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The finches and sparrows build nests in my chimney
What remains of the small flightless birds that you failed to protect
But the yoke isn't easy, in fact it's a drag
Acid blown to cornfields and mountains of rice
All over the suburbs, across the great lawns
And they're crop dusting gardens all over this town
But nobody cares when it gets in their hair
It gets in their lungs as it floats through the air
It gets in the food that they buy and prepare
But nobody cares when it gets in their hair
Across the great chasms and the schisms and the sudden aneurysms
Where the black ink will drip across the crespice of your eyes
And your teeth are worth more than you can spare
Oh, don't tell me that it just isn't fair
Don't speak about the cycles of life
'Cause your thoughts are so soft
I could cut 'em with a spork or a bride's knife
And the wine made our minds too loose
A reckless choice of words
And you tell me that I'm too abstruse
I just thought I was a kind of bird
I swear I just stood there not saying a word
Not saying a word, not saying a word
What remains of the small flightless birds that you failed to protect
But the yoke isn't easy, in fact it's a drag
Acid blown to cornfields and mountains of rice
All over the suburbs, across the great lawns
And they're crop dusting gardens all over this town
But nobody cares when it gets in their hair
It gets in their lungs as it floats through the air
It gets in the food that they buy and prepare
But nobody cares when it gets in their hair
Across the great chasms and the schisms and the sudden aneurysms
Where the black ink will drip across the crespice of your eyes
And your teeth are worth more than you can spare
Oh, don't tell me that it just isn't fair
Don't speak about the cycles of life
'Cause your thoughts are so soft
I could cut 'em with a spork or a bride's knife
And the wine made our minds too loose
A reckless choice of words
And you tell me that I'm too abstruse
I just thought I was a kind of bird
I swear I just stood there not saying a word
Not saying a word, not saying a word
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I think it is very suggestive that the tune from "Spare-ohs" is quoted by Andrew at the beginning of "Lazy Projector", a song that seems aimed at how we so often ignore hard truths and needs of others, and ms-remember them or erase them completely from memory. Both songs are an appeal to conscience, to recognize the pains we bury away-- to care, even when that's all the help we can give. Also interesting that he chooses sparrows as his title. Perhaps a not terribly veiled reference to a Bible verse"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care." Doubt that the second line of the song is coincidental, and it underscores the main point in both songs about honestly caring instead of dissembling.
Finally, I thought it was a nice comedic touch (and there are so many in his songs, even a sensitive one like spare-ohs) when he plays with abstruse versus albatross ("some kind of bird") -- one usually thought to be an ill omen.
Beautiful music tied to thoughtful lyrics.