Open on Sunday lyrics
All lyrics by Paula Carino (c) 2010

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Mother I Must Go to Maxwell's
Robots (Helping Robots)
Rough Guide
Lucky in Love
Sensitive Skin   
With The Bathwater   
The Others
The Great Depression
Foxhound
Sir You Have No Bucket
Road To Hell
10 Minutes
Saying Grace Before the Movie
Closed On Sunday

Mother I Must Go to Maxwell's

Mother I Must Go to Maxwell's
the Hudson River calls me.
Mother I must hear the punk rock
Your stifling world apalls me.

I know something's wrong
But you can't mute my song
and what do you know about love anyway?

Mother I must take the hatchback
The Buick's in the station.
Mother I promise to come back
Despite my teen frustration.

Mother I harbor delusions
of rock star and killer confusions.
It scares you, it scares me worse:
I've stolen some cash from your purse

Mother I must smoke these menthols
the package is so pretty.
You are the be-all, but not the end-all,
I'm moving to Jersey City.

Robots (Helping Robots)

They will X-ray your robot,
and where the heart goes,
just a dark spot.
Brain luminous, soul numinous
and all of this time,
they've been grooming us.

Namaste, little zombie
you have taught us to be free.

Bow down to the machinery:
the android in you
that loves the android in me,
and all the robots helping robots
in a non-stop symphony of sympathy and trust.

Namaste, little automaton.
You have taught us to carry on.

Rough Guide

How about you draw me a picture
Of how I can find my way home?
Cuz you brought me into this mixture
of sand and foam.

Stranded on Loneyhearts Island,
the Love Boat has already sailed.
Suitcases floating like corpses
And cards unmailed.

I need a Rough Guide to you,
a handbook to all of the places
only the natives know.

We used to speak the same language,
but now you talk some other tongue.
the lexicon only half-written
when you say, "Done."

I walk for miles and miles,
trying to find the town square.
But when I get to the center
there's nothing there.

I need a Rough Guide to you,
a handbook to all of the places
only the natives know,
and the locals go.

My dollars are falling like pesos.
No value left in these besos.
And the only reason for it
is cuz you say so.

I walk for miles and miles,
trying to find the town square.
But when I get to the center
there's nothing there.

I need a Rough Guide to you,
a handbook to all of the places
only the natives know,
and the locals go.
Oh, just take me home.

Lucky in Love

Wish I could bronze this feeling
Cuz they tell me it goes away.
All of this love congealing
Will dissipate and splay.

But right now is all that counts
and I'm gonna sing anyway.

Cuz I am lucky in love
I don't need your pity or prayers.
I am so lucky in love
even when nobody's there.

I've got iced coffee in the morning
And ice cream and beer at night.
I don't need your gloomful warning
Cuz I know how to treat myself right.

I thought I lost, my heart got tossed,
but it beats away in my chest.

Cuz I am lucky in love
I don't need your sorrow or stares.
I am so lucky in love
even if nobody cares.

And he told me it was over,
but it's never over for me.
I'm a field full of four-leaf clover
and I will kiss every fish in the sea.

It sounds strange,
but nothing has changed,
even though I am alone.

Cuz I am lucky in love
I don't need your comfort or care
I am so lucky in love
even when life is unfair.
Yeah, don't tell me life is unfair.

Sensitive Skin   

You can't push her
You can't rush her
You can't crowd her
You can't even touch her

You can't win her
You can't lose her
A strong wind
Could easily bruise her

Taking umbrage
And taking it hard on the chin
All she wants is a place in the shade.
The girl's got sensitive skin.

On the shelf with
Neutrogena,
sunscreen,
and a vat of Aveeno

Her cosmetic
Full armor
Safe from all the rays
that would harm her

Stands apart
Where the damaging light can't get in
In the dark with shades fully drawn
The girl's got sensitive skin.

Like a clam with a grain of sand
Never comes up with a pearl.
You want in, under her skin
But she just wasn't made for this world.

On the surface,
you're in service
of a prettily thin
epidermis

But underneath
You know there is more.
You're going deep
Like a young Dr. Zizmor

Did you think things would ever be normal again?
Hard to be lovers, it's hard to friends
When the girl's got sensitive skin.

With The Bathwater   

It's been a week or two since I've seen
The way you wince when I'm being mean.
And it's been raining since that day
I threw your Nick Drake tapes away.

I guess we never could agree
Cuz I think that life is just a dream
And I don't want to wake up
When the water starts getting rough.

Cuz I can't take the bad with the good
And I can't love you like I oughta
So I'm throwing my baby out
with the bathwater.

And now the lady down the street
She shakes her head and frowns at me
And my friends call up and shout
Why can't you ever just stick things out?

Cuz I can't take the bad with the good
And I can't love you like I oughta
So I'm throwing my baby out
with the bathwater.

And all you ever asked of me
Was just some social security.
But you can't give someone hope
No, just a warm bath and a slippery bar of soap.

And it's my pleasure and my curse
I want the for better not the for worse
And I'm throwing my baby out with the...
Cuz I won't take the bad with the good
And I won't love you like I oughta
So I'm throwing my baby out
with the bathwater.

The Others

Like a sorely needed compliment
heard where no compliment was intended...
Down to your last 27 cents.
They'll give you more and not ask how you spent it,
you may resent it, but they've got a message for you.

They'll take you out on your own town
For a little lobster and some karaoke
Everybody's covering James Brown
Did he just die or is it some viral-memey-hokey-pokey?
They've got a message for you.

