John Cale Album

If you wanna be the heart of midnight
You've gotta be either cynical or dead
All those you hold in estimation
You can no longer count among your friends

Your friends look to surprise you
As friends they always will
So hold on to the extraordinary - hold on to the skill
And start the easy listening, we're coming home again
Stab the back of hell and heroes until we meet again

Listen for the slamming doors
Listen on the ship to shore
Listen hard
Everytime the dogs bark

Like a milk-cow servant turning over in his grave
Turn off your headlights
Show me you're gonna be the sheriff of my heart
Heartbreaker, heartbreaker

The harder the woman
The colder the heart of the man
The harder the woman
The colder the heart of the man

Listen for the slamming doors
Listen on the ship to shore
Listen hard
Everytime the dogs bark

They're cowards of the moment who often miss their mark
They're so resentful of the wisemen with a hunger for the dark
So start the easy listening, we're coming home again
Stab the back of hell and heroes until we meet again

I've been chasing ghosts and I don't like it
I wish someone would show me where to draw the line
I'd lay down my sword if you would take it
And tell everyone back home I'm doing fine

I was with you down in Acapulco
Trading clothing for some wine
Smelling like an old adobe woman
Or a William Burroughs playing for lost time

I was thinking about my mother
I was thinking about what's mine
I was living my life like a Hollywood
But I was dying on the vine

Who could sleep through all that noisy chatter
The troops, the celebrations in the sun
The authorities say my papers are all in order
And if I wasn't such a coward I would run

I'll see you me when all the shooting's over
Meet me on the other side of town
Yes, you can bring all your friends along for protection
It's always nice to have them hanging around

I was thinking about my mother
I was thinking about what's mine
I was living my life like a Hollywood
But I was dying, dying on the vine

Your mailbox is always empty
And your landlord always complains
And you try to forget your past
But it's just adding to your pain
And it's time for one more cigarette

Yes, I slept on your satin pillows
They felt like a second skin
You needn't have looked so helpless there
I was the moth stuck on your pin

Sleeping, I am the sleeper
Sleeping, I am the sleeper

Oh it used to feel so right
Everything seemed new
I haven't changed
It isn't me that's what's wrong with you

Sleeping, I am the sleeper

The sun came up and you'd come back
The door was open wide
I should have slammed it in your face
I should have shot you in the back
That's what Jesus would have done
If Satan had come
And looked him in the eye and said
"You're my kind of guy, why don't you come away with me?
Come away with me"
Cause I love you, I love ya, I love ya - that's what she said
I love ya, love ya
I'd rather speak to Satan himself

I love you, I love you, I love you
I love you, I'm the sleeper

Oh you think you got a gypsy smile
But it won't get you out of trouble this time
All you ever had is the memory
And the rose that you keep for company

Anyone could have cracked the code
Anybody could have cracked that code

So touch up your makeup
And save up all your pride
You once made everyone your lover
And I bet you felt just like a bride

While they were talking in some foreign tongue
You were parading around like a beggar in an iron lung
Cause something must be breaking your heart
Yes something is breaking your heart
That I loved like a vigilante lover
That I loved like a vigilante fool

The air was heavy over the village square
It's not everyday they auction off despair
There were voices floating in that country air
And secret policemen watching everywhere

Anyone could have cracked the code
Anyone could have cracked that code

I drive a stolen car
I got a monkey jar
That makes the blood run cold
And I see through windows
And I hear through walls
But nothing you can do can touch me at all

But I wouldn't feel so forlorn
There must be some saving grace
I hear the Rosy Christians have just hit town
And they're all heading for your place

Cause something is breaking your heart
Something is breaking your heart
I hope something is

I loved you like a vigilante lover
I loved you like a vigilante fool

[No lyrics]

I roamed the world for love and glory
Full-time ambassador of mirth
I never thought that I'd be sorry
To squander most of my true worth

The sun beats down on the valley
The waves crash on the shore
I was a soldier of the alley
I cannot fight there anymore

So now I just wait for the hour
Lips parted like a kiss
I just assume there is a power
Who can deliver me from this

The sun beats down on the valley
The waves crash on the shore
I was a soldier of the alley
I cannot fight there anymore

They say that love is like a flower
That bows so graceful to the light
But I've seen most true love go sour
Then blossom in the dead of night

I can't be certain of the hour
Or who will bear that final kiss
I must assume there is a power
Who can deliver me from this

The sun beats down on the valley
The waves crash on the shore
I was a soldier of the alley
I cannot fight there anymore

To roam the world for love and glory
To roam the world at all
Who would have thought that I'd be sorry
To squander it all

The sun beats down on the valley
The waves push up against the shore
I was a soldier on the alley
I cannot fight there anymore

Well they say that every dog has his day
But puppy love was never really my way
Hear your voice - am I asleep or awake?
Since you're gone

Love that's here today - fade away tomorrow
Love that's here today - fade away tomorrow

Where to go? should I just stay here or run?
If I'd wings I'd aim them straight for the sun
Who to call? or should I just take a walk
Little words add up to small talk


Love that's here today - fade away tomorrow
Love that's here today - fade away tomorrow

Love is fickle, love is true
You can count on memories
They linger on, love never stays

Here she comes full of white light and heat
With a walk that'd stop the cars in the street

Love that's here today - fade away tomorrow
Love that's here today - fade away tomorrow

Everybody melting but the heat just won't affect ya
Backlot Casanovas and Black Russian defectors
Are here to take your picture away
I know you don't have space left on your windowsill

Black rose - long thorn
White rose - still born
Standing on the corner just baying at the moon
Just another little Miss Too-much-far-too-soon

Dreamstreet romance is not the same as burning love
You can light a thousand candles, you can wear your satin glove
And you can dance, dance, dance from here to Sunday
You can dance, dance, dance from here to Sunday

Black rose - long thorn
White rose - still born
Standing on the corner howling at the moon
Just another Little Miss Too-much-far-too-soon

Who's that in the big Japanese car?
Dealing sushi from a German bar
Well no one knows but he won't get far

I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk
I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk

Who put the fishes in the deep blue sea?
Who put the monkeys back in the tree?
Well it wasn't you and it wasn't me

I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk
I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk

Who's been sleeping in my VCR?
Who's been chewing on my PDR?
I must complain to the manager

I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk
I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk

Who's that sailing in the black lagoon?
Who's erasing the face of the man in the moon?
Well I hope he don't come around here too soon

I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk
I took my tomahawk for a satellite walk

Wake up, wake up
Get up, get up
Let's dance