When Love is Gone

Down River

Good to see you again Rosie.
I know I've changed a lot since then
But you're looking fine babe.
Three years, that ain't long Rosie,
I still remember our song
When you were mine babe.

Times change. Times change I know,
But it sure goes slow,
Down river, when you're locked away.

Hey why didn't you write Rosie?
I stayed awake most every night,
Counting my time babe.
Oh no I ain't mad Rosie,
I know you had to mind your dad,
But just a line babe.

     Oh, sure I remember Ben.
     Why, we went all through school.
     Is that right? Well he ain't no fool.

     He's a good man Rosie.
     You hold him tight as you can.
     Don't ask me why babe.

Yeah nice seeing you Rosie.
Me? I got things to do,
Well goodbye babe.

Times change. Times change I know
But it sure goes slow,
Down river, when you're locked away.
Times change. Times change I know,
But it sure goes slow, down river.

Rosie. Hey Rosie. My babe.

Love's Enough

Every time you fall in love,

‘Cause tomorrow is forever,
And love’s enough for anyone today.
 

And love’s enough for anyone today.
 

     Love’s enough

     To see the doubt and choose it
     Over knowing how or when.
     Love’s enough,

     You’d take what’s left and try your luck again

‘Cause every time you fall in love,
That’s the one and only time.

Of a one and lonely rhyme
‘Cause you know this one will last forever,
And you turn and watch tomorrow drift away.

 And love’s enough for anyone today.

Candy Man

Oscar saved his money when he came home from the war.
Traded in his good left hand for payment on a store.
He said 'I'm just as good as new, who needs more hands than one?'
The old men stood when he walked through, and proudly called him son.

    Oscar bought a candy store in the nicest part of town,
     They called him the one-armed candy man, the crippled clown.
     And he wore their laughing liquorice crown, calling 'come on down.'

Oscar laughed and waited, the loving patient man.
See the children trusting him; they do not know his plan.
He takes their copper pennies, he gives them extra treats,
Hiding little picture books in every bag of sweets.

     Last week a girl came crying home, 'Look what I found today
     I got it from the candy man, who's giving them away.'
     His mother said, 'Love is not that way, dear God he'll pay.'

When the parents came for Oscar, he said, 'I'm not ashamed,
I took their minds as payment due, the healthy for the maimed.'
The day he went to prison, he called 'Now do you see?
I only did to some of you what you all did to me.

     Oh no, I'm not the candy man; my injuries are few,
     But the world that made me what I am must owe me something too,
     And I only want what is my rightful due, from you and you.'

Lotus man

In the sand, listening to the water's song,
While the silent sun dissolves us.
Take my hand, silent too we'll drift along,
'Til the Lotus Man absolves us.

     And we'll whittle down the hours,
     Throw away the days.
     We'll ring our world with flowers
     While the other world decays.

In the night, listening to the city sound
Of the people who ignore us,
We'll take flight with the stars ether-bound,
Only galaxies to bore us.

     And we'll whittle down the hours,
     Throw away the days.
     We'll ring our world with flowers
     While the other world decays.

In the dawn, listening to the distant drums,
And the distant cannon firing,
We'll be gone long before the battle comes,
Just the thought of war is tiring.
 
     And we'll whittle down the hours,
     Throw away the days.
     We'll ring our world with flowers
     While the other world decays.

That's No Reason to Cry

Just because you don't need me,
That's no reason to cry.
I'll find another lady,
And you, you'll find another guy.

Just because you don't love me,
That's no reason to cry.
Let's just keep the good thing goin' hon,
Come on smile, yeah baby, bye bye.

     I remember, I remember,
     Not so very long ago,
     Something you said
     That I can't forget.

     Don't you forget it girl;
     You said 'Let's have nothing but the truth between us,
     And if we break up, if we break up,
     Let's have no regrets,
     No, no, no regrets."

Well now you don't want me,
You know I ain't about to cry.
Just put your hand in mine,
And then smile, yeah baby, bye bye.

When Love is Gone

I have your ribbon and you have my ring,
And yet between us we've misplaced the thing we'd found.
It would not be bound.
Gone are the splendour, the joy and the smile.
Where there was music, it echoes a mile away.

