Twighlight Blue

Silver stars twinkled on the stage,
And the prop hand forgot about the page,
Then the painted moon began to swing,
The players fled and forgot about eveything,
The broken vase was shattered by the moon,

I guess I still saw the spotlight shine,
And imagined that her whole love would be mine,


You have set the candle in the night,
And nothing else could ever shine as bright,
Everything looks the exact same to you,
When you're thrown through twighlight blue


I see the piper running up the hills,
They're as golden as shining ocean sails,
Jumping into piles of orange autumn leaves,
Forgetting about the rain on summer's eve

Tight Wire

Hanging on to a spinning tire,
In the fall from a tight wire,
Nothing there to catch your fall,
Cept a clown and a carney's doll,
I went on the run from the law,
All the frightened souls I saw,
The tent would keep them safe,
But I still felt outta place,
Couldn't see the stars at night,
The tent was like a child's kite,
Caught inside the greyest clouds,
Looking out from a buried shroud,
I couldn't see my life ahead,
Thought I would be better dead,
So I knew when I had to go,
Back to the only heart I've known

If my heart could be a bed,
Tuck her in under blanket threads,
So the night would not bring tears,
I swear heaven sent her here,
Now I sleep on stone cold ground,
Dog's are barking, thunder sounds,
I am no stranger to the road,
But distant from a spinning world,
A path that takes me to the gates,
To which all my dreams escape,
There I see the tulips bloom,
The air's allure of sweet perfume,
Dust builds over, shadows mold,
Can't reach out for hands to hold,
Just moonlight in my prison cell,
Where a howling beast is left to dwell

Acrobats and prison guards,
I'll send them my best regards,
But there's someone I haven't seen,
In what seems like an eternity,
The big top tent it catching fire,
It got wrapped in telephone wires

Driven From This Town

You know babe, I need some time to settle down,
And it's not because I've been driven from this town,
It's my house on fire that's burning to the sky,
But I don't really care cause I have my allibies,
I have long been frightened of the day of fire,
Now all that ever burns is my heart's desire,
I know that the wishing well hasn't yet run dry,
It's become just as stagnent as the stormy skies,
I have no more money that will bring any lightning,
Gonna set a spark and wonder what tomorrow brings,
With Outlaws hunched over flames like el diablo,
Gazing into scars and shadows that are hallow

Know I've been out dancing to that rock and roll,
And wouldn't you know it, I lost all control,
Only to find out that I'd been dancing alone,
Heard static on the other end of the phone,
Telephone wires have clinged to us like chains,
As we march through the wasteland finding remains,
This has never been a place of beauty or love,
And yet I can make a plea to the stars above,
And if I had a chance I would tell them to guide me,
Cause the course I've set would only remind me,
No one would believe me if I told them it still hurts,
Where a game of horse shoe rings more like a curse

Right where Toronado has been laid to his rest,
The pawn's boots burn on a flamming board of chess,
Burning as high as horses can hold their manes,
It's like they tore the saddle away from John Wayne,
Chasing after the sunset til' it turned to dark,
With all the smoke around you'd think they'd set a spark,
The tumble weed sat stagnent for days and days,
Looked 'round to find ways out of this smokey haze,
Soon it jumped far and reached tremendous heights,
And saw that a backdrop would never turn to night,
Until the stage lights were turned off and removed,
It felt so secluded it could barely stand to move

Get up, pronounced John Wayne, you're making me sick,
Said mirages that hit me like them barreling bricks,
Flung out of a ghost town window after the flames,
Inhibited there to pick up after crumbled remains,
Last can of beans is getting toasted and burnt,
Bubblin' over til' I was certain they weren't,
It's disintegrating faster than my eyes can see,
An oasis appears when it's over a million degrees,

Unused Guitar

Feel like an unused guitar,
You picked me up and set me down,
I was made to fill a room with sound,
And it's so empty when you're not around

Palace In The Tomb

(Sung to "Mississippi)

Storms rolling by me,
Like a palace in the tomb,
Throw away all your jewelry,
I'm gonna have to make room,
You look at me funny,
Like I've stolen this map,
When you handed it to me,
And knew it was trap,
I've been wasted like an engine,
Never picking up speed,
And never left any remnants,
For the vultures to feed,
I've been a lone soldier,
On a midnight train,
There's nothing above me,
Not even rain

Last Train To Nowhere

I got off the last train to nowhere,
Maybe cause I saw something there,
And only as it pulled away,
Steam disappeared like surplus prayers,
A ghost heading into another world,
The wheels clinking like jagged spurs,
It was as if I had robbed the train,
And looked ahead to see a blur,
I saw a hero chasing close behind,
Or was it all in my knavish mind?
The reel burns right before my eyes,
And flickers as the tracks unwind,
Lights cut through extinguished fumes,
Iron tracks sewing open wounds,


For all I know it's covered in rust




strewn
marooned
moon
Removed
unmoved

Lord, I'm Tryin' To Make It

Lord I'm trying to make it,
Lord, I'm tryin to make it,
I'm tryin' to make it through,
Bribery, lies, and thieves,
And you can't reach reach them,
Upon your bended knees

