Kerosene & Chaos

[Four bars of just drums — floor tom stomp, snare crack. Guitar feedback builds underneath.]

[Aimee (spoken, over feedback):]
"Some girls want flowers.
Some girls want money.
I want to watch the world go pretty.
Pretty orange."

[(Feedback cuts. Guitar hits one massive, distorted chord. Band explodes.)]

[Verse 1]

[(Shouted-sung — rhythmic, punchy)]

She wakes up with a matchbook tucked behind her ear
She doesn't need a reason — the reason isn't here
She lights a cigarette off a burning skag carcass
Says "beauty fades, but ash leaves a hell of a harness"

She's got a bird skull painted on her face
She's losin' second place in a three-skag race
She's not runnin' from nothin' — she's runnin' to the glow
And if you ask her why, she says "you already know"

[(Horn stab — one loud blast)]

[Chorus]

[(Full gang vocals on every line)]

[Aimee:] KEROSENE AND CHAOS!
[Gang:] (KEROSENE AND CHAOS!)
[Aimee:] She's burnin' up the scene!
[Gang:] (BURNIN' UP THE SCENE!)
[Aimee:] Bird skull on her face
[Gang:] (BIRD SKULL!)
[Aimee:] Losin' second place
[Gang:] (SECOND PLACE!)

[Aimee:] KEROSENE AND CHAOS!
[Gang:] (KEROSENE AND CHAOS!)
[Aimee:] Don't ask her for a light
[Gang:] (DON'T ASK!)
[Aimee:] Unless you wanna fight
[Gang:] (UNLESS YOU WANNA FIGHT!)
[Aimee:] Unless you wanna be the reason she smiles tonight

[(Horns play a triumphant, three-note rising melody)]

[Verse 2]

[(Faster — words crammed together)]

She poured gasoline into a trombone case
Lit a match and played a solo all over your face
The brass melted pretty — sounded like a scream
She said "that's my genre — it's called kerosene"

She doesn't have a plan — plans are for the nervous
She operates on impulse and a complete lack of purpose
You ask her where she's headed — she points at the sky
Says "up there, probably. wanna come? bye-bye."

[(Drum fill — snare roll into chorus)]

---

[Chorus (Repeats)]

---

[Bridge (Tempo drops to half-time — heavy, stomping)]

[(Aimee, almost talking, over a single repeating power chord)]

"They tried to put her in a cage once.
She melted the bars.
They tried to take her matches.
She'd already swallowed 'em."

[(Band stops. Just Aimee and a snare drum hit every two beats.)]

[Aimee (whispered):]
"The fire isn't the chaos.
The fire is the calm.
The chaos is what happens after she walks away and leaves you standing there —
still breathing —
and you realize that's the closest you'll ever get to a god."

[(Full band crashes back in — no warning, twice as loud)]

---

[Horn Solo (8 bars)]

[Trumpet and trombone play a melody that sounds like a fire alarm.]
[Sax plays a counter-melody that sounds like laughing.]

—-
[Chorus (Twice — unhinged, tempo pushing)]

—-

[Outro (Collapse into cinders)]

[(Band stops abruptly. Just Aimee, breathing heavy.)]

[(Sound of a match striking. Hiss.)]

[Aimee (spoken, calm):]
"You know the difference between her and a wildfire?"

[(Silence. Two seconds.)]

[Aimee (barely audible):]
"A wildfire doesn't giggle."

Punk Rock Ska, female