R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi Album Lyrics

Blood from a stone
Water from wine
Born under an ill-placed design
A stroke of bad luck,
Wrong place, wrong time
This flier is out of the lime

The story is a sad one, told many times
The story of my life in trying times
Just add water, stir in lime
How the west was won and where it got us

Canary got trapped, the uranium mine
A stroke of bad luck, now the bird has died
A marker to mark where my tears run dry
I cross it, bless it, alkali

The story is a sad one, told many times
The story of my life in trying times
Just add water, stir in lime
How the west was won and where it got us

I didn't wear glasses cause I thought it might rain
Now I can't see anything
I made a mistake, chalked it up to design
I cracked through time, space, Godless and dry
I point my nose to the northern star,
Watch the decline from a hazy distance

The story is a sad one, told many times
The story of my life in trying times
Just add water, stir in lime
How the west was won and where it got us

I look good in a glass pack
I look good and mean
I look good in metallic sick wraparounds blackout tease
I scud along the horizon
I drink some sweet tree tea
I get high in my low-ass boot cut cheap
I like being seen
I look good with my drink eat no sleep
Take a leap, longevity
I get high on my attitude, latitude, 1973
I'm in deep

My head's on fire in high esteem
Carry my dead, bored, been there, done that, anything
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
My head's on fire in high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Carry my dead, bored, been there, done that, anything

I had to knock a few buildings over
I make an ugly mess
I had to blow a gasket, drop transmission
I had to decompress
I had to write the great American novel
I had a neutron bomb
I had to teach the world to sing by the age of 21
I wake up (I wake up)
I wake up (I wake up)
I threw up when I saw what I'd done

Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
My head's on fire in high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything

I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up
I won the race, I broke the cup, I drank it all, I spit it up
Again
I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up
I won the race, I broke the cup, I drank it all, I spit it up

Yeah, atomic, Supersonic
What a joke, I'm dumb
See ya, don't wanna be ya
Lunch meat, Pond scum

My head's on fire in high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything

I can't say that I love Jesus
That would be a hollow claim
He did make some observations
And I'm quoting them today

'Judge not lest ye be judged'
What a beautiful refrain
The studio audience disagrees
Have His lambs all gone astray?

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

'You are lost and disillusioned'
What an awful thing to say
I know this show doesn't flatter
It means nothing to me

I thought I might help them understand
What an ugly thing to see
'I am not an animal'
Subtitled under the screen

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

When I tried to tell my story
They cut me off to take a break
I sat silent 5 commercials
I had nothing left to say

Talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade, what a sad parade

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

I know what I wanted
I know what I wanted
I know how I wanted this to be

You go down to the water
Drink down of the water
Walk up off the water, leave it be

This is not my time, brother
It is cold in heaven
And I'm not sprouting wings.

I'm drowning
Me
I'm drowning
Me, yeah

Brother can you see those birds?
They don't look to heaven
They don't need religion, they can see

They go down to the water
Drink down on the water
Fly up off the water, leave it be

This is not my time, sister
It is cold in heaven
And no one's coming after me

I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me
Breathing ourselves
I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me, yeah

You know I am tired
Cold and bony tired
Nothing's gonna save me, I can see

I can't say I'm fearful
I can't say I'm not afraid
But I am not resisting, I can see

I don't need a heaven
I don't need religion
I am in the place where I should be

I am breathing water
I am breathing water
You know a body's got to breathe

I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me
Breathing ourselves
I'm drowning
Breathing ourselves
Me, yeah

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise

The bus ride, I went to write this, 4:00 a.m.
This letter
Fields of poppies, little pearls
All the boys and all the girls sweet-toothed
Each and every one a little scary
I said your name

I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas
Whoever she is
This fame thing, I don't get it
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves
I can take you far
This star thing, I don't get it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near

I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink
Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Phone, eat it, drink
Just another chink
Cuts and dents, they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link

I don't want to disappoint you
I'm not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet
But is that the sickest move?
I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow
And who'd have thought tomorrow could be so strange?
My loss, and here we go again

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near

I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise

I can't look it in the eyes
Seconal, Spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavored neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, the victory and sorrow
The smell of fear, I got it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near

I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Pulls us near
Tastes like fear.

