Lyrics

On the seventh hour of the seventh day
The seventh son was looking for a seventh-stage getaway
The word came down from a blinding light
You got one chance, you'd better do it right

I was driving down the 101
It was late at night and I was thinking 'bout the things that I'd done
All of my regrets and and all of my fears
I was slipping the car from gear to gear to gear

Man, I really got going, started picking up speed
I hit 135 and I had everything that I'd need
Started shaking bad, fearing for my life
I let go of the wheel and I flew into the night

god bless the child, god bless his soul
god perish the idea that he will die before he's old
gotta be cool, you gotta behave
man, there'll be time for that when I'm lying in my grave

You gotta watch your step, or you gonna lose your way
Take heed of your elders, do everything they say
Yeah, I gotta watch out for the man who tolls the bells
But if I fear for the devil and I fear for myself then I'm gonna have to fear for everybody else

Lyrics

The more I see, the less I think I want to see
Which only makes me dare to see
More than I really should
I test myself to show I can endure
Beyond the point of anything that anyone
Has tried to suffer through before

And only the pain remains (sustain, sustain)
Nothing that time can explain away

Like a debt that I never tried to pay before
And no one''s ever gonna take
The fee away from me
I try to clear the books with time
Instead of tangible artifacts
And elements and bits of me that I can't see

And only the pain remains (sustain, sustain)
Nothing that time can explain away

And on and on and on and on

Lyrics

Was it mostly aggravation
Was it just a train that pulled out from another station?

I always understand over my shoulder. Carelessly.

Did it come with some restrictions?
Did I try to read too much into a work of fiction? (ch)

Is there nothing to be savored
When the best things are bewildered and much belabored ? (ch)

Lyrics

Saved the best for later
Came with a big surprise
when later came like a runaway train
and smacked you right between the eyes

Staring down the shadows of love
with lust and envy and greed
Well its not too hard when you realize
there's still a million things that you need

Bit her lip with precision and wit
Passed out like punctuation
Left me here and trembling
reeling from the situation

What a drag it is
Sometimes you just gotta laugh
What a drag it is

Learned my share of lessons
Held on like a loyal hound
I was torn from the roots in a cobra suit
Never never never never hit the ground

Ch.

Alibis ring tight through the night
I dont believe you but its alright
Look around and then you'll see
all the losers get in free round here

I had a dream last night
The choir was singin "We love you"
Pools of sweat that you cant forget
Place your bets
Goodnight Irene

Ch.

Lyrics

Finally stashed away the vices
Like a shield against the coming crisis
See what drops and see what rises
Watch out for the falling prices

ch:

Stripped away so you could hardly tell
Leaving nothing but the shell

Remember when she was a comer
Brighter but a little dumber
Something went down late last summer
I don't suppose you have her number (ch)

Never made it to the coda
The CIA destroyed the folder
Brighter but a little older
A teleprompter and a soda (ch)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Neil Young and Crazy Horse
A victim of a bad divorce
Take a little from the source (ch)

A retro-futuro glam stomp with my first harmonica solo
in years. A pre-apocolyptic tale of redemption and focus complete with
Aspertame and name-dropping. Note: a "comer" is a sports term for an "up-
and-comer," or someone with "can't-miss" potential. - SW

Lyrics

Darling, it's a shame
The way they play you like a game
Baby, it's a sin
The Way you never seem to win

Shelley, can't you understand
I only want to be your friend

Honey, I want to know
Why everything seems to scare you so
Darling, what can I say?
I only want to let you do it your way (ch)

Baby, is it fair
The way nobody seems to care
Darling, is it known
Why anyone should end up all alone (ch)

Lyrics

I'm buying time
But I've got no place to put it
I draw the line
But that shouldn't slow me down, now should it?

