Bobbing for Apples

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

bobbing for apples in somalia
the man with the iron curtain is following you
no one’s coming for tea time
except my own holy ghost
you’re somewhere far probably drinking a whiskey
I dating jack daniel’s and caleb - swiss miss, nicky - tea,
nacho's with cocoa -- hey, to each his own
lovely people, lovely places
I can’t remember names and I can’t remember faces
someone next door’s fucking to one of my songs

hey light fixture, you are much too bright
oh, won’t you stay with me through the night
just grab a pillow tight
and wait for the dizziness to pass
rock and roll, you ate my soul
you sucked dry my bones but you spit out my mole
I’ll always opt to fall down these stairs in the end
lovely people, lovely places
drunken faces, slurring their phrases
I’ll always opt to fall down these stairs in the end

you so jealous, I’m so lonely
you’ll never forgive me but I love you only
I’ll always opt to fall down these stairs in the end…

someone next door’s fucking to one of my songs…

Bon Idée

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as posted by the mod on brümstix):

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love

Don't tell your secrets to anyone
Because ideas are vulnerable
As soon as you say your idea out loud
Then it can go and live on its own
And you will miss it oh so much
And you will wait for it's return
And you will wish it were your own
But ideas that left never come back home

Don't tell your mother that you are afraid
Don't tell your lover that your heart might break
Don't tell your gods that you no longer believe
Because as soon as you say it out loud they will leave you
And you will miss them oh so bad
And you will wait for their return
And you will wish they were your own
But gods that have left you will never grace your home

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love

Don't tell your secrets to anyone
Because ideas are vulnerable
As soon as you say your ideas out loud
Then they can go and live on their own without you
And you will miss them oh so bad
And you will wait for their return
And you will wish they were your own
But ideas that left will never come back home

Braille

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as originally posted by Regina on brümstix):

She was lying on the floor and counting stretch marks
she hadn't been a virgin and he hadn't been a god
so she names the baby Elvis
to make up for the royalty he lacked

And from then on it was turpentine and patches
from then on it was cold Campbell's from the can
They were just two jerks playing with matches
Cause that's all they knew how to play

And it was raining cats and dogs out side of her window
And she knew they were destined to become sacred road kill on the way
And she was listening to the sound of heavens shaking
thinking about puddles, puddles and mistakes

And from then on it was turpentine and patches
from then on it was cold Campbell's from the can
They were just two jerks playing with matches
Cause that's all they knew how to play

Elvis never could carry a tune
she thought about this irony as she stared back at the moon
she was tracing the years with her fingers on her skin
saying why don't I begin again
with turpentine and patches
with cold Campbell's from the can
after all I'm still a jerk playing with matches
it's just that he's not around to play along
I'm still an ass hole playing with matches
Blowing out my wishes blowing out my dreams
Just sitting here and trying to decypher what's written in Braille upon my skin...

The Bronx

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

Come downstairs, I’m buzzing you
Come downstairs, I got nothing to do
Come downstairs now
Come downstairs now
Come downstairs now

You know there’s a legend and it goes like this
if you kiss the lamppost between 224th street and 225th
in the bronx
when it’s a full moon
you’ll be granted three wishes

but nobody does it
they don’t believe in magical realism in the bronx
they don’t even believe it exists in other places
but especially not in the bronx
come downstairs now
I’m buzzing you
it’s a full moon
our wishes will come true soon

Do you know what I’d wish for? Do you know what I’d wish for?
Do you know what I’d wish for? Do you know what I’d wish for?

a 24-hour baskin robbins in my neighborhood
an elevator in my building so that I wouldn’t have to walk up to the eighth floor
and also a dog

Buildings

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as originally posted by Regina on brümstix):

he was a husband who drove his wife home drunk from the parties
he was a husband who drove his wife home
and in the car he would gently lean her head on the side door window
and in the bathroom he would hold her hair back and hope, saying;

they build buildings oh they build buildings oh they build buildings
so tall these days

and in the morning she'd wake up and crouch recollections all day
but she would always always wake up the next morning
and he'd take one look at her a say baby that's ok
and her conscience would issue yet another last warning, saying;

they build buildings oh they build buildings oh they build buildings
so tall these days

and she would ask for time and she'd ask for time and she would ask for time and she would beg for time, and she would beg for time and beg for time and call it a gift
and he would give her time and he'd give her time and he would give her time and he'd give her time-
but time is not given and time is not taken
it just sifts through its sift

and it was coffee and coffee and coffee and coffee and coffee and coffee some more
he'd go to work and she'd take a sick day and rot at the core
and by the time he came back she'd scrub the bathroom and make it smell like pine
it would be almost as if nothing had happened and he'd give her time, saying;

they build buildings, oh they build buildings, oh they build buildings, oh don't they build buildings, oh they build buildings, they build buildings so tall these days
and she would ask for time and shed ask for time and she would ask for time and she would beg for time, and she would beg for time and beg for time and call it a gift
and he would give her time and he'd give her time and he would give her time and he'd give her time-
but time is not given and time is not taken
it just sifts through its sift

he was a husband drove time home pine scrub bathroom window don't they build buildings so tall these days...

