Al Stewart

[fox69]

"Always The Cause"

"Always The Cause"



Bad news over the great divide
Comes in from every side
Still hope won't be denied
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

Oh La Pasionara sang
This day, no pasaran!
It echoed out in Catalan
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

Mariposa
Late nights waiting on the via dolorosa
Hold me closer
Not long now, oh ma bella hermosa
There was always the Cause

Setbacks come at every turn
New ways are hard to learn
Tonight I saw Guernica burn
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

Mariposa
Late nights waiting on the via dolorosa
Hold me closer
Not long now, oh ma bella hermosa
There was always the Cause

Three years gone in the heart of Spain
He brings home a quiet pain
He'll never be that young again
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

 

[fox69]

"Amsterdam"

"Amsterdam"



Oh I just came back from Haarlem
On the very last day of Autumn
Made it through the customs, took the bus into town
The flat looked cold and empty
The chairs unused and dusty
Just a few old letters and papers lying around
The Dutch people were friendly
You know they put me up and they fed me
All along a tour of one night stands
All my days and all my ways
Are so confused
I tell you right new
I'm going to make it back to Amsterdam

And you can feel fine anytime
You choose to lose yourself for a while
Bottle of wine
In some back street cafe
Or out on the street, there's a chance
For you to meet anybody you please
Taking the time
To ease your blues away

Fred was a crazy driver
He took us at a hundred miles an hour
Down a side street out of a traffic jam
All my days and all my ways
Are so bemused
I tell you right now
I'm going to make it back to Amsterdam

Oh I just came back from Haarlem
And the very thing I was wanting
Was to find some way to let you know how I felt
You can't say much in an evening
If you know you'll soon be leaving
There's not much time to talk, and it's maybe as well
But I wanted to give you something
Because you knew you really helped me
So I've written you a song with a small West Indian band
And though it seems some days that all my ways are
Bound to lose
I tell you right now
I'm going to make it back to Amsterdam

Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Pah-pa-pa-pah

 

[fox69]

"Angel Of Mercy"

"Angel Of Mercy"



Every evening
You come around here in your cloak of lies
Half-believing
I sit and listen as you offer up the prize

Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
There is no pleasure waiting here for you
Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
I don't see you any more as an angel of mercy

Imitations
Of the good life were your stock in trade
Pale imitations
You run for cover when the promise starts to fade

Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
There is no treasure waiting here for you
Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
I don't see you any more as an angel of mercy

You play the game well
You've got the knack
Your hand in the till
And the knife in the back
Head for the hills
Leaving them flat
How come you treat
Everybody like that?

Spaced invader
Of my privacy be on your way
Tricky trader
In webs of fantasy, the bank is closed today
Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
There is no pleasure waiting here for you
Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
I don't see you any more as an angel of mercy

Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
There is no treasure waiting here for you
Pick up your smile
Just go faithless friend
I don't see you any more
As an angel of mercy
Oh, an angel of mercy
Oh, an angel of mercy

 

[fox69]

"Angry Bird"

"Angry Bird"



One day you fell
Down from the sky
You oversaw things
Forgot how to fly
You're an angry bird
Walking in circles all alone
Angry bird
Now you don't belong
You stagger round
Don't like the air
Don't like the ground
Angry bird
Walking in circles all alone
Angry bird
Radical penguins
Led you astray
You say that wings
Are so passe
You're an angry bird
Walking in circles
No way out
Angry bird
Now you say it's pointless
You say you're cursed
You fill the night with
Sarcastic chirps
You're an angry bird
Walking in circles
No way out
Angry bird
You're fallen in
With the avian fringe
That fill your head with
Thoughts of revenge
You're a bird
In the moanly
Pretty lonely
Angry bird
On the moonlight branches
On a summer's night
You can take your chances
You could take flight
Angry bird
Walking in circles
No way out
Angry bird
Your sun is sinking
It's so absurd
What were you thinking
Angry bird

 

[fox69]

"Anna"

"Anna"



Anna, turns out the light
Sits down alone
The echo of his foot on the stair
Turning to stone
No, he didn't take very much
Just your flesh from the bone
It's gonna be hard for a while
Trying to get by
On your own

 

[fox69]

"Anniversary"

"Anniversary"



This is the day you disappeared
Your hand was steady and I know that your mind was clear
You left a note up on the shelf
Saying "I would rather be anyone but myself"

You took a simple ride across the Great Divide
You left the television on in your room
Your friends were sad although they said "I told you so"
You never really did fit into your skin

The small annoying things you do
All seemed so cute and entertaining when they were new
This kind of honeymoon can't last
I think you knew you wore your welcome out much too fast

I was surprised to see you played the lottery
Your winning ticket you won't need anymore
You were in such a rush you never stopped to check
Your jacket pocket on your way out the door

This is your anniversary
I'll light a candle in the window so you might see
This is the day you had to go
Good-bye then, this concludes your portion of the show

 

[fox69]

"Antarctica"

"Antarctica"


Long before I ever saw
The frost upon your face
I was haunted by your beauty
And it drew me to this place
I felt the chill of mystery
With one foot on your shore
And then and there resolved to go
Where no man had before

[Chorus:]
Maybe I was snowblind
But it seemed the wind spoke true
And I believed its stories then
As dreamers sometimes do
In Antarctica
In Antarctica

Who knows what the powers may be
That cause a man to go

Mindless of the dangers
Out across the virgin snow
Seduced by this ambition
I easily forget
The hopeless quest of Shackleton
The dreamlike death of Scott

[Chorus]

Maybe I was snowblind
Perhaps it sapped my will
But something of my innocence
Is wandering there still
In Antarctica
In Antarctica
In Antarctica
In Antarctica

 

[fox69]

"Apple Cider Reconstitution"

"Apple Cider Reconstitution"



When we came to the station all the trains were rusty
The doors were open and the windows broken in
There was grass in all the cracks and the air hung musty
The travel posters were flapping in the wind
So we moved through the dust and gloom
Playing waiting games in the waiting-room
Lay our sleeping-bags out on the floor
And on Sunday morning easy rider comes to me with apple cider
Leaves me here without a place to go

If I followed the coast road, I'd be home by evening
The harbour lights still cut across the bay
From the slot machine arcade the lights go streaming
To the bikes outside the rock 'n' roll cafe
Ah but you know those small town blues
Are really too much to lose
There's nothing really there to go back for
And on Sunday morning easy rider comes to me with apple cider
Leaves me here without a place to go

Any railway station would be just fine, fine, fine
To settle down and wash the cobwebs from your head
Oh, if your situation's running dry, dry, dry
Find a waiting-room beneath the stars to make your bed'

Cause you know London can make your brain stall
The streets get cold and empty on a rainy night
So you duck into the subway station, you can hear the trains call
They want to take you to the Earl's Court Road, but it don't seem right
Cause it's na, na, na noowah
On the juke-box, singing in the burger bar
See the people's faces in the passing cars don't want to know
And on Sunday morning easy rider comes to me with apple cider
Leaves me here without a place to go

You have the most appealing surface I have seen
Bring it over here, lay it down by me
Don't mean to make you nervous, I just mean
To make you see, this is the place to be

When we came to the station all the trains were rusty
The air was empty and the platforms overgrown
There were old tin cans and cats and the doors were crusted
With mud and leaves and names carved long ago
And the rails go on for ever in a silver trail to the setting sun
You can follow them anywhere you want to go
And on Sunday morning easy rider comes to me with apple cider
Leaves me here without a need to know

 

[fox69]

"Bad Reputation"

"Bad Reputation"



You've got a bad reputation
All over the street
There's some indication
You've been indiscreet

Oh I know you can turn on the charm
When you feel so inclined
Whatever I do
I can't get you out of my mind

It's a sad situation
I'm coming apart
A clear invitation
For trouble to start

If I knew what it was that you did
It's so hard to define
But whatever it is
I can't get you out of my mind

Maybe I'm seeing
What I want to see
Trying to make you
What you'll never be

Perhaps it's just the simple fact
You only want the things that you can't have
Well I suppose somebody broke your trust
Now I see you kicking up the dust

I wouldn't be at all surprised
If some of it got in my eyes
You've got a bad reputation
They're telling me so

I've got a strong motivation
To get up and go
If I knew what it was that you did
I'd just leave you behind

But whatever it is
I can't get you out of my mind
I suppose this will come to a close
It's just a matter of time

But whatever I do,
I can't get you out of my mind
Can't get you out of my mind
Oh no, whatever I do, I can't get you out of my mind

 

[fox69]

"Beacon Street"

"Beacon Street"



When your little world has fallen apart
You'll be living on Beacon Street
In a flat above a laundry
It's warm and forgiving on Beacon Street
Hundreds of paperback novels adorning your shelves
Piles of CDs that are eager to please
Still asserting themselves

There's something in the morning light
That is muted and soft down on Beacon Street
Then a bar or two of classical music
Will waft through the air
Newspaper adverts will usher the future your way
Indian teas and then take-out Chinese
At the end of the day

Shadows on furniture cast by the light of the moon
You've got a fridge full of food
You won't need to go anywhere soon

When it's time to start again
They will welcome you in down on Beacon Street
Everybody needs a moment or two
Now and then on their own