Cistern & Buckets set list and lyrics – January 6 2021

  1. STAINLESS STEEL
  2. PENNIES
  3. WOULD IT STOP THE FLOW OF BLOOD TO YOUR HEART
  4. BIRDIE
  5. DOG & KID
  6. STEAL YOUR THUNDER
  7. A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR
  8. CAST OF THOUSANDS
  9. SLOW SONG

STAINLESS STEEL
Verse 1:
Never thought that you would be one of those people
That gives you nothing better than good material
And never quite enough to make a meal
Never thought I’d be the one to break into kitchens
The role of royal taster makes a nervous living
And building up resistance has a dim appeal
Even when the poisoned heart begins to heal
Verse 2:
The story almost wrote itself, a modern-day classic
With no sense of proportion, it’s all gigantic
If something looks bigger than life, it’s probably not even real
It’s one thing packing bags with dreams of faraway places
The old diseases jumped inside the new suitcases
We were looking for the chutes before they pulled up the wheels
Both pretending we were made of stainless steel
Minor bridge:
Stainless steel, stainless steel, stainless steel
Verse 3:
Storybooks are fine for laughs and looking at pictures
But flipping pages hardly makes a Hollywood director
We were working on a script
Making no deals, no deals
Verse 4:
So let the cameras roll as the cutting room fills
Let the record show everything the projector spills
Did you think that you could duck out
while they changed the reel
You never wrote to tell me how killing the sequel feels
At least you cut me clean as stainless steel
stainless steel, stainless steel

WHEN PENNIES GO TO HEAVEN
Verse 1:
I start the day watching meter maids
Help themselves to our trust in the city
I’ve been three years in the same high window
And only the hopeless have a reason to stay
Chorus:
When pennies go to heaven, they spend their time
With bottlecaps posing as quarters
They traded their edges for a ride through the mouth of a pinball machine
They never see the bright lights and bumpers
Verse 2:
Like a brick through the windshield
From a joker on the overpass
The sound of screaming wakes you
You listen for an hour til they catch the bad bad boy
Then the credits roll to a carol
Chorus
It’s a sad day in Golden Gate Park
Even the carousel is charging admission
I’m buying tickets just so I can leave the house
And lose my money calling you from a pay phone in the Mission
Chorus
They never see the bright lights
They never see the bright lights, the bright lights
They never see, they never see
They never see the bright lights

WOULD IT STOP THE FLOW OF BLOOD TO YOUR HEART

Verse 1:

You’re wearing the face of a saint, sinning your way to pity

Anyone would rather be a martyr than a casualty

For a believer who’s betrayed by his cause

There’s no credit when you’re showing the loss

Would it stop the flow of blood to your heart

Verse 2:

I can’t say that losing a lover is one of life’s greater pleasures

The things that you called ours return to his and hers

In a house picked clean to the bone

The flesh of man rots where it’s thrown

But would it stop the flow of blood to your heart

Verse 3:

If staying afloat is proof of faith in love, you’d rather be drowned

Who wants to claim a soul forgotten in the lost and found

But there’s no rest for the rejected at sea

Crying murder when the waves reach their knees

Would it stop the flow of blood to your heart

Verse 4:

Punishing the shy is a crime but everyone’s involved

And locked inside you’re safe as houses, but you’re fighting the walls

Hope is not a virtue but a plan of attack

And we’ve all got a couple knives in our backs

Would it stop the flow of blood to your heart

BIRDIE

Verse 1:

You’ve finally gotten rid of your passport

Given up your seat by the wing

Something to do with your fear of flying

Something do with being broken

And just so you know

You’re turning away from me

Taking the fun out of cake and ice cream

You’re a big boy, but you’re spilling your beer and licking your plate

A runner-up for the running

You couldn’t wait

Chorus:

A little birdie told you something you can’t repeat

Open up your cloudy eyes and tell me what you see

Finally you’re someone who knows something I don’t

I guess you got what you wanted when you left me

Verse 2:

I really hate to seem ungrateful

But I got stuck with the bill for everything we bought

Looks like you’re getting too big for your diaper

Now that you’ve figured out the safety pin and the knot

Chorus

Verse 3:

It’s been a hell of a year for the prodigy

He’s just selling whatever he was given

Looks like another poor man’s holiday for me

Filling the bathtub, and going fishing

Last chorus:

A little birdie told you something you can’t repeat

Open up your cloudy eyes and tell me what you see

Finally you’re someone who knows something I don’t

I guess you got what you wanted

You got what you wanted

You got what you wanted when you left me

DOG AND KID

Verse 1:

I’ve got a perfect place on the corner

To sit and watch the world roll by

And today I saw a face I remember

Stealing the sunshine right out of the sky

And I wanted to say hey now, hey now

Where have you been hiding

Hey now, hey now

Where’d your boy get those eyes, where’d he get those eyes

It’s been so long, it’s been so long

Chorus 1:

If you promise to tell me all of your secrets, I promise to forget all your lies

And neither of us ever thought we’d turn into grownups

it makes a great disguise

If I never see you again, I’ll always have the sweet things we did

And the day I saw you pretty as ever with your dog & kid

Verse 2:

