Metropolitan Ave

It's Not Like I've Been Thinking of You

Your parents weren't home
Just two of us alone
On a freezing autumn evening
There was no way I was leaving
'cause I had to know where this all could go
I acted like I knew
You sat on the bed and my face went red
So I turned to grab my shoes
But you pulled me in and you caught me in a kiss
And my eyes popped out and your mother walked in
And I ran out the house all the way to my friend's
Out of breath scared to death but I knew that something started right then
I knew it started right then

And I felt old, I felt real damn old
I felt old, I felt so damn old

Passing notes in history
Daydreaming in mystery
The air so crisp with magic
When you walked home in my jacket
There were snowball fights and Christmas lights
They kept up until June
There were bowling lanes and boring games
But it was always me and you
'til your dad got a job and they packed up all your things
On the morning you were moving I tried to say some things
You looked into my eyes as the van sped away
And every thread of magic disappeared into a heavy haze
Into a heavy haze

And I felt old, I felt real damn old
I felt old, I felt so damn old
I felt old, I felt real damn old
I felt old, I felt so damn old

I Felt Old

Heaven's supposed to come to those who made it down the line
Somehow now I'm on my own just trying to pass the time
Do you ever end up near the old neighborhood? 
It sorta looks the same, you leave there feeling good
But every time twilight falls it hits you in the heart
No one remembers how we used to burn real bright 
But now we're blowing embers

In a new direction but without control, trying not to ever go out
That the cold wind that's blowing might just touch your soul 
was never something we talked about
(Are you lonely?) Sure I'm lonely, at least I got my memories now
(Ain't you lonely?) 'course I'm lonely, guess I'll figure it out

I try to make the best of it, whatever that might be
And wait for all the rest of it to slowly come to me
Like the ocean after dark, it's a vision of fear
But then tomorrow comes, it seems to disappear
You drive around, make your sounds 'til it gets you in the gut
It's true confusion so you make another change and follow that illusion

In a new direction but without control, fighting not to ever spin out
That the cold wind that's blowing might just touch your soul was never something we talked about
(Are you happy?) Yeah I'm happy, I got a few things of my own
(Really happy?) Not too happy, just enough to get where I'm going

I'm going by the old neighborhood, I love the way the sidewalks curve
To the house that I had to leave, since then I don't know what to believe
It's the best of times, it's the worst of times, the point of life has passed
Into the hands of hearts and minds who think they'll always last
It's strange how you can lose something that was never in your grasp
It's the best of times, it's the worst of times, I'm trying to do my very best

Going by the old neighborhood, I love the way the sidewalks curve
To the house that I had to leave, since then I don't know what to believe
Heaven's supposed to come to those who made it down the line
Somehow now I'm on my own just trying to pass the time
I try to make the best of it, whatever that might be
And wait for all the rest of it to slowly come to me from a new direction

New Direction

A cold Chicago skyline
Dark when they arrived
Hopping off a boxcar near the riverside
They were greeted at the station
With dandelion dreams
Waiting for a windy ride through the winter scene

From factories flew the whistle
From classrooms called the bell
From churches crashed the hour chimes and the organ swell
Head against the window
Laughter down the hall 
Evening engines echoing right through it all 

Maybe down, maybe down, maybe down the track
Someone else’ll be a’running back
But can you change so you stay the same
With the speed you need to beat that train
Back home again before you feel the pain
No one is the driver at wheel of the runaway train
     
They dwelled above a diner
Their palms were paved with stone
They thought they lived within a world they could call their own
The calendar exploded
There was thunder in the sun
They slept below a light bulb in the starway slum

From highways moaned the motors
From sidewalks clanked the canes 
From rooftops trailed the phantoms through the raspy rain
A cold Chicago skyline
Dark when they arrived
Hopping off a boxcar near the riverside

Maybe down, maybe down, maybe down the track
Someone else’ll be a’running back
But can you change so you stay the same
With the speed you need to beat that train
Back home again before you feel the pain
No one is the driver at wheel of the runaway train

℗ © 2013. Oliver Ford. All Rights Reserved.

Runaway Train

Bumming ‘round the summer everybody’s growing dumber so be careful not to slip on the drool
Says the fighter to the writer as his fist is closing tighter on the neck of what is left of the fool 
But what no one wants to mention is the alternate dimension, which opened up outside of school
Where the crazy folks fall out and shake about but none of them quite like you

Visionary mama shouting beach balls and Obama while the kid plays the sad violin
Corner store conductor needs a number to instruct her that she’ll never ever add up again
Well everybody is a circus but it’s only on the surface when the ringmaster is buried too deep
What’s this world coming to?  I don’t know do you? Want to make it up? Like all this other stuff? Yeah

Mariella, Mariella I’m your fella on this mystic and emotional ride
Mariella, I will tell ya Cinderella was your equal when you open your eyes
Let’s plan on looking back, learning all the facts, forgetting them after a while

Hear the storm a’coming and see everyone a’running but the dancing man’s the one they arrest
Says the carrot to the snowman I don’t want to be your nose man, so bite me off or put me in your vest
It’s an old tradition to go seeking recognition says the Invisible Man with a grin
And though he don’t appear, at least he’s clear, it don’t take much to look like him

Little orphan Annie she’s a holding hands with Danny and they whisper by the liquor store light
Everybody’s talking and they’re walking while they’re talking and they’re talking ‘bout how nothing’s ever right
But I say this world ain’t over when you look over your shoulder and you call me out into the night
And I want to let you know, I don’t know where to go, you want to take the wheel? Just turn to how you feel yeah

Mariella, Mariella I’m your fella on this mystic and emotional ride
Mariella, I will tell ya Cinderella was your equal when you open your eyes
Let’s plan on looking back, learning all the facts, forgetting them after a while

Let’s face it, we won’t make it if the chaos leaves us blind
These are dull times full of punch lines but the joke is on our lives
I will drive to your place in the morning and we’ll leave this world without warning 
We can live free of all the irony yes someday when we find the new land again yeah

Mariella won't you step right up and tell me are we the next contestants who haven't learned their lessons
I'm afraid of heights, I'm afraid of overbites but I ain't afraid tonight so let's walk this world that don't spin right

℗© 2013. Oliver Ford. All Rights Reserved.

Oliver Fuhrmann

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