Jerry Giddens
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