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MY DARLING ENGLAND

I see the way my friend is going, I know how he’ll end up

It’s a shame but I can’t stop it, y’know some men are born with bad luck

Cos it’s a hard life to begin with, it’s harder still if you’re poor

If your daddy was a working man, you’ll be walking that factory floor

The creases in his furrowed brow are getting deeper every day

Oh my darling England, won’t you see sing for him again?

Now I know some people can break out, but I know most people will stay

You’ve got to look beyond your surroundings or realise there’s a price to pay

Cos when you come to the understanding that your life has hit a brick wall

You’ll be too young to want to live like that, but too old to break the fall

And the tears will drop right from your eyes, just like English rain

Oh my darling England, won’t you sing for them again?

Now the streets are filled with shadows, every house has its own ghost

The people are growing restless, never getting what they want the most

Some people don’t have what it takes and I feel for them, I really do

But if you think that you’re worth something, then you’ve really got nothing to lose

Cos before you know it, you’ll be sad and old, praying for days gone by

Oh my darling England, don’t you hear them crying?

Some folks were born to be doctors, some folks to work the land

But some folks will just do nothing, they just live for the drink in their hand

Y’know everything made can be altered, but not every choice can be undone

The wise should teach their children not to do as they’ve done

Then maybe somehow wealth won’t mean a thing

And I hope I’m alive for that day

Oh my darling England, won’t you sing for me someday?

Since when were we afraid of our neighbours? Since when did we bar all our doors?

This isn’t the place I grew up in, tell me, when did our minds get so small?

Sure there are folks who are struggling to deal with the cards in their hand

Just a-praying for redemption and a song to sing of this land

So I’m singing for England and all that she is, for all the love and the pain

Oh my darling England, won’t you sing with me today?

BE LOVED

If you’re feeling lonely, then girl, you’re not alone

If you’re feeling weary then let me carry you home

It ain’t no sin to say you’ve had enough

And it ain’t no crime to want to be loved

If you’re feeling too weak, then please, take the strength from these arms

If you’re scared of being hurt, then let God be my witness, I’ll do you no harm

It ain’t no surprise that this life can be rough

So come on admit it, you just want to be loved

Don’t be ashamed, no, don’t be ashamed

Don’t be ashamed that you want to be loved

Another cryptic epiphany intoxicates me and leaves me stumbling blind

Are those signals you’re sending me, or are they just signs?

But there’s something that tells me I shouldn’t give up

There’s a look in your eye says you want to be loved

Don’t be afraid, no, don’t be afraid

Don’t be afraid, we all want to be loved

DON’T LET HIM CHANGE YOU

Your precious light is fading

But please don’t let him take it from you, not you

I wish that I could be there

To hold you and run my fingers through your hair

But it’s not fair

So please don’t let him change you, my dear

I don’t think I can take it

I always thought we’d make it alright

But life don’t work out how we want it

You’re with him and I’m left haunted each night

I can’t sleep nights

When you touched my hand, it burned

But my heart went cold

Just another reminder of the hand I’ll never hold

You used to laugh like nothing could stop you

You used to dance like no one was watching you, sweet you

But now that spark you have is fading

Oh, promise you won’t let him take it from you

That spark is you

THE BILLIONS

Lately I’ve been thinking about all that I have done

All the times I’ve sat here bitching ’bout how lonely I’ve become

But maybe I don’t know nothing, I’m not that rich but I’m not that poor

And I ain’t ever known the suffering of those who go to war

My heart may have been broken, but I ain’t never fired a gun

And while some of my friends betrayed me, I ain’t ever lost a son

And I’ve never known the fear of hearing bombs fall in the night

And I ain’t had to worry whether my husband will be alright

So I’ve got to watch my money and pay the bank from time to time

But I can walk in the street and know I won’t step on no landmine

And I can take my car, go wherever I want to go

Safe in the knowledge there ain’t no checkpoints on the road

Yeah, I still want a woman to keep the darkness from my mind

But I have running water and food ain’t too hard to find

Oh my heart goes out to the billions who have it worse than me

So, Lord, I’ll stop my bitching, when you bring those people peace

THE OTHER SIDE

Fading like a snowflake

I’m blushing and my hands shake

So it goes, the world is as I know

I’m nothing, I am zero

Take the time to shine your light

Bring my sins out into sight

Pull me from the other side

In my life, I’ve been kneeling

The pretenders got me reeling

No one knows the feelings that I hide

I’m listless, I’m ossified

Take the time to make me right

Cos when day fades to night

I’ll be dreaming of your light

Well, if I could shine like you, I’d not feel like I do

As it is, I’m eclipsed, cos only heaven can make stars like this

Take the time to make me right

Bring my sins into the light

Pull me from the other side

CAROUSEL

Here I am on the carousel, reaching for the big brass ring

Waiting for something, freezing as hell, I’m searching for a song to sing

Life comes by and grabs each limb, pulls you four separate ways

Everything we do is for someone else, tell me, who sets the penance we pay?

