The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs Lyrics
Absolutely Cuckoo
Don't fall in love with me yet
We only recently met
True I'm in love with you but
You might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
Go absolutely cuckoo
Then, when you see your error
Then, you can flee in terror
Like everybody else does
I only tell you this 'cause
I'm easy to get rid of
But not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
And if you make a mistake
My heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
And all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
Don't fall in love with me yet
We only recently met
True I'm in love with you but
You might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
Go absolutely cuckoo
Then, when you see your error
Then, you can flee in terror
Like everybody else does
I only tell you this 'cause
I'm easy to get rid of
But not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
And if you make a mistake
My heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
And all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
I Dont Believe In The Sun
They say there's a sun in the sky but me, I can't
imagine why There might have been one before you were
gone but now all I see is the night I don't believe
in the sun How could it shine down on everyone and
never shine on me How could there be such cruelty
The only sun I ever knew was the beautiful one that was you
Since you went away it's nighttime all day and it's usually
raining too... The only stars there really are were
shining in your eyes There is no sun except the one that
never shone on other guys The moon to whom the poets croon
has given up and died Astronomy will have to be revised...
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
All My Little Words
You are a splendid butterfly It is your wings that make you
beautiful and I could make you fly away but I could never
make you stay You said you were in love with me Both of
us know that that's impossible and I could make you rue
the day but I could never make you stay Not for all
the tea in China not if I could sing like a bird not for
all North Carolina not for all my little words not if I
could write for you the sweetest song you ever heard
It doesn't matter what I do not for all my little words
Now that you've made me want to die you tell me that
you're unboyfriendable and I could make you pay and pay
but I could never make you stay...
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
Eligible, not too stupid, intelligible and cute as Cupid,
knowledgeable, but not always right, salvageable
and free for the night Well my heart's running round
like a chicken with its head cut off all around the barnyard
falling in and out of love The poor thing's blind as a bat
getting up, falling down, getting up Who'd fall in love with
a chicken with its head cut off? (Whoa, Nellie) My wife
doesn't understand me Many dozens hope to land me I'm for
free love, and I'm in free fall This could be love or
nothing at all... We don't have to be stars exploding
in the night or electric eels under the covers We
don't have to be anything quite so unreal let's just
be lovers... (It ain't pretty)
Writer: STEPHIN RAYMOND MERRITT
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Reno Dakota
Reno Dakota there's not an iota of kindness in you
You know you enthrall me and yet you don't call me
It's making me blue Pantone 292 Reno Dakota I'm
reaching my quota of tears for the year Alas and
alack you just don't call me back You have just
disappeared It makes me drink beer I know you're
a recluse You know that's no excuse Reno that's
just a ruse Do not play fast and loose with my heart
Reno Dakota I'm no Nino Rota I don't know the score
Have I annoyed you or is there a boy who
Well he's just a whore I've had him before
It makes me drink more
Writer: STEPHIN RAYMOND MERRITT
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
I Dont Want To Get Over You
I don't want to get over you
I guess I could take a sleeping pill
And sleep at will
And not have to go through what I go through
I guess I should take Prozac, right
And just smile all night
At somebody new
Somebody not too bright
But sweet and kind
Who would try to get you off my mind
I could leave this agony behind
Which is just what I'd do
If I wanted to
But I don't want to get over you
'Cause I don't want to get over love
I could listen to my therapist
Pretend you don't exist
And not have to dream of what I dream of
I could listen to all my friends
And go out again
And pretend it's enough
Or I could make a career of being blue
I could dress in black and read Camus
Smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth
Like I was seventeen
That would be a scream
But I don't want to get over you
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Come Back From San Francisco
Come back from San Francisco It can't be all that pretty
when all of New York City misses you Should pretty boys
in discos distract you from your novel remember I'm
awful in love with you You need me like the wind
needs the trees to blow in Like the moon needs poetry
you need me Come back from San Francisco and kiss me,
I've quit smoking I miss doing the wild thing with you
Will you stay, I don't think so but all I do is worry
Pack bags, call cabs and hurry home to me...
When you betray me betray me with a kiss Damn you
I've never stayed up as late as this
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side
Andy would bicycle across town in the rain to bring you
candy and John would buy the gown for you to wear to the
prom with Tom the astronomer who'd name a star for you
(C): But I'm the luckiest guy on the Lower East Side
cause I've got wheels and you want to go for a ride
Harry is the one I think you'll marry but it's Chris
that you kissed after school I'm a fool, there's no doubt
but when the sun comes out and only when the sun
comes out... (C) The day is beautiful and so are you
My car is ugly but then I'm ugly too I know you'd
never give me a second glance but when the weather's
nice all the other guys don't stand a chance
I know Professor Blumen makes you feel like a woman
but when the wind is in your hair you laugh like a little girl
So you share secrets with Lou but we've got secrets too
Well, one: I only keep this heap for you
cause I'm the ugliest guy on the Lower East Side
but I've got wheels and you want to go for a ride
Want to go for a ride?
