Moanin’ Low (Benfield/Durant)
I’ve been away for a lifetime
I can see it in my face
I barely made it back here
My home, this far away place
I’m told I’ve done some living
I heard ‘em say I made it back
But I can hardly see your face now
Somewhere far off down the tracks
This road I’m on
Is long and lonely
My heart’s gone cold
Without you I’m only
Moanin’ low and kicking stones
Without direction
I got no compass
No place to rest my bones
I’ve been afraid of the nighttime
My dreams of you have gone away
In the pale light of morning
I begin to waste the day
This road I’m on
Is long and lonely
My heart’s gone cold
Without you I’m only
Moanin’ low and kicking stones
Without direction
I got no compass
No place to rest my bones
Now that we’ve come so far, baby
We’re halfway to the stars, but now
Please don’t dissapear, baby
The vision just came clear, oh baby
The vision just came clear
This road I’m on
Is long and lonely
My heart’s gone cold
Without you I’m only
Moanin’ low and kicking stones
No Compass (Benfield/Durant)
Well you got yourself in trouble
Now how you gonna get out of your own way
When your sifting through the rubble
Your hands are getting bloody
Tears rolling down your face
At the morning kitchen table
Another bottle broken
Your friends gone without a trace
A week long of living for nighttime
It’s the only time you’re living
‘Cause there’s no daylight in this place
Left alone to my devices
There’s no way I can right this
I’ve got no will
I’ve got no conscience
I’ve got no way home
I’ve got no compass
Well the way the wind is blowing
It’s never gonna get you out
You’ve been lost in here for days
With a storm around you growing
Your eyes are getting weary
All the life’s gone from your gaze
And you wonder if you’re able
To get to where you’re going
To keep up with this pace
A lifetime of living for nothing
And nothing’s what your giving
Now that you’ve had it your own way
Left alone to my devices
There’s no way I can right this
I’ve got no will
I’ve got no conscience
I’ve got no way home
I’ve got no compass
And after burning all your bridges
You’re still left standing here alone
But do you know you’re within inches
Of coming home
Of coming home
Left alone to my devices
There’s no way I can right this
I’ve got no will
I’ve got no conscience
I’ve got no way home
I’ve got no compass
Rock n’ Roll (Benfield/Durant)
A chilling evening’s coming on
The window shades are pulled down low
The streets are unfamiliar
And I don’t know where to go
The sirens are a singin’
From the West the cold winds blow
Seems my fears are so familiar
Like when I was just a kid
Then again I don’t remember
‘Cause the corner’s where I hid
When I was scared completely
By reflections in my head
Lord, don’t let me slip away
This night into the cold
Won’t you give me one more day
I want love in my life
I want to feel you to my soul
Won’t you hit me like Rock n’ Roll
I’m dyin’ to forget
All the scenes that I regret
They’re calling my attention
And add up to one big debt
I’m going home tonight
Gonna lay down one last bet
If I don’t ring your bell tonight
You’ll know I’ve lost the fight
But don’t you worry baby
I’m swimming towards the light
I’m too close to forgiveness
To pack it in tonight
Lord, don’t let me slip away
This night into the cold
Won’t you give me one more day
I want love in my life
I want to feel you to my soul
Won’t you hit me like Rock n’ Roll
Walkin’ Time Blues (Benfield/Durant)
I walked the streets of this town
From ‘bout midnight to dawn
Through the cold Summer rain
‘Til the fever was gone
I went and sat by the bay
And heard the wave organ’s song
All the notes seemed to say
I’m not sure you belong
If there’s a reason to stay
In the Mission all night
Slipping into doorways
It’s to stay out of sight
But we got it all wrong
We both know that it’s true
Before the night gets too long
We got the walkin’ time blues
Oh, the walkin’ time blues
San Francisco’s got a way of wearing out my shoes
Oh, cut me loose
Won’t you send me off singing
Something that my heart could use
On Ocean Beach with my friends
In the bonfire glow
Searching out our amends
We feel the undertow
After all we have said
And paid all of our dues
The waves won’t let us forget
We got the walkin’ time blues
Oh, the walkin’ time blues
San Francisco’s got a way of wearing out my shoes
Oh, cut me loose
Won’t you send me off singing
Something that my heart could use
Are You With Me? (Benfield)
River, deep and wide
Can’t get to the other side
Learned to swim by being thrown in
Barely old enough to know to cry
Now I’m too old to hide among the vines
That fall upon the window panes
And I’m still wrong to spend half the time I do
Bothering to explain
To a world that can’t resist
A smarter bomb and a faster plane
But that’s the game
Are you with me?
Are you with me so far?
River, deep and sure
Can’t bring me back home no more
I wouldn’t be recognized
Learned to fly by swallowing sky
Caught a lazy ride to the Western shore
Now I’m too old to lie beneath the pines
That grow from the shifting sands
And I’m still wrong to spend half the time I do
Wanting to understand
This world that can’t resist
A chance to destroy it’s fellow man
Is that the plan?
Are you with me?
Are you with me so far?
Colors in You (Benfield/Walker)
The colors in you, right away red
And introvert blue, and over my head
Is untethered white in forget me not skies
You're shocking in pink, tender in rose
I wish I could drink your infinite gold
I wish I could paint then i'd recreate
The colors in you, in you
You took on the scene like Frieda in black
You taught me to see and never looked back
You gave me wild eyes and opened them to
The colors in you, in you
You said I was your muse, you said I was the one
You said when I loved you I showed you the sun
Now you're left without light
what are you gonna do
without me
without sun
Now the colors in me are penciled in grey
and long for you green, cold rainy day
right away red, and introvert blue
the colors in you
you
you
Mexico (Benfield/Durant)
It’s Christmas eve in Mexico
Bells are ringing and the breeze is low
Pacing round on an old tin roof
Picking on my guitar a stateside blues
Firecrackers go pop and boom
Doors are slamming in hotel rooms
In Mexico...
