The EP
01. TRAMPOLINE
we've been locked out again
i'll be the indian and you be the cowboy
we'll terrorize the girls walking home from school in their uniforms
i wore a yellow skirt covered with stains and dirt
just a hand-me-down we wrestle on the grass your legs upon my back
push my face in the ground
black-top parking lot
and the funniest thing i'd ever seen was you
jumping on the trampoline
they're turning on the lights it's time to go inside
don't answer when she calls you
let's hang out in the park wait there until it's dark
then sneak into the pool we do this everyday
it keeps them all at bay
you go while i stand guard
hang out with boys we know i'm late 'cause i run slow
ghost in the graveyard
black-top parking lot
the funniest thing i'd ever seen was you jumping on the trampoline
Verse C#m E F#m A Bridge F#m C#m A Chorus E A
02. REPULSION
i'm locked up and all alone experiments happen when you're not at home
and you should see me dressed up in my nighty if you could see me you'd say i don't look all right
this is repulsion writing on glass in the dark was it my suggestion (don't blame me) that you come over? so don't blame me (don't you dare) if you never leave and this is no happy accident on the postcard that you sent this is my world caving in arms and walls are inside this is repulsion writing on glass in the dark this is repulsion
03. ASTRONAUT
i hold faith while you drift in space alone, crossing the big black sky and a girl could go to rot married to an astronaut but i'm gonna watch and wait for you to return someday as you breathe silently on the opposite side of the bed i circle stars, you said your rockets blare you're seven thousand million miles away from me
04. FLICKER
christmas lights hung up outside in the middle of the day middle of july, don't ask me why
holidays are best that way, anytime you please
hang up lights on ceiling fans, and hang them up on trees
watch them flicker, watch them flash
get used to the fact that she's not coming back
you've gone out of style there's no christmas in july
and since she's gone the world goes on and you? you still exist
you're surprised you've realized that no one gives a shit
about your bad tv reception, or your broken heart
sit down in your favorite chair, suffer in the dark
and watch them flicker, watch them flash
get used to the fact that she's not coming back
you've gone out of style and there's no christmas in july
she's gone away and you think that you might die
but you're a strong boy, you'll survive
you sit around and contemplate the things you might say if she calls but she's never gonna call
05. DOCUMENT
i use my best penmanship
i hold my hand steady and make sure that it doesn't slip
i am here to document to get it right and to bear witness
i drive alone these days
everybody has gone away
i keep the place warm until they return
you think of the end
i think of decay
i guess that it's better to leave it that way
breathing makes a sound makes things reappear
coming up for air, do you think that they hear me? coming up for air, do you think that they care?
i drive alone these days
everybody has gone away
i keep the place warm until they return
shirley temples and roy rogers are the things that i remember
don't forget to say your prayers is what she said to me don't forget to say your prayers
jesus lost and found, over and over again
06. HORSE & CARRIAGE
everybody's got big plans for you
everybody's telling you what to do
it's making you nervous
it's making me nervous too
how 'bout you rely on me and i'll rely on you?
then we can wait until the coast is clear
and then we'll make our great escape
i've got all we need i got a rope, and twine, and sticky tape
i know a place where we can go
nobody has to know
i'll take you there, i'll take you there to my secret place
'cause i have got a map inside my head i got it from some books i've read
and certain things that you said to me
'cause your voice it ricochets and i'm off making plans again i'm not listening to them anymore
so let me be the horse on your carriage i will take you where you wanna go
i'll take you there, i'll take you there
let me be the horse on your carriage
i will take you where you wanna go
The LP
01. THESE DAYS
ottamwa heights is just a name
council bluffs, i never been
a fire came and burned away
the only thing she'd have liked to save
do you remember?
do you recall?
anything at all
about her
eventually, you'll get the hang
as you try to navigate
some bars you'll learn not to go in
some hearts, you'll learn, you should not win
face down, linoleum
everybody knows
how such stories go
do you remember?
do you recall?
