Aimee Mann Album

Cotton candy was king
On the midway that spring
When I saw you in the ring on the lawn

Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on

Oh, the lectures I gave
So the girls would behave
While the band played all your favorite songs

Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on

But numbers come up and you're left to the fates
Though I always thought you were one of the greats
Once somebody stationed in Kuala Lumpur
Said he thought you went out, but he couldn't be sure

And the midway I knew
Where the sky was so blue
With the memory of you is gone

Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on

The king of the jailhouse
And the queen of the road
Think sharing the burden will lighten the load
So they pack up their troubles
In an old Cadillac
That's her in the mirror, asleep in the back

Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
That I can't see
That I can't see

And they don't give the answers
At the end of the test
So you can't simply stand there and hope for the best
So wake me up at the border
When we reach Mexico
I'll tell you a secret I don't even know

Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
That I can't see
That I can't see

Honey, I don't wanna turn around
And go back there – do you?
I think you know something I don't know
That I need to

Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
That I can't see
That I can't see

Put on your shoes, girl
I'm goin' to the coast
Where every loser
Gives up what hurts the most
And all those haunted
Unlucky guys get told
Who's really wanted
And who just can't stay sold

Goodbye, Caroline
You're my favorite faith healer
Goodbye, everything
Say I gave to the house dealer
Who could only really let you down

Put on your coat, babe
My luck is winding down
I'll get your suitcase
And pull the car around

Goodbye, Caroline
You're my favorite faith healer
Goodbye, everything
Say I gave to the house dealer
Who could only really let you down

Where it's lit day for night
And the clocks wear their faces bowed
Where the hands and cuffs gleam white
As they hang on a nicotine cloud

Goodbye, Caroline
Goodbye, everything

Goodbye, Caroline
You're my favorite faith healer
Goodbye, everything
Say I gave to the house dealer
Who could only really let you down
Who could only really let you down
Who could only
Let you down
Let you down
Let you down

Something isn't right
I don't know how I know
But baby, it's despite
Your dog-and-pony show

I can hear it coming
You're only going through the motions, baby
With your engines humming
You're just going through the motions, baby

Feel like I'm in jail
With you and Mr. Hyde
A guy who leaves a trail
About a mile wide

So it starts already
That you're just going through the motions, baby
You can throw confetti
But you're still going through the motions, baby
Going through the motions, baby

They'll have a big parade
For every day that you stay clean
But when the trumpets fade
You'll go under like a submarine
And you won't see it coming
No, you won't see it coming

You could have it made
Up there in San Rafael
But baby, I'm afraid
I'll never see you well

Because I've seen the tally
And you're just going through the motions, baby
To a big finale
That comes from going through the motions, baby
Going through the motions, baby
Going through the motions, baby

I want to believe
If you tell me so
I want to believe
'Cause you oughta know
That kicking is hard
But the bottom's harder
So I'm taking your card

But I cannot get my head around it, baby
I cannot get my head around it, baby
'Cause that's just not the way
You make me feel

I want to believe
But baby, I'm dry
I want to believe
But you testify
And I'll pour the drinks
Like a true believer
Whose God never blinks

But I cannot get my head around it, baby
I cannot get my head around it, baby
'Cause that's just not the way
You make me feel
No, that's just not the way
You make me feel
No, that's just not the way
You make me feel

Like, way more real than real
The world inside the glass
That struggles to conceal
The wreckage on the overpass

And I cannot get my head
I cannot get my head
I cannot get my head around it, baby
'Cause that's just not the way
You make me feel
No, that's just not the way
You make me feel
No, that's just not the way

Sitting in your father's basement
Waiting for the phone to ring
Still in your pajamas, baby
She made up some excuse to see you
You said you didn't feel a thing
Tired of all the dramas, maybe

But still
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you

Packing up your old apartment
Sealing up another box
Wondering what made you choose her
And moving house when you're a stoner
Everything you come across
Makes you feel like such a loser

But still
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you

'Cause the stray that you found
That looked so cute at the pound
Now has you putting her down as rabid
If it was badder than bad
Well, then – you oughta be glad
You can break it like another habit

But still
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you

Oh, sure
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear

Tell me why I feel so bad, honey
TV's flat and nothing is funny
I get sad and stuck in a cone of silence
Like a big balloon with nothing for ballast
Labeled like a bottle for Alice
Drink me down or I'll drown in a sea of giants

And tell me, "Baby, baby, I love you
It's nonstop memories of you
It's like a video of you playing
It's all loops of seven-hour kisses
Cut with a couple near-misses
Back to the scene of the actor saying:
'Tell me, baby, baby – why do I feel so bad?'"

