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1.
Sanity 04:46
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Whispering all the time, talking dirty taking sides Telling me I should take my life Don’t blame the voices, make your own choices. You know your privileges are on the line Can’t swallow my own spit, medication gives me fits I start to believe I’m telling lies According to trials and the side effects profile Your symptoms do not match and you won’t try CHORUS Sanity oh sanity Like I’m wilfully rejecting you Sanity oh sanity If I had the chance to choose They shut off all the lights, lock the door up tight Nurses only come force feeding meds I blame myself, tortured and bereft Naked cold alone shivering on my bed CHORUS In case it hasn’t clicked, you’re behaving like a lunatic Face down in the gurney now we’ve had you stripped My glasses seized and signed for, effectively I’m blinded Ankles wrists secured so I submit CHORUS……
2.
The Key to Discovery 04:32
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Volunteered at the Veterans’ Clinic, 75 dollars a day They’d leave me in a white room on my own again Every day they’d bring another capsule for me to take To bring on various psychoses CHORUS Like a picture appears from straight lines and curves We were handed the key to discovery Psilocybin, Mescaline, Peyote or Amphetamine Ditran was the bummer, bring on the dread The blanket hairs appeared as a field of thorns diseased I’d put my fingers down my throat and wretch CHORUS Like a picture appears from straight lines and curves We were handed the key to discovery The white smocks thought they were doing the research We were handed the key to discovery A squirrel dropped an acorn from the tree outside LSD brought me touch and sound and sight Ceiling started moving on shadowed plains of level and light The upside down desert sprang to life CHORUS
3.
The Cop Game 04:03
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The cops put our house under surveillance For hard drugs like we’re dealing Put a sign out saying we’re clean, Detective! LSD is legal ‘ The property was mic’d for sounds for our film Speakers wired into the terrace When they’d make a noise in the woods We’d communicate directly ‘ Bridge We know you’re out there; you know we’re in here Quit playing the cop game, come in for a drink Quit playing the cop game, come in for a drink Promise not to spike your coffee with LSD Put a sign out, tipped off about a raid ‘No Entry to the Orgy’ 17 deputies, a Federal Agent A sheriff with his walky-talky Claimed I was flushing marijuana away I was painting flowers on the toilet Up against the wall, seized a vial of liquid It was oil for the tape recorder If the purpose of the raid was to stamp out drugs All it did was make us famous Countercultural heroes charges dropped The headline in all the papers The property was mic’d for sounds for our film Speakers wired into the terrace When they’d make a noise in the woods We’d communicate directly Bridge
4.
The Longer You Leave Me 04:42
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Told me to pack my bags, we’re going down the coast Headed in the wrong direction, is there something I don’t know Pulled into a hospital, my Step-Mum looked upset Dad filled in all the forms, they put a bracelet round my wrist Men were all jittery like puppets moving slow Chain smoking cigarettes the air was thick with smoke Between the bars on my windows another sunny day in June On holiday without me, said they’d send for me soon CHORUS How can you send for me from so far away Longer you leave me the further I’m gone, must be some mistake On the way back from holidays in the car my Dad would yell Outside the motel on a swing I left my teddy bear Next morning we drove an hour, I couldn’t face the truth Dad said we’re not turning back, we’ll send for it soon CHORUS How can you send for me from so far away Longer you leave me the further I’m gone, must be some mistake There must be some mistake, I’m so far away Does no one see, does no one hear me, there must be some mistake No one would pay attention til I screamed into their face Orderlies came out of nowhere, put me in restraints A massive needle in my arse I demand the Head Nurse came Did Dad know this all along, maybe after all it’s no mistake CHORUS How can you send for me from so far away Longer you leave me the further I’m gone, must be some mistake My Fathers name was Dad, my Mother’s name was Mum How can I take the blame for everything I’ve done How can you send for me from so far away
5.
The Designated Crazy 03:51
