Young man
Starting to feel old
In a body that dies
His soul cries for more

He is fortune in squalor
He is fortune to squander
He is a bitter display
Of diminishing wonder

And a voice says:
“Hey, you're alright
But if you want to fight
I'm going to smite you till you die”

Young man
Watching the wind blow
An ephemeral tide
And he writhes like a fish out of water

He is a misfortunate scholar
He and misfortune are lovers
He is the end of the world
And the dawning of wonder

And the voice says:
“This is your demise
You can blame the sunrise
When it shines in your eyes
And buy yourself some time
But your inner disquiet
Is just adding fuel to my ire”

So the young man prays
He prays…

“O God, it hurts
I'm dying, convert me
I can't bear to rot through eternity
This life gets worse
I’m trying, unearth me
Hear the prayer of this speck in infinity
Because time is a curse
I’m defying, rebirth me
I can’t fare through this mortal obscurity (alone)”

And his voice says:
“Be still, my child
You are in perfect health
Stop talking to yourself
I’ll be your ally
Until you’re old and wise
On my horizon
And the sun will rise
Like a body that dies
But you won’t see it shine in your eyes”

You’re always right
Until you forget that you’re alive
You’re always righteous
Until you forget what is right

Your soul is a paper kite
And the wind that blows sets it alight
But your body is flightless
You recall when you fall from a great height

You’re screaming into
An endless void
Hearing an echo
Of your own voice
Screaming back at you
Filling your own void

Old man
I wrote a song for you, old man
I wrote a song for you
You wouldn’t care for it though, old man
It’s a selfish song
That you’ve heard before

Young child
I wrote a song for you, young child
I wrote a song for you
You couldn’t care for it though, young child
It’s a sad old song
That goes on too long

Lost love
I wrote a song for you, lost love
I wrote a song for you
You shouldn’t care for it though, my love
The words are not my own
And the tune I stole

Last night
I wrote a poem by candlelight
And every word was right
Then I set the page alight
And with smoke in my eyes
I erased it from my mind

I’ve got some money and a swag and a gun – and my lover
My lover and I are on the run
We changed our hair, our clothes, our names, we’re undiscovered
But she cannot escape the things I’ve done

Oh, my Daisy Dunne

I’m thinking to myself, “I think I love her”
But not half as much as I’m scared I’ll lose control
So I hold that naïve girl and tell her I love her
Out of fear she might forsake my aching soul

‘Cause I can’t bear the thought of hanging from the rope all on my own
I’m trying to take her to Heaven with me but I’ll burn in Hell alone
Me and Daisy Dunne will run into the angry setting sun
But we cannot outrun the things I’ve done

We’re hiding out in a shack by the sea with my little brother
At half my age he’s twice the man I’ll be
But I see the way he looks at my lover
And I killed the last man who tried to take her from me

I shot him dead and then we fled, but his eyes still stare at me
Now my lover screams from in her dreams while I lie awake listening
Me and Daisy Dunne are one, until the judgement of kingdom come
Until they hang me from my neck for what I’ve done

Oh, my days are done

Please, will someone spare the truth from my poor mother?
Don’t you tell her what befell her eldest son
You can tell her all about my lovely lover
But do not let Mum know the man that I’ve become
I just wish she could have met my Daisy Dunne

One fateful night I caught Daisy’s eye, she was giving me a silent plea
Then I saw some light and I decided it was time for me to set her free
But my Daisy Dunne she took my gun and killed a man who was chasing me
And now she’s standing beside me here at the gallows tree

(As they lower the hood over evil and good, the last things we will see
Are my longing stare and her accusing glare, and it suddenly occurs to me
I have no way of knowing where it is I’m going, but I have the distinct feeling:
Whatever is next, my Daisy will not be there with me
And I could have used my last words to tell her that I’m sorry)

Time and space
And earthly distaste
Idle days
Petty, puny, erased

Pride of place
In the infinite waste
Where you start and stop
And then disembark
From this plane
It’s your birthday today
Candles fade to a spark
In the dark

And you hurt like an animal
Torn at the seams
You hurt like desire and dreams

Time and space
Unearthly embrace
A way to escape this rock
A walk in the park
It’s not enough
And more of a run in the dark

