Joe Jackson

Pretty women out walkin' with gorillas down my street
From my window I'm starin' while my coffee goes cold
Look over there
(Where?)
There!
There's a lady that I used to know
She's married now or engaged or somethin', so I'm told

*Is she really going out with him?
Is she really gonna take him home tonight?
Is she really going out with him?
Cause if my eyes don't deceive me
There's something going wrong around here

Tonight's the night when I go to all the parties down my street
I wash my hair and I kid myself I look really smooth
Look over there
(Where?)
There!
Here comes Jeannie with her new boyfriend
They say that looks don't count for much and so there goes your proof

*Repeat

But if looks could kill
There's a man there who's marked down as dead
Cause I had my fill
Listen you take your hands from her head
I get so mean around this scene
Hey, baby

*Repeat

Something going wrong around here
Something going wrong around - here

Don't you feel like trying something new
Don't you feel like breaking out
or breaking us in two
You don't do the things that I do
You want to do things I can't do
Always something breaking us in two

You and I could never live alone
But don't you feel like breaking out
just one day on your own
Why does what I'm saying hurt you
I didn't say that we were through
Always something breaking us in two

They say two hearts should beat as one for us
We'll fight it out to see it through
I say that won't be too much fun for us
Though it's oh so nice to get advice
It's oh so hard to do

Could we be much closer if we tried
We could stay at home and stare
into each other's eyes
Maybe we could last an hour
Maybe then we'd see right through
Always something breaking us in two

Now ?
The mist across the window hides the lines
But nothing hides the colour of the lights that shine
Electricity so fine
Look and dry your eyes

We ?
So tired of all the darkness in our lives
With no more angry words to say can come alive
Get into a car and drive
To the other side

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

We ?
Are young but getting old before our time
We'll leave the T.V. and the radio behind
Don't you wonder what we'll find
Steppin' out tonight?

You ?
Can dress in pink and blue just like a child
And in a yellow taxi turn to me and smile
We'll be there in just a while
If you follow me

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

Now ?
The mist across the window hides the lines
But nothing hides the colour of the lights that shine
Electricity so fine
Look and dry your eyes

We ?
So tired of all the darkness in our lives
With no more angry words to say can come alive
Get into a car and drive
To the other side

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

We ?
Are young but getting old before our time
We'll leave the T.V. and the radio behind
Don't you wonder what we'll find
Steppin' out tonight?

You ?
Can dress in pink and blue just like a child
And in a yellow taxi turn to me and smile
We'll be there in just a while
If you follow me

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

Me babe ? steppin' out
Into the night
Into the light

The older I get the more stupid I feel
I don't know what's going on
Tired of trying to be strong
When I should be crying

The further I go the less distance I see
Leave behind another home
The harder I try the less people I please

The older I get the more lucid I feel
Let it go and let it come
Tired of trying to belong
When I could be flying

Now that you're gone
Nothing is wrong
But everything's changed
Words in your hand
Do I set them in stone
Or throw them away
Now everything we did
Like photographs that always moved
(and that wasn't strange)
Now they're in the can
Let's put them on a shelf
Let's put them in the ground
They'll never move again

Ever after
Ever after
Ever after

Over and done
All of the fun
And all of the pain
Why don't I laugh
Why don't I cry
It ends up all the same
Now that you're gone
Everything is wrong
Though nothing has changed
And everything we said
Is there on a tape
For the future to play
Let's put it in the ground
That's where it ought to stay

Ever after
Ever after
Ever after

And it'll be all right . . .

It happened one night
At three in the morning
The devil appeared in my studio room
And he said I'm your pal
And I'll make you a deal
Blow away your struggle
And take your soul for a toy

After rubbing my eyes
I looked all around me
At the half-finished drivel I'd worked on for days
And I told him my dream
Was to live for all time
In some perfect refrain
Like the man who wrote Danny Boy

And I said if you're real, then I'll ask you a question
While most of us turn into ashes or dust
Just you and that other guy go on forever
But who writes the history
And who do I trust?

He gave me a wink
And he said it was funny
How mortals would pour all their blood, sweat and tears
Onto tape, onto paper
Or into the air
To be lost and forgotten
Outside of his kind employ

Then I thought I could hear a great sound in the distance
Of whiskey-soaked singing
And laughter and cheers
And they're saying, that song could bring tears to a glass eye
So pass me the papers, I'll sign them in blood

And the smell of the brimstone was turned into greasepaint
And the roar of the crowd like the furies of hell
And I hear the applause and I hear the bells ringing
And the sound of a woman's voice from the next room saying

Come to me now
Come lay down beside me
Whatever you're doing you're too going to see
You can't hold onto shadows, no more than to years
So be glad for the pleasures
We're young enough to enjoy

