A Touch of Magic
This song is what happens when your handy-dandy automated metaphor generation device goes haywire. But I always thought the music was kinda unique. Anyway it's supposed to be about love, which doesn't make any sense either, so it ends up being so fitting I am terrified to the point of incontinence. So, while I go take care of that problem, please enjoy the lyrics.
out there lost in infinity
bathed in a flood of divinity
veiled in the shroud of anonymity
the white fire burns
in there, in your heart now
you feel a tiny spark now
can't say why or how
which way to turn
it's magic
before your very eyes
some say it's all an illusion
manipulation of confusion
just a touch of magic that kindles your fiery heart
never mind the explanation
just soak in the scintillation
without a touch of magic we'd all surely fall apart
up above the plans are drawn
amidst the sound of endless song
down below the lonely ones go on
nurturing their flickering faith
somewhere two souls meet now
oh they can feel the heat now
each has had seven heartbreaks before now
what keeps this from being the eighth
just a little magic
before your very eyes
don't bother trying to understand
don't let it slip out of your hand
this touch of magic is worth ten thousand in the bush
your love may drive you crazy
your future may seem a little hazy
just feel that touch of magic whenever you need a push
abracadabra
some fancy to call it love
soft and white and pure as a dove
fits your heart just like a glove
the universal cure
takes work to keep the fire alive
takes patience to make it thrive
but you get it all back times a hundred and five
and then you'll be sure
it can't be anything else but magic
that puts the twinkle in your eyes
it all works in mysterious ways
lives and breathes night and day
a little touch of magic may already have found you
and when you hear those angels sing
and when the wind lifts your wings
that touch of magic comes shining through
into your restless heart
into your heart
a touch of magic
Rain or Shine
This is an interesting one. When I first wrote it, the intent was for it to be a duet, and my girlfriend at the time was going to be the good singer. That never panned out (and neither did the relationship), and I never recorded the lyrics on my own, either. So this is what we in the music biz like to call an "unintentional instrumental". One day I may fill it in with words again. In the mean time, since you can't hear the completely unimaginative lyrics, i'm not going to let you read them either.
Crazy Little Game
The first of two songs I wrote about nuclear weapons ("Leap of Faith" being the other one), this one was originally composed on someone else's keyboard (Glenn Massarotti). My own keyboard subsequently wouldn't talk to me for three months. I cannot express what kind of hell that was. Have you ever tried sending flowers to a keyboard? The people at the flower shop thought I was crazy. Of course, they covered it up by pretending it was because I was completely naked.
ante up, it's time to play
collect your thoughts and throw them away
the stakes are high but you can leave if you want to
just kill yourself and you'll be okay
roll the dice if you dare
hey we're glad you came
to the crazy little game
we're playing with your little lives
i don't believe you when you say you won't fire
watch what you say, you're tapped and wired
madmen runnin' the whole damned show
sad men runnin' with nowhere to go
the earth is in shackles and the sky is too quiet
shuddering on the edge of a riot
missiles of death somewhere underground
don't set them free, don't make a sound
move your men around the board
then send them up and pray to the lord
you can test my patience if you want to
and trust me, you'll know when i've scored
take a card if you dare
hey we're glad you came
to the crazy little game
we're playing with your little lives
If Wishes Were Horses
Yet another song with religious connotations. Today's entry features a reference to Jesus, the dissing of a deadly sin, and lots and lots of miracles. It's kind of funky to look back on that time of my life. In fact, it's funky cold medina. Today I think Jesus was very nice man, deadly sins are fun, and miracles are up to us. I also think I write better, but as you can see below, that's not saying much.
