Song Lyrics and Music
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Soundcheck at West Palm Beach Auditorium, Oct 1973
My song lyrics - in reverse chronological order
Serpentine Summer (July 2010) Medium tempo pop-rock
Rolling Stones record on the radio
But I don't feel like a street fighting man
It's way too cold and I'm way too old
So I'll turn it up as loud as I can
And dream about those crazy times
When the future was yours and mine
Kings Road nights and lazy days
Down by the Serpentine
I caught the smell of patchouli oil
Floating on the summer breeze
I saw a sweet little hippy girl
In her kaftan and her beads
Music drifting through the trees
That day in sixty-nine
Rolling Stones played for you and me
Down by the Serpentine
Butterflies over the park, Che Guevara on your wall
So naive and eager to believe we'd change it all
Everybody talking about peace and love
But that was just a hippy dream
A world full of hate but the music was great
And London was the place to be
We grew our hair way down to there
And the sun always seemed to shine
As we spent our days in a smoky haze
On the banks of the Serpentine
Butterflies over the park, Che Guevara on your wall
So naive, we really did believe we'd change it all
Now the children of the sixties are sixty years old
We don't like the heat and we can't stand the cold
And the children of the sixties are losing their hair
We're out of time but we don't care
And the children of the sixties never changed the world
But I still love my little hippy girl
And when I look in her eyes I remember that day
Just like it was yesterday
Show On The Road (June 2010) Fast pop rock
Put on your shades, grab your hat
Get your guitar, throw it in the back
Let's get this show on the road
Ain't no time to hang around
We gotta be in Memphis when the sun goes down
Let's get this show on the road
Let's get this show on the road
This time it might be paved with gold
Let's get this show on the road
Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys
Are you ready to feel the noise
Let's get this show on the road
All the way from Memphis to Mobile Alabama
Joey got wrecked, spent the night in the slammer
He's just a prisoner of the road
Let's get this show on the road
The nights are hot and the days are cold
Let's get this show on the road
The folks back home will never understand
Why you give your soul to a rock and roll band
The passion, the power, the pride and the pain
A thousand reasons you can't explain
Forty days and forty nights
Hypnotized by the white lines, blinded by the spotlights
Let's get this show on the road
And when you finally get home and you're in your bed
The highway still runs through your head
You're still a prisoner of the road
Let's get this show on the road
Before we finally get too old
Let's get this show on the road
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Under The Glitter Ball (2009) Medium pop rock
(2009) Medium pop rock
Hot sweat dripping off the ceiling
Cool cats playing it with feeling
Everybody rocking and reeling
Under the glitter ball
And it really doesn't matter if he ain't her kind
And she don't exactly blow his mind
They gotta take what they can find
Under the glitter ball
Low-life, wimps and losers
Sleazeballs, pimps and bruisers
But beggars can't be choosers
Under the glitter ball
And he don't care if she ain't cool
And she don't mind if he acts like a fool
They've known each other since high school
Under the glitter ball
Under the glitter ball
Sounds kinda romantic, dancing under a thousand stars
Under the glitter ball
But it's desperate and it's frantic, here in small town America
All the menfolk stand and stare
At that classy lady with the long blonde hair
You can feel the tension in the air
Under the glitter ball
And sooner or later there's gonna be a fight
Sirens wailing, flashing lights
It's just another Saturday night
Under the glitter ball
Charlie thought he'd got it made
But now his hopes start to fade
As the last dance is played
Under the glitter ball
But it really doesn't matter that she sneaked out the back
And jumped in the car with his best friend Jack
This time next week they'll all be back
Under the glitter ball
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Last Chance Motel (2009) Slow blues/jazz
Thunder on the dancefloor, lightning in the air
If you ain't here tonight you ain't nowhere
Last Chance Motel, Last Chance Motel
Tomorrow we might die, tonight we'll kiss the sky
Last Chance Motel
It's on the edge of town, but a thousand miles away
Look out for the sign showing you the way to the
Last Chance Motel, Last Chance Motel
Nobody ever pays, if it happens here it stays at the
Last Chance Motel
Pretty little thing gazing in your eyes like she finds you fascinating
She don't care if you're telling lies
Cos the band's so loud she can't hear a word you're saying
It's got a reputation it thoroughly deserves
For tact and discretion and the dreadful food they serve at the
Last Chance Motel, Last Chance Motel
They're perfectly discreet, but you don't wanna eat at the
Last Chance Motel
Young folks sit and mock as we dance to classic rock
Zeppelin and Purple, Hendrix and the Hoople
Last Chance Motel, Last Chance Motel
We're having such a blast, living in the past at the
Last Chance Motel
We'll dance until we drop, and then we'll dance some more
We're gonna keep on dancing till they kick us out the door of the
Last Chance Motel, Last Chance Motel
The night is not complete till you're face down in the street outside the
Last Chance Motel
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When The Sun Goes Down (2008) Medium Latin rock
Down in Tijuana, as the evening shadows fall
People start to wondering who'll be the first to fall
When the sun goes down x 3
Danger in the town, down in Tijuana when the sun goes down
Down in Rosarito, gringos on the beach
