TO WAR
EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES, ORDINARY LIVES
Extraordinary circumstances...
Ordinary lives.
Hostilities intruding on imaginary lines.
Is this earth made richer by the dust of these immortal men...
And will they put an end to war forever?
THE NEWS
I never missed a chance to take a chance
Or take the changes that came upon a young man.
I thought I'd teach the world to sing and dance.
It was so easy...just to dance.
But I never knew what I was meant to be.
An opportunist...
Waiting for the knock of opportunity.
And when my hands were holding all that I could ever need...
I got the news.
They were calling me.
MAYBE WE'LL BE IN THE NEWS SOMEDAY
Those childhood days
That seem so far away...
If this world was going wrong,
I didn't know it then.
You could say
I threw the years away,
But as the time went flying by...
I thought I did it my way.
Tomorrow was just another chance for me...
Circumstances guiding me
And if I fell
The chase was all in fun.
I never knew
What I was meant to do...
An opportunist getting old,
But I'm not the only one.
So don't tie me down with your sympathy.
Don't think of me as I'll never be.
Don't make me wrong
When I just tried to get along.
You talk of truth...I talk of dreams.
You could say
Oh...I threw the years away.
And that...that was the day...
The day they took my taste of youth away.
We all grew up a little today,
But I didn't want to grow up this way.
Maybe we'll be in the news...
Someday.
DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD
Close your eyes...I know what you're thinking.
Night is coming...the sun is sinking fast.
We said our last goodbyes...
It does no good for you to cry.
So put your head right down..
Don't say another word around me.
Don't you make a sound...
Just stay right here with me.
But don't say another word around me.
Don't you make a sound.
Leave me the memories...
I believe the dreams we've never found.
Don't you say another word.
Don't say another word.
Don't say another word.
Close your eyes...I know what you're thinking.
We wondered how long this thing could last.
You'll think of me sometimes...
I'll spend the day. How the time flies by...
Just you and me,
'Cause three can get a little crowded.
But don't you make a sound...
Words will only tear the dreams.
So don't say another word around me...
Don't you make a sound.
Leave me the memories...
I believe the dreams we've never found.
Don't you say another word.
Don't you say another word.
Don't you say another word.
Tonight. Tonight.
Sleep my love...a soldier takes
First light. First light...
And I must walk away.
So don't you say another word around me...
Don't you make a sound...
Don't say another word around me...
Don't you make a sound...
They said "We don't want to lose you,
But we think you ought to go.
We don't want to see you leave,
But there's something we've been told.
So when your faith in man is all but broken...
When your eyes are finally open...
When the singers feel the taste of death upon their lips,
Will you think we were both deaf and blind?
Will the singing of the songs remind
The men who give their lives away
Of the things they left behind?"
Tonight. Tonight.
Sleep my love...a soldier takes
First light. First light...
And I must walk away.
So don't you say another word around me...
Don't you make a sound.
Stop the singing at the station...
Tear the banners down.
Stop the cheering on the streets...
Take the flags and band away.
Let a man who holds a heavy heart
Just turn and walk away.
It's just a little odyssey...
A slight disruption of my time.
I'll be back before you know I'm gone.
WE ALL GREW UP A LITTLE TODAY
What I'm doing here - I can't say.
It was such a party but it all blew away
When the sun came up - and they left me alone
To carry this gun. I was home
But you ripped the bedsheets from my sleep
And stood me up to fight for freedom.
Don't console me now - that's just the way that I feel.
This is no dream. This is real!
We all grew up a little today,
But I didn't want to grow up this way.
Maybe we'll be in the news - someday.
Give me life.
Give me time.
Give me rhyme.
Give me reason.
Give me hope for tomorrow
And release from today.
I want life.
I want time.
I want rhyme.
I want reason.
I want hope for tomorrow
And release from today.
Maybe we'll be in the news...
Maybe we'll be in the news...
Maybe we'll be in the news - someday.
AT THE FRONT
YOU BLOODY SOON WILL BE
We came from farms across the land.
We said good-bye to Mom and Dad.
We came from cities that touched the sky.
We left our wives. We said good-bye
To quiet nights and apple pie.
We're ready and we're going to war.
We came by ship. We came by train.
We came by foot. We came by plane.
We lined right up - you should know
We're brave young men. We said hello
To some poor soul by the side of the road.
We're ready and we're going to war.
Are we downhearted?
No Sir!
Are we worried?
No Sir!
Are we down on our luck?
No Sir!
