The Flood

Words by Ben Caplan

Music by Ben Caplan & Graham Scott

I wake up to the tolling of the bell

And I feel the water swell

It’s been coming up

Slowly rising

Hard to believe

That it's not surprising

I lost the foreground

Watching the horizon

The rising tide doesn’t raise all boats

There’s some of us who can’t float

Some are working in the mud

Not being innocent don’t make me guilty

You can’t keep your hands clean when it’s filthy

See the water dimmed with human blood

There’s no justice drowning in the flood

I wake up as the light begins to bend

And I watch the night descend

After a dutiful 

Lifetime of dreams

Trickling riches 

And muffled screams

The centre can’t hold

It gyres to the extremes

The rising tide doesn’t raise all boats

There’s some of us who can’t float

Some are working in the mud

Not being innocent don’t make me guilty

You can’t keep your hands clean when it’s filthy

See the water dimmed with human blood

There’s no justice drowning in the flood

The Dream

Ben Caplan & Graham Scott

In the fog of a dream

Our first embrace

The nectar of destiny

Sweet on our lips

The cherubs and angels all laughed at a joke 

that no one had told

We whispered between us

Of growing old

Dark was the night we spoke our vows

Surrendering to eternity

And with the light of dawn

I awoke

And the dream was gone

The dream was gone. 

The Main Thing

Ben Caplan & Graham Scott

The whole world is a very narrow bridge

A very narrow bridge

The whole world

Is a very narrow bridge

And the main thing

Is to have no fear

At all

 Candy and Balloons

Ben Caplan & Graham Scott

Every year when the last days of summer bear down

The funfair rolls through town

All the laughter and smells, speeding rides and yells 

Candy and balloons

An old friend spies an old friend

memory crinkling in their eyes

A hand breaks loose

An innocent youth

drifting to

The man with a balloon

A proud mother turns round 

Eyes toward the ground

Glancing for her child

All the laughter and yells, spinning lights and bells

Vibrate and turn wild

Every night when the light hits the window just right

Her face rests in her palms

All the laughter and smells, spinning lights and bells

Candy and balloons

Lost

Ben Caplan

 

When the rains stopped falling

And the rivers ran dry

The world just kept spinning round

And the nights dragged on

As the months flew by

I was just drifting

Down a path pre-existing

Till I tumbled into your eyes

And I’m lost lost lost

I haven’t got even a clue

And I’m lost lost lost

I’m so lost in love with you

When the skies cracked open

And the rivers broke free

The world just kept spinning round

And I held my breath

As you held me

I tried to resist you

The first time I kissed you

You shook me down out of my tree

And I’m lost lost lost 

I haven’t got even a clue

And I lost lost lost

I’m so lost in love with you

I’m so tired of all my troubles

I’m so tired of all my troubles

And the rain soaks through 

The Oracle

Ben Caplan & Graham Scott

The moon was a sickle

The sky made of grass

The blade of the light

Found your eyes and your ass

The ocean nearby 

was a white noise machine

Your face, the most beautiful

Thing that I’d seen

We walked in the surf

With the breeze in my beard

We felt the things 

that we both hoped for and feared

We suffered desire

On a scale historical

I, the Seeker

And you, The Oracle

And it all, all turns to dust

This we can trust

All turns to dust

The starlight conspiring 

Our bonds growing thicker

We loosened ourselves

With some Mexican liquor

The tide rolling out

And the stars watching in

The hairs standing up

On our goose pimple skin

I told you that I’d like 

to kiss both your lips

The ones on your face

And the ones on your hips

You told me that you 

Were a dignified woman

Then took me home

And it all, all turns to dust

This we can trust

All turns to dust

The future’s uncertain

Except for the ending

There’s no return address

For the prayers we’ve been sending

The great ship is sinking

The air’s full of fear

And the map is on fire

And no one can steer

The heavens will roar

the mountains will rumble

There’s no way to know

When the cookie will crumble

But since that night

I’ve known that until my death

I will praise you with every last one of my breaths

‘Cause it all, all turns to dust

All turns to dust

All turns to dust

This we can trust

All turns to dust

All turns to dust

And it all

All turns to dust

All turns to dust

This we can trust

All turns to dust

All turns to dust

And it all

All turns to dust

All turns to dust

This we can trust

All turns to dust

All turns to dust

 

 

40 Days & 40 Nights

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings [link to webstore] and Recollection [link to webstore]

