Little Plastic Castle

you always got those dark sunglasses
covering half your face
but if you promise to take them off
i promise i won't squander your gaze
i will be picturesque
i will be nice
i won't do anything
you can't tell your wife
i will think before i act
i will think twice
just let me see your eyes

each time we've spoken
we've put in our token
and ridden the tilt-a-whirl
i was giggling and dizzy
flirting like a twelve year old girl
the carnival of you and me
is coming to town
watch how we spin and spin
and then fall down
now we just say hello
and head for firmer ground

you are the one-way glass
that watches me
standing in line at the bank
i always looked into your glasses
like a cat looks into a fish tank
but all i could ever see
was the specter of me reflected
i want a monument of the friendship
that we never had, erected
i want to take up lots of room
i want it to loom

you always got those dark sunglasses
between us when we talk
but after the party is over
if you wanna take a walk
we could just look around
not do nothing wrong
just try to be at least as brave as our songs
i will bring my heart
i will bring my face
you name the time and place

you can't hide
behind social graces
so don't try
to be all touchy feely
cuz you lie
in my face of all places
but I got no
problem with that really

what bugs me
is that you believe what you're saying
what bothers me
is that you don't know how you feel
what scares me
is that while you're telling me stories
you actually
believe that they are real

I get no illusions about you
guess what
I never did
when I said
when I said I'll take it
I meant
I meant as is

just give up
and admit you're as asshole
you would be
in some good companyand I think you'd find
that your friends would forgive you
or maybe I
am just speaking for me

when I look around
I think this, this is good enough
and I try to laugh
at whatever life brings
cuz when I look down
I just miss all the good stuff
and when I look up
I just trip over things

i've got no illusions about you
guess what
I never did
when I say
when I say i'lll take it
I mean
I mean as is

They were digging a new foundation in Manhattan
And they discovered a slave cemetery there
May their souls rest easy now that lynching is frowned upon
And we've moved on to the electric chair

And I wonder who's gonna be president
Tweedle Dumb or Tweedle Dumber?
And who's gonna have the big
Blockbuster box office
This summer
How 'bout we put up a wall
Between the houses and the highway
And then you can go your way
And I can go my way

Except all the radios agree with all the TV's
And all the magazines agree with all the radios
And I keep hearing that same damn song
Everywhere I go
Maybe I should put a bucket over my head
And a marshmallow in each ear
And stumble around for another dumb numb week
For another hum drum hit song to appear

People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people
Playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
It's about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns or drugs
You choose

We got it rehashed
We got it half-assed
We're digging up all the graves
And we're spitting on the past
And we can choose between the colors
Of the lipstick on the whores
Cuz we know the difference
Between the font of twenty percent more
And the font of teriyaki
You tell me
How does that make you feel?
You tell me what's real

They say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
Even when they're dry as my lips for years
Even when they're stranded on a small desert island
With no place in two thousand miles to buy beer
And I wonder is he different
Is he different
Has he changed
What he's about
Or is he just a liar
With nothing to lie about
Am I headed for the same brick wall
Is there anything I can do
About anything at all

Except go back to that corner in Manhattan
And dig deeper
Dig deeper this time
Down beneath the impossible pain of our history
Beneath unknown bones
Beneath the bedrock of the mystery
Beneath the sewage system and the path train
Beneath the cobblestones and the water main
Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
Beneath everything I can think of to think about
Beneath it all
Beneath all get out
Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
Ther'es a fire that's just waiting for fuel

They were digging a new foudation in manhattan
And they discovered a slave cemetary there
May their souls rest easy
Now that lynching is frowned upon
And we've moved on to the electric chair
And i wonder who's gonna be president, tweedle dum or tweedle dummer?
And who's gonna have the big blockbuster box office this summer?
Howabout we put up a wall between houses and the highway
And you can go your way , and i can go my may

Except all the radios agree with all the tvs
And all the magazines agree with all the radios
And i keep hearing that same damn song everywhere i go
Maybe i should put a bucket over my head
And a marshmallow in each ear
And stumble around for
Another dumb- dumb waiting for another hit song to appear

People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
Its about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs
You choose
We got it rehashed
We got it half-assed
We're digging up all the graves
And we're spitting on the past
And you can choose between the colors
Of the lipstick on the whores
Cause we know the difference between
The font of 20% more
And the font of teriakiyi
You tell me
How does it...make you feel?

You tell me
What's ...real?
And they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
Even when they're as dry as my lips for years
Even when they're stranded on a small desert island
With no place within 2,000 miles to buy beer
And i wonder
Is he different?
Is he different?
Has he changed? what's he about?...
Or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?

Am i headed for the same brick wall
Is there anything i can do about
Anything at all?
Except go back to that corner in manhattan
And dig deeper, dig deeper this time
Down beneath the impossible pain of our history
Beneath unknown bones
Beneath the bedrock of the mystery
Beneath the sewage systems and the path drain
Beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
Beneath everything i can think of to think about
Beneath it all, beneath all get out
Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel

I heard the sound of your bike
as your wheels hit the gravel
and your engine in the driveway, cutting off
I pushed through the screen door
and I stood out on the porch
thinking fight, fight, fight, at all costs

But instead I let you in
just like I've always done
I sat you down and offered you a beer
and across the kitchen table
I fired several rounds
but you were still sitting there when the smoke cleared

You came crawling back to say
that you want to make good in the end
oh, let me count the ways that I abhore you
you were never a good lay
and you never were a good friend
but oh, what can I say, I adore you

All I need is my leather
one t-shirt and two socks
I'll keep my hands warm in your pockets
and you can use the engine blocks
we'll ride out to California
with my arms around your chest
and i'll pretend this is real
cuz this is what I like best

You've been juggling two women
like a stupid circus clown
telling both we are the one
and maybe you can keep me
from ever being happy
but you're not going to stop me
from having fun

So let's go, before I change my mind
I'll leave the luggage of all your lies behind
cuz I am bigger than everything that came before
you were never very kind
and you let me way down every time
but oh, what can I say, I adore you

In a coffee shop in a city
Which is every coffee shop in every city
On a day which is every day
I picked up a magazine
Which is every magazine
Read a story, and then forgot it right away

They say goldfish have no memory
I guess their lives are much like mine
And the little plastic castle
Is a surprise every time
And it's hard to say if they're happy
But they don't seem much to mind

From the shape of your shaved head
I recognized your silhouette
As you walked out of the sun and sat down
And the sight of your sleepy smile
Eclipsed all the other people
As they paused to sneer at the two girls
From out of town

I said, look at you this morning
You are, by far, the cutest
But be careful getting coffee
I think these people wanna shoot us
Or maybe there's some kinda local competition here
To see who can be the rudest

People talk
About my image
Like I come in two dimensions
Like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind
Like what I happen to be wearing
The day that someone takes a picture
Is my new statement for all of womankind

I wish they could see us now
In leather bras and rubber shorts
Like some ridiculous new team uniform
For some ridiculous new sport
Quick someone call the girl police
And file a report

In a coffee shop in a city
Which is every coffee shop in every city
On a day which is every day