as karin mentioned (and you played the game just fine karin )...

Maria McKee - Panic Beach

Well the dog act got drunk again last night
The king and queen of the waltz clog team had another fight
The king was careless with his tango grip, nearly lost his queen in a dip
Yeah she righted herself, straightened out her slip and kicked him in the shin
Miss Billy Begonia thinks she’s hit the “Big Time”
She wants a thick red rug from the dressing room door to the frontline of the footlights
She’s got a sky blue swansdown powder puff and a corset to keep her spirits up
Yeah she don’t sweat, she sours and melts like ice cream in the sun
She’ll be out of a job at the end of this three week run
We’re having fun out here on Panic Beach
All the vaudeville bums are here out on Panic Beach
I hear them talk about the Palace but it’s so far out of reach
So I’ll do my time then say goodbye to Panic Beach
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

The visionary theatric strikes a juggler’s seesaw tune
And the dying swan pirouettes and fawns to the light of the street lamp moon
When my trunk is filled with taffeta those “Big Time” hacks won’t laugh at us
When my taps are made of silver I can make the kiddies thrill for just one buck and wing
Yeah, I will nail them to my heel and the Panic Choir sings
Here comes a lucky little thing to Panic Beach
Yeah you know we got to teach him how to sing while we’re stuck on Panic Beach
Ah the way ya hear ‘em say it, doesn’t seem so outta reach
So I’ll do my time then say goodbye to Panic Beach
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

Well, the landlord gets a free show every Saturday at six
Sometimes on a Sunday, all dependin’ on whatever kinda mood he’s in
I keep his glass filled up with sherry and sing him all his favorite songs
If a tear comes to his eye he may let a month go by before he takes away my key
Oh that sherry starts to taste real good to me
Hey mama look at me on Panic Beach
I may be hungry but my rent is free up on Panic Beach
Yeah I can almost see the Palace no longer outta reach
So I’ll do my time then say goodbye to Panic Beach
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

and one of my favorites by ms. mckee...

Maria McKee - Dixie Storms

I received a letter like so many others
Mama said “How’s life in the city, my your sister’s grown
And you’ve just missed those awful Dixie Storms
Thank God they’ve passed, those dreadful Dixie Storms”

I left so long ago I’ve forgotten just what for
Except when a big city beckons you have no choice but to go
And here, there are no Dixie Storms

And the smoke on the street makes me wonder why I stay away
From those gentle Dixie Storms

When I was younger how I did wonder
What made the sweet Georgia rain make me feel so warm
And how God made a Dixie Storm
And how I loved those Dixie Storms

And the rumble in the sky
brings a shudder to my soul
Oh how I love those Dixie Storms

Underground Army ~ Anastacia


I'll be a soldier for you,
protect you and the city surrounding too,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me too,
I'll be a soldier for you

Lost in your still, rolling down hill,
but you cannot see why,
nothing makes sense when every minute spent,
is fighting the down slide,
but think of this phase, as running out of days,
and we'll get through the mean time,
the road is long, forces strong,
but it will be alright

And ill feel better when you feel better and..

I'll be a soldier for you,
protect you and the city surrounding too,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me too,

I'll be a soldier for you,
go first in all that you do,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me...too

Can't trust the view, that lense is fooling you,
you see half when there's whole,
so I'll stick around and help you figure out,
these situations come and go,
we've come to an end but there's much to defend,
just think of what we have known

And ill feel better when you feel better..

I'll be a soldier for you,
protect you and the city surrounding too,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me too,

I'll be a soldier for you,
go first in all that you do,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me to

And ill feel better when you feel better too,
i will..

I said I..
I'll be a soldier for you,
protect you and the city surrounding too,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me too,

I'll be a soldier for you,
just say you want me too,
i said ill be your soldier,
your underground army will be swarming,
if you just say you want me..
too, woah wo woah

I said and ill feel better when you feel better.. too



there is something about the conviction in this song that always makes me stop pause and listen whenever it crosses my iPod or cd player.. truly gripping for me (oh and can I just add that the entire Cole Porter songbook should also be placed in this thread... it deserves it!)

