Root Deco Lyrics
49 • Abduction • Alphonso • Arise • Big Parade • Bluesday • Cool Down • Dead By Morning • Deserted Cities of the Heart • Doctor • Don't Ask • Dress for Success • Eyes in the Back of My Head • Find Myself • Fins and Fangs • Good News Today! • Hole in the Sand • I Don't Want to Go to Heaven • IH8 • January Street • Kind of More or Less • Little Black Book • Little Clowns • Maybe Someday • Mr. Heart of Gold • Never Coming Down • Nightlight • O'Ryan in the Underworld • Passing Fantasy • Pinwheels • Piper • Postcard • Question Reality • Rain-Steam-Speed • Shallow Man • Snow on the Roof • S.O.S (Different Day) • Someday We're Gonna Love Again • Stone God • Stretch • Stretch2 • Subway to Paradise • Sunrise I Travel • Tough Night • UFO Blues • We Come in Peace • What Can I Say • What's With You? • Who Ties Your Shoes for You • (God Help the) Working Class

ARISE
This party has rattled on all night
The collective attire is a real fright
The cackling and yawning's incessant
Martini meets antidepressant

The boomers are gathered in full force
Reeking of smugness and remorse
Sins of the past burn deeper
When you're two steps ahead of the reaper

Arise, arise

Physical decomposition
Inspires a new disposition
The future was "luv" back in their day
Now their furure is spelled "401K"

Arise, arise

"Life's a party!" many have said it
Most have come to regret it
The antidote to self-delusion?
Mortality clears the confusion

Arise, arise

49
Heaven help George he’s turned 49
Its happened at the worst time
Lost his steady income after close to 15 years
Had so much rejection its been coming out his ears

You don’t stop playing when you grow old
No matter what they’ve all been saying
You don’t stop playing when you grow old
You grow old when you stop playing

Ms. Personal Assistant handled him
Like something she’d stepped in
He could hear her stomach start to rumble as they spoke
She stepped out for cigarettes, a soda and a stroke

You don’t stop playing when you grow old...

The doctor seems to think she’ll be alright
But it won’t happen overnight
Her boss found George’s resume and said he’d work out fine
Secretly delighted that they’d both turned 49

You don’t stop playing when you grow old...

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS
I read a self-help book one lonely night
My chosen career wasn't working out right
No one at work took me seriously
And this is what that book said to me:

"Dress for success
Dress as drab as you can
If you're a woman 'better dress like a man
Dress for success
Not style, not taste
Looking good is really a waste"

Now I'm fine and there's no turning back
My shirts are white, my shoes are black
I'm in the in-crowd I can really tell
Cuz everybody here looks like hell

Dress for success...

Chop that hair and lose that tan
They'll get in your way if you're a business man
Tighten that tie like a corporate noose
Til' your double chin hangs, soft and loose

Listen, sister, here's how to go
Cover those legs and let your crow's feet show
Spend all your time raking in loot
Cuz no one's gonna touch you in that slate gray suit

Dress for success...

FIND MYSELF
Traveleed the whole world over
Paris to Peru
Still I'm getting nowhere
Don't know what to do

I can't seem to find myself
Always looking somewhere else
I can't seem to find myself
No matter where I go

Moscow to Morocco
Maine to Mexico
I'm a pilgrim, I'm a fugitive
Sometimes I just don't know

I can't seem to find myself...

Living like a gypsy
Two things driving me
Finding what I'm looking for
Fear of what I'll see

I can't seem to find myself...

MAYBE SOMEDAY
I once owned the midnight sky
The north star would fascinate me
But I've been kind of busy lately
Maybe someday

I've hunted old Blackbeard's treasure
On islands I've come to pine for
One more thing I don't have time for
Maybe someday

I've done my bit in this digital world
Look what it's done for me

No taste of salt on an evening breeze
No temple in a tangle of trees

I've climbed an icy mountain
To find a forbidden city
Oh, well, more's the pity
Maybe someday

I've come to the realization
What price civilization?
To lose one's imagination
I'm going away

PASSING FANTASY
Dreams and fantasies, castles in the sky
Ships between the stars
Sail the heavens by

Images and forms, clouds taking shape
Players and actors await
Scenes unreal passing from where
Illussion originates

Shadows and shapes buried deep inside the mind
Soon to be released
To surface and to find

Images and forms, clouds taking shape
Players and actors await
Scenes unreal passing from where
Illussion originates

Passing Fantasy

Dreams and fantasies, journeys in twilight
A universe of self
Hope's everlasting flight

RAINBOW
Life under the rainbow is a very special time
You and your true love live in your own sweet nursery rhyme
At night with your companions, like merry buccaneers
You sail into the sunrise, on a golden sea of beer

It isn’t what it seems, it isn’t what it seems
Enjoy your cozy dream, It isn’t what it seems

Time and a princely income brings a higher class of friends
Now all who surround you are a means to your own end
Above all you’ve accomplished you take the greatest pride
In your pretty little family and your lover on the side

It isn’t what it seems, it isn’t what it seems
Despite your brilliant schemes, It isn’t what it seems

But wait, Of late, The kill has somewhat lost its thrill
A chill, But still, the forecast’s fine: the sun will shine

Your ex has vowed to haunt you until the end of time
Your money tree has withered; you’ve turned to petty crime
Each morning you awaken to a deeper shade of gray
The trouble with a rainbow: it quickly fades away

It isn’t what it seems, it isn’t what it seems
Life in its extremes, It isn’t what it seems

SNOW ON THE ROOF
It’s not the way you walk puts you in your place
Not the careful way you talk
Not the lines on your face
Not the fire in your eyes
Not the fire in your heart
Just a little thing sets you apart

Body gets to be a load; don’t throw it out the window
Run along the nearest road ‘gets thee to a gym. Though
You envy the younger set
It should be understood
Time spent looking young
Better spent looking good

Snow on the roof
It’s your crown of thorns. It’s your silver lining

You’re only old as you let others make you feel
Fix what you can and ignore what you can’t conceal

Living can be such a war; a struggle no one survives
You’re old enough to know the score, grateful just to be alive
That’s about enough said
Now you decide it:
Worry ‘bout what’s on your head
Or worry ‘bout what’s inside it

Snow on the roof

STONE GOD
Just got home after six months alone
In an under-developed nation
‘Seems the house next door’s now a car parts store
Welcome to civilization

On the meadow I loved sits a power plant
With indiscreet emissions
And the chapel on the hill’s now a parking garage
You-Know-Who’s got competition

Stone God in a heaven glass and steel
Overlord of the concrete jungle
Like all the ancient empires
Your world, too, will crumble

An old man I know says the garden he grows
Has somehow escaped detection
It’ll soon be gone, even an uncut lawn
Gives developers erections

Stone God...

The outcome of over-development should no longer be a mystery
Just the right ecological accident and
We are ancient history

Stone God...

WHAT CAN I SAY
Hello, how are you?
I've got something to say to you
Please sit down

We've come farther than most
You thought this was the one for you
What can I say?
There's just no easy way

Fun and games were just the thing
There was something only you could bring
We had our Saturday night
Things just weren't quite...

Right or wrong the feeling's gone
Do you really want to hear the reasons why?
What can I say?
There's just no easy way

Was it all for show?
You tell me, I don't know
Things just got too intense
All "S" no "M"

Hello?
Are you still there?
I know it hurts to end it all this way
What can I say?
There's just no easy way

SUNRISE I TRAVEL
I'm dreaming of a Mexican sky
And a beach where I can sit and fry
Angels with olive skin
And fences to keep them all in

I'm dreaming of a Miami moon
Margueritas and a tropical tune
A hotel with a whirlpool path
And stars to light the beaten path

I'm Oliver the Great
The world's my little onion
Its mysteries I'll unravel
Sunrise I travel

Maybe I should visit Rome
A city where you're never alone
Espresso at a quaint café
Watching little Gypsies play

Paris might be just the thing
It's beautiful in the Spring
Strolling among the steeples
Chatting with the friendly people

I'm dreaming of the Holy Land
The say that's where it all began
A pilgrimage would be so charming
Local customs can be so disarming

DESERTED CITIES OF THE HEART
(copyrighted Bruce & Brown)
Misty streets, downcast eyes
Dusty phantoms pass me by
Streetlamps glow, neon hums
I roam a shadow land my senses numb

We were on the way
Golden days and dreams
Now my heart longs for those lost dreams

Comet came, called it a star
Hitched a ride and said "how bright we are"
Lit the sky, burned out fast
Nothing left but ashes of the past

We were on the way...