So maybe I'm drunk
Or maybe a liar
Or maybe we're all living inside a dream
You can say what you like
When I'm gone, then you'll see
I'll be down in the dark
Down underground
With Shakespeare and Bach
And the man who wrote Danny Boy

Shall I stay or go
Through the door
Will the pen to flow
Watch the stars
Sleep's a chore

The moon is growing cold
It hangs like a sliver of tin
How do our dreams unfold
And why are my bones feeling thin

I watch my pen as though
My fingers could shatter like icicles
And before my eyes
Lie glittering and useless on a field of snow

Something's coming
Something big
Something I can't stand

Dark as the ocean
Secret and cruel
Something I can't command

Something's waiting
Down a mugger's alley
To see what's on my mind

Take a deep breath
Start walking faster
It's dark, but I'm not blind

You never know
If I push at this wall
My hand could pass through

So

This cloud of unknowing
Could disappear too

It's only the future

I'm sinking in
To a sea of secrets
Warm and green
Down and down
Back to times and places never seen

Now and then
I can wake and I remember
Just one secret thing
Through the rain
I can keep a candle burning
Under the skin of the world

It's sinking in
No need for fear of drowning
Drift away
These monsters here
Are only faces I don't wear by day

Now and then
I can wake, and in the mirror
Demons turn to friends
Through the pain
I can dig a little deeper
Under the skin of the world

There was a man in the jungle
Trying to make ends meet
Found himself one day with an axe in his hand
When a voice said "Buddy can you spare that tree
We gotta save the world - starting with your land"
It was a rock 'n' roll millionaire from the USA
Doing 3 to the gallon in a big white car
And he sang and he sang 'til he polluted the air
And he blew a lot of smoke from a Cuban cigar

And the stars are looking down
Through a hole in the sky
And if they can see, they cry
That's obvious

And the walls are coming down
Between the west and the east
You don't have to be a hippie to believe in peace
That's obvious... obvious

There was a kid in the city selling crack to get by
Got caught one day with a gun in his hand
When a voice said, "Okay, get 'em up in the air
You're too young to live like this
But you ain't too fast to die."
Just another foot-soldier in a stupid little war
Another sound-bite on the American scene
Caught between the supplier only dreaming of money
And the demand of the man with money
Who needs a little help to dream

So we starve all the teachers
And recruit more Marines
How come we don't even know what that means
It's obvious

And the walls are coming down
Between the eagle and the dove
You don't have to be a hippie to believe in love
That's obvious... obvious

I could cool out
I couls hang loose
I could lay my head back in this comfortable noose
I could watch the paint dry
On these rented walls
Or I could run wild with the first wild thing that calls

Goin' downtown . . . goin' downtown
Goin' downtown . . . to stand 'round and stare
And put people down for not being there
Goin' downtown . . . and I'll see you there

But I saw you laugh
At that girl having fun
To show some emotion . . . just isn't done
You can look but don't touch
That's as far as it goes
You're only as good as the cut of your clothes

Goin' downtown . . . goin' downtown
Goin' downtown . . . to stand 'round and stare
And put people down for not being there
Goin' downtown . . . and I'll see you there

Please mister can't you help me try to find my baby's house
It's three in the morning in the pouring rain
I can't find the house and i forgot the number
But I gotta give her these roses to relieve her pain
Don't laugh... just tell me you've been there before
So we fight but we fight every evening
And I tell you every morning I just love her more

And life goes on... filled with disasters and friction
And life can be strange
But love can be stranger than fiction
Only love can be stranger than fiction

Excuse me operator... tell me what time it is
Me and my lover been in bed all day
I think I strained a muscle
I didn't know I had
And tell me what day it is anyway
Don't laugh... just tell me you hear what I say
I love her so much I don't even know what planet I'm on
Love her so much I wish she'd just go away

And life goes on... filled with bizarre contradictions
And life can be strange
But love can be stranger than fiction
Only love can be stranger than fiction

I know that sometimes love goes
But sometimes it comes back to getcha
And when love grows
It grows like a flower or grows like a tumor
Love shows that God has a sense of humor

Life goes on... ever immune to prediction
And life can be strange
But love can be stranger than fiction
Only love can be stranger than fiction

I can't help about the shape I'm in
I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well

And when I talk to God I know he'll understand
He says, "Stick by me, I'll be your guiding hand
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to"

Oh well

Jamie G. I want you
Even though I know that I can't have you
Even though
I don't know which way you go
I'm dying to come with you

What kind of times are these
A guy can't do what he pleases
But the way that you tease
I'd risk all diseases

Jamie G. I want you
Even though I know that I can't have you
Even though
I don't know which way you go
I'm dying to come with you

C'mon let's drink champagne
Before they bring back Prohibition
Smoke a pack or two
Then try another position

Jamie G. I want you
Even though I know that I can't have you
Even though
I don't know which way you go
I'm dying to come with you