Counting Crows : This Desert Life

Indie Rock / USA
(1999 - Geffen)
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Lyrics

1. HANGINAROUND

Aah I love it

She sat right down on the sofa
And said where have you been
I've been waitin' for you
'Cause last night I had some so good
These days get so long
And I got nothin' to do

I been hangin' around this town on a corner
(Hangin' around)
I been bummin' around this old town so long
(Hangin' around)
I been hangin' around this town on a corner
(Hangin' around)
I been bummin' around this old town for way too long
(Hangin' around)

We spent all day gettin' sober
Just hiding from daylight, watchin' TV
(Fadin' away)
We just look a lot better in the blue light
You know I gotta get out
But I'm stuck so tight
Weighed by the chains that keep me

Hangin' around this town on a corner
(Hangin' around)
I been bummin' around this old town to long
(Hangin' around)
I been hangin' around this town on a corner
I been bummin' around
(Hangin' around)
This old town for way too long
Well everybody trip

{Now you don't notice this corner come and join us
(incomprehensible] up a little)

This girl listens to the band play
She says where have you been
I been lyin' right here on the floor
(Right here on the floor)
Well I got all this time to be waitin'
For what is mine to be
Hated what I am
After the light has faded

Hangin' around this town on a corner
I been bummin' around this old town so long
(Long)
I been hanging around this town on a corner
(Long)
I been bummin' around
(Long)
This old town for way too long

(Long)
I've been hanging around this town on a corner
(Long)
I've been bummin' around this old town for way too long
(Long)
I've been hanging around this town on a corner
I've been bummin' around
(Long)
This old town for way, way, way, way, way too long

Way way way, way too long
(Long)
Way, way, way, way too long
(Long)
Way, way, way, way too long
(Long)
Way, way, way, way too long
(Long)
Way, way, way, way too long
(Long)
Way, way, way, way too long
(Long)


2. MRS. POTTER'S LULLABY

Well, I woke up in mid-afternoon 'cause that's when it all hurts the most
I dream I never know anyone at the party and I'm always the host
If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts
You can never escape, you can only move south down the coast

Well, I am an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame
I am an acrobat swinging trapezes through circles of flame
If you've never stared off into the distance, then your life is a shame
And though I'll never forget your face
Sometimes I can't remember my name

Hey Mrs. Potter, don't cry
Hey Mrs. Potter, I know why but
Hey Mrs. Potter, won't you talk to me?

Well, there's a piece of Maria in every song that I sing
And the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings
And there is always one last light to turn out and one last bell to ring
And the last one out of the circus has to lock up everything

Or the elephants will get out and forget to remember what you said
And the ghosts of the tilt-a-whirl will linger inside of your head
And the ferris wheel junkies will spin there forever instead
When I see you, a blanket of stars covers me in my bed

Hey Mrs. Potter, don't go
I said, hey Mrs. Potter, I don't know but
Hey Mrs. Potter, won't you talk to me?

All the blue light reflections that color my mind when I sleep
And the lovesick rejections that accompany the company I keep
All the razor perceptions that cut just a little too deep
Hey, I can bleed as well as anyone
But I need someone to help me sleep

And so I throw my hand into the air and it swims in the beams
It's just a brief interruption of the swirling dust sparkle jet stream
Well, I know I don't know you and you're probably not what you seem
But I'd sure like to find out
So why don't you climb down off that movie screen

Hey Mrs. Potter, don't turn
Hey Mrs. Potter, I burn for you
Hey Mrs. Potter, won't you talk to me?

When the last king of Hollywood shatters his glass on the floor
And orders another, well, I wonder what he did that for
That's when I know that I have to get out 'cause I have been there before
So I gave up my seat at the bar and I head for the door

We drove out to the desert just to lie down beneath this bowl of stars
We stand up in the palace like it's the last of the great pioneer town bars
We shout out these songs against the clang of electric guitars

You can see a million miles tonight
But you can't get very far
Oh, you can see a million miles tonight
But you can't get very far

Hey Mrs. Potter, I won't touch you
Hey Mrs. Potter, it's not much but
Hey Mrs. Potter, won't you talk to me?

Hey Mrs. Potter, won't you talk to me?
Hey Mrs. Potter, won't you talk to me?


