Ani Difranco

They were digging a new foundation in Manhattan
And they discovered a slave cemetary there
May their souls rest easy
Now that lynching is frowned upon
And we've moved on to the electric chair

And I wonder who's gonna be president
Tweedle dumb or tweedle dumber?
And who's gonna have the big
Blockbuster box office this summer?
How about we put up a wall between houses and the highway?
And you can go your way, and i can go my way

Except all the radios agree with all the TVs
And the magazines agree with all the radios
And I keep hearing that same damn song everywhere I go
Maybe I should put a bucket over my head
And a marshmallow in each ear
And stumble around for another dumb-numb week
For another hum drum hit song to appear

People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
It's about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs
You choose

We got it rehashed
We got it half-assed
We're digging up all the graves
And we're spitting on the past
And you can choose between the colors
Ff the lipstick on the whores
Cause we know the difference between
The font of 20% more
And the font of teriyaki
You tell me
How does it make you feel?
You tell me what's real?
And they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
Even when they're as dry as my lips for years
Even when they're stranded on a small desert island
With no place within 2,000 miles to buy beer
And I wonder
Is he different?
Is he different?
Has he changed? What's he about?...
Or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?

Am I headed for the same brick wall
Is there anything I can do about anything at all?
Except go back to that corner in Manhattan
And dig deeper, dig deeper this time
Down beneath the impossible pain of our history
Beneath unknown bones
Beneath the bedrock of the mystery
Beneath the sewage systems and the path train
Beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
Beneath everything I can think of to think about
Beneath it all, beneath all get out
Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel

i heard the sound of your bike,
as your wheels hit the gravel,
then your engine in the driveway
cutting off
and i pushed through the screen door
and i stood out on the porch
thinking fight, fight, fight
at all costs,
but instead i let you in,
just like i've always done
and i sat you down and offered you a beer
and across the kitchen table
i fired several rounds,
but you were still sitting there
when the smoke cleared.
and you came crawling back
to say that you wanna
make good in the end

and oh, oh,
let me count the ways
that i abhor you,
and you were never a good lay
and you were never a good friend
but, oh, oh, what else can i say...
i adore you

all i need is my leather,
one t-shirt and two socks,
i'll keep my hands warm
in your pockets
and you can use the engine block,
and we'll ride out to california
with my arms around your chest,
and i'll pretend that this is real
'cuz this is what i like best,
and you've been juggling two women
like a stupid circus clown
telling us both we are the one
and maybe you can keep me from ever being happy,
but you're not gonna stop me from having fun.
so let's go before i change my mind
i'll leave the luggage of all your lies behind
'cuz i am bigger than everything that came before

and you were never very kind,
and you let me way down every time
but oh, oh, oh what can i say...
i adore you

i heard the sound of your bike,
as your wheels hit the gravel,
then your engine in the driveway
cutting off

so that's how you found me
rain falling around me
lookin down at a worm
with a long way to go
and the traffic was hissing by
and i was homesick
and i was high

i was surrounded by a language
in which i could say only hello
and i thank you very much
but you spoke so i could understand
and i drew a treasure map on your hand

and you were no picnic
you were no prize
but you had just enough pathos
to keep me hypnotized
hypnotized

the map led ro an island
in a seas of store-bought dreams
where soulless singers sang
over beats built by machines

and lovely girls were hovering
above my head like gulls
with their long slender necks
and their delicate skulls

and i was no picnic
i was no prize
but i had just enough sweetness
to keep you hypnotized
hypnotized

so that's how you found me
rain falling around me
lookin down at a worm
with a long way to go

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop
in every city
on a day which is every day
i picked up a magazine
which is every magazine
read a story then i forgot it right away

and they say goldfish have no memory
i guess their lives are much like mine
and the little plastic castle
is a surprise every time
and it's hard to say if they're happy
but they don't seem much to mind

from the shape of your shaved head
i recognized your silhouette
as you walked out of the sun and sat down
and the sight of your sleepy smile eclipsed all the other people
as they paused to sneer at the two girls from out of town

and i said, "look at you this morning
you are by far the cutest
but be careful getting coffee
i think these people want to shoot us
or maybe there's some kind of local competition here
to see who can be the rudest"

people talk about my image
like i come in two dimensions
like lipstick is a sign of my decling mind
like what i happen to be wearing
the day that someone takes a picture
is my new statement for all womankind

and i wish they could see us now
in leather bras and rubber shorts
like some ridiculous new team uniform
for some ridiculous new sport
quick someone call the girl police
and file a report

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop
in every city
on a day which is every day

the answer came
like a shot in the back
while you were running from your lesson
which might explain
why years later all you could remember
was the terror of the question
plus, you weren't listening
you were stockpiling canned goods
making a bomb shelter of our basement
and i can't believe you let the moral go by
while you were soaking in the product placement

where was your conscience?
where was your consciousness?
and where did you put all those letters
that you wrote to yourself
but could not address?

i'm a good kisser
and you're a fast learner
and that kinda thing could float us
for a pretty long time
then one day you'd realize
you've memorized my phone number
and you'll call it and find it's a disconnected line
cuz i got tossed out the window of love's el camino
and i shattered into a shower of sparks on the curb
you were smoking me
weren't you?
between your yellow fingers
you just inhaled and exhaled without saying a word

where was your conscience?
where was your consciousness?
and where did you put all those letters
that you wrote to yourself
but could not address?

there's a smorgasbord of unspoken poisons
a whole childhood of potions
that are all bottled up
and so one by one i am dusting off labels
i am uncorking bottles and filling up cups
so go ahead and have a taste of your own medicine
and i'll have a taste of mine
but first let's toast to the lists
that we hold in our fists
of the things that we promise to do
differently next time

cuz the answer came like a shot in the back
while you were running from your lesson
which might explain
why years later all you could remember
was the terror of the question
plus i'm not listening to you anymore
my head is too sore and my heart's perforated
and i'm mired in the marrow of my (well... ain't that) funny bone
learning how to be alone and devastated
where was my conscience?
where was my consciousness?
and what do i do with all these letters
that i wrote to myself
but cannot address?

they told you your music
could reach millions
that the choice was up to you
you told me they always
pay for lunch
and they believe in what i do
and i wonder
will you miss your old friends
once you've proven what you're worth
yeah i wonder
when you're a big star
will you miss the earth

and i know you would always want more
i know you would never be done
'cuz everyone is a fucking napoleon
yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon

and the next time
that i saw you
you were larger than life
you came and you conquered
you were doing alright
you had an army
of suits behind you
and all you had to be was willing
and i said i still
make a pretty good living
but you must make a killing
a killing

and i hope that you are happy
i hope at least you are having fun
'cuz but everyone is a fucking napoleon
yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon

now you think, so that is
the way it's gonna be
that's what this is all about
i think that that is
the way it always was
you chose not to notice until now
yeah now that there's a problem
you call me up to confide
and you go on for over an hour
'bout each one that took you for a ride

and i guess that you dialed my number
'cuz you thought for sure that i'd agree
i said baby, you know i still love you
but how dare you complain to me

everyone is a fucking napoleon
yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon

I am not a pretty girl
That is not what I do
I ain't no damsel in distress
And I don't need to be rescued
So put me down, punk
Wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair?
Isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?

I am not an angry girl
But it seems like I've got everyone fooled
Every time I say something they find hard to hear
They chalk it up to my anger
And never to their own fear
Imagine you're a girl
Just trying to finally come clean
Knowing full well they'd prefer you were dirty
And smiling

And I am sorry
But I am not a maiden fair
And I am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

And generally, my generation
Wouldn't be caught dead working for the man
And generally I agree with them
Trouble is you gotta have youself
An alternate plan
And I have earned my disillusionment
I have been working all of my life
And I am a patriot
I have been fighting the good fight
And what if there are no damsels in distress
What if I knew that and I called your bluff?
Don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down,
Whether or not you ever show up?

I am not a pretty girl
I don't really want to be a pretty girl
No, I want to be more than a pretty girl.

I was born to two immigrants
Who knew why they were here
They were happy to pay taxes
For the schools and roads
Happy to be here
They took it seriously
The second job of citizenry
My mother went campaigning door to door
And holding to her hand was me

I was just a girl in a room full of women
Licking stamps and laughing
I remember the feeling of community brewing
Of democracy happening

But I suppose like anybody
I had to teach myself to see
All that stuff that got lost
On its way to church
All that stuff that got lost
On its way to school
All that stuff that got lost
On its way to the house of my family
All that stuff that was not lost on me

Teach myself to see each of us
Through the lens of forgiveness
Like we're stuck with each other (god forbid!)
Teach myself to smile and stop and talk
To a whole other color kid
Teach myself to be new in an instant
Like the truth is accessible at any time
Teach myself it's never really one or the other
There's a paradox in every paradigm

I was just a girl in a room full of women
Licking stamps and laughing
I remember the feeling of community brewing

Well the heat is so great
It plays tricks with the eye
It turns the road into water
Then from water to sky
And there's a crack in the concrete floor
That starts at the sink
Yea, there's a bathroom in the gas station
And I've locked myself in it to think

Back in the city
The sun bakes the trash on the curb
The men are pissing in doorways
And the rats are running in herds
And I've got a dream with your face in it
That scares me awake
I've put too much on my table
Now I've got too much at stake

And I might let you off easy
Yea I might lead you on
I might wait for you to look for me
And then I might be gone
There's where I've come from and where I'm going
And I am lost in between
I might go out to that phone booth
And leave a veiled invitation on your machine

And you'll stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
Oh the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
or how or why
I'm leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"
Don't be shy

The door opens, the room winces
The housekeeper comes in without a warning
And I squint at the muscular motel lady
And say "Hey morning"
As she jumps her keys jingle
She leaves as quickly as she came in
And I roll over and taste the pillow with my grin
Well the sheets are twisted and damp
But the heat is so great
And I swear I can feel the mattress
Sinking underneath your weight
Boy your sleep is like a fever
And I'm glad when it ends
Oh the road flows like a river
And it pulls me round every bend

Stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
Oh the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
or how or why
I am leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"
Don't be shy

Well the heat is so great
It plays tricks with the eye
It turns the road into water
Then from water to sky
And there's a crack in the concrete floor
It starts at the sink
There's a bathroom in the gas station
And I have locked myself in it to think

And you'll stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
yeah the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
or how or why
I am leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"

You'll stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
yeah the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
how or why
I'm leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"

