I choose my friends only far too well
I'm up on the pavement they're all down in the cellar
with their government grants and my IQ
They brought me down to size academia blues
Louise is a girl I know her well
She's up on the pavement yes she's a weather girl
And I'm staying up here so I may be undone
She's inappropriate but then she's much more fun and
When she smiles my way
My eyes go out in vain
She's got perfect skin
Shame on you you've got no sense of grace Shame on me just in case I might
Come to a conclusion other than that which is absolutely necessary
and that's perfect skin
Louise is the girl with the perfect skin
She says turn on the light otherwise it can't be seen
She's got cheekbones like geometry and eyes like sin
And she's sexually enlightened by Cosmopolitan and
When she smiles my way
My eyes go out in vain
for her perfect skin
Yeah that's perfect skin
She takes me down to the basement to look at her slides
of her family life pretty weird at times
At the age of ten she looked like Greta Garbo and I loved her then
But how was she to know that
When she smiles my way
My eyes go out in vain
She's got perfect skin
Julie said we're drinking far too much coffee
wine and cigarettes and we'll never get no sleep
I first met them at a riverboat party
both of them were speeding I would say
I lived on the edge of all this indulgence
taking notes and trusting in prudence
Julie said to Jim why don't we jump in
while the water is cool and we are still friends
Some say that they o.d.'d on Leonard Cohen
Well, I can see that river whenever I think about them
The river is cruel and the water is deep and blue
I was working then on my great unfinished novel
Please let me introduce myself my name is Ronald
I was okay there until I lost my cool
Now let me introduce you to the rest of the crew
It wasn't my style to find surf in my eye
It was much more my style to find sand in my eye
Though there is absolutely no truth to be discovered
Albeit true that there is nothing to be found
We academics are not easily discouraged
Lord, you know wits they come three to the pound
Julie said to Jim look at the state we're in
It was never her intention to conclude anything
It wasn't my style to find surf in my eye
It was much more my style to find sand in my eye
It was just not my style to find surf in my eye
It was much more my style to get sand kicked in my eye
Sand in my eye...
Rattlesnakes
Jodie wears a hat although it hasn't rained for six days
She says a girl needs a gun these days
Hey, on account of all the rattlesnakes
She looks like Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront
She reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance
She is less than sure if her heart has come to stay in San Jose
And her neverborn child still haunts her
As she speeds down the freeway
As she tries her luck with the traffic police
out of boredom more than spite
She never finds no trouble she tries too hard
She's obvious despite herself
She looks like Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront
She says all she needs is therapy yeh all you need is love is all you need
Jodie never sleeps because there are always needles in the hay
She says that a girl needs a gun these days
Hey, on account of all the rattlesnakes
She looks like Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront
As she reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance
Her heart.. her heart is like crazy paving
Upside down and back to front
She says"Ooh it's so hard to love
when love was your great disappointment."
Down On Mission Street
Some say that you may soon be leaving town
Do you tire of chasing all the women around?
Will you never be contented with your life
Will you always be the one who won't think twice?
When you go down on your knees
You're so hard to please
When you go down on your knees
You're so hard down on Mission Street
God only knows how you can hurt her
When you know that's what you do
How does it feel to be so cruel?
Will you never be contented with your life
Will you always be the one who won't look back?
When you go down on your knees
You're so hard to please
When you go down on your knees
It feels like up down on Mission Street
Julie said your eyes are blue
Your lips are cold as stone
She picked you up and you put her down
And messed her place around
Will you never be contented with your life
Will you always be the one who won't think twice?
When you go down on your knees
You're so hard to please
When you go down on your knees
You're so hard down on Mission Street
When you go down on your knees
You're so hard to please
When you go down on your knees
It feels like up down on Mission Street
Forest Fire
She crossed herself as she put on her things
She has promised once before not to live this way
If she don't calm down she will burn herself out
Like a forest fire well doesn't that make you smile
If you don't slow down I swear that I'll come round
and mess up your place let's go for a spin
They say we shouldn't even know each other
and that we'll be undone
Don't it make you smile like a forest fire
I believe in love.. I'll believe in anything
That's going to get me what I want and get me off my knees
And then we'll burn your house down
Don't it feel so good?
There's a forest fire every time we get together
We're going to pick you up - put you down
rip you up and spin you round
Just like we said we would
Because we're a forest fire
Believe we be - We'll tear this place down
If we get caught in this wind then we could burn the ocean
If we get caught in this scene we're going to be undone
It's just a simple metaphor it's for a burning love
Don't it make you smile like a forest fire?
Charlotte Street
I was looking for a rhyme for the New York Times
when I sensed I was not alone
She said "do you know how to spell audaciously?"