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lets Pretend Were Bunny Rabbits
If you knew how I long for you now that you're gone
you'd grow wings and fly home to me home tonight
and in the morning sun let's pretend we're
bunny rabbits Let's do it all day long Let abbots,
Babbits and Cabots say Mother Nature's wrong
and when we've had a coupla beers we'll put on
bunny suits I long to nibble your ears and do
as bunnies do Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits
Let's do it all day long rapidly becoming rabid
singing little rabbit songs I can keep it up all night
I can keep it up all day Let's pretend we're bunny
rabbits until we pass away Let's pretend we're
bunny rabbits until we pass away
Writer: STEPHIN RAYMOND MERRITT
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
The cactus where your heart should be has lovely
Little flowers so though it's always pricking me
My ardor never sours the cactus where your heart
Once was has power to rend and flay I stick because
I'm stuck, because I just can't tear myself away
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
I Think I Need A New Heart
Time stands still
All I can feel is the time standing still
As you put down the keys
And say, "don't call me please"
While the radio plays
I think I need a new heart, oh oh
I think I need a new heart, oh oh
You've lied, too
But it's a sin that I
Can't tell the truth
'Cause it all comes out wrong
Unless I put it in a song
So the radio plays
I think I need a new heart
Just for you
I think I need a new heart
'Cause I always say, "I love you"
When I mean, "turn out the light"
And I say, "let's run away"
When I just mean, "stay the night"
But the words you want to hear
You will never hear from me
I'll never say "happy anniversary"
Never stay to say "happy anniversary"
So I think I need a new heart, oh oh
I think I need a new heart, oh oh
I think I need a new heart, oh oh
I think I need a new heart, oh oh
Give me time
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
The Book Of Love
The book of love is long and boring No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing
but I I love it when you read to me and you you can read me anything
The book of love has music in it In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental Some of it is just really dumb but I
I love it when you sing to me and you you can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring and written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes and things we're all
too young to know but I I love it when you give me things and you
you ought to give me wedding rings I I love it when you give me things
and you you ought to give me wedding rings
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Fido Your Leash Is Too Long
Fido, your leash is too long You go where you don't belong
You've been diggin in the rubble getting bitches in trouble
Fido, your leash is too long Fido your leash is too long
I don't know where I went wrong You scare me out of my wits
when you do that Shitzu Fido, your leash is too long
Fido, you've gone far enough I must have all of your love
You've just run out of luck I don't care what you foxhounds do
but your leash is too long
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
How Fucking Romantic
How f*cking romantic
All the stars are out
Twinkling twinkling twinkling
And fluttering about
What a tacky sunset
What a vulgar moon
Play another charming
Rogers and Hart tune
How f*cking romantic
Must we really waltz?
Drag another cliche
Howling from the vaults
Love you obviously
Like you really care
Even though you treat me
Like a dancing bear
Toss your bear a goldfish
As he cycles by
Don't forget to feed your
Bear or it'll die
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
The One You Really Love
I do believe our love's in danger I might as well be loving air
You look at me like I'm a stranger You look at me like I'm not there
I gaze into your eyes of blue but their beauty is not for me You're
Thinking on someone who's gone You're dreaming of the one you really love
I made you mine, or so it seemed Though he is dead he haunts your dreams
I might as well be two ft. tall You never will love me at all
You're dreaming of the corpse you really love
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Parades Go By
I'll linger here your ring upon my finger dear and sing till dawn
A song of you and me and what and why for time is all I have to keep
Between these walls and half asleep the days go by a million little
Nights and days go by and I don't mind Parades go by So many beautiful
Parades go by Leave me behind I'll sit and stare how could I venture
Anywhere and let the centuries fall where they may but never die
For I have loved and so I lost the world above beyond the moss
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Boa Constrictor
I spend my evenings alone talking to your picture, babe Love is
wrapped around my heart like a boa constrictor, babe My mother
should have murdered me What jury would convict her, babe for
love is wrapped around my heart like a boa constrictor, babe
Writer: SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Copyright: Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
A Pretty Girl Is Like
A pretty girl is like a minstrel show It makes you laugh
It makes you cry You go It just isn't the same on radio
It's all about the makeup and the dancing and the Oh,
A pretty girl is like a violent crime If you do it wrong
You could do time but if you do it right it is sublime
I'm so in love with you, girl, It's like I'm on the moon
I can't really breathe, but I feel lighter A melody is like
A pretty girl Who cares if it's the dumbest in the world
It's all about the way that it unfurls A pretty girl is like
A pretty girl
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
My Sentimental Melody
I'm a hopeless romantic You're a terrible flirt Cool and unfazed,
you're always amazed when someone gets hurt I live on the blue planet
that I saw in your eyes but now I can't stay knowing it's made
of beautiful lies but my sentimental melody like a long-lost lullabye
will ring in your ears down through the years bringing a tear to your eye
Goodbye Love can kill people, can't it Well it still might kill me
Each drop of rain is a glass of champagne It's sweet and it's free
When I drink I don't panic When I drink I don't die When I'm far gone
it's all just a song just beautiful lies...
