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Ben Rusch
"original, utterly brilliant, deviously good song craft" - Wildy's World
"unique, amazing, wonderful" - Lipstik Indie
"unique, intelligent, comparison is almost impossible" - 2010 international song contest "Expose Yourself"
 
 
"One of the most inventive and talented songwriters in the business today"
 
- Isaac Davis Jr. MBA, Editor in Chief of Junior's Cave Online Magazine
 
 

Lyrics

Where the wild things are

Excuse me if it looks like I’m completely disengaged

From the vacuous expression staring blandly into space

But from time to time

I need to take my mind

Where the wild things are


If I look right past the obvious in things that I perceive

There’s a chance despite a bland façade there’s beauty underneath

But to get a clearer view

Of the subtle hues

I need to close my eyes


And right behind

The half-closed eyes

Is a world of endless bliss, the rest is noise

You’re welcome to join


Let me reassure you I’m still here and I won’t go away

But sometimes when my mind goes wild I need to join the fray

When the tempers flare

You can find me there

Trying to calm things down


Sometimes I like to revel in the miracle you are

From the safety of my own thoughts and I won’t be gone too far

From time to time

I really need to hide

where the wild things are


And right behind

The half-closed eyes

Is a world of endless bliss, the rest is noise

You’re welcome to join

 

Hand me a jet pack

Someone hand me a jet pack

so I can blow myself upright

this is no innuendo

I've only been asleep too tight


Someone hand me a fork lift

so I can shift myself out of bed

hanging on to a taut rope

Sighing, sobbing with a throbbing head

 
We'll get this day started yet
 
Can whoever brought water

fetch a large pack of aspirin as well

While I’m massaging my temples

Emerging ever so slowly from hell


And anyone with experience

Of pushing beached whales back to sea

Looking for a new challenge

Can contact me ASAP


For practical testing on me


Hint of the Day:

First the first few hours

I‘m not there as such

Once I’m awake

Re-evaluate

Don’t expect too much


[Much] too early to stand straight

Might have to lie down for a bit

Give the blood flow a head start

While I take another caffeine hit


That’s almost it for the moment

A quick nap is all that I need

You can let yourself out, thanks

Shut the door and lights off when you leave
 

Leave the fork lift and jet pack with me

 

You’ve been stuck in this fairytale castle for what seems to be a good few days

So you need a knight in shining armour and a military engineer to help you escape

But when you get within a five-mile radius of the place there’s hill after hill to climb

And when you get to the top, there are guard dogs with impeccable reaction times


So I’d quite like

To come and rescue you

But I just might

Have better things to do

You can save yourself


There’s a moat full of monsters that haven’t eaten in a while and they’re all carnivores

There’s a footbridge across but it creaks so much the noise will be quite hard to ignore

And there are archers with excellent vision staring down from the battlements at night

With a stockpile of a thousand arrows and production lines to feed their supply


So I’m not sure

That I can save you today

Cause my favourite TV show’s on

So I’ll best be on my way

You can save yourself
 

Covering cold feet

with warm sheets

as a new day is fading in


Facing the bright light

with closed eyes

and imagine it from within


Taking a slow breath

with limbs outstretched

a contended, voiceless sigh


Yawning the day to life

with a lion smile


And driving the new morning’s slow gear

When at random times throughout the day

The dreamy metaphors appear

The dots and lines are patternless, opaque

And the only thing that’s apparent

Is that they won’t become transparent

If you decipher metaphors they don’t translate


Timid an unsung

morning can come

Streaming in through all the cracks


Further away from home

and the city drones

feeling the mind unwind, relax


Clutching the tail end

of a dream that was sent

to join in last night's sleep


Dreaming in photos and God only knows

what any of them mean


Redrawing the plot lines fragmented in time

They’re coming in ranks and files and crooked lines

The messages, are always vague

And the only thing that’s apparent

Is that they won’t become transparent

If you decipher metaphors they don’t translate

 

In the beginning I was all alone and free to roam the earth just as I pleased

So at first I found it hard to grasp the benefits of surgery on me

But things got old eventually so I had words with my old man upstairs

And one rib later you were there, the answer to my meeting and my prayers


So Eve, make yourself at home, and a cordial welcome to our world

And Eve, without hyperbole, you’ll see that it’s a paradise on earth


Do you feel that familiarity, it’s like we’ve known each other for several days

We’re under strict orders to procreate, so let’s go to work and start a human race

