Dostoevsky's Demise from Snakebite by Alandra Markman

11 / Dostoevsky's Demise

Dostoevsky was made up of cells-
Mostly water, mostly water
Dostoevsky was made up of booze-
Mostly vodka, mostly vodka
Edgar Allan was made up of prose-
Mostly poetry, mostly poetry
Edgar Allan was made up of woes-
Mostly whiskey, mostly whiskey

When the storm of drunkenness abated
We found ourselves among the hated bourgeoisie
Something other than nobility
Has crushed our souls
And made the barricades come down
Shots fired in the dark-
A brainstorm made much heavier by drink
But when we stop to think, something takes us back...

To those street corners
Where we would stand on shoeboxes
Those crazy fools who shout obscenities at the crowd
Their vocation one of leisure and of wealth
When the summer comes we’ll drink to their health
And Dostoevsky was made up of cells-
A million mitochondria in a million private hells

And Charles Dickens was made up of kids-
Mostly orphans, mostly orphans
And Charles Dickens was driven by drugs-
Mostly endorphins, mostly endorphins
And William Wordsworth was made up of words-
Mostly sober, mostly sober
And William Wordsworth was made up of words-
Mostly empty, mostly empty

Our entire literary establishment
Is driven largely by intoxicants
And our entire western civilization
Depends on quite a lot of alcoholic rejuvenation

Granted themselves freedoms unheard of by the press
Dylan-esque, they slip into drunken harmonica solos
Hitting new lows as they pull up the red carpets
Leaving literary dinosaurs
Whose books are thrown in tar pits
When we pull up the fossils a few centuries later
We’ll find the work of genius
Of some misunderstood creator

And only time will tell who gets to stay
And who gets to stay in cells (3x)

• Jazz
• free jazz
• improvised music
• modern classical
• poetry
• singer-songwriter
• New York