Back on the chain gang

I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
We've been cast out of? Oh oh oh oh
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they've done to you
But I'll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart … 

Nick of Time

A friend of mine she cries at night
And she calls me on the phone
Sees babies everywhere she goes
And she wants one of her own
She's waited long enough she says
And still she can't decide
Pretty soon she'll have to choose and it tears her up inside
She's scared, scared she'll run out of time

I see my folks, they're getting old
And I watch their bodies change
I know they see the same in me
And it makes us both feel strange
No matter how you tell yourself
It's what we all go through
Those eyes are pretty hard to take
When they're staring' back at you

Scared to run out of time

When did the choices get so hard?
With so much more at stake
Life gets mighty precious
When there's less of it to waste

Scared to run out of time

Just when I thought I'd had enough
And… 

The Pretender

I'm gonna rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway
Gonna pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day
And when the evening rolls around
I'll go on home and lay my body down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I'll get up and do it again
Amen
Say it again
Amen

I wanna know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
I've been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it's the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You'll get up and do it again
Amen

Caught between the longing for love
And the struggle for the legal tender
Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring
And the junk man pounds his fender
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light
And the children solemnly wait
For the ice cream vendor
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the Pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there

Ah, the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight

I'm gonna find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors
In each other's paint by number dreams
And then we'll put our dark glasses on
And we'll make love until our strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We'll get up and do it again
Get it up again

I'm gonna be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Though true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender

Say a prayer for the Pretender
Are you there for the Pretender?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Are you there for the Pretender?
Are you prepared for the Pretender? 

Still crazy after all these years

I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy after all these years
Oh Still crazy after all these years

I'm not the kind of man
Who tends to socialize
I seem to lean on
Old familiar ways
And I ain't no fool for love songs
That whisper in my ears
Still crazy after all these years
Oh still crazy after all these years

Four in the morning
Crapped out
Yawning
Longing my life away
I'll never worry
Why should I?
It's all gonna… 

Teach your children

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good-bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Teach your parents… 

Constant craving

Even through the darkest phase
Be it thick or thin
Always someone marches brave
Here beneath my skin

And constant craving
Has always been

Maybe a great magnet pulls
All souls towards truth
Or maybe it is life itself
That feeds wisdom
To its youth

Constant craving
Has always been

Craving
Ah ha
Constant craving
Has always been
Has always been

Constant craving
Has always been
Constant craving
Has always been

Craving
Ah ha
Constant craving
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been 

Why

How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I'm sorry for the things I've done
But when I start to try to tell you
That's when you have to tell me
Hey, this kind of trouble's only just begun
I tell myself too many times
Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Tell me

Why
Why
I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you're thinking
And I've heard it said too many times
That you'd be better off
Besides

Why can't you see this boat is sinking
Let's go down to the water's edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid

But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out turning inside out
Tell me
Why
Tell me
Why
This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread
These are the dreams I'll dream instead
This is the joy that's seldom spread
These are the tears

The tears we shed
This is the fear
This is the dread
These are the contents of my head
And these are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
And this is how I feel
Do you know how I feel?
'Cause I don't think you know how I feel
I don't think you know what I feel
I don't think you know what I feel
You don't know what I feel 

Sweet child O'Mine

He's got a smile
And it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as a bright blue sky

And now and then when I see his face
It takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and cry

Oh, ooh oh, sweet child 'o mine
Oh, oh oh oh sweet love of mine

He's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I'd hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
His hair reminds me
Of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by

Oh, ooh oh sweet child o' mine
Ooh oh oh, sweet love of mine
Oh, oh oh oh sweet child o' mine
Ohh, sweet love of mine

Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
(Repeat)

Where do we go, sweet child
Where do we go now
Where do we go, sweet child
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Sweet child
Sweet child o' mine 

In Dreams

A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
"Go to sleep. Everything is all right."

I close my eyes, then I drift away
Into the magic night, I softly say
A silent prayer like dreamers do
Then I fall asleep to dreams, my dreams of you

In dreams I walk with you, in dreams I talk to you
In dreams you're mine, all of the time
We're together in dreams, in dreams

But just before the dawn, I awake and find you gone
I can't help it, I can't help it, if I cry
I remember that you said goodbye

It's too bad that all these things
Can only happen in my dreams
Only in dreams, in beautiful dreams 

Clair

Clair
The moment I met you, I swear
I felt as if something, somewhere
Had happened to me,
Which I couldn't see
And then
The moment I met you, again
I knew in my heart that we were friends
It had to be so
It couldn't be no
But try
As hard as I might do, I don't know why
You get to me in a way I can't describe
Words mean so little when you look up and smile
I don't care what people say
To me you're more than a child
Oh Clair
Clair
Clair
If ever a moment so rare
Was captured for all to compare
That moment is you
In all that you do
But why
In spite of our age difference do I cry?
Each time I leave you I feel I could die
Nothing means more to me than hearing you say
"I'm going to marry you
Will you marry me, Uncle Ray?"
Oh Clair
Clair
Clair
I've told you before "Don't you dare!"
"Get back into bed"
"Can't you see that it's late"
"No you can't have a drink"
"Oh alright then, but wait just a minute"
While I, in an effort to babysit
Catch up on my breath, what there is left of it
You can be murder at this hour of the day
But in the morning the sun
Will see my lifetime away

Oh Clair
Clair
Oh Clair 

Give me the night

Whenever dark has fallen
You know the spirit of the party starts to come alive
Until the day is dawning
You can throw out all your blues and hit the city lights

'Cause there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

You need the evening action
A place to dine, a glass of wine a little late romance
It's a chain reaction
You'll see the people of the world coming out to dance

'Cause there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

So come on out tonight
And we'll lead the others on a ride through paradise
And if you feel all right
Then we can be lovers 'cause I see that starlight look in your eyes
And don't you know we can fly?

Just give me the night
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

Because there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

So come on out tonight
And we'll lead the others on a ride through paradise
And if you feel all right
Then we can be lovers 'cause I see that starlight look in your eyes
Don't you know we can fly?

And if we stay together
We'll feel the rhythm of the evening taking us up high
Never mind the weather
We'll be dancing in the street until the morning light

'Cause there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
So give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

Because there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

Because there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
(Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
(Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

Because there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)

Because there's music in the air
And lots of loving everywhere
So give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)
Give me the night (Feelin' evening, alright tonight)