John Cage Is Dead

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Hart, Jenkins, Welnick, Hidalgo, Hussain

John Cage is dead
John Cage you know he's dead
He's dead, he's dead, you know he's dead
He's dead, you know he's dead

I've been sittin' here coolin' my thighs
Watching these dead dog days roll by
Shoes in the buttermilk, wolves in the bread
And I just heard John Cage is dead

I hear foghorns in the breeze
Wind alive with symphonies
Built myself a hurricane fence
'Cause I don't believe in accidents

I wonder wonder wonder wonder
Where that fellow went
The one who wrote the book of love
With a stick in wet cement
He looked like Jimi Hendrix
But he shook like Santa Claus
He didn't mind your justice
But he could not take your laws

John Cage is dead
John Cage you know he's dead
He's dead, he's dead, you know he's dead
He's dead, you know he's dead

Poking my stick in a can fulla snakes
Baby I hope that's all it takes
I been sittin' here drippin' with frost
Could be found or I could be lost

You got dreams and so do I
Your's won't live and mine won't die
Shut my mouth, clench my fist
Tape an alarm clock to my wrist
Stop the music, stop the music
Let me hear you breathe
Don't want to hear your story
I just want to read

Don't take me to Paradise
So fast I get the bends
You don't have to shut the book
Until the story ends

John Cage is dead
John Cage you know he's dead
He's dead, he's dead, you know he's dead
He's dead, you know he's dead

Technical ploy on the vertical night from (note 1)
A slack jawed monkey with an appetite
Digital carry the sound so well you can
Smell the whiskey on the Dogs from Hell

Picture me down on the Parchment Farm (note 2)
With a twelve foot bullwhip on my arm
Crack that whip and the jinglebell rings
Kettledrums roll and the fat lady sings

John Cage is dead
John Cage you know he's dead
He's dead, he's dead, you know he's dead
He's dead, you know he's dead

Look at all those wide eyed people
Staring at the sky
I don't care what they're looking for
Don't waste the time to try
Or fail to say what could be said
From the heart's unstifled cry
I don't believe John Cage is dead
HE'S NOT THE TYPE TO DIE (note 3)

John Cage is dead
John Cage you know he's dead
He's dead, he's dead, you know he's dead
He's dead, you know he's dead