The occassion

You can starve just as you please
there'll be some sad society
where they take care of the poor
and relieve their own anxiety

you can warp your mind and wonder
why the door would still be closed
if you sold your soul at half-price
to the angels with no clothes

    oh they rise to the occassion
    standing up for some sweet truth
    they are on the crest and gazing
    they are waiting they are watching
    but they are mute
    apprehending some sweet truth
    they are waiting they are watching
    but they are mute

you can look and try to tease
some tramp out for free rides
but in times of compromise
we're all glad to save our hide

you can drink your fill in bars
give her all you've got to give
but the curfew strikes and
you're barely able to deliver

    and to rise to the occasion
    get it up fro some sweet truth
    you'll be on that crest and gazing
    you'll be waiting etc.

I can drive with you till dawn
talking to you at the wheel
trying to distill some meaning
from the many things I feel

reviewing old relationships
floating by like burning logs
upon the river of some vision
where I'm with you in the fog

    and we rise to the occassion etc.


1981.