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Bright Eyes lyrics
Album: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning [2005]
| At the Bottom of Everything | |
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"At The Bottom Of Everything"
(feat. Jim James)
So there was this woman and she was on an airplane,
and she was flying to meet her fiancé seaming high
above the largest ocean on planet earth.
She was seated next to this man she had tried to start conversations,
but the only thing she had really heard him say was to order
his Bloody Mary.
She was sitting there and she was reading this really arduous
magazine article about a third world country that she couldn’t
even pronounce the name of.
And she was feeling very bored and despondent.
And then suddenly there was this huge mechanical failure and one
of the engines gave out,
and they started just falling thirty-thousand feet,
and the pilots on the microphone and he’s saying
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, oh my god” and apologizing.
And she looks at the man and says
“Where are we going?” and he looks at her and he says
“We’re going to a party. It’s a birthday party.
It’s your birthday party. Happy birthday darling.
We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much.”
And then he starts humming this little tune,
it kind of goes like this: 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4
We must talk in every telephone
Get eaten off the web
We must rip out all the epilogues in the books that we have read
And in the face of every criminal
Strapped firmly to a chair
We must stare, we must stare, we must stare
We must take all of the medicines too expensive now to sell
Set fire to the preacher who is promising us hell
And in the ear of every anarchist that sleeps but doesn’t dream
We must sing, we must sing, we must sing
It’ll go like this:
While my mother waters plants
My father loads his guns
He says death will give us back to god
Just like this setting sun is returned to this lonesome ocean
And then they splashed into the deep blue sea
It was a wonderful splash
We must blend into the choir
Sing as static with the whole
We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul
And in this endless race for property and privilege to be one
We must run, we must run, we must run
We must hang up in the belfry
Where the bats and moonlight laugh
We must stare into a crystal ball and only see the past
And in the caverns of tomorrow
With just our flashlights and our love
We must plunge, we must plunge, we must plunge
And then we’ll get down there to the very bottom of everything
And we’ll see it, we’ll see it, we’ll see it
Oh my mornings coming back
The whole world’s waking up
In the city buses are swimming past
I’m happy just because
I found out I’m really no one
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| We Are Nowhere and It's Now | |
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(feat. Emmylou Harris)
If you hate the taste of wine
Why do you drink it until youre blind?
And if you swear that theres no truth and who cares
How come you say it like youre right?
Why are you scared to dream of god
When its salvation that you want?
You see stars that clear have been dead for years
But the idea just lives on
In our wheels that roll around
As we move over the ground
And all day it seems weve been in between the past and future town
We are nowhere, and its now
We are nowhere, and its now
You took a ten-minute dream in the passengers seat
While the world it was flying by
I havent been gone very long
But it feels like a lifetime
Ive been sleeping so strange at night
Side effects they dont advertise
Ive been sleeping so strange
With a head full of pesticide
I got no plans and too much time
I feel to restless to unwind
Im always lost in thought
As I walk a block to my favourite neon sign
Where the waitress looks concerned
But she never says a word
Just turns the jukebox on
And we hum along
And I smile back at her
And my friend comes after work
When the features start to blur
She says these bars are filled with things that kill
And you probably should have learned
Did you forget that yellow bird?
How could you forget that yellow bird?
She took a small silver wreathe and pinned it onto me
She said this one will bring you love
I dont know if its true but I keep it for good luck
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| Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) | |
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(feat. Emmylou Harris)
Gray light, new day leaks through the window
And an old song comes on the alarm clock radio
We walk the forty blocks to the middle
Of the place we heard that everything would be
And there were barricades to keep us off the street
But the crowd kept pushing forward
Until they swallowed the police
Ya they went wild
We left before the dust had time to settle
Now all the broken glass swept off the avenue
And on the way home held your camera like a bible
Just wishing so bad that it held some kind of truth
And I stood nervous next to you in the dark room
You dropped the paper in the water
And it all begins to bloom
Ya they go wild
And just when I get so lonesome I cant speak
I see some flowers on the hillside
Like a wall of new TVs
Ya they go wild
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| Lua | |
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"Lua"
I know that it is freezing but I think we have to walk
I keep waving at the taxis; they keep turning their lights off
But Julie knows a party at some actors west side loft
Supplies are endless in the evening; by the morning theyll be gone.
