Somehow, for the past year, I've neglected to put any Unrest on my iPod - a terrible mistake. Before they ceased to exist as a band, Unrest could write perfect pop songs - simple, blissful, and irresistably catchy. That they didn't dominate, or even reach, the singles charts (and change the sound of pop music forever), proves just how perverse the world is.

So, I dropped a few Unrest albums onto the iPod over the weekend; and now, Monday morning, the magic of the iPod shuffle presents me with their super-sweet Six Layer Cake.

i'm up and
you're with me this time
you're up and
still in the shine
pull over
you're getting dressed
all touching
all the right

chrous:
6 5 5 4 3 2 2 1
6 5 4 3 2 2 layer
6 5 4 4 3 3 2 1
6 5 4 3 2 1 layer cake

i've called you
with my head
my fingers
your lips to my hand
Front Royale
big kitchen day
my fingers
all over

6 5 5 6 3 2 layer
16 fingers 8 feet high
10 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
6 5 4 4 2 2 layer cake

one layer on halloween
no hands where
they ought to be
in pockets
keeping this in
in pants and
i'm so so

10 6 10 6 7 6 layer
10 6 7 6 10 6 high
10 6 5 4 4 3 2 1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 cake

fingertips show the way
relax on
USMA
pull over
you're getting dressed
all touching
all the right

6 6 6 6 6 6 layer cake

with my
i'll give you a slice
of mine

Lyrics rarely hold up without the music, and these are no exception. Without the music, it's probably impossible to appreciate just how fun a song can be when the chorus seems to be just a random stream of numbers; but when you hear it, the blissed-out exuberance of Mark Robinson's delivery makes even "6 5 5 4 3 2 2 1" catchy and fun to sing along with. And if it's hard to remember when he sings "6 5 5 4 3 2 2 1" vs. "6 5 4 4 3 3 2 1", then singing along becomes more like a game of follow the leader. And nobody cares if you get it wrong because it's just a nonsense sequence anyway.

I couldn't find these lyrics anywhere on the net. So I'll post them here in case anyone else needs them - or in case anyone knows what he's saying in the places I missed. A couple of those lines are definitely wrong, but I just couldn't decipher what he as saying. Maybe they're in the liner notes, I'll check when I get home. Corrected from the liner notes. The things I missed were things that don't make a lot of sense in this context: USMA, Front Royale ?