The Songs
Everybody that you know
And every place that you ever thought that you'd go
And every thing that you wanted
And everyone that was ever on board.
Now everyday you've been haunted
About the times you just had to look the other way.
About that guy that was wanted
On every charge that was ever trumped up.
There were new lines drawn
On the maps laid down
All new places you'd never know
Why's your face so long?
When you hear what's wrong
All the time you knew it was
Just a racket.
Just a racket.
Now on their ponies came the law
And with him brought a defining moment
And no one notice as they rode
There was no dust on the shiny uniforms.
And everybody in the town
Enjoyed the glow until the sun went down.
But in the end they showed 'em how
To get the fuck out on the horses they rode on.
All the green is gone
From those desert lawns
Where the black gold would never flow.
Why's your face so long?
When you've seen what's wrong
All the time you knew it was
There were new lines drawn
On the maps laid down
All new places you'd never go.
Why's your face so glum?
When you see it, chum?
Every one of us knows it's all
Just a racket.
And every place that you ever thought that you'd go
And every thing that you wanted
And everyone that was ever on board.
Now everyday you've been haunted
About the times you just had to look the other way.
About that guy that was wanted
On every charge that was ever trumped up.
There were new lines drawn
On the maps laid down
All new places you'd never know
Why's your face so long?
When you hear what's wrong
All the time you knew it was
Just a racket.
Just a racket.
Now on their ponies came the law
And with him brought a defining moment
And no one notice as they rode
There was no dust on the shiny uniforms.
And everybody in the town
Enjoyed the glow until the sun went down.
But in the end they showed 'em how
To get the fuck out on the horses they rode on.
All the green is gone
From those desert lawns
Where the black gold would never flow.
Why's your face so long?
When you've seen what's wrong
All the time you knew it was
There were new lines drawn
On the maps laid down
All new places you'd never go.
Why's your face so glum?
When you see it, chum?
Every one of us knows it's all
Just a racket.
Yeah, the fix is in. How bad does it have to get for cynical acceptance of
the status quo to stop being 'cool'? How bad does it have to get before
doing something stops being 'uncool'?
I wish I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish that I could hold you
And you'd see.
I wish that I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish there were words to show you
But you can't know what I see.
-I-
Now the road is long that you are on
And you can't seen anything new,
But I know there is more left for you to do.
And though there are some things I will see
That you can never do.
It doesn't mean we're through.
And through this life we go.
Why things happen?
No one knows.
I guess it would be easy for me to be bitter
For all the things I'll never get.
It's all for myself.
Nobody else.
Because I can't reach you.
-II-
Now with each coming dawn I see more of you gone.
And we still see nothing new.
Yet I know there is more left for you to do.
And you can't see how your words now will ever be heard
For I can't heal what you lose.
It's doesn't mean we're through.
Believe me,
If I had known
Why you'd sit alone
While I was standing here
So at home
Push it in.
Push it out.
Tear it down,
Until it all comes out.
And then just when you think you've figured out,
That you've tested yourself till you're almost drowned.
There's an evil living both in and out,
Stretching every day.
Forcing every doubt.
When you feel your life giving out.
CODA
I wish I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish that I could hold you
And you'd see.
I wish that I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish there were words to show you
But you can't know what I've seen.
You can't know how I feel.
You don't know what I see.
You can't know what I'll see.
What happened to me.
I wish that I could hold you
And you'd see.
I wish that I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish there were words to show you
But you can't know what I see.
-I-
Now the road is long that you are on
And you can't seen anything new,
But I know there is more left for you to do.
And though there are some things I will see
That you can never do.
It doesn't mean we're through.
And through this life we go.
Why things happen?
No one knows.
I guess it would be easy for me to be bitter
For all the things I'll never get.
It's all for myself.
Nobody else.
Because I can't reach you.
-II-
Now with each coming dawn I see more of you gone.
And we still see nothing new.
