Paula Cole Album

It all started nine years ago
You sat to my left back in school
The future showed itself to me
The god in you, the god in me, stood together like two trees

I was so shy to inquire
If you would like tea sometime
Then in my Mercury
Hand on hand, hand on knee, mercy mercy mercy me

And I believe in love
To be the center of all things
And I believe in love to be the way
And I believe in love
To be the center of all things
And I believe in love to be the way
To find our inner light

I saw a vision where we
Were opening presents Christmas Day
But we were not all alone
The wedding was shotgun
We had a daughter and a son

So how cruel to realize
You had a woman all the time
But my love burns bright as the sun
The clouds may come, the clouds may go
And I'll still be here at your door

And I believe in love...

Thank you for waiting through my lovers
Knowing we could come home to each other
Yes, I have waited through these winters
My true one was right here

And I believe in love...

I'm siphoning gas from the high school bus
Into the tank of my beat-up bug
So I can drive away from the shouting and misery
I drive into the night, to the hill, to the water tower
To lie on my back and drink in the meteor shower
Knowing that many men have lain as I do now
Ptolemy, Copernicus, Carl Jung
Pondering his existence, pondering,
Is God with me now?

And I look to the sky
And I ask these questions
Yes, I feel something I don't understand
Can somebody say Amen?

My life is but a short and precious seed
Like three seasons of life in a leaf on a tree
And when I cascade to the ground I will not be done
I will mingle with the earth and give life
To the roots again

Can somebody say Amen?

And I look to the sky
And I ask these questions
Yes, I feel something I don't understand
Can somebody say Amen?
Amen for the drivers in their garbage trucks
Amen for our mothers, for the lust to fuck
Amen for the child with innocent eyes
Amen for Kevorkian and the right to die
Amen for NASA, The NSA
It's all a front anyway
Amen for Marilyn Manson, Saddam Hussein
Amen for America and the Milky Way.
Amen for Elvis, for Betty Page
Amen for Gloria Steinham and Ronald Reagan
Amen for O.J., Clinton too
Amen for the Republican witch hunt coup
Amen for Gandhi, for Malcolm X
Amen for the uprising of the weaker sex
Amen for Babylon, the third world's call,
Amen for the unity of us all
Amen, Amen, Amen

And I am not unique.
We are all leave on this great big tree.
this tree that is life, that is God, that is you, that is me
And I lie under my tree like the Buddhas before and after me
And I ask the stars, "What for?"
Yes, I feel something I can't explain
A light that flickers off and on again
And I look to the sky
And I ask these questions
Yes, I feel something I don't understand
Oh, can somebody say Amen?

(Didn't your Mama tell you how to behave, girl?
Didn't your Daddy tell you not to wear that little thing?)
Been told you never get something for nothing
My stepfather Dickie say I just might get hit
If I don't give

The girls all whisper 'hind my back
They try to break me with cruel attacks
The boys they want only one thing
And so I give it, don't complain

Daddy's gone, Mama lost her job
Our house ain't a home no more
Still my faith's unshaken in God

I feel so lonely for hope and company
I don't take much and I give everything for free
(So, don't you want me?)

The girls all whisper 'hind by back
My baby brother's smoking crack
The boys they want only one thing
And so I give it, don't complain

Daddy's gone, Mama lost her job
Our house ain't a home no more
Still my faith's unshaken in god

I dream I get a record deal
I'll buy a way out of here
Or maybe a new Lexus jeep
Or just a friend (Am I dreamin'? Am I dreamin'?)
There's Mr. roberts, Juan and Paul
All waiting for me down the hall
But then tomorrow they don't call
Still a moment's better than none at all

Daddy's gone (My name is La Tonya)
Mama lost her job (I am a sophomore)
Our house ain't a home no more (I'll be sixteen in August)
Since Mama broke her soul (I like to sing in chorus)
Daddy's gone (My name is La Tonya)
Mama lost her job (I am a sophomore)
Our house ain't a home no more (I'll be sixteen in August)

Still my faith's unshaken
Lord won't you please save me?
Is this the new slavery?
Here on the ghetto pavement?
But I believe in you baby
Yes, my faith's unshaken
In God

Humility on Bleecker Street
Exposed my faults until I'm left defeated
It's been three years into this relationship
This is longer than I ever could commit

But I feel I'm near
But I feel my fear

I'm standing at the edge of another precipice in life
Gotta face my steppenwolf
Gotta drag you through the mud
When I get there I will see myself
I will look for strength within
I will be a better woman
Hang in there baby, I'm the grain of sand
Becoming the pearl

There are no roll models in rock 'n' roll
No women who could have it all
The long career,the man, the happy family
And here I stand and god I do demand it

And I feel I'm near
But I feel my fear

I'm standing at the edge of another precipice in life
Gotta face my steppenwolf
Gotta drag you through the mud
When I get there I will see myself
I will look for strength within
I will be a better woman
Hang in there baby, I'm the grain of sand
Becoming the pearl

It's dark in here-Don't know who I am
Memories come-I'm wading through the moon
Evil side-Wants to drag me down
Will power-God,please give me some
(I'm hanging onto hope now)

I'm standing at the edge of another precipice in life
Baggage from my family
Going back to therapy
I will kneel, be humble,tow the weight
I will look for strength within
I will be a better woman
Hang in ther baby, I'm the grain of sand
Becoming the pearl

