Soul Asylum : Let Your Dim Light Shine
Lyrics
1. MISERY
(One, two
One, two, three, four)
They say misery
Loves company
We could start a company
And make misery
Frustrated Incorporated
Well, I know just what you need
I might just have the thing
I know what you pay to see
Put me out of my misery
I'd do it for you, would you do it for me
We will always be busy
Making misery
We could build a factory
And make misery
We'll create the cure
We made the disease
Frustrated Incorporated (×2)
Well, I know just what you need
I might just have the thing
I know what you pay to feel
Put me out of my misery
All you suicide kings and you drama queens
Forever after happily
Making misery
Did you satisfy your greed
Get what you need
Was it only envy
So empty
Frustrated Incorporated (×2)
Frustrated Incorporated
(Put me out of my misery)
Frustrated Incorporated
(I'd do it for you, would you do it for me)
Frustrated Incorporated
(Forever after happily)
Frustrated Incorporated
(Making misery)
Frustrated Incorporated
(Making misery)
2. SHUT DOWN
I've been vindicated
I've been loved and hated
I've been pulled aside and told that life was overrated
No, I don't believe it
I just can't conceive it
I can write all night but in the morning I can't read it
Oh no, don't know what's the matter
Stuck up on a ladder, scared of coming down
If I don't get what I want
And there ain't enough to go around
I become oblivious to the obvious
Just ridiculous
As I flip the pages
You're a time that's ageless
In between us lies the calm before a storm that rages
Thought we were related
Couldn't be separated
Tried to get ahead but only got decapitated
If I don't get what you want (Don't know what's the matter, trying to hang around)
And you don't get what I need (Looking for a ladder, scared of coming down)
We will become oblivious to the obvious
Just dysfunctional
Shut down, shut down, shut down
When I can't get keep from getting down (Looking for a ladder, scared of coming down)
And I grow tired of hanging 'round (Don't know what's the matter, trying to hang around)
I become invisible, unlivable
Just dysfunctional
Shut down, shut down, shut down
3. TO MY OWN DEVICES
Shouldn't've got so loaded
Damn near exploded
Oh, lord, you know
I should've known it
Whatever the price is
Whatever the crisis
Oh, please don't leave me
To my own devices
Please don't leave me
To my own devices
Oh, please don't leave me
To my own devices
She was a pretty good waitress
Said she waited on Elvis
I said she talks too much
Please don't leave me
To my own devices
Oh, please don't leave me
To my own devices
Save it up for a rainy day
It just rained yesterday
Whatever the price is
Whatever the crisis
Oh, please don't leave me
To my own devices
Please don't leave me
To my own devices
Oh, please don't leave me
To my own devices
4. HOPES UP
There's just no substitute for fun
I've tried every single one
And no one can take your place
Everybody gets replaced
My time has neither come nor gone
It just slips out when I yawn
Without hope I can't go wrong
Can't go wrong
Don't get my hopes up
Dont' get my hopes up
Don't get my hopes up now
Don't get my hopes up
Dont' get my hopes up
Don't get my hopes up now
It's so hard to settle down
Don't recognize my hometown
Home is where I hang my head
Lost in all these things I said
Been holding my breath for so long
I don't need air anymore
If you never let me breathe
I'll never breathe
I'll never breathe
Don't get my hopes up
Dont' get my hopes up
Don't get my hopes up now
Don't get my hopes up
Dont' get my hopes up
Don't get my hopes up now
Don't know what I was hoping for
I feel like feeling better than I ever felt before
My time has neither come nor gone
It just slips out when I yawn
Holding my breath for so long
For so long
Don't want to be bored no more
I know there's so much more
Don't know what I was hoping for
I feel like feeling better than I ever felt before
Don't get my hopes up
Dont' get my hopes up
Don't get my hopes up now
Don't get my hopes up
Dont' get my hopes up
Don't get my hopes up now
5. PROMISES BROKEN
Streets are filled with broken glass
You get buried by the past
And give me just a little taste
Lay this mask to waste
Take me home
My mind is racing, take me home
My body's aching, so alone
I'll make you want to stay with me
Befriended by the enemy
One more time
And every little thing about this tells me
Nothing out there is ever gonna help me
All these words that I hear spoken
Just promises broken now
Looking outside from my window sill
Throw another coin in the wishing well
You'll never find
What you're looking for
Fifteen miles
Your dim light shines from so far away
Your sad smile is all I see
When I say
Every little thing about this tells me
Nothing out there is ever gonna help me
All these words that I have spoken
Just promises broken now
From the hotel satellite
Don't look like you're living right
Here's a deal you can't refuse
You ain't got as much to lose
Can you tell your troubles to
Someone who won't laugh at you?
It's alright
As I watch you walk away
Hoping part of you will stay
It's alright
And every little thing about this tells me
Nothing out there is ever gonna help me
All these words that I hear spoken
Just promises broken now
6. BITTERSWEETHEART
Why you always want to get the best of me?
I'm like a seeing eye dog and I can't even see
They're naked and they're following my master who is blind
And my mind's gone to pieces, I could use some peace of mind
So I picked up the pieces and I made a new start
Stole an old stiletto, started stabbing in the dark
I can't live without it, I would surely fall apart
But it's hard to make arrangements 'round a bittersweetheart
Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart
Better get yourself a little street smart
Bittersweetheart, sad but true
It's a bittersweetheart that's a hard heart to cure
It's just my bittersweetheart
Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart
It's like a suicide mission when you can't see no end
Tired of compliment-fishing and impressing your friends
I never kissed no one just to kiss and tell
It's a little bit of heaven and a whole lot of hell
In the eye of the beholder is a beautiful start
But you always seem to end up with a bittersweetheart
There's a darkness looming but the sun is shining bright
I can live to see the morning if I stay up all night
Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart
Without a shortcut, without a head-start
Bittersweetheart, sad but true
It's a bittersweetheart that's a hard heart to cure
My bittersweetheart
It's the hardest part, bittersweetheart
Are you in there, are you beating?
Beating me up until I'm bleeding
How much blood can you spare?
Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart
Think just a drink might get you to the good part
Lying in bed just wondering what to do
It's a bittersweetheart that's a hard heart to cure
In time inside you find
You always wind up with a bittersweetheart
Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart
In time inside you find
You always wind up with a bittersweetheart
7. STRING OF PEARLS
She swings a string of pearls on the corner
The street lights reflect the light in the water
The string it snaps and the pearls go sailing
And they splash and bounce and roll cross the wet street
As she bends to chase the pearls a car swings round the corner
She darts from the eyes of the panic-struck driver
Who's racing to the delivery room
'Cause in the back seat his wife is busting out of her womb
And the sack breaks and out come the siamese twins
Who grow up to become the first president
With two heads
Are better than one
He puts his heads in his hands, says I got to put my heads together
I can become the best president ever
And not just president
Fend for yourself
Signs his name, takes the blame for all of the names with no shame
In their beliefs, they adjourn and they leave
And in walks a man with a broom and a knife and blood on his hands
And he sweeps everything under the rug
And goes home to his kids and gives them a hug
But his wife was not there, she had just left a letter
That said youd be much better off without me
Now his wife took the train to her ex-lover's funeral
Who died in the bathroom, hit his head on a urinal
When they got together, the knowledge was carnal
And the widow was at the funeral, and they had quite a catfight
And they fell into the hole where the casket was resting
And the preacher just left in the middle of the service
'Cause death was one thing, but women made him nervous
And he ran to his car and he drove round the corner
Then something in the street caught the light in his eye
He pulled over, reached down, and picked up a pearl from the gutter
And he didn't know what to think
He brought it home and washed it in the sink
And he gave the pearl to Sister Mary Theresa
Who could not accept it, so she gave it to Lisa
A young prostitute who was missing a pearl
On the necklace that broke late last night
8. CRAWL
You got me going
So get me out of here
I should be blowing
In someone else's ear
I'm looking forward to looking back
On days like today
Though I wish you would go away
Stay, won't you stay?
I'm gonna crawl, cra-ha-hawl, cra-ha-hawl
I never felt better just crawling home
I'm gonna crawl home, crawl alone
Good to see you, see you later, maybe one more beer
I'm gonna crawl home, crawl home from here
Some respond to pleasure
Some respond to pain
I'm hanging out to dry
In the pouring rain
Victims of temptation
Never can complain
I could use the sensation
You see I can't feel pain
I'm gonna crawl, cra-ha-hawl, cra-ha-hawl
I never ever said I'd never make it home
It's just a stone's throw, a crawl home
Good to see you, see you later, maybe one more beer
I'm just a crawl home, a crawl home from here
I could use someone
To drag me out of here
I am that someone
It's all become quite clear
Get me out of here
I never felt better just crawling home
I'm gonna crawl home, crawl home alone
Good to see you, see you later, and I'm outta here
I'm just a crawl home, a crawl from here
9. CAGED RAT
(Don't know what I'm doing)
Why don't you go home and crawl into your hole
Why don't you go home and spend some time alone
In the corner I looked across the room
To the other corner, I knew I'd be there soon
Caged rat (x12)
In the corner (×3) I looked across the room
I knew I'd be there soon, in the (other) corner
Caged rat (x12)
(Awoooooooooo) (x4)
Why don't you go home and crawl into your hole
Why don't you go home and spend some time alone
From the corner I looked across the room
To the other corner, I knew I'd be there soon
Caged rat (x12)
(Awoooooooooo) (x8)
10. EYES OF A CHILD
She had thirteen kids, each one had thirteen problems
Three uppers, ten downers just to put up with this
And she don't know which children belong to which father
But she loves them all anyway and they each get a kiss
And the toilet ain't flushing and the toaster is smoking
The vacuum don't suck but it needs a new belt
But she saw the world through the eyes of a child
And remembers how good it was, and how good it felt
He picked up the paper from the bitter cold morning
He had just gone to sleep, he had to get up for work
By morning he's a watchman, by night he's a waiter
In the late afternoon he works as a clerk
And he can't pay the doctor bills, he just can't afford the pills
The car's repossessed and the child support's due
But he saw the world through the eyes of a child
Big problems seem smaller and old things seem new
She was just six when she turned her first trick
Now she's thirteen and it don't make her sick
And she does lots of crystal and she owns her own pistol
Got a goldfish named Silver and a pimp who's named Rick
And some are like customers and some are like patients
She'd have gone back to school if she'd just had the patience
But she saw the world through the eyes of a child
None of the nightmares, and nothing to deny
She saw the world through the eyes of a child
Yes, she's seen it all and she knows they're all lies
11. JUST LIKE ANYONE
She walks into the outhouse
The cold night breathes into her face
The flies are standing still now
The moon it spills through the place
And she starts wondering it's like to be liked by everyone
And like everyone be just like anyone
And just wants to be so just like anyone
Just like anyone
She reaches through the darkness
Her fingers touch the porcelain seat
She spins and pulls her pants down
The cold air holds her like a theif
She starts wondering what they mean, do they just be mean to be mean
And thinking about the scene, do they just want to be seen
And trying not to seem so just like anyone
Just like anyone
The door comes screeching open
She walks into the evening air
She disappears in the darkness
Alls left the faint smell of her hair
She's done wondering what it's like to be liked by everyone
And like everyone be just like anyone
And just wants to be so just like anyone
And wondering what they mean, do they just mean to be mean
And thinking about the scene, do they just want to be seen
And trying not to seem so just like anyone (just like anyone)
Just like anyone (×9)
12. TELL ME WHEN
She's all by herself at the end of the day
She'd talk to herself but wouldn't know what to say
Wrings her hands and steps out of the bath
The mirror laughs and splits her in half
She looks around the room
At her carpeted tomb
Threw the phone on the floor
Left the keys in the door
Tell me when (×3)
When does life begin?
She got in the car and looked up at the stars
And made a wish
She held her breath and considered death
And in the rearview mirror
She looked back on her reflection
She was a long way from where she wanted to be
And a long way from perfection
Tell me when (×5)
When does life begin?
She chickened out and she called Triple-A, and told them the way
After she paid they fixed the car
She got on her way and she drove past the bar
Where no one bought her a drink at
She always thought it was 'cause she was too fat
And now she knows those places blow
Or maybe it was her nose
Tell me when (×5)
When does life begin?
13. NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT
Dear mother, what can I say?
It's been so long since I went away
And, yes, I miss the comforts of home
But I guess I'm better off on my own
No one told me people could be so cruel
Nobody told me about any of this in school
Still nobody understands
The things that I don't understand
I've nothing to write home about
Nothing I have figured out
Still I have the same old doubts
Nothing to write home about
Dear John, that ain't my name
I'm just hanging 'round to take the blame
I'm filled with guilt, I'm filled with shame
Too much or not enough, it's all the same
And no one wants to talk about the loss
No one wants to talk about the cost
And everyone just looks away
Just like any other day
I've nothing to write home about
Nothing I have figured out
Still I have the same old doubts
Nothing to write home about
Who can teach me how to change my ways?
Who will come and save the day?
Who will tell me what to say
When there's nothing left to say?
Nobody told me about any of this in school
No one told me I'd be taken for a fool
And everyone just looks away
And tries to make it through the day
I've nothing to write home about
Nothing I have figured out
Still I have the same old doubts
Nothing to write home about
14. I DID MY BEST
Holed up in the dressing room
Without a dress
Kneeling at the confessional
With nothing to confess
And I knew all about my surprise party
I was spoiled and depressed
And I acted surprised and I told lots of lies
Yes, I did my best
Stop the truck at the truck stop
I need something to help me crash
Food stamps, checks, and credit cards
But they only accepted cash
There was sweat beading on my brow
My heart was beating out of my chest
So I stole everything they couldn't give away
Yes, I did my best
And I did the best that I could do
With all the mess that I've been through
What did you expect me to do
I did my best for you
I was waiting for a chain reaction
With the missing link
Waiting for that trickle-down
Forever circling the sink
I was tired of being tired
I could not get no rest
So I kept sleepwalking and talking in my sleep
Yes, I did my best
And I did the best that I could do
With all the mess that I've been through
What did you expect me to do
I did my best for you
I did my best for you
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