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These Stories About After the Revolution Lyrics
"These stories about after the revolution are sad," the construction worker thought, "there's no way to read them."
"I have it all in my mind though, too," said his friend, "we made a mistake, there's no getting around it." He sat down and fed a few ideas to his companions. "We started out thinking we could clear things up, we never had heard of Buckminster Fuller, or any of his friends. We were ignorant but not shy, we were paid to fight so we did it. We had a good time then, or at least we thought so. I didn't know what I was doing.
"One night, I went home and my wife said to me, 'Maybe you're doing the wrong thing, after all, we risk everything, every day. We don't play at life like they do. Maybe there's some reason for it.'
"By that time I was tired and fed up with being ordered around by the CIA. I wanted money but it was all wrong, so I took a vacation with the whole family. They thought I had run away. They blew up my car with my wife and children in it. I knew then that the government was corrupt, that we had to have a revolution, and all those people I had been fighting were now my friends, so I went to see one of them. I had been telling him on and on about the CIA to see if he was an important one, who his friends were.
"When I knocked down his door I heard a few voices. He opened it and said, 'Everything's really blown up, so you might as well come in. Inside, we talked all night and then went out at dawn to do the things we had talked about. We worked all day and all the next day. Then the headlines read the war is over but we don't know who won it, that was all the way across the New York Times, so we looked around and said, "Maybe we won," but we couldn't find any of our old friends, and gradually things went slowly. We met people, put a few things together, and now we live in a big house. We have fresh water and eat chick peas, milk, and instant breakfasts as long as they last. Would you like to join us?'"
"I have it all in my mind though, too," said his friend, "we made a mistake, there's no getting around it." He sat down and fed a few ideas to his companions. "We started out thinking we could clear things up, we never had heard of Buckminster Fuller, or any of his friends. We were ignorant but not shy, we were paid to fight so we did it. We had a good time then, or at least we thought so. I didn't know what I was doing.
"One night, I went home and my wife said to me, 'Maybe you're doing the wrong thing, after all, we risk everything, every day. We don't play at life like they do. Maybe there's some reason for it.'
"By that time I was tired and fed up with being ordered around by the CIA. I wanted money but it was all wrong, so I took a vacation with the whole family. They thought I had run away. They blew up my car with my wife and children in it. I knew then that the government was corrupt, that we had to have a revolution, and all those people I had been fighting were now my friends, so I went to see one of them. I had been telling him on and on about the CIA to see if he was an important one, who his friends were.
"When I knocked down his door I heard a few voices. He opened it and said, 'Everything's really blown up, so you might as well come in. Inside, we talked all night and then went out at dawn to do the things we had talked about. We worked all day and all the next day. Then the headlines read the war is over but we don't know who won it, that was all the way across the New York Times, so we looked around and said, "Maybe we won," but we couldn't find any of our old friends, and gradually things went slowly. We met people, put a few things together, and now we live in a big house. We have fresh water and eat chick peas, milk, and instant breakfasts as long as they last. Would you like to join us?'"
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alright so I tried googling random parts of the lyrics I had transcribed myself and miraculously found a site! (all I got wrong too was the name of Buckminster, so I'm sort of impressed with myself) so apparently this story is taken from a book called Moving by Bernadette Mayer. i think it consists of a bunch of short stories and poetry.
here's a link, but in case it gets taken down, I'll post the original story (as it's been changed a bit in the song) http://english.utah.edu/eclipse/projects/MOVING/Moving.pdf
alright:
"It is almost sunset. in winter, I am outside. these stories about after the revolution are sad, the construction worker thought, there's no way to read them. the crow flies, caws. I have it all in my mind though too, said his friend another construction worker from the past. "we made a mistake, there's no getting around it''. he sat down & fed a few ideas to his companions: like a speech we started out thinking we could clear things up. we had never heard of buckminster fuller or any of his friends, we were ignorant, but not shy. we were paid to fight so we did it. we had a good time then, or at least we thought so. I didnt know what i was doing. one night i went home & my wife said to me, maybe you're doing the wrong thing, after all we risk everything every day. we dont play at life like they do. maybe there's some reason for it.'' by that time i was tired & fed up with being ordered around by the CIA, I wanted money but it was all wrong. so i took a vacation with the whole family. they thought i had run away. they blew up my car with my wife & children in it. i knew then that the govt. was corrupt. that we had to have a revolution & all those people i had been fighting with were now my friends. so i went to see one of them. i had been watching him on & off, i knew him, i knew who he was. when i knocked down his door i heard a few voices inside. he opened it & said everything's blown up so you might as well come in. "inside we talked all night & then went out at dawn to do things we had talked about, we worked all day & all the next day. then the headlines read the war is over but we didnt know who won it. that was all the way across the daily news. so we looked around & said. maybe we won but we couldnt find any of our old friends & gradually things went slowly we met people, put a few things together & now we live in a big house. we have fresh water & we eat chick peas, milk & instant breakfast as long as they last. would you like to join us?"
I love the last line.