There Was a Time
There
was a time when the businesses
you
were welcome in
were
determined by the
color
of your skin.
There
was a time, there was a time.
Capo V
B7 - / C - :|| B7 - Em -
There was a time when some
desperate
mother-not-ready-to-be
had to go and risk her life
in some back alley.
There was a time when certain
science was
banned from the classroom,
when the old order would have
preferred to keep
knowledge in a tomb.
There was a time when certain
sexual preference was
treated as a disease,
when only straight lovers were
free to
marry if they pleased.
There was a time when laborers
worked
every day of the week
with barely time for anything
else, maybe a
little food, sex and sleep.
In some regards there has been
progress
made to get to today,
so let's keep moving on to create
a
future in which we can say
about
more things with relief, “There was a time.”
How I Can Keep from Sobbing
When I see him, my first thought is black.
When I see her, my first thought
is fat.
I'd like to think I was above all
that,
but inside there's still this
little brat.
And
how can I keep from sobbing?
F Am / Em Am :|| F G Am -
When you see me, is your first
thought white,
pampered, privileged and wound
too tight?
It's okay. I understand.
I am in part this ugly man.
These thoughts they all hang on
so tight.
They fill me with such a fright,
but if we could learn to
understand
how to leave these thought
unmanned
it
might help us keep from sobbing.
Making Do
It gets a little lonesome sometimes
living without you here.
The saddest part's when I start
to forget
what it was like with you always
near.
I thought you'd always be here.
I thought we'd always be a pair.
And looking back my biggest
regret
is not telling you how much I
cared.
Please don't take me the wrong
way;
I'm not asking you to take me
back.
I finally feel like you're right
to see that as a worn out path.
I'm not trying to make you feel
guilty;
I don't want to cause you more
tears.
I just find myself at a loss
as to where to go from here.
And maybe this is one of those
letters
that's best left unsent.
Maybe I'm just talking to myself,
trying to figure out where our
love went.
D C / F G - :|| (10x)
Oh,
I'm doing alright.
Yeah,
I'm getting through.
I
just feel a little lost,
but
I am making do.
Though
I feel all this sorrow,
there's
still a song in my heart.
The
sun'll come up tomorrow;
it'll
be a brand new start.
Bm C / “ / “ / F G - :||
I'm so glad we still get
together.
You're still my best friend.
Thanks for letting this be a new
beginning
instead of the end.
In some ways you do seem happier
now.
I still love to see that smile,
and it seems to me it's brighter
now
than it's been for quite a while.
I don't know what the future
holds,
if I'll stay or if I'll go;
but whatever I decide to do
I want you to know
that I will always love you
right up until my last breath,
and if I should choose to leave
it'll break my heart to take that
first step.
And
I guess I've always been lost,
and
you tried to reach from afar;
so
I'm trying to live closer to my life,
each
day's a brand new start.
It's
an endless destination,
impossible
to get to;
I'm
still not as close to my life as I could be,
but
I am making do.
Take Me Down
I cursed you for tightening the
noose.
You said you were only trying to
cut me loose.
Your revelation felt like abuse.
My eyes were slow to open to the
truth.
A - Bb A :|| (4x)
Take
me down, take me on down,
take
me down to the river.
Take
me down, take me on down,
take
me down to the stream.
A - Bb A / A Asus A - :||
It took someone from the outside
to show me how bad things had
gotten.
I never saw how I turned a blind
eye
to all the things that were
rotten.
Bridge:
I'd rather die in this cold
mountain stream,
I'd rather die than not be wept
clean.
A - Bb - C - G - / A -
Bb - C - AAsus A
You can live in a place where
there's no life left.
You can live a life of death.
You can immerse yourself in tears
unwept,
but you're sure to run out of
breath.
Paradise, paradise lost,
paradise lost and found.
Paradise, paradise lost,
it's either swim or drown.
New American Morning
Some mornings I just want to stay
in bed,
just can't seem to lift my weary
head,
in my bed fortress so warm and
soft
sheltered from a world that's so
often not.
But after a while I get up on my
feet,
brew up some coffee and have a
seat.
And after a while I start to wear
off the night
and start to absorb a little
morning light.
Capo II
Bm C / Dm Am / Em F / G FG
G FG :||
Another
morning in America,
just
wanting to stay in bed.
Another
morning in America,
awake
with a weary head.
C G / F G :||
I take comfort every now and then
in the company of a friend,
someone to help me shoulder the
load
and keep me sputtering on down
the road.
It's so good to feel that I'm not
alone,
that I don't have to carry this
all on my own.
The warm smile of a friend
can help let back in some light
again.
Another
morning in America,
awake
with a weary head.
Another
morning in America,
but
at least I've got my friends.
Turn on the news, and what does
it say?
What terrible things happened
yesterday?
Ah, just turn it off, but it
won't go away.
