FURTHER SONGS by Klaus J. Gerken DAYS ~~~~ Days of autumn days of spring Days we call remembering Days of sunshine days of woe Days that pass before we know Days of gain and days of loss Days in which we pay the cost Days like harbors days like home Days that weigh just like a stone Days of distance days too near Days we live in constant fear Days of lovers days of friends Days we thought would never end Days of hope and days too late Days that seem to fall like fate Days that gather days that part Days that mend a broken heart Days like roses days like wine Days bereft of all design Days of dreaming days too real Days that offer us a deal Days that are won and days that are lost Days that gather up the frost Days of silence days of song Days where you and I belong. MY LADY IS FROM OTTAWA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My lady is from Ottawa She's got Paris eyes She's got Paris eyes She's got Paris eyes In the morning I love her like no other can For her my heart is yearning For her my heart is yearning For her my heart is yearning When I see her When things are going poorly She's there to help me see She's there to help me see She's there to help me see My way clearly Through think and through the mighty thin She said she'd stand by my She said she'd stand by me She said she's stand by me Forever I love her like the sunshine Upon a sunny day Upon a sunny day Upon a sunny day In the morning I love her like the sunshine When it warms my heart When it warms my heart When it warms my hear With her beauty Lovely lady - LET ME SING ~~~~~~~~~~~ Let me sing to you A very simple melody Let me come into your mind And let me make you free I have seen you ravaged By the poisons of your youth Come and show me what is truth. Come and let me answer Every question that you ask Why so many questions When you've not performed the task The task of love that's slightly more Than you have let it be Come and show me what you see. Love is not a fantasy A game in place of love Love is truth and honesty Which no one can reprove I will try to set you free If you can ask me to Come and show me what to do. There are bridges none have crossed And others who have failed In their bold attempts at love And gotten so regaled I have come to you a friend I crave your body to Come and show me what to do. You have been man's fantasy And I have been your fool You have shown no sympathy When I was old and cruel I have caught this ending With difficult repair Come and show me how you fare. Come and come and come back Came back to me now I have bled this sacrifice Too long - look at me now You have been my savior here No other person would remain Come and show me all your pain. Come and let me worship you When all the ships come in A ship of fools is in my heart Is this the perfect sin? You have gathered trinkets While I gathered what was thin Come and show me how to win. I have tried to gather Sweeter grapes upon the vine That was necessary For my fantasy to shine I have climbed the mountain But the mountain was too high Come and show me how to cry. Once I was a gambler But not for very long Gambling in love is not Like gambling in song You have brought me to the ground (Ariadne's revenge) Come and show me how to bend. Your love has been a razor blade Upon my pale cold skin These words are locked within my mouth And I am much too thin Why are you with me when You could be with other men? Come and tell me all you can. THE MINOTAUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The minotaur After a long Journey home Lies asleep In his lair With his eyes closed Afloat on a Dream that his Exhaustion airs A dream of a Girl so young As he is old With mushroom eyes And hair so wild Lost and alone The minotaur Stirs in his lair He sighs for her A dream which forms Each single tear That's gathered here Throughout the years Throughout all time Tangled with vines A dark lament His heart has wrent A tear which has Repeated that I loved so much And how I loved And who I loved And why I loved No one must know The minotaur Stirs in his lair He sighs for her The minotaur After a long Long journey home Lies asleep In his lair With his eyes closed And a thorn that's lodged Within his side A tear so deep Within his throat His heart bled dry Beneath the sword Of Theseus His heart bled dry For want of love For want of life A like that is But now a dream Just one more lie But once this dream Revealed the truth And two were one Yet now this dream Is just a dream A penalty Where death becomes The labyrinth This love exposed The minotaur After a long Long journey home Reclaims his lair Reclaims his love Reclaims what's there The minotaur After a long Long journey home Dies. Coda The minotaur Stands by her side Protects the light That shines on her. DO YOU REMEMBER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you remember that night in september when we came together like ice in a glass the fog lifted slowly but you thought it holy so I let it pass Lugubrious tears followed the years when we mastered living a lonely repast I fled to my singing you to your spinning so we let it pass One night in December I met her o somewhere we came together the first stone was cast the lamplight disarming the love too alarming so I let it pass I came home that morning a wind without warning a hurricane eye asking me why I could not reply I didn't even try I let it go by Goodbye love goodbye beneath a clear sky she started to cry I could not look back I walked on alone I felt like a stone more fiction than fact I let it go past o I let it pass... SHADOW OF DEATH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The shadow of death Haunts your sweet breath O let me come in Let me begin Let me remember The dance in September We practiced together Before we were strangers And parted forever The shadow of death Is on your sweet breath O let me collect What you must inspect Let me remember What we had together The