1. |
Romeo and Juliet II
04:45
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Romeo & Juliet II
love is a t.v. screen
staring across the floor
love is stale caffeine
love is a tragedy
slamming another door
love is nicotine
and he could light his cigarette,
and wait here for her silhouette
but he’s not Romeo, oh no
and she’s not Juliet
love was a magazine
promising so much more
love was seventeen
but love is a cold machine
slip through the back screen-door
love is so unclean
and she could light her cigarette,
and wait here for his silhouette
but he’s not Romeo, oh no
and she’s not Juliet
gonna break this habit
leave that light on down the hall
gonna break this habit
once and for all
love is another scene
spilling across the floor
love is gasoline…
but he’s not Romeo, oh no
and she’s not Juliet
Tuning: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb
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2. |
Fools' Gold
04:20
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Fools' Gold
Racing back to Waterloo in summer torrents of rain and rage;
and this speed, they say, can make you feel so free.
The sun is caught by thunderclouds—got these silver shades,
got this music loud—and highway eighty-six is lost on me...
And I’m passing cars with headlamps flashing,
feeling like the roof is crashing through—
on me and you
Are you free to thirst even while you’re drinking,
free to lie even while you tell the truth?
Can fools’ gold turn to pure gold
if you want it to?
The golden sun, it reappears; the single-file, it pushes on:
and this snaking chrome is startled by a dust-cloud and a
hundred beating hooves and horse-drawn carriages—
black as history’s ink on gilded pages—
fresh-scrubbed faces on a quiet Sunday afternoon...
And car horns are cruel and highbeams rude,
and I’m feeling like the sky is crashing through—
on me and you
And the dashboard’s shouting, “My Sharona”
as a line as long as Pennsylvania is
singing hymns to Jesus in the middle of June
Can fools’ gold turn to pure gold
if you want it to?
And a man in black, with a sideways glance,
is smiling at these souls just passing through.
I see his daughter’s honey-yellow hair
and I could swear it’s really you...
Can fools’ gold turn to pure gold
if you want it to?
Tuning: Standard, Capo VII
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3. |
These Old Roads
04:32
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These Old Roads
On a bridge by a rapid stream
Barefoot—my sister and me
The river swims underneath
These old, sunburned roads
Hot buzzing and harmless bees
Fleeing, fussing and skinning our knees
In these veins and capillaries,
These memories of home...
These old roads
(they go where the river flows)
These old roads
(resurfacing)
These old roads
(they go where they always go)
These old roads
(and me)
There’s a wasp in my rear-view mirror
I’m scared and I’m trying to steer clear
Out on this blacktop road
In the holiday sun
I’ll poke at these power windows
I’ll stir it up—and hope that it goes away
Like hot stirrups and stinging goads,
So many ways to get stung...
These old roads
(they go where the bloodline flows)
These old roads
(resurfacing)
These old roads
(they go where they always go)
These old roads
(and me)
But I’m taking a ride tonight
There’s a crossroads where I just might
Blaze a trail to something…
These old roads
(they go where the river flows)
These old roads
(resurfacing)
These old roads
(they go where they always go)
These old roads
(and me)
Tuning: Eb Ab Eb Ab Ab C, capo V
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4. |
Writing on the Wall
04:05
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The Writing On The Wall
Fingers point and fingers crawl
Cracks across this plaster wall
Faces frightened, faces pale
Knocking knees and facing hell
I thought I was so safe
I thought I was so secure
A lonely king upon his throne
Slain by your beauty
I had it all
Now I see the writing on the wall
Days are numbered, nights are spent
Are you hell or heaven sent?
Gods of silver, gods of gold
God, this woman I can’t hold!
I thought I was so safe
I thought I was so secure
A lonely king upon his throne
Slain by your beauty
I’d seen it all
Now I see the writing on the wall
I thought I was so safe
I thought I was so damn sure
A lonely king upon his throne
Slain by your beauty
Slain by your soul
And I thought I’d seen it all…
Now I see the writing on the wall
Tuning: Bb Bb D F Bb D
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5. |
Dance Tonight
04:40
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Dance Tonight
We could dance tonight
Like nobody’s there
They could think what they like
But maybe we don’t care
At the edge of the spotlight
Oh, just outside of the glare
We could dance tonight
Like nobody’s there
I’m like a glass of wine
Filled to overflowing
Got a see-through heart
Full of longing and knowing
It’s just like love to rush up on you like that
And spill into every thought
And glow from every pore
Like this blushing and touching
And circling and romancing
These strange, strange heartbeats
Retreating and advancing
Just when I thought I'd never
take another chance
Oh I see those eyes shining,
And that soul-light dance…
(chorus)
You’re like an open book
Like a habit I’m learning
Like a sleepless night
Like the world stopped turning
It’s just like time to rush up on you like that
And alarm bells are ringing
And home fires are burning
You’re like sleeping in on Sunday
Like skipping piano lessons
Like blue, blue midnight
Kisses and confessions
They could judge all they like,
They could stone and they could stare
Ah just wrap me up in heaven,
In your long blonde hair
And we could dance tonight…
How many heartbeats in this measure?
