I MUST HAVE GOT MY SUMS WRONG
(WHEN I COUNTED ON YOU)
It was heaven at first
When I thought that you'd stick with me
As I speak of my love
I can still see your smile
Makin' out I was yours right from the start
You darling face, you false heart
If you’re as good as your word
You've got room for improvement
Sweetheart I thought you and I made one
All those promises and your fingers crossed
Behind those lies our love's been lost
Well I must have got my sums wrong
When I counted on you
Seems I live in a dream
And I missed the equation
The way that things are
It simply don't add up
When it comes to this I've got no pride
The time that's gone I'll never hide
I’M WAITING UP FOR MY BABY
I’m waiting up for my baby
‘til she gives our door a bash
‘til she’s kicked out of those rockin’ bars
‘cause she’s run out of cash
If the question’s for another drink
The answer’s never maybe
Though it’s half past four and the ads are on
And I’m waiting up for my baby
I’m waiting up for my baby
‘til the cocks all flap and crow
‘til the table’s wiped and the band’s gone home
And they’re tellin’ her to go
Hangin’ ‘round with that crowd downtown
That’s where my runaway be
But when the sun peeps up she’ll roll back home
I’m waiting up for my baby
IF I PINNED MY HOPES ON YOU (WOULD IT DRAW BLOOD?)
I'm chokin' on my pride and it's such a shame I'm ringin'
But I bet your blinds are down when all the birds are singin'
The horses graze, the cat's asleep
The pig is rollin' in the mud
And if I pinned my hopes on you would it draw blood?
Don't you think that this is special the way we are together?
My last romantic cruise got lost in stormy weather
The lines came down, the battery's flat
And ev'ry fuse went dud
If I pinned my hopes on you would it draw blood?
They say that I adore you and them rumours are all true
Stops me in my tracks just the vaguest thought of you
But the leaves might curl, the stems go dry
The flower's nipped in the bud
And if I pinned my hopes on you would it draw blood?
IF SHE BARRACKS FOR CARLTON (THEN I'VE GOT THE BLUES)
Born with a silver spoon she lives in Parkville
I stroll down Sydney Road to Royal Parade
And at five she mixes cocktails, man it's a job to choose
But if she barracks for Carlton then I've got the blues
I can stand the Sunday brunch, it's not me payin'
I'll drink the top shelf dry in her old man's pub
I got used to central heating and them B.M.W.s
But if she barracks for Carlton then I've got the blues
She's filled a poor man's life with easy livin'
But when fridge is void of chicken and French booze
I'll tram it back to Brunswick and leave behind no clues
'cause if she barracks for Carlton then I've got the blues
IF YOU LEAVE THAT MAN (THEN MA'M I'M LEAVIN' YOU)
I didn't dream it would go this far
Can't we leave things how they are?
That man and you shouldn't get divorced
As for wedding ring and cot
You'd best keep the ones you've got
And if you leave that man then ma'm I'm leavin' you
I just ain't the man I said
I'd get rough if I were wed
I'd play cards and spend the shoppin' all on booze
When we're in bed I'd fall asleep
Seems my love don't run too deep
And if you leave that man then ma'm I'm leavin' you
- Ain't you seen the huntin' gun your husband's bought?
Well com'on let's keep our romance outta court
And don't call the lawyer yet
Gonna change your mind I bet
And if you leave that man then ma'm I'm leavin' you
- Ain't you seen the huntin' gun your husband's bought?
