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

Chelsea Hotel #2

Written by: leonard cohen

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I remember you well in the chelsea hotel
you were talking so brave and so sweet
giving me head on the unmade bed
while the limousines wait in the street
those were the reasons and that was new york
we were running for the money and the flesh
and that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left

but you got away, didn't you babe?
you just turned your back on the crowd
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you...
and all of that jiving around

I remember you well in the chelsea hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend
you told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception
and clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty
you fixed yourself, you said, well never mind
we are ugly but we have the music

then you got away, didn't you babe?
you just turned your back on the crowd
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you...
and all of that jiving around

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best
I can't keep track of each fallen robin
I remember you well in the chelsea hotel
but that's all, I don't even think of you that often

Chemo Limo

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Soviet Kitsch liner notes):

I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over and babysat all four of my kids
Then in my dream I told the doctor off he said "if you don't wanna do it
then you don't have to do it"
he said "the truth is you'll be ok anyway"

Then in my dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin and the doctor went and had a talk with my boss
something about insurance policies
they kept the door closed at all times
i couldn't hear or see
When they came out they said "you'll be ok anyway"
and I smiled cause I'd known it all the while

No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I ain't about to pay for this shit
I can afford chemo like i can afford a limo and on any given day I'd rather ride a limousine
No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I ain't about to die like this
I can afford chemo like I can afford a limo
and besides this shit is making me tired it's making me tired it's making me tired
you know I planned to retire someday
but mama's gonna go out in style
go out in style
this shit is making me tired
it's making me tired, it's making me tired
mama gonna go out in style

When I woke up the kids were being quiet
i knew it was a dream right away I called the limousine company
then I got dressed
I dressed the kids as well
the limousine pulled in and we piled in
The doctor he asked which way we were headed
I said "sir let's just go west" and he listened obediently

Sophie only wanted to listen to radio BBC
Michael sat on my knees and whispered to me all about the meanies
Jacqueline was being such a big girl with her cup of tea looking out of the window
and Barbara, she looks just like my mom
oh my Barbara she looks so much like my mom

No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
i ain't about to pay for this shit
I can afford chemo like I can afford a limo
and any given day I'd rather ride a limousine
No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
i ain't about to die like this
i can afford chemo like i can afford a limo
and besides this shit is making me tired
it's making me tired, it's making me tired
you know I plan to retire someday
but mama gonna go out in style
go out in style
this shit is making me tired
it's making me tired, it's making me tired
mama gonna go out in style
go out in style
Style

I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over
and babysat all four of my kids
I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over
and babysat all four of my kids

Sophie only wanted to listen to radio BBC
Michael sat on my knees and whispered to me all about the meanies
Jacqueline was being such a big girl with her cup of tea looking out of the window
and Barbara, she looks just like my mom Oh my God, Barbara she looks so much like my mom
Oh my Barbara she looks so much just like my mom...

"the clocks were asleep" (title unknown)

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

The clocks were asleep and asleep’s how we found them
we found them and wound them again
but they didn’t last us till morning and warning
that you never should force mechanical things
they are not meant for hardship, they’ll snap
if you tighten and wind them and pry them and try
just stop right now, now’s the time to let go
and stop right now, now’s the time to break free

the parakeet sitting inside the gazebo
was sighing, though she shouldn’t have know how
to do anything except tweet tweet tweet
the gentleman giving the power presentation
felt the bayonet scar on his shoulder reopen
a warm trickle of blood through his fresh-pressed shirt
so stop right now, now’s the time to let go
and stop right now, now’s the time to break free

how much do you really know you?

Consequence of Sounds

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (asposted by the mod on brümstix):

My rhyme ain't good just yet
My brain and tongue just met
And they ain't friends so far
My words don't travel far
They tangle in my hair
And tend to go nowhere
They grow right back inside
Right past my brain and eyes
Into my stomach juice
Where they don't serve much use
No healthy calories
Nutrition values
And I absorb back in
The words right through my skin
They sit there festering
Inside my bowels
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds

Got a soundtrack in my mind
All the time
Kids screamin' from too much beat up
And they don't even rhyme
They just stand there, on a street corner
Skin tucked in and meat side out and shouting
I'd like to turn 'em down
But there ain't no knob
Born into picket fences
Not into picket lines
All this hippie shit's for the '60s
and a cliché in our times, but
What if one of these days your heart
Will just stop ticking
And they sort of just don't find you
Till your cubicle is reeking?

The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
Ahh ah ah ah ahh ah ahh ah ah ah, ah
Ahh ah ah ah ahh ah ahh ah ah ah, ah
Dan, t-t-dan, t-t-dan-dan-dan
Dan, t-t-dan, t-t-dan-dan-dan

Did you know that the gravedigger's still gettin' stuck in the machine
Even though it's a whole other daydream?
It's another town
It's another world
Where the kid's asleep
And the loans are paid
And the lawns are mowed
What'd ya think
All the gravediggers were gone
Just 'cause one song is done?
There's always another one
Waiting right around the bend
Till this one ends
Then it begins
Sqeaky clean
And it starts all over again

The weather report keeps on
Tossing and turning
Predicting and warning
And warning and warning of
Possible leakage from news publications, and
Possible leakage from news TV stations; that
Very same morning, right next to her coffee
She noticed some bleeding and heard hollow coughing
The National Geographic was being too graphic
When all she had wanted to know was the traffic
The world's got a nosebleed, it said
And we're flooding, but we keep on cutting the trees and the forests!
And we keep on paying those freaks on the TV
Who claim they will save us, but want to enslave us, and
Sweating like demons, they scream through our speakers
But we leave the sound on 'cause silence is harder, and
No one's the killer and no one's the martyr
The world that has made us can no longer contain us
And prophets are silent and rotting away, 'cause

The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
Ahh ah ah ah ahh ah ahh ah ah ah, ah
Ahh ah ah ah ahh ah ahh ah ah ah, ah
Dan, t-t-dan, t-t-dan-dan-dan-dan
Dan, dan, t-t-dan, t-dan-dan