Writer: DENIECE WILLIAMS, THOM BELL, THOMAS RANDOLPH BELL
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Nothing Matters When Were Dancing
Dance with me, my old friend
Once before we go
Let's pretend this song won't end
And we never have to go home
And we'll dance along the chandeliers
And nothing matters when we're dancing (When we're dancing)
In tatter-tatters you're entrancing (You're entrancing)
Be we in Paris or in Lansing (Or in Lansing)
Nothing matters when we're dancing (When we're dancing)
(Nothing matters when we're dancing)
You've never been more beautiful
Your eyes like two full moons
As here in this poor old dance hall
Among the dreadful twos
The awful songs we don't even hear
And nothing matters when we're dancing (When we're dancing)
In tatter-tatters you're entrancing (You're entrancing)
Be we in Paris or in Lansing (Or in Lansing)
Nothing matters when we're dancing (Wehen we're dancing)
(Nothing matters when we're dancing)
And nothing matters when we're dancing (When we're dancing)
In tatter-tatters you're entrancing (You're entrancing)
Be we in Paris or in Lansing (Or in Lansing)
Nothing matters when we're dancing (When we're dancing)
Nothing matters when we're dancing
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Sweet-lovin Man
There's an hour of sunshine,
For a million years of rain
But somehow that always seems to be enough,
When love falls from the sky, nobody ever asks why
You just take it or you leave it where it was
But there's just one kind of love
You can spend your life dreaming of
For the love of a sweet-lovin' man
Some have traveled far and wide
Some have given up and died
For the love of a sweet-lovin' man
Some have broken down and cried
Some have turned to dust inside
But I'll stay right here and hide
In the arms of my sweet-lovin' man
Until you've had sweet lovin'
There's no lovin' worth the name
But you can go blind from crying all the time
And who said life was easy
And who said a man was fair
Well I wish you well
But keep your paws off mine
You can't buy one at the mall
But he'll come if you just call
Writer: STEPHIN MERRITT
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
The Things We Did And Didnt Do
All the things I knew I didn't know and didn't want to know
That you told me just to tell me later that you'd told me so
Come flooding back to me now Come on Come flooding back to me now
All the things you said you'd never say and you said anyway
The things we did and didn't do The things we did and didn't do
Come flooding back to me now
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Roses
Buy more stock in roses
Millionaires will always woo
Don't be shocked if roses
Make a millionaire of you
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Love Is Like Jazz
Love is like jazz You make it up as you go along and you act as if you
Really know the song but you don't and you never will so you flaunt your
Mistakes and you make them until they were you Love is like jazz the same
Song a million times in different ways "Strange Fruit" with and without
Wind chimes It's divine It's asinine It's depressing and it's almost
Entirely window dressing but it'll do
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
When My Boy Walks Down The Street
Grand pianos crash together when my boy walks down the street
There are whole new kinds of weather when he walks with his new beat
Everyone sings hallelujah when my boy walks down the street
Life just kind of dances through ya from your smile down to your feet
Amazing he's a whole new form of life
Blue eyes blazing and he's going to be my wife
The world does the hula-hula when my boy walks down the street
Everyone thinks he's Petula so big and yet so petite
Butterflies turn into people when my boy walks down the street
Maybe he should be illegal he just makes life too complete...
Amazing he's a whole new form of life
Blue eyes blazing and he's going to be my wife
Oh, shadows of echoes of memories
Oh, things that he brings that he found in the sea
Oh, shadows of echoes of memories of songs
Oh, how could he know that it won't be long...
