How
Can You Live in the Northeast?
We heard the fireworks
Rushed out to watch the
sky,
Happy go lucky, fourth of
July
How can you live in the
Northeast?
How can you live in the
South?
How can you build on the
banks of a river
When the flood water pours
from the mouth?
How can you be a Christian?
How can you be a Jew?
How can you be a Muslim,
a Buddhist, a Hindu?
How can you?
Weak as the winter sun,
we enter life on earth.
Names and religion comes
just after date of birth.
Then everybody gets a tongue
to speak,
And everyone hears an inner
voice,
A day at the end of the
week to wonder and rejoice.
If the answer is infinite
light
Why do we sleep in the dark?
How can you live in the
Northeast?
How can you live in the
South?
How can you build on the
banks of a river?
When the flood water pours
from the mouth?
How can you tattoo your
body?
Why do you cover your head?
How can you eat from a rice
bowl
The holy man only breaks
bread?
We watched the fireworks
'til they were fireflies.
Followed a path of stars
over the endless skies.
How can you live in the
Northeast?
How can you live in the
South?
How can you build on the
banks of a river
When the flood water pours
from the mouth, from the mouth?
I've been given all I wanted,
Only three generations off
the boat.
I've harvested and I've
planted.
I'm wearing my father's
old coat.
Outrageous
It's outrageous to line
your pockets off the misery of the poor.
Outrageous the crime some
human beings must endure.
It's a blessing to wash
your face in the summer solstice rain.
It's outrageous a man like
me stand here and complain.
But I'm tired, nine hundred
sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the
colour of mud, mud, okay?
I'm tired, tired
Anybody care what I say?
No!
I'm painting my hair the
colour of mud.
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love
you when your looks are gone?
Aw, who's gonna love you
when your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
It's outrageous the food
they try to serve in a public school.
Outrageous, the way they
talk to you like you're some kind of clinical fool
It's a blessing to rest
my head in the circle of your love.
It's outrageous I can't
stop thinking about the things I'm thinking of.
And I'm tired, nine hundred
sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the
colour of mud, mud, okay?
I'm tired, tired, anybody
care what I say? No!
Painting my hair the colour
of mud.
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love
you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love
you when your looks are gone?
God will,
Like he waters the flowers
on your window sill.
Take me, I'm an ordinary
player in the key of C,
And my will was broken by
my pride and my vanity
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
God will,
Like he waters the flowers
on your window sill.
Who's gonna love you when
your looks are gone?
Wartime
Prayers
Prayers offered in times
of peace are silent conversations,
Appeals for love or love's
release
In private invocations
But all that is changed
now,
Gone like a memory from
the day before the fires.
People hungry for the voice
of God
Hear lunatics and liars
Wartime prayers, wartime
prayers
In every language spoken,
For every family scattered
and broken.
Because you cannot walk
with the holy,
If you're just a halfway
decent man.
I don't pretend that I'm
a mastermind
With a genius marketing
plan.
I'm trying to tap into some
wisdom,
Even a little drop will
do.
I want to rid my heart of
envy
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.
Times are hard, it's a hard
time
But everybody knows all
about hard times.
The thing is, what are you
gonna do?
Well, you cry and try to
muscle through
Try to rearrange your stuff
But when the wounds are
deep enough,
It's all that we can bear,
We wrap ourselves in prayer.
Because you cannot walk
with the holy,
If you're just a halfway
decent man.
I don't pretend that I'm
a mastermind
With a genius marketing
plan.
I'm trying to tap into some
wisdom,
Even a little drop willdo.
I want to rid my heart of
envy
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.
A mother murmurs in twilight
sleep
And draws her babies closer.
With hush-a-byes for sleepy
eyes,
And kisses on the shoulder.
To drive away despair
She says a wartime prayer.
