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Smash The Windows (2016 Reissue)

by Mischief Brew

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1.
Machinery mill us Forever will rule us Until we find out how you're wired Gods no longer read Through the hands of the dead It's safe now to question the friar If they'd stopped at the wheel We'd never have swung in this tire Beyond Middle Ages Left village for nation This masterpiece our fathers penned Too dark to see The olde tyme tyranny May the bulb never burn out again Now that we know now Everything that we didn't know then The book was the lash And the word was the law But the tyranny ended With ink on a block But don't put it in park With miles to go Need a match Nevermore shall we read in the dark Gargantua's hungry His fork and knife drumming But what if we served him no more? If just for a day We took over this place To find out where our harvests are stored? Laugh like a king while you can Til the bastions are stormed Nevermore in the dark
2.
No one knows my politics like the postman He brings me my radical rag I bet the neighbors are wondering What I've got in this bag They say the city virus broke its borders once again Fellow down the lane packed up and ran Where the doors all lock at nine Every creak is like cannonfire There's an old crooked man In an old crooked house He says, "I don't open up on All Saints' Eve. You never know what devil might be waiting there To steal your TV." As he sits to watch a story About another robbery Turns on a light to stave off thieves Where the doors all lock at nine Every creak is like cannonfire The world is sick I think it's dying I'll watch it go through these dusty blinds Life in these houses, locked inside There's blood on the door and candlelight Night Close your eyes and wish it by Call up the police to sing their lullabies Play a hero, John Wayne Put guns in our living rooms Gates 'round our names Give us a face to join up and hate Keep Tiny Town pure and safe But behind these bolts, there's a brewing revolt And it rusts in every one of us So put a yellow ribbon on your "Exterminator" And head westward, across the tracks I got a dream where we all say "See you later!" And never say "Welcome back!" I'm looking out the window Down on Citizens Drive Where all the elders are terrified Will that be you and I? The world is sick I think it might die I'll watch it go through these dusty blinds
3.
Peasant pick a prophet A dozen dimes a downfall The marble floors are cracking Like the plaster on the walls Paper-thin foundation Gambler, let it ride and roll So why are we so shocked When the matchstick house is overblown? Lightning knock the power out Huff and puff and blow the pig's house down Lightning knock the power out Doomsday is a'waitin' So better start your praying Preacher, better start your saving 'Fore the devil gets his share Run and take cover Cause it's really comin' down out there With your candles, cans, and matches Watch the wheels turn back into squares Nightstick cracks down and a riot takes the town One job lost and here's a bullet for the boss Seven leaders meet and a thousand take the streets One button pressed and goodbye, it's the end One drop in the water And it's sayonara Disneytown Kinda like the roots All crackin' through the concrete ground One squirrel in the walls And it's just a matter of time Nitwit got the global joystick And long may the cockroach thrive And that's the way it'll all go down Lightning knock the power out With simulation cities and computer towers It won't take much to wipe it out Lightning knock the power out Huff and puff and blow the pig's house down Lightning knock the power out Right out
4.
We'd go down to throw rocks at the river Curses at the parade Wedge a stone in the gear of the clockworks Try to keep us from acting our age Swore we'd carry on like this forever 'Til the free spirits bled But now can you believe who's a mother And that so-and-so's cut off their dreads? Kill off Columbus And turn the world around After all, the nomads are settling down Used to give most my bread to a landlord Leave the crust for the squats Now the death-wages we pay the bankers Seem to kill all the flies with one swat Hear the wedding bands strike up a number Dear, they're playing our song Hold your breath cause we're gonna go under Get the little ones singing along No way, not to so-and-so Said he'd never change Said he'd never grow He'd stay always on a roll Run beside the trains Past the mossy stones Now there's more hope than ever And it's all crumbling down And the rebels are running for mayor In your hometown As the nomads are dropping their anchors Falling into the sea As I've stopped throwing rocks at the river Now you'll find me a'swimming upstream There is power in unions of ramblers That got nothing to own But there's more in one fist-swinging mother Swearing, "My children shall never be sold." Out of the garden, we multiply Telling our stories May all the old ways die
