Bruiseology - Lyrics

SIDE 1)
A GIRL'S GOTTA DO

A girl's gotta do
What a girl's gotta do.
What a girl's gotta do is go do it.
And that's all there is to it.

I've got a zillion ideas
And some of them great
But nobody wants to listen
I've got better ways
To get the job done
But all you feel is threatened
(I really like you) But you're not much help
(I really like you) So I'm by myself
Once more by myself

Same old story
"We" becomes "Me" again
Fighting that good fight
Get over any way I can
Odds are lousy
A little better than a zillion to one
With or without you
I can guarantee you
That it's gonna get done

I've got a zillion facts
That can help you out
But they just make you nervous
I'm not so sure
The decisions you're making
Are really in my best interest
(I really like you) But you don't back it up
(I really like you) Talking and talking that stuff

Same old story...

MAKE THE WEATHER

It was rust and rags
But we got that scrap dream glowing
Swore we were throwing
A wrench info the gadget age

It was smoke and mirrors
Could've laughed at that tin joke forever
I'm sorry you'll never
Risk living such a pretty lie

Would you have tried that?
Think you could've pulled it off?
OK start with something simple like...

Go make the weather
Go pull the stars closer in
Go make the weather
Go race light
Go build the wind

Now it's black and white
Now my golden and green's turning grayer
But we were the players
And old enough to act like kids

It was bait and switch
Just seven minutes in heaven
But we called it even
To even have it last that long
Such a pretty lie

Are you gonna try that?
Maybe you can pull it off
Ever entertain the thought you might...

Go make the weather
Go pull the stars closer in
Go make the weather
Go race light
Go build the wind


EVERYTHING'S WRONG IF MY HAIR IS WRONG

Everything was perfect
And then all of a sudden there was a...

Purse?... check. Skirt?...right.
Shoes?... OK.
Blouse?... slick!

But God I was awful
Give me another chance
Pretty please, oh pretty please
Can I try again?

Stockings?... straight.
Earrings?... Nah...
Necklace?... I don't think so...
Lingerie?...ha, ha, ha

Stop it, got to get serious
Or "hello cool disaster"
One goof and it's the stick
For the world's most tired chick
So this isn't just dressing up girl
This is warfare...

Everything's wrong if my hair is wrong
Everything's wrong if my hair is
If my hair is wrong, everything's wrong
Everything's wrong if my hair... is

Help me with this zipper, darling,
Then could you kind of disappear?
And on the way out, kill the lights.
A few minutes to myself would be nice,
And now that I'm alone,
How did I get here?

I was?...thanks!
You did?...Great!
I can?...really?
When?...now?

But God, I was awful
Give me another chance
Pretty please, oh pretty please
Can I try again?

How?... gee, I don't know...
They were?...wow...
What?... you're kidding?
Oh, that good?...come on!

Stop it, got to get serious
No way do I deserve it
I was lucky, it was tricks
And don't you ever call me a "chick"
And I don't know why, but praise like
I just can't accept it

Everything's wrong if my hair is wrong
Everything's wrong if my hair is
Now something's wrong if everything's wrong
Everything's wrong if my hair...is...wrong.


LUXURY

Dah-town! doldrums!
Depression's a local custom
If I had waited 'til I had the money
I'd have never left it
Found no exit
Every reason to stay
Was reason to get out of there faster
Yet sixteen postcards later
Can't believe that I've made it here
To a cafe by a river
Where street lamps shame the lovers
And any time I want to
I can be one of them

Told that crazy Russian
To practice his jazz driving
With some other hitch-hiker
At land's end, lovely weather
But weird food, weirder water
"Heads'"? I stay, "Tails"? back on the train
I meet this Charlie
With a package at the border
No questions, if there's a jam
Claim I'm Canadian

At last, wild and reckless
'Fore I could say I wasn't that kind of girl, I was
At the corner of a one-way and nowhere
Some city, can't pronounce the name
Got lost, on purpose
Careful, cautious kept me home
Big teasers, promised plenty
Here I've got nothing, and nothing is, nothing is
luxury

Trick English, Italian gestures, survival French
Got me in the casino
An evening at the wheels
A double zero won a mercenary
Who bought me drinks and dinner
But I had enough of soldiers
Last seat on the last express
To "I'll know when I get there"
How the world is stuck together
As long as there is motion
There'll be adventures

OPEN CITY

Throw your pistol in the river
Ditch the trucks, we can walk from here
Only bring what you can carry
Everything you need is waiting there

Look! Fire! They're burning all the money!
Raise a toast! Throw your wallet in!
"To days of wood, days before metal
When we were animals, not coins"

They gave up on government
Everything works on common sense
Nailed high on the main gates
Is the only law, the law of chance

Guerrilla poets ink a wall
Children with no rhythm dance
To rebel music at a painter's house Now there's never an empty glass

What am I doing here?
Grabbing my piece of history
I'm braver with a hammer
My hands can shape this place
What am I doing here?
Answering stupid questions
Why am I here?
There's no place else left to go...


