Saturday, November 23, 2013

Head On

by Jim Reid

As soon as I get my head around you
I come around catching sparks off you
I get an electric charge from you
A second-hand living just won't do

And the way I feel tonight
I could die, and I wouldn't mind
And there's something going on inside

Makes you want to feel
Makes you want to try
Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky
And I can't stand up
I can't cool down
I can't get my head off the ground

As soon as I get my head around you
I come around catching sparks off you
And all I ever got from you
Was all I ever took from you

The world could die in pain
And I wouldn't feel no shame
And there's nothing holding me to blame

Makes you want to feel
Makes you want to try
Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky
And I'm taking myself
To a dirty part of town
Where all my troubles can't be found

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Like a Rolling Stone

by Bob Dylan

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, 'Beware doll, you're bound to fall'
You thought they were all kidding you

You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it

You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say, 'Do you want to make a deal?'

You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you

You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinking, thinking that they got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you'd better take your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe

You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Wiser Time

by Chris Robinson

No time left now for shame
Horizon behind me, no more pain
Windswept stars blink and smile
Another song, another mile

You read the line every time
Ask me about crime in my mind
Ask me why another road song
Funny, but I bet you never left home

On a good day
I know it's not every day
We can part the sea

And on a bad day
I know it's not every day
Glory beyond our reach

Fourteen seconds until sunrise
Tired, but wiser for the time
Lightning 30 miles away
Three thousand more in two days

Monday, November 11, 2013

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

by Eric Bogle

Now when I was a young man I carried my pack
And lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's Green Basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said, 'Son
'It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done.'
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war

And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears
We sailed off for Gallipoli

And how well I remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Souvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he'd primed himself well
He showered us with bullets and he rained us with shell
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia

But the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
When we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of death, blood, and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse-over-head
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dying

For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed
And shipped us back home to Australia
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Souvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn, and to pity

But the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, 'What are they marching for?'
And I ask myself the same question

But the band plays 'Waltzing Matilda'
And the old men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard
As they march by that billabong
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Dirty Rain

by Ryan Adams

Last time I was here it was raining
It ain't raining anymore
The streets were drowning, waters waning
All the ruins washed ashore
Now I'm just looking through the rubble
Trying to find out who we were
Last time I was here it was raining
It ain't raining anymore

Last time I was here you were waiting
You're not waiting anymore
The window's broke and the smoke's escaping
All the books scattered across the floor
And the church bells were ringing through the sirens
And your coat was full of bullet holes
Last time I was here you were waiting
You ain't waiting anymore

So may the wind blow
May the moonlight know your name
So let the needle move the record round
Till the walls cave in
And you and I were out there
Dancing in the dirty rain

Last time I was here it was raining
Like you ain't never ever seen it rain
And your eyes were filled with terror
And the smoke from the gasoline
As the stars exploded with gunfire
I saw you smiling just before
Last time I was here you were crying
You're not crying anymore

Monday, November 4, 2013

You Do Something to Me

by Paul Weller

You do something to me
Something deep inside
I'm hanging on the wire
For a love I'll never find

You do something wonderful
Then chase it all away
Mixing my emotions
That throws me back again

Hanging on the wire
I'm waiting for the change
I'm dancing through the fire
Just to catch a flame
And feel real again

You do something to me
Somewhere deep inside
Hoping to get close to
A peace I cannot find

Dancing through the fire
Just to catch a flame
Just to get close enough
To tell you that
You do something to me
Something deep inside