Counting Crows - Hard Candy

COUNTING CROWS

HARD CANDY (2002)

  1. Hard Candy
  2. American Girls
  3. Good Time
  4. If I Could Give All My Love
  5. Goodnight L.A.
  6. Butterfly In Reverse
  7. Miami
  8. New Frontier
  9. Carriage
10. Black And Blue
11. Why Should You Come When I Call
12. Up All Night
13. Holiday In Spain
14. Four White Stallions
     Bonus Track
     Big Yellow Taxi

COUNTING CROWS

HARD CANDY

1. HARD CANDY

On certain Sundays in November
When the weather bothers me
I empty drawers of other summers
Where my shadows used to be
She is standing by the water
As her smile begins to curl
In this or any other summer
She is something all together different
Never just an ordinary girl

And in the evenings on Long Island
When the colors start to fade
She wears a silly yellow hat
That someone gave her when she stayed
I didn't think that she returned it
We left New York in a whirl
Time expands and then contracts
When you are spinning
In the grips of someone
Who is not an ordinary girl

When you sleep
You find your mother in the night
But she stays just out of sight
So there isn't any sweetness in the dreaming
And when you wake
The morning covers you with light
And it makes you feel alright
But it's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again

You send your lover off to China
Then you wait for her to call
You put your girl up on a pedestal
Then you wait for her to fall
I put my summers back in a letter
And I hide it from the world
All the regrets you can't forget
Are somehow pressed upon a picture
In the face of such an ordinary girl

When you sleep
You find your mother in the night
But she fades just out of sight
So there isn't any sweetness in the dreaming
And when you wake
The morning showers you with light
And it makes you feel alright
But it's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again
Again (5 X)
It's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again
Again (5 X)
And it's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again

Go ask her to come around
And see me late after dark
Don't ask me to come around
Then wait to see if there's a spark

Go ask her
Go ask her
To come around
And see me late after dark
Don't ask me
Don't ask me
To come around
Then make me wait to see the spark

Go ask her
Go ask her
To come around
Late to see me after dark
Don't ask me
Don't ask me
To come around
Then wait to see if there's a spark

Go ask her
Go ask her
To come around
Late and see me after dark.

2. AMERICAN GIRLS

She comes out on Fridays every time
Stands out in a line
I could have been anyone she'd seen
She waits another week to fall apart
She couldn't make another day
I wish it was anyone but me
I could have been anyone you see
She had something breakable just under her skin

American girls, all weather and noise
Playing the changes for all of the boys
Holding a candle up to my hands
Making me feel so incredible

She comes out of closets every night
But then she locks herself away
Where she could keep everything from me
I could have been anyone you see
She's nothing but porcelain underneath her skin

American girls, all weather and noise
Playing the changes for all of the boys
Holding a candle right up to my hand
Making me feel so incredible

Little shiver shaking me everyday
But I could get this same thing anywhere
So if she goes away
Well, it's alright and I'm OK
"Hey," she said, "Come back again tonight"
And I said, "I might, I might, I might"
She said, "Well, that's alright
If it's alright, it's alright with you
If it's alright, it's alright with me"

I waited for an hour last Friday night
She never came around
She took almost everything from me
I'm going through my closets
Trying on her clothes, almost everyday
I could have been anyone you see
I wish it was anyone but me
Nothing but pills and ashes under my skin

American girls, all weather and noise
Playing the changes for all of the boys
Holding a candle right up to my hand
Making me feel so incredible
If I made you cry, please tell me why
I'll try again if you let me try
American girls, all feathers and cream
Come into bed so edible

American girls, oh
American girls
American girls
Oh, oh, oh, oh

American girls, oh
American girls
American girls
Oh, oh, oh, oh

You made me cry
You made me cry
You made me cry
Yeah, you made me cry
You made me cry
Hey, Miss American Girl
Oh, oh, oh, yeah.