Well...you bloody soon will be, boys!
Are we discouraged?
No Sir!
Sad and weary?
No Sir!
Are we tired and broken?
No Sir!
Well...you bloody soon will be, boys!
You bloody soon will be!
You bloody soon will be!
You bloody soon will be!
You bloody soon will be, boys!
We heard the shells fall in the night
On waiting men. There was no fight
When death rained down upon the bones
Of men who waited in their holes.
They kept their rendezvous with pain
And cursed that horrid, deadly rain.
And every strike upon the line
Would shake the earth. We hid inside
A shelter where I wrapped the wounds
Of some poor bastard - torn in two
And plastered with the flesh and blood
Of someone that he knew.
Strike me blind! Take away my right
To see this world collide
In senseless, stupid war!
Is this hell worth fighting for...
To buy this vile discoloured earth
With flesh for stone and blood for dirt?
Is this mud beneath our feet
The only reason good men bleed?
And when the boys fight hand to hand...
Do they really understand
The men who sent that great demand
For someone they could use.
Are we downhearted?
No Sir!
Are we worried?
No Sir!
Are we down on our luck?
No Sir!
Well...you bloody soon will be, boys!
Are we discouraged?
No Sir!
Sad and weary?
No Sir!
Are we tired and broken?
No Sir!
Well...you bloody soon will be, boys!
You bloody soon will be!
You bloody soon will be!
You bloody soon will be!
You bloody soon will be, boys!
AFRAID TO FLY / FOR ALL THE FOOLS
Hold the line
And if we stay forever
I hope this time was not in vain.
Or - if we die
Here in this rust and ruin,
Our half spent lives won't mean a thing.
Fire and rain...they will conceal me
And weave a broken tapestry
Through smoke - where tracers fly like fireflies.
Voices spoke
And in a stroke they changed things
Before my eyes.
Now we're moving slowly.
Do they know I'm only
Waiting for a chance to fly away?
Things are getting larger...
Your voice is drifting farther...
I'm seeing things I've never seen.
I think my head is misbehaving.
Laughing faces seem to say
"We've got you now - you've been such a child."
Down beneath the clouds - we're only angles
Afraid to fly.
Oh...this condition of everyman.
We fight - everyone against everyone.
Back then we could not see
The blood...the tears... the screams of men
With death upon their faces.
And here - the senses quickly die.
We live among the death and waste of foreign lands.
Is this where I should be?
My country needed me.
We came for all the fools in higher places.
We came for all the fools...
We came for all the fools...
We came for all the fools in higher places.
We came for all the fools...
We came for all the fools...
We came for all the fools in higher places.
I WANNA GET OLD BEFORE I DIE
I had everything that I ever really wanted
But they're taking it all away.
All my dreams...all my plans...
They're taking them all away!
What good
Has it done me?
What help...
In this insanity?
What chance
Can it give me?
How much
Can they take away?
I wanna get old before I die.
I want to hear a lover sigh.
I want to see a baby smile for love -
Not forgotten in a dark and dirty hole
To face this world alone.
I wanna get old and slow right down before I die.
I wanna get old before I die.
I want to see you one more time...
And hold you by my side forever.
I want a chance. I want to be
A man of promises and dreams.
I wanna get old and slow tight down before I die.
WHAT A HOLIDAY
Sitting in a trench - all rent free.
The Ritz it ain't...but the actions here.
We came for the fun,
How could anyone turn their head away?
What a destination!
My father told me "Son, don't run away.
A man of war is what the men were meant to be.
Just keep your head down, boy."
You're back home working but look at me -
I got run down but I'm here for the holiday.
When the sun shines down
It can take your breath away.
What a situation!
And oh...the games we play...
But you can't hit me.
I'm standing right behind you - I don't need to hide.
Just keep your head down, boy.
What a holiday!
We won't let dying take our fun away.
We won't let dying take our fun away.
Come see the world.
A soldier's life is filled with backstreet girls.
We play the games to pass the time away.
There's no life like it anywhere...
It's all that it could be
And its all for free.
Side by side and by and by we'll chase them all away.
Just keep your head down, boy.
What a holiday!
We won't let dying take our fun away.
We won't let dying take our fun away.
OVER THERE
SLIPSTREAM
There's an overworked term called the blues.
But to me - it's just plain bad news.
There are times in this life
When nothing seems to work out right.
I'm sticking it out
But they're sticking it to me again.
What's a guy gonna do
With his busted dreams and the mixed up news
Of this crazy, crazy world?
