Guitarists From Canada

"Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free."

"You who build these altars now to sacrifice these children, you must not do it anymore. A scheme is not a vision and you never have been tempted by a demon or a god."

"When it all comes down to dust I will kill you if I must, I will help you if I can. When it all comes down to dust I will help you if I must, I will kill you if I can."

"I finally broke into the prison I found my place in the chain Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows"

"It's four in the morning, the end of December I'm writing you now just to see if you're better New York is cold, but I like where I'm living There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening"

"Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes I thought it was there for good so I never tried And Jane came by with a lock of your hair She said that you gave it to her That night that you planned to go clear Did you ever go clear?"

"Now I've heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do you? It goes like this the fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah"

"You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah"

"I remember when I moved in you And the holy dove she was moving too, And every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah."

"I did my best, it wasn't much I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you. And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah."

"The captain called me to his bed and fumbled for my hand "Take these silver bars," he said, "I'm giving you command." Command of what? There's no on here. There's only you and me. The rest are dead or in retreat or with the enemy. "Complain, complain, that's all you've done ever since we lost, If it's not the crucifixion then it's the holocaust.""

"And I sing this for the captain Whose ship has not been built For the mother in confusion Her cradle still unfilled For the heart with no companion For the soul without a king For the prima ballerina Who cannot dance to anything"

"I come from a country where we do not have the same struggles as you have. I respect your struggles. And it may surprise you, but I respect both sides of this struggle. It seems to be that in Europe there needs to be a left foot and a right foot to move forward. I wish that both feet move forward and the body moves towards its proper destiny. This is an intense country; the people are heroic, the spirit is independent. It is a difficult country to govern, it needs a strong government and a strong union. … I would like to say to you, to the leaders of the left, and the leaders of the right, I sing... I sing for everyone. My song has no flag, my song has no party. And I say the prayer, that we said in our synagogue, I say it for the leader of your union and the leader of your party. May the Lord put a spirit, a wisdom and understanding into the hearts of your leaders and into the hearts of all their counsellors."

"I have no program, I have no five-year plan. … It doesn’t mean that you shouldn't have one! I just move from hotel to hotel, and from bar to bar, and by the grace of the One above occasionally a song comes, and I remember sitting at this particularly obnoxious Polynesian restaurant where they served a kind of coconut drink that was particularly lethal and sinister which contained no alcohol but a certain chemical that demoralized you entirely. And I remember writing on one of their very badly designed napkins, "I remember you well at the Chelsea Hotel..." so I dedicate this song to one of the great singers, Janis Joplin."

"I know there is an eye that watches all of us. There is a judgment that weighs everything we do. And before this great force, which is greater than any government I stand in awe and I kneel in respect and it is to this great judgment that I dedicate this next song, "Hallelujah"."

"I don't know which side is anybody on any more. I don't really care. There is a moment when we have to transcend the side we're on and understand that we are creatures of a higher order. That doesn't mean that I don't wish you courage in your struggle. There is on both sides of the struggle men of good will. That is important to remember. On both sides of the struggle, some struggling for freedom, some struggling for safety and solemn testimony of that unbroken faith which binds generations one to another I sing this song, "If It Be Your Will""

"They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom For trying to change the system from within I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin."

"I'm guided by a signal in the heavens I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin."

"Ah, you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin."

"Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows that the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That's how it goes Everybody knows."

"Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do Everybody knows that you've been faithful Ah give or take a night or two Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet without your clothes And everybody knows"

"Everybody knows that the boat is leaking. Everybody knows that the captain lied... And everybody knows that you're in trouble... Everybody knows it's coming apart. Take one last look...Before it blows. Everybody knows"

"If you want a lover I'll do anything you ask me to. And if you want another kind of love I'll wear a mask for you."

"Here I stand, I'm your man."

"My friends are gone and My hair is grey. I ache in the places where I used to play. And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on. I'm just paying my rent everyday In the Tower Of Song."

"You can say that I've grown bitter but of this you can be sure. The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor. And there's a mighty Judgement coming but I may be wrong…"

"I see you standing on the other side. I don't know how the river got so wide. I loved you, baby, way back when. And all the bridges are burning that We might have crossed and I feel so close to everything that we've lost. We'll never, we'll never have to lose it again.Now I bid You farewell, I don't when I'll be back. They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track. But you'll be hearing from me, baby, long after I'm gone. I'll be speaking to you sweetly From a window in the Tower Of Song"

"I've seen the future, brother: it is murder."

"Waiting for the miracle There's nothing left to do. I haven't been this happy since the end of World War II."

"If you're squeezed for information, that's when you've got to play it dumb: You just say you're out there waiting for the miracle to come."

"We're drinking and we're dancing but there's nothing really happening. The place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night."

"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

"Every heart to love will come But like a refugee."

"It's coming through a hole in the air From those nights in Tiananmen Square It's coming from the feel That it ain't exactly real Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there From the war against disorder From the sirens night and day From the fires of the homeless From the ashes of the gay Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

"It's coming to America first The cradle of the best and of the worst It's here they got the range And the machinery for change And it's here they got the spiritual thirst It's here the family's broken And it's here the lonely say That the heart has got to open In a fundamental way Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

"I smile when I'm angry, I cheat and I lie. I do what I have to do to get by. But I know what is wrong and I know what is right, and I'd die for the truth in my secret life."

"And here you are hurried, And here you are gone; And here is the love, That it's all built upon."

"Here is your cross, Your nails and your hill; And here is your love, That lists where it will"

"May everyone live, And may everyone die. Hello, my love, And my love, Goodbye."

"The light came through the window, Straight from the sun above, And so inside my little room There plunged the rays of Love.In streams of light I clearly saw The dust you seldom see, Out of which the Nameless makes A Name for one like me."

"All busy in the sunlight The flecks did float and dance, And I was tumbled up with them In formless circumstance."

"I'll try to say a little more: Love went on and on Until it reached an open door — Then Love Itself Love Itself was gone."

"You whisper, "You have loved enough, Now let me be the Lover.""

"I swept the marble chambers, But you sent me down below. You kept me from believing Until you let me know: That I am not the one who loves — It's love that chooses me. When hatred with his package comes, You forbid delivery."

"If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame You want it darker We kill the flame Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name Vilified, crucified, in the human frame A million candles burning for the help that never came You want it darkerHineni, hineni I'm ready, my Lord"

"They're lining up the prisoners And the guards are taking aim I struggled with some demons They were middle-class and tame I didn't know I had permission to murder and to maim."

"Children show scars like medals. Lovers use them as secrets to reveal. A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh. It is easy to display a wound, the proud scars of combat. It is hard to show a pimple."

"I fought against the bottle but I had to do it drunk"

"So the great affair is over but whoever would have guessed it would leave us all so vacant and so deeply unimpressed. It's like our visit to the moon or to that other star I guess you go for nothing if you really want to go that far."

"And sometimes when the night is slow The wretched and the meek We gather up our hearts and go A Thousand Kisses Deep."