THE ISLAND OF MISFIT SONGS LYRICS January (2003) Now's the part where we turn the page Say goodbye as it slips away Let go of all that might have been Shake it off and try again But I'm all used up and thrown away "Come out with us," my friends all say I watch them kiss on New Year's Eve I feel sick, I've got to leave My heart's still set on The one I thought would be mine You know I gave it all my love My attention and time I should be there now You and a happy end I should be there now And I don't want to start again I've woken up, the dream's still clear I just can't help notice that you're not here I understand that life goes on There's just nothing else I want I can't get over The one I thought would be mine You know I gave it all my hope All my patience and time I'd like to smile, to "live and learn" And love without a thought for return But how do I live for the here and now Like my chance is not lost yet somehow I'd like to hope, to keep my dream But if this didn't work, would anything Gave it all I had, now I'm empty inside With nothing to show for how hard I tried Climbing all this way, this one last time I couldn't hold up the world and I'm Rolling back down, I don't want to start again It's a brand new year... Spot the Wonder Dog (1994) In the days when I was foolishly repressed Back before my body was possessed By the ghost of Ralph Nader Who made me cut my hair Before that cruel distortion of time and space When I'd still wake up with my hair all messed up in my face And not that of my girlfriend Who lived a floor above Or the girl three floors below me With whom I was trying not to fall in love No no no no Now back to the part about being repressed I can rationalize with the best I was trying to be Mother Teresa Single-handedly save one While another gave me strength though I did not see that 'til she was gone I kept on trying Trying to do the right thing But should one pour water On a burning ship that's sinking? And where's my guardian angel now And so I've learned to be a bit less repressed But my life is still a pretty mess So I've learned my lesson: Never cut your hair Make sure you never graduate And appreciate the angels while they're there Ice Storm (2003) It seemed like a great adventure Late at night as the rain came down With the sparks lighting up the bedroom Tree limbs snapped and crashed to the ground But the fun is gone by morning I wake up cold and can't get warm I bundle up and sing a song And wait for the power to come on But when it's three degrees from freezing It gets hard to play the guitar Even the cat has started shivering I had to warm her up in the car It's only useful as a heater You can't buy gas, you can't drive far I'd like to head down to Atlanta But we're all stuck where we are Too cold to work or read or think straight I walk down to the grocery store The place has power but the meat and bread is gone I go to the cafe right next door With coffee, sandwich, books and laptop I'll camp out here 'til I can't stay more Then I'll call every friend in the phone book For a warm spot on the floor My house is three degrees from freezing And I can't sleep with the power lines down Not wearing all the clothes in my closet Not with all the blankets in town They say the freeway is pretty melted And now there's gas if you look around So you might see me in Atlanta I'll be kissing the ground My Fascist Girlfriend (2003) She saw me with my protest sign She struck up a debate I thought at first her pride was cruel Her fearlessness was hate But then I found a whole new world As she cut me down to size And sunbeams danced across her hair And sparkled in her eyes My friends all think I've lost my mind But they don't understand Cause when we kissed, the world was right I miss my fascist girlfriend It's not her fight to stem the tide Of immigrants and gays Or how she'd burn my books when she Didn't like what they had to say The time she stuffed the ballot box In support of a flat tax Or the "love it or leave it" tattoo on The small of her back Now right and wrong don't seem so clear Without her steady hand My moral compass spins around I miss my fascist girlfriend I was a bleeding heart I felt so guilty about the poor She laid my doubts to rest She was so confident and sure The circle of her logic solved it all like a charm I could feel its walls around me Keeping me safe in her arms She packed up her green duffle bag Her camo looked so cool I asked "Why can't I join you at paramilitary school?" She said that I was weak and she got on the bus I'd always thought her strong enough for both of us There's never been a girl like her I'll never love again I know she's never coming home I miss my fascist girlfriend Dance of Light (1991) My life is here now I watch intently The shadows dance and sway Look, I can feel they're happy I move in harmony What's that you tell me? No it's not true, you're lying Wave the flag, go team Look, the world is there in front of me It's beautiful Hear the music, yes it's part of me It goes right through me And it's my life, the dance of light It's all that I need The shadows The dance is here for me It's all I see It's all I need The shadows dance, the music Life is how it should be It's how it has to be It's real, it's there in front of me My life is here, this is my world It's part of me It's all a part of me My life is here now Where else could it be? If P then Q; P, therefore Q I feel complete, I should be I lack for nothing What else could I need? I live a deeper truth I know the true reality Outside, a shallow lie, alone A pioneer exploring hell You scream, "My kingdom for a sign of goodness" Outside of this, it's emptiness There's nothing for me Oh God, I don't know anything anymore The shadows The dance is here for me And you can't take that away from me (Whitewash over dark walls, colors covered grey) I need to believe in this (The TV's on, the ravens have all flown away) No you can't take that away from me (I'm mesmerized, I melt into the flickering display) Please promise you won't