A Perfect Circle

[Sample] "When Pope Benedict asked Giotto for a drawing to prove his worth as an artist, Giotto drew a perfect circle - freehand ... perfection is a powerful message" [Verse 1] I'm a single white male thirty-two years old And I've never been too great with the women Well if the truth's being told I'm not much good with people I've been alone in all the places I lived in But fate had forgiven my shortcomings and brought something Forth from inside me that guides me when a call comes in It's as if I'm blessed with a gift to talk someone into a spell unknown When I'm lecturin' with the telephone But forced run-ins: face to face are hella hard I'm afraid to date, but somehow make a great telemarketer Cause I can sell Antarctica ice in wintertime With twenty-nine inches that won't melt and mark up the price Might be the fact I'm alone But most of the human contact I've known I've always had through the phone So when I get back to the home where I live now I sit down and dial my own map to see who answers though Half the old ones I get the message: "The number you have reached has been disconnected" With ten digits entered from another past number The ringing interrupts a man's slumber (Hello?) And that was just from last summer (Hello?) The change is enormous And keepin' up to speed is a real game of endurance I always get some lame little office specializing in claims for insurance Or maybe the occasional florist [Spoken] Corner Florist Hello? Hello? I'm sorry, what'd you say? Corner Florist Is this a flower shop? Yes Oh, I'm sorry I think I have the wrong number OK, bye Bye [Verse 2] Why am I still searching, and for what I don't know Perhaps a real person or some version of love on the phone It's like these ten little buttons have grown So significant, my will's worthless fighting off the gluttonous jones So I chose a different number to try And I was thinkin' I'd end up ringing another old guy But when I reached the third line what a surprise It was the first time in my whole life On the telephone my tongue was so tied [Spoken] Hello? *Breathing* Hello? Uh- uh... Is there somebody there? *Sigh* I can hear you [Verse 3] It must've been something we shared in the weird few moments of where Silence when I was quiet like no one was there So unprepared to ever get your voice I fell in love though I was scared like I was left no choice But you can expect most boys who get a first taste of love in their thirties To revert to their seventh birthday That's probably why I went the worst way And devised a plan to get to know her with my voice disguised and invented surveys: "Hello?" "Hi, I'm calling from the Census Department I was hoping you could answer a few questions of ours, ma'am" "Yeah, sure" "How many people live in your apartment? What are their ages? And by chance is anyone partners?" "Well, it's just me. I'm 30 and I'm not married" "Alrighty, do you move often, and have your jobs varied?" "No, I've been here for the last 3 years And, my jobs did you say?" "Yes ma'am, how many past careers?" "Well, I'm not really a people person, I've always worked in a lab" "Ma'am I don't blame you with all the jerks that we have I take it you don't get out much to flirt with the lads?" "Are you kidding? It's just as well, men are perfectly crass" Workin' the plans I had sown to build a rapport I realized to have her by phone wouldn't fulfill me no more So using the skills I was born with I got her address at home, killin' the calls So I could see the best mess that I'd known Perhaps it was only a sad attempt to find the nerve it would take To say goodbye to the phone and tell the girl to her face "Well, I won't put your day further to waste Thanks for your time ma'am, sorry to disturb you, ok? ...bye" "Ok... bye" [Verse 4] Desperate times call for closer measures So I left behind the telephone and bought some telephoto lenses Parked in a car, like those old detectives I watched from afar And saw that she lived by herself alone and friendless Then what I noticed next would leave me livid Her only guest was a handsome guy whose weekly visits Had her cry, by the time he would leave I'd bet the guy was an ex or current flame unless my eyes were deceived I tried to believe she cried to relieve heartache But this guy wouldn't leave, it seemed she was liable to be in harms way If I could just sneak in her place I'd find it would lead to a trace Of why she would keep lettin' this creep within arms length Gettin' the piece was the easy part Cause if by chance I met him when I crept in through the window I would need the arms I was breathin' hard when I stepped in Broke the glass into shards with the weapon and tore the bedroom where she sleeps apart That's when a creaking part of the floor and a twisting knob on the door Startled me - I turned with the gun and shot it before I realized I killed my own love I dropped on all fours sobbin' and coughin' 'til I spilled my own guts I came to still on the rug in the same room Filled with the stuff I had tossed around and then I found in plain view What seemed to be a diary sittin' beside my knee I couldn't make my mind believe the words that I would finally read: Page one: "Thursday: five o' three I was trying to sleep before the night shift when this guy woke me He had a voice that had a vibe so sweet It was caught on my thoughts & just wouldn't let my mind go free" I skipped to page seventy-four and read a bit more "The only thing that I look forward to is gettin' his calls If only I could get up the gall I would tell him I loved him" I had to skip right to the end of it all As for the last passage it began: "Why me? Where's my mystery man, God? How could you let this guy leave Will all the bad times and depression I've seen This just has to be the last life's lesson I need In fact this week's visit with my little brother He said if the cancer keeps gettin' worse it'll kill our mother He said the doc' said I should just accept that she's dying And from the second he left, I spent the rest of the week crying" [Outro] Let down, left out Sad songs, poems, and lies Don't get your hopes up cause it gets the best of you You get stepped on, let down, left out to dry, and you die