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What the Super Bowl did for us was give us a sense of urgency.

quote by George Jackson
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Super Sadist

Super angry
Super hated
Super evil
Super serrated
Super guitar
Super faded
Never sad sad sad

Super hated
Super sarcastic
Super sedated
The super sadist

Keeps his hands in his mouth
That's gold plated
Hates himself more and more
Cause he's made it
Super evil
Super jaded
Never sad sad sad

Super hated
Super sarcastic
Super sedated
The super sadist

Super high tech
Super pay check
Super ego
Super hate pro
Super cautious
Super nauseous
Never sad sad sad

Super all gone
Super hold on
Super ego
Super phenomenon
Super destroy
Super small boy
Never sad sad sad

Super asshole
Super nothing

song performed by Jack Off Jill from Sexless Demons And Scars
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Thoughts Of A Goldfish

I am a goldfish; I am swimming around this bowl. It is getting dizzy.

A goldfish I am; It is getting dizzy. Swimming around this bowl I am.
Am I a goldfish? I am swimming around this bowl. It is getting dizzy.
It is getting dizzy, swimming around this bowl, I am a goldfish. I am.
Around this bowl I am swimming. It is getting dizzy. I am a goldfish
I am a goldfish. It is getting dizzy around this bowl, I am swimming.
I am swimming around this bowl; I am a goldfish. It is getting dizzy.
Around this bowl, it is getting dizzy. I am a goldfish; I am swimming.
I am a goldfish. It is getting dizzy. I am swimming around this bowl.
I am a goldfish. Bowl this around: it is getting dizzy. I am swimming.
I am swimming around this bowl. Am I a goldfish? It is getting dizzy.
Am I a goldfish bowl? It is getting dizzy. Am I swimming around this?
It is getting dizzy. I am a goldfish. Am I swimming around this bowl?
Am I a goldfish? Around this bowl am I swimming? It is getting dizzy.
Am I a goldfish? I am. It is getting dizzy, swimming around this bowl.
Am I a goldfish? It is getting dizzy. I am swimming around this bowl.
Am I a goldfish swimming? Around this bowl, I am. It is getting dizzy.
Am I a goldfish? It is getting dizzy. Around this bowl I am swimming.
Am I swimming? I am a goldfish around this bowl. It is getting dizzy.
Am I swimming? Is it getting dizzy? Around this bowl I am a goldfish.
It is getting dizzy. Am I swimming? Am I a goldfish around this bowl?
Am I a-swimming? I am a round goldfish. This bowl, it is getting dizzy.
This bowl: It is getting dizzy. I am a goldfish I am swimming around.
Am I a bowl? It is getting dizzy. I am a goldfish swimming around this.
It is getting dizzy. Am I a round bowl? I am this goldfish a-swimming.
I am a goldfish I am swimming around. Is this bowl getting dizzy? It is.
Is it? I am getting a goldfish. I am swimming around this dizzy bowl.
I am. I am swimming around this goldfish bowl. Dizzy it is a-getting.
I am a dizzy goldfish swimming. I am a round bowl. Is it getting this?
Is this bowl around a dizzy, swimming goldfish? I am. I am getting it.
Is this getting dizzy? Am I a round goldfish? Am I a swimming bowl?

I am a goldfish; I am swimming around this bowl. It is getting dizzy.

poem by C. Richard Miles
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Give The Po Man A Break

Give po man a break
Give po man a break
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a
Give po man a

[...] Read more

song performed by Fatboy Slim
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Super Cop

Super cop (12 times)
I was born to serve justice
But I dont sermonize
Good is good
Bad is bad
And I never compromise
They lock me in a rocket
Made of flesh and bone
Ill meet you in the war zone
With my fists of stone
Im a super cop
Im a super cop
My bodys a machine
Made to synchronize
Every time Im called to action
Make me recognize
When the forces of corruption
Do the tyrannize
Then I shift to overdrive
And start to pulverize
Im a super cop
Eliminate the foe
With karate chops
Im a super cop
Im a super charged cop
And I cant be stopped.
Im a super cop
I was born to serve justice
Get my name
Im a super cop
Kung fu action is my game
Im a cop now
A super cop now
He drives around in a world turned upside down
Im a cop now
A super cop now
Hes gotta round up all the evil clowns
Im a cop now
A super cop now
What he sees just makes him want to cry
Im a cop now
A super cop now
He works alone cause if he dont hell die
(spoken) the truth and protect
The motto I ascribe to
With equal justice
For the down and out or well to do
Im a super cop
A gangsters worst nightmare
One man demolition team

[...] Read more

song performed by Devo
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The Believer's Principles : Chap. IV.

