The Format Album

[No lyrics]

Princess cards she sends me, with her regards
Oh, barroom eyes shine vacancy
To see her you gotta look hard
Wounded deep in battle
I stand stuffed like some soldier undaunted
To her cheshire smile I'll stand on file
She's all I ever wanted
But you let your blue walls get in the way of these facts
Honey, get your carpetbaggers off my back
You wouldn't even give me time to cover my tracks
You're saying, "Here's your mirror and your ball and jack"
But they're not what I came for
And I'm sure you see that too

I came for you, for you, I came for you
But you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you
But your life was one long emergency
And the cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free

Climb into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak
Oh, reveal yourself all now to me girl
While you've got the chance to speak
'Cause they're waiting for you at Bellevue
With their oxygen masks
I could give it all to you now if only you could ask
But don't call for your surgeon even he says it's too late
It's not your lungs this time
It's your heart that holds your fate
Well don't give me money, honey, I don't want it back
You and your pony face and your union jack
Well take your local joker and teach him how to act
'Cause I swore I was never that way even when I really cracked
Didn't you think I knew that you were born with the power of a locomotive
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
And your Chelsea suicide with no apparent motive
You could laugh and cry in a single sound, oh oh, oh oh

And your strength is devastating in the face of all these odds
Remember how I kept you waiting when it was my turn to be the god?

You were not quite half too proud when I found you broken on the beach
Oh, remember how I poured salt on your tongue and hung just out of reach?
And the band they played the homecoming theme as I caressed your cheek
Oh that ragged, jagged melody, she still clings to me like a leach
But that medal you wore on your chest always got in the way
Like a little girl with a trophy so soft to buy her way
We were both hitchhikers but you had your ear tuned to the roar
Of some metal-tempered engine on that alien, distant shore
And now you left to find a better reason than the one we were living for
And it's not that nursery mouth I came back for
It's not the way you're stretched out on the floor
'Cause I've broken all your windows and I've rammed through all your doors
And who am I to tell you to lick my sore?
And you should see that too

I came for you, for you, I came for you
But you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you
But your life was one long emergency
And the cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free

Somewhere someone
Puts all of their faith in a fast car
While california opened your legs
Honey your feet
They aint as pretty as you think
My teeth are all still crooked on the inside

Could you please leave all your clothes on
Let me sweat this out
I can only see you naked
You're not in the car
You're not spending all your mothers money
'Cause that makes you feel secure
I can only see you naked
'Cause thats all youre good for

I'm sure they all agree
They take you home
To help make you forget about me
When they turn to sleep
You're wide awake
You spend the whole night staring up at the ceiling
Don't justify
Now you're no better then Justine

Well you said it was suicide
On the fourth of July
I say it saved my life
I just wish you had died

They found my body near the river
Now all the people in our town, they think it was your father
I didn't get your consent, but that's how I make my rent
The void; it's hard to make a friend
When it's too hard to put down the lense
And so, I float

Drifted 'bout 50 miles past Jamestown
I was recovered in the more where I floated onto shore
While the James was good for me,
And the barbed wire, that's another story
It's hard to rest in peace
When you can't get no sympathy

And so...

I can't seem to keep my mind off that inght
The way that you left with all your friends
Beneath the bar lights.
I couldn't help but hate you
So I followed you, I followed you home

And oh, take off your clothes, stand by the window
So I can see the scar that sits below your naval
And oh, with the Rosary, I wish that was me
How I wish I could rest upon your chest forever
I float, I float, I float.

I wish that I believed in heaven
I can't thank Sunday School for that.
Send me a seven digit pin code
Let me repent, let me believe.

We learn what we can comprehend
The folding of our hands, the bending of our knees
And the Hial Mary's along the bedside
My innocence must have caught his eye
Enough to ruin the last 16 years of my life
It's so hard to repent
When you've been giving no such reason to believe

I took off my clothes, stood by the window
Well don't you see the same scar sits below my naval?
And oh, but it's there for life,
Better yet, the lack thereof
How I wish I could come back as a piece of jewelry.

And oh, I float
I float, I float.

