The Days of Wine and Booze
These days, losing ground control
These days, down the rabbit hole
I try to catch a piece of sky
But I fly too low
Still I never want to lose
No I never want to lose
The days of wine and booze
Each night, might procrastinate
Every night I can't hardly wait
I know once the feeling flows
It's a long hard way
Still I never want to lose
No I never want to lose
The days of wine and booze
Who will hold you when you're falling?
Who will pick up when you call in?
One day, when I'm old or dead
One day, can't get out of bed
I hope and pray the night before
We were out of our heads
Cause I never want to lose
No I never want to lose
The days of wine and booze
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
Retrieval of You
I drive by airports three times a day
Synchronizing every single move
It's on the airwaves, you're coming my way
Sure I don't have much to lose
I'm a fumbled record star
They call me DJ Mini-Mart
Cause that's where I work
Everybody knows I fell afoul of fame
And you're to blame that I'm what's his name
I'm setting an example, you're the one I choose
For page two news it's my retrieval of you
I'm right behind you, don't turn around
I was the one who cut your first song
Get in the backseat and keep your head down
Didn't I shout it all night long?
Now you're a fabled record star
And I'm DJ Mini-Mart
Cause that's where I work
Everybody knows I fell afoul of fame
And you're to blame that I'm what's his name
I'm setting an example, you're the one I choose
For page two news it's my retrieval of you
I've got a boxcar with blankets and bread
In sector nine, where no one goes
I bought a pillow for your precious head
You'll be fine once you get to know me again
I'm a fumbled record star
Call me DJ Mini-Mart
Cause that's where I work
Everybody knows I fell afoul of fame
And you're to blame that I'm what's his name
I'm setting an example, you're the one I choose
For page two news it's my retrieval of you
I drive by airports practicing retrieval of you (x2)
From: Minus 5 - Down with Wilco
That's Not the Way It's Done
I saw you crying in the quaker choir
They don't swing so low
There's no religion like old-time religion
It's a heavy snow
That puts you in the mood for love
And I was in the mood, yeah
I was in the mood
But if I was stronger
You know I never would have hurt you that way
I fell into a hollow love
And that's not the way that it's done
I had to ring you 'cause the background singers
Really blew that night
Yes I knew you had a bluer side
But it's a real black light
That puts you in the mood for love
And I was in the mood
I was in the mood, yeah
But if I was stronger
You know I never would have hurt you that way
I fell into a hollow love
But that's not the way that it's done
There's nothing worse than a narcissist
Working a disaster nurse
She ends up versus the goddamn center of the universe
Who's always in the mood for love
Always in the mood
Always in the mood, yeah
But if I was stronger
You know I never would have hurt you that way
I fell into a hollow love
But that's not the way that it's done
If I was stronger
You know I never would have hurt you that way
I fell into a hollow love
But that's not the way that it's done
No that's not the way that it's done
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
The Town That Lost It's Groove Supply
There was Esther in the street, a look of stunned decay
There was Milo in his skirt, an apathetic gray
Autumn leaves refuse to fall, Alphaville's unscreened
A row of silent discotheques, the council not convened
The glory that was Maury's Sex Shop is down to its last X
Cardboard boxes line the curbs all filled with old T. Rex
A hole punched in the whiskey flask
A thousand tanks all parched for gas
Billboard babies eulogized
You'll never know if she's in order
You'll never know what she's about
You just try to keep yourself together
When the Groove Supply has given out
You'll never know if she's in order
You'll never know what she's about
The town that lost its Groove Supply is breathing its own dust
The town that lost its Groove Supply just needs to be discussed
But no one cares, no one can care, surely none of us
The last time I saw Groove Supply, she was getting on the bus
You'll never know if she's in order
You'll never know what she's about
You'll never know if she's in order
You'll never know what she's about
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
Daggers Drawn
Sandymount Strand, well technically no
The faithful ones here have remained just so
Catalog sins, inhumanly long
I know where the soap and flowers have gone
Daggers drawn and quartered lawns
Each square for one and none for all
I'm tired of daggers drawn
Four o'clock knock, I'm knocking about
There's a blaze inside that I can't boil out
It's never been done, this civilized son
May have to resort to a bow or a gun
Daggers drawn and quartered lawns
Each square for one and none for all
I'm tired of daggers drawn
Making a wish, forgetting it twice
Ithaca's far and Nausicaa is nice
Well, she's just alright
I want to give in, give in so good
Afraid I'll give in the last way I should
Daggers drawn and quartered lawns
Each square for one and none for all
I'm tired of daggers drawn
So tired of daggers drawn
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
Where Will You Go?
