B i o g r a p h y
 (by Jason Ankeny)

After rising to fame at the helm of the popular folk-rock band 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant enjoyed even greater success as a solo artist during the mid-'90s. Her literate, socially conscious songs established her among the preeminent women in pop music, while her solo debut -- 1995's Tigerlily -- helped pave the way for a number of female performers in a pre-Lilith Fair market. She continued releasing albums well into the 2000s, often examining specific genres or subjects, although Tigerlily remained her biggest-selling record.

Born October 26, 1963, in Jamestown, New York, Merchant joined 10,000 Maniacs at the age of 17 and became the band's driving artistic force. After a pair of successful independent releases, they signed to Elektra in 1985 and briefly became one of the most popular acts in alternative rock, shooting into the Top 40 with 1987's In My Tribe and charting even higher with their follow-up effort, Blind Man's Zoo. Merchant's desire to launch a solo career increased alongside the band's growing reputation, however, and by the time the group sat down to record 1992's Our Time in Eden, she gave her bandmates two years' notice. Following the release of MTV Unplugged in 1994, she publicly announced she was leaving the group's ranks.

Merchant made her solo debut with 1995's Tigerlily, a self-produced album that debuted at number 13 and scored a Top Ten single with "Carnival." Two additional singles, "Wonder" and "Jealousy," also cracked the Top 40, prompting Tigerlily to sell over five million copies in the U.S. alone. It was followed in 1998 by Ophelia, another platinum-selling effort that was supported by Merchant's inclusion in the second Lilith Fair tour. Live in Concert, recorded at New York's Neil Simon Theatre, appeared a year later. A prominent social activist, Merchant also drew notice by campaigning in the name of such hot-button issues as animal rights, domestic violence, and homelessness.

Merchant launched a folk tour in 2000, with members of progressive folk band the Horse Flies joining her on the road. She then returned to her solo career with Motherland. Two years later, Merchant left Elektra's roster and formed her own independent label, Myth America, in order to issue House Carpenter's Daughter, a collection of traditional and contemporary folk music inspired by the 2000 tour. A long period of silence followed, during which a pair of greatest-hits releases -- the 10,000 Maniacs collection Campfire Songs and Merchant's own Retrospective: 1995-2005 -- kept fans relatively sated. As the decade drew to a close, though, Merchant signed with Nonesuch Records and began making plans for a new album, which eventually arrived in the form of the ambitious, double-disc neo-children's album, 2010's Leave Your Sleep. Merchant returned to straight-ahead pop music with a self-titled album in May 2014.




Tigerlily
- 1995-06-20 -



San Andreas Fault
Wonder
Beloved Wife
River
Carnival
I May Know The Word
The Letter
Cowboy Romance
Jealousy
Where I Go
Seven Years


Ophelia
- 2001-05-19 -



Ophelia
Life is Sweet
Kind and Generous
Frozen Charlotte
My Skin
Break Your Heart
King of May
Thick as Thieves
Effigy
The Living
When They Ring the Golden Bells
Ophelia (Reprise)

Motherland
- 2001-11-13 -

This House Is On Fire
Motherland
Saint Judas
Put The Law On You
Build A Levee
Golden Boy
The Ballad Of Henry Darger
The Worst Thing
Tell Yourself
Just Can't Last
Not In This Life
I'm Not Gonna Beg


The House Carpenter's Daughter
- 2003-09-16 -



Sally Ann
Which Side Are You On
Crazy Man Michael
Diver Boy
Weeping Pilgrim
Soldier, Soldier
Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow
House Carpenter
Owensboro
Down On Penny's Farm
Poor Wayfaring Stranger

Leave Your Sleep
- 2010-04-09 -


Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience
Equestreinne
Calico Pie
Bleezer's Ice-Cream
It Makes a Change
The King of China's Daughter
The Dancing Bear
The Man in the Wilderness
Maggie and Milly and Molly and May
If No One Ever Marries Me
The Sleepy Giant
The Peppery Man
The Blind Men and the Elephant
Adventures of Isabel
The Walloping Window Blind
Topsyturvey-World
The Janitor's Boy
Griselda
The Land of Nod
Vain and Careless
Crying, My Little One
Sweet and a Lullaby
I Saw a Ship a-Sailing
Autumn Lullaby
Spring and Fall: to a young child
Indian Names

Natalie Merchant
- 2014-05-06 -



Ladybird
Maggie Said
Texas
Go Down, Moses
Seven Deadly Sins
Giving up Everything
Black Sheep
It's a-Coming
Lulu (Introduction) (Instrumental)
Lulu
The End

RARITIES
- 1998-2017 - The Natalie Merchant Collection



The village green preservation society
Too long at the fair
Order 1081
To love is to bury
Saint judas
Birds & ships
The lowlands of holland
Sonnet 73
Learning the game
My little sweet baby
Political science
Build a levee
Sit down sister
The gulf of araby
Portofino (Instrumental)

Butterfly
- 2017-07-14 - The Natalie Merchant Collection



Butterfly
She Devil
Baby Mine
Frozen Charlotte
Ophelia
The Worst Thing
The Man in the Wilderness
My Skin
Vain & Careless
Andalucia

Keep Your Courage
- 2023-04-14 -



Big Girls
Come On, Aphrodite
Sister Tilly
Narcissus
Hunting the Wren
Guardian Angel
Eye of the Storm
Tower of Babel
Song of Himself
The Feat of Saint Valentine

Non Albums Tracks
- Misc -

After The Gold Rush
All I Want
Baby I Love You
Because I could not stop for death
(From) Both Sides Now
Bread & Circuses
But not for me
Children Go Where I Send Thee
Come Take A Trip In My Airship
Hey Baby Boy
I Know How To Do It
In the ghetto
Last Goodbye
Ode To Billy Joe
One fine day
Party of god
Photograph
She Devil
Son Of A Preacher Man
Space Oddity
Sympathy For The Devil
Take A Look


Add some NEW lyrics (B-sides, live tracks, Cover), want to CORRECT some of them or found a BUG ? Just send a little EMAIL or simply post a message on the FORUM. Thanx !

Tigerlily

San Andreas Fault

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk & honey over there

You'll be the brightest star
The world has ever seen
Sun-baked slender heroine
Of film & magazine

Go west
Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk & honey over there

You'll be the brightest light
The world has ever seen
The dizzy height of a jet-set life
You could never dream

Your pale blue eyes
Strawberry hair
Lips so sweet
Skin so fair

Your future bright
Beyond compare
It's rags to riches
Over there

San andreas fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Earth divided
Plates collided
Such an awful sound

San andreas fault
Moved its fingers
Through the ground
Terra cotta shattered
And the walls came
Tumbling down

O, promised land
O, wicked ground
Build a dream
Tear it down

O, promised land
What a wicked ground
Build a dream
Watch it all fall down

Wonder

Doctors have come
From distant cities
Just to see me
Stand over my bed
Disbelieving what they're seeing

They say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation

Newspapers ask
Intimate questions
Want confessions
They reach into my head
To steal the glory
Of my story

They say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation

I believe
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"

Laughed as my body she lifted
"Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience
And with faith
She'll make her way"

People see me
I'm a challenge
To your balance
I'm over your heads
How I confound you
And astound you
To know I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as you can see you can offer me
No explanation

I believe
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as she came to my mother
"Know this child will not suffer"
Laughed as my body she lifted
"Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience
And with faith
She'll make her way"

*** Thanx a lot to Dillon who corrected this one ***

Beloved Wife

You were the love
For certain of my life
You were simply my beloved wife
I don't know for certain
How I'll live my life
Now alone without my beloved wife
My beloved wife

I can't believe
I've lost the very best of me

You were the love
For certain of my life
You were simply my beloved wife
I don't know for certain
How I'll live my life
Now alone without my beloved wife
My beloved wife

I can't believe
I've lost the very best of me

You were the love
For certain of my life
For 50 years simply my beloved wife
With another love I'll never lye again
It's you I can't deny
It''s you I can't defy
A depth so deep
Into my grief
Without my beloved soul
I renounce my life
As my right
Now alone without my beloved wife
My beloved wife

My beloved wife
My love is gone she suffered long
In hours of pain
My love is gone
Now my suffering begins
My love is gone
Would it be wrong if I should
Surrender all the joy in my life
Go with her tonight

My love is gone she suffered long
In hours of pain
My love is gone
Would it be wrong if I should
Just turn my face away from the light
Go with her tonight

River

Young and strong Hollywood son
In the early morning light
This star fell down
On Sunset Boulevard

Young and strong beautiful one
We embraced so close
Is gone
Was torn away

Let the youth of America mourn
Include him in their prayers
Let his image linger on
Repeat it everywhere

With candles, with flowers
He was one of ours
One of ours

Why don't you let him be
He's gone
We know
Give his mother and his father peace
Your vulture's candor
Your casual slander
You murder his memory
He's gone
We know
It's nothing but a tragedy

Lay to rest your soul and body
Lay beside your name
Lay to rest your rage
Your hunger and amazing grace

With candles, with flowers
You were one of ours
One of ours

I saw cameras expose your life
I heard rumors explode with lies
I saw children in tears
Cry and crowd around the sight
Of where you had collapsed that day
Where your last breath and word
Had been sighed
Where your heart had burst
Where you had died

I saw how they were lost in grieving
All half believing you were gone
The loss and pain of it
Crime and shame of it
You were gone
It was such a nightmare raving,
"How could we save him from himself?"

Carnival

I've walked these streets
A virtual stage
It seemed to me
Make up on their faces
Actors took their
Places next to me

I've walked these streets
In a carnival
Of sights to see
All the cheap thrill seekers
The vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me

Have I been blind
Have I been lost
Inside my self and
My own mind
Hypnotized
Mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen

I've walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets
The scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me

I've walked these streets
In the mad house asylum
They can be
Where a wild eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped
And he raved of saving me

Have I been blind
Have I been lost
Inside my self and
My own mind
Hypnotized
Mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen

Have I been wrong
Have I been wise
To shut my eyes
And play along
Hypnotized
Paralyzed
By what my eyes have found
By what my eyes have seen
What they have seen

Have I been blind
Have I been lost
Inside my self and
My own mind
Hypnotized
Mesmerized
By what my eyes have found
In that great street carnival
In that carnival

I May Know The Word

I may know the word
But not say it
I may know the truth
But not face it
I may hear a sound
A whisper sacred and profound
But turn my head
Indifferent

I may know the word
But not say it
I may love the fruit
But not taste it
I may know the way
To comfort and to soothe
A worried face
But fold my hands
Indifferent

If I'm on my knees
I'm begging now
If I'm on my knees
Groping in the dark
I'd be paying for deliverance
From the night into day

But it's all grey here
It's all grey to me

I may know the word
But not say it
This may be the time
But I might waste it
This may be the hour
Something move me
Someone prove me wrong
Before the night comes
With indifference

If I'm on my knees
I'm begging now
If I'm on my knees
Groping in the dark
I'd be praying for deliverance
From the night into the day

But it's all grey here
But it's all grey to me

I recognize the walls inside me
I recognize them all
I've paced between them
Chasing demons down
Until they fall
In fitful sleep
Enough to keep their strength
Enough to crawl
Into my head
With tangled threads
They riddle me to solve

Again and again and again

The Letter

If I ever write this letter
The pages I could write
But I don't know where to send it
You have vanished
Heaven knows where you live
Heaven only knows

If I ever write this letter
Bitter words it would contain
Just and unrequited lover
Wishing she had never
Spoken your name
Had never known your name

But if I ever write this letter
The truth it would reveal
Knowing you brought me pleasure
How I'll often treasure
Moments that we knew
The precious, the few

Cowboy Romance

It's a Saturday afternoon romance
Between a cowboy and a fool
A drunken meet up
In a crude saloon
A poor Rocky Mountain town
He's a scoundrel and
She's no pearl
Together they are two lovers cruel

Got her balanced on his knee
He knows exactly what to say

"You ain't been born
'Til you get out of town
And honey,
You might come with me"

"If you do...
Spare the innocent ones
I'll take you with me
Together we will be drifters free"

Got her tangled in his arm
She's a lusting, trusting fool

"No man born can rule me
That I've sworn
But stranger if you do
I'll belong to you"

"If you do...
Would you spare the innocent ones
Would you take me with you?
Can you love the land
And love me too?"

As he grows sober
Sees his love anew
In morning light so true
He gets on the move
On the move
 

Jealousy

O, jealousy

Is she fine
So well bred
The perfect girl
A social deb?

Is she the sort
You've always thought
Could make you
What you're not?

O, jealousy
Is she bright
So well read
Are there novels
By here bed?

Is the sort
You've always said
Could satisfy
Your head?

O, my jealousy

Does she talk
The way I do
Is her voice reminding you
Of the promises
The little white lies too
Sometimes, tell me
While she's touching you
Just by mistake
Accidentally do you say my name?

Where I Go

Climbing under
A barbed wire fence
By the railroad ties

Climbing over
The old stone wall
I am bound for the riverside

Well I go to the river
To soothe my mind
Ponder over
The crazy days of my life
Just sit and watch the river flow

Find a place
On the riverbank
Where the green rushes grow
See the wind
In the willow tree
In the branches hanging low

Well I go to the river
To soothe my mind
To ponder over
The crazy days of my life
Watch the river flow
Ease my mind and my soul
Where I go

Well I will go to the river
From time to time
Wander over
These crazy days in my mind
Watch the river flow
Where the willow branches grow
By the cool rolling waters
Moving gracefully and slow

Child it's lovely
Let the river take it all away
The mad pace, the hurry
The troubles, the worries
Just the river take them all away
Flow away

Seven Years

How did I love you?
There was no measuring
Far above this dirty world
Far above everything
In your tower over it
You were clean

So warm and insightful
Were you in my eyes
I was sure the rightful
Guardian of my life
Damn you betrayer
How you lied

But for seven years
You were loved
I laid golden orchid crowns
Around your feet

For seven years
I bowed down
To touch the ground
So wholly your devotee

You were
All I could see

I've got my sight now
I see everything you hid
So don't you try to right now
All the wrong you did
I might forget you
But never forgive

But for seven years
You were loved
I laid golden orchid crowns
Around your feet

For seven years
I bowed down
To touch the ground
So wholly your devotee

For seven years
You were so revered
I made offerings of
Anything and everything I had

You were
All I could see

Ophelia

Ophelia

Ophelia was a bride of god
A novice Carmelite
In sister cells the cloister bells
Tolled on her wedding night

Ophelia was a rebel girl
A blue stocking suffragette
Who remedied society
Between her cigarettes

Ophelia was a sweetheart
To the nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs
Vivacious eyes
Love was at first sight...

Ophelia was a demigoddess
In pre-war Babylon
So statuesque a silhouette
In black satin evening gowns

Ophelia was the mistress to a
Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina
Mafia courtesan

Ophelia was a circus queen
The female cannonball
Projected through five flaming hoops
To wild and shocked applause...

Ophelia was a cyclone, tempest
A god damned hurricane
Your common sense
Your best defense
Lay wasted and in vain

Ophelia'd know your every woe
And pain you'd ever had
She'd sympathize
And dry your eyes
And help you to forget...

Ophelia's mind went wandering
You'd wonder where she'd gone
Through secret doors
Down corridors
She'd wander them alone
All alone...

fade to different spoken languages

Life is Sweet

It's a pity
It's a crying shame
Who pulled you down again?
How painful it must be
To bruise so easily inside

It's a pity
It's a downright crime
But it happens all the time
You wanna stay little daddy's girl
Wanna hide from the vicious world outside

But don't cry
Know the tears'll do no good
So dry your eyes

Your daddy he's the iron man
A battleship wrecked on dry land
Your mama she's a bitter bride
She'll never be satisfied,
And you know
That's not right

But don't cry
Know the tears'll do no good
So dry your eyes

They told you life is hard
It's misery from the start
It's dull and slow and painful

I tell you life is sweet
In spite of the misery
There's so much more
Be grateful

Who do you believe?
Who will you listen to
Who will it be?
It's high time that you decide
In your own mind

Tried to comfort you
Tried to tell you to be patient
They are blind
They can't see

Fortune gonna come some day
All gonna fade away
Your daddy the war machine and
Your mama the long and suffering
Prisoner of what she cannot see

They told you life is hard
It's misery from the start
It's dull and slow and painful

I tell you life is sweet
In spite of the misery
There's so much more
Be grateful

Who do you believe?
Who will you listen to
Who will it be?