I might just be a prototype but I’m definitely the best human you can get

And other females who could vouch for me, you know they haven’t been created yet


So Eve, will the fact that I’m an alpha male help you set your mind at ease

And Eve, do you see that morning dew, let’s you get you out of these wet fig leaves


You know what moron snake that you like so much, he's full of it and headed straight for hell

His eyesight is sub-par so he only see you when you move as well

But if you like him that’s ok with me, I still have a few spare ribs up my chest

Our dad can fix a version 2.0 for me, new-and-improved, perhaps that’s best


And Eve, sometimes I feel it’s as if you were made for me

So I feel distinctly blue when I see you with that spineless worm near the God-damned tree


I know you need your space sometimes

But I’m not convinced you’re straight with me

Sometimes I feel you’re not even listening to me even though I’m the only other being round here with the cognitive facility for intelligible speech


But we don’t have to sort this out right now let’s just enjoy a little break

We can always talk it over after lunch, I’ve fixed you some boiled snake

 
If I had a dime
For the number of times
I was surprised to find things were ok
I’d be left with small change
Of significant weight
That I can’t use here in the UK
 
And if I’m still here
This time next year
I’ll be pleasantly taken aback
Crazy how you survive
Just by staying alive
Even when you’re not on the right track
 
If I had a dime
For the number of times
I found shortcuts to scale the way down
All the way from the top
Without pausing for breath
Or to contemplate turning around
 
And if I'm still here
In a thousand years
I'll be writhing in flashbacks at night
To the countless omissions
And failed ambitions
And things that I didn't get right
 
And if we're still here
In a thousand years
Then my guess is we're doing just fine
I’d assume that by then
We’ll feel different again
About things that felt wrong at the time
 

Where to put that foot

If we haven’t met forgive me in advance

Because there’s a pretty much one-in-one chance

That I might well somehow offend you today

Let’s get the apologies out of the way


If you remind me later, I’ll phone up and apologise again


The problem you have with a heart on your sleeve

Is that it gets stuck there before you take leave

You tend to forget that it’s there when you speak

Where’s censorship when that’s just what you need


Can someone invent the browser BACK button equivalent for speech


I’ve put my foot in it so many times

I might as well leave it here if that’s alright

I’ll come back to get it when I’m back next time

For now, it’s sorry and apologies, goodbye

For your info, I can eat my words but my foot’s there to stay


So what will you think if you see me again

Will I be demoted to “friend of a friend”

Or will you find comfort to some degree

In my haven of my idiosyncrasy

 
In my opinion you can never get bored with high-risk and high-reward


I’ve put my foot in it so many times

I’d rather just leave it here if that’s alright

I’ll come back to get it when I’m back next time

For now, it’s so long and farewell and goodbye

Tell your friends we’ve never met before and I’ll support the lie

 

The thought of you is new

The thought of you is new

Not the cause but all effects

Any effect at all


I woke up slow and low

With a blurred and misty cloudy mind

Foggy and subdued

 

And with clarity emerged the crisp and vivid shape of you
 

And I’m impressed

Though my head feels slightly messed with and confused

Monopolised by thoughts of you


I didn’t see the key

Dangling from your necklace

Freshly cut and poised for more


And silently indeed

You rearranged the furniture

Scented the room with alpine fir


You’ve changed this place so much we can’t go back to where we were


How did you rise

From a placid lake to a storm surge tide

You took the barriers in your stride

How did you get

From the corner of my mind to centre stage

With pyrotechnics and shiny special effects

State of the art sound and background singers garishly dressed


You stand here loud and proud

You rose from country music

All the way to Jethro Tull


How did you find - the time

To purchase a majority

Of shares in my small company


Managing the board with casting vote and veto rights


How did you rise

From the Denmark to the UK of my mind

To a straight flush from a mere Queen-high

I thought you were

Only holding the pen to take some notes

To find you drew the story all along

And now you craft the chapters, run the show

 

