Tom Rapp/Pearls Before Swine
Lyrics
The 9 original albums:
"One Nation Underground"
"Balaklava"
"These Things Too"
"The Use Of Ashes"
"City Of Gold"
"Beautiful Lies"
"Familiar Songs"
"Stardancer"
"Sunforest"
 |
"One Nation Underground"
"Balaklava"
"These Things Too"
"The Use Of Ashes"
"City Of Gold"
"Beautiful Lies"
"Familiar Songs"
"Stardancer"
"Sunforest"
|
Where have you been to?
Where did you go?
Did you follow the summer out
When the winter pushed its face in the snow?
Or have you come by again
To die again?
Try again another time
Did you follow the Crystal Swan?
Did
you see yourself
Deep inside the Velvet Pond?
Or have you come by again
To die
again?
Try again another time
When you set to shape the world
was the shape the shape of you?
or did you cast enchanting glance
through the eye that all men use?
Or have you come by again
to die again?
try again another time
Did you find that the Universe
Doesn't
care at all?
Did you find that if you don't care
This whole wrong world will fall?
Or
have you come by again
To die again?
Try again another time
Did you ever capture
All those jewels
in the sky?
Did you find that the world outside
Is all inside your mind?
Or have you
come by again
To die again
Try again another time
"(Oh Dear) Miss Morse"
By Tom Rapp
Oh Dear, Miss Morse,
I want
you,
Oh yes, I do,
I want you.
This may strike you
Odd-I-ly
But I want you
Bodily
Don't blame me dear,
Blame
McLuhan
His media
Were your ruin
Chorus:
Dit Dit Dah Dit
Dit Dit Dah
Dah Dit Dah Dit
Dah Dit Dah
Drop out with me
And just live your
life
Behind your eyes
Your own
skies
Your own tomorrows
Just be yourself
And no one can
step
Inside your mind
From
behind
If you just walk out
They made the rules
And they laid
it
On us all
Don't you
fall
'Cause then they own you
They're using you
To kill all the
echoes still
Around
From the
sound
Of calendars crumbling
They made the bomb
Would they drop
it
On us all?
Great and
small.
But must we follow
Drop
out with me.
All along the cold gross canal
The
grey-walled dwarf
Leaps high
Dwelling dark victorious
Silent with a cry
On the ledge
The leper walks
Soft-pawed
Cold
Lean and crisp
Telling jokes the old Jew
told
Laughing with a lisp
At the door
I stand and sense
Each picture in its frame
Seeking
out
In each glance
The
hunchback
With my name
The past
Is broken like an
hourglass
And the scattered sand
Of circumstance
Is blinding
Me to you
The rain
Is whispering to my window
pane
And drawing
Crazy
patterns
On the blind
Your face
Is invading the portals of
my eyes
And drawing
Crazy
patterns
On my mind
Who created mist
Created your
smile
And who created rainbows
Created you
My mind
Is all entwined
In fragrant fields of flowers
And the
scent
Puts me outside my mind
The past
The rain
Your face, mist and rainbows
Flowers
And the rain
Are you
The wind winds the platform
Blows
through your suit creases
You want us
To crucify the enemy for Jesus
With your
chamber-of-commerce soul
You talk of war so bold
God is on our side, but
He's lost in your wallet-fold
And the widows a-sighing
The children
a-crying
The screams of the dying
Say you are lying, Uncle John
You pull out your Sunday God
And hold
him up so proud
And say he is with us
To the Applauding crowd
But the burn-blackened
place
The shredded disfigured face
Don't say that God is Love
They say that you are Hate
And the widows a-sighing
The children
a-crying
The screams of the dying
Say you are lying, Uncle John
You stand up on the platform
With the
flag wrapped all around you
And tell us that the Bible
says
To fight for it we're bound to
But the Red's for the blood we lose
The White's
for the gauze they use
To cover burned-out blackened
men
The rest is for the bodies numb and Blue
And the widows a-sighing
The children
a-crying
The screams of the dying
Say you are lying, Uncle John
"I Shall Not Care"
By Tom Rapp and Sara Teasdale
When I am dead
And over me bright
April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair
Though you should lean
Above me
broken-hearted
I shall not care
Words that were not said
Songs that
were not sung
Tears that were not shed
Deeds that were not done
I was not
I was
I am not
I do not care
Words that were not said
Songs that
were not sung
Tears that were not shed
Deeds that were not done
I shall have peace
As leafy trees are
peaceful
When rain bends down the bow
And I shall be
More silent and
cold-hearted
Than you are now
All songs © 1967 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 |
"Translucent Carriages"
By Tom Rapp
The translucent carriages
Drawing
morning in
Dawn inside their pockets
Like a whisper on the wind
The soft touch of your words
Has been
betrayed like love grown old
Or the silhouettes of
children
Crying somewhere in the cold
The ancient night is coming back
The
light is fading out
The tree is hid in shadow
In a fog of useless doubt
Go away go away
The imperative is
drawn
All your symbols are shattered
All your sacred words are gone
The caravans are leaving
For the dawn
of nothing
Lepers carry roses
To Jerusalem
In peace
Sons bury their
fathers
In war
Fathers bury their sons
Love is silent
At the edge of the
universe
Waiting
To come in
Jesus raised the dead
But who
Will raise the living
Every time I see you passing by
I have
to wonder why
Images of April
Summer in th
air
April in your hair
All is gone
I remember
Days inside your
mind
The brave new mirror I would find
All is gone
The sea has left the sand
The sun has
left the land
As helpless as my empty hand
All is gone
You are sunlight
In another
dawn
A voice inside another song
All is gone
There was a man came to our town
He
wore a suit of red
He memorized with secret eyes
That he hid away in his head
There was a man came to our town
He
wore a suit of red
He memorized with secret eyes
That he hid away in his head
I saw the world
Spinning like a
toy
Hate seems so small
Compared to it all
So why don't you do joy
Hate is a chain
It all comes back
again
Everything you do
Returns at last to you
So why don't you do love
Why must you stand
Holding your own
hand
Why won't you see me
Why won't you help me
Why won't you love me
You know that your guardian angel is dead, you have said
You say in the world is not a safe world to be
For all of your trying and all of your crying it seems
It's raining outside/umbrellas are harder to find
All of the pain in the world is outside your bed
In the shapes of phantom men tapping your window with rhythms
of dread
And all of the silver rosaries hung on the
door
Will not drive them alway/they are going to stay
You say that the sky people don't even ask you your name
If it's you or another, it doesn't matter, to them it's all
the same
But we live suspended in each other's
mind
A bullet-proof sanctuary cathedral of eyes
That I offer you/that I offer you
You're trapped in a world of angels who no longer care
In the space where his hand was, my hand is reaching out for
you there
Love is the weapon left after the fall
It may not seem like much but girl that's all there is
Girl/I love you
The halo morning has dissolved
The day
is gone
And nothing's solved
For you
The sand castles are merely sand
The
sea has crawled back
From your hand
Too soon
In fields where Susan sings
The
leopard brings
Yesterday
In upon a string
And all your dead rainbows
Begin to
stain
The lace on your raincoat
So leave the blind
Roses behind
You
Orpheus takes you by the hand
Leads
you into another land
Land without shade
Where trees are made
For you, Teresius
Will try to
find
A monument
To the death of eyes
So leave the blind
Roses behind
You
If you knew tomorrow was
Just
yesterday
Hiding behind a mask
What would you ask?
