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Jerry Joseph
Everything Was Beautiful - Ulftone Records - 2000
Good Sunday, King
of Love, What I Lived For, Both
of You, 1936 Jesus, Mary
Star of the Sea, Middle East, Mountain Home, Joan of Arc, You
Again, Altar In Your Box, Beautiful Child of God |
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King of Love
Jerry Joseph - 1999
It's the turn of the century, you're shell shocked and stunned
As you sit on the cliffs in the Mexican sun
Hard to admit your competitors won
They married the prom queens and hit the home runs
So you're making your list of delights and prejudices
You forgive us for all of our trespasses
Another survey of the staggering mess that is
Your little kingdom of endless embarrassments
A last ditch appeal to be a contender
Thanks but no thanks, return to sender
When it comes down to truth there's no public defender
Now you're back in line "A Liar" pretender
So Hail to the king, the king of love
I'm the king of love That's what you said
My blood is the wine my body the bread
With a crown of barbed wire, rubber and lead
I believe that we all can be kings in our head
So you're draggin your cross around in the back yard
With statues of cupids and valentine cards
Cursing your subjects cursing the stars
Baby, being the king's not supposed to be hard
Hail to the king, the king of love
All hail to the king, the king of love
God Save the king
Bless the crown on his head
Long live the king
The King is dead
Back at the round table, they're sending you home
There's always somebody with designs on your throne
At the end of the day, you're just fishes and loaves
Baby, even the king of love dies alone
Hal to the king, the king of love (out)
You Again
Jerry Joseph - 1987
I'm a Howler Monkey in Panama
Stick a Dixie cup in the seco jar, whoa
The tide is high, shore breaks deep
I'll whomp that sucker like a dead end street, whoa
But I'm run, run, run, run, run, run, running
Run, Run, Running, run, run, running again
Chorus:
I turn around and what I see
It's you again, following me
Everytime I try to hide
You wind up baby right by my side again
You again, you again
I've got the fire department on the telephone
Got a prairie fire on my dynatone, whoa
They throw a big parade back in Harrisburg
It's a melt down party with the senators, whoa
But I'm slip, slip, slip, slip, slip, slip, sliding
Slip, slip sliding, slip, slip, sliding away
Chorus
Baby I'm missing something
Chorus
I turn around, what the hell
It's you again, it's just as well
I'm so happy to have you here
Promise me you're never gonna leave my dear
Again, you again
Oh I've got you, you again
Both of You
Jerry Joseph - 1994
Woke this morning, in time to see the train
Woke this morning, in time to see the train
Locomotive flying up your bedspread
Like the bullet that bears your name
Try to focus, you distract yourself
You try to focus, you distract yourself
I don't believe that they've made the potion
Guaranteed to make you well
Chorus:
But I, don't need to hear the truth
To be close to you
Calling taxi's, man, that's all of you've learned
Calling taxi's, man, that's all of you've learned
Baby you would have loved the drama
Watching everybody squirm
Chorus
It doesn't matter, who you are today
'Cause I'll still love you both, anyway
My love is true, for both of you
Somebody to hold you baby, somebody to make things right
Somebody to make you happy, somebody, somebody
Somebody to know you better, somebody to change your life
Somebody, somebody
Both of you
Middle East
Jerry Joseph - 1999
Put in on paper baby, you make it plain to see
Treaties and testaments and books of poetry
I can't read
What can I do for you, what can you do for me
Hard to negotiate when we're both on our knees
I still plead
I ain't your olive branch
I ain't your Prince of Peace
Look into my eyes and you'll see
The Middle East
I am not searching for my place in history
I'm growing tired and bored of the antiquity
I don't need
The ones I love the most
The ones I love the least
Look into my eyes and you'll see
The Middle East
Go tell it on the mountain, Go throw it in the sea
See the ditch in the valley that they're digging for me
Is this Damascus Road, The Sword of Damocles?
Suffer if you stay, suffer if you leave
I see the thunder clouds, I hear the cannons roar
You're rubbing empathy into an open sore
I still bleed
There is no beauty here
We're sleeping with the beast
Look into his eyes and you'll see
It's the Middle East
Good Sunday
Jerry Joseph - 1998
I think I'll run along the tracks down to the river
Watch the birds of prey
A sanctuary or a temple, birds or angels
Carry me, away
I feel more comfortable in your skin, I wear your lipstick
Cherry Red
You could be am imposter but I recognize your breath
As it swirls around my head
I can hear the church bells ringing "Jackie Wilson Said"
Baby I'm in heaven when you smile
On Good Sunday, Good Sunday, Good Sunday, Today
I'd like to tie you to the bed and paint you Krishna blue
Underneath the Christmas lights
Like a Cristo with Islands or umbrellas it's all how we
Capture light
Or head back to the Northwest wearing nothing but a rose
And my black coat
You could share your slippers child, or tie another string of pearls
Around my throat
I can hear the church bells ringing "Jackie Wilson Said"
Baby I'm in heaven when you smile on
Good Sunday, I see the summer in your face
Good Sunday, God Grants us all a little grace today
Sir Richard Burton transcribes the Kama Sutra, proving that I lack
Patience
So I'll bury my resentments here along the river, it's my
Best defense
And Warren says we can all be Jimi Hendrix we're just
Frightened of the truth
So I'll rub you like Aladdin's magic lantern 'til you grant me
Harmony and truth
1936 Jesus
Jerry Joseph & Collum McCann - 1998
See the fires of Wyoming
Hang Coyotes from the fence
Heading down to the Teton Flood Museum
To see where the water went
From the belly of the aeroplane
Twenty thousand loaves of bread
Thank the lord for the doves of propaganda
Welcome the fascists to Madrid
Like a 1936 Jesus
I've got no time for crucifixions
I never know which shirt to wear
I'll let some other sucker handle resurrection
'Cause this is not my cross to bear'
Like a 1936 Jesus
All at once in love with a million women
In the white, white city
In the white, white city
Like a 1936 Jesus
See the fires of Wyoming
Hang Coyotes from the fence
Heading down to the Teton Flood Museum
To see where the water went
What I Lived For
Jerry Joseph - 1998
I've got a feeling, any feeling
Is what I live for
Sexual healing, spiritual healing
Is what I live for
You sing fire, you sing rain
Days like these, seems it's raining flames
Could be time to torch a few more doors
Its what I lived for
Well you've been told to keep an even keel
And never let them know just how you feel
I search your eyes for something real
I know that it was there before
Its what I live for
Its what you lived for
Hey now I'm not sold on emotional control
Because I'd prefer to know that you've got soul
Love and hate, passion pride
These are the things that make me feel alive
If anything I want to feel them more
Its what I lived for
Its what you live for
Its what I live for
Its what you live for
Joan of Arc
Jerry Joseph - 1998
Pretty baby must be high
She swings like a monkey through the sky
Who would have thought the she could fly?
