• Lyrics: play full screen play karaoke
• Fighting In A Sack - Shins
• Wonderful Christmastime - Shins
• The Gloating Sun - Shins
• Girl Inform Me - Shins
• Saint Simon - Shins
• Fall Of '82 - Shins
• The Past And Pending - Shins
• The Rifle's Spiral - Shins
• Pink Bullets - Shins
• Girl On The Wing - Shins
• A Comet Appears - Shins
• A Call To Apathy - Shins
• For A Fool - Shins
• Shins - Shins
• One By One All Day - Shins
• Your Algebra - Shins
• Turn A Square - Shins
• They'll Soon Discover - Shins
• Pressed In A Book - Shins
• Plenty Is Never Enough - Shins
• It's Only Life - Shins
• Girl Sailor - Shins
• The Celibate Life - Shins
• Australia - Shins
• Nothing at All - Shins
• My Seventh Rib (live) - Shins
• Mine's Not a High Horse - Shins
• Mild Child - Shins
• Little Boxes - Shins
• Know Your Onion! - Shins
• Kissing The Lipless - Shins
• Caring Is Creepy - Shins
• Black Wave - Shins
• Baby Boomerang - Shins
• When I Goosestep - Shins
• Turn On Me - Shins
• Weird Divide - Shins
• Those Bold City Girls - Shins
• We Will Become Silhouettes - Shins
• Red Rabbits - Shins
• Spilt Needles - Shins
• Port Of Morrow - Shins
• Sphagnum Esplanade - Shins
• Pam Berry - Shins
• So Says I - Shins
• Gone For Good - Shins
• Young Pilgrims - Shins
• Sea Legs - Shins
• No Way Down - Shins
• Flake Music - Shins

Just last night I woke from some unconscionable dream
And had it nailed to my forehead again
To keep this boat afloat
There are things you can't afford to know
So I save all my breath for the sails.
But you'll find those lingering voices
Are just your ego's attempt to make it all clean and nice
And make a moron out of you
Walking a bridge with weakening cables
Huddled up in fear and hate because we know our fate
And it's a lot to put us through.
Most ideas turn to dust
As there are few in which we all can trust
Haven't you noticed I've been shedding all of mind?
So let's abandon that track
And leave our fathers fighting in a sack
Cause we are way too wise-assed for that.
You might find some fools at your doorstep
Hustling the latest changes to the book
That's the strangest in an attempt to multiply
Marionettes on weakening cables
Huddled up with fear and hate
Because they know their fate and it's a lot to put them through.
We've taken on a climb
And it's long enough to put the best of us on our backs
Walking up a slide
And there are those we know who'd have us five miles off the track.
But you'll find those lingering voices
Are just your ego's attempt to make it all clean and nice
And make a moron out of you
Crossing the brindge on weakening cables
Huddled up with fear and hate because we know our fate

The moon is right
The spirit's up
We're here tonight
And that's enough
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
The party's on
The feelin's here
That only comes
This time of year
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
The choir of children sing their song
Ding dong, ding dong
Ding dong, ding, oh, oh
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
The word is out
About the town
To lift a glass
Ah, don't look down
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
The choir of children sing their song
They practiced all year long
Ding dong, ding dong
Ding dong, ding dong
Ding dong, ding dong
The party's on
The spirit's up
We're here tonight
And that's enough
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
The moon is right
The spirit's up
We're here tonight
And that's enough
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

tap on your cap
there's a whispering breeze in town
the trees have found a voice and
you're one for fun
you're one for fun in the gloating sun
and now i'm making it in
from out a fireplace on stilts
pay less attention
the room
said crying's a fate
or whatever word you used to call it
i'm one for climb
i'm one for climb in the sun
and how for us to be so black and happy
before the souls have all been stopped
the draining lasts for you still
five jars i'm drinking our fill
the tips will sing the christmas star

Girl inform me all my senses warn me
Your clever eyes could easily disguise
Some backwards purpose
It's enough to make me nervous.
Do you harbor sighs, or spit in my eye
But your lips when we speak
Are the valleys and peaks of a mountain range on fire.
So let me walk these coals till you believe
I can cut the mustard well enough
Cause you know as soon as breathe we scrutinize
Unknown quotients, you must be using potions
How else could you tie my head to the sky
This new convection has left me wondering why
I can't concern myself with ordinary tripe.
Like what's this morning's paper got to say
And which brand of coffee to make
This is no umbrella to take into the wind
And before we begin is there nothing to kill this anxiety.
But your lips when we speak
Are the valleys and peaks of a mountain range on fire.
So let me walk these coals till you believe
I can cut the mustard well enough
Cause you know as soon as breathe we scrutinize

After all these implements and text designed by intellects
So vexed to find evidently there's just so much that hides
And though the saints of us divine in ancient feeding lines
Their sentiment is just as hard to pluck from the vine
I'm trying hard not to pretend
Allow myself no mock defense
Step into the night
Since I don't have the time nor mind to figure out
The nursery rhymes that helped us out and make a sense of our lives
The cruel uneventful state of apathy releases me
I value them but I won't cry if the time was wiped out
I'm trying hard not to give in
Battened down to fair the wind
Rid my head of this pretense
Allow myself no mock defense
Step into the night...
Mercy's eyes are blue
When she places them in front of you
Nothing holds a roman candle to
The solemn warmth you feel inside
There's no measuring of it
As nothing else is love
I'll try hard not to give in
Battened down to fair the wind
Rid my head of this pretense
Allow myself no mock defense
Step into the night...
Mercy's eyes are blue
When she places them in front of you
Nothing really holds a candle to

