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