I'll hold your hand while they drag the river

I'll cuddle you in the undertow

I'll keep my hand on your trigger finger

I'll take you down where the train tracks go

Let's wile away the hours

Let's spend an evil night together

We'll drink a toast in the torture chamber

And you'll go down on a bed of nails

We'll rendevous in cold blood

I'll tie you up to the third rail

Let's wile away the hours

Let's spend an evil night together

Who's gonna make you a hero

Who's gonna blow you away

Who's gonna make you a hero

Hold it right there

It's a multiple down in solitary

And you'll uncover the evidence

Shanghaied by a fishnet stocking

I'll hold you close while they dust for prints

Let's wile away the hours

Let's spend an evil night together

No need for cake or flowers

Let's spend an evil night together

© Jill Tracy

Tell it to the judge, man.

Tell it to your motherless reflection.

In a sock and one shoe

after the great defection

he said, "tell a lie sometimes, tell the truth

when it suits you, and when you've lost your way

tell a story."

Tell your story, tell it, tell it.

Tell your story to anyone who'll listen.

Tell your story, don't stop talking

just tell your story walking.

Listing through Carol Gardens

on the way to Cobble Hill

I stopped by a psychic's dusty, wilted windowsill.

Forgot what she told me, mostly

but I remember one thing she said

"You may slip and call some lousy fuck your friend

but in the end you'll come out even

then, tell your story."

And it's a sorry, frightful thing

when you want to cry, but you can't keep from laughing.

Outside the church that's so quiet it dares you to shout

you put a hand to your mouth to stop the rain.

You do a St. Vitus dance, to the sky you raise your voice.

This is your chance, you have no choice

you tell your story.

© Deb Talan

Finals blew, I barely knew

my graduation speech

And with college out of reach

If I can’t find a job it’s down to Dad

and Myrtle Beach

So, I’m bailing this town – or

tearing it down – or

Probably more

Like hanging around,

Hanging around

Everyone I know is acting weird

or way too cool

They hang out by the pool

So I just read a lot and ride my bike

around the school

And all that I need now

is someone with the brains

And the know-how

to tell me what I want…

Anyhow

12th of June, a gibbous moon

was this the longest day?

I’ll walk down to the bay

And jump off of the dock and watch

the summer waste away

Then I’m bailing this town – or

tearing it down – or

Probably more like

Hanging around

Hanging around

Just hanging around

So tell me what I want

© Aimee Mann

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy knew everything there is to know about you

Emotional makeup, political views

Everything there is to know about you

Down to the quivering lip and the look in your eye

When your father died

And you couldn’t quite say what you wanted to say

But you touched his hand and he knew you were there

Like epic poetry, old folk songs

Gargantuan themes, impossibly long

War and peace and right and wrong

Gargantuan themes, impossibly long

Anna Karenina the ill-starred lover speaks to me

She draws a breath and whispers my name

I’m exactly the same as a Russian count in 1823

And he’s exactly like me

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy knows everything about last night I suppose

The open hearts and the words we chose

Everything about last night I suppose

First five years of circumstances loosen their grip

Foreign words on your lips

My lips on your words

Definitions blur and we’re something else

Maybe destined to be

We were destined to be

© Bob Hillman

Lyrics coming soon...

Chemical change (like a laser beam)

You've shattered the warning amber light

Make me warm, let me see you

Moving everything over

Smiling in my room, you know

You'll be inside of my mind soon

There are so many of you

White shirt and tie, white shirt and tie, white shirt and tie

Wedding ring, wedding ring

Mulligan stew for Bloom

The only Jew in the room

Saxon's sick on the Holy dregs

And they're constant getting throw up on his leg

Molly's gone to blazes

Boleyn's crotch amazes

Any woman whose husband sleeps

With his head all buried down at the foot of his bed

I've got his arm, I've got his arm

I've had it for weeks

I've got his arm

Steven won't give his arm to no ghost on mother's farm

War's good business, so give your son

But I'd rather have my country die for me

There are so many of you

Sell your mother for a Hershey bar

Grow up looking like a car

There, all you want to do is live

All you want to do is give

But somehow, it all falls apart...

© Grace Slick

Lyrics Coming Soon...

