The Bight: Orion Reclines

A moon almost full glides through the clouds
Pushing a little moonbow. Shining a little moonglow.

Chorus:
Orion reclines, then rises slowly.
To make another stand in the night; Take another stab at the dawn
And I sway drifty in the Bight, wondering what this world turns on

A bright man talking low shares a little wisdom.
He says there is no native life; he says, "there is no no-native life."

Orion casts his web across the night. I don't see how he cares at all,
but will he catch me as I fall.
(Chorus)

A woman stands alone, tired of tired come-on lines. A man who thinks he has a chance, asks her for just one more dance

As if she's never heard it before, wherever she's come from
As if she'll never hear it again wherever she goes
As if she's never heard it before, wherever she's come from
As if she'll never hear it again wherever she goes

A moon almost full casts its shadow on this page.
A strong breeze blowing out to sea to take these words away from me.

As if I've never heard them before, wherever I've come from
As if I'll never hear them again wherever I go
As if I've never sung them before, wherever I've come from
As if I'll never sing them again wherever I go

Orion reclines, then rises slowly.
To make another stand in the night; Take another stab at the dawn
And I sway drifty in the Bight, wondering just what turns me on.

The Way Against Indifference

October 1994

There's a young man on the stage, flooded down with light.
I am sitting in the darkness and I am hidden from his sight.
I have never seen his face before, never before tonight.
He sings a song about a man, who knew what was worth dying for,
Who knew what was worth fighting for. And when he sings

Chorus:
When he sings, "All I ask of God"
When he sings, when he sings, "All I ask of God"
When he sings, when he sings, "All I ask of God"
Why is it that all I want is to sing with him?

How can I write a song about someone I hardly know?
How can I be so inspired when there's nothing at all between us?
When I don't speak the language?
When I've never held his hands?
He sings a song about a man who knew what was worth dying for,
Who knew what was worth fighting for. And when he sings
(Chorus)

And should I feel ashamed for not feeling the horror
And for not feeling the pain, it's not half the world away.
You know it's right outside my door.
You know it's there to stay.
He sings a song about a man, and I don't know what's worth dying for,
I don't know what's worth fighting for, but when he sings
(Chorus)

All around us are the songs about what people see,
All the warfare and pollution and the loss of hope and love.
And God knows I've seen the gun of the murderer among us.
But the only fight in me is between my head and my heart,
And I feel my heart is winning, when he sings
(Chorus)

I want to sing from the hillside, I want to sing from my bed.
And if the time ever came, would I keep it all in my head?
And the only fight in me is between my head and my heart,
And I feel my heart is winning, when he sings
(Chorus)

Sounds Like an Affliction

You are kissing in your sleep.
I am dreaming about killers.
We are gliding in to morning.

Chorus:
Sometimes the bottom drops out, you've got nowhere to fall.
You know I'm calling you, but you can't hear me at all.
Sometimes the bottom drops out, you've got nowhere to fall.
You know I'm loving you, but you can't feel it at all.

You are kissing in your sleep.
I am dreaming about killers.
We are gliding in to morning.

My mother says that maybe someday I'll get tired of this.
My mother says that maybe someday I'll just go away.
My mother says that maybe someday I'll get tired of this.
Well, maybe someday, like my mother says, maybe someday.
(Chorus)

You are kissing in your sleep.
I am dreaming about killers.
We are gliding in to morning.

I'm a long way from hitting bottom, and getting tired of this.
But you're a long way from breaking the surface and wanting me to stay.
It's a long way, it's a long way, a long way from me to you.
Are we just as far or just one breath from lonely liberation.
(Chorus)

You are kissing in your sleep.
I am dreaming about killers.
We are gliding in to morning.

Salt Ice

Following Fall and sunset leaves, the Winter's ice heart ever grieves.
Lay my eyes on a frozen pond and take my heart from this frozen land.
And sheet it in or let it fly, but ask me once if you wonder why.

Chorus: My one hand held onto the myth while my other hand cut its rode,
And then watched it sail away and watched it fly, riding high,
With naked sticks and empty spars, off to the edge of sky.
'Cause it's so beautiful, but it's empty.

Call it play, it feels like war and call it lost when I feel no more.
Salt ice thick by the edge of the bay, taste it twice and walk away.
The birds that shy away from my hand will walk again on this frozen strand.

