We never stop to wonder
Till a person’s gone
We never yearn
To know him
Till he’s travelled on
When someone is around us
We never stop to ask
Hey, what’s behind your mirror
Hey, who’s beneath your mask
We never stop to wonder
Till a person’s gone
We never yearn
To know him
Till he’s packed
And travelled on
Sweet Marilyn Monroe
On the silver screen
Platinum reflection
In a movie magazine
Well, did you ever
Have a headache
Did your mama own a gramaphone
Did you like to be an actress
Were you scared
To be alone
We never stop to wonder
Till a person’s gone
We never yearn
To know him
Till he’s travelled on
When someone is around us
We don’t know what we’re seeing
We take a polaroid picture
To find the human being
We never stop to wonder
Till a person’s gone
We never yearn
To know him
Till he’s packed
And travelled on
Sweet beautiful Jesus
On a painted cross
Polystyrene body
With a superficial gloss
Hey, were you
Jealous of your father
Were you short
When you were fully grown
Did you like to walk on water
Were you scared
To be alone
I think perhaps tomorrow
I’ll try to make a friend
To really get
To know him
Instead of pretend
I’ll ask him if his feet hurt
Has he burdens to be shared
And if he doesn’t walk away
I’ll ask him
If he’s scared
And if he doesn’t walk away
If his eyes don’t
Turn to stone
I’ll ask him
If he’s scared
To be alone
My daddy says
I ain’t his child
Ain’t that something
Ain’t that wild
Daddy says
I ain’t his child
Ain’t that something
Wild
My hair is curly
My freckles are tan
Could my daddy be
The garbage man
My legs are stumpy
My fingers are short
Like my Uncle Will
Who is the
Bowling sport
My eyes are slanty
Like Mister Woo
Hey
Mister laundryman
Is it you
I’m ugly as Steve
With the big moustache
But mama says Poles
Are a piece of trash
Hey
Anybody I might
Have missed
Would you care to state
That I exist
I ain’t quite sure
What it is
I did
To make him swear
That I ain’t
His kid
But he told mama
And she told me
Back when I was
Just about three
She felt my face
And she
Kind of smiled
And she said
He say
You ain’t my child
My daddy says
I ain’t his child
Ain’t that something
Ain’t that wild
Daddy says
I ain’t his child
Ain’t that
Something
Wild
Ain’t that
Something
Wild
When she made her first communion
Esther made the perfect union
In her dress of white and wispy veil
Esther’s parents said to please us
You got to go an marry Jesus
And her father took her to the alter rail
When she made her first communion
Esther made the perfect union
And that night she though of him in bed
She decided if he sees us
We ought to get a look at Jesus
And she began to see the one she wed
I began to see little Jesus
He was sitting on my bed
That’s what Esther told her mother
And to which her mother said
You’re an evil child to tease us
Glory be I hope to Jesus
That your father never hears this
He would wash your mouth with soap
When she made her first communion
Esther made the perfect union
But she never saw his little face again
Yeh her mother said don’t tease us
So instead of seeing Jesus
She began to see a lot of other men
What she saw was quite a collection
Older men and young ones too
Cousins friends and even a brother
One at a time and quite a few
She began to see a gay uncle
Who resembled Billy Graham
She began to see perfect strangers
She didn’t even know by name
When she made her first communion
Esther made the perfect union
But she never saw his face again
Yeh her mother said don’t tease us
So instead of seeing Jesus
She began to see a lot of other men
But she never told her mother again
No she never told her mother again
No
He lives alone
In his great big house
With collages on the walls
And cathedral halls
And he eats at a table
With room for eight
And each course is served
On a separate place
And he sits by his pool
And he waters his plants
And he does not dance
He does not dance
He lives alone
In his great big house
With his jacobean chairs
And his marble stairs
And he sleeps in a room
With a dozen locks
And his money is kept
In a cardboard box
Underneath his bed
(With his mother’s ring)
And he will not sing
He will not sing
Nothing burns
In the fire place
Leather bound
Are the books
A silent film star
Lived there once
And a lady comes in
And cooks
And looks after him
(Because he pays her well)
He lives alone
In his great big house
And when his pulse
Begins to pound
At an
Alien sound
Then he calls in a voice
That can’t be heard
To a room down the hall
Where no woman stirred
And he thinks of her
And he wishes her there
And he cannot share
he cannot share
He lives alone
In his great big house
With collages on the walls
And cathedral halls
And he thinks of her
And he wishes her there
And he cannot share
he cannot share
he cannot share
Oh no he cannot share
Ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba...
