2. Farewell Fires
3. Fire In The Forest
4. Fireside
5. First Avenue
6. Francis Cheever
7. Fundamental Frenzy
Falls Road Song
she walks the Falls with her children in hand
past the barracks block and the military stand
the barb wire walls of Bellfast town
always look a little colder when the sun goes down
oh he was a good man on their marrying day
and he took a good stand, so the people all say
for the vision of a dream so dear
that caused many a one to become a volunteer
but the seasons change with the weather I'm told
and some people they run for the glittering gold
and so it was on a lonesome day
that he went away off to America
Daddy was on TV and everybody saw
giving everybody's name to the law
some people got arrested, some people dissappeared
everybody laid low while the trouble cleared
in the schoolyard children finger the blame
how can this one's father give another one's name
when all the world is a battle zone
it's a whole lot harder when Daddy isn't home
now she walks the Falls with her children in hand
carrying the weight of a terrible brand
for Daddy was a traighter and everybody knows
that is no shelter when the cold wind blows
-------
Farewell Fires
up early in the morning
long before the sun will rise
and later in the dawning
with the sleep still in my eyes
and I can’t help remembering
the past forgotten times
the heavy hours lost to my face
and years across my mind
up here in the mountain current
fire burning bright
I can see that you are restless
in the breathless morning light
I can see that you are homeless
looking for a restful eye
so why not stay a while
before we say goodbye
I can still remember Mexico
where electric crosses stand
and the chemical evangelist
holding god in the palm of his hand
and we all thought we’d reached salvation
looked to see the angels appear
waiting for that moment
till we found we’d waited years
our ways will have to split now
like the fingers on my hand
you knew we would and so did I
and together we had it all planned
and I may never see you
and you may never see me
but I will sing your stories
from the mountain to the see
and it’s all down
a long dusty year
and I’ll splash my tracks
with my dusty tears
for you are like the morning
burning on into the day
and like a flashing mountain fire
will turn me to my way
-----
Fire In The Forest
look out of your window, as far as you can see
this beautiful country is our heredity
the way that we find it, the way we pass it on
the way that we’re remembered when we have come and gone
and there’s a fire in the forest
we just can’t let it burn
no one can do it for us
this much I’ve learned
there’s a fire in the forest
oh the glory days of our material embrace
have given us the destiny that we now must come to face
a monumental crossroads with no time left to borrow
and the choice we make today will be the world we get tomorrow
can you drink your water, can you breath your air
is there an unendangered species anywhere
is there a land unthreatened by this historical machine
is there a better vision, can we find it in our dream
talk about the future, talk about a million years
talk about the mothers and the grandchildren
talk about the cycles, laughter and tears
talk about the bridge we’re buildin’
don’t burn the bridge we’re buildin’
time is running out on us, that’s the way it seems to me
with one foot on shaky ground and the other in eternity
we’re standing at the threshold, we’re opening the door
and either we survive it or we go down like the dinosaur
-------
Fireside
she put her feet beside me and the sun was going down
she told me all those secrets, all those candles back in town
seven minutes elsewhere and it rained with all its might
the sun had long since gone and yet it stayed up all that night
she held her eyes both in her hand and gave them both to me
the avalanche exploded and a slave somewhere broke free
yes all these songs taste like lilac wine
I must taste them all some time
I went out for a walk among the rain, among the snow
the wind blew like a cistern and I had no place to go
I saw a man was lying with his face into the wet
his coat was torn, he whimpered, broken glass, a cigarette
my eyes were filled with alleys as I helped him to his feet
he thanked me with a smile and I walked off down the street
yes all these songs taste like Arabian wine
I must taste them all some time
Sister spoke with innocence, she drew her bolt aside
"stay here if you must, I know exactly what you need"
she smiled like a fireside, one hand upon the bell
I asked her if she knew and if she knew how could she tell
she laughed and pointed with her Jesus to the sky
saying "this is what you need and what you need is when you die"
she offered me some wine, I saw her hand white as bone
I told her I was lost, and could she find me my way home
she laughed again, twinkled, and her hood fell to the side
and I heard her say "right here with me, among the fireside"
I excused myself and left her, and I left her all alone
she with no relations and I with no way home
yes all these songs taste like sacred wine
I must taste them all some time
-------
First Avenue
it’s midnight on the ice tonight, everyone has gone to bed
