Round Here
Step out the front door like a ghost
into a fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white
And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right
I walk in the air between the rain
through myself and back again
Where? I don’t know
Maria says she’s dying
through the door, I hear her crying
Why? I don’t know
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she’d like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
She walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she’s walking on a wire in a circus
She parks her car outside of my house
Takes her clothes off,
Says she’s close to understanding Jesus
She knows she’s more than just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she’s nervous
Round here we’re carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she’s slipping through my hands
Sleeping children better run like the wind
Out of the lightning dream
Mama’s little baby better get herself in
Out of the lightning
She says, "It’s only in my head."
She says, "Shhh…I know it’s only in my head."
But the girl in the car in the parking lot
says "Man, you should try to take a shot
Can’t you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building
and says she’s thinking of jumping
Says she’s tired of life
She must be tired of something
Round here she’s always on my mind
Round here, hey man, I got lots of time
Round here we’re never sent to bed early
Nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very very very very late
I can’t see nothing
Nothing
Round here
Would you catch me if I’m falling
Catch me if I’m falling
Catch me cause I’m falling down on you
I said I’m under the gun
Round here
Oh man, I said I’m under the gun
Round here
Can’t see nothing, nothing
Round here
Omaha
Start tearing the old man down
Run past the heather and down to the old road
Start turning the grain into the ground Roll a new leaf over
In the middle of the night there’s an old man treading around in the gathered rain
Well, mister, if you’re gonna walk on water
Could you drop a line my way?
Omaha Somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It’s the heart that matters more
I think you better turn your tickets in
Get your money back at the door
Start threading a needle
Brush past the shuttle that slides through the cold room
Start turning the wool across the wire Roll a new life over
In the middle of the night, there’s an old man threading his toes through
a bucket of rain
Hey, mister, you don’t want to walk on water
you’re only gonna walk all over me
Omaha Somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It’s the heart that matters more
I think you better turn your ticket in
Get your money back at the door
Start running the banner down
Drop past the color come up through the summer rain
Start turning the girl into the ground Roll a new love over
In the middle of the day, there’s a young man rolling around in the earth and rain
Hey Mister, if you’re gonna walk on water
You know you’re only gonna walk all over me
Omaha Somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It’s the heart that matters more
I think you better turn your tickets in
Get your money back at the door
Omaha, someday morning, I’m coming home today
Mr. Jones
I was down at the New Amsterdam staring at this
yellow-haired girl
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this black-
haired flamenco dancer
She dances while his father plays guitar
She’s suddenly beautiful
We all want something beautiful
I wish I was beautiful
So come dance the silence down through the morning
Cut up, Maria! Show me some of them Spanish dances
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones
Believe in me
Cause I don’t believe in anything
I want to be someone who believes
Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales
Stare at the beautiful women
"She’s looking at you. Ah, no, no, she’s looking at me."
Smiling in the bright lights
Coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely
I will paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and grey
All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful
Grey is my favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso,
I would buy myself a grey guitar and play
Mr. Jones and me look into the future
Stare at the beautiful women
"She’s looking at you.
Uh, I don’t think so. She’s looking at me."
Standing in the spotlight
I bought myself a grey guitar
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely
I want to be a lion
Everybody wants to pass as cats
We all want to be big big stars, yeah, but we got different reasons for that
Believe in me cause I don’t believe in anything
and I want to be someone to believe
Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio
Yeah we stare at the beautiful women
"She’s perfect for you, Man, there’s got to be somebody for me."
I want to be Bob Dylan
Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky
When everybody loves you, son, that’s just about as funky as you can be
Mr. Jones and me staring at the video
When I look at the television, I want to see me staring right back at me
we all want to be big stars but we don’t know why and we don’t know how
But when everybody loves me, I’m going to be just about as happy as I can be
Mr. Jones and me, we’re gonna be big stars
Perfect Blue Buildings
Just down the street from your hotel, baby
I stay at home with my disease
Ain’t this position familiar, darling
All monkeys do what they see
Help me stay awake, I’m falling…..
