Songwriter

Hello darkness, my old friend

I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grow
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

I am just a poor boy
Though my story’s seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of a railway station
Running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know
Lie-la-lie . . .

Asking only workman’s wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there
Lie-la-lie . . .

Now the years are rolling by me
The are rocking easily
I am older than I once was
And younger than I’ll be
But that’s not unusual
No, it isn’t strange
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are
More or less the same

Then I’m laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me
Leading me
Going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the remainders
Of every glove that laid him down
And cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains
Lie-la-lie . . .

When you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
I’m on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you’re down and out
When you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
I’ll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on, silvergirl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

No, I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh, little darling of mine

I can’t for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don’t work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

No, I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh, little darling of mine

I just can’t believe it’s so
Though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away

Oh, the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh, the mother and child reunion
Is only a moment away

What can I do?
What can I do?
Much of what you say is true
I know you see through me
But there’s no tenderness
Beneath your honesty

Right and wrong
Right and wrong
It never helped us get along
You say you care for me
But there’s no tenderness
Beneath your honesty

You and me were such good friends
What’s your hurry?
You and me could make amends
I’m not worried
I’m not worried

Honesty
Honesty
It’s such a waste of energy
No, you don’t have to lie to me
Just give me some tenderness
Beneath your honesty
You don’t have to lie to me
Just give me some tenderness

Peace like a river ran through the city
Long past the midnight curfew
We sat starry-eyed
Oh, we were satisfied

And I remember
Misinformation followed us like a plague
Nobody knew from time to time
If the plans where changed
Oh, if the plans were changed

You can beat us with wires
You can beat us with chains
You can run out your rules
But you know you can’t outrun the history train
I‘ve seen a glorious day

Four in the morning
I woke up from out of my dreams
Nowhere to go but back to sleep
But I’m reconciled
Oh, oh, oh, I’m gonna be up for a while
Oh, oh, oh, I’m gonna be up for a while
Oh, oh, oh, I’m gonna be up for a while

Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I’ve often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I’m all right, I’m all right
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
Oh, but it’s all right, it’s all right
For lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
We’re traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what’s gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

Oh, we come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
And sing an American tune
Oh, it’s all right, it’s all right
It’s all right, it’s all right
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all I’m trying to get some rest

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It’s a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s
A sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to a photograph
So mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together
For one night
I know they’d never match
My sweet imagination
Everything looks worse
In black and white

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s
A sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to a photograph
So mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away

You’ve got the cool water
When the fever runs high
You’ve got the look of lovelight
In your eyes
And I was in crazy motion
‘Til you calmed me down
It took a little time
But you calmed me down

When something goes wrong
I’m the first to admit it
I’m the first to admit it
But the last one to know
When something goes right
Oh, it’s likely to lose me
It’s apt to confuse me
It’s such an unusual sight
Oh, I can’t get used to something so right
Something I can’t so right

They got a wall in China
It’s a thousand miles long
To keep out the foreigners
They made it strong
And I got a wall around me
That you can’t even see
It took a little time
To get next to me

When something goes wrong
I’m the first to admit it
I’m the first to admit it
But the last one to know
When something goes right
Oh, it’s likely to lose me
It’s apt to confuse me
Because it’s such an unusual sight
Oh, I swear, I can’t get used to something so right
Something so right

Some people never say the words
“I love you”
It’s not their style
To be so bold
Some people never say those words
“I love you”
But like a child they’re longing to be told

When something goes wrong
I’m the first to admit it
I’m the first to admit it
But the last one to know
When something goes right
Oh, it’s likely to lose me

It’s apt to confuse me
Because it’s such an unusual sight
I swear, I can’t get used to something so right
Something so right
Something so right

First thing I remember
I was lying in my bed
Couldn’t’ve been no more
Than one or two
I remember there’s a radio
Comin’ from the room next door
And my mother laughed
The way some ladies do
When it’s late in the evening
And the music’s seeping through

The next thing I remember
I am walking down the street
I’m feeling all right
I’m with my boys
I’m with my troops, yeah
And down along the avenue
Some guys were shootin’ pool
And I heard the sound of a cappella groups, yeah
Singing late in the evening
And all the girls out on the stoops, yeah

