1.
Louise Storms The Garden Party
2. The Grace of Gatz
3. It's Hard To Trust
Yourself
4. Marriage
5. Five Acre Blues
6. She Used To Be Hot
7. High
Drama
8. When The Whole World Loves You
9. Fairy Tale Of Our First New Year's
Eve
10. Questions For The Barflies
11. Storms In Seattle
12. Snapshots
Of The Bored & The Searching
13. Loser's Lament
14. Couch Potato's Lament
15.
Mansion on the Hill
LOUISE STORMS THE GARDEN PARTY They
were beautiful and damned, in a white house she was crammed
She grew up in
the Midwest and had encountered little success
Went west to the east coast
after being a nurse in the First World War
She felt best, soon bereft, when
she pulled up to the fertile shore
She spray painted the wall and the
rich folks were dismayed
In the garden party world of Wallace Stevens on
Sunday
She did bad coke in the golden-trimmed bathroom
She was slipping
on the marble floors and leaning on the walls She felt their passion was long
gone because they were never denied
She felt that Sunday was to be faced
- she had to look into their eyes
Fingerbowls and grog, flappers and jazz,
insipid party talk
So she fumbles and she stumbles down the winding marble
walk THE GRACE OF GATZ I read the book and a bolt of light hit
me
This was the answer to all problems we see
I was lost until I found
Jake Gatz
Then I knew it could all happen fast I know it was sad what
happened at the end
But I was more drawn to his theory on women
All the
rejection of the past can be erased
If you get your soul and clothes replaced
Never trust a man in a pink suit
But he will walk with you in white gardens
The cocktails will flow and the gates of your soul
Will open and you'll dream
to know what can't be known I know I might not have a mansion
But I'm
happy to have spent some time within one
There's no moral to the story, there's
only a theme
And it will come back again and again in my dreams IT'S
HARD TO TRUST TO YOURSELF Talk to a 5 people about how to make an album
Everyone will tell you something different Try to pick out a movie with 5
guys
And no one will agree You can't produce an album by democracy
I'm sorry but I've driven myself nuts Tryin' to be everyone to everybody
I'm trying to find my philosophy
What works for me It works for me
Pleasing myself
I'm the only one who knows
All the information splashed
in front of my nose
But I won't be able to use any of it
If I listen to
everyone else
So at least I'm gonna listen to myself You say, I know that
you don't agree
But it's hard to come up with a popular philosophy
That's
why we don't talk religion or politics at the dinner table So, here goes
I'm looking for the answer
That nobody knows Another leap of faith
Another leap of faith Crashing down
Crashing down You say it doesn't
work for you
You say you don't think it works for me
I should take more
time
Edit some stuff
Make sure it's all of high quality
Well you can
criticize me but in the end I'll be stuck with myself
And the effects that
the decisions I've made have had on my health It's hard to listen to yourself
But it's harder to listen to everyone else
It's hard to listen to yourself
But it's harder to listen to everyone else MARRIAGE 28 years old
and the cake is on the table
The groomsmen are in the cottage outside of
the church
And the bride is waiting to be taken by her father
The mother
is worrying about the appearance of the dessert The family friends are wondering
if this couple is really in love
They're chuckling at the awkward vows; they're
pondering hypocrisy
They know the groom's secretary looks like Angelina Jolie
Since they're in a church, now they're feeling a bit guilty Shake hands
and make plans
Kiss the bride and praise the covenant
Maybe buy a new
house with 20 percent down
Hopefully your future is safe and sound in marriage
They dance all night and they catch up with old friends
The DJ is playing
Celebration and it works every time
The DJ usually spends his 300 bucks on
a string of dead-end dates
But now he's thinking about starting a family;
he's considering his fate Everyone loves to see the bride kiss the groom
Toss the bouquet and the garter and see who feels smarter
Goodbye to those
feelings of a big, big world
Maybe move to the suburbs and have a little boy
or a little girl Shake hands and make plans
Kiss the bride and praise
the covenant
Maybe buy a new house, with 20 percent down
Hopefully your
future is safe and sound in marriage FIVE ACRE BLUES Whenever he
walked by, he didn't smile
His clothes were almost always in style I heard
you're a big fan of Springsteen
You're so hung up, that's how you were weaned
Just like your Mom was hung up on James Dean
20 years go by and you're
still on the same team No one has sympathy for prep-school kids
With prep-school
taste and prep-school digs It's hard to sing the blues in an idyllic scene
When your home covers 5 acres, you know the routine You drift in the swimming
pool, your poems are uneven
You want to make people feel like they've read
Wallace Stevens SHE USED TO BE HOT She used to be hot
But now
she's not
She used to be hot
She thinks we forgot
But when you're
that hot
You're etched in their minds
But they don't want to see you now
You used to be hot She was in my homeroom
She was hot
She had
many ways of looking at the world
She looked good from every angle
She
didn't like her right side
But she photographed so well
And she was always
there
When I needed inspiration
She was so hot
And I was so ready
to be inspired Saw her the other day and, well, things have changed
ut
nothing gold can stay
That's what Pony Boy says She used to be hot
She used to be hot
No girl knows what she's got
Till she's no longer hot
It's not that she was ugly
She just didn't sparkle anymore
Maybe I
wasn't the person
That I was before She peaked when she hit 16
Remember
those awkward girls in the hall?
