MUSTANG CAR
Well the dogs were barking loud that night
The screen door went shut with a slam
Yelling so loud that they woke up my kids
But those two they just don't give a damn
They thought their love would take 'em round the world
But they never got that far
So she got the house and the dog and the yard
And he got his Mustang car
Well the night she left him drunk by the side of the road
He never forgave her for that
So he went out and he bought some new clothes
And a five hundred dollar Stetson hat
Now she's running round with some suit and a tie
And he swears he's gonna make her a star
So she's got a seat on that big old airplane
And he got his Mustang car
Well she sits in her seat - as pretty as Hellfire
Building her case against him
They both agreed if they pull out of this
That they're never going back - never going back again
He's gonna bomb it down the road
Drive it 'round the world twice
He's gonna feel the engine ring
As the memory fades
Like the turn of a card
Or just another roll of the dice
She got the records that he left in the sun
He took off with the medicine jar
A big stack of bills piling up in the drawer
And he got his Mustang car
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
INSOMNIA
The bridge burned down
The watch is set
The smoke pours from
The cigarette
And music slowly playing loud
Like movement in a thunder cloud
If sleep would come
Would it let him escape again
No more was taken
No more was spent
Great care was offered
To make it look like an accident
He looked in the mirror lines crossing the face
Of a stranger he thought could get out of this place
Staring back like the ghost of a missed opportunity
Insomnia - Humming in his head
Insomnia - Shakes him from his bed
Insomnia - Don't know the answer
Don't know the question
Don't know the reason at all
He looked out the window
At the street down below
Not a thing was out there
Between the cold and the snow
With the quiet fury words unsaid
And the neighbors below asleep in their beds
And the hours go by moving unbearably slow
Insomnia - Humming in his head
Insomnia - Shakes him from his bed
Insomnia - Don't know the answer
Don't know the question
Don't know the reason at all
Insomnia
Insomnia
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
IT'S ALL RIGHT
Up this morning drowning in the blues but it's all right
Ugly world closing in on you but it's all right
It's not so easy to talk about
It's not so easy to start again
You say a smile is just too hard to fake but it's all right
They're sitting waiting for your next mistake but it's all right
It's not so easy to talk about
It's not so easy to start again
But it's all right
Yeah, but it's all right
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
GARBAGETOWN
I was born on an iceburg
In the middle of garbagetown
My feet stuck in cement
Face down on the ground
Garbagetown - Garbagetown
Hands bound in shackles
But my mind clicking 'round
Cooking up a scenario
To get out of garbagetown
Build me a rocket ship
Gonna fly to the moon
Hope that band of agents
Don't bring me down too soon
Garbagetown - Garbagetown
Last time I saw you
Working for the company
Say my brand new girl
Aint no good for me
You say you're embarrassed
But you miss the point
This warden's my friend
And I'm gonna blow this joint
Garbagetown - Garbagetown
If the load gets too heavy
I'll shed me some skin
Let the poison out
And the fresh breeze in
I just want to run
Catch an old Northbound
See snow and rain
Far away from garbagetown
Garbagetown - Garbagetown
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
ANYTHING FOR YOU
Come sit beside me rest awhile
Away from the distractions in our lives
Let me tell you some things that are on my mind
Maybe I should be saying all the time
I've always loved the way you move
From the first time I looked at you
I could tell you were different
And I am too
And this I say to you
You know I'd do anything for you
Anything you ask me to
Whatever's on your mind that's what I have to do
Because I'd do anything for you
Sometimes I watch the curves across your cheek
In the morning when you think that I'm asleep
You're so beautiful and faithful and patient too
Thank God one thing in life is true
You know I'd do anything for you
Anything you ask me to
Whatever's on your mind that's what I have to do
Because I'd do anything for you
Strength that comes from inside
To rise above the pain within our lives
And I know I'm no savior
But my love is true
And I want to be there to pull you through
Because I'd do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If it's going to make you happy that's what I have to do
Because I'd do anything for you
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
GET THERE FROM HERE
It started out in this beat up van
We called the White Buffalo
There was John & Jerry & Me & Larry
And a guitar man we called Vanbo
We just wanted to rule the world
With our tunes and our guitars
With an attitude to take us down the road
And a dream of being stars
(chorus)
Can you - get there from here
When you have all to gain and nothing to fear
Can you - get there from here
Don't give up if it takes one more year
Can you get there from here
May not have been the best of times
But sure had lots of fun
It don't matter at age eighteen
Just bombin' down Hwy 31
Moved to L.A. and it started to crack
Big picture coming clear
And when it all came crashing down I said
Can you get there from here
(chorus)
Can you - get there from here
Well let's step to the bar and let's have us a beer
Can you - get there from here
Don't give up if it takes one more year
Can you get there from here
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
WALKING
When you're trapped by the game
You better start walking
Familiar things aren't the same
You better start walking
Figure out what you want to tell me
Rediscover your mind
Her precious love turns to hate
You better start...
Drawing Aces and Eights
You better start...
She looked in the mirror laughing
It's not that easy to see
Everybody wants a wishing star
It's not that easy to find
Everybody's got to win it sometime
Everybody got to lose
When it all goes bad
You better start walking
Destroying everything you had
You better start walking
You better start walking
You better start...
