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Lyrics
"People Really Live This Way" album
All lyrics copyright Scott Malyszka
CARRIE AND I
Carrie and I sitting on a bench
In the light, in the patriarchal church
Saint Michael's day in autumn
Watch the angels playing hide and search
Carrie leans warm against me
Her brown hair is long and tossed
Old Armenian woman hisses at her
Don't sit like that with your legs crossed
Walking beside the great stone wall
Construction workers smoking on their break
They're replacing the gold atop that dome
The king will give as much as God will take
Carrie and I just puzzle it out
Her arm wraps around my waist
Battles for centuries built all this
This mosque, this wall, this church, this fate
Smell of prayers across the room
Faces freeze with grace and gloom
Heart-born stain, rattling chain
Nothing given, nothing gained
Sitting on the grass she removes her shoes
Her legs are so pretty and strong
I stroke her knee while we whisper and kiss
In the park the November sky grows dark
It's good for friends like us to kiss
She speaks this creed and I just nod
It's all ours, we didn't steal a thing
Soul kisses, the language of God
Smell of leaves, undressing trees
Prayers lost upon the breeze
Soul kisses unrestrained
Nothing given, nothing gained
ALREADY WICKED
She's already wicked, she doesn't need me
To hand down the powers of the flowers and the bees
The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing
Spreading their love wherever they please
They envy us and the love we own
Turkeys are talking, squawking and squeaking
Don't want to leave a poor soul alone
They try to scratch anything that itches
Scrape you clean right down to the bone
Fingers pointing, pushing your buttons
Duck down low, don't bump your head
They tell me to go back where I came from
But where I came from, they wish I was dead
Bishops blunder while the preachers plunder
Young men laughing at the old men's groans
Mamas gossip while their daughters are daunting
They all envy us and the love we own
I got me a woman who's all kinds of wily
She breaks every rule before it's been wrote
Don't fit at all except with a misfit like me
I guess they'll just hang us both
Oh yes, I guess they'll just hang us both
PEOPLE REALLY LIVE THIS WAY
Red-headed woman mowing the lawn
She got cut-off jeans and flip-flops on
I'm working in the kitchen making tea with lemon
Looking out the window, the scene is tremendous
Sunshine, motorcycle, halter top, pony tail
Driving on a county road, hiking on a secret trail
Wading in a creek, toss a rock, make a splash
Sweat from her shoulder running down her bare back
Good to know some people really live this way
Grinning on the couch like a kid at Christmas
No thank you, Mr. hershey, we got enough kisses
Beer in a bottle, wine in a glass
I got nothing else to say, she's a beautiful catch
Rock and roll record spin on a dime
She's twanging my guitar, keeping perfect time
Bucking blue numbers, singing every tune
Shang-a-lang-a ding dong be-bop-a-loo
Stop at the market, buy some figs
Adam and Eve never had it this big
Talk to the farmers, grab some apples
Head on home, she knows what she's after
Staring at the ceiling, eyes falling shut
Come on, lazy man, she says, time to get up
I never saw a tan line I liked so much
Some people ought to know some people are in love
Like a kid at Christmas playing with toys
I'm listening to life, I'm listening to her voice
Clean up the dishes, take time to make the bed
This time tomorrow, we do it all again
Good to know some people really live this way
BACKWARDS TOWN
I won't miss you much, backwards town
You've been a drag on me, you've been wearing me down
I won't care for you when I'm gone
You've been wrong, wrong, wrong
I almost got married twice
Once was like fire, the other like ice
I'm sick and tired of your stupid advice
You stupid old town
So long, you stupid old town
Yeah, yeah, I'm putting you down, down, down
There's a girl who lives next door
She's thinking about me, I don't know what for
I'm moving away, she's gonna stay right here now
I'm heading north to Syracuse
Think I've had enough Pennsylvania abuse
New York sure looks good to me right now, now
Sha la la la
JENNY
Jenny was a college student
Didn't know what she was doing
When she came to help out at the food bank downtown
I was just a guitar loser
Part-time job, full-time ruin
I was working at the warehouse at the food bank downtown
When we met she touched her glasses
I'm volunteering for one of my classes
I guess you'll help me out and show me around
Afternoons packing boxes
Sorting cans, moving palettes
We were working hard till our hands got tired
A winter's day, the snow kept falling
I was working all alone when she walked in
She made some joke about the roads getting bad
Hey, I heard you were some kind of musician
Yeah, I'm writing songs, well at least I'm trying
Maybe you could sing a song for me?
