Singer Songwriter Beggarman Thief

5 Chinese Brothers Singer Songwriter Beggarman Thief Lyrics
1.If I Ain't Falling

Paul foglino

It's getting late and i'm getting torn
Between a lonely night and an ugly morn
I don't even know if i can hold my own
But what can i do for you?
My feet are hurting from walking on a wire
But i can't be a lover if i won't be a liar
I'm not too sure how it's supposed to be
But i can't love nothing that don't love me

Pick my feet up off the ground
No floor below and no walls around me
Ain't afraid of dying
If i ain't falling i must be flying

You're getting bored when you're living fast
You can only be sure when your time is past
A well laid plan is all right if
You're a dying man or a working stiff
I can't keep walking in my father's shoes
Doing the sidewalk shuffle to the highway blues
If i ain't working from sun to sun
I'm never gonna hate the things i've done

I've talked to people who say they've seen it all
Who say that i'd only listen i would heed the call
If you think you can believe it cause you've seen it with your
eyes

Just because you ain't burning, you think it's paradise
Faith is forever and fame is temporary
But you can't cross the jordan on the staten island ferry
You might as well eat it if you've already picked it
Cause you can't ride to heaven on a round trip ticket


2.Baltimore

Tom meltzer

Once we won the series, took it going away
Once we sat on top of the nfl and the nba
But all that's over now, time went and slammed the door
And even i packed up and left the city of baltimore
You know, the older we get the more we stay the same
I just found out my radio can pick up the oriole games
I tune in every half-an-hour to get the score
And remember the day's when i was growing up in baltimore

Back then i lived in a house, not a one-room flat
I didn't have to work or buy food or do anything like that
And the first girl that i ever loved lived right next door
At night i'd take my dad's car and drive around baltimore
Something tells me this picture isn't right
Like i'm forgetting how i smashed my dad's car driving stoned
one night
How my parents fought, how i never even dated the girl next door
How i was just a lonely mixed-up kid in baltimore

Looking back now, you know i do believe
When i lived in baltimore, i couldn't wait to leave
Go somewhere else and get a brand-new start
Now i'm dressing up the past 'cause the present is falling apart
The older we get the more we stay the same
Chasing after something that doesn't even have a name
You know, we'll always trade what we've got for what we had
before
Everybody's a fool for something, i'm a fool for baltimore


3.She's A Waitress(And I'm In Love)

Tom meltzer

She reminds you of your mother in a dirty sort of way
When she brings you your food and she takes it away
She smiles at you when you clean your plate
Makes you feel like a big strong man

Is she winking at you or is that something in her eye?
Are you making too much of her giggles and sighs?
The only thing you've talked about is coffee and fries
But she's a waitress so she understands

So, you take my order, i'll take my time
I'm looking you over while i'm making up my mind
Put on the skillet, put on the bread
I'll pretend i'm home, getting breakfast in bed
She don't leave me fed up, she just leaves me well fed
She's a waitress and she understands

In her tight uniform with a low-cut neck
And the way that the grease mixes with her sweat
She smells as good as the inside of a new corvette
She fits your dreams like a baseball glove

And when she smiles at you, that's when you realize
That's not the way she smiles at all the other guys
You see her sneak a peek from behind the pies
She's a waitress, and you're in love

Chorus
(last line: she's a waitress, and i'm in love)

Now you see her give the fry-cook a secret kiss
And the ring on her finger that you previously missed
Maybe you're not the guy she can't resist
And your breakfast is almost done

So you swear that you'll never fool yourself anymore
Then you remember as you're walking out the door
There's still lunch and dinner and a thousand meals more
With a waitress at every one

Chorus


4.Stop Talking

Paul foglino

Please stop talking, we know where we went wrong
Don't convince me, it won't matter when you're gone
I remember how it was, i don't want to reminisce
You don't have to set me straight, i don't want to learn from
this

Please stop talking
I don't need to know the reason why
Please stop talking
You should've stopped talking when you said goodbye

Break out the sticks and stones, that's how it's supposed to be
Tell your brothers what i did, tell them instead of telling me
You can stab me in the back some day,you can drown me in your
tears
I don't care if you poison me, just don't pour it in my ears

Please stop talking, you can save your breath
You never told me this before, you don't have to worry me to
death
If i could get a word in here, if i could have one final wish
I'd wish you only loved me half as much as you're enjoying this


5.My Dad's Face

Tom meltzer

When i look in the mirror i see my dad's face
Where my face used to be
Then i realize that he was about my age
When he started his own family
Then my radicalism, all my college marxism
Starts drifting on out to deep sea
When i look in the mirror and i see my dad's face
Where my face used to be

When i was a kid i used to look at my dad
And i'd say, 'this is who i am not.'
He used bryl-creem, i used hair spray
He was fat, i was skinny
He drank beer, i smoked pot
But now my feet are disappearing beneath an ocean of beer
And not so mysteriously
When i look at my face i see in its place
My dad's physiognomy

