If You Were Here Tonight
On a crazy night circa 1959
locked in silver time.
Music on your side
double-crossed, too tired to fight
if I figured right.
I could never be-
I would only try-
it would only save my life-
if you were here tonight.
Would your hand be still
like it was inside the frame
that brought you here again?
Comforting a friend
you'd forgiven once in love
and then left you twice for dead.
I could never be-
I would only try-
it would only save my life-
if you were here tonight
All assurances you hear
with your dilapidated ear
for the scream of every man
who's tried to bring you here.
Only you can hear the calling
of the underdog.
All I want is something more-
all I want is something more-
than what I had before.
Don't answer now
let me close my eyes and sleep
and I'll wake-up late
to your hand in mine
or to filter through the crime
that's recast my fate.
I could never be-
I would only try-
it would only save my life-
if you were here tonight.
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You'll Be Gone
Across the road the dogs are barking.
"The plans have changed.
They've changed again," you said.
It all starts here
and there's an end in sight, I know.
And in your hand a perfect stone.
"Hold onto this while I am gone
and be the one
who takes the newest days and runs."
You said, "Be the one
who takes the newest days and runs."
You'll be gone
and I'll still be here.
You'll be gone
and I'll still be here
It all starts here-
the lives we never had
and every day
will bring another chance
to break our molds,
to go crazy in our new worlds.
Your bags were packed
and your smile was bright.
"I just can't wait," you said,
"to start again-I'm so excited.
And this will be
the best of everything we've seen."
You said, "Close to you
is where I'm gonna be when I get home."
You'll be gone
and I'll still be here.
You'll be gone
and I'll still be here.
Since you've been gone
the days have evened out
and with the years
I've forgotten what was ours.
And where you are
is right where I'm supposed to be
but I don't know
where that might be at all.
You'll be gone
and I'll still be here.
You'll be gone... (and I'll still be here.)
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So Close to God
I wanna go to heaven
but the competition's stiff
I'm sweaty and unshaven
and in a sentimental shift
I see you here and calm
in a peace I couldn't keep
I'll pour the whiskey
smooth your hair
hold your hand and fall asleep
Everyone above here is so close to God
The bells are ringing
a total for the day
I'd swear the free from the brave
if the lord would play that way
And at the carillon
I'll look behind the velvet sheet
to see the honeys and mangos
and the lawn chairs on the beach
Everyone above here is so close to God
and everyone below me's working hard
Take away the gravity
holding the perfect sky
and carry me along your trees-take me
In the grand finale
I'll wear my spatted kicks
ride magenta tail fins
and wave my marshal's stick
I'll guide the lone redeemer
with a gilded cross to bear
a prom-king Jesus
with the holy rollers' flair
Everyone above here is so close to God
and everyone below me's working hard
Take away the gravity
holding the perfect sky
and carry me along your trees-take me.
Everyone above here is so close to God
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He Never Meant You Any Harm
I am crossing the field
where you plucked that drooping flower
with all its silent appeal
desperate for its sound.
The house is empty now
except my things and me
Luis' room is where I watch the street
when yours gets too dark and free.
Believe me when I say
he never meant you any harm.
It's like the city's gone
home to face its wondering heart
to hold their fathers one last time
to mend the pride that slips apart.
Yours was a street fight
mine was a dime store crime
crossing, but not quite
between your mouth and mine.
Believe me when I say
he never meant you any harm.
I am crossing the field
where you picked that drooping flower
with all its silent appeal
desperate for its sound
Would you come to me
across this slotted ground?
We'll pour our distance through the soil
stained and loveless until now.
Yours was a street fight
mine was a dime store crime
crossing, but not quite
between your mouth and mine.
But I'm only half right
the rest seems insincere.
Maybe the daylight
would be our hind-eyed cure.
Believe me when I say
he never meant you any harm-
You were never even mentioned.
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A Final Scene
The windows aren't showing
any light from inside
and only the papers on the street
are making noise.
I've made it until now
without the traffic lights breaking down
here, where I've wanted you so long.
And once inside the gravity
of everything, alone
is making out the best with me
and cursing me again.
So I'll stay here on a quilt
that's held me dearly at this distance
where I've wanted you so long.
And I have seen a final scene
too many times to bear:
the way that night I looked for you
and reached out for your hair.
So I'll stay here-
here, where I've wanted you so long.
And I know that this is just the place
to keep away from me
but the key still fits and everything
is just where it should be.
Is the way I held you body wrong?
Did I wrap your waist too strongly
here, where I've wanted you so long?
And I have seen a final scene
too many times to bear-
the way that night I looked for you
and reached out for your hair.
Is the way I held your body wrong...
here-where I've wanted you so long?
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Mountain for Your River
I've been headed, right or wrong
out to water freezing cold
out of bounds two steps below.
And it's been working all along:
set the bait with hooks that hold
face to face the trusting foe.
I'd give this mountain for your river
just to know where you go.
I'd give this mountain for your river
just to know how to flow.
It's been a thirsty, muddy climb
Territory steep and mean
mounted on a shining horse.
This ride's honestly a crime
following the banks so green
summoned by your gentle force.
I'd give this mountain for your river
for the sureness of your course.
I'd give this mountain for your river
for the coolness at your source.
And I'll fight upstream, up this rugged slope,
to find your charity and some youthful hope.
You did your best to start with me
and you carried what you gathered far away.
The sky blinded me
peaks across the platinum sky
having stepped the final mile.
And I need water now to breathe
and its mirror to clear my eyes
in reflections of your smile.
I'd give this mountain for your river
to bathe in that flowing aisle.
I'd give this mountain for your river
just to finish off in style.
And I'll fight upstream, up this rugged slope
to find your charity and some youthful hope.
You did your best to start with me
and you carried what you gathered far away.
You did your best to start with me.
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Hard to Find (Valentines)
If we were drunk in a bar
you would sit too far from me.
And if I played it just right
you would try too hard.
But I'd like to tell you,
if you could hear me, Valentines:
You were hard to find at times like mine.
Maybe I'm feeling bad over you again
but you're shorter now and your hair is red.
Whether you forgot to call or I got tired of you
we both seem pretty happy now to have broken free on cue.
And I'm confused, dear Valentines
by what my memory's done to your eyes.
It's made them clearer, it's made them gold
it's made them sleep too long
it's made them cold.
But I'd like to tell you
if you could hear me, Valentines:
You were hard to find at times like mine.
And I thought I loved you so many times
but you're the best of me
and you changed my mind.
And I'm confused, dear Valentines
what my memory's done to your eyes.
It's made them clearer, it's made them gold
it's made them sleep too long again
it's made them cold.
I'd like to tell you
if you could hear me, Valentines:
You were hard to find at times like mine.
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Angeline
There's a velvet rose
over satin bows
tables red and green
from a magazine.
You've got everything you wanted
now it's only what you've got.
Angeline
it's a fragile scene
hold your head up higher
when your eyes get tired.
You've got everything you wanted
now it's only what you've got.
We were happy then
inside that china pen.
A world in miniature.
A comfort so unsure.
Stood at the iron gate
oh, but Angel you couldn't wait
you took the world around you
and tried to turn it upside down.
Our age beholds the monger
my peace is full of hate.
My love for you grows stronger
I just can't wait until you stop.
You've got everything you wanted
now it's only what you've got.
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