I was born on a Sunday,
But this happened on a Thursday

I was looking for words
So I went for a walk
Down to the corner

Tonight there would be songs
So I said I’d join

She spoke soft
Quiet
I was an orange amongst the apple trees

She wore camo pants
And you wouldn’t understand
Until she got up and sang

No-ones fool
She was a rebel with a cause
A rebel with a mind
The words to my Revolution song

She was only 17
She put her little hand in mine


We’ve been chasing those
Quiet wells

The mighty ones
The evergreen ones

With our searchlights
Lights that want to push walls with outstretched hands

It’s been a global fight, from inside
From the dawn and well into the night

Looking for peace, for god, for answers, reflections
For things that can’t be denied

So don’t even try


She wore camo pants
And you wouldn’t understand
Until she got up and sang

She was a rebel with a cause
A rebel with a mind
She was the words to my Revolution song

She was only 17
She put her little hand in mine

I was born on a Sunday,
But his happened on a Thursday

Today I said
Love is the way
Before today
I never saw myself getting old
I would die
At some significant age
A number
Just a dreamless void
Dead
Somewhere

But maybe
If love is the way
I’ll be here another day
And another
And another

Baby Mamas with their prams
Eating up wonderland
Dropping bits of food everywhere
Under their chairs

Laughing like schoolgirls
Flustered red
Bits of food
For non-believers
And the un-anointed
Are scarce

Clogging toilets with diapers
Dispensing waste
At an alarming rate

How much for a wonderland?
In the sky
Red marker
Rise and rise
White tissue
Go from white to brown
Bits of pea and chicken
Falling down
  (all together now)
    Bits of pea and chicken
      Falling Down

How much for a trip to wonderland
With a cushioned seat
Padded headrest
And comfy feet?

Eat

A wonderland in the sky
The market is on the rise
The ground is black
And the clouds are white

Every minute
Clouds gather spin and rise
The Earth looks small
Falling behind

How much for wonderland
Up in the sky?

Fly Jailbird Fly
Because my wings are broken
And my sight is weak

Fly thru the skies
And over the tides

Out of my hands
And out of my control

Give me dreams
Make them bigger than they seem

Everybody’s after you
Everybody wants you

Fly Jailbird Fly

Let me push this sorry thing
Over the edge

Curled up
With messages of love
That will fan out
Over the world
As he tumbles to the sea

Because today will never happen again


Let me feel the tingling in my feet
And the sweat in my palms

I think I could sing a thousand psalms
All about ghosts in machines
But then you’d never see

That it was me
On two feet
And it was my love
Still nervous, and still free
That made the leap

Let me push this sorry thing over the edge

(Yeah, my love, my love, my love)

There’s a mattress on the street outside the house
No-one wants to do anything about it

Let me take your mind off the storm
And the flood that's come thru the room
Left everything in a mess


One light
In a crowded room
And I wasn't so frightened, I wasn't so lost

To look with eyes that don’t judge
But Love
I’m on it like crime
I check it every time

What's wrong is right
It's life
If it's alright, it's alright

Smile you beautiful thing

Don’t beat it up, don’t make it black and blue
There’s a house to build
And it needs you

There’s sunshine thru your room
It makes for a glorious mood
The world feels
Soft and new


Here’s a song for the fishes the trees and skies
And smiles everywhere
A new cool
And old school
Sunshine thru your room
And distant traffic


Sunshine thru your soul
Squares on the wall that don’t move
Diving shapes
Floating dust
Have you ever watched the sunshine through your room?

Imagine the world loved you back
Imagine that

No scarcity, but generosity

And on that feeling of being trapped, pent-up
Imagine release...

Every child a prophet

I wont last long,  but my prayer will

If I have a son or a daughter, I'll call him or her
Prayer Book

Imagine the world loved you back
Imagine that

You were supported, your interests were looked out for
Your future
Imagine the people in it
Imagine the way we would work
Imagine the end of all wars
Imagine care
Imagine being there

Imagine the world loved you back
Imagine that

Bell
Always by side
You’ve guarded my heart
For so long

I remember going busking
With you
Outside the supermarket
And I dropped you at my feet
And the homeless guy
Smiling at me

And when
I went to that place
The made bed
And Red light
The smiling girls
And I sang Valerie
And walked out
Passed the guard
Following me out
Cigarette in the street

We were all unmade
And I still am

You’ve guarded my heart
I believe

You said I’m worth a chance

The gates open and close behind me

Now I’m moving
It’s time to use my feet
Each other we’ll still see
I’m going out into the world
Make believe

I am
As I am
No more
No less
And today
It will do

My name around the house is Mr. mushroom

Cause I’m always cooking mushrooms

Salt and pepper mushrooms

Squealing in a pan

You’re vegan and you don’t like mushrooms?

