Lyrics

A Murder of One


Blue morning Blue morning Wrapped in strands of fist and bone
Curiosity, Kitten,
Doesn't have to mean you're on your own
You can look outside your window
He doesn't have to know

We can talk awhile, baby
We can take it nice and slow
All your life is such a shame, shame, shame
All your love is just a dream, dream, dream
Are you happy when you're sleeping?
Does he keep you safe and warm?
Does he tell you when you're sorry?
Does he tell you when you're wrong?
I've been watching you for hours
It's been years since we were born
We were perfect when we started
I've been wondering where we've gone
All your life is such a shame
All your love is just a dream
I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow
Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there
counting crows

One for sorrow Two for joy
Three for girls and four for boys
Five for silver Six for gold and
Seven for a secret never to be told
There's a bird that nests inside you
Sleeping underneath your skin
When you open up your wings to speak
I wish you'd let me in
All your life is such a shame
All your love is just a dream
Open up your eyes

You can see the flames of your wasted life
You should be ashamed
You don't want to waste your life
I walk along these hillsides In the summer 'neath the sunshine
I am feathered by the moonlight falling down on me
Change, change, change


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Anna Begins


My friend assures me "it's all or nothing"
I am not worried- I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me " for one time only,
make an exception." I am not not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried - I am not overly concerned
with the status of my emotions
"oh", She says, "were changing."
But were always changing

It does not bother me to say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
and I guess I'm going to have to live that
but, I'm sure there's something in a shade of gray
or something in between
and I can always change my name if that's what you mean
My friend assures me "it's all or nothing`
But I am not really worried
I am not overly concerned
You try to tell your self the things you try tell your self to make
yourself forget
to make your self forget
I am not worried
"If it's love" she said, "then were gonna have to think about the
consequences"

She can't stop shaking and I can t stop touching her and.....
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"these seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering
for days" she says.

And I'm not ready for this sort of thing
But I'm not gonna break
And I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not gonna bend. And I'm not gonna break and
I'm not gonna worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say "as long as this is love..."
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should just
snap her up in a butterfly net-
Pin her down on a photograph album

I am not worried
I've done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and...
The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love
and oh lord.... I'm not ready for this sort of thing
She s talking in her sleep-it s keeping me awake
And Anna begins to toss and turn

And every word is nonsense but I understand it and
oh lord. I m not ready for this sort of thing
Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It s chasing me away. She dissappears, and oh lord I'm not ready for this sort of thing


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Ghost Train


I took the cannon ball down to the ocean
across the desert from the sea to shining sea
I rode a ladder that climbed across the nation
50 million feet of earth between the buried and me
"How do you do?"

She said "Hey, how do you do?"
She buys a ticket cause it's cold were she comes from
she climbs aboard because she's scared of getting older in the snow
love is a ghost train through the darkness
hold on to me darling I got no place to go
"How do you do?"

She said "Hey, how do you do?"
I took the cannonball down to the ocean
watch the diesel disappear beneath the tumbling waves
love is a ghost train howling on the radio
"Remember everything" She said "When only memory Remains"
"how do you do?"

She said "Hey, how do you do?"


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Mr. Jones


I was down at the New Amsterdam staring at this
yellow-haired girl
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this black-
haired flamenco dancer
She dances while his father plays guitar
She's suddenly beautiful
We all want something beautiful
I wish I was beautiful
So come dance this silence down through the morning
Cut up, Maria! Show me some of them Spanish dances
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones
Believe in me

Help me believe in anything
I want to be someone who believes
Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales
Stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me."
Smiling in the bright lights
Coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely
I will paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful
Gray is my favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso

I would buy myself a gray guitar and play
Mr. Jones and me look into the future
Stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you.
, I don't think so. She's looking at me."
Standing in the spotlight
I bought myself a gray guitar
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely
I want to be a lion
Everybody wants to pass as cats
We all want to be big big stars, but we got different
reasons for that

Believe in me because I don't believe in anything
and I want to be someone to believe
Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio
Yeah we stare at the beautiful women
"She's perfect for you, Man, there's got to be
somebody for me."
I want to be Bob Dylan
Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more
funky

When everybody loves you, son, that's just about as
funky as you can be
Mr. Jones and me staring at the video
when I look at the television, I want to see me staring
right back at me
We all want to be big stars, but we don't know why
and we don't know how
But when everybody loves me, I'm going to be just
about as happy as I can be
Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars...


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Omaha


 Start tearing the old man down

Run past the heather and down to the old road

Start turning the grain into the ground

Roll a new leaf over

In the middle of the night there's an old man

Treading around in the gathered rain

Hey mister if you want to walk on water

Would you drop a line my way

Chorus:B
Omaha

Somewhere in middle America

Get right to the heart of matters

It's the heart that matters more

I think you'd better turn your ticket in

And leave your money right at the door

Start threading the needle

Brush past the shuttle that slides through the cold room

Start turning the wool across the wire

Roll the new life over

In the middle of the night there's an old man

Threading his toes through a bucket of rain

Hey mister if you want to walk on water

You're only going to walk all over me

[Chorus]

Start running the banner down

Drop past the color come up through the summer rain

Start turning the girl into the ground

Roll a new life over

In the middle of the night there's a young man

Rolling around in the earth and rain

Hey mister if you're going to walk on water, you know

You're only going to walk all over me

[Chorus]



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Perfect Blue Buildings


 Just down the street from your hotel, baby
I stay at home with my disease
And ain't this position familiar, darling
Well, all monkeys do what they see
Help me stay awake, I'm falling...
Down on Virginia and La Loma
Where I got friends who'll care for me
You got an attitude of everything I ever wanted
I got an attitude of need 
Help me stay awake, I'm falling...

