Sunset Boulevard

There is lithium in the sunset.
There are rats in the trees,
And the temperature is always 76 degrees.
When the mighty fall here,
They're gonna fall real hard.
And the Marlboro man is watching them down on Sunset Boulevard.

I cannot get a breath.
I cannot get a break.
I can taste that desperation 'cause the deal is at stake.
For every nip and tuck
There is a vicious little scar,
And the Marlboro man is peering down Sunset Boulevard.

Be careful how you talk to her.
She might be someone you'll need.
And it's such an easy leap from sincerity to greed.
Now everybody's waiting
Just to see the next card,
And Marlboro man is smoking down on Sunset Boulevard.

There's a body on the beach,
And it doesn't make the news.
It's sweeps month here,
And nobody wants to lose.
He didn't have connections,
Didn't even own a car.
So it's not worth reporting 'cause he's not a superstar.
Yeah yeah.

You can never be too rich.
You can never be too thin.
Don't bother entering the fray unless you're certain you can win.
Take a look around you, baby.
Every blade of grass is charred.
And the Marlboro man is laughing down on Sunset Boulevard.

You know grooming is everything,
And your car is your purse.
Don't dare give the right of way, even if it's a hearse.
Forget about that loser.
He won't be going far.
Anyway, the Marlboro man is waitin' for you down on Sunset Boulevard.

There's a body on the beach,
And it doesn't make the news.
It's sweeps month here,
And nobody wants to lose.
He didn't have connections,
Didn't even own a car.
So it's not worth reporting 'cause he's not a superstar.
Yeah yeah.

The horses are chomping at their bits,
And the dam is going to burst.
The ground is going to rumble,
And the sun is a curse.
So don't look excited,
But never let down your guard.
Cause the Marlboro man is watching you down on Sunset Boulevard.

--Lynn Miles (whom I had the lovely pleasure of seeing in concert and meeting afterward at the David Adler Cultural Center in Libertyville)

Tom's Diner

I am waiting in the morning at the diner on the corner.
I am waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee,
And he fills it only halfway, and before I even argue,
He is looking out the window at somebody coming in.

"It is always nice to see you," says the man behind the counter
To the woman who has come in. She is shaking her umbrella,
And I look the other way as they are kissing their hellos,
And I pretend that I don't see them, and instead I pour the milk.

I open up the paper. There's the story of some actor
Who had died while he was drinking. It was no one I had heard of.
So I'm turning to the horoscopes, and looking for the funnies,
But I'm feeling someone watching me, and so I raise my head.

There's this woman on the outside looking inside.
Does she see me? No, she does not really see me.
She sees her own reflection. And I'm trying not to notice
That she's hitching up her skirt, and while she's straightening her stockings,
Her hair is getting wet.

Oh, this rain it will continue through the morning.
As I'm listening to the bells of the cathedral,
I am thinking of your voice...

--Suzanne Vega