Poetry and Lyrics

[Tathagata]

Instant Karma
John Lennon ;


Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see
Laughin' at fools like me
Who in the hell d'you think you are
A super star
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Ev'ryone come on

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Ev'ryone you meet
Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Come on and on and on on on
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
On and on and on on and on

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun

 

[Angeline]

One of my favorites--I saw him perform it with King Crimson, and it's a great one to read today, lol.

Elephant Talk
Adrien Belew

Talk, it's only talk
arguments, agreements, advice
answers, articulate announcements
it's only talk

Talk, it's only talk
babble, burble, banter
bicker bicker bicker
brouhaha, balderdash, ballyhoo
it's only talk
backtalk

Talk, talk, talk, it's only talk
comments, cliche's, commentary
chatter, chit chat
conversation, contradiction, criticism
it's only talk
cheap talk

Talk, it's only talk
debates, discussions
these are words with a "d" this time
dialogue, duologue, diatribe
dissension, declamation
double talk, double talk

Talk, talk, it's all talk
too much talk, small talk
talk that trash
expressions, editorials, explanations
exclamations, exaggerations
it's all talk

 

[tarablackwood22]

......far from critique and argument

Richard Thompson

How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?


She danced in the street
with the guns all around her,
all torn like a rag doll,
barefoot in the rain.
She sang like a child--
toora-day, toora-daddy.
How will I ever be simple again?

She sat by the banks
of the dirty grey river
and tried for a fish
with a worm on a pin.
There was nothing but fever
and ghosts in the water.
How will I ever be simple again?

War was my love
and my friend and companion,
and what did I care for?
The pretty and plain.
Her smile was so clear
and my heart was so troubled.
How will I ever be simple again?

In her poor burned-out house
I sat at her table.
The smell of her hair
was like cornfields in May.
I wanted to weep,
my eyes ached from trying.
How will I ever be simple again?

So graceful she moved
through the dust and the ruin.
Happy she was
in her dances and games.
Teach me to see
with your innocent eyes, love.
How will I ever be simple again?

 

[Man Ray]

David Sylvian...

Anything by David Sylvian is poetry to music...

THE INK IN THE WELL

The lights of the ashes smoulder through hills and vales
Nostalgia burns in the hearts of the strongest
Picasso is painting the ships in the harbour
The wind and sails
These are years with a genius for living

The rope is cut, the rabbit is loose
(fire at will in this open season)
The blood of a poet, the ink in the well
(it’s all written down in this age of reason)

The animals run through harvested fields of fire
The bitterness shown on the face of the homeless
Picasso

 

[Man Ray]

Another...

This is a very haunting song (no pun intended!)...

Ghosts

When the room is quiet
The daylight almost gone
It seems there's something I should know
Well I ought to leave but
The rain it never stops
And I have no particular place to go

Just when I think I'm winning
When I've broken every door
The ghosts of my life
Blow wilder then before
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind

Well I'm feeling nervous
And I find myself alone
The simple life's no longer there
Once I was so sure
Now the doubt inside my mind
Comes and goes but leads nowhere

Just when I think I'm winning
When I've broken every door
The ghosts of my life
Blow wilder then before
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind

 

[Man Ray]

Nightporter...

This is a very evocative and sensual song...

Nightporter

Could I ever explain
This feeling of love it just lingers on
The fear in my heart that keeps telling me which way to turn

We'll wander again
Our clothes they are wet
We shy from the rain
Longing to touch all the places we know we can hide
The width of a room that can hold so much pleasure inside

Here am I alone again
A quiet town where life begins
Here am I just wondering
Nightporters go
Nightporters slip away

I'll watch for a sign
And if I should ever again cross your mind
I'll sit in my room and wait until nightlife begins
I'm catching my breath
We'll both brave the weather again

Here am I alone again
A quiet town where life gives in
Here am I just wondering
Nightporters go
Nightporters slip away

 

[Angeline]

These are beautiful Man Ray. Thank you.

