THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – I Don’t Want To Be On T.V.

Beat by beat as Becky falls to sleep
She sits in her electric chair and watches the TV.
And its so quiet here in tonight, she looks skinny in the light,
In her under wire her face so fair, she’s higher than a kite.
She says: “well, what about me; am I dying silently?
Have you ever wanted anything so bad you couldn’t see?”

No oh oh;
no oh oh not me;
no oh oh…
I don’t wanna be on TV

And the man down at the TV station, cracks his knuckles bare.
He’s starin at a woman, she is starin back at him.
You can cut the tension with a knife; we’re expecting rain tonight.
There’s a weather system blowing in from Santa Ana all night.
She thinks: “well what about me? So what, you’re on TV?
I don’t care about your pompous ass, I care about this baby.”

No oh oh;
no oh oh not me;
no oh oh…
I don’t wanna be on TV

Everyone in this city seems to take it like a drug.
Sit up all night, faces so white, they just can’t get enough.
And the shows are all the same, and there’s something I can’t name.
The snickering on this flickering screen, the noise numbing my brain.
So I think: “Well, what about me? Will I just die silently?
With all these walls and bars and endless whores just dying next to me?

No oh oh;
no oh oh not me;
no oh oh…
I don’t wanna be on TV
No oh oh;
no oh oh not me;
no oh oh;
no oh oh…

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Happiness Is Overrated

And speaking of
Little Miss Catherine
I feel swell, oh well
Because losing you
Was something I always…

Did so well
I guess I just can’t tell anymore
And the feeling I get when I see your clothes spread out on my floor
Oh, I’m such a bore, I’m such a bore
I don’t do anything anymore
I just count these ceiling tiles falling to my floor

Sorry, I nearly lost my head
I’m sorry, I nearly lost my head
But you know those words that you said
They get stuck here in my head
And this feeling I dread, it makes me wish I was dead
Or just alone instead, I’ll be alone instead
I don’t need anyone in this bed
Just these ceiling tiles falling through my head

Sorry, I really lost my head
I’m so sorry, I really lost my head
Oh, those words you said

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Halie

Haile, I’ve been wonderin’ lately
If you ever thought about maybe
Spendin’ some time here

You know me
How these days are so lonely
And everyone just tells you
What they think you want to hear

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I can barely think about anything at all
I wonder if you’ll ever know

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I forgot the words to this song and no one knows
Just tell me, how am I supposed to feel

Haile, you think that you could just save me
The trouble of trying to think clearly
When I only want to drown

And these problems
I never know how to solve them
I only know how to say them
And keep my head down

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I can barely think about anything at all
I wonder if you’ll ever know

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I forgot the words to this song and no one knows
Just tell me, how am I supposed to feel

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I can barely think about anything at all
I wonder if you’ll ever know

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I forgot the words to this song and no one knows
Just tell me, how am I supposed to feel

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I can barely think about anything at all
I wonder if you’ll ever know

Hey ey ey Oh e Oh e Oh
I forgot the words to this song and no one knows
Just tell me, how am I supposed to feel

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Half Of Something Else

On the night that we met
You told me you wanted
Something more from me
And it was all that I could do

I remember your face, like a child
The way that you blushed
The way that you smiled
And now it’s all that I can do

And I wake up feeling new
There’s so much more I never knew

So I think of all the years spent alone
It’s like you’re searching for something
To make you feel whole

Like you’re half of something else
Like you’re half of something else
Just a fraction of yourself

Don’t take it so hard;
We did what we could
There were no easy answers
To be understood

It was all that we could do
We’re the only ones who knew
Now all I think about is you

The way that you screamed
The way that you cried
The way that you wipe your eyes
And fall against my side
The way that you told
Told me I was wrong
And the way that you’d sing
When you’d hear a song

And the way that you answered
When you knew I was gone

Now I know that I’m blind
And that you’re all I see
And yeah I know it’s not clever
But I just want you with me

I’m only half of something else
I’m only half of something else
I’m only half of something else

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Gasoline

..Five, six, seven, eight!

All the time, awake
You’re still on my mind
But we were on our own
Almost all the time

And she’ll step away
For a second or two
And I close my eyes
And I think of you

We were only seventeen
We were holding in our screams
Like we’d torn it from the pages of some lipstick magazine
And you scratch and turn
And say, “let’s burn ourselves up ’til we scream”
Like gasoline

Those tender days
At your mother’s house
And your father would find my hand inside your blouse

But they tell me that
You’re married now
Oh my dear, I fear I can’t understand how

When we were only seventeen
We were holding back our screams
Like we’d torn our lives from the pages of some girly magazines
And you scratch and turn
And say, “let’s burn these sheets down to the seams”
Like gasoline

I was only twenty one
I wasn’t having any fun
And the words you said tore through my head
Like bullets from a gun
And I shoulda just shown up and said,
“Get in this car, let’s run”

And these years have seen so many imitations turning green
Each like the last, they go right past like credits on a screen
But your memory blazes through me
Burning everything
Like gasoline
Like gasoline
Like gasoline

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Duet

I’ve been away for far too long
I’ve had my mind wrapped around this one song
I heard last week on the radio while
Driving near that place we used to go

Where the track homes all look the same
With the roofs and the tiles and the similar frames
All these streets are so wide and these cars are so lame
And on every block I heard the whisper of your name

I spent so many evenings in my head
I’d lie alone on an unmade bed
Counting the minutes like numbered clocks
Should I call, should I write, should I read, should I stop?

