selected lyrics
Caroline
Caroline, we’re getting older now
your hair is growing out
Caroline, my head’s full of cotton string
kind of a funny thing
the fair was in town and we rode the Cyclone
your hands on the rails they were knuckle and white
the lights in the distance were blue I remember
as we kept on spinning they’d blink out of sight
Caroline, where did you go?
the fairground’s empty now, you know
Caroline...
Caroline, come with me now again
I’ll teach you to dance again
Caroline, the light’s never been so blue
spinning right back to you
it’s winter again and there’s snow in the driveway
I take off my jacket and I call you on the phone
you tell me it’s been too long, we talk about the summer
your voice is made of water and I sink like a stone
Caroline, how did you know?
the river’s starting now to flow
Caroline…
North Dakota
North Dakota oil boom
overnight I change my state
I’ve never driven so long
but I’ll try to keep awake
your windblown face,
at White Drug in Devils Lake,
after midnight bellyache
the next blue day
I am over, underweight
like the Icarus of snakes
no one’s here who isn’t on their way
somewhere
you be a prophet, and I’ll be a fleck of dust
in your eye
it will maybe pass the time, the time
coffee in a paper cup,
getting colder in my hand
I wake up in the darkness
and discuss things with the land
your best laid plans
at the neighbors’, candied yams
end up ruining my pants
while holy brands
painted on the sides of vans
disappear over the ramp
no one’s here who doesn’t think they can
someday
you’ll be a prophet, and I’d be a fleck of dust
in your eye,
if we only had the time, the time
chasing the sun, its long burning tongue
Passover plans I have none
the radio’s on, it plays song after song
but me, I know only the one
where you’re a prophet, and I’ll be the way the light meets your eye
if it’s only for tonight, tonight
I wanted to tell you I tried
Heartbeat of the World
Father, I will say in my defense
if you leave the barrel long enough, most anything ferments
my fingers covered all in jam and honey, I relent
from this room I can see most of the town
have you ever known something that wasn’t written down?
that collar’s tighter now, the sweat is streaking from your brow
ginger for toothache, and bone broth for flu
peppermint’s a febrifuge
february midnight fugue
someday you’ll throw the sheets from your well-made bed
and the sky will peel away above your head
in the meantime, peppermint again
I hear the heartbeat of the world
I hear the heartbeat of the world
Father, I could lead you through the caves
I can name in Latin all the things your Lord has made
I hold my hand to you, there is no need to be afraid
they all went and left her on her own
it was just I knew what it was like to be alone
sometimes a broom is just a broom for sweeping, a stone a stone
ginger for toothache, and bone broth for flu
meadow root’s a febrifuge
february midnight fugue
someday you’ll find you’re far from your well-made bed
with the weight of all the earth upon your head
in the meantime, meadow root instead
I hear the heartbeat of the world
I hear the heartbeat of the world
I will carry you
though you’re much too old
the ocean spray is colder than I’d hoped
look back at your home
the fennel will still grow, though we go
ginger for toothache, and bone broth for flu
I’m glad I shared this place with you
little dandelion bloom
someday you’ll grow as high as your father’s head
on some foreign beach, ruddy brown and fed
in the meantime, remember what I’ve said
I hear the heartbeat of the world
I hear the heartbeat of the world
Marie Antoine
after Joseph Cornell
my companion in grief
we know that pleasure is brief
the length of an insect life
the spider in the night, a friend I don’t want by my side
eight eyes look at me
and they don’t know I’m alive
they don’t know what’s inside of me
little Marie Antoine lives in a box
tiny and intoxicated
everybody is gone
and though the party was long
it felt like it never arrived
all those kinds of pie, did you find out what’s inside?
why look at me?
