1.All Things Being The Same
She is searching for some form of salvation
In the corner of a bar down the street,
But the gin controls whole conversations
And plays magic tricks with her feet...
She gets up, falls down, breaks even,
Gets caught by the wrong mister right --
Hey, it's a hard town.
I wouldn't want to live in it --
But i wouldn't want to give up in it,
All things being the same...
Back home she's got these pictures on her mirror,
They frame her when she looks back at her face.
They tell her where she's been --
I'll tell you where she's going,
She's got her name on a stool down at eddie owen's place...
She drinks when romance brings her down.
Like the sight of blood is a wedding gown.
Bright lights and smoke fill up this space.
It's a crowded room, but still a lonely old place...
All her friends are nothing more than strangers,
Whose names are just words on a face .
If they bumped into her out on a sidewalk on some sunday,
They wouldn't recognize her outside of the place
2.3,000 Miles
My name is robert wilson,
I'm from eau claire, wisconsin.
I've been living out of a
Suitcase now for fourteen days...
I walked the boulevard in hollywood,
I caught a vegas show that was no good --
Met a dancer there that starred in a broadway play.
But it's a lonely world from this greyhound,
Believe me, i've been here fourteen days.
Three thousand miles,
I've been here fourteen days,
Three thousand miles...
Now twenty-one is as good a guess as any age that i'd confess
to,
Let's just say i'm old enough to get away.
Back in school, i found the only written truth
On bathroom stalls and telephone booths.
I studied awhile, but college got in my way.
I've learned much more from the back of this greyhound,
Believe me, i've been here fourteen days.
Three thousand miles,
I've come a long, long way,
Three thousand miles...
Have you seen？
The world outside is turning --
And it's yours --
We were put here for the learning.
People talk to themselves on greyhounds,
Even the driver strains to hear
They tell the same forgotten story --
Will it fall on forgetful ears？
Down in houston on comes this woman
With two kids and a bottle of booze,
And she cracked them both like match heads
Whenever they ventured too close to her fuse.
And i sat with a girl from boston,
Playing cards for cigarettes.
I lost her name with the poker game,
But her name i will never forget --
You never forget the view from these windows,
Believe me, i've been here fourteen days...
Three thousand miles,
I've come a long, long way,
Three thousand miles...
3.Here She Is
If you could paint her, she'd be a picasso.
She's got a few things out of place.
Like when she smiles, it's slightly out of line.
It's half awkward, yet half grace.
While you're unraveling this mystery
Of where she fits in time and space,
She'll drag you into this lover's tale,
Though she will not give a reason.
And if you fight her tooth and nail,
She won't give up until you lose...
She wants the last word, the last dance.
She thinks it's absurd that you believe in second chances.
You're a lost cause, yet here she is.
And that's the mystery. here she is...
She's a poem by ferlinghetti.
She's the angel from a nursery rhyme
She'll set you a place at your table,
Then fill your cup till you're drunk on red wine.
She don't believe in stars or in miracles,
But she reads your horoscope daily.
And if your response is too cynical,
She'll say, 'who are you to know？'
While you're unraveling this mystery
Of where she fits in time and space,
She'll memorize your history
And decorate your place.
4.Autobiography Of A Pistol
I'm a pistol, a forty-five,
I just shot two men in this hot-house dive.
Now i'm smoking - burning hot barrel of metal.
Believe it or not, i was bought by this guy named ray,
A card carrying member of the nra,
But he left me out in his car one day,
And now the finger on my trigger hasn't seen it's sixteenth
birthday.
Some things they never tell you when you're riding the assembly
line.
Like who'll be the hands to hold you and what's their state of
mind - -
Hey, i'm not much bigger than a pointed index finger.
So who am i to lay the blame？
I'm only here to cause some pain...
The sirens --
I can hear them, they're singing ...
They're singing my song,
'when the sun sets, i get upset --
Darkness fills me and i want to light up the world'...
Would you believe i've seen better days？
I starred in westerns and won rave reviews.
Now i sit on a shelf, tagged for judgment day.
I've got to change the jury's point of view.
You see, guns don't kill people, it's the bullets that do.
I said guns don't kill people, bullets do.
Yeah, the bullets do...
5.River
While hollywood sleeps,
A young man is dying
On the concrete of a sidewalk downtown.
As his brother weeps,
The sirens come calling
And the medics feed him lines on the ground.
Run, river, run...
The director speaks,
The cameras are rolling.
A boy steps between the backdrop and the lights.
And he's stealing the scene,
With the crew as his witness.
The whole industry will judge him come academy night
Now the tabloids will say what they want to,
And the cameras will re-enact his fall.
His legacy speaks, but no one can hear it,
'cause his death has made critics of us all.
His legacy speaks
In the canister rooms,
In the archives of great studio halls.
And there it will keep like a secret that's whispered between
lovers
And those who never knew him at all.
6.Last At The Table
Preacher won't you preach to me,
I need a pint of philosophy.
I'm hurt and thirsty, set me on my way.
Mondays come and mondays go,
But this one seems to be sort of slow.
Can you tell me sir, when will there come a change？
I'm the one who's last at the table,
I'm the one who never gets the gold.
You're the one who says i'm able,
But you turn your words with lies and fables...
Mothers won't you cry for me,
I'll sell your tears for a token fee
On a street corner where drunk patrons stand laughing.
And they'll stop, they'll stare at me,
Scratch at their heads, 'how can this be？'
I'll say, 'i was born like you, --
' then i'll startin dancin'...
Hello, mr. bureaucrat.
You pick who's thin -- you pick who's fat.
Now what makes you so fit for the shoes you walk in？
In an office space you get a taste
For paper money and paper waste.
Now who gets what depends on who is talking...
7.Last Call
You said, 'don't wait up, don't count the minutes.'
So here i am watching paint fade from the walls.
On the tv, planes are dancing to the national anthem,
So the whole world knows it's long past last call.
I sat through tarzan swinging through the jungle,
And godzilla crushing buildings and all.
The light from this tv can make it all look so easy.
It makes this room feel incredibly small.
Last call, last call.
Now i've heard it all.
The excuses get weaker as the stories get tall.
You step off with the wrong foot, the drunk fool at the ball.
Well, i'm not up for dancing.
I'm up past last call.
Clock keeps on talkin'.
It says, 'fool go to bed --
Why waste the words, they've already been said.'
But i can't shut my eyes with this face in my head,
So tonight i plan on clearing my mind.
I could lay my head in the arms of the sofa,
And wait for headlights to roll across these walls.
But when your key finds the door, your feet find the floor,
They'll be greeted by empty rooms and empty halls.
8.Who Killed John Lennon
Do not mention his name.
The man kills john lennon, now he's on tv again.
He's blaming holden caulfield in the face of the lens.
And each time he does it, he kills him again.
Who killed john lennon？
A loser with a pistol, a martyr's best friend.
And each time he's televised, he kills him again.
It's the prize that he wanted when he loaded the gun.
And each time he's mentioned, murder is done.
So, who killed john lennon？
A no one.
He's on tv again.
He's playing the hero.
The networks won't let the story end.
He brings in the ratings for them.
He's playing the hero.
But he's a killer.
He's been convicted.
He's been convicted...
His lawyer must think it's a game.
Though he knows lennon's songs, both in word and by name.
He cold calls the networks, retrieves all the funds.
Then he scrapes his percentage when the programs are run.
Who killed john lennon？
A lawyer, an agent.
Big money's best friend.
And each time he's televised, they kill him again.
It's the prize that they wanted when he emptied the gun.
And each time he's mentioned, murder is done.
So who killed john lennon？
A no one.
A no one.
9.King Of 7th Avenue
King of 7th avenue i can count all the lights in the city from
the ledge on the twenty- seventh floor.
There must be ten thousand window or more.
It's a hobby i can count on, helps me forget about the cold.
And i get to meet the neighbors for as long as the ledge will
hold.
In the window across from me, a man is committing a robbery.
It's another form of the new york city lottery.
His ears must be burning, he drops the bag and he stares.
I'm the man out on the building.
Yes, there's no net down there...
And there's a woman below that i see.
Her silhouette is quite beautiful.
It plays tricks on my memory.
Puts a face on the shadows in front of me.
A crowd below is forming, beneath this
Window ledge, my throne.
I am the king of seventh avenue,
New york city is my home.
I think the sirens have come for me,
Their searchlights reach up to the balcony.
They bathe me in light, blind me so i can't see.
I hear the crowd all ask for jumping,
While the cops all ask for calm.
Even the pigeons think i'm something,
The whole city is in my palms.
My daughter lisa says to me,
'dad the world is yours, and it's beautiful.
Don't throw it all away on memories.
You've got to meet new people...'
Yeah, that will be good for me.
Good for me.
Good for me.
So i watch the lovers behind their shades.
I've seen them embrace after their furious fights.
I've watched them mend their fences, make their love all night.
Only to tear them down again,
Change the limits, change the boundaries.
The same beginning, the same end.
Yet the story still astounds me.
The whole world now is watching.
From this window ledge my throne,
I'm the king of seventh avenue
And tonight i'm not alone. i'm not alone.
10.Looking For My Friends
This time let's not bring up my disasters,
Or put me on some couch like sigmund freud.
Your textbooks filled with hypothetical answers.
So summarize, she called it null and void.
What do you want me to tell you？
What do you want me to say？
I've been cut by the rose again.
All the petals have fallen to pieces.
Now i'm left with the thorn and the stem.
I'm out looking for my friends, looking for my friends.
She left the note in the sleeve of my coat, that was not nice --
I called her on the phone, the voice that spoke, it was cold, it
was hard as ice.
I tried to speak,
The connection was weak
'cause i was talking to a machine.
She said, 'if this is you, we're totally through,'
And that's the last of her i've seen.
What do you want me to tell you？
I got the message loud and clear --
Now i can't talk, 'cause talk is cheap.
I'm in a no-win situation.
There are no words that i could speak that would mend this
broken rose.
So here i am, on the couch of a friend who submits his
observations,
He says love just comes and goes...
11.Don't Breathe
Picture my face at your kitchen table,
We're both fifteen years old.
Your parents are sleeping upstairs in their bedroom,
The house is quiet, but cold.
Did i tell you then？
These are moments whole lifetimes are built on.
You're my best friend,
And if it's tonight will these walls hold our secret？
Don't breathe out loud --
It's like breaking glass,
And the walls must hold the moments fast...
Picture my face in the space of your garage.
We're still fifteen years old.
Naked in blankets,
The angels would thank us
If they knew how the future was told.
Did i tell you then？
These are moments whole lifetimes are built on.
You're my best friend --
And now we're skin to skin
Only sweat runs between us.
Don't breathe out loud...
Don't breathe out loud...
Don't breathe...
Hold these pieces, pictures in tatters.
Fade the colors, still a fortune to hold.
Picture my face in frame in a picture
Of when we were fifteen years old.
Fumbling for answers,
Two out of step dancers
Content in darkness to hold.
Did i tell you then？
These are moments my whole life is built on.
You're my best friend.
Did i tell you then？
Did i tell you then？
Did i tell you？
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