The Iceplant Ampitheater
Canyon Walls
The Ballad of John and Jill
The Grass on Concrete Blues
Talkin' Orange Alert Blues
My Own Religion
The Male Version of You
Closer to the Sky
Westchester Moon
One Sweet Duet
Weakness
Purple Lightning

The Ice Plant Amphitheater

The conception of good is the same as the conception of evil
Is the same as the conception of you is the same as the conception of me
Is the same as the conception of one thing is the same as the conception of everything

I was born in the nation, which acts as the center of all nations
In the state which as the center of all states
In the city which acts as the center of all cities
Where the mountains are all skyscrapers and the stars all are aero planes.

In the ice plant amphitheatre even the vegetation doesn't belong
Cause we all come from different places and we don't mean to do no harm
You ask anyone about their ancestors, they don't know or they don't care
And you can say anything you want about America, cause it's probably true somewhere.

George Orwell's "1984", now that is something that I do not fear
Gandhi said, "truth never damages a cause that is just", I got nothing to hide I am not scared
And if "The Man" starts bugging everything, and putting microphones everywhere
Please sir don't forget to put one inside my guitar, I got something that I want you to hear

At the top of Kenneth Hahn Park, there's a patch of grass where I lay
Where the guitars sound like fireworks and the drums sound like grenades
And you can look out past the buildings, past the smog, past the fear
You can almost see, and you can just barely hear
As god bargains with freewill, for just one day of control
Saying I won't do anything abnormal, I won't do anything bizarre
I'm just gonna gather them all together, put a can of spray paint in their hand
And have them write, "we are one collective soul" under every overpass
Then I'll take em to the beach and I'll lay them in the sand
And I'll let em, I'll let em go, and I'll never bother them again.

Well I've learned the hard way that utopia doesn't exist
Cause we all believe in perfection, we just can't agree on it
But I feel the disturbance to end all disturbances
Boling under our feet and hanging over our heads
So turn up loud your cell phones, and every billboard you can see
Rev up loud your engines, and turn on every TV
Take every distraction known to modern man
And turn em all on at once and we'll begin to understand
And we'll be surrounded by our neighbors, our enemies and our friends
And we'll see that the separateness is just an illusion.

Cause conception of good...

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

Canyon Walls

You can almost see the claw marks that the gods made
When they dug out these canyon walls
You can almost hear the sound that a nation makes
When it realizes something's gone terribly wrong

But I lift my ear off the ground now to hear the ever encroaching wave
Time doesn't bend or relinquish like a friend, it just silently sends us on our way

I met a woman she was shining green and gold
In the city of Salt Lake
You could almost see the thumbprints that the gods made
When they sculpted her original and beautiful face

And she reminded me that kindness tends to seep through the cracks in the wall apathy has made
America is filled, so much that it spills, so much that it inspires me to stay

I come alive when I hear your sound, when I see your spirit bend
Some of these highways scream out loud and some don't say a thing

You can almost see the claw marks that the gods made
When they dug out these canyon walls
I can almost feel Poseidon's sweet and soft spray
As it beckons me to grab my guitar and come on home

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

The Ballad of John and Jill

Jill kicked the rock towards me, she said the sidewalk is a sacred place
The only place we can linger, where we can talk for hours
Cuz we're not allowed in the street or on people's property
With their grass as green as the water we don't have

Give me dead grass, give me Los Angeles grass, give me honesty
That's what this town, deep down, really truly needs

I said, Jill let me tell you my dream, cuz last night I had a dream
It was crazy and it was scary, and she said, oh my dear Johnny
You know the funny thing about dreams is we tell ours so eagerly
But when it comes to hearing someone else's we can barely feign interest

I guess the farthest thing from reality is somebody else's dream
But if we only knew the connection we'd listen far more closely
La da da.....

The very next day I woke to the sound of rain
Falling onto my window and I called Jill on the phone
I said, Is it raining at your place?, she said, Johnny not a trace
I said, Run over to my house and I'll run over to yours

And when we meet we'll find that place we've always talked about
The place where the storm begins and dryness holds its ground
La da da....