We sat on some flattened boxes
I sang my song, she said she liked it
Then she read a poem she brought for me
It was dark, our hands were cold
We were kissing, we were getting bold
She took off her glasses in the dark
I remember every time it snows
Weeks passed, she graduated
She had a future, I was back-dated
Like a joke, it makes you smile and then its gone
Next summer I got a letter
From some place down in South America
She was working for the Peace Corps, she said she was doing fine
She said, you can count me as your friend
But I doubt you'll see my face again
Those were the best damn kisses I ever had
Jenny was a college student
I was just a full-time ruin
I remember every time it snows
DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT TOMORROW
When I was young I was apprehensive
I went with a gal that was intensive
I thought our love would never end
Started talking about relationship
She said, don't you give me none of your lip
I walked away just being friends.
Don't talk to me about tomorrow, baby
Tomorrow's another day away
Just let tomorrow take care of itself
I'm gonna take care of today
There was another gal I knew
She really knocked me right out of my shoes
I started thinking about her a lot
But she's moving out of town this year
She don't want to start up nothing back here
I'm stuck in that same old spot
Now I was talking to a friend of mine
Who's been saving every penny and every dime
He says he doesn't have a cent to spare
But he might die the day after next
And what's really got my mind perplexed is
How's he gonna spend his money up there?
Now I don't worry and I don't fret
About any of the stuff that ain't happened yet
Anxiety has never been good to me
I ain't saying don't worry, I ain't saying be happy
But if you're feeling a little bit crappy
Just be thankful it's not as bad as it could be
WALKING SHOES
Put on your walking shoes, let's see what's going on
Put your hand in mine, then we know that we won't go wrong
Put on your winter coat, 'cause the snow is on the ground
Put on your walking shoes, let's walk, let's walk, let's walk all over town
Hide my worries in a cloud
Watch them blow away
See the cars go sliding by
They got to hurry on their way
Come now, sit with me
Let the clear December sky
Show us exactly how we feel
PICKUP
Riding in the back of a pickup
Moving north through Delaware
Pennsylvania, it's my home you see
You know I'm glad I'm heading there
Roads are nice and smooth most any place
Roads will take you anywhere you need
Pennsylvania got a lot of rough ones
But a rough road is where I got to be
Oh, sometimes it ain't easy
Oh, sometimes it ain't nice
Wandering hearts can tell a lot of stories
But a steadfast one knows where its home is at
I've had the chance to make it with the big shots
Man that sure would be an easy way to go
I could do all kinds of double talking
I could use every trick I know
Jesus didn't have a place to lay his head
His roots ran far too deep for that
The easy way was unfamiliar
He just slept wherever he was at
Oh, sometimes it ain't pretty
Oh, sometimes it ain't fair
Wandering hearts can tell a lot of stories
But a steadfast one knows where its home is at
JOHNNY RAMONE
When I was young my father was scared of me
What I might be, what I might not be
He had doubts about my chemistry
Was my soul unclear? Would I turn out queer?
He put a mitt upon my slender hand
Then he threw the ball, I couldn't catch at all
His face froze hard as I walked across the yard
Any real son would try, any real son would try
I didn't know I could have a son like him
He looks more like Tiny Tim than Johnny Ramone
I just wanted a boy to call my own
Now I just can't let him go wandering alone
When I was young I fell for everything
The bishop's shiny ring, the bells and the songs
The priests spoke to God before eternity
Any child's mind could see the magic, the trinity
But God had doubts about my chemistry
What I might be, what I might not be
"I Don't Have Friends Anymore" album
All lyrics copyright Scott Malyszka
1. Valentine
I heard Joni Mitchell singing this song
I just had to write it down for you
You've been a pillar for me
Yes, you have kept my walls from crashing down
I just wanted to tell you some of the things I've never said
Like I love the way you kiss
And how nice it would be to wake up next to you
I just couldn't resist
Snow outside is froze to the ground
All the birds have left
there's no other sound on a morning like this
Joni says, Go get your mandolin
I say, You know I could never play like that again
Well maybe you should write it down for her
And give it as your valentine
So by now you're thinking to yourself
Man, I love this guy but don't he ever back off?
I know that you're right, sure enough
Because there's nothing that's true that time won't tell
2. I Don't Have Friends Anymore
I come hear just to talk
A soft, warm chair and a quiet light
I do the same with my guitar
Behind the mike on Friday nights
Talk about the best times
We had our best rhymes
We wrote our songs and we shared guitars
Now I don't know you like I did before
And I don't have friends anymore
My neighbor knocked to let me know
My new siding is the wrong color
I don't know her first name
And we've lived ten years here together
I take the bus, I take the train
I go to work and I come back
Monday nights my insurance pays
for you to meet me hear so I can talk
I spend days just reading books
With the jazz station playing low
I feel sad when I forget
Just what to do when someone calls to say hello
3. Corporation Blues
Well I got a job at the office place
Got a boss staring in my face
Got a little desk and a little chair too
A little telephone so I can talk to you
I don't know what to do
We're in the black but I'm feeling blue
I don't know how to act
Corporation blues are on my back
They're paying that guy twice as much as me
They're giving me twice responsibility
Got another meeting at half past two
Just another reason for nothing to do
I don't know what to do
My day is done, I want to have some fun
Don't know how to act
Corporation blues are on my back
They're paying that guy twice as much as me
They're giving me twice responsibility
Don't none of you people ever play guitar
Singing "Brown-Eyed Girl" at the corner bar?
