20 Rush Albums

50 “Dream” Rush Songs

In the English language, the dream is used as both a noun and a verb. At night when we dream, our minds express a series of thoughts, images, and sensations that occur during sleep.

Some people experience a daydream or a reverie, what some call a trance or a stupor, and this is another use of the term dream.

The childhood fantasy, the dream of someday becoming an Olympic champion runner. This use of dream is very common and used often in Rush lyrics through the years.

It expresses a cherished aspiration, a lofty ambition or ideal, a hope for a better tomorrow. This is perhaps the most common use of dreams, outside of what happens at night when we’re asleep.

I have a dream, a dream of a world where I am a successful dolphin wrangler! Something like that.

Related to this is the unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy, where a person dreams of becoming something or obtaining something that will simply never happen.

The man dreams of becoming President of Apple Computer, but he never graduated high school and he has a felony criminal record, oh, and he’s serving life in prison. But he has really big dreams!

This final example is best served by harkening back to the future, or past as it were.

In Back to the Future, when Loraine sees her son Marty elude Biff and his goons after the car chase and the skateboard. The one that ended with the manure truck dumping cow crap on Biff and his friends, Loraine turns to her friends and says, “Isn’t he just a Dream?!” In this example, someone expresses the perception that another person is perfect and wonderful, an absolute dream.

Our dreams guide us to the deepest vectors of our hearts, searching our minds, and exposing our souls. Dreams are the raw manifestations of our subconscious screaming to be free.

A floodgate, open to the deepest yearnings and secret desires of our hearts. A river flowing straight from our primal selves, without the active governor of our waking minds.

Included in the 50 Rush songs is Marathon. Read these lyrics again. They speak to dreams and visions and all of the concepts I mentioned in this introduction.

This article ends appropriately with the last Rush Album, Clockwork Angels. Lyrically, Clockwork Angels chronicles a young man’s quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams.

I’ve heard it said, that it is better to ask forgiveness after the fact than to ask permission before or something like that.

I truly hope that Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart are okay with me reproducing their lyrics and album covers for this article.

This is a labor of love, from a guy who discovered Rush when he was 12 and their music saved him from the horrors of Pop “music” and other “musical” atrocities.

My passion for dreaming, my dream journal, and my Theater of Dreams blog are partly inspired by my two favorite bands, Rush and Dream Theater. I dedicate this to my heroes of quality music, images, and words!

I could go on, but in the words of a wise man:

Dream –
Temporary madness
Dream –
A voice in the wilderness
Dream –
Unconscious revelations
Dream –
A walk in the wilderness
Dream –
Unconscious recreation

Did I have a dream?

Or did the dream have me?
Neil Peart

Without further ado, 50 Rush Songs that Mention Dreaming!

Dreaming in 50 RUSH Songs

Middletown Dreams

The office door closed early
The hidden bottle came out
The salesman turned to close the blinds
A little slow now, a little stout
But he’s still heading down those tracks
Any day now for sure
Another day as drab as today
Is more than a man can endure

Dreams flow across the heartland
Feeding on the fires
Dreams transport desires
Drive you when you’re down —

Dreams transport the ones
Who need to get out of town
The boy walks with his best friend
Through the fields of early May
They walk awhile in silence
One close — one far away
But he’d be climbing on that bus
Just him and his guitar
To blaze across the heavens
Like a brilliant shooting star
The middle-aged madonna
Calls her neighbour on the phone’s
Day by day the seasons pass
And leave her life alone
But she’ll go walking out that door
On some bright afternoon
To go and paint big cities
From a lonely attic room
It’s understood
By every single person
Who’d be elsewhere if they could
So far so good
And life’s not unpleasant
In their little neighbourhood
They dream in Middletown…

Nocturne

Did I have a dream?
Or did the dream have me?
Set off on a night-sea journey
Without memory or desire
Drifting through lost latitudes
With no compass and no chart
Flying through hallucination
Distant voices, signal fires
Lighting up my unconscious
And the secret places of the heart

Dream – Temporary madness
Dream – A voice in the wilderness
Dream – Unconscious revelations
The morning says, the answer is yes
Floating through a darkened mirror
Deep reflections in disguise
Soaring through lost altitudes
Without wonder, without fear
Symbols on a field of visions
Behind the curtain of sleeping eyes
On the instant of waking
Another world of dreams appears

Dream – A walk in the wilderness
Dream – Unconscious recreation
The morning says, the answer is yes

The Pass

proud swagger out of the schoolyard
waiting for the world’s applause
rebel without a conscience
martyr without a cause
static on your frequency
electrical storm in your veins
raging at unreachable glory
straining at invisible chains
and now you’re trembling on a rocky ledge
staring down into a heartless sea
can’t face life on a razor’s edge
nothing’s what you thought it would be
All of us get lost in the darkness

Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor’s edge
Don’t turn your back
And slam the door on me

it’s not as if this barricade
blocks the only road
it’s not as if you’re all alone
in wanting to explode
someone set a bad example
made surrender seem all right
the act of a noble warrior
who lost the will to fight
and now you’re trembling on a rocky ledge
staring down into a heartless sea
done with life on a razor’s edge
nothing’s what you thought it would be
no hero in your tragedy
no daring in your escape
no salutes for your surrender
nothing noble in your fate
——, what have you done?

Grand Designs

A to B —
Different degrees…
So much style without substance
So much stuff without style
It’s hard to recognize the real thing
It comes along once in a while
Like a rare and precious metal
Beneath a ton of rock
It takes some time and trouble
To separate from the stock
You sometimes have to listen to
A lot of useless talk
Shapes and forms
Against the norms —
Against the run of the mill
Swimming against the stream
Life in two dimensions
Is a mass production scheme
So much poison in power
The principles get left out
So much mind on the matter
The spirit gets forgotten about
Like a righteous inspiration
Overlooked in haste
Like a teardrop in the ocean
A diamond in the waste
Some world-views are spacious —
And some are merely spaced
Against the run of the mill
Static as it seems
We break the surface tension
With our wild kinetic dreams
Curves and lines —
Of grand designs…

