I'm Sorry, I'm Leaving



01. I'm Sorry I'm Leaving   
Your middle finger was clutching my thumb through the park and over macdougal. 
The torches were blazing about our street and just down from the sky. 
Casey stepped with Anna off the curb. 
His shoes are clogs, did you see? 
They dipped in that puddle, the one catching green. 
They were tripping up and slipping around, singing 'Rolalita come out tonight' 
and oh I wanted to pull you down. 
roll on top of me, baby. just roll. 
we'll wreck our clothes. 
we'll scrape our knees. 
we'll taste the scabs. 
you, sweet, are worth these next four months 
until I bail out and kiss behind your ears, 
drive off in the van. 
oh my god, I think I'm dying in this car seat,
 where I'll spend through winter.

 

02. Hold 
Oh well, you've got me under your spell 
and I don't think that I'm kidding around. 
I don't think I can forget you now. 
I once sat up on my roof and examined the planning of my town. 
I saw the structured grid and pavement cutting through grass 
and I remembered the cold of winter running up the legs of my pants. 
I picked the nicest lawn and imagined the two of us rolling around 
down along the ground. 
I saw myself touch your face 
and I noticed jets begin to race above our heads. 
But I pinched my arm and remembered how much you hate me. 
I remembered the fact that I can't see what you need 
and I'm too stupid to be aware of the beauty that you give this place 
and how shitty this town would seem without you in it. 
When you aren't around 
I let the shades fall down to shut out all the sun's light 
and make myself feel all right. 
What am I doing with my life? 
Remember that the only things we need sometimes are chilly nights and warmer thighs, 
'cause there's nothing like being held. 

 

03. Jessie & My Whetstone  
To me, the only thing left after a while was that night we watched documentaries 
up through morning and then you kicked me out. 
You opened up your screen door and threw me off the porch. 
It was summer then and I drove home whistling muddy waters down the pike. 
And that was that: our one sweet night together. 
Under highway signs I watched our love start fluttering and dissipating. 
I counted all the headlights to make sure I was all right. 
Now I'm wondering is it me or is it me that can't see silver linings? 
So I fucked it up. I watched you go.
I saw my hand not dialing the phone. 
All I'm left to do is remember the dull room we sat in 
blue stream light watching the strike of '59. 
I dreamed of wrecking my underwear. 
Oh can't I touch your cheeks somewhere 
under dirt filled rainy nights with my socks stuck in the mud? 
Please come dive in puddles with me.

 

04. Take Our Cars Now!  
Don't you remember the last time we were speeding down this highway? 
Anna slept in the back seat, dreaming in the autumn heat. 
We turned up the country radio. 
I said, "if you want me just say so." 
I slicked back my hair in the wind. 
I told you I didn't want my picture taken but you snapped it anyway. 
Now I guess you won't have trouble remembering me someday. 
So I floored it and swerved around the lanes.
I kept wishing it were you instead of me behind the wheel 
so maybe with my camera I could steal a shot of you 
and go home to put it in my room. 
Maybe you'll never remember me. 
Maybe my face will lose these scars, 
'cause sometimes they keep me home at night where I 
duck under the covers and wince when I see the light. 

 

05. I Melt With You (originally performed by Modern English)
Moving forward using all my breath
Making love to you was never second best
I saw the world thrashing all around your face
Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace
I'll stop the world and melt with you
You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time
There's nothing you and I won't do 
I'll stop the world and melt with you
Dream of better lives the kind which never hate
Dropped in the state of imaginary grace
I made a pilgrimage to save this human race
Never comprehending a race that long gone by
I'll stop the world and melt with you
You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time
There's nothing you and I won't do
I'll stop the world and melt with you
The future's open wide
I'll stop the world and melt with you
I've seen some changes but it's getting better all the time
There's nothing you and I won't do
I'll stop the world and melt with you

 

06. The Way His Collar Falls (only available on the vinyl)
Leif and I are on the train to New York in car 1399. 
There's a guy with a quarter in his ear and I've seen 
Leif only once in the past two months. 
His hair is sticking up a little in the front. 
He's losing it just a bit. 
When I get home tonight I'll miss him in Hampshire. 
I'll miss his glasses and the way he writes in purple pen, 
the way his collar falls to the left. 
Have you seen his ankles lately? 
I know he's next to me. 
I feel his sweater here, 
but when I'm sleeping it's only green sheets and the hair down my legs. 
I think I'll write you, Leif, when I'm near Tuesday, 
sometime before you go and I'm back on the train.