I been out in the desert

I have wandered on through the sands

I been burned, I been thirsty

I've walked with the devil through dangerous lands

I have seen with my eyes images I wish I could erase

I have danced with lady temptation

I've felt her fire, I have seen her face

Well, I can't make it, I won't last another day

Cause each day is torture

Baby, each day is torture when you're away

I can't do without you

My lover, my partner, my friend

And now that you're gone each moment's so long

I can't wait till you come back again

I been missing my woman

Forty days and forty nights

Earlier today, heard somebody say

That he didn't believe that true love exists anyway

And earlier today, heard that same man say

That any man is a liar who says he desires

To be with one woman the rest of his days

Well, I don't know how the future is going to unfold

And I don't know just how we're gonna feel when we get old

But there's one thing, baby

Honey, one thing I'm certain is true

I have tried it out, I can't do without

No, I don't want to live without you

I been missing my woman

Forty days and forty nights

I been lost out at sea, rocked the boat

Felt the sting of the rain

I been surrounded by couples

I felt loneliness I could never explain

I have felt in my heart the flood of despair overtake

Not knowing for sure if I could endure

Overwhelmed by the value of what was at stake

Well, I can't make it, I won't last another day

Cause each day is torture

Baby, each day is torture when you're away

I can't do without you

My lover, my partner, my friend

And now that you're gone each moment's so long

I can't wait till you come back again

I been missing my woman

Forty days and forty nights

Bang to Break the Drum

words by Joseph Daniel Girard, music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering [link to webstore]

Just like an elephant memory, he comes and never fades

She turned his stomach upside down as she played the queen of spades

They pistol-whipped an outcome, tossed a coin, and called a draw

Threw a blanket on a flight of stairs and fastened up his jaw

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

The petals fall forever on Picadilly Lane

And the children take their medicine as they stand to watch the rain

The wagon wheels are made of cheese, the moon is made from grass

And the Wicca drink the water where the preacher screams for mass

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

Nothing was as flawless as the sirens in her mind

He broke apart her diary to doctor all he’d find

The carnival was sleeping when the doves had gotten free

But the treasure of the secret love is swallowing the key

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

The dead are all we have to set the worthiness of life

The angels smoke about the bridges sharpening the knife

The ceiling was a sucker-punch from Michael to the Pope

The anti-mute wear muzzles and a necklace cut from rope

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

The army trucks patrolling all but under angry stars

Say the pilgrimage is all beset by men who stroke guitars

The moon upon her caravan is driving thunderheads

While the painter sings about his blues and chokes upon his red

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

Beautiful

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

Let's go out tonight

The moon is bright

The rain is right

You're out of sight

I wanna be near you

Let's go on a date

Don't hesitate

This could be great

It's not too late

I wanna be near you

Or dance in the rain

It's not insane

Let me explain

Come pick my brain

As long as I'm near you

You tell me that we're too different

But darling, how can you be sure?

How can you know what we are

If you and I never were?

All I know is that you're beautiful

You seem like a beautiful soul

And I could be wrong

And we won't get along

But I've got to know for sure

So come be with me

Our time is free

Baby, let's see 

If we could be 

Something beautiful

Yeah, come take a chance

A quick romance

Let's dance

Surrender to circumstance

And become something beautiful

You tell me that we're too different

But darling, how can you be sure?

How can you know what we are

If you and I never were?

All I know is that you're beautiful

You seem like a beautiful soul

And I could be wrong

And we won't get along

But I’ve got to know for sure

Belly of the Worm

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

Well, it ain't your job for to take care of me

I don't want your damn help anyway

Take your eyes to the road for it’s time now to go

There's a world you’ve left waiting

And it ain't your job to take care of me

And you know it don't bother me none

Sure as each flower blooms

Every flower is doomed

And we'll meet in the belly of the worm

Through the rain and snow 

Long have I watched you grow

As your shoulders rise up to the sky

Don't despair in it all

Though I stumble and fall

Always knew, couldn't keep up, forever

And it ain't your job to take care of me

And you know that it's better this way

We'll go your way and mine

For you're still in your prime

And I'm just an old fool getting older

And it ain't your job to take care of me

Pack your bag, fill your boots, don't look back

Go catch up with your quest

Leave me here for to rest

And we'll meet in the belly of the worm

Through the rain and snow long

And I watched you grow

As your shoulders rise up to the sky

Don't succumb to despair

Fill your lungs with the air

And we'll meet in the belly of the worm

Birds with Broken Wings

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings and Recollection

Bring me birds with broken wings

Men with all the answers

People who have killed

Give me incurable cancers

Bring me beaches slicked in oil

Give me disregard for doubt

Street light shine on broken roads 

Where no one is about

I want that hopeless green depression

Punishments without a cause

Give me impotent obsession 

And disregard for laws

I want the trees in single file

Bring the corpse of something rare

Show me children who are sinners

Show me mounds of human hair

I climbed up the mountain just to kill my son

An angel tried to stop me with a ram

Well, he said, "Your mind's infected, " but I said, "You lack perspective"