Mystic Rhythms

So many things I think about
When I look far away
Things I know — things I wonder
Things I’d like to say
The more we think we know about
The greater the unknown
We suspend our disbelief
And we are not alone —
Mystic rhythms — capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Mysteries of night
Escape the light of day
Mystic rhythms — under northern lights
Or the African sun
Primitive things stir
The hearts of everyone
We sometimes catch a window
A glimpse of what’s beyond
Was it just imagination
Stringing us along?
More things than are dreamed about
Unseen and unexplained
We suspend our disbelief
And we are entertained —
Mystic rhythms — capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Nature seems to spin
A supernatural way
Mystic rhythms — under city lights
Or a canopy of stars
We feel the powers
And we wonder what they are
We feel the push and pull
Of restless rhythms from afar

Best I Can

Got a living that’s rough
A future that’s tough
You know what I mean
Blanker’s and boasters
All the bluffers and posers
I’m not into that scene
You can tell me that I’ve got no class
Look around youl see who’s laughing last
Don’t give me speeches ’cause they’re oh so droll
Leave me alone and let me rock and roll
I do the best that I can
I’m just what I am
I do the best I can
I know just what I am
Got an itching to rock
A hate for small talk
I’m funny that way
Got my sights on the stars
Won’t get that far
But I’ll try anyway
I just like to please
Don’t like to tease
I’m easy like that
Don’t like long rests
I must confess
I’m an impatient cat
Rock and rollin’s a scream
Making millions my dream
I do that a lot
But I’ll just give it a try
Won’t let good times pass me by
They’re all I’ve got

Beneath, Between And Behind

Ten score years ago
Defeat the kingly foe
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste
No virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes but never seeing
Beneath the noble birth
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear
Watch the cities rise
Another ship arrives
Earth’s melting pot, and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true
Inventing something new
The greatest minds, but never knowing
The guns replace the plow
Facades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dreams’ gone stale
But still let hope prevail
Hope that history’s debt won’t be repaid

I Think I’m Going Bald

I looked in the mirror today
My eyes just didn’t seem so bright
I’ve lost a few more hairs;
I think I’m going bald
I think I’m going bald
Seems like only yesterday
We would sit and talk of dreams all night
Dreams of youth
And simple truths
Now we’re so involved
So involved with life
Walk down vanity fair
Memory lane everywhere
Wall Street shuffles there
Dressed in flowing hair
Once we loved the flowers
Now we ask the price of the land
Once we would take water
But now it must be wine
Now we’ve been
And now we’ve seen
What price peace of mind
Take a piece of my mind
My life is slipping away
I’m aging every day
But even when I’m grey
I’ll still be grey my way

The Fountain of Lamneth

I. In the Valley
I am born
I am me
I am new
I am free
Look at me
I am young
Sight unseen
Life unsung…
My eyes have just been opened
And they’re open very wide
Images around me
Don’t identify inside
Just one blur I recognize
The one that soothes and feeds
My way of life is easy
And as simple are my needs
Yet my eyes are drawn toward
The mountain in the east
Fascinates and captivates
Gives my heart no peace
The mountain holds the sunrise
In the prison of the night
Till bursting forth from rocky chains
The valley floods with light
Living one long sunrise
For to me all things are new
I’ve never watched the sky grow pale
Or strolled through fields of dew
I do not know of dust to dust
I live from breath to breath
I live to climb that mountain to
The Fountain of Lamneth
II. Didacts and Narpets
Unofficial lyrics that were not included in the album lyric sheet
Stay!
Go!
Work!
No!
Think!
Live!
Earn!
Give!
Wait!
Fight!
Laugh!
Right!
Listen…
III. No One At the Bridge
Crying back to consciousness
The coldness grips my skin
The sky is pitching violently
Drawn by shrieking winds
Seaspray blurs my vision
Waves roll by so fast
Save my ship of freedom
I’m lashed helpless to the mast
Call out for direction
And there’s no one there to steer
Shout out for salvation
But there’s no one there to hear
Cry out supplication
For the maelstrom is near
Scream out desperation
But no one cares to hear
Remembering when first I held
The wheel in my own hands
I took the helm so eagerly
And sailed for distant lands
But now the sea’s too heavy
And I just don’t understand
Why must my crew desert me
When I need a guiding hand
IV. Panacea
The whiteness of confusion
Is unfolding from my mind
I stare around in wonder
Have I left my life behind
I catch the scent of ambergris
And turn my head… surprised
My gaze is caught and held
And I am helpless, mesmerized
Panacea ~ liquid grace
Oh let me touch your fragile face
Enchantment falls around me
And I know I cannot leave
Here’s a meaning for my life
A shelter from the storm
Pacify my troubles with
Her body soft and warm
Naked in our unity
A smile for every tear
Gentle hands that promise me
Comfort through the years
Yet I know I must be gone
Before the light of dawn
Panacea ~ passion pure
I can’t resist your gentle lure
My heart will lie beside you
And my wandering body grieves
V. Bacchus Plateau
Another endless day
Silhouettes of grey
Another glass of wine
Drink with eyes that shine
To days without that chill at morning
Nights time out of mind
Draw another goblet
From the cask of ’43
Crimson misty memory
Hazy glimpse of me
Give me back my wonder
~ I’ve something more to give
I guess it doesn’t matter
~ There’s not much more to live
Another foggy dawn
The mountain almost gone
Another doubtful fear
The road is not so clear
My soul grows ever weary, and…
The end is ever near
VI. The Fountain
Look…the mist is rising
And the sun is peaking through
See, the steps grow lighter
As I reach their final few
Hear, the dancing waters
I must be drawing near
Feel, my heart is pounding
With embattled hope and fear
Now, at last I fall before
The Fountain of Lamneth
I thought I would be singing
But I’m tired… out of breath
Many journeys end here
But, the secret’s told the same
Life is just a candle
And a dream must give it flame’
The key, the end, the answer
Stripped of their disguise
Still it’s all confusion
And tears spring to my eyes
Though I’ve reached a signpost
It’s really not the end
Like Old Sol’ behind the mountain
I’ll be coming up again…
I’m in motion
I am still
I am crying
I am still
I’m together
I’m apart
I’m forever
At the start
Still… I am

Something For Nothing

Waiting for the winds of change
To sweep the clouds away
Waiting for the rainbow’s end
To cast its gold your way
Countless ways
You pass the days
Waiting for someone to call
And turn your world around
Looking for an answer to
The question you have found
Looking for
An open door
You don’t get something for nothing
You don’t get freedom for free
You won’t get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dreams might be
What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story
In your head is the answer
Let it guide you along
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your own song

