I am not a bad man Wouldn’t you love to learn how to love me? You are what I dream of Angelic sweetness, faith and mercy I am not a bad man Compared to injustice you survived I tell you you’re my equal rare and unearthly, pure light I know they taught you to be a good woman To stomach the worst of men like me Tend to my wounds as if you could heal them Let me prey on your sympathy I am not a bad man You’ve always admired an anti-hero Brooding and misunderstood because His mind is superior Ignore the screaming — my wife in in the attic I just pretend she does not exist And I believe you are not like the others You will always be innocent When the house burns down and she’s dead you’ll come back You’ll love me despite my deformity And maybe once I’m blind I’ll see how I’ve erred and I will learn some humility I am not a bad man (As I prey on) Wouldn’t you love to learn how to love me? (The saint in you) You are what I dream of (I swear it will) Angelic sweetness, faith and mercy (fulfill you) I am not a bad man Wouldn’t you love to learn how to love me? I am not a bad man If only someone would learn how to love me

My family and friends couldn’t believe I loved a sailor Under their sway I suppose I couldn’t either Now eight years have passed and never once did I forget you Nor all the love you would have given had I let you You’ve returned and you must have seen How regret has weighed heavy upon me We love longest after all hope is gone I’m still longing, loving you all along Men can replace the loves they’ve left with constant action A baronet’s daughter would not dare pursue a profession Each day for you felt like a year to me Safe at home while won your fortune at sea Oh I’d rather be overturned by you Than driven to safety by someone else One look, one word may be enough But I want to drown you in all my love

Strange creatures lurk in our town Stronger than all mortal man How are we to fight the undead Who among us can? Queer desires you mustn't speak of An evil power you can't resist Helpless against temptation And powerless to conquer it Chorus: Is this song about vampires Or is it about sex Animal hunger and bloodlust Are easier to accept And pulse-quickening fear Has nearly the same effect As a forbidden love scene A full-frontal vignette How long have we been hiding Our lust for unholy things Behind a veil of darkness Blame the devil for our sins Or do we just need more and more The mind to be teased as well As our hungry bodies, writhing On the way to a happy hell Give me just a little death Is that too much to ask To feel my heart race and my breath Stop Rpt chorus

The moon is waxing gibbous And the night is young Let’s hang a ladder on the stars And kiss on every rung As if the song is endless Until it’s all been sung The most delightful turn of phrase Might end as it’s begun Dresses and high heels Burlesque and bourbon And stumbling through the quarter Tipsy and laughing and Riding the streetcar and Happy in your arms I don’t ask you fall to your knees And tell me you want me Do as you please Just tell me if you want me I don’t need to hear You tell you love me Don’t disappear Once you’ve told me you that love me The moon is waxing gibbous etc Had I forgotten Once we were home again You would forget me Did I read too much Into the intimacy We shared when it was easy The moon is waning gibbous And the dawn is near We climb down from the stars And watch our silhouettes grow clear And if the song is ending The decent thing you know Is say goodbye and tell me why And let me let you go And let me let you go ohh etc

This city sucks the blood of the young To feed the rich and greedy Then the young learn to look down in disgust At the bodies of the needy I did not ask to be born a citizen of your land I did not ask to need to be fed by your charitable hand One last rain before the flood (rising up all around us) One last flood before the water pulls us all under And there’s no Atlantis to escape to No future to create, now But now we see your wars For what they are I am not a lone oracle We all know the ship’s going down But for all I know you’ve got a lifeboat It’s just your poor soldiers who’ll drown I did not ask to fight for the rights of the rulers of this land I did not ask to die by your enemy’s hand One last rain before the flood (rising up all around us) One last flood before the oceans Pull us all under And if there is a life boat on board You’d better believe we will take it We will seize everything As you look on in the wake Your money won’t buy back lives From the ones you tried to take One last rain before the flood (rising up all around us) One last flood before the water Pulls us all under And if there’s a life boat on board You’d better believe we will take it We will seize everything As you look on in the wake Your money won’t buy the lives From the spirits you tried to break

You saw me on a vast unconquerable frontier You heard my voice in desperation drawing you near Might this be your chance to meet your destiny? To save someone deep in the throes of need But my song was not directed at you I know these myths are never true I'm through with saviors who are mistaken That I am helpless, that I need saving And neither am I a lovely siren My only purpose your temptation Still it was easy to lure me to your land I love the promise of a future unplanned When fog no longer shrouded me you realized Your reflection never shone in my eyes The stars never twinkled so bright But I was still whole and wholly alone that night I am not a diversion from your hero’s journey I have my own monsters to slay Not a pretty toy to add to your collection I have my own princess to save I am home again Not here to be rescued That is not what I said yes to What I tried to say was Walk beside me or walk awayYou saw me on a vast unconquerable frontier You heard my voice in desperation drawing you near Might this be your chance to meet your destiny? To save someone deep in the throes of need But my song was not directed at you I know these myths are never true I'm through with saviors who are mistaken That I am helpless, that I need saving And neither am I a lovely siren My only purpose your temptation Still it was easy to lure me to your land I love the promise of a future unplanned When fog no longer shrouded me you realized Your reflection never shone in my eyes The stars never twinkled so bright But I was still whole and wholly alone that night I am not a diversion from your hero’s journey I have my own monsters to slay Not a pretty toy to add to your collection I have my own princess to save I am home again Not here to be rescued That is not what I said yes to What I tried to say was Walk beside me or walk away

Through dangers untold And hardships unnumbered I've fought my way here To the castle beyond the goblin city To take back the child you have stolen For my will is as strong as yours And my kingdom as great (I know you want to rule me But you know you'll never fool me I have come all this way To take back the child you stole from me) You have no power over me!

I learned the truth at 27 That love was really meant for no one Still I tried to be a beauty queen I have fit myself into smaller spaces Tried on a thousand faces In some vague attempt to be seen It’s the almost, almost that tears me wide open Almost good enough Almost whole and I’ve almost been broken Unlearning how to stay unloved Do you remember when you told me You’d do anything to keep me And how quickly you forgot Did I ask the impossible When I needed tenderness Did I ask you to be someone you’re not It’s the almost, almost that kills me Thinking I’m a just little better than anyone else sees I’m eighty cents looking for a dollar A rescued kitten too good for her collar It’s the almost, almost that tears me wide open Almost good enough Almost whole and I’ve almost been broken Unlearning how to stay unloved

The songs of two battle-bloodied birds The last green leaf of a blighted bay The love that grows inside me now The new love it pulls in its wake Breathe out dullness and hopes neglected Breathe in fullness and nerves electric Only wish for luck and more wishes Let go of desires selfish The best spells are made of letting go Not reaching or climbing, but saying no There’s no room in any heart for something new and something broken They warn you about the emptiness Where fools rush in (but you’re a fool too) Or they tell you it will come when you stop looking So you stop Still, your hope blocks the door And you can’t clear your mind Of the pictures they planted Of happiness as a commodity Of the life you planned Still your hope blocks the door Until you let go Until you learn to say no