Prologue:
a. Cabbages & Kings
The time has come the Walrus said to talk of many things;
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax. Of Cabbages and Kings.
And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings (or not)
And other worlds ‘though worlds away are on their way.
On their way…
b. Already Gone
I’ll swim until I’m forgiven
I’ll sleep here on your lawn
I’ll reappear as a stranger
but now I’m already gone
I wish conditions were different
I wish the mornings were warm
I’ve searched through cold constellations
but now they’re already gone.
I’ve read gibberish dead men
I’ve tasted ravenous fear
I’ll die at four in the morning
but I won’t know the year.
I’ve lost my daughter’s mother
I’ve ridden junk through the snow
I’ve trampled the law down on Bourbon.
Who knows where the Walrus will go?
I’ve lost something dear in the barroom
while trying to remember a song.
I give you Roughage and Royals
but now they’re already gone.
Indiana Jones
Staring out my window cars are moving so slow
Sidewalk’s jammed and no one knows
A Fuse up here’s about to blow.
Life has always been such; a burning thread within much ado
I want to break and clutch
All the things that I can’t touch.
Though we share one mother
I’m darker than my brothers
I put no love above theirs
Not Indiana Jones or others.
Pulling up the covers. Pulling down the shutters.
Drinking to the fallen brothers
Indiana Jones and others.
Like those who came before me, thi scurse will not ignore me
This thing came from a rotten tree
And slithered through my family
Halfway through my healing when these empty feelings
Suddenly washed over me
Now they will not let me be…
And I feel as though I’ve wasted
These moments of a life that’s lived.
And I fear that I have tasted
More than I have tried to give..
…in these wasted years I’ve tasted fear.
Summing up my feelings, I’m staring at the ceiling
And I know it’s dangerous
to feel the way i”m feeling.
Raven comes in singing. My ears still are ringing
Will you set me free once more?
Quoth the raven, “Nevermore”.
Working for the Man
Cool headed Mamas do prevail, you better believe it
when they sit you down and tell you everything you knew about Love is wrong.
Use your head. Don’t play dead
They’ll play your heart, their rules, their place. They’re wise, my God!
Why? Why even go if you’re going alone?
I know that you’re feeling low because your Papa dropped a lot on top of you and yours.
Come with me. I’ll set you free.
I’ll sit you down like a grandchild on your knee.
And I’ll tell you about my plan that even I don’t understand.
See I got tired of paying tax while they whipped my broken back
With their crooked hand.
But I ain’t working for the Man.
It’s cool in the evening so relax. Read a book
If getting it on’s a sin again I’m out again and in again
And everything in Finnagin’s Wake’s a lie
OK, I said it but I never read it.
I’ve always been a Cliff’s Notes kind of guy.
I’m working on my plan. Oh, I really really am
And I”m tired of paying tax while they’re laying on their backs somewhere getting tan.
But I ain’t working for the Man.
Cool single Mamas in the house! You better believe
You’re the one thing in the whole wide world that can light a brother up like i’m a Christmas tree.
Ditch your groom and dust your broom.
There’s room for all as we are bound to see.
That’s i’m working on my plan. I really really am.
And if you’re ready for another I’m playing with my brother in the band.
And I ain’t working for the Man.
Lord I ain’t working no more, I got tired tired tired.
If I ever come back just shoot me down.
Nebraska from Here
I’m a poor boy with next to nothing
but I got sense to know when something good is looking right at me.
And my girlfriend, she was born here
but she’ll be gone this time nest year but i can’t stop what’s got to be
It ain’t up to me
Here in Nebraska the sky’s always clear.
You bring the rose and I’ll bring the beer
And i can almost hear the highway from here…
The other night she said she’d write me
and come to see me when she comes home to see her family.
But Daddy told me “people change son,
so don’t expect the girl you know to be the girl you’re gonna see”.
But that ain’t up to me
Here in Nebraska the sky’s always clear.
You bring the roses. I’ll bring the beer.
I can almost see the mountains from here.
We lay on our backs looking out at the black sea of stars
The Belt of Orion means Winter cannot be too far.
A road map for ancients who traveled the world by the sea.
