Surely You Don't Work All Night

from The What of Whom (1982) by Daniel Johnston

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lyrics

Surely you don't work all night
Surely you don't work all night
You think you're all right
Surely you don't work all night

I walked the town late last night
I walked clear across town just to write some graffiti on the wall
When I got there I couldn't think of anything to say

The buildings stood still
Like giant tombstones
Dark and blue and still
I came to a dead end up an alley
And saw a cold cement canvas and a Mac truck on a hill

And I wrote the words of Al Pomplas on the subway wall
And there's a football star on a McDonald's glass
Staring at me right in the face
And he looks just like Pete Arner

And the sun comes thru the windows
It was just like letting the dog in in the morning
It was jumping all over the room
And waggin' its tail in my eyes
But me I was unenthusiastic
My skin felt just like plastic
Everyday I sleep in that casket
That I pulled out and crawled in

And i ripped my own heart out late last night in a dream
Is that band really gonna play that in public?
"Killing me softly with my song"?

The queen stands proud in the circus parade
With a baby in her arm
And I sit loud on a toilet seat
Like a monkey in a zoo
And there's a McDonald's glass staring at me, laughing

Surely you don't work all night
Surely you don't work all night
We think you're all right
Surely you don't work all night

credits

from The What of Whom (1982), released August 1, 1982

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about

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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