1.
She Was Young
2. She Got Older
3. She's All Grown Up
4. Her Song
5.
Grocery Store
6. 20 City Blocks
7. She's Walking Back
8. My Hometown
9.
Splattered Dreams
10. Annie's Back In Town
11. There's Always Something
Better
12. King Me # 2
13. Starbucks Mansions
14. Buicks
15. King
Of Queen Anne
SHE WAS YOUNG Her Catholic parents
were poets
That named her Annabelle,
Us pagans called her Annie
The madcaps have been many,
She's lost in boyfriend land of plenty
The
madcap bus stop scenes have been many,
She's lost in boyfriend land of 20
blocks
I say Annie, we don't want to lose you now
I say Annie, it ain't
gettin' easier
Her mom wasn't like suburban soccer moms
That were
the shit at the proms
Annie hooked up with dimestore dandies
Who got caught
stealin' candy
They say Annie, we don't want to lose you now
She was a
Scooby Snack, she wanted to change that
She was an Ave rat, she couldn't change
that
Her aim was clear, to disappear
From Queen Anne Ave. and Heartattack
Her aim was clear, to disappear
From her single mother's single story shack
She said there's got to be something better than this SHE GOT OLDER
She said she loved a lot of DJs
But she'd never loved 'em tall
She said
she loved a lot of DJs
And she'd slow dance in Carrie Park at the lookout
in the fall
She fell in love during a slow dance
With a DJ at homecoming
in the fall
She fell in love during a slow dance
With a DJ at the homecoming
ball
Who was into picking up Scoobysnacks
And having Plabattacks up at
the Northgate mall
They drank two forties at night, after dark
With her
pals and paramours,
And broke the bottles at Bi Crake
Scorned and fought
with goth-hags
And bought dimebags and shit got real wacky
She wrote
her name with a sharpie
On math books and Rec center walls
She wrote
"LUV, RIP", her soul was dead
To the DJs late-night-is-for-lovers call
Her tag was "Annie, RIP", her soul died
When the DJs didn't do the late-night-is-for-lovers
call
She wrote "Annie, RIP", when she felt
Her soul was dead to the
DJs late-night-is-for-lovers call
I heard she spray-painted "Annie, RIP"
While she was hangin' off the gulley bridge, ready for a fall
You can still
see her spray-painted masterpiece, ten stories tall
She was an Ave rat, we
couldn't change that,
Her aim was clear to disappear
From Queen Anne
Ave. and Heartattack
Her aim was clear to disappear from Queen Anne Ave.
And her mama's one story shack
Her single mother's one story shack
To find something better SHE'S ALL GROWN UP She's walking back,
she's walking back
By her elementary school,
Where they staged Stations
of the Cross
Something about Cain and Abel
And Adam's soft surrender
But she remembers walking
Like a good Catholic girl
In a uniform past
public schools
Avoiding eye contact, those public school kids
Would beat
you real bad
Outside the Queen Anne world
They might steal your shoes,
Don't be so curious, you're lucky
That you haven't been shot down
HER SONG I want something real
This is my hometown
There's
something better
But this will always be my hometown I want something
real
This is my hometown
There's something better
Than my hometown
I'm for real
This is my hometown
There's nothing better
Than my
hometown Good luck tonight, good luck tonight
I love tonight GROCERY
STORE She stops into a grocery store
She sees the Queen Anne casualties
They haunt these 20 city blocks,
She sees them picking up their groceries
She's looking at the main street clock
She couldn't sleep, she wanted to return
To the hometown that bore her
But she don't want to drink a 40 in the park
She couldn't sleep, with her head
On the chest of some new stranger
She wanted to return
To the hometown that bore her
She's running out
of faith
Like those actors at the those Seattle theaters
Like the local
theater
Over by the Woodland Park Zoo
And all the other drifters
That
drift between me and you She doesn't know why, but she always had
A preview running through her head of the movie
Where she was the hero
But
she hadn't become a hero
She was a good Catholic girl
Trying to create
a heroic turn in her part
In this small locale
In the story of the world
Was it wrong to aspire to greatness?
Beneath the trees of Little Howe?
On the playground in the fall?
On the diamond at Big Howe?
At the
Stations of the Cross?
At day care, with all the boys, playing ball?