But no images come to mind now:
No bracing sights and no chilling sounds.
As once I thought that I could stay, young and warm upon this bay.
But the hand that draws when I don't try and the mind that chides:
"You live a lie"
(Chorus)

Now I don't love to be alone, but I won't be your stepping stone.
If you make me laugh and you make me smile,
you know I'll want to stay a while.
In living true, the myth is gone, only I remain: Carry me on.
(Chorus)

13th Storm

Oh this road is icy, the going is slow.
It's a wonder why I'm heading north in the 13th storm of winter.
And there's just one thing I know down deep in my soul:
I don't quite have the tires to be heading north in the 13th storm of winter.

I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.
I've been singing that song about you so hard, so that everyone would know
That I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.
I can see the world without you for so long, that I almost believe
That I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.

I have never made promises before, and I'm not making them now,
But I don't see how I can love you anymore than all the words
I've already found.

Please let me off this road, I'm tired of the lanes.

I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.
I've been singing that song about you so hard, so that everyone would know
That I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.
I can see the world without you for so long, that I almost believe

This is not the toughest thing I've done
But it still takes a lot of me to ask.
Keeping my distance is not my style
But something tells me you can take me as I am.

Please let me off this road, I'm tired of the lanes.

I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.
I've been singing that song about you so hard, so that everyone would know
That I've been keeping my distance. I've been letting you go.
I can see the world without you for so long, that I almost believe

And don't think I've got nowhere else to sleep.
Don't go thinking I've got nowhere else to go.
'Cause I'm just giving one more knock at you door,
And I've got other choices if you're not home.

Please let me off this road, I'm tired of the lanes.

Other/Self

You, I'm singing this song for you
Sometimes I can shut you out at night; sometimes I forget you in the day time
Sometimes I need to look you straight in the eye
You, I'm singing this song for you
You come in many shapes and you, you come in many disguises;
I don't know why I always find you.
You I'm singing this song for you
Sometimes we seek the other just to find our own way home

You are not my father, you are not my mother, you are not my teacher
You are not my brother, you sure ain't my lover, you sure ain't my lover

Nothing's ever good enough for you.
I could try for centuries, but I would never match your vision.
Nothing's ever good enough for you.
I don't want to be your brand of perfection.

You say you like cacophony, can I write you a modern symphony?
To cut out this simplicity, should I bounce around and call it melody?
With a small contortion can I twist it to your liking?

Nothing's ever good enough for you.
I could try for centuries, but I would never match your vision.
Nothing's ever good enough for you.
I don't want to be your brand of perfection.

You see my face with artist's eyes.
You think you've got something brand-new to tell me.
You think I need a little advice
And you don't have the love to see my beauty.
With a small contortion can I trim it to your liking?

Nothing's ever good enough for you.
I could try for centuries, but I would never match your vision.
Nothing's ever good enough for you.
I don't want to wear your brand of perfection.

You are not my father, you are not my mother, you are not my teacher
You are not my brother, you sure ain't my lover, you sure ain't my lover
You sure ain't my lover

You, I'm singing this song for you.
Sometimes we seek the other just to find our own way home.

My (Wondering) Song

Chorus:
How can I know if I'll have hard feelings?
In my mind I'm still soft and so warm from your touch.
How can you wonder if I really love you?
I've spoken from the only place where everything's clear.

This staying-friends business: everyone says it, everyone says it,
Everyone says it, it seems way over-done.
But maybe it's the only way that we know how to say:
"Baby, I love you, but you're not the one."
(Chorus)

I guess I'm supposed to say: someway or somewhere.
Like if we were not our age
Like if every once in a while I'd flown into a rage
And so you think I'm beautiful and I think you're beautiful
And you may think I'm beautiful, but you're still not the one.
(Chorus)

Somehow I doubt that you'd have hard feelings.
Across all the miles you don't seem to feel much.
It's not that I wonder if you really love me,
But do you have any place where everything's clear?
(Chorus)

And if we had the same faith would you be the one?
And if you had any faith would you be the one?
And if we were in the same place would I be the one?
(Chorus)

Witness to Life

Baby, why do I always feel lost in between these many worlds?
Maybe I should learn to tell life from fantasy.
And you say, "You always come to me crying.
I notice how all the songs you sing are sad.
I know how all your love goes mad."
And you say, "You say inside you feel you're dying, you say that ain't the way it will always be, but wasn't that last sad song you did about me?"

