Parakeet

By R.E.M.

On Up

Released on October 26, 1998

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[Verse 1]

You wake up in the morning

And fall out of your bed

Mean cats eat parakeets

And this one's nearly dead

You dearly wish the wind would shift

And greasy window slide

Open for the parakeet

Who's colored bitter lime


[Chorus]

Open the window

To lift into your dreams

Baby, baby

You can barely breathe


[Verse 2]

A broken wrist

An accident

You know that something's wrong

You fold the leavings of your past

No one knows you've gone

The sunspot flares of the early nineties

Light up your wings

And scan the shortwave radio

It's tracking outer rings


[Chorus]

Open the window

To lift into a dream

Baby, baby

You can start to breathe


[Verse 3]

The tectonic dispatcher shifts

To smooth the ocean floor

And flattens out to warmer winds

Of Brisbane's sunny shore

Where Buddhas tend to mending wrists

A tea made from the leaves

Of eucalyptus fragrances

And coriander seeds


[Chorus]

Open the window

To lift into a dream

Baby, baby

You can start to breathe

Open the window

To lift into a dream

Baby, baby

You can start to breathe


[Outro]

You wake up in the morning

To warm Pacific breeze

Where mean cats chew on licorice

And cannot climb the trees