Auld Lang Syne

by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right gude-willy waught,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Grace Carol

by Philip Graham Ryken

Joseph, see the Holy Child
Born to Mary, mother mild;
Call Him Jesus, Adam’s Son—
Now in Christ our God has come;
Call Him brother, close of kin—
Human nature, without sin.
Born to us, a fallen race,
God Incarnate, gift of grace.

Shepherds, run to Bethlehem,
Seek the babe outside the inn;
Shepherd in the manger lies,
Born to comfort all your sighs;
Unto you the Savior lives,
For the sheep His life He gives.
Born to save our wandering race,
Jesus leads us by His grace.

Eastern kings, your glory bring,
Royal treasure for the King;
King of all, the Son is given,
Destined for the throne of heaven;
Raised on high, the Christ will reign,
Conquer sin and death and pain.
Born to govern Adam’s race,
Jesus rules, the King of grace!

Jesus, Brother, Shepherd, King—
Christians, let your voices ring!
God made flesh, the Living Word,
King of Kings and Mighty Lord,
Faithful Shepherd, David’s Son,
Christ, Messiah, Holy One.
Born to save His chosen race,
Jesus gives us grace on grace.

The Journey of the Magi

by T.S. Eliot

'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Take to the World

by Aaron Tate

Go in peace
To love and to serve
Let your ears ring long
With what you have heard

And may the bread on your tongue
Leave a trail of crumbs
To lead the hungry back
To the place that you are from

And take to the world this love, hope, and faith
Take to the world this rare, relentless grace
And like the three-in-one
Know you must become
What you want to save
'Cause that's still the way
He takes to the world

Go and go far
Take light deep in the dark
Believe what's true
He uses all, even you

Getting in Tune

by Pete Townshend

I'm singing this note 'cause it fits in well
With the chords I'm playing
I can't pretend there's any meaning here
In the things I'm saying

But I'm in tune
Right in tune
I'm in tune
And I'm gonna tune
Right in on you

I get a little tired of having to say
'Do you come here often?'
But when I look in your eyes, I see the harmonies
And the heartaches soften

I've got it all here in my head
There's nothing more needs to be said
I'm just banging on my old piano
I'm getting in tune to the straight and narrow

I'm getting in tune
Right in tune
I'm in tune
And I'm gonna tune
Right in on you

The Second Coming

by William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre,
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott

by Martin Luther

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott,
Ein gute Wehr und Waffen.
Er hilft uns frei aus aller Not,
Die uns jetzt hat betroffen.
Der alt böse Feind,
Mit Ernst er's jetzt meint.
Groß Macht und viel List
Sein grausam Rüstung ist.
Auf Erd ist nicht seinsgleichen.

Mit unsrer Macht ist nichts getan,
Wir sind gar bald verloren.
Es streit't für uns der rechte Mann,
Den Gott hat selbst erkoren.
Fragst du, wer der ist?
Er heißt Jesus Christ,
Der Herr Zebaoth,
Und ist kein ander Gott.
Das Feld muß er behalten.

Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär
Und wollt uns gar verschlingen,
So fürchten wir uns nicht so sehr,
Es soll uns doch gelingen.
Der Fürst dieser Welt,
Wie saur er sich stellt,
Tut er uns doch nicht.
Das macht, er ist gericht't.
Ein Wörtlein kann ihn fällen.

Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn
Und kein' Dank dazu haben.
Er ist bei uns wohl auf dem Plan
Mit seinem Geist und Gaben.
Nehmen sie den Leib,
Gut, Ehr, Kind und Weib,
Laß fahren dahin.
Sie haben's kein Gewinn.
Das Reich muß uns doch bleiben.

Something Changed

by Jarvis Cocker

I wrote this song two hours before we met
I didn't know your name or what you looked like yet
I could have stayed at home and gone to bed
I could have gone to see a film instead
You might have changed your mind and seen your friend
Life could have been very different but then
Something changed

Do you believe that there's someone up above?
And does he have a timetable directing acts of love?
Why did I write this song on that one day?
Why did you touch my hand and softly say:
'Stop asking questions that don't matter anyway
'Just give us a kiss to celebrate here today
'Something changed'

When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing
That in a matter of hours we'd change the way we were going
Where would I be now?
Where would I be now if we'd never met?
Would I be singing this song to someone else instead?
I don't know, but like you just said
Something changed

Live Forever

by Noel Gallagher

Maybe I don't really wanna know
How your garden grows
'Cause I just want to fly
Lately did you ever feel the pain
In the morning rain
As it soaks you to the bone?

