Set List

If I leave here tomorrow
...will you still remember me

Crowd sways, lighters flicker, never mind the fist fight
the stage climbers, or former friends with stars in their eyes

Dizzy in a haze for, forty days
...hey there, L'il Devil....

Plastic never looked so good
as the girl who used to hide in the library
pours her late blooming body onto the dance floor

I wanna know
....have you ever seen the rain...

The hard rockers know no age
but even they have their favorites
trying to appeal to a diverse group packed wall to wall
over capacity...but that's what we do

Now I need you to come on, Come On, COME ON
...and take it

Take a swig from the squat, brown bottle
as the guitars get ready to Disarm
third set in
bodies more interested now in playing than swaying

I'm a loser baby
...so why don't you kill me

This bird's eye view
of a drunk and crazy you
is more than my still sober mind had bargained for
Step BACK...I don't know you like that!

Fuck this and fuck that
...fuck it all fucking, fucking brat

We don't need a fan base that pukes like that
Monday morning's lawyers and aristocrats
forgetting that was me on the stage like that
Your once perfect reputation falling flat

Life goes by so fast, you only want to do what you think is right
...Close your eyes, then its past....Story of my life

It's Poetics at the dVerse Pub today, and the awesome Stuart McPherson (AKA @StuMcP) is throwing down a prompt laced with music and memories. Gotta show the love to Skynard, Zeppelin, The Cult, CCR, Joplin, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, The Sex Pistols, and one of MY favorite bands of all time, Social Distortion.  Added a video just for fun! Those were the days!


Comments

Brian Miller said…
oo some really nice embedded lyrics in this...used to do the concert scene all the time....and some crazy stuff happens in the dark while the music is playing...just saying...also worked security and stage crew for Offspring for a bit...some pretty crazy stuff....loved this much tash...

hehe no loser here...but i know the song...smiles...
Claudia said…
very cool..love the inclusion of all the lyrics tash and the capture of the atmosphere...crazy times these were...eh..oh...yeah...and i HAVE seen the rain...pouring down...ha...smiles
Anonymous said…
Oh man- this is so so so good.....I just get everything about this....the smells, the sounds, the booze, the girls (who should put it AWAY ha ha) , the band's 'best friends'...the fucking this, fucking that stanza had me absolutely howling....loved the use of lyrics in this too...and social distortion....one of the finest.....you see, this just shows how emotive music can be, these shows, these bands, they mprint our lives with the memory of time and place- and you just took me there...thank you!...Godamn tonight is gonna be good fun
Unknown said…
Social Distortion was great in concert. Saw them three times way back when, one time at Warped, another a solo gig at a small bar upstate and then with Bad Religion. They are a great band and their cover of the man in black is probably the greatest cover song ever. Very cool piece here tash. Can't wait to see the nitty gritty in Stu's Prompt. Sounds like a rocking party tonight over at D'Verse
What fun.
Such a great idea seeing people from a totally different angle.
David F. Barker said…
Fabulous, intense with feeling! A lot of smoke, must have been some fire!
Anonymous said…
i agree with claudia and brian in that what i like the best in this is how you incorporated just a smidgen of a lyric into your poem, like "close your eyes" and "come on come on" to name just two!!

