The Hold Steady Album

Back when we were living up on Hennepin
She kept threatening to turn us in
At night she mostly liked us, we used to pass around the thermos
Some nights she was gorgeous

We were living it
We delivered it
We didn't feel a thing
We were living in...

The sweet part of the city
The part with the bars and restaurants
We used to meet underneath the marquees, we used to nod off in the matinees
She always claimed that she was from Tennessee, and now it seems to me

Like distance doesn't equal rate and time no more
It's like gravity doesn't apply
No, everything sparkles and appears like we're on wheels
It was dark but I guess that's the deal

St. Theresa showed up wearing see-thru, it was standard issue
We went out to get some more wine
But it's a long haul to the corner store from the center of the universe
When you can't get your car off the curb

We were living it
We delivered it
We didn't feel a thing
We were in heaven in...

The sweet part of the city
The part with the bars and restaurants
And so we shot ourselves out into outer space, it was tough to place the aftertaste
It was stark but it was spacious

It's a long way from Cedar Riverside to Cedar Sinai
Three times St. Paul to Cheyenne
And it's a long way from Sacramento too
We were bored so we started a band

We like to play for you
We like to play for you
We like to play for you
We like to play for you

Well, the hospital's going to let you go, but the city's gonna stick around
Yeah, sure the stars are in the sky, but the money's still down on the ground
Man, if money didn't matter then I might tell you something new
You can't tell people what they want to hear if you also want to tell the truth

And I'm just trying to tell the truth, kid
I'm just trying to tell the truth

You can't get every girl
You'll get the ones you love the best
You won't every girl
You'll love the ones you get the best

I know bodies of water freeze over, I'm from a place with lots of lakes
But sometimes they get soft in the center and the center is a dangerous place
It's been a long cold winter and now you're standing on unsafe ice
You could probably do anything if you could just go and get yourself right

You gotta get yourself right, kid
I'm gonna give you some advice

You can't get every girl
You'll get the ones you love the best
You won't every girl
You'll love the ones you get the best

Kid, you can't kiss every girl
You gotta trust me on this one
You gotta trust me on this one

I know what you're going through
I had to go through that too
I know what you're going through
I had to go through that too

You can't get every girl
You'll get the ones you love the best
You won't every girl
You'll love the ones you get the best

You can't get every girl
You'll get the ones you love the best
You won't every girl
You'll love the ones you get the best

I know what you're going through

There was that whole weird thing with the horses
I think they know exactly what happened, I don't think it needs any explaining
I'm pretty sure I wasn't your first choice
I think I was the last one remaining

I wish we hadn't gone and destroyed it
'Cause I was thinking we could pull another weekender
You've still got a little bit of clairvoyance

I remember the metal bar
I remember the reservoir
You could say our paths had crossed before

So if it has to be a secret, then I guess that I can deal with it
You and I both know it's a negative thing
In the end only the girls know the whole truth

There were a couple pretty crass propositions
There were some bugs in the bars, there was a kid camped out by the coat check
She said the theme of this party's the industrial age
And you came in dressed like a train wreck

I remember the OTB
Five second delivery
You could say our paths had crossed before

So if it has to be a secret, then I guess that I can deal with it
God only knows it's not always a positive thing
To see a few seconds into the future

And if you swear to keep it decent, then yeah, I'll come and see you
But it's not gonna be like in romantic comedies
In the end I bet no one learns a lesson

So if it has to be a secret, then I guess that I can deal with it
You and I both know it's a negative thing
In the end only the girls know the whole truth

And if you swear to keep it decent, then yeah, I'll come and see you
But it's not gonna be like in romantic comedies
In the end I bet no one learns a lesson

In the end only the girls know the whole truth
In the end I bet no one learns a lesson

We used to lie to each other about using computers
When we couldn't get it here, we used to cruise to Vancouver
We used to lie to the people when we'd show up at parties
We used to pretend that we'd never met and then you'd send a signal with your cigarette

At first it felt like heaven
Then it felt just like the whole
Let's roll
Let's roll around

Now when we lie to each other, we do it through computers
Now we never go dancing 'cause we're not really moving
She's got a bandolero belt filled with kamikaze shooters
She touches every table in a total eclipse, it costs an awful lot for just a little bit

At first it felt like faith
Then it felt just like the void
Now we're stranded on the south side
So sick of waiting on your boys

So let's roll
Let's roll around
Let's go
Let's go back uptown

You can ask me not to do it, but you can't contain the kids
We were living for the city, now we're living for the smidge
We used to want it all, now we just want a little bit
Living, living, living, living, living for the smidge

