Spooky Lad

Once my future was shiny as the
Seat of my pants are today
Then old mother luck and all her
Daughters started duckin' me
When i finally got tired of just sittin' there
Watching my life slip away
I said i better start takin' all the living
That's a-comin' to me

Chorus:
Now i love too much, fight too much
Stay out late at night too much
But you bet your butt i'm going to
Live before i die
And i may smoke too much, drink too much
Every blessed thing too much
It's a low-down life, but it ain't gonna pass me by

I don't care if the world don't ever hear
The sound of my name
And old mother luck and all her daughters
Keep a-duckin' me
As long as that cat that i gotta look at when
I shave ain't ashamed
There ain't no jody in the world
I'd ever rather be.

Chorus:
Now i love too much, fight too much
Stay out late at night too much
But you bet your butt i'm going to
Live before i die
And i may smoke too much, drink too much
Every blessed thing too much
It's a low-down life, but it ain't gonna pass me by

Well you've started again
With the wife of a friend
On another night you hope you won't recall
And the wine that you're drinkin'
Doesn't keep you from thinkin'
Of the bitter taste that lingers in your soul
As you listen to your lies
Once again you realize
That she doesn't mean a thing to you at all
And i watch you climb that stairway
To the bottom
Every evening in that mirror on the wall

You take pride in deceiving
One who tried hard believin' in you
Even after all the lies you told
But each lie that you've spoken
And each vow that you've broken
Was a new nail in the coffin of your soul
If you think someone's cryin'
For the love that is dyin'
With the trust that you betray each time you fall
Look around you on that stairway to the bottom
No one's watchin' but that mirror on the wall

Look around you on that stairway to the bottom
No one's watchin' but that mirror on the wall

I was just a young man
Working steady in a good time band
Pickin' every single little lick i could
Just to please the man
Harlan sang the lead for half
And we split up the rest
Hangin' on through the heavy times
And hopin' for the best

And i can't recall the names of all
Them places that we played in
All them squirrely party girls
And pills we used to pop
Hardly ever sleepin' in
Those cheap motels we stayed in
Hopin' we could take it 'til we'd make it to the top

Chorus:
And them nights, get a little bit brighter
And them bars just a little bit better
And the sweet, just a little bit sweeter
But them blues, well it's still the same old song

Now we're stars and shining on
Them prime time t.v. shows
Every stranger knows our name
And every little where we go
Findin' out the bottom ain't so different
From the top
Just a few more friends that you'll be losin'
When you drop

And i've left some of my soul on
Every sweaty sheet that i could sleep on
Gettin' just as close to any body as i could
I don't regret a single bed i've laid my body down on
Ever since the first i had
The worst i had was good

Chorus:
And them nights, get a little bit brighter
And them bars just a little bit better
And the sweet, just a little bit sweeter
But them blues, well it's still the same old song

Oh, the lights of magdala flicker
Dimly on the shore
Holy sailor sailing on the sea
Patiently waiting she walked quietly
To the door
Another lonely night in galilee

Chorus:
Magdalene, don't wrap your dreams in sorrow
Save them for tomorrow if it comes
When we'll meet within the circle
Round the sun
Oh, if heaven were a lady don't you
Know you'd been the one

Through the streets of jerusalem
You followed him once more
Holy sailor's come home from the sea
Someone somewhere's calling him
To a golden distant shore
Far from the lonely nights in galilee

Chorus:
Magdalene, don't wrap your dreams in sorrow
Save them for tomorrow if it comes
When we'll meet within the circle
Round the sun
Oh, if heaven were a lady don't you
Know you'd been the one

Got a song about a soldier,
Ridin' somewhere on a train
Empty sleeve pinned to his shoulder
And some pills to ease the pain

Started drinkin' in el paso,
He was drunk in san antone,
Tellin' strangers who were sleepin'
How he hated goin' home

Just a simple song of freedom,
He was never fightin' for,
No one's listenin' when you need 'em,
Ain't no fun to sing that song no more.

Got a song about a sister,
Waitin' somewhere by the phone,
For some man who never missed her,
Ever since he come and gone

And its harder for a woman,
With a baby on the way,
That's the price of bein' human,
When you're poor enough to pay,

So she listens to the freedom,
In the silence at her door
No one's missin' till you need 'em
Ain't no fun to sing that song no more

Got a song about a savior,
Lookin' lonesome and afraid,
At a city full of strangers,
And a cross he never made

And he's sadder than he's wiser,
And a longer way from home,
And he wonders why his father,
Left him bleeding and alone.

Just a broken song of freedom,
And the closing of a door,
No one's missin' till you need 'em
Ain't no fun to sing that song no more.

Shandy was somebody's daughter
Driving to something insane
They busted her crossing the border
Quick as a sniff of cocaine
All she could pay was attention
So all they could take was her time
Proving an ounce of possession
Ain't worth a piece of your mind.

Chorus:
'cause nightmares are somebody's daydreams
Daydreams are somebody's lies.
Lies ain't no harder than telling the truth.
Truth is the perfect disguise

Locked in the goldhandle bathroom
Martin was changing his mind
Shedding his humble pretensions
One careful toke at a time
And wiping the mask off the man in the mirror
Who really was billy the kid
Smiling at somebody dying
For something that he never did

Chorus:
'cause nightmares are somebody's daydreams
Daydreams are somebody's lies.
Lies ain't no harder than telling the truth.
Truth is the perfect disguise

As soon as he sat down beside her
Shining like saturday night
Shandy was his for the saving
Sweet as she looked in the light
And maybe they moved from the bar to the bedroom
Maybe just stood there instead
Martin woke up wet and screaming
Dreaming of blood on the bed.

Chorus:
'cause nightmares are somebody's daydreams
Daydreams are somebody's lies.
Lies ain't no harder than telling the truth.
Truth is the perfect disguise