Tell me why I feel so bad, honey
Fighting left me plenty of money
But didn't keep the promise of memory lapses
Like a building that's been slated for blasting
I'm the proof that nothing is lasting
Counting to eleven as it collapses

And tell me, "Baby, baby, I love you
It's nonstop memories of you
It's like a video of you playing
It's all loops of seven-hour kisses
Cut with a couple near-misses
Back to the scene of the actor saying:
'Tell me, baby, baby – why do I feel so bad?'"

Baby, baby, I love you
Baby, baby, I love you

From the 22nd floor
Walking down the corridor
Looking out the picture window down
On Sycamore

While perspective lines converge
Rows of cars and buses merge
All the sweet green trees of Atlanta burst
Like little bombs
Or little pom-poms
Shaken by a careless hand
That drives them off
And leaves again

Life just kind of empties out
Less a deluge than a drought
Less a giant mushroom cloud
Than an unexploded shell
Inside a cell
Of the Lennox Hotel

On the 22nd floor
Found a notice on my door
While outside, the sun is shining on
Those little bombs
Those little pom-poms

Life just kind of empties out
Less a deluge than a drought
Less a giant mushroom cloud
Than an unexploded shell
Inside a cell
Of the Lennox Hotel

Inside a cell
Of the Lennox Hotel

Inside a cell
Of the Lennox Hotel

Inside a cell

I drew a picture of you
You and your anchor tattoo
And saw the face that I knew
Covered in shame
You drew a bird that was here
A kind of sweet chanticleer
But with a terrible fear
That the cage couldn't tame

That's how I knew this story would break my heart
When you wrote it
That's how I knew this story would break my heart

So, like a ghost in the snow
I'm getting ready to go
'Cause baby, that's all I know –
How to open the door
And though the exit is crude
It saves me coming unglued
For when you're not in the mood
For the gloves and the canvas floor

That's how I knew this story would break my heart
When you wrote it
That's how I knew this story would break my heart

That's how I knew this story would break my heart
When you wrote it

That summer was just crazy hot
We walked the fairground parking lot
And with our secret handshakes
Sealed the deal completely
But I'm too close to know just what
Will keep Pandora's boxes shut
And so I'll fail you badly
When you really need me

'Cause I don't know
What I should know –
That I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore

I'll get a pen and make a list
And give you my analysis
But I can't write this story
With a happy ending
Was I the bullet or the gun
Or just a target drawn upon
A wall that you decided
Wasn't worth defending?

And I should know
But I don't know
That I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
Anymore
No, I can't help you

'Cause baby, look what I have done
The ruins just go on and on
I've got to let it go now, or it will drag me under

So I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
Anymore

I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas
And then, baby, I'm through
Four more weeks that couldn't make any difference
Except maybe to you

But I've tried to use that trick
Like a carrot on a stick
So I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas
Then, baby, I'm through

I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas
And then, baby, I'm done
One less fucker trying to get in the business
Of the prodigal son

Where I know I can't compete
Once I'm off of Hastings Street
So I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas
Then, baby, I'm done

'Cause I can't live loaded and I can't live sober
And I've been this way since the end of October
And I know enough to know
That, baby, when it's over, it's over
And it's over
'Cause, baby, I'm done

I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas
And then call it a day
Tell you I'm sorry that I made you a witness
To my moral decay

And that, once upon a time
I believed it was a victimless crime
I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas
Then call it a day
Then call it a day

You pulled up and parked your El Dorado
We said "hi" and kissed with some bravado
I got out my camera and was laughing
Happy it was you I'm photographing

And we drove to the ferry
Like the cat and canary
I said, "Baby, it's scary
When it's so beautiful

Why does it hurt me
To feel so much tenderness?
Beautiful
You little wonder, you"

Maybe then I held your hand and kissed you
I know once I just hauled off and hit you

'Cause I can't even stand it
'Cause I don't want to end it
To be perfectly candid –
Baby, you're beautiful

Sometimes it hurts me
To feel so much tenderness
Beautiful
Wish you could see it, too

And all I have to do today
Is make you happy
The only thing you have to say
Is, "It's all lovely, baby"

Late that night, we checked into the Bellevue
Held you close, but, baby – couldn't tell you

And we stayed in our Calvins
And we swore we'd be best friends
And I looked through the zoom lens
And thought you were beautiful

Sometimes it hurts me
To feel so much tenderness
Beautiful
Baby, I'm dazzled
By the view
Beautiful
You don't need to tell me
I'm completely powerless
Beautiful
I wish you could see it, too
I wish you could see it, too
I wish you could see it, too