1.The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
smeared black ink：your palms are sweaty and I'm
barely listening to last demands
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering what's buried
underneath where I am
I'll wear my badge： a vinyl sticker with big block
letters adherent to my chest
that tells your new friends I am a visitor here： I
am not permanent
and the only thing keeping me dry is where I am
you seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment
complex
a stranger with your door key explaining that I
am just visiting
and I am finally seeing why I was the one worth
leaving
d.c. sleeps alone tonight
you seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment
complex
a stranger with your door key explaining that I
am just visiting
and I finally seeing why I was the one worth
leaving
the district sleeps alone tonight after the bars turn
out their lights
and send the autos swerving into the loneliest
evening
and I am finally seeing why I was the one worth
leaving
2.Such Great Heights
I was thinking it's a sign that the freckles
in our eyes are mirror images and when
we kiss they're perfectly aligned
and I have to speculate that god himself
did make us into corresponding shapes like
puzzle pieces from the clay
and true, it may seem like a stretch, but
its thoughts like this that catch my troubled
head when you're away when I am missing
you to death
when you are out there on the road for
several weeks of shows and when you scan
the radio, I hope this song will guide you
home
they will see us waving from such great
heights, 'come down now,' they'll say
but everything looks perfect from far away,
'come down now,' but we'll stay...
I tried my best to leave this all on your
machine but the persistant beat it sounded
thin upon listening
and that frankly will not fly. you will hear
the shrillest highs and lowest lows with
the windows down when this is guiding
you home
3.Sleeping In
last week I had the strangest dream that
everything was exactly how it seemed
where there was never any mystery of who
shot john f. kennedy
it was just a man with something to prove
slightly bored and severly confused
he steadied his rifle with his target in the
center
and became famous on that day in november
don't wake me I plan on sleeping in
again last night I had that strange dream
where everything was exactly how it seemed
no concerns about the world getting warmer
people thought that they were just being
rewarded
for treating others as they'd like to be treated
for obeying stop signs and curing diseases
for mailing letters with the address of the
sender
now we can swim any day in november
don't wake me I plan on sleeping in
4.Nothing Better
Will someone please call a surgeon who can
crack my ribs and repair this broken heart that
you're deserting for better company？
I can't accept that it's over：I will block the door
like a goalie tending the net in the third quarter
of a tied-game of rivalry
So just say how to make it right
and I swear I'll do my best to comply
Tell me am I right to think that there could be
nothing better
then making you my bride and slowly growing
old together
I feel I must interject here, you're getting carried
away, feeling sorry for youself with these
revisions and gaps in history.
So let me help you remember. I've made charts
and graphs that should finally make it clear.
I've prepared a lecture on why I have to leave
So please back away and let me go
I can't my darling I love you so...
Tell me am I right to think that there could be
nothing better
than making you my bride and slowly growing
old together
don't you feed me lines about some idealistic
future
your heart won't heal right if you keep tearing
out the sutures
I admit that I have made mistakes and I swear
I'll never wrong you again
you've got a lure I can't deny, but you've had
your chance so say goodbye
5.Recycled Air
I take a breath and pull the air in 'til there's
nothing left
I'm feeling green like teenage lovers between
the sheets
ba ba ba ba...
knuckles clenched to white as the landing
gear retract for flight
my head's a balloon inflating with the
altitude
ba ba ba ba...
i watch the patchwork farms' slow fade into
the ocean's arms
and from here they can't see me stare
the stale taste of recycled air
i watch the patchwork farms' slow fade into
the ocean's arms
calm down, release your cares
the stale taste of recycled air
6.Clark Gable
I was waiting for a cross-town in the
london underground when it struck me
that i've been waiting since birth to find a
love that would look and sound like a movie
so i changed my plans i rented a camera and
a van and then i called you
'i need you to pretend that we are in love
again.' and you agreed to
i want so badly to believe that 'there is truth,
that love is real'
and i want life in every word to the extent
that it's absurd
i greased the lens and framed the shot using
a friend as my stand-in
the script it called for rain but it was clear
that day so we faked it
the marker snapped and i yelled 'quiet on
the set' and then called 'action!'
and i kissed you in a style clark gable would
have admired (i thought it classic)
i want so badly to believe that 'there is truth,
that love is real'
and i want life in every word to the extent
that it's absurd
i know you're wise beyond your years, but
do you ever get the fear
that your perfect verse is just a lie you tell
yourself to help you get by？
7.We Will Become Silhouettes
I've got a cupboard with cans of food, filtered
water, and pictures of you and I'm not coming
out until this is all over
and I'm looking through the glass where the
light bends at the cracks and I'm screaming
at the top of my lungs pretending the echoes
belong to someone I usedto know
and we become silhouettes when our bodies
finally go
I wanted to walk though the empty streets
and feel something constant under my feet,
but all the news reports recommended that
I stay indoors
because the air outside will make our cells
divide at an alarming rate until our shells
simply cannot hold all our insides in, and
that's when we'll explode (and it won't be a
pretty sight)
and we'll become silhouettes when our bodies
finally go
8.This Place Is A Prison
this place is a prison and these people aren't
your friends
inhaling thrills through $20 bills and the
tumblers are drained and then flooded again
and again
ther're guards at the on ramps armed to the
teeth
and you may case the grounds from the
cascades to puget sound, but you are not
permitted to leave
i know there's a big world out there like the
one i saw on the screen
in my living room late last night, it was
almost too bright to see
and i know that it's not a party if it happens
every night
pretending there's glamour and candelabra
when you're drinking by candlelight
what does it take to get a drink in this place？
what does it take, how long must i wait？
9.Brand New Colony
i'll be the grapes fermented, bottled and
served with the table set in my finest suit
like a perfect gentleman
i'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the
ancient brick where you will sit and
contemplate your day
i'll be the waterwings that save you if you
start drowning in an open tab when your
judgement's on the brink
i'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite
albums back as your lying there drifting off
to sleep...
i'll be the platform shoes and undo what
heredity's done to you： you won't have to
strain to look into my eyes
i'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped
straight to the throat with the collar up so
you won't catch cold
i want to take you far away from the cynics in this
town and kiss you on the mouth
we'll cut our bodies free from the tethers of
this scene, start a brand new colony
where everything will change, we'll give
ourselves new names (identities erased)
the sun will heat the ground under our bare
feet in this brand new colony
everything will change, ooo ooo...
10.Natural Anthem
i'll write you a song and it won't be hard to
sing
it will be a natural anthem, familiar it may
seem
it will rally all the workers on strike for
better pay
and its chorus will resound and boost morale
thoughout the day
i'll write you a song and i hope that you
won't mind
because all the names and places i have
taken from real life
so please don't get upset at this portrait that
i paint
it may be a little biased, but at least i spelt
your name right...
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