St Paul Daddy Grooves
In the sleazy motel every silhouette
Every barren soul every tortured kid
Has got it’s problems it is a problem
Got it’s groove that runs so deep
Just wanna say hi hello
Hi hello your daddy grooves
Just wanna say hi hello
Hi hello your mama moves
Only lethargy only decadence
And we sleep with the curtains closed
Through every window out every keyhole
The city walks to cough in our eyes
Just wanna say hi hello
Hi hello your daddy grooves
Just wanna say hi hello
Hi hello your mama moves
And the bus stops for our passage
And the deafness it’s only sport
Every fascist gun every politic
Want to think that they’re the ones
You pave the hamlets I’ll fell the forest
We’ll microprocess far and wide
Just want to say hi hello
Hi hello your daddy grooves
Just want to say hi hello
Hi hello your mama moves
And the bus stops for our passage
And the deafness it’s only sport
Words by Jo Flagg and CP Butchvarov
Tell Me A Story
Smoke waved past the empty glass
Tell me a story I said
She looked in the air to find it there
And painted my story instead
Tell me a story I asked again
Tell me a tale of your home
She looked at her hands with eyes in a dance
And made my story a poem
I wanted a story
She looked straight ahead
Played the guitar instead
I started to worry and asked for a story
She finally looked in my eyes
Without a word that I ever heard
She told of the fools and the wise
Wanted a happier ending I said
She widened her eyes like a scream
Go home she said go on to bed
And maybe you’ll have a dream
Words by John S Bowers
Spitfire Rose
Waking to the falling snow
My lover silent in her sleep
Rise in darkness don my robe
To sort through all the evening’s dreams
Fetch the metro morning paper
Coffee brewing in the kitchen
Cats are feeding frost is snapping
Clocks keep up their stoic ticking
Ageing at a breakneck speed
I feel my skin grow lean and taut
Soul sustained by different need
With love I found the peace I sought
Filing thoughts on scraps of paper
Laughing through the latest scandal
Lover sleeps I sit and wait
While morning burns another candle
I wear the garment I wear the gun
I’m having good old-fashioned fun
Got a file full of plots and schemes
Just living here in a world of dreams
Floundered sank and swam to you
And smashed through gates and doors forbidden
Teethed on granite solitude
In search of something slyly hidden
Rollercoaster through emotion
Flying slingshot out of dark
At your service at your mercy
Show me how to win your heart
I wear the garment I wear the gun
I’m having good old-fashioned fun
Got a file full of plots and schemes
Just living here in a world of dreams
Lover smiles and whispers softly
Waking from her dreamy sleep
Pour another cup of coffee
Wonder awe and joy release me
Spend the day embraced by fortune
Food and warmth my lover makes
Wave the banner light the torches
Strip me naked when I wake
I wear the garment I wear the gun
I’m having good old-fashioned fun
Got a file full of plots and schemes
Just living here in a world of dreams
Words by CP Butchvarov
The Song That Holds Us All
I brought a bag of breadcrumbs
And the ducks came up to chat awhile
The moon was cold and the sleeping night
Was full and round and clear
I heard the wind blow down the river
A stinging lullaby
The stars sang haunted harmonies
The ice a rumbling bass
I close my eyes to hear the earth
Her moan of wasted love
She’s been mistreated by her man
She sang a sob of pain
The ducks began to murmur softly
I heard a new note far overhead
A siren song that called to me
On strings of pulsing desire
The sound came down from the western sky
It filled the whole of my mind
I weakly reached out a conductor’s hand
The symphony roared on by
The ducks all yelled and flew to follow
I stayed with the song of the earth
The song that gave us womb and grave
The song that holds us all
I close my eyes to hear the earth
Her moan of wasted love
She’s been mistreated by her man
She sang a sob of pain
Words by John S Bowers
Cinderella
These glass slippers don’t fit you
Your pumpkins are caved in
The rats have been poisoned and they can’t be saved
You cry in the kitchen cry at the mirror
Cry out for someone but nobody hears
Cinderella please tell us
Where has the gown gone
Your hair doesn’t bounce
And your smile doesn’t shine
The prince never calls now
And all you can say is
Once upon a time
All the fairy godmothers
Have gone into hiding
In a house in the suburbs with aluminum siding
You scrub on the floor
And you scrub in the rafters
No one you know is living happily ever after
Cinderella please tell us
Now is the ball over
You walk after midnight
And hope for a crime
The prince has your number
But all he can say is
Once upon a time
When dreams came true
Words by John S Bowers
Choo Choo Baby
Born to a whore and a one’legged sailor’s mate
Shipped shore to shore in the hold of his leaky old ship
Lashed at a whim thrown ashore this distant land
Slander my kinfolk dredge the dirty deeds of the past
But I never was a barfly couldn’t stand the stench and the smoke
Oh there never was a reason never to be alarmed
Choo choo baby roll on down these tracks
There’s a pattern in the charts makes me howl at the harvest moon
I been shakin all over havn’t slept since god knows when
Well they say there’s more than meets the eye I’ll attest to that
There’s a circus master just as sure as the sun does shine
But the reason for existence continues to amaze and confuse me
