Ivory Boy


The ivory boy came to Hanburg and Cologne

He bought three one way tickets for the train

He travelled with his sister and a girl who looked like Lili Marlene


He said: 'Cancer, cancer is a hurricane

Blows away my body and tears out my brain

But the songs you play somehow ease the pain'


You're keeping my senses awake


Sometime just before going on stage

The girl with the pale and the beautiful face

Suddenly stood next to me

Like a ghost in the house of mystery


She said: 'Cancer, cancer, I'm a little flame

That started this fire, burning his brain

And I don't know who gave me a face like Lili Marlene'


How can you fade away. Like a light on a dark highway

A million years from now, I see you when the light changes


Keeping your senses awake, awake


So the lights went down and the crowd was dark

Like the moon that covers the sun

Except for two white faces that slowly became one


How can you fade away. Like a light on a dark highway

A million years from now. I see you when the light changes


I will be there



Walking with Maria


1999

I am walking with Maria on a cold winter's day

I'm dressed in black second hand clothes

She's wearing a blue winter coat, C & A

The river is a stillborn child. Seagulls in a purple sky

We walk from the light into the darkness

Hands like ice. Feet like ice


1959

I was walking with Maria on a warm summer's day

She was wearing her dress with the yellow flowers

Me in my blue jacket, C & A

The river was a new born child. Mother's milk and butterflies

We ran from the darkness into the light

Hand in hand to the swimming pool

I dreamed last night I was drowning but now I will swim

I won't be afraid


1999

The river is a frozen sheet. An old man lying underneath

We walk from the light into the darkness

A million starts - one yellow moon. I will die - maybe soon

I won't be afraid



26A (Clouds in the Sky)


When I close my eyes, I see your face. The airplane flies

Like a time machine in space. I don't want to fall

I just want to fly back to you


Clouds in the Sky


Here I am. I'm a man with the child in his eyes

Your sweetest smile, your angry eye

When I lift you up. In the clear blue sky

I don't want to fall. I just want to fly back to you


Clouds in the Sky


I don't know where I am. Goodbye. Where I am

I know you live on in this world when I'm gone


Clouds in the Sky


When I close my eyes, I see your face. The airplane flies

Like a time machine in space. Here I am high above the ocean

Here I am in the clear blue sky. Here I am


Clouds in the Sky



The 'Darling' Stone


The wind is turning. A fire is burning, somewhere far away

Where are we going. To Hietaniemi Hautausmaa

It's a perfect grey graveyard day


Will I be saved when I call your name

Stranger, you're so late. Between the rich men and the soldiers

'Rest in peace', that's what they told us


I only want your life, your life, your life


We could not find it, the 'darling' stone

It simply disappeared beneath the leaves that were falling

I can hear your calling

Stranger, why I'm so alone


Soon I'll be gone with a suitcase in an airplane

Back into my life. Your life, your life


Where are you going, my sleepless darling

Back into your life, your life



Seven green parrots


Seven little parrots in a tree outside

The colours of their feathers change like traffic lights

Snowflakes are falling on the ground

A feather is whirling without a sound


Sometimes in a dream I walk a snow-white street

I can hear somebody whisper underneath my feet

A needle is scratching rupper soul

In the ice on the river there's a big black hole


Now that I am looking at this naked tree

I feel every branch is a bone inside me

The boy who is climbing without a sounf

The man who is standing on the ground


So seven green parrots are flying away

The leave me in the grey light closing down this winters day

The snowflakes are falling on the ground

A feather is whirling without a sound.



Crime & Punishment


The beauty of the town takes my breath awa.

Sunlight's cutting houses in two.

The beast of the town brings only death.

He's cutting a man in two.


My heart is so empty, my head is so full.

I cannot understand why they blew up a car

With a man and his wife


Crime & Punishment


Cut me like you cut a flower

Burn me like you burn a tree.

The lines in my face

The nails in my hand.


Crime & Punishment


Give me one reason when the truth is a lie

Don't take my body when I offer you my hand


Crime & Punishment


My heart is so empty, my head is so full

I cannot understand why they blew up a car

With a man and his wife.


