lyrics file for zopilote machine
thanks to leslie kleinberg for transcribing this whole disc...
the morning comes to a stuttering halt
the cool breeze that blows is somebody's fault
the summer heat tries to burn through
and i look over to warn you but something's happening
the morning glories climb the wall
and you speak in a slow drawl
i'm trying to piece together what you're saying
but the birds are screeching, the hounds are baying
i don't remember there being any hounds around here
we lean back and we clink our glasses
raise the drinks to our thirsty mouths,
and thick as molasses ice cold vodka eases in as
the low pressure system brings the breezes in
and they sashay and pirouette above you
the only thing i know is that i love you
and i'm holding on,
yeah
i was sitting in the street when the news came my way (2x)
good news (4x)
i was sitting in the street when the messenger came by
i was sitting in the street when the messenger came my way
good news, good news like a rare blood disorder
good news (2x)
i was sitting in the street
i don't believe i've made it clear what exactly i mean by that
i was sitting in the middle of the street
dust made its way into my legs even though my shirt was tucked in
and i saw the colors forming in the west
saw the bright feathers reflected in the sky, now
good news (4x)
you say again that nothing's wrong
i'd really like to play along
your ruby red mouth is full and moist
i'd like to give in to your oboe reed voice
but as sure as those are buzzards in the guava tree
you're looking real funny at me
1 2 3 4,
that's not music you hear, that's the devil
that's not the sun up in the sky, it's a human heart
if you're planning your escape, you know i'm all for you
as i watch the sun come up again over tallahassee, florida
and the heat came down (2x)
i knew i was living in a long, long dream
when you fed me the black ice cream
and the heat rose up (2x)
i heard the loud loud buzzing of our son's go-kart
and the ice cream was blacker than the devil's heart
it was august the 19th, 1957
i fixed my eyes on you, fixed my eyes on you
(everybody ready? uh yeah! um-hmm.)
sun melts everything down, and the hills are reduced to nothing
the whole house shakes, and you can see that the coach is coming
you lean down and you pick up the small soft eggs in the dust outside my door
i hold them in my hands, they are warm and the air is warming up now
i've got a message for you, if i could only remember
i've got a message for you, but you're gonna have to come and get it
la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la
ever since i came here, all i could think about is water
last night they brought the fat lamb in from the fold
but i couldn't bring myself to do anything about it
i remember california, i remember malibu
i remember the states and the names of the cities but i don't remember you
and i've got a message for you, if i could only remember
i've got a message for you, but you're gonna have to come and get it
i've got a message for you, i've got a message for you, 2 3 4
la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la (2x, etc.)
ya!
whoo
sarah: huh-huh-huh huh huh
ay
[laughs]
everything i've told you was true
so imagine my surprise when i blink my eyes
and realize that i've been talking to you
and i've told you everything
even the parts i'd meant to leave out
and i shake my hair, and i look about
and the wild dogs are hungry
and the wild dogs howl
and the wild dogs in the mountains to the north of us
come down
you smile at me in total defiance of all decency
you've got it down to a science, that innocent look
you've got it practiced real good
but i know you'd kill me if you could stand the sight of blood
if i'd been a fly on the wall a little earlier
if i'd been one of the innumerable flies in this room
if i'd been a fly on the wall a little earlier
it would've been real different around here
you try to speak but the buzzing's too loud
and it's hard to make you loud through the dense black cloud
that surrounds us both, that's just as well
you call them up, let the whole house go to hell
if i'd been one of these flies
i would've lodged myself firmly underneath your eyelid
if i'd been one of these flies a little earlier
it would've been real different around here
i meant to leave the house this morning
and begin making my way toward where you are
i meant to leave the house this morning
i made it halfway across the front yard
but the plum tree hung heavy in my head
and the plum tree hung heavy in my heart
and the plum tree hung heavy over me
so i tore off to the phone
to call you and tell you something, but i couldn't remember what
because through the clean, clean windows
saw the plum tree's leaves, as red as fresh blood
and the plum tree hung heavy in my head
and the plum tree hung heavy in my heart
and the plum tree hung heavy over me
when i catch sight of your face
and the late light falling on it
i feel scared and i scope the area out for a good place to hide
when i feel the way your fingers
wiggle in my palm
i feel warm and i feel good inside
and i know that you're wearing a wire
but as the sun becomes a blazing orange ball of fire
i lose interest in this and other such inconsequential questions
when you kick off your shoes
and i see the wet grass give way underneath your feet
and the sunset rears up once more to its burial ground
well, you look so sweet
and i know you'll be turning me in
but i also know your real name's not amy lynn
and as the orange globe rears up to swallow us, too,
i see you look at me and figure out what i know about you
well, i'm not telling
i'm not telling you anything
when i hear the screeching weather vane
in the wild wind and the pissing rain
i know that one of us, i'm not saying who,
