Gratuitous Lyric Post!
A FABLE WITH NO MORAL
I went and sold my soul so I could pay my rent
I waited by the mail but the cheque was never sent.
So I called the Devil up, but I just got his machine;
I left an angry message, said "I've gotta have the green!"
I didn't give up then, so I made another plan:
If Satan didn't want my soul, I'd sell it to the man!
I tried to find his number, but he wasn't in the book.
I'd get that money anyhow, no matter what it took
No matter what it took!
No paragon of virtue, but at least I'm not a thief
It's so easily justified but always leads to grief.
So I got a piece of cardboard and I made myself a sign;
To sell my soul below the market rate was my design.
I went down on the street and I tried to make the deal -
A Land Rover drove on by with Satan at the wheel.
He saw what I was doing, he said "That's not yours to sell!
You'll get the cheque tomorrow and I'll see your ass in hell!
So you'd better spend it well..."
SEVEN YEARS GONE
Seven years gone,
The skeleton pilots the ghost ship home
He carries on, but now he's all alone.
Dead on his feet, he hits the streets
Of Old Town, without a sound
Sweet Baby's Breath
Could bring him back from death any time.
Preacher Jack!
Is high on crack!
He quotes the Bible and passes the hat to Dan the pimp,
Don the gimp,
Mike the ape and Tom the chimp.
Newspaper says "We support the Prez!
The War On Terror? Bombs away!"
How much is lies and how much just unwise, I can't say.
Queen of Spades, close the window and pull the shades.
She had it made
Back in the days of the flat-top fade.
Stays in her room.
She owes the moon a fortune that she can never pay.
Now she hopes and she prays -
But the moon won't go away.
MASTER AND DOG
Elephant wields the rod while the donkey throws you a bone:
I'd rather have a bone than a beating, I suppose;
But either way I'm still the dog.
Still just master and dog.
Master takes the doggie to the ring.
Other masters: same thing.
And the dogfights play for the masters every day;
For the masters and the dogs.
Still just master and dog.
The master is the country squire
And the house dogs lay by the fire
But it gets pretty hard for the dogs out in the yard.
For the dogs out in the yard, it's still just master and dog.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY
And how is his highness tonight?
You know, it's never quite right.
We bend over backwards for you
Because that's the least we could do
For that spoiled little boy -
Little Lord Fauntleroy
And the tea is on a silver tray
Wolfhounds in the sculpture garden
The neighbours shy away;
The butler begs your pardon
And you're all alone
On your velvet throne
(Aah!)
Me.
And me.
And me.
And that's as far as you see!
I know what it's like to be you
Because I'm a lot like that too -
The spoiled little boy,
Little Lord Fauntleroy.
UNDER A CLOUD
Summer sun stood up in the sky;
It looked right down like some kind of eye.
"I've nothing to hide!" I said out loud,
"But I'd feel much better when I'm under a cloud."
So I climbed up the hill of All-I've-Destroyed
Looked down into the gaping void
But all I could do was stand and stare
Though just one more step
Would have taken me there.
Oh, some day, we'll meet beyond the moon
Some day
Soon.
APE SELF PREVAILS IN ME STILL
The desire to disappear
Every day, it is clear, dear -
Ape self prevails in me still.
I GIVE UP
They say "Hold on to your dreams!"
That plays well on TV,
But it never worked for me.
So now I need to find a way to occupy my time
Until the day I die,
'Cause I give up.
It's gone so wrong for so long
It's gone so wrong.
So long -
So wrong -
I give up.
BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME
I'm an old baboon, you're a Barbary Ape.
I'm an old baboon, you're a Barbary Ape!
Two different creatures with a similar shape.
With a bullet to the head, or a needle to the vein
With a rope around the neck, or a razor to the vein
You leave this world behind, and your people in pain
You search and you search, but no answer can be found
You search and you search, but no answer can be found
Better luck next time, you'll be coming back around...
You leave yourself behind...
All the time.
GOOD TIMES
Blood without love is all the hell you need
And you're in heaven when your soul gets freed:
But they'll sell you the Devil and they'll sell you the Lord -
They'll sell you twice as much as you can afford.
Reap what you sow - that's about all you need to know.
You can crack up, or pack up, back up and go.
Silver screens and dream machines -
They don't mean nothing unless you read between those beams
Lost in a wilderness of teenage dreams,
Trying to push a boulder up a mountain of beans.
But then the bean-counters cancelled the show -
You can crack up, or pack up, back up and go.
The time is now!
The place is here!
Not next door, not next year.
