I dunno if the blink of an eye Measures the time between hello and goodbye Opaque signs beckoning us on March in time closer to the dawn Where the sun always shines and happiness is mine I dunno And I dunno if collective fantasy Is enough to set the captives free Bound in chains shackled with remorse Fashion slaves riding the gift horse Where the sun always shines and happiness is mine I dunno All these things that I can’t see unless I close my eyes tightly If I try I can see I can see a million miles Across the sea to a land of manic smiles Where caustic hands are grabbing for their share Two fisted minds clutching at the air Where the sun always shines and happiness is mine I dunno All these things that I can’t see unless I close my eyes tightly I dunno why salvation’s bought and sold Redemption in exchange for gold But payments of bribery alone Won’t guarantee a place closer to the throne Where the sun always shines and happiness is mine I dunno I dunno if I can count how many times I’m hypnotized by seductive rhymes Words of love whispered soft and low Torrid scenes in some Bali-wood show Where the sun always shines and happiness is mine I dunno Oh where the sun always shines and happiness is mine I dunno

Hey now Betty Lou what’s come over you You don’t act the way you used to Come on Betty Lou what’s wrong with you You don’t love me like you’re ‘sposed to Quarter-back and the prom queen You were the cheerleader of my passion dreams But a careless night without a glove Led me down the aisle pledging eternal love Come on Betty Lou what’s come over you You don’t act the way that you used to Ahh Betty Lou what’s wrong with you You don’t love me like you’re ‘sposed to Mortgaged life in a single-wide Busted cars parked outside But when the local called a strike I saw them picket lines All around the life I thought was mine Come on Betty Lou what’s come over you You don’t act the way that you used to Come on Betty Lou what’s wrong with you You don’t love me like you’re ‘sposed to With your diaper breath and bloodshot eyes You wonder why I stay out all night But when the baby cries with hunger pangs I gotta get out here before I go insane Ahh Betty Lou what’s come over you You don’t act the way that you used to Come on Betty Lou what’s wrong with you You don’t love me like you’re ‘sposed to

A long time ago in another life There was someone I knew Who would carry on stand up strong And always pull on through But I turned around hard as I look I can’t find him anywhere The past is gone and I can’t hold on can’t find my way Back there There was a time when it seemed so clear The way to go and how to be Keep your mind on a dream to last It always seemed right in front of me But I turn around hard as I look I can’t find it anywhere The past is gone and I can’t hold on can’t find my way Back there I need a flashing neon sign Pointing out the way Take a left maybe turn right Hey don’t you know it’s okay But I turn around hard as I look I can’t find it anywhere The past is gone and I can’t hold on can’t find my way Back there I wanna find my way back to that place Where everything is clear But I feel like I’m drowning in an ocean of doubt Getting worse year after year Well I turn around hard as I look I can’t find it anywhere The past is gone and I can’t hold on can’t find my way Back there Oh I’m lost in a storm Where did I go wrong Can’t find my way home

As day is done a crimson fiery sun Spreads a last farewell across the sky Drenching light rays of golden rose Scorching memories of lives gone by Smoldering with intent To reach back and touch yesterday Gambling time forsaken to the wind Always betting on a losing hand Guarded hearts a lovers game of chance The winners names are written in the sand With rippled fists clenched in rage The losers’ clutch at yesterday Selfish ones festooned with desire Forgetting everything in the mirror Games go on blinded by the chase A murky path that used to seem so clear Not looking back to far enough to see The lessons of yesterday And through the years the heart loses it’s way Eventually forgetting how to fly Distant cries of loves that used to be Echoes all across the evening sky But a shadow from goodbyes Has fallen across yesterday And now the past forever frozen in time Remains as distant as the twilight sun Parting words like salvos to the heart Malevolently fired on the run Linger on eternally Trying to remake yesterday

Stray raven, stray raven out in the night Won’t see your shadow ‘til the morning light Trying your wings for the very first time Just to see how high you can climb Seventeen years of crossed-off days On calendar pages counting the ways They’ve kept you in cages with no room to grow Spread your wings and fly away Stray raven, stray raven out in the night Won’t see your shadow ‘til the morning light Trying your wings for the very first time Just to see how high you can climb Four walls in the prison of a shared bedroom Looking out the window, reaching for the moon A voice is calling, “Come away with me now” Spread your wings and fly away Stray raven, stray raven out in the night Won’t see your shadow ‘til the morning light Trying your wings for the very first time Just to see how high you can climb Now you’re out on the wire, which way will you go? Back home through the window, open below? Or out, beyond, into the unknown? Spread your wings and fly away Stray raven, stray raven out in the night Won’t see your shadow ‘til the morning light Trying your wings for the very first time Just to see how high you can climb Oh, how high can you climb?