Yet I know there is more left for you to do.
And you can't see how your words now will ever be heard
For I can't heal what you lose.
It's doesn't mean we're through.
Believe me,
If I had known
Why you'd sit alone
While I was standing here
So at home
Push it in.
Push it out.
Tear it down,
Until it all comes out.
And then just when you think you've figured out,
That you've tested yourself till you're almost drowned.
There's an evil living both in and out,
Stretching every day.
Forcing every doubt.
When you feel your life giving out.
CODA
I wish I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish that I could hold you
And you'd see.
I wish that I could tell you
What happened to me.
I wish there were words to show you
But you can't know what I've seen.
You can't know how I feel.
You don't know what I see.
You can't know what I'll see.
For as
dear a friend as I ever had; lost before his time because of the
dreaded Parkinson's Disease and the dementia associated with it's various
treatments.
Watching him 'go away' was one of the more painful episodes of my life.
Let me make it clear
Let me show you how
We gotta to find ourselves a home.
Wonderfully planned
The comforting place
Your heart has never known.
Let me tell you now
You don't understand.
When all is said and done.
I believe that we can have it all.
BRIDGE
You can't expand the picture.
You can't extend the frame.
It might take twenty years to find this place again.
II
Let make this clear
Let me tell you now
You'll never find yourself alone.
Worrying about
That sorry old place.
Where your heart could never grow.
Let me tell you now.
You don't see a plan.
Beyond these dues and jobs.
I believe that we can touch the stars.
You can't expect the future
To ever heal the pain.
It might take twenty years to feel this way again.
You can't decode the symbols.
You can't deflect the plan.
It might take twenty years to find your heart again.
It might take twenty years to find your home.
It might take twenty years to reach that door.
It might take twenty years to find your heart again.
Let me show you how
We gotta to find ourselves a home.
Wonderfully planned
The comforting place
Your heart has never known.
Let me tell you now
You don't understand.
When all is said and done.
I believe that we can have it all.
BRIDGE
You can't expand the picture.
You can't extend the frame.
It might take twenty years to find this place again.
II
Let make this clear
Let me tell you now
You'll never find yourself alone.
Worrying about
That sorry old place.
Where your heart could never grow.
Let me tell you now.
You don't see a plan.
Beyond these dues and jobs.
I believe that we can touch the stars.
You can't expect the future
To ever heal the pain.
It might take twenty years to feel this way again.
You can't decode the symbols.
You can't deflect the plan.
It might take twenty years to find your heart again.
It might take twenty years to find your home.
It might take twenty years to reach that door.
It might take twenty years to find your heart again.
Grace
Jones used to use the phrase 'Now I'm
right on time' a lot. This song is about finding love after being 'out of
the game' for a while. You have to recognise it when you see it... As one
gets older, the chance come somewhat further apart.
!Trying to find my baby.
Need to feel all right.
Hope she'll spend some time with me,
When there's no hope left in sight.
I roll and roll and roll the floor but still can't get it right,
With everything I can't endure at night.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
Dreaming of my saviour.
An angel dressed in white.
Who offers me serenity
Clad in her silken tights.
I used to swear by opiates,
But now I've seen the light.
With every step she takes
I reach new heights.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
(It's a step in the right direction.)
Need to feel all right.
Hope she'll spend some time with me,
When there's no hope left in sight.
I roll and roll and roll the floor but still can't get it right,
With everything I can't endure at night.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
| Reach up to the ceiling! Knead those muscles to and fro, Now press your stomach to the floor, And remember to focus on your core. With each turn, Looking great. Now give me twenty more! |
(Can you move one step to the right.) (Man, I didn't know I was this tight.) (Hey, is it supposed to burn?) |
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
Dreaming of my saviour.
An angel dressed in white.
Who offers me serenity
Clad in her silken tights.
I used to swear by opiates,
But now I've seen the light.
With every step she takes
I reach new heights.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
So she walks on my back.