Don't be shy
no dont be shy
no don't be shy
no don't be shy
come on fucker don't be shy

standing just outside
the circle of light
avoiding the pool cues
watching the game
waiting for you
hanging in the doorway
like smoke
like mistletoe
this is where i'll be
whenever you come or go

i'm gonna roll you over
gonna peel you back
expose your tender center
watch the juices flow from the crack
gonna peel you out
of your protective shell
or i might have to break right in there
and raise some hell

i don't have no grand plan
for you and me
just nothing is impossible
nothing is unlikely
i'm just riding the tide
nothing more
and it's bound to take me out some
before it brings me back to shore

when you look in the mirror
do you see visions of your past
i ain't got time for halfway
i ain't got time for halfassed
when i look in the mirror
i see my days to come
and my face is just a trace
of where i'm coming from

just outside the circle of light
is where you've been living
your whole life
you've got to jump into the center
and launch your attack
and then you've got to crawl back
in the corners
where it's really black

our father who art in a penthouse
sits in his 37th floor suite
and swivels to gaze down
at the city he made me in
he allows me to stand and
sollicit graffiti until
he needs the land i stand on
i in my darkened threshold
am pawing through my pockets
the receipts, the bus schedules
urgent napkin poems
and matchbook phone numbers
all of which laundering has rendered
pulpy and strange
loose change and a key
ask me
go ahead, ask me if i care
i got the answer here
i wrote it down somewhere
i just gotta find it
i just gotta find it

somebody and their spraypaint got too close
somebody came on too heavy
now look at me made ugly
by the drooling letters
i was better off alone
ain't that the way it is
they don't know the first thing
but you don't know that
until they take the first swing
my fingers are red and swollen from the cold
i'm getting bold in my old age
so go ahead, try the door
it doesn't matter anymore
i know the weakhearted are strongwilled
and we are being kept alive
until we're killed
he's up there the ice
is clinking in his glass
i don't ask
i just empty my pockets and wait
it's not fate
it's just circumstance
i don't fool myself with romance
i just live
phone number to phone number
dusting them against my thighs
in the warmth of my pockets
which whisper history incessantly
asking me
where were you

i lower my eyes
wishing i could cry more
and care less,
yes it's true,
i was trying to love someone again,
i was caught caring,
bearing weight

but i love this city, this state
this country is too large
and whoever's in charge up there
had better take the elevator down
and put more than change in our cup
or else we
are coming
up

i got pulled over in west texas
so they could look inside my car
he said are you an american citizen
i said
yes sir
so far
they made sure i wasn't smuggling
someone in from mexico
someone willing to settle for america
'cause there's nowhere else to go

and every state line
there's a new set of laws
and every police man
comes equipped with extended clause
there's a thousand shades of white
and a thousand shades of black
but the same rule always applies
smile pretty, and watch your back

i broke down in louisiana
and i had to thumb a ride
got in the first car that pulled over
you can't be picky in the middle of the night
he said
baby, do you like to fool around
baby, do you like to be touched
i said
maybe some other time
fuck you very much

and every state line
there's a new set of laws
and every police man
comes equipped with extended clause
there's a thousand shades of white
and a thousand shades of black
but the same rule always applies
smile pretty, and watch your back

i'm in the middle of alabama
they stare at me where ever i go
i don't think they like my haircut
i don't think they like my clothes
i can't wait to get back to new york city
where at least when i walk down the street
nobody ever hesitates
to tell me exactly what they think of me

and every state line
there's a new set of laws
and every police man
comes equipped with extended clause
there's a thousand shades of white
and a thousand shades of black
but the same rule always applies
smile pretty, and watch your back

a little town in pennsylvania
there was snow on the ground
i parked in an empty lot
where there was no one else around
but i guess i was taking up too much space
as i was trying to get some sleep
'cause an officer came by anyway
and told me i had to leave

and every state line
there's a new set of laws
and every police man
comes equipped with extended clause
there's a thousand shades of white
and a thousand shades of black
but the same rule always applies
smile pretty, and watch your back

she's looking in the mirror
she's fixing her hair
and i touch my head to feel
what isn't there
she's humming a melody
we learned in grade school
she's so happy
and i think
this is not cool
'cause i know the guy
she's been talking about
i have met him before
and i think
what is this beautiful beautiful woman
settling for?

she bends her breath
when she talks to him
i can see her features begin to blur
as she pours herself
into the mold he made for her
and for everything he does
she has a way to rationalize
she says he don't mean what he do
she tells me he called
to apologize

he says he loves her
he says he's changing
and he can keep her warm
and so she sits there like america
suffering through slow reform
but she'll never get back the time
and the years sneak by
one by one
she is still playing the martyr
i am still praying for revolution

and she still doesn't have what she deserves
but she wakes up smiling every day
she never really expected more
that's just not the way we are raised
and i say to her,
you know,
there's plenty of really great men out there
but she doesn't hear me
she's looking in the mirror
she's fixing her hair

you think i wouldn't have him
unless i could have him by the balls
you think i just dish it out
you don't think i take it at all
you think i am stronger
you think i walk taller than the rest
you think i'm usually wearing the pants
just 'cause i rarely wear a dress

well...

when you look at me
you see my purpose,
see my pride
you think i just saddle up my anger
and ride and ride and ride
you think i stand so firm
you think i sit so high on my trusty steed
let me tell you
i'm usually face down on the ground
when there's a stampede

i'm no heroine
at least, not last time i checked
i'm too easy to roll over
i'm too easy to wreck
i just write about
what i should have done
i just sing
what i wish i could say
and hope somewhere
some woman hears my music
and it helps her through her day

'cause some guy designed
these shoes i use to walk around
some big man's business turns a profit
every time i lay my money down
some guy designed the room i'm standing in
another built it with his own tools
who says i like right angles?
these are not my laws
there are not my rules

i'm no heroine
i still answer to the other half of the race
i don't fool myself
like i fool you
i don't have the power
we just don't run this place

standing like john wayne
she is full framed
she is center stage
and my imagination is
rattling in its cage
i didn't really notice
when everything else disappeared
but as far as i'm concerned
if it isn't her
it isn't here

she says do i know you
i say well, no, not biblically
but i've been waiting for you come
and talk to me
i have been playing
too many of those boy girl games
she says honey you are safe here
this is a girl girl thing

i told him i loved him
so he thought i'd roll over and play dead
he was god's gift to hypocrisy
with weak knees and a big fat head
she says honey don't tell me
that old story
you are boring me
just tell me do you like me
tell me what you're gonna do
now that you're free

standing like john wayne
she is full framed
she is center stage
and my imagination
is rattling in its cage
i didn't really notice
when everything else disappeared
but as far as i'm concerned
if it isn't her
it isn't here
as far as i'm concerned
if it isn't her
it isn't here

i'm okay
if you get me at a good angle
and you're okay
in the right sort of light
and we don't look
like pages from a magazine
but that's all right
oh baby, that's all right

i crashed your pickup truck
and then i had to drive it back home
i was crying
i was so scared
of what you would do
of what you would say
but you just started laughing
so i just started laughing along
saying, it looks a little rough
but it runs okay
it looks a little rough
but it runs good anyway

we get a little further from perfection
each year on the road
i think that's what they call character
i think that's just the way it goes
but it's better to be dusty than polished
like some store window mannequin
why don't you touch me where i'm rusty
let me stain your hands
touch me where i'm rusty
let me

when you're pretty as a picture
they pound down your door
but i've been offered love
in two dimensions before
and i know that it's not all
that it's made out to be
let's show them all how it's done
let's do it all imperfectly
let's do it all imperfectly

'cause i'm okay
if you get me at a good angle
and you're okay
in the right sort of light
and we don't look
like pages from a magazine
but that's all right
oh baby, that's all right

guess there's something wrong with me
guess i don't fit in
no one wants to touch it
no one knows where to begin
i've got more than one membership
to more than one club
and i owe my life
to the people that i love

he looks me up and down
like he knows what time it is
like he's got my number
like he thinks it's his
he says,
call me, miss difranco,
if there's anything i can do
i say,
it's mr. difranco to you

some days the line i walk
turns out to be straight
other days the line tends to
deviate
i've got no criteria for sex or race
i just want to hear your voice
i just want to see your face

she looks me up and down
like she thinks that i'll mature
like she's got my number
like it belongs to her
she says,
call me, ms. difranco
if there's anything i can do
i say, i've got spots
i've got
stripes, too

their eyes are all asking
are you in, or are you out
and i think, oh man,
what is this about?
tonight you can't put me
up on any shelf
'cause i came here alone
i'm gonna leave by myself

i just want to show you
the way that i feel
and when i get tired
you can take the wheel
to me what's more important
is the person that i bring
not just getting to the same restaurant
and eating the same thing

guess there's something wrong with me
guess i don't fit in
no one wants to touch it
no one knows where to begin
i've more than one membership
to more than one club
and i owe my life to the people that i love

my breast is cradled
in the curve of my guitar
i'm breaking strings
and other things
playing hard
no i'm not on the rag
but i'm not on the run
i am matching the big boys
one for one
and i must admit,
i'm having myself some fun

because the music business
is still run by men
like every business
and everything
but we can sing like a sonofabitch
make them twitch around their eyes
make them apologize

he had a mean streak
three miles wide
it was a long walk
to the other side
she tried to get through it
holding on to her smile
but he wasn't worth the time it takes
to make that mistake
he just wasn't worthwhile
she's been under command
of the wrong man
and she'll give you everything
except the upper hand
she was his mother, and his lover,
and his wife
now she wants the luxury
of her own life

'cause the marriage business
is still run by men
like every business
and every thing
but she can sing like a sonofabitch
make him twitch around his eyes
girl, make him apologize

they all want to lead the fight
and they know what they know all right
but there's so much
they don't understand
what about the other sex
what about the other hand
they only know what they've been told
and they're well cast
but they don't break the mold
and good sources are not enough
so she calls their bluff
yeah, she calls their bluff

'cause the revolution business
is still run by men
like every business
and everything
but we can sing like a sonofabitch
make them twitch around their eyes
until they realize
they just don't realize

he caresses every bottle
like it's the first one he's had
saying
it ain't love
but it ain't bad
it's the only reward
bestowed upon me
and i have served faithfully

i can see he is scarred
from doing some hard time
but i let alone what is broken
'cause it isn't mine
he strikes out at me
when i am within reach
then he reaches for me
when i draw the line

sometimes it seems like love
is just a fancy word for compromise
you gotta read between the years
you gotta write between the lines
you gotta try to understand
the grandness of the man behind the petty crimes
and let him off easy sometimes

i have only just met
an old old friend
we've been walking around holding hands
i hope some day he can bend
as far as it takes to understand
and risk breaking open again

If my life were a movie
there would be a sunset
and the camera would pan away
but the sky is just a little sister
tagging along behind the buildings
trying to imitate their grey
the little boys are breaking bottles
along the sidewalk
the big boys, too
the girls are hanging out at the candy store
pumping quarters into the phone
'cause they don't want to go home

and I think,
what if no one's watching
what it when we're dead, we're just dead
what if it's just us down here
what if god ain't looking down
what if he's looking up instead

if my life were a movie
I would light a cigarette
and the smoke would curl around my face
everything I do would be interesting
I'd play the good guy
in every scene
but I always feel I have to
take a stand
and there's always someone on hand
to hate me for standing there
I always feel I have to open my mouth
and every time I do
I offend someone
somewhere

but what
what if no one's watching
what if when we're dead, we're just dead
what if there's no time to lose
what if there's things we gotta do
things that need to be said

you know I can't apologize
for everything I know
I mean you don't have to agree with me
but once you get me going
you better just let me go
we have to be able to criticize
what we love
say what we have to say
'cause if you're not trying to make something better
as far as I can tell
you're just in the way

I mean what
what if no one's watching
what if when we're dead
we're just dead
what if it's just us down here
what if god is just an idea
someone put in your head

I mean what
what if no one's watching
what if no one's watching...

you are subtle as a window pane
standing in my view
but I will wait for it to rain
so that I can see you
you call me up at night
when there's no light passing through
and you think that I don't understand
but I do

we don't say everything that we could
so that we can say later
oh, you misunderstood
I hold my cards up
close to my chest
I say what I have to
and I hold back the rest

'cause someone you don't know
is someone you don't know
get a firm grip, girl
before you let go
for every hand extended
another lies in wait
keep your eye on that one
anticipate

dress down get out there
pick a fight with the police
we will get it all on film
for the new release
seems like everyone's an actor
or they're an actor's best friend
I wonder what was wrong to begin with
that they should all have to pretend
we lost sight of everything
when we have to keep checking our backs
I think we should all just smile
come clean
and relax

if there's anything I've learned
all these years on my own
it's how to find my own way there
and how to find my own way back home

I am walking
out in the rain
and I am listening to the low moan
of the dial tone again
and I am getting
nowhere with you
and I can't let it go
and I can't get through...

