I love this one. Obviously it makes me think of First Boy, but it's also all of childhoods, our dreams and the certainties you have as a child and what happens to them.
Nope, no idea to this day (and I wrote it back in 1992) what or who this is about. But I know that Chisel's 'Tomorrow', specifically the 'newspaper men are using my name' line was the inspiration point.
Oh, and an obvious allusion to Bruce's 'Valentines Day' also at one point. Just one of my magpie efforts where I managed to make it good enough to deflect from what I (pretty directly) borrowed. Although I guess owning up to it in the last verse gives me a pass...?
This has brought back something I had buried deep down inside. A friend of my dad's wife died in a motorbike accident. He had been drinking and was left a widower with three children. God, I even remember their names, Adam, Vanessa & Harry.
Long Time Running
Thunder rolling on the open plain
Black smoke rising from a long freight train
A lonely rider under wind and rain
I'm a long time running, such a long time running
I'm a long time running from the ghost who'd
have me wear her chain
An old love song on the radio
Black geese flying when the cold winds blow
Summer surrendered to the ice and snow
I'm a long time running, still a long time running
I'm a long time running and I've still got
a long way to go
A lone biker in the pouring rain
Black crows laughing while they steal the grain
A hitchhiker in the breakdown lane
I'm a long time running, such a long time running
I'm a long time running but I'm still
chasing love in vain
Scarlet Rain
In this cesspit of madness where I was reborn
Explosions greet those who wake to face the dawn
Reduced to rubble, an orphan cries in pain
For God to release her from the scarlet rain
We're prisoners of anger, just prisoners of hate
Roll out our numbers and choose for us our fate
Tombstone heroes stretch out in a silent plain
From the daily ritual of the scarlet rain
In a nightmare of chaos, when some civilian dies
We're asked to burn feelings and maybe close our eyes
We're told they're heartless, we're told they have no name
Because their sons dance with us in the scarlet rain
You and I may meet yet
In the scarlet rain.
She Overheard
She overheard me talking to the sky
On a night when all the stars were glistening
Later in bed, she asked me why
If I thought there was no one out there listening
She said it seemed like something odd
To catch me praying in the evening dim
She said you don't believe in God
And I told her I wasn't talking to Him...
She overheard me crying late one night
In a peaceful dream of the old neighborhood
She said when she turned on the light
She saw upon my face my vanished childhood
She said I looked so young and calm
And I said it was all a blur
She said I know you miss your mom
And I said oh I wasn't dreaming of her...
She overheard me singing to myself
In the darkness with a vintage radio
I rescued from a thrift shop shelf
It only played the songs from a long time ago
She said I sang them all so well
But all those old songs made her sad and blue
Sometimes the truth is hard to tell
So I just said but I'm not singing to you
Days Gone By
Late summer breeze blowing hot August kisses
Kids on the block blowing dandelion wishes
A drink of water from a neighbor's garden hose
Creek-bottom mud squishing in-between our toes
And in the evening, fireflies like living embers
We swore we'd never forget, now no one remembers
How it felt to be young, just to run barefoot beneath blue sky
That was the time of our lives, now it's all days gone by
Wind through the trees whispers a chilly warning
Frost on the grass and car windows in the morning
Bright yellow slickers splash through puddles in the rain
Back-to-school blues only children can explain
We loved each other just like brothers that September
We swore we'd never forget and I still remember
How it was to be young, oh so young you think you'll never die
That was the time of our lives, now it's all days gone by
A winter storm and the first snow is falling
In the silence I hear my last summer calling
I build a fire, but I can't keep out the cold
When I was young I never dreamed I'd get this old
Looks like it's gonna be another long December
I swore I'd never forget and I still remember
How it felt to be young, to know love, to be born just to die
This was the time of my life and it's all days gone by
My Mother's Hands
Hers were the hands of love
Hers were the hands of pain
In one she held the sunshine
In the other, only rain
Hands that cooked our supper
Hands that washed the dishes
Sometimes they were empty
Sometimes full of wishes
And I was too young then to understand
That I was seeing time slip quickly
through my mother's hands
Hers were the hands that built
Hers were the hands that burned
In them she held the promise
Of a punishment well-earned
Hands that pulled our splinters
Hands that tied our laces
Hands in prayer to Jesus
Hands that smacked our faces
But I was still a boy, not yet a man
When I saw all the time fall softly
from my mother's hands
Hers were the hands at peace
Hers were the hands at rest
Hers were the hands of death
Crossed over her breathless chest
A Haunted Heart
My heart's a haunted house
My eyes are broken windows
My mind a darkened hall
Down which the autumn wind blows
Through empty rooms like tombs
From which no memory escapes
Where evening shadows gather
Cast in vaguely human shapes
And sing a deathly chorus
A long song of wailing moans
For all the love I buried here
In my graveyard of lost bones
Where you're my welcome guest
And I'm your charming host
My heart's a haunted house
And I'm its only ghost
Second Glance
I'm pushing 60 and it's pushing back
I'm still running hard, but I'm running out of time
Grey is the color of invisibility
But you should have seen me back when I was in my prime
Back when I was long and lean, oh how I could dance
I've lost a step or two, but I'm still worth a second glance
I'm just as handsome as I never was
Even if I'm scarred by time's lines upon my face
Age is the hunter of a man's mortality
But you might have loved me in another time and place
Back when I believed in love and true romance
I've lost a little faith, but I'm still worth a second glance
And if it's true that time is just a line
I'd walk it with you straight on to its very end
Death is the promise of an everlasting dream
One we all dream alone, but right now I could use a friend
Even if I'm old, don't I deserve a second chance
If I admit it's true that I look best at second glance
Nothing More
If I could be uplifted
By the things with which I'm gifted
Satisfied by what I've got
And not defined by what I'm not
That's more than I could ask for
And I would ask for nothing more
If all I'm ever blessed with
Are the clothes that I've been dressed with
Wealth enough to keep me fed
To keep a roof above my head
That's more than I could ask for
And I would ask for nothing more
Someone Knows My Name
Hey all you children, why haven't you been told
That polishing silver won't turn it to gold
You're all facing east with your heads in the sand
Upturned by the duststorm that's sweeping the land
The newspapers say that's it me who's to blame
Somebody, somewhere, somehow knows my name
But don't cast my memory too soon onto stone
You know I move fastest while travelling alone
You talk of commitment with no shoes on your feet
And a one guest reception at the end of the street
You can swim with your demons in a whisky and dry
But when you start drowning, don't ask me to cry
I've loved you for money and chased you in lust
Now my heart's full of feelings that I just can't trust
We sit out of danger and watch from the wall
We die once an hour and say nothing at all
So all you children, learn well from your time
That stealing ideas is no major crime
I've murdered my way into ungrounded fame
And someone, somewhere, somehow knows my name.