She'd walk by, they'd want to cry
Don't
cry! You're a butterfly inside
Your time will come to shine
Maybe in college
Maybe when you're 29 HIGH DRAMA This is it, I'm about to die
47 blocks from Roosevelt High
Bill just read Catcher in the Rye
And sounds
off about the lies
Of the one with the glass eye Then he gets deep about
how
His Dad said dreaming is for the fools
That you'll just be let down
When you get hopes up about being cool He says he rides his bike by the freeway
So he can get a little action
He watches Full Metal Jacket
And he knows
the cars are death machines
But he can't afford one, so he rides his bike
This is it, I'm about to die
47 blocks from Roosevelt High WHEN
THE WHOLE WORLD LOVES YOU I've been thinking about high school
And
some friends I made back them
I'm feelin' sad and like a bit of a bore
And I don't see them much anymore Lately it seems I'm not part of a community
And I fear the world is having one big party
That they feel can be pulled
off without me
I think I'm invited, but I don't RSVP So, maybe I'll go
to a rock show all alone
And stumble into somebody I know
After the DJ
warms up the crowd
And they start screaming so loud I'll feel OK, because
I'm at the party
Even though it feels like work to me
I guess there is
never a way to feel
Like the whole world loves you for real FAIRY TALE
OF OUR FIRST NEW YEAR'S EVE I built my world around you
On a cold
Christmas eve in Seattle An old man smiled at me and said
If I had to
do it again I'd find a girl like yours These bars used to be mom and pop stores
Oh, then the band played on and the crowd called out for more We kissed on
the corner on New Year's Eve
All the people inside sang Auld Lang Syne
Oh, that was good luck; I hope we have 50 years
But, no matter what changes
we will always have what we had here Then at the top of the Space Needle
You said we're too old and this city's getting younger I walked on a block
where my childhood park was no more
My house was demolished; now a Multi-theater
plex was in store The houses have all been fixed up and sold
An old man
says to me, "I don't recognize this street anymore" One day I will be gray
and you might want to remodel me
The houses will be remodeled but I won't
be so easy We fell in love too quickly -
Just like these bars and these
shops were built too quickly They always fall in love in fairytales
But
it never lasts, I hope this lasts QUESTIONS FOR THE BARFLIES She
said, "What is it that you like about me?
How do I fit into all of your big
dreams?"
She said, "Will you always think I'm so great?
I left my hometown
and there was no parade" "What would you change about me? What needs to go?"
She asked me in the vestibule, near the patio
"Don't say it's because
of my beautiful eyes
I get that a lot from the drunks with their cryptic replies"
STORMS IN SEATTLE You say: I've looked within myself and I
want to come live with you in Seattle
I want to be someone else and I think
the answer for me is in Seattle I say: Are you sure that deep within yourself
you feel strong enough to come to Seattle?
You want to change yourself but
I don't think the answer for you is in Seattle The truth is: You'll never
be yourself if you try to fit in to your Seattle uniform
When the warm bath
fades and the vacation is over, you'll be gone
You'll always wake up with
yourself and I can't say that it will ever be easy to belong
Still, upon your
shelf, you'll have the photographs of your time out in the storm SNAPSHOTS
OF THE BORED AND THE SEARCHING Got on my arm band And I ain't got much
money
I know it was a bad day when you let your brother go Snapshots of
the beautiful danger
Snapshots of the rolling coasts
I know it was a sad
day when you let your family go Look at the bored and the searching
I
scan for a face that seems
To understand my plight
On this side of the
fence
We see scamps and urchins
Fighting for a small piece Of the
happiness and promise
You guess and guess and guess
That you can live
in
The moment of ambition
Look at the bored and the searching
Look
at the bored and the searching LOSER'S LAMENT I try to make
The most of this life
I've loved so deeply
I've cared so much
I've
stood at the top
I've walked through lonely streets
It's not easy
We have so much stress
So many people to love
I wish I could just hold
you forever
The closer you get
The further you feel
Love is a dirty
word
Love is a dirty word
I loved you with all my heart
These tears
I cry are all for you
And thought I found myself late in life
Here I am,
on your couch
And you feel like life hasn't been fair to you
Your mother,
she's gone
All these people
We just want to be heard
To feel we have
a voice
Uttered, word after silent word
Walk alone
Playin' personal
tragedies
You lost them
Those years are gone
You can never get them
back
Our love is lost
Coffee shops and cups of Jo
I'll never forget
you
I'm a bit romantic
You're a bit of an old soul
And here we go
COUCH POTATO'S LAMENT I ponder the idea of Someday
I have a
lofty notion of Someday
But I don't know how to get through today I had
so many dreams of things I would be
People I would meet, things I would see
Worked on them earnestly for a spell
But things didn't turn out too well
I realize that today is Someday
But I don't know what to say
It doesn't
make it easy to get through the day So now I do the couch potato lament
About how all the good energy's been spent
I'm tired of thinking about too
many yesterdays
I tried to make plans but life got in the way I realize
I've arrived at Someday
I realize today is Someday
Somehow the sadness
doesn't go away MANSION ON THE HILL We walked 20 blocks from Armour
to Highland
Talked about it at a keg on Foster Island
We smoked a cigarette
and we moved quick
Saw the snow fall on Carrie Park and we swore we saw St.
Nick
Made a pact to make a million by 24
Laid my heart out there on the
floor
Went to Dick's for a Delux and a coke
Got real close with some monorail
folks You must keep on believing in Someday
But it sucks that it's not
today
You must keep on believing in Someday
But I want to know when it
will pay
I'll get my mansion on the hill either way Sweat it out and feelin'
like a failure
Second guessing by the streetlights, for sure
A heap of
ashes on the far end of the hill
By the graveyard, by where I wrote my will
I will die and I know that, damn straight
But I want to know when St. Peter
and I negotiate
He'll say, "You were too obsessed by fame, fortune, and prime-area
real estate
I'll say, "It was my destiny, now let me through the pearly gate"
You must keep on believing in Someday
But it sucks that it's not today
You must keep on believing in Someday
But I want to know when it will pay
I'll get my mansion on the hill either way | 
