HOMESPUN - Lyrics - Shiva Burlesque

Shiva Burlesque
Shiva Burlesque - 1987

1. INDIAN SUMMER

Here comes the sun
Everything's just begun
Your friends go uptown
Nothing there makes a sound
We walk through leaves
Talking about the sea
Bells ring up high
No one remembers why

Then all the birds will fly
Into another sky
Where do the birds all fly

When you see that they've gone
You'll know that Indian Summer won't come

Bells ring again
Someone says it will rain
Like drunks in a ditch
Laughing about all this
Wrists to our eyes
No one remembers why

Then all the birds will fly
Into another sky
Where do the birds all fly

When you see that they've gone
You'll know that Indian Summer won't come

In school I'd fit some strange cathedral
Into the eye of any needle
Or on a bus I'd close one eye
Pretend to run across the fields
Covered in ice
Don't you remember why

Then all the birds will fly
Into another sky
Where do the birds all fly

When you see that they've gone
You'll know that Indian Summer won't come

2. TWO SUNS

Did you ever think that you would see the day
When the sun would be too tired to come and play
When the water below the bridge gets this high
Blind man's bluff is such a stupid game to try

You know I wish that this all would start again
A pocket full of posies shared with a friend
But it's so strange so far
Though you've been hiding I know where you are

In between two suns
You're in between two suns
In between two suns
We're in between two suns

Don't say merry-go-rounds go nowhere
Don't you know that everyone is circling everywhere
If the Ferris wheel should stop in mid-air
Open your eyes and see the whole world if you dare

In between two suns
You're in between two suns
In between two suns
We're in between two suns

Did you ever think that there would come a time
When we would be afraid to learn to fly
Will your brass strings tarnish in the rain
Can you take me to the night that never ends

In between two suns
You're in between two suns
In between two suns
We're in between two suns

3. THE LONESOME DEATH OF SHADOW MORTON

Did I ever tell you just how much you look like Julie Harris
She’s going east of Eden in Japanese-blue light
On the bureau is some Queen Anne’s lace
And a picture of you in your teenage face
There were thirty-two flavors that you’d never tried
And when you couldn’t choose you froze up inside

And you cried
You cried

The Bitch-Goddess in your mind
It’s got you digging in a cold goldmine
But you’re already Holy
Holy

Did I ever tell you about the lonesome death of Shadow Morton
He was so alone and he was looking for his angel in a candy store
He roared into the night that’s why they called him Shadow
His eyes were soft like his boots were leather
And when they called him Shadow
He went down to the shadows to save your life
He saved your life

And you cried
You cried
Cried

Remember walk in the sand
Walk in the sand

4. THE BLACK SHIP

When we were young we’d sneak from the altar
Down to the docks the port of call
For drunken sailors
They’d throw coins for our songs

We watched them weave through darkened alleys
Whoring and singing rounds and shanties
All night long

And we dreamed we’d sail sometime
To a strange and foreign clime
On a black ship tall and fine

A ship is like a dream that’s lost
Inside the waves our stars are crossed
Like dreams we cried against the night

The sun in our eyes now we’re all aboard
On to the Tropic of Capricorn

A dream is like a ship that’s lost
Inside the waves the stars be crossed
Inside the wind a dream is lost

Now a storm has found us there
And the sails begin to tear
And the captain he just stares

All hands below we feared the worst
The captain he took a sudden thirst
And went to his quarters
With a quart of rye

Paul clutched a rosary in his hand
And Ahmad reciting from the Koran
The first mate went to the table
And he cried

And he knows we were sinking
And he can hear the captain singing
He hears the captain singing
Don’t you hear the captain singing

The Black Ship’s going down
And anyone who wants to drown
Can find a cozy place to hide
You know the storm will never let up
So I think I’m gonna get up
Take a stroll at the bottom of the sea
In my new tuxedo made of black seaweed
And raise a glass full of mud and salt
Drink a toast to the captain
When I hear him call
Abandon ship

