A Song to Pass the Time

[Verse 1] There's a middle-aged woman, she is dragging her feet She carries baskets of clothes to a laundromat While the Mexican children kick rocks into the street And they laugh in a language I don't understand But I love them Why do I love them? [Verse 2] So the neighborhood's dimming, I smoke on the porch Watch the people as they pass enclosed inside their cars On their face it's just anger or disappointment I start wishing there was something I could offer them A consolation What could I offer them? [Verse 3] And they are sad in their suburbs, robots water the lawn And everything they touch gets dusted spotless So they started to believe they've not touched anything at all And the cars in the driveway only multiply Well they are lost in their houses I've heard them sing in the shower Making speeches to their sister on the telephone Saying, "You come home, woman, you come here Don't stay so far away from me" This weather has me wanting love more tangible Something I can hold, cause it's getting cold [Bridge] Well I say hold up a fist to the flame in the sky To block out the light that's reaching for our eyes Cause it would blind us Yeah, it will blind us [Verse 4] Well I've locked my actions in the grooves of routine So I may never be free of this apathy But I wait for a letter that's coming to me She sends me pictures of the ocean in an envelope So there still is hope Yes, I can be healed There's someone looking for what I've concealed In my secret drawer, in my pockets deep You will find the reasons that I can't sleep And you'll still want me Will you still want me? Will you still want me? [Bridge 2] Well I said come for the week, you can sleep in my bed And pass through my life like a dream through my head It will, it will be easy I'll make it easy [Verse 5] All I have for the moment is a song to pass the time And a melody to keep me from worrying It's some simple progression to keep my fingers busy And words that are sure to come back to me And they'll be laughing Yeah, they'll be laughing (Ha, ha, ha, ha) My mediocrity My mediocrity (They'll be laughing)