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Regenerates

by Cannonball Statman

/
1.
The man who slipped flew up and away Like televised strands of DNA From the percolating crises of the day To a surreal cereal of another beast next week Screaming Go percolate in trivial mucus machines As I polish my psyche for bizarre activity Tomorrow in my hometown of Almond Plum Where change is a constant stagnant machine It's the strangest town you’ve ever seen But it's exactly like everywhere you've ever been It is what it is when it is it Even when it isn’t Slipped and flew It is what it is when it is it Even when it isn't Right into you What's the evil you see in me Evil's so 20th century Like cheap sixth sense extension surgery Unmodified hand in melted wax purgatory Bellevue suicides seeking serenity And me of all people can do the laundry Yes me For seven billion paralyzed infant animals Can stand in a park in front of a tree For five seconds longer than I did yesterday I can say I'm still lovin' you And I don't care who know about it I'm still lovin’ you And I don’t care who know about it It is what it is when it is it Even when it isn't Slipped and flew It is what it is when it is it Even when it isn’t Right into you If the 4 AM G train man can smother his beard in factory cheese And attempt to seduce my leg to his hand beyond deformed human hand Only to return one heated evening stripped of hair Rage of karmic surprise emanating from inner eyeballs Scouring my invisible wall for a crack Or hidden entrance not otherwise specified And flee gracefully with a quiet rumbling thump Then I'd make a damn fine pacifist And I can play this song when I get pissed And I can be your exorcist I really wanna be your exorcist You're gonna be my exorcism It is what it is when it is it Even when it isn't Slipped and flew It is what it is when it is it Even when it isn’t Right into you
2.
I got a message All it said was earthworm Told me things inside my sleep I got a message It said Soon I will love you But for now, I'll sleep with someone else Someone else I don't know Someone else With you I got a message All it said was earthworm Told me things inside my sleep I got a message It said Earthworm Soon you will play my drum Play my drum I don't know Play my drum With you? I took a walk around Rego Park at five in the morning I took a walk around your neighborhood and I saw you in the street I took a walk around Rego Park and I saw you in the street Stared you down in Flushing when I found out how you got back on your feet You said Take the red mouthwash And the green shaving cream Take a walk around Flushing And dance into my dream I got a message All it said was earthworm Told me things inside my sleep
3.
Degenerates? 03:07
When I was 16 years old My friend's dad told me That only degenerates go to nightclubs I thought So what? What’s a degenerate? That was the same year I recorded a record in my parent's apartment Called Campaigning in Empty Apartments From Room to Room It was the first record I'd recorded in 6 years And my first time recording vocals on Lithium So what? What’s a degenerate? 6 years later My friend who played sitar on the last song on that record told me That he lost the keys to his apartment because he's a degenerate That was around the same time I realized the world is made of plastic You know Here comes the new plastic Same as the old plastic The classic plastic Classic half-wit tone-deaf horseshit yelling Rock and roll is dead All the great songs have already been written All the great drugs have already been taken All the great cars have already been driven And all the great love was a lie And other unintelligible drivel Plastic is a life that you can buy So what? What's a degenerate? The day I meet the reaper My body will find a new enclosure A brand new heart to beat around But my old corpse With its vampiric ideas And tidbits of useless information Will degenerate into dust Like every crook on Wall Street Every song ever written Every poser in Brooklyn Every fucking angel Every friend of mine driven aimlessly around by a great dead cat in the sky Death is a life that you cannot buy And that That is a degenerate
4.
You'll meet strange people in a test tube Girls in a living room laugh at a television Boys scream screamy things at their socks Like joy joy joy and riding a donkey They went to find a place to sleep And woke up inside what seemed like a mansion A regular resting place for those who feel the need to sit And wait as the rain sets The windows bled out into a space into green fields spanning beyond the comprehension of man The steps in a life that echo for eternity Forgetting this they slept in king-sized white beds Bags unpacked All the things they'd taken with them down the road Taken out and placed in place They were advised not to stay long in this mansion But to savor the time while they are there And dream of most astonishing things Because when you leave part of you stays behind Told to dream of most astonishing things Like wild olympian yellow jacket stings On hands of marzipan caramel rings Because when you leave part of you stays behind In this mansion I saw seven gods in my dream last night I saw you and seven friends in a streetfight I saw seven puppets on fourth street They said I won't last long in the shadow of your shadow It's raining Children play in the garden outside "Do they know where they are?" Asked a voice from the inside "No," replied the mansion "They're just there And so are you But we'll all figure out Where we are One day" You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube You'll meet strange people in a test tube
5.
I walked outside It was dawn There were flowers left on the side of the road And it was cold There was a breeze and a building And at the time it was almost Spring I got a call from an old friend today I said I can't find the keys to my car I walked outside and I fell into a dream And I just wanted to scream But I don’t scream in my sleep anymore I keep getting calls from an old friend these days He says Everything's evil And nothing's perfect But everything deserves a second chance But I walk outside to find nothing but the same You say it’s different now You haven't changed Should've walked outside When you tried to convince every yuppie in the East 14th Street Whole Foods That you were my husband 'Cause you thought it sounded cool It was dumb My mind wandered I wanna take my man to the moon To the mountains To the hidden rooms I wanna go everywhere But I keep getting calls from an old flame He says We're all soldiers And we're all cars fighting other cars On the little highway roads And everything is fixed And the whole wide world is predetermined And made up of guns and newspapers And toy painted guns that are illegal And we're so fucking illegal That we're probably totally legal ’Cause everything is strange It’s dawn There are flowers growing on the side of the road And it's so fucking cold There’s a breeze and a building A few more weeks until it's Spring Let's take a walk
6.
Serendipity 02:27
Insects hungry for the light and the dark in the room Watching this floor all the time Serendipity took me out for a walk Serendipity took me to his side Thought it was all right But it's so worth it Insects circling the streets for the way inside Watching the people come and go Summer comes and I run through the park Hope they're eating me alive Thought it was all right But it's so worth it Think I'll walk myself away from this Think I'll walk myself away from this Think I'll walk myself away from This serendipity I found a garden inside my house Now I don't know what to do Secretly I got tired of working it all out I knew it'd drive me insane Thought it was all right And nothing is worth it And nothing is worth it Nothing is worth it
7.
Autumn Plum 04:55
I'm walking in the woods in the English countryside A few weeks ago And I'm alone And I'm lost Suddenly I see a wild turkey walking around in the woods with me And this turkey has a big red hipster beard And I'm like "Whoa" I've never seen a turkey with a hipster beard And there's another turkey And another one Like ten turkeys In these woods with me And all of them have big red hipster beards So I'm like "I'm gonna take out my phone And take some pictures of these turkeys To show my friends in Brooklyn" So I take out my phone And it has this blue case This weird blue case And it's not my case And it's not my phone And I'm like "I guess this is my phone" So while I'm taking pictures of these turkeys These other turkeys These light blue turkeys Transparent cyan tinted turkeys With big dark blue hipster beards Start appearing Materializing randomly In these woods From all directions Hundreds of 'em And I'm like "I've never seen anything like this before" I've never seen anything And to think Back home A man walks into a train station And just starts flatlining And all the emperors of infancy sit and stare At everything or something becoming nothing While sir subway masturbator in the corner fucks off

