1.A Hiccup In Your Happiness
The start is the hardest part
To step inside and announce a newly broken heart
And Louise, you're ill at ease
You bite your thumb and tug your skirt below your knees
And it hurts even more than you thought
The words get caught
And sad as you are, you're glad of the wine you brought
I've no idea what you need to hear
My mother used to say there's always next year
But please don't despair, Louise
Today will end and your heart will mend, if by degrees
And it hurts even more than you thought
And it feels like forever just now
But one day you'll look back on this
As a hiccup in your happiness....
2.The Music Next Door
A week went by, and then another
And not a word from you
I remember when a day would be unusual
I saw the spring become the summer
As the spring is wont to do
And I began to find the boredom almost beautiful
Oh, I must admit I welcomed it
As a month unfolded into a few
I thought of you now and then
I glimpsed you once but you were gone again
When the autumn turned to winter
As autumn ought to do
I thought Oh! What if the sun never shone
And then you sprang to mind unbidden
When it didn't
It might have been the music from next door
Reminded me I should have missed you more
A song I've heard a hundred times before
A year went by, and yet another
And not a word from you
I remember when a day would be unusual
But I bumped into your brother
In the supermarket queue
And he wondered if the feeling wasn't mutual
Then, from in the wings, a neighbour sings
It might have been the music from next door
Reminded me I should have missed you more
A song I've heard a hundred times before
3.Great Lengths
Remember that New Year's Eve
We were frightened by a firework？
You could not believe the fuss I made
I should have laughed it off
I should have left it lying
I did not receive much sympathy
Remember that we were poor
Though so young as not to notice
We could ill-afford to paint the town
You had your father's charm
And thus your mother's Volvo
It wasn't long before you drove me home
It took until October
To win you over
Remember that New Year's Eve
We were frightened by a firework？
When I'd watched you leave, the fuss I made
I made myself calm down
And I made myself a promise：
I would not conceive of taking no for an answer
Though you kept me guessing and your distance
Were it not for my persistence
We would never have been lovers
You kept your distance and me guessing
Finally acquiescing only after I'd discovered
You kept the things I sent you
The lengths I went to
Great lengths...
4.Now I'm Even Further Away
Alone tonight
I'd rather be by your side
As I drift out to sea
I think I should be in another place
Closer to the lips on your face
But now I'm even further away
Now I'm even further away
Now I'm even further away
Now I'm even further away
I started a fire and burned it down
My one desire is that beautiful sound
The sound of your voice
Tickling inside my mind now
But now I'm even further away
Now I'm even further away
Now I'm even further away
Now I'm even further away
From your secret sky
Ringlets of your hair in your eyes
5.The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco
Is it April yet？
I forget sometimes how slowly summer passes
You disappeared into Departures
Only half a year ago
It seems like so much more, you know
I went a fortnight without so much as an email
Then a postcard scant of detail
In which you wished me all the best
From the non-specific north west
Should it one day come to pass
That you sit down to your memoirs
Where will this go？
The chapter in your life entitled San Francisco
Are you warm enough？
I remember how the fog comes off the water
And the days are ever shorter
And I worry you'll be cold
Or have you found someone to hold？
I spent the summer with the curtains drawn against it
Counting all the nights you've wasted
Under unfamiliar stars
Should it one day come to pass
That you sit down to your memoirs
Where will this go？
The chapter in your life entitled San Francisco
Are you ever coming clean？
Or will I never know the meaning
Of the lines you scribbled out
So that I couldn't read between？
Are you ever coming home？
Or should I learn to do without you？
Should it one day come to pass
That you sit down to your memoirs
Where will this go？
The chapter in your life entitled San Francisco
6.Sunlight In A Jar
We've never been much chop at all that sensual stuff
One of us always seems to stop before the other's had enough
Like a self-help manual that's been written in Braille
It seems the more that we touch, the more we learn about our
failings
I'm struck speechless by the nape of your neck
But your requests and suggestions have a similar effect
A litany of prettiness and pettiness too
I reckon every second second we come up with something new
I tried to write an opera for us
But I didn't get that far
'Cause trying to sum you up in song
Is like catching sunlight in a jar
Complex, completely credible love
The kind that is made not handed to you from above
Is difficult to talk about and harder to write
Like the rhythm of a pulse, or the contours of firelight
Overblown libretto and a sumptuous score
Could never contain the contradictions I adore
We can just be chaos and then something aligns
It's so hard to contain, maintain it or define it
I tried to write another chorus
But I didn't get that far
'Cause trying to sum you up in song
Is like catching sunlight in a jar