5.
Come labor, get ready to dance for your bread My son, I was once where you stand There's a beast with insatiable hunger Its minions need crafters and skilled working hands Needs a fortress high in the hilltops And we are the great chosen crew But I am a lowly carpenter So what have I power to do? Oh misery, call us to rise up at dawn To turn 'way as fast as we can We may be the mortar that cradles the brick But I am just one grain of sand And don't tell me of tossing the wrenches It only brings pleasure and pain And we are all lowly carpenters So where we're taken is where we'll remain And the masters shall govern with unbroken backs Look down from the top of the hills You can cry through the night just as much as you like There will always be towers to build I coulda been more than some stone-dragging vassal I could be more than their wood-cutting slave But we are all lowly carpenters So what have we power to change? And if you can't take no more then get out of the way For we have a day to get through We wire their castles, their prisons and banks Know their mansions from cellar to roof We've got hammers and wrenches and chisels We could destroy any great wall we come to But I am a lowly carpenter So what have I power to do?
6.
I'm the mouse, you're the house Swipe a bite of some eats Suck the bloodsucker dry Put the lice in the police Gotta starve the fat cat Every dog has its flea Like I'm a worm at the root Singin' sweet victory Bag of sand Mud and stone Fruit and seed As above, so below There's vultures under your rug Roaches flying by night There's a leech on your back And it's saving your life I sing a scavenger's anthem As I lick your plate clean Farm and a seed I've no reason to heed Only breed as you feed I'm just one of ten thousand fleas It's the biggest mosquito That the world's ever seen Raccoons in your cans Are all eatin' like kings Who needs to use cash When there's plenty of trash? Or we could dive in your flesh And just feed from your rash Raggedy ragamuffin Riff raff, rebel tribe Sleep away in golden straw While the farmer is slashin' And a'plowin' and sweatin' To assure every plate's piled tall Come little boy with your slingshot and horn Send a great fire to swallow the corn For they'll do it to you as they did it to sheep Sing your song of resistance so that I might softly sleep For when I fall asleep That's when you're wide awake I wonder if the bed I lie in Is one that you made Put my ear to the street Heard your hammers in song I walked away whistling Glad that I wasn't singing along
7.
8.
I see the city from my roof Scrape the sky and pierce the moon I toss a brick and hit a bottle I used to have such a fiery soul Now it's full of cigarette holes But scars tell better stories You're just copper underwater Your hope is just a dream 'Til you mix truth and purity What a hell of a hangover You won't find me underground On the rooftops I'll be found Well I'll spit on your fuse Twist you out under my shoe Yeah go ahead and knock it down, child It's nothing new I'll just watch the buildings burn So wake me up when you've freed the earth You say I sold my values Yeah, but you pay for the view I see the city from my roof Like a foreign land from a family room Oh how I once detested its abuse Now the lights all look like stars And there's solace from afar I toss a smoke and watch it tumble Into the whisper of passing cars On the rooftops I'll be found On the rooftops looking down
9.
Lay the sleepy children down Battered hand on baby's brow Embers turn the night to smoke Bottled shells of revelry And ghosts of old jokes Horses tethered tight To them, hay Into beds of straw, the strongarms fade What are the words to The Gypsy Lament? Carnival not haunted by the Lent? Sing of no surrender Saw a fiddle, cracked, in the settler's shack That look on his face said, "Don't come back" As the crusty and the Gypsy had their spat Which one owns less of the land One has asked the other if there's space The other laughs, "You'd hardly last a day. For all your beanfields and your 'pay-no-rents' Can you really sing the rogue's lament?" You'll hang before you surrender I will not surrender The boy could have grown to never strain a hand Yet now he speaks of working his own land And father's bribery is all for naught For the morals of these stories can't be bought How I marvel when idle ease is shed To tend the wheat that soon shall be your bread If you choose rebellion over sweet content Can you really sing the rogue's lament again? No... I'll sing the rogue's lament never again I'll sing the rogue's lament never again For when you roll your own bed, Your days beyond self-led You cannot sing the rogue's lament again For when you bake your own bread, The baker's always a friend I'll sing the rogue's lament never again
