So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter lyrics

yes,
us people are just poems
we're 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hallway
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long stairs
with the whiskey of eternity
fermented and distilled
to eighteen minutes

When I was four years old
They tried to test my I.Q.
They showed me a picture of 3 oranges and a pear
They said, which one is different?
It does not belong
They taught me different is wrong
But when I was 13 years old
I woke up one morning
Thighs covered in blood
Like a war
Like a warning
That I live in a breakable takeable body
An ever-increasingly valuable body

How can I go home
With nothing to say
I know you're going to look at me that way
And say what did you do out there
And what did you decide
You said you needed time
And you had time

You are a china shop
And I am a bull
You are really good food
And I am full
I guess everything is timing
I guess everything's been said
So I am coming home with an empty head

I am not a pretty girl
That is not what I do
I ain't no damsel in distress
And I don't need to be rescued
So put me down punk
Wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair
Isn't there a kitten
Stuck up a tree somewhere

I am not an angry girl
But it seems like
I've got everyone fooled
Every time I say something
They find hard to hear
They chalk it up to my anger

You can doubt anything if you think about it long enough.
Cause what happened always adjusts to fit what happened after that.
And it's hard to feel like you are free.
All you seem to do is referee.
I remember when it was just you and me steppin' up to bat.
And win or lose, just that we chose, this little war is what kills us.

In the jukebox of her memory
The list of names flips by and stops
She closes her eyes
And smiles as the record drops

Then she drinks herself up and out
Of her kitchen chair
And she dances out of time
As slow as she can sway
For as long as she can say
This dance is mine
This dance is mine

Her hair bears silent witness
To the passing of time
Tattoos like mile markers

Thank you for letting me stay here
Thank you for taking me in
Thank you for the beer and the food
Thank you for loaning me bus fare
Thank you for showing me around
That was a very kind thing to do
Thank you for the use of the clean towel
Thank you for half of your bed
We can sleep here like brother and sister, you said

But you changed the rules in an hour or two

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cuz someday you're going to get hungry
And eat most of the words you just said

Both my parents taught me about good will
And I have done well by their names

They told you your music
Could reach millions
That the choice was up to you
You told me they always pay for lunch
And they believe in what I do
And I wonder if you miss your old friends
Once you've proven what you're worth
Yeah I wonder
When you're a big star
Will you miss the earth

And I know you would always want more
I know you would never be done

welcome to...
no amount of snow can make you feel okay
and welcome to...
this year's alone brought to you by Christmas day
and welcome to...
the darkness into which prayin' people pray

yeah it's quiet here except for this song
now that everybody's gone
hey hey hey hey hey at least you don't have to play along today
you don't have to play along

welcome to...

Life used to be life-like
Now it's more like showbiz
I wake up in the night
And I don't know where the bathroom is
And I don't know what town I'm in
Or what sky I am under
And I wake up in the darkness and I
Don't have the will anymore to wonder
Everyone has a skeleton
And a closet to keep it in
And your mine
Every song has a you
A you that the singer sings to
And you're it this time

It's rock paper scissors as to whether I will get over you at all.
It's hand against hand and both hands are mine.
It's standing in a circular line, which is not to say that I'm not also happy.
A happy meal with a surprise inside.
Surprise, surprise is another bright light in my eyes
Exposing all the stuff I'm not calculating enough to hide.

what's with that halo
hovering
above that thick skull
spare me
if i do say so
i think you're covering
course there was nothing
could have prepared me
for the side effect
of this dirty drug
the way you punish me
and then you shrug

what's with that phone call baby
it's like you're trying
just trying to crush me
do you feel stronger
each time you push me dear
did you tell your mom

I love you and you love me
And ain't that that way it's supposed to be?
I swing my stick legs 'round from the root
And I pile drive each foot into a platform boot.
And I'm up and I'm out cuz I'm bouncing off the walls.
And I come when you call and you call.
I got a super cute three piece suit.
One piece for your body.
One piece for your smile.

I'm cradling the softest, warmest part of you in my hands
Feels like a little baby bird
Fallen from the nest
I think that your body is something I understand
I think that I'm happy
I think that I'm blessed

But I've had a lack of inhibition
I've had a loss of perspective
I've had a little bit to drink
And it's making me think
That I can jump ship and swim

Fourteenth street and the garbage swirls like a cyclone
Three-o-clock in the afternoon
And I am going home
F-train is full of high school students
So much shouting, so much laughter
Last night's underwear
In my back pocket
Sure sign of the morning after

Take me home
Take me home and leave me there
Think I'm going to cry, don't know why

The sun is settin on the century
And we are armed to the teeth
We are all working together now
To make our lives mercifully brief
Schoolkids keep trying to teach us
What guns are all about
Confuse liberty with weaponry
And watch your kids act it out
Every year now like Christmas
Some boy gets the mildfed surburban blues
Reaches for the avaliable aresenal

The sky is grey, the sand is grey, and the ocean is grey.
I feel right at home in this stunning monochrome, alone in my way.
I smoke and I drink and every time I blink I have a tiny dream.
But as bad as I am I'm proud of the fact that I'm worse than I seem.
What kind of paradise am I looking for?
I've got everything I want and still I want more.

Today we are only whatall is nice about us
Today we turned on in the blue light of dawn
And made love

And you were not a dot dot dot
Waiting for me to complete you
And it was like I just forgot
To measure everything that I do

We woke up with the notion
That enough is not enough without more
And then we pushed with one motion
Like the ocean heaves a wave at the shore

You were so in love
That it was all you could talk about
And I think I felt a little left out
You were on cloud 9 all the time
Ehile I was levelling
I was wringing my hands and you were revelling

But then why shouldn't you?
It was such a beautiful thing to do

Would that I could get me some of your yum yum delirium
I could level off the ground that we stand on