I do relate to you in
so many ways,
but I didn't go through
what you must have in those early days.
You had to be strong
at such a very young age,
a new life on Lima Lane.
So won't you listen to me now?
There's something I never told you,
but I'm about to try.
See you were my lifeline
when the world was exploding.
You moved back in with us
in the fall of ‘82
I fell into dark times
and you were there to help me through
You told me that a downturn will eventually improve
and you were right
so I‘m thanking you
So won't you listen to me now?
There's something I never told you,
but I'm about to try.
See you were my lifeline
when the world was exploding.
Footholds eroding
had you never been, my friend
I wouldn't be
quite what you see
I wouldn't be
the man I am
Sister you've known me
(Sister you've known me)
lost in a strange world.
(Sister you've known me)
What has it shown me?
(Sister you've known me)
What has it done for us?
(Sister you've known me)
Sister you've known me
(Sister you've known me)
lost in a strange world.
(Sister you've known me)
What has it shown me?
(Sister you've known me)
What has it done for us?
(Sister you've known me)
I've told the children
of that old dusty town,
when Halloween came,
I was still feeling down.
Momma, lost my sweet tooth.
What's the point in going round?
Your boy is losing pounds.

As someone sets light to the first fire of autumn
We settle down to cut ourselves apart.
Cough and twitch from the news on your face
And some foreign candle burning in your eyes
Held to the past too aware of the pending
Chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale.
Enter the fog another low road descending
Away from the cold lust, you house and summertime.
Blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes
A trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
Loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
Your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
Offer me little but doting on a crime.
We've turned every stone and for all our inventions
In matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all.
Blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes
A trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch

Dead lungs command it!
You pour your life down the rifle's spiral,
And show us you've earned it.
Cleric's fog will recede right before your eyes.
So long to this wretched form.
Them grey eyes on the subway
Long before you were born,
You were always to be a dagger floating
Straight to their heart.
Listen, now, we won't tell anyone.
But you gonna tell the world.
Then life ain't then any fun?
Let your viscera unfurl
As you rise; rise from your burning fiat,
Go, go get my suitcase, would ya?
You've thoroughly blown their minds.
And now I must have passage on the lines
To the veins from your heart.
You're not invisible, now.
You just don't exist.
Your mother must be so proud.
You sublimate yourself,
Granting us a wish.
Primitive mirror on the wall,
To fortify your grim resolve.
And made the glitz of a shopping mall
Another grain of indigent salt for the sea.
Good night to these wretched forms.
All them gray eyes on the subway.
So long before you were born,
You were always to be a dagger floating

I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole
You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold
Oh what a contrast you were
To the brutes in the halls
My timid young fingers held a decent animal.
Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days were long.
Cool of a temperate breeze from dark skies to wet grass
We fell in a field it seems now a thousand summers passed
When our kite lines first crossed
We tied them into knots
And to finally fly apart
We had to cut them off.
Since then it's been a book you read in reverse
So you understand less as the pages turn
Or a movie so crass
And awkardly cast
That even I could be the star.
I don't look back much as a rule
And all this way before murder was cool
But your memory is here and I'd like it to stay
Warm light on a winter day.
Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days go slowly by
Two loose kites falling from the sky

One wound up punch of intuition
Lays flat my whole take on us.
You're the girl on the wing of a barnstormer
The tidal rabbit who came of age before her time.
We could have been so good-natured
If i'd relented when you insisted,
But we've been backed against
All nature's walls far too long.
You felt abandoned by me,
I recall the sunshine as you were melting
And though the comedy softens the fall
They still hear us with their ears to the wall.
I sold all my evil motives,
No icicles stuck in my hide.
I'm through with riddles, i know we're little
Just help me feel warm inside.
Before we take this ride and let it slide
Into the cracks where fall and winter collide.
I surrender all my gall in a song of modern love.
Remember you're the one who summoned me above any other kind.
We could have been so good-natured
If you'd relented when i insisted,
We take a week off, let the garden grow by itself
And let the gluttons fill themselves with all the worst of the gory ninties.
And though the comedy softens the fall, we stall fall short.
Before we take this ride and let it slide
Into the cracks where fall and winter collide.
I surrender all my gall in a song of modern love.

