Get all 16 John Lyle releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of New Songs, Normal at Both Ends, Random Chants, Where the Story Goes, Battle Royal, Joy & Mischief!, Wild Awake, Known Corners, and 8 more.
1. |
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I Lost My Sense Of Humour
I must say what must be said
My sense of humour is very nearly dead
It’s really really hard to find
Ever since I heard about the Queen Of Hearts
I been soul searchin’ but I must have lost
My way in the dark
I must say what must be said
My sense of humour used to be my daily bread
But now I’m hungry like a homeless man
They say that I must strengthen all that still remains
I been so steady but there’s
Nothing that a body can claim
I lost my sense of humour but I don’t know where
Maybe when I read that book by Baudelaire
Everytime I think about what Woody done
I get so upset I can’t have no fun
I lost my sense of humour but I don’t care
The way they act you’d think I was losin’ my hair
Everybody’s jokin’ and they’re feelin’ alright
While I’m all alone, and that’s not nice
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2. |
I Should Be Committed
02:42
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I Should Be Committed
I should be committed
For being so committed
To somebody who
Treats me like you do
How many tears will it take
To get over you
I should be committed
For being so committed
To all the little things
You let me do
How many dreams will it take
To work this through
Please remember, baby,
Not to use the word ‘crazy’
When you come and see me
In my rubber room
I’ll try and hug you, momma,
If my arms will move
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3. |
The Guru’s Lament
03:36
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The Guru’s Lament
Those who will be free put their faith in me
But like a wayward child refusing to be still
You wander everywhere in search of milk to spill
Please don’t ask me why kindness makes you cry
You carry wounds so deep you mourn the gift of love
Foremost amongst my sheep I still have plenty of
Satellites, who orbit endlessly
I gotta like those who worship me
Out of sight, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about
Unless you count your doubts
See them clear the way for my feet of clay
To be exalted is not all it’s said to be
I must cope with those who wish they could be me
Please don’t ask me why birds fall from the sky
You attach yourself to a dying thing
Close your eyes and wait and see what Santa brings
Saddle up and ride into the sun
Are you up for what must be done?
Farther up, beyond the lying mind
You’re gonna see, what will be will be
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4. |
I Need Another Kiss
03:28
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I Need Another Kiss
I can’t help it, I need another kiss
Reach up to my hungry mouth, give me what I miss
I’m begging to you, please, like a baby cries for milk
If you love me just a little, I will love you to the hilt
I can’t help it, I need another kiss
Angels howl at midnight in the iridescent mist
Hooded doctors drive me to the barren edge of time
I can’t help it and it ain’t no crime
I can’t help it, I need another kiss
How can you be leaving me hanging here like this
My tongue between my knees and my heart inside your purse
If I can’t be going with you, I will go from bad to worse
I can’t help it, I need another kiss
Angels howl at midnight in the iridescent mist
Hooded doctors drive me to the barren edge of time
I can’t help it and it ain’t no crime
Waiting here alone with my black-hearted phone
When it rings like a cold chain through my heart
It’s the answer to my prayer, you say you’ll meet me on the stair
And we’ll climb where we can finish what we start
I can’t help it, I need another kiss
Part your lips and take a trip into the abyss
There’s just one thing that’s worse than not having you at all
That’s the moment when I’ve had you and my face is to the wall
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5. |
Being The Things You Do
04:18
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Being The Things You Do
So many times, you’ve buttressed the mind
Against these thoughts, that seem so unkind
Giving them strength, they’ll never really have
Fighting with a phantom self
That always seems to crash
Being the things you do
You may feel you can build a better you
Yet you’ll depend on the things you think you do
There’s no one acting here but life and life alone
No separate self making choices on its own
Being the things you do
What makes you think you’re
Running around, all over town
Who told you that you move?
Who’s really playing all of the parts
From finish to start
While you’re silent through and through?
Bodies come and bodies sure do go
Nobody’s body can interrupt the flow
You’ve been watching your own body pass the time
When it goes you’ll know
You’re not the me and mine
Being the things you do
Death is really nothing of the kind
Just an end to the memories that bind
Love in light, flowing free without a doubt
Lets you know your life is really not about
Being the things you do
What makes you think you’re
Running around, all over town
Who told you that you move?
Who’s really playing all of the parts
From finish to start
While you’re silent through and through
Psychic friends and the cold, blue hand of time
Know your fate’s identical to mine
Step aside and see there’s nothing to protect
Dot your t’s and cross your I’s while you reject
Being the things you do
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6. |
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On the Trail of Broken Hearts
On the trail of broken hearts
Each one split by Cupid’s dart
I track the woman perfect as a rose
She has sown the seeds of shame
In the men who’ve fanned her flame
Then blown away like smoke upon the breeze
I’m the Wiesenthal of Texas
On the trail of broken hearts
I know she’s waiting for me
Somewhere in these parts
We are star-crossed like the planets
And when we two collide
On the trail of broken hearts
I will have her for my bride
On the trail of broken hearts
I collect my bloodhounds barks
And feed them to computers, I don’t care
I will steal the crutch of faith
From the crippled human race
And follow her forever everywhere
I’m the Wiesenthal of Texas
On the trail of broken hearts
I know she’s waiting for me
Somewhere in these parts
We are star-crossed like the planets
And when we two collide
On the trail of broken hearts
I will have her for my bride
On the trail of broken hearts
I can see our wedding march
My blushing bride in black all over me
We will celebrate the day
In our own peculiar way
With shoes and rice and holes
Where hearts should be
I’m the Wiesenthal of Texas
On the trail of broken hearts
I know she’s waiting for me
Somewhere in these parts
We are star-crossed like the planets
And when we two collide
On the trail of broken hearts
I will have her for my bride
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7. |
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Where You Goin’, Darlin’ Daughter?
Where you goin’, darlin’ daughter, didn’t your Daddy raise you right?
Isn’t it true you’re smoking pot or maybe I just ain’t seein’ right
Where you goin,’ little one, why do you torture me?
What’s that punk got up his sleeve to make you wanna leave?
Tell me where you goin’, darlin’, must it be away from me?
Tell me where you goin,’ little one, I’m too blind to see
Where you goin’, darlin’ daughter, doesn’t your Mother’s feelings count?
It wouldn’t have hurt more if you’d shot her
You really know how to let her down
Where you goin,’ little one, why do you torture me?
What’s that punk got up his sleeve to make you wanna leave?
Tell me where you goin’, darlin’, must it be away from me?
Tell me where you goin,’ little one, I’m too blind to see
Where’s she goin’ our darlin’ daughter?
She don’t know her left hand from her right
Everything we have taught her she treats like so much bad advice
Where you goin,’ little one, so far away from home?
I will never forgive you for leaving us alone
Tell me where you goin’, darlin’, must it be away from me?
Tell me where you goin,’ little one, I’m too blind to see
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8. |
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John Lyle Sechelt, British Columbia
The lyrics for most of the songs appearing in these albums are available in book form: "The Kindest Lies: the Lyrics of John Lyle", published by Leaky Boot Press (June 28, 2013).
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