I don't like your cowboy boots
To me they don't tell the truth
I feel like mine do, I'm from the Midwest
You're from New York.

This voice is stronger, this boy is grown
You'd better claim sticks and stones
You better pray to God I choke
These words will hurt you, haunt you
I've become a frivolous man
In need of a goody-good time
I want a goody-good time,
I want a good time at your expense.

I've found you by the light of the moon
Past all the wolves in the sheep's perfume
Tell me why I can't count on you
I need someone to sing me to sleep

The longest flame I want to blow you out
I want to get you back, but not like that.

This voice is stronger, this boy is grown
You'd better claim sticks and stones
You better pray to God I choke
These words will hurt you, haunt you
I've become a frivolous man
In need of a goody-good time
I want a goody-good time,
I want a good time at your expense.

Graze in green, summers in blue
Red is my favorite paint.
Why do I know stutter like adjectives
When they bend to leave you lips
And what does it mean when you claw at my sleeve
For a cave to bury your face
Why after year, do you stil come?
Why you always falling in love?
Why do you run to me
When you know you run the risk of running late?

Longest flame, I want to blow you out
I want to get you back, but not like that.

This voice is stronger, this boy is grown
You'd better claim sticks and stones
You better pray to God I choke
These words will hurt you, haunt you
I've become a frivolous man
In need of a goody-good time
I want a goody-good time,
I want a good time at your expense.

Eliza's in the elevator
Finding words that rhyme with sunny
I think it's funny how she just leaves funny out
And me, I'm on my way downstairs
Gonna gaze and wander aimlessly
I'm gonna figure out what Manhattan's all about
And how I wish it would rain tonight
I'd find a good excuse to stay inside
And watch those props come tumbling through the air
'Cause it's been the worst year of my life
I don't wanna live, I don't wanna die
So could you please, could you please, could you please
Grow out you hair?

William plays harmonica and guitar
By the side of the sidewalk
I'd love to stay and steal his melody
'Cause he hasn't an answer to force
No one cares about his voice, no
No, not a choice
Sometimes I wish that nobody loved me
And now I wish I could stab my throat
There goes your wife, your car, your home
There goes the life I've convinced myself I wanna own
And Becca you could come back to my clothes
The only note I'll hold is the one you fold
Could you please, oh could you please, oh could you please
Grow out your hair?

Grow it dark and long like the winter
With no split ends, split ends are like friends
I don't need them
And if you've got older friends
Then I suggest you listen to them
Cause they're all I want, the world, the fallen home?
All the prophets...cause they're all in the window?
Yeah, my life is just like religion
I'm making it up as I go, oh, oh, oh.

Well they say all bad things come in threes
Well the last year has made the last three look so easy
You were supposed to keep the disease between you and me
So bandage up your wrists, throw away your prescriptions, and
And baby come back for me, yeah

My legs gave in on Forty-Second,
Lord, I think it's a hint...

Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart?
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
If it makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll

If you believe in magic don't bother to choose
If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues
Just go and listen it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try
Your feet start tapping and you can't seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind

If you believe in magic, come along with me
We'll dance until morning 'til there's just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I'll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we'll go dancing, baby, then you'll see
How the magic's in the music and the music's in me

Yeah, do you believe in magic?
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl's soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
Oh, talking 'bout magic

Do you believe in magic.

You're not made
For this, dear boy
You're not made
For this, dear boy

We watch the stock drop
They say we're just snide, octane
I want to exchange
Hits for a testament
And this will be
My sacrifice
Up in the clouds
pick up the tab
Put me down
Now gently, just drop me
Cause this not a gallery
She takes me seriously
What a joke, she would know
If she wasn't too scared
To pick up the phone and go

You're not made
For this, dear boy
You're not made
For this, dear boy

The crime fits
The punishment
And an ice cold sal
Stabbing demons at dusk
She says well
Whom do you trust?
I don't trust anyone
Who do you trust
I don't trust nobody
Not even her?
No, not even me
Boy please, you're not