I am Isis

look it’s morning

head in the shower

spoon in my mouth

just as I swallow my cereal

my mother comes and knocks me down

tacks a photo to my chest

as she hands me my birth certificate

but it’s ok I say

I was a bad child

I cried

and I asked too many questions

I press my face to the window

I play solitaire

I hold tight to my chair

in case someone pulls my hair

and no one can understand

why I’m still crying

no one can understand

why I’m still crying

I live in Tucson

which is like pee in a swimming pool

I am Isis, mouth full of candy

I dance naked

in the backyard

I ride my bike to the corner store

stop for a soda

but I am always a quarter short

but it’s ok I say

I made a wish today

It’s ok

it won’t always be this way

I press my face to the window

I play solitaire

I hold tight to my chair

in case someone pulls my hair

and no one can understand

why I’m still crying

no one can understand

why I’m still crying

Parents are fighting

dragging each other on the ground

skid marks, dog barks

broken TV, too hot to sleep

divorce, disease,

we move so many times but a home is easy to replace

like a child in a mother’s eyes

like my mothers child, isis

It’s time to go away

my blood on her paper plate

it’s ok you say

as she looks the other way

I am a sore throat

I am the door slammed

the plane lifts off and the plane lands

I smell smoke coming from

the last two rows

I am the kiss goodnight

now you sleep tight

everything will be alright

I press my face to the window

I play solitaire

I hold tight to my chair

in case someone pulls my hair

and no one can understand

why I’m still crying

no one can understand

why I’m still crying

© Essence

My name is Calypso

And I have lived alone

I live on an island

And I waken to the dawn

A long time ago

I watched him struggle with the sea

I knew that he was drowning

And I brought him into me

Now today

Come morning light

He sails away

After one last night

I let him go.

My name is Calypso

My garden overflows

Thick and wild and hidden

Is the sweetness there that grows

My hair it blows long

As I sing into the wind

I tell of nights

Where I could taste the salt on his skin

Salt of the waves

And of tears

And though he pulled away

I kept him here for years

I let him go.

My name is Calypso

I have let him go

In the dawn he sails away

To be gone forever more

And the waves will take him in again

But he'll know their ways now

I will stand upon the shore

With a clean heart

And my song in the wind

The sand will sting my feet

And the sky will burn

It's a lonely time ahead

I do not ask him to return

I let him go

I let him go

©Suzanne Vega

Lyrics Coming Soon...

I’m gonna ride

I’m going to ride

I’m gonna ride that Bucking Bronco

Ride that baby while she’s kickin

Ride that girl around the ring

Ride that girl through the thick and through the skinny

And I’m gonna do it with a smile as I sing

Throw down your head, kick up your heels

I’m-a stick to you until you come around,

Until you come around

And you might think I’m a fool for pain

But I hold the reins

I’m gonna ride

I’m going to ride

I’m gonna ride that Bucking Bronco

And you know I won’t give up on you

Though my spine, my will won’t crack

Cuz I need you like you need me

You throw me I’m-a git right back

Cuz I’m-a gonna be a cowboy

And if you want to you can be my steed

And if you want to dance

A little discipline is what you need

© Scarth Locke

Lyrics Coming Soon...

No it ain’t the fall that kills you, it’s your meeting with the ground

Twas her beauty that bewitched me

Twas her hunger brought me down

I had money and position, silver watch to keep my time

Trusting wife and pretty children. When I met her I was fine

Twas her engine that propelled me and soon we were city bound

Twas her beauty that derailed me

Twas her hunger brought me down

I took twenty thousand dollars, where it went I can’t explain

I’d be richer had I thrown it from the window of the train

Beauty needs so much attention, hunger does not compromise

Soon the city was our prison, I fell further in her eyes

No it ain’t the fall that kills you, it’s your meeting with the ground

Twas her beauty that befell me

Twas her hunger brought me down

Carrie, come look out the window, someone’s fallen in the square

Men can look so foolish, can’t they? How do you guess he got there?

Roses waiting at the stage door, carriage waiting in the snow

Bowl of soup down at the mission but I’ve lost the heart to go

Just a quarter for the room, sir, and a nickel for the gas

Just a place to disappear, all good men must come to pass

No it ain’t the fall that kills you, it’s your meeting with the ground

If it’s beauty that compels you, then it’s hunger brings you down

Twas her hunger brought me down

© Anny Celsi

On a two lane road through the mountains

I am taking the corners too fast

My head is spinning as fast as my wheels

Shifting from future to past

So many things to attend to

So many places to be

The mountains roll right past my window

Like a half-watched bar room TV

If I could die just for a moment

Let these worries work themselves out

If it would all go on without me

Tell me what's all this worry about?

A promise is not like a moment

A moment's not something you keep

I've made too many promises lately

And the woods are lovely, dark and deep

I remember this friend down in Florida

All lyrics www.allthelyrics.com

She used to get lost just for fun

She'd take any turn that presented itself

Just to see where the road might run

It's amazing the places they'd take her

The people and things that she'd find

I've been meaning to look her up again

But I can't seem to find the time

Trying to make all the ends meet

It's like I'm skating the edge of a knife

I'm so busy making a living

I've got no time for a life

If I could die just for a moment

Let these worries work themselves out

If it would all go on without me

Tell me what's all this worry about?