about

A surreal antifascist album recorded in my old bedroom in NYC, January 2016. Reissued in 2024 for Apollo Statman's 9th birthday.

Listening back; it seems like I had some fun (?) mocking the fascist myths of "degeneration" and "regeneration", and screaming out the mental and physical gymnastics necessary to survive during that time - "I have to use this song to defend myself from the men who are assaulting me, as the law will not be on my side if I use physical force to defend myself" ("Slipped and Flew").

This was a time when I was more focused on singing my lived experiences of societal problems than thinking about solutions, or ways to work within communities to build anything better. An important step, but only one part of the process.

Love songs ("Year of Four Flames") and abstract recollections of weird dreams ("Three Elderly Women", "Autumn Plum") may also help.

Many thanks go out to Bob Osborne at German Shepherd Records for holding on to the files for this one as it would not have been possible to reissue otherwise!

credits

released January 3, 2016

All music and lyrics written, performed, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Cannonball Statman, who also took the photo on the album cover.

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Cannonball Statman New York, New York

Known for his soulful lyrics and guitar style described by Bob’s Aural Delights as “the edge of madness”, and a tenderness and playful melancholy that can be called “romantic punk”.

"Statman has made a name for himself in the music scene, sharing stages with Jeffrey Lewis, Days N' Daze, and Sunflower Bean, as well as touring across America, Europe, and Asia." (amNewYork)
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