What could you ask?
Alpha and Omega laugh
Behind a
glass
Sell bootstraps from a bag
Nowhere to hide
The rest is a lie
So leave the blind
Roses behind
You
"The Cowboy Who Ate Vietnam"
By Tom Rapp © 1967
You better watch out
For the
cowboy
Who ate Vietnam
He knows a strange one
Runs the war
for me and you
And if he can arrange it
He'll send your son there too
Double, double
Toil and trouble
Fire burn and cauldron bubble
Eye of newt, toe of frog
Wool of bat, tongue of dog
You better watch out
For the
cowboy
Who ate Vietnam
All songs © 1968 (except as indicated) by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
"Footnote"
By Tom Rapp & W.H. Auden
Perfection of a kind was what he was after
The poetry he invented was easy to understand
He knew human folly like the back of his hand
He had an interest in armies and fleets
When he
laughed respectable senators laughed at his feet
But
when he cried the little children died in the streets
I have just come back from the land beyond the mountain
This is not a story I was told
When
all the people are made out of wood
They build their
houses of bones
I have just come back from the land beyond the mountain
There a man with wounds I did see
Said: I do not want to escape from reality
I
want reality to escape from me
"Look Into Her Eyes"
By Tom Rapp
In her eyes, centuries are
Hair as
black and straight as lonely streets are
Look into her
eyes
Look into her eyes
Have you ever been there
You wander lost along the sea shore
Ask the reason why
All the villains always
live
And all the heroes always die
She dissolves your words in acid
Nothing is the same
First she throws away the
rules
Then she throws away the game
She says she's not immune to knowledge
She's not afraid of clouds
Then you wander hand
in hand
Among imaginary crowds
There's nothing you can do about it
Nothing you can change
Seems like only
yesterday
Lost inside a picture frame
"Frog In The Window"
By Tom Rapp
The frog in the window will sing for you
The frog in the window will smile for you
With
his straw hat and his cane
And you know that you will
not be the same
'Cause the frog in the window will
dance for you
He'll tap out the rhythm in bright red
shoes
And if you ask why this is done he'll say
You're only old when you will not be young
And the frog in the window will answer you
The questions you bring in a cup to view
And if
his answer is not the best
It's so much better than all of the rest
But you say there are so many things to be done
And he says right back that there's really just one
'Cause you're talking of death and he puffs
Just being born is problem enough
And the frog in the window will cry for you
If you're not busy dying he'll pray for you
Glass beads in his hand
But you just stand
there 'cause you don't understand
"I'm Going To City"
By Tom Rapp
I am going to city
Gonna leave my
footprints
On the paths of glory
When I get there
I'm gonna sing my song
Fourteen angels gonna greet me
Fourteen people gonna wonder why
Fourteen people gonna cry out their eyes
I'm gonna leave 'em all behind
I am going to city
It's so far
away
So close at hand
When I
get there
I'm gonna sing my song
The man in the tree is staring at me
All of the blood dripping down
He says: where
are you bound?
Said: I'm going to town to pawn my
crown
And never come back here again
My lady in waiting is weaving a robe
Of silk and moonlight and now
And she never
asks how
So pleasant a task she never asks
And she only listens to friends
The man at the store he looks at my crown
Listens to my sad tale
He says it never
fails
If the crown is for sale, I'll give you some
nails
But you can only use them on friends
The man in the tree was staring at me
As I passed by again on that day
He said I'd
got in his way
Said: nails aren't the way to be free to
stay
So I traded them all for the end
Went back to my lady in waiting and all of her friends
"If You Don't Want To (I Don't
Mind)
By Tom Rapp
Was a time
Lost on Mobius
Street
With no where to go
Well the times were so low
Couldn't find
another rainbow
If you don't want to, I don't
mind
Time is gone
When you
came along
Disguised as the rain
But I know just how you felt
'Cause no one is
ever anybody else
If you don't want to, I don't mind
Took some time
To see your other
faces
And I hated you so
It
seemed to you that love and death
Were faces of the
same event
If you don't want to, I don't mind
All at once
I was alone
But only when you were there
How
could the universal song
Be coming out so wrong
But then I knew it by your eyes
Love
lasts forever 'till it dies
If you don't want to, I don't mind
"Green And Blue"
By Tom Rapp & Elisabeth
Green and blue
Grass and sky
The wind was blowing the sun in our faces
Years ago when we did not
Have to worry
"Mon Amour"
By Tom Rapp & Elisabeth
Mon amour
Ne me quitte pas
Parce que je suis comme enfant
Perdu
dans un monde
Que tourne toujours
Je ne veux pas tous ces changes
J'ai peur de ce
monde
Sans toi
Mon
amour
Ne jete pas
Des perles
devant les cochons
Gagne dans ce jeu
Que tourne toujours
Tu ne veux pas les avoir
encore
Tu auras peur de ce jeu
Mon amour
Ne me quitte pas
Everything you see all around you
Will
roll away on wheels of tomorrow
Down misty willow
rivers of because
Into the land of was
You know you only have to be my friend
The world outside can teach and astound you
Build a wall it will only surround you
Walls
were only built to fall, my friend
They'll never
shelter anyone you've been
Just enjoy the spell that you're under
Look around, sunshine's around you
It has
always had to hide
But it's just been waiting there inside you
Be strong as love, soft as flowers
Walk like the wind walks when it walks through flowers
My friend, you don't have to hold back the sea
You only have to be
"When I Was A Child"
By Tom Rapp
When I was a child I lived all alone
All my trials I bore them alone
Sometimes I
would smile but often I'd grieve
Growing up was
learning to disbelieve
When I was a child there was me, there was them
They were all holy 'cause I was in sin
They were the enemy but I was the king
I was a
leper until you came in
You were a messenger coming from them
They never touched me 'cause I was afraid
You
came with your holy hands, your holy eyes
Blessed me
with touches and touched me with eyes
I was the child of all the untouched
Lepers left over when he left the cross
But you
came in darkness, incense and eyes
Blessed me with
touches and touched me with eyes
I was still breathing sweet lies from a song
A saint in the evening, a leper at dawn
