Face on TV

Baby, we did it
We made it over the State Line
In this jet black convertible
With the white stripes down the side
We got beers in the footwell
We got drugs in the trunk
We got a suitcase full of someone else's money
And we're crazy in love

When I was growing up everybody said
"If you don't end up in porn or prison, you'll probably wind up dead"
I wonder what them folks are thinking now that they see
That this kid's got his name in the paper
And his face on TV

Back at the motel
We're knocking back shots
You're waving that handgun around
Loaded with your shirt off
And I don't know why I did it
But I turned on the TV
And there's a high-school photo and your real name
Right next to a picture of me

When I was growing up everybody said
"If you don't end up in porn or prison, you'll probably wind up dead"
I wonder what them folks are thinking now that they see
That this kid's got his name in the paper
And his face on TV

So now we're on the run
And life's a little tough
Sometimes we rob diners for tip jars
But we're still crazy in love
We swapped the car out at a truck-stop
Raided a few of the trucks
I still get a thrill when we're working
And somebody recognizes us

Distinctly Average

You want me to write you a song
From a title that you just thought up...

You'll probably find I ain't up to the challenge
'Special' ain't something I can easily manage
Like a cold first date or a loveless marriage
This song's gonna be distinctly average

All my songs have got a little bit of a sadness
This one's got a rhythm to it like we should be dancing'
I could bore the cottontails off of all the rabbits
But the rabbits won't give time of day 'cos they say they don't have it
Peppers and potatoes make an omelette kinda Spanish
Your pepper'll get pickled if you stick it in a bad fridge
When I'm done writing this song I think I'm gonna scrap it
'Cos it's distinctly average

Average, mundane,
Normal, plain,
Boring, banal,
Nothing at all...

The words are kinda workin' and they're wrapped up in a package
Of a boho hobo's guitar jangling
Stompin' my foot 'til the floorboards' damaged
I'll rip 'em and relay 'em with this hammer that I brandish
Finished laying floor I'm gonna make myself a sandwich
Cheese and ham and bread and pickle, little bit of radish
Ranch dip, chilli sauce man I'm gonna ram it
Down into my belly because good-god I'm ravished
This song's over now and I ain't braggin'
But it was distinctly average

Hard Work

They own the culture and the counter-culture
They feed you all your trends
They're the pistol shots at the start of every revolution
And they're still there when it ends

Your bid for freedom was predicted even orchestrated
By the same chains that got you bound
If prison guards want something to shoot at
They just plan a break-out

Hard work's only hard work when you're working
Working smart ain't working hard at all
They say life's sweet up there on top of the pile, but from down here
It just looks like a long way to fall

They say the poor are a burden on the working man
And point their fingers at those working the hardest
They drain the blood of the art scenes and music
Parading through the streets with the corpses of the artists

They told the princesses to stop kissing frogs
They dried the lake and closed the dog pound
Now these strays ain't got nowhere to go
Except dumpsters and the cold, cold ground

Hard work's only hard work when you're working
Working smart ain't working hard at all
They say life's sweet up there on top of the pile, but from down here
It just looks like a long way to fall

They bought all the rebels and the outlaws
And those that couldn't be bought, they shot
Martin Luther King was assassinated by the CIA
9/11 was an inside job

I don't know how to fix this mess
I'm just a wino whining for a bottle
I'm food for worms, I got one foot in the grave
And I'm looking for rent money to borrow

I'm a misfit and an outcast
I'm the piece of the puzzle you think you lost
Congratulating yourself cos you're almost done
But I was never even in the box

When the farmer left the gate open
I'm the horse that jumped the fence
He retired on the insurance pay
And I rode off into the sunset

But when your feeling lost or pointless
When that hollow blackness grows in your heart
Look for wild horses near the horizon at twilight
They're eating prison guards

Never Really Gone

Doctor says I ain't gonna make the morning
Preacher says I ain't gonna make the cut
Mama say I should've heeded her warnings
My pretty woman don't say nothing but

She sits there in the rocking chair in our house
Thinking what nobody else will say
She licks the tear as it hits the corner of her mouth
And a crying smile creeps across her face

The Sun is always let up by the moonlight
The Moon is always let up by the dawn
There ain't no way we're staying
No matter how you play it
So play like you ain't got long
And know that everything you keep in your heart is never really gone

