Artist: Brendan Benson Album: Lapalco {2002}

I've always been this way
Never known any other way to feel
Got the right-of-way
And all of the others must yield
But I'm naked and I'm in school
I can't make it to the door

Try to understand
That an oyster can only make a pearl
From a grain of sand
But from what I don't know makes a girl
But I'm trying not to laugh
It's like I'm dying

When we break - when we break
Apart - apart
And you take - and you take
Back your heart - back your heart
And it aches in the dark
But it makes a tiny spark

I've always been this way
Never known any other way to feel
Got the right-of-way
And all of the others must yield
But I'm naked and I'm in school
And I can't make it to the door

We were lying in the grass
I was trying, oh, not to laugh
I was drowing in the bath

Met a girl, introduced myself, yeah
I asked her to go with me and no one else
And she said, "I'd really like to see you everyday, yeah
But I'm afraid of what my friends might say
You need a bath and your clothes are wrong
You're not my type, I can tell we wouldn't get along."
I just laughed what else could I do, well
Just then her friend chimed in sayin', "Get a clue
Get a life, put it in your song." - put it in your song

There's something I've been meaning to say to you
I've run out of gas and I'm stuck like glue

I'd had enough, I couldn't take it anymore, yeah
So I turned and I ran straight for the door
Bought some mags on my way home
For later on, you know, when I'm all alone
Bottle of wine and some cigarettes
A racing form, maybe, maybe I'll make some bets
I know a guy lives in Los Angeles
Sometimes his life there makes me so jealous
I'd like to move out of this place
Change my name, get a new face
Get a life, put it in my song - put it in my song

There's something I've been meaning to say to you
I've run out of gas and I'm stuck like glue

I'd like to move out of this place
Change my name, maybe get a new face
Sleep all day, stay up all night, yeah
Everybody I meet thinks I'm alright
Get a life

Like a folk singer's song I'm moving on
And I'm not the kind of man that acts very strong
When the girls are looking on
When the girls are looking on

If you tied my hands and put chains on my feet
I can picture myself walking down any street
Telling pople that I meet
Looks like rain to me

Every single day at eleven I'm home in bed in sleep heaven
Alone cos my girl leaves at seven
Ain't got time for my bed-in
She said, "Stop pretendin', you're not John Lennon."

Will I ever get over this
Having tasted your lips with a kiss
You can cross me off your list
Take these cuffs from off my wrists and drop your fists

Soon as I'm well I'm gonna leave my house
Become more of a man and less like a mouse
Drive my car down south to the Mississippi's mouth
In the gulf of Mexico I'll be soused

Every girl I made in the shade of Esplanade
I've saved in a song that I play when I'm afraid
Of a full scale air-raid
From the choices that I've made

Every single day at eleven I'm home in bed in sleep heaven
Alone cos my girl leaves at seven
Ain't got time for my bed-in
She said, "Stop pretendin', you're not John Lennon."

Will I ever get over this
Having tasted your lips with a kiss
You can cross me off your list
Take these cuffs from off my wrists and drop your fists
Drop your fists

No matter how much you take of each song that I make
I'm not fragile, I don't break and I'm down at the lake
Can I hope some day you'll have it made
With all that money that you make

It was fun while it lasted and then it was blasted
Right out of the water and into fantastic
Now he feels shafted and she's already past it
She's like elastic and he's so spastic

Every single day at eleven I'm home in bed in sleep heaven
Alone cos my girl leaves at seven
Ain't got time for my bed-in
She said, "Stop pretendin', you're not John Lennon."

Will I ever get over this
Having tasted your lips with a kiss
You can cross me off your list
Take these cuffs from off my wrists
Will I ever get over this
Having tasted your lips with a kiss
You can cross me off your list
If I ever get over this
Will I ever get over this
Having tasted your lips with a kiss
You can cross me off your list
Take these cuffs from off my wrists and drop your fists

One, two, three, four


My life in the D is a tragic comedy, a poetic verse
It's voodoo some say, black magic ettouffe, a dead man's curse
It's just like the Egyptian tombs
It's tunnels lead me to empty rooms
Skeptics think it's a doctored photo of a U.F.O. - U.F.O.

