Words and Music Volume One Read online

  Time slows down when I’m on my trip

  Open up the hatch and let ‘er rip

  Stare at the walls ‘til they start to move

  Listen to the needle as it hits the groove

  ‘Cause there’s a monkey on my back, and it feels like a ton of brinks

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  There’s a weight on my mind and I’m running out of tricks

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  Gimme a mirror or a spoon that I can lick

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  Follow the tracks…’til you get to the train

  Follow the clouds…’til you get to the rain

  Follow your arm…’til you get to the vein

  Follow your mind…’til it drives you insane

  Money doesn’t grow on trees

  A little bit is just a tease

  Every day begins with doubt

  I’m a desperate man with no way out

  I’m hooked, I’m hooked, it isn’t greed

  The more you get, the more you need

  The less you move, the more you speed

  Open my heart and watch it bleed

  ‘Cause there’s a monkey on my back, and it feels like a ton of brinks

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  There’s a weight on my mind and I’m running out of tricks

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  Gimme a mirror or a spoon that I can lick

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  I don’t care about my next meal

  The hunger for smack is oh so real

  It’s a junkie’s life, I can’t be pleased

  This shit has got me on my knees

  Dragons and horses ride into hell

  The devil’s got my soul to sell

  I’ll beg, I’ll borrow, I’ll even steal

  Anything to score a deal

  ‘Cause there’s a monkey on my back, and it feels like a ton of brinks

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  There’s a weight on my mind and I’m running out of tricks

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  Gimme a mirror or a spoon that I can lick

  How am I gonna get tomorrow’s fix?

  Follow the tracks…’til you get to the train

  Follow the clouds…’til you get to the rain

  Follow your arm…’til you get to the vein

  Follow your mind…’til it drives you insane

  Oh those bittersweet coming of age days when your dad tells you to get off your ass and get a job!

  ROCK N ROLL DISEASE

  Just the other day my daddy and me

  Had a long talk about the mess I made of me

  He said to me; son don’t you ever get tired

  Don’t you ever get tired

  Of that loud, loud music that you’re listening too?

  I said to him daddy can’t you see

  I just can’t help it, I just can’t help it

  What I got is that rock n roll disease

  There ain’t no cure for that rock n roll disease

  It must be every other day my daddy and me

  Have a long talk about the mess I’ve made of me

  He says to me; son you know you’ll never get hired

  You’ll never get hired

  If you don’t cut off all that long, long hair

  I said to him daddy can’t you see

  I just can’t help it, I just can’t help it

  What I got is that rock n roll disease

  There ain’t no cure for that rock n roll disease

  When I was just a little boy we’d throw around the ball

  Until dinner was on the table and mama made the call

  But now I’m a big boy and a guitar is my toy

  And I drive my old man crazy when I make that awful noise

  Come on boys let’s make some awful noise

  Guitar solo

  It’s gotta be every single day my daddy and me

  Have a long talk about the mess I’ve made of me

  He says to me; son you gotta stop getting wired

  You gotta stop getting wired

  You gotta lay off the drugs and the booze

  I said to him daddy can’t you see

  I just can’t help it, I just can’t help it

  What I got is that rock n roll disease

  There ain’t no cure for that rock n roll disease

  I said to him daddy, dear daddy, won’t you tell me the truth

  Won’t you tell me those tales of your long lost youth?

  He said to me son, my son, I had my fun

  But when I was a kid I never did things you did

  I never done done, the things that you done done

  I said to him daddy can’t you see

  I just can’t help it, I just can’t help it

  What I got is that rock n roll disease

  There ain’t no cure for that rock n roll disease

  What I got is that rock n roll disease

  There ain’t no cure for that rock n roll disease

  Our parents raised us to always go down fighting…and that’s just what I’m gonna do.

  UP IN FLAMES

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  Take no prisoners, play no games

  And as you burn, only dust remains

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  You name the law and I’ll break it

  Pick the poison, I’ll take it

  If I done her wrong then I’ll take the blame

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  Up in flames, up in flames

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  Fire is my claim to fame

  Rock n roll is my middle name

  Knock ‘em all down and stake my claim

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  Up in flames, up in flames

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  Take no prisoners, play no games

  And as you burn, only dust remains

  Go down fighting, go up in flames

  Another tale of war and love…

  WAR ZONE

  Hiding in my bunker, my love it sunk her

  I won the battle but then I lost the war

  Missiles cruising, my love I’m losing

  Nothing I can do but keep on boozing

  Bombs are blasting, my love ain’t lasting

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I said I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  Loose lips, sink ships

  So grab her by the hips and let ‘er rip

  Load up the mortars, load up the tanks

  I hope I ain’t been shooting blanks

  Heat seeking, midnight creeping

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I said I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  But wait, what’s this? Defenses down

  It might be time to send in the clowns

  Radar guide me to your hole, I’m just about ready to explode

  Ready, Aim, Fire, 1, 2, 3, I’m taking you prisoner, home with me

  Bull’s eye, it’s a perfect hit, no more am I gonna take your shit

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I said I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  But in the end, she leaves me weak

  So tired I can
’t even speak

  Up and down I’m springing leaks, without a paddle, up a creek

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let him be

  I said I’m in a war zone, all alone

  So won’t you throw this dog a bone and let me be

  I remember watching the national news one night when I was in my 20’s and the anchorman (it might have been Walter Cronkite but I can’t say for sure) was doing some story about US soldiers returning home from our latest skirmish. He said something about “the faceless heroes in the battlefield”, and for some reason the words “faceless hero” struck me with the force of a powerful bomb. I immediately wrote this song.

  FACELESS HEROES

  Faceless hero count to zero

  Fight for everyday

  They taught you not to show compassion

  But you shed a tear along the way

  Faceless hero march to battle

  Fight for man indeed

  You lay your soul upon the line

  To feed your leader’s greed

  Battered…Beaten…Fight the pain

  Send him…Off to…War again

  The reasons are, same as before

  No one knows what we’re fighting for

  Faceless heroes come and go

  But no one really cares

  Until the day you know the face

  No one really hears

  And as you’re…Fighting…Don’t you know

  Our young have…No place…Left to go

  You can hide the truth, but can’t you see

  There’ll be no joy…in victory

  As the old saying goes, all is fair in love and war.

  GUN SHY

  There’s a hole in my heart

  A bullet wound of love

  I use to fight back

  With a gun and a leather glove

  I fought so many battles

  But the war was never won

  I always wind up prisoner

  A hostage with a gun

  I’m gun-shy, gun-shy

  Afraid to pull the trigger

  I’m gun-shy, gun-shy

  And this hole in my heart

  Just keeps getting bigger

  BIGGER

  Prisoner of love or war

  It’s pretty much the same

  Breaking hearts, breaking minds

  Just to play your foolish game

  So let’s call a ceasefire

  Stop this pain my friend

  I guess I lose to you now

  Again and again and again

  You know I’m gun-shy, gun-shy

  Afraid to pull the trigger

  I’m gun-shy, gun-shy

  And this hole in my heart

  Just keeps getting bigger

  BIGGER

  Every time you knocked me down

  I always got back up

  But now I can’t fight back no more

  I’ve took my share of lumps

  I’ve been hurt so many times

  Suffered many losses

  Love is on the borderline

  My heart it never crosses

  Because I’m gun-shy, gun-shy

  Afraid to pull the trigger

  I’m gun-shy, gun-shy

  And this hole in my heart

  Just keeps getting bigger

  BIGGER

  My friends and I were stranded in Providence Rhode Island on a Sunday night after a Genesis concert back in 1978 when my buddy Patrick’s car broke down. With few options so late into the evening, we grabbed some old blankets from the trunk and hunkered down next to some railroad tracks in downtown Providence for the night. You should have seen the looks on the faces of the Monday morning commuters when they saw five lumps of humanity passed out next to an old box car. And although in some strange way I thought it was kind of a fun experience at the time, looking back on it now I must admit that it wasn’t the most pleasant of evenings…but on the plus side, I wrote this song!

  PROVIDENCE

  Going away, we returned the next day

  I thought that we were here to stay

  We were unprepared, but no one cared

  And no one dared to show their fear

  No one had the foresight to show us wrong from right

  I tried with all my might, I cried out with the night

  To help you sing your song…sing your song

  Ooooh Providence

  Oh Oh sweet Providence

  From the beginning we knew the score

  No need to tell us what’s in store

  Time and place will leave no trace

  What a state that we were in, searching for our origins

  You know that nothing ever makes much sense

  But everything you do is so intense

  When you sing your song…sing your song

  Ooooh Providence

  Oh Oh sweet Providence

  Living in the city, never showing pity

  For people who are lost, and homeless in the night

  In the beginning, God create man

  Genesis was written so that we might understand

  But no one had the foresight to show us wrong from right

  I tried with all my might, I cried out with the night

  To help you sing your song…sing your song

  Ooooh Providence

  Oh Oh sweet Providence

  And as the morning trains begin to grind

  God takes care of all mankind

  Ooooh Providence

  Oh Oh sweet Providence

  Sometimes you just got to make a stand regardless of the consequences.

  ONE NIGHT STAND

  Tonight ain’t gonna be

  Just you wait and see

  Like any other night that’s ever been

  My mind’s been made

  And my debt’s been paid

  And my brain, my brain is soaked in gin

  And I might be wrong

  But it won’t be long

  Sometimes, sometimes you just can’t win

  Tonight, tonight

  It’s gonna be all right

  Tonight I’m gonna make my stand

  Tonight I’m gonna make my stand

  I mock the law

  One move and I draw

  She just don’t seem to understand

  I’m flying high

  Oh so high

  But I got, I got no place to land

  And if I crash

  Please hide the cash

  Bury it beneath the desert sand

  Tonight, tonight

  It’s gonna be all right

  Tonight I’m gonna make my stand

  Tonight I’m gonna make my stand

  And tomorrow…won’t matter…tonight

  One of the saddest songs I’ve ever written. And yet at the end of the day I still find hope buried somewhere within these words.

  FADE AWAY

  The sun he hasn’t shined for days

  The smile has seemed to left your gaze

  I don’t care what no one says

  I put my dreams on delay

  Work my ass off everyday

  The boss won’t even raise my pay

  Might as well take a break

  The more you make, the more they take

  They’ll tax your soul for Heaven’s sake

  CHORUS

  Someday my friend

  You know I’m gonna fade away

  Someway my friend

  You know I gotta fade away

  I think of you all the time

  A memory I can’t leave behind

  Out of sight but never out of mind

  Ten years have come and gone

  The pain keeps going, on and on

  Girl we’ve been apart for much too long

  I keep your picture in my wallet

  Though it hurts too much to look at it

 
; I’m falling apart, bit by bit

  CHORUS

  Someday my friend

  You know I’m gonna fade away

  Someway my friend

  You know I gotta fade away

  BRIDGE

  Fade into the sunset

  Fade into the sea

  My bags are packed

  I shan’t be back

  Won’t you light a torch for me girl

  Won’t you light a torch for me

  Every day’s a dull routine

  I wake up to the same old dream

  Of you and me, it’s the same old scene

  I tell myself that I’ll forget

  But it just ain’t happened yet

  I’ve loved you since the day we met

  I just can’t seem to shake it

  I don’t know if I can take it

  But I think I’m gonna make it anyway

  CHORUS

  Someday my friend

  You know I’m gonna fade away

  Someway my friend

  You know I gotta fade away

  I’m running out of words to say

  I’m running out of songs to play

  You’re all that I’ve got…today

  Emotion has been betrayed

  The truth is put on display

  This time I hope you’re here to stay

  I need to be touched in a special way

  God you seem so far away

  I think I’m gonna sleep all day

  CHORUS

  Someday my friend

  You know I’m gonna fade away

  Someway my friend

  You know I gotta fade away

  BRIDGE

  Fade into the sunset

  Fade into the sea

  My bags are packed

  I shan’t be back

  Won’t you light a torch for me girl

  Won’t you light a torch for me