LYRICS

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CLICK TITLES TO SEE LYRICS

 

'you may hear footsteps...'

1 The First to Go

2 Ballad of the Winter Cowboy

3 House of Retribution (Matty Says)

4 I Won't Dance

5 Howling Dogs

6 Ain't it Funny

7 Two Steps From the Door

8 Not One Word

 

Live @ the Lass O’Gowrie 

1 Between the Blessed and the Damned

2 Love's Lost and Found

3 Not Words Just Shadows

4 When You Talk Like This

5 Wail, Wail, Wail

 

 

 

‘you may hear footsteps…’ 
 

THE FIRST TO GO
 

I felt like Robert Lowell

thinking on the Union dead

and my mind went tripping back

to something she once said

when my road was lined with silver

and my heart betrayed few fears

and nothing but a shadow

marked the passing of the years 
 

And she said “Don’t leave me alone”

“you don’t turn me away”

“I will not be the first to go” 
 

then I was Chennault

chasing Madame Chiang Kai-shek

across the pages of a history book

where truths bounce like bad cheques

from a summer of indifference

to an autumn of reveals

and the winter of our discontent

like a mad dog at our heels 
 

and when I woke the room

seemed to double up in size

dimensions so unusual

through the strangers of my eyes

and I thought about the lonely road

I travel for the game

but as I mark the distance

did someone call my name? 
 

 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP
 
 

 

 

 

 

BALLAD OF THE WINTER COWBOY 
 

He’s like a catholic cowboy watch him moving through the peak hour crowd

Like he’s moving cattle ‘cross a mesa

He’s a walking ‘how not to’; I can see it in his strange little shuffle

And the way that his eyes get so distracted

Somewhere over his rainbow

Monochrome road sign in some mid-western sky

Chasing what he thinks is an Indian maid

With his hands full of glass beads

And that look in his eye. 
 

Sometimes when I lay my head in sweetheart’s naked lap

I get to thinking

And sometimes she responds and sometimes she seems so far away

Like maybe she knows him

When he pushed inside her

Why, she just disappeared into the night

Left him alone and a’ wondering why

I never thought this cowboy

Would freeze up in fright. 
 

Now winter is upon us and we feel ourselves returning

Back to the wool, back to the leather

He gets back to the clocks and the routines but the signs

Only unguarded eyes could uncover

And she calls for coffee

And she buries her hand deep in her jeans

She pulls out some lint and small change

Why there it is

One lonesome, glass bead. 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HOUSE OF RETRIBUTION (MATTY SAYS)
 

Hey, where you going I need a ride

Got my daddy’s temperament

But not his way of flying

I was born near the river but I am not going back

But Matty says the house of retribution

Sits somewhere just beyond the tracks 
 

I’m open handed; I’m a ball and jack

Bend to me baby ‘less you want to crack

I haven’t smiled in so long,

Not since I shed my alloy shell

But Matty says the house of retribution

Is the length of a scent from hell. 
 

You’re slowing down now, I’m grinning wide

I pick my bag up, dust off my pride

It’s cool and inviting

And I slide right in

But Matty says the house of retribution…

Oh, what’s gone wrong with him? 
 

Hey where you going, I need a ride. 
 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I WON’T DANCE
 

Welcome home how’s it feel back on the bottom

Heart attacks now don’t you wish that you had got ‘em

See the face staring through the window pane

No baby it ain’t me 
 

You opened gates and you let the monster out

I told you once now I ain’t got the voice to shout

Fistful of dollars that’s all you got to show for it

No baby it ain’t me 
 

Cause I won’t dance

Get yourself back home

I won’t dance

Better learn to leave me alone 
 

You cast a vote just one in twenty million

That ain’t sunset it’s corporate vermillion

Your children’s future you delivered to the devil

No baby it ain’t me 
 

Two storey house let’s hope the dollar holds

Two sets off keys one on a ring pushed through your nose

Mock the thoughtful but what’s that shadow on your lawn

No baby it ain’t me 
 

Cause I won’t dance

Get yourself back home

I won’t dance

Better learn to leave me alone 
 

You smell the fires someone’s burning up the hate

It’s cars then books and then you know it’s all too late

Not your fault so who’s that running up your stairs

No baby it ain’t me 
 

Cause I won’t dance

Get yourself back home

I won’t dance

Better learn to leave me alone 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

HOWLING DOGS 
 

Howling dogs in the night, I swear I’d know them by sight

I am lonely but it is not so clear now

Car lights grab at the signs; I’ve borrowed money and time

I am waiting like Chandler’s hero.

Shadows harden with light and given form that hurts my sight

It was clear once but now I have no black and white TV.

Age has stripped my world of rhyme I gather clues but blur the lines

Still bend my back now but it’s not the pleasure it used to be. 
 

Here I stand a world away from the man I knew only yesterday

No map, no sign and no right of way

Just this dusty road which will fade like a lost lovers’ vow. 
 