Then I learned to play some lead guitar
I was underage in this funky bar
And I stepped outside to smoke myself a “J”
And when I came back to the room
Everybody just seemed to move
And I turned my amp up loud and began to play
And it was late in the evening
And I blew that room away

First thing I remember
When you came into my life
I said, “I’m gonna get that girl
No matter what I do”
Well, I guess I’d been in love before
And once or twiceI’d been on the floor
But I never loved no one
The way I loved you
And it was late in the evening
And all the music seeping through

She was beautiful as Southern skies the night he met her
She was married to someone
He was doggedly determined that he would get her
He was old, she was young

From time to time he’d tip his heart
But each time she withdrew
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true

Well, eventually the boy and the girl get married
Sure enough, they have a son
And though they were both occupied with the child she carried
Disagreements had begun

And in a while, they fell apart
It wasn’t hard to do
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true

Two disappointed believers
Two people playing the game
Negotiations and love songs
Are often mistaken for one and the same

Now the man and the woman, they remain in contact
Let us say it’s for the child
With disagreements about the meaning of a marriage contract
Conversations hard and wild

But from time to time, he makes her laugh
She cooks a meal of two
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true

What is the point of this story?
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into our hearts
And our brains

One and one-half wandering Jews
Free to wander wherever they choose
Are traveling together
In the Sangre de Christo
The Blood of Christ Mountains
Of New Mexico
On the last leg of a journey
They started a long time ago
The arc of a love affair
Rainbows in the high desert air
Mountain passes slipping into stone
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones

Thinking back to the season before
Looking back through the cracks in the door
Two people were married
The act was outrageous
The bride was contagious
She burned like a bride
These events may have had some effect
On the man with the girl by his side
The arc of a love affair
His hands rolling down her hair
Love like lightning, shaking till it moans
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones

And whoa whoa, whoa
She said, “Why?
Why don’t we drive through the night?
We’ll wake up down in
Mexico”
Oh, I
I don’t know nothin’ about, nothin’ no
Mexico
“And tell me why
Why won’t you love me
For who I am
Where I am?”

He said, “Cause that’s not the way the world is, baby
This is how I love you, baby
This is how I love you, baby

One and one-half wandering Jews
Returned to their natural coasts
To resume old acquaintances
And step out occasionally
And speculate who had been damaged the most
Easy time will determine if these consolations
Will be their reward
The arc of a love affair

Waiting to be restored
You take two bodies and you twirl them into one
Their hearts and their bones
And they won’t come undone
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones
Hearts and bones

René and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war
Returned to their hotel suite
And they unlocked the door

Easily losing their evening clothes
They dance by the light of the moon
To the Penquins
The Moonglows
The Orioles
And The Five Satins
The deep, forbidden music
They’d been longing for
René and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war

René and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war
Were strolling down Christopher Street
When they stopped in a men’s store
With all the mannequins
Dressed in style
That brought tears to their
Immigrant eyes

Just like The Penguins
The Moonglows
The Orioles
And The Five Satins
The easy stream of laughter
Flowing through the air
René and Georgette Magritte
With their dog après la guerre

Side by side
They fell asleep
Decades gliding by like Indians
Time is cheap
When they wake up they will find
All their personal belongings
Have intertwined

René and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war
Were dining with the power èlite
And they looked in their bedroom drawer
And what do you think
They have hidden away
In the cabinet cold of their hearts?