10.
I am a leader but you will not follow me I ain't no preacher, for I'm full of blasphemy See you in hell, boys Like an angel who'd been dancing with some devils I'm a bad girl with hope for a better day My laughter is spiced with mischief I won't toss the salt, kiss it up, or pray When you offer pink or blue, I'll take the blackest When you offer only two, I'll offer three When you point me in a direction, I'll run backwards And at the border of utopia, I'll toast to anarchy Cause fire and rock, I'm coming home to you As I'm pickin' the bones out of my dinner stew Open up the gates of hell and roll me through Fire and rock, I'm coming home to you So you're sayin' Satan's army's rising up soon Well if it is, I'm the Secretary of No-State No state! Got wrenches, rocks, and bottles in my tool pouch My desire is society's jailbait Cause there's tons of guys a'mopin' 'bout the workday Dimes by the dozens Their song weighs a thousand pounds But there's nothing like a lady with a buzzsaw I just might build your house But I just might tear it down Yes barkeep, I will surely have another To the witches! To the goblins and the trolls! I'll be coming to recruit your rebel children There ain't no use in lockin' doors There's one of me in every home With mud on my boots And blood on my jeans I'll take those pretty dresses Tear 'em at the seams Roll me through the gates of hell, ah please And I'll be back in your daughter's dreams
11.
Never sing "no surrender" When you've just learned to crawl It's all bravery knowing When to fly and to fall But down here by the ocean Things just don't seem so bad, on our backs And we've all forgotten Whatever had made us so mad Always fall into slumber At the end of the day May you dream of a world where There ain't nuthin' to say Every answer, "Whatever" It's all easy to take in my place So let's get stoned And watch the Main Street Parade Pura vida! Coconuts and bananas Rum and sugar cane juice Fillin' up on papaya All this passion and fruit What the hell? Have another! Martyrs thousands of miles out of sight May all we do be all for our delight And I dream as the factories climb and crumble On and on and on May all we do be all for our delight
12.
There was a knockin' at my door It's the dreaded landlord He wants his rent and wants it now And he is careless how He left us in a vacant daze Askin' how we got here And we retired to slumber But the glasses never were rinsed There was a tapping on my back It's the dreaded foreman I think I see a smile Through his teeth and his cigar He put my hands to working Said they'd otherwise do nothing And I made a thousand things today I'm sure I'll never use There was a ringing of my bell I picked it up to answer They said they were my comrade But they couldn't say my name So I asked about the sun and moon And what their thoughts on time were They hung it up in madness And went on to punch the clock And somewhere there's a sound of someone singing I got an invitation once to liberty They had a mischief brew, but no goblets were used Besting rum or porter 'Tis a liquor never brewed, never brewed There was a rapping at my door It's the dreaded policeman He had a ticket to enter Signed by fools and stamped with laws He questioned me on politics Scorned my generation For not respecting elders And the land's authority So when the landlord came to knock I said, "Come back tomorrow!" There's more life I'll be living Than just slaving from your wage And to the troop and foreman Make yourself the things I don't use For I'm off into the forest For a liquor never brewed Today, I'm following the sound of someone singing I got an invitation once to liberty They had a mischief brew, but no goblets were used Besting rum or porter 'Tis a liquor never brewed, never brewed
13.
