Soul Asylum : Hang Time

Grunge / USA
(1988 - A and M Records)
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Lyrics


1. DOWN ON UP TO ME

Dear stranger to authority
Welcome to the minority
It's not someplace you have to go
It's not something you have to know

Don't do this, don't touch that, hey
Draw the line, burn this down, I'll speak my mind
Maybe I'll wait for another time

Sometimes good comes to those who wait
Sometimes it makes you hesitate
Some folks fight for humanity
Some folks fight for their sanity

Don't do this, don't do that, don't try this, don't touch that, hey
Do it for the last time
By the weight of the world coming down

Down on, down on up to me
Down on up to me, wait for another time

When you look down on me I get so uppity, hey
Starting my own army, just me and my friends
Said you better get ready

(Ha, ha, ha)

Coming down, down on, down on up to me, down on up to me
Coming down, down on, down on up to me
Down on up to—

Though it might just come down to trust
It sometimes just comes down to lust
That's just one person's point of view


2. LITTLE TOO CLEAN

Thought I heard you screaming
And pulling out your hair
Furious and steaming
A stain upon your stairs

Don't you know dirt will find you and
Dirt reminds you that dirt will always be there
It's only dirt around you and dirt surrounds you
It follows you everywhere

Here's a dirty joke, man, filled with filth and smut
The heart of it, it sparkles the more it can corrupt

Don't you know
Dirt can't hurt you
I'm truly certain
Usually washes out

Don't you know rain
Will wash out the stain
And all of your pain
Will work itself out

Work it out

'Fraid you've lost your innocence to some-odd social scene
You're right on top but you've been replaced by a shiny new machine
And dirt keeps following you and you don't know what it means

You're a little too clean
A little too clean
A little too clean

One day dirt will bury you and you will understand
There is nothing much more than the ground on which you stand

Don't you know
Dirt will find you and
Dirt reminds you that
Dirt will always be there

It's only
Dirt around you and
Dirt surrounds you
It follows you everywhere

(Everywhere)

'Fraid you've lost your innocence to some-odd social scene
You're right on top, but you've been replaced by a shiny new machine
And dirt keeps following you and you don't know what it means

You're a little too clean
A little too clean
A little too clean

Well, my insect
I got a solid gold royalty
A little too? little too scared


3. SOMETIME TO RETURN

[Well] I ran my way
I walked a fine line
Wasted time only to find
That you were calling, I think, my name
To remind me I am fine

What you are is what you see
And you see me and we can be
Something you can call we
We are, we are

Doing what we can
Working without a plan
I'm beginning to understand
It's getting out of hand

I have seen these closing doors
I've woke up on this floor before
Picked it apart for hours and hours, and hours and hours
Of turning, tossing, and looking and listening
To you and all the fucked up things you do

But you're doing the best you can
With every grain of sand
Just trickling through your hand
Can't catch me if you can

If someday comes early
Comes whipping, comes whirling
To take you for all you have learned
The tables are turning
Your bridges are burning
My destination's sometime to return

Throw away your calendar
And saddle up your salamander
Get up and get down
Ride into town and look around

Get up and do something
Your time to choose it
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it

Doing the best I can (I can)
With or without a plan (a plan)
I'm taking what I can get
I haven't seen nothing yet

If one day you wake up and find what you make up
Come and get me, come and take me there

Into your illusion I make my intrusion
Anytime, anyplace, anywhere

The hourglass is draining fast
It knows no future, holds no past
And all this too will come to pass
Never, forever, whatever

If someday comes early
Comes whipping, comes whirling
To take you for all you have learned
The tables are turning
Your bridges are burning
My destination's sometime to return

Sometime to return (×3)


4. CARTOON

Now everybody's looking after me
If I'm dragging by some coat tail, I can't see, it's too dark
But I've got to know what's got the best of me

When the circus that you left goes on parade
In those bleacher seats of fire in your charades, it's too far
But I'm feeling like I don't dare look away

Don't look away

Did it almost make you feel that something's gotta happen soon?
When you wake up feeling lost in your own room

If you're crying in your beer you're gonna drown
If you think we'll rise above, you better look around, you'll see
It's a mountain made of sand crumbling under me

Maybe I'm chasing shadows on your wall
They loom so large but make me feel so small somehow
When you're chasing your own tail, spinning your own wheels

Dan: On a night when the wolves were all silent, and the moon howled
Dave: And I tried to leave, and I tried to stay, tried everything, tried looking away (×2)

Did it almost make you feel that something's gotta happen soon?
You're in the movies now and I'm in your cartoon

There's a ringing in my ear that's heaven-sent
There's a beast out on the ruins
Some broken down lover's lament
It goes on and on but it won't go away


5. BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS

Right before the aftermath, I saw where it would end
They said it was an accident, I guess that all depends
On who you talk to and who you know
And where you come from and where… where you go (where you go)

