Rowland S. Howard

[sondria]

Rowland S. Howard

(1959 – 2009)

Exit Everything

This is a warning
A gun-to-the-head thing
This is a sign
A don't get out of bed thing

The sky was deep
The wind was hot
I tried to speak
But I could not
The telephone rang like churchbells
Jesus Christ I've gone to hell

A powder burn to the face
To remember you by
A powder burn to the lips
It'll make you cry
A blazing blister kiss
my love don't you even try
To remember this

Exit everything
Nodding dogs and Valium
Let's make this whole world
Spin like a top
And then stop
Exit Everything

Here we go again
One more time
Out of the black
And into the ether...
...black and into the ether...

The windows blew out
As you blew in
You wore the smell of success
I wore the taste of sin
With every lie I did you in
Now the siren slowly spins
It'll never last

I backed away from the stars
Because their light cut my skin
Like shards of glass
And the cordite sting
I'm far too late I'm far too thin
I've lost it all that's everything
I don't feel a thing

You know you probably heard her
It was the sound of murder
You know maybe you heard her
This is the sound of murder

Exit everything
Nodding dogs and Valium
Let's make this whole world
Spin like a top
And then stop
Exit Everything

Exit everything
Torch the throne,kill the king
And teach the whole world to sing
Exit everything ​

* Teenage Snuff Film

 

[sondria]

Autoluminescent


Autoluminescent

I am blinding
Autoluminescent
I am white heat
I am heaven sent
I was a nightmare
But I'm not gonna go there
... again

I lived in the darkness (Into the black hole)
The house of no contest
Make mine a meteor
Rise me above the rest
I'm soaring through outer space
There is no better place
... to be

I'm bigger than Jesus Christ
I'm greater than God in light
I am dangerous
I cut like the sharpest knife
I'm going nova
And I hope I can hold her
... in

Into the dark darkness (Into the darkness)
I gave away myself
tripped on the spiral stairs (Slipped on the spiral stairs)
Tumbling down the well
I fell on a soft spot
I'm white heat, I'm white hot
... again

* Teenage Snuff Film
​

 

[sondria]

Breakdown (And Then...)


Breakdown (And Then...)

Crown prince of the crying jag,
Stuffed a towel in his mouth to gag.
Oh my darling I never knew
How hard it was to get rid of you.

I smashed on our virgin date,
Tell me, how did I reach that state?
The day ends again, and then
My darling here comes your breakdown and then...

Struck down by my own device
Sweet Jesus-ice-cold-Christ.
You drowned in the dining room
Resurrection sure came too soon.

God it's cold in this room
Hopped up on fever's croon
Just two more love dumb fools
Here comes your breakdown and then...

Loading the gun again
Dead lead goes in and then
Catch as catch can and can't
Catch cold and fall apart

Cold as a distant star
Hot as a stolen car
I choke on this heart of hate
Sometimes I find it hard to get things straight.

Crown prince of the crying Jag
Stuffs a towel in his mouth to gag
Oh my darlin' I never knew
How hard it was to get rid of you

I smashed our burning date
Oh tell me how did we reach this state
The day ends again and then
My darlin here comes that breakdown and then

Struck down by my own device
Sweet Jesus ice cold christ
You drowned in the dining room
Resurrection it came too soon
God it's cold in this room
I choke on this heart of hate,
Sometimes I find it hard
To get things straight...

* Teenage Snuff Film
​

 

[sondria]

Sleep Alone


Sleep Alone

First I shut down the stars because
You said they ruled us
Then I took out Mars
He was the cruelest
His lover followed suit
By way of suicide
And the others stood there silent
As I dealt out peace of mind

Shut me up
Shut me down
Stop me if you can
My love, I'll show you nothing
I'm a misanthropic man

Shut me up
Shut me down
Stop me if you can
My love, I'll show you nothing
I'm a misanthropic man

Shut me up
Shut me down
Stop me if you can
My love, I'm less than nothing
I'm a misanthropic man

This is a journey
To the edge of the night
I've got no companions
Only Celine's on my side
Don't need nothing from no-one
The needle's in the red
Nothing to lose
Everything's dead

Shut me up
Shut me down
Stop me if you can
My love, I'll show you nothing
I'm a misanthropic man

Shut me up
Shut me down
Stop me if you can
My love, I'm less than nothing
I'm a misanthropic man


The Sky is empty silent
The Earth as still as stone
Nothing stands above me
Now I can sleep alone​

* Teenage Snuff Film, 1999


​

 

[sondria]

Pop Crimes


Pop Crimes

Are you Stalin's secret daughter?
Did you murder history?
Your twin pals, genocide and slaughter
Were born on Calvary
When all the good got good and gone
And all the bad broke free

A sock-puppet government
Left to it's own device
The hand that used to hold my hand
Has grown bored of it's delights
I guess that I won't see you tomorrow
On this, our planet of Perpetual Sorrows

Pop crimes
These were pop crimes
These were pop crimes
These were pop crimes
It was a pop crime
This was a pop crime

The Catholic church cannot verify
That there's a single soul in Hell
It's just a wasteland of adversity
Devoid of all but the sound of wedding bells
From this vast expanse of nothing
Nothing good will come of this
But the hole in the zero
And an open-heart-surgery kiss

This was a pop crime
It was a pop crime
This was a pop crime
It was a pop crime
It was a pop crime
This was a pop crime

Did you go down with the Gorgons?
Is that why you turned to stone?
Or was that state reserved for me?
For me and me alone?
Does the hissing of their coiffured snakes
Desiccate your soul?

