Ephemeral Iridescences
It's a bright and sunny day, but I don't feel that way.
I feel like such a fool for
staying stuck inside of this gloom,
but what else can I do? I'm still
hung up on her,
so I go out for a run. I just
keep running from
opening up to embrace all the
changes in my life;
but the rhythm of my footsteps
sets my heart at ease,
and you never know what you might
come across on a friendly neighborhood street.
Spontaneous joy might arise. You
might be caught by surprise...
C* G F C :|| (8x)
...by
big bubbles bursting with the
laughter
of little children in the park,
bright
rays of light
shimmering
through the dark.
C* G / F Am G - / C* G /
F G C -
This old world can bring me down.
There's a lot of heavy shit going round,
so I try to appreciate life's
little gifts along the way:
tomatoes ripening on the vine, an
occasional glass of wine,
a warm smile passing by, clear
and starry nights,
my morning cup of coffee, a bear
that's crisp and hoppy,
dark chocolate rich and creamy, a
hot shower soothing and steamy,
soft rain against my skin,
shelters from the wind,
a lover's tender embrace, so many
things like these.
They're
like big bubbles bursting
with
the laughter of little children in the park,
bright
rays of light shimmering away the dark.
We might be tempted to put the
things we love up on a shelf,
to keep them away from everybody
else,
but the life they contain would
quickly fade away.
The change would be drastic. Our
love would turn to plastic.
Don't give me plastic bubbles.
I get no return from them.
They don't have the right float
or iridescent spin.
They'll never quench my thirst
without that effervescent burst.
Give
me big bubbles bursting
with
the laughter of little children in the park,
bright
spheres of light
flashing
and passing like a spark.
Come Hear It on the Mountain
It's quite a life up in these hills, up here on the mountain.
There's nothing like an old dirt
road to keep the mind from counting.
Take care not to lose your way,
or you might not make it back,
and here's to those who find
their way and never go back.
Capo IV
Am - E E7 :|| (4x)
There's
nothing like a life up on the mountain!
You
can take it or leave it, but if you leave, then I'll be doubting
that
you've seen all there is to see.
Oh,
you might want to take another look before you leave.
F C E7 Am :|| (3x)
F C G - E - Am -
Up here in these heights, it's a
world away from time,
and for the most part the law
can't pay it any mind.
In the quiet of these hills a
mind can roam free.
Out here there's nothing between
this old world and me.
Every day's another step closer
to the grave.
You can bow your head and fold
your hands, just sit around and pray,
but you might be missing a lot of
life as you wait for Judgment Day.
Oh, I'm not trying to look down
on you or tell you what to do.
I just hope you make the most of
this life before it's through.
Capo up to VI for final verse and
chorus
Vintage Beauties
Your body just won't move anymore
like your spirit wants it to.
What I wouldn't give to see you
out on that floor
dancing like you used to do!
If only I could do the dancing
for you,
I would oblige happily,
but dancing has always been
something
that has eluded me.
Although you might not ever see
it,
I've got a secret for you:
the joy you retain gets something
like a dance
moving through my soul.
Capo II
Bm - Am - / Bm - C - / Bm
- Am - / C - G - :|| (3x)
You
make me wish I could've known you
when
you were more
of
the beautiful
you
that you still are.
Bm - C - / Bm - Am - / /
C - G -
Your brain has lost some of that
razor sharpness
that once glistened through your
mind,
but I can still see it glimmering
and sparkling in your eyes.
When you crashed to the ground
that morning,
you lost much more than your
legs.
In a moment you went from
standing tall
to being blindsided by the fall,
but you're surely still a teacher
through and through.
I wish I could articulate
all the things I learn from you.
You had to be one tough cookie
in your day.
You lost two sons to war
and an infant daughter along the
way.
Your husband turned to alcohol
and was consumed by that disease.
He left you alone in this old
world
when he crashed into that tree.
You raised up my grandfather,
and though my memories of you are
few,
as with those blankets you
knitted,
in him your warmth passes
through.
Final Verse:
Maybe some day I'll find myself
in a
similar situation.
If I do I only hope I can
be such an inspiration
to all the people I might
happen to meet
as you have been
for me.
Bm - Am - :|| (6x)
C - G - / Am - G -
Blind Curves
I can't make you any promises
that I know the way out of this
place.
Delusions of thinking that I had
all the answers
have left me with nothing but mud
on my face.
Your road ahead may seem dimly
lit,
but if you'll come along even
just for a bit,
one thing's for certain, this
much I can say,
we both will wind up in some
other place.