Is this how the story ends?
Will never see you again?
Round and round and round we go
On this carousel of lonely souls

We were on the way...

Lightning flashes cross the sky
Recognition lights a dancing eye
I stop and peer through the rain
Did I hear somebody call my name?

We were on the way...

COOL DOWN
Call a meeting right away
You saw me on the street today
Go to church and get your gun
Lock up your children, every one

I am different by design
I can't change, I gave up trying
I know I don't fit in here
Sticks and stones have made that clear

Cool down
Thought I'm a stranger
This town Is not in danger
Cool down
Let's get along
Cool down

Listen, we're stuck with each other
Drive me out there'll be another
Trust me things will work out fine
You toe your line, I'll toe mine

Cool down…

You touched my hand I didn't bight
So you can finally sleep tonight
Pray I never let you see
What your kind has done to me

Cool down…

GOOD NEWS TODAY!
Good News Today! Good News Today!
 The sky didn’t fall!
The sun went down, the sun came up,
We’re still here after all

Year after year, we’re fed nothing but fear
If you listen to the press, well, everything’s a mess
Don’t believe that stuff you hear

Good News Today! Good News Today!
The earth still spins!
Another day, another way
To fix the fix we’re in

Heaven knows, we’ve got a long way to go
But we’re still breathin’ and that’s enough reason
Just to get on with the show

Don’t make room for the prophets of doom spreading their disease
Since days of old they’ve been fighting for control
With their yellin’ and foretellin’ that we’re gonna go to hell unless we
Get down on our knees

Dry those eyes, there’s no need to cry
If we all stick together it’s bound to get better
All we have to do is try

Good News Today! Good News Today!
Birds still sing!
And hope still blooms that someday soon
We’re sure to spread our wings

DON'T ASK
I live in a dump near Chinatown
You're there in the lobby hanging round
See my Benz all covered in rust
See my suit all covered in dust

Don't ask, don't ask, don’t ask
Heed my warning, or you’re dead by morning

I'm back at dawn with my arm in a sling
A hard night's work but I don't feel a thing
No one in sight but I'm not alone
You're nearby; I can smell your cologne

Don't ask, don't ask, don’t ask...

'Bought a Jeep, my Merc’s shot up
You said, "Nice car," I said, "Shut up"
Cleaners called about my clothes
They couldn't see the cloth for the bullet holes

Heed my warning, or you’re dead by morning

JANUARY STREET
Snow on January Street
Melts in grim and graying heaps
Long, tan, trails, traffic snakes,
Greetings on a grimy cake

From the stars we came as visitors
I got shot, men took me prisoner
I hope you got far away
While here I stay
Come soon, we’ll meet on January Street

We bore them a brand new dawn
When we touched down on the White House lawn
We had come so very far
How heartless they are
Come soon, we’ll meet on January Street

My mind’s a refuge without hope
The trap is sprung and I can’t cope
I watch the traffic far below
The asylum window
Come soon, we’ll meet on January Street

QUESTION REALITY
Fairies ‘round your bed
Your children in disguise?
No, they couldn’t fake those eyes
Voices in your head

Must’ve overslept
Such a silly dream
Odd, how real it seemed
Bruises on your neck    

Believe what you can’t see
Question reality

Starships come and go
Cows fall from the sky
Rumbles deep below
Too tired to wonder why

Strange trails overhead
Got to get to bed
Back to sleep and then
Here’s that dream again

Don’t fear insanity
Question reality

The men who sold the earth
Couldn’t get what it was worth
They had to sell us cheap
To those who rule our sleep

