Rock Singers

"They say that no one's gonna play this on the radio They said the melancholy blues were dead and gone But only songs like these Played in minor keys Keep those memories holding on."

"I'm so romantic I'm such a passionate man Sometimes I panic What if nobody finds out who I am?"

"We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it."

"I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes. I know there's fish out there but where God only knows. They say these waters aren't what they used to be. But I've got people back on land who count on me."

"Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I'm shot. Sometimes I don't know how much more I've got. Maybe I'm headed over the hill Maybe I've set myself up for the kill. Tell me how much do you think you can take Until the heart in you is starting to break? Sometimes it feels like it will."

"Well I'm shameless when it comes to loving you. I'd do anything you want me to I'd do anything at all. And I'm standing here for all the world to see There ain't that much left of me That has very far to fall."

"And so my child and I came to this place To meet him eye to eye and face to face. He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced. We never knew what friends we had Until we came to Leningrad."

"But darling there you go, slipping away into a state of grace Granted, this world is not a perfect place. Still it's the world that I'm in. Here I am talking while you don't hear a word I say. Knowing you're watching me from far away Somewhere that I've never been."

"And every time I've held a rose It seems I only felt the thorns. And so it goes, and so it goes. And so will you soon I suppose."

"I've seen those big machines come rolling through the quiet pines. Blue suits and bankers with their Volvos and their valentines. Give us this day our daily discount outlet merchandise. Raise up a multiplex and we will make a sacrifice. Now we're gonna get the big business. Now we're gonna get the real thing. Everybody's all excited about it."

"Advice is cheap you can take it from me. It's yours to keep 'cause opinions are free. Nobody knows about the trouble I've seen. Nobody's perfect, mister, nobody's clean. It cost too much and takes too long to find out too late. Some words are not heard 'til after they're spoken. Your role was protective, your soul was too defective. Some people just don't have a heart to be broken."

"We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China If you'd only had a little more faith in me. In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum, reminders will still shine bright. All the king's men and all the king's horses Can't put you together the way you used to be. We could have been standing on the Great Wall of China."

"These days there's a million ways To be pulled and torn, to be misdirected. These times there are sins and crimes On the morning shows for the disconnected. I look and I write my book And I walk away with the wrong impressions. I don't care 'cause I've done my share. And I need some time for my own obsessions It doesn't matter, I've let that life go by. It's been forgotten 'cause all I wanted was you."

"Some days I have to give right in to the blues Despite how I try to keep fightin'. It's a sure shot I'm going to lose. And I'll tell you why. You think I'm crazy. It's such a sad composition. But can you blame me For what's been causing my bad disposition? Ain't nothing new with my blue situation And nothing's fine it's just a minor variation."

"Some things were perfectly clear, seen with the vision of youth. No doubts and nothing to fear, I claimed the corner on truth. These days it's harder to say I know what I'm fighting for. My faith is falling away. I'm not that sure anymore. Shades of grey wherever I go The more I find out the less that I know. Black and white is how it should be But shades of grey are the colors I see."

"She waits for me at night, she waits for me in silence. She gives me all her tenderness and takes away my pain. And so far she hasn't run, though I swear she's had her moments. She still believes in miracles while others cry in vain."

"It's all about soul. It's all about faith and a deeper devotion. It's all about soul. 'Cause under the love is a stronger emotion. She's got to be strong 'Cause so many things getting out of control Should drive her away. So why does she stay? It's all about soul."

"Goodnight, my angel Time to close your eyes. And save these questions for another day. I think I know what you've been asking me. I think you know what I've been trying to say. I promised I would never leave you. And you should always know Wherever you may go No matter where you are I never will be far away."

"Goodnight, my angel Now it's time to dream. And dream how wonderful your life will be. Someday your child may cry And if you sing this lullabye Then in your heart There will always be a part of me. Someday we'll all be gone. But lullabyes go on and on... They never die. That's how you And I Will be."

"In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep Through the valley of fear To a river so deep. And I've been searching for something Taken out of my soul Something I would never lose Something somebody stole."

"The trees creak with their arthritic arms / brittle in their powederd bark / this year took ten years to / tell me that I'm alone again"

"If it's sad / you know it's true / God is glad on bluer moons / When your room is all you do / it comes to you"

"We put a monkey up in space / and I know exactly how he felt / looking at a lattice work of stars / missing his brothers back home too much for a postcard"

"Turtle on its back in the desert sea / and you look like a cool drink / just slightly out of reach / Draw myself into the shell / waiting on a sign from God / or a nod from hell"

"Be a believer / Believe everything / You'll be right half the time"

"Everyone tells me they're crazy / Crazy people aren't so fucking boring / Wake me when you're through being cool 'cause I'm snoring"

"You don't know what I'm all about / Like killing cops and reading Kerouac"

"Put my ear to the door / I just heard gunshots and hot rods and sirensPeople kill me these days / There's keys in their eyes but they lock from the inside"

"The records I end up liking I don't like right off the bat. I want to call our next record Tenth Listen. That's the test."