Grand pianos crash together when my boy walks down the street
There are whole new kinds of weather when he walks with his new beat
Everyone sings hallelujah when my boy walks down the street
Life just kind of dances through ya from your smile down to your feet
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Time Enough For Rocking When Were Old
There'll be time enough for rocking when we're old
We can rock all day in rocking chairs of gold but tonight
I think I'd rather just go dancing
There'll be time enough for rocking when we're old, my love
There'll be time enough for talk in the nursing home
Darling, time enough to write an epic poem but tonight
I think I'd rather just go dancing
There'll be time enough for talking in the home, my love
There'll be time enough for sleeping when we're dead
You will have a velvet pillow for your head but tonight
I think I'd rather just go dancing
There'll be time enough for sleeping when we're dead, my love
There'll be time for sex and drugs in Heaven
When our pheromones are turned up to 11
But tonight I think I'd rather just go dancing
There'll be time enough for sex and drugs in Heaven, my love
And time enough for rocking when we're old
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Very Funny
Everybody knows but me
When you go where you shouldn't be
Everybody knows but me
Where you go when you're feeling free
Everybody knows but me
So you go there for a laugh
You just go to take photographs
To believe that I be daft
But yes I think you go for a laugh
And you say: I love you honey
Very funny
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Grand Canyon
If I was the Grand Canyon I'd echo everything you say but I'm just me I'm
only me and you used to love me that way so you know how to love me that way
If I was Paul Bunyan I'd carry you so far away but I'm just me I'm only me
and you used to love me that way so you know how to love me that way
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
No One Will Ever Love You
If you don't mind why don't you mind
Where is your sense of indignation
You are too kind
Much too kind
Where is the madness that you promised me
Where is the dream for which I paid dearly
When things go wrong I sing along
It is the nature of the business
But you're not here to make my sad songs more sincere
No one will ever love you honestly
No one will ever love you for your honesty
No one will ever love you honestly
No one will ever love you for your honesty
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
If You Dont Cry
Softly the crystals falling on 17th Street do their dance and die and are
gone Millions of crystal balls roll around your feet and nothing gets done
An hour goes by She doesn't If you don't cry it isn't love If you don't
cry then you just don't feel it deep enough Dying all day in thousands of
little ways Dancing alone and drinking a lot Closing the clubs and haunting
the cabarets looking for what Another five years off your life... A year
goes by She doesn't...
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Youre My Only Home
I will stay if you let me stay
And I'll go if you let me go
But I won't go far away
Because you're my only home
And I will hide what you want hidden
And I'll roam if you say roam
But I just as soon you didn't
Because you're my only home
When you cancel dinner plans
When you cross the street and you don't take my hand
When you make impossible demands
I wish I didn't understand
I will stay if you let me stay
And I'll go if you let me go
But I won't go far away
Because you're my only home
I will hide what you want hidden
And I'll roam if you say roam
But I just as soon you didn't
Because you're my only home
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
(crazy For You But) Not That Crazy
I built a ship with my own hands to take us to the moon,
I took a pen in my own hand and wrote you a hundred tunes.
Now I'm crazy for you but not that crazy.
I pretended you were Jesus you were just dying to save me.
I stood beneath your window with my ukulele.
I made a yard a playground just in case we had a baby.
Now I'm crazy for you but not that crazy.
I treated you like radium.
I treated you like God.
You were my glass menagerie
Did you not find that odd.
I dwelt within and went without and broke my virgin flesh.
I performed acts of devotion as if you were Ganesh,
But now I'm crazy for you but not that crazy.
I'm crazy for you but not that crazy.
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
My Only Friend
Billie you're a miracle and God knows I need one Sing me something terrible
that even dawn may come You and me, we don't believe in happy endings Hey,
Lady Day, can you save my life this time Can you cry so beautifully you
make my troubles rhyme Hey, Lady Day, can you save my life again My only
love has gone away Will you be my only friend Billie you're a genius
enough to be a fool a fool to gamble everything and never know the rules
Some of us can only live in songs of love and trouble Some of us can only
live in bubbles...
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Promises Of Eternity
What if the show couldn't go on
What if we all got jobs
And got to bed before dawn
What if Old Joe had to retire
What if all the stage hands were let go or fired
That's just like what the world would be
If you fell out of love with me
I can't let this happen to you
Don't you let it happen to me
What would our friends and family say
If they could only see
If you let this happen to us
Don't think you'd be setting me free
Wasn't it you and I who made
Promises of eternity
What if the lights didn't go on
What if the velvet curtain had to be taken down
What if the clowns couldn't be clowns
And all those painted smiles gave in to plaintive frowns
What if no show ever happened again
No Seven, no 8 1/2, no Nine, and no "10"
All numbers and no mystery No promise of eternity
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
World Love
When the rhythm calls the government falls Here come the cops
From Tokyo to Soweto viva la musica pop We are black & white
And we dance all night down at the hop and the letters were tall
On the Berlin Wall viva la musica pop so if you're feeling low
Stuck in some bardo I, even I know the solution
Love, music, wine and revolution love, love, love music, wine and revolution
This too shall pass so raise your glass to change and chance
And freedom is the only law shall we dance...
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Washington D.C.
W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N baby D-C
W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N baby D-C
Washington D.C., it's paradise to me.
Its not because it is the grand ole' seat
Of precious freedom and democracy, no no no.
It's not the greenry turning gold in fall,
The scenery circling the mall.
Its just thats where my baby lives thats all.
Washington D.C., its the greatest place to be.
Its not the cheeries everywhere in bloom.
Its not the way they put folks on the moon no, no, no.
Its not the spectacles and pagentry,
the thousand things you've got to see.
Its just thats where my baby waits for me.
W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N baby D-C
W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N baby D-C
Washington D.C., it fits me to a tee.
It's not the people doing something real.
Its not the way the springtime makes you feel, no no no.
It ain't no famous name on a golden plaque
That makes me ride that railroad track.
