She Runs Away

You may not see the end of it
But luckily she comes around
It isn't what she talks about
It's just the way she is

and she says
Ooh darlin' don't you know
The darkness comes and the darkness goes
and she says
Ooh babe why don't you let it go?
Happiness ain't never how you think it should be so

I mystified the simple life
I covered up with consciousness
I saw myself and broke it down
'Til nothing more was left
She saw the symptoms right away
And spoke to me in poetry
"Sometimes the more you wonder why
The worse it seems to get"

and she says
Ooh darlin don't you know
The darkness comes and the darkness goes
and she says
Ooh babe why don't you let it go?
Happiness ain't never how you think it should be so
But she runs away
She runs away....

And then you know there comes a time
You need her more than anything
You may believe yours are the wounds
That only she can heal
Then everything will turn around
And she becomes so serious
What she choose to offer you
Was all that you could have

and she says
Ooh darlin don't you know
The darkness comes and the darkness goes
and she says
Ooh babe why don't you let it go?
Happiness ain't never how you think it should be so
But she runs away
She runs away...
She runs away...
She runs away...


~She Runs Away, Duncan Sheik

Distant Early Warning

An ill wind comes arising
Across the cities of the plain
There's no swimming in the heavy water
No singing in the acid rain
Red alert
Red alert

It's so hard to stay together
Passing through revolving doors
We need someone to talk to
And someone to sweep the floors
Incomplete
Incomplete

The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy
But I worry about you

I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg
And I worry about you...

Cruising under your radar
Watching from satellites
Take a page from the red book
Keep them in your sights
Red alert
Red alert

Left and rights of passage
Black and whites of youth
Who can face the knowledge
That the truth is not the truth?
Obsolete
Absolute

The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy
But I worry about you

I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg
And I worry about you

The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy
But I worry about you

I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg
And I worry about you

Absalom
Absalom
Absalom


~Rush, Distant Early Warning

Slainte Mhath

A hand held over a candle in angst fuelled bravado
A carbon trail scores a moist stretched palm
Trapped in the indecision of another fine menu
And you sit there and ask me to tell you the story so far
This is the story so far

Shuffling your memories dealing your doodles in margins
You scrawl out your poems across a beer mat or two
And when you declare the point of grave creation
They turn round and you to tell them the story so far
This is the story so far

And you listen with a tear in you eye
To their hopes and betrayals and your only reply
Is Slainte Mhath

Princes in exile raising the standard Drambuie
Parading their anecdotes tired from old campaigns
Holding their own last orders commanding attention
We sit here and listen to all of the story so far
This is the story so far

Take it away, take it away, take it away
Take me away, take me away, take me away

From the dream on the barbed wire at Flanders and Bilston Glen
From a Clydeside that rusts from the tears of its broken men
From the realisation that we've been left behind
Is to stand like our fathers before us in the firing line

Waiting on the whistle to blow
We stand here waiting on the whistle to blow
They promised us miracles, and the whistle still blows
Broken promises but the whistle still blows
Waiting on the whistle to blow
We stand here waiting on the whistle to blow

Slainte Mhath ~Marillion

Scarred

To rise, to fall.
To hurt, to hate.
To want, to wait.
To heal, to save.

Can’t hear it
We fear it
Awareness won’t come near it

Distractive
Reactive
Disguised in spite of time

I never bared my emotion
My passion always strong
I never lost my devotion
But somewhere fate went wrong

Can’t let them rape me again
Your venom’s not family here
Won’t let them fill me with
Fatalistic remedies

What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly blinded by fear? 
Where would my sanctity live? 
Suddenly nobody cares.

It’s never enough
You’re wasting your time
Isn’t there something I could say? 
You don’t understand
You’re closing me out
How can we live our lives this way? 

You tell me I’m wrong
I’m risking my life
Still, I have nothing in return
I show you my hands
You don’t see the scars
Maybe you’ll leave me here to burn.

What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly drowning in vain? 
Where would our self pity run? 
Suddenly everyone cares.

Blood...heal me
Fear...change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...swearing
Fear...staring
Conviction made aware

Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret

Do you feel you don’t know me anymore? 
And do you feel I’m afraid of your love? 
And how come you don’t want me asking? 
And how come my heart’s not invited? 
You say you want everyone happy
Well, we’re not laughing.

And how come you don’t understand me? 
And how come I don’t understand you? 
Thirty years say we’re in this together
So open your eyes.

People in prayer for me
Everyone there for me
Sometimes I feel I should face this alone
My soul exposed
It calms me to know that I won’t

Blood...heal me
Fear...change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...swearing
Fear...staring
Conviction made aware

Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret

Blood...heal me
Fear...change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...swearing
Fear...staring
Conviction made aware

Learning from misery
Staring back at dissent
Leaving distrust behind
I’m inspired and content

~Scarred, Dream Theater

A Change of Seasons

I remember a time
My frail, virgin mind
Watched the crimson sunrise
Imagined what it might find
Life was filled with wonder
I felt the warm wind blow
I must explore the boundaries
Transcend the depths of winter’s snow

Innocence caressing me
I never felt so young before
There was so much life to see
Yet I knew there must be more

But those days are gone now
Changed like a leaf on a tree
Blown away forever
Into the cool autumn breeze
The snow has now fallen
And I know where I stand
All of my childhood memories
Left lying in the sand

In my den of inequity
Viciousness and delicacy
Struggled to find the sane
Struggled to ease the pain
Ignorance surrounding me
I’ve never been so filled with fear
Now I know that there is more
The warmth is gone
But the chill forever here

I’ll always remember
The chill of november
The news of the fall
The sounds in the hall
The clock on the wall, ticking away
"seize the day"
I heard him say
Life will not always be this way.
Look around, and hear the sound
Another time like this can’t be found.

