        
KINDA LIKE FIREWORKSMay 2008
|
1. Baby, it's not cheating
I like to hear
your voice so near and sultry
way down the line
my undiscovered country
My girlfriend thinks
I'm working late on writing
but what we do
is so much more exciting
Yeah she's gone to bed alone
and I've got you here on the phone
I hear your breath
becoming calm and peaceful
deep in the night
can it be right to need you?
and in the morning you'll be gone
your cell phone can't stay charged that long
but when she goes to bed at ten
I know that I'll call you again
Let's just sleep together
it doesn't matter whether
you're spinning through my mind
'cuz I can stop this ride at any time
baby it's not cheating
if it's only fleeting
there's nothing to regret
we haven't even touched each other yet
who could have guessed
a site as dumb as Myspace
could have been blessed
with seven pics of your face
yeah Santa Cruz is a nice place
and I could use a change of pace
I guess with just a little tweak
my job could take me there next week
Let's just sleep together
it doesn't matter whether
you're spinning through my mind
'cuz I can stop this ride at any time
baby it's not cheating
if it's only fleeting
there's nothing to regret
we haven't even touched each other yet
yeah I know about the tricks
the risks you run with point and click
and I'll be rightly called a prick
I just hope that you're a chick
Let's just sleep together
it doesn't matter whether
you're spinning through my mind
'cuz I can stop this ride at any time
baby it's not cheating
if it's only fleeting
there's nothing to regret
we haven't even touched each other yet
2. Stall
you spoke your mind tonight
one at a time the words came raging in
your hopes declined again
last straw, said it before, no more try again
how long can you stall?
how long can you stall?
quick fix, no change at all
back down, try to relax, but you're wide awake
this dream needs time to take
but I don't have the spine for a big mistake
how long can you stall?
how long can you stall?
when you were mine you were so shy
that you would hide at your boyfriend's place
but now your fame makes me to blame
for all of the years that we stayed in place
how long can you stall?
how long can you stall?
3. My girl
my girl
doesn't watch tv
'less it's a movie
by the Cohen brothers
my girl
likes to paint and dance
wouldn't give a glance
to no dudes in sports bars
my girl
is at home asleep
'cuz she's gotta keep
Toby blowin' bubbles
my girl
doesn't mind a bit
puts up with my shit
when I get in trouble
she's almost everything I need
forgives me all of my misdeeds
how did I land with all the world?
how come I get to call her
my girl
sure knows how to cook
not just by the book
likes to make me wobble
my girl
knows just what she needs
'specially when she reads
vampire romance novels
she's almost everything I need
forgives me all of my misdeeds
how did I land with all the world?
how come I get to call her
4. Gardener, gibbet, misery
when I drove you home
from the airport on that day
even if I'd known
all the things that you would say
I still would tell you
that I love you in that way
'cuz I don't lie to you
no matter what you say
and oh for honesty
such a price I'm gonna pay
'cuz you've asked not to hear
how I choose to spend my days
will you ever come back?
I didn't have a plan
I thought I wanted to be friends
but in retrospect
it seems I'm doing this again
'cuz you are not the first
that I wanted to adore
next time I feel this thirst
will I lock the door?
and as I twirl around
all these questions in my brain
I wish that you were here
to help me think things through as friends
will you ever come back?
5. Flirting with disaster
you make my mouth water
you make my heart flutter
in fact whatever you wear is too much
and I get jealous of things that you touch
sometimes you make it real hard when I walk
can't get a grip on myself when you talk
I want to unbutton
reveal your bellybutton
look I keep telling myself "we're just friends"
but this rush to the head never ends
and when you tell me about other guys
I try to keep the despair from my eyes
I know I'm flirting with disaster
but when you're near my heart beats faster
I hope these days will never end
I hope you'll always be my friend
sometimes I think you know
and so I take it slow
but it's impossible to pull the breaks
when just a minute with you's all it takes
to get me dreaming again of your mouth
and all the things I would do further south
I know I'm flirting with disaster
but when you're near my heart beats faster
I hope these days will never end
I hope you'll always be my friend
|
6. Hey you
hey you, I don't care what you're doing
hey you, I don't care who you're screwing
don't start with your stories unless they're true
hey you, I don't care where you're going
hey you, I don't care who you're blowing
I guess that you'll never be really mine
yeah you've probably met some guy
you're just waiting to decide
but I can't let you go
'til you finally tell me that it's so
you still won't promise to return
when can I expect to learn
just who made you stay
living sixteen hundred miles away?
hey you, why do you keep on calling?
hey you, I can tell that you're stalling
you just need somebody to hold your hand
hey you, won't you pay me a visit?
hey you, that's not somebody, is it?
don't dare fuck around or I'll make you pay
yeah you've probably met some guy
you're just waiting to decide
but I can't let you go
'til you finally tell me that it's so
you never promised to be true
but I expected more from you
how can you choose to stay
living sixteen hundred miles away?
