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TWINKLE ECHO

TO MY MR SMITH

hey you walk so slow when the bus doesn't show
i guess you've got to think somemore before you get home
but hey the night is cold & that jacket's so old
that the chill comes in through the holes
why don't you stop in on your way
if there's something that you want to say
you don't have to keep it inside
hey, you say your days go by so slow
do you think i don't know
it's the same for everyone in this whole town

 

JEANE IF YOU'RE EVER IN PORTLAND

back in town with damaged lungs
& shot ear drums & misplaced kisses
& someone who misses
who misses me in kansas

the second i got out of the van
i saw you giving your cash to the doorman
i saw the x on your hand
& i knew you were the one
or i knew you'd understand
or oh, i wish we could have talked all night
we had to be in illinois by daylight
& what i wouldn't give to be your man
but i can't break up the band
& jeane, there must be more than letters & phone calls
so say you'll come see maine when the snow falls
just say you'll come see maine when the snow falls

there's kissing in kansas but that's not home
& we sigh when we're on the phone
but the voice in my ear
says it wouldn't be same if you came here
but it's just miles
it's only miles
it's just miles
& miles & miles & miles & miles

TOBY TAKE A BOW

i've never seen you so awful
i found you at the bottom of a russian novel
gold medal & a crown
a cardigan & a frown
so maladjusted & clever
the greatest smith's fan ever
your picture's in the paper
& the caption shouts
there is a boy that never goes out
that same song on repeat
you haven't left the house in weeks
you won't even come out for dinner
toby grace world record winner
i guess you thought it would make you feel better somehow
but heaven knows you're miserable now
heaven knows you're miserable now
heaven knows you're miserable now
so toby take a bow

 

IT WASN'T THE SAME SOMEHOW

they played the records that we all know
they played them fast & they played them slow
with crazy lights & the music loud
it wasn't the same somehow

i wish we could dance the same as before
but i don't have it in me anymore

the same dinner that the same cafe
you kept asking if i was okay
& though i can't explain it even now
it wasn't the same somehow

the sweetest air & not a cloud in sight
i walked you home & i said goodnight
but when you asked me up to the house
it just wasn't the same somehow

i wish we could kiss the same as before
but i don't have it in me anymore

 

HEY ELEANOR

eleanor it seems your heart's on your sleeve
& it's the reason that you want to leave
so if you're going to go
just go just go

we've come to understand that the letter in your hand
it came from a boy who won't be your man
& it's tragic it's true
but don't let it ruin this town for you

eleanor, it seems that train's going to leave
& you'd better hurry if that's what you need
but if you still don't know
don't go oh honey don't go

 

HALF GHOST

you can stand at a show all night
somewhere in the back just watching the bands
you can try to pretend nothing's wrong
& clap for the songs

or drive all night for no reason
just drive til the tape's done
& leave everything to the long long road
to take you home

or talk on the phone all night
& tell the whole story to an answering machine
or put everything on a song
just put everything on some song on the radio

at least a song won't cheat
at least a song won't leave

 

CALLOUSED FINGERS WON'T MAKE YOU STRONG EDITH WONG

a studio apartment somewhere new
somewhere far away from here
how does it feel
are you lonesome

now you've got first chair
but a broken heart won't mend
when your cello's your only friend
it doesn't matter what they're paying you edith wong

when you're sitting in the spotlight
a standing ovation every night
does it occur to you
that something isn't right

& when you're kissing someone new
but you know that your heart's not through
with the last boy
do you say to yourself this'll do

you can hide in the cinema
you've got the money to spend
but the movies always end
& then it's your life again

you can practice all day long
until the notes are perfect
but your heart's all wrong
calloused fingers won't make you strong edith wong

 

BLUE COROLLA

we used to drive to phoenix in the summers
to see your sister & mom & go swimming in the pool
we'd take the 15 to the 40 over to route 66
before we dropped out of school

now you work at a candy store
& we don't talk so much anymore
but i still wonder sometimes
if you've still got that same ride
with the dents on the driver's side

we used to drive to phoenix in the summers
to see your sister & mom & go swimming in the pool
you were 21 & i was almost 20
the year we dropped out of school

 

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE IN A YELLOW T-SHIRT

don't borrow the car
that's what we've got bicycles for
we'll ride all night under the streetlights

if you get off at ten
i can come by your work & meet you then
it's warm tonight & a t-shirt will be fine

don't borrow the car
that's what we've got bicycles for
it's already july & summer's passing us by

in six more weeks we'll be back in school
it's perfect weather & the moon is full
we'll ride all night under the streetlights

 

STUDENTS FOR SCARVES & CHARM

april first & i've been so low
seven months have never gone so slow
& by the time you hear this song
it may be too late
i've packed my things & they're in the car
i don't know where i'm going but it's going to be far
i've got a full tank of gas
& nothing's stopping me right
i've been in this town too long
the kids here stink & the weather's all wrong
i need a change of scenery & i need it fast.
let's go

 

ROBERTA C

carson flannery & jerome line the bookshelves at home
waiting tables at some cafe to pay my student loans
if they didn't make me sneeze i'd get a cat & name her eloise
it'd be someone to talk to in the least

a listless intellectual in her prime
scrabble high score 409
with nothing remarkable to leave behind

smoking lights working nights
& frequent trips to the public library
don't make much of a life
but it's all going to change
maybe tonight
i'm leaving something to remember me by

a listless intellectual in her prime
scrabble high score 409
& the note on the bed
true love is hard to find

 

ATTIC ROOM

raccoons in the trash a voice on the breeze
the fits & the screams when you were only thirteen
you had the attic room
you heard the whole thing

under the slanted ceiling your dad painted blue
whatever happened to you
only the worst could be assumed
you're dreaming often of the attic room

in other rooms with other boys
under other ceilings
the springs & the sighs
may drown another night

but you wake up shaking & all that's new
is the owner of the arm around you
how could he know what to do
he never had the attic room

 

GIANT

something got in your eye
in the parking lot outside
of that second run theatre
on the east side
you said that you wouldn't cry
you've seen that film so many times
you must have it memorized



all lyrics by Owen Ashworth