Dark Continent/Call Of The West

On a crowded street or from a passing car
I can see the world from where I am
People stand in line so they can buy their things
They buy a vegetable or a can

See I taste the water and the water tastes hot
I taste the water and the water tastes hot
Hands of love, they keep on slipping
Hands of love, they keep on gripping

My home, it might as well just be a cave
And the ones next door don't talk to me
And when I'm lying in bed at night I hear the sounds
Of the sirens and the dogs and the people screaming--C

I taste the water and the water tastes hot
I taste the water and the water tastes hot
Whistle down the, whistle down the road
(Hands of love, they keep on slipping)
Whistle down the, whistle down the road
(Hands of love, they keep on gripping)
Whistle down the, whistle down the road
(Hands of love, they keep on slipping)

Hands of love

Me and my dad
We've got a good thing going
Fishing trips, the hard way's the best
Man-to-man talks, when the going gets tough
The tough get going
Follow me, son
I'll guide you the right way
Fix my car when the engine falls apart
Show me where the piston goes
Can you get this thing to start?
Father talks big business with authority
He's the big boss, he knows the levels of consistency
Father knows how to read his morning paper
Tellin' me how he died to live, workin' hard labor
Chorus:
Me and my dad
Me and my dad
Me and my dad
We've got a good thing going
Father talks big business with authority
He's the big boss, he knows the levels of consistency
Father knows how to read his morning paper
He's tellin' me how he died to live, workin' hard labor
Chorus repeat until fade

{spoken:} Thanks a lot, thanks a whole lot.
Lulu sends her friends
They cover the mouths with one hand
Well, I keep waiting here
Drifting around in a dark land
Envelope unturned
« I push the stamp and stick it »
Chorus:
And I know there's a bell to crack
And I know there's a bell to crack
Well, I hear crosstalk now
Coming through the wire
One voice tells me yes
The other is a liar
Chorus:
And I know there's a bell to crack
I know there's gotta be one more bell to crack
« Click-clack, joint, » this thing is on my sleeve
All this mess around and I gotta clean it up
Okay, Mister Questions, you tell me, when are we gonna leave?
And can you design a heart??a heart that doesn't bleed?
Chorus:
I know there's gotta be one more bell to crack
I know there's gotta be one more bell to crack
See the bell, so I crack it
You just can't find good bells anymore!
Yah! Yah! Sure!
Tom Shane's a friend of mine!
I really like him??he's in the industry!
I know there's gotta be one more bell to crack
I know there's gotta be one more bell to crack

Look at the way they're walking
All those people around are giving me looks
They keep a big secret on the quiet side
Where's the nearest place to hide?
Look at their way

Been around long enough now
And they'll be around after everyone's gone
A mother makes love to her only son
Turn on the lights and watch them run
Look at their way
Look at their way
Look at their way on the floor today

(It's grab and chew, that's all they ever do
A million born when just one dies)
All together now they'll rub their long legs
And play a sad melody, the only one they know
To air and earth and the quiet side
And the mind built a million years ago

Look at their way
Look at their way
Look at their way on the calendar
Look at their way
Look at their way
Look at their way on the floor today

He got the high sign so he jumped a bus
And along the roads that wind on through
The hot Mojave and the Jericho
He'd start his whole life anew
And what he'd left behind he hadn't valued
Half as much as some things
He never knew

He got dropped off on a street in town
Where a grey old man looked him up and down and said
"Son this ain't no western movie matinee
And you're a long way off from yippee yi yay
Cause I can tell at a glance
You're not from 'round these parts
Got a green look about ya
And that's a gringo for starts
Sometimes the only thing a western savage understands
Are whiskey and rifles and an unarmed man like you."
"So you gotta keep on the move
And don't let that fancy paint fool you."

