I'm gonna take my friends to Vegas And get them a look at those wide-eyed pagans With their dollar bills in their outstretched hands I'm gonna wait for a couple of hours In the hotel lobby selling fake flowers If you take my hand I might take you away I'm gonna find a race horse pregnant Pay the child support with my whole damn paycheck If she doesn't race I just don't care I put it on black until the black eyes over Then we put it on red 'cause when our eyes ain't sober We always ask where the hell we've been We're in the backwoods now, woods now Take those heavy boots off, boots off We're in the backwoods now, woods now Take those heavy boots off I paint the sky with a black-line border Till the clouds come in and it all rolls over To the other side I write please don't rain You're like dirt on a water tower Getting plenty of rain, but you got no water Even if it's just a couple inches away Your reality is in stark contrast To my own, that is no contest I'm just saying we're not the same I thought of you for hours and hours Daydreaming of our aquatic flowers When we're ocean side we're drinking grenadine We're in the backwoods now, woods now Take those heavy boots off, boots off We're in the backwoods now, woods now Take those heavy boots off When I grow up I want to be California Shake the fault line to its core I'll dance all night while the lights die away Reach down deep for a drink of water Bring it up to the surface 'cause it's just getting hotter I'll flood the land, I'll drown the brave When we turn forty, gonna be a tornado Making our way up from Toledo Tearing the breadbasket to grains We'll conspire with the weeds and dirt Make a master plan to take back the earth With dandelions and leafy spurge We're in the backwoods now, woods now Take those heavy boots off, boots off We're in the backwoods now, woods now Take those heavy boots off

When I'm old my body will crumble My back will fall to the sea My toes will become all the sucker fish lovers I heard all of this in a dream I will ride on the back of an old rail car Embracing the face of your sweet And I'll tip my hat back when my rocking chair cracks And I've held all the hands I can't see I met with the man who lives in the moon He's an old man who talks in his sleep He said you better keep your head down boy Before it gets all lost in the steam And while I said I am your god I am your god, I have god's teeth He said, “You're nothing but a fool boy crying Come on now, get some sleep.” I pondered the world for a moment or two No more than any other could say When I dropped my change in the pocket it clapped But the splash that it was never came And so I rattle my cup when I'm all grown up And my hair fall out from the dirt I guess what I'm saying is all this ice capade skating Could use some melting to foster my thirst I met with the man who lives in the moon He's an old man who talks in his sleep He said you better keep your head down boy Before it gets all lost in the steam And while I said I am your god I am your god, I have god's teeth He said, “You're nothing but a fool boy crying Come on now, get some sleep.” I will be the ball on your chain gang I will vex the dirt that you beat I will be the spade in your old worn hand As you sheer the world of its fleece I will be the eve in your rambling fairy tales If that would bring some peace But take it from one chipped rock to another, you been covered I say you take that from one chipped rock to another, you been covered I met with the man who lives in the moon He's an old man who talks in his sleep He said you better keep your head down boy Before it gets all lost in the steam And while I said I am your god I am your god, I have god's teeth He said, “You're nothing but a fool boy crying Come on now, get some sleep.”

I had a dream of a wooden stove pipe With a wickerboy and city inside And the people walked with their ears around their heads To keep from drowning in the sky And the matchstick brother in his steal house looked on with great intent But never cried You're doing just fine You're doing just fine You're doing alright You're doing just fine You're doing just Stand up straight and stick your chest out Throw your hair back keep your eyes off the ground You're doing just fine This wood stove pipe reaches far beyond the sky “I love you, I love you, I love you.” our voice cried “I love you, I love you, I love you.” our voice cried You're doing just fine You're doing just fine You're doing alright You're doing just fine You're doing just The storm came quick and the village washed out The birds rushed in with all claws out, the wicker boy cried out “You may break my heart, but I never had doubts. In the hearts of our beloved we cry foul I am what I love, not what loves me I am what I love, not what loves me.”

Sleep with the lights off, I know that you're fading These words are harder to read than they're saying There's a red tide on the thin line of your college-ruled paper I hope that you know that I'll be back later Cold weather is taking its toll Time would have you thinking you're old But you're a young gun, a young one, and everyone knows Leaves drop in the mid-fall when it's most beautiful I always hoped that you'd fall back in line I always hoped that you'd fall back in line Tropical climates are not your forte So we'll take you cruising in the Alaskan bay With the blue crabs and the loose lips of all of the birds Yelling goodbye from the thermals above Ice water on the starboard side Ocean sprays hope to remind us that The darkest waters will carry us home The darkest waters will carry us home Dancing at midnight with the moon on our shoulders I hope that you will feel better in the morning Just one more spoonful and it will be morning Just one more spoonful and we'll be much warmer I always hoped that you'd fall back in line I always hoped that you'd fall back in line Lay with the pacifists down on the pavement Shake with the earth from its underground places The dirt will remember the stories its heard I always hoped that you'd fall back in line Just one more spoonful and it will be morning Just one more spoonful and we'll be much warmer Just one more spoonful and it will be morning Just one more spoonful and it'll be murder

I’ve been waiting for That imperceptible voice of yours I’m headed home at the end of May You should come with me if you don’t wanna stay You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave Pilot wings, terminal blues I’m coming back home, not waiting for you Nine-dollar cocktail sustenance Just can’t make change for my regrets You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave Tokyo, Bombay, California You can drive all night and I won’t wait for you Telegraph Avenue is on my mind I’m gonna get a look at that silverware shine You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave Drop you a not when I get to Japan I’d come home but you understand There’s a little bit out there worth seeing But if I came home you’d be the reason You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave You should come away with me There’s a million different reasons why you wouldn’t leave

