Last of The Good Straight Girls 1995
Released 1995. Private Music. Susan’s national label debut (Private Music/BMG) created an audience for her beyond the east coast, with two tours with joan armatrading following this release, recorded in New York City and Los Angeles.
Produced by Fernando Saunders (Lou Reed’s long time bass player and collaborator), the cast of players includes Marshall Crenshaw and Mitchell Froom.
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1
Last of The Good Straight Girls
3:43
Lyrics
Last of The Good Straight Girls - Lyrics
She is waiting in the rain
She is taking a commuter train
She is wearing a beret
Always wanted just to look that way
She appreciates the thought
As you help her with the bag she brought
She extends a little smile
As she looks at you across the aisle
But gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
And your very first string of pearls
Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
And the last of the good straight girls
She is riding on the bus
And she winces when the people cuss
She is reading from a book
That she needed for a class she took
She puts a marker in the spine
As we're crossing over city line
As she steps down on the street
There's a man she never planned to meet
Hey gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
And your very first string of pearls
Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
And the last of the good straight girls
And you say oh, oh, oh, oh, where did the gentle women go
And you say where oh where is the town I used to know
And you say why, oh why is it slipping out of sight
Is there something in the night
Is there something out there happening in the night
Yeah
She bought a second-hand Ford
Doesn't bother with the bus no more
She rolls the windows up tight
When she's waiting at the traffic light
Through the bulletproof glass
She buys a paper and a tank of gas
Does she seem a little scared
Well she's always gotta be prepared
Hey gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
And your very first string of pearls
It's keys in hand and a gun in the pocket
Of the last of the good straight girls
Say goodbye to your Eisenhower-shiny world
Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
And the last of the good straight girls -
2
Still Believe
5:19
Lyrics
Still Believe - Lyrics
Lewis lost his marriage when he lost his illusions
That it had been the modern-day ideal
They both worked way too hard and made love way too little
No surprise she found that San Jose had more appeal
But last night I saw Lewis walking down by the river
With a suitcase in his hand
Lewis looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
"I'm going there to make her understand"
That I still believe, hmm, I still believe
I still believe, I still believe
I still believe, hmm, I still believe
I still believe, I still
Lucy lost her parents when she lost her illusions
That theirs had been the family ideal
Lucy dove into the fast and shiny city
She found her feet in dancing but she lost the heart to feel much of anything
But last night I saw Lucy walking down by the river
With a husband and a brand-new son
And Lucy looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
"Who'd have thought that I would be the one?"
But I still believe, I still believe
I still believe, I still believe
I still believe, I still believe
I still believe, I still
Laura lost her bearings when she lost her illusions
That she had nothing much to fear
She lost her ponytail and six long months of sleeping
When the Big C came to call last fall
But last night I saw Laura walking down by the river
And I could hardly hide my tears
Laura looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
"Wanna go with me to Italy next year?"
I still believe, mm-hmm, I still believe -
3
Man I Used To Love
4:09
Lyrics
Man I Used To Love - Lyrics
I could throw my things together
Hustle for the train
Pay my weight in silver
For the last seat on that westbound plane
I would fidget in the taxi
I would pray I find him in
Get down right there on my knees
But where would I begin
It's such a long way, a long way back
To the man I used to love
It's a long way, such a long way back
To the man I used to love
There were eyes that seemed to reach me
Arms that opened wide
There were lips that seemed to know me
It was bottled up inside me
It was winter up in Boston
It was springtime in DC
It was June in Chattanooga
It was much too much for me
Now it's a long way, a long way back
To the man I used to love
It's a long way, such a long way back
To the man I used to love
A beautiful thing, liberation
Lets you write your ticket to hell
Offer your own explanation
But the fact is this does not reflect too well on me
Now it's sizzling in Manhattan
And the sirens down below
Are screaming some disaster
Like I don't already know
That my anchorman is leaving me
Closing down the show
There's a preacher on the TV hollering
"Girl I told you so"
Now it's a long way, a long way back
To the man I used to love
It's a long way, such a long way back
To the man I used
To love
Such a long way back
Such a long way back to the man I used to love
It's a long way back
A long way, a long way
Such a long way -
4
St. Mary's Of Regret
4:07
Lyrics
St. Mary's Of Regret - Lyrics
