Don't You Know

I saw her in line at the Stop n’ Shop
She looked at me I almost dropped
The apple juice that I was holding
And then again at Trader Joe’s
She caught my eye and I just froze
While my soy ice cream was melting
And she said

Don’t you know -you’re the one for me
Don’t you know -you’re my destiny
Don’t you know -what the whole world knows is true

She moved in and quick like we made a life
And she talked of being my wife
Someday when the time was right

And then on a night as the katydids sang
They took five as the telephone rang
I said "hi", heard a sigh
Then a voice-and she said

Don’t you know -she’s the one for me
Don’t you know -she’s my destiny

Don’t you know -what the whole world knows is true
Don’t you know -she’s my everything
Don’t you know -all the joy she brings
Don’t you know -what the whole world knows is true
I thought you knew

Of all the times we shared
And all the crosses we’ve beared
If only you knew
How my heart was broken the moment that she said

He’s the one for me Don’t you know -he’s my destiny
Don’t you know -what the whole world knows is true
Don’t you know - she’s my everything
Don’t you know -all the joy she brings
Don’t you know -what the whole world knows is true

The Ballad Of Dana & Mary

Dana works all day restoring the barn
Mary his love plants the bulbs on the farm
She won’t see their flowers for four months or more
But she knows the beauty in store
Breakfast at eight, lunch at noon , supper at six
Then go for a walk, have a talk, or just sit
Climb up to bed by a quarter to ten
Then get up and do it again

Saturday night at old Munson Hall
They dance the night away
Seems not so long ago
They were on their first date

Mary’s on Main Street protesting the war
She’ll be there each week as she’s been there before
And although she knows that it’s mostly in vain
Her convictions have never refrained

Dana’s old tractor’s still barely alive
But he keeps it running on stubborn old pride
The pride that it gives him each hard working day
A pride so rare today

Saturday night at old Munson Hall
They dance the night away
He’s holding her, she’s holding him
Like it’s their first date

80 years on and they’re still going strong
50 years married where have the days gone
But sometimes a love can keep time standing still
And for Dana and Mary it will
For Dana and Mary it will

Saturday night at old Munson Hall
They’ll dance their lives away
As slowly they spin around
The world fades away

Soul

Soul- what a creation you would be
A life born from harmony
Maybe someday, but just not now you see
We need to fix up the place for you
Well there’s so much more to do
We’ve really made a mess of it here

Soul- the name that I was going to give to you
Love- the feelings I’d show you
Peace- what I promised you’d always have
But a promise that I can’t keep right now

Soul- what I’d give to see you play and run
And I wonder who you’d become as you’d grow
But that day might never come
Cause I can’t bring you into this
For I’d feel such shame and guilt
But then again, you might be the one to save us

Soul- time’s running out on me
Your face I may never see
But know I did it to save you
From living in this mess we’ve made
You shouldn’t see the world this way
You should only see

Rushing rivers
Blushing blossoms
Endless meadows
Restless possums
Summer showers
Autumn colors
Winter quiet
Spring arrivals

Mountains at sunrise
Desert sundowns
Ocean moonlights
And rain forest sounds
Nighthawks soaring
Nesting robins
Canyons calling
Winds howling
Trees growing so high
You can climb to the sky
And kiss the sunshine
Or sleep under a starry night

Everyone healthy
No one hungry
Greed and hatred
Are long gone memories

Smiling neighbors
Caring leaders
Passionate teachers
Trusting mothers
Fathers staying
No more fighting
Music playing

Sweet music playing

Everyone happy
Everyone hoping
Everybody dreaming
And no more wars
Everybody slowing down
To see the beauty around
And take in the simple sounds
Of another precious day

The land treated kindly
Respect given widely
To any living creature
And everyone together

Everybody equal
Nobody better
Any religion
Or none at all
No more weapons
Everybody listening
To anybody talking
It’s time to change

Spirits embraced
Any country any race
Put it all in the past
And we’ll be truly free at last

