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Abulum 1. Careless |
You grew up alone
in a big empty house
With a pool and a maid, Mom and Dad always out
And I always thought that you had it so good
Just imagine my surprise when they blew off the roof
And I couldn't be
more careless
You're probably dead and I'm just embarrassed
From out of the fire
and into a flame
When you got too skinny you moved to LA
Just a regular city dropped from a great height
With the millions inside just along for the ride
And I couldn't be
more careless
You're probably dead and I'm just embarrassed
To be the one who
had it nice
With not a clue and too much advice
Well, I'll let you
live your life like you let me live mine
So whatever you need it's just fine, it's just fine
You've been here before, you'll probably be back again
'Till the hair of that dog is too frayed at both ends
And I couldn't be
more careless
You're probably dead and I'm just embarrassed
She came from Austin,
Texas, she liked his custom van
And his pit bull Francis
Even when he took a chunk out of her hand
They liked to dance in the desert and screw in the sand
He said they'd always be together
But when her belly got big she never saw him again
One and one ends
up to be three
Don't need to have love don't need to be sweet
When the air gets heavy and it's hard to breathe
The women get stuck, the men just leave
They were high school
sweethearts from Portland, Maine
He was a writer's block poet
And though she'd never read a line she still had faith
They ended up in La Jolla, she sold Mary Kay
He dreamed about getting published
And when her belly got big he ran away
One and one ends
up to be three
Don't need to have love don't need to be sweet
When the air gets heavy and it's hard to breathe
The women get stuck, the men just leave
There's a place in
the desert where the men all meet
Park their vans in the shade
Talk about Kerouac and the works of the Beats
Let their dogs play together, they drink beer and they sing
They've all got a secret treasure
The wallet picture in their pocket
Of the kid they never see
I've been angry
And I have strayed
I've said words I never thought
That I could say
And you were sad and sweet
Like an old folk song
But I'll be back up on my feet
Before too long
You could say you
wanted me
If I said it first
The words rang hollow
And the emptiness became a thirst
Now I could drink those words
They would make me strong
And I'd be back up on my feet
Before too long
If you'd met me now
You never would have stuck around
No, you never would have stuck around
So I will lay me
down
By the salty sea
And let the water pull the sand
Over my body
To wash me clean
Like a river stone
And I'll be back up on my feet
Before you know it
I'll be back up on my feet
Before too long
I want to see you
sometime
Come find me I'll be home
Just between the Costco
And the Barnes and Noble
Behind the mom and pop grocery
That shut down in the nineties
Like all the other locals
They smashed the dreams of the hopeful
I'm getting off track,
sorry
So like I said right in there
It was the Frederick Meyers
Sold everything from fruit to tires
Check in with the doorman
An old biker named Slim
Just say you're here to see me
And don't forget to tip him
One hand must wash
the other
Each man must be a brother
Band up and take cover
We'll go dancing, set fires
Tag buildings and slash tires
Drive go-carts like Shriners
Or just hang out at Fred Meyers
Bring a lantern with
you
It gets dark in places
Walk up the escalator
To the section that was kidswear
I'm at the back wall, left side
Under a sign says Levi's
Top bunk second row
If I'm not in right then
Ask around, somebody'll know
'Cause everybody knows me here
One hand must wash
the other
Each man must be a brother
Band up and take cover
We'll go dancing, set fires
Tag buildings and slash tires
Drive go-carts like Shriners
Or just hang out at Fred Meyers
We'll go out babe,
skateboarding
Go looting, food hoarding
Whatever you desire
We could just stay in my bed at Fred Meyers
One hand must wash
the other
Each man must be a brother
Band up and take cover
We'll go dancing, set fires
Tag buildings and slash tires
Drive go-carts like Shriners
Or just hang out at Fred Meyers
We'll go out babe,
drink moonshine
Or tip rubble on the east side
Dig deep holes to China
Or we could just stay in my bed at Fred Meyers
Why don't we just stay in my bed at Fred Meyers
You all went away
and left me alone
And now there's nobody around any more
Just a big empty house on a big empty street
In a big empty town in a big empty state
The radio's dead
and the streets are blocked off
I'm through smashing windows and trying to get lost
I read a few books, but it just made me sad
There's nobody to talk to about what I read
Heaven knows why
I'm alive
Heaven knows what keeps me here
There is nothing that can keep me down
There is nothing left to fear
It's my town now,
my own town
It's my town now, but I wish you were here
I'm wondering if
I should learn how to fly
A police helicopter would be a good way to die
I'd be a fireball come crashing, leaving nothing but ashes
A bald spot on the globe like nothing ever had happened here
Heaven knows why
I'm alive
But heaven it can't keep me here
There is nothing that can keep me down
There is nothing left to fear
It's my town now,
my own town
It's my town now, but I wish you were here
I wish you were here
The water's getting
deeper and I can't feel my feet
I keep on bailing buckets but it flows right back to me
And everything is in its place, the children are asleep
But the water's getting deeper
And I can't feel my feet
How am I gonna make
time
This is gonna take time
Everything seems
different, colors all look strange
Light comes down in shafts here underneath the waves
Everything is put away and the children are asleep
But the water's getting deeper
And I can't feel my feet
How am I gonna make
time
This is gonna take time
I am provider, but
providence has been swayed
And by design nothing is ever the same
I thought that time had only one way to go
I learned how to swim, but not to breathe underwater
How am I gonna make
time
Oh, this is gonna take time
How am I gonna make time
I can't feel my feet
I was the driver
for the drive-by of the neighbor's dog
Dad had always hated him and he said "Come on son,
"Get into the Vega now and I'll go get my shotgun"
It was a military holiday and kids were everywhere
I hid behind the steering wheel and tried to disappear
I tried to speak but couldn't, Dad was whistling and drinking beer
And I prayed "Dear
God, if You save this dog
"I will never get high, I will never jack off
"I will do all the things that I should but have not
"I'll be a good boy from now on"
We turned around
the corner soon and saw the neighbor's yard
Dad lit up a cigarette and rolled his window down
And grinning like an idiot he stuck his head and body out
And I prayed "Dear
God, if You save this dog
"I will never get high, I will never jack off
"I will be all the things that I should but have not
"I'll be a good boy from now on"
Well he popped in
a shell and took aim with the gun
Then a flash and a bang and the dog it was gone. . .
