Lurid Casino Of Existence [2021]

01. love can't tell time

don't know why the years feel like minutes

don't know why things have to stay in line

wonder why your heart is still within me

I guess love can't tell time

I'd like to make some sense of this memory

reaching for a past close behind

feels so real and yet so empty

seems that love can't tell time

oh, those days

walking on the beaches, kicking waves

all those nights

dancing by the candlelight

promising to spend our lives

in love

some of us are searching for an answer

some of us are searching for a rhyme

most of us will never know the secret

because love can't tell time

oh, those days

walking on the beaches, kicking waves

all those nights

dancing by the candlelight

promising to spend our lives

in love

missing all the things that never happened

pining for a life that isn't mine

wonder where the years are gonna take me

because love can't tell time

love can't tell time

02. blink of an eye

they say that trust comes easy

if you're green enough to believe

now you're out there chasing rainbows

how could someone be so naïve

did they raise you up to be famous

did they tell you good guys win

you were so transfixed on that big brass ring

that you made your mistakes all again

well, you don't know much about living

you just know enough to get by

the hardest thing about forgiving

is that a wink or a blink of an eye

was it too good to pass over

did you fall for all their lines

did you want it so bad that you had to be had

didn't read the warning signs

well, you don't know much about living

you just know enough to get by

the hardest thing about forgiving

is that a wink or a blink of an eye

they say that trust isn't easy

and the pen's as sharp as the knife

in this lurid casino of existence

all you really got to wager is your life

well, you don't know much about living

you just know enough to get by

the hardest thing about forgiving

is that a wink or a blink of an eye

03. promised land

hold tight, hold my hand

gonna take you to the promised land

let's put this ugly year behind us

let nothing from our past remind us

move on, have faith

a much better day awaits

believe me, I'm an honest man

and I'll take you to the promised land

grow trees, plant seeds

that'll give us everything we need

let's make a better world together

let's share a love that lasts forever

no wars, no guns

just frolicking in the sun

believe me when I say we can

and let's go to the promised land

live long, laugh loud

just dance like you're above the clouds

let's make a better year together

let's never talk about the weather

drink up, chow down

gonna party like it's our home town

just smile and take my hand

and we'll go to the promised land

04. four empty rivers

open a book to the first page

life is a play & we're all on the stage

study your parts, read all of your lines

four empty rivers, frozen in time

stare at the sun, hide from the moon

feel that your world is just a cartoon

the emperor's clothes win all of the cheers

four empty rivers, once held tears

take what you can, they'll take what you need

keep all your books cause the kings can't read

horns in jericho, fiddlers in rome

four empty rivers, leading you home

open a book to the last page

read 'tween the lines & feel the rage

conquest & war, famine & death

four empty rivers, nothing much left

05. wine & roses

take this heart from undercover

time to break away these chains

scan horizons for a friend and a lover

and don't think about the pain

every day's a new beginning

and every night should never end

every love should feel like angels singing

and every broken heart should mend

wine and roses - forever

raise a glass for a toast

wine and roses - remember

how it felt so long ago

call it planting seeds that may not grow

call it wishing upon a star

there's a love for me among the shadows

I just hope it ain't too far

wine and roses - forever

raise a glass for a toast

wine and roses - remember

how it felt so long ago

how it felt

Sedalia Blues [2016]

01. last summer rain

days get longer
time slows down
lovers linger
green turns brown
season closes
winter dawns
gone are the roses
that sing your song

oh how I wish I could kiss your lips
in the last summer rain
oh how I wish we could do it all again

what's a year
just some days
tears disappear
in the last summer rain

oh how I wish I could kiss your lips
in the last summer rain
oh how I wish we could do it all again

oh how I wish I could kiss your lips
in the last summer rain
oh how we cried when we said goodbye
in the last summer rain
oh how I wish I could kiss your lips
in the last summer rain
oh how I wish that we didn't feel the pain

02. all I can think of is you

it's friday night
got my first beer
I look round the bar, rubbing my scars
nothing seems too clear

it's a foreign land
and I've seen quite a few
I've known kings and queens and bums from the streets
but I've never met someone like you

they say there's luck, I know I'm due
I've just arrived in some far-flung dive
and all I can think of is you

the barmaid scowls
as she floats across the floor
pours me a drink but I'm too tired to think
if I've enough money for more

