I got a letter from Nigel

He says he’s doing fine

He says he made it to Havana

Now he’s just wasting time.

I finish off my coffee

Turn out the light

Fifteen minutes to get to work

Or I’ll be out on the street tonight.

So Nigel’s in Havana looking for a boat

Speaking Spanish to the ladies, just managing to stay afloat.

Waiting for a taxi

On a wet and windy night

Reading Nigel’s letter in the darkness

Seems to shed some light.

He’s talking about palm trees

And the rising of the sun.

Ten minutes to get to work

And a taxi hasn’t come.

So Nigel’s in Havana looking for a boat

Speaking Spanish to the ladies. just managing to stay afloat.

Now I know some people

Who say escape’s not what it seems

Anyone who tries something different

Is a burden on their dreams.

But freedom here is measured

By the dollar in your hand

And Nigel’s in Havana

While I’m still making plans.

So Nigel’s in Havana looking for a boat

Speaking Spanish to the ladies, just managing to stay afloat.

I’ve finished Nigel’s letter

The taxi pulls away

One minute to walk through those doors

One minute to call it a day.

And Nigel says he loves the beaches

He says he loves the sun

He says he’d love some company

And he’s asking me to come.

So Nigel’s in Havana looking for a boat

Speaking Spanish to the ladies, just managing to stay afloat.

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Is there beauty in darkness?

Is there light at the jagged edges of the world?

Can you stop a raindrop from falling?

Can you speak what’s at the core of you?

Big black crow falling from the blue sky

Diving, shadow sliding, hanging, gliding

No use hiding.

Is there solace in silence?

A time when all the voices cease?

Can you stop the sun from exploding?

Can you embrace the will for peace?

One black eye watching from the blue sky

Waiting, hating, anticipating, seeking

No use speaking.

Is there beauty in darkness?

Is there light at the jagged edges of the world?

Can you stop the sun from exploding?

Can you embrace the will for peace in you?

One dark stain shattering the blue sky?

Screaming nightmare dreaming, thunder sounding

No use hiding.

One dark shadow covering the blue sky

Bullets loading, tracing, shooting, pounding

No use hiding

No use hiding

No use hiding.

---

The rolling hills surround you as you’re heading for the plains

The sky is overburdened with promises of rain

Flood markers show the height as the water levels rise

I hope I make it to Tocumwal before the breaking of the skies.

In this semi-darkness the land shows its true light

In phosphor greens and blood baked browns, waiting for the night.

As whip birds crack a melody between loneliness and tiumph

Your machine cuts the ribbon between the living and the dying.

One night south of Eden I made my first mistake

Where ghost gums block the starry sky I took a turning by a lake

And in that wild silence I felt the shadows take a breath

The heartbeat of an ancient land that moves too slow for death.

And the bush is just a dream in some city dweller’s mind

Because out here where the road ends is another space and time

Where the wind is just a whisper calling you to rest

Eden’s somewhere north of here and Tocumwal’s out west.

---

I was born when I never should have been born

And I cried when I never should have cried

And I learned things I never should have learned

So I burned, yeah I burned.

I loved what I never should have loved

And I gave what should never have been given

And I yearned for what could only be earned

So I burned, yeah I burned.

I touched what I never should have touched

And I tasted what should never have been tasted

And I turned pages I never should have turned

So I burned, yeah I burned.

I trusted what I never should have trusted

And I dreamed what should never have been dreamed

And I spurned, oh all the things I spurned

So I burned, yeah I burned.

Never should have never should have never ever should have

Never should have never should have never ever should have

Never should have never should have never ever should have

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Just one step, a single step

A stumbling step, a lonely step.

Just one word, a simple word

A word unheard, a word absurd.

You done have to shine, you don’t have to rise

You don’t have to soar across the skies.

You don’t have to reach the farthest star

Everything you need is where you are.

Just one kiss, a single kiss

It would be remiss to miss that kiss.

Just one touch, a simple touch

To fill the need I need so much.

You don’t have to shine, you don’t have to rise

You don’t have to soar across the skies.

You don’t have to reach the farthest star

Everything you need is where you are.

Just one look, a single look

Remember when a single look was all it took

Just one smile, a simple smile

And I’ll be happy for quite a while.

---

Black Roses

She made me think of black roses

When I needed darkness

She showed me the way.

So fragile

Her skin was like porcelain

Her tongue was like acid

She showed me the way.

Black roses on a blood red dress

Dark kisses and a sweet caress

We are alone

But we can be alone together.

Black Roses

I think of black roses

When my heart is troubled

When I’m in pain.