 

[Angeline]

Ok Denis. Where the Hale are you? I know you have stuff for this thread.

 

[Tathagata]

One of my favorites--I saw him perform it with King Crimson, and it's a great one to read today, lol.

Elephant Talk
Adrien Belew

Talk, it's only talk
arguments, agreements, advice
answers, articulate announcements
it's only talk

Talk, it's only talk
babble, burble, banter
bicker bicker bicker
brouhaha, balderdash, ballyhoo
it's only talk
backtalk

Talk, talk, talk, it's only talk
comments, cliche's, commentary
chatter, chit chat
conversation, contradiction, criticism
it's only talk
cheap talk

Talk, it's only talk
debates, discussions
these are words with a "d" this time
dialogue, duologue, diatribe
dissension, declamation
double talk, double talk

Talk, talk, it's all talk
too much talk, small talk
talk that trash
expressions, editorials, explanations
exclamations, exaggerations
it's all talk

OMG
One of my Favorite songs!!
I didn't think anyone else even Knew this song
I AM impressed

 

[Tathagata]

Re: ......far from critique and argument

Richard Thompson

How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?


She danced in the street
with the guns all around her,
all torn like a rag doll,
barefoot in the rain.
She sang like a child--
toora-day, toora-daddy.
How will I ever be simple again?

She sat by the banks
of the dirty grey river
and tried for a fish
with a worm on a pin.
There was nothing but fever
and ghosts in the water.
How will I ever be simple again?

War was my love
and my friend and companion,
and what did I care for?
The pretty and plain.
Her smile was so clear
and my heart was so troubled.
How will I ever be simple again?

In her poor burned-out house
I sat at her table.
The smell of her hair
was like cornfields in May.
I wanted to weep,
my eyes ached from trying.
How will I ever be simple again?

So graceful she moved
through the dust and the ruin.
Happy she was
in her dances and games.
Teach me to see
with your innocent eyes, love.
How will I ever be simple again?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I posted these lyrics some where
this song always makes me cry
and it has a great guitar solo
excellent taste tara
; )

 

[Angeline]

I'm listening to this now, and I don't know what's more gorgeous--the lyric, the music, or Buddy Miller's voice. And Emmylou Harris is singing harmony--that's about as good as it gets.

P.S. Buddy Miller is the guy in my AV.


Don't Tell Me
Buddy Miller

Tell my heart to stop beating
Tell my mind not to think
Throw a stone in the ocean
Tell that stone not to sink
Tell the world to stop turning round
Tell the sky not to be so blue
Tell the rain to start falling down like tears
But don't tell me to stop loving you
Don't tell me to stop loving you

Tell the past to be forgotten
Tell my life not to exist
Tell a promise made to be unspoken
And my lips not to have been kissed
Tell the world to stop turning round
Tell the sky not to be so blue
Tell the rain to start falling down like tears
But don't tell me to stop loving you
Don't tell me to stop loving you

I can't do it
I can't stop
It's something that love has sealed
Only the broken hearted know the way I feel

Tell the world to stop turning round
Tell the sky not to be so blue
Tell the rain to start falling down like tears
But don't tell me to stop loving you
Don't tell me to stop loving you


le sigh

 

[denis hale]

Here I Am!

I AM A TREE lyrics by Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)

I am a tree-- I show my age when I don't cry
I have the leaves that fall off when wind blows by
Don't strip off my bark-- I have been stripped of it before
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow has so much more in store

You are a bird-- you're taking off in every way
Say the last word, until there is nothing more to say

Don't interrupt-- you know the squirrels are my friends
Get off my limb, for I will break before I bend

I'm planning to see
I'm planning to feel you
all over me

So climb up my trunk
and build on your nest-- Come get
the sap out of me

I am a tree!
Fruitless and free!
No symmetry--
Touch me and see...

I am a tree-- counting my rings will do no good
I won't live long but I would be with you if I could
When you take flight, remember me to one who lives there
Since you have flown, there's something special in the air.

