EXITMUSIC 1013
Written, arranged and produced by
Mikel Rouse
EXITMUSIC RECORDINGS
Guide PICK HIT. A PLUS
-VILLAGE VOICE Consumer Guide
“Rouse’s art is all parts that circle and whir, with words underscoring how disconnected they/we are and, inferentially, how amazing it is that the whole thing-his music, our lives-somehow works anyway.” -KEYBOARD
Living Inside Design was a breakthrough recording for Mikel Rouse. While working on the first opera of his Trilogy, Failing Kansas, he came up with his idea of “counterpoetry”, utilizing unpitched voices in strict metric counterpoint. Living Inside Design was born of his experiments using this technique in the realm of pop music. The results sound as fresh and inspired today as they did 23 years ago. The Village Voice Consumer Guide couldn’t resist giving this record an A+ upon its release.
01. Forever Goodnight
02. I Might Never Give Up
03. Left In My Life
04. Living Inside Design
05. This Is All We Are
06. Never Forget A Face
07. Thinking About Myself
08. Kiss Him Goodbye
09. Light From A Trailer
Lyrics
FOREVER GOODNIGHT
Yea, I got the invoice…
It’s not my department.
Yea, I got the invoice.
Oh God I love this. (It’s not my idea)
Oh God I love this. (It’s not my idea)
So I bought the circus, I bought the line,
I cleared the stable marking time
And walked a mile for a long tall dream
And worked the sidelines in between
(Forever Goodbye)
Like three card monte I kissed your mind
And stroked the middle over time
(Forever Goodbye)
I motioned for a calmer day
But got a lesson on the way
(Forever Goodbye)
Like, even when you broke a vow
Who’s there to notice anyhow?
Oh God I love this.
It’s not my idea to live for this.
And when you finally, you finally arrive
Cross all your fingers and dot all your i’s
And if you wonder, and wonder you might
Nothing’s forever, forever goodnight
Sure, I’ll miss the morning, relieve a cloud
See, I gotta embrace this normal shroud
that washes over incumbent days
and makes the masquerade seem great
And every day’s gonna be a clear slate
Like three card monte I kissed your fate
In a word I’m tellin’ you make believe
that you wanted this feeling as much as me
And when you finally, you finally arrive
Cross off what lingers and dry all your eyes
And if you wonder, and wonder you might
Nothing’s forever, forever goodnight
I MIGHT NEVER GIVE UP
(… and that’s why I wrote the book)
I met this girl
And she had this 3-way wrist radio
(you mean a 2-way wrist radio)
You know?
Like the kind Dick Tracy used
So, I remember longer days
And coffee shops with plastic trays
All huddled in above the rain
And hoping that you’d come again
Where simple conversations pass
Like pouring blessings in your glass
But as the lunch crowd moves away
I think of reasons why I’ll stay
For every memory that you took
That’s why I wrote the book
Everybody want a deeper love
Everybody want a beeper love
Everybody want their self intact
Everybody want their self, in fact
Aw c’mon, lick it…
what it was is …
Over 50% off the cover price…
… and that’s why I wrote the book
Maybe I’ll never give up
Maybe I’ll never give up
So, I remember longer days
And coffee shops with plastic trays
All huddled in above the rain
And hoping that you’d come again
Where simple conversations pass
Like pouring blessings in your glass
For every memory that you took
That’s why I wrote the book
Everybody want …
Aw c’mon, lick it…
what it was is …
The litigants for our next case are
on their way into the courtroom …
… and that’s why I wrote the book
LEFT IN MY LIFE
I wouldn’t count on it
I wouldn’t bet on it
I wouldn’t count on it
I wouldn’t bet on it
See, let me talk about me
and a garden degree where you play for a fee
And be what I want you to be
and if the garden variety’s not for me
You’re free (you’re free) , like palm to palm
As if I promise to remain calm
and now the hope’s all gone
Gone-gone and good deal
It’s a lesson of life
And if a lesson is real
It’s so long gone, it’s so long gone
As benefits belong, it’s so long gone
There’s probably still moments
Left in my life
There’s probably still moments
Left in my life
Take breaths and I’m walking in line for a shakedown
If I caught the good life would it be above ground?
