Cross Street
Lyrics by John Brenner.
Storm Warning
They told me I should take it slow and that I’d be the last to know. No one walks on carpets of gold. Salt on my tongue and sand upon the shoals. There’s a thirst for thunder in my soul. Everyone knows that last guys don’t finish nice, but baby I’ve been there more than twice. You draw lines around yourself and then toss me back on the shelf. No one walks on carpets of gold. Salt on my tongue and sand upon the shoals. There’s a thirst for thunder in my soul. Nothing to yield to but the night. It wasn’t even worth the fight. The sidewalks marred with blackened snow, and I’ve so far, so far to go. No one walks on carpets of gold. Salt on my tongue and sand upon the shoals. There’s a thirst for thunder in my soul.
By and By
If I close my eyes, sleep until noon, and pull the thyme from the ground by its roots, pretend I’m ok, all right, feeling fine...You can’t fall down if you don’t try to climb. We live just for a moment by and by. I won’t look for an answer in the sky. So you think the nights are turning cold, don’t want to face that we’re getting old. Take a walk up to 33rd, listen close but I don’t hear a word. We live just for a moment by and by. I won’t look for an answer in the sky. If we could live for a moment by and by, I wouldn’t search for a reason or ask why. Pretend what I want and what you like. Days and nights in this dream whispering lies. Take another sip of wine, pull on our gloves and get ready to fight. We live just for a moment by and by. I won’t look for an answer in the sky.
Down and In
I’d write you a poem but I don’t have nothing to say. I’d write you a poem but I don’t have nothing to say. I’d write you a novel but you’d only throw it away. Down and in, nobody wins. I’d paint you a picture but I don’t even have a brush. I’d paint you a picture but I don’t even have a brush. I could borrow a dollar, but now honey what’s the rush? I could tell you more lies but they’d only last half a day. I could tell you more lies but they’d only last half a day. Then what reason would you have to stay? Down and in, nobody wins. You don’t even know enough to come in from the rain. You don’t even know enough to come in from the rain. Because the more that you linger, the less you feel your pain. Down and in, nobody wins.
Behind the Times
Baited snares and the jaded tells. The night was running ahead of itself. Bruised and spiteful, out of mind, I was living behind the times. Just pull the trigger and glide away. You’re not the first tide or the last wave. Whiskey eyes and cries like gulls, there’s a church with no steeple. Rough as flint and raw like wind, I’m full of lightning for all I’ve sinned. My pockets full of broken jewels, I’ve run through alleys chasing fools. Too many names in my head, while I’m netted in the threads.
Blueprints
Well, I’m walking through Penn station, and I don’t know the situation. There’s a guy on the platform asking me to use the phone. I run for the train, though there's no way home. Down from the mountains, into the humid night, on the world’s edge, so far from the light. No destination can take me far away, to the ocean, looking for Cathay. Watch from a distance the forest and the waves, though I warned her that no one can be safe, safe from lost moments, and secrets told too late. As for the world’s end, one can only wait.
Stone Upon Stone
Sent into exile, to sleep under stars, you slipped away while my gaze was down. Gray like clay, blood to blood, a mouthful of ashes, a handful of mud. Show me the garden where you buried a slave. Black roots like fingers fresh from the spade. Sands upon sands, bone upon bone, no hands touching, stone upon stone. Nailing plywood over sounds. My feet barely touch the ground. No shield or costume to hide behind. I’m living naked inside my mind. Pull together and hide the seams. Chop down the old rope hanging from beams. All of the wishes, the anger, and love… I woke and winter had already gone. Hands in the sky, my head in the sun. A rocky conclusion, and nothing is won, searching for violets among fires. The world is bluer than the sky.
Cross and Light
When I drop, can’t stop myself from planting secrets and seeds. I’m still searching for paradise underneath the weeds. If you want fame, find someone else to blame. There’s no truth in suffering, just the violence of winds. And when you try to roll the stone, you’ll find it gathers more sins. When we come to the crossroads, who’s then a man? If there is redemption, a way to hit the mark, should I dance among the graves? Or hide in the dark? The signs point to nothing: nothing or all.
Flash in the Pan
A hundred years ago I might have lost my way. A hundred years from now will I remember today? Driving toward Rising Sun. And who knows the damage you’ve done? I want to sing songs without shame, but dark falls the rain. How careful I was shooting arrows in the air. Taking more than I need, and giving more than you care. Like a nova, some tales, they last only a day. Tell me how long it is before you go away. Driving toward Rising Sun. And who knows the damage you’ve done? I want to sing songs without shame, but dark falls the rain. We throw out desperate words, biting at every hand. Lurching through the crowds, we’re drawing Rembrandts in the sand. Taking refuge in clouds (I touch every door that I pass), or sitting in the dell, or hiding in the stacks. Driving toward Rising Sun. And who knows the damage you’ve done? I want to sing songs without shame, but dark falls the rain.