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The Kid
I'm the kid who ran away with the circus
Now I'm watering elephants
But I sometimes lie awake in the sawdust
Dreaming I'm in a suit of light
Late at night in the empty big top
I'm all alone on the high wire
Look he's working without a net this time
He's a real death defier
I'm the kid who always looked out the window
Failing tests in geography
But I've seen things far beyond just the schoolyard
Distant shores of exotic lands
There're the spires of the Turkish Empire
Six months since we made landfall
Riding low with the spice of India
Through Gibraltar, we're rich men all
I'm the kid who thought we'd someday be lovers
Always held out that time would tell
Time was talking
I guess I just wasn't listening
No surprise, if you know me well
And as we're walking toward the train station
There's a whispering rainfall
Across the boulevard, you slip your hand in mine
in the distance the train calls
I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming
Sometimes gets me in trouble too
But the truth is
I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true
Than I could make them all come true
Babylon / Oh Sinner Man
By the waters, the waters of Babylon
We sat down and wept, and wept for thee Zion
We remember, we remember, we remember thee Zion
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to
All on that day
Run to the rock, rock was a meltin'
Run to the sea, sea was a boilin'
Run to the moon, moon was a bleedin'
Run to the Lord, Lord won't you hide me?
Lord said "Sinner man, you shoulda been a prayin'"
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to
All on that day? |
Wanderin'
My daddy is an engineer, my brother drives a hack
My sister pulls in washing, the baby balls the jack
And it looks like I'm never gonna cease my wanderin'
I been wanderin' early and late
New York City to the Golden Gate
And it looks like I'm never gonna cease my wanderin'
Snakes in the ocean, eels in the sea
A red headed woman made a wreck'a me
And it looks like I'm never gonna cease my wanderin'
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
Nobody knows you when you're down and out
In your pocket, not one penny
and your friends you know you haven't any
If I ever get my hands on a dollar again
I'm gonna hold onto it 'til George Washington grins
It's mighty strange without a doubt
Nobody wants you when you're down and out
House Of The Rising Sun
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
It's been the ruin of many poor girls
And me, oh God, am one
If you had listened to what your momma said
You'd be at home today
But I was young and foolish, oh Lord
You let a gambler lead you astray
Go tell my baby sister
Don't do as I have done
But shun that house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
I'm going back to New Orleans
Your race is almost run
I'm going back to lay my head
Beneath that rising sun
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
It's been the ruin of many poor girls
And me, I'm one, oh God
And me, oh God, am one
You poor girl, you are one |
The Love Of It All
In the beginning, as life became form,
The oceans heaved, the mountains were cleaved,
The firmament stormed.
At the center of being, immensely small
Was the master of now, don't ask me how
The Love of it all
And the seasons were many.
Creation was new.
And there on a tree (deceptively free)
A forbidden fruit
Upon leaving the garden, after the fall,
One thing was clear; we chose not to hear
The Love of it all
But for the Love of it all
I would go anywhere.
To the ends of the earth,
What is it worth if Love would be there?
Walking the thin line between fear and the call
One learns to bend and finally depend
On the Love of it all
"Irresistible targets"
I heard someone say.
They were speaking of angels
Who are so courageous day after day
Gunned down on a highway (as we often recall)
I hear a scream; I have a dream
The Love of it all
Still the world is in labor,
She groans in travail.
She cries with the eagle, the dolphin,
She sighs in the song of the whale.
While the heart of her people
Prays at the wall.
A spirit inside is preparing a bride
For the Love of it all
For the Love of it all,
Like the stars and the sun,
We are hearts on the rise,
Separate eyes with the vision of one.
No valley too deep, no mountain too tall,
We can turn back the night with merely the light
From the Love of it all.
And so we are marching to 'to give peace a chance'
Brother and sister as one in this mystery dance.
Long ago on a hilltop where now the curious crawl
A man on a cross paid the ultimate cost
For the Love of it all
For the Love of it all
We are gathered by grace
We have followed our hearts
To take up our parts
In this time and place.
Hands for the harvest,
Hear the centuries call:
It is still not too late to come celebrate
The Love of it all
"Eli, eli, lemana shabakthani"
The Love of it all |
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Home Is Where The Heart Is
On the corner there's this nice man
His name is Mark, He's always smiling
He's got this mom who comes on Wednesdays
In the evening with soup so steaming
He shares his house with his friend Martin
They're not brothers, they're not cousins
My little girl wonders all about these men
I take hold of her hand, and I begin
[Chorus:]
Home is where the heart is
No matter how the heart lives
Inside your heart where love is
That's where you've got to make yourself
At home
Across the yard live Deb and Tricia
With their tools and ladders
And their room addition
My kid yells over, "Are ya having a baby?"
