Roamin’ in the stars
There’s a way to travel
And a way to walk
Roamin’ in the stars
You can look all around you
And still be lost

Well, I walk through the night
I look at the trees
I say who-who-who can that be?
I see the moon skipping through them
And I say why can’t that be me?

The stars like ice
The cold open eye
Like a broom always sweeping
You got a mind
Your feet ain’t tied
The sky ain’t high
You can ask the question
Where’s the outside?

Roamin’ in the stars
I been burnt to a cinder
And I floated right up
Roamin’ in the stars
You can grab the top of my head
And it’ll pop right off

(CHORUS)

There it goes, there it goes
The rows and rows of life going by
What does it mean? What does it say?
I didn’t have the time to find out

Over there, behind the counter
Someone’s cleaning out their pots & pans
Under the shadow of the mountain
That’s been there a thousand-million years

And oh-ho,hey, hey
Oh ho, hey, hey, hey
There’s always someone
To pull the switches
Always someone to fill the spaces

See those lights on the horizon
A factory under a cloud of steam
Just another industrial kingdom
And some guys doing the late-shift

They got blue work-suits and cigarettes
And a battered old coffee machine
Under the shadow of the mountain
That’s been there a thousand-million years

(CHORUS)

A cough can be heard in these castle walls
For miles around without trying
I tried to hide inside this corner
But you found me out
by the silence of my breathing

The snake has been tamed and now it winds
In perfect lines and perfect circles
I may be lost, but never for long
Because every street is a mile of its’ tongue

And you & I have always been
And you & I have always been

There’s something thrashing around in the dust
And I found that I wanted to touch it
I thought there were no signs left to speak
But I crossed myself in the face of it

And what about its’ call?
What about my answer?
What is this thing writhing in my hands?
All I been taught, from dust to a cinder
When there’s no walls—There’s no walls!!

Knees on the hard church floor
Smell of wood polish dust
Thinking of the big breakfast
That always came after this
Thinking of the warm syrup smell
That Sunday service provides

It was that warm feeling
That I can’t escape
Waffles-white-linen-shirt
Hymn-57-and-me
The sounds that came through the screen door
The dream of a routine

And now just like steam
It has slipped away
The waffle iron is wrapped up
In electricians tape
I go to church drunk on Christmas
Wait to hear my name

But I remember, yes, I remember
What’s in-between, what’s in-between
I never saw what Gods’ eyes looked like
Moses never came to me in the night
But I do believe, yes, I do believe
In big Sunday breakfast for everyone
Waffles and bacon for everyone
Yes, I do believe, yes, I do believe…

I am going to tell you a story
About how my skin was burned away
It only took an instant
Flash-bulb flash of awful flame

And when that camera is pointed at you
There is emptiness in your eyes
You know you’re being looked through
A second of your life is cauterized

The world is a photograph
There is only ghosts in our laughter
First degree Polaroid burns
I guess that we never learn

Bruised knee, basketball hoop
Nervous smile when your legs were showing
Easter morning when the sun was cold
Drunken family picnic outing

All these things in bits & pieces
A flash, a glimpse, a poke in the eye
Somewhere you’re still living them
Frame upon frame giving way to a slide

(CHORUS)

Found a girl, she wasn’t my own
Talking in a hut on a telephone
So, I said, “Come with us, if you want a home
We’re the lost children of the backbone!”

And the I had a dream & did see
All of us walking round oh, so gracefully
And then I knew it had to be
That we’re just doves in the cave
Scraping at the groceries

Then I found out her name
It was one little Sally Aim
Aimlessly we taught her to walk
And aimlessly we left her for lost

Swinging our spines up over our heads
Saying, “This is who we are, this is it”
Why cry for comfort that don’t exist
When one bed is as good as the next?

Right about then, we went for a walk
The lights are on up there, let’s go have a look
So we settled in, & found our spot
And that’s when my gaze drifted off—
Aimlessly!

I see a thousand legs walking my way
And I see a thousand ways to talk the same way
I can’t get my message through
Not at this time of night
The lines are down
And that part of the world is always dark

I couldn’t see a damn thing if I wanted to
Yeah, I couldn’t see a damn thing if I wanted to

Moon hangs over me like an abandoned igloo
Astronauts don’t have the home that they wanted to
I can never get their message
Not at this time of night
The lights are out
And that part of my mind is always dark

(CHORUS)

My mind is closed & my teeth are bare
In my momma’s womb at the World’s Fair
The crowd that pushed, the pressure I sensed
One blind-faceless-sunset

Yeah, I couldn’t see a damn thing if I wanted to!

