A ONE WAY TICKET TO LOUISE
Intro: D / Bm D / Bm / D
Bm A G D
Oh the shutter doors are closing down on Market Street
Bm A G A
And there’s nothing in this town to keep me on my feet
D G A Bm
There’s a night bus leaving from the corner house at ten
D G A Bm
By morning I’ll be lying in my darling’s arms again
D A D G
Can’t wait to hear the driver mumble ‘destination please?’
Bm A D
And say ‘a one way ticket to Louise’
There are women on the corner with their hair pulled tight
In white stiletto heels and legs for staying up all night
The boys lean on their pool cues and they wonder with their eyes
If they’re man enough to deal with what is stirring in those thighs
In the overheated bus I wrap my coat around my knees
On a one way ticket to Louise
A
Roll engines roll
D G D
Roar engines roar
A Bm
Go safely go
D G A Bm
To the girl that I’d stop travelling for
There are people going somewhere and there’s people coming back
Some stare at their reflection some just stare into the black
I watch the moon go racing through a field of winter stars
The red and white light ribbons of a carnival of cars
It’s a highway full of dreamers and I’m counting down the trees
On a one way ticket to Louise
I SAW A WOMAN LYING IN A FIELD
I saw a woman lying in a field
Moving in a most unusual way
I saw a woman lying in a field
She was dreaming – she was dreaming
She spread her arms and legs upon the grass
She closed her eyes and rolled her head around
She spread her arms and legs upon the grass
She was laughing – she was laughing
I watched her from a distance through the trees
Half concerned half wondering what she’d do
Just then I saw halfway from her to me
Another man was watching too
She curled up in a ball upon her side
Something in her stillness made me sad
I wanted to be sure she was alright
She was crying – she was crying
Everybody needs to be alone
Everybody needs to touch the ground
I looked to see the other man was gone
She walked away without a sound
I passed the man a little further on
He walked the backroads like a haunted soul
Dead leaves and feathers on his dirty coat
He was dreaming – he was dreaming
Later that day inside a bank in town
The woman fixed me with a vacant stare
I saw the dirt beneath her fingernails
Dead leaves and feathers in her hair
ALL I REALLY WANT
You are one of a kind
Kinder than the ones you love
You are always on my mind
More than any ones I love
You are home I am here
Miles too far away from you
Be my love be my dear
All I really want is you
A trick of love a trick of night
Suddenly beside of me
There you are bathed in light
Light only the blind can see
By the black of your hair
Like night-waves round your brown eyes where
I am drawn from the blue
All I really want is you
We are old we are young
Divided by the sun
By the sea by the blue
All I really want is you
Moving slow deep and still
Feel me on your fingertips
By your love by your will
By the words on your sweet lips
We are bound by the tide
From your far shore to hold me true
To your heart by your side
All I really want is you
MY JERUSALEM
Em D G
They come in coats of green and gold
D C
Disguised as wise and holy men
Em D G
Through snowy storm and bitter cold
D C
They drag their souls to Bethlehem
They bring their gifts of good intent
Dirty money in their hands
With broken promises they went
To the broken promised land
C Em D G
Here come the liars – go get your men
D Em D C D Em
Go light the fires – Jerusalem
They come in pretty suits of blue
Their sweet smiles hide their poison tongues
They talk of dreams and pastures new
But power’s dark breath corrupts their lungs
They sold the farm to buy the land
They sold the land to buy the gun
From sea to sea with torch in hand
They stripped the fields of Albion
C
‘They took my living from me’
F
Cry the broken bells of Rhymney
G D
And cast poverty upon me ‘til I die
C
Though you all see the scandal
F
Will you take to court the vandal
Em D C G D Em
Or just cast your dying candle over my Jerusalem
No more the dark satanic mills
The devil now sleeps in your home
The web of her infection kills
And steals the flesh from off your bones
And still the hapless soldier’s sigh
The hopeless tears of widowed wives
While every politicians lie
Pours insult on their sacrifice
I AM THE HOUSE
I am the rattle of the glass the glimpse of travellers as they pass
When you are tired I am the last stop on the line
The ghost of other people’s lives a cold comfort to the wives
Who gaze out on incoming tides looking for a sign
I am the symbols on the door discarded clothes upon the floor
Children returning from the war inside themselves
The kind conspiracy of mirrors a safe harbour for your fears
I am the witness to the tears ou cried for yourself
Look the world right in the eye know the wicked from the wise
Let the wind blow north and south
Rest inside my open arms – I am the house
I am the pictures on the wall echo-voices in the hall
The place you took the solemn call you knew would come
I am the memory of friends folks you’ll never see again
I am the light that doesn’t end with the sun
I am the scent of milk and coal the world’s last station of the soul
A place to share a glass and bowl a place to sing
I am the dwelling of the poor with frail spirits ‘round the door
The place to start your journey or communion bring
I NEED YOU
I used to be someone to you
Someone you loved and looked up to
When you let go was me who pulled you through
You talked about your dreams with me
Your hopes and fears you let me see
Now I’d give anything to be with you
To hold you in my arms again
To be your lover not your friend
I need you
With one foot always off the ground
I knew I couldn’t tie you down
I didn’t want to do that anyway
And yet some force connected us
like tide or moon affected us
It pulled us close then pushed us both away
I always thought I’d see you again
But now your heart won’t let me in
I need you
Our love was never meant to last
We seized the time and used it fast
We came as close as anyone can be
Against the odds we took a chance