3. GOOD TIME

The gentleman caller in the blue suede shoes
He don't know what to do
He just wants to look good for you
So he rushes in to tell you what he did today
But he can't think of what to say
I think you'll listen anyway

He wants to have a good time
Just like everybody
He doesn't wanna fall apart

You watch him as he stutters over what to say
It's just a little game you play
It's no easier for you some days
You wish that you could tell him it'll be OK
But you feel a little shy these days
'Cause everybody goes away

Oh, you just wanna have a good time
Just like everybody else
You don't wanna fall apart this time

I can look into your eyes and see the mess we're in
Well darling, if it's shit came out
Then I suppose that it's shit went in
Even though I couldn't say I've been the places that you've been
You know you made my heart real strong
Even if you made my head real thin

I wanna have a good time
Just like everybody
And I don't wanna fall apart

Oh, I wanna have a good time
Just like everybody else
And I don't wanna fall apart this time
So would you please invite me in
Oh, I really love the red-haired girls
I'm just another boy from Texas
Come on and take a spin
I got a brand new set of wings
Oh, I really love the red-haired girls
I'm just another boy from Texas
Come on and take a spin
Hey, I gotta brand new set of wings
Man, I sure do love them red-haired girls
I'm just like all the boys from Texas
Come on take a spin
Hey little girl, I got a brand new set of wings
Oh, oh, oh.

4. IF I COULD GIVE ALL MY LOVE (RICHARD MANUEL IS DEAD)

Got a message in my head
That the papers had all come
Richard Manuel is dead
And the daylight's coming on
I've been wandering through the dark
Now I'm standing on the lawn

If I could give all my love to you
I could justify myself
But I'm just not coming through
You're a pill to ease the pain
Of all the stupid things I do
I'm an anchor on the line
Of a clock that tells the time
That is running out on you

But it was cold when I awoke
And the day was halfway done
Nearly spring in San Francisco
And I cannot feel the sun
You were sleeping next to me
But I knew that you'd be gone

If I could give all my love to you
I could justify myself
But I'm just not coming through
You're a pill to ease the pain
Of all the stupid things I do
I'm an anchor on the line
Of a clock that tells the time
That is running out on you

Take some time before you go
Think of Mondays coming down
And the people that you knew
And the ones that aren't around
You've been fading day to day
I've been moving town to town

If I could give all my love to you
I could justify myself
But I'm just not coming through
You're a pill to ease the pain
Of all the stupid things I do
I'm an anchor on the line
Of a clock that tells the time, yeah

If I could give all my love to you
I could justify myself
But I'm just not coming through
You're a pill to ease the pain
Of all the stupid things I do
I'm an anchor on the line
Of a clock that tells the time
That is running out on you.

5. GOODNIGHT L.A.

I said, "Goodnight L.A."
'Cause I'm awake in my room
I been up for 38 hours
And it don't look like sleep's coming soon

'Cause I could break like a bird
Or I could swallow the sea
It seems like the daylight is coming
And no one is watching but me

But I don't mind the dark
Discovering the day
'Cause the night is a beautiful bright blue and gray
What brings me down now is love
'Cause I can never get enough
And what brings me down now is love
'Cause I can never get enough of love

And it's a dangerous time
For a heart on a wire
Shuttle from station to station
Noisily not knowing why
So I put my head on the ground
And the sky is a wheel
Spinning these days into things that I've lost
But you can keep all the years

But I don't mind the days
Gone rolling away
'Cause all this sunlight feels warm on my face today
But what brings me down now is love
'Cause I can never get enough
What brings me down now is love
'Cause I can never get enough, never get enough
Never get enough, no, no
Never get enough, no, of love
Said, I can never get enough of love
And what brings me, brings me down now is love
'Cause I can never get enough of love

I can never get enough of love
I can never ever get enough
I can never get enough of love.

6. BUTTERFLY IN REVERSE

Mary-Ann, you're better than the world
They took a lot of time getting it right on this girl
I said Mary-Ann, you're better than the world
They did a lot of things right on this girl

Had a lot of girlfriends
I should have known them
Click your heels and count back from three
Do you wanna go back
You should have known that
The butterfly in reverse here is me

But Mary-Ann, you're better than the world
They took a lot of time getting it right on this girl
I said Mary-Ann, you're better than the world
They did a lot of things right on this girl

Where'd you wanna go to
With nothing beside you
But webbing and curfews and rain
And everything that hurts you
Is locked up inside you
Like butterflies with wings
And other perfect things

And we go swimming in the sunshine
Dangling from clotheslines
Separate and fall into me
But did you ever see me
Me, absolutely
Me, but all you, but still me

Mary-Ann, you're better than the world
They took a lot of time getting it right on this girl
I said Mary-Ann, you're better than the world
They did a lot of things right on this
Did a lot of things right on this
Did a lot of things right on this girl.

