Tim Buckley Album

Photographs of guns and flame
Scarlet skull and distant game
Bayonet and jungle grin
Nightmares dreamed by bleeding men
Lookouts tremble on the shore
But no man can find the war

Tape recorders echo scream
Orders fly like bullet stream
Drums and cannons laugh aloud
Whistles come from ashen shroud
Leaders damn the world and roar
But no man can find the war

Is the war across the sea?
Is the war behind the sky?
Have you each and all gone blind:
Is the war inside your mind?

Humans weep at human death
All the talkers lose their breath
Movies paint a chaos tale
Singers see and poets wail
All the world knows the score
But no man can find the war

The singer cries for people's lies
He will sing for the day to bring him night
The circus burns in carnival flame
And for a while you won't know my name at all
But sing and dance and love for pennies and gold

The juggling clown smiles to me
And every frown we agree is glad
The nighttime comes to bring the bums
From Bowery heat to crimson streets of wine
But magic lands will never touch our sands

Your children smile in single file
They learn mistakes that others make
They see although they cannot know
The needs they'll need to have their greed grow wild
But dance and sing, for others bring the shame
And for a while you won't know my name

You don't remember what to say
You don't remember what to do
You don't remember where to go
You don't remember what to choose
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down

All the stony people
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street

The sunshine reminds you of concreted skies
You thought you were flying but you opened your eyes
And you found yourself falling back to yesterday's lies
Hello, Pleasant Street, you know she's back again
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down

All the stony people
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street

At twilight your lover comes to your room
He'll spin you, he'll weave you 'round his emerald loom
And softly you'll whisper all around his ear
"Sweet lover, I love Pleasant Street
I wheel, I steal, I feel my way down to kneel"

All the stony people
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street

You don't remember what to say
You don't remember what to do
You don't remember which way to go
You don't remember who to choose
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down

I saw you walking
Only yesterday
When I ran to catch you
You disappeared
And the street was gray

The candle died
Now you are gone
For the flame was too bright
Now you are gone

I heard you laughing
With your laugh of gold
When I called out to you
Silence returned
And the air was cold

The castle fell
Now you are gone
No more rings the bell
Now you are gone

I found a letter
On the day it rained
When I tore it open
There in my hands
Only ash remained

The castle fell
Now you are gone
No more rings the bell
Now you are gone

I felt you breathing
As I fell asleep
When I reached out to touch you
No one was there
And the night was deep

The candle died
Now you are gone
For the flame was too bright
Now you are gone

I saw you walking
Only yesterday
When I ran to catch you
You disappeared
And the street was gray

The castle fell
Now you are gone
No more rings the bell
Now you are gone

O I never asked to be your mountain
I never asked to fly
Remember when you came to me
And told me of his lies
You didn't understand my love
You don't know why I try
And the rain was falling on that day
And damn the reason why

The Flying Pisces sails for time
And tells me of my child
Wrapped in bitter tales and heartache
He begs for just a smile
O he never asked to be her mountain
He never asked to fly
And through his eye he comes his love
And tells her not to cry

She says, "Your scoundrel father flies
With a dancer called a queen
And with her stolen cards he plays
And laughs, but never wins"
O the child dreams to be his hands
In the counting of the rain
But only barren breasts he feels
For her milk will never drain

As I die I can't remember
Where I saw the rain:
Could it be that her laughter
Drove me down again?
Charming dancer will you stop,
Stop and talk to me?
Is there someone else you feel
In your dreams? you will, you see:
In midnight gazes
I've found you far from me:
If you lead me on
Please leave me down

O Flying Flying Fish
Please flutter by my door:
Yes you can drink my lies
If first you read my eyes:
Each one is titled
"I'm drowning back to you":
I can't swim your waters
And you can't walk my lands:
I'm sailing all my sins
And I'm climbing all my fears
And soon now I'll fly

my love is the flower that lies amoung the grains
my love is the thousands souls that it sings
and all the insane madmen tell me im not as well behaved
maybe not a lands in bloom to spead my ash along the way

O I never asked to be your mountain
I never asked to fly
Remember when you came to me
And told me of his lies
You didn't understand my love
You don't know why I try
And the rain was falling on that day
And that's the reason why

Sweet lover, will you come back
And love me for a while?
Please take my hand
Leave all your fears behind

I've been gone too long
Now I'm home to stay
Please don't leave me
Again this way

Please come home

Once I was a soldier
And I fought on foreign sands for you
Once I was a hunter
And I brought home fresh meat for you
Once I was a lover
And I searched behind your eyes for you
And soon there'll be another
To tell you I was just a lie

And sometimes I wonder
Just for a while
Will you remember me

And though you have forgotten
All of our rubbish dreams
I find myself searching
Through the ashes of our ruins
For the days when we smiled
And the hours that ran wild
With the magic of our eyes
And the silence of our words

And sometimes I wonder
Just for a while
Will you remember me

If a fiddler played you a song, my love
And if I gave you a wheel
Would you spin for my heart and loneliness
Would you spin for my love

