Mark &
others:
how do you leave the past behind
when it keeps finding ways to get to your heart
it reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
till you're torn apart
Rent!
Roger & others:
how can you connect in an age
where strangers, landlords, lovers
your own bloodcells betray
all:
what binds the fabric together
when the raging, shifting winds of change
keep riping away
Roger:
find glory
beyond the cheap colored lights
one song
before the sunsets
glory--on another empty life
time flies--time dies!
find glory
in a song that rings true
truth like a blazing fire
an eternal flame
one song
to redeem this empty life
time flies
and then - no need to endure anymore
time dies
Roger:
you can't quietly wipe out an entire tent city
then watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' on tv!
Angel:
that boy could use some prozac!
Roger:
or heavy drugs
Mark:
or group hugs!
Mark & Joanne:
when you're dancing her dance
you don't stand a chance
her grip of romance makes you fall
Mark:
so you think, might as well
Joanne:
dance a tango to hell!
Mark & Joanne:
a least i'll have tangoed at all!
Mimi:
i've had a knacl from way back
of breaking the rules once i learned the games
so let's find a bar
so dark we forget who we are
and all the scars from the never's and maybe's die
Mimi:
the heart may freeze or it can burn
the pain will ease if i can learn
there is no future
there is no past
i live this moment as my last
there's only us
there's only this
forget regret
or life is yours to miss
no other road
no other way
no day but today
Roger:
excuse me if i'm off track
but if you're so wise
then tell me--why do you need smack?
Mimi & others:
i can't control
my destiny
i trust my soul
my only goal is just
to be
there's only now
there's only here
give in to love
or like in fear
Steve:
will i lose my dignity
will someone care
will i wake tomorrow
from this nightmare?
Collins & Angel:
i think they meant it
when they said you can't buy love
now i know you can rent it
a new lease you are my love
on life--all my life
Roger:
let's go eat--i'll just get fat
it's the one vice left when you're dead meat
Roger:
let's not hold hands yet
Mimi:
is that a warning?
Maureen:
only thing to do is jump over the moon
i gotta get out of here!
it's like i'm being tied to the hood of a yellow rental truck,
being packed in with fertilizer and fuel oil,
pushed over a cliff by a suicidal Mickey Mouse!
i've gotta find a way to jump over the moon
only thing to do is jump over the moon
All:
Actual Reality--Act Up--Fight AIDS!
Mimi:
excuse me, did i do something wrong?
i get invited then ignored--all night long!
Roger:
i'm not lying
i've been trying
no one's perfect, i've got baggage
Mimi:
life's too short, babe, time is flying
i'm looking for baggage that goes with mine
Roger & Mimi:
trusting desire--starting to learn
walking through fire without a burn
clinging to a shoulder, a leap begins
stinging and older, asleep on pins
so here we go
five hundred twenty-five thousand six
hundred minutes
five hundred twenty-five thousand
journeys to plan
five hundred twenty-five thousand six
hundred minutes
how do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
Roger:
i think i should be laughing
yet i forget
forget how to begin
i'm feeling something inside
and yet i still can't decide
if i should hide or make a wide open grin
last week i wanted just to disappear
my life was dust
but now it just may be a happy new year
a happy new year
Mimi:
without you
the hand gropes
the ear hears
the pulse beats
Roger:
without you
the eyes glaze
the legs walk
the lungs breathe
Roger & Mimi:
the mind churns
the heart yearns
the tears dry
without you
life goes on
but i'm gone
'cause i die
without you
Mark:
how could a night so frozen be so scalding hot?
how could a morning so mild be so raw?
why are entire years strewn
on the cutting room floor of memory
when single frames from one magic night
forever flicker in close-up
on the 3D Imax of my mind
that's poetic
. . .that's pathetic
Mark:
why am i the witness
and when i capture it on film
will it mean that it's the end
and i'm alone
Roger:
all your words are nice, Mimi,
but love's not a three-way street
you'll never share real love
until you can love yourself. . .i should know
Roger:
who are you to tell me what i know, what to do?
Mark:
a friend!
Roger:
but who, Mark, are you?
Mark has got his work
they say, Mark lives for his work,
and Mark's in love with his work
. . .Mark hides in his work
Mark:
but from what?
Roger:
from facing your failure,facing your loneliness
facing the fact you live a lie
yes you live a lie! tell you why--
you're always preaching not to be numb
when that's how you thrive
you pretend to create and observer
when you really detach from feeling alive
Mark:
perhaps it's because i'm the one of us to survive!
Roger:
i'll call
. . .i hate the fall
Collins:
i think it's only fair to tell you,
you just paid for the funeral of the person
who killed your dog.
Benny:
i know. . .i always hated that dog
Mark & Roger:
and when you're living in America
at the end of the millennium
you're what you own
so i own not a notion
i escape and ape content
i don't own emotion--i rent
what was it about that night?
connection--in an isolating age
for once the shadows gave way to light
for once i didn't disengage
we're dying in America
to come into our own
and when you're dying in America
at the end of the millennium
you're not alone
i'm not alone
Homeless:
how time flies
when compassion dies
Roger:
but you'd miss New York before you could unpack
Roger:
who do you think you are?
leaving me alone with my guitar
hold on there's something you should hear
it isn't much but it took all year
your eyes
as we said our goodbyes
can't get them out of my mind
and i find i can't hide
from your eyes
the night you came into my life
where there's moonlight i see your eyes
how'd i let you slip away?
when i'm longing so to hold you
now i'd die for another day
'cause there's something i should have told you
yes there's something i should have told you
when i looked into your eyes
why does distance make us wise?
you were the song all along
and before the song dies. . .
i should tell you--i should tell you
i have always loved you
you can see it in my eyes
no day but today