anything at all
about her
face down on linoleum
everybody knows
that these days i'm trying to be better than i used to be
02. NEW MACHINE
babe in the woods in those days
over and over still
you learn a lot that way
so i will remain right here
the clouds go as they will
something has got to give
it might as well be me
me and my new machine
no goodbyes
i didn't know what you wanted
i couldn't hear what you shouted
seems like a long time ago
stick-figures drawn on window fog
over and over still
i missed a lot you said
so i will remain right here
i'm already gone
now something has got to give
it might as well be me
me and my new machine
no surprise
i didn't know what you wanted
i couldn't hear what you shouted
seems like a long time ago
and don't believe the things that they will say
it's not hard to deceive
it doesn't mean anything to me now
it doesn't mean anything anyhow
03. LOVEY
all you wanted was all your friends
to circle 'round where you lay
and watch your rocket's red glare
hear the girls at the top of the stairs
think they're calling your name
pretty sure that they're calling your name
seems like everyone's off having fun
left you here by yourself
and you'd give your right arm
to get yourself in harm's way
you waited all summer
i think that you can wait another day
don't you know that it's all in your head?
a retraction of everything i've ever said
close the windows, get ready for bed
won't you stop what you're doing and listen?
and if you want to say
that everything's okay
go ahead, because no one will you stop you here
open up your ears
and tell me what you hear
don't you know that it's all in your head?
a retraction of everything i ever said
close the windows, get ready for bed
won't you stop what you're doing and listen?
04. MORE SAD ROBOTS
tape-recorder, length of rope
lack of focus, shred of hope
a piece of string is all that holds this ship together
in this room, you've lost your heart
document and catalogue
think of how the past gets bogged down
underneath your feet
turn this off when it starts to sound familiar
it will always be incomplete
and no one can say
that maybe someday
your prayers won't be answered
rewind
take her word, she's always right
she's always there, your darkest night
you must go on, what else is there for you to do now?
and when you think you've lost your way
she'll hide the razors, draw the shades
you'll try to find the last good memory you have
turn this off when it starts to sound familiar
it will always be incomplete
and no one can say
that maybe someday
your prayers won't be answered
rewind
i'm sorry i didn't get to see you
so sorry i didn't keep in touch
my friend, i've been missin' you so very, very much
well, you know it goes away
if you give it time
05. THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU
a backwards glance in a borrowed dress
the taste of something imprecise
what's the story there?
what'd you wanna come here for?
what did you think you'd find?
what do you think you'll find without me?
calling from far away
and you, fumbling for what to say
but you know, you will never be so free
if you wanna know the truth about you
the smallest hands can still wring necks
some things i never will get straight
what's the story there?
what'd you want to come here for?
what did you think you'd find?
what do you think that you'll find without me?
always unhappy, always dark
always the last one to the start
and how you made it look so easy
i just wanna know the truth about you
and how you made it look so easy
and what did you want from me?
you cannot remember
what did you hope you'd see?
could it have been better?
what did you think about when you thought about me?
i will never know the truth about you
06. CONEY ISLAND
instrumental
07. PORCH
no more questions
it's too early for that yet
find some sunglasses
and claim a nice spot on the porch
and there we'll wait
for dawn to come
because it comes
for everyone
the night was too long
i lost my bearings out at sea
gas station bathroom mirrors telling secrets just to me
so i must wait
for dawn to come
because she comes
for everyone
so you thought you'd like to go there
but you didn't give it any thought
so when you find yourself in trouble
just remember one thing that they told you
amazing how just a little sun
brightens up the darkest night
and we must wait
for dawn to come
and you thought you'd like to go there
but you didn't give it any thought
so when you find yourself in trouble
just remember one thing that they told you
amazing how just a little sun brightens up the darkest night
08. THE ACCIDENT
do you remember the way?
does it mean anything to you at all?
if the voices, they say something
you thought you had it before
but i can promise you this
there's only way it can go
stick with me if you want
but i do not know the answer
to the things that you're looking for i don't believe, but i think that somehow
we'll get where we're going in time
pay the man for his sleight of hand
it's not the one that you want
look alive as my dad would say
what did you think it would cost?
think i knew you from a long time ago
do you remember name?
does it mean anything to you now?
and you don't have to say it's been fun it's been swirling around in my head
and it keeps me awake at night
i could tell you a thing or two
but i'd rather just sit in this room
watching the shadows grow long
do you know how it happened?
did you see the car approach?
did you realize just how close you'd come?
did it feel like being alive?