snake

snake
shed my skin and leave it on the bed
that's the only part of me you can have
you're working out your desire and i'm working out my plan

when you least suspect i'll slip the coils around your neck
you can choke for all i care

snake
holding the venom in my mouth
waiting for the right moment to spit it out
you're consumed with yourself and i'm consumed with revenge

when you least suspect i'll slip the coils around your neck
you can choke for all i care

bullet

i watch at windows when you're gone
sun crawls across the limitless sky
clock-tick and heart-beat never seemed so long
silence is stalking me again tonight

killing me slow, killing me slow, killing me slow
give me the bullet, give me the bullet, a quick release and let me go

you think i'm a spider fed on your blood
weaving listless webs of winter white
to wrap you up in the trap of my love
a cruel cocoon to keep you from flight

killing me slow, killing me slow, killing me slow
give me the bullet, give me the bullet, a quick release and let me go

if you have any kindness left, let me go
if you have any mercy left, let me go

cowboy

the way i feel about him, no one understands
his wind-blown hair and sun-burned hands

at dusk my dusty cowboy went riding
into sunsets and out of hiding
and i'm ok, but i'll never feel this way
again

he played the hero to my damsel in distress
but rescue ain't a cure for this kind of loneliness

at dusk my dusty cowboy went riding
into sunsets and out of hiding
and i'm ok, but i'll never feel this way
again

a quick roll in the hay then he pulled on his boots and rode away
without saying goodnight, without waving goodbye, without saving my life
at dusk

at dusk, my dusty cowboy went riding
into sunsets and out of hiding
and i'm ok, but i'll never feel this way
again

pride between us

nail me firmly to the wall
one more butterfly in thrall
almost feel the pin sliding through my abdomen
a fine specimen of flesh for your collection

we'll always have pride between us

hold your hand out for the lash
lift your face for me to smash
what i can't have i have to kill, bend it over to my will
grind it down under a conqueror's bootheel

we'll always have pride between us

when it doesn't hurt it feels so good
ask whether you can, not if you should
love occupies the head but never sleeps in a sinner's bed

we'll always have pride between us

sleepwalker

i'm free, i'm free to think
if guns were pens, if bullets were ink
we'd fight, we'd fight our wars with words instead of blood

sleepwalker
i litter dreams in subway tunnels, in concrete streams
i can't see where these paths I travel are leading me

i'm free, i'm free to believe
if rhetoric was rhythm, if doctrine was melody
we'd fight, we'd fight our wars with songs instead of blood

sleepwalker
i litter dreams in subway tunnels, in concrete streams
i can't see where these paths I travel are leading me

leave a light on

flame, flame an october sky
rain, rain come to keep me dry
dead, dead leaves drift to the ground
like my heart, heart breaks without a sound

i see a light on but it's not on for me
your light's on, it's not on for me

flame, flame-lit cigarette tips
i'll blow, blow your name from my lips
smoke, smoke spinning black and blue
my heart, heart breaks at the thought of you

i see a light on but it's not on for me
your light's on, it's not on for me

now, now i am going home
to a light of my own
somebody leave a light on

i see a light on but it's not on for me
somebody leave a light on

ice queen (then, go)

you told me today you are going away- well then, go
you're going the same, with or without my approval
i know birds of summer can't survive the snow
and it's not half as cold as the shadow cast by my soul
well then- go

i'm like a puzzle, reassembled from memory
it's better to quit if you can't get the pieces to fit
i know birds of summer can't survive the snow
and it's not half as cold as the shadow cast by my soul
well then- go

i can't be touched, you talk too much and say nothing
mouth forming words i've already heard, i'm not listening
i know birds of summer can't survive the snow
and it's not half as cold as the shadow cast by my soul
well then- go

bastilles

safe from conversation, the shots we exchange
skim hissing down the bastilles of our skin like rain
lured by refracted phantoms, floating in glass
familiar orbit of foreign bodies, make another pass

keep shaking, taking a deep breath
keep dying the same slow, quiet death

sometimes i hate everyone
sometimes i hate everyone
sometimes i hate everyone- for not being you

