Human Wheels

John Mellencamp Human Wheels Lyrics
1.Beige To Beige

No songs on the stereo
That we could sing with anymore
No dance that i can do
That would not embarrass you
A sound bite here and there
With no reason for me to care

Chorus:
It's just beige to beige
That's all it is these days
Little windows for you to crawl through
You just do what's expected of you
It's just beige to beige to beige
These days

Uniforms for this and that
To be in our club you must wear this hat
Charlie's gonna look out for you
You just do what you're supposed to do
You're gonna fit in here
Just like you should
Learn the rules and learn them good

Chorus:
It's just beige to beige
That's all it is these days
Little windows for you to crawl through
You just do what's expected of you
It's just beige to beige to beige
These days

If you need a thought
We'll give it to you
Our statistics show what we do is true
A world without color
Is a world without sound
A world to keep the rabble down
So close the deal, close the door
Forget about the colors that you knew before

Chorus:
It's just beige to beige
That's all it is these days, yeah
Little windows for you to crawl through
And charlie gonna take care of you
It's just beige to beige to beige
These days


2.Case 795(The Family)

Tony jones stabbed alice jones
On their first anniversary
Down in dallas, texas
In a small apartment
With nobody present
He pulled out a knife
And he stuck it to her
He left her bleeding
On the floor in the kitchen
With cake on her fingers
And her wedding ring holding
In her hand was a note
That said the wicked must suffer
And he drove off quickly
To his girlfriend's apartment
But who really suffers in the end?
It's easy enough for us to pretend that

Chorus:
Everything's all right with the family
Everything is safe here at home
Everything's all right with the family
The beds are made but there's no sheets on

From the courtroom stand
Tony said he was sorry
That he was sad and mixed up
And he didn't know what he was doing
That he'd always loved alice
And he begged for forgiveness
So he threw himself
On the mercy of the jury
And he told how his father
Had beat and abused him
Back in grade school
In the basement den
And that maybe prison
Was the best thing for him
And he said, 'oh god, can you forgive me?' yeah
But who really suffers in the end?
It's easy enough for us all to pretend that

Chorus:
Everything's all right with the family
Everything is safe here at home
Everything's all right with the family
The beds are made but there's no sheets on

How many days does it take to make us weak?
And how many hours do people spend lonely?
In the heart of the heart the family lay dying
The ruin of a nation lies at our feet, yeah

Chorus:
Everything's all right with the family
Everything is safe here at home
Everything's all right with the family
The beds are made but there's no sheets on

Everything's all right with the family
Everything is safe here at home
Everything's all right with the family
The beds are made but there's no sheets on


3.French Shoes

He was a good lookin' guy
Stood about six foot three
Long brown hair
As nice as he could be
Everybody liked him
But he didn't have a clue
He looked silly as hell
In those funny french shoes

You know the type
Without any heels
Leather soles
Kind of a slip on deal
He was cavalier
Whether he'd win or lose
But he looked silly as hell
In those funny french shoes

I know it's not right
To judge a man by his clothes
By the way that he looks
Or the people he may know
I'm embarrassed to say
If i had to choose
I could never really trust
Any man wearing those funny french shoes

Funny french shoes
Funny french shoes
No man should be wearin'
Those funny french shoes
They look good on a woman's foot
I must say that they do
But no guy should be wearin'
Those funny french shoes

Get some socks on, man!


4.Human Wheels

This land today, shall draw its last breath
And take into its ancient depths
This frail reminder of its giant, dreaming self
While i, with human-hindered eyes
Unequal to the sweeping curve of life
Stand on this single print of time

Chorus:
Human wheels spin round and round
While the clock keeps the pace
Human wheels spin round and round
Help the light to my face

That time, today, no triumph gains
At this short success of age
This pale reflection of its brave and
Blundering deed
For i, descend from this vault
Now dreams beyond my earthly fault
Knowledge, sure, from the seed

Chorus:
Human wheels spin round and round
While the clock keeps the pace
Human wheels spin round and round
Help the light to my face

This land, today, my tears shall taste
And take into its dark embrace
This love, who in my beating heart endures
Assured, by every sun that burns
The dust to which this flesh shall return
It is the ancient, dreaming dust of god

Chorus:
Human wheels spin round and round
While the clock keeps the pace
Human wheels spin round and round
Help the light to my face
Human wheels spin round and round
While the clock keeps the pace
Human wheels spin round and round
Help the light to my face


5.Junior

They call me junior
I live here on the street
I earn two hundred dollars a week
I'd like to say
'hey, thanks a lot'
I know i'm missin' something
But i don't know what it is
That i don't got

I sit here watchin'
The people down below
I try to imagine
The places they may go
I don't know
I stay home a lot
I know i'm missin' something
But i don't know what it is
That i don't got

Chorus:
I see the world through the tv guide
What a safe place for me to run
What a small little man i am
I'm afraid of everything
From golden rules to airplanes
What a small little man i am

They call me junior
I'm caught up in this hell
Sometimes i feel better
But i never do feel well.
Jesus must have one hell of a plan for me
I know i'm missin' something
But i don't know what it is
That i don't got

And if i have anything to say
About judgement day
There'll be a crown in heaven
For those who live this way
Anyway
You know exactly who you are

Chorus:
I see the world through the tv guide
What a safe place for me to run
What a small little man i am
I'm afraid of everything
From the golden rule to airplanes
What a small little man i am

They call me junior
I live here on the street
I earn two hundred dollars a week
I'd like to say
'hey man, thanks a lot'
My name is junior

Chorus:
I see the world through the tv guide
What a safe place for me to run
What a small little man i am
I'm afraid of everything
From the golden rule to airplanes
What a small little man i am


6.Suzanne And The Jewels

Suzanne was the jewel keeper
In a word she stole all the jewels
And she took them to a foreign land
Which was strictly against all the rules
And she wore them all proudly
Like a tiara crown on her head
She slept with them at night
Suzanne and the jewels in a bed

Chorus:
Suzanne and her jewels
Livin' on the edge of a friend
Suzanne, how will you sleep at night
When they take that crown from your head?

Suzanne lived down by the river
The fountain of youth did flow
And she played on a steel guitar
And the drifters did come and they'd go
And she'd put on her crown
And she'd sing them a song
And some drifters would stay here the night
But they never did stay long

Chorus:
Suzanne and her jewels
Livin' on the edge of a friend
Suzanne, how will you sleep at night
When they take that crown from your head?

This girl flew on the wind
She wrote her own name in the stars
Just goes to show sometimes you win
No matter how crazy you are
But a thief can come knocking
Even with blood on the door
And drink up your fountain of youth
And throw your jewels and your crown on the floor

Chorus:
Suzanne and her jewels
Livin' on the edge of a friend
Suzanne, how will you sleep at night
When they take that crown from your head?

Suzanne and her jewels
Livin' on the edge of a friend
Suzanne, how will you sleep at night
When they take that crown off your head?


7.Sweet Evening Breeze

I was loud and a little sad
She was visiting from atlanta, georgia
She had come to spend the summer with her dad
I thought she was very pretty
We would kiss and hold hands
Every night by the football field
Her body was tan
From the afternoons by the public swimming pool

Chorus:
Sweet evening breeze
Blows around my thoughts and memories
As i lie here today
And drink my tea
I can still see
Sweet evening breeze

I saw her in a coffee shop
In a big hotel down in austin, texas
She had cut her long hair off
And replaced it with
Blue eyes of sadness
Still acted like we were kids
And she told me that she had to marry
And she asked me if i did
Still remember

Chorus:
Sweet evening breeze
Blows around my thoughts and memories
As i lie here today
And drink my tea
I can still see
Sweet evening breeze

How redundant the future can be
These days of old are very, very
Ridiculous for me to see
When i think about the real gone stories
And how time holds the winning hand
I can tell by the lines on our faces
And the young can't understand
That they look at me
When they look at themselves

Chorus:
Oh, sweet evening breeze
Blows around my thoughts and memories
As i lie here today
And drink my tea
I can still see
Sweet evening breeze


8.To The River

They are master and slave
We are sunlight and shadow
All roads to the river
I am lost. i am saved
I'm beloved and betrayed
All roads to the river

Chorus:
And the river runs wide
And the river runs deep
And i spit in the eye
Of safe company
When i dive right down
To the undertow
Well, the deeper i drown
Lord, the higher i'll go

I am whispering dreams
I am howling revolutions
All roads to the river
I am valentine sweet
And i live in this nightmare
All roads to the river

Chorus:
And the river runs wide
The river runs deep
And i spit in the eye
Of safe company
When i dive right down
To the undertow
Well, the deeper i drown
Lord, the higher i'll go

This is nothing like we planned
That's the way it's always been
All roads to the river
I have hated and i have loved
I have prayed and i have sinned
All roads to the river

Chorus:
And the river runs wide
The river runs deep
And i spit in the eye
Of safe company
When i dive right down
To the undertow
Well, the deeper i drown
Lord, the higher i'll go


9.What If I Came Knocking

What if i came knocking
On your front door some night?
Would you open the window
And drop me down the key?
What if i came knocking
On your bedpost that same night?
Would you open up your heart
Or try to get the best of me?

What if i came knocking
On your brain the next day
And ask for your truth and your love and your honesty?
Would you build up your big walls
And try to hide behind that smile
Or would you try to pull the wool right over me?

So what if i came knocking?
So what if i came knocking?
So what if i came kicking
And it scared you a little bit
And i came on strong
Would you think
That there's something wrong with me?
Or could it be your fears
Of trying something real
Or just afraid to touch
A guy like me?

What if i came knocking?
What if i came knocking?
What if i came knocking
On your front door some night? ahh

So let's just say it worked out
Like a storybook dream
And we lived happily ever after
Fa la la la
But what if i came crying
After just a few weeks
And said i misread my heart
This is not really meant to be? yeah

So if you hear some knocking
On your window tonight
You can bet that it's probably me
But let it be known
That we're just a pair of tumbling dice
And the outcome of these crap shoots
Is hard to see

So what if i came knocking?
So what if i came knocking?
So what if i came knocking
On your front door tonight? ahh
So what if i came knocking?
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knocking
Kick, kick, kick
What if i came knocking
On your front porch tonight, tonight?


10.When Jesus Left Birmingham

When jesus left birmingham
All the disciples went crazy
When jesus left birmingham
All the people went completely nuts
They all busted out on a wild night
Riding high on a golden calf
When jesus left birmingham
All the people had themselves a big long laugh

Well my girl, she's a walker
And she can talk herself out of any mess
My girl, she don't pray
But somehow she seems still to be blessed
And when those crazy nights come callin'
Man, she'll dance on the tables
Like all of the rest
When my girl left birmingham
She was doing what she thought was best

It's all free on the inside
I passed a very uncomfortable feeling last night
Save us right now, we need you...
To hell with all the lies and liars
Recovery, recovery, i don't know about any recovery
Inside, gotta get inside
Inside

I see myself with a rosary
I'm in a garden and i'm talking to myself
I ain't sayin' much worth repeating
Just askin' for forgiveness and all of his best
When those crazy nights come callin'
Man, i'm just as human as i can be
When jesus left birmingham
He left it there for you and me
When jesus left birmingham
He left it there for you and me

So let it rock, let it roll
Let the bible belt come and save my soul

(repeat out.)