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 BoyLittle 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 EstateWe 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 |