Music lyrics
INDEX

REM: New Adventures In Hi-Fi


01. How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
02. The Wake-Up Bomb
03. New Test Leper
04. Undertow
05. E-Bow The Letter
06. Leave
07. Departure
08. Bittersweet Me
09. Be Mine
10. Binky The Doormat
11. Zither
12. So Fast, So Numb
13. Low Desert
14. Electrolite

1 How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us

Blood from a stone
Water from wine.
Born under earplay design.
A stroke of bad luck,
Wrong place, wrong time.
Let's fly up out of the lime.

The story is so sad, one told many times.
The story of my life in trying times.
Just add water, stir in lime.
How the west was won and where it got us.

Canary got trapped, the uranium mine.
A stroke of bad luck, now the bird has died.
A marker to mark where my tears run dry.
I cross it, bless it, alkali.

The story is so sad, one told many times.
The story of my life in trying times.
Just add water, stir in lime.
How the west was won and where it got us.

I didn't wear glasses cause I thought it might rain.
Now I can't see anything.
I made a mistake, chalked it up to design.
I cracked through time, space, Godless and dry.
I point my nose to the northern star,
Watch the decline from a hazy distance.

The story is so sad, one told many times.
The story of my life in trying times.
Just add water, stir in lime.
How the west was won and where it got us.

2 The Wake-Up Bomb

I look good in a glass pack
I look good and mean
I look good in metallic sick wraparounds blackout tease
I scud along the horizon chew some sweet tree
I get high in my low-ass boot cut cheap
I like being seen
I look good with my drink eat no sleep
Take a leap, longevity
I look good in my attitude, latitude, 1973
I'm in deep

My head's on fire and high esteem
Carry my dead, bored, been there, done that, anything
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
My head's on fire and high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Carry my dead, bored, been there, done that, anything

I had to knock a few buildings over
I make an ugly mess
I had to blow a gasket
Drop transmission
I had to decompress
I had to write the great American novel
I had a neutron bomb
I had to teach the world to sing by the age of 21
I wake up (I wake up)
I wake up (I wake up)
I threw up when I saw what I'd done

Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
My head's on fire and high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything

I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up
I won the race, I broke the cup, I drank it all, I spit it up
I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up
I won the race, I broke the cup, I drank it all, I spit it up

Yeah, atomic, Supersonic
What a joke, I'm dumb
See ya, don't wanna be you
Lunch meat, Pond scum

My head's on fire in high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything

3 New Test Leper

I can't say that I love Jesus
that would be a hollow claim.
He did make some observations
and I'm quoting them today.
"Judge not lest ye be judged."
what a beautiful refrain.
The studio audience disagrees.
Have his lambs all gone astray?

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

"You are lost and disillusioned!"
what an awful thing to say.
I know this show doesn't matter.
It means nothing to me.
I thought I might help them understand
but what an ugly thing to see.
"I am not an animal"
subtitled under the screen.

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

When I tried to tell my story
They cut me off to take a break.
I sat silent, 5 commercials
I had nothing left to say
The talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade.

What a sad parade

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

4 Undertow

I know what I wanted
I know what I wanted
I hnow how I wanted this to be

You go down to the water
Drink down of the water
Walk up off the water, leave it be

This is not my dream, sister
It is cold in heaven
and I'm not sprouting wings.

I'm drowning
Me
I'm drowning
Me, yeah

Brother can you see those birds?
They don't look to heaven
They don't need religion, they can see

They go down to the water
Drink down on the water
Fly up off the water, leave it be

This is not my time, sister
It is cold in heaven
And no one's coming after me

I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me
Breathing ourselves
I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me

You know I am tired
Cold and bony tired
Nothing's gonna save me, I can see

I can't say I'm fearful
I can't say I'm not afraid
But I am not resisting, I can see

I don't need a heaven
I don't need religion
I am in the place where I should be

I am breathing water
I am breathing water
You know a body's got to breathe

I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me
Breathing ourselves
I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me
I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me
Breathing ourselves
I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me

5 E-Bow The Letter

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise
The bus ride, I went to write this, 4:00 a.m.
This letter

Fields of poppies, little pearls
All the boys and all the girls sweet-toothed
Each and every one a little scary
I said your name

I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas
Whoever she is

This fame thing, I don't get it
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves
I can take you far
This star thing, I don't get it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink
Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Phone, eat it, drink
Just another chink
Cuts and dents, they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link

I don't want to disappoint you
I'm not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet
But is that sickest move?
I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow
And who'd have thought tomorrow could be so strange?
My loss, and here we go again

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
It pulls us near
I'll take you over

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise

I can't look it in the eyes
Seconal, spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavoured neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, the victory and sorrow
The smell of fear, I got it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
It pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
It pulls us near
I'll take you over

Pulls us near, tastes like fear
Pulls us near
Tastes like fear..

