Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I..... songs

1.  I Ain't Done Yet
2.  I Don't Need A Book
3.  I Keep Comin' Back
4.  I Wonder If I'm Loving You Right
5.  I'd Rather Be Dancing
6.  If I Fall In Love Again With You
7.  If You Love The Water Let It Rain
8.  It's Not Supposed To Happen But It Did




I Ain’t Done Yet

it was a would-be trendy nightclub in the gallery section of town
with an automatic manager with his collar buttoned down
he looked at me through narrow eyes that been starin’ that way for months
he said “yeah I heard of you, you used to be famous once”

and I ain’t done yet
I got the future in my view
no I ain’t done yet
I’ll let you know when I’m through, when I’m through

some people don’t like my way of workin’ cause I always speak my mind
they’d rather cover up their heads and leave reality behind
but I know what side I’m on and I ain’t about to joke
and you know what they say about those best laid plans
how they might just go up in smoke

and I ain’t done yet
I got the future in my view
no I ain’t done yet
I’ll let you know when I’m through, when I’m through

It’s a long distance marathon, this thing they call life
short cuts just don’t cut it no matter how you sharpen the knife
you’re gonna have to grow old you know it’s just that direct
and reality retaliates when you least expect it to

and I ain’t done yet
I got the future in my view
no I ain’t done yet
I’ll let you know when I’m through, when I’m through

I walked out into the nightclub night, I heard the distant undertone
I watched the old soldier stumble between the neon and the paving stones
I saw the empty glitter of the super star and my skin began to crawl
I say a curse upon your house of cards I’ll be around to see it fall

and I ain’t done yet
I got the future in my view
no I ain’t done yet
I’ll let you know when I’m through, when I’m through

--------------------
I Don’t Need A Book

I don’t need a book to tell me how to behave
I know right from wrong
sometimes I think the less religion we have
the better we’ll all get along
you don’t take food from the hungry
you don’t kill somebody for fun
I don’t need a book to figure that out
I just ain’t that dumb

I don’t need a book to give me the rules
its pretty much common sense
you look both ways before you cross the street
you don’t sit on a barb wire fence
you don’t push people around
‘cause sometimes they push back
I don’t need a book
for that

some people use a book like a weapon
some use it like a crutch
some use a book to justify
‘cause they don’t trust themselves that much
sometimes a book is an end in itself
sometimes its just a seed
for the good they seem to do
I think people need learn how to read

somebody comin down from the mountain
who says he heard the word
somebody else is writin it down
and steppin to the head of the herd
somebody sittin in a castle somewhere
givin orders with a nod
says to go out and post it
tell ‘em that it came from god
someone’s got some armies
and someone’s got some plans
and someone’s doin spin control
for when things get out of hand
someone’s coverin up the tracks
so someone don’t get caught
miraculous intervention
who woulda thought

some people use a book like a weapon
some use it like a crutch
some use it to justify
‘cause they don’t trust themselves that much
sometimes a book is an end in itself
sometimes its just a seed
for all the good they seem to do
I think people need learn how to read

I don’t need a book to get me out of this mess
that a book probably got me in
you can’t dogmatize survival
its either sink or swim
so lets put our heads together
and see what we can do
I don’t need a book
do you?

---------------

I Keep Comin’ Back

I love the way that the rain sounds on the rooftop over my head
like little animal feet
the way the clouds come down so low sometimes they seem to prowl the alleyways
and get into the side streets
and all the world goes soft and the hard lines disappear
and the echo of the footsteps is the music in your ear
and the sing song river runs all along the little crack
I’ve been all around the world but I keep coming back

the big boats come to the dock side, they tie off and unload
and they stay a little while
you get a bright light Saturday liberty night, you gotta do it up right
want to do it in style
maybe hear a little music, can I have this next dance
maybe fall in love if I get half a chance
with somebody like you, imagine that
I’ve been all around the world but I keep coming back

first time I rode the bus it picked me up hitch hikin’
took me clear across town
I said I ain’t got no money, he said that’s alright friend
just get on board and lay your burden down
he said where you goin’ I said I have no idea
but this looks pretty good, I’ll get out here
and I went off walkin’ with my guitar across my back
I’ve been all around the world but I keep coming back

I rode that Fremont Bridge so high one time
I coulda scratched old Mister Moon right on the chin
I took a look at the water in the canal down below and I thought to myself
I’m gonna dive right in
yeah but I’m too young to go that way I ain’t ready yet
I don’t mind the fallin’ that far, I just don’t want to get that wet
it’s a carnival of circumstance, you gotta have a knack
I’ve been all around the world but I keep coming back

--------------
I Wonder If I’m Loving You Right

oh, sometimes I wonder
when I’m all a-sea
and my imagination
gets the best of me
I’m feelin’ disconnected
I’m looking for a light
oh, and I’m afraid to ask
but I wonder if I’m loving you right

everybody gets weary
it’s a weary day
oh, and then the words we use
aren’t what we mean to say
misunderstandings
they can play you so rough
oh, and then it’s times like these
that I wonder if my love is enough

tell me
tell me if there’s something you need
tell me
so I won’t be last to know
every silver lining
has a demon seed
we gotta get it out in the open
so we can let it go

