| Disc 1
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1. |
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He’s always giving you free advice
On ways you can avoid telling him no
The game of survival
Some play it far too well
So much hate to make
So much room in hell
And when he tells you you’re lucky
You can’t tell its a lie
You’re a figment of his vanity
You’re a glint in his eye
Even when he hurts you
Well it all seems okay
His beauty is always beyond you
And somehow always gets in the way
You only have his rules to find justice with
But babe they don’t include you
They never did
Evil wears a big smile
Evil loves your mind
Evil gets what it wants
Evil leaves you behind
Are you the trash
It left behind
Are you the trash
It left behind
Are you the trash
It left behind
Are you the trash
It left behind
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2. |
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Well, haven't you seen that big sign
Over on First and Seventh that says
With words ten feet high and made of teeth
"Oh reason not the need" and underneath
Is a man doing an imitation of Satan
But there is nothing evil in him
He was just another saint that was made broken
Next to an old doorway
With a dark history of being left open
Saint Nicholas
Left your toys again behind at the bar
A silver gun
Aome dollar bills
A lump of coal
And wolves howling at your door
A ceiling full of inflatable worlds
And Xmas lights that spin all year round
The question is always bigger than the answer
It takes a nurse to ease you into your surrender
As she smiles 'cause she knows you won't remember
Things you should only be telling your mother
As she counts you down, your drowned soul
Tired and hard, defeated and getting mean
And what's worse, the humiliations of a good time
Or slipping into the routine
Or for you is it
All the same thing
Saint Nicholas
Left your toys again at the bar
A silver gun
Some dollar bills
A lump of coal
Wolves howling at your door
Most people want to inhabit their lives
Like ghosts and drift from room to room
And brag about what imprisons them
And wait for the sweep of a broom
And written in the dust beneath your drink
It says, “Deadness needs nothing to justify it”
Like the ache that's crawling though your chest
Needs nothing to amplify it
For years you wore the crown
Now the wolves are hunting you down
And you're dead serious in your face
You're dead serious now
Want someone to see you
Saint Nicholas
The wolves all believe you
Saint Nicholas
The wolves all believe you
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3. |
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4. |
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It's hot and it's humid but the rain won't fall
Thunder cracks but the rain is stuck
And the wind blows cool
And wet
And smells like the flu
And rests a cool hand on your forehead
A comfort instead of a cure
And the I-280 on-ramp lights turn on
And I can feel the speed building
Denial is what you bought
So you'll never be caught
The storm just hangs like it's dumb
Unable or unwilling
A little girl with a white rosary
Calling to heaven to take her away
From the trap that life turned out to be
And from the trap she only wanted Jesus to see
'Cause you're damned by the things you don't see
A touch that vanity undermines
A strength lost in the flicker of disbelief
A poem that can't contain its awful rhymes
In shadow like a thief
And now I walk careful
And quiet
Wherever I go
The secret business of a spy
So no one will ever see or know
A little girl with a white rosary
Calling to heaven to take her away
From the trap that life turned out to be
From the trap she only wanted Jesus to see
She was damned by the things she couldn't see
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5. |
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Playground by a cliff long drop to the sea
A little space ride spins you around and around
I told you to stop but you wouldn't stop for me
Eyes never leave the ground
Never leave the ground
Hate and pain turn us into familiar shadows
Where you could be anyone and I could be anyone
Do you stand with God's finest laughing in the gallows
Abandoned in the wind and the sun
If I had a gun
I know what I would do
I would seal my fate
Seal my fate with you
Little space ride begins to crap out and fall
Through an atmosphere that's weak and unreal
I told you to stop but you wouldn't stop for me
Now I don't even try I don't even feel
If I had a gun
I know what I would do
I would seal my fate
Seal my fate with you
Blind, deaf and mostly dumb
Can't chase away and I can't outrun
It doesn't matter how I seek my peace
Nothing separates me from the beast
If I had a gun
If I had a gun
If I had a gun
I would give you
Your freedom
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6. |
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Seeing eye dog on the end of its leash
Says, "How can you live without trust"
It said, "Love fades like all things do
Into dust into dust"
It's all been said and done
The whos and the whats and the whys
And I'm tired to the bone
Of telling you goodbye
A dowsing rod trembles over the underground stream
Frozen water pouring through the dark
Empties through the well that was my dream
Loss of faith loss of heart
It's all been said and done
The whos and the whats and the whys
And I'm tired to the bone
Of always telling you goodbye
So goodbye
Goodbye
The funny shoes
The banana peel
The bag of tricks
Face down on a road off the map
History like a smoke that blinds and sticks
A fly caught in a fly trap
It's all been said and done
The whos and the whats and the whys
And I'm tired to the bone
Of always telling you goodbye
So goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye goodbye goodbye goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
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7. |
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Lights flash in the half-filled night club
He stands alone with big soft eyes
He’s brittle as Goodwill dishes
Drained of blood drained of wishes
He’s a solitary ghost under a clock
He’s good only for leaving quarters behind
He’s a gold mine in reverse
Dripping water and an ancient curse
Some of them are queens of prejudice and pride
that dine on heroism
Some of them are queens of the chaos inside
and celebrate their indecision
Raise a toast to being empty inside
To the new queen of no one
A shot and a beer for a buck
Surreal visions when you run out of luck
He’s the crocodile who swallowed the clock
Waiting to make his soul come unstuck
Some of them are queens of the ant farms and the ants
In plain brown paper wrapping
Well some of them are queens of beauty and truth
Waiting for someone to help them
Well raise a toast, long live the queen
The new queen of no one
New queen of no one
All the unhappy drunks with their broken backs
Sooner or later they hang up their hats
But his life is like a cut that won’t bleed
Leaving him high and dry and stupid with need
Well some of them are queens of cowardice and luck
And of soft sky blue distraction
And some of them are queens of hopelessness and beauty
And some are at least the queens of someone
Well raise a toast, salute the queen
The new queen of no one
The new queen of no one
The new queen of no one
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8. |
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It’s 2 in the afternoon
I’ve been here since 7 a.m.
I’ve been hiding out on someone’s private property
I know sooner or later the owner with his gun
Is gonna discover me and say
"Hey, what are you doing here alone
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
What are you doing here alone
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
What are you doing here alone
In the cold light of day"
I tried to find the darkest part of the trees
So I could be in an ocean five fathoms down
This pine forest is abandoned and overgrown
I’m not hurting nothing
I’m just waiting around
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
I’m just waiting around
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
I’m just waiting around
In the cold light of day
The sun is like poison it kills all my dreams
Just like you kill me with your laughter
I know fear is the one thing you understand
Your kisses taste bitter
You say you’re my future
In the cold light of day
in the cold light of day
You say you’re my future
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
In the cold light of day
You say you’re my future
In the cold light of day
You say you’re my future
You say you’re my future
You say you’re my future
You say you’re my future
You say you’re my future
You say you’re my future
You say you’re my future
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9. |
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The butcher shop in the air
Is heavy with all the choice cuts
The Columbus God of Hope
Twists a knife in your guts
And all we talk about
Is how disappointed you are every day
A blank face on a child
Who can't reply to anything you say
Go away
Go away
Go away
The prison guards just try and sell me
These little yellow pills
They say they'll cover up the pain
For a wound that never heals
And all I got
All I got was the last look
You wore on your face
And if I live to be a thousand
That's one thing I'll never replace
Go away
Go away go away
Go away go away
I know you've got a plank to walk
I know you've got a kite to fly
And I'll do everything I can
To help you say goodbye
just wanted to fill your soul with light
And free us both from the Ohio day
My touch just makes you draw
Farther and farther
And farther away
Go away
Go away
Go away go away
Go away
Go away
Go away go away go away
Go away go away
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10. |
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Let the snake crawl around on your floor
You're not afraid of its tongue
Or its tiny heart
It lays curled up on the corner
Watching Craig and Jose
Hisses quietly to itself
Doesn't have a thing good to say
Like the fire's final spark
Like predictable behavior
The last drop in the battery
Food that lost its flavor
Blood inside like ground below
Just growing colder
No freedom in cowardice
Poison fangs give no power
The only love you'll ever grow
Is to look beyond the things you know
The things you know
To crawl out of its hole
A hired car and a 747
Wants to swallow the world whole
Including hell including heaven
Tiny eyes that strain to see
The point behind all this gift giving
Well, snakes may come and snakes may go
Jose and Craig--well, they're still living
The only love you'll ever grow
Is to look beyond the things you know
The only love you'll ever grow
Is to look beyond the things you know
The things you know
The things you know
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11. |
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Hands in pockets
Eyes screwed shut
Let it all go
Hands in pockets
Eyes screwed shut
Let it all go
No address book
You're lost in the sky
You're lost in the sky
Blue upon blue
Green-eyed past
The length of an arm
Shiver and shake
Blue upon blue
Green-eyed past
The length of an arm
Swallow the speck
You're lost in the sky
You're lost in the sky
Long endless tone
Rope ties it up
Delivers it home
Long endless tone
Rope ties it up
Delivers it home
Everywhere at once
You're lost in the sky
You're lost in the sky
Seahorse little eye
Seahorse little eye
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