"Blues For Baby And Me"

Your old man got mad when I told him we were leaving
He cursed and he raged and he swore at the ceiling
He called you his child, said honey get wise to his game
He'll get you in trouble I know it, those bums are all the same
There's a greyhound outside in the lane, it's waiting for us
So tell him goodbye, we gotta go west on that bus

And it's all over now
Don't you worry no more
Gonna go west to the sea
The greyhound is swaying
And the radio is playing
Some blues for baby and me

And the highway looks like it never did
Lord it looks so sweet and so free
And I can't forget that trip to the west
Singing blues for baby and me

Saw your hands trembling, your eyes opened in surprise
It's ninety in the shade babe, and there ain't a cloud in the sky
I called you my child, said honey now this is our game
There's two of us to play it and I'm happy to be home again
There's a greyhound outside in the lane, it's waiting for us
So tell him goodbye, we gotta go west on that bus

"Blues Never Fade Away"

He wasn't famous but I sure did love him
I've got his picture in a little frame
He lost his life to a big disease before it even had a name
But there's so many more and I've lost count
The hows and whys aren't important now
All that matters is they came around
And brightened up our lives

She was twenty one with her life ahead
You don't need to know her name
She breathed her last on the cold stone floor of a Hollywood arcade
But fate's right hand isn't always just
Puts a lot of pressure on your faith and trust
She was just a little girl ain't that enough
To rage against the day

[chorus:]
And how did we get so lucky?
Targets on the rifle range
Who makes the call and who gets to choose?
Who gets to win and who gets to lose?
It's like a rolling dice in the belly of the blues
And blues never fade away
Hey hey the colors run when the rain falls
But blues never fade away

He shone so bright with a lust for life
Like the Sun King that he was
His passions hung upon his walls and were printed onto cloth
And for reasons I never understood
About the choices made between the bad and good
I've tried to figure out but
The pain never goes away

[repeat chorus]

And there's marble markers and little white crosses
Along the beaten path
And I've spread their ashes on the wind
And I miss John Lennon's laugh

[repeat chorus]

"Boogie Pilgrim"

Crime in the streets
I read about it everyday in the papers
Justice needs and justice wants
But just in times, yes, too late here
Feels like I wasn't born there
I feel just like a Boogie Pilgrim
Boogie Pilgrim
Hustled to get it
To get it together
Down on the jive talk
Down on the weather
Boogie Pilgrim
Brother I never felt better
No, I never felt better

Low life's complete
When you've lived that way out on the sidewalk
(Walking on the sidewalk everyday)
I got the speed if you got the need
But the need in me needs nothing
(But you know that I need nothing)
But I know that you all want something
Just like Boogie Pilgrim

"Border Song"

Holy Moses I have been removed
I have seen the specter he has been here too
Distant cousin from down the line
Brand of people who ain't my kind
Holy Moses I have been removed

Holy Moses I have been deceived
Now the wind has changed direction and I'll have to leave
Won't you please excuse my frankness but it's not my cup of tea
Holy Moses I have been deceived

I'm going back to the border
Where my affairs, my affairs ain't abused
I can't take any more bad water
I've been poisoned from my head down to my shoes

Holy Moses I have been deceived
Holy Moses let us live in peace
Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease
There's a man over there what's his color I don't care
He's my brother let us live in peace
He's my brother let us live in peace
He's my brother let us live in peace

"Born To Lose"

Born to lose
I've lived my life in vain
Every dream has only brought me pain
All my life I've always been so blue
Born to lose
And now I'm losing you

Born to lose
Oh it seems so hard to bear
When I wake and find that you're not there
Ooh you've grown tired and now you say we're through
I'm born to lose
And now I'm losing you

Born to lose
I've lived my life in vain
Every dream has only brought me pain
All my life I've always been so blue
Born to lose
And now I'm losing you
Born to lose
And now Elton I'm losing you

"Breaking Down Barriers"

I recall how it used to be
In my younger days
I built a wall all around my heart
To keep the pain away
I built it tall and I built it wide
I left no room for doubt
Your love still found its way inside
And couldn't get back out

I'm breaking down the barriers
Making up my mind
I'm breaking down the barriers of time
I'm taking down the barriers
And loving what I find
I'm breaking down the barriers that lie
Between your love and mine

I guess you know you were not the first
You may not be the last
But you have shown me a better way
And now I'm learning fast
You gotta go where the feeling flows
I take it while it's hot
You gotta give if you wanna get
And I want all you got

"Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used To Be)"

They used to say that boys are tough as nails
In every way he keeps his heart as guarded as a jail
Now things have changed, I feel so old
Like any girl could drag my heart across the coals

I was always there in the thick of things
I always had the heart of every woman on a string
The danger zone shone from my eyes
It seemed like every inch I gained became a mile

It's not the night reaching in and touching me
It's just that breaking hearts ain't what it used to be
It seems that time has killed that cruel streak in me
And breaking hearts ain't what it used to be

It's not the light shining in and catching me
It's just that breaking hearts ain't what it used to be
But time has come and cast a spell on me
And breaking hearts ain't what it used to be

And now I know what lonely means
I used to give so little and gain everything
The darkest part of every day
Is the shadow of another girl as she turns and walks away

Can't say I blame them all for being hurt
After all I treated each and every one like dirt
Who wants a heart that's never home
I face the facts and lock myself into a life alone

"Burn Down The Mission"

You tell me there's an angel in your tree
Did he say he'd come to call on me
For things are getting desperate in our home
Living in the parish of the restless folks I know

Everybody now bring your family down to the riverside
Look to the east to see where the fat stock hide
Behind four walls of stone the rich man sleeps
It's time we put the flame torch to their keep

Burn down the mission
If we're gonna stay alive
Watch the black smoke fly to heaven
See the red flame light the sky

Burn down the mission
Burn it down to stay alive
It's our only chance of living
Take all you need to live inside

Deep in the woods the squirrels are out today
My wife cried when they came to take me away
But what more could I do just to keep her warm
Than burn burn burn burn down the mission walls

"Burning Buildings"

It used to be a sweet sensation
No price too high for love
Now I pay for this bitter taste
And the price is not enough

Such cruel sport for your kicks
Such hard knocks on my heart
How long before the pain ends
Tell me where living starts

And lovers leap off burning buildings
Waking up on a sky high wire
Desperation leaves us clinging
On the edge of a house on fire

Lovers leap off burning buildings
Live our life on borrowed time
Every flame that ever moved you
Touched your lips but never mine

Lovers leap off burning buildings

No room for conversation
Cold stares and angry words
Fall in pieces from our faces
We read "do not disturb"

Some lovers just go hungry
Others beg for just a bite
You use me under pressure
To whet your appetite

Cage The Songbird


Sober in the morning light
Things look so much different
To how they looked last night
A pale face pressed to an unmade bed
Like flags of many nations flying high above her head

The cellophane still on the flowers
The telegram still in her hand
As whispers circulate all day
Their back-stage baby princess passed away

And you can cage the songbird
But you can't make her sing
And you can trap the free bird
But you'll have to clip her wings
`Cause she'll soar like a hawk when she flies
But she'll dive like an eagle when she dies

Promises of no more lies
Fell flat upon an empty stage
Before the audience arrived
A return in time to the cheaper seats
She never knew what lay beneath
Just a dated handbill they found between the sheets

Let down before the final curtain
A shallow heart that left her cold
She left in rouge upon the mirror
A circled kiss to the faithful fans who'd miss her