You're wasting your breath on life after death cos I'm almost sure
If hell does exist, then the Devil's a scientist finding a cure
It's life, microscopic sized
Unseen by the naked eye
The answer's encoded with ink that's invisible

When God made the earth and saw his net worth, he posed for a shot
And life in the D is what was handed to me and that's what I've got
It's all just a hologram
Locked in a vault, it's a cryptogram
A lie on the polygraph test, it's undetectable
It's undetectable

I've got a nineteen-eighty Volvo
I get in, start it up and I go
It ain't a vintage Cadillac
And it doesn't have fins in the back

And it'll always be good to me, always be good to me
Always be good to me, always be good to me

I got a beat up Supro amp
I plug in and it sound like a champ
It ain't a Fender Tweed Deluxe
And it cost me a couple hundred bucks
And it'll always sound good to me, always sound good to me
Always sound good to me, always sound good to me

Yeah, so good to me
Yeah, so good to me
And these things are all I need
All these things are good to me, yeah

I got a girlfriend, she's so true
And no other kinda girl will do
Cos I've known some girls in the past
The kinda love they got don't last
And she'll always be true to me, always be true to me
Always be true to me, always be true to me
Always be good to me, always be good to me
Always be good to me, always be

You're quiet, you don't talk
You're shut down and closed off
But you're like me, we're the same
I'm Brendan, what's your name

I've been a little bit down on my luck
I think you know where I'm coming from
I need a pick up and I don't mean truck
I think you know where to get some

You make me wanna ask you
A lot of questions, really get to know you
Cos I like you, do you care
Cos I'd like to meet you there

I've been a little bit down on my luck
I think you know where I'm coming from
I need a pick up and I don't mean truck
I think you know where to find some

Oh, make up your mind
Just say the word and I'll be your jailbird

Oh no, what'cha gonna do now
What'cha gonna do now
Now that you, now that you

What are you trying to do to me, girl
I closed my eyes, I don't want to see, girl
I don't want to hear about you and him, girl
I don't want to know if it's love that you're in, girl

Cos you can't possibly be serious about him, girl
And he's got to be delirious if he thinks he can win
With a not-so-pretty face - not-so-pretty face
He's come to take my place - come to take my place
She's easily amused
And I know cos she fell for the same shit I once used

The things you say and the things you do, girl
I've added them up and they don't compute, girl
I give you an inch and you take a mile, girl
You couldn't say no cos it aint your style, girl, girl

And it's obvious to me that he thinks he's gonna score
But it's not the case, you say - you're only friends and nothing more
But it makes perfect sense - makes perfect sense
And I speak from experience - speak from experience
She's easy to persuade
She's a piece of cake and he thinks he's got her made

You said goodbye to him a long, long time ago
You changed your mind, I guess, but you never let me know
You just keep me guessing
I'm always guessing wrong, always wrong

Cos you can't possibly be serious about him, girl
And he's got to be delirious if he thinks he can win
With a not-so-pretty face - not-so-pretty face
And a poorly thrown ceramic vase
It makes perfect sense - it makes perfect sense
And I speak from experience
She's easily confused
I should know cos she fell for the same tricks
I should know cos she laughed at the same jokes
I should know cos she fell for the same tricks I once used

In her past there's lots of people, I know them by their names
Some of them rushed by like water and some of them were flames
Each and all knew a different girl, someone I've never met
They went with her to parties, good times she won't forget
And here I come with empty hands ready to receive
And I just hope she doesn't change her mind and want to leave

Oh, girl, stick it out with me
I's gonna get better eventually
Oh, girl, stay here with me
It's gonna get better eventually

I came along when she had offers, offers left and right
I gave her all I had to give, all my best insight
Now she knows the uselessness, the nonsense of it all
Oh, she understands the ways of men kicking in their stall
Oh, here I come with empty hands ready to receive
And I just hope she doesn't change her mind and want to leave

Oh, girl, oh, you got to stay with me
I'll get better eventually
So, girl, please stay right here with me
You'll see a change coming over me

And sometimes when I look at her I see a different girl
I wonder what she's thinking and if she is not part of my world
I've got the feeling that I've done harm, no good there have I done
I see in her the stress that once was mine of which she asked for none
And here I come with empty hands, I'm ready to receive
And I hope that she doesn't change her mind and want to leave

Girl, you got to stay here with me
Things are gonna get better eventually
Girl, please stay with me
I feel a change coming over me
Girl, stay with me
I'm gonna change, has to be
Girl, please stay with me
Things will get better eventually

I'm easy - just a couple of words
That you've got to say and it frees me
From your powerful eyes when they seize me
And you said, "You're never gonna make it
Boy, you'll never make it alone."