Down on Virginia and LaLoma
Where I got friends who care for me
You got an attitude of everything I ever wanted
I got an attitude of need
Help me stay awake, I’m falling….
Asleep in perfect blue buildings
Beside the green apple sea
Gonna get me a little oblivion
Try to keep myself away from me
It’s 4:30 am on a Tuesday
Doesn’t get much worse than this
In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle of these lives
Which are completely meaningless
Help me stay awake, I’m falling… .
Asleep in perfect blue buildings
Beside the green apple sea
Gonna get me a little oblivion
Try to keep myself away from myself and me
I got bones beneath my skin, and mister,
There’s a skeleton in every man’s house
Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hang on everybody
There’s a dead man trying to get out
Please help me stay awake, I’m falling
Asleep in perfect blue buildings
Beside the green apple sea
Gonna get me a little oblivion
Try to keep myself away from me
Anna Begins
My friend assures me, "It’s all or nothing
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
with the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, "you’re changing."
But we’re always changing
It does not bother me to say this isn’t love
Because if you don’t want to talk about it then it isn’t love
And I guess I’m gonna have to live with that
But I’m sure there’s something in a shade of grey,
Something in between,
And I can always change my name
If that’s what you mean
My friend assures me, "It’s all or nothing."
But I am not really worried
I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget
To make yourself forget
I am not worried
"If it’s love," she said, "then we’re going to have to think about the consequences."
She can’t stop shaking
I can’t stop touching her and…
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I’m shaking leave me shuddering for days," she says,
And I’m not ready for this sort of thing
But I’m not going to break
And I’m not going to worry about it anymore
I’m not going to bend, and I’m not going to break and
I’m not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love…."
But it’s not all that easy so maybe I should
Snap her up in a butterfly net
Pin her down in a photograph album
I am not worried
I’ve done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don’t get no sleep in a quiet room and…
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins to change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it’s love and
Oh lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
She’s talking in her sleep
It’s keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
Her kindness bangs a gong
It’s moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It’s chasing me away She disappears and
Oh lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
Anna Begins
My friend assures me, "It’s all or nothing
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
with the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, "you’re changing."
But we’re always changing
It does not bother me to say this isn’t love
Because if you don’t want to talk about it then it isn’t love
And I guess I’m gonna have to live with that
But I’m sure there’s something in a shade of grey,
Something in between,
And I can always change my name
If that’s what you mean
My friend assures me, "It’s all or nothing."
But I am not really worried
I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget
To make yourself forget
I am not worried
"If it’s love," she said, "then we’re going to have to think about the consequences."
She can’t stop shaking
I can’t stop touching her and…
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I’m shaking leave me shuddering for days," she says,
And I’m not ready for this sort of thing
But I’m not going to break
And I’m not going to worry about it anymore
I’m not going to bend, and I’m not going to break and
I’m not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love…."
But it’s not all that easy so maybe I should
Snap her up in a butterfly net
Pin her down in a photograph album
I am not worried
I’ve done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don’t get no sleep in a quiet room and…
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins to change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it’s love and
Oh lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
She’s talking in her sleep
It’s keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
Her kindness bangs a gong
It’s moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It’s chasing me away She disappears and
Oh lord, I’m not ready for this sort of thing
Time and Time Again
I wanted so badly
Somebody other than me
Staring back at me
But you were gone, gone, gone
I wanted to see you walking backwards
And get the sensation of you coming home
I wanted to see you walking away from me
Without the sensation of you leaving me alone
Time and time again
Time and time again
Time and time again
I can’t please myself
I wanted the ocean to cover over me
I wanna sink slowly without getting wet
Maybe someday, I won’t be so lonely
And I’ll walk on water, yeah, every chance I get
Time and time again
Time and time again
Time and time again
I can’t please myself
So when are you coming home
Sweet angel?
You leaving me alone?
All alone?
Well, if I’m drowning, darling, you’ll come down this way on your own
I wish I was traveling on a freeway
Beneath this graveyard western sky
I’m gonna set fire to this city
And out into the desert we’re gonna ride
Time and time again
Time and time again
Time and time again
I can’t please myself
