richard hiorns
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Album - Nothing Easy
FREEDOMS NOT A WORDWell anyone could tell that it was gonna rain
By the old man shuffle in the hurricane
You can tell a lot by looking but mostly there's no time
I saw you standing with the soldier of fate
Tying on a bandage by the old cafe
And now when he sees you in the street you got nothing to say
And there's no time to burn
Or chase no hummingbird
And it's too late to learn
That freedom's not a word
I seen you in the light of every neon sign
Up on main street 'fore they came for the queens and the dykes
You jumped out of the river into a deep dark troubled sea
And at times I wonder if you'd even recognize me
And theres no hand of god
To steal you from the fog
And there's no time to burn
And freedoms not a word
Nobody's writing on your wall
Nobody sings that song anymore
That woman was no girl just a child in the storm
They started takin' names an' Erica turned pale
She burst in thru the door and stood among the knaves
Its not easy getting older said the baby to the soldier
And there's no time to burn
And there's no hummingbird
And it's too late to learn
That freedom's not a word
AN ENGLISH LOVE SONG
Standing on Westminster bridge without a care
watching the riots and feeling oh so debonair
Do you remember how we used to stand up to the turncoats and the scabs
Telling tales of strikes and football matches in the park beyond the flats
Life was good
It was bad but we had love
Though we hated we were taught
To be tougher than our hearts
And the music oh the music made us dance
Yellow is the color of their eyes
They will not dare to question lies
But me and you we used to give it to them straight
and how we'd walk right up and stare the bastards out
Life was good
We never knew we were in love
We tore our hearts out to be strong
And now I wonder if we should
And there were walls
Yours were red brick tenements and groves
And civil servant laughter made me choke
I never got the joke
I jumped a train
Do you remember I didn't pay
You remember everything, it's true
From Vera Lynn to Siouxsie Sioux
You carve wax figures, that's so cruel
But there's one thing you never knew
In '81 or '82
I stood on London bridge
And blew a kiss into the foggy gloom
Over the water
Out of the rain
Over the water
Over the water
Out of the rain
Over the water
Drifting away
ONLY THE RIVER
Something is haunting me today
See them all cruising on by
Kick up some moon dust on the way
Yeah and just like anyone you'll say
Only the river cries
Only the river cries
Only the madman could look you in the eye
Only the river cries
You ask me where they're all running to
Well I'm just cruising on by
Still looking for heroes on the tube
Guess I'll lie out in the sun
Yeah just the same as anyone
Only the river cries
Only the river cries
Only the madman could steal away the light
Only the river cries
NAVAJO GIRL
You're pretty sure of where to go
A place where nothing ever grows
Out past the shimmering gambling halls
That rise like palaces of light from some ocean floor
Someone's calling out your name
From the cloud above the interstate
Forget the race, the barren soul
You can't teach people what they don't wanna know
They're hangin' up your picture on the wall
They never hear a word you say at all
They're cramping your style
Navajo girl chase the sun
Beat it down where you were born
Trace it all the way back home
Your bones are tired, your dress is torn
Praying for tomorrow every day
Picking up the things that the wind left behind along the way
First few days away were fine
The exile always knows the price
When the city folk all crowd around
Seeking wisdom and your beads that gleam in the dancing sun
Time goes by. You can't think clear
Don't know how people can live out here
The land is rich but no'one shares
Everybody grabbing what they can while it lasts
(CHORUS)
You roam the endless plain
You want it all to change
ItÙll make you crazy in the end
So much is lost so much just rearranged
(CHORUS)
WHITE HORSES
Things are quiet on the plain
That prairie moon has gone away
Have you heard of someone time did tell
Holds her torch up to the sky oh yeah
Those white horses passing by
And the riders by her side
Some were born to follow some to lead
And some of them just hang around in a dream
I hear the holy politician speak
It never really mattered much to me
But now they're coming down your street
Tapping your phone and stomping their feet
You know they're gonna steal away your dreams
And everything you ever believed
And the sunlight makes you tired
don't wanna put up any kind of fight
Those white horses passing by
And the riders by your side
By your side
By your side
CABLE CAR BLUES
I think I hear a whistle blow
I've heard it before but this time I know
And there's never a way back
You made your choice better face the fact
The northern train is heading south
If you wanna catch it you better go fast
But somehow you just can't move