It's high time you decide
It's time you make up your own sweet little mind

They told you life is long
Be thankful when it's done
Don't ask for more
You should be grateful

But i tell you life is short
Be thankful because before you know
It will be over

Cause life is sweet
And life is also very short
Your life is sweet


Kind and Generous

You've been so kind and generous
I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness i'm in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
And for everything you've done

You know i'm bound...
I'm bound to thank you for it

You've been so kind and generous
I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness i'm in debt to you
And i never could have come this far without you
So for everything you've done

You know i'm bound...
I'm bound to thank you for it

I want to thank you
For so many gifts
You gave with love and tenderness
I want to thank you

I want to thank you
For your generosity
The love and the honesty
That you gave me

I want to thank you
Show my gratitude
My love and my respect for you
I want to thank you

I want to...

Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you

Frozen Charlotte

Blue like the winter snow in this full moon
Black like the silhouettes of the trees
Late blooming flowers lye frozen underneath the stars
I want you to remember me that way

Far away
I''ll be gone
Will you wait for me here?
How long?
I don't know
But wait for me here

Still as the river grows in december
Silent and perfect blinding ice
Spring keeps her promises
No cold can keep her back
I want you to remember me that way

Far away
I'll be gone
Will you wait for me here?
How long?
I don't know
But wait for me here
Follow
Don't follow me to where i'll go

Far away
I'll be gone
Will you wait for me here?
How long?
I don't know
But wait for me here
Follow
Don't follow me to where i've gone
Someday you'll take my place
And i'll wait for you herea

My Skin

Take a look at my body
Look at my hands
There's so much here that I don't understand
Your face-saving promises
Whispered like prayers
I don't need them

Because I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
Well, contempt loves the silence
It thrives in the dark
With fine winding tendrils
That strangle the heart
They say that promises sweeten the blow
But I don't need them, no
I don't need them

I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
I'm the slow dying flower
In the frost killing hour
Sweet turning sour and untouchable

Oh, I need the darkness
The sweetness
The sadness
The weakness
Oh, I need this
I need a lullaby
A kiss goodnight
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

I'm the slow dying flower
In the frost killing hour
Sweet turning sour and untouchable
Do you remember the way that you touched me before
All the trembling sweetness I loved and adored
Your face-saving promises whispered like prayers
I don't need them

I need the darkness
The sweetness
The sadness
The weakness
Oh, I need this
I need a lullaby
A kiss good night
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

Well is it dark enough
Can you see me
Do you want me
Can you reach me
Or I'm leaving

You better shut your mouth
And hold your breath
And kiss me now
And catch your death
Oh, I mean this
Oh, I mean this

*** Thanx a lot to Charlotte who corrected me for this one ***

Break Your Heart

Oh, people downcast in despair
See the disillusion everywhere
Hoping that their luck will change
It's a little harder every day

People struggle, people fight
For the simple pleasures in their lives
The trouble comes from everywhere
It's a little more than you can bear

I know it will be hurt
I know it will break your heart the way things are
And the way they've been
And the way they've always been

People shallow self absorbed
See the push and shove for their rewards
With nothing nice on their minds
You can read about it in their eyes

People ruthless, people cruel
The damage that some people do
Full of hatred, full of pride
It's enough to make you lose your mind

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart the way things are
And the way they've been
Yeah I know that it will hurt
I know it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are and the way they've been
Don't spread discontent, don't spread the lies
Don't make the same mistakes with your own life
You know it will always came back

Yeah, I know that it will hurt
I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are and the way they've been
Don't spread discontent, don't spread the lies
Don't make the same mistakes with your own life
And don't disrespect yourself, don't lose your pride
And don't think everybody is gonna chose your side
Oh no... Oh no... no..

King of May

Farewell today
Travel on now
Be on your way

Go safely there
And never worry, never care
Beyond this day

Farewell tonight
To all joy and to all the life
Go on, go peacefully
We can't keep your majesty
Be on your way

Make may for the last king of May
And make a cardboard crown for him
And make your voices one
Praise the crazy mother's son, who loved his life

Farewell today
Travel on now
Be on your way
Can't bear the very thought that we
That we could keep your majesty
Be on your way

Make way for the last king of May
And make a hole in the cloud for him
Raise your voices up
Drink your loving cup
To his long life
To his long life
Make way for the last king of May
Make a hole in the sky for him
And raise your voices up
Lift your loving cup
To his long life
His long life

And raise your voices up
Lift you loving cup
To his long life
To his long life
His long life
His long life

Thick as Thieves

Remember how it all began
The apple and the fall of man
The price we paid
So the people say
Down a path of shame it led us
Dared to bite the hand that fed us
The fairy tale
The moral end
The wheel of fortune
Never turns again

The worst of it has come and gone
In the chaos of millennium
In the falling out of the doomsday crowd
Their last retreat is moving slow
They burn their bridges as they go
The heretic is beatified
He'll teach the harlot's child to smile

Wracked again by indecision
Should we make that small incision
Testify to the bleeding heart inside?
We cut, we scratched
We rent, we slashed
And when he opened up at last
Found a cul-de-sac
Deep and black
Of smoke and ash

The wicked king of parody
Is kissing all his enemies
On the seventh day
Of the seventh week
The tyrant's voice is softer now
But just for one forgiving hour
Before the rise of his
Iron fist again

I've come tonight
I've come to know
The way we are
The way we'll go
Come to measure this
The width of the wide abyss

I come to you in restless sleep
Where all your dreams turn bittersweet
With voodoo doll philosophies
And day-glow holy trinities

The crooked raft that leaves the shore
Ferries drunken souls aboard
Pilgrims march to compestela
Visions of their saint in yellow

All follow deep in trance
Lost in a catatonic dance
Know no future
Damn the past
Blind, warm, ecstatic
Safe at last...

*** Thanx a lot to Mia & TheGoodbyeGirl who corrected a mistake ***

Effigy

I'm an effigy
A parody of
Who I appear to be
Put your flaming torches under me

I'm an effigy
A parody of
Who I appear to be
Put your flaming torches under me

I'm an effigy
A parody of
Who I appear to be
Put your flaming torches under me

Endless so far in myself, follow me

fade to Tibetan singer, Yungchen Lhamo

The Living

What's it like there outside
With the living, with the living
Here I've found a place I can hide
From the living, from the living
Because I don't care to stay with the living

Oh, the bottle has been to me
My closest friend, my worst enemy
For a flavor I walked a fine life
Squandered it all and wasted my time
And I don't stand a chance among the living

For the lovers I've gambled and lost
Count my mistakes whatever the cost
I'll go off, I'll make myself scarce
Oh, come tomorrow
You won't find me here

Because I don't care to stay with the living
I don't think I'll remain with the living

And I don't care to stay with the living
No, I don't care to stay

When They Ring the Golden Bells

There's a land beyond the river
That they call the sweet forever
And we only reach that shore by faith's decree
One by one we'll gain the portals
There to dwell with the immortals
When they ring the golden bells for you and me

Don't you hear the bells now ringing
Don't you hear the angels singing
'Tis the glory hallelujah Jubilee
In that far off sweet forever,
Just beyond the shining river
When they ring the golden bells for you and me

We shall know no sin or sorrow
In that heaven of tomorrow
When our hearts shall sail beyond the silvery sea
We shall only know the blessing
Of our Father's sweet caressing
When they ring the golden bells for you and me

Don't you hear the bells now ringing
Don't you hear the angels singing
'Tis the glory hallelujah Jubilee
In that far off sweet forever
Just beyond the shining river
When they ring the golden bells for you and me

When our days shall know their number
When in death we sweetly slumber
When the King commands the spirit to be free
Nevermore with anguish laden
We shall reach that lovely Eden
When they ring the golden bells for you and me
When they ring the golden bells for you and me

Motherland

*** Thanx a lot to Stan & John Conari for all the lyrics of Motherland ***

This House Is On Fire

This house is on fire!

Kick off your boots, come sit a spell.
Listen to me worry, come and listen well.

All you better best come and lean in boys
I don't dare raise my voice

I've been sitting here for the longest time
Reading all the warning and the danger signs
I don't have the gift of the prophecy
Telling everybody how it's going to be

Soon come, soon come the day
This tinderbox is gonna blow in your face.
Your face, your face
I don't have the gift of the prophesy
Telling everybody how it's going to be.
You go passing wrong for right and right for wrong
People only stand for that for just so long.

It's all gonna catch like a house on fire
Spark an evil blaze and burn higher

Well, I don't have the gift of the prophesy
Telling everybody how it's going to be
You go passing wrong for right and right for wrong
People only stand for that for just so long

I don't have the gift of the prophesy
Telling everybody how it's going to be.
There's a wild fire catching in the whip of the wind
That could start a conflagration like there has never been

This house is on fire
This house is on fire

Motherland

Where in the hell can you go
Far from the things that you know
Far from the sprawl of concrete that keeps crawling its way
About 1,000 miles a day

Take one last look behind
Commit this to memory and mind
Don't miss this wasteland, this terrible place
When you leave
Keep your heart off your sleeve.

Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me
Stay beside me don't go
Don't you go

Oh, my five & dime queen
Tell me what have you seen
The lust and the avarice
The bottomless, cavernous greed
Is that what you see?

Oh Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me, stay beside me don't go.

It's your happiness
I want most of all
And for that I'd do anything at all
Oh mercy me!
If you want the best of it
Or the most of all
If there's anything I can do at all.

Now come on shot gun bride
What makes me envy your life?
Faceless, nameless, innocent, blameless and free
What's that like to be?

Oh Motherland
Cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me
Stay beside me don't go
Don't go, don't go

Motherland
Cradle me
Close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe, lie with me
Stay beside me don't go
Don't go, don't go

Saint Judas

Saddle up the horses and wear your Sunday best
Sing your Sacred Harp, you be holier than the rest
Fill up the room with a grand and thunderous song
Let it rattle out the windows
Let it spill out on the lawn

Shout, shout your praises to the man who kissed the Lord
To the back stabbing brother that betrayed all of this world, your Judas!

Yeah, though you may walk in the valley in the dark
There's no greater evil than the darkness in your heart
With your stun guns, bloodhounds
Needle and your razor wire
Your nylon shackle whipping post
And your high tech burning tire, your Judas, Judas, Judas.

Whiplash crack across the back, across the arms
Although you bound his feet, he running fast he running hard
Through them crickets in the corn
And them horses in the field
Hear the "caw, caw" of the crows
See the devil at the wheel y'all, Judas, Judas, Judas, Judas...

Go on down to Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas
Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Florida
Louisiana and Tennessee
Georgia, Carolina, Carolina.

There's no greater evil
Than the darkness in your heart

Put The Law On You

Do I have to put the law on you baby
For all the wicked things you do
Am I gonna have to put the law on you baby
That was not what I wanted to do

Do I have to put the law on you baby
To try and make you come out clean for every evil deed
You're just about the lowest and the dirtiest thing
I've ever seen

Did you really think you could pull it off
The perfect crime, crime of the heart
Do you really think that you'll get away
Do the crime and never ever pay

Do I have to put the law out on you baby
Lock you up and throw away the key
For the countless counts of low down double-cross
You've been about have you no decency

Did you really think that you could pull it off
The perfect crime, crime of the heart
Did you really think that you'll get away
Escape my justice until you're dying day

Though you made it clear from the very start
There was no trusting you in my foolish heart
Though you maybe made it clear that didn't make it right
Now my mind is set on it
Do you really really think you'll get away
You can't escape my justice 'til my dying day

Build A Levee

When I was just a little girl
My mama said to me
"Beware of the devil my child in the dark rocky places he'll keep.
Beware of the devil my child.
Beware of his charming ways.
You'll fall under a spell just looking at his beautiful face.
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside."

"Don't go walking by the riverside alone in the pale moonlight
He'll come up upon you girl with no earthly body in sight
Come up on you girl and and he'll whisper something sweet
And take you where the waters rise so high and run so deep."

"You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl when the waters run high."

Now when I was just a little girl my mama said to me
"Beware of the the devil my child but if by chance you should meet
Beware his cold dark eyes full of bold and unholy deceit
He'll tempt you with a whirling pool of lies
And promises he'll deny or that he will never keep."

"You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl when the waters run high."

Golden Boy

Top of the fold
Toast of the town
Everyone stops when you come around
They hold their breath for you

Heroes are born
Idols are made
We're all fools for this factory fame
And you've got the brand new face
And you've got the brand new face
Golden boy

Beauty untamed
Stupid and wild poster boy you're society's child
Cut your teeth, cut your mouth, cut it out

Meteor rise from obscurity
All it took was a killing spree
And the whole world was lying at your feet
Golden boy, golden boy

I know my place, stick to my lines
Stay in your shadow, don't block your light
So you can shine divine
So you can shine divine
Golden boy, golden boy, golden boy

The Ballad of Henry Darger

Who'll save the poor little girl?
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Who'll save the poor little girl?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry

Who'll tell the story of her?
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Who'll tell it to all the world?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry

Who'll buy the carbon paper now?
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Who'll trace the lines of her mouth?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry

Who will conquer foreign worlds searching for the stolen girls?
Princesses you'll never fear the patron saint of girls is here!
Who will draw the cavalry in and risk his very own precious skin
To make our Angelina a free and beautiful land again?
Henry

Who'll love a poor orphan child
Henry Darger, Henry Darger
Lost, growing savage and wild?
Henry, Henry
Oh Henry Oh
Henry, Henry..

The Worst Thing

So you're in love, it's so good for you
Live it up girl 'cause it never lasted long

It's heaven for now but not for long
It's gonna hurt you
It's gonna make you feel so bad.

Once I could love, I could trust, I could not doubt
But that was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do.

Maybe not now
But it won't take long before it's
Gonna hurt you
Truly do you some harm.

Once I was open, could hope, I had no doubt
But that was the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do.
It was just about the worst thing that I could do.

Once I came close to that most elusive fire
Burning with hopeless love and desire but
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do

En el pasado estuve ciega como tu
(In the past I was blind as you)
Atrapada y perdida como tu
(Trapped and lost like you)
Embelesada y suspendida en mi jaula de plata
(With no escape, suspended in my silver cage)
Esos recuerdos te acompanaran toda la vida
(These memories will remain with you forever)

Tell Yourself

I know what you tell yourself you tell yourself
I know what you tell yourself you tell yourself
Look in the mirror
Look in the mirror what does it show?

I hear you counting
I know you're adding up the score
I know, oh yes I know
What you tell yourself, you tell yourself.
I know what you tell yourself, you tell yourself.

Ever since Eden
We're built for pleasing everyone knows
Ever since Adam
Cracked his ribs and let us go
I know, oh yes I know
What you tell yourself, you tell yourself.
I know what you tell yourself, you tell yourself.
I know what you tell yourself, you tell yourself.

Who taught you how to lie
So well and to believe
In each and every word you say?

Who told you that nothing about you is alright
It's just no use, it's just no good you'll never be ok?

Well I know, I know that wrong's been done to you
"It's such a tough world,"
That's what you say
And I know, I know it's easier said than done
But that's enough girl
Give it away
Give it, give it all away

Tell yourself that you're not pretty
Look at you, you're beautiful.
Tell yourself that no one sees
Plain Jane invisible to me

Just tell yourself
Tell yourself
Tell yourself you'll never be like the anorexic beauties in the magazines
Like a bargain basement Barbie doll, no belle du jour, no femme fatale
Just tell yourself, tell yourself
Tell yourself there's nothing worse than the pain inside and the way it hurts
But tell yourself it's nothing new cause everybody feels it too
They feel it too
And there's just no getting 'round the fact that you're thirteen right now.

