As I got hit by a car there was a message for me
As I went through the windshield, I noticed something

Subliminal (subliminal)
In an unnoticeable way
Important (important)
And hard to see
Subliminal (subliminal)
Subliminal (subliminal)

While lying there in my bed there was a message for me
As I went through the pillow, I noticed something

Subliminal (subliminal)
In an unnoticeable way
Important (important)
And hard to see
Subliminal (subliminal)
Subliminal (subliminal)



[each column and line in each stanza is sung simultaneously:]

[John Linnell:]
(Subliminal)       (Subliminal)
Stare into the subliminal for as long as you can

[JL:]
(Subliminal)       (Subliminal)                    [John Flansburgh:]
Stare into the subliminal for as long as you can  (Stare into the subliminal)

[JL:]
(Subliminal)       (Subliminal)                    [JF:]
(Stare into the...         subliminal)             (for as long as you can)
Stare into the subliminal for as long as you can  (Stare into the subliminal)

[JL:]
(Subliminal)       (Subliminal)                    [JF:]
(Stare into the...         subliminal)             (for as long as you can)
Stare into the subliminal for as long as you can  (Stare into the subliminal)

[JL:]
(Subliminal)       (Subliminal)                    [JF:]
(Stare into the...         subliminal)             (for as long as you can)
Stare into the subliminal for as long as you can  (Stare into the subliminal)

[JL:]
(Subliminal)       (Subliminal)                    [JF:]
(Stare into the...         subliminal)             (for as long as you can)
Stare into the subliminal for as long as you can  (Stare into the sublim...)

Sir hand
Or is it ma'am?
I fell out of my right place again
And you
Considered me
And now I'm where a snail has to be

I want to thank you for putting me back in my snail shell
I want to thank you for putting me back in my snail shell

Was it something you would do for anybody?
Was it what you'd only do for me? 
I need to know because you see
I want to thank you for putting me back in my snail shell

Friend
Look what you gave
And how can you ever be repaid?
How may I give you a hand
From the position at your feet where I stand?

So let me thank you for putting me back in my snail shell
I'd like to thank you for putting me back in my snail shell

Was it something you would do for anybody?
Was it what you'd only do for me? 
I need to know because you see
I want to thank you for putting me back in my snail shell

Snail shell
Thank you
Snail shell
Thank you

Ah
Ah
Ah

Was it something you would do for anybody?
Was it what you'd only do for me? 
Or was it something where you acted when you saw the need 
And knew that there would be a way the act could be repaid? 
And so it may, but for today, I want to thank you for putting me back in my snail shell

I got a crush
Copy shop clerk
But she won't look up at me
Don't want to be known as the freak
Who just comes around to catch her eye

We could be sleeping in the flowers
We could sleep all afternoon
You'd proclaim that you're an island
I'd proclaim that I'm one too
Then we float into the harbor
With just piers and boats around
I declare that I am England
You declare that I have drowned

I got a ride
Home with a drunk guy
How ungrateful I must have seemed
He showed me how
To spin my head round and round

We could be sleeping in the flowers
We could sleep all afternoon
You'd proclaim that you're an island
I'd proclaim that I'm one too
Then we float into the harbor
With just piers and boats around
I declare that I am England
You declare that I have drowned

We could be sleeping in the flowers
We could sleep all afternoon
You'd proclaim that you're an island
I'd proclaim that I'm one too
Then we float into the harbor
With just piers and boats around
I declare that I am England
You declare that I have drowned

We'll be sleeping in the flowers
Tell my boss that I've been fired
We'll be sleeping in the flowers
Tell my boss that I've been fired
We'll be sleeping in the flowers
Tell my boss I'm fired
We'll be sleeping in the flowers
Tell my boss I'm fired

"Do you smile 'cause I'm funny?" said the man
"I wasn't joking and I meant the thing I said"
"Not at all, not at all"
Said the woman to the man
"I was thinking of an unrelated thing"

Unconnected and free
No relationship to anything

"How come you never look me in the eye?
Aren't you listening to me?" said the man
"Not at all, not at all"
Said the woman to the man
"I'm still thinking of an unrelated thing"

Somewhere other than here
Something else besides the man

"Please explain the expression on your face
Then I'll know what's beneath it," said the man
"No you won't, no you won't"
Said the woman to the man
"I'll be thinking of an unrelated thing
I'll be thinking of an unrelated thing"