     Oh we could stay, we could stay together,
     Just pretending going on and on.
     We could play, we could play together,
     The game of love when love is gone.

But you are honest and yes I am proud.
Only a fool is content with a cloud to hide him.
We can't fall beside him.
So take back the promise and cast off the vow
We said tomorrow but had only now to spend,

And now is the end.

     Oh, we could stay together,
     Just pretending going on and on.
     We could play, we could play together,
     The game of love when love is gone.
     When love is gone.
     The games go on
     When love is gone.

Surf's Down (contains some transcription errors please email corrections)

Everything's changing on the surfing scene,
I traded in my Woody on a new machine
I haven't had a zit since I was seventeen
And I can't find the number of my teenage queen,
Now when I pick up a girl I say as nice as I can,
'Wanna tandem?' and she says, 'You dirty old man.'

Surf's down, surf's down.

It's getting kind of lonely as a surfer man.
My knots are disappearing and I got no tan.
My wet suit's leaking and the life rack ends
And no-one wants to talk about their high-lift cams
So well I got a few tricks that I'd like to show,
But you can't hang ten when you've lost a little toe.
Surf's down, surf's down.

     Hey there Linda, hey, why won't you respond,
     Don't you know me, I used to be a blonde.

Let's go stormin' baby you and me.
I got some Dick Dale records and Sherry
And then we'll check the waves down at Wind & Sea
I'll even buy some beer and use my own ID.
I've got a lot more miles till my treads wear through,
So I guess I'll keep surfing 'cause it's all I can do.

Surf's down, surf's down.

Ride, ride, ride, surfer man. Ride, ride, ride, surfer man.

Waiting For the Moving Van

Standing on the front-porch of the old frame house in town,
In another day or two it all starts coming down.
I wonder what they'll do about the oak tree with the swing.
I never built the tree house but I had plans, for so many things
I am trying not to think of while I can,
Waiting for the moving van to come.

The front door has that noisy hinge I never did repair.
You used to hear it late at night and meet me on the stair.
Well I work the daylight now, I'm always home by six.
Now there's lots of time, and nothing left to fix,
Except the things I am trying not to think of, while I can,
Waiting for the moving van to come.

     It's almost summer here, our favourite time of year.
     Hey, didn't we love to hear the children play.
     We had some happy times. Ten years is so much time.
     You'd think we both could find a way.

No I won't get maudlin. It's just being here alone.
It took some getting used to, but I like it on my own.
I just wish they'd get here soon, I have so much work to do,
Plans to make and a whole new life to think about. But you,
I am trying not to think of while I can,
Waiting for the moving van to come.

Montana Song

I went out to Montana with a bible on my arm,
Looking for my fathers, on a long-abandoned farm,
And I found what I came looking for.

I drove into a churchyard of what used to be the town;
Walked along a cow-path, through the fences falling down,
'Til I found what I came looking for.

Through the dust of summer noons over grass long dying,
To read the stone and lumber runes, where my past was lying.
High among hill-sides and wind-mill bones,

Soft among oak trees and chimney stones, blew the wind that I came looking for.

And the wind blew over the dry land, and dusted my city soul clean,
To read in my great-grand-father's hand from his Bible newly seen:

     Born James McCennon, 1862, Married Leantha, 1884.
     Two sons, born in Montana, Praise the Lord!

The gentle wind of passing time blows the bible pages,
And took my hand and had me climb closer to the ages.

The picket fence, the lattice frame, the garden gone to seed,
Leantha with the fragile name, defying place and need,
Declares this bit of prairie 'tame', and sees her fingers bleed;
And knows her sons won't live the same, but she must live her creed.

The fallen barn, the broken plough, the hoofprint-hardened clay.
Where is the farmer now, who built his dream this way?
Who felled the tree and cut the bough, and made the land obey.
Who taught his sons as he knew how, but could not make them stay.
Who watched until the darkness fell, to know the boys were gone,
And never loved the land so well from that day on.

'Father James,' they wrote him, each a letter once a year.
Words of change that broke him with the new age that was here,
And the new world they'd gone looking for.