One hand on this wily comet,
Take a drink just to give me some weight,
Some uber-man I'd make,
I'm barely a vapor
They shone a chlorine light on,
A host of individual sins,
Let's carve my aging face off,
Fetch us a knife,
Start with my eyes,
Down so the lines,
Form a grimacing smile,
Close your eyes to corral a virtue,
Is this fooling anyone else?
Never worked so long and hard,
To cement a failure,
We can blow on our thumbs and posture,
But the lonely is such delicate things,
The wind from a wasp could blow them,
Into the sea,
With stones on their feet,
Lost to the light and the loving we need,
Still to come,
The worst part and you know it,
There is a numbness,
In your heart and it's growing,
With burnt sage and a forest of bygones,
I click my heels,
Get the devils in line,
A list of things I could lay the blame on,
Might give me a way out,
But with each turn,
It's this front and center,
Like a dart stuck square in your eye,
Every post you can hitch your faith on,
Is a pie in the sky,
Chock full of lies,
A tool we devise,
To make sinking stones fly,
And still to come,
The worst part and you know it,
There is a numbness,

Untie me, I've said no vows
The train is getting way too loud
I gotta leave here my girl
Get on with my lonely life
Just leave the ring on the rail
For the wheels to nullify
Until this turn in my head
I let you stay and you paid no rent
I spent twelve long months on the lam
That's enough sitting on the fence
For the fear of breaking dams
I find a fatal flaw
In the logic of love
And go out of my head
You love a sinking stone
That'll never elope
So get used to the lonesome
Girl, you must atone some
Don't leave me no phone number there
It took me all of the year
To put the poison pill to your ear
But now I stand on honest ground
On honest ground
You want to fight for this love
But honey you cannot wrestle a dove
So baby it's clear
You want to jump and dance
But you sat on your hands
And lost your only chance
Go back to your hometown
Get your feet on the ground
And stop floating around
I find a fatal flaw
In the logic of love
And go out of my head
You love a sinking stone
That'll never elope
So get used to used to the lonesome
Girl, you must atone some

Young and bright
but now just a dim light
off in the distance,
a fallen stone
following the path
of least resistance.
If I still fight,
it's just that I'm
afraid I'll slide under that spell again.
Take him for a fool.
Yes, I was,
because I was fool.
Tell me what you'd do.
Lost my way
in spades.
I need a school.
So many times
caught up in my head at night
with a leash and label.
If I can learn
anything from this
then I'd be like
the fox in the fable, oh right.
If I still fight,
it's just that I'm
afraid I'll slide under that spell again.
The way we used to carry on,
you're stuck in my head like a terrible song.
Take him for a fool.
Yes, I was,
and I was fool.
Following their rules,
guess I wasn't very honest too.
Take him for a fool.
(Take him for a fool.)
Yes, I was,
because I was fool.

Foals in winter coats,
White girls of the North,
File past one, five and one,
They are the fabled lambs,
Of Sunday ham,
The E.H.S. norm.
And they can float above the grass,
In circles if they tried,
A latent power I know they hide,
To keep some hope alive,
That a girl like I could ever try,
Could ever try.
So we just skirt the hallway sides,
A phantom and a fly,
Follow the lines and wonder why
There's no connection.
A week of rolling eyes,
And cheap shots from the trite,
And we're off to Nemarcas' porch again,
Another afternoon with the goat head tunes,
And pilfered booze.
We wandered through her mama's house,
And the milk from the window lights,
Family portraits circa ninety-five,
This is that foreign land,
With the sprayed on tans,
And it all feels fine,
Be it silk or slime,
So, when they tap our Monday heads,
Two zombies walk in our stead.
This town seems hardly worth the time.
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our climb,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.
So, when they tap our Sunday heads,
Two zombies walk in our stead.
This town seems hardly worth the time.
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,

"Howdy, lem," my grandfather said with his eyes closed
Wiping the eastbound dust from his sunburned brow
A life before doubt.
I smell the engine grease and mint the wind is blending
Under the moan of rotting elm in the silo floor.
Down a hill of pine tree quills we made our way
To the bottom and the ferns where thick moss grows
Beside a stream.
Under the rocks are snails and we can fills our pockets
And let them go one by one all day in a brand new place.
You were no ordinary drain on her defenses
And she was no ordinary girl
Oh, Inverted World
If every moment of our lives
Were cradled softly in the hands of some strange and gentle child

You may notice certain things before you die.
Mail them to me should they cause
Your algebra to fail.
Cole and macey lost their eyes
On the finer points

She shone up bright like a knife
Wearing tennis shorts made of stripes
Hand in hand to the grass and we got it right
Got it nice, nice, nice
Just a glimpse of an ankle and I
React like it's 1805
And I'd swim to the poles just to find the right satellite
It'll take all of my strength to give up
But you all know I tried
So forget about it, girl
My head's like a kite
When such a creature I sight
To town!
Where you're feet leave no prints on the ground
Have I left my home just to whine in this microphone?
It gets worse every time that we talk
Can't afford to be just one in a flock
But that's your lot
When you're after such a well-made lock
Who was classically trained to give up
And my friends know I tried
So forget about it, girl
Even I don't know why
I can't just stay the course
Keep my hands on the wheel
Our detractors were right
My head's like a kite
All my thoughts run astray
And I'm a walking cliche

When you were young and wise
scratching your letters in the sand.
When your imagination led you all around by the hand.
La la la la
Did you ever wonder what crazy adventures there might be?
Unfolding in the currents under the waves at the bottom of the sea.
Well these odd buddies got a lot of vision, his bucked teeth and cock eyed smile
cant stop, they sing better bring nominations
So charge!
They said it's their design,
a wild goose chase for a crown
and move your eyes in line before they tear apart your town
if you want a winner save all of your kin in the ocean.
stay your ground, don’t be discouraged,
don't let em’ turn our brains into porridge.
your wrong but you got a lot of vision,
your buck teeth and star ward heart
cant stop, they sing better bring nominations
So charge!
But its a long, hard fight
the corner turns and its always another mile
keep working day and night.
They think they got your number,