I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference

Little boy caught in a drive-by
Witnessed the killer who made his daddy die,
And 'cause he identified and signed the dotted line,
He could feel it in his stomach, he signed away his life
Little boy who once was the leader of his class
The little source of joy, always neatly dressed
Now would hang his head and be left crying at his desk,
Was found with his mother, lying in her lap
With two bullets in his chest

And,oh my god,what is this madness?
I will not let it kill by gladness
And,oh my god, what is this madness?
My joy inside will send this message

I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference,
For we all are children of the Mother
I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference,
For we all are children of the Father

Outspoken man, leading sisters and brothers,
Picked himself up from hustling,drugs and gutters
Doing time on the inside, he found a higher power
Now, back with a mission to help us help each other

Respected from bourgeoisie to homeless in the street
From universities, Africa, the Middle East
And through the threats of death he spoke truth and set men free
But the power of the truth made enemies of the weak
He was killed by his own people

And, oh my god, what is this madness?
I will not let it kill my gladness
And, oh my god, what is this madness?
My joy inside will send this message

I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference,
For we all are children of the Mother
I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference
for we all are children

Ignite This Fire inside, this light that is the Truth
Shake off the system's chains, no longer be their fool
In the face of brutality, show the other cheek
Trigger-happy policing will never kill our dignity

And,oh my god, what is this madness?
I will not let it kill my gladness
And, oh my god, what is this madness?
My joy inside will send this message

Lift up your heart and See
Open your heart and See
Lift up your voice and Sing...

I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference,
For we all are children of the Mother
I want to be somebody
I want to make a difference,
For we all are children of the Father

To the critics and the cynics who don't understand the lyrics
To the atheists and the pessimists
Wanting company in their darkness
You may see me as a fool,yes,a charlatan,an egotist,
But I'd rather be this in your eyes,
Than a coward in His

I began as Isis, the high Priestess
My arms stretched to Sirius,me,the serpent Venus,
Awaken the fetus,fertility to Jesus,
Come and meet us (you are the seed in us)

Looking within I can see beyond my sight
The cities, the sky, the planets roll by
I awake and die, I awake and I die, yeah
This is the rhythm of life

Next I was lightning, God energy fighting
To tell my widow surviving, I was still alive in
Another plane of life n' I struck hime seven times
He finally looked to the sky,
Shed a tear and joined me dying

Looking within,I can see beyond my sight
The cities, the sky, the planets roll by
I awake and I die, I awake and I die, yeah
This is the rhythm of life
Rhythm of life, rhythm of life, this is the the rhythm of life

Now I am me, in diffident lead,responsibility,
Trying to face my fear,from the trailer park to hear
Over mountains, through my death,
From Harbinger to Amen.
May my actions outweigh my words
May my lifetime be of worth

Looking within I can see beyond my sight
The cities, the sky, the planets roll by
I awake and I die, I awake and I die, yeah
This is the rhythm of life

All the worlds a stage,
and all the men and women,
merely players
they have their exits,
And their entrances
And one man in his time.
Plays many parts

I keep walking down the same city streets
The same city lines, to the same lonely beat
People say hello but I don't know what to say
I don't know how I feel, I just can't act that way
I wanna hide from all these strangers
I wanna run home to you
All I need is your compassion
Then we can be free,yes
I wanna be free,yes
I wanna be free
I wanna be free

Oh, the way I'm shut out by your silence
It's the loudest thing I've ever known
You leave me, leave me hanging
'til I feel useless with my hope
Oh, it's lonely in the city
It can be lonely next to you
Just have the courage to open up yourself
Then we can be free,yes
I wanna be free
I wanna be free
I wanna be free

Idiot kitty to New York City
Living in a kennel and lookin' big and pretty
Meet the munch for business lunch
But your feet bleed under the table

But Suwannee Jo, you're dark and slow
You dance with a broom and you're filled with ghosts
You smell like liquor and you're high as a hawk
You laugh to yourself but you talk like a rock

Scaredy Kate, back in the Haight
Doesn't answer the phone and eats like a tapeworm
She met Mr.Mike in'89
But she's a hundred pounds heavier and won't go outside

But Suwannee Jo, You're dark and slow
You dance with a broom and you're filled with ghosts
Suwannee Jo, strange beautiful gold,
You can take a woman's husband
but you don't want to marry him
You just want to hold him

Nora Mable, behind your table
Expensive knowledge from ten years of college
But when it comes to livin', the book isn't written
Your brain's under "M" in the library missing

Suwannee Jo, you follow your soul
(Nothing more important than following your soul)

Whether it be across the sea,
Kosovo, Baghdad, Korea
Or here at home, right under our fingertips
In new slavery prison systems

Holding one in four black American brothers
The one percent wealthy profiteering
From the business that is war
Yeah, go to war

God is watching us play our ghetto wars
God is watching us play our games
God is waiting for us to overcome
God is waiting for us to just love one another

Whether we be cracker or black or
Brown, red, yellow
From the land or sky or sea
We are family
Wake up and see

Our planet is a tiny atom in god's kingdom
It's our only home
A new millennium
Can we all just get along?

God is watching us play our ghetto wars
God is watching us play our games
God is waiting for us to overcome
God is waiting for us to just love one another