I don’t understand


Looking like a lizard, chewing on stringy hallucinogens

Or classy and tall floating in your soup

Or rich like truffles

Or frilly like flowers that kiss each other


Growing in bark, growing on trees

Growing in fields with no strawberries.

I met a mushroom picker one time, real nice guy

Was his trade, did it all day.

Squealing in a pan

My sister said when it comes to cooking mushrooms, I’m the man.

Don’t get all imaginative on me, and start breading and crumbing

Just doesn’t do.

Just the nice robust standard cups, at your local super market,  or sometimes those portabellos

Get them sweating like scalps in the heat!

Torture them with black pepper, fingernails on blackboards!

Then sunburn them in sea salt, crisping around the eyes like a vagabond child

Don’t let ‘em escape!

Mushrooms clouds, over the reef, think about them in your sleep.

Serve with rice or toast with a coffee or tea,

It’s Mushrooms for me.

Legs so short
They don’t touch the ground
Waiting for the bus
And listening to the sound

Of kissing your soul
Star shaped
And soppy wet
As if my heart melt
Yes I felt


These plastic telephones
Bad reception on a good day
And I’m in a major city what the hell

Singin down a tin can, with a string thru a hole

I want to kiss your soul
I want to kiss your soul


How long will it take
And how many lips will I have to kiss to get to you?
What will be the calendar month?
Mark it in for me
I’m here on satellite, way below

Waiting on your call
All illuminated and lonely
If my soul had a colour
What would it be?


Singin down a tin can, with a string thru a hole

I want to kiss your soul
I want to kiss your soul



She kicked that can
It hit me in the head
It left a mark, spared me death
I ran out of breath
And for a minute there was quiet

Then the bus came
And off she went
I pulled out my worn out itinerary
That had the answers to everything

Then I sang down a tin can, with a string thru a hole

I want to kiss your soul
I want to kiss your soul

God
I know you provide in this life of mine
This path

I don't know if you're name's Abraham
Whether you're black white green yellow or blue
But it's true

**** said, not everything you want
But what you need

I believe

Thankyou

Thankyou for my life too

There's sunshine thru my room
And the year is nearly done
I wish I had a song
About the sunshine thru my room

Shining on me
Mixing with my waking mood
Shining thru my soul

Ebbing and flowing on a dial
The sound of a plane
A car
Yawning
The sun turning up again

The very distant sound of traffic
On Green Lanes
The sun on my hand
Have you ever watched
The sunshine thru your room?

Making squares on your wall that don't move?

Kaleidescoping shiny dust particles

Soft and new
And crispy too

There's sunshine thru my room

I need to increase my imagination
With nature, road trips and hiking trails

Wonder is priceless

Cheap Thrills
For my paper thin will
I need something
That'll do me a great deal of ill

Oh, sitting on a sill
Waiting for the sun
To shine
Like a visionary ****

Dashing
Accurate
No messing around
No time now

Cheap thrills
Let me smile
The skin off my face
Play drums
On my brain mash

Then I'll get to meditating
Sun bathing
Watch the fronds
Grow furry and healthy

Oh, sitting on a sill
Waiting for the sun
To shine
Like a visionary ****

Don’t let me watch you stumble home
Wide eyed
Because you were just so beautiful
Without me to hold you tight

I couldn’t take my eyes off you
In fact I had to stop myself

Do we all dream of something special
To happen
one of these nights
maybe later
Who knows?
When you least expect it?

If my admiration makes it easier
I love the way you look in that dress
The way you were dancing
Moving
Being there

Don’t let me watch you stumble away
Cos I’d be the one to blame

If I didn’t say
In some way
You’re beautiful
And special tonight
I want to kiss and hold you tight

The days of the crying faces
And the songs of tears are over
And I wake alone and lonelier than ever

My bravery is taken away
And I have nothing better to do

I’ve been wondering about for a while now
But it hit me today

Does that pain have a name?
Will I see something similar or the same?

