Old 97's Album

I got a timebomb, in my mind Mom.
I hear it ticking but I don't know why.
I call the police, but they don't like me.
I hear 'em whispering when I walk by.

I got a landmine in my bloodline.
I'm not immune to getting blown apart.
She's like a claymore, that's what she's there for.
She's waiting 'round here to get blown apart.

Having her on my brain's like getting hit by a train,
She's gonna kill me. Oh Celeste, oh Celeste.

I got a timebemb, in my mind Mom,
It's gonna go off, but I don't know when.
I need a doctor to extract her.
I got a feeling she'd get right back in again

I got a timebemb, in my mind Mom,
I got it badly for a stick-legged girl
She's gonna kill me, and I don't mean softly.
I got it badly for a stick-legged girl

Having her on my brain's like getting hit by a train,
She's gonna kill me. Oh Celeste, oh Celeste, oh Celeste.

The Empty Bottle was half empty, tide was low, and I was thirsty.
Saw her sitting at the bar, you know how some girls are,
Always making eyes, well she wasn't making eyes.

So I sidled up beside her, settled down and shouted, "Hi there."
"My name's Stewart Ransom Miller, I'm a serial lady-killer."
She said, "I'm already dead," that's exactly what she said.

So we tripped the lights fantastic, we was both made of elastic.
Midnight came and midnight went, and I though I was the President.
She said, "Do you have a car," and I said, "Do I have a car?"

What's so great about the Barrier Reef?
What's so fine about art?
What's so good about a Good Times Van,
When you're working on a broken,
Working on a broken,
Working on a broken man?

My heart wasn't in it, not for one single minute.
I went through the motions with her. Her on top, and me on liquor.
LyricsDidn't do no good, well I didn't think it would.

What's so great about the Barrier Reef?
What's so fine about art?
What's so good about a Good Times Van,
When you're working on a broken,
Working on a broken,
Working on a broken man?

When you're working on a broken,
Working on a broken,
Working on a broken man.

When you're working on a broken,
Working on a broken,
Working on a broken man.

In a hotel room just off Times Square it's like a closet
I can watch the dancing class go round.
In a hotel room that costs as much as my apartment
I can watch the working class go down.

And it's enough to make a crooked man go straight -
Broadway, Broadway.

In a hotel room just off Times Square they made a monster
He was unaware of what went down.
Fattening him up just like a calf before a slaughter
He'd had his fill of hollow town.

And it's enough to make a stupid man think straight
Broadway, Broadway
And it's enough to make a crooked man go straight
Broadway, Broadway, Broadway, Broadway.

Salome, uncross your heart.
I know what goes on inside, it's over before it starts.
Well I'll stay all night, I'll wait right here.
The full moon might work magic girl, but I won't disappear.

CHORUS:
And I'm tired of making friends, and I'm tired of making time,
And I'm sick to death of love, and I'm sick to death of trying.
And it's easier for you, yeah it's easier for you.
And it's easier for you, yeah it's easier for you.

Salome, untie my hands.
Well I'll find another lady, and you'll wreck another man.
It's over now, yeah and so are we.
My blood's turned to dirt girl, you broke every part of me.

And I'm tired of making friends, and I'm tired of making time,
And I'm sick to death of love, and I'm sick to death of trying.
And it's easier for you, yeah it's easier for you.
And it's easier for you, yeah it's easier for you.

(repeat chorus)

Well the roadmaps of west Texas never gave me good advice.
The trains all roll where the roads don't go, now I lay awake at night,
Just wondering where the rest is so I hit that iron gate,
And I yelled good-bye to that wife of mine, I may be running late.

I'm a-rolling on, I'm a-rolling on,
Rolling out past El Paso Texas, where I might have had a home.
I made my bed, so here I lie.
I'm rolling west Texas teardrops in my eye.

Though I felt a lonesome feeling in Dulce New Mexico,
I was happier than I'd ever been in my El Paso home.
But I thought about the woman whom I left to roam the land,
And I cried so much it dug a rut they call the Rio Grande.