It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away

We can't fly like birds in
The air
We could walk but we'd never
Get there

It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away

Big hand's on one-twenty
Little hand's on E

Hey, NyQuil driver
It's NyQuil driving time
Hey, NyQuil driver
Get outta my lane, get outta my way

It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away

Hey, NyQuil driver
It's NyQuil driving time
Hey, NyQuil driver
Get outta my lane, Get outta my way
Get outta my way

Hey, NyQuil driver
It's NyQuil driving time
Hey NyQuil driver
Get outta my lane, get outta my way
Get outta my way

It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away
It's just a full day's drive away

I saw the best minds of my generation
Destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical
I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think

I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If, by random whim, one occurs to me
If necessary, leave paper stains on the gray utility pole

I saw the worst bands of my generation
Applied by magic marker to dry wall
I should be allowed to shoot my mouth off
I should have a call-in show

I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If by random whim, one occurs to me
If necessary, leave paper stains on the gray utility pole

I am not allowed
To ever come up with a single original thought
I am not allowed
To meet the criminal government agent who oppresses me

I was the worst hope of my generation
Destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical
I should be allowed to share my feelings
I should be allowed to feel

I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If by random whim, one occurs to me
But sadly, this can never be

I am not allowed to think
I am not allowed to think
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)

When I walk down the street, most guys look like elves
I don't mean to put them down but they do
It's hard to understand me from the language I use
There's no word in English for my style

What's a man like me supposed to do
With all this extra savoir-faire?
What is left for me to prove, dear?

I know just what to do when the ladies come 'round
You can try to copy me but you'll fail
Now, you might think you're different but time will prove me right
When you wake up from your dream I'll be gone

What's a man like me supposed to do
With all this extra savoir-faire?
What is left for me to prove, dear?

"No More Mister Nice Guy"
"I Love the Dead"
I've been thinking about it
Now I understand what he said

Ask me now
I understand the words that Alice said
I kick the rocks beneath me
I squint at the sun
Sad, sad, sad, sad
Why must I be sad?
The rows of dandelions growing all around me
Why must I be sad? (sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad, sad)

No one knows these things but me and him
So I'm writing everything down in a spiral notebook
In the hopes that some day
Other people will feel as low as this

Ask me now
I understand the words that Alice said
I kick the rocks beneath me
I squint at the sun
Sad, sad, sad, sad
Why must I be sad?
The rows of dandelions growing all around me
Why must I be sad? (sad, sad, sad)

"No More Mister Nice Guy"
"I Love the Dead"
I've been thinking about it
Now I understand what he said

Ask me now
I understand the words that Alice said
I kick the rocks beneath me
I squint at the sun
Sad, sad, sad, sad
Why must I be sad?
The rows of dandelions growing all around me
Why must I be sad? ("Welcome to My Nightmare" / "Dead)
Why must I be sad? (Babies" / "Raped and Freezing" / "You)
Why must I be sad? (Drive Me Nervous" / "Elected" /)
Why must I be sad? ("Generation Landslide" / "Un-)
Why must I be sad? (der My Wheels" / "Muscle of Love" /)
Why must I be sad? ("School's Out" / "Only Women Bleed" /)
Why must I be sad? ("Billion Dollar Babies")
Why must I be sad? (sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad)

I see you from my spy plane, baby
I see you walking on the ground
I see you through my spy glasses, baby
I can see right through the ground
If you want to be a spy
Then you must really see
And you must really see
If you want to be a spy like me

Come on

I might gaze on a submarine
I see your face smiling at me
Even when I close my eyes
Your silhouette is smiling at me
But you will never understand me
Because I have a special job
I wish I could break the spy glass
Set it free
So we could be

Spy spy spy spy
Spy spy spy spy
Spy spy spy spy
Spy spy spy spy

Spy

O, do not forsake me, my indolent friends
O, do not forsake me though you know I must spend
All my darkest hours talking like this
For I am one thousand years old

One thousand years old
Sure, you think that's old
One thousand years old
But what do you know?
In my darkest hour I'm talking like this
For I am one thousand years old

Oh, some have forgotten the flower of speech
And walks through the garden where I go to defend
Misbegotten notions while talking like this (Misbegotten notions)
For I am one thousand years old

One thousand years old (One thousand years old)
Sure, I'd say that's old (So old)
One thousand years old (Real old)
But what do I know? (You know that)
In your darkest hour, my indolent friends
We'll be one thousand years old

