Big Bang

They say with a "bang!" is where it all began
a million light years before the Rise of Man
like an M-80 in a coffee can
it was bound to bomb

I get a big bang out of these affairs
lookin' at stars way up in the air
I get a big bang, an explosion
I get a big bang.

There are some places where a body can go
where automobiles just up and blow
a spectacular sight but it's not for show
it's not for show

I get a big bang out of old Beirut
learned Lebanese so I could say "don't shoot!"
I get a big bang, an explosion
I get a big bang.

I'd like to go to bed with you, girl
and sweat my soul right into your world
there's no reason to be squirrelish about
love...

I get a big bang out of these affairs
runnin' my fingers through your hair
I get a big bang, an explosion
I get a big bang.

Win, Place or Show

I bet your horse to win
but I knew it wasn't fair
to predict the finishin'
of such a first-class mare
win, place, or show...

The trouble I'm in due to running this race
is something
only you could know
I can't keep the pace
win, place, or show.

I drank a beer at the Crazy Crow
but I never felt so out of place
as I waited there for you to show
your jockey-taming face
win, place, or show...

The trouble I'm in (etc...)

Comin' down the backstretch
it's nose-to-nose
the final word is something that the instant replay
must disclose
looking back we'll know
win, place, or show...

The Myth of Plastic Man

My perception of your perception of me
dictates how I act to every degree
If I think that you think I'm cool
then I'm comfortable to sit there and drool

But then if I think you want me to move
suddenly I've got something to prove
like I'm defending my own self-portrait's
spot in the Louvre....

It behooves me now to tell you
that I'm sorry that I am such a Plastic Man
to the one I'm with

I'll pick you up in a Microbus
I'll pick you up in a Ferrari
I'll do the drivin'
you choose the myth.

But then if I think you want me to move (etc...)

Give The Soul A Name

Give the soul a name as it takes material form
upon this earthly plain and is of sea-salt born...

A child begets himself, it is said,
and a mother is but a vessel
the demon jumps from another dimension
as from a lofty tressel
to the waters below the southbound train
give the soul a name...

When a touch of animation takes on a solid state
it's not a cartoon station but an act of Divine Fate
please impose this spirit upon the game
give the soul a name...

Back Around

I awoke with a smile on my face
'till I found out she really wasn't planning to stay.
Another one night stand that took a seat
when it faced the day
but I know someday she'll come back around
like a homing pigeon or a hungry hound
Yeah, I know someday she'll come...

Back around like a new chord change
to a cool refrain that comes back around
Back around like a first spring day
that was worth the wait, she'll come back around

She'll be back, but I don't know when
maybe when the world runs clean out of men
I don't care, 'cause I got time
I keep myself busy with a rhythm and rhyme
that comes back around
like a homing pigeon or a hungry hound
Yeah, I know someday she'll come...

Back around like a new chord change (etc...)

Playing Checkers With The Devil Himself

In a coffeehouse downtown
(Who's playing checkers with the Devil Himself?)
take a look around you
(...)
your soldiers, they are grounded
(...)
your kings (they are) are all surrounded
(... ...)

The Devil, he ain't dumb, my friend
The Devil, he ain't dumb, my friend
his games of strategy might be the end
of you.

Your pieces have all vanished
(Who's playing checkers with the Devil Himself?)
Your French has turned to Spanish
(...)
The sanity you've managed
(...)
Did not escape undamaged
(... ...)

The Devil, he ain't dumb, my friend (etc...)

Old Enough To Roam

People told me I should leave her alone
"She's much too young to move away from home.
She's not old enough to roam."

Two years before I set out on my own
Got so skinny you could see my bones
Oh, but I was old enough to roam.

Like a young bird in the nest
who finally grows feather
so the young woman goin' West
knows that safer is not better

She called her mother from a Houston payphone
to tell her 'bout the Dead show at the Astrodome
and to show her she was old enough to roam.

We rented out a little mobile home
A thousand more in the park like clones
but I found out that she was old enough to roam.

Like a... (etc....)

Drawing

Five fingers... full of this band
But baby... check out my freehand
and allow me... to draw you into my
life

Gimmee a blank white sheet of paper
and I'll attempt to make her
as she truly is...

Sketches of your... precious face are
filling in the negative space, where
music leaves no pictures for my
sight

Gimmee a blank white (etc...)

Boning Up

I'm bonin' up for the 21st Century
got my finger on the pulse of tomorrow
been readin' several issues of Omni Magazine
that the library let me borrow

Well you know I like to think about the future
that's why I can't *Be Here Now* with you
but lose yourself in Time with me
we'll play Adam and Eve on the moon...
we'll play Adam and Eve on the moon.

I'm bonin' up for the 21st Century
like a true trans-millenium man
got a sci-fi novel on one knee
and a telescope in my hand
got a telescope in my hand.

Well know I like to think about the future (etc...)

The Other One Must Die

The farmer took his son out for a lesson in the field
He said "it takes a clever man, his harvest for to yield."
He put two seeds down in the ground and looked up at the sky
"If you want one seed to grow, boy, the other one must die."

The thinker thought he'd had enough of thinking for one day
All conclusions seemed so right, there was nothing left to say
For every Truth he had to cast its opposite a lie
For if you want one Truth to live by, the other one must die.

The lover limped away in tears from the party scene inside
The love he'd finally grown to accept was the one she now denied him
He packed his bags and left his home for Arizona skies
For if you want one love to fly to, the other one must die.

Actors

Actors are always on stage in their minds
I'm all the rage in Indochina...
believe me.

Writers... each has a God complex, that's true
I can tell you from a godly point of view
I wrote this song on the Seventh Day
I guess it's my own world in it's own way
I'm just afraid to give it to Man someday

Critics... how can they even go to bed?
Why can't they see that quality is all in their heads?

Actors (etc...)