1200 Curfews

Early one morning the sun was shining
I was laying in bed
Wondering if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like mama's homemade dress
Papa's bank book wasn't big enough
Me i'm standing on the side of the road
Rain falling on my shoes
I'm heading out to the east coast
Lord knows i've paid some dues
Getting through
Tangled up in blue

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam i guess
But i used a little too much force
And we drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out west
We split up on a sad dark night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around and looked at me
As i was walking away
Then i heard her say over my shoulder
We'll meet again someday
On the avenue
Tangled up in blue

I was living in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
I never did like it all that much
And one day the axe just fell
So i drifted down to new orleans
Where i happened to be employed
Yeah i was working for a while on a fishing boat
Right outside of de la croix
And all the while i was alone
The past was close behind
I'd seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind
And i just grew
Tangled up in blue

She was working at a topless bar
And i stopped in for a beer
I just kept looking at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
Now later on as the crowd thinned out
And i was just about to do the same
Yeah but she was standing there at the back of my chair
She said don't i know your name
Well i muttered something underneath my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit i felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces
Of my shoes
We were tangled up in blue
I know i know i know

She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
I thought you'd never say hello she said
You look like the silent type
And then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an italian poet
From the 13th century
Every one of his words rang true
And glowed like burning coal
Pouring off every page
Like it was written in my soul
From me to you
Tangled up in blue
Yeah yeah

I lived with them on montague street
In a basement down the stairs yeah
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air
That's when he started into dealing with slaves yeah
Something inside of her died just died
And she had to sell everything she owned
And she froze up inside
Finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing i knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on
Like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue
Oh yeah

Now i'm headed back again
I gotta get to her somehow
And all the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives
I don't know how they all got started
I don't know what they're doing with their lives
But me i'm still on the road
Headed for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point
Of view
Tangled up in blue
I know i know i know
Yeah yeah oh yeah

(handed down and made by hand)

Each time you'd pull down the driveway
I wasn't sure when i would see you again
Yours was a twisted blind sided highway
No matter which road you took then
Oh you set up your place in my thoughts
Moved in and made my thinking crowded
Now we're out in the back with the barking dogs
My heart the red sun
Your heart the moon clouded
I could go crazy on a night like tonight
When summer's beginning to give up her fight
And every thought's a possibility
And the voices are heard but nothing is seen
Why do you spend this time with me
Maybe an equal mystery

So what is love then is it dictated or chosen
(handed down and made by hand)
Does it sing like the hymns of 1000 years
Or is it just pop emotion
(handed down and made by hand)
And if it ever was there and it left
Does it mean it was never true
And to exist it must elude
Is that why i think these things of you
I could go crazy on a night like tonight
When summer's beginning to give up her fight
And every thought's a possibility
And the voices are heard but nothing is seen
Why do you spend this time with me
May be an equal mystery

But you like the taste of danger
It shines like sugar on your lips
And you like to stand in the line of fire
Just to show you can shoot straight from you hip
There must be a 1000 things you would die for
I can hardly think of two
But not everything is better spoken aloud
Not when i'm talking to you

Oh the pirate gets the ship and the girl tonight
Breaks a bottle to christen her
Basking in the exploits of her thief
She's a very good listener
Maybe that's all that we need
Is to meet in the middle of impossibility
We're standing at opposite poles
Equal partners in a mystery
(handed down and made by hand)

We're standing at opposite poles
Equal partners in a mystery

You can go to the east to find your
Your inner hemisphere
You say we're under the same sky babe
Your bound to realize honey it's not that clear
I'm not your promised land oh no
I'm not your promised one
I'm not the land of canaan sweetheart
Waiting for you under the sun

I'm lonely tonight
I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love
And you're giving it out
I'm lonely tonight
I'm lonely tonight
I'm lonely tonight

Well, the meanings changed
For what it's worth
It's just a senseless game
Well i should think of love
But it's fear every time i hear
Honey your heartbeat strain
It's not the fallen man
It's not the call of time
It's just the london skyline sweetheart
Telling me you're not mine

I'm lonely tonight
I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love
And you're giving it out
I'm lonely tonight
I'm lonely tonight
I'm lonely tonight

My blood is running dry
My skin is, my skin is growing thin
For every time you find yourself
You loose a little bit of me honey from within
It's just a raging cycle
Why can't we bring it all to the end of the line
From inside this existence, sweetheart
Time is not on my side

I'm lonely tonight
I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love
And you're giving it out
I'm lonely tonight
I'm lonely tonight
I'm lonely tonight

I'm not your promised land
(i'm lonely tonight)
I'm not your promised one
(honey i'm trying to tell you that i'm lonely tonight)
I'm not your promised land
I'm not your promised one
I'm not the land of canaan
(i'm lonely tonight)
I'm not your land of canaan
(i'm lonely tonight)
I'm not the land of canaan sweetheart
Waiting for you under the sun
I'm lonely tonight