They are trying to help the humans out
Til the others can take over

Somehow it's Thursday once again
A week just doesn't buy the time it used to
Nostalgia is its own dead end
You can get younger if you'd only choose to, but you refuse to
And they've got a message for you

Have you ever noticed in the morning blur
A whispery shadow passes through your door?
You won't suffer any more
(They've made sure.)

You'll like your new official house
A thousand rooms of laboratory splendor
Don't think of yourself as a mouse
You are a pioneer, an egg provider, a fire-tender
And they've got a message for you.

They are trying to help the humans out
So the others can take over.

The Great Depression

Under this roof
It is still the Great Depression
Hoover and Ruth
And that fixed and dour expression
Like a dustbowl serenade

Go back in time
where all your hope is rationed
A long bread line
And the stingy cut of fashion

But I'm making you this promise
That good days are upon us
Let's celebrate bad times
And this great depression

You've been declined,
You've been ousted from the peerage
And in your mind
You're still traveling in steerage
Time to get off that boat

Cuz the neon lights
Will report your happy story
And the cheerleaders
Will spell your name in glory

Foxhound

Hey little foxhound,
why are you always running away?
There aren't any foxes in Brooklyn.
We bought you a bed and a sweater and a tiny beret
But all that effort wasted, kibble untasted
Hey little foxhound.

Could it be you just wanted a greener space
to wander unharrassed?
Could it be that we remind you
of some terror in your past?

Hey little foxhound
Why are you always slipping the leash?
At heart a street urchin, always searching.
Everything you need, girl, is right within your reach
But you just want what's hidden, and forbidden
Hey little foxhound.

Could it be you just wanted to run
over glades gilded by sun?
Till you caught the fox and jumped the box
And outran everyone?

We'll all forgive you
For every lapse and sin
But the people who once loved you
Might stop taking you backing in.

Hey little foxhound why are you always running away?
Don't you know we need you?
That's why we feed you.
Hey little foxhound guess you'll always be a stray.
Although we gave up hoping, the door is open
Hey little foxhound.

Could it be you just wanted to grow?
Give up all you had and go?
Or could it be that I'm confusing you
with everyone I know?

Sir You Have No Bucket

Sir, you have no bucket and this well is deep
but still you ask me for water.
Questioning the company that I keep
And leading the witness to slaughter.

But I know a spring
that never runs out
and flows through everything.

I've been very careful about the plans I laid,
the answers don't get any clearer.
A catalog of all the errors that I've made
staring right back in the mirror.

But I know a spring...

Been banging my head on a locked metal door
that isn't even there anymore.

Any bird of paradise can fly too low
And turn himself into vermin
Forgetting his magnificence he'll never know
Which apple to find the worm in.

But I know a spring
that never runs out
and flows through everything.
You are a spring
that never runs out
and flows through everything.

Road To Hell

The road to hell is paved
with hope and soap and water.
And I've got good intention
deficiency disorder.
A vow made in a swoon
disappears before the moon.

I said I'd live to aid and serve
my crummy neighbors
And when I went unpaid
for all my selfless labors
I slacked on all my promises.
I know who Doubting Thomas is.

Stop calling me a liar,
I set my standards higher, and higher, and high--

And every day I strive to do a little better
The spirit of the hive,
the stitch that makes the sweater.
And I swear I mean every word:
silent, spoken and inferred.

This gum has lost its flavor
I need another savior, savior, save--

Good enough for now
True enough for me
Anyway, just how good do we have to be?

The road to hell is paved with all the old excuses
And all the times I caved and wondered what the use is.
Despite all these strong attractors,
at least I'm moving backwards.

Stop calling me a liar,
I set my standards higher, and higher, and higher.


10 Minutes

The parted sea closed up with a great, wet sound.
The open ocean just up and shut down.
Ten minutes before you walked in through that door.

Run the clip, you'll see my ship came in
and unceremoniously went to sea again.
Ten minutes before you walked in through that door.

And my big dream came true
But you weren't in it.
And all my flowers bloomed
Ten minutes before you walked into the room.

And watch the minute hand carve out an hour.
An ever smaller pie to be devoured.
Ten minutes before I walk out of here.

Saying Grace Before the Movie

The saddest movies play
Inside my head all day
Images of falling leaves
And birds who fly away

Cerebral cineplex
Of loss and fear and sex
And all the love we used to share
that I have to keep in check

Chorus:
I'm always sitting in the dark
I'm waiting for the show to start
I'm saying grace before the movie
God help me.

It never satisfies
The bad guy never dies
Just lives on in the sequels
And somehow I'm still surprised

His lines are stupid
And they always make me cry
Some novel variation
Of "goodbye goodbye goodbye."

I'm always sitting in the dark
With my hands over my heart
I'm saying grace before the movie
God help me.

Today's a double bill
of innocence and will
It flickers on the cavern walls
I never get my fill

I know it isn't real
It's just a spinning wheel
Of every hidden longing
Threatening to be revealed.

And I'll be sitting in the dark
And I will memorize my part
And I'll say grace before the movie
If God'll help me.


Closed On Sunday

The local gods have not followed me here.
They seem frightened by water,
and the darkness of this place.
They think I'll be back any day.

But weeks go by and I'm still wandering and free,
light where my shoulders carried
that warm and pressing weight,
the burden of a certain fate.

And all our missing parts
are scattered in the air.
And all our damaged hearts
are waiting for repair
and all the shops are closed on Sunday.

"We never wanted to hurt you," they said.
But I thought pain was a virtue.
And so I wore it well,
with bangs so nobody could tell.

And all our withered limbs
are bearing nothing now.
And all our selfless whims
seem stupid somehow
in the light of day.
I feel I've been betrayed.