I'm wearing that dress
I've pulled on those gloves
I put on my veil
We once were in love
We once had it all
The entire sky
We threw it away
And I wonder why
Passion's always half impossibility
But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
We visit them in mourning in December and in May
In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret
The end of the street
The wrought-iron gate
The cobblestone path
The names and the date
The anxious hello
The everyday laugh
The intimate tears
The epitaph
Passion's always half impossibility
But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
We visit them in mourning in December and in May
In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret
You're married by now
She's kind I suppose
Does she know what she has
Does she tell you she knows
Do you put on the suit
Do you try on the tie
Do you walk through that gate
Do you wonder why
Passion's always half impossibility
But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
Maybe someday there I'll see you in December or in May
In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret
In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret... -
5
No One Here But Me
4:13
Lyrics
No One Here But Me - Lyrics
I tried everything
I've been everywhere
I asked all my friends
And they've all been there
And it's always been
It'll always be
That there's no one here but me
I read the ancient walls
Walked the winding streets
Followed the pretty words
Slept in tangled sheets
But there is no cure
Across the sea
No there's no one here but me
And all the while
I've been wasting time
Putting the miles
In an uphill climb
Chasing the smiles
Of the satisfied
On the other side
He was the poet king
He was the promised land
He was the solid rock
He was the shifting sand
And the only thing
That's guaranteed
Is there's no one here but me
And all the while
I've been wasting time
Putting the miles
In an uphill climb
Chasing the smiles
Of the satisfied
On the other side
And all the years (yeah)
I just threw away
Wringing the tears (yeah)
From a perfect day
Chasing the ghost
Of a paradigm
From another time
So now there's no one to measure the size of my dreams
No one to tell me how crazy they seem
No one to tell me the way it ought to be
I get to write my history
I get to tell it like I see it
If there's no one here but me
Hey all the while (yeah)
I've been wasting time
Putting the miles (yeah)
In an uphill climb
Chasing the smiles
Of the satisfied
On the other side
And all the years (yeah)
I just threw away
Wringing the tears (yeah)
From a perfect day
Chasing the ghost (yeah)
Of a paradigm
From another time -
6
Through The Glass
4:40
Lyrics
Through The Glass - Lyrics
God was I naive
Waiting like some little lamb
Willing to believe
The story of the big strong man
Who follows his own dreams
The man who would be king some day
But it isn't all it seems
With something always in the way
And the empire falls with every word you're fumbling for tonight
And I can't bear to fool myself again
When you say
Hang on, just a little bit longer
You say
Hold on, just a little bit more
But I, I know now what I didn't before
And I will not love you through the glass
Such a sleight of hand
Such a touch with subtle lies
Such a fine command
Of every common alibi
But then you lost your grip
And sank into a six-pack slide
Living for the sip
And killing off the king inside you
Call it running from the shadows
Call it running from the light
But you're fumbling for my name again tonight
And you say
Hang on, just a little bit longer
You say
Hold on, just a little bit more
But I, I know now what I didn't before
And I will not love you through the glass
Why dream on a dream that burns me
Why dream on a dream expired
I'm told that this dream returns
But lately I'm
So tired
I used to be naive
Waiting like some little lamb
Willing to believe
The story of the big strong man
Follows his own dreams
The man who would be king some day
But it isn't all it seems
With empty bottles standing in the way
And you say
Hang on, just a little bit longer
You say
Hold on, just a little bit more
But I, I know now what I didn't before
And I will not love you through the glass
You say
Hang on, just a little bit longer
You say
Hold on, just a little bit more
But I, I know now what I didn't before
And I will not love you through the glass
I will not love you
I will not love you through it -
7
Some Other Town
4:08
Lyrics
Some Other Town - Lyrics
Some other town
Some other place
Some other eyes
Some other face
Some other tribe
Some other race
Lives in some other town
They shoot their drugs
They shoot their friends
And who's to blame
It all depends
There is a tear nobody mends
Down in some other town
In some other town
Somebody's boy
Is learning a dangerous trade
In some other town
Somebody's girl
Is joining the red-light parade
We contemplate
The business day
We throw the Sunday Times away
The cleaning ladies take their pay
Back to some other town
They take their cheque
They stand in line
Play every week
Lose every time
We call it fair
It could be crime
But that's some other town
In some other town
Somebody's boy
Has mastered his dangerous trade
In some other town
Somebody's girl
Is leading the red-light parade
Na na na na...