Nearer, nearer
Over, over, over, over
Yeah, look over
I'll take you there, oh, yeah
I'll take you there
Oh, over
I'll take you there
Over, let me
I'll take you there..
There, there, baby, yeah

Nothing could be bring me closer
Nothing could be bring me near
Where is the road I follow?
Believing, leave

It's under, under, under my feet
The scene spread out there before me
Better I go where the land touches the sea
There is my trust in what I believe

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, believe it
Leave it all behind

Shifting the dream
Nothing could bring me further from my old friend time
Shifting the dream
Charging the scene
I know where I marked the signs
Suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it

I know it well, ugly and sweet
A temperament who said believe in his dream

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
I set it on there lightly
I sent it off in an airplane
That never left the ground

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, believe it
Leave it all behind

Lift me, lift me
I attain my dream
I lost myself, I lost them
Heartache calling me
I lost myself in sorrow
I lost myself in pain
I lost myself in gravity
Memory, leave, leave, leave

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, believe it
Leave it all behind

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, believe it
Leave it all behind

Midnight hands, my eyes are still
I walk into the scene
Shoot myself in a different place
Leavin'

Longed for this to take me
Longed for my release
Waited for the coming
Leavin', leave

Leave, leave
Leavin', leavin'
Leavin', leave

Just arrived Singapore, San Sebastian, Spain, 26-hour trip.
Salt Lake City, come in spring.
Over the salt flats a hailstorm brought you back to me.
Salt Lake City, come in spring.
Over the salt flats a hailstorm brought you back to me.

Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes, back, back.

Departure, Godspeed, bless his heart, good boy.
What a f*ck-up, what a fighter.
A free-fall, motorcycle, hang-glider,
Hung on the line like a poison spider.
Win a eulogy from William Greider,
Car crash, ptomaine, disposable lighter,
A bus plunge, avalanche, a vinegar cider.
Free-fall, motorcycle, hang-glider.

Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes, back, back.

Go, go, go, go, yeah.

Well, everybody is young forever.
There's so much to tell you, so little time.
I've come a long way since the whatever,
shit, I still see a word, think of you.
There is so much that I can't do, yeah.
You will be young forever.
There's so much that I can't do.
There is so much that I can't do.

Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes (I'm carried away)
Here it comes, back, back.

I move across, innocence lost
All flashing pulsar
I move across the earth in my new pattern shirt
I pass satellites

"You're so bitter," your complaint
I can't get you anything.
I don't know who you're livin for
I don't you at all anymore.

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this.
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I can't taste it
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

I move across, candy floss
I move like a tank
I move across the room
With a heart full of gloom
I'm stronger than you think.

Oh my peer,
Your veneer is wearing thin and cracking.
The surface and forms underneath,
Underneath is lacking.

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this.
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it.
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for.
I don't know what I want anymore.

You move across, innocence lost,
All static and desire,
You're blue in the face from navel gaze,
You set yourself on fire.

You strip down and lay yourself out,
I know you can't fake it,
But are you tire and naked?
Are you tire and naked?

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this.
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked.
I don't know what I'm hungry for.
I don't know what I want anymore.

I never thought of this as funny
It speaks another world to me
I wanna be your Easter bunny
I wanna be your Christmas tree.

I'll strip the world that you must live in
of all its godforsaken greed.
I'll ply the tar of your feathers.
I'll pluck the thorns out of your feet.
You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

And if I choose your sanctuary.
I'll want to wash you with my hair.
I'll want to drink of sacred fountains
and find elixirs hidden there.

I'll reap the lotus and the olive (?).
I'll want to hear the caged-bird sing.
I'll want the secrets of the temple.
I'll want the finger with the ring.
You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

And if you made me your religion.
I'll give all the room you need.
I'll be the drawing of your breath.
I'll be carpet you should weave.
I'll be the sky above the Ganges
I'll be the vast and stormy sea.
I'll be the lights that guide you inland.
I'll be the visions you will see.
Visions you will see.
You will see.
You will see.
You and me.
You and me.
You and me.

