Open the shade- I know what is coming
The stars, the sky, the moon- they are all watching
Kidneys hurt- too hard to stand
Hello floor- it’s me again.
Down on the floor- I see him beside
His golden eyes- they shine they guide.
He can’t touch; he can’t do nothing to save.
Those are the rules and he is just a slave.
Give it just a little more time- I’ll know you’ll save me.
Though you are not my man and I’m not your baby.
Give it just a little more time- I know you’ll find me.
I feel you growing like a lamp behind me.
He is silent, he is strong and standing in his square
A pane of glass between us and his body made of air
Sometimes I will slump down on that glass and I will breath him
Till I’m weak and I am crying from believing that I need him.
He says- Stand up on your legs. Oh, no, no, no- I am too weak
And if I don’t crumble like a slut who will be there for me?
Because half of all these days I can’t remember who I am
I just look around and grab onto the first hand that I can.
Give it just a little more time, I’ll know you’ll save me
Though you are not my man and I’m not your baby
Give you just a little more time, I know you’ll find me
I feel you drawing like a light behind me.
When God is your witness please say you will vouch for me
No no not to say that I was good, nor that I tried to be
But please tell him that my leaves reached up like arms towards his sky
Tell him that my roots would suck so hard they made the earth grow dry.
Give it just a little more time, I’ll know you’ll save me
Though you are not my man and I’m not your baby
Give you just a little more time I know you’ll find me
I feel you drawing like a light behind me.
You tilled the ground with a dagger.
You tilled our bodies and bones.
You smiled, but your face had no flesh,
and the sky was as white as a bone.
He was a pretty young devil.
He had a helmet and wings.
He left in the night with a stick in his hand,
and two babies chained to a ring.
She was a lovely young lady,
rounded and green as the land.
She held an urn that was brimming with milk;
she cupped it in little white hands.
Soldier, man, and lavender child-
Destined to falter and roam.
Make this flower your new resting place.
Make this ribbon your home.
Two twins they sat by a brick wall
as rain fell like bread from the sky.
And the sun and the twins were like three musketeers;
they watched you with challenging eyes.
But you, you were not one to notice-
Dressed as you were like a king.
Riding to town on twin donkeys were you,
bounded and held by a ring.
Soldier, man, and lavender child-
Destined to falter and roam.
Make this flower your new resting place.
Make this ribbon your home.
I used to cry like a donkey
I used to dream by a pool.
I used to walk with a stick in my hand
to brush against lepers and fools.
Three men, they walked to the south, by
the valleys by night and by day.
An archangel played them a song from the sky,
but the thread of their hearts led the way.
Soldier, man, and lavender child-
Destined to falter and roam.
Make this flower your new resting place.
Make this ribbon your home.
Now you can leave with the blood on your hands,
the shame of your muffled goodbyes.
Now you can crawl in your dirt and your rags,
you can scream when the sun hits your eyes.
But for a baby who sings through the night,
sitting wide eyed in a tree.
Singing a song that will rustle your heart
as the wind makes its way through the leaves.
Soldier, man, and lavender child-
Destined to falter and roam.
Make this flower your new resting place.
Make this ribbon your home.
Life is just a game
I’m on the beach with the wind in my hair,
a Hawaiian print shirt, wearing men’s underwear
My heart is under the ocean floor
If life is just a game, then I don’t want it no more.
You were the man who was so out of reach
Playing cards in a bar on a tropical beach
You got a cigar and a mustache on
You look like Mussolini and it turns me on.
But life is just a game and don’t nobody want to play it too long.
And your mustache it quivers as you softly sing a tropical song.
You look me over with your big glass eye.
You’re talking to your friend and you say “Die, man, die.”
You’re drinking rum; you offer it to me.
I’m a little boy I’m sitting on your knee.
You got a beach house; you take me there
Tropical wind blowing crazy through your hair.
You bend me over; I’m on my knees
On your bed by the window with the big palm leaves.
But that just goes to show that we both know when we pray.
But it also goes to to show that the wind can carry men away.
You tell me life is just a game and don’t nobody want to play it too hard.
You don’t wanna see the day when you’re bluffing on your very last card.
The sun falls down and we call that time
All the people fall down in a long slow line.
With palm leaves framing the sky above
You come on me and we call that love
You were the man who was so out of reach
Now you’re crushed to death on a tropical beach.
