Pretentious Poetry Readings

Lyrics

[Spoken] Excerpts from "The Earth Household," "Return of the Beat Menace," and "Let's Spin!" "The Earth Household" We chase with hounds for the meaning of the world The unattainable meaning of the world Now I'm going to run to the other side Beyond the borderland of death I ride Slip through a tear in the fabric of the world The earth household Speak the foreign language of a place beyond The earth household I drink you endless toward my hollow heart And wake at night, repeating "How strange, how strange!" All is touch and vision in a passionate kiss And life's a drab curtain waiting to be raised Struggle to go somewhere beyond The earth household Go to the other, unknowable side Of the earth household The earth household "Return of the Beat Menace" Again you announce While you whirl and bounce Intentions to pounce on the beat menace No woman or man Could ever withstand The devious plans of the beat menace Come to lay you low We've come to vex your soul Feeling the heat Hell at your feet Don't even speak of the beat menace Something to take away your innocence Someone to blame it on Helps you to defeat Dancing in the street Come to lay you low We've come to vex you Resolved in your mind The nature of crime Is to swallow the line of the beat menace Imagination's on the rise again So hide your heart away Dust off the fears and guilts and lies again The beat is here to stay Your satellites can reach that Eskimo He buys a suit and tie Re-styles his hair like girls in Tupelo And sings "Sweet By-and-By" He's meeting all your strange requirements He thinks you can't be fooled He'll get the rules and laws and sacraments By sending checks to you We've come to bring you low We've come to vex your soul "Let's Spin!" We'll do the shimmy shimmy shake The shing-a-ling, and the missionary stew And if they punch us in the face, we're going to turn the other cheek And do the cha-cha too We put our hands together We're doin' curlys on the floor We sweat like pigs, but it's a steady gig That's why we're crying out for more More! More! More! We're going to preach hellfire And the Kingdom come We're gonna love our neighbor as we love ourselves And then--well, we're going have some fun So let's spin! Everybody, let's spin! Come on, come one, come on, come on, let's spin We're going spin right up to heaven again! Let's spin!