Doted on like seeds planted in rows
The untied shoelaces of you life
Nutured all year then presssed in a book
Or displayed in bad taste at the table
Problems arise and you fan the fire
While there's a wild pack of dogs loose in your house tonight.
Cut from bad cloth or soiled like socks
Add it up and basically people never change.
They just talk and make plans in the dark
Or make haste with ideas that can't help
But creep good people out
As you talk to me too much you're assuming
We don't always want what's right.
Did i strike the right set of chords? you're annoyed.
The goal is to ignite you then move on.
You feel ill at ease. you got no squeeze.
And the wise cracks won't make you more stable.
You've learned you lines to scale and to time.
Why must i remind you now i'm only less able.
Cut from bad cloth or soiled like socks
We're ordinary people we can't help but to change
As we walk and make plans in the dark
Or make haste with the boy who can't help
But creep good people out.
As you talk to me too much you're assuming
We don't always want what's right.
Two fallen saplings in an open field.
Snow padding gently on an empty bench.
An old woman's jewelry lying unadorned.
Colo nesting robins allied for the first time.
I know when you hear these sappy lines

Come up with me, love
We'll disappear in the evening light
Come up with me, love,
Into a world that's sparkly bright
That's the way it's for me, love
Takes just a little to give me life
That's the way its for me, love
Takes just a touch to drop a stop
On the top of the world
One is just too many, yeah
You know twenty is never enough
You know one is too many, yeah
You know twenty is never enough
Who wouldn't believe, love?
Been like it since the day i was born
You wouldn't believe, love
Stuck in a pod like a poisonous dog
You wouldn't believe, love
Swim down to the bottom and never come up
You wouldn't believe, love
Give my last buck just for
A cup after cup after cup
One is just too many, yeah
You know twenty is never enough
You know hate we got plenty of
It's love that's never enough
One is just too many, yeah
You know twenty is never enough
Lie to me sometime
I'll take you home
Cause it's love to be
Till the day we'll three
We'll spread this seed
In a murdering spree
One is just too many, yeah
You know twenty is never enough
You know hate we got plenty of
It's love that's never enough
You know one is too many, yeah
You know plenty is never enough
You know chores we got plenty of

Died in the world, you've been cornered by a natural desire
You want to hop along with the giddy throng through life
But how will you learn to steer when you're grinding all your gears?
You've been talking for hours
You say time will wash every tower to the sea
And now you've got this worry in your heart
Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural
We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole
The things they taught you, they're lining up to haunt you
You got your back against the wall
I call you on the telephone, won't you pick up the receiver?
I've been down the very road you're walking now
It doesn't have to be so dark and lonesome
It takes a while but we can figure this thing out
And turn it back around
You used to be such a lion
Before you got into all this crying on my lap
Back when you thought I'd never get this far
But did you really think I'd shut an open door?
The future's calling and Imma answer her
The wheels in motion, I never drank your potion
And I know it breaks your heart
Open up your parachute, something's gotta stop the freefall
I've been down the very road you're walking now
It doesn't have to be so dark and lonesome
It takes a while but we can figure this thing out

The gutter may profess its love,
Then follow it with hesitation,
But there are just so many of
You out there for rent
A stronger girl would shake this off in flight,
And never give it more than a frowning hour,
But you have let your heart decide,
Loss has conquered you,
You've won one too many fights,
Wearing many hats every time,
But you wont win here tonight,
You've made it through the direst of straits alright,
Can you help it if plain love now seems less interesting?
You haven't changed an ounce in my eyes,
And I cannot lecture you,
And does anything I say seem relevant at all?
You've been at the helm since you were just five,
While I cannot claim to be more than a passenger,
But, you've won one too many fights,
Wearing all of your clothes at the same time,
Let the good times end tonight,
Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her,
This time,
Just a moment or two from now,
Not a mind will retain even a trace,
Of the thoughts that I struggled to tell
And how our stack of cards just fell,
So settle this once and for all,
The light no longer shows the cracks around my door,
And I have no lantern to light your way home tonight,
You are not some saint who's above,
Giving someone a stroll through the flowers,
You've got so much more to dream of,
Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her,
This time,
This time,

The dust from a four-day affair is now landing
All over the floor and your brown legs
The glod plated legs of my rival
Whose eyes had no reason to fall.
You led no celibate life no skirt while chemicals danced on your head.
You stole the keys to this ride and your fables are falling tonight.
Because of your struggle to make them.
Their taste for your past time is fading
Remember the girls in the middle are always the first to fall off.
You'll learn to live like a mouse,
Searching the cracks in the floor to remember
All the dregs in the crowd you barely recall
You led no celibate life no skirt while chemicals danced on your head.

