all we want      

                                          

Steppin’ out to come undone

Constant change, always on the run

The returning of the prodigal son

That’s you, that’s me

You can’t hold it back, the power’s strong

Gonna pull you up like a magical song

And I ask myself, how long, how long?

 

All we want is to live in peace

Free the spirit and live in peace

People sharing a legacy

We hold the key

 

Talk about survival, talk about chance

Tangled in the circle of a primal dance

While the medicine man sings in his trance, his trance

New beginnings, little deaths

We turn in search of our ‘raison d’être’

Gotta cut these strings

Get out of this net

 

I feel the past within my bones

As I stumble for the stepping stones

Won’t you get my momma on the phone

This carnival sells tricks real cheap

And thrills that only go skin deep

They’ll steal your shoes

And leave you with cold feet

 

two travellers

 

Walking along the city’s industrial beach

Nobody here, just you and me

Out of the city’s reach

Coils of brown cables tangled

With clusters of concrete

The ruins and remains, reminders of

The times our feet

Driftwood and feat beneath hers, jewels of china

Chips of glass

Reflecting you, reflecting me

We live our lives, we come to pass

 

Wrapped in your shawl

Superimposed on the scene

Like some exotic bird

Captured in somebody else’s dream

Trembling and ruffled

So fragile in the wind

An exiled angel fallen from the clouds

With numb and tattered wings

You are so beautiful a sight to behold

Want to put my arms around you

Hold you gently, keep you from the cold

 

We are two travellers

On a foreign shore

Trying to retrace our steps

To where we were before

 

Walking along the city’s industrial beach

Nobody here, just you and me

Out of the city’s reach  

You are so beautiful a sight to behold

Want to put my arms around you

Hold you gently, keep you from the cold

Driftwood and feathers, jewels of china, chips of glass

Reflecting you, reflecting me

We live our lives, we come to pass

 

 

laughter & tears

 

The first time our eyes touched

All the world stood still

A rushing in my head, a waterfall

And though I have never seen your face before

My heart said, ‘I know you, that is all, that is all’

And the love I’ve been searching for all these years

Came to me in a silent explosion of laughter & tears

 

In a moment with you flowers of truth unfold

To the radiance glowing from your eyes

The sound of your voice blossoms in my mind

And stirs me from my sleep like the sunrise,

The sunrise

Dissolves the darkness, dissolves my fears

And leaves me in a silent explosion of

Laughter & tears

 

Times untold, I’ve watched the waves rolling in

The endless music of the sea

And now the rhythm of your song becomes clear

And swells like a tide over me, over me

And the love I’ve been searching for all these years

Fills me with a silent explosion of laughter & tears

 

 

jet fuel

 

Walkin’ the block down Winchester, Parliament

Tappin’ on the window tall americano

Engines hot, gotta keep my cool

Gonna launch my rocket, gonna get jet fuel

 

Outer space, inner space, my space, your grace

Unload, jettison, taking the medicine

Implode, explode, punch in the right code

Droppin’ the payload, getting’ on the high road

 

 

if & when

 

If & when I do get home

Never gonna leave you so alone

If & when I do get home

Never gonna leave you so alone

If & when I do get home

Never gonna leave you so alone

 

 

lazy trombone

 

Lazy trombone

Won’t you bring my baby home

Play that lazy melody

Bring her back to me

 

This empty home

Been so long, been so alone

That melody brings back

All those sweet memories

 

Soft summer nights

And a thousand delights

Won’t you bring my baby back home

 

Soft summer nights

A thousand delights

Soft summer nights

Won’t you bring my baby back home

 

 

il terrazzo                    

 

Il terrazzo, il terrazzo

There’s a party on the terrace tonight         

In the disco bar down by the sea     - il terrazzo

It’s a hot Mediterranean night

Where the music plays for you and me  - il terrazzo

 

Hear the laughter by the light of the moon

Swaying palms trees in the breeze  - il terrazzo

Love to hear Mediterranean tunes

Scooters swarming ‘round like bees  - il terrazzo

 

It’s a party on this coastline shore

Dancing barefoot in the sand   - il terrazzo

Weave your magic on the cool dance floor

To the music of this Latin band   - il terrazzo

 

It’s a party on this hot summer night

We’ll be dancing till the break of dawn  - il terrazzo

Feel the rhythm goin’ down so right

And the band is groovin’ on and on  - il terrazzo

 

 

 

pardon me

                                          

Pardon me for the things I say

For the words I shoot before I aim

I don’t want to see a cloud appear

When I say a silly thing

And bring on the shivers with the rain

 