If you know what's good for you make sure you're out of reach
When the sun goes down x 3
Down in Rosarito when the sun goes down
It's been a beautiful day on the riviera
You're driving home and you're wondering where are the
Gangs and the guns and the men in black
When suddenly, you're under attack
Down in Ensenada, pocket full of dollars
Take a look behind you, are you being followed
When the sun goes down x 3
Down in Ensenada when the sun goes down
Mariachi band, playing in the sun
Pretty soon there's gonna be a band on the run
When the sun goes down x 3
In Baja California when the sun goes down
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The White Cliffs Of England (2006) Slow ballad
There's a place we used to go where the shoreline meets the hills
And we'd watch a thousand seabirds showing off their skills
You can see the coast of France when the air is clear and still
As you walk on the white cliffs of England
We heard the sound of battle just across the sea
I told you I must leave you, you said you'd wait for me
I held you and I whispered 'my darling you must be
As brave as these white cliffs of England'
We saw the Milky Way spilling stars across the night
The Hunter chased his prey and Pegasus took flight
But all the stars of heaven never shone as bright
As the love in our eyes on that warm summer night
Now our childrens' children run up the path towards the top
You'd laugh if you could see me struggling to keep up
And in their sparkling eyes I can see you once again
As you walk on the white cliffs of England
And soon will come the day that was promised long ago
When all tears are wiped away and there will be no war
And on that glorious day I will walk with you once more
On our beautiful white cliffs of England
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Brown Eyed Bessie (2004) Medium rock
There's alligators in the swamp land
And there's rattlesnakes in the desert sands
There's a mean old grizzly out in the woods
But listen to me stranger, let me warn you 'bout the danger of
Brown Eyed Bessie from Santa Fe, New Mexico
They sing about Delilah and Billie-Jean
Hard-hearted Hannah and Maybelline
Lola, Lucille and Jolene
But there ain't none worse, immortalised in verse than
Brown Eyed Bessie from Santa Fe, New Mexico
She can change a loser to a winner and back again
She can turn a saint into a sinner and
You my friend may think you'll never fall
But that's when the writing's really on the wall
Big Jim Magee put his hand on her knee and said
'Hey, good-looking won't you come home with me'
So she laid him out cold on the bar-room floor
No there ain't none tougher and nobody's rougher than
Brown Eyed Bessie from Santa Fe, New Mexico
They split the atom and they went to the moon
If they ain't done it, it ain't worth doing
But the greatest challenge known to man
Is a crazy little dame who goes by the name of
Brown Eyed Bessie from Santa Fe, New Mexico
I hope you learned your lesson about Brown Eyed Bessie
Don't wanna hear you confessing that you've been messing with Brown Eyed Bessie
That's Brown Eyed Bessie from Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Raindance (2001) Fastish country rock
The wind is growing stronger, maybe it'll bring a little rain
We could use a little rain
The summers just get longer, and the land cries out in pain
Begging for a little rain
These days the farmer's eyes are filled with fear
Watching everything he worked for disappear
And we sure could use a little rain round here
The clouds are getting bigger, maybe they'll bring a little rain
We could use a little rain
I'm sitting here trying to figure how it all went wrong again
Praying for a little rain
They say the world is changing, well I don't know
All I know is the river don't flow like it use to flow
And we sure could use a little rain you know
Do you remember, we'd go dancing in the street
In September, when the harvest was complete
But now this town is dying on its feet
I tell the kids it's gonna be OK
Tomorrow's sure to be a better day
But we sure could use a little rain today
Indians doing the raindance, maybe it'll bring a little rain
We could use a little rain
Scientists in conference, oh but all they're really saying:
'We sure could use a little rain'
Maybe you and me are all to blame somehow
Maybe if we changed our ways, but anyhow
We sure could use a little rain right now
We sure could use a little rain...right now
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Poles Apart (2000) Fast pop/rock
I was into Steely Dan, all those years ago
You were into Steeleye Span, but at first it didn't show
We were physically attracted, no doubt about that
But then you asked the DJ, for All Around My Hat
So I made my excuses, said I had an early start
No point in getting serious, we were clearly poles apart
But that was then and this is now
And here we are in the same old bar
I never thought I'd see you again
But this is now and that was then
The DJ's playing Britney Spears and they're dancing wild and free
Nothing changed much through the years. except maybe you and me
We laugh about the clothes we wore, the hairstyles and the shoes
Marriages that didn't work, kids and cats and booze
I was working on the North Sea, life was cold and hard
While you were in Australia, we were nearly poles apart
But that was then and this is now
And here we are in the same old bar
I never thought I'd see you again
But this is now and that was then
You walk up to the DJ and ask for a request
I can't hear what you're saying, but I really should have guessed
Reeling In The Years sounds like it's heaven-sent
Loud and fast and meaningful, if I knew what it meant
But that was then and this is now
And here we are in the same old bar
I never thought I'd see you again
But this is now and that was then
I never thought I'd feel this way again
But this is now and that was then