take it all... (The world is numb, the roses fade...) ...Away On Strike (2000-03) I'll pull the blankets back over my head Read all the Harry Potters end to end... again Put on Tigermilk, Revolver, Rubber Soul Try not to touch the beer 'til 5 Read no news reports at all I took a leap of faith, now here I stand It's what I said I wanted It's nothing like I planned I've got a new drum kit I've got a dreadnought cutaway Tube amp and bass guitar I've got nothing I want to play It's all right here, the space The time, the gear I need to start today And I've got people who love me And nothing good to say Here comes another Dixie Chicks incident I thought being free Meant you could criticize the president Now if they call a red alert That's where the Bill of Rights ends But we can make this country better By buying more and spying on our friends Next election, will the touch screen company Count my vote Against the party paying their salary? Just 'cause you got more votes Now that doesn't mean you've won Look out you third-world enemies We're coming to show you how it's done With corporate-funded ads To help the candidates for sale Firms looted by their CEOs And America by C-students from Yale I helped a local family Find a decent place to sleep The government said "See, you don't need our help" Put a thousand on the street Sometimes I love this world Sometimes I can't stand this place I try to do some good And it blows up in my face It doesn't help, I know To turn around and walk away, but I don't have the strength to fight this today I haven't picked my battles And I'm burning out this way So I'm going to spend today in bed I can try again tomorrow Can you meet me halfway A Sort of Mental Housecleaning (1989) I'm digging through my thoughts And I'm picking out the seeds I'm rummaging through memories And I'm pulling out the weeds I'm shoving certain people To the back of my mind I just got rid of Reagan And you're next in line I just wanted someone special And Lord knows what I got So I guess I'm sick of wishing You were something you're not Go find someone else For all those games that you play Since it's all just a game to you anyway I'll go on, I will be strong Don't look back 'cause I'll be gone You're not the end of me My life begins today The future calls to me As memories fade to grey You're scratched out of my diary 'Cause you really don't fit in Things aren't the way they were Or have they ever really been? Like Frankenstein's monster Somehow everything went wrong I'm taking out the garbage Which is right where you belong I'm sick of putting up With everything that you do My time is much too precious To be wasted on you And right to the last I have never come first No wonder things have gone from bad to worse And when you wake up and find That you've finally changed your mind (oh well) I'll have left you far behind Throwback (2000) Open fire Here's a throwback to old times It's as much as I can handle Gracefully or otherwise And if I had a dollar bill For each time I'd run and hide I might feel a little less bitter about it A little bit better about it Do you ever think about That little boy scared, alone and tired Little boy makes a deal with God "Just let me help someone else like me I'll suck it all up and turn the pain to song" And if somewhere one person cared For each day I tried to be strong I might feel a little bit different about it A little less miserable about it Though now that I think about it Maybe I'm to blame If these wounds haven't healed with time If I'm the only one remembering Then perhaps that fault is mine I've tried to shake this old defense But I can't make my life make sense How do you explain it to yourself? And if I had a minute back For every one I cried I'd have so much time... Perhaps the fault is mine If I live my life by hopes and fears That weren't the least bit real for years If most of me is seeing still back there While standing here And if, when all is done, you wake to find It all meant nothing this whole time How do you explain that to yourself? Lamppost (1995) Not even Mother Teresa Has such gold in her heart But there seems to be a small problem With your follow-through part You shine as brightly as the lamppost On the corner of my street But you're about as thoughtful as that post And thoughtful is what I need And I think I'm learning what's good for me And I think I might know what I need You're a real good person But your memory is kind of short 'Cause you are so good to me Unless you forget; then I'm ignored You sometimes warm me like the sunshine After it's rained for three weeks But you're about as consistent as the weather And consistent is what I need And I love what you believe in When it's more than talk at least I could use a little justice I could use a little peace I could use the kind of friend You said you wanted to be Or is saving the world leaving no time for me? 'Cause you want to love the world as your neighbor But you don't return my calls You sing the praises of kindness While you hammer up walls You are as beautiful as the rosebush That my grandma used to keep But you know she got tired of it always Keeping its thorny distance, so she Took a couple pictures To remember its good side And she dug up that rosebush And she planted a tree And you're just about as thorny And that's not what I need Big Toe/No Big Deal (2000) My big toe We go walking down the street You know, you never know who you'll meet Now did you see the way she looks at me? (And the toe) Yes, I'm thinking this was meant to be (Hey, the toe) I just gotta know, I got to see (No, no, don't ignore the toe!) My big toe It gets jealous of the girls Wants to be my world within a world But hey, she's coming back, she smiles at me (And the toe) Taking off her dress so slowly (Hey, the toe) Want her so bad I can hardly see (No, no, don't ignore the toe!) No big problem No big deal "That which is too stupid to be said, is sung." --Voltaire These lyrics appear by permission and are (C)Scot Ninnemann. All rights reserved.