She left you 1958
when the thought of another fifteen years
was more than she could face
But did you miss her much well hey
you never gave her too much thought
in your newspaper grey
So waste away to Morro Bay
You never got around to yesterday
But money is for taking yes and
Rich is what to be forsaken grey
And giving it away
And even jesus has a price
You're making credit card donations
to television faith healers
Born again missionaries come to Morro Bay
They saved your body but your mind hey
And everything you earned you're going to throw it all away
And waste away tomorrow
C.A. is where everybody falls
Down off the wagon under the wheels
Remember 1970?
when the thought of a day without a drink
was more than you could face
But did you miss her much well hey
you never gave her too much thought
in your newspaper grey
So waste away to Morro Bay
You never got around to yesterday
But money is for taking yes and
Rich is what to be forsaken grey
And giving it away
You're going to hurt somebody it you can
You're going to make somebody understand
Baby you're a rich man
Jane is fine, always fine
We're unhappy most of the time
We don't talk, we don't fight
I'm just tired, she's way past caring
But she says, she is fine
She tells lies most of the time
What she needs, I don't have
That's not in the hand that I'm holding
So we drink spanish wine
She plays country records until the morning
This is mine, all of mine
She is not, she is not mine
But I feel fine
Only when I'm sleeping
Only with the tv on
She and I and empty wine and whisky bottles
And she white beneath crumpled sheets
She is everything I need
But she would rather be
Any place but here
Jane is fine, always fine
We're unhappy most of the time
We don't talk, we don't fight
I'm just tired, she's way past caring
So we drink spanish wine
We tell lies, we're killing time
And we feel fine
Well, what's the crime?
Pretty Gone
Somebody somewhere must pay
Not you, you just walk away
To the foot of her stairs
She at the top with her head in the clouds
Was she easily led?
well, can you tell me that you were not
You, unwashed and undressed
She with her head full of your cigarettes
She is oh such a pretty one
Wrapped up in needlecord and coincidence
And you don't know what to want
'Til it's gone, gone, gone
Pretty gone
Somebody somewhere must pay
Somebody else will confess all your sins
You'll be saved then you'll step on that face
She will laugh, she will kiss she and tell
She is gone, she is pretty gone
She's under your thumb
Oh you little man
And you don't know what you want
'Til she's gone, gone, gone
Pretty dress
Full of nothingness
To confess, she is nothing less
She was half way to holiness
when you said
Won't you put on your dress
and come down to Magazine Avenue
Won't you put on your dress and come down?
Grace
Jesse honey, is it hard to take
Does it feel so bad to be 28
You were 23 and you could do anything
Now, you open your mouth
and spit the gutter out
I was walking down by the River Thames
I decided that I should throw me in
Because you broke my heart
And you made me weep
In the name of your sensitivity
Still, once you were an angel
Did nobody tell you?
Jesse honey, oh you look so pale and old
and so very ill at ease, these days
So you tell yourself that you'll never win
And you drown your sins in amphetamine
Do you weary so of that bitter taste
So you spit it in my face
Just to keep you entertained
Well, I can only love you
I have no option but to
Is it hard to take, is it?
Is it hard to swallow, is it?
Is it hard to take from Grace?
Once you were an angel
Did nobody tell you?
Jesse honey, is it hard to take
Does it feel so bad to be 28
You were 23 and you could do anything
Now, you open your mouth
and you spit the gutter out
Out in the summer rain
You will begin again
Out in the summer rain
We will begin again
Cut Me Down
I've been bought and sold and
I've been hung upside down
So you can hear me breathing
Do you think it's easy?
I've been aching all through summer
I've been aching, just to fall
Cut me down
I've been Billy Name and
Filled my pockets with sand
I've seen everything
I hang upon your pretty frown
I have wasted all my summer
I've been aching, just to fall
Cut me down
All she had too much class to mention
Were the things he never knew
All the things she left unspoken
Were the things he needed so
(I'm not hurting anymore..)
I've been bought and sold and
I've been hung upside down
Can hear me breathing
Do you think it's easy?
I may find it had to follow
I've been aching, just to fall
Cut me down.
Brand New Friend
Walking in the pouring rain
Walking with Jesus and Jane
Jane was in her turtle neck
I was much happier then
If I were to ask you
what would you do with yourself?
If I were to tell you
Would you just talk to yourself?
Am I asking, oh, for so much?
I'm not asking to be understood
Am I asking, oh, for so much?
I'm just looking for a brand new friend
Walking in the pouring rain
Walking with Jesus and Jane
Jane was in her turtle neck
I was much happier then
Am I asking, oh, for so much?
You could do anything you wanted to
Am I asking, oh, for so much?
Not just something that I can hold down
Because it's all downhill, now
So, let me count the times that we swore and lied
That we'd tie ourselves to the railway line
Let me count the times when of course we lied
Well we knew no better, it was no crime
Let me count the times
I, well, I don't know when I'll be content
But I do know I need a brand new friend.
Lost Weekend
It took a lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam
and double pneumonia in a single room
and the sickest joke was the price of the medicine
are you laughing at me now may I please laugh along with you?
