rayc said:
Shake Hands
I want to live I want to lie
I want to play I want to stay
In this life that I made
It’s a place in the sun
And before I am done
I mean I’m finally free
I just want to be me
And go wherever that leads
I’m tracing every step I took
I’m placing all the faces to the names in my little black book
I want to flash I want to fly
Across the darkening sky
I’m a smile on the face of a terrible god
Death waits in the wings
Hear the angels that sing
As they lower me down to a hole in the ground
I’m thinking ‘bout the time I took
I’m thinking ‘bout the names of the people and the hands I shook
I want to take what I can find
I want to burn it in your mind
I want to live another day, if just to make you all pay
I want a life I never had I want this pressure off my back
I want the first to be last, and all the time it flies
So fast I’m knocking on wood –I never remember the way, although I guess I should
Penelope O’Doule
Remember Penny O’Doule?
She used to be cool
Well, she used to, but it’s over now – she’s a fool
And what can she say, when she had it her way?
And it’s a sad, strange story - because it’s terrible and true
She’s the prettiest girl in the world
She’s the prettiest girl in the world and she’s miserable
I can remember the days when precious Penny would play
Where we might disagree she dressed us down, occasionally
And having met her demands, when she threw up her hands
A frustrated flashing smile, the spoiled stripling arrogant child
Her parents wondered if they’d ever ever ever see their little girl again…
They couldn’t see that their precious Penelope was determined to be
In the center of the story again
Oh, the years they passed in a haze
Until her 18th birthday
The tips she makes are alright
Working Tuesday and Saturday nights
Working late for cheap thrills
For ones and five dollar bills
A Penny spurned, a penny spent
The ageless days just came and they went
She’s the prettiest girl and completely alone in the world
Blue Sky
A long hard rain is going to fall
And your only choice is no choice at all
Looking up a hill, and far from standing tall
Your back’s against the wall
Though the hardest times are coming
When the pressure’s overwhelming
I remember the blue sky
I weather the storm and it passes by
No one can explain the suicide
That tore a tiny hole in everyone’s life
A tiny prayer for all your best-laid plans
The universe just doesn’t give a damn
Why do you always come too late?
Even when I’m home I’ve got time to wait…
Even when I’m home without you
Why do you always leave me there..
Even when I’m home I’ve got time to spare
Even when I’m home without you
And I’ve got the strangest feeling…..
Radio
Four hundred fourteen thousand lights up in the sky
The noise on the radio is a sound from times gone by
The sound that comes from underground is in your head
Vivid violent dreams at night that wake you in your bed
Pull yourself together now and put that good book down
An upright time a violent ride you find yourself on now
But you don’t have to look around to tear the blindfold from your head
So turn the dial and listen to the voices of the dead
And when the sun goes down
When you’re never alone, but there isn’t a soul around
When the sun goes down
And you’re humming a song but you don’t recognize the sound
Four hundred fourteen thousand lights up in the sky
Reflected cold unblinking moon
The staring blood red eye
The dewdrop slides along a razor blade of grass
Encapsulated in the sound of a breaking glass
And when you fall asleep
Are you hearing the thoughts of the old ones, buried deep?
And are they buried deep?
Are they waking you up with a tear stain across your cheek?
Make your heart a stone and tie the blindfold on
Take a swimmer’s breath and step into the void
Seeking to destroy this thing you’ve come to love it’s bittersweet
You’ve come to name the nameless, face the faceless
And turn the final winding sheet
And when you fall asleep
Are you hearing the thoughts of the old ones, buried deep?
And are they buried deep?
Are they waking you up with a tear stain across your cheek?
Rolling down your cheek
It’s an alien feeling, as if you were incomplete
And do you fall asleep
With a vision of a muddy boot and a bloodstained sheet?
Beautiful World
When you were young and they brought you to school
They brought you to heel, and they taught you the rules
You learned all their secrets, performed all their tricks
While they took you apart to see what makes you tick
Now you take a look back and describe what you see
It didn’t turn out how you thought it might be..
You didn’t grow famous, you didn’t strike gold
You were slow to get smart but you were quick to grow old
Hands off my beautiful world, it’s only big enough for me
Hands off my beautiful world, it’s how it’s shaping up to be
You can remember and you can forget
And you can pretend you haven’t given up yet
And you can drink coffee, and you can drink tea
And you can have freedom but you’ll never be free
We live in a strange and a wonderful world
Where everyone has to be cool
You can be clever and you can have flash
You can have beauty but your beauty won’t last
Here’s to the memory of Penny O’Doule
Born to a hero and married a fool
Who came to despise her eventually
When it all became clear how she came by her money
We live in a strange and a wonderful time
Where nothing is quite what it seems
Everybody’s trying to direct your dreams
You can run, you can run, but you’ll never catch me…..
It’s Only Me
Wash me down till I’m ripples in a calm sea
And the fishes who eat my body all become me
Believe in anything long enough and it becomes real
Now I’ve nothing to hide and I’ve nothing to steal
Did I stand with my toes in the sand?
