DOE-EYED
LADY '60 Chevy pushin'
You got
the chrome-horse, small-town blues
But laugh a laugh so lonesome
And beat
the blues out, baby
It's such a sad, sad state of grace So
hold my hand now woman
While the people pass you by
They come spinning out
of nowhere
And take a check for the mortgage
As they lay you down to die All
the gamblers don't know nothin'
About what is pretty
You get knocked down
As
the doors close on you Hold the candle woman
As
the daylight hours grown short
It's such a cold procession
When the people
close their doors All the rock n' roll heroes
Don't
know nothin' So pass the cloak now baby
On
this bright and blazing eve
You were right to keep your promise
But you
were cold to choose to leave In the Bordeaux
club
The jazz musicians scream out
CHRISTMAS
MELANCHOLY
12 years on and the
feeling still remains
Spinning, grinning like a person who won't change
Well,
try to focus as the snow blocks your view
Children fluttering around like butterflies
Some
things never vary and why would you want them to?
They never die, they never
change Days are short and nights are growing
deeper
Young boy in a winter coat follows the dead end back streets
Sees
a tall, tall icy woman, looks like an angel in danger
Snow is melting her face
yet she's always to kind to children and strangers 'round
and 'round on the fairytale, carousel plane
Ruby red carousel bursting like
an open flame
Well, you're hiding out under white skies
But your bright
eyes whisk through the snow-filled street
And cry for candlelight, there's
no way that the angels and I can meet Suzie's
got her new shoes, the thoughts of Christmas
Are on a million minds, the red
coat is in the closet
The tannenbaum and the sleigh bells shake
So all the
sons and lovers say "Good bye, paradise" All
the shining, ruby dreams make a vision for my mind
Old man says, "Give
them bells a shake, rattle them chains"
Hot fire on a cold night and the
scenes materialize
Wise men say, on cold winter day, all that you dream and
pray
Slips away in a snow-filled street, as they brightly blaze WHEN
I WAS YOUNG
When I was a young
man, I saw the path
The future looks like a gate made of gold
You'd never
falter once you set the pain right
Through afternoons to edges of the night
The
beautiful woman's black leather boots
Stood next to you in your mohair suit
I
saw only the flipside of the coin
I rattled my change on Saturday night
I
saw beyond the mystery of the sky
Thought I heard God in a saxophone's cry
Thought
it would be no problem to die
To accept it all and never wonder why
I remember
this time and I can only sigh
I thought about tomorrow all the time I
thought the wealth I had would multiply
That virtue would prevail, that only
evil folks lie
Thought I could organize the world and that I
Could define
the way the perfume smells so sweet
And why the beggars are only such cowards
And
why the poor folks choose their dank retreats
And why lovers feel so crazy
when they first meet
And why some rock n' rollers can't escape the beat
And
why she was always so anxious to cheat When
I was young I skipped past the dark alleyways
Saying that those were scenes
from a different play
They are not blessed by the same blessed sun's rays
The
rays that allow her beauty to be explained
THE
SUN CAN BE SO CRUEL The sun can
be so cruel
In the hot Indian summer
When you feel like a fool
I can
see Mary's dust as she speeds away
And I can remember the day
That she bought
the car
And how she felt to say
That the world was wide open And
we'd disappear into the trees
Disappearing by degrees
And in the winter
snow
We'd kick over snowmen
And get angry at the Sun
When it would spoil
our night
And melt the snow
And melt the day So
now you say, as you stand by the gate
Maybe the fact that we never progressed
And
we're like the slush and mud on the streets
That cause people to want to retreat
Into
their cozy homes
Maybe this is what the truth amounts to Well,
let's see your blue sweater
And the shoes you left behind
And the pants
that were too small
And the photograph that you held
So close to your chest All
the innocence you thought you had
Cry for your mom and phone your dad
Ask
them why things that they promised
Are more and more difficult to grasp
You'd
talk of Tchaikovsky
And opera and Rome
And all of the culture
That filled
up your home
And all of the places
And the wide open spaces
You thought
you'd make traces
And wander and roam Why
do you care to make it a poem?
Why do you wish
That the moon was closer
to earth?
