Del Amitri:
Change Everything (lyrics)
(1992)

The bus is pulling out and I guess I'd better go 
Before I make a grave mistake and let my feelings show 
And twenty miles away she waits alone for me 
But when I try to picture her you're the one I see 
And in another situation I could put up a fight 
But you will be my downfall tonight 

So the night is coming down, drowning us in blue 
And it all points towards the things we know we shouldn't do 
And as I look at you and I fall under your spell 
Well I know I should be thinking of her lying there herself 

And when faced with temptation you know a man should stand and fight 
But you will be my downfall tonight 

Be my downfall be my great regret be the one girl 
That I'll never forget 
Be my undoing be my slow road to ruin tonight 

So the bus is pulling out and I'm grounded here with you 
And I want to say the sweet things babe I've always wanted to 
So tell me now the tail-lights have gone out of sight 
Baby won't you be my downfall once again tonight 

I still don't believe it, how much we lied 
Last night you made it with him now I'm supposed to be dignified 
Just like a man 

Well I spend my night times drinking and you spend your days in bed 
And I guess it's up to us to choose the methods by which we forget 

And just like a man he holds you gently 
And just like a man he strokes your hair 
And just like a man I still pretend that I'm 
Immune to the whole affair 

But I wanna die, I wanna cry, I wanna tell you I was wrong 
Yeh I wanna die, I wanna cry but it's too late 
So I soldier on just like a man 

I don't believe it, you were easy to leave but now 
I do my best to relieve it the only way I know how 
Just like a man 

And I don't wanna possess you, I don't wanna take his place 
But I don't wanna see my last few pleasures written all over his face 

And just like a man he holds you gently 
And just like a man he strokes your hair 
And just like a man I still pretend that I'm 
Immune to the whole affair 

But I wanna die, I wanna cry, I wanna tell you I was wrong 
Yeh I wanna die, I wanna cry but it's too late 
So I soldier on just like a man 

And I have something to tell you but it doesn't matter now 
I'll stick to small talk and leave the little bits of flattery to him 
And I could call you but why would I bother to 
You might not be in or he might misunderstand 
Just like a man 

Look at the fool you have been 
They drained the pool while you drowned in the dream 
They bought your beauty and your soul 
Then softly sold you back what they stole 

So look into the mirror do you recognise someone 
Is it who you always hoped you would become 
When you were young 

The disappointment of success 
Hangs from your shoulders like a hand-me down dress 
And down nostalgia's rocky road 
You watch your former lovers growing old 

So look into the mirror do you recognise someone 
Is it who you always hoped you would become 
When you were young 

Sometimes your lack of sympathy gets hard to explain 
So on your mask of make up just paint 
A little parody of pain 

So I look into the mirror and I recognise someone 
It is who you always hoped you would become 
When you were young 

Snow in a soulless city covers up the cracks in the road 
As a wastrel buys her cigarettes and wipes her pretty nose 
Like a part-time Elvis imitator these streets I knew so well 
Have been pasted beyond recognition with a temporary smell 

Now the midnight train eases out leaving everyone marooned 
And without her it might as well be the surface of the moon 

From the well-swept streets of Jackson Heights to the dockside drudgery 
Everything's now a replica of what it used to be 
And since they tarted up the trenches and painted the bridges blue 
It seems less like a home to me than just a place they bury you 

Now we're lit up like a cathedral in our frozen concrete ruin 
And without her it might as well be the surface of the moon 

So I need her and I love her that is true 
But I'm stuck here like some shipwreck still holding on to you 
So when they beat out the tramps and patch up the slums 
Everything will be fine 
There'll be a new facade for us to hide behind 

So on the ancient trails of our coupling in the places we used to meet 
I am amazed by the lack of memories that I thought would flood through me 
And the riverside where we first kissed has now been reduced 
To a phoney old world market where only shoppers get seduced 

Now your arms embrace me strangely in your unfamiliar room 
And for all I care it might as well be the surface of the moon 
Yeh for all I care it might as well be the surface of the moon 

Daylight comes with such surprising speed 
Yesterday you talked of love and now you want to leave 
But don't expect me to stand in your way 
I am powerless to alter any action you might take 

And I won't take the blame 
I was not the one who played the joker in this game 
I was not the one who feels nothing anymore 
So if you walk out that door, I won't take the blame 

And as I look at the girl I once adored 
You tell me that I hold you back you tell me that you're bored 
So like a pair of clowns we stand around and fight 
Why can't you get it over with and walk out of my life? 

And I won't take the blame 
I was not the one who played the joker in this game 
I was not the one who feels nothing anymore 
So if you walk out that door, I won't take the blame 

And the steps of this old church are peppered with confetti hearts 
Like a million little love affairs waiting to fall apart 

You'll get hooked, you'll get drugged 
She'll be your essence she'll be your blood 
And you'll want her so much but you'll never get enough 
And that's the first rule of love 

She'll smell so sweetly in the morning 
She'll make you feel so good inside 
And you'll want her so much you'll give everything else up 
And that's the first rule of love 

You'll grow comfortable together 
You'll start to fit like hand and glove 
And then you'll start to hate the men she used to dream of 
And that's the first rule of love 

You'll miss her madly, when you're apart 
Love is like gravity holding down your heart 

You'll grow envious and bitter 
She'll be enquiring and concerned 
And you'll feel so close to her but never close enough 
To get past the first rule of love 
And with the awkwardness of strangers 
You will finally give up 
No exceptions to the first rule of love 

