PUBLIC LIBRARY LYRICS

all songs by Jonathan Rundman

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SMART GIRLS

listen to me boys and learn important things
benefit from wisdom that experience brings
I will be specific, I will be direct
when you look for love, look for intellect

smart girls shine like laser light
‘cause they’re so sharp and they’re so bright
smart girls know the human heart
‘cause love is science, love is art

smart girls do their best and take a second look
smart girls wear their glasses to read their books
practice the piano in the afternoon
and hold your hand by the light of the moon

smart girls shine like laser light
‘cause they’re so sharp and they’re so bright
smart girls know the human heart
‘cause love is science, love is art
you’ll do well if you take my advice:
fall in love with a smart girl

smart girls make the grade, study through the night
smart girls pass the test, get the answers right
they’ll meet you after class at the library
and speak your name so quietly

smart girls shine like laser light
‘cause they’re so sharp and they’re so bright
smart girls know the human heart
‘cause love is science, love is art
you’ll do well if you take my advice:
fall in love with a smart girl

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, electric & acoustic guitar, bass, Hammond organ, synthesizer
Jason Victor: lead guitar
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion



FALLING DOWN

baby baby why you calling?
the sun is setting the shadows are crawling
you say you’re feeling lost and lonely
you hear the sound of your footsteps only
the house is empty your voice is shaking
you say you’re watching the plans you’re making falling down

baby I know how you’re feeling
just staring up at the ceiling
you watch the red sun as it goes down
it’s like you’re living there in a ghost town
sometimes you feel so paralyzed
no use in running if the sky is falling down

baby hear these words I’m saying
by your side is where I’m staying
lonely days may sometimes shake you
but can never overtake you
you have given me your true heart
and I will hold you up if you start falling down

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar, organ
Drew Glackin: rhythm & lead electric guitar, bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion


SECOND LANGUAGE

gotta get my license and learn my lessons
learn when Texas became a state
and I wish I never had this baby
I cannot study or sleep in late

when I wake up I speak my second language
I speak my second language when I catch my train
I work all day, I speak my second language
I speak my second language and do it all again

got a video camera built in my native country
I can set it up so it points at me
throughout my daytime just keep it running
I can make a movie, play it on TV

when I wake up I speak my second language
I speak my second language when I catch my train
I work all day, I speak my second language
I speak my second language and do it all again

about this time last year I was all alone
my fiancée was put in jail
now we’re together but it’s no better
we were sweeter when we sent mail

when I wake up I speak my second language
I speak my second language when I catch my train
I work all day, I speak my second language
I speak my second language and do it all again

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, Wurlitzer electric piano
Mary Lee Kortes: harmony vocals
Mary Rowell: violin, viola, string quartet score
Dorothy Lawson: cello
Drew Glackin: bass
Konrad Meissner: drums


NARTHEX

shadows are long in the parking lot
the sun is at the horizon
20-some cars line up together
the headlights and engines shut down
people then walk to the building
some will hold open the doors
inside are walls and windows and ceilings
inside are the footsteps from decades before
and I’ll meet you there in the narthex

people step through the double doors
to find their place in the nave
row after row they close their eyes
heaven knows what they will say
half-light shines from the outside
turned into colors by glass
echoing high in the rafters above
are the sounds of a thousand years past
and I’ll meet you there in the narthex

this place is just brick and mortar and stone
held together by wood and steel alone
just a building on a road in a town in the world
and I’ll meet you there

everyone forms two parallel lines
moving up close to the front
steadily crossing the transcept
flowing like blood through a heart
under the arch of the chancel
under the banners and flames
the spin of the earth is in rhythm
and the people are hearing their names
and I’ll meet you there in the narthex

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar, organ
Drew Glackin: rhythm & lead electric guitar, bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion

747s

let’s go out to the airfield
for them transatlantic flights
stop out by the chain-link fence
at the end of the runway lights
see the sunshine on the wingspan
see the wheels lifting off the ground
yeah, I think our love’s going somewhere baby
can’t you hear the engine sound

747s look beautiful
soaring into skies of blue
747s are taking off
like my love for you

let’s lay back on the tarmac
just looking up at the clouds
see that jet pass overhead
and our hearts start pounding loud
love is fast, love is dangerous
love can take you high
like a hundred tons of steel and fuel
graceful in the sky

747s look beautiful
soaring into skies of blue
747s are taking off
like my love for you

I wanna be your darlin’
in the shadow of the planes
we can build our home in the flight path
so we can hear them call our names
and when those engines roar up in the air
you can turn your eyes above
and see that silver angel fly
and know how much I love you

747s look beautiful
soaring into skies of blue
747s are taking off
like my love for you

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar
Drew Glackin: electric guitar, baritone guitar, lap steel, bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion




ALMOST NEVER SEE

out on highway 90 I am sleeping in my car
pulled over at a weigh station at a quarter after three
I could not part with forty bucks for the Kingsway Motor Inn
so I drove out at that time of night that you almost never see

I got sunrise on the driver’s side, I got moonlight on the right
and half a dozen diesel engines are singing me to sleep
a state patrolman looks into my window as he drives
and the sky has turned that color blue that you almost never see

well, I got a girl but she don’t know where I am tonight
and there ain’t no way that she could get a hold of me
broken-hearted lovers they are everywhere you turn
but I know we got something that you almost never see

