Song Lyrics

Alone

Around Round

Baile Vida

Bitchin' Ride

The Cactus-Needle Stomp

Chiricahua

A Day Song

Do and Can

Don't You Mind

Family Matters

Frontera Fandango

Hard Ain't Easy

Hungry Ghosts

Love of Mine

The Man on Haverhill Ridge

The Mental M*****bation Rag

Moon of a Distant Star

The Red, White, and Horny Blues

The Road

See me running

Silly Is As...

Too Many

Too Plain Simple

What Part of 'No'

What to Be (Why Not in the Key of C)?

Whatever waltz

Whys Skies

YourSelf

Alone

Introduction.

1.
I watch the electric light,
playing games on the ripping water.
And listen to the gentle palms
sighing sadly into the breeze.

Here in the concealing grass I lay,
thinking at the end of the day.

2.
I take a blade of life,
it's touch a kiss upon my hand.
The searching wind silkens my face,
in flight of its long-lost love.

Here in the concealing grass I lay,
thinking at the end of the day.

Soliloquy.
I coldly plot my life —
its failures and aspirations.
But life is lived through living,
not through contemplation.

3.
The love of the passing innocent
hurts a forgotten past.
But the sad beauty of it all,
puts to rest my shambled mind.

The night gently hides me from the known,
but still I know
I am alone.

Alone. Alone.
Alone. Alone.

© 1969
Lars Samson

Around Round

Introduction.

1.
'Round and 'round — here we go around again.
                    Again. Again. Again.
Just got here and we're off — around the bend.
                    No end. The bend. No end.
'Round and 'round — like our planet, spinning wheel.
                    And tides. Empires. Known truth.
Like seasons, life's circle, the big-bang reel.
                    Explode. Implode. Explode.

Chorus.
You can't analyze it. It's simply the worldly...
Tao. Ouww. Ouww. Ouww.
It's only what we do. And the who and the where.
The how and the why — 'least now.

2.
In tough times — wait a minute, they'll be gone.
                    Moved on. So long. Beyond.
Miss something? Don't worry, it's coming back.
                    No jack. All that. So whack.
Like a round — cy-cl-ing upon itself.
                    Around. Confound. Astound.
Harmonies doubling a single line.
                    Two-voice, one-phrase, haiku.

Chorus.
(Repeat)

Bridge.

3.
Slinging force bending us into a lean.
                    Low bow. Back bent. Eyes down.
Some ride it — cresting with the rip-tide wave.
                    Flotsam. Jetsom. Awesome.
Brake to floor doesn't get you any place.
                    Big waste. No taste. Small case.
'Least this way — not trampled by the rat race.
                    Get space. 'Bout face. With grace.

Chorus.
(Repeat)

4. (Fade out)
'Round and 'round. Here we go around again.
                    Again. Again. Again.
(Repeat and fade.)

© 2007
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

Baile Vida

1.
Get off your seat, join the baile —
don't let the music slip away.
May find a partner who fits your arm
or the beat that makes you sway.

Chorus.
Solo necesitas empezar mover.
Eschuca a pies, se sabran.
Vacias tú mente y no piensas.
Suéltate al ritmo.

2.
No need to like dance for baile —
need no talent, foot-step chart.
Baile's not done for performance —
it's a chance to soar with heart.

Chorus.
(Repeat)

Bridge.

Instrumental.

3.
Baile like life — whirling, pausing —
or for some, it's tapping feet.
Anyone with a heart can do it —
it follows life's split-time beat.

Chorus.
(Repeat)

<< Chorus translation >>
All you need is to start to move.
Listen to your feet, they will know.
Empty your mind and don't think.
Lose yourself to the rhythm.

(Translation help from Diana Douglas and Jill Ginsburg)

© 2008
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C," and 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Bitchin' Ride

Introduction.

1.
My little car's got a couple dings
Needs some spot paint but her engine sings.
Upholstry's not Italian leather
But check it out — it's a tight sweater.