They wink and smile, they say, "Someday maybe."
But through their doors go kids and mommies
Funny how you don't see the daddies go in
My little girl wonders
'Bout this house with no men,
I take hold of her hand
And I begin
[Chorus]
'Round the corner, here comes Martin
He's alone now, he tries smiling
He roams around his well stocked kitchen
He knows that fate will soon be coming
My little girl wonders where he will live
I take hold of her hand and I begin
[Chorus]
Martin sits and waits with his windows open
His house is empty, his heart is broken
We bring him toys and watercolors
He loves to hear my little baby's stories
She's the gift I share
She's his companion
She's the string on the kite
She guides him into the wind
My little girl wonders who will care for him
We take hold of his hand and we begin |
Take The Chance
There's a little girl playing in the garden
She thinks that she's alone and no one sees
But the beauty of it all
As the daisy petals fall
Is the wish she's made that's whispered in the breeze
There's the wish in the breeze
[Chorus:]
Won't you take the chance
And let your tears start falling
And ignore the fearful warning of your mind
Let your heart for once do all the talking
And believe that you deserve for the sun to shine
Believe that you deserve for the sun to shine
There's an old woman sitting in the doorway
And she greets the people each one as they pass
Sometimes they hover 'round her for her wisdom
Sometimes so she'll remind them how to laugh
They know that she'll remind them how to laugh
[Chorus]
Now on a hill there stands a cross above a graveyard
And the simple word carved in it says "forgive"
No war or killing anger can match the force it carries
It can heal the generations so that other ones can live
It can heal us, so we can live
[Chorus]
Now there's a moment between forward and retreating
When you're just not sure which path you ought to choose
Then the sun shines brightly on the golden meadow
And suddenly, you're not at all confused
Suddenly, you're not confused
That's when you take the chance
And let your tears start falling
And ignore the fearful warnings of your mind
And you let your heart for once do all the talking
And believe that you deserve for the sun to shine
You always did deserve for the sun to shine
I love you, and I want the sun to shine. |
September Song
When I was a young man courting the girls
I played me a waiting game.
If a maid refused me with tossing curls
I'd let the old earth take a couple of twirls
And I'd ply her with tears instead of pearls
And as time came around, she came my way
As time came around, she came
But it's a long, long while from May to December
And the days grow short when you reach September.
The autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
And I haven't got the time for the waiting game.
Oh, the days dwindle down to precious few;
September, November.
And these few precious days I'll spend with you.
These precious days I'll spend with you.
24 Green Street
The paint is old and peeling
The shutters show some cracks
There's a heavy limb on the apple tree
That's got to be cut back
There's some water in the cellar
A little sagging in the floor
But this house has weathered many storms
It will weather many more
'Cause I scraped away the peeling paint
And found the wood was good and strong
And I found a firm foundation
Had been there all along
There's nothing here that a little work
And time can't heal
'Cause everything underneath is real
Nerves are frayed and ragged
Patience is wearing thin
Words were said in fits of rage
That never should have been
We bruised each other badly
Lost respect along the way
But there's too much here worth saving
To throw it all away
Can't we lay aside our fear and pride
And find the good within
All that we have shared before
Can be restored again
There's nothing here that a little work
And time can't heal
'Cause everything underneath is real |
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Old Enough (Ode To An Aging Rocker)
Lately I've been picking up strange vibrations
I hear my music now on oldies stations
"Put out a CD called "the best of what I was"
My picture's on the cover and no one knows
Just when you think you've got the wisdom of the ages
Nobody seems to want to turn your pages
I used to think I was the cat's pajamas
Now I'm about as hip as Fernando Lamas
(cause I'm) Old enough
Old enough to be your father
Old enough
Old enough (and then some)
And now my kids are taking me to the shows
There's hip-hop, rap, grunge music I don't know
I like to think I'm still part of the crowd
But, how can they hear the lyrics
When the music is so loud?!
I dig rock and roll music
(I been saying that for a while)
But I wonder if you knew
That rhythm & blues begat the rock and roll style?
And just like that, way before rap,
Woody Guthrie spread the news
He told it straight, let us relate
This Talking Union Blues:
Well if you want higher wages, let me tell you what to do
You've got to talk to the workers in the shop with you
You got to build you a union, got to make it strong
But if you all stick together, boys, it won't be long
You get shorter hours, better working conditions
Vacations with pay, take the kids to the seashore
Well I remember I was seventeen
I was a Birmingham High School rock and roll king
The paper talked about how I'd strut my stuff
I'd like to read it, but my arms aren't long enough
I kinda like my new senior status
I don't even care what the latest fad is
My g-generation's rediscovered me
And now I'm on the cover of modern maturity |
The Great Mandala (The Wheel Of Life)
So I told him that he'd better shut his mouth
And do his job like a man.
