Welcome (January 2002)

Listen and sing along!

1. Picturesque
2. Short-term Soulmate
3. Wild
4. Nothing Boy
5. Pelican
6. Round My Door

Lyrics

1. Picturesque (3:28)

Yes, in a restaurant downtown
There's a little man who sits alone without an alibi
You don't know him from before
But he looks familiar in his glasses and his yellow tie

There's a herring on his plate
And he looks confused about which knife and fork and spoon to use
Making circles in the salt, he gives up his will to win and makes a vow to always lose

And his bike is in the lane
Slowly rusting in the rain
And he ponders on the years that left him
Dancing with a cane

Yes, there's a woman on the wall
In a picture with a mandolin, piano, and guitar
Not a relative of yours
But she stares at you, and silently she tells you who you are:

You're a singer with a band
In the ‘twenties on a brightly shining vaudevillian stage
Making circles in the air
With your cane that mark the ending and beginning of an age

And she says that you're a star
And you just don't know you are
But you look so disappointed as you're
Driving in your car

Yes, there's a mother on a train
And she watches out the window as she rolls across the plain
She has seen it all before, but she's hypnotized
By the gentle waving of the grain

She is lonely and she longs
For her daughter, and she pictures her in gingham and in lace
In a locket ‘round her neck
There the innocently smiling girl has found a hiding place

But the innocence is gone
And the train keeps rolling on
And the daughter plays guitar somewhere on
Someone else's lawn

In a restaurant downtown
Is a man who's sitting down
In a picture on the wall
Is a girl who knows it all
In the prairie on a train
Is a mother with a chain

And the view is picturesque
It's the backdrop for burlesque
And the play we're in makes common sin look
Less and less grotesque

Yes, you're an actor in a play
In the ‘forties on a brightly shining repertory stage
Making circles in the air
With your nose that mark the ending and beginning of an age

And you know that you're a star
But you won't admit you are
And you look so melancholic as you're
Driving in your car
Your car

2. Short-term Souldmate (3:10)

You were just what I was looking for
Hook, line, and sinking for
And we absolutely clipped along
That slippery slope we slipped along, and there was hardly any question
You were the perfect

Short-term soulmate
I made you a habit that wouldn't abate
You're my short-term soulmate
The closest that I've ever come to that union
But soon you'll be gone anyway

In the yellow pages looking up
Something you've been slowly cooking up
And you're bleeding from a paper cut
And your patience is tapering, but now you smile as you find me
There I am under

Short-term soulmate
You penned me in neatly without a gate
You're my short-term soulmate
The closest that I've ever come to my senses
I'm jumping your fences today

And it's so obvious looking back
That you had me tied in a gunny sack
And you fed me to keep me there
Fabrications made out of air, but at the time I didn't question
You were the perfect

Short-term soulmate
You were the monster I didn't create
You're my short-term soulmate
The closest that I've ever come to devoured
I've soured your plans for today

And now I'm recovering
Onward and upwarding
Moving along, I can say

Now I'm recovering
Onward and upwarding
Moving along, I can say
I'm okay
I'm okay

3. Wild (3:14)

I wasn't prepared for this
I wasn't expecting a break in the dam
I wasn't prepared for this
I wasn't, but that's just the way that I am

And now I'm spilling
Spilling wild
Spilling wild

I wasn't prepared for this
I wasn't expecting a ride quite this size
I wasn't prepared for this
I was, but I'm feeling it behind my eyes

And now I'm spinning
Spinning wild
Spinning wild

Oh, the way it plays so quickly at this stage
Oh, the combination of loneliness and rage
And now I'm spinning around
I can't touch the ground or see the page

I wasn't prepared for this
I wasn't expecting it all to come out
I wasn't prepared for this
I wasn't expecting my inside to shout

But when your soul is tired
It's unpredictable
Without a doubt
Without a doubt

4. Nothing Boy (3:02)

And there was nothing to be done about the boy
He had retreated from majority
Become a void facsimile of what he'd been before
He was a stranger

And he had put aside his pencil and his comb
Abandoned all his toys and all his
Science fiction novels; he was living in a tomb
Without a telephone

And he never left the house
He was as quiet as a
Very quiet thing
He was as timid as a mouse
And though the lion roared, he ignored
Said he was bored; the neighbours were floored

And there was nothing to be done about his health
He had a vague and inexplicable
Suspicion he was bleeding out his eyes and out his mouth
But there was nothing there<

Come along, boy, you won't win the fight
Walking alone will leave you a frightened, tired man

And there was nothing in his garden but his bones
And he had organized his funeral
Directed the procession; all his friends had come and gone
He was his memory

And there were sagas in his mind
Of all the heroes and the
Life he'd left behind
But he was happier this way
Or not so challenged by his life from day to day
All his worries and his spirit laid away

And there was no one to convince him otherwise
They'd all abandoned him the day that they could
See that he was bleeding out his mouth and out his eyes
And he had flown from them

Come along, boy, you've come a long way
Giving up now will leave you an incompleted man

5. Pelican (4:36)

Today
I saw a pelican
Flying past the
Cafe I was sitting in

He opened up his beak
He opened wide
There was a staircase that was
Winding down inside

And thus he welcomed me
And I stepped in
Over the welcome mat that
Lay upon his pelichin

And it was beautiful
To be inside
Inside a pelican whose
Beak had opened wide

And now I live in a pelican
I live in a pelican
And I watch out the window as we
Soar around
And my tired people feet
Never have to touch the ground

And there's nothing wrong with that
Every morning I go out and
Shake off the welcome mat
And welcome others in
To live inside the beautiful pelican

Today
I met an elephant
Who never tells me that I
Pelican or pelican't

He lifted up his trunk
He opened wide
And I could see a staircase
Winding down inside

And thus he welcomed us
And we flew in
Over the welcome mat that
Lay upon his elechin

And it was wonderful
To be inside
Inside a pelican whose
Beak had opened wide
Inside an elephant who'd
Welcomed us inside

And now I live in a pelican
Inside an elephant
And we watch out the window as we
Stomp around
And my tiny people feet
Never have to touch the ground

And there's nothing wrong with that
Every morning I go out and
Shake off the welcome mats
And welcome others in
To live inside the beautiful pelican

And there's nothing wrong with that
Every morning I go out and
Shake off the welcome mats
And welcome others in
To live inside the beautiful pelican
To live inside the beautiful pelican
Pelican
Pelican
Pelican
Pelican

6. Round My Door (3:48)

I'm all alone now
Comfort me, promise me that
I'm not alone now
Rather sleep
No one creeping

Round my door
Doesn't open anymore now
Go now
I'll wait
Round my door

You're not alone now
Glad for you
Promise you that
I'm not alone now
Things to do
Without you

And I'm not sore
Doesn't matter anymore now
Go now
I'll wait
Round my door

I am content now
Suddenly
Comes to me that
I am content now
All alone
I'll atone

And lay no blame
In the end it's all the same now
Go now
I'll wait
Round my door