from the mountains to the sea in empires built on sand there are marvelous bodies with bottles in their hands they're lighting up their eyes and slowing down their roll they're silencing the tides and losing all control it began with a laugh and with a laugh it will end and the poison will remain in our veins even when we give our whole lives every day the laughter of the kids the attention of the mules the sobriety of virgins the arrogance of fools we give our whole lives every day decadence madness science violence so let us bury in the dark the glory and the doom and what began in disgust will end in a riot of perfume

the night was like a big black jewel and I was a thieving fool and the street looked like the sky on the night you said goodbye the tide washed over the sand and the cranes went lookin' for land and the clouds laid down and cried on the night you said goodbye there was a boat all full of the stars like the headlights of passing cars and the moon looked me right in the eye on the night you said goodbye your memory like a fanned flame grows in the soft dark, the smell of clothes like the powder from a matchlock gun it's gone with the rising sun a passing plane caught a moonbeam as its passengers awoke from their dreams and something inside of me died on the night you said goodbye and something inside of me died on the night you said goodbye

I had to let that one go she held on too tight I had to let that one go and now I'm with you tonight it's been a long, long time that the stone's been rollin' don't you know by now that everything is stolen there's more than one kind of smart there's the part that you borrow that's why there's nothing today that there won't be tomorrow so draw me a picture I'll write you a song take it out on the street bring your sculptures along we’ll paint up our faces and fracture our bones bring out the wolves and leave the bunnies at home it's been a long, long time that the stone's been rollin' don't you know by now that everything is stolen

as soon as the idea of drowning had passed we sought higher ground and said prayers to the grass and all the precious stones they began to hide as the flowerbells swayed in the approaching night after the flood black palls and organs lightning and thunder rise and roll in the dirty main street they set up the stalls boats hauled to the sea past the water-stained walls a slaughterhouse circus as pale as your soul as beavers built damns and blood and milk flowed after the flood black palls and organs lightning and thunder rise and roll soldiers drank coffee with brandy in bars children in mourning looking up for the stars in the village square a boy waved his arms like a wild weather vane on a wind-whipped barn after the flood black palls and organs lightning and thunder rise and roll a bartender played piano old women went to church as the moon heard jackals howling down in the dirt and out in the orchard the violent budding trees signaled it was spring and brought me to my knees after the flood black palls and organs lightning and thunder rise and roll the beauty was unbearable the queen in her fancy robes the witch lights a fire in her pot but won't tell what she knows

he says "you must be joking" you say you are sincere he shrinks back into his lawn chair and cracks open a beer a kiddie pool and a Weber grill, wet laundry on the fence he stares up into the sky in total silence "it's your son or your daughter, you know" as around him a darkness grows and you sit there and wiggle your toes and watch your small patch of grass grow 'cause with or without him you'll survive the thought makes you feel so alive like the first time you shot daddy's gun you feel like some kind of chosen one and there's a thousand rays of sunlight in your belly you see the road straight and wide some gasoline and an evening drive with nothing to lose and a life to gain hitch up that pony you're not afraid you're not afraid you're not afraid he sleeps out on the lawn you pack up all your things you talk into the mirror as you take off your ring a flannel shirt and dozen tees, a raincoat and some jeans you pull your boots out from under the bed and you wipe 'em clean

they are very sturdy rogues adept at exploiting the world with no needs, and in no hurry plenty of money and cornfed girls they are god fearing men eyes vacant like the night decorated with stripes and stars faces distorted and teeth so white what a side show some of them are young and flush with terrifying dreams they're sent snaring out on the town tricked out with nauseating luxury what a side show they pose in improvised costumes in stores and under manicured trees they shake hands and hold ripe little babies on the covers of our glossy magazines eyes flame, blood sings, bones swell and there are always some tears the clowning and terror lasts a minute or entire years what a side show they are very sturdy rogues adept at exploiting the world with no needs, and in no hurry plenty of money and cornfed girls what a side show what a side show

out there on the summer lawn there's the neighbor's son his name is Paul and he's waiting for his dinner on the kitchen floor back behind the door the bird dog Bob ain't getting any thinner carolyn wipes off some dishes says something about her wishes then her hands hold biscuits wrapped in cellophane and outside Jack joins Paul the roadside grass is tall and out o'er the fields the sky, it looks like rain each body is a temple but y'know it's not that simple 'cause the door is known to open once the sun goes down a sad bulb shines out in the night on the porch, they watch the fight their bellies full of bacon their minds alive the sweet science of fist to face as ghosts surround the place and the featherweight gets knocked out in round five eat some supper, boy better eat up your beans, boy people from all over town come on over to the sound of a party in the country a bottle and some dancing girls and death is everyone's last name but don't let your face hang don't let your arms fall you're alive in the modern world

no one speaking floorboards creaking fan blades twirling wood grain swirling put on your jacket and step outside hop on your bike and go for a ride sunset, light rain red clouds, freeway the city behind you the horizon a soft moon everything open and everything free wheels over land like driftwood on the sea country, cornfields kitchens, hot meals farmers' headlights fighting the good fight a life in a moment, a flash in the pan she stands in a driveway, a leash in her hand get lost, white lines side roads 'til sunrise dead weight lifting sorrow drifting head for the night as it runs for the hills time is no object, it changes at will

a light turns on in the back of my mind while i'm giving all i've got to give early in the morning before the demons have a will to live while the city sleeps and the dogs dream of a life out in the country where the rooster crows and a cool wind blows and the apples fall from the trees the light is a hall of books and the hall is the city and the books are all the people and the people are all you and me and we're on these shelves together and we're bound in battered leather and we're checked out one at a time and we're brought back never in the quiet room of a dusty house on an evening in the ghetto we're finding ourselves in the dark and we're fighting to take it slow we're pressed up cover to cover and we've got no sense of time so let me fill my pages with words from yours and yours with words from mine

I've got you on the phone, sitting all alone at home I've got you on the phone, sitting all alone at home I can hear the neighbor screaming and there's music on the stereo and I can tell by the way you say nothing that you're ready to go there's nothing going on in the streets of that little town there's nothing going on in the streets of that little town there are a few nice people, and a few that like to get around but most of them have already dug themselves a hole in the ground and you're the mayor and your the watch dog and your the big brother but it's not too late to be a dreamer the streets are only scary when you see 'em on the evening news the streets are only scary when you see 'em on the evening news it's a bill to New York City, we can meet on Bedford Avenue I've got a friend who just moved out there and he tells me that there's plenty to do but you're the mayor and your the watch dog and your the big brother but it's not too late to be a dreamer the streets are only scary when you see 'em on the evening news the streets are only scary when you see 'em on the evening news it's a bill to California, we can meet on Melrose Avenue I’ve got a friend who just moved out there and she tells me that there's plenty to do or you can go to Paris or Mexico City or Tokyo or Madrid or Sri Lanka or Amsterdam or Buenos Aires or Santo Domingo or to the North Pole