Disc 1 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. |
| 2:59 | ||||
Photographs of guns and flame
Scarlet skull and distant game Bayonet and jungle grin Nightmares dreamed by bleeding men Lookouts tremble on the shore But no man can find the war Tape recorders echo scream Orders fly like bullet stream Drums and cannons laugh aloud Whistles come from ashen shroud Leaders damn the world and roar But no man can find the war Is the war across the sea? Is the war behind the sky? Have you each and all gone blind Is the war inside your mind? Humans weep at human death All the talkers lose their breath Movies paint a chaos tale Singers see and poets wail All the world knows the score But no man can find the war |
||||||
2. |
| 3:12 | ||||
The singer cries for people's lies
He will sing for the day to bring him night The circus burns in carnival flame And for a while you won't know my name at all But sing and dance and love for pennies and gold The juggling clown smiles to me And every frown we agree is glad The nighttime comes to bring the bums From Bowery heat to Crimson Streets of wine But magic lands will never touch our sands Your children smile in single file They learn mistakes that others make They see although they cannot know The needs they'll need to have their greed grow wild But dance and sing for others bring the shame And for a while you won't know my name |
||||||
3. |
| 5:17 | ||||
You don't remember what to say, Lord
You don't remember what to do, Lord You don't remember where you've been And you don't remember who to choose You wheel and you steal But you're feeling honey when you kneel down Down, down, down, down, down, down, down All the stony people Walking round in Christian licorice clothes Lord, I can't hesitate Lord, no way I can't wait for pleasant street The pleasant street The sunshine reminds you of concreted skies You thought you were flying Till you opened up your eyes, honey And you found yourself falling Back down to yesterday's lies Hello, pleasant street, Lord we're back again You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down Down, down, down, down, down, down, down All the stony people Walking round in Christian licorice clothes Lord, I can't hesitate Lord, no way I can't wait for pleasant street I love my little pleasant street At twilight your lover comes to your room He's gonna spin you darlin' He's gonna weave 'em all, all around his emerald loom But softly, he whisper all around your ear Sweet lover, Lord, I love my pleasant street Lord, I wheel and Lord, I steal and Lord, I feel My way down to kneel Down, down, down, down, down, down |
||||||
4. |
| 4:53 | ||||
I saw you walking
Only yesterday When I ran to catch you You disappeared And the street was gray The candle died Now you are gone For the flame was too bright Now you are gone I heard you laughing With your laugh of gold When I called out to you Silence returned And the air was cold The castle fell Now you are gone And no more rings the bell Now you are gone I found a letter On the day it rained When I tore it open There in my hands Only ash remained The castle fell Now you are gone And no more rings the bell Now you are gone I felt you breathing As I fell asleep When I reached out to touch you No one was there And the night was deep The candle died Now you are gone For the flame was too bright Now you are gone I saw you walking Only yesterday When I ran to catch you You disappeared And the street was gray The castle fell Now you are gone No more rings the bell Now you are gone |
||||||
5. |
| 6:06 | ||||
O I never asked to be your mountain
I never asked to fly Remember when you came to me And told me of his lies You didn't understand my love You don't know why I try And the rain was falling on that day And damn the reason why The flying pisces sails for time And tells me of my child Wrapped in bitter tales and heartache He begs for just a smile O he never asked to be her mountain He never asked to fly And through his eye he comes his love And tells her not to cry She says, "your scoundrel father flies With a dancer called a queen And with her stolen cards he plays And laughs, but never wins" O the child dreams to be his hands In the counting of the rain But only barren breasts he feels For her milk will never drain As I die I can't remember Where I saw the rain: Could it be that her laughter Drove me down again? Charming dancer will you stop, Stop and talk to me? Is there someone else you feel In your dreams? you will, you see: In midnight gazes I've found you far from me: If you lead me on Please leave me down O flying flying fish Please flutter by my door: Yes you can drink my lies If first you read my eyes: Each one is titled "i'm drowning back to you": I can't swim your waters And you can't walk my lands: I'm sailing all my sins And I'm climbing all my fears And soon now I'll fly O I never asked to be your mountain I never asked to fly Remember when you came to me And told me of his lies You didn't understand my love You don't know why I try And the rain was falling on that day And that's the reason why Sweet lover, will you come back And love me for a while? Please take my hand Leave all your fears behind I've been gone too long Now I'm home to stay Please don't leave me Again this way Please come home |
||||||
6. |
| 3:23 | ||||
Once I was a soldier