The heroes are all still here
But their glow is gone
But we still sit,
in these 20 blocks,
We're just like the rest
But we ain't been shot down
We won't get shot down
This is the same town 20 CITY BLOCKS
20 blocks between
Queen Anne and Downtown,
She'd go to Seattle Center,
Up from the clubs
She did new some honcho
From the theater
In
the dark streets she felt snubbed
By a feeling that
The loss was not
overcome
By going to the UW,
She could feel the Queen Anne casualties
They haunt these 20 blocks,
I'll run into them at the grocery store,
They're fixing up the clocks
Sometimes at night
I feel like all of Queen
Anne is crying
So we'll go to Parson's Gardens, little Eden
We'll drink
some 40s and recall
What is was like to grow up
We'll recall the feeling
of being young
And believing the words the teachers said
But when Annie
and Greg
Fought over who had a better job
The conversation stopped
And we retreated to our section
Of the 20 city blocks
Annie was an angel,
But the rumble made a halt
Now I'm digging for some memories
In
the dark, chrome vault
I hated Greg when he went away
And I hated, Annie,
That you couldn't have the sense to stay SHE'S WALKING BACK
She's walking back,
She's walking back
She got older, 10 years on,
But somehow she didn't bust out of the shack
She walks these 20 city blocks,
She feels the rain,
She watches the main street clocks
It feels
the same, just like the pain,
When the she'd bike to school
And the
rain soaked through her socks
The DJ gained 10 years, they don't even speak,
It's like an aborted dream
She tries to drink a 40
But it don't
seem to taste the same,
She can't handle the cream
And every time hits
the grocery store,
She sees the casualties
When she was young, her head
was filled,
With one grand preview for the movies
About her adventures,
where she'd make the show
And bust out of from 'neath the trees
At Parson's
Gardens, Little Eden,
Where she'd cooked up all those schemes
Was it
wrong, the aspiration,
To somehow rise above this locale?
At Catholic
school, they staged Stations of the Cross,
And Annie wondered how
She
would put her hands around the need
To overcome where you've come from
She knew she'd be OK someday,
She knew she wouldn't be a bum
But she
hasn't achieved greatness?
Was it wrong, in class, to aspire to greatness?
When you realize you're in the park
Hanging on to memories, it seems
faithless
Oh, it's a bummer to realize
That you're just like all the
rest
But you find a reason
To not get depressed
To not get shot down
To not let it shoot you down MY HOMETOWN I am walking, I am
waiting
The stares are so penetrating
There's got to be some place better
Now it's for real, this is my hometown
I'm for real, this is my hometown
Got scared when he thought he had cancer for a day
Got sad when his friends
all changed or faded away
Ain't it funny how the kegs and the dregs and party
babes just fade away?
There's got to be someplace better I'm for real,
this is my hometown
I'm for real, this is my hometown He saw a divide
in Seattle and he thought this was the way across
He'd ditch his uniform so
he could walk by the public schools
Avoiding eye contact, those kids would
beat you real bad
They might steal your clothes and head off to the skids
Maybe down to south rainier, where he got shot down I'm for real
This
is my hometown
There's always something better than this SPLATTERED
DREAMS This time's for real
This is my hometown There's nothing
better
Than your hometown I'm in this for real
I'm stuck here for
real I'm committed
I'm staying, I'm serious,
I understand
I could have been better
But this is what I am Those dreams were something
Out on Queen Anne I could have been better
Than what I am My dreams
are splattered
On the streets of Queen Anne ANNIE'S BACK IN TOWN
In her mother's dress
Here's how it feels
Annie is back in town She's
say I know how it feels
To be resurrected
I know how it feels to come
back from the dead She met some Portland paramour
On a Seattle promenade
She said she lost her soul THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING BETTER I spend
my time alone
There's nobody home
I don't want to lose you now
I'm
on the dark end of the street
I have no one to meet
I don't want to lose
you now
I am walking, I am waiting,
I am doing things so penetrating
There's always something better than this
There's always something better
than this And so, so you fall asleep
Walking your soundless beat
I
don't want to lose you now
Well, I've always been a writer and
I've worn
some tacky ties
And I'll never be a traitor
And I'll try not to tell
lies
But look at me there's something different
In my green eyes I'm
for real, this is your hometown
There's always something better than this
There's always something better baby
I've seen all of your love letters
There's always something better baby KING ME # 2 She said, "You
can't say you're not afraid
Seattle holds nothing for you or me
Let's
ride the bus past those McMansions
Let's push your poems through the PA"
We can roll up Highway 99
In an '84 Buick that's a far cry from the dotcom
dream
Trippin' over tables at the Crocodile Café
You worked 12 temp jobs
in Seattle, among the cattle
