Natalie Merchant [10,000 Maniacs]

( music: Robert Buck/words: Natalie Merchant )



How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string?
How did you learn everything that comes along with slavish funnery?
Tell me something, if the world is so insane,
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your nodding head?

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string?
How do you manage to live inside this tiny stage you can't leave?
Tell me something, if the world is so insane,
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your nodding head?

A dullard strung on the wire.
When the master's gone you hang there with your eyes and your limbs so lifeless.

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string?
How do you manage to speak, your mouth a frozen grin?

A dullard strung on the wire.
When the master's gone you hang there with your eyes and your limbs so lifeless.

Tell me something, if the world is so insane,
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your empty wooden head?

Your hollow head, your marble eyes, your wooden hands and your metal jaw pins
all wait in limbo for the man who knows how to move you this way.

Doctors have come from distant cities just to see me
Stand over my bed, disbelieving what they're seeing
They say I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as they see they can offer no explaination

Newspapers ask intimate questions, want confessions
They reach into my head to steal the glory, of my story
They say I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as they see they can offer no explaination

Chorus:
Oooh I believe, that Fate smiled and Destiny,
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as my body she lifted,
"Know this child will be gifted, with love, with patience,
and with faith, she'll make her way, she'll make her way"

People see me, I'm a challange to your balance,
I'm over your heads how I confound you,
and astound you to know I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as you see you can offer no explaination

Oooh I believe, that Fate smiled and Destiny,
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as she came to my mother
"Know this child will not suffer"
Laughed as my body she lifted,
"Know this child will be gifted, with love, with patience,
and with faith, she'll make her way, she'll make her way"
"She'll make her way"
Ooooh hoo hoo hoo, ooooh hooo hooo hoo

Doctors have come from distant cities just to see me
Stand over my bed, disbelieving what they're seeing
They say I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as they see they can offer no explaination

Newspapers ask intimate questions, want confessions
They reach into my head to steal the glory, of my story
They say I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as they see they can offer no explaination

Chorus:
Oooh I believe, that Fate smiled and Destiny,
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as my body she lifted,
"Know this child will be gifted, with love, with patience,
and with faith, she'll make her way, she'll make her way"

People see me, I'm a challange to your balance,
I'm over your heads how I confound you,
and astound you to know I must be one if the wonders of God's own creation
And as far as you see you can offer no explaination

Oooh I believe, that Fate smiled and Destiny,
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as she came to my mother
"Know this child will not suffer"
Laughed as my body she lifted,
"Know this child will be gifted, with love, with patience,
and with faith, she'll make her way, she'll make her way"
"She'll make her way"
Ooooh hoo hoo hoo, ooooh hooo hooo hoo

Doctors have come
from distant cities
just to see me
stand over my bed
disbelieving what they're seeing

they say I must be one of the wonders
of god's own creation
and as far as the can see they can offer
no explanation

newspapers ask
intimate questions
what confessions
they reach into my head
to steal the glory
of my story

they say I must be one of the wonders
of god's own creation
and as far as the can see they can offer
no explanation

I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
"know this child will be able"
laughed as my body she lifted
"know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience
and with faith
she'll make her way"

people see me
I'm a challenge
to your balance
I'm over your heads
how I confound you
and astound you
to know I must be one of the wonders
of god's own creation
and as far as you can see you can offer me
no explanation

I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
"know this child will be able"
laughed as she came to my mother
"know this child will not suffer"
laughed as my body she lifted
"know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience
and with faith
she'll make her way"

Climbing under
A barbed wire fence
By the railroad ties

Climbing over
The old stone wall
I am bound for the riverside

Well I go to the river
To soothe my mind
Ponder over
The crazy days of my life
Just sit and watch the river flow

Find a place
On the riverbank
Where the green rushes grow
See the wind
In the willow tree
In branches hanging low

Well I go to the river
To soothe my mind
To Ponder over
The crazy days in my life
Watch the river floe
Ease my mind and soul
Where I go

Well I go to the river
From time to time
Wander over
These crazy days in my mind
Watch the river flow
Where the willow branches grow
By the cool rolling waters
Moving gracefully and slow

Child it's lovely
Let the river take it all away
The mad pace, the hurry
The troubles, the worries
Just let the river take them all away
Flow away

That young boy without a name I'd know his face.
In this city the kid's my favorite.
I've seen him. I see him every day.
Seen him run outside looking for a place to hide from his father,
the kid half naked and said to myself "O, what's the matter here?"
I'm tired of the excuses everbody uses, he's their kid I stay out of
it,
but who gave you the right to do this?

We live on Morgan Street;
just ten feet between and his mother, I never see her,
but her screams and cussing, I hear them every day.
Threats like: "If you don't mind I will beat on your behind,"
"Slap you, slap you silly."
made me say, "O, what's the matter here?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses,
he's your kid, do as you see fit,
but get this through that I don't approve of
what you did to you own flesh and blood.

"If you don't sit on this chair straight
I'll take this belt from around my waist
and don't think that I won't use it!"

Answer me and take your time,
what could be the awful crime he could do at such young an age?
If I'm the only witness to your madness offer me some words to
balance out what I see and what I hear.
All these cold and rude things
that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you
and instead of love, the feel of warmth
you've given him these cuts and sores won't heal with time or age.

I want to say "What's the Matter here?"
But I don't dare say.

( Robert Buck/Natalie Merchant )



That young boy without a name anywhere I'd know his face.
In this city the kid's my favorite.
I've seen him. I see him every day.
Seen him run outside looking for a place to hide from his father,
the kid half naked and said to myself "O, what's the matter here?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's their kid I stay out of it,
but who gave you the right to do this?

We live on Morgan Street;
just ten feet between and his mother, I never see her,
but her screams and cussing, I hear them every day.
Threats like: "If you don't mind I will beat on your behind,"
"Slap you, slap you silly."
made me say, "O, what's the matter here?"
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's your kid, do as you see fit,
but get this through that I don't approve of what you did to you own flesh and blood.

"If you don't sit on this chair straight
I'll take this belt from around my waist and don't think that I won't use it!"

Answer me and take your time,
what could be the awful crime he could do at such young an age?
If I'm the only witness to your madness offer me some words to balance out what I see and what I hear.
Oh these cold and lowly things that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you
and instead of love and the feel of warmth you've given him these cuts and sores don't heal with time or with age.

And I want to say "What's the Matter here?"
But I don't dare say.

( Natalie Merchant )


( piano: Don Grolnick/cello: Dennis Karmazyn/viola: Novi/bass: Bob Magnusson/string arrangement: David Campbell )

The man in 119 takes his tea alone.
Mornings we all rise to wireless Verdi cries.
I'm hearing opera through the door.
The souls of men and women, impassioned all.
Their voices climb and fall; battle trumpets call.
I fill the bath and climb inside, singing.

He will not touch their pastry
but every day they bring him more.
Gold from the breakfast tray, I steal them all away
and then go and eat them on the shore.

I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand,
sing of a lover's fate sealed by jealous hate
then wash my hand in the sea.
With just three days more I'd have just about learned the entire score to Aida.

Holidays must end as you know.
All is memory taken home with me:
the opera, the stolen tea, the sand drawing, the verging sea, all years ago.

Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and your worries.
Trouble me on the days when you feel spent.
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong?
Trouble me.

Speak to me, don't mislead me, the calm I feel means a storm is swelling;
there's no telling where it starts or how it ends.
Speak to me, why are you building this thick brick wall to defend me when your silence is my greatest fear?
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong?
Speak to me.

Let me have a look inside these eyes while I'm learning.
Please don't hide them just because of tears.
Let me send you off to sleep with a "There, there, now stop your turning and tossing."
Let me know where the hurt is and how to heal.

Spare me? Don't spare me anything troubling.
Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and your worries.
Speak to me and let our words build a shelter from the storm.
Lastly, let me know what I can mend.
There's more, honestly, than my sweet friend, you can see.
Trust is what I'm offering if you trouble me.

Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and you worries.
Trouble me on the days when you feel spent.
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong?
Trouble me.

Speak to me, don't mislead me, the calm I feel means a storm is swelling;
there's no telling where it starts or how it ends.
Speak to me, why are you building this thick brick wall to defend me when your silence is my greatest fear?
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong?
Speak to me.

Let me have a look inside these eyes while I'm learning.
Please don't hide them just because of tears.
Let me send you off to sleep with a "There, there, now stop your turning and tossing."
Let me know where the hurt is and how to heal.

Spare me? Don't spare me anything troubling.
Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and you worries.
Speak to me and let our words build a shelter from the storm.
Lastly, let me know what I can mend.
There's more, honestly, than my sweet friend, you can see.
Trust is what I'm offering if you trouble me.

Tolerance

The still and silence is torn with violence
A loud breaking sound in the night is made
Hear it grow, hear it fade.
The sound you're hearing, the sound you're fearing
is the hate that parades up and down our streets coming within bounds and within reach

Now, inside the place we hide away
we hear it near and hope it turns away
Turn away ...

There's something seething in the air we're breathing
We learn slash and burn is the method to use
Set a flame, burn it new
We're overpowered
We kneel, we cower, we cover our heads
Feel the threat of blows that will come and the damage that will be done in its wake

Now, inside this place we hide away
We hear it near although it's miles away
We hear it near and hope it turns away
Turn away ...

This house divided, we live inside it
Hate's dwelling place is behind our door in fitful nights
Hear it walk the floor and hear it rave as it moans and drags along its ball and chain
as it moves through this house it can't escape

Now inside this place we hide away
We hear it near and hope it turns away
Turn away ....

