Hello Is Not The Word
she moves in silence
simple lines and plain
when she turns around slowly
i don’t know my own name
she moves with punting winds
she was born there
she’s a leader among men
of similar despair
and i want to touch her with my dry hands
and i want to love her when my week ends
i met her once, she was with her friends
hello is not the word
so take it all off
well i picked her up
from her day at the station
and i got her alone
to my complete elation
well, heard me out
like a faraway train
when i finally said it
she bought a ticket again
and i got to touch her with my dry hands
and i got to love her on my weekends
i’m meeting her out, she’s with her friends
hello is not the word
take it all off
it’s all the same as it is when we started
it’s all the same as it is when we started
it’s all the same as it is when we start it
pull that lever, baby, or nothing changes
she left me hanging out
in an empty room
she let me watch her out
with a suitor or groom
she calls me sorry
for the things we done
she says it’s all against the law
of god or someone
but she lets me touch her with my dry hands
and i get to see her on the weekends
and she meets me out with her curious friends
no, hello is not the word
she took it all off
Crocodile Tears
it was a mismatch made in heaven
plenty of plans but weak on action
i never really got the words
you were hell bent on talking but it never sunk in
and so one fine day soon
when I’m hanging around in my fresh bedroom
i’m gonna stop all the mindless shouting
and learn about love and learn what it’s all about
CH:
you were once in a while for a long hot minute
you taught my boy how to dance and spin it
and your swing didn’t teach me nothing until
i had to watch you walk away but still yeah
young is young and you fucked me up nice
with crocodile tears in wasted moonlight
crocodile tears
i did not need to leave or go
to atlantic city or lake tahoe
i did all my gaming in the middle of the night
hanging on your body for dear, dear life
and now i hear them laugh outside
i hear them chomping on how you lied
and where you were with who last night
i put my hands and brain and heart on ice
CH
one day when i’m old and gray
when i’ve lived my life and made my way
i’m gonna look back on this time and say
what the hell happened anyway?
love is blind and so is death
guess i’ll find my treasure in some other chest
i got my heart pumping in my breast –
it says close your eyes and ears and get some rest
CH
High Stakes Table
they, they all look different now
through the filter of time
they, they all got harmless
when i separated theirs from mine
i, try to remember
what was so bad about alone
better late than never
i saw the faces carved in stone
ch:
at the high stakes table
you could win or lose it all
at the high stakes table
you could win or lose it all
cherry blossom sunrise
cocoa goddess night
limes in my concoction
get me to the church on time
memories like a sister
always call ‘em when you’re down
big ideas like a river
get you to the next new town
ch
a heart is a beautiful thing
always leaning towards the knife
a soul is a wonderful thing
always running from the wife
moonlight, it beckons,
glide along a silky road
a young man, he reckons
cuz who’s he ever gonna know – at the
ch
Roller Derby Queen
fire is hot, water is cold
wine is red and good as gold
hey old master, go a little faster
get me up so i can rock and roll
leaning on the front porch, poison in the well
i don’t ask, and you’d never tell
i’m not in love the way I should be
nobody’s kicking and screaming but me
when she crosses her faithful legs
i feel a little guilty cuz I’m changing her ways
once in a while heavy in the night
i wake up shaking, is everything all right
CH:
how do i know all this?
how do i know all this?
