Bishop Allen Album

Everybody's saying
That I'm not so cool
So I'm going back to charm school
Charm school...

Here in my new neckti
Feeling so refined
Working on my handshake and my smile
And though I'm always late
And I can't stand up straight
I'm sure they'll find me charming in a while

Such a dainty curtsey
Darling little child
Let me hold your hand, keep you from harm
I'm learning everyday
I practice what to say
I'm working in the mirror on my charm

Every little lesson
Every gilded rule
I follow or forget in my own way
Those lovely afternoons
With all those forks and spoons
My charm school made me ready for today

Chasing my excuses to the end of the night
Tried to make a friend, but it ended with a fight
I don't know why, and I don't know when
But my keys have found a way to lock me out again

Sleeping on the subway in my interview tie
Wander through the rain, sit and wonder why
I haven't got a plan, I haven't got a clue
I've only got one lonely thing that's gonna see me through

I got my little black ache (What you got?)
I got my little black ache (What you got?)
I got my little black ache (What you got?)
My little black ache won't fade

Lovely little girl, crowded little place
I swear on this old Bible that I've never seen her face
She talks like I know what she's talking about
Somewhere there's a door that's got to let me out

Hello, sleepless soul I'm a'passing on the street
Know that like me you only rest on your feet
I know I had some friends, I can almost hear their names
Now I got one lonely thing and no one left to blame

I got my little black ache...

Follow me
To the shipwreck shores
Of a dark and strange country

I was born
A stranger thinking out loud
In a foreign tongue

I was out of place
I was looking all around
Just a trying to find a friendly face
But they're all gone


And did you ever think
Did you ever think, think:
Lotta people everyday who will surely drown?



And did you ever think
Did you ever think, think:
Who left me all alone in this town?


And a busted heart
Is a welcome friend
And when that heart leaves
What will you do then?
And if I cry
Is that a sin?


And wisdom is a whisper
And I'm trying to understand
What I say, what I think, where I sleep, when I breathe
What I do with my hands

I found myself a queen
In a bright sundress
She was prettier than May
But she liked me best

I don't know why, but she couldn't stand still
The radio was playing, it was time to kill
We were throwing furniture off the roof
We'd watch it shatter on the ground below
Singing: La la la la la la la la la la

There was fever in her hair
And a beauty in her brain
And she showed me 'round town
Quiet as a hurricane

Well, the mischief in her eyes
Gave me something to believe
And while I knew she couldn't stay
I guess I never heard her leave

King Chris Coyne, Total Shams, and Shoeless Jed
Wise Chyld King, Sean and Reshma, Coll and Brian
Darkhorse Jack setting things on fire at Glass
Fernie's got a drink, and Blake's got a wedding ring
Darya the Mad Russian, Lissa, who gave up her naps
Dia Sokol, Dan Mooney, Errol, and ol' Jackpot Junior
Doung and Nell, Randy Bell, drums by Microsoft Excel, and Margaret Welles
Lynchburg, Williamsburg, Park Dr., and Austin Texas, car alarms on Grand Street
English 10a, Piper, Rege, Matt, and K
Getting weird with the Buj, all the folks down at DuMont
Bonnie, who sings on our record, Sam and Max, the Therien fam
Young Farrington, Blair, Myles' brother, and Myles
Amie Barrodale, and everyone we know named Christian
James and Clayton, Hamm's, and the Champagne School

And I tell you over and over and over again, my friend
That I'm down with you, even on the eve of destruction

And if this moment is gone in a flash
And my hand in yours becomes ash in ash
And everyone becomes just dust in the blast
At least this day will be our last

Maybe St. Peter won't let us in
Saying Heaven's a place for the innocent
Then we'll have a dance, yeah a dance, on the head of a pin
And God will grin and shoo us away

I was spending my days with my demons, yeah
They had taken up inside of my heart
They were trying to keep me entertained
They were tearing me apart

Well my memory, she was packing, yeah
And I knew that she would never come back
She handed me a letter and
Then she vanished in the black

And the letter said:
Things are what you make of them
Things are what you make of them, baby
And you know what I mean
Yeah, you know what I mean

Well I met up with my common sense
And I knew her by the rose in her hair
She said: Son, if you don't make a noise
God will never know you're there

So I purchased me a ticket, yeah
For a meeting with Jesus Christ
He shook my hand and offered me
Just this thimble of advice

He was telling me:
Things are what you make of them...

I would've died
Just to hear voices
Just to see faces
I was so alone
I went deep
Into my graveyards
Found my ghosts there
They're with me still

I can't do this, I can't do that
I can't believe I got so fat
At least ghosts are good company
I can't believe it is so cold
I should get up before I get old
And then I'll change my ways
Before my ways change me

I was afraid
Afraid of the emptiness
Afraid of the silence
Afraid of my ghosts
Now they're here
We can share laughter
Talk about old times
It's not so bad

Now the world
Is suddenly wonderful
And I think:
Hey, I can live here again
Well, these ghosts
They will not leave me
They're the best company
That I've ever had

Somewhere in the front of the footlights
I'm looking for a good place to sit
All my lines get so complicated
That I take a fall into the orchestra pit

Samson suffered the same fate
Powerless and losing his hair
Somewhere in the wings there's a sensible whisper:
When the hero dies, does the audience care?

All the sneaky things we could do in the dark
And with every chance, I'd end up missing my mark
In the city of night, out in the city of snow
We kept playing the part where she's letting me go
She always reminds me:
We're playing the part where she's letting me go

Somewhere in the Empire City
Someone takes a curtain call
I'm so broke at the end of the evening
That you'll find me hopeless in the back of the hall

Brutus suffered the same fate
They left him all alone with his shame
Somewhere in the wings there's a sensible whisper:
When you wield the knife, learn to carry the blame

Spending time together is easy
When you spend so much time apart
I gave up my freedom
But I gained a second heart

Second heart is all I need this fall
Cuz you know: I need someone to sing me to sleep

Making good decisions is easy
When you haven't got a choice
Telephone turn on sunshine
When it sends you the right voice

The right voice is all I need this fall
Cuz you know: I need someone to sing me to sleep

Hello to the angry phone bill
They charge for my whole life
Wise man, he once told me:
Cut the cord with a kitchen knife

Kitchen knife is all I need this fall
Cuz you know: I need someone to sing me to ... zzz ...

Whatever I do
Is whatever I want to do
And whatever I think comes true
I'm always looking for something new
And just like I've been saying every single day since I wore this suit
Every single day, I swore we'd eventually be
Penitentiary bound (penitentiary bound!)

And just like me
You be whatever you want to be
And see whatever you want to see
And take whatever you like for free
And just like I've been saying every single day since I wore this suit
Every single day, I swore we'd eventually be
Penitentiary bound (penitentiary bound!)

True, these walls won't up and disappear
Stop wondering why ...

We're stuck inside
It's not at all where we planned to be
I guess I blame it on you and me
We don't deserve to be so free, you see
And just like I've been saying every single day since I wore this suit
Every single day, I swore we'd eventually be
Penitentiary bound ...

Whenever light shines down on misery
It can only make things worse
On the day we met she burned so bright
I was lucky as a gypsy curse

Well she was blushing like a wedding day
With her eyes so sharp and black
And her gentle little smile
Was the color of blood
And she's never ever coming back

Now let me tell you:
I've been up since a quarter to three
And I've been pacing back and forth
Through the hall
I've been thinking 'bout the first time
She took my hand
And I don't understand it at all

Whatever hopes I once kept safe & sound
In a locker underneath my bed
Whatever thoughts I once kept to myself
Are drowned out and dead

Because she sounded like a symphony
When she simply said my name
And the long blue days
That once were hers
Are long now just the same

In the hallway hangs a photograph
On her hand, a diamond ring
She mailed it with a little note
She nailed it to the edge of my wing

I have burned out every sympathy
And the house is still and black
But now I've seen my misery
And she's never ever coming back

Well, you're up all night
Praying for a little salvation
But I'm restless and my feet they want to walk
Here's something you can do
If you want to try something new:
Come along with me, and we'll wander off a wasted night

Well, the wind blows cold
And it sharpens your frustration
But the weary souls they always share a smile
Here's something you can do
If you want to try something new:
Come along with me, and we'll wander off a wasted night

5 6 7 8
Let's stay up late!

Well, there's no church bells
Gonna ring us up a salutation
But somewhere in the night we'll find our home
Here's something you can do
If you want to try something new
Come along with me, and we'll wander off a wasted night

I was spending my days with my demons, yeah
They had taken up inside of my heart
They were trying to keep me entertained
They were tearing me apart

Well my memory, she was packing, yeah
And I knew that she would never come back
She handed me a letter and
Then she vanished in the black

And the letter said:
Things are what you make of them
Things are what you make of them, baby
And you know what I mean
Yeah, you know what I mean

Well I met up with my common sense
And I knew her by the rose in her hair
She said: Son, if you don't make a noise
God will never know you're there

So I purchased me a ticket, yeah
For a meeting with Jesus Christ
He shook my hand and offered me
Just this thimble of advice

He was telling me:
Things are what you make of them...