Doubt falls away
Deep breath miles past the enemy
That blood will stain
No use to try to remedy
That song he sang
"La la something 'bout a better day"
He'll miss her ways,
wonderin' if he missed his chance again
He says "Speak to me from high high places, my prayer is short but
complecated
I'm just waitin' for the weather to change
Some days are better than others today I should have stayed under
get out get out get out I gotta think it over and be done with today
forever...
I've got a game, you play Anna Lee and I'll play Emily
That might wear thin
Laughter comin' through the walls you're in, the walls you're in, the
walls you're in
Oh, speak to me from high high places
My prayer is short but complecated
I'm just waiting for the weather to change
Some days are better than others
Today I should have stayed under, get out, get out, get out, I gotta
think it over
And be done with today forever, today forever, today forever

This house is on fire!

Kick off your boots, come sit a spell.
Listen to me worry, come and listen well.

All you better best come and lean in boys
I don't dare raise my voice

I've been sitting here for the longest time
Reading all the warning and the danger signs
I don't have the gift of the prophecy
Telling everybody how it's going to be

Soon come, soon come the day
This tinderbox is gonna blow in your face.
Your face, your face
I don't have the gift of the prophesy
Telling everybody how it's going to be.
You go passing wrong for right and right for wrong
People only stand for that for just so long.

It's all gonna catch like a house on fire
Spark an evil blaze and burn higher

Well, I don't have the gift of the prophesy
Telling everybody how it's going to be
You go passing wrong for right and right for wrong
People only stand for that for just so long

I don't have the gift of the prophesy
Telling everybody how it's going to be.
There's a wild fire catching in the whip of the wind
That could start a conflagration like there has never been

This house is on fire!
This house is on fire

Remember how it all began
The apple and the fall of man
The price we pay
So the people say
Down the path of shame it led us
Dared to bite the hand
That fed us fairy tale and moral end
Wheel of Fortune
Never turns again
Never turns again

The worst of it has come and gone
And the chaos of millenium
And the falling out of the doomsday crowd
Their last retreat is moving slow
They burn their bridges as they go
The heretic is beautified
Teach the harlot's child to smile

Rocked again by indecision
Should we make that small incision
Testify to the bleeding heart inside
We cut, we scratched, we rend, we slashed
And when he opened up at last
Found a cul de sac
Deep and black
Smoke and ash
Deep and black
Smoke and ash

The wicked king of Parodies
Kissing all his enemies
On the seventh day
Of the seventh week
Tyrant's voice is softened now
But just for one forgiving hour
Before the rise of his
Iron fist again
Fist again

I've come tonight
I've come to know
The way we are
The way we'll go
And to measure this
Width of the wide abyss

I come to you in restless sleep
Where all your dreams turn bittersweet
With voodoo doll philosophies
Day glow holy trinities

The crooked raft that leaves the shore
Ferries drunken souls aboard
Pilgrims march to Compestelo
Visions of their saint in yellow

Follow deep in trance
Lost in a catatonic dance
Know no future
Damn the past
Blind, warm, ecstatic
Safe at last

These Are Days


These are
These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you – you are blessed and lucky
It’s true – that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you

These are days you’ll remember
When May is rushing over you
With desire to be part of the miracles
You see in every hour
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you are touched
By something that will grow and bloom in you

These are days –
These are the days you might fill
With laughter until you break
These days you might feel
A shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
You’ll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning
You’ll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they’re speaking
To you, to you

These are days you'll remember.
Never before and never since, I promise,
will the whole world be warm as this.
And as you feel it, you'll know it's true
that you are blessed and lucky.
It's true that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you.

These are days you'll remember.
When May is rushing over
you with desire to be part of the miracles you see in every hour.
You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky.
It's true that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you.

These are days.

These are the days you might fill with laughter until you break.
These days you might feel a shaft of light make
its way across your face.
And when you do you'll know how it was meant to be.
See the signs and know their meaning.
It's true, you'll know how it was meant to be.
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you.

So you're in love, it's so good for you
Live it up girl 'cause it never lasted long

It's heaven for now but not for long
It's gonna hurt you
It's gonna make you feel so bad.

Once I could love, I could trust, I could not doubt
But that was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do.

Maybe not now
But it won't take long before it's
Gonna hurt you
Truly do you some harm.

Once I was open, could hope, I had no doubt
But that was the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do.
It was just about the worst thing that I could do.

Once I came close to that most elusive fire
Burning with hopeless love and desire but
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do

En el pasado estuve ciega como tu
(In the past I was blind as you)
Atrapada y perdida como tu
(Trapped and lost like you)
Embelesada y suspendida en mi jaula de plata
(With no escape, suspended in my silver cage)
Esos recuerdos te acompanaran toda la vida
(These memories will remain with you forever)

( Jerome Augustyniak/Natalie Merchant )



The Painted Desert can wait till summer.
We've played this game of just imagine long enough.
Wait till summer?
When I'm sure the rains have ended, the blooms have gone,
everyone killed by the morning frost.
Is a cactus blooming there in every roadside stand
where the big deal is cowboy gear won in Japan?

The Painted Desert can wait till summer.
We've played this game of just imagine long enough.
Wait till summer?
When I'm sure the rains have ended and the blooms have gone,
everyone killed by the morning frost.
Is a cactus blooming there upon the Northern rim
or in the ruins of the Hopi mesa dens?

You met a new friend in the Canyon, or so you wrote.
On a blanket in the cooling sand you and your friend agreed that
the stars were so many there they seemed to overlap.

The Painted Desert can wait till summer.
We've played this game of just imagine long enough.
Wait till summer?
When I am sure the rain has ended, the blooms have gone,
everyone killed by the morning frost.
Was a cactus blooming there as you watched the Native boy?
In Flagstaff trailer court, you wrote the line:
"He kicked a tumbleweed and his mother called him home where the Arizona moon met the Arizona sun."

I wanted to be there by May at the latest time.
Isn't that the plan we had or have you changed your mind?
I haven't read a word from you since Phoenix or Tucson.
April is over will you tell me how long before I can be there?

What's it like there outside
With the living, with the living
Here I've found a place I can hide
>From the living, from the living
Because I don't care to stay with the living

Oh, the bottle has been to me
My closest friend, my worst enemy
Full of flavor I walked a fine line
Squandered it all and wasted my time
And I don't stand a chance among the living

For the lovers I've gambled and lost
Count my mistakes whatever the cost
I'll go off, I'll make myself scarce
Oh, come tomorrow
You won't find me here

Because I don't care to stay with the living
I don't think I'll remain with the living

And I don't care to stay with the living
No, I don't care to stay

( music: Natalie Merchant & Dennis Drew/words: Natalie Merchant )



Can I be unhappy?
Look at what I see: a beast in furs and crowned in luxury.
He's a wealthy man in the poorest land, a self-appointed king,
and there's no complaining while he's reigning.
The lambs are bare of fleece and cold; the lion has stolen that, I'm told.
There must be some creature mighty as you are.
The lambs go hungry (not fair), the biggest portion is the lion's share.
There must be some creature mighty as you are.

Can I be unhappy?
Listen and agree, no words can shame him or tame him.
The lambs are bare of fleece and cold; the lion has stolen that, I'm told.
There must be some creature mighty as you are.
The lambs go hungry (not fair), the biggest portion is the lion's share.
There must be some creature mighty as you are, as you are.

Razor claws in velvet paws, you dunce in your guarded home,
'til a stronger beast will call on you and pounce upon your throne.

Do we pay? Dearly, for the lion takes so greedily
and he knows that what he's taken, it is ours.
That's how the wealth's divided among the lambs and king of the beasts, it is so one-sided.
Until the lamb is king of the beasts we live so one-sided.

If I ever write this letter
The pages I could write
But I don't know where to send it
You have vanished
Heaven knows where you live
Heaven only knows

If I ever write this letter
Bitter words it would complain
Just an unrequited lover
Wishing she had never
Spoken your name
Had ever known your name

But if I ever write this letter
The truth it would reveal
Knowing you brought me pleasure
How I'll often treasure
Moments that we knew
The precious
The few

If you could fill a veil with shells from Killiney's shore
And sweet talk in a tongue that is no more
If wishful thought could bridge
The Gulf of Araby
Between what is
What is
What is
And what can never be

If you could hold the frozen flow of New Hope Creek
And hide out from the one they said you might meet
If you could unlearn all the words
That you never wanted heard
If you could stall the southern wind
That's whistling in your ears
You could take what is
What is
What is
What is
To what can never be

One man of seventy whispers free at last
Two neighbors who are proud of their massacres
Three tyrants torn away in a winter's month
Four prisoners framed by a dirty judge
Five burned with tyres
Six men still inside
And seven more days to shake at the great divide


The Gulf, the Gulf of Araby
The Gulf, the Gulf of Araby

Well, we would plough and part the earth to bring you home
And harvest every miracle ever known
If they laid out all the things
That these ten years want to bring
We would gladly give them up
To bring you back to us
O, there is nothing we would not give
To kiss you and believe you can take what is
What is
What is
To what can never be

One man of seventy whispers not free yet
Two neighbors who make up knee-deep in their dead
Three tyrants torn away in the summer's heat
Four prisoners lost in the fallacy
Five, on my life
And six, I'm dead inside
And seven more days to shake at the great divide

The Gulf, the Gulf of Araby
The Gulf, the Gulf of Araby

( music: Robert Buck/lyric: Natalie Merchant )



here is the store house of Her Majesty
well guarded by sentry
but looks are free

call this the rayless and benighted age
witches by tallow candles shifted
shifted their shapes
here is the pestle and mortar
that ground the poison seed
a lute, a suit for jousting
and the poems of a balladeer
when all the Latin books were copied off
in golden script
well hoarded away in
a monastery crypt

superstition
superstition beyond belief

over mountain, over dune and over sea
crude map and compass lead the caravan
and lead the fleet
here's the loot and plunder
they bore home
ivory tusk inlaid with precious stone
raw silk and spices by the barrel load
a soft skin drum with mallets
of human bone

a world wide rampage
rampage of greed

so here the tour concludes
The Colonial Wing
the rooms of the most refined
museum property
an early pair of spectacles
a claw footed divan
ornate clocks with birds that strut
on the half hours and quarter hours

hear them chime

( music: Jerome Augustyniak/words: Natalie Merchant )



Detroit to D.C. night train, Capitol, parts East.
Lone young man takes a seat.
And by the rhythm of the rails, reading all his mother's mail from a city boy in a jungle town postmarked Saigon.
He'll go live his mother's dream, join the slowest parade he'll ever see.
Her weight of sorrows carried long and carried far.
"Take these, Tommy, to The Wall."

