richard hiorns

Album - Nothing Easy

FREEDOMS NOT A WORD

Well 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 recognise 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