1. |
Phantom Of My Own Opera
03:26
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I'm the phantom of my own Opera
Oh don't I know it
And I think of you, sweetheart
I'm lurking in the shadows
Of my memory
We were going to have a circus in the barn
But the creature lurks among us
The ghost of our past
The ghost of our love
And if I had my own way
I always say that phrase
I thought it was a phase
But it wasn't
And so here I am
In my baggy-clown costume
Perform any funny trick and throw a kiss
To the audience
And I'm wearing a mask
But you don't have to ask
Who I'm thinking about
And there's a monkey in the background
Hung by a rope from the ceiling
And I'm the villain, acting fierce
And stretching whiskers too fully
The phantom wears a black coat
Long trousers and a derby
Stands erect
And cracks the whip loudly
I'm the phantom of my own opera
I perform all the parts
And I think of you, sweetheart
I'm even the audience
And I can't help thinking
We were going to have a circus in the barn
Can't pull the curtain
I can't help remembering
Turn a somersault after singing a verse
And the song is never ending
And I never quit rehearsing
A performance of a sad and twisted art
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2. |
Man At War
02:06
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(And that would be the piece that would tell us that we had entered into the last day.)
Jumpin' Jehovahs, the battlefield is clear!
Strange soldier that claimed he was a man at war
He was of no army; he was fighting all alone;
And for no reason he was a man at war
He was standing in his foxhole; he was always on the defensive;
When out of the smoke appeared an attractive figure
A head popped out of that torso, and much to his surprise
He fell in love with its eyes
She was fifteen, Vogue magazine
What an odd place for her to be
Standing on that battlefield by the man at war
"Does she love me?", he screamed with bombs bursting in the air
"Does she love me? Will she understand me?
I'm a man at war!"
He was ambushed and shot up his legs and arms and head
Had to be amputated, he was rehabilitated;
He was a man at war
And suddenly, and surprisingly
Their roles had been reversed:
He was blessed and he was cursed;
He was a man at war
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3. |
Only Missing You
01:58
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Don't know, wish I did
Wish I had someone else instead
Can't stop, wish I could
Nothing else in my empty head
Only missing you
Seems like a million years
Must have been a million tears
I couldn't cry, don't know why
An so [I saw you?] as time goes by
And only missing you
I'm not lonely, I'm not sad
I have the good times we had
But still, there's a hill
Locking my view from my window sill
And only missing you
So I just am
A contemporary historian
I got your memory, I got your love
Locked away in a museum
And only missing you
Only missing you
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4. |
More Dead Than Alive
06:34
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He played the game
But he failed the test
But he remembers the wave of her hair
And the shape of her breast
And he'll tell the world about it now
In a traveling show
Like some kinda circus
Like some kinda circus
Like a monkey in a zoo
More dead than alive
Total abandonment
That faraway look
Where nothing seems to matter
And nothing seems to cook
But you know her, you love her
You gotta live without her
He said, "I can't live without her!"
She said "Too bad about that,"
And left with the undertaker
Now he just sits at the piano
Singing "I'll never grow up, I'll never grow up!"
More dead than alive
He said "What a babe
You wanna see her?
I got a picture,"
And he whipped out his wallet, he had a pathetic collaged photo of himself with a fashion model
Really sad
Really sad
More dead than alive
Well, I climbed up a mountain
And I dug myself a grave
Don't you ever get tired
Of telling me to behave?
And the wild wind, well it's my slave
It takes me wherever I want to go
But it always blows me back again
Well, the wild wind it's my friend
It always blows me back again
It was as if my skull was bare
And naked, without a thought to share
'till it blew one night, this wild wind
And knocked me back alive again
And if I told you this was for real
That I'd been living against my will
Would you laugh and laughing, say:
He's not being real that way
More dead than alive
Pulled up a coffin
And I stepped in
And turned on the radio
And the record on the radio kept skipping, skipping
So I pulled up a coffin
Pulled up a coffin
Pulled up a coffin
I walked up to this psychological man
I said "I've got this problem about this coffin,"
He said "Here's some cough drops,"
I said, "Please don't make such dumb jokes
This is art!"
Or is it art?
Or is it smart?
Or is it just my heart?
More dead than alive
Little girl, where all my tears have dried
Little girl, when everything was going great
Time to call out the in-crowd
Undead white zombies
More dead than alive
Well, he played that game
But he failed the test
But he remember, he remembers
The wave of her hair
And the shape of her breast
And he'll tell the world about it now
In a traveling show
Like some kind of circus
Like some kind of circus
Like some kind of circus
Like some kind of circus
More dead than alive
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5. |
I Will
01:24
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Who knows how long I've loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to I will
For if I ever saw you
I didn't catch you name
But it never really matters
I will always feel the same
Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart
And when at last I'll find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it loud so I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you're doing dear to me
And you know I will
I will (if you want me to)
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6. |
Poptunes
02:01
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Monkey, middle with a fiddle
In a real tight ragtime band
Cause a blaze of fame and fortune
Heard so loud across the land
And those little people who buy those records
Sit lonely in their homes with funny faces
Falling into the great unknown
They got little polka-dot undies
And you know they have their fun
They got matching ties and curtains
And they get their washing done
But come evening comes a feeling
When they lay their burdens down
When they put that record on
The house is jumpin' with excitement
Everyones acting out of character
But everything goes back to normal
A half an hour later
And everyone acts like nothing happened
As that record goes back in the sleeve
That's one house guest that'll never leave
Monkey, middle with a fiddle
In a real tight ragtime band
Cause a blaze of fame and fortune
Heard so lond across the land
And those little people who buy those records
Sit lonely in their homes with funny faces
Falling into the great unknown
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7. |
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You put my love out the door
Put my love out the door
I rode out to your house
And brought you a valentine
And what did you do?
Put my love out the door
Put my love out the door
Out in the cold
Now every February
My heart gets sore
When I remember how you
Put my love out the door
I sat in your living room
I told you that I really loved you
You said you didn't wanna hear no more
Put my love out the door
Put my love out the door
Out in the cold
I wrote something in the snow
In front of your porch
I'm carryin' a torch
Put my love out the door
Put my love out the door
Put my love out the door
Out in the cold
Out in the cold
Out in the cold
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8. |
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You're gonna make it, Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe
Ever since you were a little kid
You been doing what you did
When the principal asked you what you were going to do
You said you were going to be an artist
You never did too good in school
You had to sneak around just to read comic books
And they hit you on the head and everytime the teacher said
Stop drawing
You're gonna make it
You're gonna make it, Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe Joe
You're gonna make it, hey Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe
You're gonna make it, hey Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe
You're gonna make it, Joe
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9. |
Grievances
01:23
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10. |
Never Get To Heaven
02:39
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Mother told me always to follow the golden rule
And she said it's really a sin to be mean and cruel
So remember, if you're untrue
The angels up in heaven will be lookin' at you
You'll never get to heaven if you break my heart
So be very careful not to make a spark
You won't get to heaven if you
Break my heart - oh no
I've been hearing rumors about how you played around
Though I don't believe what I hear still it gets me down
If you ever should say good-bye
It would be so awful, the angels would cry
I can hardly wait for the day when we say "I do"
It's the day I dreamed of so long now it's coming true
You will promise to cherish me
If you break your promise the angels will see
Never get to heaven
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11. |
Follow That Dream
02:41
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Oh it's a world of lonely faces
Oh it's a world of many places
Oh oh, follow that dream
Oh it's a world of funny faces
To get home you have to touch all the bases
Oh oh, follow that dream
Like flying a kite
You can't loose sight
You can't let go-o-o
Oh oh follow that dream
Setting sun don't mean the end though it could
So get the job done but keep faith
And follow that dream
Though silly it seems
It will get you through your depths
Oh oh follow your dreams
Oh it's a world of lonely faces
Oh it's a world of many places
Oh oh follow that dream
Oh oh follow that dream
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Like flying a kite
U-u-u---uh
A-a-a---ah
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12. |
Pow
01:47
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It's an odd and awful way to be
It's a happy laughter of the free
It's a truth and it's a dare
It's a feeling in the air
It's a mother's love for a child
It's a burst from someone else's universe
It's something you carry with you like a curse
It's a smile or a tear
It's a treasured souvenir
It's a cue that makes the heart sing
And an argument has nowhere to go
And you'll grow old before you know
And the memories shine clear like looking in a mirror
And you remember all the times you were sincere
And the mood will hit you, you'll be a baby again
It will take and embrace you like an old friend
Adventure in your eyes with manic surprise
Like the sun shining through the clouds
Pow
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13. |
For The Love Of Pete
01:21
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For the love of Pete
You were no cheat
Although you could have been a little more discreet
You did it all for the love of Pete
For Pete's sake, for my sake
You were no birthday cake
And each one could have had his own share - oh
Someone had to win, someone had to lose
But you were the one who had to choose
It was the love of Pete that you wanted
I guess there was no way that I could compete
You did it all for the love of Pete
For the love of Pete, for the love of Pete - oh
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14. |
Blue Cloud
03:47
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And there's lots of friends to have - yeah yeah yeah
You don't have nothing to do
Go downtown to see what's happening at the zoo
When you're right in the middle of a crowd
And you want to just yell out loud and you do
When you're looking out a window
And you're dreaming on a cloud
Don't you ever feel like
You just want to yell out loud
When you're thinking about nothing but it's something
But you don't know what it is
When you're smiling at the sky
Don't you ever wonder why
And there's a lot of things to see
And there's a lot of friends to have - yeah yeah yeah
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15. |
Grievances Revisited
02:21
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If I had my own way
You'd be with me here today
But I rarely have my own way
I guess that's why you're not here with me today
And the librarian said
"You can't buy no respect"
I said "hey, lady, what can you expect
When I'm lying on the floor"
You're a lovely lady but you don't wanna be
No girl of mine
Well the only thing you ever done for me
Was help me, help me, waste my time
And I saw you at the funeral
You were standing there like a temple
I said hi, how are you, hello
And I pulled up a casket and crawled in
And I pulled up a casket and crawled in
And I pulled up a casket and crawled in
And I pulled up a casket and crawled in
And I pulled up a casket and crawled in
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16. |
True Grief
03:58
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Once upon a stage
An evening of praise
The public has come to see
The sa-addest singer
And he's playing, playing the song
And it's a classic
And his fingers, fingers are bleeding
And his heart is aching out loud
And the people are clapping and clapping and clapping and clapping
And the song he is playing just goes on and on and on
And it seems like it will never stop
Then everybody gets up and does a hop - yeah
Then the entertainer
Chained to the piano
Gives a nervous grin
To the massive crowd
He says here's one about
The day I really broke my heart
And he sheds a tear, the audience applauds
Everyone shouting - he's so sincere
I can't believe he's here
Then he does his famous
Song of sorrow and his melody of pain
And he bows
And the curtain falls
And the white in his eye
Is reflecting light from the ceiling
As he prays alone a silent prayer
To his lover whom he lost
Whom he sings about
Whom he thinks about all the time
He sits for a little bit
And then he writes another hit - ohohoh
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17. |
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My baby cares for the dead, I said:
Come join the living baby, the bright sunshine
And it's so great to be alive and have a good time
But my baby hung around the dead
Making money acting friendly with the funeral family
And she was wed
My baby married a rich man mama, what can I do?
She cares for the dead now mama, she'll care for you
And my baby had a baby, not by me, but by him
Her lover who cares for the dead
And that birth meant the death of our love
I know someday my baby will care for me
She'll bleed and dress me mama, real fancy
And she'll lay me in a coffin
Comb my hair, put marbles in my eyes, ey-eye
I know someday my baby will care for me
I know someday my baby will care for me
I know someday my baby will care for me
I know someday my baby will care for me
I know someday my baby will care for me
I know someday my baby will care for me
My baby cares for the dead
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18. |
Mabel's Grievances
03:11
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Daniel Johnston Waller, Texas
An American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist, Daniel Johnston spent 30 or so years exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience.
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