Its my baby's kiss that keeps me coming back.
It's my baby's kiss that keeps me coming back.
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Long-forgotten Fairytale
If someone told me you'd be here whispering these familiar things
talking to my little pets smoking the same old cigarettes
I would have laughed I saw you last in springtime
You said you hated long goodbyes You said there's nothing to explain
in every life a little rain et cetera And a long-forgotten fairytale
is in your eyes again and I'm caught inside a dream world where the
colors are too intense and nothing is making sense There's a floating
town of eiderdown in a mist of mystery There's an old enchanted castle
and the princess there is me decked out like a Christmas tree
I guess you've had your little joke but I have lost my sense of humor
My medication's wearing off or it's just not strong enough to cover this
and then you kiss me like before and I find myself wanting more
and you tell that little lie that kept me hypnotized: another kiss...
If someone told me I'd succumb, If someone said I'd be so dumb
after all the sleepless nights when I turned on all the lights
I would have hit them but I have turned the other cheek
My voice trembles, my knees are weak and you beat me once again
and I know what happens then: you raise the ante...
Writer: STEPHEN RAYMOND MERRITT
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Kiss Me Like You Mean It
He is my lord,
He is my saviour
And He rewards my good behavior
My secret soul,
I know He's seen it
He says, come here baby and
Kiss me like you mean it
He calls me baby,
Says kiss me like you mean it
He is my life and my salvation
He's always right,
He's always patient
I pinch myself
It's like I'm dreaming it
He is my love,
He's always been it
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Papa Was A Rodeo
I like your twisted point of view, Mike
I like your questioning eyebrows
You've made it pretty clear what you like
It's only fair to tell you now
That I leave early in the morning
And I won't be back till next year
I see that kiss-me pucker forming
But maybe you should plug it with a beer, cause
Papa was a rodeo, Mama was a rock'n'roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas, Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough for a one night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo
The light reflecting off the mirror ball
Looks like a thousand swirling eyes
They make me think I shouldn't be here at all
You know, every minute someone dies
What are we doing in this dive bar
How can you live in a place like this
Why don't you just get into my car
And I'll take you away I'll take that kiss now, but
(Boy) Papa was a rodeo
And now it's 55 years later
We've had the romance of the century
After all these years wrestling gators
I still feel like crying when I think of what you said to me
Papa was a rodeo
Before you kiss me you should know, Papa was a rodeo
What a coincidence, your Papa was a rodeo too
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Epitaph For My Heart
"Caution: to prevent electric shock do not remove cover
No user-serviceable parts inside Refer servicing to qualified
Service personnel"
Let this be the epitaph for my heart
Cupid put too much poison in the dart
This is the epitaph for my heart because it's gone, gone gone
And life goes on and on and on and death goes on, world without end
And you're not my friend
Who will mourn the passing of my heart
Will its little droppings climb the pop chart
Who'll take its ashes and,
Singing, fling them from the top of the Brill Building
And life goes on,
And dawn, and dawn and death goes on,
World without end and you're
Not my friend
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Asleep And Dreaming
I've seen you laugh at nothing at all
I've seen you sadly weeping
The sweetest thing I ever saw
Was you asleep and dreaming
Well you may not be beautiful
But it's not for me to judge
I don't know if you're beautiful
Because I love you too much
I've seen you laugh at nothing at all
I've seen you sadly weeping
The sweetest thing I ever saw
Was you asleep and dreaming
I've seen you when your ship came in
And when your train was leaving
The sweetest thing I ever saw
Was you asleep and dreaming
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing
So the sun goes down and the world goes dancing
And the stars come out and they all go dancing
And there is nothing I'd like more
Than a twirl across this rickety old floor
Well I don't know why but I just feel like dancing
I can't imagine why but I feel like dancing
And there is nothing in this world
That I'd like better than a twirl across your rickety old floor
Maybe it's you
You know your eyes are awful blue
Maybe it's more
Maybe you're all I ever waited for
After all the endless nights when I wished I could still cry
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
The Way You Say Good-night
So faraway and so alone how could I ever take you home
You're beautiful, beautiful You've got a devastating point of view
and everything you say is true You're beautiful, beautiful
The nightbirds start to sing their favorite song:
"The Way you Say Good-Night" The nightbirds start to sing
their favorite song and the moon begins to sing I kiss you
and the sun goes down How come it's always dark when you're around
You're beautiful, beautiful The nightbirds start to sing
their favorite song The moon begins to sing You're beautiful, beautiful
The stars begin their Busby Berkeley dance: "The Way You Say Good-Night"
and the night becomes a musical extravaganza: The Way You Say Good-Night
The way you say good-night I dream of all day long Oh, I could write a song
about the way you say good-night...
