(The) Harvey Danger Database

There’s a bright white light
to shine on all the dim bulbs in the crowd tonight
and there’s a thin yellow line to separate the fast lane

And there’s a man I know
he’ll take apart your engine if you ask him right
Let’s fire all the child stars and leave L.A. in flames

Carjack your broke screenwriter
Riot cops, fire ladders, another Nathaniel West
You don’t need a passport to know what state you’re in

She wore barrettes of many colors in her many-colored hair
That’s not the point, they only notice what you wear
She said, “The moon is a toenail, the stars are a guardrail, my heart is a sandpail…
and you’re Toluca Lake.”

Carjack your broke screenwriter
Riot cops, fire ladders, [???????]
You don’t need a passport to know what state you’re in

You are an ill wind, and you blow no good
Santa Ana Winds, a hundred-acre wood
Earthquake survivors, swearing youngsters smoking tea
Spit in your hands and you can splinter every (“I saw the secret Sharon Tate films”) tree

Culver City! Beachwood Drive! Vesper Avenue!

Carjack your broke screenwriter
Riot cops, fire ladders, [???????]?
You don’t need a passport to know what state you’re in
to know what state you’re in
to know what state you’re in
to know what state you’re in
to know what state you’re–

Sean: As a wise crew once said: The motherfuckin' saga continues... Clearly we had radically revised the song in a new wavesque style, to excellent effect. But the goddamn singer still couldn't pull his finger out and come up with a chorus. My attempt on this version is utter garbage, just not one single good idea on the page or in the pipes. I forswear it. I abominate it. I used to be terrified of anyone hearing it. Now I think it's instructive to HD completists (both of them!), particularly in light of the early version above, and the album version, which, I will happily argue, is a masterpiece. The trick wasn't finding a chorus; it was adding the thing which I secretly believe was our secret superpower: a bridge! But a bridge that takes up just as much space as the verses.^25B

Jeff: This version is missing the middle section, which we added at Bearsville during the studio recording of the song.^25B