DON'T
GIVE YOURSELF AWAY Do
not give your secrets away
You must have something to save
We sat outside
by the white gate
And I knew that you should go
But sometimes nothing's
good or bad
Until loving makes it so
We sat by the brook
And talked
of all that was behind
And the forgotten smell
Of the Cabana Hotel
And
the soft marimba's sound But I know that you
should not
Give yourself away
Because you must have something to save
I
know because I tried
And I have nothing left You
must not desire the things
That you cannot have
Because you and I can have
everything
And feel like we have nothing
That is the case
I can see the
glassy lights
Coming through the foggy nights
Knowing that we have certain
rights ** Leave
everything behind
Open the door
Leave your 2-story home behind
Don't
pay it any mind
It wasn't what you thought it was
When you signed on the
line
There is something out there
She has a wonderful mind
And a wonderful
voice ** You
sat by the dock
And the dock leaves fell
And you heard the piano swell
From
the lake house
So much I have to say
You've got soul
I wish I was back
With
people who understand
The way we roll
Simple language
And tenderness
And
everything in earnest ** When
you came down
The rickety stairs
With music blaring from
A distant room
at the end of the hall
And someone making love
In the bathroom stall
You
said you worked so hard
And you have faith
In the idea of progress
And
your direction
But there is no sunset in the East
So look West
Look to
where the sun will set There is romance in
hard work
But it is hard and the road is long
And when you gamble and win
What
you're left with is not earned
Leave everything behind
Don't tempt me
When
you don't want me around
And I think I'll go to bed alone ** The
flash of feet
The flash of fire
You, like a bird on a wire
Fight for
the place that you have
Remembering all the beauty
That you forget
And
remembering
To feel about the beauty
The way you'd rather not yet
And
you wish the world were over
But we will arrive and understand
This pool
hall the way we always wanted to
With your coconuts
And the bananas from
Spain
And we will talk about pain
HERE
WE ARE, ONCE AGAIN Here we are once
again
Come to meet as friends
No longer lovers
Making amends
Here,
I think, is where it ends We no longer have
anything in common
I'm not sure we ever did
But then you always kept those
things hidden And you find yourself at a party
With
a champagne glass
You wanted the white wine
But someone spilled the red
On the courtyard trellis
And nobody here
Knows why we're doing this
thing ** 3
o'clock in the morning
I'm alone at the piano
And the moon is smiling
Happy
I'm with him
With nowhere to go
Someone's talking about
The restless
waitresses
Who hop up and serve
You more and more
And you think of white
lights
As you dance your Broadway show
Across the bathroom floor I
know, I know I want to be the insider
Where everybody knows my name
They
comb the pages
To find the glory section
Where the musicians
Tap into
the right vein ** 4
o'clock in the morning
Speed blood like mud in my veins
I watch the boxing
match
And wonder what it's like
After the fight out in the rain
If you
were Satchmo
And I were the King
We'd have some women to meet
But you
can cure that with the beat
Women who always come and go I
knew a man who said he
Sat at the piano
Trying to capture the sound
That
never stayed around
It would come in a sweet girl's smile
And he'd try to
wrestle it to the ground ** Well,
Satchmo do you know
Why the wind blew through the shades?
Does God ever
let you in on the joke
That he long ago made?
When you were fascinated with
time
And money
And the sound it created
When the pipes get hot at night
And
neon buzzes through the shade And you look
for what you lost
But it was never there anyway
I pity the children
For
all the colors they beautify each day
I loved a woman
She was no longer
blue and gray
Tell me why were we not young
In Paris
At the turn of the
century? ** Melancholy
madness
And profound sadness
Through the hum-drum,
Ice-pick,
Meat-starved
streets
Where businessmen,
Congressmen,
And bored housewives meet
It
seems like a tender cop out
A copious retreat
A soundless beat But
he was ragged
And spoke often of the sea
And a tender heart is a mystery
When
you allow someone to look
Inside your heart
And see where it's been bandaged
Or
ripped apart
It is the best experience one can have IN
THE COOLNESS OF HIS WORLD It was
in the coolness of his world
Where the urban senses prevailed
When she felt
at ease
These were not the middle class
Trappings she'd been raised on
And
she could open up
Hiding in the privacy of the large party
Where the band
hopped and the guests
Let loose a jubilant howl
She now fixed her eyes
On
the scene at the top of the stairs
"One day I will climb these stairs"
She
said to herself
In this day and age
As in the days before
It is only
the victor who is remembered ** On
this cool evening
In the summer in New York
She sat beneath a gray sky
And
thought of commerce
"Incalculable!"