Twice dismissed belonging at this time of turning
Breaking bread and baseball caps of higher learning
Forced to press the notion things are really changing
mole hills moving mountains-candid rearranging
Barking at the front door intercepting angels
Out and out redemption resting for a spell
Even as I’m speaking with the right to know
Commonplace occurrence believing where you go
Body at rest insighting overnight guest
Or better, better at last, I mean the last that I checked
I got a rate that I like, I mean I didn’t think twice
And hey, we all gotta eat and by the way it’s my treat
And if you think it’s a con just check the road that I’m on
It’s like, examine and see, or like believing in me
And when belief is suspended for promises made
And what’s left in my life is what’s left in the shade
I’m still waiting to become the man that I made
React to a false decline, born under a neon sign
A commonplace to do, when you fall through
LIVING INSIDE DESIGN
I’m living inside design, yea
Got ahead on my hotel room
I’m living inside design
It’s a calling, it’s a righteous thing to do
I’m living inside design
I’m living inside design, yea
In the bedlam of my balloon
I’m looking outside of time
I’m designing a desire for me and you
I’m living inside design
When you see my smile and you take my ride
Ooh-ooh … invite you inside
I’m living inside design, yea
Saw a body pass by alone
I call it a mystery
That I’m calling all these numbers and no one’s home
I’m leaving inside design
I’m living inside design, yea
Hopin’ nobody found me out
I’m living inside design
When you’re livin’ … hey, you’re livin’
Just don’t lose count
I’m living inside design
When you see my smile and you take my ride
Ooh-ooh … invite you inside
I’m living inside design, yea
Got ahead on my hotel room
I’m living inside design
Yes I’m living yes I’m living inside design
I’m living inside design
I’m living inside design, yea
It’s the righteous thing to do
I’m looking outside of time
I’m designing a desire for me and you
I’m living inside design
When you see my smile and you take my ride
This’ll sting a little bit but open wide
Outside of time in the great unknown
It’s a fire sale and it starts at home
If you feel the ceiling where I like to hide
Ooh-ooh … invite you inside
THIS IS ALL WE ARE
Separated mornings
When the nights are long
Blasting of at Rudy’s
Waiting for that song
All the dustbag singles falling
Bringing lonely lights to bear
Give it up, for saints are holy
Saints and sinners, what a pair
This is all we are
Oh oh all we are
Oh oh oh all we are
Underage inside
Following advice and advice says
Right or wrong you don’t belong
You spent your days with gold TV’s
Untimely pulse and you’re at ease
Underage inside from following advice
Teach me all the lessons
That I used to know
Blowing smoke and ageing
Paying as you go
Shifting with the days of progress
Momentary lakes and streams
Kissing all the faces, count ’em
Rolling over in their dreams
This is all we are
Oh oh all we are
Oh oh oh all we are
NEVER FORGET A FACE
Fits hard to erase
So never forget a face
Watch moments unlace
And never forget a face
Interior base
You never forget a face
Encoding your place
To never forget a face
In pleasant regard, to motor beyond the yard
Up, up and plié, incumbent rehung today
In-loving is hard, foreshadow to play your card
All-soul disarray, All souls have been blown away
Aeolian Bay, All souls have been blown away
Mixolydian clay, All souls have been blown away
Shaking the tree of God shak-
Ing the tree of God shaking
The tree of God shaking the
Tree of God shaking the tree
Of God shaking the tree of
God shaking the tree of God
Cows in high relief
Men walking left as thieves
Cows’ legs in low relief
Bull followed by man disease
Hunting in the desert blow
Men with baboons, men on the go
Lunettte from false door
Bows on stands, flails in jars
In pleasant regard, to motor beyond the yard
In pleasant regard, to motor beyond the yard …
Interior base
You never forget a face
Encoding your place
To never forget a face
Fits hard to erase
So never forget a face
Watch moments unlace
And never forget a face
(I’m Thinking About You Every Minute That I’m Not)
THINKING ABOUT MYSELF
An allergy of broken dreams
A knock inside the head
The fear of flight, of touching down
A mastermind re-tread
The cruising and pretending
The heart bending for the fight
Sits well upon the bottoms
Of America 2-Night
I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself
I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself
Someday I’ll find I was the one
Who was out of his mind
I’ll count the losses
And bone up on strays
Measuring moments for happier days
I’ll put in gas for the ride
He warms the streets deserted palms
Erasing where he wept
His favorite pastime?
Barking up the wrong tree where he slept
The envelope and history
Of two wrongs make a right
Sits well upon the bottoms
Of America 2-Night
I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself
I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself
Someday I’ll find I was the one
Who was out of his mind
I’ll count the losses
And bone up on strays
Measuring moments for happier days
I’ll put in gas for the ride
KISS HIM GOODBYE
A second parade …
A best out of three …
Mouth congress …
Mouth congress: a kiss, a second parade
An orgy of logic, a romance replayed
And up to the minute, a best out of three
You’re there in the moment
The moment is me
The moment is me
Built for boring, kiss him goodbye
A view to a look, a look to a sigh
And up to the minute, a best out of three
You’re there in the moment. The moment is me
Crawling under sights and hues
And gushing over living rooms
Breathing air that someone knew
Filing forms and turning blue
Hearing voices after dark
Leaning towards a trailer park
Clearing memos from machines
Travel brochures for marines
Assortment of voices insightless to see
A closing reminder in deep memory
As the voices surround you and brief your belief
The assortment of voices remind you of me
Assortment of voices remind you of me
Remind you of me
And I’m on the planet, and I take it for granted
And I’m on the planet, and I take it for granted
And I’m on the planet, the big wide world
The planet droppings, the grown up girls
In the bottom where most things fit
In the round and into it
Kiss him goodbye, kiss him goodbye
Kiss him goodbye kiss, kiss him goodbye
Hey na na, hey na na, hey na na, hey na na
Hey na na, hey na na, hey na na, hey na na
LIGHT FROM A TRAILER
Fall lightly on your knees
Beneath the poplar trees
The memories that hound you
What passed above her head
Amazing grace she said
I love it when you’re singing
And when the past forgave
I heard an angel wave
I’m far away from danger
A light from a trailer
Picked up from hand to mouth
A remnant of the South
A Mississippi mansion
A mobile S.R.O.
For nomads on the go
The cinderblocks and pavement
And when the past forgave
I heard an angel wave
I’m far away from danger
A light from a trailer
And when my ship comes in
To see from where I’ve been
A moment to get even
And come the good ol’ days
Of fish fries and parades
I’ll settle here forever
And when the past forgave
I heard an angel wave
I’m far away from danger
A light from a trailer
Lyrics © 1994 Mikel Rouse
All rights reserved
Published by Club Soda Music (ASCAP)
Used by permission