In my prison cell I think these words
I was careless
I can see that now
I must be silent
Must contain my secret smile
I want to tell you
You my mirror
You my iron bars

When I made a shadow on my window shade
They called the police and testified
But they're like the people chained up in the cave
In the allegory of the people in the cave by the Greek guy

No one understands
No one knows my plan
Why the dancing, shouting
Why the shrieks of pain
The lovely music
Why the smell of burning autumn leaves

No one understands
No one knows my plan
Why the dancing, shouting
Why the shrieks of pain
The lovely music
Why the smell of burning autumn leaves

In my prison cell I bide my time
Always thinking
Always busy cooking up an angle
Working on the tiny blueprint of the angle
Sketching out the burning autumn leaves

No one understands
No one knows my plan
I must be silent, must contain my secret smile
I want to tell you
You my mirror
You my iron bars

No one understands
No one knows my plan

Here comes the dirt bike
Beware of the dirt bike
Because I hear they're coming to our town
They've got plans for everyone
And now I hear they're over their sophomore jinx
So you had better check it out

All hail the dirt bike
Philosopher dirt bike
Silence as we gathered round
We saw the word and were on our way

Now it's brain-washing dirt bike
Ground-shaking dirt bike
Mind-bending dirt bike
In control

Soul-crushing dirt bike
Self-propelled dirt bike
You see I never thought I'd understand
Till that bike took me by the hand
Now I ride
Ride
Ride

Don't bother to call this room
There's nobody here who can pick up
Or has stuff they need to talk about
And who won't be now checking out and flying

By rocket to the moon
By airplane to the rocket
By taxi to the airport
By front door to the taxi
By throwing back the blanket, hanging down the legs

Thank you for the card with the cartoon nurse
But you see there's nothing wrong with me
You think, "That's what you think
That's what they all say"
Before I blow you away

By rocket to the moon
By airplane to the rocket
By taxi to the airport
By front door to the taxi
By throwing back the blanket, hanging down the legs

Soon the man who sweeps the room
Brings the secret telegram
"COMMENCE OFFICIAL INTERPLANETARY EXPLORATION"

Thank you for the card with the cartoon nurse
But you see there's nothing wrong with me
You think, "That's what you think
That's what they all say"
Before I blow you away

By rocket to the moon
By airplane to the rocket
By taxi to the airport
By front door to the taxi
By throwing back the blanket, hanging down the legs

By rocket to the moon
Crawl to the rocket
By coughing at the airport
By limping to the taxi
By throwing back the blanket, hanging down the withered leg

I'm sitting on the curb
Of the empty parking lot
Of the store where they let me play the organ
I'm waiting for my ride
But I want to wait inside
The store where they let me play the organ

But I'm thinking of a wooden chair
In the room at the top of the stair
And I'm looking down the stairwell

At the vanishing dot
On the map of the spot
Let me take you there
The dotted line
Surrounding the mind
Of a self called nowhere
It's a thing named "it"
In a bottomless pit
You can't see it there
The sunken head
That lies in the bed
Of a self called nowhere

Standing in my yard
Where they tore down the garage
To make room for the torn down garage
I'm looking for my car
But I must have sold my car
When I needed to buy an electric organ

But I'm thinking of a wooden chair
In the room at the top of the stair
And I'm looking down the stairwell

At the vanishing dot
On the map of the spot
Let me take you there
The dotted line
Surrounding the mind
Of a self called nowhere
It's a thing named "it"
In a bottomless pit
You can't see it there
The sunken head
That lies in the bed
Of a self called nowhere
Nowhere

The vanishing dot
On the map of the spot
Let me take you there
The dotted line
Surrounding the mind
Of a self called nowhere
It's a thing named "it"
In a bottomless pit
You can't see it there
The sunken head
That lies in the bed
Of a self called...