2112

I. OVERTURE
“And the meek shall inherit the earth.”

II. TEMPLES OF SYRINX
“…The massive grey walls of the Temples rise from the Heart of every Federation city. I have always been awed by them, to think that every single facet of every life is regulated and directed from within! Our books, our music, our work and play are all looked after by the benevolent wisdom of the priests…”
We’ve taken care of everything
The words you read
The songs you sing
The pictures that give pleasure
To your eye
One for all and all for one
Work together
Common sons
Never need to wonder
How or why
We are the Priests
Of the Temples of Syrinx
Our great computers
Fill the hallowed halls
We are the Priests
Of the Temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life
Are held within our walls
Look around this world we made
Equality
Our stock in trade
Come and join the Brotherhood
Of Man
What a nice contented world
Let the banners
Be unfurled
Hold the Red Star proudly
High in hand.

III. DISCOVERY
“…Behind my beloved waterfall, in the little room that was hidden beneath the cave, I found it. I brushed away the dust of the years, and picked it up, holding it reverently in my hands. I had no idea what it might be, but it was beautiful…”
“…I learned to lay my fingers across the wires, and to turn the keys to make them sound differently. As I struck the wires with my other hand, I produced my first harmonious sounds, and soon my own music! How different it could be from the music of the Temples! I can’t wait to tell the priests about it! …”
What can this strange device be?
When I touch it, it gives forth a sound
It’s got wires that vibrate, and give music
What can this thing be that I found?
See how it sings like a sad heart
And joyously screams out its pain
Sounds that build high like a mountain
Or notes that fall gently, like rain.
I can’t wait to share this new wonder
The people will all see its light
Let them all make their own music
The Priests praise my name on this night.

IV. PRESENTATION
“…In the sudden silence as I finished playing, I looked up to a circle of grim, expressionless faces. Father Brown rose to his feet, and his somnolent voice echoed throughout the silent Temple Hall…”
“…Instead of the grateful joy that I expected, they were words of quiet rejection! Instead of praise, sullen dismissal. I watched in shock and horror as Father Brown ground my precious instrument to splinters beneath his feet…”
I know it’s most unusual
To come before you so
But I’ve found an ancient miracle
I thought that you should know
Listen to my music
And hear what it can do
There’s something here as strong as life
I know that it will reach you.
The Priests:
Yes, we know
It’s nothing new
It’s just a waste of time
We have no need for ancient ways
Our world is doing fine
Another toy
That helped destroy
The elder race of man
Forget about your silly whim
It doesn’t fit the plan
I can’t believe you’re saying
These things just can’t be true
Our world could use this beauty
Just think what we might do
The Priests:
Don’t annoy us further
We have our work to do.
Just think about the average
What use have they for you?

V. ORACLE: THE DREAM
“…I guess it was a dream, but even now it all seems so vivid to me. Clearly yet I see the beckoning hand of the oracle as he stood at the summit of the staircase…”
“…I see still the incredible beauty of the sculptured cities, and the pure spirit of man revealed in the lives and works of this world. I was overwhelmed by both wonder and understanding as I saw a completely different way to life, a way that had been crushed by the Federation long ago. I saw now how meaningless life had become with the loss of all these things…”
I wandered home though the silent streets
And fell into a fitful sleep
Escape to realms beyond the night
Dream – can’t you show me the light
I stand atop a spiral stair
An oracle confronts me there
He leads me on, light years away
Through astral nights, galactic days
I see the works of gifted hands
Grace this strange and wondrous land
I see the hand of man arise
With hungry mind and open eyes
They left the planet long ago
The elder race still learn and grow
Their power grows with purpose strong
To claim the home where they belong
Home to tear the Temples down
Home to change –

VI. SOLILOQUY
“…I have not left this cave for days now, it has become my last refuge in my total despair. I have only the music of the waterfall to comfort me now. I can no longer live under the control of the Federation, but there is no other place to go. My last hope is that with my death I may pass into the world of my dream, and know peace at last…”
The sleep is still in my eyes
The dream is still in my head
I heave a sigh, and sadly smile
And lie a while in bed
I wish that it might come to pass
Not fade like all my dreams
Just think of what my life might be
In a world like I have seen
I don’t think I can carry on
This cold and empty life
My spirits are low, in the depths of despair
My lifeblood
Spills over….

VII. THE GRAND FINALE
Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation
Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation
Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation
We have assumed control.
We have assumed control.
We have assumed control.

A Passage to Bangkok

Our first stop is in Bogota
To check Colombian fields
The natives smile and pass along
A sample of their yield
Sweet Jamaican pipe dreams
Golden Acapulco nights
Then Morocco, and the East,
Fly by morning light
We’re on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We’ll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Wreathed in smoke in Lebanon
We burn the midnight oil
The fragrance of Afghanistan
Rewards a long day’s toil
Pulling into Katmandu
Smoke rings fill the air
Perfumed by a Nepal night
The Express gets you there

The Twilight Zone

A pleasant faced man steps up to greet you
He smiles and says he’s pleased to meet you
Beneath his hat the strangeness lies
Take it off, he’s got three eyes
Truth is false and logic lost
Now the fourth dimension is crossed
You have entered the Twilight Zone
Beyond this world strange things are known
Use the key, unlock the door
See what your fate might have in store
Come explore your dreams’ creation
Enter this world of imagination
Wake up lost in an empty town
Wondering why no one else is around
Look up to see a giant boy
You’ve just become his brand new toy
No escape, no place to hide
Here where Time and Space collide

Cinderella Man

A modest man from Mandrake
Travelled rich to the city
He had a need to discover
A use for his newly-found wealth
Because he was human
Because he had goodness
Because he was moral
They called him insane
Delusions of grandeur
Visions of splendour
A manic depressive
He walks in the rain
Eyes wide open
Heart undefended
Innocence untarnished
Cinderella Man
Doing what you can
They can’t understand
What it means
Cinderella Man
Hang on to your plans
Try as they might
They cannot steal your dreams
In the betrayal of his love he awakened
To face a world of cold reality
And a look in the eyes of the hungry
Awakened him to what he could do
He held up his riches
To challenge the hungry
Purposeful motion
For one so insane
They tried to fight him
Just couldn’t beat him
This manic depressive
Who walks in the rain

Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres

I. PRELUDE
When our weary world was young
The struggle of the ancients first began
The gods of Love and Reason
Sought alone to rule the fate of ManThey battled through the ages
But still neither force would yield
The people were divided,
Every soul a battlefield…

II. APOLLO BRINGER OF WISDOM
‘I bring truth and understanding,
I bring wit and wisdom fair,
Precious gifts beyond compare.
We can build a world of wonder,
I can make you all aware’
‘I will find you food and shelter,
Show you fire to keep you warm
Through the endless winter storm.
You can live in grace and comfort
In the world that you transform’
The people were delighted
Coming forth to claim their prize
They ran to build their cities
And converse among the wise
But one day the streets fell silent
Yet they knew not what was wrong
The urge to build these fine things
Seemed not to be so strong
The wise men were consulted
And the Bridge of Death was crossed
In quest of Dionysus
To find out what they had lost…

III. DIONYSUS BRINGER OF LOVE
‘I bring love to give you solace
In the darkness of the night
In the Heart’s eternal light
You need only trust your feelings
Only Love can steer you right’
‘I bring laughter, I bring Music,
I bring joy and I bring Tears
I will soothe your primal fears
Throw off those chains of Reason
And your prison disappears’
The cities were abandoned
And the forests echoed song
They danced and lived as brothers
They knew Love could not be wrong
Food and wine they had aplenty
And they slept beneath the stars
The people were contented
And the Gods watched from afar
But the winter fell upon them
And it caught them unprepared
Bringing wolves and cold starvation
And the hearts of men despaired…

IV. ARMAGEDDON THE BATTLE OF HEART AND MIND
The Universe divided
As the Heart and Mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow hemispheres
Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded hemispheres
Some who did not fight
Brought tales of old to light
My Rocinante sailed by night
On her final flight
To the heart of Cygnus’ fearsome force
We set our course.
Spiralled through that timeless space
To this immortal place

V. CYGNUS BRINGER OF BALANCE
I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the City of Immortals
Marble white and purest gold
I see the Gods in battle rage on high
Thunderbolts across the sky
I cannot move, I cannot hide
I feel a silent scream begin inside
Then all at once the chaos ceased
A stillness fell, a sudden peace
The Warriors felt my silent cry
And stayed their struggle, mystified
Apollo was astonished
Dionysus thought me mad
But they heard my story further
And they wondered, and were sad
Looking down from Olympus
On a world of doubt and fear
Its surface splintered into
Sorry hemispheres.
They sat a while in silence
Then they turned at last to me
‘We will call you Cygnus
The God of Balance you shall be’

VI. THE SPHERE A KIND OF DREAM
We can walk our road together
If our goals are all the same
We can run alone and free
If we pursue a different aim
Let the truth of Love be lighted
Let the love of truth shine clear
Sensibility
Armed with sense and liberty
With the Heart and Mind united
In a single perfect sphere

Circumstances

A boy alone, and so far from home
Endless rooftops from my window
I felt the gloom of empty rooms
On rainy afternoons.
Sometimes in confusion
I felt so lost and disillusioned
Innocence gave me confidence
To go up against reality
All the same
We take our chances,
Laughed at by Time,
Tricked by circumstances
Plus Ã§a change,
Plus c’est la mÃªme chose,
The more that things change
The more they stay the same
Now I’ve gained some understanding
Of the only world that we see
Things that I once dreamed of
Have become reality
These walls that still surround me
Still contain the same old me
Just one more who’s searching for
The world that ought to be

La Villa Strangiato

Even The Rush Instrumental had a Dream/Shakespeare reference!

La Villa Strangiato
(An Exercise in Self-Indulgence)
Music: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart

Buenas Noches, Mein Froinds!
II. To sleep, perchance to dream…
III. Strangiato Theme
IV. A Lerxst in Wonderland
V. Monsters!
VI. Danforth and Pape
VII. The Waltz of the Shreves
VIII. Never turn your back on a Monster!
IX. Monsters! (Reprise)
X. Strangiato Theme (Reprise)
XI. A Farewell to Things

Jacob’s Ladder

The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence
Bruised and sullen storm clouds
Have the light of day obscured
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunderheads are rumbling
In a distant overture
All at once,
The clouds are parted
Light streams down
In bright unbroken beams
Follow men’s eyes
As they look to the skies
The shifting shafts of shining
Weave the fabric of their dreams…

Red Barchetta

My uncle has a country place, that no-one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law
Sundays I elude the ‘Eyes’, and hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire, where my white-haired uncle waits
Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine –
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta, from a better, vanished time
Fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar!
Tires spitting gravel, I commit my weekly crime…
Wind in my hair –
Shifting and drifting –
Mechanical music
Adrenalin surge –
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Suddenly ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I’ve got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside…

Limelight

Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage
Cast in this unlikely role,
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact
Living in the Limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
Living in a fisheye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can’t pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend
All the world’s indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience
Outside the gilded cage

Vital Signs

Unstable condition:
A symptom of life,
In mental,
And environmental change
Atmospheric disturbance –
The feverish flux,
Of human interface
And interchange
The impulse is pure –
Sometimes our circuits get shorted,
By external interference
Signals get crossed –
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence
A tired mind become a shapeshifter
Everybody need a mood lifter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form.
Everybody got to deviate
From the norm
An ounce of perception –
A pound of obscure
Process information
At half speed
Pause:
Rewind – replay –
Warm memory chip
Random-sample –
Hold the one you need
Leave out the fiction
The fact is;
This friction
Will only be worn by persistence
Leave out conditions
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence
A tired mind become a shapeshifter
Everybody need a soft filter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to elevate
From the norm…

Subdivisions

Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown
Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone
Subdivisions —
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
Subdivisions —
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out
Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth
Drawn like moths we drift into the city
The timeless old attraction
Cruising for the action
Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night
Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight
Somewhere out of a memory
Of lighted streets on quiet nights…

Analog Kid

A hot and windy August afternoon
Has the trees in constant motion
With a flash of silver leaves
As they’re rocking in the breeze
The boy lies in the grass with one blade
Stuck between his teeth
A vague sensation quickens
In his young and restless heart
And a bright and nameless vision
Has him longing to depart
You move me —
You move me —
With your buildings and your eyes
Autumn woods and winter skies
You move me —
You move me —
Open sea and city lights
Busy streets and dizzy heights
You call me —
You call me —
The fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs
Dances on the edge of his dream
And her voice rings in his ears
Like the music of the spheres
The boy lies in the grass, unmoving
Staring at the sky
His mother starts to call him
As a hawk goes soaring by
The boy pulls down his baseball cap
And covers up his eyes
Too many hands on my time
Too many feelings —
Too many things on my mind
When I leave I don’t know
What I’m hoping to find
When I leave I don’t know
What I’m leaving behind…

Losing It

The dancer slows her frantic pace
In pain and desperation,
Her aching limbs and downcast face
Aglow with perspiration
Stiff as wire, her lungs on fire,
With just the briefest pause —
The flooding through her memory,
The echoes of old applause.
She limps across the floor
And closes her bedroom door…
The writer stares with glassy eyes —
Defies the empty page,
His beard is white, his face is lined
And streaked with tears of rage.
Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision,
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision
And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more…
Some are born to move the world —
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we’d like to be
Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you — the blind who once could see —
The bell tolls for thee…

Countdown

Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark, nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline
Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams
Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon
Crackling speakers, voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check, T minus nine
As the sun and the drama start to mount
The air is charged — a humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras,
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick — you could cut it with a knife
Technology — high, on the leading edge of life
The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
A thunderous roar shakes the air
Like the whole world exploding
Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound
Like a pillar of cloud, the smoke lingers
High in the air
In fascination — with the eyes of the world
We stare…

To live between a rock
And a hard place
In between time —
Cruising in prime time —
Soaking up the cathode rays
To live between the wars
In our time —
Living in real time —
Holding the good time —
Holding on to yesterdays…
You know how that rabbit feels
Going under your speeding wheels
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly
Frozen in the fatal climb —
But the wheels of time —
Just pass you by…
Wheels can take you around
Wheels can cut you down
We can go from boom to bust
From dreams to a bowl of dust
We can fall from rockets’ red glare
Down to “Brother can you spare –”
Another war — another waste land —
And another lost generation…
It slips between your hands
Like water
This living in real time
A dizzying lifetime
Reeling by on celluloid
Struck between the eyes
By the big-time world
Walking uneasy streets —
Hiding beneath the sheets —
Got to try and fill the void…

The Enemy Within

(PART I OF FEAR)
Things crawl in the darkness
That imagination spins
Needles at your nerve ends
Crawl like spiders on your skin
Pounding in your temples
And a surge of adrenaline
Every muscle tense —
To fence
The enemy within
I’m not giving in
To security under pressure
I’m not missing out
On the promise of adventure
I’m not giving up
on implausible dreams —
Experience to extremes —
Experience to extremes
Suspicious-looking stranger
Flashes you a dangerous grin
Shadows across your window —
Was it only trees in the wind?
Every breath a static charge —
A tongue that tastes like tin
Steely-eyed outside —
To hide
The enemy within…
To you — is it movement or is it action?
It is contact or just reaction?
And you — revolution or just resistance?
Is it living, or just existence?
Yeah, you — it takes a little more persistence
To get up and go the distance…

Big Money

Big money goes around the world
Big money underground
Big money got a mighty voice
Big money make no sound
Big money pull a million strings
Big money hold the prize
Big money weave a mighty web
Big money draw the flies
Sometimes pushing people around
Sometimes pulling out the rug
Sometimes pushing all the buttons
Sometimes pulling out the plug
It’s the power and the glory
It’s a war in paradise
It’s a cinderella story
On a tumble of the dice
Big money goes around the world
Big money take a cruise
Big money leave a mighty wake
Big money leave a bruise
Big money make a million dreams
Big money spin big deals
Big money make a mighty head
Big money spin big wheels
Sometimes building ivory towers
Sometimes knocking castles down
Sometimes building you a stairway —
Lock you underground
It’s that old-time religion
it’s the kingdom they would rule
It’s the fool on television
Getting paid to play the fool
Big money goes around the world
Big money give and take
Big money done a power of good
Big money make mistakes
Big money got a heavy hand
Big money take control
Big money got a mean streak
Big money got no soul…

Territories

I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call the country of their birth
We all figure that our homes are set above
Other people than the ones we know and love
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse
Don’t feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can’t really feel
What international means
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles
We keep spinning round and round
We see so many tribes — overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream of lands they’ve left behind
Better people — better food — and better beer
Why move around the world when Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn’t evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of the citizens along for the ride
They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the colour of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colourful rag is unfurled

Force Ten

Tough times demand tough talk
demand tough hearts demand tough songs
demand —
We can rise and fall like empires
Flow in and out like the tide
Be vain and smart, humble and dumb
We can hit and miss like pride
We can circle around like hurricanes
Dance and dream like lovers
Attack the day like birds of prey
Or scavengers under cover
Look in —
To the eye of the storm
Look out —
For the force without form
Look around —
At the sight and the sound
Look in look out look around —
We can move with savage grace
To the rhythms of the night
Cool and remote like dancing girls
In the heat of the beat and the lights
We can wear the rose of romance
An air of joie de vivre
Too-tender hearts upon our sleeves
Or skin as thick as thieves’
rising falling at force ten
we twist the world and ride the wind
Look in —
look the storm in the eye
Look out —
to the sea and the sky
Look around —
at the sight and the sound
Look in look out look around —

Second Nature

A memo to a higher office
Open letter to the powers-that-be
To a God, a king, a head of state
A captain of industry
To the movers and the shakers —
Can’t everybody see?
It ought to be second nature —
I mean, the places where we live!
Let’s talk about this sensibly —
We’re not insensitive
I know progress has no patience —
But something’s got to give
I know you’re different —
You know I’m the same
We’re both too busy
To be taking the blame
I’d like some changes
But you don’t have the time
We can’t go on thinking
It’s a victimless crime
No one is blameless,
But we’re all without shame
We fight the fire
While we’re
Feeding the flames
Folks have got to make choices —
And choices got to have voices
Folks are basically decent
Conventional wisdom would say
Well, we read about
The exceptions
In the papers every day
It ought to be second nature —
At least, that’s what I feel
“Now I lay me down in Dreamland” —
I know perfect’s not for real
I thought we might get closer —
But I’m ready to make a deal
Today is different,
And tomorrow the same
It’s hard to take the world
The way that it came
Too many rapids
Keep us sweeping along
Too many captains
Keep on steering us wrong
It’s hard to take the heat —
It’s hard to lay blame
To fight the fire —
While we’re
Feeding the flames

Mission

Hold your fire —
Keep it burning bright
Hold the flame
‘Til the dream ignites —
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream with a mission
I hear their passionate music
Read the words
That touch my heart
I gaze at their feverish pictures
The secrets that set them apart
When I feel the powerful visions
Their fire has made alive
I wish I had that instinct —
I wish I had that drive
Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single desire
In the grip
Of a nameless possession —
A slave to the drive of obsession —
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream with a mission…
I watch their images flicker
Bringing light to a lifeless screen
I walk through
Their beautiful buildings
And I wish I had their dreams
But dreams don’t need
To have motion
To keep their spark alive
Obsession has to have action —
Pride turns on the drive
It’s cold comfort
To the ones without it
To know how they struggled —
How they suffered about it
If their lives were
Exotic and strange
They would likely have
Gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane
We each pay a fabulous price
For our visions of paradise
But a spirit with a vision
Is a dream with a mission…

High Water

When the waters rose
In the darkness
In the wake of the endless flood
It flowed into our memory —
It flowed into our blood —
When something broke the surface
Just to see the starry dome —
We still feel that relation
When the water takes us home
In the flying spray of the ocean
The water takes you home —
Springing from the weight
Of the mountains
Like the heart of the earth
Would burst
Flowing out from marble fountains
In the dreams of a desert thirst
Something swam through
The jungles
Where the mighty rivers roam —
Something breaks the silence
When the water takes you home
I hear the wordless voices
When the water takes me home —
Waves that crash on the shoreline
Torrents of tropical rain
Streaming down
Beyond our memory
Streaming down inside our veins
When something left the ocean
To crawl high above the foam —
We still feel that elation
When the water takes us home
In a driving rain of redemption
The water takes me home…

War Paint

girl before the mirror
appraises her disguise
child become a mother
tries to fix her eyes
no more of his excuses
it has to be today
she can keep her fantasy
if she can get away
paint her name on a one-way street
painted cheeks with angry heat
wounded pride on painted eyes
paint the night with battlecries
all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the beautiful and the wise
the mirror always lies
boy before the mirror
checks his camouflage
polishes his armor
and the charger in the garage
no more lame excuses
it has to be tonight
he can take the princess
if he can take the fight
pound the drums with martial beat
pound the streets with marching feet
wounded pride, distorted eyes
paint the night with battlecries
all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the powerful and the wise
the mirror always lies
boys and girls together
mistake conceit for pride
– ambition for illusion
– dreams for self-delusion
girls and boys together
see what it is we lack
boys and girls together
let’s paint the mirror black
paint it black

Presto

if I could wave my magic wand…
I am made from the dust of the stars
and the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
like a stranger coming out of the rain
the evening plane rises up from the runway
over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
and wonder what you’re doing tonight
If I could wave my magic wand
I’d make everything all right
I’m not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I’m not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I had a dream of a winter garden
a midnight rendezvous
silver, blue, and frozen silence
what a fool I was for you
I had a dream of the open water
I was swimming away out to sea
so deep I could never touch bottom
what a fool I used to be
If I could wave my magic wand
I’d set everybody free
I’m not one to believe in magic
Though my memory has a second-sight
I’m not one to go pointing my finger
When I radiate more heat than light
don’t ask me
I’m just improvising
my illusion of careless flight
can’t you see
my temperature’s rising
I radiate more heat than light
don’t ask me
I’m just sympathizing
my illusions a harmless flight
can’t you see
my temperature’s rising
I radiate more heat than light
One of the coolest lyrics ever written!

Anagram (for Mongo)

there’s a snake coming out of the darkness
parade from paradise
end the need for eden
chase the dreams of merchandise
there is tic and toc in atomic
leaders make a deal
the cosmic is largely comic
a con they couldn’t conceal
There is no safe seat at the feast
Take your best stab at the beast
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin
raise the art to resistance
danger dare to be grand
pride reduced to humble pie
diamonds down to sand
take heart from earth and weather
the brightness of new birth
take heart from the harvest
shave the harvest from the earth
Reasoning is partly insane
Image just an eyeless game
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin
miracles will have their claimers
more will bow to Rome
he and she are in the house
but there’s only me at home
rose is a rose of splendor
posed to respond in the end
lonely things like nights,
I find, end finer with a friend
I hear in the rate of her heart
A tear in the heat of the art
The night turns thin
The saint turns to sin

Chain Lightning

energy is contagious
enthusiasm spreads
tides respond to lunar gravitation
everything turns in synchronous relation
laughter is infectious
excitement goes to my head
winds are stirred by planets in rotation
sparks ignite and spread new information
respond, vibrate, feedback, resonate
sundogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright
hope is epidemic
optimism spreads
bitterness breeds irritation
ignorance breeds imitation
sundogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright
reflected in another source of light
when the moment dies
the spark still flies
reflected in another pair of eyes

dreams are sometimes catching
desire goes to my head
love responds to your invitation
love responds to imagination
respond, vibrate, feedback, resonate

Dreamline

He’s got a road map of Jupiter
A radar fix on the stars
All along the highway
She’s got a liquid-crystal compass
A picture book of the rivers
Under the Sahara
They travel in the time of the prophets
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We’re only at home when we’re on the run
On the run
He’s got a star map of Hollywood
A list of cheap motels
All along the freeway
She’s got a sister out in Vegas
The promise of a decent job
Far away from her hometown
They travel on the road to redemption
A highway out of yesterday — that tomorrow will bring
Like lovers and heroes, birds in the last days of spring
We’re only at home when we’re on the wing
On the wing
WHEN WE ARE YOUNG
WANDERING THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WONDERING WHAT OUR DREAMS MIGHT BE WORTH
LEARNING THAT WE’RE ONLY IMMORTAL —
FOR A LIMITED TIME
Time is a gypsy caravan
Steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in Dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory a flickering light
Left behind in the heartland
We travel in the dark of the new moon
A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagle’s cry
We’re only at home when we’re on the fly
On the fly
We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We’re only at home when we’re on the run
On the run…

Bravado

If we burn our wings
Flying too close to the sun
If the moment of glory
Is over before it’s begun
If the dream is won —
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride —
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
And if the music stops
There’s only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
If love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

You Bet Your Life

Just another hunter, like a wolf in the sun
Just another junkie on a scoring run
Just another victim of the things he has done
Just another day — in the life of a loaded gun
THE ODDS GET EVEN — You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN — The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
Just another winner, pours his life down the drain
Just another island in a hurricane
Just another loser, like a cat in the rain
Just another day — in the path of a speeding train
THE ODDS GET EVEN — You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN — The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
anarchist reactionary running-dog revisionist
hindu muslim catholic creation/evolutionist
rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
minimal expressionist postmodern neo-symbolist
armchair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist
be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metallist
gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist
Just another gypsy with a plastic guitar
Just another dancer with her eyes on the stars
Just another dreamer who was going too far
Just another drunk — at the wheel of a stolen car
THE ODDS GET EVEN — You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN — The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE

Cut to the Chase

It is the fire that lights itself
But it burns with a restless flame
The arrow on a moving target
The archer must be sure of his aim
It is the engine that drives itself
But it chooses the uphill climb
A bearing on magnetic north
Growing farther away all the time
Can’t stop — moving
Can’t stop — moving
Can’t stop —
YOU MAY BE RIGHT
IT’S ALL A WASTE OF TIME
I GUESS THAT’S JUST A CHANCE
I’M PREPARED TO TAKE
A DANGER I’M PREPARED TO FACE
CUT TO THE CHASE
It is the rocket that ignites itself
And launches its way to the stars
A driver on a busy freeway
Racing the oblivious cars
It’s the motor of the western world
Spinning off to every extreme
Pure as a lover’s desire
Evil as a murderer’s dream
Young enough not to care too much
About the way things used to be
I’m young enough to remember the future —
The past has no claim on me
I’m old enough not to care too much
About what you think of me
But I’m young enough to remember the future
And the way things ought to be
WHAT KIND OF DIFFERENCE
CAN ONE PERSON MAKE?
CUT TO THE CHASE

Everyday Glory

In the house where nobody laughs
And nobody sleeps
In the house where love lies dying
And the shadows creep
A little girl hides, shaking,
With her hands on her ears
Pushing back the tears, ’til the pain disappears
Mama says some ugly words
Daddy pounds the wall
They can fight about their little girl later
But right now they don’t care at all
No matter what they say…
No matter what they say…
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
EVERYDAY SHAME
EVERYDAY PROMISE
SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES
EVERYDAY SUNRISE
ANOTHER EVERYDAY STORY
RISE FROM THE ASHES —
A BLAZE OF EVERYDAY GLORY
In the city where nobody smiles
And nobody dreams
In the city where desperation
Drives the bored to extremes
Just one spark of decency
Against a starless night
One glow of hope and dignity
A child can follow the light
No matter what they say
No matter what they say…
If the future’s looking dark
We’re the ones who have to shine
If there’s no one in control
We’re the ones who draw the line
Though we live in trying times —
We’re the ones who have to try
Though we know that time has wings —
We’re the ones who have to fly

Time and Motion

Time and motion
Wind and sun and rain
Days connect like boxcars in a train
Fill them up with precious cargo
Squeeze in all that you can find
Spontaneous elation
And the long-enduring kind
Time and motion
Flesh and blood and fire
Lives connect in webs of gold and razor wire
Spin a thread of precious contact
Squeeze in all that you can find
Spontaneous relations
And the long-enduring kind
The mighty ocean
Dances with the moon
The silent forest
Echoes with the loon
Time and motion
Live and love and dream
Eyes connect like interstellar beams
Superman in Supernature
Needs all the comfort he can find
Spontaneous emotion
And the long enduring kind

Peaceable Kingdom

A wave toward the clearing the sky
All this time we’re talking and sharing our Rational View
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we’re living and trying to understand
Why a billion other choices are making their demands
Talk of a Peaceable Kingdom
Talk of a time without fear
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hear
Justice against The Hanged Man
Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against The Tower
All this time we’re shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we’re hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn

Dream of a Peaceable Kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish would hear us
Have heard it all before
A wave toward the clearing sky
A wave toward the clearing sky
The Hermit against The Lovers
Or the Devil against the Fool
Swords against the kingdom
The Wheel against the rules
All this time we’re burning like bonfires in the dark
A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks
Every spark a drifting ember of desire
To fall upon the earth and spark another fire
A homeward angel on the fly
A wave toward the clearing sky

Earthshine

On certain nights
When the angles are right
And the moon is a slender crescent
Its circle shows
In a ghostly glow
Of earthly luminescence
Earthshine
A beacon in the night
I can raise my eyes to
Earthshine
Earthshine
A jewel out of reach
Form a dream to rise to
Earthshine
Floating high
In the evening sky
I see my faint reflection
Pale facsimile
Like what others see
When they look in my direction
Earthshine
Stretching out your hand
Full of starlit diamonds
Earthshine
Reflected light
To another’s sight
And the moon tells a lover’s story
My borrowed face
And my third-hand grace
Only reflect your glory
You’re still out of reach
Form a dream to rise to
Earthshine

Out of The Cradle

It’s not a place
It’s a yearning
It’s not a race
It’s a journey
It’s not an act
It’s attraction
It’s not a style
It’s an action
It’s a dream for the waking
It’s a flower touched by flame
It’s a gift for the giving
It’s a power with a hundred names
Surge of energy, spark of inspiration
The breath of love is electricity
Maybe Time is bird in flight
Endlessly mocking
Here we come out of the cradle
Endlessly rocking
Endlessly rocking
It’s a hand
That rocks the cradle
It’s a motion
That swings the sky
It’s method on the edge of madness
It’s a balance on the edge of a knife
It’s a smile on the edge of sadness
It’s a dance on the edge of life
Endlessly r o c k i n g

Caravan

In a world lit only by fire
Long train of flares under piercing stars
I stand watching the steamliners roll by
The caravan thunders onward
To the distant dream of the city
The caravan carries me onward
On my way at last
On my way at last
I can’t stop thinking big
I can’t stop thinking big
On a road lit only by fire
Going where I want, instead of where I should
I peer out at the passing shadows
Carried through the night into the city
Where a young man has a chance of making good
A chance to break from the past
The caravan thunders onward
Stars winking through the canvas hood
On my way at last
In a world where I feel so small
I can’t stop thinking big