I'm a-rolling on, I'm a-rolling on,
Rolling out past El Paso Texas, where I might have had a home.
I made my bed, so here I lie.
I'm rolling west Texas teardrops in my eye.

And my destination is written upon my feet,
LyricsAnd the stars above are about the only company I keep.
I raise my pass and take my seat.
I'm rolling fast with a teardrop on my cheek.

So I guess there'll be no family, so I guess there'll be no wife.
Gonna roll away on an old steel dray, it's gonna be my life.
And the roadmaps I been reading, I never came to figure out.
All I know is I'd explode by any other route.

I'm a-rolling on, I'm a-rolling on,
Rolling out past El Paso Texas, where I might have had a home.
I made my bed, so here I lie.
I'm rolling west Texas teardrops in my eye.

In the front row at the Melt show
I fell in love with you and that was three weeks ago.
We fooled around, you let me have it for free.

Yeah it worked out real nice
I showed you how to and you showed me paradise.
Now you're killing time, and it's killing me.

Is this more than some old summer fling?
And this thing we have, will it mean anything?
When October rolls around will you sober up and let me down?
Will you sober up and let me?

There's a schoolyard out the back door.
I used to love it but I don't believe in school no more.
You don't learn anything, you're just waitin' around.

With your big brains and your know-how,
If there's a reason you'd have figured it out by now.
A little gettin' some's good, while you're waitin' around.

LyricsIs this more than some old summer fling?
And this thing we have, will it mean anything?
When October rolls around will you sober up and let me down?
Will you sober up and let me?

Now my bad dream is my best friend,
You were here last night but now you're gone again.
I'm getting tired of you getting tired of me.

Is this more than some old summer fling?
And this thing we have, will it mean anything?
When October rolls around will you sober up and let me down?
Will you sober up and let me down?

Will you sober up and let me?

I've been down, I've been down too far to care -
I keep getting in my car but I'm not going anywhere.
And I've been had, well at least that's how it looks -
And it's not funny like on TV and it's not smart like ti is in books.

And I wonder yeah I wonder how the world keeps spinnin' 'round.
Where's a boy with bad intentions gonna settle down?
And I don't know what you've been told,
The streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.
Yeah the streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.

I recall, when I was twenty-three -
Wondering how anyone could fall in love with me.
But now I'm old, hell I'm well past twent-five -
And I can't seem to fall in love no matter how I try.

And I wonder where I'll wind up but I'm headed west I know.
Wind my way through Texas and into New Mexico,
And I don't know what you've been told,
The streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.
Yeah the streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.

And I don't know what you've been told,
The streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.
Yeah the streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.
Yeah the streets of where I'm from are paved with hearts instead of gold.

Big brown eyes, and a gust of wind,
And the cherry burns the corner of the page that says "The end
Is coming soon," but not soon enough.
Restring all your guitars. Pack up all your stuff.

'Cause if Robert's dad is right,
We might not make it through the night,
And I'd hate to go alone.
Please pick up the phone.

Well a box of red, and a pill or three,
And I'm calling time and temperature just for some company.
I wish you were here. I wish I was too.
I'll drink myself to sleeplessness, I always do.

You don't want me anymore,
Since fame and fortune broke down our door.
You don't give me no respect.
What did I expect?

If that phone don't ring one more time,
LyricsI'm gonna lose what's left of my mind.
You made a big impression for a girl of your size,
Now I can't get by without you and your big brown eyes.

Her hands are cold, her breath is warm,
She's a port in a storm.
I'm worried now, but it won't be long.
It takes a worried man, you know, to sing a worried song.

I've got issues, yeah.
Like I miss you, yeah.
And I wish I weren't so thick.
I'm making myself sick.

If that phone don't ring one more time,
I'm gonna lose what's left of my mind.
You made a big impression for a girl of your size,
Now I can't get by without you and your big brown eyes.

