Bumblebees
Aren’t we the pair! Or is the word fair?
You on your tour of the world,
me dancing in air; hopelessly
searching about
for something to do…
and lost without you.
Isn’t it strange! It’s always the same:
just when you’ve found what you want
it’s all rearranged;
tossed like a bridal bouquet
to some face in the throng…
it somehow seems wrong.
How we survived! It seems so short-lived,
bumbling alone through the maze
like bees in a hive;
flitting from flower to plant
with no thought of haste—
and no sense of waste.
Would you like peace? A bit of surcease
living the mundane, drab life
of dishpans and grease!
Quietly digging a rut
from the grounds that we knew,
with none but we two.
Time’s only a loan! And yet you still roam;
when all your problems are solved,
will you then come home?
“Home is where the heart is”
the poet decreed:
please come home to me.
Darkness Again
Well, here comes the darkness again,
just like a melancholy friend;
coming slowly, and smiling sadly,
as though it felt quite badly
about the fact that my luck never ends.
Yeah, here comes the darkness again…
I guess it’s gonna be a life-long trend.
Every time a magic night
makes me think I’ve found the light,
I find it’s just a candle in the wind.
No, I can’t think why there seems no place
for my poor heart to mend,
but it seems that every path I trace
just leads me to the darkness again.
Well, maybe I’m starting to mind
The fact that Fortune seems unkind!
Although the sunlight shines somewhere,
all I can do is stare
up at the gloomy rainbow of the blind.
And all of the colors that its sight
could have made my world so bright,
have faded into gloomy gray,
and seem destined to stay
hidden by the inky curtain of the night.
No, I can’t think why there seems no place
for my poor heart to mend,
but it seems that every path I trace
just leads me to the darkness again.
Yeah, here comes the darkness again….
Fading Falcons
Fading falcon, don't you know your time has flown?
Your broken wing is drooping low,
that look of pride no longer glows,
but you say you don't mind being all alone.
Buzzards circling…swarm in packs above your head.
You know that they don't dare get near --
without a group there's too much fear.
But they will just wait until you're dead.
And all the pain and sorrow that you've suffered to be you,
was it worth the lonely years that you went through?
Well, you flew so high and you stood so tall --
all it means is that you've farther now to fall.
Like the Phoenix, you think you will rise again….
You've always lived by your own rules;
the laws were just for sheep and fools,
but now you've found you could use a friend.
Still rememb'ring: in the dark you fly in dreams,
fiercely soaring through the night
as if freedom helped your sight
into yourself and what life means.
And all the pain and sorrow that you've suffered to be you,
was it worth the lonely years that you went through?
Well, you flew so high and you stood so tall --
all it means is that you've farther now to fall.
Fading falcon, don't you know your time has flown?
The world is not the one you knew;
it has no place for such as you.
You've built no nest you can call your home.
Each Petal Must Unfold
Past the shadows of the morning,
Past the love that I once knew,
I am trav’ling towards the sunrise,
And my life begins anew.
Goodbye joy, farewell to sorrow,
Yesterday has spent its time;
All I see now is tomorrow
And the prospects that are mine.
Did you know me when I hungered;
When I laughed or when I cursed?
A diff’rent song, a diff’rent singer,
Each new day is like my first.
It is not that I am wise,
it is not that I am bold;
Every spring brings brand-new flowers,
And each petal must unfold.
Do you live the life you long for?
Face the challenges you seek?
Do you live like an adventurer,
Or exist among the meek?
Everyone must seek their fortune,
For each soul has its own needs;
Find your pleasures in your own truths,
Your rewards in your own deeds.
Farewell, my sweet, the sun is rising,
Perhaps we’ll meet again one day;
We lived a lifetime very briefly,
But it’s time I’m on my way.
It is not that I am wise,
it is not that I am bold;
but the spring has brought new flowers,
A new petal now unfolds.
Goodbye Song
Mindlessly wearing
my harlequin smile,
while listening
to words I cannot hear;
happily laughing
the children go running
beneath my window
as I huddle in tears;
sightlessly looking
upon all the people
who perform acts
I cannot comprehend;
greedily gloating
without any passion,
the miser sits counting
the coins he will not spend;
fruitlessly wishing
I knew where she’s gone to,
but knowing that
I could not follow there;
painfully recalling
all, and I cry out
at the “good-bye”
that still lingers
in the air.
Vagabondage
I don't know why I should feel ashamed for wand'rin as I do;
Why don't you all apologize for the rut that shelters you?
I ain't the kind to cringe in fear at the name of 'vagabond' --
Show me the virtue in your mortgaged home,
'til then I'll ramble on.
I tramped the roads of Britain, of Japan and Germany;
With starry-eyed students and destitute bums, I've shared some company.
I've slept 'neath barns and bridges, and eaten what I could steal,
And whenever it rained or snowed on me,
I smiled that I could feel.
I've heard the music of Mexico, and drank the wines of France;
I saw the girls of Holland and Spain, and asked 'em all for a dance.
Although I ain't got a dime to my name, still all that I can say
Is I wouldn't trade the memories
of where we've been today.