I keep my eyes on the tropical sky.
I can’t stay in the land where I saw you die.
But life is just a game and ain’t nobody better take it too true.
Cause when you finally fall then all them losers running over you.
But life is just a game and ain’t nobody better play it too dumb.
You don’t wanna spend your days in the corner sucking on your thumb
Great men’s bones line the ocean floor.
It feels hard to want to be great anymore.
Let’s go to the jungle, pick the fruit from off the trees.
Let’s give all our notebooks and our boots to charity.
I’ll let out a yelp so loud, the animals will circle round, but
First let’s have us one more drink to the here and now.
Cause time flies out the window, and it leaves behind a string,
That string is gonna guide us, baby, to eternity.
Babe, won’t you untie me and make love to me with passion?
But first let’s drink a toast to a new life, life everlasting.
Now I’m looking in your eyes, and maybe you can see the
Future is disintegrating here inside of me.
Soon, babe, I won’t be no woman, you won’t be no man;
We should rectify the situation while we can.
We’s gonna be like angels; won’t know death and won’t know birth.
We’s gonna peer beneath the tender nightgown of the earth.
I need you to undress me and make love to me with passion,
But first let’s drink a toast to a new life, life everlasting.
Let’s get in your car, my friend, and let’s just hit the road.
I can’t stay here no more; it don’t matter where we go.
The cool blue sword of heaven is descending to my hands;
I’m slicing off my parents and I’m slicing off my friends.
I’m slashing through my hopes and I’m just dashing through my fears,
When the future hits you gotta be as light as air.
Babe, slide out that condom and make love to me with passion!
But first let’s drink a toast to a new life, life everlasting
Life was never meant to be your Home
Step softly now
See their hooded eyes
Keep us close at hand
You may need our quick advice.
But everybody’s watching you
They got a lot to say
Just keep their words within a jar
We’ll open it one day.
After all
Life was never meant to be your home.
Life was never nothing but the road you chose to take.
Step softly now
Feel the hidden hand
Through the bushes it extends to you
The outline of a man.
Then he says “Hide! Duck!
Back up against the van where they can’t see you
Crawl over to the shadows where we’re waiting
For we may be the only ones who need you.”
After all
Life was never meant to be your home.
Life was never nothing but the road you chose to take.
And how do you feel now?
Standing on your own
Like a column made of fire
A feeling that you could be quite alone?
Move swiftly now
Don’t believe you have a friend
They just like to watch you trip and fall
They’ll push you down again.
So quickly run back
Into the alleyway where they can’t see you
Press up against a tree and we will be there
Perhaps we are the only ones who need you
After all
Life was never meant to be your home.
Life was never nothing but the road you chose to take.
Light on in the wall
Just stare at it hard then he’s coming to call
He said that your name was the cause for it all
But you knew truth- he knew nothing at all
And next thing it’s all coming down.
Blue on your mind
Then come the words that you’re struggling to find
A world that don’t change and his arm like a vine
till he’s lifting you up by the shoulder.
Waited too long
You can’t hold it back now you’re lost in the song
To enter a world where you could not belong
only lay hypnotized in the smolder.
Cotton is shame
But when you’re alone then you’re primed for the game
The way you’ll go out is the way that you came
To touch is to know that you’re feeling the same
And next thing it’s all coming down.
Light on your mind
It hurts when you know he’s not looking to find
Anything more than to have a good time and that
you were the one he could roller.
Melted again
Everyone knows it’s the heart of these men
To lower you down till you can’t rise again
then they turn to a friend and grow colder.
You will remain
Just hold your hands close to the fire of the pain
And in the end only the fire will remain
The men will return to the light where they came
And next thing it’s all coming down.
‘Oh! I wish you were dead.
Then I could get some sleep, just please put a bullet in your head.
Oh! You better not speak again.’
Slide to the floor, let it hold me once more, my thick and heavy friend.
Here come the Lights! Here come the Lights!
I’ll follow them now, though they’re guiding me down
Because they’ve come to set things right.
Here come the Lights!
Oh! It’s like a parade-
Everyone dancing around in the sun while I’m searching for the shade
Or someone who can help me understand the things I’ve seen;
But the dark world engulfs me, he’ll never let go because I am his queen.
Here come the Lights! Here come the Lights!
I’ll follow them now, though they’re guiding me down
Because they’ve come to set things right.
Here come the Lights!
Oh! So this is the night?
And these are the friends who slide under the door in the guise of liquid light?
Oh! This is the Column of Heat!
You have arrived, now I will shut my eyes because I know it’s safe to sleep.
Here come the Lights! Here come the Lights!
I’ll follow them now, though they’re guiding me down
Because they’ve come to set things right.
Here come the Lights!
Little man look to the sky; the world is something blue.
Bridges rise and bridges fall; they will not hold for you.
Bridges rise and bridges fall; you doubt the things you’ve seen.
Did a man cry out in pain or was that just a dream?
Little man look to the sky and let your blue eyes burn.
Bridges rise and bridges fall; there is nowhere to turn.
People everywhere have thought the rain would never end;
Standing in the cold, that’s when they learned they had a friend.
Clouds descend upon you and they fill your eyes with white.
If it’s necessary to do something, you’d rather do what’s right.
Clouds descend upon you and you doubt the things you things you’ve seen.
Did a man cry out in pain or was that just a dream?
Clouds descend upon you, knock you down onto one knee.
Please don’t marry her, little man, you need more time to be free…
People everywhere have thought the rain would never end;
Standing in the cold, that’s when they learned they had a friend.
Winds blow in from everywhere they cut you day and night.
If it’s necessary to do something, you’d rather do what’s right.
Winds blow in from everywhere; they bring the scent of pine.
The world is something far away, a blue and icy line.
One day you will cross that line, uncertain what you’ve seen.
The images will swirl and fade like walking in a dream.
People everywhere have thought the rain would never end;
Standing in the cold, that’s when they learned they had a friend.
Almost everywhere, they thought the world would never end.
When the ending came, that’s when they knew they had a friend.
Here, have a seat.
Have a treat.
Do you like my library? Let’s talk
About life
One day you’ll be someone’s wife-
You’ll need knowledge to guide you, my girl.
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
There on the street
You will meet
First you’ll look in his eyes then you’ll dream
Of a touch
Thinking it means something much-
Now you’re already bleeding, my girl.
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
First
Only smiles, only dreams
With his blood flowing wild through your veins
Then a ring,
Thinking it means the same thing-
You’ll need magic to guide you now, girl.
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
Fade, like a dream
So you’ll scream
But there’s no one to catch you now, girl
To the lake-
There you can feel your heart break
You’ll need water to guide you now, girl.
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
So, now we’ve talked
Now you’ll walk
When I open this door on your own
Even so
Please take a cookie to go
For your blood is an angel, my girl.
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
Little Red, Little Red, Little Red
You saw my legs before you ever saw my eyes,
Dangled like a carrot from a string tied to the sky,
Landed on a stairwell in the arms of Mother Earth,
Saw you in your rags when you were digging in the dirt,
Saw you love your mother just the way that I love you,
Wish that I could change your point of view.
Dressed yourself in brown to match the color of the earth,
Washed your eyes with mud as though it was your mother’s skirt,
Mother Russia loves you, boy, but I could love you too,
Wish that I could change your point of view.
You’re a little russian boy and I’m from up above;
Lead me to the place where we make love.
You were raised in tunnels and you learned to walk on stairs,
Leaping like a rabbit with a string tied to the air,
Well-endowed in places that your mother never knew,
Terrified in many places too.
Never seen a yellow sun or touched an eye of blue,
Never touched a bird til it lay dead in front of you,
Mother Russia likes me, but she really pines for you,
I came here to change her point of view.
You’re a little russian boy and I’m from up above,
Lead me to the place where we make love.
Stairwells cross around us; it’s wilder than a maze.
So much brown around us, sunlight turns to haze.
Must be hidden alleys that you played in as a child,
Must be something here that’s fresh and wild.
Mother Mother Russia, would you give your boy to me?
I don’t want to eat him, I just want to set him free.
He feels like an orphan boy and I’m an orphan too,
Maybe I could change his point of view.
Dancing in the stairwells til you disappear from me,
Leaping out of nowhere with a flower picked for me,
You’re a little orphan boy but I’m an orphan too,
Maybe I could change you’re point of view.
You’re a little russian boy and I’m from up above,
Lead me to the place where we make love.
Let me be your little star,
Let me shine tonight for you,
Just give me one glance babe
And I’ll smile back twice at you.
Imagine all the sweet things
you hold outside your life,
I could be that for you tonight.
Ain’t got much to say myself
But I can hear the words in you.
Haven’t seen much in my life
But I can see right into you.
This world that wraps itself
Like a newspaper around your heart
I could set in on fire babe
And read straight into your heart.
Just for tonight, dear, let your
clothes fall to the ground
Let me press my ear to your chest
& get lost in my favorite sound.
Let me read past those big old words
That lock your heart inside,
They ain’t no part of you, babe,
but just a vine that climbs high, strangles the tree, blocking the light…
Let me be a little star
That falls softly onto you,
To touch you for one night, babe, and
let my light press into you.
Then I’ll just vanish in the dawn
as your whole world fills with light,
I could do that for you, tonight.
A star ain’t nothing, babe,
Until it crash down from the sky,
Until it sets your heart on fire
And you blaze against the night.
Until you wake alone in a
Bed that’s soaked in tears.
Then you’ll watch the sky
for years.
Captain of your big ship with three fingers in the sea &
You leave your ship to go fishing on a smaller boat with me &
You criticize my ponytail from beneath your feathered hat
As we slink along the side-streams in our search for trout & bass.
But you live in this world, live in this world.
So What? I’m not of this world.
Captain of the high-seas with three feathers in your hat
Drawing up a pale green flag along a wooden mast
And you greet with me with a handshake and you greet me with a pearl
And you tell me bout your time last night down underdeck with a girl.
But you live in this world, live in this world.
So What? I’m not of this world!
Take it now or leave it cause my ship is moving on
Cause the muscled men are ready & the land-walkers are all gone & the
Stars are most auspicious & the pale green flag is hung, then
You send a boy to tell me that I really don’t turn you on.
But you live in this world, live in this world.
So What? I’m not of this world!
Did I say or did I not say that I am a man & that
You & I have been brothers since the clutch of time began? & that
You & I have been captains & our ships have crossed before
But now all the stars have crossed & you don’t recognize me no more.
Walking through the cemetery where your father’s buried
and the elder leaves are falling at your feet.
Soaking up the history, the dry and subtle mystery
of feeling other men beneath your feet.
Babies may be crying, in the distance ladies dying,
but you ain’t nobody’s daddy right now.
Overhead a star’s in sight, the first one of the coming night;
it seems to irritate you somehow.
And it’s a long way home walking home with your books in the fall,
never picking up the phone never thinking of nobody to call.
And you feel like a man walking away from everything that is small,
but if you’re not making love to me you’ll never make it at all.
Now you’re in your library, you’re fingering a newspaper
you like to think you’re touching history.
The dry and dusty feel of things that can’t be touched and can’t be changed
cannot impose on your for anything.
Once upon a time, you could imagine other worlds,
but you don’t want to be a daddy right now.
The checkerboard, the flaming sword, the wounded and the newly born,
the armor and the blood upon the ground.
And it’s a long way home walking home with your books in the fall,
never picking up the phone never thinking of nobody to call.
And you feel like a man walking away from everything that is small,
but if you’re not making love to me you’ll never make it at all.
Now you’re at the barber shop, the silver hair upon you
will be shortened with the others right now.
You cross your hands and wonder if there’s something you’ve forgotten,
but there’s nothing coming to you right now.
The blood inside your arteries, the fibers of your muscles
can do nothing but resent you right now.
The babies and the ladies and the stars begin to hate you,
cause you ain’t nobody’s daddy right now.
And it’s a long way home walking home with your books in the fall,
never picking up the phone never thinking of nobody to call.
And you feel like a man walking away from everything that is small,
but if you’re not making love to me you’ll never make it at all.
In the woods, covered by trees,
I’m dangling my feet in a stream and wondering
what all this really means
Armies of God are on their way,
marching like a stream and now they’re
marching on my way.
Will it pain me? Will it hurt?
Will it crush me like a tiny bug
into the rocks and dirt?
If it’s wrong, if it’s a mistake,
will it be as soft and wet as blood,
just a stain that any stream could wash away?
I ain’t sure, can’t be certain of its worth.
But if we’re making love tonight, then
today must be the longest day on Earth.
