condition oakland conditioning

did a lot of jawbreaker time in the
early 90's. one of the first times i saw em
the singer blake had a gnarly sunburn
from his wrists to his t shirt sleeves.
he said
" this is what you get when you
ride an old honda motorcycle from L.A. to
Oakland in the hot sun with no jacket"
feels like it was around 91. that always stuck
with me. years later i met him in Australia
and he was playing these huge show with dozens
of bands..... after the big shows he'd play
small bars. he told me about one such show a
few miles away and i skated way toooo far to get there.
near the end of the set he said "this one goes
to max... one of the only people in this room
that will really get this song"
they blasted into -CONDITION OAKLAND-
it got those weird little chills. it
was one of those moments.
a while back he played a small show
in a basement in Oakland. i humbled myself
and told him the above story.









"Condition Oakland"

I rode down to the tracks.
Thinking they might sing to me.
But they just stared back.
Broken, trainless and black as night.
Climbed out onto my roof.
So I'd be a poet in the night.
Beat the walls off my room.
I saw the big room that is this life.
This is my condition:
Naked and hysterical,
Reaching to grab a hand
that I just slapped back at.
This is my condition:
Desperate, alone,
Without an excuse.
I try to explain. Christ, what's the use?
Read and I felt so small.
Some words keep speaking
When you close the book.
Drank and just about smiled.
Then I remembered us in that bed.
Put my ear to the door.
I just heard hot rods
and gunshots and sirens.
People kill me these days.
There's keys in their eyes
But they lock from the inside.


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** NOTE
i don't pretend
not to know people
that have inspired me..
i always let them know
and thank em.