1991

My heart bleeds for everyone
all the innocence undone
I have faltered, I have strayed
from ambitious plans mislaid

We’re back in 1991,
our progress has just begun
Now the towers beckon me
selecting me

In this night of social waste
where reputation has been misplaced
On a _____ radio, acting _____
Everybody appears alright

We’re back in 1991
All the _______ cloak the sun
Now I bathe in the light of the sun
The dirty, dark sun

In my will, I leave to you
souvenirs from ’92
My possessions are so few and yours are too
until…


Index


25 All Right
(source: Pacific Ocean CD)

There’s no basis for your fears
You won’t be judged by your peers
We are bound by love and history
Either you are in with us
Or you will be out of touch
Either way you shrug the mystery

It’ll be all right…

There’s no basis for your fears
You won’t be judged by your years
Among the families you have impressed
And I will make a cameo
In your latest video
Understand each crime you have confessed

It’ll be all right…
Twenty-five all right


Index


All Dressed Up

I haven’t heard from you lately, I don’t take it lightly
Please try to keep in touch
I know that you’re really busy, you’re really just slightly too late
and it may be too much to ask

I’ll ask you politely,
I want a letter or a love song
You think it’s fair to cut me off, rightly so
And you’re right, but you’re wrong

We’re all dressed up in suits and ties
I look so good and darling, you look so nice
I know that you will be miles away
and all our love just gets blown away

Can you hear me ringing the doorbell?
I just want to wish you well
Tell you that I’m disappearing for awhile
Tell you that I am lonely
You are the only one who can make me smile again

I only needed some credit, never thought that I’d get it
Still, it’s taken me this long
If you’re free, poker face
You said, “Use your eye.” Did she want to make a bet?
Well you’re on

We’re all dressed up in finish school
You look so nice and darling, you act so cool
I know that you will soon be gone
Our love will die because we’re not that strong


Index


At My Expense
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

The same situation’s getting sadder by the second
The air just filled with smoke
Until somebody spoke
I never felt as foolish as you made me feel
Why’d you have to be so vague
You always came across so vague

And I poured my heart out

When the ship goes down, remind me to thank her
‘Cause we’re all gonna be tied to the anchor
And you and your friends can have a laugh at my expense
‘Cause I don’t have a defense

The only thing that matters if it matters at all
Is the way that the pieces fall
And why you always stand so tall
The only thing that matters if it matters at all
Is what we don instead
If you quit while you’re ahead

When the ship goes down, remind me to thank her
‘Cause we’re all gonna be tied to the anchor
And you and your friends can have a laugh at my expense
‘Cause I don’t have a defense


Index


Before You Leave

The light above the street
I can see you perfectly
Who needs the moon above
to see that you don’t need my love?

If you find someone else
please keep it to yourself
and never let me know
that you ever let me go

There’s fire in the trees
and rain upon the roof
It looks like we won’t freeze
just close the chimney flue

and do what you gotta do before you leave

The band struck up and played
I know our love might fade
away and into dust
But if it must, it must

We all die alone
at war or on the phone
or both at the same time
sending volleys through the lines


Index


Came and Went
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

You look so good on film
You never overwhelm
You’re always a the helm
And as the picture fades
The credits all cascade
And how can you persuade?
The men that you adore
Are knocking on your door
And how can you ignore?
Their simple compliments
Their money was well spent on you in case you went…
And you went

And you came
And you went

And up upon the screen
The ugly and obscene
The act within the scene
I’ve seen the way you act
And how you stay intact
The fiction and in fact
The facts that you create
Have made the great debate
So embrace the ones you hate
The meek and the ashamed
The liar just renamed himself for you in case you came…
And you came

And you came
And you went

You lie and that’s the truth
About the stories of your youth
You lie between our teeth
Your picture perfect smile
Your cinematic style
And your dramatic grief

And you came
And you went


Index


Claim to Lame
(source: The Great Pacific Ocean CD)

I’m wired in series like my birthday present
I’m second hand, I’m money well spent
If the pilot episode isn’t well received
We’ll need a network, we’ll need a series
I’m wired together from head to toe
Candles (birthday candles) are gonna blow out
The pilot episode was such a bomb
We need a hit theme, we need a hit song