I hope you never call again
then maybe we can still be friends
I know that made no sense
so I'll try to stick to present tense
I would have given you the world
or something equally absurd
just who made you stay
living sixteen hundred miles away?
7. Morning drive
on Friday night we pack the car
as soon as you get home
your hair's a mess from waitressing
and I've been here alone
but come the morning and all of that
we'll leave here with the bills
just seven hours if we cut across
the Pennsylvania hills
and as we drive we'll talk about
the places that we'll go
first Central Park then every single
record store we know
and don't you worry,
SoHo without money can be hard
we've got no cash, but I've got
this brand new credit card
so let the day come now
we'll pay for gas somehow
'cuz only a morning drive
can make us feel alive
the years have passed and suddenly
we spend our nights at home
and our weekends maintaing
all the things that we now own
but when we find a moment
here or there to spend on maps
we plan out road trips to coincide
with our son's daily naps
so let the day come now
we'll pay for gas somehow
'cuz only a morning drive
can make us feel alive
8. Lonely days
you know I love to hear your news
but lately it's been so hard to hear
you're in your bed with some married dude
and I can't find a way to lift you clear
yeah I know it's not the same
but I thought that I could
tame your lonely days
the night I talked you through to sleep
I thought that I could help you keep
from falling further down with him
I guess the slope was just too steep
yeah I know it's not the same
but I thought that I could
tame your lonely days
9. Dancing with my friends
when the weather changed, I'd walk you home
from a distance of thirty feet
and though you knew my name I never found
a way for us to really meet
one day I finally plucked the courage up
to ask you to the eighth grade ball
"I'd like to rent a tux and take you out!"
you smiled and then you let me fall
"I'm going dancing with my friends
I just don't need a new boy"
and on the night we would have stormed the town
I'm playing Zelda in my room
it's getting late, I've taken Gannon down
your bedroom light should switch on soon
"I'm going dancing with my friends
I just don't need a new boy"
then one day in the new grocery store
I see you picking out some bread
a million years since you last let me down
but then you saw me stopped and said
"the night I went without you to the ball
I should have gone with you instead
my best friend stole the boy I'd loved all fall
I wouldn't care if she dropped dead"
"I'm going dancing with my friends
I just don't need a new boy"
10. Skies
when you said
"this is my favorite place in Kansas"
I didn't have the heart
to say "we're in Missouri"
but as the windows cycled by
around our table in the sky
I knew that you would be the one
to bring my face into the sun again
and you said
"I've got five giant older brothers.
don't mess around 'cuz they each
weigh a thousand pounds or more"
I laughed and swore to never
give them cause to swarm
and as we sped around the rink
I finally found the nerve to speak
I'd go anywhere with you
it doesn't matter what we do
come on now and fly with me
there are so many Skies to see
and when you got your first big offer
I knew it was too strong to keep
you in this town for long
we packed your things on Halloween
between the ghosts and ghouls
I couldn't help but make a scene
and as we drove you lost your voice
but as we checked your bags you said
you'd call me from Detroit
I thought I'd drive home in the rain
but as you left the ground
I booked my seat on the next plane
I'd go anywhere with you
it doesn't matter what we do
come on now and fly with me
there are so many Skies to see
the greatest gift I'll ever prize
was the welcome in your eyes
I'd go anywhere with you
it doesn't matter what we do
come on now and fly with me
there are so many Skies to see
|
1. Triptych
I won't lie to you, mother
can't you see it's true
that you've not been laughing
for so long it seems
that you've mislaid all your dreams?
I know why you're blue, father
hopes now overdue
stuck in the traffic jam
between your ears
where you sublimate your fears
and file away the years
I can feel your pain, sister
though you don't complain
who would you complain to?
'sides the one you spend
all your weeknights with 'till ten
we'll come get you then
2. Undefeated champion of the arcade
free guy
if you shoot him in the eye
don't die
don't die
I'm undefeated champion of the arcade
I disregard all the street cred that you made
you're next in line, droppin' down your token
I win again, the joystick must be broken
I'm undefeated champion of the arcade
I'm flushing down every last cent that I'm paid
for seven years, this my only calling
it's closing time, I can't admit I'm stalling
I'm undefeated champion of the arcade
they tore it down and built another Rite-Aid
now that it's gone I need to win at something
come take me on, a round won't cost you nothing
3. Behind my smile
you know I'm standing by
you know I would not lie
hidden behind my smile
I'll wait for a little while
your new boy's so damn brash
I never talked such trash
but I won't speak my mind
I guess I blew my stack
but he'll come crawling back
say you'll still be my friend
and I'll be good again
4. Ashley Christian
I know, you've got no time
but can we talk now?
