COMFORTABLE GHOSTS This was written about a two-year old girl who fell off a fire escape and died in front of my eyes when I was five. When you held me Did you know you'd be a ghost? Like a memory But with daylight now your host On a staircase In the heat of afternoon Could you feel it You'd be standing in this room There's no sadness Sand fingers from the park Cool hereafter Like an armchair in the dark You were climbing Your thoughts so all alone But I was with you You were never on your own Babe You just weren't meant to be Tossed into reality Life is overrated Stale candy left untasted You tuned out just then At the right time It's a fine crime But you're here with me today So you find me And you wrap me in your lace So damn pretty Shy shy shining in your face Etched in tin plate Frozen freezeframe shot in close You'll be with me You're my comfortable ghost ---------------------------------------------------- 9 UNDER THE HOOD Smell of Zippo gives our boy the thrill Working for his one-man wrecking crew Dealing blacks and reds for happy pills In a whisper like a sonic boom Left his kid outside the barroom door Shivering on the sidewalk in the wind Smoking reef a hero to a whore To a priest another sinner sinned An endless search for cash Got a talent for the story The dustups turn to ash And the lowlife gets the glory He's Mephisto selling joy Always so misunderstood In every raging boy There's a bad guy playing hood Trolling airport bars is de rigeur Any chance to lose reality Skip the prose and suck down your liqueur Flight to hell your only guarantee Makes it through the wringer on a dime Story of his own creation Going crazy is not a crime It's your soul salvation When his days just ain't so good He goes back to his roots No life more like being a hood You feels it in your boots An endless search for cash Got a talent for the story The dustups turn to ash And the lowlife gets the glory He's Mephisto selling joy Always so misunderstood In every raging boy There's a bad guy playing hood ---------------------------------------------------- 9 CONCRETE ISLANDS Spindrift concrete islands mirror flies in yellow heat Downtown doesn't take long 'cause it's where you like to eat Crush the Mighty Atoms in your wristwatch lamer game When you get there call them from your cellular mainframe Speak the local language, no, you'd better do all five It's where you hold your aces, where it makes you feel alive You never ran with bad girls so right now you wish you did When half was half your lifetime and you really were a kid Take it slow, don't ever read your mail Keep the nice folks guessing so they're bound to fail Cause when they get you, they won't let you Take a walk around your downtown No no walks round nowhere nohow any more Wonder through the canyons made of silver and green glass Jaywalk through the chaos but don't trample on the grass Conquer your emotion and be sure and act your age Chill out in the fountain while you whistle through your rage Count the dandelions but don't pick them till they're dry A million go the distance when you know the way to fly Put one in your collar and just blow them all away And speak to them like brothers cause they'll cover you one day Raise your head, feel the water on your skin It's not the sky and clouds who made the mess you're in Your transition through submission Brings a rush of feeling you won't make it No no fools round nowhere nohow any more ---------------------------------------------------- 9 JAPAN LOVE TUNE 'nuff said Here, Li'l pachinko Nah, don't think so Let's just happy wildlife with the dolls So, Free the time up For Mr. Donut Wander jukebox megamalls In, Elevators Lady Liberty Above the freeway love hotel Please, Subaru me Drive me sideways Ring the front desk hello bell Look inside, rec means it's working Technicolor all the way Just get my black and white, and my red eyes And we'll sure enjoy your stay Here, In your kimono This silken flower Is like a pattern of your scent Mow In your green gardens All your haiku love sense You leave a rock pond where you went ---------------------------------------------------- 9 SONG#3 Echo of a memory Left in tended graveyards in your mind Recently the sky gets dark so fast Thoughts park in a corner like red wine Tinkle of a piano Rocked by crazy things on canvas blue On an afternoon that trickles by Counting all the tunes whose words you knew Lie in blackened blankets warm Careless of the future's troubled past On a bender without all the grief Nailing endless crosses to the mast In these lonely fragrant nights On the busy streets that you patrol All your fears will hitch the nearest ride Tip your hat and sit next to your soul (chorus) If this song will take you down The places you don¼t want to go Close your eyes and save the mood For summer rain or falling snow Like all old-fashioned madmen should. Watch the crazy pageant drift Hold the rudder tight and fix your aim Slide into the fracas with a grin Elbow monks aside and stake your claim Tiny ivy clinging tight Grasping at the flawless walls of chance Climbing fallen towers left to rot Leaving luck to go without a glance (bridge) Ignore the phone when it begins to ring All those voices still don't mean a thing Graze the moon and start to howl Let them know you're shading on the prowl (chorus) If this song will take you down The places you don¼t want to go Close your eyes and save the mood For summer rain or falling snow Like all old-fashioned madmen should. ---------------------------------------------------- 9 FULL FLING BABY Full Fling Baby Angry at your shadow Typhoon candy canes Make the big storms come and go Don't be angry Take your aching feelings home Join a marching band Let your bigsize ego roam You cry softly Mourn your smiling photograph Tempting acid fate Wondering when you lost your laugh Deep-fried ice cubes Hey they look like Easter Island Syncopation love Circus envy not so silent Full Fling Baby Drinking wine by friendly fires Running guns in Cupidville I will stand by you I will Could you maybe Tell the strangers in your mind That you've formally resigned That you've left it all behind Please Full Fling Baby Sorry ending Relics from a lonely past Cartwheel consciousness Even though you had a blast So you're ready now To empty out your treasure chest Pinhole cameo And to hell with all the rest Bridge: A sorry end to your misfortune The gods of morning couldn't stay Cast-iron dreaming just a torture Full Fling Baby ran away ---------------------------------------------------- 9 HOWLING AT THE MOON These days, when I cruise the neighborhood Cross at red lights, I think more than I should Watch the trees grow in the park across the street Through the windows in the place we used to meet My foot has walked in exactly the same spot A thousand times, now again where you are not In the sidewalk, you live again in stone More real to me than when you call me on the phone CH: Shouting in the wind doesn't make the clock turn back Searching for a house when your life is just a shack Sunlit day in May gets much better when it's June But there are no words left to say When you're howling at the moon In the thick of it, I knew the chips were down But how was I supposed to be the perfect clown I read the clouds and think I see a happy shape But through the trapdoor I saw there was no escape It's fast forward, with no sunset ride in view I'm in rewind in a movie acting without you Dreaming sideways, just to leave it all behind Finding a hundred ways to make you leave my mind CH: Shouting in the wind doesn't make the clock turn back Searching for a house when your life is just a shack Sunlit day in May gets much better when it's June But there are no words left to say When you're howling at the moon ---------------------------------------------------- 9 ROLL ON Roll on mystifying morning Claim and captivate my soul Climb an inch beyond the dawning Remove the halfway from the whole Take the lessons learned from yesterday Send them ahead for tomorrow Living takes my holy fears away And begging hurts what I can borrow Roll on, roll on Push a barrel of nothing up the hill Roll on, roll on If you're feeling something then you will Roll on, roll on Summit every mountain till you die Roll on, roll on Feed me honey, I'm on high I'm a fool from my own history Taking chances never gained Another dead man in my mystery To a wall I'm always chained So tell me a story to mythologize Give me a reason to be here I do what I can just to cry and be alive All I can to hide my fear Sing the words you always used to sing To the birds in the trees Throw away the lies and everything Like a kite flying in the breeze ---------------------------------------------------- 9 NO NAME KID Can you wake up and see the day the same way I do Or did the dreams of the night before invade your mind Is the world a hiding place that you go home to Is it all beneath a wall your love is behind I don't want to think about three years of deprivation Don't want to contemplate the thought that you'll be gone Living without you is just recreation Roller coaster's what I'll be riding on Happy birthday, kid You made your own name All the things you did You played your best game It's winding down Just you and me now Guess I'll see you around ---------------------------------------------------- 9 TRILLION SHADES OF BLUE I should exist just for you That's what put me on Earth to do Baby, god I love your face Can you smile for me Will you leave your trace Can you always be In a state of grace So pure and like an angel never touched You'll never know I loved you so much Oh my baby, you can't know How it is I love you so Every piece of you alive Give me two and a half I'll give you five If I ever had a choice It would be to listen to your voice Such a lovely thing to hear Always happy and so very dear A trillion shades of blue Counting ways of missing you. ---------------------------------------------------- 9 STATE OF GRACE Nobody knows what I do when I'm on my own Just me and the horse I rode in on and I'm alone Imagining worlds where you're inside and I can feel your face Like a picture on the wall in the museum, so full of grace Beer glass shrinking, time for another one Got one freezing for when your day is done You will bring your calmness and your pretty hair Swimming in a darkened pool when you're not there Like a live wire you always turn me on In my mind's desire you're the precious one Can you smile for me Will you leave your trace Can you always be In a state of grace ---------------------------------------------------- 9 SO MUCH SAND Counting clouds and feeling rain Never knowing if I'll see you again In a spirit world you slip away Tell me all your secrets soon Turn your blue stones, listen to this tune When it's fair, the clouds will fade away Climb the mountain bracing for the fall Tell yourself you have to have it all Don't you wait another single day On a hunch I know you'll make the call You will run where other people crawl You will go when all the rest of them stay When I think of you, hold out my hand You run through my fingers like so much sand Are you truly only a mirage Just a fleeting dream that never was What would Einstein do in my place Pulling Gs in outer space Would continuums go on An eternal motion machine Chance to go where you have never been Maybe learn the words to this song Was it always over before it began Graven in the stones with another man I see the light come through the door And I am with my love for ever more ---------------------------------------------------- 9 KNOW YOUR WAVE Backflipper mermaid Yes you've got your good moves saved Swimming through a minefield Making sure you know your wave Resting in the sunshine Do you know your world is mine Sitting in a hot room Waiting knowing you'll come soon Better now than after Future always a disaster Showing all a happy face When your mind is really out in space Is it cold or is it hot Is it wet or is it not Swimming over easy girl Won't you let your hair uncurl Blow it out to sea It's just between you and me The wind and rain may be cold But what's said and done is so very old Affairs will run their course There's only me and all my loving source The good times you will save And you will always know your wave. ---------------------------------------------------- 9 ELEMENTS IN DOUBLE TIME Seems like I have known you for at least a year Thirty days of sweetness oh so very clear Every little kiss a miracle to feel Stretching out forever as if it's not real Talking on the balcony, the setting sun Shining in those eyes of yours that leap and run Shadows creep in slowly and the light will fade Mirrors of the times we've had and love we've made Letters that I wrote you, most at three a.m. All in ashes now or are you saving them Ninety days from now will all this still be here Could it be that joy meets passion and defeats the fear Ordinary people, it's just you and me Making up our world, our private fantasy Every moment lost Every loving boundary crossed Each new glass of wine Elements in double time ---------------------------------------------------- 9 SMELLED THE MONEY Came onto me like superglue No telling exactly what she knew Wandered round and round and made some sounds And just Withdrew Maybe the kicker was the good champagne Could be that or only clouds and rain Who the hell knows what she's looking for It's just Insane Smelling money, is that what she needs An oasis where she has to feed Chasing rainbows, is that where you are Little baby but I have no car Nothing really but myself to give Someone upright with a place to live No one with me to carry the load Not an urge even to hit the road Smelling money, does it taste that good? Good as honey, as it really should Fake emotions cause you do it well Smell the money cause you love that smell ---------------------------------------------------- 9 CHARM OFFENSIVE Killing you not softly Killing you with thoughts in mind Loving you with thoughts so kind With your pictures well defined Campaign promises On a level not so good Maybe just misunderstood But more than I ever thought I could Getting you down Drowning in your limpid hair Always dreaming you're not there Knowing that you always care Always gone Teaching me your favorite song Knowing this time that I can't go wrong Hoping that it won't be long Again So I'll wait And play the game as if I always have Use the tactics that I always had Because I want you and I want you bad Don't move I'll be there in two seconds flat Jump fence and alleys like a cat And love you just like, just like that =================================================== LAUGHING IN YOUR SLEEP (bossa) Brigou, Brigou Disappearing sunsets in my thoughts of you And a loving sunrise at the same time too Beaches and the palms Always quiet ocean calm Ever-present heartbeat in your soul Brigou, Brigou Maybe dreaming, blinders on of better days Maybe shyly looking at me with your gaze Laughing in your sleep All the better secrets keep Do you find it funny that I know Are you thinking thoughts of being far away Sunning under blue skies through a cloudy day Let me brush your hair And don't you tell me you're not there You're moving mountains through the air I care ========================================================= UPSIDE DOWN She turns me upside down No warning, not a single sound Feet up in the air where my head should be A glance and loving way she looked at me She turns me upside down Under water but the water's warm Just another crazy storm Hard to breathe but that is good sometimes All is good when all the world round rhymes She turns me upside down I can't imagine any lesser fate Just hope that I am not too late The train I missed is not the one I kissed June comes in here like a big grey cloud Not so heavy but it's very loud Will she leave me for that other guy I'm so scared and I just can't know why She turns me upside down Looking down and she is sleeping there Feel her dreams but she is don't know where Me up here and her feet on the ground She turns me upside down. ================================================================= MISSED YOUR CALL Can't believe I missed your call Just a song I was listening to, that's all No expectations from so far away Left a message and so much to say Can't believe I didn't hear the phone Just right here and I was all alone Can't believe I missed your call. Hear your voice, it seems to calm me down Softness talking and it brings me 'round Like a blue cloud just before the storm Always knowing how to keep me warm Can't believe I missed your call Just a song I was listening to, that's all No expectations from so far away Left a message and so much to say Can't believe I missed your call. ===================================================================== REAL REALITY Cancel your appointments 'Cause you got one just with me Loving assignation with champagne and fantasy Keep your voice down baby when we're on the balcony Scotch at ten a.m. and your sweet feet in my lap Danger working everywhere and I think it's just a trap Devils on the move and just more devils in the wings Cointreau and tomorrow and even wedding rings Love me when you're vicious, love me when you're strong Love me all the time because this love cannot be wrong Separate the you and then the you you want to be Kiss me and we'll ride on through the real reality Missing all the future in advance of all the past Knowing you're a shadow and you're not just meant to last Come on baby rock me and we'll while away the day Rock on honey, crazy us will make white out of grey ========================================================================== YOU HAVE TO KNOW Medley of love Not deadly cause you're not a spy You never ever ask the reasons why Just music from your darling mind Ten million sensations Every one of which is joy to bear Especially when I see you there In front of these eyes that love you so You have to know You have to know. It's not a fling I couldn't do that after all these years I couldn't stand to be with all those tears Just maybe an obsession, girl The love you bring It overwhelms me and it makes me glad Gets me crazy and it makes me mad 'Cause you rock my world You have to know these things You have to know 'Cause it's you after all It's you Who made it so. ========================================================================== NOT A CLUE Take me down Wake me up Just don't leave me alone Crying shame Empty air But all that's broken is gone Can you tell I can see your face Your eyes dancing like they do All the rest Is just not here And the universe won't know Not a clue No, not a clue. Say your name Come on to me Every precious moment here Take my hand And walk into the wild With nothing on the earth to fear All I am Is inside you All I have right now is yours Teach me how Everything you are And the universe won't know Not a clue No, not a clue. Go beyond The things you have to do But love me always in your way Touch me now And don't ask how Because tomorrow is another day Can you tell I can see your face Your eyes dancing like they do All the rest Is just not here And the universe won't know Not a clue No, not a clue. ========================================================================== SWEET GIRL Sweet girl You sure know how to mess with me Oh yeah Little pearl It's a mighty fine place to be Uh-huh So won't you take it to the edge babe Won't you make me shake me take me set me free Sweet girl Blue stone Hiding under all that sand Mmm-hmm You've shown Than only you can understand That's right So can't you trade me all your shells baby And make me shake me let me be your man Blue stone And in the middle of the night When the moon seems kind of bright Little babe come out to play Cause you always know what to say Sweet girl Sweet girl Little shell Gonna break down in the end Uh-huh I can tell You're gonna meet your friend That's right But when he's got you where he wants you I'm gonna make him just a trend Little shell Can you let me know When you think it's time to go Or maybe when to stay Or maybe what to say Can you see me to the door Or kiss me on the floor Can you tell me when you want me Or are you just gonna haunt me Sweet girl ========================================================================== MAKE LOVE ON THE MOON Loving one, all so ever on the go Will you listen now Does your heart betray you so Precious one, can you take the time to live Can you see somehow How much you have to give There's a saviour here A bandaid for your soul I'm just waiting, babe And the halves become the whole Gotta wing it now And sing ourselves a tune Yes we'll sing it now And make love on the moon Make love on the moon Take the time to love a sunny day And paint your walls all blue Cause I know what's eating you Not so hard to spend the time alone If you're firm within yourself And all your sins condone There's a saviour here A bandaid for your soul I'm just waiting, babe And the halves become the whole Gotta wing it now And sing ourselves a tune Yes we'll sing it now And make love on the moon Make love on the moon ===================================================================== IMAGINATION You took the red bike home And left me to wonder How you love to roam In the rain and thunder Did you ever go Where the trees don't grow In the mist of your imagination? The boys and girls without you Are bending to the sky The love you spread about you Feeds them and I don't know why Are the contrails real Or just what my eyes feel In the mist of my imagination When you push my hand away I know I'm just arriving You love me in your way Being alive is simply diving Deeply down down down Where happiness is just a noun In the mists of our imagination. ===================================================================== MIDNIGHT TRAIN You can come home now, baby Now the day is done Nothing left to keep you, baby Caged without the sun Leave it all smouldering, baby And walk right out the door Ain't nobody's business, baby Who you're gunning for Don't you look behind you baby As you board the train Thinking like a stranger, baby Who won't be back again Drink up all your worries, baby And wander in the night Smoke out all the losers, baby You know you'll be all right Chorus: Only fools will climb a string into the sky And maybe you will be the one who knows The one who knows the reasons why I know it's been a long day baby You're going so far away When the ticket man comes baby There's a price you have to pay Don't you let it get you baby You'll find your way around Take a little chill pill baby Don't let it get you down Did you really feel this baby Was it always in the plan Don't go to the edge 'n fly baby Before you know you can Is it all a dream now baby The life you had before Say you really miss it baby And you'll be back for more Chorus: Say your prayer and take a walk into the rain And maybe you will be the one who takes The one who takes the midnight train Bridge: Riding all alone to who knows which tomorrow you'll find at The end of the line Leaving all the love but leaving mostly the sorrow and pain It's all on the midnight train You're on the midnight train It's never been easy, baby To hustle up the time Gotta know the moves to About face on a dime Look at the windows, baby The sadness you can't hide Look at your reflection And see it's dark outside (Last line): See you on the Midnight Train