Poetry and Lyrics

[The Mystery Valiant]

I May Be Redundant

But I still like the enigmatic Jimi Hendrix. And an excellent reason why!

The Wind Cries Mary


After all the jacks, are in their boxes.
And the clowns have all, gone to bed.
You can hear happiness, staggering on down the stream.
Footprints, dressed in red.
And the wind whispers Mary.

A broom is drearily,sweeping.
Up the broken pieces, of yesterdays life.
Somewhere, a Queen is weeping.
Somewhere, a King has no wife.
And the wind, it cries Mary.

The traffic lights, they turn on, blue tommorrow.
And shine their emptiness, down on my bed.
The tiny island, sags on downstream.
'cause the life that lived is,
is dead.
And the wind screams Mary!

Uh-will the wind, ever remember,
the names, it has blown in the past?
And with this crush, it's old age, and its wisdom,
it whispers know, this will be the last.
And the wind cries Mary!

 

[Angeline]

For Tzara

who is a man of fine jazz taste, just look what I found on Google video!

This!

Do you know that Lady Day was the original singer with the Count Basie Orchestra? (You probably do.) The video quality is eh, but just listen to Billie's version of Swing Brother Swing with the Basie Band. Oh my!

SWING, BROTHER SWING
Bishop / Williams / Raymond

Deep rhythm captivates me
Hot rhythms stimulate me
Can't help but swing it boy
Swing it brothers swing

Don't stop to diddle daddle
Stop this foolish prattle
Come on swing me boy
Swing it brothers swing

Raring to go and there aint nobody
Gonna hold me down
Say listen boy
Hurry up and send me
Let me go to town

Stop this diddle daddle
And this foolish prattle
Come on kill me boy
Swing it brothers swing

Deep rhythms captivate me
Hot rhythms stimulate me
Can't help but swing it boy
Swing it brothers swing

Don't stop to diddle daddle
Stop this foolish prattle
Come on send me Count
Swing it brothers swing

Rarin' to go and there aint nobody
Gonna hold me down
Say listen boy
Hurry up and send me
Let me go to town

Stop this diddle daddle
And this foolish prattle
Come on swing me Count
Swing it brothers swing

 

[Tzara]

Thank you, Ms. A

This is a pretty good clip too. Also includes some decent saxophone players.

Fine And Mellow
Billie Holiday

My man don't love me
Treats me oh so mean
My man he don't love me
Treats me awfully
He's the lowest man
That I've ever seen

He wears high trimmed pants
Stripes are really yellow
He wears high trimmed pants
Stripes are really yellow

But when he starts in to love me
He's so fine and mellow

Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long
Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long

Love will make you do things
That you know is wrong

But if you treat me right baby
I'll stay home everyday
But if you treat me right baby
I'll stay home everyday

But you're so mean to me baby
I know you're gonna drive me away

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on

Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone

 

[Angeline]

This is a pretty good clip too. Also includes some decent saxophone players.

Fine And Mellow
Billie Holiday

My man don't love me
Treats me oh so mean
My man he don't love me
Treats me awfully
He's the lowest man
That I've ever seen

He wears high trimmed pants
Stripes are really yellow
He wears high trimmed pants
Stripes are really yellow

But when he starts in to love me
He's so fine and mellow

Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long
Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long

Love will make you do things
That you know is wrong

But if you treat me right baby
I'll stay home everyday
But if you treat me right baby
I'll stay home everyday

But you're so mean to me baby
I know you're gonna drive me away

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on

Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone

I have that DVD--The Sound of Jazz. It's marvelous--has some great Monk on it too (with Basie grinning at him across the piano--the history of jazz is a beautiful thing, no?). In fact, one of my favorite poems (um by me), Lady's Blues in Winter, is based on the exchange between Prez and Lady when he solos during Fine and Mellow. Apparently there wasn't a dry eye in the sound booth at the taping--and within two years they were both gone. Sigh....

Thanks, jazz guy.

 

[Tzara]

I have that DVD--The Sound of Jazz. It's marvelous--has some great Monk on it too (with Basie grinning at him across the piano--the history of jazz is a beautiful thing, no?). In fact, one of my favorite poems (um by me), Lady's Blues in Winter, is based on the exchange between Prez and Lady when he solos during Fine and Mellow. Apparently there wasn't a dry eye in the sound booth at the taping--and within two years they were both gone. Sigh....

Thanks, jazz guy.

Actually, I am really mostly classical guy. If I could find some web vid of Birgit belting out the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Then I'd put that up, German lyric and all.

But then, jazz is America's classical music, in't it?

