i've been away in the land that my parents were born in where gunshots and rooster calls announce the arrival of morning i'm looking over the wing which is over the clouds which are over the sky which is over the ground where you're waiting are you still waiting for me? i'm coming home (he's coming home) i'm coming home (he's coming home) i've been away and i've been alone but i'm coming home (he's coming home) i went away and i never answered your question coy and mysterious, i danced at the edge of suggestion i know i've pushed and i've pulled till you were ready to break but i'm tired of games i'm ready to take a chance do you still want to take a chance on me? i'm coming home (he's coming home) i'm coming home (he's coming home) i've been away and i've been alone but i'm coming home (he's coming home) tell me it's not too late i'm coming home (he's coming home) i'm coming home (he's coming home) i've been away and i've been alone but i'm coming home (he's coming home)

you spend your life begging for pity then complain when you don't get love you stab your friends, you stab yourself then you cry about the blood you wear your skin like a chain you're always looking for someone to blame but it's you (it's you, it's you) it's always you (it's you, it's you) by now you should know that's true (it's true, it's true) it's you and only you you're quick to sin you're quick to cast stones you're the prodigal son but you never come home everybody leaves it's always the same you point your finger at them but they're not to blame no, it's you (it's you, it's you) it's always you (it's you, it's you) by now you should know that's true (it's true, it's true) it's you and only you we've seen you at your worst we've seen you at your best we know you could be the one that you want but you won't because you'll never accept that it's you (it's you, it's you) it's always you (it's you, it's you) by now you should know that's true (it's true, it's true) it's you and only you

the place was empty she knew my name i kissed her shoulder she smiled like rain i wrapped her in flannel and opened the sky i became her secret the reason that she cries the first frost of the season is a whisper on the wind like the rumor of her breath on my skin i'm in the shadow of manhattan her words, an orchard an offer, a caress her touch like almonds like silence, like breath we swam in the bay where she was born caught in the current, i nearly drowned she pulled me out and kissed my shoulder i could only watch as she faded into sound now the first frost of the season is a whisper on the wind like the rumor of her breath on my skin i'm in the shadow of manhattan don't tell her that you saw me don't mention me at all winter's on the air now there's no use thiking about the fall i'm in the distant in silent promise not to call she has already washed my mark from her wall

he was a child she was alone he was on fire she was a stone he stood in the street she walked in the night she tasted him he tasted her and it felt alright except for the hunger they were afraid he was alone they stayed indoors he had no home he walked in the night she laughed in the street he meant her no harm he just wanted some short-lived relief from the hunger the years had passed like drops of rain his life was long gone but the hunger remained it wouldn't relent he couldn't resist aching for calm he stepped into the dawn to feel the sun's kiss and escape from the hunger

the night sky hangs heavy i can feel it on my back chinatown smells sour crazy maria's going on about the zodiac chester's hitting on sailors who can't even remember their own names me, i'm kneeling in the alley laughing at my own shame but i wouldn't change a thing i wouldn't change a thing i wouldn't change a thing except that you would be here too jessy's dad is a fascist she says it's because he used to surf her mom put me in the hospital now she keeps trying to kill my nurse the kids in the waiting room are fighting their dad is drunk on tanqueray and doubt i'm strapped to my bed thinking of what i'll do if i get out but i wouldn't change a thing i wouldn't change a thing i wouldn't change a thing except that you would be here too i wish i could have said goodbye i wish i had known what to say but i was too busy holding you tight to notice when you slipped away my picture is in the paper the crowd is throwing stones my sister sent a letter she says i've been disowned my kitchen has been raided all they left was rotten plums i'm at my wits' end and the day has only just begun but i wouldn't change a thing i wouldn't change a thing i wouldn't change a thing except that you would be here too

