The Backroom

More Bossa than nova More tango than tang She starts with a whimper And builds to a bang

She’s a yellow egg noodle A fattening dish

The need of the needle The sign of the fish

A pop, a top, a tart, a dart

That pierces not quite to the heart A rave, a wave, a miss, a dis That sells itself out loud like this

She mostly gets over And always gets high Her crooning’s corrosive Like June in July

She carves like a chicken Throw like a knife

Cooks like a kitchen Lives like a life

A wisp of steam, a queen, a pawn That you can’t put your finger on

A battle pitched with spitball swords You win, but then you lose the war You win, but then you lose the war

As heavy as heaven As loony as June Unlucky as seven And blue as the moon

She’s a rudderless gusher

A colorless tone

That you hear in the clear When you’re stoned and alone

A pop, a top, a tart, a dart

that pierces not quite to the heart A rave, a wave, a miss, a dis That sells itself out loud like this

A wisp of steam, a queen, a pawn You can’t put your finger on

A battle pitched with spitball swords You win, but then you lose the war You win but then you lose the war You win but then you lose

You lose

Win but then you lose the war

There’s miserly wisemen Who gamble and pray

To gods and godzillas that change everyday

But you can’t ever win

If you don’t get to play

The game that they run in the backroom

There’s a busload of children Who fell through the ice

A Whitehouse that’s made out of red beans and rice A real superhero

A fake Jesus Christ

Who handles your bags in the backroom

A social psychologist

Tacked up a sign

He says will de-fog and re-balance
the mind

You’re welcome to bring home

What truth you can find

In the clubby retreat of the backroom

My ex-wife’ll call up

And tell me she’s there

With Cuban guys dancing and
doing her hair

Her highlights are stunning

But nobody cares

How anyone looks in the backroom

For sure it’s a fad

And it can’t last too long

Half a more minute’s enough
of this song

I’ll never get in
‘cause I’ll never belong

But I’d kill to have lunch in the backroom Yes I’d kill to have lunch in the backroom You know I’d kill to have lunch in the backroom

I’m all used up, used to think I
was tough

But not anymore

Tried to do right somehow, I lost sight Of what I stood for

Quiet desperation, misguided
aspirations

Now I suffer defeat

I can’t give anymore

I can’t give anymore

I can’t give anymore

‘Cause I gave you everything I had

Made a wrong turn then I got burned I crossed the line

You won my heart, but you wanted
my soul

Now I’m losing my mind

I can’t give anymore

I can’t give anymore

I can’t give anymore

‘Cause I gave you everything I had

I’m all used up, used to think I was tough

But not anymore

You won my heart, but you wanted
my soul

Now I’m losing my mind

I can’t give anymore

No, I can’t give anymore

I can’t give anymore

‘Cause I gave you everything I had

When girls of odd construction Wrapped in rhapsody and tension

Hang a right beyond redemption And continue farther south

Follow past where Fall is falling And the reptile brain is calling you To make up fancy reasons

For that dryness of the mouth

And yeah, the hunger

So delicate, so smooth

Its cutting edge is graciously provided

Love among the cannibals Runs hot and bad and fast

On thousand-year-old freeways In the caverns of the past

Love among the cannibals

Is cool and good and true

Like the scuba gear of Satan Blowing bubbles in the blue

The dim, dynamic meanings

Of exotic ladies’ leanings

Defy interpretation

So, the feeling comes and goes Lie down for truth and beauty And designated duty

Where movies fade to violet And nightclubs never close

And yeah, the hunger

So delicate, so smooth

Its cutting edge is graciously provided

Love among the cannibals Is lava after dark

Sweet and sour tidal waves That rumble past the heart Love among the cannibals Is light and sweet and slim

It sighs with perfect patience And invites you for a swim Love among the cannibals...

Crazy world

House of mirrors

Got a mind all of its own Breaks the rules

Blows up busses

Calls you on the telephone

World don’t stop

People in it

Got no time to wonder why Go to town

Underwater

Make appointments in the sky In the sky...

Woman gets a monkey’s heart People go Whoa!

Pope adopts a porno star People go Whoa!

Flower has a funny face People go Whoa!

Planet dies without a trace People don’t know....

Meet my babe

In the paper

Start a family on TV

Read my news

In the future

Lose my soul symbolically

Doctor marries dolphin girl People go Whoa!

Infant opens discotheque People go Whoa!

Hazel eyes are baby blue People go Whoa! Everything you hear is true

People don’t know...

