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********* Lyrics *********
EMPTY SLEEVES
You had a scheme for every scene,
A tear to sympathize, a penny for the well.
Drawn with a forger’s style
And shining with a bishop’s smile.
Yes, you always knew the score.
You bought the toys for show and tell –
The drugs and money kept the freaks outside your door.
You never asked what it’s all for,
You just said give me more.
You took nothing less than more.
(chorus)
Empty sleeves in the wind —
The straw, the coat, the scribbled grin.
Propped against the falling sky
With a crow and a button eye,
Left with nothing but a lie.
The noise was all you ever shared,
An empty handshake, gambler’s flare;
Just playing games and
Breaking bottles on a dead end street.
Leaving no way out.
You’re living someone else’s dream,
Using borrowed words that you’ve heard other people scream.
But now you’re all alone
Just standing there and throwing stones
Kicking sand at white washed bones.
(chorus)
###
WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES
When I close my eyes I see the bluish-black box
Bend the someday sky, and the darkness breaks the locks.
I greet the frowning moon born from the serpent’s black womb —
Soon the spiders in your head they’ll start crawling in your bed.
When I close my eyes
When I close my —
When I close my eyes I see the madman’s ax
Fall on the road rage rat, as the assassin reloads.
But when you’re buried alive, you can’t hurry the dead,
Not when their black-eyed shine eats your body like its bread.
When I close my eyes
When I close my —
Will you still be there
When the darkness starts to rise?
Will you still be there
When I open my eyes?
When I close my eyes feel the silent reproach.
The bitter joke — it starts to choke in the back of the throat.
But when no one’s got ears, then there’s nothing to hear
Lips move, tongue sway, teeth, got to get away
When I close my eyes
When I close my —
When I close my eyes the waters stop their rise,
And from the stoved-in ship, the snot-faced boatswain he cries,
“You know the world’s all a lark when I’m masking in the dark.
It’s as good as it can be, when the sharks cannot be seen!”
When I close my eyes
When I close my –
Will you still be there
When the darkness starts to rise?
Will you still be there
When I open my eyes?
When I close my eyes I feel myself start to fall
Between the gaps in the stars, I’m swallowed whole and shrunken small
Adrift in empty space — a flame within an airless place —
A teardrop in the sea that dissolves without a trace —
When I close my eyes
When I close my —
When I close my eyes the roses blacken and wilt
The stone-backed mountains start to melt as the constellations drift
We’re just happy to crawl until we near the looming falls:
Tip your hat to the sun, jump in blind, and heed the call.
It doesn’t matter at all
When I close my eyes.
It doesn’t matter at all
When I close my eyes
It doesn’t matter at all
When they close my —
###
SHAKE IT OFF
Well …. You ain’t got it, but you’re sure gonna get it
Punch out the lights and you’re ready to go
Pull up your chins and hit the road with a thud
Gather yourself while you’re tasting your blood
(chorus)
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
Got troubles before, got troubles behind,
Look out child, you’ll soon be out of time.
Say goodbye to the night, well, it’s been good to know ‘ya
What Mohammed won’t tell ya, well, the devil’s gonna show ‘ya
So don’t fight with a straw man, or slander the door man
You just might find yourself under the floor man
(chorus)
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
When your pushed down the stairs, just give it a bye,
Someday you’ll wake up — find out you’re still alive
A 12-step plan won’t make a loser a finder.
You’ve crossed so many borders — time to put on the blinders.
When you’re ridin’ a wave, well, that’s as good as it gets,
But when you piss in the wind, you’re gonna get a lil’ wet.
(chorus)
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
Dust off your pride, hitch up your pants,
You can crawl if you want, but maybe you should try to dance
You can smile at the masters and spit on the lights
But someday that collars’ gonna fit you like a just right
When they’re laughing to tears, well, the jokes on you —
Just turn the other cheek till your teeth are all choking you.
(chorus)
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
Shake it off, shake it off one more time
God’s a comic genius, better laugh at the joke
You can cry if you want but you’ll still be sitting there tired and broke
###
DUST
You had to run to keep from falling,
You warmed your hands in the pockets of another.
What did you find to feed your oceans?
What will you find to cage your horses?
You are the dust in their eyes
And the motion of their skies –
In your wake the dust cloud roars.
They stand outside your door
With the tears in their eyes.
For a piece of pie, a piece of land,
A piece of peace that the mailman brings,
You bet it all, you won it big.
But where will you go to hide thorns inside your eyes?
The center stage, the spotlight rage is all you need,
The single surging eye — it suits you very well.
You are the light, the sound, the voice that shakes the air,
It’s you, all you and only you atop the stairs.
Go play yourself: Blow shadows in the dust.
A tale told bad, told twice, it’s going, going, gone.
What dreamer dreams, what thinker thinks, what schemer schemes?
What follows you will be the dust, will be the dust.
No door is closed, no mountain high enough –
Each road we take can take us anywhere.
###
IN A TUCSON MOTEL
The sky it shook the earth it thundered
The cocks were drowned there by the hundreds
And the trees, lord, I see’em walking this way
I kicked off the dirt and throwed the shroud away
I rose from my grave and started to pray
Come on dead man, ha! and show me the way
He said “that bread and wine — it will make you sick,
Find a nice warm room and bed, that’ll do the trick.
I know just the place – a refuge from hell —
Where Dylan found Jesus, in a Tucson motel.”
Well-Done Joan she climbed down the stake,
Checked herself in, she laid down her ace,
But the shivering winds started tellin’ her lies
She went to desk clerk, called up her rep,
She said “get yer ass here, but ya better watch your step,
The cats been digging up bones — again.”
Her rep said, “Girl, don’t ya start to crowd me.
I’ll tell you the price if you just allow me,”
He licked his lips and he was ready to tell —
And then Dylan found Jesus in a Tucson Motel
Ponce drove up, said “I must admit it —
When I lost my mind, I never missed it.
Sometimes you drink, and sometimes you drown.”
Next-Door Annie found Little Dorphin Fannie,
Dealing aces high with a patch-eyed granny.
“One more play,” she said, “then it all goes my way.”
As you grab at the ring, the cost’ll never mind you.
Your hopes’ll light your way, but they just might blind you.
When your searchin’ the world, when the dark’s behind you,
Well, you might be surprised by what will find you.
He was looking for the drink, all he got was some blows.
He was looking for a falcon, got fed to the crows.
Got himself stoned, yeah they rocked and rolled him.
He opened the drawer, saw the book, and he closed it.
He turned on the radio – the sound just exploded
Through the flick’ring lights of a Tucson Motel.
So he dyed black his hair and put on some shades,
Got himself an axe, kicked up the volume and played.
Lord, he sang the blues like a seraph’s spell
When Jesus found Dylan in a Tucson Motel.
###
ANOTHER TIME OR ANOTHER PLACE
There’s no need to change your clothes,
Or untwist your nose,
There’s no need to turn a new leaf, to turn
And cough or turn your tail,
Yes, there’s no need to trim your sails
Or put up bail.
You don’t need to paint your face
Or face your fears, or fear your face.
Maybe in another time or another place.
You don’t have to fill the hours
With the sweet and sour,
Spare the chat, the hum, spare the tattle,
Save your breath for things that matter.
Save your explanations, save your stories,
Save yourself. Store up all your reasons
For some e-mails — they’re more pleasing.
For another time and another place.
I’m sure your friends all think you’re all nice
Spiked with a lot of bourbon and a little bit of ice.
But that’s okay, every dog’s gotta have his day.
But this old dog’s just singing a song and he’d prefer
You didn’t sniff along.
He just don’t like you very much.
You needn’t pay a visit,
Pay your dues or soil your shoes.
You needn’t call me up or call me out,
Or even mark my cues.
Don’t leave your desk to share your views
On breaking news or broken cars —
Yes, you’re much more pleasant where you are.
In another time or another place.
###
Keith Eckert Communications 