Conor Oberst Album

Oh, oh, oh brother totem pole
I saw your legends lined up
And I never felt more natural
Apart, I just came apart

Please, please, please sister Socrates
You always answer with a question
Show some kindness to a petty thief
Forgive, you did forgive

Saw the migrants smoke in the old orange grove
And the red rocket blaze over Cape Canaveral
You’ve been a father to me
In 1960’s speak
In the comatose joy that we’re on TV
While the mountain’s side was shining
Wild colors of my destiny

I watched your face age backwards
Changing shape in my memory
You told me victory’s sweet

Hey, hey, hey mother interstate
Can you deliver me from evil
Make me honest make me wedding cake
Atone, I will atone

Wait, wait, wait mighty outer-space
All that flying saucer terror
Made me lazy drinking lemonade
A waste, it just went to waste

Like the Freon cold out the hotel door
Or the white rocket fade over Cape Canaveral
You’ve been a daughter to me
Your buried shoe-box grief
I felt your poltergeist love like savannah heat
While the waterfall was pouring
Crazy symbols of my destiny

I watched your face die backwards
Little baby in my memory
A lonely victory sweet
Even deep in the cheap seats

And you don’t judge me
That’s not your style
But I won’t see you for a little while
And there’s no worries
Whose got time
All these changes are going to fill your mind

Like the citrus glow off the old orange grove
Or the red rocket blaze over Cape Canaveral
It’s been a nightmare to me
Some 1980’s grief
Gives me parachute dreams
Like old war movies
While the universe was drawn
Perfect circles form infinity

Saw the stars get smaller
Tiny diamonds in my memory
I know that victory is sweet
Even deep in the cheap seats

Hair blowing in the hot wind
Time hanging from a clothespin
There's no sorrow that the sun's not gonna heal
I smell the leather of your new car
Drive through the desert after nightfall
Sleep on the shoulder, keep the stars all to ourselves

The kind of love that makes my back hurt
Wearin' nothing but a T-shirt
She's turning over on a mattress made of air
I close my eyes and see a staircase
Leading upwards into blank space
All of creation makes a sound too soft to hear

So I remain between her legs
Sheltered from all my fears
While bikers glide by highway shrines
Where pilgrims disappear

I know that trouble's been your good friend
Kept you company on the weekends
Kept you company even once your mind was made
You said, it's over and it's finished
Now a headache's all you're left with
We're no different, I've got debts I'd like to pay

We should move to Sausalito
Living's easy on a house boat
Let the ocean rock us back and forth to sleep
And in the morning when the sunrise
Look in the water, see the blue sky
As if heaven has been laid there at our feet

So we remain between these waves
Sheltered for all our years
While bikers glide by highway shrines
Where pilgrims disappear
Where time takes icebergs
Where fields burn westward
Where pilgrims disappear

All the peacock people left their plumes in a pile
They look good to a fault
And the Gulf water's warm like a bathtub
Full of lavender and epsom salt
See a bleach blond boy put his long board down
Help his girl get her sunscreen on
I thought about you in your little house
Think you're lonely but I could be wrong and

I wanna be a bootlegger
Wanna mix you up something strange
Braid your hair like a sister
Name you like a hurricane

Right there
That's the postman sleeping in the sand
He's got a letter to deliver
But I can't stay mad, oh
Right there
That's the postman sleeping in the sand
He's got a get-well-card to deliver
He's gonna do it by hand
He's gonna do it by hand

Now they drive their cars up and down the beach
It's ridiculous and everybody knows
Hear the Mustangs rev at the four-way stop
You get ghosted when the light says go
But in a town like this
In the checkered flag dawn
It's so empty it could make somebody dream
So maybe it's you in your four-post bed
Sound asleep bu still grinding your teeth

I wanna be your happiness
I wanna be your common sense pain
Wrap your head in a picket fence
Rebuild after the hurricane

Right there
That's the postman sleeping in the sand
He's got my letters to deliver
But I'm still not mad, oh
Right there
That's the postman sleeping in the sand
He's got a get-well-card to deliver
He's gonna do it by hand
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it by hand

Oh
Right there
That's the postman sleeping in the sand
He's got a letter to deliver
But I can't stay mad, oh
Right there, that's the postman asleep in the sand
He's got a head-stack now to deliver
He wants to do it by hand
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it
He's gonna do it, he's gonna do it by hand

A short delay, the parrot blues
Little voices mimic you
It's not so hard to make that sound
So watch your back, the Ides of March
Cut your hair like Joan of Arc
Disguise your will, they'll find you out
And when they do
Look out

There's money-lenders inside the temple
That circus tiger's gonna break your heart
Something so wild turned into paper
If I loved you, well that's my fault