So here's one o' my main men, Mr. Baker, before he got too strung out on drugs. Amateur video, but the song is great.

Oh, yeah. The lyric:

Let's Get Lost
Loesser / McHugh

Let’s get lost, lost in each other’s arms.
Let’s get lost, let them send out alarms.
And though they’ll think us rather rude,
let’s tell the world we’re in that crazy mood.
Let’s defrost in a romantic mist.
Let’s get crossed off everybody’s list.
To celebrate this night we found each other, mmm, let’s get lost.

Let’s defrost in a romantic mist.
Let’s get crossed off everybody’s list.
To celebrate this night we found each other, mmm, let’s get lost.
Oh oh, let’s get lost.

I am coming around to your opinion about Prez. That solo in the clip I referenced? Understated and lovely. Man's got some talent, don't he?

Very, very nice poem by the way.

 

[TheRainMan]

Follow by Jerry Merrick


Let the river rock you like a cradle.
Climb to the treetops, child, if you're able.
Let your hands tie a knot across the table.
Come and touch
the things you cannot feel

and close your fingertips and fly
where I can't hold you,
let the sun-rain fall
and let the dewy clouds enfold you.
And maybe you can sing to me
the words that I just told you.

If all the things you feel ain't what they seem,
then don't mind me because I ain't nothing but a dream.

The mockingbird sings each different song.
Each song has wings—they won't stay long.
Do those who hear think he's doing wrong
while the church bell tolls its one-note song
and the school bell is tinkling to the throng?
Come here,
where your ears cannot hear.

And close your ears, child, and listen
to what I'll tell you.
Follow in the darkest night
the sounds that may impel you.
The song that I am singing
may disturb or serve to quell you.

If all the sounds you hear ain't what they seem,
then don't mind me because I ain't nothing but a dream.

The rising smell of fresh-cut grass,
smothered cities choke and yell with fuming gas.
I hold some grapes up to the sun
and their flavor breaks upon my tongue.
With eager tongues we taste our strife
and fill our lungs with seas of life.
Come taste
and smell the waters of our time.

And close your lips, child, so softly
I might kiss you.
Let your flower perfume out and let
the winds caress you.
As I walk through the garden,
I am hoping I don't miss you.

If all the things you taste ain't what they seem,
then don't mind me because I ain't nothing but a dream .

The sun and moon both arise
and we'll see them soon through days and nights.
But now silver leaves are mirrors, bring delights,
and the colors of your eyes are fiery bright
while darkness blinds the skies with all its light.
Come see
where your eyes cannot see.

And close your eyes, child, and look
at what I'll show you.
Let your mind go reeling out and let
the breezes blow you,
and maybe when we meet
then suddenly I will know you.

If all the things you see ain’t what they seem,
then don't mind me because I ain't nothing but a dream.
And you can follow.

 

[Angeline]

Late in the Evening
Paul Simon

The first thing I remember, I was lying in my bed
I couldn't've been no more than one or two
And I remember there's a radio, coming from the room next door
My mother laughed the way some ladies' do

Well it's late in the evening, and the music's seeping through

The next thing I remember, I am walking down a street
I'm feeling alright I'm with my boys and with my troops, yeah
Down along the avenue some guys were shootin' pool
And I heard the sound of acapella groups, yeah

Singin' late in the evening, and all the girls out on the stoops, yeah

Then I learned to play some lead guitar, I was underage in this funky bar
And I stepped outside to smoke myself a J
When I come back to the room, everybody just seemed to move
And I turned my amp up loud and I began to play

It was late in the evening, and I blew that room away

First thing I remember when you came into my life
I said I wanna get that girl, no matter what I do
Well I guess I've been in love before and once or twice have been on the floor
But I've never loved no-one the way that I love you

And it was late in the evening, and all the music's seeping through

 

[RhymeFairy]

Song : I'm The Only One
Artist : Melissa Etheridge


Please baby can't you see
My mind's a burnin' hell
I got razors a rippin' and tearin' and strippin'
My heart apart as well
Tonight you told me
That you ache for something new
And some other woman is lookin' like something
That might be good for you

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone
Go on believe her when she tells you
nothing's wrong
But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
It's only fear that makes you run
The demons that you're hiding from
When all your promises are gone
I'm the only one

Please baby can't you see
I'm trying to explain
I've been here before and I'm locking the door
And I'm not going back again
Her eyes and arms and skin won't make
it go away
You'll wake up tomorrow and wrestle the sorrow
That holds you down today

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone
Go on believe her when she tells you
nothing's wrong
But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
It's only fear that makes you run
The demons that you're hiding from
When all your promises are gone
I'm the only one

 

[RhymeFairy]

A love song to be sure ...

