Sample of Week 1 - Folk Lyrics Submissions

We had a box full of nails
you even weighed 'em yourself
had a birdcage on consignment
for sale on a handmade shelf
then McDonald's moved in
and Pietro's business dropped
most of his children moved away
when he closed his coffeeshop
I didn't give it much thought
we sold decent merchandise
and Mother's free coffee and cake
more than made up for our price

chorus:
there's no one on the street
it's the motels that make it main
their neons are a blurry purple
like parking lot oil in the rain
gone are the wooden sidewalks
and the jangle of cowboy boots
though old folks need it at night,
they shut off our one stoplight
O time is a two-faced clock
that cheated our business route

Home Depot's grand opening
came during the holidays
we hung on well into the summer
sticking to our helpful ways
yeah, maybe you'd just moved in
needing a well for your house
I'd tell you where to find ol'  Swede
he sure liked to water douse
but we ate the cake ourselves
on our out of business sale
we locked up with that bird cage left
and a full box of nails 

chorus

we gave back Pietro's cage
now he takes it to the park
ev'ry day he sits just hoping
to find a sick meadowlark
I could join him or apply
at Home Depot, I suppose
yeah, you'd think an old dog like me
would go with what he knows
and though Ma says McDonald's
is only for the young
I think the days'll go faster
working with Pietro's son

chorus

there's no one on the street
it's the motels that make it main
their neons are a blurry purple
like parking lot oil in the rain
gone are the wooden sidewalks
and the jangle of cowboy boots
there's no father and son stores,
you can't run a tab no more
O time was a two-faced clock
that cheated our business route
 

a neglected child
such a lonely child
not bad not good
seen as a fool

in the shadow
of a true king
do the right thing
for your country

(chorus)
i saw it 
through the eyes of the dragon
my father's cold cold eyes
in death he drinks the wine . . .
i saw it
through the eyes of the dragon
the nightmare haunts tonight
the ghost sleepwalks tonight . . .

such a lucky child
such a strong willed child
so good so smart
true king from the start

sent so far above
in a prison tower
for the murder of the
father that he loved . . .

chorus

do the right thing
for the true king
the magician 
is the one

all he wanted
was some mischeif
bring the wine
and kill the king!

chorus

do the right thing
for the true king
bring goodness to the kingdom again
bring the king down to the kingdom again 
 

Only in my dreams do I feel so free
that I only have to show
what I want you to see
I am that much stronger
can't wait any longer 
to say how I feel
and make you more real

I hope you understand
and I hope you feel the same
cause baby if you do
meet me half way

It doesn't get any easier
when I hold my heart away
and I know how much I love you
but, wonder if you'll stay

I can't make these feelings go away
so baby
meet me half way
 

A garden snake with metal eyes
she plays a finger hand disguise
when demon jelly licks the prize
a fellow onion, head down, she crys 

she can balance on a slippery kiss
to make her feel blessed for 13 seconds 

the ladder path, a halo's hope
a giddy guide to clean the soap
when nothing's child can start to cope
with ceiling fans and friends farm dope
 

A picture of a clown is a staring me down
And I wonder why a picture of a clown has to frown
His weather toned make-up and squinted smudged eyes
Made me look beyond the painting in through his eyes
Beyond all the oceans of the drip of his tear
Beyond all the rattyness of his red hair 

This clown lives his life of his own passion
And all of the questions that he is not asking
As the night breathes it blows the cold down his coat
He rolls over in the ally and takes another toke
The fire burns bright, the reflection in his eyes
He lives a life of his own disguise
Sees his reflection in the store but he won't confide
Just another man who never was satisfide 

He walks the block but talk to anyone on the way
Listens to the people and what they have to say
Their robot walk their buisness talk the working up the ladder
It all comes down to nothing when nothing really matters
So he goes back to his cardboard home in his ally town
I guess it dosen't matter it's just a picture of a clown
I guess it dosen't matter it's just a picture of a clown
I guess it dosen't matter it's just a picture of a clown
 

Please call this hotline
if you've seen my little boy
last seen outside a Chuck E. Cheese
in Joliet, Illinois
there wasn't much to go on
after the witnesses had spoken
all they found was his Cub Scout scarf
and a few scattered tokens
two ladies saw a car
one said brown and one said tan
but they both saw a red haired boy
in the back seat of a sedan
and even in the deepest loss
some draw up personal gain
that shady private eye,
kept bleeding us dry
by sticking that scarf in our vein 

seems like when I was a kid
it was just bullies and tom boys
playing keep away with my cap
or stealing my Tonka toys
now there's scares at the pre-school
homeless men at the playground
the police won't say what was buried
under that pitcher's mound
though his cat don't seem to care
my old hound's not the same
and even if she's never said it
my wife holds me to blame
it was my beer in his squirt gun
and I got him those video games
what about the week before,
there was some black kid at our door
with a strange African name 

