Lyrics and samples from Billy's new CD Widdershins
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
April Saturday -(((Listen)))
Long yawn, the break of dawn
I stumble from my bed
Sour breath, feel like death
Schedules in my head
But wait, hey it’s Saturday
I can’t believe it’s true
So fine, a little time
With nothing much to do
Forget the dreadful paper
Gonna breathe the morning air
With my shadow right beside me
I will wander anywhere
God’s love, sky above
These things I rarely see
There’s no one talking at me
But the windsong in the trees
Lately it ain’t been much
But rain and wind and snow
Mire and mud, fire and flood
Everywhere I go
Cold down in the darkness
Thought the end had come at last
But I’m warm, reborn and feeling new
Just standing on the grass
Somewhere they are sweating, sweeping
Baking, making beds
Paying bills and learning skills
To let ‘em get ahead
But I have got the silence
And the sunlight of the street
Life calls, screw it all
I’m following my feet
Lately it ain’t been much
But rain and wind and snow
Mire and mud, fire and flood
Everywhere I go
Children on the sidewalk
Are laughing high and sweet
Life calls, screw it all
I’m following my feet
(Here I go…Oh my…Going going…I’m gone)
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Close to Your Heart - (((Listen)))
They laughed when we promised forever
And said that it never would last
You were so young and so tender
And I was too free and too fast
But we wanted each other whatever
And there never could be any doubt
Since we first braved the darkness together
And you held me close to your heart
Looking back now that seems funny
And who’d ever think it was true
But through all of these long years of living
Darlin’ the strong one was you
For you’ve taught me forgiving and feeling
And you held me when I fell apart
I’ve just had to continue believing
When you’ve held my close to your heart
Oh the wonder, warmth and sweetness
In the soft touch of your skin
You’ve enchanted my soul to completeness
And blessed every moment I’m in
And now I’ve only one wish left in life dear
When it’s time from this world we must part
May they lay down my body beside yours
And let me sleep close to your heart
Forever…be close to your heart
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
August Song - (((Listen)))
Morning will be coming soon
To the darkness of this living room
Just the crickets and the moon’s pale light
Mary and the kids asleep
But I have had the same old dream
And I just want to talk with you tonight
We loved summer nights like these
On the steps to catch the breeze
Just to feel the stars and watch the clouds go by
Every topic A to Z
We’d agree to disagree
But no one’s taught me more in my whole life
Edward Matthew shares your name
And Billy who you’ve never seen
Often ask me, “Dad, what was he like?”
I tell them of your silver hair
Your knowing laugh, your love of beer
And how you liked to hug a bit too tight
But how can I try to explain
All the wisdom, warmth, and strength
And the friendship born of all those foolish fights?
If you hurt, if you were great
Dad you always told me straight
And I just miss that honesty tonight
I still feel you everywhere
I turn to speak but…no one’s there
Morning will be coming soon
The hustle bustle noise of noon
This calendar and clock I call my life
But still sometimes at night in bed
Your voice gets sounding in my head
And I’d swear you’re right here at my side
I can make it on my own
It’s just tonight I feel alone
Tired and sick of all the endless compromise
The only truth I clearly see…
Is how you really cared for me
And I just want to tell you that tonight
I need to remember that tonight…how I’d love to talk with you…
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Boss Me, Boss Me Baby - (((Listen)))
Boss me, boss me baby - c’mon and tell me what to do
Boss me, boss me honey - you know I need a boss like you
Boss me, boss me darling - just like my Momma used to do
I’m coughing in the morning, coffee in my hand
Cobwebs in my head, when she says, “Now here’s the plan –
We’ve got to rake and mow and mop and hoe
Rinse and recycle too
You should finish up the paper – make sure your tie your shoes.”
Boss me, boss me baby – you gotta tell me what to do
Boss me, boss me honey – you know I need a boss like you
Boss me, boss me darling – just like my Momma used to do (my sisters too)
Later in the day I think I’m finally in the clear
I settle with a sandwich, some baseball and a beer
When she calls in from the outside, “Won’t you please help me dear?
The bushes look like Rastas and there’s a big beehive here!”
Then early in the evening, I’m moving sore and slow
But she says, “Kippy has a party and I promised that we’d go.
You should bring your guitar in case they want to sing
I’m gonna make a salad – go find some wine to bring.”
Many songs and hours later, we’re finally headed home
I’m thinking that I’ll stay up and drink a bit alone
But she says, “Ah, c’mon up with me –the bed’s so big and cold
You could keep me warm dear – unless you’ve grown too old.”