CHORUS:
Asleep in perfect blue buildings
Beside the green apple sea
Gonna get me a little oblivion, baby
Try to keep myself away from me (myself and) me
It's 4:30 A.M. on a Tuesday
It doesn't get much worse than this
In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle
of these lives which are completely meaningless
Help me stay awake, I'm falling...

(CHORUS)
I got bones beneath my skin, and mister...
There's a skeleton in every man's house
Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hangs on everybody
There's a dead man trying to get out
Please help me stay awake, I'm falling...
(CHORUS)


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Rain King


 When I think of heaven

Deliver me in a black-winged bird

I think of flying down into a sea of pens and feathers

And all other instruments of faith and sex and God

In the belly of a black-winged bird.

Don't try to feed me

I've been here before

And I deserve a little more

[chorus]

I belong in the service of the Queen

I belong anywhere but in between

She's been crying and I've been thinking

And I am the Rain King

[verse]

And I said mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone

I can't go outside

I'm scared I might not make it home

I'm alive, I'm alive

But I'm sinking in

If there's anyone at home at your place, darling

Why don't you invite me in?

Don't try to bleed me

I've been there before

And I deserve a little more

[chorus]

I belong in the service of the Queen

I belong anywhere but in between

She's been lying and I've been sinking

And I am the Rain King

[bridge]

Hey, I only want the same as anyone

Henderson is waiting for the sun

Oh, it seems night endlessly begins and ends

After all the dreaming I come home again

[verse]

When I think of heaven

Deliver me in a black-winged bird

I think of dying

Lay me down in a field of flame and heather

Render up my body into the burning heart of God

In the belly of a black-winged bird

Don't try to bleed me

I've been here before

And I deserve a little more

[chorus]

I belong in the service of the queen

I belong anywhere but in between

She's been dying and I've been drinking

And I am the Rain King



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Raining in Baltimore


This circus is falling down on its knees
The big top is crumbling down
It's raining in Baltimore fifty miles east
Where you should be, no one's around

I need a phone call
I need a raincoat
I need a big love
I need a phone call

These train conversations are passing me by
And I don't have nothing to say
You get what you pay for
But I just had no intention of living this way

I need a phone call
I need a plane ride
I need a sunburn
I need a raincoat

And I get no answers
And I don't get no change
It's raining in Baltimore, baby
But everything else is the same
There's things I remember and things I forget
I miss you I guess that I should
Three thousand five hundred miles away
But what would you change if you could?
I need a phone call Maybe I should buy a new car
I can always hear a freight train If I listen real hard
And I wish it was a small world
Because I'm lonely for the big towns
I'd like to hear a little guitar
I think it's time to put the top down
I need a phone call
I need a raincoat


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Round Here


 Step out the front door like a ghost

into the fog where no one notices

the contrast of white on white.

And in between the moon and you

the angels get a better view

of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.

I walk in the air between the rain

through myself and back again

Where? I don't know

Maria says she's dying

through the door I hear her crying

Why? I don't know

Chorus

Round here we always stand up straight

Round here something radiates

Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand

she said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis

she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land

just like she's walking on a wire in the circus

she parks her car outside of my house

takes her clothes off

says she's close to understanding Jesus

she knows she's just a little misunderstood

she has trouble acting normal when she's nervous

Chorus: Round here we're carving out our names

Round here we all look the same

Round here we talk just like lions

But we sacrifice like lambs

Round here she's slipping through my hands

Sleeping children better run like the wind

out of the lightning dream

Mama's little baby better get herself in

out of the lightning

She says It's only in my head

She says Shhh I know it's only in my head

But the girl in car in the parking lot

says "Man you should try to take a shot

can't you see my walls are crumbling?"

Then she looks up at the building

and says she's thinking of jumping

She says she's tired of life

she must be tired of something

Round here she's always on my mind

Round here hey man got lots of time

Round here we're never sent to bed early

And nobody makes us wait

Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late



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Sullivan Street


 Take the way home that leads back to Sullivan St.

Cross the water and home through the town

Past the shadows that fall down wherever we meet

Pretty soon now I won't come around

I'm almost drowning in her sea

She's nearly fallen to her knees

Take the way home

Take the way home that leads back to Sullivan St.

Where all the bodies hang on the air

If she remembers, she hides it whenever we meet

Either way now, I don't really care

Cause I'm gone from there

I'm almost drowning in her seas

She's nearly crawling on her knees

She's down on her knees

Take the way home that leads back to Sullivan St.

Where I'm just another rider burned to the ground

Come tumbling down

I'm almost drowning in her sea

She's nearly crawling on her knees

It's almost everything I need

I'm down on my knees

I'm down on my knees



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Time & Time Again


 I wanted so badly Somebody other than me

Staring back at me But you were gone

I wanted to see you walking backwards

And get the sensation of you coming home

I wanted to see you walking away from me

Without the sensation of you leaving me alone

CHORUS:

Time and time again

Time and time again

Time and time again

I can't please myself

I wanted the ocean to cover over me

I wanna sink slowly without getting wet

Maybe someday, I won't be so lonely

And I'll walk on water every chance I get

(CHORUS) So when are you coming home Sweet angel?

You leaving me alone? All alone?

Well if I'm drowning darling, you'll come down this way on your own

I wish I was traveling on a freeway

Beneath this graveyard western sky

I'm gonna set fire to this city

And out into the desert we're gonna ride







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