[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from Frank Wedekind's 'Lulu' plays and
G. W. Pabst's silent film, Pandora's Box.]
Keep on smiling,
keep on smiling,
keep on smiling
until you burst.
The times that you've had
can't have been so bad
that those to come
can't be ten times worse.
Don't keep whining
about a silver lining;
it's enough that
you're clothed and fed.
So make your mind up:
you're going to wind up
underground
so keep on smiling
until you're dead.
Imagine you're her lover
and a well-respected man.
Though you know love cannot hold her
you think power and money can.
But the situation's new to you,
all the winning cards are hers
'cause you need her to be true to you
more than she needs jewels and furs.
Yes, you need what she can do to you
like a sick man needs his nurse
and you feel you want to cry
but you know you have to try to...
keep on smiling,
keep on smiling,
keep on smiling
until you burst.
The times that you've had
can't have been so bad
that those to come
can't be ten times worse.
Don't keep whining
about a silver lining;
it's enough that
you're clothed and fed.
So make your mind up:
you're going to wind up
underground
so keep on smiling
until you're dead.
Deadlier Than The Male
Lulu - Sometimes in Dreams (1998)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from Frank Wedekind's 'Lulu' plays and
G. W. Pabst's silent film, Pandora's Box.]
The female, my man,
is deadlier than
the male.
Alarm-bells don't ring
till you feel the sting
in her tail.
So once you've given in
and kissed her
though you know it's a sin
you can't resist her.
Admit when you're beat,
accept your defeat
like a man
and face it: the female is deadlier than
the male.
Remember this tale,
consider how frail
is a man.
Let's face it, the female is deadlier than
the male.
Always The Way
Lulu - Sometimes in Dreams (1998)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from Frank Wedekind's 'Lulu' plays and
G. W. Pabst's silent film, Pandora's Box.]
Ain't it always the same?
When you fall for some dame
there's always some game
that she wants you to play.
Ain't it always the way?
But what can you do
when she's got you by the balls?
She's got you paddling your canoe
towards the Niagara Falls.
But you know damn well who
is always to blame.
And you know damn well you
are the author of your shame.
So don't pretend you never knew
'cause ain't always the same
in the cold light of day?
Ain't it always the way?
Ain't it always the same?
When she whispers your name
she's just staking her claim
to a piece of your heart:
now your real troubles start.
Once she's sparked your desire
you'll be yesterday's news.
She'll get you leaping through fire
with broken glass in your shoes.
But you know damn well who... &c.
Ain't it always the way?
When you finally find
your Helen of Troy
she'll only toy with your heart.
It's the price you must pay,
it's the deal we all signed:
one brief moment of joy
then the world falls apart.
But you know damn well who... &c.
Ain't it always the way?
Ain't it always the way?
Ain't it always the way?
Ain't it always the way?
Ain't it always the way?
The River
Lulu - Sometimes in Dreams (1998)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from Frank Wedekind's 'Lulu' plays and G. W. Pabst's silent film, Pandora's Box]
The river is cold
the river is wide
maybe she'd love me
if I jumped in and died.
The river is cold
the river is deep
but if I lay dead there
she still would not weep.
The river is cold
but so is heart
it's no use pretending
I knew from the start.
I dream that we're kissing
I dream we're in bed
but always I wake up
and I wish that I were dead.
The river is cold
the rope is too long
the gun, yes, the gun...
well, a gun can go wrong.
Seems like it's hopeless
I'm still alive
I have to be happy
if I'm to survive.
Lulu, my angel
have pity on me
Lulu, my dream
that was never meant to be.
One Last Farewell
The Song Of The Sirens (2000)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from
Homer's Odyssey.]
One last farewell.
Drinking from dusk till dawn.
Thinking up lies for guys to tell
to their grandchildren yet unborn.
One last good night.
One last night on the town.
Maybe we'll fuck. Maybe we'll fight.
Maybe we'll drink so much we'll drown.
We came so far.
We stayed so long.
We found out who our true friends are
and why the bonds of war are strong.
And so we say...
One last goodbye.
Fill up the parting-glass.
Maybe we'll laugh. Maybe we'll cry.
'Maybe you'll just talk through your ass.'
We came so far.
We stayed so long.
We found out who our true friends are
and why the bonds of war are strong.
Wherever we choose to go,
whatever we choose to show,
we know all we need to know:
we know a man's death
is only a breath
away.
And so we say...
One last farewell.
Drinking the night away.
We who survived ten years in hell,
we'll live to see a better day.
One last farewell...
Don't You Ever Learn?
The Citizen (2003)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from
Orson Welles's film, Citizen Kane and Richard Wagner's music-drama,
Tristan und Isolde.]
Don't you ever learn?
Don't you ever listen?
Don't you ever long
to throw your life-support away?
Don't you ever learn?
Don't you ever listen to your heart?
Don't you ever look
in the mirror and say:
What do you think you are doing?
What do you think it's all about?
While you play puppet-master,
dancing on the brink of ruin,
dragging us down to disaster,
what do you think you are doing?
Isn't it time you figured it out?
Isn't it time you figured it out?
What do you think you are doing?
What do you think it's all about?
While you play puppet-master,
dancing on the brink of ruin,
dragging us down to disaster,
what the fuck do you think you're doing?
Isn't it time you figured it out?
Isn't it time you figured it out?
By the time you've figured it out
life will be gone.
Time marches on.
By the time you've figured it out
I will be gone.
Time to move on.
When The Time Comes
Heaven (2004)
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[Devised by OIM from various sources on the subject of the afterlife.]
When the time comes,
and come it will,
when Old Man Death
comes around with his bill.
I don't wanna fight
I don't wanna act tough.
I just wanna say,
'I've had my day.
And enough is enough.'
But what will you play for me
when I'm three-quarters dead?
And what will the last song be
going 'round in my head?
I don't want 'Abide With Me',
'My Way' or 'Let It Be'.
So what will you play for me
when I'm on my death-bed?
When the time comes
and I'm laid in my box
don't sit there in silence,
don't stop all the clocks.
Don't play those sad songs
that bring tears to the eye.
Go gather a crowd,
turn the music up loud
and dance when I die.
But what will you play for me
when I'm laid in the ground?
And what will the last song be,
the last earthly sound?
When I see eternity
stretching ahead of me
what will you play for me
when I'm no longer around?
When the time comes,
and come it will,... &c.
I don't need a requiem
unless it's by Eminem.
So what will you play for me -
don't care what you say for me
when you pray for me -
what will you play for me
when I'm not around?
The Epilogue
(There Was A Ship)
The Ancient Mariner (2005)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM
from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]
There was a ship.
And on that ship
there was a man.
And on that man
there was a curse.
There was a ship.
There was a man.
There was a curse.
There was a ship.
There was a man.
There was a curse.
The ship is gone.
But, what is worse,
the man lives on.
So does the curse.
The ship is gone.
The man lives on.
The curse lives on as well.
And now the curse won't let him rest
in heaven or in hell
till every man alive
has heard the tale he has to tell.
And so for those of you
who still know how to pray
you'd better pray he doesn't come by
on your sister's wedding day.
You'd better pray that you don't catch his eye
when he's about to say, ...
There was a ship.
There was a man.
There was a curse.
There was a ship.
There was a man.
There was a curse.
[When someone gets married,
when someone gets married
we all get carried away.
When someone gets married
we show solidarity
by drinking all night and all day.
When someone gets married,
when someone gets married
we all get carried away.
When someone gets married
we show our vulgarity
by drinking all night and all day.]
[There was a ship... &c.]
O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
It's sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the church,
With a goodly company!
Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To you, you Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
The Mariner
will come no more;
the Wedding-Guest
turned from the bridegroom's door.
He went
with senses tossed and torn;
a wiser man
he rose the morrow morn.
The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
will never come here more;
He's gone: and now the Wedding-Guest
turned from the bridegroom's door.
He went like one that has been stunned,
with senses tossed and torn:
A sadder and a wiser man
he rose the morrow morn.
