John Hiatt

[fox69]

"One Of Them Damn Days"

"One Of Them Damn Days"



It was Monday or Tuesday
Or one of them damn days
I was staring backwards from the sun
Through an unrelenting haze

I was shaking, reaching for my cup
Trying to stir my life around
'Cause I thought I saw my baby
On the other side of town

They were just ten and eleven
And almost seventeen
She was barely thirty-five herself
When I turned drunk and mean

Someone said they seen 'em back
Why would they come around
But I thought I saw my baby
On the other side of town

Now the drunkard, he will go to lengths
To justify his state
But the truth is even one's too much
When a hundred will not sate

Like a wrecking ball slung through the lives
Of all to whom he's bound
Well, I thought I saw my baby
On the other side of town

Well, I thought if I could make amends
And somehow get in touch
But then I had to take a drink
And it was all too much

I drank the whole rest of the day
I drank that bottle down
'Cause I thought I saw my baby
On the other side of town

It was Monday or Tuesday
Or one of them damn days
They keep comin' ever after
Nothing changes, nothing stays

Just a flickering in black and white
An image with no sound
And I think I see my baby
On the other side of town

 

[fox69]

"Only The Song Survives"

"Only The Song Survives"


I woke her up twice in the middle of the night
To ask what her name is and where she might live
To ask how many fingers she saw in this light
To ask if she might know what gives

She said we rolled that Camaro like a cowboy cigarette
Out on the highway in a puddle of beer
That's just about how close to death you're gonna get
Till the only thing standing is fear

[Chorus:]
Singing, oh darling, faces were changed
The names of the innocent, the story at five
Oh darling, faces get strange
But only the song survives

She said, now don't you remember they put a patch on your eye
Like Dread Pirate Roberts, you looked so unplanned
They cut off my wedding ring and you started to cry
A one-eyed Niagara Falls man

[Chorus]

I said, but I never married - I said with surprise
And is this the diamond you said that you lost
It was under my eyelids when they flushed out my eyes
Hell and I don't know what the thing cost

[Chorus 2x]

But I woke up sweating to breakfast in bed
And there were my children, and there was my wife
Post-traumatic stress, of just a bump on the head
Or maybe the ride of my life

[Chorus 2x]

 

[fox69]

"Our Time"

"Our Time"



I traced your arms as you laid spread out on the Sunday paper
Looked like the crime scene of an angel ghost
I heard the gate clatter to on the elevator
I wrapped myself up in it like a cold beef roast

Fell asleep, was cooked medium and placed on a dining room table in Brooklyn
Before an older couple surrounded by family and friends so wonderful and kind
I flashed back to you giving dollars to homeless men down in the bowery
Not before they convinced you it was for sandwiches and not for wine
I just could never convince you baby
This was our time
This was our time
This was our time

Now your feeding me fabulous Chinese takeout on the dampened bed sheets
Our last supper so you might say
I woke up in a cold sweat and realized we'd never cooked one meal together
You always said, "Why bother?" with the cuisines of the world laid at our feet here everyday

Then I thought of our first date back in Nashville
We shared the pupu platter you enjoyed it with such gusto I took it for a sign
We would have many happy meals together in a warm dining room somewhere maybe even
Brooklyn
That was way back then, and I was just another guy with food on his mind
But this, baby this was our time

This was our time
This was our time
This was our time
What did you have in mind?
This was our time

 

[fox69]

"Overcoats"

"Overcoats"


Well I wandered in
To the house of mirrors
With a camera and an old shotgun
I was taking some pictures
Of me and my fears
And exploding them one by one
When all of a sudden
Much to my surprise
A lady with a fine tooth comb
Struck a match up to my face
And said, "Get out of this place
You better leave the ugly truth alone"

[Chorus:]
Overcoats
Overcoats
I ain't never heard you sing
Overcoats
Overcoats
Take off that silly thing

Well, I looked her in the eye
With a slave-like stare
And said, "I'm here to talk about the rent"
Well, she did a double flip
Then she buttoned up her lip
Went and hid in the oxygen tent
Well the image shriveled up
And the air got thin
As she smiled from behind her mask
She said, "You can stay here all night
But it's gonna cost you your life
If I was you, I would be leaving fast."

[Chorus]

I didn't come for information
No I've read the daily news
It's carved on everybody's face

But I'm without illumination
Yes, I think we blew a fuse
And I'd be much obliged
If you could help me locate the place

Well at this, she seemed quite baffled
And like a little girl
She took off her wedding gown
Then she stood before the mirror
And it all came clear
She was married to the lost and found

So I left her there sleeping
In her honeymoon
And I made it through the antidote
Well the procedure is brief
If you wanna see what's underneath
You gotta take off that overcoat

Overcoats
Overcoats
I ain't never heard you sing

 

[fox69]

"Overnight Story"

"Overnight Story"


They took enough of my mind
To make a calculator
Addin' up the figures, they'll find
That love's a dumbwaiter

Waitin' for the dream to fade
Right into you hit parade
Maybe I've made that long black list
But I was born when we first kissed

[Chorus:]
Not another overnight story
No overnight success
We've hung around too long for glory
Is it too late for happiness?
Yesterday is over now
And we've come too far to bow

Here comes Swifty, they're off
To chase another headline
But all the news gets soft
Before it makes the deadline

The morning paper hits my door
But I don't read it any more
Yes I know what went on last night
You made your coffin before daylight

[Chorus]

They're adding inches at our expense
To the measure of their capital worth
The next big thing is gonna dance and sing
Us all off of the face of this earth