Time to put the earphones on:
Born to multiply, born to gaze into night skies,
All you want's one more Saturday.
But look here, until then
They're gonna buy your nice time
So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters
To the day.
You come in doing cartwheels
We all go out by ourselves
And your shape on the dance floor
Will have me thinking such filth and gauge my eyes.
You'd be damned to be one of us girl
Faced with a dodo's conundrum
Ah, I felt like I could just fly
But nothing'll happen every time I try.
A dual tone under wall
Selfish fool and hoped you'd save us all
Never dreamt of such sterile hands,
You keep them folded in your lap,
And raise them up to beg for scraps,
You know, he's holding you down,
With the tips of his fingers just the same,
You'll be pulled from the ocean,
But just a minute too late,
Or changed by a potion,
We'll find a handsome young mate,
For you to love.
You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes,
You know you'll change your life for any ordinary Joe,
And though your night will go on,
Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold.
Been in love since you were twenty-one,
You haven't laughed since January,
You try and make this up this is so much fun,
But we know it to be quite contrary.
Dare to be one of us, girl,
Facing the Android's conundrum,
Ah, I feel like I should just cry,
But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin,
You're humoring your cote,
You don't know how long I've been,
Watching the lantern dim,
Starved of oxygen,
So give me your hand,

Well there's an ideal inside of me,
That we're nothing at all.
There's nothing threatening controlling me,
In fact there's nothing at all.
And still the wheel turning's all I'll be,
It carries on til you crawl.
You gotta know what you want to be,
But there's no number to call.
You got a feeling nothing here is free,
'Cause you grew up in a mall.
Your emotion caught you all on t.v.
And you can still hit a ball.
You got a milllion things you want to flee,
Smuggle an ounce in a doll.
I see you can finally see,
That they're nothing at all.
Turns out there's nothing at all.
There must be a flaw in this fable, I
Have to contend with all night.
Wasn't alive back in the sixties,
Somehow that was my fault.
I'm just a shell empty as can be,
Yeah, I've got nothing at all.
You want to put your trust in some solid thing,
Yeah, its a drug to us all.
But there's no ideal inside of me,
So I got nothing at all,
No I got nothing at all,
and I got nothing at all.
Must be a fault in this fable, I
Have to contend with all night,
Such a danger so we gotta slide,
Into the depths of the salt mine.

Your silver tongue laughs at the clowns of our age
A slow production line of cheap-shots from both sides
Shot from the hip to my seventh rib
A spoiled tomato lies in all that you say
And I was the last of us to know
Sound the alarm for my sentimental ways
Have come in view and we've all got our own knives
Sold to the worst of the devils we know
Our mind and tight skin will be old
But this wasn't meant for us to know
Youth's open shutters
Give way to another
Taken by slight of hand...
And every American
Has the mouth of a pelican
Now can I share that pillow with you love?
They've got us in fits to find a way out
Of this exploded view of a life once so simple
First with the curse that my sentimental ways
Are drawing my innocence to a close

After that confrontation
You left me wringing my cold hands
We shared some information
We might not recover from
And I watch your convictions
Melt like ice cubes in an ocean
You were so poorly cast as a malcontent
You've got them all on your side
That just makes more for doubt to slaughter
"I never knew he thought that!"
I heard you say falling out of the van
"Don't ask for his opinion
They ought to drown him in holy water"
Will you remember my reply
When your high horse dies?
We'd like to go the distance
But not a one of us is going to you
See no one is wise enough to turn the ancient boat around
These are the muddy waters I am swimming in
To make a living were I to drown in them
It should come as no surprise
You've got them all on your side
That just makes more for doubt to slaughter
"I never knew he thought that!"
I heard you say falling out of the van
"Don't ask for his opinion
They ought to drown him in holy water"
Will you remember my reply

This ten year old, smiling summer eyes.
They win, they win.
(They survived) and showed us how they could dance like
angels.
There was a time, (came on the glass, the sun.)
(So you're never sure just whom to punish.)
He can come inside to hide away and (ease your haze
ennui.)
He sighed and tried to hide,
But I recall the alien eyes and what that felt like.
'cause they were happy laughing there,
(Then they're delayed in the current.)
But don't allow yourself to make-believe in any kind of
virtuous life.
Because each of us is both of them.

Little boxes on the hill side, little boxes made of
ticky tacky.
Little boxes, on the hillside, little boxes all the
same.
There’s a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a
yellow one,
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky, and they all
look just the same.
And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes, they came out all the
same.
And there’s doctors, there’s lawyers, and business
executives
And your all made out of ticky tacky and your all look
just the same.
And they all play on the golf course and drink their
martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go
to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the
university
Where we all get put in boxes and all come out the
same.
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a
family
In boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the
same
There’s a pink one and a green one and a blue one and a
yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all

Shut out, pimpled and angry.
I quietly tied all my guts into knots.
Gave up on trying to make them,
I figured it'd take them too long to look up and besides...
It was undeniably clear to me i don't know why
When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters
I knew what worthless dregs we've always been.
Lucked out and found my favorite records
Lying in wait at the birmingham mall.
The songs that i heard,
The occasional book
Were the only fun i ever took.
And i got on with making myself.
The trick is just making yourself.
But when they're parking their cars on your chest
You've still got a view of the summer sky
To make it hurt twice when your restless body
Caves to its whims
And suddenly struggles to take flight...
Three thousand miles north east
I left all my friends at the morning bus stop shaking their heads.
"what kind of life you dream of? you're allergic to love."
Yes i know but i must say in my own defense
It's been undeniably dear to me, i don't know why
When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters
I knew the worthless dregs we are,
The selfless, loving saints we are,

