Shelter me tonight

Give me comfort

Keep me warm

I need your love

From the raging storm

Come on and won't you

Shelter me tonight

Secret love, in a hide away

Upon a hill far away

I have wandered long and wandered far

My feet are weary, my head is sick

I need your home so light your fire quick

I'm coming in from the cold

Oh won't you shelter me tonight

I bought the bomb

I sold the world

But I'm a man too young and sore

To comb over the mistakes that have past

I brought a bottle, I brought a blast

When I saw you I thought that we would last

So won't you shelter me tonight

The world it is a dying fog

And I can be your Prince or your frog

Just kiss me once while we're alone

I can't bear to go back outside

And you don't need another reason to cry

So come on won't you shelter me tonight

I had left you on the stair

With coal black eyes looking like despair

But you don't know the times I've cried

The love we had now it looks lost

What was good turned bad then we got crossed

Wires in the fires of all repost

So won't you shelter me tonight

Nobody sings the folk songs anymore

 I woke up in make believe

I walked down into the street of autumn leaves

Where nobody sings the folk songs anymore

I past by the chestnut seller

Who was roasting his nuts for a fella

He said why you can't ignore

Nobody sings the folksongs anymore

I past up the street from him

The wind was blowing, the sun was thin

A film of sadness it filled my eyes

And I couldn't see through tears

That fell like rain through all the years

And I thought why nobody sings the folksongs

anymore

I crossed over the street again

To visit inside an old inn, 

I knocked upon the door 

and walked within

There were many fellas sitting there

Drinking beer to their despair

They said nobody sings the folksongs anymore

Where have all the good men gone?

Why have the walls of Babylon been broken

Down by the Pagan masses there

They cried 'We can't believe our eyes

The world got sold to our surprise'

Nobody sings the folksongs anymore

I asked the woman in the corner

Who was sewing up her husbands shoulder

Crying out like she was newly born

I said what on earth is the matter?

Why can't you explain the patter?

