Living Inside Design (Remastered)

FOREVER GOODNIGHT

Yea, I got the invoice…
It’s not my department.
Yea, I got the invoice.

Oh God I love this. (It’s not my idea)
Oh God I love this. (It’s not my idea)

So I bought the circus, I bought the line,
I cleared the stable marking time
And walked a mile for a long tall dream
And worked the sidelines in between

(Forever Goodbye)

Like three card monte I kissed your mind
And stroked the middle over time

(Forever Goodbye)

I motioned for a calmer day
But got a lesson on the way

(Forever Goodbye)

Like, even when you broke a vow
Who’s there to notice anyhow?

Oh God I love this.
It’s not my idea to live for this.

And when you finally, you finally arrive
Cross all your fingers and dot all your i’s
And if you wonder, and wonder you might
Nothing’s forever, forever goodnight

Sure, I’ll miss the morning, relieve a cloud
See, I gotta embrace this normal shroud
that washes over incumbent days
and makes the masquerade seem great

And every day’s gonna be a clear slate
Like three card monte I kissed your fate
In a word I’m tellin’ you make believe
that you wanted this feeling as much as me

And when you finally, you finally arrive
Cross off what lingers and dry all your eyes
And if you wonder, and wonder you might
Nothing’s forever, forever goodnight

I MIGHT NEVER GIVE UP
(… and that’s why I wrote the book)

I met this girl
And she had this 3-way wrist radio
(you mean a 2-way wrist radio)
You know?
Like the kind Dick Tracy used

So, I remember longer days
And coffee shops with plastic trays
All huddled in above the rain
And hoping that you’d come again
Where simple conversations pass
Like pouring blessings in your glass
But as the lunch crowd moves away
I think of reasons why I’ll stay
For every memory that you took
That’s why I wrote the book

Everybody want a deeper love
Everybody want a beeper love
Everybody want their self intact
Everybody want their self, in fact

Aw c’mon, lick it…
what it was is …
Over 50% off the cover price…
… and that’s why I wrote the book

Maybe I’ll never give up
Maybe I’ll never give up

So, I remember longer days
And coffee shops with plastic trays
All huddled in above the rain
And hoping that you’d come again
Where simple conversations pass
Like pouring blessings in your glass
For every memory that you took
That’s why I wrote the book

Everybody want …
Aw c’mon, lick it…
what it was is …
The litigants for our next case are
on their way into the courtroom …
… and that’s why I wrote the book

LEFT IN MY LIFE

I wouldn’t count on it
I wouldn’t bet on it
I wouldn’t count on it
I wouldn’t bet on it

See, let me talk about me
and a garden degree where you play for a fee
And be what I want you to be
and if the garden variety’s not for me
You’re free (you’re free) , like palm to palm
As if I promise to remain calm
and now the hope’s all gone
Gone-gone and good deal
It’s a lesson of life
And if a lesson is real

It’s so long gone, it’s so long gone
As benefits belong, it’s so long gone

There’s probably still moments
Left in my life
There’s probably still moments
Left in my life

Take breaths and I’m walking in line for a shakedown
If I caught the good life would it be above ground?
Twice dismissed belonging at this time of turning
Breaking bread and baseball caps of higher learning

Forced to press the notion things are really changing
mole hills moving mountains-candid rearranging
Barking at the front door intercepting angels
Out and out redemption resting for a spell

Even as I’m speaking with the right to know
Commonplace occurrence believing where you go

Body at rest insighting overnight guest
Or better, better at last, I mean the last that I checked
I got a rate that I like, I mean I didn’t think twice
And hey, we all gotta eat and by the way it’s my treat
And if you think it’s a con just check the road that I’m on
It’s like, examine and see, or like believing in me
And when belief is suspended for promises made
And what’s left in my life is what’s left in the shade
I’m still waiting to become the man that I made

React to a false decline, born under a neon sign
A commonplace to do, when you fall through

LIVING INSIDE DESIGN

I’m living inside design, yea
Got ahead on my hotel room
I’m living inside design
It’s a calling, it’s a righteous thing to do
I’m living inside design

I’m living inside design, yea
In the bedlam of my balloon
I’m looking outside of time
I’m designing a desire for me and you
I’m living inside design

When you see my smile and you take my ride
Ooh-ooh … invite you inside

I’m living inside design, yea
Saw a body pass by alone
I call it a mystery
That I’m calling all these numbers and no one’s home
I’m leaving inside design

I’m living inside design, yea
Hopin’ nobody found me out
I’m living inside design
When you’re livin’ … hey, you’re livin’
Just don’t lose count
I’m living inside design

When you see my smile and you take my ride
Ooh-ooh … invite you inside

I’m living inside design, yea
Got ahead on my hotel room
I’m living inside design
Yes I’m living yes I’m living inside design
I’m living inside design

I’m living inside design, yea
It’s the righteous thing to do
I’m looking outside of time
I’m designing a desire for me and you
I’m living inside design

