(The Journey)
I’m winding up the same place I began
And now it seems at last I understand.
So when I die at least I’ll know the way.
The water rose; the water fell
And in the end it’s just as well
Since everything that happens is a wave…
That’s What I Said
Apples advance in Autumn time. Shake your hand and I’ll go blind.
Lazy River rolling logs. Degas digging desert dogs. Yeah,
That’s what I said.
Elephants eating everything so pachyderm and pack some bling.
Knuckles and pneumatic gnats, phrenetic freaks and Pfizer fats. Yeah.
That’s what I said.
Warming the bench and I’m finally free.
Taking a shot from the top of the key.
I caught the Shows you’ll never see from Soldier Field to Coventry
Wesley Willis writing wrongs. Chief and Paddy sketching songs. Yeah
That’s what I said.
I. P. Freely, how about you? Feng Shui walls by Hu Phlung Poo
My winner showed, I placed it wrong. Camptown Racetrack five miles long. Hooray!
That’s what I said.
Warming the bench and I’m finally free.
Taking a shot from the top of the key
Nothing but net and I’m going for three.
I’m holding on but it’s getting cold outside.
It’s not the first time someone’s died.
I’m holding on…
Hold the ice, forget the limes. There’s a bounty out on hippie hides
Get a job and march in time. Dig a hole and climb inside. Yeah.
That’s what they say…
The Fool is walking out of time. Poets speak, per chance to rhyme.
The Wise are watching for the Signs as apples advance in Autumn time. Yeah.
That’s what I said…
I Don’t Work on Sunday
I don’t work on Sunday. I would rather stay home in bed.
So don’t you lean on me woman.
I’m just doin’ what the Good Book said.
I choke that Black Lung Powder. I’ve seen ten years.I won’t see ten more.
So beggar man don’t you sleep on my doorway
You say you’re a poor man, but ain’t I just one more?
But down in the mines don’t it feel like the Angels are calling?
Yeah down in the mines I can feel when the temperature’s falling.
I don’t work when it’s raining. I would rather be poor and dry.
Cause if you live for the gold
You might die full of lead
You only get copper laid upon your eyes.
But down in the mines don’t it feel like the Angels are calling?
Yeah down in the mines I can feel the barometer falling.
Keeping an eye on a distant light
Bringing me home through the coal
Keeping and eye out for the ways of the Devil
and keeping an eye on my own.
I’m keeping an eye on my own.
Clampdown World
It’s a nasty little secret that everybody knows.
We keep it in a little house there no one ever goes
I’ve got to remember how to learn how to dance while I’m living in a clampdown world.
But I’d shoot the fiddler if given half a chance while I’m living in a clampdown world.
Taking off my shoes for Security as I shuffle through a clampdown world.
With holes in my socks and religious beliefs I’m making me a clampdown world.
Revolution’s in the cards and we’re losing every hand
How much more can you take? As much as I can stand.
We’re turning up the kettle fire while we’re tightening the lid.
Let us preach against desires now. But we all know what we did.
I’m as nervous as a cat in a rocker-filled room from the perils of a clampdown world.
Got a boogieman a minute from dawn ’til doom ’til we overthrow the clampdown world.
I’m chasing my tail like an endless wheel running circles ’round a clampdown world.
The more I got, well, the shorter it feels. It’s a problem in the clampdown world.
Meanwhile, Love is working perfectly fine.
It’s hard to be afraid when there’s no such thing as Time.
But until Infinity arrives, we’re living in a clampdown world.
Evangeline
Down in southern Louisiana there’s a place I found
called Evangeline Parish. That’s where I”m bound.
I’m gonna sit down with the choir and I’ll hear them testify.
And I’ll never get no higher and y’all know I’ve been high.
That’s where they wash in the blood of the Lamb
And they live off the fat of the land.
And I’ll no more walk in sorrow because I’ll have a place to be.
And I will make it home.
Evangeline.
I’ve never been accused of possessing social grace.
I kinda call things the way they are.
But now that I’ve made my peace with the human race
the Promised Land never seemed so far.
