@ALBUM: Partyball Artist: Stan Ridgway 1991 Geffen Records All selections by Stan Ridgway. ------------------------------------ @SONG: Jack Talked (Like a Man on Fire) CHORUS Jack talked, Jack talked like Jack talked like a man on fire Jack talked, Jack talked like Jack talked like a man on fire Jack talked like a man on fire And his eyes looked like two shiny steel ball berrings And when he moved the ground beneath him shook and split open No one got too close to Jack Jack never got too close anyway And when he dreamed his ears drolled Thirty weight engine oil He took personality tests And stapled them to his lower lip no one ever came over to visit with Jack Jack never visited anybody anyway CHORUS Jack made false contributions To charity telethons Jack made prank phone calls To elected officials His arms shook and his legs twitched And his tongue dart out of His mouth every few seconds And when it did It touched the tip of his nose And when it touched the tip of his nose He yelled out as loud as he could "I have artistic sensibility, I am a damn good risk, I am the messenger and Here is the message." CHORUS --------------------------------------------- @SONG: I Wanna Be a Boss I been doodlin' on this notepad And I been takin' telephone calls I can tell this job's at the end of the line And I'm ready for the fall But I been watchin' the boss carefully and he always seems to be havin' a ball And then I scratch my head and wonder Why I'm down here and he's up the hall... All of my paychecks aren't worth The paper they're printed on I get 'em Friday And Monday they're all gone There must be some way To change my situation It's time that I took up A brand new vocation I wanna take a two week vacation 26 times a year (add 'em up) When I go to exotic places My jet will be a Leer I'll need several secretaries Just to jot down notes I'll wear Gucci loafers And expensive shirts And blue executive, exotic coats I, I said I wanna be a boss Well I''ll drive in fancy cars No, well maybe I'll just cruise With a limo and a chaufer TV, telephone and booze Tinted windows so the common folk Can't see me here inside Maybe every now and then for fun I'll give some old coot a ride Then maybe I'll slip 'em A thousand dollar bill The he'll smile and shake my hand And I'll put him in my will I'm gonna count up all my widgets And digits and all my stuff I'll make millions in a day But it'll never be enough Nope...not enough 'Cause I, I said I wanna be a boss Now if I find a product I like I'll buy up the whole company Then I'll shave my face and grin And smile and sell it on TV And everyone will know me I'll be more famous that Howard Hughes I'll grow a long beard And watch "Ice Station Zebra" in the nude And grow my nails like Fu Man Chu And keep a row of specimen jars Get other people to work for me Well no...maybe I'll buy The planet Mars And build an amusement park up there Better than old Walt's place You'll have to be a millionaire to go And we'll smoke cigars And lounge in lace And talk the talk of businessmen And bosses that we are So here's to me The drinks are free 'Cause I just bought this bar... ---------------------------------------------- @SONG: The Roadblock News travels fast in a small desert town So it wasn't long at all before the word got around That a killin' mad car was headed their way So the sheriff and the boys were gonna stop him Out on the highway Right where it intersected big black rock So it wasn't long at all Before the whole town was out standin' 'round Hammerin' a nail and buildin' up a pride In a roadblock The mayor's wife sat in the shade And talked her way through a few good lies While her husband practiced his acceptance speech For a medal from the F.B.I. And Granny rocked back in her chair and said, "Just what did this man do?" While some idiot kids from school Ate the dirty sno-cones colored red, white and blue At the roadblock Then the local paper jumped the gun And printed the big headline "Town is saved from killer car with roadblock at stateline" Three miles down the highway in a Chevy '69 Were a pair of crazy eyeballs Jumpin' left and right in time To an eight track tape playin' Foghat and Jethro Tull And a gasoline soaked hand shiftin' A little plastic skull And on the arm a blue tattoo that read "I'm a son of a bitch" A map open on the front seat Leather black as pitch One foot slammed on the gas, no shoe Just an argyle sock Andthat car was screamin' wild down the highway Like lightnin' towards the roadblock Then all eyes turned down the highway To a big cloud of smoke And Granny went into a mild state of shock and started to choke And then a boy up in a tree yelled out, "Here he comes..." Then twenty men strong aimed and fired point blank Nineteen shotguns... Well the next day the sheriff just tried to stall While they buried the body out behind a wall The newspaper said, "Killer still on the lam Seems the boys at the roadblock shot the wrong man Nobody really knew just who he was He was drivin' a Camaro with dashboard fuzz They all burned the car right there at big black rock And no one ever said a word at all again About a roadblock ----------------------------------------------------------------------- @SONG: Snaketrain Comin' into Southbend headin' towards the graveyard shift Blockin' off the fallen fences with my hardware grip Watchin' out and waitin' for a signal seen That could level out the quiet side And if you say you're lonely I'm the one you'll find there on the side Your one and only And you will know when this deed has died I was chasin' a ghost, pale and white And hard to see The boys in blue from peculiar school Are hangin' out in the dark and they're lookin' for me If you say you're lonely I'm the one you'll find there on the run Your one and only And you will know when this deed is done CHORUS Somebody's walkin' away While everybody's ridin' on the snaketrain Somebody's walkin' away, While everybody's ridin' on the snaketrain Remember when the wind would blow and how warm the sun would feel? If you say you're lonely And you can't decide what's fair is fair You're dreaming only And I will try and catch you there CHORUS -------------------------------------------------- @SONG: Right Through You You look them in the eye To show them