I’m a child, I’m a ghost, I’m a slur, I’m a boast
I’m a prince, I’m a king, I’m a ryhme, I’m a ring
I’m unable to sleep, I’m unable to sing
I’m a desperate and lonely, frightened, unholy thing

And you’d say la la la I’m so glad I’m over you
As you reach for your drink and you tell me you like my shoes
And I smile like a wretch, there’s not much else I can do
I say I know what you mean, yeah it’s weird for me too
Besides what would I sing about if I had you?

Kinda sounds like la la la…
La la la…

I think maybe it was Radiohead
That had this weird little beat and a keyboard instead
Of guitar playing chords, I remember how bored
You would get with those bands
You always said they play the same three chords

And you’d dance around in your t-shirt and sing
Don’t you love Modest Mouse and adore Promise Ring?
Don’t you wish that you could just avoid everything?
Join a band, go on tour, and think of me when you sing?

And I’d think la la la yeah that sounds okay to me
And you’d fall on the bed and I’d fall down to my knees
And I’d smile like my life depended on it
That’s so weird I was mostly right about that
Always eager to love and eager to leave

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la…

And I’d think la la la all these songs are so untrue
As I stare at this space inside of you
And we don’t belong and it sounds so wrong
And you’re beautiful with that gray scarf on

I think yeah okay but maybe it’s just the song
And I miss you but it might just be the song

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Does This Mean You’re Moving On?

And the funny thing is, it has no end
I try to call you up, at 2am
In a crowded bar, your ringer tones
Grab my mind

I can see you through the phone,
The phone, the phone
And I’m wide awake at home
At home, at home
So I think I’ll see my coquette
And hope you don’t catch
The bourbon on my breath
My breath, my breath

Catch a cab outside on Seventh Street
And the cars fly through the Bowery
I come to your door and I hear a moan
Then another voice, so Christ, she’s not alone
Alone, alone
And my heart sinks like a stone
A stone, a stone
And the tears won’t even come
I feel so numb
So swept aside, so dumb
So dumb, so dumb

When the words are wrong
And my patience gone
Will you tell me
Does this mean you’re moving on?

From the balcony, you call my name
I see you standing in the rain
Your words so dry, your face so wet
Said I broke your heart,
But it hasn’t happened yet
I’ll bet, your friends all hate me now
I get the strangest looks,
From that bitchy crowd
And though, they must think
They have every reason to
I guess I’m still not quite yet over you

When the words are wrong
And you’re hanging on
Another guy’s arm
Does this mean you’re moving on?

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – Changing

All these buckets of rain, I’ve heard enough about.
You say that I lied.
I am a gentleman didn’t I ask for a place I could stay?
What were we both thinking?
The next part just got in the way.
You were just always talking about changing, changing
What if I was the same man, same man, the same I always was?

All these things that you say,
like I’ll forget about the mind-numbing games that you play.
I am a gentleman, didn’t I pay for every laugh every dime,
every bit every time and then you feed me some line.
I won’t hear one more word about changing, changing
Guess what I am the same man, same man, same man I’ve always been.

Days pass and turn into weeks, when we don’t even speak.
We just lay wide awake and pretend we’re asleep.
You go home alone and you’re checking your phone
and you’re looking at me like I’m something you own.

All these buckets of rain, you can’t forget about it, you say I never tried.
I am a gentleman, didn’t I answer every time that you call, pick you up when you fall
But you never listen at all
You were just always talking about changing, changing
Guess what I am the same man, same man.
Changing, changing
Guess what I am the same man, same man.
Changing, changing
Guess what I am the same man, same man.

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – All I Ever Wanted

I can only say these things to you while you’re sleeping.
I hear the hum from the wires and the sounds of the morning creeping.
I lie awake and pretend, you can hear me.

You tell me that you’re scared that you’re turning into your mother.
I feel myself turn into my father.
We could lie to each other like they do, and say we’re so happy.
It’s easy when you’re young and you still want it so badly.

And I feel my heart pounding,
And I think I might scream.

And I could tell you that you’re all I’ve ever wanted, dear
I could utter every word you’d ever hope to hear.
I shudder when I think that I might not be here forever, forever, forever.

The night you whisper like a ghost and you look so shaken
You’re so quiet and small and you tell me you want to be taken.
I just never think of you as the kind of girl who would say that…
You suddenly seem like some faceless thing in my grasp.

Your eyes so wide, your face aglow,
It’s the face of someone I don’t know…

I could tell you that you’re all I’ve ever wanted, dear
I could utter every word you’d ever hope to hear.
I shudder when I think that I might not be here forever, forever, forever.

