The day they found a cure for AIDS
The day they found a cure for AIDS
Everybody took one little pill and was okay
The day thay found a cure
The day they found a cure for AIDS
Everybody took one little pill and was okay
I slept with Cindy and Martha and Sue
I slept with Julie, Melissa and Kate
The day thay found a cure
The day they found a cure for AIDS
Everybody took one little pill and was okay
The people who had plotted to get rid of all the gays
Admitted their guilt and everything was fine
Everybody else said, I din't know
The day they found a cure
For 6 months, no one went to work, they all had orgies
Morning after pills were sold in grocery stores and gas stations
The day they found a cure for AIDS
Everybody took one little pill and was okay
We rented dirty movies and ordered out for food
For 3 solid weeks everyone I met was nude
I slept with Julie, Melissa and Jake
Nobody was afraid
The day they found a cure
The day they found a cure
I saw the best of my generation playing pinball
Maked up and caked up
And looking like some kind of china doll
With all of Adolf Hitler's moves down cold
As they stood up in front of a Rock and Roll band
And always moving upward and ever upward
To this gentle golden promised land
With the smartest of them all
Moonlighting as a word processor
And the strongest of them all
Checking IDs outside saloons
And the prettiest of all taking off her clothes
In front of men whose eyes look like
They were in some little hick town
Near Omaha, watching the police chief
Run his car off the side of a bridge
I saw men with dreams like the ones I'd had
Beg quarters outside the Seven-Eleven
Till it got so they didn't affect me anymore
Than the mailboxes I'd passed
'Cept that sometimes, I'd put somthing in the mailbox
I'd had the wind at my back now I felt it cold in my face
And for an awful long time now
You were the only one who ever called me late at night
And I really never noticed till after you stopped calling
And the emptiness, silence got so heavy
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the promised land
Broken up in Disneyland, broken up in the plastic land
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland
Broken up in the wasteland
I saw dead Marilyn Monroe
Strung up on every street corner in Hollywood
Like some two bit whore offering a discount rate
And I wondered how Joe Dimaggio felt
I saw dead James Dean's ghost
Wandering the sidewalk looking troubled
And I wondered how his mama felt
I saw signs that said, "Headshots done for cheap"
Signs that said, "Extras wanted, top dollars paid"
Signs for 'Haircuts' and signs for 'Manicures'
And signs for "Tanning salons" and signs for 'Wardrobe specialists
Signs for "Cosmetic surgery' and signs for 'Assertiveness training'
And I stopped to read them all
And every single block looked like every single block
Looked like every single block looked like every single block
But she kept driving 'cause everyone else kept driving
And 'cause gridlock is evil and not knowing anywhere is evil
And those who had money looked good
But weren't too happy and those who didn't have money
Didn't look so good and weren't too happy either
And in a city of three million, two hundred and sixty nine thousand
Nine hundred eighty four, everyone was lonely
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the promised land
Broken up in Disneyland, broken up in the plastic land
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland
Broken up in the wasteland
And I watched as everyone I knew spent their lives
Trying to be watched on stage
Watched on film or listened to on a record
And they thought, "Well, maybe that way
I could get a little love out of this life"
And I watched as the best of my generation
Abandoned their dreams and settled for making a little money
I watched TV, read the papers, listend to the radio
And made all the fancy scenes
And said all the right words and wore all the right clothes
And knew the names of the hip people
But I still felt out of touch so I stopped watching TV
And reading the papers and listening to the radio
And making the fancy scenes and saying the right words
And wearing the right clothes and knowing the names of the hip people
And I felt more out of touch than ever but I didn't care anymore
And I felt you slipping away and I felt myself slipping from you
And I wanted more than anything else
For it to rain for one whole day like it used to
But all there ever was was sun, relentless sun, hot beating sun
And everyone wore their sunglasses
And walked around like flies under magnifying glass
With their eyes removed
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the promised land
Broken up in Disneyland, broken up in the plastic land
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland
Broken up in the wasteland, broken up in the wasteland
Sittin in that town in New Mexico
Named after a game show
Tryin to decide if I should sell my van
Buy a truck, and drive down to Texas
Sometimes I think I'm gunnin for the big time
Sometimes I think I'm runnin out of time
And that big odometer in the sky turned over
That big odometer in the sky just turned over
Lately I've been scattered
My attention span is like a three-year-old
I pick up my guitar and I set it down
Try reading booksend up going downtown
My friends say relax and slow down
But my insides feel like a ghost town
Tumblin and blowin and all my guts turned over
Like a tumbleweed through an empty town turning over
Turning over, upside down
Blowing round and round and round
Turning over, wrongside up
Can barely fill my coffee cup
And I can't find me one new leaf worth turning over
I can't find me one new leaf worth turning over
Maybe I should go get in a fight
Look for someone's honor to protect
Maybe I'll go down and drink my fill
Maybe I can go sign someone's will
Out there in the alley someone's tryin'
To start their car but that old thing ain't buyin'
Every time he tries he scrapes the air
But that tired crate, she's barely turnin over
Turning over, upside down
Blowing round and round and round
Turning over, wrongside up
Can barely fill my coffee cup
And I can't find me one new leaf worth turning over
The day that Elvis died was like a mercy killing
America breathed a sigh of relief
We knew all about the drugs and the Vegas shows
And there wasn't much of anything that looked like grief
And I guess he shoulda done like James Dean did
'Stead of putting on weight and sinkin' down, down, down
Easier to take, if he'd of just skidded straight
To souvenir city and T-shirt town
And sometimes I wish, I was smarter that I am
But I'm on my third city and I'm on my fourth car
And I'm on my fifth apartment and so many of my days have sprung
And now it's too late to crash, too late to burn, too late to die young
If Pete Rose had exploded like Roberto Clemente
He'd be hanging in the Hall of Fame without fail
Can you name the last good film Marlon Brando made
While trying to keep his kid from goin' to jail?
