Song lyrics

 

 

The Waltz

(Fame, Fortune, Beautiful Lovers)

 

 

He was tired of fighting the sad long defeat.

He was tired of slowing a rout to retreat.

He sat on her soul while she gnawed at his edges.

Both seeking ways to renege on their pledges......

 

She left this lover and sought for another.

Left him in starlight and far from good cover.

By now he could tell you just whose the fault is,

But he no longer cares, he's just thinking of waltzes.

 

Fame, fortune, beautiful lovers

He once had them all while risking another

It's the unstable ground that makes him so rigid

And he wants so to leave here 'cause he knows that's what she did.

 

There were stars on her shoulders, he had to admit

Need for adjustment or they'd never fit.

She used her lovers like props for a staging

She saw them right through and they thought her amazing.

 

Fame, fortune, and beautiful lovers.

They'll always be more, there'll always be others.

Can't keep the promise, was made and was broken,

Standing alone seeking shelter in tokens.

 

Close to his wound this shaker of salt is

So he filled his life with ladies and waltzes

He looks at it all, alone without cover

Fame, fortune, such beautiful lovers.

 

 

Hands of the Puppeteer

 

 

She must look good for you to break this strong taboo

and start your token in the middle of another man's game…

But she knows, of course, 

There runs no faster horse

Behind your eyes she's hung a picture in a gilded frame.

 

Well, let me tell you, son, I know just how it’s begun

you share some feature with a lover that she left far from here.

you're a passing joke, and this (her master stroke)

has you saying and believing that there's nothing to fear…..

 

Just don't let her touch you, she'll string you with her fingers

And slowly shake from you what free thoughts still linger.

It's a practiced hand that guides the man,

No matter which way he steers.

Struggle hard but she holds the cards,

Those hands of a puppeteer.

 

daaaaaance (though you've never done a step..)

daaaaaance (those strings get tauter yet..)

Should your dance not tease her

or your chosen words not please her

…wouldn't take your odds, friend, its a fool's kind of bet.

  

It's just not wise to do, just a roll that you blew

Keeps you floating round the fringes of a dangerous game

He's the king of the queen of you, he won't let you play through

She needs you both

To her we’re all just the same.

 

Won't make a difference that the thought was just fleeting.

Her eyes will press the court's bequest, this charge you've been cheating

This massive stroke is her master joke

so long it's held your fear

those supple hands won't let you stand

those hands of the puppeteer.

 

Now let me spare you friend, I know just how this thing ends,

Because you share some features with her man in LA

they'll be no reason to fear

when your feet have swung clear

best simply learn to love the swing and the sway.

 

Just don't let her touch you, she'll string you with her fingers

and slowly shake from you any last thoughts that linger.

Fear would suffice of its own device

she needn't have used it here

like the grip of god

so deft, so hard

those hands of  the  puppeteer.

 

Lady of the Rings

(Piano bar 1978)

 

 

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them

One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

                                             J.R.R. Tolkien

 

 

the bar floor is littered with rings slipped from fingers

the tables are covered with the last drinks that linger

and the bar maids collect their scattered tips and propositions

from wrinkled suits and cowboy boots that mock the competition.

and they all face the lady working skill with her stare

the fernel lamp casts an aura that shines from her hair

and it spreads across the backdrop like a runed old ring

the golden orb grows colder as she starts to sing

 

three rings from the salesmen whose products were recalled

seven from the realtors from their cheap halls of drywall

nine from the jobless souls doomed to drink and lie

one from a desperate man who's like to up and die

one ring to rule them all, one ring will find them

one ring to conquer all and in the darkness bind them

in the bars of darkness where illusions lie.