LYRICS
1. (Nothing But) Flowers
Here we stand
Like an Adam and an Eve
Waterfalls
The Garden of Eden
Two fools in love
So beautiful and strong
The birds in the trees
Are smiling upon them
From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it's nothing but flowers
There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers
you got it, you got it
We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner
we got it, we got it
There was a shopping mall
Now it's all covered with flowers
you've got it, you've got it
If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower
you've got it, you've got it
Years ago
I was an angry young man
I'd pretend
That I was a billboard
Standing tall
By the side of the road
I fell in love
With a beautiful highway
This used to be real estate
Now it's only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it's nothing but flowers
The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we'd start over
But I guess I was wrong
Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis
you got it, you got it
This was a Pizza Hut
Now it's all covered with daisies
you got it, you got it
I miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens
you got it, you got it
And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention
you got it, you got it
I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies
you got it, you got it
We used to microwave
Now we just eat nuts and berries
you got it, you got it
This was a discount store,
Now it's turned into a cornfield
you got it, you got it
Don't leave me stranded here
I can't get used to this lifestyle
2. Everyone's In Love With You
I introduce you to my friends
& that's the last I see of you
All the world's discovered my big secret
Everyone's in love with you
They're fascinated by your smile
They copy all the things you do
I wish that you & I could be together, but
Everyone's in love with you, yeah
Everyone's in love with you
God gives, God's wise
The way that she smiles
It should be no surprise
At work, at home
I'm introduced to so & so
But you're the one they want to know
I'm jealous & a little proud
I want to kill & kiss you too
You belong to everyone who meets you
Everyone's in love with you
God gives, God takes
Don't misunderstand I'm a satisfied man
So sweet, so strange
I guess I'll never understand the things she does to all my friends
I'm jealous & a little proud
I want to kill & kiss you too
You belong to everyone who meets you
Everyone's in love with you
Everyone's in love with you
3. Civilization
Somewhere between the darkness and light
The faces all glow but it's not too bright
Civilization, it's all about knives and forks
Isn't she here? What time is it now?
Is this the right place? Do I fit with her crowd?
I'm gonna be a civilized man someday
Part of me wants to jump and shout
Part of me wants to tear it down
I thought you might prefer the Cabernet
Civilization, it's all about sex
Havin' a ball in a padded banquet
I'm gonna be that really cool guy someday
The waiter looks me over
Would you like cream or sugar?
I don't know, what was I supposed to say
She wonders if I'll notice
I should have brought some roses
Her plate is full, she hasn't eaten all day
Glasses collect, we order some booze
She looks at me, I stare at her shoes
Mature situations, maybe a broken heart
Maybe I ought to pay the bill
Maybe she thinks I never will
A million things that cross a woman's mind
Just be yourself, well that's what they say
And I barely know who I was yesterday
I'm gonna be that civilized guy someday
Good friends and conversations, the rise and fall of nations
A moments glory and they've had their day
And on my high school folder, I drew a big gorilla
Something familiar, something far, far away
Somewhere between the darkness and light
She touches my hand, she don't seem to mind
We can go home, we can be civilized
4. Finite = Infinite
Three-hundred-fifty cities in the world
Just thirty teeth inside of our heads
These are the limits to our experience
It's scary but it's alright
And everything is finite
Only one record, in this whole wide world
Where jimi hendrix sings house burning down
Another elvis will not come along
He got wasted but it's alright
And everything is finite
Yeah, wasted - it's alright
Everything is finite
I'm just a baby in my daddy's arms
Who will protect me from these women's charms
I'm six foot tall but I barely speak
My - mind goes crazy when the taste is sweet
Well we've known each other, eight years and twenty days
It's - terrifying, it's beautiful too
Things have an end
But feeling is infinite
We're changing but it's alright
And everything is finite
Yeah, changing's alright
Things finite
5. Un Die Felice
(Giuseppe Verdi)
[From "La Traviata"]
Un di, felice, eterea,
Mi balenaste innante,
E da quel di tremante
Vissi d'ignoto amor.
Di quell'amor ch'e palpito
Dell'universo, Dell'universo intero,
Misterioso, Misterioso altero,
Croce e, Croce e delizia
Croce e delizia, delizia al cor.
Misterioso, Misterioso altero,
Croce e delizia al cor.
Croce e delizia al cor.
Delizia, delizia al cor.
Delizia, delizia al cor.
Croce e delizia, delizia al cor
Croce e delizia al cor.
