B i o g r a p h y (by MacKenzie Wilson)
One of America's most celebrated singers and songwriters, Suzanne Vega's incisive songwriting and cooly expressive vocals have helped her establish a large and loyal following. Her hushed, restrained folk-pop and highly literate lyrics (inspired chiefly by Leonard Cohen, as well as Lou Reed and Bob Dylan) laid the initial musical groundwork for what later became the trademark sound of Lilith Fair, a tour on which she was a regular. Moreover, her left-field hit singles "Luka" and "Tom's Diner" helped convince record companies that folk-styled singer/songwriters were not a thing of the past, paving the way for breakthroughs by Tracy Chapman, Michelle Shocked, Shawn Colvin, Edie Brickell, the Indigo Girls, and a host of others. Vega's early commercial success helped open doors for a wealth of talent, as she scored a platinum album with 1987's Solitude Standing, and she would maintain a strong and dedicated cult following. Her association with -- and marriage to -- experimental producer Mitchell Froom during the '90s resulted in two intriguing albums, 1992's 99.9 F and 1996's Nine Objects of Desire. Following their painful divorce, Vega returned in 2001 with her first album in five years, Songs in Red and Gray, which was greeted with her strongest reviews in a decade. She explored jazzy arrangements on 2007's Beauty and Crime, and wrote a one-woman musical that was documented on the 2016 album Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers. Vega blended her thoughtful singer/songwriter material with a variety of pop accents and even a dash of new wave on 2025's Flying with Angels. Suzanne Vega was born July 11, 1959, in Santa Monica, California; her parents divorced shortly thereafter, and after her mother (a jazz guitarist) remarried the Puerto Rican novelist Ed Vega, the family moved to Manhattan. A shy and quiet child, Vega nonetheless learned to take care of herself growing up in the tough neighborhoods of Spanish Harlem. Her parents often sang folk songs around the house, and when she began playing guitar at age 11, she found herself attracted to the poetry of singer/songwriter music (Dylan, Cohen), and found a refuge from New York's chaos in traditional folk (Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Joan Baez). At age 14, she made her first attempts at writing songs; however, when she attended the High School for the Performing Arts as a teenager, it was to study dance, not music. She subsequently enrolled at Barnard College as a literature major, and during this time, she began playing at coffee houses and folk festivals on the West Side and near Columbia University; she soon moved up to the Lower East Side/Greenwich Village folk clubs, including the famed Folk City club where Bob Dylan started out. In 1979, Vega attended a Lou Reed concert, and the effect was a revelation: here was an artist chronicling the harsh urban world Vega knew, with the detail and literacy of a folk artist. Vega discovered a new voice and sense of possibility for her original material, and her writing grew rapidly. Vega graduated from college in 1982 and held down several low-level day jobs while quickly becoming the Greenwich Village folk scene's brightest hope. Record companies were reluctant to take a chance on a singer/songwriter steeped in folk music, however, since they saw little chance of any commercial returns. After three years of rejections, Vega and her managers Ron Fierstein and Steve Addabbo finally convinced A&M (which had turned her down twice) to give her a shot, and she signed a contract in 1983. Former Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye was brought in to co-produce the debut with Addabbo and lend it a smoother, more contemporary flavor. Titled simply Suzanne Vega, it was released in 1985 to much critical applause. Thanks in part to the single "Marlene on the Wall," the album was a genuine hit in Britain, where it eventually went platinum; while it didn't duplicate that success in America, the album's sales of 200,000 strong still came as a shock to A&M (and Vega). For the 1987 follow-up, Vega overcame writer's block to craft an eclectic batch of new material, and drew upon a backlog of songs that hadn't fit the debut. Again produced by Kaye and Addabbo, Solitude Standing was Vega's finest achievement; the richness and variety of its compositions were complemented by the lusher full-band arrangements and more accessible (albeit less folky) production. The album's lead single, "Luka," was a haunting first-person account of child abuse, whose terse (and fictional) lyrics struck a chord with American radio listeners. As a result, the album was an instant hit on both sides of the Atlantic; it debuted at number two in the U.K. and went gold within three months in the U.S., peaking at number 11 and eventually going platinum. "Luka" hit number three on the American pop charts -- unheard of for a singer/songwriter in the '80s prior to Vega -- and was nominated for three Grammys. As record companies rushed to fill a market niche they hadn't known existed (and uncovering some major talent in the process), Vega spent almost a year on the road touring in support of the record; exhausted, she returned to New York to take some time off, and also tracked down her biological father for the first time. When the time came to record her third album in 1989, Vega decided to co-produce it herself with her keyboardist/boyfriend Anton Sanko (longtime bassist Michael Visceglia also had input). Vega began to experiment with her lyrics, pushing beyond the narrative story-songs that dominated her first two records, and had minimalist composer Philip Glass contribute a string arrangement. The result, Days of Open Hand, was released in 1990, but it didn't produce another hit single and was somewhat lost in the shuffle of new female singer/songwriters; though it did sell respectably, reviews were somewhat mixed. Even though the album didn't recapture Vega's 1987 popularity, she was still -- indirectly -- involved in one of '90s most bizarre hit singles. Two British dance producers working under the alias DNA took the a cappella Solitude Standing track "Tom's Diner" and set it to an electronic dance beat, releasing the result as a bootleg single called "Oh Suzanne." When A&M discovered the piracy, Vega decided to allow the single's official release under its original title, and it became a substantial hit in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere. The following year, Vega gathered a number of other unsolicited versions of the song and compiled them as Tom's Album. Intrigued by the success of "Tom's Diner," Vega began looking for ways to open up her musical approach. She hooked up with producer Mitchell Froom, best known for his work on '90s albums by Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, and Crowded House. Froom applied his trademark approach -- dissonant arrangements, clanging percussion -- to Vega's 1992 album, and while 99.9 F° didn't reinvent her as a dance artist (as some expected), the synth-centered sound of the record was unlike any of her previous work. Froom and Vega began dating several months after the record's completion, and they wound up marrying; their daughter, Ruby, was born in 1994, and Vega naturally took some time off from music. She returned in 1996 with Nine Objects of Desire, again with Froom in the producer's chair, though his approach was somewhat less radical this time out; in terms of Vega's subject matter, there was a newfound physical sensuality borne of her marriage and childbirth experiences. All was not well for long, however; Froom began seeing Ally McBeal singer Vonda Shepard, and he and Vega split up in August 1998. In 1999, Vega released the best-of retrospective Tried and True, taking stock of her past career (she had also split with longtime manager Ron Fierstein); she also published her first book, The Passionate Eye, a collection of poems, lyrics, essays, journalistic pieces, and the like. Vega began playing shows with bassist Michael Visceglia again, and worked on material addressing the breakup of her marriage. Songs in Red and Gray was released in the fall of 2001 and marked a return to the more direct sound of Suzanne Vega and Solitude Standing; it also garnered her the best reviews since those records. Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega arrived in 2003, followed by the Live at Montreux 2004 DVD/CD in 2006 and the all-new Beauty & Crime in 2007. In 2010, Vega released Close Up, Vol. 1 and Close Up, Vol. 2 -- the first half of a proposed four-volume collection of re-recorded versions of songs from her catalog, all featuring stripped-down, unadorned arrangements that highlight the lyrics and melodies -- and followed the first two installments of the series with Close Up, Vol. 3 in 2011. The final release in the sequence, Close Up, Vol. 4: Songs of Family, appeared a year later in 2012 and included two previously unheard tracks -- "The Silver Lady" and "Brother Mine" -- which had been written by Vega over 30 years earlier. In early 2013 she demo'ed new material with the help of Gerry Leonard, her live musical director. This resulted in the album Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles, which was released in February 2014. In 2011, Vega staged a one-woman theater piece in which she performed a song cycle about the life and work of novelist Carson McCullers, written in collaboration with Duncan Sheik. In 2016, as the show was being revived in Los Angeles, Vega released an album of its songs, Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers. The album was released through Vega's own label, Amanuensis Productions. In early 2019, she performed a residency at New York's Café Carlyle, singing a mix of originals and covers informed by life in New York City. A live album from the Café Carlyle engagement, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories, was slated for release in 2020. In 2025, Vega released her first album of new songs in 11 years, Flying with Angels. Produced by Gerry Leonard, the album added subtle pop and R&B melodic touches to Vega's trademark sound, and one song, "Chambermaid," was adapted from the melody of Bob Dylan's classic "I Want You." Two of the tracks from the album were previewed with animated videos. "Rats" was a spunky new wave-influenced tune inspired by New York life, and "Speakers' Corner" was about the impact social media has upon public discourse during difficult times.
Suzanne Vega - 1985-05-01 - Cracking Freeze Tag Marlene On The Wall Small Blue Thing Straight Lines Undertow Some Journey The Queen & The Soldier Knight Moves Neighborhood Girls
Solitude Standing - 1987-04-01 - Tom's Diner Luka Ironbound / Fancy Poultry In The Eye Night Vision Solitude Standing Calypso Language Gypsy Wooden Horse Tom’s Diner (Reprise) (Instrumental)
Days Of Open Hand - 1990-04-10 - Tired Of Sleeping Men In A War Rusted Pipe Book Of Dreams Institution Green Those Whole Girls (Run In Grace) Room Off The Street Big Space Predictions Fifty-Fifty Chance Pilgrimage
Suzanne Vega Cracking It's a one-time thing It just happens a lot Walk with me And we will see what we have got My footsteps are ticking Like water dripping from a tree Walking a hairline And stepping very carefully My heart is broken It's worn out at the knees Hearing muffled, seeing blind Soon it will hit the deep freeze And something is cracking I don't know where Ice on the sidewalk Brittle branches in the air The sun is blinding Dizzy golden, dancing green Through the park in the afternoon Wondering where the hell I have been Freeze Tag We go to the playground In the wintertime The sun is fading fast Upon the slides into the past Upon the swings of indecision In the wintertime In the dimming diamonds Scattering in the park In the tickling And the trembling Of freeze tag In the dark We play that we're actors On a movie screen I will be Dietrich And you can be Dean You stand With your hand In your pocket And lean against the wall You will be Bogart And I will be Bacall And we can only say yes now To the sky, to the street, to the night Slow fade now to black Play me one more game Of chivalry You and me Do you see Where I've been hiding In this hide-and-seek? We go to the playground In the wintertime The sun is fading fast Upon the slides into the past Upon the swings of indecision In the wintertime Wintertime, wintertime Wintertime, wintertime We can only say yes now To the sky, to the street, to the night We can only say yes now To the sky, to the street, to the night Marlene On The Wall Even if I am in love with you All this to say, what's it to you Observe the blood, the rose tattoo Of the fingerprints on me from you Other evidence has shown That you and I are still alone We skirt around the danger zone And don't talk about it later Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall Well, I walk to your house in the afternoon By the butcher shop with the sawdust strewn "Don't give away the goods too soon" Is what she might have told me And I tried so hard to resist When you held me in your handsome fist And reminded me of the night we kissed And of why I should be leaving Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall And even if I am in love with you All this to say, what's it to you? Observe the blood, the rose tattoo Of the fingerprints on me from you Other evidence has shown That you and I are still alone We skirt around the danger zone And don't talk about it later And I tried so hard to resist When you held me in your handsome fist And reminded me of the night we kissed And of why I should be leaving Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every man who's been here But the only one here now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Changing, changing Changing, changing Marlene watches from the wall Her mocking smile says it all As she records the rise and fall Of every soldier passing But the only soldier now is me I'm fighting things I cannot see I think it's called my destiny That I am changing Marlene on the wall Small Blue Thing Today I am A small blue thing Like a marble Or an eye With my knees against my mouth I am perfectly round I am watching you I am cold against your skin You are perfectly reflected I am lost inside your pocket I am lost against your fingers I am falling down the stairs I am skipping on the sidewalk I am thrown against the sky I am raining down in pieces I am scattering like light Scattering like light Scattering like light Today I am A small blue thing Made of china Made of glass I am cool and smooth and curious I never blink I am turning in your hand Turning in your hand I am cold against your skin You are perfectly reflected I am lost inside your pocket I am lost against your fingers I am falling down the stairs I am skipping on the sidewalk I am thrown against the sky I am raining down in pieces I am scattering like light Scattering like light Scattering like light Today I am A small blue thing Like a marble Or an eye I am cool and smooth and curious I never blink I am turning in your hand Turning in your hand Turning in your hand Small blue thing Turning in your hand Turning in your hand Straight Lines There's a sound Across the alley Of cold metal Touching skin And you can see If you look in her window That she has gone and cut Her hair again In straight lines Straight lines Those soft golden lights in the morning Are now on her wooden floor The wind has swept them through the apartment She won't need them Any more Any more Any more She's cut down On her lovers Though she still dreams Of them at night She's growing straight lines Where once were flowers She is streamlined