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Abigail Belle Of Kilronan
Abigail can you feel my heart in the palm of your hand
And do you understand why I can't stay
Abigail an evil wind is blowing
Through the land and they need every man to drive it away
When I come home if I come home you'll be a grown woman
When I come home if I come home don't be alone, Abigial, belle of Kilronan
Abigail 's gonna be the beauty of County Galway and she will live always
In a world of love
Abigail I'm off to the war but you can be sure
I will know you're what I'm fighting for
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
I Shatter
Bang there was you too gold too blue
You told the truth
I cried
You flew
You called me mad (and I am mad) as a hatter
Some fall in love
I shatter
You make it rain
Too bleak, too stark
Should night not fall you make things dark
Bang here am I
No one nowhere no ground no sky no light no air
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Underwear
A pretty girl in her underwear: If there's anything better in this world, who cares? La mort, c'est la mort, mais l'amour, c'est l'amour. La mort, c'est seulement la mort, mais l'amour, c'est l'amour. A pretty boy in his underwear: If there's a better reason to jump for joy, who cares?
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Its A Crime
It's a crime to fall in love
Heart and mind and soul in love
It's a crime to fall in love
So hard, so hard
I shouldn't have bothered, cuz you're just like all the others
Now I know that I won't do that again
I should have guessed that you'd be just like all the rest
Now I know not to go through that again
I'm still crying all night and all day
But if I show it, someone lock me away, 'cause
It's a crime to fall in love
Heart and mind and soul in love
It's a crime to fall in love
So hard, so hard
My mother said gently, "You can buy her a Bentley, but, my son, she'll only drive it away."
I didn't listen, 'cause my brain was missing
And I only found it today
I was a man, but now I'm only a child
And if it kills me, I am going to smile, 'cause
It's a crime to fall in love
Heart and mind and soul in love
It's a crime to fall in love
So hard, so hard
You won't be hearing from me anymore,
'Cause I can't see through my tears anymore
If it takes years to be anymore than a jellyfish
I will not tell you this, because
It's a crime to fall in love
Heart and mind and soul in love
It's a crime to fall in love
So hard, so hard
So hard, so hard
So hard, so hard
So hard, so hard
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Busby Berkeley Dreams
I should have forgotten you long ago
But you're in every song I know
Whining and pining is wrong and so
On and so forth, of course of course
But no, you can't have a divorce
I haven't seen you in ages
But it's not as bleak as it seems
We still dance on whirling stages
In my Busby Berkeley dreams
The tears have stained all the pages
Of my True Romance magazines
We still dance in my outrageously beautiful
Busby Berkeley dreams
And now you want to leave me for good
I refuse to believe you could
You forget we're not made of wood
Well darling you may do your worst
Because you'll have to kill me first
Do you think it's dangerous
To have Busby Berkeley dreams?
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Im Sorry I Love You
A single rose in your garden dwells
Like any rose it's not itself
It is my love in your garden grows
But let's pretend it's just a rose
Well I'm sorry that I love you
It's a phase that I'm going through
There is nothing that I can do
And I'm sorry that I love you
Do not listen to my song
Don't remember it, don't sing along
Let's pretend it's a work of art
Let's pretend it's not my heart
The rose will fade when summer's gone
The song will fade and I'll be gone
Because my heart is dying too
And it's all the same to you
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
I'm gonna make you a star
Get your picture all over the world
Acoustic Guitar
You can have your own car
Just bring me back my girl
She always loved the sound of your strum
You made her think, maybe, I wasn't so dumb
She tends to faint at the sound of a drum
'Cause she's focused and planned, maybe she'll come
Acoustic Guitar, how lovely you are
With your inlays of mother of pearl
Be a good guitar and you could go far
Just bring me back my girl
She always said that you were the one
That could make her move her cute little bum
You understand where she's coming from
Which I obviously don't, or she wouldn't be gone
Acoustic guitar, if you think I play hard
Well you could of belonged to Steve Earle
Or Charo or GWAR, I could sell you tomorrow
So bring me back my girl
You'd better bring me back my girl
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure
I met Ferdinand de Saussure
On a night like this
On love he said
"I'm not so sure
I even know what it is
No understanding
No closure
It is a nemesis
You can't use a bulldozer
To study orchids"
He said
So we don't know anything
You don't know anything
I don't know anything
About love
But we are nothing
You are nothing
I am nothing
Without love
I'm just a great composer
And not a violent man
But I lost my composure
And I shot Ferdinand
Crying "it's well and kosher
To say you don't understand
But this is for Holland-Dozier-Holland"
His last words were
We don't know anything
His fading words were
We don't know anything
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Love In The Shadows
The woman with no nose
I know where she goes
The old guy with the gold eye
We go back, he & I
Don't smile
We don't do that here baby
Love in the Shadows
Was never hard to find
Sometimes the moonglow
Plays tricks on your mind
Love in The Shadows is the only kind
The whispers you hear
Are not sweet nothings
Let's have one more beer
And I'll tell you something
Don't laugh
I think you're beautiful
Love In the Shadows
Was never hard to find
Sometimes the moonglow
Plays tricks on your mind
Love in the Shadows is the only kind
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Bitter Tears
Bitter tears keep me going
Through the years, freely flowing
What have you done
Only a gun
Could stop these bitter tears
The endless streets I walk along
You made them seem pretty
But no I dress in country songs
And wake in New York City
I cry because it looks so good
I cry, why not, it's free
And there's nothing more interesting
Than crying constantly
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Wi Nae Wee Bairn Yell Me Beget
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
But ill turn into a nightengale and song will warm my heart
Well ill turn nto a threshing machine and tear that bird apart
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
But ill turn into a vampire in case you own a neck
Well ill turn into a silver cross and send me back to heck
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
But ill turn into a hydrogen bomb and atomize the air
Well ill turn into a cockroack and youll see if I care
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
But ill turn into a super nova and burn up everything
Well ill turn into a black little hole and youll turn into string
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
But ill turn into GOD himself and you will come to me
Then I will not believe in you and then where will you be?