When everything gets lonely I can be my own best friend
Ill grab a coffee and the paper; have my own conversations
With the sidewalk and the pigeons and my window reflection
The mask I polish in the evening, by the morning looks like shit.
I know you have a heavy heart; I can feel it when we kiss
So many men much stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to lift it
But me Im not gamble you can count on me to split
The love I sell you in the evening, by the morning wont exist.
Youre looking skinny like a model with your eyes all painted black
You just keep going to the bathroom always say youll be right back
Well it takes one to know one, kid, I think youve got it bad
But whats so easy in the evening, by the morning is such a drag.
Ive got a flask inside my pocket we can share it on the train
If you promise to stay conscious I will try and do the same
We might die from medication, but we sure killed all the pain
But what was normally in the evening, by the morning seems insane.
And Im not sure what the trouble was that started all of this
The reasons have run away but the feeling never did
Its not something I would recommend, but it is one way to live
Cause what is simple in the moonlight, by the morning never is
Whats so simple in the moonlight, by the morning is so complicated.
Whats so simple in the moonlight, so simple in the moonlight
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| Train Under Water | |
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"Train Under Water"
You were born inside of a raindrop
I watched you falling to your death
And the sun, well it could not save you
It had fallen down too, now the streets are wet
Body of water
Toxic and timeless
Atlantic ocean
New York skyline
I always get lost
When I leave the village
So I couldn’t come meet you
In Brooklyn last night
But I sing glory from my lowest
And I will say peace to the people I meet
While the world waits for an explosion
That instant of life
That wipes the slate clean
So don’t be fooled
So don't be lied to
Love was always cruel
And don’t act strange
Don’t be a stranger
It happened to me, now it’s happening to you
But if you take that train under water then we could talk it through
Well if I could tame
All of my desires
Wait out the weather that howls in my brain
Because it seems
That it’s always changing
The winds indecision
The sorrowful rain
I was a postcard
I was a record
I was a camera
Until I went blind
Now I’m riding
All over this island
Looking for something
To open my eyes
We still sing glory from a high rise
And I will say thanks if you're pouring my drinks
While the world waits for an explosion
That moment in time, when we are set free
So don’t stay mad
Just let some time pass
And in the morning you’ll wake feeling new
And if I don’t come back
I mean if I get side tracked
It’s only because I wanted to
I’m keeping up with the moon on an all night avenue
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| First Day of My Life | |
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"First Day Of My Life"
This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed
Their spreading blankets on the beach
Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
Now I don’t know where I am
I don’t know where I’ve been
But I know where I want to go
And so I thought I’d let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow
But I realize that I need you
And I wondered if I could come home
Remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning
And I thought it was strange you said everything changed
You felt as if you had just woke up
And you said “this is the first day of my life
I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you
But now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you
And I’d probably be happy”
So if you want to be with me
With these things there’s no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I’d rather be working for a paycheck
Then waiting to win the lottery
Besides maybe this time is different
I mean I really think you like me
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| Another Travelin' Song | |
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"Another Travelin' Song"
Well Im changing all my strings
Im gonna write another traveling song
About all the billion highways and the cities at the break of dawn
Well I guess the best that I can do now is pretend Ive done nothing wrong
And dream of a train thats going to take me back where I belong
The ocean speaks and spits and I can hear it from the interstate
Im screaming at my bother on my cell phone hes far away
Im saying nothing in the past or future will feel like today
Until were parking in the alley
Just hoping that our shit is safe
So I go back and forth forever
All my thoughts they come in pairs
Oh I will write home my darling again
Im not surprised but I never feel quite prepared
Now Im hunched over a typewriter
I guess you call that painting in a cave
And theres a word I cant remember
And a feeling I cannot escape
And now my ashtrays overflowing
Im still starting at a clean white page
Oh and mornings at my window
She is sending me to bed again
Well I dream of dark on the horizon
I dream of desert where the dead lay down
I dream a prostitute, a child touching an old man in a fast food crowd