And the old people in the street are telling you
Don't become like me but every day you creep a little bit closer
And I guess we shoulda done like James Dean did
'Stead of putting on weight and sinkin' down, down, down
Easier to take if we'd of had just skidded straight
To souvenir city and T-shirt town
And sometimes I wish, I was smarter that I am
But I'm on my third city and I'm on my fourth car
And I'm on my fifth apartment and so many of my days have sprung
And now it's too late to crash, too late to burn, too late to die
Sitting in the Church Of the Holy McDonald's
I took off my shoes
Like the Buddhists told me to
And I make my sacred offering
And I dip my hands in Pepsi
Sailed off to Virginia
And expelled all the Jews
And maybe all the things
You thought you got coming to you
Ain't coming to you
Not in this life
And maybe all the promises
You thought were broken
Were never really made
Promises never made
You say the stars quit shining
Quit shining on your head
Even the moon stopped coming up
Some old streetlight instead
But standing in the fields
Beneath the universe, you hurt
'Cause as the Milky Way whirls over you
All you got is dirt
And don't worry 'bout the Jews
They'll do fine in Lithuania
And bring a picture of the Virgin Larry
To your cousin in Carolina
And maybe all the promises
You thought were broken
Were never really made
Promises never made
And I'm closer to God
Than I've ever been before
Walking the streets of Spain
Painting Karl Marx on every door
Groucho Marx on every door
Mark of the Beast on every door
Santa Maria
Gloria Padre
Holy candy wrapper
'Neath the foot of Sierra Madre
And there's no use even trying
To sing 'til after midnight
Let's start the day with music
And wake up everybody
That's fool enough to try sleeping
Before it's getting light out
It's summer in Toledo
And I saw three ships a-sailing
And maybe all the things
You thought you got coming to you
Ain't coming to you
Not in this life
And maybe all the promises
You thought were broken
Were never really made
I got big balls
Big old balls
Big as grape fruits
Big as pumpkins
Yes sir, yes sir
and on my really good days
they swell to the size of small dogs
my balls are as big as small dogs
well it ain't braggin' if it's true
yes sir, yes sir
Muhammad Ali said that
back when he was a young man
back when he was cassius clay
before he fought too many fights
and left his brain inside the ring
and sometimes I wish I was Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods
Yeah I got a friend whose goal in life
was to one day go down on Madonna
that's all he wanted, that was all,
to one day go down on Madonna
and when my friend was 34, he got his wish in Rome one night
He got to go down on Madonna
In Rome on night in some hotel
and ever since he's been depressed
his life is shit from here on in
and all our friends just shake their heads
and say too soon, too soon, too soon
he went down on Madonna too soon
too young, too young, too soon, too soon
and it ain't braggin if it's true
yes sir, yes sir
no it ain't braggin' if it's true
Muhammad Ali said that
back when he was a young man
back when he was cassius clay
before he fought too many fights
and left his brain inside the ring
and sometimes I wish I was Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods
If certain girls don't look at you
It means that they like you a lot
If other girls don't look at you, it just means they're ignoring you
how can you know
how can you know
which is which, who's doin' what
I guess that you can ask 'em
Which one are you baby
Do you like me or are you ignoring me
Do you like me or are you ignoring me
And all you need to do that
Is one big pair of big balls
Balls as big as grapefruits
Balls as big as pumpkins
Balls as big as mine
But even though my balls are big
Sometimes I wish they were bigger
Even bigger
Big as the wheels on a tractor
Big as the golden arches
Big as the golden gate bridge
Big as the state of Kansas
Big as Mars and Jupiter
Big as the swing of Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods
I got 36-foot insulation in my house
Wear 14 pairs of long underwear
Stick tape inside my ears
Cover myself with five bedspreads
I spend every morning in an isolation tank
Spend every afternoon high up in a tree
Spend every evening with one of those things over my eyes
Like in virtual reality
I'll never fall in love again
I got a walkman on my head every step I take
Put Thorazine in my morning coffee break
Won't feed the birds bread boys, let them eat cake
I'll lock my doors, click click click bang bang
When I'm not awake
When I'm walking down the street
Don't make me meet your sister, Pete
When there's a knock knockin' at my door
I'll just sit here on the floor
I'll run 26 miles a day straight up hills
Work overtime to pay all of my hospital bills
I'll spray black spray paint on my windowsills
I'll make a million dollars leave you outta my will
Someday you'll walk where I am
And then you'll see my footprints left in the sand
I feel you moving in my wake
So please try to learn from my mistakes
Do not judge from where you stand
Someday you will understand
I want what's best for me and you
And I know that you want it too, Suzanne
Suzanne, I know someday you'll understand
Suzanne, I know someday you'll understand
As you sit there in the shade
And reflect on the choices that I have made
Just remember what I've done
Has been done in the glare of a blinding sun
Someday you will understand
Someday you'll reach out your hand
Someday I will shout your name
And I know you'll be shouting the same, Suzanne
Suzanne, I know someday you'll understand
Suzanne, I know someday you'll understand
Suzanne
Suzanne
Suzanne
Suzanne
I hope I don't sell you short
Maybe you see it clear from your far-off port
But I can't look back and check
With every step I risk my neck
Someday when your sky is blue
You'll know what I've left to you
Then you'll know what you must do
And you'll know that my heart has been true, Suzanne
Suzanne, I know someday you'll understand
Suzanne, I know someday you'll understand
Suzanne
Suzanne
Suzanne
Superman said, "I am weary"
Superman said, "Let's go home"
The trees were strung
With crosses and with ribbons
All the towns and churches
Had been bombed
Superman stood out in the rain
Leaning up against a crumbling wall
Still around were mostly cats and lepers
Birds no longer soared in the sky
Would you come away with me
Someday?
Would you come away with me
Some fine day?
Superman ducked into a phone booth
Made a call to Lois Lane
He said, "I will always love you "
But it might just be too late in the day
We pulled into Rome
With blood in our eyes
After days of travelin'
Months of lies
Taking our various
Turns at the wheel
Taking booze
And pot and cigarettes
Anything not to feel
No one had slept
No one had eaten
Our bodies were bad
Our spirits were beaten
Together we dragged
All of us down
As we staggered through Rome
Blaming the town
Blaming the students
For worship of others
Blaming the cops
And blaming their brothers
And never quite looking
Ourselves in the heart
And minute by minute
Growing further apart
Julia, Julia
Where have you gone?
Why have you vanished
Off of my lawn?
Julia, Julia
Where is your truck?
Where have you driven
With all of my luck?
But even old bull fighters
Their grave stones in sight
Must search 'till they unearth
One last bull to fight
And so it was with us
So near to the end
One last story to tell
One last hill to defend
One glance to avoid
One guitar to strum
One untruth to be told
One last song to be sung
And you, the most brilliant
Most driven, most keen
Jewel of a bastard
I ever have seen
And you and your turn
A good bitch of the nile
So real to the end
Nothing left to defile
And me in the middle
Along for the ride
The unwilling distraction
From familiocide
And knowing our weaknesses
No one refrained
From picking
And prodding
'Till nothing remained
Julia, Julia
Where have you gone?
Why have you vanished
Off of my lawn?
Julia, Julia
Where is your truck?
Where have you driven
With all of my luck?
And now in this kitchen
Miles from home
Miles from anything
Miles from Rome
Rome was a bust
Rome was a scream
Rome was the final
Rapid eye movement
To this dream
We scattered like leaves
Like pieces of dust
Warriors watching
Their swords and shields rust
And now as we descend
To couches and clocks
To closets and appointments
Let us drink to the rocks
Let us drink to the sand
To the winds which have blowed us
Let us drink to the rivers
Let us drink to the road
And if you travel this far
From either conscience or greed
Have one piece of advice
That I think you should heed
If ever your travels
Take you this far from home
Consult your map carefully
Stear clear of Rome
Julia, Julia
Where have you gone?
Why have you vanished
Off of my lawn?
Julia, Julia
Where is your truck?
Where have you driven
Your hand is between my legs
The dog is between our bodies
as I wake up
You are rollin' from me
I am rollin' from you
Time to join a new religion
Time to overthrow the state
Time to demand all my beliefs are in a new constitution
I can't stop you from cryin'
but sometimes, I can lick away your tears
If you look in someone's eyes
more than two seconds now
you better be prepared to fight
I got too much fear
And too much neglect of magical things
I am rollin' from you/you are rollin' from me
We are rollin' away
I caught a cold and for two days straight
my ears have been plugged up
as if my body's saying'
you don't need your ears
you don't listen anyways
we need more nose jobs
we need more hair relaxers
more magazine's tellin us
there's something wrong with your face
there's something wrong with your face
there's something wring with your face
I am rollin' from you/you are rollin' from me
We are rollin' away
some wild creature has taken command
I gave him the keys and now he's stompin' thru
the house
he has a very busy itinerary
and he does not have time for you
I wish I could give you everything
all of me just like before
this last time together
we did everything 'cept fight
aw we used to fight so good
I am rollin' from you/you are rollin' from me
We are rollin' away
I see beautiful actresses with terrible scripts
and I want to write 'em all a great one
oh don't worry baby
I'll write you one too
But I'll also write one for Andie McDowell
I'd love to trade places with a dog for a day
To know what he thinks and what he feels
Does he think about life
Does he think about God
Or just about his next meal like us?
So often these days
Eating Indian food
passes for spirituality
I don't meditate
I don't pray
But I eat two somosas every day
go down Moses
go down on me
I do not have the strength to fight
I only pray you treat me gently
these are long, cold nights
You are rollin' from me
I am rollin' from you
We are rollin' away
I cry every day
but beauty shows up where you least expect to find it
You are rollin' from me
I am rollin' from you
We are rollin' away
You are rollin' from me
I am rollin' from you
Do you got to be a queen all your life?
Are you gonna take that crown off your head?
Are you ever gonna come to bed?
Do you got to be a queen all your life?
Do you plan on speaking in this year?
Are you gonna keep everything inside?
Are you gonna keep all your great thoughts to yourself?
Do you got to be a queen all your life?
Get off your throne, I'm alone
Get off your throne
I'm walking and moaning
I'm dying alone
Do you got to be a queen all your life?
Do you got to cake on one more layer of make-up everyday?
Are you ever gonna tell me what you want me to do or say?
