the suitor’s ballyhoo

Tell me do you see me as you close your eyes at night;
Painted on your eyelids as you’re turning out the light?
Your voice spins in my mind – it’s been wearing through the grooves.
We’ve been intimately distant and I still don’t get the rules.

I want you, girl

Last week I wrote a letter now I’m rereading it through.
I wasted all those fancy words – I just meant “I love you”.
So forgive my confusion, dear, won’t you understand,
That sometimes knowing what to say slips right out of my hands.

I’ve never met a mind so fancy free as yours before,
I was busy at the books, while you were danced by the door.
And somewhere in the middle there is love and common ground,
So I sweep away the leaves and we can keep dancing about.

I lie here playing out the scene a hundred million times,
What you will be wearing and the beauty in your eyes.
There’s no time like the present so I’m reaching for the phone
But you’ve never cared for mornings and there’s places I should go

The horses left with elvis and they rode into the sun,
Two dots on the horizon, strained my eyes and they were gone.
It’s been a torrid day, I’ve been waiting for your call
Sometimes I more than wonder if you care for me at all,

As I walk on Church Street the last light fades away
It’s getting darker early now and winters on the way.
Something’s gotten missing, the puzzle is upside down.
The Guinness didn’t clear my head it just brought on the clouds.

The moon it whispered in my ear and kept me from my dreams.
The silhouettes around my room are never what they seem.
‘You and me’ or ‘me and you’ said either way around,
Would surely make such sense in this cold unforgiving town.

I love you, girl.

five

Winter sun on two cold feet.
First light of the day finds me here.
Leaves are falling from the trees.
Make my way down Amhurst Road
With my routine.

I have been a fool over you.
I have been a fool over you
My oh my, my oh my

The wise man built his house on the solid rock.
Easier said than done, easier said than done.

When it comes watch out, don’t lose your feet.
Easier said than done, easier said than done.

I have been a fool over you.
I have been a fool over you
My oh my, my oh my

I wonder how you are, I wonder how you’ve been.
Is it working out how you hoped it would?

I have been a fool over you.
I have been a fool over you
My oh my, my oh my

swan song

Why do I stand here getting burnt
By the embers of this dying dream,
When all around day it is breaking
And the fire didn’t help me to sleep.

Maybe it’s time for our swan song
Or a pheonix to rise from the deep,
Maybe it’s time that your skin and it’s charms
Are consigned to the pocket full of memories I keep.

Memories which come out on a rainy day
And remind me that I have lived;
I worked pretty hard to arrive at this day
And still feel I have love to give.

I could toss one more branch to the fire –
My skin it still craves for the heat
But I heard someone sing that a moth never knows
That the bright burning candle won’t make it complete

And will the angels be watching
If I head one time to the flames?
Up late at night, cloaked by the stars,
Chasing the flickering silhouette of your frame.

Today I washed both my eyelids
And talked with the mice and the moon.
Tonight we’re entwined together in my mind –
I wonder do you think of me too?

Maybe it’s time for a swan song
Or a pheonix to rise from the deep,
Perhaps with a smile I could bid you farewell
Then we’ll head different ways down the street.

only the missile

The punches come fast and I fall in the ring.
All I can do now is laugh, cry, or sing.
I’ll tell you the story and a couple of things
That have been running in rings round my mind

It was one of those days when the lights all turn red
And the pills just won’t clear all the pain from your head
You wish that you hadn’t of got out of bed
‘Cos the shit sure is flying your way

Second hand news at an unwelcome time,
Your brain’s clogging up
Soon you’re losing your mind
You’re wondering if fate could be any less kind
When she suddenly twists the knife in.

The moment it passed with the help of a friend,
A couple of strangers and this song that I penned.
My hearts is in tact and my minds on the mend.
I don’t plan to do that again.

The sun’s given up on this god awful day
And my pain with the light is now fading away.
Somewhere in Kilburn I silently play
An ode to the tracks of my tears.

A jack in the box I come springing right back,
I pull on these strings for my counter attack
Today I feel sure I can take any flak
The world might be sending my way.

So give me your hopes and then tell me your fears
And leave all the rest in a pile over there
They’ll fit like a dream with these chords I have dear
As I dance in a dream round this town.

women

Women on my women mind all the women time
Women fucking women hell
Think about women something else
Like the women work I need to women do.

Or my women family or need my women support right women now
Or the women dirt that’s gathering women up there on the shelf.
But it’s not that women simple women no.

Money on my money mind all the money time
money fucking money hell
Think about money something else
Like the money work I need to money do.

Or my money family or need my money support right money now
Or the money dirt that’s gathering money up there on the shelf.
But it’s not that money simple money no.

And it’s money women, women, money,
money, money, women, women, women on my mind!

And it’s money women, women, money,
money, money, women, women, women all the time!

And it’s money women, women, money,
money, money, women, women, women on my mind!

I can’t get money women women money out of my head!

the finchley waltz

I daydreamed for hours in the traffic jam
As the good guys and the bad guys stopped play.
On the radio politicians dutifully opine
Which liberties they’re taking away.

“Please sir, have you seen me innocence?
It was hanging up there on my door.
And sure it was looking quite tattered
But I had things I was keeping it for.”

Guess I’ve seen too many movies
I believe in love at first sight.
My heart just slammed into a beautiful brick wall
She’s keeping me up late at night.

Maybe I spent too much time dreaming
When I could have been joining in.
Pulling the hair of the pig-tailed girl
Was wrong but it wasn’t a sin.

I got lost on the way out of London
Listening to Leonard Cohen’s words.
Diverted by police chasing angry young men,
Who’ll die just so they get heard.

There’s something about this fine city
That will always bring a tear to my eye.
I guess I left most of my innocence here,
I can’t say I remember why.

I need to go buy me some new clothes;
The famous blue raincoats worn through.
A last thought as I finally hit open road,
London fades in the rear-view.

This song it’s just for you and I,
And any other dreamers around
Who know how it feels to be back on the road
Without knowing quite where they’re bound.

Although I’ve seen too many movies,
I know now that you’re not the one.
‘Cos something you said just got stuck in my head
For a moment and then it was gone.

The night was a womb to my headlights;
The horizon a mirror to me soul.
I sing to the silence and the darkness around
‘Till I finally made my way home.