A Prophecy Fulfilled

I saw him on the evening news

the preacher with the controversial views

He said "tomorrow, my friends

the world is gonna end at a quarter past two"

He said it twice before I know

but he sounded really sure and so

maybe third time's the charm but if we're buying the farm

I wonder how it's gonna go

Will it be fires, floods, or meteors?

And will the pious few go suddenly weightless?

There's just half a day left

I wonder what's in store

Every major network tried to get the man to prophesize

It was his moment of glory, a front-page story

the whole world wide

'Cause when he threw his hands to the sky

he looked like such a righteous guy

Hey and this time he might just turn out to be right

so let's keep a watchful eye

But will it be earthquakes, plague, or nuclear war?

And if the pious few go suddenly weightless

will there be more room left?

I wish I knew for sure

A little past two o'clock the preacher led his faithful flock

up to the base of a rise where he could sermonize

on their fated lot

Alone he walked upon that hill

Clouds swirled, the air stood still

And when the lightning struck, he forgot to duck

It was a prophecy fulfilled!

And everybody said "we knew he was crazy, but

as we all know in this often unkind world

sometimes even a blind squirrel is gonna find a nut"

Black Crow

There's a black crow on my fencepost, I've been watching him for a while

Well he looks so very contented

kind of a Mona Lisa back crow smile

He don't do nothin but scrounge around and laugh with his buddies in the sky

Eats just anything that can be found

He never needs to know no reasons why, oh no

Never needs to know no reasons why     

You can be my black crow, baby, we'll go sit up in that old dead tree

We can make a lot of noise, go make black crow love

then fly away so joyfully

And when the snow drifts deep on the fencerows

we'll just catch the first jet stream south

Have ourselves a time with them Dixieland Ravens

down at Cagin' Carl's Black Crow Boarding House

at the black crow boarding house

We can go anywhere that you want to - make friends everywhere we go

You can be my number one travelling friend

and I'll be your favorite crow

And so the next time you see a black shadow or hear a "caw caw" up in the air

Hey I'm sending down my love to my black crow baby

I'm living like a millionaire - said I'm living like a millionaire

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire

From New Orleans up to Saint Pierre

They'll be ravin' about us everywhere

'Cause we're living like a millionaire

Chaco Road

Too long in the wilderness, did the planet shift again?

Holed up in the ruins, it's a bitter wind

Dark falls on these broken walls of crumbling stone

in this place where all that was is gone

Half moon on the Chaco road and I can hear it in the wind

A ceremony from somewhere back in time

Rising up like cedar smoke from the valley far below

like it did so long ago

I can feel the world spinning round, but maybe that's just me

Is this a burying ground or a sanctuary?

Three ghosts on a sandstone wall by a dried up riverbed

I turned away from the angry cold with a heavy head

Ten thousand years go by in the blink of an eye

but today was so long, so long

Time like an arrow it flies, what choice but to follow

through these obsidian skies to an uncertain tomorrow?

Too long in the wilderness, did the planet shift again?

Holed up in the ruins, it's a bitter wind

Crooked Man

I met a crooked man, he walked a crooked mile

Beckoned to me with his crooked old hand

I followed him for a while

We walked along the old mission road and past a furrowed field

I followed him where a crooked wind blows

into another world

Red sun on the hill, grist for the mill

I feel high but I couldn't say why

An unspoken song seemed to move him along

under the blue marble sky

I leaned upon a crooked stick upon that stony hill

I watched him dance a crooked old step

The air was cool and still

Up to a crooked house he did go, and through the crooked door

A raven flew from the open window

Did he say "Never more"?

The sun it went down, as I turned around

an owl flew over my head

It quoted some prose as a quarter moon rose

Some lines from a song by the Dead:

"Let us see with our hearts these things our eyes have seen

and know that the truth must lie somewhere in between" *

Somewhere in between...

It's such a crooked line that runs from me to you

We shared a glass from this very same vine a crooked time or two

I saw a crooked man, he had a crooked smile

He held the key in his crooked old hand

He had it all the while...