Did you know, my brother Kay
broke a stain-glass window and the
cops hauled him away?
I’m holding out my hand to you.
You’re gonna cuff me good and after that
I’ve no idea what you might do.
Will I scream? Will I cry?
Will my heart become a jailbird crooning
lonely through the night.
Is this war? Or is it peace?
Should I dress myself in white or
should I hide a tiny gun beneath my knee?
Is it possible to view all this with mirth?
If we’re making love tonight then
today must be the longest day on Earth.
I’ll need bourbon, I’ll need some wine,
I’ll mix it all together start a
fire inside my mind.
I’ll need music, and laughter too,
something to distract my mind
so I won’t think of you.
My brother Kay, he tried to run,
but he tripped and the cops were on him
like a finger on a gun.
I’m gonna run, but I’ll trip too;
I’ll trip on the tiny fishing line
that ties my heart to you.
I’ll bite down on a stick like a lady giving birth,
but if we’re making love tonight then
today must be the longest day on Earth.
Everyone’s appeasing you
Cause they know that you won’t leave
They watch the lines you draw in snow
They follow where you lead
First to the left, then back,
In a convoluted track
It makes no sense,
it only means one thing:
Longfingers is our King!
Your crimson robe is lined with fur
And shells from every sea.
Your silver hair it falls in curls
Your beaded blue eyes see that
We dare not outgrow
The shadow that you throw
You shield us from the Sun
and we kiss your ring.
Longfingers is our King!
Rumor says you’ll take a lover
Once the winter dies
Ladies gaze into the ice
With questions in their eyes..
“Could it be me, the one,
Longfingers wants to see,
Could I be the scarlet gem
upon his ring?”
Longfingers is my King!
No one can out-think him
Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.
No one can out-speak him
Cause he rewrites every word.
And all our mighty men
Well they all fight for him
To spread his crimson banner
Like a wing.
Longfingers is our King!
Gazing from my mudden hut
I stare into the sky
Chewing on a golden straw
I contemplate him dying
He will not force me
Into civility
I’ll always be a wild
And savage thing
Longfingers is not king!
“You can never fight him” then
I heard the Earth reply
“Even if you snapped his neck
Longfingers would not die
No, he would live in you
and then what could you do?
You must remain a wild
And gentle thing.”
Longfingers is your king!
Well i came here with a husband & a baby on the way
I thought I’d be a painter & sell my art for pay
i lost my baby & I lost my man
the art didn’t go as I had planned
men would come to buy paintings & then they’d try to buy sex with me.
now I ain’t sunk down that low yet though i ain’t got far to fall
already I tried to be an exotic dancer but they told me i was too small
well i cam here when i was 23, now I’m almost 24
and i can’t take this fucking place this lonely town no more
well i went to a bar got an apple martini it took all the money i had
got hit on by a bunch of men too old to be my dad
got offered cocaine got offered pot
got offered to suck some guys dick
I said hell no but if I got any bluer might be tempted to take me a lick
well i left that bar to go walking home
passed out on the street
woke up covered in cigarette butts & starring at peoples’ feet
And everyday when i walk these streets
i feel like people are laughin at me
like I’m the butt of some joke in the sky that i can’t even see
i try to smile at a nice young man he just walks out the door
i can’t take this fucking place this lonely town no more.
lately I’ve been wondering where I’m supposed to go from here
i could go back to kentucky but wouldn’t be welcomed there i fear
Cause when I left to come to LA they all told me my head was too big
now I’m a lady divorced with no baby in kentucky that’s worse than a pig
well i could stay here & be a prostitute
i could stay here & be a ho
but who would pay to sleep with me when they won’t even say hello?
They’d tell me i ain’t blonde enough
they’d tell me I’m too white.
that I ain’t witty to get them jokes they might tell in the heat of the night
that i don’t keep up with current events i don’t got me a lot to say
that i listen to stupid music like dolly parton and mary lou faye
that i where too much pink my shoes is too big i look like i came from a farm
my arms ain’t got no muscles
my thighs ain’t made of steel
I’m always frowning & looking down i ain’t got no confidence no friends around
damn! i hate this fucking place this lonely lonely town.
