my place 'til I lose my grip I find myself swimming in the corporate sea Where love's made the way it's supposed to be The truth floats by in a styrofoam cup I'm too preoccupied to even pick it up I cannot see the vision. Cannot hear the call My mirror's backing off. I see me getting small Maybe the smaller I get, the more that I'll know If I can break out of jail maybe I can pass go I say - Whoa I got to do this thing There's got to be a handle on the flow Long as I got me a song to sing I won't get overwhelmed by the undertow I got to learn how to dance. Rope-a-dope with my fear Quit talking about love til I learn how to hear Start bringing my far away a little more near Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna be here You know I may be right. I may be wrong I may not know who's singing this song, Got to learn how to worship, that's easy to see So love or money, what's it gonna be?
5.
Put on the Hat 03:30
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Put on the Hat I dreamed of George Washington, old Tom Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln. Dreamed of putting on the hat Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Cady Stanton, Fanny Lou Hamer, Dreamed of putting on the hat Malcolm in his jail cell. Martin with a tale to tell Crazy Horse where he fell putting on the hat Live like a sheep, die like a sheep Got a big dream and some promises to keep Got to put on the hat. Be what I got to be Put on the hat. Keep struggling to be free Put on the hat. Do what I got to do Put on the hat. It’s all on me and you Close shave, be brave, leave the cave, next wave Living like Odysseus, “Tie me to the mast” Set the goal, take control, black hole, sell the soul Want the brass ring moving too fast Lose my direction, need some protection Make that connection. Got to make it last Live like a sheep, die like a sheep I wanna break loose. But I'm in too deep Chorus Hard sell, gotta jell, dancing on the rim of hell Keep on sucking til I'm sucking success Get smart, do my part, put the “M” back in “art” Learn to cut my hair with a pencil sharpener Take off like a rocket. Money in the pocket Close my heart and lock it. Let them clean up the mess Live like a sheep. Die like a sheep Running through the valley it all looks like a peak Chorus Dreamed of George Washington, old Tom Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln Dreamed of putting on the hat, putting on the hat putting on the hat
6.
The Hydraulic Fracture University Fight Song 02:46
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The Hydraulic Fracture University Fight Song Hydraulic Fracture University Way down in the ground, a bonanza can be found It's trapped inside a rock, but the rock can be unlocked At Hydraulic Fracture University we've got all the crack technology And now that you are here, let's do school cheer! Hy Frack U! We're gonna teach you what to do Frack U! Give the earth a good screw Frack U! Give her everything she's due You'll be rich when you're through Hy Frack U! Hydraulic Fracture University So don't think about tomorrow. That's all about your death Forget century twenty one. Let's live in the twentieth Keep your eyes locked on the past. That's all about your birth We don't worry about the bumps. We keep it flat like the earth Hy Frack U! We're about the revenue Frack U! So there's a little residue Frack U! So it smells worse than poo Just don't get it on your shoe Hy Frack U! Out in the jungle technology rules. We'll show you how to use your tools Show you how to follow the bit. A slick piston will never quit Let's Go! Deeper Deeper Deeper Deeper Money! Power! Control! Aaaaaaah! The world is filled with whiners They hate the fracking drillers worse than they hate strip miners So when they make it hard for you to get along Just sing the school song, those needy suckers will sing along Hy Frack U! Too good to be true Frack U! Economic voodoodoodoo Frack U! We got congress in our shoe So there's nothing they can do Frack U! The fools don't have a clue Frack U! It's a hew and hackeroo Frack U! A real ransackeroo Look out she's gonna spew Hy Frack U! Hydraulic Fracture University
7.
Camped Out in the Big Bang 03:16
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Camped Out in the Big Bang Once I had everything. Had the world by the tail Had the luck of the draw. Had the wind in my sail Ladies standing in line just to say they were my friend How the mighty would quake when I would walk in But now it's all gone. I'm out here on the street I'm digging in cans for something to eat From the finest motor cars and the classiest clothes To finding how much that I could put up my nose I keep pulling the crank til the money's all spent Last thing in the bank was the check for the rent I keep spinning the wheel til I run out of luck I'm camped out in the big bang for the buck So I meet mother nature in the All-Mart parking lot I'm headed for the dumpster just to see what they got I ask her for some change . She tells me change ain't free She tells me she is out here scrounging just like me She says - People don't appreciate the good things when they got 'em Sometimes the best stuff is way down at the bottom So we're digging in the dumpster and I don't believe it still She conjures up and hands to me a thousand dollar bill. So now I'm Chorus She says that she can see I lost the gift that she gave me yesterday She wants to be here for me but she's just gotta say That I'm always hanging 'round when it's time for handing out the cash But I can never be found when it's time to pick up the trash My tank is full I'm running strong and everything is new I'm thinking I got the answer when I ain't got a clue She says - The highest kind of knowing's knowing I don't know what to do And if I knew more I'd know that I know less than I knew I knew She says she's been here a hundred thousand years for my clock's every stroke And man might be the punch line for some ancient cosmic joke And to see who's gonna die laughing take a look at history She says slavery's alive And I'm just a slave Til I learn who my master is And I can finally set my mind free She says - The teacher's in chains. you're the new kid in class. Lemme make it plain - you better do something fast And find a way to drag yourself out of the muck You're camped out in the big bang for the buck