It's like catching sunlight in a jar
7.If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now
Towards the limit of maps
The roads surrender to empty spaces
The roofline seems to collapse into the evening
I was asleep on the passenger's side
White as a ghost against a floodlit billboard
Day casts different light upon those promises
But you know it's true
If you lived here, you'd be home now
And yet don't forget
If you lived here, you'd be home now
Even the stereo sounds tired
Here where the power poles look more like robot skeletons
Slack-wired against the evening
Let's just drive until we've found somewhere
There are more headstones in the cemetery
Than houses in the town
And never leave
'Cause you know it's true
If you lived here, you'd be home now
And yet don't forget
If you lived here, you'd be home now
Tonight the cul-de-sacs are quiet
The driveways don't lead anywhere
There's no-one else awake
We could trust our deepest secrets
To the artificial lake
We're in no hurry anyway
We both could use the break
8.Young And Dumb
The last time I saw you
My guitar had just been stolen out the back of a car
And you were showing The Hemlock the scars of your recent
break-up
We went searching all over town
Turned the city upside-down
But I forgot what was going on when you lit that place up
My throat was dry
But there was vodka flowing down from the summer sky
And in the Tenderloin that night, I felt a brand new spark now
We were talking after the show
Back at ten-ten-and-a-half
Wanted to tell you that no guitar could fix our broken hearts
now
But hold on, the best things happen
When you don't know what's going on
Slow down and don't say nothing
Just remember that we're still young
And kinda ... dumb
Young and dumb
But hold on, the best things happen
When you don't know what's going on
Slow down and don't say nothing
'Cause the best things in love are still waiting to come
Hold on, the best things happen
When you don't know what's going on
Slow down and quit your yappin'
Just remember that we're still young
And kinda dumb
Young and dumb
9.Putting It Off And Putting It Off
Oh, you'd think I would have learned by now
But no I make the same mistake somehow
Time and time again
I've been doing it for days
Putting it off and putting it off
I've been doing it for ages
Oh, it's always hanging over me
Like a bad dream not forgotten easily
Like a cartoon cloud above
I've been doing it for days
Putting it off and putting it off
As pointless as it is
I've been doing it for years
Putting it off and putting it off
I've been doing it for ages
Oh, you'd think I would have learned by now
But know I've been doing it for days
Putting it off and putting it off
10.I Don't Want To Walk Around Alone No More
I don't want to walk around alone no more
In sleepytown, no fun no more
It's silent till the breeze strips bark from the trees
I don't want to lie tonight in bed alone
Or light a fire when no-one else is home
Here's a picture of a skeleton I drew when I missed my friends
I send them all my photographs
Cecilia St down to old St Mary's Pass
Some double exposure shots of pelicans in polka dots
I've got horizons
I've got my license
But this truck's all broken down
And nothing can shake this now
Stuck here in sleepytown
11.The Fog Of Trujillo
On the moon tonight, here on our own
You and I, we are the only ones in town
Can't set up a retirement plan, can't set up a ceiling fan
But things are starting to turn, things are starting to turn
around
(Hey, did you hear about？)
I started to learn everything you already know
When I saw you standing there in the fog of Trujillo
This town was a mystery till I found the door
And saw you standing there in the fog of Trujillo
We spend so much time so far apart
I want to hear about your weekend
Did you stay inside or run to the river at low tide？
And when the evening comes, please wake me before the end
'Cause I'm dying to find out, I'm dying to learn again
(Hey, did you hear about？)
I started to learn everything you already know
When I saw you standing there in the fog of Trujillo
This town was a mystery till I found the door
And saw you standing there in the fog of Trujillo
All the little things you do for me
When I see you by the cypress tree
All the things I need to know
Here in the fog of Trujillo
12.Fiction
Written down here, gentle reader
It seems too good to be true
But there's a girl in Kansas City
With my favourite tattoo
Oh why would I lie to you？
This was in another century
Somewhere near the summer's end
The fahrenheit was frightening
I was awake the whole weekend
Invited to a barbecue
I found refuge in the kitchen
Discussing post-war US literature
With a girl whose upper arm read fiction
Like it might have been typewritten
I asked her its significance
She said she sometimes took reminding
What she wanted to be doing
Whether reading it or writing
I admitted admiration
For both typeface and intent
And said more softly sotto voce
I knew too well what she meant
She just smiled
And in a while she went
For a time I forgot this ever took place
She left her bottle on the bookcase
So though I leave you little option
But to take me at my word
I assure you, dearest listener
That it happened as you've heard
A beer left on a bookshelf
At a bygone barbecue
By a girl from Kansas City
With my favourite tattoo
Oh why would I lie to you？
Oh why would I lie to you？
Oh why would I lie？
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