That the friends you thought you had
Were actually the first
To
help you when you'd fall
And scrape your knee
Or be backed against a wall? And
the waves that crash alongside your boat
They gleam and unravel as thought
you were a pearl
In the oyster of the world
Pretty girls, old faces, old
dreams
They age like wine
But you can't taste them
And you can never
pluck them from the vine
BEYOND
THE SHADOWS
Beyond the shadows of
the night
Where the trash cans rattle
And the hoodlums fight
Beyond
the bounty of death-like fright
Where animals feed and children write
In
the distance, a cock crows
But a young boy, in a pauper's clothes
God knows
there are things the boy doesn't know
But God allows his soul its flight
To
chase after that unbearable light
To chase the man who hangs his hat
Upon
the chair
Or the naked woman
Reading Flaubert
And how she combs her long
blonde hair
Oh, God, why do you punish him so?
Why do you show him things
That
he can never know?
Why do you tantalize and tease? That
child will become a man
And his world will be no easier to understand
Yet
thoughts that brightly blaze
Will now be shrouded in a haze We
don't deserve the incandescent tease
That brings a romantic to cough and wheeze
And
ask for a taste of the forbidden fruit One
should not become too attached to the world
We are all sinners, yet there are
no saints
We can look forward to becoming one
With the light
The light
that escapes you after sex
The light that beckons you to drink
But escapes
you as you vomit
In the bathroom sink
The light that opens the world to
you
The light that builds the triumphant
Strains of an orchestra
The
light in the green fields of your dreams
The light in the Christmas display
In
the department store that gleams
In the child's eye Know
that when you see the beauty of the world
That it is real
And know that
when it seems
That things you strain to feel
Escape and steal, steal away
Know
that you'll be one with them again
On some light and blazing day
TEENAGERS
So many young boys and young girls
Are
out there in the apocryphal world
But they are in the real word, as well
The
girl takes my hand, and the man,
Actually, the teenage boy, watches
And
says, "Soon you'll understand
Why she looks like an angel, so sweet,
On
the playground in golden summer
With dirty hands, those hands are dirty" I
can't know, but I know of paramours
That divide the tide and steal the shore
But
this isn't the artificial world's Watergate
And damn if it ain't that bad,
after all
A teenage boy thinks he knows so much
Thinks he can define a woman's
touch
And why it serves to make him twist
And turn and dream of coffee cream
In
China cups and all the swords and
All the sails and all the maidens of fairy
tales
IN MY MIND I will always hold you
close in my mind
And remember you like a small child
It's a very difficult
world, so stay young
Truth be told, I'm getting tired of trying
To stay
optimistic when the world teaches
Me something new, so don't be tired
Stay
inspired and if your health fails
Have faith that you will eventually prevail
It's
getting dark now, it's getting dark now
But let me see the light, don't be
afraid
Be yourself - you can be you and I'll be me
And not worry about who
anyone wants us to be
You got kicked down, you don't feel so warm
And it's
so much more comfortable in this dorm
Away from the storm, under shelter and
each morn
SHE'S
NOT IMMORTAL She's
not immortal
You think she is
You saw her in
Red lipstick
And satin
shirts
And the way
She fumbles
So beautifully
And you think
She
cannot fail
She'll never falter
BALLERINA, DANCE FOR ME There's
always one last dance
And she thinks about the songs
Over and over, she
listens to the tape
She plays the boom box
She dances in dance studio
The
music seems so far away
She's wondering who she is
Supposed to be after
all
Ballerina, dance for me
Allow yourself to be free
The sky is far
away
You're stuck on the ground
In your white t-shirt
By the golden trees
Ballerina,
dance for me
YOU AND I AND GOD ARE ONE Meet in
the vacuum
Beyond the valley where the wise men go
Beyond the lagoon where
the trees hang low
Beyond this beach, beyond the sun
Where you and I and
God are one SANDY
TOMB Well
you live your life
The best way you can
And God can strip away
Almost
everything But the bones of a man
Unless
you happen to be
One who's been spared
Don't tell me how to live You
are so beautiful
You are only twenty-two
You remind me of a girl I loved
When
I was as old as you
Twenty-two beautiful years old I
want to stop right now
And scream out loud
That I can be someone
The
time will go on Whether you want it to or not
I
get so frustrated
Want to quit this job
Head out into the unknown Dreaming
of the past
Trying to make up for lost time
Choices I've made
Living
and dying a little each day Try to forgive
and hide away
Dreaming of the past
Trying to repeat it
And get it right
on this pass GOLD
AND BRONZE It's gold and
bronze on the playground in May
And the children serve to invite a new day
Some
children start to stress, but the boys love
The way the wind blows through
the young girl's dress
And the children say,
"Where will our dreams
take us?
What will our futures make us?
Will we still know each other?
