A SONG
Charlie Wood/Minden Music (BMI)
Whatever happened to the song?
A pretty melody so happy souls could hum along
A sad and simple story of a love gone wrong
Whatever happened to the song? Whatever happened to the time?
It seems like yesterday when working wasn't worth a dime
Cause love was all we needed, and it was sublime
Whatever happened to the time?
Before everyone got indoctrinated
Before everything had been bought and sold
Remember how music intoxicated?
How it got in your heart and your head and took hold?
Now music is Music Incorporated
And each demographic must do as it's told
New listeners all get inoculated
If it seems to lack substance, your soul is too old
Whatever happened to the world?
Another kind heart breaks as each new battleflag's unfurled
So victory to the meanest or most cunning or headstrong
It figures we got shown the door. We never quite belonged
But I hope someone will tell them after we are all long gone
There used to be a thing we called a song
AMERICAN TUNE Paul Simon/Paul Simon Music (BMI)
Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but it's all right, it's all right
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home And I don't know a soul that's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
Oh, but it's all right, it's all right
for we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong
And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was dying
Well, they came on the ship they call Mayflower
They came on the ship that sailed the moon
In one of the age's most uncertain hours
They tried to sing an American tune
Hey, but it's alright. It's gonna have to be all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow is another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying, to get some rest
WILL YOU BE MY BALL?
Charlie Wood/Minden Music (BMI)
I want to play today
Will you be my ball? Will you be my ball and socket?
Will you be my ball and chain?
Will you get bounced up and down and get
Passed around and get
Slam dunked and left out in the rain?
Will you be my candy apple?
Will you be my candy cane?
Will you be my candy striper
Come and change my dirty diaper
Push my squeaky wheelchair down the lane?
It's all so mysterious now
Ephemeral, ethereal, delirious now
I got to get through somehow
I hope you don't mind if I
Step out of line
But will you be my ball of cotton?
Will you be my ball of fire?
Or will you be my SuperBall
Bouncing off my bedroom wall
A Zectron electron, vectoring higher and higher?
It's all so tentative now
Uninventative, misrepresentative now
I got to cut through somehow
I got to slice it up, dice it up,
Serve it up nice
Will you bust the balls I bring you?
Have you got the balls I need?
Or are you just an old moth ball
In that closet down the hall
Stuffed inside the pocket of a tweed?
Will you be my ballpark buddy?
Will you be my ballroom queen?
I want to play today
Will you be my ball?
DOIN' THE BLAH BLAH BLAH
Charlie Wood/Minden Music (BMI)
Everybody's doin' it
Doin' the blah blah blah You got a line you tryin' to sell
You better get a tale to tell
You better get you some blah blah blah
Ain't that sad. Ain't that funny
Let me get this man some money
Cause he's doin' the blah blah blah
They pony up to hear you
Doin' the blah blah blah
He's tryin' to get himself elected
Got to keep himself protected
So he's doin' the blah blah blah
I used to be up on the fence
But man, he makes a lot of sense
He's got me doin' the blah blah blah
Lemmie tell you 'bout it
Doin' the blah blah blah
He's tryin' to get a little leg
Don't have to buy, don't have to beg
Just keep doin' the blah blah blah
This isn't like those other times
He really means the way he rhymes
When he's doin' the blah blah blah
The ladies love you when you're
Doin' the blah blah blah
You go to work. You get your pay
Not what you do, it's what you say
You steady working the blah blah blah
You blah the blah throughout the year
And when the holidays are here
You do the ho ho ho, he he, ha ha,
You do the holly jolly blah blah blah
You wanna stir the melting pot
You got to be a polyglot
You better brush up your blah blah blah
Just a dash of verbal spice
Can season everything up nice
I think it needs a pinch of blah blah blah
Just for flavor, sprinkle in a little blah blah blah
The words they're not supposed to say
They're gonna say 'em anyway
They're free and easy with the bleep bleep bleep
But the stuff they're leaving out's
What you got to worry 'bout
Because the truth is rare and precious but the talk is cheap
You know the truth is rare and precious but the talk is cheap
That's why they give away the blah blah blah
Don't waste your money on the
Bargain basement blah blah blah
Don't blow a bundle on the
Penny-ante blah blah blah
Everybody steady
Doin' the blah blah blah |
EVERYBODY KNOWS
Leonard Cohen (SOCAN) & Sharon Robinson (ASCAP)/Sony ATV Songs, LLC (BMI)/Sharon Robinson Songs (ASCAP)
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody's got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody's talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stemmed rose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Give or take a night or two
Everybody knows that you've been discreet
But there were just so many people that you had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
Everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
Everybody knows that you live forever
When youve done a line or two
Everybody knows that the deal is rotten
Your "Old Black Joe" is still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows
Everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows that the scene is dead
And there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
Everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross up on top of Calvary
To the beach at Malibu
Everybody knows that it's coming apart
Take one long last look at your sacred heart
Before it blows
Cause everybody knows
All your ribbons and bows
But everybody knows
That's how it goes
And everybody knows
FLUTTER AND WOW Elvis Costello (PRS)/ Universal Music Publishing MGB Songs (UMP MGB Limited)
Last rays of sunlight die
Full moon begins to rise
Reflected in your eyes
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow The crowd was gathering
The clock struck five, then ten
My happy tears were descending
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and wow
Flutter and wow
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
(I'm) planting this thought in a magnetic field
(And) pushing a button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night
My voice got stuck in my throat
Pulled my hand up into the sleeve of my coat
So you'd never know how it was shaking
I can't believe that this is happening
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and wow
Flutter and wow
You make the motor in me
Start up and stop again
When I am spluttering
You make the motor in me
Flutter and wow
Flutter and wow
Flutter and wow
Flutter and how
The incident tape across the bed
Threading it from the reel to the head
Planting this thought in a magnetic field
Pushing a button
And all of a sudden
Erase everything rotten
Fascinated and uptight
Make me shout out loud
Make me cry all day and night
Make me cry all day and night
JOHNSBURG, ILLINOIS Tom Waits (ASCAP)/Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (ASCAP)/Jalma Music (ASCAP)
She's my only true love
She's all that I think of
Look here, in my wallet
That's her
She grew up on a farm there
'S a place on my arm
Where I've written her name
Next to mine See, I just can't live without her
And I'm her only boy
She grew up outside McHenry
in Johnsburg, Illinois
See, I just can't live without her
And I'm her only boy
She grew up outside McHenry
in Johnsburg, Illinois
LAST DANCE Charlie Wood/Minden Music (BMI)
Dark sky makes a mirror of the windowpane
You pretend you're looking out. I can see you looking in
Lights out, let the storm spin the weathervane
It's a shame and a sin. Can we do it again? Last dance - no more batteries for the radio
Last call - empty bottle of wine
Last chance to pretend you're not pretending
And make believe you wish that you were mine
I try to help you get your dress and your story straight
Black coffee and a butterscotch drop.
Say you want to make it last but you just can't wait
You could never lick a lollypop. (You) always got to chew it up.
Last dance - no more batteries for the radio
Last call - empty bottle of wine
Last chance to pretend you're not pretending
And make believe you wish that you were mine
His trophy's mounted in a frame, the happy couple, arm in arm
The groom is focused, but the blushing bride's a blur
Kinda scared and scattered, but she never meant you any harm
You never could see eye to eye with her
I wonder why you try to lie to her
Last dance - no more batteries for the radio
Last call - empty bottle of wine
Last chance to pretend you're not pretending
And make believe you wish that you were mine
Last dance - no more batteries for the radio
Last call - empty bottle of wine
Last chance to pretend you're not pretending
And make believe you wish that you were mine
Make believe you wish that you were mine
|
LET'S GET UP AND WALK AROUND SOME
Charlie Wood/Minden Music (BMI)
Let's get up and walk around some
Ain't no tellin' what we'll find
Might feel better once we've found some
Don't nobody gotta know. Ain't nobody gonna mind
Nothin' wrong with hangin' 'round some
Ain't no crime in layin' low
But we're definitely down some
Now's the time to get up, get ready to go
Let's presume to exhume from the doom and the gloom
Of this tomb of a room the perfume of the blooming of roses
So that scent might prevent this relentless lament
And present an extent of contentment well spent on our noses
Look how bent both of those is
Let's get up and walk around some
Grime and grit. What a pit. Is this it? Pitch a fit.
Can't we quit and just split, pack our kit and go hit the oasis?
Just we two - me and you - can pursue pastures new,
Bid adieu to this zoo, thus eschewing a slew of old faces
Overdue for new spaces
Rendezvous where that place is
Bring a few rhyming phrases
Timbuktu or ten paces
Can't make do with this stasis
Let's get up and walk around some
NOT TOO BIG
Ron Sexsmith (SOCAN)/Sony/ATV Songs LLC OBO Ronboy Rhymes, Inc. (BMI)
I'm not too big on parties
Never know what to say
Everywhere I stand, I seem to be
In somebody's way
Well, I don't mind conversation
Or a friendly chat
But to stand alone in a crowded room
I'm not too big on that
Not too big on
Too big on that, no
I'm not too big on dancing
To somebody else's tune
Fill your head as if it were
Some hot air balloon
Till you're too big for your britches
Too big for your hat
Till your own mother don't recognize you
I'm not too big on that
Not too big on
Too big on that, no
Having a hard time sleeping sound
Believe it or not
Having a hard time keeping it down
All this food for thought
I'm not too big on talking
If my mind ain't worked it out
Better to let people think you're dumb
Than to speak and remove all doubt
And I've no plans to be wearing
Out your welcome mat
Cause you know I never want to make you sorry
I'm not too big on that
Not too big on
Too big on that, no
Say, I'm not too big on
Too big on that, no
Not too big on, not too big on that
Not too big on, not too big on that
UP IN THE ATTIC
Charlie Wood/Minden Music (BMI)
Up in the attic
Stairs are acrobatic
Air conditioner, water heater
Pilot's automatic
Up in the attic
System is erratic
Landscape is dramatic
Dense and aromatic
Up in the attic
Tryin' to be pragmatic
History fanatic
Tangible and static
Past is problematic
Touchingly traumatic
Secretly ecstatic
Excavating in the attic
Grandmama used to tell me
You better leave that stuff alone
Try to lock it away
For some rainy day
To get forgotten but not gone
You better stick where it doesn't show
You better hide it where you'll never know
Rainy day'll come water that seed and make it grow
Oh no.
Goin' up in the attic
Baby, you can't come
Goin' up in the attic
Got to go it alone
Goin' up in the attic
Baby, you can't come
Goin' up in the attic
Got to go it alone
Down in the basement
Brown bag of cement
Wet cigarette butts
Clogging up the drain pipe
Out in the back yard
Recreating too hard
Gotta get the lawn cut
Gotta fix the porch light
Up in the attic
Memory's diplomatic
The plot is cinematic
The lessons are emphatic
Box of musty old mementos
Bunch of letters. Guess who sent those
Script rewritten in my head
Found out what she really said
There's that girl that got away
Thought about her yesterday
Got a letter on her sweater
Never met her. Can't forget her
Who is this guy trying to be?
That's my name, but who is he?
Auto-archeology
Investigating being me
Up in the attic
Baby, you can't come
Goin' up in the attic
Got to go it alone
Goin' up in the attic
Baby, you can't come
Goin' up in the attic
Got to go it alone
Goin' up in the attic
Baby, you can't come
Goin' up in the attic
Got to go it alone
Said I'm up in the attic
Baby, you can't come
Goin' up in the attic
Got to go it alone
WHAT YOU WILL
Charlie Wood (BMI)/Minden Music (BMI)
Call it what you will
A rose by any other name
I don't want to play that game
Call it what you will
Give it to me straight
The poison's in the candy coat
Slip yourself the antidote
Give it to me straight
Up all night concealing things
Back at the scene of the crime
Never quite revealing things
A talent for not feeling things
Never you mind. Some other time
Wine is gonna spill
Laces like to come undone
Who am I to blame someone?
Call it what you will
Casual acquaintances
No need to worry at all
How droll and how quaint this is
Such insincere restraint this is
Blow me a kiss. Give me a call
Have a little heart
Give yourself a chance to be
Everything you were to me
Before it came apart
Take another pill
Read another magazine
Say some words that you don't mean
Call it what you will
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