All The Stars

All the stars were born when I saw them
And I knew the moon was true when you saw it too
But one of those days everything changed
It’s such a shame we had to give them names
 
But I don’t blame you
We wouldn’t have broken the rules if we’d known them then
 
Who knows how slow time can go
When you’re left with one thought all alone
Though you know it might be nothing
We lost it all for nothing once before
 
And you could’ve said
It wouldn’t have been so bad if you told me then

And oh my soul
Did I lose it then too
It’ll be a long and lonely road
If we don’t forget whose fault it was 
 
Now I hide from what I found in my rage
When I caught the child who let the bird out of it’s cage
And from what I lost and you gained
Though what you gained and what I lost are not the same

And I don’t blame you       
We wouldn’t have broken the rules if we’d known them then

And oh my soul
Did I lose it then too
It’ll be a long and lonely road
If we don’t forget whose fault it might have been

Letter

I’ve been feeling like I’m gonna die
Not one day but some day soon
So many things that I never got right
All coming home to roost this afternoon
 
Well I never wrote a letter that wasn’t a lie
To try to make them see me as I’d see myself
I never sent a letter to you though I tried to write
It always seemed to make light of what I would’ve said

Down by the river and down by the sea
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me
Where I was that’s where I’d still be
If I hadn’t been so lucky for you to find me
If I hadn’t been so lucky as I turned out to be
 
Me and the boys went out on Friday night
And put the world to rights at the bottom of a glass
It went so well we even got into a fight
And threw a trolley in the river from the cycle path

And I saw the light of wonder in the middle of the night
And I tried to get it for you I tried to bring it home
But then of course I had to wait until the time was right
And by the time I got it to you it was too far gone

Down by the river and down by the sea
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me
Where I was that’s where I’d still be
If I hadn’t been so lucky for you to find me
If I hadn’t been so lucky as I turned out to be

Little Boy

Little boy before your time
You can laugh at your elders I laughed at mine
And you can ignore all the good advice   
As long as you make up your mind in time
 
Well I told your mother lies        
And I wished that they were true
There were worse things she could’ve left me for 
Than the little things she knew
But I held my head up high        
I could lie to myself
Just as well as I could lie to anybody else
 
Little boy before your time
You can laugh at your elders I laughed at mine
And you can ignore all the good advice   
As long as you make up your mind in time

And I’ve been down many a lonely road
Never asked for help from anyone
in carrying my load
You’ve got to listen to your second mind
I know you know I didn’t mine
It wasn’t worth the loss of what I had for what I know
 
Oh and why should I believe you now
Do you know me better than myself somehow
When I looked up to you
You looked down on the petty plain
You told me not to be afraid 
You said the world was out there for the brave
Oh how many times did you betray 
When you decided what was right
 
I’m not asking you to do what I say
You’ve got to make your own mistakes
You can’t do everything the hard way
You know those lessons take their toll
You don’t know how quickly you get old
It gets too late to come in from the cold
Then there’s only pity  
And if you’re lucky, charity
 
Little boy before your time
I know they’ve already told you a million times
You’ve got to put your faith in something
Or learn to blame yourself

Whose High Horse

You told me in turns about words and the brave
Whether it’s better to be a slave driver or slave
Or one who sits so far away from what he says
Damning all efforts at difference
 
If you saw a man trying to better himself
You’d tell him what he did wrong before you offered to help
Sure you’d go down to hell and talk about yourself
And then come back and use it in arguments
 
What are you tying your plough to
How do you choose to excuse yourself
How are you paying your way these days
Whose high horse are you riding now
 
Then you’d turn on the ones that you turned to before
As you walked on the letters strewn over the floor
And the ivy it grows through the frame of the door
And the news spews on on the radio
 
And it scares me now when I look back on those days
They seem as low and as long as the grave
But I’ll always remember your talk of the brave
And how it made me feel different

What are you tying your plough to
How do you choose to excuse yourself
How are you paying your way these days
Whose high horse are you riding now

So Little To Miss

When I scrub up now it’s sad
I don’t have what I had
The sight of me would just remind you
That some chances pass
 
I looked like a killer in the mirror
When I put on this suit
It seems I’m always late for something
That I don’t want to do
 
I was too late to get in on a crime that pays
Now it’s a crime for me to try to do it my way
And I don’t know how they ground me down to feeling like this
To be afraid of leaving when I’ve so little to miss
 
Now they’re being mean to strangers
Just to pass the mean time
You’ve to queue to get a ticket
To the end of the line
 
And I’ve been here long enough to know
You can’t dig your way out of a hole
And long gone are the days
They let you die on the dole
 
They say there’s more to life than having your fun
But now I wish I’d gone all in when I was young
Cos when you’ve been watching the clock this long
You don’t know what to do with yourself when it’s gone
 
They say your day is coming but you’re just one of those who wait
They say you’d be a fool to leave you know it’s never too late
And I don’t know how they ground me down to feeling like this
To be afraid of leaving when I’ve so little to miss

Cuckoo

There’s a hole in the sky               
Where the tired birds fly
And the cats go missing in           
The middle of the day
And it’s always round this time   
When the sun is trying to climb
I get to thinking about leaving         
But we all know that I’ll stay
 
They never built the station           
But the train goes by
I watch it leaving on the ceiling  
As it casts a light
And leaves behind nothing but another night
Like all the other nights before
 
You dropped an anchor in my dreams  
You stopped the clock of my memories
Wherever I go you’ve already been         
And taken what I need to know
 
Like a cuckoo bird   
You flew from this home
And the consequences now         
They’re mine alone
If there was a ladder that I could climb
If there was a letter that I could write
If I had something for to set my mind
I might find my way out of this mine
 
The last few leaves were falling  
From the trees this morning
As the day was dawning with
The moon still in the sky
It’s up there in the morning
It’s still hanging round in the afternoon
These days they seem to end so soon  
But nothing ever seems to change
 
Oh where did all those objections go
All lost in radio phone-in shows
And left in messages on phones
That have been thrown away

Like a cuckoo bird   
You flew from this home
And the consequences now         
They’re mine alone
If there was a ladder that I could climb
If there was a letter that I could write
If I had something for to set my mind
I might find my way out of this mine
 
We need more than seeds to sow
More than land for things to grow
The days go quick and the time goes slow
But there’s always something left to save

The Second Estate

We sold away half the estate
The horse had bolted when we locked the gate
We had our fill
Then we made our will
They’ll have to pay the bill some other day
 
Put all our money in a stranger’s game
We weren’t looking at the sky when the rains came
We hadn’t got round to planting the ground
What can you say
It’s such a shame
 
It seems I lose until I’m about to win
I’ve only got myself to blame
But you know you can always change your name
And start playing all over again

Sometimes the trees have got to lose some limbs
You’ve got to cut them back so that they’ll grow back again
Sometimes you’ve got to go with caution in the wind
If you just jump in it’ll be sink or swim
 
It seems I lose until I’m about to win
I’ve only got myself to blame
But you know you can always change your name
And start playing all over again

Who knows whether to heaven or hell
Who ever knows what stories they’ll tell
In all the books on the shelves
We only find ourselves
And at the top of the steeple
The bell tolls for other people
 
It seems I lose until I’m about to win
I’ve only got myself to blame
But you know you can always change your name
You did it once so you can do it again
You know you can always change your name
And start cheating all over again

Come Down From Your Mountain

Come down, come down from your mountain and meet me 
Follow the stream that’s a river to me
Leave behind your heights oh so weathered and beaten
You know the world isn’t what you wanted it to be
 
You know there’s still water in the well
It still tastes sweet and there’s still people to meet
And the bees still come to my windowsill
Though I don’t know to where they go
 
Scatter the seeds of the grass as you’re coming
Fill up your pockets with the prettiest of stones
Take each turn the path more trodden
Until you come to the place that you once called your home
 
I know you’re still lost in the days of before
But you’re sorry for more than you’re responsible for
Nobody here would turn you away from their door
Not for memories, enemies
 
They talked 'til the fire was low in the grate
They waited 'til there was no choice but to stay
They don’t know that anyone made a mistake
And they don’t speak of those days anyway
 
Don’t mind the new names of the places you see
Keep your eyes on your feet if you feel the people stare
Though the walls are gone and the war is forgotten
The road is grown o’er but the turn is still there
 
So come down, come down from your mountain and meet me
Follow the stream that’s a river to me
Leave behind your heights oh so weathered and beaten
You know the world isn’t what you wanted it to be

The Flood

The last great bird that searched
The whole blue planet for a perch
Died in flight and fell into the waves
Where the drought is the killer and the torrent saves
 
And I got back everything I lost at such a cost

And the fish they grew to enormous size
Fed upon the bounty of the great floods prize
And the sharks swam through the abattoirs
And the shrimps ate the nibbles in the fine wine bars
 
And I got back everything I lost at such a cost
At such a cost
 
Well I remember my mother said to me
Worse things happen out at sea
Worse things happen so I’m told
Now I know I’m gonna lose my hold
I can feel my fingers growing cold
 
And I’m gonna get back every little thing I lost
And the sea
Indifferently
Is coming to extract the cost
 
And I got back everything I lost at such a cost

We'll Never Do That Again

The sun rose on the frozen ground
Where you fell down in your ballgown
The candle caught the curtain and we dropped the pail down in the well

You danced on the tablecloth
As the flames came up through the floor

And we'll never do that again or anything we did before
No we'll never do that again or anything we did before

But wasn't it pretty and weren't we happy while we watched it burn

Wine In The Water

Like a star out on the sea like a light on the coast
You don’t know a good thing until you need it the most
And all the things I learned I really should’ve known
Before I got so far away from home
 
And I really should’ve known that I needed some help
When I was using the good days to fool myself
And there’s nothing about living that is good for the health
Though you can waste your days in many ways
 
You’re the wine in my water and the water in my wine
Instead of making trouble now I’m taking my time
And I don’t see every morning as a mountain to climb
Cos you’re the wine in my water and the water in my wine
 
There’s a path that’ll take you straight up to the top
But then you’re looking down on all the places you might’ve stopped
And if you sold it all now what would you get for the lot
After all those days you gave away
 
And John’s so far gone that it’s not even funny these days
He’s making money in a job that he hates
And there’s no work in the town so you go up to the city
Where they’ve as much pity as the wind and the rain

You’re the wine in my water and the water in my wine
Instead of making trouble now I’m taking my time
And I don’t see every morning as a mountain to climb
Cos you’re the wine in my water and the water in my wine

Like a sign on the road like whiskey in the cold
You don’t know a good thing until you need it the most
And they’ll never stop telling you they told you so
If you don’t get going with what you already know
 
And if you don’t stop doing what you do to forget pretty soon
You won’t have any memories left
And although it’s bad I know it’s not as bad as that yet
I still remember the days that weren’t the same