Metro line to the Mall site with a tour of Japanese.
He's wandering and lost until a vet in worn fatigues takes him down to where they belong.
Near a soldier, an ex-Marine with a tattooed dagger and eagle trembling, he bites his lip beside a widow breaking down.
She takes her Purple Heart, makes a fist, strikes The Wall.
All come to live a dream, to join the slowest parade they'll ever see.
Their weight of sorrows carried long and carried far, taken to The Wall.

It's 40 paces to the year that he was slain.
His hand's slipping down The Wall for it's slick with rain.
How would life have ever been the same if this wall had carved in it one less name?
But for Christ's sake, he's been dead over 20 years.
He leaves the letters asking, "Who caused my mother's tears, was it Washington or the Viet Cong?"
Slow deliberate steps are involved.
He takes them away from the black granite wall toward the other monuments so white and clean.

O, Potomac, what you've seen.
Abraham had his war too, but an honest war.
Or so it's taught in school.

Who'll save the poor little girl?
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Who'll save the poor little girl?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry

Who'll tell the story of her?
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Who'll tell it to all the world?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry

Who'll buy the carbon paper now?
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Who'll trace the lines of her mouth?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry

Who will conquer foreign worlds searching for the stolen girls?
Princesses you'll never fear the patron saint of girls is here!
Who will draw the cavalry in and risk his very own precious skin
To make our Angelinia a free and beautiful land again?
Henry

Who'll love a poor orphan child
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Lost, growing savage and wild?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry..

As frail hinges
Pivot on a case's door
Commemorative
Souvenirs from places
Containers change
With each occasion

A cellophane encased
Display of paper
Certificate
To credit years of service
A tool of central enterprises
The early hope
For permanence
The words
The rings
Consistency
The social security
A miracle is high tragedy

Thought mistaken
For a memory
Clear the dust from
Smiles in boxes
Pass a patterned wall
Recall their voices

A local post
Will list your friends
In order of
Disappearance
The lawn scattered

Tins feed birds
A portion baked for
Absent guests
And the mass edition icon
God sent comfort
Your salvation
But who grants absolution
For sins that
Never were committed

Tension makes a tangle
Of each thought
Becomes an inconvenience
Sound as it never penetrates
As servile edges
Break and
Feint

Thought mistaken
For a memory
A dress length
Assassination
A fractured family tie
Another christening

Christening
Christening
Christening

I know what you tell yourself you tell yourself
I know what you tell yourself you tell yourself
Look in the mirror
Look in the mirror what does it show?

I hear you counting
I know you're adding up the score
I know, oh yes I know
What you tell yourself, you tell yourself.
I know what you tell yourself, you tell yourself.

Ever since Eden
We're built for pleasing everyone knows
Ever since Adam
Cracked his ribs and let us go
I know, oh yes I know
What you tell yourself, you tell yourself.
I know what you tell yourself, you tell yourself.
I know what you tell yourself, you tell yourself.

Who taught you how to lie
So well and to believe
In each and every word you say?

Who told you that nothing about you is alright
It's just no use, it's just no good you'll never be ok?

Well I know, I know that wrong's been done to you
"It's such a tough world,"
That's what you say
And I know, I know it's easier said than done
But that's enough girl
Give it away
Give it, give it all away

Tell yourself that you're not pretty
Look at you, you're beautiful.
Tell yourself that no one sees
Plain Jane invisible to me

Just tell yourself
Tell yourself
Tell yourself you'll never be like the anorexic
beauties in the magazines
Like a bargain basement Barbie doll, no belle du jour,
no femme fatale
Just tell yourself, tell yourself
Tell yourself there's nothing worse than
the pain inside and the way it hurts
But tell yourself it's nothing new cause everybody feels it too
They feel it too
And there's just no getting 'round the fact
that you're thirteen right now.

Stockton Gala Days


that summer fields grew high
with foxglove stalks and ivy
wild apple blossoms everywhere
emerald green like none I have seen
apart from dreams that escape me
there was no girl as warm as you

how I've learned to please
to doubt myself in need
you'll never, you'll never know

that summer fields grow high
we made garland crowns in hiding
pulled stems of flowers from my hair
blue in the stream like none I have seen
apart from dreams that escape me
there was no girl as bold as you

how I've learned to please
to doubt myself in need
you'll never, you'll never know
you'll never know...

violet serene like none I have seen
apart from dreams that escape me
there was no girl as warm as you
how I've learned to please
to doubt myself in need
you'll never, you'll never know
you'll never know...

that summer fields grow high
we had wildflower fever
we had to lay down where they grow
how I've learned to hide, how I've locked inside
you'd be surprised if shown
but you'll never, you'll never know

That summer fields grew high with foxglove stalks and ivy.
Wild apple blossoms everywhere.
Emerald green like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me.
There was no girl as warm as you.

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need,
you'll never, you'll never know.

The summer fields grow high.
We made garland crowns in hiding, pulled stems of flowers from my hair.
Blue in the stream like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me.
There was no girl as bold as you.

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need,
you'll never, you'll never know.
You'll never know.

Violet serene like none I have set apart from dreams that escape me.
There was no girl as warm as you.

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need.
You'll never, you'll never know.
You'll never know.

That summer fields grow high.
We had wildflower fever.
We had to lay down where they grow.

How I've learned to hide, how I've locked inside, you'd be surprised if shown.
But you'll never, you'll never know.

Space Oddity
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God's love be with you

(spoken)
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Liftoff

This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare
"This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows"
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....
"Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do."

I'm kinda rusted
Everyone's noticed
Salty and edgy
It's not my fault
I wear a costume to make up for broken
I wear a ribbon for the problems I've solved
The habit is compelling treat it like addiction
the rise and fall of conviction
the peace and shame of giving in
I've got a name it's all I have
I'm a skinny wire radio tower
I believe there's something more
I'm a silver jet just passing over
I believe there's something more
I'm covered with choices it's not becoming
This way or that one
I can't decide
I've got a name
It's all I know

Face turns black swollen eyes
Fall down dead prey to disguise
Such a pretty face you filled your head with
F*** you glutton joke you're all the same
Turn away face the money
Dip your hand into the honey
Such a pretty fate you filled your head with
Pleasures for the rich so close you are
Simplicity you're so easily led
All your life could go easily unsaid
I can't wait till you're gone leave me in peace
I'm so much more you'll never see so much more you'll never be
A picture framed of you and someone
She knows your name but she doesn't like you
Such a prety face you filled your head with
F*** you glutton joke you're all the same
I'm so much more you'll never see
So much more you'll never be
Suckin' the mother dry.
It's the age old sin.

Face turns black swollen eyes
Fall down dead prey to disguise
Such a pretty face you filled your head with
F*** you glutton joke you're all the same
Turn away face the money
Dip your hand into the honey
Such a pretty fate you filled your head with
Pleasures for the rich so close you are
Simplicity you're so easily led
All your life could go easily unsaid
I can't wait till you're gone leave me in peace
I'm so much more you'll never see so much more you'll never be
A picture framed of you and someone
She knows your name but she doesn't like you
Such a prety face you filled your head with
F*** you glutton joke you're all the same
I'm so much more you'll never see
So much more you'll never be
Suckin' the mother dry.
It's the age old sin.

