69 Love Songs volume one
 
1. Absolutely Cuckoo
2. I Don't Believe in the Sun
3. All My Little Words
4. A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off
5. Reno Dakota
6. I Don't Want to Get Over You
7. Come Back from San Francisco
8. The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
9. Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits
10. The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
11. I Think I Need a New Heart
12. The Book of Love
13. Fido, Your Leash is Too Long
14. How Fucking Romantic
15. The One You Really Love
16. Punk Love
17. Parades Go By
18. Boa Constrictor
19. A Pretty Girl is Like...
20. My Sentimental Melody
21. Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
22. Sweet-Lovin' Man
23. The Things We Did and Didn't Do

Special thanks to Claudia Mastroianni for transcribing the lyrics for volume one

1. Absolutely Cuckoo

                           E:022100
Don't fall in love with me yet

                 B:224442
We only recently met

                          F#:244322
True I'm in love with you but

                       B
you might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
go absolutely cuckoo
then, when you see your error,
then, you can flee in terror
like everybody else does
I only tell you this cause
I'm easy to get rid of
but not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
and if you make a mistake
my heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
and all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
 


2. I Don't Believe in the Sun

INTRO: F#:244322, B:224442, C#:446664, B

     F#                       B
They say there's a sun in the sky

    C#                  F#
but me, I can't imagine why

      B
There might have been one

  C#
before you were gone

    D#m:668876 C#         B
but now all I  see is the night, so

     F#        B            C# B
(C): I don't believe in the sun

F#           B             D#m  C#
How could it shine down on everyone

B    F#             C#
 and never shine on me

B F#              C#
  How could there be

B F#        C#
  such cruelty.

The only sun I ever knew
was the beautiful one that was you
Since you went away
it's nighttime all day
and it's usually raining too (C)

    B    F#          C#     F#
The only stars there really are

     B       F#      C#
were shining in your eyes
There is no sun except the one
that never shone on other guys
The moon to whom the poets croon
has given up and died
Astronomy will have to be revised (C)


3. All My Little Words

Ab:466544                              466644 Ab
          You are a splendid butterfly

                               Fm:133111
It is your wings that make you beautiful

                          Eb:668886
and I could make you fly away

Db:446664                            Ab   466644 Ab
          but I could never make you stay
You said you were in love with me
Both of us know that that's impossible
and I could make you rue the day
but I could never make you stay

                            Eb
(C): Not for all the tea in China

Db                            Ab
   not if I could sing like a bird
not for all North Carolina
not for all my little words
not if I could write for you
the sweetest song you ever heard
It doesn't matter what I do
not for all my little words.

Now that you've made me want to die
you tell me that you're unboyfriendable
and I could make you pay and pay
but I could never make you stay (C)


4. A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off

G:320033  D:x00232
Eligible, not too stupid,

  F:133211       C:032010
intelligible and cute as Cupid,
knowledgeable, but not always right,
salvageable and free for the night

             G
(C): Well my heart's running round

                                  C
like a chicken with its head cut off

     D
all around the barnyard

        C             G
falling in and out of love

    C    D       G
The poor thing's blind as a bat

                                  C
getting up, falling down, getting up

      D                   C
Who'd fall in love with a chicken

                   G
with its head cut off?

               C D
(Whoa, Nellie)

My wife doesn't understand me
Many dozens hope to land me
I'm for free love, and I'm in free fall
This could be love or nothing at all (C)

         C       D  C
We don't have to be stars

     G             D
exploding in the night

    G                        A:002220
or electric eels under the covers

         C
We don't have to be

D                   G
anything quite so unreal

              A
Let's just be lovers (C)

                 C D G
(It ain't pretty)


5. Reno Dakota

   G            D            C                  D*
E------------------------------------------------------------------
B----3---3---3-----------------------------------------------------
G--0---0---0------2---2---2-----0-----0-----0------2-----2-----2---
D---------------0---0---0-----------------------0-----0-----0------
A----------------------------3-----3-----3-------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------------

G
Reno Dakota there's not an iota

               D
of kindness in you

You know you enthrall me
and yet you don't call me

               G
It's making me blue
Pantone 292

Reno Dakota I'm reaching my quota
of tears for the year
Alas and alack
you just don't call me back
You have just disappeared
It makes me drink beer

  C
I know you're a recluse
You know that's no excuse

  G                D*
Reno that's just a ruse

       G             D*
Do not play fast and loose

        G
with my heart

Reno Dakota I'm no Nino Rota
I don't know the score
Have I annoyed you
or is there a boy who
Well he's just a whore
I've had him before
It makes me drink more