The old woman behind the pink curtains
and the closed door
on the first floor
she's listening through the air shaft
to see how long our swan song can last

And both hands
now use both hands
oh, no don't close your eyes
I am writing
graffitti on your body
I am drawing the story of
how hard we tried

I am watching your chest rise and fall
like the tides of my life,
and the rest of it all
and your bones have been my bedframe
and your flesh has been my pillow
I am waiting for sleep
to offer up the deep
with both hands
Oh! both hands

And in each other's shadows we grew less and less tall
and eventually our theories couldn't explain it all
and I'm recording our history now on the bedroom wall
and when we leave the landlord will come
and paint over it all

And I am walking
out in the rain
and I am listening to the low moan of the dial tone again
and I am getting nowhere with you
and I can't let it go
and I can't get though
So now use both hands
please use both hands
oh, no don't close your eyes
I am writing graffitti on your body
I am drawing the story of how hard we tried
hard we tried
how hard we tried

I opened the fire door
to four lips
none of which were mine
kissing
tightened my belt around my hips
where your hands were missing
and stepped out into the cold
collar high
under the slate grey sky
the air was smoking and the streets were dry
and I wasn't joking when I said
Good Bye
magazine quality men talking on the corner
French, no less much less of them then us
so why do I feel like something's been rearranged?
you know, taken out of context I must seem so strange
killed a cockroach so big
it left a puddle of pus on the wall
when you and I are lying in bed
you don't seem so tall
I'm singing now because my tear ducts are too tired
and my mind is disconnected but my heart is wired
I make such a good statistic
someone should study me now
somebody's got to be interested in how I feel
just 'cause I'm here
and I'm real
oh, how I miss
substituting the conclusion to confrontation with a kiss
and oh, how I miss
walking up to the edge and jumping in
like I could feel the future on your skin
I opened the fire door
to four lips
none of which were mine
kissing

I opened the fire door x 9

thank you
for letting me stay here
thank you for taking me in
thank you
for the beer and the food
thank you
for loaning me bus fare
thank you for showing me around
that was a very kind thing to do
thank you
for the use of the clean towel
thank you for half of your bed
we can sleep here like brother and sister,
you said

but you changed the rules
in an hour or two
and i don't know what you
and your sisters do
but please don't
please stop
this is not my obligation
what does my body have to do
with my gratitude?

look at you
little white lying
for the purpose of justifying
what you're trying to do
i know that you feel my resistance
i know that you heard what i said
otherwise you wouldn't need the excuse

thank you
for letting me stay here
thank you for taking me in
i don't know where else
i would have gone
but i don't come and go
like a pop song
that you can play incessantly
and then forget when it's gone
you can't write me off
and you don't turn me on

so don't change the rules
in an hour or two
i don't know what you and your
sisters do
but please don't
please stop
this is not my obligation
what does my body have to do
with my gratitude?

i opened a bank account
when i was nine years old
i closed it when i was eighteen
i gave them every penny that i'd saved
and they gave my blood
and my urine
a number
now i'm sitting in this waiting room
playing with the toys
and i am here to exercise
my freedom of choice
i passed their handheld signs
went through their picket lines
they gathered when they saw me coming
they shouted when they saw me cross
i said why don't you go home
just leave me alone
i'm just another woman lost
you are like fish in the water
who don't know that they are wet
as far as i can tell
the world isn't perfect yet
his bored eyes were obscene
on his denim thighs a magazine
i wish he'd never come here with me
in fact i wish he'd never come near me
i wish his shoulder
wasn't touching mine
i am growing older
waiting in this line
some of life's best lessons
are learned at the worst times
under the fierce fluorescent
she offered her hand for me to hold
she offered stability and calm
and i was crushing her palm
through the pinch pull wincing
my smile unconvincing
on that sterile battlefield that sees
only casualties
never heroes
my heart hit absolute zero
lucille, your voice still sounds in me
mine was a relatively easy tragedy
now the profile of our country
looks a little less hard nosed
but that picket line persisted
and that clinic's since been closed
they keep pounding their fists on reality
hoping it will break
but i don't think there's a one of them
leads a life free of mistakes

in a forest of stone underneath a corporate canopy
where the sun rarely filters down
the ground is not so soft
it is not so soft

they build buildings to house people making money
or they build buildings to make money housing people
it's true, like a lot of things are true

foraging from a phone booth on the forest floor
that is not so soft
i look up, it looks like the builidings are burning
but it's just the sun, setting in the windows
the solar system calling an end to another business day
eternally circling, signalling the rythmic clicking on and off
of computers

the pulse .. of the american machine
the pulse .. that draws death dancing
out of anonymous side streets
you know, the ones that always get dumped on
but never get ploughed

it draws death dancing out of little countries
with funny languages
where the ground is getting harder and it was
not that soft before

but those who call the shots
are never in the line of fire
why
when there's life for hire out there
if the flag of truth were raised
we could watch every liar rise to wave it
here we learn america like a script
playright, birthright - same thing
we bring ourselves to the role
we're all rehearsing for the presidency
i always wanted to be commander in chief
of my own one woman army

but i can envision the mediocrity of my finest hour
it's the failed america in me
it's the fear that lives
in a forest of stone, underneath the corporate canopy
where the sun rarely filters down
and the ground
is not so soft......

the butter melts out of habit
the toast isn't even warm
the waitress and the man in the plaid shirt
play out a scene they've played
so many times before
I am watching the sun stumble home in the morning
from a bar on the east side of town
and the coffee is just water dressed in brown
beautiful but boring
he visited me yesterday
he noticed my fingers
and asked me if I would play
I didn't really care a lot
but I couldn't think of a reason why not
I said if you don't come any closer I don't mind if you stay
my thighs have been involved in many accidents
and now I can't get insured
and I don't need to be lured by you
my cunt is built like a wound that won't heal
and now you don't have to ask
because you know how I feel
you know how I feel

art is why I get up in the morning
but my definition ends there
and it doesn't seem fair
that I'm living for something I can't even define
there you are right there
in the meantime

I don't want to play for you anymore
show me what you can do
tell me what are you here for
I want my old friends
I want my old face
I want my old mind
fuck this time and place

the butter melts out of habit
you know, the toast isn't even warm

Tending the garden of noise
where i grow the traffic
and the church bells
and the neighborhood boys
singing to myself
when the solitude sets in
in tune with the symphony
of south brooklyn
i sing

rockabye, rockabye baby
rockabye, the baby that is me
rockabye, rockabye baby
rockabye till i'm fast asleep

the tunnel is train torn
the tracks are worn and sore
i can feel the rattle
riding up through the floor
she jumped the turnstile
he paid for his ride
i am the echo in the station
where their footfalls collide
i left her at the epicenter
we were trembling dutifully
i left him too
i left parts of me
singing...

rockabye, rockabye baby
rockabye, the baby that is me
rockabye, rockabye baby
rockabye till i'm fast asleep (repeats)

i said today i am leaving
in every sense of the word
but i'm in love with your memory already
everything i've seen and heard
and i will go singing
as the solitude sets in
in time with the rhythm
of everywhere i have been
it sounds like

rockabye, rockabye baby
rockabye, the baby that is me
rockabye, rockabye baby
rockabye till i'm fast asleep (repeats x3)

tending the garden of noise
where i grow the traffic
and the church bells
and the neighborhood boys
singing to myself
when the solitude sets in
in tune with the symphony
of south brooklyn.

she says my ass hurts
when i sit down
she says my feet hurt
from just standing around
i think my body
is as restless as my mind
and i don't know if i can roll with it
this time

packed his uniforms
and drove him to the base
she was crying all the way
the world looked her in the face
and said
roll with it, baby
make it your career
keep the home fires burning
till america is in the clear

the mainstream is so polluted with lies
once you get wet, it's so hard to get dry
we're all taught how to justify
history
as it passes by
and it's your world
that comes crashing down
when the big boys decide
to throw their weight around
but just roll with it baby
make it your career
keep the home fires burning
till america is in the clear

what if the enemy
isn't in a distant land
what if the enemy lies behind
the voice of command
the sound of war
is a child's cry
behind tinted windows,
they just drive by
all i know is that those
who are going to be killed
aren't those who preside
on capitol hill
i told him,
don't fill the front lines
of their war
those assholes aren't worth dying for
but he said
roll with it, baby
make it your career
keep the home fires burning
till america is in the clear

she says my ass hurts
when i sit down
she says my feet hurt
from just standing around
i think my body is as restless as my mind
and i'm not gonna roll with it this time
no, i'm not gonna roll with it this time

rush hour
and the day's dawning
the rain came
and pushed me under the awning
the puddles grew and threw themselves at me
with every passing car
i'm shielding my guitar
and there were some things that i
did not tell him
there were certain things
he did not need to know
and there were some days
when i did not love him
he didn't understand me
and i don't know why
i didn't go
he said change the channel
i've got problems of my own
i'm so sick of hearing about drugs
and aids
and people without homes
and i said, well,
i'd like to sympathize with that
but if you don't understand
then how can you act
i expected summer to be there in the morning
i woke to the alarm
but she was out of arms reach
sneaking out
on silent thighs
that were spent and sore
from the hot nights that came before
he said i looked for you
i don't know why
i said i was wearing black so you could
see me against the sky
take your big leather boots
and your buckles and your chains
put them on a downtown train
i expected he would be there in the morning
i awoke to the alarm
he was still in arm's reach
but his body was just a disguise
his mind had wandered off long ago
you see in his eyes
love isn't over when the sheets are stained
in my head there remains
so much left to be said
make me laugh, make me cry, enrage me
but just don't try to disengage me

she says forget what you have to do
pretend there is nothing
outside this room
and like an idea she came to me
but she came too late
or maybe too soon
i said please try not to love me
close your eyes, i'm turning on the light
you know i have no vacancy
and it's awfully cold outside tonight

the rain stains the brick a darker red
slowly i'm rolling out of her bed
the rain stains the streets a darker black
i dress my face in stone
because i can't go back

i feel her eyes watching me
from behind the curtain of her hair
and she says i'm sorry
i didn't mean to stare
i say i think i really have to go now
but oh baby, maybe someday
maybe somehow.

he said ani, you've gotten tough
'cause my tone was curt
yeah, and when i'm approached in a dark alley
i don't lift my skirt
in this city
self-preservation
is a full time occupation
i'm determined
to survive on this shore
you know i don't
avert my eyes anymore
in a man's world
i am a woman by birth
and after nineteen times around i have found
they will stop at nothing once they know what you are worth
talk to me now
i played the powerless
in too many dark scenes
and i was blessed with a birth and a death
and i guess i just want some say in between
don't you understand
in the day to day
and the face to face
i have to act
just as strong as i can
just to preserve a place
where i can be who i am
so if you still know how
talk to me now

the slant
a building settling around me
my figure female framed crookedly
in the threshold
of the room
door scraping floorboards
with every opening
carving a rough history
of bedroom scenes
the plot hard to follow
the text obscured
in the folds of sheets
slowly gathering the stains
of seasons spent lying there
red and brown
like leaves fallen
the colors of an eternal cycle
fading with the
wash cycle
and the rinse cycle
again an unfamiliar smell
like my name misspelled
or misspoken
a cycle broken
the sound of them strong
stalking talking about their prey
like the way hammer meets nail
pounding, they say
pounding out the rhythms of attraction
like a woman was a drum like a body was a weapon
like there was something more they wanted
than the journey
like it was owed to them
steel toed they walk
and i'm wondering why this fear of men
maybe it's because i'm hungry
and like a baby i'm dependent on them
to feed me
i am a work in progress
dressed in the fabric of a world unfolding
offering me intricte patterns of questions
rhythms that never come clean
and strengths that you still haven't seen

lying on the floor
four stories high
in the corridor
between the asphalt and the sky
i am caught like bottled water
the light daughter
i wonder what you look like
under your t-shirt
i wonder what you sound like
when you're not wearing words
i wonder what we have
when we're not pretending
it's never-ending, haven't you heard?
i don't need to tell you
what this is about
you just start on the inside
and work your way out
we are all polylingual
but some of us pretend
there's virtue in relying
on not trying to understand
we're all citizens of the womb
before we subdivide
into sexes and shades
this side
that side
and i don't need to tell you
what this is about
you just start on the inside
and work your way out
undressing for the fan
like it was a man
wondering about all the things
that i'll never understand
there are some things that you can't know
unless you've been there
but oh how far we could go
if we started to share
i don't need to tell you
what it is about
you just start on the inside
you just start on the inside
and work your way out

Buildings and bridges
Are made to bend in the wind
To withstand the world
Thats what it takes.
All that steel and stone
Are no match for the air, my friend.
What doesn't bend breaks
What doesn't bend breaks.

la da da da da...

