BANNER BOOGIE

It’s so fuckin hot, man / everything seems to melt

Pants stick at your hips / ya can hock yer suspenders, hock yer belt

The whole world is steamin / soakin with sweat

You’re hard on movin / ain’t nuthin goin down in yer bed

Lately people got accustomed to some weird, stupid, sickenin manners

The pride of the common man / is floatin across the land again

While somebody’s doin big business with banners

Here comes the common man / bottle in hand

Right now at that moment he feels / the community of the land

There’s some foreign lookin cat / Buddy beats the shit outta him

Cat don’t work, don’t speak the tongue / don’t even know the hymn!

Lately people got accustomed...

Buddy got no job, no bread / but he sure gets his kicks

Out of the country / in the summer of 2006

Cheer & shout & shout & cheer / colour yer face

Shout & bob until ye drop / all over the market-place!

Lately people got accustomed...

Go make big steps, Buddy / but watch out ya don’t step outta line!

Listen to the authorities / everything’s gonna work out fine

Watch yer programs; read yer papers / for once you’ll get what ya choose

Go decorate the Ark with banners / fill her up with booze!

Lately people got accustomed...

Everybody’s prancin round in cadence / billion dollar bash

Yeah, just like each & every country’s proud / of its very own pile of trash

Country’s finally movin / away from the past

Been a long time a-comin / togetherness at last!

Lately people got accustomed...

© 2006

   CONVERT MAN

I’ll hold love in my arms

Help myself with all her charms

From her fountain I will drink

Fill my cup up to the brink

Love will step out of the shade

With all the promises she made

And I’ll take her by the word

With everything I wrote & heard

She will be my only friend

My companion till the end

And – accordin to the plan –

I will be a convert man

I been wonderin for so long

Put my yearnin into song

Love has fed me with her schemes

I turned ‘em into dulcet dreams

Dreams of wondrous reveries

With fairies floatin through the trees

When I woke up they were gone

So I just wrote another song

Love will look into my eyes

Checkin if I’m worth the prize

A disciple of a religious past

Makes for no convert man at last

Some day she’ll sing the last refrain

To calm me down & to explain

All that I don’t understand

That makes up for a convert man

© 2009

   ECONOMY BLUES

Lemme tell it straight, though it’s hard to do

Don’t mean to wail or complain unto you

Got plenty o’ time ‘cause of economy

I lost my job 2009, Germany

They cut ‘n’ cut till there’s nothing left

Why, pay anyway is actually theft

Looked around for help, but it did never show

Could as well have asked the UNO

A coupla weeks bein outta work

I hit the bottle & I went berserk

Then by ‘n’ by I ceased to care

Until they cut my welfare

Cause I refused to work on half-pay

So I drink & watch future fade away

Fall 2009, Germany

Got a mountain o’ debts & a family

© 2009

 EQUATIONS

As long as there’s estate I’m gonna ramble

As long as luck’s corrupt I’ll remain blue

As long as there is fate I’m gonna gamble

As long as the blues is played I’ll be with you

As long as there is sorrow I’ll keep jokin

As long as there is grace I’ll bid adieu

As long as there’s redemption I’ll keep chokin

As long as the blues is played I’ll be with you

As long as time is money I will tarry

As long as there are numbers I’ll look through

As long as there’s equations I will worry

As long as the blues is played I’ll be with you

© 2007

FUNNY WAR

From the General’s hill the terrain looks good

With ‘em fighters set up like they should

A stiff breeze blows from over the shore –

The perfect scenery for a funny war

A band is circling ‘round tricky bars

There’s bells & rattles; muted guitars

Soon interfered by kettledrums

Trumpets & fanfares ringing along

Both fighters look pretty dolled up

With slaty eyes; cheeks like paper cups

Pent-up lips between sneer & kiss

Brows saying “How did it come to this?”