Chorus.
Just turn her over and gently coax her and she'll go, go, go, go. Go, go, go. go.
Start your curves wide, ease tight inside — you'll both flow-oo-ow-oo-ow. Flow-oo-ow-ooo-...
..oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. More, more, more, more. More, more, more, more.
In the straight stretch; fifth gear, ya betcha so-oo-ar, -oo-ar, so-oo-ar, -oooo-...
...aaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

2.
Some boys get hot over detailing.
Or trucks with chrome custom tailgating.
My ride's got lines that no paint can touch.
Leaves boys' loads curbed coz they ain't that much.

Chorus.
Acceleration. No hesitation. Bump, bump, bump, bump. Bump, bump, bump, bump.
Pushed back by the thrust. Lungs about to bust. Pump, oo-ump, oo-ump. Pump, oo-ump,oo-ump-ooumm...
...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmp. More, more, more, more. More, more, more, more.
Peeling, squealing. Screaming, careening. So-oo-ar, -oo-ar, so-oo-ar, -oooo-...
...aaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Instrumental.

3.
Drivers walk by with a dissing glance.
Don't know they've passed what could stretch their pants.
My little car's such a bitchin' ride.
But you won't know 'less you get inside.

© 2006, 2007
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C," and 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

The Cactus Needle Stomp

Introduction.

1.
Out in the west where the land is hard and dry,
The desert spreads wild as far as you can eye.
They got these trees
That whistle in the breeze
That ain't got no leaves,
But bristles that poke right through your sleeves.

2.
Yes, this-here cacti thrives in the dry, hot sun.
Some still livin' been growin' since the white man come.
Some short and round,
Some tower 'bove the ground
Some's green, or eaten, or brown,
But some ain't no where to be found.

Instrumental.

3.
A two-legged critter no bigger than a mule
Plagues the earth with the sense of a fool one too:
Cuttin' cacti down,
Spreadin' needles all around,
Leavin' nothing, but an ugly mound,
And turnin' tail, skeedaddlin' back to town.

4.
Before Areezonee statehood, in my hay-day,
We handled these cacti killers in no uncertain way:
We grabbed their hide,
Made 'em cleanup what died
While their pale, white skin got fried,
Just grumblin' and fixin' to be tied.

Stomp stomp stomp stomp.

© 1973
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

Chiricahua

Introduction.
Sun rising slits the desert night
'long the mountains at sky's edge,
trickling gray light down the slopes.
Pine and then Oak step out of black;
distant voices clear their throats;
the air sheds its dewed poncho.

Night's blanket rolls back
from valley below
stirring to awake.

1.
Lizards drag their shadows back to earth
which sighs — freeing a cold, musk incense.
Birds startled by the light
bark at the blood-born orb.
Coyotes shake their coats,
yawn a silent howl.

2.
Foliage lift their colors from the ground
to glow, vibrant in a green rainbow.
Horizon bursts aflame;
dust leaps into the sky;
hues bleed back to ground;
scrub don their white hides.

Instrumental.

3.
The dust, danced out, falls back to earth,
ignites in purple, orange, yellow, red.
Day creatures return home;
earth draws a graveled breath;
canopy crawls shut;
stars wink through their holes.

© 2005, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

A Day Song

Introduction.

1.
Tomorrow
today
life is a day.
Flowing out from one
flowing throughout one
flowing from one
to another.

2.
Pensive rain
sunshine
old friends of mine.
Unfolding within one
unfolding without one
unfolding with one
and another.

Instrumental.

3.
Tomorrow
Today
and some yesterday.
In blending as one
unmending as one
ending as one
bears another.

Tomorrow
today
and some yesterday.
(Repeat and fade.)

© 1974, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

Do and Can

Introduction.

1.
Do just what you can
Because — You know what? —
That's all you can do,
Can-Do Attitude.

Just what you can do
You know what because
All's doo that you can
Doo-Can Attitude.

Chorus.
There's only so much can
And, gladly, so much doo.
Don't do so much doo
You overflow your can.

2.
Only so much do
Can be inside you.
Become discouraged,
Can-Do Attitude.

Doo only so much
You can be inside.
Courage dis becomes,
Attitude can do.

Chorus.
Save time for undoing
And sitting on your can.
Nothing more helpful
Than learning your doing.

