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Gods and Sods

by Too Much Joy

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1.
GODS MAKE LOVE On my back beneath the sun Watching what the clouds become Sometimes you get this feeling Laughed out loud some people stared Are your sins forgiven or your faults repaired? Some ideas are unappealing In the middle, they are gentle and serene But on the edges, things get violent This is almost obscene Now everything you think is real So only think the things you should Everyone I hate’s OK Everything is bad and good No one’s nice In paradise This is how the gods make love Every touch Means too much This is how the gods make love Everybody they look just like little birds They say fuck me They say feed me But they use so many words Now I must tear you apart To the middle of the center of your secret heart One more thing, for you to fear The sky is heaving, the sea is calm As beautiful as the atom bomb Close my eyes, you disappear Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1996
2.
Mary Matalin 04:36
MARY MATALIN Mary’s got some juicy facts She’s going to relate them Boss can’t get away with that And so he delegates ‘em Mary looks into the lens And says what she’s supposed to Despite the evil she intends She’s someone I feel close to In spite of all her calculations We could dance to a rock and roll station It would be all wrong But it would feel all right Here comes Mary She looks just like your friend Here comes Mary Mary Matalin Mary looks into my eyes And says just what she has to We both know she lies She does it really bad, too She loves her boss, her loyalty Has been amply demonstrated Life is best when it’s simple And better when it’s complicated Here comes Mary She looks just like your friend There goes Mary There she goes again Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1993
3.
A TEXAS SUNDAY Nothing going on but the weather’s good My bike’s got a flat like I would take it Walking round your neighborhood Nothing looks too sacred Found a street fair by the closed-down theater Cheap sneakers but not my size Same stuff as usual No beer but curly fries This is so much fun; when will it end? Doing nothing wrong; still don’t fit in This is so much fun; when will it end? Trying to belong Try to stay hidden One thing I never saw before Can you tell by my expression? Missile launcher guarded by bored soldiers Who don’t appreciate questions Take a good look at a tank You’ve got nothing smart to say Little boys in tiny ties I guess it was Sunday This is so much fun; when will it end? Doing nothing wrong; still don’t fit in This is so much fun; when will it end? Trying to belong Try to stay hidden Two tables of bonsai trees They, too, were unimpressive “Hey, look what we can do to these!” Just seems so aggressive Nobody sold nothing that Anybody’d need I bought a book for fifty cents I’m never gonna read Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1994
4.
DEATH RAY MACHINE Gonna take more time We’ll need a lot of money Perfected the design We just need the funding I haven’t felt this safe since before the A-bomb fell Don’t think this is heaven Then you can go to hell I wanna change the world But I can’t even change myself Helicopters patrol the golf course Just cuz they can, I guess Flags in parking meters each holiday Nothing much, but we do our best Take more time, need a lot of money Take more time, need a lot of money I pointed my death ray machine the wrong way We got our own newspaper But we borrow the opinions Bring dinner in the den Watch ourselves on television Put the dishes in the sink Kiss the kids goodnight Tie a yellow ribbon Round everything in sight Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1991
5.
HELLO LOVE TRACTOR “Hello Love Tractor,” I wrote on the wall Between a bunch of bands with better names Hate anyone who can play guitar Wish this club would go up in flames Best argument for never drinking again ee in a bar when you’re sober Frightening scrawls scream from every wall Frat boys, poets and soldiers Something’s curious Someone’s furious Watch your step The nasty feeling lingers Too true to be beautiful Like newsprint on your fingers Too true to be beautiful I’ve been to every state but one It’s a great big old country Nobody’s got anything in common Everybody wants to punch me I still think America’s great I still love my country Nobody’s got anything in common Everyone can talk about tv Staying out too late Avoid the interstate Stay awake That nasty feeling won’t go Too true to be beautiful Still tastes the same tomorrow Too true to be beautiful Serious as your first hangover It’s as real as your last nightmare Well hello all six of you Hello hello anyone out there Hope this finds you well Hope this just finds you What the hell Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1993
6.
Big Gringo 02:52
BIG GRINGO I got a bike I called it Rosa I got a car I called it Rosa, too It was the only Spanish word I knew Big Gringo says I’m happy I am alone I am alive I met a girl Named guess what We went swimming We did not speak If we ever have a son I’ll call him John This giant fan On my ceiling Could fall down Cut me in half These hotel maids wouldn’t be surprised Now my skin it been baked red Like the hearts These statues lack And so they ask for mine I see blackness I see blue sky I see treetops I see her Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1990
7.
Peacenick 04:02
PEACENICK I saw you with a red balloon In the middle of a crowd Of facist-hating facists No smiling was allowed Anarchy never looked so regal I’d love you but it’s illegal Sound and lights and energy Plus sound advice thrown in for free Peacenik’s gonna change the world One person at a time Peacenik’s gonna change the world If he doesn’t change his mind Preaching to the perverted Bow before almighty noise A picnic on the astro-turf What’s not to enjoy? Dancing in a minefield, girl I got my shovelful Will not love our neighbors, no Until they’re lovable This is not an attitude It’s my personality Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1993
8.
THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU Took out my own stitches And I think I did it right That’s forty-five more dollars I can go and drink tonight You called me a monster You called me a cartoon Said you can see everything In my little thought balloon I remember mornings You’d wake up and you’d scream Demanding explanations For what I did in your dream There’s something you’re missing And it’s something that I lack I’m looking for another but I hope you’re coming back These are the things that I hate about you These are the things I can’t stand when you do These are all things I forgive oh yes it’s true This are the things that I hate about you I live to make you happy And I long to make you smile Haven’t for a long time No, you haven’t for a while There’s something you’re missing And it’s something that I lack I’m looking for another but I hope you’re coming back Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1996