Just Can't Last

Well I know I
Swear I know your face
I wish I knew your name
I wish I could take you by the hand
If I could name it, if I could just explain it
If I could only help you, help you understand

Well I can
I can see that you're hurting
Weighed down like a beast of burden about to break your back
God only knows that you're human
So what are they trying to do then?
Believe me, they don't understand
That you have the weight of the world today
It's on your back
A heavy load like that is gonna hold you back
It's gonna drag you down

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last.

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last.

Well they thought they could use you
Push you down and abuse you and what's so sad
Is you've decided to hide all your feelings
Got more pain than you can deal with but ask yourself, how can this last?

I know you have the weight of the world today
It's on your back
A heavy load like that is gonna hold you back
It's gonna drag you down

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last.

You know it just can't last
It just can
You know it just can't last...

Not In This Life

Oh lately i've been walking all alone
Through the wind and through the rain
Been walking through the streets
Finding sweet relief in knowing that it won't be long

Lately it's occurred to me
That i've had enough of that
And lately i've been satisfied by simple things
Like breathing in and breathing out

Never again, not in this life
Will I be taken twice
Never again, not on your life
Will I make that same mistake
I can't make it twice

Lately it's occurred to me
Exactly what went wrong
I realized I compromised, I sacrificed
Far too much for far too long

Never again, not in this life
Will I be taken twice
Never again, not on your life
Will I make that same mistake
I can't make it twice

Starting out from here today
Swear I'm gonna change my ways
Once mistaken in this life
But never twice

Never again, not in this life
Will I be taken twice
Never again, not on your life
Will I make that same mistake
Never again, not on your life
Will I make that same mistake
Can't make it twice

Starting out from here today...

I'm Not Gonna Beg

I'm not gonna beg you for nothing
I'm not gonna beg you for love.

Straight talk, give me the straight talk
Tell me what's on your mind if it ain't love
I'm not gonna beg you for nothing
I'm not gonna beg you for your love.

Scared now, what are you scared of ?
Afraid I might fall on my knees and break down?
I'm not gonna beg you for nothing.
I'm not gonna beg you for your love.

Don't you think you can take me for pretty little ride
I know "once upon a time" and "ever after" is a lie
I'm not gonna beg you for nothing at all
There's nothing I want from you, nothing you can say or do
There is nothing I want for you to say anyway.

I'm not gonna beg you for nothing
I'm not gonna beg you for your love

The house carpenter's daughter

Sally Ann

A woman of beauty
A woman of pain
In France or Jakarta
Her shadow�s the same
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home

A woman of kindness
With bracelets of jade
In China, in Japan
Choices are made
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home

A woman of chances
With no family or friends
In Argentina
She knows only men
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home

A woman of color
With debts to be paid
In Trenton or Detroit
She lives by the blade
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home with Sally Ann
You go home

Which side are you on

Come all you good workers
Good news to you i'll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

My daddy was a miner
He's now in the air and sun
He'll be with you fellow workers
Until the battle's won

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J. H. Claire

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

Oh workers can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

Don't scab for the bosses
Don't listen to their lies
Poor folks ain't got a chance
Unless they organize

Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

Crazy man Michael

Within the fire
And out upon the sea
Crazy man Michael was walking
He met with a raven
With eyes black as coal
And shortly they were talking

"your future, your future
I will tell to you
Your future
You often have asked me
Your true love will die
By your own right hand
And crazy man Michael
Will cursed be"

Michael he ranted
And Michael he raved
And he beat at the four winds
With his fists-o
He laughed and he cried
He shouted and he swore
For his mad mind
Entrapped him with a fist-hold

"you speak with an evil
You speak with a hate
You speak for the devil
That haunts me
For is she not the fairest
In all the broad land?
Your sorcerer's words
Are to taunt me"

He took out his dagger
Of fine and broad steel
And he struck down the raven
Through the heart-o
The bird fluttered long
And the sky it did spin
And this cold earth did
Wander ‘round startled

Oh where is the raven
That I struck down dead
And here did lye
On the ground-o?
I see my true love
With a wound so red
Where her lover's heart
It did pound-o

Crazy man Michael
He wanders I'm told
And he talks through
The night and the day-o
But his eyes they are sane
And his speech is plain
But he longs to be far away-o

Michael he whistles
The simplest of tunes
As he asks of the wild wolves
Their pardon
But his true love has flown
Into every flower grown
And he must be keeper
Of the garden

Diver boy

Young Emily was fair lady bright
She loved her diver boy
Who sailed over the ocean
To gather up some gold
Seven long years returning,
His money for to show
He'd been sailing over the main
Down in the low land, low

"my father runs a big hotel
Down by the river side
You go there go for to stay
And I shall be your bride
Meet me early morning
Don't let my parents know
You have been the diver boy
Down in the low land, low"

Young Henry taking a drink
That night before he went to bed
Not thinking of the danger
That crowned all over his head
Young Edward said to his father,
"let's take his money sure
And send his body sinking fast
Down in the low land, low"

Young Emily went to be that night
She dreamed an awful dream
She dreamed she saw
Her true love's blood
Go flowing down the stream
Waking early morning
To parents she did say,
"where could be that stranger boy
Who came here for to stay?"

"oh, father you're a robber
You robbed me of my wren!
Oh brother you have murdered
The one that I loved best!
The trees on yonder mountain
Are bending to and fro
They remind me of my diver boy
Down in the low land, low"

Weeping pilgrim

If you see them father
Please tell them
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

Well I weep and I moan
And I move slowly on
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

If you see them sister
Please tell them
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

Well I weep and I moan
And I move slowly on
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

If you see them brother
Please tell them
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

Well I weep and I moan
And I move slowly on
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

If you see them mother
Please tell them
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

Well I weep and I moan
And I move slowly on
I'm a poor mourning pilgrim
Bound for Canaan land

Soldier, Soldier

Said, "soldier, now soldier
Would you marry me
Before the fight comes on?"

"how can I marry
Such a pretty little girl
When I got no suit to put on?"

Well she went to the dry goods store
Hard as she could run
She bought the finest
Little suit in the store,
"come on soldier put this on"

Said, "soldier, now soldier
Would you marry me
Before the fight comes on?"

"how can I marry
Such a pretty little girl
When I got no shoes to put on"

Well she went to the dry goods store
Hard as she could run
She bought the finest
Little shoes in the store
"come on soldier put these on"

Said, "soldier, now soldier
Would you marry me
Before the fight comes on?"

"how can I marry
Such a pretty little girl
When I got no hat to put on?"

Well she went to the dry goods store
Hard as she could run
She bought the finest
Little hat in the store
"come on soldier put this on"

Said, "soldier, now soldier
Would you marry me
Before the fight comes on?"

"how can I marry
Such an ugly little girl
When I got a pretty wife at home?"

Bury me under the weeping willow

Well, my heart is sad
And I am lonesome
For the only one I love
When shall we meet?
Oh no never
Till we meet in heaven above

So bury me underneath the willow
Under the weeping willow tree
So that he may know
Where I am sleeping
And perhaps he'll weep for me

Well, he told me that
He dearly loved me
Oh how could it be untrue?
Until the angels softly whispered,
"he will prove untrue to you"

So bury me underneath the willow
Under the weeping willow tree
So that he may know
Where I am sleeping
And perhaps he'll weep for me

Well, tomorrow was to be
Our wedding day
But oh my god
Where can he be?
He's out a courting with another
And no longer cares for me

So bury me underneath the willow
Under the weeping willow tree
So that he may know
Where I am sleeping
And perhaps he'll weep for me

House Carpenter

"Well met, well met
And I know true love
Well met, well met", said he
"I'm just returning from the salt, salt sea
And it's all for the love of thee"

"come in, come in
My own true love
And have a seat with me
It's been three-fourths
Of a long, long year
Since together we have been"

"no I can't come in
And I can't sit down
For I have but a moment's time
They say that you're married
To a house carpenter
And your heart shall never be mine"

"well I could have married
The king's daughter fair
She would have married me
But I forsaked upon
Her crowns of gold
And it's all for the love of thee"

"now will you forsake on
Your house carpenter
And go along with me?
I'll take you where
The grass grows green
On the banks of the bitter reeds"

She pick'd up her wee little babe
And kisses, gave it three saying,
"stay right here my darling little one
Keep your papa company"

Now they had not been
On the ship two weeks
I swear it was not three
When his true love began
To weep and moan
And she wept most bitterly

"are you weeping
For my silver and gold
Are you weeping for my store or are
You weeping for that house carpenter
That you ne'er shall see no more?"

"a curse on the sailor she swore
A curse, a curse she swore
You robbed me of my sweet little babe
That I never shall see no more!"

Well, they had not been
On the ship three weeks
I swear it was not four
Until there came a leak in the ship
And she sank
To rise no more…

Owensboro

Well, I lived in a town
Way down south
By the name of Owensboro
And I worked in a mill
With the rest of the "trash"
As we're often called
As you know

Well, we rise up early
In the morning
And we work all day real hard
To buy our little meat and bread
Buy sugar, tea, and lard

Well, our children
Grow up unlearned
With no time to go to school
Almost before they learn to walk
They learn to spin and spoon

Well, the folks in town
They dress so fine
And spend their money free
But they would hardly look
At a factory hand
Who dresses like you or me

Would you let them wear
Their watches fine
Let them wear their gems
And pearly strings

But when that day
Of judgement comes
They'll have to share
Their pretty things

Down on Penny's farm

Come here ladies and gentleman
Listen to my song
Play it to you right
But you may think it wrong
May make you mad
But I mean no harm
It's just about the renters
On Penny's farm
It's a hard time in the country
Down on Penny's farm

Go into the fields
And you work all day
Deep into the night
But you get no pay
Promise you some meat
Or a little bucket of lard
It's hard to make a living
On Penny's farm
It's a hard time in the country
Down on Penny's farm

Hear George Penny
He'll be coming into town
With a wagon load of peaches
Not a one of them sound
Gotta get his money
Gotta get a check
Pay you for a bushel
But you never get a peck
It's a hard time in the country
Down on Penny's farm

George Penny's renters
They be coming into town
With their hands in their pockets
And their heads hanging down
Go to the merchant
And the merchant he'll say,
"your mortgage it is due
And I'm looking for my pay"
It's a hard time in the country
Down on Penny's farm

Deep into his pocket
With a trembling hand,
"can't pay you what I owe
But i'll pay you what I can"
Down to the merchant
And the merchant make a call
Put you on the chain gang
Don't pay at all
It's a hard time in the country
Down on Penny's farm

Poor Wayfaring Stranger

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
Travelling through this world of woe
But there's no sickness, toil or danger
In that bright land to which I go

Well I'm going there
To meet my mother
Said she'd meet me when I come
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I know dark clouds
Will gather ‘round me
I know my way
Will be rough and steep
But beautiful fields lie just before me
Where God's redeemed
Their vigils keep

Well I'm going there
To meet my loved ones
Gone on before me, one by one
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I'll soon be free of earthy trials
My body rest in the old church yard
I'll drop this cross of self-denial
And i'll go singing home to God

Well I'm going there
To meet my Savior
Dwell with Him and never roam
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

Leave Your Sleep

Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience

( Charles Causley )

I had a silver penny and an apricot tree
And I said to the sailor on the white quay
Sailor O' sailor, will you bring me
If I give you my penny and my apricot tree

A fez from Algeria, an Arab drum to beat
A little gilt sword and a parakeet
Well he smiled and he kissed me as strong as death
And I saw his red tongue and I felt his sweet breath

You may keep your penny and your apricot tree
And I'll bring your presents back from sea
From over the sea

O' the ship dipped down on the rim of the sky
And I waited while three long summers went by
Three long summers went by

Then one morning on the white quay
I saw a grey ship come in from sea
Slowly she came across the bay
For her flashing rigging was shot away

And all round her wake the seabirds cried
And flew in and out of the hole in her side
Slowly she came into the path of the sun
I heard the sound of a distant gun
Of a distant gun

Then a stranger came running up to me
From the deck of the ship and he said, said he

O' are you the boy who would wait by the quay
With the silver penny and an apricot tree
But I've a plum-coloured fez and a drum for thee
I've got a sword and a parakeet from over the sea

Where is the sailor with bold red hair?
And what is that volley on the bright air
And where are the other girls and boys
And why have you brought me children's toys
Brought me children's toys

Equestrienne

( Rachel Field )

See, they are clearing the sawdust course
For the girl in pink on the milk-white horse
For the girl in pink on the milk-white horse
Cantering over the sawdust course

Her spangles twinkle his pale flanks shine
Every hair of his tail is fine

See the girl in pink on the milk-white horse
Cantering over the sawdust course

While his hoofbeats fall like rain
Over and over and over again

And bright as a comet's his mane blows free
And she points a toe, bends a knee

Nothing that moves on land or sea
Will seem so beautiful to me

As the girl in pink on the milk-white horse
Cantering over the sawdust course
As the girl in pink on the milk-white horse
Cantering over the sawdust course

As the girl on the milk-white horse
Cantering over the sawdust course

Calico Pie

( Edward Lear )

Calico Pie
The little Birds fly
Down to the calico tree
Their wings were blue
Singing 'Tilly-tilly-loo!'
Till away they flew
And they never came back to me

Calico Jam
The little Fish swam
Over the syllabub sea
He took off his hat
To the Sole and the Sprat
And the Willeby-Wat
But he never came back to me

He never came back
He never came back
He never came
He never came back to me

He never came back
He never came back
He never came
He never came back to me
Oh he never came back

Calico Ban
The little Mice ran
To be ready in time for tea
Flippity flup
They drank it all up
And danced in the cup
But they never came back to me

Well he never came back
He never came back
He never came
He never came back to me

He never came back
He never came back
He never came
He never came back to me
Oh he never came back

Calico Drum
The Grasshoppers come
The Butterfly, Beetle, and Bee
Over the ground
Around and around
With a hop and a bound
But they never came back to me

Oh he never came back
He never came back
He never came
He never came back to me

He never came back
He never came back
He never came
He never came back to me...

Bleezer's Ice-Cream

( Jack Prelutsky )

I am ebenezer bleezer
I run bleezer's ice-cream store
There are flavors in my freezer
You have never seen before

Twenty-eight divine creations
Too delicious to resist
Come on, do yourself a favor
Try the flavors on my list

I've got cocoa mocha macaroni
Tapioca smoked boloney
Checkerberry cheddar chew
Chicken cherry honeydew

Tutti-frutti stewed tomato
Tuna taco baked potato
Lobster litchi lima bean
Mozzarella mangosteen

I am ebenezer bleezer
I run bleezer's ice-cream store
Taste a flavor from my freezer
You will surely ask for more

Twenty-eight divine creations
Too delicious to resist
Come on, do yourself a favor
Try the flavors on my list

I've got almond ham meringue salami
Yam anchovy prune pastrami
Sassafras souvlaki hash
Sukiyaki succotash

I've got butter brickle pepper pickle
Pomegranate pumpernickel
Peach pimento pizza plum
Peanut pumpkin bubblegum
Avocado brussels sprout

I've got periwinkle sauerkraut
I've got broccoli banana bluster
Chocolate chop suey cluster
Cotton candy carrot custard
Cauliflower cola mustard
Onion dumpling double dip
Turnip truffle triple flip
Garlic gumbo gravy guava
Lentil lemon liver lava
Orange olive bagel beet
I've got watermelon waffle wheat

I am ebenezer bleezer
I run bleezer's ice-cream store
Now taste a flavor from my freezer
You will surely ask for more

Twenty-eight divine creations
Too delicious to resist
Come on, do yourself a favor
Try the flavors on my list
Come on, come on...
Ebenezer bleezer...