It may not be better, but it may
not be worse.
At least it'll be a change of
course.
Banjo:
E A / F A :|| (5x)
You've
got a headlight out.
I've
got my brains out.
There
ain't too much brightness
between
these two ears,
but
I've managed to get by.
I've
managed to not die.
I've
navigated an adequate
series
of steers.
E - / A - / F - / E A :||
I'm always talking myself round
in circles
as thoughts bounce around in this
tangled old brain.
Should I go left, or should I go
right?
Do I really need to be so doggone
uptight?
Should I be serious, or should I
be silly,
anally methodic or willy-nilly?
Duh, hmm, um, I dunno?
Duh, hmm, um, I dunno?
I wish I could tell you that the
road ahead
will reach the horizon in a nice
straight line,
but the future's always creeping
around some corner
as life twists and turns in
curves that are blind.
The roads of our lives aren't
always our's to decide
we pick the best pass that we
happen to spy,
and sometimes we're utterly
baffled to find
that it leads us somewhere better
than what we had in mind;
so let's hope for the best: that
we'll make it together,
but either way it'll be the ride
of our lives.
Jumble of Words
You might think that I never did love you,
and I can't blame you for feeling
that way.
Although it was something that I
felt quite deeply,
I never could seem to get my
tongue to say.
Capo II
A - E A / A - G A :||
The
thoughts are there with feeling to spare,
but
all that comes out is a jumble of words.
A - D A / A - E A
I ponder life's deepest
questions.
My thoughts wander off to I don't
know where,
so whenever you ask just what I'm
thinking,
I come up empty, with nothing to
share.
Maybe I've never made it beyond
raw feeling.
Maybe I relate to the world
preverbally.
Maybe you think that this makes
me stupid.
I'm getting to the point where
that's all right with me.
I articulate my inner world with
my best effort.
trying not to get caught by fear,
anger and such.
'Cause when I reduce this life to
an explanation,
it tends to get my panties in
more of a bunch.
Luck of the Draw
Don't you worry about me, honey.
Everything is going just great.
I've got my last fifty dollars
riding on Denver,
and I'm counting on a lucky
break.
Am - E7 - / Dm Am E - /
Dm - F - / Am E7 Am -
I'm traveling light, just one set
of clothes.
It's been quite a trip to this
place.
The queen of diamonds cut me on
down
when I could've sworn I'd drawn
an ace.
The places I stay, they've got
quite a view.
On clear nights I always see
stars,
and when those storm clouds are
looming large
I rely on a passing car.
One bit of advice I will toss on
the table:
don't count your cards 'til their
dealt.
You might think you've got quite
a stack,
but you might end up with jack.
Yeah, you might think you've got
quite a stack,
but she might walk away with
Jack.
So don't you worry about me,
honey.
Everything is going just great.
I've got my last fifty dollars
riding on Denver,
and I'm counting on a lucky
break.
Moonlight Piñata
Intro:
Am
- E7 - :||
It
was a midnight, Mississippi bike ride
on
the Cinco de Mayo.
I
was taking it all in stride,
that
pale light shining down on me.
Dm
Am / Dm E7 / Dm Am / E7 Am
It
was a moonlight piñata
shining
down on me,
a
moonlight piñata,
oh,
glory be!
F
Am / E7 Am :||
I
needed no companion beside me.
I
wanted one even less,
no
one else there to corrupt this moment,
just
greedy to be personally blessed..
...by
a moonlight piñata
shining
just for me,
a
moonlight piñata,
oh,
glory be!
A
raccoon scampered alongside me,
staring
me down with those bandit eyes.
We
were stealing the night away together.
I
looked back with my own bandit eyes...
...at
that moonlight piñata
in
the open there for me,
a
moonlight piñata,
oh,
glory be!
Interlude:
Am
E7 Dm Am / F Dm E7 Am
Like
papier-mâché
that orb hung above me.
I felt like it was right within
my reach.
like if I swung a branch and made
solid contact
little candies of light would
rain on down...
...from
that moonlight piñata,
just
raining down on me.
It
was a moonlight piñata,
oh,
glory be!
It
was a moonlight piñata
shining
down on me,
a
moonlight piñata,
oh,
glory be!
Stowaway Dreams
Intro:
D
C G C :||
It
couldn't have been easy for you
to
give up your freedom,
to
set aside your dreams
for
someone else's needs.
So
it should come as no surprise
that
you grew to resent that job,
and
it pains my heart to think of the cost
of
the security that it bought.