They call it big time love
But I'm not nervous
'Cause all your turtledoves
Are out of service

And all those arc lights comb the sky
For any little birds that fly
You're all still jerks, and we're still here
Fast asleep at the big premiere

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Paper Thin"

"Paper Thin"


I was gonna get up off that bar stool
Just as soon as I could figure it out
Why I was overlooked at the car pool
Stood up at the dance with no twist and shout

When you're burnin' with your last desire
And every memory haunts you
You write it down in alcohol fire
'Cause that's the only flame that wants you

[Chorus:]
When you're paper thin
Yeah, read all about it
When you were out of luck, well, luck was doin' alright
Now you're paper thin
Yeah, they can see right through ya
You just cut you're little finger on the edge of the night

Now do I really have to be responsible
For what I did between those tavern walls
I was just mixing up some chemicals
You could've heard a pin drop, could have heard time crawl

And every once in a while
You could hear you're own heart pound
Maybe some paper doll with a pasted on smile
Would let you write her number down

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Perfectly Good Guitar"

"Perfectly Good Guitar"


Well he threw one down form the top of the stairs
Beautiful women were standing everywhere
They all got wet when he smashed that thing
But off in the dark you could hear somebody sing

[Chorus:]
Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I don't know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar

It started back in 1963
His momma wouldn't buy him
That new red harmony
He settled for a sunburst with a crack
But he's still trying to break his momma's back

[Chorus]

He loved that guitar just like a girlfriend
But ever good thing comes to an end
Now he just sits in his room all day
Whistling every note he used to play

There out to be a law with no bail
Smash a guitar and you go to jail
With no chance for early parole
You don't get out till you get some soul

[Chorus]

Late at night the end of the road
He wished he still had the old guitar to hold
He'd rock it like a baby in his arms
Never let it come to any harm

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Permanent Hurt"

"Permanent Hurt"



What is that fallin' out of your eyes
What is that rollin' on down your shit
Thunder and lightning from the bloodshot skies
This time its feeling like a permanent hurt

What is that lipstick up on his sleeve
Wheres the forgiveness thats stronger than dirt
Tearin' the words out when you ask him to leave
This time its gonna be a permanent hurt

A permanent hurt, yeah a pemanent hurt
The pain and the memories do the dirty work
Promises broken hearts on red alert
The surface will heal
But its feelin' like a permanent hurt

What were you thinkin when you fell in love
What were you thinkin in that little black skirt
Bet you a rainbow you werent thinkin of
Suffin' your heels up on a permanent hurt

A permanent hurt, yeah a pemanent hurt
The pain and the memories do the dirty work
Promises broken hearts on red alert
The surface will heal
But its feelin' like a permanent hurt

It's all temporary like the big book tells
Ashes to ashes, baby dirt to dirt
Something gets scary
Someone runs like hell
Somebody winds up with a permanent hurt

A permanent hurt, yeah a pemanent hurt
The pain and the memories do the dirty work
Promises broken hearts on red alert
The surface will heal
But it's feeling like a permanent hurt

 

[fox69]

"Pink Bedroom"

"Pink Bedroom"



She paints her fingernails forbidden tones
She wants nervous youth on the telephone
He don't call
She sticks another pin
In her doll
And puts him next to her stuffed animals

She got the tubetop
She got the french heels
She got the blowdry
She got her eyes peeled
She got the tight jeans
Seventeen magazine
She got it all
She got it all
She got it all
In her pink bedroom

She thinks all her boyfriends are so dumb
She drinks coca-cola with her valium
Mother calls
She sticks another pin
In her doll
And lets those fingers talk her into it

She got the lip gloss
She got the short-shorts
She got her records and
They're all imports
She got her good looks
She got her yearbook
She got it all
She got it all
She got it all
In her pink bedroom

They say they got her future down at the desk
And now they're drawing blood for the grownup test
Something crawls
Beneath her lily skin
And her doll
Is so relieved she's lost her innocence

It was a teen game
Now we're serious
It's all customized
Don't get curious
We got your pension
And your attention
We got it all
We got it all
We got it all
We got it all
We got it all
We got it all
From your pink bedroom

 

[fox69]

"Pirate Radio"

"Pirate Radio"



Well, those electric sheep to the valley they keep walkin
On the radio waves selling tennis shoes and beer
It induces sleep when that DJ starts his squawkin'
I'm lookin' for one song to save me on this midnight clear

So how far do we have to go to hear that Pirate Radio?
One song that could steal our hearts
Before they turn into silver and gold
Well I'm drivin' my care real slow and my baby wants to know
When we gonna hear our song on that Pirate Radio?

One star in the sky so I named it Ottis Redding
Or maybe Marvin Gaye lookin' for his Tammi Turell
There ain't no mountain high enough to stop this wedding
Rollin' out of Memphis to Detroit I can hear those bells

So how far do we have to go to hear that Pirate Radio?
One song that could steal our hearts
Before they turn into silver and gold
Well I'm drivin' my care real slow and my baby wants to know
When we gonna hear our song on that Pirate Radio?

Well, we've been drivin' all night, ever since we were teenagers,
Up to that border town where the outlaw station air waves
Where the DJ's outta sight and his heart is so courageous
And he loves every song that he's puttin' on for the free and brave

So how far do we have to go to hear that Pirate Radio?
One song that could steal our hearts
Before they turn into silver and gold
Well I'm drivin' my care real slow and my baby wants to know
When we gonna hear our song on that Pirate Radio?