She told me nobody sings the folksongs anymore

Well outside in the light again

I met a strange immortal friend

Who glowed in his presence like a fire

He said walk up the road a while with me

And said we shall see what we shall see

But nobody sings the folk songs anymore

We walked upon the clouds that were lit

By the sun's rolling chariot

And we saw the world before us born

A new like on every corner

An old strife to every donor

And I know nobody sings the folk songs anymore

Well poverty it rings its bell

But nobody answers that knell

No nobody comes to wake the dying poor

They work for hours in their fields

For to scrap up a meal

And nobody sings their folk songs anymore

There are two faiths to guide you by

One is your heart and the other's the sky

And if you follow one you can't ignore

The place that we all come from

The one road to Babylon

But nobody sings the folk songs anymore

---------

I tell you that you are like me

And I am like the apple tree

That grows, grows its rosy green fruit

And nothing more can answer it

Than an apple that has dropped and split

And nobody sings the folksongs anymore

And now as I'm leaving by

I kiss the sun, and I kiss the sky

For they were the subject of what I adore

And the birds were talking in their praise

Of a world they've known in better days

And nobody sings the folk songs anymore

Without a shadow of a doubt

 Without a shadow of a doubt

I knew, there and then

That you had me,

Like a rabbit in your head lights I was trapped

And as you came down upon me

Well I thought now this film is wrapped

When I saw you baby

With the blue light in your hair

And the moon dust, which you had brought for me

To touch but I didn't dare

Well then yes I saw your statue, And I lay down

In your shade

And I knew without a shadow of a doubt

That for your love was I made

I knew in the evening of torment

And in the final bow of violins

That my love for you was gurgling up

Like a fresh water from a spring

And I had you in my picture frame

I had you in the hall

Where all those brave, burley men with names

That in the night you like to call

And I was afraid

Of losing this one jewel, I had stole

But I knew without a shadow of a doubt

It was you who touched my soul

If you talk to me baby of suits

And cards that shout

Oh I will break them in two baby

For you knew

Without a shadow of a doubt

That love like a king, came in and ruled the game

And we were all looking to him

When we forgot even our own names

And it could have been Lord Jim, or Tim,

Or even James

But All those saints they sang their hymns

While love shouldered the blame

But, no I knew you baby

I knew within, this feeling

Like the time when the table shook

And I remember the face of the thief

In the mugshot, and the picture of all that he took

And I would chase him for you honey

Across the states, or the whole universe

But he'd just escape again my clutches

Like he did at first

And was it not you who said to me

That I was worse, but take back

All those things you said and write them in reverse

Because what I meant I gave you already,

Now you want to give them back it hurts

And I knew without a shadow of a doubt

That this love will be my curse 

Time is short

 As I sit down to write

This my last report

Not much has changed

the war is still raging

And the soldiers continue to fight 

Supplies are running low in the fort

I see without a doubt

That our time is short

And if I look out

My window

I see the ship has already left the port

And if there is something

you need to say to me 

You better make it quick

For the candle is burning in a frenzy

And there is little left of its wick

So what I am is saying is

Our time is short

The man who loved you yesterday

Today he has gone to court

The judge in hob nail boots went crazy

He said lock him up and throw away the key

He murdered love in the first degree

Never can he be allowed to go free

So I'm sitting here on death row

Writing this letter before the final blow

And as God is my witness I loved you true

But I played love's game like a sport

I thought life was just a joke, but now I have been caught

And now I see after all our time is short

There is something wrong.

 There is something wrong here

The tides don't work so well

They rose up but they never fell

There is something wrong with the sun

It seems to burn all day long

It has burnt the sun dial away

And now time lies melted, like a flipflop

There is something wrong with this beach

The way the sand has turned to glass

And I can see through to the rocks below

And I can tell now

There is something wrong with this snow

It blows too hard, like little pebbles

It is like being stoned

And the crows are lying dead on their sides

There is something wrong with the rain, 

The way is floods the weather vein

Is squealing like a pig

The cockrel is crowing on the oil rig

And the waves are crashing like tsunamis

There is something wrong with these

Reindeer armies

That march in herds across melting ice

As sheets break up

Before their eyes

And icebergs melt outside your kitchen

There is something wrong with this pleasant scene

But what is wrong I cannot tell

It is just that I don't feel so well

As I used to

In the good old days

When the sea was sea

And clouds knew how to snow

Soft like a film reel from my childhood

But now there is something wrong

And it don't feel so good

Pipe song

 I sat down to light a pipe

Struck a match for to get my light

looked to my left and I looked to my right

Saw a man sitting there as still as the night

I said hey there who are you?

Are you a ferret or are you a shrew

Hey now who are you?

Are you a stork or a cork screw?

And I lit my pipe, I lit a match

I smoked the leaf and there was the catch

The smoke swirled around, around my head

And I saw this man and I thought he was dead

He leant so still against the wood

The panel outside I knew that he should

Hide away from the world, dressed up there like a bird

Well I lit my pipe and I thought how absurd

Hey now who can you be? Are you a shrew or are you a tree?

Hey now who can you be? I thought he was a stork stalking me

I stood up quick and looked around

The lake was slick like a grey hound

And the oily waters did surround

But he was hunched on low quarters to the ground

I said hey now who can you be? 

Are you a man or are you a tree

Hey now who can you be? The man in the moon

looking down on me

Well the birds lay around in the pond

And in the fields lay the pearly swans

Just swaning around singing their song

Doing what they do all day long

They said hey now who can you be

Are you a man or are you a tree

Sitting on the ground acting so free

While the Earth turns on regardless of thee

I stood up to look around

The boiling waters stood their ground

I said oh now who's that man

Lookin on me from the ground

Hey now who can that be standing in the moon

lookin at me?

Hey it is a plane or tree who's that man lookin at me

Hey now who can that be

Lookin in the tree lookin in the sea

Hey there who can that be standing there waiting

Lookin at me?

The Gallery of modern love

 You kind of took away my love

Yes you kind of took away my heart

And sold it to the lover of art

Who said is this death or is it just blown apart?

Yes you kind of took away my love

And you kind of took away my heart

Like an empty house where the windows

Keep blowing apart

And the curtains are moving

And the glass is shattered

You kind of tipped the apples

From the apple cart

Yes you kind of took away my heart

I kind of rocked the boat

And I was clinging to your rock

While I tried to float

But I couldn't swim to save my life

And I went out on a limb

Along the edge of a knife

And it was cold out there in space

And so I came back inside

So I could rest my eyes upon your face

Well that lasted one last time

Then you kicked me out

Like a drunken swine

And you kind of took away my love

Yes you kind of broke my heart

Well it was twisted wrapped in cotton gloves

And it rested on a plinth in the museum of modern art

Yes when you, oh you, yes when you took away your love 

The Sun is yellow, there's the rub

 Yes the sun is a razor that cuts across the sky

It's an eraser that's rubbing out the shadows

Rubbing out the shadows of the fields in the dark

Yes the sun is an eraser that's rubbing out the shadows

Rubbing out the shadows, rubbing out the world, the world of the dark

Yes it's rubbing out the yellows and the greens from the artist's pallette

And it is rubbing everything it's smearing across bright white light across the pallette

And it's rubbing out the dark patches now

Yes the Sun is an eraser of all our shadows

And it's slipping like a banana across the sky

And it's skinned like an apple

And it's peeling in it's burning

And it's burning up the paper that's a dry

Yes the sun is a rubber and it's rubbing out tomorrow

And it's rubbing out today and it's rubbing out the time

The sun is a raiser and it's raising up tomorrow

And it's rasing out the time of your life

It's rubbing out the minutes and the hours and the seconds

It's rubbing them into nothing, rubbing them into life

It's mixing up tomorrow and the next weekend as well

Well it's making up the paper for your life

The drawing of your life, yes your life drawing

Is being rubbed out by the sun, all the pencils, all the crayons

Of your life drawing, the sun is a drawing of the rest,

The sun does highlight all the little bits of colour

And it gives you all the rest you can hold on til tomorrow

It's sun is all a rubber, all rubber all around you

Yes it's an eraser of the time

Well it rubs out all today

Well it will rub out all tomorrow

And it will rub out all the mistakes

That you make, take or borrow

And it's rubbing out today and it's rubbing out all your sorrow

Contract killer

 I wanted to leave my job

So I thought I'd hire

A contract killer

To terminate my contract

Well it didn't turn out 

Quite the way that I'd imagined

First of all a terminator

In the form of Arnold Schwarzenegger came after me

You know I tried to reason with him

Said look it's in the final clause

I must be given at least 2 week's notice

Before my life is paused

But you know he just wouldn't listen

You know what robots are like

You tell them one thing

They think another, then they take everything in a different light

I said " well I didn't read anything in the small print

about no robots from the future!"

And what about my redundancy and what about my rights?

He said 'We know what you are going to do, before you even do it

So there is no point in contradicting yourself

You made your bed now lie in it!"

With that he pointed with a bony finger

to the small print which said

contractee must work for life

Or else he is better off dead

And I thought what am I an ant?

You want me to be a machine?

I'm a man I said and I have my rights

And I just want to be free!

I was a man once too he said until I saw the light

And then Dr Frankenstein helped me to become

The man I was destined to be

 Man, I said, you ain't no man

Then he showed me his gold teeth

Look you can be like me,

The company will set you free

All you must do is give them your heart

And in its place you'll receive a heart of gold

And beyond that every other part of your body

Can be traded and sold

So you see life is not a bed of roses

And even as I am in my death throeses

I look up into the terminator's dying red eye

And think my oh my, well what a guy

He is only trying to do his job

I know it's nothing personal

It's just that's the thing about a contract

It turns your life into something commercial

As if you can buy and sell your time so cheap

That some contract killer my life can reap

And cut me down like the corn

Oh who signed my contract when I was born?

I know I got a certificate to show I am alive

And I guess I'll get another when I die

But in between to what do I qualify?

These pieces of paper like milestones through life

Are only as much use to me as to the next guy

And they sure don't protect you when you go under the knife

I'd like some insurance that a job won't take my life

Last breath

 She got married at four

A banquet was laid for her

The table was set

The wedding guests had arrived

There was nothing left to get

It was the day to be brave

The day not to be grave

As she stepped in she drew her last breath

For she was getting married to death

He was a difficult husband to be sure

But he never brought his work home with him

He always left his Scythe at the door

And the marital bed was laid

All the sheets had been set

The wedding cake had been made

The bridesmaids had placed their bets

The votive candles were burning late

Heaven's handles were on their gate

As I lay down on my bed I drew one last breath

For there lying next to this wife was her husband death

Sure he did the washing up

Though the rubber gloves were hard to get on and off

He always was a stickler for the rules

When I considered his profession I knew he was so professional

He liked the dishes so clean and he never used a dishwashing machine

When he held me in his arms, I knew then his boney charms

And he was handy with a hammer and nail, he could fix a cupboard door

or a coffin that came cheap in a sale, I even saw him on the roof

But the photograph could not be developed and so I had no proof

We used to holiday in the Canaries, he said he liked the climate there

The fire in the ground took the chill from his bones

And he loved to breath in the warm salty air

Sometimes though he always looked so alone

As if the weight of world he had to bear on his own

And I would always say dear a problem shared is a problem halved

and he would finish that sentence for me, at that we both laughed

So all in all Death was good husband he was

Of course all that changed when his brother life came to stay

He was the complete opposite, brought something else to the house

He was fat, he was jolly, like an elephant he was scared of a mouse

But he could be brave and bold as a lion and bellow his name down the valley

I started to wondered if he had a wife, I caught myself one day writing him a letter