And we were alone together
Always alone together
Unthreading threads together
Some kind of something together

Cold were some nights back then
We trudged through them in a line
Blue and desolate outside
The wind coming off the snow

Always back to that room
Where we sat & talked in the dark
Talked till it was grey outside
Stubbed-out ashtrays full

But then that winter was over
The edge of the snow field melting
And the ground was burnt beneath
We stood and watched it showing

And when it was over, we found
Found that our limbs could move
They were stiff, & they were brittle
But still, they could move

And we were alone together
Always alone together
Sure of something together
Some kind of something together

One of these days, we’re gonna
Take a long look at ourselves
We’re gonna play a little game with ourselves
And then we’re gonna say to ourselves…
(I said)

One of these days, we’re gonna
Walk all over ourselves
We’re gonna come back home to ourselves
And then we’re gonna say to ourselves…
(I said)

One of these days, we’re gonna
Take a long look at ourselves, now
Play a little game with ourselves, now
And then we’re gonna say to ourselves…
(I said)

One of these days now, one of these days
One of these days now, one of these days
One of these days, we’re gonna…

Well, I wasn’t born with the clothes
I wear, oh, no
Who am I trying to fool
Wearing two legs to every meal?

I’d rather wear some dirty white feathers
Be a stingey old salt-breeze beggar
I just wanna be a seagull, uh-huh

Picking through garbage & singing my song
My screetching, scratching voice
Is just my own
I just wanna find a home
Yeah, I just wanna find a home

Well, being human keeps me busy all day
But I’d rather live off the skeletonal remains
Playing hop-scotch through a six-pack holder
A nice fish-eye sandwich would tide me over
I just wanna be a seagull, uh-huh

(CHORUS)

I see guys just my age
Acting like they’re forty-five
They’re all ready to join the race
And announce that they’re qualified

Well, what’s the deal?
What’s the rush?
What are they gonna win?
A slap on the back, & a gold watch
From all the guys in Heaven

Hey, hey, Motherfucker
Where do you go?
You got that coat for something
Hey, hey, Motherfucker
What do you know?
You got a whole lot of nothing

He talks like words are cash
And he’s breaking some big bills
If I don’t pay up fast
God forbid, I’m going to jail

I see him, he hasn’t changed
Except for his suit & tie
He’s the boy with the gruesome face
Who beat me up on the milk line

(CHORUS)

My twelve year-old cousin became President today
He has plans to make the next shuttle flight
He owes it to his diet, they all say
While all the rats are dying on Nutra-Sweet

And 0h, ho—Who’s your enemy?
Oh, ho—Who’s your friend?
Oh, ho, now—It doesn’t matter, anyway
It’s just a gun that shoots from both ends

They’re passing off motor oil as onion dip
Down at the local convenience store
All the kids are having kineption fits
But hey, it keeps them off the streets!

They’re having a big party tonight up on the hill
They’re bringing all the guests in a Trojan Horse
We stayed up half the night, had a big thrill
But then we found out that party was a funeral!

(CHORUS)

You’re the dark one, you’re the dark one
In my dreams, in my dreams
(repeat)

You’re a shadow with a face
A form lost without trace
In the streets, in the woods
There you wait, there you wait

And when I see you coming my way
I don’t know, I don’t know
Can’t toward you, can’t turn away
I don’t know, I don’t know

You’re my ground, you’re my urn
I’m laid in you, laid in you
Like a moth who wants to burn
I’m drawn toward you, drawn toward you

And all those times that we have made
Laid to waste, laid to waste
I saw myself climb in a grave
Laid to waste, laid to waste

You’re the dark one, you’re the dark one
In my dreams, in my dreams

Rest your head on my pillow
The pillow that’s my shoulder stiff as bone
It’s all I have to give
The worn-away spot on the arm chair

There’s no room for comfort
Or two bodies standing close
If the flesh beneath the scars
Can’t be reached to try again

It’s supposed to hurt
Yeah, it’s supposed to hurt
It’s supposed to hurt
The pain of letting go

What’s wrong with asking for help anymore?
Why are the words stuck on my lips?
I won’t breathe a word about it—
Are we thinking the same thoughts?

The world may be as old
As the strain that’s in your eyes
But it can be new again
When we’re both laid bare

It’s supposed to hurt
Yeah, it’s supposed to hurt
It’s supposed to hurt
The pain of holding on

LYRICS TO COME, JON!