A promise is not like a moment

A moment's not something you keep

I've made too many promises lately

And the woods are lovely, dark and deep

© David LaMotte

My mother used to read us passages of poetry

But none of us would ever listen

But she would let use stay up late if we would hear them

Her little stories in the kitchenAnd by far the best she ever read

Was one written by Tennyson

Weíd listen hard to every word she said

It was the legend of Enoch ArdenThey were three best friends since they were only children

Enoch and Philip and the beautiful Annie

When the two young boys grew up to be strong men

They both loved her but Annie loved one of themHe wasnít gonna try to tear them apart

So Philip still came to wish them well

But he was crying from a broken heart

When Annie wed Enoch ArdenHe said ìIíve loved you both since we were only children

and Annie, I know you have chosen well

Cause there is no better man who is walking this earth

no truer heart than Enoch ArdenîNow Enoch worked on the open sea

trying to provide for his family

and one day Annie begged him not to leave

when they sent him on down to the CarribeanShe said, ìPlease donít go, youíll be gone so long

and I donít really know if I can be that strongî

He said, ìAnnie my girl, donít you be sad

by the next full moon Iíll be back to youîBut ten years went by and he still never came

Maybe that ship went down in a winter rain

When Phillip came to ease her pain

he said,"Annie, we will never be whole again

but we will always remember him,

our oldest friend"Together Annie and Phillip grew old

but there was something theyíd never know

that Enoch found land just west of the meridian

and he waited to be rescued homeThey found him there as a very old man

and brought him back to his homeland

but when he heard Annie married again

she was blessed by Enoch ArdenBecause he had loved them both since they were only children

and he knew that Annie had chosen well

and he pledged that heíd never try and tear them apart

but it pierced through the heart of Enoch ArdenMy mother used to read us passages of poetry

and there was one by Tennyson

she would let us stay up late if we would listen

to the legend of Enoch Arden

it was the legend of Enoch Arden

© Diane Zeigler

Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks

Goin' someplace there's no goin' back

Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge

Shelter line stretchin' round the corner

Welcome to the new world order

Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest

No home no job no peace no rest

The highway is alive tonight

But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls prayer book out of his sleeping bag

Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag

Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last

In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass

Got a one-way ticket to the promised land

You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand

Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock

Bathin' in the city aqueduct

The highway is alive tonight

But where it's headed everybody knows

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy

Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries

Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air

Look for me Mom I'll be there

Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand

Or decent job or a helpin' hand

Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free

Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

The highway is alive tonight

But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes

I'm sittin' downhere in the campfire light

With the ghost of old Tom Joad

© Bruce Springsteen

Lyrics Coming Soon...

Lyrics Coming Soon...

Someday they won't let you, so now you must agree
The times they are a-telling, and the changing isn't free
You've read it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on TV
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984
They'll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air
And tell that you're eighty, but brother, you won't care
You'll be shooting up on anything, tomorrow's never there
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984
CHORUS
Come see, come see, remember me?
We played out an all night movie role
You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled
In 1984 (who could ask for more)
1984 (who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore)
(Mor-or-or-or-ore)
I'm looking for a vehicle, I'm looking for a ride
I'm looking for a party, I'm looking for a side
I'm looking for the treason that I knew in '65
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984
CHORUS
1984
1984
1984 (more)
1984
1984 (more)
1984
© David Bowie

My fairy godmother
Is a different girl
Black shirt, white tie, velvet gloves
Graying curls
She smokes those long, dark cigarettes
That burn like tar and licorice
Stands by the beggerman's fountain
Drops a coin, says, "Make a wish
Make a wish, kid
Make a wish, kid"
Dream
Just for a day
Take me alive
Take me away
This isn't the first time
She's called out my name
But I lost my nerve and she faded away
Like a dying flame
And now she's come from years away
Where I left my dreams behind
She says, "Baby, there's an easy way
And you ain't got much time
Make a wish, kid
Make a wish, kid
Then you're mine."
Refrain
I asked, "What's the difference--
A wish or a prayer?
I've searched high and low, but I stopped long ago
Now I no longer care
But sometimes on the darkest nights
I still see my lover's eyes
Now I wish to be free from that pitiful dream
That touches me sometimes "
My fairy godmother
She made no reply
Then finally she spoke as I stood in the smoke
Of her flickering eyes
"If you're prepared to walk this earth
Without the smallest dream
Ain't nothin' hell could show you
You ain't already seen
Make a wish, kid
Make a wish, kid
This ones on me."
Refrain
© Ira Marlowe

From a long winter was born, the story I’ll tell you
Amidst some people, dead and alive.
Paula grew as an illusion without knowing
That‚s how time cheat on us.
At dusk I found her asleep
She slept so much; the wind carried her away
And my girl is gone; she‚s gone far away
And her shadow seems like an echo to me,
I dream her sad and laughing too,
Only her memory she has left me.
Paula was happy
Her mind just shined
She laugh so much, death took her away
Paula died as an illusion
Without knowing that‚s how time cheat on us
From a sad story was born, this winter I sing today.
Dedicada a Isabel Allende, basada en su libro"Paula"
De un invierno largo nació esta historia que hoy cuento
Entre algunos vivos y muertos
Como una ilusión Paula fue creciendo
Sin saber que así nos engaña el tiempo.
Al atardecer la encontré durmiendo
De tanto dormir se la llevó el viento
CORO:
Y se fue mi niña, se fue muy lejos
Y su sombra a mí me parece un eco
Y la sueño triste y tambien riendo
A mi me dejo su recuerdo
Paula era feliz, brillaba su mente
De tanto reir le llegó la muerte
Como una ilusión, Paula fue creciendo
Sin saber que así
Nos engaña el tiempo.
De una historia triste nació este invierno que hoy canto.
© Marta Gomez

Lyrics Coming Soon...