Seven Cities of Gold

A man can lose his past, in a country like this
Wandering aimless
Parched and nameless
A man could lose his way, in a country like this
Canyons and cactus
Endless and trackless
Searching through a grim eternity
Sculptured by a prehistoric sea
Seven Cities of Gold
Stories that fired my imagination
Seven Cities of Gold
A splendid mirage in this desolation
Seven Cities of Gold
Glowing in my dreams, like hallucinations
Glitter in the sun like a revelation
Distant as a comet or a constellation
A man can lose himself, in a country like this
Rewrite the story
Recapture the glory
A man could lose his life, in a country like this
Sunblind and friendless
Frozen and endless
The nights grow longer, the farther I go
Wake to aching cold, and a deep Sahara of snow
That gleam in the distance could be heaven’s gate
A long-awaited treasure at the end of my cruel fate

The Garden

In this one of many possible worlds, all for the best, or some bizarre test?
It is what it is – and whatever
Time is still the infinite jest
The arrow flies when you dream, the hours tick away – the cells tick away
The Watchmaker keeps to his schemes
The hours tick away – they tick away
The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect
So hard to earn, so easily burned
In the fullness of time
A garden to nurture and protect
In the rise and the set of the sun
‘Til the stars go spinning – spinning ’round the night
It is what it is – and forever
Each moment a memory in flight
The arrow flies while you breathe, the hours tick away – the cells tick away
The Watchmaker has time up his sleeve
The hours tick away – they tick away
The treasure of a life is a measure of love and respect
The way you live, the gifts that you give
In the fullness of time
It’s the only return that you expect
The future disappears into memory
With only a moment between
Forever dwells at that moment
Hope is what remains to be seen…

Bonus Dream Songs by Geddy Lee

The Angels’ Share

The Angels’ Share
The Secrets Of The Universe
It’s Seldom Fair
Partly Blessing Partly Curse
All Those Things We Cannot Know
We Dream, We Hypothesize
Maybe These Are Secrets Shared By Those
Watching From The Sky
If We Are Only Members Of The Human Race
No Supernatural Beings From A
Supranatural Place
If You Can’t Solve The Problem
Come And Tell Me To My Face
The Angels’ Share
All The Human Mysteries
There Is No Prayer
To The Thieves Of Celestial History
The Myth Of Perfect Reason
We’ve Forgotten At Birth
It’s A Kind Of Clandestine Conspiracy
A Seraphin Joke Of Eternity
If We Are Only Members Of The Human Race
No Supernatural Beings From A
Supranatural Place
If You Can’t Solve The Problem
Come And Tell Me To My Face
All Those Things We Cannot Know
We Dream, We Hypothesize
Maybe These Are Secrets Shared By Those
Watching From The Sky
If We Are Only Members Of The Human Race
No Supernatural Beings From A
Supranatural Place
If You Can’t Solve The Problem
Come And Tell Me To My Face

Moving to Bohemia

Where The Air’s Not Clean
Where The Water’s Glowing Green
Where The Dogs Are Mean
I’m Moving To Bohemia
Taking You Along
Say Goodbye To Suburbia
You Don’t Have To Cut The Lawn
I Had A Dream Of A Different Place
I Had A Dream That You Had A Different Face
I Heard A Scream Of A Desperate Kind
I’ve Got A Feeling That You’re Gonna Love What
You’ll Find
Where We’re On T.V.
Where The Money Grows On Trees
Where The Beer Is Free
Moving To Bohemia
Taking You Along
Say Goodbye To Utopia
We’ll Wave Before We’re Gone
I Had A Dream of A Different Place
I Had A Dream That You Had A Different Face
I Hear The Beat Of An Anxious Heart
I Feel The Heat…it’s Time For Us To Start
Time For Us To Start
I’m Moving To Bohemia
Where The Literature’s Obscene
Bathing In Euphoria
Where The Naked Truth Is On The Screen
I Had A Dream Of A Different Place
I Had A Dream That You Had A Different Face
I Heard A Scream Of A Desperate Kind
I’ve Got A Feeling That…
You’re Gonna Love What You’ll Find
You’re Gonna Love What You’ll Find

Grace to Grace

A Hundred Thousand Years
A Hundred Thousand Miles Of Track
A Hundred Thousand Tears
Hundred Thousand Souls
You Can’t Give Back
When The Dark Subsides
An Eternity Goes By
On The Fault Line
Between Then And Now
When The Truth Hides
An Eternity Goes By
On The Fault Line
Between Then And Now
Grace To Grace
Immaculate Vision
Of What Should Have Been
Face To Face
Eloquent Stories
Of What Could Have Been
A Hundred Thousand Dreams
A Hundred Thousand Beams Of Light
A Hundred Thousand Schemes
Gods In The Heavens Can’t Get It Right
When The Dark Subsides
An Eternity Goes By
On The Fault Line
Between Then And Now
When The Truth Hides
Integrity Falls Shy
On The Fault Line
Between Then And Now
Grace To Grace
Immaculate Vision
Of What Should Have Been
Place To Place
Elegant Story
Of What Could Have Been
When The Truth Hides
Integrity Falls Shy
On The Fault Line
Between Then And Now
When The Truth Hides
An Eternity Goes By
On The Fault Line
Between Then And Now
Grace To Grace
Immaculate Vision
Of What Should Have Been
Face To Face
Elegant Story
Of What Could Have Been
Grace To Grace
Immaculate Vision
Of What Should Have Been
Grace To Grace

LONG AGO I READ A STORY FROM ANOTHER TIMELINE about a character named Candide. He also survived a harrowing series of misadventures and tragedies, then settled on a farm near Constantinople.

Listening to a philosophical rant, Candide replied, “That is all very well, but now we must tend our garden.”
I have now arrived at that point in my own story.

There is a metaphorical garden in the acts and attitudes of a person’s life, and the treasures of that garden are love and respect. I have come to realize that the gathering of love and respect – from others and for myself – has been the real quest of my life.

“Now we must tend our garden.”
Neil Peart, Rush – Clockwork Angels