You gotta walk the bottom if you wanna see the top

Give me poison I can swim in

Water I can't drink

Wheels that won't stop spinning

Teach my children not to think

I want the fruit that tastes like nothing 

Extra thumbs for every crook

Give me lessons without questions

And mild disdain for books

Give me metaphors unraveled

Poetry defined

Bring me the head of Dionysius

But please, don't spill out the wine

Trade the future for the present

Trade me ashes for my history

I don't need to look inside

I know the answer to the mystery

I climbed up the mountain just to kill my son

An angel tried to stop me with a ram

Well he said, "Your mind's infected, " but I said, "You lack perspective"

You gotta walk the bottom if you wanna see the top

Oh, I know they call me crazy

There will be no turning back

I don't care if things get ugly

Once the word of G-d is spoken

There's no way to take it back

I climbed up the mountain just to kill my son

An angel tried to stop me with a ram

Well he said, "Your mind's infected, " but I said, "You lack perspective"

You gotta walk the bottom if you wanna see the top

Conduit

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

Well, the devil's blowing coal

Through the smokestacks of your mind

Dylan's hanging on the cross

The piano's doing fine

Jacob's on the ladder

Smoking candy cigarettes

The chinaman's got heartburn

And a thousand tv sets

With arms as big as airplanes

He ripped his momma's blouse

The preacher man is hiding now

But we know he's in the house

And you think I've depthed the fathoms

But you'd better guess again

I don't understand these spirits, no

I only channel them

The taxidermist picked me up

At a quarter after ten

He fixed my troubled mind

And then he took me home again

The river's melting quickly

But the sky has disappeared

The Mohicans don't leave nothing

But a single unshed tear

The midway's closing down

But it's been a lovely run

And 50 years means nothing

If the town's been having fun

And you think I've depthed the fathoms

But you'd better guess again

I don't understand these spirits, no

I only channel them

Night Like Tonight

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings and Recollection

On a night like tonight 

When there's no one around

I don't have any friends in this town

Flip through my books

Wash my clothes in the sink

And there’s only one thought I can think

On a night like tonight 

With no concert to play

But I'm stuck on the road anyway

A hotel room with an ashtray by the bed

And I can't get you out of my head

I just want to sing you a love song

Just wanna be by your side

I'm so through with these new foreign landscapes

I just wanna see your face

On a night like tonight

When my passion's been spent

I'm just working a job to pay rent

To be so far from home to be living my dreams

I guess nothing is quite what it seems

On a night like tonight

When the rain keeps me in

I'm so tired of the usual sins

A church bell rings and I'm certain at last

That I'm finally done with the past

And I know that at home you're still waiting

For me to climb up those stairs

And I know that you're still hesitating

But baby, I'm already there

I just want to sing you a love song

Just wanna be by your side

I'm so through with these new foreign landscapes

I just wanna see your face

Under Control

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings and Recollection

Fledgling

words and music by Ben Caplan and Christian Barry

appears on Old Stock

Once there was a mama bird who flew across the sea

Carrying her fledgling young aloft upon the breeze

The time had come to migrate as a chill fell on the land

The fledglings were too weak to fly, too young to understand

Mama took them on her back, the three into the sky

And set upon a journey with a prayer and a sigh

Mama, where do we fly?

Where are we welcome and where will we thrive?

Mama, where do we fly?

Where are we going and will we survive?

The journey was exhausting but at last, a shore was found

The fledglings leapt off mama as she crashed into the ground

It took some time to learn how to adapt to the new clime

But food was found, and shelter, and it felt stable in time

The family was grateful to survive another day

But they missed the life they had and all their friends so far away

Mama, where do we fly?

Where are we welcome and where will we thrive?

Mama, where do we fly?

Where are we going and will we survive?

As years passed, other families from other far-off lands

Began to cross the ocean and to wash up on the sand

The fledglings and the neighbours felt themselves to be as one

And scarcely could identify with new birds on the run

They feared that all the new birds would bring violence and disease

Despite an old familiar song aloft upon the breeze

Mama, where do we fly?

Where are we welcome and where will we thrive?

Mama, where do we fly?

Where are we going and will we survive?

