CHRIS & CARLA

SWINGER 500 (1998)

  1. The Good News First
  2. Electric Wire
  3. New Love Ends
  4. Black Rope Tied
  5. Fear
  6. Swinger 500
  7. Funny How Time Slips Away
  8. Bingo Catastrophe
  9. Blue Winter Snow
10. Mercury Rising
11. Famous Last Words



Chris And Carla - Swinger 500

CHRIS & CARLA

SWINGER 500

  1. THE GOOD NEWS FIRST

I'm convinced this whole thing ends
In a crash of common sense
In an avalanche of accidents
Premonitions of what's already been

The good news first
I ain't ready for the worst
I ain't ready for the hurt
Give the good news first

You're bleedin' every heart that you enter
I guess that's one way to remember
Thread a tear and tie it on
Premonitions of what's already gone

The good news first
I ain't ready for the worst
I ain't ready for the hurt
Give the good news first

Do you find this funny?
Send in the clowns funny?
Do you find this funny?
No one's laughin' more than me

Do you find this funny?
Send in the clowns funny?
Do you find this funny?
No one's laughin' more than me

Do you find this funny?
Send in the clowns funny?
Do you find this funny?
No one's laughin' more than me

The good news first

Give the good news first

The good news first
Give the good news first
The good news first
Give the good news first
Give the good news first
Give the good news first
The good news first
Give the good news first
Give the good news first.

back to top

  2. ELECTRIC WIRE

Three white crosses line the road
Who or how they got there
I don't even wanna know
Between heaven black and hell well lit
Between your flower dress
And my sun burned lips
Tonight I won't be passin' thru
I'll be sleepin' here and if things go right
I'll be holdin' you
And when I'm gone, you will refuse
To win or lose
Just like you always do

Should I lie more or dream less?
To me they're not the same
But to you they are I guess
Give up his ghost
Them shadows close
Each and every breath
You are electric wire, sleepin' on my chest

That band that's on your T-shirt, I once met one of them
The people in the bar that night
You could count 'em on one hand
They didn't give a shit
But that made them who they were
One of them spun the mirror ball
And the other worked the door

I've been lookin' for somethin'
Quick and ever strong
Somethin' wild as mercury
Ain't afraid of bein' wrong

Tonight I won't be passin' thru
I'll be sleepin' here
And if things go right
And I'll be holdin' you

Should I lie more or dream less?
To me they're not the same
But to you they are I guess
Give up his ghost
Them shadows close
Each and every breath
You are electric wire, sleepin' on my chest.

back to top

  3. NEW LOVE ENDS

New love ends
What the old love begins
Close your eyes, close your eyes
And old love condemns
What I still can't pretend
Close your eyes, close your eyes

The heart is a fortress
The bricks are made of earth
Show me which one to pry
Tell me which one goes first

The heart a blind haven
Never knowin' day from night
Make your plans early
Never know when wrong is right

The old love surrounds
When the new love lies down
Close your eyes, close your eyes
And the new love breathes
What I still can't believe
Close your eyes, close your eyes

The heart is a fortress
The bricks are made of earth
Show me which one to pry
Tell me which one goes first

The heart a blind haven
Never knowin' day from night
Make your plans early
Never know when wrong is right.

back to top

  4. BLACK ROPE TIED

Concerning us
Concerning you
Concerning him
Never pity the fool
See what's broken
See the white branches
Seeing what laughs
What hurts
These last chances

Drink of choice
Swig of love
Let's finish first
What we've never begun
Half-again
And half-pretend
Half for the stars
Save half for the end

I won't ever let you go
I won't even try
Hold this black rope close
This black rope, won't untie

Never as good
As forgettin' to blame
Nothin' squandered
Surrendered or strayed
The new and the useless
Switchyard crash
Faithless train
Last chances, always last

Concerning us
Concerning you
Concerning him
Never pity the fool
See what's broken
Branches snap
One chance too many
Last chances, always last

I won't ever let you go
I won't even try
Hold this black rope close
Hold this black rope tight
I won't ever let you go
I won't even try
Hold this black rope close
This black rope, won't untie
Won't untie
Won't untie
Won't untie

Concerning us
Concerning you
Concerning him.

back to top

  5. FEAR

There's a chrome-plated gun on the nightstand table
Next to your shotglass and his dull razor
Pick it up, go down the stairs
Past the kids room
Into the air

