John Cougar Mellencamp

[fox69]

"The Face Of The Nation"

"The Face Of The Nation"


As I run through this life
Sometimes it breaks my heart
Seein' old people goin' downtown
Stumblin' their way through the dark
And the little babies cry
For their mothers' warmth
Sometimes I feel so helpless
I don't know where to start

[Chorus:]
And the face of the nation
Keeps changin' and changin'
The face of th enation
I don't recognize it no more
The face of the neation
The face of the nation

So many lonely people
Damn those broken dreams
Oh yes it could be better
You can say that about anything
Some got it worse than me
Some got it worse than you
You see the people starvin' underneath the tree
And you wonder what happened to the golden rule

[Chorus]

You know babe I'm gonna keep on tryin'
To put things right
If only for me and you
Cause the devil sleeps tonight

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"The Full Catastrophe"

"The Full Catastrophe"



I've ridden down Sunset
I drank expensive wine
I've been married 2 dozen times
Raised ten children on a workman's pay
And I'm glad to say I've enjoyed everyday
Of the full catastrophe of life

I've sat in courtrooms
had people call me names
I've been to London town
On a supersonic plane
I was lovin' your wife
While you were lovin mine
And I'm glad to say I've enjoyed everyday
Of the full catastrophe of life

I've opened my belt to trouble everyday
Ain't looking for a fight
But you know I won't run away
From the full catastrophe of life

I've seen the goodness
I've known the baddest around
I was tattooed when it first came out
I shook the hand that showed Moses the way
And I'm glad to say I've enjoyed everyday
Of the full catastrophe of life

 

[fox69]

"The Isolation Of Mister"

"The Isolation Of Mister"



Never looked forward to the future
Never enjoyed where I’ve been
Couldn’t keep my mind in the moment
Never really cared if I had a friend
I always felt like there was something better
Even when I had it made
Never respected the job I was doing
Never cared about money but I felt underpaid
Saw so many people
Walking out the door
Never cared about being lonely
Because I couldn’t use you no more
I said, go away
I’m quittin’ on you today

I always felt like sorrow was a lesson
I always felt I needed to feel the pain
I thought happiness was a transgression
And I just took it as it came
I never wanted to say too much
To other people I did not understand
Never made love with my heart in it
Never wanted to make any plans
Saw so many lovers
Walk out that door
Never cared about being lonely
Because you didn’t love me no more
I said, go away, go away
I’m quittin’ on you today

Love ‘em, leave ‘em, then forget ‘em
Don’t worry about 'em when they’re gone
That’s the way I always played it
Now maybe I played it all wrong
Been so indifferent about so many things
About my time and my rage
Thought I was livin’ a life of freedom
But I was living in a cage
And that cage bred with my lower self
So many knots I did not untie
They came undone by my faults
And here’s the reason why
Saw so many lovers
Walk out that door
Never cared about being lonely
Because I didn’t love you no more
I said, go away, go away, go away
I’m quittin’ on you today

 

[fox69]

"The Kind Of Fella I Am"

"The Kind Of Fella I Am"


Well I don't like it when I see your eyes dartin'
Back and forth across the room
And I don't like it when I see you doin' dances
Baby that I ain't used to

[Chorus:]
But that's the kind of fella I am
That's the kind of fella I am
I'm a jealous kinda fella
And I might fall in love with you
I'm a jealous kinda fella
And I just might fall in love with you
Hey

Well I don't like it when you try to impress me
With your daddy's jewels and his car
And I don't like it when I hear you talkin'
'Bout your ex-boyfriend the movie star

What I like is when you walk me home
And you let me hold you tight
But I don't like it when I hear that you learned
All this from some other guy

[Chorus]

So look out

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"The Man Who Sold The World"
(originally by David Bowie)

"The Man Who Sold The World"
(originally by David Bowie)



We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago

Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World

I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home
I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare, at all the millions here
We must have died along, a long long time ago

Who knows? not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the Man who Sold the World
[Repeat]

 

[fox69]

"The Real Life"

"The Real Life"


Suzanne divorced her husband
She got the keys to the car and the home
But her friends were really his friends
No one stops by to see her much anymore
So one night she goes back down to the old haunts
That once upon a time were her own
She didn't know nobody out there no more
And the whole experience just made her feel so old
She says