Called to see if your back
Was still aligned and your sheets
Were growing grass all on the corners of your bed
But you've got too much to wear on your sleeves
It has too much to do with me
And secretly I want to bury in the yard
The grey remains of a friendship scarred
You told us of your new life there
You got someone comin' around
Gluing tinsel to your crown
He's got you talking pretty loud
You berate remember your ailing heart and your criminal eyes
You say you're still in love
If it's true what can be done
It's hard to leave all those moments behind
You tested your metal of doe's skin and petals
While kissing the lipless

I think i'll go home and mull this over
Before i cram it down my throat
At long last it's crashed, it's colossal mass
Has broken up into bits in my moat.
Lift the mattress off the floor
Walk the cramps off
Go meander in the cold
Hail to your dark skin
Hiding the fact you're dead again
Undeneath the power lines seeking shade
Far above our heads are the icy heights that contain all reason
It's a luscious mix of words and tricks
That let us bet when you know we should fold
On rocks i dreamt of where we'd stepped
And the whole mess of roads we're now on.
Hold your glass up, hold it in
Never betray the way you've always known it is.
One day i'll be wondering how
I got so old just wondering how
I never got cold wearing nothing in the snow.
This is way beyond my remote concern
Of being condescending
All these squawking birds won't quit.

This goose is cooked, these tongues are tied,
Around the block and airborne blind,
But looking on the brighter side,
There's far less to which I'd be obliged,
In the meadow where the black breeze blows,
Where underneath the waves, you were most alone,
Can you hear a subtle, aching tone?
Through the water, through the Earth, trimmed up bone,
Looking on the brighter side,
Looking on the brighter side,
Looking on the brighter side,

Slim lined sheik faced
Angel of the night
Riding like a cowboy
In the graveyard of the night
New York Witch
In the dungeon of the day
I'm trying to write my novel
But all you do is play
Baby Boomerang, Baby Boomerang
Well, you never spite a person
But you always bang the whole gang
Oh yeah...
Mince pie dog-eye
Eagle on the wind
I'm searching through this garbage
Just looking for a friend
Your uncle with an alligator
Chained to his leg
Dangles you your freedom
Then he offers you his bed
Baby Boomerang, Baby Boomerang
Well, you never spite a person
But you always bang the whole gang
It seems to me to dream
Is something too wild
In Max's Kansas City
You're belladonna child
Hiding on the highways
On the gateways to the south
You're talking with your boots
And you're walking with your mouth
Baby Boomerang, Baby Boomerang
Well, you never spite a person
But you always bang the whole gang

When you're riding the rails with those wide open eyes,
Well, there's one old south paw you will always fight.
And alone on a worn-out throne
is the reigning queen of the questions
Why we blind-footed toddlers ever started out.
So don't get into it with me
When I goose-step
Across the kitchen floor
You know I still adore
All your mother's old-fashioned ways
I'm so impressed that you hear
My inventions, and that it matters more
Than what you saw with your eyes
Go along with the plan
Your head will still be there where you put it
Under the bed with the ice cream you could never find
And tonight you go to bed and dream
All the world to be what you want it,
You got the girly draw now flaunt it,
And keep them all checking their watches
When you're out tonight
So don't get into it with me
When I goose-step across the kitchen floor
You know I still adore--
Are your eyes changing hands?
I'm so impressed that you hear
My inventions, and that it matters more

You can fake it for a while,
Bite your tongue and smile,
Like every mother does an ugly child.
But it starts to leaking out,
Like spittle from a cloud,
Amassed resentment pelting ounce and pound.
You're entertaining any doubts,
'Cause you had to know that I was fond of you,
Fond of Y-O-U,
Though I knew you masked your disdain.
I can see that change was just too hard for us,
Hard for us.
You always had to hold the reigns,
But where I'm headed, you just don't know the way.
So affections fade away,
Or do adults just learn to play
The most ridiculous, repulsive games?
On the faith of ruddy sons,
And their double-barreled guns,
You'd better hurry,
Rabbit, run, run, run.
'Cause missing you is fun,
And there's a lot of hungry howlers in this one cell
We're taking it over,
Like brittle thorny stems,
They break before they bend,
And neither one of us is one of them.
And the tears will never mend,
'Cause you had it in for me so long ago.
Boy, I still don't know,
I don't know why and I don't care
Well hardly anymore,
If you'd only seen yourself hating me.
Hating me,
When I've been so much more than fair.
But then you'd have to lay those feelings bare,
The one thing I know has still got you scared,
Yeah, all that cold ire
And never once aired out your dead.
You had to know that I was fond of you,
Fond of Y-O-U.
So I took your licks at the time,
A change like that is just so hard to do,
Hard to do.
Don't let it whip-crack your life,
And I'll bow out from the fight,
And oh how your sisters will write.
The worst part is over,

Several days a month you made
The mile to my house,
And had me do a stroll with you.
Far below a furry moon
Our purposes crossed
The weird divide
Between our kinds
The silver leaves of ailing trees
Took flights as we passed so long ago
But a short time i know.
It pleases me this memory
Has swollen up with age.
Even time can do

You slide out at night to show yourself
you mean to hang yourself on the wall
with the hems you call your friends.
You've memorized a thousand lines and
kissed a thousand guys but none packed
more than wood.
And still you wake up, the taste of the
night before has grown somehow. You
take off your makeup, you're free from
their eyes and all they laugh about.
Sailboats that never float and lids of lead
that hold your ego down. What's it take
to bend the lens? Well as you can see I
really know but I can't amend the trend
towards the rocks wielding the knives
beneath your breast and all the the waves
that never break within our sight. So come on
treat me right.
If you could keep him you'd dub him
"The rock what aced 'em two to one"
but the powder from your empty boxes
was ground from your whole empty youth.
And so you woke up, the taste of the
night before has grown somehow. You
take off your makeup, and you're free

