“2:45 AM”
I’m going out sleepwalking
Where mute memories start talking
The boss that couldn’t help but hurt you
And the pretty thing he made desert you
I’m going out like a baby
A naive unsatisfiable baby
Grabbing onto whatever’s around
For the soaring high or the crushing down
Hidden cracks that don’t show
But that constantly just grow
Looking for the man that attacked me
While everybody was laughing at me
You beat it in me, that part of you
But I’m gonna split us back in two
Tired of living in a cloud
If you’re gonna say shit now you’ll do it out loud
It’s 2:45 in the morning
And I’m putting myself on warning
For waking up in an unknown place
With a recollection you’ve half-erased
Looking for somebody’s arms
To wave away past harm
Walking out on Center Circle
Both of you can just fade to black
Walking out on Center Circle
Been pushed away and I’ll never come back
elliot smith
Sunrise, sunset.
Sunrise, sunset.
Swiftly go the days.
Sunrise, sunset.
You wake up, then you undress.
It always is the same.
a sunrise and the sun sets.
You’re lying while you confess, keep trying to explain.
a sunrise and the sun sets you realize
then you forget what you’ve been trying to retain.
But everybody knows it’s all about the things
that get stuck inside of your head,
like the songs your roommate sings
a vision of her body as she stretches out on your bed.
and she raised her hands in the air asked you,
When was the last time you looked in the mirror?
cause you have changed.
Yeah, you have changed.
Sunrise, the sun sets.
You are hopeful and then you regret.
The circle never breaks.
With a sunrise and a sunset there’s a change of heart or address.
Is there nothing that remains?
For a sunrise or a sunset.
You’re manic or you’re depressed.
Will you ever feel ok?
for a sunrise or sunset, your lover is an actress.
Did you really think she’d stay?
For a sunrise or sunset.
You’re either coming or you just left but you’re always on the way.
Towards a sunrise or a sunset, a scribble or a sonnet.
They are really just the same.
To the sunrise and the sunset.
The master and his servant have exactly the same fate.
It’s a sunrise and a sunset.
From a cradle to a casket.
There’s no way to escape.
The sunrise and the sunset.
Hold your sadness like a puppet, keep putting on the play.
But everything you do is leading to the point
where you just won’t know what to do.
And at that moment you may laugh
but there is someone there who will be laughing louder than you.
So it’s true, the trick is complete.
become everything you said that you never would be.
You’re a fool! You’re a fool!
Sunrise, sunset.
Sunrise, sunset.
The sunrise and the sun sets.
Sunrise, sunset.
Sunrise, the sun sets.
Sunrise, the sun sets.
Sunrise, sunset.
Go home to your apartment
put the cassette in the tape deck and let that fever play.
Sunrise, sunset.
bright eyes
I’ll be here awhile, ain’t going nowhereFar is solace in the maddening pace
sad state written on my face
not a tight rope walk but dance
uncertain game of chance
but I’ll see it through in timeAnd if a person place or thing can deliver
I will quiver with delight
tempted by the hand that could
blind my vision and sight
but at twenty years of age
in frolic and in rage
I will see it through in timeBut the dawn will come into the endless night
and everything’s going to be alright
but at thirty years of age
through frolic and in rage
all regressed and healed in time I’ll be here awhile, ain’t going nowhere
Said I, said I, said I, I will survivepostamble();
(-311-)
Stella Blue
All the years combine, they melt into a dream,
A broken angel sings from a guitar.
In the end theres just a song comes cryin up the night
Thru all the broken dreams and vanished years.
Stella blue. stella blue.
When all the cards are down, theres nothing left to see,
Theres just the pavement left and broken dreams.
In the end theres still that song comes cryin like the wind.
Down every lonely street thats ever been
Stella blue. stella blue.
Ive stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel, cant win for trying.
Dust off those rusty strings just one more time,
Gonna make them shine, shine
It all rolls into one and nothing comes for free,
Theres nothing you can hold, for very long.
And when you hear that song come crying like the wind,
It seems like all this life was just a dream.
Stella blue. stella blue.
gd
Your hand on his arm
Haystack charm around your neck
Strung out and thin
Calling some friend, trying to cash some check
He’s acting dumb
That’s what you’ve come to expect
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
He’s wearing your clothes
Head down to toes, a reaction to you
You say you know what he did
But you idiot kid, you don’t have a clue
Sometimes they just get caught in the eye, you’re pulling him through
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Now on the bus
Nearly touching this dirty retreat
Falling out 6th and powell, a dead sweat in my teeth
Gonna walk walk walk
Four more blocks, plus the one in my brain
Down downstairs to the man, he’s gonna make it all okay
I can’t beat myself
I can’t beat myself
And I don’t want to talk
I’m taking the cure
So I can be quiet wherever I want
So leave me alone
You ought to be proud that I’m getting good marks
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
~elliot smith