Brendan Benson

Im drinking tea
Its good enough for me, then its good enough for you
we can have tea for two
how do you do?

But if you have to leave
then please leave, dont let me keep you
we can have tea another day
please come back and see me sometime

But if you cant sleep
and you have bad dreams
and if your bored and not feeling quite right
and it isnt going away
aint it kinda funny?
we can have tea tonight.

The girl with the silver on her face
Want to take her home
Meet mom and dad

Hard to tell
'bout a girl like this
She might smile or she might spit on them yeah

I want to scrub her face
and take her in my car
She plays with the radio
And it drives me mad

Smells like cherries
And you know it makes me hot
Talks about them as we drive away yeah

Cherries

(Benson/Falkner)

House in Virginia
We' love to see you, Emma
Red velvet chairs for you to sit on, Emma
Blue cobalt teacups every shape, every size
Your favorite designs
White flawed enamel pots
And a place on the shelf for everything you've got
When are you coming to stay?
Say that you'll never go away
Porch swings and everything
Your favorite pets, they're everywhere
Willow trees and a cool breeze
Lemonade, freshly squeezed
Sun-thickened linseed oil
Is studio equipped for brooding
Alcohol and turpentine somehow you find it soothing
(chorus)
She stands at the full length
Admiring herself in her grandmother's hat
She says, when she gets her strength
She's flying away and she's never coming back

(Benson/Falkner)

Once knew a woman, she was skin and bones
Invited all the insects to come into her home
She trained them so well
They could answer her phone
The day finally came when the poor woman was overthrown
Her husband returned home from voyages at sea
To find his lovely wife dead and a spider sipping tea
He drew his knife and swore
He would have the spider's eyes
An army of red ants nearly took him by surprise
The sailor and his wife lay dead while neighbors peeked in
Outside the dogs were mesmerized
By the humming from within
News spread throughout the town of the insects' arrival
People gathered in the church to pray to God
And quote from the Bible
Men came with gasoline and torches abright
A billion flies covered the skies til it was dark as night
The cries were barely heard beneath the buzzing of the bees
Now the insects rule so get down on your knees
And the town crier said:
You God-fearing people had better beware
Gather up your idols and begin to prepare
The time has come, the locusts have taken the air

Take my hand and let it begin
Open your heart and let me in
Girl i think im in love with you
And i think your in love with me too.

There's this girl whose kiss is all i dream of
Im the boy who prays its with me that she's in love.

The summer has come, and with your face
In my mouth its your skin i can taste
I know the way past all of your fear
Its a song that i sing in your ear.

There's this girl whose kiss is all i dream of
Im the boy who prays its with me that she's in love.

If i knew the words , i would write to her
And if i only had wings, i would fly to her

There's this gir whose kiss is all i dream of
Im the boy who prays its with me that she's in love.

(Benson)

I got no secrets
When I was a young boy I was beat up by my dad
I grew up fast, I took drugs and now I'm in rehab
There's a girl that I know and she's only seventeen
She said I was her favorite you know what I mean
Now I feel okay
But every night before I sleep
I wish I had kept it to myself for me to keep

I got no secrets

And all the kids at my school thought I was the enemy
Teachers diagnosed psychosis in need of therapy
One or two times daily now
My doctor has prescribed save me from myself
Cause I've tried suicide
Now I feel okay
But every night before I sleep
I wish I had kept it to myself
For me to keep

(Benson/Falkner)

This is only temporary
These songs are my worst habits
My looks and my skin and my temper
In this town, this place I call my home
Well it's me just purely
And I promise I'll get back on track
I'll get better so I can come home
My looks and my skin and in my head
In this town, this place I call my home
Well it's me just purely
And this cancer, it ain't terminal
And this fetish for lovely creatures
These songs are my bad luck
This town, this place I call my home
Well it's me just purely
And all my crazy superstitions
About living in the past
This is my second and last gasp
Well it's me just purely
Oh and things are gonna turn around
I can feel it right to my bones
I will come home
This town, this place i call my home
Me just purely
She was crooked and limp
And her eyes half shut
And her dirty mouth was open
Just a little

(Benson/Falkner)

Twitchy lady, so lovely with your short hair
Where do you come from? Where are you going?
My friends think you're ugly, mmmm
They don't see what I see
I love my crosseyed baby
Your secret's safe with me

(chorus)

I can't wait to get you out of here
Take you home with me, away from here
I'll never tell about what I found out
About a crosseyed girl
Who can surely make you shout

Tiny Spark by Brendan Benson

Yeah yeah yeah yeah
I’ve always been this way
Never known any other way to feel
Got the right of way
And all of the others must yield

Now I’m naked
And I’m in school
I can’t make it
To the door
Yeah
Try to understand
That an oyster can only make a pearl
From a grain of sand
But from what I don’t know makes a girl

Well I’m trying
Not to laugh
It's that I’m dying

When we break (when we break) apart
And you take (And you take) back your heart
(back your heart)
And it aches in the dark
But it makes a tiny spark

I've always been this way
never known any other way to feel
got the right of way
and all the others must yield

Now I'm naked
and I'm in school
l can't make it
to the door
And we're lying in the grass
I was trying oh not to laugh
I was drowing in the past

Take my hand and let it begin
Open your heart and let me in
Girl i think im in love with you
And i think your in love with me too.

There's this girl whose kiss is all i dream of
Im the boy who prays its with me that she's in love.

The summer has come, and with your face
In my mouth its your skin i can taste
I know the way past all of your fear
Its a song that i sing in your ear.

