"Silver Bell" -- Patty Griffin

Silver Bell

Below are the known lyrics to the songs that are tentatively on the playlist. It's interesting to see how many are very old songs (Silver Bell, One More Girl) how many have been showing up at shows recently (Little God, Mother of God) and how many nobody has heard yet. There are more songs slated that I don't know the words to, so they aren't included. Enjoy!

Little God

Good morning little god
I see you've come for me again
With a noose between your teeth
You are not my friend
Pouring little cups of tea
Humming a little tune
You sit across from me
And fill my little room
Little god

Smoke is in the air
From your little cigarettte
You tell me to throw the fight
Go and place your little bet
Shake, little god-
Shake your little fists
All the strippers think you're odd
But you leave the biggest tips
Little god

Where oh where did I leave myself today
On the bed, on the chair
Did I send myself away
On a sleepy afternoon
Will I be returning soon

Laugh your little laugh
Stomp your little feet
They sulk behind your back,
All the people that you meet
They say time is running out
And you don't know what to do
And I hear them talk about
Another place without you
Little god
Little god
Little god
Little god
Little god

Boston

I went back to Boston
Back to the City of Lost Love
I went back to the place
And recognized your face in the stone long gone

I walked around Harvard Square
All the runaway kids are still hanging out there
I took the red line a wrong way
Across the River Charles

Something's changed track
And they never fly
And they never fly
Reach up from the waves
You'll find that you're only waving goodbye

I went walking in Boston
A little bridge I used to walk on
I was slipping on a hog
And I flung into that sea of strong
Processing need not apply
For you to license to fly
Hey young lady don't be so suprised
You know you're not alone

Something's changed track
And they never fly
And they never fly
Reach up from the waves
You'll find that you're only waving goodbye

It was Memorial Day
I went to where you lay
There were thousands of people
Just like you in a chain graveyard

You came out of there awake
Looking for the sky
And got a slap in the face
Well hey
Desperate needs a big led
And gets put in the place
You better know your place boy

Something's changed track
And they never fly
And they never fly
Reach up from the waves
You'll find that you're only waving goodbye

Only waving
You're only waving
You're only waving
You're only waving goodbye
Goodbye

Perfect White Girls

Silver Bell

Silver bell
Silver bell
Yeah that's the name of the old motel
You were traveling when they fell
Down on a bed at the silver bell
How you been
I'm doing well
I hear you're digging a hole to hell
How you been
I'm doing well
Meet me tonight at the silver bell

I hate to tell you baby,
This is home
The wallpaper is
A color called sea foam
Pull down the shades a little and you've
Got yourself a prison cell
Every night the wicked wait tonight
Baby at the silver bell
Silver bell
yeah that's the name of the old motel

I did a stupid thing
I even tried
Feels like a hundred bees are
Stinging me from the inside
Don't know just what to do
Don't know just who to tell
So I'm telling you to meet me
Tonight down at the silver bell
Silver bell
Yeah that's the name of the old hotel

I hate to tell you baby,
This is home
The wallpaper is
A color called sea foam
Pull down the shades a little and you've
Got yourself a prison cell
Every night the wicked wait
Down at the silver bell

Top of the World

I wished I was smarter
Wished I was stronger
I wished I loved jesus
The way the my wife does

I wished it'd been easier
Instead of any longer
I wished I could've stood
Where you would've been proud
That won't happen now
That won't happen now

There's a whole lot of sinners
That ain't gonna be heard
Disppearing every day
Without so much as a word
Somehow

I'm afraid I broke the wings
Off that little songbird
And she's never gonna fly
To the top of the world How
To the top of the world

I don't have to answer
Any of these questions
Don't have no guide to
Teach me no lessons

I come home in the evening
Sit in my chair
One night they called me for supper
But I never got up
I stayed right there
In my chair

There's a whole lot of singing
That ain't gonna be heard
Disappearing every day
Without so much as a word
Somehow

I think I broke the wings
Off a little songbird
And she's never gonna fly
To the top of the world
How
To the top of the world

I wished I'd had known you
Wished I had shown you
All of the things I
Was all these are
But I'd pretend to be sleeping
When you'd come in in the morning
To whisper goodbye
Go work at the rain
I don't know why
Don't know why

Cause everyone's singing
We just wanna be heard
Disappearing every day
Without so much as a word
So how?