She is taking the shade down From the light To see the straight lines Straight lines She wants to cut through the circles That she has lived in before She wants to finally kill the delusions She won't need them Any more Any more Any more But there's a sound Across the alley Of cold metal Too close to the bone And you can see If you look in her window The face of a woman Finally alone Behind straight lines Straight lines Behind straight lines Straight lines Undertow I believe right now if I could I would swallow you whole I would leave only bones and teeth We could see what was underneath And you would be free then Once I thought only tears could make us free Salt wearing down to the bone Like sand against the stone Against the shoreline I am friend to the undertow I take you in, I don't let go And now I have you Wanted to learn all the secrets from the edge of a knife From the point of a needle, from a diamond From a bullet in flight I would be free then I am friend to the undertow I take you in, I don't let go And now I have you I am friend to the undertow I take you in, I don't let go And now I have you I wanted to see how it would feel to be that sleek And instead I find this hunger's made me weak I believe right now if I could I would swallow you whole I would leave only bones and teeth We could see what was underneath And you would be free then Free then I am friend to the undertow I take you in, I don't let go And now I have you I am friend to the undertow I take you in, I don't let go And now I have you Some Journey If I had met you on some journey Where would we be now If we had met on some eastbound train Through some black sleeping town Would you have worn your silken robes All made of royal blue Would I have dressed in smoke and fire For you to see through If we had met in some darkened room Where people do not stay But shadows touch and pass right through And never see the day Would you have taken me upstairs And turned the lamplight low Would I have shown my secret self And disappeared like the snow Oh, I could have played your little girl Or I could have played your wife I could have played your mistress Running danger down through your life I could have played your lady fair All dressed in lace like the foam from the sea I could have been your woman of the road As long as you did not come back home to me But as it is, we live in the city And everything stays in place Instead we meet on the open sidewalk And it's well I know your face We talk and talk, we tell the truth There are no shadows here But when I look into your eyes I wonder what might have been here 'Cause if I had met you on some journey Where would we be now The Queen & The Soldier The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door He said, "I am not fighting for you any more" And the queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before And slowly she let him inside He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will Only first I am asking you why" And down the long narrow hall he was led Into her room with her tapestries red And she never once took the crown from her head She asked him there to sit down He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won And I've got this intuition says it's all for your fun And now will you tell me why" Well the young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try" But her face was a child's and he thought she would cry But she closed herself up like a fan And she said, "I have swallowed a secret burning thread It cuts me inside and often I've bled" And he laid his hand then on top of her head And he bowed her down to the ground "And tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel As you are living here alone and you are never revealed But I won't march again on your battlefield" And he took her to the window to see And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray And she wanted more than she ever could say But she knew how it frightened her and she turned away And would not look at his face again And he said, "I want to live as an honest man To get all I deserve and to give all I can And to love a young woman who I don't understand Your highness, your ways are very strange" But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break And she stood there ashamed of the way her heart ached And she took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait She would only be a moment inside And out in the distance her order was heard And the soldier was killed still waiting for her word And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred The battle continued on Knight Moves Watch while the queen in one false move Turns herself into a pawn Sleepy and shaken And watching while the blurry night Turns into a very clear dawn Do you love any, do you love none Do you love many, can you love one Do you love me Do you love any, do you love none Do you love twenty, can you love one Do you love me One false move, and a secret prophecy Well, if you hold it against her, first hold it up and see That it's one side stone, one side fire Standing alone among all men's desire They want to know Do you love any, do you love none Do you love many, can you love one Do you love me Do you love any, do you love none Do you love twenty, can you love one Do you love me And if you wonder what I am doing As I am heading for the sink I am spitting out all the bitterness Along with half of my last drink I am thinking of your woman Who is crying in the hall It's like drinking gasoline to quench a thirst Until there's nothing there left at all Do you love any, do you love none Do you love many, can you love one Do you love me Do you love any, do you love none Do you love twenty, can you love one Do you love me And "Walk on her blind side" was the answer to the joke It's said there isn't a political bone in her body Well, she would rather be a riddle But she keeps challenging the future With a profound lack of history Do you love any, do you love none Do you love many, can you love one Do you love me Do you love any, do you love none Do you love twenty, can you love one Do you love me Watch while the queen in one false move Turns herself into a pawn Sleepy and shaken And watching while the blurry night Turns into a very clear dawn Do you love me Do you love me Do you love me Do you love me Do you love me Do you love me Neighborhood Girls "We had our neighborhood girl She used to hang out in front of McKinsey's Bar And we were interested in her and her clientele We just wonder where she's gone" "Oh, she's gone?" "Yes, she's gone, gone, gone" "Yes, she's gone, gone, gone" "I think I know your neighborhood girl She lives on my street now with eyes of ice I've seen her in the morning when she is walking in the sun And I always thought that she looked kind of nice She spoke to me once at a party, I think And I thought at the time that she had had too much to drink Because she said to me, 'There's a backbone gone And I've got to get it back before going on'" "Well, your neighborhood girl, she seems to have resigned She was looking out at people from the back of her mind And before she went off she spoke to me again She came up and said, 'You have the eyes of a friend And there's a razor's edge that I have lost somewhere And I would like it back so if you've seen it anywhere I've been out for a while but I'll be back in a bit I am just walking through the smoke finding out if this is it'" "'Cause I've got this feeling that things are going grey And I'd like to hear a straight line to help me find my way' I looked at her and I did not know what to say She had long black hair" "Must be a different neighborhood girl 'Cause ours had blonde hair in front of McKinsey's Bar And we were interested in her and her clientele We just wonder where she's gone" "Oh, she's gone?" "Yes, she's gone, gone, gone" "Yes, she's gone, gone, gone"
Solitude Standing Tom's Diner I am sitting in the morning At the diner on the corner I am waiting at the counter For the man to pour the coffee And he fills it only halfway And before I even argue He is looking out the window At somebody coming in "It is always nice to see you" Says the man behind the counter To the woman who has come in She is shaking her umbrella And I look the other way As they are kissing their hellos And I'm pretending not to see them And instead I pour the milk I open up the paper There's a story of an actor Who had died while he was drinking It was no one I had heard of And I'm turning to the horoscope And looking for the funnies When I'm feeling someone watching me And so I raise my head There's a woman on the outside Looking inside, does she see me? No, she does not really see me 'Cause she sees her own reflection And I'm trying not to notice That she's hitching up her skirt And while she's straightening her stockings Her hair has gotten wet Oh, this rain, it will continue Through the morning as I'm listening To the bells of the cathedral I am thinking of your voice And of the midnight picnic once upon a time Before the rain began... And I finish up my coffee And it's time to catch the train Luka My name is Luka I live on the second floor I live upstairs from you Yes, I think you've seen me before If you hear something late at night Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was I think it's 'cause I'm clumsy I try not to talk too loud Maybe it's because I'm crazy I try not to act too proud They only hit until you cry After that, you don't ask why You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore Yes, I think I'm okay I walked into the door again If you ask that's what I'll say And it's not your business anyway I guess I'd like to be alone With nothing broken, nothing thrown Just don't ask me how I am Just don't ask me how I am Just don't ask me how I am My name is Luka I live on the second floor I live upstairs from you Yes, I think you've seen me before If you hear something late at night Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was Just don't ask me what it was And they only hit until you cry And after that you don't ask why You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore You just don't argue anymore Ironbound / Fancy Poultry In the Ironbound section near Avenue L Where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell The clouds so low, the morning so slow As the wires cut through the sky The beams and bridges cut the light on the ground Into little triangles and the rails run round Through the rust and heat The light and sweet coffee color of her skin Bound up in iron and wire and fate Watching her walk him up to the gate In front of the Ironbound school yard Kids will grow like weeds on a fence She says they look for the light, they try to make sense They come up through the cracks like grass on the tracks She touches him goodbye Steps off the curb and into the street The blood and feathers near her feet Into the Ironbound market In the Ironbound section near Avenue L Where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell The clouds so low, the morning so slow As the wires cut through the sky She stops at the stall, fingers the ring Opens her purse, feels a longing Away from the Ironbound border Fancy poultry parts sold here Breasts and thighs and hearts Backs are cheap and wings are nearly Fancy poultry parts sold here Breasts and thighs and hearts Backs are cheap and wings are nearly free Nearly free Nearly free Nearly free In The Eye If you were to kill me now right here I would still look you in the eye And I would burn myself into your memory As long as you were still alive I would live inside of you I'd make you wear me like a scar And I would burn myself into your memory And run through everything you are I would not run I would not turn I would not hide I would not run I would not turn I would not hide I would live inside of you I'd make you wear me like a scar And I would burn myself into your memory And run through everything you are I would not run I would not turn I would not hide I would not run I would not turn I would not hide In the eye If you were to kill me now right here I would still look you in the eye And I would burn myself into your memory As long as you were still alive I would not run I would not turn I would not hide I would not run I would not turn I would not hide In the eye In the eye Look me in the eye In the eye In the eye In the eye Night Vision By day give thanks By night beware Half the world in sweetness The other in fear When the darkness takes you With her hand across your face Don't give in too quickly Find the thing she's erased Find the line Find the shape through the grain Find the outline And things will tell you their name The table, the guitar The empty glass All will blend together When the daylight has passed Find the line Find the shape through the grain Find the outline And things will you their name Now I watch you falling into sleep Watch your fist uncurl against the sheet Watch your lips fall open and your eyes dim In blind faith I would shelter you And keep you in light But I can only teach you Night vision Night vision Night vision Solitude Standing Solitude stands by the window She turns her head as I walk in the room I can see by her eyes she's been waiting Standing in the slant of the late afternoon And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame Solitude stands in the doorway I'm struck once again by her black silhouette By her long cool stare and her silence I suddenly remember each time we've met And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame And she says, "I've come to set a twisted thing straight" And she says, "I've come to lighten this dark heart" And she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear And I said, "I never thought of finding you here" And I turn to the crowd as they're watching They're sitting all together in the dark, in the warm And I wanted to be in there among them I see how their eyes are gathered into one And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame And she says, "I've come to set a twisted thing straight" And she says, "I've come to lighten this dark heart" And she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear And I said, "I never thought of finding you here" Solitude stands in the doorway I'm struck once again by her black silhouette By her long cool stare and her silence I suddenly remember each time we've met And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame Calypso My name is Calypso And I have lived alone I live on an island And I waken to the dawn A long time ago I watched him struggle with the sea I knew that he was drowning And I brought him into me Now today Come morning light He sails away After one last night I let him go My name is Calypso My garden overflows Thick and wild and hidden Is the sweetness there that grows My hair blows long As I sing into the wind I tell of nights Where I could taste the salt on his skin Salt of the waves And of tears And though he pulled away I kept him here for years Now I let him go My name is Calypso I have let him go In the dawn he sails away To be gone forever more And the waves will take him in again But he'll know their ways now I will stand upon the shore With a clean heart and my song in the wind The sand may sting my feet And the sky will burn It's a lonely time ahead I do not ask him to return I let him go I let him go Language If language were liquid It would be rushing in Instead here we are In a silence more eloquent Than any word could ever be These words are too solid They don't move fast enough To catch the blur in the brain That flies by and is gone And is gone And is gone, gone Gone, gone And is gone I'd like to meet