When you land in Paris
And they wave you right through
Though your passport picture
No longer looks much like you
They don't look at your luggage
They don't look at your face
'cause you pose no danger
and you're such a disgrace

you go out walking
down the Champs d'Elysees
and your spirits are sinking
it can happen that way
when you do your best Bogart
they don't seem to care
they walk right down the sidewalk
like you aint even there

(chorus)
lookin' in the wrong direction
seein' it from the inside out
the way you couldn't wait for Christmas
the way you used to twist and shout

it must be the jet lag
you hope it'll pass
you check your reflection
in the store front glass
kinda grey at the temples
kinda goes with the hat
kinda round in the middle
but it aint even that
it's nothing you can see
it's nothing you can smell
but you pose no danger
and man they can tell

(chorus)
lookin' in the wrong direction
seein' it from the inside out
the way you couldn't wait for Christmas
the way you used to twist and shout
you see it in the mirror in the morning
you feel it in the middle of the night
sleeping with your eyes wide open
waking with the shades drawn

Peter Pan
for MATTHEW

Beer cans to the ceiling
ashtray on the floor
laundry on the sofa
need I say more
I walked out with my hair wet
I caught one awful cold
should have been more careful
should have done like I was told
I can't believe it
how could it be
just like you said could happen
so it did to me
Just when I might have seen the light of day
I crossed my eyes 'til they stayed that way

(chorus)
I keep my distance
as best I can
living out my time here in Never Never land
I can't grow up
'cause I'm too old now
I guess I really did it this time mom

The boogie man came calling
I said I wasn't home
he didn't believe me
he wasn't alone
he had my number
he got my goat
he bought my ticket
he paid off my note
and he left in a hurry
said he couldn't stay
I guess he had his reasons
I'm not the one to say

(chorus)

Lets go chase tornadoes
just me and you
you don't often catch 'em
but man when you do
just take my catch rope
and crawl out on the wing
we won't come down 'till we own that thing
then we'll sit out on the front porch
quiet as a mouse
one last time before they close on the house

(chorus)

For All I Know

Last time I saw you
it could've been Christmas eve
it could've been someone's birthday
it could've been make believe for all I know
it could've been make believelast time I saw you
you had the room upstairs
I never knew for certain
what went on up thereno I never did know
what went on up there'course you had that boyfriend
with the Chevrolet
he never met Will Rogers
I'd be willing to sayyeah it's safe to say
he never met Will RogersI guess it must have been a thousand years
since I changed my number
does it mean a thing
when the phone don't ring
and I don't call back
can't help but wonder sometimesI never got to know you
like I wanted to
you never seemed to notice
how I looked at you for all I know
you never even noticednow that crowd's all scattered
to here and yon
everybody graduated
or they just moved onfor all I know
they just moved onI guess it must have been a thousand years
since I lost your number
gonna rest my soul
by this fishing hole
gonna watch that pole
'till that float goes underlast time I saw you
it could've been Christmas eve
it could've been someone's birthday
it could've been make believefor all I know
could've been make believe

the air raid siren
at the high school blew
every weekday, twelve o'clock noon
"dinner time, people"
as if we didn't know
I guess the city fathers
liked to hear that thing blow

the boys were chasing the city truck
spraying DDT
it kept the mosquitoes down
"that stuff won't hurt 'em none"
I heard the neighbor lady say
"encephalitis, now that can ruin your day"

granny was hanging out wash
talking across the fence
the neighbor lady nodded like it all made sense
"she's just gonna stay with him 'till the kids are grown
fetch me that clothes pin up off the ground would you hon"

(chorus)
won't you stay with me
'till the sun goes down
on that flat top mountain to the West of town
won't you stay a while
I just don't see
why you must be leaving
won't you stay with me

I had a cherry coke dripping on my cowboy clothes
riding down Scott street in that big white Olds
"we're going through nigger town, honey lock your door
'course that's not what we're supposed to call 'em anymore"
"we're going to the beauty shop, it's not far
you can come inside or you can just set in the car"
"no you can't go with grandpa to the pasture today
they're shipping calves and you'd just get in the way"

(chorus)

we had fried okra
and black eyed peas
granny had her saccharin
she was putting it in her tea
"pull that screen door to hon,
you're letting in flies
don't you know nothing"