I come down the steps
I slip on the ice
Santa Claus been lookin'
Who's been naughty, who's been nice
I'm lookin' for one thing real tonight
Jesus, he comes up to me, Jesus, he sits down
Says take this fuckin' cross off my back, I'm goin' downtown
I say aw, but ain't that your uniform
He offers me a toke
Says 2000 years is long enough for this particular joke
He says I'm lookin' for one thing real tonight
I'm up here singin' these songs every night
Sometimes I wanna just make 'em all up on the spot
Maybe they wouldn't rhyme too good, they might not make sense
But then at least I wouldn't be repeating myself
I'm lookin' for one thing real tonight
And you're the one I've chosen
And I guess you've chosen me
Let's turn off the commercials
Let's turn off the TV
How well can we get to know
Each other in an hour
We can fight the daylight
We have that power
I'm lookin' for one thing real tonight
Van Gogh sits next to me, with a bucketful of paste
He rips off my ear and says glue this to my face
I'd like to leave America for someplace where they would
Not know a word of English and I might be understood
Because I love you
I get tongue tied around you
I never say smart stuff around you
I never say anything around you
That makes you want to be with me
So, because I love you
I will never be with you
There's plenty other people
Who I always find the words for
That I have the sweet gift of gab for
That I'm magical and good for
Who because I do not love them
Always want to be with me
Everything I say is true
So there's nothing we can do
Then what the hell I'll say to you
Let me have one dance with you
I recognize the look
In my eyes when I see you
It's the look of one who loves you
Who wants nothing except to be with you
It is not the look that often
Gets returned in kind
Same old tales ain't nothing new
What the hell's a soul to do
But maybe you can help me through
Giving me one dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you..
Why do all the rules I make
'bout how to act around other people
Like don't write them private notes
Trying to explain your foolish actions
Like not hanging around
For hours after it's obvious
That your presence ain't desired
Like names are not important
So if someone forgets your name
They're forgetting something intangible
That has nothing to do with you
So it's stupid to feel bad
If someone forgets your name
Why do all the rules I make
'bout how to act around other people
Always fall by the wayside
When I get around you
There ain't no more carrot stew
That old sky ain't never blue
That's a lie but this is true
All I want's one dance with you
My bed's unmade. My stuff's askew
I ain't heard the dumbest clue
I just want to squeeze on through
By getting one more dance with you
Stick it while there's still some glue
Move that stuff while there's a crew
Before I stumble someplace new
Let me have one dance with you
Let me have one dance with you
Let me have one dance with you..
Woody Guthrie carves a sign into his guitar
"This machine kills fascists"
Ani Difranco says "Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right"
I say "Here's a monkey wrench. Bop me on the head long enough , maybe
I'll wake up for a second"
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
Dance with you....dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
One dance with you
Look mom
They're gonna fry tim mcvay
She said 'the nice guy who's on the cover of all those magazines?
Why would they want to do a thing like that?'
I said cause he killed all those people
In oklahoma city
She said nonsense
People don't kill people
Carbombs kill people
I said well yea mom but they gotta do something with him
She said why don't they just get mike tyson
To bite off both his ears
And I said
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
A little girl down my block was born
With siliconin her breasts
It turned out her grandma and her mother
Both had the implants done well
Evolution took care of it this time around
And I wondered what it is about
So many women with big breasts
Make it look so sad and I thought well
Maybe it has something to do with the weight
The burden there is to carry in the world
To have to feed it
To be the object of its desires and
I wondered what burdens the rest of us
Are carrying all the time
I couldn't help thinking
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
I decided to go for a walk
And not do nothing except look everyone I see in the eyes
And not be the first one to avert my eyes
No matter what
And I was planning to be gone for 10 minutes
But things started happening and I didn't return for two years
By which time I was the heavyweight champion of the world
And the expectant father of 16 children
By 13 different women
I was in a fishing village in the coast of spain
It was our lady of abortions sunday afternoon
All the pregnant women in their first trimester
Were filing before the priest
To receive their blessing of
Try again sometime, try again
The old barber had died his hair green for the occasion
And pierced his nipples and
Was riding his skateboard to the statue
Of conan o'brien
Where he was doing backflips for the kids
Who threw coins
Given to them by their parents
The visiting lecturer
Achingly handsome
Just finished giving a
How to build bombs in your basement
Seminar in the park
All the young girls put away their
Notebooks dreamily
The chimpanzee who had managed to
Type out hamlet three years before
Was sitting in the third floor office of a
Drivers license building
Typing out zoning ordinances
Typing out learners permits
Bored and lonely
Pee wee herman was sitting in the
Central square on the grass
Naked and masturbating
While all the townspeople moved to him
Slowly and kissed him softly and sung him
Lullabyes in the grass
And in burkley and in greenwhich village
And in paris and scottsbluff nebraska
No one sits around in funky little coffee shops
Anymore talking about revolution
No they get a starbucks to go
And they go back to their basketball games
Where they see who can jump higher
Who can jam
Who can take it to the rafts
And they all wear baseball caps
Except they don't say yankees or dodgers
They say nike, reebok, adidas
Cause the pro players don't play for teams anymore
They play for shoe companies
And the kids aren't fooled
Nah they're just biding their time
Waiting for the millenium to come
When all the computers will crash
Cause all the brilliant scientists of the world
Forgot to make them read
Zeros
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
Now sitting there with a head full of dark thoughts
Like I sometimes get
Suddenly everything cleared
And I realized the only purpose
For revolution is to be able to love
Who you want
How you want
When you want and
Where you want
So I took off all my clothes
Stole a boat and road out to the middle of the lake
And jumped in
And I looked back at you
And said come on
Get wet
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
True revolutionaries
Never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
They never bomb buildings
They say you taught me how to talk
Bet you wish you taught me how to stop
you're far away now, wish I could take a walk with you someplace
you explained me to our parents
English wasn't their first language
They spoke German, hated Germans
confusing times
Oh sister
down midwest backseat bumpy seats
you sang my beatles songs with me
I sang your Broadway melodies, bad harmony
and where would Willie Mays have been
without Jackie Robinson
and who can say what I'd been
without you to lead the way
after I showed some guys I could drink
You picked me of the lawn I think
And led me to the kitchen sink
Where I got rid of it
Some nights I lay awake in awe
As squinting through the dark I saw
You peeling off your teenage bra
The door slightly ajar
Oh sister
You lived just across the hall
For 18 summers, 18 falls
until you went away to that weird college in Wisconsin
and where would Willie Mays have been
without Jackie Robinson
and who can say what I'd been
without you to lead the way
trust yourself, and you can do anything
this I give to you
May your heart purr like a bumblebee
May all your backyards have a tree
May you always be HIV negative
I hope you meet some guy who
Treats women better than I do
I don't even care if he's a Jew or not
Oh sister
I remember in the temple hall
at out dear father's funeral you sang like a nightingale
one of his own songs
and where would Willie Mays have been
without Jackie Robinson
and who can say what I'd been
They look for the missing link
There's no missing link
They'll never find the missing link
There's no missing link
We're not something you can figure out with an equation
We are the genetic muation
Aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey
Aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey
Darwin tried explaining it, Darwin did the best he could
Evolution, pretty theory,
But how could Darwin know
That aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey
Aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey
How else explain fax machines
How else explain computer enhancement
How else explain fiber optics
How else explain Mozart
We do not belong here, this planet was a terrarium
Intergalactic broken home, have to go to outer space
And one day find our daddy-
How else explain pay at the pump
How else explain limited access freeways
How else explain digital remastering
Plastic flowers, linoleum, beefalo
Michael Jordan
Religion, astronomy, astrology
That looks to the stars
We do not belong here
This planet was a terrarium
Seven billion bastards
Screaming for our daddy
Aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey
Aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey
She said "Love, love, love is everything"
I said, "Okay, I guess, whatever"
She said, "What does that mean?"