you In a timeless, placeless place Somewhere out of context And beyond all consequences Let's go back to the building (Words are too solid) On little West Twelfth (They don't move fast enough) It is not far away and the river is there And the sun and the spaces (To catch the blur in the brain) Are all laying low And we'll sit in the silence (That flies by and is gone) That comes rushing in And is gone And is gone, gone Gone, gone And is gone I won't use words again They don't mean what I meant They don't say what I said It's just the crust of the meaning With realms underneath Never touched, never stirred Never even moved through If language were liquid It would be rushing in Instead here we are In a silence more eloquent Than any word could ever be And is gone, gone Gone, gone And is gone And is gone And is gone And is gone Gone, gone And is gone And is gone Gone Gypsy You come from far away With pictures in your eyes Of coffee shops and morning streets In the blue and silent sunrise But night is the cathedral Where we recognized the sign We strangers know each other now As part of the whole design Oh, hold me like a baby That will not fall asleep Curl me up inside you And let me hear you through the heat You're the jester of this courtyard With a smile like a girl's Distracted by the women With the dimples and the curls By the pretty and the mischievous By the timid and the blessed By the blowing skirts of ladies Who promise to gather you to their breast Oh, hold me like a baby That will not fall asleep Curl me up inside you And let me hear you through the heat You have hands of rain and water And that earring in your ear The wisdom on your face Denies the number of your years With the fingers of the potter And the laughing tale of the fool The arranger of disorder With your strange and simple rules Yeah, now I've met me another spinner Of strange and gauzy threads With a long and slender body And a bump upon the head Oh, hold me like a baby That will not fall asleep Curl me up inside you And let me hear you through the heat With a long and slender body And the sweetest softest hands And we'll blow away forever soon And go on to different lands And please do not ever look for me But with me you will stay And you will hear yourself in song Blowing by one day But now, hold me like a baby That will not fall asleep Curl me up inside you And let me hear you through the heat Wooden Horse I came out of the darkness Holding one thing A small white wooden horse I'd been holding inside And when I'm dead If you could tell them this That what was wood became alive What was wood became alive And in the night the walls disappeared In the day they returned "I want to be a rider like my father" Were the only words I could say And when I'm dead If you could tell them this That what was wood became alive What was wood became alive Alive And I fell under A moving piece of sun Freedom I came out of the darkness Holding one thing I know I have this power I am afraid I may be killed And when I'm dead If you could tell them this That what was wood became alive What was wood became alive And when I'm dead If you could tell them this That what was wood became alive What was wood became alive Alive
Days Of Open Hand Tired Of Sleeping Oh Mom, the dreams are not so bad It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin And I just can't hear what he's saying Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, the kids are playing in pennies They're up to their knees in money In the dirt of the churchyard steps Oh Mom, that man he ripped out his lining Tore out a piece of his body To show us his "clean quilted heart" Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, the bird on the string is hanging Her bones are twisting and dancing She's fighting for her small life Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping Men In A War Men in a war If they've lost a limb Still feel that limb As they did before Men in a war If they've lost a limb Still feel that limb As they did before He lay on a cot He was drenched in a sweat He was mute and staring But feeling the thing He had not I know how it is When something is gone A piece of your eyesight Or maybe your vision A corner of sense Goes blank on the screen A piece of the scan Gets filled in by hand You know that it was And now it is not So you just make do with Whatever you've got Men in a war If they've lost a limb Still feel that limb As they did before If your nerve is cut And you're kept on a stretch You can't feel your will You can't find your gut And she lay on her back She made sure she was hid She was mute and staring Not feeling the thing That she did I know how it is When something is gone A piece of your eyesight Or maybe your vision A corner of sense Goes blank on the screen A piece of the scan Gets filled in by hand You know that it was And now it is not So you just make do with Whatever you've got Men in a war If they've lost a limb Still feel that limb As they did before Men (Men men) In a war (War war) If they've lost (Lost lost) A limb (Limb limb) Still feel (Feel feel) That limb (Limb limb) As they did (Did did) Before Rusted Pipe Now the time has come to speak I was not able And water through a rusted pipe Could make the sense that I do Gurgle and mutter Hiss and stutter Moan the words like water Rush and foam and choke Having waited This long of a winter I find I only Croak and sigh Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Now the time has come to move I was not able Water through a rusted pipe Could make the moves that I do Stagger and stumble Trip and fumble Creep along and trickle Freeze and cough and grip Having waited This long of a winter I fear I only Slip and slide Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Gurgle and mutter Hiss and stutter Moan the words like water Rush and foam and choke Having waited This long of a winter I fear I only Croak and sigh Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Somewhere deep within Hear the creak that lets the tale begin Book Of Dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams I took your urgent whisper Stole the arc of a white wing Rode like foam on the river of pity Turned its tide to strength Healed the hole that ripped in living In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams The spine is bound to last a life Tough enough to take the pounding Pages made of days of open hand In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams Number every page in silver Underline in magic marker Take the name of every prisoner Yours is there, my word of honor I took your urgent whisper Stole the arc of a white wing Rode like foam on the river of pity Healed the hole that ripped in living In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams In my book of dreams Institution Green Institution green The walls are cracked and dim And we are standing in a line Waiting for our faces to be seen Institution green Watch the floor and count the hours None will meet my eyes Private people in this public place I wonder if they'll take a look Find my name inside that book Lose me on the printed page Where to point the aimless rage? I cast my vote upon this earth Take my place for what it's worth Hunger for a pair of eyes To notice and to recognize Institution green A woman stands behind a table She will call my name After that I'll be admitted in I wonder if they'll take a look Find my name inside that book Lose me on the printed page Where to point the aimless rage? I cast my vote upon this earth Take my place for what it's worth Hunger for a pair of eyes To notice and to recognize Institution green Teach me how to pull the lever Push the curtain closed Take what's needed then just let me go Take what's needed then just let me go Take what's needed then just let me go Take what's needed then just let me go Just let me go Just let me go Just let me go Those Whole Girls (Run In Grace) Those whole girls Hurl down words Run in packs With bloom to spare They know health Know it well Skim the cream And fill the brim Drip with news Spin intact Blaze and stun And feel no lack Breathe with ease Need no mercy Move in light Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Run in grace Room Off The Street Somewhere in a room with a poster on a wall Of a man with his hand in a fist Is a woman who's drinking and her dress is so tight You can see every breath that she takes Every sigh, every sway You can hear everything that they say Something's begun like a war or a family Or a friendship or a fast love affair The man on the wall is his symbol of freedom It means he has brothers who believe as he does She is moved by the thing that she sees in his face When he talks of the cause Every sigh, every sway You can hear everything that they say Something's begun like a war or a family Or a friendship or a fast love affair Every sigh, every sway You can hear everything that they say Something's begun like a war Or a family or a friendship or a fast love affair She leans against him, her dress is so red They talk of the salt and the truth and the bread The night goes along, the fan goes around In the room off the street at the end of the town Every sigh, every sway You can hear everything that they say Something's begun like a war or a family Or a friendship or a fast love affair Every sigh, every sway You can hear everything that they say Something's begun like a war or a family Or a friendship or a fast love affair Big Space He said you stand in your own shoes I said I'd rather stand in someone else's He said you look from your direction I said I like to keep perspective Close to the middle of the network It seems we're looking for a center What if it turns out to be hollow? We could be fixing what is broken Between the pen and the paperwork I know there's passion in the language Between the muscle and the brain work There must be feeling in the pipeline Between the pen and the paperwork I know there's passion in the language Between the muscle and the brain work There must be feeling in the pipeline Beyond the duty and the discipline I'm sure there's anger in a cold place All feelings fall into the big space Swept up like garbage on the weekend Between the pen and the paperwork I know there's passion in the language Between the muscle and the brain work There must be feeling in the pipeline Between the pen and the paperwork I know there's passion in the language Between the muscle and the brain work There must be feeling in the pipeline All feeling Falls into the big space All feeling Swept into the Avenues of angles Between the pen and the paperwork I know there's passion in the language Between the muscle and the brain work There must be feeling in the pipeline Between the pen and the paperwork I know there's passion in the language Between the muscle and the brain work There must be feeling in the pipeline Predictions Let's tell the future Let's see how it's been done By numbers, by mirrors, by water By dots made at random on paper By salt, by dice By meal, by mice By dough of cakes By sacrificial fire By fountains, by fishes Writings in ashes Birds, herbs Smoke from the altar A suspended ring or the mode of laughing Pebbles drawn from a heap One of these things Will tell you something Let's tell the future Let's see how it's been done By dreams, by the features, by letters By dropping hot wax into water By nails reflecting the rays of the sun By walking in a circle By red hot iron By passages in books A balanced hatchet A suspended ring or the mode of laughing Pebbles drawn from a heap One of these things Will tell you something Let's tell the future Let's see how it's been done By numbers, by mirrors, by water By dots made at random on paper By salt, by dice By meal, by mice By dough of cakes By sacrificial fire By fountains, by fishes Writings in ashes Birds, herbs Smoke from the altar Let's tell the future Let's see how it's been done Let's see how it's been done Let's see how it's been done Fifty-Fifty Chance Fifty-fifty chance The doctor said In the cardiac room As she's lying in bed There's a pan on the floor Filled with something black I need to know I'm afraid to ask I hug you I hum to you I've come to you I touch you I tell you I love you I sing to you Bring to you Anything Her little heart It beats so fast Her body trembles With the effort to last I hug you I hum to you I've come to you I touch you I tell you I love you I sing to you Bring to you Anything She's going home Tomorrow at ten The question is Will she try it again Pilgrimage This line is burning Turning to ash as it hits the air Every step is a day in the week It's a Sunday or Monday March over months of the year This life is burning Turning to ash as it hits the air Every death is an end in the race It's a stopping and starting March over millions of years Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time This land is burning Turning to ash as it hits the air Every line is a place on a map It's a city or valley Mark on these miles of fields Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time Take this mute mouth Broken tongue Now this dark life Is shot through with light Take this mute mouth (Travel, arrival) Broken tongue Now this dark life Is shot through with light Take this mute mouth (Travel, arrival) Broken tongue Now this dark life Is shot through with light Take this mute mouth (Travel, arrival) Broken tongue Now this dark life Is shot through with light Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time This line is burning (Travel, arrival) Turning to ash as it hits the air (Years of an inch and a step toward a source) Every step is a day in the week (I'm coming to you) It's a Wednesday or Thursday (I'll be there in time) March over millions of years (This line in burning) I'm coming to you (Turning to ash as it hits the air) I'll be there in time (Every step is a day in the week) (It's a Wednesday or Thursday) I'm coming to you (March over millions of years) I'll be there in time