Instrumental.

3.
More than do and can —
They're just the outside.
Inside, do is be,
Can evaporates.

© 2007
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C," and 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Don't You Mind

Introduction.

1.
If you do not mind your mind,
It can get tangled as bad as twine.
Or become lost down a twisting mine,
Rash-'nal'-izing an assortment of minds of their own.

2.
Minding many can seem fine
As long as none of them cut in line.
But prob'ly best done not all the time.
If you think that you would not mind to not mind too much.

A.
Mind, why should I? Why, not something wrong!
Bind — tied up with fear.
Fine, who needs you, Mr. Smartypants?!
Mine — business your own.

Instrumental.

3.
Just a little peace of mind.
Low'ring the noise would seem quite sublime.
Little piece is all that many find.
But that's semi-conscious flotsam from my frontal lobe.

B.
Whine — won't those gears stop screaming at me?!
Grind — day in and out.
Crime — that life is so unfair to me!
Time — never enough.

4.
With a balanced mind you can be kind.
Seeing life's beauty and not its grime.
You may see that you had been as blind.
Just because it's minding the store, doesn't make mind wise.

© 2011
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Family Matters

(With thanks to Sharon Salzberg*)

1.
Wake in bed, friend at side —
Constant face in your mind.
Little hand grasping yours —
Lifted face, eyes' embrace.

Gathering for meals
In a love circle —
Care passed with bread,
Joy with drink.

Chorus.
Love, a cave man's bond
Passed only in blood.
Others sharpen it
Plunge your heart.

2.
But larger family
Humankind, Earth's children.
Sharing same needs and wants —
Dreams and fears, rights to joy.

On this blue circle
Spinning through the dark.
Science or faith —
We're from one.

Chorus.
(Repeat.)

3.
Quiet me, so I hear
When one talks; words fall short.
Learning love, peace so calm.
Feeling grace. Pass it on.

© 2005, 2007
Lars Samson

* Sharon Salzberg — Author of Lovingkindness (1995)

Frontera Fandango

Introduction.

1.
Along the south border,
all dance the Fandango.

Like it or not —
since the first White-Man wars.

Dance of brother countries
sharing this land.

Older brother
taken all that he can.

Nations Of the People —
like tribes long ago.

North with more wealth —
from its sold happiness.

South migrates to North —
as does nature.

North walls off life.
Hunts South, any season.

Chorus.
Este país enojado.      [ This country's gone mad. ]

Aggressive rage.
Not lis'ning. Not caring.

Está perdido.              [ It is lost. ]

Feeling ignored,
betrayed, and powerless.

2.
North welcomes everyone.
It's in their history.

Memory skewed
as news now sadly is.

Immigrants to workers
in their new place.

Seated behind
those who never see them.

North leaders say protect
against the outside.

Using hatred's
control over their ranks.

An imagined line
dividing us.

Serving statesmen
and their rich patrónes.

Chorus.
(Same.)

3.
(Instrumental.)

4.
The first tribes drew no lines
in dirt and peoples' blood.

Nations want laws.
People need only peace.

Republics want borders.
Rules written down.

Checks on voters,
but not on patronage.

Money rules both nations —
democracies bought.

Money with rights
taken from Middle Class.

Neighbors, together —
reclaim our voice.

Boundaries left
again to nature's hands.

Chorus.
(Same.)

© 2018, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Hard Ain't Easy

Chorus.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
        If it was it wouldn't be.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
        You weren't thinking it was free?!!

1.
You who work so hard at
Running from what's hard.
Call it inconvenience
You can hide from, wait out, pay off.
Some obnoxious fluke . . .

That only you have been singled-out for.
Woe is you!
The only person on the entire planet
Who has to break a sweat.

You make me puke!

Chorus.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
        And it doesn't go away.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
Hard ain't easy.
        Despite what our leaders say.

2.
Easy's not so easy
When it's not around.
And it forget its friends
Walks off, no word, leaves you facing 'ventuality. . . .

And you're allllllllllllll alone, mind racing:
Can I do this? Will it hurt?
Just who am I, anyway?
What is the meaning of life?
Does my mommy really love me?