It Makes a Change

( Mervyn Peake )

There's nothing makes a Greenland whale
Feel half so high and mighty
As sitting on a mantelpiece
In Aunty Mabel's nighty

As sitting on a mantelpiece
In Aunty Mabel's nighty

It makes a change from Freezing Seas
Of which a whale can tire
To warm his weary tail at ease
Before an English fire

There's nothing makes a Greenland whale
Feel half so high and mighty
As sitting on a mantelpiece
In Aunty Mabel's nighty

It makes a change from Freezing Seas
Of which a whale can tire
To warm his weary tail at ease
Before an English fire

For this delight he leaves the seas
Unknown to Aunty Mabel
Returning only when the dawn
Lights up the Breakfast Table
When the dawn
Lights up the Breakfast Table

Returning only when the dawn
Lights up the Breakfast Table
When the dawn, when the dawn...

The king of China's daughter

( Edith Sitwell )

The king of China's daughter
So beautiful to see
With her face like yellow water
Left her nutmeg tree

Her little rope for skipping
She kissed and gave it me
Made of painted notes of singing-birds
Among the fields of tea

I skipped across the nutmeg grove
I skipped across the sea
But neither sun or moon, my dear
Has yet caught me

The Dancing Bear

( Albert Bigelow Paine )

Oh, it's fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee
The dancing bear ran away with me
And the organ-grinder he came to town
With a jolly old bear in a coat of brown

And the funny old chap joined hands with me
While I cut a caper and so did he

With the fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee
I looked at him, and he looked at me
I whispered a word in his shaggy ear
I said, "I will go with you, my dear"

Oh, it's fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee
The dancing bear ran away with me
And the organ-grinder he came to town
With a jolly old bear in a coat of brown

And the dancing bear he smiled and said
Well, he didn't say much, but he nodded his head
And the organ-grinder he began to play
"Over the hills and far away"

With a fiddle-de-dum and a fiddle-de-dee
I looked at him and he winked at me
And my heart was light and the day was fair
I went away with the dancing bear

Oh, it's fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee
The dancing bear came back with me
For the sugar-plum trees were all stripped and bare
And we couldn't find a sugar cookie anywhere

And the solemn old fellow he sighed and said
Well, he didn't say much, but he shook his head
I looked at him and he blinked at me
I shed a tear and so did he
And we both thought of our supper that lay
Over the hills and far away

Then the dancing bear he took my hand
We hurried away through the twilight land
Then the fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee
When the dancing bear came back with me

The Man in the Wilderness

The Man in the wilderness
He asked of me
How many strawberries grow in the salt sea
And I answered him, as I thought good
As many a ship sails in the wood

The Man in the wilderness
He asked me why
His hare could swim and his pig could fly
And I answered him, as I thought best
They were both born in a cuckoo's nest

The Man in the wilderness
Asked me to tell
All the sands in the sea and I counted them well
Said with the grain, well, not one more
I answered him, you go make sure

Said with the grain, and not one more
I answered him, you go make sure
Said with the grain, and not one more
I answered him, you go make sure
I answered him, now you, you go make sure

Maggie and Milly and Molly and May

( E.E. Cummings )

Maggie and Milly and Molly and May
Went down to the beach one day to play

Maggie and Milly, Molly and May
Went down to the beach one day to play

And Maggie discovered a shell that sang
So sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles

Maggie and Milly, Molly and May
Maggie and Milly, Molly and May

Milly befriended a stranded star
Whose rays, whose rays, five languid fingers were

Maggie and Milly and Molly and May
Maggie and Milly, Molly and May

And Molly was chased by a horrible thing
Which raced sideways while blowing, blowing, blowing

May came home with a smooth round stone
As small as a world and as large as alone

For whatever we lose like a you or a me
It's always ourselves that we find at the sea

If No One Ever Marries Me

( Laurence Alma-Tadema )

Well if no one ever marries me
And I don't see why they should
Nurse says I'm not pretty
And you know I'm seldom good, seldom good

Well if no one ever marries me
I shan't mind very much
Buy a squirrel in a cage
And a little rabbit-hutch

No one marries me
If no one marries me
No one marries me
If no one marries me
Well if no one marries me

I'll have a cottage near a wood
And a pony all my own
A little lamb quite clean and tame
That I can take to town

When I'm getting really old
At twenty-eight or nine
I'll buy a little orphan-girl
And bring her up as mine

No one marries me
If no one marries me
No one marries me
If no one marries me
If no one marries me
Marries me
Well if no one marries me
Marries me
If no one marries me

The Sleepy Giant

( Charles E. Carryl )

My age is three hundred and seventy-two
I think, with the deepest regret
How I used to pick up and voraciously chew
The dear little boys that I met

I've eaten them raw, in their holiday suits
Eaten them curried with rice
I've eaten them baked, in their jackets and boots
And found them exceedingly nice

But now that my jaws are too weak for such fare
I think it exceedingly rude
To do such a thing, when I'm quite well aware
Little boys do not like being chewed
Little boys do not like being chewed

So now I contentedly live upon eels
And try to do nothing amiss
And I pass all the time I can spare from my meals
In innocent slumber like this
Innocent slumber like this

...

So now I contentedly live upon eels
And try to do nothing amiss
And I pass all the time I can spare from my meals
In innocent slumber like this
Innocent slumber like this

The Peppery Man

( Arthur Macy )

Oh the Peppery Man was cross and thin
He scolded out and he scolded in
He shook his fist, his hair he tore
He stamped his feet and slammed the door

Heigh ho, the Peppery Man
The rabid, crabbed Peppery Man

His ugly temper was so sour
He often scolded for an hour
He gnashed his teeth and stormed and scowled
He snapped, snarled, yelled and howled

Heigh ho, the Peppery Man
The rabid, crabbed Peppery Man

He wore a fierce and savage frown
He scolded up and he scolded down
He scolded over field and glen
And then he scolded back again

Heigh ho, the Peppery Man
The rabid, crabbed Peppery Man

Well his neighbors, when they heard his roars
They closed their blinds and locked their doors
Shut their windows, sought their beds
Stopped their ears and covered their heads

He fretted, chaffed, and boiled and fumed
With fiery rage he was consumed
And no one knew, when he was vexed
What in the world would happen next

Heigh ho, the Peppery Man
The rabid, crabbed Peppery Man
Oh, never since the world began
Was any one, any one, like the Peppery Man

The Blind Men and the Elephant

( John Godfry Saxe )

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined
Who went to see the Elephant
Though all of them were blind
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind
Satisfy his mind, satisfy his mind
Six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined

The First approached the Elephant
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side
At once began to bawl
"God bless me!
But this Elephant is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk
Cried, "Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant is very like a spear!"

All of them were blind
All of them were blind
Six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined

The Third approached the animal
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands
Thus boldly up and spake
"I see," quoth he
"The Elephant is very like a snake!"

Then the Fourth reached out an eager hand
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant is very like a tree!"

And the Fifth who chanced to touch the ear
Said: "Even the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant is very like a fan!"

And the Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope
Seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant is very like a rope!"

All of them were blind
All of them were blind
Six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined
To learning much inclined

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long
Each in his opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong
Each was partly in the right
And all were in the wrong

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

Adventures Of Isabel

( Ogden Nash )

Isabel met an enormous bear
Isabel, Isabel, she didn't care
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous
The bear's big mouth was cruel and cavernous
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you
How do, Isabel, now I'll eat you
Isabel, Isabel, she didn't worry
Isabel didn't scream or scurry
Washed her hands and she straightened her hair up
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up

Once in a night black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch
The witch's face was cross and wrinkled
The witch's gums with teeth were sprinkled
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed
I'll turn you into an ugly toad
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry
Isabel didn't scream or scurry
She showed no rage, she showed no rancor
She turned the witch into milk and drank her
Oh yeah, Isabel

Isabel met a hideous giant
Isabel so self reliant
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid
One eye in the middle of his forhead
G'Morning, Isabel, the giant said
I'll grind your bones to make my bread
Isabel, Isabel, she didn't worry
Isabel didn't scream or scurry
She nibled the zwieback that she fed off
When it was gone, she cut the giant's head off
Isabel

Isabel met a troublesome doctor
He punched and poked till he really shocked her
The doctor's talk was of coughs and chills
The doctor's satchel bulged with pills
The doctor said wow Isabel
Swallow this, it will make you well
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry
Isabel didn't scream or scurry
She took those pills from the pill concocter
Then Isabel cured the doctor, yeah, oh yeah

The Walloping Window Blind

( Charles E. Carryl )

A capital ship for an ocean trip
Was the Walloping Window Blind
No gale that blew dismayed her crew
Or troubled the captain's mind

The man at the wheel was taught to feel
Contempt for the wildest blow
But it often appeared when the weather had cleared
That he'd been in his bunk below

The boatswain's mate was very sedate
Yet fond of amusement too
He played hopscotch with the starboard watch
While the captain tickled the crew

And the gunner we had was apparently mad
For he stood on the cannon's tail
Fired salutes in the captain's boots
In the teeth of a booming gale

The captain sat in a commodore's hat
And dined in a royal way
On toasted pigs and pickles and figs
And gummery bread each day

But the rest of us ate from an odious plate
For the food that was given the crew
Was a number of tons of hot cross buns
Chopped up with sugar and glue

And we all felt ill as mariners will
On a diet that's cheap and rude
And the poop deck shook when we dipped the cook
In a tub of his gluesome food

Then nautical pride we laid aside
And we cast the vessel ashore
On the Gulliby Isles, where the Poohpooh smiles
And the Anagzanders roar

Composed of sand was that favored land
And trimmed in cinnamon straws
And pink and blue was the pleasing hue
Of the Tickletoeteasers claws

We sat on the edge of a sandy ledge
And shot at the whistling bee
The Binnacle-bats wore waterproof hats
As they danced in the sounding sea

On rubagub bark, from dawn to dark
We fed, till we all had grown
Uncommonly shrunk when a Chinese junk
Came by from the torriby zone

She was stubby and square, but we didn�t much care
And we cheerily put to sea
And we left the crew of the junk to chew
On the bark of the rubagub tree

Topsyturvey-World

( William Brighty Rands )

If the butterfly courted the bee
And the owl the porcupine
If churches were built in the sea
And the three times one was nine

Then the world would be Upside-Down, yes
The world would be Upside-Down
What a topsy turvy world this would be
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down

If the pony rode his master
And if buttercups ate the cows
If the cat had the dire disaster
To be worried by the mouse

Then the world would be Upside-Down, yes
The world would be Upside-Down
What a topsy turvy world this would be
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down

If mama sold the baby
To a gypsy for half a crown
If a gentleman was a lady
Then the world would be Upside-Down

And the world would be Upside-Down, yes
The world would be Upside-Down
What a topsy turvy world this would be
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down

And if any or all of these wonders
Should ever come about
I consider them blunders, no
I should be Inside-Out
Yeah I should be Inside-Out

The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down

The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down
The world would be Upside-Down, yeah
The world would be Upside-Down

Just imagine
The owl and the porcupine
Churches were built in the sea

If the butterfly courted the bee
The owl and the porcupine
If churches were built in the sea
The three times one was nine

Just imagine
Three times one was nine

If the butterfly courted the bee
The owl and the porcupine
If churches were built in the sea
The three times one was nine

If the pony rode his master
Then the world would be Upside-Down
Upside-Down
I mean really Upside-Down

The Janitor's Boy

( Nathalia Crane )

Oh I'm in love
With the janitor's boy
And the janitor's boy
He's in love with me

Oh I'm in love
With the janitor's boy
And the janitor's boy
He's in love with me

He's going to hunt
For a desert isle
In our geography
A desert isle
With spicy trees
Somewhere near Sheepshead Bay
A right nice place
Just fit for two
Where we can live always

Oh I'm in love
With the janitor's boy
And the janitor's boy
He's busy as he can be

And down in the cellar
He's making a raft
Out of an old settee

He'll carry me off
I know that he will
For his hair is exceedingly red
And the only thing that occurs to me
Is to dutifully shiver in bed

And on the day that we sail
I will leave a little note
For my parents I hate to annoy
"I have flown til an isle in the bay
With the janitor's red-haired boy"

Janitor's red-haired boy
Janitor's red-haired boy
Janitor's red-haired boy
Janitor's red-haired boy

I'm going to sail away
Gone to Sheepshead Bay
With the janitor's red-haired boy
I'm an old settee
My red-haired boy and me
Janitor's red-haired boy

Janitor's red-haired boy
Janitor's red-haired boy...

Griselda

Griselda is greedy
I'm sorry to say
She isn't contented
With four meals a day

Like breakfast and dinner
And supper and tea
Griselda is greedy
As greedy can be

Oh she snoops about the larder for sundry small supplies
She breaks the little crusty bits off rims of apple pies
She pokes the roast-potato-dish when Sunday dinner's done
If there are two left in it then Griselda snitches one

Cold chicken and cold cauliflower
She pulls in little chunks
And when Cook calls
"What are you doing there?"
Griselda bunks

Oh Griselda is greedy
That's how she feels
She simply can't help eating
In-between meals

And she always forgets what it's leading to
Though the Doctor has told her
"You know why, don't you?"

And when the stomach-ache starts
Griselda says
"Oh!"

And when she slips down to the dining-room when everyone's in bed
For cheese-rind on the supper-tray and buttered crusts of bread
A biscuit from the biscuit-box and lump sugar from the bowl
A gherkin from the pickle-jar, are all Griselda's toll

She tastes the salted almonds
And she tries the candied fruits
And when Dad shouts
"Who is it down below?"
Griselda scoots

Oh Griselda is greedy
Her relatives scold
And tell her she will sorry
When she's old

She will lose her complexion
She's sure to grow fat
She will spoil her inside
Does she know what she's at

Some people are greedy
Leave it at that

The Land of Nod

( Robert Louis Stevenson )

From breakfast on through all the day
At home among my friends I stay,
But every night I go abroad
Into afar of land of Nod

All alone I must go
No one to tell me what to do
All alone beside the streams
And up the mountain-sides of dreams
In the land of Nod

All the strangest things are there for me
Things to eat and things to see
So many frightening sights abroad
Till morning in the land of Nod
In the land of Nod

Try as I like to find the way
Never can get back there by day
Nor can remember plain and clear
The curious music that I hear
In the land of Nod

Vain And Careless

( Robert Graves )

Lady, lovely lady
So careless and so vain
Once when a beggar called
She gave her child away

The beggar took the baby
And wrapped it in a shawl
"Bring him back" the lady said
"Next time you call"

Hard by lived a man
So vain and so proud
He will walk on stilts to be seen
To be seen by the crowd

And up above the chimney pots
Tall as a mast
All the people ran about
Shouting till he passed

"Such a splendid match surely"
Neighbours saw it plain
"Although she is so careless
Although he is so vain"

But the lady played bobcherry
Did not see or care
As the vain man went by her
Aloft in the air

So this gentle-born couple
Lived and died apart
Water will not mix with oil
Nor vain with careless heart

Crying, My Little One

( Christina Georgina Rossetti )

Are you crying, my little one
Footsore and weary
I must tramp on through the winter night dreary
Fall asleep, pretty baby, warm on my shoulder
While the snow falls upon me colder and colder

You are my dearest one, I have not another
Sleep warm and soft in the arms of your mother,
Sleep soft, my darling, my trouble and treasure
Dream of pretty things, dream of your pleasure

Sweet and a lullaby

There's not a rose where I seek
As comely as my baby's cheek
There's not a comb of honey-bee,
So full of sweets as babe to me
And it's O! so sweet
Sweet and a lullaby

There's not a star that shines on high
Brighter than my baby's eye
Not a boat upon the sea
Can dance like baby does to me
And it's O! so sweet
Sweet and a lullaby

And it's O! so sweet
Sweet and a lullaby

No silk was ever spun so fine
As the hair of baby mine
My baby smells more sweet to me
Than smells a spring in the elder tree
And it's O! so sweet
Sweet and a lullaby

I saw a ship a-sailing

Well I saw a ship a-sailing
It was sailing on the sea
It was full of pretty things
For baby and for me

There were sweetmeats in the cabin
There were apples in the hold
The sails were made of silk
And the masts were made of gold

I saw a ship a-sailing
It was sailing on the sea
It was full of pretty things
For baby and for me

The four-and-twenty sailors
That stood between the decks
Were four-and-twenty white mice
With chains about their necks

And the captain was a yellow duck
With a packet on his back
And when the ship began to move
The captain cried, "Quack, quack!"