Maybe I just want to fly
Want to live, but don't want to die
Maybe I just want to breathe
Maybe I just don't believe
Maybe you're the same as me
We see things they'll never see
You and I, we're gonna live forever

Maybe I will never be
All the things that I want to be
Now is not the time to cry
Now's the time to find out why
I think you're the same as me
We see things they'll never see
You and I, we're gonna live forever

The Rainbow Connection

by Paul Williams

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side?

Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide

So we've been told, and some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me

Who said that wishes
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?

Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
Look what it's done so far

What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me

All of us under its spell
We know that it's probably magic

Have you been half asleep?
And have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name

Is this the sweet sound
That calls the young sailors?
The voice might be one and the same

I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm supposed to be
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows?
That's part of what rainbows do

Rainbows are memories
Sweet dream reminders
What is it you'd like to do?

All of us watching and wishing we'd find it
I've noticed you're watching too
Some day you'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and you

The Word

by Sara Groves

I've done every devotional
Been every place emotional
Trying to hear a new word from God
And I think it's very odd
That while I attempt to help myself
My Bible sits upon my shelf
With every promise I could ever need

The Word was
The Word is
The Word will be

People are getting fit for Truth
Like they're buying a new tailored suit
Does it fit across the shoulders?
Does it fade when it gets older?
We throw ideas that aren't in style
In the Salvation Army pile
And search for something more to meet our needs

The Word was
The Word is
The Word will be

I think it's time I rediscover
All the ground that I have covered
Like 'Seek ye first,' what a verse
We are pressed but not crushed
Perplexed but don't despair
We are persecuted but not abandoned

We are no longer slaves
We are daughters and sons
When we are weak, we are very strong
Neither death nor life
Nor present nor future
Nor depth nor height
Can keep us from the love of Christ
And the Word I need
Is the Word that was
That put on flesh to dwell with us

In the beginning....

The Word was
The Word is
The Word will be

Maze

by Tom Marshall

The overhead view is of me in a maze
And you see what I'm hunting a few steps away
I take a wrong turn, and I'm on the wrong path
And the people all watching enjoy a good laugh
Embarrassed with failure, I try to reverse
The course that my tread had already traversed

In so doing, the trauma engulfing my dream
Invaded through what was an unguarded seam
The torrent of helplessness swept me away
To the cavern of shame and the hall of dismay
Inside me a voice was repeating the phrase
'You've lost it, you'll never get out of this maze'

The Story

by Phil Hanseroth

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines, and I broke all the rules
But I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do, and I was made for you

You see the smile that's on my mouth
It's hiding the words that don't come out
And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess
No, they don't know who I really am
And they don't know what I've been through
Like you do, and I was made for you

Portrait of a Lady

by T.S. Eliot

Thou hast committed— Fornication: but that was in another country, And besides, the wench is dead.      The Jew of Malta

I

Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon
You have the scene arrange itself—as it will seem to do—
With "I have saved this afternoon for you";
And four wax candles in the darkened room,
Four rings of light upon the ceiling overhead,
An atmosphere of Juliet's tomb
Prepared for all the things to be said, or left unsaid.
We have been, let us say, to hear the latest Pole
Transmit the Preludes, through his hair and fingertips.
"So intimate, this Chopin, that I think his soul
Should be resurrected only among friends
Some two or three, who will not touch the bloom
That is rubbed and questioned in the concert room."
—And so the conversation slips
Among velleities and carefully caught regrets
Through attenuated tones of violins
Mingled with remote cornets
And begins.

"You do not know how much they mean to me, my friends,
And how, how rare and strange it is, to find
In a life composed so much, so much of odds and ends,
[For indeed I do not love it...you knew? you are not blind!
How keen you are!]
To find a friend who has these qualities,
Who has, and gives
Those qualities upon which friendship lives.
How much it means that I say this to you—
Without these friendships—life, what cauchemar!"

Among the windings of the violins
And the ariettes
Of cracked cornets
Inside my brain a dull tom-tom begins
Absurdly hammering a prelude of its own,
Capricious monotone
That is at least one definite "false note."
—Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance,
Admire the monuments,
Discuss the late events,
Correct our watches by the public clocks.
Then sit for half an hour and drink our bocks.

II

Now that lilacs are in bloom
She has a bowl of lilacs in her room
And twists one in his fingers while she talks.
"Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know
What life is, you who hold it in your hands";
(Slowly twisting the lilac stalks)
"You let it flow from you, you let it flow,
And youth is cruel, and has no remorse
And smiles at situations which it cannot see."
I smile, of course,
And go on drinking tea.
"Yet with these April sunsets, that somehow recall
My buried life, and Paris in the Spring,
I feel immeasurably at peace, and find the world
To be wonderful and youthful, after all."

The voice returns like the insistent out-of-tune
Of a broken violin on an August afternoon:
"I am always sure that you understand
My feelings, always sure that you feel,
Sure that across the gulf you reach your hand.

You are invulnerable, you have no Achilles' heel.
You will go on, and when you have prevailed
You can say: at this point many a one has failed.

But what have I, but what have I, my friend,
To give you, what can you receive from me?
Only the friendship and the sympathy
Of one about to reach her journey's end.

I shall sit here, serving tea to friends...."

I take my hat: how can I make a cowardly amends
For what she has said to me?
You will see me any morning in the park
Reading the comics and the sporting page.
Particularly I remark
An English countess goes upon the stage.
A Greek was murdered at a Polish dance,
Another bank defaulter has confessed.
I keep my countenance,
I remain self-possessed
Except when a street piano, mechanical and tired
Reiterates some worn-out common song
With the smell of hyacinths across the garden
Recalling things that other people have desired.
Are these ideas right or wrong?

III

The October night comes down; returning as before
Except for a slight sensation of being ill at ease
I mount the stairs and turn the handle of the door
And feel as if I had mounted on my hands and knees.
"And so you are going abroad; and when do you return?
But that's a useless question.
You hardly know when you are coming back,
You will find so much to learn."
My smile falls heavily among the bric-à-brac.

"Perhaps you can write to me."
My self-possession flares up for a second;
This is as I had reckoned.
"I have been wondering frequently of late
(But our beginnings never know our ends!)
Why we have not developed into friends."
I feel like one who smiles, and turning shall remark
Suddenly, his expression in a glass.
My self-possession gutters; we are really in the dark.

"For everybody said so, all our friends,
They all were sure our feelings would relate
So closely! I myself can hardly understand.
We must leave it now to fate.
You will write, at any rate.
Perhaps it is not too late.
I shall sit here, serving tea to friends."

And I must borrow every changing shape
To find expression...dance, dance
Like a dancing bear,
Cry like a parrot, chatter like an ape.
Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance—

Well! and what if she should die some afternoon,
Afternoon grey and smoky, evening yellow and rose;
Should die and leave me sitting pen in hand
With the smoke coming down above the housetops;
Doubtful, for a while
Not knowing what to feel or if I understand
Or whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon...
Would she not have the advantage, after all?
This music is successful with a "dying fall"
Now that we talk of dying—
And should I have the right to smile?

Someday We'll Know

by Gregg Alexander

Ninety miles outside Chicago
Can't stop driving, I don't know why
So many questions, I need an answer
Two years later you're still on my mind

Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?
Who holds the stars up in the sky?
Is true love just once in a lifetime?
Did the captain of the Titanic cry?

Someday we'll know
If love can move a mountain
Someday we'll know
Why the sky is blue
Someday we'll know
Why I wasn't meant for you

Does anybody know the way to Atlantis?
Or what the wind says when she cries?
I'm speeding by the place that I met you
For the ninety-seventh time tonight

I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow
I watch the stars crash in the sea
If I could ask God just one question
Why aren't you here with me tonight?

Someday we'll know
Why Samson loved Delilah
One day I'll go
Dancing on the moon
Someday you'll know
That I was the one for you

Sleepwalker

by Jakob Dylan

Maybe I could be the one they adore
That could be my reputation
It's where I'm from that lets them think I'm a whore
I'm an educated virgin

Sleepwalker, don't be shy
Now don't open your eyes tonight
You'll be the one that defends my life
While I'm dead asleep dreaming

Cupid, don't draw back your bow
Sam Cooke didn't know what I know
I'll never be your valentine
The sleepwalker in me and God only know that I've tried

Let me in, let me drown, or learn how to swim
Just don't leave me at the window
I could be the one to be your next best friend
You may need someone to hold you

Sleepwalker, take this knife
You may see someone tonight
You'd be the one that saves my life
When I'm dead asleep dreaming

I'm in your movie, and everyone looks sad
But I can hear your voice in the laugh track
But you never saw my best scene
The one where I sleepwalk into your dreams

Sleepwalker, what's my line?
It's only a matter of time
Until I learn to open up my eyes
When I'm dead asleep dreaming

Cupid, don't draw back your bow
Sam Cooke didn't know what I know
I'll never be your valentine
The sleepwalker in me and God only know that I've tried

4th of July, Asbury Park

by Bruce Springsteen

Sandy, the fireworks are hailing
Over Little Eden tonight
Forcing a light into all those stoned-out faces
Left stranded on this Fourth of July
Down in town the circuit's full with switchblade lovers
So fast, so shiny, and sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way
On the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open
Like Latin lovers along the shore
Chasing all them silly New York girls by the score

Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey Sandy girl

Now the greasers, they tramp the streets
Or get busted for trying to sleep on the beach all night
Them boys in their spiked high-heels
Ah Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hanging in them dusty arcades
Banging them pleasure machines
Chasing the factory girls underneath the boardwalk
Where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night, and my shirt got caught
And that Joey kept me spinning
I didn't think I'd ever get off

Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life on the water
Running down the beach at night with my boss's daughter
Well he ain't my boss no more, Sandy

Sandy, the angels have lost their desire for us
I spoke to them just last night
And they said they won't set themselves on fire for us anymore
Every summer when the weather gets hot they ride that road
Down from heaven on their Harleys they come and they go
And you can see them dressed like stars in all the cheap little seashore bars
Parked with their babies out on the Kokomo
The cops finally busted Madame Marie
For telling fortunes better than they do
This boardwalk life for me is through
You know you ought to quit this scene too

Sandy, the aurora's rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight, and I promise I'll love you forever

Ulysses

by Alfred Tennyson

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees; all times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy,
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life. Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

    This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the scepter and the isle—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

    There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Gerontion

by T.S. Eliot

Thou hast nor youth nor age
But as it were an after dinner sleep
Dreaming of both.

Here I am, an old man in a dry month,
Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain.
I was neither at the hot gates
Nor fought in the warm rain
Nor knee deep in the salt marsh, heaving a cutlass,
Bitten by flies, fought.
My house is a decayed house,
And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner,
Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp,
Blistered in Brussels, patched and peeled in London.
The goat coughs at night in the field overhead;
Rocks, moss, stonecrop, iron, merds.
The woman keeps the kitchen, makes tea,
Sneezes at evening, poking the peevish gutter.

          I an old man,
A dull head among windy spaces.

Signs are taken for wonders. "We would see a sign":
The word within a word, unable to speak a word,
Swaddled with darkness. In the juvescence of the year
Came Christ the tiger

In depraved May, dogwood and chestnut, flowering judas,
To be eaten, to be divided, to be drunk
Among whispers; by Mr. Silvero
With caressing hands, at Limoges
Who walked all night in the next room;
By Hakagawa, bowing among the Titians;
By Madame de Tornquist, in the dark room
Shifting the candles; Fräulein von Kulp
Who turned in the hall, one hand on the door. Vacant shuttles
Weave the wind. I have no ghosts,
An old man in a draughty house
Under a windy knob.

After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now
History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors
And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,
Guides us by vanities. Think now
She gives when our attention is distracted
And what she gives, gives with such supple confusions
That the giving famishes the craving. Gives too late
What's not believed in, or if still believed,
In memory only, reconsidered passion. Gives too soon
Into weak hands, what's thought can be dispensed with
Till the refusal propagates a fear. Think
Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices
Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues
Are forced upon us by our impudent crimes.
These tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree.

The tiger springs in the new year. Us he devours. Think at last
We have not reached conclusion, when I
Stiffen in a rented house. Think at last
I have not made this show purposelessly
And it is not by any concitation
Of the backward devils.
I would meet you upon this honestly.
I that was near your heart was removed therefrom
To lose beauty in terror, terror in inquisition.
I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it
Since what is kept must be adulterated?
I have lost my sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch:
How should I use it for your closer contact?

These with a thousand small deliberations
Protract the profit of their chilled delirium,
Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled,
With pungent sauces, multiply variety
In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do,
Suspend its operations, will the weevil
Delay? De Bailhache, Fresca, Mrs. Cammel, whirled
Beyond the circuit of the shuddering Bear
In fractured atoms. Gull against the wind, in the windy straits
Of Belle Isle, or running on the Horn,
White feathers in the snow, the Gulf claims,
And an old man driven by the Trades
To a sleepy corner.

          Tenants of the house,
Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season.

Man of the Hour

by Eddie Vedder

Tidal waves don't beg forgiveness
Crashed and on their way
Father, he enjoyed collisions
Others walked away
A snowflake falls in May

And the doors are open now
As the bells are ringing out
For the man of the hour
Is taking his final bow
Good-bye for now

Nature has its own religion
Gospel from the land
Father ruled by long division
Young men, they pretend
Old men comprehend

And the sky breaks at dawn
Shedding light upon this town
They'll all come around
For the man of the hour
Is taking his final bow
Good-bye for now

And the road the old man paved
The broken seams along the way
The rusted signs left just for me
He was guiding me: love, his own way

Now the man of the hour
Is taking his final bow
As the curtain comes down
I feel that this is just good-bye for now

Somewhere Only We Know

by Tom Chaplin

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river, and it made me complete

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old, and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old, and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?

Where I Began

by Aaron Tate

The grass looked greener on the other side
So I tried to snatch myself from your hand
Caught a boat to anywhere but Nineveh
And you know, I got spit back on dry land

Give me purity and give me continence
But oh no, not yet
Like a coin hiding in the corner trying not to be swept
I was trying not to be swept

Kicking against these goads
Sure did cut up my feet
Didn't your hands get bloody
As you washed them clean?

Here I am again, back where I began
Try as I may, I can't get away from you
All these roads that lead me to roam
Bring me back home
Here I am again, back where I began

So you have yourself your ninety-nine
Isn't that enough for you?
Still you followed me to the shadowed valley
Carried me on your shoulders, too

I've done the work of Sisyphus
Thinking that I could get over this hill
But the one thing I can't get over now
Is the force of your will

The Trees

by Neil Peart

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light

But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream, 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
They say, 'The oaks are just too greedy
'We will make them give us light'

Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw

Rockin' Chair

by Noel Gallagher

I'm older than I'd wish to be
This town holds no more for me
All my life I try to find another way

I don't care for your attitude
You bring me down, I think you're rude
All my life I try to make a better day

It's hard enough being alone
Sitting here by the phone
Waiting for my memories to come and play

It's hard enough sitting there
Rockin' in your rockin' chair
It's all too much for me to take when you're not there

Late for the Sky

by Jackson Browne

The words had all been spoken
And somehow the feeling still wasn't right
And still we continued on through the night
Tracing our steps from the beginning
Until they vanished into the air
Trying to understand how our lives had led us there

Looking hard into your eyes
There was nobody I'd ever known
Such an empty surprise to feel so alone

Now for me some words come easy
But I know that they don't mean that much
Compared with the things that are said when lovers touch
You never knew what I loved in you
I don't know what you loved in me
Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be

Awake again I can't pretend
And I know I'm alone
And close to the end of the feeling we've known

How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
How long have I been dreaming I could make it right
If I closed my eyes and tried with all my might
To be the one you need

Awake again I can't pretend
And I know I'm alone
And close to the end of the feeling we've known

How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
How long have I been running for that morning flight
Through the whispered promises and the changing light
Of the bed where we both lie
Late for the sky

Apologies

by Grace Potter

Yesterday he said my eyes
Were fading fast away
I said, Well what do you expect?
You asked me not to stay
And if it had all been for the best
I wouldn't feel this way
And he said...

He said, It's crazy
How love stays with me
You know it hurts me
'Cause I don't want to fight this war
And it's amazing
To see me reading through this scene of love and fear
And apologies

My love is like a blanket
That gets a little bit too warm sometimes
I want to wrap somebody in it
Who can hold me in his arms
'Cause when it got a little too hot in there
He was always stepping out for air
And he froze...

Yesterday he looked at me
With a tear in his eye
And said, I'll always tell you you're my friend
I hope I don't have to lie
'Cause it's clear you love another man
I said, You're damn right
And he said...

He said, It's crazy
How love stays with me
You know it hurts me
'Cause I don't want to fight this war
And it's amazing
To see me reading through this scene of love and fear
And apologies

He said, It's crazy
How love stays with me
You know it hurts me
That I didn't figure it out before
And now it's too late for a soliloquy
Way too late for dignity
It's time for apologies

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

As Tears Go By

by Mick Jagger

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch as tears go by

My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I ever hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch as tears go by

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doing things I used to do
They think they are new
I sit and watch as tears go by

Little Boy Soldiers

by Paul Weller

It's funny how you never knew what my name was
Our only contact was a form for the election
These days I find that I don't listen
These days I find that we're out of touch
These days I find that I'm too busy
So why the attention, now you want my assistance
What have you done for me?

You've gone and got yourself in trouble
Now you want me to help you out
These days I find that I can't be bothered
These days I find that it's all too much
To pick up a gun and shoot a stranger
But I've got no choice, so here I come
War games

I'm up on the hills, playing little boy soldiers
Reconnaissance duty up at 5:30
Shoot, shoot, shoot, and kill the natives
You're one of us, and we love you for that
Think of honour, Queen, and Country
You're a blessed son of the British Empire
God's on our side, and so is Washington
Come out on the hills with the little boy soldiers

Come on outside, I'll sing you a lullaby
Or tell a tale of how goodness prevailed
We ruled the world, we killed and robbed
The whole lot, but we don't feel bad

It was done beneath the flag of democracy
You'll believe and I do
Yes I do, yes I do, yes I do
Yes I do

These days I find that I can't be bothered
To argue with them, well what's the point?
Better to take your shots and drop down dead
Then they send you home in a pine overcoat
With a letter to your mum
Saying: 'Find enclosed one son, one medal'
And a note to say 'He won'

Romeo and Juliet

by Mark Knopfler

A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a streetlight, steps out of the shade
Says something like, 'You and me, babe, how about it?'

