Destroyer Album

Oh, Notorious Lightning! Yes, I had to ride you
And trash the crystal jets they kept in storage inside you!
I was told never to question it.
Now I'm facing twenty years for every night I tried to ingest the snow so lightly! (huh?)
You simply couldn't put down the Black Book.
You dreamt the dreams of the Self-Taught Man.
You warn the ladies not to be corrupted by their looks,
But your voice comes out soft and slanted!
And you're living off what government's granted you:
Amnesty from the true
Thing. Now, Sandra, slowly remove the ring and watch Notorious Lightning surround you.
Watch Notorious Lightning surround you.
Watch Notorious Lightning surround you.
I lay myself down to observe your gilded jeans hit the ground,
And have not grown from this worship.
I lay myself down to surrender,
Watch the trust funds gorge us again,
And have not grown from this worship.
So, Great Pretender, pull a face! Let's see the best 'forlorn you know!'
Just don't sing, "Barricades In The Morning" - it's been three days in a row
And it never comes off like you planned it!
Something once was delivered, then you banned it
But, oh, there is a key to this thing...
Notorious Lightning...
There is a monument.
There is a place within it that I have won.
And there is victory at sea.
And then there's the sun
Crashing down upon us
Faithful readership of the Old Warden. We beg -
"No not another ode to the Garden! You've let the Book of Appeals pile up!"
So, Child of the East, it's time
To shrug off the Beast and take a look at what you've done.
The half-breed jury agrees you're OK,
But what they never seem to say is that it's never
The defense's witness...
and someone's got to fall before someone goes free.

Maybe I should have loved you.
Maybe I should have sworn
Not to be born
Of this wretched glove too soon,
But a dragon needs room!
A dragon needs room!
A dragon needs room
To run, run, run, run...

I was a desert in love with extremes.
You married well, a gentlewoman of means who
Kept the word "Destroyer" embroidered on her jeans, too

(La la la)

I wore skins. I didn't care who survived.
The band foretold trends from Spring of '85.
They're calling it "The New Decay"...
Hey, so am I.

(La la la)

Treacherous fop, don't be embarrassed
For looking good at your table on the terrace
That you call home. I'm sold!
Paris, London, Rome's too old for you
And your kind
Explosions want to see what they can find:
New ways of living...

It's you and your kind:
The New Ways of Living!

Feeling fine, but it must be the wine
'Cause it's April 27th and my baby's still dying on me
We stole a gondola to sea
And ditched the chaperones on jewel-encrusted roans
Who called us unprofessional
Deep down they knew
Oh, that we were the music lovers

People say they just didn't want it enough
Here, the people say they just didn't want it enough
Oh, but we were the music lovers
People say they just didn't want it enough
Hear the people say they just didn't want it enough

The time of your lives has been had
And your wives have been bad
And, look, the private sector's not denied you for the last time
They're saying those grapes go rotten on the vine
Oh, but once we were the music lovers

People say they just didn't want it enough
Here, the people say they just didn't want it enough
Oh, but we were the music lovers
People say they just didn't want it enough
Hear the people say they just didn't want it enough

Sister, the world cannot hold us
Brother
You can go your own way

Ba-da-da
Ba-da-da-da
Ba-da-da, da-da-da-da
Ba-da-da, da-da-da-da
Ba-da-da
Ba-da-da-da
Ba-da-da, da-da-da-da
Ba-da-da, da-da-da-da

Ba-da-da
Ba-da-da-da
Ba-da-da, da-da-da-da
Ba-da-da, da-da-da-da
Ba-da-da

An actor will seek revenge
I don't know why and I don't know when
There'll be talk. There'll be action
Boys demanding satisfaction
From girls. Oh, you'd hate to play a girl!
An actor will seek revenge...

He came on too strong
He was weird and he was wrong
A bloodless cop at dawn
Throwing everybody out
The kids twist and shout until the womb fucking wrecks it!

A boulevardier might say -
"Tomorrow's another day."
Alright, yes, but it's also just another mess!
Crime and Punishment - no, that's not what I meant!

An actor will seek revenge
I don't know why and I don't know when
There'll be talk. There'll be action
Boys demanding satisfaction
From girls. Oh, you'd hate to be a girl!
An actor will seek revenge
Upon the ones who fed him those ridiculous lines
Saying - "What we really need now is an emotional history
Of the Lower Eastside, cause it was wild! It was wild!"
Oh no, here we go again...

(Ba da, ba da, ba da, ba da... Ba da, ba da, ba da, ba da da ba da!)

Don't become
Don't become
The thing you hated
The thing you hated
The thing you hated

Don't become
Don't become
The thing you hated
The thing you hated
The thing you hated

Suns rise and suns go down again
Open your Strathcona doors,
Let them in, let them in,
Let them in, let them in, let them in,
Let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in
Let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in, let them in

Don't become
Don't become
The thing you hated
The thing you hated
The thing you hated

Why does every one of her lovers leave her?
I'm ill-equipped to judge the tale of a woman.
"That inviting army slut!... The Colonel's in a rut!" - back at the base they're saying -
Now each day when he awakes his prayers take the form of one question -
"How is it that we can be both Skating
and Dying?
Lord knows I've been trying..."