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One day this world ends
You’ll need a girlfriend
and then some children
For with what little time you have to spend
before this ship is wrecked
to light candles on the deck
for the starlight to reflect
Echoes of loon cries
Remind the sunrise
Go climb the sky one final time
Like a virtuoso's hand
On a trembling baby grand
That the mocking birds command
to celebrate the summer's eve
we wish we never had to leave at all
Until we heard fall
disguised as a passer by
whispering a lullaby of snow
and everyone knows
the winter wind’s sad solemn hum
is heartbroken as a railroad bum
holding dried chrysanthemums
like mice collecting cookie crumbs
to taste the sweet like days of old
when someone sang straight through the cold
close your eyes my friend pretend
this sweetness is the bitter end
where winter winds shall cease to blow
and sunshine shows the melting snow
the birds that are not here to sing
return again each passing spring
and this is what they’ll sing:
Since all you’re children
have seen the splendor
is never ending
they will remember
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The sun shines as houseboats cast black shadows
and reflections of bicycles and heroine
the window’s cracked to let the summer in
I wonder what it’s like to winter here
In hindsight I'd met a girl I'd like to winter with
with blue eyes and carnival from Rio on a black shirt
that contrasts her youthly figure
like a flower that is blooming in a graveyard
but tomorrow I'll be leaving on a train
good-bye ms. Amsterdam
I'll probably place your picture in some book
with other photographs
to remind me every time that I should look
and maybe realizeall the precious times
that I have left behind
The bream swim in the sad valtava river
the moon shines up above the mala strana
stare mesto is a clock on grandma’s piano
and I don’t know how I should know which way to go
The ghost tour leads through the crooked corridors
where I learn the twist of fate at every turn
I wind up at a bar that’s called Marquis de Sade
A stranger asks me if I believe in God
Although tomorrow I'll be leaving on a train
my love of course I do
how else would we be able to explain tomorrow’s sunrise
through the starry stain glassed splendor of your eyes that make me realize
All the precious times that we all leave behind
There’s witches in the pine forests of Austria
the snow falls on the mountaintops of Switzerland
the wind blows a whisper through a widow’s veil
I’m dreaming an absent minded fairy tale
There’s angels in the olive groves of Italy
they won’t protect me
from the English girl that’s eyeing me
She led me to the colored boats beached by the sea
we listened to a thief play gypsy melodies
He said there’s a war in the east,
there’s a war in the west
there’s an orphan in an ally in a wedding dress
where a junky sings into a megaphone
the minarets tremble and the temples moan
he said “love is an Indian death,”
he said “love is a poor girls breast”
he said “love ain’t no spoken word,”
he said “love is a humming bird”
but tomorrow I’ll be leaving on a train right out of Italy
I have a friend who’s little brother lives in Spain
in Barcelona
but for now let’s keep our destinations in disguise
so we don’t realize
All the precious time that we all leave behind
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you can’t go to heaven on roller skates
you’ll roll right by the pearly gates
you can’t go to heaven in a rocking chair
a rocking chair won’t get you there
and you can’t get to heaven in a motorcar
a motorcar won’t go that far
you better not bother to call a limousine
cause god don’t sell no gasoline
So we don’t need to grieve no more, no more/ No we don’t need to grieve no more
You can’t go to heaven in your girlfriend's note
God’s not home that’s all she wrote
And you can’t go to heaven with a holy ghost
The holy ghost is on vacation in a cottage on the coast
And you can’t get to heaven with a holy war
God don’t like his picture in the liquor store
And you can’t go to heaven with no guns that shoot
Because god’s bullet proof and she's bullshit proof
So we don’t need to grieve no more, no more/ No we don’t need to grieve no more
No you can’t get to heaven with any kind of superstition
God don’t mind a little magic man
but come on use your intuition
You’re not going to get to heaven
with the catholic church
God don’t want no money
from the hands of those perverts
And you’re not going to get to heaven
if you’re a Zionist Jew
God chose Moses but he didn’t choose you
And you’re not going to get to heaven
if you’re a Muslim man too
Allah’s got a beard but he don’t like one on you
And you’re not going to go to heaven if you believe in hell
God don’t like no pissing in his wishing well
And it doesn't really matter if you’re born again
Because if you’re not dead then you can’t get in
Know you can’t get to heaven
if you’re waiting to go there
If you were on your way then you’d already be there
So if I get there before you do
I'll dig a hole and pull you through
And if you get there before I do
You'd be with me if I were you
So we don’t have to grieve no more, more
No we won't have to grieve no more (repeat....)
