Shinbone Alley / Hard to Exist

Lyrics

[Part 1: Shinbone Alley] [Verse 1] Moonlight through the chicken wire Humming window pane Lukewarm water gasping down a rusty drain Big town's in need of mending Street lights make tooth some seams Denim shadows shuffle in between the beams [Chorus] Different strokes for different folks so Mind your manners, easy on the ethnic jokes It's a dumbbell curve, you're trying to tally All the way down to shin bone alley [Verse 2] Streets are metacarpals And flesh of asphalt calm Buildings rise like fingers from a concrete palm Yellow lit apartment Trickle through the drapes Windows frame each history Hidden even from the fire escapes Sullen winter sparrow Lends wing to expanse of grey Six-thirty-two in the morning On Thanksgivings day And the bums, they hit their corners The thunder bird rubs their bones And the crack addicts stare at the snowflakes Zigzagging down to greet Jones [Chorus] Different strokes for different folks so Mind your manners, easy on the ethnic jokes It's a dumbbell curve, you're trying to tally All the way down to shin bone alley [Instrumental Break] [Verse 3] Seventy-two on the same day Your bare feet sweep the parquet And the light so papery white It slipped past the microwave Knuckles to eyeballs And elbows on the table Spend the day gazing From the window gable [Chorus] Different strokes for different folks so Mind your manners, easy on the ethnic jokes It's a dumbbell curve, you're trying to tally All the way down to shin bone alley [Instrumental Break] [Part 2: Hard to Exist] [Segue] [Verse 1] You know how I tend to feel when nothing's happenin' That some big old birds so fat that they just can't fly But people made are to be overreacting My body hurts like hell, and all I can do is wonder why [Chorus] Like a man in prison I'm occupied with bustin' out I'm in no position Said "What are these walkin' truths about?" Yeah, yeah, yeah [Verse 2] Hey Mary, come play with me, please forget your lessons A big talk with Captain Hook and with cutlasses that play Oh, got 'em meetin' you and me, we get along fine Down on the beach in the fresh air with a jug of wine [Chorus] Like a man in prison I'm occupied with bustin' out I'm in no position Said "What are these walkin' truths about?" Yeah, yeah, yeah [Guitar Solo] [Bridge] Oh yeah, I commit to be infected Oh yeah, point me in the right direction This situation has got the best of me I've got to go on, you know I've got to be strong But it's hard to exist [Verse 2] Hey Mary, come play with me, please forget your lessons A big talk with Captain Hook and with cutlasses that play Oh, got 'em meetin' you and me, we get along fine Down on the beach in the fresh air with a jug of wine [Chorus] Like a man in prison I'm occupied with bustin' out I'm in no position Said "What are these walkin' truths about?" Yeah, yeah, yeah [Interlude] Hard Hard to exist, oh Oh, hard to exist in here, yeah Hard to exist, oh Ho-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Ho-oh-oh-oh Hard to exist Hard to I just don't Hard to exist, a-ha [Instrumental Breakdown] [Outro] Said it's hard Hard to exist Said it's hard, ah, hard To exist Said it's hard Hard to exist Hard to exist, oh