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
Someone I used to know
And we become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
Ba ba ba...
I want to walk through the empty streets
And feel something constant under my feet
But all the news reports recommended 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
Ba ba ba...
And we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
Ba ba ba...
And we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
Ba ba ba...
And we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
Ba ba ba...
And we'll become

Hurled to the center of the Earth again,
The place where it's hot, love,
You know, it hurts to breathe in,
And the watershed you balance on is begging it,
Well did he ever know,
Will he ever know?
The trees in the moonshine are a dark lattice,
So you catalog in the angle you notice,
In a vacuum you recharge to record this,
So you won't make it easy on me.
And I can't go into this no more,
It puts too many thorns on my mind,
And the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.
Born on a desert floor, you've the deepest thirst,
And you came to my sweet shore to indulge it,
With the wan and dreaming eyes of an orphan,
But there is not enough,
There is not enough.
Out of a gunnysack for red rabbits,
Into the crucible to be rendered an emulsion,
And we can't allow a chance they'd restore themselves,
So we can't make it easy on you.
Undaunted, you bathed in hollow cries,
The boils were swollen, sunburned eyes,
A reward for letting nothing under their skin,
So help me, I don't know, I might,
Just give the old dark side a try.
Don't cast your warring eyes on the shore,
Did we even the score?
I still owe you for the hole in the floor,
And the ghost in the hall,
Who decides who paddles over the falls?
Yeah, who makes the call,
Who makes the call?
Well, I know there's an eventual
Release from every scale of crime,
But the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many good intentions held by clever sprites,

I've done myself an impossible crime,
Had to paint myself a hole,
And fall inside,
If it's far enough in sight and rhyme,
I get to wear another dress,
And count in time,
Oh, won't you do me the favor, man,
Of a giving mind,
A polymorphing opinion here,
And your vague outline,
I'll find myself another burning gate,
A pretty face, a vague idea I can't relate,
And this is what you get for pulling pins,
Another hole,
Inside the hole you're in,
It's like I'm pressed on the handle bars,
Of a blind man's bike,
No straws to grab, just the rushing wind,
On the rolling mind,
They want you to decide,
Eventually, it happens,
Some gather on one side,
With all their pearly snapping,
They close the basement door,
It sets our teeth to chatter,
You never saw it before,
But now that hardly matters,
You're old enough, boy,
Too many summers you've enjoyed,
So spin the wheel,
We'll set you up with some odd convictions,

Through the rain and all the clatter
Under the Freemont bridge I saw a pidgeon fly
Fly in fear from a raptor come to take it's life
As it closed in for the capture
I funnel the fear through my ancient eyes
Seen in flight
Where I know all the bitter mechanics of life
Under my hat it reads "The lines are all imagined"
A fact of life I know to hide from my little girls
I know my place amongst the bugs and all the animals
And it's from these ordinary people you were longing to be free
In my hotel and on the TV
A Preacher on a stage like a Buzzard cries out a warning
A phony sorrow, he's trying to get a rise
The Cyanide of an almond
Let him look at your hands and get the angles right
Ace of spades, Port of Morrow, Life is Death is Life...
I saw a photograph: Cologne in '27
And then a postcard after the bombs in '45
Must've been a world of evil clowns that let it happen
But then I recognize, dear listener, that you were there and so was I
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
Under my hat I know the lines are all imagined
A fact of life I must impress on my little girls
I know my place amongst the creatures in the pageant
And there are flowers in the garbage and a skull under your curls

how lovely a find
that's entered my mind
along this mossy trail
how coyly it hides
the truth about how it is
we can't ask how
crowds jump to their death
from the bridge as I drive by tonight
and they've missed out on it all
the whole gist there as they fall
you're not expected to know why it's such a short time
and there are stanzas never meant to rhyme
Far better I find
it is when we try to span
the weird divide
with no real rational
we step out of bounds
and think and escape their lies
we've marched so long
and we've much farther than we've gone to go
we're making a new ship
christen it for the trip
with a toddler at the helm this time
and there are things we never will define
crowds jump to their deaths
from the bridge as I drive by tonight
and they missed out on it all
the whole gist there as they fall
you're not expected to know why it's such a short time

This lass,
Some fifteen odd years,
Is widely known,
To have spat,
In her teacher's lap,
And will not take it back,
For now I see,
How after all the cracks,

An address to the golden door
I was strumming on a stone again
Pulling teeth from the pimps of gore when hatched
A tragic opera in my mind...
And it told of a new design
In which every soul is duty bound
To uphold all the statues of boredom therein lies
The fatal flaw of the red age
Because it was nothing like we'd ever dremt
Our lust for life had gone away with the rent we hated
And because it made no money nobody saved no one's life.
So we burned all our uniforms
And let nature take its course again
And the big ones just eat all the little ones
That sent us back to the drawing board.
In our darkest hours
We have all asked for some
Angel to come
Sprinkle his dust all around
But all our crying voices they can't turn it around
And you've had some crazy conversations of your own.
We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs
But we still can't just behave ourselves
Even if to save our own lives so, says I, WE ARE A BRUTAL KIND.
Cuz this is nothing like we'd ever dremt
Tell Sir Thomas More we've got another failed attempt

