American Music Club

i'll sit inside, emptying a bar
plugging up my brain
killing off my hopes
i'm an idiot king
shoot 'em down one by one
you and me both, we live in a life we don't belong
and the clothes we wear, they always tear
those second-hand clothes, they always tear
those second-hand hopes, they always tear

away down my street
way down my street
i walk, i walk
the sun's a prize for my weak eyes
i put my blindfold on
how do i get out of here?

move along Joe, move along Jack
the burning road welcomes you back
i'm high enough now to turn out the sun
i'm king enough now to close my eyes
and watch the ruins grow like my alibis
like we're already dead, like we're empty as hell
we're jewels on a chain, yeah we're jewels on a chain

away down my street
way down my street
i walk, i walk
The sun's a prize for my weak eyes
i put my blindfold on
how do I get out of here?

because there is no peace
there is no peace

hey, hey God give me a hand
i'm in garbage land
hey man
how do I get out of here?
hey, hey how do I get out of here?
come on man, how do I get out of here?

Now that we've perfected the art of love
Now all the lights shine on me and misery
My good friend misery

You can be cured by a single touch
You can get up and walk away
Anything that you say

The drive of the road again
'Cause I'll be your only friend
Right before we touch the ground
The night asleep, loving sound
Sweet loving sound

Why don't you be good for something
And draw down the shade
On a sign that sat up all night shivering
On a sign that sat up all night afraid

Well now chains on the oasis that
Leads a man to drink
Drunk on the kind of applause
That gets louder the lower you sink

Gratitude walks on Sixth Street

Pull it from the air
And they throw it in the blue
And you're spinning under their wheels
Trapped in your room

You're jumpy, you don't want to see
You don't want to see them have their fun
Slap her face if she should laugh
Push him down if he should try and run

Gratitude walks on Sixth Street

Take a number for your big woman
They sold the rules of dream land
in cotton, wool, and cement


Well it's never what you want
It's just the kind of thing that always happens here
Yeah you watch the good old days pass you by
Leaving your cupboards bare

Gratitude walks on Sixth Street

The love cry of the traveling man goes
No one knows who I am
But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
That's losing the heat from your hand

A quiet man sits quietly learning his lesson
The slwo smooth wheel of disintegration
You don't want them to talk to you
No you don't want to take part
You say, "Just get me back to the leper colony
'Cause that's where you left my heart."

I feel time pass by like a joy no medicine can preserve Somewhere along the line I lost my nerve

Maybe I'm almost there

Give me the keys to your theme park
Bury me under your layer of snow
And watch me ride all the rides
Around and around I go

I don't know if I've reached the bottom yet
And I don't know if the ice has finally begun to set
I feel time pass like a joy I tried so hard to relearn
But somewhere along the line
I passed the point of no return

Maybe I'm almost there

The love cry of the traveling man goes
No one knows who I am
But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
That lost the heat from your hand

Back seat over the wing
And I'm the happiest hot potato on the plane
Yeah I'm looking I'm looking it's beautiful
I think I wanna go and live out there right now

Oh stewardess can you fix me some Mercury

The city below me shines
I guess I'm part of Detroit's shining dream
The ones that forget that I was ever here
The one that's going to forget that I had ever been

Oh stewardess can you fix me
I'll follow the rules if you tell me
With one of those endless smiles
I love all your little bottles of Mercury

My throttle's open wide
And I'm wasting my life and I'm wasting time
And I'd give all of Hitler's broad oceans
Ready to swallow Detroit a million times over

The city below me shines
I guess I'm part of Detroit's shining dream
The ones that forget that I was ever here
The one that's going to forget that I had ever been

Oh stewardess can you fix me

I'll follow the rules if you tell me
With one of those endless smiles
I love all your little bottles of Mercury

My throttle's open wide
And I'm wasting my life and I'm wasting time
And I'd give all of Hitler's broad oceans
Ready to swallow Detroit a million times over

Lazarus wasn't grateful for his second wind
For another chance
watch his chances fade like the dawn and leave
I can barely tell you just how pale I get
Without you

I've been a mess since you've been gone

What were the first words that crowd heard him speak
I bet he was cursing at the sky
I bet he wasn't turning no other cheek
And was there still hope and desire left in his heart
For the last word in love

I've been a mess since you've been gone

Your beauty is just a slap in the face
That's gonna bring me back to life
Back to another sky that's blue
It's gonna turn me into another great American zombie

So hungry for you

I've been a mess since you've been gone

My revenge against the world
is to believe everything you say
Balance as you are on a pile of empty bottles
And even when the world has taken
all your defenses away
There's no way that you can be true

I'll believe you

Don't you get sick of party favors
That start with a whimper and end with a whisper
And even when every single one of your gestures is a lie
To me, you always ring true

I'll believe you

The first time the cops came
they were like brand new friends
The second time they came they were a little concerned
They said, “We know all about you
You're like moths to a flame."
Yeah we speak too much and none of it's ever true

What happens to the rat that stops running the maze
The doctors think it's dumb when it's just disappointed
I meant it when I said that I would never see you again But no matter how dumb I get
there's one thing I'll always do

I'll believe you

You saw my face fall into a well-worn groove
A child starts playing a role
and ends up type-cast in every movie
I took cold comfort in your touch
and now I'm laughing high and dry
Yeah I felt everything I'm gonna feel
Cried all the real tears I'm gonna cry

I don't care what you dreams you have
I don't care about your second sight
Now that you've cut yourself off
You're not even sure things are clear and bright

Well did you let it take hold of your soul
Was it like moonrise over your desert shore
Tell me is it more evil to lose your heart
Or to go on as before

What could come around
What could make a difference to me now
What could come around
Nothing could bring me down

