Lyrics from Jerry Giddens' little demons

 

little demons

 

Sometimes I find you on a beach

you’re not angry

or distant

and it seeps often in my memory

often on the road

when I cannot sleep

and I dream of going home

 

While it never matters if it’s late enough

I finally wake and realize

Well it’s another world out there

I find a ditch full of gold

wake all the winos

sew gold buttons on their coats

sometimes we fall and scrape our knees

sometimes we lie, you and me

sometimes the bike goes to fast

sometimes I act the ass

Whether nursery rhymes are true

whether they don’t matter to you

they’re read here every night

and sometimes things don’t work out right

and sometimes things don’t work out right

and sometimes things don’t work out

 

sometimes we fight, sometimes we laugh

sometimes we get drunk

forget about the past

sometimes we make love to every little flower

sometimes we wake in hell’s fire

sometimes it’s the smell of success

lures me back for more

and I knock on your door

sometimes we go to war

you always fight with words

you never saw the mulberry tree

there sat my little demons and me

my little demons and me

my little demons and me

my little demons and me

 

Sometimes I find a way

I don’t dream about the play

when I wrote the words

I could not write

you could not stay

Sometimes the steps are icy cold

all the pencils number two are free

I’ll take one from the teacher

for my little demons and me

my little demons and me

My little demons and me

My little demons

 

Desolate Man

 

My world use to rock like a cradle,

Like a bell’s constant toll

Weren’t you there in the chapel darlin’ when the pastor was told

Don’t you remember, he turned to the deacon and said

My world has fallen apart

I’m a desolate man

My god

I’m a desolate man

I’m a desolate man

 

How could it happen to my friend?

How could he have lost his way?

I saw him yesterday in Thompson Square Park

On his bended knees he prayed

I remember his prayers, so childlike

And to god and man he asked

Why have you forsaken me?

I’m a desolate man

I’m a desolate man

I’m a desolate man

 

Pack up all the icons,

Lock up all the doors

We’ll be in California by morning

There we can score

 

In all good faith

I waited for you

And in all good faith

I can wait no more

 

 

I knew I had lost her

I saw the burning of the wall

I know you never looked back

You never saw me fall

On my knees

Against god and all my fears

And to god and man I asked

Why have you forsaken me?

I’m a desolate man

I’m a desolate man

I’m a desolate man

 

 

The Thorn Room

 

The hot sun captures the cold wind

And in a tiny shelter we hid from the rain

And through children’s games

I saw an escape from the blame

 

It stings when you’re careless

And it covers the moon

And on nights like this

I crawl to the Thorn Room

 

A seeker prays for redemption

The preacher prays for a crowd

When the banker prays for money

The weak gather around

 

It stings if you’re careless

And it covers the moon

And on nights like this

I escape to the Thorn Room

 

From an ancient tree house I stare

Over the jungle to the city on the beach

I find a light in a distant window

And I know it’s out of my reach

 

It stings to think of you

And I search in every little room

When I find no one

I crawl back to the Thorn room

They say money talks

But it’s never spoken to me

Until you’re brown eyes turned green

And the gold covered me

 

The hot sun captures the cold wind

And in a tiny shelter we hid from the rain

And through children’s games

I saw an escape from the blame

 

It stings when you’re careless

And it covers the moon

And on nights like this

I crawl to the Thorn Room

 

Pray for Rain

 

Don’t wipe your hands of trouble sir

Last time that happened

We had a hanging here

And now with all your swagger

And your fancy cane for style

You seem equal to the challenged

But only time will tell

 

You say pray for rain

Pray for rain

Pray for rain

Pray for rain

Pray for rain

 

Was it a curse that brought that brought you here?

Or some evil from the West

We believed you when you told us

You had come from the eagle’s nest

Now, you stand on our rooftops

Paint signs on our homes

You come armed with a wishbone

And a sack full of stones

 

You say pray for rain

Pray for rain

Pray for rain

Pray for rain

Pray for rain

 

What about that wicked son?

Brought to justice for what he done

His wife stands in the window

By lightning struck dumb

Now she stares in silence

At the gallows on the hill

She wonders if that Navaho man in black

Was he from heaven or from hell?

 

She says pray for rain

pray for rain

pray for rain

pray for rain

 

 

Blue Roof

 

This house has a blue roof

stares at a blazing sun

As if on Noah’s Ark

Lost but not alone

This house has a blue roof

By mistake or design

Stands in this desert hot

shelters our love there

And in these weird times

I’ll be your lifeboat if you’ll be mine

I’ll be your compass if you’ll be mine

I’ll be your lighthouse if you’ll be mine

I was lost now I’m found

 

This house has a new roof

Fights against the sun

On higher ground again

Lost, but not alone

This house has a new roof

By mistake or design

Stands in this forest deep

shelters our love there

And in these strange times

I’ll be your lifeboat if you’ll be mine

I’ll be your compass if you’ll be mine

I’ll be your lighthouse if you’ll be mine

I was lost now I’m found

 

 

Cloak Them in Love

 

We can uniform the masses

Stand us all in a line

Give us what we need

Not what we want

 

A city in a city

All hidden in a schoolyard bag

And yesterday at one o’clock

The freedom bell cracked

 

We hold them in our arms,

Like we hold the wings of a dove

And where colors, codes, or commandments

We must cloak them in love

We must cloak them in love

 

If Jesus could comment

On this simple twist in time

Would salvation hold a different light?

Would he spill his blood now?

 

A city on a hill

All hidden in a zealot’s bag

And yesterday at one o’clock

The freedom bell cracked

 

We hold them in our arms,

Like we hold the wings of a dove

And where colors, codes, or commandments

We must cloak them in love

We must cloak them in love

 

The politics of surrender

The bitter wine of a bad host

And yesterday’s imaginings

Are gathering in the dust

 

A city in a city

All hidden in a schoolyard bag

And yesterday at one o’clock

The freedom bell cracked the freedom bell cracked

 

We hold them in our arms,

Like we hold the wings of a dove

And where colors, codes, or commandments

We must cloak them in love

We must cloak them in love

 

Savannah’s New Bed

 

I named it injury

An imperfect memory at best

Set out to find justice and the meaning left for the rest

 

And I never heard her reasons

Probably won’t until I’m dead

And I’ll sleep somewhere tonight

Not in Savannah’s new bed

 

She called me a fool and I guess she’s probably right

But god it’s hard to swallow

That’s why she wins when we fight

 

And I never heard her reasons

They’re alone inside her head

And they sleep in silence tonight

In Savannah’s new bed

 

I made a vow

I won’t sleep in Savannah’s new bed

And I’ll dream about new lovers instead

When the floor creeps on me

I’ll fall down and sleep

And dream

I’m in Savannah’s new bed

 

“You got to find the magic”

Repeated over in my mind

And when dreams fail to wake her

I know its her dreams not mine

And when the ranger stops the poacher and the police stop her car

There’ll be contraband in the dashboard

And a receipt

Where she bought her new bed

Savannah’s new bed

 

 

 

 

 

There Are No Angels Here

 

It’s the devil’s business brought you here

and evil walks on silent stairs

When I climb those steps at home

You’re waiting for me there

And I’ll scream

No one else will hear

My prayers go unanswered still

This is the devil’s mess

There are no angels here.

There are no angels here

 

Why did I listen to those lies again?

I should have stood and left the room

Why didn’t you come along

When yesterday I shot the moon

I’ll scream

No one else will hear

My prayers go unanswered still

This is the devil’s mess

There are no angels here

 

 

Wasted

 

I walk redemption’s tightrope high above the ground

Though I never thought of falling the fall crosses my mind now

It‘s hard to keep your balance so high above the ground

On a tiny sliver of truth on the smile of a circus clown

But if I lose my balance tumble from these heights

The crowd will not notice there’s a circus all around

 

Wasted

As if it mattered to you

Wasted

I asked the Blue Man was he wasted too

When I call I’m wasted

When I cry the same

Wasted is easier than to lose with you again

 

Half on a mission for god half for a wicked man

I roll past the battlements where Geronimo made his stand

I pray his wisdom on this hallowed ground

I find a little solace in the spirit of that man

 

But if I lose my faith, decide I cannot play

My family will not notice they’ll say I drank it away

 

Wasted

As if it mattered to you

Wasted

I asked the Blue Man is he wasted too

When I call I’m wasted

When I cry the same

Wasted is easier than to lose with you again

 

To ride redemption’s highway you must pay the toll

I got no money, but I promise you I’ll ride that road

As the river passes underneath the tracks

I’ll see in my mind’s eye the way back

Like a lost ship at sea the waters will cover me

I travel alone, most always alone

And you are always near whether in corazone or song

And for the sake of the boys I’ll take St. Jude along

 

Wasted

As if it mattered to you

Wasted

I asked the Blue Man was he wasted too

When I call I’m wasted

When I cry the same

Wasted is easier than to lose with you again

 

 

For Doug Hopkins