1. |
||||
That's Why the Wind Blows
Well hold on,
‘Cause I’ve got something to say Won’t be long,
I’m only minutes away
You’ve been running in circles like a watch wound up tight
A fire that’s burning or a cat taken fright Nothing’s wrong
May be a game that we play
If I’m real
The voice that’s inside your head What’s the deal?
Just hanging on by a thread Everything sounds so oblique and absurd
Serving it up in a salad of words How’d you feel?
Better off staying in bed
Follow me down
Why don’t you follow me down? Deep underground that’s where the grass grows
Listen to me
Why don’t you listen to me? But watch out
That’s why the wind blows
Flying low
Everything looks really small
To and fro
And watching bugs as they crawl
I counted one flying east, I counted one flying west
And you flying over the cuckoo’s nest So let go, and fly right over that wall
I think you thought you had it
under control
Now you’re slippin’ and sliddin’ down the rabbit hole
So let go
It never hurts as you fall
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
2. |
The Afterglow
05:41
|
|||
The Afterglow
I wanted to say something true
I wanted to prove, prove it to you I wanted to know something real I wanted to say, say how I feel
Safe in your arms I reside
Like watching a bird from a hide Watered and fed, wrapped up in warm Into the calm after the storm
Will you hold me tight Never let me go
Through the still dark night And the afterglow
With a strength of will
And sleight of hand
I will love you the best that I can
The sound of your laugh in my ears
The taste of the salt from your tears
The sweep of you neck, the fall of your hair
The gaze of your eyes lays me bare.
I wanted to say something real
I wanted to prove the way I feel
I wanted to know something true
I wanted to say I love you
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
3. |
Rainbows End
03:42
|
|||
Rainbows End
First you gotta heat it up,
Then you gotta cool it down.
Then you gotta find, then you gotta find, Then you gotta find the right sound.
And if the truth be told, well there are rules you gotta bend.
But if you want a pot of gold, well first you gotta find the rainbow’s end.
Well then you gotta move on up,
And you gotta bring it back.
Then you gotta get, said you gotta get, Yep you gotta get on the right track.
And If you want to have and hold, I’ve a message you can send.
But to get a pot of gold, tell you right now, first you gotta find the
rainbows end.
Well next you gotta loosen up,
Then you gotta hold on tight.
‘Cause you gotta move, yep you gotta move,
Babe you gotta move with all your might.
And when the nights get cold, well you can warm up with your friend.
But if you want a pot of gold, well first you gotta find the rainbows end.
Well last you gotta save it up,
For a rainy day.
Well then you gotta give, sure you gotta give,
Said you gotta give it all away.
Before you get too old, find some bridges you can mend.
‘Cause to find a pot of gold, that’s right, first you gotta find the rainbows end.
© JAMESONGS 2014
|
||||
4. |
Fade Away
05:50
|
|||
Fade Away
There’s a woman at the front gate She’s screaming at the sky
Where have all my family gone, and who am I left on my own?
She was my Nana’s daughter, the apple of her eye
Now there’s tearful confusion and fearful disillusion
And the villainy that offers up the lie
Fade away, fade away
Gone for good, lost her way
Darkness come to steal the day
So I kissed her and watched her fade away
There’s a woman on the telephone, she’s in trouble and in strife Sounds faintly familiar, if not a bit dis-similar
Maybe she remembers, she was my father’s wife
Now her voice is tinged with hesitance and shaking with uncertainness
Put down the phone and run, run for your life
There’s a woman on the back porch, she’s staring into space
Her memories disorganised, children now unrecognised
She was my uncle’s sister, the smile on his face
Now she’s funny and ridiculous, dislocate and timorous
This woman come to take my mother’s place
She was crazy she was shy
I held her hand she closed her eyes
So I kissed her and watched her fade away
She was worried and confused
I felt ashamed to be amused
I kissed her and watched her fade away
One day she will be free
One day that could be me
So I kissed her and watched her
© JAMESONGS 2018
fade away
|
||||
5. |
The Song is Everything
04:32
|
|||
The Song is Everything
Long ago in the deep dark past The song was everything
Word for word and first to last That was the song we’d sing
We’d play our records till the grooves wore out
And then we’d play some more
Turn the radio up nice and loud
And out the music poured
The clock would rock until the king shook up
And broke his heart in a hotel
The sergeants played while the metre made
And Jonnie played like he was ringing a bell
Long days in a purple haze
33 to 45
Girls and boys all feel the noise And they get slayed alive
Sing it out, sing it out, sing it out Everybody sing
Sing it out, sing it out, sing it out The song is everything
(Listen now) Spin around like
a carrousel
On a horse without a name There comes a time when your spirits climb
And the song remains the same
Sweet as a gypsy queen
On a country radio
Park the Van in the Morrisan Hey where did we go?
