Lyrics — Late Fakirs

Possibly offering a little illumination...

Under my skin

You’re word without a sound
Treasure when the lost is found
Bringing peace after strife
You’re the stone that dulls the knife

Closer of my jaded eye
You’re silence that follows lullaby
You end the pain that creeps within
You’re the needle under my skin

You’re comfort for a crying heart
A mother’s arms in the dark
You’re forgiveness after sin
Sweet release under my skin
You’re the needle under my skin
You’re the needle under my skin

Eclipse

She golf-clubbed my rearview mirrors, left ‘em lying in the dirt
So I can’t look back figure out where I went wrong
All I know is love felt like a couple of lifetime’s worth of hurt
And I hope you don’t mind pain cuz that’s all you’re getting in this song

We met in an eclipse, more collision than a date
Tinder blaze, then all downhill from there
Nothing much in common, ‘cept maybe fate
But stars are all that lovers really share

Eclipse – this should be a love song
Eclipse – but it doesn’t take long
Eclipse – for love to go wrong
Eclipse – going going gone

Seems like her mind is somewhere else these days
Like she has to call long distance to hear a word you say
Dread fills your gut when she doesn’t meet your eyes
And when she does you wish she hadn’t tried

One morning she woke up, singin’ Moving On
As she brushed her teeth, heard her humming that old song
By the time I’d made the coffee she was packed and gone
Caught the Greyhound at the crossroad, never said so long

Eclipse – this should’ve been a love song
Eclipse – but it didn’t take long
Eclipse – for love to go wrong
Eclipse – gone gone gone

twister roaring down

You’ll find the old man where he always is
Fillin’ that broke down lazy boy chair
Staring at the empty TV screen
As though he’s seeing ghosts there

Don’t know why you bother coming by
Every day he’s sunk a little further down
Recalls the names of all his buddies from the war
But his own kids’ faces are strangers to him now

I know the world’s grown cold and hard for everyone out there
Not lookin’ for pity, or whinin’ life ain’t fair
But it’s like we slaved our lives away, backs bent, eyes on the ground
Too busy surviving to see the twister roaring down

Good thing he can’t get around no more
When the temper’s on him and he swings that hand
Thinking I’m some monster from when he was a kid
Come back from the dead to haunt him at the end

Not much to show for all these years together
A roof over our heads, and enough to get by on
But we always paid our way, and pride is one thing they can’t take
At least ‘til after you’re gone

It’s like we slaved our lives away, backs bent, eyes on the ground
Too busy surviving to see the twister roaring down
Too busy surviving to see the twister roaring down
Too busy surviving…

lights of the palaces

Fallen angels like me find it hard to sing
With a mouth full of dirt and broken wings
But I’ll do my best to tell you this sad tale
Of a maiden fair lost in Hollywood hell
A conventional girl, typically mesmerized
When the lights of the palaces twinkled her eyes
Tinseltown whispered its glittering lies
And the lights of the palaces twinkled her eyes

She was a true Murkin grrrl with her head in the clouds
Dizzied by smoke rings and muzak so loud
Dazzled by the sound of her own brand new name
To the city of angels she flew to seek fame
Anticipating being wined, dined and signed
She never noticed that Oscar is blind
Could’ve seen all the heartbreak and pain in that prize
‘Cept the lights of the palaces twinkled her eyes

Her dear mama had warned her to beware the wolves
And the pigs were the good guys in her childhood books
But the butcher, the baker, the porno flick maker
All wag curly pink tails as they take her
And when they’ve emptied her flesh, blood and soul
Then the rags that remain are thrown to the wolves

Down into the darkness this sad story steals
She didn’t eat well but she made a great meal
For the girls and boys with the needles and pins
A forgotten name where failure is the only sin
I can’t pray but I’m hopin’ real hard
There’s room for her soul in the good lord’s junkyard
Out behind the dumpster she realized as she died
The cold lights of the palaces didn’t twinkle her eyes
The palaces twinkled cuz of tears that she cried
It weren’t lights of the palaces twinkling her eyes

locked up in you

Ain’t thinkin about my work, I’m gettin nothin done
Fallin behind, now I’m under the boss’s gun
But that’s okay, I’m breaking free pretty soon
Cuz my mind’s locked up in you

Ain’t thinkin about politics, power n hate
Can’t hear the world screaming that I’m gonna be late
For the next crucifixion. Love’s in my view
Cuz my heart’s locked up in you

Lost in a miracle, lost n found by you
My universe surrounded by you
You’re the key and I’ve been waiting for you
So free, so locked up in you

Ain’t thinkin about sorrow, though I know its out there
But that’s a weight we’ll share
True love, stronger than two
Cuz my soul’s locked up in you
I’m so free, so locked up in you

Valentina (Love Until It Isn’t)

Valentina wandered in today
To drop off her heart, offered to stay
But you were otherwise engaged
Takes a fool to turn down such a present
Seems you can’t see love until it isn’t

Valentina’s shuttered eyes
Look at you and realize
A caged bird cannot fly
She broke her heart on the walls of your prison
You can’t see love until it isn’t

You dodged a bullet – a real close call
You can’t see love can’t see love can’t see love no
It was a near life experience, that’s all
You can’t see love can’t see love can’t see no no no no

Valentina’s gone, she dried her tears
Called by a voice only lovers can hear
Is it missing her or the silence you fear?
You could have held the sun ’cept you didn’t
Seems you can’t see love until it isn’t
Yeah you could have held the sun but you didn’t
You can’t see love until it isn’t

Copyright © 2017 Gregory James Shields
SOCAN

Dancing to his Touch

Dreaming under moonlight hanging in her window
Prayers in the darkness that only darkness hears
Her mind’s lying with him wrapped in his body
Safe in a story that has no tears
Imagination dances to his touch
Her imagination dancing to his touch

Ragamuffin child at the gates of light
Just a little innocent at not so sweet sixteen
Her flawless heart can’t imagine being broken
Welcomes the pirate plundering her dreams
Her every cell leaping at his touch
Every cell dancing to his touch

Soul dying for the spell to be cast
You thought he sang to the love in your eyes
He casually shattered the gift freely given
You thought so this is how it feels to be alive

Dreams of moonlight hanging in her window
Like mist in sunshine she watches them fade
Doing what she has to do to get by
But sometimes remembering the way
Her body danced to his touch
How her body danced to his touch
Her imagination’s dancing to his touch

Ooh Ooh Ooh
Ooh Ooh Ooh