I said, "Nothin', it's just good to have a backup plan"
She said, "I guess that means you don't got love"
I said, "Maybe I love everyone"
She said, "That's the same as lovin' no one"
I said, "Okay, I guess, whatever"
And I have a dream of a New American Language
One with a little bit more Spanish
I have a dream of a new pop music
That tells the truth, with a good beat and some nice harmonies
I have a dream
Tourist towns are a drag sometimes
But in non-tourist towns you can get beat up
Just for lookin' a little different
I guess the thing to do is just stay at home
Yeah, but sometimes I think the thing to do
Would be to get a place way out in Missouri
Put down as many months rent as you can part with
Tell everybody else you went to France
I said, "Remember that conversation we had about love"
I said, "Well, I think that you were right"
She said, "I don't remember sayin' nothin' about love
It must have been a fantasy of the moment"
I have a dream, I have a dream
I dream of joining the Mafia
And whether people like me is unimportant
I dream of your clock radio
Waking you up with my songs
I have a dream of a New American Language
I dream of new beginnings
I dream of saturation bombing
I got thirty-six foot insulation in my house
Wear fourteen pairs of long underwear
Stick tape inside my ears
Cover myself with five bedspreads
I spend every morning in an isolation tank
Spend every afternoon high up in a tree
Spend every evening with one of those things over my eyes
Like in virtual reality
I'll never fall in love again
I got a Walkman on my head every step I take
Put Thorazine in my morning coffee break
Won't feed the birds bread boys, let them eat cake
I'll lock my doors, click click click bang bang when I'm not awake
When I'm walking down the street
Don't make me meet your sister, Pete
When there's a knock knockin' at my door
I'll just sit here on the floor
I'll run twenty-six miles a day straight up hills
Work overtime to pay all of my hospital bills
I'll spray black spray paint on my windowsills
I'll make a million dollars leave you outta my will
I remember Monica
At the US Open
She mighta been 16
Couldn't've been much more
Answering some questions
And giggling, I'd never seen
Someone so alive on TV before
Do you remember Monica
Shrieking on her backhand
Disguising herself as she went out at night
Coloring her hair
Like someone was telling her
Lay low, invisible, and out of sight
And then, Monica
The blade came, Monica
Like God spitting on you, a knife in your back
We read it in the paper
Then moved on to other things
But for you all the colors, fade to black
And oh, Monica
There you are, Monica
On the cross with Jesus and Martin Luther King
Just like John Lennon, by that hotel
You have to pay for our sins
Was it like being raped?
Was it like being dead?
Like a bad movie over and over again?
And then, did everyone who came close to you
Suddenly hold a knife in their hand?
And now you're back, Monica
Grim and hammering
Trying not to think about that thing, then
And I hope that you win
Every medal you can win
But it may never be much fun again
And oh, Monica
There you are, Monica
On the cross with Jesus and Martin Luther King
Just like John Lennon, by that hotel
You have to pay for our sins
Just like Jesus, by that hotel
Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller
Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller
Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller
Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller
But if she did, he'd have taken her to Paris
And if she did, she'd have smoked a lot of opium
And if she did, she'd have dyed her hair blue
And if she did, she might be alive
Oh ohh, Henry Miller
Oh ohh, Marilyn Monroe
Oh ohh, Henry Miller
Oh ohh, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller
She lived outside the Tropic of Capricorn
Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller
I don't even know if she knew Henry Miller
But if she did, he'd have taken her to Paris
And if she did, they'd have fucked every day
And if she did, she'd have felt like a woman
Not like a photograph in a magazine
Oh ohh, Henry Miller
Oh ohh, Marilyn Monroe
This is not a knock against Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman is my favorite play
But Marilyn Monroe should have married Henry Miller
And if she did, she might be alive
'Cause if she did, he'd have taken her to Paris
Tied her to the bed and eaten dinner off of her
And okay maybe she'd have died the same, anyway
But if she did she'd have had more fun
Oh ohh, Henry Miller
Oh ohh, Marilyn Monroe
Oh ohh, Henry Miller
Sometimes I walk and wish L.A. were some small town in Monterey
I close my eyes and ask the Gods to make those Cadillacs, dusty dogs
I close my eyes and live, I close my eyes and live another day
Sometimes I think I'll melt away and in the sidewalk cracks I'll stay
And who will notice, who will call, 'cause life won't change much, if at all
I close my eyes and live, I close my eyes and live another day
Another day, so far from the farms where I grew up
Another day, another day, another day so far from that single pair of eyes
That speak to me of home, not another night alone
Another day is done, I lay my eyes to rest
There's food, I've got a bed and there's a roof above my head
Sometimes, I think that everyone really speaks a foreign tongue
Like I say 'X' and you hear 'Y' but I push these thoughts from my mind
And close my eyes and live, I close my eyes and live another day
I met god on the edge of town
Where the wind meets the stillness
Where the darkness meets the light
Where the ocean meets the sky
Where the desert meets the rain
Where the earth meets the heavens
On the edge of town
I met god
I asked god
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time, send me to seattle
Let me go find kurt cobain
Take away his gun, take away his bullets
Talk to him, make him want to live
Tell him how we love him, help him see his glory
God said no, if I sent you back
If you really found him
You would only ask him if he could help you get a deal
If he knows a lawyer, if he could help you
God said no
I asked god, do one thing for me
Send me back in time, send me to berlin
Let me find the one they call hitler
I will stalk him, I will bring him down
I will bring along a powerful gun, loaded with bullets
Obliterate his memory
God said no, if I sent you back
You would get caught up in theory and discussion
You would let your fears delay and distract you
You would make friends, you would take a lover
God said no
I asked god, do one thing for me
Send me back in time, send me to jerusalem
Let me go, let me go find jesus
Let me save his life as they try to kill him
Let me take him down, down from the cross
Take the iron from his body, try to heal his wounds
God said no, if I let you go, if you really found him
Walking with the cross you would stare
Your tounge no longer working, eyes no longer seeing, ears no longer hearing
God said dan, time belongs to me
Time's my secret weapon, a final advantage
God turned away from the edge of town
He knew I was beaten
And now was all I had
Well, they elected me
King of the world
I said, "Here's what I'm gonna do
Send everybody over to China
Except for me and you
Strip ourselves naked
Go to Beverly Center
Watch movies and eat Cinnamons"
I think I'm gonna like
Being king of the world
For a change
They said, "As king of the world
You can have anything
Your greedy royal heart desires"
I said, "All I really want
Is some wide open space
Where I can set forest fires
I want peace and quiet, I want nudity
I want sex and wine and love"
They said "So let it be written
Your highness
So let it be done"
I am the king
The king of the world
It could have been you
But it's me
I'm surprised you didn't hear about it
It was on the cover of Newsweek
November 1993
As king of the world
I'll occasionally go to China
To visit you guys
You don't have to be afraid
I don't need you to bow down
I'm not God
I'm just the king, I realize
Well, it might be nice though
If you'd kiss me feet
And call me, "All knowing leader of men"
If you were king of the world
I'm sure you'd want the same
For yourself
I am the king of the world
King of the world
Can you believe my luck?
Stay where you are
Plenty room for both of us
And I don't want you to come any closer
Than you are right now
Because Jesus was a Jesus freak
Jesus was a Jesus freak
Jesus was a Jesus freak
And I'm just looking for a place to
Watch the world from
Watch the world from
Watch the world from
Million miles of sand
And a trillion miles of water
And you might make me go against my will, but you'll
Never make me come
Because Jesus was a Jesus freak
Jesus was a Jesus freak
Jesus was a Jesus freak
And I'm just looking for a place to
Watch the world from
Watch the world from
Watch the world from
I go to work
Do my job the best I can
When I'm through I don't owe no one
Anymore than that
So, stay where you are now
Plenty room for both of us
And I don't want you to come any closer
Than you are right now
Because Jesus was a Jesus freak
Jesus was a Jesus freak
Jesus was a Jesus freak
And I'm just looking for a place to
Watch the world from
Watch the world from
When I tell you that I love you don't test my love
Accept my love, don't test my love
'Cause maybe I don't love you all that much
Don't ask what kind of music I'm gonna play tonight
Just stay a while, hear for yourself a while
And if you must put me in a box, make sure it's a big box
With lots of windows and a door to walk through
And a nice high chimney so we can burn, burn, burn
Everything that we don't like
And watch the ashes fly up to Heaven
Maybe all the way to India, I'd like that
All the ancient kings came to my door
They said, "Do you want to be an ancient king too?"
I said, "Oh yes, very much, but I think my timing's wrong"
They said, "Time is relative or did you misread Einstein?"
I said, "Do you really mean it?"
They said, "What do you think we come here for
Our goddamn health or something?"