'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
Old time is still a-flying;
And the same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.'

We can learn from the past
But those days are gone

In my frail, virgin mind
Words have lost my way
I have to seize the day
To home I returned

Preparing for her flight
I held with all my might
Fearing my deepest fright
She walked into the night
She turned for one last look
She looked me in the eye
I said, ’i love you... good-bye.’

Please don’t go

So far so few between
My eyes filled full
With desire fulfilled
All my dreams came true
All the world,
And all of you
Everyday there’s a constant reminder
Of all the pleasures we shared together
Love is not just a passing word
It’s a state of heart that goes on forever

I was blinded by a paradise
Utopia high in the sky
The love there will never come away
Deep in sorrow, wandering faraway

I stood outside in the rain for us
I tried to work out all of the pain for us
I sat alone and took the blame for us
My mind has torn and gone insane for us

Innocent sinner
Repeat offender
Promiscuous promiser
A faith lender
Indecisive decisions
Torn with heartless divisions
Watering all my visions of love

Of all the world, I give to you
All of the world,
All the world, I give to you
All of the world

I’m much wiser now
A lifetime of memories
Run through my head
Memories they taught me
For better or worse, alive or dead
I realize, there’s no turning back
Life goes on the offbeaten track

I sit down with my son 
Can’t you see the crimson sunset
He’s my only one
Now that my time has come
Now that my day is done
Looking into the sun he said
’don’t go, don’t go,
Please don’t go, now.
Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go.’

~A Change of Seasons, Dream Theater

The Silent Man

A question well served,
'Is silence like a fever?'
'A voice never heard?'
'Or a message with no receiver?'

Pray they won't ask
Behind the stained glass
There's always one more mask

Has man been a victim
of his woman, of his father?
if he elects not to bother,
will he suffocate their faith?

Desperate to fall
Behind the Great Wall
That separates us all

When there is reason
Tonight I'm Awake
when there's no answer
Arrive the Silent Man

If there is balance
tonight He's Awake
If they have to suffer
There lies the Silent Man

Sin without deceivers
A God with no believers
I could sail by
on the Winds of Silence
And maybe they won't notice
But this time I think
It'd be better if I swim

When there is reason
Tonight I'm Awake
When there's no answer
Arrive the Silent Man
If there is balance
Tonight he's Awake
But if they have to suffer
There lies the Silent Man

The Silent Man, Dream Theater

Anybody Listening?

You and I long to live like wind upon the water
If we close our eyes we'll maybe realize
There's more to life than what we have known
And I can't believe I've spent so long
Living lies I knew were wrong inside
I've just begun to see the light

Long ago there was a dream, had to make a choice or two
Leaving all I loved behind for what nobody knew
Stepped out on the stage
A life under lights and judging eyes
Now the applause has died and I can dream again...

Is there anybody listening?
Is there anyone that sees what's going on?
Read between the lines, criticize the words they're selling
Think for yourself and feel the walls
Become sand beneath your feet

Feel the breeze?
Time's so near you ucan almost taste the freedom
There's a warm wind from the south
Hoist the sail and we'll be gone
By morning, this will all seem like a dream
And if I don't return to sing the song, maybe just as well
I've seen the news and there's not much I can do...alone

Is there anybody listening?
Is there anyone who smiles without a mask?
What's behind the words-images
They know will please us?
I'll take what's real
Bring up the lights

Is there anybody listeing?
Is there anyone that sees what's going one?
Read between the lines
Criticize the words they're selling
Think for yourself and feel the walls
Become sand beneath your feet.

Close your eyes

Anybody Listening?  -Queensryche

Mad Man Moon

Was it summer when the river ran dry,
Or was it just another dam.
When the evil of a snowflake in June
Could still be a source of relief.
O how I love you, I once cried long ago,
But I was the one who decided to go.
To search beyond the final crest,
Though I'd heard it said just birds could dwell so high.

So I pretended to have wings for my arms
And took off in the air.
I flew to places which the clouds never see,
Too close to the deserts of sand,
Where a thousand mirages, the shepherds of lies
Forced me to land and take a disguise.
I would welcome a horse's kick to send me back
If I could find a horse not made of sand.

If this desert's all there'll ever be
Then tell me what becomes of me.
A fall of rain?
That must have been another of your dreams,
A dream of mad man moon.

Hey man,
I'm the sand man.
And boy have I news for you;
They're gonna throw you in jail
And you know they can't fail
'Cause sand is thicker than blood.
But a prison in sand
Is a haven in hell,
For a jail can give you a goal
and a goal can find you a role
On a muddy pitch in Newcastle,
Where it rains so much
You can't wait for a touch
Of sun and sand, sun and sand...

Within the valley of shadowless death
They pray for thunderclouds and rain,
But to the multitude who stand in the rain
Heaven is where the sun shines.
The grass will be greener till the stems turn to brown
And thoughts will fly higher till the earth brings them down.
Forever caught in desert lands one has to learn
To disbelieve the sea.

If this desert's all there'll ever be
Then tell me what becomes of me.
A fall of rain?
That must have been another of your dreams,
A dream of mad man moon.

Mad Man Moon, Genesis