Let me tell you about A season of unvetted doubts I was sitting like flypaper in the kitchen Waiting on wings and broken dishes Let me tell you about The night I got drunk and fell through a table I was laying the road saying, “Damn it, I'm blind” “You should really take a look at the stars.” You take a look at the stars, Danny. You take a look at the stars. You take a look at the stars, Danny. Let me tell you about The night that we went up to Tahoe Looking to dip into some free hot tubs The doors were locked and they were all dried up So we started driving around Just like that the engine overheated Blew a head gasket at the top of the pass I was tracking coolant all into the grass Jake came and picked us up With tow straps all the way from New York He say, “Back where I'm from this is what friends do.” “You help them, they help you.” You take a look at the stars, Danny. You take a look at the stars. You take a look at the stars, Danny. Got on a bus to SF There was a man on the phone to my left Owed his son like seventy dollars Had warrants out and he just got collared There was an old crazy man With a suitcase all filled up with candy He would work his hands and look out the window Laughing at the cars and all the crazy people Went to the science place With all the other people out trying to win the race Of could read and learn the most About Mr. Charles Darwin's ghost. I guess nobody won It started to rain, the buses wouldn't run You better buy a poncho or you're gonna get wet I tried to hold your hand, you put it in your pocket You take a look at the stars, Danny. You take a look at the stars. You take a look at the stars, Danny. On the way back to Reno Saw a man on the street with yellow eyes He said, “You do your best to take care of the missus” “Alcohol kills, but loneliness dies.” Gonna drive the whole way home Got tired, spent a night in Pocatello Last hotel room in fifty miles Pow wows in town, we fell asleep with the lights off Never heard you been so quiet Talking about middle eastern political climates You play the music and I'll just drive You put on a sad song, you weren't lying You take a look at the stars, Danny. You take a look at the stars. You take a look at the stars, Danny. Saw your folks at the end of the week Your dad said, “Don't buy no shitty-ass Jeep” “And park that junker up in my yard.” You argued with him, you said you knew he was wrong. Left at eight o'clock My mom was pissed because she had to work Bought a bunch of groceries, had my birthday card We drove home in your mom's car You better watch your words You say 'I' like 'we' won't ever work You buy a bunch of fifty dollar prepaid phone cards Speaking Spanish on the phone can't be that hard I walked eleven miles home After looking at a rusted-out, piece-of-shit jeep Mechanic said, “That's a bad investment” Waited by the phone, it didn't make a peep You take a look at the stars, Danny. You take a look at the stars. You take a look at the stars, Danny. I know all about Your dad, his yard, and a rusty jeep But I don't think about that yard I don't think about that yard, again. Yard again Yard again Yard again Yard again Yard again Yard again Yard again

I don't wanna live in a big, black house With an old diamond ring as fat around as a mouse I don't want a manicured lawn With a stone sidewalk that leads up to a pond I heard that there's a cloud that sits on a mountain When the sun shines through, you see that he's mopping The sweat off the brow of that mountain face It's a real damn shame the fucker never gets paid I think I'm gonna go and live with the trees Trade a dining room table for a checkbook and leaves I never had a pet rock, matter of fact I heard they can't talk, but they do cash checks There's a place where the roads disappear And you can see your breath but the tips of your ears Are warm, it's always the middle of may As your feet squish down through the mud to the clay And there's a girl there with a bottle of wine And braids in her hair, she has twinkling eyes And you know that you belong in this place As you exit your rocket into outerspace, well I think we got this all mapped out There's a place worth waiting for, no doubt If you follow me, you just might find out There's a hell of a lot we don't say out loud I think we took off on a race There's balloons on the way that say, “Kid you're doing great” I've done my best to keep the evil at bay And put my watch away There's a bed there on the side of the road Where you can sleep with no socks your toes never get cold You can smoke all want, you can smoke all day And you can drink if you like and you don't have to pray There's a dog there on the side of the road With a real slight limp but he's just getting old He'll follow around at your feet all day You can bark if you like, he's got nothing to say There's a zoo up in the bronx where all the people wear clothes Get packed up into boxes, put in columns and rows There's a table full of monkeys and they all take bets And the fat ones always win 'cause they can sit on your chest There's a bunch of greasy kids sitting up in the treetops Loading their sling shots, shooting at street cops Everybody laughs as they run away And shoot their pistol fingers in that knowing way, well I think we got this all mapped out There's a place worth waiting for, no doubt If you follow me, you just might find out There's a hell of a lot we don't say out loud I think we took off on a race There's balloons on the way that say, “Kid you're doing great” I've done my best to keep the evil at bay And put my watch away There's a box where we gotta put all our clothes Gotta burn all our money so our spirit can grow We crashed all our cars into a big black lake So we can laugh out on the street when there's nothing at stake There's a man out on the street at a quarter past five He's just waking up, you see, the spirits alive I think he's gonna up and rob him a bank Put all that pretty money in a dirty suitcase All across the nation he'll be robbing your railroads Best lock your stagecoach when a foul wind blows He's gonna take everthing you hold dear Your whiskey and children, your liquor and beer He says he wants pictures of the sunrise from the airplane But his momma says, “You got big regrets” “I don't think you could take the pain.” I never said that I was a dreamer I'll burn some coattails 'cause I'm a believer I got big regrets, but I can definitely take the pain I think we got this all mapped out There's a place worth waiting for, no doubt If you follow me, you just might find out There's a hell of a lot we don't say out loud I think we took off on a race There's balloons on the way that say, “Kid you're doing great” I've done my best to keep the evil at bay And put my watch away