[rev. Aug. 31, 2013]
Well the drums rolled off in my forehead
And the guns went off in my chest
Remember carrying the baby just for you
Crying in the wilderness
I lost track of my friends, I lost my kin
I cut them off as limbs
I drove out over the flatlands
Hunting down you and him
The sky was big and empty
My chest filled to explode
I yelled my insides out at the sun
The wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
How do you think it feels
Sleeping by yourself?
And the one you love, the one you love
Is with someone else
Then it's a wide open road
Then it's a wide open road
Now you can go anywhere
that you want to go
I wake up in the morning
thinking you're still by my side
I reach out just to touch you
then I realise
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
Now you can go anywhere
That you want to go
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
It's a wide open road
[rev. Aug. 31, 2013]
Crocodile skin water, city shadows wait
Put your head into my hands, the ending is so great
Take a ride to sundown, buy a ticket home
Take all the things I've bought you, leave all the rest alone
Marble skins turn human, people fade to gray
Put your head into my hands, we'll make them go away
As you're crying softly, you won't ever be disturbed
Red on pink, sun will sink, have you even heard?
And the colours take me down
It's no reason to be sad
And you leave without a sound
It's no reason to be glad
Salty tears are wasted, children lie awake
Put your head into my hands, don't let your spirit break
Black smoke from the chimneys, white smoke from the hills
Everything is moving, yet we're standing still
And the colours take me down
It's no reason to be sad
And you leave without a sound
It's no reason to be glad
Celebrations fading, boats upon the waves
Put your head into my hands, trying to be brave
Carnival has packed up, the storm has left us peace
Poppies sleep undamaged, we drive into the east
And the colours take me down
It's no reason to be sad
And you leave without a sound
It's no reason to be glad
[rev. Aug. 31, 2013]
Too dangerous to keep
Too feeble to let go
Now you want to bite my hand
I shoulda stopped this long ago
Go now, been set free
Another month or so you'll be gorging on me
With your, your lovely, lovely smile (yeah)
I see you slither away, your skin and your tail
Your flickering tongue, your rattling scale
Like a real reptile
You were coiled around my arm
How could you ever know
How I loved your diamond eyes
But that was long ago
Go now, you been set free
Another month or so and you'll be gorging on me
With your lovely smile
I see you slither away, your skin and your tail
Your flickering tongue and your rattling scale
You're a real reptile
Should have believed Aurora and Eve
They said Steve you better blow
Apple of my eye
It wasn't long ago
Go now, you been set free
Another month or so and you'll be gorging on me
With your, your love, love, love, lovely smile
I see you slither away with your skin and your tail
Your flickering tongue, your rattling scale
A real reptile
Sssss-ahhh
Woo!
I said a real reptile, bam, bam
A deedily-bam
A diya-doo ba ba-ba
A-doo-bla-ba-ba aww
Boom reptile
A real reptile
A real real real real real real real...
Soon a reptile like a real reptile
I saw my little baby, she's a real reptile
I saw my little baby, like a real reptile
She got me ha, ha, ha....
God I've been asleep so long, I've been away
Back from software limbo the natives call today
I let their promises bind me
I let seductive logic blind me
I embraced a machine, I went through the routine
Hid from the people trying to find me
Till the day comes when you realize
Otherwise you never care
Pandora's box reveals a new surprise
Can't wait to see your eyes
Now you've been tantalized
I turned up in some harsh doomed city on another plane
I couldn't believe the room I got, guests I entertained
I felt the dirty streets surround me
I felt the buzzing swarm confound me
I gave money to ghosts, I insulted my hosts
Never get off the stuff that spellbound me
All that glittered had me mesmerized
Otherwise I would have dared
Guess the nature of our enterprise
I sympathize
You've been tantalized
Now you've been tantalized
Now you've been tantalized
Now you've been tantalized
Now you've been tantalized
Now you've been tantalized
Now you've been tantalized
The electric lash of trees in the studio
Fills my head with light
Only the voice of a girl on the radio
Falling from a height
And I turn to leave as if in a cameo
It doesn't feel quite right
Only one thing ever really know
If it's day or night
Our eyes meet and I love her
I suspect she already knows
How those eyes see me so very very clearly
Even when they're closed
The electric lash of trees in the studio
A bite then a caress
Only the sound of a girl on the radio
Drifting from the west
And then I turn to leave as if in a cameo
A moon, a knot, a guess
Only one thing ever really know
You might curse before you bless
Our eyes meet and I love her
I suspect she already knows
How those eyes see me so very very clearly
Even when they're closed
I suppose
The electric lash of trees in the studio
Fills my head with light
Only the voice of a girl on the radio
Falling from a height
So then I turn to leave as if in a cameo
It doesn't feel quite right
