YOU MAKE IT WAY TOO HARD

i'd been up all night in the pouring rain
just praying to be set free
'cause i'd spent most of my life in a hurricane
with no place and no reason to be
but the sun came up like it always does
only this time it wasn't alone
'cause there on a silver horse sat a stranger
and he claimed he had a message from home
and he said:

"you make it way too hard
you take it way too seriously"
he said, "the end is near
but it's today that's here
you just live
and with a little bit of luck
you'll be one day older tomorrow"

well i rushed downtown in a fever
found a gypsy just to tell her what i'd seen
i said, "i never gave a two-bit damn about the future till today
but now i've got to know what all of this means"
she said, "you know son, the world's full of secrets
and everybody's got their personal dream"
and as i stood to leave, that gypsy grabbed my sleeve
and said, "but i'll tell you something personally"
then she said:

"you make it way too hard
you take it way too seriously"
she said, "it could be right
could be the end's in sight
you just live
and with a little bit of luck
you'll be one day older tomorrow"

now the world ain't seen that many changes (except in harrisburg)
and it could be the big one's at hand
so it still ain't easy to sleep at night
but at least i've got some times that i can
'cause while my well-meant friends (all the architects)
they're going crazy trying to build something new
you know it's seemed to me there ain't a thing that can be done
so maybe nothing's just the thing they should do
you know i tell them:

"you make it way too hard
you take it way too seriously
could be true
there ain't a thing to do
you just live
and with a little bit of luck
you'll be one day older tomorrow"

TONIO K.

(it's experimental in nature:
the blues mixed with black humor
we'll see how it works)

in the middle of the city
in the middle of the night
the bhagavad-gita as it is
gets drop-kicked into the fire
the transcendental conch shell
has been burned and badly defaced
the distant laughter seems to indicate
this may have been the work of Tonio K.

he dreams about the nazis
he dreams in black and white
he's convinced that the ghost of josef goebbels
is currently living in van nuys
and yet he's drawn to germany
the classic moth unto the flame
the attitude is thomas mann
the language is the humorous Tonio K.

[chorus:]
and the name is:
capital T
small o-n-i-o
capital K
period
Tonio K., Tonio K., Tonio K.
hey hey hey

he thinks about the wedding
he sees the child bride
the laughable puppet husband's head is tilted
he can feel the wires
he sees the second-rate pornographer
the lady's latest flame
a single tear is crossed out
by the famous furious pen of Tonio K.

[chorus]

(i have this theory that
whenever possible you should change your name
and wear dark glasses
which is what i did
Tonio K. is a bogus name
contains elements of my real name
otherwise i couldn't stand here and sing
my actual name to all of you
what kind of a trip would that be
one of the main influences on that name
is a short story by thomas mann called tonio kröger
you should read it
and as a final benedictory verse:)

he's looking at the heaven
thinking about the gods
trying to figure if anyone short of an infinite genius
could dream up a similar plot
so it's another dusty manuscript
another ancient page
stay tuned for the secondhand conclusions
of that classic western man, your Tonio K.

[chorus]

he said, "you got the battle for jerusalem, just like a shooting script"
he said, "you got america down on its knees and sinking like a ship
you got idiots in office, you got animals in power
a pretty little public stuck up in their plexiglas tower
TV preachers visibly giving religion a bad name
a lot of vain philosophers with lots of shit for brains, but that's OK

because i'm cool"

he said, "what i wanna know is what it is that's going on here
it's like some kind of déjà vu, it's all vaguely familiar"
he said, "i feel like i'm in sunday school, the walls are coming down"
he said, "i half expected joshua to be standing outside of town"
he said, "i don't wanna swim no lake of fire, not me
i can't afford no asbestos swimming attire

but i'm too cool
i'm too cool to be a christian but it's gonna get hot, i know"

he said, "all this talk about jesus makes me nervous
all these people talking about the light"
he said, "i sleep too late to make the sunday service
but i don't know, looks like these people are right

but i'm too cool
i'm too cool to be a christian but it's gonna get hot, i know"

SIXTEEN TONS
(Tonio K./Steve Schiff)

i've been workin' in a coal mine
on top of the world
i've been watchin' the horizon
i've been watchin' all the girls
cause i'm a girl watcher

i've been laughin' on the inside
livin' with the pain
i've been workin' with the system
i've been standin' in the rain
'cause i'm a born swimmer

i've got sixteen tons of questions for the teacher
i've got sixteen tons of monkeys on my back
i've got sixteen tons of doubt about the future
it's a wonder that i've managed to survive the silent wreckage of my past

you take a little baby
fill him full of fear
sell him ammunition, cigarettes, and beer
and he's your new neighbor

he's got sixteen tons of questions for the teacher
he's got sixteen tons of monkeys on his back
he's got sixteen tons of doubt about the future
it's a wonder that i've managed to survive the silent wreckage of my past

i was born in california
in the u.s.s. of a.
i was born in california
in the u.s.s. of a.
i was never supposed to know a moment of unhappiness in my life
somehow it didn't work out that way

i was born back in the fifties
i was born and raised to win
i was born back in the fifties
i was born and raised to win
we had beaten back the darkness
somehow the darkness snuck back in

i went lookin' for a lover
but i did not know the rules
i went lookin' for a lover
like a young man's got to do
(but i did not know the rules)
i made six wrong turns and nearly died
the seventh time i made it through
(now i'm gonna play the suburban blues)

if i ever get to heaven
which i hope i'm gonna do
if i ever get to heaven
which i'm pretty sure i'm gonna do
i'm gonna walk up to the boss man and say:
"i couldn't believe some of the things that went on down there
i couldn't believe some of the things i myself wound up involved in down there
i couldn't believe some of the things some of my friends wound up involved in down there, and finally convinced me to get involved in with them
i couldn't believe some of the things some of the people took down there and did down there
i couldn't believe some of the things i saw on television down there
but lord, i always believed in you"

