Lyrics: How things work

The first song I ever wrote that was worth a damn. It sounds like a song written by a friendless nerd who was unsuccessful with the ladies, which it was. Very new-wavy, like a lot of my songs.

How things work

Tab A into Slot B 
Instruction manuals are good for me 
Read them a lot, they tell me what’s next 
I can’t go wrong if I follow the text 

Filled with facts, easy to read 
They’ve got all the information I need 
I’ll say this though I get strange looks 
Some of my best friends are books 

Chorus: 
They tell me how things work 
This is how things work, work, work 
This is how things work… 

Got a girl? She’ll leave you 
For the lawyer in the BMW 
You can’t blame her, she’s a capitalist 
Making acquisitions and covering her assets 

She tells you how things work… 

I work hard with machines 
Switches, levers, lights all green 
A mover and a shaker I’ll never be 
‘Cause I won’t sleep with the executive v.p. 

He told me how things work… 

(You might learn something.)

(May 1986)