You carry the beach in your way too short hair
That you shaved off last week 'cause you freaked and got scared
That when it's longer, you remind me of herSo you offered it up with what passed for authority
My strict sort of challenge, she directed straight at me
You said, "Forget her, I don't care what you two were"So it's a trick on your ego a two-step off tempo
A solid gold bracelet under lights in a window
In some shopping mall where I never goYou play coy and count tiles, drag your toes through the water
Raise your eyes, bite your lip and my mind's in the gutter
You move at me and take my face in your handsI feel light bulbs explode in a fire cracked thunder
Sense the slow seismic shift of the sprawling cloud cover
But when we're finished, I feel awful againSo it's the same sorry story, just the cast changes nightly
And it skips like a record but it glows like a movie
Or the country sky that I never seeShake in your voice makes me feel empty and ugly
All scattered anger like a windstorm, howling violently
And I wanna fade out and wake up somewhere else
Where no face is familiar and I'm left by myselfTo keep plugging away on my own wasted time
To eat badly and spend all my money and write
To not feel too guilty, to be tired at night
Since I'm not fixing things here, I'll leave them behind
So you make your decision 'cause I'm through making mineNow I walk where the street swallows light like it's water
I see the slant of your smirk on every kid at the corner
But if you called, I'd never know what to say
So I just hope you never will 'cause things are easier that way