The World was their oyster but God Knows it ain’t that for me…
Flat on my back in Nebraska the sky’s always clear…
You bring the roses. I’ll bring the beer.
I can almost hear the highway from here.
I can almost see the mountains from here.
And I guess I lost my baby out here.
Keeping it Up
We sit. And we talk about whatever.
Ain’t no use in crying anymore
And I do dig these little get-togethers.
But you might be surprised at what’s in store.
When there’s bigger fish frying in the kitchen
than you ever thought were swimming in the pond
I know you love to talk, but you should listen.
We might be apart before too long.
Yeah, we might be apart before too long
Are you keeping it up now?
It’s your ball; it’s your call
Are you keeping it up?
Are you keeping up appearances for strangers?
Are you keeping up what is good locked up inside?
Are you keeping what has always been there keeping you down?
Don’t you think it’s time to come inside?
I’ve seen the summer sun turn rain to roses.
I’ve seen the bud of promise on the vine.
I’ve seen it come and go in what seems like an instant.
Sour grapes turn into bitter wine.
Oh, sour grapes turn into bitter wine.
Are you keeping it up now?
Are you keeping it up?
It’s your dime; it’s your time
Are you keeping it up?
Busman’s Holiday
It should be enough that I love you
because it’s enough that you love me too
But it’s 800 miles between goodbye and hello
and it’s raining down, with a chance of snow.
It should be enough when I’m home again
Because nothing has changed with me. Although
I fear I’ve gone cold, while I’ve been out on the road
And what I need right now is to know.
Keep your eyes on the prize
I know it’s changing times
And I’m digging it all on a Busman’s holiday.
It could be the same when I’m home again
Unless something has changed that I should know.
As I lie in my bunk all strung out on your junk
All I see right now is the Show
Southern Woman
The word travels ’round through groups of musicians
Who spend their time wishing for conditions
And I guess you know you’ve made it
when you’ve made it with a movie star
When we’re on the bus and we’re covering the miles
We’re glued to the tube and the new of Lyle’s trials
’cause if he’s got the blues
He’s gonna play it on his guitar
And he got
Used to the love of a southern woman
Used to the touch of a southern woman
Used to the song that a southern woman sings
Used to the drawl of a southern woman
Used to the y’all of a southern woman
So get used to the tears that a southern woman brings…
It’s the kind of story we all can enjoy
about a beautiful girl and a talented boy
but if you ain’t been there I guess you can’t understand.
He’s a big-haired by with a crooked kind of mouth
Got himself a bride from way down South
And became the overnight patron Saint of the traveling bands.
Hey, I know the Paparazzai ain’t treating you right…
Now the tabloid press surely gave them a fight
‘Cause they’re not quite news and they’re not quite right
And they followed the two wherever they decided to go.
And they said it was coming, so it came of course
And they cracked under pressure and they got a divorce
We were so upset we couldn’t drink a single thing that night.
Moviestar
Sad Marti Gras.
We have made confetti of the Law.
You see it all
Laissez-faire is written on your wall.
Take a walk with me, and you will see I’m living like a Moviestar.
Mad Carnival
The writhing on the wall is pure Brazilian
You see it all
Washing off your feet with sweat of millions.
Stop to catch your breath. The night has died the death just like a Moviestar.
Hey Moviestar.
How the devil do you keep from waking?
I know you are
waltzing through a life you’re always faking.
Watch me turn my back and fade into the black just like a Moviestar
Delilah
Delilah, you’re drunk and you’re here choosing sides.
Go back to your bunk’til your anger subsides
But you’ve got you something to tell me and you won’t let it be.
And I know it ain’t like you to be in my face
but honey, you drank half the beer in the place.
It’s four in the morning now why’d you come looking for me?
Oh Delilah, go to bed
Oh Delilah, bless your soul,
…Rest your head.
It’s a beautiful sunny old morning outside
If the Harley will start we could go for a ride
And you can come too but you look like you might nearly die.
‘Cause you out-drank the girls and you out-drank the boys
You out-drank the hippy in his old corduroys
You’re out drinking near every night and you’re near unemployed
Oh Delilah, go to bed
Oh Delilah, bless your soul,
…Rest your head.
I got some money I’ve squirreled away,
Delilah
The man at the plant said my job would be safe.
