Bishop Allen Album

Once a great ironworks
Stood at the end of my street
And they hauled in The Monitor
Fit her with armor
For to save the union fleet

The River James was on fire
As The Merrimack thundered and raged
And she seemed so colossal and so unstoppable
Until the two engaged
And inside the sound
A deafening din, round after round, again and again
Shattering down, shattering down, shattering down

The neighborhood's quiet at night
But sometimes my ears still ring
And you think I'd understand
That a rock-n-roll band
Doesn't mean a blessed thing
But I picture the poor crew stunned
When the cannons did finally subside
How they stand on the deck
With the sun at their neck
And they wonder if they're still alive
And I try to shout
But none of them hear
They're moving their mouths
But the blood in their ears
Is running down, running down, running down

And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
But what then?

It's stunning to know I've survived
But I'm not sure what I'm fighting for anymore
And when I break another string
And continue to sing
Is that courage? I'm not sure.
When the ironclads drifted apart
Still blue and still gray
The men shoveled in the coal
And worked the pumps in the hull
Just like every other day
And none of them knew
Oh, none of them cared
How much it just changed right then and right there
They just carried on, carried on, carried on

And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
But what then?

And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
And we're singing la da da da da da
But what then?

bed clothes, why am i in bed clothes?
watching out the window
watching what i don't know
on the fire escape now
hands they start to shake now
ready for the rail to break now
and i'm awake at last awake

cursing, rattling and cursing
go ahead and do your worst then
your worst that i can take

oh let the rain fall down
and wash this world away
oh let the sky be grey
cause if its ever gonna get any better
its gotta get worse for a day

morning, where am i this morning?
now its really pouring,
crawling up this shore
and i walk the neighborhood
and umbrella does no good
and i guess its in my blood
couldn't stop the flood

drowning, everything is drowning
go ahead and take the town
the town is yours to take

oh let the rain fall down
and wash this world away
oh let the sky be grey
cause if its ever gonna get any better
its gotta get worse for a day

calling, calling, falling, falling
grab on my guitar
and paddle with both my arms
headed where the voices are
i'll end up far so far away

oh let the rain fall down
and wash this world away
or let the sky be grey
cause if its ever gonna get any better
its gotta get worse for a day

its gotta get worse for a day
its gotta get worse for a day
its gotta get worse for a day
i know
its gotta get worse for a day

I had ducked out of the rain
Into Maria's wedding day
And I sat there with her friends
And with her family
And I was happy

I wasn't someone they'd invite
Because I didn't know the groom
Or know the bride
But when I stood next to her brother
For the photograph
He was laughing

Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera

Sure, I've got pictures of my own
Of the people and the places that I've known
Here's one: I'm carrying your suitcase
Outside of Alphabet City

But in someone else's life
Where Maria is a wife
I'm on the mantle in the corner of the photograph
Smiling pretty

Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera

Are you tired of where you've gone?
And you think you might belong
In a moment when you step out of the rain?
And you've ended up in someone else's frame?
And they're memory now is never quite the same
And they never even thought to ask your name

Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera

I caught the bus in Chinatown
And slept the whole way up by 95
The driver, cut and weaved so crazy, just his luck kept him alive and I guess I believed his rhythm on that morning after New Year's Eve

And I remember Shanghai
How I wasn't sure just what was safe to eat
The chickens pecked and wandered at the barefoot ankles of the children hawking figurines of workers smiling
What's the Chinese word for cheese?

Watched a sidewalk butcher
His instinctive understanding made the carcass snap and clarify beneath his nimble hands that held the knife so long, so many times, the handles' changed to ships just like his fingers and his palms

And I, I am a passenger tonight
I watch the world, from inside

It's 2AM in Tokyo
And still too soon to call back to the people who will soon begin the day I polished off and I will walk a mile amidst the neon lights that advertise
I don't know just what they sell

I tell the taxi driver
To the park, a higher tone
And his gloves are pristine white just like the girls I used to know would wear to dance their first cotillion
Every single one of them named Jennifer

I clutched at the same Christopher
I picked up at some country abbey long ago when I believed he'd keep me safe and make me happy but it seems the luck he brings is not the common currency of penny in Japan

And I, I am a passenger tonight
I watch the world, from inside

it's like you took the giant christmas tree
at rockafella center and
you spread it paper thin
but you were careful not to break a bulb
and then you mirrored it a million fold
to shine
and shine
and shine along

and there's a tap on my knee
bring up your seat back please, she says
but I know she means
if you feel like dancing
dance with me

some of the lights below
shine directly on the people I know
their lives take such strange shapes
but how together they appear from above
I guess that could be love
my friends
my friends
I'm coming home

and then the captain speaks
it's clear and 44 degrees
but I know he means
if you feel like dancing
dance with me

but I been out past the lights
where the jagged black begins
i let my heels sink in the sand
and the ocean sucked it's teeth
and the cold cuts through my feet
and stretched out on and on and on

how disconnected I can feel on the ground
it's like I'm shining all alone
and i don't wanna be
so
before i go to bed tonight
i'll signal up to the passing flight
hit the lights
the lights
the lights
the lights

and now the man in the middle seat
recites the times tables audibly
but i know he means
if you feel like dancing
dance with me
if you feel like dancing
dance with me
[repeat]

This city is silver in the moon
And mountains heaped with sugar spoons
The click and clatter of my feet
On lonely crooked cobbled streets
Like castanets

Down past the window shutter tie
The hollow of a haunted night
It's raining now out on the beach
The chit and chatter of my teeth
Like Castanets

I'm following the coffee trail
And drink it black and by the bail
The pesos turn to paper cups
My fingers tremble at the touch
Like castanets


Santa Lucia
...Bella vista

San Cristobal

La Moneda


And on the cable car I climb
Up to the sacred virgin shrine
This city's smothered in the smog
The snippy snap of wild dogs
Like Castanets

Tomorrow is Assumption Day
I ask them what they celebrate
Daniello says he can't explain
But he'll be clappin' anyway
Like Castanets

Ohh...Like Castanets

calm that wicked wind,
to pick you up
and carry you off eastward,
though i did release you
for to seek a warmer sky

should you be blown back
know that i will always run to greet you,
still surprised to catch you
every time

armed with this small butterfly net
i will face the world alone
& never be lonely

so calm that wicked wind,
& if you go, you could be gone forever
i will play awhile here
by & by & by & by -

armed with this small butterfly net
i will face the world alone
& never be lonely

up & up you go
for to steal the secrets of the heavens
will you share them with me
my bright & brilliant spy?

should you be blown back
know that i will always run to greet you
still surprised to catch you
every time
still surprised to catch you
by & by & by & by -

Oh, my shrinking violet
I left my basket of impatience at your door
I brought my tulips for your two lips
But the bulb don't burn anymore

Ain't it a shame just how much rain we got
The April showers blot out the sun
So much dear that your roots still rot
And we're waiting til the kingdom come

Oh, my shrinking violet
I left my basket of impatience at your door
I brought my tulips for your two lips
But, the bulb don't burn anymore

The night chain rain will fall on us
The daffodil's struck down
But, in the morning, glorious
I will wait until the kingdom come
I will wait until the kingdom come

by the school
on the street
you were dropped off with a sign,
"this piano is free"
you didn't look free to me

cast aside
obsolete
since they cancelled music class
you've been a refugee

but now I'll give you a home
corazon

so I pushed
and I heaved
but your weight bore down like I could not believe
had you accepted defeat?

till the crowd
gathered round
put away their goings on and hunkered down

and they were cheering you on
corazon
cheering you on
corazon
cheering you on
corazon
cheering you on
corazon

and the expert
with his tools
said to bring it up to pitch would snap the sucker in two
I guess we're tuning to you

so I pulled
up a seat
and I swear I felt a pulse beneath your keys

to urge your hammers along
corazon
hammer along
corazon
hammer along
corazon
hammer along
corazon

I was caught
I was stuck
and my thoughts kept on deepening the rut
until your first chord struck

now I search
I'm a chore
but my god you've given me another chance to learn

come on and teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon
teach me your songs
corazon

alright!
i'm over by the water cooler
listen to the chatter
while i'm working to get fired but it doesn't seem to matter
when the week is nearly through
but i find something to do
cause the end is coming soon
yeah the end is coming

alright!
alright!
well alright!
alright!

put the days together and they start to do some damage
if the mean is in the middle then i know that i will manage
when the week is nearly through
i will find something to do
cause the end is coming soon
yeah the end is coming

the telephone is ringing right off the hook
must be one of those days where i got the shakes that just can't shook
pick up the phone and say we're alright
alright!
alright!
alrighty-ity-ity-ity.....

and i don't wanna have to think about it
(why should you think about it)
and i don't wanna have to think about it
(why should you think about it)
and i don't wanna have to think about it
(why should you think about it)
and i don't wanna have to think about it
(why should you think about it)

the telephone is ringing right off the hook must be one of those days where i got the shakes
that just can't shook

alright!
alright!
alright!
alright!
alright!
alright!
alrighty-ity-ity-ity.....
well alright!

Oh, I've been down to Memphis
It's where my family goes to die
And as they all end up there
So shall I

Used my lucky dollar
Struck up my last match
But the old man coming fast enough to catch

And if, at first, you don't choose right, choose again
Oh, my son, you're a sorry sight, choose again

Catch me in the movies
Sleeping in my dirty clothes
If you ask me what I'm watching
Who knows

Got me a rich uncle
Can't ask for a loan
So, I guess I gotta make that money on my own

And if, at first, you don't choose right, choose again
Oh, my son, you're a sorry sight, choose again

Heaven ain't got no place for me
But there's plenty of beds in hell
If you ask me how I'm doing
Not so well

Down with every symptom
Cherish every cough
And if you pass me that old bottle, I'll polish it off

And if, at first, you don't choose right, choose again
Oh, my son, you're a sorry sight, choose again
And if, at first, you don't choose right, choose again
All your troubles will hold you tight, choose again

You were saving the date
But you woke up too late
Pulled the covers down over your head
You haven't left your front door
For a week maybe more
Tell me, hey, what's the news from your bed
You know your face is all covered with your birthday cake
That you're eating in the kitchen at home
Another banner year, a splendid day
Another inch or two that you've grown
But it's hard to celebrate on your own

There's a mouse in cupboard that nibbles your crumbs
And you talk to him every night
You say, âЂŒHey, Mr. Whiskers, I'm bored and I'm numb
You can stay if you just treat me right.âЂќ
Just last year you were fortunate baby
And your friends circled around you in droves
Are they thinking of you? Maybe just maybe
But not a one has bothered to phone
Tell me where oh where did they go

Called a car an hour ago
You're gonna take yourself out
Despite the cold and snow
Did they forget about you
Are they in on it too?
You're sitting looking in the mirror
At your dancing shoes

When your family calls you make nice to them all
And assure them you're fine and you're great
Then you cry in the bath, cry so hard that you laugh
Then you watch television til late
Who do you need? Nobody.
You're lucky nobody's around
I can pour my own drinks
No thanks, Mister. Go on, and get out of town
And you're gorgeous in your evening gown.