And
will it be enough to say we were young lovers
On one warm, spring day?" The
green trees shake
And the lovers promenade
Down by the bus stop
Nears
the main bar hop
By the Denny Regrade
It's a cold harbor
And the women
are older
And leaning on the men's shoulders
And the rock n' roll plays
on the radio
And they remember times
They thought they didn't know
And
the horns blast on the avenue
Where the lovers dream of the golden dew
And
how it relates to them But when will it all
go away?
When the girl, Rosie, turns her coat
Breaks her stride and breaks
his heart
And heads to her apartment
To make a new start
Will it be
enough to say
As time sweeps them with spray
That they were lovers once
Cold
but cozy Let us know each other
Let us fall
in love
After all, what is it
To know one another
I believe it will be
OK
Enough so when we say
We were lovers one warm, summer day Mother
Mary
Gold flowing hair
Brown, bronze, and green
As lovely as anyone you've
ever seen
No man is an island, they say
Sometimes I feel that way
The
color of sunflowers that live for just an hour
Showering you with all that
you pay
The temporal state of my nation
Oh, why does it seem like an approximation?
THE FLATS It's so cold
The
morning breaks
And the mystery unfolds
What was black
I thought was gold
That's
when it comes
Lady comes up
Over the hill
She whispers something
I
get a chill
It breaks my will
She has a top hot
And the world is standing
still
That's when it comes
That's when I'm born
When I believe And
in the gray
Of the autumn flats
I can't believe that
She's never coming
back
And all that she represented
It meant nothing
And will return to
Nothing
and go black
That's when it comes
The sound of the
Flute in the morning
sun
If that was a battle
I think it's been won
And I can hear
The
distant strain
Of a song that's begun MAJESTY
Majesty
Clearer
Eternity into an hour
Getting
to the heart
Of what you believe
Bringing it to life The
glasses in the moonlight
Put a soul in place
Possessed a part of it
You
put your golden hand
In my hand
PAIN, VIOLENCE, DEATH Pain,
violence, and death
Are parts of all life
How can you organize it?
Why
do we avoid these things?
Why do we fear fear?
Is fear the only thing to
fear?
Should I invite
Pain, violence, and death
Into my life?
I'm
scared of them
I don't celebrate them
I want my life to be full
Of happiness
and contentment
Life is full of happiness
Life is full of pain
These
are twin forces
Can we organize these forces?
Are these the thoughts
Of
the young romantic?
Do I disdain the day
That romantic love
Clouded my
judgment?
How can I organize it?
I haven't figure out yet
How to deal
with
Pain, violence, and death
CHERRY WINE Bled
and busted
And broke again
You don't understand
The shape I'm in
But
then it's OK
It's OK again On the front
porch
Or in the round
From the top down
To the ground
Madeline
Madeline
Anyway
you choose
It'll rock the night
Back into the day All
around you
There is warmth
And gladness
Of all that you've
Discovered
and
Believed in
If I could
This is the way
I'd choose it An
old oak tree
By an old fence
You skate it like a pro
It wobbles to and
fro
And you look as young
Unruffled and complete
As anyone I'd care to
know
A body set to music
I'm caught up in the sway
SAILOR Can't
I squash them?
I'm a sailor with a boat upon the shore
Lookin' out into
the great open blue
Where the water turns inside
If I could only take your
word
And take your part
I would take myself away
And I would live in
your heart A thousand miles, only the penitent
son
A thousand miles for the fortunate one
The eyes are bright, they're
ruby red
And hungry instead of the living that
You always wanted to do,
me and you
I wrote you a song but I can't seem to
Get it quite right
Each
time I sing
The strains and the refrains
Only serve to legitimize my plight
And
impair my sight
WAYFARERS And
the wayfarers
They bang it like a bass drum
With all the promises you've
ever known Drive your sister crazy
And appreciate
the smile
And the forlorn Well, I'm worn
out
Or well worn and I'm thinkin'
Of the way I always loved her evil ways Hey
bartender
Call my name out
I think I'll have what you're drinkin' And
let's remember
Those warmer
Simpler days The
room is spinning
You cradle your lover
Just like a newborn Well
I think I like livin'
Cuz life has taught me little about dyin'
But it will
and all the binds will be torn You don't even
need your clothes
Shake off the last sad glances of September
It's great
to be alive Recapture those dancin' nights
Make
them innocent again
It's not something you lost
But rather something you
must struggle for,
Until the end
Play my heartstrings like a banjo
It
sounds like a songbird
And you heard every word
And it's great that you
heard
So don't go lightly baby
Crank up the fading sounds
Of your radio | 