Remember when we got drunk and threw bottles
At the cars in town as they drove past
And the next day we punctured our bike tyres
Trying to ride through that same broken glass

When I think back now on all them nights we lived through
And every one we said would be the last
The next night we'd be out there in that gutter again
Drunk before the hangover had passed

The Sun is always let up by the moonlight
The Moon is always let up by the dawn
There ain't no way we're staying
No matter how you play it
So play like you ain't got long
And know that everything you keep in your heart is never really gone

So hold my hand as you sit in that rocking chair

When everybody leaves and it's just us

Tell me that you'll never love anyone again

And if you do you'll try not loving them as much

Tell me what you were thinking when you were crying through that smile

Tell me what nobody else will say

Then climb into this bed with me and hold me til the morning

It was always gonna go this way
It always goes this way

The Sun is always let up by the moonlight
The Moon is always let up by the dawn
There ain't no way we're staying
No matter how you play it
So play like you ain't got long
And know that everything you keep in your heart is never really gone

Back to the Night

I want to wake up
Without this fire
Not afraid of the light
Like some kinda vampire
Without all this blood
On my pillow case
There's still some in the sink
And a little on my face

So give me cool water
Straight from the tap
Give me cold bathroom tiles
Or a porcelain bath
And bring me hot coffee
Shelter me from the light
Give me safe passage
Back to the night

I've got more sense than money
But that ain't saying much
What I lack in a skill set
I make up for with luck
I've been down and out
I've tried to drink 'til I drown
I've been low as The Devil
I've been high as the clouds

I'm looking for something
At the end of each night
Like the end of a rainbow
That I'm never gonna find

This fire in my heart
Bleeds these tears on my face
So hold out your tongue
If you dare for a taste
These scars on my arms
Are just lines on a page
I ain't much of a story
But I'm never gonna change

All of My Old Friends

All of my old friends were early risers
They'd be sitting there at breakfast with their girls
When I'd come down hungover, my dressing-gown half-open
With make-up on and my hair still up in curls

I'd have pulled myself up hard off of the sofa
Sucking coffee straight out the machine
I'd be a mess, half-dressed but never the less, these girls that were sleeping with my best friends
Would all tell me sometimes they 'thought' of me

It's Ok if you don't believe me
Most of what I say up here ain't true
But don't say I didn't warn you
In the morning when she calls you
And says something about me reminds her of you

They said if I repeat it they'll deny it
So I promise I won't mention any names
Recounting tales of youthful misadventure when you're old
Either evokes a sense of pride or sense of shame

And shame has always held the door out for me
Whereas pride ran out on me when I was young
I pretended to be you without all your imperfections
And to perfection it's the closest thing I've come

It's Ok if you don't believe me
Most of what I say up here ain't true
But don't say I didn't warn you
In the morning when she calls you
And says something about me reminds her of you

One time I fell in love
But it didn't last too long
See, I got an honest gypsy's heart but a serpent's tongue
I hope you never set
But if you do I pray regret
Don't find you telling misadventure you were wrong

All of my old friends are late for breakfast
This is their alarm call ringing now
It's always morning somewhere to somebody and strong coffee
Can make broken hearts and heads and fists just pound

It's Ok if you don't believe me
Most of what I say up here ain't true
But don't say I didn't warn you
In the morning when she calls you
With a voice that starts to crack
As if she's holding something back
As if all truth's been held to ransom
When she says she finds me handsome
And says something about me reminds her of you

Amphetamine Fiend

I'm the hardest man to love

At the easiest of times

What we make love on in the morning

In the evening will start a fight

And I'll fight for the sake of fighting

I'll do it just to cause a scene

Whiskey for breakfast

And supper time's sweet amphetamines

Amphetamine fiend

Amphetamine fiend

I'm living the dream 

I'm the cat with the cream

Amphetamine fiend

I got a car to fill with petrol

With a mattress in the boot

The front seat's filled with rainwater

Since I kicked the windshield through

Playing for love don't pay half enough

To even look after me

So I find the girls grinding their teeth

See if they wanna grind with me

Amphetamine fiend

Amphetamine fiend

I'm living the dream 

I'm the cat with the cream

Amphetamine fiend

Some like sports

And some have kids

Some stay home

Others wish that they did

Not me

I'm an amphetamine fiend

Amphetamine fiend

Amphetamine fiend

I'm living the dream 

I'm the cat with the cream

Amphetamine fiend