sheets and the panic The love and the music We could not long gather The sweetness of death Is on your dark breath Like Juliet's tomb Let me make room The dagger is there Upon my heart, swear We'll be like they were Before we'd repair This fable with care. I CAME TO YOU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I came to you for protection I came to you for love I came to you for perfection What was I ever thinking of? You brought me a crucifixion You brought me poison wine You brought me faded flowers To hasten this decline. I came to you for freedom I came to you for trust I came to you for healing A statue turned to rust You brought me sour lemons You brought me no reprieve You brought me bitter silence For what I can't conceive. Refr: I wanted you I wanted you I wanted I needed you I needed you I needed you this way I came to you for laughter I came to reinspect The love I failed to suffer Upon an empty bed You gave me eyes of fire You gave me death divine Even if you kill me I must still be thine... Refr: I wanted you I wanted you I wanted I needed you I needed you I needed you this way. IF I LOVED YOU MORE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If I loved you more than you Could ever have loved me Let it be my pride and my Own uncertainty - A perfect light entombed Beneath a crescent moon If I love you more... If I loved you more than you Could ever have loved me Let it be my pride Raised to this ideal - A candle in the dark my love You led me through the dark my love If I loved you more... If I loved you more than you Could ever have loved me That is quite alright because I cannot claim what's free - You are my beacon where No beacon was before If I loved you more... If I loved you more than you Could ever have loved me I came to you on bended knees Scarred from too much prayer - Just to look upon your face Was enough to gain the fire If I loved you more... If I loved you more. AND I LOVE YOU SO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And I love you so I'll never let you go I'll love you all my life Come and be my wife Together we are one Enduring like the sun To the end of time I want you to be mine You saved me from the storm My inner heart had borne Far too long alone You took this sailor home So take this single rose And hold me oh so close Never let me go Because I love you so You are the greatest dream Reality could mean Whatever love could be Is my reality You look into my eyes You make love paradise And I would gladly die To wake up by your side The history of love Can never comprehend What we have found to be Love's great ministry So let me thank the gods Who led me to your door Your radiance it shone And I want nothing more. DANCE JOANNE DANCE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dance Joanne dance With your mushroom eyes And your hair so wild Your staccato rhythms And your indecisions Dance Joanne dance Like a night unshared Like a voice unheard Like a vanquished dream I am lost between Dance Joanne dance Is your love complete Is there more (how deep) Do you hope one day Love will come your way Dance Joanne dance Is that what you want Come and take my hand I can be the one Who can lead you home Dance Joanne dance Like the wind is wild You are like a child Who has run away Safer games to play Dance Joanne dance Let me lead you home Never more alone You and I will be Love's eternity Dance Joanne dance. I WANDERED DOWN EACH AVENUE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wandered down each avenue Of rain perfected moods As midnight tolls it's curfew bell This starving man once food A paradise of foolish hearts Enveloped each parade Of pained faces no one dares To inspect through the maze Of bridges that were burned because No lovers stood thereon To gaze upon the deep dark see Like shadows in the sun. I wandered down each avenue Where gamblers knew no odds Where good and bad were inbetween The bets they placed and lost No duty to the final rest No duty to themselves These gamblers force themselves to take The poison from the shelf I take my sword and fantasy I take my empty cup I drink the sky of hallowed e'en And pray the game is up. I wandered down each avenue To stand before your door I have no hope to see or even Speak to you once more We parted oh so long ago When darkness grazed the dawn I wanted you to need me whole You just took my arm A man so broken by defeat He could not see the moon I loved you even though you thought I'd run away too soon. I wanted you I wanted you I needed you so much Before the lightning did appear And we hardly ever touched But now I venture to repeat Each moment that we had I wandered like a ghost above Your crumpled unmade bed I worship at your alter This goddess I refused I offer you my loneliness Which you could never use. I wandered down each avenue I failed to see the light If I must now apologize At least I'll do it right My past is empty of repair The future forms no thought What should have been a peaceful time Was untold battles fought Like Jesus on the mountain top I stand here all alone Isn't there a single soul To take this tired sailor home? THE LAKE OF DARKNESS IN HER EYES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You can tell me anything" It sounded so unreal The atmosphere was like a morgue The knife was stainless steel Her sweetness was magnificent It wasn't hard to take I fell for her and like a stone Fell drowning in the lake The lake of darkness in her eyes The lake of death for sure I gathered all my courage And crumpled to the floor I felt just like a beggar With rags of poverty Lost within some rich man's house Where he should never be She gathered all my feelings To teach me how to cope I walked among the gibbets where I cursed each knotted rope I tried to gather lightning I stood upon the hill I prayed to God in solitude His laughter was too shrill I tried to gather lightning It struck me kind of hard To burn myself into the