Odes to Joy

Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 16 · middle

Wasted

VOLUME I — being gloriously, world-tilting DRUNK (the night at full tilt). The idiom and the song's title hook: "Wasted". Its true history: US, 1960s — the body and mind laid waste, ruined like land after destruction; exhaustion pushed to extreme intoxication. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.

Lyrics

[Intro]
The floorboards tilt, the ceiling hums
I’m heavy as a rock, but the floating comes
Yeah, I’m still standing. Keep playing.

[Verse 1]
Back in the 1960s, out under the western haze
They looked at the earth at the end of the heavy days
Looked at the dirt, entirely stripped and erased
And said, yeah, that’s the spirit. The beautiful waste.
I’m a scorched little acre tonight
Leaning on the glowing sign.

[Chorus]
We are gloriously wasted
Like a valley carved and swept
Every drop of the heavy honey tasted
With nothing of the sober morning left
Laid out, laid low, leveled to the wood
And grinning 'cause the damage feels so good.

[Verse 2]
It takes a lot of work to ruin a perfectly good head
To leave the ticking clocks and the sensible things unsaid
My legs are just rumors, my balance is gone
I’m raising up a glass to the damage we bring on.
I’ll make it to the stool. Just watch me.

[Chorus]
We are gloriously wasted
Like a valley carved and swept
Every drop of the heavy honey tasted
With nothing of the sober morning left
Laid out, laid low, leveled to the wood
And grinning 'cause the damage feels so good.

[Bridge]
They meant it as destruction
They meant it as a total loss
But look at this beautiful wasteland
Smiling at the final cost
Look at the way we finally fold
When the gravity takes hold.

[Outro]
Sweep the ashes, dim the lights
This ruined dirt is doing fine.
Wasted.
Yeah, totally laid to waste.
And I wouldn't trade the taste.
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