Juliet says, 'Hey it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack'
He's underneath the window, she's singing, 'Hey la my boyfriend's back'
You shoudn't come around here singing up at people like that
Anyway, what you gonna do about it?

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet, and you exploded into my heart
And I forget, I forget the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong?

Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean, yes, and the dream was just the same
And I dream your dream for you, and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?

Well you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin
Now you just say, 'Oh Romeo, you know I used to have a scene with him'

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said, 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die'
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong?

I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything, but I'd do anything for you
Can't do anything except be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat, bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of Orion
Julie I'd do the stars with you any time

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said, 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die'
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong?

A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
Finds a convenient streetlight, steps out of the shade
Says something like, 'You and me, babe, how about it?'

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

by Charles Wesley

Christ, the Lord, is risen today,
Sons of men and angels say,
Raise your joys and triumphs high,
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply,

Love’s redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won,
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over,
Lo! He sets in blood no more,

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal,
Christ hath burst the gates of hell,
Death in vain forbids His rise,
Christ hath opened paradise,

Lives again our glorious King,
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once He died our souls to save,
Where thy victory, O grave?

Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our exalted Head,
Made like Him, like Him we rise,
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies,

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven,
Praise to Thee by both be given,
Thee we greet triumphant now,
Hail, the resurrection, thou,

King of glory, Soul of bliss,
Everlasting life is this,
Thee to know, Thy power to prove,
Thus to sing and thus to love,

Hymns of praise then let us sing,
Unto Christ, our heavenly King,
Who endured the cross and grave,
Sinners to redeem and save.

But the pains that He endured,
Our salvation have procured,
Now above the sky He’s King,
Where the angels ever sing.

Jesus Christ is risen today,
Our triumphant holy day,
Who did once upon the cross,
Suffer to redeem our loss.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

attr. to St. Patrick

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan River;
His death on cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the Cherubim;
The sweet 'Well done' in judgment hour;
The service of the Seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Fountain of Sorrow

by Jackson Browne

Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There were one or two I know that you would have liked a little more
But they didn't show your spirit quite as true

You were turning 'round to see who was behind you
And I took your childish laughter by surprise
And at the moment that my camera happened to find you
There was just a trace of sorrow in your eyes

Now the things that I remember seem so distant and so small
Though it hasn't really been that long a time
What I was seeing wasn't what was happening at all
Although for a while, our path did seem to climb

But when you see through love's illusions, there lies the danger
And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool
So you go running off in search of a perfect stranger
While the loneliness seems to spring from your life
Like a fountain from a pool

Fountain of sorrow, fountain of light
You've known that hollow sound of your own steps in flight
You've had to hide sometimes, but now you're all right
And it's good to see your smiling face tonight

Now for you and me it may not be that hard to reach our dreams
But that magic feeling never seems to last
And while the future's there for anyone to change, still you know it seems
It would be easier sometimes to change the past

I'm just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you
In my lessons at love's pain and heartache school
Where if you feel too free and you need something to remind you
There's this loneliness springing up from your life
Like a fountain from a pool

Fountain of sorrow, fountain of light
You've known that hollow sound of your own steps in flight
You've had to hide sometimes but now you're all right
And it's good to see your smiling face tonight

Fountain of sorrow, fountain of light
You've known that hollow sound of your own steps in flight
You've had to struggle, you've had to fight
To keep understanding and compassion in sight
You could be laughing at me, you've got the right
But you go on smiling so clear and so bright

Self-Destructive Zones

by Mike Cooley

It was 1990, give or take, I don't remember
When the news of revolution hit the air
The girls hadn't even started taking down our posters
When the boys started cutting off their hair
The radio stations all decided angst was finally old enough
It ought to have a proper home
Dead, fat, or rich, nobody's left to bitch
About the goings-on in self-destructive zones

The night the practice room caught fire
There were rumors of a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals
'Stoner tries to save an amplifier'
And it's like the dragon's side of the story is never told
When the dream and the man and the girls hang around
Long enough to make you think it's coming true
It's easier to let it all die a fairy tale
Than admit that something bigger's passing through

The hippies rode a wave putting smiles on faces
That the devil wouldn't even put a shoe
Caught between a generation dying from its habits
And another thinking rock and roll was new
Till the pawn shops were packed like a backstage party
Hanging full of pointy ugly cheap guitars
And the young'uns all turned to karaoke
Hanging all their wishes upon disregarded stars

My Grandaddy's shotgun is locked in a closet
And it never shot a thing that could have lived
An old man decided that you couldn't choose your poison
Till you're nearly old enough to vote for him
They turned what was into something so disgusting
Even wild dogs would disregard the bones
Dead, fat, or rich, nobody's left to bitch
About the goings-on in self-destructive zones

Magnificat

attributed to Mary
by Luke, via Jerome
edited by John Rutter

Magnificat anima mea dominum
et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes,

quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est:
et sanctum nomen eius,

et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies
timentibus eum.

Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede,
et exaltavit humiles.

Esurientes implevit bonis:
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum,
recordatus misericordiae suae:
sicut locutus est ad patres nostros,
Abraham et semini eius in saecula.

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto,
sicut erat in principio,
et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum.
Amen

I Repent

by Derek Webb

I repent of my pursuit of America's dream
I repent of living like I deserve anything
Of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
In our suburb where we're safe and white
I am wrong, and of these things I repent

I repent of parading my liberty
I repent of paying for what I get for free
For the way I believe that I am living right
By trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong, and of these things I repent

I repent of judging by a law
That even I can't keep
Of wearing righteousness like a disguise
To see through the planks in my own eyes

I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
By caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
By domesticating you until you look just like me
I am wrong, and of these things I repent

All Things New Again

by Jakob Dylan

New heaven over a brand new sky
New breed of wonder on the vine
Among the living
There is new promise in this night

New arms to hold back the revolution
New eyes to recognize what you've become
New blood to recover
A new will to honor all God's creations

All things are new again
Within and without
All things are new again

New shepherd roaming through the tall grass
A new temple rising through the fallen ash
That buries the tracks
Of millions of boots marching in packs

Clear water rolling through the dam's collapse
Out to the harbor where they're sailing back
New flag on the mast
Without any secrets, without any past

All things are new again
Within and without
Sooner or later the end begins
Just then it can be said
That all things are new again

New ghost returning to the earth beneath the haze
New poets burning through the lines of every page
I'm an unpainted portrait
I am staring at a new sunset
Without any memories yet

All things are new again
Within and without
Sooner or later every season ends
Then forever it can be said that all things are new again

The Masterplan

by Noel Gallagher

Take the time to make some sense
Of what you want to say
And cast your words away upon the waves
Sail them home with Acquiesce
On a ship of hope today
And as they land upon the shore
Tell them not to fear no more
Say it loud and sing it proud today

Dance if you want to dance
Please, brother, take a chance
You know they're gonna go
Which way they wanna go
All we know is that we don't know
How it's gonna be
Please brother let it be
Life on the other hand
Won't make us understand
We're all part of the masterplan

I'm not saying right is wrong
It's up to us to make
The best of all the things that come our way
'Cause everything that's been has passed
The answer's in the looking-glass
There's four-and-twenty million doors
On life's endless corridor
Say it loud and sing it proud today

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

by Neil Young

I think I'd like to go back home
And take it easy
There's a woman that I'd like to get to know
Living there

Everybody seems to wonder
What it's like down here
I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around
Everybody knows this is nowhere

Every time I think about back home
It's cool and breezy
I wish that I could be there right now
Just passing time

Everybody seems to wonder
What it's like down here
I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around
Everybody knows this is nowhere

Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows

The Rain Song

by Robert Plant

It is the springtime of my loving
The second season I am to know
You are the sunlight in my growing
So little warmth I felt before
It isn't hard to feel me glowing
I watched the fire that grew so low

It is the summer of my smiles
Flee from me, keepers of the gloom
Speak to me only with your eyes
It is to you I give this tune
Not so hard to recognize
These things are clear to all from time to time

I've felt the coldness of my winter
I've never thought it would ever go
I've cursed the gloom that set upon us
But I know that I love you so

These are the seasons of emotion
And like the winds they rise and fall
This is the wonder of devotion
I see the torch we all must hold
This is the mystery of the quotient
Upon us a little rain must fall

If Not For You

by Bob Dylan

If not for you
Babe, I couldn't find the door
Couldn't even see the floor
I'd be sad and blue
If not for you

If not for you
Babe, I'd lay awake all night
Wait for the morning light
To shine in through
But it would not be new
If not for you

If not for you my sky would fall
Rain would gather too
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all
I'd be lost if not for you

If not for you
Winter would have no spring
Couldn't hear the robin sing
I just wouldn't have a clue
Anyway it wouldn't ring true
If not for you

When I Fall in Love

by Edward Heyman

When I fall in love
It will be forever
Or I'll never fall in love

In a restless world like this is
Love is ended before it's begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun

When I give my heart
It will be completely
Or I'll never give my heart

And the moment I can feel that
You feel that way too
Is when I fall in love with you

Best of What's Around

by Dave Matthews

My friend, it seems your eyes are troubled
Care to share your times with me?
Would you say you're feeling low and so
A good idea would be to get it off your mind?