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Musical Differences (1998) Slow rock
Silence in the studio
The drummers' sleeping on the floor
The bassman pours another beer
And wonders what he's doing here
Forty-eight tracks of digital sound
In this padded cell underground
We can't tell if it's day or night
But we're gonna stay till we get it right
'Cause this is rock and roll, this is rock and roll
The singer wrote a brand new song
About life and death, love and hate, right and wrong
The bassman says the lyrics stink
And pours himself another drink
The engineer can't take much more
Head in his hands he's staring at the floor
The producer lights another cigarette
The longer we take, the richer he'll get
'Cause this is rock and roll, this is rock and roll
The bassman hates the drummer
The drummer hates the guitar man
Everyone hates the singer
And the singer hates the band
But when we finally split we'll tell the press
It was just a case of musical differences
Silence in the studio
The drummer stormed out of the door
The bassman pours another beer
And blames it all on the engineer
Going home driving slow
Jerry Lee Lewis on the radio
I smile to myself and turn it up higher
Goodness gracious great balls of fire
Now this is rock and roll, this is rock and roll
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Technology (1997) Fast jazz rock
Way up in the starry night, high above the weather
Communication satellite keeping us together
I'm watching the sun go down, it's coming up above you
This is your wake-up call, just to say I love you
Technology has come so far
We can reach the moon, maybe the stars
But I don't want to reach that far
Just across the world to where you are
Way up in the starry night, I hear you crying
Across the universe our tears are flying
Technology has come so far
We can reach the moon, maybe the stars
But I don't want to reach that far
Just across the world to where you are
I can walk along the beach
Got my phone in my hand, I'm not out of reach
You can be driving in your car
Any time any place, no matter where you are
We're never really out of touch
But I miss you so much
Technology has come so far
We can reach the moon, maybe the stars
But I don't want to reach that far
Just across the world to where you are
Way up in the starry night, communication satellite
We have the technology, but I don't have you
And you don't have me
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Rock And Roll Widow (1996) Fast rock and roll
Johnny B Goode said to Runaround Sue
Tell me pretty baby why can't you be true
I've been all around the world playing with my band
While you're back there doing one night stands
She said 'Johnny since you been a star
I've been second fiddle to your guitar
So you can go, Johnny you can go
Go, and don't you come back no more
'cause I ain't gonna be your rock and roll widow no more'
She gets up early, takes the kids to school
He's taking breakfast by the hotel pool
She waits by the phone but it never rings
He's talking to a roadie 'bout his guitar strings
She falls asleep watching late night soap
While he's getting high on booze and dope
So you can go, Johnny you can go
Go, and don't you come back no more
'cause she ain't gonna be your rock and roll widow no more
Life on the road is an overload
Of sight and sound, faces, places
Airport, hotel, sound-check, gig
Sometimes the whole thing just gets too big
He runs onstage and the fans go wild
She's trying to comfort a lonely child
Daddy's in the spotlight strutting his stuff
While Momma decided she's had enough
In a little black book there's a number and name
Runaround Sue found her latest flame
So you can go, Johnny you can go
Go, and don't you come back no more
'cause she ain't gonna be your rock and roll widow no more'
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Me And My Old Piano (1995) Slow ballad
There's an old piano in my room
Out of sight and out of tune
It's been the best friend that I ever had
When I was a kid I'd run home from school
Climb up on the piano stool
And play that thing till it drove the neigbours mad
Me and my old piano, we've both seen better days
It's out of tune and me I'm going grey
Me and my old piano, playing the same old songs
But when I have gone it'll still be going strong
Finger flying across the keys
I was Little Richard, I was Jerry Lee
Sometimes I'd play the blues all through the night
And as the years have come and gone
When life was hard, when love went wrong
It's been the only thing I did just right
Me and my old piano, we've both seen better days
It's out of tune and me I'm going grey
Me and my old piano, when I sit down to play
The minutes and the hours just slip away
I guess she finally had enough
Of Chopin and Rachmaninov
She took the car and drove right out of town
But that's OK 'cause lately I'm
Having fun spending time
With someone who'll never let me down
Me and my old piano, we've both seen better days
It's out of tune and me I'm going grey
Me and my old piano, playing the same old songs
But when I have gone it'll still be going strong
There's an old piano in my room
Out of sight and out of tune
It's been the best friend that I ever had
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The Prettiest Girl On The Dancefloor (1992) Fast country
The prettiest girl on the dancefloor is making eyes at me
Making it kind of obvious that she's got plans for me
She's dancing with somebody else, but everyone can see
That the prettiest girl on the dancefloor wants to be with me
It's the same old story, it's Saturday night and I'm up here on the stage
Watching her down there in the arms of someone half my age
I get a little jealous till I look down and see
The prettiest girl on the dancefloor making eyes at me
Now the lights are low and they're dancing slow to a good old country waltz
She looks my way as if to say 'how could you play such schmaltz?'