I Don't
Believe
Acts of kindness, like breadcrumbs
in a fairytale forest
Lead us past dangers as
light melts the darkness
But I don't believe, and
I'm not consoled
I lean closer to the fire,
but I'm cold
The earth was born in a
storm
The waters receded, the
mountains were formed
"The universe loves a drama,"
you know
And ladies and gentlemen
this is the show
I got a call from my broker
The broker informed me I'm
broke
I was dealing my last hand
of poker
My cards were useless as
smoke
Oh, guardian angel
Don't taunt me like this,
on a clear summer evening as soft as a kiss
My children are laughing,
not a whisper of care
My love is brushing her
long chestnut hair
I don't believe a heart
can be filled to the brim
Then vanish like mist as
though life were a whim
Maybe the heart is part
of the mist
And that's all that there
is or could ever exist
Maybe and maybe and maybe
some more
Maybe's the exit that I'm
looking for
I got a call from my broker
The broker said he was mistaken
Maybe some virus or brokerage
joke
And he hopes that my faith
isn't shaken
Acts of kindness
Like rain in a draught
Release the spirit with
a whoop and a shout
I don't believe we were
born to be sheep in a flock
To pantomime prayers with
the hands of a clock
Once Upon a Time There
Was an Ocean
Once upon a time there was
an ocean
But now it's a mountain
range
Something unstoppable set
into motion
Nothing is different, but
everything's changed
It's a dead end job, and
you gets tired of sittin'
And it's like a nicotine
habit you're always thinking about quittin'
I think about quittin' every
day of the week
When I look out my window
it's brown and it's bleak
Outta here
How am I gonna get outta
here?
I'm thinking outta here
When am I gonna get outta
here?
And when will I cash in
my lottery ticket
And bury my past with my
burdens and strife?
I want to shake every limb
in the garden of Eden
And make every love the
love of my life
I figure that once upon
a time I was an ocean
But now I'm a mountain range
Something unstoppable set
into motion
Nothing is different, but
everything's changed
Found a room in the heart
of the city, down by the bridge
Hot plate and TV and beer
in the fridge
But I'm easy, I'm open,
that's my gift
I can flow with the traffic,
I can drift with the drift
Home again?
Naw, never going home again
Think about home again?
I never think about home
But then comes a letter
from home
The handwriting's fragile
and strange
Something unstoppable set
into motion
Nothing is different, but
everything's changed
The light through the stained
glass was cobalt and red
And the frayed cuffs and
collars were mended by haloes of golden thread
The choir sang, "Once Upon
A Time There Was An Ocean"
And all the old hymns and
family names came fluttering down as leaves of emotion
As nothing is different,
but everything's changed
Father and Daughter
from The Wild Thornberrys
Movie soundtrack
If you leap awake
In the mirror of a bad dream
And for a fraction of a
second
You can't remember where
you are
Just open your window
And follow your memory upstream
To the meadow in the mountain
Where we counted every falling
star
I believe the light that
shines on you
Will shine on you forever
(forever)
And though I can't guarantee
There's nothing scary hiding
under your bed
I'm gonna stand guard like
a postcard of a golden retriever
And never leave till I leave
you with a sweet dream in your bed
Chorus:
I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is
two
There could never be a father
who loved his daughter more than I love you
Trust your intuition
It's just like goin fishin'
You cast your line and hope
you get a bite
But you don't need to waste
your time
Worryin' about the market
place
Try to help the human race
Strugglin to survive its
harshest night.
chorus x2 |
Everything
About It Is a Love Song
Locked in a struggle for
the right combination of words in a melody line
I took a walk along the
riverbank of my imagination
Golden clouds were shuffling
the sunshine
But if I ever get back to
the twentieth century
Guess I'll have to pay off
some debts
Open the book of my vanishing
memory
With its catalogue of regrets
Stand up for the deeds I
did
And those I didn't do
Sit down, shut up, think
abou God
And wait for the hour of
my rescue
We don't mean to mess things
up
But mess them up we do
And then it's "Oh, I'm sorry"
Here's a smiling photograph
of love it was new
At a birthday party
Make a wish and close your
eyes: surprise, surprise, surprise.
Early December, and brown
as a sparrow
Frost creeping over the
pond
I shoot a thought into the
future
And it flies like an arrow
Through my lifetime, and
beyond
If I ever come back as a
tree, or a crow
Or even the wind-blown dust
Find me on the ancient road
in the song when the wires are hushed
Hurry on and remember me,
as I'll remember you
Far above the golden clouds,
the darkness vibrates
The earth is blue
And everything about it
is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a
love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a
love song
Sure Don't Feel Like
Love
I registered to vote today
Felt like a fool
Had to do it anyway
Down at the high school
Thing about the second line
You know, felt like a fool?