Too much to see too much to prove
With your washday hands and your cable car blues
And your Mercedes friends are all staking out your room
You're out there looking for someone but you don't know for whom
And if you ever get it wrong
Give up looking take it slow
I seen that look a thousand times before
I can tell you're ready to give it all
With your piercing eyes and soulful gloom
You oughta get back to your loom
You just got no business feeling blue
It's hard to make it thru sometimes
When they run right at you so crazy eyed
Sometimes you'll say anything just to make them go away
They say, man, it just aint worth the pain
And as I look out on the bay
When all the fog has blown away
There's something coming down today
NORTHERN TOWN
Johnny says don't listen to me
People say things when they go hungry
Ever since the mill shut down
No'one else has come around
There's a freight train up ahead
Pulling out of the depot shed
Maybe there's a chance somewhere
Maybe Detroit maybe someplace else
And I just don't know
And I just can't fight it anymore
And it just goes on and on
And every time I turn around
Someone else is leaving town
Everything is closing down
Soon there'll be no gas to make it out
No'one needs a northern man
When they're done with a northern town
And the bums are leaving too
Follow the trail of dust and burnin' crude
And I just don't know
And I just can't fight it anymore
And it just goes on and on
Something out there
New horizon
Smoke is rising
Keep on climbing
BLUEBIRD
Now that the blue bird has flown
Refugee town getting cold
Time standing still life in motion
Better run before you get old
Well I see you got new boots to kick at the world
Like a door to door salesman you know what its worth
But you aint letting on and nobody asks
Nobody dares to pull down your mask
(chorus)
And nighttime brings you down to the harbor lights
Where the Japanese sailors and girls of the night
They drink and they ball then they order some more
Soon they forget what they were drinking for
(chorus)
I followed the river as it snaked thru the land
And I watched from a distance then I tried to jump down
With the graceless new mobs, faceless warriors of sound
They blast you with eyes that have watched angels drown
(chorus)
Somebody got pinned somebody got nailed
Picture house got broke into somebody got framed
And the garbage piles up along 1st street and main
And the blind kid climbs over society's remains
NOTHING EASY
No'one hears you scream when the lights go down
Aint a thing that's working can't move anyhow
Stuck inside a nightmare no angels left in sight
And nothing easy coming down the line
Some of em got out, some were left to die
For what they done and didn't do I know that it's a crime
They make a lot of promises to keep themselves alive
Nothing easy coming down the line
Can't hear no saxophone no trumpets or trombones
Chopper in the distance from a news crew keeping score
Silent water rising higher and higher
Nothing easy coming down the line
Carnival goes by jugglers dance and leap
Men putting on a brave face women putting on their beads
And everybody else left stranded waiting for daylight
And something easy coming down the line
FOGGY LAGOON
She said she loved to party
But nobody ever seen her drunk
And in the summer nights she looked at them like they were starlit punks
She wished away so many friends
and so it was, she knew that more would come
She was the devils daughter, I think my mama warned me 'bout you
And if she get bored, I guess I'll meet you in some foggy lagoon
A quarter moon crept over, the rest she kept up in her room
Those golden velvet curtains draped jewels diamond musty tomb
She just watched as they all swooned she just acted like it was nothing new
She was the devils daughter, I think my mama warned me 'bout you
And if she get bored, I guess I'll meet you in some foggy lagoon
Her suit was of many colors her breath was always of the air
She sat down on the carpet and threw her clothes on the chair
She just looked up at the ceiling as they all came falling down the stairs
She was the devils daughter, I think my mama warned me 'bout you
And if she get bored, I guess I'll meet you in some foggy lagoon
She was the devils daughter, I think my mama warned me 'bout you
And if she get bored, I think she's gonna know just what to do
RIVER FREE
As we walk thru this treasured dream
And the mountains seem so blue
It's in the light of the day
It's in everything
Flow like the river to be free
And when nothing moves, when all hope is lost
And there's nothing in my hand
I just turn my head and let it go
Flow like the river to me
It's in the light of the day
So let it go
Flow like the river to be free
It's in the light of the day
It's in everything
Flow like the river to me
Flow, sleepy river, take me home
All lyrics written by Richard Hiorns. Copyright 2007
Album - Evolution
STRANGER IN THE JUNGLE
We were the first
We had the souls to laugh and cry
We had the power
Power to stretch our minds, but...