This is horror movie stuff.
The muffin is peach, you're 'makin' love'.
You mean this opera involves handcuffs?
I lay defeated.
Yeah, sour milk mouth, horseradish sweet.
She's a girl and she's loving me.
But distance is my tendency.
I am defeated.

have you lost your place?
I wore my doormat face.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.

If I'm your oyster, where's the war?
You leave me gasping, tattered and torn.
I know you can't find a fork.
I am just a little acorn.
Well, acorns grow to mighty trees.
You've got sauce, but you don't have knees.
Now look who's asking pretty please.
I lay defeated.

Have you lost your place?
I wore my doormat face.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.

Call your bathroom friends around.
I will fake a little frown.
I will be your little clown,
Easily defeated.
Yeah, shut the door and open wide.
Seconal and astroglide.
F*ck with me and traumatize.
Don't you see I love your hide?
All the beauty that's trapped inside.
Can't you see I love your hide?
Can't you see I love your hide?
Can't you see it?

have you lost your place?
I wore my doormat face.
I hung my this or that.
I laid my welcome mat.

[Instrumental]

Movin' through rough waters motel boy,
And swimming in your sleep.
How could I be so blind, mis-sighted,
Not to see there's something wounded deep.

Anyone could scratch your surface now,
It's all amphetamine
You're blasting yourself into the present
Learn some vast indignity, stay that,

You say that you hate it
You want to re-create it
I've been around, I've been your lover.
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill,
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

You're drinking the wrong dream now baby,
You do-si-do, saddo
You're you in cartilage, shark-eyed, shock horror, all present tense,
And boy your blood is running cold.
Listen, this is now, this is here, this is me,
This is what I wanted you to see.
That was then, was that, that is gone, this is past,
You cast yourself cast, passed by, gone down fast.

You say that you hate it.
You want to recreate it.
I've played this round, I've played your lover.
I've played it out to the hilt.
You're comin' on with something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

You love it. You hate it.
You want to re-create it.
Now, this is here, this is me.
This is what I wanted you to see.
That was then, was that, that is gone.
That is what I wanted you to feel.

You love it. You hate it.
You spit it out, the bitter pill.
I've been around, I've been your lover
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill.
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

I've played this round, I've played your lover.
I've played it out to the hilt.
You're comin' on with something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

you played around, you played me lover,
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill,
You're moving so hard, so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel.

It happened fast, it's over quick.
A little dust and the engine kicks.
Did your hands drift down off the wheel?
Roll out, hit your windshield

An eyelash or a little bit of sleep? Time stands still.
Just call it now and you're on your way (hey, hey, hey)

All the ashtrays, cities and the freeway drives
Broken casino and waterslides
Eighteen-wheeler, payback dice.
Gravity flows on the power line.

Jet stream cuts the desert sky.
This is a land could eat a man alive.
Say you'd leave it all behind.

There's a radio tower that's egging me on
Back to the place where you never belong.
Where people thrive on their own contempt.
Whatever meaning is long gone, spent.
If you had to guess or make bet,
Would you place yourself inside of it?
The mountains yawn, the clouds let out a sigh.
"Tricked again." Let go, okay.

Your eyes are burning holes through me
I'm gasoline, I'm burnin' clean
Twentieth century go to sleep
You're Pleistocene, that is obscene, that is obscene

You are the star tonight
You're sun electric, outta sight
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight
Electrolite, you're outta sight

If I ever want to fly
Mulholland Drive, I am alive
Hollywood is under me
I'm Martin Sheen, I'm Steve McQueen, I'm Jimmy Dean

You are the star tonight
You're sun electric, outta sight
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight
Electrolite, you're outta sight

If you ever want to fly
Mulholland Drive, up in the sky
Stand on a cliff and look down there
Don't be scared, you are alive, you are alive

You are the star tonight
You're sun electric, outta sight
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight
Electrolite, you're outta sight

Twentieth century go to sleep
Really deep, we won't blink
Your eyes are burnin' holes through me
But I'm not scared, I'm outta here
I'm not scared, I'm outta here