They say things will change...
So I'm sticking it out
But they're sticking it to me again.
Nobody told me I'd be sleeping in this cold rain.
Be a friend - won't you stand my watch awhile?
We live in desperate times.
I'm holding on - but My God
I could use a little breathing time.
Life in the mainstream...
Seen from the slipstream.
I'm sticking it out
But they're sticking it to me again.
Grant me speed.
Grant me power.
I'm getting weaker by the hour.
I'm sticking it out
But they're sticking it to me again.
You can tell my friends I'm somewhere short of halfway...
Not quite there - and not quite left behind.
Oh...these desperate times.
I'm holding on...but My God
I could use a little breathing time.
NOT THE MAN YOU THINK I AM
Save my soul...
Don't let anybody touch me.
Grab ahold
Of anything that matters,
'Cause everything I had is gone...
I've landed in a world gone wrong.
If I could save my selfish self
There's times that I could leave you all
Alone to hide,
So if I run before your eyes...
Don't think less of me.
I'm not the man I seem to be.
Don't think less of me.
I'm not the man I seem to be.
Waiting.
I've never felt such fear in my life.
I told you...
If I break - you'll remember
I said if I ran,
I'm not the man you think I am.
I said if I ran,
I'm not the man you think I am.
Am I the man I think I am...
The man you think you understand?
Am I a man to hide and run away?
Will I be a man who could not stand...
Or be a man who turned and ran...
Leaving you to make a stand alone?
Will I be a man who disobeyed...
Or be a man who turned away?
Am I that man -
Or not that man at all?
Am I that man -
Or not that man at all?
BREAKING SOMEONE'S HEART
You said I've been away too long...
You said it was all wrong...
I said I'm not to blame.
I said that I've been true...
I said I think of you...
And still you slip away.
But for all the times I wipe away a teardrop from my eye...
For all the times I think about the girl I left behind...
For all those times -
I hope your words are tearing you apart...
And you'll never get used to breaking someone's heart.
You said the feeling was all gone...
You said I could be strong...
You sent those words to me.
You can take away
The hope and love you gave...
And bring me to my knees.
But for all the times you wipe away a teardrop from your eye...
For all the times you walk away - the first to say good-bye...
For all the times you watch your words
Tear a man apart...
You'll never get used to breaking someone's heart.
For all the times the same things happen...
For all the time it takes to see...
For all the second times that never had to be...
Some things have seen enough of me.
I'll never get used to crying.
I'll never get used to seeing someone cry.
And I'll never get used to you - if you lie right from the start.
You're breaking someone's heart.
I'll never get used to crying
I'll never believe you're gone.
You left me all alone...
There's no one left at all.
You took my soul -
The earth can keep my bones,
And throw the rest away.
But for all the times I wipe away
A teardrop from my eye...
For all the times you walk away...
The first to say good-bye...
For all those times -
I hope your words are tearing you apart
And you'll never get used to breaking someone's heart.
TEMPORARILY HAPPY
I am watching all my troubles
Effervesce up with the bubbles...
And I can be
Temporarily
Happy.
Just a glance and we're together.
It seems I've known you since forever.
When you're with me
I'm temporarily
Happy.
We'll talk of all the things we'd like to see.
I'll tell you of my dreams and what I'd like to be.
Let me dance...let me eat...let me drink...
And hide me deep in your arms tonight.
Before the shadows call me...
Before the winds can blow...
Before the dreams can crumble into dust...
Hide a lonely soldier from the light.
I've got nothing more to say.
I've just lived another day.
Tomorrow we'll feed the guns again.
Dirt to dirt and dust to dust again.
Tomorrow we'll feed the guns again.
Tomorrow we'll feed the guns again.
WAY BACK HOME
This life is uncertain.
Dark shadows behind curtains.
My courage
Is really all I have.
I feel so neglected (Come on home...we miss you)
And I never feel protected (You'll come home...They'll miss you)
How could anyone imagine what it's like to be here -
A million miles away from home.
(Way back home) I had so many things to do.
(Way back home) There was so much I should have told you.
(Way back home) I should be reading all about this -
An observer of the news.
But I'm not -
I'm only me.
Stark raving reality.
And I'm hurting and feeling it all.
I'm only me.
Stark raving reality.
And I'm hurting and feeling it all.
BACK HOME
WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR A LEADER
When understanding is just a word
In this troubled time
That can't pass undisturbed...
When peace means just a portion of
Divided lands...like shifting sand...