Don't turn around
Life is on the wheel and they're whirling thru the trees
And we fell into the weeds where the lovers disappeared
And their traps hid beneath the leaves
With our notebooks and our beads floating random on the breeze
And the pine scented air began to sting
Don't walk in the path of the stranger
Don't walk in the path of the stranger
In the jungle
In the jungle
We were the last
We were the only ones to see
The gathering mass beginning to organise
No turning back now
Running from out tripod world we uttered tiny screams
Oh don't go to the jungle where the animals are waiting for you
Don't look in the faces of the new breed they're coming for you
Don't look in the eye
Don't look in the eye of the stranger
Don't look in their eyes
Didn't you know that there's danger
In the jungle
In the jungle
It isn't my world, it isn't my deal
It isn't any place I've been
It isn't my world, it isn't my scene
But still they brought me to my knees
In the jungle
In the jungle
In the jungle (stranger)
In the jungle (stranger)
In the jungle
It isn't our world, it is an ideal
It isn't my world, it isn't my deal
It isn't our world, it is an idea
It isn't my, my, my
In the jungle
MONKEY ON THE STAIRS
Last night I dreamed about you
Frail white semblance in my head
We were frightened to the core
They were standing 10 feet tall
Oh
Oh oh
Like all the subtle things
Like all the time we wished away
Believe me when I say it's so
Have faith in flowers they say grow
Monkey
Monkey
Let it roll
Let it roll
Like some angel-wolf intent, like the model clay you bent
I find it stimulating like curls of hair caressing
Like the monkey on the stairs
Waiting for mans demise
Poised and ready to strike
This sculptured rose this tutored cry
Monkey
Monkey
Let it roll
Let it roll
There is so much I have no part of
There are no simple elucidations
It's not some movie
It's not that kind of love
It's not that vain love
It's a...
Oh it's just a...
Monkey
Let it roll
Monkey
Monkey
Let it roll, roll, roll, roll, roll
Let it roll
Let it roll
Let it roll
Monkey
Monkey
Monkey
….AND THE HYENA LAUGHS AGAIN
I remember the day
The day that I first heard
A casual acquaintance passing thru
From trembling lips and paranoid eyes
Our days they were numbered 1 to 5
Nothing could be the same again
Nothing could be the same, my friend
Nothing could be the same again
And the hyena laughs again
So I pushed thru the crowd to where the stage was lit
Hawkers selling cheap wine, French cigarettes
They turned out all the lights
We tumbled to the ground
We took our chances, now there are no more
It could never be the same
Never be the same again
It could never be the same
And the hyena laughs again
WHAT DO WE DO WITHOUT T.V
What do we do without t.v
What do we do without satellite
What do we do
What do we do without shelter
What do we do without electric city
What do we do
What do we say when we're hungry
Who do we turn to when things get scary
What do we say
What do we do without money
What do we do without bank card fast car
What do we do
What do we do without t.v
LOOSE AND WILD
Power falls to those who wait
The centuries roll by and now it's time
Oh oh
The creature men will make you pay
Blood is pumping thru their veins
Oh oh
Cry and cry oh how we cry
Now we're loose and now we're wild
Oh oh
Hi-flying, whispering lies
Hung up, strung out, mesmerized
Oh no
Human, statuesque and golden
Take a bow the show is over
HUMAN PETS
And we wanna dance
Can you make us laugh
Can you jump so high
Can you move at all
And you wanna sing
Like you used to sing
But no'one can hear
So you'll just give in
Oh but we could never live this way
Ha
Ha
Ha
All lyrics by Richard Hiorns. Copyright Richard Hiorns 2005.