How many songs left in the night?
If we could practice this forever,
We could get it right…
But we could dance tonight
(so lonely without you)
Tuning: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb
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6. |
Longest of Goodbyes
05:24
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The Longest Of Goodbyes
We could fly to Tokyo
Just to catch the sunrise
And we could drive to Mexico
Or just until your old Chevy dies
Is this life we know—this status quo
Just laziness and lies?
Have I been wearing someone else’s clothes?
Have I been living someone else’s life?
Someone else’s rainbow,
Someone else’s pot of gold
And someone else’s prize?
Are these days of cold ice wine and roses
Just a bed of thorns disguised?
Just a song and dance that we compose
Of short and sweet hellos
And the longest of goodbyes?
Nights collapse like dominos
Full moons in blackened skies
Days are dipped in vertigo
And drunken, spinning highs and lows
Blinded by mood indigo
And two pairs of deep, blue eyes
(chorus)
Winter’s so far from springtime
And summer’s grown cold
Are we still living or just growing old?
(chorus)
Tuning: C G D G G Bb
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7. |
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She Loved Me Like I Loved You
Some things in life we thought we knew
Like she loved me, like I loved you
Some things we say, some things we do
And she loved me like I loved you
The spell I was under
The mystery and wonder of this love
Count the numbers, the signs, the stars above
But one and one’s still two…
Some things in life we thought we knew
Like she loved me, like I loved you
Some things we say, some things we do
And she loved me like I loved you
And oh when I'd hold her
The room was much colder than before
Said she’d had enough, and I needed more
But so did you...
Some things in life I thought I knew
Like she loved me, like I loved you
Some things we say, some things we do
And she loved me like I loved you
And she loved me like I loved you
Tuning: Standard, capo V
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8. |
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Move On (I Say To Myself)
“Move on” I say
(I hear me say it to myself
just like I'm saying it to someone else)
“Ya, move on,” you say
Cold call and an ‘Auld Lang Syne’
Caught an icy chill on your telephone line
“Well, you fool,” I say
(I say it to myself)
“Just going ’round in circles
feeling sorry for yourself”
With just one word
I should’ve known that I was wrong
To visit, like a voyeur,
This place I don’t belong…
And old voices conjure memories
Like dark and brooding love songs…
“It’s been too long…” I say
(There's that tone of voice again
as if that was now, and this was then)
“Ya, too long,” you say
Why even bother to pretend that when
lovers leave they’re ever really friends?
But a friend I was
A pleasure and a pain
And this junkie’s got you under his skin
Still searching for a vein
But I have no right
To this heartsick valentine
These stillborn words,
This lump in my throat—
Still flesh and still benign…
Still staring at this telephone
Still frozen here in time
Move on, you fool, move on!
But does it mean you have to
disown every memory?
It does it mean you have to
make someone the enemy?
Does it mean that when you move on
you can’t look back and long
for what’s all gone now?
And move on…
Move on
(I say to myself)
Move on
(I say to myself)
Tuning: Bb G C F Bb F
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9. |
Pennies on the Track
04:20
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Pennies On The Track
I put these pennies on the track
Make them flat and faceless
And though they bend and though they crack
I put these pennies on the track
I put these pennies on the track
Make them worn and worthless
Although they bend and though they crack
I put these pennies on the...
The way it used to be
I want it back
The secret in my diary
I want it back
Your heart before I lost the key
I want it, I want it, I want it back
(chorus)
The trust before the jealousy
I want it back
The truth before the third degree
I want it back
The way you used to look at me
I want it, I want it, I want it back
These copper coins,
And this streetcar,
This desire,
Can’t buy your love...
(I want it back, I want it back)
I put these pennies on the track
Make them flat and faceless
And though they bend and though they crack
I put these pennies on the track
I put these pennies on the track
The rails are cold and graceless
And though they bend and though they crack
I put these pennies on the track
I put these pennies on the track
Tuning: C A D G C E, capo VII
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10. |
Paper Bedroom Stars
06:45
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Paper Bedroom Stars
These sleepy recollections
Of lovers under the moon
The lazy crescent-curves of my guitar
The scattered decorations
All over your room
Those phosphorescent, tacky paper stars
Tell me, how’s that one I picked for me and you,
Lying there in those final hours?
Did my starry-eyed good wish ever come true?
Paper, glue, and magic powers…
And oh, I know where you are
And I know this by heart
I’m never very far
From those paper bedroom stars
But there comes a time
In a daydreamer’s life
When he must decide at last
To be haunted by
Nights of fond memories
Or be hunted by the past
Tell me, was it real and was it really ours:
Held up there by our human devices?
And underneath that cardboard canopy of stars
We learned of love, and what the price is…
And oh, I know where you are
And I know this by heart
You’re never very far
From those paper bedroom stars
Gaze through the looking glass
At the black summer sky
That supernova flash from afar
And see the light-years pass
In the blink of an eye
Over paper bedroom stars
I know where you are
I know where you are
I know where you are
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