baby you know i wish that i could fly
a wonderful thought, to fly so high
and touch the sky and never die
oh why can't i
if wishes were horses then beggars would ride
and all of our frustrations would wash away with the tide
and maybe, just maybe, jesus never would have died
but such is not the way things work in a universe so wide
but we can dream
put your desires on a pedestal
and we can dream
and someday see a miracle
i'd like peace on earth
to reveal our true worth
and let us all live in harmony, singing a melody
and you and me, we would be set free
if wishes were horses then beggars would ride
and everyone would rest assured that everyone else is on their side
and maybe, just maybe, we'd do away with pride
but such is not the plan, and you just can't run and hide
but we can dream
put your desires on a pedestal
yeah baby dream
and someday see a miracle
if wishes were horses then beggars would ride
and every ideology would have long since died
and maybe, just maybe, we could all live side by side
and line up at the stable for just one ride
but for now, we can dream
put your desires on a pedestal
and we can dream
and someday see a miracle
get on that horse and ride
ride into the sky
fly so high
baby you and i
and someday see a miracle
Distant Melody
This song is a tribute to the completely unhealthy euphoria of dating someone and not being able to think about anything else. This eventually devolves into something more fundamental: not being able to think, period. Followed by deciding everything the other person thinks is actually what you think. Then your friends become idiots, because they all think you should think what you used to think, and meanwhile you're thinking they just don't understand you anymore. I know, it sounds like this hits pretty close to home with me, doesn't it? Pure coincidence, I swear. Excuse me while I go beat the crap out of a pillow.
i can see it now
it's gonna be along day
gazing out the window for a momentary dream
and i can touch your heart
you're somewhere not too far away
longing to be with you till it makes me want to scream
every minute is an eternity
your pulse keeps the time of a distant melody
and oh baby, i can't wait till i can see you tonight, my love
melody
distant melody
cry songbird
sing your mystical tune
give me hope and give me strength to make it through
well i don't have to dream
you've become a part of me
and i, my angel, have become a part of you
every second brings me closer to where i want to be
your electric spirit echoes with a distant melody
and oh baby, i can't wait till i can hold you in my arms again
melody
distant melody
everywhere i'll ever go, it'll follow me
i don't know what i'd do without you and your distant melody
and oh baby, i can't wait till i can look in your eyes and sing it again
baby i love you more than i could ever say
and our distant melody will never die
Believe in Miracles
Okay, so I hope you realize how naked I feel when I post songs like this one. When my eldest brother first heard this song, he ripped it to shreds, and in retrospect I think he was being way too kind. The lyrics suggest I had doubled up on the asthma medication and was beginning to hallucinate when I picked up the pencil. If I had noticed the potential for sarcasm in "if you believe in miracles then I believe in you and me", this might have at least become the musical equivalent of a really bad but beloved cult classic motion picture. But alas, I wasn't noticing the potential for a lot of things back then. Someone really should write a pamphlet.
thunder and lightning all around
a blitzkrieg of acid rain incessantly pouring down
tiny little shelters with arms and legs
and shiny colored faces with painted smiles like so many reckless clowns
snips and snails and puppy dog tails
and two or three quarts of desire to know what we're all doing here
sugar and spice and all things nice
and a suspicious little something
that somehow answers all my questions and alleviates all my fears
seasons come and seasons go
and the sun came up again today
did you happen to see the full moon last night
reasons come and reasons go
and we're probably all wrong anyway
who says our love can't go the speed of light
not me
and if you believe in miracles
then i believe in you and me
and if you think i am worth one chance
then i think we'll be all right
so baby how about a miracle
what do you say to you and me
i don't think i can take another night
without you
maybe i'm crazy, maybe i'm a hopeless romantic
but the wildfire in your eyes makes my pulse get frantic
i can feel your heartbeat, sweet rhythm of love
tender kisses, i just can't get enough
people come and people go and memories might fade away
but a piece of you has found a home in my heart
nations rise and empires fall and baby love what can i say
i don't care 'cause you're a work of art
and if you believe in miracles
then i believe in you and me
and if you think i am worth one chance
then i think we'll be all right
so baby how about a miracle
what do you say to you and me
it could be i've been waiting my whole life
to be with you
to hold you
to kiss you
to love you
Cimmerian Eyes
In the late 1980's, my good friend Paul Pinkney wrote a poem about a girl he met at what was then called Pogo's, a nightclub on "The Hill" in Boulder, Colorado. Furiously jealous that anyone else I knew would do something this creative, I resolved to destroy his precious poem by putting it to music and wailing the once beautiful lines into a cheap microphone. As you can see, it worked. Hopefully this will prevent Paul from ever trying such a thing again. Anyway, these lyrics include several words I had never heard of prior to then (including cimmerian), so I'm not even sure what the hell he was trying to say. Paul's a guy, so I think it has something to do with sex.