I
carried my own day of death through the land
But you
taught me to live with a secret of hands
Now growing up is learning to look at the light
You're not always wrong if you're not always right
So when it's all over, your miracle through
I'll take what you lent me and rescue you too
"These Things Too"
By Tom Rapp
There was a Persian king
Who wanted to
know
What he could say on
Every occasion
That always would be so
The wise men thought so hard
For a
night and day
Found these words to say on
Every occasion
These things too shall pass away
All songs © 1969 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
The jeweler has a shop on the corner of the boulevard
In the night, in small spectacles, he polishes old
coins
He uses spit and cloth and ashes
He makes them shine with ashes
He knows the use
of ashes
He worships God with ashes
The coins are often very old by the time they reach the
jeweler
With his hands and ashes he will try the best
he can
He knows that he can only shine them
Cannot repair the scratches
He knows
that even new coins have scars so he just smiles
He
knows the use of ashes
He worships God with ashes
In the darkest of the night both his hands will blister
badly
They will often open painfully and the blood
flows from his hands
He works to take from black coin
faces the thumbprints from so many ages
He wishes he
could cure the scars
When he forgets he sometimes
cries
He knows the use of ashes
He worships God with ashes
My father was a rocket man
He often
went to Jupiter or Mercury, to Venus or to Mars
My
mother and I would watch the sky
And wonder if a
falling star
Was a ship becoming ashes with a rocket man inside
My mother and I
Never went out
Unless the sky was cloudy or the sun was blotted out
Or to escape the pain
We only went out when it rained
My father was a rocket man
He loved
the world beyond the world, the sky beyond the sky
And
on my mother's face, as lonely as the world in space
I
could read the silent cry
That if my father fell into a
star
We must not look upon that star again
My mother and I
Never went out
Unless the sky was cloudy or the sun was blotted out
Or to escape the pain
We only went out when it rained
Tears are often jewel-like
My mother's
went unnoticed by my father, for his jewels were the stars
And in my father's eyes I knew he had to find
In the sanctity of distance something brighter than a star
One day they told us the sun had flared and taken him inside
My mother and I
Never went out
Unless the sky was cloudy or the sun was blotted out
Or to escape the pain
We only went
out when it rained
"God Save The Child"
By Tom Rapp
God Save The Child
God save the
child
Lost in the sea
God save
the child
God save the child
You didn't even say goodbye
When you
left me
Bye bye bye for now
An
empty bed was all I heard
After hanging on your every
word
For so long
Been so long
God save the child
God save the child
I met you at a party one time
Said
your name didn't go with your eyes
Wasn't that a
laugh?
I thought that maybe we could make it
'Cause into every rain a little life must fall
Life must fall
God save the child
God save the child
Your smile said that you'd overheard
All the elephants' last words
That I never
heard
And when you told me some
And I wrote this song
I knew it couldn't last
for long
Life must fall
God save the child
God save the child
As I begin to begin again
The sky's
not even sympathetic
Enough to cry
I sit here crying, so bewildered
Don't you know
you're lost without me
Please come back I need you
God save the child
God save the child
"Song About A Rose"
By Tom Rapp
This is a song about a rose
Or perhaps
it's a song about the shadow of a rose
In the morning
the apple sellers congregate on corners of their own
But you and I we sing our song about a rose or perhaps the shadow of a rose
With the children of Fribourg and the good thief standing
by
We consort in silent rendezvous and call the world a
lie
When our song is but a candle that will one day
burn away
The children of Fribourg cannot hear what we say
This is a song about a rose
Of lonely
caravans whispering to God
To chain the world in
prose
But people are not singers and life is not a
song
And even God can only guess
Why or where or when or if
The answers all
belong
And you and I we sing our song about a
rose
Or perhaps the shadow of a rose
Tell me why
The rain must fall
On all the children of the world
They do not have
Some sunny
land
Where white knights
Will
take them by the hand
They are born
They live alone for so
long
Why can't you leave them alone
Some day they may
Sing your song
And after all
They are so sad and
small
You've made them
Orphans in the world
They're in the land
That you
forgot
Where only
Hands and eyes are real
Your face is strange
It looks just
like rain
We are not as holy as you are
But we are not as cruel
So is this your plan
With our own
hands
To be everything
You're not
They are born
They live alone for so
long
Why can't you leave them alone
Some day you may
Sing their song
Margery I am a wanderer
The ocean is
my home
In the green saltmagic of the sea, and
The mysteries of sand
There are supermarket maladies
A
sickness on the hill
All the good men are in
prison
There's something wrong somewhere
Wisdom hides in bullets now
Friendship
in a sneer
And I must find out why
Before I come back here
A friend is in the army now
Another is
in jail
There is a blackness on the land
Nobody is well
Margery, oh Margery
Everything's in
chains
Everyone is blinded to
The sanctity of change
Margery I am a wanderer
The ocean is
my home
In the green saltmagic of the sea, and
The mysteries of sand
The old man sat on the corner
He had a
magic ring
And when the day was on fire
He called up serpents and things
With his magic ring
The serpents flew to the mountain
Changed into butterfly trees
Took the jewels
from the morning dew
Took the stars from the sky
Put them all together
And made a
chain around the world
Of eyes
Around the world
Of eyes
The road it changed to incense stones
All burning in the day
When the stones caught
fire
The children couldn't stay away
They couldn't stay away
The old man's name was Winters
He
stopped the children at their play
They felt the cold
coming
And they put their toys away
They put their toys away
The old man stole all the magic in the street
Walked on down the road
Walked on by where the
children had been
They never were children again
Never were children again
First I will describe the scene to you
Do you have it right?