It was my claim to fame
But I never had a claim on you

And the Panama City (I just remember the weather)
Was where it began
Before the fights and commercials
And the animosity (I don’t remember a thing)
That you have for me
Is almost hysterical
It’s almost hilarious
But it’s not hysterical

I’m nailed together on the fame decline
Wired to spy, to tap the wire, to always remind
The story ends the day you left
I lost you but I lost interest

It was my claim to fame
But I never had a claim on you


Index


Cott

Her tears come screaming out now
Looking loud and clear
She sings away the morning
Comes crying out in the night

She wasn’t there to see you
Ride off into the sunset
She wasn’t there to hold you
when you needed a little holding

But she’ll never ever leave you
She’ll always be there with you
She’ll never ever love you
but you will always love her
You’ll never ever have her
just when you think that you have got her
You’ll never ever catch her
just when you think that you have caught her

I saw her whispering to herself again
She was teaching herself a lesson
About lost in love ______

She wasn’t there to see you
Ride off into the sunset
She saw the curtain falling
She let it slip away


Index


Darling Don’t Worry
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

Darling, don’t worry, it’s not an obsession
I am alone but within your possession
I will be rejected when I get to heaven
You know that I worry when I am alone
I pray for the moment you’ll answer the phone
I hear your voice inside of my headphones

I am the one who will love you evermore
You’ll be the one who’ll be showing me the door

Don’t worry, darling, you’ve made your decision
You’ve taken my heart and left the incision
Though I’ll never heal I admire your precision
Darling, don’t worry, ignore my depression
We’ll roll around but you’ll roll eleven
You will be rewarded when you get to heaven

I am the one who will love you evermore
You’ll be the one who’ll be showing me the door


Index


The Day We Hit the Coast

I’m going down to the river
I’m going down to the river
I’m walking on the rocks on the water
I’m going down to the river

I felt the cool commotion
as it poured into the ocean
I remember that day the most

The day we hit the coast

I’m going up to the mountains
I’m going up and into the mountains
where the Prairies end, collide, an accordion
I’m going up and over the mountains

I felt the cool, cool breeze
blowing cool off Lake Louise
I remember that day the most

I’m getting colder and colder
My body’s getting colder and colder
The sun’s beating down on the water
but the water’s getting colder and colder

The waves, they sound like thunder
and they pull my body under
I remember that day the most


Index


Every Morning I Reread the Postcards
(source: The Great Pacific Ocean CD)

Pick up at the place where we are
The place where we last spoke
Wring out all the memories
And the sadness they invoke
Life your spirits to the light
Under a magnifying glass
The distance has grown wider
From the front row of the classroom

I have saved all your postcards
I have glued them to my wall
Every morning before breakfast
I reread them all
Messages are coming in from
Places far away
But I am too devoted
To listen to what they are saying

I am lacking the power
To haul your line back home
But would it hurt less
To be shirtless
and shine like vintage chrome?
Practice your dominion
Exercise your poise and grace
But once you affect my heart
And vanish without a trace


Index


French Inhale

_____ at the first time you got drunk
Let’s get together and reminisce
We’re smoking out on the back deck
and it can’t get better than this

And you’re looking wicked and so am I
Let’s get together and reminisce
No matter how hard we might try
Let’s french inhale, let’s french kiss

French inhale

Take a last lap around the bar
Take your time taking over me
Take it easy

The ground turns to yellow, it turns to red
so take a deep breath and reminisce
One false move, we’ll both be dead
Let’s french inhale, let’s french kiss

And you gotta gimme that kiss
So french inhale
You gotta inhale


Index


From the Back of the Film

From the back of the film
he said, “Shut up or I’ll shoot you
You look so good with a gun
but your hat doesn’t suit you.”
If I were fearless, I’d take a bullet
and impress my friends
But who’s impressed when I get so depressed?
I’m alone at the cinema again

When I was 17
I took a trip with my family
and drove around in a van
I spent some time in some cities
Went to Seattle, the Rocky Mountains
and the Potato State
But how do you feel when you’re behind the wheel
and a swerve can control your fate?