How did I love you?
There was no measuring
Far above this dirty world
Far above everything
In your tower over it
You were clean

So warm and insightful
Were you in my life
I was sure the rightful
Guardian of my life
Damn you betrayer
How you lied

But for seven years
You were loved
I laid golden orchid crowns
Around your feet
For seven years
I bowed down
To touch the ground
So wholly your devotee
You were all I could see

I've got my sight now
I see everything you hid
So don't you try to right now
All the wrong you did
I might forget you
But not forgive

But for seven years
You were loved
I laid golden orchid crowns
Around your feet
For seven years
I bowed down
To touch the ground
So wholly your devotee

For seven years
You were so revered
I made offerings
Of anything and everything I had
You were
All I could see

How did I love you?
there was no measuring
far above this dirty world
far above everything
in your tower over it
you were clean

so warm and insightful
were you in my eyes
I was sure the rightful
guardian of my life
damn you betrayer
how you lied

but for seven years
you were loved
I laid golden orchid crowns
around your feet

for seven years
I bowed down
to touch the ground
so wholly your devotee

you were
all I could see

I've got my sight now
I see everything you hid
so don't you try to right now
all the wrong you did
I might forget you
but never forgive

but for seven years
you were loved
I laid golden orchid crowns
around your feet

for seven years
I bowed down
to touch the ground
so wholly your devotee

for seven years
you were so revered
I made offerings of
anything and everything I had

you were
all I could see

( music: John Lombardo & Robert Buck/lyric: Natalie Merchant )



power
dizzy with it stumble
detail
a chance for us to quarrel
anger
my head is shaken violent

if i could calm or restrain you
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynics tongue
save the cool white stare
and treat me to an honest face sometime

amaze me now

trust is
the greatest human error
empty
used me as a vessel
ruthless
you're not known for subtlety

if i could calm or restrain you
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynic's tongue
save the cool white stare
and treat me to an honest face sometime

amaze me now

artful
well there's quite a skill to torture
half smile
was it all you could deliver
token
so hard to be pleasant

if you could calm or restrain it
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynic's tongue
save the cool white stare
and treat me to an honest face sometime

amaze me now

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk and honey over there
You'll be the brightest star
The world has ever seen
Sun-baked slender heroine
Of film and magazine

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk and honey over there
You'll be the brightest light
The world has ever seen
The dizzy height of a jet-set life
You could never dream

Your pale blue eyes
Strawberry hair
Lips so sweet
Skin so fair
You're future bright
Beyond compare
It's rags to riches
Over there

San Andreas Fault
Moved it's fingers
Through the ground
Earth divided
Plates collided
Such an awful sound

San Andreas Fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Terra cotta shattered
And the walls came
Tumbling down

Oh promised land
Oh wicked ground
Build a dream
Tear it down

Oh promised land
What a wicked ground
Build a dream
Watch it all fall down

Go west
paradise is there
you'll have all that you can eat
of milk and honey over there

you'll be the brightest star
the world has ever seen
sun-baked slender heroine
of film and magazine

go west
paradise is there
you'll have all that you can eat
of milk and honey over there

you'll be the brightest light
the world has ever seen
the dizzy height of a jet-set life
you could never dream

your pale blue eyes
strawberry hair
lips so sweet
skin so fair

your future bright
beyond compare
it's rags to riches
over there

San Andreas Fault
moved it's fingers
through the ground
earth divided
plates collided
such an awful sound

San Andreas Fault
moved its fingers
through the ground
terra cotta shattered
and walls came
tumbling down

o promised land
o wicked ground
build a dream
tear it down

o promised land
what a wicked ground
build a dream
watch it fall down

Saddle up the horses and wear your Sunday best
Sing your Sacred Harp, you be holier than the rest
Fill up the room with a grand and thunderous song
Let it rattle out the windows
Let it spill out on the lawn

Shout, shout your praises to the man who kissed the Lord
To the back stabbing brother
that betrayed all of this world, your Judas!

Yeah, though you may walk in the valley in the dark
There's no greater evil than the darkness in your heart
With your stun guns, bloodhounds
Needle and your razor wire
Your nylon shackle whipping post
And your high tech burning tire, your Judas, Judas, Judas.

Whiplash crack across the back, across the arms
Although you bound his feet, he running fast he running hard
Through them crickets in the corn
And them horses in the field
Hear the "caw, caw" of the crows
See the devil at the wheel y'all, Judas, Judas, Judas, Judas

Go on down to Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas
Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Florida
Louisiana and Tennessee
Georgia, Carolina, Carolina.

There's no greater evil
Than the darkness in your heart

Young and strong Hollywood son
In the early morning light
This star fell down
On Sunset Boulevard

Young and strong beautiful one
We embrace so close
Is gone
Was torn away

Let the youth of America mourn
Include him in their prayers
Let his image linger on
Repeat it everywhere

With candles and flowers
He was one of ours
One of ours
Why don't you let him be?
He's gone
We know
Give his mother and his father peace
Your vulture's candor
Your casual slander
You murder his memory
He's gone
We know
It's nothing but a tragedy

Lay to rest your soul
and body
Lay beside your name
Lay to rest your rage
Your hunger and amazing grace

With candles and flowers
You were one of ours
One of ours

I saw cameras expose your life
I heard rumours explode with liES
I saw children in tears
Cry and crowd around the sight
Of where you had collapsed that day
Where your last breath and word
Had been sighed
Where your heart had burst
Where you had died

I saw how they were lost and grieving
All half believing you were gone
The loss and the pain of it
Crime and the shame of it
You were gone
It was such a nightmare raving
"How can we save him
From himself"

Do I have to put the law on you baby for all the wicked things you do?
Am I gonna have to put the law on you baby?
That was not what I wanted to do.

Do I have to put the law on you baby to try
And make you come out clean for every evil deed?
You're just about the lowest and the dirtiest thing I've ever seen.

Did you really think you could pull it off, the perfect crime, crime of the heart?
Do you really think that you'll get away, do the crime and never pay?

Do I have to put the law on you baby
Lock you up and throw away the key
For the countless counts of low down double-cross you've been about?
Have you no decency?

Did you really think you could pull it off, the perfect crime, crime of the heart?
Do you really think that you'll get away, escape my justice until you're dying day?

Though you made it clear from the very start
There was no trusting you with my foolish heart.
Though you maybe made it clear that didn't make it right.
Do you really think you'll get away?
You can't escape my justice 'til my dying day.

( music: Dennis Drew/words: Natalie Merchant )



Tell me what's gone wrong.
I tilt my head there, under the faucet, but when I turn it on -- dry as paper.
Call the neighbors.
Who's to blame for what's going on?
In the dark without a clue I'm just the same as you.

O, they tell us there's poison in the well,
that someone's been a bit untidy and there's been a small spill.
Not a lot, no, just a drop.
But there you are mistaken, you know you are.
I wonder just how long they knew our well was poisoned but they let us just drink on.

O, they tell us there's poison in the well,
that someone's been a bit untidy and there's been a small spill.
All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea.
Someone's been a bit untidy, they'll have it cleaned up in a week.
But the week is over and now it's grown into years since I was told that I should be calm, there's nothing to fear here.
But I drank that water for years, my wife and my children.

Tell me, where to now, if your fight for a bearable life can be fought and lost in you backyard?

O, don't tell us there's poison in the well,
that someone's been a bit untidy, that there's been a small spill.
All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea.
Someone's been a bit untidy, they'll have it cleaned up in a week.

"Mercy, mercy," why didn't we hear it?
"Mercy, mercy," why did we read it buried on the last page of our morning
papers?
The plan was drafted, drafted in secret.
Gunboats met the red tide, driven to the rum trade for the army that they
created.
But the bullets were bought by us, it was dollars that paid them.

Please forgive us, we don't know what was done,
Please forgive us, we don't know what was done in our name.

There'll be more trials like this in mercenary heydays.
When they're so apt to wrap themselves up in the stripes and stars and find that
they are able to call themselves heroes and to justify murder by their fighters
for freedom.

Please forgive us, we don't know what was done.
Please forgive us, we didn't know.
Could you ever forgive us? I don't know how you could.

I know this is no consolation.
Please forgive us, we don't know what was done,
Please forgive us, we didn't know.
Could you ever believe that we didn't know?
Please forgive us, we didn't know.
I wouldn't blame you if you never could.
Please forgive us, we didn't know.
I wouldn't blame you if you never could.
Please forgive us, and you never will.

Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, something good is bound to come

For out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Peace train take this country, come take me home again

Peace train sounding louder
Ride on the peace train
Come on the peace train
Peace train is a holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
This is the peace train

Get your bags together, come bring your good friends too
Because it's getting nearer, soon it will be with you

Come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true

Peace train sounding louder
Ride on the peace train
Come on the peace train

I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss

For out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Peace train take this country, come take me home again

Peace train sounding louder
Ride on the peace train
Come on the peace train
Peace train is a holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
This is the peace train
Come on the peace train
Come on come on, come on
the peace train

I lost an island in the ocean
The place where nickels come to gamble on their faces
She took the offer to be the daughter
We pledge allengiance to the one who affers social graces

Please don't blame me
Please don't blame me

'Cause I'm in over my head,
In over my head
It's for the best

I ripped up the picture
The one in the kitchen
I looked weak my eyes they gave it all away
I don't deny it
I still haven't found it
I proudly wear the scars
I've challenged every crutch so far

Please don't blame me
Please don't blame me
'Cause I'm in over my head, in over my head
It's for the best and I'm in over my head, in over my head
It's for the best (x2)

Ophelia was a bride of God
A novice Carmelite,
In sister cells, the cloister bells,
tolled on her wedding night
Ophelia was the rebel girl,
a blue-stockinged suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes
And Ophelia was the sweetheart to a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs, vivacious eyes
Love was at first sight,
Love was at first sight, love
Ophelia was a demi-goddess
In pre-war Babylon
so statuesque, a silhouette
in black, satin evening gowns
Ophelia was the mistress to a Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina
mafia courtesan
Ophelia was the circus queen, the female cannonball
projected through five flaming hoops
to wild and shocked applause
to wild and shocked applause
hey, he-he-he-he-hey,
Ophelia was a tempest, cyclone, a god-damned hurricane
your common sense, your best defense lay wasted and in vain
for Ophelia'd know your every woe and every pain you'd ever have
She'd sympathize and dry your eyes
Help you to forget
and help you to forget
and help you to forget
Ophelia's mind went wandering
You'd wonder where she'd gone
to secret doors down corridors
she'd wander them alone
all alone

Ophelia was a bride of God
A novice Carmelite
In sister cells
The cloister bells tolled on her wedding night

Ophelia was the rebel girl
A blue stockting suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes

And Ophelia was the sweetheart
To a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs
Vivacious eyes
Love was at first sight...
Love was at first sight...
Love...