Long ago I can still recall
How the music made me smile And if I cried on the day it died Well maybe for a while
Now songs are torn up and
thrown around
And they’re left blown’ in the wind But a secret chord can still please the Lord
Hallelujah lets join in
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
6. |
It's Hot Today
05:05
|
|||
It's Hot Today
Feels like it’s hot today
It’s hot as hell
I said it’s hot today
It’s as hot as hell, ah it’s got that smell
Some people say the weather’s on the change
Others say you just can’t tell
Ah still it’s hot today
It’s as hot as hell.
I want to work today
There ain’t no work around
Said I want to work today
But there ain’t no work around, none that I’ve found
Some people say that the jobs all left
Others they went underground
I want to work today
There ain’t no work around
I want to die today
But I ain’t sick enough
I want to die today
But I ain’t sick enough, ah feels so rough
Some people say I should let go
Others say hey well that’s though
I want to die today
But I ain’t sick enough
If there’s a God today
Why are things down here so bad?
If there’s a God today
Tell me why are things down here so bad, ah it makes me sad
Some people say their god’s the best
Other people they get mad
If there’s a God today
Why are things down here so bad?
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
7. |
||||
It's Dumb to Leave Your Smart Phone On
Ring ring, ring ring
Somebody’s calling but I’m not at home
I’m at the office or I’m out on the run
It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on.
Shush shush, Shush shush
The lights are down, and the curtain
is drawn.
It’s dark and quiet so the movie is fun
It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on.
We are vain and we are blind,
I hate people when they’re not polite.
I’ll call you up you can’t resist,
Pick up the phone before you cease to exist.
Tweet tweet, tweet tweet,
Chitter and chatter ‘till we’re bored to the bone.
Pop to the bank then it’s lunch with your mum,
It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on.
Try to find the pleasures and joys
In the cracks between the noise
Well listen close to the beat of your heart,
Cause if it crashes then it might not restart.
Check one, check two,
The show is starting why not get out your phone.
Shoot a movie you can watch later on,
It’s dumb to leave your smart phone on.
Twenty-four hours, seven days
Give it a rest why not put it away
Well take a lover or find a friend
But do it soon because you’re close to the end
It’s no point getting so enraged
‘Cause no one listen’s when the line’s engaged
It’s dumb, dumb, dumb, to leave your smart phone on.
© JAMESONGS 2013
|
||||
8. |
School Reunion
02:49
|
|||
School Reunion
The Master Class a tisk a task
A strong, familiar lesson grasped
That held me firm and held me fast
Adept domain and guiding sparse
The bell that rang with hand-held clasp
It whispered low a question asked
To amplify the damps and darks
And classify the clanging brass
So ring the bells and lock the doors
Then add the marks and tally scores
There’s a judgment coming
And a test to pass
You’re just a face lost in the crowd And back to fronters ain’t allowed There’s a judgment coming
And a test to pass
To climb the stairs and plot the charts
And weigh my make in stops and start
Assembling and took apart
The pieces of these works of art
They seminared and sermonized
The genus from the itemize
And in my place and from which side
They gazed across the ace divide
At rhythmy hands and flailing spellers
Secret sounds and sea salt sellers
There’s a judgment coming
And a test to pass
For school is out and die is cast
Whilst seasoning the Master Class
There’s a judgment coming
There’s a test to pass
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
9. |
Streets of New Orleans
05:03
|
|||
Streets of New Orleans
Walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
From Yarraville to Storyville and all stops in between
Sail across the water through the wind and rain
Ghost of Buddy Bolden blowing like a hurricane
And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
Walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
Looking for the answers, searching for what they mean
Someone tell me there’s a place to meet
The blacksmith bar down on Bourbon Street
And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
Taking a trip to the land of dreams
Where Louis and Mahalia begin
A brass band blowin’ ‘till the Saint’s March In
And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
And I’m walking with my baby, streets of New Orleans
Well most of the time things ain’t what they seem
A girl on my arm I never met before
Somebody said she’s only twenty-four
And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
Hey and I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans And it’s three AM and the moonlight beams stream in
And I follow St. Charles under the overhead wire
Jump on a streetcar named desire
And I’m walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
And I’m walking with my baby, streets of New Orleans
I hear that whistle blowing where the river runs on steam
Who can say if it’s all real
One of these days I’m gonna close that deal
Walking with my baby through the streets of New Orleans
© JAMESONGS 2009
|
||||
10. |
||||
(In Loving Memory of) My Dear Son Jim
My name is James Sullivan and from East Geelong I hail
Young man with a life still left to live
Who in 1915 on an army ship set sail
To sacrifice all that he had to give
I left my legal practice and I left my family
Broken-hearted mother standing crying on the quay
To fight a war in Europe and of that here is my tale
I trust my loving mother will forgive
Our first port was in Cairo and the hot Sahara sands
Where we were taught the art of war
And then sent off to Turkey for reasons no one understands
A beach few had as yet heard of before
For months and months we toiled to take the hills of Dardanelle
Nine months lived and dying in a living dying hell
From Lone Pine to the Nek and all across those foreign lands
Then we left that bloodied ANZAC shore.