My rhyme ain't good just yet
My brain and tongue just met
And they ain't friends so far
My words don't travel far
They tangle in my hair
And tend to go nowhere
They grow right back inside
Right past my brain and eyes
Into my stomach juice
Where they don't serve much use
No healthy calories
Nutrition values
And I absorb back in
The words right through my skin
They sit there festering inside my bowels
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds

"a cooler version" (title unknown)

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

a cooler version of yourself
a cooler version of your dad
a crueler version in my mind
I pull away when you’re inside…
so young and drunk…
I lie down here until I die…
I’m so sorry for telling stories
I’m so young and drunk…
I didn’t know it’d be so boring
I fall asleep when you’re inside…

a cooler version of myself
a cooler version of my dad
a crueler version in my mind
I pull away when you’re inside…
I’m so young and drunk…

Dance Anthem of the 80's

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

you are so sweet
dancing to the beat
there's a meat market down the street
the boys and the girls watch each other eat

you are so sweet, so sweet
dancing and moving to that beat, that beat
there's a meat market down the street
the boys and the girls watch each other eat...
when they really just want to watch each other sleep

I went walking through the city like a drunk but not
with my slip showing a little, like a drunk but not
and I am one of your people, but the cars don't stop...

it's been a long time since before I've been touched
now I'm getting touched all the time
and it's only of matter of whom
and it's only a matter of when

an addiction to hands and feet
there's a meat market down the street
the boys and girls watch each other eat
when they really just want to watch each other sleep...

they want to watch, to watch each other...sleep...

[alt]
they want to be watched, they want to be washed
they want to be touched, to touch each other
they want to sleep, they want to be slept

Daniel Cowman

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as posted by the mod on brümstix):

On the day that Daniel Cowman stopped existing
The world should have ended right then and there
Precisely 4:15, when he stopped existing
The world should have ended
How could it go on?
How could it go on?
How could it go on?

Well, I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist

So now that we've got that straight
Does it mean that I can fly?
Does it mean I that I can go do whatever I want?
Now that we've got that clear
And you know that I'm not here
Does it mean that I can go do whatever I please?

The premature ejaculation of his death sentence
Hit Daniel in the face like a big round spitball, hwk-pfff
And everything got hazy in the courtroom
And then he stood up and then he sat back down
Another two times in a row
And everything got real slow
Like a gunshot in the movies
And he remembered
Heroin Boy walking through the door
Bouncing off the walls and the floor
Taking off his belt
Taking off his pants
Filling up the bathtub
Getting ready to go in for a swim

Singing, I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist
I don't exist

So now that we've got that straight
Does it mean that I can fly?
Does it mean that I can go do whatever I want?
Now that we've got that clear
And you know that I'm not here
Does it mean that I can go do whatever I please?
And he start remembering and remembering and remembering and remembering and remembering...

The Heroin Boy
He walked through the door
And he was screaming
And everybody was like, what's you screaming as if it's the end of the world?
And he was like, well it is.
And I was sittin' in the corner with my pants down
And I was sure someone next door was blowin' up balloons
And they was red and orange

And there was this one lady at the bar
And she was trying to buy gin
And there was this other lady at the bar
And she was trying to sell gin
And it worked out good for the boths of them

And Heroin Boy
Started takin' off his belt
Started takin' off his pants
Started takin' off his shoes
Filling up the bathtub
Gettin' ready to go in for a swim
And I says nooo
You're gonna drooown
He says nooo
I can't drown
Simply because...
Shhhh..

A man destined to hang
Can never drown
A man destined to hang
Can never drown
A man destined to hang
Can never, ever drown
A man destined to drown
Can never burn
A man destined to drown
Can never burn
A man destined to drown
Can never, ever burn
A man destined to fry
Can never, ever, ever
A man destined to fry
Can never, ever, ever
A man destined to fry
Can never, ever, ever die
In any other way
But frying
Lucky that I'm dying
By hanging
And not drowning

So now that we've got that straight
Can't I just be left alone?
I want to take a fuckin' bath.

December

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

December starts on Sunday, next Sunday
won't you feel happier then?
turn your room upside down, turn your down upside

rumors have started that you are in love again
rumors that are completely unsubstantiated

come on and say you're sorry, real sorry
for the trouble that you've caused
can't you see all this love? can't you see all this love?

we are not evacuating this house
we don't believe in you and your wrecking crew...
we don't believe in you, we don't believe in you...

"the devil come to bethlehem" (title unknown)

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

joseph and mary are so bad
kissing in the park, kissing in the park, kissing in the park
he practices dentistry without a license
but it’s alright cause mary read the books and she’s got his back
they’re saving up for a trip to france
gonna leave the baby with one of the in-laws
just long enough to see the eiffel tower and back
wear red scarf and booze on the airplane

but the devil come to bethlehem
with a bible and an alarm clock
the devil come to bethlehem
and he ain’t afraid of the dark

joseph and mary are so sad
sitting in a park in paris, france reading the news and it sure looks bad
a pile of empty postcards on their laps
nothing bright to write and nothing good to send

but the devil come to bethlehem
with a bible and an alarm clock
the devil come to bethlehem
and he ain’t afraid of the darkness
is less frightening than
the nightness is less frightening than
the dark

joseph and mary are so dead
honest, it’s been years, it’s been years, it’s been many, many years
all their descendants are long buried and gone
their closest blood relative works in a philadelphia sears

walking on water in his own bathtub
turning that water to wine

the devil come to bethlehem
with a bible and an alarm clock
the devil come to bethlehem
he ain’t afraid of the darkness
is less frightening than
the lightness is less frightening than
the darkness is less frightening than
the lightness is less frightening than
the dark