I'll find my way
back to your heart
god only knows if I have enough soul
to keep from falling apart

they say there's luck, I know I'm due
now I'm drunk and alone and wish I was home
and all I can think of is you

love comes and goes
look who it chose

it's friday night
at least it is for you
forgive me my dear, I've had a few beers
and all I can think of is you

they say there's luck, I know I'm due
I'm smashed and I'm trashed and all out of cash
cause all I can think of is you
I'm drunk and alone and wish I was home
and all I can think of - all I can think of is you

03. lucky man

well I sure ain't rich
I ain't exactly broke
got some loyal friends
I know a lot of nice folks
I try to live my life
by no one else's plan
I'm a lucky man

I got a girl back home
she sings me songs
I could watch her walk up and down the hall
all day long
she loves me for
who I really am
I'm a lucky man

I got two great kids
they don't ask for much
they're out there living their lives
but they keep in touch
I give them both a hug
whenever I can
I'm a lucky man

and all those righteous in the distance
they don't know where I stand

I got a few more years
no time for tears
I'm a lucky man
yeah, I'm a lucky man

04. sedalia blues

I never set foot in your hometown
you never took a step in mine
but I feel the wheels are turning
and I think it might be time

I wanna breathe the air it gave you
I wanna feel that sun go down
I wanna wallow in your footsteps
down the streets of sedalia town

though I know your dreams had faded
mine have nothing left to lose
and you don't have to be in missouri
to sing sedalia blues

I chose a life that you'd forgotten
a life you said would let me down
but it's kept me fed and watered
and it's led to sedalia town

and though I might be torn and jaded
got no ego left to bruise
and I don't need to see missouri
I'll just sing sedalia blues

05. alone

I hear it raining
my baby's gone away
I feel the changing
my baby's gone away
alone's how she found me
alone is how I'll stay

ain't no use in crying
no one else to blame
ain't no use in dying
there ain't no one else to blame
alone is how she left me
alone's my middle name

gonna be a new day
my world ain't gonna end
gonna be a better way
my world ain't gonna end
alone ain't so bad now
alone is my best friend
alone's how she left me
alone is my best friend
alone's she found me
alone is my best friend

06. everything

everything I'd wanted
everything I'd dreamed
everything I'd hoped for
and everything inbetween
everything that mattered
everything that's true
all became real
all because of you

I can hear your footsteps
outside my door
I can tell it's you by the way your heels
hit the floor
you're one in a million
you make me feel like a king
you're my heart and soul
you're my everything

I don't need money
wouldn't know what to buy
all I take to the bank are my thanks
that I'm your guy
life's a circus
or a boxing ring
but all I know
is you're my everything

07. stones (slight return)

let's take a walk out in the garden
feel the stones beneath your shoes
aint no getting around the truth
there's a technicolour sunset
but all you see is gray
clouds hang in your way

could it be you believe there's seeds left to sow
with no one else to blame for being left alone
could it be you lost a diamond 
while you collected stones

all we ever have are chances
every key unlocks a door
every wave finds a distant shore
so take your glass and smash it
on the stones beneath your feet
turn you back on what you see

could it be you believe there's seeds left to sow
with no one else to blame for being left alone
could it be you lost a diamond while you collected stones

in another life, everything's alright, yeah
in another world, throwing swine at pearls, yeah, yeah

could it be you believe there's dreams in the stones
and no one left to say you'll dream them alone
could it be you lost a diamond 
while you collected stones

08. joan collins had my baby

joan collins had my baby
just for a second
we were at a hollywood party
the bright lights, they did beckon
so fellas, don't think maybe
joan collins had my baby

joan collins took one look
and swept her from my arms
she engaged her in witty conversation
with all her english charm
so fellas don't say maybe
joan collins had my baby

joan asked her to see her house
out on malibu beach
I said she had to work the next day, and had a headache
and we got kids, and that we just had to leave
was I jealous, or just plain lazy
joan collins had my baby

joan collins had my baby
she just took her from my side
and I'd seen every one of her 79 films
I guess it's just my pride
so boys don't call me crazy
joan collins had my baby
well fellas, don't say maybe
joan collins had my baby
now the memory's a little hazy - yeah

09. the sparrow

I once had a love thought it was true
across the green fields where the sparrow once flew
but spring had long gone, winter was cold
it's amazing how quickly your soul can be sold