I saw a ship a-sailing
It was sailing on the sea
It was full of pretty things
For baby and for me

Autumn Lullaby

The sun has gone from the shining skies
The dandelions have closed their eyes
The stars are lighting their lamps to see
See if babes and squirrels and birds and bees
Are sound asleep as they should be

The squirrel keeps warm in his furs of gray
'Neath feathers, birds are all tucked away
In yellow jackets, the bees sleep tight
And they cuddle close through the chilly night
But my baby's snug in her gown of white

The squirrel nests in a big oak tree
He finds a hole in the trunk, you see
The robin's home is in a nest overhead,
And the bees, they nest in a hive instead
But my baby's nest is her little bed

Spring and Fall: to a young child

( Gerard Manley Hopkins )

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving
By and by

Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you
As the heart grows older
It will come to such sights much colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
By and by

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie
And yet you will weep and know why
No matter, child, the name
Sorrow�s springs are all the same
They're all the same

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed
It is the blight man was born for
It is Margaret that you mourn for

Indian Names

( Lydia Sigourney )

You say that they all have passed away
That noble race and brave
That their light canoes have vanished
Off the crested wave

That 'mid the forests where they roamed
There rings no hunter's shout
But their name is on your waters
And you may not wash it out

'Tis where Ontario's billow
Like Ocean's surge is curled
Where strong Niagara's thunders wake
The echo of the world

Where red Missouri bringeth
Rich tributes from the west
And the Rappahannock sweetly sleeps
On green Virginia's breast

You say, their cone-like cabins
That clustered over the vale
Have fled away like withered leaves
Before the autumn gale

But their memory liveth on your hills
Their baptism on your shore
Your everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore

Old Massachusetts wears it
Within her lordly crown
And broad Ohio bears it
'Mid all her young renown

Connecticut hath wreathed it
Where her quiet foliage waves
And bold Kentucky breathed it hoarse
Through all her ancient caves

Wachuset hides its lingering voice
Within its rocky heart
And Alleghany graves its tone
Throughout his lofty chart

Monadnock on his forehead hoar
Doth seal the sacred trust
Your mountains build their monument
Though you destroy their dust

Natalie Merchant

Ladybird

Hey, Ladybird, ain't it just the way
The way that love grows cold and then fades away
Now when he touches you, make no mistake
The fire's long gone out and the ash has blown away

And you don't know how to leave
And you don't know where to fly
And you don't know what you feel
But you know it's not satisfied today

So many little ones, so many mouths
You've got a lot to feed and you know you don't know how
Making the best of it, somehow you're making do
Making the best of the days that you stay
And you wait in this cage they made for you

And you don't know how to leave
And you don't know where to fly
And you've got a lot of things to lose
So you've got a lot of things to hide
And you know you don't believe
But you know you've got to try today
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
You know the sweetest wine, it's a witches' brew
Pours like honey down and then burns a hole in you
Yeah, you may think you're done but you're never through
Spitting out the bitterness to get the little sweetness you do

And you don't know how to leave
And you don't know where to fly
And you've got a lot of things to lose
So you've got a lot of things to hide

And you don't know what you feel
But you know it's not satisfied
And you know you don't believe
But you know you've got to try today

Feel the winter bitterness
It's heavy on the wind
Coming back again

Maybe it's time to fly
Time to fly away
When you gonna spread your wings and fly
When you gonna fly away

When you gonna fly
When you gonna fly away

Maggie Said

Maggie said
"Dig one more shallow grave before I'm dead"
Maggie said
"I'm just looking for a place that I can lay my weary head
There's no perfect end, just time to leave"

Oh Maggie said
"They rig the table at the game of love"
Maggie said
"It's just stupid luck if you rise above everybody sinking in debt
Win or lose, my friend, it's so hard to leave"

Holding back, what did I get for all of that
What did it count for, tell me that
Nothing, nothing, oh, nothing, that's a fact
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Oh Maggie said
"It's so hard to find the golden fleece to spin my golden thread"
And Maggie said
"You're preaching to the choir girl now you're not sticking out your neck
There's no risk in that, darling, please"

Holding back, what did I get for all of that
What did it count for, tell me that, tell me that
Nothing, nothing, nothing that's a fact

Maggie said
"Don't let them take that halo from your head"
Maggie said
"I can see you turning hard now, girl, don't lose your tenderness.
What's the use in that, Darling, please"

Holding back, what did I get for all of that
What did it count for, tell me that
Count for, tell me that
Nothing, nothing, nothing, oh, nothing, that's a fact

Texas

Gonna get what's mine and wild horses
Couldn't keep it from me
Papa says I'm a golden child
And the whole world's gonna fall at my feet
It's all coming to me

Going down picking when it's harvest time
Gonna get my share, gonna get what's mine for me
Sun is a-blazing down but I don't mind
I'm picking, I'm digging, it's harvest time for me
When I get my little eye on it
When I get my little mind on it, you best believe
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Ole sweet tooth aching in my head
gonna fill my belly to the brim, oh yes indeed
Hive is a-buzzing in a hollow tree
And I don't care if I gotta kill a little honeybee

'Cause when I get my little eye on it
When I get my little mind on it, you best believe
Oh my, my, my, my, it's all coming to me

Gonna get what's mine
And wild horses couldn't keep it from me
Papa says I'm a golden child
And the whole world is gonna fall at my feet
All coming to me

Pumpin' and a-suckin' till the well is dry
Nobody's booming in these busted times like me
Down in Texas where the cattle don't roam
oil is a-dripping and the savings and loans, they bleed

When I get my little eye on it
when I get my little mind on it, you best believe
Oh my, my, my, my, it's all coming to me
It's all coming to me

Papa came along and he shook the tree
Down came a bushel and a peck for me
Papa shooed away all the honeybees
Papa dug a well and it flowed for me
Papa caught the mother-lode fish for me
Papa set a fire and it burned for me
Papa put a skillet in the flame to fry
Papa filled this little silver spoon of mine
Papa said the Lord took a shine to me
Papa said I gotta set the whole world free
Whole world free, whole world free
Oh Papa said how it's gonna be

Go Down, Moses

Moving on, moving on
Isn't that what I'm supposed to do
Just hold it back and keep moving on

Pushing on, pushing on
Isn't that what I'm supposed to do
But it's so hard to keep pushing on, pushing on

I'm moving on, moving on
Isn't that what everybody tells me I gotta do, oh yeah
But it's so hard moving on without you

Every morning waking in a fever wet and shaking
My heart inside me pounding, muddy water all around me
Cold, shocked and speechless, can't anybody reach us
And why, oh God, why
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Go down, go down, Moses
(go down Moses)
Go down to the city of New Orleans
(city of New Orleans)
Go part the muddy water
(go part the muddy water)
Let your people cross over

Go down

I'm moving on, moving on
Keep moving on
That's what I'm trying to do
Just holding back and moving on

Keeping on, keeping on
That's what I'm trying so hard to do, oh yeah
But it's so hard keeping on without you

Gone and lost my patience with this hopeless situation
Oh yeah, I'm alive, I'm a lonely sole survivor
Spared me for some reason so I'm picking up the pieces
But why? Oh God, why

Go down, go down, Moses
(go down Moses)
Go down to the city of New Orleans
(city of New Orleans)
Go part the muddy water
(go part the muddy water)
Let your people cross over

Go down
Go down
Oh Lord just go down
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh go down Moses
Moses, Moses, Moses
Sweet Moses
Come on, come on, come on
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Sweet Moses
Sweet Moses

Seven Deadly Sins

Well, of all those seven deadly sins
I wore around my neck for him
Hunger, Anger, Lust and Greed
Envy, Pride and Jealousy

There was one, I guess, that was the worst of all
That gave a little push, started the fall
From grace that I took so hard
I took so long, so long and far

But I just couldn't spend me another night
In the cold, cold bed of the butcher's wife
So afraid to fall asleep, afraid to wake
And afraid to dream
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
No, I just couldn't stay, I couldn't wait it out
And bite my tongue for another hour
One more endless day
Day after night and night after day

Well, it's been a two-year stint in no man's land
Nobody here really gives a damn
So why can't we call it a draw
In the bloody war to end all wars

In the bloody war, in the bloody war
In the bloody bloody war, in the bloody bloody war

Well, I'm far too quick with the poison pen
Can't believe I'm writing again after all these goddamned years
And someday when the ghosts have all gone home
Far too late to be rattling bones
Then will you lay me down, lay me down
Oh, will you let it be

Such a bloody war, such a bloody war
Such a bloody bloody war
Such a bloody war, such a bloody war
Such a bloody bloody war

Giving up Everything

Giving up everything,
My hungry ghost of hopefulness
Giving up everything
Not haunted by wanting this

Giving up everything
The fortune I was saving
Giving up everything
I mercy-killed my craving

Giving up everything
I've opened up my eyes for this
Giving up everything
See the whole magnificent emptiness

Gave what I want for how it is
For the stone inside and the bitterness
For the sweetness at the core of it

Giving up everything
The master plan, the scheming
Giving up everything,
My cursed search for meaning

Giving up everything
The compass and the map I was reading
The hinterlands I'm leaving
I'm finally leaving behind
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Giving up everything
The big to-do, the hullabaloo
The tug-of-war for some twisted truth
For the everlasting ache of it
No longer slave, not chained to it
No gate, no guard, no keeper
No guru, master, teacher

See the slow-receding faces
Dissolve to black, no traces

Black Sheep

Oh, it's no secret you know my every weakness
Oh, haven't the strength now, not enough to waste tonight
Oh, spark the fire, tinderbox of desire
Oh, Lord have mercy, the thirst I feel tonight
I can see that you can see my eyes

Black sheep up on the fence
You're a naughty little boy and you make me tense
Prodigal son, won't you come on home
The door's open wide, take a look inside
Take a look inside, take a look inside
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Oh, my hands are tied now
So you've gotta decide now
See, I just can't take it
Can't you see that I'm breaking and I
I can see

Black sheep up on the fence
You make me tense
Prodigal son, won't you come on home
The door's open wide, take a look inside
Take a look inside, take a look inside

Bah, bah black sheep up on the fence
You're a naughty little boy and you make me tense
Prodigal son, won't you come on home
The door's open wide, take a look inside
Take a look inside, take a look inside
Take a look inside, just take a look inside

It's a-Coming

It's a-coming

Wild fires, dying lakes
Landslides, hurricanes
Apocalypse in store
Like nothing ever seen before

It's a-coming

Third-generation refugees
Street mob burning effigies
Revolution, civil war
Like nothing ever seen before

Yeah, it's a-coming

Pale-horse rider come
Blistered by the morning sun
Tell about what he can see
Crystal ball of mercury

It's a-coming
It's gonna come

Jungle slashed and jungle burned
The monkeys and the painted birds
Climb the vines, the limbs and leaves
The lungs that let the whole world breathe
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
It's a-coming

All the ones that failed to thrive
Starved out and buried alive
Something evil, something free
Calamity

It's gonna come

Space Race, the old Cold War
Atom bomb was gonna settle the score

You wait and see
It's a long time coming
But it's a-coming
It's gonna come

Third-generation refugees
Street mob burning effigies
Revolution, civil war
Like, like nothing ever seen before
Like nothing ever seen before

Lulu

They said that Hollywood was
Never gonna be the same without you
Still, you're gone

How could we forget that face
And all that silver, flickering grace
That died with the silent age
When everybody knew your name
They all knew your name

Born wild like a prairie flower
She was sown by the wind and blown for miles
Kansas couldn't keep the child

Hell-bound for the Great White Way
For the tawdry-bawdy burlesque stage
And Wichita was miles and miles away
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Everybody knew your name
Everybody knew your name
They knew your name

So you burned the candle
Burned it at both ends
So love ends in scandal
You burned it brief, you burned it bright
And the light in your immortal eyes
Is the light that will never die

Christened in straight-up gin
Pandora was born in Weimar Berlin
And that was the rise before the fall

Everybody sat in the dark, dark, black as night
Everybody wanted to go where the light was so bright
And your shining face was gonna lead the way

Homecoming like a heroine-bride
But the honeymoon was over before you arrived
And now they all cursed your name
Everybody cursed your name

Cold winds of Gotham howled
And the princess pawned her celluloid crown
In the glass castle walls

Where nobody knew your name
Nobody knew your name

The End

That'll be the end of the road
When my battered, embittered
Body and soul will go home

That'll be the end of the war
When we finally lay down
The barrel and the blade and go home

By the sea, so wide and treacherous
By the land, so dark and dangerous
How can we have so far to go
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
That'll be the end of the law
Of Bible, Koran, Torah, lost and gone

And the sea, so wide and treacherous
And the land, so dark and dangerous
How can we have so far to go

That'll be the end of arms stretched wide
Of begging for bread, of emptiness inside

And the sea, so wide and treacherous
And the land, so dark and dangerous
So far left behind

That'll be the end of the war
When we finally lay down
The barrel and the blade and go home

RARITIES

The Village Green Preservation Society

(Ray Davies)

We are The Village Green Preservation Society
God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety
We are The Desperate Dan Appreciation Society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties

We are The Village Green Preservation Society
God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety
We are The Desperate Dan Appreciation Society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties

Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do

We are The Draught Beer Preservation Society
God save Mrs. Mopps and good Old Mother Riley
We are The Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium
God save The George Cross and all those awarded them

Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do

We are The Sherlock Holmes English Speaking Vernacular
Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula
We are The Office Block Persecution Affinity
God save little shops, china cups and virginity

We are The Skyscraper Condemnation Affiliates
God save Tudor houses, antique tables and billiards
Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do

God save the Village Green
God save the Village Green

Too Long at the Fair

(Joel Zoss)

Jesus cried, he wept and died
I guess he went up to heaven
I've been downtown such a long, long time
I'll never make it home by seven

Won't you come and take me home
I've been too long at the fair
And Lord I just can't stand it anymore

I went down to Chasen's
Walked till my feet were sore
But I never knew what laughing was
Till you walked out the door

Oh could you come and take me home
I've been too long at the fair
And Lord I just can't stand it anymore

Give my soul to Abraham
Give my soul to Saul
Give my bones to Canada
My teeth they don't hurt at all

I don't know who made the highway
I guess it's just my pride
But I have seen the Prince of Darkness
On his charger ride

The silver blade is gleaming
The scales are in his hand
I swear the night is falling
Don't you lose another man

Won't you come and take me home
I've been too long at the fair
Lord, I just can't stand it anymore
Lord, I just can't stand it anymore

Order 1081

(David Byrne & Fatboy Slim feat. Natalie Merchant / Here Lies Love LP)

A bomb went off this morning raining bodies on TV
They are blaming the insurgents; they are blocking off the streets
And the smoke is rising slowly from the barrel of a gun
The solution to disruption: Order 1081

Now the sunsets are incredible across Manila Bay
You can hear the bombers landing at the U.S. Air Force base
And somewhere in the distance, out beyond the setting sun
They will sign a proclamation: Order 1081

Now, we live down by the water in a shack that's made of wood
And the bankers need to huddle so they need some extra room
We will find us somewhere better; there's enough for everyone
Got a perfect explanation: Order 1081

I thought I ordered coffee, but they gave me 7-Up
Got to clear away these shanties and these ugly nipa huts
So the seeds of our great future, they can grow here when we're done
And it's clearly all because of Order 1081

For thirty days the rain fell, we were nearly washed away
The radio fell silent; nothing left to do but pray
The senator, he told us the guerrillas are on the run
And the reason they are hiding, Order 1081

They are planting plastic flowers on the seaside esplanade
The Pope is speaking Spanish, but we can't hear what he says
Got to stop all this confusion, got to wipe away this scum
And the way to make it happen, Order 1081

It's amazing that the soldiers somehow all know how to dance
It's amazing how the soldiers keep the creases in their pants
Now it's safe to walk the streets at night, a new world has begun
Everybody's sleeping soundly thanks to 1081

To Love Is to Bury

(Michael and Margo Timmins)

I buried him down by the river
That's where he liked to be
And every night when the moon's full and bright
I go there and weep openly

He and I were married
By this river ‘neath this willow tree
With God and friends witnessing it
He pledged his life to me.