I used to look at my friends, they looked fifty years older
Some nights when i'd get too stoned
That's when i believed time was a visible line
With its end and beginning both shown
Now i know that's not true
But i've still got an idea pretty much of what i can expect
When i look in the mirror and i see my dad's mug
Sitting there right on top of my neck

Well, my dad had it rough, he couldn't keep his true love
He never reached his sought-after perfection
So as i headed down my own life's road
I headed straight in the other direction
Now, when i turn around, he's not so far away
And we're on the same road, i can see
When i look in the mirror and i see my dad's face
Where my face used to be


6.These Dreams

Paul foglino

Every day i get up and the day begins
And every day i dig a hole and i fill it in
People say, 'you're crazy, man, now don't you care
But i know there's treasure buried right down there
I watch my dreams collect like dirt around a poor boy's neck

These dreams shine like diamonds
Down in my soul
These dreams shine like diamonds
And i'm digging for coal

Sometimes it gets so hard to bear
When people look at me like i'm not even there
Or ask me what i've got to say
And nod their heads like it don't matter anyway
They don't pay me any mind cause i'm too dumb or they're too
blind

I see people get ahead
Or people eating cake instead of daily bread
But i ain't got it all that rough
If dreams don't take me anywhere they seem to take me far enough
It ain't much but it's okay to sleep all night and dream all day


7.Alone Together

Paul foglino

Are you lonely? dissatisfied?
Can't stand your present job, afraid of getting fired
Depressed? staring at the late night tube
You could call that number but you'd just get someone just like
you

Well, i feel that way too
Just the same as you
Like it's getting worse before it's getting better
I've got troubles of my own
But as long as you're alone
Stick with me and we'll be alone together

Beer is warm, dinner's cold and greasy
Even when life isn't hard it always seems uneasy
All alone, nobody seems to care
Everybody's got some place and you don't fit in anywhere

You wonder, will you always have to live in doubt
Sometimes you feel just like hank williams used to sing about
Through the window, the night's so still
And if you listen you can hear that lonesome whipporwill


8.Paul Cezanne

Tom meltzer

Well, i love cubism, it's my favorite style
When i see a cubist painting i've just got to smile
But there's one painter, i'm his biggest fan
He's the father of cubism and his name's cezanne, cezanne
Cezanne, cezanne, the father of cubism

Some people say that it was picasso
Other people claim it was dechirico
Some people think it was modiglian(i)
But they're all crazy, it was paul cezanne, cezanne
Cezanne, cezanne, the father of cubism

When paul cezanne sat down to paint a flower or a face
He had to solve one problem, three-dimensional space
He said, 'form is content.' he smoked a gitanne.
He was right. now he's paul cezanne, cezanne
Cezanne, cezanne, le pe de cubisme

Well cezanne's father wanted him to be an avocat
But paul just looked at him and said, 'pfff, mais non, pa.
I want to be a painter, i know i can!'
Now his oeuvre's in the louvre, he's paul cezanne, cezanne
Cezanne, cezanne, the father of cubism

Well i had an aunt and she was in a coma
So we loaded up her bed and we took her up to moma
We got through the door, you wouldn't beleive what began
She sat up and started screaming, 'hey, where is that paul
cezanne?'
Cezanne, cezanne, the miraculous father of cubism

Paul cezanne is famous now and i think that's really nice
'cause his melons look like footballs and his apples look like
dice
So all you would-be painters, get out your brush and can
You may be the next paul cezanne, cezanne
Cezanne, cezanne, the father of cubism
Cezanne, cezanne, the original father of cubism


9.Claudine

Paul foglino

I can see you through the window
By the glow from those party lights
But that glow just don't compare
With those tears shining in your eyes
I see you crying and looking across the street
And i'm alone here wishing that you'd look down at me
No one else can see

Kiss me, claudine
Kiss me, claudine
Kiss me, claudine
Kiss me, claudine

I can hear the people laughing
And i see you put the headphones on
Now you're swaying just a little bit
To some old girl group song
I can't stay much longer out here on the street
But i'm looking straight at you and i'm conquered in this car
seat
Are you looking at me?

Kiss me, claudine...

I wish you'd look at me instead of staring into empty space
But in your eyes are pop star lies the tears of clowns run down
your face

I think about leaving but i'll stay a while
Wish i could see those party lights reflected in a smile
If we were face to face i don't know what i'd do
If i was only twenty three years old and you were twenty two
Maybe we'd be meeting in the blue rose cafe
Talking about great poetry like walking in the rain
Would you walk with me

Kiss me, claudine...