Everybody's waiting for the Messiah, the Jews are waiting
Christians are waiting, also the Muslims
It's like everybody's waiting, they've been waiting a long time
I know how I hate to wait like even for a bus or something
An important phone call so I can just imagine
How darned impatient everybody must be getting
So I think it's time now, time to reveal myself
I am the Messiah, I am the Messiah
Yes, I think you heard me right, I am the Messiah
I was gonna wait till next year, build up the suspense a little
Make it a really big surprise but I could not resist
It's like when you got a really big secret
You're just bursting to tell someone
It was sort like that with this
And now that I've told you, I feel this great weight lifted
Dr. Nusbaum was right, he's my therapist
He said get it out in the open
I spent ten whole days in Jerusalem, mmm Jerusalem
Sweet Jerusalem and all I ate was olives, nothing but olives
Mountains of olives, it was a good ten days
I like olives, I like you too
So when I tell you that I love you don't test my love
Accept my love, don't test my love
You can categorize me
Lump me with the others
If that's the way you wanna play
You can say that the way it's been
Is exactly
The way that it's gotta be
And I'll make you feel right
If you gotta feel right
Well if you're willing to live truthfully
I think you'll see
That, Babe, I'm not the guy Who hurt you
Many years ago
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
Babe, what are you seeing?
When you look in my eyes
Maybe someone from a magazine
Is that someone who hurt you?
You don't gotta explain it
I used to read that magazine myself
But last night in the kitchen, yeah
I cancelled my subscription, yeah
And maybe you'll believe me, Babe
That you don't need to carry yours
Around anymore
Cause I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy who made you crawl into the shell
I'm not the guy who threw your heart against the wall
I'm not the guy who made you feel like all you did was lost
I'm not the guy who loved you, Babe, and kept his fingers crossed
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy who tried to hide his wedding ring
I'm not the guy who disappeared after the spring
I'm not the guy who took care of you for a weekend stay
I'm not the guy who loved you babe, and took his love away
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
I'm not the guy
Walking around the happiest place in the world
But all I do is wonder if your hair's still curled
South of Brownsville, Texas, south of Miami Beach
But all it means to me is that you're further out of reach
Everywhere is sand and sun blue sky, water too
I need you
The Spanish moss is hanging and you find a polished stone
You pocket it for luck and then you walk on alone
They'll rent you a bicycle with the tires blown
They'll cook you up a blackened fish and strip it to the bone
A slave ship just came in, I been talking to the crew
I need you
In that house, Hemingway is boxing in the back
I go down to the library and check out all the facts
Nowadays it's hard to write a line, my own thoughts bore me
I found me an island kid who says he'll do it for me
I'm wiping all my tears away so no one has a clue
That I need you
The last plane out of Saigon did not know that it was
Every man in prison thinks he's locked up for a cause
I need something to do my violin needs to sound
I'm gonna see if Ernest wants to go a couple rounds
Sometimes you get lost and you find something new
I need you
Some bird's flapping in the road on some crazy madman's string
Something's messed up with his wing
Something's messed up with my everything
So here's the truth at last I tell you, Hemingway is dead
And everybody wants to find a steak that's slightly red
I thought I could escape myself by just not getting dressed
I thought I could escape you by coming to Key West
Sometimes you get lost and you don't find something new
Mississippi Delta shining like a National guitar
Paul Simon wrote that song about Graceland
While driving in his car
Mark Cohn wrote that other one
It was a big hit, it made Mark Cohn real
I'm walking in Memphis, do I really feel the way I feel?
Well, look at me, Lord, I am at Graceland
On a Saturday afternoon
I threw up last night at a rest stop
From eating cheese grits at the Waffle House
I felt like hell then, I feel alright now
I am at Graceland and I feel alright
I know that Graceland has sacred meaning
Deep, deep meaning for lots of people
For me it don't mean all that much
Okemah means more that's
Woody Guthrie's home
I don't have shrines to Elvis Presley
On the dashboard of my RV
I haven't spotted Elvis lately
In the tool section of the Wal-Mart
But I travel around the country
Playing my guitar for whoever will listen
So I'm at Graceland, I am at Graceland
I am at Graceland and I feel alright
He had the coolest shoes
He had the coolest hair
He sang the coolest songs
He made the coolest movies
He moved his hips like wheat fields waving
He was even cool in the army
Enough of this throat singing already
If you wanna sing two notes at once
Why don't you do like everyone else
Get a multi-track machine
Lay 'em down separately
Make a little harmony
Maybe a bass track
Like one from the Rolling Stones
None of this long lost art
This archaic stuff
Go out and make something
If you wanna make some dough
You oughta invest in my company
We're putting barcodes
On the fetuses
Using ultrasound
And laser technology
We used to do babies
But some of them still got mixed up
This takes care of that
My love, go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
My love, go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
There's some tomatoes
Chemically engineered
They come out square
To fit in boxes
There's some people
Chemically engineered
They come out square
To fit in boxes
I'm sitting on the roof today
All by myself
Not saying nothing
To no one
I'm sitting on the roof today
All by myself
Not saying nothing
Goodbye
My love go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
My love go to sleep
I was painting a still life this morning
Of a throat lozenge sitting on a copy of Tropic of Cancer
The only thing weird about it is that a year ago
I never thought I'd paint anything again
I decided I wasn't ever gonna paint again
It didn't bother me too much, Warhol's dead
David Hockney's still alive, I don't need to paint
I painted over ten thousand paintings
Sad ones, funny ones, dark ones and light ones
I've done haystacks and rich old ladies by their pools
Wearing nothing but a scarf
I've painted everything there was to paint
Now it was time to sit back, give interviews
Get on the internet, hang out at club med
Take stock of what I've done
You know, the best friend I ever had was a dog
It sounds like a cliche unless it's happened to you
Some days that dog was the only reason I even got out of bed
That dog went everywhere with me and then I heard the crack addicts
Were stealin' dogs and selling them for animal research
It sounded like an urban myth to me like the mouse in the Coke bottle
But I started leavin' her at home after that
You know, Paula was my wife for a while
She ran off to Paris with the great grandson of Van Gogh
A cartoonist who did fashion graphics for Le Monde
When Paula left she took my dog, I never saw her again
Except in the court during the custody battle
She won and got to keep the dog
And I didn't speak to anyone for months
You know sometimes it feels
Like there's so much that you need
Sometimes the world is upside down
Sometimes it seems like the only thing you need
Is holdin' someone's hand as you walk through town
I started hanging around with Dino
He used to run a poker game back east
Now he has a little coffee shop, sells cappuccino to his old pals
Tommy, Chicago and Jimmy the Wig and Ugly Rose
You know the best person I ever knew
Was a Mormon woman named Estelle
She still calls me drunk every few months
And asks me stuff I don't want to talk about
You can't talk to her long unless you're drunk yourself
Then we go all night
Yeah she goes, "Why baby, why baby, why baby, why
Have you turned your back on love?
You had so many chances
Why have you let 'em all go by?"
Well, one morning I was sitting out in front of Dino's place
With Jake the Shears, a guy from Philly who gives free mohawks
There were a couple of young painters, I was hopin' to come by
So I could give 'em some advice
Yeah, I was sittin' there updating my list of enemies
When this girl walks in and the universe kind of stops
Turned out she drank the same tea as me
Don't take more than that to start a conversation sometimes
She believed collage was the greatest of all the arts
And was busy pasting pictures of horses, next to ads for laundry soap
Next to Mohammed Ali, she had a turquoise in her ear
And said Rachmaninoff was always in her head
But later that day I was trying to describe her to Jimmy the Wig
I couldn't find any words and I realized I'd started to sketch her chin
Somehow it didn't look right, I scratched it out and tried it again
I filled an entire pad, I threw it away, I never even came close
For a six days I sat at Dino's place
The rain wouldn't quit and no one came in
Finally on the seventh day it cleared and in she walked
I asked her to sit with me and I bought her a cup of tea
And I asked her to model for me sometime
That afternoon I was at a canvas
She was wearing a yellow dress
I swore if she let me, I'd get it right
I've painted over ten thousand paintings
Sad ones, funny ones, dark ones, and light ones
But sitting there, it was like I couldn't even write my own name
I apologized and said, "It's been a few months
If you have patience, I'll get the hang of it again"
In the next few weeks, I painted her hundreds of times
If I get the nose right, the chin's too long
If I get 'em both right, the face is too thin
But I keep after it and one day I, I'll get it all right
I painted a still life this morning, of a throat lozenge
Sitting on a copy of Tropic of Cancer
The only thing was funny is that
I never thought I'd paint anything again
I think I might go visit Estelle
Those Utah mountains are good for the soul
I'll bring my brushes and some Jack Daniels
And we can make up for lost time
And she said, "Why baby, why baby, why baby why?