Nearer, nearer
over, over, over, over
Yeah, look over
I'll take you there, oh, yeah
I'll take you there
Oh, over
I'll take you there
Over, let me
I'll take you there..
There, there, baby, yeah

6 Leave

Nothing could be bring me closer.
Nothing could be bring me near.
Where is the road I follow?
Believing, leave.

It's under, under, under my feet.
The scene spread out there before me.
Better I go where the land touches sea.
There is my trust in what I believe.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
To leave it, believe it,
Leave it all behind.

Shifting the dream
Nothing could bring me further from my old friend Time
Shifting the dream
Charging the scene
I know where I marked the signs
Suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it

I know it well, ugly and sweet
A temper man who said believe in his dream.

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
I sent it on an airline plane
I sent it off in an airplane
That never left the ground.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
To leave it, believe it.
Leave it all behind.

Lift me, lift me,
I'll dream my dream.
I lost myself, I lost them.
Heartache calling me.
I lost myself in sorrow
I lost myself in pain.
I lost myself in gravity,
Memory, leave, leave, leave.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
To leave it, believe it,
Leave it all behind.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
To leave it, believe it,
Leave it all behind.

Midnight hands, my eyes are still
I walk into the scene
Shoot myself in a different place
Leavin'

Longed for this to take me,
I longed for my release
Waited for the coming
Leavin', leave.

Leave, leave.
Leavin', leavin'

7 Departure

Just arrived Singapore, San Sebastian, Spain, 26-hour trip.
Salt Lake City, come in spring.
Over the salt flats a hailstorm brought you back to me.
Salt Lake City, come in spring.
Over the salt flats a hailstorm brought you back to me.

Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes, back, back.

Departure, godspeed, bless his heart, good Lord.
What a f*** up, what a fighter.
A free-fall, motorcycle, hang-glider,
Hung on the line like a poison spider.
Win a eulogy from William Greider,
Car crash, ptomaine, disposable lighter,
A bus plunge, avalanche, a vinegar cider.
Free-fall, motorcycle, hang-glider.

Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes, back, back.

Go, go, go, go, yeah.
Go, go, go, go, yeah.
Go, go, go, yeah.

Well, everybody is young forever.
There's so much to tell you, so little time.
I've come a long way since the whatever,
S***, I still see a word, think of you.
There is so much that I can't do, yeah.
You will be young forever.
There's so much that I can't do.
There is so much that I can't do.

Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes, back, back.

8 Bittersweet Me

I move across, innocence lost
All flashing pulsar
I move across the earth in my new pattern shirt
I pass satellites

"You're so bitter," your complaint
I can't give you anything.
I don't know who you're livin' for
I don't who you are anymore.

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this.
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

I move across, candy floss
I move like a tank
I move across the room
With a heart full of glue
I'm stronger than you think.

Oh my peer, your veneer
Is wearing thin and cracking.
The surface and forms underneath,
Underneath is lacking.

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this.
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it.
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for.
I don't know what I want anymore.

You move across, innocence lost,
All static and desire,
You're blue in the face from navel gaze,
You set yourself on fire.

You strip down and lay yourself out,
I know you can't fake it,
But are you tired and naked?
Are you tired and naked?

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this.
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for.
I don't know what I want anymore.

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for.
I don't know what I want anymore.

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for.
I don't know what I want anymore.

9 Be Mine

I never thought of this as funny
It speaks another world to me
I wanna be your Easter bunny
I wanna be your Christmas tree.

I'll strip the world that you must live in
of all its godforsaken greed.
I'll ply the tar of your feathers.
I'll pluck the thorns out of your feet.
You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

And if I choose your sanctuary.
I'll want to wash you with my hair.
I'll want to drink of sacred fountains
and find elixirs hidden there.

