| Walls I'm not ashamed to say that I've loved you well, I'm not ashamed to let you know. I'm just a name, that's all, scratched upon your wall. You've used it well but what the hell, that's what walls are for. I'm not ashamed to listen to the fast-falling rain in the morning upon my window. I'm not afraid to cry, I'm not ashamed to try to be your friend once again, cause that's what's friends are for. Friends are for sorting out the hang-ups that we hide, walls are for shutting out the love we feel inside. I'm not ashamed no to talk it over once again, to rearrange my vocabulary. But I can't seem to find any words to change your mind because I left them all behind and that's what words are for. Words are for explaining the mistakes we might have made, names are for calling when there's nothing left to say. I'm not ashamed, no, to say that I've loved you well, I'm not ashamed, and yet I know I'm just a name, that's all, scratched upon your wall, You've used it well, but what the hell, that's what walls are for. I'm not ashamed of wearing out my old grey socks chasing you around the back woods. I'm not ashamed to darn nor to proud to find some yarn to sew them up once again cause that's what socks are for. If You Got It If you got it, don't lose it girl, it's got to be the one creative thing that's left for you and me. If you find it, don't lose it all the very next day. Lock it in your soul and throw the key away. So, don't you let it go, let it stay, let it grow, like the snow, don't let it melt away. If you find it, then give it girl, with all your might. Forget about yourself, you're not the losing kind. If you get it, then keep it cool, don't let it die, you may only see it once, don't let it pass you by. So, don't you let it go, let it stay, let it grow, like the snow, don't let it melt away. If you find it, then give it girl, with all your might. Forget about yourself, you're not the losing kind. If you get it, then keep it cool, don't let it die, you may only see it once, don't let it pass you by, pass you by, don't let it die, don't let it go. Softly Softly she comes, whispers the breeze with her passing, in secret love she is laughing, softly she comes in the night. Softly she sighs, sweetly she lies, never sleeping. Her fragrance all in my keeping, softly she comes in the night. Down the darkened hall, I hear her footsteps on my stair, and she is in my arms once more. Then softly she goes, her shining lips in the shadows, whisper goodbye at my window, softly she goes in the dawn. Down the darkened hall, I hear her footsteps on my stair, and she is in my arms once more. Then softly she goes, her shining lips in the shadows, whisper goodbye at my window, softly she goes in the dawn, softly she goes in the dawn. Crossroads When first I did appear upon this native soil, all up and down this country at labor I did toil. I slumbered in the moonlight and I rose with the sun, I rambled through the canyons where the cold rivers run. When first I did come down where the land meets the sea, the people said "Who are you and what would your name be?" I said, "I have no home and I am no man's son, 'twas inland I was born and from inland that I come. In the good land I was young and I was strong, no one dared to call me son, happy just to see my day's work done, see my day's work done." So I swung an axe as a timberjack and I worked the Quebec mines. And on the golden prairie I rode the big combines. I sailed the maritime waters of many a seaport town, built the highways and the byways to the western salmon grounds. I've gazed upon the good times I've seen the bad times too, felt many a cold and bitter wind and many a-morning dew. I've watched the country growing like a fair and mighty thing and on the still of a summer night I've heard the mountains ring. In the good land I was young and I was strong, no one dared to call me son. Happy just to see my day's work done, see my day's work done. But now the seeds are planted and the gates are open wide, the old ways are forgotten there's no place left to hide. And the legacy I'm leaving you is not very hard to find, you'll see it all around you at this crossroads of time, in the sweet soil it's a-growing at the crossroads of time. A Minor Ballad Beyond the wild misty mountain, within the valley so free, There dwells a maid with a heart so mellow, soft as the wind and wild as the sea. When will you love me as I love thee? I have no gold to give her nor gowns of soft crimson hue, nor poems of love, no rhymes to bring her into my heart so strong, so true. When will you love me as I love you? Beyond the wild misty mountain, within the valley so free, there dwells a maid with a heart so mellow, soft as the wind and wild as the sea. When will you love me as I love thee? Go Go Around Alone upon the sidewalks of despair, 'twas there she wandered with her suitcase in her hand. Her fate she pondered, only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care. She met him on a night so rare when her friends were there and the band was grooving. When he gave a glance that said how much he would like to meet her, how was she to know at the time he would mistreat her? In her case she danced for him although a hundred eyes were turned her way, and before the set was through he knew she would be his loved one. Only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care, only twenty-one, she was a young girl just in from somewhere. He's playing up in Michigan with a group they call The Intended, with a kiss, and a promise, he was gone, the song was ended. But as she walks, she waits for him, the pavement is a shoulder for her tears, but in her heart, she knows there is no way she can hope to change him. Only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care, only twenty-one, she was a young girl just in from somewhere, only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care, a go-go girl in love. Rosanna Rosanna makes my day begin with kisses for a king, and coffee on a silver tray, she sees the shape I'm in. And if she should ever break away, I'd follow close behind her cause Rosanna, yes Rosanna rules my heart. Rosanna knows the times I keep, a fire softly glows, and the shadows lick the walls, she knows when I'm asleep. The dinner's served at eight o'clock on time and all is well by nine, cause Rosanna,, yes Rosanna rules my heart. Rosanna moves across the floor, her perfume fills the air. As she walks beside my easy chair, I touch her hand once more. And I may never sleep again, I like the bag she put me in. Rosanna knows the ways of a man, but not the way I feel, I don't really care what happens now, it's catch me if you can. For no matter what occasion should arise, she likes to sympathize cause Rosanna, yes Rosanna, Rosanna, Rosanna