Go and tell your mother, go and tell your friends 
You've been fooled again 
He appeared like magic and he left you on a late night train 
Yeh, some things never change 

Cos baby the ones that you love lead you nowhere 
Yeh baby the ones that you love lead you nowhere 

If you could just be patient, pretty soon you would forget his name 
And face this world again 
If you could just stop looking for someone special 
You might save yourself some pain 

Cos baby the ones that you love lead you nowhere 
Yeh baby the ones that you love lead you nowhere 

Every little lie makes you look so dumb 
They tell you nobody has ever come as close as you've come 
So baby tonight you've got the right to feel so numb 

Cos baby the ones that you love lead you nowhere 
Yeh baby the ones that you love lead you nowhere 

So you're in love with someone else 
Someone who burns within your soul 
And it looks like I'm the last to know 
I hear you've never felt so alive 
So much desire beyond control 
And as usual I am the last to know 

The last to know how you're feeling 
The last to know where you are 
The last to know if you're happy now 
Or if he's treating you like I treated you 
Or if he's cruel I'll be the last to know 

We spent summers up beyond the bay 
And you said these are such perfect days 
That if the bomb drops baby, I want to be the last to know 
But now you're living up behind the hill 
And though we share the same city and feel the same sun 
When your winter comes 
I'll be the last to know 

Always the last to know how you're feeling 
The last to know where you are 
The last to know if you're happy now 
Or if he's pleading with you like I pleaded with you 
If you go don't let me be the last to know 
Don't let me be the last 
To know 

Creation's gone crazy, the TV's gone mad 
Now you're the only sane thing that I have 

The last to know how you're feeling 
The last to know where you are 
The last to know if you're happy now 
Or if he's cheating on you like I cheated on you 
And you were the last to know 

Roll down the window, let me hear the rain 
Let me hear her whispering, honey everything is OK 

Cos I've had enough bad news 
To last a lifetime 

Well I drove all night under a seasick sky 
And I made it by mid-afternoon 
And I hope she's home so she can hold me tight and tell me 
Everything is alright 

Cos I've had enough bad news 
To last a lifetime 

And I was struck by how much I remembered 
And how everything still looked the same 
When a neighbour I met in her hallway said 
"Looks like loverboy's too late again" 

So take your troublesome baggage 
And put it on the last train home 
Cos you can guess somewhere else in the world right now 
Someone else feels just as alone 

Cos I've had enough bad news 
To last a lifetime 

You'd better get some sleep for a change 
Before tomorrow brings you down 
By three o'clock they'll both be sitting on that plane 
Hopelessly honeymoon bound 
And I hope no one asks you to kiss this bride 
Or tie tin cans to the car 
And if friends and relations mingle outside 
You can linger at the bar 

So bring on the rainclouds and block out the moon 
Let the action begin 

You'll feel like some soap opera star 
Predictably hitting the booze 
With your standard issue broken heart 
You step into your Saturday shoes 
And you might feel better if you slapped her face 
Or slipped some pills in his wine 
But instead some voice in your head keeps saying 
You'll look back and laugh sometime 

So bring on the rainclouds and block out the moon 
Let the action begin 

Cos it's as sure as sunrise and as sure as time 
The bride will be changing and you will be crying 
And it will be raining as soon as the tide comes in 

So put on your lipstick and check that you hat's straight too 
Cos if they can go through with it you can do it too 

So bring on the rainclouds and block out the moon 
Let the action begin 

Cos it's as sure as sunrise and as sure as time 
The bride will be changing and you will be crying 
And it will be raining as soon as the tide comes in 
And it will be raining as soon as the tide comes in 

Don't tell her that you want her 
Don't ask her to be yours 
Don't tell her she is everything 

Or she might see the fool behind the frown 
And then the heart behind the fool 

Don't tell her that you need her 
Don't tell her that you care 
Don't ask her to hold you 

Or she might see the fool behind the frown 
And then the heart behind the fool 

Behind the cool, there's a dreading that 
Someday she'll betray you 
Someday she will dispose of 
All her photographs of you 

So don't tell her when you're lonely 
Don't tell her when you're blue 
Don't tell her she means everything to you 

So don't tell her that you need her 
Don't tell her that you care 
Don't ask her to hold you 

Or she might see the fool behind the frown 
And then the heart behind the fool 

With the sweet drip of every raindrop 
Time brings you closer to me 
And with each new sign at every train-stop 
Another hour without you is consigned to history 

And with each tick of my alarm clock 
I get crazy for the days to get to you 
When I can hold you and kiss you and have you 
Instead of staring at some photo like a fool 

But as day turns to night there's this hopelessness to fight 
When I think that I might not make it through 

But honey sometimes I just have to say your name 
To hear it hanging in the air, to know it sounds the same 
And sometimes when I'm blue, I know just what to do 
To keep the blues at bay you know I only have to say your name 

So this morning I picked up the paper 
In the useless descent of the rain 
While partners in heartbreak the whole world over 
Lie and cheat just the same 
And the headlines proclaim everything has changed 
Love can't save you now 
As each little motion of my writswatch 
Holds up my faith somehow 

But as day turns to night there's this hopelessness to fight 
When I think that I might not make it through 

But honey sometimes I just have to say your name 
To hear it hanging in the air, to know it sounds the same 
And sometimes when I'm blue, I know just what to do 
To keep the blues at bay you know I only have to say your name 

When I've used up all my patience 
When your letters have been read twenty times through 
I can drink all the wine in this place of mine 
But it ain't no replacement 
It ain't no replacement for you