Let’s direct our prayers
To favorably inclined
Angels everywhere
There’s precious little time

This life’s a fantasy
Question Reality                 

DEAD BY MORNING
I live in a dump near Chinatown
You’re there in the lobby hangin’ round
 You See my Benz shot full of holes
See the blood upon my clothes
(chorus) Don’t ask, don’t ask
Heed my warning or you’re dead by morning

I’m back at dawn, my arm’s in a sling
A hard night’s work but I don’t feel a thing
No one in sight but I’m not alone
You’re nearby I can smell your cologne
Don’t ask, don’t ask
Heed my warning or you’re dead by morning 

Idle curiosity often ends in tragedy
Once you guess the game I’m in
Say farewell to your next of kin
Don’t ask, don’t ask
Heed my warning or you’re dead by morning 

I DON'T WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN
I don't want to go heaven
If my dog gets left behind
I won't go where they're not wanted
You go on (I don't mind)

I don't want to go to heaven
If the saints all look like me
My idea of true salvation
Isn't color conformity

I don't want to go to heaven
If the streets are paved with gold
I couldn't watch all those poor angels
Sewing pockets on their white robes

Ain't no use to follow Satan
Just for power on this earth
When ashes fall to ashes
Nothing's left of any worth

I know beggars can't be choosers
But there's one more thing I know
If I ever get to heaven
It won't be 'cause I was forced to go

ABDUCTION
Suddenly, fatigue sets in
Troubled thoughts not your own
Deep inside you're not alone
Surrender now you cannot win

Vast and empty, darkened space
Inky blackness engulfing you
Cease your struggle

Into darkness down you race
Senses failing you're growing cold
You've revived a god of old
You can rest, I'll take your place

Vast and empty, darkened space
Spell advances, nightmare pace
Lost in wonder

I'll weave a web of eldritch lore
With your passing will come a change
Images, occult and strange
Slumber now and evermore

BLUESDAY
When my thoughts turn grey
Just your smile can drive the clouds away
I don’t believe a word I say

Bluesday

Tell me what is the use
I’m wrung out and I’ve got no excuse
I’m tired of all the games I play

Bluesday

I’ve been kidding myself for too long
When things look right they can’t be wrong
The tears I can’t explain away

Bluesday

Always restless at night
Can’t ignore the silver starlight
Wind in the leaves singing songs
Blow away the dawn

After all the tricks I’ve tried
I can’t find a fix for Mr. Hyde
Still, someday, I pray I may

Bluesday

HOLE IN THE SAND
Another bright young family
Another fiery crash
Hit head-on, incinerated
By low-life drunken trash

A black man’s executed
Innocent it seems
Somewhere a woman’s mutilated
By the husband of her dreams

You can’t pour the sea in a hole in the sand
Believe there’s a reason we’ll never understand

The doctor loses patients
She can’t reason why
God saves the self-destructive, let’s little children die

Here’s the somber artist
To catch what we can’t handle
Lives to curse the darkness, too cool to light a candle

You can’t pour the sea in a hole in the sand...

Shake your head in sorrow
Shake your fist at the sky
Send a pig to pilot school
Still ain’t gonna fly

You can’t pour the sea in a hole in the sand...

LITTLE CLOWNS
Its 4 a.m. can't stay asleep
Never make it through this week
I give up, crawl out of bed
Burn some coffee, clear my head
Walk to the convenience store

Buy a number, just one more
I can win if I just play
And pigs grow wings and fly away

Little clowns only you
And the magic that you do
Can set me free
This feelings killing me

Its dawn, I'm home, turn on the tube
Desperate to change my mood
Skip the sex and surly youth
In Looney Tunes I seek the truth

Trouble comes and money goes
Bank took my car and don't you know
I lost my job, I heard it on the news
Seeing those less fortunate
I look away, I can't forget
So many more blessing left to lose

Here's the Three Stooges, my old friends
Seems their hard luck never ends
Something catches my minds eye:
Sometimes you win by getting by

WE COME IN PEACE
A shadow drifts across the night
Edges tipped in pail blue light
Word gets round and soon crowds grow
Everyone’s hot for UFO’s
Visitors from Outer Space!
Hurry up! Clean up the place!
Hold the whitewash, look around
Scouts have long been on the ground

We come in peace. We come in peace
For now, at least, we come in peace

That homeless guy’s not what you think
Flashes you a knowing wink
The schoolgirl with the almond eyes
Smiles and glances at the sky
Signs and circles flatten crops
A prelude to a supply drop
Treat your houseplants very well
You don’t know the tales they tell

We come in peace...