you say everything's fine
but I can't see how
you can be so content
when I'm here churning
I guess you know all the facts
that I'm stil learning
Ashley Christian
you caved my heart in
you hardly knew him
and yet you screwed him
I heard you met this new guy
at some lame cook-out
just what did he do right
to make you put out?
oh fine, I'm just a jerk
you've pegged me squarely
next time you break someone's heart
just do it fairly
Ashley Christian
you caved my heart in
you hardly knew him
and yet you screwed him
5. Morning Pales
I keep dreaming of you
pressing to me on the bow
falling backwards as we kiss
morning pales compared to this
I keep dreaming of you
a candle lit beside the tub
whisper soft by christmas light
lending secrets for the night
I keep dreaming of you
barefoot near me on the couch
encircled close within my arms
heaven lost with my alarm
6. Bottled in glass
corduroy cuffs in a world of jeans
maple leaves hang from the rafters
migrating birds draw Vs through the clouds
if I wrote your name would you call mine aloud?
Halloween night, you're one of the stars
fallen beside me
we would play chess and you stole all my pawns
the day that we lay in the snow on your lawn
I'll never forget chestnut hill in the spring
or how I would dream of our hearts twined by string
if I could still find us both bottled in glass
I'd drown out the present and drink in the past
|
|
7. Starling
my ears are ringing
the floor is spinning
the roof now open air
my hands in your burnt hair
my little starling
in all our quarreling
I did not take clear aim
and now our world's in flame
pathetic sovereign
strewn on the mountain
impaled upon my crown
I struck my family down
please help me, madness
and blank my brain
for even heaven's flame
could never cleanse my name
8. Stars & Stripes
I pledge allegiance to the waves in your hair
though I'm not convinced to salute the flag
I pledge allegiance to the ring on your hand
and the rockets burning within my mind
and in DC, as they pass down their choice
to send young blood burning from the bay
I pledge allegiance to the light that you cast
as a civil twilight engulfs our land
I pledge allegiance to the sound of your feet
on the way to work in the early morn
I pledge allegiance to the stars in your eyes
though I'm not convinced to salute the stripes
and yes I guess why execs at their desks
never air an arab on CNN
I pledge allegiance to the sound of your name
and all I ask is that you take mine
9. Callisto
floating in the void
somewhere near Ganymede
without my friends
a soliloquy in time of need
an eclypse
so common in these parts
so many moons
one of them has my heart
Callisto betrayed me
and holds me still with gravity
Callisto, cold and fair
found Jupiter and left me there
her giant boyfriend
storms rage in his eyes
fills my vision
with his brazen lies
beneath the clouds
so smooth and civilized
lies violent truth
he's got her hypnotized
Callisto betrayed me
and holds me still with gravity
Callisto, cold and fair
found Jupiter and left me there
10. The more things stay the same
when you ran back inside
as if you had something to hide
I called you up just to see what gave
I think you said I move to fast
but soon today will be in the past
and nothing ventured, nothing gained
and when I sent that note to you
I didn't know what else to do
it was desperation that made me brave
and all I want is to be a friend
there's no advance for you to defend
I never meant to make things strained
I took a walk 'round the block
just to search for a clue
I still can't figure out
how to synch up with you
all those things I said outside
I meant to show I had nothing to hide
I don't know why I tried so hard
I think it's cuz I've lost so much
and you remind me of someone I trust
but now I've made you raise your guard
I took a walk 'round the block
just to search for a clue
I still can't figure out
how to synch up with you
|
Abigail
Abigail
I hate to see you lie in bed all day
waiting for the call
he'll never answer
he's so small
that even if you manage to find a way
to climb above that wall
there's just no chance, dear
you're looking for romance
and it's the last thing that you'll find
Abigail
I can't wait until you finally speak your mind
"everything is fine"
but not behind your glasses
you wait in line
and buy a seat to occupy your time
reading all the rhymes
and sleeping through your classes
waiting for your chance
and letting life drift slowly by
|
Glory be
we saw the sun
send its first rays
through the crack in my curtains
and then you were gone
driving for days
on your way back to Athens
you called from the car
to tell me the shape
of the clouds on the turnpike
my own shooting star
I gave you my heart
just to see what it felt like
and glory be
to all lost lovers
let someone see
their incantations
we took the train
from city to suburb
asleep after midnight
we went to reclaim
the pact that we made
when we kissed 'neath the streetlight
we walked through the park
collecting the ruins
of my childhood castle
we fought in the dark
we parted in hate
to avoid all the hassle
and glory be
to all lost lovers
let someone see
their incantations
|
All songs written by Jesse Kates with copyrights in various years. All rights reserved.
|
| |