In 1944 the Riegal she
went down
She went down with 4,000 prisoners
Asleep on board
Well now do you,
I want to know if you
Have it right, is it like
The borders of a dream
Have taken you inside?
The Riegel was a mighty ship
4,000
prisoners strong
The Captain he was gallant
Or perhaps he was a prisoner, too
Who's to know for sure who's who?
One night it was very late
The Riegel
tore its side
4,000 prisoners and the Captain
They were trapped inside
Has there been any news?
I feel so out
of place
The Captain's always busy
Being in a state of grace
But what I want to
know is:
Are you listening out there?
The crew they were a sorry lot
Blinded
by their blood
The Captain he whispered orders
You could not hear him above the flood
Then somebody said, "the ocean's here,"
But
someone said "No, there's more"
And the last thing I
remember
Is a broken hand clinging to the Captain's door
Has there been any news?
I feel so out
of place
The Captain's always busy
Being in a state of grace
But what I want to
know is
Anybody listening?
Is
anybody listening?
Is anybody listening?
"When The War Began"
By Tom Rapp
When the war began, she worked in an office and played the
violin on her own time
But the winter came in on
marching feet, she met him and was gone
He was gallant,
he was fine
Turned the summer days to wine
She came from a small town near Turino
She wore a white dress and the church was very large
In the town square a garden grew flowers that could push even through
the snow
And like the flowers she was free
She had no one to please
The summer passed away, he was called to the front
Wrote two letters but no more
His
child she could feel, but did not allow herself to have
And she remembered in the night a little girl in white
The war stood like a cloud with many brave officers and she
knew them all
But their gallant white horses grew muddy
and gray
And in the garden in the town
Marching soldiers pushed the flowers down
The war came to an end and there were no longer summer days or
wine
And she worked in an office but did not play the
violin on her own time
All songs © 1970 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
"Once Upon A Time"
By Tom Rapp
Once upon a time
In a faraway
land
You know I don't mean here
The old men shook with fear
As the water rose
The fishes knew the sign
That there is
a tide
The children called it change
But the old men in their chains
What they did
not know
They called it sin and so
The water rose
All across the land
The old men
thundered
"Pile stone on stone
A wall's our only hope."
But the children, they
only laughed
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha
The moral of this song
This made-up
story:
Don't build a wall of stone
You only have to learn to float.
I guess the
fishes told
The children, cause they know...
The theatre is letting out
From the
roof the raindrops fall
Like a river they should
flow
But what does a raindrop know?
What does a raindrop know?
Admission is a penny now
The theatre
is burning down
All the faces in a crowd
Like the raindrops in a cloud
Like
the river they should flow
But what does a raindrop
know?
What does a raindrop know?
In the backroom, fires rage
All the
masks lost in a haze
How can we put on our play?
But what does a raindrop know?
Raindrops kill and raindrops die
They've lost their freedom from the sky
They
kill for things they must not show
Die in rivers they
will never know
Is it more important to come into or
go?
But what does a raindrop know?
What does a raindrop know?
I have crawled across the burning sands
To the city of gold
When I scratched upon the
gates
Oh, Lord I felt so old
My talking, it was only words
My smile
was only teeth
I had so many friends there,
I knew I was alone
Oh, Lord I felt
like a thief
I saw a man all wrapped in chains
Wracked with pain all through
I said, "I saw your face once in a pane of glass."
And he said, "I saw you."
Then he handed me a book
I asked him
what it was
But just then all the townspeople gathered
around
To look at all the blood
The people, they all jeered at him
And
circled him all 'round
And an old man pulled a gun from
his pants
And laughed and shot him down
They called for gas, they pulled out knives
What they did, I will not say
Then the old man
turned to me, said,
"We don't like your kind."
And I knew that I was saved
I am just a crewman
You can listen to
my story if you want to
I started out on the Captain's
trip
So many years ago
He was
looking for something more
Than what he had
He said: I want to see his face
I want
to touch his hand
I want to see his face
And then I'll know
That he's the man
We missed him once at Betelgeuse
Then
again at Proxima Centauri
He had 2,000 years head
start
But the Captain would not yield
Then at Venus that far morning star
Just a
century gone
He said: I want to see his face
I want
to touch his hand
I want to see his face
And then I'll know
That he's the man
The years they passed us by
But we got
near him
Closer by the hour
On
a hazy planet on the edge of
Space
We landed one more time
They said he'd gone
away just half a day
Before we came
He said: I want to see his face
I want
to touch his hand
I want to see his face
And then I'll know
That he's the man
We left Earth when I was a boy
Now I
was a man approaching thirty
The Captain went up
searching still
But me I stayed behind
Then they brought me near
They said: He's
here
He waits inside
Now I can see his face
I can touch his
hand
I can see his face
And
now I know
That he's the man
And now I know
That he's the man
The man with the shadows
On his face
sits in a chair
Calls the cobwebs lace
Behind his painted smile
The desert
looms
For miles
In Casablanca
In the millhouse
Another man spirals
round
Now and then and after
He drinks from a pitcher
Of warm spit, but it's
his
So it doesn't matter
In Casablanca
The boys in the blue brass choir
Sing
old tunes
With their boots
And
a heavy beat
And when the song is done
Jesus lies bleeding in the streets
Of Casablanca
The aisle it was long and dark
Garbage
cans kept the watch
The chapel walls were old and
lined
The streetlamp lit its mouth
The altar was the lesser half of an old forgotten couch
The bride stumbled nervously
A box
fell in her flight
She cursed her trusting foolishness
for leaving
The sanctuary of the light
A crumbled linen handkerchief
A little girl's fright
The groom followed slowly and the wine dripped from his
chin
Panting that the holy doors would part and let him
in
His candle burned with whiteness, stiff and violent
The sound of breath in darkness
Gave
away the bride
His eyes said: I am the body
And her's said: I am the blood
And as
the candle pushed below
Exploding wax and fear
The handkerchief fell from her hands
And as usual there were tears
"The Flower (Did You Dream Of Unicorns?)"