And we’re spinning around in a daze

And we hope and we wish and we pray

That something will come our way

You live and love with your heart on your sleeve, hoping that you won’t be done wrong

But as we know too well, trust is a fragile thing and once you break it, it’s gone

Around the world, I think we’re the same, we’re lost in dreams passed by

Always hanging on for that better day, that moment when we’ll feel alive

VIOLETS

I saw the purple on your arms

And the pain in your eyes

I saw him on the forecourt

As you paid me for his fuel that night

And maybe he’s got you under his spell

Maybe you’ve got a secret, maybe you’ll never tell

But what he shows you ain’t love

No, that ain’t love

It’s no place for a stranger

To offer their advice to you

To guess what you’re feeling

Or tell you what you should do

But if I could, well, you know I’d say let him go

As he bruises your body so he bruises your soul

And what he you shows you ain’t love

No, that ain’t love

The violence of the violets

Contrasted ’gainst porcelain white

Was burned into my eyes

As he drove you out into the night

I CAN’T WAIT

My soul it sings for you, can’t you hear it?

My blood it pumps for you, can’t you feel it?

The minutes feel like days, I know you know what I mean

Nothing’s as fragile as this time in between

And I can’t wait

No, I can’t wait to see you again

Where once was a space, you have filled it

Where once was a devil, you have killed it

When you say you miss me, you know I know what you mean

Nothing is as hard as this time in between

POTASH

We begged for sun and summer came, but now it’s here we pray for rain

And that rain will come and maybe stay, we’ll be begging for that sunny day

Lye, lye-de-dye-dye

Lie, lie upon lie

You know I’d come if you called but your reticence says it all

Your marble eyes and heart of stone, your golden hair and your Dictaphone

Where you going? Where you been? With your devil’s smile and guitar strings?

With your tired legs and your aching back, with your Hunter S. and Kerouac?

The battle’s lost but you say it’s won, amid the shells and the smoking guns

You paid the price with others’ lives while their bodies rot and gather flies

A mother’s tear, a father’s sigh, as the criminal pays off his alibi

A distant war, a foreign flag, oh tell us when you’re gonna bring ’em back

My heart it pounds, my face is red, as words we spoke run through my head

I sing the songs and pick the bones of all the love that I’ve ever known

In the deepest dark, I know my mind, I know my heart and what I’ll find

Cos it knows loss and it knows defeat, well it may be black but Lord, can’t you hear it beat?

We all know hurt, we all know fear, we all taste the salt in our tears

But there is love and there is truth, just kiss my lips if you want the proof

We begged for sun and summer came
But now it’s here we pray for rain

THE NIGHT TOM PETTY DIED

Well, I’d just moved to New York City on the night Tom Petty died

Sitting at the bar in the Tribeca Tavern, on the jukebox was Learning to Fly

A beer cost more than I could spend, I wished that I was home

But it was too late then, I’d made my decision, and there I was drinking alone

Alone, I was alone

A little lost boy in the big bad city, alone

So I went down to Bleecker Street to see what I could see

An invisible man to all the other people, yeah, nobody would talk to me

I went down to ride the subway cars with all the other freaks and geeks

Everybody staring at the only white man as we left 125th Street

The beginning of a big adventure kicked off with a tragic twist

A massacre in Vegas, the death of a hero, well, no one had prepared me for this

And everyone says it’s a dream come true, could it be another dream I’ve blown?

Waiting for my darling to get on a plane, until then I’m on my own

ROAD TO DAMASCUS

I’m on the road to Damascus, I’ve never felt so low

Waiting for the faith that never seems to show

It seems that I have been forsaken and left on my own

Stranded on the road to redemption, waiting for a star to lead me home

A tonic for my bones, a saviour for my soul

I’m on the road to Damascus and I’m all alone

Trying to get to the Street Called Straight to restore my sight

Cos on this road I’ve been blinded by a thousand brake lights

A thousand black nights, a thousand lost fights

YOU STILL HAVE MY HEART

You’re my best friend you know, I’ll go wherever you may go

When the wind blows cold, I’ve still got you to hold

You’re my idea of love, you’ll always be enough

And when money’s tight, I’ll still have your light

We’ve already come so far, don’t need the sky to read the stars

Cos when all grows dark, you still have my heart