STOP THE CLOCK
(Tonio K./T Bone Burnett)

someone should have shot that picture
someone could have saved the day
but who'd have guessed it; who could know
just how fast the time would go?
someone should have shot that picture

oh stop the clock
stop the clock
stop the clock forever

someone could have loved you better
someone should have been the one
but hearts get broken, homes get wrecked
the world's still fallen i expect
still, someone could have loved you better

oh stop the clock
stop the clock
stop the clock forever
oh stop the clock
make it stop
stop that clock forever
when will it end?

someone take this clock and break it
stop the world and then remake it
stop the sorrow, dry the eyes
god knows how but someone try
someone take this clock and break it
take this heart and then remake it

oh stop the clock
stop the clock
stop the clock forever
oh stop the clock
make it stop
you know it's now or never
when will it end?

ŠN.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)/Henry Burnett Music (BMI)

TIME STEPS ASIDE
(Steve Schiff/Tonio K.)

here she comes walkin' like out of a movie
here she comes lookin' authentically groovy
here she comes, second-generation flamingo
still snappin' her fingers to john, paul, george, and ringo

she's like a melody
she's like a vision
time steps aside and lets her go by

here she comes walkin' like a twin to her mother
her she comes talkin' how all men are brothers
she's totally free, another child of the flowers
she thinks about life not in years but in hours

uh-huh
she's like a memory, an apparition
time steps aside and lets her go by

she actually says things like peace, love, and free of mind
she collects the symbols and icons of the nation that was but really wasn't
she says maybe next time, maybe even this time

she's impossible, she's outrageous
time steps aside and lets her go by
it's incredible, it must be contagious
time steps aside and lets her go by
time steps aside and lets her go by
lets her go by
there she goes...

ŠN.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)

MAYBE THERE ISN'T
(Tonio K./Jack Sherman)

the bronzed gods are leaving; the bikini girls are dressed
but the sea goes on forever
another round of trading has concluded to the west
leaving blood on the horizon
and on a beach a million light years from the earth
somebody wonders about intelligent life in the universe

well maybe there isn't
or maybe there is
if this isn't livin', i don't know what is

on top of this mountain, on top of the world
it's all the same; it never closes
i walk through this desert; i talk to myself
like some would-be american moses
now i don't need to change the world tonight
but i'd sure like to know if it's too late to ever get it right

maybe it isn't
or maybe it is
if this isn't livin', i don't know what is

well maybe there isn't
or maybe there is
if this isn't livin', i don't know what is

ŠN.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)/Whay Rhad (BMI)

STUCK
(Tonio K.)

grandpa hit the golden shores of freedom on the run
from a government that governed down the barrel of a gun
he'd lost a lot of family; he'd lost a lot of friends
it was like another planet, one where everything depended
on the mercy of the monarch, the wisdom of the state
they waited for a thousand years, but nothing ever changed
so they walked across the deserts and sailed across the seas
went looking for that statue in the land of liberty
anyone could see that they were stuck

stuck in the middle
stuck in the middle of the beginning of the end

papa was a farm boy, california born
growing up in paradise until the second war
when they put him in an airplane and loaded it with bombs
sent him over there, said "don't come back until they're gone"
they dropped 'em on the cities, they dropped 'em on the towns
they were tryin' to blow up hitler, he was tryin' to shoot 'em down
now papa hated killin' just as much as you and me
but he knew he had to do it; he could tell instinctively
that he was stuck

stuck in the middle
stuck in the middle of the beginning of the end

of the end of the tunnel
at the end of the line
it's the end of the american century
the end of the endless summertime

now they've handed us the mantle and they've handed us the key
left us sitting here in limbo in the lap of luxury
with a pocket full of credit cards and a mountain full of debt
and a picture of the future that i'd just as soon forget
they got heavy metal poison and the voices on tv
and a million cartoon images of how it's supposed to be
with a changing set of values more depressing every day
till i wish that just like grandpa, i could make my getaway
but there's no place left to go; i guess i'm stuck

stuck in the middle
stuck in the middle of the beginning of the end
i guess i'm stuck in the middle of the beginning of the end
looks like i'm stuck in the middle of the beginning of the end

Š N.Y.M./Unicity Music (ASCAP)

THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME
(Tonio K.)

i don't know which way; the ball just bounces
i don't know, maybe the cards just fall
or maybe there's some ancient chain of causes and effects
got one man walking proud while another man crawls...

there's a guy sleepin' out on the sidewalk in november
newspaper pillow, rag for a coat, tangle of filthy hair
imagine the story that probably goes with this picture
imagine the forces that picked him up somewhere in life
and then threw him down there

he was somebody's friend
maybe somebody's lover
he was somebody's bouncin' baby boy
he might even still have a father and mother

and that could have been me
that could have been you
it should have been fiction
turns out to be true
turns out to be true

there's another kind of guy livin' up on the top of this city
view of the mountains, view of the ocean, view of the losers below
he probably didn't wind up livin' there accidentally
he got all the right breaks, he caught all the right waves
figured out which way the wind here blows

and he thinks about power
and he thinks about fabulous wealth
when he thinks about people at all
they're only important in terms of himself

and that could have been me
that could have been you
it should have been fiction
turns out to be true

that could have been me
that could have been you
i wish it would have been fiction
instead of the truth
turns out to be true

ŠN.Y.M./Unicity Music (ASCAP)

HEY LADY
(Tonio K.)

she was standing there in the checkout line
she might've been crazy, she might've been high
or maybe just mean, or maybe some kind of a devil
i don't know which

she had three little kids looked like punching bags
that she screamed at and threatened and treated so bad
they were scared and embarrassed and battered and bruised
and probably wished they could fly
if they even knew how to wish

the littlest girl was too frightened to move
but the tears on her cheeks were as much from confusion
at the mother she needed to love
treating her like she just had no use

hey lady
either love those kids or leave 'em alone
and let 'em go live in some other home
before you ruin them

hey lady
you know they're too young and fragile to figure it out
if you say they're no good with your fists and your shouts
they believe you
look what you're doing to them
they're gonna either give up or get mean
then the whole thing starts all over again

she was probably the victim of someone's attacks
a tattoo of a snake and a chain on her back
yeah, i bet her old man or her father or someone
was a regular fountain of old-fashioned love and encouragement

now to the christians and jews, that's the sins of the fathers
the buddhists and hindus, they talk about karma
psychologists say if you take love away
and replace it with fear and abuse young enough
this is just what you get

and that 10-year-old boy had his fists clenched in anger
he was too young to kill her, but too tough to cry
you could read the next chapter of grief
written there in his hard, dark eyes

hey lady
either love those kids or leave 'em alone
let 'em go live in some other home
before you ruin them

hey lady
go take it out on somebody your size
if you don't finally kill 'em you'll still kill 'em inside
can't you see what you're doing to them

everyone froze; no one spoke out a word
we were sure if we did, they'd get hurt even worse
she had already told 'em how they were gonna get it
said, "i hate you kids; you just wait till i get you home"
and that's a quote

so pray for that mother and pray for those kids
pray for a world that breeds something like this
pray for the killers and pray for the dead
mostly, pray for the little ones
still fast asleep in their beds

hey lady
either love those kids or leave 'em alone
let 'em grow up in some other home

hey lady
either love those kids or leave 'em alone
hey lady
either love those kids or leave 'em alone

ŠN.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)

COME WITH ME
(Tonio K.)

it's a beautiful prison we're living in
come take my hand
it's a beautiful castle we've built on the beautiful sand
with this beautiful ocean before us
and all of these beautiful things
it's almost as if we exist in a beautiful dream
only i'm not so sure what it's worth or what any of it means

come with me
take my hand
come let's go
don't ask where 'cause i don't know
come let's go

now i don't have a problem with objects
i love the material zone
i love the smell of the forest, the expanse of the desert
and the way that the heavens were thrown
and the sound and the power of the ocean
and the sparkle of diamonds and gold
and the mysterious light
in that starry night painting by vincent van gogh
it's just nothing i need to upset myself trying to own

so come with me
come let's go
take my hand
don't ask where 'cause i don't know
come let's go

yeah i've heard of a country where nobody cares what you've got
where the cut of your clothes or the make of your car
doesn't mean a whole lot
where acts of compassion are valued like pieces of art
and people aren't judged on possessions
but by the intentions of the heart

so come with me
come on let's go
take my hand
don't ask where 'cause i don't know
let's just go
come on let's go
come let's go

ŠN.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)

I'LL REMEMBER YOU
(John Keller/Tonio K.)

i remember bein' half asleep
on a beach along the august shore
i remember feelin' so alive
you were mine and we were seventeen

i wish i could have owned that day
i wish that moment could have been suspended
and if i could've had my way
that summer would've never ended

i'll remember you
we were young
we were sure of everything
i'll remember you
life goes on
but i'll always remember you

i remember when it came apart
all the pain of that broken lover's dream
i swore that i would never give my heart out again
of course i would, but it

it wouldn't ever be the same
maybe love was meant to last forever
now even as your picture fades
sometimes i close my eyes and we're together

i'll remember you (and the feeling of your lips and the hunger in your kiss)
we were young
we were sure of everything
i'll remember you (for as long as there is)
life goes on
i will remember you

i know you can't go back again
i know that we were only human
sometimes i still can't help rememberin'
when we were innocent and love was somethin' new

(i remember your smile like an innocent child
and the beatin' of your heart and the freedom of your arms
like an image on a screen, like a vision in a dream
yeah you won't be hard to find with your frozen love in time)

now you're gone but i still remember...

