Harlequin Goodnight

 

1. Be Kind to You

 

What is it about dilapidation that holds such strong fascination?

Things fall apart and are broken hearts

Keep us coming back for more

What is it about self-destruction that claims such a strong alibi?

Suffering so cool, the artist and the fool

Our own enemies against our allies

Won’t you be kind?

Be kind to you

Won’t you be kind?

Be kind to you

What are these numbers anyway?

Haze in a bucket

Fiddlesticks on parade

A dawn encrusted raggedy dance of a day

Put the words together

Trust the details to change

Won’t you be kind?

Be kind to you

Who are you selling this world to?

What are you putting yourself through?

Why are you settling for making do?

When you can have so much more?

Won’t you be kind?

Be kind to you.  

 

2. Queen Anne’s Lace

 

Queen Anne’s lace and primrose

Got nothing on you babe

I’ve see your eyes without their clothes

And I didn’t look away,

I didn’t look away.

When the blossoms sweetness fades

When your tongue is tired

There’s nothing you need say

There’s nothing I require

In a lawn of endless green

You are one bright yellow dandelion flower

Are you glad for what you’ve seen?

Are you glad we shared these hours?

Are you glad?

There’s fruit on every tree

Far more then we can eat You share yours with the humming birds

I’ll share mine with the bees,

I’ll share mine with the bees

Does the wind ever go out dancing?

Does the day prepare a feast?

Does the rain get tired of falling?

Does the night ever get to sleep?

I love how long the day gets

Before the summer starts to wane

I love the way our hearts fit

In this jigsaw love we’ve made,

In this jigsaw love.

That sunflower down on the corner

Never seems to be afraid

I’ve seen it standing there at midnight

Seen it waving at daybreak,

seen it smiling at daybreak

Queen Anne’s lace and primrose

Got nothing on you babe

I’ve see your eyes without their clothes

And I didn’t look away,

I didn’t look away.  

 

3. This Lightning

 

What is it that ‘s got me wondering

On this honeysuckle afternoon?

Got me looking for dilemma

While the evening smiles?

Arguing with creation

Strung to loose to tune

I will be this fortune I do conspire

I am this lightning

That fast and I’m over

So why hold on Why hold on?

I am this lightning

That fast and I’m over

So why hold on Why hold on?

All at once and not at all

See me fall

Sunlight, come on in

You don’t need to knock

You are welcome here any time of day

I’m on the wrong side of the tracks

The far side of my brain

Heading towards myself on an inbound train.  

 

4. Harlequin Goodnight

 

When you feel that you haven’t done enough

See through my eyes, all you are now

Say goodbye to that harlequin good night

And take a bow

All the poetry that whispered in your ears

Before the sun broke through the clouds

Held you close and quickly disappeared

In the face of your solemn vow

Did you swear not to make it known?

Did you still hope to make it home?

Are you waiting till the seeds that you’ve sown,

Are all grown?

Flight from center, left from God

All your worries, treaties and wants

Just a wink, perhaps a nod

In the shelter of your frozen response

How quickly to our minds chase our minds when there is nowhere to go but on

How fine the gossamer web intertwines to find the words, to sing the song

So when you feel that you haven’t done enough

See through my eyes, all you are now

Say goodbye to that harlequin good night

And take a bow.  

 

5. Diamond

 

I know a diamond, she thinks she’s hard

Doesn’t know how bright she is

She looks up wistfully at the stars

Doesn’t know what a light she gives

And most of the time

She leaves herself behind

Most of the time,

She’s last in line.

I know a diamond

She thinks she costs

But doesn’t see how much she’s worth

She’ll give it all, you don’t have to ask 

She doesn’t know that all this hers

And most of the time

She leaves herself behind

Most of the time

She’s last in line

And I wonder what would happen

If she let her walls come down

I wonder what would happen

If she let herself be found

I know a diamond

She thinks she’s hard

Doesn’t know how bright she is

She dreams of being a falling star

Doesn’t know what a light she gives

And most of the time

She leaves herself behind

Most of the time she’s last in line.  

 

6. Glass of water

 

                              Glass of water                                   

Glass of water by my bed

And all this clutter

All this clutter in my head

It doesn’t matter

It doesn’t matter what you did

All this chatter

All this chatter’s all been said

And the madman perched outside my window

Sings so sweetly to the sea

Last night I slept in the center of the universe

With the ocean and rain all around me

I woke curled up and cranky

Like a newborn

All the books on battered bookshelves don’t know

They’re not waiting

They’re not saying I told you so

And my hands know

And my hands know you so well

And where they go

And where they go they won’t tell

And the madman perched outside my window

Sings so sweetly to the sea

Last night I slept in the center of the universe

With the ocean and rain all around me

I woke curled up and cranky

Like a newborn

Let the ocean rock you, rock you like a baby

Let the ocean rock you Rock you like a baby.

