01. Who I Am
02. Still Breathing
03. Blue Against Blue
04. Good Like You
05. Smile Like Yours
06. My Darling Says
07. House Of Fire
08. You Already Know
09. My Buddy Dave
10. Sock It To Me

Who I Am :

Spare me the bullshit, i know when i'm being spied on
I know the spies, they're all my pals, we say what's up and right on
I spotted you too, and i know you're not one of them
There seems to be something you want to teach me, which means you have a problem
If you have some advice on how to get funky
You can take your advice and stick it up your donkey
Get out of my sight, for fuck's sake, scram!
I don't know you, and you don't know who i am

I work at night because i like it in the daytime
Like i like my drinks with a dash of lime
There are a few good things about this life and i know them well
They go down easy, they go down easy like hell
I’m impatient, i'm slow, i'm soft-spoken, i'm honest
I’m stubborn, i'm curious, i'm ambitious and modest
And if you don't think these are attributes of a good man
Well i'm sorry but this is who i am

I’m only six feet tall, i can't jump the wall
When i hear the final call i'll have to crawl down the hall
I’m only six feet tall, and my belly's a little round
But when you sit on my pumpkin, your feet won't touch the ground
I’m only six feet tall, and a bit older than my age
With a love for life just slightly over average
I know i'm not of much help, i only do what i can
But i don't feel bad cause this is just who i am

My friend the scientist knows when to make the right turns
I trust him cause he wears the spookiest sideburns
He knows about hoaxes and he knows about jokes
He tells me men on the moon is a joke whereas men at war is a hoax
He tells me it's a bed of worms we're sleepin' on
But still i know my job: it's to keep on keepin' on
I don't give a damn, if it all ends in a jam
I know my way because i know who i am

Still Breathing :

On my very first lower east side attempt
Back when i wore a camouflage of asbestos cement
I witnessed your reversed metamorphosis
It felt like all my life i'd only been waiting for this
The opportunity to be part of something real
I heard the language of gods, and my thoughts were unsealed
The darkest ones all wrapped up in fun
The meaning of lies exposed in a pun

That night i saw fear and death on your face
But you were still breathing at an even pace

I was alone, i was at war, and the city was mine
I could go without eating or sleeping and be just fine
Back then cell phones still didn't work in fort greene
Brooklyn was the newest place i'd ever seen
It took a minute and the sound of your voice so strong
For your servant to learn what was good in a song
That we all have wings under our skins
And a lot of love, under lesser things

That night i learned you were a serious case
But you were still breathing at an even pace

We’d talk and smoke by the sound of the claw machine
And tell each other about the different places we'd been
You’d seen dead ringers for Elvis and loads of dead raccoons
Me castles and churches and real silver spoons
Late to bed but still early to rise
You didn't need to close or open your eyes
Once you did, i remember, close or open them
Between two shots of sprayed oxygen

The light of life had gone without a trace
But you were still breathing at an even pace

Blue Against Blue :

It was late but we made plans for even later
Our great minds must have thought alike
The thing is, we didn't tell each other
So eventually we parted that night

I saw scotch and bourbon on the shelves
And the candle on the table flickering
For once i didn't feel the need to be somewhere else
Your eyes were much bigger than the room we were in

Your mouth was a whole world too
Open, like a North American sky
My friends on coke didn't see you
I thought of a lot of things that i could try

But wouldn't 'cause i have faith in chance
And also 'cause i took more pleasure in trying to guess
Than i would have taken in asking you to dance
And having to deal with either a no or a yes

So nothing happened but it felt right
Being close to your voice, and to the body that came with it
I’m not collecting deeds to brag about
I mean, i do sometimes, but it wasn't at all the spirit

Still i showed you the worst and the best of me
And laid a hand on your soft spot
Blue against blue can be sexy
Who was shy and who was not ?

Good Like You :

Don't you love me, too much ?
Don't you love me, too much ?
I don't speak my heart like you do
No one is good like you

Smile Like Yours :

I thought you were stronger, i thought you had no anger
I thought when you cried, it was only a side-
Effect of the drunkenness
Or a natural feeling of loneliness

Myself i'm glad i'm not the child i was anymore
I was mean and ignorant, i was brainwashed to the core
Not even clever enough to simply drop out of school
And not stupid enough to just play by the rule

But you, are you childish, or are you just better
In heart and soul than anyone i've ever
Had a chance to talk to face to face
At home, on the street or in outer space

I thought you were stronger, i thought you'd last longer
That all the sermons i knew would be wasted on you
It was so obvious you had it all figured out
Beyond the shadow of a doubt

I say the path to bliss takes a slippery slope
I say grab the now and lose all hope
I say frustration and hope go hand in glove
Man needs a god like computers need love

When you least expect it, when you least want it
You’ll find your heart is full, you'll find your heart is haunted
You’ll find your head was not screwed on right
And it only gets darker in the light

I thought you were stronger, i thought you were younger
I thought it didn't scare you, that people didn't care for you
I thought you took every fact with a pinch of salt
And wouldn't look at the crap over which you'd vault

