Women's Studies

(album: Standards - 2013)

I'm drinking tea
Taking unpaid leave from my
Women's Studies, uh huh
Out here in the meadow
With A People's History of America
I smoke a pipe to Johnny 99
Bipartisan Consensus
I'm keeping it dry, nothing flighty
On orders from my therapist

We were young and we were stupid
And it was fine while it lasted
To complete my education
I had to wake up in your bathtub
Oh, those Monday morning quarters
I grew so accustomed to

I've seen enough
I've made my recommendations
My work here is finished
Your powers of reduction
Remain strangely undiminished
Yes you, in your hushed tones
And your campus etiquette
If we cannot speak of nothing
Then nothing should keep her mouth shut

We were young and we were stupid
And it was fine while it lasted
Yes, I wrote my dissertation
On the barstools of your neighbourhood
But the bars were filled with lawyers
Filing action two by two
Through the valley of the women
That I am not married to

Are these riches here the spoils of my retreat?
These rented rooms and bachelor's degree
It's a Penguin Classic scene
Broken spine and faded green
Trying to relocate my arms
Around a memory

I'm drinking tea
Taking unpaid leave from my
Women's Studies, uh huh
Hiding up here in the library
With The Great Wall Of China
If Josef K was from Edinburgh
And Fast Product from Prague
That could have been kind of funny
Or maybe not that funny at all

We were young and we were stupid
And it was fine while it lasted
To complete my education
I had to wake up in your bathtub
With the shadows of the women
That I am not married to