The characters in my play
Know where to stand
And plot is getting cliche’d

But I have to see it one more time

I have to see the way we were so lonely and forgotten

The way we cried together
The way we lived thru it together

We knew the songs, they were so sad
Because they were so real

Because it was painful
Because it was all we had

Because that pain, I do know it’s name
Because that won’t change

I’m here, far away, I’m here today

Only the poor still have a soul
Only the poor still know how to talk with it
I'll have to figure out a way to be a poor man with money

We kissed once
And we were legends
They couldn’t see us
Not at all

Take me to the new Church
The one with the swimming wall
I want to see it
See it all

We’ll take hold for a moment
We’ll seize control
Till there’s nothing left
Till there’s nothing more
One kiss to finish it
One kiss, that’s all

The war will run and hide
Either that or we’ll fly
And your peacefulness
Will be my bride


We’ll take hold for a moment
We’ll seize control
Till there’s nothing left
Till there’s nothing more
One kiss to finish it
One kiss, that’s all

Your smile shakes heaven from its high nest
Borders collapse and borders fall

One kiss and we were legends
One kiss, that’s all


We’ll take hold for a moment
We’ll seize control
Till there’s nothing left
Till there’s nothing more
One kiss, to finish it
One kiss, that’s all

For my younger self I'd say
To not know everything is o.k.
Be you, you're special
You are you, there is no helping it
Be proud of you
And be suprised
Live your life, live your dreams

And for me now I'd say
Be you, you can see you are special
Just do you
Be suprised
Work towards your dreams
Keep going
You're doing great

The youth got on the tram
Was he coming up or going down?
Why was it so hard to smile
Was it the billions they’d spent on fireworks
Was it the famine?
Was it the lovin’
Hey Lawman, he said
Come May, don’t talk so loud, don’t talk so proud


Always will be always was


Seizures are so quick
Mine were the worst
I’m going to have to do something atomic
To kick the dead where it hurts


Always will be always was


And now that we’re are talking
How tough do you have to be?
To get free these days.
How much for a stroll on the highway?

Ever heard the story of Hammer Arm when he came to town?
They said the sight of him
And the streets would turn around
People spat out petrol and drank in sun
It was a weapon of choice
It was a day of fun


Always will be always was


What did it mean to teach the world how to be a world again
To teach the world about wonder and about peace
How to dream?

It's a parade
Wobbly heat waves
Children and colours
Canteen food
And the snapping sounds of foldable plastic chairs

Little athletics day
Here he comes
Handkerchief on his head, tucked into his sunglasses

Mum never came

He could be harsh
My sister cried once
There was pressure to win
I never did
I was afraid I'd be clotheslined by that finishing line
Be my guest Flash
I wasn't fast, but I wasn't slow


This is me
Relay leg no.3
Baton in my hand
Whistling thru the air
(Missing you, missing me)
Round the bend
Furthest from the crowd
Running thru heat waves
Angling like a fish, oh yeah
(Missing you, missing me)


I asked for your help
Speaking to that place in my mind that doesn't change

You gave me every weapon for this world
And I still don't know what to do

I wasn't at the funeral
I was far away, making myself out of sand at high tide

Thank you for everything
The way they remembered you, how you made peace come true, I never knew, or maybe I did


This is me
Relay leg no.3
Baton in my hand
Whistling thru the air
(Missing you, missing me)
Round the bend
Furthest from the crowd
Running thru heat waves
Angling like a fish, oh yeah
(Missing you, missing me)




It was really blooming when you left
The police man and his bunny were making fun of your emotions by then
Playing substitute friends
There was something biting that wouldn't stop

But you were appreciated by us
And still are
So many memories


This is me
Relay leg no.3
Baton in my hand
Whistling thru the air
(Missing you, missing me)
Round the bend
Furthest from the crowd
Running thru heat waves
Angling like a fish, oh yeah
(Missing you, missing me)

I felt it this morning
An opening in the ceiling
A gigantic crack in the
Heart of man
Light...
Dreams could and would come true
Love is the way

I'll run the day down
The one day that separates life and death

I'll chase the sun across the sky
And smoke all the stars in my pipe

It's one day
That separates life and death

One Day

One Day

One Day

Up the hill
Friday Hill
To the top
Higher and higher
And then Faith
Or I'd be too late

Melbourne to London
Taking the flight again
For singing and songs
And to see where life takes me


The first time I did this flight
Would have been when I was a child
My twin sisters still babies
My parents setting up our lives in Australia
Finding work as nurses