Suck it up, already!

Chorus.
(Instrumental.)

3.
Hard at least is honest
'less you screw it up.
Make it hardly likely —
Create it where it need not be:
Blow a chance to have easy.

Chorus.
Hard gets easy.
Hard gets easy.
Hard gets easy.
        If you don't quit easily.
Hard gets easy.
Hard gets easy.
Hard gets easy.
        But that's not a guarantee.

© 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

Hungry Ghosts

(To MY&MALS* and Mark Epstein)**

Love of Mine

Introduction.
I can't breathe...

1.
...when you're gone. But I am fine to drive. I can still
catch your scent. My gift of cheap perfume. You are my
life. My being. All my days. (Except on Bowling Night.)

Chorus.
Long, yes and I long. Prob'ly too long. But I still long. And I
need you to need me hopelessly. (Only me. Only me.)
Lives intertwined. Knots double-tied. One. No longer two. You're my
coach. Cheerleader. Homecoming queen. Food and drink . . .

2.
. . . lose their taste. That could be your cooking. I do care
what you think. Try to hear what you say. No more mock
you in my head. Endure flaws that you have. Because
you are the love that is mine.

© 2020, 1974
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

The Man on Haverhill Ridge

Introduction.

1.
There lives this man
a warlock some say
on Haverhill Ridge
all alone.
Dark from shadows
he conjures black arts
the young ones are lured
then gone.

Chorus.
Seen nightly at the inn he takes drink
until his sin sleeps.
Staring into his potion and rum
a laugh means one weaps
at dawn.

Transition 1.

2.
No land, ref'rences,
nor standing has he.

Chorus.
His manner scoffs.
His contentment speaks sloth.

Transition 2.

3.
'Tis a drooling lech'rous sot
stinks of Tory gin,
women whom he bought.

Chorus.
'Tis an idle failure
scoffed at by the village
broods in corners
laughs at naught.

Instrumental.

(Repeat Verse 1.)
(Repeat Verses 1 and 3 simultaneously.)
(Repeat Verses 1, 2, and 3 simultaneously.)

© 1980
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

The Mental M*****bation Rag

Introduction.

1.
The mental m*****bation rag
                    Oh mental m*****bation
Sung by many a grump and nag
                    It beats self-admiration
While reaching climax on themselves
                    The thing is m*****bation
Hiding the truth on unread shelves.
                    It's self-gratification.

Chorus.
But it's really all self
But it's really all self
But it's really all wrong.

2.
M*****bation can be fun
                    Trip out on m*****bation
When you're the virile number one
                    It's a mind vacation
And all the world bows your way
                    Oh mental m*****bation
And right and wrong is what you say.
                    It's the latest sensation.

Chorus.
But it's really all self
But it's really all self
But it's really all wrong.

3.
M*****bation can be fun
                    The move is m*****bation
When you're the virile number one
                    You know it rules whole nations
But don't wake up or you're all through
                    Oh mental m*****bation
You'll find we're f***ed, but so are you.
                    Then it's ego deflation.

Chorus.
But it's really all self
But it's really all self
But it's really all wrong
But it's really not even . . . f***d.

© 1970, 2006
Lars Samson

Moon of a Distant Star

Introduction.

1.
The full moon's light bathes me
like the love we shared.
Its silver dust treasures all things
freeing the beauty within.
But can a love shared
have under-currents dark?
Buoyancy, yet drowning?
No. Yes. No. But, yes.

Chorus.
Changing phases brought shifting tides,
shadows 'cross her face.
In the dwindling light I scoured the
sliver left.
Begging to be wrong.
Damned as a cynic.
Not the calloused fool who broke her
heart.

2.
She will grow full once more,
shine with her kind light.
And I pray the sorrow I caused
retreats with the tides of time.
Don't know if she will
ever learn of my pain.
Just hope she finds a love
fusing as a star.

Chorus.
I still cherish the moonlight though
now its color's gray.
And its glow slips through my fingers,
hands gone cold.
The moon still spins its dance
but now I reflect
that it has become me —
shadowed face gath'ring
spent light
from a distant
star... distant
star... distant
star... distant
star... distant....