Just like California was not even there
Since it's gone I'm so withdrawn
I ain't got no one nowhere

Right beside the ocean my darlin' Clementine
Well the water got high and she never got dry and
She was a water sign

CHORUS:
Time is on my bad side
Halfway there just wouldn't be fair
So I'm goin' all the way tonight
Halfway there just wouldn't be fair
So I'm goin' all the way tonight

Just like California to make a fool of me
Steal the sideshow, burn the disco
Slide into the sea

I'm a thinking person, and I think that it's wrong
To keep on saying true love's waiting
When true love is long gone

(repeat chorus)

in a western town, beneath the northern lights,
where the pine trees pine for the fall of night,
you believe in cards and you believe in signs
and i'll be leavin' soon, but i'm here tonight

on a mountainside, well below the stars
keep your lovers eyes in mason jars
and i should be scared but i feel no fear
cause i'll be leavin' soon, tonight i'm here

and even if you are the one
and even if the cards are all true
when the curtain calls
oh baby, what's a boy to do?
when the curtain calls
oh baby, what's a boy to do?

well the southern pea moved her family down
then along came me to her sleepy town
i don't believe in cards, i don't believe in signs
but i'll be leavin' soon. i'm here tonight
Lyrics
and even if you are the one, and even if i tried to be true
when the curtain calls, oh baby, what's a boy to do?
when the curtain calls, oh baby, what's a boy to do?

in a western town, beneath the northern lights
where the pine trees pine for the fall of night
don't believe in me, did i make that clear?
cause i'll be long gone soon, but tonight i'm here

and even if you were the one
i didn't wanna walk out on you
but when the curtain calls
oh baby, what's a boy to do?
when the curtain calls
oh baby, what's a boy to do?
when the curtain calls
oh baby, what's a boy to do?

Eighteen-hundred miles from this old nightclub
A girl is turning 22 today.
How am I supposed to entertain you?
My fingertips are useless when my mind's so far away.

Eighteen-hundred miles from Manhattan
The nightclub yawns and opens up it's doors.
Thank god that I don't have to pay the cover,
'Cause every night I'm broker than I was the night before

Yeah this old nightclub stole my youth,
This old nightclub stole my true love,
It follows me around from town to town.
I just might get drunk tonight and burn the nightclub down,
I just might get drunk tonight and burn the nightclub down.

Telephones make strangers out of lovers,
Whiskey makes the strangers all look good.
Well my angel of the morning is in mourning.
My life was misspent, don't let me be misunderstood.

And this old nightclub stole my youth,
This old nightclub stole my true love,
It follows me around from town to town.
I just might get drunk tonight and burn the nightclub down,
I just might get drunk tonight and burn the nightclub down.

Do you wanna wind up in a graveyard?
Like a number on a scorecard.
They're gonna wrap you up in corn silk
They're gonna cry like you were spilled milk.

You'd better take another Quaalude
And get yourself corkscrewed.
I understand that you got cold feet
But why'd you have to take 'em down a side street?

I must be dumber than a spit curl
á”cause I got hung up on a showgirl
Now I look like I'm a scarecrow
I might as well go on a talk show

CHORUS
And this ain't home anymore
Itá•s just four walls and a floor
Home is where you get the goods for free
This is just the house that used to be
Yeah the house that used to be
Lyrics
You're gonna wind up in a graveyard
Like another girl who co-starred
They're gonna wrap you up in corn silks
They're gonna cry like you were spilled milk

And in the far off wail of freight trains
And in the lonely howl of Great Danes
I hear the girl I lost forever
I hear the girl I lost forever

CHORUS

I got a four leaf clover.
It ain't done one single lick of good.
I'm still a drunk and I'm still a loser.
I'm living in a lousy neighborhood.

I got a real live horseshoe,
And I hung it upside-down above my door.
But it don't do nothing to impress you,
So I don't know what the hell it's for.

Why don't you come over? I'll show you my four leaf clover.
Who'm I trying to kid? I'm not the kind of guy you'd go
for.
I got a four leaf clover, but I ain't got no hope of
getting you.

I got a lucky silver dollar.
My granddad gave it to me now he's dead.
At times like this I wish that I cound join him,
It might just stop this pounding in my head.

Why don't you come over? I'll show you my four leaf clover.
Who'm I trying to kid? I'm not the kind of guy you'd go
for.
I got a four leaf clover, but I ain't got no hope of
getting you.
I ain't got no hope of getting you.