[Chorus:]
I want to live the real life
I want ot live my life close to the bone
Just because I'm middle-aged that don't mean
I want to sit around my house and watch T.V.
I want the real life
I want to live the real life

Jackson Jackson was a good kid
He had four years of college and a bachelor's degree
Started workin' when he was 21
Got fed up and quit
When he was 43
He said, "My whole life
I've done what I'm supposed to do
Now I'd like to maybe do something for myself
And just as soon as I figure out what that is
You can bet your life I'm gonna give it hell"
He says

[Chorus]

I guess it don't matter how old you are
Or how old one lives to be
I guess it boils down to what we did with our lives
And how we deal with our own destinies
But something happens
When you reach a certain age
Particularly to those ones that are young at heart
It's a lonely proposition when you realize
That's there's less days in front of the horse
Than riding in the back of this cart
I say

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"The Same Way I Do"

"The Same Way I Do"



Before you go to sleep
And close your eyes
I'd like to kiss you
One more time
Touch your lips
Perhaps your soul
I'll be still and say no more
Oh tell me do you feel the same way I do

Well the night was sweet
You filled the air
Your gentle hands touched me everywhere
I don't want this moment to end
I'm afraid that we can't find it again
Oh tell me do you feel the same way I do
Oh tell me do you feel the same way I do

The fragile bond
Between us here
Would take to build, a thousand years
Before you close your eyes
Just one more kiss
A million years before we feel like this
Oh tell me do you feel the same way I do
Oh tell me do you feel the same way I do

How can I trust my feelings
In a moment that's always changing
Tell me do you feel the same way I do
The same way I do

Hey do you feel
Yea do you feel
Hey do you feel
The same way I do

 

[fox69]

"The West End"

"The West End"



Well the West End now
The West End then
Went by the other day
Just to see my friend
His house was dark
His socks were thin
I told him let's get out the West End

For my whole life
I've lived down in the West End
But it sure has changed here
Since I was a kid
It's worse now
Look what progress did
Someone lined their pockets
I don't know who that is

Well my old man slaved
Down here in the West End
He thought the future was bright
Way back then
But it beat him down
Till he had nothing to give
It broke his back
Took away his will to live

Now me
I don't think much of the West End
Ain't gonna end up
Like the old man did
'Cause I got dreams and they're bigger than this
As far as I'm concerned
You can keep the West End

Well I guess down here
In the West End
Broken promises
Now and then
It's not even fair
To think that they would
'Cause the West End now
Ain't no damn good

Out there somewhere
You know there's gotta be a place
Where a man can live
With a smile on his face
And every day something new begins
But it ain't down here
At the West End

Some day down here
In the West End
No one will remember
How the whole place began

 

[fox69]

"The Whore"

"The Whore"



And now I must face
The crowd once again
The curtain is calling
And the show must begin
The lights grow dim on the floor
And they call me the whore, oh yeah
They call me the whore
They call me the whore
They call me the whore

 

[fox69]

"Theo And Weird Henry"

"Theo And Weird Henry"



Henry worked at Sears or somehwhere,
Theo did, too.
They both got themselves a van together;
Nineteen seventy-two, Ford.
Drove around all night long playing music very, very loud.
Big noise, all the time;
Little legends in a little town.

Moments of time they shared together.
Moments of time between two friends.
Standing on street corners with shirts unbuttoned.
There was a moment in time they swore they were friends to the end.

Couple of wild boys
They told me they could hear the grass grow.
Theo used to say, hey Henry, man,
I'm screwin' this cat.
You're just holdin' it.
I never knew what they was talking about
But they laughed like they both thought it was funny.
Theo and weird Henry went chasing after something
And neither one of them believing in nothing.

Moments in time they shared together,
Called themselves the "He-man women lovers club,"
Throwin' pop bottles against the wall just to get some attention.
There was a moment in time they swore they were friends until the end.

Theo's out there living it up doing a little earth shaking -somewhere.
Henry sent a postcard from a better place
But I can see them both sitting there laughing and breathing.
I can still see that smile on weird Henry's face.

Moments in time they shared together,
Moments in time between two friends.
Dancing on that old van with their shirts wide open,
That was a moment in time they swore they were blood brothers until the end.