Aimee Mann Album

I should thank you almost
no one could kill it off until you bled it
but I got rid of that ghost
'though certain habits remain imbedded
with the shadow of a doubt
but baby it was you who fed it
and I don't know what else to say
but I think you get it.

I should've known
it was coming down to this
I should've known
you would betray me but without the kiss
I should've known
the kind of set-up it is.

And always isn't always
when it's not your photograph that I've been keeping
but you still live in those days
when I'd stay awake just to watch you sleeping
you delivered that blow
but it left a mark on me that you're not seeing
and I don't know what else you hear
but it's not me weeping

I should've known
it was coming down to this
I should've known
you would betray me but without the kiss
I should've known
the kind of set-up it is.

I should've seen the cracks in the ceiling
and the mirror covered up with dust
but I was busy talking on the phone
I should've seen the obstacles but I said,
this house was built for us
hello
is anybody home?

I should've known
the minute that we hit the wall
I should've known
the writing was upon the stall
I should've known
'cause Rome was starting to fall

and I should thank you, almost.

Fifty years after the fair
the picture I have is so clear
underneath the clouds in the air
rose the Tyrlon and the Perisphere
and that for me was the finest of scenes
that perfect world across the river in Queens
Fifty years after the fair
I drink from a different cup
but it does no good to compare
'cause nothing ever measures up
I guess just for a second we thought
that all good things would rise to the top

But how beautiful it was - 'tomorrow'
we'll never have a day of sorrow
we got through the '30's, but our belts were tight
we conceived of a future with no hope in sight
we've got decades ahead of us to get it right
I swear - fifty years after the fair

Fifty years after the fair
I live in tomorrow town
even on a wing and a prayer
the future never came around
It hurts to even think of those days
the damage we do
by the hopes that we raise

But how beautiful it was - 'tomorrow'
we'll never have a day of sorrow
we got through the '30's, but our belts were tight
we conceived of a future with no hope in sight
we've got decades ahead of us to get it right
I swear - fifty years after the fair

Today's the fourth of July
another June has gone by
and when they light up our town I just think
what a waste of gunpowder and sky
I'm certain that I am alone
in harbouring thoughts of our home
it's one of my faults that I can't quell my past
I ought to have gotten it gone


Oh, baby, I wonder - 
if when you are older -
someday-
you'll wake up
and say, 'My God, I should have told her -
what would it take?
But now here I am and the world's gotten colder
and she's got the river down which I sold her.'

So that's today's memory lane
with all the pathos and pain
another chapter in a book where the chapters are endless
and they're always the same
a verse, then a verse, and refrain

Oh, baby, I wonder -
if when you are older -
someday-
you'll wake up
and say, 'My God, I should have told her -
what would it take?
But now here I am and the world's gotten colder
and she's got the river down which I sold her.'

It's so hard not to blame you
it's hard not to put all the blame on you
'cause you knew from the start
there was one little part you would not let through
I'm sure there were even moments when you thought
You might someday finish what you'd begun -
but that could've been anyone

could've been anyone
I lost my place in the sun
well, never mind
it could've been anyone.

So we all make mistakes
it just figures you'd make me the biggest one
I was saving it up
now it's spent and I don't know
what I spent it on
now I find if you try hard enough
you can wear it down 'til it's just about gone -
'til you could've been anyone

you could've been anyone
lost your place in the sun
well, never mind
could've been anyone.

Your pattern is different 
than what it implies
the words may be true but
I realize -
it isn't description so much as disguise.
Don't worry, you can learn to live without
you've got a lifetime of that to draw upon
and anyway -

it could've been anyone
you lost your place in the sun
lost your place in the sun
oh, you lost your place in the sun
well, never mind
it could've been anyone
never mind
never mind
(I think that's enough now)

I should be knocking on the door of the pearly gates
why keep a poor man alive in a job he hates
I've heard that good things will come to he who waits
I should be riding on a float in the hit parade
instead of sitting on the curb behind the barricade
another verse in the doormat serenade

Won't you put me on top
won't you put me on top, or change the odds
won't you put me on top
or at least put some hope in the bottom of the box

Oh, at least put some hope in the box for me
'cause it's only black and white and not a lot of each
there's a remote on the shelf, but it's out of reach

Won't you put me on top
won't you put me on top, or change the odds
won't you put me on top
or at least put some hope in the bottom of the box

Put some hope in the bottom of the box
I need it

Nothing was saving our day
there was nothing to say,
but you said something anyway
claiming I stepped out of line
which forced you to leave me,
as if that idea was mine.
Oh, you stupid thing
speaking of course as your dear departed
oh, you stupid thing
it wasn't me that you outsmarted
oh, you stupid thing
stopping it all
before it even started.
I bet you knew it would come
that's just like you to sit back
and just play it dumb
one word of warning would help
but that sacrifice was made
trying to save yourself
Oh, you stupid thing
speaking of course as your dear departed
oh, you stupid thing
it wasn't me that you outsmarted
oh, you stupid thing
stopping it all
before it even started.
Maybe that's just how I am
to fall where I stand, or I'm
weak for that kind of man
one who looks helpless and brave
but you turned into a coward
I don't care for the parts you saved.
You stupid thing
speaking of course as your dear departed
oh, you stupid thing
it wasn't me that you outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing.

