King Of America

Well, there's an old man's fantasy
Put in a young girl's mouth
Like cheap pink lipstick
Smeared on her wedding dress
Will you look what you've done to her
Will you look at this disgrace
Well, it's all over
Your suffering face
If we were chrome, we would be rusty
If we were thirst, we would be quenched
You don't need the same old rivet gun
You need a brand new wrench
Someone to pull you down on the ground
And cover you with kisses
Once i was the jewel of your heart
Now i'm only semi-precious
But if i seem so preoccupied
It's just my alibi--i'm all broken up inside
Even the words of love seem cruel and crass
When you're tough and transparent as armored glass
I prepared a bed for you
Then i sprayed perfume
Upon the wilted roses
That i'd scattered 'round the room
You came in gentle as a lamb
And turned into a terror
And you left your love and other threats
In the steam fading on my bathroom mirror
Well, it's an old man's fantasy
Put in a young girl's mouth
Like cheap pink lipstick
Smeared on her wedding dress
Will you look what you've done to me
Now you've put me in my place
Oh, it's all over
It's all over
It's all over
Your suffering face

Instrument

While nat king cole sings "welcome to my world"
You request some song you hate you sentimental fool
And it's the force of habit
If it moves then you fuck it
If it doesn't move you stab it

And i thought i heard "the working man's blues"
He went out to work that night and wasted his breath
Outside there was a public execution
Inside he died a thousand deaths

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they put him in a suit of lights

In the perforated first editions
Where they advocate the hangman's noose
Then tell the sorry tale of the spent princess
Her uncouth escort looking down her dress

Anyway they say that she wears the trousers
And learnt everything that she does
And doesn't know if she should tell him yes
Or let him go

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they put him in a suit of lights

Well it's a dog's life in a rope leash or a diamond collar
It's enough to make you think right now
But you don't bother
For goodness sake as you cry and shake
Let's keep you face down in the dirt where you belong
And think of all the pleasure that it brings
Though you know that it's wrong

And there's still life in your body
But most of it's leaving
Can't you give us all a break
Can't you stop breathing

And i thought i heard "the working man's blues"
I went to work that night and wasted my breath
Outside they're painting tar on somebody
It's the closest to a work of art that they will ever be

And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they pulled him out of the cold cold ground
And they put him in a suit of lights
And they put him in a suit of lights

We play these parlour games
We play at make believe
When we get to the part where i say that i'm going to leave
Everybody loves a happy ending but we don't even try
We go straight past pretending
To the part where everybody loves to cry

(chorus)
Indoor fireworks
Can still burn your fingers
Indoor fireworks
We swore we were safe as houses
They're not so spectacular
They don't burn up in the sky
But they can dazzle or delight
Or bring a tear
When the smoke gets in your eyes

You were the spice of life
The gin in my vermouth
And though the sparks would fly
I thought our love was fireproof
Sometimes we'd fight in public darling
With very little cause
But different kinds of sparks would fly
When we got on our own behind closed doors

(chorus)
It's time to tell the truth
These things have to be faced
My fuse is burning out
And all that powder's gone to waste
Don't think for a moment dear that we'll ever be through
I'll build a bonfire of my dreams
And burn a broken effigy of me and you

(chorus)

In chocolate town all the trains are painted brown
On the silver paper of the wrapper
There's a dapper little man
And he wears a wax moustache
That he twists with nicotine fingers
As he drops his cigarette ash
And someone comes and sweeps it up
And then he doffs his cap
And there's a rat in someone's bedroom
And they're shutting someone's trap
And they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces

And the doors swing back and forward, from the past into the present
And the bedside crucifixion turns from wood to phosphorescent.
And they're moving problem families from the south up to the north,
Mother's crying over some soft soap opera divorce,
And you say you didn't do it, but you know you did of course,
And they'll soon be pulling down the little palaces.

It's like shouting in a matchbox, filled with plasterboard and hope,
Like a picture of prince william in the arms of john the pope.
There's a world of good intentions, and pity in their eyes,
The sedated homes of england, are theirs to vandalize.

So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name,
And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.
And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.

You're the twinkle in your daddy's eye, a name you spray and scribble,
You made the girls all turn their heads, and in turn they made you miserable.
To be the heir apparent, to the kingdom of the invisible.

So you knock the kids about a bit, because they've got your name,
And you knock the kids about a bit, until they feel the same.
And they feel like knocking down the little palaces.

This love of mine is packed with stepping stone
These shoes are made for walking in reverse
In the dead of night, you tiptoe out and leave me all alone
Putting on your satin slip-ons and your sultry french cologne.

She's wearing shoes without heels.
She's walking over the floor.
She's walking all over me
Weirder therein, you know how it feels
When she walks right out of the door.