See, you and me have a better time than most can dream
Have it better than the best
So we can pull on through
Whatever tears at us, whatever holds us down
And if nothing can be done
We'll make the best of what's around

Turns out not where, but who you're with
That really matters
And hurts not much when you're around

If you hold on tight to what you think is your thing
You may find you're missing all the rest
She run up into the light surprised
Her arms are open, her mind's eye is...

Seeing things from a clearer side than most can dream
On a better road, I feel
So you could say she's safe
Whatever tears at her, whatever holds her down
And if nothing can be done
She'll make the best of what's around

Turns out not where but what you think
That really matters
And hurts not much when you're around

Desdemona

by Gregg Allman

Rain falls on a sleepy Southern town
The midnight moon burning brightly
Memories rushing on a river forelorn
As you lay sleeping without me
A highway song keeps me rolling on
Still I long for you

Desdemona
I will be your only one

I make my living pouring out my pain
Trying to make it through another day
Arms reach for me, on a wind I can feel it
But they're a thousand miles away
Your eyes remind me of everything that's beautiful and blue
I won't feel myself till I'm with you

Desdemona
I will be your only one

So hold a candle till the darkness fades
Nighttime sleeps, but not for long
My heart is pounding like the ocean, my soul's empty as the sky
But I know someday I'll be coming home
Time goes by in the twinkling of an eye
Still I pine for you

Desdemona
I will be your only one

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

by Robbie Robertson

Virgil Cain is the name
And I served on the Danville train
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came
And tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65
We were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove Old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And the people were singing

Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
'Virgil, quick, come see
'There goes Robert E. Lee!'
Now I don't mind chopping wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need, and you leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best

The night they drove Old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And the people were singing

Like my father before me
I will work the land
Like my brother above me
Who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave
But a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Cain back up when he's in defeat

The night they drove Old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And the people were singing

Ballad of a Thin Man

by Bob Dylan

You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked, and you say, 'Who is that man?'
You try so hard, but you don't understand
Just what you will say when you get home
Because something is happening here, but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You raise up your head, and you ask, 'Is this where it is?'
And somebody points to you and says, 'It's his'
And you say, 'What's mine?' and somebody else says, 'Where what is?'
And you say, 'Oh my God, am I here all alone?'
But something is happening, and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You hand in your ticket, and you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you when he hears you speak
And says, 'How does it feel to be such a freak?'
And you say, 'Impossible,' as he hands you a bone
And something is happening here, but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You have many contacts among the lumberjacks
To get you facts when someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect; anyway they already expect you
To just give a check to tax-deductible charity organizations

You've been with the professors, and they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have discussed lepers and crooks
You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You're very well read, it's well known
But something is happening here, and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you, and then he kneels
He crosses himself, and then he clicks his high-heels
And without further notice he asks you how it feels
And he says, 'Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan'
And you know something is happening, but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Now you see this one-eyed midget shouting the word 'NOW'
And you say, 'For what reason?' and he says, 'How?'
And you say, 'What does this mean?' and he screams back, 'You're a cow
'Give me some milk or else go home'
And you know something's happening, but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Well, you walk into the room like a camel, and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket and your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law against you coming around
You should be made to wear earphones
'Cause something is happening, and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Blue, Red, and Grey

by Pete Townshend

Some people seem so obsessed with the morning
Get up early just to watch the sunrise
Some people like it more when there's fire in the sky
Worship the sun when it's high
Some people go for those sultry evenings
Sipping cocktails in the blue, red, and grey
But I like every minute of the day

I like every second
So long as you are on my mind
Every moment has its special charm
It's all right when you're around, rain or shine

I know a crowd who only live after midnight
Their faces always seem so pale
And then there's friends of mine who must have sunlight
They say a suntan never fails
I know a man who works the night shift
He's lucky to get a job and some pay
And I like every minute of the day

I dig every second
I can laugh in the snow and rain
I get a buzz from being cold and wet
The pleasure seems to balance out the pain

And so you see that I'm completely crazy
I even shun the south of France
The people on the hill, they say I'm lazy
But when they sleep I sing and dance
Some people have to have the sultry evenings
Cocktails in the blue, red, and grey
But I like every minute of the day

Thunder Road

by Bruce Springsteen
(edited by Steven Mitchell)

The screen door slams
————'s dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me, and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again

Don't run back inside
Darling, you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared, and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
And that's alright with me

You can hide 'neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
What else can we do now?

Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting down on the tracks

Come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
Oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold
Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open, but the ride, it ain't free
And I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, when all the promises will be broken

There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind
So ————, climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win

And Can It Be

by Charles Wesley

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.