Al Stewart

[fox69]

"Here In Angola"

"Here In Angola"



I can't deal with all this undergrowth talk
It just trips my feet and tangles up my thoughts
You're trying to sell me your new faith
Tell me why you'd do it

And your hands are clenched
And you're talking low
With your eyes like flames
Your voice like snow
Someone dug a pit for you
and you fell right into it.

Tell me how the universe was meant to be
Take another sip of your cola
You be the colonel of the cavalry
I'll be Francis Ford Coppola
We'll go together through the jungle night
'Til the moon and stars fade out of sight
Waiting for the dawn to come
Here in Angola
Here in Angola

I can't remember how you got this way
I can still recall you in a younger day
The earnestness still drips off you like butter
And you fling round words in a holy war
And you look so vague, but seem so sure
Don't you ever just want to break right down and stutter

Tell me how the universe was meant to be
Take another sip of your cola
You be the colonel of the cavalry
I'll be Francis Ford Coppola
We'll go together through the jungle night
'Til the moon and stars fade out of sight
Waiting for the dawn to come
Here in Angola
Here in Angola

Ah, why don't you let it go
Ah, you'd be too wise to know
That time will get you anyway
It's at your door today.

I can't deal with these periscope views
And the caveman scrawl that you call news
Hey, why don't you make a not to cancel your next visit
Well, I knew that things were getting out of control
When you found your faith and lost your soul
If there's something you'd rather die than compromise
What is it?

Tell me how the universe was meant to be
Take another sip of your cola
You be the colonel of the cavalry
I'll be Francis Ford Coppola
We'll go together through the jungle night
As the moon and stars fade out of sight
Waiting for the dawn to come
Here in Angola
Here in Angola
Here in Angola
Here in Angola

 

[fox69]

"Hipposong"

"Hipposong"



I was surrounded by a large hippopotamus
And nine of its friends who declared quite a lot of us
Are feeling rather blue
And we don't know what to do
I turned away but the large hippopotamus
Said that his pit of despair appeared bottomless
Yet hippopotami
Are not supposed to cry
I said "My, my
Other people's problems do get tedious by and by
My, my
You can never solve them no matter how hard you try."

This brought a tear from the large hippopotamus
Who said in a voice that was growing monotonous
You cannot get the sense
Of how it feels to be immense
The sleek and the slim make fun of a lot of us
And creatures who fly through the air sit on top of us
Even in the pool
We are faced with ridicule
I said "My, my
Other people's problems do get tedious by and by
My, my
You can never solve them no matter how hard you try."

I came back as a large hippopotamus

 

[fox69]

"I Don't Believe You"
(originally by Bob Dylan)

"I Don't Believe You"
(originally by Bob Dylan)



I can't understand
She let go of my hand
And left me here facing the wall.

I'd sure like to know
Why did she go, but then
I can't get close to her at all.

Though we kissed through the wild blazing nighttime
She said she'd never forget.

But now morning is clear
Its like I ain't here
She acts like we never have met.

Its all new to me
Like some mystery
It could even be like a myth.

Yes its hard to think on
That she's the same one
That only last night I was with.

From darkness dreams are deserted
Am I still dreaming yet?

Oh, I wish she'd unlock
Her voice once and talk
'Stead of acting like we never met.

If she ain't feeling well
Well then why don't she tell
'Stead of turning her back to my face.

Mmm, without any doubt
She just seems too far out
For me to return to or chase.

Though the night ran swirling and whirling
I remember her whispering yet.

But evidently she don't
Evidently she won't
She just acts like we never have met.

If I didn't have to guess
I'd gladly confess
To anything I might have tried

If I was working too long
Or have done something wrong
Wish she'd say what it is I'll run and hide.

Though her skirt it swayed as the guitar played
Her mouth was watery and wet

But now something has changed
For she ain't the same
She just acts like we never have met.

Mmmm, I'm leaving today
Gotta be on my way
Of this I can't say too much.

But if you want me to
I can be just like you
retend that we never have touched.

And if anybody should ask me
Is it easy to forget?

Why its easily done
You just pick anyone
Pretend that you never have met.