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

The Grass on Concrete Blues

Sun shines on a disappointed sea, looking for where I am
Finds me dreaming of infinity while sitting in a traffic jam
It knew me in my youthful skin on my journey for the answers to everything

There was a hole in the cement in my backyard, and when I'd look down into it
I saw no soil down in there, so I was convinced that
This world was made of concrete, and our lawns and our city parks, were just planter boxes filled with dirt, with the grass laid out on top

We used to pray it would rain soap and water, and wash these city streets clean
And we knew, by god, we were sinners, and we did not regret one thing,

My town it got torn down, I blinked and it was built again
And all the stores we used to go to, got replaced by one with everything
I went to buy some baseball cards, and waited an hour, but they only had one kind

The siblings embraced the chaos, the mothers took us to their breast
And all the alcoholic fathers, at night they were somebody else
But show me a family with more than one person and I'll show you a family with dysfunction

We used to pray it would rain soap and water, and wash these city streets clean
And we knew, by god, we were sinners, and we did not regret one thing,

Love was in our eyes, and faith was in our hands
And the sun burned it's parables fresh into our skin
We're the children of the divorce generation
And they ask us why we live together before we get married
We were lookin' for fun, we were lookin' for soul
We were lookin' for anything that had lost control
It wasn't much to ask for in a southern life
A little rain, ash, and sacrifice

We used to pray it would rain soap and water, and wash these city streets clean
And we were told, by god, we were sinners, and we did not regret one thing,
We believed we were righteous, in our tiny little souls we prayed
And we set out to find how much noise a skinny kid could make

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

My Own Religion

Tell my psychic, tell her I have been, drinking grapefruit juice and sleeping in
Tell her I'm at peace, for now, at least
Call me agnostic through the halls of the pious, there's something exciting about the non-religious
Like an open canvas, for whomever gets there the fastest

I have been cast out, and I have been related to you now
I have been torn up and I have created my own religion

Take my election blues, sarcasm wrapped in truth, Jesus votes so you don't have to
Call it a joke but the people have spoke, let us pray
I feel a division from region to region, hate comes through any crack that it's given
So I aim all my peace straight towards DC, let us pray

I have been cast out, and I have been related to all of you now
I have been torn up and I have created my own religion

It seems that every messiah was trying to do everything except be what they became
With each doctrine as valid as the one across from it you might as well believe what you want to believe

The moment you say that someone else is wrong you make yourself susceptible to that claim
If all are equal than all are right it is the definition of faith

So tell my psychic, tell her I have been, drinking grapefruit juice and sleeping in
Tell her I'm at peace, for now, at least

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

The Male Version of You

I met the male version of you, last night as I's about to leave
He was just as annoying, and as brilliant as I expected him to be
I had a feeling we would not get along, till he turned to me and said,
A girl with makeup on, is like a guitar wearing a wig

And I showed him my laughter, and gave him my trust,
But in the end I doubt that's what he wanted

I asked him about his lovin', but I knew what he was gonna say
He said, relationships are like skunks man, they still stink long after their dead

But its somewhere in your bible, somewhere you can trust
Somewhere, I swear that old mama she's turned to dust

And anyone who claims to be an old soul my friend,
Is not an old soul by any means
Just a new soul tired and confused as to how young everybody is

I asked how does it feel to have a partner, and also be in love with someone else
He laughed said it feels fine, its perfectly normal,
Perfectly normal

I met the male version of you, last night as I's about to leave
He was just as self-righteous, and as brilliant as I expected him to be

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

Closer to the Sky

The separation just seems to grow, some work for it and some destroy it
Just when you think it's as far as it could go, you blink your eyes and add more to it
There's a big bang here, there's a little bang there, creation takes its time
We are the vessels in which we breathe is there a difference between earth and sky

You say, give me one more chance before I go
Cause I know I can stand here and not melt this snow
We are natural, somewhere down deep
And we are closer to the sky than we think

I've taken these pipes down so far, and still I don't know exactly where they go
You said, let's follow these trash trucks out of town cause there's something that I've always wanted to know
Cause you can't really throw anything away, you can only move it to a different place
And there it sits along by our side, so many things share our lives

You say, give me one more chance before I go
Cause I know I can stand here and not melt this snow
We are natural, somewhere down deep
And we are closer to the sky than we think

You say, give me one more chance before I leave
Cause I know I can stand here and not disturb anything 
We are natural, somewhere down deep
And we are closer to the sky than we think

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

Westchester Moon

I wanted to tell you, I got out of the slow lane, as hearts like mine tend to do
I guess I got the courage, to go in the fast lane,
But I never meant to pass somebody who drives like you.