rules my heart. Home From The Forest Oh, the neon lights were flashing and the icy wind did blow, the water seeped into his shoes and the drizzle turned to snow. His eyes were red, his hopes were dead and the wine was running low and the old man came home from the forest. His tears fell on the sidewalk as he stumbled in the street, a dozen faces stopped to stare but no one stopped to speak. For his castle was a hallway and the bottle was his friend and the old man stumbled in from the forest. Up a dark and dingy staircase, the old man made his way, his ragged coat around him as upon his cot he lay. And he wondered how it happened that he ended up this way getting lost like a fool in the forest. And as he lay there sleeping, a vision did appear upon his mantle shining, a face of one so dear, who had loved him in the springtime of a long-forgotten year when the wildflowers did bloom in the forest. She touched his grizzled fingers and she called him by his name and then he heard the joyful sound of children at their games in an old house on a hillside in some forgotten town where the river runs down from the forest. With a mighty roar the big jets soar above the canyon streets and the con men con but life goes on for the city never sleeps and to an old forgotten soldier, the dawn will come no more for the old man has come home from the forest. I'll Be Alright I'll be alright, I'll be alright if I don't have to smile, if I don't to face the morning sunrise for a while. I'll get along, you know, I'll take tomorrow with a grin if I never have to think about her love again. And I won't mind if words are spoken in empty love songs, as long as I don't have to hear. I'll be alright if I don't have to face the world again. And if I never love again, I'll be alright. Last night she gave the final word, she said her last goodbye and disappeared forever in the world outside. One kiss and then she took her leave to go, I know not where into the misty shadows of the midnight air. But I won't mind if words are spoken in empty love songs as long, as I don't have to hear. I'll be alright if I don't have to face the world again. And if I never love again I'll be alright. And if I never love again I'll be alright. Song For A Winter's Night The lamp is burning low upon my tabletop, the snow is softly falling. The air is still within the silence of my room, I hear your voice softly calling. If I could only have you near to breathe a sigh or two, I would be happy just to hold the hands I love upon this winter night with you. The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead, my glass is almost empty. I read again between the lines upon the page, the words of love you sent me. If I could know within my heart that you were lonely too, I would be happy just to hold the hands I love upon this winter night with you. The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim, the shades of night are lifting. The morning light steals across my windowpane where webs of snow are drifting. If I could only have you near to breathe a sigh or two, I would be happy just to hold the hands I love and to be once again with you, to be once again with you. Canadian Railroad Trilogy There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run, when the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun. Long before the white man and long before the wheel, then the green dark forest was too silent to be real. But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds as to this verdant country they came from all around. They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall, built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all. And when the young man's fancy was turning to the spring, the railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring. Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day and many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay. For they looked in the future and what did they see, they saw an iron road running from the sea to the sea. Bringing the goods to a young growing land, all up through the seaports and into their hands. Look away said they across this mighty land, from the Eastern Shore to the western strand. Bring in the workers and bring up the rails, we gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails. Open her heart let the lifeblood flow, gotta get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow. Bring in the workers and bring up the rails, we're gonna lay down the tracks and tear up the trails. Open her heart let the lifeblood flow, gotta get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow. Get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow. Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declining the stars, they come stealing at the close of the day. Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping beyond the dark oceans in a place far away. We are the Navvies who work upon the railway, swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun, living on stew and drinking bad whiskey, bending our old backs 'til the long days are done. We are the Navvies who work upon the railway, swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun. Laying down track and building the bridges, bending our backs till the railroad is done. So over the mountains and over the plains into the muskeg and into the rain, up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspe, swinging our hammers and drawing our pay. Driving 'em in and tying 'em down away to the bunkhouse and into the town. A dollar a day and a place for my head, a drink to the living and a toast to the dead. Oh, the song of the future has been sung, all the battles have been won, o'er the mountain tops we stand, all the world at our command, we have opened up the soil with our teardrops and our toil. There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run, when the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun. Long before the white man and long before the wheel, then the green dark forest was too silent to be real. Then the green dark forest was too silent to be real. And many are the dead men too silent to be real. The Way I Feel The way I feel is like a robin whose babes have flown to come no more. A tall oak tree alone and crying when her birds have flown and the nest is bare. Now a woman, Lord, is like a young bird and the tall oak tree is like a young man's heart. Among his boughs you will find her nesting, when the nights are cool she's warm and dry. Your coat of green will protect her, her wings will grow, your love will too. But all too soon your mighty branches will cease to hold her she'll fly from you. Had I wings to fly, I'd follow you. If you'd wait for me, I'd fly away, I'd fly away. |
| The Way I Feel |