99.9F Rock In This Pocket Excuse me If I may Turn your attention My way One moment I won't plead It isn't much It's what I need And what's so small to you Is so large to me If it's the last thing I do I'll make you see If you turn from me You darken my sun You snap that thin thread I call my horizon And I'd like to remind you Of something small That the rock in this pocket Could cause your fall And what's so small to you Is so large to me If it's the last thing I do I'll make you see So small to you And so large to me If it's the last thing I do I'll make you see I might be out like a light Extinguished in the throw But I'll hit my mark And you'll know 'Cause I'm really well acquainted With the span of your brow And if you didn't know me then You'll know me now You'll know me now And what's so small to you Is so large to me If it's the last thing I do I'll make you see So small to you And so large to me If it's the last thing I do I'll make you see Make you see Make you see Thank you Thanks Blood Makes Noise I'd like to help you doctor Yes I really, really would But the din in my head It's too much and it's no good I'm standing in a windy tunnel Shouting through the roar And I'd like to give the information You're asking for But blood makes noise It's a ringing in my ear Blood makes noise And I can't really hear you in the thickening of fear I think that you might want to know The details and the facts But there's something in my blood Denies the memory of the acts So just forget it, Doc I think it's really cool that you're concerned But we'll have to try again After the silence has returned 'Cause blood makes noise It's a ringing in my ear Blood makes noise And I can't really hear you in the thickening of fear I'd like to help you doctor Yes I really, really would But the din in my head It's too much and it's no good Blood makes noise It's a ringing in my ear And I can't really hear you in the thickening of fear Yes, blood makes noise It's a ringing in my ear And I can't really hear you in the thickening of fear Blood makes noise Blood makes noise Blood makes noise Blood makes noise Blood makes noise In Liverpool In Liverpool on Sunday No traffic on the avenue The light is pale and thin like you No sound, down in this part of town Except for the boy in the belfry, he's crazy He's throwing himself down from the top of the tower Like a hunchback in heaven He's ringing the bells in the church for the last half an hour He sounds like he's missing something or someone That he knows he can't have now And if he isn't, I certainly am Homesick for a clock that told the same time Sometimes you made no sense to me If you lie on the ground in somebody's arms You'll probably swallow some of their history And the boy in the belfry, he's crazy He's throwing himself down from the top of the tower Like a hunchback in heaven He's ringing the bells in the church for the last half an hour He sounds like he's missing something or someone That he knows he can't have now And if he isn't, I certainly am I'll be the girl who sings for my supper You'll be the monk whose forehead is high He'll be the man who's already working Spreading a memory all through the sky In Liverpool on Sunday No reason to even remember you now Except for the boy in the belfry, he's crazy He's throwing himself down from the top of the tower Like a hunchback in heaven He's ringing the bells in the church for the last half an hour He sounds like he's missing something or someone That he knows he can't have now And if he isn't, I certainly am In Liverpool In Liverpool 99.9F Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees Stable now, with rising possibilities It could be normal but it isn't quite Could make you want to stay awake at night You seem to me Like a man On the verge of burning Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees Pale as a candle And your face is hot And if I touch you I might get what you've got You seem to me Like a man On the verge of running Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees Something cool against the skin Is what you could be Something cool against the skin Is what you could be needing Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees You seem to me Like a man On the verge of burning Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees Something cool against the skin Is what you could be Something cool against the skin Is what you could be needing Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees Ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit degrees Blood Sings When blood sees blood of its own It sings to see itself again It sings to hear the voice it's known It sings to recognize the face One body split and passed along the line From the shoulder to the hip I know these bones as being mine And the curving of the lip And my question to you is: How did this come to pass? How did this one life fall so far and fast? Some are lean and some with grace, and some without Tell the story that repeats Of a child who had been left alone at birth Left to fend and taught to fight See his eyes and how they start with light Getting colder as the pictures go Did he carry his bad luck upon his back That bad luck that we've all come to know And my question to you is How did this come to pass How did this one life fall so far and fast When blood sees blood of its own It sings to see itself again It sings to hear the voice it's known It sings to recognize the face Fat Man & Dancing Girl I stand in a wide flat land No shadow or shade of a doubt Where the megaphone man met the girl with her hand That's covering most of her mouth Fall in love with a bright idea And the way a world is revealed to you Fat man and dancing girl And most of the show is concealed from view Monkey in the middle Keeps singing that tune I don't wanna hear it Get rid of it soon MC on the stage tonight Is a man named Billy Purl He's the international fun boy And he knows the worth of beautiful girl Stand on the tightrope Never dreamed I would fall Monkey in the middle Keeps doing that trick It's making me nervous Get rid of it quick I stand in a wide flat land No shadow or shade of a doubt Where the megaphone man met the girl with her hand That's covering most of her mouth Does she tell the truth? Does she hide the lie Does she say it so no one can know Fat man and the dancing girl And it's all part of the show, you know Stand on the tightrope Never dreamed I could fall Monkey in the middle Keeps singing that tune I don't wanna hear it Get rid of it soon Monkey in the middle Keeps doing that trick It's making me nervous Get rid of it quick (If You Were) In My Movie If you were in my movie I'd have you as the doctor Small black bag And a big black coat I'd have you make a house call To the woman You could lay your diagnostic hand Upon her belly and her throat If you were in my movie You could be the detective You could sit behind the desk With a question on your lip Examine her for motive Investigate the scene In the ever present danger Keep the holster at your hip If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie You could be the priest Long black frock White collar at the neck You could come to the confession You could give a girl a thrill You could save her from her passion Keep her body in check If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie You could be the gangster Double-breasted pinstriped Man with the cigarette Go running down the alley With a double-crossing blonde Explaining to the jury That you hadn't done anything yet If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie If you were in my movie As A Child As a child You have a doll You see this doll Sitting in her chair You watch her face Her knees apart Her eyes of glass In a secretive stare She seems to She seems to She seems to Have a life She seems to She seems to She seems to Have a life Pick up a stick Dig up a crack Dirt in the street Becomes a town All of the people Depend on you Not to hurt them Or bang the stick down And they seem to They seem to They seem to Have a life They seem to They seem to They seem to Have a life As a child You see yourself And wonder why Can't seem to move Hand on the doorknob Feel like a thing One foot on the sidewalk Too much to prove And you learn to You learn to You learn to Have a life You learn to You learn to You learn to Have a life Bad Wisdom Mother, the doctor knows something is wrong 'Cause my body has strange information He's looked in my eyes and knows I'm not a child But he doesn't dare ask the right question Mother, my friends are no longer my friends And the games we once played have no meaning Gone serious and shy and they can't figure why So they've left me to my own daydreaming What price to pay for bad wisdom What price to pay for bad wisdom Too young to know too much too soon Bad wisdom Bad wisdom Mother, you've taught me the laws are so fine If I'm good that I will be protected I've fallen through the crack and there's no getting back And I'll never trust whoever gets elected Mother, your eyes have gone suddenly cold And it wasn't what I was expecting Once I did think that I'd find comfort there And instead you've gone hard and suspecting What price to pay for bad wisdom What price to pay for bad wisdom Too young to know too much too soon Bad wisdom Bad wisdom Mother, I'm cut at the root like a weed 'Cause there's no one to hear my small story Just like a woman who walks in the street I will pay for my life with my body What price to pay for bad wisdom What price to pay for bad wisdom Too young to know too much too soon Bad wisdom Bad wisdom When Heroes Go Down When heroes go down They go down fast So don't expect any time to Equivocate the past When heroes go down They land in flame So don't expect any slow and careful Settling of blame I heard you say You look out for the feet of clay That someone will be falling next Without the chance for last respects You feel the disappointment When heroes go down Man or woman revealed You can't expect any kind of mercy On the battlefield I heard you say You look out for the feet of clay That someone will be falling next Without the chance for last respects You feel the disappointment When heroes go down Man or woman revealed Do you show any kind of mercy On the battlefield When heroes go down When heroes go down When heroes go down As Girls Go Two three You make a really good girl As girls go Still kind of look like a guy I never thought to wonder why If I could pull this off Would I know for certain The real situation Behind the curtain? So beautiful Damsel in distress Not exactly natural Stunning none the less What happened to you To make you more girl than girls are Would you ever show or tell 'Cause you're so good so far You make a really good girl As girls go As girls go As girls go As girls go As girls go Let's chronicle The dark side of the life Did you ever keep the date With the steel side of the knife? Doesn't matter to me Which side of the line You happen to be At any given time You make a really good girl As girls go You make a really good girl As girls go As girls go As girls go As girls go Song Of Sand If sand waves were sound waves What song would be in the air now What stinging tune Could split this endless noon And make the sky swell with rain If war were a game that a man or a child Could think of winning What kind of rule Can overthrow a fool And leave the land with no stain If sand waves were sound waves What song would be in the air now What stinging tune Could split this endless noon And make the sky swell with rain? Private Goes Public Smile no smile On this face today Jerk like a thing on a string And go join the parade Code will keep your privacy in It won't help to win friends Influence strangers Or otherwise be in the swim Mask will keep your features in check 'Cause face is the place Where the private goes public And steps through the gate Take your last kick now At any regime Smile no smile See if they see what you mean
Nine Objects Of Desire Birth-Day (Love Made Real) One thing I know This pain will go Step through all that's left to feel Wait to meet my love made real Don't move, don't touch Don't talk so much Strip and find the place to kneel Wait to meet my love made real One thing I know This day will go Don't touch, don't talk, crawl the wall She's the ticket to the future, don't listen down the hall You can say your prayer to the head of this bed When it begins at your knees and goes right to your head Birth-day Strap me down from wrist to heel Wait to meet my love made real One thing I know This day will go Shaking all over like an old sick dog There's a needle here, needle there, a tremble in the fog It's a tight squeeze vice grip, ice and fire She's a hot little treasure and the wave goes higher Birth-day Birth-day Headshots The sign said "Headshots" And that was all A picture of a boy And a number you could call Two eyes in the shade A mouth so sad and small Strange the way a shadow Can fall across a wall And make the difference In what you see He's just a poster But he's everywhere A face under a street lamp Ripped and hanging in the air Turn the corner And he's still there Watching all the people Who are passing unaware Is there a judgment Of what he sees On a day As cold And gray As today The sign says "Headshots" It's all I see A boy becomes a picture Of guilt and sympathy And so I think of you In memory Of the days we were together And I knew that you loved me That was the difference In what we see But that's history Caramel It won't do To dream of caramel To think of cinnamon And long for you It won't do To stir a deep desire To fan a hidden fire That can never burn true I know your name I know your skin I know the way These things begin But I don't know How I would live with myself What I'd forgive of myself If you don't go So goodbye Sweet appetite No single bite Could satisfy I know your name I know your skin I know the way These things begin But I don't know How I would live with myself What I would give of myself If you don't go It won't do To dream of caramel To think of cinnamon And long for you Stockings I don't care for tights, she says, and does not tell me why She hikes her skirt above her knee revealing one brown thigh "I see", I say, and wonder at her slender little fingers How cleverly they pull upon the threads of recent slumbers Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin It's between the binding of her stocking and her skin Oh yeah She stayed up so late I thought she'd ask me to go dance But something in the way she laughed told me I had no chance The fiction in her family was that she was never nice I'd say she was very, I just did not see the price Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin When the gin and tonic makes the room begin to spin Oh yeah Oh yeah, yeah There may be attraction here but it will never flower So I'm assigned to read her mind, now in this witching hour Here's no game for those who claim to be easily bruised But how can I complain when she's so easily amused? Do you know where friendship ends and passion does begin When she does not show you the way out on the way in It's between the binding of her stocking and her skin Oh yeah Oh yeah, yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah, yeah Casual Match I only turned to see What hand had set this inner field alight Against the flame I see The outline of a man against the night Take back your sympathy I do not need to drink that bitter stuff I'd rather break the thread That bound us close, and say we called a bluff Casual match in a very dry field What could be the season's yield Casual match in a very dry field What could be the season's yield My eyes have gone to coal It's nothing I would be concerned about Observe the moment When the heat of love becomes the chill of doubt Casual match in a very dry field What could be the season's yield Casual match in a very dry field What could be the season's yield Casual match in a very dry field Fire and ash is the season's yield We look for the sign but it is not revealed Fire and ash is the season's yield Thin Man He is not my friend, but he is with me Like a shadow is with a foot that falls His hand is on my back when I step from the sidewalk Or when I'm walking down these darkened halls He's the thin man With a date for me To arrive at some point I don't know when it will be, oh I can feel his eyes when I don't expect him In the back seat of a taxi down Vestry Street His arm is around my waist and he pulls me to him And he whispers things into my ear that sound so sweet He's the thin man With a date for me To arrive at some point I don't know when it will be, oh He is not my friend, but he is with me And he promises a peace I never knew But I cannot give in, no, I must refuse him Could I really be the one to resist that kiss so true? He's the thin man With a date for me To arrive at some point I don't know when it will be, oh No Cheap Thrill Ante up, don't be shy Who is that man who is catching my eye? What's underneath all of the deadpan face Sitting so pretty with a criminal grace? Lamebrain Pete wants to spit in the sea He's got a cool hand but it isn't for me Butcher Boy thinks he'll be splitting the pot I've seen what he's got and it isn't a lot I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you But it's no cheap thrill It'll cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay I limit the straddles and you shuffle and deal When will the dealer reveal how he feels? The lucky beginner just a five-card stud Is this winning streak going to be nipped in the bud? I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you But it's no cheap thrill It'll cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay Anything you have to pay Ante up, don't be shy Who is that man who is catching my eye? What's underneath all of the deadpan face Sitting so pretty with a criminal grace? I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you But it's no cheap thrill It'll cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay I'll match you, I'll bet you, I'll play you But it's no cheap thrill It'll cost you, cost you, cost you Anything you have to pay Anything you have to pay World Before Columbus If your love were taken from me Every color would be black and white It would be as flat as the world before Columbus That's the day that I lose half my sight If your life were taken from me All the trees would freeze in this cold ground It would be as cruel as the world before Columbus Sail to the edge and I'd be there looking down Those men who lust for land And for riches strange and new Who love those trinkets of desire Oh they never will have you And they'll never know the gold Or the copper in your hair How could they weigh the worth Of you so rare If your love were taken from me Every light that's bright would soon go dim It would be as dark as the world before Columbus Down the waterfall and I'd swim over the brim Those men who lust for land And for riches strange and new Who love those trinkets of desire Oh they will never have you And they'll never know the gold Or the copper in your hair How could they weigh the worth Of you so rare Lolita Lolita Almost grown Lolita Go on home Lolita Almost grown Lolita Go on home Hey, girl Don't be a dog all your life Don't beg for Some little crumb of affection Don't try To be somebody's wife So young You need a word of protection Lolita Almost grown Lolita Go on home Hey, girl I've been where you are standing Leaning in the doorway In your mother's black dress So hungry For the one understanding Looking for a token Of blood or tenderness Lolita Almost grown Lolita Go on home Lolita Almost grown Lolita Go on home Lolita Lolita Honeymoon Suite The ceiling had a painting on it In our room in France So we were living underneath Some angels in a dance My husband was not feeling well And so we went to bed He woke up complaining Of an aching in his head He said a hundred people Had come through our room that night That one by one the old and young Asked if he was all right One by one the old and young Lined up to touch his hand He spent the night explaining They had come to the wrong man The concierge was less than helpful When we asked her the next day With our coffee and a magazine We went to the desk to pay "What happened in that room?" he asked "A death or something strange" She smiled at him politely And returned to him his change Well, what I'd like to know And this will be a mystery Is with all the people in that room Why none appeared to me When we sleep so close together that Our hair becomes entwined I must have missed that moment In the gateway to his mind Tombstone Once more One two three four I like a tombstone 'cause it Weathers well And if it stands or if it crumbles Only time will tell And you can carve my name in marble You must cut it deep There'll be no dancing on the gravestone You must let me sleep And time is burning, burning, burning 'Til it burns away I don't need to see the gates of Famous men But I do try to see the kingdom Every now and then And if you ask me where it is, it's on a Humble map And I know that to enter in the doorway Show your handicap And time is burning, burning, burning 'Til it burns away I like a tombstone 'cause it Weathers well And if it stands or if it crumbles Only time will tell And you can carve my name in marble You must cut it deep There'll be no dancing on the gravestone You must let me sleep And time is burning, burning, burning 'Til it burns away And time is burning, burning, burning 'Til it burns away Burns away Burns away My Favorite Plum My favorite plum Hangs so far from me See how it sleeps And hear how it calls to me See how the flesh presses the skin It must be bursting with secrets within I've seen the rest, yes And that is the one for me See how it shines It will be so sweet I've been so dry It would make my heart complete See how it lays languid and slow Never noticing me here below I've seen the best, yes And that is the one for me Maybe a girl will take it Maybe a boy will steal it Maybe a shake of the bough Will wake it and make it fall My favorite plum Lies in wait for me And I'll be right here Longing endlessly You'll say that I'm foolish to trust But it will be mine and I know that it must 'Cause I've had the rest, yes And that is the one for me I've seen the best, yes And that is the one for me
Songs In Red And Gray Penitent Once I stood alone so proud Held myself above the crowd And now I'm low on the ground From here I look around to see What avenues belong to me I can't tell what I've found Now what would you have me do I ask you please I wait to hear The mother and the matador The mystic, each were here before Like me to stare you down You appear without a face Disappear but leave your trace I feel your unseen frown Now what would you have me do I ask you please I wait to hear Your voice The word You say I wait To see your sign Would I Obey I look for you in heathered moor The desert and the ocean floor How low does one heart go Looking for your fingerprints I find them in coincidence And make my faith to grow Forgive me all my blindnesses My weakness and unkindnesses As yet unbending still Struggling so hard to see My fist against eternity And will you break my will Now what would you have me do I ask you please I wait to hear Your voice The word You say I wait To see your sign Would I Obey? Now what would you have me do I ask you please I wait to hear Your voice The word You say I wait To see your sign Could I Obey Widow's Walk Consider me a widow, boys, and I will tell you why It's not the man but it's the marriage that was drowned So I walk the walk and wait with watchful eye up to the sky Looking for a kind of vessel I have never found Though I saw it splinter I keep looking out to sea Like a dog with little sense I keep returning To the very area where I did see the thing go down As if there's something at the site I should be learning That line is the horizon We watch the wind and set the sail But save ourselves when all omens Point to fail And if I tell the truth then I would have to tell you this Though I grieve and I believe I feel it truly But I knew the ship was empty by the time it hit the rocks 'Cause we could not hold on when fate became unruly So consider me a widow, boys, and I have told you why Does the weather say a better day is nearing And I'll set my house in order now and wait upon the will 'Cause it's clear that I need better skill in steering That line is the horizon We watch the wind and set the sail But save ourselves when all omens Point to fail That line is the horizon We watch the wind and set the sail But save ourselves when all omens Point to fail Point to fail Point to fail (I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May I'll never be your Maggie May The one you loved and left behind The face you see in light of day Then you cast away That isn't me in that bed you'll find I'd rather take myself away Be like those ladies in Japan I'd rather paint myself a face Conjure up some grace Or be the eyes behind a fan And so you go No girl could say no To you Oh, there's the way I may appear But that will change from day to night Could you ever see within Underneath the skin Could I believe you had that sight And so you go No girl could say no To you I'll never be your Maggie May The one you loved and then forgot I'll love you first and let you go 'Cause it must be so And you'll forgive or you will not And so a woman leaves a man And so a world turns on its end So I'll see your face in dreams Where nothing's what it seems Still you appear some kind of friend And so you go No girl could say no To you It Makes Me Wonder The Virgin Mary on a chain Has hit me in the mouth again As we explore the carnal score Of sacred and profane Sulky boy won't drink his milk So mother's breast beneath the silk Remains untouched, it's way too much Reject all of that ilk I have to say it makes me wonder If you are holding me To the same blue flame that you are under 'Cause I feel you scolding me It makes me wonder It makes me wonder Your Virgin Mary's in the way Hallucinate her face by day Obscure the view in front of you It's me here made of clay You're playing near that line so thin Austerity or just give in To endless appetite Embrace that white oblivion I have to say it makes me wonder If you are holding me To that cold blue flame that you are under When you are holding me And why so high the expectation Who could live up to this And there's no time now for explanation Cool as an angel's kiss And I have to say it makes me wonder If you are holding me To that cold blue flame that you are under When you are holding me It makes me wonder (I have to say) It makes me wonder (I have to say) It makes me wonder (I have to say) It makes me wonder (I have to say) Soap And Water Soap and water Take the day from my hand Scrub the salt from my stinging skin Slip me loose of this wedding band Soap and water Hang my heart on a line Scour it down on a wind of sand Bleach it clean to a vinegar shine Daddy's a dark riddle Mama's a headful of bees You are my little kite Carried away in a wayward breeze Soap and water Wash the year from my life Straighten all that we trampled and tore Heal the cut we call husband and wife Daddy's a dark riddle Mama's a handful of thorns You are my little kite Caught up again in the household storms Daddy's a dark riddle Mama's a headful of bees You are my little kite Carried away in the wayward breeze Songs In Red And Gray The reproach on your daughter's most beautiful face Made me wonder just how she could know Of that something that happened between you and me So much more than a long time ago Her mother, I can see, lives within her still 'Cause she looked at me with her eyes Though I had only just met her right then I feel that she peeled back my guilty disguise Did I break the thread or did you break the thread Well, at this point we could ask who cares As for the promises broken and frayed Well, it's nineteen years late for repairs The gray pewter vase held the deep red rose One piece of coral shone white By the brass candlestick near your red velvet coat Is everything I can recall of one night Will you please tell me why I remember these things After all of this time, I don't know I must have left all those feelings inside 'Cause that year I had no courage to show Was I the name you could never pronounce? Did I even figure at all? All of this happened before she was born Did I shadow her young pencil marks on the wall Still, I am sure I was only but one Of a number who darkened that door Of your home and your hearth and your family and wife Who'd been darkened so often before And the red leaf, it looks to the hard gray stone To each other they know what they mean Somewhere their future is still yet to come In ways that are yet as of now unforeseen Last Year's Troubles Last year's troubles Last year's troubles Last year's troubles are so old fashioned The robber on the highway, the pirate on the seas Maybe it's the clothing that's so entertaining The earrings and the swashbuckling blouses that please Here we have heroes of times that have passed now But nobody these days has that kind of chin Over there the petticoats of ladies of virtue You can hardly tell them from the petticoats of sin Last year's troubles Last year's troubles Look at all the waifs of Dickensian England Why is it their suffering is more picturesque? Must be 'cause their rags are so very Victorian The ones here at home just don't give it their best Last year's troubles they shine up so prettily They gleam with a luster they don't have today 'Cause here it's just dirty and violent and troubling Et cetera (Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera) Last year's troubles Last year's troubles Trouble is still trouble and evil still evil Sometimes we wonder is there more now, or less? But if we had a tool or could tally the handfuls Measure for measure, it's the same would be my guess Last year's troubles Last year's troubles Last year's troubles Last year's troubles Priscilla She'd come to my house And dance in the hall With the music up loud Against the light on the wall And I danced beside her Feeling no shame We were in costume And this was a game She'd put on her skirt Of layers of chiffon The top of the umbrella had come off So I put that on And we danced together then An awkward ballet She's twenty years older than I was But still we did play She's twenty years older than me Many times my size It's her little feet I remember The look in her eyes And once when I saw her She made me a doll Of ribbon and paper and ink And lace, I recall I danced beside her Feeling no shame 'Cause we were in costume And this was a game I think of her now that I'm older I still love to dance Something will shine through the body If you give it a chance (Still love to dance) (Still love to dance) (Still love to dance) (Still love to dance) (Still love to dance) (Still love to dance) If I Were A Weapon If I were a weapon You said I'd be a gun Lethal at close range, I guess With silencer and stun I feel more like a needle Always pulling on the thread Always making the same point again And wondering if you heard what I just said If you were a weapon A hammer's what you'd be Blunt and heavy at the end And coming down on me I've concealed a weapon Like a pocket knife attack All folded up inside until you see the shine And then you'll want it back I've concealed a weapon Like a pocket knife attack All folded up inside until you see the shine And then you'll want it back Ooh, ooh ah Ooh, ooh ah If I were a weapon You said I'd be a gun Lethal at close range, I guess With silencer and stun If I am that weapon I am pointing now at you So just put down the hostage and we'll talk it down Until we see this through Talk it down until we see this through Harbor Song I dreamed you were a rich man And that I had no place to go I came to you to see if you would take me in Through golden curtains you told me you'd let me know Well, you drink for ten and you smoke for twenty And your fickle heart will never be true But still I feel the wind in from the harbor That's when I know the longing for you That's when I know the old longing for you I saw you in my mind's eye You were laid out on your final day I stood in line to see that handsome face once more Had been so dear to me, I kissed you as you lay You were so dear to me, I kissed you as you lay Now whenever I do travel If to England, Portugal or Spain As I do walk by the shipyards and the harbors I smell the salt and the bay rum of your ghost again I know the salt and the bay rum, you beside me again Machine Ballerina Am I an afternoon's pastime A thing on a string To be thrown and retrieved Like a phone call received On somebody's birthday To tease and delight And then say goodnight Then just say goodbye Am I a toy on a tray A soft piece of clay Queen or clown for the day Machine ballerina Soldier of tin Standing so loyal While you sit so royal Then I'm put away For your approval Perusal And your possible Refusal I'm