Well to me he was earth and I rooted in his soil
I to he was sky vast and free of the burdens from which he toiled
Then one night a terrible fight, words spoken better left unsaid
With his wedding vows ringing in my ears he gave his life to me.

They say to love is to bury
All the demons from which we hide
But tonight by this river ‘neath this willow tree
Becoming one of earth and sky

Saint Judas

Saddle up the horses and wear your Sunday best
Sing your Sacred Harp, you be holier than the rest
Fill up the room with a grand and a thunderous song
Let it rattle out the windows, let it spill out on the lawn

Shout, shout your praises
To the man who kissed the Lord
To the back-stabbing brother
Who betrayed all of this world

Judas, Judas
Judas

Yeah, though you may walk in the valley in the dark
There's no greater evil than the darkness in your heart
With your stun guns, bloodhounds, needle and your razor wire
Nylon-shackle whipping-post and your high-tech burning tire

Judas, Judas
Judas

Whiplash crack across the back, across the arms
Although you bound his feet, he running fast he running hard
Through them crickets in the corn and them horses in the field
Hear the "caw, caw" of the crows, see the devil at the wheel, y'all

Judas, Judas
Judas, Judas

Go on down to Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas
Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Florida
Judas
Go on down to Louisiana and Tennessee
Georgia, Carolina, Carolina

Birds & Ships

(Woody Guthrie & Billy Bragg)

The birds are singing in your eyes today
Sweet flowers blossom in your smile
The wind and sun are in the words you say
Where might your lonesome lover be

Birds may be singing in my eyes this day
Sweet flowers blossom when I smile
But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild
My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea

But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild
My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea

The Lowlands of Holland

(Traditional)

On the night that I was married
And upon my marriage bed
There up came a bold sea captain
And he stood at my bed head

Saying "Arise, arise young wedded man
And come along with me
To the lowlands of Holland
To fight the enemy"

Now then, Holland is a lovely land
And upon it grows fine grain
Sure it is a place of residence
For a soldier to remain

Where the sugarcane is plentiful
And the tea grows on each tree
Well I never had but the one sweetheart
And now he's gone far away from me

I will wear no stays around my waist
No combs all in my hair
I will wear no scarf around my neck
For to save my beauty fair

And never will I marry
Not until the day I die
Since these four winds and these stormy seas
Came between my love and I

Sonnet 73

(William Shakespeare)

That time of year
That time of year thou may'st in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none
Or few do hang
Upon the boughs
Which shake against the cold
Which shake against the cold

Bare ruined choirs
Where late the sweet birds sang
In me thou see'st the twilight of such a day
As after sunset fadeth in the west
Which by and by black night doth take away

Death's second self that seals up all in rest
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie
As the deathbed, whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourished by
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong

To love that well
Which thou must leave
Leave ere long

Learning the Game

(Buddy Holly)

Hearts that are broken and love that's untrue
These go with learning the game
When you love him and he doesn't love you
You're only learning the game

When he says that you're the only one he'll ever love
Then you find that you are not the one he's thinking of
Feeling so sad when you're all alone and blue
That's when you're learning the game

Hearts that are broken and love that's untrue
These go with learning the game
When you love him and he doesn't love you
You're only learning the game

When he says that you're the only one he'll ever love
Then you find that you are not the one he's thinking of
Feeling so sad when you're all alone and blue
That's when you're learning the game
You're learning the game

My Little Sweet Baby

My little sweet baby, my comfort and joy
Sing lullaby lully
In beauty surpassing the princes of Troy
Sing lullaby lully, sweet baby, lullaby lully

Now hush child, and sleep child, thy mother's sweet boy
Sing lullaby lully
May gods bless and keep thee from cruel annoy
Sing lullaby lully, sweet baby, lullaby lully

My little sweet baby, my comfort and joy
Sing lullaby lully
In beauty surpassing the princes of Troy
Sing lullaby lully, sweet baby, lullaby lully

Now hush child, now sleep child, thy mother's sweet boy
Sing lullaby lully
May gods bless and keep thee from cruel annoy
Sing lullaby lully, sweet baby, lullaby lully
Sweet baby, lullaby lully

Political Science

(Randy Newman)

No one likes us, I don't know why
We may not be perfect but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

They give them money but are they grateful
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa's far too hot and Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one there'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
I wouldn't want to hurt no kangaroo
Gonna build an all-American amusement park
They've got surfing, too

Boom! goes London
Boom! Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town

How peaceful it'll be
We'll set everybody free
You'll have Japanese kimonos
There'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

Build a Levee

When I was just a little girl my mamma said to me
"Beware of the devil my child in the dark rocky places he'll keep
Beware of the devil my child, beware of his charming ways
You'll fall under an evil spell just looking at his beautiful face
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside"

You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl

"Don't go walking by the riverside alone in the pale moonlight
He'll come up upon you girl with no earthly body in sight
Come up upon you girl and he'll whisper something sweet
Then take you where the waters rise so high and run so deep"

You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl
Build yourself a levee girl, oh when the waters run high

Now, when I was just a little girl, my mama said to me
"Beware of the devil my child but, but if by chance you should meet
Beware of his cold dark eyes full of bold and unholy deceit
He'll tempt you with a whirling pool of lies and promises he'll deny
And he will never keep"

You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl, oh when the waters run high

Sit Down Sister

(Traditional)

Oh, won't you sit down sister
I can't sit down
Oh, won't you sit down sister
I can't sit down

Oh, won't you sit down sister
I can't sit down
Because I just got to heaven
And I'm gonna look around

Who's that yonder dressed in red
Must be the children that Moses led
Who's that yonder dressed in white
Must be the children of the Israelite

Sit down sister
I can't sit down
Oh, don't you sit down sister
I can't sit down

Oh, won't you sit down sister
I can't sit down
Because I just got to heaven
And I'm gonna look around

Who's that yonder dressed in white
Must be the children of the Israelite
Who's that yonder dressed in black
Must be the hypocrites all turning back
Must be the hypocrites all turning back
Must be the hypocrites all turning back

The Gulf of Araby

(Katell Keineg)

If you could fill a vale with shells from Killiney's shore
And sweet-talk in a tongue that is no more
And if wishful thoughts could bridge the gulf of Araby between
What is, what is, what is and what can never be

If you could hold the frozen flow of New Hope Creek
And hide out from the one they said you might meet
And if you could unlearn all the words that you never wanted heard
If you could stall the southern wind that's whistling in your ears you could take
What is, what is, what is to what can never be

One man of seventy whispers free at last
Two neighbours who are proud of their massacres
Three tyrants torn away in a winter's month
Four prisoners framed by a dirty judge
Five burned with tyres
Six men still inside and seven more days to shake at the great divide

The gulf, the gulf of Araby
The gulf, the gulf of Araby

Well, we would plough and part the earth to bring you home
We would harvest every miracle ever known
And if they laid out all the things that these ten years want to bring
We would gladly give them up to bring you back to us
There is nothing we would not give to kiss you and to believe we could take
What is, what is, what is to what can never be

One man of seventy whispers not free yet
Two neighbours who make up, knee-deep in their dead
Three tyrants grab the reins in the summer's heat
And four prisoners lost in the fallacy
Five, on my life and six, I'm dead inside
And seven more days to shake at the great divide

The gulf, the gulf of Araby
The gulf, the gulf of Araby

Butterfly

Butterfly

I saw a butterfly lift in the wind
Drift for a while
And come back again

Sweet, aching labor
Hour after hour
Tasting the nectar of every flower

Over and over, she plays the game
So many times but it's always the same
Poor Butterfly

I saw a web in the limbs of a tree
The whole deadly trap
Covered in leaves

Pale, bloodless mourning
Cloak waits for the kill
Cold, empty spindle, patient and still

Over and over, she plays the game
So many times but it's always the same
Over and over, they do the dance
They move at the whim of fate, of chance

But if only some long lost God at last
Could come along and erase all the past

Over and over, she plays the game
Over and over, they do the dance
Over and over, the wind beating wild
And the sweet scented breeze blows on and on

She Devil

Look out she's coming at you
Big dark eyes like Cleopatra
The eyes of a femme fatale

Bet you get the ominous feeling
There's a cold-blooded creature in the dark
She's stealing toward you
You best beware, take care

She's better than a work of fiction
She's half ingénue, half a vixen your
Your little paper doll

But brother she's a wicked sister
Subtle and sly
Watch it mister and take my advice
Stay away or number your days

Opiate clouds surround you
An addiction to love has found you out
Half out of your mind

Fool, when I think about you
I want to wrap my arms around you
And tell you more than words can say

She devil, she conquer, she devil, you want her
You're unaware
Tonight of the danger everywhere

My poor little sleeping giant
Dreaming warm and silent
Where has your Delilah gone

Why don't you wake and see through
Every way that she's deceived you
How she moves within

See, everything the woman touches
It withers and dies in her clutches
Why, why should your fate be any different from these

Oh, yes I've heard about you
Every word that's said about you
The man in the silvery web

He fell for the sweet persuasion
Of a black widow spider, now
Nothing can save him
It's just a matter of time

She devil, she conquer, she devil, you want her, unaware
Tonight of the danger everywhere
She devil, she conquer, she devil, you want her, you're well aware
Tonight of the danger everywhere but you don't care

Baby Mine

Oh, little bird, tiny wing
Small, quivering thing
Cupped in my hands to keep you warm
Safe from the banging thunderstorm
Baby pay no mind
Sleep now baby mine

Don't be afraid of the wind
Don't start when it blows
It's only a broken willow branch
Scratching against the window sash
Baby pay no mind
Sleep now baby mine

There're so many things you've got to fear
It's making me ache to see so clear
So many things you've got to know
It's making me ache, you've got to grow
You've got to grow
He'd got to grow
You've got to grow
You've got to grow
You've got to grow

Frozen Charlotte

Blue like the winter snow in a full moon
Black like the silhouettes of the trees
Late-blooming flowers lie frozen underneath the stars
I want you to remember me that way

Far away
I'll be gone, will you wait for me here
How long
I don't know but wait for me here

Still as the river grows in December
Silent and perfect blinding ice
Spring keeps her promises and no cold can keep her back
And I want you to remember me that way

Far away
I'll be gone, will you wait for me here
How long
I don't know but wait for me here
Follow, don't follow me to where
To where I go

Far away
I'll be gone, will you wait for me here
How long
I don't know but wait for me here

Follow, don't follow me to where
To where I go
Follow, don't follow me to where
To where I go

Someday you'll take my place
And I'll wait for you here

Ophelia

Ophelia was a bride of God, a novice Carmelite
In sister cells the cloister bells tolled on her wedding night
Ophelia was a rebel girl, a bluestocking suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes

Ophelia was the sweetheart to a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs, vivacious eyes, love was at first sight
Love was at first sight
Love, love, love, love

Ophelia was a demigoddess in prewar Babylon
So statuesque a silhouette in black satin evening gowns
And Ophelia was the mistress to a Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina, mafia courtesan

Ophelia was a circus queen, a female cannonball
Projected through five flaming hoops to wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause

Ophelia was a cyclone, tempest, a goddamned hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense lay wasted and in vain
For Ophelia'd know your every woe, every pain you'd ever had
She'd sympathize and dry your eyes and help you to forget
And help you to forget

Ophelia's mind went wandering, you'd wonder where she'd gone
Through secret doors, down corridors she'd wander them alone
Wander all alone

The Worst Thing

So you're in love, that's so good for you
Live it up girl 'cause it never lasts for long

It's heaven for now, but not for long before
It's gonna hurt you, iIt's gonna make you feel so bad

Once I could love, I could trust, I could not doubt
But that was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing I could do

Well maybe not now, but it won't take long before
It's gonna hurt you and it's gonna truly do you some harm
Once I was open, could hope, I had no doubt
But that was the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing I could do
It was just about the worst thing I could do

Once I came close to that most elusive fire
Burning with hopeless love and desire but
It was just about the worst thing I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do
It was just about the worst thing that I could do

En el pasado que estuve ciega como tu
Atrapada y perdida, como tu
Embelesada y suspendida en mi jaula de plata

The Man in the Wilderness

The man in the wilderness, he asked of me
"How many strawberries grow in the salt sea"
I answered him, as I thought good
As many a ship as sails in the wood

The man in the wilderness, he asked me why
His hen could swim and his pig could fly
I answered him as I thought best
"They were both born in a cuckoo's nest"

The man in the wilderness, he asked me to tell
All the sands in the sea and I counted them well
He said he with a grin "And not one more"
I answered him "Now you go make sure"

He said he with a grin "And not one more"
I answered him "Now you go make sure"
I answered him "Now you, you go make sure"

My Skin

Take a look at my body, look at my hands
There's so much here that I don't understand
Your face-saving promises whispered like prayers
I don't need them

I've been treated so wrong, I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
Contempt loves the silence, it thrives in the dark
With fine winding tendrils that strangle the heart

They say that promises sweeten the blow
But I don't need them
No, I don't need them

I've been treated so wrong, I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
I'm the slow dying flower, frost-killing hour
The sweet turning sour and untouchable

Oh, I need the darkness, the sweetness
The sadness, the weakness
Oh, I need this

I need a lullaby, a kiss goodnight
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

I'm a slow dying flower, frost-killing hour
Sweet turning sour, I'm untouchable
Do you remember the way you touched me before
The trembling sweetness I loved and adored

They say that promises sweeten the blow
But I don't need them
I don't need them

Oh, I need the darkness, the sweetness
The sadness, the weakness
Oh, I need this

I need a lullaby, a kiss goodnight
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

Is it dark enough, can you see me
Do you want me, can you reach me
I'm leaving

You better shut your mouth, hold your breath
You kiss me now, you'll catch my death
Oh, I mean it.

Vain & Careless

(Robert Graves, 1895–1985)

Lady, lovely lady
Careless and gay
Once, when a beggar called
She gave her child away

The beggar took the baby
And wrapped it in a shawl
"Bring her back" the lady said
"Next time you call"

Hard by lived a vain man
So vain and so proud
He would walk on stilts to be seen
To be seen by the crowd

And up above the chimney pots
Tall, tall as a mast
All the people ran about
Shouting till he passed

Such a splendid match surely
Neighbours saw it plain
Although she is so careless
Although he is so vain

But the lady played bobcherry
Did not see or care
As the vain man went by her
Aloft in the air

So this gentle-born couple
Lived and died apart
Water will not mix with oil
Nor vain with careless heart

Andalucia

Damned, feel my sudden fall from grace
Veil can't hide my face
Dream, how I dream but I always wake
Try, but there's no escape

Sigh, under Thy celestial dome
Lost, miles from home on a sapphire golden coast below
Andalucía, Andalucía

Dry, Virgin Mother dry your tears
Cried for two thousand years
Stone of Gibraltar guards the sea
Africa, alchemy—the gold you cull from suffering
Andalucía, Andalucía

Drink a cup of sweet Andalusian wine
Taste of that twisted vine
Sour, from all the days that came before
Why, why crave it more
Andalucía

Keep Your Courage

Big Girls

Always thought the game came easy
You never thought about it twice
Your luck was leaving, so, you just threw the dice
And time was on your side
Time, was always on your side

But times got tough and life got even
So, you told yourself some lies
And now you truly do believe that
There's only one way to survive: you hold on to your pride
Big girls, they don't cry
Heart of stone, gone cold as ice
They close the door, they keep it all inside

You trusted love but lovе's deceiving
Now you know that it's unfair, you know love is so unfair
But it hurts thе worst, believe me
When you show them that you care; so, never show that you care

Big girls, they don't cry
Heart of stone, gone cold as ice
They close the door, they keep it all inside
Know when to hide, know when to fight
Tell the lies, that's how they survive

Don't let them see, don't give yourself away
Hold on, hold on!
Keep your head girl, there's so much more at stake
Hold on, hold on!