When you see my smile and you take my ride
This’ll sting a little bit but open wide
Outside of time in the great unknown
It’s a fire sale and it starts at home
If you feel the ceiling where I like to hide
Ooh-ooh … invite you inside

THIS IS ALL WE ARE

Separated mornings
When the nights are long
Blasting of at Rudy’s
Waiting for that song

All the dustbag singles falling
Bringing lonely lights to bear
Give it up, for saints are holy
Saints and sinners, what a pair

This is all we are
Oh oh all we are
Oh oh oh all we are

Underage inside
Following advice and advice says
Right or wrong you don’t belong

You spent your days with gold TV’s
Untimely pulse and you’re at ease
Underage inside from following advice

Teach me all the lessons
That I used to know
Blowing smoke and ageing
Paying as you go

Shifting with the days of progress
Momentary lakes and streams
Kissing all the faces, count ’em
Rolling over in their dreams

This is all we are
Oh oh all we are
Oh oh oh all we are

NEVER FORGET A FACE

Fits hard to erase
So never forget a face
Watch moments unlace
And never forget a face

Interior base
You never forget a face
Encoding your place
To never forget a face

In pleasant regard, to motor beyond the yard
Up, up and plié, incumbent rehung today
In-loving is hard, foreshadow to play your card
All-soul disarray, All souls have been blown away
Aeolian Bay, All souls have been blown away
Mixolydian clay, All souls have been blown away

Shaking the tree of God shak-
Ing the tree of God shaking
The tree of God shaking the
Tree of God shaking the tree
Of God shaking the tree of
God shaking the tree of God

Cows in high relief
Men walking left as thieves
Cows’ legs in low relief
Bull followed by man disease

Hunting in the desert blow
Men with baboons, men on the go
Lunettte from false door
Bows on stands, flails in jars

In pleasant regard, to motor beyond the yard
In pleasant regard, to motor beyond the yard …

Interior base
You never forget a face
Encoding your place
To never forget a face

Fits hard to erase
So never forget a face
Watch moments unlace
And never forget a face

(I’m Thinking About You Every Minute That I’m Not)
THINKING ABOUT MYSELF

An allergy of broken dreams
A knock inside the head
The fear of flight, of touching down
A mastermind re-tread

The cruising and pretending
The heart bending for the fight
Sits well upon the bottoms
Of America 2-Night

I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself
I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself

Someday I’ll find I was the one
Who was out of his mind
I’ll count the losses
And bone up on strays
Measuring moments for happier days
I’ll put in gas for the ride

He warms the streets deserted palms
Erasing where he wept
His favorite pastime?
Barking up the wrong tree where he slept

The envelope and history
Of two wrongs make a right
Sits well upon the bottoms
Of America 2-Night

I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself
I’m thinking about you every minute
That I’m not thinking about myself

Someday I’ll find I was the one
Who was out of his mind
I’ll count the losses
And bone up on strays
Measuring moments for happier days
I’ll put in gas for the ride

KISS HIM GOODBYE

A second parade …
A best out of three …
Mouth congress …

Mouth congress: a kiss, a second parade
An orgy of logic, a romance replayed
And up to the minute, a best out of three
You’re there in the moment

The moment is me
The moment is me

Built for boring, kiss him goodbye
A view to a look, a look to a sigh
And up to the minute, a best out of three
You’re there in the moment. The moment is me

Crawling under sights and hues
And gushing over living rooms
Breathing air that someone knew
Filing forms and turning blue

Hearing voices after dark
Leaning towards a trailer park
Clearing memos from machines
Travel brochures for marines

Assortment of voices insightless to see
A closing reminder in deep memory
As the voices surround you and brief your belief
The assortment of voices remind you of me
Assortment of voices remind you of me
Remind you of me

And I’m on the planet, and I take it for granted
And I’m on the planet, and I take it for granted

And I’m on the planet, the big wide world
The planet droppings, the grown up girls
In the bottom where most things fit
In the round and into it

Kiss him goodbye, kiss him goodbye
Kiss him goodbye kiss, kiss him goodbye

Hey na na, hey na na, hey na na, hey na na
Hey na na, hey na na, hey na na, hey na na

LIGHT FROM A TRAILER

Fall lightly on your knees
Beneath the poplar trees
The memories that hound you

What passed above her head
Amazing grace she said
I love it when you’re singing

And when the past forgave
I heard an angel wave
I’m far away from danger
A light from a trailer

Picked up from hand to mouth
A remnant of the South
A Mississippi mansion

A mobile S.R.O.
For nomads on the go
The cinderblocks and pavement

And when the past forgave
I heard an angel wave
I’m far away from danger
A light from a trailer

And when my ship comes in
To see from where I’ve been
A moment to get even

And come the good ol’ days
Of fish fries and parades
I’ll settle here forever

And when the past forgave
I heard an angel wave
I’m far away from danger
A light from a trailer

Lyrics © 1994 Mikel Rouse
All rights reserved
Published by Club Soda Music (ASCAP)
Used by permission