But
it helped you to raise a family
and
get your children out on their own,
and
somehow each morning still finds you there
even
after they've grown.
Fadd9
C / F C / Fadd9 C / F G :|| (3x)
Oh,
you gave up on some of your dreaming
'cause
it's what you felt you had to do.
I
hope your investment was worth it,
that
the love returns to you.
F
C / Fm C / F C / G C / (G C )
The
dust piles high on that motorbike
out
in the garage,
and
how many other dreams
did
you stow away in storage?
The
secrets we hide inside ourselves
are
deeper than anyone knows,
but
when our dreams begin to fade
the
eyes will let it show.
Every
now and then
I
catch this sadness in your eyes.
Don't
give up on dreaming;
dreams
are endless as the sky.
Oh,
there's plenty of time left for dreaming.
Retirement
is just around the bend.
I
hope you can muster up the strength
and
the energy to start again.
Interlude:
D
C G C :||
I
remember those Little League tryouts
when
I didn't make the team.
In
the parking lot flowed the teardrops
of
a little boy's broken dreams.
My
vision blurred, I looked over at you,
and
I saw that love in your eyes.
You
found another team where I could play
and
taught me to keep on trying.
Every
now and then
I
still feel like that kid in that car.
Those
loving eyes still look back at me
to
keep me from losing heart.
So
I'll keep on a-dreaming,
if
you keep dreaming, too.
It
seems to me the only way
that
we're gonna make it through.
Yeah,
I'll keep on a-dreaming,
and
you keep dreaming, too.
Why
not keep on dreaming?
We've
got nothing better to do.
Coming of Age
We were drinking and passing joints
in
the coming of our age,
in
the foolishness of our youth,
but
I loved it just the same.
Capo
IV
A
Asus2 G - / C - G - / / F - C -
I
had just started college
when
those towers came down.
Childhood
was over,
but
I'd never be full grown.
Our
foolhardy, overgrown leaders
seemed
more and more insane.
Hawks
who looked more like pigeons,
I
swore I'd never be like them.
Oh,
they had all of the answers.
They'd
bring this threat to its knees,
but
when they brought their hammer down
they
only bent the nail even more.
Bridge:
Oh,
why couldn't they have seen
their
shot in the dark was bound to miss?
When
you try to force the human spirit,
it'll
always rise up and resist.
F
- C - / G - C - :||
So
let's just keep our shirts on,
and
not be too quick to roll up our sleeves.
Let's
talk it out as long as we can
before
we give up on peace.
Maybe
you think I'm naïve,
and
maybe you're right;
but
if this old world is to have a chance,
we've
got to pick the right fights.
So
maybe it was just a way to cope
with
all the bleakness that we'd seen,
a
misguided search for hope,
for
a catalyst to our dreams.
Whatever
the reason,
we
were drinking and passing joints
in
the coming of our age,
in
the foolishness of our youth,
but
I loved it just the same.
Just as Real
I met her along the road.
She
said, “I already knowed
just
what you were singing about
before
you even opened your mouth.”
Up
in the hills underneath the stars,
we
crept into a rock outcropping.
We
made love the whole night through,
yeah,
our hearts were a-throbbing.
I
woke up suddenly with a start,
sat
up in my bed with a racing heart.
How
did I get here? Where did she go?
...Oh.
Capo
III
A
A7 A G / / / A C G - A C G - - :|| (3x)
Well,
I know it was just a dream,
but
you know that it felt so real;
and
if you've ever had a dream,
maybe
you know just how I feel;
and
maybe you won't agree,
but
you know it occurs to me
that
a dream is just as real
as
a memory.
G
C A - / A C G - :|| (4x)
So
I packed up my guitar,
hit
the road in my beat-up car.
I
had no idea where I was headed to;
I
just had nothing better to do.
I
pulled off alongside the curb,
dashed
off a song of muddled up words.
I'm
just waiting for someone to deliver me.
I
expect that she'll come along soon.
Yeah,
I'm hoping to meet her along this road.
She'll
say, “I already knowed
just
what you were singing about
before
you even opened your mouth.”
Our Little Life
“We are such stuff as
dreams are made on;
and our little life is
rounded with a sleep.”
- William Shakespeare
in The Tempest
“We are such stuff as dreams
are made on;
and our little life is rounded
with a sleep.”
Capo V
C G C G / D C FG C
We see; we think. We think; we
believe.
We believe so hard until we stop
to see.
The stories we tell ourselves
compel
us into action like a sleepwalker
strolling through the streets.