We moved together in the dance
I held you tight and you held on to me
And at the end I said I’d be strong
But now it seems that I was wrong
I need you
IF YOU WANNA BE MINE
If you wanna be mine
You’ve got to know how to hurt me
If you wanna be mine
Then be prepared to desert me
If you want to take my heart
You’ve got to take your time
You’ve got to break my heart
If you wanna be mine
If you wanna be mine
You’ll have to give yourself to me
Then change your mind
Say you’ve come to see through me
If you want the best of me
Make me stand in line
Then take the rest of me
If you wanna be mine
Promise me all your love
A little at a time
Save the best for last my love
Then leave it somewhere hard to find
If you wanna be mine
Tell me how much you love me
And when you see me shine
Take your special light off me
When you know I’d die for you
A heartbeat at a time
That’s when you make your move
If you wanna be mine
WEARY JANE
Her hands are tired from holding
Her mind from understanding
Her arms are strong from working
Her shoulders bent from bearing
Her heart so close to breaking
Is healing now but aching
Her strong foundation’s shaken
Since her true love was taken
Jane Jane Jane Jane – Weary Jane
Her eyes as bright as morning
Undimmed from sleep and weeping
The sailors’ bell she’s ringing
Her lover’s voice is calling
If dreams come true
Jane will love you
When hearts were free
Sweet Jane loved me
The blossoms rise to meet her
The poet’s arches greet her
Upon the hill we’re walking
She holds me safe from falling
We met where roads divided
Our futures’ undecided
Our dreams stretched out before us
And miles of hope between us
MY NAME IS LONDON TOWN
I’ve been struck by the wind coming in from the east
That strips the grey river and stretches your skin
I’ve been choked by the engine and choked by the beast
Breathing fire and pollution and pleasure and sin
I’m the cry of the gulls from St Katherine’s Dock
I’m the cry of the Smithfield fishmonger at dawn
I’m the sharp suited broker who steals like a fox
To the stock exchange floor to sell coffee and corn
My name is London Town
I’m your vision going up I’m your nightmare coming down
I’m the Westminster fool I’m the Pentonville clown
My name is London Town
I’m the bundle of rags in the Oxford Street doorway
Matted and ratted and shivering with cold
I’m the homecoming sunset that lights up the westwa
I’m the Union flag I’m the red green and gold
I’m the dome of St Pauls I’m the Regents Park mosque
I’m the Temple the Arsenal and White Hart Lane
I’m the bomb in Victoria the fire at Kings Cross
I’m the nine o’clock dole queue and the ten o’clock train
I’m the immigrant town the city of night
Of carousel dreams of beauty and pain
My streets paved with gpld from the bold highway meters
Dick Whittington’s ghost in a no turning lane
My name is London Town
I’m your vision going up I’m your nightmare coming down
I’m the Whitechapel murderer making his rounds
My name is London Town
EMILY’S PAGES
Emily’s pages spread on a winter’s afternoon
Emily sewing sees her love going from her room
And through the glass his coat of black
She knows he’s never coming back
Afraid of the fire she hides her desire in poetry
Bound in white linen these are the words of Emily
Emily’s pages letters of longing none can see
But nobody’s asking Emily passing Calvary
And dressed in white behind the door
Where love nor Master come no more
Pressing her flowers filling the hours with poetry
Love unrequited these are the words of Emily
Emily’s pages lines on the dying lines on grief
Wings in the weather hope is the feather on the leaf
And stitch and sew and stitch and sew
On cloths of night her bright dreams go
To meet with her lovers under the covers oversea
In her slow Eden these are the words of Emily
ONE COLD APRIL MORNING
One cold april morning she watches him leaving
She waves at the window then walks to the kitchen
She makes herself coffee the tv man’s talking
His face is the same but his words have no meaning today
Where are the children who filled up her morning
Who set the house ringing with laughter and singing
And where are the faces she wiped with the flannel
She misses their twinkling their rosy cheeks shining today
Monday she dressed them in shirts she had pressed
Then she fed them and brushed them
And drove them to school
She dried up their tears as she stifled her own
And she told them to hurry and smoothed all their worries away
Tuesday’s a slow day it rains in the morning
She watches some tv has lunch with her mother
They talk about times before death and divorces
Divided the family and took all her loved ones away
Wednesday’s a slow day and Thursday’s no better
On Friday her lover returns for the weekend
Avoiding the issues of plans and commitment
A part of her hates him a part of her wants him to stay
Sunday they go for a drive in the country
They stop by a church and she silently prays
For someone to want her for someone to need her
Someone to love her and take all this longing away
COME BACK TO ME AND LET ME LOVE YOU
One set of keys are missing from behind the door
Your coat and shoes I never missed so much before
Traces of mud upon the rug where you walked in
My body aches for you to come this way again
The change you emptied from your pocket by the bed
I find myself counting and recall the words you said
“I won’t be needing this when all I need is you”
The coins are cold now and I wish it wasn’t true
One cup of tea one breakfast bowl the day is still the day is cold
There is your watch there is your comb there is your pencil by the phone
There is the scent upon your scarf there is the echo of your laugh
There is the paper that you bought but never read there’s the report
On the tv…….’Motorway closed’
Come back to me and let me love you
Come back to me and let me love you
And on the first night that you never came back home
I stand by the window and I watch the cars alone
And think back to when you’d hold me close and watch them too
And whisper “ I love cars but not when they take me away from you”