Fate is all I’ve got
Someday I will get caught
I’m overcome with fear
I can no longer steer
Should you want to stick around
You know how ________


Index


Giddy With the Drugs

I’m shaking every hand
I seek out new romance
Don’t you want to blame somebody new
for the failure of romance?

I’m out of control
So low
I’m alone
Out of control

I’m giddy with the drugs
I’m crying with frustration
I’m giddy with the drugs
I am relieved with patients

It will make you giddy yourself
because you know that it never will matter


Index


The Great Pacific Ocean
(source: The Great Pacific Ocean CD)

He walked in in Ralph Lauren
I walked in the Pacific Ocean
Backwards was my shirt, against the grain
You know it hurts, it hurts again
And again you always win
I sit and watch the bottle spin
And still I hope it never points to me
You know it hurts to see you see
And all your time in junior high
Smoking grass and skipping class
Listening to your favourite records
By the Pistols and the Clash

The Great Pacific Ocean
Needs Hawaii in the middle
To keep an eye on it or maybe two
A place to stop between the flights to you

He got a deal on what to buy
I got a deal on at the by-the-way
You didn’t know about my pain
You know it hurts, it hurts again
And again, I never win
I sit and let the bottle spin again
I lost my head, I lost it all
I lost our love at the shopping mall

You’ve build the greatest circle
But you need me in the middle
To keep an eye on me (I see you too)
A place to stop between the fights with you


Index


The Great Pacific Ocean (Reprise)

(Instrumental)


Index


Hated It

I’m asking you for a favour, you won’t want to do it
but you made me a promise
I’m holding you to it

If you get too close, you’re gonna get burned
If you get too close
you’ll see the tables have turned

Don’t come looking for me
I’ll come looking for you

I had a dream about you just the other night
Your hair was braided
I know you really hated it

Walking down the sidewalk
you better take cover
Don’t step on a crack if you love your mother

You phoned me from the highway
said you’d be here Friday
I was waiting in the driveway

All my friends have left me
to go to other cities
I’m looking for some pity

You phoned me from the highway
You said you’d be here Friday
I was waiting in your driveway
and you didn’t show up


Index


Headin’ South

Oh my god, it’s a crying shame
how my baby is turning out
She wraps herself all up in arms
and shakes her pretty self about

It’s with a girlish sneer and a snotty nose
she’s got her ______ everywhere she goes
It’s the way she’s turning out
so I guess that we’ll be headin’ south

East side, west side, turn me on
Set the stars and clouds askew
Crazy times call for crazy minds
so I guess that we’ll be loving you
And I’ll be up all night until the crack of dawn
but one more second and I’ll be gone
It’s the way she’s turning out
so I guess that we’ll be headin’ south

I’ll be headin’ south

Back to the middle, harsh and reserved
whispered in hushed tones
Get me the advice columnist
on your cellular telephone
And I’ll be up all night until the crack of dawn
but one more second and I’ll be gone
And if you’re clean and clear with no trace of fear
you know that we could get it on


Index


Heart Wrenching Man
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

Heart wrenching man, please try to understand
I can’t take it anymore even if you can
There was nothing that they found when I got back my ultrasound
My heart would go out to you if it was around

I felt the evil
That did surround me
I felt the pathos
Nearly drown me
I felt resistance
In the wires
Conduct the urge
To retire

Heart wrenching man, your stories are too sad for human ears
We all feel bad for leaving you alone
All my sympathy goes out to your bad knee
I know if I had one too, hey, you’d be there for me

We all dropped by simply to wish you
A swift recovery, now I need a tissue
There’s something in my eyes
Everybody cries
Everybody cries
Everybody rise…
For heart wrenching man, please try to understand
I can’t take it anymore even if you can


Index


I’m Sorry If Your Heart Has No More Room
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

Everything here has been destroyed
Recall the troops you have deployed
Forget the spies you have employed
Here is nothing that you’d want
Not even a face that you could taunt
Not even the ghost who used to haunt
I’m sorry if your heart has no more room