I'm planning to see
I'm planning to feel you
all over me
So climb up my trunk
and build on your nest -- Come get
the sap out of me

I am a tree!
Fruitless and free!
No symmetry--
Touch me and see...

 

[Angeline]

Re: Here I Am!

I AM A TREE lyrics by Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)

I am a tree-- I show my age when I don't cry
I have the leaves that fall off when wind blows by
Don't strip off my bark-- I have been stripped of it before
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow has so much more in store

You are a bird-- you're taking off in every way
Say the last word, until there is nothing more to say

Don't interrupt-- you know the squirrels are my friends
Get off my limb, for I will break before I bend

I'm planning to see
I'm planning to feel you
all over me

So climb up my trunk
and build on your nest-- Come get
the sap out of me

I am a tree!
Fruitless and free!
No symmetry--
Touch me and see...

I am a tree-- counting my rings will do no good
I won't live long but I would be with you if I could
When you take flight, remember me to one who lives there
Since you have flown, there's something special in the air.

I'm planning to see
I'm planning to feel you
all over me
So climb up my trunk
and build on your nest -- Come get
the sap out of me

I am a tree!
Fruitless and free!
No symmetry--
Touch me and see...

merci! I knew you'd have good stuff for this thread.

 

[Liar]

Re: Here I Am!

I AM A TREE lyrics by Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)

I'M A TREE (Imani Coppola)

There's a tree in the city
It ain't lookin' pretty
Blessed with stress
Smog clogging feelin' shitty
There's a river on the highway
Things aint goin' my way
Turn around, go away
Come again another day
To the bed I go
Stumble to and fro
Tired from another day of lookin' for my glow
It's hard to get up
You can say I'm fed up
One things for certain
I gotta keep my head up

The sun aint hard to see
Just turn off your TV
Everything around you is just part of every other thing
I'm a tree

(Don't have the rest, sorry)

 

[Angeline]

Food for thought

100 Million Little Bombs
<----------Buddy Miller
(from a wonderful cd--Poison Love)

Three dollar bombs a 100 thousand more
Steps of a child and the ground explodes
You can't clear one before another reloads
To ratchet up the ante again.

They're cheap and they're simple
They're green and black
They'll take you right down on a one way track
We've gone so far now that we can't get back
And we still won't stop this train

Footfall of a soldier
Footfall of a child
They don't know the difference
They're blind and mean and wild

100 Million and the wheel go round
Lunch in Geneova and the deals go down
We'll still have to fight a century from now
The battles of a long long war

What do you with what's left behind
What can you grow in the fields of mine
What do you do when you find that's all you got
When you get back home

They're only made for terror
They don't care who they harm
Three dollars each to make em
A 1000 to disarm

Three dollar bombs a 100 thousand more
Steps of a child and the ground explodes
You can't clear one before another reloads
To ratchet up the ante again.

They're cheap and they're simple
They're green and black
They'll take you right down on a one way track
We've gone so far now that we can't get back
And we still won't turn around

100 million still in the ground
Lunch in Geneva and the deals go down
They'll still have to fight a century from now
The battles of a long time war

From China to Angolia
Cambodia where they laid
With chips from Motorola
Made in the USA

Three dollar bombs a 100 thousand more
Steps of a child and the ground explodes
You can't clear one before another reloads
To ratchet up the ante again

They're cheap and they're simple
They're green and black
They'll take you right down on a one way track
We've gone so far now that we can't get back
And we still won't stop this train

 

[Angeline]

More Buddy

It ain't highbrow, but it's a great lyric. Buy the cd now.