i am just lucky i guess
when i am buried deep in a book
i travel down the roads i never took
nobody knows the trouble i’ve seen
somebody wrote it, but it was not me
i never was who you wanted me to be
i am the jammer, i’m the roller derby queen
hey, i circle around and about
get too close and i will knock you out
play this one up and take one for the team
when you’re the jammer, you’re the roller derby queen
CH
Andromeda
silent in your garden
after your bold boast
who can bring me history
but the one i loved the most
i caught you in the mirror
looking like my best friend
but slate and gray and candlelight
you got so far from me again
ch:
andromeda – andromeda
i cut you from the rocks
andromeda – andromeda
this is where the danger stops
andromeda – andromeda
i’ll turn them all to stone
andromeda – andromeda
this is not the night you’ll be alone
forget about the past now
it doesn’t bear your name
i am in a port town
and never shared the blame
the water here in jaffa
is sweeter than mandarin
richer than the soap i bought
from off the stolid watchman
ch
the morning rises dark now
i’m riding on the waves
can you feel me coming
for reasons i’m not afraid
no more superstitions
no unease tonight
the monster’s not as hungry
as the edges of my knife
ch
Grace
bring the outside in,
spin it all around
swing it like cotton candy
it’s circus time honey
turn it upside down
with silver linings
if you don’t see me going
i won’t feel so funny
hey chopper
show stopper
curly topper
i won’t say your name
little lifeboat
graceful raincoat
you don’t like what i wrote
and i love you just the same
bring the outside in
so warm and lovely
i try to keep you happy –
that’s not so easy
top of the cake
where the baker spent the morning
you get the icing,
i got the warning
hey chopper
cream of the cropper
curly topper
now you’ve got the race
miss improper
grape stomper
they call it love and i call it Grace
noble behavior
mercy, favor,
post and tolerate
i call her Grace
The Walls Don't Talk
The walls don’t talk, the paint don’t talk,
the floor don’t talk
But the bricks talk
the bricks talk
the bricks talk
they told the trees
all the trees down the block
the sidewalks talk
the telephone pole
shoots it down the line
and the birds on the wire
fly away like their wings are on fire
they sing out everything
mother mary, oh, how they sing
they all told me, they all told me you lied
i passed a red barn and a bone yard and an old forgotten house
it was all falling down in the yard
and filling up my mouth
the cows looked at me funny
as i drove on by their barn like i was insane
and the horses reared up and shied away
when i called your name
the chickens laughed
caught up in the grass
as they were led back to the pen
and i pleaded with the wind
to find out where you’d been
they all told me, they all told me you lied
it was a strong tide on the wrong side of the ocean floor
and as the orange sun set the girls placed bets
could i make it ashore
the eels and the snakes moved like earthquakes
underneath the waves
the smoothest stones rolled and tumbled alone
in search of a watery grave
they all told me, they all told me you lied
they all told me, they all told me, they all told me you lied
Love and Just Because
all the candy ladies in clouds of pink perfume
and the smoky gentlemen line the billiard room
it is one of the stranger ways to spend an afternoon
i am lonely and looking for love
underneath the floorboards,
here’s the tell tale sound
the pumping of clarinets and fingers tapping down
and just outside the window,
rain is pooling on the ground
lonely and looking for love
CH
oh love and just because
i’m trembling and i’m shaking
oh love, you’re my drug
i’ll have another dream before the waking
the floors are thick with sawdust,
the walls they smell of pine
the band is really killing ‘em with ride, sally, ride
an overstatement for the day,
i say i’m doing fine
i am lonely and looking for love
CH
the silhouettes of cigarettes,
branches on a tree
all the nodding dunderheads, bobbing in the sea
and every single lady with a girl upon her knee
i am lonely and looking for love
the leader calls on double down, he’s running out of pay
his eyes are dull as thumbtacks,
his face is fired as clay
i can’t remember how it was i left you at the train
lonely and looking for love
CH
Some
some can’t be bothered
not any old way
some kinda like it when
you cause them pain
some grow up
beautiful, fly away
some got the sun and
just run and run and run
some you have begged
some you have drugged
with words and flowers
and music and love
some took your heart
for a walk around the world
some left you for god
and spun you in a sea of curls
some let you see what
was naked and plain
and some were just around for
the sake of being around today
CH:
goodnight, fair weather
hello, dawn
keep your love light on
some got your number and
used up all your dimes
some got your irish up and
wasted all your time
some you felt coming
from a mile and a half away
some just scorned you
in small and hurtful ways
CH
some never looked
some were always kind
some never mentioned
what was troubling their mind
some turned their backs
and some disappeared
but most they just faded
with the coming and going of years
CH
Down Comes Tumbling Down
when down comes tumbling, down comes tumbling down
you get a little rock and roller
to spin you like a merry go round
you take a bird at her word,
she gives such a glorious sound
you run a thousand miles
to find your way back home
you toss a thousand nights
to figure out who you’ve known
and lonely days
so long and low, low, low
CH:
i can’t find you
i’m moving so slow
i can’t find you
and i don’t know
you wait in line,
everybody looks like you
they got their hat pulled down,
looking for women and booze
from the beginning of time,
that line wraps up your shoes
my youth was wasted on me when i was young
i lived my life like i was looking
down the barrel of a gun
and i sat on my hands when
i should’ve been speaking in tongues
CH
i close my eyes but all i see is you
i shut my mouth but all i feel is you
what in the world is a poor girl supposed to do?
CH