The Waterboys

[fox69]

"Strange Boat"

"Strange Boat"



We're sailing on a strange boat
Heading for a strange shore
We're sailing on a strange boat
Heading for a strange shore
Carrying the strangest cargo
That was ever hauled aboard

We're sailing on a strange sea
Blown by a strange wind
We're sailing on a strange sea
Blown by a strange wind
Carrying the strangest crew
That ever sinned

We're riding in a strange car
We're followin' a strange star
We're climbing on the strangest ladder
That was ever there to climb

We're living in a strange time
Working for a strange goal
We're living in a strange time
Working for a strange goal
We're turning flesh and body
Into soul

 

[fox69]

"Suffer"

"Suffer"



I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

You tried to drive a wedge between me and my friends
You pushed me to the edge time and again
I've been living in your shade since I can't remember when
Now I'm bringing this charade to an end

I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

There was subtlety and skill in your manipulative ways
You chipped away my will so you could make me stay
You soothed me with your voice until I obeyed
But I'm making my own choice from today

You used the tongue of love like a boxer uses fists
You contained me like a glove or a creeping cloak of mist
You guaranteed the stars but there always was a twist
Now I see you as you are - Egotist!

I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

I've got a ticket in my hand and I must be moving on
But I want you to understand that from the moment I am gone
I release and let you go - you owe nothing now to me
I'm not angry anymore - I'm free!

I'm gonna suffer for you no longer
I'm gonna suffer for you no more
I'm gonna write you out of my life
And shut the door

 

[fox69]

"Sunny Sailor Boy"

"Sunny Sailor Boy"



On a day of days
I stood and gazed
over the western sea
I was completely dazed
wide-mouthed and amazed
when a mermaid called to me

Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh
Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh-wo
My sunny sailor boy

Like a man in a dream
for an age it seemed
I stood as still as a stone
while the creature sang
and her melody rang
like a memory calling me home

Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh
Oh-wo-oh-wo-oh-wo
My sunny sailor boy

 

[fox69]

"Sustain"

"Sustain"



Blues are falling like showers of rain
But I don't feel like crying
Death is abroad this day
But I don't feel like dying
I learned how to sustain myself
How to sustain myself in storms

Her tongue was like a scythe
And all her bones were haunted
A scapegoat for her life
Was all she ever wanted
I learned how to sustain myself in storms

Sir Bedivere slept in the field
His armour strewn around him
Curled foetus-like beneath his shield,
Still weeping when we found him

I teetered on the edge of doom
Degenerate and broken
She sucked the poison out of my wounds
And spoke the great unspoken
I learned how to sustain myself in storms

His monstrous ego, whipped and driven
Raged beneath his clothing
The compliment he paid was given
Not with grace but loathing

Deliverance is at the gate
With arms and gold in store
She apologises for being late
But I don't need her anymore
I learned how to sustain myself
How to sustain myself in storms

Scoured and stripped of all pretence
Shorn of all illusion
I offer nothing in my defence
- you may draw your own conclusions
I learned how to sustain myself in storms

 

[fox69]

"Sweet Dancer"

"Sweet Dancer"



The girl goes dancing there
On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth
Grass plot of the garden
Escaped from her bitter youth
Escaped out of her crowd
Or out of her black cloud.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

If strange men come from the house
To lead her away, please, do not say
She's crazy
Lead them gently astray
Let her finish her dance
Finish her dance.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

She sings as the moon sings
I am I, I am I
The greater grows my light
The further shall I fly
I hear the wind a-blow
I hear the grass a-grow
And all that I know
I know, I know.

The girl goes dancing there
On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth grass of the garden
Let her finish the dance
Let her finish the dance
Finish the dance.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer.

 

[fox69]

"Sweet Thing"
(originally by Van Morrison)

"Sweet Thing"
(originally by Van Morrison)



And I will stroll the merry way and jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats and they'll get high
On a blue ocean, against tomorrow's sky

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And I will never grow so old again
Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing

And I will stroll the merry ways and jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats and they'll get high
On a blue ocean against tomorrow's sky

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And never ever ever ever ever get so old again

Ooh...
Sweet thing
My my my...

And I shall drive my chariot down your streets and cry
Hey, it's me! I'm dynamite and I don't know why
And you shall take me warm in your arms again
And I will not remember that I ever felt the pain

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And never ever ever ever ever get so old again

Ooh
Sweet thing
Yeah yeah yeah...
Sweet thing
My my my...

And I will raise my hand up into the night time sky
And count the stars there shining in your eyes
Just to dig it all an' not to wonder, that's just fine
And I'll be satisfied not to read in between the lines

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain
And never ever ever ever ever get so old again

Sugar-baby with your champagne eyes
And your saint-like smile....

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take this broken wing and learn to fly
All your life you were just waiting for this moment to arrive
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take your sunken eyes, learn to see
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to be free...

 

[fox69]

"Tenderfootin'"

"Tenderfootin'"



You're tenderfootin' baby
You're tenderfootin' baby
You're tenderfootin' baby
When you should be ballin' around
You're tenderfootin' baby you got your tender feet
Flat back on the ground

Yeah, you're tenderfootin' baby
Places that you don't belong
You're tenderfootin' baby, baby, baby
Places that you don't belong
You better run baby
When you hear this song

You're tenderfootin' baby
Doin' things somebody like you ought not to do
You're tenderfootin' baby
Doin' things mama never told you to
I'd be on the train baby if I was you!

You're tenderfootin' baby

 

[fox69]

"The Big Music"

"The Big Music"


I have heard the big music
And I'll never be the same
Something so pure
Just called my name

I have drowned in the big sea
Now I find I'm still alive
And I'm coming up for ever
Shadows all behind me, ecstacy to come

I have
Climbed the big tree
Touched the big sky
I just stuck my hand up in the air
And everything came into colour
Like Jazz mana from sweet, sweet chariots

I have seen the big mountain
And I swear I'm halfway there

(You'll never get there, you'll never get there, you'll never get there)

But I will, I will always climb the mountain
Because...

I have heard the big music
And I'll never be the same
Something so pure
Has called my name

 

[fox69]

"The Charlatan's Lament"

"The Charlatan's Lament"



At long weary last
This game is over
The sins of the past
Fled from my shoulder

The sleep that I need
Is all that I ask
In thought and in deed
I have burnt the mask

Here I am
Here I am

Enchantment is broken
I merged with the crowd
Oaths have been spoken
Inside and out loud
Emerging from under
Motions of God
In tears and in wonder
I ventured abroad

Here I am
Here I am

Can you walk a smithereen
Can you walk a smithereen
Closer to me
Could you love a thimbleful
Could you love a thimbleful
Harder for me

Encountered a loathly hag
Blood on the snow
She said "I've a burden to drag
And leagues to go"
I left her down by the seaside
In someone's hall
By dawn's empty light I cried
To no-one at all

Here I am
Here I am

Can you walk a smithereen
Can you walk a smithereen
Closer to me
Could you love a thimbleful
Could you love a thimbleful
Harder for me

I swing between
Tears and wonder
I swing between
Tears and wonder
I swing between
Tears and wonder
I swing between
Tears and wonder

Can you walk a smithereen
Can you walk a smithereen
Closer to me
Could you love a thimbleful
Could you love a thimbleful
Harder for me
Harder for me

 

[fox69]

"The Christ In You"

"The Christ In You"



I'm gonna look twice at you
Until I see the christ in you

When I'm lookin through the eyes of love