The clouds arose like phantom herds
And by the dappled lighting I read again
The last few words in a woman's writing:

     March 1st, 1921, last night Papa died.
     Left one plough, a horse, his gun, this Bible, and his bride.

The long grass moved beside me in the gentle summer rain,
And made a path to guide me to a sudden mound of grain:

     A man and wife are buried here, children to the land,
     With young green tendrils in her hair and seedlings in his hand.

I went out to Montana, with a Bible on my arm,
Looking for my fathers, on a long-abandoned farm,
And I found what I came looking for.

Inmates of the Institution

Inmates of the institution!
Why are you waving through the madhouse fence?
Do your absent bodies hear your soul's lament?

Inmates of the institution!
Who are you waiting for with hollow eyes?
Do you think he'll come this way before he dies?
Or did he pass once in disguise?

Did you laugh at the ragman, did you?
When he called for your rags. Rags!
I'll bet a buck you didn't bow.

     And now you're waiting in your holy clothes,
     Naked but afraid to expose
     Your need for a sign,
     But keep in line.

     Standing in a painless haze,
     Waiting for the blameless days
     Of wine.
     I'll bet the water never was.

Did you follow the flagman, did you?
When he marched with his flags. Flags!
I'll bet you wondered where he went.

     You've spent a lifetime in a madhouse yard,
     Waiting for the mystic guard
     To come with a key
     And make you free.

     Hoping that he'll find the gate,
     Wondering if he'll make you late,
     For tea.
     I'll bet you never miss a meal.

Inmates of the institution!

Did you laugh at the race man, did you?
When he started to cry.
Did you follow the space man, did you?
Just because he was high.
Did you laugh at the ragman, did you?
When he put out his light.
Did you follow the flagman, did you?
Just because he was white.

Inmates of the institution!

Do you wonder where your leaders ran?
Where were you looking when he sent the man?
Ah, you do the best you can.

I'm Only Passing Through

I left my home in Rockford trying to prove the world was round; I found it flat.

Met a lady with a trailer and she gave me food and shelter and things like that.

She staked me to a game in East Moline

The world I found was flat and round and green.

Well now the lady's gone and I go one, living just the same

I spend my days looking for a game, looking for a game,

In one more backroom, one more hotel,

One more friendly game on the path to Hell.

Come on, come on, why don't you trust me?

If I was a bad man, how much could I do?

You see, I'm only passing through.

I don't know how I got here, but I ended up in jail for thirty days.

Last thing I remember was some city fella trying to palm an ace.

But you look like an honest man to me. You got the deal; we can play for free.

Oh no, don't ask why, I like to die if I don't find a game

Jail cells, hotels, it's all the same, it's all the same.

It's just one more backroom, one more hotel,

One more friendly game on the path to Hell.

Come on, come on, why don't you trust me?

If I was a bad man, how much could I do?

You see, I'm only passing through.

Well, hello, death, I never thought I'd meet you travellin' down this red clay road

Pull up a stump and sit a spell, chew the breeze and set aside your load

You say you want me now, well, you can wait.

I've died before, drawin' to an inside straight.

Hey, wanna try your luck, it's just half a buck - right, you play for blood.

Well, I'll wager life or death on a game of stud, one more game of stud.

In one more backroom, one more hotel,

One more friendly game on the path to Hell.

Come on, come on, why don't you trust me?

If I was a bad man, how much would I do?

You see, I'm only passing through.

If I was a bad man, how much could I do?

You see, I'm only, you know, I'm only passing through.

The Grave of God

There was a man, walked on the Earth

And he was poor and sandal-shod.

And he would ask each man he'd meet

Oh tell me where, oh tell me

Where's the grave of God?

They called him names and hollered "Fool"

He's not dead nor 'neath the sun

Then walked away, and in their steps he read

This is the way, this is the way

To the grave of God.

He followed on through smoking ground

Until he found a broken rod

The shattered lance spoke to him clear

Now you are near, now you are near

To the grave of God.

Through battle fire, the stranger ran

Though wounded deep, he onward trod.

And dying, fell upon the tomb

And with his own red blood he wrote

Upon the grave of God,

"This is the grave of Man".