seething beehive voices lavishly proclaim
the crowning pleasure found within our palaces of pain
flirting with death, dancing over graves
with dangling cigarettes, tightening the slipknots at our necks

keep shaking, taking a deep breath keep
dying the same slow, quiet death

sometimes i hate everyone
sometimes i hate everyone
sometimes i hate everyone- for not being you

now my colours run a little bit darker
& i parcel out my skin with barbed wire marker
you can come up to the line
look through to the other side
this far may you come but no farther

sometimes i hate everyone
sometimes i hate everyone
sometimes i hate everyone- for not being you

sweet nothing

i am the one who lives or dies
stung by the devil dancing in your eyes
baby, you could make me happy tonight
a few white lies and it's all alright

i am the one who'll cherish fear
you never tell me what i want to hear
but baby, you could make me happy tonight
i'm your sweet nothing and it's all alright

i'm your sweet nothing
i'm yours

nothing lasts- dust to dust, ash to ash
shooting stars land on my back
terrified you could make me try
to heal the rupture in the sky

will i find a dream worth dying over
if i try just a little harder?

i am the one who cares too much
trailing your steps like a sad, lost pup
baby, you could make me happy tonight
i'm your sweet nothing and it's all alright

i'm your sweet nothing
i'm yours

lipstick

pull that blind and cover that window up
too much light in my eyes, i'm going blind
from the drink and the drug

how can i get high when you always bring me down?
one more cheap trick
a fresh coat of lipstick
another one down

talk dirty baby, play me your shaky guitar
nothing gives me the blues like your blue eyes
begging alms at the back of the bar

how can i get high when you always bring me down?
one more cheap trick
a fresh coat of lipstick
another one down

only bartender (farrah's song)

i know that you adore me every time you pour me
grey goose, extra olives, just a little bit dirty
and how do i love you? let me count the ways
in patrons, coronas, and grand marniers

now i'm in trouble, the room's spinning, i'm seeing double
but no matter how wasted i might seem
don't you ever doubt my sincerity
oh baby, you're the only bartender for me

margarita is sweeter, jaeger's got more flavor
when i see you smiling behind the counter
i know i should go home, but i've hardly begun
on the captain, the jameson, the malibu rum

now i'm in trouble, the room's spinning, i'm seeing double
but no matter how wasted i might seem
don't you ever doubt my sincerity
oh baby, you're the only bartender for me

believe me when i say, i'm only drinking when you're gone
cuz i miss you, i need the liquor to help me carry on
oh baby, you're the only bartender for me

Mermaids at Midnight

he used to be my friend, then he stopped talking to me
clever way to bait the line, plenty women in the sea
throw a girl out and reel her back
mermaids are the boy's favorite snack

he said he was my friend, and no one tried to warn me
i believed in him, never doubted his sincerity
reel a girl in and turn your back
mermaids are the boy's bedtime snack

he used to be my friend, then he took a bite out of me
now i shrug and disappear, supposed to go quietly
pull a girl in and throw her back
mermaids are the boy's midnight snack

wrong island, wrong city

gone a little past sunset, not quite twilight yet
if i had my way i'd spin over the highway
music turned up too loud, windows rolled halfway down
gonna shake off my blues once i shake this town

take it all, take it all and leave it all behind
wrong island, wrong city
it's driving me out of my mind

ribbons of pavement look like redemption
with an entrance and exit. baby, are we there yet?
line's drawn straight and wide, just try to stay inside
put some distance between my disappointments and me

take it all, take it all and leave it all behind
wrong island, wrong city
it's driving me out of my mind

feeling a little better, always recover
don't take a doctor, a preacher, or a lover

take it all, take it all and leave it all behind
wrong island, wrong city
it's driving me out of my mind

I. O. U.

Thought I lost my head
Thought the scorn in my eyes would kill you dead
Beautiful bones, we're both sleeping alone
and finally no one but me will take you home

You've done so much for me
I'm gonna write the i.o.u. all over you
Pierce your skin with my tattoo
You said you wanted it, didn't you?