6. I Don't Want to Get Over You

                    C:032010  G:320033
I don't want to get over     you

                       C         G
I guess I could take a sleeping pill

    C         G
and sleep at will

                   D:x00232
and not have to go through
what I go through

                      C        G
I guess I should take Prozac, right,

         C          G
and just smile all night

             D
at somebody new

         Am:002210 Bm:224432
Somebody not too bright

    C          D
but sweet and kind
who would try to get you off my mind
I could leave this agony behind

         C              D
which is just what I'd do

   C        D
if I wanted to

                        C     G
but I don't want to get over you

cause I don't want to get over love
I could listen to my therapist,
pretend you don't exist,
and not have to dream of
what I dream of
I could listen to all my friends
and go out again
and pretend it's enough
or I could make a career of being blue
I could dress in black and read Camus
smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth
like I was 17
that would be a scream
but I don't want to get over you


7. Come Back from San Francisco

     D:x00232
Come back from San Francisco

   G:320033 A:002220
It can't be all that pretty

     G      A             D
when all of New York City misses you
Should pretty boys in discos
distract you from your novel
remember I'm awful in love with you

     G        A           G
(C): You need me like the wind

          A             G
needs the trees to blow in

         A             G
Like the moon needs poetry

         A
you need me

Come back from San Francisco
and kiss me, I've quit smoking
I miss doing the wild thing with you
Will you stay, I don't think so
but all I do is worry
Pack bags, call cabs and hurry
home to me (C)

D    A     G
When you betray me

          D
betray me with a kiss
Damn you
I've never stayed up as late as this


8. The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side

B:224442                  E:022100
Andy would bicycle across town

                         B
in the rain to bring you candy

                       E
and John would buy the gown

                       B
for you to wear to the prom

               E
with Tom the astronomer

                      F#:244322
who'd name a star for you

                          B
(C): But I'm the luckiest guy

                  G#m:466444
on the Lower East Side

      E
cause I've got wheels

    F#
and you want to go for a ride.

B                               E
Harry is the one I think you'll marry

         B
but it's Chris that you kissed

      F#
after school

      B
well I'm a fool, there's no doubt

    E
but when the sun comes out

         F#
and only when the sun comes out (C)

F#           E        B           F#
  The day is beautiful and so are you
My car is ugly but then I'm ugly too
I know you'd never give me a second glance
but when the weather's nice all the other guys don't stand a chance

  B
I know Professor Blumen

      E
makes you feel like a woman

    B
but when the wind is in your hair

    E
you laugh like a little girl

       B
So you share secrets with Lou

    E
but we've got secrets too

      F#          E                  F#
Well, one: I only keep this heap for you

cause I'm the ugliest guy
on the Lower East Side
but I've got wheels
and you want to go for a ride

Want to go for a ride?  (x3)


9. Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits

       A:002220   F#m:244222
If you knew how I long

        A               D:x00232 C#m:446654
for you now that you're gone

B#m:224432           E:022100
you'd grow wings and fly

        A
home to me

       F#m
home tonight

    A              D   E
and in the morning sun

                    A
Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits

            F#m
Let's do it all day long

               D
Let abbots, Babbitts and Cabots

           E
say Mother Nature's wrong
and when we've had a coupla beers
we'll put on bunny suits
I long to nibble your ears
and do as bunnies do

INTERLUDE: A, F#m, A, D, C#:446664, B#m, E

Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits
Let's do it all day long
rapidly becoming rabid
singing little rabbit songs
I can keep it up all night
I can keep it up all day
Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits
until we pass away
Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits
until we pass away


10. The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be

   G#m   B     F#          E     F     F#    D#
E----4-----7-----6-----2-----0-----1-----2-----3----
B----4-----7-----7-----2-----0-----1-----2-----4----
G---4-----8-----6------3----1-----2-----3-----3-----
D--6---6-9---9-8---8--4----2---2-3---3-4---4-5---5--
A--------------------4---4--------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------

    G#m:466444 B:224442   F#:244322
The cactus     where your heart should be

    E:022100 F:133211 F#      D#:668886
has lovely   little   flowers
so though it's always pricking me
my ardor never sours
The cactus where your heart once was
has power to rend and flay
I stick because I'm stuck, because
I just can't tear myself away