You're crazy and the way that you talk
Ya know, you never cease to amaze me
You say, "lackadaisical," I say, "lazy."
But somehow you're gonna make it
You're gonna, gonna go it alone 

Oh, but, something's wrong, something's wrong now, oh no
I've slowed down, I don't know why, oh no

And then I grew up, I let it go for too long
Now let me explain, I never grew up
I think that I might have a shoe up
Don't make me call my crew up or beat you up

Now, you're grinning, you're starting to gloat
And you'd like me to note that you're winning
Let me remind you it's just the beginning
And there's still more time left and I think that I just might take you

Oh, but, something's wrong, something's wrong now, oh no
I've slowed down, I don't know why, oh no, oh no

And if it means that much to you
I'll take the steps and I'll follow through
I know you have concerns about me
I'm all locked up and I lost the key
You're the one I aim to please
I'll set your mind at ease

Now, I'm reeling, I'm climbing the walls 
And I'm pacing the floor to the ceiling
I'm waiting for some special feeling
And I'm still waiting for this red light to change 
To bright aqua green, it's frustrating 
I'm deliberately deliberating

Wondering, are you exceeding me
Do you copy, do you copy
Do you copy, do you copy
Do you copy, do you copy
Do you copy, do you copy

One, two, three


Drip, drip, drip, drip, outside my window
A head full of zip sleeps on my pillow
And it must be a phase that I'm in
Cos I can't explain to begin
It could be a permanent thing
But it feels like a meaningless fling

The man in the pink, such a mild-mannered fellow
He gave me a wink and a good-natured, "Hello."
Lately I'm tired all the time
Guilty of the worst kind of crime
Oh, a game I can't possibly win
When I keep getting kicked in the shin

And I'm just so far gone
That I don't know what planet I'm on
I wanna come down
Cos I've taken it hard for so long
I don't now what's right or what's wrong with me
I'm coming down

Such a funny creature
And when I drink I feel mellow
And if I think I'm Saul Bellow
And lately I do as I please
And I don't much care who disagrees
And it might be a permanent thing
Or it could be a meaningless fling

Oh, and I'm just so far gone
That I don't know which planet I'm on
I wanna come down
I've taken it hard for so long
I've listened to what's right and what's wrong with me
And they say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
They say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
They say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
They say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
You say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
They say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
They say that I'm just a pleasure seeker
You say that I'm just a pleasure seeker

A balloon, a balloon - to your lips, to your lips
Then held between your fingertips
But soon it slips your grip and whips around the room
Spitting its fumes just like me
Ain't it just like me

And hate, so filled with hate
So bad some days I can't see straight
So sad sometimes I can't relate, I'm high and I'm low
Baby you know it's just like me
Ain't it just like me

So, help me break this trend cos here I go again
Help me find my way back
I'm not making any contact
And everything goes black and I get slack
All I've to say is ain't it just like me
Ain't it just like me

White, bright white
You're fading almost out of sight
All is calm and all is bright, but I don't feel right
I don't feel right
Ain't that, ain't that just like me

So, help me break this trend cos here I go again
Help me find my way back
Not making any contact
And ain't it just like me
Ain't that just like me
Ain't it just like me
Ain't that just like me

My so-called friends, where are they now
I guess a love that bends isn't worth much anyhow
They come and go, they talk their shit
And when I really need to know all I get is spit in my eye
But the less I know the better, the faster I go jet-setter
I chase around the world but I never get the girl
But I don't let it bother me, I cut out any part of me
That's been bruised and refused and misused or confused, oh

Some people want to know all about my history
And no one seems to care that none of it's noteworthy
But I talked so much, as it were, that I made the local news
The boy has got the magic touch and he can't ever lose
My present situation is no longer inspiration
My precious generation is killing their time
Behind their backs I'm slipping through the cracks, yeah

And it doesn't really matter if you won't have any part of this
Little scheme I've devised where my team is disguised
And we seem like ordinary guys - but surprise
I'm hardly phased anymore by your classless ways
It takes more than that to amaze me these days
I'm so messed, never know what time it is
Jet lag's the price to pay to play showbiz, kid
Then I stayed up late the night before
I slept the whole way on the plane and now my neck is sore

Come on, now