you're brave But no one but me knows That you're just a slave To this part in the play You never mean what you say You come on so strong You run with the hunt You don't show what's behind You don't show what's in front And you do it to show Someone you don't know Like a bird on a limb Starin' down at its toes No song it could sing No its voice it just froze And the fear that you keep Is bottled up there inside CHORUS And I see Right through you Right on through But I know you see Right through me too Yo put on a good show You act so in control But you're laughin' too loud At a joke no one told You're not what you appear You're just a ghost in the mirror Sometims what you say Yeah, you do for effect You wanna show someone power You wanna get some respect But most times you don't know Nothin' about it at all CHORUS I'm chippin' the rock But it's tark in the mine Don't look away now You drive me outa my mind But I try to get sure I try to endure The things that I wanted So much outa you A feelin' to share A love that was true Or maybe I just made it up CHORUS ---------------------------------------- @SONG: The Gumbo Man Water is crashin' on the rocks down below A side window rolls down on an El Dorado Hear the hush of the voices...there's a flash from inside And no one bothers to conceal what they cannot hide CHORUS So if you see the gumbo man Tell him now he's gotta change his plan Stir it left and stir it right Eat it up until it's gone from sight Frome top of the lighthouse a beacon shown down Draw a map to remember what nobody found out I woke up in the mornin'...stared in the glass I took a walk down the street, then saw you comin' past CHORUS There's a worry on the burner A cold wind rushin' in And nobody got out, but somebody did get in There's a creak on the stairway outside the door Blue metal voices are beggin' for more CHORUS --------------------------------------------------------------- @SONG: Harry Truman John Wayne was always bald And he had a woman's name Valentino was a momma's boy He cried in his tent all night long And Harry Truman finally Dropped the bomb So they could go to sleep at night I got a plaque up on the wall and an office in the sky I give birth to major deals Lookin' down on the passersby I pass the torch, I follow the code I'm steerin' straight ahead No, I don't stray the road To be a warrior with a king To put your hand in the flame Without burning And go to sleep at night John Wayne was always bald And he had a woman's name Valentino was a momma's boy I cried in my tent all night long And Harry Truman finally dropped the bomb So I could go to sleep at night Now...go to sleep... ------------------------------------------------- @SONG: Overlords Well I been breakin' rocks up on coolie #3 I knnow it's been forever, thought you'd Never hear from me The weather up here is rotten Rainin' granite all the time And both moons are glowin'purple And there is no sun to shine I been diggin' deep down in a tunnel That goes twenty miles down And I know my life is cheap When I hear that rumblin' sound CHORUS Oh the overlords, got me workin' overtime Oh the overlords, they never make it rhyme And there is something in the air That is burnin' in my throat A big, black cloud is passin' Droppin' acid on my coat The overlords got me workin' overtime It's been ten years and a day After world war nine They pushed us to make meaning And fromheir meaning was our crime Last night I had a dream When the guards all fell asleep I jumped a fence outside this pen And then I hot wired up the warden's jeep And I took a walk... CHORUS I still remember all those nights we had Together up on Mars We both stood in line to get some new tattoos While the kids got cut some scars And when they check the beds tonight They'll find a note scratched in the pine You now can seek me underground Where I'll be monkey-wrenchin' all the time CHORUS >From a planet out in space, a signal you could trace Controllin' what you feel but you never see their face Oh the overlords, got me workin' overtime ----------------------------------------------------------- @SONG: Uba's House of Fashions The door swung wide, I walked right in I was long way off from where I'd been >From behind a desk, behind a cool, green cloud A strange low voice told me then To join the crowd At Uba's, Uba's, Uba's...fashions Uba said to Jumbo, won't you take my child I have walked a million miles Changin' my clothes changin' what I wear Used to worry 'bout things Now I just don't care CHORUS A long line formed at the door in the back Everybody wanted a dress off the rack They wanted something from her that made 'em shake She screamed, "Everybody gotta pay For what they take!" CHORUS I'm leavin' town now and changin' my name NEver gonna be the same Jumbo had a baby...lives on Blueberry Hill And everybody got a momma 'Cause she's hangin' out there still Uba's house of fashions... --------------------------------------------------------- @SONG: Beyond Tomorrow We will be driving in little time bombs everywhere One a seat in a skyscraper with aluminum hair therre'll be someone downstairs Collecting all our names Numbers all in a file somewhere Everyone will be saved CHORUS Beyond tomorrow, beyond tomorrow Someone will be in the air In a plane by the sea I could be anywhere at all If I could just be I'll eat candied policemen You'll eat farmers fromell Everyone will be very modern Can't you tell?... CHORUS There could be another one come from the East With a mark on his head, the sign of the beast Then we will all extinguish Fromhis thing we call yeast Did we come from yest?... Way back when in a Petri dish We were mated with some weird kinda fish Then we grew arms and legs Now we have 'em alive-no eggs In a room far away near the capitol There's a nox that sits on someone's skull We'll all be waitin' for the word comin' down Mentime...let's blow this town CHORUS ---------------------------------------------------------- DON'T BLAME ME... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eric Wincentsen "Greetings from the Humungous- 267@ef.gc.maricopa.edu The Lord Humungous!" Glendale Community College, -The Road Warrior Glendale, Arizona ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I DIDN'T VOTE FOR SLICK WILLY!