SKEPTIC GOODBYE
all songs by Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri
© 2011 Extraneous Music LLC
1. Three Car Garage
my god how far can baby burn the noose in
what cause my god to turn his wailing loose in
and i been to the bottom of the well where he yearns in despair
‘cause i had my own and i can tell there's nothing there
it's a delusion babe
it's just a movement made
and such a ruinous way you're traveling
who'll say what shape we children bend the rules in
one way all paid no space to spare the truth in
and i been to the ragged humble hole where you learned your wordplay
three car garage and a swimming pool, nothing to say
it's a delusion babe
it's just a movement made
and such a ruinous way you're traveling
i've been brought up clean and organized
i've been each December satisfied
i've had wishes granted, none denied
i've been flown down south and Disney-fied
i sailed twenty seas of deep denial on a million frequent flyer miles
ran a gauntlet built of grocery aisles and a walking wall of guilt and bile
tell me are you not the same as me
did you pay your dues in little league
did you wash your hands of blood and breed
and stumble back in time of need
you are clever imitation mined from photographs and DVDs
you are subtle repetition tied to thirty-two-inch plasma screen
it’s a delusion babe
it’s a delusion
2. FAT AND HAPPY
adolescent longing eyes
smile and laugh and criticize
ten foot tall a sorry sight
repetition memorize
still no good so one more try
empty-hearted and resigned
i am built of lazy lies
i will cave myself in in time
stranger come and stranger go
we'll give the kids a damn good show
i'll give them every trick i know
past the street man shouting strange
he just want booze so keep your change
fat and happy, can't complain
i am built of lazy lies
i will cave myself in in time
3. WHO KNEW
if i was a cute little kid
i would show you the painting i did for you
but i'm up in the air
i'm not here and not there
if i was a sad-eyed eighteen
i would cut all the holes in your jeans for you
but now what can i say
i'm too little too late
all along I did what I could
but you tell me my timing’s no good
who knew
if i was a middle-aged man
i would buy you a new minivan or two
but i'm stumbling around
with one foot on the ground
if i was a hundred and three
i would share all my boring stories with you
but you caught me too soon
darling what can i do
all along i did what i could
but you tell me my timing's no good
who knew
if i was Marty McFly
i would go back to when we were nine or ten
and i'd be your best friend
say that i knew you when
if i was a ghost on your hall
i would haunt you and walk through your walls at night
but i'm flesh and i'm bone
and i'm stiff as a stone
all along i did what i could
but you tell me my timing's no good
who knew
4. FRYER
out of the lion's den and Daniel is tired
out of the frying pan and into the fire
kachikaooooo if all love is lost he says
why should i stay here with my skin falling off?
once Buddy was handsome, he outshone them all
now he's fat and he's lonesome with no one to call
he said oooooo if i still had my breath
well i'd run to the ocean and drown all that was left
Christine loved a nice boy until her boy died
and she's punching the walls now and wanting to cry
she says ooooo if i got me a gun
blew my brain from its body
would i finally be done?
5. SKEPTIC GOODBYE
rest your head upon me
i have seen your failures multiply
and the folds of your eyes draw a line
to the bedroom you left far behind
just as i left mine
let me stand, i am leaving for a while
this childish place in our minds
this old rusty blade in our sides
that will whittle our bodies in time
down to nothing
set your gaze beyond me, i have tried
your woebegone way to abide
your hard-hearted ocean to cry
now we're too old for biding our time
and i'm not waiting
6. JUST CAN’T SAY
hey little boy where you going
are you digging round where you don't belong
did you bust a door just to prove yourself
well you just can't say
did you earn your stripes in a haunted house while your daddy paid
did you cut and run when the poison mud monster came
did you come up lame
hey good old guy what are you doing
among the roaches and the ruins
do you think someone could pick you out
well you just can't say
how ‘bout that yuppie yankee mouth and your sunburned face
well what if sweat and grime won't kill naïveté?
what’s it gonna take
now hey there dude are you getting strong
digging these ditches all day long
did you get your kicks knocking down a wall
well you wouldn't say
did you find yourself trying to figure out why you ever came
did you find your heart in all the danger death and pain
are you just the same?