Album - Pieces of Earth
AINT THAT PRETTY
I was only ten years old
when I drove my first pick-up
Drove it down every dirt road
all around these back woods
Then a voice came on the radio
said 'baby better roll'
It's just like world war 3
and that's my Hollywood
Oh oh aint that pretty
don't it make you feel so proud
see the fireworks over the city
see the buildings burning down
Lessons never bothered me
I never felt the need to read
You're so dumb and I'm so free
with my 47 inch t.v
see the newsmen running through the field
see the ticker run across the screen
telling me I'd better watch my back
coz' some of them punks they just don't understand
(Chorus)
I was only twelve years old
when I wrecked my first Ford truck
some people they just get in the way
Can't they tell that I can't wait
Can't they tell that I been trained
Can't they tell I'm in demand
Can't they tell that I can't wait
Can't they tell that I'm the man
Can't they tell that I'm insane
(Chorus)
BLUE BANDANA
She wore a blue bandana she lived in a trailer
all of her friends they thought they could save her
I thought she looked ok but then she started talking
I turned away and I started walking
Said she and a friend that lived together
both found strange marks like blackbird feathers
I tried not to laugh coz' I was brought up right
It's funny tho' sometimes things work out right
I was mistaken
I was forsaken
I nearly lost my haven of pure disdain,
I nearly forgot where i came from
and it aint some Hawaiian drag
She nearly had me fooled
Nearly had me groomed
Nearly had me crying nearly had me in my tomb
In a world of glass and painted wax
nothing was made to last
They call her the witch
Call her the bitch
They call her at 3:am dreaming of what they missed
They call her the girl in the blue bandana
she'll come and go, leave you so helpless and so alone
FREAKS
Hanging on the corner
87 and Bird
I hear a voice calling my name and I can't understand a word
The city sucks on babies
It aint a city at all
Don't listen to the one-eyed beggar from the old mission hall
They're lining the bridge
They're lining the bridge
They're out on their own
They're out on their own
They're out on their own oh no
Sonny's down at the station
coz' its Saturday night
Steps out in front of a greyhound bus and his attorney's there in five
It's easy at the poolside
There's no'one left to beat
You just don't wanna even have to think about that shit when you're picking out ermine chic
(Chorus)
Well there's swamp all around and there underneath you
where someday you'll sink and no'one will know
that you wanna rule the world so bad it hurts
You get a heel to those (freaks)
You can't be that low (freaks)
Go where the freaks don't go
Where the freaks don't go
LOST
Tonight I'll dream I'm in London town
All will be fine on the underground and all around the buildings will still stand
When the boy takes on the man
The whole world laughs so hard the sun burns out and stars break down
Its all so very sad
Lost in the past and I'm losing tomorrow now
Tonight could be another chance
The wind is whistling but the leaves won't dance so run home fast
It's all a scam
Lost in the past and I'm losing tomorrow now
The rain is seeping through my skin and bones
I tried so hard to think of where I've been but I'm just getting cold
Lost in the past and I'm losing tomorrow now
NEVER LONELY
Hanging around by the harbor mouth
where the mail boats come in
bringing roses and kings
But I don't hear a thing
no engines roar, nobody calls
Just sitting a while
waiting for nothing
pulling my face up to the wind
And I'm never lonely
Running around and around some town
Seems familiar at times in the dead of night
But I'm stuck in the wind
hanging on to the trees
and you're on a trapeze
Some things never go right
Every time you try someone's beating and twisting your mind
There's always somebody wants something from me
And I'm never lonely
Just taking it slow
I've seen them come and I've seen them go
Never stay in the same place
Never lonely
And I'm never lonely
FACTORY TOWN
Born in a factory town
No'one ever thinks aloud
But when the police turn around it's time to dance
Stumbling on a gravel path
along the edge and 'round the back
faster than a bullet racing 'round and 'round
Wishing for a shining light
Dreaming of a summer night
Chasing every minute that could be the last
Living in a market town
Nothing ever gets me down
even though sometimes the drumming gets too loud
(Chorus)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Brother I know it's all gone to the stars
Sitting in the basement playing cards and steel guitars
A breeze blew through the doorway of every home across the land
We were only just children but we knew it had to end
Strangers came and took you far away
Atlanta, Georgia 1969
Oh brother I always knew, always knew you'd be coming back alive
I never thought i'd see the day I couldn't make you smile
Oh brother whatever happened to the laughter in your eye
Everybody got their story, nobody ever hear
Someone got it straight, can't speak through all the tears
We rode the wings of angels never turning from the sky
We tred the earth so softly always moving to the light
And now it all just might as well be dreams
Atlanta, Georgia 1969
Oh brother I always knew, always knew you'd be coming back alive
I never thought I'd see the day you'd have nothing to say
Oh brother whatever happened out there
I stood on street corners with my banner waving high
A shadow on the skyline weaved its way over the pine
Never bought the lie you needed to believe
Atlanta, Georgia 1969
Oh brother I always knew, always knew you'd be coming back alive
I just never thought I'd see the day you couldn't even try
