"Strange Boat"



We're sailing on a strange boat
Heading for a strange shore
We're sailing on a strange boat
Heading for a strange shore
Carrying the strangest cargo
That was ever hauled aboard

We're sailing on a strange sea
Blown by a strange wind
We're sailing on a strange sea
Blown by a strange wind
Carrying the strangest crew
That ever sinned

We're riding in a strange car
We're followin' a strange star
We're climbing on the strangest ladder
That was ever there to climb

We're living in a strange time
Working for a strange goal
We're living in a strange time
Working for a strange goal
We're turning flesh and body
Into soul

"Suffer"



I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

You tried to drive a wedge between me and my friends
You pushed me to the edge time and again
I've been living in your shade since I can't remember when
Now I'm bringing this charade to an end

I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

There was subtlety and skill in your manipulative ways
You chipped away my will so you could make me stay
You soothed me with your voice until I obeyed
But I'm making my own choice from today

You used the tongue of love like a boxer uses fists
You contained me like a glove or a creeping cloak of mist
You guaranteed the stars but there always was a twist
Now I see you as you are - Egotist!

I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

I've got a ticket in my hand and I must be moving on
But I want you to understand that from the moment I am gone
I release and let you go - you owe nothing now to me
I'm not angry anymore - I'm free!

I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

"Sunny Sailor Boy"



On a day of days
I stood and gazed
over the western sea
I was completely dazed
wide-mouthed and amazed
when a mermaid called to me

Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh
Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh-wo
My sunny sailor boy

Like a man in a dream
for an age it seemed
I stood as still as a stone
while the creature sang
and her melody rang
like a memory calling me home

Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh
Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh-wo
My sunny sailor boy

"Sustain"



Blues are falling like showers of rain
But I don't feel like crying
Death is abroad this day
But I don't feel like dying
I learned how to sustain myself
How to sustain myself in storms

Her tongue was like a scythe
And all her bones were haunted
A scapegoat for her life
Was all she ever wanted
I learned how to sustain myself in storms

Sir Bedivere slept in the field
His armour strewn around him
Curled foetus-like beneath his shield,
Still weeping when we found him

I teetered on the edge of doom
Degenerate and broken
She sucked the poison out of my wounds
And spoke the great unspoken
I learned how to sustain myself in storms

His monstrous ego, whipped and driven
Raged beneath his clothing
The compliment he paid was given
Not with grace but loathing

Deliverance is at the gate
With arms and gold in store
She apologises for being late
But I don't need her anymore
I learned how to sustain myself
How to sustain myself in storms

Scoured and stripped of all pretence
Shorn of all illusion
I offer nothing in my defence
- you may draw your own conclusions
I learned how to sustain myself in storms

"Sweet Dancer"



The girl goes dancing there
On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth
Grass plot of the garden
Escaped from her bitter youth
Escaped out of her crowd
Or out of her black cloud.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

If strange men come from the house
To lead her away, please, do not say
She's crazy
Lead them gently astray
Let her finish her dance
Finish her dance.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

She sings as the moon sings
I am I, I am I
The greater grows my light
The further shall I fly
I hear the wind a-blow
I hear the grass a-grow
And all that I know
I know, I know.

The girl goes dancing there
On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth grass of the garden
Let her finish the dance
Let her finish the dance
Finish the dance.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

"Sweet Thing"
(originally by Van Morrison)



And I will stroll the merry way and jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats and they'll get high
On a blue ocean, against tomorrow's sky

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And I will never grow so old again
Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing

And I will stroll the merry ways and jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats and they'll get high
On a blue ocean against tomorrow's sky

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And never ever ever ever ever get so old again

Ooh...
Sweet thing
My my my...

And I shall drive my chariot down your streets and cry
Hey, it's me! I'm dynamite and I don't know why
And you shall take me warm in your arms again
And I will not remember that I ever felt the pain

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And never ever ever ever ever get so old again

Ooh
Sweet thing
Yeah yeah yeah...
Sweet thing
My my my...

And I will raise my hand up into the night time sky
And count the stars there shining in your eyes
Just to dig it all an' not to wonder, that's just fine
And I'll be satisfied not to read in between the lines

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And never ever ever ever ever get so old again

Sugar-baby with your champagne eyes
And your saint-like smile....

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take this broken wing and learn to fly
All your life you were just waiting for this moment to arrive
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take your sunken eyes, learn to see
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to be free...

"Tenderfootin'"



You're tenderfootin' baby
You're tenderfootin' baby
You're tenderfootin' baby
When you should be ballin' around
You're tenderfootin' baby you got your tender feet
Flat back on the ground

Yeah, you're tenderfootin' baby
Places that you don't belong
You're tenderfootin' baby, baby, baby
Places that you don't belong
You better run baby
When you hear this song

You're tenderfootin' baby
Doin' things somebody like you ought not to do
You're tenderfootin' baby
Doin' things mama never told you to
I'd be on the train baby if I was you!

You're tenderfootin' baby

"The Big Music"


I have heard the big music
And I'll never be the same
Something so pure
Just called my name

I have drowned in the big sea
Now I find I'm still alive
And I'm coming up for ever
Shadows all behind me, ecstacy to come

I have
Climbed the big tree
Touched the big sky
I just stuck my hand up in the air
And everything came into colour
Like Jazz mana from sweet, sweet chariots

I have seen the big mountain
And I swear I'm halfway there

(You'll never get there, you'll never get there, you'll never get there)

But I will, I will always climb the mountain
Because...

I have heard the big music
And I'll never be the same
Something so pure
Has called my name

"The Charlatan's Lament"



At long weary last
This game is over
The sins of the past
Fled from my shoulder

The sleep that I need
Is all that I ask
In thought and in deed
I have burnt the mask

Here I am
Here I am

Enchantment is broken
I merged with the crowd
Oaths have been spoken
Inside and out loud
Emerging from under
Motions of God
In tears and in wonder
I ventured abroad

Here I am
Here I am

Can you walk a smithereen
Can you walk a smithereen
Closer to me
Could you love a thimbleful
Could you love a thimbleful
Harder for me

Encountered a loathly hag
Blood on the snow
She said "I've a burden to drag
And leagues to go"
I left her down by the seaside
In someone's hall
By dawn's empty light I cried
To no-one at all

Here I am
Here I am

Can you walk a smithereen
Can you walk a smithereen
Closer to me
Could you love a thimbleful
Could you love a thimbleful
Harder for me

I swing between
Tears and wonder
I swing between
Tears and wonder
I swing between
Tears and wonder
I swing between
Tears and wonder

Can you walk a smithereen
Can you walk a smithereen
Closer to me
Could you love a thimbleful
Could you love a thimbleful
Harder for me
Harder for me

"The Christ In You"



I'm gonna look twice at you
Until I see the christ in you

When I'm lookin through the eyes of love

"The Crash Of Angel Wings"



Here she comes
Like rumbling drums
Swinging her skirts
And talking in spurts
Sailing high
In her ship of the sky
Being found
Broken on the ground

But when she sings
I hear the crash of angel wings
When she sings I hear the crash of wings

On Sundays she walks
On cut glass and rocks
On Monday she falls
From the sheerest of walls
On Tuesday she screams
Black words in her dreams
On Friday she lies
And a part of her dies

But when she sings
I hear the crash of angel wings
When she sings I hear the crash of wings

Here she comes
Like rumbling drums
She's swinging her skirts
She's talking in spurts
Now she's reading my books
Now she's giving me looks
As she slips and sways
Through murmering days

And when she sings
I hear the crash of angel wings
When she sings
I hear the crash of angel wings
When she sings I hear the crash of wings

Here she comes
Like rumbling drums
Here she comes
Like rumbling drums
Like rumbling drums
Like rumbling drums

"The Earth Only Endures"


[American Indian Chant]

The old man said
The earth only endures
You spoke truly
You were right

The old man said
The earth only endures
You spoke truly
You were right

Only the mountains live forever
Only the earth endures
Only the earth endures
Only the earth endures
Only the earth endures

The old man said
The earth only endures
You spoke truly
You were right
You were right
You were right

"The Faery's Last Song"



Man has the fields of heaven
But soulless a faery dies
As a leaf that is old and withered
And cold when the winter winds arise.

Soon shall our wings be stilled
And our laughter over and done
So let us dance on the waves
Let us dance in the sun.

Soon shall our wings be stilled
And our laughter over and done
So let us dance on the waves
Let us dance in the sun.

"The Girl In The Swing"




Do you see them coming through fields of snow?
Do you see them riding through fields of snow?
One rides for a woman who has no name
One rides for a king
And one just rides and rides and rides and rides
For the girl in the swing

They race like phantoms in the Belmont light
You see them follow the Belmont light
They ride through places where the walls are white
Where the noble voices of women sing
A brace of thanks and silent night
And a song for the girl in the swing

Well, you just asked me do I know what love is
Well, sure I know, sure I know what love is
It's the thief of sleep, a boy and his dog
A red rubber ball, these old foolish things
A rain that falls a long, long way from home
It lives in the girl in the swing!
It lives in the girl in the swing...

"The Ladder"



Once in my lifetime
I intend to see
The ladder ascending
In front of me

Once in my lifetime
I intend to see
The ladder ascending
In front of me

I've been searching without
I've been searching within
Up, down, all around, roundabout
Here and there, out and in

Because once in my lifetime
I intend to see
The ladder ascending
In front of me

I have a come a long way
Over oceans and hills
I'm weary and unwhole
And I need my cup refilled

Once in my lifetime
I intend to see
The ladder ascending
In front of me

"The Lake Isle Of Innisfree"



I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made
And I will live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Where midnight's all a-glimmer and noon a purple glow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings
And the evening full, full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now for always night and day
While I stand on the roadside or on the pavements gray
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore
I hear it in the deep, the deep heart's core.

There midnight's all a-glimmer and noon a purple glow
I will arise and go.

"The Late Train To Heaven"



I was talking to John
He was dressed all in black
He was learning, he said
To never look back
Bells in his ears
He turned and disappeared
But I've known him for years
Where'd he go?
A head full of snow
On the late train to heaven

Augustus my friend
Dressed in velvet and scarf
He's purging himself
He's refusing to laugh
Pale as the moon
His words fill the room
He'll be travelling soon
Where's he bound?
Higher ground
On the late train to heaven

I whispered to you now
But I didn't mean a word
It was just a small madness
Pretend you never heard
Pretend you're here with Larry
Pretend you're here with Lee
Pretend you're with anyone but me
I didn't come with you, I'm gone
And my seat's waiting on
The late train
Forever on the late
The late train
I'm ready for the late
The late train to heaven

"The Madness Is Here Again"



I can't sleep
I can't get my breath
I can't stop talkin'
And I look like death
The madness...
The madness...
The madness is here again!

My hands are tied
I'm nailed to the floor
I feel like I'm knockin'
On the unknown door
The madness...
The madness...
The madness is here again!

Now the wrecker busts loose
He's swinging a chain
Shouting out something
That sounds like my name
The madness...
The madness...
The madness is here again!

Can you feel it?
Can you feel it coming?

"The Man With The Wind At His Heels"



There’s a day for the king in his counting house
There’s a day for the fool at the wheel
There’s a day for the ships to go slouching south
And a day for the man with the wind at his heels
A day for the man with the wind at his heels

There’s a day to ride thumb on a thunderhead
There’s a day to make fantasy real
There’s a day to deny and a day to decry
And a day for the man the wind at his heels
A day for the man with the wind at his heels

Sing one for the clown in his wintermind
Sing one for his loathsome ordeal
Sing one for the deed and the fate entwined
And sing one for the man with the wind at his heels
One for the man with the wind at his heels

"The New Life"



I've burned my bridges
And I'm free at last
All my chains are
In the past
The new life starts here

(I was trying to get happy
I thought it was hard
Until I found that
In my own back yard
The new life starts here)

The day is wide open
The sky is blue
The world is a miracle
And so are you
The new life starts here

My papers arrived
Stamped and complete
All previous dispatches
Are obsolete
The new life starts here

I can see my way so clear
Rejoice for...
The new life starts here

There's a war in the Gulf
But it ain't in my head
I just declared a state of
Peace instead
The new life starts here

(Tempters and tricksters
Banging at my door
I'm not fighting with them
Anymore
The new life starts here

Users, abusers,
Banging at my door
I'm not fighting with them
Anymore
The new life starts here

Tempsters and tricksters
Wondering how
To seize my attention
They cannot touch me now
The new life starts here)

Generals, Presidents
How do you do?
I can make it with or
Without you
The new life starts here

I can see my way so clear
Rejoice for...
The new life starts here

Are you under the Mercy?
Are you under attack?
Are you going forward?
Are you going back?
The new life starts here

(Are you coming to grips?
Are you coming apart?
Are you listening to fear?
Or to your heart?
The new life starts here

Are you building heaven
Or are you building hell?
When that great day comes
Will you be able to tell?
The new life starts here)

Citizen, criminal, child
Woman or man
The keys to the Kingdom
Are in your own hands
The new life starts here

(God of our love
Who ignited the sun
Not my will
But thine be done
The new life starts here)

Mock the devil
Make him sweat!
He hasn't won
The battle yet
The new life starts here

(A whole new age in seven more years
A brave new age in ten more years)
Rejoice for...
The new life starts here