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All Lyrics copyright Sherwood Gainer  © all rights reserved

Thinking Cap Starter Pak

     Cross Town             

     Dawn                   

     So Many Choices

     Super Powers

     Bad Timing

     Walk With Me

     These Sore Eyes

     Strong Coffee

     For A New Moon

     Commercial

     Let Your Hair Down

     Starting Block

     Two Sides of Mrs. T.

     Somehow

     Small Talk

     Thanksgiving

    

 

 

Cross Town

 

downtown push to open 1-800 welcomes you overnight alterations

ice cold students free authentic cuisine  supersize imports one hour

do not block new york style 24 szechuan  while you wait fresh brewed

as seen on tv why pay more we deliver no parking no standing no  stopping

 

quarters only smoke free exhibition to 6pm for lease ticket holders

buy one new low rates shopping district get one free farm fresh primates

tee shirts catch the fever impressionists news 4 now online magazines

souvenirs stadium scenic view do not merge no turn on red no crossing 

 

Dawn

the eastern sky is glowing its almost time for showing

a brand new episode of  planet earth

darkness fades away and people start their day

as a dazzling display -- breaks the horizon

 

Dawn

 

Time continues flowing with an energy ongoing

theres no turning back or slowing-- make it count.

Work on a solution make a contribution during one more revolution of the world.

 

The time to seize is ours  for the few remaining hours

while that massive solar power makes the day.  

I pause for contemplation of life-cycles and creation 

as we start one more rotation.

 

So Many Choices

I can turn in any of three hundred sixty degrees

So many websites now I think I understand infinity

But the  thousand cable channels- some I'm told that I must see,

make the TV seem alive, and the remote is changing me

 

Choices. So many choices

 

Some are entertained, some folks are enlightened

But mostly what I see on TV leaves me kind of frightened.

 

 

They call it surfing even though we sit  almost completely still 

 

We’re nearly comatose and yet we haven't had our fill

More potent and effective than a dozen sleeping pills,

maybe the media has finally broken our collective will.

 

 

 

 

Let Your Hair Down

Let your hair down Roll on the ground

Or join the rhythm section in jumping all around

 Move your torso Twist it too and fro

Swing your arms low Show the mojo in your toes

 

Let your hips slide Shake your back side

with a new dance no one’s ever tried

Let your limbs sway Like they’re on holiday

Shake your loose change To the rhythm that we play

 

Cause you know, soon enough, we’ll go back to the grind.

 Too much work  can be rough, take a load off your mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Super Powers

I never knew I knew how to fly
'til I was walking by your side  

Now I’m swinging from rooftops feeling fine
whenever I hold your hand in mine

My senses are heightened,  my mind is enlightened
whenever you’re with me, I feel like you give me -- super powers

My X-ray eyes see how you feel
I know that the love in you is real

Ill turn invisible so you can see
the same emotions inside me.

My racing heart cannot be explained:
faster and stronger than a train

my spirits leap high when you’re around
over tall buildings in one bound 

 

Bad Timing

finally got my act together but I’m feeling like a clown

the theaters gone dark the show’s left for another town - bad timing

 

both my watch and warrantee expired yesterday

now they recommend I check the time no more than twice a day - bad timing

 

I think of all the ways time hasn't been a friend

but looking on the bright side I haven't reached the end

even bad bad timing beats none at all

 

killing time is an example of a crime that doesn’t pay

wish I could bring those hours back I sure could use a few today - bad timing

 

some say daylight savings is just stealing from the night

I get up an hour early just to fight the same old fight - bad timing

 

from the international dateline my landlord called to say:

your rent is overdue because tomorrow is today - bad timing 

 

Walk With Me

walk with me

 

we can pick a direction or wander around

the best views of the world are often made from the ground

 

we can make our own way or follow the crowd

we don't have to talk, but speak up if you've something to say

 

stand here by my side

we can take it all in stride

if we've two points of view

we can both talk it through

start to bridge the divide

 

there's a time to relax and watch the world go by

but my legs and  my mind need a stretch and its not yet the time for goodbye

 

we can walk through the woods or over rocky terrain 

we can walk in the sand on the street  or barefoot in the rain 

 

These Sore Eyes

you say you're a mess. A wreck. no makeup, and wearing sweats.

you say the way you look is as bad as it gets

but these sore eyes say you're beautiful

 

you say, "Don't look at me. I'm not ready. I'm a sight to see”

on that last point-- these sore eyes agree

 

