***

When I was born I was running
As my feet hit the ground
Before I could talk I was humming
An old railroad sound
Things didn't get much better
When by the age of five
They found me walking into Clarksdale
Trying to keep my friends alive

No time for celebration
Now there's no known cure
Seeing I was born and raised
On the wrong killing floor
And my loved ones gathered round
To see if the experiment had worked
I was misplaced, out of time
Privileged and worse

Oh momma, please don't cry for me
Tears to the river - tears to be free

And I see twelve white horses
Yeah, walking in line
Moving east across that river bridge
On highway forty-nine
And standing in the shadows of a burned out motel
Came the commonest Mississippian waiting with his hound from hell

Oh, a shiny neon riverboat
Taking income from the poor
It's floating by the levee
In an artificial pool
There's a six-mile tailback back on junction two nine four
A stranger at the crossroad
I believe I'd seen his face before

Oh, don't cry for me
Tears fill the river - tears to be free

I'm sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down and I've really got to go now
Sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down - I've really got to go now
Yeah, really got to go now
I've got to go - I've got to move

Sad to be leaving
Sun's gone down - I've really got to go now
Sad to be leaving
The sun's gone down and I've really got to go now
Yeah, really got to go now

Hearts on fire - burning fast
Love, desire - make sweet love last
This one we'll sing now
Soon you'll finally see all this mystery
Wouldn't it be nice - wouldn't it be nice
[Walking towards paradise]
[Walking towards paradise]

On days like this, nights confirm
You know so much - so much to learn
Soon you'll finally see all this mystery
Wouldn't it be nice - wouldn't it be nice
[Walking towards paradise]
[Walking towards paradise --]

Come with me - now come with me
[Walking towards paradise]
[Walking towards paradise --]

In sleep I am drawn - I feel guilty at dawn
Come over the mountains, come over the sea
Should my darkness prevail - does your memory fail?
Oh love on the wing, carry my prayer
Cherish this moment in times of despair
Over the mountains, over the sea
Angel of love, come back home to me

Are your kisses so warm - can you carry my storm?
I look at the moon and you're gone
Love on the wing, carry my prayer
Cherish this moment in times of despair
Over the mountains, over the sea
Angel of love, please come on home to me
Come back home, come back home, come back home

Love on the wing, carry my prayer
Cherish this moment in times of despair
Over the mountains, over the sea
Angel of love, bring it back home to me
Come back home to me

I see my disgrace - can I touch you right now?
From this beautiful place
I see my disgrace - can I touch you right now?
I'm tired of watching you
Oh, I'm tired of watching you

See what I'm driving at and I'm back behind the wheel
Just a little nervous - it's something to do with the way I feel
With the way I feel, with the way I feel
Trouble understanding - nothing too out of hand
A little overloaded - some kinda storm in the heart of the man
Oh - in the heart of the man
I must have heard it somewhere
I can't quite remember

Look what I've turned into and I'm back inside the car
We travelled in luxury - a little celebration went a touch too far
Just a touch too far, just a touch too far
I must have passed it somewhere
Now I can't quite remember
But here it comes again

The mirror tries to please me - the image wouldn't stay
The stranger is too perfect to take my breath away
The future rides beside me - tomorrow in his hand
The stranger turns to greet me and take me by the hand

Look what I've turned into, and I'm back inside the car
We travelled in luxury - a little celebration went a touch too far
Just a touch too far, just a touch
It something to do with the way I feel, with the way I feel

The mirror tries to please me [etc repeated]

I was reaching for the future
Slowly floating in the blue
When I was a boy
I dreamed a dream of you

I danced upon the tree-top
I drifted with the stream
When I was a child
I held you in my dream

Once I was a soldier
In my castle strong
Oh, I stood so tall then
I could do no wrong
Innocence and slumber
When I was a boy

I was walking with a stranger
He left without a trace
When I was a boy
I slept at heaven's gate

Once I was a soldier [etc repeated]
Once I was a soldier [etc repeated]

Oh yeah, here I am
I've been here since all the time began
Oh oh, I'm here and then
Go round and round and back again

Hey hey, come look and see
My footsteps through eternity
Riding hard and strong and free
The messenger will hold the key

I saw him - I knew him - I touched him
When the world was young
I saw, I knew and I touched
When the world was young
When the world was young

High on a hill
Home of my heart, take me dancing
Round, oh, round
Carry me still
Sweet home of my heart, take me dancing
Round, oh, round

Yes, I saw him - I knew him - I touched him
When the world was young
I saw you - I knew and I touched you
When the world was young

Round, round, round and round
I saw him - I touched him - I knew him
When the world was young
I saw him and I touched him and I knew him
When the world was young

Carry me still
Home of your heart, keep me dancing
Round and round

When the world was young
When the world was young

Thirteenth day of August '54 I was five years old
Depending where you're counting from
Mama didn't tell me what was going abroad
No tales of things to come
Daddy, daddy come home in the evening with the burdens of the day
Pat Boone might come along and take Daddy's blues away
Mama might take Daddy's head into her hands
Soothe awhile, soothe awhile, touch the boy inside the man

Beneath her skirts, between the clean, white sheets
It's such a long, long way from the streets
Beneath her skirts, between the clean, white sheets
It's such a long, long way from the streets

Miss Debbie Reynolds promised someone out there always to obey
[Sugar, sugar, white, clean and neat]
And there was no one better qualified to cry awhile, cry awhile
Not quite like Mr Johnny Ray
[Sugar, sugar, white, clean and neat]
[Sugar, sugar, white, clean and neat]

Beneath her skirts [etc repeated]

Baby, don't you want me no more?
Don't you want me no more?
Oh yeah - talk to me

Down at the juke joint, back at the drive-in movie show
Moondog made one more white boy sanctify
Out on the streets, the red hot streets, old heroes fell
And I screamed my name with pride

Beneath her skirts [etc repeated]

Hey, baby - don't you want me baby?
Don't you want me no more?

Oh - the sandman is running
Oh - he ain't telling you why
But she knows, yeah she knows
Oh - the thunder is roaring
Oh - hear his wings in the sky
And he knows
She don't know, she don't know, she don't know
She don't know, she don't know, she don't know why
Oh why

Oh-oh - she wants it bad - oh-oh
Oh-oh - she wants it bad - oh-oh
When you're lost and found a brand new friend
Here comes another happy end

Mm - now the fat man is falling
Oh - see that tear in your eye
'Cause you know
You don't know, you don't know, you don't know
You don't know, you don't know, you don't know why
Oh why

Oh-oh - she wants it bad [etc repeated]

Oh - now the new day is dawning
Oh - till their pasts mystify
And you know
We don't know, we don't know, we don't know
We don't know, we don't know, we don't know why
Oh why, why, why --

So throw it down, Cleveland rain
The queen of love has flown again
To seek her daughter
Who must lie beside the thief
Whose golden tongue she will believe
Defies the order, ohhh

Ohh, that is why
Ohh, that is why

Shall we dance and never stop
Take my hand and stop the clock
From turning over
And spirit weave and spirit bend
In the move that has no end
That we must follow

Show me your eyes
Oh, light of the son
Touch me with fire
My mind is undone
All life conspire
My freedom has come
I drift through desire
My wonderful one

When you do what you do
I can never, never, never
Let you go
When you feel the way you feel
You can never, never, never
Let it show

Show me your eyes
Oh, light of the son
Touch me with fire
My mind is undone
All life conspire
My freedom has come
I drift through desire
My wonderful one

Oh, hoh-hoh, ah ah-ah,
Mmm oh oh-oh, oh ohhh ohhh hohhh

So throw it down, Cleveland rain
The queen of love has flown again
To seek her daughter
Who must lie beneath the thief
Whose golden tongue she will believe
Defies the order, oh yeah yeah yeah

That is why
That is why
That is why
Oh yeah, that is why

Operator, give me Central, Central
Help me try to get my baby on the line
Information, hear me calling, calling
Find that number, give it to me one more time
It's been so long since I saw her
Anything I'd give to hear the little girl of mine
Whatever it takes, got to make it, make it
Please connect me now before I lose my mind
Because I don't know, no I don't know what I'm gonna do
No I don't know, no I don't know what I'm gonna do

Tastes so good, sweet as honey, honey
All she carries is impossible to use
It's built for speed man, watch her coming, coming
Moves so fast in someone else's shoes
Looks so fine lord, watch them running
Anything she wants you feel obliged to do
Keep your hands in your pockets
She can shift more gold than the king of Peru
But I don't know, no I don't know what I'm gonna do
No I don't know, no I don't know what I'm gonna do

Man drinks whisky, drive him crazy in time
Woman sits and cries as day will follow day
Man need lovin', keep him happy sometime
Woman gets some when the honeydripper's on his way
But I don't know, no I don't know what I'm gonna do
But I don't know, but I don't know --
No I don't know, no I don't know, no I don't know
She can do it, she can do it, she can do it babe
She's sweet as honey, sweet as honey, sweet as honey --

Now red is urgent - green's a letter
And the score shows just another spin off
Orange jolts, and brown is old
Grey is weary - don't touch gold

In the fireworks, away from the heat
Behind closed doors, away from the street
No-one is listening, at least that's what you think
There's a slow fuse burning, much faster than you think

Like the new look, all that matters
Through the lettuce swamp - back in the shadows
Purple speaks why - yellow no
Silver is wood, and don't touch gold

Dance through the coloured razzamatazz
Spinning along - desert effect
Wreckless love is creeping on you
Now watch out, reckless
'Cause wreckless love will drive you crazy
Will wear your mind out
Creeps up on you when you don't know
It will find out
Wreckless love, wreckless love
Wreckless love, wreckless love

Race with my heart to the top of a kiss
Drive my desire but take care not to risk
Breaking my heart, for it's all that I own
All I command - in these times I'm alone

Other arms that held me so tight
Slip through my mind with you in the night
Feelin' reckless, feelin' reckless - wreckless love