And you hurt like forever might
You are lead in a breeze
You hurt like reflection and greed
You hurt like survival
You hurt like defeat (you think)
You hurt like it’s something you need

Time and space
Every earthly distaste
Pity, puny, erased

Colourful discussion
Free to be unfair
Our intentions strictly pure
But hastened resolve braced the air

Some misleading understood
Selfishly devoted
I felt compelled to share the truth
Of what I felt should truth itself

But you laughed at me and my blasphemy
You laughed at me and my blasphemy

As if I declared the world was round

Sonny, you’re out to dry
Sunny, you’re out to dry
Slumbering clouds
Weep into the ground
It’s only matter
That never dies

Sonny, you’re out to dry
Sunny, you’re out to dry
The thundering sound
Is silence now
You’re only matter
Where "you" resides

She sent her children off to church
While she slept with the next-door neighbour
The old man didn’t mind, of course
She was doing him a favour

And he said:
“Those kids could use the fear of God
And a taste of earthly labour
And as for romance, my dear
I’m more content with work and beer
That bloke can have you
He can have you all to himself”

Suddenly she loved him
“******* and lies,” she swore
She had looked into the future
Then she slammed the door and swore some more

And she said:
“When all is always dead and gone
Forgive, forget, relabel
You know you’re boring me to tears
Regrets, denial, fears and anger
But it’s complicated
And I don’t have a time machine”

So in the end they worked it out
But what about remainders?
We are baptised in all their fears
Regrets, denial, tears and anger
And then forsaken
As the past becomes a part of us

I’ll say grace
I’ll lay to waste
All this distaste
All this distance

I will embrace
Vermilion haze
With no pretence
With no defence

I’ll say grace
Today replace
Undue sorrow
With tomorrow

I will embrace
A million ways
With no promise
Or borrowed solace
 
In the silence of a prayer
I hear the din of all despair
And wonder
When the solace calls my name
I hear the droning of malaise
And wander
In the silence when I pray
I hear the hum of every day
I wonder

I’ll say grace
My fate erased
I will not submit
To the makeshift

I will embrace
The silver maze
I am enlightened
In this silent solace

There’s a creek with a swing
And rocks for climbing
That turns a man into a boy
The creek is born
From a waterfall
That fills a young girl with joy

He watches her wade
In the pool in the shade
A beauty no one could conceive
And this place is so real
So perfect it feels
That they each never want to leave

Beyond the thrall
Of the waterfall
The creek from the ether transcends
It twists and it turns
Like his touch on hers
And it seems to go on without end

He offers his hand
To help her ascend
She accepts without making a choice
And they follow the stream
In a faraway dream
Far enough from real life’s aching voice

Back home, flesh and bone
The lonely unknown
And a love that is doomed not to be
But they still hear the call
Of the waterfall
In the ether and in their dreams

He woke with a dream in his head
And dreamer’s intent
Got a taste of the pace in the world
And doubled his step

He shared that old dream with the world
But no one there cared
He thought about the weight in the world
Saw the time and fell back to bed (with his dreams)

Wanted to be heard so he sang along
He sang an old song so he might belong
When the world didn’t care what he’d sing
He tore out his hair and started to scream

And he screamed:
“I’m too young to die
But I won’t always be
I tried so hard to comply
Now I’m not even me”

And he screamed:
“I’m too sad to cry
I’m a bird lost at sea
Today makes me so afraid of tonight
What does anything mean?”

And he screamed and he screamed
As if the world knew

Safe and sound
That town is drowned

You’re safe and sound
A king decrowned
You can’t stay

But you’re safe and sound
You’re lost and found
Come what may

You’re safe and sound
That town is drowned
Walk away

Throw it away
All your backyard dreams
Are miscreations
Laughing in your face
While you wait
Through unwelcome change
Untrue elation
And chance appreciation

It already came

In a simpler time
I watched a raging fire
As it swallowed every home
All except my own

With the passing years
New houses appeared
While mine began to fade
Crumble and decay

Today I returned
To the street that burned
One empty block lay bare
Where my home used to stand

I felt suddenly compelled
To rebuild what time had felled
A house of stone and clay
That time could not erase

I came home alone
To a house I didn’t know
I touched the wooden walls
The space felt cold and small
It smelled of childhood
And I thought of firewood