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
That is where
My being wants to bed
With the
Mattress ticking showing
And the tattered pillow slip
And the pine
Unpainted rafters overhead
With the
Door closed on my mama
And my sibling competition
And my Shirley Temple doll
That truly cries
And my essay on religion
With the pasted paper stare
Proving tangibly
I’d won the second prize
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
That is where
My dark attraction lies
With his
Madness on the nightstand
Placed beside
His loaded gun
In the terrifying nearness
Of his eyes
With no
Window spying neighbours
And no
Husbands in the future
To intrude
Upon our attic
Past the stair
Where we’ll live on
Peanut butter
Spread across assorted crackers
And he’ll play
His clarinet
When I despair
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
Passed the stair
Where we’ll live on
Peanut butter
Spread across assorted crackers
And he’ll play
His clarinet
When I despair
Ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba...
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
Passed the stair
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
With my
Daddy in the attic
Passed the stair
In the veterans big parade
Marched the businessmen’s brigade
While behind the high school band
The ladies fife and drum corps played
In the veterans big parade
The flag flew high and free
Down they marched to Fourth and Main
Our soldiers died but not in vain
God was with us
That’s for sure
He proved it cause
It didn’t rain
Balloons batons you wanted to cry
The best day in July
At the veterans cemetery
Then the services were said
There the Mayor’s first assistant
Wiped his glasses
Put them on
And red
We’re gathered here
Dear friends today
To show our brave boys
Where they lay
We are with them all the way
And I think it’s safe to say
They are not
Alone
They are not
Alone
All the widows proudly smiled
(Except for one with an infant child)
Picnic time was then announced
And all the little kids went wild
Picnic blankets then were spread
And the beer flowed fast and free
There were clams and corn on the cob
To feed the celebrating mob
(Once in a while
I don’t know why
The infant child
Began to sob)
Other than that is was New Year’s Eve
Till it was time to leave
Then a fine Hawaiian band
Played and sang
Aloha oh
And their voices drifted low
Between the crosses
Painted white
Row on row on row
Aloha oh
And so goodbye
Till next year boys
Next July
We are with you
All the way
And I think
It’s safe to say
You are not
Alone
You are not
Alone
You are not
Alone
Michael Michael
Superman
Muscle-bound
And supertan
Leather jacket
Denim pants
Never did learn
How to dance
How to dance
Digs karate
Raps on Zen
Michael makes it
Best with men
Digs karate
Raps on Zen
Michael makes it
Best with men
Michael Michael Michael
Superman
Muscle-bound
And supertan
When he walks
And talks
And moves
Michael proves
And proves
And proves
Michael is a
Hyper superman
Pushes acid
Peddles hash
That’s how Michael
Gets his stash
Rides his cycle
Likes a king
Knows his number
Does his thing
Does his thing
And if he wants to
He can con
Any bird
He’s turning on
If he wants to
He can con
Any bird
He’s turning on
Michael Michael Michael
Superman
Muscle-bound
And supertan
When he walks
And talks
And moves
Michael proves
And proves
And proves
Michael is a
Hyper superman
But
Late at night
He sometimes seems
To hear
His mother’s voice
In dreams
Calling to him
Clear and plain
But she calls him
Mary Jane
Mary Jane
And Michael answers
Plain and clear
I am coming
Mother dear
Michael answers
Plain and clear
I am coming
Mother dear
Michael Michael Michael
Superman
Muscle-bound
And supertan
When he walks
And talks
And moves
Michael proves
And proves
And proves
Michael is a
Hyper superman
A superman
La la la la la la la la la la la...