I am the one that you mistook
Lost in the pages of your book
You stood like a statue while I shook
I guess that you’ll bless the cover page
When your band is all the rage
I shook when the singer took the stage

I’m sorry if your heart has no more room

I’m sorry if you feel you’ve been misled
This time of the year the leaves turn red
I’m sorry if you feel you’ve been misled


Index


Noosed and Haloed Swear Words
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

So you’re aching for forgiveness and an answer to your pleas
Your mouth is spitting curses and everyone agrees
That you take down every hand, you slap ‘em and mis-pick ‘em
Distances and romance are making your pulse quicken
So sad, you never even shed a tear
So sad, but everyone will disappear
I left this fragile body for dead
I went and met the hipsters instead
But allow me to express emotions deeply tied
Noosed and haloed swear words I have caged inside
So sad, this plagiarism battle ignites
So sad, I’ll hold your waist so tightly tonight


Index


North Dakota
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

The state of North Dakota has to fill its quota
And separate the girls from the boys, keep the trouble out of Illinois
The state of these affairs always comes in pairs
In the months of their demise we were writing our reprise

If it makes you sad, it makes me sadder
If you ever miss me, I will always miss you more
In North Dakota we can only waste our time

I marked it on the atlas and taped it to my mattress
He hates me and I hate him too because he keeps me from seeing you
She’s the only player with the icy stare
A look like that only makes me look older, you put your head on the coldest shoulder

If it makes you sad, it makes me sadder
If you ever miss me, I will always miss you more
In North Dakota, we can only waste our time


Index


(Oh Man!) What To Do?

The smell on your jeans and the built-in screens
hour after hour in this complicated scene
And now I’m hiding my face, my lips are ______ this waste
Get me a doctor, I just lost my place

Everybody knows that day will come
(Oh man! What to do?)

I just got the gist, it’s time I run up the list
of ample opportunities I shall have missed

I feel so lonesome tonight


Index


Oh My Soul!

Have you seen Mrs. Boy? Have you seen Mr. Girl?
He’s the one who got the looks and she’s the one who got the curls
Get her on the phone, tell him get his ass back home
He’s out looking for a love because she feels so all alone

And the bleeding night club band that they went down there to see
With their scrawny little hands, they ring the bells of liberty

Oh my soul, I’m not like that

She never learned how to love, to teach him how to love
and now he’s staring at the floor and she’s in the clouds above
The airport hotel bar, that’s where they want to be
Throw the money in the jar and ring the bells of liberty


Index


On the Sneak
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

I’ve conspired, now I’m twice as tired
Of this ugly situation
My hands are tied,
But I have on my side
This mean and precious information

The inside joke is all about you
You’ll realize when it comes true
In my heart of hearts I know the static will start
From now until the end
Of your sound demands I will always be a fan
But a fan before a friend

The inside joke is all about you
You keep on parade the pain it proves
And though these nights I leave you clues
The inside joke is all about you

Behind your back I laugh with all my might
With all my might
And you took all my night


Index


Patriot
(source: The Great Pacific Ocean CD)

I’ve got a solid heart of steel
It rests in my ribcage and turns
All the wheels

So boil my blood and trip away
There’s someone who’s better than you
Let’s not go out tonight
To see the patriot

On one hand I’m a patriot
On the other I’m a skeleton
On one level I’m a singer
On the other I’m your brother
On one station I’m a champion
On another I’m unknown
On one corner I’m a hero
But everywhere I am zero

I can’t wait to lead you on
You will think that you know me
And then I’ll be gone

So read the papers and watch the stars
There’s someone who’s better than you
Don’t worry about your future
Just call in the patriot


Index


Pink is the Colour

Pink is the colour of her eyes
Rose coloured glasses
see through green grasses growing
Her hoops still showing, never knowing

We have a world to see
Leave the colours for me
Leave that girl the biggest shade of free

Pink is the colour of the sun streaking down
Always tasting watered down
Colour never washes out
so cut it out

You’re not my father, are you?
Dark sided, hiding
Waiting while you’re misguided
Missile hits the center of the storm windows closing