I would not take away the very words by which you live,
But I would show you things unseen and the silences instead.
Just below the water,
In the space between the ribs,
I don’t want to talk, I just want to listen.
The rain is falling now, I want to hear every word that’s said.
Some larger rhythmic pattern, this conversation on my head.
Just below the water,
In the space between the ribs,
I don’t want to talk, I just want to listen.
I want to listen to the giant waterfalls of the sun.
Some kind of delicious music runs like light through the blood.
How can I tell you what was spoken
There is so much left unsaid.
And anyway, I don’t want to talk,
I just want to listen.
© Michelle [Bloom]

In ’62 Abe Lincoln said America won’t rest
Until we lay the iron road and join her East and West
As the Union and the Central raced to fill the dream
A Bible-totin’ English gal brought me to my knees
She Said, call me Poker Alice you’re on my Midnight run
A game of three-card Monte, sir, a round of Five and One?
Praise the Lord and place your bets, there’s many a mile to ride
I’m Poker Alice Ivers and I’ll take you down the line
Alice, you’re a beauty but the way you play’s not fair
Straights and flushes never win, or Aces in a pair
Your icy stare is breakin’ me the coolest in the land
But I believe a Queen of Hearts lies hidden in your hand
She said wagerin’ fo me-friend is risky
You’re better off to drown youself in whiskey
And don’t forget a double-cross will earn a fair reward
I’ll send a man to Kingdom Come with my forty-four
In Deadwood, South Dakota a saloon beside the tracks
Was home to Alice girls who made a livin’ on their backs
But every single Sunday she shut the tables down
And preached the Good Word to the girls and everyone in town
She Said, call me Poker Alice you’re on my Midnight run
A game of three-card Monte, sir, a round of Five and One?
Praise the Lord and place your bets, there’s many a mile to ride
I’m Poker Alice Ivers and I’ll take you down the line
Alice died in poverty her fortunes turned to dust
Upon her grave they carved these words: Alone In God We Trust
I wonder if she rode those rails from earth to paradise
‘Cause standin’ there I swear I heard her singin’ in the pines:
Praise the Lord and place your bets, there’s many a mile to ride
I’m Poker Alice Ivers and I’ll take you down the line
© Larry Kenneth Potts

I am Kilrain and I'm a fightin' man and I come from County Clare
And the Brits would hang me for a Fenian so I took me leave of there
And I crossed the ocean in the "Arrianne" the vilest tub afloat
And the captain's brother was a railroad man and he met us the boat
So I joined up with the 20th Maine like I said my friend I'm a fighting man
And we're marchin' south in the pouring rain and we're all goin' down to Dixieland
I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and we fight for Chamberlain
‘Cause he stood right with us when the Johnnies came like a banshee on the wind
When the smoke cleared out of Gettysburg many a mother wept
For many a good boy died there, sure, and the air smelted just like death
I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and I'd march to hell and back again
For Colonel Joshua Chamberlain - we're all goin' down to Dixieland
I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and I damn all gentlemen
Whose only worth is their father's name and the sweat of a workin' man
Well we come from the farms and the city streets and a hundred foreign lands
And we spilled our blood in the battle's heat
Now we're all Americans
I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and did I tell you friend I'm a fightin' man
And I'll not be back this way again, ‘cause we're all goin' down to Dixieland
© Steve Earle

My kid sister was scrawny, but fearless and tough
She followed me around like a motherless pup
So I let her tag along while we tightrope walked
The backyard fences all along the block
I jumped onto an old shed roof and sunk through to my knees
I yelled at her to run for help, but instead she scrambled next to me
She clawed and pulled with all her might, even though she knew
That if that rotten roof gave way,that she was going too
Don't let me fall, don't let me fall
You got a hold of my hand, please
Don't let go
Don't let me fall, don't let me fall
I put my faith in you
Don't let go
Building a treehouse fort from scavenged wood we found
Rust on the railroad tracks staining my shoes brown
I believed in everything. I won at tag and spelling bees
And at night I bowed my head
And said my prayers on skinned up knees
Bogeymen and monsters were the only things to fear
Pulling all the sheets up tight will make them disappear
That was before the little wide eyed girl-
Pleas, that no one heard-
He pulled her down onto his lap whispering
"Don't you say a word."
Don't let me fall, don't let me fall
You got a hold of my hand, please
Don't let go
Don't let me fall, don't let me fall
I put my faith in you
Don't let go
They said God was the father, standing sentry in the sky
I know he breaks baby the bird shells so they can open up
their eyes
And God breathes in the ocean
He looks like sunrays through the clouds
God smells like the color of air and tastes like snowflakes
in your mouth
And God will never leave me, He'd never let me drown
Then He opened up the floodgates
And the world rushed in and knocked me down
Don't let me fall, don't let me fall
You got a hold of my hand, please
Don't let go
Don't let me fall, don't let me fall
I put my faith in you
Don't let go
© Vicki Randle