I was born a Liar. In truth it served me well.
I could always find a buyer for what I had to sell.
And all the sorrow that I brought on people I don’t even know
Is now a weight upon my shoulders-cold chains from head to toe.
I’m gonna wash in the blood of the Lamb
And I’ll live off the fat of the land.
And I’ll no more walk in sorrow because I’ll have a place to be.
And I will make it home.
Evangeline.
Organ Grinder
Dig the organ grinder on the sidewalk with a monkey.
The old man makes the music and the monkey collects the money.
Listen to the music and the soft notes just like feathers
The monkey, he’s so happy, he could stand there and dance forever.
But deep down, in the Music
there’s a secret sadness hiding.
He’s singing like a young man but his fingers are much wiser
The music is his mistress and so gently, he unties her
The one face that he looks for in the crowds he is always facing
The one love, although she’s long gone, she’s the one he can’t stop chasing.
I know now why you’re searching.
I hope you find her organ grinder.
His eyes begin to wander but his fingers keep on playing
Don’t you ever wonder what he wishes he was saying?
To the one who couldn’t live with all the choices he was making
I know now while you’re playing your finger’s always shaking.
And morning finds you searching
I hope you find her organ grinder.
Rattle My Cage
Who’s rapping their knuckles on my window sill?
Who says they’re running but they’re standing still?
Who’s always so afraid to act their rage?
You’re starting to rattle my cage…
Who’s like a tourist tripping through a rookie fog?
Who’s making more noise than the neighbor’s dog?
Who’s finger’s so afraid to turn the page?
You’re starting to rattle my cage…
Some folks you trust will come forward and bust you
Some folks won’t leave you alone.
Some folks will use you and some will accuse you of leaving your best stuff at home.
Some folks you know will attempt to control you
Some folks will lead you astray
Some folks will phone you to say they disown you
Believe me, it’s better that way.
You’re starting to rattle my cage.
Appalacian
Hold your head up and don’t let it fall
I’ll be gone for a week and that’s all.
Don’t you cry ’cause there’s no one around
Hand me down my coat ’cause I’m heading into town.
I worked this land like m grand dad before.
The air here is rich and the earth even more.
We buried your Ma on the best piece of ground
Hand me down my hat child, I’m heading into town.
Down in the town Lord it’s half a day’s walk
I see beggars and barges and big city folk
Down in the town bicycle spokes turn around
like the hands of a clock that remind me that it’s time to go home.
So hold your head up and don’t let it fall
Think of your mama who cared for us all
and the man whose mistake put her in the ground.
Hand me down m rifle, I’m heading into town.
Hand me down my Spencer, I’m heading into town.
Rosalie
Can I be the one that tosses you in sleep?
Can I be the one whose price becomes too steep?
Can I haunt your every moment and every breath you breathe?
Can I be your one exception, Rosalie?
My Rosalie.
Can I be the only thing you still believe”
Can I be the scarlet threads within your weave?
Can I be the grass that dries beneath your sweetly fallen leaves?
Can I wander through your garden, Rosalie?
My Rosalie.
Can I be the song that’s stuck inside your head?
Can I be a hunger, never to be fed?
Can I be the final sentence in the book beneath your bed?
Can you love me when you’re dead, Rosalie?
My Rosalie.
One by Night
Little Darlin’, you eye me funny.
You got one eye cloudy and the other eye sunny.
You’re thinking way too much again.
You got an extra kink in your crooked grin.
You’re analyzing everything
from our very first kiss to the wedding ring.
Well it’s One for your daddy but he’s too slow.
Another for your momma but she don’t know
It’s Three for the Government.
Four for the Lord
Put it all together and won’t go no more…
I get this distant early warning
“Honey, I’ve been thinking” is the fatal phrase I always hear you say…
…then I get out of the way.
One by night and Two by Day.
At times, my Dear, you’re liquid motion
You got a wiggle in you that could rock the ocean.
Without due consideration you’re wild and free.
You got a heart as big as the galaxy.
So why oh why this complication?
Is the fire below beneath your station?
Well, it’s One for the rock, ’cause it can roll.