Cities fall, they re-appear, the damned cry out and no one hears

But the hangman has no conscience, has no memory.

Nations slide to habits old, with new faces and new resolve

While the dollar feeds and forgives an ancient beast.

I wander among the ones I knew, whose colours change from red to blue

And they’re contented to watch while their love is run aground.

With rationale the days the time will smear, they won’t pick up a voice unclear

But despair runs faster than the speed of sound. 
 

Howling dogs in the night, a symphony for a man in flight,

A midnight tattoo for this lonely passing out parade.

The years roll on I’m at a loss, is it the crescent or the cross?

Or is the wasteland the only place I’ll find reason for this age?

With pounding hands and restless heart and no idea of where to start

I’ll burn all I know and scatter ashes to this hungry time.

I’ll poison this well kept lawn; I’ll leave the keys hang in the door

You may hear footsteps but you may not see this moment shine.                 

 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 
BACK TO TOP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AIN’T IT FUNNY 
 

Ain’t it funny how a story gets hungry?

Ain’t it funny how the time slides around?

Now I hold you dear, in my memory unclear

While my faith hibernates underground. 
 

I remember when I sang for my momma

When I sang for my daddy too

But under the bridge in a song’s secret code there for you. 
 

Now I stand on the corner

And wait for my bus in the rain

While my past jumps around like an unrehearsed clown

My mind and pockets they bulge with loose change 
 

And when I first saw you uncovered

Your skin had the lustre of milk

And just like a boy I reached for the hand that was dealt. 
 

The song of the lone gangster’s highway

Runs a rail beside the dark virgin’s sigh

And the ache for the taking has a life of its own

And strips the fat from the visions and signs. 
 

The full lips of youth they whispered

I love you now with every beat of my heart

But distracted I turned toward something burning and sharp 
 

Ain’t it funny how a story gets hungry?

But I swear that I saw you last night

Cropped chestnut hair and a voice which made clear

Do not trust in this cold lonely light. 
 

Sometimes I still sing for my mother

Sometimes I sing for my daddy too

And sometimes at night, when reason’s in flight it’s for you. 

 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

TWO STEPS FROM THE DOOR 
 

I sold the best of my bubblegum cards

And I chased a senorita across my yard

She said “Johnny, Johnny come dance with me”

But I’ve done some things that you will never see

Down on the corner it’s broad daylight

Some come running, some will take their time

Now I’ve lost the best but I’ve gained something

Roll over little darling and give me wings 
 

I ain’t no fire on the plains

But I’ve been roped in again

Only two steps from the door 
 

There’s a place I know where I can go to rest

It’s noisy and it’s crowded but it’s passed the test

She says “Johnny, Johnny come and dance with me

Oh sweet darling, sweet memory

I’ve had some loving and I’ve had some fun

But I’m burning out now and time moves on 
 

She says there’s power in pain

And I fall for it again

Only two steps from the door 
 

Across my hall lives such a stupid man

He jumps and he hollers ‘til he can’t stand

Now I’ve been quiet but stupid still

Without barking and a jumping on my window sill

She says “Johnny, Johnny come and dance with me”

“I’ll take you back then I’ll set you free” 
 

She says “Come back again”

And I walk out in the rain

She’s only twp steps from the door 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

NOT ONE WORD 
 

Hush little baby don’t look back

It’s just a whistle down a railway track 
 

But I will not say a word

No, no I will not say a word 
 

I can’t comfort you like mamma can

But I’ll play a song from way back when 
 

If I had wings and I could fly

I’d take myself to days gone by 
 

The woman I love is straight and tall

She moves her body like a cannonball 
 

But I will not say a word

No, no I will not say a word

Not one word 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

Live @ the Lass O’Gowrie 
 

BETWEEN THE BLESSED AND THE DAMNED 
 

I am a worthless drifter from the shiny town I’ve come

Where the wheels of industry roll you aside as sure as night will move the sun

Where some still believe in future, some just turn to stone

Ain’t no place for a man like me with nothing left but flesh and bone.

I can almost remember things but memory peels away like paint

And all that was important won’t fire the ashes in the grate

And I miss the sweet monotony of the factory and take home pay

And the back view of a hundred cars headed out to holiday. 
 

And we will all go down to the river together

Despite whatever we had planned

We will all go down to the river together

And drift between the blessed and the damned. 
 

I am a hopeless parasite from the farm I had to leave

With a government cheque in my back pocket and a habit up my sleeve.

And if you look you’ll notice the hand is quicker than the eye

As quick as lightning as they flash to  surrender to the sky.

My daddy was a hard man he fought and played to win

No other strength could match his or escape his skull like grin

But when the creditors threw out the garbage it stuck to him head to heel

Then sorrow and the bottle brought the great man to his knees. 
 

I am a hungry sinner, a product of the age

I absorb all that you can’t contain and I spew it back like rage

Be it country town or city, be it gutter or alley way

I lie quiet ‘til evening comes and dark blurs right of way.