I love to watch you sleeping
when the night is so still
oh, and silver moon light
comes in through the window sill
tell is there room for me
in your dreams tonight
oh, and then tell me
if I’m loving you right
oh, and I’m afraid to ask
but I wonder if I’m loving you right

--------------
I’d Rather Be Dancing                             
for Rachel Corrie

you know I was always the one
I could never stand idly by
and watch while the bullies beat up on the weaker ones
I had to do something to try
and I never gave up on people
that we could be better somehow
morality’s compass, you gave it to me
I still follow it now

well, I couldn’t stop thinking about it
I couldn’t get it out of my mind
the pictures, the stories, the plight of the people
in occupied Palestine
how my government makes me complicit
with the political aid that they send
so I packed up my bags and I headed to Rafa
to work with the ISM

and I’d rather be dancing, dancing and falling in love
but if I just can just watch from a distance then what am I made of

mama these people are so good to me
they treat me like one of their own
they feed me and see to my needs
and let me sleep in their homes
and papa their lives are so hard
the gun shots every night
the road blocks, the strip searches, humiliations
papa it just isn’t right

I can feel my privilege around me
it’s there in my American face
I could wave my passport around like a flag
and I would be safe in this place
for these child soldiers of Israel
they look like the boys back home
and if it wasn’t for American money
they’d have to leave these people alone

and I’d rather be dancing, dancing to Pat Benatar
but somebody has to do somethin’ about it and here we are

the tractors are coming today
they’re like tanks with bulldozer blades
the name on the side says Caterpillar
that means they’re American made
well, I am American too
and I’ll be where everybody can see
so if they want to run over these houses today
they’re gonna have to run over me

it’s dangerous takin’ a stand
but it’s dangerous running away
sometimes you have to face up to the danger
there is just no other way
for there are such beautiful dreams
I have seen the eyes of a child
and if I can just make one little difference
then I think my life is worth while

and I’d rather be dancing, but instead I’m saying goodbye
but we’ll meet again when it’s over, don’t cry

and I’d rather be dancing, and surely we’d all rather be
and one day we’ll dance in a world that’s peaceful and free

--------------
If I Fall In Love Again

music is a fine delight
to serenade a winter's night
beneath your window I would go
to sing the only song I know
and if you knew it too
if I fall in love again with you

morning finds me so it seems
enchanted by a waking dream
a vision come to me so real
I can't deny the way the way it made me feel
and if you would feel that way too
then I could fall in love again with you

if I fall in love again with you
will I be the fool in the middle of the air
open to this homeless heart
is there anybody there

big red sun behind the sky
watching through the world's eye
a mystery that no one knows
just where all the sorrow goes
it's a faith to carry through
if I fall in love again with you

-------------

If You Love The Water Let It Rain

when the good rains finally came we stood out under cover
watched the dry earth drink it up like a long lost lover
we opened up our senses to let it in
felt so good to feel that way again

(chorus)
if you love the water let it rain
let it wash away your pain
there are reasons to explain
if you love the water let it rain

a long time ago when the world was young
innocent life beneath the summery sun
desert flowers and the wild plantain
waiting for the weather to bring the rain

(chorus)
if you love the water let it rain
let it wash away your pain
there are reasons to explain
if you love the water let it rain

(bridge)
time is such a fleeting thing, you know it comes and it goes
it ebbs and it flows, waterfalls and rainbows

there was a time we kept ourselves apart
surrounded by the dryness in our hearts
but life is a natural mystery, they say
so I guess we'll just let nature have it's way

(chorus)
if you love the water let it rain
let it wash away your pain
there are reasons to explain
if you love the water let it rain

--------------

It’s Not Supposed To Happen But It Did

bang-bang-bang, another high school massacre
trench coat terror walkin’ down the long dark hall
like a video game gone real
oh my god, they’re gonna kill ‘em all
and they almost did
they were good clean kids
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

in sad Colorado the stadium was filled
with the dearly beloved all gathered in silence
and all the tears and the trembling fears
of a culture gone crazy with violence
and their minds were numb
in the shivering sunlight
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

the singer sang out about the love of Jesus
and the faraway reach of the savior’s good right hand
and the prayers were spoke but no Lazarus awoke
from the terminal peace of this damaged land
and their eyes were glazed
these were dangerous days
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

the president spoke with a voice like gun smoke
he said “there’s too much aggression, our ways will have to change”
while the bombers he sent off to Kosovo went
but nobody seemed to notice anything strange
and how would you feel
beneath a sky made of steel
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

and the general droned while his bright medals shone
and for “peace” he fairly did shout it
and he never looked back at what he did in Iraq
and nobody asked him about it
they just tried to accept
while they silently wept
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

and the fighter planes flew through the stadium blue
it was an honor formation, a thundering roar
and the squadron leader he was a high school graduate
and he loved his alma mater and that’s what it was for
and reality spun
with its anchor undone
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

please don’t think me a fool, uncaring or cruel
but I have to ask questions where questions have grown
who are these ones with their official big guns
and how dare they condemn the violence they have sown
my heart is undone for these friends and relations
whose lives have gone hollow and may never repair
but hypocrisy screams through the house of my dreams
when I see these monsters pretending to care
and the silence will roar
in this country of war
the silence will roar
it’s not supposed to happen but it did

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