The Jazz Butcher

Lyrics

Hysteria
I wake up, don't know where I am,
The clock says `San Francisco', I say "Hell"!
We're getting up, we're holding up,
We're selling out, they say we're doing well.
We slept right though an earthquake -
Guess the distances are addling my brain.
And all that anyone wants to know
Is when we'll be through here again.

It's almost like dreaming..
It's all right for awhile...

We're rolling through prairies,
So useless and thin.
Can I get my lunch here?
What state are we in?
Hysteria.
Let's just call it Hysteria.

It's living in a funfair
and it's handsome, but it wouldn't do for me.
The food is wrong, the language twisted,
Green's the only colour that you see.
We drove the bus through Heaven,
There were people in their best suits in the bar.
We're far from home, we're far from well,
I wish I could have joined them for an hour.

But anyway...
This country's been dreaming...
It's all right for awhile...

But look at it's children,
Too human and sad.
Their questions all stupid,
And the answers all mad
In Hysteria.

So what for did we come here?
I guess we came here to learn,
'Coz somebody told us
You've got books here to burn.
And we came for the buildings.
And we came for the mountains.
And we came for the restaurants.
And we came for your women.
And we came for the pacific ocean.
And we came for the drugs.
And we came for your souls.
Sounds stupid, but we came for your souls.

Oh Hysteria, God save us from Hysteria.
Just get my ticket home from Hysteria.

Found On

Buy These Records
Big Planet, Scarey Planet
Early 1989 was, indeed a strange and desperate time after all that triumphalist Tory looting that had been going on. We listened to a lot of hip-hop and soul music at the time, and I think that we considered ourselves sufficiently HARD to take the whole fucker on in an l.p. Possibly with a more "clued-in" producer and a bit more self-discipline we could have come up with something like what we were looking for.
[Big Planet, Scarey Planet cover thumbnail]
creation_records, Genius
The Violent Years
Purchase Now
( thejazzbutcher.bandcamp.com )
[The Violent Years cover thumbnail]
Fire Records 4xCD

Live Stats

21 documented performances (click to explore)
1988 1 (JBC)
1989 16
6 (Pat Solo)
10 (JBC)
1990 1 (JBC)
2003 1 (Pat Solo)
2004 1 (Pat Solo)
2005 1 (JBC)

Media

2 Recorded Live Performances
1989-11-28 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, Canada West Coast '89 Cassette
1989-11-17 Lounge Ax - Chicago, USA
Credit: David Whittemore