So seductive

Like a doorway to heaven

Like the end of the world

She showed me the way.

Black roses on a blood red dress

Dark kisses and a sweet caress

We are alone

But we can be alone together.

Thin stems and jagged thorns

Somethings die before they’re reborn

We are alone

But we can be alone together.

Black Roses

We are the Black Roses

We drink the colours

Out of the days

So insistent

Like an oil slick on water

Like a bruise on your shoulder

We’ll show you the way.

Black Roses on a blood red dress

Dark kisses and a sweet caress

We are alone

But we can be alone together.

We are the Black Roses.

---

I dreamt I saw my father last night in a house to which he aspired

He held something in his hand; a hammer, a bottle, a wire.

We looked at each other, he gently smiled. He hugged me, holding his fears.

He said, “I’ve waited a long time to do that son.” I said, “I’ve waited thirty-nine years.”

I remember things I wish were dreams. His anger, his weakness, his pain.

Holding him up when he could not walk. Listening when he could not talk.

Counting each breath one by one, until the breathing was done.

And through it all I shed no tears. I held him for thirty-nine years.

I think of my children, so young so new. I wonder what our time will bring.

I pick them up when they start to cry. I hold them to sing a lullaby.

The time will cone when they turn away. I hope that time is not near.

I’ll hold my father for the rest of my days. He held me for thirty-nine years.

I dreamt I saw my father last night. I don’t know what it means.

Will my children turn away? Will I hold them in their dreams?

---

“Faster! Faster!” said the one you’re after

As he drove away across a sea of alabaster

“South,” I think, escaped his lips

To the azure coast and the sailing ships.

“Later! Later!” said the agitator

No matter how I try I just have to hate her.

She’s good with her hands, a mistress of disguise

The kind of girl you use to hypnotise.

You dream with your eyes and the things you see

Are shadows of the things you’ll never bet.

“Higher! Higher!” said the midnight flyer

“We’ve got whiskey and coke and our own desire

“We’ve got guns and knives and the best by far

“At the end of the day I’ll burn the car.”

They looked out the window at the passing trains

From tenement desolation on the central plains

The sound of thunder was all they heard

Their senses split by the power of a word.

You dream with your eyes and the things you see

Are the shadows of the things you’ll never be.

And Sebas died in machine gun fire

On the street, like a dog, in the devil’s hour.

Died ’cause he couldn’t wait to face the fact

That he’d killed a man and could not retract.

And Meca died where the tenements crumble

Lost in flame he didn’t hear the rumble

As the insects descended from a mechanical sky

Spitting poison and blood from their eyes.

And Pablo died in a hotel room

Blood spilling from his side from a six inch wound

Christ crucified, a cross, a bed

An image of beauty phasing through his head.

And the girl with the shadow for a heart

Took the money and headed south.

Laughter! Laughter! is what we’re after

With insane screams that shake the rafters

When there’s one road out, that’s the road you take.

Better no chance than no escape.

---

It’s as cold as Satan where I’m born

I tangle my flesh in the mountain’s bones

I crush and I crack the gelid stones

I’m as simple as a knife when I leave my home.

I cut and I carve my life in the hills

I sing my song amongst the springs and rills

Dragged and pulled from the eternal chill

I’m the Augur of God, the hand of his will.

Down past the point where the green things abound

I hug at their roots, I scour their ground

Well I’ll be damned as soon as I’m found

But you’re never gonna stop me ’cause I can’t be bound.

I’m the bringer of life, the bringer of pain

I give my gifts freely, I have nothing to gain

When I’m engorged by my mother, the rain

I spread my mouth wide and swallow the plains.

Near the end of my journey things start to slow

Serenity bathes in my languid flow

She touches my surface but cloaks what’s below

You’ve got to dive deep to see the real show.

Within those depths are the things left behind

Rocks, dead tree limbs, the weeds of the mind

Enter me and I’ll try to be kind

But I can’t guarantee what your feet will find.

Sooner or later I find an end in the sea

I’ve served my purpose while still being free

You’ve got to understand that time means nothing to me

I’m the taste of the delta, still the sound of the stream.

When all the songs have been sung

And all the music has been played.

When all the rhythms have been strummed

And all the guitars put away.

When all the stars are in their places

And the angels in their beds

Moonlight shining on their faces

Love cradling their peaceful heads.

When all the bullets have been fired

And all the cannons laid down low

When all the generals have retired

And there’s no other place to go.

When all the stars are in their places

And the angels in their beds

Moonlight shining on their faces

Love cradling their peaceful heads.

Between the guitar and the gun

Behind the darkness and the light

Before the rising of the sun

When all things tumble into night.

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