1. |
Opening Act
05:43
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Let's take it from the start
Before we cut to the chase
After a dozen rewrites
The words can leave the page
It's comedy tonight
So send in the clowns
It's too late to hide
Away from the crowd
Lights on the stage
Let's take it from the start
Before we get to our hits
It should get loud at times
But there's always plenty of pretty riffs
We may be a bit cynical
But we're not that sore
We won't get political
That's just a bore
And it could make you sick
Let's take it from the start
And travel way back
First you buy your guitar
Then some years later you make new friends
With spare parts and pieces
Screws and bolts
You make music that pierces
Right through the soul
And maybe pays the rent
Let's take it from the start
Let's start another take
We've got to get it real perfect
Before we open on The Great White Way
We've already done
A thousand tryouts
In our very home
Where we took a few bows
And passed out backstage
Hello mom and dad
All girls I'm yet to bed
Here's our opening act
Here's our opening act
Now there's no going back
Now there's no going back
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2. |
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I looked up I looked down
From the top of the stairs
I looked east I looked west
Underneath all the chairs
Never invited these creatures
Into my home
They never helped with the rent
So now they're all gone
So if you press your ear
Way down to the ground
You'll find that bugs
Are nowhere to be found
I don't like the high-ceiling
I don't care for these lights
And from window to window
All the stuff I can't buy
These kids hanging around
They make me feel old
I cannot walk bare-feet
Or my feet will get cold
So my favorite place
To bulldoze wall to wall
Is that one place
Also known as the mall
Me I can't complain
I'm assuming you've got out of city plates
I don't mind the rain
With an umbrella and raincoat that's easy to say
Won't the world please somehow
Start spinning upside down
There are things I don't mind
There are those I can't stand
Not the girl with green eyes
But her stupid boyfriend
I'll run over this bloke
With my classic car
And alone will elope
Pretty bold but bizarre
And the songs that I like
Will be none but my own
They'll be easy to write
And will not take too long
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3. |
Nouvelle Vague
04:09
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It seems that you're awful smart
You know your books and your art
We're quite impressed, very well done
A handsome drunk in the snow
Now it's out with the old
Paris nous appartient !
For what it's worth comes a time
To star the strangest people
Some of us can't wait in line
And never make a ripple
Her hair was pure art-deco
Her life told in twelve tableaux
Stolen moments in the dark
Hiding away from the law
Bogey betrayed by Bacall
Not very gentle of her part
I never thought I'd join the line
Behind so many people
I thought that I would be alright
If I just learned to whistle
Ain't that smart ?
A shining star who's lost the plot
Then jump-cut to oblivion
A long continuous tracking shot
Of a parked abandoned limo
I looked behind my back
Slowly breathed in a bag
And found out I was on my own
You drink it straight from the bottle
The easiest way to swallow
The daily boredom you take home
I jumped off of a dream
When my high school bell screamed
And counted all four hundred blows
Now that's the full extension
Of my higher education
Stolen kisses in a foreign tongue
I met the boys in the band
And got as high as a steeple
I sketched a briliant masterplan
Then tossed it out the window
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4. |
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Woke up and thought about last night
It was such a crying shame
Must I really go outside
If so I better wear my shades
Don't want to know what is the hour
Don't think I want to get out of bed
But I'd better take a shower
And wash that girl right off my hair
Had to go down to the grocery
I could see them all staring at me
Saying "How could you fuck it up?
Just don't go blaming lady luck"
Well, I just had to laugh
Must I get used to that?
