Rufus Wainwright - The Lyrics

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

THE LYRICS

CONTENT

• 11:11

• 14th Street

• Agnus Dei

• April Fools

• Baby

• Barcelona

• Beautiful Child

• Beauty Mark

• Between My Legs

• California

• Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk

• Crumb By Crumb

• Damned Ladies

• Danny Boy

• Dinner At Eight

• Do I Disappoint You

• Evil Angel

• Foolish Love

• Gay Messiah

• Go Or Go Ahead

• Going To A Town

• Greek Song

• Grey Gardens

• Hallelujah

• Harvester Of Hearts

• Hometown Waltz

• I Don't Know What It Is

• I'm Not Ready To Love

• Imaginary Love

• In A Graveyard

• In My Arms

• Leaving For Paris No. 2

• Little Sister

• Matinee Idol

• Memphis Skyline

• Millbrook

• Movies Of Myself

• Natasha

• Nobody's Off The Hook

• Oh, What A World

• Old Whore's Diet

• One Man Guy

• Peach Trees

• Poses

• Pretty Things

• Rebel Prince

• Release The Stars

• Rules And Regulations

• Sally Ann

• Sanssouci

• Shadows

• Slideshow

• The Art Teacher

• The Consort

• The One You Love

• The Tower Of Learning

• This Love Affair

• Tiergarten

• Tulsa

• Vibrate

• Vicious World

• Waiting For A Dream

• Want

11:11

Woke up this morning at 11:11

Woke up this morning and it wasnt in heaven

Those are the reason 'bout

Where I was sleeping but I was alive

I was alive

Woke up this morning at 11:11

John was half-naked and Lulu was crying

Those are the babies

That'll (or that dont) let me go crazy

But I was alive

And till the end of this world,

We'll all load in a dump truck of human

11:11

What else can I do,

What else can I do

Woke up this morning and

Something was burning

Realized that everything really

Does happen in my lifetime

Thoughts were of characters

And afternoons lying with you

And you were alive

Ohh, the hours we are seperate

11:11 is the precious time we wasted

So pack up your bleeding heart

And put away your posies

I don't want to have a drink

Or play ring around the rosie with you

Oh no, no

Ohh, the hours we are seperate

11:11 is the precious time we wasted

So let the blind fight the blind and see,

As the fall take over summer

Bringing the lattice roses

And as winter brings the spring rain

And to the end of this world,

We'll all load in a dump truck of human

11:11

14th Street

You've got my lost brother's soul

My dear mother's eyes

A brown horse's mane

And my uncle's name

You walked me down 14th Street

For the doctor to meet after thoughts of the grave

In the home of the brave and of the weak

But why'd you have to break all my heart

Couldn't you have saved a little bit of it?

Why'd you have to break all my heart?

Couldn't you have saved a minor part?

I could have clipped and saved and planted in the garden

Damn you guess I'll have to get a new one

I'd love to sit and watch you drink

With the reins to the world, gripping a smoke

Vaguely missing link

Don't ever change you hungry little bashful hound

I got the sheep, poor little Bo Peep

Has lost and filed for grounds.

But why'd you have to break all my heart

I could have ripped apart and thrown into the river

Wonder if there's hearts that will deliver

Don't ever change, don't ever worry

Because I'm coming back home tomorrow

To 14th Street where I won't hurry

And where I'll learn how to save, not just borrow

And they'll be rainbows and we will finally know

Agnus Dei

Agnus dei

Agnus dei

Qui tollis peccata mundi

Agnus dei

Agnus dei

Qui tollis peccata mundi

Dona nobis pacem

Dona nobis pacem

pacem

Dona nobis pacem

[Translation:]

Lamb of God

You who take away the sins of the world

Lamb of God

You who take away the sins of the world

Give Us Peace

Give Us Peace

Peace

Give Us Peace.

April Fools

Oh what a shame that your pockets did bleed on st. valentine's

And you sat in a chair

Thinking "boy i'm such a prince!"