You know I could never fall asleep on a train All the time dreaming 'bout a'moving away Finally awake I wonder, what if I pulled the emergency brake? Doors are still open, and I wish they would shut Then I could stop thinking: should I jump down and run? Only on page ten And I think I gotta start all over again When the tape slows down It means the battery's dead May your songs never get stuck outta my head If I ever fall asleep, I'll remember my dream Where everybody's there and nobody leaves Something below me starts a'crankin' to life The platform moves backwards 'Til it's outta my sight The tracks start to split Got another ten hours 'til my next cigarette Biked 'round the city 'bout a billion times Now a few seconds left until I leave it behind Almost at the end I close my eyes, and we fall over the edge
14.
Not worth a bag of pepper You grainy salty Europe The Christians hold their noses at another peasant birth That patch of silk you wear is all you're worth No pinch of pepper on the bird Not worth a spoon of sugar In a lady's spot of tea Pity the poor will never know the joys of ivory To give Arabian ambrosia to a Cheapside cockney The fall of the British Crown I'd rather see Not worth a bale of cotton Sold at the auction block When northern aggression puts you out of a job There are fresh fields elsewhere, new chains and rocks And everywhere you turn, another cop They've never seen steel They touch it and bleed They'll make for good servants To wash master's feet Can't get what they got Boss says, "Get a job!" Plenty of shoes to shine And marble to mop Not worth a pound of coffee In a corporation's mug Thanks to backwards nations, you can save your sweat and blood "You see, we use wood, dear. And they use mud. And that's why we look down and they look up." Not worth a barrel of oil Sing the air raid lullaby Pick up screaming little one, run from falling sky But don't you cry Rats don't have feelings, not like you and I They don't go the same place when they die The world is concrete Corn, gasoline Oil, wood, sugar The dawn's coffee bean One million children Or one of our own Which side weighs more? A ton of pepper or a ton of gold?
15.
Come labor, get ready to dance for your bread My son, I was once where you stand There's a beast with insatiable hunger Its minions need crafters and skilled working hands Needs a fortress high in the hilltops And we are the great chosen crew But I am a lowly carpenter So what have I power to do? Oh misery, call us to rise up at dawn To turn 'way as fast as we can We may be the mortar that cradles the brick But I am just one grain of sand And don't tell me of tossing the wrenches It only brings pleasure and pain And we are all lowly carpenters So where we're taken is where we'll remain And the masters shall govern with unbroken backs Look down from the top of the hills You can cry through the night just as much as you like There will always be towers to build I coulda been more than some stone-dragging vassal I could be more than their wood-cutting slave But we are all lowly carpenters So what have we power to change? And if you can't take no more then get out of the way For we have a day to get through We wire their castles, their prisons and banks Know their mansions from cellar to roof We've got hammers and wrenches and chisels We could destroy any great wall we come to But I am a lowly carpenter So what have I power to do?

about

Our 2005 debut LP reissued! Completely remastered from the original analog tapes. "Smash The Windows" is a carnival-punk whirligig, a menagerie of the bizarre combining anarcho-punk with Eastern-European folk, Django Reinhardt-esque swing, Beat-era jazz, Celtic balladry, and straight-up anthemic rock that somehow pulls off a mix of The Pogues, Johnny Cash, Chumbawamba, Morphine, Subhumans, and Tom Waits. Recorded in Brooklyn in 2004 by Danny Shatzky and Tamir Muskat (Balkan Beat Box, Firewater), this is more of a musical soundtrack, with characters and settings, than a traditional punk record. Includes two never-before-heard outtakes: "Bag Of Pepper" and an alternate acoustic mix of "The Lowly Carpenter." Released on 180 gram vinyl by Fistolo Records as well!

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released March 22, 2016

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Mischief Brew Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Emerging from the undead ashes of PA punk troupe The Orphans, Mischief Brew started with a scratchy demo tape in 2000 and has since spread the good word of anarchy, hilarity, and rebellion across state lines and even the Atlantic Ocean a few times. We've managed to exist for over 13 years in one form or another by kissing nobody's ass and doing everything ourselves, for the most part. No rules! ... more

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