We answered the calling
The standing the fallen
Like school children answering a bell
But no war’s a great war
We were lambs to the slaughter
Many still lay where they fell
We then rolled into Picardy like a fog upon the Somme
Gathered round the town of Pozieres
Through a night so black and dewy we tried hard to hang on
Waiting for the moment we all feared
Like a hand across a piano, run from high to low
Shells rained down red flames leapt up blow after deafening blow
And 30,000 men were dead or dying, lost or gone
After all the fog and smoke had cleared
Along the western front we ranged, the mud was deep and thick
Friends and comrades side by side
Fletcher and Mahoney, Stanley Bennie and Hardwick
For a commonwealth we were allied
Bullecourt, Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Hamel and Amiens
Battle after battle fought with loses and with wins
Till we stood atop Mount Saint- Quentin to play our final trick
Honour all the diggers who had died
October 1918 through a dark and frosty morn
We marched upon the town of Montbrehain
With our gas masks and our rifles and our threadbare uniforms
We readied there to stake our one last claim
Before the fighting started as the night turned into day
A shell fell close beside me and it blew my life away
One score year and seven from the day that I was born
A forgotten town in France is where I’m slain
Then my broken hearted mother, her grief still raw and strong
The twinkle in her eyes now softly dim
On the second anniversary of an act that felt so wrong
A notice for the Argus placed there in
She mentioned Stanley Bennie and William Hardwick too
How both were killed in action and she bade them fond adieu
And of Captain Sullivan she wrote from East Geelong
“In loving memory of my dear son Jim”
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
11. |
||||
Baby Won't You Please Come Home
Well I’ve been looking over here and I’ve been looking over there Sometimes I feel so alone
Then a friend of mine told me it was every where
Baby won’t you please come home
I forgot to remember or I chose
to forget
Sometimes I feel so alone
If there are answers to find I haven’t found them yet
Baby won’t you please come home
Ah now baby won’t you please
come home
I’m feeling all alone
I’m gonna change my life the way you change your phone
Baby won’t you please come home
I been waiting in the chapel with the lame and blind
Sometimes I feel so alone
But you can’t catch happiness by creeping up behind
Baby won’t you please come home
And there’s a diamond sleeping rough on the street tonight
Sometimes I feel so alone
Cooled by the shower of a mean street light
Baby won’t you please come home
And the people who pretend that history won’t last
Sometimes I feel so alone
They’re condemned to repeat all the sins of the past
Baby won’t you please come home
Because everyone is young, and everyone is free
Sometimes I feel so alone
And treaty’s not replaced by an apology
Baby won’t you please come home
And how come there are people who just shop till they’re sore
Sometimes I feel so alone
Trying to buy their love in a department store
Baby won’t you please come home
‘Cause you can water your garden through the long hot drought Sometimes I feel so alone
But you can’t keep warm when the fire’s gone out
Baby won’t you please come home
© JAMESONGS 2016
|
||||
12. |
Lullaby (for Otto)
01:39
|
|||
Lullaby (for Otto)
In every house on every city street
Lamps are lit and blinds are drawn against the evening sky
I’ll think of you when days are done
Now the tunes are played, the songs are sung
It’s time to say goodbye
© JAMESONGS 2004
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like The Song is Everything, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp