Ordering Information
Click on a Song Title to Go Directly to Those Lyrics
I want to live forever, see how things turn out
travel to the moon and stars and see what they're about.
Even if they're all barren rocks, windswept and cold
I want to live forever, but I don't want to get old.
Politics and human rights, people struggling to be free
when we get to where we're going I want to be there to see.
Tear down all the walls and pave the streets with gold.
I want to live forever, but I don't want to get old.
CHORUS: Hair turns grey and flesh begins to sag
Sight begins to fade and spirits start to drag
Bones begin to break and minds start drifting away ...
I hope that you're still with me at the dawn of a brand new day.
Miracles of medicine, what will they think of next?
A cure for all diseases? Safe alternatives to sex?
Transplants and implants, I can see it all unfold
I want to live forever, but I don't want to get old.
CHORUS
It's time to place your bets, seal up your predictions
feel the thrill of the race, the race against mass extinction.
Will the climate be the same at the equator and the poles?
I want to live forever, but I don't want to get old.
© 1997. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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YOUR LOVE POURS DOWN
Walking by the river as the evening sun plays shadow games with me I am the sun, I am the moon
CHORUS
your face appears and disappears in the branches of the trees.
My prayers float upward on the breeze like runaway kites;
filling up cathedrals of silence like candles in the night.
The river of life flows on and on within me and without
we're all woven from the same loom, of that I have no doubt.
The sun comes up and the moon goes round and round
and we're all waiting here on earth for fragments of the heavenly sound.
CHORUS: Like a crust of bread to a hungry man
or a drop of water in a thirsty land;
your love pours down from a jet black sky
and sweeps away that other world -- the one that went awry.
My aching fingers pluck the strings but the sounds do not agree
and the words keep choking in my throat, they're dying to be free.
I know there's still some music left in these weary bones
even if it's just a distant wailing chorus from the saxophones.
CHORUS
Walking by the river as the evening sun plays shadow games with me
and shapes appear and disappear in the branches of the trees.
Our prayers float upward on the breeze like runaway kites;
filling cathedrals of silence like candles in the night.
© 1996. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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THE THORNS THAT GUARD THE ROSE
I am the dream that ends too soon.
I am the deer, I am the lumbering bear
I am the catch that eludes the snare.
I am the grass, I am the flower
I am a lifetime or one short hour.
I am the tree, I am the leaf
I am a place beyond belief.
CHORUS: I am the flame that keeps you warm.
I am the calm before the storm.
I am the hurricane that blows.
I am the thorns that guard the rose.
I am the light, I am the dark
I am the arrow that hits the mark.
I am the snow, I am the rain
I am the touch that heals the pain.
BRIDGE: Everywhere you look, Everything you see
However far your mind goes, you'll still be with me.
I am the moon, I am the sun
I am the shining radiant one.
I am the black sky filled with stars,
I understand just who you are.
CHORUS
© 1989. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
STANDING ON THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
I'm standing on the Great Wall of China
looking out into the blue
standing on the Great Wall of China
and all I can think of is you.
I trudged across miles of desert
searching lost cities for gold
but the fragments of truth fell apart in my hands
and the secrets would never unfold.
So I sailed beyond the horizon
chasing a sweet mystery.
Clutching the moon's reflections
and drowning in love's stormy seas.
Countless the stars that I've counted
countless the times I've been lost
countless the times I denied you
without ever counting the cost.
CHORUS:But you came along and tossed me a line
unlocked the treasures, explained the design.
You came along with a song in your heart.
The ground opened up and the sky flew apart.
The sages said love was for losers,
the sages said love was untrue,
the sages have said that love is a dream
but the sages have never kissed you.
'Cause love is the light in a dark empty world
love is the shelter I've earned
I crisscrossed the globe without you
and love was the lesson I learned.
So I'm standing on the Great Wall of China
looking out into the blue;
standing on the Great Wall of China
and I've got my arms around you.
'Cause love is the light in a dark empty world
love is the shelter I've earned
I crisscrossed the globe without you
and love was the lesson I learned.
© 1988 Jim Heald. All Rights reserved.
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DEFENDERS OF THE FOREST
Somewhere in the forest another tree comes down; He walks the black streets and he shivers in the rain;
ripped up from the soil, we pretend not to hear the sound.
The monkeys shriek in the shadows, the birds of paradise sing;
chainsaws chew through the darkness, blind to the changes they bring.
The rivers for miles and miles are clogged with trees and mud
standing here at sunset it seems like bodies washed away with blood.
The fish have fled to the spirit world, can we be far behind?
Is this the best that we can do with the powers of our mind?
CHORUS: The animals have lost their teeth and the jaguar has no claws.
The defenders of the forest, they aim their poison darts
but the trees come down.
Weaving in the moonlight to the sound of some ancient tune,
he draws his bow and sends his nightmare's demons to the moon.
But the tide just keeps on coming up the dusty, red dirt trails
and the defenders of the forest, they seem so small and frail.
CHORUS
The hunter kneels in the clearing and picks up a handful of dust;
he spits in a hand-drawn circle and curses our greed and lust.
This is not just some disturbing dream, not some parallel universe;
this is the white man's vision and progress' bloody curse.
CHORUS
© 1996. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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THE THIN LINE (for Eddie)
he must have walked a million miles just to numb the pain.
He'll ask you for a quarter or he'll bum a cigarette
and the emptiness behind his eyes is a sight you won't forget.
The screeching of the el trains is music to his ears;
he knows the tortured melodies are better than his fears.
he shuffles through his memories, all the best are bittersweet;
more painful than the struggle of living on the street.
CHORUS: He winds a rag around his neck and walks into the night;
he hears the distant flapping of his demons taking flight.
he tries hard to remember where he let go of the thread
it's a thin line that he walks between the living and the dead.
On the edges of the city where the walls are caving in,
he sits and waits for judgement, atoning for his sins.
An open fire and a slug of wine are all that keep him warm;
some cardboard and a leaky roof, his shelter from the storm.
CHORUS
In a dream I try to help him, but our fingers don't quite meet
and I can't prevent his falling and collapsing in the street.
I wake up in a cold sweat, he has vanished in the dark and
I hope for some redemption in the morning's first bright spark.
CHORUS
© 1989. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER
I don't know the answer, I don't have the cure.
I can't raise the dead, I can't feed the poor.
There's a tear in your eye, and a cry on the wind.
I don't know where we're going, I don't know where to begin.
CHORUS: And I don't know the answer
and I don't have the cure.
I see your lips in the mirror, they're looking luscious and pure.
I'm here at the crossroads, the sun's going down.
I'm crying deep in my heart, but I can't make a sound.
My knuckles are bleeding, the air's getting thin.
I see so much to lose, I don't see nothing to win.
I've been asleep for a lifetime, can't seem to open my eyes.
Listening for truth, and drowning in lies.
Outside of my window, the sky's bleeding red
and the thought of your love, just goes straight to my head.
It's coming together, then it all falls apart.
Searching and searching to cure the ache in my heart.
© 1996. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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TWO IN THE MORNING
It's two in the morning, lightning flashes outside Money, Money, Money makes the world go round, Man's born free but he's always in chains;
I can't get back to sleep again, my eyes are open way too wide
I see you here beside me in the flickering light
when we get to where we're going, how will we no we got it right?
The thunder's rattling the windows, rain is beating down so hard
the sirens they are trembling on distant police cars
I open up the window and the night rushes in
You know this life is going nowhere, babe, at least nowhere I've ever been.
CHORUS: And the mystery is all around us
sometimes we curse and try to drive it away
when we think it's gone you know we curse a little louder
as we struggle to get through the empty days.
Am I here in this body, baby, am I here in this soul?
Where did I misplace the spark, that could drive away this cold?
And I ask you these questions and watch your eyes as you sleep
You know I'd like to believe, but it's just too great a leap.
CHORUS
© 1997. Jim Heald. All rights reserved.
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MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
ablack limousine and a night on the town.
I never knew a man who thought he had enough
'cause money, money, money, money, money's magical stuff.
Paper or plastic, silver or gold,
digital signals you can't even hold...
Flashing round the globe at the speed of light;
toppling governments in the dead of night.
Money, Money, Money ...
Arm the Ayatollah, send bullets to Beirut,
we'll be selling weapons when there's no one left to shoot.
It's the world's biggest export, markets near and far;
you can make a killing whoever you are.
Money,Money, Money ...
The Reverend Jimmy Swaggart and the PTL,
they're raking in the cash on the road to hell.
30 pieces of silver and a kiss on the cheek;
this ain't a world where it pays to be meek.
Money, Money, Money ...
Soapsuds and sex and SDI,
the dollars are big, the technology's high.
We're dancing in the valley round the golden calf;
I bet you somewhere the devil's having a laugh.
Money, Money, Money ...
BRIDGE:
it's either welfare lines or capital gains.
The russle of paper or the clinking of coins.
Can't you feel the fever burning down in your loins?
You can't buy love, so the old song goes,
but there's still champagne and a blood red rose.
A little bit of money might help things along
if the feelings you start with aren't all that strong.
Money,Money, Money ...
© 1989. Jim Heald. All rights reserved.
MIGUEL'S SONG
I could dance in the meadow to the song of a lark
sweet smell of grass rising into the sky.
If I were a cool breeze, I'd chase a butterfly
but I'm burying memories and breaking my back.
The people stand silent; the ground's neatly trimmed;
handkerchiefs ready to catch a stray tear,
so I put my dark glasses on
and lower another man into the grave.
CHORUS: How do they see me, eyes filled with tears?
How can I touch them, they're so choked with fears?
What will they think of my truce with death
as I pick up a shovel and take a loved one away?
After the people go, I dream of Mexico
mangoes, manure, soil of my youth.
Pick up my old guitar, play a soft lullaby,
sweeten the burden of all the goodbyes.
If it's not what I dreamed, I'll take it my friend;
it's only a moment and then there's an end.
CHORUS (Instrumental)
Icy wind, freezing rain slitting my wrists;
the ground's like a stone but the job never quits.
Holding a child, a casket's so light
there's nowhere to hide and it doesn't seem right
so I put my dark glasses on
and lower another man into the grave.
CHORUS
CODA: And it's not what I dreamed, but I'll take it my friend.
Life's a short moment and then there's an end.
© 1988 Jim Heald. All Rights reserved.
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LONG DISTANCE (IS THE WRONG DISTANCE FOR LOVE)
The snow's piled high outside my front door;
I'm empty and tired, I can't take any more.
I want to reach out and touch you and hold you so tight;
run my fingers through your hair in the still of the night.
CHORUS: But long distance love is the game that we play;
living on dreams while we're wasting away.
I gaze into the shadows, curse the heavens up above;
'cause long distance is the wrong distance for love.
Your voice flickers and fades on the telephone line;
you say that you love me but I don't feel that your mine.
We were walking down the beach with the moonlight in your hair
I'd give everything I own if we could still be there.
CHORUS
Those hot summer nights , you were wrapped in my arms.
Now I'm burning up inside and I just can't stay warm.
I pick up the phone and dream of your smile;
dial the number and it rings for a while.
The miles and miles of telephone wire
have wrapped up our hearts and choked our desire.
The words and the years drift away in the snow
and the storms around my heart have left me nowhere to go.
CHORUS
© 1996. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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CHAINS OF LOVE
When I'm alone the sun it does not shine
When I'm alone the sun it does not shine
And when I look into the darkness where the jaguars sleep
I feel like I'm underneath the waves getting pulled down through the deep.
Another evening slips into night
it gets so dark outside and I'm just aching for the light
I dream about you, but you're just laughing on the beach
dancing through the waves you're always out of my reach
Your face is bright and clear like the morning sun
I say your face is bright and clear like the morning sun
and when you open up your eyes and look at me
they cut right through these chains of love and set me free.
I'm standing on the corner watching the cars go by
like the elephant's graveyard they've all come here to die
and the smoke and the flames are the only consolation that I've got
I hope that things are getting better, but maybe they're not.
Your face is bright and clear like the morning sun
I say your face is bright and clear like the morning sun
and when you open up your eyes and shine them at me
they cut right through these chains of love and set me free.
© 1996. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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WAITING FOR THE BOMBS TO FALL
There are things that I remember from a long, long time ago
welling up inside me I no longer care to know.
I was lying by the window listening for the planes;
darkness wrapped around me like a heavy set of chains.
I was waiting for the trumpets, listening for the call,
ready to cross the border, waiting for the bombs to fall.
Kruschev was in the papers and grinning on TV;
pounding on the table from sea to shining sea.
There was panic in the suburbs, panic on the beach,
scrambling to find shelter where the thunder wouldn't reach.
It was getting close to midnight, our backs against the wall;
we were praying for redemption, waiting for the bombs to fall.
Nothing seemed to matter much, waiting for the end;
our days an empty ritual, TV our hypnotic friend.
In a whirlpool of inflation, head over heels in debt,
we were dancing on the high wire without the luxury of a net.
Wandering lost souls in some cosmic shopping mall
reaching for our credit cards, waiting for the bombs to fall.
Bridge: When we look into the mirror do we recognize the face
beneath the lines of terror we've tried so hard to erase?
Beaten into submission, we were left in the dust to crawl
on a suicidal journey, it's a wonder we can feel at all.
Shaking off my slumber just before the break of day
these times like some bad dream just begin to drift away
And the rosy fingered dawn paints the world anew
while the certainties I've lived by all appear to be untrue.
So if the devil comes a-knocking, I will not heed the call;
cause I've spent too much time already waiting for the bombs to fall.
© 1997. Jim Heald. All Rights Reserved.
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