Never before has it been so clear:
Good times, happy days, in spite of it all.
I went and sold my soul so I could pay my rent
I waited by the mail but the cheque was never sent.
So I called the Devil up, but I just got his machine;
I left an angry message, said "I've gotta have the green!"
I didn't give up then, so I made another plan:
If Satan didn't want my soul, I'd sell it to the man!
I tried to find his number, but he wasn't in the book.
I'd get that money anyhow, no matter what it took
No matter what it took!
No paragon of virtue, but at least I'm not a thief
It's so easily justified but always leads to grief.
So I got a piece of cardboard and I made myself a sign;
To sell my soul below the market rate was my design.
I went down on the street and I tried to make the deal -
A Land Rover drove on by with Satan at the wheel.
He saw what I was doing, he said "That's not yours to sell!
You'll get the cheque tomorrow and I'll see your ass in hell!
So you'd better spend it well..."
SEVEN YEARS GONE
Seven years gone,
The skeleton pilots the ghost ship home
He carries on, but now he's all alone.
Dead on his feet, he hits the streets
Of Old Town, without a sound
Sweet Baby's Breath
Could bring him back from death any time.
Preacher Jack!
Is high on crack!
He quotes the Bible and passes the hat to Dan the pimp,
Don the gimp,
Mike the ape and Tom the chimp.
Newspaper says "We support the Prez!
The War On Terror? Bombs away!"
How much is lies and how much just unwise, I can't say.
Queen of Spades, close the window and pull the shades.
She had it made
Back in the days of the flat-top fade.
Stays in her room.
She owes the moon a fortune that she can never pay.
Now she hopes and she prays -
But the moon won't go away.
MASTER AND DOG
Elephant wields the rod while the donkey throws you a bone:
I'd rather have a bone than a beating, I suppose;
But either way I'm still the dog.
Still just master and dog.
Master takes the doggie to the ring.
Other masters: same thing.
And the dogfights play for the masters every day;
For the masters and the dogs.
Still just master and dog.
The master is the country squire
And the house dogs lay by the fire
But it gets pretty hard for the dogs out in the yard.
For the dogs out in the yard, it's still just master and dog.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY
And how is his highness tonight?
You know, it's never quite right.
We bend over backwards for you
Because that's the least we could do
For that spoiled little boy -
Little Lord Fauntleroy
And the tea is on a silver tray
Wolfhounds in the sculpture garden
The neighbours shy away;
The butler begs your pardon
And you're all alone
On your velvet throne
(Aah!)
Me.
And me.
And me.
And that's as far as you see!
I know what it's like to be you
Because I'm a lot like that too -
The spoiled little boy,
Little Lord Fauntleroy.
UNDER A CLOUD
Summer sun stood up in the sky;
It looked right down like some kind of eye.
"I've nothing to hide!" I said out loud,
"But I'd feel much better when I'm under a cloud."
So I climbed up the hill of All-I've-Destroyed
Looked down into the gaping void
But all I could do was stand and stare
Though just one more step
Would have taken me there.
Oh, some day, we'll meet beyond the moon
Some day
Soon.
APE SELF PREVAILS IN ME STILL
The desire to disappear
Every day, it is clear, dear -
Ape self prevails in me still.
I GIVE UP
They say "Hold on to your dreams!"
That plays well on TV,
But it never worked for me.
So now I need to find a way to occupy my time
Until the day I die,
'Cause I give up.
It's gone so wrong for so long
It's gone so wrong.
So long -
So wrong -
I give up.
BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME
I'm an old baboon, you're a Barbary Ape.
I'm an old baboon, you're a Barbary Ape!
Two different creatures with a similar shape.
With a bullet to the head, or a needle to the vein
With a rope around the neck, or a razor to the vein
You leave this world behind, and your people in pain
You search and you search, but no answer can be found
You search and you search, but no answer can be found
Better luck next time, you'll be coming back around...
You leave yourself behind...
All the time.
GOOD TIMES
Blood without love is all the hell you need
And you're in heaven when your soul gets freed:
But they'll sell you the Devil and they'll sell you the Lord -
They'll sell you twice as much as you can afford.
Reap what you sow - that's about all you need to know.
You can crack up, or pack up, back up and go.
Silver screens and dream machines -
They don't mean nothing unless you read between those beams
Lost in a wilderness of teenage dreams,
Trying to push a boulder up a mountain of beans.
But then the bean-counters cancelled the show -
You can crack up, or pack up, back up and go.
The time is now!
The place is here!
Not next door, not next year.
Never before has it been so clear:
Good times, happy days, in spite of it all.