Only one thing ever really know
Good night
[rev. Aug. 31, 2013]
Now that it's over I find myself leaving
Sound permeating all directions at once
I never said goodbye to the family, lovers
Brothers and daughters, rest of the bunch
It seems so strange, things I was chasing
All evaporated like a distant dream
Petty ambitions, petty obstruction
And something in between
I really thought it would go on forever
Never believed they would sever the ties
All of the questions remaining unanswered
Stranger's reflection in a stranger's eyes
Here is a child playing in a garden
Here is an old man with broken heart
And here comes a train to take you away
It all goes 'round and 'round and comes back to the start
I was never really sure what I was waiting for
When the moment came I was looking away
Scared of the past, obsessed with the future
Never took the time to be here today
I really thought it would go on forever
Never believed they would sever the ties
All of the questions remaining unanswered
Stranger's reflection in stranger's eyes
After everything now this happens
It's not a grand illusion, it's a stupid little trick
The show must go on, these people have paid
You're standing in the wings feeling kinda sick
I was never really sure what you waited for
But when the moment came you just couldn't choose
The fog sweeps down over the marine city
Standing backstage trying to put on your shoes
I really thought it would go on forever
Never believed they would sever the ties
All of the questions remaining unanswered
Stranger's reflection in stranger's eyes
[rev. Feb. 15, 2011]
In the afternoon
Sitting on a carpet
Sipping cold tea from a spoon
Waiting for a darkness
And the meaning of the rain
That I tried to explain
And the distant train
And the busted main
Cause I got a little song and dance right here
I don't wanna go, no, no
Here we go, turn that corner
Here we go, lift that seam
Here we go baby, here we go now
I gotta get away from all your dreams
Now here we go
Here we go, here we go
In the afternoon
I'm lying in a stupor
Dripping mint julep by the silvery moon
Swearing like a trooper
And the forgotten drone
When you leave me alone
And the sobs and the moans
When you have a few colds
Cause I got a little show biz routine right here
I don't wanna go, no, no, no
But here we go, turn that corner
Here we go, lift that seam
Here we go baby, here we go now
I gotta get away from all your dreams
Here we go
Here we go
Here we go, here we go
Here we go
Here we go (ah, yeah)
Here we go (ah, yeah)
Here we go (ah, baby)
Arrived in hive city somewhere in the east
Walking down this crowded street as though I am, will be released
Elly stopped yawning, clear blue morning, in mourning no more
Come and see wild things just beyond the door
But there's an old man here
He claims that he knew you in another life
Well I'm not sure what he's sayin' Elly
Could it be he still thinks you're his wife?
I've been waiting, seems like eternity
I've been waiting, waiting for you
I'm still waiting if you remember me
I'll be waiting, waiting for you
Trinkets sing on a desert wind behind him
Where ghosts have laid their final claim to rest
But who they loved and what they thought they came for
Has crumbled in their last dusty caress
They were so blind
They were so blind
Hiding in a hotel room somewhere in the west
I heard they brought a priest in to sanctify this place, but it remains unblessed
And the things move around
My bass guitar sometimes plays itself
They say, "Aw, relax, it's static electricity"
Yesterday it took twenty dollars off the shelf
Well there's a young man here, he said he married you in another time
The children cry and ask where their mother is
You're gonna have to let them down
'Cause I've been hurt
I've been around
I've been waiting, seems like eternity
I've been waiting, waiting for you
I'm still waiting if you remember me
I'll be waiting, waiting for you
Limpet shells are fading in the valley
Where once the sea had strength enough to reach
And out of twisted metal of discarded fortune's curse
No one here can quite translate the verses that they wanted to preach
They were blind
They were so blind
They were so blind
They were so blind
I've been waiting, seems like eternity
I've been waiting, waiting for you
They were so blind
I'm still waiting if you remember me
I'll be waiting, waiting for you
Appalatia, you're such a beautiful high
At the gates of a pale blue desire
Cloudy in my memory
Like one long moment can be
Such a godly gift
You're such a beautiful high
Turning favor on
Every day I'm watching you
Learning our love song
In this way it's changing you
Fascination, your secret's alive
In the ascending, brings on an ultimate smile
Water in the lamplight
Danced along this shared night
Singing with the star shine
Until the morning sun blind
Burning slowly on
Everyday I'm missing you
Yearning not for long
Every way I'm getting you
You're such a beautiful high (high, high)
Such a beautiful high
Water in the lamplight
Danced along this shared night
Singing with the star shine
Until the morning sun blind
Journey up and on
Every day becoming you
Burning as you play
On this day becoming you
Blissful in our shelter
Summer must have melt her
Never have I felt her
A river and a delta
[rev. Aug. 31, 2013]
Mmmm...