Dog and Pony

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

dog and pony
empty our cabinet
you never forget
you never come back the same
each time you go up in flames
each time you begin to blame
you never come back the same

just a little bit more love...for me
just a little bit more love...but it's alright
don't cry, my sweet

you were born
unto me, I'm torn
unto me, I'm worn
unto me, unworn

so I danced my dance
and I kissed your hands
and I took a chance
and we fell into a trance

just a little bit more love...for me
just a little bit more love...but it's alright
don't cry...my sweet

say one, two, three...
you sitting on the rooftop
me begging here on my knees
I stayed in love with you
you're just falling in love with me
and darling you know that ain't right
so if love never lasts forever ever

little brother
little lover
twist these strings of fate
there is no clean slate
so I'm carting away
all of myself
in this metal crate

and my dog and my pony
and my empty file cabinet
you never forget
you never come back quite the same
each time you go up in flames
each time you begin to blame
you never come back quite the same

just a little bit of true love...for me
just a little bit more love...but it's alright
don't cry...my sweet

Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

after all, everything's been said and done
i feel, i feel better now
come away, lay your hands at rest and close your eyes
and say a prayer for those who've gone

it's hard...to live...
it's harder than it's ever been before
the things that used to comfort me
don't comfort me, not anymore

after all, children being born into
a time of searching for some glory
and the lie's still repeating through the years
dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

it's hard...to live...
it's harder than it's ever been before
the things that used to comfort me
don't comfort me, not anymore

but you can't spend your whole life waiting for god to kiss you...
you can't spend your whole life waiting for god to kiss you back...

come on...come on back...

Düsseldorf

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope Special Edition liner notes):

In Düsseldorf I met a clown
his nose, it was red
in Gelterkinden I forgot to frown
then remembered again
In Paris I saw a big fish
swimming slow in the Seine
it made me hopeful that someday our
water will be breathable again…
In Franfurt I heard eins zwei drei
counting cookies and no one was shot
In Berlin stopped by the Polizei
for drunk driving and everyone smiled
In Prague I knew I’d been a witch
burnt alive, a pyre of Soviet kitsch
it made me miss my Moscow muttdom
it made me miss my New York nothing…
In Montpelier I stayed in a Château
a boy climbed into my bed and he knew no boundaries
In Amsterdam I got quite crazy
it might have been all the tulips and canals
or it might have been all that hash, and in
Barcelona, buenos dias, chocolato, le Picasso
And in Brussels, clean-cut hostel
And in London, me and the French existentialists…
In Corsica I floated away all the way to Marseilles
I should have held an afterparty for all the thoughts I didn’t say
In Düsseldorf I met a dwarf
with bad breath and a really good tan
In Gelterkinden I remembered how to laugh
and I never ever forgot it again

"dust to dust" (title unknown)

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

say goodbye
love again…
I don’t want to, want to, want to, want to
go in circles, round the bend
until we are just friends again
and then not even that
sometimes I almost can recall what it was like before we ever met
sometimes not even that

I was carved
from your rib…
dust to dust to dust to dust to to dust to
go in circles, round the bend
until we are just friends again
and then not even that
sometimes I almost can recall what it was like before we ever met
sometimes not even that…

Edit

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope liner notes):

White lines on your mind
Keep it steady
You were never ready
For the lies
You don't have no Dr. Robert
You don't have no Uncle Albert
You don't even have good credit
You can write but you can't edit

Eet

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

it's like forgetting the words to your favorite song
you can't believe it, you were always singing along
it was so easy and the words so sweet
you can't remember, you try to feel the beat

eet...

you spend half of your life trying to fall behind
you're using your headphones to drown out your mind
it was so easy and the words so sweet
you can't remember, you try to move your feet

eet...

someone's deciding whether or not to steal
he opens a window just to feel the chill
he hears that outside a small boy just started to cry
cause it's his turn, but his brother won't let him try

Fidelity

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope liner notes):

I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
I hear in my mind
All these voices
I hear in my mind
All these words
I hear in mind
All this music
And it breaks my heart
Suppose I never ever met you
Suppose we never fell in love
Suppose I never ever let you
Kiss me so sweet and so soft
Suppose I never ever saw you
Suppose you never ever called
Suppose I kept on singing love songs
Just to break my own fall
Just to break my fall
All my friends say
That of course it's
Gonna get better...

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

Hero (of the Story)

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

He never ever saw it coming at all...
It's alright...

Hey, open wide, here comes original sin...
It's alright...

No one's got it all...

power to the people
we don't want it, we want pleasure
and the tv's try to rape us
and I guess that they're succeeding
and we're going to these meetings
but we're not doing any meeting
we're trying to be faithful but we're
cheating, cheating, cheating

Hey, open wide, here comes original sin...
It's alright...

No one's got it all...

I'm the hero of the story, don't need to be saved...
It's alright...

No one's got it all...

Hotel Song

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope liner notes):

Come in, come in
Come into my world
I've got to show, show, show you
Come into my bed
I've got to know, know, know you
I have dreams of Orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my --
You will never be my fool
Will never be my fool
Floaters in my eyes
Wake up in the hotel room
Cigarettes and lies
I am a child, it's too soon
I have dreams of Orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my --
You will never be my fool
Will never be my fool
A little bag of cocaine
A little bag of cocaine
So who's the girl wearing my dress
I figured out her number
It's on a paper napkin
But I don't know her address
I wait downstairs
The porter smiles to me
A smile I've bought
With a couple of gold coins
A sign that I've been caught
I have dreams of Orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my --
You will never be my dear
Will never be my dear, dear friend
My dear, dear friend

Human of the Year

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

hello? hello?
calling a karl projektorinski
to the front of the cathedral
you have won, dear sir
may I congratulate you first?
oh, what an honor

human! human of the year! you've won!...

why are you so scared?
you stand there shaking in your pew
the icons are whispering to you
they're just old men
like on the benches in the park
except their balding spots
are glistening with gold

human! human of the year! you've won!...

you have won! hallelujah...

outside the cars are beeping
out a song just in your honor
and though they do not know it
all mankind are now your brothers
and thus the cathedral had spoken
wishing well to all us sinners
and with a sigh grew silent
til next year's big human winner

outside the cars are beeping
out a song just in your honor
and though they do not know it
all mankind are now your brothers

all mankind are now your brothers

hallelujah...

hello? hello?
calling a karl projektorinski
to the front of the cathedral
you have won

"I cut off my hair" (title unknown)

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I cut off my hair
and went to sleep
you were there in my dreams
nursing on my glass teet
it was a party
you were sucking liquor
on your jacket a VIP sticker...