I gave her my best for five full years
days filled with laughter and sometimes a tear
because no road is straight, there's curves and bends
I never expected this road to end

you search for the truth, you beg to know why
you learn to ignore what's probably a lie
you look in the mirror, the face that you see
is the ghost of a man who you used to be

now I sit alone in a west country pub
a pint and a pen takes the place of a love
that defined my soul, that gave me hope
as I tie a noose in the end of a rope

across the green fields, where the sparrow once flew

10. I do alright

I walk against the lights when they turn red
I like to go against the grain instead
I go to karaoke bars but I don't sing along
I do alright, when I'm doing wrong

I like to walk in someone else's sleep
I leave my message well before the beep
I clean my teeth with a fine-tooth comb and spray-paint my lawn
I do alright, when I'm doing wrong

I drink and file lawsuits at the bar
I ride my bike in the backseat of my car
I order decaf latte soy and make it extra strong
I do alright, when I'm doing wrong

I drag my bathtub up and down the street
I once had wooden legs and real feet
I play in sergeant pepper's band, but I don't know the songs
I do alright, when I'm doing wrong

you might say it's a topsy-turvy life
you might say you're glad you're not my wife
but my love for you is true babe, my love for you is strong
and I do alright, when I'm doing wrong
I do alright, when I'm doing wrong

11. home

I wake each morning in the jungle
to the sound of a thousand hearts
I know that my time will always be defined
by whether I can hold it all apart

and I'm waiting for the sun to start shining
I'm waiting for the neon light's glow
I think about a place where I can find some space
thinking about going back home

the stones that have rolled through my windows
the names that have changed with time
float by on the stream of a midnight summer's dream
a screenplay that's only in my mind

and I'm standing in a meadow made of concrete
where the trees are made of steel and chrome
I think about a place where I can find some space
thinking about going back home

now there's nothing left to do but remember
there's nothing left to say but goodnight
no one left to meet along this empty street
gonna find someone I love and hold them tight

and I'm waiting for the birds to start singing
I'm waiting for the wind to blow
I'm going to a place where I've got a little space
going back, going back home

Stones [2012]

01. from an honest place

I’ll tell you a secret if you want to hear

I’ll share all my wishes, my sorrows, my fears

cause baring one’s soul ain’t no disgrace

know that it comes from an honest place

I laugh at the things that make others cry

only to hide the darkness inside

when you look at this clown and the smile on his face

know that it comes from an honest place

my days are battles, my years are wars

I’ve burned all the bridges and came back for more

when I say that my whole life’s been a waste

know that it comes from an honest place

down flow the rivers thru mountains and fields to the sea

up thru the ashes of burned out hopes and dreams

when I feel my soul’s being taken away

I know in my heart that I’m aching to stay

when I tell you I’d love you, any time, any way

know that it comes from an honest place

and if I died tonight, in your embrace

know that it came from an honest place

02. where I’ve been

I never seen heaven but I sure know hell

there’s some little trigger inside of me

I don’t do alone very well

where I’ve been, I didn’t want to be

we all make mistakes in life

believing in the fantasy

standing on the edge of a knife

where I’ve been, I didn’t want to be

where I’ve been, I didn’t want to be

I got over you

I got over me

and I faced the truth

where I’ve been, I didn’t want to be

time will tell if I return again

old habits are hard to leave

somewhere out there, a true friend

where I’ll go is where I’ll want to be

I got over you

I got over me

and I faced the truth

where I’ve been, I didn’t want to be

03. stones

let’s take a walk out in the garden

feel the stones beneath your shoes

aint no getting around the truth

there’s a technicolour sunset

but all you see is gray

clouds hang in your way

could it be you believe there’s seeds left to sow

with no one else to blame for being left alone

could it be you lost a diamond

while you collected stones

all we ever have are chances

every key unlocks a door

every wave finds a shore

so take your glass and smash it

on the stones beneath your feet

turn you back on what you seek

could it be you believe there’s seeds left to sow

with no one else to blame for being left alone

could it be you lost a diamond while you collected stones

in another life, everything’s alright, yeah

in another world, throwing swine at pearls, yeah, yeah

could it be you believe there’s dreams in the stones

and no one left to say you’ll dream them alone

could it be you lost a diamond

while you collected stones

04. please don’t lose me

forgive me girl for what I say

if things were different we could fly away

it's so hard to walk the line

one step closer just give me time

please excuse me please don't lose me

cause I'm lost without you

my daddy told me when I was a kid

do what I said, boy and not what I did

he died too soon for me to shake his hand

and thank him for making me a better man

please excuse me please don't lose me

cause I'm lost without you

the air's so thin way up here

looking down on all I fear

forgive me girl for what I say

the wings of an angel is no place to pray

so excuse me please don't lose me

cause I'm lost without you

05. what I don’t know

I do not blame the river

for where it might not flow

I do not blame the kinds of pain

that life might let me know

I do not blame the cages

that others put me in

cause one man’s cage is an open page

and that’s where my life begins

but what I don’t know – would fill a book

I worry about our children

I worry about our youth

our future lines may be out of time

if they don’t know the truth

I worry about you, my friend

I worry about us all

if we don’t stand together

divided we will fall

but what I don’t know – would fill a library

but what I don’t know – would fill the universe

I do not have the answers

the question’s far too vague

not having planned the cards in our hand might just keep us safe

but what I don’t know – I don’t know

Footsteps: A Collection

1987-1999

01. Footsteps In The Hall

Woke up late in the afternoon

Sat up straight and rubbed my raccoon eyes

Only to find the sun stopped shining down

I saw the moon rise

Bobby got killed last Saturday night

And to most of us, it still hadn't sank in

Except to Annie, his bride-to-be

Well she sank into a bottle of gin

Still waiting for the cavalry to call, living like a refugee

Still listening for the footsteps in the hall,

when she comes back home to me

Crawled to my feet and grabbed my shoes

I was still in my clothes from the night before

Walked through the house, it was empty and cold

The floorboards creaked as I opened up the front door

Stepped outside and was mystified by the countryside,

it seemed so out of place

Cause everywhere I looked, the only thing I could see

was her face

Still standing underneath the waterfall,

trying to fill a cup of tea

Still listening for the footsteps in the hall,

when she comes back home to me

If time slowed down I could understand

How a breath of air is like a grain of sand

And why it takes so long to make love last,

no matter how well it's planned

Given the time, the friends I left behind

would surely disappear

And I'll wake up once more on the bedroom floor,

the way I've done after all of these years

Still pounding wooden nails in the wall,

still gonna paint my masterpiece

Still listening for the footsteps in the hall,

when she comes back home to me

02. She Knew Elvis

Well, she said she knew Elvis,

said she used to be his friend

Yeah she said she knew Elvis,

like the back of her hand

And who was I to doubt her,

someone had to know the man

She drove a Lincoln Continental,

that she’d got in ’75

She drove a Lincoln Continental,

he gave her just before he died

And who was I to doubt her,

she just glowed with pride

She said she’d often been mistaken

for Priscilla, don’t ya see

Said she’d also been mistaken for Lisa Marie

And who was I to doubt her,

who was I to disagree

I told her I knew Jimi Hendrix, and that I wrote Purple Haze Said I knew Paul McCartney,

and I taught him to play bass

She said she believed me,

then she laughed in my face

Well, she said she knew Elvis,

she had the mean woman blues

Yeah she said she knew Elvis,

she had the blue suede shoes

And who was I to doubt her,

she had the photos…

03. Candy

Candy & I used to run around,

tearing up this one horse town

Everyone looked down their nose,

the so-called respectable folk

Too much was never enough for Candy,

skulling pills & popping brandy

Snorting everything in sight,

shooting up anything that looked white—Candy

At the old park by the riverside,

we'd dance & play all thru the nite

She'd lift her head & laugh out loud,

man that girl was awfully proud

Then late in May she gave me the flick,

called me a worthless son-of-a-bitch

She talked funny & acted strange,

everyone could feel the change—In Candy

I'd take you back, we'd settle down,

all your friends could still come around

Time's short, please say yes,

don't tell me about your self-respect—Candy

Candy lost her girlish gait,

her eyes grew dark & she was losing weight

Her hair had thinned & turned to straw,

took both hands to hold up her jaw

We called the doc, he did some tests,

we got the news, it weren't the best

Candy just said c'est la vie,

it was all the French she learned from me—Candy

She carried on like she was made of steel,

acted like she couldn't feel

Greeted each new day with a smile,

the doctor said she's just in denial

I got a van at the trailer park,

for Candy & me & me broken heart

Every day I'd sit by her side,

every nite she'd hear me cry—For Candy

I'll take you back, we'll settle down,

all your friends will still come around

Time's short, baby please say yes,

don't talk to me about self-respect—Candy

Candy died late last May,

it was hard watching her waste away

But the pride in that woman was strong,

she fought so hard just to hold on

Now I sit alone in that riverside park,

where we used to dance & play in the dark

Thinking that we'd live forever,

Candy taught me to never say never—Candy

04. Mother Mary

Mary waits at the Tudor Hotel

Strong and assured, yet so feminine

Stands so firm, not so much for herself

As for the unborn baby she carries within

She’s there to decide on the right thing to do

Should she run away, and never look back

Or to go back home and face the truth

Cause her future’s about to catch up her past

Take your time, Mother Mary

Step light so you don’t fall

You know, life’s just like a baby

We all want to walk before we crawl

She looks through her bag on the marble tiles

A photograph of a brown-eyed man

She keeps it close, she says for her child

Should he ever need to see his Dad

She breathes a sigh and whispers his name

Too many things still left unsaid

Mostly pride, and just a little shame

This world doesn’t like its mothers unwed

Take your time, Mother Mary

Step light so you don’t fall

You know, life’s just like a baby

We all want to walk before we crawl

An old woman stares out the window, lonely and lost

An old couple sits at a table, and Mary thinks,

that could be us

Mary waits at the Tudor Hotel

Picks up her bag, makes up her mind

The doors revolve like a circus carousel

Takes one last look, says goodbye

Take your time, Mother Mary

Step light so you don’t fall

You know, life’s just like a baby

We all want to walk before we crawl

05. Dylan

Well I drove into town last Sunday

With one thing on my mind

Get my kid and get on the road

Leave the past behind

We were married five long years

Sometimes it don’t work out

But try explaining that to a child

When he asks you what it’s all about

He’ll say, why can’t mommy and daddy live together

Why can’t mommy and daddy get along

Why can’t friends and family stick together

If everybody’s right, then who’s wrong

We named our boy Dylan

Just like Zimmerman

And tried to raise him as best we could

Our folks would understand

But Mary ran off late in May

With some guy from a band

And for eighteen months I raised my son

With my own two hands

Then she turned up with some lawyer

He had a paper from the court

Dylan had to go and live with her

I paid child support

Now we’re driving down the highway

Just me and my boy at my side

And as he’s staring out the window

He hangs his head and sighs

He says, why can’t mommy and daddy live together

Why can’t mommy and daddy get along

Why can’t friends and family stick together

If everybody’s right, then who’s wrong

06. Rain

She’s sitting in her favourite chair

Look at all that land out there

Homemade wine in her hand

She don’t go for the fancy brands

Another day’s work is done

Another evening soon to come

Silver clouds in an angry sky

She drains her glass

Looks like it’s gonna rain tonight

He’s riding on a dusty track

Thinks he should be heading back

Too little hours in the day

Too many bills left still to pay

One man against the earth

One dream left in the dirt

Pulls his hat down against the sun

He saddles up

Looks like it’s gonna rain tonight

Running down an alley lane

He finds an empty doorway

He crouches down against the wind

Pulls a shoestring under his chin

Thinks about ‘em on the farm

Rolls his sleeve up his tortured arm

Lights a match, heats a dirty spoon

Til the needle fills

Looks like it’s gonna rain

I think it’s gonna rain

07. Talking Saint Kilda Blues

I first met Louie in 1986 he was hanging around St. Kilda, down by the pier We got to talking about politics and injustice Louie said let’s go across to the Esplanade and have a beer

The barmaid was Annie, at least I think that was her name I ordered a VB stubby, Louie ordered the same Then he turned to me with a crazy grin And said, man, I’m gonna tell you something I ain’t told nobody

Louie gazed around the bar, slowly, like he was looking for someone he knew And then lowered his voice and spoke without moving his mouth much The way Humphrey Bogart used to do He said, everybody got a secret, they got something to hide But me, I’m a little different, you see, I just killed this guy And then our eyes met for just a second, and I knew he was serious I knew I was a little scared

I whispered, so why’d you kill him anyway And then I looked around to see if anyone had heard Louie said, it was over this gambling debt thing, he got all my money And all I got was his word Cause they’ll always rip you off, it’s just a matter of when Some do it with a gun, man, some do it with a pen Louie put down his beer and smiled And said, you shoulda seen the look on that guy’s face, I was glad I hadn’t

