The Cookie Jar

I’m making milkshakes
Anyone care for one?
Can you hear me out on the balcony
Or are you having too much fun?

It’s amazing
We’re awake and out of the house
While the sun’s still out
In fact I do believe I’ve been missing

Well it’s a pot luck, baby
Gentlemen and ladies
Just bring what you got
A casserole maybe
It’s a pot luck, bro
Forget the Alamo
Just bring what you got
And turn up the radio
It’s a pot luck, dude
With a tranquil mood
Just bring what you got
Even if it’s Elmer’s Glue
It’s a pot luck, friend
Point your exclamation
Just bring what you got
Before the whole thing ends

I can do a handstand
For 3 minutes straight
I’d prove it to you in a second, girl
But, ya know, I just ate
Eric found a garden hose
There’s some dish soap inside
Find a couple of garbage bags
Let’s make a slip and slide

Well it’s a pot luck, baby
Gentlemen and ladies
Just bring what you got
A casserole maybe
It’s a pot luck, bro
Forget the Alamo
Just bring what you got
And turn up the radio
It’s a pot luck, dude
With a tranquil mood
Just bring what you got
Even if it’s Elmer’s Glue
It’s a pot luck, friend
Point your exclamation
Just bring what you got
Before the whole thing ends

Cause I took a day off from my minimum-wage life
Lo and behold well within my sights
Was easily the answer to my drudgery
Like Simba, Pumba, and Timon in The Lion King
I was like “hakunaa matataa” people thought I was trippin’
On a mission on my way out of this repetition
I’m easily pleased, in fact all I need
Is a burger with a bun featuring sesame seeds
And a piece of cheese just to put it on point
For dessert, in my pocket, got a chocolate coin
Forgotten are the colors that cloud my great sky
There’s a dark-haired girl I just gave the eye
I’m about to type her up like a book report
And I’m glad no one’s clowning that I’m wearing shorts
We’ll head to Arnold’s later in the evening
For a movie and a jimi thing to keep us swinging

Do you think it’s enough time
I mean, the rest of our lives,
Measured out so carefully?
See us squander it away
My love, let’s find a hiding place
So deep and too, we pray, uncharted
Back around to where we started

And the world so dizzily
Only this spell of tragedy
Seems to snatch these lies we’ve spun
Break free, my tangled one
My chance to get in line has past
And it would only put me last
Back around to where we started

Back around to where we started
Now the genius seems outsmarted
And the lives we live
We live to catch a glimpse
Of the lives we lived
We live to catch a glimpse

But oh my
It is all an uphill climb
And I am only one

Where the evening greets the day
Before they go their separate ways
Our lips fall into place
Just to allow ourselves a taste
Of the heaven we create
When the cookie jar’s unguarded
Back around to where we started

Back around to where we started
Now the genius seems outsmarted
Dreamer virtue- disregarded
Complication instead is fathered
And too heavy too be bothered
All but sips of love have parted
From even the most open-hearted
Forced to close their eyes and bargain
For the lives we live
We live to catch a glimpse
Of the lives we lived
We live to catch a glimpse
Of the lives we lived
We live to catch a glimpse
Or another kiss

She figured to be just like a bird
She’d have to learn how to fly
The rest could easily be left up in the air
Watching the planes head over her
Learning to let sleeping dogs lie
Found a whole sky up above and took her share

But in a dream, it always seems to make sense
There’s no consequence; it’s all innocence
What would you do if you’re life was a dream?
Well it is, so wake up, Christine

It’s getting hard just to dream
We ourselves make it so
You wouldn’t know me from the faces on the wall
A memory succumb to need
Took the parade on my own
And that’s always when the rain starts to fall

But in a dream, it all always seems to make sense
There’s no consequence; it’s all innocence
What would you do if you’re life was a dream?
Well it is, so wake up, Christine

I don’t know quite what to think
So I wouldn’t know what to say
The worse things always seem to wake me
We’re reaching out at night
But it all just flies away
And we toss and turn it off of us instead of chasing

But in a dream, it all always seems to make sense
There’s no consequence; it’s all innocence
What would you do if you’re life was a dream?
Well it is, so wake up, Christine

The Wrong Room (and Conversation Fuckup)

Why did I sample Freddie’s ganja balls?
He seemed so harmless stumbling down the hall
Asking if anyone wanted a good time tonight
But my naivety was seen as an invite

And now I’ve ended up in the wrong room
My innocence was taken a bit too soon
Cause the oven assured me there’d always be hope
But the microwave told me my life was joke

He gave me the special, surely ‘cause of my zeal
Three for eight dollars is a damn good deal
I ate the first one and my hand started looking funny
Then I had the other two because I got really hungry

But now I’ve ended up in the wrong room
My innocence was taken a bit too soon
Cause the oven assured me there’d always be hope
But the microwave told me my life was joke

