"This Town"

It's closing time the boys are all together at the bar
Staring in their glasses
Looks like another layoff at the yard

Yesterday I heard union hall come down
They hit it with a wrecking ball
And they try but nothing changes in this town

Cap in hand stood in line
Your family ties are the chains that bind
The endless wheel goes round and round
Chances are you'll never leave this town
Oh oh no

Like a river now the empty streets are flooded out with rain
It's falling on the playground
While the kids get wet playing the same old games

Locked away so many things remind them of war
They tap the pavement with their canes
The good old days ain't so good no more

This Train Don't Stop There Anymore

You may not believe it
But I don't believe in miracles anymore
And when I think about it
I don't believe I ever did for sure
All the things I've said in songs
All the purple prose you bought from me
Reality's just black and white
The sentimental things I'd write
Never meant that much to me
chorus
I used to be the main express
All steam and whistles heading west
Picking up my pain from door to door
Riding on the storyline
Furnace burning overtime
But this train don't stop,
This train don't stop,
This train don't stop there anymore
You don't need to hear it
But I'm dried up and sick to death of love
If you need to know it
I never really understood that stuff
All the stars and bleeding hearts
All the tears that welled up in my eyes
Never meant a thing to me
Read 'em as they say and weep
I've never felt enough to cry
When I said that I don't care
It really means my engine's breaking down
The chisel chips my heart again
The granite cracks beneath my skin
I crumble into pieces on the ground
But this train don't stop,
This train don't stop,
This train don't stop there anymore
[repeat chorus]
[repeat chorus]

"Thunder In The Night"

Ain't no loving tonight
My woman says she ain't my woman
I sure put up a fight
To keep it right

I used a whole lot of pride to get her
I used a whole pack of lies and begged her
She just threw me the key
and said she's free

Thunder in the night
Thunder in the night again
Thunder in the night again
Thunder in the night
Thunder in the night again
Thunder in the night again

Frightening lightning hit me again
It's burning much deeper this time
I got them storm clouds hanging right over my head
And it's gonna rain harder this time

Thunder, thunder
Thunder, thunder

Out here searching the streets
I gotta find my woman and tell her
I never wanted to cheat
But she cheated me

I never knew just how much I loved her
I never knew till I went and lost her
Now it's all too late
She's gone away

"Ticking"

"An extremely quiet child" they called you in your school reports
"He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught"
So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive
To notify your parents of the manner in which you died

At St. Patricks every Sunday, Father Fletcher heard your sins
"Oh, he's unconcerned with competition he never cares to win"
But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun
And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son

"Now you'll never get to Heaven" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Grow up straight and true blue
Run along to bed"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest
Some gook said "His brain's just snapped" then someone called the police
You'd knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down
Oh you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground

Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still
A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed
That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm
Oh your childhood cried out in your head "they mean to do you harm"

"Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
Remember mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Pay your penance well, my child
Fear where angels tread"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

Within an hour the news had reached the media machine
A male caucasian with a gun had gone berserk in Queens
The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school
Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the Kicking Mule

Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
"Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law

"You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

"Tinderbox"

Nostradamus said I predict
That the world will end at half past six
What he didn't say was exactly when
Was he listening to the radio?
Was he listening to the government?

Well he got us spooked anyway
We'd been running hot up until today
But a wind of change blew across our sales
We were coasting on a winning streak
We were kings until the power failed

[chorus:]
We've been living in a tinderbox
And two sparks can set the whole thing off
Rubbing up together around the clock
Lately we've been getting more roll than rock
You and me together in a tinderbox (tinderbox)
Two sparks can set the whole thing off
Rubbing up together around the clock
Lately we've been getting more roll than rock
You and me together in a tinderbox

Godzilla came in disguise
Tore the building down right before our eyes
Kept the needle out of the red balloon
Was he worried we might go too far
Maybe wind up rhyming moon and June

The sun descends down in Mexico
While a fancy car back on Savile Row
Shows the price of fame leads to overkill
Things are gonna have to change
Some holes along the road get filled

[repeat chorus]

Pressure's gonna cook us if we don't unlock it
Guns going off if we don't uncock it
We've gotta climb out of the other one's pocket
Or we're gonna burn, out on this beautiful rocket

[repeat chorus]

"Tiny Dancer"

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows the tune she hums

But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly slowly

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

 "Tonight"

Tonight
Do we have to fight again
Tonight
I just want to go to sleep
Turn out the light
But you want to carry grudges
Nine times out of ten
I see the storm approaching
Long before the rain starts falling

Tonight
Does it have to be the old thing
Tonight
It's late, too late
To chase the rainbow that you're after
I'd like to find a compromise
And place it in your hands
My eyes are blind, my ears can't hear
And I cannot find the time

Tonight
Just let the curtains close in silence
Tonight
Why not approach with less defiance
The man who'd love to see you smile
Who'd love to see you smile
Tonight

"Too Low For Zero"

Six o'clock alarm
I get the wake up call
Let that sucker jingle-jangle
Ring right off the wall
I'm too low for zero
I'm too tired to work
Tied one on with a friend last night
And wound up losing my shirt

I'm too low for zero
I'm on a losing streak
I got myself in a bad patch lately
I can't seem to get much sleep
I'm too low for zero
I wind up counting sheep
Nothing seems to make much sense
It's all just Greek to me

You know I'm too low, too low, too low for zero
You know I'm too low, too low, too low for zero

Cutting out cups of coffee
Switching off the late night news
Putting the cat out two hours early
It isn't any use
I'm too low for zero
Insomnia attacks
Watching flies with my eyes till sunrise
It's daylight when I hit the sack

"Too Many Tears"

Did you see the first man on the moon?
Have you seen the first light of day?
When there wasn't someone stuck inside
Something like the moon
Something like a star that's lost its way
Did you go to Dallas on that day?
Have you been to where they broke a dream?
Where there really isn't room for doubt
Somehow we got lost
And the truth is buried somewhere inbetween

And everyone, everywhere
Take time and dry your eyes
'Cause too many tears, too many tears
Have been cried
Just look into that beautiful blue
That beautiful blue, blue sky
And know too many tears, too many tears
Have been cried

The mystery of why they had to leave
I'm only one of thousands saying why
Why a balcony in Memphis Tennessee
Seems trapped in time
Just an angry finger pointing at the sky

Would you wait to stand inside his shoes?
And is the best all you have to give
The barefoot man lived a simple life
I guess he knew
Something's die so other things might live

So everyone, everywhere
Take time and dry your eyes
'Cause too many tears, too many tears
Have been cried
Just look into that beautiful blue
That beautiful blue, blue sky
And know too many tears, too many tears
Have been cried

Oh come on everyone, everywhere
Take time and dry your eyes
'Cause too many tears, too many tears
Have been cried
Just look into that beautiful blue
That beautiful blue, blue sky
And know too many tears, too many tears
Have been cried

"Too Young"

Your mother's eyes look straight through me
Whenever we meet
Your father swears it'll never be
As long as he breaths

And how many times have they told you
That you're too young
How, how I've ached to hold you
But you're too young

If we don't buy what's right or wrong
Then we are sinners
We were never two to tag along
But we were always winners

And how many people, have told you
That you're too young
And how many jealous hands would love to hold you
`Cause you're too young

Well you're too young to love me
And I'm too old for you
At least that's what they tell us
It's in their book of rules
That you're too young, too young baby you're too young

We could try it for a while
But they'd get us in the long run
They say that you're too young, baby you're too young