What happened

I'd give you a carpet to lie on
I'd give you a lion to watch
but you came to buy a tiger
you were such a lovely catch

    What happened in the morning ?
    what happened in the night ?
    were you staring at the sky ?
    were you taken by surprise ?

I'd give you this bag as a present
I'd give you this hand to write songs
but you came to look at nature
and you didn't stay too long

     refr.

She'd give me a little red capsule
she'd give me a tiny green pill
and I travelled through the poems
as I wandered in the hills

      refr.

4/2/69. Herat, Afghanistan

Make amends

Well I left my home in a hurry
headed for the faraway hills
but now my poor heart's full of worry
was it worthwhile or just cheap thrills

Should I go or should I linger
oh woman, it's so hard to tell
I feel like I can't lift a finger
and I'm not feeling all that well

The road has dangers and strange cares
I should be looking for some friends
the load sometimes is too heavy to bear
oh sweet lord we must make amends

         make amends for the heartache
         and the shiver in the night
         make amends for the madness
         and the feverish old fright
         make amends for the monsters 
         moving freely in my mind
         I just never knew
         no misery like this kind


1970

Hide a while

She was standing everywhere
she held the rooms in her hand
she was walking on the rain
I could not fall could not stand

       hide a while stay a while
       live inside my eyes
       hide a while stay a while
       live inside my mind
       hide a while stay a while
       live inside my head
       hide a while stay a while
       and then again be dead

she was walking on the edge
the riverside of my smile
she was stepping daintily
inside my lake of the night

        refr.



1969. Tania

Fool

Oh won't you, oh won't you
break my mind with laughter
break my mind with smiles
oh won't you, oh won't you
open my mind with laughter
open my mind with smiles
    

        I'm a fool but I'm cool
        I'm a fool so I'm cool

    I've been walking everywhere
    I've been looking here and there
    I've wondering all the time
    about rain and wind and shine
    going back home again
    going back home again

      repeat first verse and refr.


1969

Stolen kisses

Your husband says he's nervous
ever since I arrived
I can easily understand him
I'm just the same
if it comes to that

I told your man I want her
ever since I arrived
he could easily understand me
he's just the same
if it comes to that



       sweet lady of the land
       close at hand
       close at hand
       country woman of my heart
       far apart
       far apart

he left us both alone to
do some work in the fields
I was shaking in my knees and
mist 'fore my eyes
I could hardly see

I watched your mellow movements
stooping over your work
I was shaking in my knees and
mist 'fore my eyes
I could hardly see

    refr.

You went to get some water
from the old water-well
I was thinking do or die now
soft sweet lips
and your smiling eyes

The sun and I we're both hot
in need of some release
I was thinking do or die now
soft sweet lips
and your smiling eyes


   refr.


1974

Woman

I believed we did not fit together
so I wandered off alone and far
to come back from quizzical countries
and find you really were a star

fleeting woman in the mountains
under sun and moon together seen
you are the entrance and you are the exit
and the whole space in between

I look at her and say she's not like me
so does she and she is wrong like me
we are each other but then how can we see
stumbling and dreaming in eternity ?



1973

Fire

I'm tired of just staying alive
if the price ain't right
just going back to where I've been
walk down your street at night
watching your light
you are the best thing I have seen

       oh and I'm on fire
       volcanoes burning in the sun
       well I say
       oh I'm on fire
       I've seen the starlight
       it keeps me on the run

Of all the places on the road
there's stories told
but I'm not gonna write them down
so when I'm alone
I get on the phone
just to let you know I'm still around

       refr. 


                  when I get back in town
                  what I wanna do
                  is to turn your life around
                  baby we'll get by
                  there's a million billion things I've found
                  hey we'll get by

       refr.



1986