I’m going back to Moline like I told you
Back where the sky is blue and the flowers dance
If this house and these arms cannot hold you
Then a broken heart hasn’t got a chance
I fell in love straight away when I first saw you
My heart nearly jumped out of my skin
When I heard what some other girl called you
I didn’t care what kind of trouble she was in
I'm goin' back to Moline
Goin back to Moline
Tomorrow today will just be a dream
Goin back to Moline
Goin back to Moline
On the first night you threw little stones at my window
On the next night I waited for you in the barn
On the third night I knew I would follow
This longing straight into your arms
We walked all the way across DeKalb county
Past Sterling, Rochelle and Sycamore
The weeks go by clean, I stopped counting
I can tell you'll be gone before the baby's born
It came to no good just like she told me
I’ll return with my shame in my shawl
But one look and those strong arms will enfold me
Mama's hard but she understands it all
I'm goin' back to Moline
Goin back to Moline
Goin back to Moline
Tomorrow today will just be a dream
Goin back to Moline
Goin back to Moline
© Patti Witten

A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red
I always play Russian Roulette in my head
It’s seventeen black and twenty-nine red
How far from the gutter: how far from the pew
I’ll always remember to forget about you
A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red
A long dead soldier looks out from the frame
No one remembers his war; no one remembers his name
Go out to the meadow; scare off all the crows
It does nothing but rain here, and nothing will grow
A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
My favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red
© Tom Waits

Oh Lord, how many times will I die?
With every heartache, tear that I cry
Will I find my path,
Oh Lord
How hard I try!
How many times will I die?
Oh Lord, how many songs will I sing?
With every gospel read and every offering
will I find my faith inside my fiery ring?
How many songs will I sing?
(She says)
Listen to the river
Listen to the wind
If you listen to the voice inside
You will not have to ask me again
Oh Lord, how many ways will I love?
In places here on earth, or in the skies above?
Will I find my truth?
Oh Lord, will I be judged?
How many ways will I love?
(She says)
Listen to the river
Listen to the wind
If you listen to the voice inside
You will not have to ask me again
Oh Lord, how many lives will I live?
My soul's been busy, Lord!
I got so much to give.
Will I learn my lessons or go around again?
How many lives will I live?
(She says)
Listen to the river
Listen to the wind
If you listen to the voice inside
You will not have to ask me again
Ohm Namah Shiva
© Stephanie Riggio

That was the summer that followed the spring
Of a sad anniversary of a thousand old things
I was letting them go
The words of Colette and a strange new perfume
Were Drenching my senses and filling the room
The heat from our bodies the light in our eyes
First THE surrender and then we could fly
We were letting it go
We're blinded to the beauty in our own lives
But I was takin' all that I could get
For five or six hours in the month of July
The summer I read Colette
Time was a line that I learned how to crawl
MY Bones were a prison and my memory a wall
If it weren’t for the past I'D feel nothing at all
Now I'm letting it go
It’s more than survival, but less than alive
Where I found salvation was quite a surprise
That was the summer that followed the spring
Of a new way of feeling a million new things
We're blinded by the beauty in our own lives
I was takin' all that I could get
For five or six hours in the month of July
The summer I read Colette
I found Paris a hundred years late
Colette is sleeping in Pere Lachaise
My ear to the stone I can hear her say
Nous nous reveillons
I sold my silver to get myself there
To a room with a candle up three flights of stairs
That was the summer I let it all go
To fill up my body with my heart and my soul
We're blinded to the beauty in our own lives
I was takin' all that I could get
For five or six hours in the month of July
The summer I read Colette
© Rosanne Cash

I'm tired of holding out for it, tired of waiting around for it,
Weighing in pound for pound with it, face down humping the ground for it.
I'm tired of whoring the little I got like a blind old beggar in a parking lot,
Like a joke machine that cranks and smokes and every day tells the same bad joke.
What I need is a little bit of hunger
That I can dig myself out from under,
A hard rain and a roll of thunder,
A little greed, a little bit of hunger.
I'm sick of holding the door for it, forever wanting more from it,
Never get to the core of it, always a tug of war with it.
I'm sick of running round the same old track, sitting here spinning like a beetle on its back,
Tired of pouring buckets of sand and then counting the grains left in my hand.
What I need is a little bit of hunger
That I can dig myself out from under,
A hard rain and a roll of thunder,
A little greed, a little bit of hunger.
My lover's arms are warm,
Why would I want to leave my bed this morning no matter day is dawning?
Gimme one good reason why,
I should try and try and try and write line after flaccid little line...
But I'm scared of holding out for it, scared of coming face to face with it
But I cannot bear the lack of it, so I am stuck here back to back with it.
What I need is a little bit of hunger
That I can dig myself out from under,
A hard rain and a roll of thunder,
A little greed, a little bit of hunger.
© Ana Porter

