For The Birds

The Mess Hall For The Birds Lyrics
1.My Villain

My villain
Grew from a villain seed
My villain
You'll never get the drop on me
But in my heart
You fill a little vacancy
You bearing the knife
While I duck I dive and I weave
And when I get up
You hand me the missing piece

My villain
You see the trick hanging
From my sleeve
I call you a phoney
While the truth is always staring at me
If I have to harness
A fire so easy to burn
You hand me the fuel
And see which way I turn
Which way I turn
While you're playing out the fiction in me

You're some kind of chameleon
The way you mimic any move I make
Sitting there on the side
while I'm punching my way above my weight
Above my weight
You keep playing out the fiction in me


2.Bell

Well I flew like Adam when you shot me from a cannon
And I landed like a stick of dynamite
Right then I felt something
In my backbone slip
Before too long
I was floating on my side
You got the whole world aching for the sound vibrating in your
chest

And from your nest, I hear you sing
Sounds like a bell, built for a king
The line it takes, the arc it swings
I take a breath, you hold it in
And then my soul starts aching for the sound vibrating from your
chest

So now the birds fly up into your bell tower
While the bull frog tries to blow a kiss
You got the mares all kicking, and the fox talking chicken
And the all trying to make a fist
You got the whole world shaking to the sound vibrating in your
chest

And from your nest, I hear you sing
Sounds like a bell, built for a king
The line it takes, the arc it swings
I take a breath, you hold it in
And then my soul starts aching for the sound vibrating from your
chest

I won't fall, I won't fall, I won't fall
Til your spell takes hold

And from your nest, I hear you sing
Sounds like a bell, built for a king
The line it takes, the arc it swings
I take a breath, you hold it in
And then my soul starts aching for the sound vibrating from your
chest


3.Tijuana 500

I might leave
For Tijuana Mexico
She left a will
I took nothing but the soup bone
Eight hundred pesos
Crying in my pocket
Going ahhhhhh

The night came
With a belly full of liquor
Standing on the street
Waiting for the mule
To reinvent herself
In the shape of a horse
Or a zebra
Going...

All I need is a place to fall
All I need is a place to fall

I ended up
In La Mesa on the border
The kind of place
They take the lambs to the slaughter
Eight hundred Pesos
No longer in my pocket crying
Ahhhhhh

I made bail
Wiped the slate clean
Mexico City no longer on my brain
I found a little place to call home

All I need is a place to fall
All I need is a place to fall


4.Bare

Last night I dreamt
That my hair had turned to white
I was Leland Palmer
With a devil in my eyes

I got up
I got dressed
And took a drive
The sun shined
My black dog
Had turned a shade of white
He'd turned a shade of white

I headed north towards the city
Where I once lived
She used to wave at me
Before hitching up her dress
But now the times have changed
and she can barely blow a kiss
You come and go
But find you're never really missed
You find you're never really miseed

I took the southern
And let it roll under my feet
I turned the radio up
And found a reason to believe
The three things you need
If you're ever on your own
Chuck Berry, Havana moon and a home

I disappeared under a sea of tremolo
I came up
Baring a piece of cattle bone
If the world is really sinking to its knees
my little girl will need to sharpen up her beck
She'll need to sharpen up her beak

She'll make a promise
She'll make a promise
Just for me
To keep it simple
Keep it honest
Keep it free

And when the tide rises
And you think you've seen it all
My little girl
You'd better walk before you crawl
You'd better walk before you crawl

I had a vision
Of myself at 88
I was half alive
Half asleep
And half awake
And though my eyes were closed
I could see the other side
I hit the ceiling
And left my body for the fire
I left my body for the fire

Last night I dreamt
That my hair had turned to white
I was Leland Palmer
With a devil in my eye

Street sweeper
Clean out the garbage in my soul
I am ready
Yeah I am ready
To grow old
I'm gonna walk before I crawl


5.Marlene

Oh Marlene
You call my name
For someone to wrap your wings around
Eyes so wide
For the passenger side
Little doggie
Who just wants to howl

The way you lean
35 degrees
With the pain stripped from your toes
Oh Marlene you're bound to ignite
The burden of another's soul