We are made to bleed
And scab and heal and bleed again
and turn every scar into a joke.
We are made to fight
And fuck and talk and fight again.
And sit around and laugh until we choke
Sit around and laugh until we choke.

la da da da da...

Don't know who you were expecting...
Probably some bitch who does not budge.
With eyes the size of snow.
I may get pissed off sometimes,
But you seem like the type to hold a grudge
and in the end I just let go,
In the end I'll just let go...

la da da da da...

Buildings and bridges
Are made to bend in the wind,
To withstand the world
Thats what it takes.
All that steel and stone
Are no match for the air my friend,
What doesn't bend breaks
What doesn't bend breaks.

la da da da da da da la da da da da....

Some guy tried to rub up against me
In a crowded subway car
Some guy tried to feed me some stupid line
In some stupid bar
I see the same shit everyday
The landscape looks so bleak
I think I'll take the first one of you's home
That does something unique

Some chick says
Thank you for saying all the things I never do
I say
The thanks I get is to take all the shit for you
It's nice that you listen
It'd be nicer if you joined in
As long as you play their game girl
You're never going to win


Today I just want someone to entertain me
I'm tired of being so fierce
I'm tired of being so friendly
You don't have to be a supermodel
To do the animal thing
You don't have to be a supergenius
To open your face up and sing

Somebody do something
Anything soon
I know I can't be the only
Whatever I am in the room
So why am I so lonely?
Why am I so tired?
I need company
I need backup
I need to be inspired

you give me that look that's like laughing
with liquid in your mouth
like you're choosing between choking
and spitting it all out
like you're trying to fight gravity
on a planet that insists
that love is like falling
and falling is like this

feels like reckless driving when we're talking
it's fun while it lasts, and it's faster than walking
but no one's going to sympathize when we crash
they'll say "you hit what you head for, you get what you ask"
and we'll say we didn't know, we didn't even try
one minute there was road beneath us, the next just sky

i'm sorry i can't help you, i cannot keep you safe
i'm sorry i can't help myself, so don't look at me that way
we can't fight gravity on a planet that insists
that love is like falling
and falling is like this.

life is a b movie
it's stupid and it's strange
a directionless story
and the dialogue is lame
but in the he said she said
sometimes there's some poetry
if you turn your back long enough
and let it happen naturally
oh, yeah
hell yeah

i got a face like a limp handshake
hair like an accident scene
i've been waking up slowly
savoring the same old dream
and somewhere between
the folds of your memory
i was sleeping soundly
oh, yeah
hell yeah

'cause i like you
but i know you don't know it
i like you so much,
i talk to everyone but you
and i wonder
what you would think of this little number
i wonder
what you would say if you knew

if you don't ask the right questions
every answer seems wrong
i was a terrible waitress
so i started to write songs
and i don't know how i feel
but i wonder if you feel like me
do you ever get wrapped up
in the folds of my memory
oh, yeah
hell, yeah

'cause i like you
but i know you don't know it
i like you so much
i talk to everyone but you
and i wonder
what you would think of this little number
yeah i wonder
what you would say if you knew

there's a river of people
that runs past my eyes
and it's beautiful enough
just to watch it go by
but the trouble with water is
she'll always leave you for gravity
i never even told you
i had a crush on you or anything
oh, yeah
hell yeah

life is a b movie
it's stupid and it's strange
a directionless story
and the dialogue is lame
but in the he said she said
sometimes there's some poetry
if you turn your back long enough
and let it happen naturally
oh, yeah
hell yeah

you could always hear the rub squeaking
of those two tree limbs
'til one day one of them came down
taken down by the wind
but on the one that's still there
you can still see where the bark was
rubbed bare
it's a metaphor if you know what i mean
how have you been?

me and you
and your girlfriend makes three
in the interest of even numbers
i will make myself scarce
i will make myself scarcely me
but i'll be outside your window at night
pull up your shades
leave on your light
i don't want to come in between
i just want to know
how have you been

i leave for a living
music's just something i do
on my way out the door
and i'd do almost anything once
something about you
i think i'd do you more
if i had my way i'd stay here
and watch your hair grow for a while
it makes me smile just to dream of it
how have you been

I'm invincible
so are you
we do all the things
they say we can't do
we walk around
in the middle of the night
and if it's too far to walk
we just hitch a ride

we got rings of dirt
around our necks
we talk like auctioneers
and we bounce like checks
we smell like shit
still, when we walk down the street
all the boys line up
to throw themselves at our feet

I say I think he likes you
you say I think he do too
go and get him girl
before he gets you
I'll be watching you
from the wings
I will come to your rescue
if he tries anything

it's a long long road
it's a big big world
we are wise wise women
we are giggling girls
we both carry a smile
to show when we're pleased
we both carry a switchblade
in our sleeves

tell you one thing
I'm gonna make noise when I go down
for ten square blocks
they're gonna know i died
all the goddesses will come up
to the ripped screen door
and say,
what do you want, dear?
and I'll say,
I want inside

I say I think he likes you
you say i think he do too
go and get him girl
before he gets you
I'll be watching you
from the wings
I will come to your rescue
if he tries anything

don't ask me why I'm crying
I'm not going to tell you what's wrong
I'm just gonna sit on your lap
for five dollars a song
I want you to pay me for my beauty
I think it's only right
'cause I have been paying for it
all of my life

I'm gonna take the money I make
I'm gonna take the money I make
I'm gonna take the money I make
and I'm gonna go away...

we barely have time to react in this world
let alone rehearse
and I don't think I'm better than you
but I don't think that I'm worse
women learn to be women
and men learn to be men
and I don't blame it all on you
but I don't want to be your friend

I'm gonna take the money I make
I'm gonna take the money I make
I'm gonna take the money I make
and I'm gonna go away...

I was eleven years old
he was as old as my dad
and he took something from me
I didn't even know that I had
so don't tell me about decency
don't tell me about pride
just give me something for my trouble
'cause this time, it's not a free ride

I'm gonna take the money I make
I'm gonna take the money I make
I'm gonna take the money I make
and I'm gonna go away...

don't ask me why I'm crying
I'm not going to tell you what's wrong
I'm just gonna sit on your lap
for five dollars a songs
I want you to pay me for my beauty
I think it's only right
'cause I have been paying for it
all of my life

now I just wanna take
and I'm just gonna take
I'm gonna take
and I'm gonna go away

just the thought
of our bed
makes me crumble like the plaster
where you punched the wall beside my head
and i try
to draw the line
but it ends up running down the middle of me
most of the time

boys get locked up in some prison
girls get locked up in some house
and it don't matter if it's a warden
or a lover
or a spouse
you just can't talk to 'em
you just can't reason
you just can't leave
and you just can't please 'emi was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

if you're not angry
you're just stupid
or you don't care
how else can you react
when you know
something's so unfair
the men of the hour
can kill half the world in war
make them slaves to a super power
and let them die poor

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

just the thought
of our bed
makes me crumble like the plaster
where you punched the wall beside my bed
and i try
to draw the line
but it ends up running down the middle of me
most of the time

baby i love you
that's why i'm leaving
there's no talking to you
and there's no pleasing you
and i care enough
that i'm mad
that half the world don't even know
what they could have had

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

just the thought
of our bed
makes me crumble like the plaster
where you punched the wall beside my head
and i try
to draw the line
but it ends up running down the middle of me
most of the time

boys get locked up in some prison
girls get locked up in some house
and it don't matter if it's a warden
or a lover
or a spouse
you just can't talk to 'em
you just can't reason
you just can't leave
and you just can't please 'emi was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

if you're not angry
you're just stupid
or you don't care
how else can you react
when you know
something's so unfair
the men of the hour
can kill half the world in war
make them slaves to a super power
and let them die poor

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

just the thought
of our bed
makes me crumble like the plaster
where you punched the wall beside my bed
and i try
to draw the line
but it ends up running down the middle of me
most of the time

baby i love you
that's why i'm leaving
there's no talking to you
and there's no pleasing you
and i care enough
that i'm mad
that half the world don't even know
what they could have had

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

I search your profile
for a translation
I study the conversation
like a map
'cause I know there is strength
in the differences between us
and I know there is comfort
where we overlap

come here
stand in front of the light
stand still
so I can see your silhouette
I hope
that you have got all night
'cause I'm not done looking,
no, I'm not done looking yet

each one of us
wants a piece of the action
you can hear it in what we say
you can see it in what we do
we negotiate with chaos
for some sense of satisfaction
if you won't give it to me
at least give me a better view

come here
stand in front of the light
stand still
so I can see your sillouette
I hope
that you have got all night
'cause I'm not done looking
no, I'm not done looking yet

I build each one of my songs
out of glass
so you can see me inside of them
I suppose
or you could just leave the image of me
in the background, I guess
and watch your own reflection superimposed

and I build each one of my days out of hope
and I give that hope your name
and I don't know you that well
but it don't take much to tell
either you don't have the balls
or you don't feel the same

come here
stand in front of the light
stand still
so I can see your silhouette
I hope
that you have got all night
'cause I'm not done looking
no, I'm not done looking yet

I seach your profile for a translation
I study the conversation like a map
'cause I know there is strength
in the differences between us
and I know there is comfort
where we overlap

I'm calling from the diner
the diner on the corner
I ordered two coffees
one is for you
I was hoping you'd join me
'cause I ain't go no money
and I really miss you
I should mention that too

yes I know what time it is
in fact, I just checked
I even know the date
and the month
and the year
I know I haven't been sleeping
and when I do
I just dream of you
dear

I miss watching you
drool on your pillow
I miss watching you
pull on your clothes
I miss listening
to you in the bathroom
flushing the toilet
blowing your nose

I'm calling from the diner
the diner on the corner
I ordered two coffees
one is for you
the cups are so close
the steam is rising
in one stream
how are you

I think you're the least fucked up
person I've ever met
and that may be as close to the real thing
as I'm ever gonna get
but my quarter's gonna run out now
or so I'm told
I guess I'd better go sit down
and wait for you
til my coffee gets cold

How can I go home
With nothing to say?
I know you're going to look at me that way
And say "What did you do out there?
And what did you decide?"
You said you needed time
And you had time

You are a china shop
And I am a bull
You are really good food
And I am full
I guess everything is timing
I guess everything's been said
So I am coming home with an empty head

You'll say "Did they love you or what?"
I'll say "They love what I do
The only one who really loves me is you"
And you'll say "Girl, did you kick some butt?"
And I'll say "I don't really remember
But my fingers are sore
And my voice is too"

You'll say "It's really good to see you"
You'll say "I missed you horribly"
You'll say "Let me carry that
Give that to me"
And you will take the heavy stuff
And you will drive the car
And I'll look out the window and make jokes
About the way things are

How can I go home
With nothing to say?
I know you're going to look at me that way
And say "What did you do out there?
And what did you decide?"
You said you needed time
and you had time

You had time...
You had time...
You had time...
You had time...