yoiu sure do like rock and roll and you really do realet to it.
Mary said…
You used a few songs that I did in MY poem! Smiles. Yes indeed, life goes by so fast. You close your eyes and then it is (almost) past. Music is so much a part of life...and ya, the question is will someone still remember you tomorrow. I could feel the beat in this poem! Nice.
Laurie Kolp said…
You and I were on the same wavelength, huh? I like yours better! It brought me back to the club scene I don't miss at all.
Daydreamertoo said…
Was a time I could listen to this music all day, once I reached my mid 30's it all suddenly seemed to be such a noise....LOL
Great visuals here.
Christine said…
the forth stanza speaks volumes for me, nice one
sharonlee said…
Epic...I enjoyed this.
hedgewitch said…
Great language, great (if blurry) memories, and that's what it's about--remember it all well--maybe too well, and hiding in the library was never as much fun, but hey...what you said in the last lines--that's it.
Frank Watson said…
Loved this--nice pacing, mixing rhythm, lyric allusions.
Anonymous said…
Nice throwback, I can't believe your brought in the sex pistols. This was great and thanks for song at the end.
http://leahjlynn.wordpress.com/
marousia said…
Love the way you embedded lyrics here ... this poem is so so alive, the smells, the seat, and the desire to have a certain kind of fan base was a superb touch
Anonymous said…
Very cool...enjoyed the chaos of the moment!
Anonymous said…
Tash I loved this especially the girl who never left the library (I haven't yet). Thanks for making me feel included with your kind comment; it means a lot.
Shawn said…
Brilliant Tash! I loved how it made me jump into song as I read it aloud and still moved me along the journey. I stopped going to concerts for the longest time, but now that my tastes have aged I have started going again...which is directly related to me hearing problem.
Dawn said…
HELL YES. The 'fucking this' stanza was spot on. Love the SP reference, too. This poem transports all of my senses to the late 90's when live music was at the core of my existence. Thank you for this!
Lisa said…
Oh I love the way you do this, I wanted to do it like this too using lyrics to describe my story but didn't make it but you did so perfectly.
Chris Lawrence said…
Brilliant such vivid sound and feeling
Susie Clevenger said…
Love the lyrics linked with your words. If you are like me, you have a song for everything..great write!
Dave King said…
A guided tour of the high spots, and as for the final couplet - well aint that the truth! Great read.
Anonymous said…
Frothing with rebellion and angst, very cool Tash.
Anonymous said…
Enjoyed bumping into those lyrics along the way.. and the pacy ending.. stacks of atmosphere, all too tangible.
henry clemmons said…
Wow, homerun, hit all the bases. You're pretty good at this. Music seems to fire some passion. The lyrics framing life and memory like trees along a road, and old barns in the distance. Excellente! Another much enjoyed visit to your inner thoughts.
Anonymous said…
"pours her late blooming body onto the dance floor" love that. :)
Anonymous said…
I like that you managed to bring humour into this poem. Good job for integrating so many parts of different songs in it too, while still keeping it cohesive! I loved the part that she "pours her [...] bofy onto the dance floor" - it renders the abandon to music that everyone is capable of!
Anonymous said…
Ah Tash- seems like that's the direction a lot of rockers take. A very hard life. Well-depicted. (Depicked-ed). K.
vivinfrance said…
An effective use of the song lyrics to tell the painful story of the 'other' side of music.
adan said…
like brian says, nice trip back through lot of great-memories songs ;-)

fav lines,

"as the girl who used to hide in the library
pours her late blooming body onto the dance floor"

that had music in it ;-) thanks tash
libithina said…
wow Tash what a picture - captured so many changing moods and building angst fired from beating tunes - demonstrating issues of times - revolution through rebellious youth - almost building armies - gathering fans and followers - sharing in a cause - as always such a brilliant many faceted multi layered write - Love Lib
Mark Kerstetter said…
The first live rock show I saw was by a group called Kix. They never made it very big, but I'll never forget it. First time I saw people jumping on the seats in an auditorium, thrusting up lighters, first time I was with a girl in a place where something dangerous might happen - lots of firsts.
Anonymous said…
Wow...way cool. You rock girl. Thanks!
S.E.Ingraham said…
You take a breath, turn around and it's over, right? So just keep dancing ... very cool poem ... great refs ... felt like I was there most of the time; you write with a verve I really like ...

http://aleapingelephant.blogspot.ca/2012/05/last-night-i-heard-africa-drumming.html
Unknown said…
So many allusions to bands I barely got to see or hear. But their impact on you is obvious here, as you draw out the distance that time creates - as memory becomes nostalgia and life brings responsibilities we never imagines when first this music we love so much carves its name into our souls.
Unknown said…
really cool how you have weaved lyrics into this great piece ...just keep dancing and singing the songs ( I say )thanks so much for sharing x
Claudia said…
so cool...remembered it immediately...and now having earworms from all the songs you embedded...smiles

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