Baby why have you turned your back on love
You had so many chances
Why have you let 'em all go by?"
And she says, "Why baby, why baby, why baby why?
Baby why have you turned your back on love
You had so many chances
Why have you let 'em all go by?"
Sometimes it seems like there's so much that you need
Sometimes the world is upside down
Sometimes it seems like the only thing you need
Well this bald headed girl I know sent me a tape of Bjork and Courtney
Love
And PJ Harvey, called it brilliant women
I put it in my car, heard it all the way down to the coast
Normally if left to my own devices I don't hear chich singers much
I guess it's guys I hear the most
Sometimes these days don't it seem like it's enough for
girls to love a girl or
use the f word prominently
masturbate in public or
learn guitar tied up to a post
I thought of all this hearing Bjork and Courtney Love and PJ Harvey
In my car driving to the coast
Tori Amos, Liz Phair, Sinead O'Connor, Suzanne Vega, Jill Sobule,
Melissa Etheridge,
Tracy Chapman, Ani Difranco, Michelle Shocked
Everyone of them has something kind of special that I like
But every now and then while listening to them I feel like when we were
kids
I pulled their hair or stole their bike
These days it seems like there's a lot of girls who sing and some of
them are good and
Some of them are not, but it's always kind of cool that
Moment when they first step to the mike
If I was a girl I could sing real high and also then I'd know what
having
Breasts would be like
Chick singers
Chick singers
Chick singers
I started thinking 'bout
Kate Bush, Patsy Cline, Billy Holiday, Janis Joplin, Bessie Smith, Patti
Smith,
Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, and Bonnie Raitt
Seems like there's an awful lot of women in whose honor I would
Like to raise my glass to in a toast
Some of them are still alive and some I hear their voices like a ghost
Maybe next Thursday I'll throw a party and invite every woman that
Ever sang a song, oh, this would be a party that I think I would like to
be the host
Thanks to the bald headed girl I know whose tape of Bjork and Courtney
Love and PJ Harvey I heard driving to the coast
Chick singers
Chick singers
Listening to the big guy's new CD laying in bed
The one his producer thinks he never shoulda made
But it gets me going, gets me into the shower
What a shock to be awake at this early hour
And you're gone
It was time to fly
And all that's left
Is the fact we tried
So thanks for the tunes
And thanks for the time
You're gone now
Baby bye bye
Them guys from Orange County, man, do they wail?
Shakes my brain and it shakes my tail
New girl on top of me, will this work out?
I retreat to the kitchen and sort it all out
And you're gone
You left your keys on the table
And on the bed you left a rose
And a note that said, "My CD's won't fit in the car
You can keep 'em I s'pose"
This disc was left out in the sun, it's warped and it's hissing
I can't place the voice and the insert's missing
I turn off the phone so if you don't call it's all right
And maybe I won't listen to nothing tonight
Riding down the highway with Cowboy Joe
Met Leonardo DiCaprio, Leo, he's tryin' to get away from
The unwanted advances of Eminem
Em's wearing drawstrings, lispin' along
Sayin', "Please, put me into your highway song"
I say, hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
Well, I would never be so dumb
To say they stole an election
They bought the damn thing fair and square
Emperor's in his underwear
Old King Cole's a merry old troll
Surgeon General smokes Marlboro
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
Commandment Three says 'Do Not Kill'
Amendment Two says 'Blood Will Spill'
God sits in his rocking chair
Two flat tires and one good spare
Britney Spears joins Cowboy Joe
With a hey and a ho and a do si do
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
West Palm Beach and Cheech
And Rae Dawn Chong, can't we all just get along?
Anchored down in Kodiak with a heart attack-ack-ack
You oughta know by now, By Joel
West Palm Beach and Cheech
And Rae Dawn Chong, can't we all just get along?
Anchored down in Kodiak with a heart attack-ack-ack
You oughta know by now, By Joel
Hanging out with Cowboy Joe
Keith Richards stops to say hello
I play my guitar, he plays along
With song after song, after song, after song
That I've played with the likes of him
Ain't never gonna settle for less, my friend
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great, on that great
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
I say hey, who's goin' my way
On that great Alaska highway
Stopping for gasoline
I jump back in my truck again
Roaring through the desert
South of Magdalena
The heat seeps into my skin
Whenever I get too terribly giddy
I see crosses
On the side of the road
Rattlesnakes eager to meet me
Cactus thirsty for blood
I sip on a bottle of Coke
And roll my tobacco
My windshield's the gravestone
For a million dead bugs
From the corner of my eye
I keep seeing
Them crosses
On the side of the road
Keep my eyes wide open
And my blood running strong in my veins
Please let me see my baby again
Things crawling and dying
Wind blowing
Everything just surviving
Last cloud through here
Came and went months ago
Flowers of yellow and purple
They can mesmerize you
Keep your eyes open
And lock all of your doors
I hope that you'll
Be careful wherever you go
I keep seeing crosses
On the side of the road
Them crosses
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
His evil gang unseated
His base of power deleted
His energy depleted
Bush must be defeated
Further services unneeded
His departure speeded
There's a land, but you don't lead it
Bush must be defeated
The rose garden weeded
A new frontier re-seeded
We'll no longer let you bleed it
Bush must be defeated
This mistake not be repeated
Our desires not go unheeded
We will not twice be cheated
Bush must be defeated
His goodbye coffee heated
His inaugural spats uncleated
His White House bed short-sheeted
Bush must be defeated
His welcome's been exceeded
Successors must be greeted
The imposter excreted
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
Bush must be defeated
I ain't interested in the whores tonight
They'll go about their business and I'll go about mine
Mine is standing on the balcony
On the 4th floor above the Reeperbahn
Where the Beatles used to play
But I won't get all soppy and nostalgic,
'Cause It's all right
The moon is full
And it's all right
And I don't care about anything at all
Tonight
Maybe I will take a walk and look at girls
Sometimes it amazes me that all of them have breasts
Some places they hide them, some they show them off
But it's all right I like it either way
It's a world-class distraction
You either get it or you don't
And it's all right
It's all right
And I don't care 'bout anything at all
Tonight
And I don't give a damn
The world could end tonight
Aliens could just start dropping bombs
Then the people of the Earth
Would love one another
For a couple days and then good-bye
So tonight I'll spare the prostitutes my body
And my money clip I'll keep my hard-earned money
The moon's behind a cloud
The drunks below are loud
I flick my ash it falls 4 floors down on the Reeperbahn
Where the Beatles used to play
But that was a long time ago and anyway
It's all right
I probably won't jump
It's all right
And I don't care 'bout anything at all
You're an all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
don't give me a whirl
well I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
Out on the street it's goin' on
In the market the carriages came
Umbrellas lined up down the block
So the princess don't feel rain -quick breath-
The agency girls showed up
Three days late, right on time
I'll trade you all my nickels, babe
For your one skinny dime!
