Where Are You Now

six foot five, bedroom eyes
july fireflies, a last goodbye
jersey shore, i wanted more
than what was in store for me
at twenty-three

chorus:
where are you now
where are you…

silver moon, pink hotel room
broadway show tune, my tea-rose perfume
what to say, we already know anyway
it’s french independence day
one last hooray

in photo booths, eating greasy foods,
shuck and groove, me and you
take your mark, break my heart
it never gets dark
in asbury park

six foot five, bedroom eyes
we never got to paris, but we sure had a good time
… and this half of the photograph is mine

Ghost Of Me

i walked behind you on the streets of copenhagen
at christmas time
i caught a glimpse of you, i wasn’t sure it was you
at the time
in coffee bars - your pakistani scarves
tattered jeans - were you the ghost of me

i followed you along the cobbled avenue
looking out for clues
your true identity remained a mystery
you disappeared from view

in coffee bars - your pakistani scarves
tattered jeans - were you the ghost of me

the lights of tivoli, they are so glittery
when you are eighteen
and all the things you need are very simple, really
some smoke and poetry

and coffee bars - pakistani scarves
tattered jeans - arabica beans

i follow you along these ancient avenues
looking out for clues
your true identity remains a mystery
you’re just outside my view

in coffee bars - pakistani scarves
tattered jeans - why…you’re the ghost of me

in tattered jeans - you’re the ghost of me

Dreamtable

some girls dream dark landscapes
others dream of flight
some girls dream of horses charging through the night
some girls dream of water
others dream of fame
all my dreams are black and white and colored flames

i have dreams of children
reaching out to light
floating past my window out of sight
i have dreams of running
through frozen city snow
i’m lost and i am losing all i know

i know, you might have dreams like those.

some girls tell good stories
others aim to please
women tell about the things that bring them to their knees
round and round the circle
we try to understand
our dreams are on the table and in one another’s hands

i know, you might have dreams like those…
i know dreams like those

i’ve dreamt of high high places
i really shouldn’t go
i’ve fallen down so hard that i awoke
and i have been through houses
i’m sure i must have owned
i tend to leave the darkest rooms alone

i know, you might have dreams like those

i can tell a story
i often aim to please
and i will tell about the things that bring me to my knees
round and round in circles
i try to understand
my dreams are on the table — in your hands

i know, you might have dreams like those
i know dreams like those

Back Of My Car

paper napkins, plastic spoons,
mis-matched socks and jelly shoes
behind my feet, underneath the driver’s seat
pool passes, scraps of tunes,
broken glasses, busted up balloons,
you’ll find them there, and honey if you really care…

chorus:
grab a trash bag, a power vacuum,
give yourself some elbow room,
roll your sleeves up just the way you are
anything, i will deliver - guaranteed to make you shiver
find it in the back of my car

candy wrappers, granola bars,
books of matches, matchbook cars
that unknown funk - golly knows what’s in the trunk
pennies, pop cans, dried up drool,
diamond rings, notes from school
treasure buried deep -if you find it, yours to keep

angry words, and old mistakes,
chicken bones and stale rice cakes
there is a point, to cleaning out a messed up joint
optimism, negativity, the choice is up to you and me
and underneath it all, the motor’s working, it’s your call

Girls In The Trees

let’s go back
candy cigarettes, crackerjack
worn out shorts, no sleeves
dirt bike path
i’ll lead the way, if you please
we’ll go climbing trees

chorus:
far away from everything i know
far away from home
high above clear water down below
everything everything safe i know

one has red hair
one is blond -very blond
i’m the curly brunette
breezes blow over alum creek
our rosey cheeks
when we go climbing trees

you go on
i’ll stay here -right here
tangled up in the leaves
i look down
at water flowing recklessly
i see girls in the trees

let’s go back
candy cigarettes crackerjack
worn out shorts , no sleeves
dirt bike path
i’ll lead the way, if you please
we’ll go climbing trees

Nothing At All

last night i could not go to sleep
i was falling into the deep
maybe it was the red wine
maybe it was a bad time
maybe i saw some kind of sign on the wall
maybe it was nothing at all

last night i was watching you sleep
i saw something i’d never seen
maybe it was a new smile
maybe it was in your sigh
maybe it was some kind of signal or call
maybe it was nothing at all

last night i was drifting at sea
when i called out, you answered me
maybe it was a dream
maybe we were just half-real
maybe i don’t remember my fall
maybe it was nothing at all