Meet James Ensor
Belgium's famous painter
Dig him up and shake his hand
Appreciate the man

Before there were junk stores
Before there was junk
He lived with his mother and the torments of Christ
The world was transformed
A crowd gathered round
Pressed against his window so they could be the first

To meet James Ensor
Belgium's famous painter
Raise a glass and sit and stare
Understand the man

He lost all his friends
He didn't need his friends
He lived with his mother and repeated himself
The world has forgotten
The world moved along
The crowd at his window went back to their homes

Meet James Ensor
Meet James Ensor
Belgium's famous painter
Dig him up and shake his hand
Appreciate the man

When the hands that operate the motor lose control of the lever
When the mind of its own in the wheel puts two and two together
When the indicator says you're out of oil
Should you continue driving anyway?
There's a thermostat that regulates the temperature
That might not be reliable
That should be disconnected

Turn it up, turn it down
Turn it up when the cold brings you down
When the heat bothers you, turn it down
Turn it up, turn it down

As I was just saying
As I was just saying
As I was just telling you a minute ago

I was just talking and someone interrupted
Or was it a loud explosion?
Or is the thermostat engulfed in flames
Or is it just me?

Turn it up, turn it down
Turn it up when the cold brings you down
When the heat bothers you, turn it down
Turn it up, turn it down

As I was just saying
As I was just saying
As I was just saying

Turn it up, turn it down
Turn it up when the cold brings you down
When the heat bothers you, turn it down
Turn it up, turn it down

Turn it up, turn it down
Turn it up when the cold brings you down
When the heat bothers you turn it down
Turn it up, turn it down

Look at all the people in the window
I'm checking out the people in the window
I was uncomfortable
Now I'm uncomfortable
The trouble I encountered when I thought it was, it was a window

It was a catalog
Of many women, men
The window
Window
Window

Look at all the people in the window
I'm checking out the people in the window
I was uncomfortable
Now I'm uncomfortable
The trouble I encountered when I thought it was, it was a window

Long before the screen door slammed
She was out of Xenia
A stranger could have loved that town
But she had to leave

I wish I'd gotten to know her
Before I fell in love
I could say who's to blame
Say who's the man
In this cautionary tale
But I swore I'd be true
And I'll swear and I'll swear
'Til Kitten's out of jail

It was like a TV show
The way she stole that car
Easy now to criticize
Easy now to talk

I thought my luck was changing
I guess I was wrong
I could say who's to blame
Say who's the man 
In this cautionary tale
But I swore I'd be true
And I'll swear and I'll swear
'Til Kitten's out of jail

Didn't want to be a slave
Just turned out that way

I wish I'd gotten to know her
Before I fell in love
I could say she's to blame
Say she's the man
In this cautionary tale
But I swore I'd be true
And I'll swear and I'll swear
'Til Kitten's out of jail

Stomp Box speak my thought
Vent these voices from the dark
Shout Shout Shout Shout
Scream it out
Blast your missive
Tell the wordless message
Little Stomp Box
Tear it from my heart

Stomp Box, voice of fear
Pour the poison in my ear
Kill Kill Kill Kill
Kill me now
Free the demon
Hear the ceaseless screaming
Little Stomp Box
Tear it from my heart

Stomp Box speak my thought
Vent these voices from the dark
Shout Shout Shout Shout
Scream it out
Blast your missive
Tell the wordless message
Little Stomp Box
Tear it from my heart

Kill Kill Kill Kill
Kill me now
Free the demon
Hear the ceaseless screaming
Little Stomp Box
Tear it from my heart

Yeah!

There's a girl with a crown and a scepter
Who's on WLSD
And she says that the scene isn't what it's been
And she's thinking of going home
That it's old and it's totally over now
And it's old and it's over, it's over now
And it's over, it's over, it's over now
I can see myself

At the end of the tour
When the road disappears
If there's any more people around
When the tour runs aground
And if you're still around
Then we'll meet at the end of the tour
The engagements are booked through the end of the world
So we'll meet at the end of the tour

Never to part since the day we met
Out on Interstate 91
I was bent metal, you were a flaming wreck
When we kissed at the overpass
I was sailing along with the people
Driving themselves to distraction inside me
Then came a knock on the door which was odd
And the picture abruptly changed

At the end of the tour
When the road disappears
If there's any more people around
When the tour runs aground
And if you're still around
Then we'll meet at the end of the tour
The engagements are booked through the end of the world
So we'll meet at the end of the tour

This was the vehicle; these were the people
You opened the door and expelled all the people
This was the vehicle; these were the people
You opened the door and expelled all the people
This was the vehicle; these were the people
You let them go

At the end of the tour
When the road disappears
If there's any more people around
When the tour runs aground
And if you're still around
Then we'll meet at the end of the tour
The engagements are booked through the end of the world
So we'll meet at the end of the tour
And we're never gonna tour again
No, we're never gonna tour again