Counting Crows Album

Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
I walk in the air between the rain
through myself and back again
Where? I don't know
Maria says she's dying
through the door I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
Chorus
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
she said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
and she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
she parks her car outside of my house
takes her clothes off
says she's close to understanding Jesus
she knows she's more than just a little misunderstood
she has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Chorus: Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands
Sleeping children better run like the wind
out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
out of the lightning
She says "it's only in my head"
She says "Shhh I know it's only in my head"
But the girl on the car in the parking lot
says "Man you should try to take a shot
can't you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building
and says she's thinking of jumping
She says she's tired of life
she must be tired of something
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here hey man got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
and nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late
I can't see nothing.. nothing round here
will you catch if I'm falling
will you catch me if I'm falling
will you catch me cause I'm falling down on you
I said I'm under the gun around here
I'm innocent I'm under the gun around here
and I can't see nothing
nothing round here

Get away from me, just get away from me
This isn't gonna be easy
but I don't need you
believe me
You got a piece of me
but it's just a little piece of me
And I don't need anyone
these days I feel like I'm fading away
Like sometimes when I hear myself on the radio
Have you seen me lately?
Have you seen me lately?
I was out on the radio starting to change
Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
and have you seen me lately?
I remember me
and all the little things that make up a memory
Like she said she loved to watch me sleep
Like she said:
"It's the breathing, it's the breathing in and out and in and..."
Have you seen me lately?
I was out on the radio starting to change
Somewhere out in America it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
And have you seen me lately?
I thought that someone would notice
I thought somebody would say something
if I was missing
Can't you see me?
Come on color me in
Come on color me in
Give me your blue rain
Give me your black sky
Give me your green eyes
Come on give me your white skin
Come on give me your white skin
Come on give me your white skin
I was out on the radio starting to change
Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
And have you seen me lately?
Have you seen me lately

Well I guess you left me with some feathers in my hand
Did it make it any easier to leave me where I stand?
I guess there might not be too many who would stand beside you now
Where'd you come from? Where am I going?
Why'd you leave me 'til I'm only good for...

waiting for you
All my sins...
I said that I would pay for them if I could come back to you
All my innocence is wasted on the dead and dreaming

Every night these silhouettes appear above my head
Little angels of the silences that climb into my bed and whisper
every time I fall asleep every time I dream
"Did you come? Would you lie?
Why'd you leave us 'til we're only good for...

Waiting for you"
All my sins...
I said that I would pay for them if I could come back to you
All my innocence is wasted on the dead and dreaming

I dream of Michelangelo when I'm lying in my bed
Little angels hang above my head and read me like an open book
Suck my blood, break my nerve offer me their arms
Well, I will not be an enemy of anything
I'll only stand here

Waiting for you
All my sins...
I said that I would pay for them if I could come back to you
All my innocence is wasted on the dead and dreaming

All of the sudden she disappears
just yesterday she was here
Somebody tell me if I am sleeping
Someone should be with me here
(cause I don't wanna be alone)

I wanna be the knife that cuts into my hand
and I wanna be scattered from here in this catapult
What a big baby won't somebody save me please
You won't find nobody home

All of these quiet battered voices
wait for the hunger to come
we got little revolvers and stupid choices
and no one to say when we're done
(Well I don't wanna bring you down)

I wanna be the light that burns out your eyes
`cause I know there's little things about me
that would sing in the silence so much rejection
in every connection I make
I can't find nobody home
I wanna be the light that burns out your eyes,
cause I know theres little things about me
that would sing in the silence
So much rejection in every connection I make
I wanna be the last thing that you hear
when you're falling asleep....
I wanna be the knife that cuts into my hand
and I want to be scattered
from here in this catupult