(It's a step in the right direction.)
It hurts so good.
Laid so low...
Take a walk along the street.
See everybody that you know
Why they stand there in the heat?
Because everybody seems to know.
Grains of sand along the beach
They're with you everywhere you go
Feel them underneath your feet
Does anyone really know?
CHORUS
Because you talk really nice,
And act real cool.
Guys like you can break all the rules.
You walk real smooth
And roll real tight.
But baby I think you might.
Make my heart break.
INTERLUDE
Always believed
My country, right or wrong,
Would stand.
Only now do I see clearly,
What comes from one man.
CHORUS
Because you talk really nice,
And act real cool.
Guys like you can break all the rules.
You walk real smooth
And roll real tight.
But baby I think you might.
Make my heart break.
Take a walk along the street.
See everybody that you know
Why they stand there in the heat?
Because everybody seems to know.
Grains of sand along the beach
They're with you everywhere you go
Feel them underneath your feet
Does anyone really know?
CHORUS
Because you talk really nice,
And act real cool.
Guys like you can break all the rules.
You walk real smooth
And roll real tight.
But baby I think you might.
Make my heart break.
INTERLUDE
Always believed
My country, right or wrong,
Would stand.
Only now do I see clearly,
What comes from one man.
CHORUS
Because you talk really nice,
And act real cool.
Guys like you can break all the rules.
You walk real smooth
And roll real tight.
But baby I think you might.
Make my heart break.
I confess. I originally conceived this years ago as yet another in a long
line of 'angry' songs against my ex-wife (man has she suffered in effigy.) I
was so angry that she had such 'power' to make me happy or unhappy. I was
angry at her and myself for allowing her that amount of control.
But that alone doesn't make a song and I had no idea where to go with it. So it remained a simple fragment that kept rolling around in my head for years like a mantra.
Then one day, I was humming the fragment as I heard another piece of bad news about the Bush Administration and I accidentally mis-sang the line 'Girls like you can break all the rules' as 'Guys like you can break all the rules'.
As so often happens, this 'Freudian slip' did the trick. It's not just about 'power', but the self-hatred we have for giving up control so willingly.
Don't talk about all the places you've been to
We stumbled on by luck.
Don't make a scene of the friends that you know.
When they can't be counted up.
It's all been blamed on simplicity of vision
For all the things we're not.
It just a shame how the the people can't cope
When nothing seemed to add quite up.
CHORUS
There's a lot of crazy people talking ruin like that.
You can see it on the news
Spinning rumour like fact.
There's a cynical tone
That we'll turn it all back.
But that just seems like work.
II
We all presumed when our leaders made decisions
That everyone's grown up.
And even though all the times it got rough,
We thought we were tough enough.
And don't forget all the theatre still in you.
And all the face we lost.
And all the ways that we still get wound up.
But never follow up.
And ever foul up.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
Change your heart.
Don't ever think that we can make it
If you don't get involved.
III
So after all of the places we've been to
Not stumbled on by luck.
I'm guessing now as the payments add up.
That there can never be enough.
It's all began as simplicity of vision,
From all the things we're not.
We can't agree with the things that we've got
How everything's is so fucked up.
BRIDGE
Change your heart.
Don't ever think that you can make it
If you don't get involved.
Change your mind.
Charge your heart.
You know that we can never make it
If you don't get involved.
FINAL CHORUS
There's a lot of crazy people talking ruin like that.
You can see it on the news
Spinning rumour like fact.
There's a cynical tone
That we'll turn it all back.
It's the oldies show that they always bring back.
We could make the train run if we lay a new track.
But that just seems like work.
We stumbled on by luck.
Don't make a scene of the friends that you know.
When they can't be counted up.
It's all been blamed on simplicity of vision
For all the things we're not.
It just a shame how the the people can't cope
When nothing seemed to add quite up.
CHORUS
There's a lot of crazy people talking ruin like that.