The Penguins
The Moonglows
The Orioles
and The Five Satins
For now and ever after
As it was before
René and Georgette Magritte
With their dog
After the war

I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years

I’m not the kind of man
Who tends to socialize
I seem to lean on old familiar ways
And I ain’t no fool for love songs
That whisper in my ears
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years

Four in the morning
Crapped out
Yawning
Longing my life away
I’ll never worry
Why should I?
It’s all gonna fade

Now I sit by my window
And I watch the cars
I fear I’ll do some damage
One fine day
But I would not be convicted
By a jury of my peers
Oh, still Crazy
Still Crazy
Still Crazy after all these years

(a-wa) O kod wa u zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(a-wa a-wa) Si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(a-wa a-wa) Amanto mbazane ayeza

She’s a rich girl
She don’t try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

He’s a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing, Ta na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Ta na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

People say she’s crazy
She’s got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well, that’s one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said, “You’ve taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds”

And I could say, Oo oo oo
As if everybody knows
What I’m talking about
As if everybody here would know
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on aftershave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes

And she said, “Honey take me dancing”
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes

And I could say Oo oo oo
And everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean, everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds

People say I’m crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well, that’s one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of your shoes

It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shopwindows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry baby don’t cry
Don’t cry

It was a dry wind
And it swept across the desert
And it curled into the circle of birth
And the dead sand
Falling on the children
The mothers and the fathers
And the automatic earth

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in the corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry baby don’t cry
Don’t cry

It’s a turnaround jump shot
It’s everybody jumpstart
It’s every generation throws a hero up the pop charts
Medicine is magical and magical is art
Thinking of the Boy in the Bubble
And the baby with the baboon heart

And I believe
These are the days of lasers in the jungle
Lasers in the jungle somewhere
Staccato signals of constant information
a loose affiliation of millionaires
And billionaires, and baby

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all, oh yeah
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry baby don’t cry
Don’t cry, don’t cry

The Mississippi Delta
Was shining like a National guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the Civil War

I’m going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis,Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I’ve reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland

She comes back to tell me she’s gone
As if I didn’t know that
As if I didn’t know my own bed
As if I’d never notice
The way she brushed her hair from
Her forehead and she said, “Losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow”

I’m going to Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I’m looking at ghosts and empties
But I’ve reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I’m falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Whoa, so this is what she means
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

In Graceland, in Graceland
I’m going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There’s some part of me wants to see Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there’s no obligations now
Maybe I’ve a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

Whoa, in Graceland, in Graceland
In Graceland,
I’m going to Graceland

Well, I’m accustomed to a smooth ride
Or maybe I’m a dog who’s lost its bite
I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don’t expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie’s a lie’s a lie
But I say why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

And in remembering a road sign
I am remembering a girl when I was young
And we said, “These songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free”
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark
The cross is in the ballpark

We had a lot of fun
We had a lot of money
We had a little son and we thought we’d call him Sonny
Sonny gets married and moves away
Sonny has a baby and bills to pay
Sonny gets sunnier
Day by day by day by day

Well, I’ve been waking up at sunrise
I’ve been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

Sonny sits by the window and thinks to himself
How it’s strange that some roots are like cages
Sonny’s yearbook from high school
Is down on the shelf
And he idle thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair

Well, I’m accustomed to a smoother ride
Or maybe I’m a dog who’s lost its bite
I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don’t expect to sleep the night
Some people say a lie is just a lie
But I say
The cross is in the ballpark
Why deny the obvious child?

There may come a time
When you’ll be tired
As tired as a dream that wants to die
Further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly

Maybe you will find a love
That you discover accidentally
Who falls against you gently as
A pickpocket brushes your thigh
Further to fly

Effortless music from the Cameroons
The spinning darkness of her hair
A conversation in a crowded room going nowhere
The open palm of desire
Wants everything
It wants everything
It wants everything

Sometimes I’ll be walking down
The street and I’ll be thinking
Am I crazy
Or is this some morbid little lie?
Further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly

A recent loss of memory
A shadow in the family
The baby waves bye-bye
I’m trying
I’m flying

There may come a time
When I will lose you
Lose you as I lose my sight
Days falling backward into velvet night
The open palm of desire
Wants everything
It wants everything
It wants soil as soft as summer
And the strength to push like spring

A broken laugh, a broken fever
Take it up with the great deceiver
Who looks you in the eye
Says, Baby, don’t cry
Further to fly

There may come a time
When I will lose you
Lose you as I lose my sight
Days falling backward into velvet night
The open palm of desire
The Rose of Jericho
Soil as soft as summer
The strength to let you go