Jumped up and he ran away
Dad had shot right through his chain
Dad said "Take
me to the Dairy Freeze, I want to have a shake"
We sipped them on the benches there and stared out on the lake
And Dad has never said another word about that day
And I hope you're
not disappointed, God
'Cause I still get high and I still jack off
And you knew I was lying but you still saved that dog
You're such a good God
Such a good, good God
You're such a good goddamned backwards dog
And I'll be a good boy from now on
If I lose my faith
Just remind me, just remind me
When my shadow's longer
Stay beside me till it's brighter
How easy I forget
How beautiful to see you once again
In my darkest hour I will be freed
When I close my eyes
I hope to find you, I hope to find you
When I leave my body
I want to be ready, willing like you were
I sat beside you then
I felt the warmth as it left your hands
In my darkest hour I will be freed
I've been waiting
so long
That waiting was the end
Let this sleeper awaken again
In my darkest hour I will be freed
Well it took five
neighbors
To get him in the hall
And down the three flights of stairs
Out the building's door
I know that it's easy to say
That it couldn't be worse
But now she's in her apartment
Alone for the first time since the last jerk
And once you let
them get to you
It never washes off
'Cause they can smell the weak ones
And just pick you off like a pigeon
And each one is worse than the last one
Until you're a professional victim
You get everything
backwards
Learning how to survive
You treat the little wounds first
Let the big ones fester for life
You've done it enough
You would think that you know what you need
But it doesn't get any better
When you've got such an eye for the bad seed
And once you let
them get to you
It never washes off
'Cause they can smell the weak ones
And just pick you off like a pigeon
And each one is worse than the last one
Until you're a professional victim
And if you take a
look you can see the cracks
In the story told where the logic lacks
All the pretty girls and the stupid boys
Make the same mistakes until they've got no choice
And once you get
the stink on you
It never washes off
'Cause they can smell the weak ones
And just pick you off like a pigeon
And each one is worse than the last one
Until you're a professional victim
You're a professional victim
She looked just like
a train wreck
That could've been avoided
In a third world country
By a long stretch of farmland
Where the waters had run high
And the topsoil down the river
So that next year there would be no crops. . .
She was as desperate as a salesman
At a company that's folding
But they haven't told the staff yet
That they're bankrupt and backordered
And they're funneling the pensions
To the CEO's back pocket
So in one week they'll have nothing
I miss you girl.
I hope you're fine
Good luck, love
Or goodbye
She's the girl from
central casting
Always played the sweet young orphan
Or the hooker with the heart of gold
But she got her SAG card pulled
And turns tricks now on Cahuenga
She tells herself it's research
For her next and greatest role
I miss you girl,
I hope you're fine
Good luck, love
Or goodbye
She'll call you up
just to hear you say she's fine
Then she's gone away
And you know there's only one more time
You'll hear about her again
Well it's life informing
art informing life again
Like every stupid kid
That thinks that they're the first in pain
The first to rip themselves apart
The first to try and live without a heart
I miss you girl,
I hope you're fine
Good luck, love
Or goodbye
I want to see your face, even hear your lies
Good luck, girl
Or goodbye
Goodbye
I want the woman
who would want me
Velvet temple of her body
Seeing lovers crushed together
Doesn't make it any better
Maya, Maya
Kiss me through the veil
I won't be ungrateful
I see angels gathered
'round me
Lips of raspberry, breasts of honey
Tear me open, sanctify me
Find the beauty that's dying inside of me
Maya, Maya
Kiss me through the veil
I won't be ungrateful
I won't be ungrateful
Oh the hunger of
this body
Is insatiable, ever wanting
Tear me open, take it from me
Fill me up again or give me nothing
Maya, Maya
Kiss me through the veil
I won't be ungrateful
I won't be ungrateful
I've done it again
Made spectacular claims
And have lied in the name
Of a good love
And I think I recall
Someone brought me here
The memory's not clear
Just what it was
A good love, a good love
You define yourself
by your company
And by the promises you make
And the ones that you keep
Sleep the sleep of the blessed
Dream the dreams of the whole
Forget when you wake how far you've fallen
Down below
You could blow me
a kiss
If you think it brings love
It's the faith that makes it work
So what the hell
Why not
Sleep the sleep of
the blessed
Dream the dreams of the whole
Forget when you wake
How far we've fallen
Down below
Down from a good love
We had a good, good love
All songs by Glen Phillips, Umami Music (ASCAP) except Back On My Feet by Glen Phillips and Craig Northey