 

[fox69]

"I'm Falling"

"I'm Falling"



It's Sunday afternoon and it's raining,
I m falling
Colour sections, pastel blue, an empty church, a movie queue
And I'm falling
Watching you moving around
Taking the time
To get a proper look
It seems as though I've never really looked at you

Get up, put the kettle on, make us some tea
I'm falling
If we've got some biscuits left, please bring one for me,
I'm just falling
Spending the whole day in bed
Wasting our time
In such a gentle way
We hardly need to say a word, it's just okay

And already the sun has gone, and it's growing dark outside,
I can see your face reflected in the red electric firelight,
And our shadow is an embryo
That slowly comes to life
And as it moves across the wall
It seems to feel the fire of living
Growing stronger as it climbs
To shiver in a blaze
Across the ceiling
And the soundless crash of the sea
Fills the room with the scent of the breeze
And the waves break over
The beach of our bodies
As you reach your fingers out to me

Why don't we take the whole of next week off work,
We're falling
You can say you don't feel well, you caught a cold or something,
We're just falling
We can get out of town
Taking the time
To let it all work out
The hour glass is turning, every second counts
I'm falling
I'm falling
I'm falling
Moving around inside a dream today
Falling for you in such a special way

 

[fox69]

"If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It"

"If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It"



Nothing that's forced can ever be right
If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
That's what she said as she turned out the light
And we bent our backs as slaves of the night
Then she lowered her guard and showed me the scars
She got from trying to fight
Saying oh, you'd better believe it.

Well I'm up to my neck in the crumbling wreckage
Of all that I wanted from life
When I looked for respect all I got was neglect
Though I swallowed the line as a sign of the times
But dealing a jack from the back of the pack
They said-"You lose again"
Oh, I said, who needs it?

Well don't get me wrong now I tried to get on
With the jokers that got in my way
And I put on a smile and I tried all the while to be straight
But they just wanted more all the time and I'm sure
That you know what I mean when I say
That I'm sick of the touch and there's only so much you can take.

Well nothing that's real is ever for free
And you just have to pay for it sometime
She said it before, she said it to me
I suppose she believed there was nothing to see
But the same old four imaginary walls
She built for living inside
I said oh, you just can't mean it

Well there was never a doubt that she had to get out
she was just looking around for a way
In the pit of the night there was nowhere to hide any more
She was out on a limb, she was reaching for things
That she wanted, but just couldn't say
And she had to be sure that she wouldn't get caught like before.

Well nothing that's forced can ever be right
If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
That's what she said as she turned out the light
And she may have been wrong, and she may have been right
But I woke with the frost, and noticed she'd lost
The veil that covered her eyes
I said oh, you can leave it.

 

[fox69]

"Immelman Turn"

"Immelman Turn"


I always was the reckless kind, I do what I must do
I put the danger out of mind, and go on
I joined the barnstorm fliers back in 1922
And above those dusty farms , we put a shw on

Fly, fly to the western sky
Where the fog bank shifts and the danger lies
Why, why would you never learn
That you won't come back from the Immelman Turn?
Fly, fly to the red sunrise
Where the cloudbanks shift under copper skies
Why, why would you never learn
That you won't come back from the Immelman Turn?

From aboard a Curtiss Jenny, oh, you see things differently
And the farm boys wait for joyrides in the clearing
I went out walking on the wing in 1923
And above the engine noise I heard them cheering

[Repeat chorus]

You won't come back from the Immelman Turn
Why, why, why?
You won't come back from the Immelman Turn
Why, why, why?
There never was a one like you
Who knew that way to fly
But you won't come back from the Immelman Turn
Why, why, why?