Pictures of You - The Cure

I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel

Remembering
You standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear
Remembering
You running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go

Remembering
You fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark
Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything

If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I'd thought of the right words
I wouldn't be breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you

There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Not at all indicative of the Airplane - a great American folk song by Jorma sung by & he & Grace Slick & ending on such an optimistic note "And sunshine's waiting for me a little further down the road"

Third Week in the Chelsea
by Jorma Kaukonen

Sometimes I feel like i am leaving life behind
My hands are moving faster than the movement of my mind
Thoughts and generations of my dreams are yet unborn
I hope that I will find them 'fore my moving gets too worn
If only I could live to see the dawning of the dawn
So we go on moving trying to make this image real
Straining every nerve not knowing what we really feel
Straining every nerve ending and everybody sees
That what they read in the Rolling Stone has really come to be
And trying to avoid a taste of that reality
On an early New York mornin' a mirror in the hall
Showed to me a face I didn't know at all
Lines were drawn around a pair of eyes that opened wide
When I looked into the mouth there was nothing left inside
So I walked into the little room and whistled like a sigh
As dawn light closed around me my head was still in gear
Thinking thoughts of playing more and singing loud and clear
Trying to reach a friend somewhere and make that person smile
Maybe pull myself away from that old lonesome mile
That often comes to haunt me in the morning
All my friends keep telling me that it would be a shame
To break up such a grand success and tear apart a name
But all I know is what I feel whenever I'm not playin'
Emptiness ain't where it's at and neither's feeling pain
Well now what is going to happen now is anybody's guess
If I can't spend my time with love I guess I need a rest
Time is getting late now and the sun is getting low
My body's getting tired of carryin' another's load
And sunshine's waiting for me a little further down the road

Conversation With The Devil by Ray Wylie Hubbard

I had a dream last night I was cast into Hell by a jealous God
The Devil walked up and said you don't need no lightning rod
It hardly ever rains down here I can't recall the last storm
You aint gonna need that leather jacket it gets kinda warm
There's one way in there's no way out looks like you're to stay
The place is a mess, it's overcrowded, more are coming in everyday.

I said ah man, wait a minute there's gotta be something wrong
I aint a bad guy just write these little songs
I always pay my union dues don't stay in the passing lane
And he said what about all that whiskey and the cocaine
I said well yeah but that's no reason to throw me in Hell
'Cause I didn't use the cocaine to get high, I just liked the way it smelled.

He said come on over here son, let me show you around
Over there's where we put the preachers, I never liked those clowns
They're always blaming me for everything wrong under the sun
It aint harder to do what's right, it's just maybe not as much fun
Then they walk around thinking they're better than me and you
Then they get caught in a motel room doing what they said not to do.

Now the murderers and the rapists they go in this firey lake
As well as most of the politician's and the cops on the take
And all the mothers that wait to get to KMart to spank their kids
Instead of showing what to do what's right, they just hit 'em for what they did
And all the daddy's who run off and abandon their daughters and sons
Anybody that hurts a child is gonna burn until they're done.

Everybody is down here I said who's up in Heaven with God and the Son?
Oh some saints and mystics and students of metaphysics 101
People who care and share and love and try to do what's right
Beautiful old souls who read little stories to their babies every night
What you won't find up in Heaven are christian coalition right wing conservatives
Country program directors and Nashville record executives.

Now I said I've made some mistakes, but I'm not as bad as those guys
How can God do this to me or can't he sympathize?
He said you're wrong about God being cruel and mean
God is the most loving thing that's never been seen
I said hotshot tell me this which religion is the truest?
He said they're all about the same, Budda was not a Christian, but Jesus
woulda made a good buddist.

Well, I thought about my future I didn't seem to have much of one
I looked around to leave but there was no place to run
I said I don't suppose I could go back and try living again?
You know like reincarnation I hear that's the way it's always been
I can't answer that he said you're gonna have to wait for that response
But it's not any more unusual to be born twice than it is to be born once.

Well, it looked like I was gonna be stuck here as far as I could tell
I thought I might as well suck up you know what the hell
I said you know that song that Charlie Daniels did?
About how you went down to Georgia and played fiddle against that kid?
He said yeah it broke my heart but you know what are you gonna do
I said to tell you the truth I thought your solo was the better of the two.

Well, then I woke up and I was lying in my bed
I went upstairs and kissed my little boy on his sleeping head
I took this dream as a sign from God so I thought I'd better pray
I said don't ever speak to me directly and thanks anyway
Now so much has changed about me besides me just giving up red meat
Some get spiritual cause they see the light and some cause they feel the heat.

Now, who on this forum wouldn't think these lyrics are the best:

Meet me in Chicago
Down by the water line
Step across the gold coast
To my heart and to your wine
Maybe Cincinnati
With a trip in the morning light
Step across the branches
I will follow you Over The Rhine

Mat Kearney - Chicago