7. MIAMI

I guess I think I feel alright
You come circling through the light
The skyline, baby, is bright tonight

What more perfect rendezvous
The sundown paints the shadows through
The daylight, Amy, on what we do

It looks like darkness to me, oh
Drifting down into Miami
Miami

Can I say
"I wish that this weather would never leave"
It just gets hard to believe
That God sent this angel to watch over me

'Cause my angel
She don't receive my calls
Says I'm too dumb to fuck
Too dumb to fight
Too dumb to save
Well, maybe I don't need no angel at all

It looks like darkness to me, oh
Drifting down into Miami
She could pull the sunlight through me, oh
Coming down into Miami
Miami

Make a circle in the sand
Make a halo with your hand
I'll make a place for you to land

The bus is running
It's time to leave
This summer's gone
And so are we
So come on, baby
Let's go shut it down
In New Orleans

Come on, baby
Let's go shut it down
In New Orleans

Come on, baby
Come on, baby
Let's go shut it down
In New Orleans

Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Let's go shut it down
In New Orleans

Come on, baby
Come on, baby
Let's go shut it down.

8. NEW FRONTIER

Come on children, mind the gap

American people with marvelous hair
And a knack to do anything better than anyone
I got a home with electrical air
And I live in a world
Smaller than anyone
I got a line on a new frontier
I got a line on a new America
All of the people are vanishing here
I could be huge
If I could just get from
The outside of everything
To the inside of you
From the outside of everything
To the inside of you

Purest aluminum people are walking the streets of London
So hysterical
Nobody here gets a word that I say
And the problems, I'm told, are more than medical
I got a friend from the new frontier
And Galen, she says, "This is not America
You need a girl with electrical hair
And the word that you wanted was aluminum"

From the outside of everything
To the inside of you
From the outside of everything
To the inside

I was in bed with the girl at the end of the world
She said, "I'm goin' home
And you should come home too"
I'm at the end of a new frontier
Here at the edge of the flat earth ending
I'm getting off to get lost in the air
At the end of the world where the light is bending

From the outside of everything
To the inside of you
From the outside of everything
To the inside of you
From the outside of everything
To the inside of you
From the outside of everything
To the inside

To the inside of you
To the inside of you
To the inside of you
To the inside of you.

9. CARRIAGE

If anything
It should have been a better thing
From underneath you staring at the ceiling
There's another world of chocolate bars and baseball cards
That hides inside of all this tension that I'm feeling
But it's all inside of you
And it's all inside of you

Surprise, surprise
I miss your hair, you miss my eyes
And all this solitude is my confidence eroding
So we slide inside of someone's mouth and someone's eyes
Until there's a sound of something intimate exploding
But it's all inside of you
And it's all inside of you
And it's all inside of you
And it's all inside of you

I wish that I was anesthetized and sterilized and then
We wouldn't have this evidence congealing
Surprise, surprise, another pair of lips and eyes
And that is the consequence of actually feeling
It was all inside of you
It was all inside of you
It was all inside of you
It was all inside of you.

10. BLACK AND BLUE

Fading everything to black and blue
You look a lot like you
Shatter in the blink of an eye
You keep sailing right on through
Every time you say you're learning
You just look a lot like me
Pale under the blistering sky
White and red
Black and blue

You've been waiting a long time
You've been waiting a long time
To fall down
On your knees
Cut your hands
Cut yourself until you bleed
But fall asleep next to me

Wait for everyone to go away
And in a dimly lit
Room where you got nothing to hide
Say your goodbyes
Tell yourself we'll read a note that says
"I'm sorry everyone
I'm tired of feeling nothing, goodbye"
Wash your face
Dry your eyes

'Cause you've been waiting a long time
You've been waiting a long, long time
To fall down
On your knees
Cut your hands
Cut yourself until you bleed
But fall asleep next to me
And have a dream, I'm falling down
On my face
I scrape my knees
I scrape my hands until they bleed
'Cause you're fast asleep next to me
Next to me
Next to me
Next to me.

11. WHY SHOULD YOU COME WHEN I CALL

It's 1:30 in the morning
But that's alright by me
Weren't you just waiting by the phone
Well, I should give a little warning
But I need the things I need
I'm not proud to need a hand
But I just don't understand

So, why should you come when I call
I never say nothing at all
Why do I go, when I go
It's leaving me here all alone
You ought to get out on your own

Ain't necessarily a bad thing
To believe the things I say
'Cause you can make yourself feel good
You know it's really not a good thing
To give everything to me
I'm just waiting for the show
'Cause I got no where to go

So, why should you come when I call
I never say nothing at all
Why do I go, when I go
It's leaving me here all alone
You ought to get out on your own

'Cause nothing makes me feel so good
Makes me feel so good
Or gets me high
Or gets me high
So I sleep at night
And let's me know that's everything's alright
I feel nice

So sorry in the morning
You could believe what you believe
I'm used to waking up alone
But if you think about it
Anyone you think about is better love than me
But if you've not fallin' quite
Asleep I might call tonight
If that's alright

Why should you come when I call
I never say nothing at all
Why do I go, when I go
It's leaving me here all alone
You ought to get out on your own

Oh, why should you come when I call

Oh, why do I go, when I go

Why should you
Why should you come when I call

Why should you come
Why should you come when I call.