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget Untwinkle, little ee
My ainly pang'll be regret. A maiden I will dee
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Yeah! Oh Yeah!
Are you out of love with me?
Are you longing to be free?
Do I drive you up a tree?
Yeah! Oh, yeah!
Do I drive you up the wall?
Do you dread every phone call?
Can you not stand me at all?
Yeah! Oh, yeah!
Though I need you more than air
Is it true you just don't care?
Are you having an affair?
Yeah! Oh, yeah!
When we met I thought
Money was everything
So I let you buy the house,
The car, the ring
But I can't take your perpetual whining
And you can't sing
I though if we live apart
We could made a brand-new start
Do you want to break my heart?
Yeah! Oh, yeah!
I've enjoyed making you
Miserable for years
Found peace of mind in
Playing on your fears
How I loved to catch your gold
And silver tears, but now my dear
What a dark and dreary life
Are you reaching for a knife?
Could you really kill your wife?
Yeah! Oh, yeah!
Of, I die, I die, I die!
So it's over, you and I
Was my whole life just a lie?
Yeah! Oh, yeah!
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Meaningless
Meaningless?
You mean it's all been meaningless?
Every whisper and caress?
Yes yes yes it was totally meaningless
Meaningless
Like when two fireflies flouresce
Just like everything I guess
Less less yes, it was utterly meaningless
Even less
A little glimpse of nothingness
Sucking meaning from the
Rest of this mess
Yes yes yes it was thoroughly meaningless
And if some dim bulb should say
We were in love in some way
Kick all his teeth in for me
And if you feel like keeping on kicking,
Feel free
Meaningless
Who dare say it wasn't meaningless?
Shout from the rooftops
And address the press
Ha ha ha, it was totally meaningless
Meaningless
Meaning less than a game of chess
Just like your mother said
And mother knows best
I knew it all the time but now I confess
Yes yes yes how deliciously meaningless
Yes yes yes effervescently meaningless
Yes yes yes it was beautifully meaningless
Yes yes yes it was profoundly meaningless
Yes yes yes definitively meaningless
Yes yes yes comprehensively meaningless
Yes yes yes magnificently meaningless
Yes yes yes how incredibly meaningless
Yes yes yes unprecedentedly meaningless
Yes yes yes how mind-blowingly meaningless
Yes yes yes how unbelievably meaningless
Yes yes yes how infinitely meaningless
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Love Is Like A Bottle Of Gin
It makes you blind, it does you in
It makes you think you're pretty tough
It makes you prone to crime and sin
It makes you say things off the cuff
It's very small and made of glass
And grossly over-advertised
It turns a genius into an ass
And makes a fool think he is wise
It could make you regret your birth
Or turn cartwheels in your best suit
It costs a lot more than it's worth
And yet there is no substitute
They keep it on a higher shelf
The older and more pure it grows
It has no color in itself
But it can make you see rainbows
You can find it on the Bowery
Or you can find it at Elaine's
It makes your words more flowery
It makes the sun shine, makes it rain
You just get out what they put in
And they never put in enough
Love is like a bottle of gin
But a bottle of gin is not like love
Writer: Stephin Raymond Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Queen Of The Savages
My girl is the queen of the savages
She don't know the modern world
And its ravages
Instead of money she's
Got yams and cabbages
She lives in a dome
I don't care if I never get home
My girl is the queen of the jungle folk
You should see the things
We see when we smoke
We think all of life is a funny joke
She's sharp as a tack
I don't care if I never get back
My girl is the queen of ten villages
We live on the fruits
Of her pillages
She eats other queens,
She's very religious
She doesn't use a fork
I don't think I'll go back to New York
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Blue You
The moon was singing the blues
The stars in the sky harmonized
singing it too
and I, far below
was singing low and slow
for you
and I know
all the world was singing the blues
The Queen was singing the blues
The President played the saxophone
sounded so along
it was on the news
And from Ursa Minor
in what looked like an all-night diner
came lonely luminous creatures
whose only human feature
was singing the blues
soft and low
The blues was singing the blues
The dead in their graves
and the gods in their caves,
they'd been waiting so long
to sing the blue song
about you
Writer: BILL MACK SMITH
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
, CARLIN AMERICA INC
I Cant Touch You Anymore
You wanna know if we fell in love too fast
You wanna know if this is well too good to last
You're asking the wrong questions
You're opening the wrong doors
I love you, I can't touch you anymore
I can't touch you anymore, there's so much to hate you for