Most of us never stop to try
I've got Picasso Domino's
Tickets and matchbooks to places that I don't go
Telephone numbers of people who speak the truth
Truth is a language like Latin
That I can't use
The girls on the metro are looking fine
I'm telling myself that life is kind
I know the man who can turn back time
I'd like to think that he's a friend of mine
A couple of habits that I would like to break
Like standing the candles on my birthday cake
And faking it when I am already a fake
Or trying to be good just for, goodness sake
Maybe tomorrow I'll be, Joan of Arc
It's unrealistic, hey, but it's a start
I'll burn at the stake, with my liberty heart
My humble attempt to shed some light on the dark
I'll be Joan of Arc
I'll be Joan of Arc
Beautiful Child 0f God
Jerry Joseph - 1994
Her guardian angels follow her 'round
Through moments of silence and the rough parts of town
Her guardian angels hover above
Sit on her shoulders, shower her with love
Now when she crawls through the darkness
She knows she's not in there alone
Her guardian angels, live in her dreams
Cloak her in comfort, keeping her clean
She used to be scared of the voices
Now she knows that they're just calling her home
She's a beautiful child of god
He's holding her hand
A beautiful child
He understands, This beautiful child
Guardian angels, all over the place
Watching her children, keeping them safe
They tell her the sun also rises
Holding her head through the night
She's a beautiful child of god
He's holding her hand
A beautiful child
He understands
She's a beautiful child of god
She's a beautiful child
Up there in Heaven
The angels all smile
On this beautiful child
Mountain Home
Jerry Joseph - 1998
I pull another story, right off of story hill
I pull a piece of something, I paid some kids to kill
I've got old testaments, they're all I need to know
I've got a burning bush, I've got a glory road
I've got some medicine, it keeps the engine clean
I've got a woman here, she's here to fill a need
I've got no indecision, my lines are clearly drawn
I stand, bear witness, I know my rights from wrong
Brick and rock, rock and stone, leave me well enough alone
Flesh and Blood, skin and bone, I build my mountain home
My friends are dead and gone, but they still call at night
I've got celestial radar, I've got an Inner Light
I hear the howling out there, somebody's got to freeze
There will be no redemption, for dying on your knees
This ain't a cattle call
This ain't the dinner bell
This ain't a rite of passage
This ain't an easy sell
This is my finest hour
I built it with my hands
This is my mountain home
Here's where I make my stand
I fear the truth in evil
I'm pissing on their bones
I stand with God almighty
Here is my mountain home
Brick and rock, rock and stone, leave me ell enough alone
Flesh and Blood, skin and bone, I build my mountain home
Mary Star of the Sea
Jerry Joseph - 1998
Feline stretch across the bed
Warm the milk and pat my head
I might just go for tea instead
Something green and Japanese
If I could be calligraphy
Coal black ink and energy
Flesh and blood, and poetry
Or anything you need
I hear them calling me, and all the ships at sea
And I believe
I hear them calling me, and all the ships at sea
And I believe
I receive my Mary
Chorus
Mary, Mary, Mary Star of the Sea
Mary, Mary, Mary Star of the Sea'
Someday Mary, you're gonna marry me
Hard to trust what you can't see
A living thing inside of me
Fleas and blood and poetry
She owns it with her eyes
Heaven holds a place for lust
In sex and love and god we trust
Every feeling good and just
She owns it with her eyes
Chorus
Someday Mary you will believe in me
Someday Mary, you're gonna Marry me
Altar in Your Box
Jerry Joseph - 1996
Here along the roadside
I brought nails and wood and paint
I've had a little trouble
Deciding on a saint
A cross from Ensanada
In the dark it's supposed to glow
Some beads I bought in Garberville
Another life ago
Out here on the highway, I build your altar in your box
Some shelter when its raining, some shade for when its not
It's not
Though red would probably suit you
I think I'll just paint it white
It's the color of the virgin
She's my beacon in the night
A statue of St. Francis
He holds a little lamb
And answers to a question so much bigger than I am
At your altar in your box, at your altar in your box
The women throw Hail Mary's at
Your altar in your box
At last I will hang a rosary
That my father gave to me
From olive trees in Lebanon
Some personal history
And I won't include your photograph
Or carve your name in stone
So the women who bring flowers
Can make your box their own
And I will light a candle
And say a prayer for you
So that I will not feel guilty
On the nights that I drive through
At your altar in your box
At your altar in your box
The big wheels keep on rolling by your altar in your box
The truckers all salute you in your altar in your box
You just might find me kneeling by your altar in your box
As I sit beside the water
And watch the men rake rocks
I trust that you'll be happy
In your altar in your box
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