except for Lonesome Sally with her aspirins in her head
she’s peekin’ through the keyhole where the doorway meets the hall
watching for a stranger who is long, dark and tall
so when Long Tall Howie with ribbons in his hair
comes skippin’ down the hallway singin’ “everything is fair”
she knows he’s a nice fellow but she does not like his looks
‘cause he ain’t long and tall enough so she goes back to readin’ books
down by the benches and Bennie’s hungry shoes
down by the water on First Avenue
the blue streak purist bus comes in right on time
the driver gagged and cross-boned, tied up way behind
a skinny kid with afro is drivin’ the wheel for us
and he don’t allow nobody to pay to ride on his bus
and the taxi cab and the French horn play a midnight melody
as Vanishing Lucy paints her face with mystery
and as she vanishes finally a hummingbird does growl
along the foamy waterfront where the Jesus people prowl
down by the benches and Bennie’s hungry shoes
down by the water on First Avenue
Sergeant Frank is terrified with his policeman’s badge and hat
he’s afraid of men with beards, especially if they’re fat
so when fat bearded Poco comes and taps him on the boot
poor Sergeant Frank jumps clean out of his suit
now Poco puts in on and goes walkin’ off down the street
shooting off his guns on his new policeman’s beat
while somewhere in the city a naked sergeant’s on the loose
as Poco pawns his uniform to buy a jug of juice
down by the benches and Bennie’s hungry shoes
down by the water on First Avenue
---------
Francis Cheever
Francis Cheever was a logger and a woodsman by his trade
and he worked the fields and forests for the money that me made
around the miles of Whidbey Island in the waters of the Puget Sound
he worked till he could work no more, he was buried in the ground
used to be a man could work a job for independent pay
and bring home a good day’s wages at the closing of the day
ah but now the companies ride heavy on their backs
and what isn’t stolen outright is taken by the tax
Francis had a wife and family and a house that he called his home
and monthly bills that had to be met to pay off on his loans
and with his young sons to help him he would make his logging haul
and he would work both rain and shine whether he had any help at all
work is good an healthy if you use the proper touch
but it is quick to become dangerous if you push yourself too much
friends would try to warn him but he did not seem to hear
he would shake his head and walk away, say “maybe next year”
prices rose and profits fell and hit upon him hard
at the mercy of the bankers who held the upper cards
strung out on the red line of society’s disease
that weighed upon his shoulders till it brought him to his knees
it was late one night by the midnight light on a backwoods logging road
with his young son to help him on his last and fatal load
when a misplaced log slipped and made a deadly sound
fell squarely down upon him and crushed him to the ground
oh the people all were stunned when the news was finally told
how Francis Cheever died that night at thirty-eight years old
all except the IRS who notified his next of kin
that they must take over the payments and keep the money rolling in
Francis Cheever was a young man one of many just the same
strangled by the greedy hands that play the money game
murdered by a way of life gone far beyond control
that values a human life only so far as it can be sold
how many more must have to die how many families and friends
how many graves must be dug before we bring it to an end
how much money do we have to make before we find out what it’s for
before a song like this won’t have to be sung anymore
--------
Fundamental Frenzy
there’s a crowd outside my window
I can hear them in the street
it’s the new evangelistics
in a missionary heat
saviors of the innocent
guardians of right
it’s the day before tomorrow
in the middle of the night
they got shiny white faces
sing a faraway song
show you pictures of Jesus
as a blue eyed blond
riding like a savior
on a big wh9ire horse
with one hand bearing gifts
and the other hand to enforce
(chorus)
fundamental frenzy
fundamental rage
fundamental frenzy
takin’ us back to the middle ages
the devil is a foreigner
and he has to be destroyed
throughout this great wide world
where his demons are deployed
in anybody’s country
on anybody’s sea
when you’re exorcising evil
you invent your own morality
in the language of the prophecies
they talk about a time
when the fight the final battle
for the kingdoms of divine
and in the valley of the showdown
the fires will rage
and god’s ferocious hand
will turn the final page
(chorus)
now they’re counting down the hours
in the grains of sand
as they reach for Armageddon
with their eager little hands
and there’s an idle on a nose cone
ready to explode
and a disappearing future
at the end of the glory road
now I don’t mind your religion
or the cut of your clothes
but I gotta keep my eye out
to where your shadow goes
you want to meet your maker
that’s your choice to choose
you want to take me with you
I’m gonna have to refuse
(chorus)
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