Can a Poor Man Get a Fair Trial?
1. WONDERFUL TO SEE
2. THE OLD CRONE IN THE FOREST
3. NO OTHER BIRD
4. THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN
5. PRINCE OF DREAMS
6. THE ASSASSIN
7. THE KING AND THE PAUPER
8. BACK TO LIFE
9. THE SNAKE
10. THE CRIMINAL
11. THE JESTER
12. EVERY DAY HAS TROUBLES OF ITS OWN
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Wonderful to See
If I never saw the dawn I’d know you look the way the first bird of dawn sings
Just like the spring
If I never saw the ocean I’d know you love me the way the waves come collapsin’
You do me in
You’re wonderful to see
You’re nothing less than a gift of God to me
Sometimes when you’re close you’re far away and when you’re far away you’re near
Right in my ear
Sometimes it seems like there’s so many things about you that are never gonna die
And I know why
You’re wonderful to see
You’re nothing less than a gift of God to me
Mr. Franks came into town sayin’ everything he touched was his to own
And his alone
He sent some flunkies in a van to us and they all commanded us to bow
But we didn’t know how
You’re wonderful to see
You’re nothing less than a gift of God to me
Sunlight shimmering on a stream, I don’t know if it’s a memory from the past
Or from a dream
But there’s something in this vision of golden warmth that seems to be all tied up with you
Out in the blue
You’re wonderful to see
You’re nothing less than a gift of God to me
The Old Crone in the Forest
The old crone lived in the forest with her daughter beautiful and kind
When the young men came around for her she kept her daughter so confined
“Are you strong enough to hold her? Can you give more than you take?
Until you prove these things to me, my daughter’s hand you’ll never take.”
“I’m strong enough to hold her, I will give more than I get
If you give your daughter’s hand to me I’ll be forever in your debt.”
The old crone left the room and changed herself into the form
Of her daughter’s body and walked back through the door
Her beauty captured the young man’s heart like a bird inside a snare
He could hardly believe the heaven that confronted him there
“Will you give your life, your love,” she said, “will you give your soul to me?”
“I will give my life, my love,” he said, “I will give my soul to thee.”
At that the old crone laughed and her beauty fell aside
“No man who’d give his soul away will ever have my daughter for his bride.”
The young man struck the old crone down and ran up the stairs
To the daughter’s bedroom and found that it was bare.
The old crone lived in the forest with her even older slave
In a house the villagers pass by as if it was a grave
Staring at each other across a room so paralysed and still
With the fading memory of beauty and an eternity to kill
No Other Bird
Like a bird caught in a storm a long long way from home
Clouds of darkness without form have attacked you where you roam
But someday when the clouds part, like curtains before a screen
You’ll look anew into a blue no other bird has seen
Like a bird who flies too high and is flung back down to earth
You’ve been stranded high and dry where nothing is of worth
Later on, when the wounds have healed from the pain of wisdom known
You’ll fly high across a sky no other bird has flown
Nothing is forever
Not even forever
Green pastures of August
Are not found in December
Fly on, fly on, fly on my friend – why live if you’re not free?
Fly on somewhere beyond the end where you can be what you deserve to be
The skies are clear, the sun is bright, nothing’s encumbering you
The time has come to take flight and do what no other bird can do
The Old Man of the Mountain
There was an old man and he lived in the mountain
Though everyone around him thought he lived with them
He believed everybody was an enemy
Till they could be proved to be friend
He had a house full of treasure and plenty
But inside he was empty as a well gone dry
And all the people around him were shadows
Their word were echoes that faded as they died
A salesman came and approached him
And broached to him a brand new plan
“I believe your plan has much chance of success,
I wish to invest in it” said the old man
The old man and the salesman went into business
They amassed their riches from sea to sea
But the salesman had eyes like claws
The only law he knew was gravity
He took the satchel with the profits in it
And he made off with it to the border
But the old man of the mountain knew what was happenin’
He had the sheriff chase and capture him in short order
The salesman got a life sentence
The old man went back to the mountain, glad that justice was done
But when he got there he found his house was empty
All the treasure and plenty was gone
All the people around him picked up the old man of the mountain
And they took him inside
Gave him food and water, and for a long time he lived there
Till many years later he died.
Prince of Dreams
If I was the prince of dreams and you were my princess
I would clothe my love in robes of red and grant you all your wishes
We’d ride my horse of colours up the mountainside and visit
All the cities of gold that taunt us with their beauty and their distance
After we’d been cleansed by rain
And purified by fire
We’d find our village far below
And quietly retire
And we would live there humbly, wanting nothing, finally free
In love forever, if I was the prince of dreams
But I am not the prince of dreams nor even a relation
I’m just another toiler in the vineyard of creation
I don’t have no special answer for this or any situation
I can’t save you from your sorrow or from your expectation
And I do not know the prince of dreams
I’ve only heard his laughter
In the night before I touch you
In the light the morning after
When we rise and find our perfect love has left us lost at sea
He is standing in the shadows, prince of dreams
But you and I we can’t look back, we’ve only got each other
And this love that sometimes wounds us, sometimes heals the wounds we suffer
There’ll be days the sky may crush us till there’s nothing left to offer
And nights our love is glowing like a candle on an altar
But when I take you by the hand
And look into your eyes
And see an endless emptiness
Nothing could satisfy
Then I know it’s he you take me for
Of please do not mistake me for
The one I’ll never be, the prince of dreams
The Assassin
The Assassin tracked his prey down to a dark and hidden place
Sayin’ “I don’t wanna hit you from behind, turn around so I can see your face.”
His prey turned around and greeted him with a smile:
“Glad to make your acquaintance, I know you’ve been following me for miles.
“This thing you’re gonna do, I know you’ll do it fast
I know you’re a busy man, you have no time to pass
I’ve seen your work before, I know you know what to do
You’ve been practising for years – well, I have too
“You’ve taken out the mighty, you’ve taken out the rare
Some left this world with a curse, some left it with a prayer
But you don’t care about that, you’re just trying to do your job
To destroy what you can’t defeat, to steal what you can’t rob.
“And you don’t dare to think of what you’re accomplishing
You keep yourself so busy to hide the fact you do nothing
For all your expertise, for all the harm you’ve done
You’re like a child lifting up his finger to blot out the sun.”
In a blaze of fire the assassin did his job and stole away
To another rendezvous, then one day he died and was buried beside his prey
Their tombstones together in a dark and haunted place
Covered up by ivy that joined them in embrace
The King and the Pauper
There was a king who had everything
Everything except what he truly desired
He could make the evening stars sing
But he couldn’t make them sing in a choir
He had every type of invention and device
To utilize for his pleasure
He had privilege and influence on ice
To toy with at his leisure
He knew the world and his role in it
He had control and he knew what to control with it
The king rode in his carriage down the lane
And came upon a pauper lying there
“I can’t move,” the pauper said “my foot is sprained
Would you kindly go around me if you care?”
The king said “I will not go around”
Told his men to move the pauper off the road
But though all the men bent down
It seemed they just could not get ahold
They couldn’t lift him up
So the king got angry
Said “Get out of the way I’ll do it myself, God help me”
He struggled till his face was red
The pauper just lay there and smiled
“By what magic do you do this?” the king said
“There is no magic,” said the pauper, “you’re a child.”
“I insist you tell me now,” said the king
“Or else I will have you killed.”
The pauper laughed “You can’t do anything
You never did and you never will
I don’t believe in your system
That divides, that excludes
In the name of liberty
And I’ll never move till it ceases to be.”
The king said “I insist you tell me now”
“Alright” the pauper said, and leapt up to his feet
And instructed the king to lie down
As he climbed up to the carriage seat
Up behind the clouds there was a rumbling
As the pauper took up the reins
And drove the carriage round the king
As he made his way from his domain
And the king lying on the ground
Watched as the future of his kingdom unwound.
Back to Life
When the day is too long
And I can’t carry on
When I’m waiting for the night
There’s a tune that I hear
Whispering softly in my ear
Your love sings me, your love brings me
Back to life
Can’t remember where I’ve been
Genghis Khan or Gunga Din
I’m only hitchin’ this ride
But no matter where I am
I’m only livin’ for the time when
Your love sings me, your love brings me
Back to life
I was in the whirlwind
Till you reeled me in again
I was almost blown away
When I’m starin’ at the wall
When I’m nowhere at all
As if I’d never seen the light
When I’m naked and alone
You roll away the stone
Your love sings me, your love brings me
Back to life
The Snake
The maiden went out walkin’ down by the shore
She met a snake who said “Kiss me, I’ll give you what you never had before”
“Oh no” said the maiden, “I’ve heard about this
And I know how it ends, you’ll have to go someplace else to get that kiss”
“Oh no” said the snake “I’ve got what you want”
The maiden said “Don’t taunt me” The snake said “It’s no taunt”
The maiden said “Can you give me money?”
The snake said “I’ve got no money it’s true
But I can give you what everybody in the world pursues
It brings countries into ruin, it brings nations to their knees
It makes strong men beg for mercy, makes women’s hearts turn cold and freeze
It makes the babies cry, stops the tiger in its tracks
It’s the last sight a beggar sees as he goes slidin’ through the cracks
To the bottom of the barrel, in the shadow of the noose
In the trenches of the war for which there is no truce
In the broken, bloodied streets and in the widow’s dust
In the courtroom of the law that is neither kind or just”
“Alright,” said the maiden, “I’ve heard about this all I can take”
She shrugged and bent down to kiss the lips of the snake
Just then her jealous suitor came over the hill with an axe
Chopped the head off of the snake, took the maiden’s hand and took her to task
They got married and one by one the days they slowly crept
They had a son and later on he murdered them as they slept.
