The Magnetic Fields Album

I die
When you walk by
So beautiful and strong
Each day
You pass my way
In your bubble where nothing goes wrong
You think your youth
A permanent truth
But here is a tear for your eye
Having forgotten how to cry
I die

(Note: This is the transcription of the version found on the album i, released in 2004. "I Don't Believe in You," an earlier version, was released as a single in 1998.)


So you quote love unquote me
Well, stranger things have come to be
But let's agree to disagree
'Cause I don't believe you
I don't believe you

You tell me I'm not not cute
Its truth or falsity is moot
'Cause honesty's not your strong suit
And I don't believe you
I don't believe you

You tell me of what once was
And all about Buck, Butch, and Buzz
How they were not like me because...
But I don't believe you
I don't believe you

LyricsI had a dream and you were in it
The blue of your eyes was infinite
You seemed to be
In love with me
Which isn't very realistic

You may sing me "They Were You"
And I start crying halfway through
But nothing else you say is true
So I don't believe you
I don't believe you

You may set your charm on stun
And say I'm delightful and fun
But you say that to everyone
Well, I don't believe you
I don't believe you

So you're brilliant, gorgeous, and
Ampersand after ampersand
You think I just don't understand
But I don't believe you
I don't believe you
I don't believe you
I don't believe you

True, I'd give my right arm
To keep you safe from harm
And true, for you, I'd move to Ecuador
And I'd keep a little farm
Chop wood to keep you warm
But I don't really love you anymore

I don't have to love you now if I don't wish to
I won't see you anyhow if that's an issue

Because I am a gentleman
Think of me as just your fan
Who remembers every dress you ever wore
Just the bad comedian
Your new boyfriend's better than
'Cause I don't really love you anymore

There'll be someday when your eyes do not enthrall me
I'll be numb but realize you'll never call me

'Cause I've read your horoscope
And now I've given up all hope
So I don't really love you anymore
'Cause I've read your horoscope
And now I've given up all hope
So I don't really love you anymore

I wandered in these big blue shoes
'Til we had nothing left to lose.
Nobody wants you when you're a circus clown
I should know
I looked all over town

I guess folks just don't like my face
They make out like I'm some disgrace.
But nothing's going to change
This painted frown
And I know
I looked all over town.

Maybe somewhere I will be free.
Somewhere they won't throw rocks at me.
Somewhere this crazy hair could be my crown.
But all my life
I looked all over town

So whistling a circus tune,
I inflated one more balloon
And as I floated up I looked straight down
And I looked all over town.
One last time,
I looked all over town.

You told me you loved me
I know where and when
Come sunrise, surprise surprise
The joke's on me again
I know you don't love me
You know I don't care
Keep it hidden better
Did I say the world is fair

I thought I was just the guy for you
and it would never end
I thought we were supposed to be like glue
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

Love or not, I've always got ten guys
on whom I can depend
And if you're not mine, one less is nine, get wise
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

LyricsI just hope you're happy
Stringing me along
While you're stringing
I'm here singing
this, my saddest song
I wish I could see you
I wish I could sleep
Should I freak out
Should I seek out
Someone I could keep

I thought I was just the guy for you
and it would never end
I thought we were supposed to be like glue
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

Love or not, I've always got ten guys
on whom I can depend
And if you're not mine, one less is nine, get wise
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

I wanted you tonight
I walked around a lot
Wishing you were here to keep me from sleeping
With anyone who might
Want me or even not
Some guys have a beer and they'll do anything
anything, anything

I thought I was just the guy for you
and it would never end
I thought we were supposed to be like glue
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

Love or not, I've always got ten guys
on whom I can depend
And if you're not mine, one less is nine, get wise
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

I thought I was just the guy for you
and it would never end
I thought we were supposed to be like glue
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

Love or not, I've always got ten guys
on whom I can depend
And if you're not mine, one less is nine, get wise
I thought you were my boyfriend
I thought you were my boyfriend

I was born -- I hate this part
Being someone new
Being torn -- seeing someone who died
As you grew
Growing older is killing a child
Who laughed and smiled
At anything
Growing colder and less and less wild
And learning to say

I was young -- then not so young
Scary either way
One more rung down that black ladder
Every day
One more floor
Down the elevator
To oblivion -- what fun

But the singularly awful one
Is being born

I wish I had an evil twin
Running 'round doing people in
I wish I had
A very bad
And evil twin to do my will
To cull and conquer, cut and kill
Just like I would
If I weren't good
And if I knew where to begin

Down and down he'd go
How low no one would know
Sometimes the good life wears thin
I wish I had an evil twin

My evil twin would lie and steal
And he would stink of sex appeal
All men would writhe
Beneath his scythe
He'd send the pretty ones to me
And they would think that I was he
I'd hurt them and I'd go scot-free
I'd get no blame
And feel no shame
'Cause evil's not my cup of tea

Down and down he'd go
How low I would not need to know
All my life there should have been (There should have been)
An evil twin

Now the clock is striking one
so we might as well begin it
as there's dancing to be done
and our time is not infinite.