The bible in your hand
The bible in your hand
Is just for show
The bible in your hand
The bible in your hand
Is just for show
Is just for show

I remember the years gone by
Two kids on a ferris wheel
Going round and round
Trying to make that weekend last
Going round and round
Trying to make that weekend last

Where you gonna fall
Where you gonna fall

Oh Marlene
You let the men lead
But they all just step
Oh your toes
You can't find the heat
Dancing bare feet
On a floor
Six deep with snow

Oh how weak
For a man to think
He could have you
All for a song
Standing from afar
With his mouth ajar
Weighing up his rights and wrongs

The bible in your hand
The bible in your hand
Is just for show
The bible in your hand
The bible in your hand
Is just for show
Is just for show


6.Silhouettes

Of all your silhouettes
Backed by a morning sun
Fading slowly
I'll only to catch but one

And then you bend like this
And then you bend like that
But I don't catch anything

You hang above my slumber
And disappear when I come round
Is it the weight of this world
Compelling me to pin you down

And then you appear like this
To disappear like that
But I don't see anything

You ride
Upon my shores
And don't look back

And as we all got started
Then your boat departed
Before the waving had begun

Three sheets to a cold wind
You set sail for the motherland
And ripped the coat from my skin

Sail alone or with me friend
Sail alone or with me friend
Sail alone or with me friend
Sail alone or with me friend


7.New Ornithology

I heard a song
A song so strong
It set the choir in me free
Like pure morphine
Or the winds of Kansas City over me

And slow I slide
Into a dream
And it curled around my lungs
And set me singing
Like a little bird in spring
Like a little bird in spring

It started in my feet
Then took my blood
And wound up
In my brain
As if a radio played fever
Back to back
Among the static in my dreams
And slow I dive
Into a deeper sea
While I was juggling cannonballs
Everyone would catch them at my feet
They'd catch them at my feet

How high the moon
Sailing over me
How high the moon
Sailing over me

While they sleep
At night I roam
The subways deep

And from above
A siren rings
My hunger sweeps
A path for me

So long I roam so long
So long I roam so long


8.The Switch

I tore you to pieces
When you looked at me
Like that
Now I can't find the will
To pull a rabbit from my hat
My hand on my heart
You were thunder
From afar
What made this love
So criminal
Was murder from the start

Flip your little switch
And turn me loose

I was just an astronaut
Heading for the stars
You cut the cord
and sent me flying way off course
My hand on my heart
You were thunder from afar
When made this love so criminal
Was murder from the start

Flip that little switch
And turn me loose

The sky all burgundy
The sun closing its doors
I'm turning I'm turning
Turning way off course
You found the will to run from me
I want you even more
I'm turning I'm turning
Turning way off course
I'm turning I'm turning
Turning way off course


9.Long Time Death

Don't leave
The night is almost falling
Jump the neighbour's fence
Before I switch
Don't wait for me
Go hide down by the river bed

If you see
Things you've neer seen
Count 1,2,3
And hide yourself by the willow tree

Leave
The night is almost falling

Blow out your candle quick
Before I switch
Don't wait for me
Go hide down by the river bed
If you see
Things you've never seen
Count 1,2,3
Go hide from a long time death
Always moving on
From a long time death
Always moving
Far far away
There are things about me
You will never know

No longer can I stand
Night after night
Running this way
Running that
While the wright of my affections
Walks the river bank
With only her reflection
And the dawn to protect her

And the sun
And the sun
Like a long
Like a long time death
I'll be moving on
Like a long time death
Always moving on


10.Swing Low

No moon she said
Tonight it's just too dark
Is it hiding out
In someone else's heart

Then she found it parked between
The branches of a lemon tree
A quarter full
But sharp against the night

She was holding on
The wheel was lost
She'd found herself alone
To count the cost

But like that moon above she thought
A quarter of myself is not
Enough to justify
Me growing old

If I swing low
Darling we'll go slow
And fall on our feet
You and me

If I swing low
Darling we'll go slow
And fall on our feet
You and me

With flecks of dirt around my eye
I laid her down
Upon her side
And was hearing bells
and she was gone

If I swing low
Know that I'm going home
To fall on my feet
This world complete

If I swing low
Know that I'm going home
To fall on my feet
This world complete