© 2008
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

The Red, White, and Horny Blues

1.
I knew that you would always, all-ways, always please me, mama.
I knew that you would always, all-ways tease me / please me, mama.
I knew that you would tease me / please me — never leave me grieve me — mama.
I knew that you would tease me / please me — never leave me grieve me — mama.

2.
I knew that you had always, all-ways, always saw me, mama.
I knew that you had always, all-ways saw me / draw me, mama.
I knew that you'd saw me / draw me — maybe paw me / maul me — mama.
I knew that you'd saw me / draw me — maybe paw me / maul me — mama.

Chorus.
But I didn't know what to do.
And you seemed mighty nervous too.
And here I thought you'd show me / know me,
take me / shake me / quake me, mama.

Instrumental.

3.
I knew that you would always, all-ways, always hick me, mama.
I knew that you would always, all-ways hick me / lick me, mama.
I knew that you would hick me / lick me — never stop me / drop me — mama.
I knew that you would hick me / lick me — never stop me / drop me — mama.

Chorus.
(Repeat.)

4.
I hoped that you would some how, some day, some way please me, mama.
I hoped that you would some day, some way tease me / please me, mama.
I hoped you'd tease me / please me — never be just like me — mama.
I hoped you'd tease me / please me — never be just like me — mama.

© 1972, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

The Road

1.
The road lures us forward
Turning high, then low.
Consuming all of our foot steps.
Taking us where we do not know.

Chorus.
Passage pumps in all our veins.
Pushed by spinning Earth.
Be it drive, wonder, or momentum
Trial or error, it starts with birth.

2.
Each footfall reunites us
With the dust within.
Completing the endless circle:
Leaving, then back where we begin.

Chorus.
Our tracks record our journey —
Road as our worn prose.
Eroded with time and others' steps —
Is it a tale
Is it a tale no one knows?

Super Chorus.
The road goes on. And on and on.
The road goes on. Taking us where it will.
The journey calls. We must answer.
The journey calls. We follow it until...

Step after step. Step after step.
Step after step. Leaving, then coming home.
Each step we take. Worn on the road.
Worn on our face. Worn gone and we're alone.

3.
Is the road but a hist'ry
Of our steps before?
Or is it a breathing story
Rewritten when we step once more?

Chorus.
Is the road not predestined?
Not an endpoint far?
Can not each step change the direction?
Alter what we can be and are?

4.
All steps meld into this one —
Left, right, untaken.
A grounding, actualization.
Rebirth from which we awaken.

Chorus.
The road is this step we take.
Step becomes the road.
Passage, grounding, and enlightenment —
Road and us, two
Road and us, as one enfold.

Super Chorus.
Road as being. Transformation.
Each footfall, birth. Child wonder to our eyes.
Each step a road. A life each step.
Circled journey. Each pass, discovery thrives.

We are each step. We are the road.
The journey on. Welcome, horizon. Arise.

© 2007-8
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

See me running

Prologue.
CALM YOUR MIND WITH WORK.
WORK COMES FROM THE STATE.
THE STATE CALMS YOUR MIND.

YOU ARE THE WORK.
WORK IS THE STATE.
THE STATE IS   Y O U .

Introduction.
(Instrumental.)

1.
See me running
kindly move
by with no
fight.
No sense stopping
rather burn
out in free
flight.

Chorus.
The media-mazed sit
on their minds and
stare in blindness.
Manic mouths mime
machinery mesh
mindless
blindness.
No one will ever
find us.

2.
Through the madness
people squeeze
out in their
haste.
As from plankton
modern man
nuclear
waste.

Chorus.
(Repeat.)

See me running.
See me running.

Instrumental.
See me running.

See me running.
See me running.

3.
See me running
stretching far
as I can
get.
I'll die running
break-neck speed
burn every
bit.

Chorus.
(Repeat.)

© 1974, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Silly Is As...

Introduction.

1.
Polar ice caps are melting fast
While Pres'dent George draws up plans for another war.
Rich get richer. Want more. Monopolize.
Working stiffs get more work and more time and freedom poor.