6. Glad
I'm glad I've got skin, I'm glad I've got eyes
I'm glad I got hips, I'm glad I've got thighs
I'm glad I'm allowed to say the things I feel
I'm glad Igot hair, glad I got ears
I'm glad I got lungs, I'm glad I got tears
Glad that I never ever know what's real
I'm glad I got lost
I'm glad I'm confused
I'm glad I don't know, what I like
I'm glad I got stoned
I'm glad I got high
I'm glad I found out I'm alright
I'm glad when the sex is not so great
I'm glad that I doubt, I know what they say
I'm glad when I get my girlfriends names confused
I'm glad I know how my life will end
I'm glad I don't have no common sense
I'm glad the things are wrong I thought I knew
I'm glad I'm a mess
I'm glad you don't mind
I'm glad you're better than me
I'm glad that I changed
I'm glad I'm not nice
I'm glad it's the way, it must be
I'm glad I can't see beyond myself
I'm glad when the conversation ends
It's good when it's bad, I'm glad it's not -
worrin' me
7. Why
I don't have any philosophy
Why do I know what I know?
I see the world in a coffee cup
And when I drink it down there I go
We have our own kind of universe
Sometime but not always true
How come? Wait! Maybe I think it is
The view is very nice and it's big through and through
I got skills and I got secrets, I can part my hair
I feel an empty space where love could be
In adjoining universes
Touching here and there
I stick my head outside and I can see - that
Particles spin 'round a nucleus
Planets encircle the sun
Further out there is the Milky Way
The coolest part of all cracks me up, Ev'rytime
Life isn't really miraculous
It had to happen this way
We had to meet in this checkout line
Explain it as a simple twist of fate
But we can't - be - sure
8. Here Lies Love
When I was a young girl in Leyte
My dresses were all hand-me-downs and scraps
I’d see the people smile, when I would sing for them
How happy they all seemed—when I would dance
We lived a stone’s throw from the palace
A simple country girl who had a dream
The ladies passing by, a better class than I
How much it meant to me to be like these
Is it a sin to love too much?
Is it a sin to care?
I do it all for you
How can it be unfair?
I know that when my number’s up
When I am called by God above
Don’t have my name inscribed into the stone
Just say:
Here lies love…here lies love…here lies love—
Just say:
Here lies love…here lies love…here lies love—
The most important things are love and beauty
It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor
To prosper and to fly, a basic human right
The feeling in your heart that you’re secure
Is it a sin to love too much?
Is it a sin to care?
I do it all for you
How can it be unfair?
I know that when my number’s up
When I am called by God above
Don’t have my name inscribed into the stone
Just say:
Here lies love…here lies love…here lies love—
Just say:
Here lies love…here lies love…here lies love—
9. The Rose Of Tacloban
I wrote inside my yearbook
“To try is to succeed
Fried chicken and the rumba
The colors pink and cream”
Ninoy was my first love
But he said I was too tall
A rich girl stole the sweetheart
Of the Rose of Tacloban
The heart grows slightly colder
Necessary to survive
And money makes it easy
In many people’s lives
The sky above protects us
Don’t know what I will become
Or what lies beyond tomorrow
For the Rose of Tacloban
Elegant women on a magazine page
Elegant women, like a paper parade
I don’t go out dancing, I just stay at home
Cutting out their faces, and replacing them with my own
Cutting out their faces, and replacing them with my own
The sky above protects us
Don’t know what I will become
Or what lies beyond tomorrow
For the Rose of Tacloban
What lies beyond tomorrow for the Rose—
Of Tacloban
10. She Only Sleeps
She might dance all night
In a topless bar
Fool around, go too far
But I don't mind
You see things are not what they appear
'Cause she only sleeps with me.
She might drink a bit
Lose her way
Crash the car
But come out OK
And my friends might laugh
But they only know what they can see
And she only sleeps with me
Nights on Times Square
Live and on stage
High heels
She feels
That she's dancin' for me
And the little bird
Flies from tree to tree
To the highest branch
Where she thinks she's free
She can have it all
That's the reason you wouldn't believe
That she only sleeps with me
There's a porno book
In the library
Nothin' ever goes
Were it shouldn't be
And the world is queer
And the human is strangest of all
And she only sleeps, yeah, she only sleeps
Yeah, she only sleeps with me
11. The Revolution
Amplifiers & old guitars
Country music sung in bars
& when she sings the revolution's near
Beauty holds the microphone
& watches as we stumble home
& she can see the revolution now
Dirt & fish & trees & houses
Smoke & hands up women's blouses
Not like I expected it would be
Bubbles pop in every size
It's analyzed & criticized
& beauty knows that it is almost here
Beauty goes to her address
She shuts the door and climbs the stairs
& when she sleeps the revolution grows
Beauty rests on mattress strings
Wearing just her underthings
& when she wakes the revolution's here
& when she wakes the revolution's here
12. Give Me My Flowers While I'm Living
In this world today while we're living some folks say the worst of us they can
But when we are dead and in our caskets they always slip some lilies in your hand
Won't you give me my flowers while I'm living and let me enjoy them while I can
Please don't wait till I'm ready to be buried and then slip some lilies in my hand
In this world is where we need the flowers a kind word to help us get along
If you can't give me flowers while I'm living
Then please don't throw 'em when I'm gone
Won't you give me my flowers...