People say it all the time
Even when it's true
So, who's that conscience
sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Who's that conscience sticking
on the sole of my shoe?
Cause it sure don't feel
like love
A tear drop consists of
electrolytes and salt
The chemistry of crying
is not concerned with blame or fault
So, who's that conscience
sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Who's that conscience sticking
on the sole of my shoe?
Cause it sure don't feel
like love
How does it feel?
Feels like a threat
A voice in your head that
you'd rather forget
No joke, no joke
You get sick from that unspoken
Sure don't feel like love
No joke, no joke
Some chicken and a corn
muffin well that feels more like love
Yay! Boo!
Yay! Boo!
Wrong again, wrong again
Maybe I'm wrong again
Wrong again
Maybe I'm wrong again
Wrong again
I could be wrong again
I remember once in August
1993
I was wrong, and I could
be wrong again
I remember one of my best
friends turned enemy
So, I was wrong, and I could
be wrong again
I remember once in a load-out,
down in Birmingham
Yeah, but that didn't feel
like love
Sure don't feel like, sure
don't feel like, sure don't feel like love
Sure don't feel like, sure
don't feel like, sure don't feel like love
It sure. Don't feel
Like love
Beautiful
Snowman sittin' in the sun
doesn't have time to waste
He had a little bit too
much fun
Now his head's erased
Back in the house, family
of three
Two doin' the laundry and
one in the nursery
We brought a brand new baby
back from Bangladesh
Thought we'd name her Emily
She's beautiful. Beautiful
Yes, sir, head's erased,
brain's a bowl of jelly
Hasn't hurt his sense of
taste
Judging from his belly
But back in the house, family
of four now
Two doin' the laundry and
two on he kitchen floor
We brought a brand new baby
back from mainland China
Sailed across the China
Sea
She's beautiful. Beautiful
Go-kart sittin' in the shade
You don't need a ticket
to ride
It's summertime, summertime
Slip down a water slide
Little kid dancin' in the
grass
Legs like rubber band
It's summertime, summertime
There's a line at the candy
stand
Keep an eye on them children
Eye on them children in
the pool
You better keep an eye on
them children
Eye on them children in
the pool
We brought a brand new baby
back from Kosovo
That was nearly seven years
ago
He cried all night, could
not sleep
His eyes were bright, dark
and deep
Beautiful
Another
Galaxy
On the morning of her wedding
day
When no one was awake
She drove across the border
Leaving all the yellow roses
on her wedding cake
Her mother's tears, her
breakfast order
She's gone, gone, gone
There is a moment, a chip
in time
When leaving home is the
lesser crime
When your eyes are blind
with tears
But your heart can see
Another life, another galaxy
That night her dreams are
storm-tossed as a willow
She hears the clouds
She sees the eye of a hurricane
As it sweeps across her
island pillow
But she's gone, gone, gone
There is a moment, a chip
in time
When leaving home is the
lesser crime
When your eyes are blind
with tears
But your heart can see
Another life, another galaxy
That's Me
Well I'll just skip the
boring parts chapters one, two, three
And get to the place where
you can read my face and my biography
Here I am, I'm eleven months
old, dangling from my daddy's knee
There I go, it's my graduation
I'm picking up a bogus degree
That's me
Early me. That's me
Well I never cared much
for the money
And money never cared for
me
I was more like a land-locked
sailor
Searching for the emerald
sea
Just searching for the emerald
sea, boys, searching for the sea
Oh my God
First love opens like a
flower
A black bear running through
the forest light holds me in her sight and her power
But tricky skies, your eyes
are true
The future is beauty and
sorrow
Still, I wish that we could
run away and live the life we used to
If just for tonight and
tomorrow
I am walking up the face
of the mountain
Counting every step I climb
Remembering the names of
the constellations
Forgotten is a long, long
time
That's me
I'm in the valley of twilight
Now I'm on the continental
shelf
That's me
I'm answering a question
I am asking of myself |
