If somebody's calling, it don't mean a thing If I don't feel like talking, I'll just let it ring I Move along slowly and I watch my back And you tell me I'm crazy, but I don't believe that
No, I'm right here now, just a shade off plum I get that way, though it worries you some Right here now and I know my mind It won't be long a wandering
I remember a ball game I watched as a kid Neglecting my homework as I often did Joe Namath scored on a seven-yard run His knees barely held him, but they got the job done And there'd be no last call if they elected me king And if you were here with me, I'd tell you these things
But I'm right here now... Just a shade off plum I get that way though it worries you some Right here now and I know my mind And it won't be long a wandering
Outside it's raining soaking the ground It started last evening and it's still coming down I move along slowly and I watch my back And you tell me I'm crazy, but I don't believe that No, I'm right here now... Right here now
There's an old magic eight ball next to my plate And I ask it a question regarding my fate It says, "reply hazy, please try again," It won't say where I'm going, it don't know where I've been
But I'm right here now, just a shade off plum I get that way, it worries me none Right here now and I know my mind It won't be long a wandering
Answer me when I call to you What became of the life I knew Tell me why I can't be free Tell me what you expect of me I'm so down about it I can't sleep at night I sit watching the bugs as they bounce off the light
Answer me when I'm calling out Tell me what's all the noise about Explain to me the rules of love Tell me just what I'm guilty of I somehow I must've missed it I never knew I was blind Repeat it real slow so I get it this time
(chorus) I'm off and running to take what's mine I'm off and running again
I 'm off and running To take what's mine I'm off and running And I won't get caught this time With my soul on empty and my face to the wind I'm off and running I'm off and running again
Answer me when I call your name What'd you do with my ball and chain? I'm out here in the open air And I can't find it anywhere And I'm so lost without it It was such a part of me I guess I'll get along How hard can it be?
When I was maybe three or four The Fuller Brush man would knock at the door He'd always tell me, "Boy, you're gonna miss the fun! Time you're old enough the honky-tonks'll all be gone."
Momma had no sense with cars She drove a Sunbeam and she drove it hard Left her stranded time and again Didn't matter, you could do that then
And they danced on the rooftops Let their hearts run wild Such a sight to the eyes of a child
We were used to all the best The man from U.N.C.L.E. and the Wild, Wild West We ruled the skies from a backyard swing Nothing that flies could've stopped that thing
While they danced on the rooftops Let their hearts run wild Such a sight to the eyes of a child
Blood-stained blacktops twist up between the wheels Before we knew it it was all too real The voice of reason confined to the past And all that mattered was to get there fast So we could dance on the rooftops Let our hearts run wild (hearts run wild)
Should it all come down to your last thin dime You can dial that number one more time But the phone won't ring 'cause the line's gone dead It's lost in history Like I said, it's gone
So now we give it all we got Pick em up at daycare in a state of shock Frayed at the edges and torn at the seams It rarely happens in our wildest dreams That we dance on the rooftops, let our hearts run wild And it ain't for the sake of the child
You don't too often see a sunbeam anymore You never see a Fuller Brush man or a dinosaur The voice of reason rules with an iron fist Please forgive me if I'm not prepared to handle this
Must be a cold front coming Cause I saw the eastbound C&O And the coal cars were dusted with a half inch of snow And that boy'll drive me crazy Don't know what I'll do with him School will be out tomorrow if that cold front moves in Calling out To the dying daylight The shadows of the mountains Bringing on the night
The old folks like to whisper He favors your side in his face When he gets a little older He's going to lead a merry chase
(chorus) When I'm all alone it's all right It Isn't going to wound my pride If anyone can claim they're all right So can I
I wrecked the El Camino Would have been DWI So I just walked off and left it Laying on its side The troopers found it in the morning And they said it's purely luck I wasn't killed I probably ought to quit my drinking But I don't believe I will
(chorus)
He used to ask about you About a million times a day I got so tired of trying to answer I just turned my head away Now he don't pay me much attention He's not asking anymore I guess he'd probably know you If you walked back in the door
Calling out to the empty night Watching as the snowflakes Come dancing round the light Dancing up against the window It's like they're peeking through the glass And they hover for a moment And then they fall on past Calling out