In your crowd of pushers and users
Takers and losers
Beggars and— beggars and—
Beggars and choosers

Your childhood days are over as you stuff your shirt and say
"Made a choice and wrong or right, it's this way I will stay"
You'll sell it to your children, you'll sell it to your wife
Buying is your business, and selling, it's your life

It's your life

In your crowd of pushers and users
Takers and losers
Beggars and— beggars and—
Beggars and choosers

The vultures are all circling around your window now
Scavengers, evangalists will get to you somehow
Your mother and your ex-best friend, letters that you never send
Your illegitimate children are coming for you now

They're always tracking you down, it's looking like a showdown
Between revenge and the ends you can't defend

Can you try to imagine, a story that has no end?
I think you'd better steal it while you still understand it
Sell it to one of your friends


6. ENDLESS FAREWELL

Rise and shine, get your razor sharp
Size up yourself in the mirror
A slice of life
To last through all the years

'Cause sooner or later
It all comes back to you
And we will remember
The fine things you can do

I'm giving back all the things that you gave to me
I'm saving up the price to pay the decree
Remember the first time you saw the rising sun
You may be done but I've just begun

The leaves are burning and the ashes have blown away
I'm turning over new leaves almost every day

You let him think you'd just as soon stay
Let him think you had nothing to say
Now you want him to just let you go away

To find some fangled security
Some strangled form of purity
To restore your faith
In all the things you've come to hate

You give and you take
And you leave, leave it alone
What I want so badly:
For this to be a place you can call home

And I haven't felt this way
Since yesterday, but I don't remember when
What I want so badly:
To be someone you can call a friend

'Til we meet again

Endless farewell
Hello, hello, hello again
Endless farewell
Hello, hello, hello again
Endless farewell
Hello, hello, hello again


7. STANDING IN THE DOORWAY

Standing in the doorway
Wonderin' if it's safe to go outside
Wonderin' if I'll come back
Wonderin' if I might just drift out with the rising tide

Sitting and waiting and hoping to find
Something you're good at to use up your time
To crawl from the ocean and lie on the shore
A moonbeam that rests on the dust on your floor

I'm not going out there
Don't try to tell me I'm paranoid
Wouldn't say I'm not scared
Though it may be safe to say that I am annoyed
In the intersection traffic lights are red in all directions

Everyone breaks the law sometimes
We all break down have foolish pride and beg for some affection
I can't say I know how you feel everyone seems to know
How you should, I would if I could help you remember
What it's like to feel good

Chitter and chatter and everything matters
I ask how you're feeling
And you just act shattered
Asleep on the couch with your eyes open wide

Standing in the doorway
Waiting as you come and as you leave
You say get out of my way
Won't you stop and talk about the hectic life you lead
They're all going somewhere
They all have some place they have to be
Maybe I should join them
I wish I could I think I have to stay here with me
It brings a tear to your eye to get out into the open
I can't believe I see myself
Coming into focus


8. MARIONETTE

Marionette I haven't met you yet
I hear you're good I hear you're made out of wood
Not quite as blind as you might think she'd be
Her roots are deep, they run as deep as a tree

And they cut off your wings and replaced them with strings
Now the strings attach to everything
It's twisted and tangled and troubled with anger
But somehow you still swing

Tried all my tricks I tried to steal a kiss
Splinters and slivers stuck all over my lips
She thinks she must be doing something wrong
Hair-pullin' strings and then they string you along

And they cut off your wings and replaced them with strings
Now the strings attach to everything
It's twisted and tangled but I've got an angle
On just what makes you swing
Hanging by a string

She is wearing thin

She's up to workin' sometimes fours a day
No, the boss he makes her do things his way

So why do you think she's so scared of ya
What do you think makes her that way
When push comes to shove she'll push and shove

It doesn't always have to be this way
She's savin' up for a vacation somewhere

Why do you think she's so scared of you
What do you think makes her that way
When push comes to shove she'll push and shove ya
It's very hard work when you don't get paid

And they cut off your wings and replaced them with strings


9. ODE

Well, my friend Jud, he was a fuddy-dud
Chewed his cud, he was a stick in the mud
I swear he hated everyone

And he's bumming nickels and bumming dimes
But most of all, you know, he's just bumming time

And every day was a bad day
They walked out and on and over him
He was turning gray

Never knew love, he gave up on hope
Stayed in bed and stopped using soap, was a dirty old man
But he never said "Poor little old me"
Poor, poor

Well, one fine day won the lottery
Instant millionaire without a care
It didn't change a thing
Drove out to Reno, he lost everything at a roadside casino
You know he never made it into town
Where the bright lights trickled down
He was a ca—, ca— ca—, ca— ca— ca—, ca— ca— casualty, yeah

