Dar Williams Album

Perhaps I am a miscreation
No one knows the truth there is no future here
And you're the DJ speaks to my insomnia
And laughs at all I have to fear
Laughs at all I have to fear
You always play the madmen poets
Vinyl vision grungy bands
You never know who's still awake
You never know who understands and

Are you out there, can you hear this?
Jimmy Olson, Johnny Memphis
I was out here listening all the time
And though the static walls surround me
You were out there and you found me
I was out here listening all the time

Last night we drank in parking lots
And why do we drink? I guess we do it cause
And when I turned your station on
LyricsYou sounded more familiar than that party was
You more familiar than that party
It's the first time I stayed up all night
It's getting light I hear the birds
I'm driving home on empty streets
I think I put my shirt on backwards

Are you out there, can you hear this?
Jimmy Olson , Johnny Memphis
I was out here listening all the time
And though the static walls surround me
You were out there and you found me
I was out here listening all the time

And what's the future, who will choose it?
Politics of love and music
Underdogs who turn the tables
Indie versus major labels
There's so much to see through
Like our parents do more drugs than we do
Oh....

Corporate parents, corporate towns
I know every TV set that has them lit
They preach that I should save the world
They pray that I won't do a better job of it
Pray that I won't do a better job
So tonight I turned your station on just so I'd be understood
Instead another voice said I was just too late
And just no good....

Calling Olson, Calling Memphis
I am calling, can you hear this?
I was out here listening all the time
And I will write this down
And then I will not be alone again yeah
I was out here listening
Oh yeah I was out here listening
Oh yeah I am out here listening all the time

When he turned 34 but who's counting
He couldn't find anyone who wanted to party
So he walked around a playground with a bag of Mickey's Tallboys
And he heard the sound of laughter and he followed it for fifteen blocks
There was a house between Mavis and Water
They were out on the porch, they were inside playing quarters
And he said, "Don't you know the game Kazaam? It's a better game
You point your elbow at someone and say somebody else's name
And it alternates whose turn it is and if you lose you drink."
They said "Man, you really make us think,
yeah you make us think and so:

Tonight we're gonna be the party
We will party all night long
We are the party generation
So have a seat, what's in the bag?
Party on

Round about one or two it started winding down
And he knew what they needed- they needed donuts
LyricsSo they walked out to Krispy Kruller's All Nite Sugar Palace
It was there in the doorway he said"Oh, well maybe not."
Inside there were six women talking
They were the most justified angry ex-girlfriends
And they swivelled around slowly like they saw something bad
Through the eyes i the back of their heads
Like he always knew they had
And they said "what a coincidence" ,and "Hey you're just the man,
We were saying that you did the best you could
You're fine we understand and so

Tonight we're gonna be the party
We will party all night long
We are the party generation
You were the best but we'll survive
Party On

Oh yeah..........
Oh yeah..........
Woah-oh...........

In the morning they sent him home with a designated driver
And he lay down and thought about the whole night
And he looked up at the photo tha the bought at a junk shop
It was only fifty cents but he framed it and everything
It was the kind of party that you hope never ends
The lucky party boy surrounded by his friends
And they were all in pointed hats
Caught in a rebel birthday shout
And he was at the candles with his mom there to help him out
There was a lot that you could learn if you lay near them
Like if you listened you could hear them and he could hear them

They say:

Tonight we're gonna be the party
We will party all night long
We are the party generation
So lift your head and blow em out
Yeah

Oh yeah...
Oh yeah
Oh yeah..

Tonight we're gonna be the party
We will party all night long
We are the party generation
So lift your head lift your head
Party on

I never thought you were the letter writing type
So now I see the words you choose the way you write
So I started to write back about the trees in the snow
And I saw a bird, couldn't say what it was but I thought you'd know
You always surprised me

And if I wrote you
If I wrote you
You would know me
And you would not write me again

And when the spring came and flooded all the streams
It's like how you got the night you told me all your dreams
And when the barn roof sagged after an icy bout
It's like how you shrugged when you knew the truth was the only way out
But not the only way, oh no

And if I wrote you
If I wrote you
You would know me
LyricsAnd you would not write me again

We drew our arms around the bastard sons
We never would drink to the chosen ones
Well you know the way I left was not the way I planned
But I thought the world needed love and a steady hand
So I'm steady now

And I'm so happy
I had to tell you
And I love you
And you will not write me again
You will not write me again
You will not write me again

I don't go to therapy to find out if I'm a freak
I go and I find the only answer every week
And it's just me and all the memories to follow
Down any course that fits within a fifty minute hour
And we fathom all the mysteries, explicit and inherent
When I hit a rut, she says to try the other parent
And she's so kind, I think she wants to tell me something
But she knows that it's much better if I get it for myself
So she says

Ooooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,
What do you hear in these sounds?
Ooooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,
What do you hear in these sounds?