3. AMY HIT THE ATMOSPHERE

If I could make it rain today
And wash away this sunny day down to the gutter
I would just to get a change of pace
Things are getting worse, but I feel a lot better
And that's all that really matters to me

Well, amy hit the atmosphere
Caught herself a rocket ride out of this gutter
And she's never coming back I fear
Anytime it rains she just feels a lot better
And that's all that really matters to me

We've waited so long
For someone to take us back home
It just takes so long
Meanwhile all the days go drifting away
And some of us sink like a stone
Waiting for mothers to come

There has to be a change I'm sure
Today was just a day fading into another
And that can't be what a life is for
And anything she said well she feels a lot better
And that's all that really matters to me

We've waited so long
For someone to take us back home
It just takes so long
Meanwhile all the days go drifting away
And some of us sink like a stone
Waiting for mothers to come

And all I really know is I wanna know
And all I really know is I don't wanna know (x6)


4. FOUR DAYS

All I want is something good
It gets harder every time
She is leaving here tonight
Take a breath, take your time
Spread your wings and rise

Make a mark upon the wall
Paint your face and pass the time
Close your eyes and she ascends
Hold your breath, ease your mind
Forty thousand times

Time fade into the night
They descend and then they climb
Feathers falling through the night
Have you seen Ohio rise?
It has been four days and nights

All I want is something fine
It gets harder every time
She is sleeping far away
Take a breath, take your time
Spread your wings and rise

Rise through the black Ohio sky
They descend and then they climb
Feathers falling through the night
Have you seen Ohio rise?
It has been four days and nights, nights


5. ALL MY FRIENDS

Thought I might get a rocket ride
When I was a child but it was a lie
That I told myself when I needed something good
17 had a better dream now I'm 33 and it isn't me
But I'd think of something better if I could

All my friends and lovers leave me behind
And I'm still looking for a girl
One way or another, I'm just hoping to find a way
To put my feet out in the world

Caught some grief from a falling leaf
As she tumbled down to the dirty ground
Said I should've put her back there if I could
But everyone needs a better day
And I'm trying to find me a better way
To get from the things I do to the things I should

All my friends and lovers leave me alone
To try to have a little fun
One way or another, I just wish I had known
To go out walking in the sun
Find out if you were the one

Do you wanna come a little closer now?
Do you wanna dance with me?
Do you wanna hum a little harder now?

Can you see her waiting there?
Can you see her? 'Cause I'm almost there
Can you see her waiting there for someone like me?

All you want is a beauty queen but not a superstar
But everybody's dream machine
All you want is a place to lay your head
You go to sleep dreaming how you would
Be a different kind if you thought you could
But you come awake the way you are instead

All my friends and lovers shine like the sun
I just turn and walk away
One way or another, I'm not coming undone
I'm just waiting for the day

Oh, all my friends
Oh, all my friends


6. HIGH LIFE

All my friends got flowers in their eyes
But I got none this season
All of the last ten years' blooms have gone and died
Time doesn't give a reason

Well hey baby, do you ask yourself sometimes
What you need to be forgiven?
Everything that you've ever done wrong
Is the reason that I'm driven straight to you

Waiting here for you, wanting to tell you
How I get my ends and my beginnings mixed up too
Just the way you do, I thought if I told you
You might want to stay for just another day or two

It's just like answers
That come in small packages
That go in the mail

Waiting for the trains that just never come
Beginning to believe in
The disappearing nature of the people we have been
We have begun to change

Into the worst kind of people, so unkind
Oh apologies, no apologies, this apology
Doesn't describe the way it feels to feel for you

Waiting here for you, wanting to tell you
How I find myself slowly disappearing too
Just the way you do, I thought if I told you
You might want to help me to remain with you

I just wanna stay for a little while
I wanna stay for a little while

Well come on, now come on, now come, now come on
'Cause there's a night life falling down on me
I just feel like a change
Beneath the sun in the summer a sea of flowers won't bloom
Without the rain

But oh, this desert life, this high life
Here at the dying of the day
I wasn't made for this scene, baby, I was made in this scene
Baby, it's just my way

I don't want to go home alone
I wanna come on home to you

Waiting here for you, wanting to tell you
How I line my sky with all the silver I can use
Just the way you do, I thought if I told you
You might want to stay for just another day or two

Isn't that just like disappearing into the sum of yourself
And the person you are disappearing into
It's like one plus one equals nothing at all
One plus two equals nothing at all, one plus me equals nothing at all
One plus you equals one plus you equals you and you and you and you
And nothing at all,
Nothing at all...


7. COLORBLIND

I am colorblind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready, I am ready
I am ready

I am taffy stuck and tongue tied
Stutter shook and uptight
Pull me out from inside
I am ready, I am ready
I am ready, I am fine

I am covered in skin
No one gets to come in
Pull me out from inside
I am folded and unfolded and unfolding
I am colorblind

Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready, I am ready
I am ready, I am fine
I am fine, I am fine


8. I WISH I WAS A GIRL

The devil's in the dreamin'
He tells you I'm not sleepin' in my hotel room alone
With nothing to believe in you dive into the traffic rising up
And it's so quiet, you're surprised and then you wake

For all the things you're losing
You might as well resign yourself to try and make a change
And I'm going down to Hollywood
They're gonna make a movie from the things
That they find crawling round my brain

