Todd Rundgren

[fox69]

"Tables Will Turn"

"Tables Will Turn"


Water, water everywhere and not a place to stand
My foundation rests on bedrock
But the bedrock rests on shifting sand

Once the mighty jungle gave way to the streets
Now the city's a jungle again
Every time the cycle completes
It's like nothing ever had changed

Tables will turn, tables will turn, tables will turn
Tables can turn
When will I learn that tables will turn
Tables can turn

It was always my hope to repay
All those favors that you would endow
Though I took what I could yesterday
Where are the crumbs when I'm so hungry now?

And the wind cries "Merry Christmas, Happy 4th of July"
When will I see you again?
Sometimes it's not safe to fly 'til
Tables have turned

This is the law and we didn't make it
But daily we twist it and bend it and brake it
And to prove just how little we understand it
We act as if it's just like we planned it

We're in a state of constant revolution
'Cause we got a small problem with our distribution
And if the balance of power needs arranging
Then the situation's got to keep changing

And if you start messin' 'round with the ratio
It's like tryin' to ride a seesaw solo
'Cause the further you get from the middle
You throw the balance off little by little

"Class distinctions come naturally"
You think that that can justify the inequity
And the sky grows black while the cities burn
And round and round and round, tables will turn

Tables will turn, tables will turn, tables will turn
Tables can turn
When will we learn? Tables will turn
Tables can turn

Tables have turned, tables have turned, tables have turned
Tables are turned, don't be concerned when
Tables have turned
Round and round and round, tables will turn

 

[fox69]

"Take It All"

"Take It All"


In a way, the sun has shone on me
Makes it easy to make it hard
Take an inch, take a yard, take it all
I don't need it at all

Any day, the sun could shine on you
Makes it silly to make it bad
Take it good, take it glad, take it all

[Chorus:]
Don't you know there's a stronger thing keeping us together
Don't you know there's a song to sing
Sing on, let the feeling take you high

[organ solo (Pete Ham)]

[Chorus]

Any day, the sun will shine on you
Makes it silly to take it bad
Make it good, take it glad, take it all
I don't need it at all
I don't want it at all
No, no, no.

 

[fox69]

"Tell Me Your Dreams"

"Tell Me Your Dreams"


You're standing in a cornfield, a hat in your hand
The wind is whipping at the weathervane
You're just a young boy in a big, wide world
The days seem to last forever
I pull up on the tractor, an old John Deere
You smile and offer up some water
The clouds are rolling, the corn is growing
The kids are playing by the chicken shed
Then you wake up, you're in our apartment
Down on the Lower East Side
You tell me what you dreamed about
It keeps me up all night
You tell me your dreams, I give you my heart

You're flying down a staircase, a cat in your arms
A man is crouching by the living room
There's blood in his eyes and no place to hide
Just you and him
You float above it, just out of his reach
He smiles and looks just like your brother
The cat is purring, the carpet's burning
And the walls close in
And then you wake up, you're in our apartment
Down on the Lower East Side
You tell me what you dreamed about
It keeps me up all night
You tell me your dreams, I give you my heart

Then I wake up, I'm in my apartment
Down on the Lower East Side
You call me on the telephone
And keep me up all night
You tell me your dreams, I give you my heart

 

[fox69]

"Temporary Sanity"

"Temporary Sanity"


I had such great expectations
Of the world's benevolence
Of benevolence
But I prefer hallucinations
'cause they tend to make more sense
Than experience

'cause it was just another sneak attack
Of temporary sanity
It was a pleasant stay, but now I'm back
From temporary sanity
My temporary sanity

I began to grow dependent
On a thing called "common sense"
It was common sense
But my world grew so resplendent
That the strain was too intense
Without self-defense

'cause it was just another sneak attack
Of temporary sanity
It was a pleasant stay, but now I'm back
From temporary sanity
My temporary sanity

The pool spreads across the pavement
Where the sniper made him lie
And he looks just like my youngest
And I'm watching him die
I must remind myself I've seen this
It's all ancient history
One long trail of twisted bodies
As the strong crush the weak

We must be crazy
We are crazy
This is our natural state
As our children die around us
We just sit here and wait
For a little temporary sanity
Some temporary sanity