I'll reap the lotus and the olive (?).
I'll want to hear the caged-bird sing.
I'll want the secrets of the temple.
I'll want the finger with the ring.
You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

And if you made me your religion.
I'll give all the room you need.
I'll be the drawing of your breath.
I'll be carpet you should weave.
I'll be the sky above the Ganges
I'll be the vast and stormy sea.
I'll be the lights that guide you inland.
I'll be the visions you will see.
Visions you will see.
You will see.
You will see.
You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

10 Binky The Doormat

This is horror movie stuff.
the muffin is peach, you're 'makin' love'.
you mean this opera involves handcuffs?
I lay defeated.
yeah, sour milk mouth, horseradish sweet.
she's a girl and she's loving me.
but distance is my tendency.
I am defeated.

have you lost your place?
I wore my doormat face.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.

If I'm your oyster, where's the war?
you leave me gasping, tattered and torn.
I know you can't find a fork.
I am just a little acorn.
well, acorns grow to mighty trees.
you've got sauce, but you don't have knees.
now look who's asking pretty please.
I lay defeated.

have you lost your place?
i wore my doormat face.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.

Call your bathroom friends around.
I will fake a little frown.
I will be your little clown,
easily defeated.
yeah, shut the door and open wide.
seconal and astroglide.
f*** with me and traumatize.
don't you see i love your hide?
all the beauty that's trapped inside.
can't you see i love your hide?
can't you see i love your hide?
can't you see it?

have you lost your place?
I wore my doormat face.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.
Go away, go away, go away,
Go away, go away, go away,

12 So Fast, So Numb

Movin' through rough waters motel boy,
and swimming in your sleep.
How could I be so blind, mis-sighted,
not to see there's something wounded deep.

Anyone could scratch your surface now,
it's all amphetamine
you're blasting yourself into the present
learn some vast indignity, stay that,

You say that you hate it
you want to re-create it
I've been around, I've been your lover.
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill,
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
that you can't even feel.

You're drinking the wrong dream now baby,
You do-si-do, saddo
You're you in cartilage, shark-eyed, shock horror, all present tense,
And boy your blood is running cold.
Listen, this is now, this is here, this is me,
This is what I wanted you to see.
That was then, was that, that is gone, this is past,
You cast yourself cast, passed by, gone down fast.

You s-s-say...
You say that you hate it.
You want to recreate it.
I've played this round, I've played your lover.
I've played it out to the hilt.
You're comin' on with something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

You love it. You hate it.
You want to re-create it.
Now, this is here, this is me.
This is what I wanted you to see.
That was then, was that, that is gone.
That is what I wanted you to feel.

You love it. You hate it.
You spit it out, the bitter pill.
I've been around, I've been your lover
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill.
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

I've played this round, I've played your lover.
I've played it out to the hilt.
You're comin' on with something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

You played around, you played me lover,
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill,
You're moving so hard, so fast, so numb
that you can't even feel.

13 Low Desert

It happened fast, it's over quick.
A little dust and the engine kicks.
Did your hands drift down off the wheel?
Roll out, hit your windshield

An eyelash or a little bit of sleep? Time stands still.
Just call it now and you're on your way
Hey, hey, hey, hey

All the ashtrays, cities and the freeway drives
Broken casino and waterslides
Eighteen-wheeler, payback dice.
Gravity pulls on the power line.

Jet stream cuts the desert sky.
This is a land could eat a man alive.
Say you'd leave it all behind.
Hey, hey, hey, heyyyy...

There's a radio tower that's egging me on
Back to the place where you never belong.
Where people thrive on their own contempt.
Whatever meaning is long gone, spent.
If you had to guess or make a bet,
Would you place yourself inside of it?
The mountains yawn, the clouds let out a sigh.
"Tricked again." Let go, okay.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Heyyyy... hey, hey,
Heyyyyyyy...

14 Electrolite

Your eyes are burning holes through me.
I'm gasoline.
I'm burnin' clean.

Twentieth century go and sleep.
You're plasticine.
That is obscene, that is obscene.

You are a star tonight.
You shine electric outta sight.
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Electrolite. You're outta sight.

If I ever want to fly.
Mulholland Drive.
I am alive.

Hollywood is under me.
I'm Martin Sheen
I'm Steve McQueen
I'm Jimmy Dean

You are the star tonight.
You shine electric outta sight.
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Electrolite.
You're outta sight.

If you ever want to fly.
Mulholland Drive.
Up in the sky.
Stand on a cliff and look down there.
Don't be scared, you are alive.
You are alive.

You are the star tonight.
You shine electric outta sight.
You light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Electrolite.
You're outta sight.

Twentieth century go and sleep.
Really deep. We won't blink

You're eyes are burnin' holes through me.
I'm not scared, I'm outta here.
I'm not scared... I'm outta here.
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