Science and scripture vied since birth
To retrofit mankind on earth
Centuries of solemn tracts
To justify barbaric acts
We who guide the circular craft
Heard the stories had to laugh
Hips in the sewer, heads in the stars
You’re doing this world like you did Mars

We come in peace...

POSTCARD
Hi. I'm fine. Tell me all about yourself
What did you eat? Where did you go?
How's your mom? How's that gifted kid of yours?
A genius. Yeah, I know

Where did you live that I can only dream about?
What do you have that I can't afford?
Pardon my yawn, it must be getting warm in here
No, I'm not bored

You're a postcard of yourself
An insincere embrace

A postcard of yourself
A memory of a pretty place

How's your game? Tennis, chess or racquetball?
I know you play each very well
You in a sweat is frightening to imagine though
I'm sure it doesn't smell

You're a postcard of yourself
A slightly stale bouquet
A postcard of yourself
An airbrushed holiday

Oh, by the way, I missed you at the show last night
That murder flick. Oh, you forgot?
That's okay, we'll try again some other time
That film taught me alot

You're a postcard of yourself
A doll that "wishes you were here"
A postcard of yourself
A cheesy little souvenir

SHALLOW MAN
I have what I wanted
More than I need
But I feel I'm haunted
By the wages of greed

Black depression
Troubled dreams
Craving agression
To let off steam

I admit for concessions
And liberties
I commit transgressions
It's expected of me

I'm introspective
As time overtakes me

When I'm most reflective
Life's purpose escapes me

I toy with the notion
Of starting again
Use prayer and devotion
To make amends

Angels ignore me
I believe
Devils run before me
Who does that leave?

You can grudge me
The scraps I'm thrown
Just don't dare judge me
Look to your own

(GOD HELP) THE WORKING CLASS
Look at the headlines
Big companies feeling the heat
They're vomiting workers
All over the street

Soldiers In breadlines
Not trained for this kind of defeat
Sleeping on sidewalks
Newspaper pages for sheets

God help the working class
Backs to the wall
God help the working class
Don't deserve this at all

Pink slip composers
Never ask "why? Only ask "when?"
Selling their souls
To shallow men

Bring back the fifties
A house and a job meant life was complete
Now, if you're lucky
You make ends meet

God help the working class….

Honest people everywhere shake their heads and wonder why
Old-fashioned security is so hard to come by

People on wallstreet
Sit at the banquet while we pay the bill
If their conscience don't kill them
Their lifestyle will

God help the working class….

STRETCH2
Watch yourself around those who
Suck the joy right out of you
They catch wind of good deeds done
See them circle in the sun

Stretch

A man once gave the needy food,
Stung by their ingratitude
He gave the rest to homeless dogs
The dogs wagged their tales

Stretch

The more you give the more they take,
Bend you backwards ‘til you break
Hit you up and bleed you
Always there if they need you

Stretch

SUBWAY TO PARADISE
It's tough, tough, tough hanging on
In this high-priced wonderland
All the signs read "Exit As Fast As You Can"
But not me
I'm simple but free
I'm buying my ticket
I'm paying the price
On the subway to paradise

Some folks are born
Silver spoon in mouth
Some with the spoon
A lot farther south
After the joyride

They burn by the wayside
You smell the smoke
You don't think twice
On the subway to paradise

This modern world can soon bring you down
But you get stronger the longer you're around
Some make it a game
Some make it a war
Some make it a color they've never seen before
I wake up at night
In a hot sweat
Sick over something

Hasn't even happend yet
I've got to quit whining
And claw at the silver lining
It isn't easy
It isn't nice
Keeping your soul on ice

