POPPY
(Lombardo/Ramsey)
dance in the emerald square
oh the people are swinging everywhere.
storm clouds in the trees at night,
sparrows sing and come alive
the church bells chime at nine and five.
starlings back to the nest,
your mind should be, oh it should be at rest.
clouds grey in the morning sky,
tears will find, tears will find a way to dry.
on a winding stair to find
an upstairs room,
my darkened ways, the distant view.
shards of lightning, peals of thunder, moonlight way —
there in the cloud, falling at night somebody’s voice says,
“knock all you like” and “the things that don’t
change.”
and then holding the nurse’s
flower
all through the dreaming hour
the north wind gave the lights alone
in my own dreaming.
hiding from friends in days we thought would never end,
so bold, so brave, so bold, so brave
so far from home and near the grave.
there in the cloud somebody’s voice,
there in a cloud somebody’s voice,
falling apart, “knock all you want,” “knock all
you like.” |
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EASTER
(Lombardo/Ramsey)
tomorrow’s never far off, you can hear the toll of the bell.
days of thrill adventures when you had me under a spell.
when we’d ride the midnight trolley to make the end of the
day
on a cloudless night while galaxies twinkle away.
but on a darkened journey
I prayed my patience would last.
I put aside my future for a way to return to the past.
when we had our time in the spotlight
or stayed out late in the rain
with the pale and fading flowers all melting away.
oh what a feeling is holding
me
I wasn’t fooled by the passing of days, I just couldn’t
see.
there’s a storm of
cherry petals, a pink and grey wedding cake
but the morning bell rings and the city is finally awake.
oh for a mystery
when the whole world’s in love there’s hope for silly
me
I’ve heard of scattered
lovers living lives of quiet despair
I never got the message if you called I just wasn’t there.
I keep dreaming of a mountain
I wake up just as you fall
to a trembling candle while shadows dance on the wall.
just a trembling candle
while shadows dance on the wall.
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SHUDDER
GIRL (Lombardo/Ramsey)
waiting on the center road
as the setting sun goes red.
I saw accidents that made me twist my head.
and I walked along the river bank as snow-grey clouds appeared,
and I knew inside exactly what I feared.
“oh away from me,” her black eyes opened wide.
“what if I told you places I’d like to hide?”
suddenly I was in a time
to see the closing of the fair.
two men came charging out and I fell into the pair.
and I tossed and turned and looked around, to that I can attest,
and a door was opened and I never should have left.
“oh come back to me, I’ve stayed too long alone,”
and I found the key but I couldn’t get back home.
“have yourself a sweet
dream, darling, sleep the night away.”
but the visions came to her in the middle of, middle of the day.
shudder girl, I’d
look around the bottom of the night,
and the door was opened but I never looked inside.
a broken window, chiming bell, the things I’d left behind,
and a door was opened but I never looked inside.
shudder girl, I’d
look around beneath enchanted skies
and the door was opened but I never looked inside.
in cold confusion, pity spoke but logic I defied.
and a door was opened and I never looked inside.
what a pretty picture it
made with her sitting on the bench.
her hands were tossed and turned and “you hurt me now,”
“I hurt you then,” “I told you once,” “I
tell you now,” I said.
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THE
GIFT OF LIFE (Lombardo/Ramsey)
beginning in the time of
summer
tiny songbirds soar the sky
a ray of sunlight at the garden’s end.
we’ve been alive alone
forever
we’ve been alive alone it’s true
we’ve been alive alone so tell me
that tears will find a way
of drying
and nothing comes to those who wait
time is watching from the shadows.
wait.
walk by the parish orphan’s
home
see what it’s like to be alone.
I sat till dawn in the blinding
snow
I found my way and I turned back home.
far and away the toil and strife
a ray of hope, the gift of life.
I saw a rocking horse ablaze
and chose to treasure my
waning days.