Angel, I didn't say goodbye
But I'm already gone

Living, living, living, living, living for the smidge
You can ask me not to do it, but you can't control the kids
Living, living, living, living, living for the smidge
We used to want it all, now we just want a little bit

Let's roll
Let's roll around
Let's go
Let's go back uptown

Come on, send me up a signal
Something to show me you're alright
Make the sign of the cross with your cigarette
Come on and smudge a little smoke up in the night

The girls want to go to the party, but no one's in any shape to drive
So we called up your guy, and when he comes we're gonna ask for a ride
We get to the place and she don't want to dance, she says she's not really into this track
She wants to know what's going on in the room that's all the way in the back

Back home we were listening to Catholic Boy
And I got hung up on the people that died
I didn't even want to go out 'cause I was way too fried

She said I just can't sympathize
With your rock and roll
Isn't this what we wanted?
Some major rock and roll problems

That one girl got me cornered in the kitchen, I said I'll do anything but clean
She wants to know what I like being better, a trash bin or an ice machine
Some writer's by the fridge, said he didn't make the gig, wants to know if I was drunk
He said some kids that he knows from the net said the sound kinda sucks

I didn't want to stay in 'cause the walls were so gray
You can almost feel the tentacles tighten
I didn't even want to go out 'cause I was way too frightened

She said I just can't sympathize
With your rock and roll
Isn't this what we wanted?
Some major rock and roll problems

Didn't want to go out but it felt really right when someone put on "Heaven Tonight"
Had a moment in the middle of "In Color" and "In Black & White"
Sing along to the "Southern Girls"
Rip me out of my little world

These are rock and roll problems
These are rock and roll problems
These are rock and roll problems
These are rock and roll problems

This is just what we wanted
This is just what we wanted
This is just what we wanted
This is just what we wanted

She played "Heaven Isn't Happening"
She played "Heaven Is A Truck"
She said Heavenly was cool, I think they were from Oxford
I only had one single, it was a song about a pure and simple love

There's a "Girl On Heaven Hill"
I come up to her cabin still
She said Hüsker Dü got huge, but they started in St. Paul
Do you remember "Makes No Sense At All?"

And heaven is the whole of the heart
And paradise is by the dashboard light
Utopia's a band, they sang "Love Is The Answer"
And I think they're probably right

Let it shine down on us all
Let it warm us from within
He wasn't just the drummer, he was the singer's younger brother
I still spin that single, but it don't sound that simple

Let it shine down on us all
Let it warm us from within
He wasn't just the drummer, he was someone's little brother
I still spin that single, but it don't sound that simple anymore

Heaven is whenever we can get together
Sit down on your floor and listen to your records
Heaven is whenever we can get together
Lock your bedroom door and listen to your records

Heaven is whenever we can get together
Heaven is whenever we can get together
Heaven is whenever we can get together
Heaven is whenever we can get together

Heaven is whenever

Jessie, I'm not joking around
I see the crowd you're hanging with and those kids don't seem positive
Don't all the cigs make you tired?
You know I'd never ask you to change, I'll only ask you to try

I know you're gonna do what I know you're gonna do
But 22 and banging around in restaurants
Isn't that much prettier than banging around in bars
And why do you keep going to his car?

I don't want this to stop, I want you to know
I don't want you to settle, I want you to grow
Forget all the boys that you had at the harbor
They're too hard already, they'll only get harder

Jessie, let's go for a ride
I know a place that we can stop
I know a place that we could drink and kiss for awhile
I know a place that always makes you smile

I know you're gonna say what I know you're gonna say
I know you'll look at the ground, I know you'll probably cry
You're a beautiful girl and you're a pretty good waitress
But Jessie, I don't think I'm the guy

I don't want this to stop, I want you to know
I don't want you to settle, I want you to grow
Forget everything that I showed you this summer
You're too hard already, you'll only get harder

But they didn't name her for a saint
They named her for a storm
So how's she supposed to think about
How it's gonna feel in the morning?

She said if heaven's hypothetical
And if the cigs keep you warm
Then how's she supposed to think about
How it's gonna move in the morning?

About how it's gonna move in the morning
About how it's gonna move in the morning

Hurricane Jessie's gonna crash into the harbor this summer
She don't want to wait 'til she gets older
Hurricane Jessie's gonna crash into the harbor this summer
She don't want to wait, she said it only gets harder

You should have seem 'em just after midnight
When they were down on their luck and still high from a street fight

Told it like it wasn't really much of a big thing
To be out on the tiles and barely breathing, we were barely breathing
Showing up at shows like you care about the scene still
But where were you when the blood spilled and they almost killed me?