I wish I was a girl so that you could believe me
And I could shake this static every time I try to sleep
I wish for all the world that I could say
Hey, Elizabeth, you know I'm doing all right these days

The devil's in the dreamin', you see yourself descending
From the building to the ground
And you watch the sky receding and you spin to see the traffic
Rising up and it's so quiet and you're surprised and then you wake

For all the things I'm losing
I might as well resign myself to try and make a change
And I'm going down to Hollywood
They're gonna make a movie from the things
That they find crawling round my brain

I wish I was a girl so that you could believe me
And I could shake this static every time I try to sleep
I wish for all the world, that I could say
Hey, Elizabeth, you know I'm doing all right these days

And one of these dreams you forgive me
It makes me think of the bad decisions
That keep you at home
How could anyone else have changed

But these are wrong conclusions that leave you alone
How could everyone rearrange
How could everyone else have changed
What I see I believe

For all the things I'm losing
I might as well resign myself to try and make a change
And I'm going down to Hollywood
They're gonna make a movie from the things
That they find crawling round my brain

I wish I was a girl so that you could believe me
And I could shake this static every time I try to sleep
I wish for all the world that I could say
Hey, Elizabeth, you know I'm doing all right these days

Well I can't sleep at night (x4)


9. SPEEDWAY

I get so nervous, I'm shaking
It's so I got no pride at all
It gets so bad but I just keep coming back for more
Guess I just get off on that stuff

I'm thinkin' 'bout taking some time
Thinkin' about leavin soon

I got some things I can't tell anyone
I got some things I just can't say
There the kinda things that no one knows about
Just need somebody to talk to me

I'm thinkin' about leaving tomorrow
Thinkin' about being on my own
I think I've been wasting my time
Thinkin' about getting out
Thinkin' about getting out

In all this time, the bottom line
You don't know how much I feel
You say you see but I don't agree
Don't know, don't know how I feel

Just trying to get myself some gravity
Your just trying to get me to stay
Sometimes I sit here looking down upon Los Angeles
Sometimes I'm floating away

Thinkin' about breaking myself
Thinkin' about getting back home
Think I've been waiting way to long
Thinkin' bout getting out
Thinkin 'bout getting out
Thinkin 'bout getting out


10. ST. ROBINSON IN HIS CADILLAC DREAM

Staring out of his window as the world rushes by
Arthur Robinson closes the glass and replies,
"I dream of Ballerinas and I don't know why
But I see Cadillac's sailing

I was born on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay
But Maryland and Virginia have faded away
And I keep thinking tomorrow is coming today
So I am endlessly waiting

And the comet is coming between
Me and the girl who could make it all clean
Out there in the shadow of the modern machine
Walks St. Robinson in his Cadillac dream.

Carrie's down in her basement all toe shoes and twinned
With the girl in the mirror who spins when she spins
From where you think you'll end up to the state that you're in
Your reflection approaches and then recedes again

And the comet is coming between
Me and the girl who could make it all clean
Out there in the shadow of the modern machine
Walks St. Robinson in his Cadillac dream.

I have dreamed of a black car that shimmers and drives
Down the length of the evening to the carnival side
In a house where regret is a carousel ride
We are spinning and spinning and spinning and now...

There's a hole in the ceiling down through which I fell
There's a girl in a basement coming out of her shell
And there are people who will say that they knew me so well'
I may not go to heaven
I hope you go to hell

And the comet is coming between
Me and the girl who could make it all clean
Out there in the shadow of the modern machine
Walks St. Robinson in his Cadillac dream.


11. KID THINGS (CACHÉE)

What's there that makes you want to be lonely?
What's there to keep you sitting at home?
He'd always say no, no, no
As if he wanted you to be hungry

Well, the same things you're missing
Could get you into something else
Better leave when to stay
Is only nothing but being alone

What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
Kid things seemed like nothing at all
But kid things make it better than it was

Hey, what you got that makes you want to be lonely?
Hey, what you got that makes it a better way to be?
She said no, no, no
I can't get any love and it's a Sunday

I said oh, yeah
What makes you think I wanted it that way?
'Cause one or two more smiles from you
And I don't need anything else

What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids
We spend all night on the phone
It's a kid thing
But I sleep better when I'm not alone

What I want right now is just some more
Gimme more, hey what you think
Is you're not getting any younger
What I know is that you're not really very old

I know you wanna say no, no, no
It feels much better in the summer
Well, if it isn't warm where you're sittin'
Then kitten come on in out of the cold
'Cause all I know is when I'm with you
Well, I don't need anything else

What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
And kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids
We spend all night on the phone
It's a kid thing
So I sleep better when I'm not alone

Kid things seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids, just like driving a car
It's a kid thing and the further out
The closer in you are

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