A bitch in heat, the alpha male
Not something she'd ever tell
Except when she got deathly high
And out it came like summer rain
It washed the cars and everything
Felt clean for just a little while
A telethon
We drunk dialed

Those starving children they ain't got no mother
There's pink flamingos living in the mall
I'd give a fortune to your infomercial
If somebody would just take my call
Take my call
Take my call

Hello
Patterns in my mind now moving slow
Sorrow all across the surface rolls
Smoothing out the edges of the stone
The lights are out. Where'd everybody go?
Alone

Erase yourself and you'll be free
Mandala destroyed by the sea
All we are is colored sand
So pay to ride the ferris wheel
Smile, all that you can feel
Is gratitude for what has been
'Cause it did not
Happen

There's money-lenders inside the temple
That circus tiger's gonna break my heart
Something so wild turned into paper
If you love me, then that's your fault

There's money-enders inside the temple
This crystal city's gonna fall apart
When all their power turns into vapor
If I miss you, well that's my fault
That's my fault
That's my fault

Green world, love the chloroform.
Front porch in the thunderstorm.
Controlled chaos, confused energy.

So stop reading the weather charts.
Stop counting the playing cards.
There's no system, there's no guarantees.
That the love you feel and carry inside can be passed.
But you try, and all you do is just talk
to the past.
Ask how are you getting on alone?

Some wander the wilderness,
some drink cosmopolitans.
Some cold science, some glean astroplanes.
I can't tell where the camera stops,
homesick as an astronaut.
Just keep drifting, but still can't explain.
How the love we feel we carry inside can be passed.
See a brother in the gutter and reach out your hand.
Ask how are you getting on alone?
What guage measures miracles?
Whose heartbeat's electrical?
We feign sickness with our modern joy.
But even Western medicine,
it couldn't save Danny Callahan.
Bad bone marrow, the poor little boy.
But the love he feels he carries inside can be passed.
He lay still,
his mother kissed him goodbye, said 'comeback.'
Where are you going to alone?
Where are you going all alone?

I don’t wanna die in the hospital
No I don’t wanna die in the hospital
No I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

I don’t wanna hear all those factory sounds
Looking like the girl in the sleeping gown
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Can you make a sound to distract the nurse
Before I take a ride in that long black hearse
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on

I gotta go, go, go
Cause I don’t have long

Yeah I don’t give a damn what those doctors say
I don’t wanna spend another lonesome day
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

They don’t let you smoke and you can’t get drunk
All there is to watch are these soap operas
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Can you get this tube out of my arm
Morphine in my blood like a slow sad song
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

I gotta go go go
Cos I don’t have long

Is there still a world at my windowsill
All there ever was I remember still
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Don’t know when it’s day or when its night
All I ever see are florescent lights
I’m not gonna die in this hospital
You gotta take me back outside

They give me all these flowers & big balloons
But I’m not gonna stay in this little room
I’m not gonna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Are the stars still in the sky
Is that fat moon on the rise
Feel the earth against my feet
As the cold wind calls for me

I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

I saw an eagle on a pole
I think it was an eagle
Now that eagle has flown
And I'll never know

Could have been a rotten apple
Full of holes
Could have been an open wine bottle
Ready to go
Or it could have been an eagle on a pole

Well the beauty of the seasons
Can rip a man up whole
And what's happening while you're sleeping
You will never know

Never trust a truly wayward
Wandering soul
Never trust a wanted woman
Who can't say no
And you never trust an eagle on a pole

Don't you wanna know why
Why why, why why
Don't you wanna know why
Why why, why why
Don't you ever trust an eagle on a pole

I've seen pictures of my face from
Where I swear I did no go
Looked like laughing, looked like stealing
But I will never know

Looked like running, leaving tracks
Through the morning snow
Looked like darkness and the light
Going toe to toe
And it looked just like an eagle on a pole

Look out
Evil come and there's nothing left to laugh about
Eden come and we're crying 'cause we can't get out
Get out, get out

Something moving, something floating
Something falling soft and slow
It was getting supernatural
But you never know

Getting ready for the girls
At the burlesque show
Getting ready for the night time
Street light glowing
Get ready for that eagle on a pole

Look out
Evil come and there's nothing left to laugh about
Evil come and there's nothing left to laugh about
Eden come and we're crying 'cause we can't get out
Get out, get out

Don't you wanna know why?
Why not? Why not?
Don't you wanna know why?
Why not? Why not?