Well, life's a train that goes from february on

Day by day

But it's making a stop on april first

And you will believe in love

And all that it's supposed to be

But just until the fish start to smell

And you're struck down by a hammer

Sure, you were swift

When the handsome greek boys dropped by with gifts

You are suave

Thanks to ribbons that open sesame

But in the stars and closer to home, in every planet

It ain't hard for me and dear jo jo to see

That you will believe in love




So let it all go by

Looking at the sky

Wondering if there's clouds and stuff in hell

And you will believe in love




Baby

Nothing so bright

Nothing so small

Nothing so pure as my baby

All of my life

Days into nights

All i did dream was my baby

Until the day

Darkness entwined with silver eyes

Was my baby staring at me

And since then

I can't see straight

And since then

My smile's been fake

Funny, i know the troubles i've seen

But through one eye only that's clean

If you bring along your needles

Then i'll bring my sharpened pencils

And draw one more comic tragedy

So call up the child players

From madame we'll rent the parlor

And dance to death till i can't see

My baby

Barcelona

The summer sun set a vicious circus

When shadows held the world in place

But today i felt a chill in my apartment's coolest place

Fuggi regal fantasima

The village larks cannot be heard

Cause all the crows got panderers

I can't escape these velvet drapes

Don't want my rings to fall off my fingers


The mirror i find hard to face

Cause i fear it's a long way down

Got to get away from here

Think i know which hemisphere

Crazy me don't think there's pain in barcelona

They dance you round a waltz confound

But i fear it's a long way down

This road

Even if that straw i pulled

And i got to fight that bull

Nothing really does compare to barcelona

Besides in spain don juan's to blame

But i fear it's a long way down

And i fear i won't be around

Got to get away from here

Think i know which hemisphere

Make sure i have all my papers

Laying out my summer clothes

Search for traps in vain like scratching

So my suitcase i can close


Beautiful Child

When i am older than all these goddamned hills

And theres no reason for my mind to be still

Oh, how ill feel like a beautiful child again

Such a beautiful child again

When i have finally found my room filled with toys

Be banging on my crib excited with noise

Oh, how ill feel like a beautiful child


And when theres nothing to gain

Or bring me pain or pin the blame

On you or myself

And when they finally fall

These wailing walls and burning crosses

Gods twilight and all

How ill feel like a beautiful child


Beauty Mark

I never had it

I never wanted it

I never had your beauty mark

Nor did i have your black hair

And hazel eyes

My early childhood was not as simple

As yours set in the country

No i did not have a fear of nuns who dressed in black

But i do have your taste

I had no radio show

Nor did i have home-made clothes

Home-made curtains of the same material

I never had it

I never wanted it

I never had your beauty mark

But i do have your taste

And i do have your round face and long hands

I think Callas sang a lovely "norma"

You prefer Robson in "deep river"

I may not be so manly

But still i know you love me

Even if i don't have your beauty mark

Between My Legs

You can go out, dancing

And I'll write about you, dancing without you

And I'll shed a tear between my legs

When you were here, I missed you

Now that you're away, I'm out there without you

And I shed a tear between my legs

Though we live in the same city,

You live in another state far away from me and all of my unfaded charms

But when the rocket ships all fall, and the bridges, they all buckle

And everybody's packing up their station wagons

There's a number you can call, like a breast that you can suckle

And we quietly will exit as it all is happening

Again, I'm afraid of one thing,

Will I walk away from love knowing nothing, wearing my heart between my legs?

But when I know you're naked, lying on the bed while I'm at the piano

All I can say is I can't fake it

When the rocket ships all fall, and the bridges, they all buckle

And everybody's packing up their station wagons

There's a number you can call, like a breast that you can suckle

And we quietly will exit as it all is happening again

'Cause there's a river running underground, underneath the town towards the sea,

That only I know all about

On which from this city we can flee

On which from this city we can flee

California

California, California

You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed

Big time rollers, part time models

So much to plunder

That I think I'll sleep instead

I don't know this sea of neon

Thousand surfers, whiffs of freon

And big nights back east with Rhoda

California please

There's a moment

I've been saving

A kind of crucifix around this munchkin land

Up north freezing, little me drooling

That's Entertainment's on at eight

Come on Ginger slam



And my new grandma Bea Arthur

Come on over

Ain't it a shame that at the top

Peanut butter and jam they served you

Ain't it a shame that at the top

Still those soft skin boys can bruise you

Yes I fell for a streaker



Ain't it a shame

That all the world can't enjoy your mad traditions

Ain't it a shame that all the world

Don't got keys to their own ignitions

Life is the longest death in California

California


So much to plunder that I think I'll sleep instead


So much to plunder that I think I'll sleep instead

Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk

cigarettes and chocolate milk

these are just a couple of my cravings

everything it seems i like's a little bit stronger

a little bit thicker

a little bit harmful for me

if i should buy jellybeans

have to eat them all in just one sitting

everything it seems i like's a little bit sweeter

a little bit fatter

a little bit harmful for me

and then there's those other things

which for several reasons we won't mention

everything about them is a little bit stranger

a little bit harder

a little bit deadly

it isn't very smart

tends to make one part so broken-hearted

sitting here remembering me

always been a shoe made for the city

go ahead, accuse me of just singing about places

with scrappy boys faces

have general run of the town

playing with prodigal songs

takes a lot of sentimental valiums

can't expect the world to be your raggedy andy

while running on empty

you little old doll with a frown

you got to keep in the game

maintaining mystique while facing forward

i suggest a reading of 'a lesson in tightropes'

or 'surfing your high hopes' or 'adios kansas'

it isn't very smart

tends to make one part so broken-hearted

still there's not a show on my back

holes or a friendly intervention

i'm just a little bit heiress, a little bit irish

a little bit tower of pisa whenever i see you

so please be kind if i'm a mess

cigarettes and chocolate milk

Crumb By Crumb

Maybe in you I'll believe

Maybe I'll believe in you

The future of my understanding of love

Many a time I've before

Before I've many a time

Knocked a stranger's door

Discretion hardly I'm known for

Probably has nothing to, nothing at all in the world to do with you

Just your lower lip on the floor

But baby I gotta get through

Crumb by crumb in this big black forest



Suddenly I'm not myself

Behind the facade is a lonely fountain, here

Suddenly you are the one

Who opens the gates to this unruly garden

Come and let this man go, you

'Cause baby I got to get through

Crumb by crumb in this big black forest



Suddenly you're not yourself

Behind the facade is a lonely angel, still

Suddenly I am the one who opens the gates to this now gloomy garden

Come and let this man go crumb by crumb in this big black forest

You I'll believe, crumb by crumb in this big black forest

You I'll believe, crumb by crumb in this big black forest...

Damned Ladies

Desdemona, do not go to sleep

Brown-eyed tosca, don't believe the creep

I see it in his eyes

And why don't you ladies believe me when i'm screaming

I always believe you

Violetta, keep your man locked up

Or like cio-cio

You will end up burned by love or sickness

And why don't you ladies believe me when i'm screaming

I always believe you

There is a knock at the door

Tell me it's not mimi again

Or is it Gilda's waiting passion to be stabbed and killed again

Katya kabanova, why did you marry him?