Ophelia was a demigoddess in pre-war Babylon
So statuesque a silhouette in black satin evening gowns

Ophelia was the mistress to
A Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina
Mafia courtesan

Ophelia was the circus queen
The female cannonball
Projected through five flaming hoops
To wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause

Ophelia was a tempest cyclone
A goddamn hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense
They wasted , and in vain

For Ophelia 'd know your every woe
And every pain you'd ever had
She'd sympathize and dry your eyes
Help you to forget...
And help you to forget
And help you to forget

Ophelia's mind went wandering
You'd wonder where she goes
Through secret doors down corridors
She wanders there alone
All alone

(voice in german)
"Es kostet mich keine kleine Krise die Verunreinigung und das
Suechtige aus meinem Leben auszuschliessen"
("But it is for me no little effort to exclude the polluting and the addictive
from my life." )
(voice in spanish)
"compondo musica , en un estado de ecstases"
("composing music , in a state of ecstasy")
(voice in spanish)
"fuerza de vida , de vida"
( "strength of life , of life")
(voice in german)
"Mein Vater ist ein Architekt"
("My father is an architect." )

One fine day, You'll look at me
And you will know our love was meant to be
One fine day, You're gonna want me for your girl
The arms, I long for will open wide
And you'll be proud to have me right by your side
One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl
Though I know you're the kind of boy
who only wants to around
I'll keep waiting and someday darling,
you'll come to me when you want to settle down
One fine day, we'll meet once more
And then you'll want the love threw away before
One fine day, you're gonna want me
for you girl

Oh lately I've been walking all alone
Through the wind and through the rain
Been walking through the streets
and finding sweet relief in knowing that it won't be long

Oh lately it's occurred to me
That I've had enough of that
And lately I've been satisfied by simple things
like breathing in and breathing out.

Never again, not in this life
Will I be taken twice
Never again, never on your life
Will I make that same mistake
I can't make it twice.

Oh lately it's occurred to me
Axactly what went wrong
I realized I compromised
I sacrificed far too much for far too long

Never again, no not in this life
Will I be taken twice
No no no no
Never again, never on your life
Will I make that same mistake
I can't make it twice
Starting out from here today
Swear I'm gonna change my way
Once mistaken in this life but never never never never twice.

Never again, no not in this life
No no no no
Will I be taken twice
Never again, never on your life
Will I make that same mistake
I can't make it twice.
No no no no
Never again, never on your life
Gonna make that same mistake
Gonna make it twice.
Starting out from here today
Swear I'm gonna change my way
Swear I'm gonna change my way
Gonna change my way
Never again, no never again no never in this life
Gonna make that same mistake
Gonna make it twice.
Never again, no never again no never in this life

You won a prize for that,
for telling lies like that
So well that I believed it.
And I never felt cheated.
You were the chosen one,
the pure eyes of Noah's dove.
Choir boys and angels
stole your lips and your halo.
In your reckless mind,
you act as if you've got more lives.
In your reckless eyes, you only have time and your love of danger
to it you're no stranger.
In that August breeze
of those forgotten trees,
your time was set for leaving,
come a colder season.
In your reckless mind,
you act as if you抳e got more lives
In your reckless eyes,
it's never too late for a chance to seize some final breath of freedom.
Very, so very wise.

Don't reveal it. I'm tired, tired of knowing
where it is you're going.
In your reckless mind,
you act as if you've got more lives.
In your reckless eyes,
it's never too late for your love of danger
to it you're no stranger.
In your reckless mind,
you act as if you've got more lives.
In your reckless eyes, it's never too late
for a chance to seize some
final breath of freedom

I never felt cheated.
You were the chosen one, the pure eyes of Noah's dove.
Choir boys and angles stole your lips and your halo.

In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives.
In your reckless eyes, you only have time and your love of danger--to it your no stranger.

In that August breeze of those forgotten trees, your time was set for leaving, come a colder season.
In your reckless eyes, it's never too late for a chance to seize some final breath of freedom.
Very, so very wise.
Don't reveal it.
I'm tired, tired of knowing where it is you're going.

In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives.
In your reckless eyes, you only have time and your love of danger--to it you're no stranger.
In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives.
In your reckless eyes, it's never too late for a chance to seize some final breath of freedom

Take a look at my body
Look at my hands
There's so much here that I don't understand
Your face-saving promises
Whispered like prayers
I don't need them
'cause I've been treated so wrong,
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
Well, contempt loves the silence, it thrives in the dark
With fine winding tendrils that strangle the heart
They say that promises sweeten the blow
but I don't need them, no I don't need them
I've been treated so wrong,
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
I'm a slow-dying flower
In the frost-killing hour
Sweet turning sour and untouchable
I need the darkness, the sweetness, the sadness, the weakness
Oh I need this
I need a lullaby, a kiss goodnight, angel, sweet love of my life
Oh I need this
I'm a slow-dying flower
Frost-killing hour
The sweet turning sour and untouchable
Do you remember the way that you touched me before
All the trembling sweetness I loved and adored
Your face-saving promises
Whispered liked prayers
I don't need them
I need the darkness, the sweetness, the sadness, the weakness
Oh, I need this
I need a lullaby, a kiss goodnight, angel, sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this
Well is it dark enough
Can you see me
Do you want me
Can you reach me
Oh, I'm leaving
Better shut your mouth, and hold your breath
You kiss me now, you catch your death
Oh, I mean this
Oh, I mean this

( Jerome Augustyniak/Natalie Merchant )



Big plans are being made for my sister's wedding day.
We'll have a ball at the Sons of Roma Hall.
Family, friends come one and all.
First the best man makes a toast to Rocky and my sister Rose,
"A life of years free of tears. Bottoms up and lots of luck!"
'
Polka, tango everyone, cha-cha, mambo Rose and Rock alone.
Frankie Rizzo and his Combo play on.

Single girls all hear the call from a crowd at the back wall
and when the bouquet flies each one tries to be the best catch and next years bride.
Uncle Sam and Uncle Joe take their places in the row.
They're standing by side to side for dollar dances with the bride.

Polka, tango everyone, cha-cha, mambo, Rose and Rock alone.
"He's a banker, she'll be well off now."

Sister Rose take your mother's place.
Trade your home and your maiden name.
For a list of vows and a veil of lace made a wife of you today.

Now they cut the five tier cake, "That Colucci, he can bake."
A frosted tower of sugar and flour for the couple of the hour.

Polka, tango everyone, cha-cha, mambo Rose and Rock alone.
She was born to wear that gown.

Sister Rose take your mother's place.
Trade your home and your maiden name.
For a list of vows and a veil of lace made a wife of you today,
but you're my sister Rose the same.

( lyrics: Natalie Merchant & Michael Walsh/music: J.C.Lombardo )



she borders the pavement
flanks avenues
parades pass white glove attended by
my mother the war

she'll raise a shaft
lift a banner
toss a rose
my mother the war

she's made every effort
to salvage the few
bought fourteen liberty bonds
my mother the war

mother the war

she knows every neighbor
chats at their doors
compare econosize electric appliances
my mother the war

share tea and a seat
by my cradle with
my mother the war

mother the war

caressing the globe
touch on his isle
she wrings hands in pensive waiting
my mother the war

haunts her doorway
begs her postman
is there word for
my mother the war

momentos of distant vigil
three years each tour
"hands of god enfold him" prayed
my mother the war

mother the war

in bitter defiance
she's spitting the corps
she's wet a brood short league for combat
my mother the war

well acquainted with sorrow
left millions in grief
my mother the war

fold
laced
carrion
blood
soaked
robes

mother the war

The walls are filled in here with glass
My eyes are stolen with a glance
And the cheap persuasion that has emptied
it's perfume and left us
weary has been overlooked as art
I'm handed cups of tepid gleam
From smiles colourless and careful
My face is frozen as the winner takes his prize and all eyes turn to
stare
The lonelier the better and all my friends are there
The click clicking of the floss
A dabble here and there why I'm here and why they're there
I don't know why the shaker's breaking up the peace
But I heard him stare
I heard him stare
The lonelier the better
and all my friends are there...
Are they all there?

Where in the hell can you go
Far from the things that you know
Far from the sprawl of concrete that keeps crawling its way
About 1,000 miles a day

Take one last look behind
Commit this to memory and mind
Don't miss this wasteland, this terrible place
When you leave
Keep your heart off your sleeve.

Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me
Stay beside me don't go
Don't you go

Oh, my five & dime queen
Tell me what have you seen
The lust and the avarice
The bottomless, cavernous greed
Is that what you see?

Oh Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me, stay beside me don't go.

It's your happiness
I want most of all
And for that I'd do anything at all
Oh mercy me!
If you want the best of it
Or the most of all
If there's anything I can do at all.

Now come on shot gun bride
What makes me envy your life?
Faceless, nameless, innocent, blameless and free
What's that like to be?

