For Sara.
At last you respect my wishes and put the last tendril of faked love to rest. You couldn't help being nasty to the last, but I'm no longer surprised by that. (Hah! Imagine -- you accusing someone else of betrayal. Your taste for absurdity hasn't faded, I see.)
I'm sorry I wasted ten years of my life on what turned out to be a one-sided devotion. And we're opposed to the last, because while you forget but don't forgive, I forgive but don't forget. One of us has to learn from our mistakes, after all.
--
(JCM)
I used to live in a town
underneath Milford Lake.
You could throw a rock from here,
you might hit my house,
if you try.
Who would know?
I don't mind.
There used to be a road,
I suppose there might still be.
For a crab, or a fish.
It ran from my reflection
way over by that boat
to her house,
every night, every night.
Wasted all the time,
waited for no one,
don't be so cautious.
Water washes away many things,
but I can't come clean.
No, I can't come clean.
Mm, I can't come clean.
The flood was two weeks' rising
in 1869.
The buffalo all drowned
and floated in the trees.
In the flood of '51,
eight boxcars overturned,
and the people washed away.
And the Mexican day-workers
pulled the reefer from their yards
and ran for higher ground.
Someone wrapped a baby in a shirt
and hung him crying, crying from a tree.
There used to be a lot of floods before they built this dam.
Wasted all the time,
waited for no one,
don't be so cautious.
Water washes away many things,
but I can't come clean.
No, I can't come clean.
We're gonna drown.
We're gonna drown.
We're gonna drown.
We're gonna drown.
I used to live in a town
underneath Milford Lake.
Waiting in the spillway stream
things small enough to make it through.
Floating on a wave of your hand,
but they're far between and few.
I'm looking for an artifact of the things I left behind.
Piece of you, piece of me,
too worn down to recognize.
Wasted all the time,
waited for no one.
Don't be so cautious.
Water washes away everything,
but I can't come clean,
no I can't come clean.
Mm, I can't come clean.
Come clean, come clean.
Come clean, come clean.
--
(Bowie, of course. Who else to sing us out? This isn't the first time I've associated this song with you, but it will be the last time I associate any song with you.)
All my friends now seem so thin and frail
Slinky secrets, hotter than the sun
No peachy prayers
No trendy rechauffe
I'm with you, so I can't go on
All my violence
Raining tears upon the sheet
I'm bewildered
For we're strangers when we meet
Blank screen TV, preening ourselves in the snow
Forget my name, but I'm over you
Blended sunrise
And it's a dying world
Humming Rheingold
We scavenge up our clothes
All my violence
Raging tears upon the sheets
I'm resentful
For we're strangers when we meet
Cold tired fingers, tapping out your memories
Halfway sadness, dazzled by the new
Your embrace was all that I feared
That whirling room
We trade by vendu
Steely resolve is falling from me
My poor soul
All bruised passivity
All your regrets
Ride rough-shod over me
I'm so glad
That we're strangers when we meet
I'm so thankful
That we're strangers when we meet
I'm in clover
For we're strangers when we meet
Heel head over
And we're strangers when we meet
I'm sorry I wasted ten years of my life on what turned out to be a one-sided devotion. And we're opposed to the last, because while you forget but don't forgive, I forgive but don't forget. One of us has to learn from our mistakes, after all.
--
(JCM)
I used to live in a town
underneath Milford Lake.
You could throw a rock from here,
you might hit my house,
if you try.
Who would know?
I don't mind.
There used to be a road,
I suppose there might still be.
For a crab, or a fish.
It ran from my reflection
way over by that boat
to her house,
every night, every night.
Wasted all the time,
waited for no one,
don't be so cautious.
Water washes away many things,
but I can't come clean.
No, I can't come clean.
Mm, I can't come clean.
The flood was two weeks' rising
in 1869.
The buffalo all drowned
and floated in the trees.
In the flood of '51,
eight boxcars overturned,
and the people washed away.
And the Mexican day-workers
pulled the reefer from their yards
and ran for higher ground.
Someone wrapped a baby in a shirt
and hung him crying, crying from a tree.
There used to be a lot of floods before they built this dam.
Wasted all the time,
waited for no one,
don't be so cautious.
Water washes away many things,
but I can't come clean.
No, I can't come clean.
We're gonna drown.
We're gonna drown.
We're gonna drown.
We're gonna drown.
I used to live in a town
underneath Milford Lake.
Waiting in the spillway stream
things small enough to make it through.
Floating on a wave of your hand,
but they're far between and few.
I'm looking for an artifact of the things I left behind.
Piece of you, piece of me,
too worn down to recognize.
Wasted all the time,
waited for no one.
Don't be so cautious.
Water washes away everything,
but I can't come clean,
no I can't come clean.
Mm, I can't come clean.
Come clean, come clean.
Come clean, come clean.
--
(Bowie, of course. Who else to sing us out? This isn't the first time I've associated this song with you, but it will be the last time I associate any song with you.)
All my friends now seem so thin and frail
Slinky secrets, hotter than the sun
No peachy prayers
No trendy rechauffe
I'm with you, so I can't go on
All my violence
Raining tears upon the sheet
I'm bewildered
For we're strangers when we meet
Blank screen TV, preening ourselves in the snow
Forget my name, but I'm over you
Blended sunrise
And it's a dying world
Humming Rheingold
We scavenge up our clothes
All my violence
Raging tears upon the sheets
I'm resentful
For we're strangers when we meet
Cold tired fingers, tapping out your memories
Halfway sadness, dazzled by the new
Your embrace was all that I feared
That whirling room
We trade by vendu
Steely resolve is falling from me
My poor soul
All bruised passivity
All your regrets
Ride rough-shod over me
I'm so glad
That we're strangers when we meet
I'm so thankful
That we're strangers when we meet
I'm in clover
For we're strangers when we meet
Heel head over
And we're strangers when we meet