PRAYERS (YOU’RE NOT BOLD ENOUGH TO SAY)

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Hope is a sweet little sting
It's not a plaything
It breaks like glass
& hope is a thorn in the side
Of the devil that hides

In the shadow

 

& a song before it’s sung
Does it hide in your lungs
Does it float in the air
Does it wait for someone who can

Grab it & then

Go out & sing

Sometimes something strange happens & you wonder

If it does because you saw it coming all the way

All the way like a dream that you don’t want to come true

Or like a prayer you’re not bold enough to say

& if you turn off the light
Where does it go
Nobody knows
This song goes out to those

Who think they can tell

I wish them well
I wish them well

 

 

 

VAMPIRE SONG

 

It’s cold in the grave, it’s cold as ice

Life can be a drag when death must come twice

It’s blood that we get when it’s love that we crave

& it’s lonely & cold down in the grave

 

The tarot card girl she knows our fate

But there’s a line at her door & we just can’t wait

‘cause we do what we must do & we do it by night

& we must be back by the morning light

 

If you happen to be totally innocent

We can take that spell away

But if we happen to find out you’ve sinned then

You better kneel down & pray

 

We don’t look as good as we did before

We don’t smell that good, we’re foul to the core

Our flesh may be moldy but our spirits are free

So let this ghost ship set sail & fly oversea

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7 STARS

It's all good if you have those seven stars at hand
One in the middle - three stars to each side
If you must share, you can spare one for the homeless
Put three in your pocket & ride away

She waves her hands over from behind the bar
Her fingers like ten little question marks
Nine to count down the better part of her secrets
So there is one left for the promise: it's all good

 

The lady who later became the love of your life
Back then she looked like an angel who walks the hellhound
Funny how nothing has changed now that she's your wife
She can still make you want to swim on solid ground

& she says
Shall I keep those three stars that you left behind
To remind me of the things we did & your eyes & your face
Shall I store them in case you need them to support your excuses
Or burn them like the evidence of a crime in the fireplace

 

 

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MOMENT OF FAME

Coffee tables by the shore & people talking
No echo from the wide & open sea
There's a tension building on the water
I can feel it creeping up on me

Bang bang - two more shots of liquor
The sky's black & the air is getting cold
The reckless grab their shooters & the lonely
Are fumbling for a hand to hold

Chances are time's not running backwards
Not even in this rundown beach café
Don't you turn your head
Say a prayer instead
I feel it coming from across the bay

Son of a gun – if you got a sister
Tell her you love her in the eye of the twister
Tell her you love her in the eye of the hurricane
Son of a gun - this is your moment of fame

Chances are  we'll all be pulling triggers
If we don't have someone to pull close
We may even shoot our way to freedom
If it wasn't for a hopeless cause

 

One last round on the house & then it's over
You have to come up with a reason to survive
No more rolling dice

You have to make a choice
If you want to make it out alive

 

 

 

FOR FREE

I sit & wait - for what I do not know
I sit & wait & watch the traffic flow
I smoke a cigarette - I'm happy in a way
I sit & wait - for what I cannot say

 

Most of my brothers feel the way I do

Most of my sisters are a little aimless too
In dreams they move down to the south of Spain
But deep inside they know they'll sit & wait again

It doesn't pay
To line up for a role in any play
It doesn't pay
To get yourself involved in any way
Whenever love will come around
It tends to fall apart
It doesn't even pay
To break somebody's heart
One of these days - you'll see
Ft'll all fall into place
for free

This glass of wine will make the sun go down
I'm going to wake up in this same old busy town
Stuck in a plan no one remembers straight
But as for me - I'd rather sit & wait

 

 

 

FEED YOUR DREAM

Your dream is cold & dangerous like a mirror in the midday sun
You stand there paralyzed – deep inside you know you cannot run
It’ll creep into your veins, it’ll float in your bloodstream
It’ll attack someday out of the blue

So buddy, you better feed your dream

It'll invade & flood your brain right there underneath your hat
Hang on your windowpane like a sleeping vampire bat
It'll eat into your flesh after tearing up your skin

It’ll eat you up & it won’t let go

So buddy, you better feed your dream

& all your fears fit like a glove

You badly need to lose
& all that's dear to you - blow it off
To make your dream come true

A scary little devil right there beneath your bed
A hungry little tumor growing right there in your head
It won't be pacified, not by peaches, not by cream
You know, it's more particular

So buddy, you better feed your dream

 

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WHITE PATCH OF CANVAS

 

I'm a white patch of canvas, blank & dry
I'm staring back at you, I do not lie
I'm just a blank reflection in your eyes
A message straight & cold & purified

My life in art is at its peak
I'm staring back at you, I do not speak
But it's enough to keep you occupied
So I don't mind if you just pass me by

 

My nature is to sink
Into your mind
Straight to the blind & secret spot
Behind your eyes
I leave no painful mark
No record on your soul
'cept for a little crack
A little hole

I'm a white patch of canvas, blank & dry
I'm staring back at you - I do not lie
& I'll be with you even after you walk by

A message straight & cold & purified

 

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LOVE SONG NR. 9

 

2 glasses, one ashtray, a bed & a soft yellow light

You don’t say a thing so I don’t have to reply

& we both hate the darkness as much as we love the night

There must be right in the wrong when there’s wrong in the right

 

I’ll sleep when I’m dead & gone & I don’t want to die

& I’ll do anything to keep me from closing my eyes

‘cause I know I can’t come in my dreams, I know ‘cause I’ve tried

& because I want to see you come by & by

 

& the man in the mirror

Tell him to go die

If he can & disappear

& never come back alive

Tell him: go die

 

Never thought I deserve you so please won’t you say that I might

Say that you love me, say I got nothing to hide

With my arms spread & tied on the bed like I’m crucified

& your face down in the blind spot between my thighs

 

 

 

 

LITTLE FLOWER

Little flower
Can you feel me watching you
Move your petals, make a sign
If you do

Little flower
Got to go down on my knees
You may be blind my love
But I can see

I won't cut you
I won't pick you
I won't put you in my pocket & run
& I won’t mind

If you shine

For everyone

Little flower
Come & open up your face

You know you’re sweet & lovely

I know my place

 

 

 

SILENCE IS A CROWN

Silence is a crown
You wear it with every word
A golden glimmer shining
In the eye of a songbird

Hear that flapping of wings in the air
You might think it's just a trick of the brain
But there's a birdcage abandoned
& balance regained

I see you walking down by the beach underneath the pines
& I assume you're humming a little tune
'cause  I hear your friend sing along in the branches above
& I know he tends to mistake harmony for love
& I know he tends to hide
When I'm around

So I step back, I won't interfere
With the fragile unity
Of my sweet & silent companion
& a songbird set free