Stay Loose


I was choking on a cornflake
you said "have some toast instead"
i was sleeping maybe three hours
you said "you should get to bed"
i was waiting at the church door
for the minister to show
i was looking at the new year
you said "walk before you crawl"
I was feeling like a loser
you said "hey, you've still got me"
i was feeling pretty lonely
you said "you wanted to be free"
i was looking for a good time
you said "let the good times start"
with a quiver of your eyelid
you took on someone else's part
Maybe i'm a little greedy
you said "think before you speak"
sometimes i'm a little seedy
you said "everyone is weak"
now i feel a little better
is there something i can do?
but i never heard the answer
i never had a clue
But what about me
i don't really see
how things will improve
if all you want is to stay loose
There's a little echo calling
like a miner trapped inside
if i tell her of this moment
she will in me doubts confide
and she's on me like a blanket
like a stalk of wilting grass
i'm not sure about her motives
i'm not sure about her past
But my faith is like a bullet
my belief is like a bolt
the only thing that lets me sleep at night
a little carriage of the soul
if it starts a little bleaker
then the year may yet be gold
happiness is not for keeping
happiness is not my goal
But what about me
i don't really see
how things will improve
if all you want is to stay loose
but what about them
you play mother hen
to a gaggle of gangling youth
all you want is to stay loose
I was living through the seconds
my composure was a mess
i was miles from tenderness
it was dark outside, the day it was lying in pieces
everything is flat and dreary
i couldn't care what's in the news
television is the blues
television is hysterical laughter of people
And i know it could be me
i'm always asking for more
i keep running around in circles
i keep looking for a doorway
i'm going to need two lives
to follow the paths i've been taking

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