I peed in my pants
and ran down the street
towards washington square park where
you had been beat up
you were wearing rags
I was wearing [?] shoes
and trying to lay next to you
but you wanted to snooze

the definition of
a crazy person is
soemone who does the same thing over
and over again
while expecting new results
I cut off my tongue
you started to kiss me
blood trickled down
don't you ever miss me?
don't you ever miss me?
don't you ever minced meat?...

called up my momma
but I couldn't be sweet
so I escaped through the window
on a rope made of sheets
got bitten by a squirrel
then stepped on a syringe
the view of manhattan from gw bridge

you said, honey
I said, baby
you said, funny
I said, maybe
you says, hi honey
I says, hey baby
you ask, was it funny?
and I said, well maybe...

Ink Stains

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

all the holocaust deniers
to a bathhouse, warm and quiet
complimentary soap, complimentary haircut
and gas them up until they know that

all the ink stains on the wrist mean business
and god is the almighty witness
i wish they'd cure the friendly neighbors
of the disease which makes them haters

you who accuse the dying of lying
and can't tell fake from honest crying
argentina steakhouse swiss bank gold card
aren't going to help you where you're going at

so who'd be the jew to make the papers
drenched in blood up to your blue jew eyeballs
and god in his almighty wisdom
may somehow grant an open season

I Want to Sing

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as originally posted by Regina on brümstix):

I want to sing to you my love
My only love and happiness
don't be so blue so blue my love
take off your shoes take off my dress
I want to sing to you my love
My only love and happiness
don't be so blue so blue my love
this too shall pass this too shall pass

but tell me, what have I done to deserve you?
must have done something cause that's how it works
must have been kind to kittens and birds,
in a previous life must have thought happy thoughts...

'cause there, you were there right beside me
then somehow inside me while inside myself
books on the shelf thoughts on the shelf
hands to myself, i should definitely keep my hands to myself

Love is a dangerous pastime
caught between madness and gladness of flight
nothing is wrong and nothing is right
falling asleep in your arms every night

But Love's such a strange situation
full of frustration and anger and fear
Everything's tears
nobody hears
nobody's here, and nobody hears...

I want to sing to you my love
my only love and happiness
don't be so blue so blue my love
take off your shoes take off my dress
I want to sing to you my love
my only love and happiness
don't be so blue so blue my love
This too shall pass, this too shall pass...

Just Like the Movies

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

It's just like the movies, I eat from the trees
if I do not open the curtains then I cannot see
all the people run by...

my heart eats beats...
my heart eats love...

you are mistaken cause I do not bite
over the williamsburg bridge on a bike
and if he loves me then why does he leave...?

don't say goodbye like you're burying him
cause the world is round and he might return...

but if he loves me then why does he leave...?

Lacrimosa

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

we keep on burying our dead
we keep on planting their bones in the ground
but they won't grow
the sun doesn't help
the rain doesn't help

if my garden would have a fence
then the rabbits couldn't just come in
and sit on the grass
and eat all the flowers
and shit

hi, i'm icarus, i'm falling
down, man for judgment must prepare me
spare, oh god, in mercy spare me

man, I have a terrible feeling
that something's gone awful, very wrong with the world
is it something we made?
is it something we ate?
is it something we drank?

hi, i'm icarus, i'm falling
from the dust of earth returning
man for judgment must prepare me
spare, oh god, in mercy spare me

lacrimosa...

we keep on burying our dead
we keep on planting their bones in the ground
but they won't grow
the sun doesn't help
and all we've got
is a giant crop
of names and dates

hi, i'm icarus, i'm falling
down on this day of tears and mourning
from the dust of earth returning
man for judgment must prepare me
spare, oh god, in mercy spare me

lacrimosa...
lacrimosa dies illa
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus
huic ergo parce, deus

Lady

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope liner notes):

Lady sing the blues so well
as if she mean it
As if it's hell down here in this smoke filled world
Where the jokes are cold
They don't laugh at jokes
They laugh at tragedies
Corner street societies
But they believe her
They never leave her while she sings
She makes them feel things
She says I can sing this song so blue that you will cry
In spite of you
Little wet tears on your baby's shoulder
Little wet tears on your baby's shoulder
And I have walked these streets so long
There ain't nothing right
There ain't nothing wrong
But the little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
Little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
Lady lights a cigarette
Puffs away
No regrets
[Takes a look around, no regrets, no regrets]
Stretches out like branches of a Poplar tree
Says I am free
Sings so soft as if she'll break
Says I can sing a song so blue
That you will cry in spite of you
Little wet tears on your baby's shoulder
Little wet tears on your baby's shoulder
And I have walked these streets so long
There ain't nothing right
There ain't nothing wrong
But the little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
Little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
But on this stage
I've learned to fly
Learned to sing
And learned to cry
Little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
Little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
But now it's time to say goodbye
Some might laugh
But I will surely cry
Little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
Little wet tears on my baby's shoulder
Lady lights a cigarette
Puffs away
No regrets
Then winter comes
And she forgets

Laughing With

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

no one laughs at god in a hospital
no one laughs at god in a war
no one's laughing at god
when they're starving or freezing
or so very poor

no one laughs at god when the doctor calls
after some routine tests
no one's laughing at god
when it's gotten real late
and their kid's not back from the party yet

no one laughs at god when the airplane
starts to uncontrollably shake
no one's laughing at god
when they see the one they love
hand in hand with someone else
and they hope that they're mistaken

no one laughs at god when the cops knock on their door
and they say, we've got some bad news, sir
no one's laughing at god
when there;s a famine, fire, or flood

but god can be funny
at a cocktail party while listening to a good god-themed joke
or when the crazies say he hates us
and they get so red in the head you think they're about to choke

god can be funny
when told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
and when presented like a genie who does magic like houdini
or grants wishes like jiminy cricket and santa claus

god can be so hilarious
ha ha...

no one laughs at god in a hospital
no one laughs at god in a war
no one's laughing at god
when they've lost all they've got
and they don't know what for

no one laughs at god on the day they realize
that the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
no one's laughing at god
when they're saying their goodbyes

no one's laughing at god...
we're all laughing with god

Left Hand Song

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

too much time spent
trying to crawl into a hole
then trying to crawl out of that hole

I followed the path of a piece of bread traveling
from one little sparrow's beak
to another little sparrow's beak

it picked it up, flew with it, dropped it then this other one
picked it up and flew with it again
and then they broke it into pieces
ate it up and forgot that it ever existed

they were still hungry at the end...