There's this girl whose kiss is all i dream of
Im the boy who prays its with me that she's in love.

If i knew the words , i would write to her
And if i only had wings, i would fly to her

There's this gir whose kiss is all i dream of
Im the boy who prays its with me that she's in love.

Jet Lag

My so-called friends
Where are they now
I guess a love that bends
Isn't worth much anyhow

They come and go
And talk their shit
And when I really need to know
All I get is spit in my eye

But the less I know the better
The faster I go jet-setter
I chase around the world
But I never get the girl

But it doesn't really matter
If you won't have any part of this
My scheme I've devised
Where my team is disguised
And we seem like ordinary guys
But surprise!

Some people want to know
All about my history
And no one seems to care
That none of it's noteworthy

But I talked so much as it were
That I made the local news
The boy has got the magic touch
And he can't ever lose

My present situation
Is no longer inspiration
My precious generation
Is killing their time
And behind their backs
I'm slipping through the cracks

I'm hardly phased anymore
By your classless ways
It takes more than that to amaze me
These days

I stayed up late
The night before
I slept the whole way on the plane
And now my neck is sore

And it doesn't really bother me
I just cut out any part of me
That's been bruised

Just Like Me


A balloon to your lips
And held between your fingertips
But soon it slips your grip and whips
Around the room
Spitting its fumes
Just like me

Hate so filled with hate
So bad some days I can't see straight
So sad sometimes I can't relate
I'm high and I'm low
And baby you know
It's just like me

So help me break this trend
'Cause here I go again
Help me find my way back
I'm not making any contact
And everything turns black
And I just go slack
All I have to say is
Ain't it just like me, Ain't it just like me

White bright white
You're fading almost out of sight
All is calm and all is bright
And I don't feel right
If it's not a fight
I'm just like that

So help me break this trend
'Cause here I go again
Help me find my way back
I'm not making any contact
And everything turns black
And I just go slack
All I have to say is
Ain't it just like me, Ain't it just like me
Ain't it just like me, Ain't it just like me .............

Pleasure Seeker


Drip drip drip drip outside my window
A head full of zip sleeps on my pillow
And it must be a phase that I'm in
'Cause I can't explain to begin
Could be a permanent thing
But it feels like a meaningless fling

The man in the pink, such a mild-mannered fellow
He gave me a wink and a good-natured hello
Lately I'm tired all the time
Guilty of the worst kind of crime
A game I can't possibly win
When I keep getting kicked in the shin

I'm just so far gone
I don't know what planet I'm on
I wanna come down
Taken it hard for so long
I don't know what's right or what's wrong with me
I'm coming down

(Such a funny creature)
When I drink I feel mellow
And if I think I'm Saul Bellow
And lately I do as I please
Don't much care for who disagrees
Could be a permanent thing
Feels like a meaningless fling

I'm just so far gone
I don't know what planet I'm on
I wanna come down
Taken it hard for so long
I don't know what's right or what's wrong with me
I'm coming down

And they say that I'm just a pleasure seeker............

I'm easy
Just a couple of words
That you've got to say and it frees me
From your powerful eyes when they seize me
And you said, "You're never gonna make it"
"Boy, you'll never make it alone"ooooohah

You're crazy
And the way that you're talking
No you never cease to amaze me
You say lackadaisical I say lazy
But somehow you're gonna make it
You're gonna gonna go it alone

Oh but, something's wrong
Something's wrong now, oh no
I slow down
I don't know why, oh no

And then I grew up
I let it go for too long
Now let me explain I never grew up
I think that I might have a shoe up
Don't make me call my crew up or beat you up

Now you're gritty
You're starting to glow
You'd like me to know that you're witty
Let me remind you it's just the beginning
There's still more time left and I think that I just might take you

Oh but, something's wrong
Something's wrong now, oh no
I slow down
I don't know why, oh no
Oh no

And if it means that much to you
I'll take the steps, I'll follow through
I know you have concerns about me
I'm all locked up and I've lost the key
You're the one I aim to please

I'll set your mind at ease
Now I'm reeling
I'm climbing the walls
And I'm pacing the floor to the ceiling
I'm waiting for some special feeling

And I'm still waiting
For this red light to change
To bright aqua green it's frustrating
I'm deliberately deliberating

Wondering, are you exceeding me?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
Do you copy?

Eventually

In her past there’s lots of people
I know them by their names
Some of them rushed by like water
Some of them were flames

Each and all knew a different girl
Someone I’ve never met
They went with her to parties
Good times she’ll not forget

And here I come with empty hands
Ready to receive
And I just hope she doesn’t change
Her mind and want to leave

Please you got to stay with me
Things will get better eventually
So girl stick it out with me
I feel a change coming over me

I came ‘long at a time when she
Had offers left and right
I gave her all I had to give
All my best insight

Now she sees the uselessness
The nonsense of it all
She understands the ways of men
Kicking in the stall

I’ve got the feeling I did harm
No good there have I done
I see in her the shit that once was mine
Of which she asked for none

And sometimes when I look at her
I see a different girl
I wonder what she’s thinking
And if she’s not part of my world

I’ve got the feeling I did harm
No good there have I done
I see in her the shit that once was mine
Of which she asked for none

And here I come with empty hands
Ready to receive
And I just hope she doesn’t change
Her mind and want to leave

Please you got to stay with me
Things will get better eventually
So girl stick it out with me
I feel a change coming over me

So girl stick it out with me
I feel a change coming over me

Please you got to stay with me
Things will get better eventually
..