How did you rise

To be central to the story of my life

 

Architects of time

It's 4 by 6 inches in black and white

The photograph is two-dimensional

And your expression is indifferent there

Perhaps the look was unintentional


So I really should go back in time

And make sure that you smile a little more


So we might not see all the present holds

But the past can be tweaked and story arcs refined

Since we can change the way time unfolds

The way we want it done

And the people we become

Are shaped by us as architects of time


And while we're at it might I be so bold

To move us closer retroactively

And put your hand in mine for me to hold

And turn your pretty face a few degrees


Towards the place that I'll be standing

This time round it's better than before


So we might not see all the future holds

But the present can be tweaked and story arcs refined

Since we can change the way time unfolds

When bereft of all remorse

We swerve violently off course

And create new paths as architects of time


And the fate that we outrun

And the people we become

Are shaped by us as architects of time
 

So - how’s it cooking as of late

Are you still boiling over cause and consequence

So - are you collecting status quo’s

Why would you want to put a crown on this silence


I’m applying for judicial review

Be that as it may, I wouldn’t choose it over you


From a weightless depth in double helix shapes

You and I are rising entwined in our escape

And we're orbiting in circles as we rise

To the equidistant space between you and I

 
So - how’s it looking as of late

When did you ditch the need to wait/deliberate

So - when did patience get the sack

At what point in time were rules of reason axed


They’re still not insignificant to me


So - how many light bulbs does it take

To screw all the blues that dark nights, stark fights make

So - bioluminescence left aside

When would you be willing to become a white bright light


Obviously speaking metaphorically

I’m submerged and going under over you


From a weightless depth in double helix shapes

You and I are rising entwined in our escape

And we're orbiting in circles as we rise

To the equidistant space between you and I
 

Time to go

The countdown passed, no lingering

There’s no time left to share

No leaning in for a last embrace

Or a chance to smell your hair


No parting words, no holding hands

No final touch from you

One final kiss, that’s all there is

When it’s time to go you go


No inside jokes, no favourite song

Familiar turns to strange

No last wish, no voiced regret

No longing looks exchanged


The script complete, the plot’s wrapped up

The chapter’s done and closed

No sequel planned for the life we began

When it’s time to go you know


In automaton mode I took a few things I owned

From the shelves and I boxed them up too

The rest you can keep, they’re things I don’t need

And things that remind me of you


The moment I walk down the stairs

The suitcase on the floor

Know that I won’t come back again

I force myself through the door


I tell my hands to pull it shut

And somehow they obey

No plans for when we might meet again

When it’s time to go you go


Fissile Isle

I’ve free-lanced for this entity for some time now and my role isn’t small

We spend a lot of time in meetings that just don’t seem to go anywhere at all

My inadvertent full-time job is to keep an eye on where free neutrons are

And the ultimate objective is to stop this nucleus from splitting apart

 
The mass of these amassed debates

Is critical, it radiates

We need to try to touch it and diffuse

Unlock the door, it’s not too late

To go inside and moderate

The fissile chain reaction that ensues

Or else we’re old news

This forest can sustain a broad diversity of life forms in its midst

So all the better if we let it breathe and leave it just the way it is

The trees sway back and forth tracing exactly the direction where winds blow

They are objective arbiters when our own visibility is low


I’m trying to slow the slash and burn

I’m fighting fires at every turn

While someone else has felled even more trees

I barely have the chance to wipe

The sawdust off our hands in time

To beat the fire down with my bare feet

I’m in need of reprieve

 
Do we add another item to the list of nightmares that have now come true

I certainly had no designs to out the closet arsonist in you

The bridge between the two of us is soaked in petrol all the way ahead

And if it doesn’t burn you’ll try to bring it down mechanically instead

 
You oscillate from side to side

The amplitude is getting higher

It resonates and it’s starting to crack

To dampen it I try to sway

From side the side the other way

I really want to keep this bridge intact

Once it’s gone there’s no way back
 

For Niall and Glenn

 
The climate here is pretty decent most of the time

It’s tranquil and calm and the sun occasionally shines

So you don’t mind the inevitable icy rain

You roll your eyes and you don’t complain