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am 32 flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you are gonna get hungry
And eat most of the words you just said

Both my parents taught me about goodwill
And I have done well by their names
Just the kindness I've lavished on strangers
Is more than I can explain
Still there's many who've turned out their porch lights
Just so I would think they were not home
And hid in the dark of their windows
Till I'd passed and left them alone
Hey, yo, hey
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo, hey
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo

God help you if you are an ugly girl
Course, too pretty is also your doom
'Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred
For the prettiest girl in the room
And God help you if you are a phoenix
And you dare to rise up from the ash
A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy
While you are just flying past

And I'll never try to give my life meaning
By demeaning you
But I would like to state for the record
I did everything that I could do
I'm not saying that I am a saint
I just don't want to live that way
No, I will never be a saint
But I will always say

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am 32 flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you might find you are starving
And eating all of the words that you said
Oh, oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo

Mm, mm, mm, mm
Mm, mm, mm, mm

Oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo

i want somebody who sees the pointlessness
and still keeps their purpose in mind
i want somebody who has a tortured soul
some of the time
i want somebody who will either put out for me
or put me out of misery
or maybe just put it all to words
and make me say, you know
i never heard it put that way
make me say, what did you just say?
i want somebody who can hold my interest
hold it and never let it fall
someone who can flatten me with a kiss
that hits like a fist
or a sentence, that stops me like a brick wall
because if you hear me talking
listen to what i'm not saying
if you hear me playing guitar
listen to what i'm not playing
and don't ask me to put words
to all the spaces between notes
in fact if you have to ask, forget it
do and you'll regret it
i'm tired of being the interesting one
i'm tired of heving fun for two
just lay yourself on the line
and i might lay myself down by you
but don't sit behind your eyes
and wait for me to surprise you
i want somebody who can make me
scream until it's funny
give me a run for my money
i want someone who can
twist me up in knots
tell me, for the woman who has everything
what have you got?
i want someone who's not afraid of me
or anyone else
in other words i want someone
who's not afraid of themself

do you think i'm asking too much?

our father who art in a penthouse
sits in his 37th floor suite
and swivels to gaze down
at the city he made me in
he allows me to stand and
sollicit graffiti until
he needs the land i stand on
i in my darkened threshold
am pawing through my pockets
the receipts, the bus schedules
urgent napkin poems
and matchbook phone numbers
all of which laundering has rendered
pulpy and strange
loose change and a key
ask me
go ahead, ask me if i care
i got the answer here
i wrote it down somewhere
i just gotta find it
i just gotta find it

somebody and their spraypaint got too close
somebody came on too heavy
now look at me made ugly
by the drooling letters
i was better off alone
ain't that the way it is
they don't know the first thing
but you don't know that
until they take the first swing
my fingers are red and swollen from the cold
i'm getting bold in my old age
so go ahead, try the door
it doesn't matter anymore
i know the weakhearted are strongwilled
and we are being kept alive
until we're killed
he's up there the ice
is clinking in his glass
i don't ask
i just empty my pockets and wait
it's not fate
it's just circumstance
i don't fool myself with romance
i just live
phone number to phone number
dusting them against my thighs
in the warmth of my pockets
which whisper history incessantly
asking me
where were you

i lower my eyes
wishing i could cry more
and care less,
yes it's true,
i was trying to love someone again,
i was caught caring,
bearing weight

but i love this city, this state
this country is too large
and whoever's in charge up there
had better take the elevator down
and put more than change in our cup
or else we
are coming
up

Fourteenth street and the garbage swirls like a cyclone
Three o'clock in the afternoon and I am going home
F train is full of high school students
So much shouting
So much laughter
Last night's underwear in my back pocket
Sure sign of the morning after

Take me home
Take me home and leave me there
Think I'm going to cry, I don't know why
Think I'm going to sing myself a lullaby
Feel free to listen
Feel free to stare

I live in New York New York the city that never shuts up
In the daylight everything is so gory
You can hear snatches of stranger's sorry stories
And I moved there from Buffalo but that's nothing
The TRICO plant moved to Mexico
Left my uncle standing out in the cold
Said there's your last paycheck have fun growing old

Take me home
Take me home and leave me there
Think I'm going to cry, I don't know why
Think I'm going to sing myself a lullaby
Feel free to listen
Feel free to stare
Rockabye baby
In the treetop
When the wind blows
Cradle will rock
When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall
Down will come baby
Cradle and all

Youth is beauty
Money is beauty
Hell, beauty is beauty sometimes
It's the luck of the draw
It's the natural law
It's a joke
It's a crime
I was bored
You were bored
It was a meeting of the minds
Now it's three in the afternoon and I can't leave too soon
Saying thank you, I had a nice time

Take me home
Take me home and leave me there
Think I'm going to cry, I don't know why
Think I'm going to sing myself a lullaby
Feel free to listen
Feel free to stare

Maybe I'll live my whole life
Just getting by
Maybe I'll be discovered
Maybe I'll be colonized
You could try to train me like a pet
You could try to teach me to behave
But I'll tell you, if I haven't learned it yet
You know,
I ain't gonna sit, I ain't gonna stay

Take me home
Take me home and leave me there
Think I'm going to cry, I don't know why
Think I'm going to sing myself a lullaby
Feel free to listen
Feel free to stare

the big day has come
the bell is sounding
i run my hands through my hair one last time
outside the prison walls
the town is gathering
people are trading crime for crime

everyone needs to see the prisoner
they need to make it even easier
they see me as a symbol, and not a human being
that way they can kill me
say it's not murder, it's a metaphor
we are killing off our own failure
and starting clean

standing in the gallows
everyone turned my way
i hear a voice ask me
if I've got any last words to say
and i'm looking out over the field of familiar eyes
somewhere in a woman's arms a baby cries

i think guilt and innocence
they are a matter of degree
what might be justice to you
might not be justice to me
i went to far, i'm sorry
i guess now i'm going home
so let any amongst you cast the first stone
now we've got all these complicated machines
so no one person ever has to have blood on their hands
we've got complex organizations
and if everyone just does their job
no one person has to understand

you might be the wrong colour
you might be too poor
justice isn't something just anyone can afford
you might not pull the trigger
you might be out in the car
and you might get a lethal injection
'cause we take a metaphor that far

the big day has come
the bell is sounding
i run my hands through my hair one last time
outside the prison walls
the town has gathered
people are trading crime for crime
people are trading crime for crime
people are still trading crime for crime

Hour follows hour like water follows water
Everything is governed by the rule
of 'one thing leads to another'
You can't really place blame
'cause blame is much too messy
Someone's bound to get on you
while you were trying to put it on me

And don't fool yourself into thinking things are simple
Nobody's lying still the stories don't line up
Why do you try to hold on to what you'll never get a hold on?
You wouldn't try to put the ocean in a paper cup

'Cause I have had something to prove
as long as I know there's something that needs improvement
And you know that every time I move
I make a woman's movement.
And first you decide what you've gotta do
then you go out and do it
And maybe the most we can do
is just to see each other through it.

Hour follows hour like water in a river
And from one to the next
We don't know what each hour will deliver
We just call it like we see it
Call it out loud as we can
and then afterwards we call it all water over the dam

Maybe the moral higher ground
ain't as high as it seems
Maybe we are both good people
who've done some bad things
I just hope it was okay
I know it wasn't perfect
I hope in the end we can laugh
and say it was all worth it

'Cause I have had something to prove
as long as I know something that needs improvement
And you know that every time I move
I make a woman's movement
And first you decide what you've gotta do
and then you go out and do it
And maybe the most that we can do
is just to see each other through it.

We make our own gravity to give weight to things
Then things fall and they break and gravity sings
We can only hold so much is what I figure
Try and keep our eye on the big picture,
picture keeps getting bigger.

And too much is how I love you
but too well is how I know you
And I've got nothing to prove this time,
just something to show you
I guess I just wanted you to see
that it was all worth it to me

i wish i didn't have this nervous laugh
i wish i didn't say half the stuff i say
i wish i could just learn to cover my tracks
i guess i'm not concerned about getting away

'cause every time i try to hold my tongue
it slips like a fish from a line
they say if you want to play
you should learn how to play dumb
i guess i can't bring myself to waste your time

'cause we both know what i've been doing
i've been intentionally bad at lying
you're the only boy i ever let see through me
and i hope you beleive me when i say i'm trying
and i hope i never improve my game
yeah i'd rather have these things weighing on my mind
and at the end of this tunnel of guilt and shame
there must be a light of some kind
there must be a light of some kind

i must have blown a fuse or something
cause it was so dark in my mind
she came up to me with the sweetest face
and she was holding a light of some kind
and i still think of you as my boyfriend
i don't think this is the end of the world
but i think maybe you should follow my example
and go meet yourself a really nice girl

'cause we both know. . .

in the end the world comes down to just a few people
but for you it comes down to one
but no one ever asked me if i thought i could be
everything to someone
there's a crowd of people harboured in every person
there are so many roles that we play
and you've decided to love me for eternity
i'm still deciding who i want to be today

cause we both know. . .

the air comes off the ocean
the city smells fishy
the air is full of fish and mystery
whispering who, what, when
i am warning you i am weightless
and the wind is always shifting
so don't hang anything on me
if you ever want to see it again
i am telling you i'm different than you
think i am

and you can dangle your carrot
but i ain't gunna reach for it
cuz i need both my hands
to play my guitar
and life is a sleezy stranger
who looks vaguely familiar
flirting with a bimbo named disaster
at the end of the bar
and i am telling you that i am different
than you are

at night when you're asleep
self-hatred's going to creep in
and try to blame it on the devil
the one who's bed you sleep in
and don't tell me what they did to you
as though you had no choice
tell me, isn't that your picture?
isn't that your voice?
if you don't live what you sing about
your mirror is going to find out
oh yeah

i'd like to go to all the pretty parties
where all the pretty people go
and i ain't really all that pretty
but nobody will know
cuz everybody loves you
when you're a star
and nobody questions
what it takes to go that far
and life is a sleezy stranger
and this is his favorite bar

no i don't prefer obscurity
but i'm an idealistic girl
and i wouldn't work for you
no matter what you paid
and i may not be able
to change the whole fucking world
but i could be the million
that you never made
oh yeah

i could be the million that you never made
i could be the million that you'll never make
you're looking at the million that you'll never make

I am not a pretty girl
That is not what I do
I ain't no damsel in distress
And I don't need to be rescued
So put me down, punk
Wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair?
Isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?

I am not an angry girl
But it seems like I've got everyone fooled
Every time I say something they find hard to hear
They chalk it up to my anger
And never to their own fear
Imagine you're a girl
Just trying to finally come clean
Knowing full well they'd prefer you were dirty
And smiling

And I am sorry
But I am not a maiden fair
And I am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

And generally, my generation
Wouldn't be caught dead working for the man
And generally I agree with them
Trouble is you gotta have youself
An alternate plan
And I have earned my disillusionment
I have been working all of my life
And I am a patriot
I have been fighting the good fight
And what if there are no damsels in distress
What if I knew that and I called your bluff?
Don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down,
Whether or not you ever show up?

