To whom it may behoove
Bigsville
You've got my goat lined up with the barrels of a tandem ten-gauge
but there's a note on the mirror saying no more road rage
I took a pill and hit the road before the sun hit the beer cans
and I think I would make it by noon if you don't have lunch plans
the first time I arrived as I rolled into the drive I was flying
and if you were to say, today, the thrill survives, man you wouldn't be lying
like any other fool that's played with fire I've been a few more than twice bit
but now it's clear all roads lead down from here any way you slice it
been good for nothing since I caught a whiff * I can't imagine what would have happened if
I never made it to Bigsville * and I'm going to Bigsville
I used to be the kind to up and go at any time in any weather
but now it seems it's often quite enough if I can put two thoughts together
now I'm whizzing towards a glow as from a bow aimed at the town that I belong to
and I'm praying hard that nothing's gonna break the only thread I'm holding on to
been good for nothing since I caught a whiff * I can't imagine what would happen if
I never made it to Bigsville * and I'll see you in Bigsville
I've got my hopes set on a sandwich and the soup du jour
'cause I've had my sights set on the hamlet that's the heights for sure
each time I lay my head upon the bosom of the berg that has no peer
I feel a faint relief although I's always pretty sure I'd wind up here
been good for nothing since I caught a whiff * I can't imagine what would have happened if
I never made it to Bigsville * like I made it to Bigsville
Lullaby for Becky
There oughta be a law against you
I'm thinking it'd be making sense too
I knew I'd never get a moment's peace
but if I write a letter to the chief of police
there'll be a warrant out for your arrestingness
and you'll only make it harder if you don't confess
there'll be a hollow ring to your alibis
when you're led into the courtroom
with your big blue eyes
there oughta be a law about you
then nobody'd have to live without you
I'll spend the wee wee hours just counting sheep
until some deputy can earn his keep
when there's a warrant out for your arrestingness
and you'll only make it harder as you do protest
they'll be closing up the doors and locking up the locks
when they put the jury outright in the witness box
I'll find the officer in charge
and complain about the dream-like trances
for as long as you are still at large
I know that I am taking chances...
if your transgression I could not expand on
then you just might have a leg to stand on
I'd like to tell you now right to your face
there is no question that they'll have a case
when there's a warrant out for your arrestingness
and you'll only make it harder if you don't confess
everyone will see an ordinance is more than bent
as you proudly tell the jury that you're innocent
Breather
I gotta say, she's got a way
that's a bullet-proof style and an eighty-proof smile
now she's got 'em all beat, so hang out the white sheet
but you can call in the fifth fleet
'cause I'm staying in the front seat
'til I can feel a heart beat
you went looking for a heart to break
and babe - I didn't feel you coming
there's a tail that would be tough to shake and darlin' that's why
I'm already running
'cause I'm a believer... but I'm looking for a breather
I gotta know, aside from the show
when the work is all done, what you're doing for fun
if you're playing the queen or just making the scene
and you've run out of rungs on the tip of all tongues
just keep filling your lungs
when you know just what you want
who knows - just maybe I can help arrange it
when my mind's made up and my heart is set
I know you wouldn't want to change it
well, me neither... 'cause I'd rather have a breather
there's a lot of air around you, and if I'd never found you
I know I'd still be seething, so darling just keep breathing
soon we must all embark on a rocket straight into the dark...
with a spark in your eye and some big fish to fry
you hauled off and let fly as the sun lit the sky
now you're down in a zone and you like it alone
but any fool could have known you can heave up a stone
just as far as you've flown
maybe you're running bound and blind
and scared with a chip upon your shoulder
maybe there's nothing left to know and everything keeps getting clearer
as the night grows colder
well, it could be either... or you really need a breather
I had to go
Take your time
and say you didn't mean it
and if you really mean it
won't you try to help me feel it
in dreams you mime
I'm a little hard to talk to
was it hard for you to see it
when I said I never knew you
I like you better than the clouds in the sky but
I can't remember why a bird wants to fly when
I get this feeling there's a troop train on my tail
I had to go and now that I know I'll hit the trail
take your shot
I'm trying not to move
and to whom it may behoove
just let the needle find the groove
like or not I can see it in your eyes
you're going to try
and there will never be a way
that I can prove
that I was trying not to fly
I like you better than the clouds in the sky but
I can't imagine why a bird wants to fly when
I know I am the loss leader of the sale
I had to go and now that I know I'll hit the trail
take your bow
with love for all the living creatures
you've got to have the latest features
when you're playing for the bleachers
I must allow
you're good at cutting through the tape
with a note from all your teachers
to certify your great escape
I must have got a little soap in my eye but
I can't remember why a bird wants to fly
so I think I'll move it on a little further down the rail
I had to go and now that I know I'll hit the trail
Family of man
I don't know
what I'm gonna do
I feel as wanted
as an old brown shoe
but I'm doing everything
to try to understand
just like the waves keep rolling
to the shore
I keep on knocking on this
bolted door
if I said I was afraid
would you try to hold my hand?
