Marian Call - Whistle While You Wait lyrics

When it's your first time in Tok and you're broke and just limping down the line And it's forty below and you know that they know that you're a hopeful from Outside And people speak distinctly as if you're foreign And you forgot to plug your car in And you're clearly overdressed, even for winter And your self-a**urance slowly starts to splinter Oh it takes a little effort to keep your head on straight To laugh as if you mean it, to whistle while you wait It takes a little effort to warm up one more smile To bear another stare, to brave another mile When it's the first time you could get to West Hollywood and you're slathered in sunscreen And you drive really slow, so you know that they know that you're another Joe with a dream And you're wearing your old secondhand blue jeans And you keep turning your head at limousines And everybody else looks so damn pretty And you're feelin' extra grungy and extra indie Oh it takes a little effort to hold your head up straight To dress just like you want to, to whistle while you wait It takes a little effort to not avert your eyes To trust that you belong there -- it might just be yourself that you surprise And when you're hopelessly lost in downtown Austin and the crowd's too cool for words And you don't wanna go but you know that they know you're one of thousands of songbirds And you can't hardly be heard above the racket 'Cause everybody there is tryin' to hack it And you've never been compelled to sleep outdoors yet So you're feelin' all establishment and corporate Oh it takes a little effort to keep your head on straight To laugh and really mean it, to whistle while you wait It takes a little effort to sometimes plug your ears To play without pretensions, but also without fear Because some of us will never quite feel the thrill of being safe in our own skin When it's your first time around you might flounder a bit 'til you fit in And although I do heartily admire Folks whose natural graces seem inspired I expect the truly confident are fewer Than I am generally inclined to think And it's worth a little effort to look 'em in the eye To whistle while you're waiting, to flutter 'til you fly Oh, it's worth a little effort and a lot of honesty It's worth some work believing It takes a little practice to learn to be