libertine libretto,
screaming from the heat of the ghetto.
in the grip of grand emotion,
julia drowns in tanning lotion.
libertine libretto,
screaming from the heat of the ghetto.
jenny holds a nasty surprise -
you can see it in her eyes.

libertine libretto,
screaming from the heat of the ghetto.
it's the end of the road in goma,
but joe's eyes are glazing over.
libertine libretto,
screaming from the heat of the ghetto.
david lost his little mind,
not knowing what to find.

LIFE IS ELSEWHERE
between the doubt and the tears
we sat bored watching films
we didn't want to.
between the tears and the doubt
we laid clothes on the bed -
never speaking.

never needing to speak
never wanting to leave

between the drought and the fire
dancing and groping in smoke-filled rooms
between the fire and the drought
shapeless in motion, two lives as one.

chorus:

never needing to speak,
never wanting to leave,
but now,
it's like I never knew you.
but now,
it's like I never touched you.

you took all we shared
and you threw it at me,
so I threw it back.
it cracked and it dried.
it lived, then it died.

chorus 2:

never needing to speak,
never wanting to leave.
but now,
it's like I never knew you.
but now,
it's like you never touched me.

now you live in your world,
and I die in mine.
but I'm hopeful
life is elsewhere.

like love, and truth.
like you, and me.

(repeat)

LIGHTHOUSE
I never meant this,
I never meant anything like this.

and that's the story,
I never met anyone like you.

come to me
and make it special.
come to me
and make it real.

come to me and make it special.
come to me and make me feel.

shine your bright light over me
and help me see.

I walked on water.
I came through slaughter just for you.

come to me
and make it special.
come to me
and make it real.

come to me and make it special.
come to me and make me feel.

shine your bright light over me,
lay your dreaming at my feet.

-------------------

follow me down to where I'll always be.

LONG DAY FALL
long day beneath an angry sky;
we talk about the life we share.
I pour myself into you,
you drain the day's wild energy.

falling, falling, falling into you.
falling, falling, falling into you.
falling, falling, falling into you.
I fall...

LOVE AMONG THE WHITE TRASH
you lie on the carpet,
you smell of sweat and talcum powder.
I'm so tired of fighting,
so tired of being alive.

won't you kiss my neck?
won't you soothe the pain that wears my body down?
won't you be my strength?

chorus:

deliver my soul (love, love, love among the white trash)
(love, love, love among the white trash)
deliver me whole (love, love, love among the white trash)
I will be your strength
deliver my soul (love, love, love among the white trash)

(chorus repeat)

the weight of all these days,
and the hurt of all these shapeless years -
I'm tired of healing bleeding hands
and hearing empty talk.

(chorus x 4)

(repeat to fade)

LOVECRY
the songs that moved you
don't make a sound.
the light that saved you
now gone to ground.

you pull all the pictures down
from your crumbling walls.
you take all the faith you've found
and knock it down and watch it crawl.

chorus:

sometimes you listen to love cry.
sometimes you question why.

the dull white faces
of dull white friends
can't find the words that
will heal or mend.

you fall to the bathroom floor
on your bended knees,
your fist hits against the door -
you're staring at the way it bleeds.

(chorus)

sometimes you laugh like the water.
sometimes you lie and die.

sometimes you question why.
sometimes you question why.
you question why,
why.

MOUTH WAS BLUE
your legs too weak, you try to walk,
to walk away out of the dark.
your tongue too tied, you try to talk,
to talk yourself out of the dark.

(chorus):

far away now,
you're much too far.

your failing hope: they drag you back
without a guide to lead you clear.

(chorus)

there was a time
when love was close,
when love would burn
inside your head,
inside your head,
inside your head,
inside your head...

MY REVENGE ON SEATTLE
maybe there's more to life
than just writing songs.
maybe not.
maybe there's more to life
than just righting wrongs
maybe not.

I grow so cold, you reach for gold
I fail to hold your attention.

chorus:

their pretty boy ways
always take you away,
take you away.
my revenge on seattle -
I retreat from the battle.
won't you stay?

maybe there's more to life
than just biting tongues.
maybe not.
out of the sky
and left to die -
believing the lie of protection.

(chorus x 2)

maybe there's more to life
than just writing songs.
maybe not.

MY RIVAL TREVOR
my rival trevor
couldn't keep it together
lost his life to the never
running wild, running blind.

my rival trevor
couldn't keep it together
never asking me whether
he'd been wasting his time

chorus:

(my rival trevor) bids for beauty unknown,
(my rival trevor) kills the seeds he has sown,
(my rival trevor) always ends up alone.
(my rival trevor) always ends up alone.

my rival trevor
thought he'd hold up forever.
his hands gripped the leather
while his sex blew your mind.

(chorus)

I didn't recognise your touch.
I said "it's all become too much
because of him."

I didn't recognise your voice.
you said "it's hard to make a choice
when no-one wins"

my rival trevor

(chorus)

bids for beauty unknown,
always ends up alone.

my rival trevor

NIGHT SKY SWEET EARTH (1999 version)
fragrance clings like smoke to my clothes.
autumn trees shed leaves over me.
colours bring new life to the earth.

I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.
I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love again.

lamplight sucks the town into view -
loaded up with visions of you.
the more I felt, the less that I knew.
I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.
I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.

I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.
I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.

out here where wind is howling,
I watch the rising flames.
out here where heat is rising,
I smell the sea again.

the night sky, the sweet earth;
the night sky, the sweet earth.
I talk to you, but you cannot hear;
I'm talking to you, but you cannot hear.