ŠCheckerman Music and Careers Music (BMI)/N.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)

WHAT A WAY TO LIVE
(Tonio K.)

well, i hear you haven't learned a thing yet
doll face
i hear still you haven't learned
to shut your mouth
i've heard your ugly accusations
up and down the state
i see you still don't know
what you're talking about
now anyone that knows me won't believe you
and anyone that doesn't doesn't care
and anyone that spends a little time with you
will soon realize the danger lurking there

and you've never been nice
and you've never been wrong
you've never been loved,
you won't let nobody in
you've been mad at the world too long
and you never forget
and you never forgive
but you'll never know--
a moment of peace in your life like that
man, what a way to live

we never really had that much in common
it was a mismatch any common fool could see
but you told me god had sent you--
how could anyone argue with that?
at the time i figured you knew him
better than me
and you started off so well behaved
you fooled me
you never raised your voice or made a slip
yeah, you started off the sweetest thing
till the coast was clear
then you let your past out of that cage
and i wound up needing a chair and a whip...
no, you've never been nice...

now the way i see it
you made seven serious mistakes
yes, in eight ways did you blow it pretty bad
you started off believing
that my patience was unending
mistook my kindness for a weakness
and broke us up with your bare hands

but my new love doesn't have
my kind of patience
yeah my poor wife's so frustrated
sometimes she beats you up in her dreams
you see she had someone like you
in her past and he caused a lot of damage
she says your lies and your jive
and your general vibe
just make her want to scream

me, i tried to just forget you and get on with it
i've tried to live my life and let you be
i've learned from my mistakes
and let the past bury the past
i can't believe that after all these years
you're still tryin' to get even with me

yeah, you're way out of control--like an explosion
and you're completely out of line
leave us alone
people break up all the time
without declaring holy war
you've become one of the very few people in my life
that i wish i'd never known...
'cause you've never been nice...

ŠN.Y.M./Unicity Music (ASCAP)

DAY AND NIGHT
(Tonio K./T Bone Burnett)

day and night
these cities ring like an explosion
day and night
the buildings climb into the sky
day and night
the voices burn in through the wire
at the speed of light you can almost feel 'em go by
so many stories, every story's so complex
and it all goes by so fast you never know what's gonna happen next

and around and around and around and around we go
my head is spinnin'
where she stops nobody is predictin'
round and around the track so fast nobody knows who's winnin'
day and night
day and night
it's addicting

day and night
this traffic rides into the sunset
day and night
the people roll into the hills
day and night
these houses crawl over the landscape
yeah this desert is twitchin' with life but it all seems so still
once there was a river here, no one remembers when
now that river crashes through my veins like pure adrenaline

and around and around and around and around we go
my head is spinnin'
where she stops nobody cares to mention
round and around the track so fast nobody knows who's winnin'
day and night
day and night
what an invention

it's just a tiny blue green planet slowly circlin' the sun
you'd never guess it from a distance that there was this much goin' on

and around and around and around and around we go
our heads are spinnin'
bound to fly apart or bound for glory?
round this track so fast you wouldn't know if you were winnin'
day and night
day and night
day and night and night and day and day and night
what a story

ŠN.Y.M./Pressman/Cherry Music (ASCAP)/Henry Burnett Music (BMI)

PARDON ME FOR LIVING
(Tonio K.)

pardon me
for bein' such a disappointment
pardon me
for makin' so many mistakes
pardon me
for betrayin' your gracious employment
pardon me
i guess i just haven't got what it takes

i don't know what you want, don't know what you believe
i don't know how to act anymore
or how long i can keep juggling

can i ever possibly hope to pass inspection?
can't i just confess and be forgiven?
guilty of the grievous crime of human imperfection
pardon me
pardon me
i'm sorry

pardon me
for sayin' all things are not equal
pardon me
for claimin' something's gotta give
pardon me
but there's no point in wastin' time tryin' to round up the dealers
when some people's future's so bleak they need drugs
just to get up the courage to live

in another kingdom life is sacred, love commendable
here we bow the knee to progress
where we're all secretly expendable

can i ever possibly hope to pass inspection?
can't i just confess and be forgiven?
guilty of the grievous crime of makin' such suggestions
pardon me
pardon me
i'm really sorry

yeah i hope my congressperson can forgive me
i hope i've not offended my beloved president
but i wanna know
where is that nation under god
with liberty and justice and blah blah blah
it was a great idea on paper
but it hasn't actually happened yet

now maybe i'm a wild card
or maybe i'm a trend
maybe i'm a two hundred million headed monster
and you will hear from us again

oh can i ever possibly hope to pass inspection?
can't i just confess and be forgiven?
guilty of the grievous crime of makin' these suggestions
pardon me
pardon me
pardon me for livin'

ŠN.Y.M./Unicity Music (ASCAP)

WE WALK ON
(Tonio K./John Keller)

like my father before me, i consider a past
i can't understand
as i grasp at a moment that slips through my hands
and i stumble toward a future concealed in a haze
half faith and half fear
and my innocent vision's no longer so clear

i walk on

now i don't know where the days go, they turn into weeks
they turn into years
summers turn into christmas and they all disappear
and children turn from their childlike trust
as their laughter is turned into tears
still they listen for the voices that we all used to hear

they walk on

from the flash of conception
to the flowers on the grave
from the joy of a birth to the coming of age
from the freedom of the schoolyard
to the man at his work
from the safety of a mother's arms
to the ends of the earth
we walk on

we walk on through the darkness
we walk on toward the light
through the confusion and illusion
through the floods and the fire
we walk back to the future
walk away from the flame
we walk back to the beginning
where we're given a new name
we walk on

we walk on

ŠN.Y.M./Unicity Music (ASCAP)/Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)