amusing I'm a puppet for your play Am I your Mad Magazine Skin trampoline Pin-up pinball machine Your fantasy girl Of puzzling parts But none fits or starts We match wits but not hearts I'm heard but never seen For your approval Perusal And your possible Refusal I'm amusing I'm a puppet for your play Solitaire Black on the red and red on the black It's a tic of a tired mind Come and sit down, won't you try your luck And see if you unwind Never use your threes and twos Follow superstition Otherwise you are going to lose Compulsion makes you listen Take what's wrong and make it go right You can weave it like a prayer Wonder if you'll spend the night Playing solitaire Just doing it again, when you find you're all done Like an idiot savant Shuffle up your luck, you see, you almost won Now wrestle down what you want Jack on the Queen, and the ten on the Jack It's a happy repetition You and your fate in a kind of checkmate You're your only competition Take what's wrong and make it go right You can weave it like a prayer Are you going to spend the night Playing solitaire Take what's wrong and make it go right You can weave it like a prayer Are you going to spend the night Playing solitaire St. Clare Call on that saint And the candle that burns Keeping her safe Until her return Plaster and paint Holding the fire A poor woman's saint Holding all man's desire Bold little bird Fly away home Could I but ride herd On the wind and the foam And all of the souls That curl by the fire They never know All man's desire Watercress clings To the banks of the stream In the first grip of spring When the snow melts to green Barefoot and cold And holding a lyre By the side of the road Holding all man's desire Call on the saint When the white candle burns Keeping her safe Until her return Golden In my heart's currency you are golden You are shining like the sun upon a cold gray sea Here's what I do not know How I come to love you so And in time all you'll be worth to me Once your words they fell like pennies to the sidewalk And they shone for everyone but they did not for me Pennies disappear I still hold you dear And golden's what you came to be You couldn't know What I wouldn't show How you brought to me a deeper kind of pleasure It moves sweet glow of light It's the meaning of delight And you came to be my treasure without measure In my heart's currency you are golden And you sparkle like the foam upon a cold gray sea Bubbles disappear I still hold you near Golden's what you are to me You are golden Shining like the sun You are golden Yes, golden's what you are to me You are golden Shining like the sun You are golden Yes, golden's what you are to me You are golden Shining like the sun You are golden Yes, golden's what you are to me
Beauty & Crime Zephyr & I Zephyr and I stand out on West End Avenue Talking about the things that all of us used to do And the wind kicks up with the smell of rain And the kids are gone but their souls remain Zephyr and I sort out our long-term memories "Do you remember," he says, "the 1970s?" This was a youth mall of America on this street All of us hanging here like underage cops on a beat And the wind kicks up in the smell of rain (Smell of rain) Now the kids are gone but their souls remain (Souls remain) The graffiti goes but the walls retain (The walls retain) And the flowers go but the earth must still remain In spring the tide in Riverside Will wash away the cold and frozen River rain will clean the stain And wash away, wash away downstream Out on the corner by the fireman's monument That was the place where all the fatherless teenagers went Well, the wind kicks up in the smell of rain (Smell of rain) And the kids are gone but their souls remain (Souls remain) The graffiti's gone and the walls complain (The walls complain) And the flowers go but the earth must still remain Ludlow Street Love is the only thing that matters Love is the only thing that's real I know we hear this every day It's still the hardest thing to feel This time when I go back to Ludlow Street I find each stoop and doorway's incomplete Without you there Another generation's parties And it is still the same old scene I can recall each morning after Painted in nicotine This time when I go back to Ludlow Street I find each stoop and doorway's incomplete Without you there All of the people I once knew All of the ones I was close to Love is the only thing that matters Love is the only thing that's real And when I think about you now Love is the only thing I feel This time when I go back to Ludlow Street I find each stoop and doorway's incomplete Without you there Tim, this time when I go back to Ludlow Street I find each stoop and doorway's incomplete Without you there New York Is A Woman New York City spread herself before you With her bangles and her spangles and her stars You were impressed With the city so undressed Had to go out cruising all the bars Your business trip extended through the weekend Suburban boy here for your first time From the twenty-seventh floor Above the Midtown roar You were startled by her beauty and her crime And she's every girl you've seen in every movie Every dame you've ever known on late-night TV In her steam and steel is the passion you feel Endlessly New York is a woman She'll make you cry And to her you're just another guy Look down and see her ruined places Smoke and ash still rising to the sky She's happy that you're here But when you disappear She won't know that you're gone to say goodbye New York is a woman She'll make you cry And to her you're just another guy And she's every girl you've seen in every movie Every dame you've ever known on late-night TV In her steam and steel is the passion you feel Desperately New York is a woman She'll make you cry And to her you're just another guy Pornographer's Dream She's a pornographer's dream, he said I knew what he meant But it made me imagine what kind of a dream He would have that hadn't been spent Would he still dream of the thigh, of the flesh upon high? What he saw so much of? Wouldn't he dream of the thing that he never Could quite get the touch of It's out of his hands, over his head Out of his reach, under this real life Hidden in veils, covered in silk Dreaming of what might be It's out of his hands, over his head Out of his reach, under this real life Hidden in veils Dreaming of mystery Bettie Page is still the rage With her legs and leather She turns to tease the camera and please us at home And we let her Who's to know what she'll show of herself In what measure? If what she reveals or what she conceals Is the key to our pleasure It's out of our hands, over our heads Out of our reach, under this real life Hidden in veils, covered in silk Dreaming of what might be It's out of our hands, over our heads Out of our reach, under this real life Hidden in veils Dreaming of mystery Under this real life Dreaming of what might be Under this real life Dreaming of mystery She's a pornographer's dream, he said I knew what he meant And it made me imagine what kind of a dream He would have Frank & Ava On the way to the bidet Is when the trouble used to start It didn't mean she wasn't queen Of the tinderbox that was his heart Her fire, his desire Meant that everything must come undone And so now we know That it's not enough to be in love Not enough to be in love Not enough to be in love He's so true, she is too She says, "I love you, Frank," and then they drank All night, what a fight He says, "It isn't me you're thinking of" She's cool, it makes him cruel And they needle 'til the jewels Go raining down upon the ground She says it's not enough to be in love It's not enough, it's not enough It's not enough to be in love (Not enough to be in love) It's not enough, it's not enough It's not enough to be in love They woke up and they broke up They were so volatile and all the while Life passed, and it went fast And yet they never could forget Their chemistry, like you and me It proved to keep them both apart for life And so, now we know That it's not enough to be in love Not enough to be in love Not enough to be in love (Not enough to be in love) Not enough to be in love Edith Wharton's Figurines Edith Wharton's lovely figurines Still speak to me today From their mantelpiece in time Where they wrestle and they play With passions and with prudences Finances and fears Her face and what it's worth to her In the passing of the years See the portrait come to life See the vanity behind 'Cause in the struggle for survival Love is never blind Now, Olivia lies under anesthesia Her wit and wonder snuffed In a routine operation Her own beauty not enough Her passions and her prudences Finances and fears Her face, what it's worth to her In the passing of the years See the portrait come to life See the vanity behind 'Cause in the struggle for survival Love is never blind Edith Wharton's lovely figurines Still speak to me today From their mantelpiece in time Where they wrestle and they play We lie under anesthesia Our wit and wonder snuffed In our routine operations Our own beauty not enough Bound The way of the world Has taken its toll Ravaged my body And bitten my soul I'm ruined by rain Weathered by wind Been invaded Without and within And I ask I am asking you Asking you if you might still want me And I ask Asking you Asking you if you might still want me Once you said I'm made of fine stuff I've been corrupted And taken enough Now you appear Making your claim Inside my heart Is the sign of your name And I ask I am asking you Asking you if you might still want me And I ask Asking you Asking you if you might still want me All these words Like darling and angel and dear Crowd my mouth In a path to your ear The way of the world Has taken its toll It's ravaged my body And bitten my soul And I ask I am asking you Asking you if you might still want me And I ask Asking you Asking you if you might still want me When I said "I am bound to you forever" Here's what I meant: I am bound to you forever Unbound I knew a plant whose roots were bound And then returned into the ground Every day I watched it grow Every day it struggled so Roots were bound, the roots were bound The roots were bound into the ground Watched it grow, watched it grow Watched it as it struggled so I dug it up, I cut the twine And so like this I made it mine I watched it drink and watched it feed And grow beyond its simple need Cut the twine, I cut the twine Cut the twine and made it mine Watched it feed, watched it feed Watched it feed the simple need Unbound roots unbound Unbound into the ground Unbound roots unbound Unbound into the ground I was once tied at the root Confined with twine, both mind and foot I cut it loose and now am free As anything alive can be At the root, bound at the root At the root, both mind and foot Am free, now am free As anything alive can be Unbound roots unbound Unbound into the ground Unbound roots unbound Unbound into the ground Unbound roots unbound Unbound into the ground Unbound roots unbound Unbound into the ground As You Are Now I will take up all your tears Salty tissues through the years Spread them in the sun to dry Diamonds from each time you cry I will treasure all your teeth Your laughter and the pearls beneath Keep them in a cardboard box Through the tickings and the tocks I will gather all your hair Floating in the sultry air We will make a braid of gold For you to keep when you are old Now I kiss your milky skin Sheet of silk and soul within Put this kiss upon your brow Treasure you as you are now Angel's Doorway Angel comes home His clothes in a cloud Of the dust and the dirt and destruction She waits inside She knows he's arrived She feels this with no introduction At Angel's door You have to leave it on the floor Don't bring it in (Don't bring it in) He can't show What she doesn't want to know Those things he's seen She knows the smell Of that life he can't tell Of the fires and the flesh and confusion Inside his brain It's never the same Though he tries to maintain the illusion At Angel's door You have to leave it on the floor Don't bring it in (Don't bring it in) He can't show What she doesn't want to know Those things he's seen Angel comes home His clothes in a cloud Of the dust and the dirt and destruction Anniversary Fall in all attendant memories Crowd the day with unrelated histories Each year leaves its unresolving fantasies To hang around each corner Hang around each street Thick with ghosts, the wind whips 'round in circuitries Carrying words as strangers exchange pleasantries Do they intrude upon your private reveries? As they meet you on each corner They meet you on each street Watch for daily braveries Notice new found courtesies Finger sudden legacies As they clean up every corner Wash down every street Mark the month and all its anniversaries Put away the draft of all your eulogies Clear the way for all your private memories As they meet you on each corner They meet you on each street Make the time for all your possibilities They live on every street Obvious Question I am sitting over here The line is safety drawn The obvious question is How long does this go on Alcohol danced upon his nerves Played upon his skin Made him mad inside Broke everything within And now it does the same to me In needlepoints of fire Wreathed around my neck The spirits take the man And leave behind a wreck I am sitting over here The line is safety drawn The obvious question is How long does this go on
Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Pentacles Crack In The Wall A crack appeared inside a wall And a door sprang up around it Each of these so finely drawn I could not believe I found it A wildish wind blew it open wide My childish mind followed on outside And so I found myself among My heart's delight surrounded A world of wonder lay without It was all of nature's calling With field and forest, clouds and sun Cascades of salt water falling With heights and valleys, dark ravines Ivy thick and wild, deep and thorny scenes And yet each thing did love its place In the lap of all of nature's sprawling And so and so it goes And so and so it goes I asked the one whose land it was If I could have a token To take with me back to the other side To have and to keep unspoken I asked three times and was thrice denied I asked again without my pride And found I'd lost that world I'd lived Returned as one now broken To a crumb, a rag, a withered leaf In the chilly winds of cold relief I knew myself as I had been As from a dream awoken And so and so it goes And so and so it goes (And so it goes) And so and so it goes (And so it goes, and so it goes, and so it goes) And so and so it goes (And so it goes, and so it goes) But then a crack appeared inside a wall And a door sprang up around it Fool's Complaint How I hate the Queen of Pentacles Sitting on her golden throne In her domestic tyranny All roads lead back to her alone The whole wide world is a great big drain With the vortex as her heart Her needs and wants and wishes and whims All take precedence on this chart But what do I know My card's The Fool, The Fool, The Fool That merry rootless man With air beneath my footstep And providence as my plan Providence as my plan Oh, it's such expensive innocence Never knowing any cost She throws around her finery For us to fetch when it gets lost But what do I know My card's The Fool, The Fool, The Fool That merry rootless man With air beneath my footstep And providence as my plan Providence as my plan What do I know My card's The Fool, The Fool, The Fool That merry rootless man With air beneath my footstep And providence as my plan Providence as my plan I Never Wear White I never wear white White is for virgins Children in summer Brides in the park My color is black, black, black Black is for secrets Outlaws and dancers For the poet of the dark Black is the truth Of my situation And for those of my station in life All other colors lie I never wear white White is too blinding Always reminding Of the innocent who fall My color is black, black, black For the crone and the bastard The schoolgirl in uniform The servant in the hall Black is the truth Of my situation And for those of my station in life All other colors lie My color is black, black, black Like the gangster and widow It's the shade and the shadow It's the depth into your eye My color is black, black, black, black, black Portrait Of The Knight Of Wands He stood upon the last bastions of the place Looked out on the ruins with thunder in his face An introverted spectacle in the flowers on the rocks The daisies on the ramparts blowing free His heart was divided, clouds gathered in the sky The belfry made of wood and steel was silenced in its cry Something must have happened, but what, he wouldn't say Shown within the wider lens of history His mission The transmission Of technology One cannon trained upon the church, this one caught his eye "To keep the bishop in his place," he muttered with a sigh His mood was melancholy, his attitude severe His inner burdens weighed upon him mightily A bird as never seen in books flew in overhead A kind of dove it might have been but not a sound was said All the ancient knowledge lay in pieces on the ground The cause of all his suffering was not for love of me His mission The transmission Of technology Don't Uncork What You Can't Contain A man finds a bottle on the bottom shelf Forgotten and covered in dust The label is already half torn off But open it up he must As the corkscrew into the cork it goes He hears the weird refrain "Do what you like but never uncork Uncork what you can't contain Do what you like but never uncork Uncork what you can't contain" Pandora had a pretty little box And wisely she kept it hid 'Til one day she couldn't resist Playing around with the lid As the shadows grew, the demons flew This song went around her brain: "Do what you like but never uncork Uncork what you can't contain Do what you like but never uncork Uncork what you can't contain" The shadows grew and the demons flew And the song went around her brain "Do what you like but never uncork Uncork what you can't contain" Macklemore went to the thrift shop Looking to pop some tags Found an ancient oil lamp Hidden among the rags And he picked it up, he rubbed it down Thought he'd gone insane 'Cause a genie flew out singing, "Never uncork Uncork what you can't contain" Genie flew out singing, "Never uncork Uncork what you can't contain" He picked it up, he rubbed it down Thought he'd gone insane Genie flew out singing, "Never uncork Uncork what you can't contain" Sometimes though you have to Let out what you're keeping inside If you keep it all in then your head will spin And your mouth is all tongue tied Gotta find the way to say what you say Get it down on the page or the stage It's the cage for that tiger rage that you can't contain Yes, the page and the stage is the cage For that tiger rage that you can't contain, for real The page and the stage is the cage For that tiger rage, what it is that you feel So do what you like but you'd better uncork Uncork what you can't contain Do what you like but you'd better uncork Uncork what you can't contain 'Cause the page and the stage is the cage For that tiger rage that'll cause you pain Do what you like but you'd better uncork Uncork what you can't contain Jacob And The Angel The angel came to Jacob The room began to glow Jacob asked the angel "Are you friend or are you foe" The angel never answered Smote him on the thigh They wrestled through the darkness 'Til morning filled the sky This thing between us has wings, it has teeth It has got horns and feathers and sinews beneath Angel or demon, to the truth I am bound And so this thing between us must be wrestled down Jacob held on to the angel Who turned to fly and to flee He said, "I must have your blessing Before I let you leave me" Angel never answered But smote him on the thigh They wrestled through the darkness 'Til morning filled the sky And in the light He knew his other name As he struggled and surrendered To the next part of the game This thing between us has wings, it has teeth It has got horns and feathers and sinews beneath Angel or demon, to the truth I am bound And so this thing between us must be wrestled down This thing between us has wings, it has teeth Has got horns and feathers and sinews beneath Angel or demon, to the truth I am bound So this thing between us must be wrestled down Silver Bridge My heart is full today For the recently departed Of sorrow and of sympathy Into that land uncharted The old man turned away from me The stairway he ascended I heard his struggle through the night With Saturn's hand extended All those nights when you can't sleep Your heart and mind is racing Are you standing on that bridge Which way are you facing I stared upon his body as My soul was filled with wonder Stood there frozen in one place Could not be pulled asunder All those nights when you can't sleep Your heart and mind is racing Are you standing on that bridge Which way are you facing I'd sent him upstairs with a kiss He lay in light of silver It seemed to me I saw that bridge That he had taken over Should I make the move to him He wasn't mine for claiming I witnessed all there was to see Withdrew without the naming When I knew that he had been So much more than sleeping I stayed with him the afternoon In a kind of vigil keeping All those nights when you can't sleep Your heart and mind is racing Are you standing on that bridge Which way are you facing My heart is full today For the recently departed Of sorrow and of sympathy Into that land uncharted Song Of The Stoic I am a man I've been working all my days This is my accounting Of my means and of my ways More years are behind me now Than years that are ahead Looking back I feel This is my story to be said I faced my father down Inside the hallway of our home Eighteen years of pain Upon my body to the bone Demons lived inside of him They forced him to the act The layers of the bruises To my body was the fact I grew and went into the world I learned to know its code Of spoken and unspoken I learned to love the road I shoulder every burden A mule with a heavy pack Every coin I earn's another Knot within my back Ecstasy and pleasure come At much too great a cost I keep myself upon the earth But measure what I've lost Winged things they brush against me Never mine to hold I keep my eyes upon the ground And carry on as old I knew a woman She had the gifted touch Her hands were wise with healing And with wonder and all such As the fates would have it Each to others we are wed Confine ourselves to friendship We stay out of the bed Now I turn around and face The specter of my age My soul it fights my body Like a bird will fight its cage I see that last horizon I hope it brings me peace I look forward to the day At last my body knows release Laying On Of Hands / Stoic 2 Mother Theresa Understood the laying on of hands What I often wondered Is how she kept from hearing love's demands If in her loneliness She ever dreamed of following earthly commands, oh yeah Mother Theresa Understood the laying on of hands Touch is a language What is it you have to say to me Come and talk about it Tell me where you're locked and where you're free Brutality or tenderness Our bodies are exchanged in all eternity, oh yeah Touch is a language What is it you have to say to me In this wilderness Do we hurt or heal within our daily plans, oh yeah Mother Theresa Understood the laying on of hands Mother Theresa Understood the laying on of hands Mother Theresa Understood the laying on of hands Epictetus probably slept with hands above the covers Lost no sleep in counting sheep or numbers of ex-lovers The thing about a stoic is he's always understated I don't know about happiness but virtue's overrated Horizon (There Is A Road) There is a road beyond this one It's called the path we don't yet take I can feel how it longs to be entered upon It calls to me with a cry and an ache As we go along this one and we live the way we do Love pulls us on to that distant horizon so true I knew a man, he lived in jail And his tale is often told He dreamed of that line that we call the divine When he was free he led his country Yes, he taught the way of love and he lived in that way, too Love pulled him on to that distant horizon so true There is a road beyond this one It's called the path we don't yet take I can feel how it longs to be entered upon Calls to me with a cry and an ache As we go along this one and we live the way we do Love pulls us on to that distant horizon Love pulled him on to that perfect horizon Love pulls us on to that distant horizon so true
Lover, Beloved Carson's Blues A wounded sparrow Timid and shy A fallen deer, that's what they call me But I'm an iron butterfly A childish liar A devilish bitch I can be innocent and charming And suddenly switch But you've got to understand Understand, understand That I've never belonged I can be sweet I can be wise I've got everyone of you mirrored In my deep, sad eyes I know where you've been to And who you're afraid to be 'Cause nothing that is human Is alien to me I talk to strangers, strangers, strangers One at a time A wounded sparrow Timid and shy A fallen deer, that's what they call me But I'm an iron butterfly I know where you've been to And who you're afraid to be 'Cause nothing that is human Is alien to me I talk to strangers, strangers, strangers One at a time New York Is My Destination New York is my destination New York is where I will be from New York is made for grander things Just. Like. Me I will lunch at the Algonquin Swing by the Plaza, waltz on in The Three Arts Club, I'll live there Indefinitely New York is made for grander things Just. Like. Me Literati Yes, they will love me Paparazzi Well, could it be Glitterati Will they know of me New York's waiting for me All of the tales of seduction Glittering on the horizon Mountains of fame. And fortune. And snow Finally New York is made for grander things Just. Like. Me Literati Yes, they will love me Paparazzi Well, could it be Glitterati Will they know of me New York's waiting for me Practice at the Parnassus Cram for Columbia classes Ride the 5th Avenue busses Weave some tale about us I lost all my money for Juilliard I hid in the phone booth at Macy's I slept in a brothel, on the way to Destiny New York is made for grander things Just. Like. Me Literati Yes, they will love me Paparazzi Well, could it be Glitterati Will they know of me New York's waiting for me New York is made for grander things Just. Like. Me Instant Of The Hour After That's enough. Out of you Tonight. My darling This show is over for now The monkey is dead I detest all this drunken brawling Now, let's see if you can make it into this bed How I love you How I loathe you It's a sharp, quick love. I feel. My darling You're not as drunk as you seem. So why pretend On your cheek, that sweet shadow falling The pulse in your neck, how I'll know it, right to the end How I love you. How I loathe you All you can say is: "Reverberating vacuity." "Lousy simile." "Vacant majesty." In the instant of the hour after But right now, it's you and me My darling Trapped here inside of this bottle, drowning like flies When the frenzy's over We're crawling Specimens. Spent and exhausted We press to the sides How I love you How I loathe you We Of Me My squeezed heart divides Into two wide wings The world is A sudden place If you don't Belong to anything Noah may have got it wrong There's one more That could belong This must be the Irony of Fate That I and the world Are always separate All other people Have a we to claim Except for me And my own name I belong to be With the two of you And we make three As a family That is why You're the we of me We of me I belong to be With the two of you And we make three As a family That is why You're the we of me We of me Noah's ark admitted, only two by two We know this isn't always true Noah may have got it wrong There's one more that could belong I belong to be With the two of you We make three As a family That is why You are the we of me The we of me That is why You are the we of me The we of me That is why You are the we of me The we of me Annemarie I saw your face I knew you'd haunt me For all of my life Rising above me If you could want me, I'd be No man's wife Everyone sees you Everyone knows you How can I possibly compare? Who could attain you With all of your pain Who could possibly hold one so fair Terror, pity, love Annemarie Brilliant and stormy Her perfect beauty She moves through the world With money and family She glitters with trouble She's that kind of girl Everyone loves you Everyone wants you How can I possibly compete Who can explain you With all of your pain Who could possibly make you complete Terror, pity, love Annemarie If I could see God His face would be sacred Like yours, Annemarie But God's face is hidden and Your face is suddenly All I can see Everyone needs you Everyone worships you How can I possibly complain Who could contain you With all of your pain Could I gather up All that you remain Terror, pity, love Annemarie 12 Mortal Men Where I'm from There's poverty All kinds of inequality Nobody comes here Nobody leaves Don't have to go far Even to see The Whipping Report In the library Hear one voice Start singing In the dirt Twelve picks are ringing Nobody comes here Nobody leaves Don't have to go far Even to see 12 mortal men bound In a song of liberty Don't have to go far The music I hear Is 12 mortal men singing In ecstasy and fear In my heart I see a crowd A thousand, souls marching and proud Everyone gathered Each one is loved Harper Lee Virginia Woolf She leaves me cold I recognize the genius But I'm twice as bold I have more to say Than Hemingway Lord knows, compared to Faulker I say it in a better way Graham Greene He loves me He loves my poetic Sensibility Katherine Anne Porter Might be the best one now But in about a year I'm gonna show her how Yes I will Said to Reeves the other day Proust really is the man Who comforts me in a way No other writer can The timeless quality of the work The length! Is very long Believe me Marcel Proust goes on And on and on and on. 7 volumes Oh, Harper. Harper Lee. Lee. Lee She only wrote that one book I've written more than three Darling Tennessee Williams It's anybody's guess Why "Streetcar" made millions And "Wedding" so much less I will forever be pondering that one Oh, Harper. Harper Lee. Lee. Lee Why do they always compare her to me To me Won't even talk about Eudora Welty As for F. Scott, my Sad Cafe Is greater than his Gatsby I'm just telling you What someone told me they read I never look at my reviews They might give me the big head Now Truman Capote was hypnotized Mesmerized. 