The Criminal
“Off with his head! Off with his head!”
Said the queen but the prince said “Why not reconsider?
Don’t forget he still owes us some bread
Why not get the money now and kill him later?”
“Hey” said the queen, “that’s a good idea
“Take him down to the dungeon and torture him till he starts talkin’”
“Alright” said the prince, “well, I guess I’ll see ya”
Said to the criminal: “Come on, big boy, let’s start walkin’”
They went down to the dungeon where they saw Joe
“Hey Joe, are you busy?” “Well, yes I guess you could say so
This torturin’ is big business you know
And I never dreamed that it could pay so.”
“Fair enough well here’s another customer,” said the prince
“Work him over and we’ll see what he shows us.”
“Just the usual?” asked Joe. “Yeah, within an inch!
We gotta get the lowdown on some money that he owes us”
Just then the criminal spoke up and said “It’s the queen –
I gave the money to her though she told me not to say it to ya
Why don’t you go and ask her if she knows what I mean?
Who knows – maybe she’ll even pay it to ya.”
“Alright” said the prince, “I’ll take your word although I hate it
But if I find you’ve been lyin’ you’re gonna get it worse, I warn ya”
He ran up to the queen’s chambers but found they were vacated
She’d run off with her husband’s brother to California
The prince ran back to the dungeon spitting with his rage,
Looked around in vain to find the man who upset him so
“Where’d he go?” he said to Joe, “How’d he escape from the cage?”
“He didn’t escape,” said Joe “I let him go.
“Come to think of it I’m not too happy ‘bout all this torturing you’ve made me do
With no pension plan for all these years
You’ve taken advantage of me,” said Joe as he looked down at his shoes
“You’ve never paid attention to my tears.”
“Oh come now, Joe,” said the prince “there’s no need to get riled
You won’t get a notion to torture me now will ya?”
“I’m not gonna torture you,” Joe told him with a smile:
“I’m gonna torture you, I’m gonna kill ya.”
The Jester
There was a jester who couldn’t make anybody laugh
So he was always out of work
People thought his jokes were too clever by half
And when he told them he sounded like a jerk
He walked down the street with his family behind him
They had no place to go ‘cause he didn’t have any money
Lookin’ in garbage cans to see what was inside them
All because he wasn’t funny
There was a man who never happy
Though everybody thought he should have been
He had love, he had money, he had family
But no evidence of happiness was seen
Nobody around him could remember
The last time they ever saw him laugh
Somebody thought they saw him smile one September
But that just turned out to be gas
The man who was never happy met the jester who was never funny
And they really hit it off
The man who was never happy took the jester in and gave him money
And set his kids up in a loft
The man who was never happy loved the jester who was never funny
Because he didn’t have to feel bad about bein’ sad
The jester who was never funny loved the man who was never happy
‘Cause when he couldn’t make him laugh he didn’t have to feel bad.
They lived together till the age of a hundred and five
And they died on the very same night
Their funeral was broadcast everywhere live
And the people watched it far and wide
And as the caskets were being carried out by the bereaved
They slipped and went shooting down the stairs like roller coasters
And were smashed to pieces in the middle of the street
As the whole world rocked with laughter.
Every Day Has Troubles Of its Own
There’s an old man starin’ at the setting sun
Wonderin’ to himself if it’ll be the last one
The days are getting shorter, shadows are lengthening
He feels it in his bones he might not make it to the spring
But he looks up to the sky and he sees a ray
No doubt in his mind it’s gonna take him away
Jesus says every day has troubles of its own
You’re born alone, you die alone
Nothing’s written in stone
When you’re born or when you’re grown
She’s lookin’ for her husband, if he’s still alive
She waiting for something that will never arrive
He’s another casualty, one among scores
Of another war, in a world of many wars
She looks up at the sky and she sees a ray
No doubt in her mind it’s gonna take her away
Jesus says every day has troubles of its own
You’re born alone, you die alone
Nothing’s written in stone
When you’re born or when you’re grown
A little baby’s lookin ‘round with eyes as wide as the sun
Sittin’ on her mama’s lap on a subway run
She sees the dirt and the trash, the people tired and bored
Like she’s lookin’ at silver and gold and jewels and bright coloured clothes
On dukes and ladies in the palace of the lord
And she looks up in the sky and she sees a ray
No doubt in her mind it’s gonna take her away
Jesus says every day has troubles of its own
You’re born alone, you die alone
Nothing’s written in stone
When you’re born or when you’re grown
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