Where will you go, when I am so gone
Where will you go, put your sandals on
I'd like to think you'll be alright
Where will you go, when your legs don't work
Where will you go, in your schoolgirl skirt
If I could take you on my back
There's too much time for us to crack
I want my money back
One thing I guarantee:
It's so hard trying to be a little less like me
How will I know, if you're still afraid
How will I know, from the deep dark shade
And if I find a better place
There's too much time for us to crack
I want my money back
One thing I guarantee:
It's so hard trying to be a little less like me
Where will you go, when the spark won't spark
How will I know, from the farthest star
I need to know that you're alright
I need to know you'll be alright
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
Life Left Him There
There was a kind and gentle soul
And he was tied up to a chair
And still he loved and never lost
Although life left him there
And when he moaned the timbers shook
The floor beneath him too
And plaster fell on his bare head
The fire was bright and blue
I know we're going to meet you
I know we're going to meet you there
I know we're going to meet you somewhere
Whatever debts are paid in full
Receive me now he cried
And as the walls came crackling down
Believers watched outside
O lamb of God was ever pain
Was ever doubt so rare
And still he loved and never lost
Although life left him there
I know we're going to meet you
I know we're going to meet you there
I know we're going to meet you somewhere
I know we're going to meet you
I know we're going to meet you there
I know we're going to meet you somewhere
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
The Family Gardener
The family garden is a special place
In sun and shade there
I was raised
But voices fade away and rooms are rearranged
Now I’m the family gardener
You need a stethoscope and a good good rake
Some beer for snails and a rope for snakes
A flower bed to fall in as the moonlight breaks
When you’re the family gardener
And I'm the family gardener
As I look down with my two eyes and my two
green thumbs
I despise the people who walk on the
green green grass
I grew with my watered love
Now some other son sleeps in the southern wing
And someone else’s mother sits to paint the
pastoral scene
My father always said that I would never
amount to anything
But I’m the family gardener
I’m the family gardener
Yeah, I’m the family gardener
The Old Plantation
The old plantation has been abandoned
The love is gone, yeah, the love is gone
New hieroglyphics braid the columns
Kids on the M train baptize the lawns
Your floating jukebox stuck on "I'll get you"
So lost at sea, yeah, so lost at sea
You watch the rations, you man the spyglass
So far from Memphis, rivers from me
But did you ever really try
To peel away the sky?
Neither did I
The master bedroom, its shutters hanging
It's no museum, it's no museum
The fields are barren but for a bonfire
A pile of empties in the mausoleum
But did you ever really try
To peel away the sky?
Neither did I
God bless the shelter, so bruised and battered
God bless the days, yeah, god bless the days
The old plantation is like a sore now
A home for maggots, but don't turn away
Don't turn away until you try
To peel away the sky
Don't turn away until you try
To peel away the sky
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
What I Don't Believe
I've said it with silence
I've said it real loud
From down underground
Way down, from over the clouds
So now I say nothing
And this much is true
What I don't believe means nothing, nothing to you
I shout from the mountains
That nothing need last
Your mind is made up, made up
From time's blistered past
I can't hold a candle
To crimes half-recalled
What I don't believe means nothing, nothing at all
Can't you tell I won't fight anymore?
And you know it's not right
You know it's not right
If my tongue moves I bite down before it can
Tell how hard I've lied
I won't bother knocking where I'll never get in
I'm bound straight to hell for sure if omission's a sin
I won't be the downfall of such miserable bliss
What I don't believe goes something, something like this
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
View From Below
The hallway smells of lemon
With my face pushed to the ground
The windows at their very best
Are dripping to the sound
You'll never win the way you won again
You'll never win the way you won again
In the bed the bastard swings
A plastic vodka jug
And I can see your penny loafers
Drop onto the rug
You'll never win the way you won again
You'll never win the way you won again
Wish it was a two-way mirror on the ceiling
And I was looking through from the attic
Instead of getting carpet burn when I'm turning
Fighting sparks in the dark from the static
Two legs of the coffee table
All scratched up by your cat
Well I may take him far away
What would you think of that
You'll never win the way you won again
You'll never win the way you won again
You, the bastard, and vodka, me and the floor
Another perfect marriage, another perfect war
You'll never win the way you won again
You'll never win the way you won again
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
I'm Not Bitter
When someone wants me to listen, I can't
If I'm supposed to do something, I won't
It's hard to tell if I can get along
But I'm not bitter
I'm not bitter
Not at all
Just a lot
I walk around the block to avoid you
And that's when I'm in a social mood
It's just my head that hurts me right now
But I'm not bitter
I'm not bitter
Not at all
Just a lot
I try to think back on the happiness and fun
It doesn't make much sense to blame you
For the wreck my life's become
Bitterness is reserved for stupid people
Not for someone intelligent like me
I don't have time to feel that way
I do things backwards when I say
That I'm not bitter
I'm not bitter
I'm not bitter
I'm not bitter
Not at all
Just a lot
From: Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]
Dear Employer (The Reason I Quit)
Dear employer, I'd like to tell you
It's been wonderful, for all these years
But now you know, I've got a new shoe
And I'll be wearing it so far from here
Dear employer, your escalators
Are very dangerous on the way down
They rip the skin and they pull you in
Spit out the bony bits and coffee grounds
Dear employer, I heard a story
When you were just knee-high, higher than I
You built the wings, the propeller too
With balsa wood and glue you made it fly
Dear employer, you commanded me
Your commendations now don't mean as much
'Cause I'm a lost cause, causing a problem
And I promise to be way out of touch
Dear employer, when you hear the news
Please save the saintly words for saintly souls
'Cause I'll be long gone, long gone and rotting
Long gone and ulcerous, nothing I'm told
That's the reason that I quit
The reason that I quit
That's the reason that I quit
The reason that I quit
That's the reason that I quit
The reason that I quit
That's the reason (x4)
Down with Wilco [Minus 5 w/Wilco]