and nice young man do you feel lost
between the haves and the have-nots
will you turn your back on all you got
it's hard to say
when you see the misery that it brought a bit too late
no toxic water gonna wash your life away
you look the other way
hey buddy boy you done just fine
sucked in your gut and did your time
tell me what difference did it make
well you just can't say
are you worried now that you didn't help but you took away
well mom and dad say these things always go that way
don't it ever change
7. TEN YEARS OLD
oh you lied
reached right back, dug the knife in my side
oh i won't cry
i seen it coming such a long long time
oh my dear
i was calling for you, you were nowhere near
ooooo choking down the tears
and all i ended up was sad and full of beer
and so away you go
can't say no
i wish i was ten years old
to see you looking at me smiling shy and slow
8. OLD IDEA
now you analyze take a breath and turn your back
now you look me in the eyes sit me down and paint me black
what you wanted to find all bound up inside your head
oh you were just some old idea i had
now you're singing in the subway spilling onions from your mouth
now you're lying in the hallway trying to sink into the ground
telling stories to a screen, making signals of yourself
oh you were just some old idea i found
now you're diving to the depths of the rubble of a storm
raise your hand up in a fist, throw a chain across the door
were you lying when you said we would settle all these scores
oh you were just some old idea i wore
now you're chasing after tyrants beating drums and throwing stones
giving substance to the silence of your well-appointed home
giving comfort to the guilty with every well-intentioned blow
oh you were just some old idea i know
9. DANCE MOVES
oh what'd you come here for
with your sad look eyes and a surplus coat
is it a childish dream?
well you can always hope
but you try and you fail and you can't and you don't
and you ain't and you won't and you won't
oh seventeen you got it all laid out
you got that upward motion
you got the dance moves down
by twenty-five you're sinking underground
‘cause you try and you fail and you can't and you don't
and you ain't and you won't and you won't
10. TELEVISION
back when i was young enough to know from where i came
i saw my love be spat upon and shouted down in shame
well i hung my head and shed a tear when i went to change my name
but his honor told me don't you fear
‘cause it always ends the same
it always ends the same he said
always ends the same
oh remember dear this too shall pass
and it always ends the same
well i was feelin so alone when the congregation sang
of jesus christ and Lucifer and the price that i would pay
but the preacher told me not to fear, for they know not what they say
yeah the history is on your side and it always ends the same
it always ends the same he said
always ends the same
oh remember dear this too shall pass
and it always ends the same
now the fishes on the TV fly in circles all the same
like little children terrified by what they can't explain
but when the suburb and the sky are both awash in flame
oh the television won't survive and it always ends the same
it always ends the same ya know
always ends the same
oh remember dear this too shall pass
and it always ends the same
and when i'm finally old enough to learn to play the game
all the dinosaurs will roam the earth and resume their bloody reign
but when i hear their victory song I will hum the old refrain
no lie can live forever on and it always ends the same
it always ends the same ya know
always ends the same
oh remember dear this too shall pass
and it always ends the same
it always ends the same he said
always ends the same
oh remember dear this too shall pass
and it always ends the same
11. REMEMBER WHEN
it's a sorry state i find you in
all broken where you would not bend
with dagger drawn and steel to skin
you poke at wounds that do not mend
and i've seen you act this way before
it's not as funny anymore
with tired eyes you cross the floor
to say goodnight and close the door
the days and weeks will not be kind
to those who fight the will of time
to little boys who fantasize
and dream of toys instead of wives
and it's a sad charade i leave you in
a wicked way to see it end
still calling out without a friend
remember me, remember when
12. REALIZE
wasn't there gonna be a rolling thunder
wasn't there gonna be a vicious rain
wasn't there gonna be women and children everywhere
fleeing them planes when they came
wasn't there gonna be a riot somewhere
wasn't there gonna be a fiery fight
wasn't i gonna be throwing bottles through the air
doing my part for what's right
well it's a hard road to ride when you sit right back and realize what you're not
wasn't there gonna be a battle raging
wasn't there gonna be a crack in the sides
wasn't there gonna be cities of old men breaking down
crying with no place to hide
wasn't there gonna be a common calling
wasn't there gonna be a light in the flood
wasn't i gonna be digging up hidden treasure
instead of burying change in the mud
well it’s a hard road to ride when you sit right back and realize what you’re not
in the middle of the middle of the ocean
in the middle of the middle of the night
cast aside all my troublemaking notions
and sailed for the sedentary life
in the meadow where we struggled in the old days
only evidence of cigarettes and beer
don't look now we'll sing about it always
the grass growing wild through the years
well it’s a hard road to ride when you sit right back and realize what you’re not