BYOS

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I met Mata Hari
She was in no hurry
The firing squad had their guns in the air
My invitation said bring your own shovel
I brought my own shovel, BYOS
Bring your own shovel and shovel up the mess

Lately all my friends
clip their teeth with nail clippers
they want them much straighter, much nicer, more even
Well I thought I’d do somehting nasty as well
I brought my own shovel, dug up this here well
then I shuffled my feet and I sniffed at the smells
then I dropped in some horses and dropped in some sheep
then I cuddled up a grandma, put her in there to sleep
then I licked off the envelope, in it I sent all
the bones and the phones and the braids from my hair

Uh-huh…and darling, I’m all shook up now
Uh-huh…baby, I’m all shook up now
Uh-huh…darling I’m all shook up

Bring your own shovel…BYOS…

The Calculation

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

you went into the kitchen cupboard
got yourself another hour
and you gave half of it to me
we sat there looking at the faces
of the strangers in the pages
til we knew them mathematically
they were in our minds until forever
but we didn't mind, we didn't know better

so we made our own computer
out of macaroni pieces
and it did our thinking while we lived our lives
it counted up our feelings
and divided them up even
and it called that calculation perfect love
didn't even know that love was bigger
didn't even know that love was so...

hey, this fire, it's burning, burning us up...

so we made the hard decision
and we each made an incision
past our muscles and our bones
saw our hearts were little stones
pulled them out, they weren't beating
and we weren't even bleeding
as we lay them on a granite countertop
we beat them up against each other...
we struck them hard against each other...
we struck them so hard, so hard, until they sparked

hey, this fire, it's burning, burning us up...

A Cannon

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

a cannon was fired by the light of the moon
I’m waiting, the boat should be here very soon
and I mind less and less all the silly
pictures that hang round my room for now
I write you a letter, I hope you feel better
I hope you forgive the transgression, I’ve given
you love and I’ve given you anger as well
and I meant them both
I always knew it was coming this way…
I always knew a big boat would come and
take me away…

I stood on my bed then I slipped on my dress
then I ran through the halls like a ghost and in case
someone heard me I grabbed up a dagger
that I’d never use unless
bare feet on a cobblestone street, then a beach
then a splash in my ankles, my knees, then my thighs
and my eyes open wide, I threw myself right into the sea
and I could see it was coming my way…
I always knew a big boat would come and
take me away…

I’ve woken up once and I’ve woken up twice
and I’ve woken up millions and millions of times
somebody’s got to tell all the people to be like the water…

I would if I could but I can’t so I don’t
my heart breaks too easy, my words get all jumbled
and when I wear lipstick then no one
understands me at all
they think I’m saying hello and goodbye…
what I’m really saying is…

I’ve woken up once and I’ve woken up twice
and I’ve woken up millions and millions of times

Carbon Monoxide

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Soviet Kitsch liner notes):

Carbon monoxide
soon I'll go to sleep
If I don't got my socks on right
they slide right off of my feet
as I walka walka walka walk...

Carbon monoxide
as I take you home
first time I get my socks on right
but I don't have a gas mask on
as I walka walka walka walk you home
yeah
I'm so cool, I'm so cool, I'm so cool
walka walka walka walk you home
yeah
I'm so cool, I'm so cool, I'm so cool

come on daddy
come on daddy...

Carbon monoxide
soon we'll go to sleep
no one will notice we're gone
cause we don't have a job to keep
they'll just say that we're being lazy
sex-crazed
sex-crazed
hazy
they'll just say we're living our whole life in bed
and we'll be in bed but we'll be oh so very much
deada, deada, deada, dead
yeah
but we're so cool, we're so cool, we're so cool
deada, deada, deada, dead
but we're still cool, we're still cool, we're still cool
come on daddy
come on daddy
come on daddy
come on daddy
carbon monoxide
carbon monoxide