So I say:
Where were you when I was hauling up anchor? Where were you
When I was setting sail? Where were you when I was steering the true course
Turning my face right into the gale?

Chorus: If I've seen your face, if I've met your eyes, if I've touched your hands,
If I know your lies, this song is about you.
My failings are many and my faults are great but it has been my glory,
I've felt love and I've seen hate, but it has been my glory
To bear witness to life

Sometimes, I just get so angry,
When you think that you're all there is to me.
So this time, won't you let me show you, just some of my other dreams.
And if I come to you crying, tell me that ain't the way it'll always be,
By showing me all of life I've found for me.
Remind me of how I climbed down the waterfall.
Remind me of all the tales I've told.
Coax me to climb high above the waves and set me down in my City of Gold.
(Chorus)

Now for all of you who were with me praying at the Wall,
Who've seen me try and watched me fall,
And for all of you who remind me not to tell dream from reality.
If you come to me crying, you know I've got the right sad song.
You know I'll hold you all night long.
And if inside you're really trying to chase the nightmare fears away,
You know that I've got the harmony to say:
You were there when we were hauling up anchor.
You were there in the freezing cold.
You were there in the blooming desert,
So you know we'll meet in our City of Gold.

If I've seen your face, if I've met your eyes, if I've touched your hands,
If I know your lies, this song is about you.
Our failings are many and our faults are great but it has been our glory,
We love each other and sometimes we hate, but it has been our glory
To bear witness to life.

Distance Closing

Did you find desire on some highway through Ohio?
Did you dust it off just like I asked you to?
Will you bring it to me like a new-born child?
I can hold it like my own, with a wealth it's never known.

Chorus:
Did you find desire on some highway through Ohio?
Did you dust it off just like I asked you to?
Did you find desire on some highway through Ohio?
I can feel the distance closing. I can hear your wheels rolling.

There's a quiet joy creeping in my soul,
As I feel the distance closing I can hear your wheels rolling.
And the slow excitement will build behind my eyes,
'til I can hold you like my own, with a wealth you've never known.
(Chorus)

Of all the circles and the moments of my life,
Why are you the only one who shows his face in these lines?
And am I the only woman still singing about some man?
What do my sisters hold tight that flies from me to you?
(Chorus)

Months and miles they can make us tremble.
Feelings towers fall down in one gust of doubt.
Let me clear the rubble of your tumbled mind,
And search the ruins with me for what's washed up in the storm.
(Chorus)

Look Out, Lake Erie

Sailing from Cleveland, bound for Erie, PA
I'm on a beautiful sailing ship,
but it's gonna be a motor boat ride all the way.
Slept in my hammock, listened to the engines purring full.
Is this romantic? Who cares when you're tired and you're up on lookout?

Chorus:
I look out three points off the port bow, two points off the port bow,
One point off the port bow but there's nothing off the port bow now, Sir.
So I look out one point off the starboard bow,
Two points off the starboard bow, three points off the starboard bow,
But there's nothing off the starboard bow now, Sir,
And I am on lookout.

Seems like a very long time has gone since I got on board,
'Cause it's been one bloody hell of a week
And I mean that in many different ways.
The bos'un says, "Are you sad girl? 'Cause I don't like to see you sad." And I think: Bos'un you used to scare me, but now I smile when I think of you when I'm up on lookout.
(Chorus)

Why do I love the uphill battle? What do I compromise by this choice?
I could say that I was just following orders, but how ironic and twisted, those words in this voice. You may say, "Girl, we admire your efforts."
But I hope you know I love the work when I want to scream:
Who tells me what my limits are...?
But then I know that the answer's you, Sir, when I'm up on lookout.
(Chorus)

This is a stay awake song. This is just a stay awake song.
This is my you-can't-hurt-me song. This is a stay awake song.
This is my stay awake song. This is my stay awake song.
And I am on lookout.