You can see it on the news
Spinning rumour like fact.
There's a cynical tone
That we'll turn it all back.
But that just seems like work.
II
We all presumed when our leaders made decisions
That everyone's grown up.
And even though all the times it got rough,
We thought we were tough enough.
And don't forget all the theatre still in you.
And all the face we lost.
And all the ways that we still get wound up.
But never follow up.
And ever foul up.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
Change your heart.
Don't ever think that we can make it
If you don't get involved.
III
So after all of the places we've been to
Not stumbled on by luck.
I'm guessing now as the payments add up.
That there can never be enough.
It's all began as simplicity of vision,
From all the things we're not.
We can't agree with the things that we've got
How everything's is so fucked up.
BRIDGE
Change your heart.
Don't ever think that you can make it
If you don't get involved.
Change your mind.
Charge your heart.
You know that we can never make it
If you don't get involved.
FINAL CHORUS
There's a lot of crazy people talking ruin like that.
You can see it on the news
Spinning rumour like fact.
There's a cynical tone
That we'll turn it all back.
It's the oldies show that they always bring back.
We could make the train run if we lay a new track.
But that just seems like work.
Sure, we can fix things. Sure we can come together as one people; united to
accomplish a great task. Sounds great!
Baby's got a car.
A real fine car.
But no drive.
Baby's got a motor.
A real motor scooter
With no drive.
Baby's got the keys,
But she won't give them to me
There's no drive.
(Test drive for sixteen bars...)
CHORUS
She says I'm nothing
But I tell her,
Even I go places.
She says that I mean nothing it all,
But even I go places.
A real fine car.
But no drive.
Baby's got a motor.
A real motor scooter
With no drive.
Baby's got the keys,
But she won't give them to me
There's no drive.
(Test drive for sixteen bars...)
CHORUS
She says I'm nothing
But I tell her,
Even I go places.
She says that I mean nothing it all,
But even I go places.
A lesson
from my alter-ego, our Italian friend Dino, in managing affairs of the
heart— as well as those of the road.
Ever had a ride that looked so cool you just couldn't believe it?
Ever had a ride that had all the get up and go of one of those moving sidewalks at the airport?
That kind of frustration can take years off a guy's life.
Wasn't there a time when this
was all natural?
When dreams we had could still come true.
Walking by these city streets
I'd think of you at my own side
And dream.
Wasn't there a time when this was all so wonderful?
The dreams we had, outside this garden.
Floating by these often travelled streets
I tell you I saw them all
And I said...
So in love with you!
So in love with you!
So in love with you! So in love with you!
I'd be beside myself
If there could come a time.
When all of this would seem unnatural to me.
Just standing by myself
Outside your door and beside myself in grief.
Wasn't there a time when this was all wonderful?
What happened to the dreams we had?
Walking by this often travelled street
I tell you I saw them all
And I said...
So in love with you!
So in love with you!
So in love with you! So in love with you!
Wasn't there a time when this had all been natural?
A dream we had that did come true..
Floating by these often travelled streets
I tell you I saw them all and I said...
Still in love with you!
Still in love with you!
Still in love with you!
Still in love with you.
When dreams we had could still come true.
Walking by these city streets
I'd think of you at my own side
And dream.
Wasn't there a time when this was all so wonderful?
The dreams we had, outside this garden.
Floating by these often travelled streets
I tell you I saw them all
And I said...
So in love with you!
So in love with you!
So in love with you! So in love with you!
I'd be beside myself
If there could come a time.
When all of this would seem unnatural to me.
Just standing by myself
Outside your door and beside myself in grief.
Wasn't there a time when this was all wonderful?
What happened to the dreams we had?
Walking by this often travelled street
I tell you I saw them all
And I said...
So in love with you!
So in love with you!
So in love with you! So in love with you!
Wasn't there a time when this had all been natural?
A dream we had that did come true..
Floating by these often travelled streets
I tell you I saw them all and I said...