Cause we have a special place to stay

To weather the storm when cold winds are blowing our way

When it chills our bones a little too cold

We have a safe haven to warm the soul


We make the signal and step in the boat

when the weather on land is rough

We’ve got each other and that’s way more than enough


And it’s hard to know sometimes

Whether to disarm or whether to fight

Whether to come right out or whether to hide

Whether to punch right back or whether to smile

 
And a thousand angry tornados
 
can’t shake or move me at all

not one inch away from your heart

We can’t be torn asunder by a thousand ignorant darts


And you’re my favourite place to lose myself

And you’re my favourite home in which to dwell


Let’s just hide out here in ourselves for a bit

You can shield the chill with your infamous wit

You have your king-size heart and all the things I love you for

And when the coast is clear we’ll sail back to shore


And even drenched in rain you’re the most beautiful sight

my heart’s ever been lucky enough to even see

Nothing around me could make any more sense to me

And you only need to make sense to me


And you’re my favourite place to lose myself

And you’re my favourite home in which to dwell

And you’re the strongest shoulder to lean on

And you’re the best smile in all of St John’s
 
 

The Wicked Witch of the West (or: as good as it gets)

I haven’t known this girl for all that long

But I have to say in principle we sort of get along

Provided I don’t talk too much and we always do whatever she prefers


Our favourite pastimes aren’t always quite the same

I studied law, so clearly I’m no stranger to pain

But I must try to persuade her to stop punching me with quite so much verve


I was hoping we could have a tranquil night in

With a hot bath running and the lights slightly dimmed

With calm music playing in the background and a large glass of wine


And I was hoping while we’re in the bath tub, not to be cliché

But she didn’t quite catch on to the idea that I’d conveyed

Cause what happened then was like the psycho shower scene with her holding the knife


Is this as good as it gets

I’m not complaining, I’m just mildly horrified

Can I occasionally kiss

your lips and not your heels all the time


And recently I’ve learned to watch the drinks that I consume

Not in terms of how much but in terms of not leaving the room

She’s got a pack of ninety roofies in her purse and they’re all meant for me


So lately I’ve got used to waking up at odd times

With little memory of the previous hours in mind

Feeling beaten up and scared that maybe she did something in my sleep


Last week she really put my constitution to the test

I don’t remember most of it, which is really for the best

But I vividly recall the sight that greeted me when I woke up in a haze


She was all dressed in black leather and was brandishing a whip

“Is there a costume party I forgot?” I nervously quipped

And I won’t be too specific about what happened next but I couldn’t sit for days


Is this as good as it gets

Perhaps a cinema simile here is best

I was looking for someone like this Kansas’s Dorothy

And not so much for the Wicked Witch of the West


Is this as good as it gets

I find your brand of crazy hard to resist

But at some point we should talk

Using our mouths this time and not your fists

 
 

The Pop diva trajectory

Let’s meet at your office at half past three

To produce a juicy, colourful press pack for me

To finish casting for a baby girl that photographs well

And a relatable group of friends and family as well


My family, although they went to rather posh schools

Will have a go at regional accents too

And let’s make sure that for the next TV interview

My ugly racist uncle will be hidden from view


And someone write me a pop diva ballad real quick

And transpose it to a pitch that I can just about hit

Let’s have a 4-chord max, not too complex

and a chorus with mobile ring tone specs


I should cry now and tell the audience that the show tonight

Is something I’ve been working towards all my life

Even though I admit, I’m a bit hazy with that date

Cause the show’s only been around since 2008


Hike up the hype machine and pull all the stops

produce me like disposable plastic cups

And give me an elaborate back story that looks credible

The way that TV ads can make fast food look semi-edible


And there’s no doubt that people buy whatever we sell

So long as we can keep on packaging it well

When half the country’s now boisterously cheering for more

From a girl they hadn’t heard of until the week before


Follow my trajectory

From talent show celebrity

To dancing with the stars in time

To push my latest clothing line

To being the face of charities

And more-or-less biographies

And once that’s over I can go and

Be a judge on talent shows


So pull the trigger on the hype machine

And shoot in the direction of the average teen

And when they’ve been hit with the latest (s)hit

Reload and shoot me onto that movie screen

 

