Italy

So there we were in the heart
Where everything that we know got its start
Then it all fell apart
Well I guess that's what you get
When you spread yourself too thin

But we had bigger fish to fry
Like findin' a place to sleep at night
I'd bought a slice of pizza
Just to try and kill some time
And for a minute everything was fine

We had a number in our notebook
But it was way too late to call
It was well after midnight
When our train passed through the city walls
We didn't know this girl at all

So we got out our travel book
To read about the neighborhood
Said it wasn't very good
But it felt alright to me
All I wanted to do was go to sleep

So we walked around the corner
And we found a cheap motel
We knew we couldn't afford it
But we said, "Oh well"

When you've been on the train all day
You're in a big city in a new country
You're real tired and it's late
Sometimes it's better just to pay

That's the way it goes
Sometimes you know
It'd be okay
And after all we were in Rome

Well it had been a long time
Since we had slept inside
We woke up late the next day
And the sun was shining bright
We paid our bill, we cried, we went outside

They got their bread and circus
And I guess so do we
But they got theirs for free
I think that we're gettin' ripped off
We must destroy all empires at any cost

When you're standin' in a temple
Of a long-gone God it seems so simple
Everybody dies, no matter who you are
From far enough away our sun is just another star

And the statue of Moses that we saw
Had horns on his head and was eight feet tall
Maybe that was the case,
No it's not our place to say
Maybe some things just don't translate

We called up this girl
Who had ordered a CD
She was the first from Italy
When we asked for hospitality
She said we could stay at her parents' place

They were so sweet to us
It was so nice to meet a punk
She took good care of you and me
She bought us soy ice cream
Her mom cooked dinner every night
It was so hard for us to leave

And the stray dogs of Pompey
Were our guides that day
They became our friends,
We were a lot like them
They taught us many things
And all they wanted was some food for their pay

Then we went to the coast
Where the roads are wound so close
And the buses bounce from side-to-side
We thought that we might die
We couldn't find a place to sleep at all that night

The city filled with scooters
Held so many mysteries
I saw the weirdest thing there
That I think I'll ever see
It was a pizza topped with octopus,
A whole one on each slice

But I got my dinner there
It was a pizza topped with fries
And Italy was nice
Made us feel right at home
Our money's in the fountain
And we will return to Rome