* From "Blues for Allah"

Don Juan

Put on my boots one day to ride the hot dusty trail

sun was in my eyes

Through Santa Fe and southward bound

I crossed right through those boarder towns

Up on the high Mexican plain I met a brujo

Don Juan was his name

He showed some crazy things to me

a separate reality

Now I've got saddle soars and bloodshot eyes

and I've got Mescalito by my side

Eight miles above the Rio Grande

here comes a high-ridin' outlaw man

My horse is headed where I'm bound

sometimes I swear we leave the ground

Out here nothing's as it seems

I guess I've crossed into the world of dreams

'Cause I've got saddle soars and bloodshot  eyes

and I've got Mescalito by my side

Eight miles above the Rio Grande

Here comes a high-ridin' outlaw man

One day the Raven said to me, said if I ride alone

I can be free

So that's the price I've got to pay, but I'll tip my hat

come that judgment day

You just might see me if you try, I'll be a silhouette

against a desert sky

Ridin' down that dusty mountain trail

with my little smoke, my ally and my tale

Lighter than air

Started to feel like I was walkin' around this world in lead shoes

and the higher that I'd jump the harder I'd come down

When you forget that you have wings, gravity gets hold of you

puts the weight of the world on your shoulders

and it ties you to the ground

I had no reason to keep believin'

Never used to spend much time worried about the future

Trusted the universe to take care of all the small details

Somewhere as long the line my faith must have taken a detour

Now I've let the light back in and the wind it fills my sails

I found a reason to keep believin'

All of the walls are falling down

Time to reclaim the higher ground

Opened my eyes and took a look around -

Sun's shining free, bad times behind me

I laid down this heavy load now gravity is disappearing

Spiraling up, and each time I come around

I get a little higher, the fog lifts and the skies are clearing

I'm unafraid I'm unencumbered I'm unbound

I've got my reasons to keep believing

All of the walls have fallen down

All that was lost is found

Open your eyes and take a look around

Sun's shining free, bad times behind you and me

Where the wind goes, I go there

I'm lighter, lighter than air

Not a worry not a care - I'm lighter, lighter than air

Mad Hatter

I'm keepin' an eye on you, mad hatter

I'm keepin the exit in plain sight

I try to tell myself it doesn't matter

and then I try to sleep at night

He's out in the back yard hiding his treasures

I pay a king's ransom for my simple pleasures

You come around with all of your powders and potions

I had to hold on with both of my hands

You never told me where this bus was going

I woke up on the wrong side of wonderland

Just give me a little time to adjust

It's so hard to find someone you can really trust

Even the Red Queen said you were losing touch

Too much of everything just wasn't enough

It's never enough

There's always some fools hand

playing with something that he don't understand

I'm keepin' an eye on you, mad hatter

You were the king of the underground

A batch for the band so close to midnight

We howled at the moon like a pack of hounds

I don't want to pick up none of your bad habits

Remind me not to follow any more white rabbits

Miracle

Something came from nothing, faster than light speed fast

When they quantified love, the energy exceeded the mass

Furrowed brows and broken chalk

The foreign tongue of science talk

There was a miracle in the house of non-believers

It happened right before their eyes

A miracle in the house of non-believers

Oh what a day it was!

Bring the meters back and check the numbers twice

Our equations come up empty, a theory would be nice

Replicate the circumstance

Nothing happens just by chance

There was a miracle in the house of non-believers

It happened right before there eyes

A miracle in the house of non-believers

Oh what a day it was!

The readings will confirm it, time was standing still

The paradigm was shaken, reality as well

Is there something that we missed?

Does some unseen force indeed exist?

There was a miracle in the house of non-believers

It happened right before their eyes

A miracle in the house of non-believers

Oh what a day it was!