Lullaby

words and music by Ben Caplan & Christian Barry

appears on Old Stock

The market is empty

The butcher's gone home

The candle’s half spent

Soon the light will be gone

Soften your brow, dear

Breath slow and deep

Let your eyes close

As you drift off to sleep

The moon in the window

The sun in the sea

Now is the quiet

Just baby and me

And the sun will sleep in the ocean tonight

And the cool of the water makes everything right

And the ocean once dreamed it could shine high above

But protecting, reflecting the sun is enough

We used to go dancing

We used to drink wine

We used to buy flowers

But now we buy time

Mommy and daddy would work bare our hands

To make sure you have all you need in this land

The moon in the window

The sun in the sea

Now is the quiet

Just baby and me

And the sun will sleep in the ocean tonight

And the cool of the water makes everything right

And the ocean once dreamed it could shine high above

But protecting, reflecting the sun is enough

And the sun will sleep in the ocean tonight

And the cool of the water makes everything right

And the ocean once dreamed it could shine high above

But protecting, reflecting the sun is enough

Minimum Intervals

words and music by Ben Caplan & Christian Barry

appears on Old Stock

The minimum intervals from conjugal duties as prescribed in the Talmud are as follows:

For men of independent means every day is what she needs

Labourers it’s twice a week, you’ve got to make your lady squeak

Donkey drivers once in seven, got to send your spouse to heaven

Sailors every half a year, it’s back to port you’ve got to steer

According to the old tradition 

A Jewish husband is forbidden

To go too long without spending

Time on nether region tending

For men of independent means every day is what she needs

Labourers it’s twice a week, you got to make your lady squeak

Donkey drivers once in seven, got to send your spouse to heaven

Sailors every half a year, it’s back to port you’ve got to steer

Her pleasure is your obligation

If she gives the invitation

She has the right of course to say 

She’s not quite in the mood to play

Consent is de rigeur

You’ve always got to check with her

The point is human beings as such 

Need a little loving touch

Every human being as such

Needs a little loving touch

Plough the Shit

words and music by Ben Caplan & Christian Barry

Monologue drawn from Pico della Mirandola’s Oration On the Dignity of Man

appears on Old Stock

The world is an overflowing gutter
It bubbles with a brine of shit and blood
And those who keep their eyes upon the heavens
Are the ones who'll wind up face down in the mud

It's easy to speak of grand ambitions
It's easy to pretend you’re innocent
But lest you get distracted by the suffering of your sister
Being practical and trying to pay the rent

Heaven has been promised to the righteous
Hell's an overpopulated pit
Purgatory's given to the dreamers
But the world belongs to those who plough the shit

There's a special place in hell for fancy talkers
There's a special place in heaven for the whores
There's a throne reserved for those with good ideas
Stolen by the demagogues who want it more

The flowers and the laces in the market
Are all purchased by the peddlers of the flesh
But those who bring relief and carnal pleasure
Sometimes serve the needs of mankind for the best

Cast off the limitations of the righteous
There are good deeds only devils can commit
Let us dance between the teardrops of the angels
For the world belongs to those who plough the shit

 

---

 

At last the Supreme Maker decreed that this creature
To whom He could give nothing wholly his own
Should have a share in the particular endowment
Of every other creature

Taking man therefore, this creature of indeterminate image,
He set him in the middle of the world and thus spoke to him:
We have given you, O Adam, no visage proper to yourself
Nor endowment properly your own
In order that whatever place, whatever form, whatever gifts
You may with premeditation select
These same you may have and possess
Through your own judgement and decision

We have made you a creature neither of heaven nor of earth
Neither mortal nor immortal
In order that you may as the free and proud shaper of your own being
Fashion yourself in the form you may prefer

It will be in your power to descend to the lower brutish forms of life
You will be able through your own judgement and decision
To rise again to the superior orders whose life is divine

 

---

 

The dead become the emperors of memory
The saints have all been eaten by the worms
The living have the right to twist the future
And the sinners all have practical concerns

There’s sentinels with rifles on the borders
All the pretenses of charity are swept
But lets not talk of slipping into nightmare
For the day is won by those who haven’t slept

So throw away the vestments of the righteous
Make sure the body armor snugly fits
The souls have taken flight now from the birdhouse
And the world belongs to those who plough the shit

Traveller's Curse

words and music by Geoff Berner

appears on Old Stock

Truth Doesn't Live in a Book

words and music by Ben Caplan & Christian Barry

appears on Old Stock

What Love Can Heartbreak Allow?

words and music by Ben Caplan & Christian Barry

appears on Old Stock

Widow Bride

words and music by Geoff Berner

appears on Old Stock

You've Arrived

words and music by Ben Caplan & Christian Barry

appears on Old Stock

40 Days & 40 Nights

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings [link to webstore] and Recollection [link to webstore]

I been out in the desert

I have wandered on through the sands

I been burned, I been thirsty

I've walked with the devil through dangerous lands

I have seen with my eyes images I wish I could erase

I have danced with lady temptation

I've felt her fire, I have seen her face

Well, I can't make it, I won't last another day

Cause each day is torture

Baby, each day is torture when you're away

I can't do without you

My lover, my partner, my friend

And now that you're gone each moment's so long

I can't wait till you come back again

I been missing my woman

Forty days and forty nights

Earlier today, heard somebody say

That he didn't believe that true love exists anyway

And earlier today, heard that same man say

That any man is a liar who says he desires

To be with one woman the rest of his days

Well, I don't know how the future is going to unfold

And I don't know just how we're gonna feel when we get old

But there's one thing, baby

Honey, one thing I'm certain is true

I have tried it out, I can't do without

No, I don't want to live without you

I been missing my woman

Forty days and forty nights

I been lost out at sea, rocked the boat

Felt the sting of the rain

I been surrounded by couples

I felt loneliness I could never explain

I have felt in my heart the flood of despair overtake

Not knowing for sure if I could endure

Overwhelmed by the value of what was at stake

Well, I can't make it, I won't last another day

Cause each day is torture

Baby, each day is torture when you're away

I can't do without you

My lover, my partner, my friend

And now that you're gone each moment's so long

I can't wait till you come back again

I been missing my woman

Forty days and forty nights

Bang to Break the Drum

words by Joseph Daniel Girard, music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering [link to webstore]

Just like an elephant memory, he comes and never fades

She turned his stomach upside down as she played the queen of spades

They pistol-whipped an outcome, tossed a coin, and called a draw

Threw a blanket on a flight of stairs and fastened up his jaw

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

The petals fall forever on Picadilly Lane

And the children take their medicine as they stand to watch the rain

The wagon wheels are made of cheese, the moon is made from grass

And the Wicca drink the water where the preacher screams for mass

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

Nothing was as flawless as the sirens in her mind

He broke apart her diary to doctor all he’d find

The carnival was sleeping when the doves had gotten free

But the treasure of the secret love is swallowing the key

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

The dead are all we have to set the worthiness of life

The angels smoke about the bridges sharpening the knife

The ceiling was a sucker-punch from Michael to the Pope

The anti-mute wear muzzles and a necklace cut from rope

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

The army trucks patrolling all but under angry stars

Say the pilgrimage is all beset by men who stroke guitars

The moon upon her caravan is driving thunderheads

While the painter sings about his blues and chokes upon his red

We bang to break the drum

We rub the shine, we shine the light

We light the fuse, we fuse the powder

Cause the powder makes it right

We bang to break the shed

We shed the skin, we skin the bear

We bear the fall, we fall the towers

Cause the towers brings me there

Birds with Broken Wings

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings and Recollection

Bring me birds with broken wings

Men with all the answers

People who have killed

Give me incurable cancers

Bring me beaches slicked in oil

Give me disregard for doubt

Street light shine on broken roads 

Where no one is about

I want that hopeless green depression

Punishments without a cause

Give me impotent obsession 

And disregard for laws

I want the trees in single file

Bring the corpse of something rare

Show me children who are sinners

Show me mounds of human hair

I climbed up the mountain just to kill my son

An angel tried to stop me with a ram

Well, he said, "Your mind's infected, " but I said, "You lack perspective"

You gotta walk the bottom if you wanna see the top

Give me poison I can swim in

Water I can't drink

Wheels that won't stop spinning

Teach my children not to think

I want the fruit that tastes like nothing 

Extra thumbs for every crook

Give me lessons without questions

And mild disdain for books

Give me metaphors unraveled

Poetry defined

Bring me the head of Dionysius

But please, don't spill out the wine

Trade the future for the present

Trade me ashes for my history

I don't need to look inside

I know the answer to the mystery

I climbed up the mountain just to kill my son

An angel tried to stop me with a ram

Well he said, "Your mind's infected, " but I said, "You lack perspective"

You gotta walk the bottom if you wanna see the top

Oh, I know they call me crazy

There will be no turning back

I don't care if things get ugly

Once the word of G-d is spoken

There's no way to take it back

I climbed up the mountain just to kill my son

An angel tried to stop me with a ram

Well he said, "Your mind's infected, " but I said, "You lack perspective"