Chorus.
Guess I'm just a silly simpleton
Senseless, standing in the acid rain.
'Least I can recall a simple fact:
Life's meant to be more than pain.

2.
Med-'ya malignants all the air
Compressing life and truth, half-wrong bites with cheap shots.
Cable, cell phones, blank walls, and now the frig.
Coming soon: bathroom stalls, but that seems a nat'ral spot.

Chorus.
Guess I'm just a silly simpleton
Plug pulled from the med-'ya pressure hose.
Haven't seen the latest YouTube vid
But I feel what curls my toes.

Instrumental.

3.
Sun dawns each morn warms ev'ry-one.
Birds join in song with no single or download fee.
Flowers open, no plan, 'coz they can.
Best, my dog wags his tail, clears his eyes when he sees me.

Chorus.
Guess I'm just a silly simpleton
But none been harmed by composed song.
Pundits might say this is substance-less.
Don't care if it helps along.

© 2008
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C," and 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Too Many

(To Woody Guthrie and Aldous Huxley)

Introduction.

1.
Too many machines all over Our Land —
gears turning gears.
Huge, steel-shelled snails oozing concrete mucus
seal off the ground.
Metal beasts never close their glow-red eyes —
growl through the night.
Oiled teeth gnash when we wake, resume the whine —
chewing up the last of silence.

Chorus.
Machines inserted in our ears
or circ'ling within their range.
Demanding that we answer now —
offering us none themselves.
None.

2.
Too many people are crawling Our Land —
armies of ants.
Carting back what they are told has value —
landfills bulging.
Go where told by twitching antenna with
command or creed.
Blind to those underfoot, just the mission —
Feed the economy, produce.

Chorus.
Numbers where one seems a zero —
not rash'nal, worthy of sum.
But factor that without the ones,
the many would be a none.
None.

Bridge.

Instrumental.

3.
Too many manies flood Our tired Land.
Waves crush the few.
Like making more simply makes it better.
Does it really?
With many, the value of each one can
get washed away.
Many in one, gentle ripples unseen —
be your one. Touch another one.
One.
Too many. None.
Too many. One.
One.

© 2008
Lars Samson
From the 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Too Plain Simple

Introduction.

1.
I am but a simple lad who
Tries to do what's right.
But in these too-complex days it's
Hard, when you're not bright.

2.
So I watch each step I take with
Looks at where I've been.
Butt against some walls that way:
Step 'side, start again.

Bridge.
Commentators, self-help gurus
Try to correct me.
Some on TV come complete with
Money-back guarantee.

Chorus.
Nose to grind stone, ear to the ground.
Mind your p's and q's.
Keep your chin up, keep your head down.
Do what you're told to.

Face your problems. Turn other cheek.
Stiff upper lip. Eye on your tongue.
Don't drag your feet. Keep feet on ground.
Play for the game. Be number one.

Call now. Tune in. Grow up. Sit down.
Conform. Bite me! Confront. Chill out.
All these orders. Each salvation!
Only confuse me.

3.
With all of this contradiction
Someone must be wrong.
Or it could be each of us must
Write our pers'nal song.

4.
Maybe there's not just one answer
That will serve us all.
Could be part of each one's life is
Learning from a fall.

Bridge.
(Repeat.)

5.
I've chased after others' ways and
Paid my share to suits.
Think I'll keep with watching these old,
Trail-weary boots.

6.
(Instrumental)

© 2005, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

What Part of 'No'

Introduction.

1.
Talk and texting, talk and texting,
talk and texting — ev'ryone has lots to say.
So much chatter, little matter
and what's sadder — simply passing time.
With words faceless, over-supplied
lose their value — background noise to glaze over.
So you take my words as blabber,
venting, posing — as if gestures by a mime.

Chorus.
What part of "No" don't you understand?
The meaning would seem clear.
You sure know "Yes" — think the opposite.
Is it that you can't hear?

2.
Guess you have little exper'ence
with those who say what they mean and mean what say.
I don't talk to speak to myself —
had hoped you might catch a word or two.
If you want a conversation,
sometimes you must close the mouth and open ears.
In this age of visual prompting,
feel free to use my moving lips as a cue.