Still in love with you!
Still in love with you!
Still in love with you!
Still in love with you.
No
comment.
Crossing The Shannon With Bernadette Dunne
Sea bright.Clouds go by.
Carried along like the waves.
I can never have enough pictures of you...
Day bright.
Passing sights,
Beautiful as your eyes.
My dear
friend and I took a road trip to visit a friend and artist in Shannon. To do
so, one takes a leisurely ferry ride.
!Take all you want.
Show me everything you don't.
But I will be loved.
Read every book your shown
Tell me everything you know.
Of what you believe.
Leave every place you go.
Sell back everything you owned.
But I will be loved
It won't do
To break my heart.
Suffice to say,
I'll be home soon.
For the things I've found
Are the beautiful sounds
That echo in even the angriest of hearts.
And one thing you'll know
That wherever you go.
I'll alway long to hear you sing
Again and again and again and again...
You ask me why I never sleep at night.
It feels like my head will explode.
I often wonder if I ever feared
to see the reason why.
THE WELL
One time,
In the back of the old yard we had.
Was a well,
Beneath the storage shed.
At night,
While you both did sleep,
I filled that hole,
With at least,
A hundred feet of dirt and stones.
(And all the time I lied...)
So afraid that you would fall.
And now as I sit laid so low,
I wish I'd let you know.
FINALE
Tell me did you ever love,
When you first you saw me smile?
I believe before we go.
We're all going to know just why.
Tell me could you see before
That everything would die?
I don't see
When everything collides.
But the things I found
Were the beautiful sounds
That echo in even the angriest of hearts.
And one thing you'll know that wherever you go,
There's always one heart that longs to hear you sing
Again and again and again and again...
Show me everything you don't.
But I will be loved.
Read every book your shown
Tell me everything you know.
Of what you believe.
Leave every place you go.
Sell back everything you owned.
But I will be loved
It won't do
To break my heart.
Suffice to say,
I'll be home soon.
For the things I've found
Are the beautiful sounds
That echo in even the angriest of hearts.
And one thing you'll know
That wherever you go.
I'll alway long to hear you sing
Again and again and again and again...
You ask me why I never sleep at night.
It feels like my head will explode.
I often wonder if I ever feared
to see the reason why.
THE WELL
One time,
In the back of the old yard we had.
Was a well,
Beneath the storage shed.
At night,
While you both did sleep,
I filled that hole,
With at least,
A hundred feet of dirt and stones.
(And all the time I lied...)
So afraid that you would fall.
And now as I sit laid so low,
I wish I'd let you know.
FINALE
Tell me did you ever love,
When you first you saw me smile?
I believe before we go.
We're all going to know just why.
Tell me could you see before
That everything would die?
I don't see
When everything collides.
But the things I found
Were the beautiful sounds
That echo in even the angriest of hearts.
And one thing you'll know that wherever you go,
There's always one heart that longs to hear you sing
Again and again and again and again...
When I
was married we threw away so much over so many little things that, in
retrospect, now seem so petty. Why can't people see the big picture?
It's not just the Big Yellow Taxi effect. People aren't like parking lots that can't be undone. At any point, you or I could forgive and could choose to 'fix' things.
Why doesn't this happen? What is it that 'breaks' that is so important to our psyche that we can rarely even conceive of reconciliation? Is it in our genes? Are we not 'wired' for forgiveness and reconciliation?
'The
Well' refers to a real well that was beneath a shed in our garage. It had
become extremely dangerous from decades of neglect (I discovered it
accidentally by almost falling in!)
Both the kids were rambunctious and curious and I knew that if they found
out about it they wouldn't be able to help but 'explore it'.
So at night, I would go out to the shed after they went to sleep and slowly, over a fortnight, filled it in with spare rocks from around the property. The whoppers I had to tell from time to time to keep them from figuring out what I was doing!
Now I wonder if I did the right thing by not trusting them with this magical secret.