Moves like a fist through traffic
Anger and no one can heal it
Shoves a little bump into the momentum
It’s just a little lump
But you feel it
In the creases and the shadows
With a rattling, deep emotion
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean

Yes, Boss–the government handshake
Yes, Boss–the crusher of language
Yes, Boss–Mr. Stillwater
The face at the edge of the banquet
The cool, the cool river
The cool, the cool river

I believe in the future
I may live in my car
My radio tuned to
The voice of a star
Song dogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edge of a thunderstorm
And these old hopes and fears
Still at my side

Anger and no one can heal it
Slides through the metal detector
Lives like a mole in a motel
A slide in a slide projector
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean
The rage, the rage of love turns inward
To become prayers of devotion
And these prayers are
The constant road across the wilderness
These prayers are
These prayers are the memory of God
The memory of God

And I believe in the future
We shall suffer no more
Maybe not in my lifetime
But in yours, I feel sure
Song dogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm
And these streets
Quiet as a sleeping army
Send their battered dreams to heaven, to heaven
For the mother’s restless son
Who is a witness to, who is a warrior
Who denies his urge to break and run
Who says, “Hard times?
I’m used to them
The speeding planet burns
I’m used to that
My life’s so common it disappears”
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

We sailed up a river wide as a sea
And slept on the banks
On the leaves of a banyan tree
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

Some stories are magical, meant to be sung
Songs from the mouth of the river
When the world was young
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

By moon
We walk
To the brujo’s door
Along a path of river stones
Women with their nursing children
Seated on the floor
We join the fevers
And the broken bones

The candlelight flickers
The falcon calls
A lime-green lizard scuttles down the cabin wall
And all of these spirit voices
Sing rainwater, seawater
River water, holy water
Wrap this child in mercy – heal her
Heaven’s only daughter
All of these spirit voices rule the night

My hands were numb
And my feet were lead
I drank a cup of herbal brew
Then the sweetness in the air
Combined with the lightness in my head
And I heard the jungle breathing in the bamboo

Saudocões (Greetings!)
Da licenca um momento (Excuse me, one moment)
Te lembró (I remind you)
Que amanhã (That tomorrow)
Será tudo ou será naoa (It will be all or it will be nothing)
Depende coração (It depends, heart)
Será breve ou será grande (It will be brief or it will be great)
Depende da paixão (It depends on the passion)
Será sujo, será sonho (It will be dirty, it will be a dream)
Cuidado, coração (Be careful, heart)
Será util, será tarde (It will be useful, it will be late)
Se esmera, coração (Do your best, heart)
E confia (And have trust)
Na força do amanhã (In the power of tomorrow)

Lord of the earthquake
My trembling bed
The spider resumes the rhythm

Of his golden tread

And all of these spirit voices rule the night
And all of these spirit voices rule the night
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

SALVADOR

I was born in Puerto Rico
Came here when I was a child
Before I reached the age of sixteen
I was running with a gang and we were wild

I see myself those summer evenings
Hanging out with boys from Lexington and Park
Red beans and rice from kitchen windows
It’s suppertime and the Barrio is dark
No one knows you like I do
Nobody can know your heart the way I do
No one can testify to all that you’ve been through
But I will

SAL AND THE VAMPIRES

I was born in Puerto Rico
And my blood is taino
Spanish Caribbean in my soul

SALVADOR

We came here wearing summer clothes in winter
Hearts of sunshine in the cold
Your family rented this apartment
You’d watch the streetlamps from your perch
In the sacramental hour your stepfather in black
Preached the fire of the Pentecostal Church
No one knows you like I do
Nobody can know your heart the way I do
No one can testify to all that you’ve been through
But this will

SAL AND THE VAMPIRES

I was born in Puerto Rico
Came here when I was a child

SALVADOR

Small change and sunlight, then I left these streets for good
My days as short as they were wild

