In the House of the Wounded Doves
I'm giving up my paycheck for their love
I can hear them laughing sweetly now
Up the stairs

Just slide through the beads
And the Madame will read
A girl and a price
And all her favorite misdeeds
"Sweet Sixteen, like a figure of speech
She's on everyone's tounge but they don't know what she means
If you can crack that code
She will unfold all the mysteries her body holds
She's an eternal epiphany
She keeps on coming
So come back next week"

To The House of the Wounded Doves
I'm digging in my pockets for their love
I can hear them laughing sweetly now, up the stairs

"We've got a map of the world
We've got all shades of girls
Throw that dart
Give Antarctica a whirl
She's white as a pearl
She's got a glacier heart
It can't be moved
It can't be broken apart
But if you burn like the sun you can melt it down
And you've got an ocean of love where you can drown your pain
And maybe next week
Hot Sudan can try and burn it away"

In The House of the Wounded Doves
I'm putting up my own house for their love
I can hear them laughing sweetly now, up the stairs

I'd done every country's beauty
From pole to pole
But the Madame said "Hold on, we've got one more
Her name's Atlantis
She ain't never been seen
We keep her in a glass tank under the sea"
She said "Come back next week"
And you know I came
I found an empty house
My doves had flown away
But they left a map
And they left one dart stuck in Japan
But I felt it stabbing my heart

In The House of the Wounded Doves
Hit by an iron fist in a velvet glove
I can hear them laughing sweetly now, up the stairs

My best friend from high school
Has got a deep blue business suit
A sea green pool
He covers his wife in jewels
So take a look at me now
I'm on the couch in my 10th grade jeans
I turn the shower on
It only leaks
You've got your sweatpants on and they're covered in mustard stains
And you say "We're fading away"
You say, "Some people are hugged tight by history
And we stand outside the embrace"
But I say "Wait a minute, babe
Planet of the Apes is on TV
Sit down next to me"

Never will we shine
We're just gonna fade away
But we'll fade together
We can watch the days pile like the raging snow
Here on the couch
Growing gray and growing old

Now, there's a reason why we live like this
And I know you're sick of it, but just listen
In the novel I've been writing for 15 years
There's a man
He's got a pen in his hand
He writes like Faulkner but he can't sell it
Cuz everyone's Bible is a tabloid
And they're all zealots
All the stars start shooting and burning out
But he remains
Watching from the windowpane
He says "Why look for glory in the public esteem
When they're giving the laurels to the mockingbirds who repeat their hollow dreams
We've got empty pockets
And now the weight resides in our hearts
And I know it tears you apart"

Never will we shine
We're just gonna fade away
But we'll fade together
We can watch the days pile like the raging snow
Here on the couch
Growing gray and growing old

I'm so tired
And you're so pissed
And I know you're sick of it, but just listen
That ending I've been looking for for 15 years
It came
Here come the glory and the fame
My protagonist and his lovely wife
They're on the couch and she's nagging him
But he says, "Quiet
I'm gonna tell you a story
Gonna ease your pain
When the bombs come to murder their American dreams
The first to turn to cinders gonna be their magazines
And when they're digging through the rubble
My novel will appear
Cuz I bound it in my blood and my tears"

Never will we shine
We're just gonna fade away
But we'll fade together
We can watch the days pile like the raging snow
Here on the couch
Growing gray and growing old

HIDE ME AWAY

On the day I was born God wrung his hands
And said, "Tomorrow's another day"
And he sent a great flock of sparrows across the sun
Just to hide his mistake
Hide me away

I was born ghost pale and autumn leaf frail
With the sneer of a harelip
And Daddy said God sent me to mark his sins
So I got beat with a bullwhip
And he'd make me read from King James aloud
Drink his whiskey down and pray
That the grave
Would come to hide him away
Hide him away

One night I woke to a bonecracking cold
And I rose up to stir the coals
Daddy was swinging from the rafters
Blue-lipped and half-lit by the embers glow
So I warmed by hands by the Bible burning
And rode to California on a train

And I was singing
Under lock and key
Now I'm gonna get free
San Fransisco, are you ready for me?

I met a man on the street with a big gold ring
And a voice like a soft breeze
And he told me, Boy, if you can make the shotgun sing
I can get you one of these
There's a suitcase full of China White
And I went in like dynamite
Pallid as a ghost
Back from the grave

And I was screaming
Under lock and key
Now I'm gonna get free
San Fransisco, are you ready for me?

With a fire in my veins
I was barreling down the highway in the passing lane
And in my rearview mirror those flashing lights
Were burning wild like a fireplace
And then a jury of my peers
They wrung their hands, and they said
Boy, you made a mistake
And I said, God made me
Now they wanna hide me away
Hide me away