11. I Think I Need a New Heart

Em:022000 C:032010 G:320033
Time      stands   still

          D:x00232    Em   C        G
All I can feel is the time standing still

       D            Am:002210
as you put down the keys

        C     G      D
and say don't call me please

          C
while the radio plays

                      G C G    D
"I Think I Need a New Heart" ohhh

                      G C G    D
"I Think I Need a New Heart" ohhh

You've lied too
but it's a sin that I
can't tell the truth
cause it all comes out wrong
unless I put it in a song
so the radio plays
"I Think I Need a New Heart"
just for you
"I Think I Need a New Heart"

        C            G
cause I always say I love you

       D                 G
when I mean turn out the light
and I say let's run away
when I just mean stay the night
but the words you want to hear
you will never hear from me

           C    G              D
I'll never say "happy anniversary"
never stay to say "happy anniversary"

so I think I need a new heart ohhh
I think I need a new heart ohhh
I think I need a new heart ohhh
I think I need a new heart ohhh
Give me time


12. The Book of Love

Notes in parentheses are not played in the intro

E----------------------------------
B----------------------------------
G----4---5-------------------------
D----5---5-----------4---5---------
A--------------------5---5---------
E--3---3--(3)-(3)--3---3--(3)-(3)--

G:320033          C:032010       D:x00232 G
         The book of love is long and     boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures
and instructions for dancing
but I
I love it when you read to me
and you
you can read me anything
The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb
but I
I love it when you sing to me
and you
you can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring
and written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
and things we're all too young to know
but I
I love it when you give me things
and you
you ought to give me wedding rings
I
I love it when you give me things
and you
you ought to give me wedding rings


13. Fido, Your Leash is Too Long

A:002220   G:320033       D:x00232
Fido, your leash is too long
You go where you don't belong
You've been digging in the rubble
getting bitches in trouble
Fido, your leash is too long
Fido, your leash is too long
I don't know where I went wrong
You scare me out of my wits
when you do that Shitzu
Fido, your leash is too long
Fido, you've gone far enough
I must have all of your love
You've just run out of luck
I don't care what you foxhounds do
but your leash is too long


14. How Fucking Romantic

How fucking romantic
All the stars are out
twinkling twinkling twinkling
and fluttering about
What a tacky sunset
What a vulgar moon
Play another charming
Rodgers & Hart tune
How fucking romantic
Must we really waltz
Drag another cliche
howling from the vaults
Love you, obviously,
like you really care,
even though you treat me
like a dancing bear
Toss your bear a goldfish
as it cycles by
Don't forget to feed your bear
or it'll die


15. The One You Really Love

       Ab:466544           Eb:668886
I do believe our love's in danger

           Bbm:688666     Eb
I might as well be loving air
You look at me like I'm a stranger
You look at me like I'm not there

              Db:446664       Ab
(C): I gaze into your eyes of blue

              Eb            Ab
but their beauty is not for me
You're thinking on someone who's gone
You're dreaming of the one you really love

                Eb                      Ab
You're dreaming of the one (corpse) you really love. <-- corpse sung
                                                         in 3rd chorus
I made you mine, or so it seemed
Though he is dead he haunts your dreams
I might as well be two ft. tall
You never will love me at all (C)(C)


16. Punk Love

F:8-8-10-10-10-8 Eb:668886
Love love

F                   Bb:688766
Punk rock love punk love punk rock


17. Parades Go By

C:032010
         I'll linger here

                 Bb:113331
your ring upon my finger dear and sing till dawn

  F:133211                        C
a song of you and me and what and why
for time is all I have to keep

 Bb
between these walls and half asleep

         C
(C): The days go by

                            Bb
a million little nights and days go by <-- not sung in 3rd chorus

    C
and I don't mind  Parades go by

                    Bb
So many beautiful parades go by <-- not sung in 3rd chorus

      C
Leave me behind.

I'll sit and stare
how could I venture anywhere
and let the centuries fall where they may
but never die
for I have loved
and so I lost the world above
beyond the moss (C)(C)


18. Boa Constrictor

INTRO & INTERLUDE
E-----3-----------------------3----------------------
B---------5--5-7-8-7-5-----------------------5-------
G--4-5-4---7--77-7-7-5-5---4-5-4--9-7-------5--7-5---
D--5-5-5-7--7---5-5-5-5--5-5-5-5-7-9-795---5--5-5-5--
A---5---55--------------7---5---59-A-9-7--7----------
E-------------------------8--------------8-----------
                                   ^
                                   |
                                   I had to resort to
                                   hex notation here.
                                   A = 10

Or, perhaps this is easier:

E-----3---0--0-2-3-2-0--------3---0----------0-------
B--0-1-0---3--33-3-3-1-1---0-1-0----3-------1--3-1---
G--0-0-0-2--2---0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-2-4-240---0--0-0-0--
D---0---00--------------2---0---04-5-4-2--2----------
A-------------------------3--------------3-----------
E----------------------------------------------------

  G:320033 D:x00232  C:032010 G
I spend my eve   -   nings   alone

        C       G        D
talking to your picture, babe

G       D        C        G
Love is wrapped around my heart

         D              C
like a boa constrictor, babe
My mother should have murdered me
What jury would convict her, babe
for love is wrapped around my heart
like a boa constrictor, babe

Ends on E:022100


19. A Pretty Girl is Like...

   G           Am
E--333333--33-3000000--00-0-
B--300303--33-0100101--11-0-
G--000000--00-0200202--22-0-
D--000000--00-0222222--22-2-
A--222222--22-2000000--00-0-
E--333333--33-3000000--00-0-

  G:320033                       Am:002210
A pretty girl is like a minstrel show
It makes you laugh
It makes you cry

    G
You go

                              Am
It just isn't the same on radio

     C:032010      G              C
It's all about the makeup and the dancing

        D:x00232
and the Oh,
a pretty girl is like a violent crime
If you do it wrong you could do time
but if you do it right it is sublime

002200
I'm

Am              C
so in love with you, girl,

     G               D
it's like I'm on the moon
I can't really breathe, but I feel lighter

A melody is like a pretty girl
Who cares if it's
the dumbest in the world
It's all about the way that it unfurls

Am                                G
   A pretty girl is like a pretty girl


20. My Sentimental Melody

INTRO: C:032010, G:320033, Am:002210, F:133211, G

      C
I'm a hopeless romantic

         F
You're a terrible flirt

C          G             Bb:113331 F
Cool and unfazed, you're always   amazed

                  G
when someone gets hurt
I live on the blue planet
that I saw in your eyes
but now I can't stay
knowing it's made
of beautiful lies

         C                  Em:022000
(C): But my sentimental melody

Am                       G
   like a long-lost lullabye

     F            Em
will ring in your ears

E:022100         Am
down through the years

F          G            C   G
bringing a tear to your eye

F
Goodbye.

Love can kill people,
can't it
Well it still may kill me
Each drop of rain
is a glass of champagne
It's sweet and it's free
When I drink I don't panic
When I drink I don't die
When I'm far gone
it's all just a song
just beautiful lies (C)


21. Nothing Matters When We're Dancing

F:133211     C:032010 Bb:113331
Dance with me my       old friend
once before we go
Let's pretend this song won't end
and we never have to go home

          Gm:355333             C
and we'll dance among the chandeliers

    F                               Bb
(C): And nothing matters when we're dancing

C                           F
 In tat or tatters you're entrancing

                     Bb
Be we in Paris or in Lansing

C                           F
 nothing matters when we're dancing

C                           F
nothing matters when we're dancing.

You've never been more beautiful
your eyes like two full moons
as here in this poor old dancehall
among the dreadful tunes
the awful songs we don't even hear (C)


22. Sweet-Lovin' Man

A:002220           G:320033
There's an hour of sunshine

      A                G
for a million years of rain

        F#m:244222      D:x00232     E:022100 022200 E 022200 E
but somehow that always seems to be enough
When love falls from the sky
nobody ever asks why
You just take it or you leave it
Where it was

            Bm:224432        E
but there's just one kind of love
you can spend your life dreaming of

             A         G            D
(C): For the love of a sweet-lovin' man

          F#m      E       D
some have traveled far and wide

          F#m   E      D
some have given up and died
For the love of a sweet-lovin' man
some have broken down and cried
some have turned to dust inside
but I'll stay right here and hide

       A          G            A    G
in the arms of my sweet-lovin' man.

Until you've had sweet lovin'
there's no lovin' worth the name
but you can go blind
from crying all the time
and who said life was easy
and who said a man was fair
Well I wish you well
but keep your paws off mine
You can't buy one at the mall
but he'll come if you just call. (C)

BRIDGE: Bm, E, Bm, E, Bm, E, Bm, E

(C)

       A          G            A    G
in the arms of my sweet-lovin' man
in the arms of my sweet-lovin' man


23. The Things We Did and Didn't Do

B:224442         A:002220       E:022100
All the things I knew I didn't know and didn't want to know
that you told me just to tell me later that you'd told me so
Come flooding back to me now
Come on
Come flooding back to me now

All the things you said you'd never say and you said anyway
The things we did and didn't do
The things we did and didn't do
come flooding back to me now



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