Pardon me for the things I do

When my pride inflates my ego

Feel I’m rising like the moon

And all your faith and trust in me

Will suddenly go ‘boom’

Burst like a child’s balloon

 

No regrets, they say ‘don’t look back’

But times I still feel guilty and ashamed

I’ve stepped on so much tender grass

I’ve shattered so much precious glass

But I‘m no Nero with blind desire

Don’t want to set no Rome on fire

 

Just wanna be your lover

And uncover all the sweet harmony

But if I hit a bad note, forgive me in your heart

Please pardon me    

            

Just wanna be your lover

And uncover all the sweet harmony

But if I hit a bad note, if I sing off key

I‘m just trying to find the notes of my true melody

Until I find the part, forgive me in your heart

Please pardon me  

 

backyards of my old hometown

 

See the squirrel like a tight rope walker  

High on the telephone wire

See the wise and weathered chimneys  

Faithful guards with no desires

See the tattooed walls of old brick houses  

Leaning towards the lanes

See the sun in the blood-shot eyes

Of dusty window panes

Through the web of leafless branches, late winter trees

See the swallow in a ‘pas de deux’

With her lover, the breeze

 

Like a photo from the past

Fading to brown  (Like a long worn ‘hand-me-down’)

It’s a memory of the backyards of my old hometown

 

See the rider-less rocking horse

Leading the parade

Of broken toys & broken stoves

Projects long delayed

See the rusty metal peeling

From garage walls like skin

Padlocked doors, shutters bolted

Secrets kept within

And rows and rows of fences that children love to climb

Seeking out the passageways that break through with time

 

Near the diner ‘round the corner

See the cats on the prowl

Hear the freight train whistle blow  

Hear the neighbour’s old dog howl

An old forsaken Buick

With no tires, no more chrome

Ghosts from the past

Still clinging to this home

And downtown in the distance, like a back-drop stage light

See the cool moon rise to the music of the night

 

 

clearance sale    

 

Picking up a parcel from overseas

How will I get this through the door?

A family heirloom filled with memories

What am I getting this for?

 

Stop for a coffee in a sidewalk café

Watch the city bustling by

Across the road they’re having a clearance sale

Why does it catch my eye?

 

I need to clear the past from my mind

Need room to move, leave it all behind

Take a deep breath and then count to ten  

And start all over again

 

I’ve carried so much baggage over all these years

Now it’s time to lighten up the load

It’s time to re-assess my happiness

Time to take a new road

 

Checking my emails, all these friends I have

I must be some kind of lucky guy

It’s got me thinking about that clearance sale

Urging me on to simplify

 

 

fire in the sky

 

Fire in the sky, ocean deep within

The rhythm of the earth, myth of original sin

An infant in your arms, the yearning in the heart

The stranger at the door, feeling worlds apart

 

The nights you stay awake, the friend who is in need

The tightness in the shoulders, the terminator seed

A ripple and a stone, the question of defeat

A child, a broken home, a spiritual retreat

 

Fire in the sky, a twisted dying tree

The hopeless romantic, falling on his knees

The constant winds of change, the stirring in the womb

The barking of the dog, the shadows in the room

 

The Venice of my dreams, the journey after dark

A walk in the ravine, two lovers in the park

A blind leap of faith, the lily in the pond

The mother ever saddened, the trickster’s magic wand

 

The seagull in the harbour, the town after the flood

The music never stops, the burning in the blood

The glamour industry, the silence that we crave

The Lowbrow Movement, the mourners at the grave

 

The plastic figurine, words that we forgot

The belly of the Buddah, tongues tied in a knot

The post card from Brazil, the rusted metal boat

The statue at the gate, the karma of the fur coat

 

Fire in the sky, the spider on the wall

The neighbours in the night, the whispers in the hall

The mystery in your eyes, the shock of the new

The everlasting light, the full body tattoo

 

Religion in a box, the tugging of the kite

The breaking of the wave, a hungry nation’s plight

The nurse outside the door, a close brush with death

The traffic in a jam, a newborn baby’s breath

 

The boxer in the ring, the environmental plan

A soldier in the field, serving the corporate man

The curtain call at eight, the shifting of the storm

A blind musician’s voice, a place to keep you warm

 

The news that’s fit to print, the ringing in your ear

The image on the screen, fights cancelled due to fear

The cynic in the tower, Madonna in the street

Billboards in your face, the sound of marching feet

 

Lectures and debates, the quest for the ‘why’

Shake a rattle, beat the drum, fire in the sky

Shake a rattle, beat the drum, fire in the sky