Happy New Year

from Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope by Michael Zapruder

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lyrics

happy new year the vinyl sign said
at the corner of the chinese church
I was standing on the springs of a broken bed
doing light historical research

it was raining the highway's sweat
and the overpass was muscular and gay
I felt like a small mistreated pet
trying to find the spca

there was an error and the chinese new year
ended up colliding with the west's
it was sad to see the paper dragon's wounded ear
and the lo mein on the policemen's vests

when the reporter that the newspaper sent
wrote about the story the next day
I was quoted and referred to as a dissident
so I put that on my resume

I was standing on the edge of a broken year
measuring its shallowness and gripes
I was torturing my sinuses to squeeze out another tear
I was beating myself up with pipes

now I'm howling at a wet firework in the sky
throwing a cigar at its heart
billions of people know the word why
none of them could take it apart

but once I knew an usher in a concert hall
who fetishized his flashlight glass
it was sad cause we knew his name was paul
and he called himself the cowboy of ass

happy new year the vinyl sign said
at the corner of the chinese church
I was standing on the springs of a broken bed
doing light historical research

credits

from Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope, released March 24, 2009

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about

Michael Zapruder Austin, Texas

“Michael Zapruder makes beautiful folk-pop ballads resonant of the voice of Rufus Wainwright and wordplay of Andrew Bird" – Pitchfork

michaelzapruder.com

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