Boulevard

 

If I should meet you on the avenue

would you take the time for a word or two

or walk on by pretending we are strangers

on a summer Sunday on the boulevard

would you tell me life's been treating you hard

lost its mystery lost its danger

 

You're a gracious lady in the latest style

with your summer dress and your summer smile

and the time to forget the memories in your eye

But hold me baby you said back then

make me love you so, make us one again

don't you let me go, or you know I'm gonna die

 

There's a rainy sidewalk with some cafe chairs

we could take a moment, pass a memory there

if we're not in a hurry to spend no moments together

I know I'm dressed in no finery

when you come down to it I look like me

but I won't be on this boulevard forever

 

You had my dreams and I had yours too

can you tell me yours are coming true

have you learned to laugh, do you know when to cry

But hold me baby you said back then

make me love you so, make us one again

don't you let me go, or you know I'm gonna die

 

If I should meet you on the avenue

on a sunny day when the sky’s so blue

can I take your hand, see what it might show me

on a summer Sunday on the boulevard

would you tell me life's been treating you hard

or just walk on by, pretending you don't know me

 

 

In Every Dream

 

Everytime I look into another pair of eyes

it all comes back that I’m living lies, comparing her to you

I’ve been to LA and just got bored with empty heads

and liquor stores and the walking dead and lonely sunshine too

 

In every dream I see

what could never be and still I’d

have you lying next to me

If I could be tonight all right with you

 

Ten thousand miles I’ve roamed and still I’m left with memories

that tear the heart right out of me and leave my feelings blues

I move alone and can’t stand to be with anyone who gets close to me and that makes me sad and that makes me missing you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Broadway I Know

 

Suzette crepe ain’t got no place, no place to call it home

and I’m a sucker for a mango shake and a belly full of provolone

Don’t buy my dinners with a credit card

Just pickin’ up the quarters in my own backyard

Woking on the sidewalk for an extra bar of chocolate

 

(chorus)

You’ve got to win if you even show

Don’t buy your ticket til it’s time to go

and they say it’s so on the Broadway I know

 

On the Sunday streets the old men meet, lining piles of dominoes

Oh the lucky man with the top hand, calling hey now, away it goes

There’s some music in a doorway and I gotta dance

Senorita won’t you come on give me just one chance

Gliding down the sidewalk for an extra chunk of romance

 

And hey in the window they’re crawling down the firehose

runnin’ cross the rooftops

bet they didn’t teach you ‘bout that in Great Neck

 

I don’t understand a single word of Spanish,

I can’t call a spade a spade

And sometimes I stand out llike a white man’s handout

Sittin’ out the world he made

I can cruise through the stickball game around my feet

Slalom through the traffic when I cross the street

Smile at being left the way I want to be in this town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King

 

I took a walk down Green Street,, I wasn’t breakin’ no rules

I went to see some friends of mine, coming back from school

comin’ back from school

They were just singing on Green Street, joining a big parade

and the soldiers shot them down in the street, and left them where they lay

left them where they lay….singing

 

(chorus)

Long Live the King, long live the king (3x)

the King has lived too long

 

The priest comes out and he’s on his knees, cryin’ in his face-filled hands

and he says was this the work of the KIng, was this done by his plans

Was this a part of his plans?

‘Cause I do remember the King came here, back just before the war

and the soldiers smile and say the King don’t have to say any more

don’t have to say any more

 

Now the King he comes on the tv show, says “I love the human race.”

And the King he’s stopping everybody from sliding away from the faith

sliding away from the faith

And he’s just keeping these soldiers around to keep the country free

and he sends them around just about midnight to make sure you agree

to make sure you agree

 

Nobody says it on the tv show, ‘cause the King keeps up on the news

and nobody says it on the telephone ‘cause the King hears all that too

the King hears all that too

and nobody says it in uniform, ‘cause they’re just marching his tune

but the King’s gonna fall before too long, it’s gonna be very soon

it’s goin’ to be very soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcie Jane

 

Marcie Jane says come on down

to the river and walk me round in circles,

and please don't ask me why

Marcie Jane she knows the score

been around and seen much more

than I believe I could ever hope to try

 

chorus

 

And she says one of these days you're gonna go too far

climb too high and cross that star

step in one of those open cracks in your mind

But I want to follow every ocean wave

play the symphonies I'll never play

and someday tell that Marcie Jane

goodbye

 

I'm dancing down on a full moon road

going nowhere and lost in circles

and falling on a tiptoed ledge and singing

Marcie Jane she takes my hand

makes me love her right where I stand

til I'm sinking through and that morning sun comes aching

 

Take me baby I'm six feet down

cross my heart I'm six feet down

and lying on my back just ain't my style

Burn me baby I can't feel a thing

shake my bones loose and make me sing

I've got to be somewhere flying miles and miles

 

 

 

 

Everybody’s Leavin’ Town

 

These old streets just don’t seem the same

without my friends by the door

The all-night restaurant don’t know my name

it’s a cup of coffee and no one’s to blame

if everybody’s gone off searching for fame

and I find that more and more

 

The empty basement where I once learned my songs

is just a shop for selling hides

And all the faces seem from another time

You’re sellin’ or you’re bummin’ for a dime

and I hung around and waited til I realized the line

was heading out, not going inside

 

I heard a train whistle blow in my heart

I tuned my car radio

Everybody’s leavin’ town

and I’m the last one to go

 

Duke’s Dilemma’s really no choice at all

and any way you turn seems wrong

I met a girl with her guitar inside her case

Told me “don’t it always seem to be your fate

Just when you finally get there, you find it’s too late

and it’s all gone”

 

Last night I stood in a café of tears

listiening to a guitar man

Singing his songs like he’s leavin’ them behind

Beatin’ in his anger at the strings on his mind

And all the people tapping on an empty glass of beer

Nodding at the sawdust like no one could hear

that scream from the canyon floor

 

 

Train I’m On

 

If you could ride this train I'm on

you wouldn't miss your happy home

it wouldn't take too much to make you wander

out here where the wind is free

and there's nothing much but you and me

and a whole wide world to discover

 

(chorus)

you might hear the sound of people crying

laying down a lifetime, they've quit trying

feeling everything they love won't be long

if you could ride this train I'm on before it's gone

 

If you could walk this road awhile

You might know a naked mile

With nothing but the feeling of these mountains

Before they strip them down for ore

And pave them over for department stores,

With room for parking cars and marble fountains

 

If you could meet a man I know

stormed the beach at Anzio

and his right arm's torn into patriotic pieces

he's got a son who can't come home

til he's ready to say he was wrong

to quit on Vietnam and follow his Jesus

like an engine on a rusted track

we're hiding all our folks way out back

we're a one way railroad going nowhere

 

People say we've lost our time

this old country's past its prime

there's no room left for a man to move in

and can we ever wash it clean

of all the sadness that we're seeing

there's nothing left but you and me to believe in

 

 

Second Spring

 

It’s a second spring with you and all I really need to do

Is drive down the drive on a bicycle built for two

And maybe we’ll see maybe you and me will be

Together every spring just rollin’ down the avenue

 

It’s another Sunday afternoon and I’ve got a tune for you

‘bout rollin’ through the forest with the sun warmin’ you right through

And maybe we’ll see maybe you and me will be

Together every Sunday feeling too good to be true

 

Who would’ve thought we’d make it through the year

Never had time for feeling blue down here

Winter came and went and before you know

I couldn’t let you go

 

Everything is turning greeen and from everything I’ve seen

I can’t get over this feeling, this feeling like I’m sweet sixteen

And maybe we’ll see maybe you and me will be

Together in the spring when I’m an old man of twenty-three

 

Starlight

 

Walk along a street with bright lights flickering

and voices float from empty halls

groups of two are passing, arm in arm they’re passing

and I’m just one, that’s all

 

Sometimes the blues’ll take you where you should not go

where a woman holds a promise in her charms

you reach for someone just to have any someone

and spend a lonely night in her arms

 

Just because there’s that starlight

Just because it’s another sleepless night

Just because she’s gone from sight

That’s no reason not to be alone tonight

 

It’s toast and coffee in a silent room

and a mirror staring at my eyes

If I had someone just to have any someone

would it be enough to hear her sighs

 

So I walk on out into another night

watch the people fill up the square

it’s just like numbers, you can count the numbers

there’s no reason I should care

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll Be Your Brother

 

I was your soldier when you needed one

I was your sailor under the sun

I was your mirror where you shone like gold

and I’ll be your brother I’ll let you go

 

I was your saviour when you were wine

I was your servant when you were blind

I was your lover your only love I know

and I’ll be your brother I’ll let you go

 

I was your driftwood up on your beach

I was the illusion you couldn’t reach

I was your island when all your seas ran cold

and I’ll be your brother I’ll let you go

 

If this were a movie I played every role

If this were a graveyard, I’d rest your soul

If this were an alley, I’d knock you cold

and I’ll be your brother I’ll let you go

 

 

Miles The Frog

 

Well, now once upon a time when the moon was filled

and the old haunted house stood up on the hill

and down along the road by the old mill bog

came a little green critter named Miles The Frog

 

Now Miles didn’t like to play in the mud

‘cause he had good breeding back in his green blood

and he didn’t want to be like any other frog

lapping up flies back home in the bog

 

See, Miles had learned to play the guitar

So he went to the house where the big stars are

went to the door and he looked inside

and there they all were before his eyes

 

There was Peter the Beaver on a silver piccolo

and ten black crickets in a violin row

and Maurice the Owl sitting on the piano sayin’

“Whos set to do the next solo?”

 

There was a foxy lady reading for a part

and Monk the Skunk sat painting in the dark

and Vito the Mosquito with his latest review

was buzzin’ all around with a word or two

 

Now a fly came over and took up a chair

Miles woulda ate him up, but he was too scared

the fly looked up and said “Time to go

You’re just in time for the afternoon show.”

 

But Miles said quickly “I came to play”

and the fly looked up and said “Not today

You gotta make a name before you can stay

and before you make a name you gotta pay your way.”

 

So Miles paid a dollar and he walked inside

there were all these animals clapping in time

a man at the front was waving his hand

and every little motion brought a note from the band

 

Then a weasel on his right said “Oh dear

You’re only so young and already you’re here

we’re all the people who only got to cheer

and I’m just the ghost of an old trumpeteer.”

 

Well Miles thought it over and it didn’t take long

picked up his guitar and he went back home

married his girlfriend back in the bog

and he’s lappin’ up flies like all the other frogs

 

So if you see morale here you ain’t wrong

you don’t need a haunted house to sing your song

and the next time you hear a-croakin’ coming from the bog

that’s just MIles way of telling you

you can be just as happy sittin’ on a log

 

 

Song For Bob

 

I’m sitting here again in a roomful of friends

and I wonder if words can be found

to place laughing eyes in the faces that cry

coming up from so far underground

And I’ve lost all my dreams and there’s no way it seems

to go back to dreaming again

but if silence is best, lay me down to rest

the hour that ship comes in

 

Oh I once found a friend in the words that you’d send

they were stronger than one man could be

Instead of hollow refrains we sang only in games

we took comfort in what you could see

But the children must try for the old folks must die

It’s always the wheel that’s in spin

and if silence is best, lay me down to rest

the hour that ship comes in

 

Though cities turn to sand and the mountains that stand

may crumble, and words turn to stone

still the morning begins and the questions in the wind

are still calling out for a song

so if I sing on a street and our shadows should meet

I’ll take pride just to stand where you’ve been

and if silence is best, lay me down to rest

the hour that ship comes in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fragile

 

 

The finest piece of crystal glass

will tear my hand if it breaks

and a clumsy hand on your fragile love

will shatter whatever it takes

 

(chorus)

I’ve got nothing

I’ve got nothing

I’ve got nothing without you

I’ll keep singing, keep on singing

this song that can’t go on without you

 

Brittle words unanswered now

leave ashes as their only traces

and little burns show through somehow

in the frozen smiles of your embraces

 

A quiet night isn’t still somehow

with your restless sleeping breathing

and another night would kill me now

to drink the dream that you’re leaving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie

 

Didn’t we walk so many miles, Maggie

Didn’t we climb so many hills

and didn’t we spend so many nights, Maggie

close together lyin’ still

and didn’t we take some time to wonder

what was growing deep within

Now walk me tonight out in the fields, Maggie

and tell me you love me again

 

Didn’t we fight for what we knew, Maggie

Didn’t we do the things we should

and didn’t we fight for what was true, Maggie

and didn’t we say we always would?

and didn’t we put our backs together

to have the strength of every hand

Now walk me tonight out in the fields, Maggie

and tell me you love me again

 

Oh didn’t they try to feed us lies, Maggie

Didn’t they wrap their words in grins

and didn’t they try to hide their eyes, Maggie

and didn’t we know that we would win?

And didn’t we always say that nothing

could keep us from the things we planned

Now walk me tonight out in the fields, Maggie

and tell me you love me again

 

Morning comes easy in the rain, Maggie

coming up softly in a dream

It’s another day and everything does change, Maggie

you just can’’t sit there where you’ve been

I will die before my freedom

and I will live to show you when

I’ll walk you tonght out in the fields, Maggie,

and tell you I love you again.

 

 

 

Since You’ve Gone

 

Since you’ve gone I’ve taken up drinkin’

beer and whiskey, and very fine wine

Since you’ve gone I’ve taken up women

no one special they’re around all the time

 

(chorus)

So you might be in Chicago, maybe in LA

deep down in Texas, somewhere far away

Wherever you are babe, won’t you hear me say

Wherever you are, babe, I hope that’s where you stay

 

Without you, I’ve taken up sleeping

Every night, and every day

Without you, I’ve taken up smoking big cigars

that drive my friends away

 

(bridge)

Now I’m alone and there’s nothing but a different woman every night

a different kind of feeling right and wrong

Now I’m alone and there’s nothing but peace and quiet

And I wake up in the morning singing a song

 

Since you’re gone, I’ve taken up eating

regular meals I can finally afford

Since you’re gone I’ve given up working

I’m just hanging around and I never get bored

 

 

 

 

 

Eye Of The Storm

 

Crazy Ted cut a hole in his head

pulled out his brain, put in a tv set

now Ted just smiles as he flips those dials

stayin’ in tune is his latest style

He’s got no load on his mind ‘cause his line

is finely tuned by Central

 

Crazy Tom he’s got the bomb

rolled up inside his sweaty palm

You know Tom, he’s never missed

givin’ it to you with his exploding fist

and like a bad dream, like a Hitchock twist,

you never know it’s comin’

 

Now wouldn’t you feel so good and warm

wouldn’t you feel like you belong

standing in the arms of someone strong

in the eye of the storm

 

Anna Lee lost her memory

somewhere back in 1973

she’s got a face filled with divine light

when she says: babe, the future’s bright

and walks off softly into the night

with no one in particular

 

Hank and Frank each have someone to thank

each took $10,000 from the citizens’ bank

Frank was a director and Hank had a gun

Frank gave his to Nixon and said let justice be done

They put Frank in the cabinet and Hank in the tank

and said be grateful we don’t shoot you

 

They came to my house and stripped it clean

of every single book and magazine

They said you don’t need to read or sing

‘cause love, love, love is everything

Five minutes later my doorbell rings,

and you walk in and say “I love you.”

 

 

Red Sky Morning

 

With nobody waking and the streets on fire

I’ll raise up my head behind the miles and miles of wire

as the hound dogs are howling their morning song

red sky morning’s gonna find me gone

 

I’ll be abandoned like the warehouse I am

where people come and deliver whatever they can

and tear at your insides like it was their own

red sky morning’s gonna find itself alone

 

The beggars point to businessmen, the businessmen point to thieves

and they all call for the cops who come and point to the priests

and the priests point to the flames and say “he’s coming your way

red sky morning gonna make you pay.”

 

With traces of cosmic discussions still warm

they’ll tear out your memory and put in a storm

and when lightning comes flashing every corner of your mind

red sky morning’s gonna drive you blind

 

With the wild wolves a-sleeping and the jokers in dreams

on the trail of tarantulas I’ll follow the streams

and I’ll trade down my life like a werewolf at dawn

red sky morning’s gonna find me gone