Ode to your body

So now that you are here I have a few ideas how we can spend our time

To elevate this night from pretty decent to exquisitely divine


So: you wouldn’t stay inside to pay the bills on a warm and sunny day

If you had your own lightsaber you wouldn’t use it as a desk light

And if you open a bottle of wine you drink it instead of letting it go stale

And if you had your own space ship you wouldn’t only use it for domestic flights


So do you really think that nature gave this body to you

Just to get from A to B and to process food

I’m sure that your creator would be rather hurt

If you didn’t think that proposition’s plain absurd


So what better way to have some fun

Than bliss for two for the price of none

Is it really so presumptuous

To optimise your felicific calculus


We can sleep soon enough

And in the meantime platonic can get stuffed


If you master telepathy you probably won’t need to send a fax

So why go get a massage when you have your own devoted volunteer

And if you could turn invisible you may choose not to pay any tax

Sure, Einstein played the violin but you wouldn’t have pushed him to make it a career (that would have been a relatively bad idea)


Should be quite effortless to make yourself at home

Let’s bolt the doors, turn off the phone

Why not practise awesomeness with me tonight

Why watch TV when you can be with me


Why defy your body’s most natural state

Why drive a car when you can levitate

Limiting your body in this crazy way

Is to close the curtains on a sunny day


We can sleep soon enough

And in the meantime platonic can get stuffed


For even a convinced Cartesian dualist

needs his mind and body to coexist

So while you're agile there’s no playground angle steep enough

No pleasure unattainable, no joy too much


We can sleep soon enough

And in the meantime, you know what
 
 
 

A small selection of things I would do if your soul got trapped.

(or: why sometimes even an ogre simply won’t do)
 

If your doors are closed and the door bell doesn't work

If the blinds are drawn and the windows are shut

If the landline phone goes straight to the answering machine

If there's no way to call you and even your blackberry's stuffed   


If there's a high voltage fence with a 55-digit code

With a burglar alarm that's incredibly loud

Or a castle with a drawbridge over an acidic moat

With Thick As A Brick walls in which case I “really don't mind if we sit this one out”


If there were Indiana Jones type dark corridors

I'd duck the arrows, solve riddles and leap over trap doors

Or get an ogre to lift me over the wall

Even if finding a suitable ogre ain't easy at all   


I would bribe the security staff with white wine from the Pfalz

Shawshank-Redemption my way through an underground pipeline

Or propel myself past the guards with a catapult

Could use the ogre of course but like i said they're hard to come by


I would distract the guard dogs with the finest meat

Jump on the roof with a massive-ass trampoline

I wouldn't just blast a hole in the wall

Because blasting holes just wouldn't be subtle at all


Might play some music and some piano too

Even though I realise that doesn't directly help you

But it keeps me focussed / in my thinking cap

This is a small selection of things I would do if your soul got trapped.

 
 

Time

I’m checking out, I’m checking out

Mind you, I was never really there

I’ve just been daydreaming out loud

But dreams and I are friends so I don’t care


I’m going home, I’m going home

To that state of charming, calming bliss

Where it’s ok to be alone

Where life means more than merely to exist


And I’m not that disengaged

Not at all, I just found a way

To make time a friend of mine

We just move at different speeds sometimes


I’m going back, I’m going back

To the smooth cocoon of my parallel sphere

I’m taking all the time I need with me

We’ll blast the past and then I’ll come back here


And it’s good-bye, I’m flying high

Into my escapist fantasy

And time might be cruel at times

But when I come back down I can turn it around
 
 

Counting heartbeats, counting sheep

Falling backwards, falling asleep

And fall into dreams


Don’t wake me up just yet, I just defeated gravity

the trick is to jump and not to land

Don’t wake me up just yet, I’m floating weightlessly

I steer through the clouds with the palm of my hand


Ending my nocturnal flight

With the blinding morning light

Stumbling into day


Don’t wake me up just yet, I can make time stand still

I can speak a million languages and read people’s minds,

Don’t wake me up just yet, I can match the speed of light

I can pass through solid walls and shape-shift at will


And there’s no place like my home

Right here in the twilight zone

Stumbling into day
 
 
(c) Ben Rusch, 2009 and 2010 - terms of use