Lyrics The World Is Showing Its Hand - Jonathan Richman

The World Is Showing Its Hand

When I first smelled the bus fume from the diesel motor
Well my two-year-old mind could only applaud such odor
The world is showing me it’s tricks
The world was showing it’s hand
Then an alley somewhere smelling of grease and piss
I was delighted that the world would wanna smell like this
The world is showing me it’s tricks
The world was showing it’s hand
Well the pond and the odor
The swamp and the sweat
Each smell is telling me a secret
So give me an alley
Give me an valley
Give me a Neapolitan night
Let me smell more of the world
And gain more insight
The world is showing me it’s tricks
The world was showing it’s hand
Yeah
So give me a mowed lawn
Give me a old song
Give me summer rain
Let me smell more of the world
Then I might learn something
The world is showing me it’s tricks
The world was showing it’s hand