I get warm to any touch
So why does yours get so cold
At first you didn't mean very much
Now you rule my life

Watch your house of cards take a deep breath
Watch it breathe word for word
Fifty-two secrets the justice would never protect
Fifty-two secrets justice never heard

What could come around
What could make a difference to me now
What could come around
Nothing could bring me down

How thirsty is your soil
Indifferent hearts never keep anything long
I spend my time looking around
For something to bring me down

There's so little love left in my heart for anyone
I'm like an ant on your map
You can see me going down the drain

Will you keep me around

I've got nothing to hold on to
The sound the air makes as I fall
Is like a laugh that was torn
From way nothing was before
From when things just seemed the same
How did I get so far down

Will you keep me around

If you don't want me, why don't you say
Why don't you tell me
I've been cut off for so long from anyone
My face is like a broken map and I can't go anywhere

Will you keep me around

Shuffling through people like cards
I can't find anyone to take my losing hand
Winning streak left me high and dry
A winning streak that slowly drains from the land

I'm hanging by a thread
Forget me, I pray to the day
Tired of being stuck on a pin
Forget me, don't see me this way
Jumping out of my skin

Hanging by a thread
Shuffling through people like cards
Let them blow around like sand
Maybe it'll uncover some beauty in their eyes
Maybe it'll give me a place to breathe
Maybe give me some room to stand

I'm hanging by a thread

When you left you took all memory of me with
Leaving me with no hope of every being loved
And now like the air I'm blowing and blowing
With no hope of ever being seen

Did you hear the one about Mr. Ed
Well he said,
"I'm this way because of the things I've seen
But I would rather count on your love instead
Daily eating my weight in hay."

And I hate to see a good thing just go to waste
Honey it's a little weak for my taste

Well I've been praying a lot lately
It's because I no longer have a TV
Just a flourescent hangover to light the way
Between the things you say and the things I see

I just called you up to see If you wanted to go out
and drink a little wine
And waste some time on a rollercoaster ride
But you say it's too dangerous to lead an empty life

And I hate to see all your sweet words just go to waste
But honey they're a little weak for my taste

Well I'm an expert in all things that nature abhors
Your look of disgust when I touched your skin
And I try to figure what the world needs me for
So I replay the scene again and again

And I can see you try and put me in my place
Honey that's a little weak for my taste

Capp Street is an underwater cave
That's filled with crutches and canes
And faces that were washed away
Away from innocence and pain

They don't care who lost the one
They just wanna get the whole thing over and done

They keep me up all night
They sing songs to the moon
Wishing they could close their eyes
But they're waiting for Jacques Cousteau

The girls outside they're not waiting for the sun
They just wanna get the whole thing over and done

Seems like bowl history down
To a forty-five minute wait
A big boredom filled with stars
All burning with hate

Yeah we had a good time, we had some fun
And now we wanna get the whole thing over and done

I lay all my songs at Johnny Mathis' feet
I said, "Johnny tell me
Can you tell me how to live?
All my hopes are unraveling and I just lost my lease
On my house without love, doors, or windows
Without peace."

And with a wave of his jewel-encrusted hand
Across the glittering Las Vegas scene he said,
"You gotta learn how to disappear in the silk and amphetamine."

Johnny looked at my songs and he said,
"Well at first guess, never in my life
Have I ever seen such a mess.
Why do you say everything as if you were a thief?
Like what you've stolen has no value
Like what you preach is far from belief?"

And with a wave of his red white and blue hand
Across the glittering Hollywood scene he said,
"You gotta learn how to disappear in the silk and amphetamine."

Johnny looked at my old collection of punk rock posters
Anonymous scenes of disaffection choas and torture
And he said, "You were on the right track
But you're a lamb jumping for the knife."
He said, "A real showman knows how
to disappear in the spotlight."

When I spend too much time alone, I get afraid
Afraid that you're gonna leave me breathing
Afraid of what they'd throw in the way
In the way of something simple like leaving

"Forgive me if you can," said the sad cashier
"For the dollars and cents our love has become.
I didn't sell you anything my dear
You were a scarecrow looking for a bonfire to sleep on."

"Believe me if you can," said the pile of bones
"I think that this is all there is left to see.
Just waiting for my perscription to come
‘Cause every sec in hell dissolves more of me."

And all of heaven's ten thousand whores
Are on a partyline to his big toe
Singing Ooooo I just can't do it anymore
So don't bother asking now you know

Don't bother me with little things
Pennies, nickels, quarters, and dimes
They've all taken me as far as I'm gonna go
So don't bother asking now you know
Believe me if you can

If you ask the man in the tollbooth
Well I'm sure he'd tell you
That on the highways there's a million ways
If you want to disappear
Should you take a left or a right,
Well I'm sure I don't care
All I want out of life is to hide somewhere
Will you find me?
Each Halloween your faces get more frightening
The closer I look the more I can see
Your limits begin to show
The astronaut won first prize,
It was was a ton of moon dust
All I see in his eyes are years of hate and mistrust
Will you find me?
"come out come out wherever you are,"
Said the fisherman to the sea
"oh I miss you, I miss you love. where can you be?
If I have to wait anymore then I won't believe
In the love that I've known
Or in the life that I have known."
Will you find me?

Lost again, lost again
I closed my eyes and kept on going
Now I'm gone and nothing's gonna endure
Unless I love you even more

Found again, am I found again
By your hands, my home is in your hands
But that's a touch I don't deserve anymore
Unless I love you even more

A stubborn heart can stay broken forever
But someday the tightrope's gonna break
Will I fall into a cool cool river
Or will I fall into a frozen lake

Saved again, am I saved again
By your eyes, the tears in your eyes
Your tears are the only thing that makes me sure
I've got to love you even more

And your tears are the only thing that'll endure
Unless I love you even more