I remember the simple housing
Playing army figurines with my mother on the old carpet
And the Golden retriever who jumped the fence and played with dad



Melbourne to London
Taking the flight again
For singing and songs
And to see where life takes me



School and growing up was hard
There was always a bit of turmoil and fighting in the house
Dad got me a bass
Chris got me a guitar
I sang because I needed it

I never finished university
I wanted to play in bands

I met people who were my friends
But there were some jealousies
I kept on in a rage
Pride and self respect wouldn't come till later in life



Melbourne to London
Taking the flight again
For singing and songs
And to see where life takes me



Where I grew up is beautiful
The surrounding bush
The way my mum keeps the garden
Full of flowers, kumquat and apple trees
It's a paradise I don't want to leave
I don't want her to leave

My sisters are young beautiful mother's now
The cutest kids with a head start in life
I'm largely silent around them
My guitar stays in it's case
I still need to find my place
I still want to surprise everyone as Uncle James



Wide expanses, yellow fields in the sun
Across the ocean
Time differences
To smaller plots of land
And the spill of industry
I've come here to make the puzzle of my life fit together
With a belief I've always had in myself
That only used to be an idea

Words are lines drawn
They keep me in line
I have sides
Dark and light
Fuzzy grey black white

It's to stand
It's to be truthful
Comfortable, live with yourself
To not run
To be proud of yourself

I can't wait for a friend that opens me up
I had such a friend, opened me up, dark and light
A lot feels like lies
'Face' I think they call it

I want to sing without face
With truth
Honesty
Hopefully there will be a crowd
It's not the most important thing
But I hope there are people vouching for me
As I am myself
The sound of myself
The scope, the voice

We heard you got out
We heard you got free
In your overall jeans
So suddenly

Above the wall that stood so high
And the barbed wire that cried and cried

Like a kite, like a plane
That feeling, they can't take away

We heard you got out
We heard you got free
In your overall jeans
So suddenly

4 boys in the pool, wrestling
And beside them a family of three
Dad, mum and girl of about 6

Getting into the raucousness of it
The family are wresting and swimming around
A pink ball between the three

Later the girl is just away from mum and dad, rubbing her eyes
And dad tackles mum a little
Overexcited

And mum says don't hold me like that
And affectionate dad comes round behind her

The 3 unite, mum checks on daughter

Some other mum saw me
As I went daydreaming
"That's what you want!"

I didn't look directly at the family as they left the pool
Just in the corner of my eye
As mum put on her slippers and walked away

With a torchlight in her hand
She's coming to set fire to this land

The streets and shop signs
Are lying naked and cool tonight

The world is dancing
Moving slow
I just know

2 is a good time to go to bed
3 is two late
And 4 you might as well stay up to see the sun

She’s made only for love
She’s into horses
She has a unicorn tattooed on her arm
She’s the prettiest
And soft spoken

She says it’s her dream to go to Australia
Where I’m from
How long are you going to stay here? She asked
She had dreams to live on?

I’m going to kiss her hand before I go
I said to myself
And the women are smiling at me
With her around
Even Maya Angelou
On the cover
Know’s what it’s about

I invited her to the show
Let’s see, you never know.
I’m a unicorn
Maybe she knows

A house on Kinglake
Overlooking the city
Horses in the paddock
And once a year,
A festival
Under the stars
People to meet, people to know

One thing's for sure
She’s made only for love
And I kissed her hand
Before I had to go

I want to do the taboo with you
The city would become a deserted island
If they knew what we were up to
I want to do the taboo with you

Even the gods, Muhammed and Jesus
Bhudda and the powers that be would take a day off work
Because of you and me

Let's wander thru the galaxies
That sing above us with their mathematics
Let's walk on clouds that tempt us with their peace
In our flesh
That moves with bone and blood
Its smells and re-growth
Its dying
Its strength
Its boundaries

I want to do the taboo with you
The city would become a deserted island
If they knew what we were up to
I want to do the taboo with you

I'll always have my eye on you
It's true
It'll never be thru
You're that character in my black book

I say I miss you
I'm already looking forward
To catching up with you

Is it crazed
Is it cool?
This eye I've got on you

I'm not going to say it
Neither are you
I'll always have my eye on you
You're that character in my black book


                    I don't know why you think of me that way
                    I thought I already said

                    That hangman puzzle has got you good
                    The lot of you standing there
                    Like firewood