Soul

Red

Sitting on my red back porch
In my red chair
Playing my red guitar
Wearing my red pajamas
The ones with all the little red stars

She comes outside in her red baby-t
That barely covers her red negligee
And says, "Honey, the weatherman says
It’s going to be another red day..."
Hey hey, hey hey

I hated the 80’s
There was too much red throughout the land
That guy in Loverboy with his red leather pants
And white headband

Oh I’m one to talk in my red parachutes
And white Capezios
But I was younger and dumber
And so, you know, I didn’t know
Hey hey hey hey

Red
Haunting me again
Will it ever end
Haven’t I already said
Please no more red

Trying to hide the red in my eyes
I wear my red shades day and night
But there’s no red disguise
I ’m naked under a red light

I’ve tried to run from the red
But it tempts me and hooks me and holds me in a red bed
And it hits me with a big red hammer
Until I’m going out of my red head
Hey hey hey hey

They say there’s a red pill
For this red disease I have in me
But I must admit
There’s more than a bit of the red
I don’t wanna leave

Sweet Alice Brook

Sweet Alice Brook runs under the road
Brimming with life and free
A wandering angel with a bright sunlit smile
That hides all the sadness she feels

Now she’s not the longest or even the prettiest
Not many curves or bends
But she brings her beauty wherever she goes
And her shores have launched many young men

Whenever the world starts spinning too fast
She slows it down for me
Tender and lovely this nature girl is
Always there for me

But somewhere upstream
Somebody carelessly
Dirtied her waters each night
But she carried on strong
And gave it her all
And put up a real good fight

But the years of poison had taken their toll
And Alice could not survive
And on a late April thaw she danced her last waltz
And I watched her wave good-bye

Whenever the world was spinning too fast
She slowed it down for me
And we’re all the richer for knowing her
And the poorer for letting her die

I went for a walk 20 years on
In search of a long gone friend
For I never told her how much she meant
To me and a dream that won’t end

That somewhere beneath the concrete and steel
Sweet Alice Brook flows again

Tomorrow We’ll Try Again

Everyday they say
We’re worse off than we were before
And everywhere I look
Somebody’s starting another war
And the summer gone
Was hotter than it ever was
And soon the ice will melt
And we’ll all be gone in a flood

It’s all so crazy sometimes
Can make you lose your mind
But for a moment let’s leave it behind

You and me might change the world today
But tonight let’s fly away
Close your eyes and just pretend
That the love will never end

Tomorrow we’ll try again

3 more dead in Oakland
40 in a Bombay bomb
How I wish we could just forget
And go swim in the pond
But it’s why I love you
You always wanna try and find sense
And someday darling I swear
We’ll know we made a difference

For all the hours
The worry for others
You carry the weight of the world
On your shoulders

We might lose but we might win
Oh my love will never end
Close your eyes my love
My love will never end

Tomorrow we’ll try again

One Last Ride On The Merry-Go-Round

Tilden Park looked lovely in its shades of green and red
But you covered your canvas all in purple, yellow, and blue instead
You never saw the world as it was but how you wanted it to be And I thank you for passing on that part of you to me

Nature always stood still for you posing for her favorite artist
And you’d paint her portrait so she’d always look her Sunday best Charcoaled landscapes filled your world through times when so little else would
And you showed me where to find the beauty and the good

Every child needs someone they can turn to
You were there and never said no
When it was time to go
We’d always take

One last ride on the merry-go-round
One last time before they tear it down
One more chance to hold your hand and ride
On the merry-go-round

You had more than your share of too many long and lonely days
You married a navy man who drank his life and pay away
But you gave me a mother and she’s still the light of my life
And sometimes I see you when I look into her eyes

I’m so sorry for those years I spent away
Like you I went searching for solid ground
That I never found
But I was dreaming

In those final crazy days I’d hate to hear the nurses say
Don’t bother trying she doesn’t even know your face or name
And it killed me to see you just a shadow of my greatest hero
But my memory’s frozen on the grandmother I always knew

