Race Among The Ruins

You think you had the last laugh, now you know this can't be true,
even though the sun shines down upon you now, sometimes you must feel blue.
You make the best of each new day, you try not to be sad
even though the sky falls down upon you, call it midnight feeling bad.
When you wake up to the promise of your dream world coming true,
with one less friend to call on, was it someone that I knew?
Away you will go sailing in a race among the ruins,
If you plan to face tomorrow, do it soon.

The road to love is littered by the bones of other ones
who by the magic of the moment were mysteriously undone.
You try to understand it but you never seem to find
any kind of freedom, coming clean is just another state of mind.
When you wake up to the promise of your dream world coming true,
with one less friend to call on, was it someone that I knew?
Away you will go sailing in a race among the ruins,
If you plan to face tomorrow, do it soon.

So take the best of all that's left, you know this cannot last
even though your mother was you maker, from her apron strings you pass.
Just think about the fool who by his virtue can be found
When you wake up to the promise of your dream world coming true,
with one less friend to call on, was it someone that I knew?
Away you will go sailing in a race among the ruins,
If you plan to face tomorrow, do it soon.

When you wake up to the promise of your dream world coming true,
with one less friend to call on, was it someone that I knew?
Away you will go sailing in a race among the ruins,
If you plan to face tomorrow, do it soon.


The Wreck Of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee.'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed when the gales of November came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side, coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most with a crew and good captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms when they left fully loaded for Cleveland,
and later that night when the ship's bell rang, could it be the north wind they'd been feeling?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound and a wave broke over the railing.
And every man knew, as the captain did too, t'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait when the Gales of November came slashing.
When afternoon came it was freezing rain in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck saying, "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya."
At Seven PM  a main hatchway caved in, he said, "Fellas, it's been good t'know ya."
The captain wired in he had water coming in and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went out of sight came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized, the may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams, the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
and the iron boats go as the mariners all know with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed in the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early.


I'm Not Supposed To Care

I think you have somebody waiting outside in the rain to take you away
You got places to go, you got people to see still I'm gonna miss you, but anyway.
I wish you good spaces in the far away places you go,
if it rains or it snows may you be safe and warm and never grow old.
And if you need someone who loves you, you know I will always be there,
I'll do it although I'm not supposed to care.

I'll give you the keys to my flying machine if you'd like,
I will show you the light and when you call I'm gonna come to you.
And when you find someone who loves you, I'll know you would treat me the same,
just lie there, you're not supposed to care.

I think you have somebody waiting outside in the rain to take you away.
That's some kind of a game still I'm glad it came down to the final round, but anyway.
If you think you need someone who needs you, you know I will always be there,
I'll do it although I'm not supposed to care. I'll do it although I'm not supposed to care.


I'd Do It Again

A one man band on a one night stand as a one man band should be,
they cried for more, he replied, "why sure" and he played one just for free.
The sounds he laid down, the songs he played made the ladies all come to call.
He was born in the back of a seminole bus on the road to Niagara Falls.
I'd do it again, I'd do it again, I'd do it again.

The one man band, philosophical man, didn't lie when he said to us,
‘I seen the high rollers come and go, "it's the holy rollers I trust."
The man said then he was sixteen when he retired from the county school.
A wee bit thin with a will to begin, he was known to be know man's fool.
I'd do it again, I'd do it again, I'd do it again.

The one man band was a mighty good man cause he played till the break of dawn.
He ups and downs about four more rounds and he stayed till the crowd went home.
It seemed to me like he never could be like anything I'd ever seen before
when he stepped from the stage with his ax in his hand and he run through the backstage door.
I'd do it again, I'd do it again, I'd do it again.

A one man band on a one night stand as a one man band should be,
they cried for more, he replied, "why sure" and he played one just for free.


Never Too Close

I remember when best friends were jealous lovers, lying warm asleep beneath the covers.
Dreaming of belonging to each other, and so we tried,
never too close, never too near, dying in time.
And so we cried but that is all right, we meant no one no harm.

I remember when best friends were not mistaken, long before that freedom was forsaken.
Learning about all the good things in the world worth believing
and so we tried, never too close, never too near, dying in time.
And so we cried but that is all right, we meant no one no harm.

I remember when jealous lovers would stick together,
when the days were warm and the nights more tender.
When the bonds of truth were not made to measure
And so we tried never too close, never too near, dying in time.
And so we cried but that is all right, we meant no one no harm.
We meant no one no harm, try, try as you will, following dreams never fulfilled.
And so we cried but that is all right, we meant no one no harm.


Protocol

Who are these ones who would lead us now to the sound of a thousand guns?
Who'd storm the gates of hell itself to the tune of a single drum?
Where are the girls of the neighborhood bars whose loves were lost at sea
in the hills of France and on German soil from Saigon to Wounded Knee,
who come from long lines of soldiers, whose duty was fulfilled
In the words of a warriors will and protocol?

Where are the boys in their coats of blue who flew when their eyes were blind?
Was God in town for the Roman games, was he there when the deals were signed?
Who are the kings in their coats of mail who rode by the cross to die?
Did they all go down into worthiness, is it wrong for a king to cry?
And who are these ones who would have us now,
whose presence in concealed, whose nature is revealed in a time bomb?

Last of all, you old seadogs who travel after whale,
you'd storm the gates of hell itself for the taste of a mermaid's tail,
who come from long lines of skippers, whose duty was fulfilled
in the words of a warrior's will and protocol.


The House You Live In

Go first in the world, go forth with your fears, remember a price must be paid.
Be always too soon, be never too fast at the time when all bets must be laid.
Beware of the darkness, be kind to your children, remember the woman who waits
and the house you live in will never fall down if you pity the stranger who stands at your gate.

When you're caught by the gale and you're full under sail, beware of the dangers below.
And the song that you sing should not be too sad and be sure not to sing it too slow.
Be calm in the face of all common disgraces and know what they're doing it for
and the house you live in will never fall down if you pity the stranger who stands at your door.

When you're out on the road and feeling quite lost, consider the burden of fame,
and he who is wise will not criticize when other men fail at the game.
Beware of strange faces and dark dingy places, be careful while bending the law
and the house you live in will never fall down if you pity the stranger who stands at your door.

When you're down in the dumps and not ready to deal, decide what it is that you need.
Is it money or love, is it learning to live or is it the mouth you must feed?
Be known as a man who will always be candid on questions that do not relate
and the house you live in will never fall down if you pity the stranger who stands at your gate.
And the house you live in will never fall down if you pity the stranger who stands at your gate


Summertime Dream

Where the road runs down but the butternut grove to old Bill Skinner's stream,
do tell at the noonday bell, it's time for a summertime dream.
In a lunch pail town in a one-horse way, you can live like a king and queen.
Let's steal away in the noonday sun, it's time for a summertime dream.

Birds in all creation will be twittering in the trees
and down below's a pond I know, you can swim in it if you please,
and if you come round when the mill shuts down, you can see what chivalry means.
Let's steal away in the noonday sun, it's time for a summertime dream.

On a trip on down to wonderland in love among the flowers
where time gets lost with no straw boss tallying up the hours,
where the road runs down by the butternut grove to old Bill Skinner's stream,
do tell at the noonday bell, it's time for a summertime dream.

Birds in all creation will be twittering in the trees
and down below's a pond I know, you can swim in it if you please,
and if you come round when the mill shuts down, you can see what chivalry means.
Let's steal away in the noonday sun, it's time for a summertime dream.


Spanish Moss

Let go darling, I can feel the night wind call.
Guess I'd better go, I like you more than half as much as I love your Spanish moss.
Spanish moss hanging down, lofty as the southern love we've found.
Spanish moss keeps on following my thoughts around.
Georgia pine and Ripple wine, memories of Savannah summertime.

Spanish moss, wish you knew what I was saying.
So I'm rolling north thinking of the way things might have been
if she and I could have changed it all somehow.
Spanish moss hanging down, lofty as the sycamore you've found,
Spanish moss keeps on following my thoughts around.
Georgia pine and Ripple wine, kisses mixed with moonshine and red clay

Spanish moss, wish you knew what I was saying.
So I'm rolling north thinking of the way things might have been
if she and I could have changed it all somehow.
Let go darling, I can feel the night wind call, the devil take the cost.
I like the way your kisses flow and I love your Spanish moss.


Too Many Clues In This Room

The space shuttle ends where the subway begins, there's a tear on the face of the moon.
From dusk until dawn they have searched all day long but there's too many clues in this room.
At best it is said we've been locked deep inside of an old sea man's chest full of charts
where maps are contained and what's left of his brains
when his crew threw his balls to the sharks.
All around the looking glass, dancing to a tune,
sweeping out the house with a fine tooth comb which history's shown leads to ruin.

In a word it is said that at times we must fall but the worst of it all was the lies.
We died for the cause just like regular outlaws in the dust of an old lawman's eyes.
In times best forgot, there was peace, there was not, in her pains mother earth came to bloom,
her children were born in the eye of the storm and there's too many clues in this room.
The power that is stored in the no man's land of chance
is the someone who knows what they're doing.
The old soldiers say in their own crusty way, we've got too many troops in this room.
All around the looking glass, dancing to a tune,
sweeping out the house with a fine tooth comb which history's shown leads to ruin.

The space shuttle ends where the subway begins, praise the Lord, there's a train leaving soon.
From dusk until dawn they have searched all day long, but there's too many clues in this room..
Summertime Dream