By Tom Rapp
Did you dream of unicorns?
Did you
dream of broken horns?
Did you dream of roses
Or did you dream of thorns?
You knew that people die
Before their
bodies do
He said: Why not use your body
Before it uses you?
Afraid inside
your loneliness
Your rules say you are cold
He warmly smiles, softly says:
Your body's not your soul
Skin as soft as eyes
Words as soft as
lies
Is it love or just a smile
That fades before it dies?
The wizard at midnight says
He has new
flowers for old
But in the dawn of this new
morning
Will those new flowers grow?
If he takes up his magic
Smiles says he has to
run
You fear the flowers will not grow
If he takes away the sun
Skin as soft as eyes
Words as soft as
lies
Is it love or just a smile
That fades before it dies?
The sound of flowers opening
In a
silent blush
Will the petals open
Or will they all be crushed?
Jesus jesus jesus
jesus
As the wafer breaks
Lord
we are not worthy
To enter in this place
Then you dream of unicorns
Then you
dream of golden horns
Then you dream of roses
And then you dream no more
All songs © 1971 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
She's the snow queen
She knows the
ways of ice
What they did to her in her young
days
Wasn't often nice
With
the sand run out before us
The seagulls are the
chorus
All the sounds inside the roar
Must be so lonely
We must touch each
other
In our blindness
I heard the seagulls say
She wears other people's clothes in magazines
Wears other people's images
That tell her what
she's seen
My snow queen has no eyes
She will see me in her mind
All the things
she's left behind
Must make her lonely
We must touch each other
In our
blindness
I heard the seagulls say
The men who've used her spirit
They
haven't loved her
The men who've used her body
They haven't loved her
My snow queen
is not free
Touch her eyes and you will see
How it is that she can be so lonely
We must touch each other
In our
blindness
I heard the seagulls say
It's the things we see
That make love
hard
We make blessings and runaway miracles
In the dark
We must touch each
other
In our blindness
I heard the seagulls say
The clock has metal hands
It throws
the hours down
On the ground with a thud
The sound of blood
And if you do not
forgive me
I do not know
What
I will do
As the time goes by
As the time goes by
In the Spring when he was born
The
soil was soft and good and warm
His father was a farmer
The son of the sun
Said: the Earth don't wait for a man but once
And if you do not believe me
I do not
know
What I will do
And the
time goes by
And the time goes by
When he was a boy the fields were full
The girls were soft and good and warm
The
morning sun was shining
Like a promise in his
eyes
And if you do not deceive me
I do not know
What I will do
And the time goes by
And the time goes by
When he was a man he worked with his hands
The ground was hard, but a place to stand
But
when the Autumn came around
The oxen plowed the land to
ridges in the ground
And the wrinkles in his
face
Like the beaten road showed
In a man's body
Is where the time goes
And if you do not defeat me
I do not
know
What I will do
And the
time goes by
And the time goes by
He gave to the earth and it gave back
'Till he had nothing to give at last
The
trembling of his marbled hands
Showed he knew
What the Earth demanded
As it waited
for him
And the time goes by
And the time goes by
The clock has metal hands
It throws
the hours down
On the ground with a thud
The sound of blood
And if you do not
forgive me
I do not know
What
I will do
As the time goes by
As the time goes by
Butterflies are very strong
They only
cry when they're called upon
I wish I knew
The butterfly in you
The moth will play with the dirty flame
And end up burning inside
But the butterfly she
is the flame
When there's so much pretty
There's so much pain
I think I
see
Where all the butterflies must be
Upon a rock
A beautiful thing
Until the rocks come together
On her
dusty wings
I think I know
Where all the butterflies must go
Butterflies are very strong
They only
cry when they're called upon
I think I see
The butterfly in thee
Won't you
spread your wings
On me
When I was growing up
And times were
hard
Many people often thought
They owned me
When I got older
I knew that they were wrong
But now that
conviction
Has outgrown me
Once I knew a beggarman
Like you or
me
He cried out:
I want no one
to hold me.
He chased after freedom
And he drank from every cup
Now he knows
everything
But why he's lonely
I knew a girl
From a fancy
school
Who hated lies
She
threw away illusions
From her hand
She kicked away each fading truth
As it came
under her eyes
When she looked down
She had no place to stand
I know that people
Can get messed up
bad
Not even believe
They can
get through it all
Someone to love
And someone's child
Are simple things, it's
true
But in this world
We
never made
The simple things will do
"Everybody's Got Pain"
By Tom Rapp
When you're out wandering
In the
morning rain
And the sky falls down around you
Like a blanket of pain
Just listen
for the footsteps
All around you in the rain
Everybody's got pain
[Listen for the
others]
Everybody's got pain
[Listen for your brothers]
When your fog lifts
And you're up so
high
And after all this time you see
The beautiful blue sky
Just listen for the
others
They're still behind you in the rain
Everybody's got pain
[Listen for the
others]
Everybody's got pain
[Listen for your brothers]
Sometimes you get blinded by the freedom
In your own eyes
But freedom just ain't
freedom
Unless you spread it wide
'Cause if everybody doesn't have it
Yours is
just a looser chain
Everybody's got pain
Everybody's got pain
Island lady
Won't you stay
I will bring you
Baskets of
flowers
Every day
Until the pain is gone
Island lady,
How long has it
been?
Over a year.
Won't you
let me
Open up your door?
Island lady
Hear my words
All the battles
Are somebody
else's
For a while
Won't you
please come down?
On a corner
A beggar with his
cup
Says he has visions
And
God appears before him
Only in the form of bread
Won't you let me
Open up your
door?
Island lady
When you smile
All the battles
Can wait 'till
tomorrow
For a while
Can we
please touch smiles
Touch each other's smiles?
In the park
A girl in an army
shirt
With long hair
And white
smiles
Says between visions
That God is the grass
Won't you let me
Open up your door?
