So Much for the Afterglow

'Today, medical science recognises that some folks aren't helped by relaxing exercises
In cases of difficult tension and nervous apprehension, doctors are now prescribing medicine.
It makes those who fear their about to 'quit' feel like their ready to 'begin'.
Bidding their darkened spirits good-bye for the calming peace of a cloudless sky.'

They said you called me maybe yesterday
I don't even have the strength to pick up the phone
Wouldn't even know me since you went away
The prozac doesn't do it for me anymore

You ought to take your medication everyday
Be a good dog, live life in a wonderful way

Tell me why you want to be blind
I don't want to be normal like you
I know now, everyday
I get closer
To the place inside where I can be normal too

I heard those stupid people talk about you again
I just have to laugh to keep from hurting bad
Their simple minds just cannot seem to understand
You are neurotic and depressed
It doesn't mean that you're sad

You walk around oblivious to everything
You wear that party dress and black mascara
Like you're queen for the day

Tell me why you want to be blind
I don't want to be normal like you
I know now, everyday
I get closer
To the place inside where I can be normal too

I will never be normal like you
You walk around oblivious to everyone
I see you walking slow and simple
Underneath the big black sun

Tell me why you want to be blind
I don't want to be normal like you
I know now, everyday
I get closer
To the place inside where I can be complacent

Yes, I get closer
To the place inside where I can be sedated

Yes, I get closer
To the place inside where I can be normal too
Where I can be normal like you
Maybe normal like you
I can be normal like you

Father of mine
Tell me where have you been
You know I just closed my eyes
My whole world disappeared
Father of mine
Take me back to the day
When I was still your golden boy
Back before you went away

I remember blue skies
Walking the block
I loved it when you held me high
I loved to hear you talk
You would take me to the movie
You would take me to the beach
You would take me to a place inside
That is so hard to reach

Father of mine
Tell me where did you go
You had the world inside your hand
But you did not seem to know
Father of mine
Tell me what do you see
When you look back at your wasted life
And you don't see me

I was ten years old
Doing all that I could
It wasn't easy for me
To be a scared white boy
In a black neighborhood
Sometimes you would send me a birthday card
With a five dollar bill
I never understood you then
And I guess I never will

Daddy gave me a name
My dad he gave me a name
Then he walked away
Daddy gave me a name
Then he walked away
My daddy gave me a name

Daddy gave me a name
Daddy gave me a name
Then he walked away
Daddy gave me a name
Then he walked away
My daddy gave me a name

Father of mine
Tell me where have you been
I just closed my eyes
And the world disappeared
Father of mine
Tell me how do you sleep
With the children you abandoned
And the wife I saw you beat

I will never be safe
I will never be sane
I will always be weird inside
I will always be lame
Now I'm a grown man
With a child of my own
And I swear I'm not going to let her know
All the pain I have known

Then he walked away
Daddy gave me a name
Then he walked away
My dad gave me a name
Then he walked away
My daddy gave me a name
Then he walked away
My daddy gave me a name
Then he walked away
Then he walked away
Then he walked away

I heard the truth about you
And it really doesn't read at all
Like the whipping stick you raised me with
A scared woman in a private hell
Hushed voice like electric bells

Strange talk about Edgar Casey
And the long lame walk of the dark 70's
Strange talk about Edgar Casey
And the long lame walk of the dark 70's

I heard the truth about you, yeah you
Mama they woke me up
I was deep in an idiot sleep
I was just eight years old
Heard big words with a horrible sound
Why'd they have to call my school
Tell me my mother had a nervous breakdown

I wish I believed like you do, yeah you
In the myth of a merciful god
In the myth of a heaven and hell
I hear the voices you hear sometimes
Sometimes it gets so much
I feel like letting go
Sometimes it gets so hard
I feel like letting it go
Sometimes it gets so goddamn hard
I feel like letting it all go
Letting it all go, letting it all go
Letting it all go, letting it all go

I ran away and went looking for you
Back to culver city and the old neighborhood
Need to know if you were really gone
Need to know if you were gone for good
I ran through the projects at night
Hide in the dark from my friends in the light
Hide from my brother-in-law
Hide from the things he'd say
Said you weren't losing your mind
He said you just needed a rest
He said you'd be coming home soon
He said the doctors there would know what's best
Said that maybe I could go live with dad for a while

I know the truth about you, I know the truth about you
I know the truth about you, I know the truth about you
I know the truth, I know the truth, I know the truth
I know the truth about you

Mama they woke me up, I was just eight years old
Sometimes it gets so hard, I feel like letting it go
Sometimes it gets so hard, I feel like letting it all go
Letting it all go, letting it all go

Yeah, letting it all go

This is a song about Susan
This is a song about the girl next door
This is a song about the everyday occurrences
That make me feel like letting go
Yes I think we've got a problem
So much for the afterglow
So much for the afterglow

This is a song about Susan
Yeah, this is a song about the way things are
This is a song about the scary things
You see from the corner of your eyes
Don't you wonder why?