Lyrics at http://www.richiereinholdt.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=164

Too many nights in the smokehouse station With the walking wounded crying out for more Filling their tanks with the same old favorites Beer-soaked requests stuck to the floor Too many miles on a one-way ticket Littered with plastic cups of foam Stone-cold hotties concerned with their hotness Only equal heat can take them home Will it all come clean in the wash, hung out on the line Is there enough soap in the machine to wash away the time? Compositional word restrictions outshining all other tales of woe Claiming all the spoils of valor bravehearts stacked up head to toe Too many street signs pointing at favors expected to fill the empty void Wrapped securely in layers of denial And buried deep so it won’t make noise Harmonic rumblings from the captains’ corner Saluting visions of glory days Weeknight warriors from the rank and file Melodic content drowned in the haze Steering the ship through bluesman waters But never quite reaching the port on time When you begin at the end just to start all over Chases off all the rest in line Because a square peg never fits in the round hole Retelling tales of wonderous deeds And there’s too much history shaping the image When the suspects come to the trough to feed When it comes to leaving or staying too long Will the wasted masses require goodbyes From a fading vision of wishful greatness All of your questions wiil be answered with lies Will it all come clean in the wash, hung out on the line Is there enough soap in the machine to wash away the slime?

Look out, Mama, there's a white boat comin' up the river With a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail I think you'd better call John, 'Cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail And it's less than a mile away I hope they didn't come to stay It's got numbers on the side and a gun And it's makin' big waves. Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy-Lou So the powers that be left me here to do the thinkin' And I just turned twenty-two I was wonderin' what to do And the closer they got, The more those feelings grew. Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin' He told me, Red means run, son, numbers add up to nothin' But when the first shot hit the docks I saw it comin' Raised my rifle to my eye Never stopped to wonder why. Then I saw black, And my face splashed in the sky. Shelter me from the powder and the finger Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger Think of me as one you'd never figured Would fade away so young With so much left undone Remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her.

When you're lost in the rain in Juarez And it's Eastertime too And your gravity fails And negativity don't pull you through Don't put on any airs When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue They got some hungry women there And they really make a mess outa you. Now if you see Saint Annie Please tell her thanks a lot I cannot move My fingers are all in a knot I don't have the strength To get up and take another shot And my best friend, my doctor Won't even say what it is I've got. Sweet Melinda The peasants call her the goddess of gloom She speaks good English And she invites you up into her room And you're so kind And careful not to go to her too soon And she takes your voice And leaves you howling at the moon. Up on Housing Project Hill It's either fortune or fame You must pick up one or the other Though neither of them are to be what they claim If you're lookin' to get silly You better go back to from where you came Because the cops don't need you And man they expect the same. Now all the authorities They just stand around and boast How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms Into leaving his post And picking up Angel who Just arrived here from the coast Who looked so fine at first But left looking just like a ghost. I started out on burgundy But soon hit the harder stuff Everybody said they'd stand behind me When the game got rough But the joke was on me There was nobody even there to bluff I'm going back to New York City I do believe I've had enough.

I heard voices in the rain clear as can be now Voices in the rain who could it be now who could it be Raining so hard lightning flashing Thought I heard something out in the dark Cats in the street or the pouring rain Maybe just the joint in my hand I heard voices in the rain clear as can be now Voices in the rain calling to me now calling to me What was that an argument Silent scream in the air Whispering voices calling my name There it is I heard it again Sounds like voices in the rain calling to me now Voices in the rain who could it be now who could it be now yeah The ever silent concrete porch Quivering in the storm Thundering showers like a banshee cry Pelting the streets with pain Sounds like voices in the rain who could it be now Voices in the rain calling to me now There’s something out there waiting for me now Who could it be But the drowning village sleeps right on through Echoing with the sound The ghost of the soldier And the roar of his gun Sounds like voices in the rain calling to me now Voices in the rain screaming at me now calling to me now There’s something out there waiting for me now calling to me now Was it her was it him was it him now Struck by lightning struck by lightning