Stranger to Stranger

Milwaukee man led a fairly decent life
Made a fairly decent living
Had a fairly decent wife
She killed him—sushi knife
Now they’re shopping
For a fairly decent afterlife

The werewolf is coming

The fact is most obits are mixed reviews
Life is a lottery
A lot of people lose
And the winners, the grinners
With money-colored eyes
Eat all the nuggets
Then they order extra fries

The werewolf is coming
The werewolf is coming, you know
The werewolf’s coming
The werewolf’s coming
Yes, the werewolf is coming, Joe
I hear her howling
Prowling on the hill
The werewolf’s coming, Bill

Ignorance and arrogance
The national debate
Put the fight in Vegas
That’s a billion-dollar gate
Revenue: Pay-per-view
Should be pretty healthy
The usual deductions
Then it all goes to the wealthy

Still the werewolf’s coming
Yeah, the werewolf’s coming

I’m not complaining
Just the opposite, my friend
I know it’s raining
But we’re coming to the end of the rainbow
The lying and the spying are through
Oh! You don’t know me?
O.K. I don’t know you, too

The werewolf’s coming
Werewolf’s coming, oh
The werewolf’s coming
And a werewolf’s coming
The werewolf is coming, Joe
I hear her howling
Prowling on the hill
The werewolf’s coming, Bill

You’d better stock up on water
Canned-goods off the shelves
And loot some for the old folks
Can’t loot for themselves
The doorbell’s ringing
Could be the elves
But it’s probably the werewolf
It’s quarter to twelve

And when it’s midnight
And the wolf bites
It’s a full moon
She really got the appetite

The werewolf’s coming
The werewolf
The werewolf

I stepped outside the backstage door
To breathe some nicotine
And maybe check my mailbox
See if I can read the screen
Then I heard a click
The stage door lock
I knew just what that meant
I’m gonna have to walk around the block
If I want to get in a…

Wristband, my man
You got to have a wristband
If you don’t have a wristband, my man
You don’t get through the door

Wristband, my man
You got to have a wristband
And if you don’t have a wristband
You don’t get through the door

I can’t explain it
I don’t know why my heart beats like a fist
When I meet some dude with an attitude
Saying, Hey, you can’t do that…or this
And the man was large
A well-dressed 6-foot-8
And he’s acting like St. Peter
Standing guard at the Pearly

Wristband, my man
You’ve got to have a wristband
If you don’t have a wristband
You don’t get through the door

And I said, Wristband?
I don’t need a wristband
My axe is on the bandstand
My band is on the floor

The riots started slowly
With the homeless and the lowly
Then they spread into the heartland
Towns that never get a wristband
Kids that can’t afford the cool brand
Whose anger is a shorthand
For you’ll never get a wristband
And if you don’t have a wristband
Then you can’t get through the door
No, you can’t get through the door
No, you can’t get through the door

My heart goes out to the street angels
Working their way back home
My heart goes out to the street angels

I save my change for a street angel
Working his way back home
I’d this exchange with the street angel
Nobody talks to me much
I said, Nobody talks to me much
Nobody

So he says,
I make my verse for the universe
I write my rhymes for the universities
And I give it away for the hoot of it
I tell my tale for the toot of it
I wear my suit for the suit of it
The tree is bare, but the root of it
Goes deeper than logical reasoning

It’s God goes fishing
And we are the fishes
He baits his lines
With prayers and wishes
They sparkle in the shallows
They catch the falling light
We hide our hearts like holy hostages
We’re hungry for the love, and so we bite

Workin’ his way back home
He’s workin’ his way back home
They took him away in the ambulance
Made a way with the ambulance
He waved goodbye from the ambulance

My heart goes out to the street angel

Stranger to stranger
If we met for the first time
This time
Could you imagine us
Falling in love again
Words and melody
So the old story goes
Fall from summer trees
When the wind blows

I can’t wait to see you walk across my doorway
I cannot be held accountable for the things I do or say

I’m just jittery
I’m just jittery
It’s just a way of dealing with my joy
It’s just a way of dealing with my joy
It’s just a way of dealing with my joy
It’s just a way of dealing

Words and melodies
Easy harmony
Old-time remedies

All in good time
Although most of the time
It’s just hard working
The same piece of clay
Day after day
Year after year
Certain melodies tear your heart apart
Reconstruction is a lonesome art

But I love to watch you walk across my doorway
I cannot be held accountable for the things I do or say

