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. |
Lullabye Nocturne
01:51
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I stole the silver from a dead man’s eyes
they sprang open and burned a hole in my mind
empty grave like the mouth of depression
I forgot I was dead so I resurrected
if 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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3. |
You're Gonna Watch Me
03:47
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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 die
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4. |
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unknown because Chris is dead, but it has something to do with the Cargo Cult
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5. |
Ugly and Damaged (live)
02:06
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very early recording, lyrics are a bit different than later recorded version, which goes:
disease!
you are sentenced to them
you’ll live in an eternal hell
your skin will fester and fall off
you’ll die in a living shell
dead fingers line the sidewalk
pus oozes out of my shoulder blades
you’re so disgusting, you’ve contracted the disease
you’re so appalling, you’re ugly and damaged
dead fingers pull on my pants
pull me down to your level of scum
you’re so ugly, you’ve contracted the disease
you’re so damaged, stay away from me
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6. |
Winter's Black Hand
01:39
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I watch my hands
I watch the plague
my hands are black
and they crawl like scared tarantulas up to my neck
I can’t breathe
in this cold I can’t draw air
winter’s black hand squeezes my mind
winter’s black hand leaves no place to hide
my black hand spraypaints blasphemies in the snow
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7. |
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(instrumental track)
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8. |
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unknown, but Chris was pissed about some PSA featuring Michael Landon that was on TV all the time, plus he hated that guy and the shows he was on anyway
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9. |
Ten Hail Marys
01:44
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the morgue sleeps like a quiet prayer
the mausoleum prays like a quiet sleep
ten hail Marys - hail Mary full of grace, the lord is with thee
alpha and omega, ashes to ashes
dust to dust never hurt anyone
whisper your prayers darkly like untuned violins
whisper your prayers darkly like freshly dug earth
...count your mother’s bones, there are only...
ten hail Marys, follow me to your mother’s grave
you won’t hear your daughter scream, “amen”
or unconscious pallbearers singing in their sleep
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10. |
Killing Frame of Mind
02:44
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murder by the roadside, another scarecrow on his way downtown
another bluish face, just another clown
come to me in a dream like the vengeful ghost of an unborn child
come to me in the heat, my hands are clean and undefiled
the sun burned away the lines in my hands
and there’s a six gun on my belt, I’m looking for God
drinking Old Death’s Head put me in a killing frame of mind
piss fireworks, shoot gasoline
get so jaded that nothing comes close to a dream
Death drives a Cadillac, and I do too
crawling through the city in a dead man’s shoes
looking for some kinda love, some weird sin
take me to a place that I never never been
where the sun won’t burn away the lines in my hands
who can ride the dead man’s horse?
only the one who’s found true love in war
come outside, let me show you the lines in my hands
the taste of blood’s like water once you’ve killed a few men
dead men burned away the lines in my hands
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11. |
Strangeland County
02:11
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I was going down the road a million miles per hour
even though I was standing on the curb trying to thumb a ride
I knew I’d be picked by an old man and he’d say
“have some faith, son, things will get stranger”
crossing the border into Strangeland County
great day coming, great opening of doors
“have some faith, son, things will get strange”
I wonder if my home is still there or was it carried away
by some passing tide or some passing war?
I wonder if it crawled back into the dark of the swamp
to die like a beast deprived of its heart
crossing the border, the Strangeland County line
change is always for the better, the bible tells us so
it’s all god’s will - well ain’t it?
the old man said to ask Jeff, the all-seeing wonder dog, and the dog said, “I predict what I must predict because I am a dick”
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12. |
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whaddaya gonna do tonight? noone 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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13. |
Seconds
02:14
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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 (that’s what people say)
life is tomorrow’s nightmare”
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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14. |
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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
noone 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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15. |
Tenement Housing
01:42
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unknown because Andrew is dead
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16. |
Love Isn't Hollow
04:11
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Unknown because Chris always refused to share them and was embarrassed by them
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17. |
Ugly and Damaged
02:02
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disease!
you are sentenced to them
you’ll live in an eternal hell
your skin will fester and fall off
you’ll die in a living shell
dead fingers line the sidewalk
pus oozes out of my shoulder blades
you’re so disgusting, you’ve contracted the disease
you’re so appalling, you’re ugly and damaged
dead fingers pull on my pants
pull me down to your level of scum
you’re so ugly, you’ve contracted the disease
you’re so damaged, stay away from me
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18. |
The Funeral
01:30
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I saw a reflection of your face in my mind
greener pastures under a thick cloud of starvation
number 13....shines too brightly
a dark passage of my mind
cobwebs fester there and breed a family named hatred
I’m the closet, I’m the memories you forgot to save
I’m the friend who never came
I’m the group of mourners standing in front of your grave
I’m your last words, I’m exactly what you deserved
I’m the casket in which you lie
your body lies immobile in the hearse that I drive
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19. |
Glass Doorknob
01:03
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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
put me in a police lineup
pick me out from the other bums
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20. |
A Grave Left Behind
02:08
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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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21. |
Opus I and II
08:34
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shatter my illusions, shards in my eyes
bloody red curtains dripping down, dripping down
I found some wooden nails, relics of Christ
the curtains of my life are about to be drawn
my life crawls alone
the laughter, the wounds, my life
an edge of pain dipped in my life
writes the anger, I can’t surrender
I feel bitter, I feel righteous
I might be “wrong” but it’s not all my fault
it’s your fault too
(remainder unknown)
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22. |
Swamp Baby Blues
02:26
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I came from the bayou cause my baby left me
she left me for a preacher dressed in a blue suit
he took her singing and dancing in the bad part of town
he took her to the hip bars where the music was oh so loud
and I sing oh, I’m so blue
my baby left me for a preacher dressed in a blue suit
he’s the man with the bible in his hand
he says stay holier than thou
but he fucked my baby in his own wife’s bed
so I packed up my things, and I boarded a train
and I came to the industrial midwest to work over a machine
I work for 30 dollars a day making useless metal things on a lathe
and I go home and drink a six pack
cause I see nothing in the future except for my old armchair
a black and white tv set is my only friend here
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23. |
Real Cool Time
03:03
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24. |
Deathstyle
02:05
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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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25. |
E.K.G.
03:52
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I went flying by
‘til you plugged me in
I felt so artificial
count down, 92 will do
you’ll decide
uh-huh, well OK
live or die
get me out of this stagnant sty
park me on top and plug me in
but please don’t pull the plug on me
pins and needles in my arms
pins and needles addict me to your care
you’ll decide
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26. |
Dogsleds in Heaven
03:02
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dogsleds, dogsleds in heaven, and dogs to pull them
an eskimo laid low sees dogsleds in heaven
across the endless rain (reign? range?) of ice and snow
I go where I wanna go
I’m riding my dogsled in heaven - riding high, swing low
I got up this morning, granny was gone
she crawled out on the ice to die alone
she was going to meet those dogsleds in heaven
swing low, sweet chariot
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27. |
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improvised, not too hard to make out, decipher as thou wilt
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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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