You see me as a judge
though I deny it
and hold me like a grudge
then justify it
But when you make such claims
in searching for something that explains
please take a good look at our remains

'Cause if you were everything you say
things would be different today
and maybe there's room for compromise
but signs that I get say otherwise
say anything, 'cause I've heard everything

As hopeless as it seems
I wouldn't worry
You'll get your chance to tell
your side of the story
And, raising your right hand,
whatever defenses you had planned,
remember that when you take the stand -

If you were everything you say
things would be different today
and though I'd be happy to believe
I'd have to be much more naive -
say anything, 'cause I've heard everything
now I've heard everything
now I've heard everything

So why do I refuse
the truth, when I clearly cannot use
the comfort of one more lame excuse

'cause if you were everything you say
things would be different today
and if you were everything you swear
we wouldn't be beyond repair
If you were everything you say
things would be different today
and if there has got to be an if -
get it over with
say anything, 'cause I've heard everything
now I've heard everything
now I've heard everything

Well, today a friend told me this sorry tale 
As he stood there trembling and turning pale
He said each day's harder to get on the scale sort of like Jacob Marley's chain. 

But it's not like life's such a veil of tears 
It's just full of thoughts that act as souvenirs 
For those tiny blunders made in yesteryears that comprise Jacob Marley's chain. 

Well, I had a little metaphor to state my case 
It encompassed the condition of the human race 
But to my dismay, it left without a trace except for the sound of Jacob Marley's chain. 

Now there is no story left to tell 
So I think I'd rather just go on to Hell 
Where there's a snowball's chance that the personnel might help 
To carry Jacob Marley's chain.

So he's retired
lives with his sister in a furnished flat
he's got this suit that
he'll never wear outside without a hat
his hair is white but he looks half his age
he looks like Jimmy Stewart in his younger days.

And honestly, I might be
stupid to think love is love
but I do
and you've waited so long and
I've waited long enough for you.

My mother's calling
from where she's living up in Troy, Vermont
she tries to tell me
a father figure must be what I want
I've always thought age makes no difference
am I the only one to whom that's making sense?

And honestly, I might be
stupid to think love is love
but I do
and you've waited so long and
I've waited long enough for you.

The day I met him he was raking leaves
in his tiny yard.
Of course I know that
we've only got ten years, or twenty, left
but to be honest
I'm happy with whatever time we get
depending on which book you read
sometimes it takes a lifetime to get what you need.

And honestly, I might be
stupid to think love is love
but I do
and you've waited so long and
I've waited long enough for you.

This is for the one who was false
who taught me about building walls
one who could always turn it around
to leave me here on shaky ground
this is for the one who made good
in someone else's neighborhood
one who was never anything but
the shifty eye of sheer bad luck
once I thought that I would never forget
and I have not quite done that yet

but I could hurt you now
I could hurt you now

this is for the time that I lost
the death of who I thought I was
the things in which I cannot believe
for fear I'll wear them on my sleeve
things I know that will never be returned
but I crossed that bridge before it burned

so I could hurt you now
I could hurt you now
(listen, sonny boy
you just don't get it, do you)
I could hurt you now
(tell you what I'll do
I'll get that message to you)

Maybe it leaves an invisible scar
but I have not come quite that far

but I could hurt you now
(listen, sonny boy
you just don't get it, do you)
I could hurt you now
(tell you what I'll do
I'll get that message to you)

I know there's a word for this
I know there's a word for the way I'm feeling
I know there's a word for this
I know it, and it's on the tip of my tongue
and it won't go any further.

I know there's a word for this
I know, 'cause it's in the dictionary
and when I find what it is
I'll write it down in case it comes up again
I'll be certain to avoid it.

So, take this down:
I just feel so beat
and I think it's time
to admit defeat
I thought I got mine
but that uphill climbing
is never through.

I know there's a word for this
I know 'cause we've all at sometime said it
like when we were little kids
we'd fight each other 'til someone would give in
and you'd make him tell you 'uncle'.

So, take this down:
I just feel so beat
and I think it's time
to admit defeat
I thought I got mine
but that uphill climbing
is never through.

We made it down to New York
with everything intact
but as for getting back -
it was Boo who made the joke,
they don't give you any hope
but they'll give you plenty of rope
And Dan came in from Jersey
he went to get the drums
and if Buddy ever comes
we can get it off the ground
I hope someone's coming down
'else I can't see hanging around

Oh, experience is cheap
if that's the company you keep
and a chance is all that I need
and I've had it
I've had it

So we all just started playing
and then something strange occured -
not a person stirred
oh, it started out one way
but it turned out to be okay
and I felt that someone should say -

Oh, experience is cheap
if that's the company you keep
and before you know that it's free
you've had it

Like most amazing things
It's easy to miss and easy to mistake
For when things are really great
It just means everything's in its place
When everything was over
and we loaded up the van
I turned and said to Dan,
Dan, I guess this is our prime
like they tell us all the time
weren't you expecting some other kind?

Oh, experience is cheap
if that's the company you keep
but I'll never get that disease
'cause I've had it
I've had it

Well, I guess that this is now the end
who'd have thought
my old friend
we signed the papers and we capped the pen
But I remember you from way back when
'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen
welcome David-what's-his-name-again'
Things change -
the old cliche
if we knew now what we knew yesterday
oh, we couldn't give it away.

I was working at a record store
I knew you,
you knew the score
some kind of deal is what we're looking for
Time came, and disappeared
no one steered and
it got weirder
help was needed, no one volunteered.

Things change,
you got to wait a bit
what made me think that I could weather it?
you're down before you even notice
you've been hit

And through it all I wondered where the bus
was taking you
who knew?
and even though my one and one was always
making two
I never thought that I was breaking you.

We were victims of the old taboo
but people change
we changed too
just make it count before they get to you.

Things change -
baby, hold the phone! -
they'll shoot you down like you was Al Capone
Oh, you better go it alone.

Well, I guess that this is now the end
the paper's signed -
forget the pen
wonder if we'll ever meet again?