My heart is left
My head is right
My uniform
Suburban white
And I'll be driving home tonight
Over some other town
Around some other town
Right by some other town -
8
Yes to You (Tappan Zee)
4:05
Lyrics
Yes to You (Tappan Zee) - Lyrics
Well it was all worked out from here to Oklahoma
All mapped out across the Tappan Zee
All laid out like dresses at the tailor's
Someone's groom and someone's bride-to-be
But you walked up and you changed the conversation
Quite profoundly you rocked my point of view
And here I am still straightening the paintings
Working my mind overtime on you
Well how would it be
If I said yes to you
How would I find
The strength to pull me through it
And how would it feel
If I got next to you
Well I don't know
But I know I'm gonna, mm-hmm
Now when storm clouds roll they roll from one direction
West to east they roll up against the moon
But you I swear I did not see this coming
And I do not see it moving on too soon
And God devised a mighty mighty heavy magnet
To draw the world up together man and wife
But someone must have slipped you some exemption
To throw this mighty wrench into my life
Well how would it be
If I said yes to you
How would I find
The strength to pull me through it
And how would it feel
If I got next to you
Well I don't know
But I know I'm gonna
That's right
Yeah
Well how would it be
If I said yes to you
How would I find
The strength to pull me through it
How would it feel
If I got next to you
Well I don't know
But I know I'm gonna
That's right, that's right
Well I don't know
But I know I'm a-gonna
Mm-hmm
I know I'm a-gonna go home
Oh I know
I know I'm a-gonna go home
I know
I know I know I can't
I can't help myself
Oh no with you I'm going -
9
Something So Right
5:27
Lyrics
Something So Right - Lyrics
(By Paul Simon)
You got the cool water
When the fever runs high
You've got the look of love
Light in your eyes
And I was in crazy motion
'Til you calmed me down
It took a little time
To calm me down
When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
The first to admit it
The last one to know
But if something goes right
Oh it's likely to lose me
It's out to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight
I swear I can't
I can't get used to something so right
Something so right
They got a wall in China
That's a thousand miles long
To keep out the foreigners
They made it strong
And I got a wall around me
That you can't even see
It took a little time
To let you get next to me
When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
The first to admit it
The last one to know
But if something goes right
Oh it's likely to lose me
It's out to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight
I swear I can't
I can't get used to something so right
Mm something so right
Some people never say the words "I love you"
It's not their style
To be so bold
Some people never say those words "I love you"
But like a child
They're longing to be told
Mm
Something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
The first to admit it
The last one to know
But if something goes right
Oh it's likely to lose me
It's out to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight
I swear I can't
I can't get used to something so right
Mm something so right
Something so right
Something so right
Something so, something so right
Something so, something so right
So right, so right, so right
Something so right
Finally found myself
Something so right -
10
Signing Your Name
5:10
Lyrics
Signing Your Name - Lyrics
Once in a while in my living room
I look up at your face
The man in the hand-painted photograph
I know you from someplace
What comes so hard from history
Comes so easy to my pen
And I keep signing your name
While the world remains the same around you
And I keep signing your name
Is that all that remains of us
Year after year in the shrinking walls
Nothing to the exchange
Wood in the smiles at the holidays
And your kiss that fit me strange
What comes so hard from history
Comes so easy to my pen
And I keep signing your name
While the world stays the same around you
And I keep signing your name
Is that all that remains of us
Gave the truth to the lie
Turned your eye to the sky
Looked away when I looked your way
There's a myth in the air
It's too late to repair
But you look at me anyway
Now where the kiss and the smile would be
The distance lies instead
Nine hundred miles of what might have been
And a world of things much better left unsaid
And I keep signing your name
While the world stays the same around you
And I keep signing your name
Is that all that remains of us
I keep signing your name
While the world remains the same around you
And I keep signing your name
Is that all remains of us
I keep signing your name -
11
Much At All
3:15
Lyrics
Much At All - Lyrics
I like the sound of quiet with my coffee
I like the look of nothing on the wall
I like to read myself what's in the morning paper
I guess that I don't miss you much at all
I never shared your passion for the city
I never really cared for basketball
I seem to get along without the new New Yorker
I guess that I don't miss you much at all
But oh the days when we were lovers
Such the electric pair
Doomed in a way like all the others
Classic affairs are rare and fleeting
I must have missed the changing of the seasons
Well I've seen enough of New England in the fall
I've seen enough of anywhere we were together
I guess that I don't miss you much at all
Doomed in a way like all the others
Classic affairs are rare and fleeting
I'm staring out the window in the kitchen
I'm leaning on the railing in the hall
I'm trying for the life of me to do some living
It's good how I don't miss you much at all
