unknown

We sailed up a river wide as a sea
And slept on the banks
On the leaves of a banyan tree
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

Some stories are magical, meant to be sung
Song from the mouth of the river
When the world was young
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

By moon
We walk
To the brujo's door
Along a path of river stone
Women with their nursing children
Seated on the floor
We join the fevers
And the broken bones

The candlelight flickers
The falcon calls
A lime-green lizard scuttles down the cabin wall
And all of these spirit voices
Sing rainwater, sea water
River water, holy water
Wrap this child in mercy - heal her
Heaven's only daughter
All of these spirit voices rule the night
My hands were numb
My feet were lead
I drank a cup of herbal brew
Then the sweetness in the air
Combined with the lightness in my head
And i heard the jungle breathing in the bamboo

Saudac~oes greetings!
D'a lic'enca um momento excuse me, one moment
Te lembr'o i remind you
Que amanh~a that tomorrow
Ser'a tudo ou ser'a naoa it will be all or it will
Be nothing
Depende, cora,c~ao it depends, heart
Ser'a breve ou ser'a grande it will be brief or it will
Be great
Depende da paix~ao it depends on the passion
Ser'a sujo, ser'a sonho it will be dirty, it will
Be a dream
Cuidado, cora,c~ao be careful, heart
Ser'a 'util, ser'a tarde it will be useful, it will be
Late
Se esmera, cora,c~ao do your best, heart
E confia and have trust
Na for,ca do amanh~a in the power of tomorrow

Lord of the earthquake
My trembling bed
The spider resumes the rhythm
Of his golden thread
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

(words by paul simon; music by paul simon, jonhjon mkhalali
And lulu masilela)

I was having this discussion
In a taxi heading downtown
Rearranging my position
On this friend of mine who had
A little bit of a breakdown
I said breakdowns come
And breakdowns go
So what are you going to do about it
That's what i'd like to know

You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could

It was in the early morning hours
When i fell into a phone call
Believing i had supernatural powers
I slammed into a brick wall
I said hey, is this my problem?
Is this my fault?
If that's the way it's going to be
I'm going to call the whole thing to a halt

You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could
You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could

I was walking down the street
When i thought i heard this voice say
Say, ain't we walking down the same street together
On the very same day
I said hey senorita that's astute
I said why don't we get together
And call ourselves an institute

You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could
You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could

I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but
I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but

A cooling system
Burns out in the ukraine
Trees and umbrellas
Protect us from the new rain
Armies of engineers
To analyze the soil
The food we contemplate
The water that we boil

I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but
I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but
Oo-we oo-we

I had a dream about us
In the bottles and the bones of the night
I felt a pain in my shoulder blade
Like a pencil point? a love bite?
A couple was rubbing against us
Rubbing and doing that new dance
The man was wearing a jacket and jeans
The woman was laughing in advance

I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but
I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but

A winding river
Gets wound around a heart. pull it
Tighter and tighter
Until the muddy waters part
Down by the river bank
A blues band arrives
The music suffers
The music business thrives

I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but
I can't run but
I can walk much faster than this
Can't run but
Oo-we oo-we

(paul simon)

The mississippi delta was shining
Like a national guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war

I'm going to graceland
Graceland
In memphis tennessee
I'm going to graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to graceland
My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But i've reason to believe
We both will be received
In graceland

She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if i didn't know that
As if i didn't know my own bed
As if i'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

I'm going to graceland
Memphis tennessee
I'm going to graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to graceland

And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I'm looking at ghosts and empties
But i've reason to believe
We all will be received
In graceland

There is a girl in new york city
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when i'm falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil i say
Oh, so this is what she means
She means we're bouncing into graceland
And i see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

In graceland, in graceland
I'm going to graceland
For reasons i cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see
Graceland
And i may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there's no obligations now
Maybe i've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In graceland

If i have weaknesses
Don't let them blind me
Or camouflage all i am wary of
I could be sailing in seizures of laughter
Or crawling out from under the heel of love
Do my prayers remain unanswered
Like a beggar at your sleeve
Olodumare is smiling in heaven
Smiling in heaven i do believe

Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To glide away from the razor or a knife
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To dominate the impossible in your life

Always a stranger when strange isn't fashionable
And fashion is rich people waving at the door
Or it's a dealer in drugs or in passion
Lies of a nature we've heard before
Do my prayers remain unanswered
Like a beggar at your sleeve
Balalu-aye spins on his crutches
Says leave if you want
If you want to leave

Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
A reach in the darkness
Reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To glide away from the razor or a knife
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To dominate the impossible in your life
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To dominate the impossible in your life
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark

A family of musicians took shelter for the night
In the little harbor church of st. cecilia
Two guitars, bata, bass drum and tambourine
Rose of jericho and bougainvillea

This is a lonely life
Sorrows everywhere you turn
And that's worth something
When you think about it
That's worth some money
That's worth something
When you think about it
That is worth some money

A trip to the market
A trip into the pearl gray morning sunlight
That settles over washington
A trip to the market
A trip around the world
Where the evening meal
Is negotiable, if there is one.

This is a lonely-lone, lonely life
Sorrows everywhere you turn
And that's worth something
When you think about it
That's worth some money
That's worth something
When you think about it
That is worth some money

To prove that i love you
Because i believe in you
Summer skies, stars are falling
All along the injured coast
If i have money
If i have children
Summer skies, stars are falling
All along the injured coast
Oo-wah oo-wah doo-wop a doo-wah
Summer skies and stars are falling
All along the injured coast
Oo-wah oo-wah doo-wop a doo-wah
Summer skies and the stars are falling
All along the injured coast

We are standing in the sunlight
The early morning sunlight
In the harbor church of st. cecilia
To praise a soul's returning to the earth
To the rose of jericho and the bougainvillea

To prove that i love you
Because i believe in you
Summer skies, stars are falling
All along the injured coast
If i have money
If i have children
Summer skies, stars are falling
All along the injured coast

If i have weaknesses
Don't let them blind me now
Summer skies, stars are falling
All along the injured coast
Oo-wah oo-wah
Doo wop a doo wah
Summer skies, stars are falling
Leaving the shadow of the valley behind me now
All along the injured coast
Ooh-wah oow-wah
Doo wop a doo wah
Summer skies and stars are falling
All along the injured coast
Ooh-wah ooh-wah
Doo wop a doo wah

(paul simon)

A long time ago, yeah
Before you was born dude
When i was still single
And life was great
I held this job as a traveling salesman
That kept me moving from state to state

Well, i'm standing on the corner of lafayette
State of louisiana
Wondering where a city boy could go
To get a little conversation
Drink a little red wine
Catch a little bit of those cajun girls
Dancing to zydeco

Along come a young girl
She's pretty as a prayerbook
Sweet as an apple on christmas day
I said good gracious can this be my luck
If that's my prayerbook
Lord let us pray

Well, i'm standing on the corner of lafayette
State of louisiana
Wondering where a city boy could go
To get her in a conversation
Drink a little red wine
Dance to the music of clifton chenier
The king of the bayou

Well, that was your mother
And that was your father
Before you was born dude
When life was great
You are the burden of my generation
I sure do love you
But let's get that straight

Well, i'm standing on the corner of lafayette
Across the street from the public
Heading down to the lone star cafe
Maybe get a little conversation
Drink a little red wine
Standing in the shadow of clifton chenier
Dancing the night away

(paul simon)

If you want to write a song about the moon
Walk along the craters of the afternoon
When the shadows are deep
And the light is alien
And gravity leaps like a knife off the pavement
And you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune
Then nah nah nah
Presto
Song about about the moon
If you want to write a song about the heart
Think about the moon before you start
Because the heart will howl
Like a dog in the moonlight
And the heart can explode
Like a pistol on a june night
So if you want to write a song about the heart
And its ever-longing for a counterpart
Write a song about the moon
The laughing boy
He laughed so hard
He fell down from his place
The laughing girl
She laughed so hard
The tears rolled down her face
Hey songwriter
If you want to write a song about
A face
Think about a photograph
That you really can't remember
But you can't erase
Wash your hands in dreams and lightning
Cut off your hair
And whatever is frightening
If you want to write a song
About a face
If you want to write a song about
The human race
Write a song about the moon
If you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune
Then do it
Write a song about the moon

(words by paul simon; music by paul simon and forere motlobeloa)

It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shop windows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry
Don't cry

It was a dry wind
And it swept across the desert
And it curled into the circle of birth
And the dead sand
Falling on the children
The mothers and the fathers
And the automatic earth
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry
Don't cry

It's a turn-around jump shot
It's everybody jump start
It's every generation throws a hero up the pop charts
Medicine is magical and magical is art
The boy in the bubble
And the baby with the baboon heart

And i believe
These are the days of lasers in the jungle
Lasers in the jungle somewhere
Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of millionaires
And billionaires and baby
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry
Don't cry

(paul simon/jorge milchberg)

I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes i would.
If i could,
I surely would.

I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes i would.
If i could,
I surely would.

Chorus
Away, i'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man grows older every day
It gives the world
Its saddest sound,
Its saddest sound.

I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes i would.
If i could,
I surely would.

I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet,
Yes i would.
If i could,
I surely would.

Chorus

There may come a time
When you'll be tired
As tired as a dream that wants to die
And further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly

Maybe you will find a love
That you discover accidentally
Who falls against you gently
As a pickpocket
Brushes your thigh
Further to fly

Effortless music from the cameroons
The spinning darkness of her hair
A conversation in a crowded room going nowhere
The open palm of desire
Wants everything
It wants everything
It wants everything

Sometimes i'll be walking down
The street and i'll be thinking
Am i crazy
Or is this some morbid little lie
Further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly

A recent loss of memory
A shadow in the family
The baby waves bye-bye
I'm trying, i'm flying

There may come a time
When i will lose you
Lose you as i lose my light
Days falling backward into velvet night
The open palm of desire
Wants everything
It wants everything
It wants soil as soft as summer
And the strength to push like spring

A broken laugh a broken fever
Take it up with the great deceiver
Who looks you in the eye
And says baby don't cry
Further to fly

There may come a time
When i will lose you
Lose you as i lose my sight
Days falling backward into velvet night
The open palm of desire
The rose of jericho
Soil as soft as summer
The strength to let you go

Down among the reeds and rushes
A baby boy was found
His eyes as clear as centuries
His silky hair was brown

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time

Me and my buddies we are travelling people
We like to go down to restaurant row
Spend those euro-dollars
All the way from washington to tokyo
I see them in the airport lounge
Upon their mother's breast
They follow me with open eyes
Their uninvited guest

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time

Too many people on the bus from the airport
Too many holes in the crust of the earth
The planet groans
Every time it registers another birth

But among the reeds and rushes
A baby girl was found
Her eyes as clear as centuries
Her silky hair was brown

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time

(paul simon)

Joseph's face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the southern hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under african skies

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing 'round my nursery door
I said take this child, lord
From tucson arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won't bother you no more

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

Joseph's face was black as night
And the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the southern hemisphere
And he walked the length of his days
Under african skies

(paul simon)

Fat charlie the archangel
Sliped into the room
He said i have no opinion about this
And i have no opinion about that
Sad as a lonely little wrinkled balloon
He said well i don't claim to be happy about this, boys
And i don't seem to be happy about that

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of this crazy love

She says she knows about jokes
This time the joke is on me
Well, i have no opinion about that
And i have no opinion about me

Somebody could walk into this room
And say your life is on fire
It's all over the evening news
All about the fire in your life
On the evening news

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love

Fat charlie the archangel
Files for divorce
He says well this will eat up a year of my life
And then there's all that weight to be lost
She says the joke is on me
I say the joke is on her
I said i have no opinion about that
Well, we'll just have to wait and confer

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of this crazy love

(paul simon)

Over the mountain
Down in the valley
Lives a former talk-show host
Everybody knows his name
He says there's no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
I've seen them all and man
They're all the same

Well, the sun gets weary
And the sun goes down
Ever since the watermelon
And the lights come up
On the black pit town
Somebody says what's a better thing to do
Well, it's not just me
And it's not just you
This is all around the world

Out in the indian ocean somewhere
There's a former army post
Abandoned now just like the war
And there's no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
That's what that old army post was for

Well, the sun gets bloody
And the sun goes down
Ever since the watermelon
And the lights come up
On the black pit town
Somebody says what's a better thing to do
Well, it's not just me
And it's not just you
This is all around the world

Over the mountain
Down in the valley
Lives the former talk-show host
Far and wide his name was known
He said there's no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
That's why we must learn to live alone