LifeLines Live  1996

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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

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]

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]

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Come gather 'round people where ever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come writers and critics who prophesy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a' changin'!

The line it is drawn the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a' changin'!

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

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

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.

Stewball

Oh Stewball was a racehorse, and I wish he were mine.
He never drank water, he always drank wine.

His bridle was silver, his mane it was gold.
And the worth of his saddle has never been told.

Oh the fairgrounds were crowded, and Stewball was there
But the betting was heavy on the bay and the mare.

And a-way up yonder, ahead of them all,
Came a-prancin' and a-dancin' my noble Stewball.

I bet on the grey mare, I bet on the bay
If I'd have bet on ol' Stewball, I'd be a free man today.

Oh the hoot owl, she hollers, and the turtle dove moans.
I'm a poor boy in trouble, I'm a long way from home.

Oh Stewball was a racehorse, and I wish he were mine.
He never drank water,he always drank wine.

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

Virtual Party (See_You@Party.Net)

It's 11 o'clock in the evening - I'm barefoot -
And I'm logged-on to the INTERNET.
I usually pickup my e-mail in the afternoon
But on weekends sometimes I forget...
I yell down the hall to the bedroom, "Honey, I'll be right there..."
She says "that's ok, dear, I got a brand new book here and
I'm not going anywhere".

A funny thing about a couple when a couple of years've gone by.
You don't talk; you think you know each other so well you don't have to try...
you take for granted what you used to call enchanted just a while ago...
ah..when does a mystery turn into history?
I don't know...

Anyway, I got another meg of data coming down the line;
A Wall Street profile...spreadsheet from a friend of mine...
Up on the screen pops a little green box says 'click on me'.
Somewhere I swear Alice in Wonderland's callin'...

I look up at the clock (not as late as I thought: only quarter to one).
Download's finished, I could take five minutes and have me some fun.
The invitation's from a web location in Hong Kong.
It's already started, this virtual party runs all night long!
I say all night?

We're invited to a virtual party tonight...(you try it)
You're invited to a virtual party tonight...

There's computers in the microwave, computers in the automobile, computers in the phone.
Oh and even my wife who used to tell me to 'get a life'
has got a computer of her own.
I spend so much time saving time I can't find any time to spend ...
I've taped sixteen episodes of "Star Trek" but when am I gonna show them?!

It's un-believable, must be sixty, seventy people here at the party site.
Icons, Avatars, Images of Movie Stars surfing tonight...
Well I'm looking for a chat when I get a note that
says 'ya wanna go...to a place more private? I kinda think you'll like it...'
I say 'I...yi...'

She says her name is 'Mata Hari' and that she's particularly fond of older men...
Well maybe so, maybe not, maybe she's a guy that's got this urge to pretend...
And then it occurs to me, I don't need this fantasy...
after all, everything I'd be looking for, I've got and even more,
sleeping at the end of the hall...

I shut down the box, still it's three o'clock by the time I get to bed...
I lift up the covers; snuggle next to my lover; find a note there instead...
it says "the book was dumb, logged on, found a message from Hong Kong...
for a virtual party (I'm goin' as 'mata hari') may be all night long..."
I say all night?

Oh, Oh, you're invited to a virtual party tonight...
(what did you say now...?)
Oh, Oh, you're invited to a virtual party tonight...
(one more time now)
Oh, Oh, you're invited to a virtual party tonight...
(one more one more one more)
Ready or not here comes the 21st century
You're invited to a virtual party tonight...

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

Freedom Medley

I woke up this mornin' with my mind, set on freedom
I woke up this mornin' with my mind, set on freedom
I woke up this mornin' with my mind, set on freedom
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelu
I woke up this mornin' with my mind on freedom, hallelu

I'm singing - oh freedom, oh freedom, (oh freedom now)
Oh freedom over me
and before I'll be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave
and I'll go home to my Lord and I'll be free.

This train, she's bound for Glory, this train
This train, she's bound for Glory, this train
This train, she's bound for Glory,
This train, she's bound for Glory,
don't carry nobody but the righteous and the holy
this train she's bound for glory, this train

I'm singin'
Oh, what a beautiful city
Oh, what a beautiful city
God knows, it's a beautiful city
Twelve gates to the city
hallelujah

Gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
(Way, way down)
down by the riverside
Gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside
Study war no more

I ain't gonna study war no more
ain't gonna study war no more
ain't gonna study war no, study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more, study war no more
ain't gonna study war no more


Gonna lay down that atom bomb
Down by the riverside
(way, way down)
Down by the riverside
(way, way down)
Down by the riverside
Gonna lay down that atom bomb,
Down by the riverside
Study war no more
Study war no more

I ain't gonna study war no more
ain't gonna study war no more
ain't gonna study war no, study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more, study war no more
study war no more

We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome someday
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday
We shall live in peace
We shall live in peace
We shall live in peace someday
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday

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

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.

Sweet Survivor

You have asked me why the days fly by so quickly
And why each one feels no different from the last
And you say that you are fearful for the future
And you have grown suspicious of the past
And you wonder if the dreams we shared together
Have abandoned us or we abandoned them
And you cast about and try to find new meaning
So that you can feel that closeness once again.

Carry on my sweet survivor, carry on my lonely friend
Don't give up on the dream, and don't you let it end.
Carry on my sweet survivor,
Though you know that something's gone
For everything that matters carry on.

You remember when you felt each person mattered
When we all had to care or all was lost
But now you see believers turn to cynics
And you wonder was the struggle worth the cost
Then you see someone too young to know the difference
And a veil of isolation in their eyes
And inside you know you've got to leave them something
Or the hope for something better slowly dies.

Carry on my sweet survivor, carry on my lonely friend
Don't give up on the dream, and don't you let it end.
Carry on my sweet survivor, you've carried it so long
So it may come again, carry on
Carry on, carry on.

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