But as I pack up my guitar she's waiting patiently
And the prettiest girl on the dancefloor's coming home with me
So I turn the key, and we climb the stairs
She smiles at me, and let's down her hair
And the prettiest girl on the dancefloor is laying next to me
Her head upon my shoulder, she's whispering in my ear
And then she starts to tell me just what I long to hear
That the prettiest girl on the dancefloor belongs to me
Yeah the prettiest girl on the dancefloor belongs to me
We've been together all these years but it's wonderful to see
The prettiest girl on the dancefloor making eyes at me
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Boogie Man (1992) Fast piano boogie
When I was just a young man, learning how to play
Teacher said you gotta play those scales a hundred time a day
Then one day on the radio I heard a record by Memphis Slim
I decided there and then, I'm gonna be like him
A boogie man, a boogie man
I'm so glad that's what I am
I'm so glad I'm a boogie man
I don't play no modern jazz, it don't make no sense to me
Jazz man knows a hundred chords but to me there's only three
I'm a boogie man, a boogie man
I'm so glad that's what I am
I'm so glad I'm a boogie man
I don't need a drummer, got my foot stomping on the floor
Don't even need a bass man, that's what my left hands for
I'm a boogie man, a boogie man
I'm so glad that's what I am
I'm so glad I'm a boogie man
A concerto by Rachmaninov, a waltz by Johann Strauss
But just one boogie man's enough to blow the roof right off the house
Ludwig van Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms and Lizst
Every one a genious, but they don't know what they missed
Elvis was the king, Springsteen he's the boss
Me I'm just a loser, guess it's just because
I'm a boogie man, a boogie man
I'm so glad that's what I am
I'm so glad I'm a boogie man
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Slow Train (1987) Slow country rock
I'm taking a slow train, watching the world go by my window
Taking all the time I need to work it out inside
Taking a slow train, stopping at every station
Trying to decide, should I stay on the train and ride
Or turn around and come on home to you
We pulled into a one-horse town back along the line
Old folks sitting on the porch watching the trains roll by
Nobody grows old together these days
It's a whole new world we're in
When things go wrong don't wait too long
Just call the lawyers in
But I'm taking a slow train, watching the world go by my window
Taking all the time I need to work it out inside
Taking a slow train, stopping at every station
Trying to decide, should I stay on the train and ride
Or turn around and come on home to you
Two young lovers on the platform saying their goodbyes
Hugging and kissing till the very last minute, tears falling from their eyes
Then the train starts rolling and he starts running
Along beside the track
Shouting 'baby I love you, baby I need you
Baby won't you hurry back'
I've been taking a slow train, watching the world go by my window
Taking all the time I need to work it out inside
Taking a slow train, stopping at every station
It helped me to decide, what I really knew inside
That there's nothing wrong between us we can't put right
So I'm taking the next train home to you
And we're gonna get it right
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Prisoner Of Love (1986 - joint composition with Linda McCartney) Medium rock
She really should have said right from the start
But she locked up her feelings deep in her heart
If she can't talk to me, what's a good friend for?
She kept her mouth shut, suffered in silence
Hiding the pain, afraid of the violence
If she can't lean on me, what's a good friend for?
But she tells herself it's only a phase
As she remembers better days
It's the story of a prisoner of love
I was just waiting here by the phone
Someone to tell her she's not alone
If she can't talk to me, what's a good friend for?