Flatter than a tabletop Makes you wonder why they stopped here Wagon must have lost a wheel or they lacked ambition one On the great migration west Separated from the rest Though they might have tried their best They never caught the sun So they sunk some roots down in the dirt To keep from blowin' off the earth Built a town around here And when the dust had all but cleared They called it Levelland, the pride of man In Levelland
Granddad grew the dryland wheat Stood on his own two feet His mind got incomplete and they put in the home Daddy's cotton grows so high Sucks the water table dry Rolling sprinklers circle round Bleedin' it to the bone And I won't be here when it comes a day It all dries up and blows away I'd hang around just to see But they never had much use for me in Levelland They don't understand me out in Levelland
And I watch those jet trails carving up that big blue sky Coast to coasters watch 'em go And I never would blame 'em one damn bit If they never looked down on this Not much here they'd wanna know Just Levelland Far as you can point your hand Nothin' but Levelland
Mama used to roll her hair Back before the central air We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night She'd tell me to make a wish I'd wish we both could fly Don't think she's seen the sky Since we got the satellite dish and I can hear the marching band Doin' the best they can They're playing "Smoke on the Water", "Joy to the World" I've paid off all my debts Got some change left over yet and I'm Gettin' on a whisper jet I'm gonna fly as far as I can get from Levelland, doin' the best I can Out in Levelland - imagine that
You come back now, looking for a clue Expecting everybody to fall all over you If you missed it so, this one-light town Why'd you go and leave with the snow coming down?
(chorus) I was chasing after what was mine No explaining, there was no more time One more winter would've been my last I could feel it slipping from my grasp
You come back now, and you don't look bad You must've made the best of the time you had Since you cut and run, like they said you would And we got along without you just as best we could
(chorus) Well I don't expect you'll ever see But you're not my maker and you don't judge me One more winter would've been my last And I don't go dwelling on my past
I could not sit here listening to the wind against these walls I still hear it whistling in the whispers of them all
And I come back now, but I won't stay long There hasn't much changed since I been gone No I won't stay long, you need not fear I just came back to see if I had ever been here.
(chorus) I could not be like one of them Faces shrunken from the bitter wind Their righteous rage, their jealous fear One more winter won't find me here
The streets are emptied out and silent Standing here all stupified and stunned You Say you need a rayolight Had enough of my blinding insight Well I guess I can't blame you none Whatever it is won't go down easy Keeps on rearing its ugly head again But I could use a rayolight Had enough of this mindless fight Right now we're both too tired to win
(chorus) I propose we shed these clothes And rest this thing Find us a place where the creeks run clear And the phone don't ring
These old rough edges we keep finding Sooner or later they'll wear down smooth and shiny
(chorus)
There's traffic on the street It's getting pale in the east We'll be all right for now at least
There's a rayolight stabbing through Could be we learned a trick or two As the streetlights fade we can pull the shades And rest this thing Find us a place where the creeks runs clear and the phone don't ring These old rough edges we keep finding Just got to work 'em a while till they wear down smooth and shiny
Don't expect no favors, nothing in return Tell all your cross-eyed neighbors that it's none of their concern Open the shades Melinda, let in the outside air I'm deep in doubt and I can't get out, and it must be dark in there I wanna walk with you in the morning mist Though I should be home by now And there must be some way outta this I was thinking you'd know how And my judgement may be shaky And my shoes are soaking through 'Cause the weeds are wet and I haven't yet made any sense of you
All the midnight angels Fold their wings by dawn The same old wild-eyed strangers sit and watch em till they're gone I let the night unravel, forget my vain pursuits "Cept to feel that gray rock gravel On your road beneath my boots
I wanna walk with you in the changing light When the shadows twist and play And the ghosts that kept me out all night We can chase em all away And the talk of those that wonder And the talk of those that curse Let em have their thrill, they'll need it We'll be no more for the worse
Shine your eyes upon me, whisper long and low Mindful of the longing that we ever more may know
Up the ridge on past you, looking down below You can see the stacks of Danville when the clouds don't hang so low Should you take a mind to, won't you join me there Open the shades Melinda, let in the outside air...