"yonder comes the pickup
he's coming down the street
run help him put the horses up so we can eat
he's always late for dinner
lord he moves so slow
twelve o'clock whistle blew
half an hour ago"

(chorus)

Turned off the tv
sat down to dinner
phone rang, we were saying grace
grand ma died
left us sixty acres
the last of the old home place

sixty acres up on the cap rock
what am I supposed to do with that
uncle Claude got a eight wheeled tractor
plow it under in nothing flat
we could plant some maize
we could plant some cotton
we could plant some oats just to see if they'd grow
but I don't like farming
don't like the hours
don't like a life that goes so slow

(chorus)
glory glory
hallelujah
right back atcha
hope that'll do ya
don't look at me like theres something I shouldn't a'said
just cause that old bird's dead

now cousin Clifford
he got the good land
right on the highway out by Air Base road
looks like a Wal-Mart waiting to happen
I mean to tell you it's a pot of gold
It's in the city limits, zoned commercial
Got city water and a sewer line
What with the base expanding from consolidation
It's worth a fortune and it oughta been mine

(chorus)
glory glory
hallelujah
right back atcha
don't she look natural?
don't look at me like there's
something growing outa my head
just cause that old bird's dead

I only wanted to shake your hand
equal to equal
man to man
what are you drinking
let me buy you one
you owe me much more
than just a job well done

(chorus)
you're gonna be with me
'till your dying day
and I won't take it lightly
if you just walk away

fetch me the jester
commanded the king
the harder I thrash him
the better he'll sing
send him back to the dungeon
give him something to eat
if it wasn't for me
he'd be out on the street

(chorus)
he's gonna be with me
'till his dying day
I would not take it lightly
If he were ever to stray

if I'm a good boy
mama can I go
to the tent revival
and the medicine show
I hear there's a dancer
I just gotta see
I hear there's a singer
like I want to be
if I were someone
would you take me home
let me look in your closet
let me rattle your bones

are you who you look like
or are you just yourself
are you somebody famous
or just somebody else

I'm the star of Captain Midnight's traveling show
came to this circus many moons ago
my mother's in your story books
she loved a jungle king
left me standing here alone
inside the center ring

in a bamboo cage I crossed the raging sea
like a page torn direct from history
a hairy scary legendary screaming souvenir
don't you come too close to me
don't you come too near

(chorus)
I'm the wild man from Borneo
the wild man from Borneo
you come to see
what you want to see
you come to see but you never come to know of

the tattooed lady left the circus train
left all of her pictures in the rain
and I wonder if you're happy
I wonder if you're free
I wonder if you'll ever know the mark you left on me

(chorus)

Spend some years in the business
Learn how the big boys play
Marry your high school sweetheart
Man don't let her get away
And if it don't work out
You can walk away without a stitch
Wreckage in the rearview mirror
Bouncing down a roadside ditch

(chorus)
It's behind you now
It's behind you now
The worst was over long ago
Pat yourself on the back
Stand up and take a bow

There's voices all around you
They're yelling Go Team
You're sitting at the top of the bleachers
Staring at a laptop screen
You can't waste a minute
You can't waste a one
The minutes are bought and paid for
At least till the job gets done

(chorus)

They're holding all of your phone calls
But it's no relief
You're staring out the smoked glass window
At the cars down on the cloverleaf
And a picture of a kid with a ball glove smiling at
the lense
And a woman on a sailboat
And all those years you just had to hope they'd bend
Well you pushed so hard you bent so far
That they won't either one get straight again

(chorus)

(chorus)
Caught in the jaws of life
Found myself chewed up like everyone else
It Made no difference what I thought
And who I was I still got caught
In the jaws of life

I walked in and I looked around
You never saw such a burned out crowd
Somebody said Boy don't be thinking out loud
Because you know some of us were so proud
Just like you we had our days
You'd be surprised how fast they slipped away
We started out so young and bold
Now we're just a few more mortal souls
In the jaws of life

(chorus)

Since those days it's been so long
Done some good and I done some wrong
Done some things I can tell you son
That If I'd known better I'd never have done
Still I search for something I can't see
They don't have what I need at the A&P
Better send John Wayne with the cavalry
Hope he gets here in time to rescue me
From the jaws of life

(chorus)