I’m just jittery
I’m just jittery
It’s just a way of dealing with my joy
It’s just a way of dealing with my joy
Just a way of dealing with my joy

Words and melody
Stranger to stranger
If we met for the first time
This time
Could you imagine us
Falling in love again

Still believing
That love endures
All the carnage
And the useless detours

Oh I love you, I love you, I love you
I love you, I love you, I love you,
I love you, love you, love you …

Words and melody
Easy harmony
Words and melody

Some nights the ER is quiet as an EKG
But tonight it feels like every broken bone
Tonight it feels like every wounded soul
Is filling out a form or on the phone

I can’t talk now, I’m in a parade
I can’t talk now, I’m in a parade
Can’t talk to you now, I’m in a parade
I can’t talk now, I’m in a parade

Diagnosis: Schizophrenic
Prognosis: Guarded
Medication: Seroquel
Occupation: Street Angel

I drank some orange soda
Then I drank some grape
I wear a hoodie now to cover my mistake
My head’s a lollipop
My head is a lollipop
My head’s a lollipop and everyone wants to lick it
I wear a hoodie now so I won’t get a ticket
I write my verse for the universe
That’s who I am

I can’t talk now, I’m in a parade
I can’t talk now, I’m in a parade
I can’t talk now, I’m in a parade
Can’t talk to you now, I’m in a parade

Diagnosis: Schizophrenic
Prognosis: Guarded
Medication: Seroquel
Occupation: Street Angel

Begin again
No easy trick
Without a guide or walking stick
Begin before the bells of twilight peal

Downhill town
The road ahead
Spiral, as a serpent’s bed
A teaspoon of desire for my meal

I trade my tears
To ask the Lord
For proof of love
If only for the consolation
Of gazing at the stars above

Amen, amen, amen

The road is steep
The air is thin
I hear a voice inside my skin
Don’t be afraid
Your days won’t end with night
Feel the sun
Drink the rain
Let your body heal its pain
Bathe beneath a waterfall of light

I trade my tears
To ask the Lord
For proof of love
If only for the explanation
That tells me what my dreams are made of

Amen, amen
The valley below
An ocean of debris

I ask the Lord
For proof of love
Love is all I seek
Love is all I seek
And when at times my words desert me
Music is the tongue I speak

I rest my head beside a white oak tree
No deadly nightshade, Belladonna
Dare lay a leaf on me

Silent night
Still as prayer
Darkness fills with light
Love on Earth is everywhere

Frightened by the tone of a phone
In the dead of night
Then staring into darkness
And praying till the morning light
The price already paid
A son gone to the grave
Now the sorrowful parade
To the riverbank

Must be half the county come down
To the riverbank
High school is closed
Same for the local police
Shall we tearfully embrace
Shall we sing “Amazing Grace”
Will the shallow river waters bring us peace

Army dude
Only son
Nowhere to run
No one to turn to
He turns to the gun
It’s a cross
It’s a stone
It’s a fragment of bone
It’s a long walk home

A long walk home
Gonna be a long walk home
From the riverbank

Is there any reason why the black pine
Should not weep
Is there a woman or a man who wouldn’t understand
Why he could not sleep
And the nightmares when they came
Like poison to the brain
Reminded him again
Life is cheap

Army dude
Only son
Nowhere to run
No one to turn to
He turns to the gun
It’s a cross
It’s a stone
It’s a fragment of bone
It’s a long walk home

A long walk home
Gonna be a long walk home
From the riverbank

Army dude’s mama
At the edge of the river
Limp as a rag
American flag in her arms
Then a triangle of light
Kissed the red and blue and white
Along the riverbank
Past the dealerships and farms

It turns out to be
A great thing for me
I don’t worry
And I don’t think
Because it’s not my job to worry or to think
Not me
I’m more like
Every day I’m here, I’m grateful
And that’s the gist of it
Now you may call that a bogus
Bullshit, New Age point of view

But check out my tattoo
Says Wall-to-Wall Fun
Does everyone know everyone?
Mr. Wall-to-Wall Fun
Meet Dr. Well, Well, Well
And Cool Papa Bell
The fastest man on Earth did dwell
As Cool Papa Bell

Motherfucker, ugly word
Ubiquitous and often heard
As a substitute for someone’s Christian name
And I think, yeah
The word is ugly, all the same
Ugly got a case to make
It’s not like every rodent gets a birthday cake
No, it’s, You’re a chipmunk, how cute is that?
But you, you motherfucker, are a filthy rat
And well, well, well
Is it true, Papa Bell
That the beauties go to heaven
And the ugly go to hell
Cool Papa Bell