Life around here is peaceful.
Unpleasantness is another world away (at least it used to be).
Woken surrounded by the beasts.
The feeding frenzy. It don't justify the blame.
So...
Peel this flesh away!
The truncheon's blow has no effect on me.
Because in my mind I am already free.
Thrown in a place of darkness
Under the lifeless masses, cannot tell who is alive (and who is passed away).
Climb to the top for a breath, the moaning ceases.
None can sanctify the day.
So…
Peel this flesh away!
The truncheon's blow has no effect on me.
Because in my mind I am already free.
Every time I feel the pain, I just say, "It'll all be over soon."
It just laughs back and says, "HA!"
The run begins...in vain...
It's all in vain…
Refuse to let it change the way I choose to see.
Reflection leads to the divine,
Away from all distraction.
As I cling to what is true.
Where were you when we needed you?!
Where were you when we defended you?!
We feel the bite, we fear the quiet, in the never-ending night!
© Gaskit

I might look happy all the time
Though all my books are hid
My smile never disappeared
But the reason for it did
If a book is a loaded gun
Pointed straight between my eyes
I’d rather die between the leaves
Than live a life of lies
In this world you can choose your own perfume
I know that I look just like you
We all appear the same
But something deep inside of me
Is tired of this game
We were not all born equal
In body or in mind
And keeping everyone happy
Is no reason to keep me blind
I’m not the same as everybody else
And I don’t see why speaking my mind
Should threaten you at all
You’re not the same as me or as my friends
And I don’t see why I should be confined
By someone else’s wall
In this world you can choose your own perfume
Right now you got kerosene for perfume
Sand for sugar, dry flowers for new blooms
Incarceration for peace in the street
TV stations for people to meet
For silence there’s cities and traffic and fire
For laughter and crying just paper and wire
A sewer for surf, sleep for euphoria
Thoughts artificial phantasmagoria
High speed for release, strangers for parents,
Home becomes city, friends become servants
Reading is feeding by voices so flat
And learning is nothing but hand to hand combat
Fire is wasted on paper and ink
Smoke is the enemy of all those who think
And hidden in attics and in people’s heads
Are the words of the future hanging by threads
I won’t agree to second best
There are mountains for me to climb
I’ll read what I want, say what I want
There may never be a next time
I’m not the same as everybody else
And I don’t see why speaking my mind
Should threaten you at all
You’re not the same as me or as my friends
And I don’t see why I should be confined
By someone else’s wall
In this world you can choose your own perfume
© Chris Hawkins

How can we deal with the history of this country?
How can we deal with the pain that is still there?
moving through time
back through the bloodline
to the harshness of the past
into slavery and a racist grasp
goes the hour glass
the power pass from post civil rights
to patrols in the night
a woman forced to fight for her life
kindred a woman’s life is hindered
time splintered a little boy injured
family ties defended
family ties defended
then she is back home
no longer alone
trying to prepare for a world that is more than unfair
a time when husband and wife become master and slave
a struggle to stay sane in a world paved with blood and whips
time slips life flips
a destiny intertwined with a young mans breath
a woman charged with preventing his death
scratch- I got... trouble
kindred a woman’s life is hindered
time splintered a little boy injured
family ties defended
family ties defended
now she returns what has the boy learned
becoming a man taking a stand
is he with the same old plan
is he a slave man? slave holder?
is his heart getting colder?
she discovers not lovers
but a victim of rape wait
how can she hate this twisted fate
that would bond her to an ancestor
who would dominate
through trial and tribulation
and loss at great cost
a woman passed on seeds of education
freedom for a new generation
but for her own freedom
a final confrontation
those hands possessive of the past
she took his breath at last
but he held fast
a part of her ripped away
and forever in his grasp
but another part of her returned to her present time
where she could live her life no longer afraid
holding a secret wherever she stayed
© Baruch Israel

Hair under helmet, weapon unsheathed
Hard armor flattens the soft curves beneath
If I were a man I could take off my mask
But veiled I lead thousands of men on this task
You carved a map on my back, mama it burns
If I don’t live to walk home still I’ll return
Those who ride with me come by their own choice
The people are speaking and we are their voice
You would be so proud of me
You would be so proud of me
The shell of an ordinary girl
Please look beneath
My true love found me alone in my tent
Coccooned in the shadows, the hours we spent
I carry my baby now close to my breast
My love rides beside me, we’re leading the rest
You would be so proud of me
You would be so proud of me
Unbinding the hands of our people
I’ll fight ‘til we’re free
Growing our army to take back this land
The spirits breathe strength, they are guiding my hand
Our song rises high, it’s a sonorous humming
I think those in the palace know we are coming
When we are free I won’t fight anymore
Come back to my hometown to those I adore
Mama, oh mama your daughter is worthy
Daddy, oh daddy I’m fighting for you
You would be so proud of me
You would be so proud of me
Unbinding the hands of our people
I’ll fight ‘til we’re free
The pen is the mightiest sword
Mama, if you could see
You’d be so proud of me
You ‘d be so proud of me
You should be so proud of me
© Angie Heimann

Village to village,
rolling up our weary bones,
buried alive,
down in a combat zone.
So wicked, so strange,
the nights keep catching fire.
So little remains,
confessors and bad liars.
The things we carried
are taking up a heavy load;
the weight of the world,
move it further on up the road.
Burn all her letters.
Do whatever you think you should.
She never loved you,
and you know she never would.
In this jungle of madness,
where darkness outlasts dawn,
fear all alone
weighs nothing, nothing at all.
The things we carried
are taking up a heavy load;
the weight of the world,
move it further on up the road.
© Ron DeChristoforo & Anthony DiFebbo

In a courtroom in a southern town
Watchers white and black and brown
Come to see the falling down
Of a mockingbird
They won’t uproot a lie so old
With so much history to uphold
No matter how the truth is told
Against a white man’s word
And so the mockingbird is caged
A sacrifice for day and age
To bring the turning of a page
Not just yet, but more near it
What’s to become of a mockingbird
Singing so sweet in the tree
When’s this world gonna be a place
Where the innocent go freeHigh up in the balcony
Nesting as if in a tree
Two eggs among the ebony
In danger of the fall
But they won’t break despite the spill
A father’s firm unbending will
Cushions where the fall would kill
Innocence and all
He who would protect his young
He who would have justice done
Draws the truth which must be sung
But cannot make them hear it
What’s to become of a mockingbird
Singing so sweet in the tree
When’s this world gonna be a place
Where the innocent go free
The path is never clean or sterile
Seeking justice invites peril
Unleashing beasts rabid and feral
Loose upon our streets
A father, though he aims the best
Preparing them for trial and test
Must let the young ones leave the nest
Their own wings for to beat
When their little world is shaken
A friend who know the feel of breaking
Comes out in time to stop the taking
Of their precious songs
What’s to become of a mockingbird
Singing so sweet in the tree
When’s this world gonna be a place
Where the innocent go free
© Angie Heimann

I had everything but that one thing
That would make him come to life
So I went searching in the corner of his eyes
I can make a man or a monster
If the chemistry’s not right
So I go creeping around these corners
Thinking it’s right around that bend
But all these bends make a circle
And nature won’t let those end
Maybe if I tried a little harder
You might want me again
Of all the stories I tell myself
Please let this one be true
Of all the stories I tell myself
Please let this one be true
It’s got to be hiding in here somewhere
Maybe in the curve of your spine
God knows I’ve traveled that distance a thousand times
Maybe if I run into your heart she might tell me why
Of all the stories I tell myself
Please let this one be true
Of all the stories I tell myself
Please let this one be true
I swear I saw it
There was something in your eyes
So I’ve been waiting on you
Waiting on you
Your heart is on the table
My hands are in the sky
And I’ve been waiting on a storm
Cuz I had everything but that one thing that
Would make him come to life
So I went searching in the corner of his eyes
I can make a man or a monster if the chemistry’s not right
It’s not right
Of all the stories I tell myself
Please let this one be true
© Edie Carey, Evan Brubaker

They can slash my tires and I don’t care
They can beat me up or strip me down to my underwear
They can go ahead and laugh if that’s what they want to do
Because I am brave and my love is true
I’ve wandered out across the land
Conquered giants with my two bare hands
I’ve burned a torch- I’ve seen the light
I’ve licked my wounds form the sticks and stones of every fight
I’ve upheld her honor from sea to sea
Always dreaming that someday she might dream of me
I swear I could have heard her say
You’re just like Don Quixote
You’re just like Don Quixote
She drags a veil across my eyes
And tangles me up in one thousand of her lies
Now I’ve dropped a fortune- I’ve left the fame- I’ve lost my senses but somehow I have kept the flame
When I heard the voices screaming in my ear, “You should forget about her- she’s not worth a single tear.”
Well I’d ignore every word they’d say
Just like Don Quixote
Just like Don Quixote
Will she ever see beneath this suit of armor?
Will she ever truly feel me when I wrap my arms around her/
Does she even know that I am out here just to save her
Because she gives me the strength and the power…
So they can slash my tires and I don’t care
They can beat me up or strip me down to my underwear
They can go ahead and laugh if that’s what they want to do
Because I am brave and my love is true
I am standing up for chivalry
I swear it ain’t some half baked insanity
No-no- it’s my philosophy- I’ve got to be
Just like Don Quixote
I would kill all of her enemies
Make them bow down on my knees
If I could set her soul free
I’ve got to be just like Don Quixote
© Tony Roberts

Oh Captain, my Captain
Is there any news today?
What would be futures have you given to your mind to play?
One day you might go back to school to quench your parents’ appetite.
One day maybe you will write that book that you have always meant to write.
Oh Captain, my Captain
So alone and lonely now
But ever-certain you will end up with someone, somehow.
One day, when you expect it least, you say she will just appear.
So why look for her when, one day, she will find you here.
But if you wait all your life for “one day” to arrive
To find it never does…
How would that make you feel inside?
If you wait all your life for “one day” to arrive
Everybody thinks you’ve got it made
You let your fingers snap and…”woohoo!”…
Everything that you need finds it’s way into your lap.
You find that hard to believe.
(If there’s a dam, you find a crack)
One day your luck will leave and it won’t be coming back
If you waited all your life for “one day” to arrive
Afraid it was today; Afraid your luck would not survive.
If you waited all your life
Waited all your life…
Along with opportunity
There comes the possibility
That the moment will just up and pass you by.
Think of every chance you didn’t take,
Afraid it was a grave mistake,
And it has to make you stop and wonder “Why?”
So don’t wait all your life for “one day” to arrive.
Live today as if it were your last day left alive.
Don’t wait all your life
For “one day” to arrive
© Graham Greer

