A Janela
All songs by Chris Eckman, Wolffsongs/BMG Ufa Musikverlage
Fireworks
I was insane to think those secrets
were just mine
and that a blowtorch and a blanket
could ease your mind
don't forget me straightaway
don't forget me sight unseen
don't you forget about me
like fireworks on a waterwheel
only the smoke remains
only the smoke is real
and burns will heal
least thats what I've seen
least thats what I believe
today
I was wrong to trick your silence
to tempt your trust
and to find your one arm danglin'
was just my luck
chorus
Intrusions
I was down to my three last straws
when your sister came
and took your pictures off the walls
and the nails left hangin'
was all I saw
the nails left hangin'
hangin' on the wall
I won't change anything
I'd just change everything
I won't change anything
I'd just change everything
I didn't know, that intrusions
had been planned
but I'll make the best of them
kill everything I can
if you think my protests
are in vain and thinly veiled
you haven't been here
you haven't watched a past impaled
refrain
down to my seven worthy sins
I feel your vacancy
your gaze across my skin
I feel your triumphs
guess they're finally sinkin' in
underneath the viaduct
you parked your car
I watched you swim
I remember you grateful
as you were comin up for air
I remember you graceful
sad wings were floatin' there
refrain
The Drag
don't wanna drag ya down again
don't wanna drag ya down
don't wanna vex your patience again
don't wanna drag this out
You say that we're at least
a two day drive from the cliff
but I'm already here
I'm already lookin' over it
as flux as they seemed
I still remember our dreams
that's why this hurts
why this only makes things worse
don't wanna drag ya down again
don't wanna drag ya down
don't wanna vex your patience again
don't wanna drag this out
are we
halfway home or halfway gone?
halfway lit or halfway wrong
are we half a diamond?
or cutglass fools?
Am I half afraid?
or half in love with you?
don't wanna drag ya down again
don't wanna drag ya down
don't wanna vex your patience again
don't wanna drag this out
won't strap you to the mast
in a storm I can't defend
won't strip you of your jewels
ain't nothin' to pretend
the tether is loose
spinnin' further from the pole
should I recognize we're twisted
out of control
there's no victory in this
there's too much history in this
there's no victory in this
(chorus)
Ghostface
put on the ghostface
stagger to my place
we can fuck up the night
get fucked till it's light
the balcony hangs from two threads
the steeple it teeters half-dead
the Basilica sings silver bells
we all could be happy in hell
put on the ghostface
la la la la
put on the ghostface
stagger down to the Docks
we'll get locked in the Baixa
stretch it thin in Barrio Alto
we'll get caught in the headlights
spillin' tricks from the bag
our old bag of tricks
ripped right down the side
put on the ghostface
la la la la la
down Rua Dom Pedro
to Largo Do Carmo
see the rivets and ravens
the whole wasted ensemble
you said tonight
every vision
will be stricken with charm
the hangovers started
the millenium's bombed
put on your ghostface
la la la la
Deadwood
bet ya know the way,
straight outta here
bet you could show,
me one thing or two
ya say I save a sadness,
for every day that I'm here
a different laugh
a different kind of tear
throw the deadwood on the fire
the smoke is risin'
higher and higher
shake the ashes from your hair
let em scatter
everywhere
there's more deadwood, where this came from
I'll show ya
if you wanna come
But if you've had enough
just say when
when you've seen too much
just say stop
when enough is enough
let's give it a rest
look at me and say:
"I ain't that tough"
blindman slowly shuffles down
the sidewalk of stars
a sickle moon
your face unveiled
who would thought
I coulda believe it or not
I could take it or leave it
could keep what I've got
who woulda thought
could keep what I've got
chorus
enough is enough
Fadista
absinthe slew my abstinence
and my appetites they followed
once you've used your forbidden teeth
all bitterness seems hollow
chew it up to spit it out
just like there's no tomorrow
beauty's taken a beating round hear
ever since the death of Fado
from this shore I seek good tides
I can see all the way to Jersey
I'm at the edge of the things I find
but my solitude is not worried
you could be my invisible star
our mysterious lady of the sorrows
But I will not build a shrine to you
of all the dust I've swallowed
the silver's all been emptied out
from the vaults of old Chiado
beauty's taken a beating round here
since the long, slow death of Fado
on the street that night, I heard her sing
her arms wrapped round her boombox
stood with sunglasses and black hair
two men her sentries, silent
her song was of a river town
and the blind fadista's honor
beauty's taken a backseat to pain
ever since the death of Fado
but I trust you will choose beauty again
just like there's no tomorrow
May You Have Strength
may you have strength
may you have hope
may you have love
the better end of the rope
the hope inside of the hope
may you trick time
may you bear dreams
may you find out
just where your gonna sleep
and whose gonna sing ya to sleep
we knew just what we were doin'
we weren't just along for the ride
but that don't take the pain away
once pearls scatter
some pearls we won't ever find
may you have strength
a messed up bed
a river of hands
where only you can swim
a sweet bitter love
a change that's gonna, gonna come
may you have a past
may you judge it as just
may you never break
may you roll in the dust
and still be able to trust
lost confetti strewn, in the culverts of the avenue
all is forgiven is true
don't even care yourself, don't care myself somehow
may you have strength
may you have hope
may you have love
the better end of the rope
the hope inside of the hope
the better end of the rope
the hope inside of the hope
may you have strength
the hope inside of the hope
The Other Side of Night
though I don't want to stop this
I'm afraid we're headed for
the other side of night
no, I don't want to stop this
but I'm afraid we're headed for
the other side of night
and though I want to think otherwise
we can't be sure we'll make it, in the light
don't wanna go, the other side of night
don't want you to go, the other side of night
they say what we start with
is what we end up with
who are they anyway?
if it's just a fools errand
a false hope rekindled
I still want you to stay
your eyes they can burn
the distance between
every mile I've seen
don't let the morning catch us
with places to go
and nowhere we wanna be
chorus
nighttown's a ghosttown
but all it's stupid letdowns
have fallen away
each time you whisper
it's as loud as the trainwreck
can I keep what you say?
in this city by the river
the estuary glistens
seabirds fly for you
one can dream of a city
but he better live for the girl
and that's what I'm gonna do
20 Minutes on a Train
rollin' down the Cascais line
spirit of eden on the phones
trackin' dead ahead
the concerte palms
the breezeway steps
take the sea to task
till I forget
on balance, this is all impossible
bless this day
ain't nothin' left for us
to throw away
bless this day
never owned the rain
never owned a thing
can't take me anywhere
if the fever's cheap
why don't it break?
last year's corruptions
runnin' late, almost untouchable
a window seat, on the Cascais train
headed back to the city
half-convinced I'll stay
and that temporary, still means invincible
bless this day
and all the things we sanctified
to throw away
bless this day
never owned the rain
never owned a thing
can't take me anywhere
the wires blur
the sun's in waitin'
the bridge a snake
the river faded
metallic paint
his name forgotten so quickly
that's a revolution
for you....hmmm
was anybody ready?.....hmmm
thats 20 minutes on a train......hmmm
and another 10 minutes waitin'
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