Everything to Prove to the World Something: Selected Verse and Lyrics 2

For Something I'd Done

 

I was in a tawdry bar,

Or public house,

Being threatened,

For something I’d done.

 

Darting furiously…

Through city streets,

Running, running,

For something I’d done.

 

My companion hailed,

And stopped a bus,

Its metal doors flew open,

For something I’d done.

 

Had to get to them,

Had to get through them,

Under furious pursuance,

For something I’d done.

 

From the Labyrinthine Metro

 

my paris begins with 

those early days 

as a conscious flaneur 

i recall the couple 

seated opposite me 

on the metro 

when i was still innocent 

of its labyrinthine complexity 

slim pretty white girl 

clad head to toe in denim 

smiling wistfully 

while her muscular black beau 

stared through me 

with fathomless orbs 

and one of them spoke 

almost in a whisper 

qu'est-ce-que t'en pense 

and it dawned on me 

yes the young parisienne 

with the distant desirous eyes 

was no less male than me 

 

dismal movies 

in the forum des halles 

being screamed at in pigalle 

and then howled at again 

by some kind of madman 

or vagrant who told me 

to go to the bois de boulogne 

to meet what he saw 

as my destiny 

menaced 

by a sinister skinhead 

for trying on tessa's 

wide-brimmed hat 

getting soused in les halles 

with sara 

who'd just seen 

dillon as rusty james 

and was walking in a daze 

sara again with jade 

at the caveau 

de la huchette jazz cellar 

 

cash squandered 

on a gold tootbrush 

two tone shoes 

from close by 

to the place d'italie 

portrait sketched 

at the place du tertre 

paperback books 

by symbolist poets 

but second hand volumes 

by trakl and deleve 

and a leather jacket 

from the marche aux puces 

porte de clignancourt 

losing gary's address 

scrawled on a page 

of musset's confession 

walking the length 

and breadth of the rue st denis, 

what an artist's paradise 

(as juliette once wrote me).

 

I Let You Go

 

What was I thinking,

I let you go,

I wasn't drinking, still

I let you go,

Where was my head at to

Let you go,

I can't accept that I just

Let you go.

                                                                   

I wish I could make

Amends,

So we could at least

Be friends,

I have no real

Reason why,

I let you

Say goodbye.

                                                                   

Did I confuse you when

I let you go,

Such a fool to have

Let you go,

You were so precious, still

I let you go,

Worth more than jewels, still

I let you go.

                                                                   

I wish we could

Start again,

I'd be quite

A different man,

I've learned quite a lot

Since then,

I know how

To keep a friend.

                                                                   

We could meet up in the

Centre of town,

And I'd explain my motivations,

About how I came

To let you down,

And all those other

Explanations,

And crazy complications.

                                                                   

I'm not asking for

Romance,

Just give me half

A chance,

I’ve come to have

A good, kind heart,

So how about

A brand new start.

                                                                   

 

What was I thinking,

I let you go,

I wasn't drinking, still

I let you go,

Where was my head at to

Let you go,

I can't accept that I just

Let you go.

 

In Hamburg I Loved a Strange Girl

 

In Hamburg I loved 

A strange girl,

She put my whole being

In a whirl,

 

She spurned everybody 

But me,

I made her happy,

In Hamburg.

 

But if she had

Spurned me,

I'd have looked her in the eye,

And run away,

 

And in my room,

I would have cried,

I might even have died,

In Hamburg.

 

It was my evening, that's

For sure -

"Its your aura"

For sure -

At last I'm good

At something.

"Spot the Equity card!"

"When are you going

To be a superstar?"

Said Sarah.

That seemed to be

The question

On everyone's lips.

At last, at last, at last

I'm good at something.

 

I Spoke of the Spells of Calm

 

And so the party...Zoe

Called me...I listened

To her problems;

References

To my innocent face.

Linda said:

"Sally seems elusive

But is in fact,

Accessible;

You're the opposite -

You give to everyone

But are incapable

Of giving in particular."

 

Madeleine was comparing me

To June Miller;

Descriptions by Nin:

"She does not dare

To be herself..."

Everything I'd always

Wanted to be, I now am.

"...She lives

On the reflections

Of herself in the eyes

Of others...

There is no June

To grasp and know."

 

I kept getting up to dance

Sally said: "I'm afraid;

You're inscrutable;

You're not just

Blase

Are you?"

I spoke

Of the spells of calm,

And the hysterical

Reactions,

Psychic exhaustion,

Then anxious elation.

 

Incident in St. Christopher's Place

                                                              

Dear, I haven't been in touch

For a long time.

Sorry.

The last time I saw you

Was in St. Christopher's Place.

It was a lovely evening...

When I knocked that chair over.

I am sorry.

Since then,

I've had not a few accidents

Of that kind.

                                                             

Just three days ago,

I slipped out in a garden

At a friend's house...

And keeled over, not once,

Not twice, but three times,

Like a log...clonking my nut

So violently that people heard me

In the sitting room.

What's more,

I can't remember a single sentence

Spoken all evening. The problem is...

 

In Puerto Rican Skies

 

Kind faces smiling,

Nodding politely at words

They don’t seem to understand.

Show me pictures

Showing the richness of

A faraway distant land.

Multicoloured motor cars,

Brown apartments rising high

In Puerto Rican skies.

 

In Search of the Perfect Clime

 

Love, you've left me once again,

Gone to catch an early plane,

Where you gonna fly this time,

In search of the perfect clime?

 

I am the one you leave behind,

Worried out of my tiny mind,

I was the one who saw you through,

I need your care and loving too.

 

Love, you've left the happy home,

You've pledged your solemn word you'll phone,

But I would rather you were here,

You've no conception of my fear.

 

Halfway across a crazy world,

Is no place for such an unknowing child,

If only you could see me cry,

Then maybe you'd stop to wonder why.

 

I Think the World of She

 

She's precious as can be,

She means so much to me,

So much to me.

She spells generosity,

And she's always been

A friend in need.

Been so many years

Since that we

First met in our heyday,

So young and so free,

Sun-soaked days,

No tears, no cares,

Back in our heady heyday,

What I'm trying to say,

Is I think the world of she.

 

She's tender as can be,

Her kindness is for real,

So real for me,

She sends her warmth to me,

Like gentle poetry

That I can feel.

Been so many years

Since that we

First met in our heyday,

So young and so free,

Sun-soaked days,

No tears, no cares,

Back in our heady heyday,

What I'm trying to say,

Is I think the world of she.

 

Like All the Moonstruck Do

 

If I fell in love with you,

I would like to

Make my dreams come true,

You could fulfil all yours too,

So come on, honey,

Just one look will do,

I'll lose my heart to you,

Like all the moonstruck do.

                                                                   

We could go all round the world,

Just like other

Moonstruck boys and girls,

So come on, honey, don't be scared,

We are only young once,

Say the word,

I'll lose my heart to you,

Like all the moonstruck do.

                                                                   

Bali, Frisco, Rio, or wherever

You may choose,

The world's our oyster, honey,

There'll be no more bad news,

We could leave tomorrow,

I tell you we can't lose,

We will soon be

Saying bye bye to those blues.

                                                                    

If I fell in love with you,

I would like to

Make my dreams come true,

You could fulfil all yours too,

So come on, honey,

Just one look will do,

I'll lose my heart to you,

Like all the moonstruck do.