There's a chance that we would still get the picture
If reality just came up and bit ya
But the news team would never report it
Because there's too much evidence to support it
If we were stupider, the problem would vanish
But our brains are much more than we can manage
We say we want something so bad we can taste it
But once we get it, then we turn 'round and waste it
We got a twisted fixation with marketplace
And every suffering soul is just another face
We think we're being manipulated from outer space
It's the collective guilty conscience of the human race
We get joyful when we look upon a lesser man
A specimen that we can be sure that we are better than
There is no shortage of supply of pride and vanity
There is no other explanation but insanity

You're listening to prozac
While the message goes unheard
It's the final word

We must be crazy
We must be crazy
There's no explanation
So we must be crazy

 

[fox69]

"The Ballad (Denny & Jean)"

"The Ballad (Denny & Jean)"


Jean did her best
Denny worked hard
And so together made him a star
And he loved her
Money changed hands
Denny must start
Tallying up things close to his heart
And he loved her so
But we don't always know what to say
When they ask you, what do you say?
No one can tell what's in a heart

People just drift apart
Jean lost her head
Denny got mad
"how, jean," he said, "can things be so bad
Right before my eyes"
Jean told a lie, denny deceived
Jean packed her bags to leave
"jean, if you must go
Before you do
Tell me you know I did it for you
And I loved you so."

 

[fox69]

"The Death Of Rock And Roll"

"The Death Of Rock And Roll"


Just the other day I got a call from a friend
"i heard what you been playin' and I think it's a sin
Why can't you make a living like the rest of the boys
Instead of fillin' your head with all that synthesized noise? "
Jackals wait nearby, watching rock and roll die
And no one dared to help it
Vultures fill the sky
I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free
But we all got sold
It must be the death of rock and roll
The critics got together and they started a game
You get your records for nothing
And you call each other names

Things got out of hand and somebody got sore
Now we're all tuning up for the rock and roll war
Time to take up sides, helping rock and roll die
Pick up your check at the window
No one left to cry
I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free
But we all got sold
It must be the death of rock and roll
Nobody paid, nobody played, nobody stayed
Just my lonely guitar
Nobody paid, nobody stayed, nobody played
Just my lonely guitar

 

[fox69]

"The Finale"

"The Finale"


Drumgoole, my dear, I must admit
Your life's been one long pile of shit
I must be nuts, at least a bit
To want to be involved in it

But given the alternative
Who knows how we'd be forced to live?
When worlds collide, when worlds collide?
With you, drumgoole, at my side
And at my side!
And at my side!

With worlds colliding in on us
Drumgoole must be trigamous
Pray, say we shall be man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

When worlds collide, the chivalrous
Drumgoole performs the frivolous
And dares to make it man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

That one's mine, he's my concubine
He'll get more out of me
Than what you peons call "love"
Hands off him, that one's mine!

Your favors do not satisfy
I've witnesses who'll testify
And though drumgoole is thin of thigh
She's worth a try, she's worth a try

Though nature was not generous
Her breasts are not as pendulous
Yet still they would be man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

Now according to the law this week
Still evolving even as we speak
Any woman may, at her discretion
Have her pick of losers

Since the breed has dropped so in quality
We abolish, hereby, monagomy
If you don't quite fancy this selection
We've got lots more losers

I've seen all that I need to see
I've fallen for their flattery
And so we shall be man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

When world's collide, the rest of us
Won't be here with the best of us
For these, they shall be man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

Correct me, honey
I smell no money
And when the chips are down
You'll be back around this finger here
I never said that I was in love with you
I never said that I was not, my dear

Why must this girl have everything?
How quickly he forgets the sting
For though she feigns to please him
She is talentless except to tease him
Don't think we haven't noticed

We'll have a shower
And I'll allow her
She seems amused with you
It's so hard to keep her entertained
We'll all go "nudies"
And you can bring your friends
Just keep the one who's nuts for tits restrained!

