Buildings And Bridges

buildings and bridges
are made to bend in the wind
to withstand the world,
that's what it takes
all that steel and stone
is no match for the air, my friend
what doesn't bend breaks
what doesn't bend breaks

we are made to bleed
and scab and heal and bleed again
and turn every scar into a joke
we are made to fight
and fuck and talk and fight again
and sit around and laugh until we choke
sit around and laugh until we choke

i don't know who you were expecting
probably some bitch who does not budge
with eyes the size of snow
i may get pissed off sometimes
but you seem like the type to hold a grudge
and in the end, i just let go...

buildings and bridges
are made to bend in the wind
to withstand the world,
that's what it takes
all that steel and stone
is no match for the air, my friend
what doesn't bend breaks
what doesn't bend breaks

Out Of Range
just the thought
of our bed
makes me crumble like the plaster
where you punched the wall beside my head
and i try
to draw the line
but it ends up running down the middle of me
most of the time

boys get locked up in some prison
girls get locked up in some house
and it don't matter if it's a warden
or a lover
or a spouse
you just can't talk to 'em
you just can't reason
you just can't leave
and you just can't please 'em

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

if you're not angry
you're just stupid
or you don't care
how else can you react
when you know
something's so unfair
the men of the hour
can kill half the world in war
make them slaves to a super power
and let them die poor

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

just the thought
of our bed
makes me crumble like the plaster
where you punched the wall beside my bed
and i try
to draw the line
but it ends up running down the middle of me
most of the time

baby i love you
that's why i'm leaving
there's no talking to you
and there's no pleasing you
and i care enough
that i'm mad
that half the world don't even know
what they could have had

i was locked
into being my mother's daughter
i was just eating bread and water
thinking
nothing ever changes
and i was shocked
to see the mistakes of each generation
will just fade like a radio station
if you drive out of range

Letter To A John
don't ask me why i'm crying
i'm not going to tell you what's wrong
i'm just gonna sit on your lap
for five dollars a song
i want you to pay me for my beauty
i think it's only right
'cause i have been paying for it
all of my life

i'm gonna take the money i make
i'm gonna take the money i make
i'm gonna take the money i make
and i'm gonna go away...

we barely have time to react in this world
let alone rehearse
and i don't think i'm better than you
but i don't think that i'm worse
women learn to be women
and men learn to be men
and i don't blame it all on you
but i don't want to be your friend

i'm gonna take the money i make
i'm gonna take the money i make
i'm gonna take the money i make
and i'm gonna go away...

i was eleven years old
he was as old as my dad
and he took something from me
i didn't even know that i had
so don't tell me about decency
don't tell me about pride
just give me something for my trouble
'cause this time, it's not a free ride

i'm gonna take the money i make
i'm gonna take the money i make
i'm gonna take the money i make
and i'm gonna go away...

don't ask me why i'm crying
i'm not going to tell you what's wrong
i'm just gonna sit on your lap
for five dollars a songs
i want you to pay me for my beauty
i think it's only right
'cause i have been paying for it
all of my life

now i just wanna take
and i'm just gonna take
i'm gonna take
and i'm gonna go away

Hell Yeah
life is a b movie
it's stupid and it's strange
a directionless story
and the dialogue is lame
but in the he said she said
sometimes there's some poetry
if you turn your back long enough
and let it happen naturally
oh, yeah
hell yeah

i got a face like a limp handshake
hair like an accident scene
i've been waking up slowly
savoring the same old dream
and somewhere between
the folds of your memory
i was sleeping soundly
oh, yeah
hell yeah

'cause i like you
but i know you don't know it
i like you so much,
i talk to everyone but you
and i wonder
what you would think of this little number
i wonder
what you would say if you knew

if you don't ask the right questions
every answer seems wrong
i was a terrible waitress
so i started to write songs
and i don't know how i feel
but i wonder if you feel like me
do you ever get wrapped up
in the folds of my memory
oh, yeah
hell, yeah

'cause i like you
but i know you don't know it
i like you so much
i talk to everyone but you
and i wonder
what you would think of this little number
yeah i wonder
what you would say if you knew

there's a river of people
that runs past my eyes
and it's beautiful enough
just to watch it go by
but the trouble with water is
she'll always leave you for gravity
i never even told you
i had a crush on you or anything
oh, yeah
hell yeah

life is a b movie
it's stupid and it's strange
a directionless story
and the dialogue is lame
but in the he said she said
sometimes there's some poetry
if you turn your back long enough
and let it happen naturally
oh, yeah
hell yeah

How Have You Been
you could always hear the rub squeaking
of those two tree limbs
'til one day one of them came down
taken down by the wind
but on the one that's still there
you can still see where the bark was
rubbed bare
it's a metaphor if you know what i mean
how have you been?

me and you
and your girlfriend makes three
in the interest of even numbers
i will make myself scarce
i will make myself scarcely me
but i'll be outside your window at night
pull up your shades
leave on your light
i don't want to come in between
i just want to know
how have you been

i leave for a living
music's just something i do
on my way out the door
and i'd do almost anything once
something about you
i think i'd do you more
if i had my way i'd stay here
and watch your hair grow for a while
it makes me smile just to dream of it
how have you been