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GOODBYE
STAN (Lombardo)
Stan knew the kids were
hungry, he could see it in their eyes.
he knew his wife was restless, he’d caught her in some lies.
he knelt beside his granddad, buried there beside a hill
and he prayed he had his patience but he knew he never will.
Stan heard rumors after
Christmas
that the mills were shutting down.
the union should do something, anything to save the town.
at the Legion banquet Stan
was drinking with some friends,
who shared a little secret how to find the rainbow’s end.
that Friday at the grange hall when they’d given him some
seed
had borne a new beginning all the things they’d ever need.
the flowers bloomed in springtime
the west wind brought the fall.
they now were really family
with the special days and all.
these days won’t last
forever to think that he’d be a fool.
but for now things were so rosy
and the kids were taking interest in school
they looked so pretty dressed in white
and going to the church on Sunday morning, glory
Lynne was beaming sunshine
like the day she let him take her for his bride.
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TRIUMPH
(Lombardo/Ramsey)
if I saw the world today
mating down the apple way
if I looked and said to you I’m blinded by the things you
do
I could count the days go by, lavender and silver skies
with your eyes I dream about, tell me life is full of love
if I saw the world like you, I’d be free and I’d be
true
looking for my life today, the saddest times are all away
find the apple of my eye
tell me why oh why oh why that I love you
that I love you
if I saw the sky above tired of dreams I’m embattled of
finding time to sing and say
“I’d do it again, again that way”
and I say to you,
“give me the truth again,”
“find me a love above,”
“be in my mind best friend.”
and if I couldn’t say to you the things I’d like to,
like to do
and what’s the reason for us now
to sing and dance and all around
and if I told you everything,
I’d buy you all those diamond things
eyes a-sparkling, tried and true,
if I could make love with you
and then if we played inside all day
things around were apple grey
time and time again I’d say,
“come out with me I’ll play it all away.”
I could say to you time is true it means so true
life it goes, it goes around and around.
but I — I would say to you
that I’d be scared of losing you.
down and down and down I’d go
I’d chase you oh I’d chase you so
given me a chance today to prove myself and sail away
and then I would be your lover then
telling dolls of my close friend
chime to tell you striking through,
shining like the cyprus hue.
soon to sing a song today
and then we could just give it away
being through, being glad, breathing.
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23
DAYS (Lombardo/Ramsey)
in the morning where you
left me lying
the moon was hanging and the sun was arising
I couldn’t tell you what I meant to say
I was counting only 23 days.
a single word, a sign that life could save me
how could I like the way that you portray me?
our love was sacred when you took me down,
I watch my heavy heart in passion drown.
so tell me, can you take
me where I stand?
will you argue that you’re lonely, will the longing go away?
if beauty shines, I think
I’ll hang on for
I let a sigh, a silent reminder.
I could wish I’d never been forgotten
like the waters that you rise above.
and now the sorrow ’cause I sink inside.
and the love, a story unfolded.
I could wish I’d never been forgotten
like the waters that you rise above.
so tell me — have you wondered why I stay,
will you tell me that you’re lonely, have you driven me away?
and now the sorrow ’cause
I sink inside.
I tell a lie, the touch betrays me.
I could wish I’d never been forgotten
I was counting only 23 days
so tell me — can you take me where I stand,
will you argue that you’re lonely?
will you know me? all a lie?
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JOHNNY
AND MARY (Robert Palmer)
Johnny’s always running
around trying to find certainty
he needs all the world to confirm that he ain’t lonely.
Mary counts the walls, knows he tires easily.
Johnny thinks the world
would be right
if it could buy truth for him.
Mary says he changes his mind more than a woman.
but she made her bet, even when the chance was slim.
Johnny says he’s willing
to learn when he decides he’s a fool,
Johnny says he’ll live anywhere when he gets time to.
Mary combs her hair, says
she should be used to it.
Mary always hedges her bets, she never knows what to think,
she says that he still acts like he’s being discovered.
scared that he’d be
caught without a second thought.
running around.