CARLOS APACHE

I’m Carlos Apache

ANGEL SOTO

Angel Soto

FRENCHY CORDERO

Frenchy Cordero

BABU CHARLIE CRUZ

Babu Charlie Cruz

TONY HERNANDEZ

Tony Hernandez

SAL AND SALVADOR

Salvador Agrón

SALVADOR

Your faces blurred in every grainy photo
And fading headline of the Daily News

One year Wiltwych School for Criminal Children
Three years Auburn, One year Brooklyn House of D.
Eight years Dannemora, one year Sing-Sing, one year Attica
Five years Greenhaven
Twenty years inside, today we’re free
You cannot even read your story
The pages piling up in shame
Before the words released you, the guard would kill the light
The night you took the Capeman for your name

CHORUS AND SALVADOR

I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
THE VAMPIRES

I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Ruerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Ruerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Ruerto Rico

SAL

The way you move
It’s got quality

Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Little girl, you sure look good to me
The way you move
It’s got quality

Come on, baby, now don’t be shy
Step in the light so I can see
The way you move
It’s got quality

BERNADETTE AND YOLANDA

I want to know
Are you my beautiful young boy?
Or just another love
Passing through my life?
I need to know
Will you be my sorrow and my joy?
And maybe one day soon
Will I be your wife?

SAL

Come on, baby, let’s rock some more
I want to spend my salary
The way you move
It’s got quality

Zoom zoom zoom zoom
Every time they see me
Walk down the street, they say
“Coño, that boy is fine
The way he moves
It’s got quality”

BERNADETTE AND YOLANDA

I want to know
Are you my beautiful young boy?
Or just another love
Passing through my life?
I need to know
Will you be my sorrow and my joy?
And maybe one day soon
Will I be your wife?

SALVADOR

Who can stop the setting sun
Or who can raise the dead?
I feel the shame of what was done
See how the stain has spread

SAL

Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Little girl, you sure look good to me
The way you move
It’s got quality
The way you move
It’s got quality

The first time I saw her
I couldn’t be sure
But the sin of impatience
Said, “She’s just what you’re looking for”
So I walked right up to her
And with the part of me that talks
I introduced myself as Frank
From New York, New York
She’s so hot
She’s so cool
I’m not
I’m just a fool in love with darling Lorraine

All my life I’ve been a wanderer
Not really, I mostly lived near my parents’ home
Anyway, Lorraine and I got married
And the usual marriage stuff
Then one day she says to me
From out of the blue
She says, “Frank, I’ve had enough
Romance is a heartbreaker
I’m not meant to be a homemaker
And I’m tired of being darling Lorraine”

What–you don’t love me anymore?
What–you’re walking out the door?
What–you don’t like the way I chew?
Hey, let me tell you
You’re not the woman that I wed
You say you’re depressed but you’re not
You just like to stay in bed
I don’t need you, darling Lorraine
Darling Lorraine
Lorraine
I long for your love

Financially speaking
I guess I’m a washout
Everybody’s buy and sell
And sell and buy
And that’s what the whole thing’s all about

If it had not been for Lorraine
I’d have left here long ago
I should have been a musician
I love the piano
She’s so light
She’s so free
I’m tight, well, that’s me
But I feel so good
With darling Lorraine

On Christmas morning Frank awakes
To find Lorraine has made a stack of pancakes
They watch the television, husband and wife
All afternoon, It’s a Wonderful Life

What–you don’t love me anymore?
What–you’re walking out the door?
What–you don’t like the way I chew?
Hey, let me tell you
You’re not the woman that I wed
Gimme my robe, I’m going back to bed
I’m sick to death of you, Lorraine

Darling Lorraine
Lorraine
Her hands like wood
The doctor was smiling
But the news wasn’t good

Darling Lorraine
Please don’t leave me yet
I know you’re in pain
Pain you can’t forget
Your breathing is like an echo of our love
Maybe I’ll go down to the corner store
And buy us something sweet
Here’s an extra blanket honey
To wrap around your feet
All the trees were washed with April rain
And the moon in the meadow
Took darling Lorraine

Look at that
Look at this
Drop a stone in the abyss
Then walk away and know that anything can happen
Just like that
Just like this

Look at that
Look at this
Gimme a hug, gimme a kiss
Hey, hey, off to school we go
You might learn something
Yeah, you never know
I love you so

Look at that
Look at this
Lovers merge and make a wish
They close their eyes and now their dreams are legal
And on the horizon, the eagle flies
Through clouds of fire
Swoop and glide
You can’t believe it
You can’t decide

Ask somebody to love you
Takes a lot of nerve
Ask somebody to love you
You got a lot of nerve
Ask somebody to love you
Takes a lot of nerve
Ask somebody to love you
Ma ma ma ma
Ma ma ma ma
Da da da da
Da da da da
La la la la
La la la la
Oom bop a doom

Look at that
Look at this
This is near enough to bliss
Then over the top we go and down
Down to the bottom
If you’re looking for worries
You got ‘em

Ask somebody to love you
You got a lot of nerve
Ask somebody to love you
Takes a lot of nerve
Tih tih tih tih
Tih tih tih tih

Guh guh guh guh
Guh guh guh guh
Lih lih lih lih
Lih lih lih lih
Oom bop a doom

Come awake, come alive
Common sense, we survive
Then hey, hey, down the road we go
You might learn something
Yeah, you never know
But anyway, you’ve got to go

I have a wisdom tooth
Inside my crowded face
I have a friend who is a born-again
Found his Savior’s grace
I was born before my father
And my children before me
And we are born and born again
Like the waves of the sea
That’s the way it’s always been
And that’s how I want it to be
That’s the way it’s always been
And that’s how I want it to be

Nothing but good news
There is a frog in South America
Whose venom is a cure
For all the suffering
That mankind must endure
More powerful than morphine
And soothing as the rain
A frog in South America
Has the antidote for pain
That’s the way it’s always been
And that’s the way I like it

Some people never say no
Some people never complain
Some folks have no idea
And others will never explain
That’s the way it’s always been
That’s the way I like it
And that’s how I want it to be
That’s the way it’s always been
That’s the way I like it
And that’s how I want it to be

If I could play all the memories
In the neck of my guitar
I’d write a song called
“Senorita with a Necklace of Tears”
And every tear a sin I’d committed
Oh these many years
That’s who I was
That’s the way it’s always been

Some people always want more
Some people are what they lack
Some folks open a door
Walk away and never look back
And I don’t want to be a judge
And I don’t want to be a jury
I know who I am
Lord knows who I will be
That’s the way it’s always been
That’s the way I like it
And that’s how I want it to be
That’s the way it’s always been
And that’s the way I like it
And that’s how I want it to be

Well, I’ll just skip the boring parts
Chapters one, two, three
And get to the place
Where you can read my face and my biography
Here I am, I’m eleven months old
Dangling from my daddy’s knee
There I go, it’s my graduation
I am picking up a bogus degree
That’s me
Early me
That’s me

Well, I never cared much for money
And money never cared for me
I was more like a landlocked sailor
Searching for the emerald sea
Just searching for the emerald sea, boys
Searching for the sea

Oh, my God
First love opens like a flower
A black bear running through the forest light
Holds me in her sight and her power
But tricky skies, your eyes are true
The future is beauty and sorrow
Still, I wish that we could runaway and live the life we used to
If just for tonight and tomorrow

I am walking up the face of the mountain
Counting every step I climb
Remembering the names of the constellations
Forgotten is a long, long time
That’s me
I’m in the valley of twilight
Now I’m on the continental shelf
That’s me—
I’m answering a question
I am asking of myself

That’s me
That’s me

On the morning of her wedding day
When no one was awake
She drove across the border
Leaving all the yellow roses on her wedding cake
Her mother’s tears, her breakfast order
She’s gone, gone, gone

There is a moment, a chip in time
When leaving home is the lesser crime
When your eyes are blind with tears, but your heart can see
Another life, another galaxy

That night, her dreams are storm-tossed as a willow
She hears the clouds
She sees the eye of the hurricane
As it sweeps her island pillow
But she’s gone, gone, gone

There is a moment, a chip in time
When leaving home is the lesser crime
When your eyes are blind with tears, but your heart can see
Another life, another galaxy

If you leap awake in the mirror of a bad dream
And for a fraction of a second, you can’t remember where you are
Just open your window and follow your memory upstream
To the meadow in the mountain where we counted every falling star