Walking back into a jungle road
My mind is weary with a heavy load
Dusty children selling Christmas trees
In stands of palm with dirty knees
Broken bottles and an old kazoo
The gospel singing to a chosen few
In Mexico, the blues sound like sunset
In Mexico, the moon is a regret
As the sun sets my heart pale blue
I can dream you near me now
Close your eyes we’ll dance right through
Cats are calling from the captain’s tower
Their tails are winding through the purple flowers
Castinets on a diesel can
They’re bouncing to the rhythm of the music, man
There’s tangled static on the radio
We’re trying to get a station from the south, you know
In Mexico...
A little boat on a charcoal sea
It seems determined to rescue me
I can see every grain of sand
Sifting through the fingers of my right hand
Then the first drops of a pastel shower
Usher in the music of the passing hours
In Mexico, the blues sound like sunset
In Mexico, the moon is a regret
As the sun sets my heart pale blue
I can dream you near me now
Close your eyes we’ll dance right through
You can lead and show me how
And as the waves sweep us off our feet
And the water bathes us in light
We’ll drift off into the sea
Into this night we’ll sleep
In Mexico....
Snakes in the Woodpile (Benfield)
Snakes in the woodpile
Crawling round my knees
Hanging from the branches
Slithering up the trees
Inching through the courtyards
Climbing up the drains
Sliding through the back door
Squirming in my veins
Snakes in the woodpile...
Winding through the tangled thatch
Looking for what you might catch
With the venom of your fangs
You silenced any birds that sang
And then returned within the wood
To kill whatever else you could
All the children’s voices say
There’s snakes about -- stay away
Snakes in the woodpile...
Within the caves beyond the hedge
The snakes are piled in their bed
Waiting for the night to come
Silent through the midnight sun
Some say they lie fourteen deep
Hissing as the children sleep
And when the day gives up its fight
They wind themselves into sight
Snakes in the woodpile...
Believe Me (Benfield/Durant)
Believe Me
Don’t stare me down and make me blind
Please believe me
You know we’ve been through this a thousand times
Receive me
Don’t slam the door and lock me out
Please receive me
I’m frozen in a winter full of doubt
A smack to the left
A punch from the right
Further and further
I slip from the light
If you’re lucky
We’ll sleep through the night
Believe me
I lost my heart, my sight, my sound
Please believe me
I only feel alive when you’re around
Receive me
I’m staring through your window
Trying not to breathe
Please receive me
Just open up again and make me see
A smack to the left
A punch from the right
Further and further
I slip from the light
If we’re lucky
We’ll sleep through the night
If you’re lucky
I’ll sleep through the night
Don’t Give it Away (Benfield)
That’s no way to live
To give it away each time you breathe
It’s probably not my place to say
But couldn’t you plant your feet
In the ground more firmly?
Don’t give it away
Don’t live for the day
That may never come to you
I’ll say it again
I’ll say it to you
My long lost friend
But what could you learn
Listening to me
You already know
I love you so much
Don’t give it away
Don’t live for the day
That may never come to you
Dark and Cold (Benfield/Durant)
It’s dark and cold outside
But the feeling’s warm in here
I’m wrapped around you love
‘til I dissapear
I’m not supposed to say “I love you”
But I do
So tonight I’ll take a chance on giving too
We might be dreaming our lives away
But at least so far it’s gone our way
I know I need to
And maybe I will
Start on my long way uphill
It’s rained for twenty nights
I swear we’ve been in here
Not really moving much
But answering our prayers
I’m trying to find a way
To know you from myself
So tonight I’ll lay my fears up on the shelf
We might be dreaming our lives away
But at least so far it’s gone our way
I know I need to
And maybe I will
Start on my long way uphill
If You’ve Lost Your Way (Benfield/Durant)
Drinking gin from a mayonnaise jar
Pretty soon we couldn’t see too far
Over the hedges at the end of the block
The tree that grew through the wagon wheel
Marked a path out to the field
The shell of a 1950 Chevy still had whitewalls
Chestnuts covering the dirt driveway
Caught our tires and our bikes would sway
Jack of Diamonds and a clothespin in my spokes
Never turned around
Kept our feet up off the ground
Kept our eyes fixed on the sky
If you’ve lost your way
And let go of yesterday
Let me know and we’ll return
A Jumping Jack in late July
My brother better find an alibi
Who’ll take the heat
Who’ll get the trouble
And the third degree
Sitting round in a broke down fort
Making trouble for the kids next door
Only the two of us
Know everything that happened there
Never turned around
Kept our feet up off the ground
Kept our eyes fixed on the sky
If you’ve lost your way
And let go of yesterday
Let me know and we’ll return
Thirteen (Bell/Chilton)
Won’t you let me walk you home from school
Won’t you let me meet you at the pool
Maybe Friday I can get tickets for the dance
And I’ll take you, ooh.
Won’t you tell your Dad get off my back
Tell him what we said about Paint it Black
Rock n Roll is here to stay
Come inside where it’s OK
And I’ll shake you, ooh.
Won’t you tell me what you’re thinking of?
Would you be an outlaw for my love?
If it’s so well let me know
If it’s no well I can go
I won’t make you, ooh