Not even in my lies
Have I got a place to hide
I thought about us all the time
I could picture our golden days
That went on until last night
When she had to put me in my place
At the service station I was told
"Man you should always take it slow
Why not resign to your fate
At best you're an acquired taste
Well, I just had to laugh
I'm getting used to that
Now not even in my mind
Do I have a place to hide
Throughout my town
In every damn street
Everyone I know
Everyone I meet
Knows the whole story
Will they speak of it
Is that embarassing
Well, a little bit
But I was ill-advised
By a little kid
Yeah, I was in the clouds
I must admit
Ever since I saw you
And could not resist
Ever since the beat
That my heart skipped
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5. |
The Hippodrome
04:46
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A voice in auto-tune
A high end avenue
Echo in her room
On the 44th floor
She has no time for tears
She keeps her souvenirs
In what appears to be
Her own décor
She'll scare you at hello
But she'll have you by goodbye
She knows just where to go
And what is going on tonight
She's a champion of darts
Her cellphone is too smart
Perfectly cast for her part
She's a rockstar
She's bound to break your heart
She's the top of the charts
A to-do-list in both prose and rhyme
A goodbye kiss she won't waste her time
And it feels like magic
It's unreal, it's impressive
How just being attracive
Ain't enough
The sheer adolescence
Of her beauty and presence
Her just being attractive
Ain't enough
At last appreciated
She was never overrated
For a star
His mind tied up in knots
The lonely talk a lot
He shares some of his thoughts
With the passeger seat
He's swept up by the dust
He's rattled by the rust
It's Hollywood Or Bust
On his little screen
He thinks of where he's been
And where he's meant to go
He's got a pocketful of dreams
But it's got one big hole
He's halfway there
With melodies to spare
He's the consumate infatuated fan
He'll go back to what he did back then
It feels adolescent
When it's peeled to its essence
The beauty and presence
Of a song
It feels like it's magic
It's surreal, almost tragic
It's nearly nostalgic
When it's on
The sheer adolescence
Of her beauty and presence
Her just being attractice
Is a buzz
With all the girls she's dated
She has now found the petrol for her spark
Is it all so complicated
Or is it that he isn't all that that smart
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6. |
Ancient Ruins
04:32
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An empty room that's full of memories
In the ruins of a house that I call home
Where now and again among the debris
I find the fragments of a song
And though these walls are slowly crumbling
The curtains do their best to hide
A melody that I've been humming
The music of the years gone by
What was our mansion
Is now but ancient ruins
And all that has happened
In this place is explained
When you pay for a guided tour
Long ago it was over
But still I can't get over
Loving you
So I've been carrying in my pocket
A picture of the Southern Cross
I thought I'd think of something logic
Since Lately I've been lost
Sometimes I spend the lonely nights
As though all was still the same
All I want to do is to get high
On the memory of love's refrain
Wide open spaces
Have been of no use
And old familiar places
Just give me the blues
But in what was our mansion
Among these ancient ruins
How I am happy
Listening to that tune
That echoes in the room
Let it play over and over
Cause still I'm not over
Loving you
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7. |
Seize the Day
11:55
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I'm going down to California
I'm going down to Californ-i-a
In the heat of euphoria
I'm going down to Berkeley and L.A.
I thought it best to inform ya
So I pinned a note on the front gate
With the winter's coldest warning I
Thought I should take my own spring break
So I've gone to California
Down to Venice Beach and Frisco Bay
Nothingness has turned to nausea
So I've gone to Californ-i-a
All there for the taking
Like an endless row of free mini-bars
Living to the fullest
How those pretty faces glow in the dark
Glad to be the boy who got away
Don't think that I'll be going back, hurray
And in sunny California
High on the beach partying till late
And in the San Diego morning I
Will lie on the sand and count the waves
I feel so complete
I can hardly feel the beat of my heart
All I hear is a beat
That keeps on telling me party hard
At last I feel okay
I'm going all the way
Won't hear what I say now
Better seize the day
Since I've found California
I've lost my mind but feel so great
At the height of my euphoria
Waving goodbye from the Golden Gate
Now it's too late for you and I
And all the things we could never say
Well, I had to go Godot you swine
I waited so long but you never came
Now heaven feels so close
I think that I might touch the stars
A romantic overdose, what do you know
It just took me that far
Yes I'll take the blame
Glad to be entertained
At least nothing's the same now
Better seize the day
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8. |
When I Still Smoked
04:11
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So begins a story that ends with me
Reading about myself on a magazine
When now is long long time ago
Way back when I still smoked
Woke up at lost and found
It's hard to believe you could live twice
When you're watching a life less televised
As our plane was about to hit the ground
I saved the day by flying upside down
All safe and sound
One wonderful weekend
Me and my fellers
Wrote our own brand
Of a British best-seller
At the high of our might
We had defined our own era
As the advert did advise
Bearded men should not cry
So I became my father's favorite son
Even though, lo and behold, I'm his only one
That's how ends a story I began to read
Tied up to train tracks eating canapés
Lying on the ground
I'd rather not think
About the thick of the matter
At last I'm allowed
To be as light as a feather
I won't need the sun
I kind of like the bad weather
It all makes sense
And so it'd better
As the advert did advise
Bugs that bark do not bite
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9. |
Class of '99
04:43
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I'd like to thank dear circumstance
For the awesome chance
Of seeing your face at last
How about this place, isn't it a waste ?