We never talk about the future, yeah
We never talk about the past anymore
We never ask ourselves the questions
To the answers that nobody even wants to know
I guess the honeymoon is over
So much for the afterglow, so much for the afterglow
So much for the afterglow, so much for the afterglow

I remember we could talk about anything
I remember when we used to want to hang out
I remember we could talk about everything
I remember when we used to want to hang out
I remember we could talk about everything
I remember when we used to want to hang out
I remember when we used to want to hang out
I remember we could talk about everything
I remember, I remember, I remember

Yeah, we never talk about the future
We never talk about the past anymore
We never ask ourselves the questions
To the answers that nobody even wants to know

Oh well, oh well, oh well
So much for the afterglow
Oh well oh well oh well
So much for the afterglow
Oh well, oh well, oh well

Yes, I guess we need the drama

So much for the afterglow, so much for the afterglow
So much for the afterglow, yeah, so much for the afterglow
So much for the afterglow, so much for the afterglow
So much for the afterglow, so much for the afterglow
So much for the afterglow, so much for the afterglow

Loopy says he likes it up on top
Yes he knows if he ever lets go
The pretty machine will swallow him whole
He has no fear, he has no sense of shame
He will not stop until everybody everywhere
Wants to know his name

The one hit wonder, he likes the big time
He says he wants to live the kind of life
That will make the folks back home
Bitch and whine

He knows if he ever even gets the chance
He'd sell his soul to make the monster dance
They can't hurt you unless you let them

Loopy says he sure does like the good life
Yes he knows all those women who scheme
Are just pretty pictures in the pretty machine

He knows if he ever gets to try
He will bite down hard to make the monster cry
He knows if he ever even gets a chance
He'd sell his soul to make the monster dance
They can't hurt you unless you let them

I will say it again
They cannot hurt you unless you let them

Loopy says he likes it up on top
He prays to god and he hopes like hell
That the pretty machine they will never fail

He has no fear, he doesn't really even have the time
He knows that the world is in love with the pretty machine
Oh yeah, the pretty machine

The one hit wonder, he likes the big time
He wants to live the kind of life
That will make the folks back home
Scream bitch and whine

He knows if he ever gets to try
He will bite down hard to make the monster cry
He knows if he ever even gets a chance
He'd sell his soul to make the monster dance
He knows if he ever even gets to play
He will stomp like god to make the monster say

They can't hurt you unless you let them
They cannot hurt you unless you let them
They can't hurt you unless you let them
They cannot hurt you unless you let them

I am just a boy working in a record store
Yes I moved to San Francisco
Just to see what I could be

I am a loser geek
Crazy with an evil streak
Yes, i do believe there is a
Violent thing inside of me

She is just a girl
She is doing what she can
She dances topless
When she's not playing in her band

Such a pretty girl, happy in an ugly place
Watching all the pretty people
Doing lots of ugly things

I think it's getting better for the two of us
Yes I think it's getting better almost everyday
I could give a damn for what those people say

All I want to do is lose myself in your room
All you want is just a slowfuck in the afternoon
I still see those scary guys when I am all alone at night
I kiss the ring you gave me, then I swing with all my might

I think it's getting better for the two of us
I think it's getting easier for you and me to agree
That the white men in the black suits
They are diminishing
Yes I think they are diminishing
Yes I think they diminish you
And they diminish me
I think they are diminishing
You know sometimes I hear those people say

Yeah she takes a bus over to the northside of the city
She goes to work, stripping for the rich white men
All the words they give her make her feel so soft and pretty
She wears them but they never ever seem to fit

Yes I think it's getting better for the two of us
Yes I think it's getting better in the worst way
I refuse to be afraid of almost anyone
Afraid of all the things they do or the words that they say
Let's live the way we want to live and hope they go away

I really hope they go away
I really hope they find a nice place
I hope they find it somewhere
I hope they go away

I can still hear all those people say