Island lady
Here's my bed
Can I lie
Beside and around
you
'Till you smile
Until the pain is gone?
Island lady
God appears often
And if he were lies
I'd promise you
beautiful lies
You could live in
Won't you let me
Open up your door?
Island lady
Won't you stay
I will bring you
Baskets of
flowers
In my way
Until the pain is gone
Give you all my happiness, baby
Throw
in my troubles for free
Things just ain't the
same
That's the way that they used to be
Come to me, come to me
Know that you're in pain, baby
Know
that you're dark inside
But no one's gonna find
you
If you don't know where to hide
Come to me, come to me
Bought a two-way ticket, baby
Got a
one-way ride
Can't blame you if you lie in the
dark
And cry and cry and cry
Come to me, come to me
When the midnight angel comes
To sing
his midnight song
Deep inside the parts of you
Where only you belong
Come to me, come to me
"Freedom [Amsterdam 1969]"
By Tom Rapp
The sun again over the harbor
Changes
the windows
Like old yellowed mirrors
On Rembrandtsplein
The pipes in their
places
Beside floral couches
Where you lie
Evening encounters
At Paradiso with
him
The gentle poetry
Of
fingertips
The verses drifted
Apart in the Spring
Lingering verses
Remaining within
Haiku are words to be counted now
Five
seven five
Friends is a word to be wanted now
Searching through colored beads
Velveteen curtains
And doctors' names
The winter finds you alone
With
yellowed back issues
Of Rolling Stone
And old Alohas
Worn Chinese carpet upon the
floor
Half the White Album
All
of the Basement Tapes
And bootleg Stones
And new life styles
Have found old
death styles
All their own
She's gone
She's rolled up the
windows
Put all the curtains away
And your hair isn't silver
It's gray
Stop kidding yourself
You're old
You're old
So she's gone
She's been saving up
seconds
And putting them away
In a secret kind of bank
And she's so very
careful
To say thanks
But old
men
Are suddenly old men
Old men
She's walking away
All your
life
Suddenly she's yesterday
All your life
And walking away
All your life
And taking away
All your life
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
All songs © 1971 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
Yesterday you threw the pieces of your broken heart at
me
Tears are thicker than water but you wouldn't let it
be
Sweet and bleeding Jesus
Came to me in a song
But I still don't think I
understand
Where he means for me to belong
And I'm going to take a walk on Grace Street
Before I'm dead and gone
Our dreams were made of something, but we used it all
We built tomorrow up too high, now watch it fall
On luminescent ships
We sailed upon
the flood
But I woke up this morning
And my mouth was full of blood
And I'm going to
take a walk on Grace Street
And look at where I was
You made an offer of your pain, but you didn't really want to
lose it
'Cause you knew all the ways so cleverly to use
it
But if you'll understand
My
bleeding hands I'll try to understand yours
And I'm
going to take a walk on Grace Street
And open all the doors
"Charley And The Lady"
By Tom Rapp
I saw the Lady on the street
Went to
say hello
But she wasn't home
Had an unlisted telephone
Oh my! Have you seen Charley's eyes?
Oh my! Have you seen Charley smile?
I went up to the Lady
She was walking
in the ditch
I said: hello there, how are you?
But all she did was bitch, bitch, bitch
Oh my! Have you seen Charley's eyes?
Oh my! Have you seen Charley smile?
Charley is the one who finds you
When
you cannot find yourself
She's so easy to be kind
to
Really just being kind to yourself
Oh my! Have you seen Charley smile?
I went up to the Lady
Said: hey, I got
the blues
But she just stood there looking down on
me
Left me standing in my shoes
Oh my! Have you seen Charley's eyes?
Oh my! Have you seen Charley smile?
I said to the Lady: Please go away
In
your big old empty icy bus
Well, the frostline broke
across her face
And she melted into dust
Oh my! Have you seen Charley's eyes?
Oh my! Have you seen Charley smile?
Charley is the one who finds you
When
you cannot find yourself
She's so easy to be kind
to
Really just being kind to yourself
Oh my! Have you seen Charley's eyes?
All songs © 1972 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
When my father went to space
I woke up
one morning and he was gone
I would lie out in the
yard
And try to see a falling star
Something to wish upon (something to wish upon)
Out there on the edge of things
He
would be freelancing
In the midnight sprinkled
sky
He would open up his hands and go
Stardancing (stardancing)
Sometimes I would watch a star and it would break loose from
the sky
A tongue of fire in the air when a star falls
home to die (home to die)
I always felt my father
touched them and if the sky were torn
Somewhere beyond
his hand, another one was born (another one was born)
For a man who needs a place, where he can see a star
The open land above the air is where the answers are
When stars go burning through the night
You can never touch them all
On the razor edge
of space
Stardancers sometimes fall
Stardancer
It's falling, always falling
And I
would watch it all
To see me a stardancer
And watch my father fall
When my father went to space, I woke up one morning and he was
gone
I would lie out in the yard and try to see a falling star
I could wish upon
Stardancer stardancer
The ocean is a silver band
I would
give to you
If I had a gypsy band
I'd play a song or two
And I'd say
Hello Hey
It sure is good to know you
If I had a magic jar
I'd let you look
inside
If I had a horse with wings
I would let you fly
And I'd say
Hello Hey
It sure is good to see you
If you'd like to walk in rain
I'll go
with you walking
If you'd like a hand to shake
I think I can find one
If someday you
need a song
I will bring you this one
If someday you need a song
I will give you this one
Touch tripping for a day or two
How
could I know you any other way
We only met because the
cheshire cat
Decided to play a game
If I knew the rain I'd ask her
To come
and give you my regards
If I knew a train I'd tell
him
To go into the rain and sing for you
Where you are
If I knew myself I'd tell me
Not to be
so silent now
You see, you are a place I've never been
before
And words are always lost
In a mystery
Some people are in love with endings
They dispense with all the rest
It's O.K. if
you've discovered
Beginnings are the best
Words are only artifices
They pretend
to tell you
What you already know
This song is yours forever
I just wanted you to know
Touch tripping for a day or two
How
could I know you any other way
We only met because the
cheshire cat
Decided to play a game
Les ans se viennent
Les ans se
passent
Mais je t'aime
Les ans se passent
Ils seraient comme
argent
Mais je t'aime
Ne sais tu pas
N'est ce pas ca
Que je t'aime
Des choses separent
Tu sens que je
n'ai pas de cocur
Mais je t'aime
Ne sais tu pas
N'est-ce pas
ca
Que je t'aime
"Fourth Day Of July"
By Tom Rapp
And it came to pass on the first day of July
The last man home from Vietnam was going to arrive
The ship came in so silently, its bow a ghostly white
And when they looked upon the decks, there was not a man inside
Then the sea began to roll and from the ship a moaning
A line of broken children, all from the ship a-coming
The light of death was in their eyes
The broken children of Vietnam
On the first day
of July
Like a war beyond control, to Washington at dawn
A line of ghostly children upon the White House lawn
Grown men did turn away, not to see it anymore
To see the burning child running to the White House
door
No one found a place to hide
The burning children of Vietnam
On the second of July
All across America a line ten miles long
The dead children all coming home
From the land
of Vietnam
To men who got too far away
From what was done in their name
Someday must
all have to pay
Who never saw a child die
The dead children all coming home
Four days in July
On every door and window across this sad gray land
A mark that would never go away of a thousand thousand
hands
A voice like voices in a dream
A voice like somebody else's scream
Or not
somebody else's scream
A voice within a fire
The burning children of Vietnam
On the third day of July
Then they came upon the sea, it did open up before them
A line of children all with wounds, upon the ocean
walking
Then the sky began to rain
And beat the land with tears of rage
And every
year upon that day if a hundred years go by
It rains
upon America
On the fourth day of July
"For The Dead In Space"
By Tom Rapp
I've been up for seventeen days in a row
Feeling like an angel in the snow
Hey, what you
doing to me
I don't have the time
People say that life is strange and I
Can't
make up my mind
Love comes and loved goes
It's so easy
to lose it
If you really love me
You wouldn't have to prove it
Hey, what you
doing to me
I don't have the time
People say that love is strange and I
Can't
make up my mind
My life's on fire
What's it like out there
It's so big
I've never been
So small before
It's so big I think I see
We are what we appear to be
My life is like the young men
Dead in
space again
Risen and abandoned
Above the grace of rain
The magic flowers of
Mars
They are so far from me
The vision of their crystal petals
I shall never see
Hey what you doing to me
I don't have
the time
People say that life is short and I
Don't have the time
Don't have the time
I knew a man, he always dressed in rags
I travelled with him when I was still a child
His constant companion, I always did ride
The good book went with him, thru devil wind and sage
The pages were yellowed and tumbled-down with age
The mark of his fingers was on every page
In desert dry country towns, the people would come
From sin and confusion, to him they would run
And wait by the river for the spirit of God
He would lead them into the river while old hymns were
sung
And heaving and lashing and speaking in
tongues
He'd drown that old devil before he was done
He would listen to the river and talk with the crowd
And grace rose above them like a shining white cloud
He'd say catch you some magic and you got hold of God
I was much older when the desert set in
He couldn't hear the river and it couldn't hear him
His faith and his money and he, they grew thin
He traded the good book for some road maps and then
All of those highways they just spread up around him like
nets
And I guess that he got lost and he got tangled up in them
He lost hold of magic, people laugh, the say he lost the
call
But every day I see old men like mountains and
they just crumble and they fall
And I don't know what
these days are doing to us all
(Oh, gee,
Wouldn't it be swell
If everyone was well)
When the day breaks
And the pieces
fall on you
Won't you tell me where you are
You can phone if it's not too far
I'll get my old man's car
We can go to the country club
And read
the magazines
When my ship comes in
We're gonna give it a spin
When we do, when we do, when we do,
When we do,
Tell me that you love me
And I do
Can I speak to you
I can see that you
don't smile
Can I please see you
Won't you come on over here
And talk to me a
while
Can't you see
Everything
that wants to be must be
Tomorrow isn't yesterday for
long
If you don't hide
Yes, I
can almost see the wall
Can you see
Thru the wall around you
Are you afraid
that
They will crumble
You
will stumble
They will tumble
Down on you
People only die when they've got
nothing else to do
So can I please stay here with
you?
All songs © 1972 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
I was out on the street today,
Everyone was high.
The sun was comin' over the
hill,
And everything was fine.
Everything was fine,
Everything was fine, fine,
fine,
Everything was fine,
Everything was fine.
Joy is comin' back,
Just been
hiding,
Joy is comin' back,
And it's fine.
Grew so fast it caught some tears,
In
a pool of surprise,
Down on the corner I thought I
saw,
A blessing in disguise,
There in the sky.
And everything was fine,
fine, fine,
Everything was fine,
Everything was fine.
Joy is comin' back,
It's just been
hiding,
Joy is comin' back,
And it's fine.
Everywhere the wind was,
Thought I
heard a song.
Everyone was comin' back,
To try and sing along.
And a man said to his buddy, Pain,
"Hey, get your fingers off of me!"
Out on the
corner was another man,
He was about to see.
He was about to see,
That everything
was fine, fine, fine,
Everything was fine,
Everything was fine.
Joy is comin' back,
Just been
hiding,
Joy is comin' back,
And it's fine.
Everywhere the wind was,
Thought I
heard a song.
Everyone was comin' back,
To try and sing along.
Joy is comin' back,
Just been
hiding,
Joy is comin' back,
And it's fine.
Joy is comin' back,
Just been
hiding,
Joy is comin' back,
And it's fine.
"Prayers Of Action"
By Tom Rapp
Oh, children, don't you weep,
If the
road is long.
All of us are prayers of action,
On our way to God,
On our way to God.
Some of us are long and rambling,
Sometimes lost for years,
Some of us are small
and holy,
Beautiful and clear.
Oh, children, don't you weep,
If the
road is long.
All of us are prayers of action,
On our way to God,
On our way to God.
Trembling with death,
The signs clack
in the air,
Like windchimes.
In the forbidden city,
The winter carves white
silhouettes,
Along the avenue.
And everything is simple,
And everything is new.
The blonde-faced lady is frozen,
With
one hand waving around her neck,
Like an alabaster
statue.