Choo choo baby roll on down these tracks
There’s a pattern in the charts makes me howl at the harvest moon
I been shakin all over havn’t slept since god knows when
Take me to the mountains rip me from the modern world
It’s a game of wits and you play for your peace of mind
But the changing of the seasons always will make you cry
Choo choo baby roll on down these tracks
There’s a pattern in the charts makes me howl at the harvest moon
I been shakin all over havn’t slept since god knows when
Words by CP Butchvarov
On The Track
Am I on the train or am I on the track
Am I on the street or am I off the map
This is the wrong way that’s not my north star
That’s not my language that’s not my music
It’s around the corner it’s undercover
It’s across the border it’s beneath the surface
Am I on the train or am I on the track
Am I on the street or am I off the map
Is this the platform when does the train come
Where does the line end why are you laughing
They crowded around me and stared at my clothing
Their faces asked questions their gestures frightened
It’s around the corner it’s undercover
It’s across the border it’s beneath the surface
Am I on the train or am I on the track
Am I on the street or am I off the map
A woman embraced me and tied lace around me
She kissed and gagged me she pushed me backward
I fell off the platform I feel the cold rail
I hear the cheering I hear the whistle
I lost my family at stations behind me
I lost my papers I lost my house key
They gave me papers I couldn’t read them
They gave me baggage it felt so heavy
Am I on the train or am I on the track
Am I on the street or am I off the map
Words by John S Bowers
Dark Thunderhead
She’s like the clouds
Floating in your skies of blue
Soft to your touch
Gentle love to pull you through
Dark thunderhead
At last
Hard driving rain
Will pass
She’s like the dream
Drifting through your night of sleep
Tame ever wild
Always on a different street
Dark thunderhead
At dawn
Heart of it all
Soon be gone
She’s like the sun
Burning through your day of gloom
Still in the night
Blinding light to fill your room
Dark thunderhead
Mi amour
She’s in your heart
Ever more
Words by CP Butchvarov
Toothpick Castle
Buy all my heroes at the five and dime
Toss on a cd and I’ll blow my mind
Reach for a feeling that is oh so rare
It’s lonely in that cubicle but why would you care
Heard a lot of talk about war and hate
But such depressing news will have to wait
But a short life to live in full
So don’t bore me with your self-righteous bull
Spend a lot of time at the fitness clubs
Overtime is spent on a good backrub
Cruise late at night for those classy whores
Buy my magazines at convenience stores
Heard a lot of talk about god and love
Although I’m not sure what they’re thinking of
The power in my turbo makes me feel secure
I like my scotch and soda well that’s for sure
Don’t be so certain don’t raise that cocky brow
Life is like a toothpick castle
Gonna fall any minute now
Well if clothes make the man then I rate real high
The limit’s just as close as the starry skies
The trends seem to watch where I spend my pay
If style is any key then I am on my way
Heard a lot of talk about conscience too
But why would anybody care to feel so blue
Rise in the morning when I’d rather sleep
Don’t want to get myself involved too deep
Don’t be so certain don’t raise that cocky brow
Life is like a toothpick castle
Gonna fall any minute now
Words by CP Butchvarov
Bird In Flight
You got me in your pocket bruised against your change
Then you shot me off like a rocket
I soared in the heavens and walked on the beach
You say it’s not an option it’s all about me and what I want
Never did love fall so madly
Still the memories continue to haunt me
You weep and fling your arrows pierce the youthful heart
Then you fly off like a sparrow
Chasing the storm clouds twirling in the sky
You say don’t be so narrow it’s all about love and what isn’t
Never did words seem so empty
Still the memories continue to haunt me
I’ll build a shelf in my memories for you
If that’s what you want me to do
Run off to the mountains battle your demons
I bathe in your endless fountains
Drowning in bourbon drifting down the road
You say I’m on my own now it’s how I feel this moment
Never did friends part so coldly
Still the memories continue to haunt me
I’ll build a shelf in my memories for you
If that’s what you want me to do
Lock me in a lover’s prison make me toe the line
But then you never ever listen
The heart beats in measure sweet love’s made for two
You say I have a mission it’s all about me and who I am
Never did words ring so clearly
Still the memories continue to haunt me
I’ll build a shelf in my memories for you
If that’s what you want me to do
Words by CP Butchvarov
Wild Train
Ride the wild train stranger
Dance those dice now roll
Night full of thunder all heaven under
Your shadow’s out of control
We’re born in a world with love never where
But I gambled the moon on a wild train
That two hearts make a pair
Wild train split the country
It’s one big heart to break
Wheels on a wire your engine’s on fire
The dreamer sleeps when you wake
We’re born in a game I hold one card
I gambled the moon on a wild train
The man says All aboard
Ride the wild train rosebud
Wheels on ice now roll
Your devil’s an angel who made a choice
Tomorrow’s out of control
We’re born every day and live all alone
Travel to work on a wild train
A wild train brings us home
Words by John S Bowers