made his debut
a wailing child without a clue
started checking it out
even then i think he had his doubts
people told him he was such a good boy
such a joy to his family and friends
that all ended at school
that perfect scale model of the great big cruel world
nobody lifted a hand
but the words were like blows from a full-grown man
he knew that something big had happened
he knew it wasn't gonna go away
he knew his mother and his father couldn't save him

he took two steps back
three steps forward, that's one
two steps back
three more forward, that's progress
two steps back

so how does he explain you
nothing any good was supposed to happen
yeah, he believed that was true
now he's gonna have to change his tune
honey, how'd he ever get this lucky?
how you ever gonna make it through?
it's kinda like a riddle in the middle of a minefield

you take two steps back
three steps forward, that's one
two steps back
three more forward, that's progress
two steps back

what a world
what a wonderful place
there's always somebody there to help you fall on your face
they wanna take your money, renegotiate your soul
break your heart and steal it, wanna run you by remote control

you take two steps back
three steps forward, that's one
two steps back
three more forward, that's two
two steps back
three steps forward, that's progress
two steps back
three more forward, that's
two steps back
two steps back
two steps back
you do the two-step

he was starin' out the window
he was lookin' for a thrill
he bought everything worth buying
but he couldn't get his fill
he was born to pull the trigger
he was pushed and he was shoved
he was waitin' for the doctor
but all's he ever really needed was a shot of real love

i said love and affection
what he needed was some love
love and affection

she was born in california
like the daughter of a king
if she ever accidentally ran into a problem
the estate took care of everything
she got everything she wanted
held the world in velvet gloves
so it totally confused this girl
when she discovered even too much
was never quite enough

she needed love and affection
what she wanted was some love
love and affection

he was a man with a mission
she was a victim of the latest craze, yeah
when they met up on that ledge
they were desperate to kill the pain

these people needed some love and affection
what they wanted was some love
love and affection

they were lookin' left, lookin' right, lookin' every direction
tryin' desperately to make some kind of connection
get some love and affection
get some love and affection
get some love
love and affection

they walk through the door and the room falls apart
they're dressed for the kill, they will conquer the wandering heart
they lay on the pages of some magazine
undressed and airbrushed, unreal if not quite obscene
dream girls

and the beat goes on
and the boys go "ooh"
and the real girls are watchin'

they move 'cross the screen like a goddess of light
where no one can touch them, in gardens of earthly delight
they stare at the street from their billboards and signs
they're careful to smile while the customers fall into line
dream girls

and the beat goes on
and the boys go "ooh"
and the real girls are watchin'

the dream girls are standing on sand dunes
dressed in white linen, the wind's in their hair
camera clicks; they explode off the page
and somebody rings up a sale
and the real girls are watchin'

©1993 N.Y.M. Pressman Cherry Music (ASCAP)

HALF A MAN
(Tonio K./Bob Thiele, Jr.)

i know you're not the only woman in the world
there's a lot of people baby
more than half of them are girls
i hear you sayin' you'll be doin' me a favor
to eliminate our problems and be goin' your way
well i've been walkin' in the cool, cool light
the day is over but it isn't quite night
i've been thinkin' about the meanin' of real love
hey girl

i would be half a man if i gave you up
half a man if i said i'd had enough
half a man to take the easy way out
half the men in the world would do it
but girl that's not what love's about

ain't nothin' easy about this growin' up
but we're gonna have to do it, girl, if we're lucky
that don't mean that we can't have a little fun
it doesn't mean that we renounce the joy of bein' young
it only means that there's a new set of rules
you can't just run off when you're hurt and confused
when we were children we were free to act like a child
but now

you wanna run and i wanna fight on
for your love, for your precious love
because you're worth it baby

©1993 N.Y.M. Pressman Cherry Music (ASCAP)

I'M SUPPOSED TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU

[chorus:]
i'm supposed to have sex with you
we'll have the sex now
i'm supposed to have sex with you
the sex is next

i don't even know you
but i don't even care
because...

[chorus]

maybe we've been dreaming
i'll wake up later
right now...

[chorus]

love is what we are here for
love is all i need
it's love that makes the world go round
but this love is a funny thing
i think...

[chorus]

my body tells me one thing
don't no one tell me nothing else

[chorus]

©1987 Famous Music (ASCAP)/ Bibo Music (ASCAP)/N.Y.M. (ASCAP)

ANOTHER DAY IN LIMBO
(Mark Heard)

pray for the foothills
home to the drones of power lines and rock doves
mountains grey as velvet
field for dots of yucca white and jacaranda
facing the sky as the day burns away is a desert in mourning
sheltering the dead stones
cradle of the lost bones
home of eternal comings and goings

[chorus:]
blinking away the sunrise
listening to the wind blow
angels with dirty faces face another day in limbo
beckoning fire from heaven
everything seems so stone-cold
beating the drums of change
another day in limbo

pray for the foothills
goatherds and windmills and satellite dishes
petroglyph talkers meet iron-willed walkers
who grant them no wishes
shaking a fist at the air seems to bring on a blackening sky
in the crackling of embers old men remember
walking in beauty in the dawn of their lives

[chorus]

pray for the foothills
iron horse with four wheels bucks a drunken rider
pawns of the pawn kings
corn silk of heartstrings tattered and blighted
they sing in the sand for the son of the land
who sought fire in water
faith like a kernel rising up in thermals
hope springs eternal once in a while

[chorus]

©1992 Ideola Music/ASCAP