All lyrics copyright © Neil R White 2019. All rights reserved.
Disenchanted Evenings
No Water Left
Barefoot through the broken glass, fencing with the world
Behind a mask of self-deception where the role became the man
The breakfast cigarette, and days are dazed from last night’s whisky bottle
Hours passing till the smokescreen dance repeats itself again
There’s no water left in the well
There’s no water left in this well
There’s no water left and only time will tell
The pointed finger, protest mouth, it’s just to shift the blame
To keep at bay the bitter harvest of a wasteland dark and cold
Moves of necessity, the nights are hidden deep within their armour
And there’s only thoughts of shelter when you hear the wild wind howl
There’s no water left in the well
There’s no water left in this well
There’s no water left and only time will tell
Every day the bug bites deeper, cutting to the core
Of every reason for believing there’s a reason to go on
The crippled victim of an unsung war, and weighed up in the balance
There is nothing much to offer, there is nothing to defend
There’s no water left in the well
There’s no water left in this well
There’s no water left and only time will tell
There’s no water left in the well
There’s no water left in this well
There’s no water left and only time will tell
Mama
Mama
Take me in from the storm
Mama
Hold my hand, keep me warm
I’m waterlogged and weary
I’m chilled right to the bone
My spirit’s down to empty
I been out there all alone
Mama
Take me in from the storm
Mama
Get me off of this street
Mama
Help me up, find my feet
I’m shell shocked and I’m shaken
I’m battered and I’m bruised
My world is in my pockets
All my wishes have been used
Mama
Get me off of this street
Hey, Mama
Make a place for my heart
Mama
Make me smile, that’s a start
I’m travel stained and tattered
I’m tangled and I’m torn
I’ve crawled a million weary miles
From the place where I was born
Mama
Make a place for my heart
Woh, Mama
Take me in from the storm
Mama
Hold my hand, keep me warm
I’m waterlogged and weary
I’m chilled right to the bone
My spirit’s down to empty
I been out there all alone
Mama
Take me in from the storm
Take me in from the storm
Keep On Trying
It’s an old and grainy photograph
With the colours leached away
A cold rain off the north wind
Blurs the outline of the day
The lines are smudged, the edges worn
It’s fading out, just shapeless forms
You’re lost at sea, you’re turning numb
But you cannot just succumb
You keep on trying
It’s been a long hard winter
And no summer is in sight
The road goes on for ever
And you’re tired of the fight
You turn the wheel, you roll the stone
The endless circles, sailed alone
Your dreams are dust, your hopes stillborn
Still you get up every morning
Keep on trying
You can be your own worst enemy
Digging out a deeper grave
You can go down with your sinking ship
But there’s nothing there to save
You cut the cards, you play your hand
You pay the bills and you make your stand
You reach out and you bleed some more
Isn’t that what living’s for?
You keep on trying
You keep on trying
You have no choice, you keep on trying
No, you can’t lay down and die, you keep on trying
Ooo
The Faces Change
Looking for a new horizon in the promised land
Caught between the empty highway and the desert sand
Toying with the deck of cards I’m holding in my hand
Another game of chance
And do I have to dance?
The faces change
The faces change
Somewhere in the distance, echoes of another time
Days beneath the sun and nights when all the reasons rhymed
Kicking off the traces, no more moving stairs to climb
One more coin in the wishing well
How long before they toll the bell?
The faces change
The faces change
Hoping for a change of heart on a distant shore
Sometimes I wonder if there’s anything that matters much anymore
You know I’ve seen the movie and sometimes I get bored
But we’ll turn another page
Same old role on a different stage
The faces change
Only the faces change
Come On Home
I guess it must be summer
’Cause the flowers are in the fields
But I’m still locked up in winter
Guess I’m still building up my shields
And the rain still falls in the darkness
When I lie here on my own
And I’m wond’ring where you might be now
If you remember a place called home
I guess you had your reasons
Though I can’t help wond’ring why
Just a few short lines and some empty space
That’s no way to say goodbye
And the sun comes up in the morning
And I feel so goddamn cold
So tell me what am I s’posed to do
With this great big empty hole
I’m asking you to stop awhile
And take a look behind
I can’t say that I don’t care
I really wish you’d change your mind
I’m telling you to look ahead
And see the road you’re on
Oh baby, won’t you come on home
I know I have to make some changes
But I can’t see where to start
Seems I can’t get free from the pieces
Of the dreams that fell apart
And the days roll by like a slow train
On a lonely circle line
And I can’t help thinking ’bout yesterday
When I thought that you were mine
I’m asking you to stop awhile
And take a look behind
I can’t say that I don’t care
I really wish you’d change your mind
I’m telling you to look ahead
And see the road you’re on
Oh baby, won’t you come on home
I guess it must be summer
’Cause the flowers are in the fields
But I’m still locked up in winter
Guess I’m still building up my shields
And the rain still falls in the darkness
When I lie here on my own
And I’m wond’ring where you might be now
If you remember a place called home
I’m asking you to stop awhile
And take a look behind
I can’t say that I don’t care
I really wish you’d change your mind