Hazel Eyes

joey came home last night to his apartment
opened the door and he went to the kitchen
to smoke one more cigarette
joey watched blue smoke wrap around his hat on the table
and rise to the ceiling- he wondered about the girl
he’d almost met

hazel eyes…full of big surprise
(buying things at the drug store that were very private, i’m sure)
hazel eyes…full of big surprise
(spilling change on the floor and fumbling all around)

joey got a beer then went to his big chair
sat down and turned on the tv and stared for awhile
with the sound turned way down
joey started thinking about chance meetings
and how to encourage another encounter - it might have helped
if he had asked her name

hazel eyes…full of big surprise
(pick up her quarters and offer them back with a smile)
hazel eyes…what was on her mind
(watch her walk away with a bag of very private things)

joey took a book then went to his room where he turned on a light
and decided a missed opportunity
is never the end of a really good story
watching his dream rise slowly above him
he smiled at the ceiling and wondered about that pretty girl
he’d almost met at the drug store

hazel eyes…full of big surprise
hazel eyes…maybe she is nice
hazel eyes…full of big surprise
hazel eyes…all the rest is in his mind

joey came home last night to his apartment
opened the door and he went to the kitchen to smoke
one more cigarette

Goodnight

i am standing out by the harbor
looking over gray frothy waves
me ma and me da might be dancing back there
on top of their dark dublin graves
goodnight ireland

i am down in the basement again
not sure that this war will ever end
my brothers are gone, now my sister’s gone mad
i just lost my best muslim friend
goodnight bosnia

i am living under the bridges
with some friends i call my family
we’ve been knocked around and we left our hometowns
we try to survive in the city
goodnight l.a.

i’m adrift in a sea of lost faces
it is hot on my dark dry skin
the hungry cry all around me and i
just want to go home again
goodnight zaire

i am hiding out in an ally
the sewer runs over my feet
the soldiers with guns have got us on the run
they shoot us at night while we sleep
goodnight bolivia

i am all that i see and remember
i am tired and afraid and alone
but i carry the breath of the living
i am more than this skin and these bones
i have already slept with a devil
i have cursed the day i was born
but i continue to pray for my own soul
and the promise that one day i’ll know
a good night
goodnight…

Start Again

empty halls with concrete walls,
the back alley-ways of our hearts
just today, we give away
things seem to fall apart
red light, green light go ahead
climb out of this empty bed
pieces missing, no one listening
feel your way in the dark

chorus:
you’ve got to get up and start again
you’ve got to blow out of this bitter wind
and you’ve got to walk down to the water
and wash away your weary tears
then pick yourself up off your knees…

i am not the praying kind
but i pray inside my dreams
and i can sometimes say too much
i shut you down, it seems
digging ditches, down we go
sons and bitches, don’t we know
ragged puppets, tangled strings
who will survive this unraveling

any old excuse will do
when you’re wanting to walk away
warmer winds might carry you
but they will freeze on you one day
find compassion, find a friend
find forgiveness in the end
tender turns, a few kind words
then take me by the hand…

Molly

molly in the market
molly on the train
molly in the alley making eyes at me again
molly with her papers
tin cup and old straw hat
molly wears a distant grin
she knows who killed the cat

chorus:
and i see her in the laundry
watching filthy clothes go round
i see her on the broadway bus
it’s like she owns this town
i wonder where she’s going to
wonder where she’s been
i never stopped to ask her
i never let her in

molly on the sidewalk
just outside my store
molly hollers something - man she fights a private war
molly in the winter
the city summer heat
molly for all weathers
looking for a bite to eat

molly isn’t easy
she seems to have it hard
molly’s on a darker road which isn’t all that far
from where i stand here watching her
just inside my door
molly is a question i don’t
have an answer for

All I Need

my mom moved us around a lot
we lived in some nice parking lots
in a car she called her betty ford
she’d roll into the bars at night
turn around once, then say "all right,
you can steal some stuff if you get bored"

chorus:
we’d watch the doors close behind her, my brother jack and me
i don’t know when we stopped wonderin’ and started into dreaming
about a warm house, a soft bed,
food on the table, a book she might have read
oh in a bathtub
a warm house, a soft bed,
food on the table, a book she might have read
umm…that would be nice

my mom moved us around a lot
lookin' to hit some big jackpot
with a rich old boy who liked to booze
we drove down to texarkana,
got waylaid in louisiana
with a gamblin' man who liked to lose

my mom moved us around a lot
we grew up fast and took one shot
at living off the road
campgrounds and cheap motels
were the best we could do without mama’s wedding bells
aw, we lived so low…

my mom died and went to heaven
to her, that means a seven eleven
they might give her some coffee for free
jack found jesus, i found a job
but we both agree there must be a loving god
who gives us all we need

Song For The Road

this is what i see:
little tears on the river flowing free
my girls grow up in spite of me
this is what i see

chorus:
all of us holding hands
marching in one big marching band
turning, we’re yearning for one another
and a song
to sing on the road

this is what i feel
my angry sorrows, all my laughter -the whole damned deal
i’m a flying ferris wheel
this is what i feel

this is what i know
we all start from our different places then go
and there’s no race to the next tomorrow
this is what i know