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
MUDDY RIVER
Muddy river, rolling in by daybreak
Muddy river, rolling out by night
Never know what you've been thinking
I'm only wishing that you were dry tonight
CHORUS
River high, river wide
Never know what pulls you from inside
To everyone you'll be another mystery
Since you river took my Daddy from me
(exitra non-album verses)
You're the same old river that I once loved
As I'd sit beside you leaning on a tree
And listen to your song on rushing water
'Til you river took my Daddy from me
(chorus)
Oh gently, gently go and tell her
Be careful what you say I beg of you
Don't dwell on threads of consolation
Only whisper those painful days are through
(chorus)
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
STARLESS NIGHT
Outside in the starless night
Somtimes hard to see the way
Shake off sleep and death and dreams
Dark was endless, so it seemed
Here comes the light of day
Meanwhile, in another room
There's trouble at the junction
Couldn't live inside those rules
The gadgets and the tools
Just make it hard to function
It's a starless night
Smoke pouring from the diesel
We were left to die
Now we're still alive
Say hallelujah
Be careful what you ask for
What you don't want may come true
Please spare us of those lies
The things you hold inside
Are just fire to the fuse
The sun's burning in the sky
Forget about the cold and winter
It's a starless night
Now we're still alive
Say hallelujah
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
GEORGIE'S BACK IN TOWN
Didn't need a martyr 'cos
They had enough to spare
Laying six feet underneath the ground
Georgie never walked the earth
But they're believing just the same
Now they count the days 'til Georgie's back in town
Everybody's praying that
The change may come again
While they lay to waste all good things they have found
Living now on memories
And snapshots fading thin
But they'll all rejoice when Georgie's back in town
CHORUS
He was just a man
They say he will come again
He don't pack a gun
Or claim to be the seventh son
No one really saw him but they all have read the book
And they'll all rejoice when Georgie's back in town
False prophets scream and talk
And creak upon their wooden box
Spouting forth the hell fire they brought down
Disowning all that was given them
Everything but their faith
That they'll all be saved when Georgie's back in town
CHORUS
He was just a man
They say he will come again
He don't pack a gun
Or claim to be the chosen one
No one really saw him but they all have read the book
And they'll all rejoice when Georgie's back in town
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
INBETWEENS
Don't play me no sad songs tonight
Don't make me feel the pain or start a fight
Let the cold wind blow outside my window
I just don't care
Didn't mean to cause anybody pain
But I did it once and I'd do it all again
Lately I have seen the dark side of the dream
I've had so long
Those in-betweens
Those in-betweens
Don't play me no sad songs today
Will another shot just blank my pain away
Won't you sit round down I'll buy us a round
Of something strong
Those in-betweens
Those in-betweens
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
GRAVEYARDS
Well I left there a long long time ago
Ten long years don't go by too slow
Well I came back and much to my surprise
The town I left was no longer mine
I think some of my friends made there way out west
But I've lost touch and don't know where to find the rest
So I walked past the empty shops downtown
Kept looking for that light, listening for that sound
Graveyards - time it takes its toll
One foot above ground one foot down in that hole
Graveyards - lost and gone away
I see it in their eyes when they dream of yesterday
I saw a lot of plans and hopes still laying on the shelf
I heard them say "it isn't here - it must be somewhere else"
And I know somewhere there's some horse busting out of their stall
All I can say is right here there ain't no hope at all
Graveyards - lost and left for dead
And if you play that old thing one more time it'll drive me out of my head
Graveyards - fill that empty cup
I see it in their eyes when they feel like giving up
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
YOUNG MAN IN PRISON
Something awoke him
Sits up in his cell
Another year inside four walls
Another day in hell
The judge found him guilty
But he was innocent
Didn't have no fancy lawyer
Because he didn't have a cent
Here is the ticket
Out of this place
Young man in prison
Be not disgraced
Forgotten ghosts are waiting
He washes off the floor
Thinking maybe no one cares
Behind those steely doors
The judge he has his dinner
Rifles on his wall
So set on his vengeance
That he's bound to take a fall
Here is the ticket
Out of this place
Young man in prison
Be not disgraced
Lynch mob is waiting
To get their hands on who's to blame
Mistakes will be made
But they say it's all the same
Young man in prison
Be not disgraced
Here is the ticket
Out of this place
Your call is answered
Your cry it is heard
Over the mountains
To the place you will return
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
TOO MUCH TO LOSE
When I got to Chicago
The cold wind was-a-killin' me
When I got to Chicago
The cold wind was-a-killin' me
So I jumped up on a Greyhound
Rode it down to Tennessee
So I walked out to the highway
Stuck my thumb out for a ride
So I walked out to the highway
Stuck my thumb out for a ride
Wound up bound for Louisiana
Darkness passing by my side
When I got up next morning
In the town of New Orleans
When I got up next morning
In the town of New Orleans
Stood a dark haired woman
I thought was of my dreams
But then she started drinking
Don't remember what I said
But then she started drinking
Don't remember what I said
Instead of in her arms that night
Wound up in Houston instead
Well there's too much to lose
For a man like me to stick around
Well there's too much to lose
For a man like me to stick around
So now I'm going home
I'll be Indiana bound
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
SHINY PAPER
Now the sun is slowly rising
Birds are singing in the tree
Woke to a vacant bed this morning
A note was waiting there for me
Saying that she would be back some day
Now she's gone to find the cure
Long as it's wrapped in shiny paper
She says that's good enough for her
Now and then a voice comes calling
Like the one you had today
Greener grass is on the other side
You had to be there right away
But when you throw it all away
There's nothing left to see you through
Illusions wrapped in shiny paper
And that was good enough for you
So I read the morning papers
And I had a cup of joe
There's a lot that I am thinking
A lot I wish I didn't know
Now that you have done your damages
You're back with your apology
Just cause it's wrapped in shiny paper
Don't mean it's good enough for me
Just cause it's wrapped in shiny paper
Don't mean it's good enough for me
Words and music by Tom Stevens
(c) 1995 Textbook Paranoia Music (BMI)