This was a pop crime
This was a pop crime
This was a pop crime
This was a pop crime
This was a pop crime
It was a pop crime

*Pop Crimes
​

 

[sondria]

Some Velvet Morning


Some Velvet Morning

Rowland:
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm gonna open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
and how she gave me life
and how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight

Lydia:
Flowers growing on the hill
Dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

Rowland:
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm gonna open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
and how she gave me life
and how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight

Lydia:
Flowers are the things we know
Secrets are the things we grow
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

Rowland:
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Lydia:
Flowers are the things we know

I'm gonna open up your gate
Secrets are the things we grow
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
Learn from us very much
And how she gave me life
Look at us but do not touch
and how she made it in
Phaedra is my name

Some velvet morning when I'm straight...


* Rowland w/ Lydia Lunch, single 1982
** songwriter - Lee Hazlewood
​

 

[sondria]

Shivers


Shivers

I've been contemplating suicide,
But it really doesn't suit my style,
So I think I'll just act bored instead
And contain the blood I would've shed

She makes me feel so ill at ease
My heart is really on its knees
But I keep a poker face so well
That even mother couldn't tell

But my baby's so vain
She is almost a mirror
And the sound of her name
Sends a permanent shiver down my spine
Down my spine

I keep her photograph against my heart
For in my life she plays a starring part
All alcohol and cigarettes
There is no room for cheap regret

She makes me feel so ill at ease
My heart is really on its knees
But I keep a poker face so well
That even mother couldn't tell

But my baby's so vain
That she is almost a mirror
And the sound of her name
Sends a permanent shiver down my spine
Down my spine
Spine...


*Young Charlatans - 1978 Demos
*lyrics & music - Rowland S Howard, 1976



​

 

[sondria]

Wedding Hotel


Wedding Hotel

Oh, I wrote my name
On the back of your hand
I wrapped it in leather
And buried it deep in the sand.

And you, you're in your houseboat
Me, I'm in my tree
Oh, good Lord, baby
Ain't it great to be free.

As you float down the river
Down to the sea
I'll set fire to the forest
It'll burn down on me.

Oh, I wrote my name
On the back of your hand
I wrapped it in leather
And I buried it deep in the sand.

Oh, I wrote my name
On the back of your hand
And if I'm to blame
You'll find me buried in the sand.



*Wedding Hotel , 1987
*Rowland w/ Nikki Sudden

​

 

[sondria]

The Golden Age Of Bloodshed



The Golden Age Of Bloodshed

The signs in the sky won't let up
The clouds assume the shape
Of catholic girls with Uzis
All of them on the make
All of them out to make a million
By the time they hit 13

And it's all in the colour
Of the old sun setting
This brand new age of Blood Letting
And it's all in the eyes of me

I'm suspicious of my wife
I suspect she left long ago
I recall my finger on the button of the ejector seat
But I can't recall letting her go
The electric Christ has canonized her
She's surrounded by a chemical glow

It has to be said
It's today's edition of the
Book of the Dead
It has to be said

In this worst of all possible worlds
On this planet of perpetual sorrow
I've found the best of all possible girls
She's as pure and white and bright as tomorrow

My life plays like Grand Guignol
Blood and Portents everywhere
They say they can't remove
these signs from my eyes
But I suspect that they just don't care
I've got a harsh new brand of aftershave
That gives you that thousand yard stare

Why can't you get it
Through your head
Now is the Golden Age of Bloodshed
It needs to be said

In this worst of all possible worlds
On this planet of perpetual sorrows
I've found the best of all possible girls
She's pure and white and bright as tomorrow


*Pop Crimes , 2009

​

 

[sondria]

Come Fall

Come Fall

I am king.
I can do anything.
Come follow,
Come fall

I will show you
All and mine.

Everythings mine.

Then give you twin bright coins
To put all your eye lights lids down.
Then fasten the door.
Wander down.
Fall in time
Fall in time
I count all of mine on fingers stained so...

Come fall, come fall, close your eyes.
We can fall on a tree.

And you will never, touch the ground,
Never touch the ground.

Never touch the ground
touch the ground
touch the ground...

She said...
I can do anything...
I am king...

Come fall, come fall...
Come follow your leader...


* Honeymoon In Red, 1987 - w/Lydia Lunch
** lyrics & music - Rowland S. Howard


​