DISTANT SHORE


She shivered in the darkness

and tried to catch the wind

she knew that hell came after love

and thought that she had sinned

she wanted to be someone

and make the great escape

she can't be from this family

there must be some mistake


Chorus:

Every time I see your picture

I have to close my eyes

guilty feelings send me reeling

accusations fly

a ship of fear has carried me

and many  souls before

sad the day I sailed away

from that far distant shore.


Whiskey breath, pray for death

blackness  keep her safe

icy fumble, walls that crumble

screams that can't escape

leave your body lying there

like Jesus did before

you won't be coming back this way

for thirty years or more.


Chorus


As the days turn into years

my anger fades away

sentimental memories

slip into it's place

it's harder to remember pain

affection never shown

loving you is easy

a thousand miles from home



Chorus


 


FAITHLESS


The eagle flies above the sea

and beats it's wings

as if in warning

of a tide that's coming in

and won't be stopped

I hear it calling


there she stands  alone

upon an empty shore

believing god will save her

from the darkness

only love can cure


chorus:

She's faithless I've been told

faithless I've been told

faithless I've been told


Amid the cups

so cracked and stained

where crowded ashtrays overflow

she gazes from a window

where she holds 

her dreams of long ago


she was once a beauty queen

with hair of black

eyes of green

the years have taken everything

that might have been


chorus


Sundays when the church bells ring

she's first in line

to kneel and pray

when they pass

the plate to her

she's saving for a rainy day


fear and dollar hand in hand

it's hard for me to understand

she'll take it with her if she can I know


chorus





NO RETURN


There's a stranger in your house

but you don't sense a thing

Rome is falling

Berlin's gone

play your violin

close your eyes and look away

you don't want to see

turn your mind off float away

don't disturb your scene


Chorus:


On the road to no return

and the road is rough

fumbling blindly as we spin

'cause we can't find love


Virtual apples in your garden

they taste good to you

all are perfect all the same

isn't that a clue

we don't even know our names

or who we really are

when they speak there is no truth

lying is an art


Chorus


Money is the rosary

greed the sacred cow

trade our futures for today

cash our dreams in now

we have every thing we need

to keep us counting sheep

waiting for a prince to come

and wake us from our sleep


Chorus





 

LADY OF THE STREETS




Beneath a silent winter sky

the dark black veil of night

lifted and my eyes beheld

a vision bathed in light

she sang a song I'd heard before

I wondered was it true

as I reached to touch her hand

she faded from my view


Chorus:I'll bring her bread and roses
and lay them at her feet

she's saintly and she's holy

our lady of the streets


She needs a star to guide her

angels light the way

a child is born

on this December day

the snow has marked her coming

the moon has trined her soul

I pray for her to keep her faith

she walks her path alone


Chorus:I'll bring her ruby slippers

and lay them at her feet

she's saintly and she's holy

our lady of the streets


BRIDGE: 

UT AD QUI PATIUNTUR IN TENEBRIS SCAPULAE DARIUNTUR   (SCAPULIS SOUIS OBUMBRABIT)

(let those who suffer in darkness be given wings)


There's a house that's  made for ladies

to shelter them from storms

from quiet assassinations

that desecrate the calm

I've searched for her for thirty years

I'm standing at her door

the tale I tell I know it well

I 'm the child she bore.


Chorus:I'll bring her candles burning

and lay them at her feet

she's saintly and she's holy

this lady of the streets


I'll bring her mystic visions

and lay them at her feet

she's saintly and she's holy

our lady of the streets




I Just Wanna Dance


I come from a place

that's a long way from here

I'm nobody's friend of a friend

talking 'bout nothing's not easy for me

I never learned how to pretend


the rules of a game

are a mystery

when you have never been shown

speak to me somebody

please say my name

I feel like a fool all alone


Chorus:

I'm not a loser

I'm just feeling shy

If you don't look my way

I won't catch your eye

I'm just a kind stranger

so give me a chance

baby I just wanna dance


I'm not really cool

I don't have much style

my clothes were a dollar a pound

I don't have the money to buy you a drink

but I'll dance you right off of the ground


beauty's a light that shines from within

only an angel

can see

if you'll be my partner

we'll glide 'cross the floor

while the band plays a sweet melody


Chorus





Foggy Dew


Down the hills I went one morn

a lovely maid I spied

down the hills I went one morn

she looked at me and sighed

her eyes did shine like diamonds bright

and sparkled like the dew

she smiled and said

you're the boy I'll wed

I'm to meet you in the foggy dew


Droop your heads ye roses red

as the weeping willows dee

you should droop your head in shame

before a maid so sweet

I asked her if she'd marry me

beneath the skies of blue

she smiled and said

you're the boy I'll wed

I'm to meet you in the foggy dew


Down the hills I went one morn

a singing I did go

down the hills I went one morn

she answered soft and  low

she said if you'll be my true love

I'm sure that you'll prove true

and close in my arms

I will roll your charms

we'll be hidden in the foggy dew




Holiday Romance


I've never been the same

since I went down to Rio for a good time

saw you in the mirror

I knew you were the wrong kind

I reached for my cigarette

you stood there with a light

it seemed so innocent

ships passing in the night


Chorus:

If you're afraid to fall

you'll never learn to dance

you'll never have a

HOLIDAY ROMANCE


Sunrise with a stranger

could you be a sicko or a saint

heat outweighs the danger

come on baby let's do it again

be my pleasure partner

for just another night

tomorrow I'll be out of here

on the morning flight


Chorus


Made no promises

didn't get your number or your name

I want to get to know you

wondering if you're feeling the same

did I miss my chance

by playing it too cool

guess I'll never know

if I was just a fool


Chorus




Naked and Small                  


Saying goodbye

don't mean a thing

we've already parted

I'd been gone

for so many years

before this thing ever got started


Chorus:

Night after night

you'd turn to the wall

leaving me out in the cold

naked and small

with no blanket at all

was warmer than trying to hold you


Garden of silence

where nothing will grow

dead are the seeds that we planted

no more surprises

it's death in disguise

as everything's taken for granted


Chorus


Don't ask me to stay

my train leaves today

I need to be out on my own

the sad words you said

spin around in my head

and I'm so scared of being alone


Chorus




THE GATE


It's quarter to ten

I'm all alone again

I think I'll wander over to The Gate

the smallest pub in town

no room for sittin' down

every pint's a fifteen minute wait


Chorus:

I really love the way

you make your fiddle play

all the things that a shy boy just won't say

guitar is ringing

harmony you're singing

makes me feel alive for today


Elbows everywhere

the smoke gets in your hair

it's so thick you can cut it with a knife

my eyes are gettin' stung

I need an iron lung

I'm sure it's taking ten years off my life


Chorus


Rita's lookin' rough

I think she's had enough

her eyes are rolling back into her head

she can't help being cursed

by that wicked camel's thirst

she'll be living pickled when I'm dead


It's quarter to two

I'm lonely and I'm blue

tonight I think my luck has turned around

Rita's not so shy

she's giving me the eye

and telling me her husband's out of town


Chorus




 

All lyrics © October Browne 1995- 2011

SONG OF O


IS IT STRANGE YOU CAN CHANGE YOURSELF BUT YOU CAN’T CHANGE ME

CHECK IT OUT FROM THE START WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU SEE

LOST IN TRYING TO BE THE LADY IN YOUR FANTASY

IN THE MIRROR THERE WAS NO ONE LOOKING BACK AT ME

I TRIED TO RHYME WITH A LINE IN YOUR POETRY

 

HERE SHE IS IN YOUR TOWN WITH HER SUITCASE IN HER HAND

THINKS SHE’LL STAY A WHILE

YOU KNOW SHE SAILED HERE FROM ANOTHER LAND

YOU GIVE GOOD PHONE BUT HER MONEY’S KINDA GETTING LOW

YOU’RE LOOKING SCARED ARE YOU NOT AFRAID TO LET IT SHOW

WHAT IS IT YOU WANT FROM HER?

I DON’T THINK YOU KNOW

 

SHE’S COME A THOUSAND MILES

TO LAY HER HEAD DOWN IN YOUR SWEET ARMS

SHE’S SO TIRED

PLEASE JUST HOLD HER AND PROTECT HER FROM ALL HARM

A STRANGER IN THIS TOWN NEEDS MORE THAN JUST A PLACE TO REST

SHE FEELS WEIGHT DOWN BY A HEART THAT’S FUL OF EMPTINESS

PLEASE DON’T YOU LEAVE HER ALONE X 3

IN THIS DARKNESS

The Banks of Sweet Thyme

 

Bring me primroses that bloom in the springtime

Gather me fruits that grow red on the vine

Summer has passed  me and autumn  grows chilly

As I stand on the banks of sweet thyme

 

Sing to me softly like the clear throated starling

Songs of the maidens that come  from the sea

I do believe ‘twas the song of the siren

That took my young lover from me

 

He dressed in his finest and boarded  a black ship

Bound for the indies he sailed from the shore

But the course was uncharted  and the crew and the captain

Never were seen anymore

 

I’ve always been true to my dark handsome  lover

Never known anyone’s kiss

I’ve never known love like the love of my sailor

Lost to the sea’s dark abyss

 

Bring me primroses that bloom in the springtime

Gather me fruits that grow red on the vine

Summer has passed  me and autumn  grows chilly

As I stand on the banks of sweet thyme