There is no answer
She
thought his eyes
Green, bright eyes
They carried a past so deep
She felt
she needed to retreat
Or dive headfirst
She was so keen
Watching the
boats split the waves
Just as the Lord saved
She lit a cigarette
And
danced along the promenade ** Don't
wait for the calm of heaven
Don't imagine you won't grow old
And dream of
young stars
And how they moved
Dancing in a cold, blue bay
For you have
always known
There would come a day
When you and God and the red-bellied
bird
And all the ideas of the absurd
Would be one
I can hear all of them
calling
Though I don't think they will call to me If
heaven has been broken
Please let me see the pieces
I will wait and debate
The
strange shifts and releases
That make each of us
Push to the next moment
Must
we push? ** Droughts
end in rain
Wallow in this mire
I think I came
Through a summer of fire
Stars
and the moon
Stab the sun
The water flows through us
But we imagine that
it is
Between us
The clock and the brook
Are always close
A dormant
moon
A dead sky
An idea - like a river between you and I
Torments - they
are all white
Besieged by colors and liquid light
Paradise is crowded by
delight
Halt to the seabirds
Enchanted by the sight
All things begin
with an idea
Night gowns and awnings protrude
And insects disappear into
themselves
I thought of Florida
And of the night
Swift breeze and blue
and green weather
That must be poetic truth
Unclean and barren
But true ** So
do not ask about this bottle
We will drink it
And will be drunk soon
A
lifetime in one bottle
The scattered choice
The tippler begins to topple
You
lack self-consciousness
That is your greatest asset
So look out among the
soft trees
And the hard streets
Where beggars
And the crystal moon
Make
a spectral sweep
Willow and fawn
On a red, red day
Love is blind
And
some will kill
There is no right or wrong
There is only what you do
And
what you don't do
I am on your doorstep
Involuntary and I'm folding
Falling
into
The tranquil breeze
Refusing to be disappointing
No rival to love
Bent
on the talk of visionaries
Sent from the dome of heaven above ** Some
people inspire confidence
Thoughts collide
And you remember who you wanted
to be
Places you had to see The subject
always returns to romance
Wander on a blue night
Through the entrance
The
wood guitar and thick strings
The soft night air
Moonlight shining on your
hair
I will never forget the sound
Of your voice
When you said Goodbye
How
you left for Spain
You said you had no choice
Pale evening
Set against
the sky
Drives the dagger between you and I
Weathered wood
And sorrow
like a sea
It's always organized ** Don't
be afraid of what you'll create
Later it will be a reference
For you to
relate
All the truth
Was once a dream
And all the manners
You once
had
Seem
In each seem
To be a trifle
So don't worry
About the sound
of a tambourine Raving in the heat
Oh, you
dragged me home alive
RESIGNATION As
the wind blew through the hall, your father walked with a cane
You looked into
the front yard and began to ponder again
How there is no such thing as the
real world, thought it's not inspiring
It puts fear into your soul, when passion
becomes tiring Having coffee with an old friend
on your childhood street
Recalling places you and the girls would go meet
They
only make you sad now, because you feel your hope drop
I guess optimists are
looking at the mountain when they stand on top ** The
sadness makes it seem real, so if there is no real world
And the optimists
are to be ignored, then where should we turn?
Shall we discuss it in a bar
beneath dim blue lights?
Where age is not evident until the end of the night? Never
seeing the morning till the lights hits our faces
And you've run yourself ragged,
all over this dirty, rag-tag oak fireplace
Why do people think I'm mellow when
I'm so uptight?
And my woman's in another man's arms tonight I
think I wanted it that way, so the song would end right
And I wouldn't have
to join the optimists on their success parade
I never thought I'd lose the
passion but it's gone, though I touch the light
Now and then, I guess this
wasn't a matter of "if" but more a matter of "when"
PICKET
SIGNS So
many nights beneath the metal fire escape
Saw your daddy's tail lights as he
sped away
Why did he leave so fast in the driving rain?
Took your youth
away and your dreams of Spain Hey baby, I'm
the heartbreaker
You know, take your picket signs
I'll break all the lines
But
love is simple and kind
I'll be there tonight Meet
me down there in the alleyway
I've got a rose for you, a healthy rose for you
You
take for granted all I've given away
In your self-absorbed, charming, debutante
way I don't need it now, what I've asked for
so long
I don't need it now, not if I get it this way
Let the moon wash
your dirty clothes
I will take you away, beyond this alleyway Hey
baby, you're the risk taker
Hey baby, I'm single-minded
I'll break all the
lines
But love is simple and kind
I'll be there tonight
PEOPLE
YOU'VE NEVER MET
He
sits alone in his cubicle
The sun drips through the shade
He types away
and he can't help but think
About the choices he's made
Perhaps he can live
with the sadness
Perhaps he can fix his old car
Perhaps when the stars start
to disappear
He won't be drunk at the neighborhood bar Dreamin'
of moments he can never have back
At the sports bar he sighs and kicks the
jukebox
He probably wouldn't want them anyway
Waiting for the phone to ring
in a new day
Maybe he'll encounter her again
Like he did years ago in LA
Or
was it New York? Did she feel the spark?
When they hit the crescendo
At
the very end of the Broadway play? When he
ran into old faces
He saw vague traces
Of the people they used to be
He
had his many regrets
But the people he was friends with
The many with whom
He
been acquainted
Seemed like people he'd never met TUCSON
He came from Tucson and the neon was buzzin'
loud
He was so young and he was so proud
I do believe that his style was
his saving grace
I always wondered how he had such a confident look on his
face No money in the bank, no family to speak
of, dear
If you have no family then you have nothing to fear
He wanted to
be a hobo, not some kind of disgrace
You have to admire a man who knows to
take himself out of the race You won't find
another like him
Never again will a man like this walk God's green earth
Sex
and religion are sacred don't you know?
What do you say for those who work
hard but having nothing to show? Let's imagine
if he had his life to live all over again
He'd know just when and where to
make all the right decisions
He would be amazing and the lives he would be
saving
But you can't live a life again; you do what you are - no excuses, no
amends
THE BUILDINGS
OF ROME I remember the buildings
of Rome
When I was there I felt at home
For the first time I could see the
sun on the stone
Dead as the stone, the buildings of Rome If
I explained every word from a song
And how it had freed the world from wrong
And
we danced in the moonlight at the edge of the pond
Would they make sense, the
words of the song? I guess I've never really
forgotten
The early days when you didn't know I was rotten
And you told
me that the clouds looked like cotton
Some things continue to drone through
the buildings of Rome | 