You took a hit and the ship is going down
Hold on, hold on!
A spark is lit and the fire is spreading fast
Hold on, hold on!

See clouds are bursting and the water's rising fast
Hold on, hold on!
Stop the wrecking ball or the walls are coming down
Hold on, hold on!

Come on, Aphrodite

Come on Aphrodite, you goddess of love
Come on Aphrodite, from that mountain above
Come on Aphrodite, I'm begging you, begging you
I'm begging you please

Come on Aphrodite, can't you see that I've been patient
Come on Aphrodite, can't you see how long I've waited
Come on Aphrodite, can't you see that I'm wasting
I'm wasting away

Won't you come from the sea? (Won't you come from the sea?)
Oh, appear to me!
Won't you come from the sea? (Won't you come from the sea?)
Oh, appear to me!

Come on Aphrodite, see me down on my knees (down on my knees)
Come on Aphrodite, part the waves for me (part the waves for me)
Come on Aphrodite, I'm begging you, begging you
I'm begging you please

Come on Aphrodite, I've been nothing but true
Come on Aphrodite, I believe in you
Come on Aphrodite, from the mountain, from the sea
Gather up your secrets, come on, bring them to me

Won't you come from the sea? (Won't you come from the sea?)
Oh, appear to me!
Won't you come from the sea? (Won't you come from the sea?)
Oh, appear to me!
Appear to me!
Appear to me!
Appear to me, oh

Come on!

Come on, queen of the garden of earthly delight
Goddess of passion and giver of life
Oh, come to me
Oh, come to me

Come with your rapture, come with your pain
Come if you hear me; I'm calling your name
Oh, come to me
Oh, come to me

Make me head over heels, make me drunk, make me blind
Over the moon, half out of my mind
Oh make me weak in the knees; tremble inside
Give up easy and swallow my pride

Oh, make me, make me love
Oh, make me, make me love
Oh make me...can you make me love

Flower of the ocean, pearl of the sea
Daughter immortal, come to me
Oh, come to me
Oh, come to me
Come and rise from the water, walk on the sand
Goddess of beauty, take my hand
Oh, come to me
Oh, come to me
Oh, come to me

Sister Tilly

Oh, Miss Tilly, I think you should know everyone's missing you here
With your hair a mess in your outdated dress
When Halston was all the rage back in your Chelsea Girl days

Oh, Miss Tilly, I think you should know everyone's missing you here
Your bright yellow walls and your pashmina shawls
Crystals, chimes and your moonflower vines
Tinctures, teas and your secret remedies
And your voice like Buffy Sainte Marie
I just can't believe that you're gone
That you've gone so far away
Oh, Miss Tilly, I think you should know everyonе's missing you here
Fortune tеlling cards, prayer flags in the yard
Rilke poems and your stacks of Mother Jones
Your feminist raves in your Didion shades
And your Zeppelin so loud and so proud

Here's to your days at the barricades
Here's to the girls in the fray
Oh, how we wish you could stay
But you're gone; you've gone so far away

Sister Tilly, you go on without us
Sister Tilly, you don't think about us now
Everything fades away

Sister Tilly, you're a superpower
Sister Tilly, you're a lotus flower now
Everything fades away

Sister Tilly, you're a constellation
Sister Tilly, you're a white light vibration now
Everything fades away

No craving for sensation
No want, and no temptation now
Tears fall down like rain

No fear and no delusion
No doubt and no confusion now
Tears fall down like rain

There's nothing but the big forever
There's nothing but a sweet surrender now

Narcissus

Made me love you, made me love you
You made me feel the way I do without you now
Bewitched my mind, took possession of my very soul, enchanted me

I was drawn to you like those ships of fools that had come before
Drawn by your haunting voice but never, never reached the shore

Made love you, made me love you
You made me feel the way I do without you now
Convinced that I was your reflection
Poor Narcissus aching for perfect love
I went blindly through the fire for you, I burned it all
Made ashes of everything that I'd ever seen and ever known

I'm nothing but living, breathing flesh and blood
Alive, can you feel me

I'm nothing but clear and empty sky above
I'm light, can you see me

Look how I'm fading away
Look, how you've wasted away
Let me take you home

I was drawn to you like those ships of fools that had come before
Drawn by your haunting voice but never, never reached the shore

I'm nothing but living, breathing flesh and blood
Alive, can you feel me

I'm nothing but the clear and empty sky above
I'm light, can you see me

I'm cursed repeating words have no sense or meaning
Lies, can you hear me

Look, how you're wasting away
Look how I'm fading away
Look how I'm fading away

Let me take you home
Will you let me take you home
Will you let me take you

Hunting the Wren

Sharp is the wind
Cold is the rain
Harsh is the livelong day
Upon the wide open plain

By Donnelly's hollow
Under sod gorse and furze
There lies a young wren oh
By the saints she was cursed

The wren is a small bird
So pretty she sings
She bested the eagle
When she hid in its wings
With sticks and with stones
All among the small mounds
They come from all over
To hunt the wren on the wide open ground

They flock round the soldiers
In jackets so red
For barrack room favours
Pennies and bread

The soldier is rough
In anger or fun
He causes much bloodshed
With his big musket gun

The birds of the earth
The beasts of the field
By spite and by fury
Are people revealed

Attacked in the village
Spat on in town
They come from all over
To hunt the wren on the wide open ground

The wren is a small bird
Though blamed for much woe
Her form is derided
Wherever she goes

With cold want and whiskey
She soon is run down
Her body paraded
On a staff through the town

A rag for her ceiling
The sod was her floor
She chose the cold open plain o'er
The dark workhouse door

With two broken wings
And feathers so brown
They come from all over
To hunt the wren on the wide open ground

Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel, I've heard you laugh
Kicking stones, breaking branches in your path
Thought I felt your hand
Saw your shadow pass

Guardian Angel, I'm begging you
Please forgive these things I do
I never meant to harm;
I know you see me through

You take my breath away
Take my breath away
You take my breath away
Guardian Angel, I'm at your feet
Where's the love you promised me
Where's your tender heart full of sympathy

Guardian Angel, I don't believe
You could ever takе from me
All the love had еver belonged to me

You'd take my breath away
Take my breath away
Take my breath away

Guardian Angel, I'll track you down
There's no place on earth you can't be found
Woe be unto the soul that harbors you

I'll take your breath away
Take your breath away
I'll take your breath away

Eye of the Storm

You swept over me like a raging sea
Lashing and crashing my side ‘til I just gave way
You were the tempest-tossed, given up for dead and lost
You sailed on, the eye of the storm, you were the eye of the storm

You left me behind when you severed all ties
Sworn lone drifter you'd be, but you'll never be free
Oblivion bound, you'll never bе found
You sail on, the eye of thе storm, you're the eye of the storm

High on the seas you roam, a sack of skull & bone
All plunder & pillage inside, the roving-roughish kind
And if time hasn't touched you at all; you're the same as before
Still plowing and cursing the deep in your man-of-war
With all the whiskey and rye and a curse on your mind
You sail on, the eye of the storm—you're the eye of the storm
From time to time, you still crawl across my mind
Just a mumbling, stumbling thief in the black of night

You're a tree with a broken limb, picked up and thrown by the wind
You're the gale's deafening pound, you're the boom and you're the howl
You're hail stoning the deck and the ship about to wreck!
You're Blackbeard on the bow with a fuse in your mouth!
And you sail on, the eye of the storm, you're the eye of the storm

Tower of Babel

See, this house is divided
See how we're broken in two

It's just a Tower of Babel
And everybody's so confused

Everybody feeling the danger
Nobody dare to make a move

It's just a Tower of Babel
Everybody's so confused

Everybody's spellbound and waiting
Everybody roped and tied

It's just a Tower of Babel
Nobody gets out alive

Everybody's so confused
Everybody's so confused
Everybody's so confused

Song of Himself

How time does gambol on
With countless comings of the dawn
With the banishing of night
By transcendent rays of light

Sing a song of gilded golden sun
Of the dawning of a day begun
That will never, never come—won't come again

Who knew the blossom and the swelling seed?
Who named the numberless shades of green?
Who stopped to linger in the path?
Who saw the world in a blade of grass?
Come, sing your song son, native born and bred
In a mother tongue so long unsung, unsaid

Set us free, with of love above all causes, laws and creeds
Your song it will be sung—and sung again

Electric surgе of words that ebbed and flowed
Thе likes of which, the world had never known
And will never, never come—won't come again

All the fools and all the thieves
All the cursed and the diseased
Fallen daughters and wayward sons
Your arms embracing everyone

Come sing your song of love bold, brave and proud
Love that has no shame that knows no doubt

Set us free, with words conferred by ghost, by poetry

At the dawning of the sun
You multitude of one
Your song, it will be sung and sung again

The Feast of Saint Valentine

In the deep and darkest night of your soul
When you curse and rue the day
That you did dare to give your heart away
Take courage in the thought that you belong
Good comrade, you're not alone
We're here to give you shelter from the storm

In the blindness and confusion of the fight
When the blood is soaking through
We'll come to you; we'll come to bind the wound
March on, march on you soldiers of the heart
You ragged, weary crowd
You retreat in your defеat but you move on

Such a vast uncharted wildernеss to see
Strange lands, strange beasts
But I'll go where you lead

And on the feast day of Saint Valentine
In the bleak mid-winter cold
Come lay your blood red roses in the snow

Don't stop your search now
Go, by the grace of God
Keep your courage, keep your faith
And take this paper heart to keep you safe

Keep you safe, keep your hope and faith

Love will lead you safely on
Love will leave you wounded
Love will bring you harm
Love will be the curse and be the charm
Love will be the bruising and be the balm
Love will set you free and love will be your bonds
Love will win

Love will conquer all

Non Albums Tracks

After The Gold Rush

(Neil Young / Live)

Well, I dreamed I saw the knights 
In armor coming, 
Saying something about a queen. 
There were peasants singing and 
Drummers drumming 
And the archer split the tree. 
There was a fanfare blowing 
To the sun 
That was floating on the breeze. 
Look at Mother Nature on the run 
In the nineteen seventies. 
Look at Mother Nature on the run 
In the nineteen seventies. 

I was lying in a burned out basement 
With the full moon in my eyes. 
I was hoping for replacement 
When the sun burst thru the sky. 
There was a band playing in my head 
And I felt like getting high. 
I was thinking about what a 
Friend had said 
I was hoping it was a lie. 
Thinking about what a 
Friend had said 
I was hoping it was a lie. 

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver 
Space ships flying 
In the yellow haze of the sun, 
There were children crying 
And colors flying 
All around the chosen ones. 
All in a dream, all in a dream 
The loading had begun. 
They were flying Mother Nature's 
Silver seed to a new home in the sun. 
Flying Mother Nature's 
Silver seed to a new home.

All I Want

(Joni Mitchell)

I'm on a lonely road and I'm traveling, 
traveling, traveling, traveling, 
looking for something, what can it be 
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some, I love you some, 
Oh I love you, when I forget about me, 
I wanna be strong, I wanna to laugh along, 
I wanna belong to the living, 
alive, alive, I wanna get up and jive 
I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive 

Do you want? Do you want? 
Do you want to dance with me, baby? 
Do you want to take a chance 
on maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby? 
Well, come on. 

All I really, really want our love to do 
is to bring out the best in me and in you too 
All I really, really want our love to do 
is to bring out the best in me and in you 

I want to talk to you, 
I want to shampoo you, 
I want to renew you again and again, 
Applause, Applause, life is our cause 
When I think of your kisses, 
my mind see-saws, 
do you see, do you see, do you see, how you hurt me, baby 
so I hurt you too, and we both get so blue 

I am on a lonely road and I am traveling 
looking for the key to set me free 
oh the jealousy, the greed is the unraveling, it's the unraveling 
and it undoes all the joy that could be 

I want to have fun, 
I want to shine like the sun 
I want to be the one that you want to see 
I want to knit you a sweater, 
I want to write you a love letter, 
I want to make you feel better, 
I want to make you feel free 
oh oh oh, I want to make you feel free, 
I want to make you feel free 

Baby I Love You

(Ronnie Shannon)

If you want my lovin' 
If you really do 
Don't be afraid, just ask me 
And you know I'm gonna give it to you 
Oh I do declare (I do), wanna see ya willing 
Stretch out your arms and boy you're gonna get it 

'Cause I love you 
Baby baby baby I love you 
Now ain't no doubt about it 
Baby I love you 
Baby baby baby I love you 
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you 

If you feel you wanna kiss me 
Go right ahead, I don't mind 
All you got to do is snap your fingers 
And I'll come runnin', I ain't lyin' 
O what'cha want little boy, ya know ya got it 
I'll deny myself before I see you without it 

'Cause I love you 
Baby baby baby I love you 
Now ain't no doubt about it 
Baby I love you 
Baby baby baby I love you 
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you 

Some day you might wanna run away? 
Leave me standin' here and cryin' 
But if it's all the same to you baby 
I'm gonna stop you from sayin' goodbye 
Baby I love you (baby, baby) 
Baby I need ya (baby, baby) 
Baby I want ya (baby, baby) 
Baby I love you (baby, baby) 
Don't let your neighbors tell you that I don't love you 
Don't let your low down friends tell you I don't need you 

Because I could not stop for death

(Emily Dickinson / with Susan McKeown)

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility

We passed the school where children played
At wrestling in a ring

We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling in the ground
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound

Since then �tis centuries but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses� heads
Were toward eternity

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality

(From) Both Sides Now

(Joni Mitchell)

Bows and flows of angel hair 
And ice cream castles in the air 
And feather canyons everywhere 
I've looked at clouds that way 

But now they only block the sun 
They rain and snow on everyone 
So many things I would have done 
But clouds got in my way 

I've looked at clouds from both sides now 
From up and down and still somehow 
It's cloud illusions I recall 
I really don't know clouds at all 

Moons and Junes and ferris wheels 
The dizzy, dancing way you feel 
As every fairy tale comes real 
I've looked at love that way 

But now it's just another show 
You leave them laughing when you go 
And if you care, don't let them know 
Don't give yourself away 

I've looked at love from both sides now 
From give and take and still somehow 
It's love's illusions I recall 
I really don't know love at all 

Tears and fears and feeling proud 
To say "I love you" right out loud 
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds 
I've looked at life that way 

But now old friends are acting strange 
They shake their heads, they say I've changed 
But something's lost and something's gained 
In living every day 

I've looked at life from both sides now 
From win and lose and still somehow 
It's life's illusions I recall 
I really don't know life at all 

Bread and circuses

( With Billy Bragg / Utilitarian music 1991 )

Crowds gather round
Kneeling at the feet of common thieves
Hungry for the word but
God would never speak through such as these
Such as these

Who offer healing hands and balms
And redemption if you would cross their palms
They'll tell your troubles to the lord
For how ever much you can afford

Hands holding hands in the circle
Of the sinners and the saved
Memories that linger from the cradle
Placing puzzles in the grave
In the grave

No mortal skin and bone
Can live on bread and circuses alone
The spirit needs must drive
The mystery of why we are alive

They look in their book and they read
But their cold hearts say, "follow me"

Dance in the dust
In the frenzy of the desperately in need
Led by the voices of the men
Who invoke ritual to hide their greed
Hide their greed

Come every tongue, every eye
Across the crumbling earth and cracking sky
The gates of hell stand open wide but
The path of glory you walk single file

They look in their book and they read
But their cold hearts say, "follow me"

These men make a cage
For the very souls that came here to be free
Then they turn off their lights, fold their tents
They're fixing to leave

They look in their book and they read
But their cold hearts say, "follow me"

They'll close their book and leave
But you'll remain
Still in pain

But Not For Me

(George & Ira Gershwin)

They're writing songs of love, but not for me
A lucky star's above, but not for me
With love to lead the way, i'll have more clouds of gray
Than any russian play could guarantee

I was a fool to fall and get that way
Heigh-ho, a-las, and also lack-a-day
Although i can't dismiss the memory of his kiss,
I guess he's not for me

