All in the Golden Afternoon

by Lewis Carroll

All in the golden afternoon
      Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
      By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
      Our wanderings to guide.

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour.
      Beneath such dreamy weather.
To beg a tale of breath too weak
      To stir the tiniest feather!
Yet what can one poor voice avail
      Against three tongues together?

Imperious Prima flashes forth
      Her edict 'to begin it'—
In gentler tone Secunda hopes
      'There will be nonsense in it!'—
While Tertia interrupts the tale
      Not more than once a minute.

Anon, to sudden silence won,
      In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
      Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast—
      And half believe it true.

And ever, as the story drained
      The wells of fancy dry,
And faintly strove that weary one
      To put the subject by,
'The rest next time—' 'It is next time!'
      The happy voices cry.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
      Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out—
      And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
      Beneath the setting' sun.

Alice! a childish story take,
      And with a gentle hand
Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined
      In Memory's mystic band,
Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers
      Pluck'd in a far-off land.

Hungry Freaks, Daddy

by Frank Zappa

Mr. America, walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mr. America, walk on by
The minds that won't be reached

Mr. America, try to hide
The emptiness that's you inside
When once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide
Of hungry freaks, daddy

They won't go for no more
Great midwestern hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who aren't afraid to say
What's on their minds
The left-behinds
Of the Great Society

Mr. America, walk on by
Your supermarket dream
Mr. America, walk on by
The liquor store supreme

Mr. America, try to hide
The product of your savage pride
The useful minds that it denied
The day you shrugged and stepped aside
You saw their clothes and then you cried:
Those hungry freaks, daddy

Gimme Shelter

by Mick Jagger

A storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
I'm going to fade away

War, children
It's just a shot away

See the fire is sweeping
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

Rape, murder
It's just a shot away

The floods is threatning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm going to fade away

Love, sister
It's just a kiss away

Stanley Park

by Aoife O'Donovan

See that gull on the old sea wall
Songbirds fly and others fall
I sleep to the beating of their wings
The wind sings

See that babe at her mother's breast
If I could, I'd take my rest
Back in the belly from where I came
Nobody knows my name

Half-asleep in a bowl of gruel
No one told me life was cruel
My home is in this valley now
But it's burning down

If I find a fire escape
I'll break the past and put on my cape
I'll pretend I'm Superman
Where are my friends?

I'm a poor wayfarer, and I've
Got no one to dry my eyes
Time to lay this body down
In the frozen ground

When I die, though it bring me back
As a snow-white gull I'll make my tracks
On the sandy beach of the English bay
And I'll fly away

Never Saw It Coming

by James Wilson

Johnny lived alone, some said he drank himself to death
But the drinking only started after years of cold neglect
They say the silence followed him like a killer down his trail
'Til the day that they all screamed as he was looking down a barrel

You never saw it coming 'til it's all over the news
You're writing young girl's elegies and singing young men's blues
You never saw it coming 'til it looks you in the eye
No, you never know what you will do or know the reason why

The kids all went to school just like any other day
But only Frank and Johnny knew some wouldn't walk away
After sixteen years of getting kicked and laughed at at the gym
I guess sooner or later it just got the best of them

You never saw it coming 'til it's wrapped around the wrist
Of a pretty little girl who never got to her first kiss
You never saw it coming 'til it's pointed in your eyes
You never know what you will do 'til you're about to die

It's times like this that remind you that the world ain't what you thought
When blood and dust are mixing on conspired parking lots
It all could have been different, and when all is said and done
You could have been the one who took the bullet
Could have been the one that held the gun

You never saw it coming 'til it's all over the news
You're writing young girl's elegies and singing young men's blues
You never saw it coming, no matter where it is
'Cause we never saw it coming, never thought it'd end like this

Sunny Afternoon

by Ray Davies

The taxman's taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
And I can't sail my yacht
He's taken everything I got
All I've got is this sunny afternoon

Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze
I've got a big fat mama trying to break me
And I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime

My girlfriend's run off with my car
And gone back to her ma and pa
Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty
Now I'm sitting here
Sipping at my ice cold beer
Lazing on a sunny afternoon

Help me, help me, help me sail away
Give me two good reasons why I ought to stay
'Cause I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime

Hole in My Shoe

by Dave Mason

I looked to the sky
Where an elephant's eye
Was looking at me
From a bubblegum tree

And all that I knew
Was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water

I walked through a field
That just wasnt real
Where 100 tin soldiers
Would shoot at my shoulder

And all that I knew
Was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water

I started to fall
And suddenly woke
And the dew on the grass
Had soaked through my coat

And all that I knew
Was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water