No Bargain

We overcame money and its strain in the year 3050
Some still complained quiet and vague
for this time the change wasn’t made for their gain
So we had nothing more to sweat for
nothing more to bleed for
And there ain’t no bargain – wherever we might go
You can’t take a cab to wherever we go
And you can’t, no you can’t, take nothing with you
We had agreed oppression was worthwhile
yet not worth the feeling of guilt and all the rumbling
We thought of a change, this time for real
and even the king, he came to his senses
So we had nobody to vote for, nobody to cheer
Chorus
(money, loot, dust, nickels, dough, cash)
There ain’t no chambermaid and there ain’t no gold to gain
There ain’t no one who owns more or less than you
But you’ll come through
Yes you’ll come through
Chorus

Set the Fire

I once met a man with a blaze in his words
and a smile to excite everyone’s envy
He could talk for hours
His elation, it spread
And before I knew, I slipped into the game
I traveled on with him
from beginning till the end of the longest days in my life
just to watch him play his guitar and hear him sing
about what we all felt was right
We have a fire
Go off, spread the word
on all railroad tracks and roads and paths
wherever you’ll get
Always defend what you love
Keep following your heart and in the end you’ll see
At the heart of the game our canons where carved
in blank stone not meant to be changed
But one of them rules was not to follow these rules
And we all laughed at logic’s pretty face
Oh then commotion commenced and disorder, it spread
until no one could tell theory from truth
And the wheel broke apart and the cannons shot sparks
on the longest day of our youth
Chorus

The Ivy in Your Garden

HIM:
A road winds through the woods and through time – I guess they never built it right
Any house that you’ll pass by hasn’t seen new paint for more than one decade
They forgot about the place and left it like this
A good place you can go to get rid of all you know
THEY BOTH:
I haven’t smelled the coal in the air
the beaten ghost of fear
And I haven’t seen the stars for a year
how bright they are over here
HER:
Be careful when you drive on that old crooked road through the woods
Have a map on the seat – there’s neither lights nor signs on the streets
and the deer behind the bends are stubbornly blind
This house here is waiting for you to come in time
THEY BOTH:
I haven’t smelled the coal, the beaten ghost of fear
And I haven’t seen the stars – how bright they are over here
The ivy in your garden seems to grow to hide the world
And the tea beneath your porch tastes like stories from your wild and wicked times
And the clouds over your roof seem to cry, for they cannot stay
The stream behind the hedge picks up courage on its way

Foghorn

The wind forms a cloud and breaks it
Pieces of cotton, like diamonds in the blue
Golden beams point to the rainbow
Dolphins jump over green hills, I wish them Goodbye
A distant foghorn greets the blind man
waving his hat to respond with dearest compliment
And with a bottle in his cage
He goes to sleep
He goes to sleep
All the lanterns are blinking and blinding
There’s a witch outside in the dark
And with the last shades of daylight
blackbirds are performing their marvelous show

Joe Stack

I bought a ticket for the yellow line
got myself straight out of town
I got some change in my pocket
I’m going where the sun shines
I take a look out of the window
into the white, passing land
Mr. Johnson says, ‚We’re all moving too fast‘
Thrown-away paper headlines
about the bad contracts
they’re giving pretty German casting show models
They’re shooting mirrors into space
to get the sunlight into Russian days
for people either freeze or party themselves to death
Oh-oh, Joe Stack, I’m sorry you got mad
No question, I understand
You got the whole world in your head
Oh, Joe Stack, I’m sorry you got mad
But I won’t leave this place in smoky, sooty black
There on page two
a story ‚bout a man who saw the truth
He stole an aircraft and flew
right into the blue
The blue building of his business
and left a letter on the desk
Said, ‚I was just trying to survive
and then the tax broke my neck‘
The snow reflects
pink, blue, yellow and green
I can’t tell you yet
about the color that I feel
Green to cyan
something of that kind
Man, you gotta get out
from time to time
Oh-oh, Joe Stack, I’m sorry you got mad
But I’m on that train
to get you out of my head
Oh-oh, Joe Stack, I’m sorry you got mad
But I won’t leave this place in smoky, sooty black

Marta Says

Take a walk on the river side
You don’t even need to squeeze a smile
Birds get no applause for the songs they sing
They care the least about the state you’re in
Marta says I’m wrong – money will be there and I will be gone
When someone tries to greet you, tell him he’s a jerk
Hide your hands in your pocket, duck your head down low
Marta says I’m wrong – money will be there and I will be gone
Time has never been too slow and money’s always short
But you may find a fiver on the walk
Marta, Marta says I’m wrong
Next time you feel screwed, deprived of your last shirt
remember Marta’s words
Marta says I’m wrong – money will be there and I will be gone
Marta, Marta says I’m wrong

Oh Brother

Oh Brother, oh Brother
Come here and see
how this maze surrounds me in my aching dreams
And when I wake up there is so much light
I guess I don’t know how to live
Oh Sister, oh Sister
Last night in my dream
I found a way out of my labyrinth
And as I woke up there was so much love
sparkling out of silvery springs
So i decided to not sleep again
I got up and told my friends
And they remind me, every day
that life and dream’s not the same
And they remind me, every day
that life and dream’s not the same

Coral Strand Lane

I am sitting in the van, me and the traveling band
searching for signs saying route 67
Our days on the road are beginning to fade
as we turn into Coral Strand Lane
Uncombed and tired we fall into the sand
I am counting the stars and the satellites
One of them is a wire to you above of the Channel, the cities and fields
Across the rooftops and streets to the town we both live in
where we’d met at a crowded flea market
I was glued to the spot between chairs and old junk
as your eyes met mine in the dark
They sparkled like the stars here at Coral Strand Lane
where it’s slowly beginning to dawn
And with the rain falling down, I’m deciding: From now on
I will leave all my worries behind
I will leave all my worries behind
Like a drowned rat I go back to the van
counting the drops in the pouring rain
One of them is a wire to you above the Channel, the cities and fields
Across the rooftops and streets…
I will leave all my worries behind
I will leave all my worries behind
I will leave all my worries behind
So you can leave all your worries behind
Leave all your worries
Leave all your worries behind
 

Heaven And Hell

The wind blows through the palm trees in the cool morning light
The ocean is as blue as the skin under your eyes
Tired ghosts fall into their beds
And we wait for the sun with the night in our heads
And I thought you can tell heaven from hell
Tears from laughter, ‚So Long‘ from ‚Farewell‘
We love to explain the world in a nutshell
But we hardly can tell heaven from hell
In the Great King’s Valley live a handful of souls like you
They would never hurt a fly but they’ve stolen their own lives
They say they can tell heaven from hell
One fell dead from his chair without a farewell
Chorus
Never heard you sing a pirate song
But it’s right on time, so I raise my glass
to the upcoming sunrise and the fading stars
to everyone who sings along and every new day to come
Chorus

A Sparrow’s Wings

I stood still for a week under a birch tree
I swayed in the wind and the rain
But I didn’t have the patience to stay
I have drunk from a tap, I’ve swum in a lake

I was diving with the whales when they sang
It’s hard to swim along without fins
I have hopped over a rock, ascended a hill
I’ve scaled a mountain in the early spring
to envy the sparrow for its wings

When I tried to lift off
I fell over my feet
I cursed out loud into the dark – but wait – we can speak

I sank to the floor digging into the core
Drifting in a red glowing roll
Staring at a hovering soul 

Capo: III
Verse: Fmaj9 – Gm (sloppy)
Bridge: F – Gm – C – Gm | F – Gm – Gm – C
Instrumental: C – G – F – C
Chorus: G – F – C – G

10.000 Voices

The glass is empty – never mind
I’ll go searching, you go ’n‘ find
I’ll leave the trail, I’ll lose my sight
A one-eyed king that rules the blind
A dead man hanging owns no time
I beg you for respite
My plan is to get lost while burning this map
and I hope to be stumbling on every gap
Let the trail be a circle so I can never come back
Weeks are short and days are grey
Nights crash fast into today
I’ll leave the good, I’ll leave the bad
I’ll leave the laughing, I’ll leave the sad
I’ll leave supply, I’ll leave demand
and your promised land
I will follow instead the ten thousand voices in my head
There is no coming further, no sense in walking
No logical way of acting, no sense in doing nothing
You can’t waste time that’s never been yours
You can’t speak a language that don’t have no words
Chorus

Atlantis (The Ballad of Profit)

A friend of mine got lost in Atlantis
Bought himself a barge and an old, wrecked, useless compass
He’d been diving for treasure for more than a while
He had with him some liquor and it tasted so fine
And all that he found was the bottom of his bottle
Sometimes I’m with him, sinking to the ground
Digging for treasure that will never be found
Another one thought there’s money on the road
Got himself a truck and tons of cargo to load
He was all ‚round the country, mostly at night
Once he missed his girl’s birthday when he tumbled into a bar fight
He drank black sugared coffee from cups of polystyrene
Sometimes I’m with him, driving at night
Looking for profit in the beams of the headlights
I got asked by a friend to teach him guitar
Women were easy and drinks were for free
I said, ‚Maybe you’re wrong – still it’s a pleasure to me‘
Now he’s counting the nickels in his guitar case
And I’m always with him, singing downtown
Looking for women and paying for my own drinks