Thought you were gone
Thought I stripped the last breath from your lungs
Throttling fingers, one lingering caress
Guess it was only my imagination

You've done so much for me
I'm gonna write the i.o.u. all over you
Pierce your skin with my tattoo
You said you wanted it, didn't you?

starlight in jam jars

built up my defenses, layer upon layer
wanted you to see the truth of me nestled at the center
push against the skin until it bursts apart
and shorn of all my thorns you'd find a tender heart

used to watch fireflies flicker on summer nights
fascinated by the romance of twilight dances
then i tried to hide a little bit of starlight
in jam jars with the lids on so tight
in an airless sanctuary, i killed what i loved
but i always meant well
i only meant for good.

ripples of emotion stir the becalmed surface
a dangerous camouflage, brilliant colour on a canvas
now i'm stretched so thin. this delicate fabric deceives
maybe if i wasn't so strong, i could learn to breathe

used to watch fireflies flicker on summer nights
fascinated by the romance of twilight dances
then i tried to hide a little bit of starlight
in jam jars with the lids on so tight
in an airless sanctuary, i killed what i loved
but i always meant well
i only meant for good.

Doesn't Matter

Now that I feel better I can tell you what you want to hear
Maybe even make you believe that I mean it
Nothing stays the same, I forget how much people change
Wanna hold 'em down, pin 'em in place, but I cannot do it

If you were to say "Everything's gonna be okay,"
what would it matter?

I figure the trouble is, I've got too much pride to admit
When I am wrong, I know you're not right
Must be my fault, after all I never watch my step
and you should know, you told me so

If you were to say "Everything's gonna be okay,"
what would it matter?

Gimme another nice cliche
To say when my heart's been shattered
It's gonna be okay?
What does it matter?

Kinda Beautiful

The truth about me is I can be pretty ugly
The truth about me is I can be kinda beautiful
When I'm with you, you sorta take the two
and blend them into something no one else can see

I don't believe that there are any accidents of fate
I don't believe it's just the way things happen

The truth about you is you can be very cold-hearted
The truth about you is you can be unbearably kind
When I'm with you, I sorta take the two
and blend them into something no one else can see

I don't believe that there are any accidents of fate
I don't believe it's just the way things happen

When I get too discouraged
put your hand under my chin and point me in a new direction

I don't believe that there are any accidents of fate
I don't believe it's just the way things happen

To Be Alone

Where can you go when you want to be alone in the city?
I'm sitting by the highway playing make believe
I can turn the sound of traffic into ocean foam
Let the breakers wash over me ceaselessly

If I don't have a good reason to cry, maybe you could
If I don't have a good reason to cry, maybe you could give me one

I can't think of anyone I want to see today
Couldn't bring myself to get up out of bed
Got too many skeletons piling up in the closet
Restless bones wreaking havoc with my head

If I don't have a good reason to cry, maybe you could
If I don't have a good reason to cry, maybe you could give me one

My hands are shaking violently- I want a drink
The bar light's humming, calling me inside
Didn't say a word but I know my face is telling tales
Take me home, I'm too screwed up to drive

If I don't have a good reason to cry, maybe you could
If I don't have a good reason to cry, maybe you could give me one

Liquid Courage

Live on liquid courage, booze for blood
6 am, going to bed with the sun coming up
I can't seem to walk away when they refill my cup
Squeeze a lifetime into a single day, I'm gonna die young

I don't need no saving, I've been saved everyday in all kinds of ways
I don't need no saving, unless someone can tell me how to save me from me

Used to believe in God but he did me wrong
Said 'here's your cross girl, pick it up, I made you plenty strong'.
Now when misled messiahs sidle up to me at the bar
Laugh to think, guess a drink's become the price of my heart


I don't need no saving, I've been saved everyday in all kinds of ways
I don't need no saving, unless someone can tell me how to save me from me

proverbs

tulips, two lips, spread open, widen to receive
pagan offerings, lost lovers dropping breadcrumb kisses
trouble imagining the creamy skin rippling-
hitched dress, two horses harnessed to the carriage of flesh

proverbs are only words, words, words
proverbs are only words

roses, bruises, crushed azure petals pooling
vicious lashes cooling the abyss of milky absences
abandoned blonde limbs pressed firmly to the pavement
living bodies lining altars to the freedom of choosing nothing

proverbs are only words, words, words
proverbs are only words

spurs & bridles, blinders & whips
the trappings of faith break the spirit to bits
delirium- the ecstasy of speaking in tongues,
in words.