Good evening
Well this house looks like a bordello
And your mind it looks like a garage
And your garter looks like nothing
And you blew it, blew it large, yeah
Don't give me no trouble
Don't give me no strife
I'm tired of these shadows keep following me
All my -kin' life
And your mind looks like a bordello
And your treehouse looks like a suite
I'm looking up to the silver stars
And I'm looking down at your feet
Don't tell me no lies, baby
I know just where you've been
Walking around St. Petersburg singing a hymn
Walking around St. Petersburg singing a hymn, like this
Please God help me out of this mess
Please God help me out of this mess
Fifteen long days and I need to confess
Mind looks like a bordello
This bordello looks like a shop
I'm skipping all over the silver streets
And when I run I stop
Do you hear me now?
Ahh, yeah
One for the crooked grocer
Two for his stupid wife
Three for the dog that bit me
Five, yeah
Ah, don't give me no trouble
Don't give me no lip
I'm gonna get a replacement
Because I'm so hip
Now listen...
Your mind looks like a bordello
Mmmm, yeah
Now you remember that time
We were walking down Cleveland Street, yeah
Huh!
Mmmm, I saw the way you're looking at the men passing by
'Cause your mind is a bordello, baby
And I'm a nasty fellow, baby
And I was all turning yellow, baby
I said 'Hello baby!'
Ahh, don't give me no trouble
Please don't give me no lip
I know you've got a martini
I just want a little sip
Before I jump off of this ship, huh!
Your mind looks like a bordello
Your head looks like a tree
I look like you, baby
But you don't look like me, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Ahh, sweet angel
Can't you numb anymore
Home time, hey hey
I'm sliding under your door
With the midnight ghosts
With my claws of steel....
[rev. Aug. 31, 2013]
What chance of meeting
So far out here
As if repeating
What's never clear
The verdant meadows
Smoky coil
The air and ether
Boiling soil
I read your novels
The names were switched
I heard you travel
You must be rich
Those distant cities
Are safe and warm
Within their walls
Of chloroform
Home
It's so far away now
Pure chance
It's so far
It's so far away now
My wife was warm
The water was cold
And she was young
The ocean was old
There were voices singing from under the sea
As I followed them down I felt them drowning me
What chance of meeting
So long ago
Just for a fleeting...
Ah, well you know
How unintentional
Random whim
Coincidental
Shallow thing
Home
It's so far away now
Pure chance
It's so far
It's so far away now
My wife was soft
The mountain was hard
Her skin was smooth
The rocks were scarred
There were voices singing above in the sky
As I followed them up I was prepared to die
[rev. Aug. 30, 2015]
The whine in your hand is worth two at the bar
And everybody knows what you've been drinking
Disgraceful night flecked with a nightmare of stars
Everybody knows how you've been syncing
Long distance century buzzes and fades
An automatic charge on your mind
Previews processions and parades
You've got to grind, grind it out
You've got to grind, grind it out
Line up the arrows, push off the top
This can cause sustain forever
And once it's started up, it cannot be stopped
At least that's holding us together
Long distance century buzzes and fades
I wonder why you've not resigned
The glittering minutes jangle decades
We've got to grind, grind this out
Got to grind, grind this out
Grind it out
Vortex appears, unleashed by the crash
The moment marred by hesitation
Bedazzled surgeon chases the gash
And we don't need that operation
Long distance century buzzes and fades
Elysian Fields not far behind
Can you find me a witness amongst these shades
They've got to grind, grind
They've got to grind, grind it out
Long distance century buzzes and fades
I hope the deaf can lead the blind
Now lift me up into your whirling blades
I've got to grind, grind this out
I've got to grind, grind it out
Bump and grind, baby
A war's being waged and the world's just a stage (in this city)
Wear a gun and be proud, but bare breasts aren't allowed (liquidity)
Dream up a scam and then rake in the clams (in this city)
Have a quick throw or host your own show (liquidity)
(It's neither here nor there) It's neither here nor there
(North and south and east and west)
(Oughta to be somewhere) It oughta be somewhere
(North and south and east and west)
I take my payment, I catch my flight
Don't wait up for me tonight
(You might find me there) you might find me there
To a wolf from a lamb for just half a gram (in this city)
The face of today is a scalpel away (liquidity)
The guys with the brains are all bitter and vain (in this city)
Ah, the guys with the luck got the bimbos and bucks (liquidity)
(It's neither here nor there) It's neither here nor there
(North and south and east and west)
(It oughta to be somewhere) It oughta be somewhere
(North and south and east and west)
I take my payment, I catch my flight
And don't wait up for me tonight
(You might find me there) you might find me there
(North and south and east and west)
Instrumental