(SIDE 2)
THINKING ABOUT SEX AGAIN

Uh-oh, there I go
Thinking about sex again

Gonna stop masking my feelings
Behind bitter jokes and cigarettes
I'm not the girl who purred and spat "Wait right here, I'll be right back"

Uh-oh, there I go
Thinking about sex again

Gonna "X" my "BFD-ing"
Chances to "GF and BF"
I'm not the girl who's animal
Was the unknown she tried to forget

Was I boring, all that brooding
Chaste or chasing, never choosing
Too bad, had to, owed it, to me
Found I, don't want, some one, who'll be
Anything to keep me happy
Anything to keep me
Saw that boyfriends can't be six-packs
Hot meals, soft chairs, when I want them

Night spot, nice guy, some nice touching
Can't say that's just liquor talking
Tensing, tingling, I'm not teasing

This time I know what I'm doing
Back to back like siamese twins
Panic used to begin
"Never again" really meant when
I was ready with conditions

Uh-oh, there I go

BRUISEOLOGY

OK, it's over
That's it, I'm quitting
Yes, I'll deny it
Never wanted this anyway

No, it's not over
I'm never stopping
I can't deny it
I've been wanting this all my life

Or I can always go back
Be the girl that I was
Before it's easy
Just admit I don't have the guts

But do I ever
Take things so lightly?
l am a fighter
Won't surrender all that I've gained

I'd say there's a conflict here
The right thing to do's not clear
Beat my brain up
Trying to fit the two sides together

Then you hit me with the hard facts
Then everything cracks
That's a bruiseology

It's just a simple
Change of direction
Just keep repeating
Wasn't really me all along

Over my shoulder
A fading figure
Someone who's different
By a hundred-eighty degrees

Pretends this never
Happened. I better
Practice my crawling
Back with a tail 'tween my legs

Or is there somewhere
In this contradiction
Some place where
These two sides can meet'?

OK, it's over
No it's not over
l can always go back But do l ever?
That's it, I'm quitting I'm never stopping Be the girl that I was Take things so lightly I can't deny it
I've been wanting this All my life

Then you hit me with the hard facts
Then everything cracks
That's bruiseology

SPIN

Spin, spin, spin
So this is what it's like...Hmmmm?
Like dancing on dynamite.

I've been aching for a gamble
Burning for something risky
Even if I take it on the chin.

No real reason to
But no reason not to
The time was right
So I just jumped right in
Spin, spin, spin, spin.

Spin, spin, spin
Where exactly is this?
Somewhere I think between "A" and "B"

Where my choice leaves me hanging
By the thread of an idea
Where the only competition is myself.

Where I decide to chance it
Exposed and suspended
I'm swinging through the jungle
And I run out of vines
Spin, spin, spin, spin

Spin, spin, spin
So this is what it's like, Hmmmm?
It's scary living in mid air

If I get out of this
With just a few bad habits
I've done pretty well, I think

No excuses, no inhibitions
Chuck that excess baggage
Whizzing around
Doing my impression of an exposed nerve
Spin, spin, spin, spin

Spin, spin, spin
Faster and faster
Looks like I'm here for the duration

I know I'm an "I" now, I want an "us" but This limb can't take another ounce of doubt

This is kind of shaking me up
But I'm glad I did it
Spoke only for myself
But I see others
Nodding in agreement
Spin, spin, spin, spin

No crutch, no rabbit's foot No spare, no safety net

No map, no travel guide
No fuse, no warning light

No course, no schools
No kit, no tools
No law, no rules

So where did the ground go
Can't feel it with my feet
Can't connect)he dots
When I can't see where they meet
End over end
Hanging stuck half-way
Between nothing and something, somewhere I spin
'Til something happens.


THEY'RE ALL OUT OF LIQUOR, LET'S FIND ANOTHER PARTY

Now do you get it! It's them, not you...
So don't feel so funny
Live for risks, they don't...

There's no fight in them, no spit and fire
Nothing gets them angry
Oh come on, let's go shake the world

Be thrilled by the thought
That it's wild out there
Even if it's really not that great

Getting married? Making babies?
But you haven't been to Paris
The object of the game is to leave town

I want you to be so happy
You will bug them with your presence
They'll say you're wrong, you have no style

I want you to be lean and hungry
Slum geniuses kicking limos
Walking by yourself down Razor Street

I want you to know people who laugh too loud
And have to get drunk to find the right words
And can't sleep 'til the colors are just right

I want you to talk back, be out of line, be peculiar If you don't know your plans, so what?

You should show up at their parties
Frankly state their music's lousy
Their art is stupid, don't be cool

Do mind bottled dressing
Object to instant coffee
And go to movies all alone

look someone in the eyes and say you'll satisfy them, Though you both know the way love is, that's a lie

I want to see your fists in their searchlights
Hear danger from their radio
Toke every chance you can to get revenge

No pain killers, take it straight with a twist of anxiety "Patience" means "never"

Don't shake hands,.don't smile a lot, not much "please" And "thank you"
Believe in "no", insist on "why"

Want false hopes, expect magic
Put your life on the line for something
Bet on dreams, again and again

Make a country that's fat and smart
That doesn't love to screw its own
And gives, instead of sucks the world dry