Proof of Love

A revolution bloodlessly conceived and fought
In the dusk light absent eyes glazed thick with thought
Head an overblown bloom drooping from its stalk
Silently, with no one inside

Tread quietly through the sacred rooms, the silver halls
Smear the prints, wounded hands across the naked walls
Un-effaced, the traces as the evidence
The proof of love

Behind the curtain shakily rip out a battered heart
Take the stage with ice-filled veins and reconditioned parts
Truth sleeps somewhere between the pretense and the art
Silently, with no one inside

Tread quietly through the sacred rooms, the silver halls
Smear the prints, wounded hands across the naked walls
Un-effaced, the traces as the evidence
The proof of love

on my mind

i don't want to think about it anymore
you left but you didn't shut the door
or maybe i left it standing open for you to come through
laid aside, left behind and i still want you

you're on my mind - all the time

i don't want to wait beside the phone
so i can let it ring, pretend i am not at home
i'm not fooling anyone, it's sad but true
cast off, cut loose and i still want you

you're on my mind - all the time

i don't want this image in my head
your body beckoning, darling come to bed
tousled hair spilling between eyes of blue
fool's gold, a coarse joke and i still want you

you're on my mind - all the time

Asylum

Staring at my face flickering on the surface of a shatter-proof pane
Pretending to look out the window as the train speeds me back upstate
Imagining the contours of my reflection radiate into a train-wreck
I am going home to the graveyard- we bury the dead in our beds

Give me asylum, asylum

Walk into the menacing house that never changes over time
Years shed as smooth as snakeskin- leave it on the porch before you come in
Daughters and mothers and sisters, women who can't keep hold of their men
We gather in the graveyard united and alone again

Give me asylum, asylum

Take the train back over Harlem, under Manhattan, deep into Brooklyn
Becoming a separate entity, leaving instability behind me
Same face on shatter-proof glass but the eyes are now troubled with ghosts
Avoid the reflection in windows or your hands will start to shake


Give me asylum. asylum

Gingerbread Man

You owe me a kiss, don't think of leaving before i collect
look in my blue eyes, you'll see i give it as good as i get
i've got a sweet tooth and i've got a craving for you
gingerbread man

don't run away, cuz you haven't satisfied me yet
you might be the most delicious man i've ever met
i've got a sweet tooth and i've got a craving for you
gingerbread man

i get a little sugar on my tongue
my body comes alive, my blood begins to hum
i need more than a taste, i want whole man
so run right over here sugar
run, run as fast as you can

i want to feel the weight of your body pressing against mine
wanna roll you my tongue like wine
i've got a sweet tooth and i've got a craving for you
gingerbread man

Hotel Beds

It was so easy, so easy to forget me, to forget
That I am the war-torn bride of impulse and regret

I'd sooner see you in the ground than see you leave me tenantless again

It was so easy, so easy to dismiss me, to dismiss
My hopped up junkie's lust for your bad blood and your kiss

I'd sooner see you in the ground than see you leave me tenantless again

You treat hearts and heads like hotel beds-
Occupied for a night, vacant at first light
It was so easy, so easy

I'd sooner see you in the ground than see you leave me tenantless again

Tumbleweed

I'll tell you why I'm content to be a footnote in someone else's life
I didn't know any better
I worked so hard to purchase the oblivion served up in bars
I didn't know any better

I drift around, coughing up my youth in a dried up town
Tumbleweed in the wind, I might have gone astray but I never sinned
I didn't know any better

They gave me a name, stamped it on my skin and that's what I became
I didn't know any better
Vagabond, lurching toward love as I stumbled along
I didn't know any better

I drift around, coughing up my youth in a dried up town
Tumbleweed in the wind, I might have gone astray but I never sinned
I didn't know any better