Don't you ever trust an eagle on a pole
No, you never trust an eagle on a pole

I used up your compassion
So I've come to make a trade
You can hate me but just love me in return
And if I know where to find you
I'll stay out of your way
I won't come beg to borrow all the happiness you've earned
I'll just slide back down to the bottom
While you make your place in the hills

There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed under the blacktop
Gone beneath my wheels
There's nothing that the road cannot heal

They say the sun won't burn forever
But that's a science too exact
I can prove it, watch we're crossing the state line
See those headlights coming towards us
That's someone going back
To a town they said they'd never, yeah, they swore it all their lives
But you can't break out of a circle
That you never knew you were in

There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed under the blacktop
Gone beneath my wheels
There's nothing that the road cannot heal

Some would spend their precious time
Trying to decorate their lives
Taking measurements for some new look they want
So from one to ten
Ten's exactly what I am
Zero being everything I'm not

Tell me what you like
Is it less than five
Is it less than five

There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
When I make it to Moab
I'll get my canteen filled
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed under the blacktop
Gone beneath my wheels
There's nothing that the road cannot heal

Gone, Gone from New York City,
where you gonna go with a head that empty?
Gone, Gone from New York City,
where you gonna go with a heart that dark?

Down, Down to Mexico City,
caught myself a lady, she'll know how to treat me
Down, Down to Mexico City,
caught myself a lady to lay me down,
lay me down

All my friends want you to know
I'm gonna miss you when I go
But I'll see you down your road
meet me at the station way down low,
way down low

Gone, Gone from New York City
where you gonna go with a head that empty?
Gone, Gone from New York City
where you gonna go with a heart that dark?
where you gonna go with a heart that dark?

Gone, Gone from New York City
where you gonna go with a head that empty?
Gone, Gone from New York City
where you gonna go with a heart that dark?
where you gonna go with a heart that dark?
where you gonna go with a heart that dark?

[No lyrics]

The barrio starts two streets over
Miguel, he’s a friend of mine
With brick weed built a reputation
Like dry ice in the summertime
Now all you need is an electric razor
A magic bullet in a grassy knoll
The whole world is just a little oyster
To snow white and the poison apple leaves

I woke up in the age of wires
I fell asleep at the dusk of man
Now I’m cold (...?...)
Fingers crossed in the promised land

But you won’t be getting in
No you won’t be getting in
No you won’t be getting in
All souled out
In heaven

The barrio starts two streets over
Keeps a piece like a whistleblower
Flying kites in the wintertime
Magic carpet is the transportation
Went to the moon in a soda can
Not all my boys believe in science
Stretching truth in the promised land

But you won’t be getting in
No you won’t be getting in (you know by now)
No you won’t be getting in (you know by now)
It’s souled out
In heaven

(spoken) chorus again, or another one? another one.

You know by now
That you won’t be getting in
No you won’t be getting in (you know by now)
No you won’t be getting in (you know by now)
It’s souled out
In heaven

No, you won’t be getting in
To heaven (you know by now)
To heaven (you know by now)
To heaven (you know by now)

Milk thistle, milk thistle,
Let me down slow,
Help me down slow,
I've been hurryin' on,
I'm not scared of nothin',
And I'll go pound for pound,
I keep death on my mind,
Like a heavy crown.
If I go to heaven,
I'll be bored as hell,
Like a little baby,
At the bottom of a well.

Fair child, fair child,
How are you man?
Did you fix that storefront?
Did you start that band?
Don't be scared of nothin',
You go pound for pound,
You'll bring peace to midnight,
Like a spotted owl.
Like my favorite team,
If somebody sweats you,
You just point 'em out to me.

All the sights and sounds,
This little world's too crowded now,
And there's only one way out.
An elevator ride,
Through the tunnel towards the light,
And I know where bound,
Keep going up and down,
Up and down.

Newspaper, newspaper
Can't take no more,
You're here every morning,
Waitin' at my door.
And I'm just tryin' to kiss you,
And you stab my eyes,
Make me blue forever,
Like an Allen sky.
And I'm not pretending,
That it's all okay,
Just let me have my coffee,
Before you take away the day.

Lazarus, Lazarus,
Why all the tears?
Did your faithful chauffer just disappear?
What a lonesome feeling,
To be just waitin' round,
Like some washed up actress,
In a Tinseltown.
But for the record,
I'd come pick you up,
We'll head for the ocean,
Just say when you've had enogh.

All the light and sound,
This little world's too fragile now,
And there's only one way out.
If you let me slide,
I'll do my best to make things right,
And I know where bound,
Keep going up and down,
Up and down.

Milk thistle, milk thistle,
Let me down slow,
Just help me down slow,
I've been carrying on.
I was poised for greatness,
I was down and out
I keep death at my heels
Like a basset hound
If i go to heaven,
I'll be bored as hell,
Like a crying baby at the bottom of a well.