I love you, I can't touch you anymore
You wanna tell me 50 ways you've left your lovers
You wanna tell me how you've loved 200 others
You're asking the wrong questions
You're opening the wrong doors
I love you, I can't touch you anymore
I can't touch you anymore, there's so much to hate you for
I love you, I can't touch you anymore
Writer: Stephin Merritt
Copyright: Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Two Kinds Of People
There are two kinds of people
My love and I
Other
Two kinds of people
The gray
Me and my love
All people fall into two camps
That ever twain shall be
Those lost in darkness without lamps
And then
My love and me
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
How To Say Goodbye
The only thing that I could ever feel
I can't believe it wasn't real
The only thing that I could ever feel
I can't believe it wasn't real
You can't open your mouth
Without telling a lie
But baby, you know how to say goodbye
The thing I spent my whole life
Waiting for
Has just walked out and locked the door
The thing I spent my whole life
Waiting for
Has just walked out and locked the door
You can't feel a thing
And you won't even try
But baby, you know how to say goodbye
I'm overjoyed to hear about your wedding
I'm writing you to wish you
Every blessing
I'm overjoyed to hear about your wedding
I'm writing you to wish you
Every blessing
And I'm so happy I could cry
Oh baby you know how to say goodbye
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
The Night You Cant Remember
Before you left your garrison
You'd had a drink, maybe two
You don't remember Paris, hon
But it remembers you
It's true, we flew to Paris, dear
Aboard an Army jet
The night you can't remember
The night I can't forget
You said I was terrific, it
Meant zilch to you, ah, but I
Have our marriage certificate
'N I'll keep it till I die
You were an Army officer
And I just a Rockette
The night you can't remember
The night I can't forget
No rose conveyed your sentiments
Not even a petunia
But you've got vague presentiments
And I've got little Junior
You said, Nobody loves me
And I said, wanna bet?
The night you can't remember
The night I can't forget
Writer: ADKINS, BEARD, MAJORS, Kenny Beard, Sarah Majors, Trace Adkins
Copyright: Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
For We Are The King Of The Boudoir
Should time allow us to describe our prowess
It would be quite hard to overrate
For we are the king of the boudoir old thing and the king doesn't like to wait.
One tryst with me and you'll be spinning like a gyroscope
One tryst with me and you'll be Pope
Should modesty allow us to describe our prowess less-ness-less-ness
'Twould be hard to overstate,
For we are the king of the boudoir it's true and the king doesn't like to wait.
One kiss from me and you'll be overjoyed and overawed.
One kiss from me and you'll see God.
For we are the king of the boudoir we are and the king doesn't like to wait.
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Strange Eyes
Strange eyes, blue clocks without hands
Two lives lived in distant lands
Little blue mysteries
What did they see in me
Strange eyes, early Picasso
Call me even when you don't
If only from pictures
It having been three years
The follow me in all my dreams
Oh God I'm still in love with you
Strange eyes, to little star charts
Plunge knives into my poor heart
As lovely as a tree they endlessly recede
Strange eyes, two little whirlpools
Made by God to destroy fools
Two pearls of infinite cost
Two paradises lost
They swallow me in all my dreams
Oh God I'm still in love with you
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Xylophone Track
To my dear, dear mother
I leave my only shoes
To my dear, dear mother
I leave my only shoes
By the time you read this
I will have died of the blues
Scream little choo-choo
Bang your xylophone track
You can wail all night long
But you can't bring her back
I've done so much crying
The flesh has left my bones
I've done so much crying
The flesh has left my bones
I can play my ribcage
Like a xylophone
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Zebra
So we got married in Venice in June
So what?
We circled the Earth in a hot air balloon
So what?
And the rest of our lives
Is one long honeymoon
Well, that doesn't mean we're in love
If you really loved me
You'd buy me a beautiful pearl
But you've already bought me
All of the pearls in the world
So there's one thing I crave
When my days become ho-hum and blah
I want a zebra
We've got so many tchotchkes
We've pratically emptied the Louvre
In most of our palaces
There's hardly room to manoeuvre
I shan't go to Balie today
I must stay home and Hoovre
Up the gold dust
That doesn't mean we're in love
If you really loved me
You'd buy me the Great Pyramid
Oh, I'm so forgetful, you already did
But there's one think I need
If you won't think I'm greedy, my deah
Another zebra
Zelda looks lonely, I want a zebra
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher