1. |
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The Thorns that Guard the Rose
I am the sun, I am the moon
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.
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.
CHORUS
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
Sept-Oct. 1988. Near Vail, Colorado, 1989, Austin.
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2. |
Ginger and Fred
02:31
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Ginger and Fred
Walking down the road
with your hand in mine.
We've got some bread and cheese
and a bottle of wine.
The breeze is soft and the moon is bright.
The night's so hot but it feels alright.
The sky fills with stars
as we dance on the beach.
On wings of desire
there's nothing out of reach.
I can hear your heartbeat soft and low,
saying you're the only girl I want to know.
Streaks of moonlight in your hair.
We've got sand between our toes and we ain't got a care.
We'll be like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
Tonight.
Like shells in the sand
washed up by the sea,
I'm clinging to you
and you're clinging to me.
We'll be dancing in the starlight at the break of dawn.
My love for you goes on and on.
CHORUS
Tomorrow in the morning
we'll be strolling along.
The birds up in the trees,
they'll be singing our song.
Your eyes will be like diamonds sparkling in the sun.
I've got no doubts that you're the one.
CHORUS
We'll be like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
Tonight.
1987, Austin
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3. |
The Thin Line
04:08
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The Thin Line (for Eddie)
He walks the black streets and he shivers in the rain;
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.
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 judgment, 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
1988, Austin
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4. |
Wristwatch
03:21
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Wristwatch
I've been watching you baby, across this crowded room.
You're an angel in white,
shining brighter than the moon.
I've been searching in the darkness,
you're the diamond I was hoping to find.
And like the watch on your wrist, I'm starting to unwind.
Got to have some of your loving
kisses sweeter than wine.
I'm standing in the shadows about to lose my mind.
I'm breathing stale cigarette smoke;
someone's shouting in my ear.
It's the same broken record as I finish off a bottle of beer.
But now you're heading for the doorway;
darling don't you leave me behind.
'Cause like the watch on your wrist, I'm starting to unwind.
CHORUS
You're a beacon in the darkness
You call me with a wave of your hand.
The stars are shining above us
the waves are rolling up on the sand.
It's around about midnight
we've got one thing on our minds
and like the watch on your wrist, we're both starting to unwind.
CHORUS
There's a candle on the dresser; our clothes are on the floor.
There's a band of fallen angels peeking under the door.
You're the treasure that I dream of,
the one I thought I'd never find.
And like the watch on your wrist, we're both starting to unwind.
1987, Austin
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5. |
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The Moon is Shining Up Above
The moon is shining up above; the stars are up there shining too.
This ship's been tossed and turned, but now its course is true ...
And now I know that I'm in love with you.
I had an anchor tied to my soul; and I've had weights upon my feet.
I didn't know that love could drag a man so deep;
or that the water would feel so sweet.
Rocking on the waves the hours slip away
rolling in your arms all work has turned to play.
After all these years I finally understand
love is sailing open seas, not standing on dry land.
The breeze is whispering your name; the water shimmers in the light.
We're like two great birds, poised for flight;
I can't see the end of this delight.
CHORUS
The moon is shining up above; the stars are up there shining too.
This ship's been tossed and turned, but now its course is true ...
And now I know that I'm in love with you.
1988, Austin
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6. |
The Psychologist Song
03:18
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The Psychologist Song
I'm lyin’ on a couch here, spilling out my dreams.
I'd rather be someplace with my girl eating custard creams,
Drinkin’ wine or whiskey, maybe lighting up a smoke,
Sittin’ on a barstool telling all my friends a joke.
Tell me doctor, doctor that it's really not so bad.
Why do you quietly sit there scribbling on your pad?
Always in my fantasies I'm eatin’ apple pie,
dearly kiss my mother, maybe shoot a Russian spy.
One night I'll be the President with promises to keep;
then I'll ditch some cops in Santa Fe and they won't let me sleep.
I'll have one eye on the window, and one eye on the door,
and if I don't keep my foot down
they'll be coming through the floor.
Tell me doctor, doctor that it's true that all I've said
is not advanced dementia or problems home in bed.
Say I'm ok and you're ok and everything's all right.
I'll go quietly to the suburbs and I won't kick or bite.
I'll take a wife, make kiddies, get a mortgage from the bank.
We'll have two cars in the driveway and you're the one I'll thank.
But then every night my mother'll come and crawl inside my head,
the Chinese National Opera will start chanting in my bed.
There'll be tape recorded messages; invitations from the Pope.
I'll lust after my sister and I won't know how to cope.
And somewhere in the darkness I might reach out for your pills
and only find around me Lord an emptiness that kills.
I guess I'm just not ready and it's really not so bad
to be sittin’ here by the window while you're scribbling on your pad.