Chorus.
(Repeat.)

Bridge.

Instrumental.

3.
All these tools for passing data
circuits still need connection to ears and hearts.
Some will blame our 'tention def'cit —
pop-psych excuse for a lack of will.
More like tactic to hear what want,
ignore others, get your way at any cost.
Only one syllable. Same in
others' language — not talking a lot of skill.

Chorus.
What part of "No" don't you understand?
The meaning would seem clear.
You sure know "Yes" — Think the opposite.
Hope this can find your ear.

© 2008
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

What to Be (Why Not in the Key of C)?

Introduction.

1.
Walking free
or resting on a tree
with a friend or two
glad and sometimes blue
that's all I want to be.

2.
                    Walking my way through the day
Walking free
                    one step at a time.
no man on your TV
                    No first or last,
selling stuff you don't need
                    no future, past,
or what's there to read
                    no need for a reason or rhyme.
but mostly selling me.

3.
                    Walking my way through the day
Walking free
                    one step at a time.
no door to opportunity
                    No first or last,
no double-handed clocks
                    no future, past,
the first kid on my block
                    no need for a reason or rhyme.
I've found that's not for me.

Chorus.
Learning of having
and the sad love of letting go.
Halving my learning
letting my freaky hair and mind grow.

4.
Walking free
or resting on a tree
with a friend or two
glad and sometimes blue
that's all I want to be.

© 1972, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

Whatever waltz

1.
(Instrumental.)

2.
Bare branches, leaves having fallen
like blued mirrors singed by the sun.
Thin arms shaking the wind for a look in
the shattered faces on leaves about their feet.

3.
Truth requires careful handling.
It can turn on you, slashing deep.
Slitting an eye which bleeds when it's opened,
clenching the heart so you can't feel it beating.

Chorus.
Limbs turn from the mirrored lines in their eyes,
the faces splitting and twisting — sigh, "Cracks swallow tears."
Waltzing with no partner, 'gainst an empty sky,
awaiting snow's blanket to veil their loneliness.

4.
So we hide our truth inside coats,
asking the same thing: not listening.
Empty palms like cups without any taste,
we turn the collars of our dreams, pause, and leave.

5.
(Instrumental.)

© 1973, 1986, 1996, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C," and 2023 album, "DOH Re Me."

Whys Skies

1.
Looking at the clouds and sky
Often leads unavoidably to why.
If the day's clutter intrudes
Taints a quiet interlude.

Chorus.
Why —
Old friend, tormentor.
Why —
No, just child wonder.

2.
Greeting the innocent clouds
Do we take what they offer to share?
Or do shadows, buzzing flies
Reshape things with our blind stare?

Chorus.
Why —
Old heart, take a breath.
Why —
Hold it then, exhale.

Bridge.
When in balance, I do not look for answers
Or even ask why I ask.
Hitch a ride with any why
Enjoy wandering wonder so vast.

3.
Wondering for an answer
Seems like fishing for an old boot.
You have had a day well-spent
Despite reason being moot.

© 2007
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

YourSelf

1.
Trippin' crazies got you
twisted outside in.
Ask a straight for help
and his badge breaks in a grin.

Chorus.
But don't let it eat you
not til you're out.
Everyone may lie and leave you
bleeding in the street —
you can't leave yourself . . .
well, not for long.

2.
Your woman Sal got the dose
said your early morning drip.
And a nasty call from your woman Jan
seems last night she got the grip.

Chorus.
But don't let it eat you
not til you're out.
Everyone may lie and leave you
bleeding in the street —
you can't leave yourself.

Bridge.

3.
(Instrumental.)

4.
Lined up to score for retail
your partner fingered the man.
But your bread just gets you 30 days
and no friend, no bail, or Jan.

Chorus.
But don't let it eat you
not til you're out.
Everyone may lie and leave you
bleeding in the street —
you can't leave yourself.

© 1973, 2006
Lars Samson
From the 2018 album, "Return to the C."

Brief song descriptions.

Poems by the band's lyricist.