8.
The Giant 03:30
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The Giant So they took all the gold in Fort Knox And made a gigantic golden ox Stood it up in front of lady lib Our French alchemical Adam’s rib So that every daughter and every son Could see how much they could have won If they all of a sudden had got hot And hit democracy’s mega-jackpot How can we see to put it right When the giant is standing in our light? There was no one around who could say stop When they took our future to the corner pawn shop The judges said - This may be crime But if you're rich enough you don't do time Everything’s a game. every game’s in play Every play's offshore, far away Where you can buy the key. Every door’s a lock And democracy is on the auction block Chorus They say - Fantasize and relax Don't let the truth pollute the facts Make the big bucks. Join the show Where they're from you don't need to know Some day a brave woman or man Gonna make a plan we can understand Find the right and just solution Might involve a little revolution No sticks and stones. I’m talking ideas Taking back control from our fears There's a Jill somewhere who will lead the team Or a Jack who'll say - I have a beanstalk dream
9.
Creatures of the Night 03:32
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Creatures of the Night Night fall, we heed the call With the beat of a thousand wings We make our sounds. We make our rounds Before the fright the morning brings We just wanna feed, just wanna breed The way we were designed But ghostly shapes, fangs and capes Keep closing human minds We live to be in flight But we cannot stand the light It isn't wrong or right We're creatures of the night The family of man is a simple clan They say different makes you wrong They call us evil ones. They train their guns If only they could hear our song But we sing so high, we have to die Just let me make my case The human ear fills up with fear When it only hears the base Chorus It's gotta be hard to keep the ear holes clean When the head is buried in the sand Gotta be hard to keep the knuckles clean When they're getting dragged all across the land Gotta be hard to keep the conscience clean Gotta go so low to keep the upper hand The dark must be hard to understand With no echolocation in your scan
10.
Quantum Tunneling 03:17
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Quantum Tunneling Frogs hopping plan to plan, hope one’s there before I land Moment to moment blessing to curse, Chapter One in the multiverse Energy's zero, mass is free, matter cancel gravity Ride the blood, cold to hot. Tick I am and tick I'm not Take it in, perfect scan. No one here can understand Hourglass watch the sand. Tell the tale the best I can Got to keep digging. Got to keep digging Quantum Tunneling Advertisers run the show. Make light bend. Cause time to slow Every sign means something else. Open mind and close seat belts Principle uncertainty, try to steer and try to see, Fractal wedding day and night, let the darkness grow the light Right brain drive the train. Root repeat again again Rough to smooth, mind to heart. Find the all in every part Chorus Empires ended. Crosses nailed. Worlds on top of worlds that failed Bounce to present from the past. Never know if it will last Where am I? Raise the blinds. Living in each other's’ minds Walk through wall of energy. Build a house in family tree Restless atoms got to split. Find the perfect place to sit Air comes in cannot stay. Air goes out and shows the way Chorus Transducer eye, old to new and back is all I need to do Take it in. Let it go. And that's all I need to know Man woman domino, all tied up in tidy bow Reach out to the mirror's reaching hand. With kindness united we stand Quantum Tunneling
11.
Breathe 02:42
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Breathe anda anda anda huminga kupumua asem te haal Every where you look are signs of anger and hate And there's a chain that needs to break each time before it's too late Before the angry feelings go to physical acts Negativity incoming don't want to give it back. Time to Breathe. From the do to the be Breathe. It can teach me how to see Breathe. It might work for you Let's breathe. And be there when we do deeper deeper deeper deeper hengittää burel We humans are a gumbo of our virtues and flaws Sometimes we try to disconnect effect from the cause While we run on a machine that gets its power from air The gift is all around us but we forget it's there. Time to Chorus bernafas anadlu ademen nefes almak Sometimes it's time to sit. Sometimes it's time to move Never never quit fighting the war for the groove Got to keep the ant hill living in the ant Keep opening connections til the cosmos says I can't keep Chorus Taking it in. Letting it go No start, no end, only the flow Out with the stale, in with the new If I should fail I can redo Take time to think. Take time to dance Out on the brink, jump at the chance It's all on lease. Time is a thief Making my peace with my belief "Breathe" in: Icelandic - anda Filipino - huminga Swahili - kupumua Afrikaans - asem te haal Finnish - hengittää Armenian - burel Indonesian - bernafas Welsh - anadlu Dutch - ademen Turkish - nefes almak