Stones throw down the drive you climb on in
$ 100 bills, taped to your skin
I say I'm surprised that you're sittin' here
You say: "Don't ever, mention that again"

Cyclone fence, an empty airstrip
When we leave this room
Swallow it
Lizard clouds, silk of the corn
A crack in my conscience
Ain't the way that I was born

Fear ain't nothin', I promise

Fear ain't nothin', I promise

At the next table woman gets up to dance
She says: "Come on Frank, give it a chance"
He's gettin' mad, says: "Let it die"
"We came here to drink
 Not to hurt ourselves"

Fear ain't nothin', I promise

Fear ain't nothin', I promise

The sound of your name drowned out by the train
Fluorescent lights flash
Train rushes past...

This could be anywhere, this could be now
Stole, borrowed, lended
Nobody here to show you how

Felt your hand go slack in the brush and the black
The day is who loved you
The night took you back

Fear ain't nothin', I promise

Fear ain't nothin', I promise

I promise

I promise.

back to top

  6. SWINGER 500

Learn them numbers quick
17 to 1
Learn them numbers quick
They're the best odds we will get

I know suspicions have
Finally been aroused
A fate so simple that
Ain't no way I'm turnin' back

Trouble came cheap
But left expensive
Trouble came home
I ain't apprehensive

Now here's the drill
Here's the trick
You haven't heard the last of it
Sharp as tacks
They're all we get
You better learn them numbers quick

I sold out short
I sold out fast
Chained to my youth
High horse of my past

And for what I got
I must admit
It wasn't worth the half of it
To hesitate, is to lose your way
And I've been lost for years
I'm afraid

Wanna swing from you
Wanna swing
Wanna swing from you
Wanna swing

I held the door
While trouble crawled
Past our bed
And down the hall
I held the door
When it came back
Better learn them numbers quick.

back to top

  7. FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY

Well hello there
My, it's been a long, long time
How am I doing?
Oh I guess I am doing fine
Been so long now
That it seems
That it was only yesterday
Ain't it funny
How time slips away

How's your new love
Well, I hope he's doing fine
Heard you told him
That you loved him 'til the end of time
Now that's the same thing
That you told me
It seems like just the other day
Ain't it funny
How time slips away

Gotta go now
Guess I'll see you around
I don't know when though
Never know whwn I'll be back in town
But remember
What I tell you
In time you're going to pay
Ain't it funny
How time slips away (7 x).

back to top

  8. BINGO CATASTROPHE
      Instrumental

back to top

  9. BLUE WINTER SNOW

I was thinkin' of us
In that drunk hotel
They lost your message at the desk
I found you dancin' in the hall

Diamond circles
Another well-timed parade
Home is where I take you back
When you haven't left a trace

Shut my eyes
So I could let you go
Blue winter snow
Blue winter snow

Faraway
Now it's close at hand
Whispers from the sky
Flurries never planned

To this world unchanged
Even with all of it's dreamin'
I am reckless, I am stolen
Warmin' up here, since it's been snowin'

Shut my eyes
So I could let you go
Blue winter snow
Blue winter snow

Shut my eyes
Couldn't let you go
Blue winter snow
Blue winter snow
Blue winter snow.

back to top

10. MERCURY RISING

Mercurial morning
Hot summer storm came without warning
Along the canal
Turn bicycles round headed back to the town

Mercury rising
Given the chance we will mess with the poison
Mercury rising
Off of the map without even tryin'

Do you think we'll make it back in time?
Next time I'll kiss you, next time I'll try'
Do you think we'll make it back in time?
Hot sumer storm, rain is already fallin'

Mercury rising
Given the chance we will mess with the poison
Mercury rising
Off of the map without even tryin'

Do you think we'll make it back in time?
Do you think we'll make it back in time?
Do you think we'll make it back in time?
Do you think we'll make it back in time?
Do you think we'll make it back in time?

back to top

11. FAMOUS LAST WORDS

And if your heart's on loan
Take it out of hock
And if you think time is a trick
Strangle every clock
And if rock and roll can't win
Don't even begin
Good luck in every song
Don't give a fuck for what's already done (6 x).

back to main page back to top


Jan's Lyrics - All lyrics are copyright protected