Faith and Sense Natural, compared and distinguished.

When Abram's body, Sarah's womb,
Were ripe for nothing but the tomb,
Exceeding old, and wholly dead,
Unlike to bear the promis'd seed:

Faith said, 'I shall an Isaac see;'
'No, no,' said Sense, 'it cannot be;'
Blind Reason, to augment the strife,
Adds, 'How can death engender life?'

My heart is like a rotten tomb,
More dead than ever Sarah's womb;
O! can the promis'd seed of grace
Spring forth from such a barren place?

Sense gazing but on flinty rocks,
My hope and expectation chokes:
But could I, skill'd in Abram's art,
O'erlook my dead and barren heart;

And build my hope on nothing less
That divine pow'r and faithfulness;
Soon would I find him raise up sons
To Abram, out of rocks and stones.

Faith acts as busy boatmen do,
Who backward look and forward row;
It looks intent to things unseen,
Thinks objects visible too mean.

Sense thinks it madness thus to steer,
And only trusts its eye and ear;
Into faith's boat dare thrust its oar,
And put it further from the shore.

Faith does alone the promise eye;
Sense won't believe unless it see;
Nor can it trust the divine guide,
Unless it have both wind and tide.

Faith thinks the promise sure and good;
Sense doth depend on likelihood;
Faith ev'n in storms believes the seers;
Sense calls all men, ev'n prophets, liars.

Faith uses means, but rests on none;
Sense sails when outward means are gone:

[...] Read more

poem by Ralph Erskine
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Superlove

Some people they search their whole lives
Lookin' for somebody who's just right
Sometimes they settle for less
Lose outta true happiness
Then they finally wake up one day
And realize there's nothing to say
It's hard to let go
Even when ya deep down both know

So they fight and fight and fight
And no more kissin' kissin' goodnight
But baby that can't happen to us
Because

You and me we got a super love
Never gonna give give it up
It's the kind of sweet dreams are made of
I'm not afraid of - our super love

You and me we got a super love
Ain't no way we'll ever get enough
It's the kind of sweet dreams are made of
I'm not afraid of
No super love

Some people they never find out
How it feels to be feelin' no doubt
You'll be right there when I fall
And I'll be promisin' you the world
No getting down on your knees

Trying to get what ya need
It's a good situation
Sorry for elaboratin'
But I want more and more and more
So just keep knockin' knockin' knockin' on my door
But baby you're a hard thing to find
Because

You and me we got a super love
Never gonna give give it up
It's the kind of sweet dreams are made of
I'm not afraid of - our super love

You and me we got a super love
Ain't no way we'll ever get enough
It's the kind of sweet dreams are made of
I'm not afraid of
No super love

[...] Read more

song performed by Celine Dion from New Day Has Come
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Super Overdrive

In the devil's playground
With an idol mind
Straight up ready to go,
Announce the time
Does he still have the magic?
Yes he does
He'll be famous,
Just because, just because
You know you're gonna have to turn around
Just because you have to change your mind, sometimes
Yeah you're gonna have to, turn around
Ride my rocket
Round and round and round we go
One time before i die
Round and round and round the world
In super overdrive
See the world through a little hole
See it fly by
Here i am in super overdrive
Super overdrive, super overdrive
I'm sliding on the swings
I'm swinging on the slides
I'm alive
Fuel-injected
Passion-erected
Death-defied
One day its gonna come, boy
Youre gonna pay
That aint today ridin on the Milky Way
On the Milky Way
You know youre gonna have
To turn around
Just because you have to change
Your mind sometimes
Yeah youre gonna have to
Turn around
Bite the bullet
Round and round and round we go
One time before i die
Round and round and round the world
In super overdrive
See the world through a little hole
See it fly by
Here i am in super overdrive
Super overdrive, super overdrive
I said.. 1,2,3,4
Well in the devils playground
With an Idol mind
Straight up, ready to go
Announce the time

[...] Read more

song performed by Billy Idol
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It's A Super (Dupa) Life

