More Than This (song)
A mother grieves for her wayward son
Brothers don’t speak, ‘cause of the side they’re on
Children stare at their busy screens
So distracted now, they forget to dream
Addicts are searching for another fix
Know there’s gotta be more than this
When did people lose their smiles
When did hope go out of style
I didn’t see them leave but I know they’re gone
Just look outside the window, turn the TV on
Hatred rules on the city streets
Doesn’t look like us to me
Bullets fly on the news again
Wars are raging that no one wins
Fears are fed and the walls grow high
Compassion is kept on the other side
Suspicious eyes, and loaded guns
It’s neighborhood watch now, on everyone
When did people lose their smiles
When did hope go out of style
I didn’t see them leave but I know they're gone
Just look outside the window, turn the TV on
Hatred rules on the city streets
Doesn’t look like us to me
[Note to Priv. I actually wrote Albion over the winter, I don't think I sent it to you yet.]
Albion
[I wrote this in honor of William Blake. The first line is from one of his poems]
“Five windows light the caverned man”
He crawls in circles, no room to stand
He’s locked away in flesh & bone
A fallen house but this aint his home
He grasps at pleasures passing by
But dreams of feathers & a cloudless sky
Rise up
Rise up sacred one
Climb upon those fiery flames
Rise up Albion
Rise up once again
Trapped between the mud and stars
He lifts his eyes but can’t see far
He struggles on through endless nights
When visions come, in a swirling light
His shadow moves, across the floor
Not beast nor man, but something more
Rise up
Rise up sacred one
Climb upon those fiery flames
Rise up Albion
Rise up once again
He reaches out beyond the pain
His flesh is weak, his hands are stained
He rises up, (but) then falls again
& The ground gives way, releasing him
Outside, the world, it slowly turns
Below him, now, a cauldron burns
Rise up
Rise up sacred one
Climb upon those fiery flames
Rise up Albion
Rise up once again
Contradictions
So much opposition.
So many contradictions inside of me
All the warring parts
That seem to prefer chaos over peace
A few are as beautiful as a butterfly
Others are as dark and slippery as the serpent at night
Sometimes I just sit back and watch them fight
It’s a hell of a heavenly sight
Reflections
Lately,
I find myself looking at the backside of the mirror.
It seems I get a much better view of me from over here.
There’s no polished glass to clear things up.
No light from behind me, or above.
Turns out they never really helped
I was just seeing shadows of myself
Yet, If I just take a dozen or so little steps
It’s amazing what the back of the mirror reflects
Beyond illusion, without pretense,
It’s just me
As I’ve always…
As I’ve always been
Though I have to look fast these days,
Or else it disappears
And I’m left wondering
If I was ever really here
The Kiss
He feels that two should be as one
As he sees himself within her eyes
Yet the night would die but for the sun
Still, what a blissful compromise
Nothing Lost
The trick is to die before you die
So at the end you can lightly step across
With nothing really lost
While being fully alive on both sides