Well, i thought that i was bigger than this town
I thought i'd spend a pace and go the distance
But she picked me out, she used me up, and then she put me down
Now i'm driven til i'm crying, or i'm dreaming 'til i drown.

She's wearing shoes without heels.
She's walking over the floor.
She's walking all over me
Weirder therein, you know how it feels
When she walks right out of the door.

While you're busy packing underwear and other worthless trinkets,
Spare a thought for worthless men who drag on women like they're
Cigarettes, 'cause you watch him walk away from you
While he gets down and deals
Oh, he'll watch you walk away without heels

Oh, you think that he's a fool to tolerate
All the liberty you cherish and you roughly take
But to watch your love turn slowly from indifference to hate
Would hurt him more than any heart that you might care to break.

She's wearing shoes without heels.
She's walking over the floor.
She's walking all over you
But when she's finished, i know (?)
When she walks right back through the door.

The poisoned rose
That you gave to me
It left me half alive
And half in ecstasy

But if half of your love
Is all i can win
Give me just a fraction
But no more medicine

The poisoned rose
On a valentine card
That you take straight to the heart
That you call my junkyard

But if all i can do
Is save pieces of you
The piece of your mind
The piece of your heart

Didn't tear me apart
Like the poisoned rose
I received from you

I don't know
How we came to grow
Into this very sad affair
Everytime we do the decent thing
Somebody spikes the drink
And a single becomes a pair

The poisoned rose
That you wear at your best
That i keep pressed between the white sheets
Where you lie half undressed

I threw away my shirt and shoes
You looked and i dived in
It's just you and me now
'cause i threw away the gin
I threw away your alibis
And all your worn-out clothes
I threw myself upon the floor
But i couldn't throw away
This poisoned rose
This poisoned rose
This poisoned rose

This is the place where i made my best mistakes
This is the place even angels don't understand
I've seen the disappointment in her face
And the collection of engagement rings on her right hand
She sits alone apart from the crowd
In a white dress she wears like a question mark
Friends speak of her fondly
Enemies just think out loud
You think you're man enough to please her
And you're fool enough to start
You're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

Now the cabaret is frozen and the laughter comes in cans
And the lonely hearts club clientele don't know what to do with their hands
You think that you'll be sweet to her but everybody knows
That you're the marshmallow valentine that got stuck on her clothes
But you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

So you mix your drinks and words
You make bad jokes you make bad time
The floors are there to walk over
The walls are there to climb
You swear that you'll never go back again once you're inside
You're never the bridegroom she's always the bride
And you're not going to do a thing to our little angel
There's nothing you're thinking tonight that tomorrow won't change

You'll come in a sweetheart and you'll go out a stranger
Well you try to love her but she's so contrary
Like a chainsaw running through a dictionary
So get your mind off the sweet behind of our little angel
You're not going to do a thing
You're not going to do a thing
You're not going to do a thing to our little angel

The soldier asked my name and did i come here very often
Well i thought that he was asking me to dance
In my holy coat and hat and him in his red bonnet
We'd have made a lovely couple but we never had the chance

[chorus]
And now you say that you've got to go
Well if you must you must
I suppose that you need the sleep of the just

Well it was a powerful day and there were black crows in the road
And i kept my strong opinions to my chest
I suppose i should have told them that i was on fire for you
When the bus burst into flames outside some place, 'the poet's rest'

[chorus]

A girl woke up in a naked light and said "oh no not again"
He even looked like her brother in the army but she never mentions him
He'll be tucked up in his bed tonight with his dirty-pictures girl
Saying, 'you're some mother's daughter you know or is it
Immaterial girl?'

Now she's pinned up upon the barracks wall in her home town
All the soldiers taking turns with their attentions
And as they speculate what she'd look like beneath that thin nightgown
His family pride was rising up as he cast his eyes down

It's a chilly florentine evening
Two men in evening hats
Telling tales of the underground and
Fishing for reds
Policemen armed with uzis
Stand guard but they don't speak
Ain't seen no michaeangelo
He'll be here next week.
The girl in the shoes
With the crystal heels went chaperoned by her brother
They raise a glass of amber wine
Take pictures of each other
Of the policemen in the fountains
And the sickle and the hammer
And they came with uncle romulus
With his walking cane and camera

She looked like someone's girlfriend
She looked like a dream
She looked as unlikely
As the people's limousine.

Come and sit by me, girl, before i breathe the breath out of you
Hush your mouth and cover your eyes for i'll tell your father of you
He paid to have you painted in the company of angels
Only to find you flirting anew with chico marx and perverted engels

The patron saint of television smiles down from the shelf
Romulus can't criticize but he can't bless himself
He has a tin of pea-green paint and a big roll of black tape
To vandalize these obscenities then make his escape

She walked up to the nice policeman and asked him for a match
He saw romulus approaching and slipped off the safety catch
Then cut down her uncle, he was painted red and green
Just as she was kidnapped in the people's limousine.