Boss me, boss me baby – you know that you can’t stop
Boss me, boss me woman – you just have to be on top
(Well I don’t really mind dear – in fact, I love the view)
Boss me, boss me baby – no one can boss me like you do
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Newborn Lullaby - (((Listen)))
Red brick and Boston, cold winter moon
Icy old Charles lying still
I remember the wonder and joy in my heart
As I wandered alone on the hill
Humble, high and holy – telling your name to the sky
Warm with the glow of new peace in my soul
I sat down in the snow to cry
Love like a river, love like the sun
Love in the wind blowing free
The universe danced in my hand, little one
The day that God gave you to me
Through misty spring showers and warm summer winds
Like a flower you’ve opened your eyes
And you’re learning to walk, always trying to talk
Each new moment is such a surprise
I watch you as you’re sleeping, when the stormy day is through
Cool colors of fall change the light on the wall
And I think how to teach you what’s true
Love like a river, love like the sun
Its mystery is all that we know
It will guide, it will hurt, it will soothe, it will burn
Take it wherever you go
I can’t be here forever to watch the things you’ll do
But sleep my little darling – I believe in you
Problems – ghosts and goblins – all must run and hide
‘Til dawn shall silk the windowsill, I’ll stay right by your side
Time travels on, you will grow and be gone
And I’ll get on wrinkled and gray
And I’ll watch as you go from some distant window
Sad as you’re walking away
I cannot hope to hold you, or save you from sorrow and strife
But this song is to say… I remember the day
And the love you brought into my life
Love like a river, love like the sun
And as proud as I ever will be
A whole new hope for my life was won
The day that God gave you to me
I am a moon, shine on my son
Live it for all it can be
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
First Snow - (((Listen)))
Cold winter night, soft firelight
Snuggled up tight with you
Candles and wine, timeless time
Flutters around the room
Outside the window, lacy and slow
Descending in circles of silence… the snow
Held by your heart, I drift in the dark
And wait for the storm to grow
The smell of your hair and the warmth of your cheek
The crack of the fire and the wind in the trees
You – you alone – you are my home
All of my joy and peace
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Annie - (((Listen)))
With your baseball cap, old cut-off jeans
And band-aid hands from climbing trees
You’d show up at my back door screen
And call me out to play
And through the summer fields we’d run
Pirate pals beneath the sun
We swore there’d never be someone
To take our fun away
Oh Annie, today’s your Wedding Day
Oh Annie, I never thought I’d say
Sweet Annie, you’re going over the hill
But in my mind I see that tomboy still
We drifted on to different worlds
And I pursued those other girls
The bigger bumps, the softer curls
And left your spark behind
Their perfume foggin’ up my brain
Oh Lord, I truly was insane
For just to see you in your lace today
Sends shivers up my spine
Oh Annie, with flowers at your side
Oh Annie, how could I be so blind?
Sweet Annie, completely beautiful
But in my mind I see that tomboy still
The ceremony’s set to go
And the music starts to play
But the ocean’s pounding in my throat
I don’t think I can stay
Oh Annie, there’ll never ever be
Oh Annie, more famous friends than we
Sweet Annie, you know I wish you well
But I’ll remember long ago
The autumn leaves, the winter snow
And all those summer flowers out on the hill
In my mind I see that tomboy still
Here in my heart, you’ll be that tomboy still
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Harvard Square - (((Listen)))
Evening came cold and cloudy to the street
Four of us were waiting for the bus we had to meet
An old drunk and a young girl, a businessman and me
It was everyday common, as common can be
I smelled him just before he shuffled to my side
White stubble out his face, red rimmed around his eyes
Saying, “Sir, you have some spare change, a dollar or a dime
To help a homeless person find something for the night?”
It had been a bone-weary, dismal, dreary day
And I really had nothing I could give him anyway
Pathetic explanations were just too much to say
I pretended not to hear him and turned the other way
The well-dressed man muttered something, looked at me and grinned
Said, “Everywhere you go, you know there’s more and more of them
Are they giving out degrees now in that sorry song and dance?
Harvard PhD’s in pissing in your pants…”
The cold glint of cruel glittered in his eye
And he looked for one split second a viper in silk tie
So smug and isolated from poverty and pain
I shrugged at him a moment and turned the other way
And the wind blew cold as the dark came down
And the wind blew cold ‘cross the frozen ground
I walked to the curb and gazed on down the street
She’d been watching all the while, innocent and sweet
Blue jeans and a book bag, roses in her cheeks
She glanced at me in sympathy and I began to speak
“ I feel bad for the old guy, I’m just really broke today
It’s the rich one that bugs me - look at him - posing there that way
He thinks it’s a privilege to hear him complain.”
She looked at me a moment, and turned the other way
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Love is the Answer - (((Listen)))
Love is the answer
There is no other
Love is the answer
From the nothing darkness, we come into this life
And it’s such a little time we get to stay
Celebrate or live in hate, it’s we who must decide
To share the world or fight our time away
I kill you and you kill me, we live in fear and misery
It’s an ancient game that people play
Sticks and stones, swords and guns, ships and planes, nuclear bombs
Surely only death will win that way
Moses went to the mountain, Gandhi to the sea
And Buddha left his wealth for poverty
Mohammed rode to Mecca, Jesus died in agony
Martin marched to set his people free
Through the sadness of this life, in the terror of the night
And the silence of a cold eternity
You can’t understand it all, but deep inside you’ll hear the call
Of the only answer to the mystery
Love is the answer We plumb the seas and chart the stars
But it’s the Stone Age in our hearts
There is no other We could live together if we’d only try
I am hungry, I am old,
Love is the answer I am lonely, I am cold
What will it take to make you hear my cry?
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
Good-Bye My Friend - (((Listen)))
What a happy journey we’ve traveled on
But here this morning, those days are gone
The fun and fanfare faded away
And there’s just one thing that’s left to say
Goodbye my friend, see you again
The world has turned, it’s time for us to part
Goodbye my friend, this road must bend
I’ll keep you in my heart
Life is for loving, the wise would say
You only keep what you give away
Some men seek power and pride of place
But you live the wonder with a child’s face
May there be sunshine and laughter, skies of blue
In the brand new future you’re heading to
But in that new life, please always know
My heart was heavy to see you go
April Saturday ~ Close to Your Heart ~ August Song ~ Boss Me, Boss Me Baby
Newborn Lullaby ~ First Snow ~ Annie ~ Harvard Square
Love is the Answer ~ Good-bye My Friend