Overlap
i search your profile
for a translation
i study the conversation
like a map
'cause i know there is strength
in the differences between us
and i know there is comfort
where we overlap

come here
stand in front of the light
stand still
so i can see your silhouette
i hope
you have got all night
'cause i'm not done looking,
no, i'm not done looking yet

each one of us
wants a piece of the action
you can hear it in what we say
you can see it in what we do
we negotiate with chaos
for some sense of satisfaction
if you won't give it to me
at least give me a better view

come here
stand in front of the light
stand still
so i can see your silhouette
i hope
you have got all night
'cause i'm not done looking
no,
i'm not done looking yet

i build each one of my songs
out of glass
so you can see me inside of them
i suppose
or you could just leave the image of me
in the background, i guess
and watch your own reflection superimposed

i build each one of my days out of hope
and i give that hope your name
and i don't know you that well
but it don't take much to tell
either you don't have the balls
or you don't feel the same

come here
stand in front of the light
stand still
so i can see your silhouette
i hope
you have got all night
'cause i'm not done looking
no, i'm not done looking yet

i search your profile for a translation
i study the conversation like a map
'cause i know there is strength
in the differences between us
and i know there is comfort
where we overlap

Face Up And Sing
some guy tried to rub up against me
in a crowded subway car
some guy tried to feed me some stupid line
in some stupid bar
i see the same shit everyday
the landscape looks so bleak
i think i'll take the first one of you's home
that does something unique

some chick says
thank you for saying all the things i never do
i say
the thanks i get is to take all the shit for you
it's nice that you listen
it'd be nicer if you joined in
as long as you play their game girl
you're never going to win

today i just want someone to entertain me
i'm tired of being so fierce
i'm tired of being so friendly
you don't have to be a supermodel
to do the animal thing
you don't have to be a supergenius
to open your face up and sing

somebody do something
anything soon
i know i can't be the only
whatever i am in the room
so why am i so lonely?
why am i so tired?
i need company
i need backup
i need to be inspired

Falling Is Like This
you give me that look that's like laughing
with liquid in your mouth
like you're choosing between choking
and spitting it all out
like you're trying to fight gravity
on a planet that insists
that love is like falling
and falling is like this

feels like reckless driving when we're talking
it's fun while it lasts, and it's faster than walking
but no one's going to sympathize when we crash
they'll say "you hit what you head for, you get what you ask"
and we'll say we didn't know, we didn't even try
one minute there was road beneath us, the next just sky

i'm sorry i can't help you, i cannot keep you safe
i'm sorry i can't help myself, so don't look at me that way
we can't fight gravity on a planet that insists
that love is like falling
and falling is like this.

You Had Time
how can i go home
with nothing to say
i know you're going to look at me that way
and say what did you do out there
and what did you decide
you said you needed time
and you had time

you are a china shop
and i am a bull
you are really good food
and i am full
i guess everything is timing
i guess everything's been said
so i am coming home with an empty head

you'll say did they love you or what
i'll say they love what i do
the only one who really loves me is you
and you'll say girl did you kick some butt
and i'll say i don't really remember
but my fingers are sore
and my voice is too

you'll say it's really good to see you
you'll say i missed you horribly
you'll say let me carry that
give that to me
and you will take the heavy stuff
and you will drive the car
and i'll look out the window making jokes
about the way things are

how can i go home
with nothing to say
i know you're going to look at me that way
and say what did you do out there
and what did you decide
you said you needed time
and you had time

If He Tries Anything
i'm invincible
so are you
we do all the things
they say we can't do
we walk around
in the middle of the night
and if it's too far to walk
we just hitch a ride

we got rings of dirt
around our necks
we talk like auctioneers
and we bounce like checks
we smell like shit
still, when we walk down the street
all the boys line up
to throw themselves at our feet

i say i think he likes you
you say i think he do too
go and get him girl
before he gets you
i'll be watching you
from the wings
i will come to your rescue
if he tries anything

it's a long long road
it's a big big world
we are wise wise women
we are giggling girls
we both carry a smile
to show when we're pleased
we both carry a switchblade
in our sleeves

tell you one thing
i'm gonna make noise when i go down
for ten square blocks
they're gonna know i died
all the goddesses will come up
to the ripped screen door
and say,
what do you want, dear?
and i'll say,
i want inside

i say i think he likes you
you say i think he do too
go and get him girl
before he gets you
i'll be watching you
from the wings
i will come to your rescue
if he tries anything

The Diner
i'm calling from the diner
the diner on the corner
i ordered two coffees
one is for you
i was hoping you'd join me
'cause i ain't go no money
and i really miss you
i should mention that too

yes i know what time it is
in fact, i just checked
i even know the date
and the month
and the year
i know i haven't been sleeping
and when i do
i just dream of you
dear

i miss watching you
drool on your pillow
i miss watching you
pull on your clothes
i miss listening
to you in the bathroom
flushing the toilet
blowing your nose

i'm calling from the diner


the diner on the corner
i ordered two coffees
one is for you
the cups are so close
the steam is rising
in one stream
how are you

i think you're the least fucked up
person i've ever met
and that may be as close to the real thing
as i'm ever gonna get
but my quarter's gonna run out now
or so i'm told
i guess i'd better go sit down
and wait for you
till my coffee gets co