Violets in June

Call me a passing notion, a lingering hint of perfume
Echoes of a sweet sad song, can't quite remember the tune

Violet in June, violets in June

Call me a hazy daydream, a spark that failed to inflame
Girl with a big foolish heart, can't quite remember her name

Violet in June, violets in June

Call me anything, it doesn't mean anything
Thoughtlessness looks a lot like tenderness
if you stand far enough away

Something to Cry

Mary escapes to the streets
With her two bruised eyes and two bare feet
Safer out there than inside with the monster
Hits her with an open fist, don't say a word

God, tell me why trust leads to treason, tell me there's a reason
I'll give you something to cry about

John leaves the light on
In hopes it'll scare off the night-time phantoms
Nowhere to run when the bogey man comes
Slides under the covers, don't say a word

God, tell me why trust leads to treason, tell me there's a reason
I'll give you something to cry about
I'll give you something to cry about
I'll give you something to cry about 

Vulture

My mind is circling like a vulture over a carcass- it's making me sick
Tearing at the flesh, picking at the bone
The past is dead but I can taste it

Enough, enough
Can I let sleeping corpses lie?
Can I let my favorite demon die?
Can I kiss you goodbye?

Time has sealed the curse into my skin, carving out ravines of gin and nicotine
Tearing at the flesh, picking at the bone
I'm already dead- i can feel it

Enough. enough
Can I let sleeping corpses lie?
Can I let my favorite demon die?
Can I kiss you goodbye?

Unrepentant

Prophet told me I'm trouble
I said man, you got that right
Come take a walk with me in the double-talk
The gospel of delight

Prophet told me repent now
I said man, you're a little too late
Nothing on earth can save this sinner
So why not help me deviate?

I'm unrepentant so there's no need to forgive me
I'm unrepentant so there's no need to forgive me

Prophet told me I'm fallen
I said man, how could you know?
Come take a walk with me on the wicked side
And reap the crop you sow

Prophet told me I'm bound for hell
I said man, I'm already in it
Don't know where the trouble's gonna end
But I intend to begin it

I'm unrepentant so there's no need to forgive me
I'm unrepentant so there's no need to forgive me

If it's so wrong, why does it feel so right?

Never Happened

Don't trust my senses, don't trust the flutter in my gut
Betrayed by my instincts, why give a damn what anybody thinks?

Never never never never never never never- it never happened

Give you what you want, give you what you say you need
cuz I exist to please you, a mannequin made of meat and sinew

Never never never never never never never- it never happened

The train stops suddenly, stutter of bad poetry
The motion begins and ends with me crawling on my hands, on my knees

Never never never never never never never- it never happened

How I Say Goodbye

This is how I say goodbye
Cover your lips with my hand
Cover your body with mine
Push you down on the bed and fuck you, fuck you

This is how I say goodbye
Slap your face, leave a handprint
Scratch your cheek, leave a blueprint
This is how I feel- I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding

This is how I say goodbye
Your rhythm pounding away the memory
Your fluid filling all the space in me
In the final convulsive shudder

it's over, I'm over, we're over
it's over, you're over, we're over
goodbye

Spoils of War

Took your sisters, your daughters, your mothers
Took us on our beds, on the roads, in the gutters
The rebels and veterans, the patriots and government
It's always the same men with different faces

Demon hands hold you down on the floor
Living, breathing, bleeding, screaming spoils of war

There's no escape, the boys'll run you down
And every other year another army comes to town
Pussy is the property of the fucking military
Rapist mercenaries, soldiers show no mercy

Demon hands hold you down on the floor
Living, breathing, bleeding, screaming spoils of war

Cattle, chattel, the booty in every battle
No one gives a fuck, they just fuck you
while the world sits by and covers her eyes
with demon hands

Spoils of war

november

Puppet-jerk awake to the alarm clock wail wearing yesterday's make-up
Wearing late night gin and cigarrette skin around your hangover eyes
Ash in your hair, this may be the darkest day of the weary year but there's a luminous air
Stirring in your lungs beneath the mask of flesh

November, hold up your face for winter's kiss
Remember how you danced away, across the shadow of your grave
With a schoolgirl smile on your grandmother lips?