Well com'on let's keep our romance outta court
I got no yacht, I got no plane
My folks are certified insane
And if you leave that man then ma'm I'm leavin' you
IN BETWEEN
Since that man I stole got stolen
The grey clouds above have swollen
And if you searched for me in his biography
I’d be just a semi-colon
It’s that sad familiar story
Our love was only transitory
In between the one he left for me
And the one he left me for
When he spotted me some girl he jilted
But soon the cloud I was on got tilted
Well now it’s not much fun to lose a man you’ve won
Yours truly feels somewhat wilted
I’m well aware of my position
A cheap affair, a brief transition
In between the one he left for me
And the one he left me for
IN THE NORTH WEST
I’d say he’s down from Elmore, see the sun has stripped the colour off his car
And a mystery’s unwinding along ev’ry inch of road he’s come so far
As luck would change he stole the chance
To catch some country Venus dance
And you’d think he’d come a thousand miles to sit here gettin’ history in a bar
There’s another stinkin’ shotgun and a silent farmhouse back around the bend
Yes he’s come into a windfall and he’s got a mind to hit the turps and spend
Above the range the weaving lights
We watch them shred the veil of night
We watch the curtain tumble, the false jaws divide, the lying tongues extend
There’s been two dodgy sightings in different cars and half a state apart
But the trail is getting colder, the phones have gone so quiet would break your heart
It’s just a silent siren calls
In a voice so pure it rocks the walls
He’s somewhere out there grinnin’ that we questioned his existence since the start
INITIALS
How much things have changed if we look at it calmly
Our initials have gone from the path 'round the beach
Still the passengers wait on a cold seaside platform
And the sound of the bells bring it all within reach
I still see my room
I can pull back the curtains
On both roses and thorns
In that red and green street
Look back if you dare to those purple sky evenings
For the rest of your days you'll be seein' their light
And 'though the circles not closed that chapter's completed
Where the rigging would whine and the shrill seagulls fight
See beside the bay
The breakwater crumbles
But you can't count the grains
As they run through the glass
IT'S LIKE A LIGHT COMES ON
A light comes on
When you walk into the room
It's like a light comes on
When you walk into the room
'cause you, you're like a risin' sun
It's like a light comes on
And when you stole my heart
I was your partner in that crime
When you stole my heart
I was your partner in that crime
If you sang I'd just stand dumb and mime
When you stole my heart
IT'S TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC (WHEN I PUT MY GUITAR DOWN)
Yes I see you at the back of the bar room
Lookin' like you just might steal the show
And all through the chorus of "Honky Tonk Angels"
You were gettin' friendly with some would be Romeo
You could pick somewhere else for your meetin'
'cause I can't take kindly to cheatin'
And it's time to face the music when I put my guitar down
From up here through the smoke I've been watchin'
Yes and half of the set's still to go
So don't start me chantin' 'bout that man there white antin'
Have things changed so much you just can't say no?
I'm bustin' to know what you're sayin'
But the show must go on I'll keep playin'
'til it's time to face the music when I put my guitar down
JUST USE YOUR IMAGINATION
It all adds up to nothing if we count the time gone by
I can't pretend to want you anymore
One last dream of one last kiss, it's here I say goodbye
See the wall is choked with writing from the ceiling to the floor
And those sweet dreams just grow colder
Of that room where we've lain
Well this is it but you look to me
Like you don't get what I'm sayin'
Just use your imagination
A final curtain trembles, it's the blackest part of night
When clouds obscure your corner of the sky
You shone out in heaven but I can't maintain the sight
So don't act dumb it's wasted, don't let your hopes get high
And those sweet dreams just grow colder
Of that room where we've lain
Well this is it but you look to me
Like you don't get what I'm sayin'
Just use your imagination, imagination
LAST CHRISTMAS
Nostalgia don’t get to me much
But that music’s unfolded its touch
Hear the angels sing Noel
A kid busks with an out of tune string
On a street filled with Lennon and Bing
Old Santa Claus has climbed out of bed
So it’s just like last Christmas sweetheart
And the tinsel recycles the light
As this old year loosens its bite
Tie a pine tree on the car
Baggy red suit and a pink teenage face
It’s tough keeping that beard in its place
Old Santa Claus has climbed out of bed
So it’s just like last Christmas sweetheart
The bells can swing everywhere
But Dad will still snooze in his chair
While the sun* tries beating down
I’m just happy that you’re here with me
‘neath the globes flashin’ bright ‘round the tree
Old Santa Claus has climbed out of bed
So it’s just like last Christmas sweetheart
LET ME GET MY MESSAGE DOWN
Let me get my message down
To send to you in that cold town
It's fine back here upon the hill
'though there's some might miss you still
Your photo's hangin' on the wall
But since you gone no word at all
In the dead o' night gets hard to sleep
That town's too far, my love's too deep
Up on the hill we want you back
And I'd be dreamin' on my feet
When the barkin' dog means you've come home
'cause no-one comes up here to meet
How's it go down in the South
Livin' there from hand to mouth?
Told myself you'd never change
And to want you back so much seems strange
Since you left the child has grown
With eyes fixed on the floor
And I won't say that you were right
That night you left our door
Up on the hill we want you back
And I'd be dreamin' on my feet
When the barkin' dog means you've come home
'cause no-one comes up here to meet
MEET ME DOWN AT THE RIVER
They'd made a time for their meeting
The next day, two hours before night
But never a word 'cause there's some live 'round here
Who swore black she would never wear white
He came down to the bridge where he'd find her
There were men there said someone's been drowned
They searched down the banks and around the floodplains
But no trace of the girl could be found
Meet me down at the river
At the place where it starts to flow wide
And each day he'll go, taking roses to throw
In the waters where his Sarah died
Meet me down at the river
Near the scrub where lovers might hide
Yes he's still comin' here, to let tears disappear
In the waters where his Sarah died
From end to end of our valley
There's no soul can answer this song
Did she fall waitin' there for her darlin' to come
Or'd she jump seein' their love was wrong?