I finished my beer and said, look, I gotta run Louie said, hey, can I get a lift, there’s some people I gotta meet So we walked out and got in my old Falcon Started it up and headed up Fitzroy Street Louie pulled out a matchbook, on the back someone drew A map and an address, somewhere out in Kew And Louie said, I’ll bet we can get there in ten minutes I said, no thanks, I don’t bet, not anymore anyway

So we pulled up to this house, there were no lights on, it was all black And Louie opened the car door and said come on in for a minute You gotta see this talking dog they got out back And I said, what? He said, they got a talking dog out back So I forgot about that other thing and got out of the car And followed Louie up to the house

Louie knocked on the heavy old door, slowly creaked open like it wasn’t latched We went inside a couple of steps, it was pitch black, Louie said, you got a match And I gave him one Then he lit it up, I could see the back door Just getting a look at that dog was all that I came for So I left Louie in the hallway and went out to check out the back yard

Then I stepped out in the grass It looked like it hadn’t been mowed in at least a year And out in the middle sat this old spotted mongrel With three legs and one ear I knew right then I’d been taken for a fool Why this dog couldn’t talk, it just sat there and drooled Just then I heard a couple voices coming from inside the house And one of them was Louie’s

So I listened closely, trying to hear what was being said But all I could make out was something about not really being dead And then I heard a shot, something hit the floor Man, I ain’t ever been this scared before Then a deep voice behind me said, come on, there’s a gate around the side Let’s get out of here – and I ran like hell

Then I jumped in my old Falcon, fired it up and put the pedal straight to the floor Man, I did a hundred and ten through Hawthorn, through Caulfield Hit the Princes Highway, I didn’t stop til I got to the ocean shore Then I let out a sigh, sat back in the seat Almost jumped through the roof when I saw that dog at my feet And that dog just looked at me with a funny look on its face and said nothing I wasn’t surprised

Anyway, I eventually moved back to Sydney and got a job selling newspapers Down at Central Station I read them everyday but I never read anything about Louie I guess he never got a mention So the moral of the story is, never be too sure Check out all the facts and don’t be too premature And remember what Louie said about secrets, and about pens

