The Hold Steady
Sideways Skull
[Verse 1]
She ordered me a Newcastle and handed me a Marlboro
Stuck a dove in my right hand
She took a quick picture, but even when we squinted
I didn't look so much like Robert Plant
She flew a flag that she made from a bedsheet
A sideways skull and a lopsided pentagram, said
"Asymmetrical's way more diabolical
You don't wanna make it look too perfect, man"
The trick is not getting cynical
She had a hairbrush mic and a fantasy band
She opened up with "We Are The Champions"
Went right into "Under my Wheels"
I was tryna figurе out how I feel

[Chorus]
Faded denim with the buttons and badgеs
Laminates and backstage passes (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Jacket held together by the rock band patches (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
And they let her smoke, but she can't have matches after last week's pyro disaster
She'd like me better if I didn't wear glasses

[Verse 2]
She said, "We're gonna do a show at The Pyramids"
She said she needs to take a call from her lawyers
Introduced me to the dudes that she's calling her crew
An assortment of sad self-destroyers
Sitting six to a table in the room off the kitchen
Telling stories about things they imagined
Like after the show, we got roofed on the Reeperbahn
Woke up in a video cabin
I was rolling my eyes at the ritual lies
Okay, maybe half of that happened
[Chorus]
She bites down on the caplet and the blood comes from her mouth
But it's hard to fully rock in a halfway house (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
The band would be better if they weren't such burnouts (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
The Beatle boots and the glam rock tophat
Isn't gonna make any difference
It never works when no one listens

[Interlude]

[Chorus]
Faded denim with the buttons and badges
Laminates and backstage passes (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
A jacket held together by the rock band patches
They let her smoke but she can't have matches (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Bites down on the capsule and the blood comes from her mouth
But it's hard to really rock in a halfway house
The pesky problem of the tepid turnout (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
I said, "I've got a band too, we're call The Price of Progress
We've got a reputation as New Hampshire's hardest" (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
"Our singer's psycho and our fans are violent
Once they let me loose, we're probably touring Europe" (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Our morning meetings in the room off the kitchen
New medication for the same old depression
It never works when no one listens
But it's sure nice to meet some fellow musicians