I've seen my share a shovels,
Piling on the dirt,
I've seen the pain in a mother's eye,
And I know how it must hurt,
I've seen the vultures circle,
From a desert vast and wide,
Sometimes I doubt I can make it,
All the way to the other side

Lord, I'm trying to make it,
Lord, I'm tryin to make it,
I'm tryin' to make it through,
Bribery, lies, and thieves,
And you cannnot reach them,
Upon your bended knees

Copper slabs are meant to sculpt,
Great heroes in the squares,
But this place is a ghosttown,
Where nobody has been spared,

I straggled for the queen and the pawn

I straggled for the queen and the pawn,
Never knew the next move,
And had nothin' to lose,
I straggled for the queen and the pawn

The castle casts a shadow,
And sherwood shelters runaways,
Didn't know if I stole too much,
I would beg 'til my dyin' days,
As I walked down the crowded street,
My face covering an empty soul,
Everyone was smoking cigarettes,
A toxic haze that had taken hold,
Hop scotch as the concrete cracked,
Let the cards fall where they may,
Pick up the pieces of a broken heart,
After molding clay

I straggled for the queen and the pawn,
Never knew the next move,
And had nothin' to lose,
I straggled for the queen and the pawn

Outskirts of Love

I'm on the outskirts of love,
The tank was busted long ago,
Sped away like destructive flames,
Gave me the time to take things slow,
Lines on the map led me nowhere,
But then I saw the stars that shined,
I knew the night was only there,
To make me feel like I could fly

I'm on the outskirts of love,
With headlights shining in my eyes,
One would think that they would blind me,
As I wait for the sun to rise,
Where are all those people headin'?
Do they know where this road leads,
For I can tell you if they do,
They don't know what they really need

I'm on the outskirts of love,
Everything had been outta place,
Til I made it past the wasteland,
Thinking nothin' could be replaced,
Was sitting burnt out like a star,
The night remained so cold and dim,
I remember it to the softest touch,
When I was away from everything

I'm on the outskirts of love,
Scorched and barren as a field,
A dragon in a fairytale,
Not pierced by a heart's cold steel,
Surrounded by cinders of the age,
The dust I picked up on the way,
I'll leave these ragged roads behind,
Believin' I would always stay

I'm on the outskirts of love,
I hated all I had become,
Sittin' there waitin' on the shore,
Where nothing good would ever come,
I could feel your arms around me,
They protect me from desert winds,
The outlands are no place for me,
And skeletons are wearing thin

I'm on the outskirts of love,
Where hitchhiking leads you nowhere,
Didn't know where I was headin'
Rear views busted beyond repair,
Looked back at the crossroad's wreckage,
And metal mangled out to drift,
And you latch to steering wheels,
When compasses are turns you've missed

I'm on the outskirts of love,
Planes fly over leaving trails,
Can't grasp them like the trapeeze swing,
Winds cut through a tattered sail,
I waited for the storms to clear,
The gales became a numbing sense,
I wish to feel them disappear,
Heading back into nothingness

I'm on the outskirts of love,
Shooting stars can't make it here,
And the headlights that I trusted,
And threw me out where tires seared,
And as I rolled where there were bodies,
Crushed by car crashes years ago,
Still lying there as I bled out,
Scarped up by the wreckage been towed

Took me in and threw me back out,
And as I rolled there were

Tribute to Luke Kelly

He was the son they never had,
And he took me down Raglan Road,
Though I'd never stepped on Dublin's land,
It felt like I bore his lode,
He was born covered in dust,
Cobwebs held tight improvershed hands,
But the strands soon took way to strings,
And he saw the sun engulf the land,
Cigarrete smoke was on his whiskers,
And he sang of ghosts as martyrs,
And they possesed his raspy voice,
Where the liquor and smoke ebb like myrrh

He sang because he was the common man,
Not for a life full wealth and power,
Free the people, let them speak,
He preached that we can overpower,
It was God's sacred word upon his tongue,
And he did not die with his sickness,
In his last days, a voice of angels,
He shed the folklore of nobelesse

Left Us Out To Die

I've seen many men passing us by,
But I have never seen the likes of those,
Who have left us out to die

They took our wives, they took our children,
They took our friends and our mothers and fathers,
Our life companions, our brothers and sisters,


I've seen everyone cowering in flames,
Every one of their bones still has a name,
Concrete pulled from the endless roads,
To built ever menacing grave stones,
Stacked like tin canaries in a row,
Slavery whips and blood in nuclear snow,


We knew what we were up against,
When we took the road to freedom,
We marched from Selma, to Berlin to Burma,

Leaping From My Eyes

Do you remember child,
I was leaping from my eyes,
Do you remember child,
I was leaping from my eyes,
Dust never settles from these arid desert skies,
I was leaping from my eyes

As I crashed right into the cold, unforgiving ground,
Blankets caught the wind running tattered ships aground,
Whirlpools of drapery are making thunderous sounds,
As the light broke out from the raptures,
Repunzel threw down her hair and it made it to the floor,
But I was caught up in strands of a spider's golden lore,
Remember sirens will sink before you ever reach the shore,
Resurfacing to claim another victim,

Do you remember child,
I was leaping from my eyes,
Do you remember child,
I was leaping from my eyes,
Dust never settles from these arid desert skies,
I was leaping from my eyes