Artist ~ Garth Brooks
Song ~ If Tomorrow never CoMES


Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past

Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
'cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So i made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel

If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past

Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
'cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel

So tell that someone that you love
Just what you're thinking of
If tomorrow never comes

 

[Tzara]

It's a hot summer day, so of course I've been listening to my favorite Swedish punk band, The Hives.

Walk Idiot Walk

Aah!

Well, is it true what they say about it?
They say it's new, but I have to doubt it
And then they tell you everything about it
Had enough?
I got some people saying this way
I got some people saying that way
I got some people saying there's no way
Ain't it tough?

See the idiot walk
See the idiot talk
See the idiot chalk up his name on the blackboard
See the robot walk
See the robot talk
See the robot write up his name on the ballot
They say, this is all I need to get by
The truth is, baby, it's a lie

ooh!

Well is it true what they say about it?
You oughta do what I do and doubt it
He won and know he's gonna do something about it
Ain't it sad?
And if you don't wanna feel like a putz
collect the clues and connect the dots
you see the pattern that is bursting your bubble
And it's bad!

See the idiot walk
See the idiot talk
See the idiot chalk up his name on the blackboard
They say, this is all I need to get by
The truth is, baby, it's a lie
its a..
its a lie-ie-ie-ie-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!

This is what it boils down to..
If you review the winning combination
Body at work and a mind on vacation
Who had the brain where it started to sink in?
It was you!

You've seen the idiot walk
Seen the idiot talk
But you never learned nothing
And nothing isn't over
See the robot walk
See the robot talk
Still you never learned nothing
And nothing isn't over
They say, this is all I need to get by
The truth is, baby, it's a lie

 

[bluerains]

ahh..pablo..how I remember...

A Place In The Sun

Artist or band: Pablo Cruise
-----------------------------------------------
A Place in the Sun
by Pablo Cruise

Well ev'rybody's heart needs a holiday sometime.
And ev'ryone of us needs to get away, somehow.
So I'm laughing lighthearted moods, oh, the sight-seeing afternoons.
And tellin' a joke or two, 'cause ev'ryday invites you to find
Your place in the sun,
It's time to find your place in the sun.
(find your place, find your place in the sun)
It's time to find your place in the sun.

Ev'rybody's pannin' for gold, and you can find it for a price.
Love always promises to last forever, but sometimes it just don't work out.
'Cause laughing lighthearted tunes, oh, sometimes they turn to blues.
So tell yourself a joke or two, 'cause ev'ry day invites you to find
Your place in the sun,
It's time to find your place in the sun.
(find your place, find your place in the sun)
It's time to find your place in the sun.
It's time to find your place in the sun.

 

[tungtied2u]

Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint

If you haven't heard this album, you're really missing out....fabulous!

The River in Reverse

How long does a promise last?
How long can a lie be told?
What would I take in exchange for my soul?
Would I know when it was sold?

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
I don't see how it can get much worse
What do we have to do to send
The river in reverse

Every man a crawling kingsnake
Every girl a half a heartbreak
Every woman sold into shame
To any son without a name

Are your arms to weak to lift ?
Another shovel on the graveyard shift
Here comes the flood if you catch my drift
Where the things they promised are not a gift

If man falls through the mirror of a lake
They fish him out quick and call him a fake
Give him all the temptations that he can take
Tie him up high 'til his bones break

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
I don't see how it can get much worse
What do we have to do to send
The river in reverse

I thought I heard somebody laugh
Look out your window
They're chasing shadows in the dark
And counting widows

I felt a sliver of glass
Saw a cross in splinters
I felt the truce of spring
Dig me out of the trench of winter

So count your blessings when they ask permission
To govern with money and superstition
They tell you it's all for your own protection
'Til you fear your own reflection
But the times are passing from illumination
Like bodies falling from a constellation
An uncivil war divides the nation
So erase the tape on that final ape running down creation

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this

 

[bluerains]

If you haven't heard this album, you're really missing out....fabulous!

The River in Reverse

How long does a promise last?
How long can a lie be told?
What would I take in exchange for my soul?
Would I know when it was sold?