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CHORUS I’m the designated crazy, my family can pay To stay in the infirmary to prove they’re not insane I’m here to fix their problems, my family can pay The designated crazy, I’m proof they’re not insane You lost your dignity and the right to choose? We don’t force on you any visits or calls If you stay invisible you can just refuse To get a job or even go to school CHORUS Twice the amount paid on hospital fees Than the education you would not accept Your Dad’s an alcoholic and I can never sleep You just take it easy and we’ll pick up the debt CHORUS We’re gonna move to Mexico so we can go on paying You can come and visit, life is very cheap Servants and a house and sunshine every day We will send you back as soon as there’s the the need CHORUS x2
6.
If You Wanna Use Your Head 05:45
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Every morning a traffic jam to work Like so many other liberal intellectual automotons In a 5 hour mushroom trip I learnt more about the brain than years of research in psychology CHORUS If you wanna use your head You have to go out of your mind Take responsibility for your own mind Or be programmed by the interests of corporate government They sacked me from my academic post For giving staff and students psychedelic substances CHORUS x2 LSD was illegal I made it A League of Spiritual Discovery sacrament The psychological test they gave me In prison was the very one I had fashioned them I falsified the questionnaire To make myself conformist and conventional So they put me in a low security prison I escaped the US to French Algeria CHORUS x2
7.
Welcome to the Angels 03:34
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Through Hunter S Thompson, San Francisco Introduced them to me as kindred spirits Marijuana possession I was busted for the crime They said ‘You can’t trust a man who hasn’t done time’ Local community wonder what they’re in for Keep your kids in doors, lock up your daughters CHORUS No one’s ever thought of extending invitations We put a sign out front “Welcome Hell’s Angels Hear’m 10 miles away riding in formation Put a sign out front, welcome ‘Welcome to the Angels’ Cops were revving the squad cars up We were getting wasted waiting for the stars Sliding to a stop, they came in a procession An explosion of dust, they made their entrance How would it end, their Acid Test trial Maybe an orgy, maybe a fight CHORUS Cops lined up in cars on the street Rock n roll, light show and everything we need Our radio station kept the party going All day and night, no laws were being broken 2-way radios, police lights flashing Just another spectacle, add it to the action You know when Tiny and Buzzard have fun Bumping chests and lick each others’ tongues Mountain Girl said when they passed a joint around Not after it’s touched your dirty mouths Nobody refuses when an Angel offers They just laughed, they couldn’t get enough
8.
Shake the Foundations 04:01
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The Young Unitarians were embracing Civil Rights Heard our psychedelic experiments in communion could bring light Invited us to the Conference, Shake the Church Foundations The young people were curious, their parents in disarray CHORUS Step on the Stars and Stripes, grind them in the dirt You forget what you stand for when you put the symbol first Step on the Stars and Stripes, grind them in the dirt You wanna shake the foundations or utter hollow words? “ For the intellectuals roughing it, smoking pipes in short sleeved shirts I stepped on the flag and ground it in the dirt A symbol of the games we play you’re caught up in a tangle You can’t know an emotion til you’ve seen it from all angles The conference officials said, you’re causing a divide A bad example to young people, staying up all night Having sex in the shower, living on a bus Some of the Ministers have left in disgust
9.
The Protest Movement 04:01
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Vietnamese, blacks and poor, dying and beaten on the floor Bobby Kennedy, Luther King, you cannot ignore it Taking over universities, living out our fantasies Poking their tongues, out at the Lawman pre-CHORUS Call it the Protest Movement Our actions count (On TV) Call it the Protest Movement (Started having my doubts) You could barely touch us, there were no repercussions TV blared out in the open ward All we had to lose one morning in seclusion Identifying with the cause Pre CHORUS CHORUS On the Psych Ward they just call it They just call it acting out (On TV) Call it the Protest Movement On the Psych Ward they just call it…acting out Bobby Seales the Black Panther in a court room bound and gagged Tied him up in chains, just like a slave Like my shock treatment without credibility I realised how the rules would never change
10.
Cactus 06:54