every cop we talked to 
said chickenhawks are hard to catch
without snitches, solid leads
or at least a composite sketch
was it a friend of the family
or a janitor at his school
was it his old piano teacher
or a lifeguard at the pool
my poor wife sees shadows
between bedsheets on the line
she swears it's the man who sprayed
 swastikas on the stop sign
and with twelve years behind us
maybe I should read her better
she needs a new child around,
the way she knits our hound
sweater after sweater 

my Sunday half-time naps
with their thirty second dreams
still find time to fit angel faces
to mute tonsilled screams
and a lady in our cul-de-sac
has a girl with Down's Syndrome
now she keeps a knife in her apron
when her husband's not home
yes, Bob and his mother are frail
asthma kept them pretty thin
but it's four years now and I'll bet
we wouldn't recognize him
his freckles have prob'ly faded
he could be over five feet tall
I'm sure he's not the same,
what's that nice private eye's name
I should give him a call 
 

When anger damages the wholesome man
When the shrink guy tells me that its all for the best
And my feelings are damaged in emotion wars
And I take everything and I want more 

(chorus) 
I smell all the roses and they make me sneeze
The animals hiss in the green, green trees
So maybe all that the world's got to offer me is psychoanalysis 

You know that the way through life is through a smile
Hell, I've got that (I've been sick for a while)
But the pain is good and I should know
The money I give pays off their college loans 

(Chorus) 

I smell all the roses and they make me sneeze
I stop and I suffer and they laugh at me
So maybe the best that I'm ever going to get is a little bit of therapy 

The animals hiss in the green, green trees
I stop while they laugh and throw stones at me
So nature's creatures gonna mock me 'til I go to a psychiatrist 

Just a little more of this captive play
And Shakespeare told me that all life's a stage
With my conscience free and my unconscience, too
You tell me that I'm crazy but I think that I am you!
 

Your electric mood and realm
Opens my rhythm to compose
But what lies ahead is hard to handle
The Dark thorn of our rose 

Chorus:
There is something about you
I wish I knew what it was
There is something about you
You own the spirit that i dream of 

Letters are written but not with the hand
Striking with the font of knives
Telling the story of what shall occur
But the resulting pain will not subside 

Repeat Chorus 

Your silhouette cemented in my mind
My icon of shimmer and grace
Cigarettes butts I now find in my hand
The only thing left I have to face 

Repeat Chorus 

Absurd I aim not to be
I must appear empty and angry
For life welds shut without you
And only strives to be lonely 

Repeat Chorus
 

I first hit the city 
from upstate in late July 
Brooklyn's bricks sweated with sin 
but like wiseguys, they looked dry 
the eyes of passersby 
were weary and pallid 
a slow El overhead 
moaned a beggar's ballad 

since my uncle offered me 
graveyard shift on his crew 
I've spent most of my life 
unloading on pier twenty-two 
I banked my winter bonus 
uptown, year after year 
I payed off car after car 
and walked away, free and clear 

smog smears the skyline 
summers it burns your eyes 
I hate to admit it makes 
for a beautiful sunrise 
silk sleeves owned the water 
but our arms owned the shore 
the sun faded our faces 
like the hoods of our Fords 

when the company folded 
every hand deserved his cut 
but this town protects its rich 
like a blind newsie's mutt 
I'd banked my winter bonus 
uptown, year after year 
I'd payed off wife after wife 
and walked away, free and clear 

never wanted Wall St. 
never wanted a hot dog cart 
it's my choice to live a life 
I didn't choose to start 
after fifteen good years 
I made it off graveyards 
I thought sure after thirty 
I'd be all through with timecards 

some guys ride the subway 
others think while they walk 
I still like the waterfront 
and my sunrise dock 
in the pull of the moon 
high tide laps at the pier 
we'll try forever like the waves 
but we'll never be free and clear 
 

I had just come down to Jerusalem for a month or so. 
I had my dear old momma there with me and ten children or more. 
Someone kept shouting, "Here comes the King." 
And then I saw a most peculiar thing. 
A crazy man dancing in the street without no clothes! 

CHORUS 
Mommas, hide your girls. Here comes David. 
Laughing, singing and dancing slap-butt naked. 
Look at him skip and jump up and give it a twirl. 
Here comes the King of Israel butt naked to the world. 

I had heard about the Israelites and about their God 
And about David and Goliath in a tired old song. 
But I had never heard a single thing 
About no crazy naked dancing king. 
If I had I don't think I'd have come along. 

[chorus] 

The kids were dancing and laughing. I covered their eyes. 
I couldn't find my momma then I realized. 
Momma was out there dancing with the king 
Wearing nothing but her wedding ring. 
Parts were flapping about and swatting them flies. 

[chorus] 

It didn't take us long until we all joined in. 
David and momma were doing the bump and the swim. 
I didn't want to be a prude. 
So I also praised their God in the nude. 
I'm looking forward to next week, we'll do it again. 

[chorus]