The World is Ready

Sweet Jack-of-All-Trades

Far from the blackened chimneys
Far from the kitchen stove
Sweet Jack-of-all-trades fear not the wind
You are more solid than you know

Sweet Jack-of-all-trades it's good you know what you can handle
It's good I know what is not me
Sweet Jack-of-all-trades you give me one day on flat water
I think I'm ready for the rapids, I think I'm rolling to the sea
But Sweet Jack-of-all-trades you are ready for the rapids
You are rolling to the sea

You are not defined by who signs your paycheck
You are inscribed for who you are
Sweet Jack-of-all-trades in this Book of Life
You are inscribed for who you are

Sweet Jack-of-all-trades...

Far from the indecisions
Far from going too far
Sweet Jack-of-all-trades fear not the Pen
We are inscribed for who we are

Sweet Jack-of-all-trade...

Far from the blackened chimneys
Far from the kitchen stove
Sweet Jack-of-all-trades fear not the wind
You are more solid than you know

High Ground

Know
Know that I will love you still and not just up to or until
You choose a path that I cannot
Oh Because there is so much more it takes
Before this gaining-strength-just-knowing-you heart breaks

He thinks his new job makes him a grown-up
And all those big ideas he had were just a phase he was passing through
All he really wants right now is money, and I can't say that I blame him
But his soul looks like it's starving
And he swears there's nothing missing
And I'm just scared that I wouldn't fit in to any life he'd choose

And you've backed me to the corner, and you've pushed me to the brink
And I'm not quite sure why you're standing there, 'cause I don't intend to fall
I was hoping I could take it, can I just take the moral high ground
'Cause you have left me nowhere else to go

Know...

She's proud of herself and she says she's on a diet
Does she know that she's talking about my body when she's talking about her own?
She wants to know if I'd think any less of her, if there were really less of her
And I understand her reasons
And I understand her hunger
She just wants the love that all of us deserve

And you've backed me to the corner, and you've pushed me to the brink...

Know...

Feels like there are bones grinding in my stomach
And I'm one big ball of adrenaline where my blood rushes through
I just asked you one too many questions without really wanting answers
And it's midnight and you're leaving
God help us and God heal us
'Cause God knows there is nothing we can do

And I've backed you to the corner, and I've pushed you to the brink
And I'm not quite sure why I'm standing here, but it's not to watch you fall
And so I'm begging you to take it, come on now, take the moral high ground
'Cause I have left you nowhere else to go

Know...

The Bathing Suit Song

The world is ready to see my face
And the world is ready to hear my name.

It's so easy to be paralyzed
'Til we're thinking global but we're just not acting at all.
But you can have a little uprising from wherever you're put down
And so I start my revolution in my bathing suit
And I make my politics very, very personal

You'd think the boys would just be, would just be lining up outside my door.

The world is ready to see my face
And the world is ready to hear my name.

I see patterns all around me
I see fractals at every level of society
Until corporate greed's destruction of mother earth and sky and sea
Is just like people missing meaning in their everyday lives
Is just like straight boys who just can't see the goddess that is me.

You'd think the boys would just be, would just be lining up outside my door.

The world is ready to see my face
And the world is ready to hear my name.

And you say you love my tee shirt
And it's hard to believe and that's why it makes me laugh.
You may love my bumper sticker slogans, you may think we're on the same right track
But don't you know that loving my tee shirt cannot come close
To loving the fullness of my belly against the flatness of your back.

You'd think the boys would just be, would just be lining up outside my door.

Figurehead

Wooden woman never born
A figurehead you ride the bow
And your maidenhood's long gone
Did you sail off for some virgin island and a man so dark he shown?
With your breast and belly swelling like the sea?
Flesh and bone you're more like wood
But your figure's more like me, your figure's more like me
I hear you call to sailors one and all
I hear you call, you are sailors one and all.

Are you bound for continents unknown?
Are you bound seaward with the foam?
Are you bound inland where it's colder to suit your cruelty well?
Are you bound skyward with a bullet from his gun or your own?
Are you alone, alone, alone?

Will you ride the waves again my lady?
Will you keep the secrets that they tell you?
Though you know they'll leave you lonely
Will you lead them round the world?
Will you see them safely home?
With your breast and belly swelling like the sea?
Flesh and bone you're more like wood
But your figure's more like me, your figure's more like me
I hear you call to sailors one and all
I hear you call, you are sailors one and all.

Are you bound...