We believe the stories we tell
ourselves
as if they were real, but really
they're only in our heads.
So I wish you sweet dreams, but
if you prefer nightmares,
the choice is yours. Pick your
dreams carefully and beware.
Interlude
“We are such stuff as dreams
are made on;
and our little life is rounded
with a sleep.”
Recurrence of the Benign
“I laid my heart open
to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like
myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I'd been happy,
and that I was happy still.”
-
Albert Camus' Meursault
in The Stranger
You can look around the world and
see
nothing but trouble and woe.
You can curse everything that you
find
and never come to know
a life outside of your own mind,
which is nothing but a dream,
but if you take a closer look,
things aren't always what they
seem.
Capo IV
A G / F A / A G / F G A
- :||
So
don't you worry, and don't you fret.
The
universe is benign and indifferent.
So
turn your face towards the sun,
feel
its touch so soft and warm,
relax
your weary mind,
and
open up your heart.
F G / A F - A - / G A /
/ / F G A -
I'm not claiming to have seen
the light,
maybe just slightest glimpse.
I try to take this insight to
heart,
but my mind still tends to slip
back into that self-absorbed mode
of I, me, and mine,
until these words resound clear
as a bell,
tolling through my mind. They
say...
And so it goes, on and on.
This answer is not an end.
It's a fit and start that comes
back to you
time and time again.
You're still bound to get caught
up in those whirlwinds,
those tangles of this and that,
but if you keep your ears open,
before too long
you'll hear these words echo
back. And they'll say...
Great Beauty
“The first thing to
see when you come to India—for God's sake don't see the poverty,
like an old colonizer. Don't see the poverty. Don't see that. See the
beauty of the people. When you see the tremendous beauty of the
people of India, then you see India. Poverty is a different thing.”
- Pierre Ceyrac
You've got the gall to suggest to
me
that the state of my country is a
travesty.
Looking down from atop your high
horse,
you say the land that I come from
is a slum.
Well, look at you with all of
your answers;
tell me: where does happiness
lie?
What if all this thinking that
you call enlightened
was more of a burden in disguise?
Dm C / Dm Am / / C B7 :||
My
home is a land of great beauty:
you'll
see what you come looking for.
Dm Am C B7 / C B7 Am - B7
You say that you've seen all
there is to see
of this cold and desperate heart.
You say there never was any hope
for me,
that I never could love you from
the start.
But there's more warmth in my
heart for you
than you could ever know.
I'm sorry I couldn't seem to let
it show,
but that doesn't mean my heart
doesn't glow.
In
my heart there is a space of great beauty:
I
don't know what I keep it locked away from.
I try to understand how you must
feel,
at least as much as I can.
It's been ringing in your ears
all of your life:
that you're not beautiful like
them.
And it's all so pervasive. There
seems no escape.
I'd get caught by it to if I were
you.
So many looks are there to
confirm it,
but those glares only obscure the
truth.
Your
body is bounding with great beauty:
look
beyond what they've got you striving for.
You say that you've taken a good
look inside and out,
that you've grown bitter from all
that you've seen,
that there seems to be only anger
and fear
and boundless self-serving greed.
Sure, in this life there are
plenty of dregs,
and they can get caught in your
throat;
but there's plenty of sweetness
to wash them away.
I hope you can find where it
flows.
This
life is overflowing with great beauty:
you'll
see it if you only look a little more.
Blessed Are the Forgetful
“Blessed are the forgetful:
for they get the better
even of their
blunders.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Aren't we so blessed
to live with no regrets,
never bothering to look back
at those things we don't want to
see?
C - A - :|| (4x)
Blessed
are the forgetful:
for
they get the better
even
of their blunders.
C - F - / / A G C -
Bad mistakes, maybe I made a few.
If I did, I never knew.
My life just passes me by.
My life is out beyond my sight.
Maybe time is just an illusion.
Maybe the past has never been.
If only I could believe that,
maybe I could start over again.
Yours and Mine
“Better to die on
one's feet,
than to live on one's
knees.”
- Albert Camus
Get up on your feet.
Get up off your knees.
Stand up straight and tall.
You've got dignity after all.
D - G - :|| (4x)
Better
that you die on your feet,
then to live your life on your
knees. (2x)
F C / F G :||
You can say, “Yes'm.” You can
say, “Yes sir.”
You can bow your head and hide
away the hurt.
You can let them colonize your
mind.
If you give it up, they'll take
all of your time.
This world is yours and mine.
Let's stake our claim; it's about
time.
It's about time and stepping
back.
It's about finding our own path.
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