'Cause he realized That I knew that he knew That he had plagiarized My cadences! Imagine his surprise, You'll see it in his eyes When I win that Nobel Prize Thank you. Thank you so very much Harper. Harper Lee. Lee. Lee Why do they always compare her to me To me She always seems to be receiving More than she deserves Honey, she's poaching on My literary preserves Yes from Harper Lee We have seen and we've heard and I'd like to kill more than just That mocking bird You know, sometimes I really would So you just wait until next year Lover, Beloved Lover, beloved Behold each of these The lover pursues The beloved one flees Lover, beloved From countries apart Each one alone In the land of the heart Each one alone in the land of the heart Lover, beloved Forever stripped bare Turn in the night And it's he who is there Liar and lover And hero, and thief Turn in the night And he brings no relief Brother, or husband He brings no relief The man across the Styx will send Flowers from beyond the end The man across the Styx will be Her lover for eternity Lover, beloved Her brave cavalier All of his love Raising hatred and fear Lover, beloved Each craving the touch Each bears the burden Of loving too much Each bears the burden Of loving too much The man across the Styx will send Flowers from beyond the end The man across the Styx will be Her lover for eternity Lover, beloved Behold both of these Lover pursues Beloved one flees Lover, beloved From countries apart Each one alone In the land of the heart Each one alone in the land of the heart The Ballad Of Miss Amelia On any southern afternoon If anyone would care to look A face appears inside a house A terrible face It is sexless And white It is dim Like the faces In dreams It's Miss Amelia She's waiting by the window Remembering the laughing In the café down below Once Miss Amelia Married a man She married Marvin Масу No one could understand She must have done it for the presents 'Cause she didn't like him much And even on their wedding night She wouldn't let him touch Well, he hung around the doorways Acting foolish with bliss Until he came too close one day She swung once with her fist Miss Amelia was a strong woman She was big and tall Swung once and Marvin Масу Well he fell against the wall Now Miss Amelia is Sitting by the shutters Remembering the laughing In the café long ago... After Marvin Масу Had long gone away A little hunchback came to town And this is strange to say That Miss Amelia who had never loved She fell in love with him He was a skipping little troublemaker Still she took him in And so they lived together And were happy for a time Everybody came around And they would drink and dine Miss Amelia made a whiskey It was fine and it was rare Would warm a man into his soul And show the writing there Miss Amelia's story Is simple and sad Marvin Масу, he returned to town With all the evil that he had The skipping little hunchback He was quite impressed With Marvin Macy's history Of robbery and the rest I will not get specific But just let it now be said There was terrible fight one night And Miss Amelia was ahead Until the little hunchback Jumped in on Marvin Macy's side Everybody all agreed That's the night the café died On any southern afternoon If anyone would care to look A face appears inside a house A terrible face It is sexless and white It is dim Like the faces In dreams It's Miss Amelia She's waiting by the window Remembering the laughing In the café down below It's Miss Amelia Sitting by the shutters Remembering the laughing In the café long ago... Carson's Last Supper I love the world Sometimes it loves me The love of my life Is humanity The rich and the poor The broken and whole All come together Feeding the soul Each one belongs at this feast Drink to the pleasures! Drink for the pains Drink for the losses Drink to the gains! The humble the twisted The proud and the grand Sinner and sinned against This is my stand Each one belongs at this feast Come and be at this table Come and take what is mine to share with you And if you are able You must give what is thine to give Thine to give, forever We'll be as one solid body together Drink for the sorrows Drink to the bliss Drink to the raptures of Eros Urst kiss One strong true purpose No thought of return No rest or hope of rest The visions still burn Each one belongs at this feast Come and be at this table Come and take what is mine to share with you And if you are able You must give what is thine to give Thine to give, forever We'll be as one solid body together Come and be at this table Come and take what is mine to share with you And if you are able You must give what is thine to give Thine to give, forever We'll be as one solid body together I love the world Sometimes it loves me The love of my life Is humanity
Flying With Angels Speakers’ Corner I have a newfound sympathy For the madman in the square Who rants and raves his rhetoric Into the midday air His heartfelt pleas and arguments But the sense no longer there The sound ascends to heaven Like the incense in a prayer The speakers' corner, there it stands In politics or song For trying everything you feel Whether it is right or wrong The doomsday prophet Whose words have all come true The naysaying soothsayer So cynical and blue Has now become more like a child Bewildered and confused But I keep on believing It’s what I know how to do The speakers' corner, there it stands In politics and song When it's time to tell your tale Don’t wait too long All those full of wind and air Who howl and rant and rave Screaming out distorted facts About the souls they save Promising the miracles And pocketing the cash Pretending they have principles Preaching only ash And it grieves me when I see The people on parade Parroting the things they hear Never think to be afraid The speakers' corner, there it stands In politics and song I guess we better use it now Before we find it gone Flying With Angels I'm flying with angels Hovering low then going high Don't know how it happened Suddenly I am in the sky I'm flying with angels I can feel them all around I see them so clearly Got no idea when I'll touch down I'm over your head And over my own, in fact Someone is flying this plane Whispering how to act I'm in a heightened state Everything has to wait Flying with angels Suddenly we're all in a pack I know they're with me 'Cause I can feel them at my back I've got to be careful I can't go left and won't turn right I'm flying with angels I thought they would know I hate the height I'm over your head And over my own, in fact Someone is flying this plane Whispering how to act I'm in a heightened state Everything has to wait I'm aching with patience I'm glad I'm not flying all alone I hope they stay with me Until I can get you home I'm flying with angels Flying with angels Witch Going along our usual path My love and I on an ordinary day Suddenly before me I see A person turn, I begin to pray She stares me in the eye so bold She sees him, then she makes her pitch I feel the air become bone cold In the light of other ages is the witch What witch hit this switch Striking him down not only once but twice Life divides into two sides Before and after with a terrible price What witch sent this glitch Into the brain, a cranial surprise Struck down, his stuttering frown She's hitting him twice as he tries again to rise What fate decreed this state Of blunt and shocked despair You mute the man because you can Leaving everybody all stunned and standing there She points the wand, cuts the bond Suddenly speech is a show of absurdity Hand-to-hand he's fighting to stand We're living in a state of a permanent emergency Suddenly speech is a show of absurdity Living in a state of a permanent emergency What witch sent this glitch Into the brain? A cranial surprise Struck down, his stuttering frown She's hitting him twice as he tries again to rise What fate decreed this state Of blunt and shocked despair You mute the man because you can Leaving everybody all stunned and standing there What witch hit this switch Striking him down not only once but twice Life divides into two sides Before and after with a terrible price Chambermaid I'm the great man's chambermaid I've seen where his hallowed head is laid I revere the places he has stayed And clean crumbs from his typewriter He is good to me There's nothing he doesn't see And he knows where l'd like to be But it doesn't matter On my day off I haunt the docks Keep to myself, I go for walks I just make sure the lock still locks As my ship is coming in My mind and hands they are my trade I finger sentencеs he's made I follow evеry curving of his brain You want to know, did I ever steal He never leaves anything out that's real I took nothing he would miss But only once I stole a kiss I used to pretend that I was queen But over time I quit that scene Costs too much to even dream In that direction I think of comfort and of peace I long for pleasure and release Oh, how I wish the din would cease I could do with some protection You want to know, did I ever steal He never leaves anything out that's real I took nothing he would miss And only once I stole a kiss Yes, I'm the great man's chambermaid I've seen where his hallowed head is laid I revere the places he has played And clean crumbs from his typewriter He often gives me sage advice When I dream of him at night He slips his pen into my hand And says, "Don't forget to write" Love Thief I love him I love her too And I love you Yes Loving everybody these days Like it's some kind of craze Love is a wide bright net I'll take what I can get I am the love thief And I'm coming for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I am the love thief And I'm coming for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I don't mean sex Or even money Sugar, thyme or honey, no I mean your heart And your consciеnce too To these things bе true Tell me, how can you lose I am the love thief And I'm coming for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I am the love thief And I'm coming for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I know you have it rough You know enough is enough All this hatred and stuff I'm going to make you hang tough I'm here to call your bluff Gonna pull you through Pull it out of you Make you feel it too Yeah yeah, yeah yeah I am the love thief And I'm coming for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I am the love thief And I'm coming for you (I'm coming for you) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (I'm coming for you) I am the love thief And I'm coming for you (I'm coming for you) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Lucinda She's a Dusty Springfield of the south Leathery pants and a pale pink mouth Beehive bleached blond shoulder length straw Voice is sweet but mostly raw Watch her and she'll mesmerize What's in those black rimmed eyes Traveling preacher, born fighter Work that brimstone and hellfire Two sides has Lucinda At the very least She's a kind of angel, sometimes a beast Luce is when she holds the light Cinders, what comes after Holding both inside her soul All the rage and laughter Lucinda Lucinda Late bloomer, outlaw child She can be kind, not afraid to get wild Cowboy slouch, stage star amble I love her 'cause she's blunt and humble Two sides has Lucinda At the very least She's a kind of angel, sometimes a beast Luce is when she holds the light Cinders, what comes after Holding both inside her soul All the rage and laughter Leathery pants, rhinestone tail Strong and proud, just a little bit frail With a cowboy slouch of stage star amble I love her 'cause she's blunt and humble Lucinda Lucinda Lucinda Lucinda Last Train from Mariupol There's a last train from Mariupol Mariupol, oh, Mariupol Last train from Mariupol See how the platform is heaving Who's on the train from Mariupol Mariupol, Mariupol Who's on the train from Mariupol All of humanity fleeing I heard God himself was on the last train Mariupol, Mariupol God himself was on the last train Frightened by all he was seeing There's a last train from Mariupol Mariupol, Mariupol Last train from Mariupol All of humanity grieving Alley One day you'll find me Ascending the alleys Of the city that raised me Tending toward the sun All gravity undone And I'm free One day you'll see me Floating through the air Rising like a prayer On its journey, so easily Finally unpinned Like a feather in the wind And I'm free I will be high above city rooms I'll fly into the sky My hair all covered in blooms One day you'll know me Shimmering above Like Marc Chagall in love I'll be moving, be sailing around Unchained and unbound Be a mile off the ground And I'm free I will be high above city rooms I'll fly into thе sky My hair all covered in blooms For now I am grounded I'm hеre and astounded I'm here and the earth is my home One day you'll find me Ascending the alleys Of the city Rats Who has seen the biggest rat People wanna know I saw 'em in the basement A long time ago Jimmy said he saw a rat Bigger than his head It fell down from the ceiling It ran across the bed They’re swarming in Barzini's They've got nothing to eat Like the gangs in West Side Story They’re fighting in the street Part of COVID landscape Ambulances peal Underneath it all Hear the rodent population squeal Rats are on the warpath Rats are on parade Come and see them running through The apocalypse man-made Welcome to this urban life Welcome to my city Survival of the fittest Is never very pretty The rats came through the bottom Of the Prius in the street Attacked it with their yellow teeth And ate up the back seat Jimmy said he saw a rat Bigger than his head It fell down from the ceiling It ran across the bed Rats are on the warpath Rats are on parade Come and see them running through The apocalypse man-made Welcome to this urban life Welcome to my city Survival of the fittest Is never very pretty A terrifying sight Feeling so much fright Step over them in the evening Hear them running through tunnels in the subway in the night Rats are on the warpath Rats are on parade Come and see them running through The apocalypse man-made Welcome to this urban life Welcome to my city Survival of the fittest Is never very pretty Rats are on the warpath Rats are on parade Come and see them running through The apocalypse man-made Welcome to this urban life Welcome to my city Survival of the fittest Is never very pretty Oh no, oh no Rats, rats, rats Oh no Welcome to this urban life Galway "I want to take you to the west coast of Ireland To Galway to play in the spray and the sea I've dreamed about you," yes, that's what he told me He said, "I will take you if you'll come with me" I laughed and I said, "Now you wait just a minute There's somebody else I am fighting with now I've seen my future and you aren't in it But I'll let you know if it changes somehow" We know the winds of time hold a mystery Who knows the workings of fate and of destiny We look back on it and see that it's history Now A couple months later, I saw him again He was across the room in a bar in thе crowd I said hello and he said without warning "I'll take you to Galway," hе said this out loud We know the winds of time hold a mystery Who knows the workings of fate and of destiny We look back on it and see that it's history Now Somebody else took up my hand that night He said, "He's too young," as though he had that right So Mr. Galway, he faded from view And the other man took up the game for two Months after that, across the whole country In a hotel hallway I went for some ice I saw a man and his face was familiar My eyes met his, and I stared at him twice I said, "Is it you?" And he said, "It is me" He said, "I am asking again if you're free" "Well, you won't believe this but I'm to be wed I said, "I'm so sorry not to share your bed So I can't join you for the spray and the sea And the romance of Galway there waiting for me" We know the winds of time hold a mystery Who knows the workings of fate and of destiny We look back on it and see that it's history Now I tease my daughter and sometimes I say "Your dad could have been Irish but he's not," anyway Sometimes at night in my dreams I do hear The gray and the spray of Galway so near And the roar of the sea And the things that could be And I will take you if you'll come with me Yes, I will take you if you'll come with me
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