Changing Of The Guards

Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath falling leaves.

Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve near the tower.

The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid 
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.

I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending beneath a heart-shaped tattoo
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.

The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angel's voices whisper to the souls of previous times.

She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later the sun is breaking
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks.Gentlemen, he said
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning either brace yourself for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.

Peace will come
With tranquillity and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords.  


New Pony

I had a pony, her name was Lucifer
I had a pony, her  name was Lucifer
She broke a leg and needed shooting
I swear it hurt me more than it could ever have hurted her.

Sometimes I wonder what's going on with me back
Sometimes I wonder what's going on with me back
You know she got such a sweet disposition
I never know what the poor girl's gonna do to me next.

I got a new pony, she knows how to fox-trot, lope and pace
Well, I got a new pony, she knows how to fox-trot lope and pace
She got great big hind legs
And long black shaggy hair hanging in her face.

Everybody say you're using voodoo, your feet walk by themselves 
Well, everybody say you're using voodoo, I seen your feet walk by themselves 
Oh baby, that god you been praying to
Is gonna give ya back what you're wishing on someone else.

Come over here pony, I wanna climb up one time on you 
Well, come over here pony, I wanna climb up one time on you 
Well, you're so nasty and you're so bad
But I swear I love you, yes I do.


No Time To Think

In death you face life with a child and a wife
Who sleep-walks through your dreams into walls
You're soldier of mercy, you're cold and you curse
He who cannot be trusted must fall.

Loneliness, tenderness, high society, notoriety
You fight for the throne and you travel alone
Unknown as you slowly sink
And there's no time to think.

In the Federal City you been blown and shown pity
For secret, for pieces of change
The empress attracts you but oppression distracts you
And it makes you feel violent and strange.

Memory, ecstasy, tyranny, hypocrisy
Betrayed by a kiss on a cool night of bliss
In the valley of the missing link
And you have no time to think.

Judges will haunt you, the country priestess will want you
Her worst is better than best
I've seen all these decoys through a set of deep turquoise eyes
And I feel so depressed.

China doll, alcohol, duality, mortality
Mercury rules you and destiny fools you
Like the plague, with a dangerous wink
And there's no time to think.

Your conscience betrayed you when some tyrant waylaid you
Where the lion lies down with the lamb
I'd have paid off the traitor and killed him much later
But that's just the way that I am.

Paradise, sacrifice, mortality, reality
But the magician is quicker and his game
Is much thicker than blood and blacker than ink
And there's no time to think.

Anger and jealousy's all that he sells us
He's content when you're under his thumb
Madmen oppose him, but your kindness throws him
To survive it you play deaf and dumb.
Equality, liberty, humility, simplicity
You glance through the mirror and there's eyes starring clear
At the back of you head as you drink
And there's no time to think.

Warlords of sorrow and queens of tomorrow
Will offer their heads for a prayer
You can't find no salvation, you have no expectations
Anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

Mercury, gravity, nobility, humility
You know you can't keep her and the water gets deeper
That is leading your onto the brink
But there's no time to think.

You've murdered your vanity, buried your sanity
For pleasure you must now resist
Lovers obey you but they cannot sway you
They're not even sure you exist.

Socialism, hypnotism, patriotism, materialism
Fools making laws for the breaking of jaws
And the sound of the keys as they clink
But there's no time to think.

The bridge that you travel on goes to the Babylon
With the rose in her hair
Starlight in the East you're finally released
You're stranded but with nothing to share.

Loyality, unity, epitome, rigidity
You turn around for one real last glimpse of Camille
'Neath the moon shining bloody and pink
And there's no time to think.

Bullets can harm you and death can disarm you
But no, you will not be deceived
Stripped of all virtue as you crawl through the dirt
You can give but you cannot receive.

No time to choose when the truth must die
No time to lose or say goodbye
No time to prepare for the victim that's there
No time to suffer or blink
And no time to think.


Baby, Stop Crying

You been down to the bottom with a bad man, babe
But you're back were you belong
Go get me my pistol, babe
Honey, I can't tell right from wrong.

Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying
You know, I know the sun will always shine
So baby, please stop crying 'cause it's tearing up my mind.

Go down to the river, babe
Honey, I will meet you there
Go down to the river, babe
Honey, I will pay your fare.

Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying
You know, I know the sun will always shine
So baby, please stop crying 'cause it's tearing up my mind.

If you're looking for assistance, babe
Or if you just want some company
Or if you just want a friend you can talk to
Honey, come and see about me.

Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying
You know, I know the sun will always shine
So baby, please stop crying 'cause it's tearing up my mind.

You been hurt so many times
And I know what you're thinking of
Well, I don't have to be no doctor, babe
To see that you're madly in love.

Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying, stop crying, stop crying
Baby, please stop crying
You know, I know the sun will always shine
So baby, please stop crying 'cause it's tearing up my mind.


Is Your Love In Vain ?

Do your love me, or are you just extending goodwill ?
Do you need me half as bad as you say, or are you just feeling guilt ?
I've been burned before and I know the score
So you won't hear me complain
Will I be able to count on you
Or is you love in vain ?

Are you so fast that you cannot see that I must have solitude ?
When I am in the darkness, why do you intrude ?
Do you know my world, do you know my kind
Or must I explain ?
Will you let me be myself
Or is you love in vain ?

Well I've been to the mountain and I've been in the wind
I've been in and out of happiness
I have dined with kings, I've been offered wings
And I've never been too impressed.

All right, I'll take a chance, I will fall in love with you
If I'm a fool you can have the night, you can have the morning too
Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow
Do you understand my pain ?
Are you willing to risk it all
Or is you love in vain ?

Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow
Do you understand my pain ?
Are you willing to risk it all
Or is you love in vain ?



Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

Senor, senor, can you tell me where we're headin ?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon ?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, senor ?

Senor, senor, do you know where she is hidin' ?
How long are we gonna be riding ?
How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door ?
Will there be any comfort there senor ?

There's a wicked wind still blowing on that upper deck
There's an iron cross still hanging down from around her neck
There's a marcing band still playing in that vacant lot
Where's she held me in her arms one time and said, Forget me not.

Senor, senor, I can see that painted wagon
Smell the tail of the dragon
Can't stand the suspense anymore
Can you tell me who to contact here, senor ?

Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
He said, Son, this ain't a dream no more it's the real thing.

Senor, senor, you know their hearts is as hard as leather
Well, give me a minute, let me get it together
I just gotta pick myself up off the floor
I'm ready when you are, senor.

Senor, senor, let's overturn these cables
Disconnect these tables
This place don't make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we're waiting for, senor ?


True Love Tends To Forget

I'm getting weary looking in my baby's eyes
When she's near me she's so hard to recognize
But I finally realize there's no room for regret
True love, true love, true love tends to forget.

Hold me, baby be near
You told me that you'd be sincere
But every day of the year's like playing Russian roulette
True love, true love, true love tends to forget.

I was lying down in the reeds without any oxygen
I saw you in the wilderness among the men
I saw you drift into infinity and come back again
All you got to do is wait 'till I'll tell you when.

You're a tearjerker, baby, but I'm under your spell
You're a hard worker, baby, and I know you well
At this weekend in hell is making me sweat
True love, true love, true love tends to forget.

I was lying down in the reeds without any oxygen
I saw you in the wilderness among the men
Saw you drift into infinity and come back again
All you got to do is wait and I'll tell you when.

You belong to me baby, without any doubt
Don't forsake me baby, don't sell me out
Don't keep me knocking about from Mexico to Tibet
True love, true love, true love tends to forget.

True love, true love, true love tends to forget.
True love, true love, true love tends to forget
True love, true love, true love tends to forget.


We Better Talk This Over

I think we better talk this over
Maybe when we both get sober
You'll understand I'm only a man
Doing the best that I can.

This situation can only get rougher
Why should we needlesly suffer ?
Let's call it a day go our own different way
Before we decay.

You don't have to be afraid of looking into my face
We've done nothing to each other time will not erase.

I feel displaced, I got a low-down feeling
You have been two-faced, you been double-dealing
I took a chance, got caught in the trance
Of a downhill dance.

Oh child, why you wanna hurt me ?
I'm exiled you can't convert me
I'm lost in the haze of your delicate ways
With both eyes glazed.

You don't have to yearn for love, you don't have to be alone
Somewhere in the univers there's a place that you can call home.

I guess I'll be leaving tomorrow
If I have to beg, steal or borrow
It'd be great to cross paths in a day and a half
Look at each other and laugh.

But I don't think it's liable to happen
Like the sound of one hand clapping
The vows that we kept are now broken and swept
Beneath the bed where we slept.
Don't think of me and fantasize of what we never had
Be grateful for what we've shared together and be glad
Why should we got on watching each other through a telescope ?
Eventually we'll hang ourselves on all this tangled rope.

Oh babe, time for a new transition
I wish I was a magician
I would wave a wand and tie back the bond
That we've both gone beyond.


Where Are You Tonight (Journey Through Dark Heat)

There's a long distance train rolling through the rain, tears on the letter I write
There's a woman I long to touch and I miss her so much but she's drifting 
          like a satelite
There's a neon light ablaze in the green smoky haze, and laughter down on
          Elizabeth Street
And a lonesome bell tone in that valley of stone where she bathed
          in a stream of pure heat
Her father would emphasize you got to be more than street-wise but he practiced 
          what he preached from the heart
A full-blooded Cherokee, he predicted it to me the time and the place it 
          would start.

There's a babe in the arms of a woman in a rage
And a longtime golden-haired stripper onstage
And she winds back the clock and she turns back the page
Of a book that nobody write
Oh, where are you tonight ?

The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure, to live it you have to explode
In the last hour of need, we entirely agreed, sacrifice was the code of the road
I left town at dawn, with Marcel and St. John, strong men betitled by doubt
I couldn't tell her what my private thoughts were but she had some way of finding 
          them out
He took dead-center aim but he missed just the same, she was waiting putting 
          flowers on the shelf
She could feel my despair as I climbed up her hair and discovered her invisible self.

There's a lion in the road, there's a demon escaped
There's a million dreams gone, there's a landscape being raped
As her beauty fades and I watch her undrape
I won't but then again, maybe I might
Oh, if I could just find you tonight.
I fought with ny twin, that enemy within, 'til both of us fell by the way
Horseplay and disease is killing me by degrees while the law looks the other way
Your partners in crime hit me up for nickels and dimes, the man you were loving 
          couldn't never get clean
It felt outa place, my foot in his face, but he should-a stayed where his money 
          was green
I bit into the root of forbidden fruit with the juice running down my leg
Then I dealt with your boss, who'd never known about loss and who always was too 
          proud to beg
There's a white diamond gloom on the dark side of this room and a pathway that 
          leads up to the stars
If you don't believe there's a price for this sweet paradise, just remind me to show 
          you the scars.

There's a new day at dawn and I've finally arrived
If I'm there in the morning, baby, you'll know I've survived
I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm alive
But without you it just doesn't seem right
Oh, where are you tonight ?