I told you the same old joke I’d told you a million times
And at the punch line you clenched my hand
Now I understand
You wanted just

One last ride on the merry-go-round
One last time before they tear it down
One more chance to hold my hand and ride
On the merry-go-round

Sister Hold On

When things seem worse
Than they’ve ever been
And no matter what
You just can’t seem to win
When one thing gets fixed
Another 20 break in your hands
You just don’t understand

They tell you you’re crazy
And they’ve had enough
So they fill you with pills
Instead of love
Cause if you’re not bleeding
Nobody seems to care
Anywhere-but I care

Sister hold on
I’ll be there in the morning
I’m traveling all night
Just to get back to you
Sister hold on
Things are going to get better
No matter how long
I promise

Sister hold on

We were the king and queen of cool
Ruling the playground after school
You’d look out for me
And I’d look up to you
And I still do-I do

From one misfit to another
You know I know where you are
But let’s forget the cold outside
And make believe it’s warm tonight
And everything’s alright-tonight

You’ve got a daughter who needs you now
And a baby brother you left crying
And you’re still the most beautiful girl
The world has ever seen
And you’ll always be
So promise me...that you will

The Ghost of Rock n’ Roll

Long ago when rock was young
It was all about girls, cars, having fun
Dancing to the latest songs on the radio

But now it’s deep, dark, down, and depressed
I wonder when it was we all got stressed
I really miss the summers by the stereo

But I still remember
Like it was yesterday
All the songs my DJ would play

Rock n’ Roll radio
What happened to the friend I used to know
You were there when I needed you most
Now you’re just a ghost of Rock n’ Roll

When Rock n’ Roll turned a sweet 16
He was dancin’ at the prom with his beauty queen
And Saturday nights Casey counted ‘em from 40 to one

But now the music’s all compromised
The demographic market size analyzed
And has to answer to the corporation bottom line

After school we’re cool just playing our stack of 45’s
Or tune our favorite station in and let the music fill our lives

C’mon C’mon C’mon C’mon!

When He Was Young

Days would last forever
When he was young
Seemed they’d never end
When he was young
Now they’re gone so fast
He thinks of all that’s passed
Days would last forever
When he was young

The girls would smile at him
When he was young
Handsome as a devil
When he was young
He broke a heart or two
Til he found a love so true
The girls still smile at him
Like he was young

Children used to play
When he was young
Outside all day
When he was young
Try to keep ‘em inside
But they’d sneak out and hide
Children used to play
When he was young

This valley was quiet at night
When he was young
Stars lit up the sky
When he was young
But now noises collide
Cover nature’s lullaby
The valley was quiet at night
When he was young

Life was just another day
When he was young
Time was nothing he thought of
When he was young
But now that time’s winding down
He thinks it all profound
Life was just another day
When he was young

The Last Hawk

On the lift of the wind
Rides a red-tailed hawk
What a high it must be
As she looks down upon us
Will she smile or cry
Will she be proud of what she sees?

Land going gone so fast
And rivers run dry
Man killing man so fast
She wonders why

And when god asks, “How they doin’?”
Will she say, “They’re doin’ OK”
Or will she wipe a tear and fly away

As she soars across the sky
And casts a shadow on the sun
What freedom she must feel
It’s amazing we were given
Such beauty and majesty
And yet we’ve treated it all so carelessly

But we’ll die trying some of us
To keep you in flight
So please don’t give up on us
It’s an endless fight

And when a god asks “How they doin’?”
Will you say “They’re doin’ OK”
Or will you wipe a tear and fly away

Dear friend
Sometimes
I wish you’d take me on your ride
But I’m not sure I’d like what I’d see

Land going gone so fast
That I wanna cry
Man killing man so fast
And I wonder why

And if god asked me how we’re doin
Could I say we’re doin’ OK
Or will I wipe a tear and fly away
Let me wipe your tears
Don’t fly away