This morning I woke up from a deep unquiet sleep
with ashtray clothes and miss lonleyhearts' pen
with which I wrote for you a love song in tatoo upon my palm
'twas stolen from me when Jesus took my hand
You see I, I wouldn't say it if i didn't mean it
Drop me and I'll fall to pieces
Too easily
I was a king bee with a head full of attitude
wore my heart on my sleeve like a stain
and my aim was taboo, you
could we meet in the market place
did I ever hey please, did you wound my knees?
You see I, I wouldn't say it if i didn't mean it
Drop me and I'll fall to pieces
Yes it's too easy
There's nobody else to blame
Will I hang my head in a crying shame
There's nobody else to blame
Nobody else except my sweet self again
It took a lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam
twenty four gone years to conclude in tears
that the sickest joke was the price of the medicine
are you laughing at me now may I please laugh along?
I was a king bee with a head full of attitude
with an ashtray heart on my sleeve, wounded knees
and my one love song was a tatoo upon my palm
you wrote upon me when you took my hand
You see I, I wouldn't say it if i didn't mean it
Drop me and I'll fall to pieces
Too easily
James
Ugly children with poor complexions and greasy hair
Receive no concessions
And it's a heartless world
And its' a thoughtless heartless world
Oh James
Oh you're a terrible child
Hide yourself away
From furnished accomodation with a view and window seat
You swear she really is the best thing that you have ever seen
But your heart is in the wrong place
Cover your face and despair yourself away
Oh you're impossible, James
Hide yourself away
And it's a sin to be a saint
And you're impossible, James
And it's impossible to accept
That she's impossible
And as a consequence you lock yourself away
And it's a crime to be alive and be alone
And be content to be
Oh James
Oh you're a terrible child
Hide yourself away
And in the morning when you wake
Nothing will have changed
Minor Character
Saint Christopher Sunday, otherwise unaware
That is what she called it
She arrived was observed
With her clothes in his suitcase
Looking suitably world weary
As he drove away she came to stay
She sat and she waited
He did not telephone
Her heart was unbroken
But she could not let this be known
She said she'd throw herself off a bridge
He stood and laughed and she walked out again
Which was when she wrote me in
To her scheme of things
She said she'd throw herself off a bridge
She said, she said, she never did
And I asked her why she just shrugged and she sighed
And turned her head away
She did not say
Saint Christopher Sunday, otherwise uneventful
Everything never happened to her scheme of things
She said she'd throw herself off a bridge
He stood and laughed and she never did
She telephoned to say that she'd cut her wrists
Instead she beat the walls with her fists
Running red, running back, again
Perfect Blue
Should you awake, dear, from your beauty sleep
To find your room swimming in blue and green
Should you awake to feel like you never slept
And feel so very old
Well, don't you feel alone
I'm kind of blue
Blue for you again
I guess I'm a fool
At least I'm not innocent
But what to do?
Whatever I touch turns blue
And should you find yourself lost
But in no need of sympathy
Calm down to the beach and watch the waves come in
I dream the ocean was in my house
I feel the surf against my skin
I just can't keep the waves from dragging me down
But when you say ooh
Baby, you're my best friend
Then I lose
I lose my common sense
I'm blue
I'm kind of blue
It's the truth
Should you awake, dear, from your beauty sleep
To find your room swimming in blue and green
Should you awake to feel like you never slept
And feel so very old
Well, don't you feel alone
I'm kind of blue
Blue for you again
I guess I'm a fool
At least I'm not innocent
I may be blue
But don't you let me make you blue too.
Her Last Fling
There you go again
Alma tell me when
Will you never learn?
Now you're underweight and overpaid
You will not be saved
And you're pushing thirty eight
Heaven knows your train is late
Although my chance is slim
You percieve the state you're in
Is good for one last fling
In a drastic dress
You walk in drastic steps
Creating no interest
No, it seems you won't be spared
And you were so much wiser unaware
Independent means
Being alone and being
Good for one last fling
So there you go again
Alma tell me when
Will you ever learn?
Still you walk in these drastic steps
When you know too well your train has left
Your train has left
Big World
This is the story of a most unfortunate girl
Millicent, forever ill, at odds with this world
Big bad world
She has nametags on her clothing
So that she can be herself
When she goes out into it
She comes back as someone else
She lost herself
Millicent is doing it again
Millicent is losing everything
She can't go out dancing
Or go jogging in the park
Her idea of fun is a walkman and some dark
Big world
Millicent is running out of space
Gloria is blowing her away
Scratched her name upon the door
And locked herself away
Just ran out of space
But ain't it hard to be your self, these days
Millicent is losing everything
Millicent is under polythene
Nevers End
If I ever was, then now I'm less than sure
What I was waiting for
If I could find the strengh to walk
Me, I'm drinking the sea
She will send me to sleep
Surely there must be an easy way
And I'll say it again
Will the nevers end
Do I have to forgive to forget?
I wrote a letter only yesterday
I cannot recall what I wanted to say
I saw a chance, I let it pass me by
This is the shallow end, my friend
I say never again
Will the nevers end?
This is not what I had meant to say
So I'm drinking the sea
Trying to pick up the pieces
And saying never, again
If I ever was then now I'm less than sure
And this is the shallow end, my friend