Delilah, it’s for you. It’s for you.
I wish you could see that your lifestyle is wrong.
Your head always hurts and your money’s always gone.
Delilah, I’m saying God help me I”ll still take you on.
Kelly Marie
Kelly Marie, daughter of mine, your mother was more like a partner-in-crime.
We had our run and we had our fun
But do like I tell ya and not like I done.
It were the Spring and she were a rose. She looked like the Queen in commoner’s clothes
We answered and ad that called for a pair
Of two married people who couldn’t raise fare
My Kelly Marie.
We boarded a boat, the “Kelly Marie”, the Captain, his wife, your mother and me.
His manner was cold. His cargo was Gold.
We killed them and left there with all we could hold.
And when I awoke, the money was gone with a note on the cradle “God help what I’ve done”.
Although she left only a baby to hold
The baby was you and you’re worth more than gold.
My Kelly Marie.
She came from a land surrounded by strife
She said there’s no joy in a fisherman’s wife.
She said she would kill for a richer man’s life
I made her a Thief and she made me a Liar
My Kelly Marie.
Long Honeymoon
Swim to the light, toward the life worth living.
Know that this life gives back what it’s been given…
Well, I knew your Da when he drank too much and played guitar in taverns.
And I knew your Ma before she knew that love would tear her heart to tatters.
It’s been a warm Summer day, but it’s over…
And I knew it all when I had shite for brains and comments for all seasons
And I couldn’t fail though I had enemies with pockets full of reasons
It’s been a long honeymoon, but it’s over
much too soon.
It’s been a long honeymoon, but it’s over.
What do you do when the Truth packs up it’s bags and moves to Brooklyn?
What do you do when the fat girl starts to hum?
What do you do when Roy G. Biv is black and white and Andy Gibb’s on VH1?
Well I knew you all in a different time that none of you remember.
And each of us has changed but each fire of old has left a burning ember.
It’s been a long journey’s end
into Wintertime, my friend.
It’s been a long honeymoon, but it’s over…
Swim to the light and you will be forgiven
Know that this life is only the beginning.
1977
I caught you standing there with the wind in your hair
Looking like Bobby Weir circa 1977.
You’re even crossing your eyes…
And on your left hand stands the grand old man
Doing the best he can until he dies and he makes it to Heaven
And I wouldn’t be all surprised
If I opened up my eyes and saw water where there once was ice.
On the other side-I feel a little wavy
On the other side-But I’m feeling fine.
We had it best when we headed West
Put the Band to the test and we went there in our Winnebago
(It didn’t have no air)
We were feeling low on the side of the road
Waiting for a tow we started singing the Beatles. That song off of Abbey Road.
When I opened up the book
I was afraid to look inside it.
On the other side-Well I must be
On the other side-I thought I heard somebody say “Trust Me”
On the other side-or else I’m losing my mind
Just like a Cracker Jack box without a whistle, baby.
I’m broken hearted, just so you know
And I ain’t had no sleep since we left Mexico
And I”m ready to cash in all my cards
Back in Tuscaloosa, back in Mississippi
Y’all talk funny but y’all look pretty
I’m ready to wake up in someone’s yard.
When you open up your mind
You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find
Right there inside it.
On the other side-of your mind, I mean
On the other side-You hit it hard and you break away clean
On the other side-Oh Lord, I’m losing my mind
Just like a Cracker Jack box without a whistle, baby.
Fly Away
I can feel eyes on me as I’m walking
High in the branches, that much is clear
A song I have seldom heard.
The song of a mockingbird
Singing to all who can hear to beware.
Fly away. I must go
Fly Away to your home in the sky where you’ll stay
Fly away ’till the mornings are warm and the sun comes again
Until then, fly away
New mothers hear me. Hold on to your babies.
Keep them protected under your wing.
Leaves are falling.
Winter’s calling.
Keep them a season and teach them to sing.
Not that a word of this needs to be said
We will raise up our young on the graves of our dead.
And plant in the Spring where we harvest in Fall.
And we never see you up there
Watching us all…
As you take wing and fly higher and higher
Over the forest, the hillside and bay
Tears are forming
Winds are warming
Bringing the rains that will wash us away.