You knew his mother was a bitch

And would keep hold of him

Oh pamina got away from mama

Before the age of rambo opera

Damned ladies of orpheus

Your arias cause a stir in my sad and lonely heart

Danny Boy

Your skin is cold

But the sun shines within your hold

Your hair is gold

But you see through a goldfish bowl

I feel old, sick, and tired

We walk the streets

Gently staring, wondering what to do

The sun in sheets

Pouring down those streets to eyes green and blue

And a ship with eight sails could come round the bend

Or a heard of bulls charging stoplights red

I'd be blind

You broke my heart, danny boy

Not your fault, danny boy

I was had at the doorstep

Played, like a two to a four-set

Had, like poor job in the bible by god

Day comes, i wake

I wake with a hard heartache

I go down to your place

We sit and chat about new york

And trips to the bayou

My smile, a trick

Tricking me and trying not to scare you

And a ship with eight sails could come round the bend

Or a heard of bulls charging stoplights red

I'd be blind

You broke my heart, danny boy

Not your fault, danny boy

I was had at the doorstep

Played, like a two to a four-set

Had, like poor job in the bible by god

Dinner At Eight

No matter how strong

I'm gonna take you down

With one little stone

I'm gonna break you down

And see what you're worth

What you're really worth to me

Dinner at eight was okay

Before the toast full of gleams

It was great until those old magazines

Got us started up again

Actually it was probably me again

Why is it so

That I've always been the one who must go

That I've always been the one told to flee

When it fact you were the one long ago

Actually in the drifting white snow

You left me

So put up your fists and I'll put up mine

No running away from the scene of the crime

God's chosen a place

Somewhere near the end of the world

Somewhere near the end of our lives

But 'til then no, Daddy, don't be surprised

If I wanna see the tears in your eyes

Then I know it had to be long ago

Actually in the drifting white snow

You loved me

No matter how strong

I'm gonna take you down

With one little stone

I'm gonna break you down

And see what you're worth

What you're really worth to me

Do I Disappoint You

Do I disappoint you, in just being human?

And not one of the elements, that you can light your cigar on

Why does it always have to be fire?

Why does it always have to be brimstone?

Desire

Cool this body down

Do I disappoint you, in just being lonely?

And not one of the elements that you can call your one and only

Why does it always have to be water?

Why does it always have to be holy wine?

Destruction

Of all mankind

And do I disappoint you?

Do I disappoint you in just being like you?

Tired of being the reason the road has a shoulder

And it could be argued, why they all return to the order

Why does it always have to be chaos?

Why does it always have to be wanderlust?

Sensational

I'm gonna smash your bloody skull.

'Cause, baby, no, you can't see inside

No, baby, no, you can't see my soul

Do I disappoint you?

Do I disappoint you?

Evil Angel

For to see my depth of sorrow

You are not allowed to follow me

Into this town square

And then run away

Evil angel with your cleft tongue

When you kissed me

On this town square

All the lights came on at sunset

Thought you'd stay

Evil angel bearing apples

When you kissed me

On this drawbridge

As the boats do

How was I to know you'd flee

Tear down these monuments

Bury the coat of arms

And build for me a factory

Evil angel when you're faced with hatred's

Daggers in my honor

You're no match no scratching hearts that no longer bleed

Oh Evil angel tear down the monuments

Evil angel Bury the coat of arms

And rebuild for me these memories

For to see my depth of sorrow

Foolish Love

I don't want to hold you and feel so helpless

I don't want to smell you and lose my senses

And smile in slow motion

With eyes in love

I twist like a corkscrew

The sweetness rising

I drink from the bottle, weeping

Why won't you last?

Why can't you last

So i will walk without care

Beat my snare

Look like a man who means business

Go to all the poshest places

With their familiar faces

Terminate all signs of weakness

Oh, all for the sake of a foolish love

I will take my coffee black

Never snack

Hang with the wolves who are sheepish

Flow through the veins of town

Always frown

Me and my mistress, the princess


So the day noah's ark floats down park

My eyes will be simply glazed over

Or better yet

I'll wear shades on sunless days

And when the sun's out, i'll stay in and slumber


All for the sake of a foolish love

Cause i don't want to hold you and feel so helpless

I don't want to smell you and lose my senses

And smile in slow motion

With eyes in love

Gay Messiah

He will then be reborn

From 1970's porn

Wearing tubesocks with style

And such an innocent smile

Better pray for your sins


'Cuz the gay messiah's coming

He will fall from the stars

Studio 54

And appear on the sand

Of Fire Island's shore




No it will not be me

Rufus the baptist I be

No I won't be the one

Baptized in cum

What will happen instead

Someone will demand my head

And then I will kneel down

And give it to them looking down




Go Or Go Ahead

Thank you for this bitter knowledge

Guardian angels who left me stranded

It was worth it, feeling abandoned

Makes one hardened but what has happened to love

You got me writing lyrics on postcards

Then in the evening looking at the stars

But the brightest of the planets is Mars

Then what has happened to love

So I will opt for the big white limo

Vanity fairgrounds and rebel angels

You can't be trusted with feathers so hollow

Your heaven's inventions, steel eyed vampires of love

You see over me, I'll never know

What you have shown to other eyes

Go or go ahead and surprise me

Say you've lead the way to a mirage

Go or go ahead and just try me

Nowhere's now here smelling of junipers

Fell of the hay bales, I'm over the rainbows

But of Medusa kiss me and crucify

This unholy notion of the mythic power of love

Look in her eyes, look in her eyes

Forget about the ones that are crying

Look in her eyes, look in her eyes

Forget about the ones that are crying

Go or go ahead

Going To A Town

I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down

I'm going to a place that has already been disgraced

I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down

I'm so tired of America

I'm gonna make it up for all of The Sunday Times

I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes

They never really seem to want to tell the truth

I'm so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone

I've got a life to lead, America

I've got a life to lead

Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?