Now I’m more
My bones lay amongst pebbles awash on the shore
Let my waves caress you in an epiphany
Hear my voice in a shell
Part of life’s larger symphony
And have no fear of the ocean
‘cause it’s only me
Pictures of You
Elastic time between awake and asleep
I close my eyes and let the edges bleed
and form a perfect picture in my mind
I wonder where you are
I swear sometimes I hear you call my name
I wonder when and if this little hurricane
Will bring you home
Again I take a turn upon the wheel
Now I go home
It’s like the photograph in which I laughed
You almost seemed to smile
That picture almost always makes me cry
It makes me think of hurricanes and butterflies
And long goodbyes
And all I thought priceless treasure was always trash
The laughter on my tongue has turned to ash
And I’d give anything just to take that one word back
But you’ve been gone for so long
And now you’ve been away so long
It makes for a depressing song
But it just can’t be helped
Because it’s never been more true
It makes me think of you
Everything You Read
Take a moment and walk with me
Alone at the end of the world
Soft pillows and treachery
And blood-red roses for girls
Take a while and walk with me
Alone at the end of the world
Lay your weary head next to mine
And tell me everything you see
Tell me everything you dream
You always believed everything that you read, and now
She’s in trouble
She’s always in trouble with her mother and the rest of the world
When she lies, she can’t look in your eyes
She’s such an irresponsible girl
But she’s all sand in the hand of the man
Who stands at the end of the world
I don’t care what your momma says
Just lay your weary head by me
Tell me everything you see
You always believed everything that you read, and now
Always believe everything that you read
Always believe everything that you read
Crazy From the Sunshine
Digging through your garbage
Looking for something to eat
I wouldn’t be homeless
But you cut down my tree
I used to eat the fishes
That were swimming in the stream
But the water is too hot now
And the dogs all chase me
You’re all right
And he’s all right
And she’s all right
But you don’t know about me
And you’re all right
And he’s all right
And she’s all right
But you don’t care…
And do you watch while the little ones die?
Or does it bring a tear to your eye?
And you say that we all want change
But you lie
Cause change is so trendy, you say
And this might come as a flash
You feel like a slave but you’re taking a turn at the lash
It’s a blast
But the people are wondering why
You’re alright
My brothers and my sisters
Will all be gone soon too
Crazy from the sunshine
And the light of the moon
I wonder if you know me
I wonder if you care
Can anybody hear me?
Is anyone there?
For a Dying Bird
Quietly the seasons go;
Like faces turning in the fall
Scattered in the fallen snow
And lost before the shadows grow
High above, without a sound
A streak across the eastern sky
A lonely traveler looking down
To search along the icy ground
Chase along a breathless flight
Speeding toward a hidden home
Without thought I cast the stone
That met her wing and brought her low
Do you miss them all?
Can you still hear?
Do you feel so strong?
Can you wait so long?
I wish that I could take you home
To nurse along the broken wing
And bind you with a silver ring
And listen to the caged bird sing
If I could only make you say
If I could only make you do
I wish I could get close to you
I wished, I hoped, but never knew
I wish that I could take it back
A careless moment etched in stone
The little ones to wait alone
For someone never coming home
Closer now, I shut my eyes
It doesn’t mean I disagree
It’s just that I don’t want to see
How far it’s gone, so far from me
The Miles Gone By
I don’t need religion to understand
And you don’t need your momma to hold your hand
And I don’t need to tell you what Jesus said
Just an empty heart and an empty bed
So what’s your worry –
And what’s your hurry?
Keep your head in the clouds and remember the miles
The miles, the miles the miles
(I’ll be your voice when you can’t speak)
I’ll be your voice when you can’t speak
(I’ll be a rock beneath your feet)
A solid rock beneath your feet
(A light at night to guide your way)
A candle in the window to bring you home
(and lead you home when you’re astray)
And warm your heart when you’re alone
So what’s your worry -
And what’s your hurry
And before too long you’ll find
You can close your eyes and remember the miles gone by
You’ll remember the miles gone by
You’ll remember the miles
The miles
What You Were Meant to Be
Hey
What’s a white lie amongst friends?
Summer is winter again
And they’re beating their swords into pens
The fools
They slander the name of the rose
And sewing the emperor’s clothes
And stringing him up by the toes
Come tomorrow this no longer is the world you know
The glowing sun will burn your skin
The stinging wind it will blow
Did you think you could hide?
You’re inside of this awful machine
So take my hand and understand who you are
Here lies
The unfortunate victim of truth
Laid out on the altar of youth
And wisdom so long in the tooth
Change
They’re beating their swords into pens
And into the breach once again
To cut down our erstwhile friends
Trick the thinkers
Wasting wastrels
Storytellers and minding minders
Save the saviors
Killing killers
Wringing hands and pointing fingers
Come tomorrow this no longer is the world you know
The glowing sun will burn your skin
The stinging wind it will blow
Did you think you could hide?
You’re inside of this awful machine
So take my hand and understand what you were meant to be
What you were meant to be