13. The Road To Nowhere
Well we know where we're goin'
But we don't know where we've been
And we know what we're knowin'
But we can't say what we've seen
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feelin' okay this mornin'
And you know,
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there...take you there
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
We're on a road to nowhere
14. Empire
In national elections
In songs raised on high
With stirring emotions
As tears fill your eyes
In democratic fever
For national defense
I am a mountain 3X
Like birds upon a fence 2X
Young artists and writers
Please heed the call
What's good for business
Is good for us all
And as it is in Nature
So it is in life
The weak among us with perish 3X
The strong alone will survive 2X
Voices like thunder
Decisions like steel
The past and the future
They belong to us all
From every mountain
The water and the air
The world that we've created 3X
By working hand in hand 2X
15. The Great Intoxication
Who Disco?
Who Techno?
Who Hip-Hop?
Who Be Bop?
Who's been playing records in his bedroom?
Who rocks out?
Who's spaced out?
Who brings you?
Who sings you?
Who's still workin' on his masterpiece?
The great intoxication
The mental generation
Sound effects & laughter
Stupid ever after
Hopin' it was cranked up
Loud enough for you to hear
He's drunk and he's insistent
Shy but he's persistent
Boisterous & jumpy
Disorganized & funky
Every day he wonders
What the hell she sees in ME?
Ah, but who saves you?
Who craves you?
Who Heartbreaks?
Who love makes?
Look into the eyeball of your boyfriend
Who drives you?
Capsized you?
Who shakes you?
Who wakes you?
Who's still workin' on his masterpiece
16. Psycho Killer
I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I
Can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
You start a conversation you can't even finish it.
You're talkin' a lot, but you're not sayin' anything.
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed.
Say something once, why say it again?
Psycho Killer,
Qu'est-ce que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Ce que j'ai fais, ce soir la
Ce qu'elle a dit, ce soir la
Realisant mon espoir
Je me lance, vers la gloire ... OK
We are vain and we are blind
I hate people when they're not polite
Psycho Killer,
Qu'est-ce que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho Killer,
Qu'est-ce que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh....
17. The Accident
When you see an accident do not turn your head and look away
I can see detectives are sifting through the wreckage we have made
It starts with only one kiss
It changes everything
TV crews arrive on the scene
They say "See the man who lost everything"
He lies shattered like a glass on the ground
They say "Only you can bring him around
& set me free"
I became delirious
Palm trees gently swaying in the breeze
On a desert island, I haven't seen a human being for years
The house where we used to live
Described by witnesses
TV crews arrive on the scene
& the anchorman they break down and weep
Living proof that things are not what they seem
It takes all these wild and wonderful things -
To set me free
18. Soul Sister
Hey you, hey you,
With the curly bush on your head, baby
You know you're lookin' good
You know you're lookin' good
You know you're lookin' good
Soul sister (sister, sister, sister, oooh)
You're lookin' good, honey
(Thank you brother, thank you baby)
(Hey you)
Hooo hey you, with the bad hip boots on, little girl
(You're the baddest in the world)
It sure would be nice, honey
If I could just make you my girl
And when you walk your walk
You know you let me know
That you're so very much together
(Gether, gether, gether, oooh)
And when you talk your talk to me, honey
You know you make me feel
Lighter than a feather, oooh
I've never known it,
But I've always wanted the best in life
And if I had you, honey
I know that I could forget about the rest in life
(I can't conceal) No, no the way I feel (Way I feel)
You're about a head turner
You're about a ..... burner
Hey you, hey you, with the curly bush on your head, baby
You know you're lookin' good
You know you're lookin' good
You know you're lookin' good
Soul sister (sister, sister, sister, oooh)
And hey you, hey you, with the bad hip boots on
Little girl, little girl (You're the baddest in the world)
It sure would be nice, honey, honey
If I could just make you my girl
19. America Is Waiting
America is waiting for a message
Of some sort or another
Takin' it again, again, again, takin' it again
Well now, no, no, now, we ought to be mad
At the government not mad at the people
Takin' it again, again, again, takin' it again
I mean, yeah, well, wha, what're ya gonna do?
America is waiting for a message
Of some sort or another
No will whatsoever, no will whatsoever, absolutely no honor
No will whatsoever, no will whatsoever, absolutely no integrity
No will whatsoever, no will whatsoever
I haven't seen any, any, any citizen over there
Stand up and say, "Hey, just a second"
No will whatsoever, no will whatsoever
I mean, yeah, so wha, what're ya gonna do?
America is waiting for a message
Of some sort or another
CREDITS
With: David Byrne, Joe Henry, Greg Cohen & Friends und Kammerorchester
Performance: 19. August
Start: 10:00 pm
Performance: 20. August
Start: 7:00 pm
Venue: JAHRHUNDERTHALLE BOCHUM