I'm a spokesman for sore eyed guys

fairly elected and duly deputized

now my sworn duty: to make you recognize 

the natural beauty that you are

 

you say your wardrobe leaves you mortified

that your shoes  don't match your sweater

 but these sore eyes can testify

you've never ever looked better

 

you say you're a poster child

for broken nails, and hair gone wild

but I’ve been watching for quite a while

and these sore eyes say you’re beautiful 

 

Strong Coffee

strong coffee a cup to go

potent java mighty Joe

 

no cream or sugar I’ll take it black

my getup n go is coming back

 

wide awake on the make

liquid ambition: use it for good for goodness sake   - strong coffee

a place with new age music and overstuffed chairs

I'm sure its very nice but you wont find me there

I got things to do I cant wait

or run late I’ll only hesitate - for strong coffee 

 

For A New Moon

zombies drop the kids at practice for the high school play

aliens are volunteering for the PTA

Godzilla starts a shopping list with milk and eggs and bread

the mummy eats a sandwich watching TV from his bed 

 

how did our lives get so mundane

when did the reckless passion wane

oh, did we burn it all too soon?

we’ll stare at the darkness and howl-- for a new moon

 

Frankenstein’s monster folds the laundry and he starts another load

Wolf-man rakes and stacks the leaf bags neatly by the road

Dr. Jeckel cleans the family car and wipes it with a rag

Dracula scrapes leftovers into a freezer bag

 

the blob will spend a quiet evening curled up with a book

invisible man clears the table in the breakfast nook

leopard-woman updates her day-planner with a sigh

the creature from the black lagoon waits for the cable guy 

 

Commercial

a stranger to the system

with no story or tradition

under haircut from the future

independent in decision

holds a bottle of charisma

that you won’t find on the menu

without placement for product

there’s no value in the venue

 

with a cinematic cadence

over eight dilineations

he’s stepping on the catalogs

and catigorization

chasing him with labels

and a demographic shoehorn

madison wont stop

till he’s predictable and shopworn

 

I am watching

the commercial

they are watching 

my behavior

I prefer to

keep a distance

they pretend to

be my savior

 

the message will be driven till youre taken as a given

 

you tune in to the talking

and the market maker barking

inching closer to the shopping

with the hope of better parking

 

the investors in the branding

are controlling the demanding

they’re supplying the supply

do we have an understanding?

 

marketing depended

on our disbelief suspended 

by the time the movie ended

all our credit was extended

 

with the mining, aggregation

and subliminal gyration

they can engineer our impulse

realtime and on location

 

your thinking will be driven till youre taken as a given 

 

Let Your Hair Down

let your hair down

roll on the ground

or join the rhythm section

in jumping all around

 

move your torso

twist it to and fro

swing your arms low

show the mojo in you toes 

 

cause you know

soon enough

we go back to the grind

too much work

can be rough

take a load

off your mind

 

so let your hips slide

shake your backside

with a new dance

no ones ever tried

 

let your limbs sway

like they’re on holiday

shake your loose change

to the rhythm that we play

 

Starting Block

I’m staring at paper. And it stares back

 

I’m trying to think of think of something clever to write

maybe theres meaning in the clean symmetry and familiar scale of the pristine sheet

absent a humans petty blather, devoid of some self important message,

or juvenile emotion

 

potential

thats it. I’ll frame a blank page and call it potential –

or maybe the label is too easy; I’ll let the unmarred blankness speak for itself 

 

what a load of crap

 im grasping at straws trying to make an artistic statement out of anything

I suppose someone could sell the concept

with some effort and charisma they'll talk about infinite possibilities:

how the empty page is ready to receive poetry, mathematical calculations, or an artists sketch...

or a grocery list or note that says be right back or be made into a paper airplane

 

or maybe they'll promote some comparison of the fibers in the paper

to the tangled and chaotic inter-relatedness of everything

and at the same time claim the uniform clean page

reflects the apparent order and stability of the universe

or perhaps they might drone on about the page being manufactured by man

from materials in nature to be used by man to reflect nature

in abstractions of words or images

Yup, some creative type could come up with an angle

to make a few bucks from a sheet of standard eight and a half by eleven

 

but I am not a salesman. I’m just staring. At paper

 

