Lyrics Before The Machine
Before the Machine
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
When did I give away the time I used to waste?
When did I fill those spaces where I used to go entertain myself?
Did I ever even ask what I want, or what I need?
Was I looking somewhere else when they slipped the world
In my pocket on a screen?
Did I ever say goodbye to the time
To the time before the machine?
We used to run around the neighborhood
Summer nights and all the kids playing games that never end
We’d stay in the darkness just as long as we could
We’d hear when they called us but we were hiding in the woods
When did we forget how to hide when they call?
Did you ever ride a train, let it roll you in the night?
Now the wheels are in your brain, turn round and round
You’re scrolling the blue light
Did we ever say goodbye to the time
To the time before the machine
We used to spend our time waiting in lines
Look around and catch an eye, tell a joke or make a sign
Like zombies we’re trudging through the terminals and the bars
Like ghosts of each other we just pass each other by
‘Cause we’re living in the machine
Do you ever dream about a day when there’s no news
No one to read about and nothing’s going to take me
Away from you
Magic Pill
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
I came over to your house, I knocked
But you didn’t seem to hear me
I opened up the door, walked right in, and found you on the sofa
We fell onto the floor, got tangled up like we used to
Oh you, you are my magic pill, you are my crazy thrill
I don’t want to want you, don’t want to want you
I just came here to say I’m doing fine by myself
I’m not planning to stay, I just need a little taste of you
When I met you I was so niave I couldn’t see how quickly you’d destroy me
You seemed so harmless then, my favorite friend
You brought me happiness, made me confident
I was a star, queen of the bar
You were everything, you were my midnight king
Oh you, you are my magic pill, you are my crazy thrill
I don’t want to want you, don’t want to want you
Oh I’ve been doing fine by myself
I can’t lie, it’s not the same without you
Oh I, oh I, once thought I’d left you behind
And I tried, yes I tried, to fix my broken mind
Oh you, you are my magic pill, you are my crazy thrill
I don’t want to want you, don’t want to want you
I just came here to say I’m doing fine without you
I’m not planning to stay, I just need a little taste of you
Angel Bus
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
The air was cold that night, the rain fell in the street light
Umbrellas broken, people rushing, taxi’s waiting
The world was getting ready for you
It was a long and crazy night but you were born at last
We looked down into your sleepy eyes and wondered
Where you came from and how you got here so fast
Oh you came to us on that Angel bus with the tin cans and the trumpets tied behind
And the driver was singing “Hallelujah, lord have mercy”
as he pulled into the parking lot
And oh my child, oh my child
You grew up tall, you grew up wild
I watched the woman steal away the child
You moved West to where the shore meets the ocean
Learned to dance along the top of a breaking wave
Oh you came to us on that Angel bus with the tin cans and the trumpets tied behind
And the man at the wheel looked just like Leonard Cohen
Singing hallelujah, hallelu
Oh my child, oh my child
And though I don’t believe in God and I’ve never seen an angel
I believe we all go back to where we came from
And if the angels want to meet us, that’s ok
When you were still just a little girl, another child was born
Winter morning, she came in singing like an angel
A harmony to soothe the family storm
Oh she came to us on that Angel bus with the tin cans and trumpets tied behind
And the driver was singing hallelujah, hallelujah as he pulled into the parking lot
And oh my child, oh my child, oh my child, oh my child
Starlight Blue
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
Won’t you find me a little starlight
So soft and bright, turn her into my dream girl
Don’t keep me waiting, don’t keep me wanting
You were born to be my fantasy, let your star light shine
Oh, I will tell you, a bedtime story
You can close your eyes and slip away from those Starlight blues
Starlight blue, Starlight blue
You’ll always be a lucky star until I’m through with you
Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight
Keep your smile on, take your dress off
Don’t worry about the money ‘cause I’m keeping it for you
Take your jet plane, wine and cocaine
Let the world make love to you, don’t let them see you blue
Starlight blue, Starlight blue
You’ll always be a lucky star until I’m through with you
Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight
Oh, don’t forget to wear your hair in that pretty way you do
The audience is growing tired, I’m growing tired too
Starlight blue, Starlight blue
You’ll always be a lucky star until I’m through with you
Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight
Starlight blue, Starlight blue
You’ll always be a lucky star until I’m through with you
One by land, Two by Sea
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
I show you the steeple, rises high above the church outside my place
We stand in the window of my five story walk-up
where I smell my neighbor’s cooking every night
You dance across my kitchen, your boots untied
And though I only met you earlier tonight
in the steeple light we move just like water
“One by land, two if by sea,” steeple’s sending a warning to me
Across empty streets, vacant lots and bakeries
to the narrow bed where we lie
Trucks outside, the city starts its day
I hear those church bells play, hear you breathing
Turn around, reach for me, it’s much too late for sleep
window’s wide and we’re rolling, rolling in the eye of the steeple
We take a bus to the river, we get high lying on the grass
Watch the headlights passing on Storrow Drive, the evening’s so alive, so alive
Night comes and your band plays, down at Chet’s Last Call
Walk back to the North End where my kitchen window looks out on the steeple
“One by land, two if by sea,” steeple’s sending a warning to me
Across empty streets, vacant lots and bakeries
To the narrow bed where we lie
It’s been years since you called me
Since we met in some dark restaurant for a drink
Sometimes the best is the beginning
when you still don’t know what’s hiding in the dark
Land or sea, it don’t matter ‘cause I never would have listened anyway
to the steeple
Let’s Just Stay Friends
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
There’s a drugstore on the corner with a neon open sign
Where I buy my morning paper, yeah I’m going back in time
To cobblestones and drunkards, late-night taxicabs
I’ll meet you down on 8th Street unless I change my mind
The evening’s never over if you don’t go home alone
Mornings can be reckless, high heels on stone
Oh don’t tell me your opinions, I’m pretty sure they’re wrong
And those funny little stories, I’ve heard ‘em all
You can be my lover or just another passer-by
I’ll follow you to Chinatown, I’ll lose you in a crowd
I’ll whisper in your ear, I’ll never say a word
And if you want to woo me, let’s just stay friends
If you see a woman walking and you wonder if it’s me
Don’t hesitate to look away, I promise not to see
I’ll keep my friendly distance while you just slide on by
On a sidewalk of strangers, you’re just a guy
I’m going down into the underground
I’m riding on the 6 train, heading downtown
To shady deals and barrooms, an endless freak parade
Where you can shine like silver, cut like blade
You can be my lover, or just another passer-by
I’ll follow you to Chinatown, I’ll lose you in a crowd
I’ll whisper in your ear, I’ll never say a word
And if you want to woo me, let’s just stay friends
Oh if you want to woo me, let’s just stay friends
Let’s just stay friends, let’s just stay friends
Zodiac Maniac
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
You know I’ve always been impatient
Always been a little selfish, that’s true
So, if you’re looking for a diplomat
Someone to tell you they love your hat
I won’t be, I won’t be, that one for you
I was the third child I was born in spring time
I was born under the sign of the ram
They say we’re bold and bright, stubborn and pig-headed
We’re the zodiac maniacs, always confident that you’ll take us back
And I’m not sure I’m made for marriage
I wish I’d known that when I was young
Too many ways you have to compromise
Cut yourself down to someone else’s size
I can’t be, I can’t be, that one for you
Well I once met a man who claimed he knew me
Said he could read the planets spinning above my head
He told me never try to hold on to safety
‘Cause you’ll never find happiness that way
I never used to listen to my teachers
Never thought they had that much to say
I used to spend my time staring at the ceiling
Oh, I blame it on the zodiac, I can’t help myself or take it back
‘Cause I’ve always been impatient
Always been a little selfish, that’s true
So if you’re looking for a diplomat
someone to tell you they love your hat
You better find another sign or you just might end up mine
Staying Home Tonight
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
You can hold me, hold me tight
Be kind to me, be everything, make my wrongs go right
Cause I’m weak for you, I will cry for you
Lay down my life and die for you
Make me feel alright
Aha, staying home tonight
You can show me, what you need
I’ll do everything I can to be the lover of your dreams
‘Cause you’re weak for me and you’re begging please
We’re both getting down on our hands and knees
Make me feel alright
Aha, bring it home tonight
I’m going to tell you all my secrets all my secrets
You’re going to tell me what I need to know
We’re staying home
‘Cause you’re weak for me, you’re begging please
We’re both getting down on our hands and knees
Aha, I’ll make you feel alright
Staying home tonight
I’m going to tell you all my secrets all my secrets
You’re going to tell me what I need to know
We’re staying home
We don’t need to go outside, you and me
Cause staying in is everything that we need
Staying home tonight
Lockdown
@zoefitzgeraldcarter
It’s been a year or maybe three, feels like a decade
A thousand endless days of wearing masks upon our faces
And we’re tired, tired of feeling blue
Feels like spring is in the air, I’m not even sure it matters
‘Cause every time the winter’s done, another winter seems to come
And find us, remind us
We’re on lockdown, lockdown, gotta stay at home, gotta stay in town
Don’t stand so close to me when you breathe
Don’t stand so close to me when you breathe
It’s hard to recognize the beauty of imperfection
Familiar situations, how sweet they were
When we could live a little carelessly
Talk and laugh and sing freely
I’ve started talking to myself, no one seems to notice
I think I need a holiday from my head
A junket to Miami, Hawaii
‘Cause everyday feels a lot like the day that came before it
Days and weeks and months and years, empty boxes, empty squares
Behind us, remind us
We’re on lockdown, lockdown
Gotta stay at home, gotta stay in town
Don’t stand so close to me
Don’t stand so close to me
When you breathe, when you breathe, when you breathe