I could tell I was in love
And so I forced a smile contrary to my style
and she looked into my eyes
She said "do you want to go heaven
or would you rather not be saved?"
Here comes my train
I'm on my way
Will you not see
I don't need your sympathy
I won't read your poetry
Oh, Sweetness please
So she took me back to her basement flat
which was down on Charlotte Street
Though it was never my intention
No, we were not intense not least because
"Well, if you must just take then I'm a piece of cake"
That is what she said to me
And so I gave myself to her charity
Well, at least that's how it seemed
Here comes my train
I'm on my way
Will you not see
I don't need your sympathy
I won't read your poetry
Oh, bittersweets
I was looking for a rhyme for the New York Times when I was distracted
Yes, those were precious times together that we wasted
Now I'm working hard for my union card
I must be leaving Charlotte Street
Though it was never my intention to stay so long
So long
2cv
She drove her mother's car it was a 2CV
I was most impressed by her casual dress
I was most impressed
Inside a rented room coloured deepest blue
I suppose we found some kind of happiness
To fill the emptiness
We were simply wasting precious time
Hiding from the cruelest summer sky
She took her mother's car to get away from me
Heaven knows that I.. I can sympathize
Oh, I can sympathize
For we were never close if the truth were told
All we ever shared was a taste in clothes
No, we were never close
We were simply losing everything
Underneath the cruelest London sun
We were simply wasting precious time
We were simply wasting precious time
We were simply wasting precious time
Four Flights Up
I was woken up at 4 AM by your screams and anguished cries
Your mother was singing in the bathroom
He will never be my child
Oh, baby talks in her sleep so loud
We're living four flights up but I swear right now it feels like underground
You have absolutely no common sense yes I know that's your charm
You spend the whole day on the phone you say well it helps you stay calm
You cling to my arm yes I know that's your charm
And when I ask you what you want you say a diamonte crocodile
Well then could you give me some peace you say Well maybe for a while
Sometimes you know you could almost be a child
Oh, must you tell me all your secrets
When it's hard enough to love you knowing nothing
We're living four flights up but I swear right now it feels like underground
You are your own worst enemy
So don't expect my sympathy
Oh, go back to your mother's house
And cry your little heart out
You came driving back to town in a beat up Grace Kelly car
Looking like a friend of Truman Capote looking exactly like you are
Yes, I know that's your charm
So don't ask if I still want you only ask me if I must
I've been blown around so long don't know which senses to trust
Oh no.. but I know that I must
Oh, must you tell me all your secrets
When it's hard enough to love you knowing nothing
We're living four flights up but I swear right now it feels like underground
Patience
Early in the morning just by the break of day
That's when my Patience went away
She took her bags but she left all her clothes
She took her keys and left me out in the cold
Wearing a plastic coat
And the pressures of life
Through lack of Patience
I get the pressures of love
Patience is a girl that I hate to love the way I do.. but I do
She wakes me up in the morning through screaming in my dreams
She took her bags but she left all her clothes
She took her keys and left me out in the cold
All because of Patience
I get the pressures of life
Through lack of Patience
I get the pressures of love
She beat me up and left me out in the pouring rain
Without no keys without no reason to go back again
She left me empty-handed she left me empty-hearted
Not no money not nothing but the blues
All because of Patience
I get the pressures of life
Through lack of Patience
I get the pressures of love
She said the one thing that she needs is happiness
I don't believe that she's happy until she sees that I'm in distress
No.. All because of Patience
I get the pressures of life
Through lack of Patience
I get the pressures of love
...and I swoon
Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?
Looking like a born again
Living like a heretic
Listening to Arthur Lee records
Making all your friends feel so guilty
about their cynicism
And the rest of their generation
Not even the government are going to stop you now
But are you ready to be heartbroken?
Are you ready to be heartbroken?
Pumped up full of vitamins
On account of all the seriousness
You say you're so happy now
you can hardly stand
Lean over on the bookcase
If you really want to get straight
Read Norman Mailer
Or get a new tailor
Are you ready to be heartbroken?
Are you ready to be heartbroken?
Are you ready to bleed?
What would it take
What would it take to wipe that smile off of your face?
Are you ready to be..
Are you ready to bleed?
