Out here in the Flatlands you get lonely, for everyone
Drinking your solutions all your colors start to run
You can find someone to hold you, trying not to feel the fool
When you come to realize they've held you up to ridicule
Call the Nomads, they'll tell you
When you get the runaround
Call the Nomads, they'll tell you
You're livin' in the lost and found
Stuck in traffic you can feel the modern anger start to flare
Time gets so damn expensive no one can afford to care
Life is such a vicious circle we are prisoners on the Wheel
And when the price gets high enough we hope that God will make a deal
Call the Nomads, they'll tell you
When you get the runaround
Call the Nomads, they'll tell you
You're livin' in the lost and found
Call the Nomads, they'll tell you
You'd better get their number down
Every outlaw learns a lesson written in the outlaw code
Dreams that start out on the highway often end beside the road
The Answer is always moving. I saw graffiti on the wall
Said, "No on e eve doubts the Nomads!"
I thought I'd better make the call
I had a fifty-six T-Bird, Man, I was King of the Highway
Tryin' to make it look fast and easy and dreamin' of doin' it my way
Let's put the top down, Baby, feel the wind in our hair
We were too young to know better, and too cool to care
All I wanted was you by my side
Baby, you were only along for the ride
Only along for the ride
Rock and roll on the radio; let's turn it up and get down
Convertible dreams runnin' wild in the streets in the All-American town
When you played the thrill queen, Baby, I heard the jazz of joy
You were every girl in the world, but I wasn't every boy
All I wanted was you by my side
Baby, you were only along for the ride
Only along for the ride
Memory pink and charcoal gray are the colors I painted this song
You were nineteen and perfect, Baby, but no one stays perfect too long
All I wanted was you by my side
Baby, you were only along for the ride
Only along for the ride
We both went along for the ride
Hold on, Kid, don't lose your nerve
The straightest of lines eventually curve
I mean what's really feared, and/or adored
Is the entropic ability to keep from being really bored
Some days the battle's over 'fore you know it's just begun
You start to see it all in multiples of One
The hand you don't see comin', though, throws in your towel
And you're stranded like pearls on a matron's jowl
And sometimes the blues is the only way
When you've got to sing what you can't say
Hey, sometimes blue's the only way
To keep from singin' everything in grey
Everything in grey, everything in grey
Everybody's got to pay those do-be-do-be dues
You can start to get real old, kid, lookin' at the news
Another video junky, strung-out on the cable
'Til your brain feels like chewing gun left underneath the table
You can turn in on too often, on and off and on
'Til the only way they mention you is, "Too far gone"
It's the cold shoulder or the vicious stroke
You can laugh it off, but it ain't no joke
So hold on now, kid, don't lose your nerve
The straightest of lives eventually curve
I mean what's really feared, and/or adored
Is the entropic ability to keep from being really bored
And sometimes the blues is the only way
When you've got to sing what you can't say
Hey, sometimes blue's the only way
To keep from singin' everything in grey
Everything in grey, everything in grey
Shadowland, where you're only what you feel
Where the lives are blanks but the bullets are real
Pan the camera slowly this is video verite
Motherfucker, back me up if I get in somebody's way
"Hold your fire"
I heard somebody moan
Hold your fire
Out in the combat zone
Exotics on the curb line watchin' for the Man
Usin' every kind of angle that an Urban Cubist can
Every shade of blue and every tone of "No"
They surrender to the Night when there's nowhere left to go
Hold your fire
They're comin' out alone
Hold your fire
Out in the combat zone
There's a cop down on the corner to remind you
Ain't no bargains in the Wasteland, Baby
Keep the heart alive at night with the warmth of love and hope
But if you come down here to hang around, kid, you'd better bring a rope
This is Shadowland where you're only what you feel
Where the lives are blanks but the bullets are real
The lives are blanks…the bullets are real
I got the tin-roof blues listenin' to the rain come down
Like a drummer beatin' a rhythm on the outskirts of town
A woman's face still lingers like the ghost of a memory
Playin' all night long in the empty space her love used to be
When the heart wolf is calling
Like the moan of a passing train in the dark
If it weren't for the rain
The moon would be my light tonight
And you would be my destination
If it weren't for the rain
In the cool of the blue, the heat of the red silk inner lining
Flames in the mind. A distant siren's whining
(Like the moan of a passing train in the dark)
I'll dream of you in neon, naked as the moon
Miles somewhere in the distance
In the groove and slightly out of tune
Love condenses and rises 'til it's a tear on the edge of the eye
You'll get the tin-roof blues listenin' to the sound of the sky
When the heart wolf is calling
Like the moan of a passing train in the dark
If it weren't for the rain
The moon would be my light tonight
And you would be my destination
If it weren't for the rain
Nowhere to go and nothin' to do, cruisin' through the night
You find yourself a little bit lost in the glow of the neon light
There are dreams on the street struttin' their stuff
Talkin' so cool and lookin' so tuff
You know you're fallin' when you catch those eyes
Tuggin' the sleeves of your heart
But there's no way you can stop yourself
When you don't know where to start
They taught me a lesson I'll never forget
I thought I would but I haven't yet
Oh, the night can last forever
The night can last forever
And the love that you give is the love that you get
In Night School
Tonight, tonight, tonight
Take me to Night School
Tonight
Dreams are just like memories
The best ones hold their glow
And there's so much to learn from Love
There's always more to know
Take a class on the street
Where they're struttin' their stuff
Talkin' so cool and lookin' so tuff
In Night School
Tonight, tonight, tonight
Take me to Night School
Nighttime walkin' in this city you get a bad case of the creeps
Everybody is a target paranoia never sleeps
I've got a pistol in my pocket. Don't no one mess with me
I ain't afraid to use it. You don't know what you can't see
Protection, protection
No one's safe who needs protection
Life's cheaper in this section
Makes you think
You need protection
Every day I read the paper wonderin' what it's all about
People live their lives like candles 'til someone snuff's 'em out
I play the game sometimes I feel just like the man
Who gripped the wrong end of the razor
He knew he held the losin' hand
You get used to anything you think is keepin ' you alive
I don't really call it livin' I'm just tryin' to survive
Protection, protection
No one's safe who needs protection
Life's cheaper in this section
Makes you think
You need protection
Love songs on the radio, pictures on the screen
What does all this really mean to you?
The high life on the avenue, the players on the scene
Look so lost they don't know that it's true
Someday, someday soon
Love's gonna change the way of the world
I hear it on the radio; I see it on the screen
But what does all this really mean to me?
The channel's always changing, but the picture stays the same
People are always longing to be free
Someday, someday soon
Love's gonna change the way of the world
Wait a minute! I've heard this one before Love will always be the great cliché
Wait a minute, Love's worth waiting for
When your heart is over-flowing
You can give the rest away
Someday, someday soon
Love's gonna change the way of the world
Someday, someday soon…
I thought he was a goner when he took it on the chin
And the man who knocked him down watched the count begin
There was a woman there at ringside with him on his knees
Who saw the future drowning in a sea of memories
And I heard start to shout it as he struggled to his feet
"I still got a winner, Sugar, 'cause you still got him beat"
When you're down don't let'em count you out
You can still get up again
You'll never be a loser 'cause you know how to win
There's love and courage in your heart
No matter what they say
That's what makes a winner, Baby, and they can't take that away
No, they can't take that away
And I felt just like that fighter struggling for the prize
Tears of desperation swelling up my eyes
You need someone in your corner when your world is filled with pain
To patch you up, cheer you on, and send you out again
'Cause Life's a constant battle it will knock you to the floor
'Til you realize Love is the prize makes Life worth fighting for
Makes Life worth fighting for
When you're down don't let'em count you out
You can still get up again
You'll never be a loser 'cause you know how to win
There's love and courage in your heart
No matter what they say
That's what makes a winner, Baby, and they can't take that away
No, they can't take that away
No, they can't take that away from you
They can't take that away
Let's go down to the corner and tell me who you see
While I play this piece I call The Sidewalk Symphony
Here we see the Creature where it starts to sweat
Where Life is just another kind of violent threat
Where the head will explode if it's held too high
Where there's only one choice and it's: Live or Die
The darkness of the Heart can even still the Soul
What can I say?
I'm trying to make it through the day to day
One step at a time, the journey is the goal
So they say
Here's hoping' that we make it through the day today
Talk is cheap you, don't have to go to the bank for jive
Just listen hard to the ones who tell you how to survive
Takes a silent strength to get from week to week
Then again, there're none so dumb as those who will not speak
So spit it out, soldier, it's the feel that counts
And what doesn't spatter is sure to bounce
So let's raise a glass to the gods and the heroes
To the only real numbers, the Ones and the Zeroes
We'll argue the difference 'tween Priceless and Free
And the crowd will sing the chorus to the Sidewalk Symphony
L.A. is an endless one-night stand
When you need a friend it's a No-Man's Land
Put it all on my tab, every single thrill
Didn't know what it cost 'til I got the bill
Got an empty pocket tryin' to beat the roll
You can cheat your heart; you can sell your soul
It's always the same, what can you say
Ain't no way to win, but you still want to play
Playing the changes season to season
Over and over 'til you lose your reason
But if you can take it
If you can, take it
You can have the rest
I'm goin' home
North by Northwest
Someone'll tell me they told me so
Well, I read the book and I've seen the show
It's an old story when you get to the end
You see why the hero never really wins
'Til he plays for, love then it's all for free
That's the only way that it's worked for me
I'm headed north my heart is there
I can drink the water I can breathe the air
Stars'll guide me from up above
I've got a straight ride to the ones I love
I played the changes season to season
Over and over 'til I lost my reason
But if you can take it
If you can, take it
You can have the rest
I'm goin' home
North by Northwest
He would have loved you more than Eva Braun
You would have been his kind of girl
You'd have been there right beside him
As he drove around the world
And when he stopped, you'd have pushed him on
And he'd have loved you more than Eva Braun
He would have loved you more than Eva Braun
You would have held the secret to his heart
And when they found you in the bunker
They'd've had to tear you both apart
But if you'd said, "Argentina?" he'd have gone
And he'd have loved you more than Eva Braun
A broken heart is like a Nazi
And a Nazi's like the blues
The fuerher that you have
The fuerher you have to lose
He would have loved you more than Eva Braun
If he'd only known what fun you really are
You'd have shown him how a fresh wound's
More exciting than a scar
(He wouldn't have cared you're not a natural blonde)
And he'd have loved you more than Eva Braun
Oh, he'd have loved you more than Eva Braun
Ja, he'd have loved you more than Eva Braun