I've been payin’ your bills for 20 years and it may be 20 more,
but it's better than the barstool 'cause my friends think I'm a bore.
1978, Chicago
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7. |
Money Money Money
03:30
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Money, Money, Money
Money, Money, Money makes the world go round,
a black 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 around 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 ...
Man's born free but he's always in chains;
it's either welfare lines or capital gains.
The rustle 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 …
1988, Austin
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8. |
Let's Get Away
03:30
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Let's Get Away
Over and over and over, the waves they just keep rolling in.
All through the day and all through the night
they're rolling right under my skin.
There is no reason to worry; there is no reason at all
laugh with the wind and the sun and the rain
laugh with the birds when they call.
Let's get away to the sunshine
to a forgotten tropical isle
find me a sailing ship, find me a crew
find me a warm breeze and a table for two.
I've had enough of this working, working myself to the bone.
Always living in fear of tomorrow,
in fear of the ring of the phone.
They say life is full of surprises,
but we dwell on the worry and pain.
open a window, stand in the sun
and throw away all of your chains.
CHORUS
I open my eyes in the morning;
I see you smiling at me.
Life is so warm and secure here,
now that we know we are free.
Living your dreams isn't easy,
but anything else makes no sense.
All of this energy we have been wasting
we should just get up and dance.
CHORUS
Circa 1983, Chicago
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9. |
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Don't You Know that There's Nothing
I opened up the window, and I stood in the sun;
I had a feeling today's the day I was gonna have some fun.
I went down to the river, and I stuck my big toe in.
Then I started to whistle a tune, and all the birds joined in.
Don't you know that there's nothing;
nothing that you can't do.
You've got the keys to the universe;
the power's inside of you.
I danced on down to the office and pulled my friends around.
I looked into their tired eyes
and tried to show them what I'd found.
I'd come down from the mountaintop and seen the angels dance.
You can hear the music of the spheres if you just give your ears a chance.
CHORUS
Some of them stared and mumbled, some of them laughed and cried;
then a few of them picked me up and threw me right outside.
I was lying in the lush, green grass
a bee was buzzing in my ear,
and then a little man inside my head, said never, never fear ...
CHORUS
You can't take a man in chains and simply set him free.
'Cause if he thinks the world's a prison that's all he's gonna see.
So I went back to the river and I stuck my big toe in.
Then I started to whistle a tune and all the birds joined in.
CHORUS
1988, Austin
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10. |
I'm Not the One
04:24
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I'm Not the One
I'm not the one to hang your hopes on.
I'm not the answer to your dreams
and if you're thinking I can love you
It's not as easy as it seems.
I may need someone to hold me
but I've been held by quite a few
and the sparks that lit those other nights
were just enough to get me through.
But don't you go away now
don't you go away
I'm needing you to stay
here tonight
I'm not the star that you should wish on
believe it's not your lucky day
and though I never want to hurt you
things they just might end that way.
CHORUS
I may need someone to love me
but I don't know where to start.
I've been so afraid of losing
I can't open up my heart.
CHORUS
1981, Chicago
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11. |
When the Morning Comes
03:51
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When the Morning Comes
I never thought that I would end up this way
go to work every morning come home at the end of the day.
Kiss my wife on the cheek, sit down and have something to eat
and drift off the sleep til the morning comes.
The days blend together and they all seem the same
the mechanical motions are driving me insane
and it all seems so unreal, I've got to get in touch with the things I feel
'cause life isn't something to steal when the morning comes
Open up a window take a breath of fresh air.
I could be anything, I can go anywhere.
There's a tape player spinning and whirling inside of my mind
and if I don't turn it off I may never learn to unwind
Heaven doesn't wait, and sooner or later may be too late
so I'd better not hesitate when the morning comes.
CHORUS
There's an angry beast roaring inside my heart
and his razor sharp claws are bound to tear me apart
I've got to break out of this trap, something inside is about to snap
I want to feel the sun on my back when the morning comes.
CHORUS.
The road to heaven and the road to hell are the same
it's a choice you make and there's no one you can blame
I can open up any door, look at the stars instead of the floor
and cry out for more when the morning comes.
CHORUS
1988, Austin
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12. |
The Thin Line
04:10
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The Thin Line (for Eddie)
He walks the black streets and he shivers in the rain;
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.
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 judgment, 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
1988, Austin
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Jim Heald Sarasota, Florida
Originally from New Jersey, with transformative stops in Chicago and Austin, singer-songwriter Jim Heald has covered a lot of ground in his music. He is a two-time finalist at the Kerrville \Folk Festival New Folk Competition. Jim also lived in the DC area for almost 20 years performing at area folk clubs, wineries, coffeehouses and festivals, before moving to Sarasota FL in 2017. ... more
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