I am not a pretty girl
I don't really want to be a pretty girl
No, I want to be more than a pretty girl.

Well the heat is so great
It plays tricks with the eye
It turns the road into water
Then from water to sky
And there's a crack in the concrete floor
That starts at the sink
Yea, there's a bathroom in the gas station
And I've locked myself in it to think

Back in the city
The sun bakes the trash on the curb
The men are pissing in doorways
And the rats are running in herds
And I've got a dream with your face in it
That scares me awake
I've put too much on my table
Now I've got too much at stake

And I might let you off easy
Yea I might lead you on
I might wait for you to look for me
And then I might be gone
There's where I've come from and where I'm going
And I am lost in between
I might go out to that phone booth
And leave a veiled invitation on your machine

And you'll stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
Oh the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
or how or why
I'm leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"
Don't be shy

The door opens, the room winces
The housekeeper comes in without a warning
And I squint at the muscular motel lady
And say "Hey morning"
As she jumps her keys jingle
She leaves as quickly as she came in
And I roll over and taste the pillow with my grin
Well the sheets are twisted and damp
But the heat is so great
And I swear I can feel the mattress
Sinking underneath your weight
Boy your sleep is like a fever
And I'm glad when it ends
Oh the road flows like a river
And it pulls me round every bend

Stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
Oh the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
or how or why
I am leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"
Don't be shy

Well the heat is so great
It plays tricks with the eye
It turns the road into water
Then from water to sky
And there's a crack in the concrete floor
It starts at the sink
There's a bathroom in the gas station
And I have locked myself in it to think

And you'll stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
yeah the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
or how or why
I am leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"

You'll stop me, won't you?
If you've heard this one before
yeah the one where I surprise you
By showing up at your front door
Saying, "Let's not ask what next
how or why
I'm leaving in the morning
So let's not be shy"

Don't be shy
no dont be shy
no don't be shy
no don't be shy
come on fucker don't be shy

I'm sorry i didn't sound more excited on the phone
I'm sorry that after all these years
I've left you feeling unrequited and alone, brought you to tears
I guess i never loved you quite as well as the way you loved me
I guess that i'll never really be able to tell you how sorry
I am

I don't know what it is about you
I just know it's not what it was
I don't know why red fades before blue, it just does
And i don't know what it is about me
That i just can't keep still
I keep thinking someday i will make this all up to you
And maybe someday i will

I guess i never loved you quite as well
As the way you loved me
I guess i'll never really be able to tell you how sorry
I am
Sorry i am
Sorry i am
Sorry i am

got a garden of songs where i grow all my thoughts
wish i could harvest one or two for some small talk
i'm always starving for words when you're around
nothing on my tongue so much in my ground

half the time i got my gaze trained on your motel door
fourth door from the end
rest of the time my gaze lays like a stain on the carpeted floor
if it weren't for my brain i'd go over and make friends
too bad about my brain 'cause i'd like to make friends.

see the little song bird unable to make a sound
even though she follows her words from town to town
we both have gardens of songs and maybe its okay
that i am speechless because i picked you this bouquet.

tiptoeing through the used condoms
strewn on the piers
off the west side highway
sunset behind
the skyline of jersey
walking towards the water
with a fetus holding court in my gut
my body highjacked
my tits swollen and sore
the river has more colors at sunset
than my sock drawer ever dreamed of
i could wake up screaming sometimes
but i don't
i could step off the end of this pier but i got
shit to do
and an appointment on tuesday
to shed uninvited blood and tissue
i'll miss you i say
to the river to the water
to the son or daughter
i thought better of
i could fall in love
with jersey at sunset
but i leave the view to the rats
and tiptoe back.

you think you're not worthy
i'd have to say i agree
i'm not worthy of you
you're not worthy of me
which of us is deserving
look at the human race
the whole planet at arm's length
and we don't deserve this place

what good is a poker face
when you've got an open hand
i was supposed to be cool about this
yeah i remember cool was the plan
tried to keep it all under wraps
but the wraps kept going slack
i keep turning around
i keep coming back

give me your vertical
your horizontal line
i want to take each of them
bend them to fit mine
the world is too good for me
i am such a naughty girl
but when we're together
we're too good for this world

you think you're not worthy
i'd have to say i agree
i'm not worthy of you
you're not worthy of me
i'm not worthy of you
you aren't worthy of me...

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am 32 flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you are gonna get hungry
And eat most of the words you just said

Both my parents taught me about goodwill
And I have done well by their names
Just the kindness I've lavished on strangers
Is more than I can explain
Still there's many who've turned out their porch lights
Just so I would think they were not home
And hid in the dark of their windows
Till I'd passed and left them alone
Hey, yo, hey
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo, hey
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo

God help you if you are an ugly girl
Course, too pretty is also your doom
'Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred
For the prettiest girl in the room
And God help you if you are a phoenix
And you dare to rise up from the ash
A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy
While you are just flying past

And I'll never try to give my life meaning
By demeaning you
But I would like to state for the record
I did everything that I could do
I'm not saying that I am a saint
I just don't want to live that way
No, I will never be a saint
But I will always say

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am 32 flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you might find you are starving
And eating all of the words that you said
Oh, oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo

Mm, mm, mm, mm
Mm, mm, mm, mm

Oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo, hey, yo
Oh, hey, yo

you can't hide
behind social graces
so don't try
to be all touchy feely
cuz you lie
in my face of all places
but i've got no
problem with that really

what bugs me
is that you believe what you're saying
what bothers me
is that you don't know how you feel
what scares me
is that while you're telling me stories
you actually
believe that they are real

and i've got
no illusions about you
and guess what?
i never did
and when i said
when i said i'll take it
i meant,
i meant as is

just give up
and admit you're an asshole
you would be
in some good company
i think you'd find
that you friends would forgive you
or maybe i
am just speaking for me

cuz when i look around
i think this, this is good enough
and i try to laugh
at whatever life brings
cuz when i look down
i just miss all the good stuff
when i look up
i just trip over things

and i've got
no illusions about you...

you can't hide
behind social graces
cuz i don't buy it
like everyone else
and you can lie
in my face of all places
just don't
lie to yourself

cuz i've got
no illusions about you
and guess what?
i never did
and when i say
when i say i'll take it
i mean,
i mean as is...

...as is...

back back back in the back of your mind
are you learning an angry language,
tell me boy boy boy are you tending to your joy
or are you just letting it vanquish
back back back in the dark of your mind
where the eyes of your demons are gleamin
are you mad mad mad
about the life you never had
even when you are dreaming.

who are these old old people
in these nursing homes
scowling away at nothing
like big rag dolls just cursing at the walls
and pulling out all of their stuffing
every day is a door leading back to the core
yes, old age will distill you
and if you're this this this full of bitterness now
some day it will just fill you

when you sit right down in the middle of yourself
you're gonna wanna have a comfortable chair
so renovate your soul before you get too old
cuz you'r egonna be housebound there
when you're old you fold up like an envelope
and you mail yourself right inside
and there's nowhere to go
except out real slow
are you ready, boy, for that ride?

your arrogance is gaining on you
and so is eternity
you better practice happiness
you better practice humility
you took the air, you took the time
you were fed and you were free
now you'd better put some beauty back
while you got the energy
you'd better put some beauty back, boy
while you got the energy

back back back in the back of your mind
are you learning an angry language,
tell me boy boy boy are you tending to your joy
or are you just letting it vanquish
back back back in the dark of your mind
where the eyes of your demons are gleamin
are you mad mad mad
about the life you never had
even when you are dreaming.

who are these old old people
in these nursing homes
scowling away at nothing
like big rag dolls just cursing at the walls
and pulling out all of their stuffing
every day is a door leading back to the core
yes, old age will distill you
and if you're this this this full of bitterness now
some day it will just fill you

when you sit right down in the middle of yourself
you're gonna wanna have a comfortable chair
so renovate your soul before you get too old
cuz you'r egonna be housebound there
when you're old you fold up like an envelope
and you mail yourself right inside
and there's nowhere to go
except out real slow
are you ready, boy, for that ride?

your arrogance is gaining on you
and so is eternity
you better practice happiness
you better practice humility
you took the air, you took the time
you were fed and you were free
now you'd better put some beauty back
while you got the energy
you'd better put some beauty back, boy
while you got the energy

I am walking
out in the rain
and I am listening to the low moan
of the dial tone again
and I am getting
nowhere with you
and I can't let it go
and I can't get through...

The old woman behind the pink curtains
and the closed door
on the first floor
she's listening through the air shaft
to see how long our swan song can last

And both hands
now use both hands
oh, no don't close your eyes
I am writing
graffitti on your body
I am drawing the story of
how hard we tried

I am watching your chest rise and fall
like the tides of my life,
and the rest of it all
and your bones have been my bedframe
and your flesh has been my pillow
I am waiting for sleep
to offer up the deep
with both hands
Oh! both hands

And in each other's shadows we grew less and less tall
and eventually our theories couldn't explain it all
and I'm recording our history now on the bedroom wall
and when we leave the landlord will come
and paint over it all

And I am walking
out in the rain
and I am listening to the low moan of the dial tone again
and I am getting nowhere with you
and I can't let it go
and I can't get though
So now use both hands
please use both hands
oh, no don't close your eyes
I am writing graffitti on your body
I am drawing the story of how hard we tried
hard we tried
how hard we tried

Buildings and bridges
Are made to bend in the wind
To withstand the world
Thats what it takes.
All that steel and stone
Are no match for the air, my friend.
What doesn't bend breaks
What doesn't bend breaks.

la da da da da...

We are made to bleed
And scab and heal and bleed again
and turn every scar into a joke.
We are made to fight
And fuck and talk and fight again.
And sit around and laugh until we choke
Sit around and laugh until we choke.

la da da da da...

Don't know who you were expecting...
Probably some bitch who does not budge.
With eyes the size of snow.
I may get pissed off sometimes,
But you seem like the type to hold a grudge
and in the end I just let go,
In the end I'll just let go...

la da da da da...

Buildings and bridges
Are made to bend in the wind,
To withstand the world
Thats what it takes.
All that steel and stone
Are no match for the air my friend,
What doesn't bend breaks
What doesn't bend breaks.

la da da da da da da la da da da da....