I don't know why I should feel ashamed for wand'rin as I do;
Why don't you all apologize for the rut that shelters you?
Although I ain't got a dime to my name, my friend, all that I'll say
Is I'd never trade the memories
of where we've been today.
Roads That Lead Me Nowhere
Got on a bus the other morning, heading for some other place.
It seems that I have disappeared without a trace….
I’ll probably read about myself in a missing person’s file
Described as “Like a Chesire cat, without the smile.”
The things that I do now seem just as boring as a burlesque routine;
It’s time I got myself out of this endless scene.
‘Cause I’m tired of the roads that lead me nowhere,
I’m tired of the strangers I have known;
But, since I left your loving arms, I’m tired most, I swear,
Of trying to exist while feeling all alone.
I had everything a man could want: had a good home and wife,
But I thought I was missing something more in life.
The T.V. shows talked about adventure; made me think I had none,
The movies all showed me things that I had never done.
And thinking that I was getting old, it cut me just like a lance,
So I took off to find that fabled “true romance”.
But I’m tired of the roads that lead me nowhere,
I’m tired of the strangers I have known;
But, since I left your loving arms, I’m tired most, I swear,
Of trying to exist while feeling all alone.
The hassles I’ve had must be adventure, things I’ve done must have been great,
But I’m feeling like a man of nearly eighty-eight;
The women I’ve known since I left home were nothing compared to her—
Instead of being fulfilled, I feel hollower…
I wonder if she would take me back if I got down on my knees,
Or if I’m stuck with nothing now but memories?
For I’m tired of the roads that lead me nowhere,
I’m tired of the strangers I have known;
But, since I left your loving arms, I’m tired most, I swear,
Of trying to exist while feeling all alone.
Disco Diseases
I was rockin’ at the disco on a Saturday night;
The girl I was with was really outasight.
My clothes were sharp, and my heels were high,
And my dancin’ and prancin’ were beginning to fly,
When I suddenly felt a sharp attack
Of a Disco Disease in my sacroiliac.
Yeah, the latest dance step had shattered my spine,
The one before that had nearly blown my mind;
My eyes were weak from the smoke and bad lights,
And my ears were ringin’ like I’d been in a fight;
My arches were fallen, both my hips had points,
And my finger snappin’ had dislocated six joints.
Chorus
h, the Disco Diseases are a livin’ hell:
They make you hurt all over, and they make you smell.
But this dancin’ fool is gonna be around
‘Til they lay me six feet under the cold, hard ground.
Instrumental
Well, when I was young, I could dance ‘til dawn,
And every night I went and got it on.
All the girls went wild when I asked ‘em to dance;
As the disco king, I was the prince of romance.
But Disco Diseases have ruined my fun
Now that I’m an old man of twenty-one.
Chorus
Love You Like a Rock
A lot of guys will try and tell you with words;
That kinda chirpin’ is just for the birds.
So many others use the look in their eyes,
Or try to melt you by the sounds of their sighs.
You’ll never know just how much I love you
Until you’ve got me right above you;
You’ll never know how deep I really care
Until you’ve got me all the way up there.
Yeah, babe, with me you really know,
‘Cause, babe, I really let my love show:
I love you like a rock,
Yeah, babe, just like a rock.
You know my love is hot because of my touch;
I say I need you – well, you feel how much.
And when I use my tongue, I don’t tell no lies
Because it’s busy makin’ you make the sighs.
Communication is a really fine art,
I tell the truth to you with all of my parts:
I use my hands, my hips, and all of the rest,
But what I’m givin’ you is surely the best.
Yeah, now you know how much I love you,
Because you got me right above you;
You know how deeply that I really care
Because you got me all the way up there.
Yeah, babe, with me you really know,
‘Cause, babe, I really let my love show:
I love you like a rock,
Yeah, babe, just like a rock.
(fade out)
I rock you like a rock;
Oh, baby, like a rock;
Etc.
Kings Die, Too
Even as a knight-errant, it was soon quite apparent
that you were destined to go far;
I could hear the world sing, and they crowned you “the king”,
that you lived beneath a bright star.
You were glad to collect the men’s grudging respect,
the girls loved you tender and true;
but all of your glory couldn’t change the old story
that even the kind must die, too.
Chorus
Yeah, even in the middle of a love song
there’s sorrow when the story goes wrong.
Well, you gave us some romance,
and you helped the whole world dance,
and, though the king has died, the song goes on.
And then in that fall, when the Army did call
you to march to that Aryan strand,
you wanted to stay, but still rose to the day,
and came back with conquests unplanned.
No Hollywood script has ever outstripped
your journey from nowhere to fame,
and, though you have gone, the picture lives on
of memories bright with your name.
Chorus
But monarchs, it seems, can fulfill their dreams,
and still there is something they lack;
it still can’t be told why you glittered like gold,
and yet let the picture go black.
Once we had fears—where you left us for years—
that you had just faded away;
you soon put that right, and shone much more bright…
but now you have left us to stay.
Chorus