See the funny little people running 'round in circles
throwing bombs as they do
See the funny side of it
they're heading straight for you
See the funny little holes they're making
looking like craters on the moon
See the funny side of it
we'll be living in them soon
But it's a super life, a super dupa dupa life we live
yes it's a super life, a super dupa dupa life we live
but it's getting pretty near the end
cause with a super life you will borrow everything you lend
so there's never anything to spend
you're broke, you dope you
See the funny little flying saucers we found
painted up just for you
see the funny man inside
his color matches too
See the silly little camera he loves
shooting pictures with all day
see the funny side of it
his friends are on their way
But it's a super life, a super dupa dupa life we live
yes it's a super life, a super dupa dupa life we live
but it's getting pretty near the end
cause with a super life you will borrow everything you lend
so there's never anything to spend
you're broke, you dope you
Baby it's a super life, a super dupa dupa life we live
Yes it's a super life, a super dupa dupa life we live

song performed by Cat Stevens
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Away The Bowl

Our grateful hearts with temperance burn,
Away, away the bowl,
From dram shops all, our steps we turn,
Away, away the bowl;
Farewell to rum and all its harms,
Farewell the wine-cup's boasted charms,
Away the bowl, away the bowl, away, away the bowl.

See how that staggering drunkard reels!
Away, away the bowl;
Alas, the misery he reveals,
Away, away the bowl;
His children grieve, his wife's in tears!
How sad his once bright home appears!
Away the bowl, away the bowl, away, away the bowl.

We drink no more, nor buy nor sell,
Away, away the bowl!
The grog-shop's offers we repel,
Away, away the bowl.
United in a temperance band,
We 're joined in heart, we 're joined in hand,
Away the bowl, away the bowl, away, away the bowl.

poem by John Pierpont
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Give Up

(bernard edwards/nile rodgers)
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
You better listen well
When I tell you
To be on the look out
You cant call for help
cause I know you inside out
Despite all your hideouts
Im no great pretender
Ill make you surrender
So come along quietly
Heres a thought to remember
I have not met a man yet
To escape from my drag-net
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Ill give you just the facts man
And you can draw all your own conclusions
Ill keep your mind surrounded
With chains of love so strong
You cant break through them
My arsenal is stocked
With all kinds of seductive weapons
Although your hearts locked up
My love will assist me
So that you cant resist me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
No, no, no
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me
Give up, give up
Give up youre love to me

[...] Read more

song performed by Diana Ross
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It Makes More Sense

It makes more sense,
Stopping something not to start.
Yes it makes more sense,
Not to tear things all apart.
Or bring up filthy garbage,
Knowing it is just a farce.

It makes more sense,
To walk away than to be petty.
And it makes more sense,
To prevent a thumping headache.
And it makes more sense,
Not to argue with a fool.
Knowing this is something done,
Many fools love to do.

And it makes more sense,
Stopping something not to start.
Yes it makes more sense,
Not to tear things all apart.
Or bring up filthy garbage,
Knowing it is just a farce.
And it makes more sense,
Not to argue with a fool.
Knowing this is something done,
Fools love to do.

And it makes more sense,
To keep the peace with every neighbor.
And it makes more sense,
To chase all bitterness away.
And it makes more sense,
To say, 'You're right' than build a hate.
Knowing that tomorrow promises another day.

And it makes more sense,
To keep the peace with every neighbor.
And it makes more sense,
To chase all bitterness away.
And it makes more sense,
To say, 'You're right' than build a hate.
Knowing that tomorrow promises another day.

Yes it makes more sense,
To keep the peace with every neighbor.
And it makes more sense,
To say, 'You're right' than build a hate.
Knowing that tomorrow promises another day.
Yes it makes more sense,
To keep the peace with every neighbor.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Thats Really Super, Supergirl

I cant hold you down
If you want to fly
Cant you see Im all broke up inside
Well just you use your two x ray eyes
Hurt like kryptonite
Put me on my knees
Now that Ive found out just what youre doing
With your secret identities
Thats really super supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
Thats really super supergirl
How youre changing all the worlds weather
But you couldnt put us back together
Now I feel like Im tethered deep
Inside your fortress of solitude
Dont mean to be rude
But I dont feel super
Supergirl
I wont call again
Even in a jam
Now I realise you could be on a mission
Saving some other man
Thats really super supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
Thats really super supergirl
How you stopped the universe from dying
But youre never going to stop me crying
And I feel like youre trying hard
To sweep me like dirt underneath your cape
Well I might be an ape
But I used to feel super
Supergirl
Thats really super supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
Thats really super supergirl
How youre changing the worlds weather
But you couldnt put us back together
Super supergirl
How you stopped the universe from dying
But youre never going to stop me crying
Super supergirl
Im here in your fortress of solitude
Dont mean to be rude
But I dont feel super

song performed by Xtc
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Thats Really Super, Supergirl

