THE MAN ON THE LEDGE

once I was young, once I was smart,
but now I’m living on the edge of my nerves.
see, I called myself a writer but I never got paid,
sent letters back home and told my folks I’d got it made.
seems like I’m a natural born no good, and what’s more I’m living like that,
and if I trash this TV then I know that I’ll feel better,
if only for a while
while the world comes on like Nancy Sinatra
and walks all over me.
so Rusty, don’t you hang up
‘cos although I look so old
I still feel so young and alive
and I just want one friend.
see I’ve just run out of gas, stalled out on life’s highway
or something like that
and all I need is a voice on the line
to help me start again.
so hey Rusty
what do you say?

now I don’t want you to get me wrong
I’m not looking for an early grave
but I just can’t sit here idly and watch the days slip away
I don’t need a lover although once I imagined that I did
but Rusty I just though of you as someone I could trust
see I always believed in you although you don’t believe I do
‘cos I hurt you with those silly words you know were never true
and I never had a thing for you
except the very best intent
see it’s so hard to let go at the foot of the rainbow
but for you I’ve got a crock of gold to keep you warm when you’re old
and all I need is a voice on the line
to help me start again
so hey Rusty
what do you say?

I used to want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony
but all I got back in return was pain and misery
and rock ‘ roll I gave you all the best years of my life
all those crazy hazy days and moonlit summer nights
and I saw myself just sitting on the dock of a bay
while we had fun, fun, fun
until daddy took his T-Bird away
now morning has broken
just like the first morning
and shadows are falling like rain on the ground.
so Rusty, if you’d like to save the world
why don’t you start with one person at a time
and let that one be me.
I don’t want to be set free
but just released from all the darkness
that wears me like a cloak
see I need a hand to pick me up
and fix me when I’m broke
so hey Rusty
what do you say?

I never should of settled down
ended up hanging around in a one horse town
see the television man is crazy
says we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks
but man. I needed tv, when I had T.Rex
and where I stand the game we play is compromise solution
so you can bump and grind ‘cos it’s good for your mind
but you won’t fool the children of the revolution
and Christ you know it ain’t easy you know how hard it can be
the way things are going Rusty
they’re gonna crucify me
and if Jesus wants me for a sunbeam then he’d better come and take me soon
because I’m so tired of all this hanging around walking on the moon
‘cos when I die and they lay me to rest
I’d better go to the place that’s the best
see I need someone waiting
to catch me when I fall
hey Rusty
can you hear me at all?

so Jesus looks down and says son,
I know a doubter when I see one
And I’m still crazy after all these years
I never seemed to let it go
so keep your hands off my virgin prom queen
you can’t fool old friends with lights and limousines
and I’ll never go back to Big Sur
with Kerouac and my favourite girl
who left me all those years ago
but where she went well I don’t know
with her irregular head and heart of gold
a Hollywood kid she became but say,
whatever happened to Corey Haim?
I don’t want to end up just like him
say Rusty catch me
‘cos I think I’m falling.

Rusty, old buddy, are you still there?
say, come on Rusty,
and show me that you care.