And then the old-timer pulled him close and said,
"You've come a long way, I know
You got a longer drive ahead
Through the bones of a buffalo
Through the claims of the western dead
And just like the spokes of a wheel
You'll spin 'round with the rest,
You'll hear the drums and the brush of steel,
You'll hear the call of the west."
Call of the west

(The conflict)
Harshly awakened by the sound of six rounds
Of light caliber rifle fire followed minutes
Later by the booming of nine rounds from a
Heavier rifle
But you can't close off the wilderness
He heard the snick of a rifle bolt and found
Himself peering down the muzzle of a weapon
Held by a drunken liquor store owner
"There's a conflict," he said.
"There's a conflict between land and people
The people have to go.
They've come all the way out here to make mining
Claims, to do automobile body work, to gamble.
To take pictures, to not have to do laundry, to
Own a mini-bike, to have their own cb radios and
Air conditioning, good plumbing for sure, and to
Sell time life books and to work in a deli, to
Have some chili every morning and maybe, maybe
To own their own gas stations again and to take
Drugs and have some crazy sex, but above all,
Above all to have a fair shake, to get a piece of the
Rock and a slice of the pie and to spit out
The window of your car and not have the wind blow
It back in your face."

Now from the high timber line to the deserts dry
Who'll risk dangling on some hangman's tree
To stake their claims on these prairie plains
While they say this lunch is not had for free?
Just like the spokes of a wheel
Who'll spin 'round with the rest?
They'll hear the drums and the brush of steel
And I'll hear the call of the west
Call of the west

Now I know I had something to say but the problem is to say something
Uhh...you gotta say it
And I still don't remember a thing since that funny gas
Came out of that pipe next to me / I guess they didn't ok it
Now I remember--did I tell ya?
Cut my thumb off at the knuckle on a broken band saw
Didn't see the belt buckle or the blade slip
And I remember when the doctor did it up with a stitch
Funny thing...still got a scratch that I can't itch where my thumb was
Now I've brought the same piece of chicken in a bag to work everyday
For the last twenty years or so
And I really don't mind, work assembly line
Got an intercom blasting the news and the latest on the baseball scores
Come around every Friday, well I get a paycheck
Take the same road home that I come to work on, heck, it's a living
And I got another factory at home
Got a barbeque, pink mustang, fenders chrome
And at nine o'clock I sit there in my chair
And I don't know why I lose my hair
And then I go to / and then I go to / and then I go to sleep
Well I like to know what I'm doing when I do it
And I do what I'm doing 'cause I don't know what to do when I'm not doing it
Sometimes I remember as a boy my father told me I could grow up
To be anything I really wanted to be / anything
And everyday at lunch I still look for my lost digit
Still got that funny scratch, so maybe when I find it I can itch it
And I got a little rubber pool in the backyard for the kids to wade in
And i....i...i...i...i...i?
I got another factory back home
Got a little backyard, pink mustang, fenders chrome
At nine o'clock I'm in my chair sat down
Just lately now when my wife talks back to me I slap her around
And then I go to / and then I go to / and then I go to sleep

Night, the city
Its dark and lonely streets
Rain falls on my face
Mixed with salty tears
Confirm your happiness
Everything is looking good
Look down, feel the pain
Falling teardrops to the ground
Chorus:
Think back through the phrases
Restore sanity to the blind
You know she's gone now
Are these not the good times?
Good times, good times
Leavin' them pretty soon
When I'm over the pain of missing you
Good times, good times
Arrivin' just as soon as
All the flames extinguish the memories that I knew
Thinking as though things
Had worked out fine
When I knew it'd hurt you
If you knew you were hurting me
Day breaks, clouds move
And the sun comes through the rain
But for now I'm livin' back
In the stormy night
Chorus:
I gotta think back through the phrases
Restore sanity to the blind
You know she's gone now
Are these not the good times?
Think back through the phrases
Restore sanity to the blind
You know she's gone now
Are these not the good times?
Good times? Good times?
Good times, good times
Leavin' them pretty soon
When I'm over the pain of missing you
Good times, good times
Arrivin' just as soon as
All flames extinguish the memories that I knew