Oh brother what happened to you
I GOT A KEY
I've never been behind the wall
but I've seen people go and never come back
I think they found home (I got a key and I'm gonna get back there)
They must have found home (Don't look at me like I'm not from around there)
And every day some more go down
I'll follow them when I am ten
I got a key and I'm gonna get back there
Don't look at me like I'm not from around there
I watch them go and they strap the bomb
I throw some stones at passing bones
(Chorus)
The soldiers call, I duck my head
I think they saw me now, I think I'm dead anyway
(Chorus)
One day I'll stumble through the door
a yankie bank or a convenience store
And in a flash I will be home
I got a key and I'm not alone
This isn't gold and this isn't tin
This is a rock, a ticking clock
(Chorus)
I got a key and I'm gonna get back there
My papa says that they're not from around there
TEXAN HOLE
Waiting at a light in Amarillo looking like I got time to kill
Sitting on a cloud I close my eyes, the pilot comes on, says, no'one will die today
If I ever get down
When I fly to the ground
When I'm back to the earth that I knew
When I'm rolling on by, when I'm rolling on through
Eleven days in the sun (No, nothing is wrong)
Just this Texan hole (And the days roll on)
A thousand miles to go, no, nothing is wrong
And the days roll on
A light breaks through another morning, twisters turn and blow the corn
This highway's taken better men, I'm wondering how and I'm wondering when
When I fly to the ground
When I'm back to the earth that I knew
When the clouds roll on by, when the clouds roll on through
Eleven days on the run (No, nothing is wrong)
Stuck in this Texan hole (And the days roll on)
A thousand miles to go just to find a home
And the days roll on
LEFT AND RIGHT
Brittle girl dancing through the light, we run like prairie fire, can't slow down
All asleep, hording bags of weed, batteries and beer, gone to ground
They said the dance is gonna end
I've been looking left and right but I aint seen nothing yet
It's all the same, slow and painful rain
blossom on the lane, takes your mind away
One day you fear you'll age and dissapear
somewhere that the eagles stake their claim
I've been looking left and right but I aint seen nothing yet
Brittle boy waits outside the crowd, edges of the town
and everything gets him down, talks about the proud, how things are breaking down
Gone to meet the strangers in his head
I've been looking left and right but I aint seen nothing yet
DRIFTER
When Spring is gone and nothing comes
you'll dream of days when souls are one
Scramble up the road and down the line
scanning worn out thoughts in place and in time
And you'll stand up take a look around but there's nothing left above the ground
people running everywhere but nothing moves
She'll make you think you want her bad
She seems to know, seems to understand
And you'll get ideas when she cracks her smile
but she's laughing at nothing, she lives in the sky
On the fading road you'll follow her down and you'll dream you want her more than anything now
always racing to the stop sign, always slowing too fast
And the rolling wheels will take you back home over fields that never held you down
You know it's always safer to pass it on by
LOOK AWAY
Look away - and tell me what you see
Look away - is it all just a dream
Amy Joe rolled into town, beat up caddy, windows down
bandages to hide the frown and all the perils all around
Look away
Look around - they're making plans for you
Look around - 'till there's nothing left for you
Billy Billy had a fright, someone told the biggest lie
They creep up in the dead of night and rob you of your sleeping mind
You'll wake to muttered slogans and you'll wear your tag with pride
Look around
PIECES OF EARTH
Drifting into another time when the world was safe and wild
You can't always tell when it's gonna come but you know, when it does, where to hide
There's a little town off highway 15, seems quiet and so green
Don't take much to blow the lid off, just a new face that don't quite fit in
There's a rumour 'bout some missing people, no'one knew their names
and no'one says nothing they just shake their heads when you try to find out anything
but Billy from the railyard don't care if the whole damn world knows
for there midst the cactus his brother lay cold
And out of the clear blue day and drawing ever near
A lot of things you'd rather keep buried 'neath the leaves
I've heard people saying that we live in dangerous times
but it only gets much worse when you know the reason why
You'd like to trust the things you hear and cheer when they tell you to
It's too much to even contemplate that it might not all be true
So smile at those that look like you and spit at those that don't
they're probably the ones they warned you to be weary of
and even if they're not, well it's something you always meant to do
The biggest coward always needs the biggest excuse
And out of the clear blue day and circling the fields
A lot of things are hard to keep buried around here
Some they speak of chem trails making everybody ill
and others say the water's poisoned and the meat is full of lead
I don't know if any of its true, and anyway, don't bother me
There's madness in the eyes of half the people I ever knew
Radio guy tells me beware of everything I hear
then he says they're cloning aliens over at the military base
I think he might be crazy but then who am I to say
You should beware of everything I say
And out of the clear blue day and no'one left to hear
A whisper of something we lost when everything was clear
Drifting into another time................
All lyrics written by Richard Hiorns. Copyright 2004.