Riding against the minutes
Outside the city limits
Burning deep inside me like
Death Valley rain

We come alive
When the sun goes down in the valley
We never drive
We just park it out back in the alley

ch

The moon it shines
And lights up the cans on the dashboard
The stars align
But we don't know exactly what for

ch

Lyrics

Underneath the highway
That's where you'll find me
Broken mirrors and black cats
Leaving trains behind me
Messed around with fire
Played around with thunder
Messing with the shadows
Is it any wonder?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained
And now there's nothing lef
Black magic
Coming down on me
Black magic
So blind that I can't see anymore

When I was a young boy
I was drawn to danger
Double dares and bad luck
We were never strangers
Every bit of darkness
Add to my collection
And then the lights would fade
Under my direction (ch)

I hear that you've been laughing
Around the skulls and bones
PLaying with the candles
When you were home alone
It's an ancient story
But you might forget it
Careful what you wish for
Because you might regret it (ch)

In a world filled with pitfalls and potholes, it seems silly to actually go looking for trouble. Of course, that never stopped most people including myself. There's always an allure to the darkness but thrills are never really cheap.-SW

Lyrics

Oh, my friend what have they done to you?
Held you down until you liked the view
Strangers on the street, they mock you
Phantoms in your sleep might shock you

I don't want to be the one to hold you down
I don't want to be the one to turn away
I don't want to play wolf when you call
'Cause tears won't help at all

Oh, Delilah is the message clear?
It's been raining down for years and years
Never said I was a saint
The whiskers they betray the greasepaint (ch)

Oh the answer to my greatest fears
Oh the reason for the wasted years
So in love with your own pain
You stay inside and pray for rain
Where losers always win the game
You fall in love with your own shame (ch)

Lyrics

Two t-shirts in a plastic bag, tennis shoes underneath the seat
I lost my license in the last hotel or maybe this morning when I stopped to eat.
Left San Francisco late Tuesday night.
Three day ride through the desert sun.
Riding down on a collision course.
I don't want to talk to anyone.

And I wait and pray. Try to find a way out of this mess.
And I take the blame and let off a call of distress.

Donna left Dallas two weeks ago in a beat-up Ford that her father gave her.
She was tired of all the people that had let her down.
She was tired of all the people that had tried to save her.
Shielding her eyes against the sky, she stopped off at a diner close to Arizona.
I was thinking about a friend that l'd left behind.
I stopped off at a diner and I tried to phone her (ch)

Stopped off at the diner and I got some coffee.
Two seats down Donna asked for tea.
I was tired of learning things that I already knew.
I looked at Donna and she looked at me.
Twenty minutes later she was out the door
Thirty minutes later I was gone for good.
I wish I had a better story to tell you
But sometimes things don't work out
just the way they should(ch).

Lyrics

I was thinking of my troubles
As people sometimes will
Everyone who had done my wrong
And those who would wrong me still
And in a fit of desperation
I found myself on my knees
wishing pain and suffering
on all my enemies

I prayed for loss of limb
and lingering disease
Of blight and devastation
And assorted miseries
But as I made my wishes
and as I cast my spells
I stopped myself and said a prayer
And said these words to myself

There will come a day
There will come a day
When all of the evil
will be washed away
The patient will be rewarded
And their tormentors will pay
There will come a day, lord
There will come a day

Lyrics

All the stores have long since shut
Broken windows boarded up
Never had the heart to tear it down
To tear it down

Everything is laid out wide
And I've got nothing left but time
To think that such a day would once terrify
I can't believe it now

ch:

Time gives all that it takes
Time leaves nothing in its wake
And I am ready for what comes after
For what comes after

All the clouds have passed away
And I can only see the light of day
I never thought such clarity
would come my way (ch)

Still waiting for the morning to call my name
Still waiting for the light on the windowpane
Still waiting for the sun
But it never comes

It's impossible to forget
Until the day that there's finally nothing left
But where nothing lies, anything can rise
And be torn down

Lyrics

I don't know
Where does it go
What's left to show
I don't know

I don't mind
There's nothing to find
No kind of sign
I don't mind

I know they say the evidence is real
Anyway it's not the way I feel
It's no big deal

Cats and dogs
Cats and dogs
Cats and dogs
Cats and dogs

Are you sad
To feel you've been
Is it so bad
Are you sad

All of the fears
And all of the tears
And then it appears
They fade into years

I know they say it fades into the night
Anyway, we fight and fight and never get it right