If I gave up all of my pride for you
And only loved you for now
Would you hide my fears and never say
"Tomorrow I must go"

Everywhere there's rain my love
Everywhere there's fear

If you tell me a lie I'll cry for you
Tell me of sin and I'll laugh
If you tell me of all the pain you've had
I'll never smile again

Everywhere there's rain my love
Everywhere there's fear

I can plainly see that our parts have changed
Our sands are shifting around
Need I beg to you for one more day
To find our lonely love

Everywhere there's rain my love
Everywhere there's fear

O whither has my lady wandered?
I'll search until I know I've found her

One green day she left her wings
And cut away her childhood strings
But dropping smiles along the trail
She left a trace I will not fail

O whither has my lady wandered?
I'll search until I know I've found her

When I catch my sudden maid
I'll deck her out in lace and jade
I will take her to her room
I will take her to her room

I love her upstairs
I love her downstairs
But I love my lady's chamber

O whither has my lady wandered?
I'll search until I know I've found her

The antique people are down in the dungeons
Run by machines and afraid of the tax
Their heads in the grave and their hands on their eyes
Hauling their hearts around circular tracks
Pretending forever their masquerade towers
Are not really riddled with widening cracks
And I wave goodbye to iron
And smile hello to the air

O the new children dance ------ I am young
All around the balloons ------ I will live
Swaying by chance ------ I am strong
To the breeze from the moon ------ I can give
Painting the sky ------ You the strange
With the colors of sun ------ Seed of day
Freely they fly ------ Feel the change
As all become one ------ Know the Way

The velocity addicts explode on the highways
Ignoring the journey and moving so fast
Their nerves fall apart and they gasp but can't breathe
They run from the cops of the skeleton past
Petrified by tradition in a nightmare they stagger

Into nowhere at all and they look up aghast
And I wave goodbye to speed
And smile hello to a rose

O the new children play ------ I am young
Under the juniper trees ------ I will live
Sky blue or gray ------ I am strong
They continue at ease ------ I can give
Moving so slow ------ You the strange
That serenely they can ------ Seed of day
Gracefully grow ------ Feel the change
And yes still understand ------ Know the Way

The king and the queen in their castle of billboards
Sleepwalk down the hallways dragging behind
All their possessions and transient treasures
As they go to worship the electronic shrine
On which is playing the late late commercial
In that hollowest house of the opulent blind
And I wave goodbye to Mammon
And smile hello to a stream

O the new children buy ------ I am young
All the world for a song ------ I will live
Without a dime ------ I am strong
To which they belong ------ I can give
Nobody owns ------ You the strange
Anything anywhere ------ Seed of day
Everyone's grown ------ Feel the change
Up so big they can share ------ Know the Way

The vaudeville generals cavort on the stage
And shatter their audience with submachine guns
And Freedom and Violence the acrobat clowns
Do a balancing act on the graves of our sons
While the tapdancing Emperor sings "War is peace"
And Love the Magician disappears in the fun
And I wave goodbye to murder
And smile hello to the rain

O the new children can't ------ I am young
Tell a foe from a friend ------ I will live
Quick to enchant ------ I am strong
And so glad to extend ------ I can give
Handfuls of dawn ------ You the strange
To kaleidoscope men ------ Seed of day
Come from beyond ------ Feel the change
The Great Wall of Skin ------ Know the Way

The bloodless husbands are jesters who listen
Like sheep to the shrieks and commands of their wives
And the men who aren't men leave the women alone
See them all faking love on a bed made of knives
Afraid to discover or trust in their bodies
And in secret divorce they will never survive
And I wave goodbye to ashes
And smile hello to a girl

O the new children kiss ------ I am young
They are so proud to learn ------ I will live
Womanwood bliss ------ I am strong
And the manfire that burns ------ I can give
Knowing no fear ------ You the strange
They take off their clothes ------ Seed of day
Honest and clear ------ Feel the change
As a river that flows ------ Know the Way

The antique people are fading out slowly
Like newspapers flaming in mind suicide
Godless and sexless directionless loons
Their sham sandcastles dissolve in the tide
They put on their deathmasks and compromise daily
The new children will live for the elders have died
And I wave goodbye to America
And smile hello to the world

I lit my purest candle close to my
Window, hoping it would catch the eye
Of any vagabond who passed it by,
And I waited in my fleeting house

Before he came I felt him drawing near;
As he neared I felt the ancient fear
That he had come to wound my door and jeer,
And I waited in my fleeting house

"Tell me stories," I called to the Hobo;
"Stories of cold," I smiled at the Hobo;
"Stories of old," I knelt to the Hobo;
And he stood before my fleeting house

"No," said the Hobo, "No more tales of time;
Don't ask me now to wash away the grime;
I can't come in 'cause it's too high a climb,"
And he walked away from my fleeting house

"Then you be damned!" I screamed to the Hobo;
"Leave me alone," I wept to the Hobo;
"Turn into stone," I knelt to the Hobo;
And he walked away from my fleeting house