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Living Inside Design

by Mikel Rouse

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1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
LIVING INSIDE DESIGN I’m leaving 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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
(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
8.
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
9.
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

about

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 14 years ago. The Village Voice Consumer Guide couldn’t resist giving this record an A+ upon its release.

credits

released February 27, 1994

© 1994 Mikel Rouse
All rights reserved
Published by Club Soda Music (ASCAP)

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Mikel Rouse New York, New York

Mikel Rouse is a New York-based composer, director, performer and recording artist hailed as “a composer many believe to be the best of his generation.” (NY Times 2002) His works include 25 records, 7 films (including Funding and Music For Minorities), and a trilogy of media operas: Failing Kansas, Dennis Cleveland and The End Of Cinematics. ... more

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