Cats and dogs
Cats and dogs
Cats and dogs
Cats and dogs

Don't wanna know
Where will you go
Don't wanna know
Don't wanna know

What can I say?
So many days
And then just haze
Sometimes I'm amazed

Another brief foray into the early 70s soul music that had much more of an impact on my early sensibilities than any of the much-repeated influences to which I've been tagged over and over again. Joe McGinty arranged the horns with expertise and wit.-SW

Lyrics

Faded dreams and buried schemes
they never worried me
promises lost and secrets tossed
they have no remedy
yeah, you can lay your head
down in the ground
or move on with me yeah

photographs fade easily
they need to be locked away
I don't ask much of anything
but conspiracy
conspiracy of the heart
of the heart

well we made mistakes before
and I know that we'll make them all again
I can take all that along the way
'cause I know that from here and out
that you will always be my friend
well it's yesterday, today, and tomorrow
another bend in the road (ch)

and there's so many things that try to pull us apart
and there's so many things to deny
it's harder everyday to find the love in our hearts
it's not easy but I'll try

Lyrics

Speak my language
Do a little damage
Nothing left to salvage
Never mind the carnage

Why do birds fall from the sky
Every time that you walk by?
I don't know why
I don't know why

Get a little lowdown
Gonna be a showdown
Not enough to go 'round
Look at what I found (ch)

Kinda like a dancer
New romancer
Spreading like a cancer
There's no answer (ch)

Lyrics

In this town there's a joke going around
And everyone says it's you
They're fazed, they're crazed, they're constantly amazed
At the thing you say and do
He lies, he steals, he cheats on you
And comes back in the end
You say "man, I'll do anything you want,
don't leave me again"

Carolyn, can't you see what you're doing
Carolyn, step outside of the ruin

You sit home alone by the telephone,
Playing it tit-for-tat
Well, I don't mean to get all in the air
But I think you're better than that
He'll hold you down, he'll pin you down
and make you holler, "When!"
You say, "man I'll do anything you want
Don't leave me again" (ch)

Well I ain't no knight in shining armour
coming to rescue you
I'm crazy, I'm lazy and I think you know I get mean
When i've had a few
But I'm not the kind to shake you down
and peck at you like a hen
C'mon baby, take a walk with me now
and start all over again (ch)

Lyrics

Shelly was a ghost and she never wrote back
Jackie had a story for everything she lacked
Sarah slept forever and I thought that she was dead
But she wasn't dead, she wasn't dead

And all I want is tea and some chocolate and a book
And a cigarette and coffee and a dangerous look
And all that I want, more than anything I want
Is to just be alone, just be alone

Hey, can I look in your eyes again?
Hey can I look in your eyes?

Suzy was a tourist and her sister was a guide and
Janet was cruel but she was sweet inside and
Cindy had teeth like a carving knife and
Betty liked to tell me what to do with my life (ch)

Janie, she was pretty outside of Kansas City
It really was a pity that she stayed in Kansas City and
Frieda said to sack it when she didn't want to back it
She knew she couldn't hack it in a blue bomber jacket, a blue bomber jacket

And all I want is tea and some chocolate and a book
And a cigarette and coffee and a dangerous look
And all that I want more than anything I want
Is to just be alone, just be alone

Hey can I look in your eyes again
Hey can I look in your eyes?

I've often felt that a three-chord song is probably one too many and I submit this duo-tonic marvel as evidence. Name-dropping (all fiction, of course) and gleeful, pounding repetition made this song a joy to play and nearly impossible to end. I truly believe there is some alternate universe where we are still playing the outro to this song.-SW

Lyrics

These are the same streets that he walked down
These are the same roads that he drove
And these are the ways that he went bad

Just off the highway by Ventura
Blood rolling down by the motel walk
And that's my blood

My family crest is a stranger's blood
But that's not me

I count the times that he chose badly
I count the times that I went wrong
It's not the same

Sometimes I guess that I lose my temper
Hate myself and I curse my name
It's just like him (ch)


Sometimes I think that I'm not human
I wonder why I never cry
And then I know
Blood rolling down from the Chevron station
I know that none of it was mine
And then I know

Lyrics

The lion and the monkey were walking through the jungle
Till the light they were seeking wasn't there no more
The monkey said "Leo, we're a team, that's right"
The lion licked his chops and then he set to bite

