Better Days

In a place I can’t erase
What it’s come to, it’s come to
Cold town broke me down
And took my pride away
How many times can you hit the wall
I ask you,  I ask you
Brush it off, get back up
And still resolve to stay
I'm a stranger here
And it just gets rougher every day

I'm going back to the old way now
I'm going home where things were easy for me
Bid me farewell boys and sing that song
Of life, love and better days to be

I had a girl in a different place
So I asked her, I asked her
To be a wife and share the life
But, she couldn’t see her way
Now I know I did not know
What I had to, I had to
I’m going back to find that girl
And steal her heart away
I’m a stranger here
And it gets more lonely every day

Life, love and better days
Life, love and better days

In a place I can’t erase
What it’s come to, it’s come to
Cold town broke my heart
And took my pride away
I'm a stranger here
And it just gets rougher every day

I'm going back to the old way now
I'm going home where things were easy for me
Bid me farewell boys and sing that song 
Of life, love and better days to be



Sailors Brave

Mother walks the shoreline
Sister mends a dress
The sailor’s son is dreaming of
A man he’s never met
Beware you sailors brave
As you ride out on your waves
Far away from shore
Where familiar is no more

Father was a Captain
When I was just a boy
Swallowed by the water cold
Before my first child’s toy
Beware you sailors brave
As you ride out on your waves
Far away from shore
Where familiar is no more

The sea is not a thing to be controlled
And the wind might never bring you home
Beware you sailors brave

Empty is the shoreline
Sister does not weep
The sailor’s son is miles away
And sleeps a dreamless sleep
Beware you sailors brave
As you ride out on your waves
Far away from shore
Where familiar is no more

Beware you sailors brave
As you ride out on your waves
The ones you leave behind
Might not feel you after time
The ones you leave behind
Might not feel you after time



In an Instant

In the soul of the man was a small black place
Where no bit of light got inside
And he knew it was there, and he kept it at bay
But, it followed him all of his life

Then the day came along when it all went wrong
And into the darkness he rode
Until he came to a place where all of the Grace
In the world felt empty and cold

Ash to ash, dust to dust
Wood will break and iron will rust
And love can make
A long and lonely day

He came to a house at the end of a lane
Knowing he shouldn’t be there
But, his feet moved on with a mind of their own
And they took him right up to the stairs

She was there in the glow of the kitchen light
A face that he knew like his own
In an instant of truth—he knew it no use
And he turned and walked off alone

Ash to ash, dust to dust
Wood will break and iron will rust
And love can make
A long and lonely day 



Designated Friend

We talk on telephone for hour and hour on end
I know I have become the designated friend
The husband does not know, or else he just pretends
But, I know for sure the way the day will end

I’ll be waiting for her
Time and time again
I’ll be waiting here
The designated friend

I mend a broken heart, there’s nothing left to do
Outside my city window slate gray afternoon
The telephone’s not ringing, so I must surmise
Life is wine and roses and she and he are fine

I’ll be waiting for her
Time and time again
I’ll be waiting here
The designated friend

Tall buildings throw their shadows
The day has come to end
And I’m still waiting here
The designated friend
I am the designated friend 



Hell Can't Wait

I dreamed last night I went to Hell
I was standing by a tree
The Devil came and shook my hand
Saying now you’re here with me
Oh no, said I, how can it be?
That this would be my fate
I’ve heard it said Heaven can
But, know that Hell can’t wait

Of ignorance and poverty
I’ve watched the world drink deep
All safe at home, and in our beds
No guilt disturbed our sleep
And now find I, how can it be?
The answers come too late
I’ve heard it said Heaven can
But, know that Hell can’t wait

These earthly things which we surround
Ourselves with night and day
They cannot bring a moment back
Or keep the hounds at bay
Oh no, say you, how can it be?
That this would be our fate
I’ve heard it said Heaven can
But, know that Hell can’t wait



Edge of the World

Out here at the edge of the world
We're all having so much fun
Everybody dance until midnight
Fall into the arms of someone new

Everybody here’s a believer
We have faith in what we do
When the moonlight goes to your head
You might think you’ve just been born anew

Wouldn’t you like to go
To a place so uncivilized
Wouldn’t you like to know
The feeling behind those eyes

Give yourself to the rhythm calypso
Pick you up and shake you down
Life begins with the sun sinking so low
Celebration comes in waves of sound

Out here at the edge of the world
Women all have skin so smooth
Lose your heart on a Saturday night
Sunday morning be right back with you

Wouldn’t you like to go
To a place so uncivilized
Wouldn’t you like to know
The feeling behind those eyes 



Stranger Than Known

I’ve been on the sea with the waves crashing down
The wind in my face and the stars falling down
Stood there half crazy a half world from home
Gasping for breath and stranger than known

I just can’t stop
You don’t know what it means to me
I fight my demons alone
And it’s stranger than known

Well, why do you do it? I hear all the time
Why not relax take it easy sometime
I once heard a man--he said it quite well
I’ll sleep when I’m dead, until then I say

I just can’t stop
You don’t know what it means to me
I fight my demons alone
And it’s stranger than known

I’ve been through the desert where the tears from my eyes
Could not come out because it’s so dry
I’ll tell you a story the next time around
I’ll know that I’ve lived when I lay myself down

Well, I just can’t stop
You don’t know what it means to me
I fight my demons alone
And it’s stranger than known



Free and Green

Captain Taggart took the field with his men as hard as steel
And we drove the bloody traitors to the sea
Before the guns had stilled there were many hundreds killed
And there’s many an Irish girl who’s sad tonight

When the smoke had cleared it was just as we had feared
Captain Taggart lay wounded on the ground
With his head upon my knee, there he met eternity
And I proudly closed his eyes and then I cried

It’s whiskey in the morning, whiskey in the night
Another Irish soldier lad has fought his final fight
We’ll toast him ‘til we’re drunk boys and douse the candlelight
Tell them, Captain Taggart is coming home tonight

We took his body home and the drums and pipes did drone
And we pulled a fine black casket through the streets
Then we told his grieving wife, he loved her more than life 
And we gave to his young son his father’s sword

Now the people they all dream of an Ireland free and green
Where nowhere can be heard the battle cry
The fighting’s gone too long, and it just drags on and on
And I’d like to know some peace before I die

It’s whiskey in the morning, whiskey in the night
Another Irish soldier lad has fought his final fight
We’ll toast him ‘til we’re drunk boys and douse the candlelight
Tell them, Captain Taggart is coming home tonight 



Wait for You

Something’s always tearing you apart
But, I’ll wait for you
Something's always tearing at your heart
But, I’ll wait for you
And I’ll wait for you
And you know it’s true
Something’s always tearing you apart
But, I’ll wait for you

Something's always standing in your way
That you can’t get past
Something always each and everyday
That you can’t get past
And you know it’s true
And you can break through
Something's always standing in your way
That you can’t get past

If you knew the things I knew
Then things would be all right
And if you do
Then we’ll get through this night

Something’s always tearing you apart
But, I’ll wait for you
Something's always tearing at your heart
But, I’ll wait for you
And I’ll wait for you
And you know it’s true
Something’s always tearing you apart
But, I’ll wait for you 



End of the Day

Condoleezza, something's going wrong around here
Fearless leaders are leading the people by fear
And their egos are so unrestrained
There’s no connection from their balls to their brains
Condoleezza something’s going wrong around here

Condoleezza, you seem like a smart girl to me
What you doing, keeping such bad company?
And your motives are so unexplained
There’s no connection from your heart to your brain
Condoleezza, you seem like a smart girl to me

When you see the setting sun
And survey the damage that’s been done
Can you sleep like everyone else
At the end of the day

Another explosion, another good life blown away
For the record, I don’t buy a word that you say
A photo-op in the carnage and pain
There’s no connection from the truth to your brain
Condoleezza--another good life blown away

When you see the setting sun
And survey the damage that’s been done
Can you sleep like everyone else
At the end of the day

When you see the setting sun
And survey the damage that’s been done
Can you sleep like everyone else
At the end of the day
At the end of the day