The complete Lyrics from the Echoes page

 

Fifty's Long Enough to Live   Softtail Springer

C

HCHORUS; 

     Fifty's long enough to live, when your heart is broke like mine.  A lifetime's just too much to give, when you're long past forty-nine. 

When the days are gray and' the nights don't pay, and the years keep dragging on. Fifty's long enough to live and you might as well be gone.

 

     Once I was a happy man, a few years old it's true. Nothing could upset my plan, then I fell in love with you.

The love-light lasted in your eyes till a younger man came by, that isn't raining from the skies, it's fifty years of cry.

 repeat CHORUS

Fifty's long enough to live, when your heart is broke like mine. 

A lifetime's just too much to give, when you're long past forty-nine. 

When the days are gray and' the nights don't pay, and the years keep dragging on. 

Fifty's long enough to live and you might as well be gone.

     So let me say a thing or two, some friendly good advice. If you think that she's loving you, an old man pays the price.

'cause she's more likely biding time, till someone else walks by, when old hearts break it doesn't take, fifty years to die.

CHORUS; 

Fifty's long enough to live, when your heart is broke like mine. 

A lifetime's just too much to give, when you're long past forty-nine. 

When the days are gray and' the nights don't pay, and the years keep dragging on. 

Fifty's long enough to live and you might as well be gone.

repeat CHORUS to end.

  

 

     Motorcycle rider, trackin' the road, I got freedom in my saddlebags ain't no heavy load.  Got no destination, I ride with no plan.  See me passin' by, a motorcyclin’ man.

      Softtail Springer, dreamin' along.  A hard life singer with a tail pipe song,  about a cheatin' woman who's hangin' on me.  Now I'm movin' on through the land Of the free.

CHORUS;

 Softtail Springer, I own the big sky. Chrome plated winger, I'll ride 'till I die. Dragon-fire demons, and deadly dark flights, I own the days, but she owns the nights.

 

     Feel that rumble, hear that roar? If it ain't makin' thunder tell me what is it for? Fight the revolution goin' on in my head. Pounding evolution painted sweet candy red.

     Hard knuckle fever, a right handed squeeze, my creakin' black leather got the highway disease.   Steel toed boots, and steely hard stare.  Steel hearted woman, oh she never did care.

 repeat CHORUS;

 Softtail Springer, I own the big sky. Chrome plated winger, I'll ride 'till I die. Dragon-fire demons, and deadly dark flights, I own the days, but she owns the nights.

 

     Ain't no cure, for lovin' her so, and I heard the street whisper why can't I let go?  She's a lyin' down woman, with flirtin' green eyes,  I'm a pigtail'd traveller headin' over the skies.

     Motorcycle rider, leave her behind, Grab myself some liberty get outa my mind,  so I got my answer, tell you what I am; a Softtail Springer Harley Davidson man.

 ... a Softtail Springer Harley Davidson man.

 

 

Can't Help Myself   Bring in the Violins

 

    I'll be seeing you again someday,  maybe sometime in the spring,

Though you say you won't be long, you'll be back this way,

I know you have found new songs to sing.

 

 CHORUS;

We almost made it one time, where did it go?

I thought you cared for me and, I loved you so

Two lovers faded and I'm, full of regret

You knew it from the time we met.

 

     We had times of love and happiness,  I can still hear your guitar.

It was all my life with you but it's gone I guess,

you must know I'll wonder where you are.

 

 CHORUS;

We travelled through the summer, two people free

I'll think of many times that, you sang for me

Your voice was soft and gentle, but even so,

It told me that someday you'd go.

 

     I'll be seeing you again someday, maybe later in the fall

I'll remember all the times that I heard you say,

You must love, your freedom most of all.

 

 CHORUS;

We almost made it one time, but now it's gone

You told me once that you must, keep moving on,

I thought you'd change your mind but, you have to go

Can't help myself I love you so.

 

yself I love you so.

  

 

Bring in the violins, it's time to end the picture show

and let the roses fall, the people have to go.

Let's have the final kiss, and let them know how it will end

Now let the curtain down, turn up the lights again.

 

CHORUS;

And so it goes, the story someone wrote for me

A movie show, that's only make believe you see.

The story ends, because one lover never wins

the roses fall, bring in the violins.

 

It was a fine romance, and though we almost played the part, there never   

was the chance, that I would win your heart.

