Words get written Words get twisted Old
meanings move in the drift of time Lift the flickering torches
See gentle
shadows change the features of the faces cut in unmoving stone Bad mouth
on a prayer day, hope no one's listening Roots down in the wet clay, branches
glistening
True disciples carrying that message to colour just a little
with their personal touch Home-spun fancy weavers and naked half-believers
- Crusades and creeds descend like fiery flakes of snow Bad mouth on a
prayer day, hope no one's listening Roots down in the wet clay, branches
glistening
In wet and windy priest-holes Grand in vast cathedrals High
on lofty minarets or in the temples of doom I hope the old man's got his face
on He'd better be some quick change artist Suffer little children to make
their minds up soon Bad mouth on a prayer day, hope no one's
listening Roots down in the wet clay, branches glistening
Rare And Precious Chain
Rare and precious chain - Do I have to tell you, tell
you once again? Under red lights, on soft nights, it all comes back to
you Rare and precious chain - Binds me to your soul round gently pulsing
veins Shackled tight, feel love's bite coming back to you
No gold of
fools No hostage taking No engagement rules To leave you
forsaken
Tiny beads of sweat - thin diamond glistening, glistening
around your neck, forgotten rooms, dark catacombs they all come back to
you
No crock of glittering prizes No sharply worded telegram No
excuses for the word-weary No excuses for who I am
It's a rare and
precious chain Around your neck I place it, place it once again Drawn
finger tight, feel love's bite coming back to you Under red lights, on soft nights, it
all comes back to you Rare and precious chain
Out Of The Noise
Glued to the kerbstone, staring Frozen at the stop-sign
too See that crazy suicide mongrel He's going to try to cross that
avenue Old dog of experience, ripping through the black and yellow
cabs, dodging rickshaws and the bicycle boys He's got his mind on someone
else's dinner - Over the road, round the corner, out of the noise
Lives
down in some cool, cool basement - Sharing with a family of bouncy, ratty little
guys Works to a discipline of ritual undertakings - Sleep, eat, and gentle
exercise Old dog of experience, ripping through the black and yellow
cabs, dodging rickshaws and the bicycle boys He's got his mind on someone
else's dinner - Over the road, round the corner, out of the noise
Some
towns I know, he could end up in a restaurant - wrong side of a table for
two It's enough to send him running, running for cover Back into traffic,
what's a poor dog to do? Old mutt of experience, ripping through the black
and yellow cabs, dodging rickshaws and the bicycle boys He's got his mind
on someone else's dinner - Over the road, round the corner, out of the
noise
This Free Will
She peeled from a stretch black
snake which slipped up to the hotel door Darting looks from piercing eyes
- The stir of memory and then no more Well, you know how I have to
believe - She can almost remember my name
It's been a long time
coming, babe - Long time loose amongst foreign hills - Shaking my faith in
this free will
Years ago in a coastal town, mosquitoes buzzed in her
hair Schooldress torn and bare feet brown - Then the rains came and she
wasn't there You're closing your doors on me when you had almost
remembered my name
It's been a long time coming, babe - Long time
loose amongst foreign hills - Shaking my faith in this free will
Sharp
points in an ink black sky - Faint words collide, then are lost I'll follow you
beneath this dome - Win you back at any cost I know we were children
then, but you can almost remember my name
It's been a long time
coming, babe - Long time loose amongst foreign hills - Well, let's be
children still - Don't shake my faith in this free will
Don't shake my
faith in this free will
Valley
Wake hard in the
morning See the young girl milking Stream rushing by on a bed of
stone Old goats and sandstone cracking - All containing - Squeezing
that river like it squeeze your bones In the long red, red valley people live here
too long In the long red, red valley they only sing the valley song
Some
bad people living further down the valley, Not easy for us to do good
trade We got snowmelt, snowmelt sweet water They got that valley road
that they made In the long red, red valley people dying here too long In the
long red, red valley they only sing the valley song
Holding hands on the
hillside Showing love to your brother - your sister and your mother
- but we hate those people down the valley
Has anybody seen
Moses? Get him off that mountain Bring back the tablets of stone It's a
wise, wise prophet who keeps his own council Yeah, leave the other man's wife
alone In the long red, red valley people live here too long In the long red,
red valley they only sing the valley song
Wake hard in the morning See
the young girl milking Stream rushing by on a bed of stone Old goats and
sandstone cracking - All containing - Squeezing that river like it squeeze
your bones In the long red, red valley people living here too long In the long
red, red valley they only live the valley song In the long red, red valley people
dying here too long In the long red, red valley they only know the valley
song
Dangerous Veils
Desert candle in a tented
space throwing softer shadows on a covered face Sister, silent to the likes of
me - Pay my respects to her propriety
Is this some crazy woman
here, dancing behind her thin black veil? Am I misreading those mysterious
eyes? Duet impossible to harmonize
I'm not inviting any stiff reaction
I'm not one for naming holy names And I won't peek behind those
dangerous veils Though you might hate me just the same
Name of the
Father ringing in her head - Thinking over what the prophet said Words and
tradition bind her in their spell Don't drink the water from this holy
well
I'm not inviting any fierce reaction and I'm not one for naming holy
names I won't peek behind those dangerous veils Though you might hate me
just the same
Desert candle in a tented space Softer shadows on a
covered face Sister, silent to the likes of me - I tip my hat to her propriety
I'm not inviting any fierce reaction and I'm not one for naming holy