I don’t know what I like
I don’t know what to try to be
little Marie Antoine lives in a box
tiny and inoculated
it’s meant to be handled
it’s meant to be loved
but it’s never enough
I’m friends with a dancer
and she takes off her gloves
in the middle of winter
the joint of her thumb
is dry on the number
and little Marie Antoine lives in a box
tiny still and automated
at the close of the day
we will have nothing to say
I’ll reach out and shut the light
I haven’t seen you cry, the silence is so nice
lie down with me
I don’t know what I like
I don’t know what’s inside of me
little Marie Antoine, our little talks
leave me dry and aggravated
we’re meant to be living
we’re meant to begin
the bruise on my shin —
I’m friends with a dancer
and she eases me in
at the end of the platform
the tilt of her chin
transfixes all comers
and little Marie Antoine lives in a box
tiny and intoxicated
The Gambler
go to the track for one last race
the pistol shot breaks the morning air
I'm not, I mean, I wasn't there
but I still know how to talk to make it seem
like I've got money in my pocket
wake up one day in a strange motel
the sheets are white and the TV's on
I'm gone, I mean, I still move on
I still know how to talk to make it seem
like I've got money in my pocket
this horse is the son
of the one that won
in '85, when we were young
and we couldn't lose
the course that I've run
is done, the gun
sounds different than when we were young
and you wore those shoes
I still know how to talk to make it seem
like I've got money in my pocket
I met you when you came up north
I tried my best to play the game
you've changed, I'm still the same
I still know how to talk to make it seem
like I've got money in my pocket
this horse is the son
of the one that won
in '85, when we were young
and we couldn't lose
the course that I've run
is done, the gun
sounds different than when we were young
and you wore those shoes
I still know how to talk, I still know how to talk
I have the future up my sleeve
luck is really just belief
I sleep alone, and I wear jackets in the heat
I still know how to talk to make it seem
like I've got somewhere else to be
I never knew how
to bow on out
I'm stubborn like when we were young
and I used to lose with you
so on your way out
look down the crowd
you'll find me there, I'm standing in
my brand new checkered suit
I still know how to talk, I still know how to talk
I still know how to talk to make it seem
like I'm not thinking about you
West Berlin
lately I’ve been trying to be better on the phone
mostly I’ve been lying in my bed all alone
I’m solidly sold on the concept of water
it’s just I never learned how to swim
now that we’re older, are you still a daughter?
tell me, what do they clothe you in?
oh, my beautiful tailspin
working at the store now, so many pennies to count
it trickles from the top down, they say, it all works out
I’m solidly swayed by the bulk of the theory
but it’s too late to learn violin
my hand betrays me, it’s trembling and weary
and the wall of this building are thin
oh, my lovely West Berlin
I know you used to breathe through your mouth
while you were waiting to get out
of the place where you were raised
now I’m in the middle with you
til the coming revolution
takes us to a different place
oh, my small unnoticed change
lately I’ve been thinking of a way for you to win
oh, my beautiful tailspin
oh, my lovely West Berlin
Fiery Catapult
Catch me on the wiki
for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
trying to solve the mystery,
how the earth can scratch an itch
You see, the only hitch is everything about me, girl
I’d be a nineties bitch but I was barely in the world
A costume competition
the kind I never win
despite all my ambition
I can’t seem to begin
You see, my only sin is everything about me, kid
they told me look within, but I don’t think that I ever did
welcome to the alternate version
of the email I wrote to you
explaining I wanted to devote my life to
peeling glue off my hands
And the fiery catapult
take it away
the fiery catapult
take it away
On two escalators
like ships in the night
we’ll talk about it later
when both of us have died
you see, what’s on my mind, is everything about you, girl
you make me feel like a child, like I am barely in the world
Meanwhile, here I am
with nothing to undo
but the email I wrote to you
saying what I’d do
with the things that I said:
the fiery catapult
take it away
the fiery catapult
take it away
Catch me on the wiki
searching Edwin Rist
trying to solve the mystery
how a man can scratch an itch
You see, the only hitch is everything about me, babe
I was a nineties bitch when I was barely even made
the fiery catapult
take it away
the fiery catapult
take it away
Young Hound
a kid from California, all elbows and knees
skinny as the skeleton that hung in Science B
the model for what every man is made of underneath
the day that they were born there were plants that also grew
the name your mother gave you is a different thing than you
and you’re the only one who sees this brighter shade of blue
young mouth, what do you say?
young eyes, what do you see?
young lungs, how do you breathe?
young hound, what do you eat?
the kid from California has freckles and scars
they have a driver's license but they can't afford a car
this room is full of letters that remind you who you are
nobody should tell you that you have to change the world
surely there is someone who would make a better girl
don't worry, summer's coming, and your hair will start to curl
young mouth, what do you say?
young eyes, what do you see?
young lungs, how do you breathe?
young hound, what do you eat?
who's your favorite X-Man?
I like the one who flies
time goes by, your restless eye
closed to keep your power safe inside
young mouth, what do you say?
young eyes, what do you see?
young lungs, how do you breathe?
young hound, what do you eat?
us and California are together in this house
everybody's frightened by the way the light went out
tomorrow we are packing up our things and heading south
what do you say?
young eyes, what do you see?
young lungs, how do you breathe?
young hound, what do you eat?