5. MORNING

In the morning clouds are tearing
Like white flags in the tiny sky
It’s strange to see them in the mirror
Why

Because the dew upon the leaves must dry
I know there’s some connection
Like those shells we found in the motel bleached so
White

But when the night falls
This song is not those shells at all
I wish we could go anywhere
Tara what is this world at all
Goodnight goodnight
It isn’t such a long time until morning

Wake up the world is turning
Listen to the cars go by
The Roman candles are burning
On the third of July

Can you hold an a little longer
Even though it’s getting stranger
The green light through your lashes
Looks alright

But when night falls
This song is not your eyes at all
I wish we could go anywhere
Tara what is this world at all
Goodnight goodnight
It isn’t such a long time until morning
Until morning
Wake up it’s morning

This song is not those shells at all

6. WORK THE RAT

Well have you seen her by the seashore
She stands alone between the palms
The air is cool the tide is turning
And the fishermen bring alms

Clara Bow’s face fell from the skylight
Onto the bed where Jesus lied
The light from the sky was non-existent
Being dark out being night
Naked and fat the neighbors spat
Now ask me did you work the rat

Rolling our eggs along the hillside
Along the thirty third degree
Where children ride on wooden horses
Spinning around so happily

Well there are pearls inside the oyster
They lie at the bottom of the sea
Yeah you can see them through the seaweed
When you’re starring to the sea

7. WATER LILIES (for Eric & Ian)

No mystery in that
The image lasts
Just close your eyes
Close your eyes
Close your eyes

Aim a camera at the stream

Do I stare into the sun so bright
Just to see your face tonight
Would I take away your little knife
Drag it all across the frozen lake
Once the ice begins to crack and break
Until the moon was like a little bell
Until the doves came from the sound of nails
Just to flutter all around your knees
Like blossoms falling from the trees
Were carried on by the breeze
Water lilies in the stream
Water lilies in the stream
Lilies sinking into the stream
Lilies sinking to the stream
Lilies sinking to the stream
Carried off into the sea

8. TRAIN MYSTERY

Well something is passing like a train that I’m not riding
And we’re growing up here again and again and again

I need to be
I need to see
Yes the fragments of leaves
The world dissolves
I smell the sky
But I don’t cry
No I don’t cry
Death is a lie
Death is a lie
We need more time
Time to be blind

Well something is passing like a train that I’m not riding
And we’re growing up again and again and again and again

There is a drug
It’s called the end
It’s in your blood
The table bends
I love your gloves
That pass through me
The velvet touch
Of ecstasy

And we’re growing up again and again and again and again
But something is passing like a train that I’m not riding

Blue sky blue eyes orgone blue
Krishna skin in corn flowers too

Beneath the podium
The pandemonium
Beneath the skyscraper
And the flypaper
Below the minaret
That you can’t forget
You can’t forget

Well something passes like a train that I’m not riding
And we’re growing up again and again and again and again

There is a dream
From which you wake
Only to see
The pure white lake
You reach to touch
The glistening spot
It is the web
Where insects drop

Blue sky blue eyes ocean blue
Krishna skin in corn flowers too

The fire escape
Affords a view
Of taxi cabs

9. MARYSUPERMARKET

In winter we remembered summer
In summer we fell asleep a little too deep
But opened our eyes long enough to see
Above the streets to the carnival lights

Look and you’ll see that I was the barker then
Yes I was trying to shout above the band
And you were the mermaid in between shows
Listen to the shooting gallery down below

The summer we spent through a mirror
In winter you bought poppies from a stall
Just coming through a doorway laughing at it all
The night seemed like a stain
Then we saw the chrysalis on the wall

Look and you’ll see that I was the flower girl
Listen to the sound of your wings tearing at the world
Laugh at something that you’ve never seen
Mary the supermarket is so clean

Look and you’ll see that I was the barker then
Yes I was trying to shout above the band
Mary the supermarket is so clean
Mary the supermarket