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In a grove in the woods she laid down, laid down
In a grove in the woods she laid down
Far from the whispers of the nearest small town
In a grove in the woods she laid down
She walked in the moonlight that glowed/ she glowed
She walked in the moonlight that glowed
as reflections on water of a ghost in the road
She walked in the moonlight that glowed
Doomed by her father, though she won't know his name
She is doomed though she won't know his name
who came to desire her exquisite young frame
she is doomed though she won't know his name
Banished by the laws of old men, she is banished by the laws of old men
Never to be seen of or heard from again, she vanished from the laws of old men
In a grove in the woods she laid down, laid down
In a grove in the woods she laid down
Far from the whispers of the nearest small town
In a grove in the woods she laid down
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I can’t believe I’m seeing all of you
Like garden full of dahlias
I forgot about and called you/ but you told me I was drunk
I can’t believe you crazy ladies
go grazing down in Hades
abandoning your babies/ for some perilous pirates bunk
I can’t believe how many of the kids
I used to know back home / stayed home and got addicted to that junk
it’s all a peculiar dream/ what is happening to you/ is happening to me
I can’t believe that we’re not sleeping
with our secrets in safe keeping
never whispering nor weeping
saving suffering for art
No one told those little soldiers
if you were only any older
you’d realize/ you broke your mamma’s heart
it ain’t strange that this refrain
keeps on refraining and repeating
revisiting the place from where we start
It's all a peculiar dream/ what's happening to you/ is happening to me
I don’t know the way home/ through the whispering woods/ nor thickets of thieves
moon, you’ve been hiding all day/ come glow show us the way/ we’re losing our way
there’s a lonely old song/ I sing when wait hold on/ we’re on our way
I can’t believe how far we’ve rambled
through the thistles and the brambles/ while we’re gambling on the shambles of a star
I can’t believe the sight I saw tonight
while looking for a light/ from the ghost the likes to hide behind the bar
I can’t believe we judge each other
like we’re one another’s mother
but my sister and my brother/ I've got something I've got to say to you
It's all a peculiar dream/ what's happening to you/ is happening to me (6x)
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I have invented a love affair/ in which I was badly betrayed
intimacy’s not my cup of tea/ but fantasy for me is like wine
And I drink too much/ I get scattered like dust
and I stagger through life all alone
so board up the windows to the house of love
and don’t knock cause there’s nobody home
If you’d like to know/ how I grew so strange
well the truth is I was raised up by wolves
who taught me to howl, to scowl, and to growl
but since then I haven’t much changed
But outside the woods/ that don’t work out so good
and you’re bound to wind up alone
So board up the windows to the house of love
and don’t knock cause there’s nobody home
(INSTRUMENTAL VERSE AND CHORUS)
All alone in the moonlight
I will wander alone
All alone in the moonlight
I'm going to wander alone
Once one leaves the pack there’s no turning back
or they’ll just follow your tracks right back to the pack
If you want to catch me come try but those fables don’t lie
and I've got every single one of your lies on my side
If you want to know the truth
here’s some news you can use
you’re never going to drive a stake through a stone
So board up the windows to the house of love
and don’t knock cause there’s nobody home
you know that I told you
don’t knock cause there’s nobody home
don’t you ever forget it
don’t knock cause there’s nobody home
not even on Sundays
don’t knock cause there’s nobody home
home....home....home.....home.....
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The dictionary is the book of love
My love, I’ve got some words for you
I can’t spell nor know the meanings of
My heart beats for you like Ringo’s/ Old lady’s playing bingo
Waiting for pennies from heaven/ Like little Cinderella at a quarter til eleven
Under the street lights/ And the star lights
I wish I may, I wish I might/ The first star that I see tonight
Is writing all these words I write/ To ghosts I see by candle light
In shadows that hide out of sight
Where I’m waiting for you/ To undo my meaningless love
The moment that push comes to shove/ Beneath all the silence above
My first love had more booty/ Than the king tut mausoleum
More beauty than the/ King Louis the 14th art museum/ Holding on to me
like misers on the money/ Pooh Bear on the honey
When the morning sky is sunny/ As Richard Prior’s funny
but she broke my heart into more pieces/ Than Woody Guthrie’s got nieces
A sheep herder’s got fleeces/ Or Harvard’s got thesis
I don’t give a damn about higher education/ Every day that I’ve lived is enough information/ I’m very very impatient
It takes a long time to knit a warm sweater/ But only one second to unravel forever
where I'm waiting for you/ to undo my meaningless love
the moment that push comes to shove/ beneath all that silence above
Si hola y hasta luego Seniorita/ Usted es Bonita como las estrellas
En la noche, cada noche
La noche es peligrosa/ Pero estoy duro como la roca
No necisita la coca/ estoy loca
Vaya a la playa conmigo/ Sin miedo/ Como se siente/ Estoy contente/ quando
passaba las horas/ Sonando en la cama/ Non necisitimos/ pajamas
Temprano/ Soprano/ Dormir a una nina cantando
where I'm waiting for you/ to undo my meaningless love
the moment that push comes to shove/ beneath all that silence above
The dictionary is the book of love
My love, I’ve got some words for you
I can’t spell nor know the meanings of
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This song got swallowed by the fish/ Whose bellies are the black
Space surrounding stars/ Shining distant dark
Underneath and up above/ Creatures claws and human love
Where the sun and moon make mirrors/ To reappear and disappear
White. Black. Light.