Dropouts love to argue about the government
From now on I swear I’m gonna live by the Ten Commandments
I even started laughing trying to tie my shoe
Woke up three days later in bed with a broom

And now I’ve ended up in the wrong room
My innocence was taken a bit too soon
Cause the oven assured me there’d always be hope
But the microwave told me my life was joke

—

If you think about it long enough
The matter will get covered up
I’m not the same, I’m no different than anyone at all
But you

And what I forget to say every time
Is everything that’s been on my mind
Don’t walk away, there’s nothing that I need in the world
But you

Angela, did you like me better when I was somebody else?
Was it cool, the way I didn’t care about how anyone felt?
You fell right into it

Angela, I tried to win your heart about seven days back
Remember Zack, the guy who told the diet jokes that no one laughed at?
He’s the same as me

What you think I am isn’t anymore than
What I think you want me to be
And what I think you are is mainly influenced
By what’s on MTV
We both could be wrong

Angela, my closest Miss America
Judgmental hysteria
In all that you do
The guys you date got dumped by girls their own age
You think they’re cool anyway
They’re faking it too

Angela, should I go out and buy a bunch of Hurley shirts?
Should I not call? Or should I just ignore you ‘cause I heard that it works?
I read it in the new Maxim

What you think I am isn’t anymore than
What I think you want me to be
And what I think you are is mainly influenced
By what’s on MTV
We both could be wrong

Angela, my closest Miss America
Judgmental hysteria
In all that you do
The guys you date got dumped by girls their own age
You think they’re cool anyway
They’re faking it too
Baby just like you

An otherworldly chance encounter
The aftermath of honest mistakes
Led us to one another
Not an early moment too late
Many doses of magic
Many sweet things drew me to you
Most important of all…

Is your sanguine nature
Coloring the gray of the world
To a permanent stranger
Anywhere can turn into home

And now i can’t see life
Without the comforts of

Your mattress on the carpet
Sangria in the mid afternoon
And your delicate footsteps
Guided by the phase of the moon

And now i will not rest until
Until i understand
How all of this began
How at a moment’s notice
Life itself can flip
And land right in our hands
But the start of it all…

Is your sanguine nature
Coloring the gray of the world
To a permanent stranger
Anywhere can turn into home
Harmony with the senses
Union with rhythms of love
It’s your sanguine nature
Tender to the finishing touch

And now i will not rest
Until i can define
How much you mean to me
In every dimension
From all perspectives
And into eternity
But the point of it all

Is your sanguine nature
Coloring the gray of the world
To a permanent stranger
Anywhere can turn into home

And now i can’t see life
Without the comforts of
Your sanguine nature

Imagine: tomorrow’s fingerpaint
swirling across your canvas framed
from paintbrushes in a singular shade
blended in thought, we can recreate

a melted winter that yield’s my heart
chasing after a novel start
it’s led me to lean here on somebody’s car
with the weight of the world held in my arms

now we both, on tiptoes
are moving one way to another
the common cold and blindfolds
are politely painted over
it’s all up to you and me– it’s kinda frightening

but forgotten thankfully:
circles spun when i couldn’t sleep
sidewalk pitches with a held out hand
too many times, how many just past

but now you swim in my sweatshirt
and sprinkle your flavor onto tasteless words
of things I notice but I can’t explain
I swear it’s brand new but you say “nah, it’s been this way”

and we both, on tiptoes
are moving one way to another
the common cold and blindfolds
are politely painted over
it’s too much for me my love, it’s too much for me

so that night as stars rained
‘cross a 16×20 sky renamed
for corner eye glances that secretly meet
the heat left by a cold’s retreat

tomorrow, on tiptoes
i’m moving one way to another
the common cold and blindfolds
politely painting over
her memory
i’m moving one way to another
i’m touching it up, i admit
but nobody will notice

i’ll tell the story of a crumbling man
i’d call him by his name but i don’t think i can
mountains laid upon mountains
i figure is exactly how it happens

to each man his cross
to each man his boss
it’s cost- hope lost

the burning bush that lit the world on fire
to constitute what’s true and damn the liars
you let it spread, you let it move you there
and what is worse you stil don’t seem to care

to each man his cross
to each man his boss
it’s cost- hope lost

(in some versions there is a rap by Gus Iversen here, lyrics unknown)

follow my pocket watch from side to side
there’s not a spot of shade the sun can’t hide
that million mouths to feed in your withered hands
is still your ticket to the promised land

wake up, it’s seven thirty
I don’t know how I got up this early
but for some people it’s not early at all
I hate to break it to you
I’m just doing what you told me to
and if it were up to me I’d let you be

but it’s a perfect day
I bet the sun will shine nice too
I wish you could stay
’cause I love you

you wouldn’t believe me now
if I told you you’d been sleeping for hours
and I hope all the dreams you had come true

unless they’re the crazy kind
like where you just run or dead folks come alive
I had one once where I made out with Mick Jagger’s mom

but it’s a perfect day
I bet the sun will shine nice too
I wish you could stay
’cause I love you

