Field Below

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope liner notes):

I wish I'd see a field below
I wish I'd hear a rooster crow
But there are none that live downtown
And so the day starts out so slow
Again the sun was never called [alt: again the call was never made]
And darkness spreads over the snow
Like ancient bruises
I am awake and feel the ache
But I wish I'd see a field below, I wish I'd see a field below

I wish I'd see your face below
I wish I'd hear you whisperin' low
But you don't live downtown no more
And everything must come and go

Again the sun was never called
And darkness spreads over the snow
Like ancient bruises
I am awake and feel the ache
I am awake and feel the ache
I wish I'd see a field below
I wish I'd see a field below
I am awake and feel the ache
But I wish I'd see a field below

The Flowers

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Soviet Kitsch liner notes):

The flowers you gave me are rotting and still I refuse to throw them away
some of the bulbs never opened quite fully
they might so I'm waiting and staying awake
Things I have loved I'm allowed to keep
I'll never know if I go to sleep

The papers around me are piling and twisting regina the paper back mummy
what then
I'm taking the knife to the books that i own and chopping and chopping and boiling soup from stone
Things I have loved I'm allowed to keep
I'll never know if I go to sleep
things I have loved I'm allowed to keep
I'll never know if I go to sleep

Flyin

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as originally posted by Regina on brümstix):

I went flyin' out of my window
I went flyin' out of my window
been caught doin' it once or twice
but it feels so real nice
oh it feels so real nice

saw the earth and I saw the sky
saw the earth and I saw the sky
been caught doin' it once or twigh
but it feels so real nigh
oh it feels so real nigh
oh it feels so real nigh

went to school with them boring teachers
who thought they was all my preachers
so I went starin' out of my window
I went starin' out of my window
been caught doin' it once or twice
but it feels so real nice
oh it feels so real nice,
oh it feels so real nice, that I might even do it again

one of them took me with him to sleep
said not to make a peep
said it'll be a secret we keep
so I didn't make a peep
kissed my cheek and rubbed my feet
but his kissin' didn't taste so sweet
told him I just wanted to sleep
so he got mad
and he got madder, and he got maddest of them all

sent me flyin' out of his window
sent me flyin' out of his window
not caught once, not caught twice

and I've been flyin' ever since and I've been flyin' in the skies...

Folding Chair

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

Come and open up your folding chair next to me
my feet are buried in the sand and there’s a breeze
there’s a shadow, you can’t see my eyes
and the sea is just a wetter version of the skies

let’s get a silver bullet trailer and have a baby boy
I’ll safety-pin his clothes all cool and you’ll grafitti up his toys
I’ve got a perfect body, though sometimes I forget
I’ve got a perfect body cause my eyelashes catch my sweat
Yes, they do, they do…

now I’ve been sitting on this abandoned beach for years
waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears
but every time the tide come in to take me home
I get scared, and I’m sitting here alone
dreaming of the dolphin song…

maybe one day you will understand
I don’t want nothing from you but to sweetly hold your hand
till that day just please don’t be so down
don’t make frowns, you silly clown

just come and open up your folding chair next to me
my feet are buried in the sand and there’s a breeze
there’s a shadow, you can’t see my eyes
and the waves are just a frothier version of the skies

there’s a shadow, you can’t see my eyes…

Genius Next Door

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

Some said the local lake had been enchanted
others said it must have been the weather
the neighbors were trying to keep it quiet
but I swear I could hear the laughter
so they jokingly nicknamed it the porridge
cause overnight that lake had turned as thick as butter
but the local kids would still go swimming, drinking
saying that to them it doesn’t matter

if you just hold in your breath til you come back up in full
hold in your breath til you thought it through, you fool

the genius next door was bussing tables
wiping clean the ketchup bottle labels
getting high and mumbling german fables
didn’t care as long as he was able
to strip his clothes off by the dumpsters
at night while everyone was sleeping
and to wade midway into that porridge
just him and the secret he was keeping

hold in your breath til you come back up in full
hold in your breath til you thought it through, you foolish child

in the morning the film crews start arriving
with coffee, donuts, and reporters
the kids were waking up hungover
the neighbors were starting up their cars
the garbagemen were emptying the dumpsters
atheists were praying full of sarcasm
and the genius next door was sleeping
dreaming that the antidote was orgasm

hold in your breath til you come back up in full
hold in your breath til you thought it through, you foolish child…

Ghost of Corporate Future

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Soviet Kitsch liner notes):

A man walks out of his apartment
it is raining
he's got no umbrella
he starts running beneath the awnings trying to save his suit
tryin to dryin to tryin to dry but no good

When he gets to the crowded subway platform he takes off both of his shoes
He steps right into somebody's fat loogie
and everyone who sees him says "ewwww"
everyone who sees him says "ewwww"

But he doesn't care cause last night he got a visit from the Ghost of Corporate Future
The Ghost said take off both your shoes whatever chances you get
especially when they're wet
he also said

Imagine you go away on a business trip one day
and when you come back home
your children have grown
and you never made your wife moan

And people make you nervous
You'd think the world was ending
and everybody's features
have somehow started blending
and everything is plastic
and everyone's sarcastic
and all your food is frozen
it needs to be defrosted
You'd think the world was ending
you'd think the world was ending
You'd think the world was ending right now

Well maybe you should just drink a lot less coffee
and never ever watch the 10 o'clock news
Maybe you should kiss someone nice or lick a rock or both
maybe you should cut your own hair cause that can be so funny
it doesn't cost any money and it always grows back
hair grows even after you're dead

People are just people
They shouldn't make you nervous
The world is everlasting
It's coming and it's going
if you don't toss your plastic
the streets won't be so plastic
and if you kiss somebody
then both of you'll get practice

The world is everlasting
put dirtballs in your pockets
put dirtball's in your pockets
and take off both your shoes
cause people are just people
people are just people
people are just people like you

people are just people
people are just people
people are just people like you

The world is everlasting
it's coming and it's going
the world is everlasting
it's coming and it's going
it's coming and it's going

Hallelujah

Written by: leonard cohen

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I heard there was a sacred chord
that david played and it pleased the lord
but you don't really care for music, do you?
it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah...

your faith was strong but you needed proof
you saw her bathing on the roof
her beauty in the moonlight overthrough you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
she broke your throne and she cut your hair
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah...

maybe I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
but love is not a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah...

there was a time when you let me know
what's really going on below
but now you never show that to me, do you?
remember when I moved in you
and the holy dove was moving too
and every breath we drew was hallelujah...

maybe there's a god above
but all I've ever learned from love
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
it's not a cry that you hear tonight
it's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah...

Happy Hooker

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I've been looking at you all night long
I've been looking at you all night long
you with your street-walking shoes and your street-walking eyes
I see nothing wrong

but don't look at me that way, baby
I can't help you, my life is just a melody and chords
don't look at me that way, baby
I can't help you, my life is just a melody and chords
I go home so broke and lonely every night, all I got in my pocket are
these rhyming words and more words and more words

besides, here comes your baby
better look away
better give her a kiss and buy her a glass of chardonnay

don't worry about me, baby
I'm just what you might call a-live entertainment
but I stopped caring a long time ago, I don't give a fuck
cause it pays the rent

I'm just a happy hooker riding bicycles and boys in the park
never was much of a looker but always knew my way around in the dark
loving's just a pastime, singing's just a pastime too
this whole life is just a pasttime and we're passing right through

but I've been looking at you all night long
I've been looking at you all night long
you with your street-walking shoes and your street-walking eyes
I see nothing wrong...
I see nothing at all