Think you lie before decieving
All the people that believe in me
Somewhere Arthur Lee is bleeding
Somewhere Arthur Lee is bleeding
If I came to learn one thing from this
It's that people from Long Island
Aren'at as old as they seem
They're older then they seem to be

I turn my back to the mirror
All you see is my back
It's leaving you somewhere
Lethal to make a red dot
Let's see what you got
Ready or not, here goes
The crime fits the punishment

You're not made
For this, dear boy
You're not made
For this, dear boy

You're not made
For this, dear boy
You're not made
For this, dear boy

You're not made
For this, dear boy
You're not made
For this, dear boy

Hold on, there's a hole in my heart
Everyone can see right through me
It goes all the way to the waves
Where my love she tried to wash it away

See we break for the summers
so she can find lovers
She treats them like a bottle of wine
They make you dinner
and sing you to sleep
but by the morning find the bottle is empty

'Cause she never gives it the time
Every bottle she finds
They don't compare
to the ones she left behind
There is never a note
So she waits for me to come back home

I'm looking for a dead end song
You wish that smoke
could change its color
I love it when you talk so much
and act like nothing went wrong
I'm looking for a dead end song
while we sit and find flaws in everyone
I want to keep you by my side
Holding off tidal waves

"Mint car" is keeping us warm
She lays crossed upon the bed
We are puzzles making shapes
with our hands
I take my finger, turn it into a pen

Then I run my hand down your spine
You guess I wrote something profound
Something like:
"Our love will last 'til we die"
I say, "you're good at this game"
But what I really wrote is
"How I've yet to be saved"

I'm looking for a dead end song
You wish that smoke
could change its color
I love it when you talk so much
and act like nothing went wrong
I'm looking for a dead end song
while we sit and find flaws in everyone
I want to keep you by my side
Holding off tidal waves

Oh no, was it worth it?

Starting now I'm starting over.
I'm going to sleep
with the next person I meet.
Starting now I'm starting over.
You swore 'together forever'
Now you're telling lies
Tell me your words have got
no concept of time.

Tick tock, you're not a clock
You're a time bomb baby a time bomb baby.

Oh no, was it worth it?
Was it worth what you did to big buisness?
Was it worth what your friends
put up their noses?

Starting now I'm starting over.
Tell the new wave kids their make-up kits can find me where self pity gets
a breath of fresh air.

Tick tock, you're not a clock you're a time bomb baby
You set the watch just in time
to wreck my life
to bring back what I left behind.

Five years and you fell for a waiter.
I'm sure he says he's an actor.
You're acting like
you never tried to take your life
So starting now I'm starting over
I'm throwing bottles
I'm taking showers
I'm going to sleep

Starting now I'm starting over [stop it]
starting now I'm starting over [stop it]
To play the game
Get even
Act my age

Oh no, was it worth what you
did to your wrist?

So the wind that blows across your room
carried cheap perfume onto your dresser
it rained for jewelry and for credit cards
two tickets to a film i dont remember
one day youll kiss your rabbits nose, pick up the phone
to find ive been turned over
and youll grab that piece of gold
only to find that the smell has taken over
now all the things you had, they arent the same...
as what you hold

im standing in a room,
its filled with older folks pleading "baby listen"
and i scream as loud as anyone,
but when asked to make a point i tend to whisper
now highways turn to tidal waves
theyre asking me to export all of your insecurities
but that wind that blows across your room
its gonna set the sails, and send me back to you

sometimes, when sailors are sailing
they think twice, about where theyre anchoring
and i think, i could make better time of my time on land
ill drink less
cause lord knows i could use a warm kiss
instead of a cold goodbye
im writing the folks back home to tell them
"hey im doing alright"

its a shame what your father did to your brothers head
he smashed it with a telephone
and your mother got scared and locked the door
you were only four, but lord you remember it
so now youre scared of love
im here to tell you loves not some fucking blood on the reciever
love is speaking in code
its an inside joke
love is coming home

sometimes, when sailors are sailing
they think twice, about where theyre anchoring
and i think, i could make better time of my time on land
ill drink less
cause lord knows i could use a warm kiss
instead of a cold goodbye
im writing the folks back home to tell them
"hey im doing alright"

yeah im doing just fine
and if she seems as lonely as me.....
let her sink.
let her sink.
let her

