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Rest Assured
11 pm, September 24 2002
once again the streets wake me from the open window
with the same promising call I fell asleep to
I force myself to believe the city still holds a promise
I force myself out to find it, to make it mine
the cityfriend strangers I talk to every night I no longer listen to
they're jaded, they've run out of talk
and they all sound the same
"there has to be something new, something so new it hurts"
sometimes they all sound like me.
they cast their eyes to mine, but never for too long
and sigh about the life they claim to live for
yet there's too much to handle, they all say
don't we need a break from this dirty play
and I know they have only too many ways to get there.
I have bedroom eyes sexy but I'd rather not show it
to the bottle bottom seekers too low to recall it
my head droops to my drink and I can only noserub its sweat
in that seedy dim cafe.
I can't bear to look up to move to get moving
but as the spotlights come on
your well-worn guitar tickles my song
and I know I can get off this chair when it's over.
My footsteps fade away in the streets of this city
where faceless perfumes linger hinting stories of pity
today's trash is the stuff of treasure hunts
but so few would see the gold beyond it
and the streetlights don't do much to hide all our shadows.
tonight's hot spot is another name of neon
another flurry of glitzy blinks.
once again the bad coffee keeps me company
once again the lights come on and smooth hands work their magic
mr piano player fingerdances my song
and no matter what, I know he can't get it wrong.
the cool rain falls but i don't stop
I don't slow down or pause to feel the acid
beat into my skin in wet applause
I just keep walking, just keep walking
I'll kick my way down those stairs to where
I'll wait for a train to take me to somewhere new
even though I know the railway tracks by heart
that promise, that sweet promise is somewhere along that new road
I believe the passing trains that told me so
they fly by and I think -- there goes my tune
there goes the bittersweet melody
and I know I'll find satisfaction when it's over.
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