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
I don't see how it can get much worse
What do we have to do to send
The river in reverse

Every man a crawling kingsnake
Every girl a half a heartbreak
Every woman sold into shame
To any son without a name

Are your arms to weak to lift ?
Another shovel on the graveyard shift
Here comes the flood if you catch my drift
Where the things they promised are not a gift

If man falls through the mirror of a lake
They fish him out quick and call him a fake
Give him all the temptations that he can take
Tie him up high 'til his bones break

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this
I don't see how it can get much worse
What do we have to do to send
The river in reverse

I thought I heard somebody laugh
Look out your window
They're chasing shadows in the dark
And counting widows

I felt a sliver of glass
Saw a cross in splinters
I felt the truce of spring
Dig me out of the trench of winter

So count your blessings when they ask permission
To govern with money and superstition
They tell you it's all for your own protection
'Til you fear your own reflection
But the times are passing from illumination
Like bodies falling from a constellation
An uncivil war divides the nation
So erase the tape on that final ape running down creation

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or a kiss
There must be something better than this

hum..I have over 7000 songs on my I tunes...I missed this one...I like the words..will have to chek it out....I am a 70 and 80 music freak...

 

[bluerains]

love the outfield...through the years...

Hit the message I can hear you calling
No ones going anywhere tonight
We conceived a modern generation
It was free but now we pay the price
Were the victims of our own creation
Chasing rainbows that are painted black or white
Watch the struggle of our temptation
Instincts barely keeping us alive

(chorus)
Back to the rhythm that we all came from
Voices of babylon streets of london
Back to the people that we know so well
A space in time removed too soon to tell

Just a product of imagination
Patiently we wait for out turn to come
A small collection of the population
By the time our numbers up we could be gone

(chorus)
Back to the rhythm that we all came from
Voices of babylon streets of london - town

 

[tungtied2u]

Hit the message I can hear you calling
No ones going anywhere tonight
We conceived a modern generation
It was free but now we pay the price
Were the victims of our own creation
Chasing rainbows that are painted black or white
Watch the struggle of our temptation
Instincts barely keeping us alive

(chorus)
Back to the rhythm that we all came from
Voices of babylon streets of london
Back to the people that we know so well
A space in time removed too soon to tell

Just a product of imagination
Patiently we wait for out turn to come
A small collection of the population
By the time our numbers up we could be gone

(chorus)
Back to the rhythm that we all came from
Voices of babylon streets of london - town

who are these people blue? I'm not familiar with them.

 

[bluerains]

omg..T

who are these people blue? I'm not familiar with them.

a group called The Outfield...my favorite song through the years and bangin...voices of babylon...they were so close to my heart...back then...I have every song....so dynamic..they are...with words...powerful insightful group....

 

[tungtied2u]

Melanie (Safka)

Heard this on a TV show tonight...boy sure takes me back to a different world...

I dedicate this to all my friends at Lit....

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

Beautiful people
You live in the same world as I do
But somehow I never noticed
You before today
I'm ashamed to say

Beautiful people
We share the same back door
And it isn't right
We never met before
But then
We may never meet again
If I weren't afraid you'd laugh at me
I would run and take all your hands
And I'd gather everyone together for a day
And when we gather'd
I'll pass buttons out that say
Beautiful people
Then you'd never have to be alone
'Cause there'll always be someone
With the same button on as you
Include him in everything you do.

Beautiful people
You ride the same subway
As I do ev'ry morning
That's got to tell you something
We've got so much in common
I go the same direction that you do
So if you take care of me
Maybe I'll take care of you

Beautiful people
You look like friends of mine
And it's about time
That someone said it here and now
I make a vow that some time, somehow
I'll have a meeting
Invite ev'ryone you know
I'll pass out buttons to
The ones who come to show
Beautiful people
Never have to be alone
'Cause there'll always be someone
With the same button on as you
Include him in ev'rything you do
He may be sitting right next to you
He may be beautiful people too
And if you take care of him
Maybe I'll take care of you
And if you take care of him
Maybe I'll take care of you...

 

[bluerains]

as I was in the 70's

nd Ultravox polyphonic ringtone to your cell phone


You live for love, I long for it
You give for love, I take from it
This friend of mine, desire
This lovers crime, desire
Emotion driving all the time
A burning need for things not mine
Desire

You need your love
I walk from it
You fight for love
I run from it
My enemy desire
Caressing me, desire
The torch I carried burnt my hand
I can't control what I can't stand
Desire

You give for love, I lie for it
You give for love, I shy from it
And the pain, and the lust, and the want
And the hurt, and the lies
And the fears, and the urge, and the feel
And the touch, and it's all
A friend I call desire

You give for love, I lie for it
You give for love, I shy from it
And the pain, and the lies
And the touch, and it's all
A friend I call desire

 

[MsBug]