He comes home at night looking for a fight
Wakes up the kids with his noise
Now if she did the same, she'd get the blame
But he's just one of the boys
And she feels like she's doing time
But how long is the sentence and what was the crime
It's the story of a prisoner of love
The scars you can't touch hurt just as much
As the bruises he gave her last night
She threatens to leave, he says that he'll change
And she wants to believe that he might
But it's too late, love turned to hate
And now she's planning her escape
It's the story of a prisoner of love
Just another prisoner of love
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A Town Called Lonely (1986) Medium country
A town called lonely that's where I live
Since you told me you would not forgive
The things I said and the things I done
A town called lonely, population one
I walk along this empty street
Hoping to find a friendly face or just some place to eat
But all I find as I walk along
Are reminders of the day it all went wrong
The little shop where I stopped to buy you flowers
In a desperate attempt to save this love of ours
The station clock is stopped at ten to three
That's the time I watched that train taking you and leaving me
In a town called lonely that's where I live
Since you told me you would not forgive
The things I said and the things I done
A town called lonely, population one
And in the square I'm sitting all alone
The trees are bare, no-one goes there and all the birds have flown
Just then I thought I heard you call my name
But it was just the howling wind through a broken window pane
Here's that little dance hall where we used to meet
Remember how we laughed as you danced me off my feet
But now I'm standing with my nose pressed to the window pane
And the dance floor is empty and the tables stacked away
And I don't suppose I'll ever dance again
If you would only put your trust in me
You'd find I'm not that foolish little boy I used to be
You see I've changed and if you would believe
These city streets would echo to the sound of our laughter
And this town would not be lonely after all
Till then a town called lonely that's where I live
Since you told me you would not forgive
The things I said and the things I done
A town called lonely population one
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Seafaring Men (1983) Slow ballad
The tide has turned and we must go
To sail upon the great Atlantic Ocean
Knowing not if we'll return
Or sleep forever in this might ocean
Seafaring men, on the wild ocean
For our women, for our children
Seafaring men, on the wild ocean
Blow you north wind, bring us home again
Left my wife on the Galway shore
To sail upon the great Atlantic Ocean
Told my boy, take care of her
If I should sleep beneath this mighty ocean
Seafaring men, on the wild ocean
For our women, for our children
Seafaring men, on the wild ocean
Blow you north wind, bring us home again
All the tears that have been cried
For brave men who have lived and died
Would make an ocean deep and wide
As this on which we ride
Seafaring men, on the wild ocean
For our women, for our children
Seafaring men, on the wild ocean
Blow you north wind, bring us home again
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Rainbow Over Michigan (1974) Medium rock
Seven-forty-seven touching down
Rock and roll circus coming to town
Sweet memory, rock and roll
Another interview in the local rag
'How'd you get your name?' What a drag
Sweet mystery, rock and roll
Rainbow over Michigan, storm clouds over the water
I just wanna see you again
But I gotta keep rocking and rolling
Gotta keep rocking, rocking and rolling on
Thunder crashing round the Aragon
Mott The Hoople blowing up a storm
Sweet memory, rock and roll
Sandy and the Hott Motts down in the front row
Don't know how they got here but they get to every show
Sweet mystery, rock and roll
Rainbow over Michigan, storm clouds over the water
I just wanna see you again
But I gotta keep rocking and rolling
Gotta keep rocking, rocking and rolling on
Another day another hotel checkout
Hunter and Buffin just wanna get the heck out
Morgan's raving over there with Overend
And Stan's going crazy 'cos he can't find Bender
Boogaloo Dudes rolling down the runway
Carrying the news all across the USA
Sweet memory, rock and roll
Rainbow over Michigan, storm clouds over the water
I just wanna see you again
But I gotta keep rocking and rolling
Gotta keep rocking, rocking and rolling on
Portland Oregon to Portland Maine
Sometimes I wonder, will I see you again
New York City to New Orleans
Sometimes I wonder, just what it all means
Sweet mystery, rock and roll
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Keep Your Light Shining (1969) Slow rock
Desert highways have no end
Darkness falls again
Nevada moon my only friend
Till I see you again
Keep your light shining, keep your light shining
And I will be there, I will be there
Remember when you showed me how
To find the northern star
As I look upon it now
It points to where you are
Keep your light shining, keep your light shining
And I will be there, I will be there
What am I doing here, sometimes I wonder
Lost in the middle of this land
It has to be some kind of spell I'm under
Keeps me drifting like the shifting sand
Going nowhere, a travelling man
A thousand miles another day
Till I see you again
A thousand things I want to say
To you my only friend
Keep your light shining, keep your light shining
And I will be there, I will be there