You look across the table with those guilty eyes So many mornings now I shouldn't be surprised When you lash out at me and you scream out in the night What could you have done to get in such an awful fright Is it all that bad that you think I shouldn't see Well who you gonna talk to if you can't tell me
(chorus) Where'd you hide the body Where'd you stash the loot Just keep your hands where I can see them So I don't have to shoot There's a smoking pistol at your side But you swear it's not the one Where'd you hide the body Where'd you get the gun Where'd you hide the body Where'd you get the gun
When cornered you complain about the state of your career And you look intently straight ahead pretending I'm not here And you look me in the eye and tell me it's not about us Then you tell me I'm so silly to be making such a fuss So everything's OK but your nervous as a cat What's that say about me that you think I'd fall for that
(chorus)
Where'd you hide the body Where'd you ditch the gun Keep your hands where I can see 'em Make no attempt to run
You used to always throw me off the trail I guess those days are through Where'd you hide the body What's consuming you Where'd you hide the body What's consuming you
The gates of the schoolyard are padlocked and chained to keep all the children in out of the rain the art teacher's preaching the virtues of pastel shades you pay no attention but it won't hurt your grades
'cause you're painting by numbers connecting the dots they don't have to tell you you don't call the shots
you jump when they say jump and you don't ask how high 'cause painting by numbers they know you'll get by painting by numbers they know you'll get by
you take a position in the old man's firm he signs all the papers you agree to the terms they ley you run errands and you don't get days off you take off the garbage and hope it pays off
'cause you're painting by numbers connecting the dots you work from neck down
you might be in grad school up ut M.I.T. you might be down in the canal zone being all that you can be you might get to thinking you're ahead of the game but when you break it all down it all comes out the same
'cause you're painting by numbers connecting the dots you work from neck down
I'm not from here I just live here Grew up somewhere far away Came here thinking I'd never stay long I'd be going back soon someday
It's been a few years since I got here Seen 'em come and I've seen 'em go Crowds assemble, they hang out awhile Then they melt away like an early snow
Onto some bright future somewhere Down the road to points unknown Sending post cards when they get there Wherever it is they think they're goin'
I'm not from here I just live here Can't say that it matters much I read the papers and I watch the nightly news Who's to say I'm out of touch?
Nobody's from here Most of us just live here locals long since moved away sold their played-out farms for parking lots went off looking for a better way
Onto some bright future somewhere Better times on down the road Wonder if they ever got there Wherever it is they thought they'd go
Hit my home town a couple years back Hard to say just how it felt But it looked like so many towns I might've been through on my way to somewhere else
I'm not from here But people tell me it's not like it used to be They say I should've been here back about ten years Before it got ruined by folks like me
We can't help it We just keep moving It's been that way since long ago Since the Stone Age, chasing the great herds We mostly go where we have to go
Onto some bright future somewhere Down the road to points unknown Sending post cards when we get there Wherever it is they think we'll go
Hear the trucks on the highway, And the tickin' of the clocks There's a ghost of a moon in the afternoon, Bullet holes in the mailbox Bullet holes in the mailbox, Keyholes in my mind Too long in the wasteland Too long in the wasteland I've fallin' behind
She said won't you come see me, When the sun goes down It'll be just like the old days, When I used to let you hang around Well I don't know, I might not speak the language any more Too long in the wasteland Too long in the wasteland I've closed some doors
People in the village, Watch the children play At the sight of a stranger, They call the kids away Just leave that man alone, I hear the mothers say Too long in the wasteland Too long in the wasteland What's made him that way
I hadn't intended, To bend the rules Whiskey don't make liars, It just makes fools So I didn't mean to say it, But I meant what I said Too long in the wasteland Too long in the wasteland Must have gone to my head
Jet trails in the sunset, a long way away cuttin' cross the horizon, At the edge of the day And it calls out to me, Come fly away, I've been Too long in the wasteland Too long in the wasteland I believe I'll have to stay
Too long in the wasteland Too long in the wasteland I'll have to stay
There's a ghost of a moon in the afternoon Bullet holes in the mailbox Bullet holes in the mailbox
