I'm hanging out with the hens Trying to keep the hawk away I don't know if it matters When I go they'll probably get one anyway And if it does that's because it is And if it don't, all the better We probably need to improve our strategies For thwarting predators I need a job But I don't really want one I guess I'm not trying that hard But something better come along And if it does that's because it is And if it don't, I'll be broke Spend too much time with a noose around your neck You're gonna choke Nobody told me I'd end up this way No one said "Hey, Louis- you better change your ways" I hit a wall That I have to break through I cannot get over or go around I don't know what to do And if it does that's because it is And if it don't, well... At some point it's not going to anymore But I'm not ok with that

There's a girl I used to know Haven't seen her in years She lives somewhere down that road A long way from here Used to drive down to Chapel Hill To sit in a cold room doing acid and pills The heat outside was like a glove I didn't want to put on 15-501 That's what she used to say 15-501 I'm on that road today But you know it's not the same road I used to know Or maybe it's still the same road And I'm just feeling old I thought I'd start the next R.E.M. But things went south in Asheville, I had to go north again I'm coming down the coast now with a band 15-501 here I am 15-501's not that great Gotta time your movements or you're gonna be late I learned that early on But it didn't stop me from driving on 15-501

Now there's nothing left That looks edible I lost the fight with the vegetables They were looking unstable- The aubergine was leaving calling cards At crime scenes In the crisper And the condiments had begun to whisper 'Bout where the mustard went I was gonna throw 'em out Cause I couldn't eat 'em But I knew that I would miss them They talk to me Late at night And tell me that I'm not feeling right To be confessing to the cottage cheese And making time for the old roast beef Fridge Safari I've got my uzi I've got my khakis And my koozie Don't need no credit card, don't need no drugs I'm bringing home a brand new rug The mashed potatoes are talking politics They're egging on The aspic The ground buffalo Is grazing The cheese drawer- still raining The slice of wedding cake that must've been frozen once Is campaigning to be the chosen one I had to close the door And not go there anymore I unplugged it a few weeks ago So the aubergine And his crime sprees The cottage cheese- listening There's nothing left That's edible I lost the fight with the vegetables Fridge Safari I got my uzi Brought my khakis And my koozie Don't need no credit cards, don't need no drugs I'm bringing home a brand new rug

I came to an island Everybody was smilin' They wanted to trade their loin cloths For my sunglasses I didn't wanna trade So I put them in chains And sold them into slavery To the middle classes I was only trying to subsidize my suntan And another race learns too late to hate the white man I encountered some natives Hoeing potatoes And indicated I could help With distribution I spoke with their chief Who was filled with relief To be trading tubers For munitions We smoked the pipe and I shook his hand And another race learns too late to hate the white man I stumbled in to Eden But the serpent had beat me So I skinned him and climbed inside But when it all finished I had still on my wish list Exemption from the cruel touch of time I was only trying to lend a helping hand And another race learns too late to hate the white man I found a feast They'd brought down the beast And made it ready for consumption The food was delicious But I was suspicious It tasted too familiar Perhaps I'll learn to fast And another race learns to taste the white man

You sailed your skiff on the seas alone Found some land and called it home The soil was good to raise your greens The natives were friendly and shared your dreams So why leave Providence again? Lotta Brown girls there could hold your hand Should your crops fail or the winter wind Comes blowing through again Times are good, look at all your friends Coming over- money's rolling in You're on the phone, you're a business man Your sails' in rags but you won't be needing it So why leave Providence again? Lotta Brown girls there could hold your hand Should your crops fail or the winter wind Comes blowing through again The best of times your words split the light But last time I saw you, you said dark is right I don't know 'bout that, I'm no wise man But anyone could see you've left the band So why leave Providence again? Lotta Brown girls there could hold your hand Should your crops fail or the winter winds Come blowing through again

All this time I spent drinking I could've been breathing After all I was on dry land But evolution's hard With all these girls around To lend a hand I went down in the rocks The layers there were just like clocks I slipped inside them for to sleep And found myself lost at sea You could spend a long time there Well-entertained But it goes by fast For all the time I spent solo Now there's not much to show But a lonely man I went down to the island The one, you know, where everybody is smilin' And I got held up for a spell But that's all I want to tell I was gone for so long When I came home I couldn't string my bow And I lost the fight But that's not how The story goes... Too long eating coconuts Will put a man in a rut But too long in the wine Can leave a man too far behind All this time I spent drinking...