'cause baby's got a thing
for the family of man
I don't know what I thought I'd find
I didn't know that you were so inclined
but now the road's a little steep
what with the company you keep
so I threw a hammer in the gears
now you're calling out the bombardiers
and soon those bombs are gonna land
guess I could use a helping hand
'cause baby's got a thing
for the family of man
when I see her smiling sweetly
from the motorcade
it's like I'm buying cotton candy
and a lemonade
for the whole parade!
now I know that it was all in fun
when you said I was the only one
but I guess if I were you
I would get it while I can
'cause baby's got a thing
for the family of man
As soon as I'm broken
I don't go looking for trouble
'cause I know I would attach
some meaning or leaning
to whatever I would catch
still somehow you find me
and I think you know my name
and you're there to remind me
and it's never quite the same
I never know just what the trouble's going to be
but there will be a whole lot more of me
as soon as I'm broken
when you're looking for trouble
I can see it in your face
and since you're looking for trouble
and since I know that it's the case
I'll yield to your peeled form
but before you wield the ax
and I'm lying in pieces
let me bare you to the facts
you'll never know just where the trouble's going to be
and there will be a whole lot more of me
whenever I'm broken
now you try to appease me
when you just can't let me pass
and you give up so easy
and I'm made out of glass
yes I know that I'm trouble
and I shouldn't have stayed
so I'll take a mallet
to the thing that I've made
I never know just what the trouble's going to be
but there will be a whole lot more of me
now that I'm broken
Grocery boy
Now I don't mind
a real good time
out on the range
if I can keep the change
I don't mind a little rain
I just change my shirt
and oil my chain
I don't remember what I bring
I never see a single thing
I just bring them in and put them up
if the coffee's warm I'll drink a cup
I've been pointing like a road sign
but this sweet face is just a decoy
I'm coming from a long line
and I'm gonna be your grocery boy
I didn't give you time to choose
I just wiped the dirt
right off my shoes
I knew the fruit was getting ripe
when you said
I didn't look the type
and when you said
the price was fair
I felt the bag about to tear
I was only thinking of myself
when I showed you how
to stock a shelf
I been waiting like a harbor mine
well bust my bubble and ships ahoy
I'm coming from a long line
and I'm gonna be your grocery boy
I'm rolling now
right through your gate
it's a dirty job and it's getting late
I'm pedaling up a prairie storm
my basket's full, I toot my horn
hear them whisper on the grapevine
he's no Valentine but the real McCoy
I'm coming from a long line
and I'm gonna be your grocery boy
Go-between
In a motel room while the sun is sinking
when you're all alone if you should start to thinking
about the way it goes and the way it's settin'
and how it's going and will soon be getting
in a small dark room
when you're afraid you know with what you are dealing
and if should start to grow a far, far, far away feeling
and if you go but there's nowhere you've gone to
'cause letting go is just not holding on to
if you're afraid you know
you'll rinse your glass and leave your platter clean
I'll watch you slip away across a great ravine
you'll turn the key and light the gasoline
when all you want to be is a go-between
now I don't mind being your demon
or your deity just as long as you're dreaming
'cause no matter just how lightly you're weighted
there's going to be some ice too thin to be skated
and I won't mind
I'll turn the key and light the gasoline
I'll rinse my glass and leave my platter clean
so put another hole in the canteen
when all I want to be is a go-between
I can't connect so I keep on dialing
I call your name and I wake up smiling
I can't forget the site of you glowing
you showed them all what I'd been knowing
and I can't forget
I can see you poised above the trampoline
standing like a statue now you're part of the machine
you've rinsed your glass and left your platter clean
now that all you want to be is a go-between
All songs and lyrics copyright © Joel Arant |