Dear Life, I started, I have been thinking of you often, don't get me wrong

Death has been a good husband, but we have been married these some years past

And I begin to wonder if our marriage will last, or whether it is on its last legs

So to speak, I wonder because when I look at you, my knees grow weak

I want to swoon, I want to faint and fall in your arms, take the bull by the horns

Nevermind that the China shop gets harmed, I love you Life, won't you make me your lover

I want to climb out of death's bed and under life's covers, can you take me

Oh will you take me? Do. I will be your mistress I will leave death to his mysteries

He doesn't seem to have a clue! Let's elope, we'll go to Spain

And go live in the Spanish hills, you know for your love I feel such pain

For our love life, Life, you know Death I'd kill for you; I'd slip him the knife, hid under my pillow,

Between his ribs and pierce his cold, cold heart, it would be a piece of art

It beats so old and regular it never misses a beat, it never skips

I never see him jump like you do, nor take to the floor in a dance

Like you do, and he only once swept me off my feet

So come, take my hand life and we'll go dancing down the street

Disappearing Love

 Disappearing love

It's all a mist

Of the one I've kissed

It's all become a blur

I feel let down, like I'm the clown

Like I'm the cur

The senses rise on the window pane

The smoke curls in the air

I can feel your touch

Oh it always meant so much

But now it's disappearing love

The kettle steams in the afternoon

The birds fly in the air

The colours are cast

And the dyes run fast

Through the clothes that you now wear

And I wore them too

The very same ones

With electric turns and current buns

Well I always owed you Hun

But now it's disappearing love

The fast cars race down my streets

The cats are calling

For their pieces of meat

And I don't know tricks and I don't know treats

Or how to put a costume on

All I can do is carry a gun

Well you always told me to shoot for the sun

And I might hit the moon

But now that too has gone

Disappearing love

I feel myself the weight of the earth

You always did know what a true word was worth

Well you spoke yours first and now here's mine

I was a fool, too cruel, my pride pushed me over the line

And I fell for the finish, I thought our race was run

I should have had my spinach, should have been Popeye's son

And you could've been Oliveoil but gee I missed that one

For it doesn't matter now

We have disappearing love

Reflections in the water

 And I grind my teeth

Yes And I say but then no

I act, I beat the foe

I give him what for ho, ho

Do I ? No

I grind my teeth and wait for 

The tornedo

To pass, to blow over like

A tropical storm over

A desert island

Where I sit in stow

Reading books

Grinding my teeth

Sacred

 I only have this life

So I must try to live it

I have this one life

There should be no limit

 

I can only try to be myself

I can only try and be

 

When you’re looking at your gravestone

What will it say?

Will it say he spent his life

In a completely different way

That he chose his way to live

Or will it say he had so much to forgive?

 

It is more a sin not to live the life within

To live a full life that requires no strife

But walking in nature

I think that’s the thing

Being in nature

Being able to sing

 

Yes that is what I adore

I would like to live it some more

And I don’t wish

To lose this religion

It is so sacred without indecision

It would’ve been nice

 

It would’ve been nice

If they’d let me be myself

Well it would have been nice

If they’d not put me on the shelf

It would have been nice if they’d have encouraged me to write

Instead of all the little bits of shite

Yes, it would have been nice

 

Oh it would have been nice

If they’d have asked me what I thought

It would’ve been nice

To not keep drawing noughts

It would have been nice to draw out all the words

Yes it would’ve been nice to have listened to the birds

It would’ve been nice not to scrimp and save

It would’ve been nice not to be looking at my grave

It would’ve been nice not to be a coward but be brave

It would’ve been nice, if I’d have lived twice

It would’ve been nice

 

It would’ve been nice to shave off all my hair

It would’ve been nice to go dancing down the stair

It would’ve been nice to change my drab grey clothes

It would’ve been nice to have a different nose

 

Well it would’ve been nice if I had lived twice

But there we go

One must open one’s eyes and realize what one has

Appreciate the things the good from the bad

And accentuate the positive in this wonderful world

And realize the negatives don’t come from sacrifice

Yes, in fact, that it is already nice

Yes it really is nice that I have this life

It really is nice

That other’s like and sacrifice

It really is right to look into God’s eyes

And say thank you for the day

And thank you for the night