Just wait.
Wait 'till the light begins to show...
If there's a ray of sunlight
Fate may cast its fragile shadow.
We need somewhere to go.
So if you wonder why we're standing here
Doing nothing...like nothing matters at all,
It's someone else's war and there's no reason...
No reason at all
For ten thousand years
Of people going off to fight.
We've got to find a better way.
When we do...we'll all be activated.
We'll leave this have and have not struggle behind.
There's got to be a better way
Than blind men leading the blind.
You can keep the hate...
Keep the bombs and guns away...
We've got to find a better way.
We've got to try another away.
We're all waiting for a leader.
We're all waiting for a leader.
We're all waiting for a leader.
Stop this senseless waste of men.
Stop the leaders when they send
Thousands out to thousands dead.
Who was caring for them when they bled?
The old forget...the young don't know.
These are things that we've been shown.
How can we forget the men
And lead this country straight to hell?
We're tired of all the hate...
Can you explain to me why we keep fighting on?
We're trying to find a better way
To make a better place
So we can get along.
We're all waiting for a leader.
We're all waiting for a leader.
We're all waiting for a leader.
TAKING THE LONG WAY TO HEAVEN
I'd like to be
Everything I want to be,
But I can see it's gonna take some time.
I tried to be
A little bit of everything
But now...I'll take it just a day at a time.
This world can get you down
And turn your head around.
Maybe I'm the lucky one.
You try to be
Just the way you'd like to be,
But I can see it's gonna take some time.
You'd like to see
Things the way they used to be,
But this world just didn't turn out right.
So you're inclined to be
A face lost in a crowd.
Maybe I'm the lucky one.
But you -
You're taking the long way to heaven.
What's a man gonna do
When they're bringing it all home to you?
If the boys could see you now...
If the boys could see you falling.
They know you hear the sounds...
They know you're alone.
If the boys could hear you now...
To hear you tell your stories.
You could tell them how
It feels to come home again.
You -
You're taking the long way to heaven.
What's a man gonna do
When they're bringing it all home to you?
JUST A LITTLE ODYSSEY
It seems like only yesterday
You stood there on the front steps.
You threw that careless smile
And turned to walk away.
You said "It's just a little odyssey...
A slight disruption of my time.
I'll be back before you know I'm gone."
Familiar footsteps
On those old familiar stones.
Just like the thousand times
I called you from the open door,
And I'd say "Don't wander very far...
Dinner's just an hour away.
Be sure you're home before too long."
It was just a little odyssey...
A slight disruption of your time.
You'll be back before I know you're gone -
Just like a thousand times before.
I remember you - strong and straight -
Like any man should be.
Leaving all the doubts and fears behind.
But are you coming home again?
Will we see you - one more time?
How can I wipe away the fear I feel inside?
You said "It's just a little odyssey...
A slight disruption of my time.
I'll be back before you know I'm gone."
That was a long, long time ago.
A soldier takes first light.
First light...
Then he must walk away...
I GOT A LITTLE NEWS
I got a little news today.
I'm leaving right away.
They need me back in New York yesterday.
I'm late - but that's nothing new.
I got a little hurt again today.
It was just the things they said.
There was nothing right that I could say.
I'm hurt again - and that's not unusual.
You caught me cold this time...
I thought you were invincible.
Going back is the best I can do...
Just to say goodbye to you.
You said this world was hopeless...
No matter what you tried to do,
And your young heart was broken in two.
Legs that could not run away
From things we could not see...
Held a young man - crying to be free.
And when the nights seemed twice as long
And living - twice as hard,
You heard the voices call
And like a troubled fool...you went along.
'Cause your young heart was broken in two
And there's not a lot a broken heart can do.
They said - you just drifted away...
They saved this troubled world just for you.
They saved this troubled world for you.
You said "Take me...
Take me flying where the angels never go.
Soaring 'till the feelings start to overflow...
And let me be.
Hold me
When hurricanes go storming through my mind.
Shelter me with anything that you can find...
But let me be."
THE BATTLE
SONS WHO CAME TO WAR
We were just too young...
And I was just a fool.
They told me lies...
They told me what to do.
We were born to fly they said,
And I was just another soul
Who flew away
For something they believed.
We were all the same -
The cowards and the heroes.
We're not to blame
For sons who came to war.
Taking off from sand to sun.
Put my sights on anyone.
I don't believe there was a lucky one.
Taking off for danger in the sky...
Only fools would fly so high.
We tried...you know we tried.