It's all been said before
I don't take it as gospel no more

The lady and the lover were talking to each other
With satin tones and candy corn
Five years later there's pain and resentment
And a stony silence that's as thick as mud (ch)

Me and the governor were talking to each other
'Bout the power of one man to change the world
Two months later I was taken by surprise
When the governor put his vote on the other side (ch)

Lyrics

after 47 days they left well enough alone
the cops and the reporters have all gone home
all that's left is legend and stories to be told

tired of all the questions, tired of all the calls
tired of explaining myself against the wall
funny how tragedy brings out the best in everyone


standing on the shoreline, burning candles in the rain
i don't want to hear that garbage anymore
watching all the flowers as they're rolling down the james
the dead can rest forever more if the creek don't rise again


love burns brightest all dressed up in black
with summertime just around the bend
you handle your grief and i'll deal with mine
we'll all get along just fine (ch)


after 47 days they left well enough alone
the cops and the reporters have all gone home
all that's left is legend and stories to be told

and i know that they're out there, i know they're watching me
and they wait for me to give myself away
but there's just a few secrets between the river and me (ch)

Lyrics

If the river runs dry like it probably will
I'll drink from the well 'till I get my fill
If God likes a joke and I think that he may
We'll both be there laughing at the end of the play

What can I tell you?
The way that they sell you,
Well, you can strike up the band
with the back of her hand, it's alright.

What can I show you,
They think that they know you
Well you can wrap up the show
With all that you know, it's alright

If they come looking for me you can tell them dead
I might be there watching or hiding instead

Lyrics

There will be a hero born tonight
a bright flash of light and then glory
a hero's story
look at all the medals on your coat
the lump in your throat,
nobody knows
it's 3 a.m. and the TV glows and
play the anthem one more time

All of the gratitude and praise
is wasted and misplaced on foolish pleasures
and wasted treasures
and though you wouldn't tell a soul
you'd like to see them all learn some lesson
you taught some lessons not too long ago and
play the anthem one more time

somewhere down the corridor tonight
there is a light that shines through
shines down on you
and if you were looking for a sign
a place to draw the line, well there you are
the guns are loaded and there's gas in the car and
play the anthem one more time

Lyrics

The moon might fall tonight
Leaving shadows in the sky
For all I care
It can fall
For all I care

The stars might fade tonight
Leaving nothing in the sky
For all I care
They can fade
For all I care

Is there nothing I can do
Nothing I can say
Nothing I can be
To make you want to stay

The sun might die tonight
Leaving nothing in the sky
For all I care
It can die
For all I care

Lyrics

Breaking bad news
Never was anything you could use
There was just too much time for worry

Memory fades
Into deeper shades of grey
Everything's fine, you barely notice now

Mandy Breakdown

Bruises and scars
In shapes of the stars, good stories in bars
Good for a laugh if you let her

Yellow and brown
One lifts you up and one brings you down
I can't say which is better

Mandy Breakdown

Squirrels at play
They've come to take the nuts away
I wouldn't worry if I was you

Sick and diseased
Crouching down on your knees
It's all so old that it feels so new

Mandy Breakdown

Hidden from view
Everyone lowers their voice around you
All the attention you so rightly earned

When will it end?
Where do we send the bends that mend
All of your friends are so concerned

Mandy Breakdown

The last song written for the record which means we probably played this one no more than five times from rehearsal introduction to the version you hear on the record, leading to the potent mix of chaos, shamble and gleeful aggression all combined into Chris Brokaw's incredible highwire act of a solo. A nervous breakdown in progress.-SW

Lyrics

Leaning over shaky ground and daring it to bring me down
Dancing on the edge of darkness, wondering if I'll ever drown
When they tip the house of cards, I'll do my best to act surprised
Standing on the riverside and waiting for the tide to rise

Watching all the ships go by with fire rising from the deck
Scavengers leave empty handed, nothing left aboard the wreck
The promise of all the gold was just the devil in disguise
Standing on the riverside and waiting for the tide to rise

Juggler and a joker, preacher and a petty thief
All walked into a bar, looking for some sweet relief
Said the preacher to the thief, "We're all the same in his eyes
When we're standing by the riverside, waiting for the tide to rise"

The revolution did go as planned
Done in by timing, finished by the hand of man
Termites and maggots delighted in the things they found
I wonder why it took so long to bring them down

Lyrics

If you feel like going down
So do I. Stick around
Follow me, follow me, follow me.