And at night I swallow my mouth as huge as Ahab’s whale

I can take more in one go than any high flyer in Spain

And those who pray and those who pay will marvel at the sight

Of this back street avenging angel building chaos from the night. 
 

I am a worthless drifter, from the shiny town I’ve run

With my hand outs and my plastic shoes spread out like bones in the sun.

And I carry every name that hard times pitch and throw

My skin has pockets just for them over which a callus grows.

I am a worthless drifter, who now drinks without excuse

I can no longer tell the difference between affection and abuse

And I wish you’d called me sooner, wish you had loved me like a saint

I wish you were a long dark wall and my hands were dipped in paint. 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP

                  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LOVE’S LOST AND FOUND
 

Let me take you across this dusty, creaking floor

And we’ll remember what it was that we both came here for

Not just a party, it’s not just a dance

But we could turn it around on the wing of a chance

And there’s a hint of a waltz, a quickstep and a two-step

In this hallway between love’s lost and found. 
 

Way down in yonder valley lies a place that I call home

One day I’ll be beside her and I will have no cause to roam. 
 

I’ve thrown out all the pretenders and the debutantes

I’ve carved a line between what I need and what I want

And I’m careful not to judge too hard,

I’ve seen the mess out in my own backyard

But I’ll haul it away before the sun disappears

Behind the go-downs of love’s lost and found. 
 

My baby cries at night and tells me she feels so alone

Even when I lie beside her it’s like I’ve never come back home. 
 

Perception hovers like a bird of prey over this great divide

And it rides the winds of change over a lonely night

It sees every stumble, it sees every fall

And at the moment I lose sight of it all

You hand it back and the dance starts again

‘round the corner from love’s lost and found. 
 

Way down in yonder valley lies a place that I call home

One day I’ll be beside her and I will have no need to roam. 
                    

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

NOT WORDS JUST SHADOWS 
 

St. Christopher Ave. ain’t worth a dime

When you spared the hours I was not inclined

It took all that I had just to get out of bed

As the delights of the evening poisoned my head 
 

But for you I’ve gone further than I thought I could

I’d stripped the ornament from off of the hood

And in the icy cold lake I would linger for days

Waiting for you to go change your ways 
 

Now the light beats down as the summer rolls by

Ain’t healing ain’t warming just shows up the sky

And explains the fractures that should not be revealed

You’ve no words just shadows to close up the deal 
 

There is no other and there is no excuse

Though I’ve tasted love that smells like abuse

In the twilight purple something’s dragging a load

I can see its great headlights as it pulls down the road 
 

I would run I would hide if I thought it would count

I’d call out your name and hide near your mouth

But nothing’s been spoken that would keep us both safe

So I’ll stand my ground until daylight breaks 
 

So the light beats down and summer’s now gone

It’s not like the old days it’s dry and it deformed

I hope you’re healing I hope you’re on the mend

But it ain’t words just shadows that wait round the bend 
 

I long for something that’s as funny as sleep

With a taste of the beauty I used to drink deep

But right now it appears I’m under the gun

Of your bounty hunter who’s too much in the sun 
 

St. Christopher Ave. seems so far away

As I head into town at the breaking of day

With my thoughts in my pockets some change in my hands

A tune in my head and nothing else planned 
 

Now the light beats down and summer’s a ghost

I’ve a vague thought I’ll head up the coast

And maybe you’re lonesome and maybe you’re free

It ain’t words just shadows that connect you and me 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP


 
 
 

 

 

 

WHEN YOU TALK LIKE THIS
 

Like a gold watch ticking in a dead man’s hand

A gold watch ticking in a dead man’s hand

When you talk like this baby I just don’t understand 
 

I’d walk a thousand miles just to kiss those lips

I’d walk a thousand miles just to kiss those lips

Now I know why Helen’s face launched a thousand ships 
 

I come a long way baby, take me to your room

I come a long way baby, take me to your room

I know it’s late but I swear that it’s none too soon 
 

What’s that darling I smell another man

What’s that darling I smell another man

Come over here and I’ll show you what’s in my hand 
 

Night is long but the moon won’t rise

Night is long but the moon won’t rise

They won’t see nothin’ from the light in your eyes 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

WAIL, WAIL, WAIL 
 

Wail, wail, wail, catch a story by the tale

Wail, wail, wail, catch a story by the tale

Well the bones of this lie

Ain’t tough enough to make it fly

Wail, wail, wail, catch a story by the tale 
 

Cry, cry, cry, oh sweet water running down

Cry, cry, cry, oh sweet water running down

You’re so soft and you’re smooth

I forgot to make a move

Cry, cry, cry, oh sweet water running down 
 

Goodbye, bye, bye, it’s just a sound along the trail

Goodbye, bye, bye, it’s just a sound along the trail

This house is cold as hell

And there’s no water in the well

Goodbye, bye, bye, it’s just a sound along the trail 
 

© words & music – Mark Lee 2007 
 
 BACK TO TOP