2am: you say you're lonely
I drink my cup of tea
You deal another hand
And I'm dreaming of that Virgin Island and the man so dark he shone
And my breast and belly swelling like the sea
You say you're bound to look for her
And I know you'll return to me, I know you'll return to me
You'll hear the call to sailors one and all
You'll hear the call, you are sailors one and all

Are you bound...

There are No Bridges

I want to move us into kisses but there are no bridges, there are no bridges
I thought I took you in my arms but you never knew and there are no bridges
If I just move fast enough
Can I slip, can I spin, can I skip myself a stone into your soul?
And there are no bridges

Countless times, I have been here before countless times
I want to take you from this moment
I want to turn you into what I see so far beyond tonight
But where can I go that you will follow
When I know there's no tomorrow
When I know there's no tomorrow for your love?

I want to move...

If there was anything beyond the bonds of friendship in our stars we would have found it by now
Or if we'd wanted it enough we would have made it come to pass
I say to try to calm me down
But why is this truth allowed to be
More true for you than it ever is
It ever is for me?

I want to move...

My split second endearments always confuse me
More than they could ever convince you
You think that I'm just being friendly
And apparently I am

I want to move...

As Rachel Waited

Today.

You commissioned my love
You set me searching
Where did you think that I would find you?

Will I find you between the islands of our lives
And my heart lies at the bottom of this passage
Safe passages where the truth of love
Lies untold, it lies untold

Stolen passages that hold your names
That hold your names and bare my soul

Would you wait for me as Rachel waited?
Do you believe in us as Esther believed?
And when you kiss me, and when you kiss me
Will you lift up your eyes and will you weep?

You commissioned my love
You set me searching
Where did you think that I would find you?

May I doubt that the stars are fire
May I doubt that the sun will rise
May I doubt the truth of your lies
May I never doubt your love

Today.

Canadians

Going downtown
Hanging around
Sky coming down, uh-huh.

Even my Canadians are letting me down, even my Canadians
Even my Canadians are letting me down, even my Canadians

Even my Canadians are letting me down
When I pinned my hopes on them sticking around
Constant as the Northern Star
But constant in the darkness where's that at?
Yeah, I hear Joni singing
Where's that at?
It's not enough to know me when you see me
If these promises stay unspoken, do they ever stay unbroken?

For the warmth of your voice
For your knowledge of space
For your knowledge of time
I could easily forgive you for wanting no knowledge of the world behind my eyes
And I know that I'll forgive you
If you take me with you when you keep on...

Going downtown...

Even my Canadians are letting me down, even my Canadians
Even my Canadians are letting me down, and my mouth so close to your mouth

And my mouth so close to yours but there's just no way to translate
When we keep on insisting
That we are speaking the same language
'Cause we are using the same words
We are sharing one native tongue
And you say let me clarify
Let me make this much more simple
'Cause all the man is trying to say is...

Going downtown...

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Because of its reference (if you listen closely) to the ill-fated lovers Verlaine and Rimbaud, this song always reminds me of that movie in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays the younger of the two men. The scene not to be missed is when Mr. DiCaprio removes a wine cork from its bottle using only his shoulder blades. Who knew this was even possible?

Madeleine (From One Jewess to Another)

In a "60 Minutes" interview on May 12, 1996, in reference to the sanctions against Iraq, Leslie Stahl asked Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, "We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And -- and you know, is the price worth it?"
Albright replied, "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price -- we think the price is worth it."

Madeleine, from one Jewess to another
Madeleine, let me give you some advice
Don't believe them when they tell you you killed Jesus
Don't believe them when they say that you're to blame
Don't believe them when they tell you their big lie
That for her father's crimes a child must die

Madeleine don't just wash your hands
Madeleine don't just wash your hands
Madeleine don't just wash your hands, have the strength to stand
Have the strength to say:

Not one more child will die by my hand today!

Surviving still you escaped the death of millions
Feel this in your bones and know it's your turn to choose life
I don't believe that you can wash your hands like Pilate
I don't believe in your acceptable price to pay
I don't believe that you are feeding us this lie
That for their fathers' crimes children must die

Madeleine don't just wash your hands
Madeleine don't just wash your hands
Madeleine don't just wash your hands, have the strength to stand
Have the strength to say:

Not one more child will die by my hand today!

What Price Liberty?