I cant hold you down
If you want to fly
Cant you see Im all broke up inside
Well just you use your two x ray eyes
Hurt like kryptonite
Put me on my knees
Now that Ive found out just what youre doing
With your secret identities
Thats really super supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
Thats really super supergirl
How youre changing all the worlds weather
But you couldnt put us back together
Now I feel like Im tethered deep
Inside your fortress of solitude
Dont mean to be rude
But I dont feel super
Supergirl
I wont call again
Even in a jam
Now I realise you could be on a mission
Saving some other man
Thats really super supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
Thats really super supergirl
How you stopped the universe from dying
But youre never going to stop me crying
And I feel like youre trying hard
To sweep me like dirt underneath your cape
Well I might be an ape
But I used to feel super
Supergirl
Thats really super supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
Thats really super supergirl
How youre changing the worlds weather
But you couldnt put us back together
Super supergirl
How you stopped the universe from dying
But youre never going to stop me crying
Super supergirl
Im here in your fortress of solitude
Dont mean to be rude
But I dont feel super

song performed by Xtc
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An Essay on Criticism

Part I

INTRODUCTION. That it is as great a fault to judge ill as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. That a true Taste is as rare to be found as a true Genius. That most men are born with some Taste, but spoiled by false education. The multitude of Critics, and causes of them. That we are to study our own Taste, and know the limits of it. Nature the best guide of judgment. Improved by Art and rules, which are but methodized Nature. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a Critic, particularly Homer and Virgil. Of licenses, and the use of them by the ancients. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them.

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill;
But of the two less dangerous is th'offence
To tire our patience than mislead our sense:
Some few in that, but numbers err in this;
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone expose;
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.
In Poets as true Genius is but rare,
True Taste as seldom is the Critic's share;
Both must alike from Heav'n derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.
Let such teach others who themselves excel,
And censure freely who have written well;
Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true,
But are not Critics to their judgment too?

Yet if we look more closely, we shall find
Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind:
Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light;
The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right:
But as the slightest sketch, if justly traced,
Is by ill col'ring but the more disgraced,
So by false learning is good sense defaced:
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools:
In search of wit these lose their common sense,
And then turn Critics in their own defence:
Each burns alike, who can or cannot write,
Or with a rival's or an eunuch's spite.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side.
If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spite,
There are who judge still worse than he can write.

Some have at first for Wits, then Poets pass'd;
Turn'd Critics next, and prov'd plain Fools at last.
Some neither can for Wits nor Critics pass,
As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.
Those half-learn'd witlings, numerous in our isle,
As half-form'd insects on the banks of Nile;
Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call,

[...] Read more

poem by Alexander Pope
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The Rosciad

Unknowing and unknown, the hardy Muse
Boldly defies all mean and partial views;
With honest freedom plays the critic's part,
And praises, as she censures, from the heart.

Roscius deceased, each high aspiring player
Push'd all his interest for the vacant chair.
The buskin'd heroes of the mimic stage
No longer whine in love, and rant in rage;
The monarch quits his throne, and condescends
Humbly to court the favour of his friends;
For pity's sake tells undeserved mishaps,
And, their applause to gain, recounts his claps.
Thus the victorious chiefs of ancient Rome,
To win the mob, a suppliant's form assume;
In pompous strain fight o'er the extinguish'd war,
And show where honour bled in every scar.
But though bare merit might in Rome appear
The strongest plea for favour, 'tis not here;
We form our judgment in another way;
And they will best succeed, who best can pay:
Those who would gain the votes of British tribes,
Must add to force of merit, force of bribes.
What can an actor give? In every age
Cash hath been rudely banish'd from the stage;
Monarchs themselves, to grief of every player,
Appear as often as their image there:
They can't, like candidate for other seat,
Pour seas of wine, and mountains raise of meat.
Wine! they could bribe you with the world as soon,
And of 'Roast Beef,' they only know the tune:
But what they have they give; could Clive do more,
Though for each million he had brought home four?
Shuter keeps open house at Southwark fair,
And hopes the friends of humour will be there;
In Smithfield, Yates prepares the rival treat
For those who laughter love, instead of meat;
Foote, at Old House,--for even Foote will be,
In self-conceit, an actor,--bribes with tea;
Which Wilkinson at second-hand receives,
And at the New, pours water on the leaves.
The town divided, each runs several ways,
As passion, humour, interest, party sways.
Things of no moment, colour of the hair,
Shape of a leg, complexion brown or fair,
A dress well chosen, or a patch misplaced,
Conciliate favour, or create distaste.
From galleries loud peals of laughter roll,
And thunder Shuter's praises; he's so droll.
Embox'd, the ladies must have something smart,

[...] Read more

poem by Charles Churchill
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The Triumph Of Woman

Glad as the weary traveller tempest-tost
To reach secure at length his native coast,
Who wandering long o'er distant lands has sped,
The night-blast wildly howling round his head,
Known all the woes of want, and felt the storm
Of the bleak winter parch his shivering form;
The journey o'er and every peril past
Beholds his little cottage-home at last,
And as he sees afar the smoke curl slow,
Feels his full eyes with transport overflow:
So from the scene where Death and Anguish reign,
And Vice and Folly drench with blood the plain,
Joyful I turn, to sing how Woman's praise
Avail'd again Jerusalem to raise,
Call'd forth the sanction of the Despot's nod,
And freed the nation best-belov'd of God.

Darius gives the feast: to Persia's court,
Awed by his will, the obedient throng resort,
Attending Satraps swell the Prince's pride,
And vanquish'd Monarchs grace their Conqueror's side.
No more the Warrior wears the garb of war,
Sharps the strong steel, or mounts the scythed car;
No more Judaea's sons dejected go,
And hang the head and heave the sigh of woe.
From Persia's rugged hills descend the train.
From where Orontes foams along the plain,
From where Choaspes rolls his royal waves,
And India sends her sons, submissive slaves.
Thy daughters Babylon to grace the feast
Weave the loose robe, and paint the flowery vest,
With roseate wreaths they braid the glossy hair.
They tinge the cheek which Nature form'd so fair,
Learn the soft step, the soul-subduing glance,
Melt in the song, and swim adown the dance.
Exalted on the Monarch's golden throne
In royal state the fair Apame shone;

Her form of majesty, her eyes of fire
Chill with respect, or kindle with desire.
The admiring multitude her charms adore,
And own her worthy of the crown she wore.

Now on his couch reclin'd Darius lay,
Tir'd with the toilsome pleasures of the day;
Without Judaea's watchful sons await
To guard the sleeping pageant of the state.
Three youths were these of Judah's royal race,
Three youths whom Nature dower'd with every grace,
To each the form of symmetry she gave,

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Southey
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Supergirl

Written by Aldo Legui and Bob Marcus
You see this kind of chick in every town.
Whenever there's a scene she's always hanging around
She's so nave and innocent, she looks with all
She's only fourteen but she knows how to draw.
Now now now baby now
Super........supergirl, yeah
Super........supergirl
She never gets involved with blowing her cool
She's to busy getting high with her classmates in school
The teachers all ignore her, they would if they could
She ain't quite grown up yet but her credence's real good.
Super........supergirl, yeah
Super........supergirl, yeah, alright
You see this kind of chick in every town.
Whenever there's a scene she's always hanging around
She's so nave and innocent, she looks with all
She's only fourteen but she knows how to draw.
Now now now baby now, yeah
Super........supergirl, yeah
Super........supergirl
Super duper, super duper, hey, super duper, super duper
yeah yeah yeah supergirl

song performed by John Mellencamp
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Super Hero

Give us what U give your brothers then U'll understand
I won't be your super hero till U give us all U can
Now! [x2]
[Chorus:]
I will be your super hero
But U must understand
If I'm 2 be your super hero
U must give me half a chance
Listen 2 my band
I am born unto poverty and fear
I am scorned and yet I hold back my tears
There's so much I can and will and wanna do
But I cannot until I get through 2 U
[Chorus]
(U can lead them)
Give us what U give your brothers then U'll understand
(That) I won't be your super hero till U give us all U can
(Watch it!)
[Chorus]
I will be your super hero
Oh, U must understand
I will be your super hero
If U give me half a chance
Listen 2 my band (Listen 2 my band)
I will be your super hero [x4]
Listen 2 my band
Woo!
(Yeah) [4:20 mark]
Turn down the house lights [6:21 mark]
(Hey, alright!) [x4]
(Go! Go! Go! ...)
Super hero going "Outa Space" [x4]
Told y'all I'm g'on kick that ass!

song performed by Prince
Added by Lucian Velea
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XI. Guido

You are the Cardinal Acciaiuoli, and you,
Abate Panciatichi—two good Tuscan names:
Acciaiuoli—ah, your ancestor it was
Built the huge battlemented convent-block
Over the little forky flashing Greve
That takes the quick turn at the foot o' the hill
Just as one first sees Florence: oh those days!
'T is Ema, though, the other rivulet,
The one-arched brown brick bridge yawns over,—yes,
Gallop and go five minutes, and you gain
The Roman Gate from where the Ema's bridged:
Kingfishers fly there: how I see the bend
O'erturreted by Certosa which he built,
That Senescal (we styled him) of your House!
I do adjure you, help me, Sirs! My blood
Comes from as far a source: ought it to end
This way, by leakage through their scaffold-planks
Into Rome's sink where her red refuse runs?
Sirs, I beseech you by blood-sympathy,
If there be any vile experiment
In the air,—if this your visit simply prove,
When all's done, just a well-intentioned trick,
That tries for truth truer than truth itself,
By startling up a man, ere break of day,
To tell him he must die at sunset,—pshaw!
That man's a Franceschini; feel his pulse,
Laugh at your folly, and let's all go sleep!
You have my last word,—innocent am I
As Innocent my Pope and murderer,
Innocent as a babe, as Mary's own,
As Mary's self,—I said, say and repeat,—
And why, then, should I die twelve hours hence? I—
Whom, not twelve hours ago, the gaoler bade
Turn to my straw-truss, settle and sleep sound
That I might wake the sooner, promptlier pay
His due of meat-and-drink-indulgence, cross
His palm with fee of the good-hand, beside,
As gallants use who go at large again!
For why? All honest Rome approved my part;
Whoever owned wife, sister, daughter,—nay,
Mistress,—had any shadow of any right
That looks like right, and, all the more resolved,
Held it with tooth and nail,—these manly men
Approved! I being for Rome, Rome was for me.
Then, there's the point reserved, the subterfuge
My lawyers held by, kept for last resource,
Firm should all else,—the impossible fancy!—fail,
And sneaking burgess-spirit win the day.
The knaves! One plea at least would hold,—they laughed,—
One grappling-iron scratch the bottom-rock

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poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Ghost - Book IV

Coxcombs, who vainly make pretence
To something of exalted sense
'Bove other men, and, gravely wise,
Affect those pleasures to despise,
Which, merely to the eye confined,
Bring no improvement to the mind,
Rail at all pomp; they would not go
For millions to a puppet-show,
Nor can forgive the mighty crime
Of countenancing pantomime;
No, not at Covent Garden, where,
Without a head for play or player,
Or, could a head be found most fit,
Without one player to second it,
They must, obeying Folly's call,
Thrive by mere show, or not at all
With these grave fops, who, (bless their brains!)
Most cruel to themselves, take pains
For wretchedness, and would be thought
Much wiser than a wise man ought,
For his own happiness, to be;
Who what they hear, and what they see,
And what they smell, and taste, and feel,
Distrust, till Reason sets her seal,
And, by long trains of consequences
Insured, gives sanction to the senses;
Who would not (Heaven forbid it!) waste
One hour in what the world calls Taste,
Nor fondly deign to laugh or cry,
Unless they know some reason why;
With these grave fops, whose system seems
To give up certainty for dreams,
The eye of man is understood
As for no other purpose good
Than as a door, through which, of course,
Their passage crowding, objects force,
A downright usher, to admit
New-comers to the court of Wit:
(Good Gravity! forbear thy spleen;
When I say Wit, I Wisdom mean)
Where (such the practice of the court,
Which legal precedents support)
Not one idea is allow'd
To pass unquestion'd in the crowd,
But ere it can obtain the grace
Of holding in the brain a place,
Before the chief in congregation
Must stand a strict examination.
Not such as those, who physic twirl,
Full fraught with death, from every curl;

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poem by Charles Churchill
Added by Poetry Lover
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