I was inside my office at the time and I got real scared
thought I saw two snakes slithering
then I remembered snakes don't live in carpeted areas

too much time spent
and I'm spent

there is an old meatball wrapped inside of tin foil
yeah, yeah, yeah
lying on the bottom shelf of our fridge
a lesson in how fleeting preservation is

Notes: Formerly known as "A Lesson in How Fleeting Preservation Is"

Long Brown Hair

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

she had long brown hair
all down her breast
made me think about my future
made me think about my past
she was so pretty
as pretty as can be
and I thought, my god,
why shouldn't it be me?
oh god, why shouldn't it be me?

her skin was tight
her manner was free
she gave me that look that seemed to say
hey you, look at me
her smile was crooked and good
as she sucked her capri
and I thought, my god,
why shouldn't it be me?
oh, come on...come on, god
why shouldn't it be me?

her body was free...
wanna bet so's her love

don't tell me what's proper
anyone can see
I wasn't even her first
so don't blame it on me
she was so pretty
as pretty as can be
and I thought, my god,
why shouldn't it be me?
oh, come on, this once...lord
why shouldn't it be me?

her body was free...
wanna bet so's her love...

you all read the bible, right?
you know what the bible says?
I'll tell you what it says,
don't put a stumbling block
in front of someone who can't see
don't put a beautiful body
in front of someone who's hungry
she was so pretty
as pretty as can be
and I thought, my god,
why shouldn't it be me?
oh, come on...come on, lord
why shouldn't it be me?

her body was free...
wanna bet so's her love...

Lounge

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I don't care that flowers grow for you and me...and me
you don't know what love is till you see her standing there
a web of skin and nails and hair
and bones and bones
and thoughts rush in and
arch your head, you think you are alive
but you are dead, you keep
on driving in your car asleep...

I don't know why flowers grow in wintertime
the sky turns gray, the sun don't shine
and people rush to be
on time for work, they
wrap themselves in woolen cloaks
and hats and scarves
like larva in their incubated cars
like larva in their cars
and drive...until they get away

Love Affair

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as originally posted by Regina on brümstix):

There was a love affair in this building
the kind of love affair, which every respectable building must keep as a legend
Slowly festering through an innocent by the way
or have you heard
he was perfect except for the fact that he was an engineer and mothers prefer doctors and law-yers...

Yet despite this imperfection he was clean looking and respectable looking
and you'll never find a mother who doesn't appreciate a natural man
So he grew healthy aloe Vera plants by the window
healthy teeth in his mouth
healthy hair on his head
He grew healthy wavy brown hair on his head
the kind that babies always go for with sticky little fingers...

Loveology

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

oh, an incurable humanist you are...
let's go to the movies
I will hum you a song about nothing at all...

Sit down class, open up your textbooks to page forty-two

porcupine-ology, antler-ology, car-ology, bus-ology, train-ology, plane-ology
mama-ology, papa-ology, you-ology, me-ology
love-ology, kiss-ology, stay-ology, please-ology

Let's study, class, let's study, class, sit down

love-ology, love-ology, I'm sorry-ology, forgive me-ology...

oh, an incurable humanist you are...
oh, forgive me...forgive me-ology

Love Profusion

Written by: madonna & mirwais ahmadzaï

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

there are too many questions
there is no one solution
there is no resurrection
there is so much confusion
and the love profusion
you make me feel
you make me know
and the love vibration
you make me feel
you make it shine

there are too many options
there is no consolation
I have lost my illusions
what I want is an explanation

and the love profusion
you make me feel
you make me know
and the love direction
you make me feel
you make me shine...

I got you under my skin...

there is no comprehension
there is real isolation
there is so much destruction
what I want is a celebration

and I know I can feel bad
when I get in a bad mood
and the world can look so sad
only you make me feel good

I got you under my skin...

Lucky Penny

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I didn't find a lucky penny
so I flipped it over
and left it for someone else to find
and a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me
to pick it up and yell,
hey mom, I found a dime

then I turned around the corner
and I dropped another dollar
just in case the street needed some more cash
in the end, I made it home
with nothing in my pockets
except some cigarettes and some stones

I pick them up when I go walking
some are shiny, all are dirty
some are just pebbles that might grow up to be stones
as an adult, no one can stop you
from getting your hands dirty
when you're walking home alone

then I saw a little black cat
cross the street before a fast cab
flashed and disappeared into the night
he glanced back with understanding
of a future life impending
and we both knew it wasn't his time yet

I didn't find a lucky penny
so I flipped it over
and left it for someone else to find
and a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me
to pick it up and yell,
hey mom, I found a dime...

Lulliby

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I know that you cannot be here
I know that you are not mine, no
looking out the window at another window
I see toenails changing colors
like the leaves of fall

if you often smile but often don't smile
which do you do more often--smile or not?
I dreamt a hydrant was covered in snow
a white light glowing below

Machine

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

my eyes are bifocal
my hands are subjointed
I live in the future
in my pre-war apartment
and I count all my blessings
I have friends in high places
and I'm upgraded daily
all my wires without traces

hooked into machine...
I'm hooked into...machine...