We met on a mattress, down by the guilty coast,
Your breath reeked of Aftershock, and mine of Beatles tunes
And on our drunken fears, we simply proposed a toast
"to every troubled soul under that Westchester moon"

You said you'd heard me playin', that's why you came upstairs,
You said you always loved the Beatles and you wished you played guitar
We could hear our friends laughing downstairs,
Playing drinking games, and not caring where they are

You bashed you parents' religion and I bashed mine,
We both knew god on every level it could be known
And then I asked you, if you were afraid of dying
You said, as long as there's music, I don't care where I go

You said, youth is a highway or so it seems,
We exit when we do, or we just keep rolling on
Oh but John, if I had it my way,
I'd take some country road and drive till dawn

Then my friend called out to you, wantin' to have some fun
You grabbed the aftershock, and headed downstairs
But I just laid back, put down my guitar
And saw that highway so damn clear

So I wanted to tell you, I got out of the slow lane,
My heart just seemed to pull me that way
My exit came up somewhere down the line
A man gets off when he does whether he's proud or ashamed

So now I've traveled up and down this coast
Much farther than I ever thought I'd get to
And every now and then, I simply propose a toast
"to every troubled soul under that Westchester moon"

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

One Sweet Duet

So it goes to show, that music has a way,
Of captivating a musician, especially if it's the kind that he don't play
And I'm glad that you went first, cause the people loved you so
And I wish that you could stay and hear, but I guess you have to go

With your "Ella Fitzgerald" covers in your mind,
And my painted guitar pressed against my thigh
I'm just a folk singer, you were the jazz vocalist
I wasn't looking for nothing long term, just one sweet duet

The announcer calls my name, and the crowd warmly responds,
But because you haven't left yet, their hope still lingers on
Cause even in your encore, you parted with us so sweet,
But they all wanna hear just one more, the microphone next to me's free

We could do a little patsy cline, a little Billie Holliday
We could blow their minds, if you just came back onstage
With your feather boa, and my harmonica round my neck,
I wasn't looking for nothing long term, just one sweet duet

So last time's a charm, or so I always say
Cause singing love songs, to everyone, cept the one you wrote them for could drive anyone insane
So you'll walk out that door, and the place'll be that much emptier
But we're all still humming your songs, through the beers and the laughter

So I'll just give you one more shout out, let the crowd realize
How lucky we all were, to have you here tonight
I's just folk singer, you were the jazz vocalist
I wasn't looking for nothing long term, just one sweet duet

I go out walking after midnight.....

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

Weakness

Shame, shame, shame on your prowess and fame
Of your tired little kingdom where no one remains
You look to the outskirts for someone to blame
For your sadness and your scars

I see you now hesitant to decide
You're so quick to judge as fear burns in your eyes
You out the past on a pedestal and then you ask why
And where everyone has gone

But we were all moving forward as you were sleeping in that guilty bed
And we were building foundation, simply creating, as the whip marks healed on your back
And I won't make any fresh ones, I never intended
To tell you what to do or say
I guess I expected our love to be strong enough to last through this phase

There's passive aggression in every line on your skin
And I can't fix a problem I don't know needs fixing
And I got to the point where I could read your mind
I closed my eyes and your mind had changed

And we walked arm in arm with poison in our bellies
We looked out to the sea sayin' the world was almost ready
And I sprang out of bed when the revolution began
I went to get you but your door was closed

And the sun beat down on you, burned your skin and it burned your eyes
You said, somewhere far away something must lie awake and stare at our sun as it burns all night
And love is a constant, if that's what you're wantin', but if not then please take my hand
Cause we've both been involved in, many of these break ins
And we've both seen true liberation

I've seen you at your highest, been there at your lowest
And I know you can get through this
And you can call it your weakness, if that's what you're needing
Just don't let your pride drown you again
Cause most fact is fiction, most truth opinion
And yes we don't choose who we fall in love with
But if you ain't pleased, get off of your knees, and give some freedom to yourself

When they said, science was a religion, you vehemently disagreed
You said, religion is a mass number of people believing what a few chosen people have seen
But I ain't here for a struggle, I loved you like a brother,
You were living proof that Satan was a lie
I'd rather see us happy and apart than spending forever trying not too die. 

I've seen you at your highest, been there at your lowest...

© John Craigie 2007

back to top

Purple Lightning

The farther I drive, the tighter these chains get
But I welcome the constriction, for soon they will snap
Every star I wished on, was just an airplane in the end
It seems the real wishes, you gotta grant yourself

Yes, I guess, when you choose your path
You gotta leave some stuff behind
I'm headed for the purple lightning, that lights up the dark black skies

My apartment's a mess and it smells like man
I smile now as I think if you bring your beautiful scent in
As you come to check on to see where I've been
And why you haven't heard my guitar through your walls

Yes, I guess, I had to escape
Cause you ain't done till your dead
I'm headed for the purple lightning, that lights up the dark skies ahead

I'm trading the smog for the dust, so it's not an issue of cleanliness
It's just that some dirt I can handle, and some I can't

I see my exit, on up ahead
Down Zzyzxx road, straight to nowhere
One day this desert will be a beach
And once again my bones will kiss the sea

Yes, I guess, I stole all my blood
But I never felt I owned this heart
I'm just headed for the purple lightning that tears the dark skies apart

© John Craigie 2007

back to top