If you see a shooting star
Or a broken tail light on an old blue car
follow me, follow me, follow me.

If you're looking for a sign
I hope it's mine.
Follow me. Follow me. Follow me.

Sometimes enchanting,
Sometimes reprimamding.

If you'd like to be a child
Or lose yourself for a little while,
follow me, follow me, follow me.

What are yout expectations ?
I'll leave it tu your imagination.

If you feel like going down
So do I. Stick around.
Follow me, follow me, follow me.

Lyrics

Got a lotta slack that's holding me back
And I don't know where to go
Sniffing like a hound that wants to bite down
But I can't tell friend from foe

I want to slow down but I can't

Gimme lotta lead and slow me down with speed
And I'll let you go your way
Put it down on paper and bother me later
If that's all you got to say

I want to be there but I'm not

Nobody's perfect I know that it's true
Nobody's perfect but what can you do
Nobody's perfect it's just noise and stuff
But sometimes too much just isn't enough

Take a little powder and turn it up louder
And blow the walls apart
Gotta give me level to keep away the devil
And crawl inside my heart

I want to be free but I'm not

Lyrics

Hello endless night
Hello darkness and pain
I've come to blot out the night
I've come to see you again

ch:

Broken by my own promise
Haunted by my own name
Hiding from the world
Wearing the mask of shame

I played the '21'
I played the gambling wheel
I guess I had my fun
I guess I made a few deals

Broken my own promise
Cornered by my own game
Hiding from the world
Wearing the mask of shame

The children hold their ground
And stare from across the way
The mothers say 'mark my words
Or you'll end up like him someday' (ch)

Everyone called it the "sea shanty" and there is a bit of ragged toothlessness and plenty of salt water on this one. I wore my grandfather's spiffy pin-stripe suit for the vocal though I don't think that technique will make the studio trade magazines.-SW

Lyrics

You pull thorns from my hands
and then wait for your reward
When you know they're the same ones
you placed there the night before
You glance in the mirror every time that you lie
You're well rehearsed every time that you cry
Well here's a little something to remember me by


You fed me the skin off my back
and asked me if it tasted good
You knew I never loved you
when you asked me if I always would
I'm leaving now but don't ask why
If you don't know then don't even try
But here's a little something to remember me by

Yeah, kindness and love
are only the means to an end
Unless the end is the beginning
and we start all over again
If there's a place where evil goes to die
I'm certain that you'd qualify
Till then, here's a little something to remember me by
Yeah, here's a little something to remething to remember me by

Lyrics

Here in this place we call home
Torn and divided but never alone
Shadows reveal what they try to conceal
Here in this palace of broken glass
Nothing is promised to nothing is asked
Nothing delivered when nothing is severed
I love you, I hate you
Caress and berate you

Here in this heaven for fools
It's loser take all until we change all the rules
Darkness becomes you but silence betrays you
I want you, I crave you
I kiss and enslave you

No promises no more
Only the shadows
Badly lit from above
What we call love

Come on, walk across that line
The one that your drew when you said you were mine
Slightly insulting when something is nothing
She knows something that I want to know
Barely concealed but never to show
Trying to tell you I love you, I need you
I rip you apart and suck you and bleed you

Lyrics

In the corner room they do what they wanna do
Oh no. Baby can I follow you down the hall?
In the wee hours, they don't want to know your name
Oh now. Baby what's your favorite game, can I play?

In the old days, did you have a killer line?
Oh yeah. I bet you really spoke your mind smooth and slow

Don't talk again
It doesn't matter now
Don't want to hear a thing
No way. No how.
Unbending
Unending
Unlikely
Unlikely
Unsightly
Degraded and hated
Until the final bell

When the dawn breaks, where you gonna lay your head?
Oh yeah. Would you like to go to bed all alone?
When the news leaks are you gonna show your face?
Oh yeah. Are you gonna show disgrace to yourself?

When the film ends, will you let the credits roll?
Oh no. will you find a pot of gold by your head
When your good friend has a sudden change of plans
Oh yeah, when the money changes hands what will you do?