Why must the world be so cruel
and insane?
I know there's good things out
there happening, too,
but why don't I see them, why
don't they get through?
Maybe I'll just take a walk
around the block;
it's much friendlier there than
inside this box.
Another
morning in America,
but
at least I've got my friends.
Another
morning in America,
I'm
going outside. Fuck what trends.
It Went Away
I saw you tonight.
Where did it go?
That look in your eyes.
I'll never know.
Afraid I'll never know
a look like that again
for the rest of my days
right up to the end.
I saw you tonight.
Where did it go?
Capo IV
C - / G - :|| (5x)
(Bm C / D G)
I felt so close
to something so real.
If it wasn't real,
then what did I feel
all of those times
lying beside you in bed?
I guess what I felt
was all in my head.
But I felt so close
to something so real.
Now I'm not sure
just what to think.
Should I say, “Thanks.”?
Or else say, “You stink!”?
I could stay angry,
and say you lead me astray.
But I am unable
to keep feeling that way.
So I'll just believe
what helps me get through the
days,
that we shared love
until it went away.
That we shared love
until it went away.
Ain't It True?
You and me, we're like Jack and
Jill
tumbling down that hill. Ain't it
true?
You and me, we're like yin and
yang.
We're like space and Tang. Ain't
it true?
You and me, we're like peas in a
pod.
We're like worms in sod. Ain't it
true?
G - F - / G - C - :||
(3x)
Ain't
it true? Ain't it true?
Tell
me ain't it true?
Ain't
it true? Ain't it true?
Hey,
I love you.
D C / F C / D C / F -
You and me, we're like skin and
bones
eating ice cream cones. It ain't
true.
You and me, we're like
tongue-in-cheek.
We're like hide and seek. It
ain't true.
You and me, we're like push and
shove.
We'd be like mourning doves. No,
it ain't true.
It
ain't true. It ain't true.
Tell
me it ain't true.
It
ain't true. It ain't true
that
we're through.
You and me, we're like November
rain.
We're like broken links in a
chain if it's true.
You and me, we're like a train
off the rails.
We're like a ship without sails
if it's true.
You and me, we're like the dark
of night,
but I still see a light even if
it's true.
If
it's true, if it's true,
hell,
even if it's true,
even
if we're through
I
still love you.
Ain't
it true? Ain't it true?
Tell
me it ain't true.
Even
if we're through
I
still love you.
Relentless Rain
I've got nothing to do
today,
no one to meet, nothing to
say.
I'm worried that I'm starting to
lose my
mind.
I'm starting to worry that I've
already lost my
mind.
People must think that I'm crazy,
or
else they might think that I'm
just being lazy.
I might be inclined to agree if
things were clear instead of
hazy.
I'm beginning to wonder if there
even is a
light.
I want to see it. I
want to believe it.
I want to see it, but I'm lost in
the
night.
C - - - / G - - - :||
(9x)
When I was younger the future
looked so
bright.
The more I see the further hope
floats out of
sight.
Still I won't let it extinguish
my love of
life.
It's just that if this rain keeps
on a-coming
down.
I'm afraid it's gonna wash right
out this
town.
That rain just keeps a-coming
down.
That rain just keeps a-coming
down.
That rain just keeps a-coming
down.
That rain just keeps a-coming
down.
How Can I Keep from Sobbing?
The wedding guests run for their lives.
The bombs stifle a mother's
cries.
A world away with half-closed
eyes
drone out the usual alibis.
And
how can I keep from sobbing?
F Am / Em Am :|| F G Am -
Where there should be love and
care
instead creeps in this awful
fear.
A father reaches a hand out to
his son
and strikes him with the other
one.
The love I thought would never
die
withered up before my very eyes.
The more I tried to hold on
tight,
the faster it slipped out of
sight.
But the rose bushes are in full
bloom.
From across the park I hear the
tune
of birds singing up in the trees.
A young girl dances in the
breeze.
And
it helps me keep from sobbing.
Time It Was
Time
it was when your work
was
clearly linked to your life,
a
clear need for everything you did,
there
was no wondering why.
Time
it was, time it was.
Capo V
B7 - / C - :|| B7 - Em -
Time it was when your job
was an art form that you knew
It gave your life a purpose;
it helped you make it through.
Time it was when farmers
would own their own land,
and make a decent life for
themselves
by the work of their own hands.
Time it was when your neighbors
were good friends that you knew.
If you found yourself in trouble,
they would be there for you.
Time it was when you went to
school
to try to understand.
Instead of just learning how to
be
a tool for The Man.
Time it was when guns in school
was something unthinkable,
before we got a glimpse into
the darkness of the human soul.
Time it was when we were not
so quick to go to war,
when we were not so
indiscriminate about
what was worth killing and dying
for.
Time it was when time was not
just a clock on the wall.
We didn't have to measure every
second
and find a place for them all.
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