Three Marlenas
The Wallflowers

Alone tonight in somebody's bed
She gone and dyed her hair red
She only went and did what she did
'Cause he would drive her home then
There's lipstick on her new dress
She hadn't even paid yet
But it doesn't matter where the money went
It wasn't how she paid 'er rent

One, two, three Marlenas
There's got to be someone we can trust
Out here among us

Now lookin' out across the city lights
She thought they'd be a good pair
Now he could make a living sellin' cars
Maybe she could work there
She's gonna pick a star in the night
And pray to make it all right
She tried so hard not to pick a kite
She always prayed to heaven lights

One, two, three Marlenas
There's got to be someone we can trust
Out here among us
One, two, three Marlenas
It's see no, speak no, hear no evil about us
The three Marlenas

Man, I think I'm gonna buy myself a Rolls
Maybe a Chevrolet
One where I can pull that top down
Just let my radio play
Now I'm headin' out on that highway
I'm goin' right out of state
Now I ain't lookin' back until I'm gone
Right through heaven's gates

One, two, three Marlenas
There's got to be someone we can trust
Out here among us
One, two, three Marlenas
Ya see no, speak no, hear no evil among us
The three Marlenas
Three Marlenas
Three Marlenas

 

[MsBug]

6th Avenue Hearthache
The Wallflowers

Sirens ring, the shots ring out
A stranger cries, screams out loud
I had my world strapped against my back
I held my hands, never knew how to act

Chorus:
And the same black line that was drawn on you
Was drawn on me
And now it's drawn me in
6th Avenue heartache

Below me was a homeless man
I'm singin' songs I knew complete
On the steps alone, his guitar in hand
It's fifty years, stood where he stands

Now walkin' home on those streets
The river winds move my feet
Subway steam, like silhouettes in dreams
They stood by me, just like moonbeams

Look out the window, down upon that street
And gone like a midnight was that man
But I see his six strings laid against that wall
And all his things, they all look so small
I got my fingers crossed on a shooting star
Just like me-just moved on

 

[Angeline]

For my eagleyez

Grace
Meshell Ndegeocello

Can't say I have ever been faithful
Except to God
Never felt I could call anywhere home
Till I fell asleep here in your arms

I never thought I'd fall in love

Your love is my only saving grace
You caress my heart
Kiss my face
Your love is my only saving grace

Sometimes God calls out to me to come home
Cause I feel so alone
Then I taste your kiss
Your touch your sweet love

I never thought I'd fall in love

Your love is my only saving grace
You caress my heart
Kiss my face
Your love is my only saving grace

I never thought I'd fall in love
I never thought I'd fall in love with you

Your love is my only saving grace
You caress my heart
Kiss my face
Your love is my only saving grace your love

 

[MsBug]

Back to the House That Love Built
Tito & Tarantula

I know its raining baby
I am stripped of all my pride
I stand here at your door
Sick of all the lies
Let me come inside
I couldnt see myself
The room was
Filled with signs
A strange woman kissed me
A tattoo in her eyes
Forget about the past
Forget about the guilt
I am going back to the house
That love built
I need to remember
What I came here for
Love or mercy keeps me at your door
Let me come inside
Nowhere to go
No way to tell
If I am nearer to heaven
Or one step closer to hell

 

[tungtied2u]

Today

Jefferson Airplane

Today I feel like pleasing you more than before
Today I know what I want to do but I don't know what for
To be living for you is all I want to do
To be loving you, it'll all be there when my dreams come true

Today you'll make me say that I somehow have changed
Today you'll look into my eyes, I'm just not the same
To be anymore than all I am would be a lie
I'm so full of love I could burst apart and start to cry

Today everything you want, I swear it all will come true
Today I realize how much I'm in love with you
With you standing here, I could tell the world what it means to love
To go on from here, I can't use words, they don't say enough

Please, please listen to me
It's taken so long to come true
And it's all for you
all for you....​

 

[Tzara]

I don't remember if I posted this one before, but I don't care, 'cuz I'm posting it again.

Hickory Wind
Gram Parsons/Bob Buchanon

In South Carolina, there're many tall pines
I remember the oak tree that we used to climb
But now when I'm lonesome I always pretend
That I'm gettin' the feel of hickory wind

I started out younger, had most everything
All the riches and pleasures, what else can life bring?
But it makes me feel better each time you begin
Callin' me home, hickory wind

It's a hard way to find out that trouble is real
In a faraway city with a faraway feel
But it makes me feel better each time you begin
Callin' me home, hickory wind
Keeps callin' me home, hickory wind
​

 

[clutching_calliope]

The only vacation song you'll ever need

.....