Beware
Of young girls
Who come to the door
Wistful and pale
Of twenty and four
Delivering daisies
With delicate hands
Beware
Of young girls
Too often they crave
To cry
At a wedding
And dance
On a grave
She was my friend
My friend
My friend
She was invited to my house
Oh yes
She was
And though she knew
My love was true
And
No ordinary thing
She admired
My wedding ring
She admired
My wedding ring
She was my friend
My friend
My friend
She sent us little silver gifts
Oh yes
She did
Oh what a rare
And happy pair
She
Inevitably said
As she glanced
At my unmade bed
She admired
My unmade bed
My bed
Beware
Of young girls
Who come to the door
Wistful and pale
Of twenty and four
Delivering daisies
With delicate hands
Beware
Of young girls
To often they crave
To cry
At a wedding
And dance
On a grave
She was my friend
My friend
My friend
I thought her motives were sincere
Oh yes
I did
Ah but this lass
It came to pass
Had
A dark and different plan
She admired
My own sweet man
She admired
My own sweet man
We were friends
Oh yes
We were
And she just took him from my life
Oh yes
She did
So young and vain
She brought me pain
But
I’m wise enough to say
She will leave him
One thoughtless day
She’ll just leave him
And go away
Oh yes
Beware
Of young girls
Who come to the door
Wistful and pale
Of twenty and four
Delivering daisies
With delicate hands
Beware
Of young girls
To often they crave
To cry
At a wedding
And dance
On a grave
Beware of young girls
Beware of young girls
Beware
I was riding in my car
Screaming at the night
Screaming at the dark
Screaming at fright
I wasn't doing nothing
Just drive about
Screaming at the dark
Letting it out
That's all I was doing
Just letting it out
Well along comes a motorcycle
Very much to my surprise
I said officer was I speeding
I couldn't see his eyes
He said no you weren't speeding
And he felt where his gun was hung
He said lady you were screaming
At the top of your lung
And you were
Doing it alone
You were doing it alone
You were screaming in your car
In a twenty-mile zone
You were doing it alone
You were doing it alone
You were screaming
I said I'll roll up all my windows
Don't want to disturb the peace
I'm just a creature
Who is looking
For a little release
I said
And what's so wrong with screaming
Don't you do it at your games
When the quarterback
Breaks an elbow
When the boxer beats and maims
But you were
Doing it alone
You were doing it alone
You were screaming in your car
In a twenty-mile zone
You were doing it alone
You were doing it alone
You were screaming
I said animals roar
When they feel like
Why can't we do that too
Instead of screaming
Banzai baby
In the war in the human zoo
He said I got to take you in now
Follow me right behind
And let's have no more screaming
Like you're out of your mind
So he climbed aboard his cycle
And his red-eyed headlight beamed
And his motor started spinning
And his siren screamed
He was doing it alone
He was doing it alone
He was screaming on his bike
In a twenty-mile zone
He was doing it alone
He was doing it alone
He was screaming
I was doing it alone
I was doing it alone
I was screaming in my car
In a twenty-mile zone
I was doing it alone
I was doing it alone
I was screaming
We were doing it together
We were doing it together
We were screaming at the dark
In a twenty-mile zone
We were doing it together
We were doing it together
We were screaming
We were doing it together
We were doing it
Together
Alone
In a twenty-mile zone
When I am going
‘Round the bend
I got a wild
Imaginary friend
When I am driven
Up the wall
My old friend
He comes to call
Mister Whisper’s
Here again
Mister Whisper’s
Here again
He’s back
In his apartment
In my head
He’s back
Mister Whisper’s
Here again
Mister Whisper’s
Here again
He’s back
In his apartment
Like I said
Just when life
Can’t get much worse
He tells me
Reassuring things
Says I’m the
Center of the universe
Says I’m as good as
Presidents and kings
Mister Whisper’s
Her again
Mister Whisper’s
Here again
I think
I can control him
But instead
Mister Whisper
Takes control
Guides my heart
And rides my soul
The minute that
He steps
Inside my head
Just when I am
Sure he’ll stay
They shoot me
With a bolt or two
They try to drive
My mister friend
Away
And damn it all
They nearly always do
And damn it all
They nearly always do
Mister Whisper
Don’t go ’way
Mister Whisper
Won’t you stay
It gets so lonely
Wish
That I were dead
Listen Whisper
Please don’t go
Listen, whisper
Don’t you know
I’d rather
Madness
Than this sadness
In my head
The thought
He’ll leave
Just bitterly burns
And my despondence
Grows
As soon as lonely
Lonely sanity
Returns
And old mister
Old Mister Whisper
Goes
And old mister
Old Mister Whisper
Goes
The thought
He’ll leave
Just bitterly burns
And my despondence
Grows
I lost my blue buttons
He sent me
Blue Buttons
On my birthday
But my blue buttons
Came loose
Loose
Loose
Lucy Brown
Lucy in the sky
Luce
Lucent
Lucid
Lucidity
Lucifer
Light
Hang luce
Stay loose
I
How did I get this way
I was
What was I going to say
I was on
How did I get in here
I was on my
Wasn’t I here last year
I was on my way
Why have they locked me in
I was on my way to
Who is my next of kin
Christ
Won’t I ever win
I paid
My airplane fare
I was
On my way to where…