names I won't peek behind those dangerous veils Though you might hate me
just the same
Beside Myself
Small child messing down,
messing down in the streets of Bombay Cities like this have no shame, no
shame; indeed, why should they? Out in the middle distance, several
tragedies are playing I'm beside myself
Big sister, can you hear him,
can you hear him? I'm beside myself Big sister, can you see him cry, see him
cry? I'm beside myself
I saw you taking money in the shadows - in
the shadows by the station there
I'll wish you up a silver train to carry
you to school, bring you home again Strip off that work paint and put a cleaner
face on I'm beside myself
Hollow faced mother with her babe in
arms, babe in arms-looks through me Behind forgotten
charms, forgotten charms to soothe me Between the guilt and charity - I
feel the wimp inside of me
I'm beside myself Out in the middle
distance, still more tragedies are playing I'm beside myself
I'm so proud
of you - Swimming up from the deep blue Which one of me do you run
to? I'm beside myself
Small child messing down, messing down in
the streets of Bombay Cities like this have no shame, have no shame; indeed,
why should they? Out in the middle distance, several tragedies are
playing I'm beside myself
Wounded, Old And Treacherous
A walk on the quiet side, late in the day - Don't mean to
get in anybody's way The Gods seem willing: sun's in the sky Old crows
cawing as the straight crows fly There was a time when love was the
law There was a time for the tooth and the claw Last rites given, no holds
barred Heaven Express on my credit card
Now let me draw the jungle
line - I won't cross yours if you don't cross mine Won't make trouble, I don't
need no fuss But I'm wounded, old and I'm treacherous
Allow me to
draw the jungle line - you cross it once, you cross some friends of
mine They won't make trouble, they don't need no fuss but they're wounded,
old and they're treacherous
In the crisp of evening, on sacred ground
- Ghosts of fathers pushing moonbeams round Big cats prowling inside your
head - They left for China; better left for dead
Let me draw the jungle
line - I won't cross yours if you don't cross mine Won't make trouble, I don't
need no fuss But I'm wounded, old and I'm treacherous
A walk on the
quiet side, late in the day - Don't mean to get in anybody's way The Gods
seem willing: sun's in the sky Old crows cawing as the straight crows
fly There was a time when love was the law There was a time for the tooth
and the claw Last rites given, no holds barred Heaven Express on my credit
card
living mountains going to shake that town - big mother calling
you from underground She don't want trouble, she don't need no fuss But
she's wounded, old and treacherous
At Last, Forever
So why
are you holding my hand tonight? I'm not intending to go far away I'm just
slipping through to the back room - I'll leave you messages almost every
day And who was I to last forever? I didn't promise to stay the pace Not
in this lifetime, babe but we'll cling together: some kind of heaven written in
your face
So why are you holding my hand tonight? Well, am I feeling
so cold to the touch? Do my eyes seem to focus on some distant
point? Why do I find it hard to talk too much? And who was I to last
forever? I didn't promise to stay the pace Not in this lifetime, babe but
we'll cling together: some kind of heaven written in your face
So why
are you holding my hand tonight? I'm not intending to go far away I'm just
slipping through to the back room - I'll leave you messages almost every
day And who was I to last forever? I didn't promise to stay the pace Not
in this lifetime, babe but we'll cling together: some kind of heaven written in
your face
Stuck In The August Rain
Brings jasmine tea on a
painted tray and bends to kiss my frown away But I'm still still stuck in the
August rain; stuck out in the cloudburst once again
The cover's on, the
coast is clear We're all battened down, only us here But I'm still still stuck in
the August rain; stuck out in the cloudburst once again She walks between
the lines and she can read my signs
Stuck out in the August
rain: Out in the cloudburst once again
Single-minded in my
gloom I appear to revel in this darkened room But I'm still still stuck in the
August rain; stuck out in the cloudburst once again She walks between the
lines and she can read my signs
Stuck out in the August rain: Out
in the cloudburst once again
Another Harry's Bar
Wet wind
on the sidewalk: I'm staring at the rain Walking up the street, yeah, and walking
down again And my feet are tired and my brain is numb See that broken
neon sign saying, hey, in you come
Got the scent of stale beer hanging,
hanging round my head Old dog in the corner sleeping like he could be
dead A book of matches and a full ashtray Cigarette left smoking its life
away Another Harry's bar - or that's the tale they tell But Harry's long gone
now, and the customers as well Me and the dog and the ghost of Harry will make
this world turn right It'll all turn right
God's tears on the sidewalk: it's
the mother of all rain But in the thick blue haze of Harry's, you will feel no
pain And you will feel no soft hand slipping on your knee You don't have to
pay for memories, they will all come free Another Harry's bar - or that's the tale
they tell But Harry's long gone now, and the customers as well Me and the
dog and the ghost of Harry will make this world turn right It'll all turn
right
Now when Harry was a young man, Harry was so debonair He
walked a bouncy step in his shiny shoes And when Harry was a young man, well,
Harry could walk on air He mixed a mean cocktail and he talked you through the
late news You want to hear some great news? Harry's still
here
Wet wind on the sidewalk: I'm still staring at the rain Walking up
the street, and I'm walking down again And my feet are tired and my brain is
numb See that broken neon sign saying, hey, in you come
Another
Harry's bar - or that's the tale they tell But Harry's long gone now, and the
customers as well Me and the dog and the ghost of Harry will make this world
turn right It'll all turn right
Another Harry's bar And another
Harry's bar And another, and another Harry's bar