There’s showcase smiles here & there

Dangling arms to put nowhere

A fiery glance from memories

Before lineaments begin to freeze

A clench o’ fists; one pointed remark

Everything’s ready for the spark

Prepared for ages for the fight

To gather fruits before the night

One last pause of blood & will

They look up to the General’s hill –

That’s where I stand; what I’m here for:

The chronicler of a funny war

© 2008

MEAN OLD SLOOP

I cast off from the quay

Right before the break o’ day

With the last beams of the moonlight on the water

There’s a disarming wind

Blowing up around the bend

Round here they call him “Aurora’s daughter”

My mean old sloop’s got but one mast

But this tattered sail blows like a captured flag

And with easy thoughts

Along with low draught

It should be no big deal to hit the track

I didn’t take the time

To pack them clothes o’ mine

Anyway they never made no riches for no tailor

I glance back on the town

Where I’s bound to settle down

As if there was a firm ground for a sailor

Though still cold above the waterline I open my shirt

To the wind, as if I was a sail

Say hello to the tide

And wave to my bride

Who’s left behind with memories as a bail

True, the love that she gave

Was unselfish & brave

Yes, there were hours when I thought of staying

Now that the coastline disappears

I’ll go shed my tears

Let ‘em drop into the waters swaying

Beyond the horizon there’s a timid glow

Sparkling eyes of obsidian

Should I question my sight

When it’s only the light

Of the recurrent trial of the rising sun?

© 2009

 THE PLAYERS

The circus ring’s deserted ‘cept for a dried up rose bouquet

The corpses have been counted & removed in a low-key way

And so we sit here stranded, make-up running to our feet

We took all we’d gather…but it wasn’t what we need

And we still look for answers on questions we don’t ask

The clocks have stopped yet time is running for the players...fast

The dressing-rooms are jammed with washed-up queens & kings

A-making last adjustments & reciting well learned things

Ah, loving you seemed so easy! Yet I was acts away from that

It’s tapping something I never really had

And we still look for answers on questions we don’t ask

The clocks have stopped yet time is running for the players...fast

Romeo died for Juliet; poor Julie she died in vain

Here’s looking for a single tear inside a sea of pain

And so we sit here stranded after all is said & done

Both still brooding on which part we’re on

And we still look for answers on questions we don’t ask

The clocks have stopped yet time is running for the players...fast

Yes, rehearsals went down smoothly…until Showtime came

It’s been a hapless casting; someone just dropped a name

We are lying in the gutter – ah, but we look up to the stars!

 Deforming wounds might well turn into pretty scars

And we still look for answers on questions we don’t ask

The clocks have stopped yet time is running for the players...fast

 © 2012

   SEA OF PAIN

Well, I been to your valleys; I been on your hills

I slept in your alleys & I slaved in your mills

I followed your preachers; I fought in your wars

I worshiped your teachers & I married your whores

I rambled through landscapes of fortune & fame:

Just different waters in the sea of pain

Well, I conquered your mountains; I carried your loads

I drowned in your fountains & I starved on your roads

I sold your illusions; I scratched off the rust

I praised your solutions & I resigned to your lust

I know all your heroes by deed & by name:

Just different ship-wreckers in the sea of pain

The castles are broken; the bridges are burned

The treason’s a token; yet he first must be earned

Now Eden’s deserted; the King killed the Queen

Before he converted to a eunuch serene

Come, dry your tears, darling – they’re flowing in vain!

No one will see them in the sea of pain

© 1996

 THE STONY HEART

The redness in yer face is made of

The juice of strawberries

The furrows of yer smile have an inlay

Of autumn leaves of hazel-trees

Yes, and out of the blue water-lily

Yer eyesight once got made

Yer teeth are dyed with the white from jasmine

Yer smile to illuminate

Lotus flowers & jade were the basics

Of the moulding of yer face

Out of blooming buds yer lips are

Perfectly carved into place

Ebony was used for yer cheek-bones

Mixed with marble lines

Yer hair was spun by bewitched silkworms

Like silver dew it shines

Yer breasts are descendants of the Golden Apples

Yer womb is half a peach

They took a cherry for yer navel

For yer buttocks a moonlit beach

Yer limbs are garlands of apple blossoms

Softly covering yer bones –

Ah, pray tell: why has he who made you

Made yer heart of stone?

> based on a popular verse from India; time & author unknown <

© 2013

WAIT FOR ME

I can see that you’re lonely / You can’t hide it from me

I know all about it / It’s the same with me

You’ve reached all ‘em places / Where you don’t wanna be

Now you’re off to some other...Wait for me

Wait for me – Wait for me

I’ll wait for thee

Darlin’ wait for me

We can meet near the river / Where the morning dew shines

Way down from the city / Where the road unwinds

We can rest for a moment / Look at each other free

If you’ll be the first to walk on...Wait for me

Wait for me – Wait for me

I’ll wait for thee

Darlin’ wait for me

All that seemed so important / We will leave it behind

Meet me down by the river / Where the road unwinds

And if I’m gonna stumble / Darlin’ you wait for me

Just like I’ll always...Wait for thee

Wait for me – Wait for me

I’ll wait for thee

Darlin’ wait for me

© 1995

WINTRY HEART

Here comes the morning all dressed in white

Mist from the river; snow from the height

Days getting colder, restless & short

People are praying to their respective Lord

The sad & the burdened; the thoughtless stalwart –

All will find comfort but my wintry heart

Things have been broken; I could hear ‘em break

Feels like I’m spending my life holding wake

Yes, you can bring back things at a cost

But you can’t bring back all that is lost

Looks like them memories are the only reward

The sole evasion of a wintry heart

Each given morning is drowning in night

They say it’s the effects of the subdued light

So we go lighten them Christmas trees

Dress ‘em up with prayers & memories

Soon all them fir trees will fall apart

Garbage collection will pick up everything

But my wintry heart

© 2008

I AM AS I AM (SO WILL I BE)

Ya know I am, Mister, as I am / I am not you & I am not them

But who I truly am no one knows but me

I am as I am…and so will I be

Whether I’m free, whether I’m a slave / Evil or good, a coward or brave

May all them people judge me diversely

I am as I am…definitely

Though I might live indifferently / I mean no thing but honesty

Yet look upon my judge with an indulgent eye

I am as I am…and so will I die

Try to refrain from joy & woe / I won’t rejoice or complain to you

I use the mean in a world of hypocrisy

I am as I am…eventually

May people judge me from their height / Entangle me in advice & fight

Yet for all that, ya see, there’s little they know

I am as I am…wherever I go

Now, since them judges once will die / I don’t mind, Mister, if they try

Look at it generously like sport & play

I am as I am…whatever they say

Who judges well may get reward / The others may have a second start

Whatever their judgment be, be it right or wrong

I am as I am…when the day is done

Why is what is I leave to you / Judge as ya list, be it false or true

Look beyond yer own nose & ya may even see

That I am as I am…and so will I be

> adapted from Sir Thomas Wyatt, 1503-1542 <

© 2012

ALONE (IN BAD COMPANY)

People say I’m a failure –

Well, I never asked for much

There’s always room for a sluggard

At least more than for some top-notch

Concernin my social behaviour…

Well, it ain’t in my line, I agree

Yeah, got some hard kinda livin

Alone (in bad company)

Lately I read about marriage

Along with a happy divorce:

Finally there’s true sharing

One the saddle – the other the horse

Now, I don’t really mean to bug ya

Or to teach ya seriously

You wouldn’t take it from someone

Alone (in bad company)

People say that I’m funny –

Boy, you should see me smile!

Now, that’s my way of relaxin:

It’s all just a matter of style

I wish that I could assure ya

There’s more to it, eventually

I would, yeah, if it wasn’t for bein

Alone (in bad company)

© 2003

(BRING IT) HOME TONIGHT

                                               It’s almost nine, Friday night

Boy, my guts set up for a bumpy ride

So I pour drink after drink

In hopes that I bring

It all home tonight

Have I tuned my guitars right?

How I wish I could go & play at sight!

Guess I forgot most everything

Still hopin to bring

It all home tonight

Countless faces in the rear

Miles away, yet all too near

To be at ease

Suddenly it all goes wrong

Say, what was starting song?

Oh, come grant me one more minute, will ya please!

See, my hands are hard & cold –

Hard to deny that I’m growin old…

It’s one hell of a fight

To bring it all home night after night

Seems there ain’t no place to hide

Ya can hardly cut through the smoky light

Please, won’t ya spare me one more drink

One last for to bring

It all home tonight

© 2013