You're an ah-ah-all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
They don't give me a whirl
I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
And downtown, it's a-goin' down
Everyone look so cool
But up here we got the music
And it's like, you're still in school
Venus and Serena came in here
Gina Lollobridg'ia too
Pink was back in the backroom
Lookin' for you
You and me, we could get along
Probably with nothing at all
Skin me up a rifter babe
At the Darktown Strutter's Ball
You're an all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
They don't give me a whirl
I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
They don't give me a whirl
I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
I'd put you in the movies
If movies were mine to make
I'd set you in a sailboat
Sail you all round the lake
But I got my feet on the ground
And I'll keep hanging around
'Cause you're an all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
They don't give me a whirl
I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
Out on the street it's goin' on
In the market the carriages came
Umbrellas lined up down the block
So the princess don't feel rain
The agency girls showed up
Three days late, right on time
I'll trade you all my nickels, babe
For your one skinny dime
You're an all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
They don't give me a whirl
I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an all right
All right kind of a girl
And downtown, it's a-goin' down
Everyone look so cool
But up here we got the music
And you might as well still be in school
Venus and Serena came in here
Gina Lollobridga too
Pink was back in the backroom
Lookin' for you
You and me, we could get on
Probably with nothing at all
Skin me up a rifter babe
At the Darktown Strutter's Ball
You're an all right kind of a girl
Good as it gets in my world
You can have the pictures in the magazines
They don't give me a whirl
I ain't no prince
But I'll do in a pinch
You're an ah-ah-all right
All right kind of a girl
You're an ah-ah-all right
Let the niggers burn down nigger town
Step aside for burning and looting
But if they set foot in Beverly Hills
Time brother, brother time to start shooting
Everything everybody has in their homes
Will be taken away next week Wednesday
And everything everybody ever believed
Will be disproved next week Friday
I'm going down to Hannibal
Going down to Hannibal
Gonna buy a new suit of clothes
Hitler never hurt a soul
I read it in a book
That I finished up just this morning
I was happy and I just couldn't wait to tell the good news
To all of my dead uncles
When they tore down the Berlin wall
Everybody danced
But between what I feel and what I say
There's a thirty foot barbed wire fence
I'm going down to Hannibal
Going down to Hannibal
Gonna buy a new suit of clothes
The world is one big cosmic joke
Played on me, I hear
As soon as I leave this room
All of you are going to disappear
Time begins to bend and shift
Maybe you haven't noticed
But just the other day a man in Washington state
Admitted killing Jesus
I'm going down to Hannibal
Going down to Hannibal
Gonna buy a new suit of clothes
I'm six foot tall and 180 lbs
I can punch through a wall with my fist
But I don't understand how with just one kiss
You can wrap me around your finger
You can wrap me around your wrist
Everybody who has ever ever been alive
Is alive today in Georgia
As for the rest of us, I don't even know who we are
It's a mystery I guess
I'm going down to Hannibal
Going down to Hannibal
Gonna buy a new suit of clothes
You see, everything I know, I learned from my dad
He learned it all from his
And his dad just happened to be
Wrong about everything
I'm going down to Hannibal
I'm gonna buy a new suit of clothes
I'm going to wear three neckties
You're going to help with the bows
You're going to help with the bows
Are you gonna scribble in the dark with a marker,
or do you gotta have the latest pen
If you tell a good joke and somebody laughs,
do we gotta hear it over again
If you give someone a present is it just to make 'em
happy,
or just to keep 'em at bay
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Or just the style of the day
Or just the style of the day
Win a penny, lose a penny, here's a penny, penny-penny
pennies gonna come and go
How many years will you sit there waiting
for the wind to change how it blows
Do the skeletons in your closet
all got 20 pairs of shoes to choose from, baby
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Or just the style of the day
Or just the style of the day
Now there are changes coming down, between you and I
Lions gotta roar and monkeys gotta bonk birds gotta
swim, fish gotta fry
It's just a question, I ain't necessarily leanin either
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Or just the style of the day
Or just the style of the day
Now I feel the changes comin from the north
Old man winter's gonna blow us off the porch--and back
inside
Every time I go downtown I see something beautiful
behind glass
All the money in the world won't buy back a day of the
past
I hear that you've been cryin, I want to tell you that
it's OK
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Are you gonna follow your soul
Or just the style of the day
Bludgeoned and bloody
Walking around from memory
Scared and lost and broken
Only the whiskey's still talking to me
I inquired at the big apartment
Building there in town
Man there said, "Yeah, we got one room."
And as he said it he frowned
He said, "That room is bad luck.
Couldn't rent it out, I wouldn't try.
We've lost two tenants in that room
Both to suicide."
And I asked for and did receive
The suicide room
Figured if I can't beat this world
Maybe I can beat this room
One fellow tied a rope around his neck
Fixed the other end up there
And before his final struggle
Kicked away that chair
The other one stuck a shotgun
In his mouth just over there
Hoping for something better, something else
Or else just addicted to despair
And every day I'm in here
I think about those two
And what hopelessness can lead to
And what some folks finally do
I asked for and did receive
The suicide room
Figured if I can't beat this world
Maybe I can beat this room
And all the doors in my life
Slammed and locked away
And my string of keys now useless
And needing a place to stay
And nearly two years in here now
Two years of Sunday chimes
And it's like those bumper stickers say
One day at a time
And I see the crazy patterns when the sun comes in
Through my window that I try to keep clean
And I breathe the night air deeply
As I'm pulling off my jeans
Some men fall, some men fight
Some just carry on
I'm still here in my apartment
Trying to beat the odds
I asked for and did receive
The suicide room
Figured if I can't beat this world
Now it's just me and the world again
It's just another two month affair
Just me and the world again
I'll be all right
I'll be all right
It's just that I didn't know
Seeing my boy and my girl in your eyes
Playing with me, playing with you
Just another two month affair
I'll be all right
I'll be all right
It's just that I didn't know
And the trees we are passing
Keep on growing and growing
And growing and growing and growing
Maybe this time I'll decide
Never, never, never get hurt again
Me and the world again
Give me a minute I'll walk again
Just me and the world again
I'll be all right
Really all right
It's just that I didn't know
I'll be all right
Really all right
Joe Van Gogh is a friend of mine
He's the son of Vincent Van Gogh, you know
Joe has more friends than you do
And Joe Van Gogh is a painter too
I've shared a room with Joe Van Gogh
And all night long he grinds his teeth
It could be genetic, it could be the heat
It's pressure to paint, that's my belief
This I'll tell you 'cause this I know
I'm a valuable friend to Joe Van Gogh
I'm the only painter Joe Van Gogh knows
Who wasn't first friends with Vincent Van Gogh
Joe Van Gogh is a very good painter
Some sunflowers, sure but other stuff too
But how good a painter we'll never know
Till he gets away from Vincent Van Gogh
An umbilical cord of red Day-Glo
Runs from one to the other though
Through the streets of Amsterdam they go
Joe on the shoulders of Vincent Van Gogh
Joe Van Gogh has a second floor window
With a scene of Amsterdam below
He sits at a canvas with a Marlboro
In his mind Van Gogh, Van Gogh, Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh is good to Joe
He gave his son his ear, you know
But it can't be easy being Joe Van Gogh
Trying to paint when your dad is Vincent Van Gogh
People write songs about Vincent Van Gogh
Like Starry Starry Night and other stuff too
And it don't exactly even the score, I know
Charles Manson doesn't even know his last name anymore
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
He's forgotten it
Charles Manson had a buncha people
Who believed his every word
Who followed his directions
To cut up buncha rich people
Would they still have done it
If they'd known his name was Krautmeyer
I kinda doubt it
Charles Manson made a shitty album
Not too long before he got a buncha people
To believe his every word
And follow his directions
To cut up buncha rich people
Would they still have done it if they'd heard his shitty album
I kinda doubt it
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-OOOOOOOO
Marilyn Manson took the last name of Charlie Manson
He didn't take the name Marilyn Krautmeyer
If he was called Marilyn Krautmeyer
I bet no adults with large straws up their asses
Would try to cancel any of his concerts
The way they do with Marilyn Manson
I think he should be called Marilyn Krautmeyer
He'd probably get to play a few more concerts
And maybe he wouldn't sell quite as many of his shitty albums
But at least the truth would be out that
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-OOOOOOOO
Charles Manson really was a lucky guy
People didn't hear his shitty album
People didn't know his name was Krautmeyer
His followers never saw him pick his nose
Which I understand he liked to do a lot
Charles Manson comes up for parole every now and then
Three guys sit across from him
And talk to him for half and hour
Then stamp denied on his papers
Then run home and tell their wives about it
Maybe he should go back to Krautmeyer
Maybe they'd ignore the swastika on his forehead
And stamp approved on his papers
We hereby parole you, Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Charles Manson's real name was Charles Krautmeyer
Just when we got comfortable
Alia went to India
This time I was not the one that run out
When things got good
Alia
Alia
I'll remember you
Will you remember me?
It was always me the one
That left before the setting sun
Now you're gone half way around the world
I don't think turnabout is fair play
Alia
Alia
I remember you
Do you remember me?