Index


Puerto Rico
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

We all went to Puerto Rico
There was nothing to talk about
We packed up all our belongings
I can’t bear to see you now with nothing to talk about
We all went to Puerto Rico
There was nothing to talk about
My mother, my father, my sisters and I
Had nothing to talk about
Nothing to talk about


Index


Radio Blaster

Turn up the radio, I really want to see ya
Give me a call, I’ve got an idea
We’ll leave tomorrow on a big jet plane
We’ll be running from the cops in Maine

I was clicking channels and I saw you on TV
A broken arm, you didn’t look happy
You were driving a car when the tire blew
I guess you never knew

That I did it all for you
I know it’s nothing new
You know my heart is true

I remember when you told me that it wouldn’t be easy
Of all the things you said, I know you said them just to please me
Let me take you to a drive-in movie
You know that song on the radio moves me

Driving in the car with the radio blasting
I’m always left thinking that it’s never lasting
long enough. Turn that song on the radio up

You know that California gets hot in the summertime
We could go maybe some other time
I ask you, “How was school?”
but I’m really not that cool

Let’s go to the movies, I’ll buy the tickets
You know that song on the radio is wicked


Index


Seven Years of Bad Luck and Bad Timing

Matthew says that I am lucky
but I feel so unlucky
He says I should feel eight feet tall

Seven years if you subtract, or
add it up upon the blackboard
Multiply and hang it on the wall

Seven years of bad luck and bad timing

I’m getting way too much attention
All the shock and no suspension
All the things, you never mention her

Make the passes and the misses
Throw the passes, blow the kisses
Everything, it still dismisses her


Index


Skip the Life
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

Until we skip the life complete
Until we skip the life completely

902-5396
Long distance information don’t play those tricks
There’s no luck in the draw and none in the lines
I will dial until the end of time
Until I hear the lines connect
Until I hear the lines connect

Teach a lesson to the fool who gets too close
To tell truth in the face of The Holy Ghost
Condemn my soul to the telephone wires
I will drive on These Four Black Tires
Until the yellow lines connect
Until the yellow lines connect

902-5396
Long distance operator don’t charge me for this
It’s the last conversation passing through these wires
I will weep with my soul on fire
Until we skip the life complete
Until we skip the life completely


Index


Snubbed
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

They snubbed me at the border and refused me on the phone
So you will be alone
You have graced this bedroom but I can’t remember when
Discourage me again
All I want to do is cross your path once more
All I want to do is X your eyes before you go
Shake out all the carpets and tuck in all the sheets
And don’t admit defeat
Knock on wood and glue and love to see if you are home
So you will be alone


Index


Songs for the Gang

Metal hearts both north and south
couldn’t bear the test
The love you cannot talk about
hacksawed from your chest

In songs for the guys, songs for the girls
growing on you, but wearing on me
Let’s all get down to songs for the gang
To the songs for the gang

Metal tracks run east and west
carry heavy loads
The love you cannot talk about
unless it’s love grown cold

Sing the songs for the guys, songs for the girls…


Index


Strange To Be Involved
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

With questions in clues and short-lighted fuse
This last promenade before darker days
I’ll dance down the stairs with bows in my hair
And nobody cares as we creep anywhere at all
And all our last attempts have played in present tense
And I foresee the ruin of all
Well I fit so finely in with the fitting in
The lucky winning losing streak
With profits and gains the last dying strains
Of moonlight are gone, so steady the dawn
And it is so strange to be so involved, where nothing’s resolved
And I don’t mind at all


Index


This Week
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

I could just drive you on away
Decorated just like yesterday
Yesterday is the day of the week
There innocents portrayed as the meek
But in my hours of desperation would I trample on over everyone?
No, I sound alarums and ring in the bells
So just sound alarums and ring in the bells

Al the obnoxious skateboarders in the world
Couldn’t keep me from a fresh-faced young girl
All the lying and pretending I do
Couldn’t take me falling backwards to you
So just befriend the weak
And break another heart this week


Index


The Ugly Details

I feel I’m at a loss, outwitted and outclassed
When I’m always acting dull, I feel as sharp as broken glass
I feel a little strange, I look a little doped
You think I got your picture framed, I got you hanging by the ropes