I dreamt a ship was sinking
There was people screaming all around
And I awoke to my alarm clock
It was a pop song it was playing loud
So I must find my fears and face them
Or Ill cower like a dog
Ill kick and scream or kneel and bleed
Ill fight like hell to hide that Im giving up
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| Land Locked Blues | |
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"Landlocked Blues"
(feat. Emmylou Harris)
If you walk away, I'll walk away
First tell me which road you will take
I don't want to risk our paths crossing some day
So you walk that way, I'll walk this way
And the future hangs over our heads
And it moves with each current event
Until it falls all around like a cold steady rain
Just stay in when it's looking this way
And the moon's laying low in the sky
Forcing everything metal to shine
And the sidewalk holds diamonds like the jewelry store case
They argue walk this way, now walk this way
And Laura's asleep in my bed
As I'm leaving she wakes up and says
“I dreamed you were carried away on the crest of a wave
Baby don't go away, come here
And there's kids playing guns in the street
And ones pointing his tree branch at me
So I put my hands up I say “enough is enough,
If you walk away, I'll walk away
And he shot me dead
I found a liquid cure
From my landlocked blues
It'll pass away like a slow parade
It's leaving but I don't know how soon
And the world's got me dizzy again
You think after 22 years I'd be used to the spin
And it only feels worse when I stay in one place
So I'm always pacing around or walking away
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And I'm balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away
A good woman will pick you apart
A box full of suggestions for your possible heart
But you may be offended and you may be afraid
But don't walk away, don't walk away
We made love on the living room floor
With the noise in background of a televised war
And in the deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say
“If we walk away, they'll walk away
But greed is a bottomless pit
And our freedom's a joke
We're just taking a piss
And the whole world must watch the sad comic display
If you're still free start running away
Cause we're coming for you!
I've grown tired of holding this post
I feel more like a stranger each time I come home
So I'm making a deal with the devils of faith
Saying “let me walk away, please
You'll be free child once you have died
From the shackles of language and immeasurable time
And then we can trade places, play musical grace
Till then walk away, walk away
So I'm up at dawn
Putting on my shoes
I just want to make a clean escape
I'm leaving but I don't know where to
I know I'm leaving but I don't know where to
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| Poison Oak | |
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"Poison Oak"
Poison oak some boyhood bravery
When a telephone was a tin can on a string
And I fell asleep with you still talking to me
You said you were afraid to die
In Polaroid's you were dressed in women's clothes
Where you made ashamed, why'd you lock them in a drawer?
I don't think that I ever loved you more
Then when you turned away
When you slammed the door
When you stole the car
And drove towards Mexico
And you wrote bad checks
Just to fill your arm
I was young enough, I still believed in war
Let the poets cry themselves to sleep
And all their tearful words will turn back into steam
But me I'm a single cell
On a serpents tongue
There's a mighty field where a garden was
And I'm glad you got away
But I'm still stuck out here
My clothes are soaking wet
From your brothers tears
And I never thought this life was possible
You're the yellow bird that I've been waiting for
The end of the paralysis
I was a statuette
Now I'm drunk as hell on a piano bench
And when I press the keys
It all gets reversed
The sound of loneliness makes me happier
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| Road to Joy | |
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The sun came up with no conclusion
It's flower's sleeping in their beds
The cities cemetary humming
"I'm wide awake, it's morning!"
I have my drugs, I have my woman-they keep away my lonliness
My parents, they have their religiong, but sleep in seperate houses
I read the body count out of the paper and now it's written all over my face
No one ever plans to sleep out in the gutter-sometimes that's just the most comfortable place
So I'm drinking, breathing, writing, singing
Everyday I'm on the clock
My mind races with all my longings but can't keep up with what I've got
I hope I dont sound too ungreatful but history gave modern men-
a telephone to talk to strangers, machine guns and a camera lens
So when you're asked to fight a war that's over nothing, it's best to join the side that's gonna win
And no one's sure how all of this got started
But we're gonna make them goddamn certain how it's gonna end
I could've been a famous singer if i had someone else's voice
But failures always sounded better
Lets fuck it up boys
Make some noise!
The sun came up with no conclusion
It's flower's sleeping in their beds
The cities cemetary humming
"I'm wide awake, it's morning!"
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