And he answered "Listen, Father,
I will never kill another."
He thinks he's better
than his brother that died
What the hell does he think he's doing
To his father who brought him up right?
[Chorus:]
Take your place on The Great Mandala
As it moves through your brief moment of time.
Win or lose now you must choose now
And if you lose you're only losing your life.
Tell the jailer not to bother
With his meal of bread and water today.
He is fasting 'til the killing's over
He's a martyr, he thinks he's a prophet.
But he's a coward, he's just playing a game
He can't do it, he can't change it
It's been going on for ten thousand years
[Chorus]
Tell the people they are safe now
Hunger stopped him, he lies still in his cell.
Death has gagged his accusations
We are free now, we can kill now,
We can hate now, now we can end the world
We're not guilty, he was crazy
And it's been going on for ten thousand years!
Take your place on The Great Mandala
As it moves through your brief moment of time.
Win or lose now you must choose now
And if you lose you've only wasted your life. |
Deportee
The crops are all in, the peaches are rotting
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps
They're flying us back to the Mexican border
To pay all our money just to wade back again
Some of us are illegal and some are not wanted
Our work contract's out and we have to move on
600 miles to that Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like thieves on the run
[Chorus:]
Goodbye to my Juan, good-bye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee
The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos canyon
A fireball of lightning that shook all the hills
Who are these friends now all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says they are just deportees
[Chorus]
We died in your hills, we died in your deserts
We died in your valleys and we died on your plains
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes
Both sides of the river, we died just the same
Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves and to rot on the topsoil
And be called by no name except
deportees?
[Chorus] |
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75 Septembers
In the year of the yellow cab
In the shadow of the great world war
The third kid grandmom had
Came into this world
On a rolling farm in Maryland
When Wilson was the President
And summer blew her good-bye through the trees
A child of changing times
Growing up between the wars
The Fords rolled off the line
And bars all closed their doors
And I imagine you back then
With snap brim hat and farmer's tan
Where horses drew their wagons through the fields
[Chorus:]
Now the fields are all four lanes
And the moon's not just a name
Are you more amazed at how things change
Or how they stay the same
And do you sit here on this porch and wonder
How the time flies by
Or does it seem to barely creep along
With 75 Septembers come and gone
Were the fields all gold and fawn
Was the spring house dark and cool
Did the rooster crow at dawn
When they got you up for school
And would you tell me once again
The tales of grandad's hired men
And how they drove the old road to town
[Chorus] |
But A Moment
Memory moves us past each other
Time is a ribbon without end
Love is the lesson we keep learning
Death but a moment we must spend
Last week as I made our lunch
We talked of yesterdays
I remember more than you
That happens lots these days
But how we laughed, I almost cried
And the afternoon flew by
As we sat on the patio sipping our drinks
And the sunlight began to die
Memory moves us past each other
Time is a ribbon without an end
Love is the lesson we keep learning
Death but a moment we must spend
And we try to give each other comfort
We try to hold off that dark night
Each of us careful of the other
Keeping our own fear out of sight
Ah, you know I've always loved you
And I know you've loved me too
So it's hard to watch you crumble
And forget all that you knew
Yesterday while I was driving
Sunlight streaming through the trees
Suddenly my heartache parted
And suddenly I felt at ease
You will love me all your life
And I will love you all of mine
That's the gift we give each other
That's the gift divine
Memory moves us past each other
Though time is a ribbon without an end
Love's still the lesson we keep learning
And death but a moment we must spend |
River Of Jordan
I traveled the banks of the River of Jordan
To find where it flows to the sea.
I looked in the eyes of the cold and the hungry
And I saw I was looking at me.
I wanted to know if life had a purpose
And what it all means in the end.
In the silence I listened to voices inside me
And they told me again and again.
The is only one river. There is only one sea.
And it flows through you, and it flows through me.
There is only one people. We are one and the same.
We are all one spirit. We are all one name.
We are the father, mother, daughter and son.
From the dawn of creation, we are one.
We are one.
Every blade of grass on the mountain
Every drop in the sea
Every cry of a newborn baby
Every prayer to be free
Every hope at the end of a rainbow
Every song ever sung
Is a part of the family of woman and man
And that means everyone.
We are only one river. We are only one sea.
And it flows through you, and it flows through me.
We are only one people. We are one and the same.
We are all one spirit. We are all one name.
We are the father, mother, daughter and son
From the dawn of creation, we are one.
We are one. |