1. Learning Not To Talk

I was talking into space
And scratching at my face
You said you loved that sand paper sound
My words came tumbling town
Untangled, set free
All over me

I picked the words up off the floor
And tried to say no more
Had to bite my tongue at first
Till suddenly something burst
Untangled, set free
Inside of me

And then you let your fingertips
Fall gently from your lips
I thought, but didn’t say:
Here’s the way

2. Song For A Shadow

Go on girl, ask me anything
I am an open book
The only things I’m not gonna tell you
Are whether I’m a believer
And how old I think you look
‘Cos some mistakes
Only a fool’s gonna make
More than once in a lifetime

Well I live in the shadow of the stadium
A stones throw from the railway line
If I told you I hear mortal fear in the roar of the crowd
Or hope in the sound of that lonesome whistle
So divine
Would you believe me
Or just up and leave me
Or be mine for all of a lifetime

Bless me father for I am a sinner
So long since any confession
Hope you don’t mind if before we begin
I make a little digression
About all the prayers
And all the deaf ears
And finding out there’s nowhere you won’t go
To find a new friend
And that story you tell
About heaven and hell
Hear it once and you carry it all the way to the end

3. Neon Lights

(portions of the lyrics adapted from the poem ‘Neon Lights’ by Robin Hyde)

Sometimes I’d like my name in neon lights
Crimson and blue, plastered across the velvet night
Only so you, passing by in the high street crowd
Might say I knew him well, might be a little proud
A little proud

But it’s your name
All lit up in electric flame

Sometimes I’d rather be the dream caress
Of the quietest petal blown into your loneliness
Loneliness

But it’s your name
All lit up in electric flame

In a dream you were my navigator
On a forever drive
And our headlights were the stars that we wished upon
They were all we ever needed to survive

Sometimes, neon lights
Neon

5. The Older Brother Says Goodbye

Won’t you turn your back on this moment for a moment
And look with me on the brazen days, the highball all nighters
And let’s not return to face the day
The day that I have ordained
Till the clock in my chest begins to tick a little lighter

We built our kingdom on crystal rocks that came from Jakarta
And Chinese pure tinted our windows, gilded the frames
Yeah we rode the ice floe all the way to the top of the market
Where in burning neons we spelt out our coded names

Beginners luck begins to dwindle
Like stars when the dawn comes
I drifted from you as you drifted too damn close to the source
Yeah you sure got a taste for more than the job
And then you wanted the keys to my kingdom
Well I couldn’t step back and just watch nature take its course

So here we stand on the threshold of our separate ways
And this is not the kind of scene you get to rehearse
Where I am the one about to break
The only commandment we haven’t yet broken
And you are the one who said to always plan for the worst

6. Beautiful And Harmless

Everything is beautiful and harmless when I’m with you
Everything is beautiful and harmless when I’m with you

As beautiful as the sky on a starry night
As harmless as kids having a water fight
It’s a wonderful world
As beautiful as the sound of the rain on the roof
As harmless as suspicion without any proof
Nothing needs to be proven when I’m with you

‘Cos
Everything is beautiful and harmless when I’m with you
Everything is beautiful and harmless when I’m with you

As beautiful as a fairy kissing a Christmas elf
As harmless as a man who only hates himself
It’s a fantasy world
As beautiful as a lamb in the winter when it shivers
As harmless as a gun at the bottom of a river
Nothing needs to be proven when I’m with you

I’m attracted to you
You’re as delicate as a bouquet of freshly picked tulips
I said I have to have you
You’re as innocent as a love song
But you’re nowhere near as stupid as a love song
And when I’m with you
Oh everything!
Is as beautiful as a person whose just glad to be alive
As harmless as me as long as you’re by my side

I said
Everything is beautiful and harmless
Everything is beautiful and harmless
Everything is beautiful and harmless
When I’m with you

7. Let It Blow

Looking out the kitchen window
I can see
The way the wind blows the washing off the line
Mercilessly

And it’s fine by me
Fine by me

Set to rain any second
Gonna be dark soon
And our clothes are scattered everywhere
Just the way we used to leave them
Scattered down the corridor
Leading to the bedroom

And it’s fine by me
Fine by me

8. The Usual Business

About the time a sailor’s heart is turning to the shore
A cross-examined lovers eyes are falling to the floor
About the time a prisoner drifts on a dream beyond the gate
An officer is speeding to some scene a little late

Just the usual business and I’m headed into town
To sing for my cigarettes with a painted frown

Hey Mister High Roller
Can you spare a dollar for a fellow man

About the time a sailor’s bride is turning to the sea
Her little girl is dressing for to get into the show for free
The sun is fading out, the neon lights are flickering in
A preacher’s premonitions are being drowned out by the din

Just the usual business and I’m headed into town
To sing for my cigarettes with a painted over frown

Hey Mister High Roller
Can you spare a dollar for a fellow man
If you please
You seem in a hell of a rush
No need for pleasantries
And it’s a compliment when I say
I can tell by your type of tie
That you make good money

Just the usual business and I’m headed into town
To sing for my cigarettes with a painted frown

9. Out Of The Ordinary

Won’t you take me out, out of the ordinary
Oh I’ve been a long time longing to leave
Won’t you take me out, before I become too weary
To care what this life has left up its sleeve

The world is full
Of fools like us
Overtired, oblivious
To the ocean

I was trying to keep my cool
But she read on my mind a question
Why do you sleep in a single bed?
She answered me coy as a sage
She said a cage in search of a bird
Must have found my heart instead

The world is full
Of fools like us
Overtired, oblivious
To the ocean

So dance me all the way, out of the ordinary
But I’m gonna have to feel it to believe
Dance me all the way, before I become to weary
To care, what this life has left
Oh I’ve been a long time longing to leave

11. The Beggar

Standing out on the edge
All liquored up and sick of it all
Feeling like a lesser star
You let your bitter verses fall

Down into the water
The sword into the stone
It was all the same to you now
A pearl or an eye, coral or bone

The ocean conquers everything
A holy truth, but not wholly true
And, all your bitter verses, like a silver vessel
They outlasted you
They outlasted you

So tonight I follow your ghost
I hear the wind I smell the brine
I carry my burden like a candle
All these bitter verses of mine

Down into the water
The sword into the stone
It was all the same to you now
A pearl or an eye, coral or bone

And if it’s all the same to you
Then it’s all the same to me
If it’s all the same to you
Then it’s all the same to me