LYRICS — STORYBOOK ENDINGS (2001)

Did i hear you say you needed alcohol
to cleanse the wound of this past year
this afternoon?
Well pour yourself a drink
and help us sing these tunes

MY LOUSY AUTUMN SKY .
It's not September yet
but if it makes you feel any better
Autumn could never mend
the hole in my summer sky

It's not September yet
but it sure feels like the end of something
If you could only see it as a movement rather than a fall

It's so hard to talk about it
in the future tense
A degree in astrophysics
wouldn't help this stuff make any sense

It's so hard to talk about it
in the present tense
A degree in rocket science
wouldn't help this stuff make any sense

It's not September yet
but if it makes you feel any better
Autumn could never mend
the hole in my endless summer sky
Autumn could never mend the hole
in my end of summer sky
Autumn could never mend the hole in my lousy summer sky

SHE'S GOT EVERYTHING IN LINE
She's got everything in line,
Venus meets a dead end street
"Mr. Pleasant's still alive?"
and "did you see his name or mine?"

Oh, never again, oh no
No, never again, oh no

Look at me--I'm earning wings,
moons in all directions flying
Surely these are the end times,
so buddy, can you spare another dime?

Never again, oh no
No, never again, oh no

Just sit and watch the ugly winter
stick around this time
And watch the state department,
people, and the clocks unwind

Oh, idiot me
I should have left you years ago
but there's no need to say it now
'cause we both know

Nothing left to do
take my things and roll them up
and throw them in the yard
there's still a little room
between the rows of poison ivy
and the burned out cars

Oh, idiot me
I should have told you long ago
but there's no need to say it now
'cause we both know

Oh, idiot me
I should have told you long ago
but there's no need to do it now
'cause we both know
In each other's way
I should have left here years ago
but there's no need to do it now
'cause we both know

I know just what you'd say:
"We're in each other's way."

SINISTER CYCLE
You know it doesn't hurt me much
to say what I'm saying now
You go around in circles
on that sinister cycle you ride

It won't be long before you flat out
and lie to me
there's only so much stale air in a spare
word or three: "trust in me"

You pedal forwards,
backwards ways I go
breaking the chain of years
and me getting all the gears
Your seat's so high
while I'm down here solo
crawling across the floor
on a stupid extended metaphor

Algernon, you prod me like a sow
but I can't feel anything
there's nothing to feel now
I'm cardboard anti-everything now, Algernon
and this is where the angels sing for Algernon

You might think it's easy
but it's hard (when you get that messed up) To think about the things you've got,
forget about what you're not

You might think it's easy but it's hard
(when you get that messed up)
To think about the things you've got,
forget about what you're not

I'm afraid of letting you down again

Such mighty gifts in tiny packages come
and out of nowhere something scares us
You keep your guard up
and I'll keep my guard up
What happened in the past
Will happen in the past again

I'm afraid of letting you down again

Your waking words are magnets
stuck on my door
Nothing ever stuck before
So if you catch me
seeding clouds to bring rain
Don't give up so fast
I'll make you smile again

I'm afraid of letting you down again

YOUR STUPID HEAD
No one cared a wit about you
when you were breathing
Now everyobody's your best friend
(things get so much better when they end)

Just to catch a glimpse of something
they could look down on
everybody's gathered 'round
your stupid head

Just to catch a glimpse of something
they couldn't count on
everybody's gathered 'round
your stupid head

Your Stupid Head was on my intercom
again

IT'S YOU
Goddamned poison love, it's you
Goddamned poison love, it's you
Sleepless in the dark and hurt
try to choke back maudlin words
Vicious circle of regret
One false word and all is changed
never be yourself again
never be the same again

sand, cement and steel,
the wonderful towers are real
starfish patterns, heart shaped tiles
burlap sacks of broken glass
a windload test the engineers passed

a monument to crazy dreams
and loaded questions--here are the keys

Prepare yourself to watch
the wonderful towers of watts
sand, cement and steel,
the wonderful towers are real

FROWNLAND
My smile is stuck
I cannot go back t' yer Frownland
My spirit's made up of the ocean
And the sky 'n the sun 'n the moon
'n all my eye can see
I cannot go back to yer land of gloom
Where black jagged shadows
Remind me of the comin' of yer doom
I want my own land
Take my hand 'n come with me
It's not too late for you It's not too late for me To find my homeland
Where uh man can stand by another man Without an ego flyin'
With no man lyin' 'n no one dyin'
by an earthly hand
Let the devils burn 'n the beggar learn
'n the little girls that live in those old worlds Take my kind hand
My smile is stuck
I cannot go back t' yer Frownland
I cannot go back t' yer Frownland

Words and music by Don Van Vliet