Ashes to Ashes
Some dust on the dash
I've got my cigarettes
but I can't find the fire
that's calming me down

I was just out on a night with my friends
You are still out on a night
with your friends
and you don't seem to tire
when I'm not around

I'm under the tunnel
I'm holding my breath

I searched every pocket
that hung in the closet
'til I found some matches
in a brown leather jacket
One I swore I've never worn
but it once kept you warm

Do you remember
we made love on the floor
and you still haven't called
So I'll wait 'til they're closing the bars

I made a wish
but the match never lit

Can we take the next hour and talk about me?
Talk about me, oh we'll talk about me
Talk about me, and we'll only talk about me

Can we please take this hour and talk about me?
And my hatred for corporate magazines
You know they don't speak to me
The irony is they won't speak with me

I placed you on a window sill
Cut notches up and down the door
My surprise I woke up one morning
And there in your place lay a note

It read, "Baby, You love me just ain't good enough.
I found sunlight 6 hours away.
You watered me down 'til I drifted abound
Somewhere far from your shade."

I shadow my former self
One's whole and now lonelier is just full of holes
red wax, it paints me unclear
When the big hand strikes 12, I disappear

Well the angels of fate can they lie to your face
Anything to keep you away
You watered me down 'til I drifted abound
Somewhere far from your shade

Now you on your back has buried the past
Can we please take this hour and talk about me?
Talk about me, oh we'll talk about me
Talk about me, and we'll only talk about me

Can we please take this hour and talk about me?
And my hatred for corporate magazines
You know they don't speak to me
The irony is they won't speak with me

You could do the laundry
I'll come by on Monday
You give me the money
I'll go buy your ticket

On the local lottery
We could win the lottery
We could go to Vegas
And be very happy

Ohh…

I could be a plumber
We could wait ‘til summer
We could save our money
Have a fine vacation

We could buy a trailer
If we bought a trailer
We could go to Vegas
And be very happy

Ohh, if life is just a gamble
Gamble if you want to win
Ohh, life can be so easy
Let the wheel of fortune spin

We could make a record
Sell a lot of copies
We could play Las Vegas
And be very happy

Ohh, if life is just a gamble
Gamble if you want to win
Ohh, life can be so easy
Let the wheel of fortune spin

Ohh…

In the breathless hush of 4 a.m.
In the dark sits a sad cliche.
Cloaked in the navy blue of slowly fading stars

Tell me how this came to be
Sleeplessness talk to me
She'd say over and over again

Fumbling through a cut glass vase
Passing lipstick, cotton spools
Burning jealous pictures of marriages of friends

You never asked to be
The glutton of sympathy
She says over and over again that this is the end

Cause I see it in your eyes
What you don't know, time to let go
I see it in your eyes
There is so much more out there to be learned

Such mournful words on this snow white vacant page
All the lessons that she learns she packs away

Will you never cease to be the glutton of sympathy
She writes over and over again

Tossing turning roll away
Indecision won't you ever make up your mind
Lifetime Nigh time wake the day
Cause tomorrow will see if you've had your fill of sympathy

Will you never cease to be the glutton of sympathy?
Don't you know the stars are all fading let the sunshine capture the sparkle
of your smile

1,000 umbrellas upturned
Couldn't catch all the rain that drained out of my head
When you said we were over, over.
I cried 'til I floated downstream to a town they call
Misery, ah-huh Misery
Misery, ah-huh Misery.

And one million teacups I'll bet
Couldn't hold all the wet that fell out of my eyes
When you fell out with me.
Now I'm crawling the wallpaper
That's looking more like a roadmap to
Misery, ah-huh Misery.

How can you smile and forecast
Weather's getting better and you'll soon forget her
If you let the sunshine come through.
How can you smile and forecast weather's getting better
If you never let a girl rain all over you.