I never had the chance to tell you thank you
I never could have been a thing without you
just looking at you has given me the chance to see
how little you take and how much you give me

and I’d be down if you skipped it
no one would know, we could say you were sick
I just want to spend every moment with you

on this perfect day
they even said so on the news
I wish you could stay
cause I love you
I love you- yes I do!

it’s all me, it’s all my imagination
it’s calling, when i run through the door it stops ringing
tho it seems, life’s just one habituation
of all the things so important to me that i keep losing

but no one ever taught me how to breathe
some things so important come so naturally
rattle bibble-babbling baby
only has to do what’s got to be done
and it’s all fun
til someone gets hurt
be it the good sport
i like awake thinking
thoughts like a mobile spinning around my head
do i ever comprehend?
i could lie just to justify
and continue to hold it in

stay with me, i just want someone to hold on to
our hearts beat at the exact same speed, it’s too much for me
all at once, life grips hard and what do you do?
run away, run, run, now i can too
i take responsibility for what i do

letting my instincts make the rules
the curtain falls, a trigger is pulled
another audience sent away fooled

only til the dull between warring sides
left brain and right are finalized
we forever fight
well maybe it’s beyond us
on the same bus
how to just ride
or please the one who drives
pick your side
be it fast or slow
in teaspoons or full bowls
what you think you know

but no one ever taught me how to breathe
some things so important come so naturally
debt to pay, boulders to carry
to prove or keep you’re life a theory

i’ve got the answer for you!
no one ever said, no i never said that it was true
what’s even more of a lie
is that i could let you, that you could let me pass by

a twilight kiss and your hair
and your little toes, those toes goes wiggling everywhere
leave it all up in the air
’cause what i’ve got looks even sweeter than i thought from up there

tomorrow will come, tomorrow will go
but today is you and today is me, Valerie

she led me onto her bus
someone sitting on that fingernail moon was watching us
she said “don’t forget about your stop
’cause where you got on is the only other place you can get off”

and i took her right by the hand
lying in the grass wondering what the stars have got planned
here’s a kiss for magic
just in case that didn’t work on you, here’s another for the magicless

tomorrow will come, tomorrow will go
but today it’s you and today it’s me, Valerie

i’ve got the answer for you!
no one ever said, no i never said that it was true
i just follow all of your clues

the editors are getting ready to snip
be on your best behavior, learn to read lips
don’t speak of the management, don’t look anyone in the eye
just follow the plot a bit and always act surprised

standing in circles she scans every plastic pose
buy it in another color, honey, hope nobody knows
this is a car dealership more than any party
a baby carrot blonde sticks the sticker price on me

while out in the rain
fishermen complain
of stolen bait
but ethan lane
can only say
“maybe it’s mind over matter
but sometimes it’s matter over mind”

you pay your bus fare and you find yourself a seat
somewhere inconspicuous but where everyone can see
shadows take your every move, you’re signing copies
of a predictable novel on originality

tomorrow’s matter it is well within your reach
but that’s not what you’ve been taught nor is it what you teach
but who are you to poke your nose around what’s different
when everyone claims your gravity as their creation

while out in the rain
fishermen complain
of stolen bait
or they can’t get laid
but Ethan says
“maybe it’s mind over matter
but maybe it’s matter over mind”

Beth’s got pictures of the boys she likes
priests got pictures of jesus christ
the Pres has got pictures of the world
the old got pictures of when they weren’t so old
but when no one smiles when you say cheese
just blame it all on Adam and Eve

the scared take the angle of security
the jailed take the angle of getting free
the poor take the angle of getting rich
the rich take the angle of proving it
but if you find you’re failing geometry
just blame it all on Adam and Eve

scamps watch Sam dress up like Bill Gates
order me a salad i’m watching my weight
gamblers watch cable when they’re short on stress
models watch a mirror they can never impress
when what you get ain’t what you see
just blame it all on Adam and Eve

kids follow mommy so they don’t get lost
housewives follow soap opera plots
and dogs follow scents buried into the ground
the moon follows the earth around
so quit complaining about the life you lead
and just blame it all on Adam and Eve

once i find my place, that’s where i’m gonna stay
once i find my place, that’s where i’m gonna stay
once i find my place, if down any road i stray
deep down inside, i’m gonna know it’s the wrong way

look at our lives, on the inside
and it’s the same thoughts we think
and it’s the same words we speak

once i find my place, that’s where i’m gonna stay
once i find my place, that’s where i’m gonna stay
once i find my place, if down any road i stray
deep down inside, i’m gonna know it’s the wrong way

look at our lives, on the inside
and on the same things we rely
and the same things we despise

once i find my place, that’s where i’m gonna stay