All I can think is that it must be a kind of Rebellion,
To arm your fears like soldiers and slay them…

And I can tell you that you’re all I’ve ever wanted dear,
Through the din of your breathing while you’re sleeping here,
You wake and you ask me if I’m gonna be here forever, forever, forever.

Your face so twisted and your eyes alight,
I wanna tell you I can change you when you cry at night.
But I’d be lying.
Love is defying.

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – All For A Woman

All of these grateful looks
All these grateful eyes
All the furious stares and the fretful sighs

Promising everything
To everyone
We’ll be back soon
You’re my favorite one

And I’ll keep it quiet
I’ll hold you dear
The whispering fills the ear

Tell me you’ll stay
We would have such fun
And the lie, you don’t need anyone

And the screams, the wails, and the call
The headiness of the fall
Ten-thousand miles from where we began
I fell asleep with a picture in hand
It was all for a woman

Say that you’re grateful for the time alone
Two years away and I don’t miss home
And everyone asks you if you still think of her
So you smile politely and you demur

But then all at once your head starts to swim
And you can feel her breath on your skin
If I let you stay, the same spot today
She’s above you, below you in ways

And you’re shivering cold
Like you’re just 10 years old
And she’s lying asleep in your bed

And you’re standing beside her
The light from inside her
Filling up the darkness in your head
It was all for a woman

You’ve drowned in the teasing
You’ve forgotten the reason
The muse inspired the art

You’d give anything for
For her to say them once more
The words you believed at the start

Ten-thousand miles from where it began
Falling asleep with a picture in hand
And it was all… it was all
For the look in her eyes
Of the promise of the lie of a woman

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – All At Once

We were born without time
Nameless in the arms
Of a mother, a father, and God
When the world would wait for us
A thousand years in the crush
Of our eyes, fearless, and awed
So quietly, we’d fade into sleep
With nothing on our mind(s)
Hoo, hoo, hoo..
And then we longed to be loved
In the rush, we become
Some things we thought we’d never be
We were surprised by how hard
Left wary and scarred
From the nights spent feeling incomplete
And all those evenings swearing at the sky
Wishing for more time
All the promises we broke when we tried
Just wastin’ all our time

Hoo, hoo..

We grow old all at once
And it comes like a punch
In the gut, in the back, in the face
When it seems someone’s lied
And our parents have died
Then we hold onto each other in their place
And I feel the water risin’ around us
Maybe that’s okay
Yeah, I feel the world changin’ all at once
I guess it’ll be okay

Hoo, hoo, hoo..

And we all had one hope
There was someone lookin’ down
To return our bodies to each other
And the ground

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – A Letter To Georgia

How can I explain to you
The picture of this avenue
The rain falls on the street outside
And I wonder why on this Tuesday afternoon
I sit alone inside
Same four walls I lived inside
So many lives I lived and died
None so much as I lived with you
I see you on the highway
A thousand miles away
Rain falls through your hair and cheeks
Your tears and mascara streaks
Your face reflected in the glass
Lines in the pavement go past
Just like the lines around your eyes
That held the weight of endless sad goodbyes

Everybody that I know
Thinks that I should just let you go
You run from everything you see
You hurt the ones you love like me
But here I sit and picture you
Your fingers worn and your shirt torn too
Your heart so big and broke in two
Your mind drifting through all you knew
Afraid to love
Afraid to lose
Afraid to start
Afraid to choose
Afraid to live
Afraid to die
Afraid to let the days slip by
Afraid you’ll change or stay the same
Afraid you’ll lose yourself again
Afraid of the truth that love
Can cause you so much pain
I know
I felt it too
I know, I know
Darling I wish it wasn’t true

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – It Doesn’t Mean A Thing

I never knew my mother
I can’t say it was so bad
She was still a girl of seventeen the night she met my dad
He was just six months out of chino
Trying his hardest to stay clean
And they’d sing and they’d sing and they’d sing
Like doves sleeping with broken wings
In a bed fit for a king
It didn’t mean a thing

It was shot gun forest wedding
And they forgot to bring the gun
As they were busy counting promises
To the children not yet born
No one could afford the ride
Everyone hitched up with the 101

And they’d sing and they’d sing and they’d sing
Like doves dancing with broken wings
With a view fit for a king
It didn’t mean a thing

It was a loneliness
They would confess
Like the world had gone bad I guess
So they hold hands and look into the eyes of god
They’d say tell me why’d ya hide from us
Why’d ya fill the world with wickedness
Why’d ya spare us from the grace but not the rot

Now my dad says fuck the details
Just keep your head down hard
Ya got to find yourself alone before you’ll find the eyes of God
You make broke and scared and out of jail
Out the flesh of your own heartstrings
But you were born to be a peasant not a king
So just stop acting like your running from something
Ya gonna leave the way you came without a thing
With your heart tattooed and your mind tied to a string

You just sing and you sing and you sing
It doesn’t mean a thing