Oh Motherland
Cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me
Stay beside me don't go
Don't go, don't go

Motherland
Cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me
Stay beside me don't go
Don't go, don't go

( music: Natalie Merchant/lyric: Natalie Merchant )



the legs of Maddox kitchen tables
my whole life twisted on a lathe
in a foreman's torrent
my first English was
"faster boy if you want your pay"
barking commands
loud and simple
we could all obey

then I was forever pulling silvers
rubbed the sawdust always
deeper in my eye
varnish vapor that could linger
on my skin
it held tight
the whine of spinning blades
still echoes to bother my sleep at night

see that ox
stamped dead center
on the letter head of the company mail
four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck

sun through the window oil spattered
and in mason jars
tricked plenty seeds thrive
the standing joke
around the shop was
with my green thumb
anything'd grow
my part was to laugh
show and ornery jig had
cut it at the knuckle bone

see that ox
trade mark burned
into every stick of furniture
from horn to tail
four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck

was tailor made

o my Dolly was a weak
not a burdened girl
treat her to a piece of vaudville
a Wintergarden moving picture show
Bemus Point on July Sundays
by trolley we'd go

to your benefit we's strike or bargain
with the waving fist a union man
not just for
smokes spirits candy and cologne
but for
automobile keys
cash in the bank
and the deed
on a place called home

Make believe for hours and hours
You've got me surrendered to powers
That patently proceed to devour
Past the time prisoner to your fine wine
gracefully you've captured my fallen
Faithfully I've come to recall them
Breathe you deep as you seep into my life line
All the pain has gone away
and all the words I love to say
fall so easy to the page
and slip on the glaze
All the rules are thrown away
from the games we love to play
Kiss the lips from which we're made
in my masquerade
Make believe for hours and hours
you and me, lovers like fireworks
It's the only light I can see for miles

( music: Robert Buck/lyric: Natalie Merchant )



come as we go far away
from the noise of the street
walk a path so narrow
to a place where we feel at ease

some think it is haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
there's a stillness here
thankful found

child's pose angelic
a stone lamb at her feet
part the matted overgrowth
to read the carven elegy

some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
there's a stillness here
thankful found

born in New Albion
of Rice family elite
wed to Myron Bilowe
thrice with sons
blessed was she
some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
God's acre is a fenced in
hollow ground

here soon to rise up
Amelia tender and sweet
her last words spoke
all is well
all is peace

some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
God's acre is a fenced in
hollow ground

Color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again.
Shiver in my bones, just thinking about the weather.
Quiver in my lip as if I might cry.

Well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe.
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave.
Shiver in my bones, just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my voice as I cry,

What a cold and a rainy day.
Where on earth is the sun hid away?

Hear the sound of a noon bell chime.
Well I'm far behind.
You've put in 'bout half a day
while here I lie
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my voice as if I might cry,

What a cold and rainy day.
Where on earth is the sun hid away?

Do I need someone here to scold me
or do I need someone who'll grab and pull me out of four poster dull torpor pulling downward.
For it is such a long time since my better days.
I say my prayers nightly this will pass away.

The color of the sky is grey as I can see through the blinds.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again
Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my voice as if I might cry,

A cold and a rainy day.
Where on earth is the sun hid away?
A cold and a rainy day I shiver, quiver, and try to wake.

The color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again.
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my lips as if I might cry.

Well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe.
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave.
Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
Quiver in my voice as I cry,

"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away."

I hear the sound of a noon bell chime.
Now I'm far behind.
You've put in 'bout half a day
while here I lie
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my lip as if I might cry,

"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"

Do I need someone here to scold me
or do I need someone who'll grab and pull me out of this four poster dull torpor pulling downward.
For it is such a long time since my better days.
I say my prayers nightly this will pass away.

The color of the sky is grey as I can see through the blinds.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my voice as I cry,

"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"
I shiver, quiver, and try to wake.

It's a pity, it's a crying shame
People hold you down again
How painful it must be
To bruise so easily inside
It's a pity, it's a downright crime
It happens all the time
You want to stay little daddy's girl
You want to hide from the vicious world outside
Don't cry, you know the tears will do no good
So dry your eyes
Oh, your daddy, he's the iron man
battleship wrecked on dry land
Your mamma she's a bitter bride
She'll never be satisfied, you know
And that's not right.
But don't cry, you know the tears will do no good
So dry your eyes
Oh, they told you life is hard
misery from the start,
it's dull, it's slow, it's painful
But I tell you life is sweet
In spite of the misery
There's so much more, be grateful
Well, who do you believe
Who will you listen to
Who will it be
'cause it's high time that you decide
in your own mind
I've tried to comfort you
I've tried to tell you to be patient
They are blind, and they can't see
Fortune gonna come one day
They're all gonna fade away
Your daddy the war machine
And your momma the long and suffering
Prisoner of what she cannot see
For they told you life is hard
Misery from the start,
It's dull, it's slow, it's painful
But I tell you life is sweet
In spite of the misery
There's so much more, be grateful
So, who will you believe
Who will you listen to
Who will it be
'cause it's high time that you decide
It's time to make up your own
your own state of mind
Oh they told you life is long
Be thankful when it's done
Don't ask for more, be grateful
But I tell you life is short
Be thankful because
Before you know it
it will be over
'cause life is sweet, life is also very short
life is sweet and life is also very short
life is sweet

Farewell today
Travel on now
Be on your way
Go safely there
And never worry
Never care
Beyond this day

Farewell tonight
To all joy
And to all the light
Go on
Go peacefully
We can't keep your majesty
Be on your way

Make ready for the last king of May
Make a cardboard crown for him
And make your voices one
Praise a crazy mother's son
Who loved his life

Farewell today
travel on now
Be on your way
Can't bear
the very thought that we
That we could keep your majesty
Be on your way

Make ready for the last king of May
Make a hole in the ground for him
Raise your voices up
Drink your loving cup
To his long life
To his long life

Make ready for the last king of May
Make a hole in the sky for him
Raise your voices up
Lift your loving cup
To his long life
To his long life

His long life
And raise your voices up
Lift your loving cup
To his long life
To his long life
To his long life
To his long life

La-la-la-la...
You've been so kind and generous
I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness, I'm in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound
I'm bound to thank you for it

La-la-la-la...
You've been so kind and generous
I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness, I'm in debt to you
And I never could have come, this far without you
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound
I'm bound to thank you for it

La-la-la-la...
Oh, I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave
The love, the tenderness, I wanna thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love
And the honesty that you gave me
I want to thank you show my gratitude
My love, and my respect for you, I want to thank you
Oh, I want to thank you, thank you; thank you, thank you
I want to thank you, thank you; thank you, thank you

Well I know I
Swear I know your face
I wish I knew your name
I wish I could take you by the hand
If I could name it, if I could just explain it
If I could only help you, help you understand

Well I can
I can see that you're hurting
Weighed down like a beast of burden about to break your back
God only knows that you're human
So what are they trying to do then?
Believe me, they don't understand
That you have the weight of the world today
It's on your back
A heavy load like that is gonna hold you back
It's gonna drag you down

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last.

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last.

Well they thought they could use you
Push you down and abuse you and what's so sad
Is you've decided to hide all your feelings
Got more pain than you can deal with but ask yourself, how can this
last?

I know you have the weight of the world today
It's on your back
A heavy load like that is gonna hold you back
It's gonna drag you down

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last.

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last...

On one morning
In the month of may
When all the birds
Were singing

I saw a lovely maiden stray
Across the fields at break of day
She softly sung her roundelay

The tide flows in
The tide flows out
Twice every day returning

Her cheeks were red
Her eyes were brown
Her hair in ringlets hanging down
Upon her face to hide the frown

Just as the tide was a flowing
The tide flows in
The tide flows out
Twice everyday returning

A sailor's wife at home must bide
She halted heavily she sighed
"he parted from poor me , a bride
I'm widowed by the sea" she cried

Just as the tide was a flowing

The tide flows in
The tide flows out
Twice every day returning

He fills the flower vases
Trims the candle bases
Takes small change from the poor box
Tyler has the key
He takes nail and hammer
To tack up the banner of felt scraps glued together reading,
"Jesus Lives in Me"
Alone in the night he mocks the words of the preacher:
"God is feeling your every pain"
Repair the Christmas stable
Restore the plaster angel
Her lips begin to crumble and her robes begin to peel
For Bible study in the church basement
Hear children Gospel citing Matthew 17:15
Alone in the night he mocks the arms of the preacher raised to the ceiling
"Tell God your pain"

To him the world's defiled
In Lot he sees a likeness there
He swears this Sodom will burn down.
Near Sacred Blood there's a dance hall
Where Tyler Glen saw a black girl and a white boy kissing shamelessly
Black hands on white shoulders
White hands on black shoulders
Dancing, and you know what's more
He's God's mad disciple,
A righteous title for the Word he heard
He so misunderstood
Though simple-minded, a crippled man, to know this man's to fear this man
To shake when he comes
Wasn't it God that let Puritans in Salem
Do what they did to the unfaithful?

Boys at the Jubilee
Slowly sink into brown-bag whiskey drinking
And reeling on their feet
Girls at the Jubilee
In low-cut dresses yield to the caresses and the man-handling
Black hands on white shoulders
White hands on black shoulders
Dancing, and you know what's more

Through the tall blades of grass he
Heads for the Jubilee
With a bucket in his right hand
Full of rags soaked in gasoline
He lifts the shingles in the dark and slips the rags there underneath
He strikes a matchstick on the box side and watches the rags ignite
He climbs the bell tower of the Sacred Blood to watch the flames
Rising higher toward the trees
Sirens wailing now toward the scene

Jezebel


to think of my task is chilling
to know I was carefully building the mask I was wearing
for two years, swearing I'd tear it off

I've sat in the dark explaining to myself
that I'm straining too hard
for feelings I ought to find easily
called myself Jezebel
I don't believe

before I say that the vows we've made
weigh like a stone in my heart
family is family, don't let this tear us apart

you lie there, an innocent baby
I feel like the thief who is raiding your home
entering and breaking and taking in every room

I know your feelings are tender
inside you the embers still glow
but I'm a shadow, I'm only a bed of blackened coal
call myself Jezebel for wanting to leave

I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other word
to describe the sacred tie that bound me to you
I'm just saying we've mistaken one for thousands of words
and for that mistake
I've caused you such pain
that I damn that word!

I've no more ways to hide
that I'm a desolate and hollow place inside

I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other word
to describe the sacred tie that bound me to you
I'm not saying love's a plaything
no, it's a powerful word
inspired by strong desire to bind myself to you

how I wish that we never had tried
to be man and his wife
to weave our lives into a blindfold
over both our eyes

To know I was carefully building the mask I was wearing for two years, swearing I'd tear it off.
I've sat in the dark explaining to myself that I'm straining too hard for feelings I ought to find easily.
Called myself Jezebel.
I don't believe.

Before I say that the vows we made weigh like a stone in my heart.
Family is family, don't let this tear us apart.

You lie there, an innocent baby.
I feel like the thief who is raiding your home, entering and breaking and taking in every room.
I know your feelings are tender and that inside you the embers still glow.
But I'm a shadow, I'm only a bed of blackened coal.
Call myself Jezebel for wanting to leave.

I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to you.
I'm just saying we've mistaken one for thousands of words.
And for that mistake, I've caused you such pain that I damn that word.
I've no more ways to hide that I'm a desolate and empty, hollow place inside.

I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to you.
I'm not saying love's a plaything.
No, it's a powerful word, inspired by strong desire to bind myself to you.
How I wish that we never had tried to be man and his wife, to weave our lives into a blindfold over both our eyes.

Oooh, jealousy

Is she fine
So well bred
The perfect girl
A social deb?

Is she the sort
You've always thought
Could make you
What you're not?

Oooh, jealousy

Is she bright
So well read
Are there novels
By her bed?

Is she the sort
You've always said
Could satisfy
Your head?

Oooh, my jealousy

Does she talk
The way I do
Is her voice reminding you
Of the promises
The little white lies too
Sometimes, tell me
While she's touching
Just by mistake
Accidentally do you say my name

If You Intend


if you intend to live again
open your eyes and don't pretend you're feeling
there's nothing worth believing

if you persist you'll die like this
and wither in the midst of your first season
cut down with no reason

how can you be so near and not see everything?

if you intend to live again
take the outstretched hand of the one that needs you
it's been so long, we've missed you

why do you intend to speed your end
lye in the dark and let your limbs grow weaker
sinking low then deeper?

how can you be so near and not see everything?

feel what might be
see what I see
again and again and again say you don't
you say you don't, but you will

( Merchant )


( bassoons: Kim Laskowski & Atsuko Sato )

It crawls on his back, won't ever let him be.
Stares at the walls until the cinder blocks can breathe.
His eyes have gone away, escaping over time.
He rules a crowded nation inside his mind.

He knows that night like his hand.
He knows every move he made.
Late shift, the bell that rang, a time card won't fade.
10:05 his truck pulled home.
10:05 he climbed his stair, about the time he was accused of being there.

But I'm not the man.
He goes free as I wait on the row for the man to test the rope he'll slip around my throat...
and silence me.

On the day he was tried no witnesses testified.
Nothing but evidence, not hard to falsify.
His own confession was a prosecutor's prize,
made up of fear, of rage and of outright lies.

But I'm not the man.
He goes free as the candle vigil glows, as they burn my clothes.
As the crowd cries, "Hang him slow!" and I feel my blood go cold, he goes free.

Call out the KKK, they're wild after me.
And with that frenzied look of half-demented zeal,
they'd love to serve me up my final meal.
Who'll read my final rite and hear my last appeal?
Who struck this devil's deal?

It crawls on his back, won't ever let him be.
Stares at the walls until the cinder blocks can breathe.
His eyes have gone away, escaping over time.
He rules a crowded nation inside his mind.

He knows that night like his hand.
He knows every move he made.
Late shift, the bell that rang, a time card won't fade.
10:05 his truck pulled home.
10:05 he climbed his stair,
about the time he was accused of being there.

But I'm not the man.
He goes free as I wait on the row for the man
to test the rope he'll slip around my throat...
and silence me.

On the day he was tried no witnesses testified.
Nothing but evidence, not hard to falsify.
His own confession was a prosecutor's prize,
made up of fear, of rage and of outright lies.

But I'm not the man.
He goes free as the candle vigil glows, as they burn my clothes.
As the crowd cries, "Hang him slow!"
and I feel my blood go cold, he goes free.

Call out the KKK, they're wild after me.
And with that frenzied look of half-demented zeal,
they'd love to serve me up my final meal.
Who'll read my final rite and hear my last appeal?
Who struck this devil's deal?

I'm not gonna beg you for nothing
I'm not gonna beg you for love.

Straight talk, give me the straight talk
Tell me what's on your mind if it ain't love
I'm not gonna beg you for nothing
I'm not gonna beg you for your love.

Scared now, what are you scared of ?
Afraid I might fall on my knees and break down?
I'm not gonna beg you for nothing.
I'm not gonna beg you for your love.

Don't you think you can take me for pretty little ride
I know "once upon a time" and "ever after" is a lie
I'm not gonna beg you for nothing at all
There's nothing I want from you, nothing you can say or do
There is nothing I want for you to say anyway.

I'm not gonna beg you for nothing
I'm not gonna beg you for your love

I may know the word
But not say it
I may know the truth
But not face it
I may hear a sound
A whisper sacred and profound
But turn my head
Indifferent

I may know the word
But not say it
I may love the fruit
But not taste it
I may know the way
To comfort and to sooth
A worried face
But fold my hands
Indifferent

If I'm on my knees
I'm begging now
If I'm on my knees
Groping in the dark
I'd be prying for deliverance
From the night into the day

But it's all grey here
It's all grey to me

I may know the word
But not say it
This may be the time
But I might waste it
This may be the hour
Something move me
Someone prove me wrong
Before night comes
With indifference

If I'm on my knees
I'm begging now
If I'm on my knees
Groping in the dark
I'd be prying for deliverance
From the night into the day

But it's all grey here
But it's all grey to me

I recognize the walls inside
I recognize them all
I've paced between them
Chasing demons down
Until they fall
In fitful sleep
Enough to keep their strength
Enough to crawl
Into my head
With tangled threads
They riddle me to solve

Again and again and agan

I may know the word
But not say it
I may know the truth
But not face it
I may hear a sound
A whisper sacred and profound
But turn my head
Indifferent

I may know the word
But not say it
I may love the fruit
But not taste it
I may know the way
To comfort and to sooth
A worried face
But fold my hands
Indifferent

If I'm on my knees
I'm begging now
If I'm on my knees
Groping in the dark
I'd be prying for deliverance
From the night into the day

But it's all grey here
It's all grey to me

I may know the word
But not say it
This may be the time
But I might waste it
This may be the hour
Something move me
Someone prove me wrong
Before night comes
With indifference

If I'm on my knees
I'm begging now
If I'm on my knees
Groping in the dark
I'd be prying for deliverance
From the night into the day

But it's all grey here
But it's all grey to me

I recognize the walls inside
I recognize them all
I've paced between them
Chasing demons down
Until they fall
In fitful sleep
Enough to keep their strength
Enough to crawl
Into my head
With tangled threads
They riddle me to solve

Again and again and agan

"My, how you've grown."
I remember that phrase from my childhood days too
"Just wait and see."
I remember those words and how they chided me, when patient was the hardest thing to be.
Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost, I must let these memories provide.
No little girl can stop her world to wait for me.

I should have known.
At your age, in a string of days the year is gone.
But in that space of time, it takes so long.
Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost, I must let those memories provide.
No little girl can stop her world to wait for me.

Every time we say goodbye you're frozen in my mind as the child that you never will be, you never will be again.
I'll never be more to you than a stranger could be.

Every time we say goodbye you're frozen in my mind as a child that you never will be, will be again.

( Robert Buck/Natalie Merchant )



Hey Jack Kerouac, I think of your mother
and the tears she cried, they were criedfor none other
than her little boy lost in our little world that hated
and that dared to drag him down, her little boy courageous.
who chose his words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
Hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts.
they all spoke through you.

Hey Jack, now for the tricky part,
when you were the brightest star, who were the shadows?
Of the San Francisco beat boys you were the favorite.
Now they sit and rattle their bones and think of their blood stoned days.
You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
The hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts,
in Chinatown howling at night.

Allen baby, why so jaded?
Have the boys all grown up and their beauty faded?
Billy, what a saint they've made you,
just like Mary down in Mexico on All Souls' Day.

You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
Cool junk booting madmen, street minded girls
in Harlem, howling at night.
What a tear stained shock of the world,
you've gone away without saying goodbye.

Hey Jack Kerouac, I think of your mother
and the tears she cried, she cried for none other
than her little boy lost in our little world that hated
and that dared to drag him down. Her little boy courageous
who chose his words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
Hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts,
they all spoke through you.

Hey Jack, now for the tricky part,
when you were the brightest star who were the shadows?
Of the San Francisco beat boys you were the favorite.
Now they sit and rattle their bones and think of their blood stoned days.
You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
The hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts,
nights in Chinatown howling at night.

Allen baby, why so jaded?
Have the boys all grown up and their beauty faded?
Billy, what a saint they've made you,
just like Mary down in Mexico on All Souls' Day.

You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
Cool junk booting madmen, street minded girls
in Harlem howling at night.
What a tear stained shock of the world,
you've gone away without saying goodbye.

( music: Natalie Merchant/words: Natalie Merchant )



To your common sense firm arguments
I won't listen to your voice of reason trying to change my mind.
I mind my feelings and not your words.
Didn't you notice I'm so headstrong even when I know I'm wrong?
Take this to your heart and into your head now:
before you waste your time, call a truce and call a draw.

What's the use in mapping your views out in orderly form
when it does nothing but confuse and anger me more?
I mind my feelings and not your words.
Didn't you notice I'm so headstrong.
You're talking to a deaf stone wall.
Take this to your heart and into your head now:
the old wives' tale is true, I'll repeat it.
All is fair in love and war, that's how the famous saying goes.

Open up your eyes, see me for what I am:
cast in iron, I won't break and I won't bend.
Take this to your heart and into your head now:
the old wives' tale is true, I'll repeat it.
All is fair in love and war, that's how the famous saying goes.

If I told you we were out to sea in a bottomless boat,
you'd try anything to save us, you'd try anything to keep us afloat.
And if we were living in a house afire,
I don't believe that you could rush out and escape it and not rescue me.
Take this to your heart and into your head now:
the old wives' tale is true, I'll repeat it.
All is fair in love and war, that's how the famous saying goes.
Listen, I think they were talking to you.

I love to wake in the morning light
the kind that sticks between your fngers
I'm learning peace but I know I'll let it go
For the thrill and the wonder of adventure... oh adventure,
I'll follow you, adventure...
I found a shiny one
keep it in my hand
Gonna send you a long long letter
You will understand and you'll love me still
Even though you should know better,
Even though you should know better.
yes yes yes
Oh trouble follows like a friend in need
and my compassion is my weakness (sweetness)
Everyone is looking for that fine fine line between contentment
and the troubled mind of genius
of genius, I'll follow you
I found a shiny one
keep it in my hand
gonna send you a long long letter
You will understand and you'll love me still
Even though, you should know better
Even though, you should know better
Evening falls on these island skies and soothes the weary into
sleeping
The strangers gather round the fireside
While I silently long for the familiar
for the familiar
I'll follow you
I found a shiny one keep it in my hand
gonna send you a long long letter
You will understand and you'll love me still
Even though, you should know better
Even though you should know better

( music: Natalie Merchant/words: Natalie Merchant )



In the dark night a giant slumbered untouched for centuries
'til awakened by a white man's cry: "This is the Eden I was to find."
There were lands to be charted and to be claimed for a crown,
when a hero was made by the length he could stay in this dangerous land of hateful hate.

Curiosity filled the heads of these, there was an upper room they had to see.
Curiosity killed the best of these for a hero's hometown welcoming.
Still they moved on and on.

Who came building missions?
Unswerving men of the cloth who gave their lives in numbers untold so that black sheep entered the fold.
Captured like human livestock, destined for slavery.
Naked, walked to the shore where great ships moored for the hellbound journies.
Bought and sold with a hateful hate.

Curiosity filled the breasts of these with some strange ecstasy.
Curiosity killed the best of these by robbing their lives of dignity.
Still they moved on and on.

Calling men of adventure for a jungle bush safari.
Come conquer the, his claws and teeth.
See death in his eyes to know you're alive.
European homesteads grew up in the colonies with civilized plans for wild hinterlands, their guns and God willing.
Such a hateful hate.

Curiosity spilled the blood of these for their spotted skins and ivory.
Curiosity filled the heads of these madmen with the lies of destiny.
Curiosity spilled the blood of these, then blotted their lives from history.
Curiosity filled the heads of these, one man claimed all that he could see.
Curiosity still entices these madmen with a lusting and a greed.
Their legacy, legacy, legacy...

I always knew that you would take yourself far from home
as soon as, as far as you could go.
By the 1/4 inch cut of your hair and the Army issue green,
for the past eight weeks I can tell where you've been.
For I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me
there was soldier's blue blood streaming inside your veins.
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me
you won't meet it with your gun.

So now you are one of the brave few, it's awful sad we need boys like you.
I hope the day never comes for
"Here's your live round son. Stock and barrel, safety, trigger, here's your gun."
Well I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me
there was soldiers blue blood streaming inside your veins.
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me
you won't meet it with your gun taking aim.
For I don't mean to argue, they've made a decent boy of you
and I don't mean to spoil your home coming,
but baby brother you should expect me to.

"Stock and barrel, safety, trigger, here's your gun."

So now does your heart pitter pat with a patriotic song
when you see the stripes of Old Glory waving?
Well I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me
there was soldier's blue blood streaming inside your veins.
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me
you won't meet it with your gun taking aim.
I don't mean to argue, they've made a decent boy of you
and I don't mean to spoil your homecoming my baby brother Jude
and I don't mean to hurt you by saying this again,
they're so good at making soldiers but they're not so good at making men.

Gun Shy
I always knew that you would take yourself so far from home as soon as,
and as far as you could go. By the 1/4 inch cut of your hair by the Army issue
green, for the past eight weeks I can tell where you've been. For I knew, I
could see, it was all cut and dried to me there was soldier's blue blood
streaming inside your veins. There is a world outside of this room and when you
meet it promise me that you won't meet it with your gun.
So now you are one, one of the brave few, and it's awful sad we need boys
like you. I hope the day never comes for "Here's your live round son. Stock and
barrel, safety, trigger, here's your gun." Well I knew, I could see, it was all
cut and dried to me there was soldiers blue blood streaming inside your veins.
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me that you
won't meet it with your gun taking aim. For I don't mean to argue, that they've
made a decent boy of you and I don't mean to spoil your home coming, but baby
brother you should expect me to.
"Stock and barrel, safety, trigger, here's your gun." So now does your
heart pitter pat with a patriotic song when you see the stripes of Old Glory
waving? For I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me there was
soldier's blue blood streaming inside your veins. There is a world outside of
this room and when you meet it promise me that you won't meet it with your gun
taking aim. I don't mean to argue, they've made a decent boy of you and I don't
mean to spoil your homecoming my baby brother Jude and I don't mean to hurt you
by saying this again, they're so good at making soldiers but they're not as
good at making men.

( lyrics: Natalie Merchant/music: J.C.Lombardo & Robert Buck )



there was light and atomic fission
swelling wind
rising ash
tide of black rain
cement seared shawdow traces
reminiscent of their last commands

instantly one thousand flames arising
ill scent the burning hides surrounding
a settlement debased entirely
enola gay had made a casual delivery

please build a future, darling
with our bomb
cherish and love it
for the sake of
earth bound kingdom come

the undersides of fallen metal trusses
evil debris of human bodies
each window's glass shards pelted
secure confines
brittle collapse

neighbors lay beside
each other unknowing
faces scorched of all familiar bearing
too few hands
many wounds for closing
marred by
thirsting
anguish
fear lamenting

here we stand
at the door to gold atomic age
don't spoil your face with worry
trust in
earth bound kingdom come

Top of the fold
Toast of the town
Everyone stops when you come around
They hold their breath for you

Heroes are born
Idols are made
We're all fools for this factory fame
And you've got the brand new face
And you've got the brand new face
Golden boy

Beauty untamed
Stupid and wild poster boy you're society's child
Cut your teeth, cut your mouth, cut it out

Meteor rise from obscurity
All it took was a killing spree
And the whole world was lying at your feet
Golden boy, golden boy

I know my place, stick to my lines
Stay in your shadow, don't block your light
So you can shine divine
So you can shine divine
Golden boy, golden boy, golden boy

Gold Rush Brides


Follow the typical signs, the hand-painted lines,
down prairie roads.
Pass the lone church spire.
Pass the talking wire from where to who knows?
There's no way to divide the beauty of the sky from the wild western plains.
Where a man could drift, in legendary myth,
by roaming over spaces.
The land was free and the price was right.

Dakota on the wall is a white-robed woman,
broad yet maidenly.
Such power in her hand as she hails the wagon man's family.
I see indians that crawl through this mural that recalls our history.

Who were the homestead wives?
Who were the gold rush brides?
Does anybody know?
Do their works survive their yellow fever lives in the pages they wrote?
The land was free, yet it cost their lives.

In miner's lust for gold.
A family's house was bought and sold, piece by piece.
A widow staked her claim on a dollar and his name,
so painfully.
In letters mailed back home her eastern sisters they would moan
As they would read accounts of madness,
childbirth, loneliness and grief.

Follow the typical signs, the hand
-painted lines, down prairie roads.
Pass the lone church spire.
Pass the talking wire from where to who knows?
There's no way to divide the beauty of the sky
from the wild western plains.
Where a man could drift, in legendary myth,
by roaming over spaces.
The land was free and the price was right.

Dakota on the wall is a white
-robed woman, broad yet maidenly.
Such power in her hand as she hails the wagon man's family.
I see Indians that crawl through this mural
that recalls our history.

Who were the homestead wives?
Who were the gold rush brides?
Does anybody know?
Do their works survive their yellow fever lives in the pages they
wrote?
The land was free, yet it cost their lives.

In miner's lust for gold.
A family's house was bought and sold, piece by piece.
A widow staked her claim on a dollar and his name, so painfully.
In letters mailed back home her Eastern sisters they would moan
as they would read accounts of madness, childbirth, loneliness and
grief.