[Jandek] Glasgow Monday Lyrics

[Jonathan Lee]

Not trying to nit-pick and it's awesome that Danen sent out the lyrics. 
I just noticed some discrepancies.  I've made some changes to the text,
and then listed them separately below.

Jonathan




“The Cell”

Disc One

1. Prelude (instr)

2. Part One

What do I have?
Not what I had.
Is it good?
I suppose it’s not bad.
I crashed and burned
and phoenixed out of there
and now what do I have?
Some semblance of my body,
an overview of my mind.
I stand, looking
I can’t see all that was.
I am lesser and greater,
something different.
Somehow I didn’t feel like a result before.
It was moving too fast,
It was…
Now I am, I think.
It’s not so fast,
it’s dead slow compared
to the hormones I could not catch.

3. Part Two

What do I have?
Some ability to pay the bills.
Well, let’s get that done.
I can break the barrier
if it means brushing up against death.
Nothing to live for 
except breaking the barrier.
The other side of life
where I don’t think about anything that’s not.
I’ll dash these demons,
spit out the virus,
starve the monster.
I need – you can’t have it.
One way or the other we move,
going to the end.
The beginning.
It’s so basic, these needs. 
I won’t forget.
I won’t.

4. Part Three

What do I have?
An insight from the past.
So contrite, knowledge.
Some bastion I guard.
Some shade – granted the beast is difficult.
Take it down, old soul warrior.
What do I have?
Nothing is acute.
Nothing is immanent. 
A slow blaze.
Not even a grimace.
Gone the instant recollect,
gone the life and death instance
best I’m alone. 
Was I ever anything else?
I know I’ll dream the perfect exit
Except – does it just start again?
Hear the cosmic question,
and the ultimate response.
Gravity, where are you?

5. Part Four

What do I have?
A ship without a crew.
Dead leaves in the forest.
Dandelions.
Scurrying little things.
When I really tried to look,
I couldn’t find.
When I forgot everything,
I lived without knowing,
without caring. 
The experience was first and last.
Go and be gone.
Your second transpired.
Character – what’s that?
Grand palace.
I sleep in the tree.
I know the night
is trying to bother me.
I have rocks,
I have intelligence,
the instinct of a human.
But the occult is another thing.
I do battle with myself.

Disc Two

1. Part Five

What do I have?
The comfort of acquisition.
The calling from mountains.
The barometer.
Needless to say, I’m hearing something far away.
Cancel all my appointments.
There’s another focus
that I can not explain,
nor do I want to.
There’s not a breeze,
still and waiting.
Endless search I found
golden floors and blue cushions.
Disconnected, really – maybe not.
Flowers don’t seem to mind.
I’ll pick up the days.
Just this one last dead span.
Life without knowing.
The only thought is a moment’s reaction.
I never encountered grief,
I took the other road,
the one that left me sullen here.

2. Part Six

What do I have?
A mental ring exploded.
All the mitochondria streaming
the desert and the swamp,
I know they’ll have to go.
It's all the same.
Comfort disrupted, okay.
Well, I suppose I don’t know what to do.
Not just carry on.
Turn sideways.
Look the other way.
Peripheral vision tells me I can be
something I like.
What do I have?
A soundtrack, a video screen,
a vision.
A way to comply.
I don’t give anything.
What do I have?
I don’t know.

3. Part Seven

All-knowing creatures.
Chariots in the sky.
White horses on high.
War of my life.
I have to fight the lack of air.
This courageous spirit 
could down any foe.
Beware dark destruction
confined in the circle cell.
The key is out there.
The mystery revealed.
Stopping the influence
of the straight ahead path.
Knocking my feet under obstacles.
Catapult projection.
No, not here!
Piercing the evidence.
Speed of light.
Canals for the dry wit.
Fresh water for the desert bound.
I don’t care if it takes forever.
But it won’t.

4. Part Eight

What do I have?
A ball and chain.
A cell – solitary.
Well doctor, the wound has healed.
I’m strangling all the rats.
The leaves are dripping water.
And do I see the sun?
Maybe a glimpse.
I’ll lay down flat for weeks,
getting through all the addictions.
I’ll keep thinking.
It’s what I have to do.
Aiming for the dankness,
glad for the experience.
Not counting the hours.
Some kind of ecstasy grows everyday.
I’ll be there where I am.
What do I have?
Nothing – not now or ever.
And I don’t divert.

5. Part Nine

I’ll take all the revelations
after the fall.
I’ll use these ideas.
The crutch is temporary
but the aid of it endures.
When it’s all gone and black
the guardians step aside.
White light – blinding kiss of life.
What do I have?
I breathe.
Wither is the moon?
Yonder.
Where does it end?
It doesn’t – why should it?
Infidel, that you doubt possibility.
What do I have?
Possibility.
I’ll take these things.
It’s hope.
In the cell I have possibilities.
I’ll lay down for weeks.
Whatever it takes.
It’s not concluded.
Seconds, rat-a-tat-tat.
Take one.
What do I have?








list of changes:

> Part One
> ...
> Some resemblance of my body,

"Some semblance of my body"

> I stare, looking
I think this is "I stand, looking"

> Part Two
> ...
> were I don’t think of anything that’s not.

where I don’t think about anything that’s not.

> One way of the other we move,

"One way or the other we move,"

> Part Three
> ...
> An insight into the past.

"An insight from the past."

> A slow blaze.

It really sounds like baize but I'm sure it's supposed to be blaze.

> Hear the cosmic equation,

"Hear the cosmic question,"

> Part Four
> ...
> No second transpires.

"You second transpired."

> I don’t battle with myself.

"I do battle with myself."

> Part Five
> ...
> A barometer

"The barometer"

> that I dare not explain,

"that I can not explain,"

> Part Six
> ...
> All the mitochonrian streaming

I think this is "mitochondria streaming" (my heart sank for a moment the
first time I heard it because I thought he was talking about Star Wars,
but that's something else).  Been a while since I had bio, so I had to
look it up:

> A spherical or elongated organelle in the cytoplasm of nearly all eukaryotic cells, containing genetic material and many enzymes important for cell metabolism, including those responsible for the conversion of food to usable energy. Also called chondriosome.

and I while I was there, and while I'm here (even though it's pretty
trite as far as literary anaylsis goes):
from dictionary.com:
> cell     
> n. 
> A narrow confining room, as in a prison or convent.
> A small enclosed cavity or space, such as a compartment in a honeycomb or within a plant ovary or an area bordered by veins in an insect's wing.
> Biology. The smallest structural unit of an organism that is capable of independent functioning, consisting of one or more nuclei, cytoplasm, and various organelles, all surrounded by a semipermeable cell membrane.
> Architecture. See web.
> The smallest organizational unit of a centralized group or movement, especially of a political party of Leninist structure.
> Electricity. 
> A single unit for electrolysis or conversion of chemical into electric energy, usually consisting of a container with electrodes and an electrolyte; a battery. Also called electrochemical cell.
> A single unit that converts radiant energy into electric energy: a solar cell. 
> A fuel cell.
> Computer Science. A basic unit of storage in a computer memory that can hold one unit of information, such as a character or word.
> A geographic area or zone surrounding a transmitter in a cellular telephone system.
> A storm cell.
> A small humble abode, such as a hermit's cave or hut.
> A small religious house dependent on a larger one, such as a priory within an abbey.
> A box or other unit on a spreadsheet or similar array at the intersection of a column and a row.


> Part Six still:

> I know they’ll have to go.

following line missing
"It's all the same" 

> Look one other way.

"Look the other way"

> Part Seven
> ...
> Stopping the influence
> of the straight ahead.

"of the straight ahead path."

> Part Eight
> ...
> I’ll lay flat for weeks,

"I'll lay down flat for weeks"

> Aiming for the darkness,

"Aiming for the dankness"

> Part Nine
> ...
> I’ll take the revelations

"I'll take all the revelations"

> Where is the moon?

"Wither is the moon?"





misc comments:

> It’s not so fast,
> it’s dead slow compared
> to the hormones I could not catch.

hormones seems like such a strange/unexpected word choice here (imo). 
All these single syllables and "simple" words and then hormones.  It
does bring to mind the physiological kind of cell though. 

> I have intelligence,
> the instinct of a human.
> But the occult is another thing.

this last line would be more typical of a rockin Jandek tune.  that made
me think about how not-rockin The Cell is, and the decision to present
these verses with piano accompaniment rather than with acoustic guitar
or bass guitar or even acapella/spoken word.  Sounds like an upright -
was it?  Can you imagine this done with electric guitar instead?  I sort
of can.

"occult" is another of those words that stood out for me on first
listening.