This place behind beauty beyond faith/ Cast sharp shadows on my face
Dreams the colors lose their minds/ Reminds my mother of the time
You were a vision she'd create/ You were a day she'd celebrate
While I wondered if she know/ I was leaving her for you
White. Black. Light.
People gave their stories to a book/ That everyone got like it or not
Owned and loaned/ til every one fought
But the people will remember/ What the people once forgot...
I'm sure! Egyptians bloodied doors/ First borns went to war
Second ones were whores/ Third ones did the chores
Raised a flag and built a fence/ Treated sister like a tent
When it rained raised up the rent/ Wondered where that brother went
When there's trouble in the hills/ Til it overflowed and spilled
But everybody's thrilled/ Cause it paid the bills/ And it paid the bills
And it paid the bills/ and it paid the bills
For the temple of the trees/ Golden Buddha on his knees
Is a wild wolf who runs/ From a child with a gun
Is night owl on a post/ To a lover and her ghost
Is the jasmine blossom's words/ To the passing humming birds
A trillion years of fallen tears/ That the raindrops call careers
Where the sun and moon make mirrors / To reappear and disappear
White. Black. Light.
This song got swallowed by the fish
Whose bellies are the black
Space surrounding stars
Shining distant dark
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I have a violin with broken strings/ that doesn’t sing a goddamn thing
she’s so beautiful/ and so meaningless/ I bow
Sweet slow sorrowful symphonies/ blue skies/ ominous tympanis
Sundays/ sung by the chimney sweeps/ Haunting frolicking city streets
sunshine exiting secretly/ ghost girls dreaming on balconies
hearing harmonies up on the roof
Little one, believe me please while we’re still young
don’t be afraid of the darkness/ silently shrouding your room
dear, daylight will come again soon
I can’t count on you my Gemini/ the stars up in the sky
are uncountable/ they’re so numerous/ I bow
Song birds imitate yesterdays/ love songs played on the radio
time passed since it was yesterdays loves songs/ you’ve got a good memory tell me
Do you remember when song birds/ could have been possibly
singing a song that spoke clearly to you
Little one, believe me please while we’re still young
don’t be afraid of the darkness/ silently shrouding your room
dear, daylight will come again soon
I have a violin with broken strings/ that doesn’t sing a goddamn thing
she’s so beautiful/ and so meaningless/ I bow
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When all of my dreams/ are erased and unwritten
forgot and forgiven/ for breathing and living
I will wake and dream a new day
If the first of my ancestor's/ successful inventions
spins out of control/ and beyond intervention
by the whole population/ who's misled intentions
ensnare and encircle/ a house of detention
I will wake and dream a new day
If enduring ideas/ are enshrined in museums
so people believe/ we were once human beings
(and beings can see what we saw as we're seeing)
whether or not/ you believe our perceptions
are perpetually pondered/ preconceived misconceptions
one way, four directions/ four senses, five seasons
one lightens, one darkens/ one's lost, or one reasons
one's heavens, one's hells/one's fortune foretells
a precious collection/ of beautiful bells
that ring in the forest/ as the chorus frogs croon
to the crow colored sky/ tattooed by the moon where
I will wake and dream a new day
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As the evening sun goes down, goes down/ As the evening sun goes down
Tomorrow turns to yesterday/ The way today will do tomorrow
As the evening sun goes down
Awake yourself try to remember/ When the tiny flicker of an ember
Lifted shadows from the water/ To entertain the darling daughter
Music trembled eerie antics/ Transformed all enchanted dancing
Translucent, universal beings/ Living, breathing, hearing, seeing
Forests filling up with creatures/ Reaching out and seeking teacher
Birds with wings who sing for pleasure/ Careless kings who horde their treasures
Howling beasts who haunt the self/ Who's sanctity resides in wealth
Armies ordained in disguise/ Harming harmless fireflies
Who's light is not in search of fame/ Who's fortune is not tied to pain
Whose families are not estranged/ As strangers on the subway trains
these masses fade all fat and lazy/ This entertainer's craft is crazy
Go on sun get famous/ Entertain us...
