Ithaca

I was born outside of lexington

The first son of oblivion

I came with a name that was on my tongue

I thought it might be you

I came of age and fell in love

I always pushed too hard or not enough

But I kept that song stuck too my tongue

I've been trying to get it out

See, I tried to marry Jesus christ

It didn't take, but the dress was nice

So I filled my pockets with bread and wine

And I went on down the road

Caught a train to babylon

Learned to sing the secret songs

I dreamt of God in foreign tongues

And I learned how to starve

In a beautiful dream you were walking

In the city by the sea

And you wanted me

Like I wanted you I wish that were true

I learned that dionysis dances well

But the hangover she hurts like hell

Apollo robs the wishing well

He's a liar and a thief

Blind lemon, jack, and kerouac

Henry miller in my gunny sac

Blind willie johnson and kierkegaard

Taught me the texas blues

I found a sleeping river man

Swore he would take me across the river to jerusalem

But he wanted more than I could offer him

I memorized some quotes and wrote some songs

Now I sing for food and cigarettes

In these noisy bar and cabarets

Cough up the songs stuck in my chest

And I trade them for a beer

In a beautiful dream you were walking

In the city by the sea

And you wanted me

Like I wanted you I wish that were true

The rain came in vichy france

In a rented room by pére lachaise

Calypso on the unmade bed

She wears grey, but you wear blue, don't you

There, I dreamt that I met kind louis

Who was waiting on the guillotine

He said "they just don't see the things I see"

I said "they see more than you think"

He said "eloi, eloi, lema sabachthani"

Like the son of God of or a fallen beast

C'est ne pas mon pais

This is not my home

Then I awoke by a chestnut tree

In the garden of gethsemane

For a moment I saw everything

Hallelujah and God damn.

In a beautiful dream you were walking

In the city by the sea

And you wanted me

Like I wanted you I wish that were true

Oh penelope, she ain't waiting on me no more

Queen of tennessee, every street to her was paved with gold

A thousand song I have sung

I got a hundred thousand in my lungs

But they never seem to be enough

To keep you by my side

All the lovers I have known,

Most for fun and some for show

They were only just a place to hold

The space I keep for you

And what may be the only sin

Is: Life keeps you hungry to the bitter end

And one trip to the well ain't enough to get

Every thing you'll ever need

But I do not tell the world my dreams

They are alone for me to keep

Like a forrest in a mustard seed

Like the fire in the black coals

In a beautiful dream you were walking

In the city by the sea

And you wanted me

Like I wanted you I wish that were true

Oh penelope, she ain't waiting on me no more

I heard that she left town, heard she settled on another shore

I made it back to ithaca

A high rise where the vineyard was

No magnolia trees up above

Blue grass hills had turned to stone

Then the oracle came at last

Said "everything has come to pass."

Disappeared in a camera flash

And left me with the bill

I am a dying leaf upon this tree

I'll maybe last a century

Just waiting for a gentle breeze

To cast these sails to shore

Then I'll return from where I came

Without a face or family name

And I'll dissolve in the winter's rain

Back into everything

In a beautiful dream you were walking

In the city by the sea

And you wanted me

Like I wanted you I wish that were true

Oh penelope, she ain't waiting on me no more

I sailed the seven seas

But she don't want a man, she wants her king

And that ain't me

I'm sorry