                    I pray for you
                    I pray for good

                    I'm not going to say it
                    Neither are you
                    I'll always have my eye on you
                    You're that character in my black book

But really
It's this theory
I'd be the first to **** the beast in a long line
Now's my time
I'm disappearing into the woods for a while

Dark brother
I know you hate me
But I know you don’t
You know I hate you
But you know I don’t
I gotta go


What if we were at war below
I can see you
You know
Maybe it’s me
Daydreaming I’d overthrow
..You know
Or that hand that glowed

Dark brother
I know you hate me
But I know you don’t
You know I hate you
But you know I don’t
I gotta go

I gotta go
I gotta go
I gotta go

Maybe not all at once
Sticks and stones

I'll always have my eye on you
It's true
It'll never be thru
You're that character in my book

I say I miss you
I'm already looking forward
To catching up with you

Is it crazed
Is it cool?
This eye I've got on you

I'm not going to say it
Neither are you
I'll always have my eye on you

Dear displaced and stolen
I’m so sorry
For all your loss
I could never understand
Tell us how
Let us begin
To live in this world
To live on this land
To care
To understand

Liars, thieves, cheats and bullies
There's a big price to pay being human
Being cool's ok though

The First Stone
Makes no sound
When it floats in the air
With Love

This is a "next time thing"
Said one river to the next
Rivulets of sun and paranoia
Playing on their surfaces

Parting with a hug
And so ran one with trust
As before, and not more,
In itself

I can go anywhere
When Nancy is walking with me
I can walk thru any door
And my eyes don’t look at the floor

When we are dancing
Perfect beelines in the sunlight
We travel far
We travel time



She came from the sea of songs
And all the letters, that were birds with feathers
I was astonished
At how long they had been going


She walked barefoot on the beach
Before it got dark
And it never did
All these things she tells me with her heart




I can go anywhere
When Nancy is walking with me
I can walk thru any door
And my eyes don’t look at the floor

When we are dancing
Perfect beelines in the sunlight
We travel far
We travel time






She took my hand and said let’s go
All the smoke and mirrors
All my doubt
It disappeared

I said Nancy
Don’t be away from me
I’m no good when you’re not around

I played my guitar
My body lifted off the ground
And all these things I said to her with my heart

A prayer for Christchurch
A prayer for Islam
A prayer for the blind
Who can’t see
It’s love we need
Under all the skin
Deep

A prayer
For love
A prayer for me
A prayer
For the quiet Volcano under
the sea
Quiet as a mute

May you Rise
May you Reign
A prayer
Again and again

A prayer
A meditation
A Brainwave
Right for the mainframe

Right to peace
Walking in it’s sleep
A prayer
So that it may wake and speak

Turn the world
Shuffle it’s feet
A prayer
A golden leaf

But for the skies there are no fences facing
The crow speaks into the blue openness
I don't have to be anybody else here

Eucalypts hang lazily
This part of the earth bends into the sun
Its natural inclination

There are no labels
The cupped hands that held the rains are still there
They can't be bought or sold

I feel the press and the crowd
The roof-blown churches
The new religion loud
Where to now?

Well, just as you are

Into this landscape
Changing with the seasons
Falling and rising

What is right?
What is wrong?
Are the words to this song

What is good?
What is bad?

The kite flies up
The reels spin out
They go and don’t come back
Or they haven’t yet

The Prayer leaf flies
Where does it go?
What is there to hold onto?
Nobody knows

It will run like horses in the clouds
With heavy thunder on the ground
Or it will disappear
While it’s here

What magic do we play with?
Spinning like dreams
The gathering leaves
Going round and round

There is the sad and senseless
There is heavenly matrimony

There is the world of doubt
And what’s it about?

Get what you want
I say to myself now

There’s a lump in my throat
I still have to do something about

Prayer Leaf
Tell me about you
Tell me what you want
Tell me as much as you can

I am standing in your sunshine
And no I don’t want to say goodbye
Today I saw a man crying and so was I
For the death, for the death of sunshine

So how we gonna do this properly
So how we gonna we??
Thru the streets, thru the countries
Thru the mountains over the seas

Really how are we gonna do this properly

Properly, properly, properly

You know what I’m talking about
I know you know what I’m talking about


I am a man standing in your sunshine
And no I don’t want to say goodbye
In fact I want to say it’s time
It’s time
It’s time
It’s time

To do this properly