I collect my moments
into a correspondence
with a mightier power
who just lacks my perspectives
and who lacks my organics
and who covets my defects
and I'm downloaded daily
I am part of a composite

hooked into machine...
I'm hooked into...machine...

everything's provided
consummate consumer
part of worldly taking
apart from worldly troubles
living in your pre-war apartment
soon to be a post-war apartment
and you live in the future

and the future
it's here
it's bright
it's now

Making Records

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I am braiding records into my hair
needles and record players, everything’s a
possible record cover
or a possible name for a band that
I will never have…
cause I sing my songs all by myself
all to myself, by myself
I am cute but I’m not in a band
where’s my band? where’s my band?
where’s my amplifiers?

so why don’t I just sleep in the middle of this kitchen
surrounded by forks and a linoleum floor
I am drunk and there’s no one here to stop me
from being so tired and sleeping with my mascara on

in the studio they’re adjusting the wires and microphones
and I’m about to sing my songs and they won’t be just my own
and I’m glad that they’ll exist but they’ll make me obsolete
cause I sing it just once and the wires they remember it
and sing it right back and they do it better than I can
anytime, anywhere, I’m preserved
I’m a jelly or a jam…

so why don’t I just sleep in the middle of this kitchen
a halo of forks and a linoleum floor
I am drunk and there’s no one here to stop me
from being so tired and being so drunk
why don’t I just pee in the middle of this kitchen
into a little teacup and I won’t miss a drop
I am drunk and there’s no one here to stop me
from being so eccentric and being so lonely

corazón…this is my corazón

I know that I am lucky, I make shit up all the time
and I start to believe it myself just cause it rhymes
but I’m so inconsistent my handwriting changes every other word
so I’m braiding records into my hair
needles and record players
everything’s a possible record cover or a possible name for a band that I will never have…

so why don’t I just sleep in the middle of this kitchen
a halo of forks and a linoleum floor
I am drunk and there’s no one here to stop me
from being so drunk and being so drunk
why don’t I just pee in the middle of this kitchen
into a little teacup and I won’t miss a drop
I am drunk and there’s no one here to stop me
from being so eccentric and being so lonely

Man of a Thousand Faces

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

the man of a thousand faces
sits down at the table
eats a small lump of sugar
and smiles at the moon like he knows her

and begins his quiet ascension
without anyone's steady instruction
to a place that no religion
has found a path to or a likeness

his words are quiet like stains are
on a tablecloth washed in a river
stains that are trying to cover for each other
or at least blend in with the pattern

good is better than perfect
scrub til your fingers are bleeding
and I'm crying for things that
I tell others to do without crying

he used to go to his favorite bookstores
and rip out his favorite pages
and stuff them into his breast pockets
and the moon to him was a stranger

now he sits down at the table
right next to the window
and begins his quiet ascension
without anyone's steady instruction

to a place that no religion
has found a path to or a likeness
and eats a small lump of sugar
and smiles at the moon like he knows her

Marry Ann

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (as originally posted by Regina on brümstix):

Miss Marry Ann
kept her man
in porcupine gloves, in porcupine gloves
and on that day
as scheduled
they made porcupine love, porcupine love

so stiff and stuck and prickly
he came in and then back out quickly
but lord not any quicker than according to plan
like a soldier, one foot in front of the other

Miss Marry Ann
had a man
named Stan, Stan Buttler
he had no antlers
he had no center
he had no enter and he had no exit

his hair was short and prickly
he came in and then back out quickly
but lord not any quicker than according to plan
like a soldier, one foot in front of the other

and how he loved her apple pies,
how he loved her meat loaf,
how he loved her chicken breasts,
how he loved her pudding,
served promptly at eight o'clock,
served promptly at seven
served promptly at ten o'clock,
and promptly at eleven heaven

Miss Marry Ann
kept her cans
in alphabetical order
Miss Marry Ann
began to have
some thoughts of murder

Miss Marry Ann
started to think
real hard about her future
Miss Marry Ann
preferred her meat
to be freshly butchered

oh she killed him rather quickly
man that woman was truly sickly
but lord not any sicker than according to plan
like a soldier, one foot in front of the other

and how he loved her apple pies,
how he loved her meat loaf,
how he loved her chicken breasts,
how he loved her pudding,
served promptly at eight o'clock,
served promptly at seven
served promptly at ten o'clock,
and promptly at eleven heaven

Miss Marry Ann
kept her man
in porcupine gloves, in porcupine gloves
and on that day
as scheduled
they made porcupine love, porcupine lo-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-apchu!

Mermaid

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I'm a mermaid
but I've sold my voice
for a pair of feet
that tend to bleed
when I go walking in the road

I'm a mermaid
but I've sold my voice
for a couple of feet
and they always bleed
when I go walking in these streets

and I once saw a most beautiful man
at the local record store
he bumped into me and said,
well excuse me, young ma'am,
but haven't I seen your pretty eyes somewhere before?
I smiled but gestured at my throat
to show that I was mute
well, he quickly looked down at the floor
and shuffled in his boots
he was out of there so fast

I'm a mermaid
but I've sold my voice
for a midnight train
and a bump of cocaine
and an old photo of ballets russes

I'm a mermaid
but I have sold my voice
for a bottle of gin
cause I can't swim
and I sure don't want to float

I was so lonely walking out of that store
and back into the busy people street
when overhead I heard an argument
a woman opened up her window, threw a flower pot from it
I was startled by the crash
but went over to find a little plant
I quickly emptied out my paper coffee cup and
adopted it
transplanted it
took it home and
named it mozart

I am a mermaid
but I've sold my voice
and I got rid of my tail
at a junkyard sale
along with some favorite childhood toys

I'm a mermaid
but I have sold my voice
for a couple of feet
that tend to bleed
when I go walking in the street...

I'm a mermaid
but I have sold my voice
for a couple of feet
and they always bleed
no matter how clean...