I’m telling you to look ahead
And see the road you’re on
Oh baby, won’t you come on home
Oh baby, won’t you come on home
Baby, won’t you come on home
A Kind Of Wisdom
You try to find a way
To pick a winner
In this crazy game we play
It’s a setup from the start
They tie your hands
And you don’t get to choose your part
And they don’t tell you ’bout the hard times
They sure don’t warn you ’bout the cost
And you haven’t learned a thing until you understand
Just what it is you’ve lost
It sometimes seems to me
We took a side road
This ain’t where we’re meant to be
Safe within your shell
It leaks, but you still pretend
That everything is well
You’re so afraid of being free
You clutch the ragged blanket that you call security
And nothing’s gonna change until you understand
You’ve always held the key
The fire’s burning low
I know it’s late
But there’s a place I’d like to go
Restless dreams all in my sleep
Something just out of reach
Something I’d like to keep
And I still can’t read the future
But I know too well the empty places that I’ve been
And I think at last I understand
What living means
Yeah, after all these years, and all these roads
I think I just might understand
Nothing Remains
The streets are dark and dirty
Beneath these ragged skies
The night is full of refugees
With cold and empty eyes
It’s a rocky road to nowhere
And it comes as no surprise
You lose again
No matter what you try
And it always ends the same
It all goes down in vain
There’s nothing that remains
The world outside your window
Is a bleak and lonely place
The colours of your rainbow
Disappeared without a trace
It’s a trash can filled with memories
That hurt too much to face
You came in last
In every single race
And it always ends the same
It all goes down in vain
There’s nothing that remains
The sunlight doesn’t warm you
And the rain won’t wash you clean
You can’t erase the scars
Left by the ugliness you’ve seen
It’s a cumulative poison
And a bad recurring dream
And it’s followed you
Most every place you’ve been
And it always ends the same
It all goes down in vain
There’s nothing that remains
Yeah, it always ends the same
It goes down in vain
Nothing remains
I Wanna Be With You
Outside it’s snowing
The whiskey’s almost gone
Got that same old hollow ache
You’ve been away for far too long
And I know that’s how the game goes
And I don’t mean to complain
But a part of me is missing
And I want it back again
Every day
And all the way
I wanna be with you
Some days go by so slowly
Though the years they fly so fast
I got too much time for thinking
And remembering the past
I used to want to run away
And hide out on my own
But loving you has changed me
I don’t wanna be alone
No, every day
And all the way
I wanna be with you
Looking through the pictures
At changes we’ve been through
These years we’ve had together
They’re the best I ever knew
We chose this road we’re travelling
I know it has to be this way
But I’m missing you so bad babe
I need you here today
Yeah, every day
And all the way
I wanna be with you
Yeah, each and every day
And all the way babe
I wanna be with you
Free Us
Baby was so bold, he took the leap out of the nest
He should have double-checked his wings, but now he had to do his best
There was no time to hesitate, there was no second chance, you tried
To stay afloat, the tide was rising and time wasn’t on your side
Contact comes and goes, you ride the static, watch and wait
Fear comes creeping in, there is a scratching at your gate
You check the clock, you realize that you have lost another day
There is a stranger in your mirror, but you turn his face away
Someone told you long ago the web would bind you tight
You felt rebellion in the wings, you knew you had to learn to fight
You took the golden rules apart, you thought there had to be a way
To strike a balance between what you gain and what you have to pay
Fortune ebbs and flows, things are not always what they seem
The slings and arrows strike you down, you float on down the stream
The empty highway calls you on, what do these twisted signposts mean?
You are a prisoner of our times, you are a cog in this machine
These worthless games can’t satisfy the hunger in your soul
You tried to undermine their fences, but they never lost control
There was no place along the line where you could stop and change your mind
Or look around, it was all here and now, but things got left behind
You are you and I am I, and nothing stands between us
But the echoes of our empty words, and nothing will redeem us
From the sum of our experience, and everyone can see us
In our folly and our wisdom, we are all the same, free us!
We should be free from all these ties that bind, leave it all behind
We ought to know by now, it’s all a state of mind
We should be living for tomorrow but we die for yesterday
We will never live in peace if we cannot change our ways
A Song On The Wind
I’ve grown tired of this prison
Gonna leave it behind
Head out to the mountains
And see what I find
Maybe build me a cabin
Where there aren’t any roads
Out in the wild country
Where nobody goes
A song on the wind
A song on the wind
I’ve done all the time
That I’m planning to do
I’ve cancelled my membership
Paid up my dues
Best of luck with your road
It was quite a strange ride
But I’m all out of faith
So I’m saying goodbye
Just a song on the wind
A song on the wind
I wanna live out my days
Holding close to the earth
I can see what we’ve built
And I know what it’s worth
But I’m trading it in
For a place with a view
Somewhere I can go
And forget about you
A song on the wind
Just a song on the wind
A song on the wind