If there's such a thing as love, I'm in it.

So you claim you love me too.
Lloyd's of London guarantee it.
Gaze into these eyes of blue.
You do love me, I decree it.

If there's such a thing as love, give me it.

When I was two-and-a-half
my mama said to me,
"Love is funny; you will laugh till the day you turn three."

Like a kitten up a tree needs a fireman to rescue it
so your fireman I will be
and I'll really get into it.

If there's such a thing as love, let's do it.

I thought I'd known love before.
That was not it, but I thought it.
So I thought I'd win the war
or I never would have fought it.

If there's such a thing as love, I've caught it.

I'm tongue-tied
And useless
I'm weak-kneed
And brainless
And then
I mumble
Some jumble
You kiss me
I'm history
I'm tongue-tied
And uselessLyrics
Again

My heart pounds
I make sounds
My ears hum
My head pops
The shoe drops
I'm struck dumb

I'm tongue-tied
And useless
I'm weak-kneed
And brainless
And then
I mumble
Some jumble
You kiss me
I'm history
I'm tongue-tied
And useless
Again

You say things
The room swings
I feel faint
I've no doubt
I'll black out
Grand love ain't

I don't die
I say "Hi,"
How clever
I turn blue
I love you
Forever

I'm tongue-tied
And useless
I'm weak-kneed
And brainless
And then
I mumble
Some jumble
You kiss me
I'm history
I'm tongue-tied
And useless
Again

Sing me the kind of song you hear
In an operetta
In an operetta

Sing me the words i long to hear
Out of Violetta
In an operetta

She will be fast be outcast from her castle with nary a friend.
But since she's a princess there's hints of a prince in the end
She'll enjoy some employ as a boy with her name changed to Pip
Soon by gum she'll become the brave captain of some pirate ship

Singing a thing fit for a king
In an operetta
In an operetta

It's the all-singing, all-dancing
Princess Violetta
Of the operetta
In an operetta
Within an operetta

It was infinitely late at night

The stars are still out there
But they're all out of light
Don't worry 'bout me
I'll be all right
It's just infinitely late at night

It's still getting later
And later and later
I feel like I'm in
A falling elevator
I'd kill for a drink
But I can't find the waiter
I really believe he's gone home

Oh God I wish I could go home
But it's infinitely late at night

Is this a blackout
Or am I losing my sight
It should've been noon now
The sun should be bright
But it's infinitely...

The hour on the bar clock
It isn't finite
It's all black and white
Without the white
It's just infinitely late at night

Irma waits by the window,
Vaguely looking down at her socks
And humming. Possibly, her father will come home with a box
Of chocolates, possibly
Not. Father's memory
Was never what it once was.
Shouldn't really drive anymore,
Either. As if in answer
With a sound like blowing up your
Ears, father's jeep crashes
Through Irma's wall. She says
Bad words as several hundred
Boxes of her favorite kind
Of chocolate fill her bedroom,
But she doesn't actually mind.

Feels like December but it's May
I've gone as pale as Doris Day
The blue sky's torn asunder
By clouds that warn of thunder
Is this what they used to call love?

Your face surrounds me everywhere
Like a kaleidoscope's nightmare
This outpouring of emotion
Is boring as an ocean
Is this what they used to call love?

Well it musn't be the chicken pox
I've never met a chicken
But whenever I get near you dear
My heart starts to sicken

In the ninth circle of this hell
My heart is burning and unwell
What demons lie within it
I'll die in one more minute
Is this what they used to call love?
Is this what they used to call love?

Why would I stop loving you a hundred years from now?
It's only time.
It's only time.
What could stop this beating heart once it made a vow?
It's only time.
It's only time.
If rain won't change your mind, let it fall,
The rain won't change my heart at all.

Lock this chain around my hand. Throw away the key.
It's only time.
It's only time.
Years, falling like grains of sand, mean nothing to me.
It's only time.
It's only time.
If snow won't change your mind, let it fall.
The snow won't change my heart, not at all.

(I'll walk your lands,)
I'll walk your lands,
(and swim your sea,)
LyricsAnd swim your sea.
Marry me.
Marry me.
(And in your hands,)
And in your hands,
(I will be free,)
I will be free.
Marry me.
Marry me.

Why would I stop loving you a hundred years from now?