Mockingbird

Written by: Unknown (traditional), with additional lyrics by regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

hush, little baby, don't say a word
papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird
and if that mockingbird don't mock real well then
papa's gonna buy you a freedom bell
oh, and if that freedom bell don't ring
papa's gonna buy you a cubic zirconia ring
oh, and if that cubic zirconia ring don't shine
you're gonna give your papa a real hard time
now ain't you...?

and if that real hard time don't pass
papa's gonna get wrinkles all upon his face
and then he'll blend in with all the other papas then
screw the whole mockingbird situation, we can't even afford a medical plan
now can we...?

this song won't do, let's start this over...

hush, little baby, here comes the sandman
papa's gonna buy you a medical plan
oh, and if that medical plan don't cover your ass
papa's gonna buy you a pregnancy test
oh, and if that pregnancy test comes out positive
well then, girl, I don't know how the hell we're gonna live
maybe on your bright ideas
maybe on cigarette butts
maybe on bubblegum wrappers
maybe on penalty shots

hush, little baby, don't you cry
you know to you your papa would never ever lie
oh, hush while I sing to you this crude little lullaby
and I'll get you all that shit one day by and by
but in the meanwhile...

hush, little baby, don't say a word
papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird
oh, and if that mockingbird don't sing
papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring
a real diamond, no cubic nothing
like in the movies with that...what's her name...Monroe...Marilyn...

hush...

Modern Girls and Old Fashion Men

Written by: julian casablancas

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (the Reptilia liner notes):

You were right... (Modern Girls Always have to go.)
right on time. (Old-Fashioned men always want a mistress.)

You were right, (Modern girls always get their way)
I was wrong (Modern men dream of what they can't say.)

That's alright.
I don't belong

Why you sitting over there? (Why you gotta say it if you know it's sounding wrong.)
(Says that he'll apologize and it won't take too long.)

Always thinking about yourself (You don't wanna trust trust nobody else)

Time... (There's a few things that are gonna have to change...)
I'm your son. (Everyone has the same opinion)

Won't you please (Your time is almost over)
Don't be mean. (We won't get the chance to do this over.)

That's alright.
I don't belong.

Why you sitting over there? (I don't want the imprint of your key upon my nose.)
(We don't have to tell no one cause no one wants to know)

Always thinking about yourself... (You don't have no happiness at home.)

... ... ... ... ... ... ... Oh yes, we're falling down... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... Oh yes, we're falling down... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
[so fucking help me up]

You don't love me. (Always thinking about yourself)
I am an animal. (Always thinking about yourself)
I am not practical... (Always thinking about yourself...)

Was I?

Music Box

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Begin to Hope Special Edition liner notes):

Life inside the music box ain't easy
The mallets hit the gears are always turning
And everyone inside the mechanism
Is yearning
To get out
And sing another melody completely
So different from the one they're always singing
I close my eyes and think that I have found me
But then I feel mortality surround me
I want to sing another melody
So different from the one i always sing
...but when i do the dishes.....
I run the water very very very hot
And then I fill the sink to the top with bubbles of soap
And then I set all the bottle caps I own afloat
And it's the greatest voyage in the history of plastic
And then I slip my hands in and start to make waves
And then I dip my tongue in and take a taste
It tastes like soap but it doesn't really taste like soap
And then I lower in my whole mouth and take a gulp
...and start to...feel mortality surround me
I close my eyes and think that I have found me
But life inside the music box ain't easy
The mallets hit the gears are always turning
And every one inside the mechanism
Is yearning to get out...

The Mustard Musketeers

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

the mustard musketeers
travelled the world calming the fears
of the ladies in waiting
twas a glorious time
swords and swoons and magic harpoons
and white horseback riding

the mustard musketeers
huffed and puffed til they puffed away
everyone's sorrows
then they rode away
into directionless dust and no one could say
where they'd end up tomorrow

the time went by and
they got older
skies got hotter and
days got colder
it's paper or plastic...

so the mustard musketeers
scaled their last castle wall and went in
undercover
one went in dressed like a priest
one went as a gardner
and one went in as a flower

My Man

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

my man don't treat me right
don't kiss me sweet good night
don't buy me flowers to smell
he's a rotten boy from hell

my man don't treat me good
he eats up all my food
and he leaves me such a mess
they say I'm cursed, but I am blessed

cause he loves me, he loves me
he really, really loves me
and his eyes are bluer
than the bluest sky above the city
you don't agree? well, what a pity
he loves me, yes, he does

my man don't treat me sweet
he walks the empty street
and he drinks and smokes and swears
and they say he doesn't care

my man breaks my heart
he tears me all apart
and he leaves me such a mess
they say I'm cursed, but I am blessed

cause he loves me, he loves me
he really, really loves me
and his eyes are bluer
than the bluest sky above the city
you don't agree? well, what a pity
he loves me, yes, he does

oh, my man, I love him so
he'll never know
all my life is just a spare
but I don't care
when he takes me in his arms
the world is bright
alright

what's the difference if I say
I'll go away
when I know I'll come back on
my knees someday?
for whatever my man is
I'm his
forevermore

Notes: The last section of the song (beginning with "oh, my man, I love him so") is taken from the Billie Holiday song "My Man", music by Maurice Yvain, original French lyrics ("Mon Homme") by Albert Willemetz & Jacques Charles, English lyrics by Channing Pollock.

Ne Me Quitte Pas

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

down in bowery they lose their [?? and their lipped mouths?] in the night
and stumbling through the street they say, sir do you got a light
and if you do then you're my friend and if you don't then you're my foe
and if you are a deity of any sort then please don't go
ne me quitte pas, mon chere

down on lexington they walk in new shoes stuck to aging feet
and close their eyes and open and not recognize the aging street
and think about how things were right when they were young and veins were tight
and if you are the ghost of christmas past, then won't you stay the night?
ne me quitte pas, mon chere

down in bronxy bronx the kids go sledding down snow-covered slopes
and frozen noses, frozen toes, the frozen city starts to glow
and yes, they know that it will pass and, yes, they know new york will thaw
but if you are a friend of any sort then play along and catch a cold
ne me quitte pas, mon chere

I love paris in the rain...

down in paris they walk fast, that is, unless they're walking slow
and in cafes they look away, that is, unless they look right in
and in the gardens I get lost, that is, unless I'm getting found
and if you are the ghost of new york city, won't you stick around?
ne me quitte pas, mon chere