It’s Two for your body, and
Three for your soul.
So come a ti-yi-yippie, let’s rodeo
It’s Four to get ready and thar she blows.
What a Fool I Am
Jenny comes into my room and the thinks I’m dead
Calling my name, pulling my hair, dragging me out of my bed.
I open my eyes hearing the siren wind down the side street
I open my eyes
Oh Damn, they’re telling the world what a fool I am.
I wish I could hide in the keyhole
Telling the world what a fool I am.
It’s dragging me down.
Floating above the commotion like a child’s balloon.
Bumping my head on the ceiling coming down too soon.
I open my eyes. I hear the policemen talk in the gangway
I open my eyes.
Oh Damn, they’re telling the world what a fool I am.
Spilling my saucer of secrets
Telling the world what a fool I am
It’s dragging me down.
Wake in a room in a world that is way too white
Precious little remembered from a fogged out night
I open my eyes. I see my picture splashed on the front page
I open my eyes.
Oh Damn. They’re telling the world what a fool I am.
Drowning my world in a tea cup.
Telling the world what a fool I am
It’s dragging me down.
Almost Anywhere
I can’t remember everywhere I’ve been today
but fireflies don’t ask the wind where it’s been
or where it means to stay. They ride it anyway.
Still when I come blowing up you’re standing there
grinning through the knives you glare
but I don’t care. I can sleep anywhere.
Well, almost anywhere
And I’ve been accused of being a child as if it was a crime
Well, come and be a child sometime.
So why are in such a rush to be so old?
No matter when the fire dies you realize
the stars can grow so cold. Oh, they grow so cold.
And I don’t see why it’s so hard to understand
Staying high I learn to fly like Peter Pan
and almost never land. Almost Neverland.
And I’ve been accused of being a child. I’ve been one all this time
and i’ts much too late to change my mind.
Negril
I may know the sun will shine on me.
I may know the moon will fall in the sea.
Sure as the Rose of Sharon grows
where there is no shade and no water flows
We can shine on, on and on.
It’s alright. It’s high time.
You don’t steal ’cause Jah will provide.
It’s alright and so kind.
So don’t cry baby don’t cry.
I may know the world will swallow my bones.
I may know the wind will carry me home.
Sure as the song our fathers sang
So long ago has found us here.
On this English Isle in the sea, you and me.
It’s alright, it’s high time
You don’t steal ’cause Jah Jah provide.
It’s all right and so kind
So don’t cry baby don’t cry.
I may know that nowhere is my home
Just as each man is a slave to all that he owns.
Just as the Lily of the Valley grows
for the fowl who reaps but never sows
We can shine on, on and on.
It’s alright, it’s high time
You don’t steal ’cause Jehovah provide.
It’s all right and so kind
So don’t cry baby don’t cry.
You Rock and You Roll
Who ever said that your life would be easy?
When all that you got you bought with your soul.
And all that you know you learned by playing so long
But in the end you rock and you roll.
It’s only blood and bone
that heeds the bell that tolls.
And your innocence it goes
when you rock and you roll.
Almost
Almost sent a letter to you.
I was feeling blue but I’m fine.
Tell me why I feel fine.
I’m almost feeling better today.
I was feeling OK, ’til you called.
Almost sent a letter to you.
I was feeling blue but I’m fine.
Who’da believed that I’m fine.
Oh, send a letter.
Triolet
Lonely nights are here again
And all I need is one more drink
Someone’s found a brand new friend
Lonely nights are here again
I guess that gives us room to breathe
I guess that gives me time to to think
Lonely nights are here again
And all I need is one more drink.
Falling down.
like wind through the mouth of a chime.
La la la,
The carnival slithers through time.
You can win every cheap game they get you to play
but the prizes, they ain’t worth a dime.
This roadside attraction
This tent full of marvels
This busload of monsters
This medicine show
The broken calliope
Lured me like sirensong
Pierced by deception
I sank, and I sank like a stone.
Now the glitter’s settling.
Comes a time to pay the rent.
The barker came and found my girl.
He guessed her weight and off they went…