I believe the light that shines on you will shine on you forever
And though I can’t guarantee there’s nothing scary hiding under your bed
I’m gonna stand guard like a postcard of a golden retriever
And never leave ‘til I leave you with a sweet dream in your head

I’m gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you’ll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

Trust your intuition
It’s just like goin’ fishin’
You cast your line and hope you get a bite
But you don’t need to waste your time
Worryin’ about the marketplace
Try to help the human race
Struggling to survive its harshest night

I’m gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you’ll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

I’m gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you’ll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Loved his daughter more than I love you

I’ve been working on my rewrite, that’s right
I’m gonna change the ending
Gonna throw away my title
And toss it in the trash
Every minute after midnight
All the time I’m spending
It’s just for working on my rewrite
Gonna turn it into cash

I’ve been working at the carwash
I consider it my day job
Cause it’s really not a pay job
But that’s where I am
Everybody says the old guy working at the carwash
Hasn’t got a brain cell left since Vietnam

But I say help me, help me, help me, help me
Thank you!
I’d no idea
That you were there
When I said help me, help me, help me, help me
Thank you, for listening to my prayer

I’m working on my rewrite, that’s right
I’m gonna change the ending
Gonna throw away my title
And toss it in the trash
Every minute after midnight
All the time I’m spending
Is just for working on my rewrite, that’s right
I’m gonna turn it into cash

I’ll eliminate the pages
Where the father has a breakdown
And he has to leave the family
But he really meant no harm
Gonna substitute a car chase
And a race across the rooftops
When the father saves the children
And he holds them in his arms

And I say help me, help me, help me, help me
Thank you!
I’d no idea
That you were there
When I said, help me, help me, help me, help me
Thank you, for listening to my prayer

God and His only Son
Paid a courtesy call on Earth
One Sunday morning
Orange blossoms opened their fragrant lips
Songbirds sang from the tips of Cottonwoods
Old folks wept for His love in these hard times

“Well, we got to get going,” said the restless Lord to the Son
“There are galaxies yet to be born
Creation is never done
Anyway, these people are slobs here
If we stay it’s bound to be a mob scene
But, disappear, and it’s love and hard times”

I loved her the first time I saw her
I know that’s an old songwriting cliché
Loved you the first time I saw you
Can’t describe it any other way
Any other way
The light of her beauty was warm as a summer day
Clouds of antelope rolled by
No hint of rain to come
In the prairie sky
Just love, love, love, love, love

When the rains came, the tears burned, windows rattled, locks turned
It’s easy to be generous when you’re on a roll
It’s hard to be grateful when you’re out of control
And love is gone

The light at the edge of the curtain
Is the quiet dawn
The bedroom breathes
In clicks and clacks
Uneasy heartbeat, can’t relax
But then your hand takes mine
Thank God, I found you in time
Thank God, I found you
Thank God, I found you

I’m going to make a chicken gumbo
Toss some sausage in the pot
I’m going to flavor it with okra
Cayenne pepper to make it hot
You know life is what we make of it
So beautiful or so what

I’m going to tell my kids a bedtime story
A play without a plot
Will it have a happy ending?
Maybe yeah, maybe not
I tell them life is what you make of it
So beautiful or so what

So beautiful
So beautiful
So what

I’m just a raindrop in a bucket
A coin dropped in a slot
I am an empty house on Weed Street
Across the road from the vacant lot
You know life is what you make of it
So beautiful or so what

Ain’t it strange the way we’re ignorant
How we seek out bad advice
How we jigger it and figure it
Mistaking value for the price
And play a game with time and love
Like pair of rolling dice
So beautiful
So beautiful
So what

Four men on the balcony
Overlooking the parking lot
Pointing at a figure in the distance
Dr. King has just been shot
And the sirens long melody
Singing Savior Pass Me Not

Ain’t it strange the way we’re ignorant
How we seek out bad advice
How we jigger it and figure it
Mistaking value for the price
And play a game with time and love
Like a pair of rolling dice
So beautiful
So beautiful
So beautiful