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Don’t remember much about a party, they put us together t sleep Smoked everyone’s cigarettes, never ate a decent meal Couldn’t sleep on an empty stomach, late night kitchen raid Should have brought it up earlier when I found the oatmeal cake CHORUS I wish I knew I was a cactus I would never have spiked myself I wish I knew I was a cactus I would never have spiked myself Couldn’t piss or shit, woke up with a fright Millipedes touch antennae, passing in the night Down on my hands and knees to study them on the ground Should have brought it up earlier, never been so aroused CHORUS Asleep at last looking down on myself, a final goodbye Passing up through the tunnel towards the light Heard myself gasp for the air, could no longer neglect Should have brought it up earlier, my inhaler was empty Drove to hospital, kept me talking when you saw me fade Through winding hills hospitable cubicle constipated Must have heard me scream, I pushed through the pain Should have brought it up earlier, I’m on the oxygen tank Never talked to anybody, 3 days alone in my room Went to pick up my belongings, they said you’d gone for good Did you eat an oatmeal cake, made of hash concentrate Should have brought it up earlier, now is it too late? CHORUS
11.
The Spark of Creation 03:47
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I’d go to work as a porter tripping on the nightshift Through heavy doors down corridors of the asylum I realised as I got to know the patients You might not conform, but are you insane They let me draw their portraits, I could see right inside them The spark of creation shining in their eyes CHORUS Once you’ve mastered it, the power brings a quandary A gift too great to bear, too formidable to squander Decorated an old bus across the States to ride Making gifts of LSD and art from everyday life Faked my suicide when busted for possession In the trunk of a friend’s car to Mexico I fled Our friend wanted me to father her a love child The spark of creation and the blessing of my wife CHORUS The court case was looming, welcome back to the country On all fours at the party, we start speaking in tongues You can blow up the water heater when the voice spoke I walked outside and pointed and watched it explode No wind can reach the gully but I summoned it on the spot Through the spark of creation I know that I am God CHORUS
12.
The Voices in My Head 03:37
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The voices in my head speak the emotions I won’t feel The fire hydrant was a runaway nun Tells me of St Sebastian, I will die as a martyr too Every sinful thought is the pain you can shun Bridge 1 JFK, assassinate! Over the school intercom Whispering my name I know that I’m to blame And never speak for shame Verse 2 The voices in my head speak, I am mute instead Talk to me I stare straight ahead They start calling me zombie, about me talk all the time Make me feel real I don’t mind Bridge 2 With my shades on protecting me, I shield you in your innocence I burn my forehead red Putting out cigarettes The Devil marks an X Verse 3 The voices in my head speak the emotions I won’t feel A voice told me to build the human being Hospital staff disapprove but it speaks for me when I’m mute I sculpt the death and set the martyr free Bridge 2 Middle 8 The trauma I want to acknowledge I will no longer pretend Reclaim the voices and see them Through the healing lens

about

The Psychedelic pioneers pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable and legal when pursuing the expansion of the mind.
What about when psychedelic experiments get out of hand?
Whose responsibility is it for your bad trip?
Surely we must all take responsibility for our own lives.

What about when you’re considered unable to take that responsibility?
Whose responsibility is it when attitudes to mental health lead to psychiatric and institutional abuse?

credits

released November 26, 2022

Marc Cheeseman – Guitars, Keys, Percussion, Sitar, Midi and Backing Vocals; Simon Bennett – Guitar, Simon Linke – Double Bass (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10,12) and Backing Vocals; Andrew Beard – Bass (2,8, 9, 11), Tom Smith – Guitar and Lead Vocals, Melanie Twidale – Drums and Backing Vocals.

Guest Lead Vocals: Serena Stanger (1,5,12), Sandy Cenin (3,4)

Recorded on the stolen lands of the Jagera and Turrbul people. Sovereignty was never ceded.

CD artwork and design by Jarren Gallway

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Cam Smith at Incremental, Coorparoo, Qld 2021/2022. Co-produced by Cam and Marc Cheeseman.

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The Songs of Tom Smith Brisbane, Australia

The Songs of Tom Smith is a recording and performance project created by Tom in 2012. It has a large pool of musicians across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

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