Well it’s a petrol station nightmare and I’m pumping gasoline

The heat is so oppressive that it makes me feel unclean

The flies take brief siestas in my half-filled coffee cup

Someone comes, I say “Hello”. They say, “Fill ‘er up.”

I’m just out past Yagoona, out ’round Bass Hill way

Petrol fumes and country tunes, they fill my head all day

Where the Skyline’s just a drive-in, the horizon’s just a haze

The petrol pump feels like a gun and I feel out of phase.

Sometimes at night I lie awake dreaming half born thoughts

Of petrol station nightmares and things I thought I’d lost

Of empty cars that line the streets, thousands in the host

Burnt out frames of old Fairlanes filled with sleepless ghosts.

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This is a song about spring, when all the snows are melting

And the east wind falls gently on your skin.

Snakes slither from their earthy womb, from the season when the soul’s entombed

And lowering clouds have set the mood, now’s the time to seek the good.

And time, time stretches out like an ocean into the rising sun

And your mind can’t hold the notion of the depth of time to come.

This is a song about fire, the birthing of the heart’s desire

Rising like a boiling flood in the belly and the blood.

See to the lambs, get the plough, prepare for sweat upon the brow

Light a candle, whet the blade, the crone is dead, rise for the maid.

And time, time stretches out like and ocean into the rising sun

And your mind can’t hold the notion of the depth of time to come.

This is a song about blood flowing in the season of love

Deeper down, cold dark and chill the crocus rises on the hill.

And blood, blood sings like angels; only a story the living can tell.

Light a candle, whet the blade, time to grasp all that you crave.

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Hey dragonfly, where have all the dragons gone?

Like mist before the coming dawn, gone and left you all alone.

When summer baked their ruby hides, you’d zap and flit and twist beside

An emerald jewel with azure eyes, shimmering in the wake as a dragon flies.

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Gone, never to return

The sun continues to burn

The night still holds the moon

All things end too soon.

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Hey dragonfly, hovering in the reeds

Floating on the gentle breeze, do you notice me?

I wonder what your eyes see, thirty thousand facets of reality

Do you still gaze on a geography where dragons blaze and roam free?

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Gone, never to return

The sun continues to burn

The night still holds the moon

All things end too soon.

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Dragonfly, so many things have gone

It’s hard to carry on, somehow you carry on.

And when your time is done under this moon and sun

Will you follow the dragon’s tale and leave us for a world less pale?

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Who’s that, whispering in the courtyard?

Who’s that, singing on the breeze?

Who’s that, sliding down the rooftops?

The Devil’s gonna come.

The Devil’s gonna come.

When I was young I was taught to be good

Or I’d come across the Devil in the darkening wood

The Devil would tempt me from the path that’s right

And he’d leave me there forever in eternal night.

Who’s that, knocking at the window?

Who’s that, scratching at the door?

Who’s that, shambling down the hallway?

The Devil’s gonna come.

The Devil’s gonna come.

As I grew up into a man

I didn’t think much about the Devil’s plan

Came across some mean men, some women too

But I never found the Devil, just the lovesick blues.

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Well the Devil may care, then again he may not

Sometimes he’s being cool, sometimes he’s running hot

He’s the Devil of Karma, the man with no flaw

He’ll come kicking down your door in the name of the law.

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Who’s that, underneath the covers?

Who’s that, climbing down the stairs?

Who’s that, rattling the wardrobe?

The Devil’s gonna come.

The Devil’s gonna come.

Poor old Devil has lost his home

So he’s creeping ’round the place looking for a phone

Who’s he gonna call? Who can tell?

But he’s got a simple message and it’s “Go to Hell!”

Who’s that, knocking on your skull?

Who’s that, pumping in your veins?

Who’s that, licking your lips?

The Devil’s gonna come.

The Devil’s gonna come.

You can hear your mama crying as you’re running through the trees

Summer is exploding ’round you, there’s jasmine on the breeze

But the season’s kinda twisted, you don’t know what she needs

It’s like she thinks it’s autumn and she’s sowing tears like seeds.