But they pushed my just too far.
In time - there would be others.
I don't believe I was the only one.
Far above the cities
Without a sound of warning...
We're sorry...
But we had to fly again.
We were all the same -
The cowards and the heroes.
We're not to blame
For sons who came to war.
Taking off from sand to sun.
Put my sights on anyone.
I don't believe there was a lucky one.
Taking off for danger in the sky...
Only fools would fly so high.
We tried...you know we tried.
WHO WERE YOU?
Who were you - a lifetime ago?
Did you know anyone I might have known?
Is your face the face of someone I might have seen...
Someplace...sometime...somewhere I've been?
What did you do before this madness began?
You've done your work well - were you an angry young man,
Or were these the hands of someone who might have shared
A day of honest work - somewhere back there?
How does it feel when there's nothing to hold?
Are the bones of your dusty wings broken and sore?
Does the noise of distant armies still make you cry?
It's the sound of the thunder coming down on the line.
Take my hand
You broken soldier man.
You can hold it just as long as you can.
Somewhere in this night
You'll spread your wings,
And you'll go back home again -
Upon those flying things.
And what did you think - that lifetime ago?
Did you think you'd be lying here - broken and torn?
Did you count your blessings - did you name them one by one?
Were they carelessly squandered? You say you have none.
Take my hand
You broken soldier man.
You can hold it just as long as you can.
Somewhere in this night
You'll spread your sings,
And you'll go back home again -
Upon those flying things.
JUST A MAN
This time's for real.
This time you flew your fragile wings
Too close to the sun.
I know you couldn't feel the warmth
Or feel the heat -
Just lifting you higher.
A touch upon this universe...
A mark upon this earth...
And flight to carry on the wind
The purpose of your birth.
When you tried to understand
The weight upon your wings,
I heard you cry "I'm just a man -
Not meant for flying things."
CASSANDRA
We can't go far...
How can we run away?
It's hard to try
When there's no second chance.
Walls get in the way.
We came just yesterday.
We won't go back again.
We are forgotten men -
Dropping from the sky.
And they say
"Can you tell us anything?
Is there some news
On this cold and captive afternoon?
When will the men arrive?
Will I go home soon?
Will we stay behind these walls
The rest of our lives?"
Cassandra.
I was young...you tried to tell me.
Cassandra.
I was wrong. I never believed I'd be
Just standing here -
Locked and filed away.
Will we ever get out of this place?
Will we ever get out of this place?
I can hear you call again -
Through the rock and wire.
Walls refuse me...stone surrounds me...
Blocking out the sky!
Cassandra.
I was young...you tried to tell me.
Cassandra.
I was wrong. I never believed I'd be
Just standing here -
Locked and filed away.
Will we ever get out of this place?
Will we ever get out of this place?
ONE BY ONE
It was August and it rained.
He was hit before they came.
I remember how he looked up at me
With that Jesus look in his eyes.
At dawn we heard the guns.
There was nowhere left to run.
Through smoke and mist we saw them come
And they hit us - one by one.
One by one.
One by one.
They laid us open.
They laid us open.
One by one.
One by one.
They laid us open.
They laid us open.
GOD ON OUR SIDE
If I ever find religion...
I'll find it when I'm falling.
When my footsteps stop
It will call right out to me.
And when we look through no man's land -
Eyes across the sand...I wonder...
Who convinced each side
That God would be their guide?
I wonder...
Who convinced each side
That God would be their guide?
If we ever go to glory...
We'll say we're sorry when we get there.
When we fall
God will take us all
Together.
And when I die...I'll lay beside my foe.
He didn't know me.
We tried to do our best
But they laid us down to rest...
And on the story goes...
We shall not grow old,
But I wonder...
Who convinced each side
That God would be their guide?
I wonder...
Who convinced each side
That God would be their guide?
Are you finally satisfied with me?
Was I all that I was meant to be?
We marched onward 'till we fell or died!
We held our rifles straight and high!
We cannot feel the tears
When we fall asleep forever.
Will the gates be finally open?
Will the souls of men go home?
JUST A LITTLE BIT LESS
Winners win
By losing just
A little bit
Less
Than all the rest.
I told you.
Winners lose
Like all the rest.
Winners lose
Just a little bit less,
And I'm telling you now...
How we all grew up a little today,
But I didn't want to grow up this way.
Maybe we'll be in the news -
Someday.
If we did not as brothers live...
Let us here as brothers lie.
Maybe we'll be in the news -
Someday.
THE END
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