You said the world was magic
I was wide-eyed and laughing
We were dancing up to the bright side
Forget about your ego
Forget about your pride
And you will never have to compromise
And you were only joking
You were only joking brother

We talked about our mothers
Kissed the wounds of our fathers
I could have been your sister
I would have been your brother
You kissed me like i was a soldier
Headed for a war
I dying man but i don't know what for
And you were only joking
You were only joking brother
You were only joking
(wide-eyed and laughing)
You were only joking brother
(dancing up to the bright side)

Gravel and glass on the bottom of my feet
I bruised my heels on the swollen street
We were girls in bars
Boys on the town
Bumping like a pinball off a careless crowd
You said good friends are hard to come by
I laughed and bought you a beer
It's too corny to cry
Well sentiment given
Oh sentiment lost
You shake it off with a smirk and a toss
And you were only joking
You were only joking brother
You were only joking
Were only joking brother
And you were only joking
(gravel and glass on the bottom of my feet)
You were only joking brother
(i bruised my heels on the swollen street)
You kissed me like a soldier heading for a war
(joking)
I'm a dying man
(you were only joking)
And you were only joking
(don't know what for)
(dying man)
You were only joking brother
(don't know what for)
And you were only
And you were only
And you were only joking
Brother

One two three four
Ah yeah
Sha la
Sha la
Sha la
Sha la
Sha la
(wide eyed and laughing)
Sha la
(dancing up to the bright side)
Sha la
(wide eyed and laughing)
Sha la
(dancing up to the bright side)

Leaving ain't fair you know
Parting ain't just
People got to move on
People got to do what they must
And we're back together again
And i'm never gonna lose you as a friend

Growing up free
Growing up wild
If you want to know the secret behind the smile
You got to ask a tuesday's child
And we're back together again
And i'm never gonna lose you as a friend

Well i guess that highway got a hold of me
Thinking crazy thoughts like it was going to set me free

This ain't my place you know
This ain't my home
And i'm not going to feel right
Til you get us back behind the microphones
And we're back together again
And i'm never gonna lose you as a friend
No i'm never gonna lose you as a friend
No i'm never gonna lose you as a friend

There's a letter on the desktop
That i dug out of a drawer
The last truce we ever came to
In our adolescent war
And i start to feel the fever
From the warm air through the screen
You come regular like seasons
Shadowing my dreams

And the mississippi's mighty
But it starts in minnesota
At a place that you could walk across
With five steps down
And i guess that's how you started
Like a pinprick to my heart
But at this point you rush right through me
And i start to drown

And there's not enough room
In this world for my pain
Signals cross and love gets lost
And time passed makes it plain
Of all my demon spirits
I need you the most
I'm in love with your ghost
I'm in love with your ghost

Dark and dangerous like a secret
That gets whispered in a hush
(don't tell a soul)
When i wake the things i dreamt about you
Last night make me blush
(don't tell a soul)
And you kiss me like a lover
Then you sting me like a viper
I go follow to the river
Play your memory like a piper

And i feel it like a sickness
How this love is killing me
I'd walk into the fingers
Of your fire willingly
And dance the edge of sanity
I've never been this close
I'm in love with your ghost

Unknowing captor
You never know how much you
Pierce my spirit
But i can't touch you
Can you hear it
A cry to be free
Oh i'm forever under lock and key
As you pass through me

Now i see your face before me
I would launch a thousand ships
To bring your heart back to my island
As the sand beneath me slips
As i burn up in your presence
And i know now how it feels
To be weakened like achilles
With you always at my heels

This bitter pill i swallow
Is the silence that i keep
It poisons me i can't swim free
The river is too deep
Though i'm baptized by your touch
I am no worse than most
In love with your ghost

You are shadowing my dreams
(in love with your ghost)
(in love with your ghost)
(in love with your ghost)

I come to you with strange fire
I make an offering of love
The incense of my soul is burned
By the fire in my blood
I come with a softer answer
To the questions that lie in your path
I want to harbor you from the anger
Find a refuge from the wrath

This is a message
A message of love
Love that moves from the inside out
Love that never grows tired
I come to you with strange fire
Fire

Mercenaries of the shrine
Now who are you to speak for god
With haughty eyes and lying tongues
And hands that shed innocent blood
Now who delivered you the power
To interpret calvary
You gamble away our freedom
To gain your own authority

Find another state of mind
You know it's time we all learned
To grab hold
Strange fire burns
With the motion of love


Fire
Fire

When you learn to love yourself
You will dissolve all the stones that are cast
Now you will learn to burn the icing sky
To melt the waxen mask
I said to have the gift of true release
This is a peace that will take you higher
Oh i come to you with my offering
I bring you strange fire

This is a message
A message of love
Love that moves from the inside out
Love that never grows tired
I come to you with strange fire
Fire
Fire
I come to you with strange fire

I sit two stories above the street
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school

Some long ago when we were taught
That for whatever kind of puzzle you got
You just stick the right formula in
A solution for every fool

I remember the time when i came so close to you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And i bought you that ring cause i never was cool
What makes me think i could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated

So i just sit up in the house and resist
And not be seen until i cease to exist
A kind of conscientious objection
A kind of dodging the draft

The boy and girl are holding hands on the street
And i don't want to but i think you just wait
It's more than just eye to eye
Learn the things i could never apply

I remember the time when i came so close with you
I let everything go it seemed the only truth
And i bought you that ring, it seemed the thing to do

What makes me think i could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think i could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated

I'm just a mirror of a mirror myself
All the things that i do
And the next time i fall i'm gonna have to recall
It's isn't love it's only something new

I sit two stories above the street
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school

I'm remember the time when i came so close with you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And i bought you that ring cause i never was cool

What makes me think i could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think i could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
The least complicated
The least complicated

During the time of which i speak
It was hard to turn the other cheek
To the blows of insecurity
Feeding the cancer of my intellect
The blood of love soon neglected
Lay dying in the strength of its impurity
Meanwhile our friends we thought were so together
They've all gone and left each other
In search of fairer weather
And we sit here in our storm and drink a toast
To the slim chance of love's recovery

There i am in younger days, star gazing
Painting picture perfect maps
Of how my life and love would be
Not counting the unmarked paths of misdirection
My compass, faith in love's perfection
I missed ten million miles of road i should have seen
Meanwhile our friends we thought were so together
Left each other one by one on the road to fairer weather
And we sit here in our storm and drink a toast
To the slim chance of love's recovery

Rain soaked and voice choked
Like silent screaming in a dream
I search for our absolute distinction
Not content to bow and bend
To the whims of culture that swoop like vultures
Eating us away, eating us away
Eating us away to our extinction

Oh how i wish i were a trinity
So if i lost a part of me
I'd still have two of the same to live
But nobody gets a lifetime rehearsal
As specks of dust we're universal
To let this love survive
Would be the greatest gift that we could give
Tell all the friends who think they're so together
That these are ghosts and mirages
All these thoughts of fairer weather
Though it's storming out i feel safe within the arms
Of love's discovery

Well you followed me this far
Did you find out what's inside
Can you tell me what i'm doing
Is it something i should hide
I don't know for sure
I don't wanna find out what i left there for

I'm not scared and i'm not lonely
Saving all my money or my breath
I'm not looking for an answer
Or anyone to second guess no

You told me all your secrets
And i filled you up with lies
Now i'm living honestly
Because i said goodbye
I can't go home anymore
I don't wanna find out what i left there for

I'm not scared and i'm not lonely
Saving all my money or my breath
I'm not looking for an answer
I'm not asking anyone to second guess

I was losing all my senses
I was losing all control
It was getting so offensive
Now you want me back for more
And i just won't go

If you think you know the answers
You've got a lot of gall
Cause it gives you satisfaction
Knowing nothing at all
I don't care anymore
And i don't wanna find out what i left there for
What i left there for

I'm not scared and i'm not lonely
Saving all my money or my breath
I'm not looking for an answer
I'm not asking anyone to take a second guess no

I'm not scared and i'm not lonely
Saving all my money or my breath yeah
I'm not looking for an answer
I'm not asking anyone to take a second guess no
Take a second guess yeah
Take a second guess yeah
(hey)
Take a second guess yeah
(hey)
Take a second guess yeah
Take a second guess
(i can't talk to you)
Take a second guess
(yeah, yeah i know)
Take a second guess
(well i gotta go okay)
Take a second guess
Take a second guess
(over one billion served)
Take a second guess
Oh yeah

I don't know if it was real or in a dream
Lately waking up i'm not sure where i've been
There was a table set for six and five were there
I stood outside and kept my eyes upon that empty chair
And there was steam on the windows from the kitchen
Laughter like a language i once spoke with ease
But i'm made mute by the virtue of decision
And i choose most of your life goes on without me
Oh the fear i've known
That i might reap the praise of strangers
And end up on my own
All i've sown was a song but maybe i was wrong

I said to you the one gift which i'd adore
The package of the next 10 years unfolding
But you told me if i had my way i'd be bored
Right then i knew i loved you best born of your scolding
When we last talked we were lying on our backs
Looking at the sky through the ceiling
I used to lie like that alone out on the driveway
Trying to read the greek upon the stars
The alphabet of feeling
Oh i knew back then
It was a calling that said if joy then pain
The sound of the voice these years later
Is still the same

I am alone in a hotel room tonight
I squeeze the sky out but there's not a star appears
Begin my studies with this paper and this pencil
And i'm working through the grammar of my fears
Oh mercy what i won't give
To have the things that mean the most
Not to mean the things i miss
Unforgiving the choice still is
The language or the kiss

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
And the best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It's only life after all
Yeah

Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till i sank it
I'm crawling on your shores

I went to the doctor, i went to the mountains
I looked to the children, i drank from the fountains
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
And the less i seek my source for some definitive
(the less i seek my source)
The closer i am to fine
The closer i am to fine

And i went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a b-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
Got my paper and i was free

I went to the doctor, i went to the mountains
I looked to the children, i drank from the fountains
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
The less i seek my source for some definitive
(the less i seek my source)
The closer i am to fine
The closer i am to fine

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
And i woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as i'd been the night before
And i went in seeking clarity.

I went to the doctor, i went to the mountains
I looked to the children, i drank from the fountains
Yeah we go to the doctor, we go to the mountains
We look to the children, we drink from the fountains
Yeah we go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
The less i seek my source for some definitive
(the less i seek my source)
The closer i am to fine
The closer i am to fine
The closer i am to fine

Now the parking lot is empty
Everyone's gone someplace
I pick you up and in the trunk i've packed
A cooler and a 2-day suitcase
Cause there's a place we like to drive
Way out in the country
Five miles out of the city limit we're singing
And your hand's upon my knee

So we're okay
We're fine
Baby i'm here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
We'll look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two

You know the things that i am afraid of
I'm not afraid to tell
And if we ever leave a legacy
It's that we loved each other well
Cause i've seen the shadows of so many people
Trying on the treasures of youth
But a road that fancy and fast
Ends in a fatal crash
And i'm glad we got off
To tell you the truth

Cause we're okay
We're fine
Baby i'm here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
We'll look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two

All the shiny little trinkets of temptation
(make new friends)
Something new instead of something old
(but keep the old)
All you gotta do is scratch beneath the surface
(but remember what is gold)
And it's fools gold
(what is gold)
Fools gold
(what is gold)
Fools gold

Now we're talking about a difficult thing
And your eyes are getting wet
I took us for better and i took us for worse
Don't you ever forget it
Now the steel bars between me and a promise
Suddenly bend with ease
The closer i'm bound in love to you
The closer i am to free

So we're okay
We're fine
Baby i'm here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
We'll look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two

L.a. proved too much for the man
(too much for the man)
(he couldn't make it)
So he's leaving the life he's come to know
(he said he's going)
He said he's going back to find
(going back to find)
What's left of his world
The world he left behind
Not so very long ago
Oh yeah

He's leaving
(leaving)
On that midnight train to georgia
(leaving on a midnight train)
Oh yeah
Oh ya'll
Said he's going back to find
(he's going back to find)
A simpler place and time
(and when he takes that ride)
Yes he is
(guess who's gonna be right by his side)
I'll be with him
(i know you will)
On that midnight train to georgia
(leaving on a midnight train to georgia)
(whoo whoo)
I'd rather live in his world
(live in his world)
Than live without him in mine
(world, world)
(it's his, his and hers alone)

He kept dreaming
(dreaming)
That one day he'd be a star
(a superstar but he didn't get far)
But he sure found out the hard way
That dreams don't always come true
(dreams don't always come true)
Oh no
(uh uh no uh uh)
So he sold all his hopes
And he even sold his own car
And bought a one way ticket back
To the life that he once knew
Oh yes he did
He said he would

I know he's leaving
(leaving)
On that midnight train to georgia
(leaving on a midnight train)
Oh yeah
Oh ya'll
Said he's going back to find
(he's going back to find)
A simpler place and time
(and when he takes that ride)
Yes he is
(guess who's gonna be right by his side)
I've got to be with him
(i know you will)
On that midnight train to georgia
(leaving on the midnight train to georgia)
(whoo whoo)
I'd rather live in his world
(live in his world)
Than live without him in mine
(world, world)
(it's his, his and hers alone)

He's leaving
(he's leaving)
On a midnight train to georgia
(leaving on a midnight train)
Oh yeah
He said he's going back to find
(he's going back to find)
A simpler place and time
(and when he takes that ride)
(guess who's gonna be right by his side)
I've got to be with him
(i know you will)
On that midnight train to georgia
(leaving on a midnight train to georgia)
(whoo whoo)
I'd rather live in his world
(live in his world)
Than live without him in mine

(world, world)
(is his, his and hers alone)
(world is his)
(his and hers alone)
(all aboard)
(one world)
(her man, his girl)
I've got to go
(all aboard)
Ive got to go
(one world)
I've got to go
(her man, his girl)
I've got to go
(all aboard)
I've got to go
(one world)
I've got to go right now
(her man, his girl)
(all aboard)
(one world)
(her man, his girl)
(all aboard)
(one world)
(her man, his girl)