By the way, the dog’s name is Freddie And he really does talk

08. French Cafe

In a French café, under the moonlight

Feel like I’m living in a Truffaut film

In a French café, under the moonlight

And I can’t walk away again

I spent a year or three or four astray

But it still feels like yesterday

How do you know when you’ve done the right thing

Can you feel, with a heart of steel

For all the miles that I’ve crawled this year

I never expected to see you quite so clear

Spent too many nights making my home at the bar

But here we are

Still got that feeling, I swear it’ll never end

Dragging me down, down, down

It’s like a scene in a magazine

Like a postcard from a town

09. Dirty Blue Jeans

Well, she married a millionaire by the time she was seventeen

But she soon got tired of competing with the bourgeois scene

For her twenty-first birthday, he bought her a French resort

The very next day, she spent in divorce court

Now she’s living like a queen, in her dirty blue jeans

She started hanging out with a shady mob

Who always seemed to have lots of money , but none of them had jobs

She’d only read about drugs in the magazines

But once she got a taste of this expensive cuisine

She had to sell most everything, except her dirty blue jeans

They sent her to some bar that she’d never been before

It was the only place that time of day she could score

The cops busted in and caught her trying to leave

With five grams of smack stuffed up inside her sleeve

And an ounce of mescaline in her dirty blue jeans

Six months at the clinic like some derelict drunk

A thousand bucks a day to get her off that junk

Spent all the cash that she’d won in the divorce

But she could always marry another rich boy, of course

Now she’s living real clean in her dirty blue jeans

10. Still Waters Run

Don’t need road maps to tell me where to go

Don’t need postcards from people I should know

Don’t need lawyers to plead insanity

Take ‘em all away, they don’t mean a thing to me

Cause I don’t need nothing, I don’t need anyone

But you can find me at the river, where the still waters run

Don’t need memories of lovers I have lost

Don’t want pleasure, cause I can’t afford the cost

Don’t want lessons that I got no chance to learn

Take me to the river, I got a bridge I gotta burn

Don’t ask questions that I got no right to know

Don’t ask favours from people I still owe

Don’t ask why it’s got to be this way

Cause in this great big ocean, I’m the original castway

11. Low Rent Part Of Town

My family ain’t got money, I still wear hand-me-downs

We live in a shack by the freight train track

In the low rent part of town

My girl that I wanna marry, she’s from a wealthy background

She can’t date or associate with a boy

From the low rent part of town

Some day we’ll be together, she’ll wear that wedding gown

Until then I’ll spend my days, in the low rent part of town

I got me a job with the circus, working the merry-go-round

It’s the best I can do cause they closed all the schools

In the low rent part of town

I saved up all my money, so I could take her for a big night out

But her dad said go back to my own kind In the low rent part of town

Some day we’ll be together, she’ll wear that wedding gown

Until then I’ll spend my days, in the low rent part of town

In this world, there’s two kinds of people, those with money and those without

And I’ll scrimp and scrape so I can escape

From the low rent part of town

I hope we’ll be together, I hope she’ll wear that gown

I’ll spend my days and my lonely nights In the low rent part of town

Some day we’ll be together, she’ll wear that wedding gown

Until then I’ll spend my days In the low rent part of town

12. Angeltown

Johnny lives on a corner in Angeltown

In a house that his grandad built, they nearly tore it down

To make way for the freeway and the shopping mall

He heard it was something called the urban sprawl

The more things change, the less they stay the same

In Angeltown, in Angeltown

Living in A….. living in Angeltown

Johnny loved his hometown, he didn’t like the change

Daddy said, now ain’t that progress, but don’t those words sound strange

Johnny walked thru Angeltown with his last five bucks

Bought a ticket in the lottery trying to buy some luck

The more things change, the less they stay the same

In Angeltown, in Angeltown Living in A….. living in Angeltown

It’s a strange old world, no reason or rhyme

It’s a strange old world, where things work out sometimes

So Johnny won the lottery, became a billionaire, and he said,

There’s things in Angeltown that need repair

So he bought up the freeways, he bought the shopping malls

Tore ‘em down, turned ‘em back into grounds where they still play ball

And the more things change, the more they stay the same

In Angeltown, in Angeltown Living in A….. living in Angeltown

13. Streets Of Shame

The old man wore a grey uniform

I recognized from the war

He just sat there in that old armchair, drenched right to the bone

A woman’s voice called from the other room, I think it’s time for you to go

I mumbled something underneath my breath, turned and walked out the door

And the fire, the funeral pyre, burning all night long

There’s no turning back anymore, it’s just rain

Down came the rain, on the streets of shame

Rain, smothering the flames, on the streets of shame

I walked out on a dusty road filled with traffic lights

Jesus Christ got into a cab and said, take me to the Israelites

And there sitting at a sidewalk café, looked like Arthur C. Clarke

He said, sit with me and dine, have a glass of wine, don’t be afraid of the dark

And the fire, the funeral pyre, burning all night long

There’s no turning back anymore, it’s just rain

Down came the rain, on the streets of shame

Rain, smothering the flames, on the streets of shame

The old man was there, still sitting in his chair in the middle of the road

He didn’t speak for a very long time, then he just said hello

He held out his arms and in his hands was an old grey uniform

And on the collar was a medal that read, sheltered from the storm

And the fire, the funeral pyre, burning all night long

There’s no turning back anymore, it’s just rain

Down came the rain, on the streets of shame

Rain, smothering the flames, on the streets of shame Rain, hey look at all that rain, on the streets of shame Rain, falling down like flames, on the streets of shame

14. Strangers

Strangers come and strangers go, I guess that’s strange enough

They say don’t ever trust a stranger, and never call his bluff

The cards on the table, they’re dealt by Cain and Abel

A stranger once taught me about all that stuff

Strangers look like you and me, or at least I think they do

Strangers speak Swahili, and they live in Kalamazoo

They’ll tell you that the anecdote is just a technicolour raincoat

And if you can afford it, you can always get the tattoo

Strangers everywhere, strangers by the pair

All around town and across the nation

It’s an alarming situation, strangers, everywhere

Strangers live on tree-lined streets and sleep on park benches

Strangers walk on wooden feet and sit on picket fences

Some strangers have their own TV shows and watch their dough

And trade their bungalow for big palacial residences

A stranger is a friend you’ve never met

I read that on a bus, I couldn’t say who wrote it

That’s be impetuous

Strangers just might change, ah wouldn’t that be strange

And one day, they might become one of us

Strangers everywhere, strangers by the pair

All around town and across the nation

It’s an alarming situation, strangers, everywhere