Gonna grab a hold
Of that little songbird
And take her for a ride
To the top of the world
Right now
To the top of the world

Sorry and Sad

You used to make me so mad
Make me so mad
I was almost glad why you make me so mad
And if I wasn't still mad
Probably feel sad
Sorry for you
So sorry and sad

Nothing was ever free
But you still had me
You didn't want that better than me (?)
And if there was no trace
Of anything real
Would you feel safe enough to feel?
Sad, sorry and sad

Think it's disappointment, boy
The only friend you ever had
Was that you never got famous
Makes a good distraction
In case you start to feel bad about your
Undiscovered genius
Makin' everyone so mad

You used to make me so mad
Make me so mad
I was almost glad why you make me so mad
I really don't have time
Believe that I had
Swallow the pill
Of your bitter end
Sad, sorry and sad

Making Pies

It's not far
I can walk
Down the block
To TableTalk
Close my eyes
Make the pies all day

I stick a cap
On my hair
I used to mind
Now I don't care
I used to mind
Now I don't care
Cause I'm great

Did I show you this picture of my nephew
Taken at his big birthday surprise
At my sister's house last Sunday
This is Monday and we're making pies
I'm making pies
Making pies
Pies

Thursday nights
I go and type
Down at the church
With Father Mike
It gets me out
And he ain't hard to like
At all

Jesus stares at me
In my chair
With his big blue eyes
And his honey brown hair
And he's looking at me
Way up there
On the wall

Did I show you this picture of my sweetheart
Taken of us before the war
Of the Greek and his Italian girl
One Sunday at the shore

We tied our ribbons to the fire escape
They were taken by the birds
Who flew home to the country
As the bombs rained on the world

5am
Here I am
Walking the block
To TableTalk
You could cry or die
Or just make pies all day
I'm making pies
Making pies
Making pies
Making pies

Mother of God

All you kids get out the back door
I've never seen her this bad before
She took all her favorite things down from the window
and broke 'em all over her clean floor

It's Saturday at the mansion
The oldest boy walks with a slouch
The young ones are wild in back of the house
and she gave up and went back to sleep on the couch

Something as simple as boys and girls
gets tossed all around and then lost in the world
Something as hard as a prayer on your back
can wait a long time for an answer

When I was little I'd stare at her picture
and talk to the mother of God
I swear sometimes I'd see her lips move
like she was trying to say something to me

When I was eighteen I moved to Florida,
like everyone sick of the cold does,
and I waited on old people waiting to die
I waited on them until I was

Something as simple as boys and girls
gets tossed all around and then lost in the world
Something as hard as a prayer on your back
can wait a long time for an answer

So I'm wearing my footsteps into this floor
One day I won't live here anymore
Someone will wonder who lived here before
and went on their way

I live too many miles from the ocean
and I'm getting older and odd
I get up every morning with a black cup of coffee
and I talk to the mother of God

Something as simple as boys and girls
gets tossed all around and then lost in the world
Something as hard as a prayer on your back
can wait a long time for an answer...
can wait a long time for an answer

One More Girl

I took off my iron smile
Because I found it weighed me down
Tomorrow when the world wakes up
I'll be in another town
You don't know what you want
At this moment you think it's me so you
Move your hand across my knee
Turn me into some novelty

Yes I'm one more girl on the stage
Just one more ass that got stuffed in some jeans
Just one more day that you don't find true love
No, you don't know what it means

Did you ever take the time to
Think about who I might be
Where I've been or
What I'm thinking or
Who I love or what I see
One more girl on the road
You might pass on your way home
Someone's sister, someone's wife or
Just some bitch who's probably
Got no life and yes I'm

One more girl on the stage
Just one more ass that got stuffed into jeans
Just one more day that you don't find true love
No, you don't know what it means

One day we'll be a pile of ashes
For the best of time, it passes
So take your hand off my knee
Do you know what it means to be
One more girl on the stage
Just one more ass that got stuffed in some jeans
Just one more day that you don't find true love
No, you don't know what it means

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