The Noise

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

all the power of my voice can't compare
with the power of a quiet whisper
still, it's a choice, and I choose to rage
instead of ever quietly listening

i can't hear you...i can't hear you anymore
i can't hear you...i can't hear you through this noise
i can't hear you through the noise

all the power of my words can't compare
with the power of a silent answer
still, it's a choice, and I choose to rage
ignoring all those silent answers

i can't hear you...i can't hear you anymore
i can't hear you...i can't hear you through this noise
i can't hear you through the noise

all the noise

Ode to Divorce

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (from the Soviet Kitsch liner notes):

The food that 'm eating is suddenly tasteless
I know i'm alone now
I know what it tastes like
So break me to small parts
let go in small doses
But spare some for spare parts
there might be some good ones!
Like you might make a dollar
I'm inside your mouth now
Behind your tonsils
Peaking over your molars
You're talking to her now
you've eaten something minty and you're making that face that I like and you're going in in for the kill kill
for the killer kiss kiss for the kiss kiss

I need your money, it will help me
I need your car and I need your love
So won't you help a brother out
Won't you help a brother out?
won't you help a brother out, out, out, out, out

Just break me to small parts
let go in small doses
but spare some for spare parts
you might make a dollar

you might make a $
So won't you help a brother out
Won't you help a brother out?
Won't you help a brother out, out, out, out, out

Just break me to small parts
let go in small doeses
but spare some for spare parts
there might be some good ones
you might make a $

Oedipus

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

I'm the king's thirty-second son
born to him a thirty-second time
born to him with my hair still on
born to him with two eyebrows on
and that's all I was wearing
when I woke up staring at the world

my mom had been a rather crazy queen
but not at all like sex machine
she liked to keep her body clean clean
thought the world to be quite obscene
but she'd retire to her chambers
and we'd remain quite strangers
and to see me made her awful sad
and to touch me made her awful sad
and to see me made her awful
and to touch me made her awful

I'm the king's thirty-second son
man, all it took was thirty seconds' time
but a spoiled little prince I was not
had a chamber maid and a chamber pot
and there's thirty-one others just like me
there's thirty-one others I can be

sometimes I'd stand by the royal walls
the sky'd be so big that it broke my soul
and I'd stand on my toes to catch a glimpse
of my mother's eyes and my mother's skin
but she'd retire to her chambers
and we'd remain quite strangers
and to see me made her awful sad
and to touch me made her awful sad
and to see me made her awful
and to touch me made her awful

and then one morning I woke up
and I thought, Oedipus...Oedipus...Oedipus...Oedipus...
then one morning and I woke up
and I thought, Rex...Rex...Rex...
cause thirty-two's still a goddamn number
thirty-two still counts
gonna make it count...

long live the king

I'm the king's thirty-second son
there's thirty-one others just like me
there's thirty-one others on the way
there's thirty-one others after that

sometimes I stand by the royal gate
people screaming love and hate
and they scream and they scream and they scream and they scream
long live the king! long live the queen!

Oh, Marcello!

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

Oh, Marcello, how I wonder
the madonna, she tell the truth, no?
she been saying, I’ll have a baby
when he grow up he become a killer

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
oh lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood…

Oh, Marcello, never thought I’d
really love you, but I do so
my head waiter’s head on your platter
just say the word and [???] make him kiss my gutters

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
oh lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood…

Oh, Marcello! Oh, Marcello!

Oh, Marcello, how I wonder
the madonna, when she speak she tell the truth, no?
she been saying, I’ll have a baby
when he grow up he become a killer and kill everybody

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
oh lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood…

One More Time with Feeling

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

your stitches are all out
but your scars are healing wrong
and the helium balloon
inside your room has come undone
and it's pushing up at the ceiling
and the flickering lights it cannot get beyond

oh, everyone takes turns
now it's yours to play the part
and they're sitting all around you
holding copies of your chart
and misery inside their eyes is
synchronized and reflecting into yours

hold on, one more time with feeling
try it again, breathing's just a rhythm
say it in your mind
until you know that the words are right
this is why we fight

you thought by now you'd be
so much better than you are
you thought by now they'd see
that you had come so far
and the pride inside their eyes would
synchronize into a love you've never known
so much more than you've been shown

hold on, one more time with feeling
try it again, breathing's just a rhythm
say it in your mind
until you know that the words are right
this is why we fight

this is why we fight

One-String Blues

Written by: regina spektor

Available Recordings: Click to view

Lyrics (fan transcription):

got me a pair of dreary eyes
pale color blue upon pale color white
sometimes they cry
sometimes they dry
pale color blue upon pale color white
got me a pair of dreary eyes
and they tell no lies

I got me some lips but they taste no sweet
I got me some lips but they taste no sweet
they're as dry as the old concrete
beaten up new york street
and they taste no sweet...

if only my baby would come back home to me
if only my baby would come back home to me
I would go to sleep with
sugar on my tongue
I would go to sleep with
sweetness in my lungs
I would go to sleep
wrapped inside his skin
and I don't care what they say
but it ain't no sin...

so, me and poseidon we been hanging around the water hole and he says to me, he says
regina, regina I got no authority no more
no one waits to hear the sound of my flip-flops by the door
and all my little fish have gone to war
so I says to him, I says
poseidon dear, you're better off than me, I hear
cause I been taking all the wrong busses everywhere
wrong busses, they lead me to wrong stops
wrong stops, they lead me to wrong people
wrong people, they take me nowhere fast
so he says to me, he says
going nowhere fast
just cause he didn't want me speaking fast
and I didn't think that was real polite
and he whips out his cigarettes and asks me for a light
and I say no and he says, oh baby
and I say no and he says, oh baby
and I say no and he says, oh baby
and then he just doesn't speak
so we just sit there and stare
finally he says, he says, oh hell
and I try not to wince at his fishy smell
cause i didn't think that that was real polite
and he whips out his cigarettes and asks me for a light
and I say no and he says, oh baby
and I say no and he says, oh baby
and I say no and he says, oh baby
and then he just, he just doesn't speak

got me a pair of dreary eyes
pale color blue upon pale color white
sometimes they cry
sometimes they dry
pale color blue like the dingy sky
pale color blue, pale color blue
pale color blue upon pale color white