My long term memory
Is not what it should be
Some tiny spark of love
Helps me find the proper words to say
Your smell of money
You filthy, lying bitch
Is just about to make me puke!
Go away
Please go away!
It's time to make us man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

We've simplified, no muss, no fuss
And vows are now superfluous
I just declare you man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

Wait a minute! wait a minute!
Georgianna, get over here with that law book
Listen up everybody

I've the law book right in front of me
Article sixteen dash thirty-three
"when consenting adults shack together
They're connected legally"

Though he wants to eat and have his cake
There's a pact with me he cannot break
So the rest of you go rot forever
This one will stay here with me

When worlds collide, the devious
The cunning, and the mischevious
Our not-yet-happy-home divide
When worlds collide, when worlds collide

When worlds collide, this friend of us
Is forced to be a succubus
Cruel fate is not upon our side
When worlds collide, when worlds collide

Connie! connie!
This urgent telegram is just in from parliament
Well don't just stand there, let's gloat over it
Aw oh, I don't think you're going to like this
"must clear the old regime' away
The residue must be destroyed
As of 9:00 o'clock today
Contracts with men are null and void"
What!

You're free, my boy, I'm proud to say
And so without further delay
I now declare you man and bride
And man and bride and man and bride!

When worlds collide, the least of us
May get to share the feast with us
For now we four are man and bride
'til worlds collide, 'til worlds collide
We're men and bride!

 

[fox69]

"The Individualist"

"The Individualist"


Gather 'round children, I got a tale to tell ya

There was a time when I couldn't bust a rhyme
Had yet to hit my prime
'Cause my mind was such a young mind
And first you got to unwind
The mystery of your soul, it's like a black hole
The gravity is too thick
You got to learn to lighten up a bit
It's such a frightening thing to realize
Every time you close your eyes
You been cut down to size
'Cause you're stuck with yourself
Ain't nobody else to compare yourself to
It's just you
And then you ask yourself, "What's it all about?"
So you try to figure it out
And that's when you'll be tempted to believe foolish things
And deceive yourself by lettin' someone else
Do your thinkin' for you
When they haven't got a clue
But you can't relive the hype, don't ya see?
'Cause I got a special answer meant just for me
Somewhere in my immediate vicinity

And if there's time enough to get it
Then in time I'm gonna get it
'Cause I am the Individualist

Check my references
Wherever you are now you know I been there, done that
Don't need to sling the scat 'cause my resume' is too fat
Change my name to some funky fresh dingbat
Like "the artist formerly known as TR-i"
I got to laugh when they try to figure out what it's all about
And they doubt that I'm so devout
But it's something I can do without
I got to know why I wanna know what I wanna know
Why do I go where the others won't go?
My eye is on the prize that's in disguise
That you can only theorize, but I can utilize
To rise above the lies about reality
'Cause you can't relive the hype don't ya see?
'Cause I got a special answer meant just for me
Somewhere in my immediate vicinity

And if there's time enough to find it
Then in time I'm gonna find it
'Cause I am the Individualist

Here comes the Individualist
Yes I am, the Individualist

 

[fox69]

"The Last Ride"

"The Last Ride"


It's the last ride
Our little game is over
It's the last ride
It's time to take you home
And we can't cry 'cause we seen it coming
No use running, take it slower

It's a dangerous drive
I'm afraid to arrive
But I strive to survive
More a fool than alive
I thought I knew just everything
I had it made and I could coast
But I turned away love when I needed it most

It's the last ride
My little game is over
It's the last ride
It's time to take me home
And I can't cry 'cause I seen it coming

No use running, take it slower

And the road rolls around
And turns through the town
The depression drips down
And glazes the ground
Horizons east and skylines west
The moon, the sun, and all the rest
The loving son, the faithful wife
The burnt out wreck of a poor man's life
The father, son, and holy ghost
They all turned away love when they needed it most

It's the last ride
Their little game is over
It's the last ride
It's time to take them home
And they can't cry 'cause they seen it coming
No use running, take it slower

 

[fox69]

"The Last Thing You Said"

"The Last Thing You Said"


So may people have heard me cry
Since that terrible day when you said goodbye
So many dark corners have heard me say
How the light has gone out since you went away
Everyone's heard of how you left me again
Everyone's heard about my so-called friend
They tell me I'm a fool, but I don't hear a word
'Cause the last thing you said was the last thing I heard
How many times I've tried to talk to my heart
But it won't even listen since you tore it apart
I have to tell myself there's only one thing to do
Try and find someone else and forget about you
I know she doesn't mean a thing in the world
I waste my hours with another girl
She says she loves me so but I don't hear a word
'Cause the last thing you said was the last thing I heard