Get all 5 Spike in Vain releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Jesus Was Born in a Mobile Home [expanded edition], The Outerwear Limits, Jesus Was Born in a Mobile Home (1984 version), Death Drives a Cadillac, and Disease Is Relative.
1. |
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fear’s left me faceless
fear’s left me blind
fear’s left me brainless
fear’s left me naked in the center of my mind
the little voice that betrays says,
“everything’s OK, you’re damned to hell
somebody’s out there, you’re all alone”
it shrieks through the veins in my head
twisting me in contradiction
trying to find happiness that’s not delusion
trying to touch heaven that’s not religion
the little voice that betrays says,
“this is the moment of your decision”
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2. |
Rejected by No. 12
01:28
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bloodshot fangs tearing, butchers, massacres
lacerated skin torn from my face by your hands
a thirst that cannot be quenched, dead meat, blood letting
this carnivore called man, still free, still killing
it lives from the past
self-destruction will always sustain
such a flaw gone unnoticed given to such an animal
got no chance to change genetics
we’ve inherited acute aggression
no one is an exception
we’ve got a plan, complete destruction
dead corpse lies rotting diseased, maggots’ habit
left with an epitaph that says “bad mistake, rejected”
tightly packed for convenience, rat holes, larvae sleeping
many dead, many live, kill them before they kill you
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3. |
Ugly and Damaged (live)
02:09
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lyrics uncertain on this early version
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4. |
Glass Doorknob
01:04
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a wish to walk as the crows fly
disassociated by moving obstacles
acid rain falls on my head
I am bothered by disfigured weather
don’t fit me into an architect’s plan
make me hardware, maybe a doorknob
twist my head with your green-stained hands
open your doors at my expense
make me an object you can hold
make me an object cast from a mold
inanimate, inanimate, I am inanimate
inanimate, inanimate, I am just as you wish
don’t fit me into an architect’s plan
make me hardware, maybe a doorknob
twist my head with your green-stained hands
open your doors at my expense
put me in a police line up
pick me out from the other bums
inanimate, inanimate, I am inanimate
inanimate, inanimate, I am just as you wish
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5. |
A Grave Left Behind
02:09
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through the window the swans sing of the night before
the voices from the bottom of the subterranean lake
we know, we hear, we realize
somehow we know it’s all come to an end
the end, the dead end, we chant
somehow we know it’s all come to an end
sometimes I think I’m not even here, I’m far away
where the rocks have voices
why can’t we hear the voices, whistling in the graveyard
they seem to sing such a mournful song
we know, but do we hear?
somehow we know that something is wrong
we burn, but where is the smoke?
somehow we know that something is wrong
is there life if there is no hope?
we know, we scream
behind the window of my mind
I sit in the corner and pull down the blinds
it comes down to this, the song, we know, we realize
somehow we know it’s all come to an end
a grave left behind
I sit in the corner and pull down the blinds
falling, falling in the coal shaft of my mind
breathing the soul of decay deep into my lungs
arms reach out for nothing, empty hands grasping air
sinking my teeth deep into nothingness
I feel the wind in the marrow of my bones
blowing away the dead leaves of my life
there’s no weather here, no wind or rain
just the street waves blowing trash
through vacant alley dust in a gray Cleveland factory sky
the gardner digs a grave for himself
dirt, his shovel, the insects buzz
the vultures wait, he throws his body into the hole
I bury him and pray
I the priest, I the mourner
somehow we know it’s all come to an end
I sing the final song, the swan song
the angels and I, we sing fatal lullabies
goodbye, goodbye, we sing
for those who’ve forgotten how to die
goodbye!
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6. |
You're Gonna Watch Me
03:49
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there’s nothing left to leave behind
forget about you, throw away my life
forget the years, forget the days
forget the false impressions you made
I have no use for your flesh, disease in progression
I haven’t got the need, deprived of all I’ve seen
you can’t look back once it’s gone away
I woke up this morning with television eyes
I heard a voice bleeding on my telephone
I’ve known about this, I’ve had it before
a step into the void, a step into the unknown
it seems everything is given to chance
am I just a shadow of circumstance?
I crawl on the floor just like I belong
who are you, and how did you die?
give me your answer, you’ll see through my eyes
who are you, and how did you die?
give me your answer, I’ll tell you no lies
I hear the smells of death and lust
bodies stare vacantly at my naked heart’s rust
who are you, and how did you die?
ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies
look at my death, feel my decline
watch my downfall, hear my death
you’re gonna watch me
you’re gonna watch me die
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7. |
Real Cool Time (live)
03:04
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8. |
Seconds
02:15
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seconds to, until, complete entropy
my eye hovers in the corner of the room
my breath is poison, I’m asphyxiated
said the cockroach to the cow,
“everything seems so much different now
life is yesterday’s dream, life is tomorrow’s nightmare”
(that's what people say)
I’m a cancer cell, here to disrupt
hear here, my friends, aren’t we all diseased?
aren’t we all just seconds
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9. |
Lullabye Nocturne
01:55
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I stole the silver from a dead man’s eyes
they sprang open and burnt a hole in my mind
empty grave like the mouth of depression
I forgot I was dead so I resurrected
if you only you could see the dried blood in my eyes
if you could only feel the gallows in my mind
caught in a trap like a wounded animal
my leg is caught, I’m waiting to die
no place to hide from the snares in my mind
put the pennies on my eyes
and pretend nothing ever happened
I’m only sleeping, I’m only sleeping
silver from a dead man’s eyes
closed my mind, forever
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10. |
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whaddaya gonna do tonight?
no one cares
Helga at the square dance, break some toes
Helga at the square dance, break some bones
let me tell you a story about a little dog named Fred
who went around pissing on all the fire hydrants
until one day, the big bad fireman
came and killed him with his axe
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11. |
Deathstyle (live)
01:47
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collecting the wounded
like flowers on a summer’s day
the etiquette of murder
my ghost is in chains
he’s minding his manners
living almost made me lose my pride
my heart almost bled
my eyes almost cried
living almost made me lose my life
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12. |
Love Isn't Hollow
04:10
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unknown
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Spike in Vain Cleveland, Ohio
High priests of chromaticism and absurdity, 1982-1985 Cleveland. Vox, gtr, bass shared by Robert Griffin, Andrew Marec, and Chris Marec, with Bruce Allen (82-84) and Scott Pickering (84-85) on drums.
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