Untie me, I've said no vows
The train is getting way too loud
I gotta leave here my girl
Get on with my lonely life
Just leave the ring on the rail
For the wheels to nullify
Until this turn in my head
I let you stay and you paid no rent
I spent twelve long months on the lam
That's enough sitting on the fence
For the fear of breaking dams
I find a fatal flaw
In the logic of love
And go out of my head
You love a sinking stone
That'll never elope
So get used to the lonesome
Girl, you must atone some
Don't leave me no phone number there
It took me all of a year
To put the poison pill to your ear
But now I stand on honest ground, on honest ground
You want to fight for this love
But honey you cannot wrestle a dove
So baby it's clear
You want to jump and dance
But you sat on your hands
And lost your only chance
Go back to your hometown
Get your feet on the ground
And stop floating around
I find a fatal flaw
In the logic of love
And go out of my head
You love a sinking stone
That'll never elope
So get used to used to the lonesome
Girl, you must atone some

A cold and wet November dawn
And there are no barking sparrows
Just emptiness to dwell upon.
I fell into a winter slide
And ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow
Just eking out my measly pies.
But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know there is this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea.
Another slow train to the coast
Some brand new gory art from way on high
I sink and then I swim all night.
I watch the ice melt on the glass
While the eloquent young pilgrims pass
And leave behind their trail
Imploring us not to fail.
Of course I was raised to gather courage from those
Lofty tales so tried and true and
If you're able I'd suggest it 'cause this
Modern thought can get the best of you.
This rather simple epitaph can save your hide your falling mind
Fate isn't what we're up against there's no design no flaws to find
There's no design no flaws to find.
But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know I got this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just

Of all the churning random hearts
Under the sun
Eventually fading into night,
These two are opening now
As we lie, I touch you
Under fuller light.
Girl, if you're a seascape
I'm a listing boat, for the thing carries every hope.
I invest in a single lie.
The choice is yours to be loved
Come away from an emptier boat.
'Cause when the dead moon
Rises again
We've no time to start a protocol
To hem us in.
And when the dog slides
Underneath a train,
There's no cry, no use to searching for
What mutts remain.
Throw all consequence aside
The chill aspire, people set alight.
Of all the intersecting lines in the sand
I routed a labyrinth to your lap.
I never used a map sliding off the land
On an incidental tide,
And along the way you know, they try
They try.
And we got sea legs
And we're off tonight
Can I've that to which they've no right?
You belong to a simpler time
I'm a victim to the impact of these words,
And this rhyme.
'Cause when that dead moon
Rises again
We've no time to start a protocol
To hem us in.
And when the dog slides,
Open the door, and where'd she go?
There's no time, no use to searching for
The mutt's remains.
Throw all consequence aside

He's the son of a government man
And a pillar of salt
I was born with blood on my hands
And have all the signs of a bleeding heart
Living high on a giant hawk
On a mountain so steep
Keep your head in a hollow log
As the ruling fog are about to creep
What have we done?
How'd we get so far from the sun?
Lost, lost in an oscillating phase
Where a tiny few catch all of the rays
Out beyond the western squalls
In an Indian land
They work for nothing at all
They don't know the mall or the layaway plan
Dig yourself a beautiful grave
Everything you could want
Maybe those invisible slaves
Are too far away for a ghost to haunt
What do we charge?
Letting go of a claim so large
Oh, all of our working days are done
But a tiny few are having all of the fun
Get used to the dust in your lungs
Is there no way down
From this peak to solid ground
Without having our gold teeth
Pulled from our mouth
Make me a drink strong enough
To wash away this dishwater world they said was lemonade
Walk with me after the show
Maybe we can find a way through the minefield in the snow
What are they charged?
Letting go of a claim so large
Oh, all of our working days are done
But a tiny few are having all of the fun
Apologies to the sick and the young

Is it too near when they're nice?
Is that why there's sand in your eyes?
You should look up cause they're nothing at all
Blow me a kiss and I'll try
Wade through the mud and return wearing white
Hanging like clothes on a line
And I'll wait for you to spend all your time
Waiting like grapes on a vine
All of the goals you have yet to design
Wheels are off the track
I'm dripping everywhere
Eyes are in the clouds
While they pull the rug out
Pull me to the track
I'll give this a try
Down's the wrong way out
Fools himself to climb
But then you look back and wonder why
What made it so hard to decide
When the difference isn't black and white
Will the settled always have to fly for a home
Is it too near when they're nice?
Is that why there's sand in your eyes?
Don't wait, it's hard to get around when you're old
Blow me a kiss and we'll try
We'll scale the walls and go five miles high
We'll scale the walls and go five miles high
Wheels are off the track
I'm dripping everywhere
Eyes are in the clouds
While they pull the rug out
Pull me to the track
I'll give this a try
Down's the wrong way out
Fools himself to climb
But then you look back and wonder why
What made it so hard to decide
When the difference isn't black and white
Will the settled always have to fly for a home
Wheels are off the track
I'm dripping everywhere
Eyes are in the clouds
While they pull the rug out