4. I Got Stoned At Work Today
I got stoned at work today
People, I was flying
I got stoned at work today
right next to the no-smoking sign
Rolling papers from the copy machine
It was the best use of paper they'd ever seen
And I got stoned at work today
I got stoned at work today
I walked up to the boss
I got stoned and I explained the difference
Between a profit and a loss
Productivity went through the roof
Everybody was believing in the gospel truth
And I got stoned at work today
I got stoned at work today
so they made me the chief
I got stoned, and I must admit
I felt a little like a thief
This working easy isn't so hard
When you've become the chairman of the board
And that's what happened to me
When I got stoned at work today
5. The Note
Little boy said to me
Can we go out for a walk?
Can we go out in the street?
Can we have a little talk?
So I got up from my chair
And I climbed into my coat
And as we walked on down the stair
Little boy handed me this note
It said, I'd rather sing a song
I'd rather dance along
And I don't mind saying that
I don't want a baseball cap
I don't like my daddy's car
And my hair, it likes to curl
Do you think that I'm a girl?
I don't know just what to say
Like I know anything
You got to be who you must be
I guess that's the only thing
And as I looked back at the note
I thought I saw him smile
He was trying not to laugh
As I read his words awhile
6. Graven Image
Walking backwards down a one-way street
You're not the kind I like to meet
You don't know what's good or bad
You don't know just what I have
I don't know what to say to you
About what's fair or right or true
I don't know what to say to you
About the lies that I see through
You can keep your graven image
I'll go my way
I've been in your churches too
You all left me black and blue
Taught me how to pay my way
Under the table on judgment day
I got nobody to impress
I'm nothing more than a tired mess
I don't know what to say to you
About the lies that I see through
You can keep your graven image
I'll go my way
You can tell all your friends what you say is true
But a humble person knows that he's a sinner too
God is closer than you think
You can keep your graven image
I'll go my way
7. Everyone's Just a Little Bit
We tried for fifty years
To make Kinsey disappear
Now we're starting to hear
Mama, can't you hear me say
We're just finding our way
Mama, can't you hear me say
Everyone's just a little bit gay
I'm talking about sex out loud
And I'm standing in the middle of a crowd
It's almost like coming out
I treat the girls like toys
And I know that it's not fair
I should do the same to the boys
8. Tree
I put my arm around a tree
It has become a friend to me
It does not work, it does not try
It does not fear, it does not sigh
We share the bliss of knowing
Our roots are daily growing
I shed a tear the day I found
That tree had fallen to the ground
But someone said, Don't cry, my friend
This is a start and not an end
I will decay, I will return
This is the path that I must learn
Learn to provide, learn to give
Let others take my place to live
9. Cold And Empty Night
Can you hear me crying in the cold and empty night?
Why does everything feel wrong when I try to do it right?
I don't know where I'm going
I thought I knew I had it all
But I lost it in the end
I tried to buy some peace with you
And earn another friend
But that's no way to do it
Why do I feel I have to find
Another way to walk through this dark world
When I have you?
Friends are only friends
They don't see the bitter end
But you are all the world to me
And where my heaven begins
And I know that you know me
10. Is Pity Still A Sin?
There's a stranger crying, someone I don't know
Dirty clothes and pavement in the rain and snow
There's a stranger crying so far away
There's an angel trying to come my way
There's a woman sleeping in an empty room
I could try to see her tomorrow afternoon
Do I have a heart for her? Well I think I do
But if I try to steal her love, I would lose mine too
I could stay in my empty room, I could hide away
Read a lot about history and sleep through the day
But I want to get close to you, I want to let it show
The future's not for me to say, it's out of my control
Is charity a crime for you? Is pity still a sin?
There's a world that's living outside my skin
Is charity a crime for you? Is pity still a sin?
Is it still a sin?
11. Hazardous
Wasteland in the dirty south
Dust and sweat come out my mouth
Hauling trash is what I do
Nothing I would wish on you
It's hazardous
I dropped out for feeling mean
Little boy at seventeen
Two more kids by twenty-three
Nothing ever goes right for me
Empty bottle stole my life
Empty shot glass beat my wife
Empty thoughts bought me a trip
Out the door and back again
Ten-cent women cost more than dimes
Job to job and barroom times
Sitting in a jailhouse stay
Understand, if you walk my way
It's hazardous
So don't you do the things I've done
Don't give up on anyone
Don't lose sight of God above
Or you'll end up in places that are hazardous
All lyrics copyright Scott Malyszka
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