i was trapped in a land where the meek and the wealthy set fire to courage in the streets every night i felt their eyes on my back so i packed my things quickly and was three hours gone by the time of first light the moon was a pendant round the neck of the heavens the river was empty, caked with the drought my mind danced through past, future and present my thoughts were of her the night i set out riding on roads wide as the prairie with a match in my pocket, and a pipe, and a pearl living on bread, apples, and whiskey and the dream of the day i could come back to the world i stopped to rest in a fishing port town where underneath battlements the elders sang songs from twilight they sang till the torches burned down then one of them approached me and looked at me long he said, "i see that you're lost. let me lend you a hand. "i can't give you the map, but i can show you the center. "the center is here, in the place where you stand. "you'll find the rest on your travels, if you only remember." riding on roads wide as the prairie with a match in my pocket, and a pipe, and a pearl living on bread, apples, and whiskey and the dream of the day i could come back to the world i lit out in search of the map he described each place i stopped had a piece to be found with guile and charm, blackmail and bribes i collected the pieces as i went town to town the seasons, they cycled as i searched all the land and on a warm august night i found the last piece i needed the map was shaped just like the palm of my hand but the marks were in code, and i could not read it riding on roads wide as the prairie with a match in my pocket, and a pipe, and a pearl living on bread, apples, and whiskey and the dream of the day i could come back to the world homeless and hopeless, listless and lost i met a ten-year-old girl in a blue and white dress. i showed her the map. i asked for her thoughts. she said, "i can't forgive sins that you haven't confessed." i looked in her eyes; i saw what she meant and thought back to the man from the fishing port town the words he had chosen were no accident and i laughed like the stars when the sun's going down i turned to the girl and said, "thanks for your help." the rain came like war being waged from above i had to get lost just to find myself now i'm headed home and won't stop till i've found my love riding on roads wide as the prairie with a match in my pocket, and a pipe, and a pearl i've been living on bread, apples, and whiskey but today is the day i come back to the world today is the day i come back to the world today is the day i come back to the world

with lips like cocaine and music in her teeth she laughs like a bandit she loves like a thief they caught her red-handed knife up her sleeve she's nothing but trouble boy, she's just what you need you should know, you should know the things she's scared to confess the knot you put in her chest you should know, you should know she's a carolina river you're california's son she thinks that you're dangerous you think she could be fun her man doesn't know you she hides your name 'neath her tongue his metalwork hands can't hold her when she starts to run you should know, you should know the things she's scared to confess the knot you put in her chest you should know, you should know she's got a jar a bootleg whisky and mischief in her eyes you have no defense, boy i don't know why you try you should know, you should know the things she's scared to confess the knot you put in her chest you should know, you should know

i've been hiding behind my eyes i've been living inside my lies tight around me like a second skin oh, my brittle armor i've been searching crowds for your smile i've been a child i've been a fool i've been running from you and you're not even there you were never really there i can't put you down i can't wash the taste of your name from my mouth i can barely remember myself but you remain you always remain i was sure that you had disappeared never to be seen again but yesterday i heard your voice in my ear it all came back to me then the feel of your fingers wrapped around mine the way you held my head when i'd had too much wine our crazy new year's eve adventures it all came back to me then i can't put you down i can't wash the taste of your name from my mouth i can barely remember myself but you remain you always remain when the desert air has dulled all of your senses when the sun burns out and you're left to wander blindly when you're bored with your suitors and all their good intentions i'll be right here, love, you know how to find me i can't put you down i can't wash the taste of your name from my mouth i can barely remember myself but you remain you always remain

the hawk is circling the city there's fever and there's famine in the streets bravery's been outlawed, candor made a sin and these days every morning tastes a bit more like defeat just close your eyes and make a wish everything will be alright close your eyes, give me a kiss everything will be alright close your eyes and turn away, what you can't see can't hurt you baby turn away, everything will be alright the sky is bruised and swollen the land belongs to gangsters and the like the mayor is a scoundrel, the cleanest cops are thieves and even when the sun comes out it feels like the dead of night just close your eyes and make a wish everything will be alright close your eyes, give me a kiss everything will be alright close your eyes and turn away, what you can't see can't hurt you baby turn away, everything will be alright everyday they say turn away everything will be ok if you just turn away i wish that i could stay that it didn't have to be this way but i can't be with you, if you believe it's true that the best that we can do is close our eyes and turn away just close your eyes and make a wish everything will be alright close your eyes, give me a kiss everything will be alright close your eyes and turn away, what you can't see can't hurt you baby turn away, everything will be alright don't turn away

you stole my name on the streets where i was raised now every day is the same my tongue is black and my eyes are grey you gave me my new name then took it back the very next day i lost my stake and i lost my claim and soon i lost my way i'm lost in you no lights, no borders, no way out i'm lost to you you loved me at first, but you're alright now you couldn't believe how easy it came you said you would never forget i thought it was life but it was just a game now you act like we've never met the doctor gave me pills for the pain but i can still feel the blood on my neck my friends, they swear that it won't leave a stain but the stain has already set i'm lost in you no lights, no borders, no way out i'm lost to you you loved me at first, but you're alright now you can't feel me anymore i'm thinner than the twilight shadows you can't hear me anymore my whisper breath is far too shallow i can't reach you anymore my chest is heavy, my feet are hollow i never dream anymore today is today is tomorrow you couldn't believe how easy it came you promised you wouldn't forget my friends say the blood won't leave a stain but the stain is long since set i'm lost in you no lights, no borders, no way out i'm lost to you you loved me at first, but you're alright now