12.
The Meeting 03:28
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The Meeting In this place where your egg needs to meet your sperm And the odds are you won't even make the term Where the commodity meets the common good The director shouts "Find me some wood!" And the randy rubber meets the road And the understudy meets the overload And the modesty meets the self abuse And the king believes that he can see his shoes Doctor Jekyll meets Mr. Hyde Where the end of the ride meets the other side The darkest day meets the midnight sun Where the ten thousand things meet the one The flower bows down when it meets the weed The vine climbs up just to find the greed It's up and down if you wanna succeed And if you wanna heal you better learn how to bleed There's not a sign of cheating When it comes time for the meeting Will this place where the spirit meets the biz Ever show me what it is? Will what I dream meet what I know When when I came in meets when I go? As I watch the spinning penny turn Can I open up? Will I ever learn? Will I take my stance and do my dance Where the evil meets the ignorance? Will I leave my ignorance up to chance? A spade's a spade no ambivalence Will I grope in blind circumstance Where insecurity meets the arrogance? The drums will all be beating We're all headed for the central square They say the whole circle may be there We got to keep traveling, moving on Hoping that the night time will meet the dawn Hoping that the happiness will meet the hurt Or that we'll meet some prophet or some expert Who'll show us why the active gotta go inert Before the end of our road meets the dirt The flower bows down when it meets the weed The vine climbs up just to find the greed It's up and down if you wanna succeed And if you wanna heal you better learn how to bleed The enemies are greeting As the saving meets the deleting As the beginning meets the completing When it comes time for the meeting So let the gold crusted diamond lie Meet the greatest gift that money can not buy
13.
Water 03:15
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Water I'm taking my time Trying to find a balance in my life Watching the rain come down Listening To the splashing of my shoes as they hit the ground And I'm soaked to the skin Down it comes Drop by drop, stream by stream. Headed back To the place it started from All in one Like it knows exactly where it needs to be From the top of the cloud To the bottom of the sea Water And I'd like to know Exactly where I'm supposed to go What I'm supposed to do But here I am watching the water fall Did I miss the call? Hey, don't forget I'm mostly water too Chorus When we met that day walking in the rain You said - Hey, are both of us insane? I said - No, I'm treading. Tell me about you You said - I let the water tell me what to do We're gonna go down See if we can make it to the well We wanna drink our fill We cannot wash away All of our mistakes big and small But we'll keep practicing until the water's still
14.
Home 03:41
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Home So here we go, nobody but ourselves to thank Just ourselves, the oil barons and the bank All in the same boat, couple clicks from the cave Don't they know the masters gonna go down with the slaves Compasses pointing to the dollar sign Seek and ye shall surely find the bottom line We're taking on water but the deck chairs are arranged To keep this boat floating something basic's got to change Hey check out the charts. Start checking them soon Or we'll all be listening to the greatest hits of Neptune Look around not a solitary sign of land Has anybody here got a plan? Strong enough to take us Big enough to take us Light enough to take us where we need to go Deep....Smart....Right enough to take us To take us home The deal is queen here and the number is king We're all about the plumage and the packaging We're revving up our engines and we're fighting our wars We running on the blood of dead dinosaurs So occupied listening to our fascinating sound The money peg's square. The survive slot is round Only now we 're looking for a little change of scene Where we won't need a snorkel or a submarine Preachers are shouting death, destruction and sin Maybe the answer really has been blowing in the wind We tried internal combustion. We're watching it fail Can anybody here build a sail? Chorus Universe expanding. Bigger head, bigger heart Otherwise we’d just be getting farther apart. Space and time curving like Salacia’s hip You wanna sail these straights The boat that's gonna float Has got to be some kind of partnership

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Spirit and politics in modern times, evolution meets the All-Mart. Rocking, good humor.

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released June 1, 2014

Written and performed by Richard Haxton

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Richard Haxton Los Angeles, California

From the middle of Mississippi, served in Viet Nam in Thailand, lives 5,000 feet from the world's oldest freeway. Searches for transcendence - or something - where science meets the spirit. Never quit fighting the war for the groove!

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