I know that love's a game; i'm puzzled just the same
Was i the moth or the flame?
I'm all at sea

It all began so well, but what an end
This time a gal could sure use a friend
When every happy plot ends with a marriage knot
And there's no knot for me

*** Thanx a lot to Trey for this one ***

Children Go Where I Send Thee

( From the album "A Very Happy Christmas" )

Children go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
Well, I'm gonna send thee one by one
One for the iddy biddy baby
Wrapped in swaddling clothing
Lying in a manger
He was born, born, born in Bethlehem

Children go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
Well, I'm gonna send thee two by two
Two for Paul and Silas
One for the iddy biddy baby
Wrapped in swaddling clothing
Lying in a manger
He was born, born, born in Bethlehem

Children go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
Well, I'm gonna send thee three by three
Three for the Hebrew children
Two for Paul and Silas
One for the iddy biddy baby
Wrapped in swaddling clothing
Lying in a manger
He was born, born, born in Bethlehem

Children go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
Well, I'm gonna send thee four by four
Four for the four knocking at my door
Three for the Hebrew children
Two for Paul and Silas
One for the iddy biddy baby
Wrapped in swaddling clothing
Lying in a manger
He was born, born, born in Bethlehem

Children go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
Well, I'm gonna send thee five by five
Five for the gospel preachers
Four for the four knocking at my door
Three for the Hebrew children
Two for Paul and Silas
One for the iddy biddy baby
Wrapped in swaddling clothing
And lying in a manger
He was born, born, born in Bethlehem

*** Great thanx to Rafet For this one ***

Come Take A Trip In My Airship

( George Evans & Honeyboy Shields / With Jay Ungar )

Once, I loved a sailor
Once, a sailor loved me
But he was not a sailor
That sailed on the wide blue sea
He, sailed in an airship
Sailed like a bird on the wind
And every evening at midnight
He would come to my window and sing

Come take a Trip in my Airship
Come sail away to the stars
We'll travel to Venus
We'll sail away to Mars
No one will see while we're kissing
No one will know as we swoon
So come take a Trip in my Airship
And we'll visit the Man in the Moon

One night while sailing away from the crowds
We passed by the Milky White Way
While idly drifting, watching the stars
He asked if I'd name the day
Just by the Dipper, I gave him my heart
The sun shone on our honeymoon
We swore to each other, we never would part
And we'd teach all the babies this tune

Hey Baby Boy

(Hopes & Dreams: The Lullaby Project LP)

Hey baby boy
My baby boy

Hey baby boy
My baby boy

Hey baby boy
My baby boy
When they gave you into my arms
It was a feeling I can't explain

You opened your eyes
You looked into mine
And I thank God for helping me
To bring you into this world
What a beautiful baby we've made

Hey baby boy
My baby boy
When I heard your first cry
It was a feeling I just can't explain

I held you close
And you looked at me
And I thank God for helping me
To bring you into this world
What a beautiful baby we've made

Oh what a beautiful baby we've made

Hey baby boy
My baby boy

Hey baby boy
My baby boy

Hey baby boy
My baby boy

I Know How To Do It

( Leonard Feather / with Dr. John with Booker T. & The MG's )

Everybody needs practice in the art of love
Twenty years of practice and Lord above
I know how to do it, I know how to do it
I know how to do it good enough for anyone
If you love your man you better take good care
You'll wake one morning and he won't be there
Cause I know how to do it, I know how to do it
I know how to do it good enough for anyone

I may be old fashioned, I may be dumb
May be a square and I may be a bum
But I know how to do it, I know how to do it
I know how to do it and I dish it out with ease

So don't encourage me daddy or I'll go too far
When you say, "please me mama, eight to the bar"
Cause I know how to do it, I know how to do it
I know how to do it good

So if you see a fella who's mellow and fine
Tell him to come and see me any old time
Cause I know how to do it, I know how to do it
I know how to do it good enough for anyone

In the Ghetto

( Mac Scott Davis Cover )

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'Cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

Oh, well People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
O-or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Oh, people look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way

As the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
Where he learns how to steal
And he learns how to fight
In the ghetto

Oh, People, don't you understand
This child needs a helping hand
O-or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
People look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
As the world turns

Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
Tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
Face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto (In the ghetto)

As her young man dies,
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto x 2 (In the ghetto x 2)

*** Thanx a lot to Stan for this one ***

Last goodbye

( Jeff Buckley / Cover live )

This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it's over
Just hear this and then I'll go
You gave me more to live for
More than you'll ever know

This is our last embrace
Must I dream and always see your face
Why can't we overcome this wall
Ouh, maybe baby it's just because
I didn't know you at all

Kiss me, please kiss me
Oh kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation
Oh you know it makes me so angry 'cause i know that in time
I'll only make you cry
This is our last goodbye

Did you say "no, this can't happen to me,"
Did you rush to the phone to call
Was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind
Saying maybe
You didn't know him at all
You didn't know him at all
You didn't know, you didn't know

Well, the bells out in the church tower chime
Burning clues into this heart of mine
Thinking so hard on her soft eyes and the memories
Offer signs that it's over... it's over

Ode To Billy Joe

It was the 3rd of june another sleepy dusty delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailin' hay.
At dinner time we stopped off on down to the house to eat
And mama hollered out the backdoor y'all remember to wipe your feet.

She said i heard bit of news this mornin' from choctaw ridge
Seems that billy joe macallister's jumped off the tallahatchee bridge.

Well papa said to mama as he passed around the black eyed peas
Billy joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please
There's 5 more acres in the lower 40 i got to plow
Mama said was a shame about billy joe anyhow
Seems that nothin' never comes to no good up on choctaw ridge and now you
Tell me billy joe has jumped off the tallahatchee bridge.

Brother recollected when he and tom and billy joe
Put a frog down my back at the carol couty picture show
And wasnt i talkin' to him after church last sunday night
I'll have another peice of apple pie but oh it dont seem right
Saw him at the sawmill yesterday up on choctaw ridge
And now you tell me billy joe has jumped off the tallahatchee bridge

Mama said to me child what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cooking all morning and you havent touched a single bite

That nice young preacher brother taylor dropped by today,
Said he'd be pleased have dinner on sunday,
Oh by the way
Said he saw a girl who looked alot like you up on choctaw ridge
And she and billy joe was throwin' something off the tallahatchee bridge.

A year's come and gone since we heard the news about billy joe
Brother married becky thompson and they bought a store in tupelo
Was a virus goin round and papa caught and he died last spring
Now mama doesnt seem to wanto do much of anything
Me i spend alot of my time pickin flowers up on choctaw ridge
And throw 'em into the muddy water off the tallahatchee bridge.

One Fine Day

( The Chiffons / Carole King and Gerry Goffin )

One fine day, you'll look at me
And you will know our love was, meant to be
One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl

The arms I long for, will open wide
And you'll be proud to have me, right by your side
One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl

Though I know you're the kind of boy
Who only wants to run around
I'll keep waiting, and, someday darling
You'll come to me when you want to settle down

One fine day, we'll meet once more
And then you'll want the love you threw away before
One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl

One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl

*** Thanx a lot to Stan for this one ***

Party of god

( With Billy Bragg / christian burial music 1990 )

In a busy street
A man sits down
Oblivious to the traffic sounds
No chaos, no frenzied shrieking crowd
They guard their silence
Walking heads bent down

Count the hours in their lethargy
The treadmill turns
There down below their feet

Should i pray for an end to come quickly?

Or cross the waves of an angry sea
Risking and braving
The shipwreck and the mutiny assailing

In a haunted doorway
Hid from the light of day
See another life fall to ruin and pain
False smiles from even children it seems
A landlocked ground for empty and lost dreams

"A league against me", i hear him say
It's not worth half the effort
Or the price you pay

Should i pray for an end to come quickly?

Or should i raise my face
To the heavens above and tell god,
"Stop jeering at all our human frailties and our failings"
Are we failing?

Pound, pound on an endless street
Again and again the nightmare scene
All strained against the tightened rope
Not one with a lasting lingering hope

There's evidence everywhere you see
Put a quarter down at the newsstand
So that you can read

Should i pray for an end to come quickly?

Or should i raise my face
To the clouds above
Entreating their mercy

But as clouds will do they'll rain down
First gently and sweetly until they silence me
With a burst of thunder and lightning

Helpless landlocked screaming
I know god must be agreeing
It's the worst part of watching
It's the worst part of watching
It's the worst part of watching
It's the worst part

Landlocked and screaming
God must be agreeing
To be helpless is the worst
Must be the worst part of watching
The worst part of watching

Photograph

( With Michael Stipe / night garden music 1993 )

I found this photograph
Underneath broken picture glass
Tender face of black & white
Beautiful, a haunting sight
Looked into an angel's smile
Captivated all the while
From her hair and clothes she wore
I'd have placed her in between the wars

Was she willing when she sat
And posed a pretty photograph
To save her flowering and fair
For days to come
For days to share
A big smile for the camera
How did she know
The moment could be lost forever
Forever more

I found this photograph
In stacks between the old joist walls
In a place where time is lost
Lost behind where all things fall
Broken books and calendars,

Letters script in careful hand,
The music to a standard tune by
Some forgotten big brass band

From the thresh hold what's to see
Of our brave new century
Television's just a dream
Of radio and silver screen
A big smile for the camera
How did she know
The moment could be lost forever
Forever more

Was her childhood filled with rhyme
Or stolen books of passion crimes
Was she innocent or blind to the cruelty of her time
Was she fearful in her day
Was she hopeful
Did she pray
Were there skeletons inside
Family secrets sworn to hide
Did she feel the heat that stirs
The fall from grace of wayward girls
Was she tempted to pretend
In love and laughter until the end

She devil

(out-take from "ophelia")

Look out she's coming at ya
Big dark eyes like cleopatra
The eyes of a femme fatale
Bet you get the ominous feeling
A cold blooded creature in the
Dark is stealing toward you
You best beware, take care
She's better than a work of fiction
Half ing�nue, half a vixen
Your little paper doll
But brother she's a wicked sister
Subtle and sly, watch it mister
And take my advice, stay away
Or number your days

Opiate clouds surround you
An addiction to love has found you out
Half out of your mind
Fool, when i think about you
I want to wrap my arms around you
And tell you more than words can say

She devil, she conquer
She devil, you want her
You're unaware tonight
Of the danger everywhere

My poor little sleeping giant
Dreaming warm and silent
Where has your delilah gone?
Why don't you wake and see through
Every way that she's deceived you
How she moves within?

See, everything the woman touches
It withers and dies in her clutches
Why should your fate be
Any different from these?

Oh, well i've heard about you
Every word that's said about you
The man in the silvery web
He fell for the sweet persuasion
Of a black widow spider
Now nothing can save him
It's just a matter of time

She devil, she conquer
She devil, you want her
You're unaware tonight
Of the danger everywhere

She devil, she conquer
She devil, you want her
You're well aware tonight
Of the danger everywhere
But you don't care

Son Of A Preacher Man

(John Hurley/Ronnie Wilkins)

Billy Ray was a preacher's son 
And when his daddy'd visit he'd come along 
When they gathered round and started talking 
That's when Billy would take me walking, 
All through the backyard we'd go walking, 
Then he'd looked into my eyes, 
Lord knows to my surprise 

The only one who could ever reach me 
Was the son of a preacher man 
And the only boy who could ever teach me 
Was the son of a preacher man 
Yes he was, was, yes he was 

Bein' good isn't always easy, 
No matter hard I try, 
When he started sweet talking to me, 
He'd come and tell my everything is allright 
He'd kiss it down and everything's allright 
Can I get away again tonight ? 

The only one who could ever reach me 
Was the son of a preacher man 
And the only boy who could ever teach me 
Was the son of a preacher man 
Yes he was, was, yes he was 

Oh yes he was 
How will I remember 
The look within his eyes 
Stealin' kisses from me on the sly 
Takin' time to make time 
Tellin' me that he's all mine 
Learnin' from each other's knowin' 
Looking to see how much we've grown 

And the only one who could ever reach me 
was the son of a preacher man 
The only boy who could ever teach me 
Was the son of a preacher man 
Yes he was, he was, oh yes he was 

The only boy who could ever reach me 
Was the sweet-talkin' son of a preacher man 

Space Oddity

(David Bowie)

Ground Control to Major Tom 
Ground Control to Major Tom 
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on 

Ground Control to Major Tom 
Commencing countdown, engines on 
Check ignition and may God's love be with you 

(spoken) 
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Liftoff 

This is Ground Control to Major Tom 
You've really made the grade 
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear 
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare 

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control 
I'm stepping through the door 
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way 
And the stars look very different today 

For here 
Am I sitting in a tin can 
Far above the world 
Planet Earth is blue 
And there's nothing I can do 

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles 
I'm feeling very still 
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go 
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows" 

Ground Control to Major Tom 
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong 
Can you hear me, Major Tom? 
Can you hear me, Major Tom? 
Can you hear me, Major Tom? 
Can you.... 

"Here am I floating round my tin can 
Far above the Moon 
Planet Earth is blue 
And there's nothing I can do."

Sympathy For The Devil

(Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)

Yow! Yow! Yow! 
Umph, ca, umph, umph 

Please allow me to introduce myself 
I'm a man of wealth and taste 
I've been around for a long, long year 
Stole many a man's soul and fate 

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ 
Had his moment of doubt and pain 
Made damn sure that Pilate 
Washed his hands and sealed his fate 

Pleased to meet you 
Hope you guess my name 
But what's puzzling you 
Is the nature of my game 

Stuck around St. Petersberg 
When I saw it was a time for a change 
Killed the Czar and his ministers 
Anastasia screamed in vain 

I rode a tank 
In a general's rank 
When the Blitzkrieg raged 
And the bodies stank 

Pleased to meet you 
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah 
What's puzzling you 
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah 

I watched the gleam [Who, Who] 
While you kings and queens 
Fought for ten decades 
For the Goth they made 

I shouted out 
"Who killed the Kennedys?" 
When after all 
It was you and me 

Let me please introduce myself 
I'm a man of wealth and taste 
And I laid tracks for troubadors 
Who get killed before they reached Bombay 

Pleased to meet you 
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah 
But what's puzzling you 
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby 

Ma, oo 
Oooa 

Pleased to meet you 
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah 
But what's confusing you 
Is just the nature of my game 

Just as every cop is a criminal 
And all the sinners Saints 
As I end this tale 
Just call me Lucifer 
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint 

So if you meet me 
Have some courtesy 
Have some sympathy, and some taste 
Use all your well learned qualities 
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah 

Pleased to meet you 
Hope you guess my name, um yeah 
But what's puzzling you 
Is the nature of my game, um baby, get down 

Woo, who 
Oh yeah, get on down 
Oh yeah 
Oh yeah! 

Tell me baby, what's my name 
Tell me honey, baby guess my name 
Tell me baby, what's my name 
I tell you one time, your to blame 

Ooo, who 
Ooo, who 
Ooo, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Oh, yeah 

What's me name 
Tell me, baby, what's my name 
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name 

Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Ooo, who, who 
Oh, yeah 

Take A Look

(Allen Toussaint)

Take a look at this heart 
It's the one I'm gonna ust to love you 
Take a look at these arms 
These are the arms I'm gonna use to hug you 
Look at these eyes 
These are the eyes that will haunt you 
Ohhhh take a look at this girl 
She's the girl that wants you 

Take a look at my feet 
that are gonna walk up to your door 
Take a look at this head, Take a look at these hips, It's gonna knock(?) 

like n 
Look at these lips 
There gonna kiss you and 
I know they'll haunt you 
Ohhh Take a look at this girl 
I'm the girl that wants you 

Ohhh take a look at that reef 
That you see lying in the window 
Take a look at that poor little dimple spot on my third finger 

If you wanna see someone who's gonna be happy as can be 
Take a look at me 
Take a look at me 
Tame eeee 

Take a look at this heart 
It's the one I'm gonna ust to look at these arms 
There the ones I'm gonna use to hold you 

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