Saw you just the other day Carrying a heavy load You looked good- and ready Ready to let it go All day Shine away Your love will stay In rays and in rings That color everything Feels like a good day to go I've been waiting all my life And it sounds like a symphony When I head into the light All day Shine away Your love will stay In rays and in rings That color everything I thought I could take my time But now I find time has taken me I look around at all I lost And it just helps me see- There's nothing left to do But shine a little light And though the darkness round me rolls Everything is alright All day Shine Away Your love will stay In rays and in rings That color everything

Rural Girl hollerin' from the hillside She wants to know if I wanna come over Her father has killed a groundhog And I have a dog that he wants It's hard to know If I'll be getting an even trade But either way- I've got it made Rural Girl, I like the way You handle a gun You can field dress a deer and drink a beer You're always having fun Your mother's not a cow, and I want you right now Things are lookin' good I got a car that you could get in If you would Rural Girl gathering poke greens But I know they're poison I'd call her out, but I'm too late- The bell is already calling the boys in And they'll come in with their empty plates Freshly scrubbed and shaved I'll sit by and just smile While they miss their dates Rural Girl, every day You fill my life with laughter I wanna sleep with you every night And wake up every morning after You're a woman of the land And I can understand when we're naked Your brother disapproves, but I think I have the moves To take him

Call up your friends to play Gonna be a snow day today Pull out the chest of games and while the day away Gonna be a snow day today Listening to the radio Waiting for the list of cancellations to let us know If we've got the day to spend building castles in the snow Nowhere we have gotta go Woken up by the clock It's still dark outside but I've gotta get to the job Scrape off the windshield and turn the heater on I gotta get to the job Working inside all day Thinking of a snowy field a thousand miles away Looking out at a parking lot and a four lane highway Gonna be a long day today There's a forest in my mind There's still a place that hasn't heard the motor whine There are still mountain tops that tires haven't lined In this heart of mine So call up your friends to play Gonna be a snow day today Pull out the chest of games and while the day away Gonna be a snow day today

Number my pleasures and call them sins Take my picture and turn me in Everything you said tonight was true But that's not going to change what I want to do Been doing it for so long Doing it far too long To be movin' on Come together or fall apart Things could end before they start I had a dream last night about you And when I woke I hoped the dream was true But the dream was wrong I did not belong I was movin' on Life comes quickly- you can dive right in And keep on running until the end Comes a time you're ready to lay down And plant your feet down on your chosen ground Don't say that my time has come I'm having too much fun Movin' on I found some places I wish I'd stayed Smiling faces and perfect days Friends and family gathered round the fire Working at our tasks until we tire But somewhere I lost my way I let it slip away I was movin' on Let's come together- let's stay that way Let's be naked when we play Let's drop our clothes and burdens by the stream Mingle in the current as in dreams Been dreaming of you so long Dreaming of this too long To be movin' on

You told me at the diner You were leaving town I chewed my food and looked away I had a job I might've left But I never heard you ask me to come along So I'm still changing sheets And trying to keep things neat Here at the old hotel in Fort Nelson The road goes both ways For days and days But where it might end up- there's no telling Grandpa came with the Al-Can Back in '42 And he stayed on for a place in the shale He had Grandma, five acres, and a steady job It seemed like there was no way they could fail But after 60 years There's no one here Left from my family but me Your mother took me in Said that we were twins And that was just fine with me We got through secondary- You hitchhiked for a while I spent a couple winters chasing crab But out in a storm we lost two men And I swore that if we landed, I'd go home And I made good my word Like a bird I flew straight home to you We spent Christmas in Liard I bought a car And we both found work in the hotel You quickly won the heart Of the whole damn town Shaking your breasts up on stage From White Horse to Vancouver And Saksatoon They called you the Yukon Betty Page But we were from B.C. You and me For seven years it seemed the world was ours But seven years go fast And breasts don't last Shaking every night at the bar Sometimes I'll get a postcard But you never write a thing 'Cept my name and our old address The first one came in August Postmarked Kluane Lake It arrived here the first day it snowed And I do what I must When the termination dust Turns the summer instantly to fall But fall, she don't last long- Just a song Is all you get before she goes away You don't believe it in Fort Nelson When the springtime finally comes But last night I woke to the sound of rain And I still wish you'd come back To the old hotel Since you left the dancing ain't the same And me I'm changing sheets And trying to keep things neat Here at the old hotel in Fort Nelson The road goes both ways For days and days But where it might end up, there's no telling

The old folks have stopped taking their meds They're not doing their exercises anymore They've put down their ice cream spoons And now they're just looking for the door There's a warm wind blowing through the trees outside Think I'll open up some windows Put that in that box over there, you know All this stuff has to go It's a new year, some changes are coming And I gotta make some room For all the flowers Getting ready to bloom The old folks have stopped watching the TV They've put down the TV Guide They're looking out into the distance Like they're waiting on a ride There's a warm wind blowing through the trees outside Let's go sit out in the sun And listen to the birds sing This packing's almost done It's a new year, some changes are coming And I gotta make some room For all the flowers Getting ready to bloom The old folks are on their way If you see them, say hello We'll get this room emptied soon, you know- It's all gotta go There's a warm wind blowing through the trees outside The sun is shining down I need to feel the earth on my skin I want to put my hands in the ground It's a new year, some changes have come And I gotta make some room For all the flowers Getting ready to bloom