Jeffrey Lewis - Avenue A, Shanghai, Hollywood lyrics

Once upon a time there was a princess man
He had the special powers
Of the checkout scan
He could price out any product from the UPCs
But he couldn't see the
Forest for the symmetries

A perfect paranoia now engulfs my pets
That I'm using them as
Simple social safety nets
I wish this loneliness upon myself, I'm told
Cause both puppy chow and vengeance
Aren't just served cold

Meeting with the neighbor traps you in a chat
The dog is kind of bored
Until she lays down flat
I just walk out and wander
Like a floating bag
And a city dog can always get a hearty wag

So face it, you can't win
Who has to try this hard?
I guess the ace that’s in my
Sleeve is just a pity card
But I know I rode a
Camel from this camera shot
And I must’ve had some sexy
Times that I forgot

I wait to fall in love, I wait to see Brazil
I wait to see if plants survive my windowsill
I wait to see the Northern
Lights I always missed like chicken breast
It’s piled in my bucket list

But with laughter and with pain
That’s a broken heart
When happy ever after is the way it starts
But if there's potholes in the
Rock and roll I tell
At least it’s still a pothole
On the road to hell

Avenue A was once enthused I guess
In retrospect compared to all
This plywood mess
Like a dog sit's in depression
Touching chin to floor
No one with a job has got the dough no more

Now he’s packing heat and gigging in Shanghai
And no one knows he's secretly a famous guy
An everlasting fire burns among
The cancer smoke
Like a journalist still asking
"what is antifolk?"

Anyone can catalogue the reasons here
Any rationale can be a thing I think
Any word of welcome can be sweet and clear
With a hidden scammy virus in the hyperlink

But tell us little stories till
We feel more good
Tell us little stories just like Hollywood
Tell us little stories so the hours pass
As we row to reach the
Island of the middle class