It got pretty sketchy
We tried to push forward
Now we're pointing at the scoreboard and it feels so amazing
And the crowd's going crazy

Summer '88 was all heat and intensity, saw The Youth Of Today at 7th street Entry
There were skins in the pit and some of them tried to kill me
Same club next summer and now they're called Shelter, and after the show I spoke with the singer
And he tried to hand me a pamphlet about Hare Krishna

I said you gotta be kidding
Who the hell is the blue guy?
But then he said something special
Using only his eyes, using only his eyes

The kids are all distracted
No one wins at violent shows
The kids are a distraction
No one wins at violent shows

The kids are all distracted
No one wins at violent shows
The kids are a distraction
No one wins at violent shows

The kids are all distracted
No one wins at violent shows
The kids are a distraction
No one wins at violent shows

The kids are ripping into sugar packets
The townies taking off their tavern jackets
I'm in the pews sticking bills in the basket
Praying that they're cool when I come pick up the package

Tonight we're gonna have a really good time
But I want to go to heaven on the day I die
Gonna make like a preemptive strike
Hit the 5:30 mass early Saturday night

Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone
Tell my little lambs that I'm on my way home
Stop by the shop and get a bottle to go
Maybe something stronger if the right guy's on the corner

Bang, bang, bang go the quarter-notes
St. Theresa told me we should rattle our bones
Now we're we're going off to the dial tone
Some kid started blowing on a saxophone

Cheerleaders dream of quarterbacks
Jock Jills go for jumping Jacks
Goth girls love the vampire bats
They want to draw a little blood for their bath

Well, I don't go much for that spooky stuff
I like the lights and the uptempo tracks
You're damn right I believe in love
Because I've been in love and I've loved right back

Bang, bang, bang goes the backing track
Some kid's coming around with a magic backpack
I didn't know that you could dance like that
I'm gonna have to ask you to take two steps back

Sing, sing, sing every song we know
Blowing out the speakers on your stereo
You finally stopped talking about that boy back home
Maybe that's just better, if you want you can sleep over

We're good guys, but we can't be good every night
We're good guys, but we can't be good our whole lives
We're good guys, but we can't be good every night
Father, I have sinned and I want to do it all again tonight

The townies taking off their tavern jackets
Making guitars out of tennis rackets
It's been getting so the hardest part
Is trying to talk some sense into our sparkling hearts

Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone
Tell my little lambs that I'm on my way home
Yes, yes, yes go the majorettes
They lead the band onto the field with their cigarettes

Bang, bang, bang, she's a cleaning freak
She scrubs the surface until it's sparkling
Neat, neat, neat 'til her fingers bleed
She was giving off blue light on the first night that she came to me

We're good guys, but we can't be good every night
We're good guys, but we can't be good our whole lives
We're good guys, but we can't be good every night
We're good guys, but we can't be good our whole lives

She was giving off blue light on the first night that she came to me
Father, I have sinned and I want to do it all again eventually

I thought you're through with all the bougie guys, don't you wonder about the other side?
They only get invited 'cause they think that they might buy
Ain't it sad about these metro guys, don't it hurt to watch them moisturize?
They're never funny and they're all so scared to die

We're not afraid, we have our faith
We've seen scattered action and we've mostly come out unscathed
We'll be alright, we'll get through the night
Our struggle still feels wonderful most days, most days

Don't it suck about the succubi, the bloodsuckers and the parasites?
They're never funny and they're all so scared to die
All the small talk seems like suicide, the spiderwebs with the legs and eggs and eyes
They creep up from behind

If I were you I wouldn't get too close
I've seen how they eat and it gets pretty gross
They slip their tongue and they hitch onto their host

We're not afraid, we have our faith
Seen a couple slaughters and they mostly turned out okay
We'll be alright, we'll get through the night
Our struggle still feels wonderful most days

Hey New York City, I love it when you turn on your lights
Our struggle still feels wonderful tonight

And you say you're a princess
But I remain unconvinced
I've seen the guys that you've been with
They don't much like princes

And you say you're much better
But I don't quite believe it
I saw the girls that you came with
I saw the guy that you left with

And you say you tried Jesus but it was too inconvenient
You just didn't have the patience
You say you said prayers but it felt like there was nobody there
I didn't think that you'd get it

This shouldn't hurt
But you might feel a slight discomfort
This shouldn't hurt
But you might feel a slight discomfort

This shouldn't hurt
But you might feel a slight discomfort
This shouldn't hurt
But you might feel a slight discomfort