Love Grows Wild
Buddy Miller

There's a place where love grows wild
Where hearts can trust just like a child
A wild thing don't need a lot
It just grows on what it's got
It stills grows no matter what

I used to be too hard to care
But till you do you ain't nowhere
Once I just threw love away
But that fool was yesterday
Now my heart is home to stay

Wild things grow on less than a little
And darling I know it'll be
You and me right down the middle
Where love grows wild

Gave up all those valentines
Now I just want the one that's mine
I will say I love you so
When I do it you will know
Darling I will never go

Wild things grow on less than a little
And darling I know it'll be
You and me right down the middle
Where love grows wild

You give me the sweetest love
You must be straight from above
You're so good at loving me
And so fine it's plain to see
This was surely meant to be

 

[Man Ray]

Janis Ian...?

In response to the question `who do I like music wise?`, I say Janis Ian...and I then get a blank look from them! I hope at least one other person as heard of her and loves her music and poetic lyrics as much as me!

IN THE WINTER
(Janis Ian)

The days are okay
I watch the TV in the afternoon
if I get lonely
the sound of other voices
other rooms are near to me
I'm not afraid

The operator
she tells the time
it's good for a laugh
There's always radio
And for a dime I can
talk to God, dial a prayer
are you there,
do you care
Are you there?

And in the winter
extra blankets for the cold
Fix the heater, getting old
I am wiser now, you know
and still as big a fool
concerning you

I met your friend
She's very nice, what can I say?
It was an accident
I never dreamed we'd meet again
This way - you're looking well
I'm not afraid

You have a lovely home
Just like a picture
No, I live alone
I found it easier
You must remember how
I never liked the party life
Up all night, lovely wife
You have a lovely wife

And in the winter
extra blankets for the cold
Fix the heater, getting old
You are with her now, I know
I'll live alone forever
Not together now

 

[Man Ray]

Another...

Passion Play
(Janis Ian)

She came from Dakota
though some say she hailed from the South
He tried to believe
but each time she would leave
with the venom that dripped from her mouth
Like some angel of old bent on saving the soul,
drugged to the knees he would pray
to some rude Russian icon
that twined like a python
and blinded the sun night and day
and he'd say

Please bring me peace
You say you'll stay just to leave me
whole, all of my soul your passion play

Thou she lies to amuse, she lies to confuse
passion with vision and pain
He lies for possession and time
though there's no time to gain
Squandering feeling, constantly stealing
away from the sound of her name
is like thunder and lighting
hiding the sound of the rain
and she'd say

CHORUS

So he searches for truth
in the beauty that once was her name
senselessly trusting in time to remind her
blind, she came
Suddenly rootless, fashionably useless
magically fruitless and tame
like some Sunday scholar who lives off the squalor
of yesterday's knowledge and fame
and he'd say

CHORUS

Well some overdose, and some wrap like a rose
'round the slick perfumed nose of high noon
Burning their lips as they stoop low to kiss
some rich man's excuse for the moon
I must have been lucky - got out with my body
intact and tomorrow in tune
Now it's this sense of time that wraps like a vine
'round the neck of the sun and the moon
he'd say

 

[minsue]

Nope, never heard of Janis. For some reason, though, you made me think of Shawn Colvin. (I don't know why. My mind makes odd links. )


If I Were Brave

All the happy couples on their way to New Orleans
Reminding me of when we got along
They're only renting time and space to fill up with their dreams
And dreams are what they'll have when they have gone
How could it be that I was born without a clue to carry on
And still it is the same now I am older
Armed with just a will and then this love for singing songs
And minding less and less if I am colder

But I have this funny ache and it's burning in my chest
And it spreads just like a fire inside my body
Is it something God left out in my spirit or my flesh
Would I be saved if I were brave and had a baby

It was never clear what would come but that's the risk and that's the test
And you were the only one so far to follow
And no one talks about when one might stop and need to rest
Or how long you sit alone before you stop looking back
It's like you're waiting for Godot
And then you pick your sorry ass up off the street and
Go...

And what the hell is this? Who made this bloody mess?
And someone always answers like a martyr
Is it something you should know, did you never do your best
Would you be saved if you were brave and just tried harder

So now I ride the ought one thirtyfive to New Orleans
I float a mile above life's toil and trouble
A thousand lonely lifetimes I still wait and then go on
A clown to entertain the happy couples

 

[minsue]

One more from Shawn Colvin...