Note: This is a poem in the booklet of Educated Guess, but it is not read on the CD.

a girl with the sun of her youth
at her back
and the shadow of her womanhood
before her on the stones
is approaching with a delicate
clip clop clack
her sandals full of toes
that i suppose are headed home

it's early in the evening
and up and down the river
people begin to gather
pearls of laughter
on a strand
i thought solitude would save me
it was pious
it was grand
but the monk that walked beside me
just let go of my hand

our father who art in a penthouse
sits in his 37th floor suite
and swivels to gaze down
at the city he made me in
he allows me to stand and
sollicit graffiti until
he needs the land i stand on
i in my darkened threshold
am pawing through my pockets
the receipts, the bus schedules
urgent napkin poems
and matchbook phone numbers
all of which laundering has rendered
pulpy and strange
loose change and a key
ask me
go ahead, ask me if i care
i got the answer here
i wrote it down somewhere
i just gotta find it
i just gotta find it

somebody and their spraypaint got too close
somebody came on too heavy
now look at me made ugly
by the drooling letters
i was better off alone
ain't that the way it is
they don't know the first thing
but you don't know that
until they take the first swing
my fingers are red and swollen from the cold
i'm getting bold in my old age
so go ahead, try the door
it doesn't matter anymore
i know the weakhearted are strongwilled
and we are being kept alive
until we're killed
he's up there the ice
is clinking in his glass
i don't ask
i just empty my pockets and wait
it's not fate
it's just circumstance
i don't fool myself with romance
i just live
phone number to phone number
dusting them against my thighs
in the warmth of my pockets
which whisper history incessantly
asking me
where were you

i lower my eyes
wishing i could cry more
and care less,
yes it's true,
i was trying to love someone again,
i was caught caring,
bearing weight

but i love this city, this state
this country is too large
and whoever's in charge up there
had better take the elevator down
and put more than change in our cup
or else we
are coming
up

life used to be life-like
now it's more like show biz
i wake up in the night
and i don't know where the bathroom is
and i don't know what town i'm in
or what sky i am under
and i wake up in the darkness and i
don't have the will anymore to wonder
everyone has a skeleton
and a closet to keep it in
and you're mine
every song has a you
a you that the singer sings to
and you're it this time
baby, you're it this time

when i need to wipe my face
i use the back of my hand
and i like to take up space
just because i can
and i use my dress
to wipe up my drink
i care less and less
what people think
and you are so lame
you always disappoint me
it's kinda like our running joke
but it's really not funny
i just want you to live up to
the image of you i create
i see you and i'm so unsatisfied
i see you and i dilate

so i'll walk the plank and i'll jump with a smile
if i'm gonna go down
i'm gonna do it with style
and you won't see me surrender
you won't hear me confess
'cuz you've left me with nothing
but i've worked with less
and i learn every room long enough
to make it to the door
and then i hear it click shut behind me
and every key works differently
i forget every time
and the forgetting defines me
that's what defines me

when i say you sucked my brain out
the english translation
is i am in love with you
and it is no fun
but i don't use words like love
'cuz words like that don't matter
but don't look so offended
you know, you should be flattered
i wake up in the night
in some big hotel bed
my hands grope for the light
my hands grope for my head
the world is my oyster
the road is my home
and i know that i'm better
off alone

i walk in stride with people
much taller than me
and partly it's the boots but
mostly it's my chi
and i'm becoming transfixed
with nature and my part in it
which i believe just signifies
i'm finally waking up

and there's this moth outside my kitchen door
she's bonkers for that bare bulb
flying round in circles
bashing in her exoskull
and out in the woods she navigates fine by the moon
but get her around a light bulb and she's doomed

she is trying to evolve
she's just trying to evolve

now let's get talking reefer madness
like some arrogant government can't
by any stretch of the imagination
outlaw a plant!
yes, their supposed authority over nature
is a dream
c'mon people
we've got to come clean

cuz they are locking our sons
and our daughters in cages
they are taking by the thousands
our lives from under us
it's a crash crash course in religious fundamentals
now let's all go to war
get some bang for our buck

yes i am trying to evolve
i'm trying to evolve
i am trying to evolve
i'm trying to evolve

gunnin for high score in the land of dreams
morbid bluish-white consumers ogling luminous screens
on the trail of forgetting
cruising without a care
the jet set won't abide by that pesky jet lag
and our lives boil down to an hour or two
when someone pulls a camera out of a bag

and i am trying to evolve
trying to evolve
i'm trying to evolve
trying to evolve

so i walk like i'm on a mission
cuz that's the way i groove
i got more and more to do
i got less and less to prove
it took me too long to realize
that i don't take good pictures
cuz i have the kind of beauty
that moves

i am trying to evolve
i'm trying to evolve
i am trying to evolve
i'm trying to evolve....

I opened the fire door
to four lips
none of which were mine
kissing
tightened my belt around my hips
where your hands were missing
and stepped out into the cold
collar high
under the slate grey sky
the air was smoking and the streets were dry
and I wasn't joking when I said
Good Bye
magazine quality men talking on the corner
French, no less much less of them then us
so why do I feel like something's been rearranged?
you know, taken out of context I must seem so strange
killed a cockroach so big
it left a puddle of pus on the wall
when you and I are lying in bed
you don't seem so tall
I'm singing now because my tear ducts are too tired
and my mind is disconnected but my heart is wired
I make such a good statistic
someone should study me now
somebody's got to be interested in how I feel
just 'cause I'm here
and I'm real
oh, how I miss
substituting the conclusion to confrontation with a kiss
and oh, how I miss
walking up to the edge and jumping in
like I could feel the future on your skin
I opened the fire door
to four lips
none of which were mine
kissing

I opened the fire door x 9

They were digging a new foundation in Manhattan
And they discovered a slave cemetary there
May their souls rest easy
Now that lynching is frowned upon
And we've moved on to the electric chair

And I wonder who's gonna be president
Tweedle dumb or tweedle dumber?
And who's gonna have the big
Blockbuster box office this summer?
How about we put up a wall between houses and the highway?
And you can go your way, and i can go my way

Except all the radios agree with all the TVs
And the magazines agree with all the radios
And I keep hearing that same damn song everywhere I go
Maybe I should put a bucket over my head
And a marshmallow in each ear
And stumble around for another dumb-numb week
For another hum drum hit song to appear

People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
It's about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs
You choose

We got it rehashed
We got it half-assed
We're digging up all the graves
And we're spitting on the past
And you can choose between the colors
Ff the lipstick on the whores
Cause we know the difference between
The font of 20% more
And the font of teriyaki
You tell me
How does it make you feel?
You tell me what's real?
And they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
Even when they're as dry as my lips for years
Even when they're stranded on a small desert island
With no place within 2,000 miles to buy beer
And I wonder
Is he different?
Is he different?
Has he changed? What's he about?...
Or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?

Am I headed for the same brick wall
Is there anything I can do about anything at all?
Except go back to that corner in Manhattan
And dig deeper, dig deeper this time
Down beneath the impossible pain of our history
Beneath unknown bones
Beneath the bedrock of the mystery
Beneath the sewage systems and the path train
Beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
Beneath everything I can think of to think about
Beneath it all, beneath all get out
Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel

some crazy fucker carved a sculpture out of butter
and propped it up in the middle of the bonanza breakfast bar
and i am stuffing toast and sausage into my pockets
under a sign that says grand opening
while my dog is waiting in the car

i wake up, i check out
i fill the tank and wash the windshield clean
then i'm back out on the highway
and BANG that's when i remember my dream:

we were standing in a garden
and i had a machine that made silence
it just sucked up the whole opinionated din
and there were no people on the payroll
and there were no monkeys on our backs
and i said, show me what you look like
without skin

science chases money
and money chases its tail
and the best minds of my generation
can't make bail
but the bacteria are coming to take us down
that's my prediction
it's the answer to this culture
of the quick fix prescription

but in the garden of simple
where all of us are nameless
you were never anything but beautiful to me
and, you know, they never really owned you
you just carried them around
and then one day you put 'em down
and found your hands were free

so now it's early in the morning
at the longitude of memphis
and the sun is setting sweetly on hong kong
and the big plan is just to keep spinning
cuz the big bang is only just beginning
and sometimes it's all that we can do just to hang on

and what i meant to say is xxoo which means i'm thinking of ya
which means i've been thinking of you
all along

i heard the sound of your bike,
as your wheels hit the gravel,
then your engine in the driveway
cutting off
and i pushed through the screen door
and i stood out on the porch
thinking fight, fight, fight
at all costs,
but instead i let you in,
just like i've always done
and i sat you down and offered you a beer
and across the kitchen table
i fired several rounds,
but you were still sitting there
when the smoke cleared.
and you came crawling back
to say that you wanna
make good in the end

and oh, oh,
let me count the ways
that i abhor you,
and you were never a good lay
and you were never a good friend
but, oh, oh, what else can i say...
i adore you

all i need is my leather,
one t-shirt and two socks,
i'll keep my hands warm
in your pockets
and you can use the engine block,
and we'll ride out to california
with my arms around your chest,
and i'll pretend that this is real
'cuz this is what i like best,
and you've been juggling two women
like a stupid circus clown
telling us both we are the one
and maybe you can keep me from ever being happy,
but you're not gonna stop me from having fun.
so let's go before i change my mind
i'll leave the luggage of all your lies behind
'cuz i am bigger than everything that came before

and you were never very kind,
and you let me way down every time
but oh, oh, oh what can i say...
i adore you

i heard the sound of your bike,
as your wheels hit the gravel,
then your engine in the driveway
cutting off

i heard the sound of your bike,
as your wheels hit the gravel,
then your engine in the driveway
cutting off
and i pushed through the screen door
and i stood out on the porch
thinking fight, fight, fight
at all costs,
but instead i let you in,
just like i've always done
and i sat you down and offered you a beer
and across the kitchen table
i fired several rounds,
but you were still sitting there
when the smoke cleared.
and you came crawling back
to say that you wanna
make good in the end

and oh, oh,
let me count the ways
that i abhor you,
and you were never a good lay
and you were never a good friend
but, oh, oh, what else can i say...
i adore you

all i need is my leather,
one t-shirt and two socks,
i'll keep my hands warm
in your pockets
and you can use the engine block,
and we'll ride out to california
with my arms around your chest,
and i'll pretend that this is real
'cuz this is what i like best,
and you've been juggling two women
like a stupid circus clown
telling us both we are the one
and maybe you can keep me from ever being happy,
but you're not gonna stop me from having fun.
so let's go before i change my mind
i'll leave the luggage of all your lies behind
'cuz i am bigger than everything that came before

and you were never very kind,
and you let me way down every time
but oh, oh, oh what can i say...
i adore you

i heard the sound of your bike,
as your wheels hit the gravel,
then your engine in the driveway
cutting off

the sky is grey
the sand is grey
and the ocean is grey

and i feel right at home
in this stunning monochrome
alone in my way

i smoke and i drink
and every time i blink
i have a tiny dream

but as bad as i am
i'm proud of the fact
that i'm worse than i seem

what kind of paradise am i looking for?
i've got everything i want and still i want more
maybe some tiny shiny key
will wash up on the shore

you walk through my walls
like a ghost on tv
you penetrate me

and my little pink heart
is on its little brown raft
floating out to sea

and what can i say
but i'm wired this way
and you're wired to me

and what can i do
but wallow in you
unintentionally
what kind of paradise am i looking for?
i've got everything i want and still i want more
maybe some tiny shiny key
will wash up on the shore

regretfully
i guess i've only got three
simple things to say:
why me?
why this now?
why this way?
with overtones ringing
and undertows pulling away
under a sky that is grey
on sand that is grey
by an ocean that's grey

what kind of paradise am i looking for?
i've got everything i want
and still i want more
maybe some tiny shiny key
will wash up on the shore

Hold me down
I am floating away
Into the overcast skies
Over my home town
On election day

What is it about Birmingham?
What is it about buffalo?
Did the hate filled wanna build bunkers
In your beautiful red earth
They want to build them
In our shiny white snow

Now I've drawn closed the curtain
In this little booth where the truth has no place to stand
And I am feeling oh so powerless
In this stupid booth with this useless
Little lever in my hand
And outside my city is bracing
For the next killing thing
Standing by the bridge and praying
For the next doctor
Martin Luther King

It was just one shot
Through the kitchen window
It was just two miles from here
If you fly like a crow
A bullet came to visit a doctor
In his one safe place
A bullet ensuring the right to life
Whizzed past his kid and his wife
And knocked his glasses
Right off of his face

And the blood poured off the pulpit
Yeah the blood poured down the picket lines
Yeah, the hatred was immediate
And the vengence was divine
So they went and stuffed god
Down the barrel of a gun
And after him
They stuffed his only son

Hello birmingham
It's buffalo
I heard you had some trouble
Down there again
And I'm just calling to let to know
That someone understands

I was once escorted
Through the doors of a clinic
By a man in a bulletproof vest
And no bombs went off that day
So I am still here to say Birmingham
I'm wishing you all of my best
Oh Birmingham
I'm wishing you all of my best
Oh Birmingham
I'm wishing you all of my best on this election day

I bet you're wondering.
if you woke up today,
just to learn why the caged bird sings.
I bet you're wondering if the goddesses are all crazy,
or just keeping it interesting,
situated slightly outside society,
at odds with its odd offerings.
I bet you're teetering on the edge of sobriety,
just to alleviate a few things.

