DESPERATION ALLEY
BASKING IN THE TWILIGHT
knock, knock, knock
please let me in
i'm pounding
on my coffin lid
see, i've been spending
too much time again
with these ghosts
i like to call my friends
and i've been weeping
under the willow tree
watching flames crawl
on its leaves
i'll watch the seasons melt
and blow away with me
so, i'll float on
and take my comrades too,
and if you want us,
you can follow the moon
we'll be waiting in the twilight,
basking in the twilight soon.
see, i'm fond of spirits
'cause mine's all broken
life's pleasures just left
pain to soak in
and new signs of life
is what i'm seeking
but these shattered windows
obstruct my peeping
and it seems like mankind's defecation's
led to our degeneration
the bowels of earth
are overflowin'
can't seem to get
a movement goin'
so i'll walk alone
shit, i like it that way,
though sometimes i stagger,
and sometimes i stray,
but you tell that twilight
i'm on my way
i'll be basking in the twilight
today
the wind cried, it crept
in my window crack
harbouring haunting,
nightmares of past,
and it smelled like the sea,
so it brought me back
to those lonesome old days
my poor heart attacked
and with daggers and roses,
a pocket of clovers
i went by the way of my
slow suicide
my heart keeps on quittin'
but it won't let me die
i found out the devil
just isn't that kind
so with this old, familiar
empty feel in my guts
i've made it through
the bruises and cuts
my sleeve's still full of aces,
but i'm all outta luck
and i thank god in heaven
for blessin' a drunk
you know we're all just hangin'
like that old willow's branches
and soon the cold wind's
gonna blow us away
tomorrow holds pestilence
and yesterday's flowers dead,
so enjoy the twilight today
bask in the twilight today
the twilight is coming your way.
DESPERATION ALLEY
our sorrows hang here
like decrepid pinatas
see, our candy's all rotten
so we take what we gotta
when you hang here
you know you've hit bottom
so welcome my dear
to desperation alley
i strolled out on the avenues
this evening found me badly
i peered right past the mannequins
down desperation alley
the ground smelled like my childhood
the clouds moved like my dreams
i found myself in this goddamned place
stuck halfway in between
so i drove beside the railroad tracks
i was making big decisions
one hand held my scalpel
and the other sewed incisions
so i drove a little further
'til i ran into the future
i spit into the wind
and i ripped out all my sutures.
now a tangled, tainted mess
i had to change my shirt
i searched for my designer,
but the devil found me first
i walked into a thrift store,
but they wouldn't give me service
they said half naked bleeding men
just tend to make 'em nervous
so i asked "what about jesus?"
they still pointed towards the door
i guess godliness meant cleanliness
and they had to mop the floor
so i found a pavement preacher,
and i knelt in his confessor
my skeleton's out the closet, now
his guts rot in my dresser
i swerved between the raindrops
they wouldn't stop they just kept comin'
but it was just a pitter patter
like god shaking out his johnson
and i wished that it would pour
so i could feel a little cleaner
and the clouds would part,
and my moon would show
it had been a while
since i had seen her
and we'd dance until she left me
then the sun would show its face
and i would run for cover
for fear that i'd disintegrate
and i'll dive into a diner
maybe you could meet me there for coffee
we'll end up back at my place
down in the cemetary
and we could bury
our sorrows there
between the death and decay
it only takes one drop of blood
to make tomorrow go away
but you'll be coming back
at least that's what they say
'cause yer nightmares will wait for you
back on desperation alley
BALLAD OF A BROKEN YOUNG MAN
i left my aspirations
on i know better hill
where crotchety old farmers
shoot trespassers at will
and this crooked old creek
can't wash the blood off my hands
i speak only to fish
and still insist
no one understands
sad and pissed i sing
the ballad of a broken young man
alright it ain't so much a ballad
tear this heart off my sleeve
i know i'm wearin' long ones
and it's a hundred degrees
it's a break-yer-neck boogie
like ya wouldn't believe
i wanna dance with you, baby,
but you know that i'm fresh
outta speed
strung out again i sing
the ballad of a broken young man
my fingers like to fidget
and my mind likes to race
and maybe that's the reason
i can't stay in one place
and my lovers always leave me
or i throw it away,
i can't stand stability
it just ain't the way
that i'm made
lost and alone i sing
the ballad of a broken young man
and now i'm ninety cents short
of a one dollar fare
to catch the next bus,
and get the hell out of here
to get away from myself
away from this wreckage i've made
i'll find my place in the sun,
but for now i gotta
rest in the shade
sick and tired i sing
the ballad of a broken young man
BETTER OFF DEAD
well, come join me here
for a sailor's song
and if yer heart's feeling heavy
pour the bevvy on
just one little dose
and it's off to sea
for a trip to sort out
what's troublin' me
but i'll be careful
not to get lost
in the tumblin' waves
of the bad times
or the heartache tides
will pull me away
and leave me broken,
out of my head...
