Can’t Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour

Field Commander Cohen, he was our most important spy.
Wounded in the line of duty,
parachuting acid into diplomatic cocktail parties,
urging Fidel Castro to abandon fields and castles.
Leave it all and like a man,
come back to nothing special,
such as waiting rooms and ticket lines,
silver bullet suicides,
and messianic ocean tides,
and racial roller-coaster rides
and other forms of boredom advertised as poetry.
I know you need your sleep now,
I know your life’s been hard.
But many men are falling,
where you promised to stand guard.

I never asked but I heard you cast your lot along with the poor.
But then I overheard your prayer,
that you be this and nothing more
than just some grateful faithful woman’s favourite singing millionaire,
the patron Saint of envy and the grocer of despair,
working for the Yankee Dollar.

I know you need your sleep now …​

Ah, lover come and lie with me, if my lover is who you are,
and be your sweetest self awhile until I ask for more, my child.
Then let the other selves be wrong, yeah, let them manifest and come
till every taste is on the tongue,
till love is pierced and love is hung,
and every kind of freedom done, then oh,
oh my love, oh my love, oh my love,
oh my love, oh my love, oh my love.

I stumbled out of bed
I got ready for the struggle
I smoked a cigarette
And I tightened up my gut
I said this can’t be me
Must be my double
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget
I can’t forget but I don’t remember what
I’m burning up the road
I’m heading down to Phoenix
I got this old address
Of someone that I knew
It was high and fine and free
Ah, you should have seen us
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget
I can’t forget but I don’t remember who

I’ll be there today
With a big bouquet of cactus
I got this rig that runs on memories
And I promise, cross my heart,
They’ll never catch us
But if they do, just tell them it was me

Yeah I loved you all my life
And that’s how I want to end it
The summer’s almost gone
The winter’s tuning up
Yeah, the summer’s gone
But a lot goes on forever
And I can’t forget, I can’t forget
I can’t forget but I don’t remember what

She stands before you naked
you can see it, you can taste it,
and she comes to you light as the breeze.
Now you can drink it or you can nurse it,
it don’t matter how you worship
as long as you’re
down on your knees.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
at the cradle of the river and the seas.
And like a blessing come from heaven
for something like a second
I was healed and my heart
was at ease.

O baby I waited
so long for your kiss
for something to happen,
oh something like this.

And you’re weak and you’re harmless
and you’re sleeping in your harness
and the wind going wild
in the trees,
and it ain’t exactly prison
but you’ll never be forgiven
for whatever you’ve done
with the keys.

O baby I waited …​

It’s dark now and it’s snowing
O my love I must be going,
The river has started to freeze.
And I’m sick of pretending
I’m broken from bending
I’ve lived too long on my knees.

Then she dances so graceful
and your heart’s hard and hateful
and she’s naked
but that’s just a tease.
And you turn in disgust
from your hatred and from your love
and comes to you
light as the breeze.

O baby I waited …​

There’s blood on every bracelet
you can see it, you can taste it,
and it’s Please baby
please baby please.
And she says, Drink deeply, pilgrim
but don’t forget there’s still a woman
beneath this
resplendent chemise.

So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
I knelt there like one who believes.
And the blessings come from heaven
and for something like a second
I’m cured and my heart
is at ease

Si tu savais comme on s’ennuie
À la Manic
Tu m’écrirais bien plus souvent
À la Manicouagan
Parfois je pense à toi si fort
Je recrée ton âme et ton corps
Je te regarde et m’émerveille
Je me prolonge en toi
Comme le fleuve dans la mer
Et la fleur dans l’abeille

Que deviennent quand j’suis pas là
Mon bel amour
Ton front doux comme fine soie
Et tes yeux de velours?
Te tournes-tu vers la côte nord
Pour voir un peu, pour voir encore
Ma main qui te fait signe d’attendre?
Soir et matin je tends les bras
Je te rejoins où que tu sois
Et je te garde

Dis-moi c' qui s' passe à Trois-Rivières
Et à Québec
Là où la vie a tant à faire
Et tout c' qu’on fait avec
Dis-moi c' qui s' passe à Montréal
Dans les rues sales et transversales
Où tu es toujours la plus belle
Car la laideur ne t’atteint pas
Toi que j’aimerai jusqu’au trépas
Mon éternelle

Nous autres on fait les fanfarons
À coeur de jour
Mais on est tous de bons larrons
Cloués à leurs amours
Y en a qui jouent de la guitare
D’autres qui jouent d' l’accordéon
Pour passer l' temps quand y est trop long
Mais moi, je joue de mes amours
Et je danse en disant ton nom
Tellement je t’aime

Si tu savais comme on s’ennuie
À la Manic
Tu m’écrirais bien plus souvent
À la Manicouagan
Si t’as pas grand’chose à me dire
Écris cent fois les mots «Je t’aime»:
Ça fera le plus beau des poèmes
Je le lirai cent fois…​
Cent fois cent fois c’est pas beaucoup
Pour ceux qui s’aiment

Si tu savais comme on s’ennuie
À la Manic
Tu m’écrirais bien plus souvent
À la Manicouagan

I went down to the place
Where I knew she lay waiting
Under the marble and the snow
I said, Mother I’m frightened
The thunder and the lightning
I’ll never come through this alone
She said, I’ll be with you
My shawl wrapped around you
My hand on your head when you go
And the night came on
It was very calm
I wanted the night to go on and on
But she said, Go back, Go back to the World