NIGHT SKY SWEET EARTH (original version)
fragrance clings like smoke to my clothes.
autumn trees shed leaves over me.
colours bring new life to the earth.

I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.
I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love again.

lamplight sucks the town into view -
paper cups, and drunks against walls.
ripped and torn, their hell doesn't burn.

I swear that I'll never fall.
I swear I won't ever turn.
I swear that I'll never fall.
I swear I won't ever turn.

I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.
I swear I can smell the sea.
I swear I believe in love.

out here where wind is howling,
I watch the rising flames.
out here where leaves are burning,
I smell the sea again.

the night sky, the sweet earth;
the night sky, the sweet earth.
I talk to you, but you cannot hear;
I'm talking to you, but you cannot hear

NO DEFENCE
you have climbed
and the climb left you blind.
too much to think about,
too little to do.

but you pull through,
you always pull through.

it goes slow,
answer questions you don't want to know.
too much to think about,
too little, it's true.

but you pull through,
you always pull through.

no defence against the pounds
and against the pence,
love it all.
no defence.

the voice that left the ladies moist
is running out of choice.
losing pace and losing poise,
losing out to some awful noise.

sleep awake,
sleep awake for now.

no defence against the pounds
and against the pence,
love it all.
no defence.

no disgrace
to close your eyes and to quit the chase.
love it all.
no disgrace

OCEAN SONG
at night you just crawl through the wreckage
while the sky's fading light steals your sight.
it seems so easy to think a moment means forever.

chorus 1:

too frightened to fly my ocean, you hit the ground.
too frightened to fly my ocean, you hit the ground.

it seems so easy to think a feeling lasts a lifetime.
it got too dark to see the dirt beneath your feet.

chorus 2:

too frightened to fly my ocean, you hit the ground.
too frightened to fly my ocean, it all falls down.

ONLY BABY
love, love me.
love me clean,
love me new.
love, love me.
understand I live for you

chorus:

when the storm is spoken,
the silence is broken.
won't you be my only baby?
when the doubt is over
and I move in closer,
move for me, my only baby.

love, love me.
love me fresh,
love me free.
love, love me.
take this heat and die for me.

(chorus)

breathe for me.
be for me
only.

(chorus)

help me through
help me through
help me through
help me through
these bitter days.
only baby.
only...

ONLY RAIN
what can you say?

a million ways to stay the same.

day after day,
a million ways to pass the blame

you catch me and hold me.
no more fountains, only rain.

OUTSIDE THE MACHINE
I'm tired, I'm cold.
untied and feeling old.

you're all lit up like catherine wheels.
you're all lit up, but you're not real.

I don't need you,
not like I used to do.
I don't need you,
not like I did.

hate confusion, need advice.
love illusion, need advice.

what does it mean to be a part of you?
how does it feel inside the heart of you?

I don't need you,
not like I used to do.
I don't need you,
not like I did.

outside the machine,
left alone with my dreams.
outside the machine,
all lit up, somebody screams.

what does it mean to be a part of you?
tried to get inside the very heart of you.

PAINTING PARADISE (album version)
moving closer to the harbour,
rusted boats line the frozen dock.
moving closer to my freedom,
moving further from your touch.
moving closer to the city,
see smoke signals and hear loud drums.
feel the weight of life inside me,
clear the dead dreams from my head.

chorus:

and she said, "oh,
speak low when you speak love."
and she said, "oh,
speak low when you speak love."

traffic sounds and senseless sirens,
acts of love and facts of violence.
screaming voices lost to silence,
hands stretched up to distant stars.

(chorus)

painting paradise.
painting paradise.

painting paradise.
painting, painting paradise.

show me your hands, (SHOW ME)
lift up your eyes, (LIFT UP)
give me the strength
to see through the lies.

(chorus)

oh,
speak low when you speak love.
oh,
speak low when you speak love.

PAINTING PARADISE (single version)
moving closer to the city,
see smoke signals and hear loud drums.
moving closer to my freedom,
moving further from your touch.

chorus:

sometimes I think that I love you. (painting paradise)
sometimes I don't even care.

traffic sounds and senseless sirens,
acts of love and facts of violence.
feel the weight of life inside me,
clear the dead dreams from my head.

(chorus)

painting paradise.

PALE AS ANGELS
off the boat
and on the shore -
so pale,
like angels.

off the boat
with dreams of more -
as pale
as angels.

pale...

as angels...

PHOTOGRAPHS IN BLACK AND WHITE
the city in a hundred ways,
it wouldn't let you stay.
remember all the thankless days
and the lousy take home pay?

the photographs in black and white
that show you playing close to type -
your eyes against the midday light,
your eyes when they still had the fight.

they loved you
when you thought that no-one could.
they loved you
when you said that no-one should.

you talk so fast
to stop yourself from thinking.
you move so fast
so you'll never see you're sinking.

they love you
when you think that no-one can.
they love you
and they'll tell you that they understand.

they love you,
then they say you're much too,
much too bland.

spending days on the phone,
while the cold eats your bones.

how in the world do you make it right?
how in the world do you make a life?

PRETTY GENIUS
feel the miracle every day,
count the numbers fill the cup.
every move in every way.
every move is built on blood.

chorus:

go find your brightest colours,
tear all your curtains down.
don't hide beneath the covers.
don't sit around, don't face the ground.
pretty genius.

you could lose your little mind
never knowing what to find.
you could lose your little mind
staring blind into the light.

chorus 2:

go find your brightest colours,
tear all your curtains down.
take heed of diet mothers.
don't sit around, don't face the ground
pretty genius.

pretty genius,
pretty genius.