They say the end
Can justify the means
You avoid the eye contact
And keep your nose clean
You may get there late
But it's worth the wait
When life get's tricky
Take my advice
Get on the subway to paradise

S.O.S. (DIFFERENT DAY)
And so the good times grind to a halt
Some poeple swear it's the government's fault
Grandfather sees it another way
"S.O.S different day"

Minister told me attendance gone south
People blame God when things don't work out
I looked in his eyes and all I could say,
"S.O.S different day"

Geniuses yelling all over town
"Bankers to blame for what's gone down!"
But we've been spending way more than we earn
It cost us the house, but we never learn

Money tree just dried up and died
We knew all along it was rotten inside
Looks like the devil's come for his pay
"S.O.S different day"

Hold up a minute, what's that sound?
The old gravy train just turned back around
Choirs of angels singing "Hooray!"
"S.O.S different day"
"S.O.S different day"

NIGHTLIGHT
When we lay us down to sleep
When it hurts to be awake
We begin to weep
Pray the Lord our souls to take
Living a lie called rhythm and rhyme
All hope we soon surrender

When we become obsessed
With unrelieved oppression
We become possessed
By the darkest of depression
Weary dreams of happier times
Like slowly dying embers

Rising high above this old ghost town
Find her as she passes
Leaving in her wake a trail of stars
Shining in the ashes

Then there's a halo around the bed
The curtains all aglow
We dare raise our heads
And look to the window

Clouds around a cold, gray world
Split and cracks and shatter
How little they matter

Rising high above….

Her light ignites a masque of mirrors
Turning gold and silver
The salt in our tears                      

Rising high above…    

FINS AND FANGS
Conformity's nice, you always know just what to wear
And what to think, and whether or not to care
The older I get the more I’d like to fit in
But it's been so long, I wouldn't know where to begin

Could I be normal, even if given the chance?
If I stopped singing, maybe I’d learn how to dance
Would it be comforting being a lamb among sheep?
Being uninteresting but getting plenty of sleep

You miss the ordinary things
When you have fins and fangs and wings

If I have a purpose it's basically all about
Tapping at windows, beckoning you to come out
Secretly wondering what it's like inside
Secretly wishing I also had someplace to hide

(Is he really serious, or just being mysterious
does he think we care? He’s smiling now I’m scared) 

You miss the ordinary things...

Freethinking’s deadly, it's better never to start
Loneliness bends those Society can't break apart
Keep to your flock or your chance of survival is slim
Jesus was different, look what they did to him

You miss the ordinary things
When you have fins and fangs and wings
Trouble's all tomorrow brings
When you have fins and fangs and wings

MR. HEART OF GOLD
Had a lot of money
Spread it around
I had friends
All over town
You’d need something, you'd be told
"Go see Mr. Heart of Gold"

You get a little frisky
And land in jail
I'd come right down
And pay your bail
If you draw time you’d get paroled
Thanks to Mr. Heart of Gold

The market crashed, my fortune gone
All my good friends just said "so long"
My car repo'd, my oven cold
'Cause I couldn't cash a heart of gold

Bill collectors in my face, furniture in the fireplace
Went to the bank to get a loan, and they turn round and sell my home

Then I hit the number
What a change that caused
Hello, dear friends
"Hello, Santa Claus!"
Sorry gang, that stuff’s got old
No more Mr. Heart of Gold

UFO BLUES
My last bridge is burning; I believe it’s the end
Caffeine and sugar are my last two friends
And I’m running down State Street screamin’ it out:

“E.T. found Chicago, have you heard the news?!”
Chicago’s got the UFO blues!

Men in Black about to shut me down
My own family treats me like a circus clown
Seeking the truth is my only crime

People of Chicago, what you going to do?
Chicago’s got the UFO blues!

Don’t do what I did, the stakes are too high
The only stars in this show are lights in the sky
But, somehow, this has got to come out

All over the world you’re seeing them, too
The world’s got the UFO blues!

They ‘re over O’Hare. Doesn’t anybody care?
Chicago’s got the UFO blues!