Tell me, enough of thinking everything that you've done is good

I really need to know, after soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood

I'm so tired of America

I really need to know

I may just never see you again, or might as well

You took advantage of a world that loved you well

I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down

I'm so tired of you, America


I've got a life to lead, America

I've got a life to lead

I got a soul to feed

I got a dream to heed

And that's all I need


I'm going to a town

That has already been burnt down

Greek Song

you who were born with the sun above your shoulders

you turn me on, you turn me on

you have to know

you who were born where the sun she keeps her distance


but so does she

you who were born there where beauty is existence


your body heals my soul

you who were born where you shiver and you shudder

you turn me on

the girl is gone

so come on, let's go

all the pearls of china fade astride a volta

don't sew bee-lines to anybody's hide

save your poison for a lover who is on your side

one way is rome and the other way is mecca

on either side

on either side of our motorbike

one way is home and the other way is papa

on either side

on either side, prepared to strike

all the pearls of china fade astride a volta

don't sew bee-lines to anybody's hide

save your poison for a lover who is on your side

Grey Gardens

Honey I'm a roller concrete clover

Tadzio, Tadzio

Arm wrestle your mother

Simply over

Tadzio, over you

But beware my heart can be a pin

A sharp silver dragonfly

Trying to get my mansions green

After I've Grey Gardens seen

In between tonight and my tomorrows

Tadzio where have you been

In between tonight I know it's Tadzio

Tadzio don't you fight

Honey can you hear me

In between been dragging a dragonfly



Honey won't you hold me tight

Get me through Grey Gardens tonight

Tadzio, Tadzio

Tadzio, Tadzio



Honey won't you hold me tight

Get me through Grey Gardens tonight

Tadzio, Tadzio

Tadzio, Tadzio

Hallelujah

*from "Shrek" soundtrack

I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you

To a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah


Mabye I have been here before

I know this room, I've walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you

I've seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah



There was a time

You let me know

What's real and going on below

But now you never show it to me, do you?

And remember when I moved in you?

The holy dark was moving to

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah



Maybe there's a god above

And all I ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

And it's not a cry you can hear at night,

It's not somebody who's seen the light

It's cold and it's a broken Hallelujah





Harvester Of Hearts

If a person should ever like a person

Then a person should like you

Being that I'm only just a person

What would you do?


Then a person should like me

Being that you're only just a person

It must be

Still I find it hard to get an answer

From the harvester of hearts

Always find it hard to get an answer



How funny that would be

If a person should ever like me

Not that I have that much to offer

God knows I have so much to gain


From the harvester of pain


Then a person should be free

Free to like whomever that they want to

Even though it ain't me

Not that I have much to offer

God knows I have so much to gain


From the harvester of pain

Hometown Waltz

The drummers and jugglers in Montreal

Don't even exist at all

So I'm tearing up these tarot cards and Venetians clowns

Antique shops and alcoholic homosexuals

You may ask why I want to torch my home town

Partly it's bitterness and hopping 'round and 'round again

On Ontario Street looking up

Maybe I'll catch him on his way to the show

You travel the world and find all the answers

Everything operates on the unattainables

And then you hear your mother laugh attached to the phone

Could have walked around the block 'cause all roads lead to home

Say, will you ever ever ever know,

Ever ever ever fly away?

Will you ever ever ever go,

Ever ever ever find a way?

I Don't Know What It Is

I don't know what it is

But you got to do it

I don't know where to go

But you got to be there

I don't know where to fall

But I know that its comfortable where

I don't know where it is

Putting all of my time

In learning to care

And a bucket of rhymes

I threw up somewhere

Want a locket of who

Made me lose my perfunctory view

Of all that is around

And of all that I do

So I knock on the door

Take a step that is new

Never been here before

Is there anyone else here too

In love with beauty

Playing all of the games

Who thinks three's company

Is there anyone else who wears slightly mysterious brusies

I don't know what it is

Take a lookin around

At friendly faces

All declaring a war on far off places

Is there anyone else who is through with complaining about what's

Done unto us

So I knock on the door

And I am on the train

Going god knows where to

To get me over

To get me over

Give me heaven or hell

Calais or Dover

I was hoping the train

Was my big number

Stopping in Santa Fe and the arches of Topeka

Though I'm chugging along, put away by the crossing hand

We'll be heading for Portland, or Limburgh or Lower Manhattan

Find myself running around

I don't know what it is so get me over



To get me over

You gotta do it.

You gotta be there.

I'm Not Ready To Love

I'm not ready to love, I'm not ready for peace

I'm givin' up the dove to the beast

I'm not ready to surrender to another glove murderer

I'm not ready to love, I'm not ready to to fly

I'm givin' up ?? in the sky

So you can take my sin in up above on high, say goodbye

I'm not ready to love, I'm not ready to love

I'm not ready to love until I'm ready to love you the way you should be loved

Until I'm ready to hold you the way you should be held

You should be held, but I'm not ready to

Imaginary Love

Every kind of love

Or at least my kind of love

Must be an imaginary love to start with

Guess that can explain the rain waiting walking game

Schubert bust my brain to start with

Cause every kind of love





Oh, to look at you

In a cab

Back of your head across my lap

Oh, what grace

Green back seat against the red of your face

Oh, to look at you

Any old grand hotel

Drunken demands give way to reservations

Oh, what a room

Champagne brings such happy faces

Happy faces








Must be an imaginary love to start with, baby



Oh, oh...