"Young people are very cynical now, you know? Very cynical! They've been taught cynicism, they've been — they've been bred cynicism. So, I think it's important to give them hope and realism in the same package, you know? You can be realistic but there should be — there should be hope in it. Because hope's what we're about. If we don't have hope then we don't go on."

"I think for it to be unhip to be idealistic is weird, you know? I mean, even all the best rebels to me had some sense of hope in them."

"I don't understand the ones that have no sense of hope and invest in hate. That's not gonna work out, you know? It's a waste of your time!"

"You don't hear any more of, 'Hey, we did something creative and we turned a profit, how about that?' Everywhere we look, we want to make the most money possible. This is a dangerous, corrupt notion. That's where you see the advent of programming on the radio, and radio research, all these silly things. That has made pop music what it is today. Everything — morals, truth — is all going out the window in favor of profit."

"I don't think it's a good attitude in your life to feel that you have to be rich to have self-esteem. You know, I saw a billboard in New York I wish I had photographed. It was for the TNN network. It said three words against a patriotic background of red, white and blue — BIGGER, YOUNGER, RICHER. Now, I find that fascinating: 'Bigger, younger, richer.' This whole idea of being wealthy has gone too far. I never ride in a limousine, you know. I feel gross if I get in a limousine. One good thing about the sixties was it sort of was the opposite back then. You looked silly trying to appear rich."

"It's funny how the music industry is enraged about the Internet and the way things are copied without being paid for. But you know why people steal the music? Because they can't afford the music. I'm not condoning downloading music for free. I don't think that's really fair, but I understand it. If you brought CD prices back down to $8.98, you would solve a lot of the industry's problems."

"An act like ours wouldn't even be around today if someone hadn't brought us along and let us make mistakes and grow at our own pace. Today it seems that if you don't have a hit — or even if you do — they have no use for you the next time."

"I'm frustrated by what I hear. Maybe it's not meant for me. Personally, I'm way too bright for a lot of the hip-hop lyrics to affect. I'm much too smart to think that jewelry or how cool I am is really going to change much about my personality. If you're dumb enough that it entertains you, have a great time. But I am seeking more than that."

"I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe that an artist has to take some moral responsibility for what he or she is putting out there. And I think a lot of these young kids are going to have to learn the hard way before they realize that you can actually do some damage if you're being careless or frivolous in what you're saying."

"I think television's become a downright dangerous thing. It has no moral barometer whatsoever. If you want to talk about something that is all about money, just watch the television. It's damn dangerous. TV does not care about you or what happens to you. It's downright bad for your health now, and that's not a far-out concept. I think watching the TV news is bad for you. It is bad for your physical health and your mental health. The music business looks like, you know, innocent schoolboys compared to the TV business. They care about nothing but profit."

"Artists aren't necessarily business people. And they aren't necessarily aware of all the things that go on in their names. Some just want to make some music, but there is a lot of greed among artists as well. Whether or not we know it, we are all to blame. I think it's time — starting with the artist — to try to be a little more responsible and aware of what goes on in our name."

"I feel sorry for kids these days. They get so much homework. Remember the days when we put a belt around our two books and carried them home? Now they're dragging a suitcase. They have school all day, then homework from six until eleven. There's no time left to be creative. The hardest part for me is when my thirteen-year-old is complaining about the workload. I agree with him. I'm supposed to be responsible and support the teacher. But it's like, "You're right, son. This is bullshit.""

"If we're born in God's image, then God knows how we can fuck up. And he knows that you really didn't mean it."

"It’s very uncomfortable to hear them used when I don’t agree with what’s being said. But I recognize that those songs have entered into a bigger life, a life all their own. They belong to the audience. How they’re used isn’t always something I can control."

"It's alright if you love me, It's alright if you don't. I'm not afraid of you runnin' away, Honey I get the feeling you won't."

"There is no sense in pretending, Your eyes give you away. Something inside you is feeling like I do, We've said all there is to say."

"Well she was an American girl, raised on promises. She couldn't help thinkin' that there was a little more to life somewhere else. After all, it was a great big world with lots of places to run to. Yeah, and if she had to die tryin', she had one little promise she was gonna keep."

"And for one desperate moment There he crept back in her memory. God it's so painful, something that's so close Is still so far out of reach."

"Little miss queen of hearts you're a strange thing. Why you wanna stay so vague? I'm wandering through this mess you've made To see what I can save."

"I need to know(I need to know) I need to know(I need to know) If you think you're gonna leave, Then you better say so."

"She's gonna listen to her heart. It's gonna tell her what to do. She might need a lot of loving, But she don't need you."