has got rocks in her head
the rain comes through the open window
but you don't think so
i sure do love you (2x)
when i notice that the radio is broken
i see you standing there in the doorway soaking
the water drizzles off of you down to the floor
and i say that i don't want to live in new england anymore
some flower petals stick to your skin
i grab hold of your hip, and i pull you in
when the building establishes control
when the thunder from the north begins to roll down our way
i know i've been right all along
and you start singing that stupid children's song
you think i don't know it
but i just don't feel like singing it
sure do love you
i sure do love you
when i see you in your new blue jeans
i know you're lying, and i know what it means
when i see you take your place among the poor
i know you're a fraud for sure
bad priestess, bad priestess
so the sunlight plays its games along your eyes
and it has the same effect on a thousand other guys
and i'd be lying if i said i didn't feel the pull, too
but the sunlight makes me strong and i know about you
bad priestess
bad priestess, on a thursday as the sun goes down
bad priestess, with a super-special eyelash trick
bad priestess, bad priestess
i looked you up and down
i liked everything i saw
from the fragile outline of your hips
to the trembling movements in your jaw
but when the coffee cup shattered on the kitchen floor
you said that you couldn't take it anymore
i knew you were leaving
i knew you were going to bristol
i watched you pack your bags
saw you head up to the door
but when the key broke off in the deadbolt lock
said that you couldn't take it anymore
that was the second time you said that in one day
why don't you just sit still
it's going to be okay
going to bristol (4x)
when i was twelve years old, they put me on the throne
when i was twelve years old, they made me king
from the ocean south of here to the northern hemisphere, they gave me everything
now i'm thirteen, and no one takes me seriously
now i'm thirteen, and they're trying to take away control
i don't know how stupid you all think i am
but as sure as flowers grow along the western wall, some heads are going to roll
yeah
saw your arms hanging at your side
nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
saw you moving real slow
nowhere to run to, nowhere to go
i heard the wind blow
i saw your sash come untied
blue water, white sky
up in the cedars, we were too far away
for the radio to tell us the time of day
but there was moisture in the air
i heard the city call
they can go on burning
to hell with them all
your liquid movements
the water rushing by
blue water, white sky
world's surface was as smooth as glass
and they saw the hour coming and they didn't let it pass
i heard you say my name twice through your teeth
i saw you coming down to me, i was underneath
it's been coming for some time
you close your eyes
blue water, white sky
i heard the wind blow
i saw your sash come untied
blue water, white sky
the cave mouth shines
by pure force of will
i look down on the world
from the top of this lonesome hill
and you can run, and run some more
from here all the way to singapore
but i will carry you home in my teeth
in the great hall you drink red wine
you chew meat off the bone
i beat down the new path to the castle
i come naked and alone
i laid my son on the bier, i burned the wreath
fire overhead, water underneath
you can stand up or you can run
you and i both know what you've done
and i will carry you home
i will carry you home
i will carry you home in my teeth
doll squad's at the drive-in
it's 1973
the fruit is full and fat this year on the orange trees
which grow in clusters
the city sixty miles away
as the sunset tries desperately to break through the gray
and the stardust came down, royal blue
as the san bernadino sky showered over you
coming home early is always a mistake
but when you see that woman on the sofa something in you breaks
you've got a celluloid tendency to flare out and blaze
and the report sounds once like a failed hymn of praise
and the stardust came down, royal blue
as the san bernadino sky showered over you
my hand brushes against the lock of hair that hangs down past your ear to your jaw (2x)
it's real neat, the moment's sweet but it's all wrong
and we're pictures of decency when we wave goodbye outside
we're pictures of decency when we wave goodbye outside
yeah, i'm the model of composure out there
but you oughta see me shaking later on
my brain gets flooded six hours later
my brain gets flooded over six hours later
rivers run with pictures of you as i stare up at the blood red moon
lying out front on the lawn, hey
the most remarkable thing about coming home to you is the feeling of being in motion again
it's the most extraordinary thing in the world
i have two big hands and a heart pumping blood and a 1967 colt .45 with a busted safety catch
the world shines as i cross the macon county line
going to georgia
the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it's you
and that you're standing in the doorway
and you smile as you ease the gun from my hand and i'm frozen with joy right where i stand
the world throws its light underneath your hair
forty miles from atlanta, this is nowhere
going to georgia
the world shines as i cross the macon county line
going to georgia
[woman singing]: he touched me and suddenly...
it's a cold night in sonora
and the stars are out in full force
it's a moment the world has been waiting for
when you set the world back on course
into the fire you go (2x)
it's a strange gathering around you
and the lord of the snails is born
five minutes before you take on divinity
you hear the crackling, well you hear the snapping corn
into the fire you go (4x)