It lost its grace
When it became a laundromat
And I remember you back in high school
You were so cool
And I didn't even have a band
Was it just me ? Was it my TV ?
But I wouldn't see
A single episode of Friends
To go back to those days
Please rewind the tape
To when we thought we would be something
We the proudly lazy
Sarah was so stunning
While you were cool and crazy
Yes I guess we had a blast
In the summer of '99
They kept on printing money
So we just had to waste it
Seinfeld was so funny
And we still had Oasis
You should never ever mess
With the class of '99
I'm sorry what was that ?
Politically correct ?
You're talking to the last
Of the fucked up
Maybe I could take you by the hand
I think you should give me a second chance
You see my tie ? Have you caught me at my prime ?
When you are home feeling alone
Don't use the phone
you can always page a friend
To go back in time
Just press rewind
And we'll go a little retro
And see familiar places
Don't worry about your makeup
But please put on your braces
'Cause tonight we're gonna party
Like it's 1999
When we tought we would be something
We the proudly lazy
Sarah was so stunning
While you were cool and crazy
Yes I guess we had a blast in the summer of '99
Whe they kept on printing money
So we just had to waste it
Sandler was still funny
And we had Oasis
Don't you ever try to mess
With the class of '99
I'm sorry what was that?
Politically correct ?
You're talking to the last
Of the fucked up
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10. |
Circa 1965
05:38
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So it seems I took my troubles
To someone I thought I knew
In my own yellow cab
To mad Madison Avenue
What will he say ?
I might learn a thing or two
In truth I always wonder
What would Don Draper do ?
He just shook his head
And said "Whisky or Rhye ?"
That's how they do it
Circa 1965
So then I drove that car
On that famous national route
All troubles sound better in French
Surtout à la Côte D'azur
Arriving there I met Serge Gainsbourg
Pastisse and Gitanes
Mon Dieu, que ces français sont fou
In awe of Françoise Hardy
In love with Chantal Goya
Insane when I saw B.B.
Circa 1965
The in swingin' London
It seems I've found my place
Girls in go-go boots
Nancy with the laughing face
With my new friends
There's nothing I can't do
Now I can even dance
Lord it feels like a dream come true
So Nancy asked me
"How does that mess your mind ?
You're done with troubles
Circa 1965"
Just then B.B.
She pulled to one side
Said "Mon ami,
How about you open your eyes ?"
You're out of time baby
Way out of time
This is no dream no
It's a cauchemar
You call it Mittiesque
Pathetic nonetheless
Go back to your time
Have you lost your mind
I never waved goodbye
They all disappeared
When I opened my eyes
Much to my surprise
A thousand B.B.'s
One and all in their prime
What a waste of time
How was I so dumb
Never to realize
Now I know how I
Will have a good time
Guess I'll just settle for 2005
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11. |
At the Goldfish Ball
04:37
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At lost in a social evening
Self-consciousness streaming
As I sat lowly peeling my bouquet
From a table filled with chatter
Of reasons for the weather
I saw the reason I had better stay
And it feels
Like the perfect storm of poor clichés
Happens to have just been blown away
By her risqué features
Excuse me, but there's been a change of plans
I think that I just fell in love again
Then I thought I heard her whisper
What it took to kiss her
Can't you listen ? Just take me away
My glass smashed on the ground
As I walked into the crowd
Flooded and drowned in cheap champagne
Well, I feel
There's a certain something I must say
Even though I still don't know your name
Why don't we both get out of this place
then after a kiss she said, well, if you insist
A goldfish swimming in a plastic bag
Indeed it seems there's been a change of plans
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12. |
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The Blog That Celebrates Itself Records Sao Paulo, Brazil
Uma Viagem ao Submundo dos Bons Sons
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