Two Sides Of Mrs. T

the new hire finds her charm and smile disarming

survivors never speak about the loss of life or limb

time reveals a picture more alarming

and options not as simple as a choice to sink or swim

 

corporate likes the numbers that her minions falsify

never asking where the bodies of the victims lie

protests aren't effective and no one wants to try

none who took a stand  are left to testify

 

two sides-- one false and one dark

the contrast and the irony couldn't be more stark

 

her victims show no traces

the lawers have no cases

employees know their places when they see 

the two sides-- of mrs t

 

attacking every flaw she sees

and some that she’ll invent

a few careers and rules might end up

broken lost or bent

petty inconveniences

caught in the event

of falling underfoot when she is

making her ascent

 

derailing a career with threats and fear is just a game

memos and the phone are simply tools to shift the blame

termination rumors turn the strong into the meek

casualty dress will be appropriate all week

 

a corporate chart names those in her domain under duress

the overworked rewarded with new deadlines and distress

action items for her twist-ed vision of success

humiliate belittle torment threaten and repress 

 

Somehow

She’s positive, I’m negative

She’s a sure thing, I’m tentative

She’s the top ten, and I’m alternative somehow

 

she’s sunshine, I’m overcast

She’s first in line, I’m dead last

She’s the bright future, and I'm the checkered past somehow

 

somehow something made her look my direction

some force of nature somehow made her want to stay

through circumstance or luck or maybe cosmic intervention -- I don't question

we are she and I together now somehow

 

she sees the bright side, I give my eyes a rest

She’s flying colors, I’m not yet done the test

She’s never questioned, I’m always second guessed somehow

 

somehow something made her look my direction

some force of nature somehow made her want to stay

through some miracle or other inexplicable connection -- I don't question

we are she and I together now somehow 

 

Small Talk

hey well hey hey bro hey man hey there hi there ho there hi hello hay yo yo hay yo yo yo dude howdy do greetings and salutations hola aloha how are you howzit goin how ya feelin how've you been hows things hows tricks how ya doin que pasa whats new whats the word whats happenin' wazzup whats the scoop the poop the straight dope whats going on whats the score whats the 411 the lowdown the down low hows life life treatin' ya?

 

yeah you know what do you know ya know you know what they say like they say they always say im just sayin like the saying goes the old saying go with the flow go with it what goes around comes around let it go take it easy take your time take it slow slow ride take each day as it comes one day at a time give it time a stitch in time amok time time heals plen-ty of time nothin but time if you got the time time on your side no time like the present at the present time

 

yes uh huh yeah not just yeah  yup aight fer sure absolutely undoubtedly no doubt iknowright I hear you I hear that I get it count on it im in complete agree-ment I’ll buy that I concurr couldnt agree more you can bank on it you can take that to the bank you aint makin that up you can say that again you got it 10-4 affirmative thats the facts roger that cant argue that thats true the truth true dat damn straight straight up word fer real way

 

aww its good good seein ya good talkin chatting shooting the breeze hangin kickin it chillin chilaxin yappin flappin my jaw connecting keeping contact bonding catching up reminicing relive old times good times remember when way back when backin the day

 

hey gotta go gotta get goin gotta fly gonna fly now gotta take off gotta move move on keep on movin keep on keepin on keep on truckin mosey on down the road hit the road on the road again stay on track keep on schedule keep on time time for me to fly time to part to depart take my leave ride into the sunset got things to do places to go people to see

 

we gotta do this again soon real soon go out stay in hang hang out hang around lets get together lets do it once more one more time dont be a stranger keep in touch stay in touch touch base take care keep it real be good be cool be you be yourself later peace out ciao babe au revoir hasta la vista sionara adieu farewell bye goodbye buhbye till we meet again till then see ya see ya round see ya when I see ya see you in the funny papers see ya soon see ya later later alligator catch ya on the flip side check ya next time 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

the nightly news

in images and sound

show the suffering and pain

of lives turned upside down

 

ive had my bumps

but now I realize

how good fortune and good people

cut my troubles down to size

 

so I give thanks

show gratitude

and face all my challenges with a new

positive attitude

 

im grateful

humbled

by those who stopped to move me forward

and helped me when I stumbled

I give thanks, im giving thanks, im truly thankful

 

ive got my health

or most of it anyway

a coupla pounds a few aches and pains

but I cant complain

 

I got a job

purpose

a reason for the race

I hope the things I do

help make the world a better place

 

I try to make the most

of both the good times and headaches

being humble in success

and learning from mistakes

 

I got some money

a little bit anyway

enough for rent and the bills

and maybe a rainy day

 

ive got friends

loved ones

family

I get a lump in my throat

when I think of what all of them mean to me

 

I try each day

to do whats right

but im not sure I deserve

this much goodness in my life  

For a New Moon
Strong Coffee
These Sore Eyes
Walk With Me
Bad Timing
Super Powers
Let Your Hair Down
So Many Choices
Dawn
Cross Town
Comercial
Let Your Hair Down
Starting Block
Two Sides of Mrs T
Somehow
Small Talk
Thanksgiving
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