The frost was on your aieleron's, and the wind was in your hair
When you went into the climb I saw you laughing
When the engine stalls and you start to spin
You won't get out of there
And a hush comes on the crowd as you go falling

[Repeat chorus]

[Repeat bridge]

 

[fox69]

"In Brooklyn"

"In Brooklyn"



'Oh I come from Pittsburgh to study astrology,'
She said as she stood on my instep,
'I could show you New York with a walk between Fourth Street and Nine.'
Then out of her coat taking seven harmonicas
She sat down to play on a doorstep saying
'Come back to my place I will show you the stars and the signs'
So I followed her into the black lands
Where the window frames peel and flake
And the old Jewish face behind the lace
Even now trying to get to see what's cooking
Just John the Baptist in the park getting laid thinking there's no-one looking
And its eighty degrees and I'm down on my knees in Brooklyn

Her house was a dusty collection of rusty
Confusion with landings and tunnels
And leaning bookcases and spaces and faces and things
Where twenty-five Puerto Ricans, Manhattan Mohicans
And Jewish-Italian Pawnbrokers
Lead their theatrical lives in their rooms in the wings
While outside in the black lands
The violent day runs wild
And the black and white minstrels run through the crazy
Alleys while the cops go booking
And ruthless toothless agents sneak around and there's no-one looking
And it's eighty degrees and I'm down on my knees in Brooklyn

And oh, I'm back in the city again
You can tell by the smell of the hamburger stand in the rain
She spoke of astrology while muttering apologies
For coffee that tasted of hot dogs
I said 'That's OK, mine was cold anyway, and just grand'
Then she lay on the bed while the radio fed
Us with records and adverts for cat food
And I looked at her, holding my thoughts in the palm of my hand
And outside in the black lands
The evening came and went
And the bums in the street begging money for one last drink
Are hanging round the liquor stores trying to get a foot in
And the girl from Pittsburgh and I made love on a mattress with the new moon looking
And in the cool evening breeze I was down on my knees in Brooklyn

 

[fox69]

"Indian Summer"

"Indian Summer"



Indian summer, the shops are shuttered and the crowds are gone
The souvenir sellers are moving on
Like summer lovers
Indian summer
The earth is cracked beneath the midday sun
You've dragged your shadow round these streets too long
There is no cover
Come stay, we'll live gazebo lives
And let the world outside pass us by
Right here in our Arabian Nights
Until the Northern Lights cross the sky
There is no other
Indian summer, the storm that drove you here is far behind
What keeps you waiting on this beach tonight
It's long been over
Come stay, we'll live gazebo lives
And let the world outside pass us by
Right here in our Arabian Nights
Until the Northern Lights cross the sky
There is no other
Come stay
Right here

 

[fox69]

"Jackdaw"

"Jackdaw"



I'm running away on a day like today
Nothing you say could cause me to stay.

Jackdaw (jackdaw)
Leaving by your back door
Should be gone by now
Should be gone by now
Should be gone by now.

Don't try to follow, just leave it alone
The trains have all left now and the station is closed.

Jackdaw (jackdaw)
Leaving by your back door
Should be gone by now
Should be gone by now
Should be gone by now.

It's five in the morning and it's rainy and cold
Just go back to sleep now and you won't see me go.

Jackdaw (jackdaw)
Leaving by your back door
Should be gone by now
Should be gone by now
Should be gone by now.

 

[fox69]

"Joe The Georgian"

"Joe The Georgian"



Now I've got my payment
For the service that I gave
They've given me my ticket
To this place beyond the grave
I suppose it's kind of funny
I suppose it's kind of sad
Thinking back on all the times we had

But it's kind of hot and smoky
In this ante-room to Hell
And I won't make up a story
'Cause you know the truth so well
It's much too late to worry
That we never had a chance
And when Joe the Georgian gets here
We will dance, dance dance
When Joe the Georgian gets here
We will dance

We all set off together
On this sorry ship of state
When the captain took the fever
We were hijacked by the mate
And he steered us through the shadows
Upon an angry tide
And cast us one by one over the side

But it's kind of hot and smoky
In this ante-room to Hell
And I won't make up a story
'Cause you know the truth so well
It's much too late to worry
That we never had a chance
And when Joe the Georgian gets here
We will dance, dance dance
When Joe the Georgian gets here
We will dance

There's Kamenev, Zinoviev
Bukharin and the rest
We're sharpening our pitchforks
And we're heating up the ends
We've got a few surprises
For the mate when he appears
I hope he likes the next few million years

And it's kind of hot and smoky
In this anteroom to Hell
And I won't make up a story
'Cause you know the truth so well
It's much too late to worry
That we never had a chance
And when Joe the Georgian gets here
We will dance, dance dance
When Joe the Georgian gets here
We will dance