Down The Road Album: Song For America (February 1975) (Steve Walsh /Kerry Livgren) I'm in a kind of foolish game, I try to get rich quick, But I'm going insane, The kind of freaks that hang out on 42nd Street They're all pimpin' Judys and poppin' speed, well It's a game of cat and mouse, and I think it's got my soul, I think it's time for thinkin' 'bout a time to roll on Down the road Here comes Big Mike, I kinda owe him some beans, He must be crazy, I guess that's why he's so mean, If I tell him I'm leavin', he would sure enough split my gut, Cause he knows I sold to a sucker, and I owe Big Mike a cut, But I'll slip him a 20-dollar bill till I get out of town, When I hit those white lines, I'm gonna be gone like a Greyhound down the road Song For America (Livgren) Virgin land of forest green, dark and stormy plains, here all life abounds Sunlit valley, mountain fields, unseen in the rain, here all life abounds No man rules this land, no human hand has soiled this paradise Waiting patiently, so much to see, so rich in Earth's delights Painted desert, sequined sky, stars that fill the night, here all life abounds Rivers flowing to the sea, sunshine pure and bright, here all life abounds No man rules this land, no human hand has soiled this paradise Waiting patiently, so much to see, so rich in Earth's delights So the maiden lies in waiting, for the sails to reach the shore Land of beauty and abundance, innocent, you opened wide your door Wanderers found the waiting treasure, full of gifts beyond their measure Milk and honey for our pleasure..... Across the sea there came a multitude, sailing ships upon the wave Filled with visions of Utopia, and the freedom that they crave Ravage, plunder, see no wonder, rape and kill and tear asunder Chop the forest, plow it under..... Highways scar the mountainsides, buildings to the sky, people all around Houses stand in endless rows, sea to shining sea, people all around So we rule this land, and here we stand upon our paradise, Dreaming of a place, our weary race is ready to arise Lamplight Symphony Album: Song For America (February 1975) (Kerry Livgren) On a winter's night, stars are cold and bright in the sky, The slumber of the earth is pure and deep From a distant wood, drifts the echo of a beast The old man stirs and wakens in the night He stands before his window gazing at the grave Forgotten dreams are flashing through his weary mind And though his life is empty, he pretends that she's still there With hunger in his soul, he yearns for life and love gone by, With memories his one and only joy All he has to give, he would give to bring back the life, And raise the one who lies beneath the snow He lights a lamp and looks at pictures of the past The faces of their youth still glow with new-found love, But the picture's faded, and time has stolen youth away With a spoken word that he thought he heard from her lips, He felt another presence in the room, He was filled with fear but filled with joy he arose And turned to face the image that he knew She stood before him and her hand reached out for his A peaceful light shone in her eyes She said she'd come to soothe him, and someday they'd be as one She began to fade and her image disappeared, So he was left alone to face the night, Never in his life, had he been so held in awe, As he faced the apparition of his wife He stood before the window gazing at the grave, And with a lightened heart he saw the first of dawn, He knew that she was waiting, that someday they'd be as one Lonely Street Album: Song For America (February 1975) (Ehart /Dave Hope /Williams /Walsh) Sometimes when I'm walking down this lonely street, Well, it sure don't seem like twenty years, Since I went walking down this lonely street And the smell of perfumed ladies filled the air This street ain't got no name, dead end is in the river, And I lived where I hated life day by day, There wasn't nothing I could do to shake a cold night shiver, 'Cause to move up Lonely Street you had to have some say Gambling is bad luck down on Lonely Street And it sure ain't no place to be when a man gets sore You know I killed a man and I paid all I can, With twenty years on a chain gang, For the flesh and the blood on that jailhouse floor Sometimes when I'm walking down this lonely street I get caught up in a dream that won't let me go And as the bright lights flash up and down this lonely street My mind rolls back the years long time ago I see my baby stumblin' around with tears in her eyes And as I reach out for her she falls on the floor She mumbles through bloody lips about a bad man, robber, raper, And in my gut I know I got one to score The word was comin' down, down on Lonely Street That the bad man was a dead man if he crossed my trail Every night I'd walk up and down this Lonely Street I get stinkin' drunk, and always in jail, One night they threw me in with a man they called the mangler He was caught on the street makin' some old whore, I remember he was quite proud of that, So half-crazed I shot him, And I cried in the blood on that jailhouse floor. The Devil Game Album: Song For America (February 1975) (Hope /Walsh) The sparks of the tempest rage a hundred years on The voice of the dreamer screams, the cause of the pawn The King and the Queen are gone, each piece is the same The difference between us is a part of the game Darkness is spreading like a spot on the sun The dead are the living in the age of the gun While everyone clamors for the justice they seek The world is corrupted and the strong take the weak They mold you and shape you, they watch what you do The sparks of the tempest are burnin' you through Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain Though they may promise, they only bring pain The future is managed, and your freedom's a joke You don't know the difference as you put on the yoke The less that you know the more you fall into place A cog in the wheel, there is no soul in your face Run for the cover, Millennium's here Bearing the standard of confusion and fear Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain Though they may promise, they only bring pain Blood in the sand, a cry in the street Now the cycle is nearly complete. Ten thousand years, and nothing was learned No turning back, now the wheel has turned Big Brother is watching and he likes what he sees A world for the taking, when he's ready to squeeze The King and the Queen are gone, each piece is the same The difference between us is a part of the game Soothsayer saying now tell me no lies What is this madness that is filling the skies Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain Though they may promise, they only bring pain Incomudro - Hymn To The Atman Album: Song For America (February 1975) Kerry Livgren Run a silent path to nowhere, everything is all You could have a pleasant life if Summer had no Fall Treat yourself so gently though the task is often hard Man is not a God it seems, who holds the final card Close your eyes and feel the darkness, speak and hear the sound, We only catch a glimpse of all the life that is around, The man is not alive who knows the value of his soul, And when our lives are pulled away, there's more to fill the hole I wonder what you'd think if all the changes didn't come, For growing old is only going back to where you're from Far beyond our senseless thoughts there lies a core of gold Where essence of the newborn child is waiting in the old, The Master Plan is well conceived, it's there for all to see And each day that is spent in thought is living harmony Reach into the depths of being, pass beyond the years, Time is lost in stillness, where there are no hopes and fears, Linger in the void, and like a beacon in the night Purity will fill your soul with ever-present light Everything you've seen is waiting patiently within For growing old is only going back to where you've been |