Have you all heard the news:
Heaven Finally Found
Ok, it’s six trillion light years away
But we’re all gonna get there someday
Yes, we’re all gonna get there one day
We all gonna get, we all gonna get, we…
But—but not you
You stay and explain
The suffering and the pain you caused
The thrill you feel when evil dreams come true

And check out my tattoo
It says Wall-to-Wall Fun
Does everyone know everyone?
Mr. Wall-to-Wall Fun
Meet Dr. Well, Well, Well
And Cool Papa Bell
The fastest man on Earth did dwell
As Cool Papa Bell

And you’re never gonna stop him
Never gonna stop
Never gonna stop him
I’m never gonna stop
You never gonna
Never gonna stop
Never gonna stop
No, no you never gonna stop
Never gonna stop

Oh Lord, don’t keep me up all night
Side by side with the moon
With its desolate eyes
Miles from the sunrise
The darkness inviting a tune
The Insomniac’s Lullaby

A siren is playing its song in the distance
The melody rattles the old window frame
Gradually, angels reveal their existence
And there’s nothing and no one to blame

Oh Lord, don’t keep me up all night
Side by side with the moon
Alone in the bed
The season ahead
Is winter that lasts until June
The Insomniac’s Lullaby

Sleep

They say all roads lead to a river
Then one day
The river comes up to your door
How will the builder of bridges deliver us all
To the faraway shore

Oh Lord, don’t keep me up all night
With questions I can’t understand
While I wrestle my fears
The sound in my ears
Is the music that’s sweeping the land
The Insomniac’s Lullaby

Sleep

Soft as a rose
The light from the East
As if all is forgiven
And wolves become sheep
We are who we are
Or we’re not
But at least
We’ll eventually all fall asleep
Eventually all fall asleep

Hell no
I can’t complain about my problems
I’m OK the way things are
I pull my stool up to the bar
At Horace And Pete’s

Sometimes I wonder
Why do we tear ourselves to pieces?
I just need some time to think
Or maybe I just need a drink
At Horace And Pete’s.
Horace And Pete

Couple in the next room
Bound to win a prize
They’ve been going at it all night long
Well, I’m trying to get some sleep
But these motel walls are cheap
Lincoln Duncan is my name
And here’s my song, here’s my song

My father was a fisherman
My mama was the fisherman’s friend
And I was born in the boredom
And the chowder
So when I reached my prime
I left my home in the Maritimes
Headed down the turnpike for
New England, sweet New England

Holes in my confidence
Holes in the knees of my jeans
I was left without a penny in my pocket
Oo-we, I was about destituted
As a kid could be
And I wished I wore a ring
So I could hock, I’d like to hock it.

A young girl in a parking lot
Was preaching to a crowd
Singing sacred songs and reading
From the Bible
Well, I told her I was lost
And she told me all about the Pentecost
And I seen that girl as the road
To my survival

Just later on the very same night
I crept to her tent with a flashlight
And my long years of innocence ended
Well, she took me to the woods
Saying here comes something and it feels so good
And just like a dog I was befriended
I was befriended

Oh, oh, what a night
Oh, what a garden of delight
Even now that sweet memory lingers
I was playing my guitar
Lying underneath the stars
Just thanking the Lord
For my fingers
For my fingers

The morning came today
With rain and sheets of grey
The subway rocked me out of bed
To take me on my way

Where I go, I go in style
Each and every mile
You know, I’m not alone
New York is my home

I got a girl up in the Proms
She treats me like a king
I’ll give her anything she wants
She is my everything

She can be hard as concrete
Soft as a summer breeze
We can wake the dawn
New York is my home

New York is calling me
It’s on the phone
It’s like the rooftop songs
Up from the cobblestones

You will never hear me say
"The city street’s too loud"
I hear a gospel hymn
In every passing crowd

It trails me and it tails me down
To central park
Even after dark
New York is my home

New York is calling me
And now I find
The city never sleeps
It’s my state of mind

The breezes blow
And take me where the Hudson never flows
The harbour light shines on the piers
As all young lovers know

I can touch the world
As it sails in from everywhere
I’m not alone
New York is my home

New York is calling me
And now I find
The city never sleeps
It’s my state of mind

The breezes blow
And take me where the Hudson never flows
The harbour light shines on the piers
As all young lovers know

I can touch the world
As it sails in from everywhere
I’m not alone
New York is my home

I’m not alone
New York is my home