Counting Crows
Round Here
Omaha
Mr. Jones
Perfect Blue Buildings
Anna Begins
Time and Time Again
Rain King
Sullivan Street
Ghost Train
Raining In Baltimore
A Murder of One
ROUND HERE
Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right
I walk in the air between the rain, through myself and back again
Where? I don't know
Maria says she's dying. Through the door, I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
She walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house, Takes her clothes off,
Says she's close to understanding Jesus
She knows she's more than just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands / / Oh...
Sleeping children got to run like the wind Out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in Out of the lightning
She says, "It's only in my head."
She says, "Shhh...I know it's only in my head."
But the girl on the car in the parking lot
says: "Man, you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building she says she's thinking of jumping
She says she's tired of life; she must be tired of something.
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here I got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
Nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very very very very late
I can't see nothing, nothing around here
You catch me if I'm falling, you catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me 'cause I'm falling down round here
I said I'm under the gun round here
I'm innocent, I'm under the gun round here
I can't see nothing, nothing round here.
OMAHA
Start tearing the old man down
Run past the heather and down to the old road
Start turning the grain into the ground
Roll a new leaf over
In the middle of the night there's an old man
Treading around in the gathered rain
Well mister if you want to walk on water
Could you drop a line my way
Chorus:
Omaha
Somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
I think you'd better turn your ticket in
And get your money back at the door
Start threading a needle
Brush past the shuttle that slides through the cold room
Start turning the wool across the wire
Roll the new life over
In the middle of the night there's an old man
Threading his toes through a bucket of rain
Hey mister you don't want to walk on water
You're only going to walk all over me
[Chorus]
Start running the banner down
Drop past the color come up through the summer rain
Start turning the girl into the ground
Roll a new love over
In the middle of the day there's a young man
Rolling around in the earth and rain
Hey mister if you're going to walk on water, you know
You're only going to walk all over me
[Chorus] x 2
MR JONES
sha la la la la la la uh huh...
I was down at the New Amsterdam staring at this yellow-haired girl
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this black-haired flamenco dancer
She dances while his father plays guitar. She's suddenly beautiful
We all want something beautiful I wish I was beautiful
So come dance this silence down through the morning
sha la la la la la la la yeah uh huh...
Cut up, Maria! Show me some of them Spanish dances
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones
Believe in me Help me believe in anything
(cause) I want to be someone who believes
Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales
Stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me."
Smiling in the bright lights Coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely
I will paint my picture Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful
(you know) Gray is my favorite color I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso I would buy myself a gray guitar and play
Mr. Jones and me look into the future
Stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. Uh, I don't think so. She's looking at me."
Standing in the spotlight I bought myself a gray guitar
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely
I will never be lonely
I will never be lonely
I want to be a lion Everybody wants to pass as cats
We all want to be big big stars, but we got different reasons for that.
Believe in me because I don't believe in anything
and I want to be someone to believe, to believe, to believe.
Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio
Yeah we stare at the beautiful women
"She's perfect for you, Man, there's got to be somebody for me."
I want to be Bob Dylan
Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky
When everybody loves you, son, that's just about as funky as you can be.
Mr. Jones and me staring at the video
When I look at the television, I want to see me staring right back at me.
We all want to be big stars, but we don't know why, and we don't know how.
But when everybody loves me, I'm going to be just about as happy as I can
be.
Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars.....
PERFECT BLUE BUILDINGS
Just down the street from your hotel, baby
I stay at home with my diseas
And ain't this position familiar, darling
Well, all monkeys do what they see
Help me stay awake, I'm falling...
Down on Virginia and La Loma
Where I got friends who'll care for me
You got an attitude of everything I ever wanted
I got an attitude of need
Help me stay awake, I'm falling...
CHORUS:
Asleep in perfect blue buildings
Beside the green apple sea
Gonna get me a little oblivion, baby
Try to keep myself away from | me | (myself and) me
It's 4:30 A.M. on a Tuesday
It doesn't get much worse than this
In beds in little rooms in buildings in the middle
of these lives which are completely meaningless
Help me stay awake, I'm falling...
(CHORUS)
I got bones beneath my skin, and mister...
There's a skeleton in every man's house
Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hangs on everybody
There's a dead man trying to get out
Please help me stay awake, I'm falling...
(CHORUS) x 3
ANNA BEGINS
My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
I am not worried, I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried, I am not overly concerned
With the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, you're changing
But we're always changing
It does not bother me to
Say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
And I guess I'm going to have to live with that
But I'm sure there's something in a shade of grey
Or something in between
And I can always change my name if that's what you mean
[2nd verse]
My friend assures me "It's all or nothing"
But I am not really worried I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget, I am not worried
[Bridge]
"If it's love," she said, "then we're gonna have to think about
consequences."
She can't stop shaking, I can't stop touching her and..
This time when kindness falls like rain it washes her away
And Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering for days"
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing
[3rd verse]
But I'm not gonna break
And I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not going to bend, and I'm not going to break and I'm
not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, 'As long as this is love...'
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should
Snap her up in a butterfly net
Pin her down in a photograph album
I am not worried - I've done this sort of thing before
[Bridge]
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and..
[Chorus]
This time when kindness falls like rain it washes me away
And Anna begins to change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love
and Oh Lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing
She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake
And Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord I'm not ready for this sort of thing
Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along
And Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away it disappears and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing
TIME AND TIME AGAIN
I wanted so badly Somebody other than me
Staring back at me But you were gone, gone, gone
I wanted to see you walking backwards
And get the sensation of you coming home
I wanted to see you walking away from me
Without the sensation of you leaving me alone
CHORUS:
Time and time again Time and time again
Time and time again I can't please myself
I wanted the ocean to cover over me
I wanna sink slowly without getting wet
Maybe someday, I won't be so lonely
And I'll walk on water every chance I get
(CHORUS)
So when are you coming home Sweet angel?
You leaving me alone? / All alone?
Well if I'm drowning darling, you'll come down this way on your own
I wish I was traveling on a freeway
Beneath this graveyard western sky
I'm gonna set fire to this city
And out into the desert we're gonna ride
(CHORUS)
RAIN KING
When I think of heaven
Deliver me in a black-winged bird
I think of flying down into a sea of pens and feathers
And all other instruments of faith and sex and God
In the belly of a black-winged bird.
Don't try to feed me
I've been here before
And I deserve a little more
I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been crying and I've been thinking
And I am the Rain King
And I said mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone?
I can't go outside
I'm scared I might not make it home
I'm alive, I'm alive
But I'm sinking in
If there's anyone at home at your place, darling
Why don't you invite me in?
Don't try to bleed me
I've been there before
And I deserve a little more
I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been lying and I've been sinking
And I am the Rain King
Hey, I only want the same as anyone
Henderson is waiting for the sun
Oh, it seems night endlessly begins and ends
After all the dreaming I come home again
When I think of heaven
Deliver me in a black-winged bird
I think of dying
Lay me down in a field of flame and heather
Render up my body into the burning heart of God
In the belly of a black-winged bird
Don't try to bleed me
I've been here before
And I deserve a little more
I belong in the service of the queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been dying and I've been drinking
And I am the Rain King