Johnny thinks he’s
wasting his breath trying to talk sense to her
Mary says he’s lacking a real sense of proportion.
so she makes her bed, knows he tires easily.
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AUTUMN
IN RIO (Lombardo/Ramsey)
look to the sky in the afternoon
hue
the pink and the yellows and the waves aqua blue.
oh the time was open and I knew I wouldn’t be lonely.
and the shine was ever falling down below.
look to the sky the breezes
blowing new
there in sky Corcovado view.
I could put a pen to paper, write my friends I’m not lonely.
I could spend my days in Rio living just for me.
autumn in Rio, autumn in
Rio.
autumn fires by the sea.
flying past my hair
hummingbirds humming a tune I won’t forget.
on the beach I’m twirling my mind is swirling Brazilian sway.
and the people passing colors flash away.
blue was the sky on the
horizon,
outstretched arms in sunset glow
on a Sunday morning, the ending of my holiday
on the tarmac shuffling back to Buffalo.
farewell to Rio.
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THIS
TIME ALONE (Lombardo)
I am the past and I go off
alone
the evening shadows settle in.
I close the windows, draw the curtains tight.
still silver moonbeams slither in.
how did it end up here,
how did it go so far away,
how do you give up completely on
a friend?
it’s hardest at midnight, Elvie, in a room so grey and cold
time to be gone again, this time alone.
and staring silent at the
calm sad moon
the streetlights glistening with rain.
I should have known that I could only make you sad.
I won’t be back this way again.
how did it end up here,
how did it go so far away,
how do you give up completely on a friend?
it’s hardest at midnight, Elvie, in a room so grey and cold
time to be gone again, this time alone.
some place in dreams we
all awaken
some day everything grows clear
tonight’s the night when all the angels cry
I was a fool to get so near.
how did it end up here,
how did it go so far away,
how do you give up completely on a friend?
it’s hardest at midnight, Elvie, in a room so grey and cold
time to be gone again, time to be old.
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THAT’S
WHERE I WENT WRONG (Terry Jacks)
what’s your name?
I’m so far from my home
and I’m tired and I don’t want to be alone
and I need someone to talk to me
’cause the one that used to talk to me,
well he don’t want me.
see this ring, tell me what’s
it mean to you?
yeah, it’s pretty but to me it’s just not true
I’m so sorry for being such a bore
’cause this ring, and everything means nothing anymore.
this bus is awful cold,
we’ve gone so many miles
God, please help me go to sleep and forget him for awhile.
I know it’s not his fault, I’ve known it all along,
I was the one who trusted him —
that’s where I went wrong.
this old road, I don’t
know where it leads,
and I don’t care ’cause it’s not hard for me to
see
that when it ends there’ll be nothing left for me
’cause the only thing I care about
I’ve got to live without.
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BILLY
& SHELLEY (Lombardo/Ramsey)
Billy was unsteady, he knew
he wasn’t ready
he wasn’t born for that kind of life.
Shelley had a notion of harboring emotions
and never took to that kind of life.
and she knew in the day, traveling away
to the neverland where no one knows her name.
another endless delay, the
clanging of the railway
without a word she hurried along.
Shelley listed reasons why tears were out of season,
convinced herself that he was insane.
and she knew in the day, traveling away,
queen of he neverland where no one’s left to blame.
a certain kind of envy
spring sang without a memory
like when in fury storms will arise.
the morning bells are ringing, kids are really singing
too much weeping blinds the eyes.
and she knew in that day,
it’s time to stay
in the sudden light, another chance to see the light.
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TIME
HARD (George Agard, aka George Dekker)
every day things are getting
worse,
every day things are getting worse.
time’s so hard, why oh why hold on?
time’s so hard, look what man has become.
every day things are getting worse,
every day things are getting worse.
who sat down and made the
case I am lost at the dawn
you never see smoke without fire
so you gotta hold your head up higher.
every day things are getting
worse.
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