It’s clear i don’t belon out here but where could my future be
it seems i don’t belong anywhere & that’s what’s gettin to me.
i can’t really leave but i can’t really stay- that’s what’s bringing me down
DAMN!! i hate this fucking place this lonely lonely town.
Three clouds is billowing
through the blue of a noonday sky.
Lord, they got to be three miles long,
got to be one mile high.
All around me is people;
the tents and flags of a fair.
They’re all going and coming someplace;
I’m the only one just, just standing there.
Time is dragging me up again
to where the future waits with her pearls and her rings
And I’m looking for a king.
Yeah, I’m looking for a king.
People are bumping into each other
and knocking me gently to and fro.
Aint one face I recognize here,
Ain’t one person I know.
I buy me a hot dog
from the man in the hot dog stand
The price is right, but I can’t take a bite;
I’m just holding it there in my hand.
Cause my stomach is full with the lead weight
of waiting on everything.
And I’m looking for a king.
Yeah, I’m looking for a king.
One arm is dead with the weight of the dog,
and my eyes are hooked on the sky.
I can’t tell that it ever ends,
and those three clouds is rolling by.
No one could overlook such a cloud
so fluffy so white and so high.
No one could deny such a cloud
anything she needed to get by.
Lately I’ve been feeling
like nothing down here can offer me anything.
And I’m looking for a king.
Yeah, I’m looking for a king.
Lady: Well, I’ve been drinking wine all night, I need to tell the truth.
Maybe you suspected, friend, that I’m in love with you,
and so, my friend, if you’ll take my hand, we’ll step outside this bar.
We’ll kiss out on the sidewalk, and then start making love.
Man: Let me say, your confession, friend, is music to my ears.
I, too, am quite in love with you, but was held back by my fears,
and please don’t think I’m just another man who wants to use you and throw you away.
Know that, babe, when we make love, I’ll be around to stay.
Together: Well, love it ain’t no real estate, it don’t know right or wrong.
As we circle round the sun, our love goes on and on.
Lady: Well, darling boy, I ain’t your girl, I’ll never be your wife.
As soon as we make love I’ll leave cause that’s my only life.
But babe, I’ll taste you in the air, you’ll feel me in the sun;
and though we go our separate ways, our love goes on and on.
Man: You think, just cause I’m a man, my heart is made of stone,
that I could fall in love tonight and in the morning let you go.
I’d better leave this bar right now; I’d better run away,
A man can’t just throw down his heart if you ain’t gonna stay.
Together: Well, love it ain’t no real estate, it don’t know right or wrong.
As we circle round the sun, our love goes on and on.
Lady: Now I ain’t gonna make no move to keep you here with me,
but true love, babe, it never dies, and nor does destiny.
Can’t you see we’re planets, babe, that circle the same sun?
You’ll always circle back to me, no matter where you run,
so just pass by on me tonight, pass by on me again,
hold on to your heart tonight, we’ll make love in the end.
Nah, I ain’t feeling all that down today,
I ain’t even feeling that blue,
And if anyone wanted to feel sorry for me,
I’d just tell them to feel sorry for you.
See I came here from Beaverlick, Kentucky,
And out there we use what the good lord brings,
If your mama puts a biscuit on your plate you’d better eat it,
Cause you don’t know when you’re gonna get a biscuit again.
Now after eating some corn on the cob, well,
You can turn that cob into a doll or a paperweight,
And if your pretty cousin’s batting her eyes at you,
Well, you just go on and set the wedding date.
Cause love it don’t grow on no tree, you know,
Love it ain’t coming for free,
You ain’t too smart, Dusty Stables,
If you’re just passing up on me.
Well, Beverly Hills it’s a lonely place
But I’ve got me this window that’s small and high,
I just lie in bed on my stomach some days
Just watching that piece of sky.
And with all this time just going to waste, well,
I thought I might as well be spending it with you.
You could lie on my bed, flip me over on my back,
I might be curious to see what you would do.
Now I ain’t saying I’m some special catch,
But I know love don’t grow on no trees,
And I ain’t seeing no reasons
For you not making love to me.
Other men they know that love ain’t free
And you just gotta get it when you can.
Now I ain’t saying its true, but I’ve heard that in prison,
A man will make love to another man.
Now I came out here to make a name for myself
So don’t think I came looking for you.
And I should probably just get on back to Beaverlick,
but one more time, Dusty, just hear me through.