I say I hear a doubt, with the voice of true believing,
And the promise to stay, and the footsteps that are leaving,
And so she says oh, I say, "what?" She says "Exactly,"
I say, "What, you think I'm angry?"
She says, "Look, you come here every week
Lyricswith jigsaw pieces of your past,
It's all on little soundbytes, and voices out of photographs,
And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map,
So tell me, where does the arrow point to,
Who invented roses and

Ooooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,
What do you hear in these sounds?
And Ooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,
What do you hear in these sounds?

And when I talk, I know what people think
That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink
But oh how I loved everybody else
When I finally got to talk so much about myself

And I wake up, and I ask myself what state I'm in
And I say well I'm lucky cause I am like East Berlin
I had this wall, and what I knew of the free world
Was that I could see their fireworks
And I could hear their radio
And I thought that if we met, I would only start confessing
And they'd know that I was scared
They would know that I was guessing
But the wall came down, and there they stood before me
With their stumbling and their mumbling
And their calling out, just like me

And Ooooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
The stories that nobody hears
I collect these sounds in my ears
And Ooooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
That's what I hear in these sounds
And Ooooooooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
That's what I hear in these
that's what I hear in these sounds

The summer ends and we wonder where we are
And there you go my friends with your boxes in your car
And you both look so young
And last night was hard you said
You packed up every room
And then you cried and went to bed
But today you closed the door and said
"We have to get a move on
It's just that time of year when we push ourselves ahead
We push ourselves ahead"
And it was cloudy in the morning
And it rained as you drove away
And the same things looked different
It's the end of the summer, it's the end of the summer
When you move to another place

And I feel like the neighbor's girl who will never be the same
She walked alone all spring
She had a boyfriend when the summer came
And he gave her flowers in a lightning storm
LyricsThey disappeared at night in green fields of silver corn
And sometime in July she just forgot that he was leaving
So when the fields were dying, she held on to his sleeves
She held on to his sleeves
And she doesn't want to let go
'cause she won't know what she's up against
The classrooms and the smart girls
It's the end of the summer, it's the end of the summer
When you hang your flowers up to dry

And I had a dream it blows the autumn through my head
It felt like the first day of school
But I was going to the moon instead
And I walked down the hall
With the notebooks they got for me
My dad led me through the house
My mom drank instant coffee
And I knew that I would crash
But I didn't want to tell them
There are just some moments when your family makes sense
They just make sense
So I raised up my arms and my mother put the sweater on
We walked out on the dark and frozen grass
The end of the summer
It's the end of the summer
When you send your children to the moon

The summer ends and we wonder who we are
And there you go my friends with your boxes in your car
And today I passed the high school, the river, the maple tree
I passed the farms that made it
Through the last days of the century
And I knew that I was going to learn again
Again, in this less hazy light
I saw the fields beyond the fields, the fields beyond the fields
And the colors are much brighter now
It's like they really want to tell the truth
We give our testimony to the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer, you can spin the light to gold

When I grew up, well it felt great
I watched how others took their fate
Some felt afraid and undefended, so they got mean
And they pretended what they knew made them belong more than you
I'm sure you know there's lots to learn
But that's not your fault, that's just your turn, yeah yeah

Teenagers kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers look at us, we have not solved everything

We drink and smoke to numb our pain
We read junk novels on the plane
We use authority for show so we can be a little smarter
We still can grow, and many do
It's when we stop we can't reach you
We feel the loss, you feel the blame
We're scared to lose, don't be the same, hey hey

Teenagers kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers look at us, we have not solved everything
Lyrics
The hometown brought its hero in
To speak at the high school gym
He took a breath, he took a chance
He strode up in his leather pants
And...said... "Gee, thanks...but
I'm here today because I fought for what I felt and what I thought
They put me down they were just wrong
And now it's they who don't belong, oh oh

Teenagers kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers look at us, we have not solved everything

And when the media tries to act your age
Don't be seduced, they're full of rage
Find your voice, do what it takes
Make sure you make lots of mistakes
And find the future that redeems
Give us hell, give us dreams
And grow and grow and grow

And someday when some teenagers come to kick your butts
Well then like I do try to

Love (kick our butts)
Love (kick our butts)
Oh I love (kick our butts)

"He's a quiet man," that's all she said
And he's a thoughtful man
It's just he likes to keep his thoughts up in his head
And we finally meet, and she tries to draw him out a bit
She says "He's writing something,
Hey now, why don't you talk about it?"
And he doesn't make a sound
He's just staring at his coffee
And I know there's all this beauty
And this greatness she'll defend
But I think it's in my friend

I have a friend in a bright and distant town
She's found a common balance
Where you do your work, and you do your love
And they pay you, and praise your many talents
Well I'm passing through, and we know we won't sleep
She laughs, puts up the tea
She says "You know I think you remember every part of me."
And the water starts to boil
LyricsAnd if I had a camera
Showing all the light we give
And showing where the light extends
I'd give it to my friends