MOUNTAIN SONG
If we climb that mountain
See the streets of red and green
Beside our tiny ocean
Ev'rywhere we've ever been
Oh stranger hear my wishes
Hold out your hand and shake my bones
See that diamond freeway
It threads right back to home
And look up to the towers
You can recognize the link
From ev'ry house and palace
Will their footprint ever shrink?
Still get the jokers ravin'
On ev'ry knotch around the dial
It's sick when television
Can make a grown person smile
I'm going down to Melbourne
Help my brothers mow the lawn
To live the simple pleasures
Would make the Queen of England yawn
It's not too late to make it
Fist of iron and nerves of steel
But when it rains we're lazy
Road to town weren't sealed
MY OWN CITY
Come here old man, your daughter's pretty
The greenest eyes I've ever seen
I'd take her down to my own city
Where rooms are warm and beds are clean
Oh no, oh no! there'll be no marriage
My eyes are milk, my pins are lame
Who'll watch the mob? Who'll drive the carriage?
Who'll fix the meals and feed the flame?
Her legs are long, her laugh like water
Though spheres are strange and cards unclear
It's true, it's true I love your daughter
She's free as birds and wild as deer
It's all of stone behind the curtain
And with each toss a gambler learns
They spin and freeze to numbers certain
There's no such dice forever turns
NO HOPE FOR FOOLS
No great change in many moon
Believe it or not you'll have to meet me soon
And we'll be out of time
There's no hope for fools
Magic boys with hidden eyes
Just trapped in rooms like dragonflies
And so out of touch
There's no hope for fools
Clean machine meets pointed hand
Silver screen on magic bands
Well it's allright for now
But there's no hope for fools
NO MORE TEARS
Ten thousand miles
You're ten thousand miles
And too many miles
From your home
And there's no more tears
Hey no more tears
My love, we've no more tears
Left to cry for you
- The town's the same
Though it threatens rain
It gathers on the hill
‘round the scenes we'd know
Through the crowds I go
See we’re searching for you still
OBSESSION (IS A NINE LETTER WORD)
Your dark eyes, the gold rings on your ears
That certain song and your magic reappears
It's been two years, five past twelve on May the third
See obsession is a nine letter word
It's freezin' cold 'neath the window where I hide
To see you leave with a stranger at your side
I want back the love that always seemed absurd
Yes obsession is a nine letter word
There's an unwritten law
That I chose to ignore
I remember too well
The grip of your spell
And there's nowhere to hide
Cast these riddles aside
Pull my love from this hole
The pin from the doll
Your perfume, the clothes around your room
They fill the script of the role I now assume
I sit alone and your ghost voice can be heard
Obsession is a nine letter word
ON THE FLIGHT YOU'RE TAKING
Hitting replay for more
You explore
A time forgotten
See them wipe down the bar
There you are
The band was leaving
Slipping from grace
Angel face
Leave believing
- Just a step out of turn
Lift the glass
Lift the glass you're shaking
You'll never get
On the flight
On the flight you're taking
Diamonds in wine
Drawing lines
But just supposing
Out past the wall
Final calls
The gates are closing
ONE DIAMOND
In a truck across the desert there's this man with inkwell eyes
His final destination is a town that's just been built
He took his guardian angel and left his best girl behind
It's not so bad to miss her, but he's troubled a bit by guilt
He'd say "All men are losers and I'm the livin' proof
All my steps and games were not refined”
Speedin' over the highway, lit up to the roof
“Your love's one diamond I have mined"
She's kept a place here for him since the end of '89
She'd go out and earn a livin', she'd cry wolf and rave
And out on the coast road he leaves all that shit behind
Takes a thousand miles tonight, it's an inch his woman gave
Then up from the radio comes ‘Riders In The Sky’
Makes her sweat will he get back here at all
His echoes through the dunes are gettin' nowhere fast
Maybe at the next cafe he'll call
He'd say "All men are losers and I'm the livin' proof
All my steps and games were not refined”
Speedin' over the highway, lit up to the roof
“Your love's one diamond I have mined"
She's like somethin' in the mirror that's dropped down out of sight
Sliced off the darkness at the edge of mass and time
And you know she can't remember the sweetest thing he said
And wonders how to see herself just half way down her wine
(c)2010stooke
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