STRAWBS - LYRICS
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The Man Who Called Himself Jesus
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
He came into the shop and looked me straight between the eyes
And said "You know I'm Jesus", and I must have looked surprised
Because he said "Please don't be hasty, no-one understands
But I've got a way to prove it" and he lifted up his hands.
He was the man who called himself Jesus.
For a minute I was speechless, then I looked into his face
With sufficient lines of sadness for the total human race
And I said "You must be joking" but he slowly shook his head
And said "That's what they all say, I might as well be dead".
He asked me if I knew a place where he could start to preach
I said "Well try a church or maybe Brighton beach"
And I was trying to be serious but he didn't seem impressed
He said "You think I'm crazy, you're just like all the rest".
I was really quite embarrassed, he was looking so sincere
So I said "I close the shop soon, won't you come and have a beer"
Then he asked me if I meant it and he smiled a funny smile
And he said he'd rather like that and he hung around a while.
On the way he stopped to pat little children's heads
And he taught them one line prayers to say as they went off to their beds
But mostly they were frightened and they looked at him wide eyed
And when he said his name was Jesus, one girl even cried.
In the pub I asked him if he'd tried to see the Pope
And he said although he'd thought about it there was really not a hope
Then he said he thought he'd better go, he had some work to do
He said he'd come and see me in about a week or two.
Well after he had gone I thought of what he'd said
And all his funny actions they kept running through my head
And when I felt my mind was drowning in a sea of mud
It seemed his pint of beer had turned into a pint of blood.
That Which Once Was Mine
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
If in some capricious moment
I should give you cause to fear
Then you have but to remember
That my being here is mere fortune
For the rules have laid down
To guide the thoughts of those who stray.
If in some deserted hour
We should murmur last goodbyes
With the snowflakes falling softly
As the tears well in your eyes
Then we kiss but once and walk away
Never turning round
And the snow falls on our footsteps
Leaving nothing to be found.
And my life is yet determined
By the span of what it holds
And the span grows ever shorter
As my lifetime folds away.
All The Little Ladies
(Cousins/Hooper)
Old School Songs
looking through their windows
Peering through lace curtains
All the little ladies
With grey haired hat-pinned heads
Watching people they know who don't understand
That they're living their lonely lives second hand
Even second hand's better than none.
Spreading all the gossip
Baking cakes for tea time
All the little ladies
With lonely single beds
Watching children they know as they jump and play
Trying giving them sweets but they run away
Even naughty boy's better than none.
Sunday lunch is coming
In a van of kindness
All the little ladies
With no friends but the dead
Watching doctor they know as he takes their pulse
Trying giving a smile for there's nothing else
Even this sad life's better than none.
Pieces Of 79 And 15
(Cousins/Hooper)
Old School Songs
Pieces of 79 and 15
Drifting along a jumbly scene
Pieces of 79 and 15
Drifting along a jumbly scene.
79
Out of work people
Sitting on top of a barberous pole
Strippers who like it and fancy a bit
And parties and songs in the night.
15
More people but mostly the same
Girls down with love, tell me what can you do
Seeing your friends down a hole in the ground
With the ceilings and walls falling down.
Tell Me What You See In Me
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
My ship sails in
On a cloud of broken promises
It's just not true
Not a single word she says
Time will tell
Whether I can change my ways
It might take years
It might even take always.
Tell me what you see in me
And I'll tell you what I see in you.
Your picture melts
Before my tired eyes
And all it leaves
Is just a trace of paradise
You'll change again
That's what I've been told
But don't take long
Or I might get too old.
Take it easy
But take it slow
For who knows which way next
That wind will blow
Time goes by
Just as quickly as I want it to
And I'll make out
Like I never knew.
Oh How She Changed
(Cousins/Hooper)
Not available
She leaned forward in the lamplight
In her eyes an amber glow
She was promising the earth
And yet somehow saying no
We talked of pleasant summer days
Kew Gardens, Hampton Court
The jewellers where we bought
The ring that held us close together.
Oh how she changed with every passing day.
In the swirling misty morning
As the day began to break
In the heavy dew her footsteps
I am floundering in her wake.
Oh how she changed with every passing day.
The shutters of indifference
Have close to bar the view
A person I once knew.
Oh how she changed with every passing day.
Or Am I Dreaming
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
The fragile gentle butterfly with multi-coloured wings
Settles on the toadstools in the midst of fairy rings
Midsummer sounds of tinkle bells as sweet Titania sings.
Or am I dreaming
Or am I dreaming ?
And I will have a castle with a drawbridge and a moat
And light my open fires with a brand new five pound note
And go off on a winter cruise in a bright red sailing boat.
Pick the golden casket
And you'll get what you deserve
Yards of pure white chiffon
Falling in a graceful curve
Crystal clear cut chandeliers
Orchids in a bowl
Mulled wine by the fire
And the finest ermine stole.
The water melon moon makes gentle progress in the sky
Upside down it's floating as the satellites go by
And you can hold a conversation if you're not too high.
The magic mountain music man
Is really rather shy
Or am I dreaming ?
Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
Wake up one day, you're left alone
From now on you're on your own
The sands of time are running low
You'll have nothing left to show
The months slip by and change to years
Soon the twilight gloom appears
And then one day before you know
You'll have nothing left to show.
Where is this dream of your youth.
The pictures on the walls are shaking
They can hear the storm a-breaking
Storms may come and storms go
You'll have nothing left to show
They can hear the earth a-quaking
Buildings come and buildings go
You'll have nothing left to show.
Tomorrow brings another dawn
It might be better from now on
Before too long that day will go
You'll have nothing left to show
You'll have nothing left to show
You'll have nothing left to show
You'll have nothing left to show.
Where is this dream of your youth ?
Poor Jimmy Wilson
(Cousins)
Not available
Jimmy Wilson had a glass eye, I could see it
And he stuttered sometimes
And he needed a girl friend night times
Didn't know how to go about it
Poor Jimmy Wilson, poor Jimmy Wilson.
All the boys used to tease him, I know I did it
And he was my friend
At school we were always close together
Hardly a day I didn't see him
Poor Jimmy Wilson, poor Jimmy Wilson.
He used to go out for walks on his own
With no-one to talk to at all
He'd walk in the park till the evening grew dark
Just feeling quite incredibly small.
He was sitting in the park one Sunday evening
Around about five
When along came a lady, a total stranger
Wanted young Jimmy to go with her
Poor Jimmy Wilson, poor Jimmy Wilson.
Well she was so persuasive and seemed quite friendly
So he went along
And the lady who was lonely gave him tea
And she was his friend for ever after
Poor Jimmy Wilson, poor Jimmy Wilson.
Where Am I/I'll Show You Where To Sleep
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
Where Am I ?
I sit here in peaceful meditation by a river
Watch my thoughts go floating down the stream of consciousness
Never ever changing the direction of my dreaming
To realise myself
Nothing more or nothing less
And as the hours slip away
On this pleasant April day
I sit and watch the flowers grow
Where am I
Where am I ?
I'll Show You Where To Sleep
Just paint a picture of the world
In gentle pastel shades
Indistinct and somehow blurred
Like childhood escapades
The painting box is rather dear
But the paints themselves are cheap
Leave your pack at the side of the road
I'll show you where to sleep.
Dead brown weeds in a ditch at the side
Of a field of burning corn
The road opens out before you
Like the womb where you were born
There's no need to pretend again
To try and earn your keep
Leave your pack at the side of the road
I'll show you where to sleep.
And crowds will gather in the sun
As stone madonnas weep
And the shepherd is a good man
As he tends his flock of sheep.
In case you find your tortoise shell
Is getting rather tight
You can wrap yourself in your magic cloak
And disappear from sight
And I will stand guard over you
As through the door you creep
Leave your pack at the side of the road
I'll show you where to sleep.
The Battle
(Cousins)
Old School Songs
In the early dawn the Bishops' men
Shivered in the damp
But the shiver came not from the cold
And spread throughout the camp
The trembling horses sensed the fear
Of silent thoughtful men
Who prayed that wives and families
Might see them once again.
The bishops sent a dawn patrol
To investigate the weight
Of forces at the King's command
Ensconced behind the gate
The ground mist hid the patrol's approach
As they drew close enough to show
The sentries on the battlements
And an archer drew his bow.
From the topmost tower a sentry fell
As an arrow pierced his skull
And his headlong flight into the moat
Seemed that of a gull
The patrol reported little
There was nothing much to see
But the strong and silent castle
A symbol of the free.
The King's men took communion
As the first rays of the sun
Lit up the castle's gloomy walls
The fatal day begun
From the castle green the rooks took flight
To the high trees in the east
To their carrion minds the battlefield
Set a table for a feast.
A tide of black, the Bishops' men,
Equality their right
Swarmed like ants across the hill
Their aim at last in sight
The King's men dressed in purest white
Were driven back by force
And the fighting grew more violent
As the battle took its course.
The Bishops gave the order
No mercy to be shown
The sacrifice will reap rewards
When the King is overthrown
The sight of children lying dead
Made hardened soldiers weep
The outer walls began to fall
They moved towards the keep.
The rooks surveyed the battlefield
Their hungry beady eyes
Revelled in the sight of death
Showing no surprise
The pressure mounted steadily
As the Bishops neared the gate
And the desperate King called to his knights
"It's your lives or the State"
When the anxious King began to fail
As many thought he might
The Queen ran screaming round the walls
And urged the men to fight
The Bishops' men were tiring
As the afternoon drew late
And the King's men lowered the drawbridge
And poured out through the gate.
They fought their way across the bridge
The men like falling leaves
Or ears of corn that fall in swathes
The vicious sickle cleaves
The tide receded up the hill
The waste of reclaimed land
Once decaying swamp became
A shore of pure white sand.
A blinded priest was seen to bless
Both dying and the dead
As he stumbled around the battlefield
His cassock running red
If uniform were black or white
His eyes could never see
And death made no distinction
Whatever man he be.
As darkness fell both camps withdrew
Their soldiers slain like cattle
Leaving the rooks to feast alone
The victors of the battle
At evensong both camps reviewed
Their sad depleted ranks
As survivors of the battle
Gave God their grateful thanks.