Sometimes I see myself fine, sometimes I need a witness
And I like the whole truth
But there are nights I only need forgiveness
Sometimes they say "I don't know who you are
But let me walk with you some"
And I say "I am alone, that's all
You can't save me from all the wrong I've done."
But they're waiting just the same
With their flashlights and their semaphores
And I'll act like I have faith and like that faith never ends
But I really just have friends

Well we're heading for a past that you leave not defend
Where the downtowns hold the sadness of
You can't go back again
It's there you'll find the rust and debtors
Motel signs with missing letters
Cos there's a monster on the outskirts
Says it knows what your town needs
Then it eats it up like nothing and it won't spit out the seeds
And we can be the super shoppers
We can say we're really smart
We can say our town is doing fine without a beating heart
We can even say the money saved is all our own
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold
And we're heading for a nasty business
Keeps our country growing
Where the weapons that we're selling
Are the only seeds we're sowing
You get to blow the fruits of all your labors
Sell F-16's to all the neighbors
And we know that it's for money
LyricsAnd that's how the west gets bargained
You the know the last time this happened
Even Vietnam got jargoned
And you can say they're out to hunt you
You can say they're out to fish you
You can join a gang of restless boys
Or start your own militia
You can even say your violence is all your own
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold
Well I look up to the people who are less bought than I
You can show them what you're selling
And they'll only ask you why
And their paychecks don't have lots of zeros
They're my friends and they're my heroes
And the TV sets are angry
Cos they just can't make 'em pay
But I like the way these people read the signs and walk away
And we can call ourselves the makers
And the keepers of the times
We can spend our sand dollars
And sand nickels and sand dimes
We can even say prosperity is all our own
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold
We can even say our loneliness is all our own
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold

We passed the stores, passed the hotels, filled our car with gas and then
We drove that night, I saw the moon, almost got us in an accident
And then at the rest stop, when that woman tried to steal my wallet
It felt like an adventure, well isn't that what you would call it?
Isn't that what you would call it?

You're my road buddy, but I'm lonely all the time
I thought that we'd be joking, having long talks on late nights driving
But you drive so bad I lost my patience
So pass the chips and turn the station
This is not a romance with the road

From where the moss grows up the trees to where the dirt is rusty red
I thought we'd find each story like a snakeskin or an arrowhead
But we only stop at fast food places, they hate their jobs, I understand
I try to act familiar but they're floating just above the land
And we are floating

You're my road buddy, but I'm lonely all the time
I thought we'd show that friendship could be stronger than the crossroads devil
LyricsBut I thought I heard the toll man saying
"I'll take that thing you got from praying"
This is not a romance with the road

And those cliffs are the same as in the magazines I have at hom
And the tall grass reminds me of the same dreams I had at home
I thought life was a road so I wanted to begin it
I said "My friend and I are going on a trip, so I can only stop a minute."

You go to the vending machines, I want to watch those kids with their mother
Sipping on their juice boxes and smiling at each other
And maybe that's their Dad on the phone, saying "Hey, Mom, youshouldn't wait,
Go ahead, have dinner cause we're running just a little late,
But we're on our way."

How 'bout it, road buddy, road buddy
I heard about the box cars and the family of travellers
But there's real estate signs in the cornfield stubble
I know there's love, I bet there's trouble
But you just can't span a lifetime from the road
And there's something I've finally faced, I finally think I come from someplace
But this is not a romance with the road

Well you have been kind and I know it seems helpless
You smooth the ground, tear the knots all apart
You're helping me move from the inside to the outside
You're trying so hard and I can't even start

It's a war in there
It's a war in there

I know peacemakers go to the same place as soldiers
If you want to make peace, well, you gotta find the pain
You bring your words, but you're just like them, you're unprepared
'cause you don't know the terrain

It's a war in there
It's a war in there

And don't you know I'll never give you a medal
Made back on Stateside in the central time zone
The one that they pin to the outside, to the outside
And it leads you all the way home

It's a war in there
It's a war in there

And you can hold me now, you can hold me now

Here's wishing you the bluest sky
And hoping something better comes tomorrow
Hoping all the verses rhyme
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the doubt and sadness
I know that better things are on their way

Here's hoping that the days ahead
Won't be as bitter as the ones behind you
Be an optimist instead
And somehow happiness will find you
Forget what happened yesterday
I know that better things are on their way

It's really good to see you rocking out
And having fun
Living like you've just begun
Accept your life and what it brings
I hope tomorrow you find better things
I know tomorrow you'll find better things
Lyrics
Here's wishing you the bluest sky
And hoping something better comes tomorrow
Hoping all the verses rhyme
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the drudge and sadness
I know that better things are on the way

I know you've got a lot of good things happening up ahead
The past is gone, it's all been said
So here's to what the future brings
I know tomorrow you'll find better things
I know tomorrow you'll find better things