We were fighting in Egypt
When they signed this agreement
That nobody else had to die
There was this terrible sound
My father went down
With a terrible wound in his side
He said, Try to go on
Take my books, take my gun
Remember, my son, how they lied
And the night comes on
It’s very calm
I’d like to pretend that my father was wrong
But you don’t want to lie, not to the young

We were locked in this kitchen
I took to religion
And I wondered how long she would stay
I needed so much
To have nothing to touch
I’ve always been greedy that way
But my son and my daughter
Climbed out of the water
Crying, Papa, you promised to play
And they lead me away
To the great surprise
It’s Papa, don’t peek, Papa, cover your eyes
And they hide, they hide in the World

Now I look for her always
I’m lost in this calling
I’m tied to the threads of some prayer
Saying, When will she summon me
When will she come to me
What must I do to prepare
When she bends to my longing
Like a willow, like a fountain
She stands in the luminous air
And the night comes on
And it’s very calm
I lie in her arms she says, When I’m gone
I’ll be yours, yours for a song

Now the crickets are singing
The vesper bells ringing
The cat’s curled asleep in his chair
I’ll go down to Bill’s Bar
I can make it that far
And I’ll see if my friends are still there
Yes, and here’s to the few
Who forgive what you do
And the fewer who don’t even care
And the night comes on
It’s very calm
I want to cross over, I want to go home
But she says, Go back, go back to the World

Couldn’t pay the mortgage
And it broke my baby’s heart
I couldn’t pay the mortgage
It broke my baby’s heart
I never gave nobody trouble
But it ain’t too late to start

Don’t wanna break no window
Don’t wanna burn no car
Don’t wanna break no window
And I don’t wanna burn your car
You got the right to all your riches
But you let it go too far

You sail the mighty ocean
On a yacht designed for you
You sail the mighty ocean
On a yacht designed for you
Yeah, but the ocean’s thick with garbage
You ain’t gonna make it through

[Solo]

I never gave nobody trouble
I’m a law and order man
I never gave nobody trouble
I’m a law and order man
I said, I never gave nobody trouble
But you know god damn well that I can

Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc
as she came riding through the dark;
no moon to keep her armour bright,
no man to get her through this very smoky night.
She said, "I’m tired of the war,
I want the kind of work I had before,
a wedding dress or something white
to wear upon my swollen appetite."
Well, I’m glad to hear you talk this way,
you know I’ve watched you riding every day
and something in me yearns to win
such a cold and lonesome heroine.
"And who are you?" she sternly spoke
to the one beneath the smoke.
"Why, I’m fire," he replied,
"And I love your solitude, I love your pride."

"Then fire, make your body cold,
I’m going to give you mine to hold,"
saying this she climbed inside
to be his one, to be his only bride.
And deep into his fiery heart
he took the dust of Joan of Arc,
and high above the wedding guests
he hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

It was deep into his fiery heart
he took the dust of Joan of Arc,
and then she clearly understood
if he was fire, oh then she must be wood.
I saw her wince, I saw her cry,
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself I long for love and light,
but must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

I’ve got a little secret
If you promise not to tell
I’ve got a little secret
If you promise not to tell
I made a date in Heaven,
Oh Lord but I’ve been keepin' it in Hell

I’d like to love you baby
It just don’t feel right
I’d like to love you baby
It just don’t feel right
I’ve got this full length mirror
And it ain’t a pretty sight

I’d like to hold you baby
But my arms are old and weak
I’d like to hold you baby
But my arms are old and weak
I was listenin' to your story
But I guess I fell asleep

I’ve got a little secret
If you promise not to tell
I say I’ve got a little secret
If you promise not to tell
I made a date in Heaven
But I’ve been keepin' it in Hell

It’s kinda chilly in your kitchen
It must be ten below
It’s kinda chilly in your kitchen
Must be ten below
I bought a ticket to Jamaica
I guess I lost it in the snow

I’ve got a little secret
If you promise not to tell
I say I’ve got a little secret
If you promise not to tell
I made a date in Heaven, Oh Lord
But I’ve been keepin' it in Hell
I made a date in Heaven, Oh Lord
But I’ve been keepin' it in Hell

I’ve had choices
Since the day that I was born
There were voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
I wouldn’t be here today
Livin' and dyin'
With the choices I’ve made

I was tempted
At an early age I found
That I liked drinkin'
No, I never turned it down
There were loved ones
But I chased them all away
Now I’m livin' and dyin'
With the choices I’ve made

I’ve had choices
Since the day that I was born
(There were) I heard voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
No, I wouldn’t be here today
Livin' and dyin'
With the choices I’ve made

I’m still payin'
For the things that I have done
If I could turn back
Oh, Lord I would run
But I’m still losin'
At this game of life I play
Now I’m livin' and dyin'
With the choices I’ve made

I had choices
Since the day that I was born
There were voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
I wouldn’t be here today
Livin' and dyin'
With the choices I made

Livin' and dyin'
With the choices that I’ve made

Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And Im crazy for love but Im not coming on
Im just paying my rent every day
Oh in the tower of song

Im just paying my rent every day
Oh in the tower of song

I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank williams hasnt answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the tower of song