it’s the middle of the country
it’s the middle of the year
it’s a little too much sunlight
for anyone to bear
there’s a thousand miles between us
of unbroken sky
& a thousand crooked questions
along for the ride
we sleep together
we dream all alone
& i wake up beside myself
in the half light of dawn
& i wish at that moment
that i were waterproof
when these thoughts fall like rain
on a corrugated roof
like rain on a roof
it’s the curve of love
it’s the rise & the fall
it’s a frame that we keep
around a hole in the wall
the problem’s in the human
in the flesh & the bone
‘cause if love were the measure
we’d never come undone
a woman is a window
a man’s a revolving door
one foot’s always moving
the other’s nailed to the floor
& the walls keep them together
& they keep them apart
& it’s all just graffiti
in the chambers of the heart
the sheets hold the imprint
of your lover after dawn
& the bed remains unmade
long after she’s gone
& you wish at that moment
that you were waterproof
when these thoughts fall like rain
on a corrugated roof
like rain on a roof

he threw me in the water
to teach me how to swim
& like moses i just floated
away from him
now i’m drifting on this river
& that’s just a dream
that runs through my veins
like an underground stream
it’s a dream as clear as water
it’s a dream as old as the rain
& it falls on every soul that’s restless
& on augustine creek again
it rained for 40 days
after i left home
the river rose & carried me along
it washed away the streets & houses
the people & the signs
i watched them all go down
beneath the waterline
& this memory’s as clear as water
& this memory’s as cold as the rain
but even rivers know they can’t
run backwards
back to augustine creek once again
i threw a stone into the river
it sank it won’t come back
i spent the night
in some deserted shack
i watched the stars spin in circles
round the center that they seek
i can see them still
over augustine creek
& the night’s as clear as water
& there’s a ghost that’s clear in this light
it’s just the ghost of a river
that runs backwards
back to augustine creek tonight

he went down to the store one day
said he’d be back by ten
& who knows why he couldn’t stay
but he was never seen again
she was faithful
she was patient she was kind
& she kept the door as open
as she kept her mind
no message waiting on the answering machine
& if there were you wouldn’t know what it means
you can change your name & the rain will claim
the footprints that you leave
& there’s cracks in the sidewalk
you can fall between
he went to his own funeral
when he found out that he’d died
& he watched her stand there dressed in black
he was so touched that he cried
but the years went by like chapters
in a slowly closing book
til she passed him on the street one day
without a second look
chorus
in a dream he went back to her
& she still looked the same
but he could hardly remember
his face or name
so take this lesson with you
when you go to the store
remember what you left behind
and never slam the door
chorus

there’s the guilty & the blameless
& the ones who stand around
the silent & the nameless
who simply stand their ground
faces in this smoke filled room
each one could be me
i won’t pretend i understand
these familiar mysteries
for those without a compass
drifting far from shore
out on some lost highway
or locked behind a door
the prison of a restless room
or the road you cannot see
i won’t pretend i understand
these familiar mysteries
for those who cry for no one
& those who dress in black
gone by fire or gone by ice
or else just gone off track
those of us who leave too soon
or the ones left in between
i won’t pretend i understand
these familiar mysteries

i spent a weekend down in south memphis
but i didn’t get a chance to see the king
& the night was as black
as your cocktail dress
& no one was in the mood to sing
& i still wonder where you are tonight
we had quite a time but what a mess we made
& i wrote this in l.a. by the light
of an elvis lamp with a leopard skin shade
you paid the motel bill in cash and drove away
sometimes i think you did it just for spite
maybe you got tired of hearing me say
oh baby please stay for one more night

they took london bridge & put it in the desert
with old ladies selling flowers when you cross
& you can stare at the sun & get your bearings
but never admit that you are lost
& if they ask you where you are
just point to the nearest star
in dreamland
they took the eiffel tower & put it in virginia
i could see it from the window of my room
& a couple who weren’t real stood before it
& they kissed just like we used to do
it was phony as a flesh-colored crayon
& i’d believe every word they say
in dreamland
i took a subway from new york to las vegas
‘cause i left a part of me underground
but nothing was there where i left it
so i stole it from the lost & found
& i took it to a table inside
i said to the dealer let it ride
to dreamland

i live down near the orphanage
from my porch i can hear the kids
there’s a row of trees by the iron gate
I watch them as they stand & wait
no one knows how they got there
just blew in from who knows where
they put down roots & they won’t let go
take what you get & you call it home
just act like you don’t care
just glad to be anywhere
& dream that you’ve got it made
when you’re standing in someone else’s shade
these trees have got a stubborn streak
in winter they hold on to every leaf
they wear their bones outside their skin
sometimes you have to keep yourself within
chorus
they don’t like hanging judges
don’t hold people swings or grudges
you think you’d learn a thing or two
when lovers carve their names in you
there’s a wind at night blows through these trees
it’s the same cold wind that blows right through me
make up a past give yourself a name
& a pair of arms to hold anything
chorus

the radio’s been talking
ever since you stopped
i don’t know where you’re staring
but it’s a long way off
how’d he know all our secrets
how’d he know what we said
we always thought we could keep it
by our shoes under the bed
just leave me a note that says nothing
‘cause i got the room to spare
as empty as that dress that you left
on the bedroom chair
you had a heart with a hole in it
it hung by a chain
if i knew how i’d stolen it
i’d steal it again
but if wishes were dishes
we’d be unfinished drinks
we left out in the kitchen
piled up in the sink
chorus
the radio’s been talking
ever since you stopped
i don’t know where you’re staring
but it’s a long way off

there’s a full moon caught