9.
Hey Merlin 02:37
HEY MERLIN The path to the house is overgrown The door swings open There is no one home They say a man lived here many years ago But what happened to this man no one knows They say he had some magic friends And they all met tragic ends Banished and scattered the wizards died And now all the legends lie Hey Merlin, Hey Merlin Don’t believe a word they say Hey Merlin, Hey Merlin It was worth it anyway Living backwards in time Losing your mind You fall from grace before you’re there They soil your name to protect theirs All laughter and joking is illegal now They’d ridicule you but they don’t know how Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music 1990
10.
BARNEY GARDEN Can’t afford this city or to move to somewhere else Looking deeply in your eyes I don’t see any help Haven’t left home but I’m already lost Burning bridges that I haven’t even crossed Hate mistakes that others make Can’t catch mine till it’s too late Let the conspiracy theories be true Just let me say, babe I love you Hey what’s that red stuff on my fender? Just drop the gun, man, I surrender So long as someone knows what’s going on Just give me something I can count on Like my buddy said when they let him walk “Prison is free and I like to suck cock” I belong inside cuz my mind’s messed up I respect anybody who has fessed up More perspective possible This spy’s life is awful dull Just like my skull Hey what’s that red stuff on my fender? Just drop the gun, man, I surrender So long as someone knows what’s going on Just give me something I can count on Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music 1990
11.
Station ID 00:50
12.
Let Me Out 00:52
13.
No Reason 04:01
NO REASON Talking to myself while I’m walking down the street I guess that’s OK I fit right in City living, man you know it can’t be beat Couple years ago I would’ve been frightened Saw you down the block and I felt just like a spy Should’ve said hello but I couldn’t resist Watching you watch yourself in every window you went by I, too, am guilty of this No reason for these thoughts No reason for these deeds No reason’s all the reason anybody needs Lost in the teeming masses But you got cool sunglasses No reason’s all the reason anybody needs Cabbie knows the city his mind is like a map He will drive you anyplace you say Would he know the way if I said take me to you fast? Why should he do this anyway? No reason for these thoughts No reason for these deeds No reason’s all the reason anybody needs Don’t know my neighbor’s names Everybody looks the same No reason’s all the reason anybody needs This suitcase has a little bomb inside it Don’t worry, there’s no need to get excited Now I can’t stand people who cop an attitude And I just plain can’t stand cops And I can’t just stand around like all these other dudes Those horns honk on and on it never stops Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1993
14.
GET ME OUT OF HERE A flood-lit Virgin Mary Stares down at a mile-wide pit Half this city fell inside When they tunneled under it And everybody here Lives life upside down Because everybody’s dreaming About what’s underground Right now I might be seeing double That just makes it twice as clear I would jump that mile-wide pit If it would get me out of here They had all-night restaurants A hundred years ago They started digging for silver When they’d dug up all the gold In the hometown of Evel I ordered humorous drinks Got a lot of great stories So what if my life stinks He realized long ago What just occurred to me If you can’t live well Then die fantastically I’ll douse myself in gasoline Roll myself to city hall If I live or if I die All the people will applaud Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1994
15.
EVEN THE QUEEN I fell asleep to the sound of motorboats dragging the lake, sheriff clears his throat sounds carry very far at night Looked so long for some common bond There it is at the bottom of the pond The mayor’s daughter won’t come back this time Even the Queen Even the Queen Even the Queen has been here Tried to shake his hand but he only had one arm Here’s my sorry smile, there goes all my charm What was my face like before? He said never mind, it’s a stupid story Mine eyes have seen the glory Seen the glory but now they’re bored Once in a while you think Once in a while you drink Once in a while you find Once in a while you don’t mind It’s a scary world, people are frightening But I love the thunder, I love the lightning My dog thinks I know what to do Once in a while you get the feeling Nothing’s wrong, it’s like you’re stealing A moment that wasn’t meant for you My heart is pure though I’ve tried to soil it Even the king died upon the toilet Do not go gentle into that food fight Born with a scream you die with a whimper In between you must lose your temper Thank you very much good night Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1994
16.
Sunroof 03:37
SUNROOF The sunroof’s open And I can see the stars And something else That’s either a satellite or Mars Yodelayeeo The radio’s going But all I hear is the wind The dashlight’s broken again Yodelayeeo It don’t take much to make me happy All these people look so miserable It don’t take much to make me happy One nation under God invisible Gonna ride a rollercoaster Gonna light off fireworks Gonna love this whole world Till it hurts Yodelayeeo Society is just a party Our invitations must be lost Noses pressed against the window The glass frosts Yodelayeeo Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton Published by People Suck Music, 1990
17.

about

A collection of unreleased studio recordings, demos, outtakes, and errors.

credits

released September 21, 1999

Too Much Joy is a constantly evolving life form which has at various times comprised the following discrete individuals: Jay Howard Blumenfield, Timothy Bruce Quirk, Alexander William Smallens, Thomas Brian Vinton, William Paul Wittman

The songs on which we all sing in tune were produced and engineered by William Wittman for Weedy Wet Productions. The songs on which we fail to do so were engineered by the long-suffering Al Hemberger. The song on which nobody sings at all was produced and possibly co-written by Michael James. The bonus hidden mystery track was recorded off the soundboard at Slim's in San Francisco by Tim Lewis.

Mastered by Fred Guarino at Tiki Studios, Glen Cove, NY.

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Too Much Joy Scarsdale, New York

TMJ is/was a punk-pop band of some minor renown. Some of that renown was due to their music, which included semi-hits such as “Crush Story,” “Donna Everywhere,” and “That’s a Lie” — a cover of the LL Cool J tune that featured the man himself in the music video, which actually got played quite a bit during daylight hours on MTV back when they did that sort of thing. ... more

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