And jewels encircle like a chain of ice,
And all that moves around her is the light.
In the forbidden city,
All things are
made of glass,
Red and gold bands form in the
frost,
As the light goes past,
Ideas pause waiting to be born,
And I have always thought of snow as peace,
A snowparched stone falls in a pond,
No circles
form again, again, again, again,
And there is an end,
Of pain.
Trembling with death,
The signs clack
in the air,
Like windchimes.
I want to meet somebody,
That I can
talk to.
I want to meet somebody,
I can make love with, not to.
Bodies on
bodies
Like sacks upon shelves.
People are using each other,
To make love to
themselves.
And we all use our bodies
As a place
to hide
And meet all the other bodies
With people hiding inside.
If all that is
touching,
Is just what you wear,
I guess that not sharing,
Is the only thing we
share,
Somewhere.
Somewhere we lost real love,
Somewhere
along the line.
They say get it while you can,
Get it while you can,
But don't get
left behind.
And if you don't love
The one that you're with
Why don't you
just
Wait for the one that you love?
And she'll love you, too.
Today I met somebody
That I can talk
to.
Today I met somebody
I can
make love with, not to.
She says love will get
you
Through times of no sex
Better than sex will get you
Through times of
no love.
We wrote that on the wall,
We wrote that on the wall,
We wrote that on the
wall,
And why don't you
Write that on your wall, too.
I met a girl today,
She asked me if I
knew her.
Around her neck she wore
The small half of a wishbone.
She never
trusted
Happiness or strangers
'Cause both of them
Are just the same
They're just the same to her.
I've seen your face before,
Oh, won't
you stay?
It's such a lonely day out,
An eclipse of the sun.
I think you're going to
be the one,
I think you're going to be the one.
And we all play our part,
In each
other's pain.
A crowd of people all alone,
Rhetorical answers, crocodile smiles.
I think that we all need someone,
I think that
we all need someone.
Blind fish in a green river,
Cast upon
the shores of the untried.
I'm going to take my pain in
both my hands,
I'm going to throw it away.
I think that this could be the day.
I've seen your face before,
Oh, won't
you stay?
It's such a lonely day out,
Can you give it back the sun?
I think you're
going to be the one,
I think you're going to be the one.
"Someplace To Belong"
By Tom Rapp
When you're nobody,
'Til somebody else
comes along.
When you're nobody,
'Til somebody else sings your song.
I know you,
I know you, I know you.
And you've got,
Someplace to
belong.
Known you were coming,
I'd have written this song long ago.
Someplace
to belong,
Known you were a coming,
I'd have written this song long ago.
You think you're such a hero,
For
doing your act so well and yet,
Don't you know deep
inside,
You're doing your act without a net.
And you've got,
Someplace to
belong.
Known you were coming,
I'd have written this song long ago.
Someplace
to belong,
Known you were leaving,
I'd have written this song long ago.
And you're afraid of the dark,
At both
ends of your life.
Just because they're not at your
fingertips,
All those thing you can't see.
They say, "It's allright, it's allright,
It's allright, it's allright."
You got someplace to belong,
Known you
were coming,
I'd have written this song long
ago.
Someplace to belong,
Known you were coming,
I'd have written this
song long ago.
It's allright, it's allright,
It's allright, it's allright.
In a faraway land,
Where my story
opens,
There dwelt a fair young maiden.
She spied a king in chains,
His eyes
were filled with pain,
His feet were cloven twain.
She said, "Oh, kind sir,
It hurts my
heart to see you,
I will come to free you."
And she helped off his chains,
And he
wickedly smiled upon her,
He said, "This gift I give
you,
This sad gift I give you:
Your tears shall turn to jewels,
You
shall rue the morning.
If my secret is not
revealed,
I will come to own you."
Then he mounted up his steed,
It was a
golden stallion,
Riding in the morning mist,
Like a ghostly galleon,
It's mane was
all of ashes.
"Oh, my heart," said the maid,
"I am
lost forever."
And then the maid began to weep,
Diamonds and rubies and opals at her feet.
And the word went out for miles,
To
every castle and sty.
People came from miles
around,
To make the maiden cry.
And Oh, what things were done,
It
makes the heart to shudder.
But she heard above it
all,
A voice that seemed to thunder:
"Your tears shall turn to jewels,
You
shall rue the morning.
If my secret is not
revealed,
I will come to own you.
Then there came a peasant boy,
A fair
young man was he,
Said, "I will rescue thee,
Wickedness is born to magic,
But we
our own must be."
And he took her to the
sunforest,
Where both of them could be.
He said, "All men do make their chains,
And every link a jewel,
And when they leave
this world dead,
I believe they leave as fools.
I think you are a sign from God,
That
all things come from pain.
But I do not think that God
did this,
Such a thing I know it could not ever be,
And though I am but a peasant boy,
And
do not know of kings,
I do but know this song of
joy,
It is of that I sing."
"I think I know the answer now,
I
think I know," said she.
And then the chained king did appear,
His eyes all flaming skyward,
He said, "I want
you now."
His beard the devil's fire,
He said:
"Your tears shall turn to jewels,
You
shall rue the morning.
If my secret is not
revealed,
I have come to take you."
And around his feet he gathered,
All
the jewels she had made him.
But one look in her eyes
betold,
That his secret had been answered,
His secret had been answered.
And the king, he shook with rage,
And
the fire pulled him downward.
The only other sound they could hear,
Was the jewels turning back to tears,
The
jewels turning back to tears.
And in her freedom the maid did laugh,
Her bestest laughter ever.
Her tears of
laughter changed to jewels,
And they did last forever.
Deep in the sunforest,
They did last forever.
"Sunshine & Charles"
By Tom Rapp
When Sunshine met Charles,
They were
both broken
They had long discussions
In the back of the car.
They both agreed
It's hard not to love someone
When
you first see
How fragile they are.
When they began unloving each other,
The distance between them began to set in,
She
broke the rule about keeping it together
By taking
things apart,
And one thing was him.
She was sixteen,
When she found
Jesus.
He was a Puerto Rican kid
And he lived next door.
They got married
And they loved each other
All the
way
Until the day they didn't anymore.
All songs © 1973 by Thomas D. Rapp - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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