In A Graveyard

Wandering properties of death

Arresting moons within our eyes and smiles

We did rest

Amongst the granite tombs to catch our breath

Worldly sounds of endless warring

Were for just a moment silent stars

Worldly boundaries of dying

Were for just a moment never ours

All was new

Just as the black horizons blue

Then along the bending path away

I smiled in knowing I'd be back one day

In My Arms

You gave me all your love in one day

You gave it all and almost faded away

I'm going to take this sad and unread issue

In my arms tonight

Looking at hospitals victorian

Feeling as helpless as the elephant man

Wish you were here

To chain you up without shame

In my arms tonight

So if you should feel a bit out of place

This vision not unlike a shooting star

I have embraced

Cause you gave me all your love in one day

You gave it all and almost faded away

I'm going to take this sad and unread issue

In my arms tonight

Looking at hospitals victorian

Feeling as helpless as the elephant man

Wish you were here

To chain you up and without shame

In my arms tonight

I ain't a soft and saccharine wannabe

Still i pray to god this song will end happily

So i offer you a place to rest and forget yourself

In my arms tonight

A place to rest and forget yourself

In my arms

Tonight

Leaving For Paris No. 2

I'm leaving for Paris, no I don't think that I'll see you

I'm leaving for Paris, no I don't think that I need to

So I'm leaving for Paris, won't you try to take care of yourself?

Just you try to take care of yourself, 'cause I'm leaving

Yes, I'm leaving for Paris

I pray you won't follow through the crooked streets behind me

I pray you won't follow, like so many who I've roamed there

So I'm leaving for Paris, don't you try to find out where I am

Just you try to take care of yourself

'Cause I'm leaving, yes I'm leaving

'Cause I'm leaving, yes I'm leaving for Paris

Goodbye

Little Sister

Little sister come and sit beside me, beside me

And we'll play a tune on this old piano, forte

Just for a while, just for a while, just for a while

'Til your hair becomes a powdered wig

And I become a total bastard

Feet that hardly reach the pedal

Sewn to a tremendous shadow

Ave, ave, history is on my side

So complain have no shame

And remember that your brother is a boy

Though it seems the stakes contain some integrity

We all feel it still is based on good old intrigue

Just for a while, just for a while, just for a while

You may have to use your hips as fodder

Still putting your best foot forward

Madame didn't stack the cupboard ended up like Mother Hubbard

Ave, but hey, history is still a game

So complain have no shame and remember that round one has just been played

And you are poised for centuries to claim

Follow examples from no longer a choice

The world be just a ball to pass or gaze upon

And one more thing

Before we go round again

Let's end this maze

Keep out the threat of a kid

Oh my little, little sister

Matinee Idol

This is the day

The day of the death

The death of the matinee idol

Still so beautiful as the angels

As the angels came down from high

So sweet and so soft

So charmingly daft

So young was the matinee idol

Lips of crimson, slightly open

As the flash and all fame put to rest

Walk along that wall

No it is not from the academy


From this moment on

You'll cease to be the undying love of the public eye

And so goes one more away from the maze

Away for to sit at the table above babel

Far from this world

While standing on the boulevard


No it is not from the academy


From this moment on

You'll cease to be

But still

Whomever has looked at beauty is marked out already by death

Still so beautiful as the angels

As the angels came down from high

Memphis Skyline

Never thought of Hades

Under the Mississippi

But still I've come to sing for him

So southern furies

Prepare to walk for my harp

I have strung, and I will leave with him

Relax the cogs of rhyme

Over the Memphis sky

Turn back the wheels of time

Under the Memphis skyline

always hated him for the way he looked

In the gaslight of the morning

Then came hallelujah sounding like Ophelia

for me in my room living

So kiss me, my darling stay with me till morning

Turn back and you will stay

Under the Memphis Skyline

Millbrook

The boys and girls of millbrook are on a train from new york

Wearing new hats

Shooting the shit

Deep in the heart of duchess county bounty

And all the evening breakdowns will soon be washed from their hands

The next very day

As they make way

Eating the apple to the chapel holy

Don't even try

They'll get away with murder

Sure as the rain washes away

And brings thunder

Oh tell me can you see it?

The gentle tower rising

Over the pines, out of a book

Zion mistaken for the state of Millbrook

Movies Of Myself

Stop me falling down, stop me making movies of myself

Put that old dog down, stop me making movies of myself

Bring the carriage 'round, get me to the garden of sleep

Make that high gate speak, Perrier out of a paper bag

Looking like a hag

And start giving me something

A love that is longer than a day

Start making my heart sing something that it doesn't want to say

I'm handing it over, I'm saying that you're the only one

Don't run for the border, turn that corner

Already you've run in movies of myself

Darling don't you ever let go

Wrap your loving arms around me

While the cold winds blow

Tell me what I really want to know

Cause I'm looking for a reason, a person, a painting

A Saturday Evening Post Edition by Jesus

An old piece of bacon never eaten by Elvis

So I'll say start giving me something

A love that is longer then a day

Start making my heart say something it doesn't want to say

I'm handing it over, I'm singing that you're the only one

Don't run for the border, turn that corner

In movies on myself

Oh I've seen it all before in movies of myself

Natasha

You walk alone in the valley of life

In the shadow of love under the trees of happiness

You walk alone like a baby unborn

Like a father unknown

Like a pocket penniless

I'm happy that you really care

But do you really know

How scary

This is for you and is for me?

Oh do you you really know?

Do you really know? oh..

Natasha

All I can do

Is write a song for you

Natasha

Oh Natasha

For you I sit alone on the cozy ground floor

On a bench by the garden

Waiting also

Waiting for love and thinking of all of the

Catty remarks I also swallow

And as I've often asked before

Does anybody know

How scary

This is for you and is for me?

Does anybody know?

Anybody know? oh...

Natasha

All I can do


Natasha

Oh Natasha

All I can do


Natasha

Nobody's Off The Hook

Haven't fallen down in a while

Sitting here walking the line

Well that's ok, I ain't no book

'Cause nobody's off the hook

See you looking so sad

Trying to live your life in style

Well that's ok, you ain't no crook

'Cause nobody's off the hook

I remember you when, looking like a teenager

How you have become a man with all the power

Running the moon aground

Who would ever have thought, hanging with a homo and hairdresser

You would become the one desired in every woman's heart

But you never will lose, your heart with those little boys

Haven't fallen down in a while, sitting here walking the line

Well that's ok, 'cause I have looked

And nobody's off the hook

'Cause life will take that little heart, and bring you to your knees

Threatening to break it for the final time

And you'll believe it, yes, you will believe it

But look, nobody's off the hook

Oh, What A World

Men reading fashion magazines

Oh what a world

It seems we live in

Straight man

Oh what a world

We live in

Why am I always on a plane or a fast train

Oh what a world my parents gave me

Always

Travelin' but not in love

Still I think I'm doin' fine

Wouldn't it be a lovely headline

Life is

Beautiful on a New York Times

Men reading fashion magazines

Oh what a world

It seems we live in

Straight man

Oh what a world

We live in



Always




Life is

Beautiful on a New York Times

Oh what a world

We live in



Always




Life is

Beautiful

Old Whore's Diet

An old whore's diet

Gets me going in the morning

Ain't nothing like it

Gets me going in the morning

To say I love you

Gets me going where I want to

Oh, gets me going

Oh, gets me going in the morning

[Repeats]

Hell, either here or Hell will do

Either here or Hell will employ you

Suicidal assistance

An old whore's diet

One Man Guy

People will know when they see this show

The kind of a guy I am

They'll recognize just what I stand for and what I just can't stand

They'll perceive what I believe in

And what I know is true

And they'll recognize I'm a one man guy

Always was through and through

People meditate

Hey that's just great

Trying to find the inner you

People depend on family and friends

And other folks to pull them through

I don't know why I'm a one man guy

Or why I'm a one man show

But these three cubic feet of bone and blood and meat are all I love and know

'Cause I'm a one man guy in the morning

Same in the afternoon

One man guy when the sun goes down

I whistle me a one man tune

One man guy a one man guy

Only kind of guy to be

I'm a one man guy

I'm a one man guy

I'm a one man guy is me

I'm gonna bathe and shave

And dress myself and eat solo every night

Unplug the phone, sleep alone

Stay way out of sight

Sure it's kind of lonely

Yeah it's sort of sick

Being your own one and only

Is a dirty selfish trick

'Cause I'm a one man guy in the morning

Same in the afternoon

One man guy when the sun goes down

I whistle me a one man tune

One man guy a one man guy

Only kind of guy to be

I'm a one man guy

I'm a one man guy

I'm a one man guy is me

Peach Trees

Is true love a trip to Chinatown

Or being held in one's opium gaze

Under the peach trees

There I'll sit and wait

Is true love a long walk through Bryant park

Or being held in the month of May

under the peach trees

There I will be, will be until you come and get me

Cause I'm so tired of waiting in restaurants

reading the critics and comics alone

With a waiter with a face made for currency

Like a coin in ancient Rome

And I really do wish you were here next to me

cause I'm going to see James Dean

There I will be

Under the peach trees with him

Poses

The yellow walls are lined with portraits

And I've got my new red fetching leather jacket

All these poses such beautiful poses

Makes any boy feel like picking up roses

There's never been such grave a matter

As comparing our new brand name black sunglasses

All these poses such beautiful poses

Makes any boy feel as pretty as princes

The green autumnal parks conducting

All the city streets a wondrous chorus singing

All these poses oh how can you blame me

Life is a game and true love is a trophy

And you said

Watch my head about it

Baby you said watch my head about it

My head about it

Oh no oh no oh no

Oh no oh no no kidding

Reclined amongst these packs of reasons

For to smokes the days away into the evenings

All these poses of classical torture

Ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard

I did go from wanting to be someone now

I'm drunk and wearing flip - flops on Fifth Avenue

Once you've fallen from classical virtue

Won't have a soul for to wake up and hold you

In the green autumnal parks conducting

All the city streets a wondrous chorus

Singing all these poses now no longer boyish

Made me a man ah but who cares what that it

And you said watch my head about it


My head about it

Oh no oh no oh no

Oh no oh no well you said

Watch my head about it


My head about it

Oh no oh no oh no

Oh no oh no no kidding

Pretty Things

Pretty things, so what if I like pretty things

Pretty lies, so what if I like pretty lies

From where you are, to where I am now

I need these pretty things, around the planets of our phase

Everything's a sign of my astrology

From where you are, to where I am now

Is its own galaxy

Be a star and fall down somewhere next to me

And make it past your color TV

This time will pass and with it will me

And all these pretty things

Don't say you don't notice them

Rebel Prince

Where is my master the rebel prince

Who will shut all of these windows

It's these windows all around me

It's these windows who are telling me

To rid my dirty mind of all of its preciousness

Where is my master the rebel prince

Bet breaking everything trying to get to me

In this two-bit hotel

Just to me before this windowsill

Does rid my dirty mind of all of its preciousness

Oh I can see him now

Though it's so far away

Amongst the roving crowd

Going the other way

Confounded anger burning with love for me

Oï est mon ma¤tre le prince rebelle

Qui va fermer toutes ces fen†tres

Ce sont ces fen†tres autour de moi

Ce sont ces fen†tres qui m'appellent,

Qui m'appellent

Marigold, Marigold, Marigold

I'm leaving the Roosevelt hotel


I'm leaving the room we knew so well





Release The Stars

Why do you keep all your stars in from your studio on Melrose Avenue?

You've lost all your assets ?? in life-long contracts to you

Didn't you know that old Hollywood is over?

Oh, can't you see all the good that celebrity can do for those in the dark?

Yes of course, I am speaking in metaphors for something more in your heart


So why not just release the gates and let them all come out?

Remember that without them there would be no Paramount

No paramount need to hold on to what isn't yours

Release the stars

The more that you fight, then the more they will scrutinize and realize just your size

And believe me, you are no match for the public that has seen no ??


Old Hollywood is over

So why not just release the gates and let them all come out?

Remember that without them there would be no Paramount

No paramount need to hold on to what isn't yours

Release the stars

Release the stars, release your love, release the stars

Release your love, 'cause Hollywood is over

Why do you keep all your stars in from your studio on Melrose Avenue?

Rules And Regulations

I will never be as cute as you, according to the board of human relations

I will never fly as high as you, according to the board of public citations

These are just the rules and regulations

Of the birds, and the bees

The earth, and the trees,

Not to mention the gods, not to mention the gods

All my little life I've wanted to roam

Even if it was just inside my own home

Then one little day I chanced to look back

Saw you sittin' there, being a sad culprit


Of the birds, and the bees

The earth, and the trees,

Not to mention the gods, not to mention the gods


Yeah, these are just the rules and regulations

And I like every one, yes I like every one

Must follow them

Sally Ann

My true love did breathe by the sally ann so softly

That while walking through town

Only my heart did hear him

In views of the city

There ain't many folks by the sally an so pretty

That while walking through town

Many a twisted feature made a terrible beauty

And then i knew

I'd been there before

One thing you must know by the sally ann directly

Is that the pockets don't hold any more sunken treasure

After baptism by whiskey

But when leaving the bar by the sally ann just barely

That old angel may allow light from above the mountain

And red brick walls blooming, you might see

And then you'll know

You've been there before

Sanssouci

Who will be at Sanssouci tonight?

The boys that made me lose the blues tonight, and then my eyesight

All together, playing games of cards

Gambling the tiny shards of brass, once my heart


I'm lookin' through the window from the garden

Waitin' for the call to my hotel room

I'm tired of writing elegies to boredom

I just want to be at Sanssouci tonight


Surely not the one that loves me truly, only

He's probably down at the stables, there

Gently polishing my cabriolet, only

I don't care, I really want to go

So I'm opening the door wide to the ballroom

Callin' up some dude from my hotel room

I'm tired of writing elegies in general

I just want to be at Sanssouci tonight

Tonight, tonight...

The candles seem to all have been blown out

Cupid's wings have cobweb rings and no one's about

Could it be I came to the wrong place?

But I swear I saw them climb the stairs, that sweet mystery


It's only when you're outside that you notice

Only from the window you can see them

Once the door is open, all will vanish

Ain't nobody at Sanssouci tonight

Tonight, tonight

Shadows

Who will keep

Keep me in this evening

Even though

They are not here with me

I could be a great star

Still I'm far from happy

Finally

Feel the world around me

Fighting through

Fighting through the whiskey



Out of these shadows

Comes the light

Shadows comes the light

You will keep

Keep me in this evening

Even though

You are not here with me








Comes the light


Comes the light

Shadows comes the light

Slideshow

Do I love you because you treat me so indifferently?

Or is it the medication?

Or is it me?

Do I love you because you don't want me to rub your back?

Or is it the medication?

Or is it you?

Or is it true?

And I better be prominently featured in your next slideshow

Because I paid a lot of money to get you over here, you know?

And if I am not prominently featured in your next slideshow

I don't know what I'm gonna do

Do I love you, or is this feeling just a little pain?

A treasure chest is broken easily open

And usually I am such a happy prince

Behind the iron curtain, the city walls a solid prison

And I better be prominently featured in your next slideshow

'Cause I paid a lot of money to get you over here, you know?

And if I am not prominently featured in your next slideshow

I don't know what I'm gonna do!

Do I love you?

Do I love you?

Yes I do

Do I love you?

Yes I do

The Art Teacher

There I was in uniform

Looking at the art teacher

I was just a girl then;

Never have I loved since then

He was not that much older than I was

He had taken our class to the Metropolitan Museum

He asked us what our favorite work of art was,

But never could I tell it was him

Oh, I wish I could tell him --

Oh, I wish I could have told him

I looked at the Rubens and Rembrandts

I liked the John Singer Sargents

He told me he liked Turner

Never have I turned since then

No, never have I turned to any other man

All this having been said,

I married an executive company head

All this having been done, a Turner - I own one

Here I am in this uniformish, pant-suit sort of thing,

Thinking of the art teacher

I was just a girl then;

Never have I loved since then

No, never have I loved any other man

The Consort

Prepare your things

Dissolve your mind

'Cause I'm your consort beautiful queen

of seventeen

a blood red moon has spared our bed

But not your rivals

beautiful queen

prepare to reign

no more to hide with I your faithful consort

by your side

Let streamers fly

and cannons roar

on your arrival beautiful queen

tomorrow night

prepare to walk

on anyone her highness ever wants

Entrust in me

you're not alone

together we'll wreak havoc on the throne

Entrust in me

you're not alone

even though my throne's slightly smaller than yours

beautiful queen

together we'll wreak havoc you and me

together we'll wreak havoc you and me

together we'll wreak havoc you

Prepare your things

Dissolve your mind

'cause I'm your consort beautiful queen

of seventeen

The One You Love

The mind has so many pictures

Why can't I sleep with my eyes open

The mind has so many memories

Can you remember what it looks like when I cry

I'm Trying, trying to tell you

All that I can in a sweet and velvet tongue

But no words ever could sell you

Sell you on me after all that I have done

I'm only the one you love

Am I only the one you love?

The Lady Gloom and her hornets circling round

Is now before us, the screaming's done without moving

One little move and for sure you will be stung

I'm singing "Oh, Jerusalem oh, Jerusalem

See what he's picked up in the park"

Let's f**k this awful art party

Want you to make love to me and only to me in the dark

I'm only the one you love

Am I only the one you love?

We've traded in our snap shots

We're going through the motions

Into the view, I'm leaving you

Down Conduit Avenue into the early morning

Into the early morning

The one I love

Are you only the one I love?

The Tower Of Learning

I'm looking for the tower of learning

I'm looking for the copious prize

I saw it in your eyes what I'm looking for


I really do fear that I'm dying

I really do fear that I'm dead


I saw it in your eyes what will make me live

All the sights of Paris

Pale inside your iris

Tip the Eiffel Tower with one glance

Stained glass cathedrals with one glint

You smashed it with your eyes

What I'm looking for

One blink and then my heart wasn't there no more

I'm looking for the tower of learning

I'm looking for the copious prize

This Love Affair

I don't know what I'm doing

I don't know what I'm saying

I don't know why I'm watching all these white people dancing

I don't know where I'm going

But I do know that I'm walking

Where?

I don't know

Just away from this love affair

I can't say that I'm cruisin'

Not that I don't like cruisin'

Just that I'm bruisin from you

I can't say that I'm waltzin'

Not that I don't like waltzing

Would rather be waltzin' with you

So I guess that I'm going

I guess that I am walking

Where?

I don't know

Just away from this love affair

Tiergarten

Won't you walk me through the Tiergarten?

Won't you walk me through it all, darling?

Doesn't matter if it is raining

Won't you walk me through it all?

Even if the sun, it is blazing

Even if the snow, it is raging

All the elements, we must conquer

To get to the other side of town

I have suffered shipwreck against your dark brown eyes

I have run aground against your broken down smiles

Believe me when I tell you I have no place to go

But to go where the wild flowers grow and the stone gardens bloom.

Won't you walk me through the Tiergarten?

Won't you walk me through it all, darling?

Doesn't matter if it is raining,

We'll get to the other side of town.

Tulsa

You taste of potato chips in the morning

Your face has the Marlon Brando club calling

And who would have thought that I'd owe it all to Tulsa?

And that fat guy with the green shirt that we both signed together

Once he hears the song, won't live it down forever

Your suit was the whitest thing since you-know-who

I fear that that savior I mentioned may be you

And who would have thought that I'd owe it all to Tulsa?

And that poor girl who waited in the rain for hours to meet me (not you, baby!)

Once she hears that song, won't live it down completely

And I owe it all to Tulsa, Oklahoma

This is just a reminder of the antique shop that I want to go back to and visit when it's open

In Tulsa, Oklahoma

Just in case you don't appreciate this song about you!

Vibrate

My phone's on vibrate for you

Electroclash is karioke too

I try to dance Britney Spears

I guess I'm getting on in years


God knows what all these new drugs do

I guess to have no more fears

But still I always end up in tears


But still I never ever feel from you

Pinocchio's now a boy

Who wants to turn back into a toy

So call me

Call me in the morning

Call me in the night

So call me

Call me anytime you like


For you

Vicious World

Thought that maybe we'd fall in love over the phone

Thought that maybe I'd really love being alone

Everybody but Heaven knows how I was wrong

Oh Lord, what have I done to myself?

What have I done to myself?

In this vicious world

Such a vicious world

There isn't anything you can do


Soaking on the ice, makin' eyes all by myself

Didn't realize you were so top of the shelf

Just you want and see when you turn, turn 23

Oh Lord, what have I done to myself?

What have I done to myself?






Waiting For A Dream

Waiting for the present, for the present to pass

Waiting for a dream to last

You are not my lover, and you never will be

'Cause you've never done anything to hurt me

There's a fire in the priory

And it's ruining this cocktail party

Yesterday I heard they cloned a baby

Now can I finally sleep with me?

Diving through the rising, through the rising waves of night

Keeping a reflection of you in hindsight

But in turning back the brackish waters will not reflect you

After you have turned the color black of death or something like that


And it's ruining this cocktail party

Yesterday I heard the plague is coming

Once again, to find me


And an ogre in the oval office

Once again we all will be so broken

Now can I finally sleep again?

Want

I don't want to make it rain

I just want to make it simple

I don't want to see the light

I just want to see the flashlight

I don't want to know the answers

To any of your questions

I don't want, no I really don't want

To be John Lennon or Leonard Cohen

I just want to be my Dad

With a slight sprinkling of my mother

And work at the family store

And take orders from the counter

I don't want to know the answers

To any of your questions

I don't want, no I really don't want

To be John Lithgow or Jane Curtain

But I'll settle for love

Yeah, I'll settle for love

Before I reached the gate

I realized I had packed my passport

Before security realized

I had one more bag left

I just want to know

If something's coming for to get me

Tell me, will you make me sad or happy

And will you settle for love

Will you settle for love

Rufus Wainwright - The Lyrics

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