Ghost On The Back Of My Bike
She's a ghost on the back of my bike
On a desert highway when the ocotillo bloom
She's a dream in the darkness at night
Shifting shape on the sheets in a cheap motel room
She's a voice on the wind like a whisper
She's a name on my tongue like a blister
Left there the last time I kissed her
She's a cross on the side
Of the road where she died
A ghost on the back of my bike wherever I ride
Nobody's Valentine
All you hopeless romantics
With your bleeding hearts
Don't send around that cherub
With his fabled darts
No lover's arrow finds its mark
On a heart broken as mine
I'm nobody's fool
And I'm nobody's Valentine
I threw down all my roses
Some long years ago
And I drowned all my sorrows
In the tears that flow
Like salted memories that once
Once I knew a love so fine
I threw it all away
Now I'm nobody's Valentine
I Fucked Up
I fucked up a good goodbye
For the sake of being honest
I swore I'd never make her cry
But in the end I broke my promise
I wish she hadn't asked me why
But she did and so I told her
I looked her straight in the eye
When all I had to do was hold her
One last time before I went
And tell her one last white lie
I swear it wasn't my intent
But I fucked up a good goodbye
Child's World
Welcome to my kingdom
See my castles of sand
Won't you stay with me awhile
Draw some friendship from my hand
I wanna give you a piece
Of every dream I own
But their ain't that much
For our feet to touch
Can I give enough
Living in a child's world
Well, they forecast some rain
For forty days and nights
But you rocked me to sleep
And said it would be alright
There ain't nobody getting stronger
In this emotion flood
And come the break of day
As the shadows slip away
It's no curse to be afraid
Living in a child's world
That promise I felt, swimming in your mind
Left me confused with no place to hide
This fairground's a mess, it's rides closing down
I'm a lost boy asleep on some dusty ground
I've always looked both ways
While crossing your street of gold
But lately the drivers who pass
Are getting closer to my soul
Let me drink your forgiveness
I know all it's worth
And if I call for help
As I struggle within myself
There can be no one else
Living in a child's world.
Hellbent For Leather
Cold winter sunshine
Shimmers on the road ahead
I'm throwing sparks leaning into the curves
On a road built for the quick and the dead
My shadow chasing me along the mountainside
Hellbent for leather
Hellbent for leather I ride
Down through a canyon
Burning up a lonesome two-lane
I'm soaked clean through in the heart of a storm
Momma told me not to ride in the rain
Chain lightning flashes all across the countryside
Hellbent for leather
Hellbent for leather I ride
And them I'm flying
Over ghostly trucks and cars
I'm throwing sparks leaning into the curves
On a road beyond the moon and the stars
My demons chasing me across the sky's divide
Hellbent for leather
Hellbent for leather I ride
Snowflakes the size of cotton bolls
Glistening
Under the monochromatic yellow light
I stick my tongue out
To catch the pristine cold moisture
To feel alive
As nothing ever lasts
It just drips and fades away in time
Driving through the ruts
Without forethought
I must be going nuts
I can no longer watch
This idyllic glow of snow
Feeling too decadent
For such fragile beauty
I close my eyes...
We laugh
I run my fingers through
Your ten-day stubble
My body reacts
Inescapable
Trouble, trouble, trouble
Sucker For A Sunset
I'm still a fair shake in a fist fight
But we could talk it out and walk away
I'm a good companion for a long night
But I get sleepy come the break of day
I might not be who you're looking for
And if I am, you haven't found me yet
But you might find me come the evening
on a desert hillside
I'm still a sucker for a sunset
I've been a seeker on a long road
But I might stay and settle down someday
I've lived my life faithful to my own code
But who's to say that mine's the only way
I might not be who you've got in mind
But if you think of me, just don't forget
That you can find me come the evening
watching the horizon
I'm still a sucker for a sunset
Tough Guys Don't Dance
Tough guys don't dance, real men don't cry
But you put the beat in my step and a tear in my eye
And I might fall in love, but I'll go down swinging
You'll know I'm in it when you wake up late at night
and find me on the front porch singing
Some old cowboy song
About the things a man shouldn't do if he wants to be strong
All that macho shit, it goes down hard
But you're still afraid to admit that you've been badly scarred
And you might fall again, but you'll go down fighting
You'll know love's found you when you wake up next to her
and feel like you've been struck by lightning
When you've done enough
Of all the things a man shouldn't do if he wants to be tough