10.Don't Regret

Paul foglino

She twists a finger in her hair
She lights a cigarette
She says 'someday i'm going to leave
And someday you'll forget
It might be tomorrow, it might never be
Don't regret, don't regret

Some folks want love like a razor
Where every kiss comes out a threat
Love is a dollar to everybody who
Is always slipping in and out of debt
Even if a love is just two people passing through
Don't regret, don't regret

I've heard that only time will tell
And that if it's real it shows
But what if time can keep a secret
What if true love never knows

Please don't promise to be true
With words that you'll forget
You don't need to believe in me
When all you know is that i haven't hurt you yet
Don't know about tomorrow so just let tomorrow be
Don't regret, don't regret


11.The Real Fast Car

Tom meltzer

I wish i had me a turbo-engine rocket-fuel jet car
Don't know where i'd go but i sure know that i'd go far
Head a million miles from here, find myself a new home
What if that place turns out to be the same as the place from
which i came?
What if i've got it good here and i don't even know?
What if that's why i'm still here when i really want to go?

I want to get away, i want to stay
I want to be free, i want you to build your world around me
I wish i could understand the meaning of my dreams

I wish i could write a song as good as visions of johanna
When i do will the heavens open and the angels sing hosanna?
I mean, how will i know i've done it? how will i realize?
When i sing it will a vision of you dance before my eyes?
And having something like that i'd have to try to top
Might be even worse than never having not no!
I wish i could hear what i'm saying now and smile
All the same, i haven't finished a song in a long, long while

Chorus

I dreamed the world was crumbling all around me
There in the rubble on the ground you found me
And i pull you tight i want to hold you close
At the same time i can't stay, i've got to go
And there's that car but it's all out of gas
I can tell by the speedometer it's the kind that goes real fast
I could be someone, be someone, you know i surely could
If i could stand on the rock where moses stood

Chorus twice


12.All I Need

Tom meltzer

More pretty girls than one, more pretty girls than one
Every town i wander 'round
More pretty girls than one

Just like old woody guthrie sung
There's more pretty girls in the world than one
But all i need is one, all i need is one

All i need is one, all i need is one
Two would just be too much fun
Three would leave me three times done
What do i need four for? all i need is one

Once i had a lover, now she's gone
I guess she just wasn't the one
All i need is the one, all i need is the one

Chorus

Hey, hey, woody guthrie i wrote you a song
It needed one verse, now it's done
All it needed was one, all it needed was one

All i need is one, all i need is one
Two would just be too much fun
Three would leave me three times done
Take me riding in a car car, this old song is done


13.I Always Knew

Paul foglino

I always knew you were too good for me
I always knew you knew it too
I did what i could, i knocked on wood, i hoped you understood
But i could never measure up to you

Now it scares me when i hear you talk
I know i never had a chance
But i'd rather be a nickel on the sidewalk
Than a penny in a rich man's pants

Now you've got someone to take care of you
He gives you everything you need
All those pretty things, engagement rings, all tied up in
strings
I only gave you what i got for free

I always knew you were too good for me
That's what you always used to say
It's so hard to protect your self respect,
In fact that's all i kept
And that's the only thing you gave away


14.Williamsburg

Tom meltzer

There's a cold rain pouring off the williamsburg bridge
The world's giving way beneath my feet
Someone once said that you're lucky when you're dead
You know sometimes i agree

They're sweeping hot bottle caps onto the street
There's a boy about 16 staring down
With a sick little smile just to prove he's alive
As he looks around for nothing on the ground

Once his life was a prison but it burst at the seams
When he found a way to leave his dreams behind
Now he lives in a mist he hopes will leave him so numb
That he'll die without a worry on his mind

Chorus

I was walking through williamsburg, taking it in
Trying to keep the courage not to run
When a boy left a bodega and he stepped in my path
In his right hand was a gun

He said, 'give me your money and i'll leave you alive'
And he shook and looked discouraged while he talked
And i tried not to watch him as he walked away
But i noticed a spring in his walk

Chorus

You only get one chance at everything on this earth
And everything you do you must redeem
It's a hard sad life most people'd rather throw away
On drinks and drugs and idle dreams

I was sitting in my bedroom staring at an empty fifth
The night was disappearing from my head
When i had a funny thought and i started to laugh
'cause i remembered what somebody said

Chorus


15.Jack Worships Janey

Tom meltzer

Jack's got a suit and tie
Jane still thinks that he's a pretty nice guy
But she left him a while ago, things got strange
Jack got into banking and jane got into change
Jane left the village after the war
Jack stuck around to ride his rising star

Jack worships janey from afar

Jack had a dream that he would make it some day
Then he'd take all his money and he'd move far away
Jane thought that waiting was all for the worse
'cause dreams are in your head, not in your purse
Jane left to live out her dream
Jack's still making that same old tired scene

Jack worships janey from afar

Jane moved to philly and she got along fine
Got herself a job with the suicide line
She does what she likes and she likes a whole lot
And she doesn't ever worry about things that she ain't got
Jack bought himself a brand-new car
A sporty mg with four on the floor

Jack worships janey from afar

Jack gets depressed but he don't know why
He loves his loft in soho and he loves his wife
But he dreams about janey when the lights are low
Sitting by the fire, listening to the radio
He knows his life will never be nothing but ok
Sometimes at night you can hear jack pray

Jack worships janey from afar