Eggshells

Young johnny
He really had a way
He did his homework on the schoolbus
And always got an a
And the girls like johnny
More than anyone except maybe elton john
Later on in high school
He couldn't keep his red suspenders on
Oh where's johnny
Has he gone away
Oh where's johnny
Will he back back someday
He had a room full of trophies
From the track meets and tennis games he'd win
He was a full blown whiz kid
Bound to be a renaissance man
Then he went on off to college
Got his head stuck in a different state of mind
When they asked him was it alcohol
He told 'em it was nothin' of the kind
Just life
Just life mom
Oh where's johnny
Has he gone away
Oh where's johnny
Will he back back someday
But johnny's alright
He just turned out his lights
They'd have paid it no mind
Had he not been so bright
He opened up his eyes
And snapped out in a groove
He saw both sides of everthing
And found he could not move
Johnny moved back home
Now he reads a lot of poetry and plays
He'll sit out in the backyard
And not say a word to anyone for days
And his folks gave up
They no longer even bother gettin' through
He's 30 odd years old
I guess they figured there's just so much you can do
His mother keeps his pictures
In the scrapbook in the drawer with her pearls
And she polishes the trophies
That he won back when they thought he'd save the world
Back when the girls liked johnny
More than anyone except maybe elton john
She wonders wheres her little boy
With the braces and the red suspenders gone
Just life
Just life mom
Just life
Just life...

She never loses
She never chooses
I don't know which way is up
I drink her down
She fills my cup again
I'm always changin'
While she's rearrangin'
I can't tell you how i feel
Except i know this love's for real
She gives me orders
She's tearin' down my borders
And i don't know which way is up
I drink her down
She fills my cup again
She...

She slees with the windows open
Yet she's still locked safe inside
And to block out the sounds of the city's commotion
She turns her fan up on high
Yea she lives just far enough away from home
To see the whole scene
And down the street the kids throw sticks and stones
And end up on the the tv screen
Yea they throw their sticks and stones
And end up on the tv screen
And she used to walk on these gracefully
But now they crunch beneath her feet
I guess she must be changin'
There's just no way to keep it neat
And her father still barks like a soldier
Returning from victory
But now eh's much older
And that bark isn't as scary as it used to be
Yea she watches his self torture
No one left to abuse but himself
But still her memory scorches her
And she struggles to love herself
Her memory scorches her
And she struggles to love herself
And she used to walk on these gracefully
But now they crunch beneath her feet
And i guess she must be changin'
She never was to good at stayin' in her seat
And this town grows hungry and restless
Hungry for what i ain't sure
But they're sweepin' the streets of the trash and the homeless
And raisin' the rent
And breakin' the poor
And i used to walk on these gracefully
But now they crunch beneath my feet
And i guess i must be changin'
There's just no way to keep it neat
I used to walk on these gracefully
I guess i must be changin'...

Let me touch you
Put my hands on you
I'll kiss you
And we'll see things through
Would you lay with me
Would you lay with me
Till the sun peaks through the blinds
We can stay right here
Till our heads are clear
We can lose all track of time
You are slienced by your memory
And if i lose you
I lose a part of me
I can save the world
I can save the world
But i just can't save myself
So i write these lines
Metaphores and rhymes
Till i think of something else
Is there really nothing else
I am here now
You've got the best of me
So go ahead now
Take the rest of me
There are two of us
There are two of us
It's the cycle of our souls
Yet we try and change
And rearrange the way the story goes
That's the way th story goes...

As the lights go down
The drumming clown
Whistled a melody
And as the rain pours down
His happy face
Turned into a sad one
The autumn wind reminded him
That the circus had come and gone
So he opened a pack of swisher sweets
And whistles down the first one
His clothes are ragged
And his hat is dusty
His drum is missing snares
He maybe laughin and he may be cryin
But no one knows nor cares
His belly's empty
But his heart is full
He knows where he belongs
So he steps aboard that lovely train
And he whitles his favorite song
And as he sleeps
He dreams of all the pretty girls he's seen throughout his life
And though his dreams are sweet
His aching feet
Awake him in the night
He wakes to the sound of thunder
And he thinks of a reason why
Then he hangs his head to cry
Then he drifted off to a deeper sleep
That no one could disturb
And when he woke
He was at a place that was higher than the birds
He said my god i'm here at last
Is this meant to be
I've lived the life of a hobo clown
Whistle tunes for money
And his lord spoke up
And said my friend
You are not alone
You've lived a good life my drumming clown
And now you have a home
And somewhere a stockboy opens a crate
And finds the butt of an old cigar
He hears a distant whistling
Then he gazes as the stars

If the timing's right
No need to worry about what's right and what is wrong
And if the market's right
We can sell the livin' hell out of your song
Cause i know what they wanna hear
Yea i can see the light
But just a few adjustments dear
Change the way you sing
The way you play
The way you write
And if my mood is right
I'll give you money or support whichever's less
Not sure the image is right
I think for starters we should put you in a dress
Cause we are patrons of the arts
Yea we believe in you and what it is you do
But just remember parts is parts
We'll see what sticks
I hope for your sake it will be you
And if the price was right
I'd sell the soul of my own mother in a shake
And that i can't deny
I wonder how much money could i make
What are you complaining for
It's simply economics
You still got your vocal chords
So get the hell out of my office
And write me some hits,
Write me some hits,
I don't hear no hits,
I don't hear no hits...

Mormon's are everwhere
Battalions of bicycling bachelors
With dark suits
And well cropped hair
We're mormons too
Have been since '72
I'm riding between my brother and sister
In the back seat of a '67 buick station wagon
With red vinyl seats
We stick by each other
And to those seats
We've been eating cheese and bacon sandwiches
Our mother made for thirteen days straight in the august heat
And both my siblings are wakin' on those eggshells
As i will soon learn how to do myself
They play their quiet silly games
With their peashooters
As i sip luke-warm sprite from a tin can
Sold to me by a hunchback silly bastard old woman
A hundred miles back
Who is probably the only person with good sense
In this part of the country
I still don't know what to do god-awful bacon and cheese sandwich
But your body is your temple
God tells us so,
So drink up your milk
And reap what you sow
I mold the cheese and bacon sandwich into a ball in my hand
It kind of reminds me of play-dough
I look around to see who is watchin'
And stuff it between the red vinyl seats
No one will find it
At least not for a couple of weeks
We're in this big place now
It's kind of like 1/2 of an blue plastic easter egg shell
And there's a hole in the top
Where the sun cuts through
And lights up the room
And i hear all these male voices
Telling me that black people are inferior
And it's ok to have more than one wife
And as the dry dry breath of the utah sun warms me
I stand before a statue of jesus that is far too big
And has held these folks hostage for so so long
And i gaze up at the nostrils of the sandstone savior
And wonder if it
Can smell all this bullshit
Cause i sure can
And i'm only 5 years old
In salt lake city
In 1973...