Give me the cost of the albatross
and wear it around my neck for size
and don’t let it get you down
I’m looking inside your house
And oh and it smells so nice
Your house always looks so nice

Maybe they’re twice as high laughing
Maybe the time is right you know
and promise me not to leave
I’m looking inside your brain
and Christ it’s a cluttered mess
I love you, I must confess

We speak in the store.
I’m a sensitive bore.
You seem markedly more.
And I’m oozing surprise.

But it’s late in the day.
And you’re well on your way.
What was golden went gray.
And I’m suddenly shy.

And the gathering floozies,
afford to be choosy.
And all sneezing darkly,
in the dimming divide.

And I have read the right books,
to interpret your looks.
You were knocking me down,
with the palm of your eye.

This was unlike the story,
it was written to be.
I was riding its back,
when it used to ride me.

And we were galloping manic,
to the mouth of the source.
We were swallowing panic,
in the face of its force.

I was blue and unwell;
made me bolt like a horse.

Now it’s done.
Watch it go.
And you’ve changed some;
water runs from the snow.

Am I so dear?
Do I run rare?
And you’ve changed some;
peach, plum, pear.

Sadie, white coat,
you carry me home.
And bury this bone,
take this pinecone.

Bury this bone
to gnaw on it later; gnawing on the telephone.
Ans ’till then, we pray & suspend
the notion that these lives do never end.

And all day long we talk about mercy:
lead me to water lord, I sure am thirsty.
Down in the ditch where I nearly served you,
up in the clouds where he almost heard you.

And all that we built,
and all that we breathed,
and all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds
is piled up in back;
and it burns irrevocably.
And we spoke up in turns,
’till the silence crept over me

And bless you,
and I deeply do.
No longer resolute,
and I call to you.

But the waters go so cold,
and you do lose
what you don’t hold.

This is an old song,
these are old blues.
And this is not my tune,
but it’s mine to use.
And the seabirds
where the fear once grew,
will flock with a fury,
and they will bury what had come for you.
Down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender
you and I, and a love so tender,
is stretched-on the hoop where I stitch-this adage:
“Bless our  house and its heart so savage.”

And all that I want, and all that I need..
And all that I’ve got is scattered like seed.
And all that I knew is moving away from me.
And all that I know is blowing like tumbleweed.

And the mealy worms,
in the brine will burn.
In a salty pyre,
among the fauns and ferns.

And the love we hold,
and the love we spurn,
will never grow cold,
only taciturn.

And I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Oh Sadie, go on home now.
And bless those who’ve sickened below,
and bless us who have chosen so.

And all that I’ve got,
and all that I need,
I tie in a knot,
and I lay at your feet.

And I have not forgot,
but a silence crept over me.

So dig up your bone,
exhume your pinecone, my Sadie.

Sunken-eyed girl in the sandwich shop
Ladle my soup from the kettle pot, so
Swoony my self with the smolder looks
Parsing that gaze for the right intention

Sunken-eyed girl don’t let me go
You’re the whole world and you barely know, so

You are the drinks I drink and keep drinking and
Fall down stumble
All of the things I think and keep thinking and
Wake up tremble

All these tears are bound to fall

Sunken-eyed girl on the Ludlow Street
Junkieland once but they swept it up, so
Sing in my mind, singing you’re so sweet
I need a bundle of dope just to numb it out

‘Cause I’m feeling so good that it hurts my skin
Feeling so good I could do myself in

You are the drinks I drink and keep drinking and
Wake up tremble
All of the blinks I blink and keep blinking and
Fall down stumble, oh’
These tears are bound to fall

I’m
No prize for you
No trophy to
Keep walking through
And I’m
Not worth a dime
I’ll drag you down
Don’t waste your time

Sunken-eyed girl on Delancey Street
Bulletproof glass in the KFC to
Keep the man safe in his paper hat
Keep the wrong hands off the biscuit fortune

Sunken-eyed girl don’t let me go
You’re the whole world and you barely know, so

So I’m…
No prize for you
No trophy to
Keep walking through
And I’m
Not worth a dime
I’ll drag you down
Don’t waste your time

Psychodelicate girl - come out to play
Little metal faced-boy - don’t stay away
They’re so war-torn and resigned she can’t talk any more
What are they trying to prove?
What would they like to find?

It’s love back to front and no sides - like I say
These pieces are broken - like I say
These pieces are broken
Hope I’m wrong but I know

Because you’re young - you’ll meet a stranger some night
Because you’re young - what could be nicer for you?
And it makes me sad
So I’ll dance my life away
A million dreams, a million scars

She punishes hard - was loving her such a crime
She took back everything she said
Left him nearly out of his mind
They’re people I know - people I love
They seem so unhappy - dead or alive

It’s love back to front and no sides - like I say
These pieces are broken - like I say
These pieces are broken
Hope I’m wrong but I know

Because you’re young - you’ll meet a stranger some night
Because you’re young - what could be nicer for you
And it makes me sad
So I’ll dance my life away
A million dreams, a million scars
A million dreams, a million scars

And I said you shouldn’t make facts out of opinions
He said that I was right
You’re right I knew that I was
And I’d hate to see anybody thank you
But I’d like to see you fail saying thank you
Though, I’m not sure who I am
I’m not sure who I am but I know who I’ve been

And I said you can’t make everybody happy
He said you’d like to at least make yourself happy
Though, I’m not sure who I am
I’m not sure who I am but I know who I’ve been

Julie catch a rabbit by his hair
Come back step, like to walk on air
Get back home where you belong
and don’t you run off no more

Don’t hang your head, let the two-time roll
Grass shack nailed to a pine wood floor
Ask the time? Baby I don’t know
Come back later, we’re gonna let it show

And I say row, Jimmy row
Gonna get there?
I don’t know
Seems a common way to go
Get down, row, row, row
row, row

Here’s my half a dollar if you dare
Double twist when you hit the air
Look at Julie down below
the levee doin’ the do-pas-o

And I say row, Jimmy, row
Gonna get there?
I don’t know
Seems a common way to go
Get down, row, row, row
row, row

Broken heart don’t feel so bad
Ain’t got half a what you thought you had
Rock your baby to and fro
Not too fast and not too slow

And I say row, Jimmy, row
Gonna get there?
I don’t know
Seems a common way to go
Get down, row, row, row
row, row

That’s the way it’s been in town
ever since they tore the juke box down
Two-bit piece don’t buy no more
not so much as it done before

And I say row, Jimmy, row
Gonna get there?
I don’t know
Seems a common way to go
Get down, row, row, row
Jimmy, row

I was born, I hate this part,
being someone new,
being torn, seeing someone who died as you grew.

Growing older is killing a child
who laughed and smiled at anything,
growing colder and less and less wild,
and learning to sing.

I was young, then not so young:
scary either way.

One more rung down that black ladder every day.
One more floor down the elevator
to oblivion, what fun,
but the singularly awful one
is being born.