The Facts About Jimmy

Jimmy is married and he lives down south
His wife lives somewhere colder
He sees another woman in a badlands town
And she cries upon his shoulder
Jimmy thinks that he's a helpless man
He thinks about love in a vacuum
And he won't remember that talk you had
When you were walking into the bedroom

He'll say I don't know why we met
The simple truth is always the best
C'est la vie - what's done is done
And there's somebody for everyone

Jimmy has debts and Jimmy has ties
That he can't get out from under
If you look far enough into his eyes
It'll rock you just like thunder

Jimmy broke locks and Jimmy broke bolts
Just to get himself out from under
When you feel like you're lying in a prison cell
It'll kind of make you wonder

He'll say it's destiny we met
The simple truth is always the best
Don't you see what's done is done
And there's somebody for everyone

I used to get drunk to get my spark
And it used to work just fine
It made me wretched but it gave me heart
I miss Jimmy like I miss my wine

Jimmy as if you didn't know by now
Let me tell you a thing or two
Everybody might have someone
But everyone falls in love with you...

He'll say you get just what you get
The simple truth is always the best
Don't you see what's done is done?
And there's somebody for everyone

 

[Angeline]

One more from Shawn Colvin...


The Facts About Jimmy

Jimmy is married and he lives down south
His wife lives somewhere colder
He sees another woman in a badlands town
And she cries upon his shoulder
Jimmy thinks that he's a helpless man
He thinks about love in a vacuum
And he won't remember that talk you had
When you were walking into the bedroom

He'll say I don't know why we met
The simple truth is always the best
C'est la vie - what's done is done
And there's somebody for everyone

Jimmy has debts and Jimmy has ties
That he can't get out from under
If you look far enough into his eyes
It'll rock you just like thunder

Jimmy broke locks and Jimmy broke bolts
Just to get himself out from under
When you feel like you're lying in a prison cell
It'll kind of make you wonder

He'll say it's destiny we met
The simple truth is always the best
Don't you see what's done is done
And there's somebody for everyone

I used to get drunk to get my spark
And it used to work just fine
It made me wretched but it gave me heart
I miss Jimmy like I miss my wine

Jimmy as if you didn't know by now
Let me tell you a thing or two
Everybody might have someone
But everyone falls in love with you...

He'll say you get just what you get
The simple truth is always the best
Don't you see what's done is done?
And there's somebody for everyone

Your lyric made me think of this one.

Conversation
Joni Mitchell

He comes for conversation
I comfort him sometimes
Comfort and consultation
He knows that’s what he’ll find
I bring him grapes and cheeses
He brings me songs to play
He sees me when he pleases
I see him in cafes
And I only say, hello
And turn away before his lady knows
How much I want to see him
She removes him, like a ring
To wash her hands
She only brings him out to show her friends
I want to free him

Secrets and sharing soda
That’s how our time began
Love is a story told to a friend
It’s second hand
But I’ll listen to his questions
I’ll give my answers when they’re found
He says she keeps him guessing
But I know she keeps him down
She speaks in sorry sentences
Miraculous repentances
I don’t believe her
Tomorrow he will come to me
And he’ll speak his sorrow endlessly and he’ll ask me why
Why can’t I leave her?

He comes for conversation
I comfort him sometimes
Comfort and consultation
He knows that’s what he’ll find

 

[Angeline]

And another Joni just because I really really love this song.