What is it that makes you better, what is it that makes you so alive
What is it that lets nothing really start till you arrive
What’s up with your aura, what's with your style?
What happens to me and the world when you smile

I’m proud i grew up to be my own role model
I’m proud i'm nice to people, see, i left some liquor in the bottle
But will i ever know enough to open my doors
Or more importantly will i ever grow a smile like yours

My Darling Says :

My darling says "Leonard" and i say that's not me
She says it's good cause he's a cynic - that's not what she wants me to be
Then i'm like "i'll be anything in the world, you name it"
I’ll be a penguin, i'll be a bear, i'll be a clone, i'll be a hermit

She points at the picture she just laid on the shelf
And i laugh a little at my balding self
Then grab one of the bibles that are sitting next to it
We’ll pick a narrative chapter and read out the best of it

We have two good books now, one of them's in hebrew
They won't teach us more than new morning, it's true
But it's fun to have furniture when your life's a mess
You don't live anywhere and you don't even have an address

I call my folks once a week on the telephone
They seem to wonder what makes me want to be alone
Especially when i'm alone with company
I say it's just the way i happen to be

My darling says "hey", i'm like "what's up baby"
She has an idea how she wants to name me
I like to pay attention to all she has to say
So i light another straight and empty the ashtray

She thinks the name my uncles gave me as a kid
Would suit me better now after all i did
I’m like "that's an idea", i pour another one
And i turn around to see if there is sun

The sun never reaches our room to shine on me
But when it's bright it changes the color of the balconies
Of the building that spreads its shadow over ours
Where junkies do their junkie things at all hours

I don't leave thirty-six, i'm staying in kotti
Some will find it too sketchy, certainly not me
I’m expected in the city, i'm on my way home
But until then i know exactly what streets i wanna roam

My darling says "ok" and i know she hears me
Cause home for her is just anywhere near me
Home for her is just anywhere near me
Home for her is just wherever she's near me

House Of Fire :

Is anybody listening ?
Or am i lost in the choir
Is anybody listening ?
No, not in the house of fire

They tried to measure my pulse
But i beat the count and ran
So they sent for another nurse
And that nurse was a big man

I lost a few feathers in outer space
Since then i've been filed as a nutcase
I’ve been deprived of chocolate
Which makes it difficult for me to concentrate

Heaven is full of headless bodies
That didn't mean any harm
Before they send me to fight the nazis
I’ll find an onion and break my arm

I’ve been running with Platini and talking to Zola
They gave me fat-free fat, seedless seeds and cola
It made my skull get harder and shrink
Which makes it almost impossible for me to think

Who gave you permission to look through my things ?
Was it a note from some dead relative ?
My dead relatives, they don't grow wings
They’re going around pretending to live

They grudged me some love a long time ago
Now they want something back and only i am in the know
At night they send whole armies of locusts
Which makes it really hard for me to stay focused

You Already Know :

Every time we went to bed, just before we killed the light
I’d look at you for a second only
And i'd take with me on our journey through the night
A print of the shape of your forelocks on my belly

You didn't take me for a weirdo
Despite my video libido
Did you see a shady shadow loom
In your neat roomy room

Did i tell you 'bout my three hundred and ninety-ninth blow
I take it you already know
I have a brand new place to go
I take it you already know

I’m shooting another video
I take it you already know
It’s got colors, and subtitles also
I take it you already know

This city is one thousand square feet wide
It’s silent, it's clean, it's white and it's comfortable
It’s got double windows on both sides
And on the north side a view to the royal hospital

I spent a couple years in here
And i think one of them was even a leap year
We were good, we were like best friends
But all is well that eventually ends

Did i tell you 'bout my three hundred and ninety-ninth blow
I take it you already know
I have a brand new place to go
I take it you already know

I’m shooting another video
I take it you already know
It’s got colors, and subtitles also
I take it you already know

My Buddy Dave :

My buddy Dave he walks in gardens
Amidst all the things that you can find in them
His stories are the best, he doesn't need
To make up a character, or do a deed

He’s young and bold, he talks back
He can play an e flat in the dark
He carries a muse inside himself
He walks in the garden and nowhere else

I was thinking on the train
I don't get to think that much these days
We crossed the same river again and again
Rivers don't go straight like railways
Love, defend me from my friends
Love, let me be alone
No one ever understands
Alone is my only home

You blew a kiss to your lady
From the stage, and it scared me
I knew a chinese place around the corner
Where you could sit and smoke and didn't have to order

I always liked a lot of things about you
I liked your american, your english too
And how you said the name of my brother David
Mostly i liked you in private 

Your friends were playing, you told me i should go
I was there but didn't hear much of the show
It was warm outside and i wasn't in the mood
But they seemed ok, they seemed almost good

I’m with the losers, we play for ourselves
And we think we're better than anyone else
Except, of course, for Bob and Leonard,
If you hear me, call on me, i'll be honored

Sock It To Me :

Sock it to me baby, it's going down easy
Sock it to me baby, time to get busy
Sock it to me baby, it's sure looking pretty
Sock it to me baby, let's see if you're ready

All songs by Andre Herman Dune. 2006