I wait here in my kingdom,
As it's crumbling around.
It don't mean that I've justified
Everything I have found
I'm imprisoned here.
I pass the time desiring what they've tried to deny me.
Everything is clear, all my life.
This is mine. This, my soul on ice.
They don't know what they've done to me.
They don't even care.
My higher uneducation begins to rip and tear.
I'm imprisoned here.
I pass the time desiring what they've tried to deny me.
Everything is clear, all my life.
This is mine. This, my soul on ice.
Past necessitates, rising debts we pay.
I become light.
The gods are dead, except that of war
You f*cks don't know what I've got in store!
The sins of the past are brought down upon the heads of the children, no more!
Damn, America's mired in the mud that it's flung
And can't pull out off...
I'm imprisoned here.
I pass the time desiring what they've tried to deny me.
Everything is clear, all my life.
This is mine. This, my soul on ice.
© Freddie Feldman / Gaskit

Just for a moment we’ll play it your way.
Give me the clothes and we’ll see how it goes.
But don’t forget it’s a luxury, this little whim
And if I can’t trick ‘em they won’t let me in
This corset takes my breath but I’ll play along.
Without it are you afraid I’ll come undone?
Now you’ve completed your task with warmest disregard
And you say it’s a start. I say Lily bart. So
Don’t save me.
Don’t save me.
Don’t save me.
You’ve done enough
Now that I’m in, I’d rather be out.
But that first step’s a bitch: it’s a long way down.
And these shoes never fit. There’s not even a prize.
But your mood has lifted; you fought the good fight. So
Don’t save me.
Don’t save me.
Don’t save me.
You’ve done enough.
You could come clean.
This stuff you heaped is rather cruel.
Don’t you think?
Your good intent is dispensed with such pretense it’s left me bent.
I recognize this exercise as your attempt to canonize and I don’t need more of your kind deeds.
Don’t save me.
Don’t save me.
Don’t save me.
You’ve done enough.
© Beth Thornley

Conformity
You must conform to me
Your rebel look a uniformity
Mass conformity
You seek security
There is no certainty
But conformity
You must conform to me
When our hero meets the girl
She beams a ray of hope in his world
She breaks
Conformity
You must conform to me
Your rebel look a uniformity
Mass conformity
When the guy comes home
From burning pages
Of the sages
All his rage is
Quieted with a pill
He finds his wife
Who’s lying still
Their zombie life
Is dying still
With a tv blaring
Denies she’s daring
To leave
Resuscitate her
Regurgitate her
Transfusion aid her
Surround sounds abound
As the tv’s on
Its always on
She’s
Conformity
You must conform to me
Your rebel look a uniformity
Mass conformity
Wake up wake up 451
Wake up, wake up run
Wake up wake up 451
Wake up, wake up run
Wake up wake up 451
Wake up, wake up run
Wake up wake up 451
Wake up, wake up run
Conformity
You must conform to me
Your rebel look a uniformity
Mass conformity
You seek security
There is no certainty
But conformity
You must conform to me
When our hero meets his guide
A revolution is started inside
He breaks
Conformity
You must conform to me
Your rebel look a uniformity
Mass conformity
With sun burned hands
He held the fire
The sun burned time
And his desire
Was awakened
With no mistakes and
He’d chose a mind
That’s free to fill
On the ground
Authority spilled
The hunted man
They want to kill
On a tv fake show
Hounds of hell float
They dropped the bomb
And it was gone
But our guy lived on
The words he’d learned went on
He’d leave a sign for all time
Of having been here
He vowed aloud
He would dig a grave
Big enough to bury
War
Wake up wake up 451
Wake up, wake up run
Wake up wake up 451
Wake up, wake up run......
In the city
All the people
Gone forever
War is futile
In the city
All the people
Gone forever
War is futile.....
© Norine Braun

I’ve traveled so far, I can’t explain
I’ve got to get back to the future again
I’m going home to freedom
There is no star can lead me home
No drinking gourd that points to where I’m going
I’m going home to freedom
I’ve learned so much about what I’m made of
I’ve seen some parts of me I’m so afraid of
But I’m going home to freedom
We’re only made of flesh and bone
You’re flesh of my flesh, we all are so alone
I’m going home to freedom
No one here can really see me
Or know the heart of me
Can I make a clean escape
Will I have to leave behind a part of me?
The roots of this land, the child in my soul
The cradle must rock, the river must roll
I’m going home to freedom
And when I’m home, I can’t explain
My aching loss, this phantom pain
But I’m going home to freedom
Yes, I’m going home – to freedom
© Judy Klass

Lyrics Coming Soon...