In France they Kiss on Main Street
Joni Mitchell

Downtown
My darling dimestore thief
In the war of independence
Rock ’n roll rang sweet as victory
Under neon signs
A girl was in bloom
And a woman was fading
In a suburban room
I said, take me to the dance
Do you want to dance?
I love to dance
And I told him, they don’t take chances
They seem so removed from romance
They’ve been broken in churches and schools
And molded to middle class circumstance
And we were rolling, rolling, rock n’ rolling

Downtown
The dance halls and cafes
Feel so wild you could break somebody’s heart
Just doing the latest dance craze
Gail and louise
In those push-up brassieres
Tight dresses and rhinestone rings
Drinking up the band’s beers
Young love was kissing under bridges
Kissing in cars, kissing in cafes
And we were walking down main street
Kisses like bright flags hung on holidays
In france they kiss on main street
Amour, mama, not cheap display
And we were rolling, rolling, rock n’ rolling

Downtown
In the pinball arcade
With his head full of pool hall pitches
And songs from the hit parade
He’d be singing bye, bye, love
While he’s racking up his free play
Let those rock ’n roll choir boys
Come and carry us away
Sometimes chickie had the car
Or ron had a car
Or lead foot melvin with his hot-wire head
We’d all go looking for a party
Looking to raise jesus up from the dead
And I’d be kissing in the back seat
Thrilling to the brando-like things that he said
And we’d be rolling, rolling, rock n’ rolling

 

[Tathagata]

Nick Cave

If you've never heard of him...you don't know what you're missing
A cross between Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop and maybe Bryan Ferry
Great voice
great lyrics

Nick Cave - Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore



Once there came a storm in the form of a girl
It blew to pieces my snug little world
Sometimes I swear I can still hear her howl
Down through the wreckage and the ruins
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone

Now the storm has passed over me
I'm left to drift on a dead calm sea
And watch her forever through the cracks in the beams
Nailed across the doorways of the bedrooms of my dreams
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone

Now I got no one to hold
Now I am all alone again
It ain't too hot but it ain't too cold
And there is no sign of rain
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone

And I'm
Here I'm on my own
She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
Say what you will, I don't care
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone, yeah
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby has gone

 

[Liar]

Re: Nick Cave

If you've never heard of him...you don't know what you're missing

Ah yes, the dandy from down under


Nick Cave
Song Of Joy

Have mercy on me, sir
Allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay
And my bones are cold right through
I will tell you a story
Of a man and his family
And I swear that it is true

Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
She was a sweet and happy thing
Her eyes were bright blue jewels
And we were married in the spring
I had no idea what happiness and little love could bring

Or what life had in store
But all things move toward their end
All things move toward their their end
On that you can be sure

Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping
And for many days to follow
She grew so sad and lonely
Became Joy in name only
Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow

And a dark and grim force set sail
Farewell happy fields
Where joy forever dwells
* Hail horrors hail *

Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition
As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked night
Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife

Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention!
Well, could it be?
How often I've asked that question
Well, then in quick succession
We had babies, one, two, three

We called them Hilda, Hattie and Holly
They were their mother's children
Their eyes were bright blue jewels
And they were quiet as a mouse
There was no laughter in the house
No, not from Hilda, Hattie or Holly
"No wonder", people said, "poor mother Joy's so melancholy"

Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home
I was visiting a sick friend
I was a doctor then
Joy and the girls were on their own

Joy had been bound with electrical tape
In her mouth a gag
She'd been stabbed repeatedly
And stuffed into a sleeping bag

In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
Method of murder much the same as my wife's

It was midnight when I arrived home
Said to the police on the telephone
Someone's taken four innocent lives

They never caught the man
He's still on the loose
It seems he has done many many more
Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood

The police are investigating at tremendous cost
In my house he wrote "his red right hand"
That, I'm told is from Paradise Lost
The wind round here gets wicked cold

But my story is nearly told
I fear the morning will bring quite a frost
And so I've left my home
I drift from land to land

I am upon your step and you are a family man
Outside the vultures wheel
The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
And to extend this small favour, friend
Would be the sum of earthly bliss

Do you reckon me a friend?
The sun to me is dark
And silent as the moon
Do you, sir, have a room?
Are you beckoning me in?

 

[Angeline]

American Tune
Paul Simon

Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
But I'm all right, I'm all right
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it's all right, it's all right
We've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we're traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what went wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune
But it's all right, it's all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest