1. What's Your Sign? back to album list |
|
What’s Your Sign? Prometheus Bound I’m feeling like Prometheus tonight That eagle just took flight and man, I’m high So, can I bum a light, can I bum tonight Can you stay beside me and tell me one more lie Chorus: I don’t know, I don’t even know, I don’t know where I’m bound Well, Atlas shrugged you know that just was not enough To keep the whole world off his back So I just sit here and look in the mirror And tell myself, “Hey man, you know you ain’t Jack Kerouac.” (Chorus) It was 3 A.M. last time I left the bar Everybody else was getting in their cars to go make things out of clay But I have trained my dogs, and I ‘ve split all my logs I’m just waiting on the next flood to wash it all away (Chorus) And I’m feeling like Prometheus tonight That eagle just took flight and man, I’m high So, can I bum a light, can I bum tonight Can you stay beside me and tell me one more lie (Chorus) If I Wake Up Infinity is dangling somewhere loose by a thread Strung together by these words in my head From winos to hobos to Bowery St. Queens This dream inside a dream is unraveling it seems Chorus: And if I wake up, I only pray it’s next to you The lights are all on now but it’s harder to see The shades are all drawn and it is up to me Phantom brakemen and those runaway trains Are all bearing down on me, are all rattling their chains (Chorus) The rooster’s crowed twice now so I’m nearly sure If the sun also rises he’ll be good for one more And Judas Iscariot is standing there by the gate He’s holding your hand, I’m wondering if it’s too late (Chorus) Mad Woman How can something be right and wrong at once? I can feel but I never seem to touch. Well, you know, I had something to say; No one heard me the wind must have blown it away. Chorus: I'd be the mad woman in the attic If I weren't just this man in a one story house. I walk around and I call them by their names. They walk right by and never do the same. Well, you know, it's not mine anyway. If no one uses it maybe it'll just go away. (Chorus) Can Opener The can opener was rusted but the worms are still crawling on the floor They say the scene is busted and that’ll be ten dollars at the door But you know I’ll pay to see you though, ‘cause what else are these two eyes for And maybe if it costs me then I’ll appreciate it that much more Chorus: Something tells me there’s something more I should know One voice says “Yes!” another “No!” The marionettes cast shadows as they dance upon the stage To another packed house performance while somewhere far off lonely Hamlets rage And the whole limp-wristed audience is dreaming of someone who’ll tie their strings So they can get right back out and set to clipping other people’s wings (Chorus) Now there are murmurs in the market and people are crowding down on the square A single whisp of smoke is rising as the flames dance with the air And someone spots a rainbow and shots out, “Look it is a sign!” Then they hear the drowning man’s voice, “Help throw me a line!” (Chorus) All twelve vestal virgins forgot to take the pill And protestors surround the clinic but that bill’s still stuck up there on the hill And Galahad at the altar kneels and feels a chill, then hears the voice of Johnny Cash say, “Follow me before you get yourself killed.” (Chorus) I’d Rather Be You I could nail roofs, I could go running loose, I could talk to you in my dreams I could hold it all in or I could spill it out again, I could try to be everything I've seen I could walk on water or I could drown in the sea Or I could sail forever and never be free. Chorus: I'd rather be you. ‘Cause here have been so many people just like me Who've tried to love everything they're allowed to see Living too deep and loving too much When too deep and too much ain't ever enough So I'd rather be you I could climb mountains or I could fall to the earth Or take a ride in the back and let you drive my hearse. Or I could do what I do and just leave the rest up to you. Let you decide what it is all really worth. (Chorus) Yeah, the rules are the rules but they're made to be broke. Hardships and sorrows are just dirty jokes. But the answer's so simple, it's not even here When the night is quiet and the skies are clear. (Chorus) Parrots & Napoleons Parrots and Napoleons standing on the ridge rain fire on the youth below Who dream of musket barrels holding bouquets from all the pretty girls they know Over there in the distance far, far away an old man straightens his chapeau All the ones who do the living are the ones who’ll do the dying And the ones already dead make the rules Standing in the rain that falls cold on his cheek a young man feels free to shed a tear While a lion’s in the Forum and phantom flag is waving in the breeze that ruffles my beard Chorus: From the fields of Antietam to the bloody hills of Hebron, south side Mahattan too All the ones who do the living are the ones who’ll so the dying The ones already dead make the rules With the clashing of the metal and the thunder in the distance And the sound of one man’s dying breath There’s one who’ll come a’ walking across the field of battle And lay a hand on the dying man’s breast He’ll be dressed all in white with eyes of steelish gray And carry no cross for man or God But when he says, “Rise up and walk, leave this bloody field,” All the ages will rise through the sod (Chorus) Now, it came in a vision with the bloody red of battle And the blue bloods who cried for more And the white blood of the soldiers who must stand and be counted The ones who will really fight this war Over there on the ridge I can see the grays a’ swarming and I’m here, I’m tangled up in blue But my sword is chromed and polished, my eyes are shining and I know just what to do (Chorus) Sixteen Coaches Train I ride, well, she’s sixteen coaches long Train I ride now boys, don’t you know she’s sixteen coaches long There’s lots of room here for you, why don’t you just come along Train I ride, well, she leaves at 3:09 Train I ride now boys, don’t you know she leaves at 3:09 Yeah, there’s lots of room here for you, you know you’ve got lots of time The devil lives in Nashville Tennessee I saw him there once he just smiled and winked at me Walking down 4th Street, mumbling to himself Well, if you ask me man, sure was a sorry hell Mississippi sunrise, don’t you know it’s gonna do me just fine I’ll take anything I can just to keep you off my mind I spent some time way down there in old Louisiana I spent some time now boys, way down there in old Louisiana The only thing that I learned there is swamp air ain’t healthy for no man One night I heard a shadow talking to himself He caught me eves-dropping lord, made me swear I’d never tell But what I heard, you know, it burns on my mind Kinda like a dragon’s breath that melts the sands of time Mississippi sunrise, don’t you know it’s gonna do me just fine I’ll take anything I can just to keep you off my mind Train I ride, well, she leaves at 3:09 Train I ride now boys, don’t you know she leaves at 3:09 And there’s lots of room here for you, you know you’ve got lots of time Warren G. Harding Come, Warren G. Harding and Franklin Pierce too Is it 1717 or 1862? Is there blood in your eyes or blood on your door Or anything here left worth bleeding for? Old Ben Franklin in his coat of green He’s the meanest old bastard I’ve ever seen He gnaws at my belly he nips at my heels Believes that he’s worth the time, all the time he steals Bu snow’s on the ground in Tompkins Square Park And the moon is hiding just inside the dark The last thing you wish for might come true You wish for me, you know I’ll wish for you Lately I’ve been thinking, lately I’ve been blue Lately I’ve been wishing, going fishing for you I sit on the bank and cast out a line I Let it drop deep through gray, gray swirling time ‘Cause snow’s on the ground in Tompkins Square Park And the moon is hiding just inside the dark The last thing you wish for might come true You wish for me, you know I’ll wish for you So, Warren G. Harding and Franklin Pierce too Is it 1717 or 1862? Is there blood in your eyes or blood on your door Or anything here left worth bleeding for? ‘Cause snow’s on the ground in Tompkins Square Park And the moon is hiding just inside the dark The last thing you wish for might come true You wish for me, you know I’ll wish for you You wish for me, you know I’ll wish for you St. Jude He was the king of levitation, a forty-day meditation left him glowing like a neon sign. He didn't want the almighty dollar, he had no use for an emperor's power, but that bearded lady caught him hook and line. So get your tickets at the gate, you know the big top, it don't start until eight, you’d better step right up and blow your little mind. Blow your little mind. Suzie Q the go-go dancer has the intuition of a necromancer–she's a medium with 32 D's. She dances on a very fine line between what she’ll seek and what she'll find, she's strung out through a crack in reality. And St. Jude, am I dreaming or are things really like they're seeming to me, are the bones really dancing in the hall? St. Jude, do I need you at all? Well Big Jim, he searched for God, he swears he gave it his very best shot. He got scared off by what he found along the way. But the treader of grapes still caught the sewer of seeds and they both had to agree with Jim when he said we'll leave the reaper ahead just for today. And St. Jude, if you're willing, has Lazarus really left the building? Are these the stones that were sealing up his vault? And St. Jude, do I need you at all? Now Suzie and Jim are standing in line, like two grapes falllen from the same vine. They both have got their tickets to show at the gate. But it's Sunday, so the go-go's down and church is on the other side of town. And heaven knows that the big-top don't start until eight. And St. Jude, am I dreaming or are things really like they're seeming to me, Are the bones really dancing in the hall? And St. Jude, do I need you at all? So get your tickets at the gate, you know the big-top, it don't start 'til eight. You'd better step right up and blow your little mind. Blow your little mind Tonto’s Blues The Lone Ranger’s picture is hanging on the wall And Tonto is hanging on for last call They both rode through here a long time ago But now the Lone Ranger’s famous and Tonto’s got nowhere else to go Look at Tonto go. Tonto lives in Brooklyn where he rents himself a flat He gives lessons on cross-drawing wearing a ten-gallon hat. He says he taught the Lone Ranger every single thing that he knows Well, he might even believe it by now himself, I suppose Look at Tonto go. Well now, Billy the Kid is working behind the bar He believes he can become the next big shooting star He just sets ‘em up while Tonto knocks ‘em down Both of them secretly hoping that the Lone Ranger might stop back around Look at Tonto go. Now, Billy’s got a gig every Wednesday where he shoots at beer cans The drunks all applaud him but he doesn’t really have any fans They all say, “Hey Billy, you know you’re pretty good for a kid, But you know that ain’t shit compared to what the Lone Ranger did.” Look at Tonto go. So when the ash trays are empty and the stools are set back up on the bar It’s a long ride home back to Brooklyn in the back of that subway car But somewhere out in Hollywood the Lone Ranger sit bolt uprigth in bed Me, I’m just here lighting a little candle for that kid Look at Tonto go Angel Eyes When I look into your eyes, sometimes I see clean through. When you look into mine do you ever see yourself too? Chorus: Sweet angel eyes, oh sweet, sweet angel eyes, You don’t have to know why, Oh, sweet, sweet angel eyes. I’ve been walking this plank since I can’t remember when. Every step less like the last one, I’ll walk on water before the end. But time is not my enemy. Time: not my friend. Time just walks here beside me. Time: another means to an end. (Chorus) Well, you know I’m kinda like those streetlights that will flicker and go out. Shadows lay in wait beside me, shadows dance with my doubts. And darkness is not my enemy. Darkness: not my friend. Darkness just walks here beside me. Darkness: another means to an end (Chorus) Well, you know it gets cold here in winter. Summer never fails to take too long. Spend your time waiting on September, January will be here before long. But time is not my enemy. Time: not my friend. Time just walks here beside me. Time: another means to an end. (Chorus) Oh sweet, sweet angel, angel eyes. Jack Kerouac Copyright Kenn Kweder I was up on a Wednesday night, just a’ digging on one of your fights Sipping on a subterranean beer When I looked up from the page, in a glass I saw a face Could it be that you were really here? Chorus: Jack Kerouac, when are you coming back? To ease these road-aching blues of mine I’ve read all of your books and I’ve even got your looks So whatever you do Jack, please don’t take your time Well, the road it was rugged but I know that you dug it Every time you swug your swigs of beer But tell me is it true, is it me or is it you Every time that I look into the mirror? (Chorus) |
|