ground And make another start So I gathered these mementos And put them on the shelf And looked into the mirror Where no man sees himself. MY LADY'S GONE A-RIDING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My lady's gone a-riding into the misty dawn the dew upon her mantle no knight to keep her warm My lady's gone a-riding and I don't know where she might be the wind upon the meadow the quiver in the tree My lady's gone a-riding the air is still and calm and I would like to comfort her I who've done her wrong My lady's gone a-riding and I don't know what to do the pain of separation has gathered oh so cruel My lady's gone a-riding into the misty dawn a ray of sunlight follows her I hope it keeps her warm. TOMORROW SHALL BE MY DANCING DAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Refr: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day I would my true love did so change To see the legend of my play To call my true love to my dance Sing o sing o sing my love This have I done for my true love Verse: I gave her roses gave her ash Gave her all that she did ask Gave her garlands in the spring Gave her birds that sweetly sing Refr: Verse: Still she was not satisfied Told me lies and told me worse Lied about what she did wrong Lied about the broken curse Refr: Verse: I gave her all that I could give I could give nothing more She cursed me to my face and said My friend you're just too poor Refr: Verse: We parted when the sky was red Beneath a blazing moon Melting all the hope we had A rose that died too soon... I WANT YOUR INSPIRATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I want your inspiration I'm greedy in that way In foolish desperation I frighten you away A suffering conquistador With fever on his brain Lost within his paradise He's tried so hard to claim I need you like no other I need you like the dawn You carried me much further Than I thought I could have sworn I'd ask to be your lover But that can never be I waited at the corner You never came for me I thought I could just claim you I thought I could regain What you had wanted of me I had no other claim I walked the windy tightrope Of emptiness supreme Paradise is dreamt about But hardly ever seen... WHY ARE YOU WITH ME MY LOVE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why are you with me my love Why are you with me I who offer nothing but An instability Why are you with me my love Why are you with me I who offer everything To have you notice me Why are you with me my love Why are you with me The rain has fallen from the sky As dew falls on a tree Why are you with me my love Why are you with me I stumble through the labyrinth Oh save me from my fear Why are you with me my love Why are you with me The dark descends upon my soul And can hardly see Why are you with me my love Why are you with me I have no purpose but Your disability Why are you with me my love Why are you with me I who wait so patiently For you to show the way Why are you with me my love Why are you with me You are the sun within my eyes This blind man fails to see... THE BREAKING OF DESIRE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The breaking of desire The braking of the stance The breaking of the desperate dance Which gave us every chance The breaking of desire I hold within my hand A thousand lighted candles That smolder on the stand The stand that was the alter Of love too soon defused The love that was a silent mass To us of little use The breaking of desire My hands upon the fire In hell we burn for the love we earn We couldn't get much higher The breaking of desire The breaking of this sin We kneeled before the alter And gathered nothing in The breaking of desire The breaking of this dream The breaking of this desperate dance We tried so hard to screen. IF I'VE DONE YOU WRONG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If I've done you wrong for something I don't know about Please forgive this frightened man For his uncertainty Sometimes it's not easy For a man to set things free Like an eagle soars Into the sky of no return I have needed you like something I could never earn. Do not talk to me but neither Scorn me like a curse If I have been guilty I have Suffered for the worse My love has been much vaster Than the sky above could be I have loved you like a prophet Hung upon a tree If I ask you one more time Could you not stand with me? Stand with me upon the vast Arena of true love Set your sights upon the sky The laurel leaf and dove Let us guide the universe Into our own domain Let us live and love my love Within this life again. I am stranded like a raft Upon the sea of fate Cast upon Catullus' rack Too painful to relate Why are you so cruel to me What have I done wrong Is it that this singer Can no longer sing his song Is it what you felt for me Was never very song? If I build an empire Out of what you meant to me I would build minarets up Toward infinity I have only done it love Because I worship thee Was I wrong to think of you As someone I could love Let my empire crumble With the dying of the dove. Let my empire crumble With the knowledge I have tried Hard to salvage something From the razor blade of pride Blood upon the alter Let me be the sacrifice Just to glimpse perfection In the distance of your eyes. SONG ~~~~ I am afraid of your beauty Afraid of the world Which no one has spoken Yet both of us heard Refr: La - La la la, la la la, la la la, la la I humble myself I do nothing right Your presence is sacred To this hermit's plight Refr: I suffer in silence I suffer in song Your eyes too bewitching Your beauty too strong Refr: I bow to the river I bow to the sky Oh let me be with you Before they collide Refr: Afraid of your beauty Afraid of the cross I slaughter the sailor For the albatross Refr: Goodbye love forever Goodbye to this song I sang to the silence When the words would not come Refr: WHERE ARE YOU GOING? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Where are you going? Where have you been> What can this future presentiment mean? With one chance as subtle as another collides Even the wisest are not very wise. Where are you going? Does one really know? A paper solution is only for show. With a cornerstone ready, but not so the heart What has come together must now fall apart. So little reflection can build up a curse We carried it further to where it got worse One moment of laughter, the next was insane Insidious comments have little to gain. Where have you been love? "Oh not very far". Might as well follow a decaying star. Your feelings are empty and mine will not bend When will this storm that we nurture come to an end? BUT YOU WHO NEEDED SOMEONE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the night becomes much harder And the stars just float away And you thought you could survive it Till the silence breaks the day Refr: And you who never needed someone Who thought you didn't have to care On a roller-coaster ride to nowhere Did you think there would be no fare? The music doesn't matter This cantata is by Bach As you look into the mirror And remove another mask Refr: A frozen contradiction Stalks the love you hate With a feeling of confusion You refuse the clear debate Refr: Love to you is not a savior Love is what you're owed If you ever needed someone You would hardly know Refr: I have watched you often Tell me what is wrong Your words are like a fire That has burned you far too long Refr: Your love is like a fire You have formed too many scars Upon my shattered feelings You have raided in this war Refr: As each night become the harder Each solution falls apart The sun appears: it's morning "Why is life an empty dart"? I CAME FOR YOU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She sets you up And she draws you in With the motion of The pendulum With Bolero on The stereo And a cat curled up On the patio. With a breath of autumn Very near She brings you wine And she calls you dear And her voice is soothing And her mind so far She gathers light From a distant star. You come to her With a broken sigh In desperation But you don't know why She taps so lightly On your drum "Where does your Despair come from"? You want to tell her Love's to blame But loneliness Remains the same With no solution You refrain A silent bullet In your brain "I really do not Understand" Her eyes refuse A broken man "I came for you" And that was true The night was long The words too few. A FRAGMENT OF AN UNCOMPLETED NEMESIS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The great affair is over But where did it begin If silence must be golden Then speaking was the sin He could not separate himself From what the past had wrought She could not reconcile herself To the battles that he fought These lovers somehow never knew How they destroyed themselves With passion on their fingertips And commitment on the shelf Each one thought they tried so hard And each refused to bend Ultimately neither held The future in their hands. I LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I listened to your music I listened to your heart I listened to your beauty Before it fell apart But beauty is the enemy That you must sacrifice Before your heart can truly be The music love provides. I tasted what you offered Upon the alter stone The music pounded in my ear I wanted to go home But home is where the heart must be And I could not remove The chains you wrapped around this man Who could not conquer love. I saw the terror in your eye I saw you turn to ice I saw you laugh within your cell Left to your own advise But if you have to be alone Present not any alms To the poor beggar at your gate Who subsists on your charms. The air was scented with your skin Like the mount of sacrifice I nurtured your religion Could this be paradise? But paradise is never gained By drinking someone's eyes I left you to yourself again And told another lie. You touched me like no other Had ever done before I'd gladly die of hunger Before your kitchen door But tell me did you ever Just welcome anyone Without extracting ransom For every desperate song? I TOLD YOU ~~~~~~~~~~ I told you about the mountain I told you about the sky I told you about the eagle And here's the reason why Refr: I'm lonely, I'm lonely, I'm lonely I'm so lonely I could die I told you about the mountain I found too high to climb I circled it forever I couldn't make up my mind Refr: I told you about the sky, I Told you I could fly But first I had to climb The mountain for to try Refr: I told you about the eagle And how I shot it down I was jealous of it's beauty I was jealous of it's crown Refr: IT DOESN'T MEAN A THING UNLESS I SAY IT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All I know is that these thoughts are real That I'm struggling with the way I feel It's a mile and a half to go But I'm running just to let you know That the shadow of a love so bright Kept me up and talking to the night Won't you let me get the sleep I need Be receptive to the love I need. And I gave you everything I wrote I guess it was just to let you know But you knew all that before I came Broke the rules to what we thought a game Now the pieces lying on the floor Must be swept away... Let me start again just one more time One more time to ask you to be mine Refr: I guess it doesn't mean anything unless I say it It doesn't mean a thing unless you hear It's no good for us to run away On a sea of silence swept away If I cannot find the words to speak You should not forgive a man so weak If I run into a wall of fear The solution, love, is all too clear If I say it do not close your eyes Sometimes truth is harder than the lie. Refr: THE END All songs Copyright (c) 1986, 1993 Klaus J. Gerken All rights reserved. Music available on request. Published by: YGDRASIL PRESS http://users.synapse.net/~kgerken kgerken@synapse.net alt.centipede 1001-257 Lisgar Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0C7 Canada