As the evening sun goes down, goes down/ As the evening sun goes down
Tomorrow turns to yesterday/ The way today will do tomorrow
As the evening sun goes down
Before the halls were overcrowded/ The talent of the sun was doubted
The critics called the act pretentious/ Predictable and uninventive
But the sun still showed up anyway/ Every day, day after day
No matter what the critics had to say
Then one evening on the Oceanside/ The clouds dispersed across the sky
Enlightened on the west horizon/ Opposite the new moon rising
A sinking circle slowly growing/ Concentric, colored halos glowing
A wayward music box unwinding/ A ghostly garden's vines entwining
Doors to captive eyes unhinged/ Tattooed on the beauties skin
Unfazed by the trigger's hammer/ Unchanged by the ghetto's glamour
Regardless of one's recognition/ The sun is one with intuition
Confiding calmly to the sea/ The secrets of eternities
The miracle of life on earth/ Is neither dreamed, confessed, nor cursed
Everyone on earth's related/ Our latest, greatest grandma dated
Her songs are strung on violins/ That burned in Prague and east Berlin
her crescent moon's a sailor's sword/ a junkie pawns in Baltimore
As dinosaurs will dig the graves/ For fortune's fools and pharaoh's slaves
As wild wolves have lost their homes/ To disgraced drones of telephones
The race that once sought out salvation/ Now seeks to race the world's creation
But the wilderness will take the finish/ The way that Gandhi beat the British
We all must one day come to face/ The end of time and sense of place
To go and find another place/ Like every star in outer space
Is the light that shines/ Is the light that shines
Is the light that shines/ Is the light that shines
Is the light that shines/ Inside the light that shines
As the evening sun goes down, goes down/ As the evening sun goes down
Tomorrow turns to yesterday/ The way today will do tomorrow
As the evening sun goes down
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Don't point your finger/ put down your guns
I'm not going to fight you/ And I'm not going to run
I can't tell you a secret/ You already know
That I already know/ That we already know
All intuition/ Is stars in the distance
Is all of religion/ And all of forgiveness
For we are alive/ And we are at home
If you kill me don't fear me/ There'll be no resistance
I'll embark on no mission/ I won't cancel Christmas
There's no ghosts like in stories/ Who put on white blouses
to howl in the hallways/ And haunt up the houses
There's no ghosts who signed contracts/ To collect on their losses
There's no ghosts of regret/ Who submit to their bosses
There's no time to answer/ For the life that you stole
There's no custody battle/ For unfortunate souls
For we are alive/ And we are at home
Bridge (instrumental)
When all prophets are lost/ And all profits are losses
And all battlefields covered/ With flowers and crosses
When the saints' painted casket/ Is robbed of its jewels
And the candles on alters/ Are extinguished by fools
When ideals of beauty/ are besieged by old age
Like a terrible tiger/ Who's resigned to its cage
When all of the prayers/ That societies breed
See we suffer and share / In the fate of the trees
Then we are alive/ And we are at home
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I know a woman/ who's never quite sure
Whose never quite sure/ who's never quite sure
she shines through my windows and rattles my doors
I know a woman who's never quite sure
And I have a child who stones me to death
who stones me to death/ who stones me to death
I gave her my heart in exchange for her breath
and we still haven't traded back yet
although it seems crazy/ to expect more than this from love
I get so crazy/ whenever I'm in love
INSTRUMENTAL BRIDGE
Always asking/ where my mind is
I'm reminded/ and reminded
from the bottom/ up to the surface
this whole world has just one purpose
although it seems crazy/ to expect more than this from love
I get so crazy/ whenever I'm in love
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18. |
The Spell is Cast
00:48
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1. Read the following incantation:
As secrets dwell in every bone
and pass through time as light intones
the melodies of dreams in drones
as crickets hum the hymns of home
the echoes of the ancients stray
a sojourn lost for time to play
through dark of night and light of day
I wish you well while on your way
2. Think of a dream you have for your life. If you could transform your existence for the better what would you change? What would you be doing for each hour of each day of your life if all things were ideal? And how would the realization of your dream affect the dreams of others? Breath deeply. Compassionately silence any doubts that may arise. Stubborn ones may be cast as stones into the sea. Momentarily enjoy the vision of a world where the unlimited potential of being is accessible.
3. Continue to breath deeply. Enjoy the sound and feeling of breath going in and coming out.
4. Explore your surroundings, locate a non-human living being with whom you have not been previously acquainted. Introduce yourself. Go on, don't be shy. Trees. Insects. Birds. Coyotes. They are a friendly sort contrary to what you read in the papers.
5. Dial 415 876 4648. You will hear the musical note F. Listen and try imitating the note. After the machine beeps, take a deep breath and sing the note through the phone, across time and space, and into the recording. Keep singing until you run out of breath. Hang up.
6. Go outside. Close your eyes. Remember your dream.
Thank you!
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The Light Switches San Francisco, California
1. Girl group for the living and the dead. 2. Characterized by layered imagery, and internal rhyme. 3. Your soundtrack to evade capture by the police.
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