You gotta walk the bottom if you wanna see the top

Deliver Me

words and music by Joseph Daniel Girard

appears on Birds with Broken Wings

I don't believe in heaven in the winter

I don't believe in winter in the fall

I beat my temples just to see them splinter

I tear the wings off flies just to see them crawling

Down, down through the gravel and the mud

Where a rope can't knot and the soap can't sud

Saint Peter's on a smoke break, the Devil's dressed in silk

And you always eat the mother after drinking her milk

I don't believe my I's are ever dotted

I don't believe my T's are ever crossed

I stick it in because I see it slotted

I kick it in the ribs to have it turn and tossing

Down, down through the weeds and the rain

Where a man can't lie and a woman can't faint

Saint Peter's on a smoke break, the Devil's dressed in silk

And you always eat the mother after drinking her milk

Deliver me

Doctor, deliver me

Doctor, deliver me from this world

I don't believe in happily or in after

I don't believe in dreams I can't recall

I never got invited to the rafters

I never got why sinners never see themselves falling

Down, down through the fire and the smoke

Where a leg can't set and an egg can't yolk

Saint Peter's on a smoke break, the Devil's dressed in silk

And you always eat the mother after drinking her milk

Deliver me

Doctor, deliver me

Doctor, deliver me from this world

Deliver me

Deliver me from this world

Lovers' Waltz

words and music by A.A. Bondy

appears on Birds with Broken Wings

Do you wanna dance, will you wear my ring

Will you lay with me until the final bullets sing

Over our heads, over our heads

In a lovers' waltz we'll turn until the end

Will you marry me, don't you wanna spin

Will you run with me until the ground folds us within

Over our heads, over our heads

In a lovers' waltz we'll turn until the end

And your shipwreck eyes, they sing to me

As we ride a killer whale across a diamond sea

Over our heads, over our heads

In a lovers' waltz we'll turn until the end

And I will hang for you, and you will hang for me

And the northern lights will take us in like refugees

Over our heads, over our heads

In a lovers' waltz we'll turn until the end

Night Like Tonight

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings and Recollection

On a night like tonight 

When there's no one around

I don't have any friends in this town

Flip through my books

Wash my clothes in the sink

And there’s only one thought I can think

On a night like tonight 

With no concert to play

But I'm stuck on the road anyway

A hotel room with an ashtray by the bed

And I can't get you out of my head

I just want to sing you a love song

Just wanna be by your side

I'm so through with these new foreign landscapes

I just wanna see your face

On a night like tonight

When my passion's been spent

I'm just working a job to pay rent

To be so far from home to be living my dreams

I guess nothing is quite what it seems

On a night like tonight

When the rain keeps me in

I'm so tired of the usual sins

A church bell rings and I'm certain at last

That I'm finally done with the past

And I know that at home you're still waiting

For me to climb up those stairs

And I know that you're still hesitating

But baby, I'm already there

I just want to sing you a love song

Just wanna be by your side

I'm so through with these new foreign landscapes

I just wanna see your face

Ride On

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings

Sometimes it's a matter of fact

Everybody in your bed with their diplomats

Sometimes it's a matter of taste

Everybody wants to hear about the big mistakes

Everybody wants a piece of your heart

Telling you they've been there for you right from the start

It's never easy baby, but it's a must

You gotta find out exactly who you can trust

Every day is like a marathon

Wondering how you ever go so far from the dawn

You look around you and everything changed

Everything broken, unspoken, and strange

She lifts a pistol to your temple and smiles

"Don't worry baby, I'll be here a while."

Sometimes you wonder if you’re in too deep

It's all going under you just gotta keep it going

Everyday is a matter of haste

Telling you that you’ve got too much talent to waste

Most times the cards are all stacked

Everyone but you knows you are on the wrong track

And when you feel like there is no turning back

Your idols are broken, the marble is cracked

That's when you gotta push it right to the edge

Without looking back and just step right off the ledge

Everyday you gotta run for your life

Wondering if it's them or you that stuck in the knife

It doesn't matter when you reach the end

So come have a seat and relax

She pistol whips you and tells you "You’re clever.

Don't worry baby, I'll be here forever."

And now you realize you're in too deep

It's all going under you just gotta keep it going

Each day she glares at me across the morning sky

She's coming from the east to kill me 

I know it's true but she won't tell me why 

She spins around me 

Numbered pirouettes until i'm gone

But in the mean time I know my only choice is to ride on

Under Control

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on Birds with Broken Wings and Recollection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

Let's go out tonight

The moon is bright

The rain is right

You're out of sight

I wanna be near you

Let's go on a date

Don't hesitate

This could be great

It's not too late

I wanna be near you

Or dance in the rain

It's not insane

Let me explain

Come pick my brain

As long as I'm near you

You tell me that we're too different

But darling, how can you be sure?

How can you know what we are

If you and I never were?

All I know is that you're beautiful

You seem like a beautiful soul

And I could be wrong

And we won't get along

But I've got to know for sure

So come be with me

Our time is free

Baby, let's see 

If we could be 

Something beautiful

Yeah, come take a chance

A quick romance

Let's dance

Surrender to circumstance

And become something beautiful

You tell me that we're too different

But darling, how can you be sure?

How can you know what we are

If you and I never were?

All I know is that you're beautiful

You seem like a beautiful soul

And I could be wrong

And we won't get along

But I’ve got to know for sure

Belly of the Worm

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

Well, it ain't your job for to take care of me

I don't want your damn help anyway

Take your eyes to the road for it’s time now to go

There's a world you’ve left waiting

And it ain't your job to take care of me

And you know it don't bother me none

Sure as each flower blooms

Every flower is doomed

And we'll meet in the belly of the worm

Through the rain and snow 

Long have I watched you grow

As your shoulders rise up to the sky

Don't despair in it all

Though I stumble and fall

Always knew, couldn't keep up, forever

And it ain't your job to take care of me

And you know that it's better this way

We'll go your way and mine

For you're still in your prime

And I'm just an old fool getting older

And it ain't your job to take care of me

Pack your bag, fill your boots, don't look back

Go catch up with your quest

Leave me here for to rest

And we'll meet in the belly of the worm

Through the rain and snow long

And I watched you grow

As your shoulders rise up to the sky

Don't succumb to despair

Fill your lungs with the air

And we'll meet in the belly of the worm

Conduit

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

Well, the devil's blowing coal

Through the smokestacks of your mind

Dylan's hanging on the cross

The piano's doing fine

Jacob's on the ladder

Smoking candy cigarettes

The chinaman's got heartburn

And a thousand tv sets

With arms as big as airplanes

He ripped his momma's blouse

The preacher man is hiding now

But we know he's in the house

And you think I've depthed the fathoms

But you'd better guess again

I don't understand these spirits, no

I only channel them

The taxidermist picked me up

At a quarter after ten

He fixed my troubled mind

And then he took me home again

The river's melting quickly

But the sky has disappeared

The Mohicans don't leave nothing

But a single unshed tear

The midway's closing down

But it's been a lovely run

And 50 years means nothing

If the town's been having fun

And you think I've depthed the fathoms

But you'd better guess again

I don't understand these spirits, no

I only channel them

Devil Town

words Daniel Johnston music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

I was living in a devil town

I didn’t know it was a devil town

Oh, it really brings me down

About the devil town

All my friends were vampires

I didn’t know that they were vampires

Turns out I was a vampire myself

In the devil town

Down to the River

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

I went down to the river

Flowing out unto the sea

On my way to the ocean

Let the spirit swallow me

I got low down in the water

I let the current guide my bones

I got nine kinds of trouble

I'm just trying to find my way home

Over 20 some years of living

And a thousand wasted days

I have loved a lot of women

Many times I've gone wrong ways

And I came down to the water

For a dip to cleanse my soul

They keep tellin' me that I'm just a babe

But baby, why do I feel so old?

This is the verge of a breakthrough

It's a fine line that cannot be bent

And I felt like a river ran dry

But I don't know where all the rainwater went

And I believed we were all dead or dying

But I see different in the blue light

There is no such thing as a dawn or dusk

It is daylight until it is night

You gotta fight through the dimming

You gotta run into the west

You gotta rage against the dying of the light

Live for the moment that's left

You gotta fight against the dimming

You gotta run into the west

You gotta rage against the dying of the light

Live for the moment that's left

'Cause there is no such thing as a dying man

We're alive 'til the moment we're dead

And a drowning man is just a living man

Who hasn't run out of his last bit of breath

I went down to the river

Flowing out unto the sea

On my way to the ocean

Let the spirit swallow me

I got low down in the water

I let the current guide my bones

I got nine kinds of trouble

I'm just trying to find my way home

Drift Apart

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering and Recollection

When I wrote you that letter

You'd already made up your mind

All my words were written in vain

And when I called you up that day

I was only calling up to say hello

But goodbye

Was the word that you'd been thinking 'bout for days

I didn't know that you were going to leave me

I wish I knew the way to make you come home

What can I do if this is right for you?

