Copyright © 1994, 1998 Jack Hardy Music (BMI)
there's a hole in your firmament of friends takes a hold, draws you into the darkness and the sky, the blistered sky that holds the fear that holds the eye and i, not understanding what this meant heard the cry with a heart indifferent and the hole, the blackened hole was in the heart that i love the most lucid stars dissipating all that light like the scars from some distant set of lies that flicker hot, that flicker cold and i've become what i hate the most was a time when what worried us the most was to find that the dawn laid bare our ghosts take my hand, my haunted hand and through your touch i can understand
i have eyes, i can see it's not hidden very secretly on the corner of each street such surprise when these eyes meet dress them up, feed them twice send them out like the roll of the dice (chorus 1:) tell my eyes they did not see a thing and i would not believe you tell my heart i did not feel a thing and would i not reply would i not reply i have ears, i can hear a still small voice or a still smaller fear whether soft or loud and clear whether far or oh so near some cry wolf, some cry foul some cry silent because they are proud (chorus 2:) tell my ears they did not hear a thing and i would not believe you tell my heart i did not feel a thing and would i not reply would i not reply this little piggy went to town this little piggy stayed at home this little pig had roast of beef this little pig, well, he had none i have eyes, i can see he don't have to cry wee wee wee (repeat chorus 1)
i gave my love a feather the feather of a hawk i gave it without warning i gave it without talk with the sharpness of a vision in the misty-eyed night she placed it in an envelope and tucked it out of sight the bed of starched white linen folded to the floor sheets crumpled in anger the quill will write no more with the sharpness of the shadows in the misty-eyed dawn the soft and downy nest in vain for this bird had flown the unspoken glides upon the white-tipped night the feather was a warning of the other side of life the shrill and piercing cry the talons sharp and bright the point of no return the shaft of silver light mist envelopes form upon the forest floor the hawk lies in anger she will fly no more clutching a blue and speckled egg stillborn in flight a feather in his winsome cap an arrow in the night
it was the mother who smiled instead of the child in soft benign resolution but it was the daughter who tried with a nickel and dime to right the wrongs of collusion but all she could find in the pair of cold eyes was a recognition and longing while the mother passed on and on and on without losing the thread of belonging (chorus:) something to eat, something to eat it's not everybody who lands on their feet the only difference between you and me is you have more of das kapital it was the mother who tried, the mother who pried with a voice that was firm and controlling we did not say, we did not pay your education for something so lowly more often than not they end up forgot they end up a bum on the street did you see that one, we just passed one who would give him so much as to eat (repeat chorus) it was the mother who smiled instead of the child basking in her own dark reflection a treasonable sign, a reasonable time to head off this one stark defection for artists are made and artists are played to service the rich man's opinion like maya angelou and michelangelo who adorn your house of religion (repeat chorus)
all those nights we lay together a double-edged sword between us lay and all those knights who came between us who claimed to see us so quick to say what a woman wants is not what she wants and not a woman wants what remains a double-edged sword a double-edged sword all those years i tried to please her and i tried to reason and i did stay and all those tears that were shed for no one left little white stones along the way to have to choose between a rock and the hardest place in your heart a double-edged sword a double-edged sword and all those knights who are soft and gentle and sentimental until they stray until the fear demands a trial and then the smile does betray and who can stand and who can give her stand and deliver the child a double-edged sword a double-edged sword all those nights we lay together a double-edged sword between us lay
(chorus:) take it slow, take it easy take it any way you can take it all, take it freely, take it like a man take it down the lonesome highway down the lonesome railroad track take it anyway you want to but never take it back some people have such neat houses all of their flowers in a row no surprises in their closets nothing the neighbors do not know and that's why god made railroad ties to keep the flowers in their place and that's why god made railroad watches to keep the rats in the race (repeat chorus) some people lead such neat lives no screaming in the halls no prescriptions in their pockets no crutch called alcohol and that's why god made the corporate ladder to make the others feel so small and that's why god made jacob's ladder so we can all climb the walls (repeat chorus) some people pay such neat dues to the devil or their boss at the crossroads, at the station or at the stations of the cross and that's why god made the burlington northern atchison, topeka, santa fe and that's why god made railroad whistles so we can blow it all away (repeat chorus)
in the cold dark light of the winter's morning three ravens sat on a hangman's tree their waiting was over and hence was the warning silence will make us pay for our sleep (chorus:) a time of fire and a time of ice please don't make us pay for these sins twice three ravens sang their sad refrain we're all ripe for death once the reaper's unchained either famine or feast, the first crow caws and our feast has just begun methinks we shall dine as soon as this poor man falls his rope's only strong as its weakest link (repeat chorus) no concern for criminals, the second crow caws only food for thought and skinny bones no need to hurry his way towards hell for when he falls he will not fall alone (repeat chorus) for friday i'll wait, the third crow caws when darkness hides where the deed is done a tender young poet from the valley of the damned and i will pluck his eyes out one by one (repeat chorus)
when you're born you make a promise when you die it is fulfilled that in all your days among us you'll do just what you will that in your indecision disinheriting a child when you tear apart the forest just as sacred and as wild you're in decision you made a promise when you're born you make a promise when you die it is fulfilled that you cannot take it with you it'll stay just as it's built so in harmony with nature as the parent to your child you will leave it as you found it just as sacred and as wild you're in decision you made a promise when you're born you make a promise that you will die and die you will all your power is for nothing if power is to kill you can use your power for sorrow or to make your children smile they're the same as tomorrow just as sacred and as wild you're in decision you made a promise
movin' on down the road seems like a simple solution puttin' down your long lonesome load seems like a foregone conclusion then why am i so down at the mouth if simple truth is so hard to swallow and why should i even try to fly south if human nature is so hard to follow? movin' on down the road seemed like a good idea yesterday as if this was all i needed to know as if the feelings didn't get in the way then why am i so blue for you if simple truth is the only answer if all my love for you isn't true and human nature is just fool for the dancer? movin' on down the road seems like a step in the right direction as if i had someplace to go to the flame or the reflection and how can i even try to deny that simple truth is stranger than fiction if to look you in the eye is a crime then human nature is only an addiction
as we set out that fateful morn from erie in the rain down to harrisburg by rail upwards of a thousand strong the one-eleventh pennsylvane for many was the first time on a train in harrisburg received our colors received our enfield guns then continued on to baltimore where they drilled us into soldiers drilled us into men drilled us in the stock and trade of war (chorus:) and oh, what i did not know what i did not know we grew up as neighbors we grew up as friends my cousin casper kingsbury and i he taught me how to hunt and shoot and i was proud as pie when they made him a lieutenant in our line when we finally got our marching orders we gave out a shout though the feathered hats they gave us looked like hell when we crossed the susquehanna casper let his fall we all laughed and threw ours in as well (repeat chorus) we disembarked in harper's ferry in a general alarm they deployed us in the heights above the town we waited for old johnny reb though johnny never came a more disappointed lot was never found but our enemy now was cold and fever dysentery and lice and gambling and vice i'd never dreamed but our only fear in that year was that the war would end without a battle even being seen (repeat chorus) we never saw antietam creek nor marched in sharpsburg town our fight was in the field between the woods and every inch we gained that morn by blood and sweat and toil was swept away by the texans under hood while generals and journalists talk of victory and defeat the private with his spade begins to dig and nowhere near a thousand strong the one-eleventh pennsylvane now our dreams they did not seem so big (repeat chorus) we made our camp near chancellorsville and huddled near the fire cooking up our hardtack and our beans our guns were stacked when stonewall jackson took us by surprise by being where stonewall jackson could not be and then we fought but we were caught by an enfilading fire an unexploded shell crashed through our lines and chest and limbs and unsung hymns and god almighty's ire my cousin casper kingsbury lay dying (repeat chorus) gettysburg and lookout mountain missionary ridge they recite them as a litany and a prayer but my heart was gone, i sang no songs the one-eleventh trudged along i fought those battles as though i was not there to second-guess the generals though a private never can but i'm thinking that this war cannot be won my brothers and my sister oh how they stare now that my fighting days are done (repeat chorus)
nothing's on the level on the reeperbahn walking with the devil with the blue dress on and all the boys in the band are gone gone to score oh and johnny's gone for a soldier in the rock and roll wars crying the blues she runs for cover trying to choose 'tween husband and lover and i am nothing but a one-night stand-in on the dance floor oh and johnny's gone for a soldier in the rock and roll wars in each town you go down to howls the bell sounds; in what round do you throw in the towel? the only bright lights you have found are on the exit doors oh and johnny's gone for a soldier in the rock and roll wars somewhere in the distance a child turns four crying for assistance his daddy is out the door at what price is this fortune and fame worth no more? oh and johnny's gone for a soldier in the rock and roll wars