 

7. High and Low

 

I’ve been looking for so long, 

I forgot what I was looking for. 

I’ve been looking high, I’ve been looking low, 

High and low

I’ve been carrying so much weight

All this love and all this hate

I’ve been carrying high, I’ve been carrying low, 

High and low.

I’ve been working oh so hard,

I’ve been traveling near and far, 

I’ve been traveling high, I’ve been traveling low 

High and low.

What stories will they tell when I do go?

Will they say I rode the swell?

Rode it high, rode it low? 

High and low.

I’ve been living fast and slow, 

I’ve been pretending that I don’t know, 

Living high, living low, 

High and low.

I’ve been gliding to and fro,

I’ve been colliding with the ebb and flow, 

Riding high, riding low, 

High and low.  

 

8. Sometimes my Mind

 

Sometimes my mind is a big bully

Always grabbing this moment from my hands

Never satisfied, never truly willing

How it got so stubborn I refuse to understand.

I’ve got a friend who calls me on the road

Sings me songs and asks me how I’m doing. 

I’ve got a friend who makes light of my load

She builds me up when I’m in ruins,

She builds me up when I’m in ruins.

Yellow flowers, a rusty red tin roof,

It’s a waking dream, I’m living proof.

Will I make ends meet? Will I meet my end?

If I meet my maker will he like my friends?

I’ve got a friend who calls me when she’s sad.

Says she needs some one to make her smile.

I’ve got a friend who never calls me back

And he’s still my friend though it’s been a while,

Yeah it sure has been a while.

Sometimes my mind

Is an army general stomping around making demands.

Though it tries it’s never fully able

To lay down that sword and give up command,

To ditch the chore of making plans,

To stop keeping score with every glance,

To dare the floor and really dance.  

 

9. Gurus and Rockstars

 

Gurus and rockstars, 

Airports and rental cars

Ain’t no time like now to play it out

If you’re uncertain,

Just why you’re hurtin’

Your heart would like to laugh at your doubt.

And the songs that we sing

All have dust on their wings

And most of our feathers are ruffled

No use deciding

Just keep on easy riding

And keeping your seat belt buckled.

If you don’t give a damn

Where you go, what you do, or who you are

Darlin’ I understand

Just get back in the car.           

Spend our days chasing money,

If you don’t laugh, it’s just not funny

Trying to be cool when we’re not

Late night pancakes and bacon

We all feel like were faking

Just glad when the miles have stopped

And the songs that we sing

Still make the bells ring

But we fell asleep for the sermon

When the preachers did tell

Where we’re headed, oh well

Hell is just heaven still learning

Might as well sing while we’re burning.  

 

10. She Belongs To Me (Bob Dylan)  

 

She's got everything she needs

She's an artist, she don't look back

She's got everything she needs

She's an artist, she don't look back.

She can take the dark out of nighttime

And paint the daytime black.

You will start out standing

Proud to steal her anything she sees

You will start out standing

Proud to steal her anything she sees

But you will wind up peeking through her keyhole

Down upon your knees.

She never stumbles

She's got no place to fall

She never stumbles

She's got no place to fall

She's nobody's child

The Law can't touch her at all.

She wears an Egyptian ring

That sparkles before she speaks

She wears an Egyptian ring

That sparkles before she speaks

She's a hypnotist collector

You are a walking antique.

Bow down to her on Sunday

Salute her when her birthday comes

Bow down to her on Sunday

Salute her when her birthday comes

For Halloween buy her a trumpet

And for Christmas, give it a drum.  

 

11. Your Horizon

 

When death is your horizon

And the life within you fades

Your sharp tongue carves your destruction

From the memories that you’ve made

A cavalcade

Time alone can heal nothing

This line only ravished by the grade

Your constant comment is a bludgeon

Your currency and trade

Retrograde

Lay down your burden

Lay down your heavy load

Every cell is a sun that’s bursting

Every cry is a stone in the road

Host your honor to a banquet

Another feast you will not eat

How can you warm your self with a blanket sewn of woes instead of fleece?

Where is your peace?

Lay down your burden,

Lay down your heavy load.

Every cell is a sun that’s bursting,

Every soul is a note in the code.

 

Forest Sun (c) 2008