Well, he stewed and brewed and he ran out of food
And all he got was more lewd and crude
He was very rude
The only thing he hated worse than the city
Was charity and self-pity
He'd been around
I talked to him, that's what I found
Was a ca—, ca— ca—, ca— ca— ca—, ca— ca— casu—

Poor little ol' me
Poor poor casualty


10. JACK OF ALL TRADES

If I could be anything I wanted, I don't know
I'd be stuck here with myself, be an Average Joe
But if I could be like a Jack of all trades, yes I'd have it made

Glass blower, flamethrower, grass mower, firefighter
I'm tryin' to loose it up, or make it tighter

But a Jack of all trades master, I'm not dead, you're tired in bed
But a Jack of all trades,
There's stuff that gets made,
Wait for your lucky day

See my train and now it's gone
Rings the damned, threw the phone
He's studdering, he stalls
He hit the bottle of call
Ching chase and rat race,
And laid down and out of place,
And down the hall

Problem called (na, na)
Problem called (na, na, na)

Yes I'll try anything sometimes I just can't say no
And I'm learnin' to dig with my hands
I've learned to work with my mind
So much to lose, and so much left to find
So much to take, so much to leave behind

Yeah, I walked down, your thoughts are free, don't think of the dead but think of dignity
Picked you up by the side of your head, you were half dead
Say your prayers, and put you to to bed

At the end of the day stands a Jack of all trades, and the fool he has made
It's a Jack of all trades and the fool he has made of himself and his friend

But he'd do it again, yes he'd do it again
He's a Jack


11. TWIDDLY DEE

Twiddly dee fe fo fi fum
There's a giant sleeping and his pants are undone
He shows no pity for anyone
He's sure to be killed before the morning comes

Twiddle my fingers and I twiddle my thumbs
'Cause I ain't gonna quit 'til my work is all done
I'm a high society skid row bum
Well on my way to kingdom come

Well, I twiddle in the middle of the moon and sun
I'm wishing and dreaming I'm a special someone
Ain't laying my load on anyone
It's way too high and it weighs a ton

Do re mi fe fo fi fum
I'm a slave to the music, it's my father and son
I never force it on anyone
Can't keep it a secret so I keep it on the run

They may say what they say
'Bout the way that we stay
They may do what they do
'Bout the things that we do

Hey diddle diddle, did you spill your rum?
Ain't worried about the dumb things I've done
Ain't worried about the dumb things to come
When I smell the blood of a little bit of fun

Hey diddy hi diddy ho hi hum
Sometimes I wanna be friends with everyone
My friends tell me it can't be done
And some days I feel I don't know anyone

Now what goes up doesn't always come down
You'll never believe the things I've found
Amazing what you learn just hanging around
Can't put a square peg in a hole that's round

They may say what they say
'Bout the way that we stay
They may do what they do
'Bout the things that we do

Hey gabba hi gabba do da day
Ain't for winning or for losing it's the pleasure to play
Work all night and I sleep all day
Yes, I guess I'm lucky I can live my own way


12. HEAVY ROTATION

Order in this court you call my own
Confusion is the order I have shown

Some things don't come easy
Some things got to give
You just might have to waste your life just to live

Now did you think that I was somebody?
And did you think this was somewhere?
I will still be there
So watch out

Well, I got the right to free myself of fear
Stand over me and watch me disappear
You're sent to the death to be in another mess
To keep your mind, to keep them in
I don't know where they're meeting to pretend

Well, I am the one that soaks it up
Well, I am the one that takes a punch
And I am, I am, I am the human sponge

Could I be so serious, or am I just too curious?
Just afraid to look away for missing something you might say

'Cause you've got so much I can't follow
One more debt I can't repay
Tomorrow brings just one more chance to throw it all away
I'm just trying to live with today
And I'm just trying to live with the way
The way I am?

I am (×9)


BONUSTRACK VERSION GER


13. PUT THE BONE

Put the bone in she yelled at the store (yeah)
'Cause my doggie's been hit by a car (by a car)
And I do want to bring him home something
Put the bone in she yelled out once more (whoo hoo)

Because the meat from the pork is so sweet (you tell him)
Give the bone from the pork meat to me (can you help me down here)
Put the bone in she begged him as she paced across the floor
Put the bone in she yelled out once more

Everybody sing? (okay)

Everybody:
Put the bone in she yelled at the store
Cause my doggie's been hit by a car
And I do want to bring him home something
Put the bone in she yelled out once more

(Huh) Put the bone in she yelled at the store
Cause my doggie's been hit by a car
And I do want to bring him home something
Put the bone in she yelled out once more

Put the bone in (Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww)
she yelled at the store
Cause my doggie's been hit by a car
And I do want to bring him home something
Put the bone in she yelled out once more

Put the bone in she yelled at the store (yee haw)
Cause my doggie's been hit by a car
And I do want to bring him home something
Put the bone in she yelled out once more?



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