And I fought on foreign sands for you Once I was a hunter And I brought home fresh meat for you Once I was a lover And I searched behind your eyes for you And soon there'll be another To tell you I was just a lie But sometimes I wonder Just for a while Will you ever remember me? Though you have forgotten All of our rubbish dreams I find myself searching Through the ashes of our ruins For the days when we smiled And the hours that ran wild With the magic of our eyes And the silence of our words And sometimes I wonder Just for a while Will you ever, ever, ever remember me? Ever remember me |
||||||
7. |
| 3:29 | ||||
If a fiddler played you a song, my love
And if I gave you a wheel Would you spin for my heart and loneliness Would you spin for my love If I gave up all of my pride for you And only loved you for now Would you hide my fears and never say Tomorrow I must go Everywhere there's rain my love Everywhere there's fear If you tell me a lie I'll cry for you Tell me of sin and I'll laugh If you tell me of all the pain you've had I'll never smile again I can plainly see that our parts have hanged Our sands are shifting around Need I beg to you for one more day To find our lonely love |
||||||
8. |
| 1:59 | ||||
9. |
| 8:42 | ||||
The antique people are down in the dungeons
Run by machines and afraid of the tax Their heads in the grave and their hands on their eyes Hauling their hearts around circular tracks Pretending forever their masquerade towers Are not really riddled with widening cracks And I wave goodbye to iron And smile hello to the air O the new children dance -- I am young All around the balloons -- I will live Swaying by chance -- I am strong To the breeze from the moon -- I can give Painting the sky -- You the strange With the colors of sun -- Seed of day Freely they fly -- Feel the change As all become one -- Know the Way The velocity addicts explode on the highways Ignoring the journey and moving so fast Their nerves fall apart and they gasp but can't breathe They run from the cops of the skeleton past Petrified by tradition in a nightmare they stagger Into nowhere at all and they look up aghast And I wave goodbye to speed And smile hello to a rose O the new children play -- I am young Under the juniper trees -- I will live Sky blue or gray -- I am strong They continue at ease -- I can give Moving so slow -- You the strange That serenely they can -- Seed of day Gracefully grow -- Feel the change And yes still understand -- Know the Way The king and the queen in their castle of billboards Sleepwalk down the hallways dragging behind All their possessions and transient treasures As they go to worship the electronic shrine On which is playing the late late commercial In that hollowest house of the opulent blind And I wave goodbye to Mammon And smile hello to a stream O the new children buy -- I am young All the world for a song -- I will live Without a dime -- I am strong To which they belong -- I can give Nobody owns -- You the strange Anything anywhere -- Seed of day Everyone's grown -- Feel the change Up so big they can share -- Know the Way The vaudeville generals cavort on the stage And shatter their audience with submachine guns And Freedom and Violence the acrobat clowns Do a balancing act on the graves of our sons While the tapdancing Emperor sings "War is peace" And Love the Magician disappears in the fun And I wave goodbye to murder And smile hello to the rain O the new children can't -- I am young Tell a foe from a friend -- I will live Quick to enchant -- I am strong And so glad to extend -- I can give Handfuls of dawn -- You the strange To kaleidoscope men -- Seed of day Come from beyond -- Feel the change The Great Wall of Skin -- Know the Way The bloodless husbands are jesters who listen Like sheep to the shrieks and commands of their wives And the men who aren't men leave the women alone See them all faking love on a bed made of knives Afraid to discover or trust in their bodies And in secret divorce they will never survive And I wave goodbye to ashes And smile hello to a girl O the new children kiss -- I am young They are so proud to learn -- I will live Womanwood bliss -- I am strong And the manfire that burns -- I can give Knowing no fear -- You the strange They take off their clothes -- Seed of day Honest and clear - Feel the change As a river that flows - Know the Way The antique people are fading out slowly Like newspapers flaming in mind suicide Godless and sexless directionless loons Their sham sandcastles dissolve in the tide They put on their deathmasks and compromise daily The new children will live for the elders have died And I wave goodbye to America And smile hello to the world |
||||||
10. |
| 2:52 | ||||
I lit my purest candle close to my
Window, hoping it would catch the eye Of any vagabond who passed it by, And I waited in my fleeting house Before he came I felt him drawing near; As he neared I felt the ancient fear That he had come to wound my door and jeer, And I waited in my fleeting house "Tell me stories," I called to the Hobo; "Stories of cold," I smiled at the Hobo; "Stories of old," I knelt to the Hobo; And he stood before my fleeting house "No," said the Hobo, "No more tales of time; Don't ask me now to wash away the grime; I can't come in 'cause it's too high a climb," And he walked away from my fleeting house "Then you be damned!" I screamed to the Hobo; "Leave me alone," I wept to the Hobo; "Turn into stone," I knelt to the Hobo; And he walked away from my fleeting house |