I Write Your Name

Everything you ever wanted
Is passing with the driving rain
I died like a salamander
On my heart heavy like a chain
I been waiting here at the uptown theater
And it's all becoming clear that

Refrain:
It's too much head
And not much heart
But if you think about the end
It might never get started
It's a black romance
But it's one more chance
And if you fight out of spite
You know that just ain't right

Everyone you ever cared for
Is staying at the big hotel
I'm in the lobby with my hobby
And my rags and my bags
And the desk man rings a bell

I put a sign on my brain
That said, "do not disturb"
But the maids keep walking in
Then they make these beds
Inside my head
I wish they'd throw everything out instead

Repeat refrain

Little girl go out dancing
Little girl dance all night
Little girl dance to a love that's pure
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?]
I could hold your soul before a 1000 watt bulb
It wouldn't shine back at me

Repeat refrain

Johnny's trapping stars in his car
With the radio on
In the parking lot

Lily heard a sound
While they were going down
Someone on el camino had been shot

Carmelita stared
She really cared for that boy
He meant a lot

Carmelita, she came over the border
Immigration man saw her
She wouldn't take a short order
But it was so far behind her
She had her heart on the wire
She became a low rider


Immigration's full of strange language strains
Rules carmelita never learned in school
Not in school
But in the streets of mexico
She came to know
That borderlines were made to walk through

Her daddy said you're fine,
You're not the water, you're the wine
You can take and make it all new
So make it new

Carmelita, she came over the border
Immigration man saw her
'cause she refused to take a short order
But it was easy to find her
She joined the boulevard choir
When he became a low rider

Sometimes in the dark
Some things just go wrong
And it peels into the night just like a knife
Like a knife

They stab you so cold
The blood is bottled and sold
All she wanted was a radio to hold
But she said dying makes her feel so old

Carmelita, she came over the border
Immigration man snagged her
'cause she wouldn't take a short order
But it was easy to find her
She joined the boulevard choir
When she became a low rider

I smoke a cigarette
As i wait in the bath
And i wait for you
For an hour and a half
And i go to the window
Where the sky falls down in rains
And i look across the river
Where they dance the night away

I watch the couples
On the corner of town
Men dressed in black tie
The ladies in gowns
A taxi pulls up
Drives them across the street,
Takes them to a place
Where they dance the night away

Dance the night away
Dance the night away
Dance the night away

I crawl across the bed
Playing the radio low
Trying to forget
What i already know
And i want to sleep
But the song never ends
It comes from a place
Where they dance the night away

I reach in the drawer
And i take out respect
It doctors the sickness
I took years to perfect
And i feel sweet sleep
Like the shadows on a charm
Moves to my brain
Where i dance the night away

Dance the night away
Dance the night away
Dance the night away
Dance the night away
Dance the . . .

Hollywood looks good at night
The tvs get fine reception
But last night jean told steve
About her imminent conception

She wants a plum tree for the house, for their child
Stevie raised his head and said, "that's wild!"

Stevie tried and tried
Jean would not comply
She said, "your partying needs, you see,
Ain't nothing to this seed in me
You make love a crime

Billy don't live in his spirit
Billy don't live in his heart
Billy walks around times square at night
His body is his art

Life is easy when you're pretty and 16
Just make sure that your underwear is clean

Billy don't ask why
He just stares at the sky
He says, "love always leaves you bent,
This way i pay the rent."
He makes love a crime

I still believe in romance
I just think there's something missing
'cause last night just by chance,
I saw you and ivan kissing

Jealousy rose up right
From its hole
Just when i had it all under control

Say goodbye, goodbye
'cause you're both gonna die
Don't ask me why
It's all in your eyes,
You made love a crime

Don't ask me why
It reflects in your eyes
You made love a crime

I'm walking uptown
I hear a most peculiar sound
Like a seashell in my ear
Like the ocean was near
I go inside this store
To get my head clear

Once i'm inside the air is fresh as [a lie?]
You are greeted by a civil servant
She is dressed in beads
She jots down your needs
And casually recedes

Look around
Take the elevator down
Take it down
Once you reach downstairs
They take special care of you
You cannot believe what you see
You know guns to stop time
Laid out in a line
445's to uzi-3's

A man comes up in a uniform
He says, you were just who we were looking for
You heard the sound
Let me show you around
This place is big as some small towns

We got every gun beneath the sun
And the same for heavy munitions
We got the space to train
But we don't know you'll learn
But now take the time, just look around

Look around
Feel the water rushing down
Rushing down

Refrain:
But you better get ready
If you're going to freddy's
If you're going to freddy's store
You can lose or win
You can sink or swim
But you don't know where or what for

But you better get ready
If you're going to freddy's
If you're going to freddy's store
It's not exactly hell,
It's more like bechtel
They got only one item to sell

There's a booth for dressing
Also used for confession
There's a jesuit on call here
Twenty-four hours a day
He can guide you to pray
To waylay your modern guilt and fear
You live by the sword, you die, etcetera
And the same goes for an m-15

But what the hell
When freddy rings that bell
Just make certain that your weapon is clean
And pointing down,
Down to the ground

Can you live in the tropics?
Can you fight on the sand?
Have you compunctions to function
In a far off land?
Can you kill a despot in an african nation?
Can you bite the pill
If the operation don't go down?
Down, if it don't go down

And there's a galley [. . . ?]
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?]
We don't distinguish left or ust don't ask about behind that door

You can stand on the corner
You can do the jerk
You can go to the disco
You can go berserk
But there are plenty of generals
And plenty of shahs
Who drive a coupe deville after the coup de etat

It's up to you,
You got one chance to score
Everybody gets a little piece of war
Just don't ask about behind that door
Hit the ground, get down
It's coming down
The door is coming down

Repeat refrain