amid the haze of stench
mephitis of perfume
smolder, raw heat
a bottlecap slides across a beer-stained table
strikes the yellow-ochre transparent dish
a half-consumed cigarette lay restless
fiery orange cinders cast
as silver smokes trickles
to become pungent air
players in the game
i pull my head
from this musty gray
rest on the stool
clutch on empty bottle
i relinquish my stare from the prom
of studded chrome, pitch leather
slow movements of defiance
eyes slicing the tiled floor
a game of chess
the pieces shifting
a self-indulgent accord
players in the game
a voice elects me
out of solitude
incoherent reflection
the distant lady and i
players in the game
shoes moving
sliding across the black and white squares
players in the game
this risque dance of anopsia
i blindly peer the illegible depths
of her cimmerian eyes
players in the game
cimmerian eyes
Rude Awakening
I just wanted a song where I could yell a lot. I've got nothing more to say. Yeah, you too, buddy.
rough night, relentless storm
knee-deep in the rising sea
you need deliverance to a place that's warm
a place beyond reality
all your so-called prayers have finally been answered
total liberation in that little red pill
metamorphisis into the blue dancer
red rivers thread the eyes with the look that kills
you're in for a rude awakening
open your eyes
better start awakening
or your sun won't rise
snow white lines perched under your face
close your mouth and inhale the passion
listen to your heart, it doesn't know the pace
an inward breath may be your last action
see the harmless bottle sitting on the mantle
pour yourself a shot of leisure time
and buzzing round the lifelight of a flickering candle
a demon fans the air as the bells begin to chime
calling you home
where you find a rude awakening
open your eyes
better start awakening
or your sun won't rise
Beyond Imagination
Instrumentals, having no interesting lyrics to speak of, should be shorter than songs with words. Yeah, right. This is the musical equivalent of "War and Peace". Things to do while listening to this song just once: 1) attend college; 2) write an opera from scratch; 3) create the Earth; 4) count to five hundred trillion; 5) well, you get the picture...
Voyager
I suspect there is at least a small chance that this is the only song ever written entirely about a robotic space probe. Perhaps I have finally found my niche. Anyway, thanks to "Beyond Imagination" being so long, I couldn't fit all of "Voyager" onto the cassette tape, and so the last chorus got chopped off, and being an irresponsible twenty-year-old, I never tried to fix the problem until after I had lost the master four-track version, which sucks, because the best part of the song is the twist at the end, which you won't hear in the poorly repaired recorded version that now exists. God I hate music.
cape canaveral, on the platform
this is my destiny
start the fire underneath my metal feet
billowing smoke for all to see
i'm in the air, piercing the sky
far above the human friends i leave behind
beyond the clouds, beyond the atmosphere
pitch black rains on me
miles away from the hands that built me
they wonder if i'm ever coming back home
i'm the voyager, a planet's eyes and ears
and i'm way past alone
deep red warrior with polar eyes
look back, see two sisters guarding the little one
hurtling boulders on the way to colossus
a far cry from the warm glowing sun
rings around the elegant cottonball
and two cold dark twins gazing upon it all
and running like a rebel through the outskirts of the family
so little but more than none
a light-year away from the voices calling out to me
knowin' i'm never coming back home
a messenger who's never coming back home
i'm the voyager, a world's laughter and tears
and i'm far beyond alone
turns out the moon was only a handshake away
distances have no meaning anymore
time has dissolved into a merciless beast
it teases me and chills me straight to the core
miles away from the hands that built me
they wonder if i'm ever coming back home
i'm the voyager, a planet's eyes and ears
and i'm way past alone
(note: the original master of this song was lost,
and ended with the following chorus instead...)
forever away from the spirit that guides me
a messenger who'll never come back home
i'm just a voyager searching for another voice
to ask me where i'm from
then they'll send out another one, back to my home
another lonely journey into the stars
another voyager on a golden quest
to tell you you're not alone
Tastiera on iTunes
Hear Bead Rag Guns