released May 5, 2005

Cover: Nathan Powell Design

Mastered by Antreo Pukay at Tell Tale Recording in Portland, Oregon.

"Korean Grass Never Needs to Be Cut" / "Drum Machines" (2005) by Mike Daily & Roads Less Traveled is on YouTube: youtu.be/ODCoJir67uI


LYRICS

SECTION 8 / KOREAN GRASS NEVER NEEDS TO BE CUT

Tim Collins, Roads Less Traveled, Saxophone: Well my crazy friend yeah he just called me up. He's wantin' my--oh no!--reference again. I said to him hey what you got cooked up? He laughed and said my apartment come in.

Roads Less Traveled: Section 8, Section 8! Section 8, Section 8! Section 8, Section 8!

Tim: Now he gets his food and yeah all his health care. And Uncle Sam writes him a check every month. These games he plays well they just crack me up. This gravy train he's on never lets up.

RLT: Section 8, Section 8! Section 8, Section 8! Section 8, Section 8!

Mike Daily: He lived on a road less traveled in Section 8 housing. Forest. His name was Forest. I'm not making this up. He had a walrus mustache and Lennon glasses. He was into non-violent gardening and anti-depressants. I took off my shoes and socks at his request. This'll blow your mind, he said. You know what? Korean grass never needs to be cut. Yeah, and suicide is painless. This fine-bladed grass has an excessively low growth habit. It's not just for golf courses anymore. Feels just like a mattress. He got up and helped me up. Don't touch me there, you're not my father. Ever had rose apples? he said. They're sweet. Not real juicy but they're sweet. Kind of a Gertrude Stein meets Liz Claiborne aftertaste if you know what I mean. Care for some tea? Please. His backyard was all brown, it was all dirt. I took a seat. He went inside and put on a Hawaiian shirt. And he sang as he poured that Earl Grey mango over ice. You say it takes two fools to tango! You say one love is one too many! You say you want a cubensis mushroom! You say you want a holy communion! You say you need a little direction! You say you want a revolution! A revolution in a quiet room! And it was high noon. We cast no shadows to prove it. You gotta love it, he said. Love it or lose it. Life is a four-letter word if you know how to use it. Thank you Lenny Bruce meets Rod McKuen! Can I get more ice cubes in this? Absolutely.


DRUM MACHINES

Mike Daily: I wish there was a radio station that just played drum machines. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Eureka! Eureka. I just thought of something. I seem to have just thought of something. It's like a four-panel comic...

In the first frame one guy says to another guy, "Who's your drummer?"

In the second frame it's just a close-up of the other guy and he says, "Electricity. He goes by electricity."

In the third frame the first guy says to the other guy, "Where's he live?"

In the last frame is another close-up of the second guy and he says, "In a hole in the wall."

Whoa. I'm not paying attention.

I'm swervedriving. I feel like crying. It's raining.

I exit the freeway and pull into a Krispy Kreme.

I drive up to the window.

I find my lucky two-dollar bill that I got in tips when I got on the mike at open mike and didn't care if I messed up. And I didn't mess up. A guy in a red, white, and blue tracksuit said I tore shit up. I'm not making this up. I unwedge a nickel from the dash for the difference.

"Two-oh-five out of two-oh-five. Here's your three glazed originals and one extra one just for coming to Krispy Kreme! Have a nice night, sir!"

I drive off.

I wish there was a radio station that just played drum machines. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.