The Sea and The Sand
Once there was the sea now there is sand
And no way now to wash these aching limbs
We have been brothers to this land
All of our boats have long been burned
Lord take this weight out of my bones
Your seventh sin may still yet be unlearned
Though I may burn out in the sand
Still I will learn to love this land
But if the world is truly turned
Surely then our hearts will burn again
And the sand will turn to soil
And the blood run in our veins again
and burn again
Once there was the sea now there is sand
And no way now to wash these aching limbs
Still you will take me by the hand
Yet I will learn to love this land
But if the world is truly turned
Surely then our hearts will burn again
And the sand will turn to soil
And the blood run in our veins again
and burn again
You Will Never Be No Good
You will never be no good
No you will never be no good
D'you know what I'd do if I could
Chop you up into firewood
Because you have sinned far too many times
You have sinned far too many times
And you will pay for all your crimes
You will never be no good
Not not ever no good
You know it's hard to sympathise
You know it's hard to sympathise
When you never tell nothing but lies
It's hard to sympathise
You say you were born in the barrel of a gun
Some say you were born in the barrel of a gun
You were your mother's seventh son
And no excuse could be a good enough one
And don't you love her madly
You want to be her daddy
Well that won't do you no good
You might just slip into the priesthood
You will never be no good
No you will never be no good
D'you know what I'd do if I could
And then we'd all receive knighthoods
You'll never be no good
Andy's Babies
Does it hurt to be polite
Or is it just cool to be unkind
Must you always hurt the ones you love
And then get paid back in kind?
Andy is fine but his taste is not mine
Let me tell you I don't mean maybe
I'm getting really tired of Andy's babies
Some say that children should be seen and not heard
that's what I'd prefer
Let's go downtown for a while
I'm sure you'll be forced to smile
When you see Andy's babies
And the bohemian lifestyle
Andy is a saint
but I'm loosing my patience
I really don't mean maybe
Don't even wanna talk about Andy's babies
So when says his children will inherit the earth
Isn't that absurd?
in a word
Trudy is in the bathroom
she's trying to clean up her act
and Donald has gone to mass
Yes, we are thankful for that
It's eight in the morning
And still you can't get no sleep
On account of perfect day and
all this white light white heat...
...isn't that sweet?
Sweetness
Oh you're a precious little pearl
but tell me true now
Have you ever had a care in the world?
Oh, tell me what's it all about?
You say - Oh, you're so uptight
Well you'll never be so right
Oh you can cry yourself dry
But I'd be surprised if you can muster up a single crocodile
You'll never be a hopeless child
Throw caution to the wind
Forgive yourself your sins
And don't you know you
really are the sweetest thing
There isn't heart enough on you
Do you no longer care or feel that
you have nothing left to prove?
Oh, tell me that it isn't true
I wanted to tell you
that I used to admire you
Oh, you know really that I don't cared
No, I never cared for you
But I used to read about you
and you often would
Throw caution to the wind
And don't you know you
really are the sweetest thing
Beautiful City
Get into the hot seat
If it hurts not to be seen
Or if you want to hit back
This is the place to be at
Spin your partners round and round
Don't think another thought
Don't get caught short
You might get bought
You know I'd like to take you by the hand
But I never get the chance
Oh it's easy to be cool when you're in a trance
Isn't that right?
Blair's on alcohol
I'm on ice cream
Causing the craziest scene
This is a beautiful city
That's a beautiful smile
Though I could never live here
Could I stay for a while?
I'd just packed my bags for Memphis
So that I could learn the blues
But this city turned out so wild
I had to tell the whole crew
Being no place for a boy to fall in love
I naturally did
Now we're dancing around your flat
To Leopardskin Pillbox Hat
Social climbing
We were just passing through
It's true I just seem to stumble into things
Yes, we just settled down
Mostly nobody seemed to notice
This is a beautiful city
Full of beautiful kids
All so keen to get hip
Mostly still biting their lips
C and W
You know I'm hopeless without you
Jesus Said
Jesus said to Mary
Lord, the things we do for love
Well, do think I seem self conscious
It's only you I'm thinking of
Well I was hiding in the bathroom
Quite unable to cry
Now I'm weeping with a vengence
Since your voice came down the line
I moved up from the country
Though I never could have stayed
I just dipped my hand in the water
And got carried away
Well would you put me down
Just for being around
At the wrong time of day?
Or would leave me while I'm sleeping
Out through the fire escape?
They tell me swans do fly
Across a perfect sky
And it's a purist's sky tonight
So you'll desert me in the morning
On account of your cruelty and spite
I moved up from the country
To wave goodbye to all that
I just leapt up on that riverboat
And I never will look back
Jesus said to Mary
Lord, the things we do for love
Well, did she think he was self conscious
It was only her he was thinking of
Well I was hiding in the bathroom
Quite unable to cry
Now I'm weeping with a vengence
But these are tears of joy, oh my
I moved up from the country
Though I never could have stayed
I just dipped my hand in the water
And got carried away