Now I know what it's like
When they're just beyond your reach
You did not look back when we said farewell
I wanted to run to you so much
I've been through this country through and through
But I've never been to India
I guess that's maybe why you had to run off
To your old India
Alia
Alia
I'll remember you
Lean back
Sit back on the porch swing
Pour yourself a glass of lemonade
Make sure the dog's in
He's been scratchin' a lot lately
Like there's an epidemic of fleas
I ain't never seen nothin' like it
Summer of '75
All of these bugs came in from out of state
Messed with everybody
Especially the dog
Ain't never been the same
Just lay back now
First time I ever heard this song
First time I went to
I don't remember how old I was
My first time out east
And I went to theis club called, "Tramps"
Late at night, I got to see Lightnin' Hopkins sing
I was closer to him
Than I was to my dad at the time
He sang
A week later, he died
I think that was the last show he ever played
This is my favorite one that he done
It's called the ["Airplane Blues"]
Goes like this
I got a woman
She's always out of town
I got a woman
She's always out of town
I'm gonna buy me an airplane
I'm gonna fly that woman down
That woman that left me
She ain't never satisfied
That woman that left me
She ain't never satisfied
She's gonna ride with me in the airplane
Next time I take her for a ride
Next time we fly
I'm gonna take her for a trip
Down across the world
Next time we fly
Gonna take her for a trip down across the world
She's gonna take off
Just like that old flying squirrel
I got a woman
She's always out of town
She's always out of town
I'm buying an airplane
I'm flying that woman down
Raised up my hand & said I solemnly swear
One January day
And just like that I was the President
Of the USA
Just like that I was the President
Of the USA
There were limos, bands & speeches
And parties to go to
I said all that will have to wait
There's just so much to do
Them parties will have to wait
There's so much to do
My first day I offered statehood
To Cuba and Mexico
Cuba-1 state, Mexico-6
All or nothing that's how it goes
No more border patrols & human smuggling
and we'll deal with our own neighborhood
And a few more stars and some green in the flag
Seems like it might be good
And maybe Israel and Palestine
Will follow our lead and just combine
And then become Israelstine, who knows?
Anyway that's my first day
Second day I told Detroit
Start makin' cars that don't use gas
And I give everybody a big rebate
And they started sellin' fast
We'll stop burning up the air we breathe
And making the planet boil
And we won't have to kiss the ass
Of whoever's got the oil
Since before Hoover, the farmers have got
The short end of the stick
With the help of our Cuban brothers
We'll be Communistic
(Collective farms!)
Capitalism is a fine thing
If it works, then great, OK
But if not, gotta try something else
That's what I did on my 3rd day
My 4th day all of our troops came home
From all around the Earth
Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran
More trouble than they're worth
I was tempted to say I'm sorry
We'll rebuild you with money and men
But I just said, "You're on your own
"And don't fuck with us again"
My 5th day I changed the army
So it's all of us or none
We'll all tie knots, and walk through mud
Pitch tents and fire a gun
With just a few of us as warriors
And the rest of us gone soft
Martians could come and zap us
Ain't gonna happen on my watch
Day 6 I swore no prisoners more
Would face their death inside
Thou Shalt Not Kill applies to us all
Too many mistakes, besides
Day 6 I swore no prisoner more
Would ever face his death
At least until my jury hears
The Crimes of President Bush
Day 7 was hot, I legalized pot
And none of this decriminalizing crap
Let it grow in glory, end of story
Then I burned one and took a nap
Hemp will help the farmers
We'll grow hemp everywhere
One acre of hemp's like 10 acres of trees
And hemp grows back next year
My 8th day I made health care
Cover everyone
If you get sick, see a doctor
That's how my government's run
And by the way, abortion
Is included in this plan
No one tells a girl how to treat her body
Least of all some man
My 9th day I said sorry
This government is no fool
Ain't gonna pay you extra to send your kid
To some weird-ass wacko school
We'll do our best to make our schools
Best anyplace on earth
If they ain't good enough, think about it
Before you go give birth
My 10th day I made it OK
To marry whoever you
Would be willing to ride with
On a bicycle built for 2
Marry a woman, marry a man
Marry a monkey too
Marry a big old rhino
And visit 'em at the zoo
And that was my first 10 days
My first 2 working weeks
Lots of work for the bureaucrats
And the paper-pushing geeks
After that we needed
Some time to just have fun
So we added some new holidays
The next week, one by one
Monday was National Nude Day
Everyone disrobed
Tuesday was National Stoned Day
Everyone got stoned
Wednesday was National Painting Day
Thursday no television
Friday was tennis, John McEnroe helped
From his Cabinet position
Saturday, Sex With Impunity Day
With no repercussions
Sunday, do it all-Nude, Stoned, Painting, no TV,
Tennis, Sex-Enjoy!!
Just be ready for work on Monday
And mister, no discussion
My Cabinet, as previously mentioned
Includes John McEnroe
And Wavy Gravy and Michael Franti
And Ani Difranco
Muhammad Ali, Madonna
Maya Angelou, Bratt Pitt
And Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton
And we'll watch 'em both go at it
And then I'll get that Stephen Hawking
Make him a citizen and stuff
He's the smartest guy in the world
England's had him long enough
I'll tell him you can be the head of whatever you want
Just bring your thinking cap
And I'll give him an office in Hollywood
With all those ramps and crap
I raised up my hand and said I solemnly swear
One January day
And just like that I was the President
Of the USA
Just like that
Just like that
Just like that I was the President
Black Tornado - Dan Bern from his album New American Language
I been speaking-
later and later in the day-
Most days I don't talk
'til maybe 8 o'clock at night It keeps me whole,
It keeps me holy. It keeps me way up
in the mountains even when I'm on the road
It keeps me coming up for air
Keeps me airing out some come
It keeps me cool
And everyplace I go is one less place I could call home
And every girl I kiss, well I just cross her off my list
I don't go far
I just go crazy
I buried all of my old clothes out in some field in West Des Moines
And if you judge me tonight
Judge me by the songs I write
That's who I am to you
(background) lil more guitar)
(chourus)And there's a Black Tornado
Black Tornado
Spinning around in my body sometimes
Black Tornado
a Black Tornado
Spinning around in my body sometimes
And I could do tonight with something soft and warm and furry
But that ain't likely to occur in southcentral Missouri
It's a day off
It's an off-day
It's a Budweiser, Budgetel, Bukowski kind of night
All I got's what's on my back
this Guitar and a backpack
My soul's intact
(chourus)And there's a Black Tornado. . . .
And everything is changing faster than I can describe
All I really know to do is grab the wheel and drive
I look for love
And some adventure
And I try not to let my own breathing scare me off the road
There is a tombstone
Of my father I visit sometimes
There is a tombstone
Of my father I visit sometimes
Please give me notice
So I can buy a ticket for a train
A train I've been hearing
Over and over again and again
Tonight it seems you're sleepy
So there ain't nothing else to do
'Cept drink and listen to Miles Davis
Down in the Bakerloo
Closer to you, closer to you
Baby let's stop for gas
You can be the leader of the pack
Spain can wait 'til tomorrow
Spain always has
Go ahead try to go further
I'll push your hands away
Don't be worried 'bout
Physically overpowering me today
Closer to you, closer to you
I seen what happens to the boys who love you
Gonna move carefully, real real carefully
I sign for my brothers
Now when I write my name
Shaquille O'Neal don't show up
Drunk for a Laker game
God is down in the mailroom
Sorting what gets sent above
They finally proved scientifically
All you need is love
I met God
On the edge of town
Where the wind meets the stillness
Where the darkness meets the light
Where the ocean meets the sky
Where the desert meets the rain
Where the earth meets the heavens
On the edge of town
I met God
I asked God
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time
Send me to Seattle
Let me go
Find Kurt Cobain
Take away his gun
Take away his bullets
Talk to him
Make him want to live
Tell him how we love him
Help him see his glory
God said no
If I sent you back
If you really found him
You would only ask him
If he could
Help you get a deal
If he knows a lawyer
If he can help you
God said no
I asked God
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time
Send me to Berlin
Let me find
The one they call Hitler
I will stalk him
I will bring him down
I will bring along
A powerful gun
Loaded with bullets
Obliterate his memory
God said no
If I sent you back
You would get caught up
In theory and discussion
You would let your fears
Delay and distract you
You would make friends
You would take a lover
God said no
I asked God
Do one thing for me
Send me back in time
Send me to Jerusalem
Let me go
Let me go find Jesus
Let me save His life
As they try to kill Him
Let me take Him down
Down from the cross
Take the iron from His body
Try to heal His wounds
God said no
If I let you go
If you really found Him
Walking with the cross
You would stare
Your tongue no longer working
Eyes no longer seeing
Ears no longer hearing
God said Dan
Time belongs to me
Time's my secret weapon
A final advantage
God turned away
From the edge of town
He knew, I was beaten
And now was all I had