People On Earth

Some are always there to lend a helping hand

Some just couldn't give a damn

They bite the hand that feeds them then they yell and scream for more

I don't know what they do that for, people on Earth

come in every different color, shape and size,

some will struggle to survive

Some have lived a life of luxury and excess since their birth

so they don't know what it's worth, people on Earth

Some work very hard to live a life of ease

Some like big cars and TVs

Some believe this incarnation will bring only suffering

and some love to dance and sing, people on Earth

live in palaces, penthouses and shacks

mud huts and subdivision tracts

Some they live in mansions behind fences, guards and locks

and some just have a box, people on Earth

So alike but still so different, as far as I can see

in this whole wide world you won't find anything upon which they all agree

People on Earth

Walk right past the homeless people on the street

no their eyes will never meet

But they give selflessly to charities half a world away

They're funny that way, people on Earth

kill each other for a barren piece of land

it's so hard to understand

Some are very kind to strangers but they hurt the ones they love

I don't know what they're thinking of, people on Earth

There are architects, carpenters and kings

They can build amazing things

They've sent probes to wander Mars and men to walk upon the moon

Are they running out of room? People on Earth

There are churches, temples, mosques and synagogues

They all claim to speak for God

There are clerics, mystics, shamans, vegans, Jains and voodoo priests

it's a beehive of beliefs, people on Earth

So raise your glass to people everywhere, we're all just flesh and blood

Against all odds somehow we persevere

Survivors of the flood...

She's Gonna Be

By the way she's walking, about the things she's talking

I can tell that she's my girl

By the way I'm feeling, the way my head is reeling

I can tell that she's my girl

By the look in her eyes and the way that time flies

I can tell that she's my girl

By the bells I'm hearing, the way the skies are clearing

I can tell that she's my girl

So I've never met her - it's a wonderful game

Swing low my darling

And she's vanished again

But there I go believin',  though the odds are even

She's gonna be my girl

It makes the day go faster - I should go and ask her

if she's gonna be my girl

So I've never met her - it's better this way

'cause maybe if I met her

I'd have nothing to say

But there I go believin', though the odds are even

She's gonna be my girl

It makes the day go faster - I should go and ask her

if she's gonna be my girl

Sister Liberty

Oh sister Liberty, you've turned your back on me

When you were young I used to see you walking arm in arm

with the poor boys who worked on all the factories and farms

Now you spend all of your time with the country club crowd

So beautiful and pure, you were everything and more

We all could see your promise, we all took up your cause

We defended your honor without question or pause

Now I see a "members only" sign - I guess I'm not allowed

You know I love you and I always will

I put no one above you but I can tell

Those men that are making your decisions for you

they're not your friends

Oh sister Liberty, for your grace and charity

you were the envy of people far and wide

They would cross the mighty oceans just to stand by your side

with only their hopes and their dreams and the clothes on their backs

But it's different today, yeah you turn us all away

Don't you deny it I can see it in your eyes

You've kept too many secrets and you've told too many lies

Now your porcelain perfect complexion is starting to crack

But you know I love you and I always will

I'll put no one above you but I can tell

those men that are making your decisions for you

they're not your friends

Oh sister Liberty, you know we're family

and I still believe that you can be the girl we knew before

just take your empire-hungry entourage and kick 'em out the door

and your brothers and sisters will welcome you back home again

Stay

Nothing lasts forever I've seen people come and go

Places I remember don't look like they did before

Every time I turn around, something disappears

and now I wonder how long you'll be here

Won't you stay - I'd add a few lore hours to the day

and I'd keep the sun from setting if you stay

I need to find out why I feel this way

I'm having trouble letting go

Endless bloody sacrifices to the gods of oil

Toadies of the billionaires these politicians loyal

Profit dictates policy, they've got us by the balls

and "in the halls of justice the only justice is in the halls"*

Speeches filled with pretty words that speak of lofty goals

but the captain of the tanker is still drunk at the controls

It feels like any time the other shoe could hit the ground

but it doesn't feel so bad when you're around

Won't you stay - when you're with me I'm like a child at play

I feel so elated. Won't you stay

at least until the darkness burns away

You're the medicine I've waited for

The agency inspects the vine to find out why it broke

while Tarzan and his council share a latte and a smoke

The ahuasca visionary leaps into the sun

and pointing to the river says "your journey's just begun" 

A regiment of elephants stands waist deep in the mire

while sparks from the volcano start a hundred thousand fires

The General says "don't worry we just need a little rain"

There's not a cloud in sight but all the same

Won't you stay - there's so much to be learned along the way

teach me another lesson, it's okay

I probably won't remember anyway

The more I learn the less I know

A carnival of tourists is returning to the bus

with tales of the calamity and pictures of the dust

Infidels and jezebels lie huddled in the wake

The Mullah shakes his head and says "it's all a big mistake"

The wall street magician pulls another bailout from his hat

while the Queen of Sheba paints a number on her sacred cat

With hieroglyphic afterthoughts she empties out the tomb

and trades the Pharaoh's sceptre for a broom

Won't you stay - your smile makes the shadows go away

Your eyes are like the ocean, green and gray

I'm stranded like a hopeless castaway

Your heart is like an open door

The European diplomat sells pieces of the past

to the lonely Russian sailor with his left arm in a cast

while slight-of-hand agendas in their Uncle Sam disguise

paint patriotic cataracts on everybody's eyes

The water level's dropping, they investigate the leaks

but the valve is still wide open and of this nobody speaks

The second in command is filling up his private lake

and the man in charge is only half awake

Won't you stay - somehow I've just got to find a way

to keep you from leaving, come what may

this crazy world has gone so far astray

but I still believe in you

The techno wizards offer up their products to the street

By the time we learn to use them they're already obsolete

Electronic opiates we're walking in a dream

Eyes and fingers never disconnected from a screen

The lone voice in the wilderness is drowned out by the saws

while the worst of all the criminals are high above the laws

Half the world is starving with the Reaper at the gate

and the rest are trying hard to lose some weight

Won't you stay - I'll add a few more hours to the day

I'll keep the sun from setting if you stay

I need to find out why I feel this way

I'm having trouble letting go so

Stay - make everybody else just go away

I'll just keep on wishing that you stay

There's so much more that I still need to say

and you're the only one that listens to me

* Lenny Bruce

The Sadu

A Persian winter's day and snow lay deep on the ground

Hadji pulled his collar way up, he went out and took a look around

They all said the fruit won't fall too far from the family tree

But Hadji he just shook his head and said "that ain't good enough for me"

You see his grand daddy died in a wishing well

He was fishing for coins when he slipped and fell

His daddy he died from a cobra's bite

after fooling around with the charmer's wife

But Hadji had a plan that he never told anyone

He left it all behind that day and headed east toward the rising sun

He came upon a holy man who took the boy under his wing

Led him down some secret paths and taught him some mysterious things

They climbed to the aerie of the sacred bird

who sang him a note that's never been heard

They descended to the depths of the bardo caves

and now he's a bona fide wandering sage

He's the keeper of the talisman, the all-seeing eye and the magic hand

And now they all bow down to the Sadu of Symbolistan

He's got him a robe made of China silk

Lives on dates and camel's milk

He's no ordinary man

He's the Sadu of Symbolistan

Water Wars

Water water everywhere! We caught the great monsoon

in reservoirs to flood the fields and make the deserts bloom

Soon a brand new town was born and they dug a thousand wells,

but when a million people came, the water table fell

so we changed the river's course to save the great city

Snow melt from the mountains north no longer reached the sea

Now the snow and rain no longer fall but the population soars

and desperation  sets the stage for the coming water wars

Time rolls on, the river runs till the water's all gone

the wells run dry and the battle lines are drawn

When at last the water runs out, what good will be the oil?

It won't keep the thirsty herds alive it won't sprout the droughted soil

When the reservoirs run dry and all those cities fold

more wars will be for water fought than all the oil and gold

Time rolls on, the river runs till the water's all gone

the wells run dry and the battle lines are drawn