What a big baby won't somebeody save me please I can't find nobody home

I was down at the New Amsterdam staring
at this yellow-haired girl
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this
black- haired flamenco dancer
She dances while his father plays guitar
She's suddenly beautiful
We all want something beautiful
man I wish I was beautiful
So come dance this silence down through the morning
Cut up, Maria! Show me some of them Spanish dances
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones
Believe in me
Help me believe in anything
cause I want to be someone who believes
Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales
and we st are at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me."
Smiling in the bright lights
Coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely
I will paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful
Gray is my favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso
I would buy myself a gray guitar and play
Mr. Jones and me look into the future
Stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you.
, I don't think so. She's looking at me."
Standing in the spotlight
I bought myself a gray guitar
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely
I will never be lonely
I will never be lonely
I want to be a lion
Everybody wants to pass as cats
We all want to be big big stars, but we all got different
reasons for that
Believe in me because I don't believe in anything
and I want to be someone to believe
Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio
Yeah we stare at the beautiful women
"She's perfect for you, Man, there's got to be
somebody for me."
I want to be Bob Dylan
Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more
funky
When everybody loves you, son, that's just about as
funky as you can be
Mr. Jones and me staring at the video
when I look at the television, I want to see me staring
right back at me
We all want to be big stars, but we don't know why
and we don't know how
But when everybody loves me, I'm going to be just
about as happy as I can be
Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars...

When I think of heaven
deliver me in a black-winged bird
I think of flying down into a sea of pens and feathers
And all other instruments of faith and sex and God
in the belly of a black-winged bird.
Don't try to feed me
I've been here before
And I deserve a little more
[chorus]
I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been crying and I've been thinking
And I am the Rain King
[verse]
And I said mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone
I can't go outside
I'm scared I might not make it home
I'm alive, I'm alive
But I'm sinking in
If there's anyone at home at your place, darling
Why don't you invite me in?
Don't try to bleed me
I've been there before
And I deserve a little more
[chorus]
I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been lying and I've been sinking
And I am the Rain King
[bridge]
Hey, I only want the same as anyone
Henderson is waiting for the sun
Oh, it seems night endlessly begins and ends
After all the dreaming I come home again
[verse]
When I think of heaven
deliver me in a black-winged bird
I think of dying
Lay me down in a field of flame and heather
Render up my body into the burning heart of God
in the belly of a black-winged bird
Don't try to bleed me
I've been here before
And I deserve a little more
[chorus]
I belong in the service of the queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been dying and I've been drinking
And I am the Rain King

She is trapped inside a month of gray
And they take a little every day
She is a victim of her own responses
shackled to a heart that wants to settle
and then runs away
It's a sin to be fading endlessly
Yeah, but she's alright with me
She is leaving on a walkaway
She is leaving me in disarray
In the absence of a place to be
she stands there looking back at me
hesitates, and then turns away
She'll change so suddenly
She's just like mercury
Yeah, but she's alright with me
Keep some sorrow in your hearts and minds
for the things that die before their time
For the restlessly abandoned homes
the tired and weary rambler's bones
and stay beside me where I lie
She's entwined in me
Crazy as can be
Yeah, but she's alright with me

I took the cannonball down to the ocean
across the desert from the sea to shining sea
I rode a ladder that climbed across the nation
Fifty million feet of earth between the buried and me
"How do you do?"
She said "Hey, how do you do?"
She buys a ticket cause it's cold were she comes from
she climbs aboard because she's scared of getting older in the snow
Love is a ghost train rumbling through the darkness
hold on to me darling I got no where else to go
"How do you do?"
She said "Hey, how do you do?"
I took the cannonball down to the ocean
watch the diesel disappear beneath the tumbling waves
love is a ghost train howling on the radio
"Remember everything" She said "When only memories remain"
"how do you do?"
She said "Hey, how do you do?"

My friend assures me "it's all or nothing"
I am not worried- I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me " for one time only,
make an exception." I am not not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried - I am not overly concerned
with the status of my emotions
"oh", She says, "you're changing."
But we're always changing
It does not bother me to say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
and I guess I'm going to have to live with that
but, I'm sure there's something in a shade of gray
or something in between
and I can always change my name if that's what you mean
My friend assures me "it's all or nothing`
But I am not really worried
I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try tell yourself to make
yourself forget
to make yourself forget
I am not worried
"If it's love" she said, "then we're gonna have to think about the
consequences"
cause she can't stop shaking and I can't stop touching her and.....
This time when kindness falls like rain
it washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"these seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering
for days" she says.
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing
But I'm not gonna break
And I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not gonna bend. And I'm not gonna break and
I'm not gonna worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say "as long as this is love..."
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should just
snap her up in a butterfly net-
Pin her down on a photograph album
I am not worried
I've done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and...
The time when kindness falls like rain
it washes me away and Anna begins change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love
and oh lord.... I'm not ready for this sort of thing
She's talking in her sleep-it's keeping me awake
And Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
oh lord. I m not ready for this sort of thing
Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away. She dissappears, and oh lord I'm not ready for this sort
of thing

I never go to New York City these days
Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me
Maybe in a month or two,
Maybe when things are different for me,
Maybe when things are different for you
You know all of this shit just sticks in my head
Is there anything different these days?
The light in her eyes goes out
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are different these days
It's good for everybody to hurt somebody once in a while
The things I do to people I love shouldn't be allowed
Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me
Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me
Is there anything different these days?
The light in her eyes goes out,
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are different these days
I dream I'm in New York City some nights.
Angels flow down from all the buildings
Something about an angel just kills me
I keep hoping something will
Is there anything different these days?
The light in her eyes goes out,
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are, maybe maybe maybe
Maybe things are, maybe maybe maybe maybe things are different,
Maybe things are different these days
The light goes out
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are different ......these days.

Gonna get back to basics
Guess I'll start it up again
I'm falling from the ceiling
You're falling from the sky now and then
Maybe you were shot down in pieces
Maybe I slipped in between
But we were gonna be the wildest people they ever hoped to see
yes you and me
So why'd you come home to this sleepless town
It's a lifetime commitment
recovering the satellites
All anybody really wants to know is...
When you gonna come down
Your mother recognizes all your desperate displays
and she watches as her babies drift violently away
'til they see themselves in telescopes
Well listen do you see yourself in me?
We're such crazy babies, little monkey
God we're so fucked up, you and me
So why'd you come home to this faithless town
where we make a lifetime commitment
to recovering the satellites
And all anybody really wants to know is...
when are you gonna come down
She sees shooting stars and comets tail
She's got heaven in her eyes
She says I don't need to be an angel
but I'm nothing if I'm not this high
But we only stay in orbit
for a moment of time
And then you're everybody's satellite
I wish that you were mine
I wish that you were mine
So why'd you come home to this angels town
It's a lifetime decision
recovering the satellites
everybody really knows for sure...
that you're gonna come down
that you're gonna come down

Well I guess you left me with some feathers in my hand
Did it make it any easier to leave me where I stand?
I guess there might not be too many who would stand beside you now
Where'd you come from? Where am I going?
Why'd you leave me 'til I'm only good for...

waiting for you
All my sins...
I said that I would pay for them if I could come back to you
All my innocence is wasted on the dead and dreaming

Every night these silhouettes appear above my head
Little angels of the silences that climb into my bed and whisper
every time I fall asleep every time I dream
"Did you come? Would you lie?
Why'd you leave us 'til we're only good for...

Waiting for you"
All my sins...
I said that I would pay for them if I could come back to you
All my innocence is wasted on the dead and dreaming

I dream of Michelangelo when I'm lying in my bed
Little angels hang above my head and read me like an open book
Suck my blood, break my nerve offer me their arms
Well, I will not be an enemy of anything
I'll only stand here

Waiting for you
All my sins...
I said that I would pay for them if I could come back to you
All my innocence is wasted on the dead and dreaming

When I think of heaven
deliver me in a black-winged bird
I think of flying down into a sea of pens and feathers
And all other instruments of faith and sex and God
in the belly of a black-winged bird.
Don't try to feed me
I've been here before
And I deserve a little more
[chorus]
I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been crying and I've been thinking
And I am the Rain King
[verse]
And I said mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone
I can't go outside
I'm scared I might not make it home
I'm alive, I'm alive
But I'm sinking in
If there's anyone at home at your place, darling
Why don't you invite me in?
Don't try to bleed me
I've been there before
And I deserve a little more
[chorus]
I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been lying and I've been sinking
And I am the Rain King
[bridge]
Hey, I only want the same as anyone
Henderson is waiting for the sun
Oh, it seems night endlessly begins and ends
After all the dreaming I come home again
[verse]
When I think of heaven
deliver me in a black-winged bird
I think of dying
Lay me down in a field of flame and heather
Render up my body into the burning heart of God
in the belly of a black-winged bird
Don't try to bleed me
I've been here before
And I deserve a little more
[chorus]
I belong in the service of the queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been dying and I've been drinking
And I am the Rain King

Take the way home that leads back to Sullivan Street
Cross the water and home through the town
Past the shadows that fall down wherever we meet
Pretty soon now I won't come around
I'm almost drowning in her sea
She's nearly fallen to her knees
Take the way home
Take the way home that leads back to Sullivan Street
Where all the bodies hang on the air
If she remembers, she hides it whenever we meet
Either way now, I don't really care
cause I'm gone from there
I'm almost drowning in her sea
She's nearly crawling on her knees
She's down on her knees
Take the way home that leads back to Sullivan Street
where I'm just another rider burned to the ground
Come tumbling down
I'm almost drowning in her sea
She's nearly crawling on her knees
It's almost everything I need
I'm down on my knees
I'm down on my knees

Children in bloom cooking in the sun
Waiting for a room of our own
Leave my sister alone
she don't deserve this
She is a flower and I am a flower and
we are all alone
I gotta get out on my own
I gotta get up from this waiting at home
I gotta get out of this sunlight
It's melting my bones
I gotta get up from this slumber and just get myself home
All these wasted dreams
just waiting for the sun to open up my heart to anyone
Bring me some rain
because I'm dying and I can't get this damn thing closed again
I gotta get out on my own
I gotta get up from this waiting at home
I gotta get out of this sunlight
It's melting my bones
I gotta get up from this slumber and just get myself home
Where's the funhouse this year?
The fairground's deserted and all the skies don't seem as near
Nicole's my oldest friend
but the altar is empty and she'll never be a little girl again
I gotta get out on my own
I gotta get up from this waiting at home
I gotta get out of this sunlight
it's melting my bones
I gotta get up from this slumber and get myself home
I can't find my way home

Get away from me, just get away from me
This isn't gonna be easy
but I don't need you
believe me
You got a piece of me
but it's just a little piece of me
And I don't need anyone
these days I feel like I'm fading away
Like sometimes when I hear myself on the radio
Have you seen me lately?
Have you seen me lately?
I was out on the radio starting to change
Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
and have you seen me lately?
I remember me
and all the little things that make up a memory
Like she said she loved to watch me sleep
Like she said:
"It's the breathing, it's the breathing in and out and in and..."
Have you seen me lately?
I was out on the radio starting to change
Somewhere out in America it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
And have you seen me lately?
I thought that someone would notice
I thought somebody would say something
if I was missing
Can't you see me?
Come on color me in
Come on color me in
Give me your blue rain
Give me your black sky
Give me your green eyes
Come on give me your white skin
Come on give me your white skin
Come on give me your white skin
I was out on the radio starting to change
Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
And have you seen me lately?
Have you seen me lately

This circus is falling down on its knees
The big top is crumbling down
It's raining in Baltimore fifty miles east
Where you should be, no one's around
I need a phone call
I need a raincoat
I need a big love
I need a phone call
These train conversations are passing me by
And I don't have nothing to say
You get what you pay for
But I just had no intention of living this way
I need a phone call
I need a plane ride
I need a sunburn
I need a raincoat
And I get no answers
And I don't get no change
It's raining in Baltimore, baby
But everything else is the same
There's things I remember and things I forget
I miss you I guess that I should
Three thousand five hundred miles away
But what would you change if you could?
I need a phone call Maybe I should buy a new car
I can always hear a freight train baby if I listen real hard
And I wish it was a small world
Because I'm lonely for the big towns
I'd like to hear a little guitar
I guess it's time to put the top down
I need a phone call
I need a raincoat

Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
I walk in the air between the rain
through myself and back again
Where? I don't know
Maria says she's dying
through the door I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
Chorus
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
she said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
and she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
she parks her car outside of my house
takes her clothes off
says she's close to understanding Jesus
she knows she's more than just a little misunderstood
she has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Chorus: Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands
Sleeping children better run like the wind
out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
out of the lightning
She says "it's only in my head"
She says "Shhh I know it's only in my head"
But the girl on the car in the parking lot
says "Man you should try to take a shot
can't you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building
and says she's thinking of jumping
She says she's tired of life
she must be tired of something
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here hey man got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
and nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late
I can't see nothing.. nothing round here
will you catch if I'm falling
will you catch me if I'm falling
will you catch me cause I'm falling down on you
I said I'm under the gun around here
I'm innocent I'm under the gun around here
and I can't see nothing
nothing round here

She comes to me at night when I'm sleeping
She comes to me when I'm alone
She comes to me, she holds my head when I'm crying
She comes to me, she shuts my eyes
She brings me home
But I'm not sleeping anymore, anymore
But I'm not sleeping anymore, anymore
She tells me when you look at me, she tells me when you're lying
She tells me when you talk about me, she lays me on the floor
She tells me when you're whispering, she lies beside me naked
She tells me when you laugh at me and she locks all the doors
But I'm not sleeping anymore, anymore
But I'm not sleeping anymore, anymore
1-2-3-4-5-6-7a.m.
all alone again
But I've been through all this shit before
Spend my nights in self defense
Crying about my innocence
But I ain't all that innocent anymore, more, more
I see her on the TV, I see her in the movies
I see her in these animals that dance beside my bed
I'll follow you down baby, down into this valley
I'll follow you down baby, but I won't come up again
But I'm not sleeping anymore, anymore
No I'm not sleeping anymore, anymore
I'm not sleeping
I'm not sleeping anymore

I said rain rain go away
come again some other day,
cause I got all this shit to say
but I've gone back to find my way.
My sister's mother's favorite son
lost among the chosen one,
but I've got news for everyone
cause I"m going out that door

Blue morning Blue morning Wrapped in strands of fist and bone
Curiosity, Kitten,
Doesn't have to mean you're on your own
You can look outside your window
He doesn't have to know
We can talk awhile, baby
We can take it nice and slow
All your life is such a shame, shame, shame
All your love is just a dream, dream, dream
Are you happy where you're sleeping?
Does he keep you safe and warm?
Does he tell you when you're sorry?
Does he tell you when you're wrong?
I've been watching you for hours
It's been years since we were born
We were perfect when we started
I've been wondering where we've gone
All your life is such a shame shame shame
All your love is just a dream dream dream
I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow
Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there
counting crows
One for sorrow Two for joy
Three for girls and four for boys
Five for silver Six for gold and
seven for a secret never to be told
There's a bird that nests inside you
sleeping underneath your skin
When you open up your wings to speak
I wish you'd let me in
All your life is such a shame shame shame
All your love is just a dream dream dream
Open up your eyes
You can see the flames flames flames of your wasted life
You should be ashamed
You don't want to waste your life baby
I walk along these hillsides in the summer 'neath the sunshine
I am feathered by the moonlight falling down on me
Change, change, change

A long December and there's reason to believe
maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember the last thing that you said as you were leaving
Now the days go by so fast
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think that I could be forgiven...I wish you would
The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
to see the way that light attaches to a girl
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think you might come to California...I think you should
Drove up to Hillside Manor sometime after two a.m.
and talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower,
Makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her
And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass
And it's one more day up in the canyon
And it's one more night in Hollywood
It's been so long since I've seen the ocean...I guess I should

Gotta rush away she said
I've been to Boston before
anyway, this change I've been feeling
doesn't make the rain fall
No big differences these days
Just the same old walkways
Someday I'm going to stay, but not today..