There’s a lot of words I wish I could take back

From back when we didn’t know what we were saying

A lot of things I’d change if we could go back

Back to when I thought we were only playing

And I wanted to say hey now, hey now

So who’s the lucky one

Hey now, hey now

And do I ever come to mind, ‘cause you come to mine

It’s been so long, it’s been so long, so long

Chorus 2:

If you promise to tell me all of your secrets, I promise to forget all your lies

neither of us ever thought we’d turn into grownups

you hardly seem surprised

If I never see you again, I’ll always have the sweet things we did

And the day I saw you lost forever with your dog & kid

Your dog & kid

Hey now, hey now

STEAL YOUR THUNDER

Verse 1

The magic wasn’t in the words, but how you said them

The future wasn’t in the cards, but that’s how i read them

The disappearing boy rolls up flat

But i might be the rabbit stuck in your hat

If your business was making illusions you sure fooled me

Chorus

I didn’t mean to steal your thunder

I didn’t try that at all

If you say that i took your best embraces

I’m guilty as charged

Like a comet completing a constellation

Once in a thousand years

It was the prettiest picture ever seen in the dark

But i never thought it ours to 2 keep, ours to keep

Verse 2

It wasn’t like i set fire to a field after i’d sown it

More like i lent you something to try without having owned it

Now you’re showing the wound in your ear

Crying look it forgot how to heal

But you’re wearing a diamond in it, you must be proud

Chorus 2

I didn’t mean to steal your thunder

I didn’t try that at all

If you say that i took your best embraces

I’m guilty as charged

Like a comet completing a constellation

Once in a thousand years

It was the prettiest picture ever seen in the dark

But no one might ever believe you

 

Verse 3

You took everything that we’d saved and then you spent it

You knew it was kind of evil, and that’s how you meant it

I used to share it just as soon as i had it

I guess you broke me of that dirty habit

If a sucker dies every hour, i think my number’s up

Chorus 3

I didn’t mean to steal your thunder

I didn’t try that at all

If you say that i took your best embraces

I’m guilty as charged

Like a comet completing a constellation

Once in a thousand years

It was the prettiest picture ever seen in the dark

But you’re never going to see it again

Bridge

I don’t need another lesson, i think i’ve had enough

Now that someone’s put you under glass

Could you finally do what i ask

And apologize for being the best thing ever

The best thing ever

The best thing ever

The best thing ever

A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR

Verse 1

Welcome to the temple where the rules are simple

Anyone can enter, come as you are

The lamps of the sanctum burn with 60 watts of neon

The windows are blackened to keep it inside

Chorus

Seekers know where the believers go, a man walks into a bar

All those below will have their turn on the throne

A man walks into a bar and nothing will ever be the same

Verse 2

Welcome to the ritual, the host of smoke and alcohol

In this strange communion, the carnal comes sublime

When the lights are darkened it’s like a séance starting

Nobody knows what will happen tonight

Chorus

Verse 3

All those standing when the noise ends raise a glass and drink the poison

When death is a jest we don’t fear it

This motley congregation watches as we toil for nothing

We come for rewards beyond words, beyond a price

Final chorus:

Seekers know where the believers go, a man walks into a bar

All those below will have their turn on the throne, a man walks into a bar

Seekers know where the believers go, a man walks into a bar

All those below will have their turn on the throne, a man walks into a bar

And nothing, nothing, nothing will ever be same

Final half verse

Welcome to the temple the low and lowly threshold

Remember this is a church for some of us

CAST OF THOUSANDS

Verse 1

Haven’t your always dreamed your name in lights

Haven’t you seen yourself larger than life

It’s about to happen, get up and leave your lessons

Chances like this may only come once a day

Chorus

Time to join the cast of thousands

Just a shadow on the street that’s just what we need

Verse 2

Can you play yourself and make us believe

Can you bring it home, jump off the screen

When we call for action, can you take direction

We wouldn’t have called upon you if you weren’t the one

Chorus

Time to join the cast of thousands

Just a shy face on the street but you’ll steal the scene

Get on set your close-up’s calling

Take your turn in the blinding lights, look deep in the camera’s eye

Bridge

Half of the fun is getting your face on

By the time you finally do we’ll be looking for you, only you, only you, only you

Guitar solo

When the filming finally ends, the scenery bends and breaks at a touch

We know it’s all a charade but we love it so much

So wishing didn’t make it happen

When you’re making your name and nothing has changed

You better knight yourself

Chorus:

Time to join the cast of thousands

Claim your role before it’s gone, look up, the camera’s on

The camera’s on…[repeat]

SLOW SONG

Verse 1

If you’re ready for a slow song

Maybe we’ve been just too loud

Maybe you’re not that kinda crowd

So how ‘bout a break

There’s just so much that people can take

If it’s gonna be a slow song

Some of your will check the time

Put on your coats and join the line by the exit

Sending smoke signals into the dark

Chorus

When you were out on a starry night

Trying to paint by the last of the light

Do you remember the hush that fell

When the colors rang true

Verse 2

If you didn’t hear a slow song

Maybe times were just too tight

Maybe i couldn’t wait for that night to be over

Tonight’s looking better

Solo

Chorus

If you want something that looks lifelike

Fix a point, measure your lines

If you want the blue that runs in your veins

Drink in the sky

Verse 3

If it wasn’t for the slow songs

I don’t think we’d stand a chance

Maybe we’ve only earned one glance in the hour since we met

We’re just happy there’s a few of you left