I have not been perfect for you

Although I think I was back at the start

You have no more patience for me

So now I guess we'll both just drift apart

All those times I wasn't there

The times you thought I didn't care

I hope you can believe I thought of you

'Cause you were everything I needed

I've been selfish and so self-absorbed

I thought that you'd be waiting when I reached the other side

Last night I put my arms around another woman's waist

The touch was sweet but bitter while we danced

And great love can bring greater pain

I hope I fall in love again

What can I do if this is right for you

I have not been perfect for you

I like to think I was back at the start

You have no more patience for me

So now I guess we'll both just drift apart

I want the best for you and now I realize that it isn't me

I haven't been the man you need, I wish I'd been able to be

I'm sorry that I did not give you everything that you desired

And that I made you feel upset when you just made me feel inspired

I have not been perfect for you

I wish we could go back and just restart

But you have no more patience for me

So now I guess we'll both just drift apart

Dusk

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

Like it or not, time's running out

That's really what the fighting's about

While our fuel does the work of millions of men

We strive for the means, losing sight of the ends

We thought we were gods, that we'd never brake

Dreamed we would grow forever; now we're awake

The trickle of doubt will rise to a stream

Time to wean ourselves off the taste of it

Time to set about replacing it

Dusk in the days of gasoline

The star that expands, hungry for space

Soon will collapse, leave a hole in its place

Don't be afraid as day turns to night

The most beautiful hour arrives at the turn of the light

The whisper of doubt will rise to a scream

Time to wean ourselves off the taste of it

Time to set about replacing it

Dusk in the days of gasoline

It doesn't take a prophet to see what is down the line

It's not a question of "if", it's a matter of time

I Got Me a Woman

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

I got me a woman, she's so good to me (so good to me)

I got me a woman, she's the girl of my dreams (girl of my dreams)

I got me a woman and she is so kind (she is so kind)

I got me a woman and she's on my mind (she's on my mind)

I got me a woman, and she is so fine

I got me a woman, she keeps me in line

I got me a woman, gone far away

I got me a woman, she'll be back some day

I got me a woman, she's so good to me (so good to me)

I got me a woman, she's the girl of my dreams (girl of my dreams)

I got me a woman and she is so kind (she is so kind)

I got me a woman and she's on my mind (she's on my mind)

Leave Me Longing

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

All my books are put away 

On the shelves we built together

My clothes are neatly folded in the drawers

The German plant you bought for me has been watered

All my records have been put back in order

The dishes have been done

I swept the floors

I put your paintings on my wall

Set the mouse traps in the hall

Now I'm waiting for the fall when you'll come back to me

So leave me lonely

My one and only

Leave me longing for you

The doors have all been open 

I let everybody in

The house is still alive

Without you by my side

And life goes on, and on, and on

And I still have sunny days

And I still have rainy days

And I still have days when all I think of is you

I see your paintings on my wall

I wish that she would call

And I'm waiting for the fall when you'll come back to me

So leave me lonely

My one and only

Leave me longing for you

Rest Your Head

words Joseph Daniel Girard, music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

Baby's eyes are never red

Stars are bending down their dead

Sleeping flowers, blue and gold

In my basket, never cold

Fetch me water from our well

When you hear the wedding bell

In the darkness of the cave

Lay my basket on my grave

Take the poison from my ear

And swim the ocean of our tears

Fetch me water from our well

When you hear the funeral bell

Deep above the clouds and creams

Find me in your fondest dreams

Baby's eyes are always blue

And all my love belongs to you

Baby's eyes are never red

In my hammock, rest your head

Rest your head, rest your head

Seed of Love

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

When it rains it pours

There will be watery days in store

Growing pools right there on the floor

Flowing downstairs and out the door

When you're in drought, don't be in doubt

Brother, for now you can do without

And when the beautiful clouds come out

Try not to drown, try not to shout

Man, when you’re dry life can be hard

The queen of hearts is a fickle card

And when you’re hard life can be dry

No matter how hard you try

Just when you think that you're stuck

Bleeding and pleading and down in the muck

A change wind, a bit of luck

And girls... just dying...

To give you a phone number

“Gimme a call.”

“Here's my phone number.” 

Brother that's all

Just a phone number 

But that's all you need

Man, get that phone number

And sow the seed of love

The seed of love, no matter how small

Will blossom and grow, or do nothing at all

But when the rain begins to fall

The seed of love will sprout if only you call

When things are juicy and wet

Bother you’d better not forget

Don't go run out after all you can get

That's a good way to get someone upset

Brother, you're thirsty I know

But even though rushing waters flow

You got to try and take it slow

Or right back to the desert you'll go

There're many clouds up there in the sky

And though you like to drink them dry

Its not a good idea to try

Oh ... they just keep floating by

Pictureful clouds, the one that you saw

We rain on you if she can see that you fought

To be in here rain, to love her a lot

To get really wet ... and to touch her soul

The seed of love no matter how small

Could blossom and grow, or do nothing at all

But when the rains begin to fall

The seed of love will grow

The seed of love no matter how small

Could blossom and grow, or do nothing at all

But when the rains begin to fall

The seed of love will grow

 

Southbound

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering

Stranger

words and music by Ben Caplan

appears on In the Time of the Great Remembering