The Pretenders Album

I went back to ohio
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown
South howard had disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
A, o, way to go ohio

Well i went back to ohio
But my family was gone
I stood on the back porch
There was nobody home
I was stunned and amazed
My childhood memories
Slowly swirled past
Like the wind through the trees
A, o, oh way to go ohio

I went back to ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And muzak filled the air
From seneca to cuyahoga falls
Said, a, o, oh way to go ohio

I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
We've been cast out of? oh oh oh oh
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang


A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the tv and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang


The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When i see what they've done to you
But i'll die as i stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They'll fall to ruin one day
For making us part


I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
Now we're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

Nobody's perfect
Not even a perfect stranger
But oh what a gal
She was such a perfect stranger
And you're the best in your field
In your office with your girls
And desk and leather chair
Thought that time was on your side
But now it's time the avenger


Nobody's permanent
Everything's on loan here
Even your wife and kids
Could be gone next year
And with what you have left
You'll be forever under pressure
To support her
And a lover who looks strangely
Like time the avenger


Time, time, hear the bells chime
Over the harbor and the city
Time, one more vodka and lime
To help paralyze that tiny little tick, tick, tick, tick


Nobody's perfect
Not even a perfect gent
When your property took the a train
I wonder where your manners went
You were standing at the station
In your briefcase
Was your aftershave and underwear
Can you hear the whistle blow?
Sounds like time the avenger


Time, time, hear the bells chime
Over the harbor and the city
Time to kill another bottle of wine
To help paralyze that tiny little tick, tick, tick, tick

Oh, saturday night
Mmm, everyone's having fun
I'm down at the laundromat
Trying to get my washing done
Like i done before
Time and time again
Watching the clothes go 'round
Another week sees its end


Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round


Oh, i've been working hard
Mmm, trying to make some money
"would you like sour cream
On your potato, honey?"
I been kissing ass
Trying to keep it clean
Serving the middle class
Yeah, it's a clean routine


Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round


There go the whites
Mmm, getting whiter
There go the colors
Getting brighter
There go the delicates
Through the final rinse
There goes my saturday night
I go without a fight


Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round
Watching the clothes go 'round

Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
'cause i've heard so much about it
They say you can't live without it


Welcome to the human race
With its wars, disease and brutality
You with your innocence and grace
Restore some pride and dignity
To a world in decline


Welcome to a special place
In a heart of stone that's cold and grey
You with your angel face
Keep the despair at bay
Send it away, and


Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
'cause i've heard so much about it
I don't want to live without it
I don't want to live without it
Oh, i want love, i want love, i want love


Welcome here from outer space
The milky way still in your eyes
You found yourself a hopeless case
One seeking perfection on earth
That's some kind of rebirth, so


Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
'cause i've heard so much about it
Don't make me live without it
Don't make me live without it
Oh, love, i want love, i want love, i want love

Hush little baby, don't you cry
When we get to tucson you'll see why
We left the snowstorms and the thunder and rain
For the desert sun, we're gonna be born again
What's important in this world
A little boy, a little girl


Hush little darling, go to sleep
Look out the window and count the sheep
That dot the hillsides and the fields of wheat
Across america as we cross america
What's important here today
The broken line on the highway


All the love in the world for you, girl
Thumbelina in a great big scary world
All the love in the world for you, girl
Take my hand and we'll make it through this world


Hush little baby, my poor little thing
You've been shuffled about like a pawned wedding ring
It must seem strange, love was here then gone
And the oklahoma sunrise becomes the amarillo dawn
What's important in this life
Ask the man who's lost his wife

I went back to ohio
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown
South howard had disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
A, o, way to go ohio


Well i went back to ohio
But my family was gone
I stood on the back porch
There was nobody home
I was stunned and amazed
My childhood memories
Slowly swirled past
Like the wind through the trees
A, o, oh way to go ohio


I went back to ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And muzak filled the air
From seneca to cuyahoga falls
Said, a, o, oh way to go ohio

It's a thin line between love and hate
It's a thin line between love and hate


It's five o'clock in the morning
And you're just getting in
You knock on the front door
And a voice sweet and low says
"who is it?"
She opens up the door and lets you in
Never once asks where have you been
She says "are you hungry?
Did you eat yet?
Let me hang up your coat
Pass me your hat"
All the time she's smiling
Never once raises her voice
It's five o'clock in the morning
You don't give it a second thought


It's a thin line between love and hate
(repeat)


The sweetest woman in the world
Could be the meanest woman in the world
If you make her that way
You keep hurting her
She'll keep being quiet
She might be holding something inside
That'll really, really hurt you one day


I see her in the hospital
Bandaged from foot to head
In a state of shock
Just that much from being dead
You couldn't believe the girl
Would do something like this, ha
You didn't think the girl had the nerve
But here you are
I guess action speaks louder than words


It's a thin line between love and hate
(repeat)

I been crying like a woman
Because i'm mad, mad, mad like a man
If you'd been in the s.s. in '43
You'd've been kicked out for cruelty


I hurt you
'cause you hurt me
So i hurt you
'cause you hurt me


I been wondering about your dependency
Your idea of defiance is a modern day mystery
Arms and chest are cold
When your back is on fire
And the only time you come clean
Is when you're talking to your buyer


I hurt you
'cause you hurt me
So i hurt you
'cause you hurt me


Forget our philosophies
That we admired when we were young
And our popular points of view
They can't mean much or nothing
Or something or anything
'cause we can't say "i love you"


I hurt you
'cause you hurt me
So i hurt you
'cause you hurt me


Happy birthday, darling and thank you for the schooling
Your correction mistress warned me and she wasn't fooling
Never trust a user with your television overnight
When the show he wants to video is "dallas" on a tuesday night
Don't try to paint your masterpiece under artificial light

He's gone 2000 miles
It's very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you

The children will sing
He'll be back at christmastime

In these frozen and silent nights
Sometimes in a dream you appear
Outside under the purple sky
Diamonds in the snow sparkle
Our hearts were singing
It felt like christmastime

2000 miles
Is very far through the snow
I'll think of you
Wherever you go

He's gone 2000 miles
It's very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you

I can hear people singing
It must be christmastime
I hear people singing
It must be christmastime