An eye for the ugly details
is only going to leave you alone

If you can’t believe your eyes, then you can’t believe yourself
You get that faint look of surprise in quickness and in stealth
I feel a final catch, you look a little morose
when you finally detach yourself from any hope


Index


Uneventful

I walk the streets, I call my friends
and ask them, “Will you come out tonight?”
They tell me, “Everything depends.”
Could there be anything more painless?
But those who are embarrassed or opposed shall remain nameless

Nobody complains
and no one is resentful
for the gift of life,
so uneventful

To hear me talk, would you guess that I’m alone?
Don’t ask me, “Will you come out tonight?”
You know I would rather stay at home
I possess that unassuming voice of the newscaster
and I remain calm, cool and collected in the face of a disaster


Index


Violent Dreams

These violent dreams, they’re reoccurring
straight through the winter, I wake up sweating
The floorboards splinter, the paint is peeling
These violent dreams, they’re so revealing

It’s like it’s damage for damage done
a little payback for everyone
It supplies some heavy sedation
to calm this cold calculation

These violent dreams, they get worse, I get better
You know they’re the only thing that keeps me together

These painful thoughts and twisted motives
They grow in cracks, they swarm like locusts
They shake my body and wrack my conscience
They over gear, the gears malfunction


Index


We Are Being Reduced

Take the hand that takes away
and keep it in your pocket
Take the words that I say
and launch them in a rocket
As they leave the atmosphere
watch their meaning disappear
apologies that no one hears, my dear

I’m wearing out my vocal chords
because I am alone and bored
Will you take me up to 24,000 feet Concorde?
Hearts are broken everyday
by those who take their love away
mistaking satellites for stars in bars

Above the earth we receive the news:
we are being reduced


Index


Western Dreamz

On and on from dusk till dawn
cross hills and barren lands
We navigate the wilds of fate
in smoke-filled caravans
Nothing’s ever good enough for me

With brave hearts we sing to stars above
We’re all falling in love, sweet love

I’m lost and free in hopeless glee
I’m Rocky Mountain high
And snow and street under my feet
feel like the endless sky
Nothing’s ever good enough for me

It’s as easy as it seems, to fit right in between
And we’ll all be kings and queens
with western dreams

We’re dreaming western dreamz


Index


Without You?
(source: Sweet Homewrecker CD)

You’d better start warming up
To the unfriendly winter, Buttercup
So spike this drink with aspirin
To ease the pain from the guilt and the sin

What would we do without you
If you were to ever leave?
What would we do without you
If you were to ever leave?
What would we do without you but grieve

You’d better start warming up
To the unfriendly winter, Buttercup
So spike the drink with aspirin
To ease the pain from the guilt and the sin
The tormented artist is coming in
Fill up the glasses with fruit punch and gin
Open up the bar and let the party begin
Let ‘em go at it, let’s see which one will win
Let ‘em go at it, let’s see which one will win


Index


You Got An Answer

Every lover has a device
to tease the crowd and to entice
Every lover has a tool
to start the engine, inject the fuel

And you got a way of making everything turn out right
You got an answer to every problem

Transparency looks good on you
You hate me, well thank you too
And now you’ve got an answer to your problem
Cut the corners, start again


Index


The Young and the Groomed

Bright enough to realize
what’s important in your life
I’ve been dead for a long, long time
to think that you are too good for me

You have a 10 o’clock shadow at 5 in the morning
You look like you haven’t slept in days
Girls like you just don’t win contests
but I know you’ll try to anyway

Stay tuned for an episode of The Young and the Groomed
You know I heard you up all night writing letters in your room

Why do you try to teach me how to avoid a 10 o’clock shadow
If it was nightime, what would it matter
when our shadows disappear, we can find _____________

(Two lines where Rob & Joel seem to forget the words)
You are young and you are _________
and your shadow is longer in late afternoon

Stay tuned for an episode of The Young and the Groomed
You know I heard you up all night writing letters in your room
Were they for me? Were they to me? Were they for someone? I never knew
Were they the chapters you wrote, the book you call The Young and the Groomed?


Index

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