Just when I thought that my lister was golden in hue
1,000 umbrellas opened to spoil the view.
And one million salt seas were called from school atlas
So last could be filtered the brim, Sunny Jim couldn't jump in
How can I be pleased when I'm handed the keys
To a town call Misery, ah-huh Misery,
Misery, ah-huh Misery

So with a mop and a bucket
I'll just say forget her and carry on
Sweeping up where I've been weeping.
The chest is not creeping to strike down
The newly crowned monarch of misery, ah-huh misery.

How can you smile and forecast
Weather's getting better and you'll soon forget her
If you let the sunshine come through.
How can you smile and forecast weather's getting better
If you never let a girl rain all over you.

And just when I thought that my skies where a June-July blue
1,000 umbrellas opened, 2,000 umbrellas opened,
10,000 umbrellas opened to spoil the view.

i think i'm sophisticated
'cause i'm livin' my life like a good homosapien
but all around everybody's multiplyin'
and they're walkin' 'round like flies now
so i'm no better than the animals sitting in the cages in the zoo, man
'cause compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees,
i am an apeman

i think i'm so educated and i'm so civilised 'cause i'm a strict vegetarian
but with the overpopulation and inflation and starvation and the crazy politicians
i don't feel safe in this world no more
i don't want to die in a nuclear war
i want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman

i'm an apeman
i'm an ape apeman
oh, i'm an apeman
i'm a king kong man, i'm a voodoo man
oh, i'm an apeman
'cause compared to the sun, the city, the sky,
compared to the clouds as they roll by,
compared to the bugs, and the spiders and flies
i am an apeman

la la la la la la la la la la

a man's evolution has created the city and the motor traffic rumble
but give me half a chance
and i'll be takin' off my clothes and livin' in the jungle
'cause the only time that i feel at ease
is swingin' up and down in the coconut tree
oh, what a life of luxury, to be like an apeman

i'm an apeman
i'm an ape apeman
oh, i'm an apeman
i'm a king kong man, i'm a voodoo man
oh, i'm an apeman

i look out my window but i can't see the sky
the air pollution is foggin' up my eyes
i wanna get out of this city alive
and make like an apeman

la la la la la la la la la la

come on and love me, be my apeman girl
and we'd be so happy in my apeman world

i'm an apeman
i'm an ape apeman
oh, i'm an apeman
i'm a king kong man, i'm a voodoo man
oh, i'm an apeman

i'll be tarzan, you be my jane
i'll keep you warm and you keep me sane
we'll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day
just like an apeman

i'm an apeman
i'm an ape apeman
oh, i'm an apeman
i'm a king kong man, i'm a voodoo man
oh, i'm an apeman

i don't feel safe in this world no more
i don't want to die in a nuclear war
i wanna sail away to a distant shore
and make like an apeman

la la la la la la la la la la

I want it all
Even the raindrops won't fall in my way
I'm parting the seas
I'm setting the standard for living a dream
By staying awake
And counting the days
I'm falling in love by the side of the road

Mrs. Math do you always count to thirteen?
Holding sunsets
Voting on pieces of string
Wishy-wash, tabletop, one, two, three
Does your cat have a mustache?
Does it remind you of me?

I want it all
Even (?) autumn leaves stay green
And all of the clams that is holding your hand
Could never, ever take the place all like me
But now forget the time
It's a crime
That the pearl
Of a girl
Has been waiting to be set free...

Mrs. Math do you always count to thirteen?
Holding sunsets
Voting on pieces of string
Wishy-wash, tabletop, one, two, three
Well, does your cat have a mustache?
Does it remind you of your cat with a mustache?
Does it remind you of...

The ships that sail towards the west
The largest scar, the treasure chest
The water never harms the mast
It's clouds (?) the sun to set

One, two, three four!

(The ships that sail towards the west
The largest scar, the treasure chest
The water never harms the mast
It's clouds (?) the sun to set)

Cover your eyes
Try and walk a straight line
I tell you, the darkness is robbing us blind
And although I can't see your heart
I can still hear it beat from your breast
It's like a lighthouse
It's like a lighthouse

I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna find you
Alright (?)

I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna find you

I'm gonna find you...