Cause love it don’t grow on no tree, you know,
It ain’t gonna fall from the sky,
If you can have my love for free, you know,
You’d be a fool just to pass me by.
Don’t wanna be your woman,
don’t want to be your wife,
don’t want to be your girlfriend, man,
don’t wanna live inside your life,
Just wish you could give yourself
yeah give yourself to me.
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it come for free.
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it come for free.
I ain’t hiding nothing, man,
ain’t wearing no disguise,
ain’t laying down no mousetraps, man,
ain’t casting hooks into your eyes,
I ain’t got no business, man,
I’m a lonesome charity.
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it come for free.
Love it don’t mean mothing, man, unless it come for free.
The goods you’re looking to acquire,
well, they don’t belong to me.
You should have asked my father
if you meant to marry me.
When dawn breaks I rise up
with a green pail in my hand,
I feed the pigs and chickens and
I gaze across the land.
This land is and beautiful,
but it don’t belong to me;
ain’t nothing I can give you,
but I’ll take your love for free.
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it comes for free.
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it comes for free.
You should meet my sister
with her hair of gold;
she looks the same as I do and
she’s only half as old.
I think she might marry you
if you asked her properly;
she could really sew for you and
she could make you tea.
Me I’m gonna stay here
on my father’s land,
gonna spend my nights alone
my days upon this land.
The chickens and the pigs, you see,
they all depend on me.
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it come for free
Love it don’t mean nothing, man, unless it come for free.
Mama, do you think that maybe
I could be the lucky one today?
Cause the men who used to laugh at me
And dance around my table
Are all lined up in the yard today.
And the wind doesn’t blow them away,
The rain doesn’t change the words that they say.
Oh Mama, do you think that maybe
I could be the lucky one today?
Oh Mama, do you think that maybe
I could be the lucky one for real?
Cause the feelings of emotion that
I’m feeling in my body are the
Feelings that the lucky ones feel- the
Orange of victory, the yellow sun rising up in me, and the
Cool blue sword of my sexuality.
Oh Mama, do you think that your lucky one is ready
To go lead the life that lucky ones lead?
When the men are in the desert,
When they’re burning with their wishes,
Do you think that they will bring them to me?
When they’re down in the deep blue sea
With their cheeks puffed out, with the bubbles they breathe,
Oh Mama, do you think that they will
swim up through the waters to me?
Oh Mama, do you think that they will
swim up from the ocean to
Explore the way a lucky one lives?
When I’ve fed them from my faucet,
When I’ve given them my clothing,
Do you think that they’ll be ready to give?
Can I pour like an open spout,
Can I pour and pour, can I never run out?
Oh Mama, isn’t that what being
One of the Lucky Ones is about?
I’m sitting in my bedroom, and
I’m fingering a matchstick, and
I’m watching how it burns and it shines.
Shining on the glitter and the silver that
Surrounds me like a torch in an emerald mine.
Like a torch in a crystal cave, like a
Sword that cuts through the dim and the gray,
Oh Mama ,do you think that maybe
I could be the Lucky One today?
Quilts lined his hallway
his eyes were so kind
he shook your hand, a gentle man
perhaps that was a sign.
You followed him to the patio
there were steaks on the grill
the trees swayed, the clouds flew
the world became still.
Now you awake and you’re the lucky one
you’re alive and they died
twenty white coffins lined up side by side.
They died believing that the universe was good
they died when his eyes were hid by a hood.
A face tan and placid
nothing furrowed his brow,
laying apples in a basket
he glanced over you and how
could his eyes glow like blue lakes
on which the sun shines.
he almost seemed spiritual
perhaps that was a sign.
Now you’re awake and you’re the lucky one
you’re alive and they died
layed out like white stars in boxes of pine.
They reached for goodness they reached for the light
their prayers were answered in boxes of white.
His picture still hangs on the wall by your bed
surrounded by white stars to symbolize the dead
and you gaze in his blue eyes now trying to get
the wisdom that white light would never permit.
In darkness all the stars rise
from their beds hard and plain
if they speak to you, believe in them
they have nothing to gain
And they will speak, cause you’re the lucky one
in a feather soft bed
cottony pillows to comfort your head.
Some say the universe is ruled by the good
Some say it’s ruled by a man in a hood.