Sonic Youth – Side One lyrics

00: 00 - 05: 05
Side one fades in with an extended version of the section in
The Good and the Bad that sounds
Reminiscent of I Dreamed I Dream.
Interesting to note that Lee does some type of spoken
Word overtop which is absent on ep version
"shadows...
Morning sun...
Blades of grass...
Dark night...
Sunlight...
Twilight... "
05: 05 - 07: 16
This is a completely unfamiliar piece,
Vaguely reminiscent of their cover of
Dna's Blonde Redhead in rhythm,
But otherwise unknown.
Thurston curiously sings She Is Not Alone once at the end.
07: 16 - 10: 33
"She Is Not Alone"
She is not alone
She is not alone today
She is not alone
She is not alone today
She is not alone
She is not alone today
She is not alone
To... Day
10: 33 - 12: 25
[Unknown instrumental]
12: 25 - 17: 02
The Good And The Bad
[Instrumental]
17: 02 - 19: 15
The World Looks Read
Push it away
The world looks red
People with fish eyes
The ground sucks
Walk on my fingertips
Displacing the fog
The weight of my body
Is too mush to bear
The memory drained
The life from the dull
An ocean of insects
Worked like a sheet
The immovable fact
Buried my mind
In a horse-hair coat
In a pile
On the floor
Push it away
The world looks red
People with fish eyes
The ground sucks
Walk on my fingertips
Displacing the fog
The weight of my body
Is too much to bear
The memory drained
The life from the doll
The ocean of insects
Moved like a sheet
The immovable fact
Buried my mind
In a horsehair coat
In a pile
On the floor
19: 16 - 20: 25
[instrumental]
20: 26 - 23: 46
Confusion Is Next
I maintain that
Chaos is the future
And beyond it is freedom
Confusion is next and next after that is the truth
You gotta cultivate what you need to need
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Stick your fingers
In your mouth
Squeeze your tongue
And wrench it out
From its ugly fucking cancer
Its ugly fucking cancer
Root
You gotta cultivate what you need to need
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Chaos is the future
And beyond it is freedom
Confusion is next and next after that is the truth
You gotta cultivate what you need to need
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Stick your fingers
In your mouth
Squeeze your tongue
And wrench it out
From its ugly fucking cancer
Its ugly fucking cancer
Root
You gotta cultivate what you need to need
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Sonic tooth
Tell nothing but the truth
23: 47 - 25: 16
Portion of Inhuman with
Thurston screaming his lungs out demonically.
25: 16 - 26: 16
Next is a short one minute sample of what
Is probably Thurston slowly playing the riff to
I Wanna Be Your Dog while Lee tunes in the background. Somebody shouts
We're coming!
Towards the end a European
Presenter begins speaking
(it's hard to say exactly what this is
-- the band a spent a fair amount of time in Europe in 1983)
26: 17 - 27: 35
[sound instrumental]
27: 36 - 29: 28
This sounds to me like the end of
(She's In A) Bad Mood,
Really extrapolated, with odd chime noises
And really eerie flute style hums.
You can hear Thurston [?]
Say something to someone around 28: 52
(all you have to do is turn up our amp??).
29: 29 - 30: 20
[Shaking Hell like instrumental]
30: 21 - 33: 39
The next part begins with a foreign introduction of the band
(with Bob Bert, definitely from one of the 1983 European tours),
Followed by an energetic and -- better yet -- full version of
Burning Spear. The breakdown features extra vocals by
Thurston, some of which can be discerned as: I feel your soul
... And I can't wait to meet my fate with the burning spear
And
The baby's breath becuz the cross on my back is sonic death
I'm not afraid to say I'm scared
In my bed I'm deep in prayer
I trust the speed I love the fear
The music comes
The burning spear
33: 40 - 38: 31
[instrumental based around I Wanna Be Your Dog]
[crowd cheers]
The following songs appear in full on this side of Sonic Death:
The World Looks Red -- 17: 02 - 19: 15 (sped up)
Confusion is Next -- 20: 26 - 23: 46
Burning Spear -- 30: 21 - 33: 39