The Hitler Youth
Memory (2006)
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[Devised by OIM from various sources on the subjects of remembering and
forgetting.]
It's strange the way my memory
keeps playing funny tricks on me.
It makes it hard for me to know the truth.
There was a war. I was a kid.
I don't remember what I did
but I know I didn't join the Hitler Youth.
I don't remember going to school
or swimming in the swimming-pool.
I don't remember breaking my front tooth.
I don't remember Ma or Pa
or what they did or where they are
but I know I didn't join the Hitler Youth.
I didn't wear a uniform.
I didn't tell tales or inform.
I didn't pay attention to the news.
I didn't know about the camps
or how they made those shades for lamps.
I didn't know what happened to the Jews.
Yes, everything's a total blank
until I met that Russian tank
and soon I started finding out the truth.
I wasn't on the Fuhrer's side.
I didn't know six million died
but I know I didn't join the Hitler Youth.
Great God
Son of Man (2008)
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[Freely adapted by Chris Jordan for OIM from the
story of Jesus as told in The Gospels and other sources.]
Great God,
are you sitting there?
Why are you silent?
For the wind passeth over him
and he is gone.
O God take us not hence in the midst,
in the midst of our days.
And now, oh good and beneficent God,
wipe away the tears from our faces.
And quicken the dead
with great mercy.
Amen and amen
and amen and amen
and amen ... (Translation of a Hebrew Prayer)
Is anybody there?
Or do I cry to empty air?
Dear God, I have a few suggestions
but the questions still remain:
Why would you make a world like this?
What would you have to gain
(if you're a loving God)?
Why would you make a world
where there is so much pain?
Dogma
Faust - Untitled (2009)
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[Freely adapted by OIM from various versions
of the Faust legend including the plays of Marlowe and Goethe.]
Laying down the law is what we do.
We are God's interpreters on earth.
We're here to relay his words to you
and even add a joke or two-
we conjured up the 'Virgin Birth'.
Everything was chaos and confusion before
the experts started laying down the law.
Jesus said he'd only come to save
the sinners and the sick ones and the poor.
He forgot to say how to behave
so now he's safely in his grave
we've started laying down the law.
Everything from anal sex to nuclear war:
the experts are still laying down the law.
People need to know what they should think,
what to eat in restaurants, what to drink,
how to look at art,
when to laugh and when to fart.
We provide that vital missing link
between the common man and the connoisseur,
between the sinner and the saint,
between the ignorant and the arrogant.
We say what is and we say what ain't.
Scientists lay down the natural laws.
Teachers beat them into us at school.
There's no room for charms or rabbits' paws.
There's no effect without a cause-
all life is governed by this rule.
Everything was superstitious guesswork before
the experts started laying down the law.
Dogma is the drug you need.
Dogma says how life should be.
Dogma ain't no fun to read
but everyone's agreed:
dogma will make you free.
Dogma says a dog's a cat.
Dogma says the earth is flat.
You can't get more free than that.
Dogma-it's the drug for me.
Dogma is the drug you need ... &c.
The Modern Brain
Out Of Ctrl (2010)
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and photo
[Devised by OIM from various sources on the subjects of electronic connectivity
and social media]
Deeper or wider?
Wider or deeper?
Who'll be the keeper
of the flame?
Wider or deeper?
Deeper or wider?
Who will provide a
book of rules for the game?
I lived through the sixties,
and the sixties was my youth.
We believed in anarchy
and openness and truth.
We attacked a system
that we thought was in retreat
but the system left us
bleeding on the street.
The ocean of knowledge
is deeper and wider
than any surf rider
ever knows.
He floats on the surface
which is wider not deeper.
Like a sleepwalking sleeper
he just follows his nose.
A little knowledge
is a dangerous thing, they say.
In the land of the blind
the one-eyed man is king, they say.
My dad's generation
talked of nothing but the war:
'Rock'n'roll? Was that the freedom
we were fighting for?'
I could ask the same thing:
'What did all our bullshit mean
if you're happy to be
part of the machine?'
Deeper or wider?
Wider or deeper?
Who'll be the keeper
of the flame?