This world is just so obvious, all the leaves are green

Insects dance through shafts of light and smash against the screens

And some tears hit the thirsty earth to help the things that grow

Whilst others fall like bitterness amongst the autumn stones.

Summer is the season, the season without stones

In winter they split beneath the earth, in spring they shine like bones

In autumn they lie hidden for harvest blades to find

Or broken down by years of tears they turn to soil in time.

And it isn’t that she doesn’t love you, she just thinks she know the way

That you should live in summer, before autumn comes to stay

And somewhere, in some other place, she’s wrapped inside her need

Thinking that it’s autumn and sowing tears like seeds.

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I have always been a soldier for family and company

A veteran of a thousand fights that often had the best of me

I could’ve made a fortune, I could’ve just died young

With blood and sweat, and lies and fear, I could’ve been someone

But a soldier I’ve become.

I could have been a miner, a teacher or a saint

A merchant or a senator, I could have learned to hate

I could’ve been famous, could’ve lived life on the run

With blood and sweat, and lies and fear, I could’ve been someone

But a soldier I’ve become.

A soldier’s life is simple, as simple as a war

Violence my companion, like hunger for the poor

And if you ever see me staring at the sun

Well take your plans, your lies and fears and find some place to run

For a soldier I’ve become.

So listen all you generals and captains of industry

I’ll hold to your allegiance but I will remain free

And here’s to all who think they rule through ability or right

Who will you turn to when it’s your turn to fight

For a soldier holds your might.

I have always been a soldier for family and company

I’ve held to your allegiance but I have remained free

So ask yourself, you leaders, what is it that you hold

And wonder what can be bought for a pocketful of gold

And watch out when you set a course for the setting of the sun

Be careful where you run to when it’s your turn to run

For a soldier I’ve become.

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The lights in all the houses have turned on

The television sings a muted song

And the cars down on the street

Roll to a slower beat

Soon the darkness will be complete.

You take off all the faces of the day

One by one you strip them all away

And the purpose that they served

Now seems quite absurd

With the sun, they will return.

So go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep

The time has come to dive deep

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep

Soon the darkness will be complete.

In dreams we walk the landscapes of the heart

We touch the secret vision of who we are

Naked and alone

Never far from home

We feel the things that daylight tears apart.

So go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep

The time has come to dive deep

Yes go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep

Soon the darkness will be complete.

Summer is gone

Winter seeps into the sky

I can’t go on

Without you by my side.

I think of home

Curled beside the fire

Sheltered from storms

Wrapped up in our desire.

Winter paints my days in greys and whites

Fills my nights with lonely stars and a pale moonlight

Wraps my clouded heart in her chill touch

I always knew I’d miss you this much.

Summer is gone

Winter seeps into my skin

I am alone

And I don’t know where to begin.

Winter paints my days in greys and whites

Fills my nights with lonely stars and a pale moonlight

Wraps my clouded heart in her chill touch

I never thought I’d miss you so much.

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Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger from Pexels

I saw you on the street today

I could’ve stopped but I turned away

And maybe it wasn’t even you.

The sun was bright, the air was clear

And suddenly, you were there

But maybe it wasn’t even you.

All the things locked in my head

They clatter and they clang to wake the dead

They tumble and they grumble and they swear and they spit

And I’ve just about had enough of it.

Last night I dreamt the house set fire

While you were singing in a choir

But maybe it wasn’t even you

I caught a glimpse as I awoke

Of a silver form with a blackened rope

And maybe it wasn’t even you.

All the things locked in my head

They clatter and they clang to wake the dead

They tumble and they grumble and they swear and they spit

And I’ve just about had enough of it.

Ghosts belong in ruined towers

Broken houses and darkening woods

All these things have found their place

A home in my heart and they’re here for good.

I whistle as I walk along

I heard you singing our old song

But maybe it wasn’t even you

Sometimes I wish that you were here

Sometimes I wish you’d disappear

But maybe it isn’t even you.

All the things locked in my head

They clatter and they clang to wake the dead

They tumble and they grumble and they swear and they spit

And I’ve just about had enough of it.

Ghost belong in ruined towers

Broken houses where the living bled

All these things have found their place

But some of my ghosts aren’t even dead.

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