How a crowd of strangers will mourn as if they always adored you
When you're long past the aching need to gain a fleeting gasp of approval
Past the roses and the champagne, exquisitely intoxicated 
when it rains I hear the song you bled in slow beads from your veins

November, hold up your face for winter's kiss
Remember how you danced away, across the shadow of your grave
With a schoolgirl smile on your grandmother lips?

Tomorrow i'll lay down in your cold arms and rest

Breadcrumbs

I can't find my heart, I think it got buried
In the debris of my innocence, the garbage heap of missing things

Somewhere in the paper streamers, barbie doll heads, glitter glue
I left behind a breadcrumb trail that I can't find my way back to

I've played juliet, rapunzel and cinderella, the damsel in distress makes good when she gets her fella
This is the happy ending that all little girls believe in- beauty and a rescue and a man who won't be leaving

I can't find my heart, I'm afraid there's none to find
I served it up in parts to men who claimed they loved my mind

Flies buzz above the paper streamers, barbie doll heads, glitter glue
I think they ate the breadcrumb trail, there's nothing I can do
but stay here, lost

china doll

the boys used to steal you, force a kiss on your ruby lips
flaunt you like a trophy, eventually gave you the slip
the girls used to dress you up in old discarded clothes
by & by, you made the rounds- where you'll end nobody knows

stupid girl, you got what you deserve
china doll, you got what you deserve

the fissures on your face are blue like vein on fine white skin
how many arms have danced you 'round, stroked your porcelain?
how many voices whispered secrets in your cold glazed ear?
you'll never have a voice to tell what you see or feel or hear

stupid girl, you got what you deserve
china doll, you got what you deserve

stuffing bursting at the seam
eyes seen more than you ever dreamed
helpless, cornflower blue
let him open & shut your eyes for you

stupid girl, you got what you deserve
china doll, you got what you deserve

careful where you put your naked feet
there's glass all over the floor...

Beggars Waltz

Danced the beggars waltz last night
Trying to keep myself from stillness or flight
With nights unslept and tears unshed
Let my feet breach the words instead

So much desire when it's nothing I need
So much desire sunk in the arms of greed

I think I might recover but one word pulls me back under
to the night I broke my wings against the pillars and battlements
Guess it seems like I'll never stop beating myself up over a lost fight

Danced the beggars waltz last night
A crude distraction from the frost and blight
with hands unheld and lips unkissed
Let my feet speak of the love I've missed

So much desire when it's nothing I need
So much desire sunk in the arms of greed

I think I might recover but one word pulls me back under
to the night I broke my wings against the pillars and battlements
Guess it seems like I'll never stop beating myself up over a lost fight

deja vu

it gets harder as i get older
used to be a day i'd believe anything
the next stranger round the corner
familiar hand on my shoulder
darling i've been looking all over

finding you is like deja vu,
it makes me remember what it feels like
to fall in love
what it feels like...

in the winter as i get colder
my hands begin to tremble and shake
though the fire shrinks to an ember
don't get bitter in december
darling i've been looking all over

finding you is like deja vu
it makes me remember what it feels like
to fall in love
what it feels like...

Heartless Heart

I bite cuz I am ice-cold, a kitten wrapped up in clouds of sinuous snakeskin
I scratch cuz I am cornered, velvet paws enclosing baby claws tipped with poison

I don't know how to love and if that ain't bad enough, I couldn't care less
Am I damned or am I blessed with a heartless heart?

I hiss cuz I am displeased, snarled in a makeshift leash- skeins of pink satin ribbon
I growl cuz I am weary, fending off sweaty lion-tamers, mock-hero impersonators

I don't know how to love and if that ain't bad enough I couldn't care less
Am I damned or am I blessed with a heartless heart?

Strangers and guitars, it's always bloodlust and  tin stars
Strangers and guitars, it's always bloodlust and  tin stars
Bloodlust and  tin stars, bloodlust and  tin stars, bloodlust and  tin stars

I don't know how to love and if that ain't bad enough I couldn't care less
Am I damned or am I blessed with a heartless heart?