Crime & Punishment


Lawyers Liars Lovers Losers Dealers Users



The Angel of Happy Hour


I am the shame in the secret wars

She smells the leaves in the autumn cars


I am the rain from the falling skies

She came, the winter was in her eyes

She said: 'The wonders that filled my head

They fell asleep, but I'm not dead

I can change, I can change'


She came from towns where she was a famous silhouette

I turned around to light her a cigarette

Passion fruit was in her eyes

The ice and the fire. The lights in the sky


Something's wrong. Why you're gone. My eyes are red

Why does it hurt so bad


Why, you've changed. Why, you've changed. My angel


Where she lives nothing grows

A dry old plain, the ill wind blows so cold


She was the angel of happy hour

She took the honey from every flower

Passion fruit was in her mouth

The ice and the fire. The lights in the south


Why, you've changed. Why, you've changed. My angel



The Wind, the Rain


The wind, the rain, the child, the train

The tree, the lake, waiting

The house, the shoe, the blind, the hand

The air, the face, waiting


Now that I've found every heart has been broken

Now that I've lost all the time that I had. I will be gone


Now that I've heard every word has been spoken

Now that I've seen every line that you wrote. I will be gone


I'm walking through the valley in the darkness and the light

I'll fear no evil with you by my side


The stone, the nail, the boy, the snow

The door, the heart, waiting


Now that I've seen every road has been taken

Now that I've lost all the the love that I had. I will be gone


The wind, the rain, the child, the train

The tree, the lake, waiting

The house, the shoe, the blind, the hand

The air, the face, waiting

The stone, the nail, the boy, the snow

The door, the heart, waiting

The thirst, the truth, the taste, the thing

The turn, the thorn, waiting



Jazz Bon Temps


She is waiting on us in the Jazz Bon Temps in Texas

Catfish on a plate. The kitchen's open late tonight

Diamond in her mouth, sparkles when she shouts

'Hey you guys, I can wait here'

Sad, but we have to go


Call me a stranger. Call me a fool


Bellatrix is playing tricks at midnight

Give my light to the Junkie XL

Farewell Iceland belle. A cowboy is shooting a hole in the wall

Strange, but we have to go

To the Iron Cactus. To the Electric Lounge


Call me a stranger. Call me a fool


Joni in your blue eyes I see open windows

Joni in your sad eyes I see

A door. A room. A wall


Sacrifice. Rolling dice. It's all there, it's all there

Love and hate. Fish and bait. It's all there, it's all there

There's a sign 'turnaround' at the end of a highway

I'm checking out of the Cactus Tree motel today

Sad, but I have to go



Swimming


Mister Bluebird on your shoulder. He stays very calm at his feet

I don't know why. Sometimes my eyes are swimming


Look at the way we were talking. Strangers for so many years

I've been away. You spent the day swimming


I'm sitting down by my window. Looking outside at the rain

I don't know why. Sometimes my eyes are swimming


Laurel leaves and thyme, salt and pepper, I'm cooking

Oranges and honey, coriander, open sesame, cooking


I don't know what it is. What is moving her. What she's diving for

Mister Bluebird on your shoulder. He stays very calm at his feet

I don't know why. Sometimes my eyes are swimming



The Strawberry Girl


Dead leaf falliing from a family tree. Drop in the ocean. Rock in the sea

In a long cold winter. She's falling asleep on a pillow of feathers

Wool of sheep


China moon on a cold winter night

When she's sleeping, the light is milk on her pillow

Gold-fish is swimming around in a bowl near the window


The curtain is moving slow. The wind is blowing

Strawberry girl takes me to her kitchen

Am I fish or bait


Paper straw in her soft skin. Sip her lemonade

Koala faces, thick grey fur. Pieces of snake skin. Millefleurs

In a long cold winter she's waking up on a pillow of feathers

Wool of sheep


Strawberry girl takes me to the river. We sit down in the breeze

Goose-flesh when she starts to shiver

Cover her with wool and listen to the wind in the leaves of a tree


She tells me she leaves me. I don't know where I am going

I'm just a black sheep. A falling leaf. A falling leaf from a family tree



Frog


Once I was a green man living in a tin can

You cannot open it, cannot open it

I can. Green man


Once I was a blue man living in a bottle

I cannot open it, cannot open in

You can. Blue man


Once I was a red man living in a brown box

You cannot open it, cannot open it

I can. Red man


Green man. Blue man. Red man