Like the fear that you're standing here,
'cause you want to be liked.
You know you need your instrument,
but does your instrument need to be miked?

You keep imagining that pretty soon you will just disappear,
and thinking that one thing is what saves you from your fear of being here.
Here for now.
Here for now.

I bet you're looking for the little red x next to the red arrow,
and the words 'you are here'.
I bet you're hoping that your heart will send up the white flag this time,
or some sign that the coast is clear.
Yeah, the moment when your heart jumps.
It's all that's happening,
and once again, it's like the first time you've felt that shock.
yeah, the moment when your heart jumps
It's all that's happening,
and I was right behind the door when you knocked.

Thinking: maybe I'm just standing here,
'cause I want to be liked.
I know I need my instrument,
but does my instrument need to be miked?

I keep imagining that pretty soon I will just disappear,
and thinking that one thing is what saves me from my fear of being here.
Here for now.
Here for now.
Here for now.

so that's how you found me
rain falling around me
lookin down at a worm
with a long way to go
and the traffic was hissing by
and i was homesick
and i was high

i was surrounded by a language
in which i could say only hello
and i thank you very much
but you spoke so i could understand
and i drew a treasure map on your hand

and you were no picnic
you were no prize
but you had just enough pathos
to keep me hypnotized
hypnotized

the map led ro an island
in a seas of store-bought dreams
where soulless singers sang
over beats built by machines

and lovely girls were hovering
above my head like gulls
with their long slender necks
and their delicate skulls

and i was no picnic
i was no prize
but i had just enough sweetness
to keep you hypnotized
hypnotized

so that's how you found me
rain falling around me
lookin down at a worm
with a long way to go

I do it for the joy it brings
because I'm a joyful girl.
Because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world.
I do it because it's the least I can do.
I do it because I learned it from you
and I do it just because I want to
Because I want to.

Everything I do is judged
And they mostly get it wrong
But oh well.
'Cause the bathroom mirror has not budged
and the woman who lives there can tell
the truth from the stuff that they say.
And, she looks me in the eye
and says "would you prefer the easy way?
No? Well, okay, then ...
Don't cry."

I wonder if everything I do
I do instead
of something I want to do more?
The question fills my head.
I know there's no grand plan here
this is just the way it goes.
When everything else seems unclear
I guess at least I know

I do it for the joy it brings
because I'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
I do it because it's the least I can do
I do it because I learned it from you
and I do it just because I want to
because I want to

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop
in every city
on a day which is every day
i picked up a magazine
which is every magazine
read a story then i forgot it right away

and they say goldfish have no memory
i guess their lives are much like mine
and the little plastic castle
is a surprise every time
and it's hard to say if they're happy
but they don't seem much to mind

from the shape of your shaved head
i recognized your silhouette
as you walked out of the sun and sat down
and the sight of your sleepy smile eclipsed all the other people
as they paused to sneer at the two girls from out of town

and i said, "look at you this morning
you are by far the cutest
but be careful getting coffee
i think these people want to shoot us
or maybe there's some kind of local competition here
to see who can be the rudest"

people talk about my image
like i come in two dimensions
like lipstick is a sign of my decling mind
like what i happen to be wearing
the day that someone takes a picture
is my new statement for all womankind

and i wish they could see us now
in leather bras and rubber shorts
like some ridiculous new team uniform
for some ridiculous new sport
quick someone call the girl police
and file a report

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop
in every city
on a day which is every day

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop
in every city
on a day which is every day
i picked up a magazine
which is every magazine
read a story then i forgot it right away

and they say goldfish have no memory
i guess their lives are much like mine
and the little plastic castle
is a surprise every time
and it's hard to say if they're happy
but they don't seem much to mind

from the shape of your shaved head
i recognized your silhouette
as you walked out of the sun and sat down
and the sight of your sleepy smile eclipsed all the other people
as they paused to sneer at the two girls from out of town

and i said, "look at you this morning
you are by far the cutest
but be careful getting coffee
i think these people want to shoot us
or maybe there's some kind of local competition here
to see who can be the rudest"

people talk about my image
like i come in two dimensions
like lipstick is a sign of my decling mind
like what i happen to be wearing
the day that someone takes a picture
is my new statement for all womankind

and i wish they could see us now
in leather bras and rubber shorts
like some ridiculous new team uniform
for some ridiculous new sport
quick someone call the girl police
and file a report

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop
in every city
on a day which is every day

I'm holding here a book
Notable, but not the greatest
Stolen for me by the latest
In a long line of thieves
And I'm just about to drop it
Down that manhole of memories
When I realize it doesn't bother me
Like love's mementos usually do
And I look up to see who's different here
The latest me or the latest you

Course, you're the kind of guy who doesn't lie
He just doctors everything
Chooses some unassuming finger
And quietly moves his wedding ring
Who rewrites his autobiography
For any pretty girl who'll sing
But you can't fool the queen, baby
Cuz I married the king

And maybe it was I who betrayed his majesty
With no opposite reality
Like a puddle with no reflection
Of the sky or the trees
But after my dreaded beheading
I tied that sucker back on with a string
And I guess I'm pretty different now
Considering

I kissed you on the street that night
On the far side of four
But I didn't like the taste
In my mouth or yours
And ignoring the persona you wore for my benefit
For once I had the balls to call it
Just call it
But a lesson must be lived
In order to be learned
And the clarity to see and stop this now
That is what I've earned

And maybe it was I who betrayed his majesty
With no opposite reality
Like a puddle with no reflection
Of the sky or the trees
But after my dreaded beheading
I tied that sucker back on with a string
And I guess I'm pretty different now
Considering

I'm holding here a book
Notable, but not the greatest
Stolen for me by the latest
In a long line of thieves
And I'm just about to drop it
Down that manhole of memories
When I realize it doesn't bother me
And heartache not so dire
Cuz I looked up to see integrity
Finally won over desire

the answer came
like a shot in the back
while you were running from your lesson
which might explain
why years later all you could remember
was the terror of the question
plus, you weren't listening
you were stockpiling canned goods
making a bomb shelter of our basement
and i can't believe you let the moral go by
while you were soaking in the product placement

where was your conscience?
where was your consciousness?
and where did you put all those letters
that you wrote to yourself
but could not address?

i'm a good kisser
and you're a fast learner
and that kinda thing could float us
for a pretty long time
then one day you'd realize
you've memorized my phone number
and you'll call it and find it's a disconnected line
cuz i got tossed out the window of love's el camino
and i shattered into a shower of sparks on the curb
you were smoking me
weren't you?
between your yellow fingers
you just inhaled and exhaled without saying a word

where was your conscience?
where was your consciousness?
and where did you put all those letters
that you wrote to yourself
but could not address?

there's a smorgasbord of unspoken poisons
a whole childhood of potions
that are all bottled up
and so one by one i am dusting off labels
i am uncorking bottles and filling up cups
so go ahead and have a taste of your own medicine
and i'll have a taste of mine
but first let's toast to the lists
that we hold in our fists
of the things that we promise to do
differently next time

cuz the answer came like a shot in the back
while you were running from your lesson
which might explain
why years later all you could remember
was the terror of the question
plus i'm not listening to you anymore
my head is too sore and my heart's perforated
and i'm mired in the marrow of my (well... ain't that) funny bone
learning how to be alone and devastated
where was my conscience?
where was my consciousness?
and what do i do with all these letters
that i wrote to myself
but cannot address?

the answer came
like a shot in the back
while you were running from your lesson
which might explain
why years later all you could remember
was the terror of the question
plus, you weren't listening
you were stockpiling canned goods
making a bomb shelter of our basement
and i can't believe you let the moral go by
while you were soaking in the product placement

where was your conscience?
where was your consciousness?
and where did you put all those letters
that you wrote to yourself
but could not address?

i'm a good kisser
and you're a fast learner
and that kinda thing could float us
for a pretty long time
then one day you'd realize
you've memorized my phone number
and you'll call it and find it's a disconnected line
cuz i got tossed out the window of love's el camino
and i shattered into a shower of sparks on the curb
you were smoking me
weren't you?
between your yellow fingers
you just inhaled and exhaled without saying a word

where was your conscience?
where was your consciousness?
and where did you put all those letters
that you wrote to yourself
but could not address?

there's a smorgasbord of unspoken poisons
a whole childhood of potions
that are all bottled up
and so one by one i am dusting off labels
i am uncorking bottles and filling up cups
so go ahead and have a taste of your own medicine
and i'll have a taste of mine
but first let's toast to the lists
that we hold in our fists
of the things that we promise to do
differently next time

cuz the answer came like a shot in the back
while you were running from your lesson
which might explain
why years later all you could remember
was the terror of the question
plus i'm not listening to you anymore
my head is too sore and my heart's perforated
and i'm mired in the marrow of my (well... ain't that) funny bone
learning how to be alone and devastated
where was my conscience?
where was my consciousness?
and what do i do with all these letters
that i wrote to myself
but cannot address?

millennium theater
get out there and buy that water and gas
ramadan, orange alert
everybody put on your gas mask
first leak it out about the president
then stand up and shout impeachment
pull them coattails out from under that little v.p.
before he has a chance to get in the driver's seat

millennium spectacle
everybody put on a show
slip the little prince in the back door
21st century here we go
digital whiplash
so many formats so little time
while out in tv nation
under darkening skies
the resistance is just waiting
to be organized

halliburton, enron
chief justices for sale
yucca mountain goddesses
their tears they form a trail
trickle down pollution
patriarchies realign
while the ice caps melt
and new orleans bides her time
new orleans bides her time

ladies and gentlemen
welcome to tonight's show
the millennium theater
asks that you not smoke
please turn off your cell phones
and forget what you think you know

they told you your music
could reach millions
that the choice was up to you
you told me they always
pay for lunch
and they believe in what i do
and i wonder
will you miss your old friends
once you've proven what you're worth
yeah i wonder
when you're a big star
will you miss the earth

and i know you would always want more
i know you would never be done
'cuz everyone is a fucking napoleon
yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon

and the next time
that i saw you
you were larger than life
you came and you conquered
you were doing alright
you had an army
of suits behind you
and all you had to be was willing
and i said i still
make a pretty good living
but you must make a killing
a killing

and i hope that you are happy
i hope at least you are having fun
'cuz but everyone is a fucking napoleon
yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon

now you think, so that is
the way it's gonna be
that's what this is all about
i think that that is
the way it always was
you chose not to notice until now
yeah now that there's a problem
you call me up to confide
and you go on for over an hour
'bout each one that took you for a ride

and i guess that you dialed my number
'cuz you thought for sure that i'd agree
i said baby, you know i still love you
but how dare you complain to me

everyone is a fucking napoleon
yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon