1.Sentimental Man
There is no heaven and there is no hell
No limbo in-between -- I think it's all a lie
Just a white light out to velvet black
and back to neutral gray -- that's all when we die
There is no fate that divides our day
no spirits hard at work, no unseen hand at play
people talk like it's a given thing
I dunno what they mean -- nor, I suspect, do they
I guess that's OK
But how do you know I'm not a sentimental man？
is it really so hard to see these things？ I guess it is
I couldn't tell you why, I think it's right there
nobody's perfect, but I'm doing what I can
and you best believe I'll keep it real
I'm an old testament type of guy
I like my coffee black, and my parole denied
even as I flake on every deal
I ever made with myself, before the ink could dry
Well I should keep that one inside...
How do you know I'm not a sentimental man？
is it really so hard to catch that vibe？ I guess it is
I couldn't tell you why, I think it's plain to see
certain disaster, and I really couldn't say how the fuck I could
let this get
so far
How do you know that I'm not your biggest fan？
Can you really make that case so clear？ I think you can't
I don't know why you try, I guess it's all a game
I'm under the covers and I'm telling you good night
'cos I plan to have some real fine dreams
2.Face Of The Earth
As kisses go, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.. The
alkaline lips, Her fingers zipped Around my belt...She had to
go, She took a step back in and then she started to smile, I
Heard a funny sound, And everything seemed to shift,.. yeah
A crazy wail, A funny shutter of a bad magnetic event, A ghost
ran through is, Moving Like a shadow on the ground... I wasn't
sure, I thought that something happened but I Didn't know what,
The moment seemed to fail, And I turned my eyes back to hers..
That's When I saw, I freeze the look of pre-alert and study it
still, her smile starts to loosen, her Pupils yawn wide And then
she's blown... From the face of the earth
There was no gust of wind, No noise, No nothing just a body
jerked skyward, limbs Failing like an unloved marionette, At
impossible speed, Receding away like a far away Dot...I can see
her still, scream for help but no one answered... She turned end
on end Like a long lost astronaut, I felt the summer air reclaim
me, the chirp of a bird, the whisper Of leaves, And I was
frozen... To the face of the earth
I never really knew the way she lived her life, I thought that
something happened but she never called back, I didn't know her
family or friends at all... With no one to call, summer turned
into fall, I gave up... It's been a couple years and I guess I'm
fine about it, It's not like we were married It was three or
four months, And nothing's really different Though it seems like
I've spent My life in planes, Which is kind of strange, But I
don't know....... yeah, yeah, yeah, No, no, yeah......
3.Pay For The Piano
People my people -- the cat in the steeple --
And everyone here I need your ear so be cool for a few
I feel a funny emotion, a negative notion
A tear in the air, an unseen stare, if I'm wrong then I'm wrong
What I say？
Senors and senoras -- they cannot ignore us --
We know that they know the score, it's there at the core
--always been
And we could give it up all nice, or put it on cold ice
While that could suffice I give these dreams up in hell -- ring
a bell --
What I say？
Somebody's got to pay for the piano
Somebody's got to make sure we honor everyone
I know if we can forfeit all our sorrow, it may as well be us
People my people, supreme to my equal
Say not a word I know you're tired so am I, I could cry
You know you knew it would be hard to play such a bad card
Lower your guard to unseen harm 'cos you're scarred, I can see
And the people that need you say the couldn't read you
You plant 'em a seed they claim they loved all the weeds
So you flee -- what I say？
So people my people -- the cat in the steeple --
And everyone here I know your fear like a friend -- I contend --
Commandos commandettes, it wasn't a sure bet
But nothing good was and what should or could be does what it
can
It's a quiet and sad choice you hear in your own voice
I know what I'd like and I can't say anymore： Je t'adore
so break it down...
4.Secret Curse
Secret Curse
Anonymous hex on flavorless food and terrible sex
A day of no rhythm a night of no rest
And I do not know what sin I have not confessed
Secret Curse
Terrible blight I'm deafened by sound and blinded by light
Caught when I flee and beat when I fight and I'm cocky when
wrong
And timid when right and I don't know what crimes have yet to
come to light
But it's getting worse
Indelible mark, tired at noon, wired at dark
A terrible bite, but never a bark, I don't know what else I can
do
I don't know who you are... please, I'm sorry
Secret Curse
Unwashable stain, ugly when bold, boring when plain
Stricken with pleasure and taken with pain
And I'm nervous and lost and I can not refrain
Secret Curse
Unsingable song, melody weird, getting it wrong
Pussy when tender and brutal when strong
And I'm losing my friends as we're getting along
And I really do try to run that fast and long but it gets there
first
Invisible eye, sad if I laugh, mad if I cry
Screwed if I live, screwed if I die
I try and I try and I don't know what else I can do
5.Automatic
I dunno what brings you 'round again
I dunno what sends you on your way again, it's not for me to say
there's a bright light right around the bend
see it bathe us both in that fluorescent glow, so monstrous and
final
I could see you through the dirty waves
smiling like a vampire as you disappeared beneath the whitecaps
but a man can't live for what he saves
I could feel my toes curl through the yellow sand as I watched
you slip away
Once again the politics of common sense： you do and I don't
I could tell you it's not true but what's the use, it's
automatic
caught inbetween
was a star that once burned crazy red
an ashen globe that spins with dead momentum lost in absolute
space
even as this wavelength pulses dread
linger like the cold burn of electric shocks, so slow to fade
away
Once again the fireworks of bad ideas： you will and I won't
light the sky with long-gone hate that comes from where it's
automatic
caught inbetween
6.Following Through
It coulda been good
It coulda been something special
It may have had real potential
It never could show
It coulda been great
It could been something alright
But we never did keep it that tight
So whaddya know？
I get up at 5am I so don't need those dreams that I used to have
It coulda been swell
It coulda been off the hook now
If we ever had what it took now
I haven't a clue
I think it's as well
We may have been on the right track
Finding all the pieces we lack
But what can you do？
Now I see that these are cards we drew some time ago, so if you
don't know：
I can do it anywhere with anyone at anytime don't you forget
This is my life and it's going to be good, don't you know
Not a promise or a threat or an ultimatum, though I can do that
too
I'm just telling you, I've got this life I've got to live
I'm just following through
I dishonor the past
Being so loose with my time
I could stand accused of high crimes
In the court of the dead
And I could be next
On a page about to turn soon
So I'm movin' my ass at high noon
You heard what I said
I could say I hope I'm not misread, but that's all right
I'm quite OK with losing that fight
7.Time Bomb
Well i, i am a time bomb and i, i lay forgotten at the bottom of
your heart...
I'm fine, ticking away the hours to blow your world apart
I, i am a poison and i, i am still coursing through your
bloodstream like
A ghost, like wine, gathering vintage for the day i hurt the
most
I, i am a land mine and i, i lay on the soil burned out by
battles you thought
You'd won, i've got time... to wait for the footsteps.. of a
memory that's on
The run...yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Well i, i am a tar pit and i, i swell like a living thing all at
the slightest
Touch.. a black grime, yeah, swallowing everything.. a cold and
timeless clutch
I, well i am a trip wire, and i, i'm stretching across the road
you're
Barreling down tonight...a thinish twine, waiting to be released
right beyond
your sight
I, well i am a fault line and i, i'm pulling apart the ground
that lay beneath
Your newest seed.. so fine, moving in inches now, I'm crawling,
I'm cutting, I'm cleaving, like a knife.
Well i, i am a time bomb i only live in that one moment in which
you die... its
Not right, its not what i wanted then but you know and i know
there's no going
back
I, i am a lost soul and i, i send out a sickened light for
anyone to see... a
Cry for help, yeah, a warning to stay away... the burning... the
blinding...
The reaching in darkness...why, yeah, yeah
8.Other Side
There are times when you will not like the sound of my voice
There are days when a warm look from a strange face will make me
forget my name
There'll be nights when you wonder where the party's at now
And you wonder why you never split this beat scene when a higher
life awaits
There'll be days when you don't know how you picked the wrong
life
In a second when it's over in our own minds -- and it's gone
without a sound
There are fights that'll hear things that we know we don't mean
And we say 'em 'cos we don't know what we both want and we can't
get to the other side
There are years that'll fly like wind across a flood plain
Unaware of its own weight, free of friction, and immune to its
own speed
There are weeks that'll crawl like slugs across a hot road
Only moving 'cos it just don't know how to stop on a search for
God knows what
And there are songs that'll make your skull ring like a dropped
cup
Resonating with the reasons why you worked through -- and the
reasons why you stayed
For the long nights when you found a new resolve that I never
knew was there
For the cold eye and the warm embrace now
For the righteous vibe that I need like the air I breathe
There are times when you'll think you've got my funny number
figured out
There'll be days when I don't feel like I ever knew you all that
well and there are lines, Drawn around, behind, above and over
everyone
In an effort to figure out the place and time, the right, the
wrong, the yours, the mine, and I'll be damned if I feel like I
will ever know anything
But if don't keep moving on that last hill,
We'll never know what's on the other side
9.Ellen And Ben
Ellen and Ben
They met at someone's house warming party
They didn't like each other at first
I was still there
I heard them talking as they found their rain coats
They made a date expecting the worst
When Ellen got home she made a snack
and went up on her rooftop
and didnt think about Ben at all
She stayed up for hours just watching all the drunk folks find
their taxis
'cause all in all it was a good night
Soco (southern comfort)in bed, a sunny sunday watching John
McLaughlin
And having sex again and again
I'd stopped by cause Ellen had my copy of Nebraska
They never even put on their clothes
I hung for a while but everytime I tried to ask them something
they started
making out all again
I thougt it was rude
I couldnt tell you why, why
Ellen and Ben they may as well run off to Havana
They simply disappeared for a year
They'd show up at shows
But less and less and saying 'hi' to no one
And why they even came was unclear
They got a new place
But Neither of their names were in the phonebook
So no one really knew where they where
I thought it was cheap
But I couldnt tell you why
yea yea why yea yea
When I was ten I had this book of modern fighter planes with
F-15s and MiGs
And headed for a brighter future with ----------
------ the Ocean City girls on the boardwalk singing oh oh oh oh
oh oh yeah ye
yah yah yah
Ellen and Ben I heard they broke up loudly at a wedding and
never saw each
other again
It seems kinda weird, they make each other feel like they could
die but they
couldnt stay the slightest of friends
I'm doing fine, I'm staying busy hanging with my nephew
And trying to keep my eyes on the prize
You know how it goes
And so do I
So call me when you can now
You know how I love a surprise
O yea O yea
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