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, mandolin, organ
Mary Rowell: violin
Drew Glackin: Weissenborn slide guitar
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion



THE SERIOUS KIND

we got trouble, a whole lot of trouble
we got the serious kind
we got trouble, a whole lot of trouble
we got the serious kind

we got fear, a whole lot of fear
we got the serious kind
we got fear, a whole lot of fear
we got the serious kind

we all got fear, the greatest to least
South to the North, West to the East
everywhere you look you’re gonna find
we got fear – the serious kind

we need hope, a whole lot of hope
we need the serious kind
we need hope, a whole lot of hope
we need the serious kind

we need love, a whole lot of love
we need the serious kind
we need love, a whole lot of love
we need the serious kind

we all need love, the greatest to least
South to the North, West to the East
everywhere you look, you’re gonna find
we need love – the serious kind

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Mary Lee Kortes: harmony vocals
Drew Glackin: lap steel, bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion


LIBRARIAN

when I was just a baby, before I could speak
I would line up all my letter blocks alphabetically
and now it’s my vocation and my passion to assign
every decimal-numbered shelf to every decimal-numbered spine

I’m a librarian, I’m a librarian
and I like it quiet so the pages can be heard
I’m a librarian, I’m a librarian
and I do it for the love of the word

I bring order out of chaos, I shine light into the dark
because power comes from knowledge just like fire from a spark
and like Gutenberg and Luther with press and pen in hand
I take the message to the masses in a form they understand

I’m a librarian, I’m a librarian
and I like it quiet so the pages can be heard
I’m a librarian, I’m a librarian
and I do it for the love of the word

and when the day is over I go home at 5:03
and I give thanks to God and then to Andrew Carnegie
and the U.S. Constitution and Orwell, Poe, and Twain
and I’ll return at 8AM to open up again

I’m a librarian, I’m a librarian
and I like it quiet so the pages can be heard
I’m a librarian, I’m a librarian
and I do it for the love of the word

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar, organ
Drew Glackin: 12-string electric guitar, bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion






PARK RIVER BRIDGE

no water underneath the trestle
no train on the ties above
spray paint on the metal
words of alcohol and love

electrical cable couldn’t hold the weight
couldn’t take the strain of a grown man
Park River Bridge could’ve been my gallows
that bridge could’ve been the end

I never set out to court my fate
or terrify my dear Michelle
old Sam Clemens he wrote that fiction
yeah, but now I live to tell

electrical cable couldn’t hold the weight
couldn’t take the strain of a grown man
Park River Bridge could’ve been my gallows
that bridge could’ve been the end

I trusted oh so blindly
I took a foolish chance
should’ve learned my lesson from Tornado:
yeah, “there is no romance”

electrical cable couldn’t hold the weight
couldn’t take the strain of a grown man
Park River Bridge could’ve been my gallows
that bridge could’ve been the end

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar, Hammond organ, chord organ, harmonica
Drew Glackin: lap steel, bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

we were wondering if the showdown would begin
where if someone draws then no one wins
I wanna be together with you baby again
through the crisis
we never thought this morning when we kissed goodbye
it might be the last time I looked in your eyes
and then I heard all the reports, I realized
we’re in a crisis

this war is cold but we burn hot
nations can be conquered but the heart cannot
with the force of this love, baby, we can level this town
yeah, I wanna have you with me here if the bombs fall down

we had no way of knowing when you went away
here with me you should’ve stayed
no one could’ve told us it would be the day
the day of the crisis
from Havana to Moscow and to DC
it seems like the distance from you to me
close to you I wanna be
through the crisis

this war is cold but we burn hot
nations can be conquered but the heart cannot
with the force of this love, baby, we can level this town
yeah, I wanna have you with me here if the bombs fall down

if you can return to me once more
I’ll be there to meet you at the door
together we can face atomic war
if you’re gonna die I’ll die with you
if you brave the winter I will too
until we know the answer I will see you through

this war is cold but we burn hot
nations can be conquered but the heart cannot
with the force of this love, baby, we can level this town
yeah, I wanna have you with me here if the bombs fall down

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, Wurlitzer electric piano, organ, harmonica
Mary Lee Kortes: harmony vocals
Drew Glackin: bass
Konrad Meissner: drums, percussion


EVERY TOWN’S THE SAME

well, I used to put the car in park to see what I could see
but now those words on highway signs have lost their mystery
yeah, I love freeway driving and my windshield picture frame
but I don’t care to stop this car ‘cause every town’s the same

every town’s the same, yes, every town’s the same
they got different maps, they got different names
but every town’s the same

I always watched for differences, I made a thousand searches
I played guitar in smoky bars and in basements of the churches
and in cities, towns, and suburbs I had seen it all before:
cars, lights, restaurants, parking lots and stores

every town’s the same, yes, every town’s the same
they got different maps, they got different names
but every town’s the same

are you driving with a reason?
are you reasoning with drive?
you know if the heart stops moving
then you stop being alive…you gotta stay alive

now, when I take the Myers-Briggs I always test “perceiving”
so I don’t like to stay too long and I always love the leaving
yeah, I’m living for the journey and not the destination
so the only place you’ll see me stopped is at the filling station

every town’s the same, yes, every town’s the same
they got different maps, they got different names
but every town’s the same

Jonathan Rundman: vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Drew Glackin: Weissenborn slide guitar, vocals
Konrad Meissner: percussion, vocals
Walter Salas-Humara: percussion, vocals