1. AUGUST

I think I woke up on the wrong side of the world.
In Tucson’s burning heat, [or] Quebec’s December chill.

I should buy a fare,
so I can get away from here to my homeland.
I don’t have much that I own,
but I am sure going back home.

Perhaps I found myself, but again I could be wrong
’cause when guru’s often speak, they seem so sincere.

I should buy a fare,
so I can get away from here
to my homeland.
I don’t have much that I own,
but I am sure going back home…

Until I find my place,
It’s another town, another floor to sleep on.
Maybe a place that rains?
I’ll build a house and be like any other.

2. THREE BIRDS

Last time the air seemed colder.
My wings are so tired from leading.
I’ll fall to the rear, drop down many gears.
Let some rested bird take over and steer.
Oh!

Bright red, pale blue and yellow.
I stand knee deep in water.
I’ll stand on one leg, and feed from the lake.
Fly to Mendocino, excite some poor family.
Spend weeks on the stream, croquet is my dream.
Hope one gentle bird comes to comfort my soul.
Oh!

I dive so deep in water.
This fog, this feast, the isle, the sea bird is blessed.
I’m only ten miles from Faroese isles.
One foot is a herring, the other a whale.
My cliff will rejoice with the bounty I bring,
yet my legs and my wings are unable to fly.
Hold tight little bird, sing praises ye Earth
while some mighty bird comes to shoulder the weight.
Oh!

3. THE LION

Yellow moon, radiate,
and shine a light upon this lion in his den.
That caliphate of sin, that recluse deep within,
needs gravity in space to help him learn his place.
We’re not safe.

Brilliant men, come defend,
though our idealistic commune will oppose.
These men who gather our flocks, are daily under siege
by a lion, savage and wild. We’ll help him learn his place.
Oh, we’re not safe.

Those sights, those sounds at the break of dawn -
they call like a songbirds tune.
One step, one toe lest the lion know
there’s an ambush in the autumn snow.
And we say oh!

Yellow moon, radiate,
and shine a light upon this lion in his den.
Our honored councilor stand abreast with blood-lade’ lamb,
a shaky hand in air to hide this recent affair.
We were fooled.

4. OLD MAN OF THE LAKE

In the early morning hour,
past the darkness of the night,
yeah, there’s a silence, it startles to the bone.

I left behind a broken mill
in the heart of Jacksonville,
’cause in the mountains a man can be alone.

I cry, “Onward, ho! Fore to that Caldera!”
And we go on.

Twenty miles from where I lay,
through the clearing of the day,
at once a vision; the mountain, mule and me.

It took a day or so, I guess,
to climb the hill the natives dread.
Can you hear me, aloft from Shasta’s hill?

I cry, “Onward, ho! Down to that blue water!”
And we go on.

We go down through the water of a mountain,
then upwards through the fiber of a tree.
We’ll float on like this forever,
though the world be caught in greed.
Before long the men who see, they’ll cheer me on!

Up through the misty morning lake,
arose a hand, make no mistake.
At once a vision; the mountain, mule and me.

She had a gentle, moon-like glow,
and as she spoke the mountains rose.
“Can you tell me – Is man more than bone?”

Then she flew onward, ho!
She flew right up and through the aether.
She went on.

We go down through the water of a mountain now,
then upwards through the fiber of a tree.
Yeah, we’ll float on like this forever,
though the world be caught in greed.
Before long the men who see, they’ll cheer me on!
They’ll cheer me on!
They’ll cheer me on!

5. SILVER CITY, NM

In a small western town on the edge of the desert,
where no secrets are held by the kids on the playground,
Anne Marie had a crush on a simple young cowboy.
Her instincts in art told her he was unique.

And they started to grow,
their best friends won’t know,
just where they will go.

Under bright canopy with Hungarian dancers.
Bright red noses and wigs folding balloons for kids,
while the man in the front with celebrity pressure
held his gun towards the crowd and unabashedly gestured.

But who would have known
the senators son
had come with a gun?

And all this had been in a small western town,
on a dry dusty day,
where simple people smile off to work.

On the state public land with his cattle abroad,
toward the bureau of land Curtis Laney had fought.
On the day of eviction with enforcement authority,
Curtis charged on his steed towards the sheriff and deputies.

His noble last stand
was met with the sound
of bullets and shouts.

And all this had been in a small western town,
on a dry dusty day,
where simple people smile off to work.

6. TO THE COMMONALITY

And I think we did the right thing,
be guided by our feelings.
That it was purely fashion back then.

And I enjoy being normal,
that it’s so optimistic,
to feel to opposition.

And I hate to say we’re common.
And I gather that the sun’s has gone down,
sweet dreams tell me sleep is coming on.

7. THE MOUNTAINEER

I walked through a year with a mountaineer.
He told me his name,
then walked endlessly again.

High above the hills, on a snowy mountain peak,
where the Earth and Heavens meet –
the angels sing a melody.

I say, “I’ve been waiting way too long now.
I’ve been waiting way too long!
Lord, I’ve been waiting way too long.”

He said, “Son, don’t you see? The past ain’t what it seems.
It’s in the blood of man since Adam,
it’s in the mind of man since Cain.”

“But, you’ve got a lot of work left in you now.
You’ve got a lot of work left in you.
Son, you’ve got a lot for you yet to do.”

8. FRIENDS

I’ve heard the perfectest thing,
it makes a heart want to sing.
I’ve heard that I’m a child, and you’re a child:
we’re all children here together
in this orbital agency, I’ve heard it called Earth.
When we’re all strangers here,
we’re implants in our mortal probation.

Ba!

I never knew what to do,
when people talking to you,
They say that “God is dead,
we killed him, and his blood stains our cloths!”
Hey pal, it’s cool that you’re mad,
but do you have to still brag,
That your brain is far bigger
than your heart that you’ve hardened.

So I don’t care if you hate my Mormon friends,
’cause I think they’re cool, so should you!

Time, when defined by the final count,
is 0:0:0!

So I don’t care if you hate my Mormon friends,
’cause I think they’re cool, so should you!

9. THE WOOD

Gather firewood on Christmas day –
a walk into the woods.
Boots are wet, yet still comforting.
Oh, like the wood.
Oh, like the wood.

We write our name on a vacant road –
a fire seals it in.
We were foolish, we were suffering,
Oh, in the wood.
Oh, in the wood.

There we were, we were silent,
Nestled in the fern.
A calming breeze filled with lavender,
Oh, in the wood.
Oh, in the wood.
Oh, in the wood.

10. PERU

Feel your devotion like a foot I often walk on.
Words I wouldn’t tell you until you’d gone.

Then you called up to tell me that you’re never coming home,
that Chicago had your heart.

So, I packed up your stuff – I sent it ground delivery.
When it had arrived you had gone to Peru.

Well I’m glad that we’re asunder,
’cause sometimes it’s just for fun,
and I’ll tell you gal, you were strange all along.