In the dark saloon

Where songs are never sung Underneath the moonlight

A goddess pours me one Sweeter than an angel Hotter than the sun

Terra cotta eyes

Echo on the floor

Everyone is laughing

And headed for the door Dreams of headless horsemen I know I’ve seen before

This time, I’m giving’ up

I’m not giving’ up, no, no

You might think that I’ve had enough I’m not giving’ up, no, no

I admit things are pretty tough

But I’m’ not givin’ up

No, no

Tales of sacrifice

And unrequited love

The juggler gets dizzy

It comes to push and shove Below the creature’s panic There are angry gods above

Oh, Lulabelle, why would you ever want to stray?

Oh, can’t you tell that you’ve really got it made?

Sleep through the morning, lost in
your dreams

Chasing so many things

Lie in the sun waiting for friends Run when the doorbell rings

Oh Lulabelle, why would you ever run away?

If not for you I’d never make it through the day

When we go walking you make me so proud

Everybody knows your name You’re such a beauty

you cause quite a stir Chuck E’s in love again

Oh, if you ever meet her You’ll know how to treat her Her love is a powerful thing Though I can’t live without her There’s something about her That I just don’t understand Oh Lullabelle

La la la la la la la la

Like climbing a mountain

Or licking your plate You’re destined to rule Or be ruled by your fate

You’re under hypnosis

Or over the hill

Or ducking whatever

Your good lies couldn’t kill

Lost in a swirl of half-chopped-off dreams

And fantasies I couldn’t touch

Of whiskey and women and money and fame

And fashion and talent and such

You conquer your fears You conquer your fears You conquer your fears Conquer your fears

I quit talking issues And fondling fools

And playing my game By the other guy’s rules

Yeah, I’m finally grabbing My life by the head

And plunging it into

The waters of dread

Smacked to the mat by heavyweight dreams

And fantasies I couldn’t touch

Of whiskey and women and money and fame

And fashion and talent and such

I conquered my fears I conquered my fears I conquered my fears
Conquered my fears

I filled my brain with places and names And fantasies I couldn’t touch

Of whisky and women and money
and fame

I conquered my fears I conquered my fears I conquered my fears

Conquered my fears

I should have got the message When you built a 6-foot wall Across our bedroom, made of Fractured parts of babydolls

And set my hiking boots on fire And spray-painted my skis

As I prayed for salvation

In the hallway on my knees

Then you dosed my gecko With a psychedelic stew

He’s got this blank expression He could only get from you

My truck is in the bathtub

Well, the front half of it is

The back’s in chunks around the yard My rear end’s in the breeze

These times, in time

Will fall into perspective

For now, it’s just enough

To know the parts, we know For now, it’s far too loud

To be reflective

For now, it’s just enough

To know it’s time for me to go

The mailman came and called the cops who placed a call to SWAT

Who broke down our front gate

Of iron that was wrought

I’m wrought, myself, and riven As I contemplate the end

I’m leaving my piano here Please treat it like a friend

These times, in time

Will fall into perspective

For now, it’s just enough

To know the parts, we know For now, it’s far too loud

To be reflective

For now, it’s just enough

To know it’s time for me to go

I hope someday to look at these proceedings

As through a lens that softens the harshest blows

But now, now my money’s on retreating

It’s time for me to go

These times, in time

Will fall into perspective

For now, it’s just enough

To know the parts, we know For now, it’s far too loud Hard to be reflective

Now it’s just enough

To know it’s time for me to go

We camp behind the villa in bikinis in the night

A runaway vacation but still it isn’t quite And then you hit the bottle

And then you hit your stride

For a long hot alky summer

Twisted when the sun came up, we ate and then you drank

For eighty mornings in a row and and wound up in the tank

With no one left to bother

When you took off with the twins For that sudden ally summer

Such an up-and-comer Italian Alky Summer Such an up-and-comer

Italian Alky Summer

It was bright until December and I really can’t remember And you

Days wore down the brothers found you waving in the shade

Atomizing equal parts of rum and lemonade

’Til all the major journals Discovered what you’d made Of a single alky
summer

Such an up-and-comer Italian Alky Summer Such an up-and-comer

Italian Alky Summer

It was bright until December and I really can’t remember

Never know how I feel

When I find a love that’s real With every hand I’m dealt I lose Now the tide is turning fast

And if I’m ever gonna last

I’ll take this offer

I can’t refuse

See where I’m standing When the morning comes

See if I’m standing

When the morning comes

Couldn’t take it anymore

Then you were standing at my door Stay with me until the dawn

Another day is almost here With everything that I fear Give me the will

The will to carry on

See where I’m standing When the morning comes I’ll see where I’m goin’ when the morning comes

See where I’m standing When the morning comes See if I’m standing

When the morning comes