The water cooler battle; the little tittle-tattle
The traffic never stops
The 5 is full of heroes
They're all driving
alone
They've got some place to go
They're living with the sadness
They're turnin' up the radio
My heart up is pumping loud
Until I get
to where I want to go
At the edge of this plastic world we see
Darlin'
you can King me Babe, I was beaten by the bad bands
I might get fired
any day, I confess
Then I'll tour the country in my Buick or the band van,
if we can
There's must be something outside the Northwest
Let's drive
and drive and play and play
To endless juke joints and dirty rock clubs drags
We need to cover gas and hotel; somehow we'll make it pay
Don't be dismayed
that the applause is just a smattering
We'll rock because we matter
We'll
quiet all the chatter The traffic never stops
The highway's full of heroes
They try to strike it rich
They've got somewhere to go
We're living with
the sadness
There's madness in my soul
My heart is thumping louder,
Thumping louder till I reach the show
At the edge of this plastic scene
Darlin' you can King Me In the suburbs of Seattle, the mansions rise upon
the hill
Construction crews go in and out and girls and boys watch TV all
day
We write on dirty walls, we kiss in rock club halls, we create our mythology
You cannot take my dreams from me! The traffic never stops
The highway's
full of heroes
They try to strike it rich
They've got somewhere to go
We're living with the sadness
There's madness in my soul
My heart is thumping
louder,
Thumping louder till I reach the show
At the edge of this plastic
scene
Darlin' you can King Me I'm am gonna need a queen
When the critics
king me At the end of this world we see
Darlin' they're gonna learn about
you and me STARBUCKS MANSIONS You see, I have this vision
You
pay the gas, I'll push the engine
Let's read Plato, then Playboy
With
a poo-poo-platter You have tiaras in Tahiti
I have my rock n' roll mythology
Neither satisfies us too much
But both contribute to our toxicology Maybe,
someday, we'll see
There'll be a Starbuck's-style mansion
In Bellevue
for you and me It's all made of plastic,
Could have been a lot cooler
If it had been worked on by an artist
Who didn't follow the rules
They can't make enough to pay
The mortgage; here comes trouble
Another
housing development
Another real estate bubble Maybe, someday, we'll see
There'll be a Starbuck's-style mansion
In Bellevue for you and me We
bus and cuss about McMansions
And how they hold our souls for ransom
They're
all decked out with plastic
They're all bright and orgiastic Why don't
we bus to get some coffee?
We can talk about Kofi & Kaddafi We'll study
the odds
Create our own doxology
We'll find our own gods
In this
topography We'll meet in the vestibule
It's the gateway to the school
In the suburbs of Seattle the disenfranchised
Waste their time away The
girls watch VH1 and MTV
And the boys play Playstation all day We write
our name in the sand
We could trace our mythology in the mist
I could
die tonight on the beach
And that would be just fine
If I have Bessie's
kiss Construction crews go in and out
All day long while the radios play
They want to live inside but they can't
The time just slips away Maybe,
someday, we'll see
There'll be a Starbuck's-style mansion
In Bellevue
for you and me BUICKS We're all running from something
But
there's no place to hide We write our stories on the rock club walls
I
love you with all madness I have inside I love you till the day that we arrive
Where we always wanted to reside And we'll feel validated
Until then,
we chase the crown Your heart is made of glass
We're looking through the
window We can see you've gotten so low
The 5 is full of heroes They're
all driving alone
The madness is lonely They're listening to radios
So we turn up our radio There's madness in their soul
Until they get to
where they want to go That's all I got to say
All the other words get
in the way The Buicks never stop
The highway's full of heroes We're
all running from something
But there's no place to go At the end of this
world we see
Darlin' we will be free KING OF QUEEN ANNE I was
not afraid in the egg raid
Down on the south slope of Queen Anne
That
buster bounded from his black Benz
They battled with bats like bombed barbarians
So I ran through park at midnight
Like Pony Boy, listening to Gloria,
The news wasn't henpecked
For the Seattle Times newsstand
So I ran through
Big Howe
I tuned in to the Big Now
Slept in the alley in 10th
I didn't
pay the rent
My contacts dried up
And I wore my sexy sweatband We're
driving in the Buicks from I5 to 99
The American dream is running away
We're working all the time
The corporate life has nothing
Let's race on
Highway 99
We're tramps with no where to go
I might get fired at any time
Let's drive on by the McMansions
I want to know what it's like inside
I want to get in my car
And tour across the world
Like Ray Charles did
Only he was blind
I might not be able to afford the gas
But I know it
will be good time
I want to know what it's like to follow the light
As
far as it goes
To see if ideals are real
We gotta do it while we're young
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