random rules

in 1984 i was hospitalized for approaching perfection

slowly screwing my way across europe

they had to make a correction

broken and smoking where the infrared deer plunge in the digital snake

i tell you

they make it so you can't shake hands when they make your hands shake

i know you like to line dance

everything so democratic and cool

but baby

there's no guidance when random rules

i know that a lot of what i say has been lifted off of men's room walls

maybe i've crossed the wrong rivers and walked down all the wrong halls

but nothing can change the fact that we used to share a bed

and that's why it scared me so when you turned to me and said

yeah

you look like someone

yeah

you like someone who up and left me low

boy

you look like someone i used to know

i know you like to line dance

everything so democratic and cool

but baby

there's no guidance when random rules

i asked a painter why the roads are colored black

he said

steve