September Song
Boots and bottles and a telescope reel
No-one knows just how I feel
Sitting blindly by a Catherine Wheel
I open my arms to you
Write me a song to sing all day long
Catch me a tune to howl at the moon
Watch me waltz on a silver spoon
I open my arms to you
My golden daughter does what she oughta
Reading medical books with whisky and water
The words get longer but never shorter
I open my arms to you
The breakdown came, the breakdown went
Forty-four years they were paid and spent
I’ll pack up my shoes and buy a new tent
I open my arms to you
The sun still warms the September air
The grass is green and the day is fair
I look at my life with barely a care
I open my arms to you
The fox it will run and the bat does fly
The poacher stares at the empty sky
Time it passes with no reason to cry
I open my arms to you
Redemption Song
I stand here amazed
Lost in your gaze
Emerging from hell
In a delicate shell
You came and you saw
Just like the law
I gave you my soul
And it made me feel whole
One life
One chance
One kiss
One dance
I asked for some time
Tasted your wine
Looking to the sky
As the comet passed by
You came and you saw
Just like the law
I gave you my soul
And it made me feel whole
One life
One chance
One kiss
One dance
You waltzed by the moon
At the dark of the noon
Standing so still
My glass yet to fill
You came and you saw
Just like the law
I gave you my soul
And it made me feel whole
One life
One chance
One kiss
One dance
Tortured Blues #2
And now that it is over
He could sit and count the cost
Wondering if she’d changed at all
And realised what they had lost
He was standing in the driving rain
Water filling up his shoe
She was lying on a snow white bed
Hair and face were all askew
Tortured by the blues
He found shelter in a small café
Writing hymns and poems on the wall
She slipped close by and cursed at him
They were both heading for a fall
Outside the booths were filling up
Minstrels and waiters in the queue
He stopped nearby and filled his cup
The last romantic of the few
Tortured by the blues
Their breaking up was a tempest storm
Promises and words were said in vain
She withdrew from the human race
Neither one could take the strain
He drowned himself in red wine
Street lanterns burned green and blue
Once their love was something fine
Now it was split like cracked bamboo
Tortured by the blues
Another year had passed by slow
His young face was lined with pain
She lay wrecked in a juniper bed
They both had to start out again
But all the while he was alone
Clinging to an old church pew
Women came and lovers went
The howling wind it ripped right through
Tortured by the blues
Willow’s End
I’ll wait for you where the Willow bends
Where lives and deeds make no amends
Branches and leaves punctuate the sky
Life races quickly
And the grey gulls fly
Talk to me, talk to me, we have such little time
We drift this way and pass sublime
And sip our cup of blood red wine
I’ll wait for you where the fenland breaks
Where time releases our past mistakes
Branches and leaves punctuate the sky
Life races quickly
And the grey gulls fly
Talk to me, talk to me, we have such little time
The day it breaks and shadows fade
Into a life of light and shade
I’ll wait for you by the wooded glen
Where lovers search for the souls of men
Branches and leaves punctuate the sky
Life races quickly
And the grey gulls fly
Talk to me, talk to me, we have such little time
Turn and face the tangled weeds
Forget the curse of forgotten deeds
I’ll wait for you on the old brown moss
Where the water birds don’t count the cost
Branches and leaves punctuate the sky
Life races quickly
And the grey gulls fly
Talk to me, talk to me, we have such little time
Clouds of oblivion blow around my head
As we creep still closer to the living dead
I’ll wait for you where the seas cascade
Where life and death are not betrayed
Branches and leaves punctuate the sky
Life races quickly
And the grey gulls fly
Talk to me, talk to me, we have such little time
Then drink to me at the graveside brae
And pray together for the passing day
Drifting
You drifted in from nowhere
On the breath of a southerly breeze
Your face now haunts my dreams
Like golden butterflies in the trees
Your eyes pierce my soul
And your fragility tears a hole
So I reach out
To touch you
But struggle
Stupidly
You know me
Yet
Heaven is a place
That dreamers want to see
And sometimes you may find
An occasional angel
Redemption Paradox
She was the rose of Sharon from Paradise Lost
The scent of peach blossom beneath the Conquerer’s cross
I told her about my own agony and the driving rain
She told me about the year when her innocence was slain
Was she a girl or a woman, I can’t say which
From one to another she could easily switch
My Kether, my Abbadon, my redemption
We went to a place that our friends could not reach
We learned from the lessons we both could teach
She looked into my soul through the clothes that I wore
And told me without words that she knew the score
Was she a girl or a woman, I can’t say which
From one to another she could easily switch
My Kether, my Abbadon, my redemption
Our lives they were ruins and her heart was a snare
We both had to run and leave hate to die there
I hear my voice crying, “Help,” and she echoes back
But it’s only the silence as the darkness does crack
Was she a girl or a woman, I can’t say which
From one to another she could easily switch
My Kether, my Abbadon, my redemption
Empathy
Beauty is a painted veil
Its colours are skin deep
Love is just a holy grail
Fading grey while you’re asleep
Don’t look away, I’ve drained the cup
And life’s race is all but run
Thinking of you when the sun comes up
To finish where I begun
Magic sparkles in the night
And laughter fills your dream
Hope dances in the morning light
Drifting away on an urgent stream
Don’t look away, I’ve drained the cup
And life’s race is all but run
Thinking of you when the sun comes up
To finish where I begun
Life it seems to crawl away
Drowned by rivers of blindness
Curtains shutter the brand new day
Floating on a sea of kindness
Don’t look away, I’ve drained the cup
And life’s race is all but run
Thinking of you when the sun comes up
To finish where I begun
Time lingers on the ocean’s edge
To where the soft winds blow
High up to that golden ledge
Looking back on what was left below
Don’t look away, I’ve drained the cup
And life’s race is all but run
Thinking of you when the sun comes up
To finish where I begun
True Love Never Dies
The sky dawns grey
The branches they sway
Your beauty it knows no bounds
Our eyes they still meet
And your lips taste sweet
The brute is running from the hounds
By rivers of blindness
My love is pure kindness
We’ll drink another cup when we meet
It’s the cutting of fences
To sharpen the senses
That linger in the fireball’s heat
So come with me quietly
Dance with me slowly
This time is for us both to share
This true love will never die
For the sky does not lie
The evil of man will be laid bare
So bang the drum slowly
And play the harp lowly
You know the song in my heart
In the turning of twilight
In the shadows of moonlight
You can show me a new place to start
Shades of Abandoned Love
I can feel your hand upon my knee
Deceived once more by the clown inside of me
My head tells me it’s time to make a change
But my heart still screams I love you, something strange
Love was found
Rekindled
And then lost
Sitting here trying to count
The cost
Of an abandoned love
Everybody’s wearing a disguise
To hide what they’ve got left behind their eyes
But me, I can’t cover what I am
Wherever the spirits go I’ll just follow them
Love was found
Rekindled
And then lost
Sitting here trying to count
The cost
Of an abandoned love
I’ve given up the game, I’ve got to leave
The pot of gold is only make-believe
The treasure can’t be found by men who search
Whose gods are dead and buried deep within the church
Love was found
Rekindled
And then lost
Sitting here trying to count
The cost
Of an abandoned love
We sat in an imaginary place and we kissed
I asked you please to cross me off your list
You looked at me with a smile upon your lips
Your heart it heaved towards me in another script
Love was found
Rekindled
And then lost
Sitting here trying to count
The cost
Of an abandoned love
One more time at midnight, near the wall
Put aside your unspoken fears and your shawl
Please come out from the dark room where you sit?
Let me feel your love once more before you abandon it
Love was found
Rekindled
And then lost
Sitting here trying to count
The cost
Of an abandoned love
Coloured Memories
It was in another lifetime
When we walked together
On the moss
Hope it stretched before us
Beneath the Southern Cross
Blue, the sky explodes above you
Green, the leaves they dapple free
Brown, the earth beneath our feet
Black, the colour of the mud
It was in another lifetime
When we talked together
In the woods
Laughter it sang so sweetly
The wine it tasted good
Blue, the sky explodes above you
Green, the leaves they dapple free
Brown, the earth beneath our feet
Black, the colour of the mud
It was in another lifetime
When we danced together
On the green
Our feet moved so swiftly
Your beauty could be seen
Blue, the sky explodes above you
Green, the leaves they dapple free
Brown, the earth beneath our feet
Black, the colour of the mud
It was in another lifetime
When we drank together
In the yard
Words they flowed so freely
Written upon a card
Blue, the sky explodes above you
Green, the leaves they dapple free
Brown, the earth beneath our feet
Black, the colour of the mud
It was in another lifetime
When we laughed together
By the lake
I told you that I loved you
Was that my last mistake?
Blue, the sky explodes above you
Green, the leaves they dapple free
Brown, the earth beneath our feet
Black, the colour of the mud
A Handful of Rain
I was drifting in from nowhere on a prayer and kiss
Life passed me by, 34 years I had missed
So how did this happen and when did she come?
Like Louise in the attic of Dylan’s radio hum
A handful of rain, a handful of rain
Tempting me to defy it
My scruff bag sweetheart, you don’t know how to buy it
She came from nowhere and she carried my name
Talking to a banana in her wild childhood game
Mercurial mouth and missionary times
Lost in a dream of music and rhymes
A handful of rain, a handful of rain
Tempting me to defy it
My scruff bag sweetheart, you don’t know how to buy it
She captured my heart by words in the mist
Still waiting in line for her geranium kiss
Floating ‘cross the airwaves from time gone by
Tracing blood on blood to the fog on the Tyne
A handful of rain, a handful of rain
Tempting me to defy it
My scruff bag sweetheart, you don’t know how to buy it
Insomniac cat now dancing on her bed
Sixty miles away morning sky’s turning red
Sleepless in Seattle ghostly figures at my door
And words that trip unconscious from phone to the floor
A handful of rain, a handful of rain
Tempting me to defy it
My scruff bag sweetheart, you don’t know how to buy it
She holds my hand in a dream undercover
Tracing Patti and Frederick asleep she’s my lover
Under a southern cross she casts the years unspent
Matching I for eye for a back broken and bent
A handful of rain, a handful of rain
Tempting me to defy it
My scruff bag sweetheart, you don’t know how to buy it
So how did we meet and where do we go?
On a boat on a river we meander and flow
But my darling you have me for time to come
I know I have found you and found my home
A handful of rain, a handful of rain
Tempting me to defy it
My scruff bag sweetheart, together we try it
Comfort Zone
She cuddles up beside me
The log fire is burning bright
I whisper that I love her
We’re settled for the night
The music plays quite softly
Our glasses both half full
Her head it rests upon me
Warmed by old lamb’s wool
Love is
Love is
Love is
Love is just a pretext for a better place to be
A fox slides through the hedgerow
The owl hoots a new refrain
The wind it howls like thunder
And suggests a chance of rain
The new moon casts mad shadows
Across the placid pond
The air it is enchanted
From the doorstep and beyond
Love is
Love is
Love is
Love is just a pretext for a better place to be
A half familiar key change
A riff that sounds so blue
Guitar music fills the air
It was made for me and you
You searched for love eternal
Now tell me what you found
A passage of lost time
And we are homeward bound
Love is
Love is
Love is
Love is just a pretext for a better place to be
My golden ring shone brightly
As I hit that long lost chord
It held our love so tightly
When the final lyric poured
Love is
Love is
Love is
Love is just a pretext for a better place to be
Vision
Your face
Your voice
Your eyes
Your hair
I sense you here
And everywhere
The sun
The rain
The night
The day
My love for you
Does not decay
The Moving Finger Writes
On the windswept dales of limestone Karst
See Emily play
A romantic farce
Heathcliff searches
For a Wuthering lust
The window glass shatters
And life returns to dust
But true love never dies
As the darkness fades to light
My soul is yours to keep
Bill Burroughs is writing tonight
My love she sleeps in Cham
In a bed of Norwegian wood
My heart is buried somewhere
Under Dylan’s old Milkwood
On the melting tarmac of Kerouac’s road
The sun now rises
On Sal’s paradise load
Dean Moriarty sleeps
His heart trips a beat
Life it slowly creeps
But true love never dies
As the darkness fades to light
My soul is yours to keep
Bill Burroughs is writing tonight
My love she sleeps in Cham
In a bed of Norwegian wood
My heart is buried somewhere
Under Dylan’s old Milkwood
On the frozen streets of forgotten Oslo
Knut Hamsun he tries to write
But his words are just a show
As the hunger eats within
From Kafka, Joyce and Camus
Their life is full of sin
But true love never dies
As the darkness fades to light
My soul is yours to keep
Bill Burroughs is writing tonight
My love she sleeps in Cham
In a bed of Norwegian wood
My heart is buried somewhere
Under Dylan’s old Milkwood
On Woody’s slow railroad train
The hobos beg for dimes
His broken voice remains
In Bob Dylan’s homage song
His tune plays ever onward
Bound for glory all along
But true love never dies
As the darkness fades to light
My soul is yours to keep
Bill Burroughs is writing tonight
Siren
Salt spray
The crashing waves
The sound of thunder
Can you hear it?
The ocean so deep
Your eyes shine
Your face, your smile
A vision shared to keep
I’ll keep it with mine
The siren of my dreams
I can never forget you
Old bathetic fool
I know that fate is cruel
I ought to forget it
Yes, I know it’s true
I’ve seen what love can do
But I don’t regret it
My voice chokes
I can no longer sing
I love you… but
I can see what’s happening
I must now admit it
Unrequited love
A tsunami from above
I have to accept that
Now within your coral sea
You swim so deep
And don’t need me
We’re both safer without it
Is that really the case?
If you were in my place
You never would doubt it
The mermaid of my dreams
I’ll never forget you
Can you hear the siren screams?
I’m glad that I met you
Old bathetic fool
Who has broken every rule
I tried to resist it
Though it’s all in vain
I’d do it all again
I’d give my world to you
Just to relive one minute
By your side
I have to admit it
As I fall in love
Your presence I breathe for
And I am not mistaken
So I think of when
And turn to sleep again
A lot was meant
But nothing was taken
Beyond Dark Eyes
I am sat here alone and writing
The midnight moon shines on the temple gates
They’re drinking wine and talking
And my thoughts they all now separate
I live in another world
Where pain and death are iconised
My life is strung with traitor’s pearls
And all I see are dark eyes
I think of you sleeping so far away
Hear you breathe sweet innocence
Your face it fades into darkened grey
But your words now enter my inner sense
I can hear a desert drum
Beating beneath the poet’s disguise
Four riders watch as they come
And all I see are dark eyes
I was raised to be discreet
For all life’s intended purposes
They tell me revenge is sweet
Against my enemy’s twisted vertices
But I feel nothing for their game
Where beauty goes unrecognized
All I feel is heat and flame
And all I see are dark eyes
Future Comfort
Sweet gentleness
Your name is life
It surrounds my being
Cuts like a knife
Cascades and unfolds
In all that I do
The love that surrounds me
And the friendships too
I watch the rain fall
And the winter does grip
But your warmth it envelops
So nothing will slip
Risk and perspective
Valour and pain
Is marked here forever
Though death does remain
So fear not my love
As we walk up that road
Stronger than ever
Let me carry your load
And we come now full circle
To the top of the hill
And hold hands together
Brave blood to spill
For love is not blinded
And neither is truth
As my tale unfolds gently
Our own fountain of youth
No Time to Think 