Lyrics

BLIND MAN ON THE WATER

There's a blind man walkin' on the water
a rich man owns the sea

if there's a poor man with the devil's daughter- that would be me

there's a mad man in a marble tower
like an ad man on my TV

but he doesn't have any answers for me

 i'm still here & it's the same old story
blind man- what do you see?

i see a time in eveyone's life
when they shut off the power & put out the light

when no drug or machine that man can devise

can put back the life in your dying eyes

you can move through the mist like a blade through a fire

shout through the flames as they carry you higher

blind man- what do you see?

there's a strong wind blowin' off the water

where the blind man stands & calls to me

& i'm still here with the devil's daughter 

i been baptized in witch's water

blind man- what do you see?

i see a time when all that you do

turns around to stare back at you &
there's nowhere to run & you can't look away

& you can't change the facts as you made them today
move through the mist like a blade through a fire

shout through the flames as they carry you higher

blind man, what do you see? 

WRECKAGE OF MY SANITY

been away in time forgotten

led astray from top to bottom

on a trail of missing dreams
armed with insufficient schemes

rode the highway of disaster

screaming: "can't this thing go faster?"
crashed upon the shores of time

out of reach & out of mind 
&
staring at the wreckage of my sanity

just another victim of humanity
just another hard luck story

throw a dime & say you're sorry

got my start in crimes of passion

breaking hearts to keep in fashion

spent a life in smoke- filled bars

killin' time with lonely hearts

broken drunks & joyless sinners

playin' games that have no winners 
'til i find i reached the end

out of reach & out of friends

& staring at the wreckage of my sanity

just another victim of humanity

just another hard luck story/ throw a dime & say you're sorry

oh- what a wicked web we weave

no- i've got nothing up my sleeve

nowadays i walk on crutches

tryna dodge the reapers clutches

still alive as far as i 
know

if i died it doesn't show

tryna put my past behind m

 don't know how it always finds me

sitting in my silent 
gloom

on a train that's bound for doom

staring at the 
wreckage of my sanity

just another victim of humanity


just another hard luck story

throw a dime & say yer sorry...

ON THE FRINGES OF A DREAM

through all eyes the future lies

through all minds the past

beyond the waves of passing days

through the minds own looking glass

beyond the gloom within this room

where fallen angels cry

to taste the 
wine of a golden vine

on the fringes of the sky...

in a while from now i will crack a smile

while my face 
begins to melt

it's too late now to stop the game

the cards have all been dealt

with a stellar map of foreign shores we board the star machine

we use our minds to drive the oars on the fringes of a dream...

PARANOID FANTASIES

you're runnin' late- grab a paper & read 

all about the latest caper

it's all lies, lap it up

sip it from your coffee cup

then you fight the cars & the 
oxide fumes

while lis'nin' to the muzak tunes

past swarming hoards of human ruins

traffic lights & hypnotized
salesmen with hungry eyes

prostitutes in rented thighs

customers with alibis

muted truths & screaming lies!!!!!

paranoid fantasies! paranoid fantasies...!!!

electron beams & neon dreams

they fill your mind with worthless schemes

in streams that seem to make no sense

yet by a strange coincidence

you're reaching for a chemical
meal

sold in some half-forgotten spiel

on the radio - 
or in a magazine

beside a picture (half-obscene!)

of someone scoring happines

 or finding love & eternal
bliss

who do you think they're all talking too? they do it all for you...

paranoid fantasies! a symptom of a mind disease!

gotta put a stop to these paranoid fantasies...

you can always tell an election year

solutions to problems
are everywhere

as long as you vote for the man with the
smile

who shook your hand & kissed your child

& promised
to keep a stricter eye

on those who deal in genocide

but you can't escape & you wouldn't try

as you stop in 
for some coke & fries

then you spend the night on
flourescent ice

it freezes the mind & makes everything
nice

with flying men & talking mice & bouncing breasts 
in paradise...

paranoid fantasies! a symptom of a mind disease!

gotta put a stop to these paranoid fantasies...

at 11:00 o'clock it's the evening news

when they show
you all they've done for you

and it must be right if it's on the tube

but you wouldn't recognize the truth

as they show you their view of reality

as if there's only one to see

& they've captured some dope-dealing fiends

who
corrupt young minds with poison dreams

and you smile & think that all is well

but you're so drugged that you
couldn't tell

drugged by the tools of society:

government, church & industry!

Paranoid fantasies... 

moses must have been pretty high

when he talked to god on mt. sinai

& jesus must have been usin' his head

when
he fed a crowd with a loaf of bread

& charlie's will is
man's son

when mind control in the hands of one

so wicked
falls & fed by fear

proceeds to wreak his havoc here

& when in the hands of those that feed

upon the doctrine of
greed

sell sugar drugs in cellophane

in flourescent supermarket chains...

paranoid fantasies! a symptom of a mind disease

gotta put a stop to these...paranoid fantasies...

FORMALDEHYDE STREET 

i know a man with a room full of clocks

he's chronically late but he wears clean socks

& he's quick to point out

with his hands on his face

it's not always the quick who inherit the race

& my fisherman friend gets up before dawn

& searchin' for worms he tears up my front lawn

with a bucket of bugs & a hook in his nose

& an autographed picture of imelda marcos

& barney the bartender, sleeping 'til noon,

curses: "you woke me an hour too soon!

don't open the till 'til i've counted my change"

& cleaning the grill whistles 'home on the range'

& it's all predetermined & it seems so complete

all these things that i see on formaldehyde street...

the mayor's got reams of reversible coats

he's eager to tease & he's hungry for votes

"i never met a man," he said with a smile,
"who i couldn't pretend to like for a while..."

his daughter hangs out with the seediest thugs

she spreads like parquet & she lives for her drugs

& the only thing i'd point out in her favour

is the total contempt that she holds for the mayor

"i hate him!" she spits with a mouthful of seeds

while the fisherman hunts for the worms that he needs

and barney the bartender, cleaning the grill

whispers: "i see the glass is half filled..."

and it's all predetermined & it seems so complete

all these things that i see on formaldehyde street...

the mayor comes in to the bar about 4:00

he orders a gin & slumps to the floor

& mutters to barney: "my life's in a rut.
my wife's getting fat & my daughter's a slut..."

then in walks the fisherman with a bucket of trout

trades one to barney for a bottle of stout

then he walks to the back to get a quick kiss,
sayin' "it doesn't get any better than this!"

while the mayor keeps sobbing into his hands

over all of his best laid ambitions & plans

& i think i can see in the lines on his face:
it's not always the quick who inherit the race...

and it's all predetermined & it seems so complete

all these things that i see on formaldehyde street...

GROOVEY TUESDAY

woke up this morning & fell in the groove

looked at the earth & i saw that it moved

caught a reflection of someone like me

i knew it was going to be a groovey tuesday

groovey tuesday- on a cruise day- gone away on a groovey tuesday

how in the world could i try to get by

with both of my eyes closed & all of my mind

awakening slowly to sweet harmony

fulfilling my own prophesy: a groovey tuesday

truth is illusion

nothing is real

all is perception

how do you feel

imagination can make you as wise

that's when you realize

it's a groovey tuesday...

FEAR

what do you believe in?

how do you know that it's real?

have you seen it? did you chose it

what will you do when you lose it?

what kind of fear do you live by?

fear of the all final goodbye?

fear of the opening blind eye?

well i think about the mysteries

the miseries

the harmonies

think 'bout the power

& the leaders on the brink of madness

think about the idiots in places of authority

affecting our lives with decisions that never reach our ears

but it's nothing too unusual though

is it doctor? is it doctor? is it doctor?

no it's nothing too unusual

it's distorted information

it's all a very normal situation..

but i'm afraid to laugh & i'm afraid to cry

& i'm afraid to live & i'm afraid to die

afraid to go out of my own back door

afraid of the cops & the punks & the war

but it's nothing too unusual though

is it doctor? is it doctor? is it doctor?

no it's nothing too unusual

it's just stress-induced psychosis

some kind of chemical neurosis

but what about the bombs & the nuclear waste?

everywhere i look i see fear in every face

i this the end of humanities' race

tell me is it doctor? is it doctor? is it doctor?

(this is the emergency broadcasting network/ please remain calm. although a state of emergency may exist, there is no cause for panic. please remain in your homes, lock all doors & windows & stay tuned to the emergency broadcasting network for further information...) 

LOVE WILL LIGHT THE WAY

maybe we can't change the world tonight

maybe that's tomorrow's fight

maybe you should just hold me tight

make it go away...

maybe we can't change the way things are

but if you hold me in your arms

life won't seem quite so hard

love will light the way...

tomorrow's just a mystery

unraveling our destiny

as long as there is you & me

love will light the way

through the night

through the dark of the night with you here

i feel it will be okay
love will light the way...

OVER 

now that you see how it goes

what do you want to do now?

now that you see that it's close

what are you going to do now?

its over...over...now that you know how it is

what do you want to do now?

now that you see that she's His

what are you going to do now?

it's over...over...over...

NOW I UNDERSTAND

now i understand how a man can feel this way

to have said it all & have nothing left to say

how the past can close like a steel trap on his mind

& leave the future suddenly behind

i sang a song to a girl the other night

when i was done i turned to hold her tight

she faded like a vapour in the wind

& i know i'll never find that girl again

now i understand

what i wish i didn't know

why the seasons change & why the wind does blow &
i understand why the rain comes down: to wash our sins into the ground

now i understand how a man can search in vain

looking for a thing he can't explain

how time will leave him once again alone

left to face the darkness on his own

a child asked me for a pill to ease his pain

& i didn't even know how to explain

there isn't any pill that we could find

to chase away the demons in his mind...

now i understand...

all lyrics copyright 2000 by colin kadey. 
reprinted by permission-all rights reserved