A Man Needs A Woman Or A Man To Be A Man - Bill Callahan

When you leave, I go into our room

And lay me down on birds of paradise

It’s pretty womanly in here!

Roses noting every move

Nothing goes on except what should

A vast legacy of good

And I don’t know if I can uphold it on my own

I don’t know if I can uphold it on my own

I don’t know if I’m to be trusted

In our room

Alone

A man needs a woman or a man

To be a man

A man needs a woman or a man

To be a man

The light is explicit

Between nine and noon

The light shows a life to things thought dead

LIke oaken legs and fireworks beneath the bed

Fireworks are wasted in the day

I set 'em off anyway

To pass the time 'til you return

I Can’t see a thing 'til you return

Maybe a little smoke 'til you return

With fireworks

More fireworks!

And you tell me to wait

Just wait, wait

Just wait

A man needs a woman or a man

To be a man

A man needs a woman or a man

To be a man

And when it’s good and dark

The sky a wet black

Like earth has turned

You say OK

Now is time, OK Like earth has turned

Above us explode a golden lion dripping red

A blue bear spitting white

A spider of fire on a web of sparks

A green dragon with spiralled eyes

Fireworks light the way

Fireworks light the way

Before us lie many a night

Before us lie fireworks in boxes

But only in you

Deep in you

Only in you

Deep in you

Is the fire that lights them

A man needs a woman or a man

To be a man

A man needs a woman or a man

To be a man