A story filled with love, but only on the silver screen,

A moment of our lives, we can't rewrite the scene.

 

CHORUS;

 

I hear the violins, the orchestra begins the score,

I close my eyes and see, the picture show once more.

I watch the roses fall, like broken hearts as they

descend, I taste the final kiss, and know how it will  end.

 

CHORUS;

 

 

 

 

Lead Me On   I Drive at Night

 

     Love, can keep slipping away, like the light of a summer star disappears amid the dawn.

Love, did I see it in your eyes? Did I know it was forbidden love?

Do you only plan to lead me on?

 

Chorus;

Lead me on, yes I want you to lead me on, and though I know that it's forbidden love, I still want you by my side.

Hold me near, you must promise you will hold me near,  and from the moment when your lips meet mine

I will trust you as my guide.

 

     Feel, feel the heat of my skin, when you touch me I burn inside. Can you feel the glowing fire?

Flames, now they're out of control. How this blaze in my willing heart,  ignites a creature of desire.

 

repeat chorus:

 

     Talk, mustn't listen to their talk. They wouldn't even try to understand, I can hear it in their sighs.

Kiss, I'm no longer afraid, knowing love like this can set us free, we can soar across the skies. (my love)

 

repeat chorus;  - - -  then - last chorus:       

Lead me on, yes I'm asking you to lead me on  those scarlet whispers of forbidden love, can't stop us rising to the stars.    

Take me there, oh yes I'm asking you to take me there, to private places where our souls can fly, and the future will be ours.

 

     I drive at night, you'll find me on the highway,

the traffic's light, there's no one on the road.

I'm on my own, 'cause I can do it my way,

I'm all alone, it's easy on the load.

 

     I drive at night, so you won't see me cryin',

I wear a hat, an' keep the cab lights low.

And if you pass, you'll never know I'm dyin',

don't follow me, I don't know where I'll go.

 

CHORUS;

And every night I take a side trip, goes right by your door,

I hope I'm wrong, because I'm thinkin', you're not home no more.

 

     When I go by, I see your window, but the shades are down.

Maybe you, are in there sleepin', an' maybe you've left town.

 

     I drive at night, I never see the sunshine.

It brings to me, a painful memory.

There was a time, when I thought you were all mine.

A sunny day, when you walked out on me ....

 

Emergency Hospital   High Country Cowboy

 

     They got me in emergency hospital, how'd I ever get in here? What did I say? Is this the price that I pay? They said they'd let me out next year.

     They put me in emergency hospital, in here it happens in reverse, you come in then, you're never seen again, the patients go from good to worse.

      The doctor comes to see me each morning-time he says there's something wrong in my head, he gives me a shot and then I hurt a lot maybe I'd be better off dead.

Hear the man a moanin' in the bed next door, he just got up and went insane, the morning line is he'll be dead by nine, 'cause all he ever feels is pain.

 

CHORUS;   

  A knock on my door about a quarter to four

they came and then they took me away

I dared to disagree and someone told on me

they take down everything that you say.

 

     They got me in a ward with all the crazy ones and soon you never hear them scream. I look at you and you're a prisoner too, you stay awake so you won't dream.

     They put me in this four by four padded room and on the other side of the door, the KGB is out there watching me, you'll never hear from me no more.

 

REPEAT CHORUS:

 

     They got me in emergency balnista tryin' to make me change my ways, my doctor says "Nyet, you ain't goin' home yet, we don't believe a word that you say."

     They put me in emergency hospital How'm I gonna get outa here? It may be too late because I can't think straight, I don't think I'll be leavin' next year.

 REPEAT CHORUS ;

A knock on my door about a quarter to four

they came and then they took me away

I dared to disagree and someone told on me

they take down everything that you say.

 

 

to fade .....

  

 

     High country cowboy you've come into town, to find yourself a wife. Someone old fashioned, a woman you've dreamed of, who's wanting to share in your life.

Honest and loyal and willing to toil, to build as each year goes on. Old cabin values but I've got to tell you, those kind of women are gone.

 

     High country cowboy you've spent all your money a dollar just doesn't last. Good times and laughter are not what you're after and everything's movin' too fast.

You're out of touch and though you don't need much, all that you will find here today, are women with babies or painted up ladies who linger in dark cabarets.

 

CHORUS;

He was a high country cowboy,

 came from the end of the sky.

 He was an old fashioned dreamer

 life was just passing him by.

 

     What can you give her but days full of lonely while you're out ridin' the range? What can you promise? You know that she'd only be waitin' for seasons to change.

High country cowboy you've waited too long and she's someone you'll never find, might as well go home, the dream that you're seeking is only alive in your mind.

 

REPEAT CHORUS;

He was a high country cowboy,

 came from the end of the sky.

 He was an old fashioned dreamer

 life was just passing him by.

 

 

 

You Can't Hurt Me Anymore Naked City Sidewalks

 

     You can't hurt me anymore Babe, you'd be foolish if you try. Because I threw away my feelings, up in the Oklahoma sky,

You couldn't even find the pieces, if you were searchin' for my heart, scattered on the Texas wind, the ashes of my love you can't hurt me anymore.

 

     You'd never come across my lovin', if you were walkin' through my mind, You'd only tread upon the desert, there ain't no tenderness to find.

And like a Mississippi gambler, I'll never let my thinkin' show, because my face is frozen old in the North Dakota cold you can't hurt me anymore.

 

CHORUS;       

And now the days all run together

Is this a week or just a year?

And every moment lasts forever

How long have I been waiting here?

 

And even now I know you're scheming

but I'm no longer keeping score

this isn't California dreaming

and you can't hurt me anymore.

 

     Won't be long till I've forgotten, what it was I saw in you. Like the empty of Wyoming, my love was only passing through.

To the blue hills of Kentucky, to the green of Tennessee,  no matter where I try to go, you still don't seem to know, you try to keep on hurtin' me.

 REPEAT CHORUS;

And now the days all run together

Is this a week or just a year?

And every moment lasts forever

How long have I been waiting here?

 

And even now I know you're scheming

but I'm no longer keeping score

this isn't California dreaming

and you can't hurt me anymore.

  

 

CHORUS;       

     I'm another dreamer came to New York with a star-sign in my eyes, and the Naked City bought my soul with it's promises and lies.

It was here I met those evil women,  it was here I drank the devil booze. Now I'm livin' down upon the sidewalks where there ain't nothin' left to lose.

 

     I'm a story of the Naked City, you can hear the sidewalks call my name.

And the tale they'll tell you ain't so pretty, 'cause they're lookin' for someone to blame.

     And this is the town that never goes to sleep because it's schemin' all night long.

It takes an iron man and then it makes him weep and still pretends there's nothin' wrong.

 

REPEAT CHORUS:

 

     So I wander through the Naked City, nobody's business when I come or go.

Got a bottle bag and fourteen dollars and there ain't no need for feelin' low.

So I slept the night in someone's doorway and I use the daytime just to roam.

I tramp the concrete trails down here in old New York and hope someday they'll lead me home.

 

REPEAT CHORUS;

CHORUS to fade out

 

 

 

Street Musician Trocadero Cafe

 

     In a darkened doorway covered with graffiti,  stands a haggard man who's aged before his time.

In a dusty black case open on the sidewalk, there's a quarter, seven nickels and a dime.

And with bandaged fingers he will strum a rusty old guitar and nobody tells him that he's out of tune,

and a lady in a yellow hat is watching from afar, as he sings away the fading afternoon.

 

     So the street musician's playing for a good one any paper money buys his meal tonight.

So he holds his guitar just a little tighter and he strums it hard for everyone in sight.

And although the sun is failing and a chill is in the air and the shadows hide the look upon his face,

he is thinking while he's singing of the fineness of her hair, and he still recalls the warmth of her embrace.

 CHORUS;

Here's a man who wrote one song and it's all about the wrong, of the girl that he knew as Angelina.

How she left him in despair, how his life has been unfair, how he gave all his love to Angelina.

And he's standing there alone, 'cause it's all he's ever known, all except the night he stayed with Angelina.

And he taps a worn out shoe and his song is almost through, as the street musician sings, Angelina.

 

     So if you should come upon a street musician, stay a moment there to listen to his song.

And if you should like his simple composition you may leave some coins before you move along.

And if you should wonder why he sings his heart out everyday for a woman who has left him to be free.

If I only knew the answer then I wouldn't have to say that the street musician playing could be me.

 REPEAT CHORUS;

Here's a man who wrote one song and it's all about the wrong, of the girl that he knew as Angelina.

How she left him in despair, how his life has been unfair, how he gave all his love to Angelina.

And he's standing there alone, 'cause it's all he's ever known, all except the night he stayed with Angelina.

And he taps a worn out shoe and his song is almost through, as the street musician sings, Angelina.

  

 

     I know a place on the other side of town, some people go there just to play.

Opens at night about half past ten and never closes until dawn, you can get what you want at the Trocadero Cafe.

     Midnight and gossip are the bill of fare. Everyone dining with a view.

Wear what you want but you can't get in unless you got your best'es on, 'cause you're part of the scene and there's someone watchin' you too.

 

CHORUS;

Lovers gamblers winners losers are meeting there

plotters schemers dreamers making their way,

any kind of deal that you want to do

or any game you'd like to play

you can get what you want at the Trocadero Cafe.

 

     I have been told that you can fall in love, might even happen here today

Beautiful girls flashing smiles an' pearls an' wearing silk and  French perfume, in a booth at the back of the Trocadero Cafe.

 

REPEAT CHORUS:

 

     Look at the man with sunshades on his eyes, whispering loud enough to hear. They can't wash the rumors off the dishes at night,  or sweep the lies out with the trash, but you never know the truth and it might be the deal of the year.

 

REPEAT CHORUS TO FADEOUT;

 

Lovers gamblers winners losers are meeting there

plotters schemers dreamers making their way,

any kind of deal that you want to do

or any game you'd like to play

you can get what you want at the Trocadero Cafe.

 

 

Christmas Wish Old Men in the Park

 

     Santa Claus, in case you're listening, I'd like to tell you what I want from you this year.

Santa Claus, there's something you can bring, it's something each and every person wants to hear.

     In this world, there's people causing pain, but maybe it's because they're feeling so alone.

Could it be, that there'd be peace again? If you could give them Christmas feelings of their own.

 

CHORUS; 

Load your sleigh with Care and Kindness

wrap some Joy and Understanding

fill your bag with Hope and Promise too.      

 

Tie it all with red green ribbon

seal the dream that you have given

just a simple gift of Love will do.

 When we wake on Christmas morning

let us find a future dawning

  Happiness would make this world so right.

 

Santa if you do have magic

it's the only thing I'm asking

could you grant my Christmas wish tonight?

 

     Santa Claus, in case you're wondering, I don't need any toys at all from you this year

Santa Claus, if you'll be traveling, then fly your sleigh to troubled places where there's fear.

Some would say, that you're a magic man, there isn't any dream that you can't make come true.

Don't you see? It isn't only me, It's everybody's Christmas wish I send to you.

 

REPEAT CHORUS;

Load your sleigh with Care and Kindness

wrap some Joy and Understanding

fill your bag with Hope and Promise too.      

 

Tie it all with red green ribbon

seal the dream that you have given

just a simple gift of Love will do.

When we wake on Christmas morning

let us find a future dawning

Happiness would make this world so right,

Santa if you do have magic

it's the only thing I'm asking

could you grant my Christmas wish tonight?

  

 

Old men in the park, warming their bones, waiting for darkness to chase them back into their homes.

Sit in the sun, watching the show. Is their no one who will share what they know?

Stories to tell, of lands and seas, they know so well about life and its mysteries.

Take some time to hear what they say before life has buried their stories away and you'll share some dreams that just may be true and you'll give some happiness too.

  

Sitting alone, feeling so old, yesterday's paper is folded to ward off the cold.

Waiting on life, nothing to do. Was there a woman somewhere who was true?

Stories to tell, of liberties, they know so well about love and its mysteries.

Listen well they have things to tell about love and freedom before their farewell you can take advice from these wise old men before life has claimed them again.         

  

Watching the world, been 'round twice. What can they see from the park? Must they now pay the price?

No friends to meet, no one to hear, autumn is fleeting and winter draws near.

Stories to tell, such memories, they know so well about life and its mysteries.

Games they played at and songs they sung and the girls they loved when this world was so young and they'll give their hearts to a kindly friend who will help them fight off the end .....

 

Memories can be lived again and there're friends and foes who were fought now and then and though time may dim those romantic ways some old men, remember the days  .........

 

all © Bob Westerholm  (SOCAN)

 

 

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