Italy

So there we were in the heart

Where everything that we know got its start

Then it all fell apart

Well I guess that's what you get

When you spread yourself too thin

But we had bigger fish to fry

Like findin' a place to sleep at night

I'd bought a slice of pizza

Just to try and kill some time

And for a minute everything was fine

We had a number in our notebook

But it was way too late to call

It was well after midnight

When our train passed through the city walls

We didn't know this girl at all

So we got out our travel book

To read about the neighborhood

Said it wasn't very good

But it felt alright to me

All I wanted to do was go to sleep

So we walked around the corner

And we found a cheap motel

We knew we couldn't afford it

But we said, "Oh well"

When you've been on the train all day

You're in a big city in a new country

You're real tired and it's late

Sometimes it's better just to pay

That's the way it goes

Sometimes you know

It'd be okay

And after all we were in Rome

Well it had been a long time

Since we had slept inside

We woke up late the next day

And the sun was shining bright

We paid our bill, we cried, we went outside

They got their bread and circus

And I guess so do we

But they got theirs for free

I think that we're gettin' ripped off

We must destroy all empires at any cost

When you're standin' in a temple

Of a long-gone God it seems so simple

Everybody dies, no matter who you are

From far enough away our sun is just another star

And the statue of Moses that we saw

Had horns on his head and was eight feet tall

Maybe that was the case,

No it's not our place to say

Maybe some things just don't translate

We called up this girl

Who had ordered a CD

She was the first from Italy

When we asked for hospitality

She said we could stay at her parents' place

They were so sweet to us

It was so nice to meet a punk

She took good care of you and me

She bought us soy ice cream

Her mom cooked dinner every night

It was so hard for us to leave

And the stray dogs of Pompey

Were our guides that day

They became our friends,

We were a lot like them

They taught us many things

And all they wanted was some food for their pay

Then we went to the coast

Where the roads are wound so close

And the buses bounce from side-to-side

We thought that we might die

We couldn't find a place to sleep at all that night

The city filled with scooters

Held so many mysteries

I saw the weirdest thing there

That I think I'll ever see

It was a pizza topped with octopus,

A whole one on each slice

But I got my dinner there

It was a pizza topped with fries

And Italy was nice

Made us feel right at home

Our money's in the fountain

And we will return to Rome