that's when i'm
better off dead
and when my time comes
throw my ashes
right into the wind
and be wary of the straits
of hypocrisy
they'll try to make you submit
until you believe
i'll chart my own course
of reality
this big, bad, old world ain't gonna
get to me
and i'll hang on the heels
of the setting sun
and i'll be right there with it
wihen the morning comes
i hope not empty,
broken,
or out of my head
that's when i'm
better off dead
and when my time comes
throw my ashes
right into the wind
so come join me here
for a sailor's song
and if yer heart's
still feelin' heavy
pour more bevvy on
one little dose
and it's off to sea
i'll trip right off this land
that's troublin' me
CUT ME TO PIECES
i wonder if i wander and keep wondering
where will i get
can i get, can i get, can i get
any higher than this
i've been a-roving and a-roaming on a wish
'til i wish and i wish
that lady death will wrap me up tight,
up tight
tight in her kiss
'cause i'm burnin' out fast
like an unfiltered cigarette
so stomp me in the ground into pieces
and lay me to rest
cut me into pieces
'cause in pieces i will be just fine
cut me into pieces
'cause in pieces i'll find peace of mind
cut me into pieces, when i find peace
lay me to rest
i've been all over, all over,
is it all over yet?
i guess that first i gotta learn,
first i gotta learn to see past my lips
see, i've been roving and-a-roaming on a wish
that i'll never get
'til i wish lady death will wrap me up tight,
up tight in her kiss
'cause every time i walk a straighter line
it's only in jest
so i'll cut myself to pieces right here
'cause i'm full of shit
NEW THREADS (for old bones)
i kill my nights
poisoning what's
ailing me
and i take flight
with the nightingales
through my
buckshot dreams
i dance the dance
of beggars
and of thieves
but that moon
never says goodbye
when she leaves
i need some
new threads
for these
old bones
and a new hat
to hold my head
spinnin' like a
cyclone
and a map
to point me
in direction of home
or at least
a traveler's guide
for being alone.
this old sewing kit,
it just ain't cuttin' it,
my needles are all dull
and flat
first my fabric started freyin'
now my seems are separatin'
and there ain't much to do
about that
so, could you
please fix me up, doctor?
before my head falls off my shoulders
and my brains spill out
split-splat
because i know you made a monster
i can see him in the mirror
and he's fallin' apart
real fast
tonight i wanna raise some hell
and raise the dead
and these old bones
need some new threads
so, i sought a professional
to do the impossible
catastrophe quick fix
with morphine drip
and phentanol
stitch me up
and send me out
what have i become?
with these looted limbs
and this borrowed blood
i used to be a human being
before they tried
to make me sane
and what will save my soul?
i'd like to untwist my tongue,
but don't unbreak my nose,
and just leave me alone,
i'll do it myself
i'll stitch some
new threads
for these old bones
MAKESHIFT LIFE
careless thrills
on a neon night
give me a bottle of pills
and a switchblade knife
nostalgia kills
and my head ain't right
it makes for chills
and a makeshift life
but woo-woo-woo
i love those ambulance rides
i never see 'em comin'
i just end up inside
they get me downtown
in the blink of an eye
so i can carry right on
with my
makeshift life
now we ain't got no money
we ain't got no cash
just got these old guitars
and a broke cadillac
i'd like to come see you
but i can afford the gas
you know the cost of livin'
is kickin' my ass
and if i can't buy arson
and i can't buy fuel
if i can't burn it down or leave it
i don't know what to do,
we'll just keep buskin' on the corner
tryin' to get some more loot
to roll on down the road
with our makeshift life blues
you see, we get a little restless
with these songs in our hearts
we gotta sing and dance
to keep from fallin' apart
we're gonna keep on playin'
'til these strings give us scars
so come on get down with the
makeshift life stomp