12. UP ALL NIGHT (FRANKIE MILLER GOES TO HOLLYWOOD)

Is everybody happy now
Is everybody clear
We could drive out to the dunes tonight
'Cause summer's almost here

I've been up all night
I might sleep all day
Get your dreams just right
Let them slip away
I might sleep all day

When the roads are clear
We head on out of here
If you're coming back
I'll see you in the morning
I'm just staring at
The ceiling staring back at me
Just waiting for the daylight
To come crawling in on me

And I've been up all night
I might sleep all day
Get your dreams just right
And let them slip away
I might sleep all day

Oh, it's too late to get high now
Oh, it's too late to get high now

Fix your hair just right
Put your jeans on tight
Wear a dress so I can get it off real easy
'Cause I've been thinking I'd
Like to see your eyes
Open up real wide the minute that you see me

If you don't come through
I wouldn't wait for you
I understand that everyone goes disappearing
Into the greater grey
That covers over every day
And hovers in the distance and the distance and the distance

I've been up all night
I might sleep all day
Get your dreams just right
Let them slip away
I might sleep all day

Oh, it's too late to get high now
Oh, it's too late to get high

I said, baby
I said, baby
It's too late
Baby, it's too late

Baby
I said, baby
I said, it's too late
It's too late

I only wanna get high

I sing

It's too late
It's too late
It's too late

I only wanna get high

I sing
I said, it's too late
It's too late

It's too late.

13. HOLIDAY IN SPAIN

Got no place to go
But there's a girl waiting for me down in Mexico
She got a bottle of tequila, a bottle of gin
And if I bring a little music I can fit right in

We got airplane rides
We got California drowning out the window side
We got big black cars
And we got stories how we slept with all the movie stars

I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drink my worries down the drain
And fly away to somewhere new

Hop on my choo choo
I'll be your engine driver in a bunny suit
If you dress me up in pink and white
We may be just a little fuzzy 'bout it later tonight

But she's my angel
She's a little better than the one that used to be with me
'Cause she liked to scream at me
Man, it's a miracle that she's not living up in a tree

I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drive this little girl insane
And fly away to someone new

Everybody's gone
They left the television screaming that the radio's on
Someone stole my shoes
But there's a couple of bananas and a bottle of booze
Oh, well happy new year's, baby
We could probably fix it if we clean it up all day
Or we could simply pack our bags
And catch a plane to Barcelona 'cause this city's a drag

I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Flush my worries down the drain
And fly away to somewhere new
Take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drive this little girl insane
Fly away to someone new

Fly away to someone new
Fly away to someone new.

14. FOUR WHITE STALLIONS

She had four white stallions coming around the bend
Four strong angels at her command descend
Four more seasons for all that's broken to mend
And I got four more reasons why I
Can't go back there again

She had skin like a statue
Milky white and pure
Carved by an artist
Who's hand is demure
Got a mind like a saber
Razor-sharp and sure
And God, how I hate myself for still wanting her

Damn these nights are dreaming
Visions soft and sure
Now I awake to find there's nothing left of me in her
Nothing more than a heart still at war

She had four white stallions coming up around the bend
Four strong angels already sinned
Four more seasons for all that's broken to mend
I got four more reasons why I can't go back there again
I got four good reasons why I can't go back there again
And I got four more seasons for all that's broken to mend.

BONUS TRACK: BIG YELLOW TAXI

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to see them
No, no, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don't care 'bout spots on my apples
Leave me the birds and the bees, please
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?

Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Now, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey, hey, hey, paved paradise and put up a parking lot

I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna giving it all away
Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give it
I should wanna give it
'Cause you giving it all away
Now, now
I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna giving it all away
'Cause you giving it all
Giving it all away

'Cause she's giving it all away
Hey, paved paradise, put up a parking lot

Paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

back to main page